By now, most of you have heard of cloud computing — some of it good, some of it bad and, mostly, all of it confusing.

The idea of computing on the cloud and accessing needed files and programs has been around since the early days of the Internet with (ASP) and on-demand software services for things like sales, accounting etc. These services met the needs of a specific department, but the idea of moving a company's entire computing process to an offsite cloud where they'll save money, become more efficient and remain secure? Well, let's just say that sounded like the pie-in-the-sky stuff we used to read in those popular science magazines. You know, the stories that had us farming on the ocean floor or setting up colonies on the planet Mars by the year 1999.

Well, I'm here to tell you: It's not pie in the sky. The cloud is here.

Look, I hear varying experiences from people all over the world when speaking on the subject of switching to the cloud. These stories range from outrageous success to calamitous failure and everything else in between. But here's my theory on the cloud. If the time is right for you, take the leap. And if your not ready, you better start getting ready because, like it or not, that ship has already left port.

So, with that said, here are a few tips to use and questions to ask as you consider navigating this process:

What constitutes cloud computing?

Cloud computing is the new rave-and-buzz term in computing and covers a wide array of system, process and delivery platforms:

1. Storage-as-a-Service (On-Demand Disks): This is the ability to provide remote storage to a user and the most common of the Cloud Computing components.
2. Database-as-a-Service (DaaS): This is a remotely hosted database. This would benefit the company that doesn't want to spend the money on the software and hardware to host this database and serve this database. Databases require administration and delivery mechanisms such as SQL.
3. Information-as-a-Service: This is simply remotely hosted information commonly delivered through a remote API (Application Programming Interface). A good example of this would be streaming stock quotes and credit reports.
4. Process-as-a-Service (PaaS): This is the remote resource that binds several of the other "as-a-Service" based components. This is the process of creating remote business processes (I know it sounds crazy.).
5. Application-as-a-Service (No, I am not going to put the acronym here. Let say this is Software-as-a-Service). This is remote application delivery.
6. Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

There are several other components that industry experts state are important components of cloud computing. However, for sake of making this THE most boring article you've ever read, I have only included the most important ones.

What are the benefits of cloud computing?

1. Lower TCO (Total Cost of Ownership). Both on a support level and initial capital investment. You save money when it is on someone else's racks. And aside from the software and hardware savings, you may also save on overhead by outsourcing all of your IT services to your cloud provider. And hey, if you don't think you're already paying a lot for your current IT department, try this cool little calculator to give you a better idea as to just how much your currently spending: http://hiveve.com/new_site/pricing.php?PHPSESSID=7b4cbed0b6355dbee4f7e9709ffb5e92.
2. One-Stop Shop for your technology. Most cloud companies have made it their mantra to include everything in their cloud offerings.
3. Scalability becomes simple. Add/remove servers in an instant.
4. Complete Mobility. Remove the "Brick-and-Mortar" mentality of doing business. Many companies ask, "How do we free ourselves from the office?" Well, cloud computing and the virtual enterprise is the way. Sit on the beach and work directly from your iPad. It may sound hard to believe, but today more than 34 million U.S. adults telecommute at least occasionally. And that number is expected to swell to 63 million — or 43 percent of U.S. workers — by 2016.
5. Disaster Recovery. This fits right into your DRP (Disaster Recovery Plan). Cloud computing is certainly on the rise. Most C-level people have considered this a viable upgrade/option for some time now.

How do I select a cloud provider?

It's no secret that most large enterprises are moving in this direction. With so many companies emerging as the "leaders in cloud computing," how do you know which one is a good fit for your company?

The core steps are to assess the platforms, analyze and test the platforms, select three targets, and deploy. The main factors to consider when looking into a cloud company provider are number of clients, what their clients are saying, and what are the true needs and requests for moving your business into the cloud. You should then ask the target company, "Why should we move into the Cloud"? Evaluate the responses you receive back.

Additionally, you should do the following:

1. Research the target company and determine its viability.
2. Make sure the SLA (Service Level Agreement) includes a failover and disaster timeframe with accountability. Also, make sure they have tested that failover.
3. Make sure the target company has multiple data centers. A true sign of an unstable cloud provider is one which has only one data center.
4. Make sure the target company provides you a complete set of policies.

None of us can foresee what the future holds for IT systems and platforms. Yet, I can tell you my forecast for business computing during the next 10 years: partly cloudy with a100 percent chance of participation.

On May 25, Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the company was simplifying its privacy settings.

As the media was so quick to point out, his announcement was a reaction to the furor caused by Facebook users and observers, following Facebook's roll out of significant changes to what it does with private information and third parties. Various media also pointed out Zuckerberg didn't apologize for the decisions that created the uproar.

Should Zuckerberg apologize?

During the past several years, his company has faced a number of situations in which it was roasted by the press and its own users for decisions that aren't privacy sensitive. But it is the users who are deciding to continue with Facebook. Of course, Zuckerberg should have apologized. He put private information in harm’s way for hundreds of millions of people.

Yet, I would not have expected him to be at all apologetic, because Facebook isn't built for privacy. It’s built for sharing intimate details. Without that happening, the company’s business model would break down. It thrives by putting user’s private information at risk.

I’m not suggesting the company should continue to put information at risk. Quite the opposite; they can still be a huge, profitable company without do so. They’d just have to change the way they do business, and I suspect that it would be difficult to change so drastically in light of such success.

Despite being opposed to Facebook’s privacy attitude, I must also state that the media, in one way, has treated the company unfairly — by complaining about the complexity of Facebook’s privacy settings. I have been involved in creating privacy settings for Internet services, and it’s not easy. When you're trying to give people choices, it's likely to get complicated.

The complexity shouldn’t be at issue. The methodology should.

The recent changes at Facebook that increased the privacy risk for users were done without giving the users the ability to protect their information in advance. The default settings were made to share, not protect, the information. The changes were only apparent if you read about them in other sources. And the access to the settings wasn't as easy as it should have been. These are all significant issues, causing many users to shut down their Facebook accounts altogether.

Zuckerberg and his company didn’t feel the need to apologize. And he didn’t. He merely announced Facebook would simplify the task of overriding the default settings. In essence, Zuckerberg was saying he is completely insensitive to the privacy needs of his users.

The company had already made the changes that put the information at risk — such as automatically sharing information with third parties about Facebook users who hadn't explicitly logged out of their Facebook accounts before moving on to the next page in their browser — and he made no announcement about changing it back.

He got what he wanted. Now all he had to do is keep users from defecting, and he’ll have accomplished his goal. He was confident that most of them wouldn't bother changing their privacy settings, even after Facebook made them simpler.

I use Facebook infrequently, and only when needed, then log out every time I leave a Facebook page. I changed my privacy settings and constantly monitor to see if anybody I know has put up too much information on their pages about my family — and ask them to remove it. I harp on my teenagers about the amount of information they share, sometimes effectively and sometimes in vain.

And I keep my fingers crossed.

Editor’s note: David Radin is a national radio show host and business consultant. You can reach him at www.megabyteminute.com.

This number is staggering. The entire global population is now only sightly bigger than the number of cellphone users. The widespread usage of mobile phones opens up a huge opportunity for your business to go mobile.

Do I need a mobile site?

The increasing number of phones is leading to an explosion in usage of the mobile web. Americans are spending almost 3 hours per day on the web using their mobile devices.  The phones themselves are getting more sophisticated.  And as they do, this number will only increase.

If you analyze the browsers and operating systems your visitors are using, you will probably notice smart phones like the iPhone, Android and Blackberry along with Windows and Mac operating systems. All of these users are using a mobile browser to browse your site. But since they all render Web pages a bit differently, your site may not look so great. Optimizing your website for these mobile users can give you a leg up on the competition.

What makes a mobile website useful?

Streamlined content – Users don’t want to wait for a site to load, especially on their phones, so the use of imagery should be minimal. They also don’t want to have to search for what they need, so keep your content focused on your visitors’ needs. Put only the most-used and useful features (think address, locations, or frequently updated content) on your mobile Web site and allow users to find the rest of your content when they have more time to devote at their computers.

Localized content – Do you have different brick and mortar locations or products that are only available in certain areas? Make your site location-aware so that users only get the information they need based on their location. This reduces the amount of navigation needed on your site and the amount of time your visitors spend finding what they need.

Reaching a new audience – Having a mobile site gives your business another distribution channel. Your audience now has another way to interact with your content.  The mobile Web gives you the opportunity to target customers that may otherwise be unaware of your business.

Our lives are becoming more mobile and as they do, having a mobile presence will become even more important. Before long, many of your customers’ initial experience with the Internet will be on a mobile phone. You can make a great first impression by having a mobile site.

Matt(left) and Ted Lee sprinkled flair as special guests of the Florida Film Festival last month.

The Lee Brothers wow Florida Film Festival crowds and provide secrets to a healthy career in cooking.

It all began with peanuts. That’s right, boiled peanuts. The year was 1994, and siblings Matt and Ted Lee, who grew up in Charleston, S.C., had just moved to New York during a blizzard.

The homesick, and chilly, brothers desperately needed some comfort food. “So we figured out how to source raw peanuts in the City and boiled them up on our tenement stove,” Ted recalls. “They were so good, we thought we should turn New York City on to boiled peanuts by selling them wholesale.”

That, he admits, was an immediate failure. New Yorkers didn’t know what boiled peanuts were. Alternatively, they began a hunt for expatriate Southerners in need of a peanut fix. The brothers floated a press release to The New York Times headed “Boiled Peanuts Now Available by Mail Order!”

By June, the Times had published an article, and the phone hasn’t stop ringing since.

That’s when the brothers got the idea for a whole catalog of Southern foods, including classics like stone-ground grits, Jerusalem artichoke relish and fig preserves.

Today, Ted and Lee are touring the country with their latest book masterpiece, “The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern.”

Luckily, Central Florida was one of the stops. The famous brothers were special guests at the Florida Film Festival’s opening night party last month. There, they explained why “Southern food is going to take over the world” and what it takes to make it in the food business.

What were the first few years of your entrepreneurial adventure like?

Matt: “They were both exhilarating and exhausting. We didn’t take on investors or, rather, none would take on us, so we were basically working temp jobs and running the catalog, which was a great lesson in multitasking. There were some highlights: Saveur magazine named us one of the “100 Things We Like Most About Food.” FOOD & WINE Magazine wrote about us. Every press hit from a small newspaper was cause for joy. And then in 2000, a customer of ours, who was an editor at TRAVEL + LEISURE Magazine, asked us to write a travel story about South Carolina, and that’s when our writing careers took off.”

In hindsight, name a few things you may have done differently when it comes to launching the business.

Ted: “We would never again get an 800 number. We registered 1-800-BOILNUT because we thought it would be good for business, but actually it cost us so much money. There were a lot of lonely people out there who had no intention of placing an order, but just wanted to talk to somebody, so they called us. As much as we like to make a lonely person feel happy or cared for, it cost us 85 cents a minute and tied up the phone line for customers who really did want to place an order.”

What advice do you have for budding entrepreneurs who’d like to make cooking a career?

Matt: “Do it. But definitely have a strong sense of the cooking career that’s going to tap into what you enjoy most about cooking. There are so many different careers you can have when you cook, and each one has very different hazards and rewards. Most people assume that everyone who wants to cook for a living wants to be the chef of their own independent restaurant. That’s one way to cook — and perhaps the most stressful one, which requires a lot of time away from the stove, managing people, accounting, marketing and promoting yourself — but you can also be a recipe developer, a cookbook writer, a private chef, a food stylist, a recipe tester.”

What is it like working with a sibling?

Ted: “It’s great, um … most of the time. Having grown up in the same house and learned to cook in the same kitchen, we have very similar taste in food and a similar approach to cooking. On matters of taste, flavor, technique, there’s rarely disagreement. When we’re on the road is when it’s most stressful because I’m not great at reading maps, and yet Matt always insists on driving. Things are much better now that we have a GPS.”

Matt: “But in the kitchen, we’re actually very different people. Ted’s very much a recipe follower, and I’m more an intuitive, improvisational cook. I think these two perspectives complement each other in our work, because we want to write books that will appeal to all types of cooks. So you’ll find very tightly tested recipes that nevertheless give license to the reader to try different variations, and hopefully inspire people to get creative in the kitchen.”

How do you come up with new recipe ideas — is it a collaboration between the two of you?

Ted: “It’s pretty much 50/50 — just depends on who gets inspired when. Some recipes hit like a bolt of lightning — the Pimento Cheese Potato Gratin in “Simple Fresh Southern” hit me like that; Matt came up with Mint Julep Panna Cotta similarly, just like … pow! Other times, we’ll talk through an idea based on a recipe we’ve seen or tasted recently. For example, this past Tuesday, we were speaking to the Women’s Book Club of Moncks Corner-Pinopolis [South Carolina], and a woman there gave us her mother’s recipe for Pineapple Casserole. It’s a simple, classic midcentury side dish, typically served warm, with country ham or other roasted meats. It’s made with canned pineapple, eggs, sugar, cubed white bread and melted butter in a 13-by-9, baked until crusty and browned. We were thinking it’d be great to reinvent it in our own style: use fresh pineapple, dial back the sugar a bit, but push it more in the direction of a dessert, like a pineapple bread-pudding. And it just so happened that the week before, we’d tasted a really cool dessert we’d never encountered: Cornbread Pudding at Gary Lang and Beth Shaw’s Breakwater Restaurant in Beaufort, S.C. So we’ll be going into the test kitchen soon to develop just that: Pineapple Cornbread Pudding. We’ll let you know how it goes!”

Why do you think there’s a resurgence of Southern cooking in the United States?

Matt: “We think it’s for a number of reasons. The old saws about Southern cooking — that it’s all about barbecue and fried chicken; that it’s all bad for you; that it’s labor intensive — are being shuddered off in favor of a deeper appreciation for its true richness and diversity. And a lot of great chefs all over the South cooking day in and day out are to thank for spreading the word. Also, we feel that people are getting hip to the notion that Southern cuisine isn’t homogenous; it’s regional. From Richmond, Virginia, to the Outer Banks of North Carolina, from the South Carolina Low Country to the bayous of Louisiana, you’ll encounter ingredients, recipes and techniques that are unique to each place. You can taste the difference as you travel from place to place in the South, and we think people love that.”

Ted: “But also Southern cooking has made it onto the palette of major cultural influences — French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese — that aspirational chefs all over the nation draw upon for inspiration. The Southern foods these chefs are putting on their menus show a much deeper understanding of the breadth and depth of the region's cuisine. When you can go to Momofuku, an Asian restaurant in New York City, and order a tasting plate of country hams from Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, or when you can go to a vegetarian restaurant in Napa and eat stone-ground grits by an artisan miller in South Carolina, you might imagine that some day, Southern food is going to take over the world!”

In an economy where ideas are proprietary and litigation is widespread, protecting your innovation through patent law is now more critical than ever. This document provides a brief summary of patent law and the steps involved in obtaining patent protection for an invention. Since patent law is a complicated field, this overview cannot include all the details or nuances of the practice, and it is highly recommended that a registered patent attorney or agent be consulted with specific questions on seeking patent protection.

What Is a Patent?

A patent is a government grant of exclusive legal rights to control an invention, granting an inventor the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling his/her claimed invention in the United States for the term of the patent.

Why Can Obtaining Patents Be Valuable?

It is estimated that 80% of corporate assets in the U.S. are intangible, which includes intellectual property such as patents.

• Patents can prevent competitors from copying a patented invention.

• A patent portfolio can increase the value of a company.

• Patent rights can be sold or licensed to others

What Can Be Protected by Patents?

Three types of patents can be issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO): utility, design, and plant patents. Utility patents are used to protect most inventions.

What Are the Standards for Patentability?

A patentable invention must be both “new” and “nonobvious.” An invention is “new” if there is nothing known to be exactly the same as the invention. Under “obviousness,” one cannot make simple changes to a known article and obtain a patent.

An invention must be described in sufficient detail to meet the “enablement” test. Therefore, an “idea” alone is not patentable.

When Should One Apply for a Patent?

U.S. patent law specifies that the invention must not have been in the public eye for more than one year prior to filing a patent application. International patent laws, unlike those in the U.S., typically prohibit any public activity prior to filing a patent application. Therefore, it is highly recommended that inventors strictly limit exposing the invention in order to prevent the one-year time period from elapsing.

How Can One Determine Whether an Invention Is Patentable?

Keeping in mind the conditions for patentability outlined above, it is recommended that a patent search be conducted. A patent search can be commissioned and the results can then be analyzed to determine patentability of the invention

How Can (and Should) an Invention Be Protected Internationally?

Patents issued by the U.S. PTO confer rights only in the U.S.. Protection in other countries must be sought in their respective patent offices. There is no such thing as an “international patent.”

In order to reduce the initial costs associated with international patent prosecution, a patent application can be filed using the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) system, including over 130. The PCT system must be entered no later than one year from the earliest priority date.

By the 30-month date, the applicant must file the PCT application in any individual countries in which patent protection is desired.

In general, international patent protection is extremely expensive. The PCT option does delay the very large costs for an extra 18 months, but, in either case, entering the individual countries’ patent offices is likely to cost many thousands of dollars, followed by annual maintenance payments and foreign associates’ fees.

What Happens after the Patent Application Is Filed?

Once the application is filed, the PTO assigns a patent examiner knowledgeable in the field of the invention.

The examiner prepares a report that includes the examiner’s reasoning for rejecting or allowing the claims of the application. A written dialogue with the examiner then ensues, with responses and additional examination reports issued. If successful, the inventor is issued a patent.

If the application is allowed, an issue fee must be paid. The patent is then in force for a term of typically 20 years from the filing date, adjustable upwards for undue Patent Office delays. So long as the patent is in force, the inventor/owner may assert the granted patent rights against anyone who attempts to copy the invention.

What Happens After a Patent Issues?

Patent Maintenance. During the term of the patent, three maintenance fees must be paid to keep the patent in force, at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years from the issue date. If these fees are not paid, the patent enters the public domain.

Infringement of a Patent. Patent rights are self-enforcing; that is, the PTO does not seek out infringers. If a patent owner becomes aware of infringing activity, a patent attorney should be consulted, who will perform an analysis of the allegedly infringing activity in light of the patent claims and advise on a course of action.

Conclusions

This overview of patent law is intended to answer some initial questions, and to emphasize that patent practice is a complicated endeavor for which professional assistance should be sought. Additional material on patents may be found on the PTO website (www.uspto.gov), along with a listing of registered practitioners by state.

On a sunny Daytona afternoon, Lucy Cross strolled through a garden and imagined the future. The year was 1880, and it was her impassioned dream to bring Florida its first institution of higher learning.

Over the next five years, Cross’ idea flourished and gained the support of New England Congregationalists, whose members founded esteemed schools such as Dartmouth, Harvard and Yale. After a fierce competition between five Florida communities over the location of the new college, the three-year-old town of Winter Park prevailed, and Rollins College was incorporated on April 28, 1885.

Fast forward to the present day, and it's difficult to determine if Cross' vision could have included the achievements that Rollins has amassed in the past 125 years. Florida's first four-year college has produced the first woman in the region to receive a bachelor's degree, Florida’s first Nobel Laureate, and even the founder of Sunkist Soft Drink Co. Distinguished alumni include F. Duane Ackerman, chairman and CEO of BellSouth Corp.; Donald J. Cram, Nobel Prize winner in chemistry; and Allen R. Weiss, president of worldwide operations for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Rollins has also graduated several popular television actors, including Buddy Ebsen of “The Beverly Hillbillies” and Fred M. Rogers, creator and star of “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

Without a doubt, Rollins' rich historic tradition has benefited the Central Florida region not only academically, but also socially, economically and culturally.

Focused on liberal arts, Rollins has 2,700 full-time students. A solid testament to the school’s quality of education is its No. 1 rank among 117 Southern master’s-level universities on U.S. News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” list — a position it has held for the past five years. This level of success is attributed to Rollins’ small classes and committed faculty. With 94 percent of its faculty working there full time and 67 percent of its courses having an enrollment of fewer than 20 students, it’s not surprising that Rollins received a perfect score of 100. Rollins’ Crummer Graduate School of Business has also received notable acclaim; Forbes magazine ranked Crummer the best in Florida and 36th nationally for return on investment, with its part-time MBA program ranking 14th in the nation.

Rollins complements its academic accomplishments with applaudable community service efforts across Central Florida. In 2008, the Corporation for National and Community Service awarded Rollins the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll, the highest federal recognition a school can achieve for commitment to service learning and community engagement. Rollins employees serve in the city of Winter Park on many service organizations and public charities, including the Winter Park Chamber of Commerce, Habitat for Humanity, the Winter Park Land Trust and the Winter Park Health Foundation.

Furthermore, a 2008 economic- and community-impact study of the college displayed noteworthy results. In 2006, Rollins generated more than $204.9 million toward Florida’s economy and supported 3,300 total jobs. In Winter Park alone, Rollins contributed more than $57 million and generated $3.4 million in tax revenue. Even though the institution is nonprofit, Rollins pays more of its assessed value in taxes than any of Winter Park’s other top six exempt property owners.

To celebrate Rollins’ past and present successes, numerous events have been planned throughout the year to make this 125^th anniversary both significant and memorable. During its history, Rollins has always championed the arts, and 2010’s celebrations are no different. Art, artifacts and furniture acquired during the presidencies of Hamilton Holt, Hugh McKean, Thaddeus Seymour and Rita Bornstein are on display at the Cornell Fine Arts Museum and the Olin Library. In January, an annual historic literary event called Winter with the Writers celebrated living writers and carried on a tradition established by past president Hamilton Holt. This month, the library also celebrates its 25th anniversary with Olin’s Book-a-Year Reception, where Professor Emeritus of American History Jack C. Lane will speak about Alfred J. Hanna, a Rollins  alumnus who went on to become a history professor and vice president of the college.

In addition, All Campus Events (ACE) and athletics sponsored Rally Rollins, a pep rally held in February for the entire campus and community, with the purpose of celebrating Rollins and building school spirit and pride. Also, an alumni reunion featured campus tours and guest speakers. The celebrations will culminate with the annual Founders’ Day, held this year on Nov. 4, in honor of Rollins’ opening day.

So many years, so many achievements. Even the visionary Lucy Cross could hardly have imagined how her dream would grow to impact the small city of Winter Park and the entire Central Florida region.

Editor’s note: For more information about Rollins and a complete list of events, visit www.rollins.edu

You’ve probably already heard of Google Voice, but you might not be aware of what it is.

First, don’t confuse it with Google Talk. They’re both services of the ubiquitous Google. They serve different needs, though. Google Talk is an instant messenger–like product that allows you to communicate using your computer. Google Voice is, at its purest, a personal permanent phone number that you can take anywhere — from cell phone provider to cell phone provider to Internet phone service to landline. Or, at least it holds that promise for the future.

For now, Google Voice, a relaunch of GrandCentral, which Google bought in 2007, is a feature-rich telephone service based on Internet technology that you can link to your current phone service.

To start, it’s a phone number that you can give out that forwards your calls to some other number, allowing you to pick it up wherever you want. That makes it an excellent way for you to have a continuing phone number without staying with the same phone service provider. Yet, with phone number portability now mandated by the Federal Communications Commission, that part of the product is useful only in certain circumstances. It’s really the “extra” features that make Google Voice so enticing.

If working properly, Google Voice lets you prescreen your voice-mail messages in a way that most voice mails don’t allow. So you can have your Google Voicemail automatically pick up your calls, hear what the caller is saying and then interrupt the outgoing message to talk with the caller, just as your now-obsolete answering machine used to allow. You can go even further by requiring callers to announce themselves and decide from there whether to pick up or send to voice mail. And you can decide whether to do this for all callers or just for those who have blocked their caller IDs. Google Voice is smart enough, too, to remember who they are the next time they call, so they don’t have to keep announcing themselves. You can set Google Voice to do it for them. Unfortunately, however, I haven’t been able to figure out how to remove the system’s memory of who is calling, in case the first recognition is a mistake.

Also, you can record the calls that reach you through Google Voice, and Google Voice can transcribe (albeit poorly) the voice messages that you receive, making it possible to forward them to you via e-mail or SMS text message.

In short, with these and other features, Google Voice changes the way you can use your telephone.

I only wish it worked most of the time. Officially, Google Voice is still available by invitation only. And I can tell why: It doesn’t work consistently.

I managed to get five invitations — one for each member of my family. Yet, all complain consistently about various problems they have encountered with Google Voice and have begged to stop using it. The last time I looked, there were 1.5 million registered Google Voice accounts, but only 580,000 active users. The majority of registered users aren’t using it.

I suppose it’s easy to be attracted by the promise of tomorrow but doing so means dealing with the problems of today. Most people should stay away until it becomes more stable. To me, that means at least connecting a higher percentage of calls, reliably sending the e-mail or SMS alerts about voice messages, and allowing more flexibility when setting it up.

Google Voice isn’t horrible; it’s just not ready for prime time. So for a while, it’s mostly a product for tech enthusiasts or those who absolutely need one of its unique capabilities.

Still, keep your eyes peeled because some day it just might help change the world.

Editor’s note: David Radin is a national radio show host and business consultant. You can reach him at www.megabyteminute.com.

You’ve likely heard the buzz around solar energy. There’s talk about “renewable energy,” the “green economy” and ways to reduce your “carbon footprint.”

This might all sound very good to you. Or, you might be the skeptical type who cares only about the “green” in dollar bills. Regardless, given the slowdown in commercial real estate, being green can also mean making green. That’s because commercial property owners will find that solar systems provide an opportunity for both clean energy and increased profits.

Commercial property owners can take advantage of price drops and hefty government stimulus to cut their power bills by installing a solar electric system. Solar energy (specifically, solar photovoltaic, or PV, systems) can provide a stable, secure investment by converting the roof of your existing commercial building into another paying tenant.

When examining the financial case for solar, there are four main factors to consider: affordability of the system; return on investment; positive effect on the value of the property; and the hedge the system provides against the rising cost of conventional power.

Rising Cost of Power

Let’s illustrate the cost of a typical solar installation on a commercial roof. Assume that your commercial building meets one of the following criteria: It is owner occupied or the owner pays the utility bill. This is a prime property for a PV system. Let’s also assume that your property uses an average of 200,000 kilowatts of AC power per year and you pay the utility company 15 cents per watt. This means your utility costs would be $30,000 for the current year. Ignoring the fact that in Florida there were rate increases of as much as 30 percent in 2009 alone, the conservative estimate is that rates will increase on average 3 percent to 5 percent annually into the foreseeable future.

What will that mean for your utility cost this year and the next and the next? In 10 years, your business can expect to be paying $39,100, an additional $9,100 annually for electricity. In 20 years, you’ll pay $52,600, an additional $22,600 annually. Your total utility cost over 20 years is a whopping $806,100!

Now, let’s assume that you install a 100kW system on the roof of your building. A system that size will generate $23,000 of averted power costs in its first year. By year 20, those averted costs will have gone to $40,400 in annual savings for a total saving of $619,000 from the original $806,100 in operating expenses.

Installing a solar system now, and fixing your electrical costs by doing so, protects you from the inflation of electricity prices. Also, by producing energy during the daytime, when power is the most expensive for many rate payers, a solar system helps shave the amount of electricity consumed during peak hours, significantly reducing power bills.

In effect, you are locking down your future operating expenses. Any expense you are able to avert is a savingsthat will go right to your bottom line and be recognized as an increase in the building’s operating margin.

Affordability of Solar

The current technology used to generate electricity from the sun has been around for decades, and the technological advances of recent years have greatly decreased the cost of solar energy. These days, a typical commercial installation can cost between $4.50 and $7.50 per installed watt, depending on the size of the system, the type of mounting hardware used (roof or ground), the type of solar panels selected and the features added to the system.

Using a sample cost of $4.75 per installed watt, the total cost of a 100kW system is about $475,000. There are a number of incentives currently offered to encourage the development of renewable energy sources like PV systems. For example, you can immediately subtract a federal tax credit (FTC) of 30 percent off the cost of the system. This drops its cost by $142,500 to $332,500. You are also allowed to depreciate the cost of your system at an accelerated rate. Depending on your location, you may also have other government or utility incentives available to you.

While this is just an overview of the cost of solar (and considerations such as the cost of financing should be included), other auxiliary benefits apply. For a complete financial analysis, all customers should contact a qualified solar system integrator to discuss their specific situation. A qualified integrator will determine what size and type of system will work best for you and will handle much of the paperwork involved in taking advantage of the subsidies.

Return on Investment

The annual return on investment of a solar electric system is similar to those typically seen by commercial property investors. This ROI is the income (annual net after depreciation) divided by the cost of the system (after the FTC). In our example, the investor will see a 9.2 percent ROI plus, more importantly, an immediate cash flow and property valuation increase.

If you believe the cost of energy will continue to rise, this model presents you a stable, safe investment strategy. Many knowledgeable investors would agree that this is an attractive ROI when compared to the rest of the market at this time.

Property Value Increase

The annual saving in your building’s power bill translates into an increase in the building’s value. Since the property costs less to operate, you see an immediate increase in your operating margins. Also, any increase in the operating margin, divided by the capitalization rate (ratio between the net operating income produced by an asset and its capital cost), equals an increase in the resale value of the building.

In our example, the solar system has increased your operating margin and the value of your commercial building. If we look at the increased after-tax cash flow ($43,200) and use a 10 percent cap rate, the resale value of your building just went up by an additional $432,300 in the first year. The end result is an immediate saving in your operating expenses plus an immediate increase in the value of your property. And you will never get a complaint from this new “tenant.” By the way, Florida law now provides an exemption from property taxes for the cost of an installed solar system (Section 196.175, Florida Statutes).

Reducing your carbon footprint or decreasing dependence on foreign oil might be important to you. Or, it might not. Yet, the bottom line is that installing a solar electric system likely makes financial sense for your property right now.

If you are a commercial property investor who feels uneasy about the current market, investing in a PV system may offer the long-term stability you are seeking at a reasonable rate of return.

Editor’s note: Lynnette Acosta is vice president of marketing at QuickBeam Energy LLC in Winter Haven. She can be reached at lynnette.acosta@quickbeamenergy.com. The numbers in this article have been rounded to the nearest hundredth for ease of reading.

Buoyed by the potential of a medical city at Lake Nona, the future of the region’s life sciences industry appears bright. Indeed, the growing demands for healthcare, as well as innovative therapies and technologies, mean that the long-term prospects for the life sciences sector are alive and well.

Yet, at the same time, there is no doubt that funding for life sciences enterprises has been hard hit by the current economy. The sector has seen a dramatic slowdown in venture-capital investment, negligible initial public offering activity and a substantial fall in the value of biotechnology merger and acquisition transactions.

In light of these challenges, what are life sciences companies doing to maximize their chances of securing investment funding?

Focused Approach
Both life sciences businesses and investors are taking a much more focused approach to seeking and providing funding than they did in recent years. Life sciences investment decisions have always been based on an evaluation of the individual projects and products within a company’s portfolio. However, while investors previously may have been willing to invest in a company’s overall portfolio, they now show an increased preference for cherry picking the research programs, drug candidates and products in which they invest.

This preference has manifested itself in two ways. First, investors and life sciences businesses are striking deals that are specific to individual projects, programs and products. Last May, for example, NASDAQ-listed Cleveland BioLabs Inc. announced that it had signed a term sheet with Bioprocess Capital Ventures, a Russian venture capital fund, to enter into a Russia-based joint venture to develop Cleveland BioLabs’ Curaxin compounds for cancer applications.

Second, life sciences businesses are closing, halting or jettisoning projects and products with less-attractive prospects or products that do not correspond with a narrowed strategic focus.

Strategic Alliances
The process of bringing a new life sciences product to market is lengthy and complex, involving research and development, product trials, regulatory approvals, manufacturing, marketing and distribution. Accordingly, the life sciences industry has a sophisticated value chain characterized by a wide array of alliances, joint ventures and commercial agreements, all of which facilitate a product’s life cycle from research to commercialization. Few life sciences businesses have the breadth of financial resources and technical expertise to handle all these activities in-house; instead, companies have chosen to focus on a specific role within the value chain.

Many life sciences businesses have a strategy and business model built around monetizing research prospects at a relatively early stage and reinvesting funds in new research. Commenting on a recent licensing agreement with Affitech A/S, Steven W. King, president and CEO of Peregrine Pharmaceuticals Inc., notes: “This agreement will allow us to realize positive short-term cash flow …. This agreement fits very nicely with our announced corporate strategy to monetize and advance our preclinical pipeline through partnerships or licensing agreements while focusing our R&D efforts on advancing our later-stage clinical programs.”

Right Partners
As life sciences businesses rationalize and focus their portfolios, even companies in good financial health must ensure that they have the right partners and commercial agreements to maximize their ability to bring products to market successfully and profitably. In recent months, we have seen a variety of deals and agreements enabling life sciences businesses to increase their strategic and operational focus while gaining access to such high-quality complementary capabilities as research expertise and operational skills.

For instance, last June, NeurogesX Inc. and Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd., the European subsidiary of Tokyo-based Astellas Pharma Inc., announced that the companies had entered into an exclusive distribution, marketing and license agreement for the commercialization of Qutenza in the European Economic Area. Qutenza is the first and only product containing prescription-strength capsaicin for the management of neuropathic pain due to postherpetic neuralgia, the nerve pain that can follow shingles. Anthony DiTonno, CEO of NeurogesX, comments: “Having secured a commercial partnership in Europe, we are now turning our full attention to the remaining steps involved for the potential U.S. approval and commercialization of Qutenza.”

In many instances, these relationships will deliver benefits beyond the specific financial terms of the agreements. In particular, businesses may be able to tap into skills and expertise at a cost and performance level they could not achieve alone. Thus, management involvement in complementary but noncore activities may be reduced, thereby freeing executives to focus their attention on maximizing the efficiency — and effectiveness — of their in-house activities.

At the end of the day, agile life sciences businesses that are able to focus on winning products, monetize their research and align themselves with the right commercial partners will be positioned to survive and ultimately thrive through this challenging period and well beyond.

Editor’s note: Verne Bragg, the partner-in-charge of Grant Thornton LLP’s Orlando office, has more than 20 years of public accounting experience. Bragg helps to advise clients on acquiring and divesting businesses, meeting U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory filing requirements, implementing new accounting pronouncements and implementing stock option and executive compensation plans. For additional insights and recommendations to help your company develop effective commercial and investment strategies, download the full Grant Thornton white paper “Insights for Life Sciences: Funding Strategies” at www.grantthornton.com.