You Watch Your Phraseology (with apologies to The Music Man)

By Lew Cox

Many of us probably have the general impression that those of us who speak and use English as our communication language all use the same language. We don't. Canadian English is not the same as American English, and American English is not the same as British English. Yet, the differences in the understanding of the language due to geographical differences may not be as great as those due to electronic communication differences. Way back B.C.E. (Before Electronic Communication), humans' communications with each other were primarily face-to-face. Once telephone and telegraph were invented, clarity of human communication went downhill as the ability to communicate nonverbally via facial expressions and their concomitant nuances were greatly reduced. Some indications of mood and temper could be had by voice tone or volume over telephones, but via telegraph the communications consisted of dits and dots; thus, emotion and nuance were pretty much lost.  Read the full article
 
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On Feb. 25-26, Chapter No. 860 Oklahoma State University was host for the 2011 University Conference for the South Central Region with the conference theme of "Industrial Evolution." Dr. Baski Balasundaram and his stalwart group of IIE student members conducted an excellent and informative conference.

The Conference kicked off Friday with registration, some icebreaker activities for the student participants and a pizza gathering for the faculty advisors and other non-student participants. Conference registration included participants from the University of Houston, Wichita State University, the University of Missouri, Kansas State University, the University of Arkansas, the University of Oklahoma, Texas A&M University, St. Mary's University and a number of professors, IIE officers, guests and corporate registrants and sponsors. More about the conference

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Personal Espionage, Highway Signs and Snakes 

By Lew Cox

Corporate espionage and the stealing of competitors' secrets have been around a long time, essentially forever. Perhaps one of the early and most famous cases was the stealing of the design of the power loom from England in the early 1800s. In an attempt to keep the technology safely at home and protect their market, it was forbidden to take the design out of the country. Yet, through the memory of one worker, it was done. As time marched on, so did corporate espionage, the tools used by the corporate thieves, and technology. It has always been difficult keeping corporate secrets secret, and it is now well-nigh impossible. Read more