Guess Chocolates Can Also Be Used In Business, Not Just In Courtship - IBM Tries To Win Over Africa With Chocolate

I absolutely LOVE chocolate. I don't know how people can survive without it. Well actually I do know, I just enjoy chocolate so much I think it should be part of the daily diet. Chocolate tastes good, makes you feel good and is not that expensive. It also doesn't take that long - unlike other things that are also considered satisfying.

Anyway moving on, IBM is attempting to endear itself to Africa. It's weapon of choice - you guessed it - chocolate! And why chocolate? Apparently it is Africa's primary crop and source of economic stability. And so understanding cocoa and in turn chocolate will help the region improve over all - the people and the economy.

With IBM's recent million dollar investments in Africa, it would make sense for them to give some back for a change and help the region flourish. So how are they doing this? IBM is having their new supercomputer Blue Gene to understand the genetic makeup of the cocoa genome that could make it more resistant to droughts and pests, which could lead to a steady crop and contribute to Africa's economies.

A noble feat - but also with criticism, apparently there may be some ulterior motive aligned with business and financial returns for the company. Makes sense, IBM after all is a corporation and not a charity foundation. I agree with their business strategy as long as it helps people instead of cause harm then I guess no foul.

If Africa is to gain with IBM's supercomputer profits - then I guess all is well with the world.

The Separation Of Bill Gates And Microsoft

After 30 years, it looks like the end has come for Bill Gates and Microsoft. The end not being a termination of course of either but instead a change in relationship. Bill Gates is finally stepping down and is now just going to work part-time. Taking it easy I guess. Must be the stress.

Everybody thinks Gates is some genius. The college drop-out who was once the richest man in the world with one of the most innovative companies around.

I do agree that Bill Gates is sort of a legend now. It's good I guess that he's stepping down. Sort of sounds like the end of an era so to speak for the tech world. It would be a shame if he were to go down in flames, beaten bad by Google. So this is the smart approach to bow down in grace while still retaining the image that you're still at the top of your game.

Bill Gates was interviewed by CNet on what might it be like for him After Microsoft and what his thoughts were on the future of technology and Microsoft as a company. He also talks about the failed Yahoo buy-out. Apparently Microsoft already has a stand-alone strategy of its own. Probably as a Plan B, should the acquisition fail - which it did. But anyway, their goal is probably just the same as all the other companies. How do we grow? How do we scale?

Read the complete CNet interview here.

Yahoo's Re-organization - Damage Control?

Yahoo has been in a bit of trouble. It might have declined the Microsoft buy-out offer in a futile attempt to stay afloat. Yahoo, the company and as the brand is suffering extreme criticism from all sides. Executives are leaving for greener pastures, which only goes to show that something may be amiss within those hallowed walls.

That's not to say that not many have left Google and Microsoft. I'm sure many talents there have also left in search for the better opportunity. And may have found them through other smaller companies that are still able to provide them the leeway and freedom that most probably the big guns have now refused to shell out.

But as for Yahoo, the company is indeed on shaky ground. With one executive after another publicly exiting. There must be a very think atmosphere of frustration and anxiety there. I do hope the restructuring does help them figure out what happens.

Analysts seem to think that Yahoo is the result of death by product management. Perhaps it's true, but how come the multiple product perspective didn't impact Google? There must be something wrong with the business strategy or management that's affecting how the company operates from inside out.

It would be shame though to lose Yahoo. I do think they are still one of the best in the online business world and I do hope they figure this out. I've seen Yahoo grow throughout the years and they are still quite admirable although they aren't number 1. Number 2 still isn't a bad place to be.

Yahoo Dumped Microsoft Buy-out For Google Non-Exclusive Partnership. Has the Courtship Ended? Or is it just beginning?

Yahoo has finally made their call. They have finally said "NO" to Microsoft. Yes Microsoft got dumped. Yahoo didn't want a buy-out or maybe they did, but they just didn't think Microsoft's offer was good enough.

What they have done instead is partnered with Google. They have ceded their search capacity to Google. So right now, the ads that will come out on Yahoo are essentially Google ads. That's what it means.

The business strategy here being that revenues could potentially increase for Yahoo search. However the flip-side is that this gives Google even more power in the market. It's now closing into monopoly if I may say so myself as Google supplies other smaller search engines like Ask.com

CNet reports that Yahoo expects the revenue to help the company invest in its dual-pronged advertising strategy that's designed to offer advertisers an easy ability to buy text ads on search results and to buy graphical "display" ads elsewhere on Yahoo's considerable Internet properties.

"This agreement provides a source of funds to both deliver financial value to stockholders from search monetization and to invest in our broader strategy to transform display advertising and advance our starting-point objectives with users," Yahoo President Sue Decker said in a statement. "It enhances competition by promoting our ability to compete in the marketplace where we are especially well-positioned: in the convergence of search and display."

Under the deal, Yahoo will select the search terms for which Google will supply ads, the companies said. The ads will be displayed in the United States and Canada, and Decker took pains to say how Yahoo controls which Google results are displayed and when.

Yahoo's search ad engine, Panama, is competitive with Google's for many popular queries, but Yahoo plans to use Google with less common searches, Decker said. "Yahoo monetizes very competitively with Google for query ads but is not as competitive in the tail," she said, referring to the long statistical tail consisting of a large number of infrequent searches.

New iPhone, New Business Model For Apple

Apple will be selling the new third generation iPhones at a much cheaper rate. $200 less than older versions, if you can imagine that. That's sure to kill future purchases for older models though

But the way Apple now shares its income with carriers has also changed. Whereas historically, carriers get a percentage of the initial purchase and the users continuing payments during the life of the contract, the new scheme lets Apple keep all of the initial sale while carriers will benefit more from the recurring fees of users.

I think this isn't such a bad idea as carriers will be forced to provide more continuous customer support after the sale.

Apple has decided to expand its dealership for operators. Under the former business model, Apple reached exclusive deals that allowed only one operator per country to sell the phone. That strategy, while building up demand, was criticized as cloistering the iPhone from a potential huge audience.

All this will fall into place when the new 3G iPhone goes on sale next month. So watch out for it. It's twice as fast at only half the price -- on sale July 11

Microsoft's and Apple's Approaches To Security Disclosures - The Carpet Bomb Case, Microsoft Says Stop Using Safari

This shows how 2 companies can be very different in approaching dilemmas. I guess it's company culture combined with executive decisiveness.

I do not criticize Apple for being the way they are. It's great to come clean about a problem and say, "Yes we have a problem and yes we have the solution." But it doesn't help in the interim if it takes 3 months to find the answers.

I also see Microsoft's point of coming forward early in the game and calling out the competition. We all know something is wrong with Safari and they have acknowledged that Safari coupled with Windows poses a very vulnerable spot for users versus hackers.

This article in Computer World quotes nCircle's Storms, "Microsoft has really embraced the enterprise, and decided that disclosure and a regular patch schedule is what the enterprise needs to support and maintain its products.

"Apple, on the other hand, appeals to consumers, and believes that for the majority of consumers, issuing an advisory without a patch would probably just create FUD [fear, uncertainty and doubt]," Storms concluded.

As Storms noted, Apple has remained silent on the Safari carpet bomb problem. Last week, it did not respond to a request for comment on its security team's decision against adding a user-approval option to Safari. The company was not available Saturday.

Microsoft did say that it was working with its rival, however. "[We] are working with our colleagues at Apple to investigate the issue," said Tim Rains, a product manager in Microsoft's malware protection center, in a post to the MSRC blog.

No timetable has been set by Microsoft for patching its software to block combined Safari-IE attacks. As it often does in security advisories, the company only said that it may issue a patch.

Well now I'm glad I'm using Mozilla Firefox instead of the reportedly bugged Safari and Internet Explorer.