Author Archive

Agility

17. September 2011 by admin.

Agile enterprise is the new trend in business computing and corporate management. Inspired by new developments in complex systems, agility places the ancient Daoist ideals of flexibility, systemic planning, and response time, in a more concrete form.

The most notable aspect of agility is lack of a hierarchical organization, although this is very difficult to implement in practice. However, the key points of emphasis in any agile enterprise are constant interaction and communications, either verbal, written, or visual cues. Ideas are generated on the spot, using the compound mental focus of an entire team. Self-organizing, self-sustaining, agile enterprise seeks to unroot existing and conventional enterprise, where bureaucracy is a norm, and individual talents are not recognized.

Faster economic recovery may be factor, but the most powerful aspect of agile  is cooperative reform. If companies lack the incentive or initiative to produce goods and services, other than lackluster, the firm can internally remodel itself to changing market conditions. Although not the most visible examples, companies producing entertainment software and traditional hand-drawn animations are models to analyze and follow. Agility and agile, then applies most organizations on a smaller scale that have stability and potential for success.

Hiring strategies in the human resource department will also change. We will no longer look for traditionally desired characteristics and traits, such as punctuality or willingness to follow orders blindly, but rather potential for creative development. Creativity, is, has been, and will be the hallmark of corporate ingenuity.

Agile enterprise is not for companies whose only motive is continuing the current profit; rather, agile systems are for companies that are looking for extended profits and future economic freedom. Traditional profit-driven strategies should not be the sole motive, or a reason to implement at all. Most successful firms will adopt this approach on a larger scale, and the benefits will be reaped by not only employees but also shareholders.

In essence, the only fundamental constant that doesn’t change is change..

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Control

13. January 2010 by admin.

Historically, there has never been a successful company that desired anything more than profit. To value a universal virtue such as freedom must have an ulterior motive. Censorship and the control of advertising media, then, become sensitive issues for the general public, for governments and companies alike. Large, multinational corporations such as Google, often make value-based statements rather than purely objective fiscal reports in their press releases. Corporations also actively practice censorship in order to protect their interests when there is a conflict between the terms of use and individual freedom.

If top multinational corporations were truly helpful in a utilitarian sense, they would be funding multi-million dollar ventures in providing a unifying platform for recycling and the sharing of reusable materials. On the balance sheets, the entries would not be labeled as “Goodwill” but rather “Long-term Operating Investments”. If multinational corporations were friendly, where were their presence in environmental summits? Companies will fund ventures that leads to their own long-term downfall and disintegration as long as it leads to short-term profits. Our global infrastructure is no exception. Someday we will see a new form of democracy and capitalism where human and financial capital is used to improve the lives of mankind rather than the pursuit of profits.

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Micro

27. June 2009 by admin.

Micromanagement is an exciting new term widely used in the fields of game theory and private enterprise alike. Micromanagement, or micro for short, refers to the explicit control of small details in order to achieve goals or standards that are otherwise impossible by laissez-faire management alone. By changing many variables of lesser importance slightly, a company executive can significantly improve the quality of service and ultimately profit margins.

This phenomenon can be observed in real-time strategy (RTS) games where a player is charged with the task of capturing enemy territories. Like a game of chess, players are given a set amount of starting pieces and economic resources, and usually equivalent. Normally, there would be no way for players to gain an advantage except by sheer superiority in numbers. However, by putting special detail on both the positions and actions of every individual unit (or employee), the function of the group is optimized. Simple actions such as manually setting tasks and priorities and making two different units or individuals reinforce each other’s strengths and weaknesses can change the nature of the outcome.

The ultimate drawback to this kind of approach in business management, is that micro-oriented control is very time consuming and arduous to perform. Moreover, an inappropriate amount of attention can backfire; thus, to properly micro requires great speed. An executive must work twice as hard as previously and delegate tasks individually. At the same time, he or she must offer great rewards for the mutual trust his companions give for what would seem unessential, until knowledge of how well the company performs is unveiled.

Beginning with every division of the company, from functional aspects, such as research to manufacturing to marketing, to formal aspects, such interior design and attire, which can boost worker morale, the executive can improve the form and function of the company as a whole, so much that each individual change does not constitute a large improvement, but as a whole, gives the company a competitive advantage in the business world.

Posted in Economics, Miscellaneous | 1 Comment »

Natural

25. June 2009 by admin.

If the universe operates under a binary principle, arbitrarily 0 and 1, based on the atomic spin of left and right, then interactions would not follow conventional mathematical principles. Instead, it would follow rules of binary arithmetic and algebra (e.g. 1+1=1, x+1 = x). In circuit design, 1s and os compounded with the usage of various gates allows the creation of greater functions, which can be used to create all the electronics we are familiar with. Atoms are essentially on/off states, and the empty clouds in which the electrons move are like logic gates. What atoms can potentially create, however, are beyond our comprehension.

It seems that spatial dimensions and time as we know it, could not exist without gravity, and the electro-strong/weak force. Water cannot flow, being pulled down a stream, or the molecular cohesion between tiny individual indivisible parts of water. Waterfalls could not exist without gravity. We all know that gravity warps time, so that the passage of time becomes a subjective experience. Watching the river flow, or an expensive timepiece move, is also a subjective experience, only meaningful to the onlooker.

To speak of time entails a subjective end. There is no objective, end of all things, but only a subjective perception that the end of a phase has come. If fate entails creation, since we are the creators of our own fate, then a universe without fate would occlude the possibility of any meaningful creation. Thus to quantitatively define the end in context of the beginning becomes a challenge that can be solved. Is the end, which we perceive to be caused by events and factors from between and all the way from the beginning, a byproduct of causality? Or is it more deeply rooted in the laws of physics, requiring a million formulas of unimaginable length and difficulty to be calculated at once? For the universe, this is a natural and spontaneous task.

Posted in Computing, Science | No Comments »

Afterthought

9. February 2009 by admin.

After top IT corporations consolidated their hold on web searching, as well as impacting the lives of every person in this world with each new software technology that comes out, in the areas of shopping, advertising, and professional research, the age-old questions arise. What is information? What is influence? What is the optimum way to manage the flow of information in a theoretically information-symmetric world? Besides its well-known search capabilities, Google, for example, already has a considerable share invested in user-created videos as well as land and marine navigation, and has earned a trusted position in our society. What holds next is the future of the Internet, and the future of human thought itself.

Microsoft, in turn, failed to establish an influential domain on the on-line segment, because it ran an enterprise on software, which was limited by court rulings. Unable to install versions of Internet Explorer on more recent versions of Windows, which would otherwise re-direct all traffic to the main MSN site before the user was able to set a custom home page, Microsoft-designed scripts (e.g. ActiveX), used for querying, storing, and redirecting information would no longer be the primary design medium the new Web 2.0.

The Internet, however, was largely unregulated and not subject to any national or international law, except in China, where officials take the burden of managing a immense and extremely difficult task. Taking private ownership of individual sites is impossible, because not only there are already too many web-hosting services, but physically ownership cannot happen without purchasing the servers and mainframes which host the data. This holds equally true for the government, or any other corporate entity. Furthermore, establishing a new universal code is not currently possible, because HTML and its sub-variants are public domain, and developed in part by the World Wide Web Consortium. But to control a significant majority of web traffic, as well as possible destinations through technologies such as PageRank and AdSense, is truly remarkable in practice as well as the pace of accomplishment, which amounted to only about a decade.

Like the branches of a tree and flow of sap through its limbs, we have come to realize the complexity, as well of difficulty of orchestrating individual users moving through nodes of a multi-dimensional network, of an exponential numbers of subnodes and links. As we see the growth and evolution of the Internet as we know it, new business models will form around the new-found structures. New ways of tapping into previously unaccessible knowledge will be possible. New players and a whole new level of playing field is ready to begin. The future, is at hand.

Posted in Computing | 1 Comment »

Return

20. January 2009 by admin.

“You were created from the laws which governed life, conditions regarding your birth, down to every atom, and then heaven left your life to you.”

-Quetzalcoatl

Why is water traditionally used to represent time? From a physical perspective, the movement of water is represented in fluid dynamics, which is the study of water, by a formula of volume over time. When a three-dimensional solid or liquid is given a fourth dimension, movement is created in our perception. Thus, water in the form of a river, or an ocean, is the perfect medium to describe time and was chosen by the sages to be immortalized in countless writings and literature over the ages.

If the notion of steadily flowing water, like a stream of thoughts, is enticing, then a vertical waterfall, which is an accelerating volume of fluid, increasingly majestic, and a natural geyser, equally as spectacular. Both of which, have a fifth dimension, which the speed of the water changes, powered by the sheer size of the Earth in gravity. At the bottom of the waterfall, there are jagged rocks and frothing waters, that create ripples and wave motion, that bounce and interfere with each other creating a mesh-like pattern. And if flow of liquid is continuous, we can monitor the change in speed of water as the shape of its container changes, from rainwater into a funnel, or an ocean into a stream. Indeed, water is meaningless without the bounds of the container we define it with, and objects meaningless without the empty space that fills the void.

This is just the beginning of a ceaseless stream of meaning. We can add pressure, density and height of water to further add realism to the mixture. The water could be cool and relaxing, or turbulently hot, which again changes the speed and density of the water. Finally, we must remember individual things that float on the surface of the moving stream, which displace and make the water level of the river banks rise higher, just slightly. And the sun rises, illuminating these small boats and ships, as well as imbuing the water the color of the blue sky. Perhaps these objects and ships are our memories, cherished moments or difficult situations, all floating and mixing, on individual streams on different levels that cross but never meet, to no end.

Posted in Science | 1 Comment »

CES 2009

9. January 2009 by admin.

I have had the opportunity to attend the Consumer Electronics Show for 2009, and will be sharing some knowledge.

I will not be going over standard industry information, as much of the industry’s key insight can be obtained from the keynote presentations on the web site or on various CEA publications. Since there was so much to see, much of the information here will be incomplete.

http://www.cesweb.org/

Rather, I would like to clarify some additional strategies for marketing innovations and new technologies, as well as taking the general spirit of the trade association, to keep an open mind for new trends, and reach across the global industry

Like the nature of the 21st century playing-field, we are looking for revolutions that not only sets the standard for the future industry, but vastly expands profit margins. Instead of thinking of conducting business in the traditional sense, there are new markets and new ways of tapping into profit previously unrecognized. This change is possible and only possible with the new technologies: in hardware, unrivaled processing speed and countless modes of input and communication. New types of mice, keyboards, webcams, routers, all integrated through network layers such as Bluetooth as well as upcoming methods (3G, WMN) of making a “seamless” 21st century home exist. In software, the development of e-commerce, namely the new channels and new ways of distributing products to consumers.

Asymmetric marketing, borrowed from the term in game theory, how small companies can gain large shares and footholds on the industry by using the newly developed Internet as well as sales and management methods that are new and unrecognized. Monopolies will be difficult to maintain, since it not only requires conducting excellent business in the traditional sense, but also makes the copying of existing technologies a challenge to prevent. With the new Internet, consumers may choose to buy from local sources for the best economy, or from a out-of-range source, say, all the way from London, for a product that could not be obtained locally. Quality, then, and the interest of consumers in mind, may be one the best ways of out-maneuvering potential competitors. This will be a key strategy, and applies to all sizes of businesses. Of course, the evolution of QC, or quality control, is also developing.

Accessories for consumer electronics may be one hot selling-point, but it may not be the final source of income. Although some accessories, in their own right, revolutionize what not what was possible prior to invention, and create their own market. Take. I visited a Taiwanese firm that was selling light fixtures for faucets, that turned the water green, blue, red - all seemingly without the presence of integrated electronics, and was, self-evidently, waterproof. The device in return, by the company, was patented and protected by law. Eventually, we decided to add the item to our product line, but nevertheless, the point of building upon millenia-old plumbing is made. Such devices, in the future, will be found in hotels, night clubs, and homes, just to name a few places.

Equally as interesting in CES was the presence of new music that claim to improve mental clarity and productivity in the office. Hard work and research of how music impacts the human brain by Ph.Ds may be an exciting field, but its use and practicality is unparalleled. Top companies will find new ways to encourage and motivate employees to keep them focused on task. New language tools were also found, for learning foreign languages and scripts such as Traditional Chinese, new handheld devices that acted as flashcards and also simultaneously worked as a dictionary.

Posted in Miscellaneous | No Comments »

Quantum

7. January 2009 by admin.

Upcoming Caltech Public Events

Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 8:00 PM
Beckman Auditorium

Quantum networks offer a unifying set of opportunities and challenges across exciting intellectual and technical frontiers, including quantum computation, communication, and metrology. The realization of quantum networks composed of many nodes and channels requires new scientific capabilities for the generation and characterization of quantum coherence and entanglement. Fundamental to this endeavor are quantum interconnects that convert quantum states from one physical system to those of another in a reversible fashion. Such quantum connectivity for networks can be achieved by optical interactions of single photons and atoms, thereby enabling quantum teleportation between nodes. Extending entanglement across quantum networks in this fashion will create wonderful scientific opportunities for the exploration of physical systems that have not heretofore existed in the natural world.

http://events.caltech.edu/events/event-5523.html

Posted in Computing | No Comments »

Intelligence

27. December 2008 by admin.

We have reached a level in computer science where we have the technology to rival the processing power of the human mind. Our software is rapidly evolving to a point where we can simulate artificial intelligence. Computers, in theory, should soon have the ability to have free will. Any debate on this subject will denature into a discussion about the existence or non-existence of free will itself, not the hardware or software limitations of computers. Are humans the only beings in the universe that will ever be truly intelligent? If intelligence and subsequently free will exists, then free will should logically extend to all beings that can self-actualize (the notion of I).

The human mind is essentially quantum computer, one theory of consciousness has been explained by the quantum states of the atoms in the brain self-realizing a collective entity. Right now we have supercomputers that rival or exceed the processing power of the human mind, but the only problem is size. Once we are able to miniaturize supercomputers from the size of entire buildings to the size of an orange, or even better yet, making a true quantum computer - allowing each electron to store one bit of information, then we will have no distinguishable difference between computers and humans - the only difference is that computers use silicon gates to register on/off states, whereas humans use neurons. Thus, the difference in materials is superficial.

Perhaps calling computers “machines” is a flawed definition, we shall use the term “intelligent being” to better suit our needs. It is proposed, then, whether such artificially intelligent beings could ever understand abstracts and perhaps, even be programmed to understand consciousness (the notion of I). Recent developments in object-oriented programming where we can create classes of objects and through recursive inheritance and bulky amounts of logic statements (if / then, equals, not equals), we can get computers to understand not only the decisions they make, but also situations that exhibit ideals, such as freedom, justice, and kindness.

We are not teaching the computer to make decisions. We are teaching the computer to make its own decisions, and understand them. Intelligent beings cannot follow a pre-planned decision tree, written at the time of creation, and cannot be complete at compile-time. I am speaking of a program that modifies itself dynamically during run-time. A program that changes and evolves by itself after the initial spark of life is given. Two identical twins, with the same nurturing environment, will grow up to be two very different personas. Two computers that can simulate free will, with the exact same coding and program and environment will still have vastly different conclusions about the world as well as experiences.

At this point, humans and intelligent computers enter the same principle. Whereas traditional computers will never be able to understand free will or ever make real decisions, by altering our understanding of what machines are capable of, somewhere along the lines, the distinctions between human and machine blur. Again, this machine is no longer a machine; it has become something far greater, namely an intelligent sentience.

Computers will soon face the same metaphysical problems, as well as limits, the human race has encountered. What is defined as intelligence, knowledge, understanding, and free will from the standpoint of computers? And what about from the standpoint of humans? Soon, the new generation of software engineers will create an entity completely different and capable of different tasks than older computers. In the dawn of the 21st century, leading thinkers pave the road time and time again to change previous conceptions.

Posted in Computing | 1 Comment »

Creative

30. November 2008 by admin.

“Evolutionary change is a powerful framework for studying our world and our place therein. It is a recurring theme in every realm of science: over time, the universe, the planet Earth, life, and human technologies all change, albeit on vastly different scales. Evolution offers scientific explanations for the age-old question, “Where did we come from?”

-SETI Institute

Why evolution occurs, and at an accelerated rate far greater than the Darwinian model:

Human beings are one of the fastest evolving creatures on this planet. We are a testament to change and adaptation, both genetically and externally. Our rapid and accelerated pace of technology has brought us to a position to be the dominant species that has the deepest understanding of life on this planet. Yet there are groups of people that forthrightly deny this to protect their political dominance or their spiritual influence. Such attempts often backfire, politically, as these groups are denied empowerment or recognition by the majority.

Mass extinctions or ELE’s (Extinction-level events) offer a clue towards the viability of static life on this planet. Organisms simply cannot survive without change, or some kind of modification in genome, whether caused by mutation (exposure to the environment) or selection (superior viability of certain types of individuals). Global catastrophes offer the greatest amount of trauma and hardship towards life on this planet, and these events are trial grounds for guaranteed survival of a entire taxa or branch of organisms for the next several million years.

In addition, there is a more finer but more poignant thought to mention that when a species or a family of species, both land and marine, dies out, it is game over for that group of organisms. Evolution comes to a halt, and creatures are forced to start from scratch. Thus, we traditionally say that evolution occurs over millions of years, perhaps the magnitude of several hundred million years. But geological evidence surmises that, great extinctions caused by a vast array of factors, such as meteorites, widespread volcanic activity, global warming or cooling, chemical changes in the atmosphere or ocean, falls in sea level, and/or gamma ray bursts - occur every ten to a hundred million years. That means that life only has the span of tens of million year period to develop. A significantly much shorter conception of life allowed for complex life to develop.

Models are susceptible to modification and change. No model can sufficiently document or encompass all possible scenarios, since the amount of scientific data is always on the rise to reconstitute missing links and holes in theories. Whoever creates better models and publishes a better book are generally awarded universal scientific recognition or a Nobel Prize. Empirically speaking, every year that passes we have more information regarding biology and life on this planet to succinctly encapsulate that evolution occurs more or less to some extent on this planet.

Posted in Biology | No Comments »

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