Mr. Chambers has not said exactly how often he works from home, but he has raved about the TelePresence system he installed there, citing that it lets him spend more time with his wife, handle meetings late at night, get more sleep and do better at his job. His employees must agree. Cisco just slotted in at #6 on Fortune magazine’s “100 best Companies to Work For,” in large part because of their vanguard position on telecommuting. Some 70% of Cisco employees work from home at least 20% of the time.

Remote working brings a range of benefits; including happier, more productive employees, decreased travel time, a positive impact on the environment, and sizeable cost savings. Of course, there are also risks; security risks that many smaller companies are unequipped to deal with. A recent study by Cisco, and they should know, shows the complexity of securing a remote working force. "While working at home, people tend to let their guard down more than they do at the office,” says John Stewart, Cisco's chief security officer.

Some of the behavior that remote workers engage in that poses a risk includes opening e-mails and attachments from unknown sources; using work computers and devices for personal use; allowing non-employees to borrow work computers and devices; hijacking wireless Internet connections from neighbors; and accessing work files with personal, non-IT-protected devices. If it sounds scary, it is, but the rewards are vast and flexible working is here to stay.

» John Chambers at Cisco
» Telecommuting at Wikipedia

When Toshiba, the main force behind HD DVD, announced it would no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders, many industry analysts wondered how the latest format war had ended so suddenly. Then they looked across the room to their compatriots in the games division and it all became clear. The PlayStation 3, which had been widely lambasted on a number of fronts, had also put Blue-ray players into approximately 10 million homes. Game over.

But the victory comes at a price, and an even greater risk. It’s not uncommon for console makers to sell hardware at a loss, hoping to make up the difference in software sales and over the long-term. With the PS3 however, Sony took this to a new level. Reports from iSuppli put the subsidy of each unit sold at approximately $300, which means Sony has taken a loss of well over $3 billion on the sale of hardware. And there’s also the still uncertain future of the PS3 itself, which has been greatly outsold by the less expensive Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox 360.

Blue-ray has come out on top for Sony, which must feel great after its historic Betamax fiasco and more recent inability to compete with Apple’s iPod and iTunes. But one question still remains: was it worth it?

» Blue-ray at Wikipedia
» Sony.com

“I once got a great piece of advice from my business manager that I didn't quite understand when he first said it to me: 'Make sure you're using the money to chase the art, not using the art to chase money.' No matter how big the figures get, you've got to take your time and not get frightened.”    And this time, the figure did get very large indeed. The artist, Damien Hirst, reportedly put up the $15-20 million it cost to make this piece, a human skull bejeweled in 8,601 pave-set diamonds weighing 1,106.18 carats, and amusingly titled “For the Love of God.”

A big risk? For sure. It’s the single most expensive piece of art ever produced. An egregious waste of money signifying the end of art as we know it? That’s subjective. What we do know is the sale price: reportedly $100 million to a group of investors that includes Hirst. That’s a pretty good return on investment, for any business.

» Damien Hirst at White Cube gallery
» “For the Love of God” at Wikipedia

Spore is likely the most highly anticipated video game ever. It’s been in development since 2000 and under the microscope of media outlets ranging from online gamer blogs to the New Yorker since pieces of it were revealed at the Game Developers Conference in 2005. But just calling it a “video game” seems a slight to the truly extra-galactic ambitions of its creator, Will Wright, already a legend in the industry for his popular Sims franchise. “One of my goals for this whole thing,” Wright told Wired magazine, “has been to give somebody an awe-inspiring global view of reality.”

In short, the “game” lets users create life and shepherd it through several “stages” until the civilization reaches the “Galactic” stage, and beyond. And that’s a very short description; Spore looks to revolutionize the genre employing procedurally generated content, and taking social networking to a new level. As example, the civilizations and creatures a player encounters, and competes with in-game are actually the creations of other players. All content will be sharable online.

It’s also a big risk. Parent company Electronic Arts CEO John Ricitiello stated, "It's probably the greatest creative risk maybe going on in the game industry today...I believe it's going to be one of the greatest franchises in our industry and will rival World of Warcraft or The Sims or Rock Band. It's going to be right up there." The New York Times projected development costs at $20 million. Still, if it’s a success the rewards could be, well, astronomical.

» Will Wright at the 2007 New Yorker Conference (Video)
» Will Wright Walks Us Through Spore

“WELCOME TO VIRGIN GALACTIC. Virgin Galactic is the world's first spaceline. Giving you the groundbreaking opportunity to become one of the first ever non-professional astronauts.” So reads the opening lines of Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic website. If it sounds like science fiction, it’s not. But it is a tremendous risk, on multiple fronts: from the possibility of financial ruin to the ever-present danger associated with space travel. As for the reward; well it’s infinite, or at least expanding – according to the latest astrophysics.

A study by NASA and the Space Transport Association predicts that space tourism will be an industry worth $10–20 billion a year in a few decades. Branson expects to carry 500 passengers in the first year and 50,000 over 10 years, eventually reducing costs to as little as $20,000 per flight. Despite the danger, or perhaps because of it, Virgin Galactic has already sold out its scheduled flights. One early adventurer, Dick Hardt, summed it up: “I’m an entrepreneur, I’m risk oblivious.”

» Virgingalactic.com
» Virgin Galactic: Let the Journey Begin