Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Coffee machine

Email message on how to use the coffee maker

==
... we had a problem with the use of pre-ground coffee...:

Beans (never ground coffee) go in the righthand side.
Water goes only in the lefthand side water reservoir.

If you wish to use the PRE-GROUND COFFEE feature, rather than having the machine grind beans for you, you may place NO MORE THAN TWO LEVEL SCOOPS (see scoop in cupboard) of ground coffee in the ground coffee funnel (See 8 in Fig. 1, attached).

If you place any coffee in the ground coffee funnel you MUST press the "Pre-ground coffee" button (See h in Fig. 3, attached) on the front panel before you press the 1-Cup or 2-Cup buttons, otherwise the machine will attempt to grind additional coffee and will overfill the mechanism.

NEVER pour unmeasured ground coffee into the ground coffee funnel.

If you don't know how to use a particular feature of the machine, the instruction manual is in the cupboard next to it...

Thanks!
==

What is truly important

As I have suggested, coffee is one of the common fuels at PARC. So, people take it very seriously when something happens to the coffee maker.

Also a nice touch to include attached diagrams in the email.

Lucky I drink tea...

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P@P

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Cloud Computing - Security, Compliance, and Opportunities

Controlling data in the cloud: outsourcing computation without outsourcing control

A group at PARC has been studying the Cloud Computing space and published this paper (download) in CCSW. The particular this paper argued that life in the cloud can be advantageous from a business intelligence standpoint over the isolated alternative that is more common today.

Cloud Computing and Security

The same group also posted a blog entry on several issues are of potential interests for both technical development and business management.

In particular, it points to four (4) levels where Cloud Computing could increase technical vulnerabilities; two (2) areas with known potential business concerns; and two (2) opportunities where Cloud Computing enables new capabilities that is difficult to do today.

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P@P

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Disruptive Innovation and Organic Electronics

FlexTech 2010

Given PARC's unique capabilities in the flexible, printed, and organic electronic applications, I am glad to report that the FlexTech 2010 show was well attended.

PARC presented two workshops on current work and Mark Bernstein, PARC's CEO, gave a keynote speech on disruptive technology.

PARC and Disruptive Technology in an Emerging Eco-system


Mark's keynote on "The changing model: Moving technologies from research to applications" focuses on what happens when new emerging technology is disrupting industry dynamics. In this scenario, the ability to find and collaborate with the right partners becomes imperative.



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Friday, January 22, 2010

Vacation and TMT Conference

Vacation

Will head out for some quality family time. See you guys in a couple of weeks.


Morgan Stanley's 2010 Tech Conference


Are you attending this year's Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference? If you are, let me know. I will be there and it would be good to catch up.

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P@P

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

2010 Flexible Electronics & Displays Conference

PARC at 2010 FlexTech

PARC will be actively participating in the upcoming 2010 FlexTech.

* Feb 2 Keynote session: "Moving technologies from the lab to real-world applications" by Mark Bernstein, CEO of PARC.

* Feb 3 "Flexible Printed Sensor Tape based on Solution Processed Materials" and "Sensing of blast events with flexible sensor tapes" - discussion of current projects by PARC technologists.

* Feb 2-4 PARC will be at booth 204 showcasing services in material characterization and optimization, application development, and system prototyping. Come by to see samples and learn about what PARC can do for your product road-map.

Flexible and Printed Electronics at PARC


PARC has been engaging in works related to both flexible and printed electronics for long time. And, PARC is a global organization that can provide both the technical (hard and soft) infrastructure and commercialization capabilities for our partners in this emerging technology area.

For more information on PARC's work in flexible and printed electronics.

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Tuesday, January 12, 2010

The proud, the few, the (PARC 2010) interns

PARC Internship

Yes, we do "interns". As a matter of a fact, this is a pretty good opportunity to work with some of the top names in a field, do interesting work, visit the San Francisco bay area, meeting interesting people, and get paid for your work.

We have opportunities in hardware, software, social science, and business.

More information and how to apply for the 2010 PARC Internship.

Life at PARC as an Intern

Here is quick glimpse of what interns did at PARC in 2009. Look forward to good stories from the class of 2010 interns.

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P@P

Friday, January 8, 2010

Open source and its hook

Marten and Open Source Hook

I was chatting with Marten Mickos recently. The question of what makes an open source effort succeed when others just flounder came up. He suggested that having a specific hook/niche that can be easily articulated is an important factor amongst many others. In the case of MySQL, it was a database designed specifically for web usage.

In the mundane business talk, it is about having an unique value proposition.

CCN and its Open Source

CCN's open source release came out last year. So, Marten's observation got me thinking about what is CCN's hook.

According to the recent Network World article, it is about security and multimedia/content consumption.

Would be interested in your take on what CCN's unique value proposition is. I am all ears.

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P@P