Let me tell you about Beam Rackers

Source: SYS-CON Media ()

As usual at the end of each year, SYS-CON has been informally polling its globe-girdling network of software developers, industry executives, commentators, investors, writers, and editors. As always, the range and depth of their answers is fascinating, throwing light not just on where the industry is going but also how it’s going to get there, why, because of who, within what kind of time-scale.

Enjoy!
RIAs versus AJAX . Ruby on Rails . PHP . Facebook Competitors 

TIM BRAY
Director of Web Technologies, Sun

Tim Bray managed the Oxford English Dictionary project at the University of Waterloo in 1987-1989, co-founded Open Text Corporation (Nasdaq:OTEX) in 1989, launched one of the first public web search engines in 1995, co-invented XML 1.0 and co-edited "Namespaces in XML" between 1996 and 1999, founded Antarctica Systems (antarctica.net) in 1999, and served as a Tim Berners-Lee appointee on the W3C Technical Architecture Group in 2002-2004.

My predictions for 2008….

1. There’s a major struggle going on between "RIAs" (Rich Internet Applications) and AJAX, which tries to do everything in the browser using just what the browser ships with. RIA frameworks are AIR ("Flash, the Next Generation"), Silverlight ("Microsoft wants in&quo and JavaFX ("Isn’t open-source better?&quo I’m not brave enough to predict who wins, but I do predict that 2008 will be a crucial year; either RIAs enter the mainstream, or they start to smell like a red herring left in the sun.

2. The strain due to the fact that most business desktops are locked into the Microsoft platform, at a time when both the Apple and GNU/Linux alternatives are qualitatively safer, better, and cheaper to operate, will start to become impossible to ignore.

3. Rails will continue to grow at a dizzying and Ruby will in consequence inevitably become one of the top two or three strategic choices …

Source: Telegraph.co.uk ()

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Source: CNNMoney.com ()

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Beam Global Spirits & Wine Inc., a unit of Fortune Brands Inc.(FO), said it
sold the U.S. distribution rights for Dalmore Scotch Whisky to the brand’s
owner, UB Group, for $58 million.

Beam Global said the transaction included Dalmore inventory it currently
owned.

The pact also included a transition services agreement under which Beam
Global’s Future Brands distribution joint venture will continue to handle the
distribution of Dalmore.

Beam Global said the Dalmore brand generated annual sales of about $6 million.

Shares of Fortune a Deerfield, Ill., consumer product company, were up
26 cents at $73.86 in recent trading.

-Shirleen Dorman; 201-938-5400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com

Source: Auckland stuff.co.nz ()

JASON OXENHAM/Auckland City Harbour News
CAN-DO: Don shows off his new can-art Santa.

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Don Mathewson is a self-confessed beer can fan.
"They’re fascinating. There’s so many different pictures and colours and the artwork on some of them is fantastic," he says.
The Westmere resident has more than 8000 shining cylinders displayed in his home "breweriana museum".
"They’re my pride and joy."
For the past two years the 58-year-old has put some of the more common cans to good use by making Christmas decorations, or "can-art".
Lion Red, Coca-Cola and Jim Beam make up the three-metre tall Santa sculpture outside his Warnock St home.
That’s alongside last year’s effort, a Christmas tree made from Heineken, Mountain Dew and V cans.
Next year he hopes to collect enough gold and silver to build an angel.
Mr Mathewson says his 20-year fascination with beer cans began because he enjoys "a couple in the afternoon".
That accounts for much of his collection. Others, like his oldest can dating from the 1930s, have been traded.
"I also pick them up off the street. You’d be surprised out how much rubbish there is lying around," he says.
Among his most prized cans is a 1980s Whitbread Export beer signed by the late Sir Peter Blake.
The cans act as a sort of scrapbook for Mr Mathewson.
"You can relate a can to an event that has happened," he says.
And Mr Mathewson is not alone in his can obsession.
About 55 members of the New Zealand Beer Can Collectors Society gather twice a year to trade and sell cans and beer memorabilia.
Mr Mathewson is the editor of the group’s magazine and a 10-year veteran member.
"Don’s right into cans," president David Collis says.
Palmerston North man owns nearly 10,000 cans himself which are stored in a specially-built shed.
"Some …

Source: PR-Inside.com (Pressemitteilung) ()

- Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. Sarah Devaney, 847-948-8888 ext 2629 sarah.devaney@beamglobal.com or Capgemini Jonathan Blank, 201-633-7113 jonathan.blank@capgemini.com or SAP Americas Andy Kendzie, 202-312-3919 andy.kendzie@sap.com Capgemini, one of the world’s foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, is helping Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc., achieve a leadership position in the spirits

industry through SAP Business Suite implementation. Beam Global is leading the spirits industry through its innovation and achievement of a single-instance of SAP across its assets in the U.S. and Europe, helping the company to deliver on its global growth strategy.

A single-instance SAP Business Suite system integrates all enterprises software applications and business processes into a single database across the global regions. This delivers information consistency, provides a common view to users worldwide and reduces overall IT costs. As a result, Beam Global has achieved common, world-class processes in supply chain, finance and procurement across global geographies. The move delivers streamlined, efficient and effective day-to-day business operations that help to realize cost-savings over the long term.

The SAP applications went live on August 1st 2007 following several months of planning in conjunction with a global team from Capgemini. Since then, Beam Global has successfully transitioned to the new system for orders, shipping, receivables and invoice payments.

Beam Global Spirits & Wine anticipates a number of benefits associated with the implementation of a single instance of SAP applications including:

— Enhanced service to customers by improving the order-to-cash process

— Increased visibility into inventory to secure improved and forecasting

— Increased effectiveness of spend reporting including advertising and promotions

…

Source: AFP ()

Reproduction of a page of the world's smallest electronic Bible

Source: Bizjournals.com ()

Mayor Thomas Menino joined Boston University president, Robert Brown, at today's topping off ceremony to place the last beam of steel in place for a new 960-bed residence hall.

The residence hall, called Student Village Phase II, consists of two towers — one 19 stories high, the other 26 stories — and offers both suite-style and apartment-style rooms. The 26-story building will house juniors and seniors while the 19-story building will house sophomores. The suites will have four single and two double bedrooms, with a shared kitchen and two bathrooms; the apartments will have four single bedrooms per unit.

Currently, there are about 11,190 Boston University undergraduates living in campus housing. With the new building, 80 of undergraduates will be able to live on campus. Student Village Phase II is scheduled to open in 2009.

Source: The Press ()

Race Images
TOO TOUGH: Kipp Ross and Leo O’Reilly outsprint their rivals to win the Green Mile at Methven.

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Ashburton one-horse trainer Jimmy Hooper swapped one paying job at the Methven races for a better one when Kipp Ross won the Green Mile, the feature race on the day.
Usually Hooper drives the mobile gate at Methven meetings — a duty which pays a lot less than the $10,400 winning stake Kipp Ross earned with a "no excuses needed" performance after a lightning mid-race move by regular driver Leo O'Reilly.
Kipp Ross wrested the lead from near favourite Rocket Reign in the back straight and then sprinted his last 800m in just over 57sec to hold out race favourite Waipawa Lad.
"He had to be handy in a race like that and he is stronger than he was last season. He can tough it out," O'Reilly said.
Hooper's win brought a special beam from the staff of Ashburton Raceway, where Hooper works in course management. There are always cream buns for morning tea after Kipp Ross wins.
His dam, Kipp's Lass, was a gift mare to Hooper from an Ashburton partnership of Ross McKenzie and former trainer Ron Jones, an older harness identity who still watches Kipp Ross' race efforts enthusiastically from home.
"It is a great thrill to win a race like this. A perfect result. I just don't know for sure where we will go from here. There will probably not be many grass track races to suit him from now on," Hooper said.
Ricky May may have had mixed feelings after Victory Ball gained his third win from just seven starts earlier in the day. May was charged over his lack of vigour behind the horse at Addington at his previous start but was exonerated.
However, the stewards have lodged an appeal which will be held on Thursday. May did not carry a whip yesterday it made no difference as the erratic six year old cleared out on his rivals.
"He …

Source: AllAfrica.com ()

Mainland soccer side Kilimanjaro Stars today play Burundi in the last group A match at the National Stadium.

The match is expected to be thrilling as it features two teams that are yet to lose in the past two matches, but their tie is a formality as both have qualified into the quarter finals. Kilimanjaro Stars beat Kenya’s Harambee Stars 2-1 in the opening match of the competition before winning 1-0 against Somalia in its second match.

Burundi won 3-0 in their first match against Somalia before beating Harambee Stars 1-0 in the second encounter. Today’s match merely completes the fixture but it has an impact in how berths are allocated in quarter final pairings.

If Kilimanjaro Stars beat Burundi to top group A standings it will face the second runner up in group B, either Eritrea or Rwanda. If they come second, they meet Zanzibar or Sudan, depending on results of today’s clash between Ethiopia and Sudan at the Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium.

Head coach Marcio Maximo called for support from soccer fans to give morale to the players, objecting to behaviour showed in the past two matches.

Some fans were booing at the players if they didn’t impress them with their hold on the ball, tackling or shooting. Pundits expect Maximo to maintain the same line up that braced past Somalia in the second match.

Critics point out that Mainland players lack concentration while in front of goal, failing to make use of chances coming their way.

In Arusha, Ethiopia battle Sudan in a decisive tie, as both teams need a win to join Zanzibar in the quarter finals.

GTV, the tournament’s main sponsor, intends to beam live all quarter final and semi final matches at the National Stadium from Monday.

Mark Wilkin, the firm’s project manager, said that a special highlights programme of the group round results will be starting tomorrow.

New elected CECAFA chairman, Leodegar Tenga said the regional body was proud of the standard …

Source: CNET News.com ()

The first ray guns to be used in combat may well be aerial weapons, and not phaserlike side arms in the hands of foot soldiers.

Certainly Boeing is working in that direction. For several years it’s been providing regular updates on the (notably slow) progress of its marquee directed-energy effort, the Airborne Laser, to be carried aloft by a heavily modified 747 that’s intended to stop ballistic missiles during their launch phase. Now the defense contractor is touting the steps it’s taking with a smaller counterpart designed to strike ground targets, the Advanced Tactical Laser.

As of this month, the high-energy chemical laser that is the actual weapons portion of the ATL is now installed in a C-130H airplane, a well-proven design taking on yet another new mission. The 12,000-plus-pound chemical laser system is taking up residence alongside a separate beam control system, installed at an earlier date, that functions as the tracking and targeting apparatus.

This would hardly be the first time that the C-130, primarily a cargo and troop transport aircraft, has functioned as a gunship. The well-armed AC-130 variant saw much action in Vietnam, and has also flown in subsequent conflicts.

The business end of the ATL will be a rotating turret in the belly of the fuselage–reminiscent of the one-squished-man ball turret of the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator planes used in World War II, hauntingly depicted by poet Randall Jarrell in his “Death of the Ball-Turret Gunner.” By contrast, the 747-borne Airborne Laser will fire through the nose of the aircraft.

Sometime in 2008, the ATL is expected to demonstrate its prowess in flight, directing the high-energy laser at what Boeing calls “mission-representative ground targets.” In tests at Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., earlier this year, a surrogate low-power laser hit targets on more than dozen occasions, and laboratory testing of the high-energy laser wrapped up after more than 50 firings, …