Microtrends - Mark Penn

This morning, our Worldwide President and CEO, , announced the launch of a new Facebook application around his bestselling book, Microtrends. For the 70+ million users on Facebook, the facebook microtrends application presents an awesome opportunity to engage, interact and learn from your friends’ various niche interests. As Mark put it, “If you’ve read the book or heard me talk about Microtrends, you know that 1% of society can make or break a business, win an election or launch a social movement. But let’s get down to what’s really important: Which 1% are you? The application is in the form of a short quiz which allows you to discover which “Microtrend” you align with. Are you a Caffeine Crazy? High School Mogul? Numbers Junkie? 30-Winker? (I am!) What about your friends? Do they fall into similar or different groups? Take the quiz and find out.
As Erin has previously about the era of open and personal communication, Microtrends enables relevant microtargeting - the chance to offer different stakeholders messages and products that emotionally moves them. For Public Relations practitioners or Marketing professionals, the age of mass media and mass messaging is dead. Microtrends, and more specifically, this application represents a new and exciting way for us to listen to our clients, friends and family.
A special “Thank You” goes out to everyone who worked on the first iteration of the application: Zach Ambrose, David Brooks, Ryan Coogan, Matt Hersh, Dan Lazar, Stacey Lazar, Robyn Pearlstein and Kinney Zalesne (co-author of Microtrends). I’m really excited to see how the application plays out, particularly within the dynamic social ecosystem of Facebook.

School of Engineering and Technology

It's not a secret. The fields of computer science, information technology and software engineering continue to expand at an incredible rate. Studies show that the demand for professionals equipped with the knowledge to contribute to and manage sophisticated engineering environments, and for the technology specialists needed to support them, will soon outpace the supply.The School of Engineering and Technology at National University provides learners with the skills and foundations for careers and advancement in engineering, technology, computer science, and related fields. National University offers innovative and market-appropriate programs and curricula designed to prepare you to meet the demands of these rapidly evolving fields. Our Wireless Communications and our Homeland Security and Safety Engineering programs are state-of-the-art, and our curricula are designed to prepare you to meet the demands of these rapidly evolving fields. Faculty members anticipate the demands of each field and equip students with the knowledge, skills and flexibility to meet current and future challenges.We're looking for students who will demonstrate leadership and innovation in the global community. Whether you study information systems, environmental or construction engineering, or project management, through your studies you'll gain a solid foundation for life-long learning within the evolving global environment.Review a complete list of School of Engineering and Technology degree programs to see what can be in your future.

A Higher Power

Must see video of a true high power employee at work. Wow. That is not for the feint of heart.

Dr. Gibson becomes first female President in National University history

La Jolla, Calif. – Dr. Jerry C. Lee, the driving force behind National University becoming the second-largest, private nonprofit institution of higher education in California, and the National University Board of Trustees announced today the appointment of Dr. Dana Gibson as the third President in National University history.Dr. Lee, who has served as President of National University since 1989 and Chancellor of the National University System since 2001, will continue to guide the strategic direction of the System in his role as Chancellor. Dr. Gibson will officially assume her duties as President of National University on July 9, 2007."Dr. Gibson's distinguished list of achievements and accomplishments in both academics and business have resulted in her being ideally suited for the role of President of National University," said Dr. Lee. "She has consistently exhibited the core values and beliefs which are the foundation for National University's successes. I am confident that National University will continue to achieve the highest levels of academic rigor and quality under her direction and leadership.""I believe we have selected the right person to continue to build on the remarkable run of success which National University has experienced during Dr. Lee's 18-year tenure as President," said Mr. Gerald Czarnecki, Chair of the National University Board of Trustees. "Dr. Gibson will be an invaluable asset as we continue to shape the future course of National University. Her experience, talent and energy will not only benefit the current University community, but also future generations of National University students, faculty, alumni, administrators, and staff as well."
Dr. Gibson joins National University from Southern Methodist University, where she has served as Vice President for Business and Finance since June 2005. Prior to joining SMU, Dr. Gibson served as Vice Chancellor for Administration and Finance at the University of Colorado at Denver. Beginning in 2004, she held a similar position at the university's Health Sciences Center, with responsibility for consolidating the administrative structures of the two campuses. From 2000 to 2002, Dr. Gibson gained valuable nonprofit experience as Vice President of Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer of the YMCA in Denver. From 1986-2000, Dr. Gibson held several positions at Texas Woman's University. In addition to being a member of the accounting and information systems faculty, she served as Speak Pro Tem of the Faculty Senate. Her duties at Texas Women's University included lecturer (1986-89); Assistant Professor of Accounting and Information Systems (1989-1995); Special Assistant to the Vice President for Finance and Administration (1996-97); and tenured Associate Professor of Accounting and Information Systems (1995-2000). After serving three years (1997-2000) as Associate Vice President for Finance and Administration and Controller, she became Vice President for Academic and Information Services in 2000.Dr. Gibson has received numerous awards and special assignments. She was invited to serve on the Texas Comptroller's Task Force to redefine financial reporting in the state. She has received the "International Award for the Innovative Use of Imaging Technology in Higher Education" and was recognized by the American Accounting Association for "Notable Contribution to Information Systems Literature" for her work on the 1996 publication: "The Effect of Socio-Economic Background on Computer Anxiety and Performance: Evidence from Three Experiments."Dr. Gibson has served as associate editor for Advances in Accounting Behavioral Research and a reviewer for the Accounting Forum and the Journal of Information Systems. She has been a Certified Public Accountant since November 1984.
Dr. Gibson earned both a Bachelor of Science degree in Business-Accounting and an MBA from TWU. She received a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Arlington, with a major field of business accounting and minor fields of information systems and research methods.For more information about Drs. Lee and Gibson, National University, or the National University System, contact David Neville at (858) 642-8163 or visit www.nu.edu.
About National UniversityNational University is the second-largest private, nonprofit institution of higher education in California. Using its core values of quality, access, relevance, accelerated pace, affordability and community, National University continues to focus on making lifelong learning opportunities accessible, challenging and relevant to a diverse population of nontraditional students. Founded in 1971, National University is comprised of five schools – Business and Management; Education; Engineering and Technology; Health and Human Services; and Media and Communications – and the College of Letters and Sciences. National University is headquartered in La Jolla, California.
About the National University SystemThe National University System was established in 2001 to meet the emerging challenges and demands of education in the 21st century. The System is uniquely aligned to connect a diverse population of students to a network of innovative educational programs that are relevant to their lives, careers, and the marketplace and are delivered in a format that respects competing life priorities. The affiliates of the National University System are National University, National Polytechnic College of Engineering and Oceaneering, Spectrum Pacific Learning Company LLC, National University Virtual High School, WestMed College and National University International. The System is headquartered in La Jolla, California.

The Speed of Dark

At the encouragement of many regular attendees, I am presenting here - for the first time anywhere - my theory titled "The Speed of Dark" to serve as a topic of discussion at the gathering today.

Anyone who has studied semiconductor physics knows that there are two types of charge carriers, electrons and holes. While electrons are real, physical objects (whatever that means), holes are a fiction; a hole is the absence of an electron.

I assert that confusion and uncertainty surrounding wave/particle duality and interference, especially as regards the two-slit experiment can be eliminated by adopting a hole-like explanation for the propagation of light - er, dark.

Light as we know it is not the presence of photons, but actually the absence of particles of dark that I will call antiphotons. All of space is densely filled with antiphotons. Thus, space is dark. Unlike photons, antiphotons interact strongly with one another through a repulsive force. However, because they are everywhere, a force in every direction is the same as no force at all, and they swim in a sea, much as electrons do in a conduction band.

The event that we term the emission of a photon is actually the absorption of an antiphoton. When an antiphoton goes missing, the forces on neighboring antiphotons become unbalanced and they reposition to account for this. This force-deficit disturbance travels as a wave through the antiphoton sea. It is actually a longitudinal wave. How this gives rise to transverse electric and magnetic fields is left as an exercise for the reader. It is this wave that travels (at the speed of dark) through both slits in a two-slit experiment. This interpretation makes it easy to see how one emitted photon (absorbed antiphoton) can give rise to a wave that is in many locations at once. The portions of the wave that make it through the slits arrive at the screen behind, and interfere as waves do. The resulting pattern of antiphoton "suck" induces the screen to emit an antiphoton (absorb a photon), which makes up for the antiphoton deficit created at the other end of the experiment.

The probability of the screen to emit the antiphoton at any given point is proportional to the strength of the interference pattern. When a point on the screen does emit an antiphoton, this satisfies the local antiphoton deficit and removes the inducement for other parts of the screen to emit. However, notification that an antiphoton has been emitted travels outward from its origin at the speed of dark. Therefore, a latent inclination to emit exists on other parts of the screen until they receive notification. I believe an experiment can be devised to detect this latent inclination, and this can serve as experimental verification of the theory.

An immediate objection to the proposed theory is that the sea of antiphotons would serve as a kind of ether that was disproved by the Michelson-Morley experiment. I respond that experiments tend to find (or not find) only what they're looking for, and no one was looking for this. Past experiments should be carefully reinterpreted for evidence of antiphotons.

This speed of dark theory has the potential to explain many other existing physics mysteries:

Zero point energy: If space is filled with antiphotons, it is not just plausible, but inevitable, that occasionally they collide to give rise to short-lived particles.

Dark energy: It almost goes without saying - speed of dark, dark energy, ANTIPHOTONS!!!!

Dark matter: A corollary to this theory is that antiphotons exert gravitational force in proportion to the energy-mass equivalence. If photons are an illusion, then gravitational lensing of photons is actually anti-lensing of antiphotons. In other words, antiphotons are repelled by gravity. Observations that dark matter seems to form halos around massive galaxies confirms this.

Unification: If matter exerts a repulsive force on antiphotons, then the converse must also be true: antiphotons repel matter. If two massive objects are in proximity, the density of the antiphoton sea between them will be slightly less than elsewhere. Thus the antiphoton force surrounding the bodies is unbalanced. Each body feels a net force from surrounding antiphotons toward the other body: gravity.

Humbly submitted on this 7th day of March, 2007 -Clark Guest

Dr. Guest is with the School of Engineering at SDSU.

Partnership with Business

The School of Engineering and Technology takes every opportunity to help market the School of Business and Management and in that light we are please to link to the following video. It is a tool to help adjunct professors introduce the university to the community.

Fuel Savings

Watch this video and follow instructions. Simple.