PlantSuccess Newsletter
Volume II, Issue 1
1/9/02
Dear Subscriber:
We hope the holidays for all
of you were very good and we wish all the very best for 2002. The terrorist
attacks of 9/11 will have an impact on all of us for the balance of our lives.
We will always remember where we were when we first learned of the attacks or
saw the planes slamming into the World Trade Center. Many of us know more about
New York City than we ever thought we would know and who would have thought
that city’s mayor would ever be a national hero or Time Magazine’s Person of
the Year.
Our great country is
comprised of lots of great cities and towns and even more potential heroes.
Let’s hope we don’t learn of them through similar acts yet let us retain the
confidence that we can overcome similar adversities and even additional
terrorist attacks. Let’s pray also that we are not called upon to do so.
Documentarian Ken Burns says
of the films he has made on the Civil War, baseball and jazz, “In a sense I’ve
made the same film over and over again. In all of them I’ve asked. ‘Who are we
as Americans?’” Burns’ latest production, on Mark Twain (1835-1910), airs
January 14 and 15 as a PBS special.
Burns describes Twain as one
of the country's greatest writers and a profound thinker who was not given his
due because he used humor to make his points. Apparently, Twain needed his
sense of humor to survive several personal tragedies, including a very public
bankruptcy. During the most difficult times, having a sense of humor is
important to all of us.
It is appropriate at this
time that we celebrate our country’s original novelist and the person who
defined Americans during his lifetime. Speaking of Americans, if you see Elvis
any time soon, wish him a happy 67th birthday.
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Current Links
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Report
from the Federal Judiciary
Whether it is from cable or
network television or the myriad news-based websites, there is no shortage of
coverage on the activities of the executive and legislative branches at the
national level. The same is not true for the judicial branch yet the influence
on our professional and personal lives is equally strong. As with the rest of
us, the views of Chief Justice Rehnquist regarding the recent past and the
future, have been impacted by the terrorist attacks. READ
FULL STORY
Technology
Companies and Cautious Optimism
In the US, there is no
shortage of views on the condition of the world’s technology industry from
local pundits. I find other perspectives worth seeking and views from the
Economist quite valuable. The lead paragraph from a current, comprehensive
article reads:
Can technology companies see
a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel? After the bust of 2000 and the
false dawns of 2001, many could be forgiven for thinking that recovery lies a
long way off. That may still be true, but signs of a pick-up in demand for
semiconductors as well as a stirring of interest among the customers of
telecommunications companies are grounds for cautious optimism. READ
FULL STORY
Merrill
Lynch Forecasts IT Budgets
After a decrease in
corporate IT budgets of 1.1 percent in 2001, Merrill Lynch forecasts
that IT budgets will see an increase of 3 percent in 2002, with an even greater
increase of 8 percent to 9 percent in 2003. The report was based on a
survey of 110 chief information officers (CIOs), 75 in the United States and
the remainder in Europe.
Top
priorities in 2002 spending will be security, ERP software, disaster recovery,
Web development, Windows 2000 from Microsoft and storage. READ
FULL STORY
James
Fallows of the Atlantic Monthly has written a great article for those of us
benefiting from the incredible rates of improvement in the technologies we use.
The byline is an enticing: After four decades of remarkably steady progress,
advances in computer-chip technology seemed in danger of slowing. Not anymore. READ FULL STORY
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Full links to Volume II, Issue 1 Newsletter articles:
1.
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/publicinfo/year-end/2001year-endreport.html
2.
http://www.economist.com/agenda/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=928071