Why is FTC after Google?

I really can't understand logic of FTC going after Google over some silly allegations of search results tempering.. Couple of things... First, Search is Google's bread and butter and I would really doubt if they will tinker it intentionally for minor gains.. Secondly, if they really do something this stupid, there are enough search engines in market where users can go and use them and ditch Google.. Leave it up to users to decide if they like search results or not..

I very strongly feel that such things are responsible for unnecessary increasing cost of  doing business and thus higher costs to end users/customers.. This only creates some dumb excuses for bigger government and hence bigger tax bill for citizens.. Unless, there are some serious monopoly issues, government should let consumers and users of these services decide about which services to use and which ones not to..

Here is the article from San Jose Mercury News:

Antitrust probe of Google is urged

By Jeff Bliss

Bloomberg News

Google’s business practices, including allegations the company favors its own services in Internet searches, raise concerns about squelching competition that need to be reviewed by U.S. regulators, two lawmakers said. The Federal Trade Commission should determine whether Google has violated antitrust law or hurt consumers, said Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., chairman of the Senate Judiciary antitrust subcommittee, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, the panel’s senior Republican, in a letter Monday to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz. Earlier this year, the FTC initiated an investigation of Mountain Viewbased Google, owner of the world’s most popular search engine. The FTC is examining whether Google unfairly ranks search results and is using its control of the Android mobile operating system to discourage smartphone makers from using rivals’ applications and services, a person familiar with the matter said in August. Google’s practices “warrant a thorough investigation by the FTC,” the senators wrote in the letter released Monday. “A key question is whether Google is using its market power to steer users to its own Web products or secondary services and discriminating against other websites with which it competes.” The lawmakers’ letter took no position on the legality of Google’s practices.

“We appreciate that the committee reserved judgment as we continue to cooperate with the FTC,” Adam Kovacevich, a Google spokesman, said in an email.

Will you buy Apple Clone Products?

A very interesting article on Apple clone product flooding market. Off-course, none of them run mac OSX or iOS but physically they are quite similar to their Apple counterparts.. Some of them are already there.. especially, copy of Mac Book Air aka MBA.. I haven't seen any real iPhone clone yet but in general Android is kind of inspired by iPhone.. at least Steve Jobs strongly thought that way..

How good they are? Look and feel wise, you might be fairly happy.. it is easy to copy that.. but core thing about Apple is their OS and its integration with its hardware. nobody could beat that.. When I didn't had Mac Book, I used to think that what a waste it is.. you can but two windows machines, each of them equally or more more powerful than comparable Mac..

Once you start using them, you realize that there is much more than just Processor, memory and HDD.. Coolest things which I liked were Graphics... oh.. it is awesome.. DVD may be compared to blu-ray rendering on TV.. almost.. then keyboard..  finally.. even after usage of almost three years.. speed of machine is still as if it is brand new.. battery life or energy management.. amazing.. speed of coming up.. I can bet.. it will be even faster than double powered windows machine.. off course.. you rarely have to shut down.. you just shut screen down and standby power consumption is so low that you rarely have to shut down..

there are thousands of features like this.. okay.. at least hundreds.. there is no comparison with that.. once you are with mac.. you can't imagine going back to windows.. you do have to give couple of months of learning curve if you were heavy windows user.. you will miss few keys.. but very soon you will start appreciating ease and simplicity of mac.. I can literally fill tens of pages like in support of mac.. but I think, need to stop.. enjoy great article by Larry Magid..


Next year could see rush of clone Apple products
While there are no other machines on the market that legally run iOS apps, there are plenty of phones and tablets that were inspired by Apple.

Could 2012 be the year of the Apple clones? It seems likely based on what I expect to be announced at next month’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

I’m not talking about exact duplicates. Apple doesn’t license its operating systems, so unlike what happened to IBM in 1982, we’re not going to see products that run off-the-shelf Mac or iPad software. It was at that year’s now-defunct Comdex computer show where Compaq introduced its fully IBM-compatible PC that launched the multibillion-dollar industry that eventually lead to Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Sony and hundreds of other companies producing computers that were 100 percent compatible with the platform IBM built when it introduced its first PC only a year earlier.

Eventually, IBM pulled out of the PC business.

Those companies were able to clone the IBM PC because IBM made the mistake of allowing its partner, Microsoft, to license a virtually identical version of its PC-DOS operating system to any takers. Microsoft developed DOS for IBM, which shipped it with the new PC in August 1981.

Shortly after the IBM PC shipped, Microsoft started negotiating deals for the nearly identical and slightly renamed MS-DOS, which enabled other companies’ machines to run the same software and use the same peripherals as IBM’s PCs.

Apple did license its Mac operating system for a short time after Steve Jobs was fired, but Jobs ended those deals shortly after returning to Apple.

There was never even a hint of a licensing deal for the iPod, iPhone or iPad so — at this juncture — there is no such thing as a Mac or iOS clone.

Or is there?

Well, it depends on how you define clone. While there are no other machines on the market that legally run iOS apps or native Mac programs, there are plenty of phones and tablets that were clearly inspired by Apple.
I’m not suggesting that Apple should win its many pending lawsuits against the makers of Android phones and tablets, but at least some judges have found credibility in Apple’s claims that the devices violate its patents. I don’t know much about patent laws and I love that Apple has competition from Android makers.

But it’s hard not to notice that the look and feel of many Android devices are similar to those running iOS.

I own several iOS and Android devices and use them almost as interchangeably as when I switch between a Chevy and a Toyota. There are clear differences between the two operating systems but as far as general look is concerned, there are lot of similarities. So we’ll see plenty of Android phones and tablets next year, including some that are much cheaper than Apple’s products. We’ll also see devices with a physical look and feel inspired by Apple’s popular MacBook Air notebook PC.

As I’ve written, I bought a 2.4 pound, 11-inch MacBook Air to replace the slightly heavier and larger Lenovo ThinkPad X300 I used to carry around.

The Air is not only lighter and thinner, but is elegantly designed. There are some people who buy Macs because they prefer OS X to Windows, but I have no preference when it comes to operating systems. Despite Windows’ mixed reputation, I find Windows 7 to be fast, reliable and as easy to use as OS X. What I love about the MacBook Air is the design of the hardware.
No reputable company is going to try to clone the Mac’s OS X operating system, but we’re likely to see plenty of Windows machines that look a lot like the Air. Asus has already taken the wraps off a couple of models that have a similar size and weight, as well as that cool tapered look where the front of the machine is thinner than the back.

Other machines in this emerging “Ultrabook” category include the Lenovo IdeaPad U300s and the Toshiba Portege Z830. Comparable to the 13-inch MacBook Air, both weigh less than 3 pounds. These machines tend to start at just shy of $1,000 but unlike Macs, you’re more likely to see them at a discount. At next year’s CES, I expect to see plenty of new Ultrabooks, including some at lower prices. If Ultrabooks catch on, I wouldn’t be surprised to see some for under $500 by CES 2013.

The other thing we’ll see demonstrated at CES next year are notebooks and tablets running Microsoft’s as-yet-unreleased Windows 8, which is Microsoft’s answer to iOS and OS X wrapped up into a single operating system. They won’t be for sale until next fall, but some vendors plan to show them at their booths. Unlike Apple’s current strategy, Microsoft will have a single operating system for both tablets and PCs that’s optimized for touch screens and tablet-specific apps but also able to run traditional Windows programs. Users will launch apps by touching on-screen “tiles,” as is now the case with Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system.

When I walk around CES in January, my shoulder bag will be about six ounces lighter than last year thanks to my MacBook. Maybe the following January, I’ll be carrying an even lighter Windows machine.
Contact Larry Magid at larry@larrymagid.com. Listen for his technology chats on KCBS-AM (740) weekdays at 3:50 p.m.

Push to redefine green card rules rooted in valley

Another major win on policy reforms coming out of the Heart of Silicon Valley!! Way to Go!!

This should have been done long time back.. In-fact for some time during 2005-2007 (pardon my memory), INS (aka USCIS) had relaxed rules and allowed using of unused Quota from different countries.. but remember.. it was unused Quota.. also this was discontinued later on and in-fact regressed or something like that resulting in even longer wait times for Green Cards.. Pathetic system.. Mainly designed to let employers/business (Isn't business biggest contributor for all political parties??)  take advantage of it and let their employees work as Bonded Labor as long as their Green Card is pending..

I hope it will be fixed now.. All the best!!!
Here are details from San Jose Mercury News!!!

IMMIGRATION POLICY

Push to redefine green card rules rooted in valley

By Matt O’Brien

mattobrien@bayareanewsgroup.com 

Who in the world gets to be an American?

Family connections and job credentials permit hundreds of thousands of foreigners to legally immigrate to the United States each year. But for others from India, China, Mexico and the Philippines, their place of birth makes it harder for them to get a green card because of long-standing U.S. restrictions.

Anand Sundaram, hindered by the rules, didn’t think they were fair. So the 36-year-old San Jose tech worker boarded a plane, flew to Washington, D.C., and began knocking on doors inside the U.S. Capitol.

Sundaram is not a professional lobbyist. He can’t even vote. But in a feat that has stunned more jaded political observers, he and other Indian immigrants with little electoral power have helped bring a divided, hyperpartisan Congress to the brink of a rare accord.

Indian immigrants must wait years longer for employment-based visas than other immigrants with similar credentials because of decades-old limits on how many people can settle in the United States from any one country each year. A bill working through Congress would eliminate the nationality- based ceilings, reducing the long lines for people from countries with the highest demand for green cards. 

“It’s a modern version of ‘Mr. Smith Goes to Wash-ington,’” said Aman Kapoor, one of the founders of Santa Clara-based Immigration Voice. 

The group that began as an online network of frustrated Indian guest workers in Silicon Valley has transformed into a persistent lobbying force of thousands who write emails, call and visit politicians, tweet their cause and raise money. 

All in hopes of making the long lines for “green cards,” which allow permanent residency in the United States, less dependent on what country a person is from. 

“It’s a question of fairness,” Kapoor said. 

Their appeals finally worked. 

The House of Representatives voted 389-15 on Nov. 29 to approve the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act, which could end some of the last vestiges of a quota system that once regulated U.S. immigration based on country of origin. 

The bipartisan bill, which still must pass the Senate, emerged quietly for a policy that could fundamentally change the rules of the game for so many aspiring immigrants. Immigration has been a politically toxic issue on which Republicans and Democrats rarely find common ground, but the strongest voices have been largely silent because the bill neither increases nor decreases immigration, just rearranges who can come in. 

“I’m neutral on this bill,” said UC Davis professor Norman Matloff, a critic of highskilled visa programs he says harm U.S. software workers. 

For many Indian and Chinese technology workers, getting permanent U.S. residency means nearing the end of a process that begins with coming to the United States on a provisional basis, either as a student or a guest worker hired by a company on a temporary H-1B visa. It’s the H-1B program that needs an overhaul, said Matloff, who added he has “no strong opinions” on the green card bill. 

The lack of strong opinions from those who usually have many has opened the doors for the “Fairness” bill’s proponents. 

Its chief provision would eliminate a per-country cap that prevents nationals from any one country from holding more than 7 percent of all employment-based green cards. In a second provision, the ceiling for family-based immigration would expand from 7 to 15percent per country. 

The national limits have made it harder for Indian and Chinese immigrants to get permanent U.S. residency because their populous home countries are “oversubscribed” in the work-based immigration backlog. The family limits have caused similar problems for Mexicans and Filipinos who face the longest lines to join family members in the United States. Some have been waiting 20 years or more. 

“The whole idea of the system is based on merit and need, the needs of the American economy. Where you’re born should have nothing to do with it,” said U.S. Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-San Jose, a cosponsor. 

But under the current system, she said, “the number of visas for India, with a population of 1.4 billion, is the same as Iceland, with a population of 350,000.” 

Fixing that problem should be simple enough, said Lofgren, who with other supporters has downplayed the significance of the bill. 

“It’s better than current law but it’s a very tiny thing,” she said. 

However, since the total pool of 140,000 work-based visas and 226,000 family preference visas will not rise, a policy that levels the playing field for Indians, Chinese, Mexicans and Filipinos will lengthen the backlog by months and years for everyone else. 

“My Brazilian clients, my clients from Israel, my European clients, they’re going to lose out,” said San Jose immigration lawyer Indu Liladhar-Hathi. “The ideal solution, of course, would have been to increase the numbers but that would have had a lot of opposition.” 

Texas and Utah Republicans led the charge in passing the bill through the House, but Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, has used a parliamentary maneuver to indefinitely halt the bill in the Senate, stating it will do nothing to help U.S. citizens looking for jobs. 

Sundaram traveled to the Senate last week with other activists to make a case for passage. He already won his own green card while fighting for the bill. His 5-year wait was longer than people from other countries with his work experience and education might face, but shorter than many Indians he knows because he fits into the “secondpreference” skills category, a faster track that requires an advance degree or extraordinary skills. 

He also had a U.S. job he really liked, which is important for H-1B workers because most cannot change jobs without permission as they await a chance for permanent residency, he said. 

“You spend your 20s doing the same thing. There’s no professional growth,” he said. 

Many also say they have refrained from buying a house or making other investments that could go to waste if forced back to India. Some limit travel in fear it will jeopardize their chances of staying. 

“People have not been able to go home for years, not been able to go to their parent’s funeral,” he said. Sundaram said he and other immigrants pushing for change are motivated by a shared frustration at the system, but also a shared admiration for what’s possible in this country. 

“Obviously they are trying to help themselves, but by helping themselves they’re helping the future generations and helping America by keeping it competitive,” Sundaram said of Immigration Voice’s army of volunteer lobbyists. “The political process allows the guy on the street to come to the Capitol to do this. Is it perfect? No. But it’s still the best in the world. We get kicked, dust off, go back doing the same thing again. We’ve been doing this for six years now.” 




JIM GENSHEIMER/STAFF 

Anand Sundaram, left, and Pratik Dakwala worked on the passage of the Fairness for High-Skilled Immigrants Act in the House. The bill is now stalled in the Senate. 

Can NYC be ever close to Second Silicon Valley?

Stanford announced yesterday that they are withdrawing bid to build second Campus in NYC. Looks like they were close to loose race by some other universities/consortiums.. Well.. Here goes, our beloved Mayor Michael Bloomberg's dream of creating second silicon valley in NYC.. 


First of all, they shouldn't even think about replicating second silicon valley.. Our Silicon Valley is unique and it simply can't be replicated anywhere in the world forget about NYC.. Also.. with this mentality of competition and bidding war.... you may end up creating some bidding street (aka wall street) not anything serene like Silicon Valley.. If Mr. Bllomberg was really serious about silicon valley dream.. he should have been behind Stanford to get them there and offered them all kind of incentives rather than asking Stanford to compete with others.. What a moronic act.. This clearly says what he says.. he doesn't mean it.. period..  


It is not the academics or prestige or research or money which made SIlicon Valley.. it was the culture of innovation and entrepreneurship in the young blood of students coming out of Stanford / Berkley which made it.. and culture can't be bought.. it can be only learned and adapted.. for that you need Gurudevs or Gurus.. You can't buy a true Guru.. you have to respect and invite Guru!!! At least in this case.. learn from Indian culture of respect and love to Guru..


Here is copy of Article from our San Jose Mercury News.. 
=================
NO SECOND CAMPUS IN BIG APPLE

Stanford won’t be a part of it— N.Y., N.Y.

By Lisa M. Krieger

lkrieger@mercurynews.com 

Stanford University’s ambitious bid to build a New York City campus came to a sudden stop Friday, when the university abruptly withdrew from the competition.

In a startling announcement, President John Hennessy said the university and the city “could not find a way to realize our mutual goals.”

The university was considered a front-runner for the graduate school in applied sciences and engineering, a plan conceived by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a way to bolster the region’s tech talent and catalyze a second Silicon Valley.
Stanford did not explain the impasse, announced on the day Cornell University celebrated a $350 million anonymous gift to support its New York City campus bid with the Technion Israel Institute of Technology.


Some insiders said Stanford was frustrated by the city’s attempts to negotiate new terms. Others said the city’s recent push for more money might have stretched Stanford beyond its comfort zone. Still others said Stanford may have dropped its bid because it believed that the other top competitor, the Cornell-Technion effort, “was a lock” and wanted to save face. 

Stanford’s proposal — more than 600 pages long and costing about $1 million — had been bolstered by a major publicity campaign using Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, among others, to tout the plan. 

Hennessy, a Long Island native, was a champion of the project from the beginning, calling it a “high-risk, highreward” venture that could be “transformative” for both Stanford and the city. 

As of Thursday, Stanford’s team was still negotiating with New York, according to spokeswoman Lisa Lapin. 

But by Friday university leaders and the Stanford Board of Trustees concluded, after several weeks of negotiations, “that it would not be in the best interests of the university to continue to pursue the opportunity.” 

“The university could not be certain that it could proceed in a way that ensured the success of the campus,” a university statement said. 

The city is offering a free long-term lease and up to $100 million in taxpayer funds to a university or a group of universities willing to build an engineering or tech campus within the five boroughs. 

Stanford’s proposal outlined a $2.5 billion campus, built on Roosevelt Island over three decades, that would link the school to a global center of finance, fashion, art and business. It would have housed more than 200 faculty members and 2,000 students. 

Only last week, Bloomberg boasted at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that “Stanford is desperate to do it — I’m not exaggerating.” 

New York media bemoaned the loss. “Well, that’s a shame! … Apparently, they weren’t that desperate,” wrote Garth Johnston on the popular city website Gothamist. The Wall Street Journal’s blog called the news “a blow to the Bloomberg administration’s contest.” 

The city didn’t respond directly to the news. Julie Wood, city deputy press secretary, issued this statement: “This competition is about changing the future of the city’s economy, and we are thrilled that we have a number of proposals that we believe will do exactly that. We are in serious negotiations with several of the other applicants, each of whom has a game-changing project queued up.” 

Stanford’s exit boosts the chances for the Cornell-Technion plan. Three other universities are also still in the running: Columbia, Carnegie Mellon and New York University. 

In October, Hennessy had cautioned that unless Stanford could get guarantees that it could build what it needed to build, plans would be abandoned. There were also concerns that post-Bloomberg administrations might try to change the terms of the project. “If we can’t get the entitlement,” assuring free-and-clear permission to build, “we are not going to be trapped into doing something,” he said. 

Students and faculty members also had reservations. In a student poll by the Stanford Daily, 50 percent opposed and 39 percent favored the New York City entry. Faculty members were largely supportive, but worried that the effort could distract from the Palo Alto campus. Some warned that the politics of New York City land use plans and permits were far more daunting and unpredictable than those in Santa Clara County.

“Stanford put forward an ambitious and serious proposal and worked hard to see that vision fulfilled,” Hennessy said in a statement. 

“Great universities need to continue to take risks, to innovate and to explore new opportunities where we can make contributions to supporting economic growth and expanding knowledge. 

“Stanford will continue to follow this path.” 

Contact Lisa M. Krieger at 408-920-5565. 

BlackBerry reveals delay in new phones

Another tragedy.. iPhone is to be blamed or Blueberry (oops.. Blackberry..) themselves!!! I think, it is more or less beginning of the demise of once stalwart in this area.. amazing.. how fast things changes in this area.. 

New software is not ready, pushing release to late 2012

By Rob Gillies

Associated Press

TORONTO — Black-Berry maker Research In Motion said Thursday that the new phones deemed critical to the company’s future won’t be out until late 2012. Mike Lazaridis, one of the company’s co-CEOs, said the BlackBerry 10 phones will need a highly integrated chipset that will not be available until mid-2012, so the company can now expect the new phones to ship late in the year. “We’ve experienced a delay,” he said on a conference call with analysts. Analysts say RIM’s future depends on the new software platform. RIM needs to come up with a compelling BlackBerry as U.S. users have moved on to flashier touch-screen phones such as Apple’s iPhone and various competing models that run Google’s Android software. Earlier Thursday, RIM said BlackBerry sales will fall sharply in the holiday quarter, providing further evidence that it is struggling to compete with the iPhone and smartphones running Google’s Android software. It also has been having a hard time finding a niche in the tablet-computer market, which is dominated by Apple’s iPad.

The company’s stock fell nearly 8 percent.

RIM said its net income sank 71 percent as revenue fell and the company took a large accounting charge because it had to sell its Play-Book tablet computer at a deep discount. RIM earned $265 million, or 51 cents per share, for the quarter that ended Nov. 26. This compares with $911 million, or $1.74 per share, a year ago. The Canadian company said revenue fell 6 percent to $5.2 billion.

Weekly Kindle sales at 1 million

Good to see and hear such news.. Innovation after innovation and finally things are going well for tech companies.. We seriously need good competitor for iPad.. Whatever we have heard so far, Kindle Fire is going to be a formidable competitor for iPad..

This also means that Amazon is selling around 100-150 mil per week in Kindle sales itself.. at the same time.. it also means that they are taking 20-30 mil of loss every week on Kindle sales.. which they hopefully would recoup in content/media sales.. As long as people read it and use it for good.. it is good for everyone..

I hope that Apple will also follow amazon and reduce entry level iPad's price as well.. Apple gets credit for creating this market segment and hopefully that combined with their ulitmate user experience and intuitive desigin will continue to keep them number one in this field..

Cheers!!!

Amazon reports shoppers snapping up tablets, e-readers

By Danielle Kucera

Bloomberg News

Amazon.com, the world’s largest online retailer, said customers have bought about 1 million Kindle e-book readers and tablets in each of the past three weeks, the most detailed sales numbers the company has released. The Kindle Fire tablet, which sells for $199, has been the best-selling product on Amazon.com since its introduction 11 weeks ago, the Seattle- based company said in a statement Thursday. Kindle Fire sales have risen week over week for the past three weeks, Amazon said. The Kindle Fire, which has a 7-inch display and runs on Google’s Android operating system, costs less than half the price of Apple’s least-expensive iPad tablet. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos said in October that the company may post a loss in the fourth quarter as it ramps up spending. Operating margin may narrow to 0.8 percent this quarter from 3.66 percent in the year-earlier period, according to the average analyst estimate compiled by Bloomberg.

“They have not talked about numbers at all, so it’s a big deal that they for some reason think they need to disclose metrics now,” said Brian Blair, an analyst at Wedge Partners. “It’s a part of their strategy to show the strength of it against Apple — a way to say, ‘We’re a player, and we’re going to start letting you know.’ ” While IHS says Amazon is losing money on every $199 tablet it sells, Susquehanna Financial Group said Nov. 15 that each machine may generate a total of $384 in revenue for the company, including money spent on books, videos and other content.

Estimates for sales have varied. Amazon has raised production of the tablet two or three times since its introduction and will probably sell 5 million to 6 million Kindle Fires by the end of the year, Blair said.

Anthony DiClemente, an analyst at Barclays, said the company may sell 4.5 million tablets in the fourth quarter, while Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Robert W. Baird, estimates Amazon will sell 5 million to 6 million units of the device.

After hitting store shelves Nov. 14, the Kindle Fire has surpassed more established tablets from Samsung and Barnes & Noble in challenging Apple, which will ship an estimated 18.6 million iPads in the fourth quarter, IHS said.

That would give Apple a market share of 66 percent, compared with an estimated 14 percent for Amazon, IHS said.

“They’re getting traction by selling no-profit hardware,” said Colin Gillis, an analyst at BGC Partners. “Bad for margins, but it is giving them some share.”

BAY AREA JOB MARKET - Tech hiring leaves rest in the dust

Good News from our local San Jose Mercury News.... but at the same time creating friction between haves and haves-not..  will it?? instead of that, shouldn't it create aspirations for better focus on academics, maths, science?? Everyone should understand that there is no point in unnecessary grudge against math/science.. fortunately or unfortunately, under current circumstances, most of the hiring could be done locally instead of opening up or adding more H1Bs as it was done during dot.com boom.. But US needs to fix their education system and spend more focus and energy on  academics and maths and science.. and leaders should be be clear in their message.. their is no running away or escaping from hard work or maths/science.. otherwise, the jobs being created now in this sector will be ultimately taken away or will be gone to India/China.. and that would be real catastrophe.. as American companies will survive but American's won't.. 

Tech hiring leaves rest in the dust 

While industry surges, other sectors in region are shrinking, slowing

By George Avalos

gavalos@bayareanewsgroup.com 

Tech hiring in the Bay Area next year will outpace other industries — contributing to the creation of two economies whose fortunes have diverged, a report released Thursday said.

Bay Area technology companies are expected to increase their local workforce by 5 percent over the coming 12 months, stated a study commissioned by NOVA, a Sunnyvale­based economic development agency.

That could mean 28,000 new jobs in tech, based on this newspaper’s analysis of the number of technology jobs in the Bay Area, which was roughly 556,000 at the end of September.

Still, the sturdy gains predicted for tech represent a slowdown in hiring plans for the sector compared with a May survey of Bay Area tech companies. That report projected tech companies in the area planned to increase employment by 11 percent over a one-year period. 

An estimated 58 percent of tech companies participating in the latest survey intend to hire more workers. The survey also found that 34 percent intend to keep staffing levels the same, while 2 percent plan cutbacks and 6 percent weren’t sure of their hiring plans. BW Research surveyed 50 technology companies in the South Bay, Peninsula and San Francisco, ranging from Fortune 500 companies to midsize and startup tech firms.“High tech is one of the industries you really want to be in,” said Josh Williams, president of BW Research, which conducted the survey in November for NOVA. “There is real demand to hire technology workers.”

Yet the surge in technology also has produced stark contrasts in economic fortunes in the region.

“Clearly there are two economies in Silicon Valley,” Williams said. “Tech is growing. But there are certain parts of the economy that are still shrinking.”

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate in Santa Clara County was 9.8 percent in October and 8.1 percent in the San Francisco-San Mateo- Marin region. In contrast, about 3 percent of tech workers in the Bay Area are unemployed, according to estimates supplied by Williams and other analysts.

“The tech industry is outpacing the rest of the economy,” said Brad Kemp, director of research with Beacon Economics.

If tech employment expands by 5 percent in the coming year in the Bay Area, that would be triple the growth rate for all industries in California and the nation that occurred over the year that ended in October.

“This is a perfect example of a core industry that is leading a recovery,” Kemp said.

Companies nationwide and worldwide are investing in equipment and software, hoping to squeeze every possible iota of productivity out of their workers and operations.

“Silicon Valley continues to benefit from a deep talent ecosystem that produces innovative products and services demanded throughout the world,” said Kris Stadelman, executive director of NOVA.

The survey, though, also determined that tech companies struggle with a scarcity of qualified workers.

“We found that 77 percent of the companies are having great difficulty or some difficulty in hiring people,” Williams said. “The recruitment process appears to be pretty challenging.”

Some technology employers said technology innovations are so rapid that even their existing workforce can’t keep up in some cases.

“We are moving into new market areas where our current people do not have experience in building or selling thetechnology,”onecompany representative told NOVA, which kept confidential the names of the companies that were surveyed.

Tech companies typically use a recruiting process that requires about eight to 10 weeks to scout for, and then hire, people with the right skill sets, NOVA found.

“The core skills that companies want are people with backgrounds in engineering, software design and programming,” Williams said. “Beyond that, they are also looking for specialists in mobile applications, cloud computing, and a convergence of skills in cloud and social media.”
Contact George Avalos at 925-977-8477. Follow him at twitter.com/george_avalos.

Permit / License Raj - root of bureaucracy

Reading local Mercury News of San Jose's front page article about a court case against Local Police Chief Ms. Smith on granting permit or license to carry concealed weapon.

Apparently, California has this weird law which gives city or county Police Chiefs power to issue permit or license to carry concealed weapons to citizens. Otherwise, as per US gun law, you can carry guns (not so concealed and almost all kinds of) freely any how and even purchase them in store like Walmart along with your groceries.

Four states doesn't even have any restrictions even on concealed weapons. Most of the other states have much liberal permit even for concealed weapons. Only it is illegal to carry concealed weapon in the state of Illinois (Does it make Illinois safer or dangerous??).

Now, coming back to our root issue. Permit with wide discretionary powers to accept or deny the requests.. I am principally against such things. Especially coming from India which suffered for 40-50 years under this license Raj after almost 200 years of British Raj. I like Illinois, which makes it all together illegal to have them or other four states which make it legal for everyone. All other states are mid-way with California being worst of them in this respect.. whatever the good intentions may be of this law. Middle way never works.

Most of the other states have fairly liberal and mostly automatic approval or denial process based on their basic requirements somewhat similar to drivers license. That is kind of okay too.

But any discretionary powers ought to generate controversy and also seed of corruption and nepotism.

In this case our beloved newspaper found out that lot of folks were given this permit, even though they didn't fulfill try spirit or requirements for such a permit. Some examples are for folks who directly or indirectly contributed to Police Chief's election campaign.

Surprisingly, there were few CEOs who got it in the name of security threats from their fired employees. One of them (Bechtel's founder/owner) mostly lives if San Francisco but has some farmhouse kind of property in San Jose area. Another guy mostly lives in Russia for last 10 or so years.

Lastly and most surprising name was of Cisco's CEO Mr. Chambers. He feels insecure from fired Cisco employees. I am kind of surprised by that assertion, as I thought Mr. Chambers is one CEO, for whom I never heard negative. Even ex Cisco employees seems to like him. But this news, kind of freak me and changed little bit of perception about him. I hope Mr. Chambers is not armed and dangerous while at work ;-)


PS: I am against any act or instrument of violence including guns and concealed weapons. They can only create harm to otherwise our so called humane society, who ever has it.

Russi Awakening.. Finally!!!

Good to see some resistance building up in Russia against autocratic rule of Mr. Putin.
After hearing all sorts of Lenin era and subsequently Communist era brutality, I really commend people of Russia coming up even this smaller resistance. I really pray that history of brutal suppression won't repeat and hopefully Mr. Putin will understand that time for autocratic rule is over. If he really loves Russia, he will take a wise decision and step aside from Politics for good. That way he has a better chance to have his name in Russian and world history.

There may be some chaos or mayhem in Russian politics for couple of years after Putin's departure, but it will be for ultimate betterment for entire Russia and for the world, ultimately.

South Africa New Secrecy Law

Looking at this law by ANC government and state of affairs by INC (Indian / Indira National Congress) in India I very strongly feel that all the Parties involved in Freedom movements of the countries should be dissolved and their leaders retired once freedom objective is achieved.

This is very good and most important lesson for new upcoming free countries due to Arab Spring. In my view they should learn from other's mistakes rather than repeating them.

No offense to anyone, but I think these same freedom fighter party leaders become defacto leaders and start extracting price which they payed while struggling for freedom of the country. They should be given decent pension and allowed to enjoy free life and respect at independence day etc. but should be barred from taking any public position.

New blood, who is free of all such background and free to think objectively should be given reigns of the country. There might be mayhem in first couple of years, but in long term it will result in real freedom for them and true democracy.