This is about the coolest (and scariest) thing I've seen in a while [Slashdot]. Combine:

• cheap storage (and lots of it)
• cheap and small digital cameras
• ubiquitous wireless networking
• and eyeBlog

What do you get? Quick access to every conversation you have ever had. No more "I told you such-and-such", "no, you said whozywhatzit". Instead, you just look it up in your archive and play back the conversation complete with audio and video. 5:58:47 PM    comment []  

Offshore outsourcing continues as a volatile issue. Forrester just published a new report backing an older estimate that 3.4 jobs will move offshore by 2015 [CNET News.com]. Lots of numbers keep floating around on how many jobs will be lost and India is usually cited as the destination of these jobs. However, the article talks about other places where the jobs may be going.

 In addition to publicity, other reasons cited by Forrester as factors contributing to offshoring are expansion of services by Indian companies, increased operations in lower-wage countries among U.S. technology companies such as IBM, and businesses setting up facilities abroad to handle claims processing and other tasks. The report predicted that Vietnam, North Africa and Belarus will become more popular as offshore destinations, making India less dominant over time.

It will surely be an uncomfortable transition for many people. I may end up having to include myself in that group. However, overall I think it will be good for the world economy. It's not guaranteed to be great for the U.S. economy, but I even think it will turn out to be a boon for Americans as well. The reason? America has made these outsourced economies dependant on it. That means the cost savings generating by outsourcing is being passed on to American companies.

Overall, this could be good for America. However, if it is allowed to progress in such a fashion that middle-class Americans continue to get shoved down the ladder into lower and lower paying jobs, then there will probably be a backlash at some point.

[Correction: (May 19, 2004, 10:17 am PDT) The actual number stated by the Forrester was 3.4 million] 5:42:44 PM    comment []  

This is a wonderful example of naturally occuring foam art [Andy's Boathouse]. Such a formation can only occur under very specific garage shelf conditions. 5:19:06 PM    comment []