The Greek philosopher, Epictetus said, "Nature gave us one tongue and two ears so we could hear twice as much as we speak."

Have you ever heard of the idea that in the classroom, once you raise your hand to be called on you stop listening. You’re concentrating so much on your question or class contribution or general preoccupation that you’re ability to take in the continuing conversation is impaired.

How much listening actually happens anymore? Between the commentators on television, radio personalities, and bloggers (not me of course, cough cough) taking issue with everything to the daily politics of government to Mariah Carey’s engagement ring, all in the same breath I think it might be difficult to get a word in about providing suggests for solutions to actual issues. Would the first part of this whole equation not be to listen?

There are hundreds and thousands of books, theories, web pages and more floating around concerning how to be an effective listener. What professional possibilities are out there for you as a salesperson, boss, or blogger if you listened more than you spoke?

You can search the web if you want to see how listening benefits you professional or personally – so I won’t list suggestions. My only suggestion is to try to listen more in your next sales communication or lunch meeting…see what changes.

Isn't it the local atmosphere that is appealing of a vacation destination? Unfamiliar food, climate, and clichés are possibly the most appealing part of travel. But it is within the locally grown residents that all of this flare can be encapsulated.

Be a Brit Different features the local-yokels, providing insight into the caveats of England, Wales, and more. Through individual blogs, homegrown residents provide the lowdown on the best scene in town. There are more then 20 contributors, each posting separate blogs. As a visitor, you can scroll through your options to find an individual you can most relate to based on age, political views, and personalized ramblings. With more than one person posting on the same region you can see that each place has several aspects of interest.

As an avid BBC watcher, I'm intrigued by Cardiff. Yes, I realize that my perception is slightly askew since Torchwood is only fictional – but how will I ever know unless I visit Wales to see if there is an office in Cardiff?

Locals doing some more of the leg work for vacation destination advertising is a "Brit Different". Do you like this method?

We have our preconceived notions about the country of India; juxtaposed to our notions of manufacturers and owners of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles. Where the culture clash culminates is under the umbrella of Tata. The Tata Group most recently acquired luxury vehicle lines Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Group. In the mid-20th century Tata was the first to introduce western work ideals like free medical care and paid leave for employees. Now Tata is ahead of many western conglomerates – not only in its market share – but also in its application of progressive business practices.

Tata has put in place biogas installations. This makes it possible for farmers and small town inhabitants in rural locations to achieve a certain level of self sustainability with the added on use of supplies already at their disposal like cow dung. In the global grand scheme, Tata still has a ways to go – but with their progress in such a unique market is something to be watched by businesses of all sizes.

Just when you were getting used to the status quo on the Internet…which usually lasts all of fifteen minutes, there is something new. Introduced in late 2007 and finally getting some press time is Cloud Computing.

Amazon is the first company to offer it as part of their Web Services options. Rather than having your dedicated server for network data storage, cloud computing allows for multiple virtual servers. Hosting companies like Amazon, operate enormous data centers. But virtual servers are available to the customer. Based on the resources needed in accordance with system requirements used by the customers, they have access to these virtual servers and can manage them remotely.

Why is this important? Because it takes the desktop off the desk. This the first step in making what you consider your computer virtual. For now it is out there for the big guys – not needed for the usual desktop computer user. But just wait, soon you’ll be paying monthly or yearly fees to store your computer up on cloud 9 somewhere. Check out Wired Magazine where cloud computing a feature story this month.

What matters more: traditional press media or blogger commentary? I suppose it depends on who is reading it. Yet, you can see a shift what is considered traditional media who promote contributions from otherwise consumers of information. If I as a read also provide not only the idea but the content for the media by producing segments to be featured on iReport, CNN's version of consumer-based blogging, am I not part of the journalistic community – in the loosest sense of the phrase?

Trade shows have now started to appease this fringe audience. Actually, they are no longer fringe. They are the A-list consumers who now voice their opinions quite loudly via Internet browsers, not just at cocktail parties and around the office water cooler. In April's Trade Show Executive Hil Anderson covered the latest and greatest of what show managers are doing to cater to bloggers.

Recent shows rolling the red carpet out for this small, but influential group includes Macworld, SXSW, and CES. At IMTS I will be sure to have our own blogger-happy-haven for those of you who will be looking to use your experience at the show for fodder for your next posts. Can you think of any thing in particular you can suggest to me as a blogger yourself or just a reader of this one?