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Why do businesses use any un-synced desktop comput->

Submitted by
g8orade
g8orade writes "I was reading an article at CIO.com that asks why is ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software so hard.

A business's entire computing eco-system is its ERP system, though most companies haven't even taken the first step of having centralized data-mine-able email, and certainly haven't made universal use of a ticket system instead of email a priority. (Request Tracker / RT, Jira, etc etc.)
There really don't seem to be hybrid local desktop / server desktop sync solutions that help you work locally when you need to but that then auto sync everything when you're connected to a central database.

So, I have to ask the readers, why does any company, not private citizens, any COMPANY allow any computing to occur resulting in files that aren't later stored and queryable centrally, which is what ERP is ultimately for, namely to produce auditable historical records. (Auditable means any kind of audit--Internal Audit for quality and cost, Tax Audit, SOX Audit, pick any regulatory reason for an audit).
Is it simply because companies don't think about computing that way? Or has desktop computing clouded the benefits of networked computing until relatively recently?
What companies do you know who best treat their IT in its entirety as their "ERP"?"
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Announcements

Nano safety worries scientists more than public->

Submitted by
Nanotech Coward
Nanotech Coward writes "The unknown human health and environmental impacts of nanotechnology are a bigger worry for scientists than for the public, according to a new report published today (Nov. 25) in the journal Nature Nanotechnology. The new report was based on a national telephone survey of American households and a sampling of 363 leading U.S. nanotechnology scientists and engineers. It reveals that those with the most insight into a technology with enormous potential — and that is already emerging in hundreds of products — are unsure what health and environmental problems might be posed by the technology."
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Portables

Panasonic Toughbook CF-30 - not your average noteb->

Submitted by
sahernasir
sahernasir writes "This notebook has been specially designed to endure rugged work conditions, having an extremely strong casing shell and high level of shock prevention for the Hard Disk. Keeping in mind external usage it also features a touchscreen display which can be read even under direct sunlight.

Basic Specs include Intel Core Duo 1.6 GHz, 80 GB Hard Drive, 512 Ram and Windows XP Operating System.

The downside of this machine is it being slightly overweight and high"
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Businesses

Looters List by Nation / Business?

Submitted by g8orade
g8orade writes "I just read this story about a new type of solar panel's arrival in the near future. When a posting points to an accelerated disruption in a fundamental industry, it would be interesting to know the relation to and potential interference from taxing agencies or other entrenched interest (in addition to the direct competition).
  • OLPC vs. Wintel / Apple, seems mostly the direct competition, hardware and OS
  • Electric car vs. gas car, (gas tax pays for roads, run by the state)
  • Tax Reform, harder to manipulate the tax code, provide favors to any group
What are the best news sources (world wide, nation state by nation state) to understand whom one is likely to encounter when a given industry will be disrupted, because they are funded by the sale of the disrupted product? (In the case of the solar panels, Oil, Coal, Natural Gas, and what is funded currently by taxing them? Who besides them directly has power based on them that would decline?)."

"Everyone is entitled to an *informed* opinion." -- Harlan Ellison