In one corner:  OpenStack boasts 128 companies and 1644 people behind their open source cloud computing solution. This week, SUSE announced becoming a member of the OpenStack movement. OpenStack has Rackspace, NASA, and Ubuntu (Canonical) already behind it.

In the other corner:  Red Hat  is developing their own cloud computing standards with:

a) CloudForms at their Iaas, or infrastructure as a service.
b) OpenShift as their PaaS, or platform as a service
c) A network of “Red Hat Certified Cloud Providers”. Amazon EC2 is a Red Hat Certified Public Cloud.
d) Gluster (being acquired by Red Hat) is an open source storage solution

This, of course, simplifies the playing field. Linux vendors are only a small player in the cloud computing market.  These days everyone seems to have their own could computing solution. The question I’m asking is this:

Is cloud computing vital to the major Linux vendors?

Consider this:  Big money is being bet on cloud computing. Just consider the money the big players are pouring into the cloud computing market in the form of acquisitions.  This week Oracle just bought cloud-based customer management software vendor RightNow Technologies, Inc. for $1.5 billion.  Here are some other cloud computing acquisitions in 2010-2011:

- CA busy 3Tera, Nimsoft, and 4Base technolgies
- Salesforce.com buys Heroku
- Cisco buys LineSider Technologies
- HP buys Stratavista
- IBM Buys Cast Iron Systems
- Red Hat acqures Makara, and Gluster
- Google snaps up DocVerse
- Dell acquires Boomi
- Acer buys iGware
- VMware (EMC) acquires Mozy
- Citrix Systems buys Cloud.com

Right now, it looks like Linux vendors need to have a viable, competitive cloud computing solution in order to remain competitive. My reaction to this week’s news on SUSE joining Canonical and the OpenStack gang:  Will Red Hat be able to stand alone?

Longtime Linux pundits are missing an important market change when they are debating the popularity of Linux Distributions. Susan Linton wrote on June 20th, 2011 her thoughts on the question surfacing on the web: “Is Ubuntu on the way out?”. Her comments were based on Distrowatch’s Linux Distributions Page Hit Rankings. As of today, Ubuntu is in the number 2 position behind Mint. Ubuntu had been shortly in the number 3 position after being on top for quite some time.

Linton wrote, “Some initial comments seem to indicate that premise is incorrect. Several assert that Ubuntu is probably just finding a new audience. One said, ‘I think the real question is: Is Ubuntu on the way out for new users?’ Another said, ‘I get the feeling that those of who are more power-users are moving over to other distros such as Fedora and Arch.’ ”

Linton started to ask a more important question when she went on to say, “But Ubuntu was always on top because it was the distro to look at when you were first starting. So maybe, and it pains me to think this, there just aren’t as many new people coming to Linux as there once were?”

TheJemReport asks a disturbing question for Linux supporters, “Is linux losing it’s importance among desktop users?” With the rising popularity of mobile devices, Linux is losing the battle for the third-place spot for desktop users. In fact, right now, according to one report, Linux is in 4th place for desktop users and in jeopardy of falling from that position.

Eggxpert.com recently reported market share for Q1 2011 OS / Linux Market Share of desktop users. Linux was reported to have 0.94% market share of desktop users. This number is well below iOS, which is now third at 1.92% of the market. For as long as we can remember Windows (89.72% ) and Mac (5.21%) have been number one and number 2 in market share of desk users, but Linux was always considered the up and comer in third place. That is not true anymore. What is more striking is that Java ME is close behind Linux at 0.91% of the market and Android is coming up fast with 0.50% of the market. It is possible that Linux distributions fall to sixth place overall.

A note on Linux distributions: Over the last year Ubuntu has been the clear favorite Linux distribution, with Mint, Fedora, Debian, and openSUSE taking the 2nd,3rd, 4th, and 5th place spots respectively. Distrowatch tracks 322 distributions, so if you are looking for alternatives, there is no short supply.

The future of renewable energy is getting a boost from California’s newly passed energy bill. The bill which was introduced by Democratic Senator, Joe Simitian, increases the requirement that utilities have for generating a percentage of their energy from renewable power sources. The bill was passed by the Senate in February and was then passed by the House with a vote of 55 to 19. Arnold Schwarzenegger declined to sign a previous version of the bill when he was governor, stating the details were too restrictive on the utilities. However, Governor Brown is expected to sign the bill since he advocated for raising the standard during his gubernatorial campaign.

Picture source: Fiona Shields

The bill will require utility companies to generate one-third of California’s electricity by utilizing renewable power sources such as wind, solar and geothermal by the end of 2020. This is a lofty goal since the state currently produces only 15-17% of its electricity from renewable sources. This means the state will have to double its current generation utilizing renewable sources within the next ten years. However, Senator Simitian believes renewable energy providers will rise to the challenge resulting in billions of dollars in investments which is expected to provide California with job growth and tax revenues.

The bill comes at a time when federal energy legislation has been delayed in Washington due to the recession. Since California is often seen as a leader in setting environmental standards for the rest of the country, there is hope that other states will follow California’s lead. In fact, many states have already taken action in an effort to jump start their own economy, by also requiring a percentage of their power be generated from renewable sources. However, that percentage is much lower than California’s current requirement and the recession has taken a toll on efforts to pursue these goals.

The current standard in California requires investor-owned utilities to produce 20% of their electricity utilizing renewable energy sources by the end of 2010. Unfortunately, none of the utilities was able to meet this requirement. However, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE) came very close. PG&E obtained 17.7% of their energy from renewable sources while SCE just fell short of the requirement at 19.4%.

The economic downturn is cited as the reason renewable energy projects have stalled in recent years. Senator Smitian is hopeful that his bill will not only hasten the industry’s recovery process, but will revitalize California’s economy.

Last Updated ( Apr 13, 2011 at 09:51 PM )

KB Home has long been a leader in building homes. Their announcement this week that they are partnering with SunPower to build residential solar power communities demonstrates their innovative thinking. The plan is to build entire communities where every home is equipped with a solar power system. They will test out the innovative concept in ten Southern California cities. KB Home has already built three residential solar communities in Eastvale, Temecula, and Chula Vista. Home buyers will be able to choose from five additional communities which are planned to open within the next 60 days. The remaining two communities will open in the fall of 2011.

Picture source: silas216

Installing solar power systems in an entire community has not been done before. Although KB Home has previously offered photovoltaic systems as an upgraded option in California and Colorado, they now want to make the technology part of their standard installation in the homes they build. They intend to expand this green concept to include all 12 states they build homes in if the test market in Southern California is received positively.

Each home will be installed with a 1.4 kilowatt system which uses six solar panels on the roof. Since the solar power system will be part of the standard installation, home buyers cannot opt to buy a home without a solar power system. However, they will have an option to upgrade to a larger solar system for an additional cost.

KB Home is integrating the solar technology into the homes they build in an effort to stay competitive in a declining housing market. Homeowners continue to struggle in these difficult economic times, and KB Home plans to use the green technology to make their homes more attractive to potential buyers. The standard solar units will save homeowners 30% on their energy costs (based on a 1,800 to 2,000 square feet home). Additionally, the solar power systems may help homeowners qualify for a federal tax credit. This will benefit both homeowners and the environment for years to come.

To demonstrate just how much the homeowner can save, the company is also planning to include an Energy Performance Guide (EPG) in all of its new homes. The guide will provide estimates on how much the homeowner can expect to pay per month for electric and gas. The guide is similar to Energy Star stickers found on appliances. The guide will also provide comparisons between the energy efficient home and a typical home.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that KB Home is thinking outside the box. They were named the #1 Green Homebuilder by Calvert Investments and the #1 Homebuilder on the 2011 World’s Most Admired Companies list in FORTUNE magazine. They are known for delivering quality, “Built to Order” homes at a price the average home buyer can afford. Now they are making affordable solar power technology available to the typical homeowner. Clearly, KB Home is leading the way in green home building.

Last Updated ( Mar 24, 2011 at 01:49 PM )

The CEO of SiGNa Chemistry, Michael Lefenfeld, believes that hydrogen fuel cells can be a viable power source for items such as laptops, cell phones, and even electric bicycles. His company has revealed an exciting new development in hydrogen fuel cell technology. The company, which is headquartered in New York and only has about 20 employees, developed a new chemical process which utilizes water and a compound called sodium silicide to generate hydrogen

Picture source: monty.metzger

Sodium silicide is a powder produced by combining sodium metal with silicon powder. The powder is then stored in a disposable canister with water. The reaction between the water and the sodium silicide powder, produces the hydrogen. Any type of water can be used to create the reaction including sea water or even water that is polluted. This is not the case with other generation processes.

The discovery could also resolve two major road blocks in hydrogen fuel cell technology: real-time hydrogen generation and storage. Storage of hydrogen is problematic because it needs to be stored under high pressure. Also, many of the current technologies do not allow for shut off capabilities once 30-40% of the fuel has been utilized. This means the fuel cell cannot stop producing power until all the fuel has been exhausted.

SiGNa Chemistry’s new process appears to have resolved many of the problems with current fuel cell technology. This process allows hydrogen to be generated in real-time instead of having to refuel the cell after each use. The company has also found a way to store the hydrogen at lower pressure levels. Additionally, the new process also produces fuel cells which can be started or stopped quickly without exhausting all the power in the fuel cell.

Hydrogen fuel cells offer many benefits over alkaline and lithium batteries. For example, lithium batteries in computers have overheating problems which would not exist with fuel cells. Furthermore, fuel cells could be disposed of in your regular trash or even recycled, unlike batteries which contain toxins and have special rules for disposal. SiGNa maintains that fuel cells also provide an economic alternative to alkaline and lithium batteries. The company claims that sodium silicide fuel cells, when produced in a large enough volume, are ten times less expensive than alkaline batteries and six times less expensive than disposable lithium batteries.

Producing any alternative energy source on a large scale to keep production costs down is a problem that plagues all green technologies. So using hydrogen fuel cells to power consumer electronics may seem like a remote possibility. The reality is, however, there are cell phone chargers currently on the market that use this technology. Furthermore, computer manufacturers are quite interested in utilizing fuel cells on a large scale in laptops to provide longer battery life which is a huge selling point with consumers. In the near future, we will be able to own laptops that are essentially powered by water.

Last Updated ( Feb 28, 2011 at 02:28 PM )

Algae is responsible for most of the oxygen we breath and now is being evaluated as an economically feasible biofuel. While the major automotive and oil companies are all looking at algae-based fuels, the major players in this market are emerging biotech companies like Synthetics Genomics, Algae Systems, and Solazyme. Synthetic Genomics is working in conjunction with Exxon Mobile. They have established an actual greenhouse for their research on the feasibility of algae as a potential biofuel.

Picture source: Xalamay

Solazyme is working with Ecopetrol, a Columbian Oil Company, with a state goal of producing 450 million tons of fuel form renewable oil sources by 2015. Solazyme was named a 2009-2010 “50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy”. Johantan Wolfson, CEO of Solazyme comments, “Ecopetrol’s thought leadership and commitment to developing renewable sources of fuel is inspiring. Working with Ecopetrol, Solazymej’s technology will provide Colombia with renewable sources of oil and fuel that dramatically reduce carbon pollution by replacing petro-diesel with a ‘drop-in’ replacement made using algae.”

Solazme also just partnered with the US Navy, which ordered 150,000 gallons of biofuel for use with ships and jets. The US Navy tested the use of Solazyme’s algae fules on a Navy Riverine command boat using a 50/50 mixture of algae-based fule and diesel fuel.

“Solazyme is proud to provide the first microbially derived ship fuel used by the Navy in a military boat. The United States Navy’s commitment to reducing dependence on fossil fuels has taken another step forward today and we applaud their leadership. We are honored to be a part of Navy’s efforts to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.”
In a previous article TheJemReport covered an energy conversion system developed by NASA as a bioreactor which has become known as the OMEGA system. The name stems from the system being an offshore membrane enclosure for growing Algae. Algae Systems has partnered with NASA to provide a commercial system around the technology. “The OMEGA technology has transformational powers. It can convert sewage and carbon dioxide into abundant and inexpensive fuels,” said Matthew Atwood, president and founder of Algae Systems. (http://www.thejemreport.com/content/view/415/122/)

Last Updated ( Feb 28, 2011 at 02:28 PM )

When electric care maker Telsa Motors Inc. starts selling stock on Tuesday July 29th, the real question is this: By 2012, can the company mass produce and sell 20,000 Model S electric sedans a year? If they can, anyone buying shares of the company will likely have made a very sound investment.

Picture: Telsa Motor’s Roadster at the Great Wall of China. The car made the first round-the-world tour by a zero-emission car.

Telsa, which has lost over 290 million since starting up in 2003 hopes to raise 185 million by selling 11.1 million shares. The money they raise should help them continue their innovation as they strive to become profitable. Currently Telsa sells a two-door Roadster, which can go from 0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds, but it also comes with a hefty $100,000 plus price tag.

The Model S electric car is scheduled, at the earliest, to be produced in 2012. The car will have a 300 mile range per charge and has a base price of $49,900. The Model S will compete with higher end sports-luxery cars. Telsa Motors recently made headline news announcing that Tesla and Toyota are partnering to produce electric cars at the Fremont-based NUMMI plant which had previously been jointly operated by GM and Toyota.

Tesla Motors is based in Palo Alto, CA. To date, the company has deliverd over 1000 Roadsters to customers in North America, Europe and Asia. Tesla designs and manufactures EVs and EV powertrain components. Telsa is the only automaker in the U.S. that builds and sells highway-capable EVs in serial production.

Want to learn more about hybrid cars? Go to www.hybridcarfreak.com
Last Updated ( Nov 22, 2010 at 03:50 PM )

Jane Sarasohn Kahn from THINK-Health moderated a session at Health 2.0 2009 in San Francisco on Wednesday 7, 2009 entitled “The Consumer Aggregators.” Wayne Gattinella, CEO of WebMD, Dr. Roni Zeiger, Director of Product Management for Google Health, and David Cerino, GM Consumer Health Solutions at Microsoft all weighed in on what their prospective companies have been up to in healthcare.

Jane started the session by commenting that this year 35% of Americans are using social networks online for health-related issues. That number is up sharply from just one year ago. She added that 1 in 5 Americans are going on line to look for financial tools for health care. She then turned to the vendors and asked for an update on what Google, Microsoft, and WebMD are doing with their technology for the healthcare market.

Panelists (left to right) David Cerino, Wayne Gattinella, and Dr. Roni Zeiger with host Jane Sarasohn Kahn

Microsoft Consumer Health Solutions

David Cerino, from Microsoft was the first to talk. His main area of focus was the forging of new relationships in 2009, particularly Microsoft’s partnership with the Mayo Clinic Health Manager which debuted in April. He also discussed the partnerships with New York Presbyterian Hospital and Telus. As he emphasized, “the ecosystem of partners continues to grow.”

Cerino also remarked that engagement with online healthcare solutions has been slower because “we are asking people to join higher in the curve”, meaning that consumer health solutions are asking very personal information. For instance, managing a disease online requires a consumer to provide far more personal information than would an interaction with an ATM machine. He continued, “It’s when they feel they can get the value back out is when people will engage.”

Microsoft demonstrated their MSN My Heath Info Beta which has a customizable dashboard for people to monitor their health information in they way they want. He showed features like a drag-and-drop interface for configuration, integrated lab results page, customization of screens on a per-family-member basis, and the ability to create theme pages, like a diabetes page for a consumer. They are also releasing an updated software distribution kit so partners can develop new widgets that interface with their platform.
WebMD

Wayne Gattinella indicated that WebMD’s focus was very different from either Google or Microsoft. He said, “We are seeing the market going more mobile, global, and personal.” In the areal of mobility, Dr. Phil Marshal demonstrated WebMD’s soon-to-be-launched WebMD Mobile Health Record. He touted that the launch of their Symptom’s Checker on iPhone has resulted in over 1 million downloads so far. Wayne also discussed the global focus of WebMD with the creation of “in country” sites to target medical information to have more country-centric health information.

Photo: Wayne Gatinella at Health 2.0 2009 in San Francisco

In regards to personalization, Mr. Gatinella indicated that people are more willing to “engage at the personal level”, citing that adoption of their online health assessment has gone from 4% to 15%. WebMD stores roughly 30 to 50 data points for every assessment to offer a much more personal experience to the consumer using their portal.

Google Health

Dr. Zeiger spoke about how Google has been actively partnering as well and pointed to their adding two new health insurers to their platform, including Harvard Pilgrim and American Postal Workers Union Health Plan. Google has already announced integration with Blue Cross Blue Shield of MA. He also discussed a relationship with Zeas, a new online healthcare solution.

Google Health is actively exploring ways to enhance the customer experience of their health tools. Dr. Zeiger pointed to an initiative around using Google’s browser to spot flu trends. Google has been able to much more quickly match the CDC’s flu outbreak curve by using information gathered by web searches. Per their own site “We’ve found that certain search terms are good indicators of flu activity. Google Flu Trends uses aggregated Google search data to estimate flu activity.” Information like this gathered more quickly can help manage flu outbreaks in the future.

Photo: Dr. Zeiger at Health 2.0 2009 in San Francisco

Google also introduce their partner MDLiveCare. CEO of MDLiveCare demonstrated his patient-physician online communication solution integrated with Google Health. With the two-way video and their documented patient iVisit capability, this solution looked like a strong competitor to other clinical groupware tools demonstrated the day before at Health 2.0, like American Well, Relay Health, Vision Tree Software, and Hello Health. MDLiveCare advertises the company’s ability to allow you to “See a doctor or therapist right now from the comfort of your home or office.”

Last Updated ( Jan 18, 2010 at 05:20 PM )

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Sep 11, 2009 at 04:00 PM

One of the world’s leading developers of low-emission vehicles has agreed to produce tens of thousands of vehicles a year starting in 2011, marking one of the most significant developments so far in green transport. In collaboration with the French car maker Renault, Better Place has plans to initially sell the cars in Denmark and Israel, with scope for expansion.

Green cars up to now have tended to be somewhat cramped in terms of space, so Renault’s promise to develop a saloon and a van along with the compact city car will be music to the ears of people seeking to convince customers to adopt the green cars.

(source: picture by TEDizen from Flickr’s creative commons)

In order to have access to the lithium batteries, drivers will need to sign up for a contract with Better Place, broadly similar to a current cell phone contract. Although this may not initially be cheap, the expansion of production is expected to bring the cost down significantly. Batteries can be recharged at home (ideally overnight, as the process takes some hours to fully charge a battery) or swapped at a dedicated swap station in under five minutes. The plans are to make nearly a hundred swap stations available around Denmark, making “refuelling” as easy as filling your petrol tank. Recharging spots will also be available at car parks and on streets, allowing drivers to top up as and when necessary.

The development is currently of major importance to Denmark, which is due to host the UN’s Climate Change summit in December. As the world’s leaders seek to broker a meaningful deal to reduce the level of carbon emissions, the host nation and particularly its capital Copenhagen will be looking to set an example as the world’s eyes are trained on it. As part of the recently agreed deal with Better Place, electric cars will be made available during the conference for drivers to try them out. An existing Danish law makes parking free for drivers of electric cars, so it is to be expected that people will be keen to try out the new cars for themselves. Should the Copenhagen initiative work out, the likelihood of the initiative being expanded further is high.

Last Updated ( Sep 11, 2009 at 04:06 PM )

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