Mission Critical’s final issue of 2010 is due out in a few weeks; we’re shipping it to the printer on Tuesday. From there it goes into the mail system and directly on to our readers. If you are reading this blog, you’ll have an opportunity to see the digital issue a few days early, as it will be available on our website.

When you think about it, it’s really remarkable that the data center industry, as secretive as it is, depends on and supports publications and websites like Mission Critical and its competitors and collaborators. Certainly there are a host of us. I frequently credit many of these organizations in my blog, in our print edition, on our Facebook page, and in my Tweets. We all do our best to fulfill our obligations to readers and to be responsible with the information we obtain. In return, we are given remarkable access to amazing stories and facilities. 

It’s not this quid pro quo that I find so remarkable. After all, we believe the exchange of ideas is a source of innovation in this country, so it’s not surprising that innovators in the data center industry would also participate. It’s part of our way of life. 

And it is our way of life that I find remarkable-and fragile. While I write this today, I am listening to news reports describing a bomb threat that originated in Yemen, apparently targeting the air-freight and mail systems. News correspondents are concluding that the timing of this apparent attack is not coincidental and suggesting that we will face new restrictive air travel restrictions. Suspect packages have apparently been sent from Dubai and London, to cities like Baltimore, Chicago, Philadelphia, Newark, San Francisco, and Portland, ME. 

Details are still coming in, and in any case, it’s not my intent to be your source of news on this topic. As the television reporters have suggested, planners may want to affect the forthcoming election somehow. I have no great ideas on how to defuse these ticking time bombs, but I’d like to suggest that a record turnout on Election Day would be a great way to respond to this threat. And Veteran’s Day, just nine days later will be an opportunity to thank those the servicemen and women who protect our freedom. 

I am grateful to the industry for the chance I’ve been given to cover the mission-critical industry, and I’ve been blessed to live in a society that honors the inalienable rights of “life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.”