June 2009 Archives

I am having meetings in New England today and am hoping for nice
weather. Lots of clouds so far but no rain. Here is a semi-scenic shot
from CT 691.

I am forever amazed at the creativity of human beings. Look at all the companies we have produced. The trillions of dollars of wealth we have created. It is amazing that our combined genius has dramatically raised the standard of living worldwide over the last 100 years. We should be proud.

But any tool can be used for good as well as bad and the human brain has also been incredible in its ability to perpetrate crimes. In my early computer classes I was amazed to learn of a computer crime which involved bank programmers who were skimming non-rounded interest into a separate account. In other words taking the fraction of a cent of interest that didn't get added to bank accounts and diverting them to another account which the programmers owned.

In the above case the programmers were foiled when the computer system went down and manual systems had to be used. An account with millions of dollars was found as a result.

It seems other early computer crimes like hacking a password files on a UNIX systems to insert a malicious program made famous by the book Cookoo's Egg are now quaint in comparison to the varied computer crimes of today.

Let's explore some recent areas where the human mind has been used to either bend or break the law.

There are also millions of spam sites which fool users into clicking on ads disguised as content. Then there is the problem of competitors clicking on the ads of one another to drive up the marketing cost of the respective competitor.

Social Network Click Fraud

Now the latest trend in the world of click fraud is targeted at Facebook where malicious users create thousands of Facebook accounts (you can hire companies to get these for you at 10 cents per account). The example in this article cites India as a place where such companies exist and coincidentally this is the same country where the Craigslist scam discussed above originated from.

With the global economy being in the toughest shape it has been in for many years and the proliferation of internet connectivity there has never been more opportunity for the human brain to come up with money-making schemes which either bend the rules or break the law.

This of course drives up the cost for everyone else and sadly in many cases means people who aren't aware of the pitfalls on the web are duped out of their money.

In order to help reduce these problems we need much tougher international laws policing malicious users. It is so easy to perpetrate a crime against a person in a different country while remaining anonymous. We need to really have stricter laws in every country and serious enforcement must take place when people are caught. Let's set better examples of the malicious users who are caught so the next scammer or spammer thinks twice before going out and committing that computer crime.

While I do admire the ingenuity of the human brain, it is time for law enforcement to step it up so these users can be locked away forever. Where do we put them all? Well, from what I hear, there should be some space opening up in Guantanamo Bay very soon.

Times Square was in shock as they read the sad news of Michael Jackson
dying on the ticker above.

Hope you enjoy it.

Here is a shot from the reception at the end of the Telx party. The
show was great. Full of energy and deals were being done everywhere. I
am glad I was here. Well done Telx.

On a separate and sad note I am sorry to report Michael Jackson just
died of cardiac arrest.

Check it out at www.tmcnet.com/tmc/video/live-Video.aspx.

Telx CMO Tesh Durvasula introduced CEO Eric Shepcaro. More to come.

Here are some early shots. And this is the first email to blog send I
have attempted with the new iPhone 3G S 3 megapixel camera. Fingers
crossed.

I came across a post from David Strom today which sums up some of his favorite web tools to increase his productivity. They are Pixelpipe.com, Etherpad.com, Tr.im and namechk.com. I would have to say for me either Etherpad - a site which allows simple document sharing and Tr.im -- an enhanced document shortening service are most useful. I haven't had a chance to try any of these services yet but look forward to giving them a whirl.

I hope you find some or all of these tools useful.

Today I am headed to the Telx CBX 2009 conference in New York followed by a Nokia launch event for the N97. Hopefully I will get a chance to post some photos from the events.

Broadband connectivity - it has become like air to me. I suffocate when I don't have it and the faster the broadband access I have, the better I feel. So when I enter a restaurant and the WiFi is on but locked I just go crazy. I have become so accustomed to having fast broadband access everywhere, I just can't understand when a restaurant doesn't provide it. Worse yet is having a WiFi signal with an SSID with the name of a restaurant and a locked signal.

Restaurant owners are better off leaving the ID as Linksys or Netgear or just making something up like "Have a nice day."

Recently my travel department was instructed by me that my flights must all have WiFi on them. That means I cancelled flights I would have taken on American Airlines and JetBlue in favor of Virgin America because with this carrier, WiFi is guaranteed. Of course this applies to domestic flights for now.

Yes, WiFi is now more important to me than frequent flyer miles. Who would have thought? Wow!

I see this trend eventually hitting restaurants. Already, TMC group lunches where work needs to be done typically take place where WiFi is available.

The advent of the internet, SIP trunking, intense competition and the economic downturn has contributed to changing the channel partner market forever and if you are doing the same things you always did as a channel partner you may get wiped off the earth in the next few years. You need to change. How? Well I would spoil it if I told you and didn't allow you to listen to the podcast which is complete and dare I say elaborate. It is worth a listen if you are in any segment of the telecom or technology spaces and the lessons you can learn here are applicable to other segments of the market.

I just got my iPhone 3G S up and running and am blown away because as a power user - even using the new OS 3.0 on an iPhone 3G I had to wait 5 or more seconds for an email address to resolve. Multiply this by 100 times a day and you can imagine the frustration. I also was not satisfied with the browsing speed of the 3G with the 3.0 upgrade. The new S model is blazing fast compared to its predecessor. It is highly recommended.

Here is a quick video clip of traffic on I95

But if you want to know what the most important feature of the 3G S is, it could very well be video. You see this phone is not the first to shoot video but it does shoot great quality video and possesses a screen allowing an enjoyable playback experience.

If you track the rise of social networking the natural evolution of sharing everything via photos, video snippets and text is to share all aspects of your life via video in real-time. Also this will be done from multiple points of view. So I will be able to watch what happens to the left and right of people I track at all times. I realize how ludicrous this sounds but I don't care - I know it will happen. Oh, and the archives will be available forever as well. Data center owners must be salivating.

The iPhone 3G S which has video quality which rivals standalone video recorders could be one of the catalysts which moves us into this new world of always-on mobile social video. For more on the ramifications of video on the iPhone 3G S check out this article from Todd Krieger.

Personally I learn a great deal from this event and have attended it for many years. The companies there are on the front lines of bandwidth allocation and they know the trends in the market before they become widely known by those outside the industry. I look to this event as a barometer to the future of the internet - what is happening with IPV6? Do we really have a fiber glut? Is bandwidth demand still increasing in this economy? What is the real effect of all those smartphones on data demand?

The 2009 Customer Business Exchange is an invitation‐only networking event designed to help grow our customers' business. This years event will take place in New York City, NY, one of the largest telecommunication hubs in North America.
 

Hundreds of decision‐makers will gather, showcase new and existing products and services, and close deals. This event is unique in that all the network operators that are exhibitors and sponsors have direct capacity available to deliver from a Telx facility today. This makes the Telx CBX a highly targeted and relevant event.

The 2008 CBX event touted 1000 c-level and other senior-level executive attendees that representing 458 companies in 21 countries around the world. CBX attendees are focused on creating new business opportunities that will extend networks, facilitate faster data transfers, add new services and grows businesses organically. And due to overwhelming early demand and our Meet Me Room expansions, we expect this year's event to attract a record‐number of industry leaders and executives.

Enterprise customers will find considerable opportunities for business growth and expansion at CBX as well; those needing the services of a variety of carriers or service providers can meet all of their needs by choosing Telx and its partners. In addition, each industry including Financial Services can benefit from an ecosystem of providers targeted to meet the industry's specific needs. For example, financial service customers will enjoy particular benefits, as a variety of financial service providers, networks, and exchanges attend CBX.

Thursday, June 25, 2009   8:30 AM  -  9:00 AM CBX Registration Opens

All Guests must first check-in to receive their name badges before entering the 2009 CBX

9:00 am - 10:00 am - Session # 1 - Topic: Broadband Stimulus Plan

• Michael Romano, Of Counsel, Bingham McCutchen LLP

10:20 am - 11:20 am - Session # 2 - Topic: Advanced Video Networks

• Howard Lichtman, President, Human Productivity Lab
• John Bartlett, Principal, NetForecast
• Jason Redisch, Principal Architect, Virtela Communications
• Monty Richardson, Business Development Specialist, IPV Gateways
• Marc Trachtenberg, CEO, Teliris
• Chris Carr, Global Director, Masergy 
• James Peters, Senior Director, Cisco   

11:40 am - 12:30 pm - Session # 3 - Topic: Staying Ahead of the Low Latency Curve

• Pete Harris, President, A-Team Group
• Mark Casey, President, CFN Services
• Scott Caudell, CTO, 7Ticks
• Noah Lieske, CEO, Xasax Corporation
• Nelson Frye, Director of Product, Telx
  
• Shawn Kaplan, Director of Business Development, Activ Financial

Mr. Eric Shepcaro, the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Telx, welcomes guests and invites them to maximize the networking opportunities available at the CBX.

10:10 AM  -  10:20 AM CBX Door Prize & Wine Basket Giveaways

Eric Shepcaro, Telx CEO and Chairman of the Board invites CEO, CIO, CTO, and CFO representatives to take a seat at the CXO Roundtable on June 25th, 2009. This Roundtable is Invitation ONLY.

With unlimited drinks and hors d'oeuvres, all attendees are encouraged to network and do business with one another.

A room on the far right of the exhibit area is reserved for Telx customer announcements. Don't miss your opportunity to get the first scoop on major news and mingle with representatives from the nation's premier technology publications

Join us at the Broadway Lounge of The Marriott Marquis - 8th Floor for Live Music, Lite Appetizers and Open Bar!!!

Here are a few final shots from the trip. The bottom one is from Monte
Carlo. It is good to be back. I am taking this opportunity to test the
multiphoto sending of the iPhone OS 3.0. Hope this works.

Better M&A, management and marketing skills always win the war

As Ron Gruia pointed out this morning, the Nortel fire sale continues and a once-great company with a market cap of $250 billion is effectively being sold off at bargain-basement prices. In fact NSN picked up the ailing Canadian company's CDMA and LTE business for about one times revenue or $650 million. At this rate the entire company will be sold off for a total of $2 billion. The silver lining in this dark news is that customers will be able to have a solid company behind them in NSN and thankfully at least 2,500 employees working in Canada, the U.S., Mexico and China will be able to maintain their jobs working for NSN.

As a show of support for the deal, EDC or Export Development Canada is throwing in $300 million toward an NSN credit facility - a full 10x more than the agency was willing to commit to Nortel!

For NSN the deal means a stronger North American presence and also they go from not having a CDMA business to becoming number two. They will have to work hard to maintain this business as Asian rivals are coming on strong. An additional benefit of the deal is a number of LTE patents, technology and expertise which will come in very handy as the world transitions to faster wireless broadband networks.

I have seen some surmise Nortel went down because of open source and the Internet and to some degree this is part of the problem. But perhaps the biggest problem at Nortel was failure to adjust to a market that moves faster than ever coupled with the inability to effectively integrate acquired companies. Some Nortel employees told me the company was too flexible with the companies they acquired and should have set tougher rules regarding integration.

The major take away from this ordeal is how a company with superior technology got beaten by other companies with inferior technology but better M&A, management and marketing skills. At the end of the day the products are important but as Nortel continues to show us, having great technology alone does not a long-term successful strategy make.