Today is Veteran's Day here in the States; a day we set aside in special observance of those who have, at one time or another, answered their nation's call for their service and put themselves in harm's way to keep the rest of us safe.  Other countries have similar observances.

While we are honoring our veterans (whose sacrifices should NEVER be forgotten) we should not forget the troops who are currently deployed.  Many of them have taken pay cuts and put their family's well-being at some risk in order to do what they percieve to be their duty to their nation.  We should see to it that while they are serving US overseas, that their FAMILIES are taken care of here at home.

Federal law requires that a company give a member of the armed forces time off in order to answer their obligation.  However, many companies do just the bare minimum to comply with the law.  The result is that these men and women take off to do their duty, and lose a substantial portion of their income in the process, as well as benefits.

However, there are a number of companies that go above and beyond the requirement of the law, and actually ATTEMPT to do what's right.  I think these companies deserve our attention and patronage.  As Christmas season approaches, before you go spend money on something, take a look at the list of companies that support our troops, (scroll to the bottom of the page) and consider sending some business their way.

Roughly three weeks ago, the United States celebrated the 'birthday' of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., one of the great leaders of the 20th century (and to my mind, one of the great leaders of American history).  I put birthday in quotes because it wasn't the actual birthday, rather it was the designated holiday for the celebration.

So what has the birthday of a martyr got to do with net neutrality? 

The Inquirer is reporting on a rumor that IBM might be considering buying AMD.

The result of this rumor was that AMD's stock price surged.  While I'm sure that this is welcome news for AMD, I really can't see it happening.

1. If IBM purchase AMD, they go head-to-head with Intel.  They've been down this road before and it didn't turn out well for them.
2. Anybody remember the mountain of debt that AMD is carrying?
3. AMD need AT LEAST a year to get back into the market in a serious way.  That means that anybody buying AMD has to be making a long-term play.
4. What does buying AMD actually get IBM?  Nothing they don't already have, so far as I can see.

Microsoft have come up with a non-standard standard way to implement standard non-standard behavior.

To be sure, they worked with people from the Web Standards Group (WaSP) and other developers to lend some air of legitimacy, but basically what they've done is just what I said above.  To understand what this is all about and what it means, we need to back up a little and take a look at some history. 

The news just keeps getting worse for AMD.  According to an article at Forbes,American Technology Research analyst Doug Freedman downgraded the stock from 'buy' to 'neutral', causing the stock price to drop about 2.3% in value, and revised his target from $17 to $11.  As a consequence, the stock price hit a new year low.  In addition, he indicated that he doesn't see the potential for anything positive from AMD for at least 3-4 months.

This second part is particularly damning for AMD.  Stock prices rise and fall at the whims of investors, and a stock may fall in value, not because a company is doing badly, but simply because the company isn't doing what the market wants.  Most successful businessmen will tell you that letting Wall Street manage your company is a quit route to bankruptcy, so simply having the street downgrade your stock is not necessarilly a bad thing.  To have an analyst say that they don't see the potential for a 'material positive change' for 3 or 4 months is another matter.

Hopefully things will begin looking up for AMD pretty soon.  They certainly aren't looking real good right now.

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