Is China a Internet Threat? China's capacity to wreak havoc in cyberspace!

From the economist...worries in mind of Internet businessman, strategist and politicians alike..

Is China a Cyber Threat?

THE West's military and government computers are attacked every millisecond. America's State Department, for one, says its networks are probed about 2m times a day. The culprits may be computer geeks, vandals or bored teenagers. Of late, though, some of the most bold, even brazen, attacks are being blamed on the Chinese authorities.

Last May Chinese spy software was discovered in computers in the office of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and other ministries. According to one report the so-called Trojan Horse programme (attached to a seemingly innocuous electronic file) was siphoning off 160 gigabytes of information when it was stopped. German officials suspect that China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) was responsible.

This week it emerged that a similar Trojan Horse penetrated computers in the office of America's defence secretary, Robert Gates, in June. The Pentagon says only an “unclassified” e-mail system was breached, and has not identified the suspects. Pentagon officials, though, are convinced the PLA was behind the attack.

America's military planners worry that China is using cyberspace not just for espionage but to prepare a future hot war, say over Taiwan. A recent Pentagon report said Chinese military exercises include launching a “first strike” attack on enemy computers, presumably to cripple America's highly networked military operations or, worse, disrupt civilian life there.

Achieving “electromagnetic dominance” early in a conflict, says the report, is seen by the PLA as an important means by which the weaker Chinese forces could defeat the stronger American ones. Other “asymmetric” means would include trying to cripple America's military and communications satellites, as demonstrated last January with a missile test that blasted an old Chinese weather satellite.

Key dangers to rapidly progressing Indian economy

Went through an interesting article on key dangers to rapidly progressing Indian economy.

The Reserve Bank of India (in its Annual Report 2007) reiterated its faith in the Indian economy clocking nothing less than 8.5% GDP growth in this fiscal, the central bank has also put forth some key concerns that have the potential to derail the growth engine.

1. Uneven rainfall distribution: As per the RBI, although the cumulative rainfall during the

monsoon so far has been 7% above normal, it has been very uneven in terms of temporal and spatial distribution.
Per capita availability of foodgrains has fallen close to the levels prevailing during the 1970s.

2. Power shortage: The power shortage of around 10% and a peak hour shortage of over 13% is a deterrent to the sustained current high growth phase. In the Tenth Plan, capacity addition was around 50% of the target.

3. Labour issues: While it is encouraging to note that employment generation in the economy accelerated during the Tenth Plan period (FY02 to FY07) from the preceding period, the growth in employment during the respective periods, however, still trailed the growth in labour force over the same period.

4. Consumption slowdown: Lead indicators of consumption growth i.e. growth in tourist arrivals, revenue earning freight traffic of the railways, new cell phone connections, export cargo handled by civil aviation, passengers handled by civil aviation, cement, steel and bank credit have shown signs of moderation in FY08 so far.
Growth of non-food credit was 23.6% in 1QFY08 as compared to 32.5% in 1QFY07. The same is expected to remain within the range of 18% YoY to 25% YoY over the next 2 fiscals given the estimated growth rates and inflation during this period.

5. Low welfare expenditure: The shares of public expenditure on education and health in India are still low by international standards. In 2004, the share of public expenditure on health in India at 0.9% of GDP was lower than Brazil (4.8%), China (1.8%) and least developed countries (1.8%).

6. Global meltdown: According to the estimates by the IMF, global growth is likely to moderate from 5.5% in 2006 to 5.2% each in 2007 and 2008. Growth in the world trade volume is also expected to decelerate from 9.4% in 2006 to 7.1% in 2007 and 7.4% in 2008.

Apple slashes $200 price cut for iPhone: Turning happy customers into angry ones..

I recently participated in an interesting discussion over price slash of Apple iPhone by about $200.
Is this move a marketing mistake by marketing-genius Steve Jobs. It sure converted a million delighted customers into a million angry ones.

Apple Inc. slashed the price of the top iPhone by $200 Wednesday to bolster holiday sales, but also angered loyal customers who paid top dollar in the gadget's first 10 weeks on the market.

The 8-gigabyte iPhone will now cost $399 -- one-third cheaper than when it went on sale June 29. The 4-gigabyte iPhone, which sold for $499, will be phased out

Apple stock dropped more than 5 percent after the price cut was announced, closing at $136.76, down $7.40 cents. In extended trading, it lost another $1.01.

The steep price cut less than three months after the iPhone's launch is a surprise from Apple, which usually keeps prices steady while adding new features and offers discounts only when a product begins to get old.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs said the company is on its way to selling 1 million iPhones in the United States by the end of September.

Ten Hot Jobs for 2007

A look at the upcoming professions, most of which are a spin-off at some existing titles and creating greater specialization within a niche. From Fast Company, have a look:

Experience Designer: These talented individuals work in the retail industry, creating the essence and aura of a store. Experience designers go beyond the look of a place, creating a unique experience in which shoppers can immerse themselves.

Urban Planners: Individuals in residential planning and development can expect a lot of work in the coming year.

Viral Marketers and Media Promoters: A viral marketer knows how to build an audience from nothing with little more than rumor and excitement.

Talent Agents: As fame and fortune grows for performers and athletes, a new arena opens for their managers, promoters, and general go-to guys. Next to the celebrities themselves, these positions are some of the most competitive in the entertainment industry.

Buyers and purchasing agents: Much of the retail department store's fate lies in the hands of the buyers and purchasing agents.

Art Directors: From Broadway to movie sets, any job that involves paint, lights, cameras, and action is in demand, especially within the 20-30 demographic.

News Analysts, Reporters, and Bloggers: Publications with an online division often hire three levels of correspondents: Print news writers, online news writers, and bloggers.

Google phone - The iPhone Killer!

The reports on Google Phone are doing rounds as I write this blog.

Google might be working with HTC and mobile/telecom giant Orange to build a Google Mobile Phone, which will have Google software inside the device, and would be able to do internet activities efficiently. The device could go on sale in 2008.

Their plans centre on a branded Google phone, which would probably carry Orange’s logo. The device would be manufactured by HTC, a Taiwanese firm specialising in smart phones and Personal Data Assistants (PDAs), it might have a screen similar to a video iPod. But it would have built-in Google software which would dramatically improve on the slow and cumbersome experience of surfing the web from a mobile handset.

A Google-branded phone could include a browser that uses Google's transcoder to optimize web pages for the phone, easy to access Google search, maps, Gmail, Blogger and maybe more.

The device doesn't have any on-board storage. All your applications are served up over the network with new apps accessible via a online google interface.

Last month, Eric Schmidt said: "Your mobile phone should be free. It just makes sense that subsidies should increase"

Okay so you can carry Google whereever you go. Yuppie! We love the idea.

Internet guru of yester-years - Henry Blodget

Probably with the current Internet frenzy, it is a good time to remember one of the earlier Internet gurus - Henry Blodget.

Henry Blodget was a blazing symbol for the internet mania of the late 1990s. He was a former Internet securities analyst for Merrill Lynch during the crazy 90s. His fame took birth when he famously predicted that Amazon.com's stock price would hit $400. Fortunately it did. This received significant media attention, and he accepted a analyst position at Merrill Lynch. In 2000, his luck was still riding high and he was voted the No. 1 Internet/eCommerce analyst on Wall Street.

When the internet dream turned sour, Blodget still remained optimistic, continuing to recommend shares in companies that subsequently failed.

His predictions badly hurt the common public and investors. In 2003, he was charged with civil securities fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He settled without admitting or denying the allegations and was subsequently banned from the securities industry for life.

Currently Blodget is president of Cherry Hill Research, an industry analysis and consulting firm, and edits Internet Outsider, a blog about internet business trends and research. He is also a frequent contributor to the magazines Slate, Newsweek and New York.

A profile, important for us to seek some sanity in this increasing crazy technology, Internet and Web 2.0 world.

Universal search from Google

Another innovative feature from Google...

Google recently announced its universal search model that offers users a integrated way to search for and view information online.

Google's universal search will search across all its content sources, compare and rank all the information, and deliver a single set of search results to users. This will incorporate information from a variety of sources – videos, images, news, maps, books, and websites – into a single set of results.

This is indeed a very useful feature. When we search for a particular celebrity or a management guru, we often want to see all about him or her - whether it is a youtube video about him, a image file, a news item, blog comments or plain old websites....This universal search will integrate all and serve in one sub-set.

Another innovation from Google Labs.