I am helping out a good friend in building a renewable energy business that is quickly moving forward. We have done a good job tracking the the tax credits for our customers along with putting together a solid renewable energy program for their homes. However, we have already ran into issues though in our computer network system, cost and not having an IT department. One very clever idea out there is renting software and using software as a service or SaaS. There is also a core foundation of being able to do an employee survey to help gain ideas around synergies within the company and what new ideas can we look for when taking this product to market.

I found that they have a great service with their visual studio team foundation server at fraction of the cost where project control programming for your project can be exposed on the web. With all the software that I can rent, I can get set up in minutes and get my money back if I think it has not worked out in 30 days.  What we need is the project server hosting software which will help us track our timekeeping, Gannt charts etc which will give us better control over our projects and their costs. We have huge commercial projects where we will need to keep tract of financial’s and keep everyone on the team on track. You can watch a great clip on how all this software helps you and your business. Another hot item  is a team foundation server workgroup, where again I can rent for a fraction of the price with no need to hire an IT employee nor worry about depreciation costs. We are just the right fit for this type of company and you may to.

Applause to the Ford Motor Company for continuing to research alternative fuels for our automobiles. They are exploring new technology where one would plug in their car into a normal 110 volt outlet and within 5 hours have their car charged up and ready to go. Its pleasant to know that even in these tough times, a company as large as Ford with so much to lose is moving forward with what we really need. Find the FordStory and you will see what I am talking about. They are taking the energy from the brakes, it kinetic energy and using that to charge the battery. How exciting! Of course the challenge it as we all know is the cost of the batteries and their lifespan. They were getting over 70 miles to the gallon. Its just unheard of. This is the kind of forward progress we need. We should rally everyone to be the first to put such a product on the market to the let the world know that the USA is still on the map. Just think of the friends we could earn with Green power and for others, let them eat crow when they see we are more than a defensive superpower. Instead, we are an educational superpower who knows how to put green technology in the hands of everyone!

Why is it that some of the very best films can not get into more theaters and reach a broad audience across the States. Here we rented Sweet Land with Elizabeth Reaser from Greys Anatomy etc and loved it. Finally, a movie that without all the puff about real love and dedication. Sure its about a mail order bride in the 20′s, but she had time to back out. In fact, the whole movie is the struggle of the bride obtaining her citizenship and hence be married to the hard working Norweigen. The movie touches on our biases of people from other lands to yet another banker foreclosing on yet another farm not making enough to pay the mortgage. Wow has Ned Beatty grown old yet still very effective. The budget was only a million and had they only found a distributor that had the muscle to put it in more theaters.

The recent CMT Awards had many winners but it may have been Sugarland that was the most impressive entertainers of the night. This country music duo did very well and racked up a lot of awards for their great country music songs. One of these awards was for Duo of the Year in country music. This was impressive because the former winners of this award had won it 6 times in a row. This famous duo is known as Brooks and Dunn and this was an award they have defended very well over the last few years.

I guess they had to lose sometime and it turns out that 2009 was the year for that. You will find the words to some of the songs inside the printed cd sleeves that will help you understand the meaning and inspiration behind some of their work. Brooks and Dunn is no longer America’s favorite country music duo and the new duo of the year is Sugarland. Do you like Sugarland or Brooks and Dunn more? It should be interesting to see how the 2010 CMT Awards play out next year and if Sugarland can defend their duo award as well as Brooks and Dunn have done.

As the economy has gotten worse vendors are looking at new ways to get consumers exited about their HD TV and through the advancement in 3D technology they are hoping to drive sales. While the LCD market is only expected to grow 17% this year which is down from 28% in 2008. The new advancements and the move to all digital broadcasts that started in June will likely get some customers looking at upgrading their current set. The newest T’s that were unveiled at the trade show are now starting to come to market just in time for football season and the Christmas and holiday shopping blitz.

All in all the CES show showcased a lot of new technology that has been in development and finally ready for the market. The work and logistical coordination that goes on at these shows is a technical feat on its own. From providing promotional calendars to consumers that participated in the trade show there are countless technicians in the background maintain the networks . As we enter into a new year and the economy looks to get back on track so that people will feel comfortable spending on these cool new gadgets let’s hope that we all have a great year and by this summer we will be watching the 3D premier of the latest Hollywood release.