Cary-Raleigh Ranked 3rd in 2012 Best-Performing Cities

Cary-Raleigh (actually Raleigh-Cary, but I'm a little bias...) ranked 3rd in 2012 Best-Performing Cities by the Milken Institute.  See the report 2012 Best Performing Cities - Large Cities - Milken Institute.

Here is the data:

Raleigh-Cary, NC MSA
Overall Rank: 3

5-yr Job Growth (2006-2011)	Rank: 15
1-yr Job Growth (2010-2011)	Rank: 25
5-yr Wages & Salaries Growth (2005-2010)	Rank: 20
1-yr Wages & Salaries Growth (2009-2010)	Rank: 24
Job Growth (May 11 - May 12)	Rank: 51
5-yr Relative HT GDP Growth (2006-2011)	Rank: 94
1-yr Relative HT GDP Growth (2010-2011)	Rank: 66
High-Tech GDP LQ - 2011	Rank: 25
# of HT GDP LQs Over 1 - 2011	Rank: 17

I'll have to do some analysis, but how can you rank 3rd if your average rank is 37.4th...

NCSU Lulu E-games

$40,000 in prizes.

Major Sponsors:
Bob Young, Founder and CEO, Lulu
Bob Creeden, Director, Blackstone Entrepreneurs Network

Nothing like this existed when I was in Engineering School!

Entrepreneurship brings "the practical" to many of the classes we take in engineering.  Great ideas, but will anyone buy them...

I had a chance to talk to all of the teams.  I asked questions like "What problem are you trying to solve?", "Who is your market?", "What potential customers have you talked to and what did they think?" and many other typical questions.  I was impressed with the responses I received.  The ideas and state of the development of the projects spanned the spectrum.  Hopefully a few will have a chance in the market.

What struck me most was how well prepared these students were.  If I think back to the non-thesis project that got me through my Master's degree, all of these students are well ahead of where I was (and my project will remain shrouded in mystery to protect the innocent ;)

Kudos to NCSU, to their Entrepreneurship program and to all the students participating today!

Et Tu, QR?

"Et Tu, Brute?" is a quote from Julius Ceasar made famous by Shakespeare.  The quote has gained popularity as meaning an utmost betrayal.

With the ubiquitous mobile devices we now carry comes a very popular way of getting content - the QR code; short for Quick Response.  We are seeing QR codes everywhere, but is it safe to image just any QR code you come across?  The answer is NO.

Look at the QR code presented to the left.  Where does it go?  Is it safe to go where it wants to take you?  How would you know?

As with any new Technology, there are people who will use it for ill-gotten means.  QR codes can take you to sites that are infected, sites that want to steal your identity and other places you don't generally want to be.  Some QR codes have even been reported to send a text message to services that charge you for the text!


Now look to the QR code to the left.  This is the same QR as above, but in addition to the QR, there is information on where you should expect the QR code will take you.  This is a best practice for municipalities, merchants and all other organizations.  Make sure that people looking at your literature or posters know where the QR code will take them.

Also, use a QR reader application that shows you the URL - the destination where the QR code wants to take you.  If the destination is an SMS (text message), a site that wants your personal information or a site that does not make sense for the advertisement, don't go there!

What about URL's shortened with services like "bit.ly", "goo.gl" or "tinyurl.com" which are some of the most popular URL shortening services?  QR codes can encode up to 4,296 alphanumeric characters (numbers, letters, etc.) so there is no reason to show a shortened URL even for the longest web site names.

Be informed and be safe while imaging these very useful shortcuts.  Don't let something that has become very familiar betray you.  Don't be the one that says "Et tu, QR?"

Stocking Stuffer?

Ubislate 7Ci tablet.  Picture from the article by
ReadWrite Enterprises

"Can This $20 Tablet Really Change The World?" is an article published today by Fredric Paul in ReadWrite Enterprises.  The article details the promise of the Ubislate 7Ci tablet.

If this tablet can be mass produced at this price then it will change the lives of billions of people around the world.  In the US if this tablet was available at this price it would probably be a stocking stuffer this Christmas...

Well, the tablet is not really $20, it is actually $40 or is it really $60?  $20 is the subsidized price projected by the Indian government.  I'm not really going to pick on the price because it is low either way.  But has anyone foreseen the unintended consequences?

Millions and billions of poor people live in areas with little to no wifi coverage.  What will be the reaction of people who eagerly buy this tablet with their meager savings only to find out that they cannot get it to work anywhere?  Are the governments also planning huge infrastructure projects to bring vast pipes of wifi into disadvantaged areas?

Could the private sector come to the rescue to provide pay for access connections, and just what could you charge poor people for access anyway?  Lots to think about.

What do you think?

Attracting Foreign Born Entrepreneurs

Visa Struggle

It has been widely reported that Tech companies are struggling to get sufficient visas for their foreign employees and that many companies are moving their offices and labs out of the country to get away from visa issues completely.

Bills to add additional residency options for entrepreneurs have been stuck in Congress.

• "The StartUp Visa Act of 2011"
• "Startup Act 2.0" (Developed by the Kauffman Foundation)

Increased Emphasis

The Triangle Business Journal recently reported that the Government has an increased emphasis on attracting and keeping more foreign born entrepreneurs.  See that article: "Government steps up efforts to help foreign-born high tech entrepreneurs".

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) Director Alejandro Mayorkas says that increased training on business visa applications is helping to improve the responsiveness by USCIS.  USCIS has also created a new website Enrepreneur Pathways to enable foreign entrepreneurs to navigate through the different immigration options.

Fix for a Broken System?

Currently, the visa process for highly skilled foreign nationals that want to work or build a business in the US is badly broken.  It is not in the best interests of the US to allow this part of our immigration system to remain coupled with the highly politicized 'migration immigration' issue. Lets hope that the new efforts by USCIS will  begin to address the visa problems.

What are your thoughts?

New Asian Economic Alliance excludes the US

The Asia Times presents a disturbing picture in their recent article "Post-US world born in Phnom Penh"

In a November 20 announcement at a summit meeting in Phnom Penh, "15 Asian nations, comprising half the world's population, would form a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership excluding the United States" (emphasis added)

The article clearly outlines trends that "America's relative importance is fading."

Quotes from the article that will give you a pause to reconsider what you think you know:

"Where does the United States have a competitive advantage? Apart from commercial aircraft, power-generating equipment, and agriculture, it has few areas of real industrial pre-eminence."

and

"The problem is that Americans have stopped investing in the sort of high-tech, high-value-added industries that produce the manufactures that Asia requires." 

We need to rethink our habits of continually borrowing excessively to support our budget deficits and begin to regain our leadership of investing in the future developments beneficial to all mankind.

NC Ranked 7th in Clean Energy

The Triangle Business Journal has reported that North Carolina is ranked as the 7th most active clean energy job creator in the third quarter of 2012 (article).  I'm remembering reading about quite a few solar and other clean energy projects coming on-line recently in the local area.

I'm sure that this number changes from quarter to quarter, but it is good for NC to have this ranking.

What do you think about clean energy in NC?