Jan 2008

Dear Client,

Hope you had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. We had friends and relatives over and it was a very enjoyable time for us.

It’s always slow around here during that week and we were able to swap out the hardware on one of our mail servers that needed attention. It was tired…and a new back end did help. We also replaced the batteries on our Uninterruptible Power Supply system with 4 huge batteries. This should give us a run time such that we seldom if ever have to hook up the generator during power outages.

One thing we are seeing is a better use of the Internet by presidential candidates. Ron Paul and Barack Obama have ‘gotten it’ that emails can be an effective communication tool and have massive mailing lists. Republicans are still lagging behind, but will catch up eventually.

For those wondering where candidates really stand on issues important to you, there’s even a website that collects that information on candidates. It is www.glassbooth.org and they will even suggest a candidate that most closely matches your issue preferences. They glean this information from a variety of sources and do a pretty good job of remaining bipartisan. This is going to be a very interesting year from the standpoint of politics and Internet awareness.

Looking into the next year, one hope as much as a prediction I have is that at least one of the more promising renewable energy companies will achieve a breakout success level. One in particular I’m rooting for has already built a manufacturing plant in Silicon Valley and is supposed to go online this year. They already have their first year’s output sold. The company is www.nanosolar.com and I can hope for a time when we can use our roofs to generate electricity cost-effectively rather than as protection against the sun.

One of my personal resolutions for the New Year is to really try to keep a clean desk. For me, that is going to be a major struggle. I’ve never been a “clean desk” person. But this last year it really got away from me. It’s a good thing we had company or Shirley might have come in one day and found me suffocated under a pile of paper.

The garden has done well so far. We’ve harvested scallions, bok choy (no one told me it had 100% germination rate!), basil (leftover from summer) and spinach. We also are growing cauliflower, cabbage, peas, beets, and several varieties of lettuce. I’m not fond of raw carrots but when they come fresh out of a garden, they are wonderful.

Hope you have a very prosperous and enjoyable New Year!

Best wishes!

Sincerely,

Ben Conner