Friday, July 25, 2008

Electronics giants to create wireless HD standard

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Electronics giants to create wireless HD standard

By Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) _ Sony, Samsung and other consumer-electronics heavyweights are uniting to support a technology that could send high-definition video signals wirelessly from a single set-top box to screens around the home.

The consortium due to be announced Wednesday is an important development in the race to create a definitive way to replace tangles of video cables, but doesn't end it -- both Sony and Samsung also are supporting a competing technology.

In the new consortium, Sony Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co., along with Motorola Inc., Sharp Corp. and Hitachi Ltd., will develop an industry standard around technology from Amimon Ltd. of Israel called WHDI, for Wireless Home Digital Interface.

"If you have a TV in the home, that TV will be able to access any source in the home, whether it's a set-top box in the living room, or the PlayStation in the bedroom, or a DVD player in another bedroom. That's the message of WHDI," said Noam Geri, co-founder of Amimon.

Amimon is already selling chips that fulfill part of that promise, but the creation of a broad industry group makes it more likely that consumers will be able to buy WHDI-enabled devices from different manufacturers and have them all work together.

Geri expects TVs with Amimon's chips to reach stores next year, costing about $100 more than equivalent, non-wireless TVs.

Wireless streaming of high-definition video is a relatively tricky engineering problem that many companies are trying to tackle. It can be done with the fastest versions of Wi-Fi, a technology already in many homes, but that requires "compression," or reduction of the data rate, with picture quality degrading as a result. There's also a delay in transmission as chips on both ends of the link work to compress, then decompress the image.

That's prompted much research into radio technologies that are faster, requiring less compression. A leading contender is WirelessHD, centered on technology from SiBEAM Inc. of Sunnyvale, Calif. It uses an open portion of the radio band, at 60 gigahertz, for ultrafast transmission of uncompressed video, but it could be years away from commercialization. Its range is limited, meaning that it would be used for in-room links rather than whole-house networking, like WHDI.

Sony is part of the WirelessHD group as well, and is supporting WHDI to have "wider options," the company said in a statement.

Samsung, on the other hand, looks at WHDI as a stopgap technology until the higher-picture-quality WirelessHD takes over. JaeMoon Jo, Samsung's vice president of TV research, said the company believes WirelessHD will be the "ultimate solution in the long run."

Still another contending wireless technology is ultra-wideband, or UWB. It requires less compression than Wi-Fi, but its range is more limited, generally to in-room networking. Monster Cable Products Inc. plans to introduce a kit that produces a wireless video link using UWB.

WHDI is less exotic than either WirelessHD or UWB. It uses a radio band at 5 gigahertz that's used by some Wi-Fi devices, which means it can take advantage of research in that field. To get around the limitations of the limited bandwidth, Amimon uses a clever trick instead of compression.

Before transmission, Amimon's chips separate the important components of the video signal, the ones that really make a difference to the viewer, from the less important ones, like tiny variations in color over a small area. It then gives priority to the important parts, while putting less effort into getting the fine nuances to the receiver.

That means the transmission works over relatively long distances, albeit with lower image quality as the distance increases.

Motorola has looked at competing technologies, but WHDI is the only group it's joined because of Amimon's "extremely unique" approach, said Paul Moroney, a Motorola research fellow who works with WHDI.

Motorola plans to build the technology into its set-top boxes, which are used by many cable providers around the country. But the first product will likely be a pair of adapters that talk wirelessly to one another. One could be attached to a set-top box, the other to a TV set, Moroney said.

Belkin International Inc. already sells a pair of adapters based on Amimon's chips for $1,000, and Sony has announced a similar set for its TVs. Moroney said Motorola hopes to sell a kit for significantly less than Belkin's price next year, as the technology matures.

Kurt Scherf, an analyst at Parks Associates, noted that wireless video technologies have been talked up for years, but haven't lived up to their promises so far. Professional audio-video installers surveyed by his firm aren't excited about wireless, because they're afraid of reliability problems.

Still, he said, WHDI's range should give it an edge, since it allows the technology to do more than just replace a cable in the entertainment center.

___

On the Net:

http://www.amimon.com

http://www.wirelesshd.org

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Electronics giants to create wireless HD standard

By Associated Press

Studie: Schiene nicht konkurrenzfähig

Frankfurt. Ein stark angestiegenes Welthandelsvolumen, längere und komplexere Lieferketten, zunehmende Verkehrsbehinderungen im Straßenverkehr, steigende Benzinpreise, CO2-Ausstöße sowie die globale Erwärmung stellen den Logistik-Sektor vor nie da gewesene Herausforderungen. Trotzdem ist ein deutlicher Transfer der Frachtgüter von der Straße weg auf die Schiene in naher Zukunft nicht zu erwarten. Dies ist das Ergebnis einer neuen, englischsprachigen Studie von Jones Lang LaSalle mit dem Titel: „Freight Transport: Road versus Rail – Modal changes ahead“.

In Europa dominiert im Inlandsverkehr nach wie vor der Transport auf der Straße und trotz zunehmender Probleme aufgrund des rasant ansteigenden Transportvolumens, dem starken Anstieg der Kosten und der dringender werdenden Fragen des Umweltschutzes, bietet die Straße deutlichere Vorteile in Hinsicht auf einen schnellen, effizienteren und zuverlässigeren Gütertransport. „Solange der Transport auf der Straße schneller und effizienter ist und die Kosten nicht westlich höher als beim Transport auf der Schiene, wird der Großteil der Logistikunternehmer einen Wechsel nicht wirklich in Erwägung ziehen“, so Chris Staveley, bei Jones Lang LaSalle Leiter Logistics innerhalb des European Capital Markets Teams. Darüber hinaus könne nicht übersehen werden, dass sich auch beim Straßentransport einiges getan hat. Technologische Neuerungen haben zu einer steten Verbesserung des Straßentransports beigetragen und diesen auch umweltfreundlicher gemacht.

Zukünftig wird die Nutzung umweltfreundlicher LKWs eine noch größere Rolle spielen. Die Notwendigkeit, die Lieferkette noch effizienter zu gestallten, wird die Bedeutung der Technologie weiter steigern. Die optimale Ausnutzung der LKWs und damit eine Reduzierung von Leerfahrten sowie eine verbesserte Routenplanung und ein optimaler Mix zwischen verschiedenen Transportarten wird in Zukunft eine Schlüsselstellung innerhalb der Lieferkette einnehmen. Moderne GPS Systeme werden dabei eine zentrale Rolle spielen. Die Straße behauptet sich als wichtigste Verkehrsader im Gütertransport – die Schiene ist noch nicht konkurrenzfähig „Die Schiene als bedeutende Alternative ist aufgrund von weiterhin bestehenden Einschränkungen also noch nicht konkurrenzfähig“, so Chris Staveley. Handycap sind begrenzte Ladekapazitäten, längere Transportzeiten, eine unzureichende Vernetzung zwischen den einzelnen Ländern sowie unterschiedliche Transportvarianten (Straße/Schiene/Wasser) und eine weniger zuverlässige Sendeverfolgung von Frachtgut. Dazu kommen Fragen der Sicherheit sowie höhere Kosten auf kürzeren Strecken verglichen mit dem Transport auf der Straße. Auch das eingeschränkte Streckennetz, das nicht erlaubt, alle Zielorte über die Schiene zu erreichen, verhindert einen deutlichen Anstieg des Schienenfrachtverkehrs.

„Neben einem steigenden Bewusstsein für Umweltfragen werden es letztlich die Kosten sein, die einen nachhaltigen Wechsel von der Straße auf die Schiene vorantreiben“. Der Preis für Diesel ist auf seinen bisherigen Höchstwert gestiegen und hat zu einem starken Anstieg der Transportkosten geführt. Immer mehr und höhere Straßenzölle und Umweltsteuern sowie weitere Einschränkungen im
Straßentransport, wie etwa die Begrenzung der zulässigen durchgehenden Fahrzeiten der LKW-Fahrer bedeuten deutlich höhere Transportkosten im Straßenverkehr. Um dieser Kostensteigerung entgegenzuwirken, versuchen die Logistiker zum einen den Anteil ihres Frachtaufkommens auf der Straße zu reduzieren. Zusätzlich zielen viele auf den Aufbau eines regionalen an Stelle eines zentralen Verteilernetzwerks, um so die Transportrouten zu den lokalen Verbrauchermärkten zu verkürzen.

Obwohl davon auszugehen ist, dass es noch mindestens 10 bis 15 Jahre dauern wird, bis sich der Schienenverkehr als nachhaltig konkurrenzfähig etabliert hat, stellt sich nach einer Umfrage von Jones Lang LaSalle bei den wichtigsten Logistikunternehmen europaweit immerhin die Hälfte der Logistikunternehmen schon heute auf eine solche Entwicklung ein, in dem sie Logistikstandorte mit direktem Zugang zur Schiene bevorzugen, auch wenn sie ihn noch gar nicht aktiv nutzt. Einige Entwickler sehen den Gleisanschluss darüber hinaus als Marketingtool im Kampf um Mieter an.

Allerdings zeigt diese Studie auch, dass die anderen 50 % der Nutzer diesen Service gar nicht nachfragen. „Während die einen also zukünftig mit einem deutlichen Anstieg ihrer Transportaktivitäten über das Schienennetz rechnen und sich entsprechende Optionen sichern, um kurzfristig eine Verlagerung des Gütertransports von der Straße auf die Schiene realisieren zu können, reichen der anderen Hälfte Gründstücke ohne Gleisanschluss völlig aus“, so Alexandra Tornow, bei Jones Lang LaSalle Leiterin EMEA Logistics Research. Und weiter: „Beide Varianten zeigen derzeit in der Preisgestaltung keine gravierenden Unterschiede. Potential bleibt hier also weitgehend preisneutral.“ (sv)

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Find a Parking Space Online

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Find a Parking Space Online

Street-embedded sensors monitor parking availability.

By Kristina Grifantini

This fall, San Francisco will implement the largest mesh network for monitoring parking to date. Around 6,000 wireless sensors from the San Francisco company Streetline will be fixed alongside as many parking spots, monitoring both parking availability and the volume and speed of passing traffic. The city hopes that displaying information from the sensors on Web maps, smart phones, and signs on the street will reduce the traffic and pollution caused by circling cars.

A mesh network differs from a typical wireless network in that there's no central transmitter: every node can transmit to every other node. Mesh networks have generally been used for environmental monitoring, or to grant wireless devices Internet access.

When sensor networks have been deployed roadside, it's usually been to monitor traffic, not parking. In urban areas, traffic-monitoring systems have been used for congestion pricing: during business hours in downtown London, for instance, the license plates of cars are photographed, and the drivers are sent a bill. Some parking garages also have signs that tell drivers where the available spaces are, but such systems generally rely on manual car counting, not sensors.

Carspotting: Part of a mesh network, this sensor node embedded in a San Francisco street can detect when a car parks in the spot beside it. It also monitors passing traffic.
Credit: Streetline

In San Francisco, however, clusters of plastic-encased, networked sensors are embedded in the surface of the street. The main sensor in the cluster, which is commonly used to detect cars, is a magnetic one, says Jim Reich, the vice president of engineering at Streetline. Magnetic sensors detect when a large metal object locally disrupts Earth's magnetic field. One challenge with magnetic sensors is avoiding false positives. "We rely on the magnet the most, but in order to fix errors, we use other types of sensors [that] give you much higher reliability," says Reich. He won't elaborate on the supporting sensors, but he says that the Streetline system has 97 to 99 percent accuracy in recognizing parked cars.

To relay information, the Streetline sensors use Dust Networks' SmartMesh system, a spinoff of the Smart Dust project at the University of California, Berkeley, funded by the U.S. Department of Defense. Dust Networks CEO Joy Weiss says that SmartMesh networks are more than 99.99 percent reliable. The nodes can operate for an average of 10 years on two AA batteries before needing a replacement. "We were really the first ones able to build an entire network where every node in the network is able to run on batteries for years, and at the same time deliver very high reliability," says Weiss. "In most [other networks], these are a trade-off."

Dust Networks uses several techniques to combine efficiency and reliability. The first is redundant routing: if a signal doesn't go through the first time, the sending node tries other nearby nodes, or tries the same node after a period of time. A technique called channel hopping circumvents the interference associated with channels in the Wi-Fi range by assuming that changing channels every few seconds is more efficient than trying to find a good or bad channel, says Weiss. To save power, she adds, the nodes go to sleep in between transmissions.

The sensors in Streetline's monitoring system don't have any wires, which makes installation cheaper and easier than tearing up roads to put down cables. "You can literally just stick down these speed bumps and put a system in place," says Weiss. Every four to six blocks, however, is a wired receiver--usually on a lamppost or fire hydrant--that relays the sensor data to a central server, says Reich.

Another aspect of the network is that each additional node--such as the ones that the city plans to add to parking meters to allow for remote meter paying--improves the system. "Every new application essentially strengthens the network," says Reich. "When you put sensors in parking meters, they improve the quality connection of those in the ground, so the system gets [better] quality."

Eventually, the network may include noise and air detection sensors as well. "We intend to do a nervous system for the city," says Reich.

Yossi Sheffi, director of the MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics, is skeptical that the parking sensors will be helpful, however. "The aim of the system is to make driving downtown easier and less time consuming," he says. "What we know from economics is, when we reduce the cost of any good, the use of that good goes up." More convenient parking will entice more cars downtown, Sheffi suggests: "I'm not sure that they'll get less pollution and less traffic. I think they'll achieve the exact opposite." He adds, "Cities should not make it easier to drive. They should make it easier to use alternative modes of transportation." He suggests that congestion pricing, like London's, might be better at reducing traffic.

Reich, on the other hand, suggests that the increased information will help people make better decisions, based on projections of "how much of their time is actually going to be wasted driving around." He says that the system could suggest transit alternatives at the same time that it displays parking availability, and that it will eventually be able to predict whether parking spots will be available in a particular location by the time you get there.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

More trading could help to alleviate water shortages

Water

A soluble problem

Jul 19th 2008
From Economist.com

More trading could help to alleviate water shortages

AFP

SO WORLD markets are short of oil, and supplies of food are running thin. The prices of all sorts of basic commodities are soaring, and now there may also be reason for many to worry about the most fundamental of necessities—water. Some experts believe so, at least, and they are spreading doom-laden warnings of a Malthusian crisis in the world’s water supply.

Goldman Sachs, an investment bank which likes to ponder the future of the world, recently suggested that a global lack of water could prove to be a bigger threat to mankind than rising food prices or the depletion of energy resources. Sir Nicholas Stern, who reviewed the economics of climate change in a big report for the British government in 2006, is worried too. He points to some big local problems, for example in the Himalayas, where melting glaciers risk disrupting supplies of usable water in the region, just as many underground aquifers are drying up. He argues that water—at least the fresh sort—is not a renewable resource, and because it is not priced properly it has been “mined” without restraint.

Global water consumption is doubling every 20 years says Goldman Sachs. According to Sir Nicholas, in many places supplies are running short as rising consumption cannot be matched by fresh rainfall. As a result, suggests Goldman Sachs, the price of water is bound to rise: bad news for the poor and thirsty, but an opportunity for investors. The excited bank even suggests that water might be considered to be the “petroleum for the next century”.

It expects profits to be made less from selling the stuff directly, and more from investments in infrastructure and new technology. The bank estimates that America alone needs to spend around $1 trillion on new pipes and waste-water plants by 2020. It estimates that the higher-tech side of the industry—for example in desalination efforts, or ultraviolet disinfection—is now worth $425 billion dollars, globally.

There could be plenty of money to be made in supplying water. However, more efficient use of the stuff depends on pricing it properly. Mark Zeitoun, a researcher at the London School of Economics, suggests that agriculture is responsible for the greatest waste of water, largely because of government subsidies. Farmers often plant water-intensive crops which slurp up supplies precisely where they are most limited. Growing potatoes, a thirsty crop, in Israel looks to be particularly wasteful, especially given desperate shortages of water in nearby Palestinian territories. Similarly Egyptian oranges, Australian cotton and Californian rice require huge amounts of water to produce crops that could in theory be cultivated more easily and cheaply in wetter climates. But when such crops produce valuable exports and create local jobs, governments have been keen to provide subsidised water.

Local conditions and needs vary so much that talk of a global water shortage is misleading. In total there is more than enough water for all, but it is often in the wrong place and is difficult and expensive to transport. And discrepancies are likely only to get worse as the effects of climate change becomes more pronounced. That Canada and Brazil have more water than they need is of little consolation to parched Yemen and northern China. Even within individual countries distribution is unequal. Cherrapunji is one of the wettest places on earth; elsewhere in India, Gopalpura receives only a few inches of rain a year. Surprisingly though, it is Cherrapunji which suffers the water shortages. Sensible water management would go a long way to redressing the balance.

Better functioning water markets would be one way to share out water more efficiently. Once governments have defined water rights clearly, farmers, and others who use water, could be encouraged to trade, first with each other and with industrial and urban users. Allotting options that can be taken up as and when required rather than handing out permanent water rights would encourage water trading and avoid accusations of water “theft”. It may be difficult to rein in the world’s extravagance with water, but Byron had it right when he wrote: “Til taught by pain, men really know not what good water is worth.”

Eat your way to a better brain

Cognition nutrition

Food for thought

Jul 17th 2008
From The Economist print edition

Eat your way to a better brain

CHILDREN have a lot to contend with these days, not least a tendency for their pushy parents to force-feed them omega-3 oils at every opportunity. These are supposed to make children brainier, so they are being added to everything from bread, milk and pasta to baby formula and vitamin tablets. But omega-3 is just the tip of the nutritional iceberg; many nutrients have proven cognitive effects, and do so throughout a person’s life, not merely when he is a child.

Fernando Gómez-Pinilla, a fish-loving professor of neurosurgery and physiological science at the University of California, Los Angeles, believes that appropriate changes to a person’s diet can enhance his cognitive abilities, protect his brain from damage and counteract the effects of ageing. Dr Gómez-Pinilla has been studying the effects of food on the brain for years, and has now completed a review, just published in Nature Reviews Neuroscience, that has analysed more than 160 studies of food’s effect on the brain. Some foods, he concludes, are like pharmaceutical compounds; their effects are so profound that the mental health of entire countries may be linked to them.

Last year, for example, the Lancet published research showing that folic-acid supplements—sometimes taken by pregnant women—can help those between 50 and 70 years old ward off the cognitive decline that accompanies ageing. In a study lasting three years, Jane Durga, of Wageningen University in the Netherlands, and her colleagues found that people taking such supplements did better on measures of memory, information-processing speed and verbal fluency. That, plus evidence that folate deficiency is associated with clinical depression, suggests eating spinach, orange juice and Marmite, which are all rich in folic acid.

Another suggestion from Dr Gómez-Pinilla’s review is that people should eat more antioxidants. That idea is not new. Antioxidants are reckoned by many to protect against the general effects of ageing. Vitamin E, for example, which is found in vegetable oils, nuts and green leafy vegetables, has been linked (in mice) with the retention of memory into old age, and also with longer life.

Dr Gómez-Pinilla, however, gives the antioxidant story a particular twist. The brain, he observes, is peculiarly susceptible to oxidative damage. It consumes a lot of energy, and the reactions that release this energy also generate oxidising chemicals. Moreover, brain tissue contains a great deal of oxidisable material, particularly in the fatty membranes surrounding nerve cells.

That suggests, among other things, the value of a diet rich in berries. These have been shown to have strong antioxidant effects, though only a small number of their constituents have been evaluated in detail. One group that has been evaluated, the polyphenols, has been shown in rodents to reduce oxidative damage and to boost the ability to learn and retain memories. In particular, these chemicals affect changes in response to different types of stimulation in the hippocampus (a part of the brain that is crucial to the formation of long-term memories, and which is the region most affected by Alzheimer’s disease). Another polyphenol, curcumin, has also been shown to have protective effects. It reduces memory deficits in animals with brain damage. It may be no coincidence that in India, where a lot of curcumin is consumed (it is the substance that makes turmeric yellow), Alzheimer’s disease is rarer than elsewhere.

Peas of mind

Though the way antioxidants work in the brain is not well known, Dr Gómez-Pinilla says it is likely they protect the synaptic membranes. Synapses are the junctions between nerve cells, and their action is central to learning and memory. But they are also, he says, the most fragile parts of the brain. And many of the nutrients associated with brain function are known to affect transmission at the synapses.

An omega-3 fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), for example, provides membranes at synaptic regions with “fluidity”—the capacity to transport signals. It also provides “plasticity”—a synapse’s capacity to change. Such changes are the basis of memory. Since 30% of the fatty constituents of nerve-cell membranes are DHA molecules, keeping your DHA levels topped up is part of having a healthy brain. Indeed, according to the studies reviewed by Dr Gómez-Pinilla, the benefits of omega-3s include improved learning and memory, and resistance to depression and bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, dementia, attention-deficit disorder and dyslexia.

Omega-3s are found in oily fish such as salmon, as well as in walnuts and kiwi fruit, and there is a strong negative correlation between the extent to which a country consumes fish and its levels of clinical depression. On the Japanese island of Okinawa, for example, people have a strikingly low rate of mental disorder—and Okinawans are notable fish eaters, even by the standards of a piscivorous country like Japan. In contrast, many studies suggest that diets which are rich in trans- and saturated fatty acids, such as those containing a lot of deep-fried foods and butter, have bad effects on cognition. Rodents put on such diets show declines in cognitive performance within weeks.

In the past few years, several studies have looked at the effect of adding omega-3s to people’s diets—particularly those of children. One such, carried out in the British city of Durham, was controversial in that it was funded by a maker of children’s omega-3 supplements and did not include a control group being given a placebo. Despite the publicity this study has received, Ben Goldacre, author of a book called “Bad Science” that includes an investigation of it, says the results will not be released.

Work by other researchers, however, has suggested such supplements do improve the performance and behaviour of school-age children with specific diagnoses such as dyslexia, attention-deficit disorder and developmental co-ordination disorder. Moreover, although more work is needed to elucidate the effects of omega-3s on healthy school-age children, Dr Gómez-Pinilla says that younger children whose mothers took fish-oil supplements (which contain omega-3s) when they were pregnant and while they were breast-feeding do show better cognitive performance than their unsupplemented contemporaries.

Eating well, then, is one key to a healthy brain. But a word of warning—do not overeat. This puts oxidative stress on the brain and risks undoing all the good work those antioxidants have been up to. For those who would like a little practical guidance, The Economist has some suggestions for dinner (see menu). So why not put the Nintendo brain trainer away tonight, and eat your way to intelligence instead?

The pros and cons of an eco-friendly nightclub

Green.view

Can green be groovy?

Jul 21st 2008
From Economist.com

The pros and cons of an eco-friendly nightclub

IT IS often said that environmentalists are too dour and self-denying to convert the frivolous mass of consumers to their cause. Tell that to the owners of Surya, a new disco in London that claims to be “the world’s first ecological club”. Its founder, Andrew Charalambous, believes that “all you have to do is dance to save the world.”

That sounds like something of an over-simplification. But Surya is full of green features. For starters, it generates all its power on-site through various renewable technologies, and even has some left over to donate to neighbours. There is a wind turbine and solar panels, along with batteries to store some of their output. More strikingly, it boasts a piezoelectric dance floor, which generates power thanks to the motion of the happy patrons jumping up and down.

club4climate.com

Dr Earth revels in his power

Energy-saving measures and recycled materials also loom large. There are no power-hungry light-bulbs, needless to say. The high-tech windows help to retain heat. The bar and the wooden shelves behind it are made from scrap wood, while the sofas, stools and coffee tables are made from unwanted bathtubs, cable drums and the like. Even the décor is recycled: it consists of old postcards, newspapers, matchboxes and compact discs, whittled into imaginative shapes or arranged in psychedelic patterns.

The toilets use hardly any water and the urinals none at all. The paint is chemical-free. The curtains are made of hemp. The marble and granite flooring and the wooden balustrades are “fair-trade”. The wine is organic and the beer is “bio”.

For anyone who somehow misses the thrust of all this, Surya also communicates its concern about the state of the planet through slogans painted on signs or flashed up on screens, along with images of deserts, dolphins and Thai people in boats. “Over the past 20 years, the average distances cycled and walked have both fallen by a quarter,” reads one. “1.2 billion people earn less than $1 a day,” laments another. “77% of foodstuffs grown in 1900 have now disappeared,” declares a third.

There is lots to sniff about. For one thing, it’s not clear how many people there are who yearn at once to boogie the night away, but worry too that by doing so they will place an unbearable strain on the planet. The claim that “Clubbing is the most energy-consumptive activity on the planet and engages in some shape virtually all the youth of the planet” seems breathtakingly naïve. What about aluminium smelting, and the teenagers of rural Africa?

More pettily, a rival outfit in Rotterdam seems to have come up with the idea of a “sustainable dance club” long before Mr Charalambous. It unveiled plans for a disco with a piezoelectric dancefloor, waterless urinals and bio-beer back in 2006, although its first venue will not actually open until September. It is also hard to believe that Surya is “the first business on the planet to donate surplus electricity to neighbouring residents”, as its publicity claims.

But it is hard not to feel a flicker of admiration for Mr Charalambous. For one thing, in an apparent tribute to Dr Evil, the spoof villain of the Austin Powers films, he dresses in white suits, shaves his head and styles himself “Dr Earth”. His ten-point plan for green enlightenment features such wise aphorisms as “Clubbing is a spiritual act” and “See the world as lateral. Not linear.” According to his biography, he is a former parliamentary candidate for the Conservative party, a tantric master, a poet and a Rosicrucian. Sixty percent of his diet is fruit. And he has promised to donate all the profits from Surya to Friends of the Earth, an environmental NGO.

Dr Earth is certainly right to reject the obvious complaint: that clubbing is a wasteful, indulgent pastime that should be sacrificed on the altar of environmentalism. Finding green ways for people to do the things they enjoy seems a much better way to save the planet than discouraging them outright. And if all this trendy eco-babble converts a few impressionable clubbers to the cause, so much the better.

But there are several drawbacks to the flaky, faddish school of greenery. The first is that trends come and go, yet the planet will still need saving if Dr Earth and his ilk decide they are more interested in macramé or tae kwon do. Second, and perhaps more importantly, conflating various right-on causes does not make them any easier to achieve. Putting an end to third-world poverty, rich-world obesity, biodiversity loss, climate change and the use of chemicals in wine-making all at once is clearly impossible. Agreeing on the causes to include on the list, let alone acting on them all, would be quite a task—especially while concentrating on cutting a dash on the dancefloor.

China-Verkehre: "Erhebliche Engpässe drohen"

xChina-Verkehre: "Erhebliche Engpässe drohen"

Im Interview mit der VerkehrsRundschau, Schwesterzeitschrift von LOGISTIK inside, erklärt Markus Rodatz, Regional Head of Operations China & Taiwan bei Panalpina, wie sich die verschärften Sicherheitsvorschriften für Verkehr, Transport und Sicherheit in China auf die Logistik während der Olympischen Spiele auf die Logistik auswirken.

VerkehrsRundschau: Hat die Pekinger Führung tatsächlich die Sicherheitsvorschriften für Verkehr, Transport und Sicherheit verschärft? Wenn ja, welche Bestimmungen besonders und inwiefern?

Markus Rodatz: Ja, es gibt diverse Restriktionen und verschärfte Sicherheitsvorschriften, die von den chinesischen Behörden kommuniziert wurden. Die Restriktionen sind vorwiegend darauf ausgerichtet, die Luftverschmutzung zu reduzieren, den automobilen Straßenverkehr zu regulieren und die allgemeine Sicherheit zu gewährleisten. Die wichtigsten Maßnahmen lassen sich wie folgt zusammenfassen:
1. In einem Radius von 200 Kilometern um Peking werden Fabriken mit hoher Luftverschmutzung in dem Zeitraum von 17. Juli bis 20. September 2008 entweder geschlossen oder stark reduziert. Dies gilt auch für Kraftwerke, was wiederum zu einer eventuell reduzierten Stromversorgung führen könnte.
2. In dem Zeitraum von 1. Juli bis 20. September dürfen nur Verkehrsmittel mit einer grünen Umweltplakette im Raum Peking fahren. Diese Maßnahme reduziert die Anzahl der verfügbaren LKW um 85 bis 90 Prozent! Außerdem dürfen Warentransporte (LKW) – mit Ausnahme von speziell lizenzierten „olympischen LKW“ – nur in den Stunden 0 bis 6 Uhr innerhalb der „Sechsten Ringstrasse“ fahren. Da der Flughafen zwischen der fünften und sechsten Ringstraße liegt, werden die Warentransporte erheblich erschwert. Eine weitere Maßnahme besagt, dass im Zeitraum vom 20. Juli bis 20. September an abwechselnden Tagen jeweils nur Fahrzeuge mit geradem bzw. ungeradem Nummernschild fahren dürfen (heute = gerade, morgen = ungerade, übermorgen = gerade).
3. Diverse Restriktionen bezüglich des Transportes von Gefahrgütern sowohl für Luft, See und Straßentransport gibt es starke Beschränkungen, die sogar in den meisten anderen chinesischen Städten (insbesondere den Partner/Gastgeberstädten Schanghai und Qingdao) zum Tragen kommen. Aufgrund unterschiedlicher „Auslegungen“ und regelmäßigen Veränderungen der Restriktionen durch örtliche Behörden prüfen Luft- und Seefrachtcarrier, ob sie überhaupt Gefahrenguttransporte akzeptieren sollen. Gerade im Bereich Seefracht gibt es diverse Carrier, die sämtliche Gefahrengutbuchungen im Zeitraum der Olympischen Spiele zurückweisen.
4. Bereits Mitte April wurden die Sicherheitsverfahren am Flughafen von Peking dahingehend verschärft, dass sämtliche Waren/Güter durchleuchtet (X-Ray) werden müssen. Größere Packstücke, welche nicht durch die X-Ray-Maschine passen, müssen mindestens 48 Stunden am Flughafen gelagert werden, bevor sie verfrachtet werden dürfen.

Welche Erschwernisse kommen damit auf Industrie-, Handels- und vor allem Logistikunternehmen wie Panalpina zu? Seit wann und wie lange sollen diese gelten?

Die wahrscheinlich größten Erschwernisse sind im Bereich Straßentransport zu erwarten. Aufgrund der limitierten Anzahl LKW sowie der tageszeitlichen Beschränkungen wird es zu erheblichen Engpässen kommen. Auch aufgrund der erhöhten Sicherheitsvorkehrungen wird es daher zu verlängerten Lieferzeiten kommen. Der Transport von Gefahrgutsendungen wird ebenfalls stark beeinträchtigt und es ist davon auszugehen, dass gewisse Güter überhaupt nicht transportiert werden können (zum Beispiel DG Class 1).

Wie wirken sich die Erschwernisse auf Logistikunternehmen konkret in der Praxis aus? Welche Branchen und welche Art von Unternehmen ist besonders stark betroffen?

Im Prinzip sind sämtliche Branchen und Unternehmen betroffen, die mit Groß-, Einzel und Außenhandel zu tun haben und im Raum Peking ansässig sind. Überregional - aber natürlich auch verstärkt in Peking - werden sicherlich Unternehmen mit Gefahrgutsendungen am meisten betroffen sein.

Bitte nennen Sie uns ein konkretes Fallbeispiel, in dem Probleme bei Panalpina aufgetaucht sind. Wie hat Ihr Unternehmen diese gelöst?

Da der Flughafen in Peking zwischen der fünften und sechsten Ringstrasse liegt, dürfen die meisten LKW nur im Zeitfenster zwischen 0 Uhr (Mitternacht) und 6 Uhr morgens Waren transportieren und anliefern. Um eine weiterhin reibungslose Warenannahme und Zulieferung zum Flughafen zu gewährleisten, hat Panalpina ein zusätzliches temporäres Lagerhaus etwas außerhalb der sechsten Ringstrasse angemietet. Somit kann Panalpina Sendungen von Kunden außerhalb von Peking ganztägig (24/7) in Empfang nehmen und entsprechend nachts mit einem Sammel-LKW am Flughafen anliefern. Eine weitere Möglichkeit für den obigen Fall besteht im frühzeitigen Planen der Sendungen, um gegebenenfalls ein neues Routing zu benennen. So werden wir z.B. im Bereich Luftfracht verstärkt alternative Flughäfen wie Tianjin benutzen.

Was macht Panalpina konkret in dieser Situation? Welche Alternativen geht man nun an?

In den vergangenen Wochen hat Panalpina eine Vielzahl „potenzieller“ Problemen definiert und analysiert. Für Probleme, die nicht - wie der obige Fall - konkret sind, wurden sogenannte „Business Continuity Plans“ ausgearbeitet, die wiederum im Detail beschreiben, welche Maßnahmen vorgenommen werden müssen, falls das Problem tatsächlich eintrifft. Zusätzlich wird unser Unternehmen während den Spielen eine spezielle Task Force in Peking installieren, die sich losgelöst von den täglichen operationellen Aufgaben, um das gesamte Event-Management kümmern wird. Diese Gruppe von Mitarbeitern wird etwaige Veränderungen bei den Einschränkungen überprüfen und in Zusammenarbeit mit den Kollegen aus der Abwicklung sowie dem Management gezielte Maßnahmen ergreifen und implementieren. Das Ziel ist selbstverständlich, einen weiterhin reibungslosen Service anbieten zu können.

Was rät Panalpina Industrie- und Handels- sowie Logistikunternehmen nun angesichts dieser Situation zu tun? Welche Alternativen sollten diese insbesondere in logistischer Hinsicht jetzt treffen? Lohnt sich etwa der Umstieg von Luft- auf Seefracht-Beförderung oder aber bei extrem wichtigen Produkten auch umgekehrt?

Am wichtigsten ist es, frühzeitig zu planen und zusätzliche Zeit für sonst normale Abwicklungen einzukalkulieren. Das trifft sowohl auf Logistik-, als auch Industrie und Handelsunternehmen zu. Während Logistikunternehmen sich frühzeitig mit den jeweiligen potenziellen Restriktionen auseinandersetzen und entsprechende Lösungsmöglichkeiten ausarbeiten müssen, sollten Industrie- und Handelsunternehmen innerhalb ihrer Lieferkette gewisse Verzögerungen beziehungsweise eine verlängerte Auftragsbearbeitung einplanen. Da man nach wie vor davon ausgehen muss, dass die Behörden weitere Restriktionen herausgeben werden bzw. bestehende Sicherheitsverfahren sich eventuell wieder verändern, ist es wichtig, genügend Zeitpuffer für die Transportplanung und -abwicklung einzurechnen.
Aufgrund der unterschiedlichen Auslegung gewisser Einschränkungen (entweder bei lokalen Behörden oder bei Carriern), werden auch die administrativen Arbeitsabläufe langwieriger.

Stichwort Gefahrgut: welche Güter sind in nächster Zeit völlig verboten, nach und aus China zu befördern? Wie lange gilt dieses Verbot?

Dies ist nicht ganz einfach zu beantworten, denn man muss klar unterscheiden zwischen offiziellen Restriktionen der Behörden und internen Richtlinien/Verfahrensweisen der Luft- und Seefrachtcarrier. Vor allen Dingen bei den Reedereien (aufgrund der langen Transportwege/-zeiten), scheint eine gewisse Zurückhaltung zu bestehen. Um zu verhindern, von möglichen neuen oder sich ändernden Vorschriften überrascht zu werden, lehnen viele Seefrachtcarrier sämtliche Gefahrgutsendungen ab, selbst wenn diese derzeit laut Hafenbehörden nach wie vor möglich sind. Im Bereich Luftfracht ist die Situation momentan etwas besser geregelt, da es eine klare Regulierung von der CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China) gibt. Während es für chinesische Carrier ein DG Embargo gibt (d.h. keine DG Transporte dürfen durchgeführt werden), sind ausländische Carrier nicht betroffen. Im Bereich Seefracht gibt es unterschiedliche Bestimmungen der Häfen und entsprechender Ankündigung der Hafenbehörden. Im Zeitraum vom 18 Juli bis Anfang September (und eventuell sogar Ende September) wird es voraussichtlich schwierig, Gefahrgüter (mit Ausnahme von Class 9) von und nach China zu organisieren.

Was sind überhaupt die Gründe für die genannten Blockaden, Verbote, Einschränkungen?

Die Gründe sind vor allem bei der Gewährleistung der Sicherheit und der Sorge um die Luftqualität zu suchen, aber auch, um Engpässe in den Häfen, Flughäfen und im Straßennetz zu verhindern.

Das Interview führte Eva Hassa.

Friday, July 11, 2008

Laptop battery for ibm thinkpad t60 usage tips

Laptop battery for ibm thinkpad t60 usage tips

1. A new battery usually comes in a discharged condition and with a very low capacity. It is generally recommended to fully charge new battery packs before use. Refer to the users?guide of your electronic device for charging instructions.

2. A new battery pack needs to be circled (fully discharged and recharged) three to five times to reach its optimum performance.

3. Rechargeable battery will undergo self-discharging when left unused for a long period of time. Thus, it should always be stored in a fully charged state and kept in a cool, dry and clean place.

4. To maintain the optimum performance of a battery pack, it is highly recommended to circle (fully discharging and recharging) it at least once a month.

5. It is normal if a new battery gets warm when being charged or used. However, close attention should be paid if the battery pack becomes excessively hot. This may indicate there is a problem with the charging circuit of the electronic device. So, it is necessary to have it checked by a qualified technician.

6. New batteries are hard to be charged. Sometimes, your electronic device may indicate a fully charged condition about 10 to 15 minutes when the new battery pack is being charged for the first time. When this happens, remove the battery pack and let it cool down for about 10 to 15 minutes then repeat the charging procedure. Sometimes, a new battery will suddenly refuse to be charged. If this happens, it is then suggested to remove the battery from the device and reinsert it.

To better use your battery, please take care of the precautions listed below:
1. Do not modify or disassemble.
2. Do not incinerate or expose battery to excessive heat, which may result in an exposure.
3. Do not expose battery to water or other moist matters.
4. Do not pierce, hit, step on, crush or abuse the battery.
5. Do not place battery in device for a long period of time if device is not being used.
6. Do not short circuit the terminals or store your battery pack with metal objects such as necklaces or hairpins.

Activate new thinkpad t60 battery
The new notebook computer should get small electricity for the first time. To activate the new ibm thinkpad t60 battery, should not use the outer power first, but use up the energy of the thinkpad t60 battery until the notebook shut down. Then charge the battery with the outer power until the indicator light go out. Then use up the energy again. Repeating 3 times to activate the ibm thinkpad t60 battery.

Top 15 Ways to Extend Your Laptop’s Battery Life

laptop

Laptops tend to lose their charm quickly when you’re constantly looking for the nearest power outlet to charge up. How do you keep your battery going for as long as possible? Here are 15 easy ways to do so.

1. Defrag regularly - The faster your hard drive does its work - less demand you are going to put on the hard drive and your battery. Make your hard drive as efficient as possible by defragging it regularly. (but not while it’s on battery of course!) Mac OSX is better built to handle fragmentation so it may not be very applicable for Apple systems.

2. Dim your screen - Most laptops come with the ability to dim your laptop screen. Some even come with ways to modify CPU and cooling performance. Cut them down to the lowest level you can tolerate to squeeze out some extra battery juice.

3. Cut down on programs running in the background. Itunes, Desktop Search, etc. All these add to the CPU load and cut down battery life. Shut down everything that isn’t crucial when you’re on battery.

4. Cut down external devices - USB devices (including your mouse) & WiFi drain down your laptop battery. Remove or shut them down when not in use. It goes without saying that charging other devices (like your iPod) with your laptop when on battery is a surefire way of quickly wiping out the charge on your laptop battery.

5. Add more RAM - This will allow you to process more with the memory your laptop has, rather than relying on virtual memory. Virtual memory results in hard drive use, and is much less power efficient. Note that adding more RAM will consume more energy, so this is most applicable if you do need to run memory intensive programs which actually require heavy usage of virtual memory.

dvd

6. Run off a hard drive rather than CD/DVD - As power consuming as hard drives are, CD and DVD drives are worse. Even having one in the drive can be power consuming. They spin, taking power, even when they?re not actively being used. Wherever possible, try to run on virtual drives using programs like Alcohol 120% rather than optical ones.

7. Keep the battery contacts clean: Clean your battery’s metal contacts every couple of months with a cloth moistened with rubbing alcohol. This keeps the transfer of power from your battery more efficient.

8. Take care of your battery - Exercise the Battery. Do not leave a charged battery dormant for long periods of time. Once charged, you should at least use the battery at least once every two to three weeks. Also, do not let a Li-On battery completely discharge. (Discharing is only for older batteries with memory effects)

9. Hibernate not standby - Although placing a laptop in standby mode saves some power and you can instantly resume where you left off, it doesn’t save anywhere as much power as the hibernate function does. Hibernating a PC will actually save your PC’s state as it is, and completely shut itself down.

temp

Der Dax stürzt auf Jahrestief

Frankfurter Börse

Der Dax stürzt auf Jahrestief

Von Alexander Armbruster

11. Juli 2008 Der Dax ist auf ein neues Jahrestief gefallen. Heute notierte der Leitindex der deutschen Wirtschaft um 13.14 Uhr auf 6139 Punkten. Noch vor einem Jahr, am 13. Juli 2007, ist er bis auf 8151 Punkte gestiegen, womit er sogar den bis dato höchsten Wert übersprang, den er während der Technologie-Hausse im März 2000 erreichte.

Anleger hatten im vergangenen Jahr eher damit gerechnet, dass er weiter steigen würde. Doch anstelle eines neuen Höchststandes begann die Finanzkrise. Der Dax setzte zum Sinkflug an und segelte seitdem um mehr als 2000 Punkte nach unten. Umgerechnet entspricht das einem Jahresminus von rund 24 Prozent.

Verlierer sind die Banken und Autobauer

Der Absturz erfolgte branchenübergreifend. Allen voran fielen die Aktienkurse der Banken. Der Kurs der Deutschen Bank hat sich halbiert und handelt heute etwas über 50 Euro. Commerzbank-Aktien verringerten sich beinahe genauso stark. Die Papiere der Hypo Real Estate sind um 67 Prozent niedergegangen und führen damit die Verliererliste im Dax an.

Blättern

Zum Thema

Zum Börsenkurs

Stark gefallen sind auch die Werte deutscher Autobauer: Die Aktie von Daimler um 44 Prozent, die des Wettbewerbers BMW um 38 Prozent. Einzig der Volkswagen-Konzern bescherte seinen Anlegern Freude, ein Papier kostet momentan 168 Euro und damit 36 Prozent mehr als noch vor 12 Monaten. Dass sich die Aktie dem Markttrend entziehen konnte, lag allerdings einfach daran, dass der Luxuswagenherrsteller Porsche bei dem Massenwagenproduzenten eingestiegen ist - und damit den Aktienpreis hoch gekauft hat.

Optimistische Aussichten

Privatanleger können dennoch optimistisch nach vorne schauen. Nach Meinung vieler Profis wird der Dax bis zum Jahresende auf die Marke von 7000 Punkten zumarschieren oder diese sogar überschreiten. Die Analysten der Deutschen Bank sehen den Index in ihrem Basis-Szenario auf 7700 Punkte steigen, diejenigen der HSH Nordbank sogar auf 8200 Punkte. Peter Körndl, der die Aktienstrategie der Dresdner Bank mitbestimmt, geht von einem Indexstand von 7600 Punkten aus.

Der Dax sinkt weiter

Zu seinen Annahmen gehört allerdings, dass der Ölpreis eher fällt als steigt, damit die Inflationsraten abnehmen und die Zentralbanken weniger über weitere Zinserhöhungen nachdenken. „Wenn wir geringere Preissteigerungsraten sehen, wird die Bewertung wieder eine größere Rolle spielen und in dieser Hinsicht sind Aktien immer noch im historischen Vergleich sehr günstig.“

Damit spielt er auf Bewertungsgrößen wie etwa das Verhältnis zwischen erwarteten Unternehmensgewinnen und Aktienkursen an, das derzeit für den Dax bei ungefähr 11 liegt, während der langfristige Durchschnitt 15 beträgt.

Seit fast einem Jahr Dauerthema an der Börse: die Finanzkrise

Was macht der Ölpreis?

Der Ölpreis spielt auch eine Schlüsselrolle für die Prognose der Commerzbank. „Wenn der Ölpreis konstant unter 130 Dollar fallen würde, wäre das auf jeden Fall geeignet, um die Stimmung der Anleger aufzuhellen und den Dax nach oben zu treiben“, sagt Markus Wallner. Der Aktienstratege sieht den Dax auf 7200 Punkte steigen. Aus seiner Sicht hilft, dass viele Unternehmen bilanziell immer noch gut dastehen, was zumindest das Risiko weiterer Kursverluste stark reduziert. „Allerdings ist die Nervosität momentan sehr hoch und auch geopolitische Ereignisse treiben die Kurse.“

Viele Themen für „überdiskutiert“ hält Markus Reinwand, Aktienstratege der Hessischen Landesbank. Die negativen Schlagzeilen sind aus seiner Sicht bereits in vielen Aktienkursen enthalten. In einer aktuellen Analyse hat er außerdem ausgerechnet, dass in der Vergangenheit nach Indexrückgängen um 20 Prozent meistens eine Bodenbildung folgte, von der auch wieder Bewegungen nach oben möglich waren. Der Dax klettert nach seiner Schätzung auf 7300 Punkte.

Matthias Jörss, Aktienstratege der Bank Sal. Oppenheim, ist weniger optimistisch. Auch er rechnet mit höheren Kursen, sieht den Dax aber nur auf 6900 Punkte steigen. Die Bewertungen vieler Werte seien zwar günstig. Aber die Nachrichten bleiben aus seiner Sicht erst mal schlecht. „Außerdem wird das Wachstum auf vielen Schwellenmärkten sinken und gleichzeitig die Inflation steigen, was Aktien belastet.“ Er empfiehlt deshalb Anlagen in von der Konjunktur wenig betroffenen Sektoren. Aus dem Dax hält er die Aktien von RWE, der Post, der Postbank und der Münchener Rückversicherung für kaufenswert.

Text: F.A.Z.
Bildmaterial: AP, Bloomberg; Thomson Financial Datastream, ddp, FAZ.NET

Breaking up is hard to do

Corporate disposals

Breaking up is hard to do

Jul 10th 2008
From The Economist print edition

GE plans to sell its consumer and industrial division. Corporate disposals are getting more popular

Illustartion by David Simonds

DECIDING to sell a business unit or subsidiary can be one of the hardest decisions chief executives have to make. Some cannot bring themselves to wield the axe: big disposals are often triggered only when a new boss takes over or a financial crisis forces a chief executive’s hand. But smart sellers can earn impressive returns.

The number of such sales worldwide has been growing steadily, from 10,074 in 2003 to 12,361 last year, according to data from Thomson Reuters, a research firm (see chart below). Over the same period the total value of such deals soared from $539 billion to almost $1.5 trillion, as the average deal size increased.

This year is shaping up to be a busy one for divestitures too, even though the broader mergers-and-acquisitions market is in the doldrums. Slowing economies are forcing companies to take a hard look at their activities. Corporate activists are also pressing firms to shed underperforming assets. On Thursday July 10th General Electric (GE), which has been trying to find a buyer for its home-appliances division, said it plans to spin off its entire Consumer & Industrial division to shareholders. Other transactions in the pipeline include Time Warner’s planned disposal of its cable-television business, Allianz’s scheme to sell Dresdner Bank, and Royal Bank of Scotland’s proposed sale of its insurance arm. General Motors (GM) is looking for a buyer for its Hummer brand, and this week Merrill Lynch was reported to be planning to sell all or part of its 20% stake in Bloomberg, a financial-news provider.

Most sales take place in rich countries, but emerging-market firms have begun to join in. In December 2007 Orascom Construction Industries (OCI), an Egyptian conglomerate, sold its cement business to France’s Lafarge for €8.8 billion ($12.9 billion) in order to concentrate on its fast-growing construction, natural-gas and fertiliser activities. In February the firm snapped up a rival fertiliser company using some of the money raised from the deal.

Although OCI sold its business outright, many emerging giants prefer spin-offs, which involve distributing shares in a subsidiary to the parent’s owners or selling a minority stake to new investors. Take Bharti Airtel, an Indian telecoms giant, which last year spun off a $1 billion minority stake in its network-infrastructure business, Bharti Infratel, to a group of investment funds. Such deals highlight hidden gems in a portfolio, but allow parent companies to retain control. They also attract investors keen to buy into fast-growing industries: in February Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, a private-equity firm, invested a further $250m in Bharti Infratel.

Like many private-equity firms, which frequently shuffle their portfolios, companies that buy and sell a lot tend to shine too. Carsten Stendevad of Citi, an investment bank, notes that between 2002 and 2007 the returns of firms that used a balanced mix of acquisitions and disposals outperformed acquisition-focused companies by almost 5% a year.

Why? Part of the answer is that investors assume that active portfolio managers such as GE and Procter & Gamble (a consumer-goods giant which recently announced the $3 billion sale of its Folgers coffee business) are very focused on growth. They are also less likely to suffer from what academics call “capital allocation socialism”. In many firms, some businesses have excellent growth prospects whereas others are mature but produce lots of cash. Ideally, money from these “cash cows” should be redeployed to the stars, but the cash cows’ managers may fight to keep some of it for their empires. Several studies have shown that the investment in future stars rises sharply once laggards have been dumped.

This effect may help explain why a recent study of European asset sales by Morgan Stanley, another investment bank, found that firms selling large businesses tended to get a bigger share-price boost in the long run than those selling tiddlers. Investors seem to interpret a big asset sale as a signal that managers are serious about focusing on growth areas. If a company is in trouble, a big sale may be seen as an important part of a turnaround.

Of course, a firm will reap the benefits of a disposal only if it is handled well. Yet dealmakers say managers often put less effort into selling businesses than buying them, perhaps because they just want to focus on what’s left. Successful sellers, however, work hard to get the best possible prices for their assets, even if it takes months. GE is excellent at this. Its chief executive, Jeffrey Immelt, has been jetting around the globe recently trying to drum up interest in its household-appliances arm from the likes of China’s Haier and Sweden’s Electrolux.

As well as touting a division to potential buyers, managers must also assess the impact its departure will have on shared corporate resources, such as finance and legal services.

The biggest difficulty of all, however, is deciding when to sell. Many experts say that firms often let go of assets too late in a business cycle, when prices are depressed. GM is likely to have trouble parking its Hummer division, for example, having decided to look for a buyer just as giant, thirsty vehicles are going out of fashion.

Chinese companies are investing more abroad

China

Hungry dragon

Jul 11th 2008
From Economist.com

Chinese companies are investing more abroad

AFTER 11 months of tricky negotiations, last week a subsidiary of China's state-owned oil company, CNOOC, announced that it would buy a Norwegian oil-services firm for $2.5 billion. Foreign investment by Chinese companies has grown steadily, reaching $18.7 billion last year. But striking deals is getting harder. Since 2005, when CNOOC was blocked by the American government from buying Unocal, an American oil firm, many of China's big state-owned companies have been wary of bidding for Western firms. And other countries are chary of China's appetite. An estimated $40 billion of potential Chinese acquisitions are awaiting approval by Australian regulators.

Shutterstock

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Don't Let the Circumstances Outpace Your Assumptions

Posted by Scott Anthony on July 8, 2008 6:56 AM

A front-page article in yesterday’s Wall Street Journal illustrated how important it is to periodically revisit the assumptions behind an idea.

The article described how several years ago, the head of Sacramento’s regional planning agency started to push developers to concentrate growth in defined areas rather than furthering suburban sprawl. The argument hinged on lowering pollution and fostering economic development.

Of course, with the price of oil shooting up, today the idea looks remarkably prescient.

I wonder, however, how many planners rejected similar ideas because they couldn’t imagine people making living decisions based on the cost of commuting, and how many now wish they started dusting off those rejected plans when signals emerged suggesting that circumstances had changed.

On the other hand, sometimes circumstances change in ways that undermine ideas that once seemed credible. Consider Motorola’s daring, and ultimately doomed, venture to provide satellite-driven mobile telephony.

When Motorola started investing in the multi-billion dollar “Iridium” project, competing standards made using mobile telephony in different counties a major headache. I remember when I joined McKinsey & Co. in the mid 1990s how world travelers would carry several mobile phones. Under these conditions, a truly global technology had appeal.

As many markets converged on a standard (Global System for Mobile communications, or GSM) and created roaming agreements, the basic premise behind Iridium crumbled. Motorola continued plowing money into the venture until it was crystal clear that it was a flop.

It’s rare that you come across a universally good or bad idea. Whenever you make a decision about an idea, ask about the three developments that would make you reject the project you just approved or approve the project you just rejected. Periodically revisiting that shortlist will help to properly manage your innovation portfolio.

Can readers think of examples of good "before their time" ideas that might have been killed too soon? I wonder sometimes what would have happened if Apple kept at the Apple Newton for example. Maybe the iPod would have come even sooner.

Does “Management” Mean “Command and Control”?

Posted by Tom Davenport on July 7, 2008 1:31 PM

I read recently that IBM was abandoning the term “knowledge management” for “knowledge sharing.” According to an article on the KnowledgeBoard site (thanks to Chris Johannesson from NBC Universal for suggesting that I blog about it), Chris Cooper, knowledge sharing solutions leader at IBM Global Business Services (GBS), deems it a “philosophical repositioning.” Cooper notes, “Management suggests control: control of process and control of environment.” Another GBS knowledge specialist, Luis Suarez, notes in the same article, "Command and control corporations are no longer going to be there. People need to be freed to share what they know."

Hmm…better tell all the world’s managers, schools of management, management consultants, etc. The term “management” is apparently a synonym for “command and control,” and we know that’s bad. “Command and control” is top-down, mean and nasty, and headed for extinction; “sharing” is bottom-up, nice and friendly, and the wave of the future. Maybe the Yale School of Organization and Management, for example, should become the Yale School of Sharing.

OK, I have no problem with giving something a new name when you are adopting a new emphasis. I don’t even have that much of a problem with the term “sharing,” although it is somewhat reminiscent of kindergarten. However, I do have a problem with overly simplistic characterizations of knowledge management, and management more generally.

Let’s talk about the more limited issue of defending knowledge management. As I said, I don’t really care what you call it, but if your organization really cares about creating, distributing (I’m sorry—“sharing”), and applying knowledge, you need to manage it. The last time I checked, “management” of knowledge could include some relatively structured, “here’s the knowledge we really need to do our jobs right” approaches, as well as some more emergent, Enterprise 2.0-oriented ones. If you only do the former, your knowledge workers will probably feel a bit stifled; if you only do the latter, things will probably feel a bit chaotic. If I’m a NASA astronaut, for example, and I’m sitting on the launch pad when something goes wrong, I’d rather have people looking for a solution in structured knowledge bases than mucking around in blogs and wikis.

But the broader issue is whether “management” is an outdated concept, or whether it’s the same as “command and control.” Frankly, I think those are nutty ideas. There may sometimes be a need for less directive approaches to management, as I argued with respect to knowledge workers in my book Thinking for a Living. But the right style of management, like the right approach to knowledge management, varies widely based on a number of factors—including the people being managed, the society in which you’re managing, and the task at hand.

In fact, I think we should ban the term “command and control.” It’s simplistic shorthand for a stereotyped approach to management. The world of management is much more subtle and multi-faceted, and any synonyms for it should reflect that complexity.

Founding Father

July/August 2008

Founding Father

A new book describes the man who created modern venture capital.

By Mark Williams

Although it's a popular story, it is untrue that President George W. Bush once said, "The problem with the French is that they have no word for entrepreneur." Still, a common prejudice in Anglophone nations holds that the French are less entrepreneurial than we. Creative Capital: Georges Doriot and the Birth of Venture Capital--a biography of the French-born Harvard Business School professor who practically created modern venture capitalism--is a reproach to that assumption.

That said, as BusinessWeek's Spencer Ante makes clear in his new book, Georges Doriot was an unusual Frenchman. He studied the sciences at his Parisian lycée, to which--after gaining his license at 15--he drove through the boulevards of a capital by then hunkered down for World War I. At 18 he passed from that lycée to the charnel house of the Western Front as an officer in an artillery regiment; at war's end heeded his father's counsel that the shattered state of France made the New World his wisest option.

So Georges Doriot came to the United States at 21 with neither family nor friends, nor much money, but with the intention to enroll at MIT and with a letter from a friend of his father introducing him to A. Lawrence Lowell, president of Harvard. At Lowell's suggestion he studied at Harvard Business School rather than MIT, and in his first job at an investment bank he befriended a young Lewis Strauss, who would later be the chairman of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and a dispenser of federal benifices on an enormous scale. Even in Doriot's earliest years in America, then, its future eminent men were familiar to him--though still strangers to most of their countrymen--and this pattern intensified after Harvard Business School hired him in 1925: his former students frequently attained high positions in business or government. During World War II, having become a U.S. citizen, Doriot joined the army, became director of the Military Planning Division, and received brigadier general's rank in the Quartermaster Corps after William Donovan, soon to be head of the OSS (forerunner of the CIA), recommended him to President Roosevelt. His military superior in the war was a man who in the 1920s had attended his lectures on the virtues of the goal-oriented campaign and the collective wisdom of the markets.

In a hurry: Georges Doriot in 1931 on the luxury liner Ile de France, 10 years after his arrival in the United States from France.
Credit: Bettmann/Corbis

MORE INFORMATION:

Creative Capital: Georges Doriot and the Birth of Venture Capital
By Spencer E. Ante
Harvard Business Press, 2008, $35.00

On that latter subject Doriot felt strongly. In speeches and articles, he opposed both the dirigiste political economy of his native France and the tax hikes and anticompetitive laws enacted in the United States under the New Deal. Such regulations, he maintained, arrogated to bureaucrats the function of the markets; their worst feature was that they let government lend money to failing businesses. Ante notes that a former colleague of Doriot's, James F. Morgan, recalled him as "the most schizophrenic Frenchman I've ever met"--devoted to his original land's wine, cuisine, and language even as "the French capacity to make very simple things complicated drove him nuts." However atypical a Frenchman Doriot was, his pro-entrepreneurial philosophy--alongside his vast experience serving on dozens of corporate boards in the interwar years and running much of U.S. military procurement during World War II--made him the natural choice for the role of company president when in 1946 a group of Boston's leading citizens set up the American Research and Development Corporation (ARD) as the first publicly owned venture capital firm.

By the time Doriot called it quits in 1972 by merging ARD with the conglomerate Textron, his firm had invested in 120 companies, most of which had proprietary, innovative technologies in areas including isotope conversion, water desalination, electronics, data processing, scientific instrumentation, and electrical generation. It's an impressive list of investments, containing names to conjure with--if your taste runs to conjuring with Zapata Off-Shore, a company headed by George H. W. Bush that had a novel mobile oil-drilling rig, or Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), which Doriot funded with an initial $70,000 in 1957 and which returned more than $400 million when ARD liquidated its stake in 1972.

With DEC, a legendary company from the dawn of the computer age, we enter a landscape that more closely resembles our own. Doriot left his mark in other realms--principally as an early advocate of globalization, by founding a European-based counterpart of Harvard Business School called the Institut Européen d'Administration des Affaires, or INSEAD. Yet his chief legacy is his quarter-century at the head of the first organized venture capital firm to raise its funds from institutional investors and the public. Contemporaneously with ARD's watershed investment in DEC, others began walking the trails Doriot had blazed: Arthur Rock (a student of Doriot's in the Harvard class of 1951) backed the departure of the "Traitorous Eight" from Shockley Semiconductor to form Fairchild Semiconductor in 1957, then funded Robert Noyce and Gordon Moore when they left Fairchild to found Intel; Laurance Rockefeller formed Venrock, which has since backed more than 400 companies, including Intel and Apple; Don Valentine formed Sequoia Capital, which would invest in Atari, Apple, Oracle, Cisco, Google, and YouTube.

Creative Capital is not a yellowing evocation of a vanished era of business. Nor does it suggest that there are, or once were, more systematic, less speculative ways of investing in technology startups. But if one is struck by how little Doriot's venture capitalism differed from that of today's Silicon Valley, Ante's book does show how the structure of venture capital has evolved. At the 1960s' end, for instance, when Doriot sought a successor at ARD, he favored one of his former students, Thomas Perkins, who'd made a name for himself as administrative head of the research department at Hewlett-Packard. Perkins found polite reasons to decline Doriot's offer, but his real motive--as he told Ante--was simply that "there was no way to make significant money because of the structure of ARD." Doriot endured bureaucratic regulators who did not understand or care how a venture capital firm differed from other investment companies. ARD suffered because, since it was incorporated as a publicly traded investment company, its employees could not generally receive stock options in its portfolio companies, despite Doriot's ceaseless pleas to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The reality that Doriot's company faced from 1959 onward was that a new organizational form--the limited partnership, born in Texas's oil-wildcatting industry--was being adopted by newer VC firms. Ante quotes a former ARD executive who recalled that after he supervised the IPO of one portfolio company, the net worth of that company's CEO "went from 0 to $10 million and I got a $2,000 raise." A VC limited partnership, by contrast, gave its general partners not just management fees but also portions of its capital gains; additionally, it permitted profits to be passed on to its investors without incurring corporate taxes, and it mandated that limited partners stand clear of management. Small wonder that when Perkins helped found Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers in 1972, it was as a limited partnership. When Doriot finally accepted the SEC's intransigence, he deemed ARD "not competitive anymore" and sought the merger with Textron.

Similar disagreements continue between government and industry. After the dot-com and telecom crashes, Washington passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and new accounting rules for expensing stock options, despite the predictions of many technology executives and VCs that regulation would undermine innovation. John Doerr at Kleiner Perkins, for one, believes that that happened: "Sarbanes-Oxley did have some chilling effects on technology startups in terms of the cost of being able to go public."

What verdict should we award Doriot and ARD? David Hsu, a professor of management at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, says that while ARD suffered from fatal organizational flaws, it made a lasting imprint on the practice of venture capital. Indeed, writes Hsu in a paper he coauthored, by the time Doriot sold the firm to Textron, "venture capital had become a part of the economy, and ARD simply slipped out of existence with its historical mission accomplished."

Mark Williams is a contributing editor to Technology Review.

"Plug and Play" Hospitals

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

"Plug and Play" Hospitals

Medical devices that exchange data could make hospitals safer.

By Kristina Grifantini

The bewildering variety of new medical devices in U.S. hospitals promises higher standards of care. But it also poses new opportunities for error. A growing number of physicians believe that the interoperability of medical devices--their ability to communicate with each other--could make hospitals safer and more efficient.

"Today, there are many proprietary systems available from different vendors, but the problem is, these systems can't talk to one another," says Douglas Rosendale, a surgeon who works on information integration at Veterans Health Administration and Harvard Brigham and Women's Hospital. "If they can't interface, then they can't share information, which could have an impact on patient care." Estimates of the number of preventable deaths caused each year by medical errors in American hospitals range from 98,000 to 195,000.

Julian Goldman, director of the Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology's Medical Device Interoperability Program, based at Massachusetts General Hospital, has developed two demonstration projects that illustrate the idea of the "plug and play" operating room. The first project is an integrated ventilator. A common problem in hospitals is taking chest x-rays of patients on ventilators, says Goldman. To keep the lungs' movements from blurring the image, doctors must manually turn off the ventilator for a few seconds to take the x-ray. But then they run the risk of inadvertently leaving the ventilator off for too long, says Goldman.

To simulate an x-ray machine, Goldman used a webcam, which he connected to a ventilator and a computer. He synched the camera with the ventilator so that it would capture images only when the ventilator was at the point of full inhalation or exhalation. Goldman says that as a result of his demonstration, standards for ventilators are in the process of being revised so that future versions of the devices will include a pause function and will be subject to network control, moving toward interoperability.

Breathe in, breathe out: A ventilator and camera connected to a computer demonstrate how “plug and play” medical devices could help prevent medical errors. Traditionally, a doctor who wants to take an x-ray of a patient on a ventilator has to manually stop the device so that the lungs’ motion won’t blur the image. But that introduces the risk of accidentally leaving the ventilator off for too long. This experimental setup at Massachusetts General Hospital times photographs taken by a webcam so that they correspond to the full-exhalation or full-inhalation states of the ventilator.
Credit: Kristina Grifantini

"That's an example where you actually avoid the risk by simply not having to turn off the ventilator at all," says Peter Szolovits, a professor of computer science at MIT who studies medical data integration. "In other cases where you have a bunch of data simultaneously, you can do a better job of trying to understand what's going on with the patient," he says.

Device interoperability could also reduce the large number of false alarms that nurses must contend with. "If you go into an ICU, it's a madhouse," says Szolovits. "There are alarms going off constantly, because each alarm is separate from the others, so none of them have an integrated view of what's going on with the patient." If the data from medical monitors were integrated, he says, alarms would be more likely to indicate something truly important.

Goldman's second plug-and-play demonstration simulates a self-administering pain medication pump, a device widely used in hospitals despite its occasional adverse effects. Monitoring devices strive to eliminate the risk that patients will accidentally overdose, but they set off many false alarms. Goldman speculated that if a computer received data from two or more monitoring devices, it could much more easily distinguish false emergencies from real ones. In his demonstration, simulated patient data is fed to an oximeter and a respiratory monitor. The program sounds an alarm only when both sensors suggest that the patient is undergoing a crisis.

Goldman admits that, while his demos are relatively straightforward, obstacles to device interoperability remain. Monitoring systems are expensive for hospitals to replace, he says: "We've made it too difficult to integrate systems to have smart alarms." Another barrier is old-fashioned competitiveness. A vendor that produces medical equipment tends to make its devices compatible only with each other.

But as Goldman points out, many emergency rooms need such specialized equipment that no one vendor can produce all of it. So selecting a single vendor won't solve the interoperability problem. "We're probably a ways off from true interoperability," Rosendale says. "However, there is clearly momentum growing in this area. As computer technology and device dependence grows, that means interoperability is going to be more and more obvious."

"I think everyone recognizes that there's a lot of data generated for patients, but it's not always used as effectively as it could be," says Daniel Nigrin, chief information officer and senior vice president for information services at Children's Hospital Boston. "Over the course of the last 5 to 10 years, there have been several studies that came out that showed basically that there's room for enormous improvement in reducing errors in medicine. That's why efforts like [Goldman's are] so crucial." Nigrin suggests that hospitals are slowly starting to move toward medical devices that share data with one another and with electronic medical-record systems. "There are instances where you're starting to see some of the devices connected. Whether that's having monitoring systems or ventilator systems attached to electronic medical records, you're starting to see some systems like that implemented in a real-world environment," he says.

A Patch to Fix the Net

Thursday, July 10, 2008

A Patch to Fix the Net

A major flaw in the basic design of the Internet is being repaired by a large group of vendors working in concert.

By Erica Naone

On Tuesday, major vendors released patches to address a flaw in the underpinnings of the Internet, in what researchers say is the largest synchronized security update in the history of the Web. Vendors and security researchers are hoping that their coordinated efforts will get the fix out to most of the systems that need it before attackers are able to identify the flaw and begin to exploit it. Attackers could use the flaw to control Internet traffic, potentially directing users to phishing sites or sites loaded with malicious software.

Discovered six months ago by security researcher Dan Kaminsky, director of penetration testing services at IOActive, the flaw is in the domain name system, a core element of the Web that helps systems connected to the Internet locate each other. Kaminsky likens the domain name system to the telephone company's 411 system. When a user types in a Web address--technologyreview.com--the domain name system matches it to the numerical address of the corresponding Web server--69.147.160.210. It's like giving a name to 411 and receiving a phone number, Kaminsky says.

Credit: Technology Review

The flaw that Kaminsky found could allow attackers to take control of the system and direct Internet traffic wherever they want it to go. The worst-case scenario, he says, could look pretty bleak. "You'd have the Internet, but it wouldn't be the Internet you expect," Kaminsky says. A user might type in the address for the Bank of America website, for example, and be redirected to a phishing site created by an attacker.

Details of the flaw are being kept secret for now. After Kaminsky discovered it, he quietly notified the major vendors of hardware and software for domain name servers. In March, he was one of 16 researchers who met at Microsoft's Redmond, WA, campus to plan how to deal with the flaw without releasing information that could help attackers. The researchers began working with vendors to release patches simultaneously. Also, since patches are known for giving away information that can help attackers reverse-engineer malicious software, the researchers chose a fix that kept the exact nature of the problem hidden. "We've done everything in our power up to and including selecting an obscure fix to provide the good guys with as much of an advantage as possible," Kaminsky says. "The advantage won't last forever. We think--we hope--it'll last a month."

Since the flaw is in the design of the domain name system itself, it afflicts products made by a variety of vendors, including Microsoft, Cisco, Sun Microsystems, and Red Hat, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Computer Emergency Readiness Team. The flaw also poses more problems for servers than it does for Web surfers, so vendors are focusing on getting patches to Internet service providers and company networks that might be vulnerable. Most home users will be covered by automatic updates to their operating systems.

Rich Mogull, an analyst with Securosis, says, "This is something that absolutely affects everyone who uses the Internet today." While he notes that most home users won't have to take action to address the flaw, he stresses that it's very important for businesses to make sure that they've covered their bases. "It is an absolutely critical issue that can impede the ability of any business to carry out their normal operations," he says.

Although Kaminsky was careful to avoid giving out too much information about the flaw that he discovered, he did say a few things about the nature of the fix. When a domain name server responds to a request for a website's location, it provides a confirmation code that is one of 65,000 numbers, as assurance that the transaction is authentic. "What has been discovered," Kaminsky says, "is that, for undisclosed reasons, 65,000 is just not enough, and we need a source of more randomness." The new system will require the initial request to include two randomly generated identifiers, instead of the one it now contains. Both identifiers will automatically be returned in the server's response. Kaminsky likens this to sending mail. Before the patch, it was possible to send a letter signed on the inside, but without a return address. After the patch, all "mail" sent from domain name system servers must include both a "signature"--the confirmation code--and the "return address"--the source port information.

Jeff Moss, CEO of Black Hat, a company that organizes conferences on security, stresses the importance, not only of the vulnerability, but also of the approach taken to patching it. "I don't even want to ask Dan [Kaminsky] how much money he could have gotten for this bug had he decided to sell it," Moss says.

Kaminsky says he's glad that vendors were willing to work together to address the flaw. "Something of this scale has not yet happened before," he says. "It is my hope that for any issue of this scale, especially design issues of this scale, this is the sort of thing that we can do in the future." He plans to release full details of the vulnerability next month at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas.

Friday, July 25, 2008

Electronics giants to create wireless HD standard

Electronics giants to create wireless HD standard

Studie: Schiene nicht konkurrenzfähig

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Find a Parking Space Online

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

A soluble problem

More trading could help to alleviate water shortages

Food for thought

Eat your way to a better brain

Peas of mind

Can green be groovy?

The pros and cons of an eco-friendly nightclub

xChina-Verkehre: "Erhebliche Engpässe drohen"

Friday, July 11, 2008

Frankfurter Börse

Der Dax stürzt auf Jahrestief

Breaking up is hard to do

GE plans to sell its consumer and industrial division. Corporate disposals are getting more popular

Hungry dragon

Chinese companies are investing more abroad

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Don't Let the Circumstances Outpace Your Assumptions

Does “Management” Mean “Command and Control”?

Founding Father

"Plug and Play" Hospitals

A Patch to Fix the Net

Illusion

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