7/23/06: Podcast Listening Update

• Robert Scoble and Shel Israel, Authors of Naked Conversations, talk about The Corporation in a Blogging World. I think one of the side-effects of the network effect is the increasing pressure for transparency and authenticity one sees in the blogosphere. Robert And Shel talk about blogging and some of the decisions one needs to consider as one blogs in a context that is clearly associated with where one works. Great presentation.
• Tom Barton, President and CEO of Rackable Systems, talked about the data centers in place for huge Internet presences. This was hugely interesting presentation from my perspective. I don't spend a lot of time thinking about the number of machines involved in running Google and the statistics Tom presented are startling. Further, the implications for power consumption, heat generation, and system administration are huge. Great and interesting presentation.
• Ray Lane, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, talked about The "Inter" Personal Enterprise. Ray discussed the environment around the thousands and enterprise software vendors. In an environment, as Ray notes, that 80% of the money goes to 3 companies, these vendors must compete fiercely. Ray talks about a variety of business models. He clearly recognizes that the traditional models for large license fees with a maintenance and support tail is increasingly under attack. Today, vendors need to focus on organic growth and acceptance with quick time to value. This was long and wordy presentation, but packed with good information.
• Retooling Developers for Geospatial, A Panel Discussion (see link for list of panelists) at Where 2005. This panel was clearly speaking to an audience that is familiar with GIS based mapping and data resources. But, the information was interesting to the rest of us too. I recommend listening and I am hoping to find time to visit the 2 sites I heard recommended during the presentations (again, check out the resources at the link provided above
• Scott Gatz, Senior Director of Personalization Products at Yahoo! Inc., talked Yahoo's Content Syndication Ecosystem. This was a presentation about how Yahoo is taking advantage of RSS and helping its visitors do the same. Scott discussed many of the things one might consider as one takes advantage of syndication and offers up content that can be syndicated. Good presentation.
• Pundit Panel, Dennis Kneale served as moderator (see link for panel member list), talked the general state of SOA and such at Software 2006. This was a fast paced, information packed, and sometimes combative discussion. I highly recommend it. The main take away for me was the importance of driving innovation into software to ensure competitive edge. But, there were many more. I highly recommend this one.