Sunday, January 31, 2010

Predictions for 2010

It's the end of January 2010. A lot of people have a lot of hope tied to this year. This is the year our economy is supposed to turn around, this year we are supposed to have better health care, all of us will have jobs and our standing in the world economy will be relinquished.

Before I write about what has happened to date, I wanted to share with you some predictions made by two very different kinds of people. One, a reporter for the NY Post and the other by a Psychic. In my humble opinion either one could be just as credible as the other.

According to Terry Keenan, New York post reporter, the unemployment rate will deceptively drop this spring as 800,000 Americans join the Census Bureau payroll. However, as these workers attempt to re-enter the private-sector workforce later in the year, the unemployment rate will once again climb stubbornly to the 10 percent level.

The rising tide of job losses will cost the Democrats their majority in the House of Representatives and will trigger a late-year rally in the stock market akin to the rally we saw after the GOP took Congress back in 1994.

In the face of bruising losses in the mid-term elections, President Obama will overhaul his economic team. The first to go? Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.

Oil prices will return to triple-digit territory after Israel attempts to remove the Iranian nuclear threat. The tacit support of the US in the operation forces President Obama to return to Oslo to give back his Nobel Peace Prize.

These are three of her ten predictions that can be found at
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/changes_in_24lq72ZmmtQ4Vc4nkVlQkO

Craig the psychic predicted the death of Bin Laden, an MP would be caught in indecent act in a public toilet, a secret human cloning experiment attempts to clone famous person, Iran would give up its quest for a nuclear bomb but South Korea will continue to threaten peace and petrol prices will shoot through the roof as OPEC makes price fixing deal with Russia.

You can read the remaining predictions at
http://psychics.co.uk/prediction/predictionsfor2010.html

So what did Keenan and Craig have in common? Yup, both predicted gas prices would go through the roof. Why am I not surprised.

Let's see what has come true this far? Keenan wins one point because she predicted the Democrats would start losing their seats because the economy has not yet magically turned around. She was right. Massachusetts for the first time since the 70's has elected a republican senator.

Both Keenan and Craig could not go wrong with the oil prices prediction. But then again does it really take a psychic or an analyst to predict that one? I think not!

Do you have any predictions for 2010 to share with us? We would love to hear from you.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

How Momentive Got Social with Performance Materials

Momentive Performance Materials, the world's second largest producer of silicones and silicone derivatives, needed to find an effective way to engage its employees, partners and customers. In 2009 they implemented Open Text Social Media, using assets from other Open Text products they created a cohesive framework for their organization and continue to extend the platform and achieve maximum business value.

This webcast will discuss the business issues, technology rationale, implementation approach and results of Momentive’s decision to go with Open Text Social Media and Xpediant.