Bob Gourley

There are seven key megatrends driving the future of enterprise IT. You can remember them all with the helpful mnemonic acronym CAMBRIC, which stands for Cloud Computing, Artificial Intelligence, Mobility, Big Data, Robotics, Internet of Things, CyberSecurity. In this post we dive deeper into Artificial Intelligence. Artificial Intelligence is the discipline of thinking machines. The field is growing dramatically with the proliferation of high powered computers into homes and businesses and especially with the growing power of smartphones and other mobile devices. Artificial intelligence software is assisting people in most every discipline. The many functions of AI are considered by many to be threatening many human jobs across multiple industries, but others consider it a great producer of jobs since it will help create entirely new industries and free more human... (more)

What is Cloud Computing: I’m Forming Up on the NIST View

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Information Technology Laboratory is working on a definition of cloud computing (version 14 of their working draft is on their site and is looking great).  Like other NIST efforts they have taken a collaborative/collegial approach in building this definition.  You can find the full definition at the NIST Computer Security Resource Center. The also provide a briefing titled “Effectively and Securely Using the Cloud Computing Paradigm” (by Peter Mell and Tim Grance of NIST, dated 6/26/2009).  That presentation gives a grea... (more)

DoD Clarifies Guidance on Open Source Software

As friend John Scott points out on his blog, Dave Wennergren, DoD CIO, has just signed out a very well coordinated, well staffed and well thought out clarification of guidance regarding Open Source Software (OSS).   A copy is attached. Some key points: - Open Source Software meets the government’s legal definition of “commercial computer software,” which is an important clarification in the procurement world.  Some who don’t understand open source sometimes mistakenly would think that it was not allowed because of the way they read some regulations and this clarification will h... (more)

Want a New Information Superiority Idea?

Newspapers and blogs around the globe have been carrying an amazing story of technological arrogance and organizational ineptitude regarding security of a key data feed from US intelligence systems.  We read headlines like: “Iraq Insurgents Hack US Drones” (WSJ), “Hacked Drones: How Secure Are US Spy Planes?(ABC)”, “Insurgents Hack Into US Spy Drone Videos“(AP), “Officers Warned of Drones Flaw in 04 (WSJ).”  As worrisome as those articles are, perhaps the more scary one was titled “Adm. Mullen says hacked drones caused no damage” (AP).  That article indicates he cares about cyber... (more)

iPad on Ulitzer - What a Letdown!

iPad on Ulitzer Finally released, and a bit of a letdown. WOW.  What a letdown.  I can not believe that this was the subject of endless hype.  Here are the quick stats (if you haven’t found them somewhere else). A4 1GHz Processor 16GB ($499), 32GB ($599), or 64GB ($699) Flash Memory WI-FI enabled, 3G for $129.99 iPhone OS 4 20 Pin Apple Interface 1024×768 Capacitive Touchscreen Alleged 10 hour battery (with WiFi or without? What about with 3G switched on?) And that’s about it.  Sure it will play nice with all your iPhone apps, but not in full screen.  Sure it will play HD vid... (more)