Processors need data

Talk to Me, One Machine Said to the Other

Berg Insight, a research firm in Goteborg, Sweden, says the number of machine-to-machine devices using the world’s wireless networks reached 108 million in 2011 and will at least triple that by 2017. Ericsson, the leading maker of wireless network equipment, sees as many as 50 billion machines connected by 2020. Only 10 billion or so are likely to be cellphones and tablet computers. The rest will be machines, talking not to us, but to each other.

I meant to get into this topic, where are the new Watsons going to get data? From micro sensors everywhere, and in return the Watsons are going to control micro bots everywhere.

Bakersfield wants High Speed Rail moved

The state lawmaker who this month cast a deciding vote on funding for California high-speed rail now wants to delay a portion of the controversial project.
Despite early agreements to send the train through downtown Bakersfield, state Sen. Michael Rubio said Monday that the Bakersfield City Council, the Kern County Board of Supervisors and those who have participated in the project no longer support that route.
Instead, Rubio is asking the rail authority to "delay the project during the environmental impact review stage so that further consideration can be made for an alternate route that doesn't go through downtown," he said.
Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/07/23/2919867/delay-sought-on-bakersfield-high.html#storylink=cpy

The idea was to run the train right through the largest high school in B Town, a billion dollar cost. Now, even brain dead Bakersfield politicians grasp the obvious, they want the route moved to the south of town. The entire route needs to be moved west, away from civilization, about 15-30 miles.

With a little bit of hope

Geithner Hopeful a Fiscal Crisis Can Be Averted

Read more: http://business.time.com/2012/07/24/geithner-hopeful-a-fiscal-crisis-can-be-averted/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+timeblogs%2Fcurious_capitalist+%28TIME%3A+Business%29#ixzz21YxDxBVG

New technology browser

Here is a quick summary of the browser changes over the next few years.:

• The browser becomes our personal Watson.
• The new  exchange model become launch and forget, not client-server
• The new browser listens on its own IP address, no more same origin
• Its computing model is the JSON join, naturally.
• HTML rendering is just another interface.
• Every browser is a JSON join kernel.
• The killer app is the application specific database model.

My hometown, in the news

The recent bankruptcy filings of three California cities have U.S. investors worried that Fresno could be next to go down this road, according to a major Wall Street financial house. Vikram Rai, strategist with Citigroup Inc., said bond investors are increasingly asking about the financial health of Fresno out of concern that the city will seek court protection from its debt obligations and that millions of investment dollars will be lost. By Kurtis Alexander and George Hostetter - The Fresno Bee Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/07/23/2919873/fresno-bonds-worry-market-amid.html#storylink=cpy

They told me our accounting was virtuous! I say, go for it, nothing like a good bankruptcy to shake things up.

NoSQL market heats up

The fledgling NoSQL marketplace is going through a rapid transition – from the predominantly community-driven platform development to a more mature application-driven market. Scaling up web infrastructure on NoSQL basis have proven successful for Facebook, Digg and Twitter. Successful attempts have been made to develop NOSQL applications in the biotechnology, defense and image/signal processing. Interest in using key-value pair (KVP) technology has reemerged to the point where the traditional RDMS vendors evaluate strategy of developing in-house NoSQL solutions and integrating them in current product offers. It will not take long before we’ll see acquisitions driven by emerging NoSQL technology. The future deals will likely be made to better compete both in platform offering and in vertical market segments.  Market Research

The driver here is the IBM Watson, I think, plus my own work, naturally! And this:

Open ... and Shut Just a few short years ago, MySQL was the undisputed king of the open-source database hill. But with the NoSQL market emerging at an 82 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR), it's looking like MySQL may get bulldozed by its NoSQL peers. UK Register

A few years ago I tried to talk to these people, but they were unable to listen. Now the roles are reversed: the JSON join now rules the computing world and all things SQL must be restructured to thye JSON join architecture. Am I going to write software? No, my imaginary company moved me from technology to market research, sorry.

Buck seems confused

Rep. Buck McKeon, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and one of the most outspoken critics of the automatic defense cuts, is one of the few members to admit he now regrets voting for the Budget Control Act. Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78639.html#ixzz21HbF6MPM The California Republican “was assured by his leadership that the cuts won’t happen,” said his spokesman, Claude Chafin. Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0712/78639.html#ixzz21Hb9Nel6

Citizen's who are confused, let me explain. National Parties of Oligarchs cannot guarantee enything, they cannot even guarantee debt service payments. Only legitimate government guarantees, and California does not have legitimate government in DC, we do not have our share of Senate seats. Hence, neither national oligarch can guarantee anything from California unless a California democratic process occurs. That is why most oligarchs go away, or are shot or exiled; they cannot guarantee anything.

WTI, oil, at $91

This is something to watch, can the oil supply reduce fast enough to maintain price during a downturn.

California crashing

Fact one: On July 13, CalSTRS, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, reported a 1.8% return on its investments in the 2011-12 fiscal year. Its actuarial assumed rate of return is 7.5 %. Its chief executive officer, Jack Ehnes, said in a press release, “Investment returns alone cannot place CalSTRS on a solid financial footing. “ He called for state government action for a “long-term funding plan that includes gradual, predictable and fair contribution increases for all parties involved.” CalSTRS is the second-largest public pension fund in the U.S.
Fact Two: On July 16, the largest public pension plan in the U.S., the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) said it earned 1% on its investments in the fiscal year ended June 30. Its so-called discount rate also is 7.5%. WSJ

Well that would be a big whoops, and a hello to LA bankruptcy.

Ray LaHood sold on Bus Rapid Transit

BRT is an enhanced system with modern buses operating on separate lanes or other transitways. By running on special lanes isolated from traffic, BRT combines the flexibility of buses with the efficiency of rail. And with high-tech vehicles and advanced infrastructure, BRT operates at faster speeds than conventional bus service while also providing greater reliability and increased customer convenience. Here

Constrast that with Fresno's Train to Nowhere. Why did Jim Cantos and LaHood saddle Fresno with an 1880s technology when Fresno could be running High Speed Lane Guided BRT between Visalia and Fresno?

The original Fresno stimulus proposal had us building a high speed Bus lane down the old Highway 99 meridian. We wanted BRT to travel at speeds up to 140 MPH. Costs would have been low and Fresno State would be the technology center for high speed BRT. But no, Google wants that business for the Bay Area. That is why the SF and LA opted out of  the Nowhere Train, these two metropolitan regions intend to tear out light rail and use the right of way for high speed guided BRT.

By the way, we got out of the last recession by tearing out rail and making way for the rubber wheel. The rubber tire had something rail systems can never have, a steering wheel. Now that Google and Seimens are working on ultra fast BRT on guided lanes we will repeat the pattern, replacing rail with the intelligent rubber wheel. Across the globe metropolitan transit districts are getting the picture. BRT is much faster and more efficient than the car with guided speeds above 100 MPH. BRT and the steering wheel make the last mile of travel accessible to bus in a way that rail cannot compete. In San Jose, the plan is to rip out the useless San Jose Light Rail and put guided BRT on the right of way, a passenger will be able to travel, single stop, from San Jose Airport to San Francisco aiport faster than the connection can be made by airplane. No brainer, intelligent BRT wins and Fresno gets stuck with a bunch of useless steel.