World Business Summit on Climate Change Videos (May 2009)

Videos from the May 2009 World Business Summit on Climate Change in Copenhagen are here.

Cloud Computing - Structure09

By Mary Vincent - Follow on Twitter @MaryVincent

I attended the Structure09 San Francisco June 25, 2009 conference and came away with a variety of perspectives and videos. I've been using the Cloud to successfully operate and enable my businesses, and it can be Green if sustainably architected. It enables me to efficiently and cost-effectively operate my startup businesses while traveling and interfacing with clients. The Cloud is the present and future as long as it's secure. (Turn up your System's Volume for better video viewing.)

For those not familiar with Cloud Computing, Wikipedia states: Cloud computing is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet.
The concept generally incorporates combinations of the following:
* infrastructure as a service (IaaS)
* platform as a service (PaaS)
* software as a service (SaaS) - Cloud computing services often provide common business applications online that are accessed from a web browser, while the software and data are stored on the servers.

Joe Weinman, Strategy and Business Development VP, AT&T Business Solutions and Structure09 Co-Host wrote the article: Peaking through the Clouds which also provides some insight. Data centers are of course an important part of cloud infrastructure. Google has built its own data centers and touts them as the most energy efficient. Here is the Google Data Center Best Practices Page for more information on efficient servers, efficient data centers, water management, and a document called "The Datacenter as a Computer: An Introduction into the Design of Warehouse-Scale Machines"

Panel: Databases to Dataspaces
During the 'From Databases to Dataspaces' Panel, Tasso Argyros, CTO and Co-Founder, Aster Data Systems stated that Software is important so you don't have to invest millions of dollars in infrastructure.
Project Voldemort, an open source, distributed database where the source code is available under the Apache 2.0 license was discussed on the Panel and is being used by Geir Magnusson, Consulting Architect, Platform, Gilt Groupe. The Project Voldemort website lists the following advantages:
* Voldemort combines in memory caching with the storage system so that a separate caching tier is not required, instead the storage system itself is just fast.
* Unlike MySQL replication, both reads and writes scale horizontally
* Data portioning is transparent, and allows for cluster expansion without rebalancing all data
* Data replication and placement is decided by a simple API to be able to accommodate a wide range of application specific strategies
* The storage layer is completely mockable so development and unit testing can be done against a throw-away in-memory storage system without needing a real cluster (or even a real storage system) for simple testing

Panel: Building the Perfect Host for Web Apps
A theme mentioned was that your technology could be great, but Operational Excellence is the Secret Sauce. The people you hire for agile development is very important. David Lipscomb, SVP, Engineering, NetSuite mentioned Three important things to remember:
* Design architecture for multi-tenancy
* Don't overengineer - use iterative Agile development
* Know your Partners technology - Make sure you're close to your Partners and understand their technology and services

Keynote: The Internet and Cloud Computing - Paul Sagan, President and CEO Akamai
Akamai receives 300 billion cloud requests every day. A portion of Paul's Keynote is in this video, and I've also listed some of his key points below.

Ingredients of Cloud Computing:
1. Via the Internet
2. Outsourced Shared Infrastructure
3. Scalable, On-Demand, and Metered
3. Reporting, Insight, Security

Why Cloud Computing:
1. Acceptance of Web-Enabled Technologies
2. Economics of Shared Infrastructure
3. Accelerating Application Time to Market
4. Security Improvements
5. Greater Efficiency and 'Being Green'

Mininote: The Cloud in Context
by Russ Daniels, VP and CTO, Cloud Services Strategy, HP
Russ states we're moving from a Build-to-Order to a Configure-to-Order Strategy, and the following points:
* Cloud is the next phase of evolution of the internet
* Programatically accessible
* At low cost
* Solve problems that were too expensive to solve previously
A portion of his speech is here:


Panel: The Myth of the One-Size-Fits-All Cloud
The discussion led to the evolution of Clouds: the first evolution is pay-per-use; now there are industry-specialized clouds, i.e. Finance and Legal. Brian Doerr, CTO, Savvis states, "anticipate where you want to go; design your intentions for change for the long term."

Fireside Chat with Greg Papadopoulous, CTO and EVP, Research and Development, Sun Microsystems and Werner Vogels, VP and CTO, Amazon
Greg mentioned that "regulations may well determine where data should be and that authorities can always get the data...in the Madoff case, it was difficult to find the records."

Keynote: Marc Benioff, Chairman and CEO, salesforce.com
Salesforce makes $1 billion in revenue from cloud services, and I videotaped much of his talk in 2 Parts below. He discusses the importance of elasticity and lower cost as well as the Cloud evolution, including Diane Green, Founder of VMWare, who created the market for mainstream virtualization and the resulting virtualization software industry through present day Cloud examples.



Panel: Better Broadband: Enabling the Cloud Era
Michelle Munson, President and Co-Founder of Aspera, specializing in high-speed file transport was one of the panelists.
The panel gave an example where it was once cheaper for Netflix to mail videos. Now, it is cheaper for them to stream videos.

Panel: On the Shoulders of Giants
Vijay Gill, Senior Manager Engineering and Architecture Google discussed the advantage of in-house talent via outsourcing. He mentioned they had a problem with video and that it needed to be closer to the user. It was assigned to an in-house engineer who in three months developed a video distribution algorithim in three months mapping users to the closest video cache. He said, "It comes down to the right people, and that has to be in-house; you can't outsource it."

First Article Photo by Mary Vincent:
Paul Sagan, President and CEO Akamai's Keynote Slide stating: Why Cloud Computing is Inevitable - Greater Efficiency and 'Being Green'

Vodafone to buy T-Mobile?

Vodafone has 25% of the UK market, T-Mobile only has 15% but a combined company would have 40% of the market which is way ahead of O2 the current leader with 27%.

This would still require regulatory approval and the other networks would no doubt cry foul play, though Vodafone would be unlikely be considered a monopoly unless their market share rose considerably.

Though this could be seen as a bad thing for the market as competition would be reduced, it would give Vodafone economies of scale as they could improve coverage by merging physical networks and removing duplicate coverage while increasing coverage in areas that are poorly covered now. They could also increase capacity within the network allowing for high speed data services.

T-Mobile (Germany) may not wish to part with the UK arm at the moment as the valuation will be low in the current market conditions.

Apple gets more of an Imagination

Apple has followed on Intel's heals and taken a 9.5% stake in UK graphics chip designer Imagination (Intel have a 14% stake).

Intel are keen on leading the Mobile Internet Device (MID) market and have recently made public announcements with Nokia. Apple meanwhile are utilising Imagination's PowerVR chips on the new i{Phone 3GS (they used their older chips in the iPhone 3G and iTouch models). This with their purchase of PA Semi means they could well be developing low power ARM chips and PowerVR cores for new ranges of iPhones/iTouch's coming out next year. They could also utilise the chips in their rumoured tablet which is also expected next year.

If Apple do release a tablet, it looks like they'll ignore the notebook market.

The Europas: Best European / Real World Gadget (EMEA)

The Europas: Best European / Real World Gadget (EMEA)

Please vote for En-Twyn in the TechCrunch Europas. En-Twyn have designed a mains socket combined with Powerline electronics that is in the process of going to manufacture.

The initial version is based on a UK double gang socket with 2 Ethernet (switched) ports and an LCD display which is used to show the status of the system (i.e. sync, Ethernet activity, link state etc).

More information is available from their TechCrunch entry".

Future versions will carry multiple media types (audio, video, etc) and have an embedded Linux controller allowing Quality of Service and a remotely controllable architechture (including being able to monitor socket power usage and being able to turn off power to the sockets).

Do please vote.

Michael Jackson Flashmob at Liverpool St station

On Friday 26th of June 2009 there was a Michael Jackson Flashmob moonwalk.

It all started on Twitter when Milo Yiannopoulos picked up on a tweet where Rob Manuel of b3ta mentioned that a Michael Jackson flashmob should happen. Milo took it upon himself to make it so.

The flashmob was meant to start at 6, but myself and the lovely Gail Porter arrived at just after 5 to see if we could help out. Gail had retweeted the event to her 14,358 followers.

Though City of London Police weren't too bother, British Transport Police didn't seem to pleased at the thought of hundreds or thousands descending on Liverpool St station. They started taping off the top section of the station and speaking to Milo downstairs it soon became apparent that if any kind of crowd started to gather, they'd start arresting people.

Quick re-arrangements meant relocating outside to Liverpool St and the City of London Police being extremely co-operative (and so unlike earlier G20 events), it was a hot sunny day and many seemed to be "up for it". The sounds system was moved from outside MacDonald's (where a crowd of a couple of hundred people had started to gather) to the opposite side of the street in-front of a tanning salon.

It took a while getting all the kit across (Liverpool St was by now filling up, the Police had blocked access to cars) and suddenly it dawned on everyone that it was actually happening.

Though it's difficult to say how many people were there, it seemed like several thousand (Liverpool St was rammed from the Broadgate end to beyond the station). Milo introduced the event and managed to get 3 Jacko songs in before the Police called it a day. Though the event was meant to be a mass moonwalk, it was a bit packed for much to actually take place.

Everyone seemed to have a great time and special thanks must go to London Speaker Hire for getting the sound system there.

Michael Jackson's biggest selling UK single was a song about the environment

By Mary Vincent - Follow on Twitter @MaryVincent

Earth Song was Michael Jackson's biggest selling single in the UK – over a million copies sold and six weeks at the top of the charts. The video was among the most expensive ever made which starts with a lush rainforest then shows Jackson walking through a damaged landscape, including images of dead elephants, trees falling, smoke stacks, captured dolphins, seal clubbing, and hurricane winds.

Here's what Jackson said about the song:
"I remember writing Earth Song when I was in Austria, in a hotel. And I was feeling so much pain and so much suffering of the plight of the Planet Earth. And for me, this is Earth's Song, because I think nature is trying so hard to compensate for man's mismanagement of the Earth. And with the ecological unbalance going on, and a lot of the problems in the environment, I think earth feels the pain, and she has wounds, and it's about some of the joys of the planet as well. But this is my chance to pretty much let people hear the voice of the planet. And this is 'Earth Song'. And that's what inspired it. And it just suddenly dropped into my lap when I was on tour in Austria."
The Earth Song video is below, and the full Guardian article is here.

IBM’s Green Sigma Coalition Lines Up Industry Leaders

2.6GHz auction scrapped

Ofcom has decided to withdraw it's intent to auction the 2.6GHz band (part of the IMT-2000 spectrum). Various mobile operators had disputed Ofcom's right to auction the spectrum and had taken them to court (mainly as part of the 900MHz refarming arguments).

Ofcom changed made this decision based on the Government's Digital Britain report, which accepted the recommendations of the independent spectrum broker (ISB) which tied the 2.6GHz auction to the 800MHz auction (which becomes available after the digital switch-over).

This will delay the auction until after 2010.

T-Mobile to launch HTC MyTouch

T-Mobile are going to launch their second Android phone the HTC MyTouch which to everyone else is the HTC Magic (as sold by Vodafone).

In the US it will cost $199 with a 2 year contract.

Not too exciting really.

Notification under Section 107(6) of the Communications Act 2003 - Airwave Solutions Limited | Ofcom

Notification under Section 107(6) of the Communications Act 2003 - Airwave Solutions Limited | Ofcom

Airwave Solutions Ltd run the digital mobile network for the emergency services (and other organisations with a public safety remit. Anyone wishing to use Airwave's network must go through Ofcom and demonstrate their public safety element.

Ofcom now wish to amend this so that The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralmypic Games can utilise the network for the 2012 Olympics.



The consultation closes on 20th July 2009.

Stop hitting F5, iPhone OS 3.0 release still hours away?

Stop hitting F5, iPhone OS 3.0 release still hours away?

Apple may release the iPhone OS v3 at 6pm today UK time, the update should also be available as a chargable item for the iPod Touch.

v3 (on the iPhone) should allow MMS, cut and paste, tethering and the background push notification service as well as many new API calls.

Time will tell if Apple have got it right and if sales will match previous iPhone hype and store rushes.

Study Indicates Wind Speeds Are Slowing in the U.S.

Women's Green Voices

by Mary Vincent
Women's Green Voices have been heard for eons. Global warming, health issues, global awareness, resource scarcity, biodiversity loss, business strategy, systems thinking, peace, social inequity and inequality, and compassion for living things have influenced many of the women featured in this article. I'll cover history, facts, examples, recent awards, and ask You to share your stories and videos. (photo of Colleen Patrick-Goudreau taken by Mary Vincent)

Mainstream News
Glamour Magazine recently honored 70 women leaders creating a better planet. Some of the women included Alice Waters, founder and chef of Chez Panisse, Janelle Hope Robbins, Staff Scientist for the Water Keeper Alliance, and Lisa Jackson, Environmental Protection Agency. Check out the video shoot in Central Park. The full article is here.


History
We must recognize marine biologist and nature writer, Rachel Carson, one of the contemporary Environmental Leaders who wrote her 1962 famous book Silent Spring. Here is a quote from her book, "The more clearly we can focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for destruction."
Check out this must-see Bill Moyers' PBS Special Video on Rachel Carson.

Facts
Per the book Women in Green - Voices of Sustainable Design, research from Yale School of Forestry, American Progress Fund Institute for Women's Policy Research and American Election Study states:
- Polls consistently show that women are up to 15 percent more likely than men to rate the environment a high priority
- In political elections, women comprise up to two-thirds of voters who cast their ballots around environmental issues
- Women are more likely than men to volunteer for and give money to environmental causes, especially those related to health and safety within their own communities
- Women report both more support for environmental activists and more concern that government isn't doing enough to protect the environment
- More women than men support increased government spending for the environment, while men favor spending cuts
- Women tend to be less lenient toward business when it comes to environmental regulation.
- The modern environmental movement began with a book by a woman (Rachel Carson)
- The most popular definition of sustainability comes from a commission led by a woman who is also a strong advocate of gender equity (Gro Harlem Brundtland)
- The first person to use the word 'sustainability' with its current connotation was a woman (Gro Harlem Brundtland)
- Women were instrumental in the preservation and conservation movements in the U.S. as early as the mid-nineteenth century
- Some of the most important early proponents of systems thinking were women (Donella Meadows)
- The popular biomimicry movement was spawned by an influential book by a woman (Janine Benyus) See her TED Speech.
- The first woman president of the American Institute of Architects was also the first to herald sustainable design as the primary mission of the organization during her tenure (Sandra Mendler)

In addition to these facts and ground-breaking leaders, I wanted to add Wangari Maathai and Colleen Patrick-Goudreau to this discussion.
- Wangari Maathai, environmentalist activist and founder of the Green Belt Movement became the first African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. See her Yale Honorary Degree video where she delivers a lecture entitled "Environment, Democracy and Peace" describing her journey.



- Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, founder of Compassionate Cooks and author of The Vegan Table and The Joy of Vegan Baking is providing us the tools to create gourmet, healthy meals, educate us on where our food originates, and guide our food choices in order to stop animal cruelty and suffering. The United Nations Climate Change Report also states that animal agriculture causes more greenhouse gases than transportation. Every meal makes a difference.
Here is a video excerpt of her June 2009 speech about why she wrote The Vegan Table and some of her words from her speech and book:
"(there is)...something special about a gathering where no animals were harmed for the sake of our pleasure, when a sense of consciousness informs our actions, and our intentions reflect kindness and non-violence. When our thoughts turn to someone else's needs rather than our own desires, there is no denying that something profound takes place. In the absence of suffering, there is peace. In the presence of compassion, there is joy. That is vegan entertaining."


Recent Awards
The National Audubon Society recently honored six Rachel Carson Award Winners at its sixth annual Women in Conservation Luncheon on May 19, 2009. Audubon established this distinguished award in 2004 to honor visionary women whose dedication, talent and energy have advanced conservation and environmental education locally and on a global scale. The winners included Dr. Sylvia Earle, an oceanographer, author, lecturer and National Geographic Explorer in Residence whose work has expanded awareness and conservation of the fragile marine environment, Sally Jewell, president and CEO of Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), Elizabeth C. Titus Putnam, president and founder of the Student Conservation Association, and Elizabeth Colleton, Jane Evans and Susan Haspel, founders of NBC Universal’s “Green is Universal” Initiative.

Have a Story/Video?
Do you have a Women's Green Voices Story/Video you would like to share? Let us know about it by commenting on this Post.

Freedom4 application for licence variation | Ofcom

Freedom4 application for licence variation | Ofcom

Freedom4 are a WiMAX operator in the UK who offer wireless broadband (they are owned by the Hong Kong giant PCCW).

Freedom4 operate in the bands 3.6 - 4.2 GHz and currently can only offer fixed services, they have applied to Ofcom to a) increase the power limits of their basestations (i.e. main transmitter hubs) and also allow mobile access (which removes the obligation to register end-user / low-power terminals).

Ofcom's view is that the in-band power level can increase from +14dBW/MHz to +23dBW/MHz (+53dBm/MHz) for central stations and to remove the absolute limit of 22dBW/MHz (EIRP).

For terminal stations coordination should not be necessary for those with a spectral density not exceeding 25dBm/MHz and total EIRP not exceeding 30dBm unless a proposed central station is within 100MHz and 2km of a point-to-point link.

These changes should be made as soon is possible.

Ofcom is holding a consultation for interested stakeholders which closes on 20|07|2009.

Managing the spectrum above 275 GHz | Ofcom

Managing the spectrum above 275 GHz | Ofcom: "275-3000 GHz"

Ofcom is going to make spectrum in the 275-3000 GHz band license exempt, however not all the band is being released as there are already a few licensed users there such as user in the scientific community (radio-astronomy, space research and earth exploration satellite services). The band is also used for short range anti-collision radar devices and detection of skin cancer.

The band is highly attenuated in air (oxygen and water molecules) and usually highly directional aerials are used, so risk of interference is very low.

The band will not be released until after the 2011 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-11) where international policy is made and it would be premature for Ofcom to release the spectrum before the conference.

This band can be used for low power short range high bandwidth services (i.e. for in-building wireless connectivity).

Variation to BT’s Undertakings under the Enterprise Act 2002 related to Fibre-to-the-Cabinet | Ofcom

Variation to BT’s Undertakings under the Enterprise Act 2002 related to Fibre-to-the-Cabinet | Ofcom

BT has been granted a variation to its undertakings allowing Openreach to control and operate electronic equipment in the street cabinet.

This means that BT will install Fibre to the Street Cabinet (FTTC) and then place DSL Multiplexors in the cabinets. Since the cabinets are usually close to the premises they are serving (in urban environments at least) this will allow BT to offer VDSL2 (and variants) to end users offering 100Mb/s type download speeds.

This will still require major investment from BT and they will also have to provide equal access to other operators but if it all goes ahead will allow high speed Internet to homes providing IPTV (Internet TV), Video on demand and other services. BT Vision might stand a chance of success, though BSkyB will be watching this very carefully (and they'll also likely offer an IPTV service).

Unfortunately this again increases the digital divide as rural areas will still suffer as services such as VDSL2 only work at high speed with sub 100m connections and street cabinets in rural areas may be miles away from premises. This is one reason BT is looking towards wireless and potentially the 2.6GHz spectrum that will be up for auction later this year or next year.

Channel 5 set for licence for high definition programmes on digital terrestrial television | Ofcom

Channel 5 set for licence for high definition programmes on digital terrestrial television | Ofcom

Channel 5 has been awarded a license to broadcast in High Definition (HD) on Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) after the digital switch-over in 2010.

Channel 5 joins the BBC, the Channel 3 licensees (ITV, stv and UTV), and Channel 4 and S4C who have already been granted licenses.

Granada will be the first region to completely switch-over to DTT in 2009 and some HD content will be available at this time, other regions will switch-over by 2012.

Channel 5 will show programmes such as The Gadget Show, UEFA Europa League, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and blockbuster movie premiers which could become available in HD from late 2010.

This still means probable new Freeview boxes with MPEG-4 support.

BBC Multiplex B reorganisation

Ofcom has granted BBC Free to View Limited a license variation for the Multiplex B so that it can be reorganised to allow for the broadcast of High Definition (HD) Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT).

Current Standard Definition DTT is broadcast using MPEG-2 while HD is likely to use MPEG-4 as it requires less bandwidth than the same content broadcast on MPEG-2. Unfortunately this means new Freeview boxes will be required as none (or very few) of the existing boxes on the market have MPEG-4 decoders.

This will mean lots of current Freeview units being binned and new units will have to be purchased.

Sustainability Initiatives Cut Costs by 6-10% (Environmental Leader)

Sony-Ericsson GreenHeart Phone Adds to Trend

Qualcomm Introduces Single-Chip 802.11n Wireless LAN Solution for Handsets and Mobile Devices - FierceWireless

Qualcomm Introduces Single-Chip 802.11n Wireless LAN Solution for Handsets and Mobile Devices - FierceWireless

Qualcomm has introduced an 802.11n chipset for use in mobile devices. The chip supports 4 x 4 MIMO antenna arrays which allow distributing high speed data (such as video) to multiple devices.

It's likely the chip will be used in home gateways and devices. This will put Qualcomm in direct competition with other chip vendors who are already in this space.

Data rates of 72Mb/s are achievable.

Update on plans for a new consultation | Ofcom

Update on plans for a new consultation | Ofcom

Ofcom is going to hold a consultation into the use of GSM gateways following the Court of Appeal judgment of 10 February 2009 relating to an appeal by Floe Telecom.

Ofcom expect to publish the consultation during the summer.

The last time this came up was in 2005 (and NetTek responded to the consultation).

Key Features of the Waxman-Markey Climate Bill

Report Shows How Calif. Businesses Can Cut Water Use in Half

Green Software Unconference - Silicon Valley - Aug 19, 2009

The Wireless Telegraphy (Short Range Devices) (Exemption) Regulations 2009 | Ofcom

The Wireless Telegraphy (Short Range Devices) (Exemption) Regulations 2009 | Ofcom

Ofcom is proposing to make various systems license exempt under the he Wireless Telegraphy (Short Range Devices) (Exemption) Regulations 2009.

These will include: -

* Tank Level Probing Radar (TLPR) at 4.5-7, 8.5-10.6, 24.05-27, 57-64 and 75-85 GHz.
* Radio determination applications at 2400-2483.5 MHz and 17.1-17.3 GHz (including Ground Based Synthetic Aperture Radar GB-SAR).
* Wideband data transmission systems (WBDTS) at 57-66 GHz (including wireless distribution of High Definition HD video).

Ofcom are also proposing to make various airborne systems exempt: -

* WBDTS at 2400-2483.5 MHz and 57-66 GHz;
* Radio determination applications at 2400-2483.5 MHz;
* TLPR at 4.5-7, 8.5-10.6, 24.05-27, 57-64 and 75-85 GHz;
* Model Control at 26990-27000, 27040-27050, 27090-271000, 27140-27150 and 27190-27200 kHz; and
* Radio Frequency Identification at 2446-2454 MHz.

The ones that will effect most people are the radio control bands and also the Wideband data transmission system which are expeted to be used in the home for distributing video.

Ofcom welcoming comments by June 30th 2009 and are expecting to implement the new regulations by August 2009.