From the "You Can't Win" Dept...

Vitamins Block Some Exercise Benefits: Scientific American Podcast:

"Forty men took part in a four-week training program. Half the group also received daily doses of Vitamins C and E. The researchers discovered that exercise on its own improves insulin sensitivity, which keeps diabetes at bay. But taking the vitamins erased that gain—findings that appear in the May 12th issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

You've Gotta Hand it to Larry!

Ellison Moves Quickly to Push Aside IBM, Plunges Into Competitive Server Market - WSJ.com:

"One person familiar with the situation said IBM's final offer over the weekend was closer to the latter figure, making Oracle's $9.50 offer a financially better alternative in the view of Sun's board and more likely to close. Oracle has to pay Sun a $260 million breakup fee if it terminates the transaction.

Another person said IBM was pressing Sun's board to revoke change-of-control provisions that would give a large number of Sun executives two years of salary in the event of a sale. Yet another person familiar with the matter said Oracle didn't hesitate to accept those provisions, characterizing them as 'a rounding error' to the software giant."

Does Anyone Know the Real Cost of "Green"?

Wouldn't it be nice to see a very clear P&L on this investment by PSE&G?   I am all for the investment in "green" and renewable energy, but it's not clear to me how the investment dollars net against the chargebacks,  energy revenues and various tax credits....

New Jersey Utility Plans Major Solar Project - NYTimes.com: 

"The utility expects to spend $773 million on the project, which it said would generate 120 megawatts of electricity, one-third of which should come from the panels on utility poles. That amounts to barely 1 percent of the power consumed in the state, but is about 7 percent of the state’s goal of power generated from renewable energy sources by 2020."

...

"The project would add about 10 cents to each customer’s monthly bill in the first year and as much as 35 cents in subsequent years."

...

"In addition to raising money by selling the panels’ electricity, P.S.E. & G. also expects to receive a federal tax credit and income from selling the state renewable energy credits that accrue when solar energy is produced."

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"The bulk of the money for the project, however, would come from new bonds and equity from Public Service Enterprise."

Positioning Grows Computer Science Corp. (CSC)?...

Positioning Grows Computer Science Corp. (CSC) By Gregory S. Davis - Investopedia Advisor: 

"Growing a global information technology consulting practice during one of the worst economic slumps in decades is an accomplishment deserving of a spotlight.  The $17.3 billion firm Computer Science Corp. (NYSE:CSC) is making it happen with a mixture of domestic contract wins and strategic acquisitions unbound by the constraints of U.S. borders"

The Dark Side of Leaving the Imperative Model

MF (Martin Fowler) Bliki: RulesEngine: 

"Even so, there's still value in a BusinessReadableDSL, and indeed this is an area where I do see value in this computational model. But here too lie dragons. The biggest one is that while it can make sense to cast your eyes down a list of rules and see that each one makes sense, the interaction of rules can often be quite complex - particularly with chaining - where the actions of rules changes the state on which other rules' conditions are based. So I often hear that it was easy to set up a rules system, but very hard to maintain it because nobody can understand this implicit program flow. This is the dark side of leaving the imperative computational model. For all the faults of imperative code, it's relatively easy to understand how it works. With a production rule system, it seems easy to get to a point where a simple change in one place causes lots unintended consequences, which rarely work out well."

‘SOA’ Initiatives Tend to Fizzel After Year or Two

‘SOA’ dead as of January 1st, analyst says | Service-Oriented Architecture
| ZDNet.com: 

"One of the challenges with SOA is that a successful implementation is a multi-year process, since not only do systems and interfaces need to be changed, but development methodologies and incentives need transformation, and the business itself needs to drive the process.� Definitely not overnight stuff. As I understand from what I’ve heard about Burton Group’s own investigations, SOA initiatives show a lot of potential when they are first launched, but tend to fizzle after a year or two."

This seems to be more of a commentary on the difficulty most businesses have in maintaining focus and momentum on strategic IT work...

Chubb Corporation Sees Strong Insider Buying

Chubb Corporation Sees Strong Insider Buying: 

"The Chubb Corporation (NYSE: CB) may not sound attractive, but many insiders are a believer in the stock. The firm repurchased some 5.9 million shares during the third quarter and said it would buyback up to 20 million shares over the next year while paying a dividend of 33 cents per share. This is a clear demonstration of financial strength and confidence in the company."

We've been Elfed!!!