Toluu

The Non-Conforming Mind

Someone Forgot to Tell Ireland about Net Neutrality...December 17 2008

Up until the last few days I thought the cable monopoly in Dublin (UPC/Chorus NTL) was quite enlightened...offering a 20mb downstream/1.5mb upstream connection for a semi-reasonable premium rate. As I pressed the button on my installation order I had visions of HD streaming from the US and ridiculously fast downloads. However immediately after the installation little issues started popping up.

The first problem was with my Sling Client which connects to a Slingbox in Fort Myers, FL. We have been using this setup for the past 1.5 years, while in the UK, and it worked brilliantly. When I fired up Sling Client on my new 20mbps connection it would quickly connect and start streaming at over 1000kbps, after 2-3 minutes of viewing the client would burn through the cached video and eventually disconnect when it hit zero. At first I played the blame game with local wifi interference, then my router configuration, then the Sling Client...however one by one each of these was eliminated as the source of trouble.

Eventually I figured out that my cable provider Chorus NTL (a UPC Company) is shaping the data that is flowing across its network. In the US the FCC has come down pretty hard on Comcast for violating net neutrality, however the situation in Europe appears quite different. There are reports that Virgin Media is abandoning the principles of neutrality starting in 2009, suggesting "broadcasters might be asked to pay to have their content delivere

"It's cool to be American again..."November 10 2008

I sat down to get my haircut this morning and the first question my Lebanese-born stylist asked was "if" and "who" I voted for last week. When I indicated Obama, a big smile swept over his face. This has been the standard response from most non-Americans whom I have spoken with about the election.

The day after the election, Bill Kole the AP's Vienna bureau chief, penned a little blurb titled: "Suddenly, it May be Cool to be an American"

Centre for Next Generation Localisation...November 4 2008

I have recently accepted a new position in Ireland that will be starting in a few weeks. A couple of people have asked what I will be doing there...so let's see if I can easily sum this up...

Q. Where will you be working?
A. The Centre for Next Generation Localisation (CNGL) @ Dublin City University

Q. What is the Centre for Next Generation Localisation @ DCU?
A. The Centre is a €30M academic/industry partnership that is researching the frontiers of language translation and digital content localisation. Our industry partners include Microsoft, IBM, Alchemy, Symantec, idiom, SpeechStorm, translan and VistaTEC.

Q. What is "localisation"?
A. “Localisation” refers to the process of adapting digital content to culture, locale and linguistic environments at high quality and speed. Localisation is a key enabling, value-adding, multiplier component of the global software and content distribution industry. Localisation seeks to overcome language barriers.

Q. Huh...so what is "localisation"?!?!?!?
A. Well anytime a manufacturer makes a cell phone, DVD player, iPod, anything digital...the menus and manuals must be translated into 60+ different languages...this process is called localisation. This "first generation" localisation has traditionally been done by humans, with Ireland being one of the top countries in the world for this kind of work. As the world has globalized and

China's Newest Appetite...September 17 2008

Just finished coauthoring a short article for the upcoming Business at Oxford, any comments???

China’s Newest Appetite:
Growing respect for Intellectual Property in the Middle Kingdom

By James Lye & Stephen Gotz

With the Beijing Olympics heralding the end of the beginning for China’s re-emergence, the nation looks towards importing new technologies to move its industries up the value ladder. Much of the demand is bottom-up, with the massive SME manufacturing sector finding itself squeezed by upcoming low-cost centers in countries like Vietnam. Moreover, with the government having committed 2.5% of its GDP towards funding R&D, China’s lawmakers and courts are seeing the benefits of protecting the massive amount of IP being generated. This will come as good news for long-suffering foreign entrants.

As the quality and quantity of indigenous Chinese IP continues to increase, the Western world can no longer claim a monopoly on innovation production. The locus of IP production and utilization is shifting from the Anglo-Saxon world to rapidly growing emerging market economies. In the not-to-distant future the greatest opportunities (financial, social and philosophical) in the field of Innovation Management will be in geographies where enlightened governmental policies encourage not only IP production and protection but also the art of commercialization.

Who is Steve Gotz...August 29 2008

The cool thing about our Effective Managers class is that we can take all kinds of entertaining personality tests. This is a new test that they are still developing called the Saville Wave...I have no affiliation with the company, just thought the results were funny enough to share...evidently I am a "Transforming Thinker"...pretty cool huh! I have to say they have the best graphics of any of the personality tests I've done. They win hands-down on presentation alone!

Wish they could just take these results, toss in some genetic profiling (from 23&me), pipe it all directly into Google and line me up with the perfect job! Come on...finding a job through Monster is so 2000...I want relevancy & personalisation...would make life so much easier. Continues to follow my theme that in the not so distant future the outer world is going to know more about me than I am aware of about myself.