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QTS went public today on the NYSE. On Nasdaq.com there is a press release that says the stock was below range.
QTS Realty Trust, a data center REIT operating 10 facilities across 7 states, raised $257 million by offering 12.3 million shares at $21, well below the range of $27 to $30. QTS Realty Trust plans to list on the NYSE under the symbol QTS. QTS Realty Trust initially filed confidentially on 5/31/2013. Goldman Sachs,
I was chatting with an analyst friend today and he asked me what I thought about Verizon choosing Seamicro. Here is the press release.
Verizon Selects AMD’s SeaMicro SM15000 for Enterprise Class Services: Verizon Cloud Compute and Verizon Cloud Storage
We shared our knowledge of how many sea micro boxes were being used at various customers we knew and our numbers matched.
Here is the question that almost never gets asked. In the same way that Airbus made a major win over Boeing getting JAL to buy the A350 and the news hits the WSJ. There is clear announcement of the number of planes bought, and the options acquired for future deliveries.
JAL ordered 31 A350 jetliners carrying a catalog price of ¥950 billion, with an option to buy 25 more of the long-distance planes, the companies said Monday. Deliveries will start in 2019 and roll out over six years.
When the hardware vendors start having press releases that identify the number of units sold over what period then we can judge whether the deal is a big one or not.
What we don't know is what is the rest of the hardware in Verizon's Cloud. Is SeaMicro 1% of the units? 2%? 5%? 10%? 25? of the total server count. We don't really know and if you don't know, then why should you think the announcement has an impact on the way you do business.
Technology Review has a post on a discussion with Shell Executive that they could be the ones who can solve the carbon capture problem.
Wouldn't that be interesting if environmental groups are supporting the transformation of oil companies.
Shell Exec Says Oil Companies Might Become Carbon Capture Ones
An expert from Shell says that oil companies, with their deep knowledge of geophysics, are well-suited to pioneer carbon capture and storage technology.
- By Kevin Bullis on October 9, 2013
WHY IT MATTERS
Carbon capture and storage could help reduce emissions, but it will require huge resources.
Dirk Smit speaking today at the EmTech conference at MIT.
Oil companies’ expertise in geophysics might be invaluable in addressing climate change and other civilization-scale challenges, according to Dirk Smit, vice president of exploration technology at Royal Dutch Shell.
Speaking on the sidelines of MIT Technology Review’s EmTech conference today, Smit described a future in which fossil fuels provide a smaller fraction of the world’s energy needs—not because the world will run out of them but because a range of factors, including improved technology and concerns about climate change, make alternatives to fossil fuels more competitive.
When you assess the risk to your data center power you think of most of the time weather related issues, accidents, and maintenance on high voltage transmission lines. Arstechnica reports on the FBI's news release.
Hackers in the electric grid? Meh—fear the dude with the stolen tractor
The power grid is under actual attack in one corner of Arkansas.
by Nate Anderson - Oct 9 2013, 5:00am PDT
Cyber security pundits and contractors can't seem to make it through a presentation without invoking the specter of hackers shutting down the US electric grid. That's certainly something to be concerned about, especially if we end up at war with a country like China, but at the moment, actual incidents are hard to come by. Indeed, serious electric grid vandalism remains comfortably old school—likeclimbing a 100-foot, high-voltage transmission tower and chopping through the cables with a saw, then removing a few bolts from the bottom of the metal tower, then attaching a half-inch thick cable to the tower with a 15-inch eyebolt, and then pulling the cable across the adjacent Union Pacific railroad track "in an apparent attempt to utilize a moving train to bring down the tower." You know, old school.
According to the FBI, this actually happened in Cabot, Arkansas, in the early morning on August 21. The vandalism closed state highway 321 for the entire day, and the FBI has offered a $20,000 reward for the arrest of a suspect.
Here is the FBI news release.
FBI Offers Up to $20,000 Reward for Information Regarding Downed Cabot Power Line
FBI Little RockAugust 22, 2013 LITTLE ROCK—Randall C. Coleman, Special Agent in Charge (SAC) of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for the state of Arkansas, announced that the FBI is offering a reward up to $20,000 for information leading to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for the following incident:
As the Cabot community is aware, on Wednesday, August 21, 2013, a high-voltage transmission line in the Holland Bottoms area, on Arkansas Highway 321 near a Union Pacific railroad track, was intentionally downed. The FBI, Cabot Police Department, and Lonoke County Sheriff’s Office, in coordination with officials with Entergy Arkansas and Union Pacific Railroad, continue to investigate this incident. The investigation has determined that the person(s) responsible attached a cable to the framework of the 100foot tower and placed the cable across the railroad track in an apparent attempt to utilize a moving train to bring down the tower. Although no injuries resulted from this act, the placement of the line created a risk to the community and to the trains using the track.
We believe that someone may have seen a person(s) or vehicle(s) in the area during the early morning hours of August 21, 2013, or may have heard someone removing bolts from the base of the tower, as this act would have created substantial noise. We believe the person(s) responsible is/are familiar with the Holland Bottoms area. This person(s) may also possess above-average knowledge or skill in electrical matters.
We are asking for anyone who may have any information that might be related to this matter to contact us at FBI’s Little Rock Field Office at (501) 221-9100 or Little.Rock@ic.fbi.gov. We emphasize that regardless of how insignificant you think your information might be, or whether you think we already are aware of it, we want to hear your information. Sometimes, even the most minor detail can assist investigators and public safety officials. We encourage anyone who may have photographs or video of this area to share that information with us. We remind the public of the reward of up to $20,000 for information leading to the arrest of the person(s) responsible for this incident.
When I joined Microsoft an executive spoke at new employee orientation. There are two stories that come to mind.
First story. The executive had been a long time developer in Excel and had decided he wanted to get his MBA. He was accepted into Harvard and was ready to resign. Given he was employee #105 at Microsoft it is expected he would talk to Bill before leaving. Bill asked him why he wanted to get his Harvard MBA. His response is he wanted business experience. Bill responded if you want business experience, I'll give you business experience. You are now the General Manager of Microsoft Word. The executive of course didn't go to Harvard and he eventually became a VP of Office.
Second story. Same executive. Same employee orientation. He starts telling a story. I'll tell it slightly different than he did.
He was a senior developer on Excel and was working on a new feature. As part of the feature being complete he wanted to put it on the toolbar. Here is an image of Mac Excel 2011's tool bar.
And a bit of early history of Excel. I remember this history from the Apple side when I worked there and Excel quickly became the standard spreadsheet program.
Microsoft originally marketed a spreadsheet program called Multiplan in 1982. Multiplan became very popular on CP/M systems, but on MS-DOS systems it lost popularity to Lotus 1-2-3. Microsoft released the first version of Excel for the Macintosh on September 30, 1985, and the first Windows version was 2.05 (to synchronize with the Macintosh version 2.2) in November 1987.[61] Lotus was slow to bring 1-2-3 to Windows and by 1988 Excel had started to outsell 1-2-3 and helped Microsoft achieve the position of leading PC software developer. This accomplishment, dethroning the king of the software world, solidified Microsoft as a valid competitor and showed its future of developing GUI software. Microsoft pushed its advantage with regular new releases, every two years or so.
Back to the feature, the developer wanted to put it on the toolbar, so he met with the program managers and product managers to discuss where to put his feature. They told him no, his feature would be in pull down menu, not on the tool bar, because the tool bar at the time was reserved for formatting features - font, justification, %/$, etc. After weeks of trying the developer gave up trying to convince the program/product managers to put his feature on the tool bar. Late one night, he checks in the code for his feature into the build, and he adds code to put his feature in the tool bar.
The next day the build is released to test teams and development, and there is his new feature on the format tool bar. The program/project managers were of course upset and told him he must remove the feature from the tool bar. He refuses. They get more angry. He tells them he will remove the feature from the tool bar after they run usability tests with end users. They still insist he remove the feature. He stands his ground. Eventually the program/product managers agree to run usability tests. And, the results show the new feature is the popular feature on the tool bar. Know which one it is?
Autosum. The executive/developer is Chris Peters.
BELLEVUE, Wash. -- Chris Peters was vice president of Microsoft's Office division, responsible for 400 software developers and more than $4 billion in annual revenue. Last year, he startled his colleagues by taking a leave of absence to train for a new career-pro bowling.
Now, Mr. Peters spends many afternoons at Sun Villa Bowl, an aging bowling alley tucked between a grocery store and a Mormon temple in this eastside Seattle suburb. On a recent weekday, Mr. Peters, 41 years old, is the only bowler present below what used to be called retirement age. He raises a red ball to his side, steps off, slides and releases. The ball skids down the lane, hooks hard to the left and explodes into the pocket. Strike!
"You can tell when it leaves your hand," he says. "It's so satisfying."
More satisfying, for now, than his old job at Microsoft. Mr. Peters says he realized as he neared his 40th birthday that he had lost his passion for the all-consuming, 16-year career that made him rich but led him to neglect almost everything else, including his health and family.
Now to finish the second story. Chris did warn the audience that his actions getting Autosum is not something that should be done unless you are sure you are right. If you are right, you should push for doing the right thing.
This may sound OK. But, you need to take into account that Chris was Microsoft employee #105 with huge credibility in the company, and so valued Bill would give him running Microsoft Word to keep him from leaving the company to get his Harvard MBA.
What Chris did with putting Autosum was innovative and still one of the most valued features on the Excel Tool Bar. Do you think he would be promoted?
