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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY Tim Altom: Here is list of the worst tech foibles of 2005

Well, happy holidays again, my brethren! It’s once more time for my holiday gift to you, a compendium of technological disasters that test the assertion that we’re happiest when we read about those who have been more humiliated than we were. As military pilots used to say about their own missteps, “Man, that’ll leave a crater.” The most recent example in this hall of horrors is Mizuho Securities, as reported by CNN Dec. 9. Massive, Tokyo-based Mizuho switched two numbers…

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VIEWPOINT: Indiana: The Cyber Crossroads of America?

Can a state whose identity as the “Crossroads of America” in the 20th century maintain that distinction in the 21st century? Can Indiana, with numerous railroads and highways passing through it, find a competitive advantage in a world that increasingly bypasses rails and roads in favor of the virtual marketplace? Absolutely-if it is willing once again to serve as a central hub for the thoroughfares so important to the virtual marketplace and purposefully sets out to build them. Not so…

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NOTIONS: This holiday season, ‘It’s jobs, stupid’

Bruce Hetrick is off for the holidays. But in the hope that you’ll shop the after-Christmas sales locally, helping to spur job retention and growth in central Indiana, he offers the following column, which originally appeared on Oct. 27, 2003. Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat Please put a penny in the old man’s hat If you haven’t got a penny, a ha’ penny will do, If you haven’t got a ha’ penny, then God bless you In…

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Ringing up big returns: After near collapse in ’02, Brightpoint wows Wall St.

Three and a half years ago, Plainfield-based cell phone distributor Brightpoint Inc. was on the ropes. Shares were worth less than a dollar. The company had lost $53 million in 2001, and was on pace to lose another $42 million in 2002. Bankruptcy appeared imminent. But Brightpoint prevailed over the long odds against it. Today, company shares trade for about $30 each. Adjusted for stock splits, they’ve soared 125 percent in 2005, and nearly 8,000 percent since bottoming out in…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Is this thing a brace or badge of courage?

It’s amazed me for a long time how we create technology that shapes our world, then it returns the compliment by reshaping us. Steam power gave the business world the factory, which put a premium on people who could maintain and run factories, and made ordinary people servants to the clock. Modern computers have made the technogeek a valuable commodity and created a vast new business expense in hardware, software and upkeep. We think we are creating a new world,…

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GERALD BEPKO Commentary: Don’t underestimate value of teamwork

Any area of human activity can be improved by good teamwork. Teamwork requires leadership, by both those designated as team leaders and team members alike. In sports, as in life, the most valuable player is often not the person who calls the plays. Teamwork is explored in an interesting way in a 2002 book by management consultant Patrick Lencioni titled, “Five Dysfunctions of a Team.” The book is getting renewed attention because of the interest of sports leaders. Seven NFL…

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Backyard gushers: Prolific Plummer oil field profitable for Citizens as crude prices rise

They’ve also pumped up revenue for Citizens Gas & Coke Utility, thanks to the soaring price of oil this year. The utility’s oil revenue for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 nearly doubled, to $4 million from $2.26 million in fiscal 2004. Since 1969, the Oil Division has generated income of nearly $40 million. In fiscal 2005, income of the Oil Division rose 160 percent, to $2.6 million, vs. $1 million in 2004. Although $2.6 million is not a huge…

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Disappearing Ink: People go to great lengths, spend big money to erase their youthful body-art decisions

People go to great lengths, spend big money to erase their youthful body-art decisions When Allen George groggily awoke one morning 30 years ago after a night of drinking with two Army buddies, he couldn’t figure out why his arm was stuck to the bedsheet. A closer look revealed a large blood spot had soaked through and dried overnight. He carefully tore away the sheet and looked at his forearm. Staring back at him was a large, brightly colored peacock sitting…

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Women inventors pursue their creative dreams: From doggie car seats to valve-less hydraulic systems, these visionaries keep creating practical products

Windshield wipers, disposable cell phones, Scotchgardâ„¢, the first automatic dishwasher, disposable diapers, Barbie dolls, nonreflective glass, brassieres, CPR mannequins and “whiteout.” These items have one key feature in common-they were all invented by women. Since the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office does not keep gender statistics, it is impossible to know exactly how many patents women hold. One thing is certain: since 1809 when Mary Dixon Kies became the first woman to receive a patent from the government, many other…

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Telepoint Voice and Data Systems: Phone-tech firm aims to answer all clients’ calls Company rebounding after Y2K-related downturn 379 587 474 599366 605 475 616Address: 3912 Pendleton Way Phone: 545-6900 Web site: www.telepoint.comE-mail: bboyd@telepoint.

Address: 3912 Pendleton Way Phone: 545-6900 Web site: www.telepoint.comE-mail: bboyd@telepoint.comFounded: 1987 Founder: Bruce Boyd Owner: Bruce Boyd and Larry Shinn Service/product: business telephone systems and computer networks, sales and service Employees: eight Revenue (2004): $1.2 million One-year goal: increase customer base 20 percent Industry outlook: Looks good, with the deployment of voice-over-Internet-protocol technology and voice-data conversions. one-room office in Castleton and three employees. The business plan called for two of them to make 50 cold calls a day, while the…

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Prominent technology executive steps down: Wortman resigns from Mezzia after just one year

Details are scant. But after only a year on the job, one of the city’s best-known IT leaders is moving on. Mezzia Inc. CEO David Wortman has resigned. “It was just time for a change,” Wortman said. “I was with the company for a year, accomplished a lot, and was ready for a change.” Best known as the longtime CEO of locally based manufacturing softwaremaker Made2Manage Systems, Wortman, 54, led his former company through an initial public offering. But he…

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Comcast is boosting cable rates for 2006: Annual price hike could be ammunition for competitors

Comcast plans to increase cable TV rates an average of 5.1 percent in its suburban Indianapolis territory next year, even as SBC Communications threatens to roll out a cable-killing video service via phone lines. Annual rate hikes by cable companies have become as inevitable as sitcom reruns. Comcast last jacked up local basic cable rates a year ago, by 6.5 percent. Although the 2006 increase is more modest, SBC already is using it in an attempt to soften up consumers…

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RETURN ON TECHNOLOGY: Lesson from Sony mess: Don’t toy with consumers

You know, I understand the need to protect one’s intellectual property assets. I do. And I understand the frustration of those companies in the entertainment business that put out a product electronically only to have it instantly copied and distributed. But I think it’s going a little far for a recording label to load a piece of software onto a user’s computer that is supposedly only for controlling and playing a protected music CD, but actually hijacks parts of the…

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Center offers courses in global adjustment: Programs help companies learn cultural differences

In India, where cricket is the sport of choice, telling an employee he knocked the ball out of the park with his latest proposal most likely would confuse him. The communications gap and other cultural contrasts between the United States and a country such as India can be as vast as the 10-hour time difference. So, as local software developer Sigma Micro Corp. prepared to launch operations at what it refers to as an off-shore development center in the city…

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VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: What’s protected in United States may not be elsewhere

Globalization It’s a buzz word and opportunity; a blessing and a curse. The shrinking global marketplace can help jump start companies that learn how to navigate the morass of regulations and potential pitfalls regarding the protection of intellectual property and personal and business information outside of the United States. But compliance with U.S. laws regarding trademark, patent, privacy and other areas does not necessarily equal compliance in other countries. Successful U.S. companies can find themselves facing uphill battles if they…

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Cable firms call foe a phony: Group touting itself as consumer group funded by biz giants

At first glance, Consumers for Cable Choice appears to be one of those grass-roots organizations likely to have a framed picture of Ralph Nader on its wall. You know, the kind of activist group whose religion is social justice, whose bible is Mother Jones, and to whom eternal damnation would be to accept a penny from greedy and manipulative Big Business. Not so with Consumers for Cable Choice. The Indianapolis group that advocates more competition in cable and relaxed regulation…

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INVESTING: To do well in market, study sectors’ relative strengths

You’re cool. You wear hip clothes. You get invited to the best parties. You drive the most popular car. Most of the time, you measure how cool you are by looking around and seeing what other people are doing. You don’t want to be the only person at the restaurant or the only one at the game. The same concept is true in the stock market. Investors want to own the hot stocks. A stock gets hot because it is…

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VIEWPOINT Valerie Eickmeier: Business needs to harness power of arts

VIEWPOINT Valerie Eickmeier Business needs to harness power of arts Indiana will more fully reach its potential in economic development for the 21st century when its common goal is to build a community where commerce and creativity can thrive. The world is entering an era some business leaders and economists are calling the “Conceptual Age.” They trace the economic growth of our country from agriculture to industrial manufacturing, technology and the Information Age. Today, our country’s primary economic growth and…

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Technology proposals get business focus: IEDC requests new 21st Century Fund applications

It’s been 18 months since state government requested new technology proposals from startups or academics. The days of waiting are now finished. “We’re in business,” said the Indiana Economic Development Corp.’s new director of entrepreneurship, Bruce Kidd. “The open sign is in the window. We want to start accepting applications again.” On Nov. 16, the IEDC issued a request for applications to its $75 million 21st Century Research and Technology Fund. Much has changed since March 2004, when the state…

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Lawrence, Crane build on base realignment: Economic developers hope to increase job count

Now that Indiana has survived the latest round of military base closings relatively unscathed, state leaders are turning to their next task: spurring economic development around the state’s two largest remaining military assets. After two years of review, the military’s Base Realignment and Closure process concluded Nov. 9 when Congress allowed the BRAC commission’s recommendations to become law. When the commission unveiled its recommendations this spring, state officials were relieved the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center in southwest Indiana would…

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