Tech

Hadoop Quickstart: Use Whirr to automate standup of your distributed cluster on Rackspace

We have previously provided a Quickstart guide to standing up Rackspace cloud servers (and have one for Amazon servers as well). These are very low cost ways of building reliable, production ready capabilities for enterprise use (commercial and government). And Bryan Halfpap has provided a Quickstart guide which shows you how to build a HadoopRead… Read more »

Strategic & Tactical Advantages of Custom Web-Based Training

If you’re interested in developing custom web-based training courses for your employees, but you’re having trouble getting upper management to buy-in, we can help. Knowing the strategic and tactical advantages of web-based training can help you convince decision makers that web-based training is appropriate for your team. It’s hard to list out all of theRead… Read more »

Who’s the boss?

Every good, successful team is lead by an effective leader. Part of your organization’s media plan must focus on your team’s structure, even if there are just two members. A social media team is only as knowledgeable and functional as its players…with a leader who delegates responsibility and provides guidance towards achieving objectives and establishingRead… Read more »

Exploring the evolution of insurance exchanges: The final installment

Deltek Analyst Amanda White reports. Today marks the final day of Deltek’s health care and social services team’s blog series centered on the recently-released report, “Evolving Health Insurance Exchanges.” The report takes a nationwide dive into implementation processes and state statuses in instituting these novel systems. It also provides high-level advice for government contractors forRead… Read more »

Boy Am I Connected!

While working from home the other day, I looked up and realized something. I had 4 devices connected to the internet at one time. Two computers, my phone, and my tablet. I said to myself, “Boy am I connected!” How many devices do you usually have connected to the internet at one time? ———————————————————————– CenturyLinkRead… Read more »

SOCOM’s Technology Wish List

Photo credit wikipedia Special Operations Command (SOCOM) recently released a Broad Agency Announcement soliciting proposals for several types of technologies that they are looking for in cooperation with the private sector. Here at Crucial Point LLC, we are interested in all forms of disrupted technologies and after looking at why we are calling SOCOM’s ‘wishRead… Read more »

NREL RE Atlas Shows Intersection of Resources

(Clockwise, from top left: concentrated solar in red and wind; concentrated solar, wind and biomass in green; hydro in purple and geothermal; PVs and wave energy.) It’s easy to spend a lot of time adding and removing layers from NREL’s RE Atlas tool. It’s easy to use, and provides a wealth of information. Recently, whileRead… Read more »

Daily Dose: Federal Workers, Rate Your Satisfaction

This spring, the Obama Administration is launching the first Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey, where both part time and full time federal employees can express how satisfied they are with their jobs. This data will be used by the Partnership for Public Service to make reports such as the “Best Places to Work in Government”report. OPMRead… Read more »