I'm currently at the Pittcon conference in Chicago checking out that state of software in the Analytical Instrumentation industry.

The last time I attended a Pittcon conference was in Orlando in 1999 (yes, its been awhile).  All the big instrumentation manufactures (Aglient, Themo Scientific, Waters) were all supporting Solaris.  To my surprise, most companies this year are praising the benefits of Microsoft .Net.

I drop into Chapters on Richmond & John from time to time to see what's new in the geek section (computer books).  The last time I was there I was quite disappointed to see that the already small section of books was cut in half.  The books that remain are mostly low level books on making websites and editing your digital pictures... supply and demand always wins in business.

I'm currently in Chicago attending the Pittcon conference.  I dropped into a Borders bookstore up the street from my hotel.  I think that Chapters pretty much copied this store's setup.  If you take out Starbucks and substitute it in a Seattle's Best Coffee then you have Borders.

Great post on Joel on Software about tips in customer service.  This advice is priceless for any type of business.

Steve Wozniak interview on the Charlie Rose Show.

A resent Globe and Mail poll asked if blogs were a waste of time.  The current outcome of the poll sits at 63% in agreement.

The poll is the result of a book from Michael Keren who suggests that "bloggers are an isolated and lonely bunch who live a melancholic and illusionary existence"

I heard from Greg Wilson that the greatest need for software development in the coming years will be in the sciences.

This got me thinking to how I could prepare myself for the increase of potential clients in need of scientific software. Maybe I could get a team together which specialized in various fields… lets see, I know a guy at Stanford, another couple people in The Netherlands… it became clear to me that my network in my immediate area (Toronto) was quite small.

I’ve been attending DemoCamps (started by David Crow , Jay Goldman