Category: Reading

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Design Education Flat World Globalization Network Reading Technology

Latest read: Bangalore Tiger

Y2K.  Remember the rush to fix computer software that was programmed to stop working on January 1 2000?  Many Americans probably did not realize their software fix was coming from Indian companies including WiPro located in Bangalore India.  Today American business is filled with examples of India’s outsourcing success.

Bangalore TigerBangalore Tiger is a must read for everyone working in Information Technology. Organizational leaders will learn how one of the larger tech companies in India is changing the rules of business competition in today’s globalized marketplace. If you read

The World Is Flat then you already know about all the success coming from India’s technology outsourcing giants in Bangalore.

If you want to learn how a company located in the heart of India’s globalization capital can thrive this book is really for you. The early chapters focus on how Wipro is taking on the West (and winning) as a new breed of tech company.

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Education Globalization Reading Technology

Latest read: China Shakes the world

I found myself fascinated by China Shakes the World: A Titan’s Rise and Troubled Future – and the Challenge for America by James Kynge. Yet most of the time I was also infuriated over how America has fallen asleep regarding China’s threat to our economy.  Kynge has written an excellent book that should be read by every school teacher, mayor and businessman.

It was my goal to finish this book before the end of the summer Olympic games.  But I needed time to finish Randy Pauch‘s one of a king book The Last Lecture (review is here) so this week was plenty of time to complete this book.

Infuriating?  Yes Kynge shares a startling story about how the Chinese almost secured the assets to the American company that produces stealth coating to the B-2 bomber.  Yes THAT Stealth Bomber.  Now are you interested in what Hynge has to say?  It was Financial Time’s Book of the Year.

So how does America’s secret stealth technology (a skin made with highly specialized thermoplastics and composites which are radar-absorbent) come within arms reach of the communist Chinese?  Did they try to steal it?   No, they almost purchased the technology outright.

What about pirating and corporate espionage? China plays this game very well too.  And based upon the communist’s approach to banking, well lets just say their idea of business as usual includes very loose, corrupt accounting…kinda reminds me of Enron.

If you are frustrated with the RIAA’s music lawsuits against college kids encourage the RIAA to go to source in this matter: China.  The Chinese have truly become the world’s leading Pirate Nation. A word of note to the music and movie industry: Do you really believe your lawsuits against college kids is making a dent in your attempt to stop pirating?  Go to China.

The Chinese impact
It’s not on the gold medal stand in women’s gymnastics.  As the saying goes … if your not cheating, your not winning.  Regardless, it was the American gymnast Sacromone who fell of the beam and floor exercise that cost the team gold medal.  I know the Olympics bring out national pride. We all feel good about cheering for our athletes during the 16 days of competition.  But what about the other 349 days of 2008?

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Education Reading

Latest read: The Last Lecture

Have you ever been so moved by an event that you drop just about everything and rip through a book as quickly as possible?  Along with millions of people (6.5 million actually) I watched Randy Pausch’s famous last lecture at Carnegie Mellon on September 18, 2007 and was very moved to read his bookThe Last Lecture.

It goes without saying that the news of his passing was very sad.  And to make matters worse, I was unable to finish his book before his death. This has left me with a sense of being cheated in some way.

The book is very much the lecture with a bit more background on all his points from his famous presentation.

Randy wrote about one of the more important projects that has been handed over to a former student, Alice which is available at Alice.org.

Alice is a breakthrough 3D programming environment that makes it easy to create an animation for telling a story, playing an interactive game, or a video to share on the web. Alice is a teaching tool for introductory computing.  And best of all for schools and educators, Alice is FREE.

This project helps young children learn computer programming.  His description in this book has provided a bit of inspiration for me to talk with my niece Maya about becoming a computer programmer.

Thanks to Randy and his students, young girls including my niece will be able to learn computer programming and use this as a foundation for their education.  His work lives on….and that’s a great thing.

Book website | Oprah Winfrey Show Appearance

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Design Education Globalization Network OpenSource Reading Technology TED

On my reading list

Looking forward to Larry Lessig‘s new book Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy.

Larry has documented how the music and movie industries are turning students into criminals because they use cheap software, the internet and their creativity.  His presentation at TED hilights the core principals of his upcoming book.

The power and impact of the digital economy has placed copyright and the old guard clearly on the defensive.  Those aging companies still want the market to be “published” (in analog format) are unwilling to change to the new information economy.
—Well okay what I’m really trying to say is they don’t want to give up their revenue streams.

Okay maybe they do understand how the game has changed, yet I’m not sure the impact of how young people are wired has fundamentally changed their business model.

Actually I’m hoping Remix may also hilight how the RIAA should be chasing down the millions of pirates in China rather than students in America.  Larry is proving what everyone under 30 already has accepted as a fact of life…They have never been forced to purchase a majority of their entertainment in analog format.  Should be a great read!

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Design Education Globalization OpenSource Reading

Latest read: Once You’re Lucky Twice You’re Good

There was something from Sarah Lacy’s book Once You’re Lucky Twice You’re Good which really hit home.  Today kids look to FaceBook as their exclusive communication tool.  They don’t do email like our generation overdoes email.

That’s a key indicator of how different today’s Web2.0 kids are changing the rules.  Can the establishment keep up with them?  Well see in the very short term future.

This was a great read and I must thank Kate Olson who was able to get a copy for me to read and post my review.

Lacy’s book, IMHO starts with the best story first.  Max Levchin.  His inspiring story of fleeing Ukraine the night of the Chernobyl disaster was amazing.  He flees from a hospital in the middle of the night to later leave college to start PayPal.

Yes, that’s right a kid who flew the USSR makes his way to Silicon Valley and San Francisco to put his amazing mathematical skills to use and builds an amazing tool that would later be purchased by eBay.

Sarah also documents the story of Kevin Rose, founder of Digg.com and proves again that Marc Andreessen really is a jerk. But from the outside many of us would not know the ins and outs of the Web2.0 world and all their financial venture “vulture capital” stories.  Pretty rough from the outside…but Sarah makes this work.  Interested to know more about the inner circle of the Web2.0 world?  Read Once You’re Lucky, Twice your Good!