Recently, I got the news from my adoring spouse, that it is time for a makeover. If you haven’t seen me lately, I’m still bearded, pony-tailed, and ear ringed as I have been for the better part of two decades (26 years for earring is the longest running attribute and 16 years on pony tail is the shortest lived attribute.) With that in mind, I’m now considering what my next look should be…

Here are some ideas:

Dali ‘stache	Wings w/ Hat
Nautical Theme	ZZ Top

What do you think? I’m greying pretty rapidly and the hair line is receding, so those are definite considerations…If you think another look would be more fitting, feel free to leave a comment (preferrably with a link to your suggested style…)

If worst comes to worst, I’ll simply get a buzz cut and shave. That certainly would be a change!

Yesterday I had lunch in downtown Mountain View, California before a business meeting. I like the area, lots of smart people roaming around, good startup energy, diversity of culture and people – what’s not to like? Also, there are a number of good, relatively cheap restaurants. It doesn’t get the press of Palo Alto though in many respects it is superior to that scene.

But, stepping away from being the promoter for Mountain View, I had the opportunity to listen in, not by my choice, on three different conversations going on around me as I attempted to read some material before my meeting. The megaphone mouths at the three different tables were discussing business, not surprisingly.

The thing that did surprise me was that Table A had a group of people from a large tech company focused on security. They were discussing loudly and publicly the breach that one of their clients suffered (a publicly traded company and the news would have had a negative impact I think) to the degree that I could discern the victim’s identity and their company’s identity. Not cool. And, I repeat again, I wasn’t listening, they were simply loud.

Table B was a group of investors, Angel investors I presume, discussing the pitch that a company had just given them. They ripped the presenter and the content and proceeded to plot how to gain control of the technology (which they thought had some promise) and ditch the current management/founders. Again, I wasn’t trying to listen, but one of the people felt that he had to be at a greater volume than the security people I guess. Much confidential (I presume) information was discussed loudly and publicly. Too bad I didn’t get the investor’s names…that would be worthy of an “avoid these funders” kind of post.

Table C was a group of HR professionals discussing a senior executive’s repeated peccadillos and how they weren’t getting support from higher up to reform or oust the executive. The person was only identified by first name, but the company was identified and I’m reasonably sure I could reverse engineer who they were talking about based on company, position, level, and first name. This set wanted to drown out the Angel’s talking at Table B and thus elevated their volume.

Moral to the story? You may be out at lunch just blowing off steam with your colleagues, but you never know who’s listening and how much they can decode from what you’re saying. And for pete’s sake, don’t talk about confidential information/situations in a public space using a loud voice. Next time, I’ll bring my iPod so I can focus on music and material rather than the distraction of loud conversations.

Torture by any other name, is still torture. Call it “enhanced interrogation” – that’s just double speak for torture. There is no circumstance where torture is warranted. The information resulting from these techiques is suspect, at best. The use and justification of means like head-slapping and waterboarding are un-American and we should all be ashamed.

Yet, we see the Department of Justice attempt to redefine torture, the Administration justify “enhanced interrogation” as a tool in the so-called “war on terrorism,” and Congress fail to take a stand against the tyranny that has befallen this country.

Nazi’s tortured. Saddam tortured. Pol Pot tortured. Stalin tortured. Mao tortured. Do we really want to add our names to this list? There is one other reason to stand up now and make yourself heard. If we, our government as our proxy, are willing to torture one person, we’re prepared to torture all given the right circumstances. Not to be alarmist, but, it could be you or someone you care about who’s next up for “enhanced interrogation” techniques, being held as an enemy combatant, without the benefit of habeas corpus.

It is time for us to stand up and say “Torture is not acceptable and we do not condone it as Americans.” There are plenty of other ways to develop intelligence that don’t involve breaking the law or trading in our ethics. Our government is intended to be “by the people and for the people” – now is the time to make yourself heard.

If you believe that torture is wrong and don’t want it carried out in your name, I encourage you to write to your Congressional Representatives and Senators to tell them so. It will only take a moment and if enough feedback is received, it will elevate the issue for action. This isn’t a political issue of left or right, this is a core American value that is being demeaned.

While at the GRC Annual Meeting last month, one of the interesting talks was about the state of geothermal power production in Mexico. The map below shows the major geothermal fields in the country:

There are primarily 3 active sites producing electricity using geothermal harvest:

• Cerro Prieto – 720 MWe
• Los Humeros – 42 MWe
• Los Azufres – 188 MWe

These areas are divided into the volcanic belt stretching across the middle of the country and the Cerro Prieto which is part of the Imperial Valley/Salton Sea production zones working in the US today. Currently, around 950 MWe are online producing some 6.6 GWh of electricity for Mexico, or about 3.1% of their annual electricity consumption. By 2010, it is expected that an addition 220 MWe will be available (100 MWe Cerro Prieto, 45 MWe Los Humeros, and 75 MWe in Cerritos Colorados.) It is estimated that Mexico has some 8,000 MWe of commercial quality, clearly more exploration and development is possible.

The major geothermal operator in Mexico is CFE. Images from the sites are available below.

Turbine at Cerro Prieto


Binary Plant at Los Azufres


Steam emissions at Los Humeros

Now we can all feel safe and sound…Get your insurance from Old Glory today!