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Experts Say New Blood Needed to Lead Microsoft

ballmerIn the wake of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's retirement announcement, industry insiders are busying themselves predicting who will be tapped to head the tech firm.

Everyone from a former Apple executive to Bill Gates himself is being rumored to take Redmond's top job, yet an official announcement is not expected soon.

Rick Sherlund, head of U.S. technology research at Nomura Securities told CNBC's Squawk on the Street that there is little in the way of top-level executive talent currently working for the company. "I do not believe there is a successor in waiting ..." Sherlund said. "Unfortunately, at Microsoft there has been enormous turnover of senior people under Ballmer, so we are left with no obvious choices here."

Likewise Dan Niles, CIO of AlphaOne Capital Partners told NBCNews that the best course of action Microsoft could take in selecting a new CEO is to look outside of the company. "I hope they do some out-of-the-box thinking and they get somebody from outside the company," Niles said.

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New iPhone Raises the Bar

iphone5cWe're into the second week of September, which means that Apple is revealing its latest version of the iPhone. Where previous events were met with jaded yawns, this year's announcement has the tech world buzzing.

In addition to the...

Treasures: Within Us For Leadership

  1. I just completed another leadership book by another former CEO. The unlikely title, Love Works, by Joel Manby, caught my eye and was recommended by my trusted colleague, Chris Gann!
  2. The author talks about the treasures we need to discover within us as leaders. This is hardly the talk we expect from powerful CEOs of major corporations! By extension in my judgment, the book is as appropriate to teachers as it is to leaders of schools. Manby boils his recommendations into...

Meeting The Bionic Man


Bertolt Meyer was born with about an inch of arm below his left elbow. He uses a prosthetic arm known as the i-limb. Held on by suction using a silicone sheath, the i-limb gives the prosthetic a tight seal where it connects to the rest of his arm.

The newest version of the i-limb features a very apt bionic hand. Each finger has its own motor, with two electrodes inside the forearm that react to signals given by the muscles above the prosthetic limb. An app that...

Talent: Transitioning as we Remember 9/...

Transitioning to our profession each year is a refreshing opportunity to reinvent ourselves. Through our talents to maintain a balanced life and help others do the same, we can and do make a difference!

This week as students and families think about September 11, 2001 and see ever emerging graphic images of the horrors of that day, let's find the strength to:
1. respect what is good about our nation
2. remind...

Lycurgus Cup Shows Incredible...

As featured in Smithsonian magazine, a 1,600-year-old goblet named the Lycurgus Cup (due to its depiction of King Lycurgus of Thrace trapped in tangles of grapevines by the Greek god of wine Dionysus) displays the Romans striking grasp of nanotechnology.

The Roman goblet calls the British Museum home. When the museum...

French Shoes And Building A First-Rate...

Recently, during an open house, I met a students uncle, who had an accent. I became curious as to his nationality. I pointed to the mans pointed dress shoes and told the other teacher in the classroom, I bet he is French. Having spent some time in France this summer, I unimpressively explained to the teacher that I noticed pointed shoes were in fashion there.

Sure enough, the man was French.

I told him I really liked the shoes and explained how I unsuccessfully...

Little Rock~Arkansas-Teachers required...

Dusting off my soap box once again:
On the first day of every school year~ my husband would don what he called his teacher uniform. He wore a suit and tie and his dress shoes. He always felt it was important to start the school year dressing accordingly. From that day forward~ he'd always wear a pair of slacks~ dress shirt and tie and sport's jacket.

I also felt the need to dress what I felt was professionally for the my students~wearing one of my skirt sets or dresses. I never...

Talent: Advice to Teachers from Students

  1. Advice to teachers can come from many sources.
  2. When asking my students to give advice to increase the talents of first year teachers~ here is what they have to say:
  3. 1. Talent-we students know you are talented but we don't know if you...

Super Caught Plagiarizing Welcome Letter

A superintendent in Ohio stirred up controversy when he was caught having plagiarized a letter welcoming parents, students and staff.

Dr. Glenn Faircloth, superintendent of Lorain County JVS in Oberlin, Ohio, admitted to using large parts of another welcome letter, penned by a different superintendent in New York.

"I liked how it was worded. I thought it was...

Talent: The "4 H" Requirements

As a teaching Head of High School, I seek the wisdom of those around me to nurture my spirit and feed my soul. We need this "food" to sustain a service-centered heart in teaching and leading. My colleague, Jane, so nurtured and inspired me yesterday; and, as a kindergarten teach and a teaching Head of Elementary School, she asked all of us to consider developing our talent in four ways:

  1. 1. Honesty-As difficult as it can be, we must be honest with ourselves, our colleagues, and our...

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