Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint in the Cloud

Google Docs has me captured. Well, Writely captured me and Google Docs inherited me when the bought Writely. I have >1000 documents on Docs. Also use Microsoft live spaces and have played with Live Mesh, but so far I come back to Google.

However, if MS delivers a much richer browser interface and an easy way to move my documents over, I surely would consider Office Live particularly with the rich interface shown above.

But Google won't stand still and let MS eat their online lunch. Yet, what will they do? The have no desktop app, only the ability to work offline. I don't think that's enough.

Obama's 'Redistribution' Constitution - WSJ.com

Obama's 'Redistribution' Constitution - WSJ.com

One meaning of Obama's 'redistribution' plans Both political parties seek to enforce their ideologies via appointments to the bench. The difference this time is that the Republicans may not have the votes to block judicial appointments in the Senate.

Like it or not, cloud computing is the wave of the future - MarketWatch

Like it or not, cloud computing is the wave of the future - MarketWatch

In this piece about 'cloud' computing, Therese Poletti presents the arguments of Richard Stallman against cloud computing and those of Nicholas Carr for the concept now being deployed by heavyweights Amazon, Google, Microsoft and others. Stallman argues that those embracing it give up control, privacy and security. Carr compares cloud computing with the electrical grid and the efficiencies for computing are equivalent to the electrical grid that developed shortly after widespread on premise electrical power generation. My guess is that Stallman is more or less a control freak and distrusts 'BIG' enterprise.

I believe the cloud will eventually win out, but not to the total exclusion of premise based computing. We'll see a mixture just as we see a mixture of premise and grid power generation. I have already embraced the cloud in that my use of Google services, especially Docs and Spreadsheets, but many others, too is rising dramatically.

Now that Microsoft announced Windows Azure 0n October 27, 2008, there's absolutely no doubt that cloud computing has a future in the enterprise. MS has committed huge resources to the cloud concept to make it usable for present software developers and the applications they already have built.

The huge risk I see is global catastrophe or war on a massive scale that interrupts the global fiber network of several data centers at the same time. Given the reliance the global economy and culture will eventually place on this massive infrastructure, the consequences of catastrophic failure is mind-boggling.

Op-Ed Columnist - If Larry and Sergey Asked for a Loan ... - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - If Larry and Sergey Asked for a Loan ... - NYTimes.com:

Friedman talks sense about capitalism and risk-taking. Will Congress, a major catalyst causing this crisis, and a new President listen? I certainly hope they do.

"Don’t get me wrong. I am not criticizing the decision to shore up the banks. And we must prevent a repeat of the reckless bundling and securitizing of mortgages, and excessive leveraging, that started this mess. We need better regulation. But most of all, we need better management.

The banks that are surviving the best today, the ones that are buying others and not being bought — like JPMorgan Chase or Banco Santander, based in Spain — are not surviving because they were better regulated than the banks across the street but because they were better run. Their leaders were more vigilant about their risk exposure than any regulator required them to be.

Bottom line: We must not overshoot in regulating the markets just because they overshot in their risk-taking. That’s what markets do. We need to fix capitalism, not install socialism. Because, ultimately, we can’t bail our way out of this crisis. We can only grow our way out — with more innovation and entrepreneurship, which create new businesses and better jobs.

So let’s keep our eyes on the prize. Save the system, install smart regulations and get the government out of the banking business as soon as possible so that the surviving banks can freely and unabashedly get back into their business"

Op-Ed Columnist - Ceding the Center - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - Ceding the Center - NYTimes.com:
"By DAVID BROOKS
Published: October 26, 2008

David Brooks explains some political realities in this excellent piece. I find myself firmly in the "third tendency." It partly explains why I have been unhappy with the both presidential candidates. While Brooks makes the case that McCain is also of this "third tendency," I don't fully agree because he chooses to style himself as a maverick, without describing the positions/beliefs about which he is a maverick. If he were truly of the "third tendency," he would have taken musch stronger stands on the principles that Brooks lays out.

I understand that Brooks is trying to let McCain down softly, but if he was so misshapen by his campaign handlers, that does not speak to his leadership. He certainly is less gifted with rhetoric than Obama, but he has far more substance. It's clear to me that American voters have swallowed the rhetoric.

"There are two major political parties in America, but there are at least three major political tendencies. The first is orthodox liberalism, a belief in using government to maximize equality. The second is free-market conservatism, the belief in limiting government to maximize freedom.

But there is a third tendency, which floats between. It is for using limited but energetic government to enhance social mobility. This tendency began with Alexander Hamilton, who created a vibrant national economy so more people could rise and succeed. It matured with Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War Republicans, who created the Land Grant College Act and the Homestead Act to give people the tools to pursue their ambitions. It continued with Theodore Roosevelt, who busted the trusts to give more Americans a square deal.

Members of this tradition have one foot in the conservatism of Edmund Burke. They understand how little we know or can know and how much we should rely on tradition, prudence and habit. They have an awareness of sin, of the importance of traditional virtues and stable institutions. They understand that we are not free-floating individuals but are embedded in thick social organisms."

Greenspan Concedes Error on Regulation - NYTimes.com

Greenspan Concedes Error on Regulation - NYTimes.com:

I have long maintained that Greenspan was a key mover of the ideology that has resulted in this fiscal crisis and until this past week seemed to be let off the hook. He now admits he was wrong. Certainly, this is a time when the normal human emotional reaction is to find scapegoats, most of it under the guise of finding out 'what went wrong.'

Yet we would be foolish to let Congress off the hook here. The buck stops with them. They, with some exceptions, were responsible for the excesses of Fannie and Freddie because they failed to act when warned. It's clear that former leaders of Fannie (Franklin Raines and others) were crooks. And this administration clearly supported a climate of less regulation.

Nevertheless, if I were at a different point in life, I would be buying value stocks for the long run. The U.S. and world economies will ultimately rebound after this shakeout.

"But on Thursday, almost three years after stepping down as chairman of the Federal Reserve, a humbled Mr. Greenspan admitted that he had put too much faith in the self-correcting power of free markets and had failed to anticipate the self-destructive power of wanton mortgage lending.

“Those of us who have looked to the self-interest of lending institutions to protect shareholders’ equity, myself included, are in a state of shocked disbelief,” he told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

Now 82, Mr. Greenspan came in for one of the harshest grillings of his life, as Democratic lawmakers asked him time and again whether he had been wrong, why he had been wrong and whether he was sorry."

Capitalism Revisited - Forbes.com

Capitalism Revisited - Forbes.com

A commentary on the motives that are encouraged at today's business schools who had best rethink their curriculum and culture of educating bright young business people. In my opinion the schools are a significant driver of today's fiscal mess.

"Indeed, we have arrived at a point in history when grooming leaders capable of creating, building and growing sustainable enterprises is no longer the central objective of the nation's premier academic institutions. Furthermore, rather than reinforcing a leadership-driven value system, business schools today promote a value system driven by avarice and opportunism.

The finance and consulting industries are full of people with MBA degrees who have never "done it before" but reap grandiose salaries by moving money from here to there, or by dispensing high-level, arm-waving "advice" that is hardly actionable or rooted in practicality.

Judy Estrin, one of Silicon Valley's beloved entrepreneurs, is also troubled by this phenomenon. In her new book Closing the Innovation Gap, she points out the same problems around short-term thinking, opportunism and unbridled gold digging that has taken control of some of the most promising young minds of America."

Op-Ed Contributor - From Beirut to 9/11 - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Contributor - From Beirut to 9/11 - NYTimes.com

While McFarlane may have some axes to grind, both presidential candidates must take to heart his admonition:

"Since 9/11 we have learned a lot about the threat from radical Islam and how to defeat it. Our commitment to Iraq is now being vindicated and, if sustained, will enable us to establish an example of pluralism in a Muslim state with a flourishing economy.

First, however, we must win in Afghanistan — truly the decisive battleground in this global struggle. Never has there been a greater need for experience and judgment in the White House. Unless our next president understands the complexity of the challenge as well as what it will take to succeed, and can lead his cabinet and our country in resolute execution of that strategy, we will lose this war."

Op-Ed Columnist - Bailout (and Buildup) - NYTimes.com

Op-Ed Columnist - Bailout (and Buildup) - NYTimes.com

Thomas is wringing his hands because gasoline prices are falling. Please tell us, Thomas, what you think the 'correct' price should be for the 'green' future you advocate.

I agree that we need to move much, much more of our energy to renewable sources under our control, but that mix MUST include nuclear. You include it in your ideas, but unless you are willing to advocate strongly for that, all the rest, to use a term from an energy newsletter I receive, are merely 'piddle power.'

If an energy source does not pay its own way over the long term, it won't work. Governments cannot be expected to subsidize the energy industry forever. People should pay for energy like any other purchase, not through a tax.

Alternative Energy Suddenly Faces Headwinds - NYTimes.com

Alternative Energy Suddenly Faces Headwinds - NYTimes.com:

Now that the hysteria for renewables has been dampened by the financial crisis, government will face the choice to back off the high-sounding campaign rhetoric by McCain and Obama or attempt to 'mandate' renewable energy development. And if he (the winner) holds to his plan, where will the capital come from? As I posted yesterday, Presidents are not in control of the economy no matter what they or people may think.

A higher % of renewables, now at 7% in the U.S., may be warranted if economic realities justify expansion, but some renewable projects, like corn to ethanol for gasoline, deserve to die.

Here in Vermont, Democrat candidate for Governor Symington proposes 20% of Vermont's electricity from wind within 10 years, presumably from in-state wind turbine farms. For that dream to become reality, I suggest she must take the next step and support Vermont exercising a right of eminent domain to take the land and build the roads that will be needed for such a massive projectin Vermont (200-250 400' turbines). That little piece of reality seems to be missing from her energy proposal. Ah well, her dreams are now confronting reality as capital dries up for massive wind projects, at least temporarily.

While I haven't been watching TV closely, have Mr. T. Boone Pickens' ads for BIG WIND to replace natural gas for electricity also dried up? Perhpas reality affects billionaires, too.

"Wall Street analysts say most utilities and other builders can profitably choose big wind projects over gas-fired plants only when gas prices are $8 per thousand cubic feet or higher. Natural gas settled Monday at about $6.79 per thousand cubic feet, down from about $13.58 on July 3.

“Natural gas at $6 makes wind look like a questionable idea and solar power unfathomably expensive,” said Kevin Book, a senior vice president at FBR Capital Markets.

Government mandates already on the books, including state rules requiring renewable power generation and federal requirements for production of ethanol, ensure that to some degree, alternative energy markets will continue to exist no matter how low oil and gas prices go. But the credit crisis means some companies that would like to build facilities to meet that demand are going to have problems. “If you can’t borrow money, you can’t develop renewables,” Mr. Book said."