Friday Potpouri

In light of the bait and switch from Mubarak I thought this was article explains a great deal about the resilience of the Egyptian revolution:

Wired and Shrewd, Young Egyptians Guide Revolt

CAIRO — They were born roughly around the time that President Hosni Mubarak first came to power, most earned degrees from their country’s top universities and all have spent their adult lives bridling at the restrictions of the Egyptian police state — some undergoing repeated arrests and torture for the cause.

Yet they brought a sophistication and professionalism to their cause — exploiting the anonymity of the Internet to elude the secret police, planting false rumors to fool police spies, staging “field tests” in Cairo slums before laying out their battle plans, then planning a weekly protest schedule to save their firepower — that helps explain the surprising resilience of the uprising they began.

In the process many have formed some unusual bonds that reflect the singularly nonideological character of the Egyptian youth revolt, which encompasses liberals, socialists and members of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Verizon iPhone Release Falls Flat

"NEW YORK--There were balloons, police barricades, security, and a full staff on hand early this morning at the Verizon Wireless store on Broadway in downtown Manhattan. Absent from the scene: customers."

This was interesting to me as my daughter had long coveted the new iPhone from Verizon but once she saw how much more expensive it would be compared to her current phone she has balked at the cost of the new plan. Who says these kids are spoiled!

Interesting take on the mismatch in jobs and the unemployed:

Searching for a willing worker
"Companies in the United States can’t find suitable candidates to fill about 2.3 million available spots, most of them technical positions. Europe faces the same curious predicament.
There are two talent pools that sluggish Western economies could tap into. The first are the ranks of the domestic unemployed, numbering in excess of 13 million in the United States. Alternatively, with unemployment rampant through much of the world, there is no shortage of skilled foreign workers willing to mobilize."


With Job Openings Falling, Trouble Could Be Coming


"The Bureau of Labor Statistics released data this week on its latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), which revealed that job openings fell in December for the second straight month."


Here's a link from Rock that I thought was interesting:
A conversation with Bill Gates

The Daily Princetonian: The number of computer science graduates — or, more generally, the number of engineering graduates — isn't growing in the United States, while numbers are steadily rising in India and China. Why are numbers declining here and what, if anything, should be done about it? What does a Princeton graduate have to offer Microsoft that a Chinese or Indian student can't?

Bill Gates: Of the top 20 [computer science universities] in the world, somewhere between 18 and 19 of them are in the United States, and it's true that India and China are improving their universities.