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IBM Predicts the Next Five Years in Tech

by Steve Hamm, Every year IBM predicts the future of technology via the IBM 5 in 5 initiative–our forecast of five innovations that will help transform aspects of modern life, making the planet smarter, within the next five years. We assess not just the availability of a new technology but also the likelihood of its  large-scale adoption.

This year’s predictions:

·    People power will come to life 
·    You will never need a password again
·    Mind reading is no longer science fiction
·    The digital divide will cease to exist
·    Junk mail will become priority mail

 

 

Click here to vote on the coolest prediction.

Making this kind of prediction is difficult. (In fact, to me, sadly, the one about eliminating the digital divide seems impossible.) So, every year, IBM researchers stick out their necks. Which is risky. “A lot of people wait for things to happen. It’s rare than an organization says: this is a big change, and it’s coming,” says IBM Fellow Bernard Meyerson.

 

Forecasting Innovation
Technology moves so fast it can be difficult to separate science fiction from fact, much less discern which game-changing breakthroughs are over the horizon. As the IT industry’s leading innovator, IBM has the track record and pedigree to credibly predict the emerging innovations that could change how people work, live and play. This week, IBM revealed the next 5 in 5 — an annual forecast of future technology trends — which The New York Times, Washington Post and other global news outlets quickly endorsed as a collection of important ideas worth watching.

IBM’s Viewpoint:
Here’s a summary of IBM’s 5 in 5 predictions to help you add to the conversation.

— People power will come to life: Advances in renewable energy technology will allow individuals and scientists to collect energy from many common things that move, and use it to help power our homes, workplaces and cities. http://ibm.co/uusi0t

— You will not need a password: Each person’s unique biometric data such as facial definitions, retinal scans and voice files will be combined through software to build a DNA-unique online password. http://ibm.co/vElhJs

— Mind reading is no longer science fiction: Scientists are researching how to link your brain to your devices, such as a computer or a smartphone, so you just need to think about calling someone and it will happen. http://ibm.co/vieXaD

— The digital divide will cease to exist: The gap between information haves and have-nots will narrow considerably due to advances in mobile technology that enable access to essential information and deliver better services such as mobile commerce and remote healthcare. http://ibm.co/v90z8K

— Junk mail will become priority mail: Unsolicited advertisements may soon feel so personalized and relevant that spam will seem dead and gone. Computers will make sense of data and look up new information for individuals without even being asked. http://ibm.co/vArghS
 

 

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An Illinois Catholic Charity Succumbs to the Secular, Homosexual Agenda

By Michael Terheyden

 

In a shocking turn of events on November 11, 2011, Catholic Social Services of Southern Illinois announced that it intends to split from the Belleville diocese and offer adoptions and foster-care services to homosexuals and unmarried heterosexual couples in direct opposition to Church teaching.

NOXVILLE, TN (Catholic Online) – In a previous article titled "Catholic Charities Forced to Shut Down Services around the Country," I informed readers about the state of Illinois using the homosexual agenda to attack Catholic Charities. Now, one of the worst developments that could happen has happened: Catholic Social Services of Southern Illinois has succumbed to the pressure of the secular state and its homosexual agenda and intends to split from the Diocese of Belleville.

It began with the implementation of the "Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Unions Act," which went into effect this past summer in Illinois. This law allows homosexuals and unmarried heterosexual couples to adopt children and become foster parents under the guise of tolerance. However, the law has absolutely nothing to do with tolerance or religious freedom. We know this because the state could easily allow secular and religious adoption and foster-care programs to coexist, but it does not want to. Instead, the state is forcing all adoption agencies operating in Illinois to place children into these promiscuous relationships or shut down. 

Consequently, Catholic Charities from three Illinois dioceses–Springfield, Joliet and Peoria–filed a lawsuit against the state. Catholic Social Services of Southern Illinois in the Belleville diocese later joined the suit. However, state officials found a way to thwart the lawsuit by cancelling Catholic Charities’ 40-year contract to provide services in Illinois, thus rendering the suit moot. This forced Bishops in three of the Illinois dioceses to drop their lawsuit against the state and shut down their adoption and foster-care programs. 

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Vatican Conference Promotes Adult Stem Cell Research

The Catholic Church supports adult stem cell research and opposes embryonic stem cell research. Human embryonic stem cell research is always deadly. A human embryo is not distinct in kind from a human being, but a human being at an early stage of development. "Extracting" their stem cells is a form of embryonic execution. Efforts to promote the tired old "Catholic Church is against science" argument is perpetuated by those who do not like the Catholic Church’s uncompromising defense of the dignity of all human life, at every age and stage.

 

VATICAN CITY (Catholic Online) – Last week the Pontifical Council for Culture – in collaboration with NeoStem, Inc. and its educational foundation – cosponsored an important conference entitled "Adult Stem Cells: Science and the Future of Man and Culture." The Pontifical Council is involved in a 5-year, $1 million partnership with NeoStem, Inc. to promote research involving adult stem cells and their potential use in medical treatments.
 

 

Adult Stem Cell research is fully supported by the Catholic Church. Vatican Information Services reported last June that " international biopharmaceutical company NeoStem Inc. and the Pontifical Council for Culture have announced a joint initiative between their charitable organizations to expand research and raise awareness of adult stem cell therapies.

"NeoStem’s Stem for Life Foundation, formed to create awareness about the promise of adult stem cells to treat disease, and the pontifical council’s STOQ Foundation (Science Theology and the Ontological Quest), will work to advance research on adult stem cells, to explore their clinical applicability in the field of regenerative medicine, and the cultural relevance of such research especially with its impact on theological and ethical issues".

The Pontifical Council for Culture through its charitable foundation STOQ International made an economic commitment of one million dollars to this collaboration with NeoStem, an international biopharmaceutical company with operations in the US and China.

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Buffett Bets IBM

Warren Buffett, who said he was unable to predict the prospects for Apple Inc. and Facebook Inc., is betting more than $10 billion that International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) is a different kind of technology firm.

Buffett previously focused the stock portfolio at his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) on consumer brands like Coca-Cola Inc. and financial firms like Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC), saying he was able to understand their business plans. The strategy meant he missed the rally in technology companies like Research In Motion Ltd. (RIMM) and Nokia Oyj (NOK1V) and then their subsequent slumps.

Buffett invested $10.5 billion to $10.7 billion in IBM, betting on the company’s ability to maintain its market dominance in computer services and expand outside the U.S. Armonk, New York-based IBM gained 19 percent in the first nine months of the year as global stock markets plunged.

“Yes, they’re a tech company, but they will not have the wild swings that we’ve seen throughout history, like a RIM or a Nokia where they catapult up but then the technology shifts against them and they plummet,” said Louis Miscioscia, a Collins Stewart LLC analyst in Boston with a “buy” rating on the stock.

Before making the investment, Berkshire surveyed its own information-technology departments to see how they worked with suppliers and found many tended to stick with IBM, Buffett said today on CNBC.

“I probably read the annual report of IBM every year for 50 years,” he said. “I don’t think that there’s any company that I can think of, big company, that’s done a better job of laying out where they’re going to go and then having gone there.”

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John Opel, Former IBM CEO, 1925-2011

John Opel didn’t want to run a hardware store after college and the great irony (pun intended) is that he ended up running IBM, the largest data processing hardware company in the world at the peak of its mainframe and midrange prowess.

Opel, who was 86, died on November 3. He was IBM’s fifth CEO and without a doubt one of its better ones. Ginni Rometty, who will be IBM’s ninth CEO when she takes over on January 1, has several sets of big shoes to fill. (Well, the assumption is that Lou Gerstner’s were not that big physically, but virtually they were pretty big.) And as current and soon-to-be-retiring IBM CEO Sam Palmisano said, he believes Rometty is ready for the job and can do it, and there seems to be little doubt on anyone’s mind, after a few weeks, that she can.

Open grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri, where his father ran a hardware store. He got a BA in English at Westminster College in that state, fought in the Pacific Theater during World War II, and finished up his MBA at the University of Chicago in 1949. He had one job offer editing economic textbooks–the UoC is a hotbed for economics today, and was starting its rise back then–and for all we know, Opel might have gone on to be an economist had he taken that job. The other offer he had was from his dad, running the hardware biz.

 

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Shift of the US Defense Policy

The shift of the US defense Policy.   The Obama administration decided to bring home all troops from Iraq  and soon Afghanistan which are very "unpopular" wars and tapped their best leaders that has been leading these fights  to continue the new kind of fight, intelligence fight,: special mission fights, and Drone attacks to eliminate […]

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The real anti-Catholic bigots

WorldNetdaily

 

Appearing the other night on the Catholic network EWTN, I was asked by Raymond Arroyo what should be done about Muslim students at Catholic University demanding that the school provide them with prayer rooms, from which crucifixes and all other Catholic symbols that they found offensive had been removed.

After a nanosecond I replied, "Kick ’em out!"

Let them go to George Washington, the university on the other side of town.

Indeed, had Muslim students shown so little loyalty to a school that welcomed them, and of whose Catholicism they were aware when they entered, expulsion would have been justified.

Looking further into the matter, that was a rush to judgment.

For it seems that not a single Muslim student at CUA had gone to the District of Columbia Office of Human Rights to file a complaint.

That complaint was the work of John Banzhaf, a professor at GW, perennial litigant and longtime contender for the title of National Pest.

In provocative language, Banzhaf told Fox News, "It shouldn’t be too difficult to set aside a small room where Muslims can pray without having to stare up and be looked down upon by a cross of Jesus.

"They do have to pray five times a day, and to be sitting there trying to do Muslim prayers with a big cross looking down or a picture or Jesus or a picture of the pope is not very conducive to their religion."

Banzhaf claimed Muslim students had been offended by a suggestion that they meditate in campus chapels "and at the cathedral that looms over the entire campus – the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception."

Yet it is Banzhaf who appears to be the one with a real problem with Jesus, the shrine and Catholicism, not the Muslim students whose numbers at CUA have doubled in five years.

Moreover, Muslims, while disbelieving that Jesus is the Son of God, regard him as the greatest of the prophets before Muhammad, and they revere Mary, the mother of Jesus.

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Candidate Newt Gingrich: Competent, Consistent, Calm, Convincing and Catholic

By Keith A. Fournier, Catholic Online

 

Newt Gingrich’s poll numbers are beginning to climb. His performance in the Presidential debates demonstrates that he is competent, consistent, calm and convincing.  He is clearly Pro-Life, defends the primacy of marriage and the family and society founded upon it and is a passionate defender of authentic freedom. He shows calm in the chaotic displays called debates and stands out. In an age filled with crisis, such calm and competence are refreshing.

 

WASHINGTON,DC (Catholic Online) – I have followed the political career of former Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich for a long time. There are few Americans unaware of his role as the architect and "idea man" behind the historic "Contract with America".

His leadership helped to bring the Republicans to victory in the House of Representatives in 1994. As the Speaker of the House he provided leadership which led to a balanced budget amendment and a period of fiscal stability. He was named an "exceptional leader" by Time Magazine in 1995 for this contribution.

Speaker Gingrich is also an accomplished scholar. He is a history Professor with an earned Doctorate. He is a very intelligent man with a grasp of public policy issues like few others in public service. Over the years I have followed his career, I have been impressed with his willingness to propose fresh solutions for ever challenging public needs.

For example, his proposals in the early 2,000’s for person, family and free market based health care reforms, are just now being given the due consideration they deserve.  His genuine concern for those who are in need of medical care is one of the areas where he has not received the recognition he deserves.

 

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New IBM CEO

By Carol Hymowitz

(Updates with Rometty’s background from fifth paragraph.)

 

Oct. 25 (Bloomberg) — International Business Machines Corp. said Virginia “Ginni” Rometty will succeed Sam Palmisano as chief executive officer, becoming the first female CEO in the company’s 100-year history.

Rometty, IBM’s head of sales and marketing, will take the president and CEO posts effective Jan. 1, the Armonk, New York- based company said in a statement today. Palmisano, who’s been CEO since 2002, will remain chairman.

Rometty, 54, takes the reins after IBM celebrated its centennial and as steady profit growth pushed the shares this year to the highest level since the company went public in 1915. Her experience in sales, services and acquisitions fits with the strategic direction set by Palmisano, who said last year the company will add $20 billion to revenue between 2010 and 2015 by expanding in markets such as cloud computing and analytics.

“She is more than a superb operational executive,” Palmisano said in the statement. “With every leadership role, she has strengthened our ability to integrate IBM’s capabilities for our clients.”

The 30-year IBM veteran caught Palmisano’s attention in 2002 when she helped integrate the $3.9 billion acquisition of PwC Consulting, IBM’s largest deal ever at the time.

Rometty, then a general manager of the consulting unit, is credited with helping to retain PwC’s principal consultants, who didn’t always mesh with IBM’s cost-cutting culture. When Palmisano wanted to cut travel budgets, making consultants stay at Holiday Inns, she helped them fight — and win, said Ric Andersen, a former PwC consultant who joined IBM with the acquisition.

Sales Promotion

Palmisano promoted her to senior vice president of the group in 2005, and she boosted profit at the unit 42 percent in her first two years on the job. During her three decades at IBM, she became known as a polished executive who can close a sale, expanding relationships with companies from State Farm Insurance Co. to Prudential Financial Inc.

“She’s an engaging woman — great with customers,” said Fred Amoroso, who was her boss in the financial-services consulting division during the 1990s. “Customers just love Ginni.”

Amid the recession, Palmisano put her in charge of running the company’s almost $100 billion in sales. Last year, she added marketing and strategy to her responsibilities.

 

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Steve Jobs and the 7 Rules of Success

Steve Jobs’ impact on your life cannot be underestimated. His innovations have likely touched nearly every aspect — computers, movies, music and mobile. As a communications coach, I learned from Jobs that a presentation can, indeed, inspire. For entrepreneurs, Jobs’ greatest legacy is the set of principles that drove his success.

Over the years, I’ve become a student of sorts of Jobs’ career and life. Here’s my take on the rules and values underpinning his success. Any of us can adopt them to unleash our "inner Steve Jobs."

1. Do what you love. Jobs once said, "People with passion can change the world for the better." Asked about the advice he would offer would-be entrepreneurs, he said, "I’d get a job as a busboy or something until I figured out what I was really passionate about." That’s how much it meant to him. Passion is everything.

2. Put a dent in the universe. Jobs believed in the power of vision. He once asked then-Pepsi President, John Sculley, "Do you want to spend your life selling sugar water or do you want to change the world?" Don’t lose sight of the big vision.

3. Make connections. Jobs once said creativity is connecting things. He meant that people with a broad set of life experiences can often see things that others miss. He took calligraphy classes that didn’t have any practical use in his life — until he built the Macintosh. Jobs traveled to India and Asia. He studied design and hospitality. Don’t live in a bubble. Connect ideas from different fields.

4. Say no to 1,000 things. Jobs was as proud of what Apple chose not to do as he was of what Apple did. When he returned in Apple in 1997, he took a company with 350 products and reduced them to 10 products in a two-year period. Why? So he could put the "A-Team" on each product. What are you saying "no" to?  

5. Create insanely different experiences. Jobs also sought innovation in the customer-service experience. When he first came up with the concept for the Apple Stores, he said they would be different because instead of just moving boxes, the stores would enrich lives. Everything about the experience you have when you walk into an Apple store is intended to enrich your life and to create an emotional connection between you and the Apple brand. What are you doing to enrich the lives of your customers?

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