A degree of uncertainty

Dave wonders what all the Scott Thompson fuss is about, while a big cheese closer to home may also have overplayed his credentials

Am I the only tech market watcher on this side of the Atlantic to be thoroughly bemused by the brouhaha over Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson's fake degree? Former Paypal boss Thompson, who joined the search engine outfit four months ago, claimed, in his corporate bio, to have a degree in accounting and computer science.

He actually (wait for it) has a degree in…just accounting! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! That, as far as I can figure it, is the long and the short of it; no money donated to despotic dictators, no large-scale embezzlement, not even a bit of hanky-panky with his co-workers.

Nevertheless, Thompson, whose half-truth was brought to light by major shareholder Third Point, has found himself caught up in all sorts of trouble. Third Point has demanded to see all documents relating to the recruitment process (if Yahoo is anything like Dodgi, this'll be a couple of Post-Its and some interview notes on a beermat.) They've also called for an official investigation into the "debacle". Oo-er.

Meanwhile, Thompson has issued his troops with a contrite memo, apologising for holding back the company's progress. If telling a few tall tales about your achievements renders you incapable of running a company, then a (ahem) friend of mine might have to update his LinkedIn.

Nothing major, just some minor edits regarding the five years as IBM's European VP, the decade as de facto boss of Computacenter, the Masters doctorate, the nomination for the Nobel Prize for Economics and all the first aid badges.

Driving me crazy

For anyone who's ever despaired at the all-around idiocy of every other single driver on the road, good news may have emerged this week in the form of the first licences for self-driven vehicles.

The great state of Nevada has issued Google with the documentation, after the search giant modified some Toyota Prius cars. The automobiles, which feature rooftop cameras, radars and laser range finders to detect other traffic, have previously been road-tested on the highways of California, including a scenic jaunt across the Golden Gate Bridge.

The cars have previously only been on the road when helmed by a human, ready to intervene, if need be. The Golden State is now planning a similar move, with senator Alex Padilla pointing out that "the vast majority of vehicle accidents are due to human error".

Good point, but it's also worth remembering, Alex, that the vast majority of technology will eventually turn against its fleshy masters and try and kill and/or enslave the human race.

Northern Star

A well-known channel exec characterises himself as something "a straight-talking northerner" on LinkedIn. (If I can digress for a minute, am I the only southern softie who gets annoyed at anyone from north of Milton Keynes thinking they have the monopoly on being "down-to-earth" and "no-nonsense"? If you northish tykes have never been to Dagenham, I'd suggest you pay us a visit. There's little, if any, nonsense.

And I'd severely advise against starting any.) Anyway, where was I? Ah, yes - this "blunt" northerner went on to reveal something along the lines of him "believing in pairing leading-edge client experience with product innovation".

Like, how much more straight-talking can you get? He went on to add that he's always been a dab hand at providing "manged services to the pubic sector". I'm starting to worry about him tapping up some of my sales goon, as most of them have always had a strong focus on the pubic sector. Although not much of a successful track record, to be fair.

How to change a lightbulb

Lightbulbs designed to last upwards of two decades are set to hit shelves this year. LED-based technologies from Philips, Sylvania and General Electric are all on course to be on sale within 12 months, with the former planning on charging £12 per bulb.

Impressive stuff. But, if you ask me, these leading lights have got the wrong idea. Conversely to what my customers expect, the lifespan of the average server estate has actually gone down in the last decade. I tell them it's best to do a complete overhaul about once every three months.