Digital Warfare and the Obama Generation

April 29, 2009 Leave a comment

“The skies over Baghdad have been illuminated…”  Who can forget the words spoken by Bernard Shaw, CNN’s reporter on the scene, when the US kicked off the air war over Iraq on January 17th, 1991.  While a portion of the air war was conducted with stealth aircraft, invisible to air defenses and radar, a large number of aircraft such as B-52s entered Iraqi airspace with the radar signature of the Hindenburg.

Urban legend says that Iraqi air defenses were quickly neutralized by a virus entered into the IBM system which ran most of the radar defenses within the country.  As a legacy SNA (protocol) system, the IBM mainframes were all linked to each other, including items like printers.  Legend says the CIA located an Iraqi printer prior to the war, which was being repaired at a computer shop in Jordan.  Once the infected chip was in the printer, it was given a clear shot at the entire Iraqi air defense computer network, and at the right time unleashed a series of commands to shut down the entire IBM network.

True? Who knows, most legends are based on at least some truth.  Possible – absolutely!

The New York Times printed an article on April 28th entitled “US Steps Up Effort on Digital Defenses.”  It hits on a bit of the effort Bush’s administration made towards establishing a “cyber” warfare capability.  However the Bush era focused more on the need for stronger “cyber” defense than “cyber” war fighting capacity.  Justifiably, after learning the Chinese had taken virtual excursions through the US power grid, nailing down and hardening our critical national infrastructure from attack took the highest priority.

There is an equal amount of fear that a directed attack on our financial industry could render the US and our allies incapable of functioning as a country, or global economy, plunging the world into complete chaos and anarchy. 

Cyber warfare confronts us with an entirely new set of problems, changing the way a country considers conducting war.  The article poses the question of how nations will respond to an attack on their information and communications infrastructure.  What is an appropriate response?  Do you electronically shut down a nation’s power GRID because they attacked the software used in the banking industry? 

Can we now justify pre-emptive strikes on another nation because we believe they may at some point in the near future make a run on the telecom infrastructure of a country?

The Obama government, according to the article, is grappling with the challenge of understanding warfare in the Internet age.  They don’t have the answers, however given the skills of computer and network users in countries and cultures not friendly to the United States, the need to develop both the strategy and execution plan is very apparent. 

 

John Savageau, Long Beach, California

www.linkedin.com/in/johnsavageau

Filed under Internet and Telecom Tagged with ,

Blackberrys, PDA Phones, and Frog Soup

April 27, 2009 Leave a comment

“Frog Soup” is an interesting concept. As a cold-blooded critter, a frog cannot easily feel the difference between hot and cold, although when cold the frog, like all cold-blooded animals, gets a bit sluggish. On the other hand, when you put a frog in a pot of water, and start to turn up the heat, the frog will not notice the gradual rise in temperature, and will be happily swimming around up till the point the frog finally succumbs and is cooked.

So we use the phrase “frog soup” as a metaphor describing how we can get ourselves into a situation through time, without ever having really been aware we were getting into a situation. This metaphor can be applied to relationships, jobs, life – almost anything where you wake up one day “cooked,” without ever having suspected you were in hot water.

I’ve been using email since the mid 1970s, when I was first dabbling with messaging systems in the US Air Force. Even back then, I quickly established a routine for connecting to the network, and often checking to see if I had received any new messages. By the 1990s it had gotten to the point where I would actually delay other activities just to check and see if anybody had sent me an email in the past hour or so.

Thus, when I had received my first Blackberry, I was probably already in some pretty hot water. How many of us can relate to our need to carry our Blackberry EVERYWHERE we go. To parties, the bathroom, driving, and end the day by putting the Blackberry next to our bed at night in case somebody decides they need to reach us at 0230 in the morning? I even have people SPAMing me, upset because I did not respond to their email within 5 minutes of receipt.

Do you remember the good old days when you could get off work, go home, and your life was essentially yours until you showed up at your workplace the next morning (OK, OK, I am also an operations guy and understand the concept of an “on call” career)? You might occasionally meet the “guys” for a drink or pizza on the way home, but most of the time your life was yours outside of the office.

Employers must really like the idea of being connected with their staff 24 hours a day. Some people may call it “untethered,” some may call it “telecommuting,” some may call it “flexible work-enabling technology.” I call it being “owned” by my company. “Sorry dear, I can’t come to dinner because I just got an email from my boss, and he needs some information tonight to respond to his boss asking for additional information.” Or, if your boss sends a broadcast email to 15 people, and some are already acknowledging the email, and suddenly you have a cold chill running down your spine that says “I better respond to my boss quickly, or he will think I am not motivated.”

Sometimes, when my mind is not fully engaged in where I am at in the global mesh of being wired to technology, I think of the good old days. Walking down to Ala Moana Beach with a novel, some cold drinks, and a sincere desire to get a jump on my tan. Prioritizing a jog around the Ala Wai, Diamondhead, Magic Island, or even just a beach run in Long Beach. Spending the weekend at a distant island, far away from any technology or – can you believe this…, or even a Starbucks?

We must resist allowing our lives to become cooked like the frog in a pot of boiling water. Blackberrys and PDA phones are wonderful technology, but life is also a wonderful thing. I am currently considering PDA rehab, with the objective of gradually reducing my addiction to PDA phones. I will leave the phone in another room to charge overnight, or even consider turning the thing off for a minimum of 8 hours a day. Maybe even consider turning it off for a whole weekend (ouch!).

I’d be very interested in how you avoid being “cooked” by succumbing to the frog soup of our Blackberry culture.

John Savageau, Long Beach

Filed under Internet and Telecom, Social Issues, Social Networking Tagged with , , , ,

Wise Words for Entrepreneurs – The Fast Pitch Competition

April 23, 2009 2 Comments

There are several really good organizations around southern California supporting startups and entrepreneurs, including the Tech Coast Angels and Tech Coast Venture Network.  One of the more endearing activities is the grand old tradition of “Fast Pitch Competition.”  The Fast Pitch Competition brings a large group of enthusiastic, energetic, and hopeful  young entrepreneurs into the lion’s den of venture capital and investment banking critics.

Here’s how it works.

The Fast Pitch.  30 seconds to accomplish the following:

  • Introduce yourself
  • Introduce your company
  • Describe the market pain point your product or service solves
  • Describe the target market, and size
  • Present how your product or service makes money
  • Sell why you believe you and your team can win in your market
  • Tell the panel what you want (how much money)

The “pitchers”

  • Entrepreneurs
  • Startups

The “Panel”

  • Investment bankers
  • Venture capitalists

You go to the fast pitch venue, sign up for the competition, and wait while a “panel” representative introduces the competition to the listening audience, reviews the rules of engagement, makes a couple jokes (mostly bad), and tries to put some of the pitchers at ease (actually, he makes them really, really nervous).

When the competition is ready to start the pitchers line up in single file, and wait for their turn in the shark’s pit.  The pitchers get up and try to give their best.  They show enthusiasm, practice, pride in their product, and the hope their efforts will be recognized.

The next step is a critique of the top 5 or so pitches, and the rest of the pitchers are left to assume they did not catch anybody’s interest, and quietly move to the back of the room hoping nobody has noticed them.  Their enthusiasm showing signs of dilution.

The top 5 have the luxury of a warm, supportive, nurturing, and completely positive critique of their presentation, product, and quality as a human being.  OK, not really.  It is actually a brutal shredding of the pitcher’s presentation, product, with a healthy personal character assassination mixed in so nobody harbors any misconception of who has money and control.

One entrepreneur survives a critique that makes Simon from American Idol look like Mother Theresa.  The others walk off to the back of the room looking like deer caught in the headlights, searching for a table or chair to crawl under and tend to their emotional wounds.

The winner gets to have a coffee with the panel, and a crisp $100 bill.

You can have one of two reactions to the Fast Pitch Competition.  You can either let it go, much as you try to forget driving by a horrific car accident on the freeway.  Or, you can learn from the efforts and mistakes of those who tread before you.

In personal and professional networking you have an obligation to make contact.  There is a certain amount of truth to the idea that any recognition is good recognition – unless you are being accused of something nefarious.  Watching how these entrepreneurs deliver the goods, then deal with the response is about as fun as watching the movie “Glengarry Glen Ross.” For a moment you kind of put your hands over your eyes and peek through your fingers.  Why?  Because deep down you know that will be you some day.  And you are already feeling the pain, rejection, humiliation, and fear of those pitchers who have walked before you.

At some point in most entrepreneur’s careers we will face the same panel of skeptical venture capitalists who are trying desperately to ensure their hard earned cash is not wasted on a substandard business plan with substandard management.  If you know what they want to hear, and are able to articulate your ideas in the format they want to hear, you may have a much better chance of getting past the fast pitch and into a one-on-one discussion.

The Fast Pitch Competition is brutal, but necessary.   Attend one near you.  Take notes.  Practice your Fast Pitch.  Earn some experience, and let’s get out there to innovate.  

Filed under Internet and Telecom, startup business Tagged with , , ,

Contributing to a Cause with Technology – The World Community GRID

April 23, 2009 Leave a comment

We are constantly bombarded with symbolism.  We have ribbons for a variety of causes ranging from yellow supporting our troops in combat zones, pink ribbons to show support for breast cancer research, red ribbons to show our concern for HIV/AIDS, religious symbols – all kinds of symbols representing a favorite cause.

Most of these items that we wear, or mount on our car bumper,  are the result of a transaction where we give a selected cause financial support, and our return is a physical symbol.  We never really know how much of our contribution actually makes it to the end user of the donation – however we expect it to be small given the overhead cost of making and distributing symbols, as well as compensation to those who manage the contributions and donations.

On a recent run to 7/11 I noticed the yellow plastic bracelets are still being sold and distributed to symbolize a contribution and support for cancer research.  Again, if I did buy a bracelet, I would wonder how much of my money is actually going to end up materially contributing to actual  cancer research.

There are ways to better control your donation, and in my opinion really make a strong contribution to the end user of your intent.  One of my favorite donations is a bit of electrical energy, a bit of idle computer time, and some bandwidth.  This donation is provided to the World Community GRID.  Their mission is to “create the world’s largest public computing grid to tackle projects that benefit humanity.”

The World Community GRID takes advantage of your idle computer resources, and applies the processing and storage capacity to support projects including:

  • Helping Fight Childhood Cancer
    The Clean Energy Project
    Nutritious Rice for the World
    Help Conquer Cancer
    Discovering Dengue Drugs
    Human Proteome Folding
    FightAIDS@Home Project

The Technology

The World Community GRID uses a global, distributed compute resource technology model called GRID computing.  GRID computing is different from CLOUD computing.   Grid computing joins together many individual computers, creating a large system with massive computational power that far surpasses the power of a handful of supercomputers. Because the work is split into small pieces that can be processed simultaneously, research time is reduced from years to months. The technology is also more cost-effective, enabling better use of critical funds.

GRID Computing Defined

“Grid computing (or the use of computational grids) is the application of several computers to a single problem at the same time – usually to a scientific or technical problem that requires a great number of computer processing cycles or access to large amounts of data.

Grid computing depends on software to divide and apportion pieces of a program among several computers, sometimes up to many thousands. Grid computing can also be thought of as distributed[citation needed] and large-scale cluster computing, as well as a form of network-distributed parallel processing[citation needed]. It can be small — confined to a network of computer workstations within a corporation, for example — or it can be a large, public collaboration across many companies or networks.

It is a form of distributed computing whereby a “super and virtual computer” is composed of a cluster of networked, loosely coupled computers, acting in concert to perform very large tasks. This technology has been applied to computationally intensive scientific, mathematical, and academic problems through volunteer computing, and it is used in commercial enterprises for such diverse applications as drug discovery, economic forecasting, seismic analysis, and back-office data processing in support of e-commerce and Web services.

What distinguishes grid computing from conventional cluster computing systems is that grids tend to be more loosely coupled, heterogeneous, and geographically dispersed. Also, while a computing grid may be dedicated to a specialized application, it is often constructed with the aid of general-purpose grid software libraries and middleware.
From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grid_computing)”

GRID computing is often confused with “cloud” computing, or other services such as computation and storage, or as metered services.  Cloud computing users do not generally own the physical infrastructure serving as host to some level of software as a service, rather preferring to avoid capital purchases by licensing or renting processing and storage capacity from a commercial provider.  Cloud users consume resources as a service paying only for resources used.

How You Can Help Cure Cancer with Your Personal Computer

So all of the above “mumbo-jumbo” boils down to a fairly simple task.  You go to the World Community GRID website (http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/ ), spend a few minutes reading the intro/explanation, satisfy yourself this is not simply opening your computer up to the nefarious world of hackers, and load the World Community GRID client called “BOINC.” 

BOINC is written and provided to the global community by UC Berkeley labs and the US National Science Foundation as an open-source program designed to support GRID processing for not-for-profit projects.  BOINC runs in the background, using compute resources when they are not being used by you, and transparently giving those resources back to you when you need them for local processing.

So here is my symbolic yellow arm bracelet for supporting cancer.  I have my office computer, laptop, and two additional personal computers used as servers at home.  None of these computers are busy all the time, and all have significant idle time between processing events.  I have BOINC operating on everything except for my laptop.  Yes, you have every right to ask if this is a very non-green thing to do, and the answer I give is:

When contributing processing capacity to the World Community GRID, I incur an electric charge increase of around $2.50/computer/month.  My normal contribution to charities is much higher than the $7.50 burden on my monthly power bill, and I can be assured that nearly 100% of the cost is going directly into the project – not into overhead that could sap as much as 75% or more of my financial contribution to buying a yellow wristband at 7/11.

Here is an example of the global contribution to just one project, the Global Community GRID’s cancer research “Help Fight Childhood Cancer” project:

Global Statistics

Statistics Last Updated: 4/15/09 12:05:54 (UTC) [11 hour(s) ago]

Totals: 
Members 439,520
Devices 1,231,986
Total Run Time 232,626 years
Points Generated  107,993,991,915
Results Returned  262,536,423
 
Averages: 
Run Time Per Calendar Day (y:d:h:m:s) 139:138:23:44:32
Run Time Per Result (y:d:h:m:s) 0:000:07:45:43
Points Per Hour of Run Time  53.00
Points Per Calendar Day  64,705,807.02
Points Per Result  411.35
Results Per Calendar Day 157,301.63
 
Yesterday: 
Total Run Time (y:d:h:m:s) 264:290:10:49:49
Points Generated  204,136,987
Results Returned 349,736

In one day members of the Global Community GRID were able to contribute more than 255 years of processing capacity to the project.  Very powerful.  Very cool.  Very good.

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Why I Hate Kayaks

April 21, 2009 2 Comments

The Wilmington Oil Field, which crosses the basin stretching from San Pedro, through Long Beach and Signal Hill, to Seal Beach (California), is the third largest oil deposit in the United States.   A wonderful energy resource serving the United States which has provided more than 2.5 billion barrels of crude oil since 1932.

Shift to Colorado, Independence Day, 2008.  I arrived at the Denver airport (landing through a brown cloud of smog that makes an autumn afternoon in Los Angeles look healthy), rented the cheapest vehicle I could get my hands on, and started the trip up I-70 to work near Vail for the coming week.  Imagine my surprise to see a traffic jam that pretty much started in Denver, and went up the mountain as far as Breckenridge.  Even more surprising, was the fact around 85% of the traffic jam consisted of SUVs and trucks, with at least 50% of those trucks sporting kayaks strapped to the roof.

Whales Near Seal Beach, California — Interesting idea – a state that prides itself on its relationship with nature, yet those who participate in nature, promote and evangelize nature, and promote the care and feeding of nature – appear at least to an outsider, as openly violating the laws of nature.

Shift to the period prior to the US general election.  Battle cries of “drill baby drill” come from the conservatives.  Open off-shore drilling, the ANWR (Arctic National Wildlife Refuge), and increase production in other areas of the US.  Reduce our dependence on Middle East and South American oil through increased production in the USA.  Stop sending money to countries who may not like Americans very much.

On a superficial level, this is all good.  On a national resource and environmental level, this may not be so good.

When we start talking about offshore drilling, we need to keep in mind we, as human beings, share the oceans with a lot of other animals and plant life.  The planet depends on a very fragile eco-system to continue producing oxygen, food, and energy.  Significant disruption to any geographic area has a ripple effect on how the eco-system operates.

In a city like Long Beach, the city leadership understands that we must find a balance between producing energy, and preserving the quality of life needed by both people and the environment.  We must drill for oil, as our nation relies on oil for growth and survival.  However oil, like fresh water and clean air, needs to be respected.

So Long Beach tries to gain the best from both worlds – producing energy, and ensuring a healthy relationship with the environment.  A partnership between drilling, and living. 

Long Beach Oil Drilling Island — However that has not always been the case.  In the early part of the 20th century Long Beach and the Wilmington Oil Field attracted wildcatters, oil companies, and all others hoping to cash in on the financial frenzy driven by oil.  In just the Long Beach – Signal Hill area, several thousand oil wells were drilled, with no regard to the environmental impact that would result from the production of oil.  Of course the rest is history, and the Long Beach area is just now starting to recover from the toxic nightmare which followed the initial drilling.

Until recently, most thought the Wilmington Oil Field was just about tapped out.   Now we know there is a lot more oil, we just need to be smarter in how we get to it for exploitation.  In addition, we need to ensure the oil is used to meet the needs of not only California, but also as a strategic reserve for the United States. 

Old Signal Hill Oil Field — Shift again back to Colorado in July 2008.  We talk and talk about being environmentally smart.  We talk about building new sources of renewable energy, high speed train lines, and hybrid vehicles that will use everything from natural gas to hydrogen fuels.  Then we strap a kayak on our luxury SUV, fill the tank with the high octane gasoline needed to drive that big V8 engine, and head for the hills.

As a resident of Long Beach, I see this problem, and think that conservatives, liberals, pseudo-environmentalists, and media noise makers need to walk the talk.  If you want to save the environment, and become energy independent, then maybe we need to find a way to strap that kayak on top of a Prius or other hybrid on the way up the mountain.  Maybe we don’t need the monster truck to drive to a bar or diner in West Virginia – we can prove how tough we are by riding a horse.

I think I’d start liking kayaks again if I saw more people strap the kayak on the back of a hybrid next to a bicycle, then ride the bicycle down to the ocean or their nearest stream from a common parking lot, and put into the water.   Until then, every time I need to take my rental sub-compact to a meeting not served by a metro or rail line, and see a traffic jam of kayakers driving pickup trucks and SUVs, I will be unhappy and angry.  Like the whale in the picture above, I will wonder “what are you thinking?”

Long Beach Oil Refinery — I promote development and exploration or new forms of clean energy.  I fully support becoming a “green” society.  There is a balance we need to meet through creative and non-destructive use of natural sources of energy including wind, solar, hydrogen, and hydro power.  We can all contribute, whether it is through better personal resource discipline, or by supporting people and organizations (such as the T. Boone Pickens Energy Plan) who are dedicated to helping solve this problem.

Kayaking is a heck of a lot of fun.

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Interview with Adil Mehmood – Global Internet Engineer

April 17, 2009 Leave a comment

January 2003. 

“Hey Adil, I need some help getting a LAN installation done – you up for a month or so worth of consultant gig?”

“Sure, where is the job, and are there any special problems?”

“Well, it is in Mongolia…”

“Mongolia?  Are there any real issues with the customer?”

“Well, it is at a new gold mining operation.  Location is about 300km from the nearest city, no electricity, no telecom infrastructure in place, and the temperature gets down to about -45c at night.  All they need from you to design and implement a fiber optic LAN system within the 150 sqkm campus, and then build a VoIP architecture to bring their communications back to Canada and the capital city (Ulaanbaatar) of Mongolia.  Guess you will have to use VSAT (satellite) to someplace like HongKong or California to make the connections.”

“Cool, when would you like me to be there?”

 

Adil Mehmood is what real engineers aspire to become.  With the tacit knowledge gained from more than 20 years in the telecom engineering and operations business, there is literally no job too large or difficult for him to engage.  He has specialized in implementing telecom systems and basic telecom infrastructure in developing countries throughout his career – one of those unknown professionals who actually have the privilege of going to sleep at night knowing he has made a huge, positive impact on the future of millions of people. 

Part of the Internet tech community hangs out at conferences and parties, others roll up their sleeves and apply their energy and experience to real projects, in countries and locations most of us may not even be able to find on a map.  Adil Mehomood is one of those people, and unsung hero of the Internet community.

I recently caught up with Adil as he was passing through Los Angeles on his way back to Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, or wherever his trail currently heads.

John  – Adil, what are you doing these days?  

Adil – Well,  after spending  time back in the UK trying to settle down into the domestic life with my family, I quickly realized I was getting bored . I wanted to be out dealing with challenges, and this meant working as an expatriate again in a developing country.  Over the past few years I worked on a large rural VoIP project in Mongolia (first of it’s type) and just ended up staying in North Asia!

John – You are known in the telecom community as one of the more creative network design engineers.  How did you get into that level of engineering?

Adil – I think one of my inspiring moments was in 1995, I had just landed in Beijing on a look-see trip for a 2-year contract with Sprint China. I ended up at the Beijing Telecom data centre the same afternoon, helping some engineers from the Beijing Telecom Authority to upgrade their initial Internet connection to 256Kbps.  This was back in the days ChinaNet had only two 64Kbps satellite links to California serving the entire public Internet in China.  I never looked back, and ended up working with some really talented folks in Beijing, who are still friends and colleagues.  

Later in  1998 I ended up working with  a group of  hard-core network systems engineers , based in  Reston  (Virginia, USA) as the Director of IT Products for Global One, and we created the first global IP VPN (Internet Protocol – virtual private network)backbone.

John – What made you decide to break from the large, corporate environment and strike out on your own?
 
Adil – I got tempted by the Internet boom.  We had taken the Global One product team to its limit, and I wanted to participate on a more creative level as the Internet was really catching some good traction as global infrastructure.  I  went to work for a startup VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) carrier, based out of Hong Kong as the head of product development.  We did some amazing technical innovations, but got caught when the Internet bubble burst.  That’s when I decided to go on my own and moved back to  the UK to build my own network consultancy.

John – How important is innovation, first mover status, and taking technical risk?  What would you advise IT managers or engineers to consider in their own companies?

Adil – I always use the term  “… working right at the edge of the envelope…,” meaning  the best place to be is absolute first mover  status.  As a startup, you must always consider maximizing new technology and innovation, with of course proper risk management.  My advice to IT managers and lead engineers would be a “Calculated Offense” is your best defense.  As a small company or startup company without innovation and managed risk, you put your existing services at company at a disadvantage.  You must be able to discriminate yourself from the pack. 

John – You’ve been with the Internet since the beginning, and lived each step of the evolution up till today.  Are you comfortable with how the Internet has evolved?  Mistakes made?  Concerns with the current state of the ‘net?  Happy with the Internet as it is today?

Adil – When I first got involved with rolling out the Internet  into the Middle-East (NOTE:  Adil was part of the telecom reconstruction team that went into Kuwait following the first Gulf War), Europe, and Asia it was exciting.  I learned very quickly what a huge impact the Internet and Internet technology was going to have on people’s lives.

The evolution (of the Internet) was incredibly fast.  And while I think along the way we could have done things more tactfully and strategically, my only regret is that in the early days the global carrier I worked for (Global One/Sprint International) didn’t fully commit to the Internet wave.   We helped influence and change that later when I headed the product management, but global commercialization of the Internet had already taken off by the time my company fully engaged in building their network and product lines to meet customer and market expectations. 

John – Where would you like to take the Internet, or more importantly, what does the world need from Internet and communications engineers to get where we should be in 15 years?

Adil – Back when I worked in Beijing and we built our first company Intranet using the IP protocol, we let everyone in the company go nuts with creativity and freedom of thought.  It was a wonderful period, with a group of very talented and innovative Chinese engineers.  We had not only the approval of our local and regional management, but also full support from the Chinese government which funded much of our lab work.  I remember some other big corporations doing the same, and we called it the “chaos phase of the Internet.” 

This is where we are again today with the Internet.  In my opinion, Internet development now needs a bit more direction.  In 15 years we shouldn’t have to work out how to plug into it (the Internet), it should be integrated and seamless anywhere.  Connectivity and access to the global Internet should no longer be a burden, it should be a basic right of all persons in all countries.

Once we have cracked the nut of access, we will need to further force the IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) into the network, and better understand how to not only increase bandwidth in an affordable model, but also build in better efficiencies to eliminate bottlenecks.  Only then can we really concentrate on encouraging open and creative development of applications that will bring our communities – regardless of geography and political controls – into the next generation of social and economic globalization.

John – You’ve always been a visionary, as well as an engineer.  What do you think is the most important problem we have to solve with networks over the next 10~15 years, both technical and political?

Adil – Thanks for the complement! Technically our networks use similar components but work in very different ways, i.e. unique to the programming of hundreds and thousands of interconnected networks. The Internet was founded by establishing common ground rules, however we seem to have drifted away from some of the ground rules, and the processes in place to control the chaos of the Internet.

Those rules need to be re-established, but this is likely to be a political nightmare as governments struggle to gain greater control over both the Internet and people who are using the Internet.  I do believe that from this period of chaos there will be a solution.  The Internet itself is inherently self-healing, and from the chaos will emerge a stronger Internet.

John – What effect did your days in China, Kuwait, and other developing countries have on your desire to continue working in the developing economies of the world?

Adil – Working in developing countries I have the ability to leapfrog established thinking and technologies, and truly be involved in innovation. I can continue to be an engineer at heart and yet still drive technology, educate, create.   All the things that help me maintain the “…edge of the envelope…” philosophy.

John – Where do you go from here?

Adil -  Continue working with other visionaries and apply the results to real projects.  I want to continue to contribute to the global community in any way possible.  I is fun to actually see the results of your effort helping make people’s lives and futures more attainable.  One of the marketing lines I used some years ago was “… I’m still working on a simple particle transportation platform…’  I think the future is going to be an exciting place. I have some ideas on what I might do next – still under wraps though…!

During his 20 year career, Adil Mehmood has served a wide range of senior roles in Global Telecomms with Tier-1 and Tier-2 telecommunications carriers, VoIP Carriers, Internet Service Providers and various specialist consultancies. He has worked in several international locations, and currently resides in Mongolia working for a Global Mining Company as their Enterprise IT Director.

Adil Mehmood holds a B.Eng (Hons) in Electronic Systems Engineering from Kingston University in the United Kingdom.

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