IBM's Smarter Cities Challenge program (@CitiesChallenge) will be sending teams of company experts to 16 municipalities around the world through 2016 to help cities with critical issues ranging from jobs creation, transportation, and public safety, to healthcare, revenue, social services, and public works.

IBM today announced it is now offering ThinkData Works’ open data solution on IBM’s platform-as-a-service, Bluemix, to give application developers access to clean, open data from all levels of government in Canada.

PSA Peugeot Citroën and IBM today announced a partnership to help various industries within the Internet of Things economy to analyze data to deliver new services from connected vehicles.

As the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season gets underway, communities in severe weather-prone regions are anxiously tracking pending storms and working to create effective disaster response plans. IBM, through its strategic alliance with The Weather Company and its global B2B division WSI, today announced a new emergency management solution that features sophisticated analytics and the use of real-time weather data to help communities predict and plan for natural disasters far more accurately and deploy the right resources in advance.

ISS, ISS A/S, a leading global provider of facility services, has signed a commercial agreement with IBM to use the power of Watson IoT to transform the management of over 25,000 buildings around the world.

ENGIE, a global leader in energy transition, today announced a new initiative with IBM. This nonexclusive, technological and commercial alliance is designed to improve the management of cities by looking at patterns, event correlation, anomaly detection and real-time data across all parts of cities.

IBM today announced that it is extending the annual Smarter Cities Challenge, a worldwide, highly competitive grant program that provides pro bono consulting to help cities improve the critical services they provide to their citizens.

What would the Internet be without Wikipedia? I remember when it was still a brand new thing back in 2001... and what an awesome thing it was, and still is: the Open Source philosophy applied to human knowledge itself. Can you imagine not being able to look something up on Wikipedia, if only to get a […]

There are several discussion groups on LinkedIn dedicated to Root Cause Analysis in one way or another. I follow a couple of them, but the one I like the most has a serious problem. So, being the dynamic (ha) and proactive (haha) person that I am, I created a new one. This new LinkedIn group […]

I'm getting so very tired of safety/accident researchers claiming that root cause analysis is an invalid, blame-focused practice that ignores systems and complexity. Most root cause investigators that I know are pretty well oriented towards process, organization, and system issues as the fundamental sources underlying problems and accidents... and even some of our simplest analysis […]

My previous post about root causes in complex systems, in retrospect, looks a little bit like a rant. That doesn't bother me too much, really... but I wish I had included the following info: it is one way to go about resolving the mess that complex systems can make of your root cause analysis. Basically, when […]

Microsoft recently experienced a significant interruption of their Azure cloud service. Since a decent amount of data was available for this incident, I decided to do a partial root cause analysis. All of my source data came from Microsoft's official Azure blog post on 2014-Nov-24. I did this primarily to create a sample analysis that […]

Root cause analysis is one of the best ways to solve difficult or significant problems, but sometimes, root cause analysis efforts fail because the corrective actions weren't effective. If the original problem happens again, or the needed improvements haven't materialized, or a new problem arises because of the corrective actions, you need to figure out what happened […]

eLearning, to me, seems like an exciting new field that has barely been tapped and which has a wide open future. However, no matter how exciting and universal it seems, it is really a subset of training, instruction, education, etc. So, before I really embark on this adventure in eLearning, maybe I should think about […]

I've hosted Google Ads on this website for over 10 years, but I've decided to remove them. I realized that having the ads, and wanting to maximize the amount of revenue they could generate, was keeping me from writing as much I'd like. With the ads, I felt that I had to be careful not […]

I'm relatively new to the world of Instructional Design and the development of eLearning material, but I've had a LOT of experience as a trainee. Much of that experience has been pretty painful (this should be no surprise to anyone). If you, as an Instructional Designer or course developer, want to keep me engaged in […]

The Weather Company, an IBM Business announced today that it is enhancing its global flight operations solution WSI Fusion, with live flight tracking data from FlightAware. WSI Fusion provides early insight into changing flight, airport and airspace conditions, enabling aviation providers to carefully plan and track flights, optimize operations and reduce the impacts of disruptive events. With the addition of FlightAware’s data, including its private network of over 12,000 Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) ground stations in over 160 countries, WSI Fusion customers will have access to enhanced flight following capabilities worldwide.

Do you have any skills or tools for coping with your inner world? How are you managing your emotions and thoughts and physiology with all this stress? The better you handle your inner world, the better you will handle everything in your outer world, the better decisions you’ll make, the better you’ll perform, the more energy you’ll have, and the better you’ll influence or support your family and your team. Try practicing Coherence to restore your resilience and energy

If we want to answer any question like, how should we live, what should we do, what should we work on, what should we change, quit or start (not should really but could) it’s always best to do so from your values. If you aren’t sure about your personal values, now could be a great time to explore, clarify and prioritize your values so you can tap into your own source of wisdom and motivation, and answer all those ‘should’ questions for yourself.

IBM announced today that it has been recognized as the winner in the Business Analytics category and the Enterprise Network Storage sub-category in CRN’s 2017 Annual Report Card (ARC) awards program. The Annual Report Card summarizes results from a comprehensive survey that details solution provider satisfaction across product innovation, support and partnership for the hardware, services and software vendors they team up with. The vendors with the highest ratings are named to the prestigious Annual Report Card list of winners and celebrated as best-in-class by their partners. The results also provide the IT vendor community with valuable feedback—directly from their solution providers—that can be used to refine product offerings, enhance support offerings and improve communication with partners.

Each year, weather-related power outages cost the U.S. economy as much as $33 billion a year. Additionally, one severe weather event has the potential to impact the daily lives and routines of millions of people. As 2017 marks the fifth anniversary of Superstorm Sandy, The Weather Company, an IBM Business (NYSE: IBM) and Zpryme are releasing the results of a survey that found that U.S. utility companies still feel underprepared for weather-related outages and that their reactive approach to outage prediction leads to lost time and resources.

IBM today announced that Faurecia, one of the world’s leading automotive suppliers, has selected IBM Cloud as a support of a major business transformation designed to accelerate digital manufacturing.

IBM Security today announced the results of a global study exploring the implications and effects of data breaches on today’s businesses. Sponsored by IBM Security and conducted by Ponemon Institute, the study found that the average cost of a data breach is $3.62 million globally , a 10 percent decline from 2016 results. This is the first time since the global study was created that there has been an overall decrease in the cost. According to the study, these data breaches cost companies $141 per lost or stolen record on average

IBM Security today announced the launch of two new security testing practice areas focused on automotive security and the Internet of Things (IoT). The new services will be delivered via an elite team of IBM X-Force Red researchers focused on testing backend processes, apps and physical hardware used to control access and management of smart systems.

IBM Security, Packet Clearing House (PCH) and The Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) today launched a free service designed to give consumers and businesses added privacy and security protection as they access the internet. The new Quad9 Domain Name System (DNS) service helps protect users from accessing millions of malicious internet sites known to steal personal information, infect users with ransomware and malware, or conduct fraudulent activity.

Media in quarantine, live audiences abandoned, presenters self-isolate.

NOT. HAPPY. AUSTRALIA! ScoMo offers some plain speakin’ to a country in chaos.  Plus, the media embrace social distancing. And a CNN interview turns into family therapy. 

Fake news, conspiracy theories, calls to stay calm. How can the media help contain the deadly spread?

Ad revenue forecasts slashed as regional news become the first media casualties of COVID-19.

The media name and shame people breaking the rules on social distancing and self-isolation.

Sport and entertainment reporters mine the archives to fill the void.

Pain continues for media industry as local news titles cease printing.

The critical media debate over easing the COVID-19 lockdown. Why we must not minimise the dangers.

Monday? Tuesday? Judgment Day? A handy PSA from Cleveland to help you keep track of the days. Plus, Hadley and Bolt’s war of words, Trump gets nasty with the media, and the mystery of the ABC’s missing IPA audio.

Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s "axe-grinding" memoir sabotaged by leaks.

The ABC has been condemned for leading a witch hunt against George Pell. So, how does its coverage stack up against that charge?

The Central Western Daily promotes the idea 5G could be destroying local plant life even though 5G is not yet available in the area.

Disappointing results for malaria drug hydroxychloroquine which has been favoured by Donald Trump and some in the media as a possible treatment for coronavirus.

Kerry Stokes skips hotel quarantine for the comforts of home while Seven West Media skips covering the story.

Sports stars get loose with lockdown laws while Channel Seven’s Pete Evans cops a hefty fine for his ‘light machine’ coronavirus treatment.  Plus, the media pushes the government’s COVIDSafe app. And NBC’s Kristen Welker’s dangerous live cross.

Clive Palmer spends big on newspaper ads promoting his purchase of the drug hydroxychloroquine.

Where did COVID-19 come from? And is the Wuhan Institute of Virology to blame?

The best way I know to cook beans, and the one I always return to. A version of the much-loved Tuscan bean recipe - fagioli al fiasco. Traditionally, beans were baked overnight in a Chianti bottle placed near the embers of that night's fire. While not exactly authentic (no fire here), I do a riff on the general idea, using a low-temperature oven and enamel-lined pot.

Continue reading How to Cook Beans that are Tender, Creamy, and Nearly Perfect on 101 Cookbooks

The pad thai recipe you're looking for! Try this simple trick to make a turmeric noodle version.

Continue reading Sunshine Pad Thai (Vegetarian) on 101 Cookbooks

A fun swirl cake made with a beautiful yellow olive oil cake paired with classic chocolate buttercream frosting that has been bolstered with an entire tablespoon of almond extract.

Continue reading Chocolate Almond Swirl Cake on 101 Cookbooks