2009 | Bach Seat

Tag Archive for 2009

RB | March 31, 2009

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IBM Plans Layoffs, Seeks Stimulus

IBM is planning layoffs of 5,000 high-skill U.S. workers in its Global Business Services unit, transferring some of the work they performed to India, according to media reports. The cuts will affect mainly information technology and consulting work in such areas as customer relations management and supply chain management, says Lee Conrad, national coordinator of Alliance@IBM,

Armonk NY-based IBM has been eliminating U.S based jobs for many years. IBM has previously reduced U.S. employment by 6,000 workers in 2008. Since 2003, the company has hired approximately 90,000 people in India and more than 5,000 in Brazil to do IT and business-process outsourcing [BPO] services work.

IBM is working to secure pieces of the give-away American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 $787 billion stimulus measure enacted in February. IBM CEO Samuel J. Palmisano was one of 13 executives who met with President Barack Obama in January in an appearance aimed at pressuring the House of Representatives to pass the economic stimulus bill. IBM is seeking a share of the $8 billion the U.S. plans to spend on high-speed rail and part of the $20 billion in the stimulus plan to digitize the U.S. healthcare system. as well as resurrecting BPL as earlier noted here The give-away American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 includes $11 billion to be spent on ‘smart grid‘ systems to monitor and manage the nation’s electrical network.

According to CIO Today, some economists have estimated that taxpayers are paying an average of $225,000 for each job created in the economic stimulus package. According to Martin Kenney, a professor of political economy at the University of California, Davis,: “Taxpayers are saying, ‘I don’t want to give them money if they’re moving jobs offshore.'”

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The give-away American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is turning out to be a $787 billion bailout of dubious firms like AIG and IBM and just keeps getting worse and worse for those of us who still work in America.

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: 2009, Age discrimination, IBM, Layoffs, Outsourcing, Recession, Stimulus

RB | March 27, 2009

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Copper Prices Headed Up Again

Copper prices are on the upswing again and could be taking the cost of low voltage cabling with it. According to an article from MarketWatch. Copper (Cu) finished 2008 at about half the price it started with, but lately, it’s been rising thanks to China’s 4 trillion yuan ($585 billion) stimulus plan. The Chinese stimulus plans are expected to kick in later this year and through to 2010 in “massive infrastructure projects,” according to Martin Hayes, an analyst at BaseMetals.com. Those projects “will use significant tonnage of base metals, including copper.”

Copper’s “often called ‘Doctor Copper’ because it takes the temperature of the global economy,” said Sean Brodrick, a natural-resources analyst at UncommonWisdomDaily.com. “According to Doctor Copper, things are improving, mainly due to Chinese demand.” Already, China’s imports of copper and alloys climbed 55% in February from January, said, Brodrick.

On 02-27-2009, copper prices climbed to a four-month high of nearly $1.90 per pound on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

CU 60 day trend

Brent Cook, the author of the investment letter Exploration Insights, argued that the recent gains in copper prices may not be fundamental demand driven by consumption. “The global building and construction market is not improving,” he said. “If anything, [it] is still getting worse — ditto automobiles.” Cook goes on, “I believe we are seeing a combination of a bear market rally, short-covering rally, and restocking by the Chinese who have a real incentive to turn their U.S. dollar into hard assets.”

RB –

It was not that long ago that China’s rush up to the Beijing Olympics drove commodities such as steel, concrete, and copper way up. As I pointed out the last time Cu took off, it impacts the cost of telecommunications cables and the cost of new projects. I believe that Exploration Insights Cook is right that this current run-up is part of the Chinese effort to convert the one trillion of US debt they own to something else.

China’s premier, Wen Jiabao, recently expressed concern about the safety of China’s $1 trillion investment in American government debt, the world’s largest such holding, and urged the Obama administration to give assurances that its investment would keep its value in the face of a global financial crisis. “We have lent a huge amount of money to the U.S. Of course we are concerned about the safety of our assets,” Wen told reporters. “To be honest, I am definitely a little worried.” (www.uncommonwisdomdaily.com/)

At least this run-up is not accompanied by a surge in oil prices like in 2007. For all of our sake’s let us hope that Cu is a leading indicator of a growing economy.

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

Category: low voltage | Tags: 2009, China, Copper, Recession

RB | March 23, 2009

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Nortel Pulls an AIG

And the absurdity continues – The executives who run companies into the ground continue to get rewards “retention” bonuses and the rest of us get laid-off. In the fine tradition of AIG rewarding the brainiacs who led us all into this global economic meltdown, the geniuses who took Nortel from $250 billion market cap to $65 million market cap and bankruptcy are being rewarded with “retention” bonuses of 30 million dollars. With performance like that, why they are being retained for any reason?

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At least the Nortel “retention” bonuses are not being funded by my tax dollars (yet).

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: 2009, AIG, Bankruptcy, Business, Nortel, Recession

RB | March 22, 2009

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Vampire Power Draining Budgets

Vampire power, aka standby power, phantom power, wall warts, standby loss, idle current, phantom power, ghost load, and vampire load is costing businesses and consumers billions annually. The term vampire power refers to the electricity many devices and appliances waste just by being plugged in (even if they’re switched off). Due to poor design or short-term manufacturer cost-cutting these devices draw power all the time.

According to Grinning Planet, an Australian study of global standby power usage in electronic devices estimated that electronics manufacturers could cut vampire power by 30% immediately just by using existing, better technologies-and with minimal additional cost to consumers. Tree Hugger cites a study from Future Forests, which says only 5% of the power drawn by cell phone chargers is actually used to charge phones. The other 95% is wasted when there is no phone in the charger to charge.

Grinning Planet also cites a recent survey on vampire power that in the United States, 5% of electricity usage is due to standby power. In Europe, the numbers run slightly higher: France at 7% and Germany and the Netherlands at 10% each. Australia comes in at 11%, Japan at 12%.

According to UC-Berkley, the US consumes 26% of the world’s energy. Of that energy, about 5% is vampire power. USAToday puts that in perspective, that’s between 200 and 400 terawatt-hours — roughly as much electricity as the entire country of Italy consumes in a year. The Energy Information Administration says that in the United States alone, vampire power costs consumers more than $3 billion a year.

All this energy use enacts a hefty toll on the environment. Coal-burning power plants produce carbon dioxide, a leading cause of global climate change. Therefore, less vampire power translates to lower carbon emissions.

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As a beginning, I have installed Edison by Verdiem. Verdiem is a Seattle WA based start-up. The Edison software reportedly doesn’t completely shut the computer off but rather moves it to a “suspend” state, which uses less energy. Users can also schedule to shut down the screen and hard drive before going into suspend mode.

We’ll see what issues result from the installation of this software and the various states it can induce on my WinXP test box. In future updates, I will also try out physical devices such as:

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: 2009, Electricity, Energy Information Administration, Green, Standby power, Vampire

RB | March 14, 2009

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Wireless Electricity Charging Up

Intel (INTC) demonstrated has demonstrated wireless electricity. The wireless electric power system that could revolutionize modern life by eliminating chargers, wall outlets and batteries by 2050. Intel chief technology officer Justin Rattner demonstrated a Wireless Energy Resonant Link at Intel’s 2008 developer’s forum.

During the demo electricity was sent wirelessly to a lamp on stage, lighting a 60 watt bulb. The bulb used more power than a typical laptop computer. Most importantly, the electricity was transmitted without zapping anything or anyone that got between the sending and receiving units. “The trick with wireless power is not can you do it; it’s can you do it safely and efficiently,” according to Intel researcher Josh Smith. “It turns out the human body is not affected by magnetic fields; it is affected by elective fields. So what we are doing is transmitting energy using the magnetic field not the electric field.”

Intel did not develop wireless electricity

Examples of potential applications include airports, offices or other buildings. They could be rigged to supply power to laptops, mobile telephones or other devices toted into them. The technology could also be built into plugged in computer components. Monitors could broadcast power to devices left on desks or carried into rooms, according to Mr. Smith.

Intel did not develop this idea. In the 1890’s scientist and engineer Nikola Tesla envisioned a world, in which all electricity is transferred wirelessly. The idea was abandoned and highly efficient copper cables became the basis for modern electricity infrastructure. Researchers at MIT demonstrated the technology in 2007.

Inductive coupling

Ada, Michigan based, Fulton Innovations‘ eCoupled technology, uses inductive coupling and combining it with communications and control properties to deliver on Tesla’s vision of wireless electrical distribution. eCoupled supplies power and communication through an inductively coupled power circuit. The circuit dynamically seeks resonance. This allows the primary supply circuit to adapt its operation to match the needs of the eCoupled-enabled devices it recognizes.

Energizer is using eCoupled technology. The Energizer Hard Case Professional eCoupled Swivel Light waterproof flashlight that never needs new batteries will go on sale this year. At CES 2009, Tool manufacturer Bosch brought prototypes that can charge on the workbench or inside their carrying case when the case is placed on a charging surface. The wireless charger could be in a workshop or even fitted inside a truck ensuring that cordless tools are always ready to go.

Wireless electricity applications

Texas Instruments is also utilizing the eCoupled technology. Masoud Beheshti, director of battery charge solutions in TI’s battery management solutions group, added: “We look forward to supporting eCoupled-based solutions using our extensive portfolio of charge and power management solutions for all types of portable applications.”

Wireless electrical products are already on the market. Colorado based Wild Charge is licensing their wireless electrical charging systems. They have products available for sale on their website for Blackberry and Motorola phones.

Related article

10 of the Most Important Inventions of Nikola Tesla (Interesting Engineering)

Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him at LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.

Category: Uncategorized | Tags: 2009, Bosch, eCoupled, Electricity, INTC, Intel, Michigan, Nikola Tesla, Texas Instruments, Wireless power transfer

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