The FCC just lost a court decision over Net Neutrality, a regulation stating that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) would be required by Federal Law to give equal bandwidth to all websites.  For example, with Net Neutrality, Comcast would be required by law to allocate the same bandwidth for its viewers viewing say Microsoft.com as viewers viewing some small political commentary site.  ISPs also would not be allowed to limit bandwidth for certain types of sites or applications such as VOIP or file sharing sites.

Supporters of Net Neutrality include a whose who of often anti-establishment bloggers, techies and many well-meaning geeks.  The supporters are generally good people with good points and a good goal.  They want to see more broadband penetration in the US and want independence preserved.

In this case, the Net Neutrality supporters have their heart in the right place but are more focused on goal than the big picture ramifications of Net Neutrality.

As with most cases of government intervention we have well-meaning people willing to voluntarily give up our rights.  I love the saying “People fight and die for freedom then pass laws to take it away.”  Why on earth would anyone WANT government to interfere more with the Internet of all things?  First of all, its terrible economics.  Are our hard earned tax dollars not better spent on something else these days that yet another army of regulators and bureaucrats in government offices?  Are our businesses not burdened enough in this economy trying to earn a living without having to worry about yet more rules and regulations to follow?

The Internet has done just fine with relatively little government interference.  Furthermore, one needs to realize that when you pass a law that gives the Federal Government more power you are giving up freedom.  Little by little, step-by-step, we give up freedom with virtually every law we pass.  Why?   There are lots of reasons a few relate to 1) failure to think things through, 2) seeing government as the solution to problems and 3) being too lazy or uncreative to think of new solutions.

Freedom = Good, Don’t Forget it

There also tends to be a common case in situations like this where people have not generally thought through their philosophy of how much government they want.  Do you want more freedom or less freedom?  Do you want more of a totalitarian state or more of a libertarian state?  The ironic thing is that many people who promote Net Neutrality are generally anti-establishment and pro-freedom.  One of their rallying cries is that without Net Neutrality independent thought will die and blogs will be squashed and only giant corporations will be left.  This would be terrible but it’s exactly the opposite of what would actually happen (or is happening).  People who dislike authority and feel that Comcast, Verizon, AT&T and EarthLink are run by evil people who wish them ill will may just be right (but I doubt it).   My simple question for them is “Do you think the people running the Government are any different?”  Do government bureaucrats not harm people or want to increase their personal power as often as corporate executives?  Surely few would argue that the corporate world is filled with devils and the halls of government offices with angels.  No, generally people are people.

Google versus the IRS

There are evil and good in both sides.  However there are two major problems with the government.  The first is competence.  If Comcast ticked off enough internet users they could be out of business in a week- the government is a lot harder to put out of business (although some certainly have been trying in recent years).  Government, in some cases lives up to the stereotype of low quality, overpaid, lazy workers who don’t know how to do their job as well as their civilian counterparts.  Who do you think, in general, works harder, a sales executive at Comcast or a PR Exec at the FCC?  Where would you find more innovation, the halls of Google or the IRS’s tech office?  If your business needed a new website, who would you rather hire to do it; Uncle Sam or a lean mean private tech company?  So competence, efficiency and quality are an issue.  Yes there are geniuses in government and some excellent and hard working people I know well.  Take a look at the web design for WhiteHouse.gov – as a web guy I say hats off to the designer, its a genius piece of code.  But lets face it, of the millions of government workers some are not the brightest candles on the cake, there are also some who would not have the job they have in the civilian world.  Do we really want these people making decisions rather than civilians?  Remember all non-government companies answer to consumers.

Guns, Badges and Jails

The second and much more serious problem with government is that it has a power that companies do not:  it can fine and imprison you.  Are there bad guys at big ISPs?  Yes.  In the history of the world however it’s been the bad apples, not in private sector who have caused misery but the bad apples who have badges and guns and jails.  Regulation and reduction in freedom is inherently violent.  How?  Well, if Joe ISP says to the Government the immortal words spoken by every freedom-loving activist “I refuse”.   Lets not worry much about whether Joe has a good reason or not the point is that if he refuses enough, he will be fined and eventually go to jail.  So one certain result is that Net Neutrality would have people put in jail who would NOT have been in jail without it.  Is that what the supporters really want?   I’m not saying it would be hundreds or thousands of people, maybe just a dozen.  But the point is that thousands would have to comply with the law and that is a reduction in freedom.  Oddly many Net Neutrality supporters are reporters.  Reporters, by nature, live in the moment, often a lifetime in a hear and now deadline driven existence – reporters are great but lets face it, they don’t often see the forest from the trees.  Reporters who support Net Neutrality are thinking of today and their perception that they could lose rights to free speech and free reporting: important concerns.  But let me ask those reporters who have been around for a few years and racked up some miles.  Is free speech generally better in countries where government has more power or less power?

Good for the Little Guy?

The other ironic thing about the Net Neutrality supporters is that they tend to be anti-corporate as if helping the little guy is their goal.  Well, again in general the opposite of what they might want to occur is likely.  Give government more power, more enforcement, more authority, more oversight and who benefits?  Mom and pop companies?  Generally, the bigger the government the more the large players will benefit through lobbyists etc.  Sure it was Comcast, a large company that won the FCC suit but please don’t mistake this for meaning that what’s bad for the big guy (Comcast) is good for the little guy.  Sometimes increasing government power is a lose-lose:  a loss for big companies, and for small companies as well as citizens (and more often than not, the big companies lobby and change things so that they benefit anyway).

Is it really broken?

One of the more odd things about the Net Neutrality argument is the cries from otherwise smart people, often my fellow techie geeks, saying that if Net Neutrality doesn’t pass it will “ruin” blogs and limit free speech and that only Fox News other corporations will control our content.  Huh?  Is the Internet broken now?  Last time I checked there are plenty of blogs and content is doing fine.  Keep in mind we DONT have a law now called Net Neutrality and right now, by most accounts, it works fine.  Do pro Net Neutrality activists think that this law is so necessary because at some future point all the major IPS will suddenly change their policy?  Net Neutrality bills itself as a way to “preserve the free and open Internet”.  Well, it looks pretty free now.  If it WERE to be in danger whom exactly would you fear most?  I don’t know about you but the guys with guns and badges don’t have a great historical track record.  Saying that we need to preserve the web by placing draconian new powers to regulate it in the hands of government is like going into a community playground and saying that we need more laws to protect it.

Let the free markets work, if a large ISP starts limiting freedom then the power of the web and blogs and social media should put them out of business

To my friends who support Net Neutrality:  think it through.  You don’t like big evil companies with bad motives I get it- but is it so broken now in your opinion that you want to give vast powers to the guys with guns and badges who brought us the Iraq War, the Patriot Act, the Wall Street Bailouts and the IRS?

written by Bruce Fenton

Some joke that giving computers to salespeople is what caused the recession of the early 90s.  Maybe today’s economic woes are a result of Facebook and YouTube.  The rise of Web 2.0 and social media has almost directly correlated to the drop in the economy.

The clever thing about social media and the rest of today’s Internet is that it fools you in to thinking you are working.  Being without a Facebook or LinkedIn account will soon be like having no email address.  YouTube is the world’s largest broadcaster; a great source for breaking news and commentary that has real value.  These activities waste time but, just as companies in the 90s who tried to ‘ban the web’ from the workplace soon realized, they are necessary.

For most professionals, the problem is not that they play World of Warcraft for hours at a time during the workday, the problem is the long tail of semi-work-related time eaters, emails, scheduling, getting sidetracked when visiting a legitimate work-related website or blog and other time-creep.

RescueTime is a nifty tool that helps us keep on track and keep our time-wasting, low payoff, low productivity and borderline activities to a minimum.  The small, free program installs in minutes and quietly tracks what we do on our PCs.  It’s hard to fool: RescueTime even can distinguish which window you are working on if you have multiple ones open and if you walk away from the PC it will know you are not there because nothing is clicked.

The RescueTime interface includes a report and ability for the user to define what they personally consider to be time-wasting or not.  Since writing reports and proposals is a productive part of my business I prioritized it as a +2 for example, same with my in-house investment analysis software and my phone.  My phone is wired to the PC so it’s easy to track.  Offline activities like meetings are a little tricky, there are plug-ins, updates and a premium version that enhance this.  Despite using my Facebook page and YouTube economic commentary channel for some work related tasks, I rated them both at -2, the lowest possible efficiency rating.  Graphics designers, accountants and other professionals can tailor RescueTime to rate programs and websites as productive or unproductive or neutral activities.  For example, email and the calendar for me are 0, or neutral, Huffington Post a -1 but Bloomberg a +1, you get the idea.

The next version of the software will even have a pop-up window that you can optionally enable: “Sorry Sally, you’ve spent over 30 minutes on the YouTube, if you really want to stay please enter your password.”

Many first react that people should just have willpower and not need such a tool, this is true however the simple reporting and interface gives a level of measurement that you wouldn’t have on your own.  Some of the facts might surprise users.  Everyone who has taken a time management course knows that email should only be checked a couple times a day and in time-blocks; yet we all know busy executives who check email as much as 10 times per hour…that’s every six minutes.  For most professionals, the problem is not that they play World of Warcraft for hours at a time during the workday, the problem is the long tail of semi-work-related time eaters, emails, scheduling, getting sidetracked when visiting a legitimate work-related website or blog and other time-creep.  RescueTime also offers the ability to set goals:  minimum or maximum of a certain number of hours per week or day on certain activities.  If you meet or exceed your goals you can opt to receive an email or popup.

For managers RescueTime is a must.  Advanced reporting in the paid version allows managers to track multiple employees, projects and teams and share certain data with other.  In a heavily regulated industry like financial services, review of employee activity is a must – viewing cache files of visited sites and other tools are the norm.  RescueTime seems a little less invasive and friendlier and might help employees (and managers) self-monitor their actions.

I’d like to offer an alternative instead of featuring just one product, but I haven’t found one yet.  I’d browse the web looking for one and write some more but I know my new friend RescueTime is watching so I think I’ll get back to work.

Bruce Fenton
Bruce is an economic adviser, founder and Managing Director of Atlantic Financial Inc. the Internet’s first full service investment company and a specialist in web technology.  Bruce is interested in new technologies, next generation practices and focuses on globalization and the changing economy.

PETALUMA, Calif. and SINGAPORE, May 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Enphase Energy, the global leader in solar microinverter systems, and Flextronics (NASDAQ:FLEX) , a leading global Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider today announced that Enphase has selected Flextronics as its global manufacturing partner for the production of solar microinverters. This partnership enables Enphase to quickly and reliably scale to meet the growing demand for its products and expands Flextronics’ reach into the quickly growing solar balance-of-systems market.

“As Enphase continues on its aggressive growth path, it is critical that we align ourselves with world-class partners, enabling us to continue meeting the high level of quality and reliability that our customers have come to expect from us,” said Paul Nahi, CEO, Enphase Energy, Inc. “After a thorough selection process, we have chosen to work with Flextronics for our manufacturing needs. Flextronics was the logical choice due to its emphasis on quality, global reach and excellent logistics capabilities.”

“We are thrilled that Enphase has selected Flextronics as its partner for the manufacture of microinverters. This partnership allows us to further expand our expertise in the renewable energy field, strengthen our expertise in the solar balance of systems market and partner with a leading and innovative solar technology provider,” said EC Sykes, president of Flextronics Industrial. “Our global resources and vertical integration capabilities help solar customers achieve rapid deployment, with controlled costs and market-specific expertise.”

Enphase Microinverter Systems convert the direct current (DC) output of a single solar module into grid compliant alternating current (AC) power. Enphase systems maximize energy harvest, increase system reliability and are easier to design, install and manage than systems installed with traditional inverters. Tests have demonstrated that Enphase Microinverters deliver between 5% and 25% more energy harvest than traditional, centralized inverters. In addition, a proprietary communication technology is embedded into each microinverter, enabling continuous, remote, per-panel monitoring to maximize energy production.

Flextronics’ global scale and company-wide core competencies in design, manufacturing and after market services help solar customers accelerate the realization of grid parity. Flextronics’ solar solutions portfolio is a significant competitive differentiator and includes expertise in markets such as semiconductor capital equipment, energy and electro-mechanical equipment, solar capital equipment, photovoltaic (PV) module assembly and manufacturing, PV component assembly, PV concentrators and balance of system (BOS) products.

About Enphase Energy

Enphase Energy provides solar energy management systems for residential and commercial markets. The company offers a networked system, which includes high-efficiency microinverters, communications and web-based analytics. The systems increase energy harvest, increase system reliability, and simplify design, installation and management. Founded in 2006 and based in Northern California, the company is led by veterans from the solar and high tech industries and backed by industry leaders. For more information, please visit www.enphaseenergy.com or call (707) 763-4784.

About Flextronics

Headquartered in Singapore (Singapore Reg. No. 199002645H), Flextronics is a leading Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) provider focused on delivering complete design, engineering and manufacturing services to automotive, computing, consumer, industrial, infrastructure, medical and mobile OEMs. With fiscal year 2009 revenues of US$30.9 billion, Flextronics helps customers design, build, ship, and service electronics products through a network of facilities in 30 countries on four continents. This global presence provides design and engineering solutions that are combined with core electronics manufacturing and logistics services, and vertically integrated with components technologies, to optimize customer operations by lowering costs and reducing time to market. For more information, please visit www.flextronics.com.

Source: Flextronics

CONTACT: Investor Relations, Warren Ligan or Cindy Klimstra,
+1-408-576-7722, investor_relations@flextronics.com, or Renee Brotherton, Vice
President, Corporate Communications, +1-408-576-7189,
renee.brotherton@flextronics.com, all of Flextronics; or Leesa Lee, Director
of Marketing of Enphase, +1-707-763-4784, ext. 7036, llee@enphaseenergy.com

Web Site: http://www.flextronics.com/

http://www.enphaseenergy.com/

New intelligence helps increase profitability and customer satisfaction

ARMONK, N.Y., May 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — IBM (NYSE:IBM) today announced that it has provided U.S. Lumber Group with a business intelligence (BI) solution that is providing the company with in-depth reporting capabilities in real time versus their original system that provided reports daily.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO )

The system is helping the Atlanta-based wholesale building-materials distributor view key performance indicators enabling them to make smarter, more informed decisions since it is now possible to quickly compare actual results with strategic goals.

As a midsized company, it was important that U.S. Lumber find a new solution that would reduce overhead costs and increase customer satisfaction. This is particularly significant in today’s economic environment. Initially, U.S. Lumber had a small vendor providing day-to-day metrics. The Web-based application was limited to daily performance indicators and the overall data scheme was small in scope and difficult to extract. As the company grew and became more sophisticated, U.S. Lumber’s ability to forecast a year’s sales activities became a lot more complicated with the available tools.

“With the current economic conditions, data becomes like a goldmine and you need the best tools to mine it,” said Felipe Herrera, senior financial analyst, U.S. Lumber Group. “With IBM Cognos 8 BI, we can create our own applications that are ten times more sophisticated and flexible than any of the applications created by other third-party vendors.”

IBM Business Partner Lodestar Solutions helped U.S. Lumber develop more informed and accurate business strategies providing greater insight into operations and increased customer satisfaction by being able to diagnose and solve issues quickly. U.S. Lumber also reduced software costs compared with its previous solution, which was provided by a competitor.

“We are dedicated to helping companies like U.S. Lumber become self sufficient, leveraging their own data to become more successful and grow their business while cutting costs,” said Heather Cole, president and CEO, Lodestar Solutions.

In addition to significant cost savings, IBM Cognos 8 BI provided U.S. Lumber with flexibility in consolidating reports. Branch managers can now create reports that break down information account-by-account and expense-by-expense. With more granular breakout, the company can easily see which strategies work best and improve on the execution of those strategies.

The IBM Cognos 8 BI solution has also given U.S. Lumber the ability to create a profitability application that helps the company better assign costs to each customer based on order size. For example, orders can vary from sending one piece of lumber to one customer to sending an entire truckload of 45,000 pounds to another. U.S. Lumber now has clear visibility into profit levels for each and every order.

U.S. Lumber was also faced with the challenge of improving its internal procurement process as the company learned that the former system would require custom software development work. The original estimate from another third party to begin development on a procurement system was estimated at more than $100,000.

Instead, US Lumber opted to implement IBM Cognos Software. As a result, U.S. Lumber was able to minimize risk and save money by utilizing the tools and knowledge in-house to successfully manage its procurement process.

Most importantly, by having all the data in-house, U.S. Lumber has complete control of the information and issues with reports and scorecards. The company is also able to immediately catch an order that was missed or billed incorrectly, and make necessary adjustments the same day.

About U.S. Lumber Group

U.S. Lumber Group is a specialty wholesaler of building-materials distributor with headquarters in Atlanta, GA. The company provides personalized customer service to more than 6,000 customers and currently distributes products from eight cost centers, providing service throughout 14 southeastern and Mid-Atlantic States. U.S. Lumber also distributes domestic and imported forest products from Europe, Canada, and South America.

About IBM

For more information about IBM Information Management, please visit http://www.ibm.com/software/data/.

Contact:
Jeff Gluck
IBM Media Relations
jgluck@us.ibm.com
914-765-6072

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: IBM

CONTACT: Jeff Gluck, IBM Media Relations, jgluck@us.ibm.com,
+1-914-765-6072

Web Site: http://www.ibm.com/software/data