Bear Flag Republic Radio Weblog

Outsourcing contracts are economically inefficient.

An article in the February 2004 Communications of the ACM by Yossi Lichtenstein says, in the hedged terms of a small sample size and an academic paper: "current outsourcing practices [contracting, not technical] may fall short of the sophistication prescribed by theories." In other words, outsourcing is being seized on as a golden bullet, while a more sophisticated analysis of costs and benefits would at least alter the terms of outsourcing if not take it off the table.

Not that this bodes well for programmers competing with cheap offshore labor, as it implies that the managers embracing the practice are those who don't stay abreast of magazines like CACM.

[Knowing .NET] [Edward Mitchell: Common Sense Technology]
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Zaurus SL-C860 Review [Slashdot]
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Hack Your Car [Slashdot]
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FCC votes to end radio usage of the HF and low VHF radio spectrum. That's not how they put it, but they have voted to move ahead with a rulemaking proceeding to allow power companies to broadcast internet data services using power lines that leak emissions and interfere with radio communication systems. I know that Bush is looking into "Iraq Intelligence"; perhaps he could look into FCC Intelligence while he is at it. . [Edward Mitchell: Common Sense Technology]
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Visa violations charge against Indian IT firms ó US citizens' earnings unharmed.
The Hindu Business Line Feb 13 2004 9:52PM GMT [Moreover - moreover...]
India, apparently, now claims to have a comparative advantage in the significant and inappropriate use of statistics. The argument they present is comical! I'll leave it to the reader to spot the misuse of statistics! Then they go on to "play the race card" by accusing opponents of offshoring (and people who would merely like to keep themselves employed) as being "xenophobic". Incredible - misuse statistics and play the race card too. And then they have a "quote" from President Bush that he never said. That quote, like the rest of the article is a work of fiction. In fact, the data they present supports the argument that temporary imported workers are paying paid less than U.S. residents.
[Edward Mitchell: Common Sense Technology]
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Scientists Advance Hydrogen Tech. University of Minnesota researchers make hydrogen from ethanol in a prototype reactor that is small enough to generate power for homes and cars. It could help bring renewable hydrogen to the mass market. [Wired News]
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