A mere one week passes following news, yet a pervasive angst returns to the board, to the extent that some very unseemly behaviour breaks out over the weekend, where apparently testicular measurements has become associated with the degree of one's commitment to POET's amazing technology - Tut Tut!

Then another angst ridden chestnut re-emerges in the form of the gnashing and weeping over the potential of a cheap buy out, a fear which has become something of a cliché on this board which surely is a matter for our Directors to concern themselves about until such an event actually materialises, no one can possibly predict when this might occur. So why concern oneself with buy out? Providing our Directors are aware of the dangers and opportunities, and they are, such fears to me seem to be the equivalent of being afraid of the dark. When raised here I suspect there are other motives. They should and need not be a topic of conversation until they exist.

Eileen's posts on China's capacity for commercial espionage is much more of a reality than the above and I emphasise the point she makes about the need for commercial security in PTI. Our thirst for knowledge should not be a priority for management concerns whilst negotiating this delicate phase of POET development, securing the inventions of Geoffrey Taylor's research is vital. We must learn to allow the mother hen of management the quiet conditions necessary to hatch the golden egg that POET is.

Finally, whist I can fully understand Junker's sentiment about things only become a reality when they are properly announced in news reports, and condone I proper procedure, I fear this would be come a very dull board unless it was acceptable to read into those factors that emerge as 'dots' and make deductions. To me this is the essence of human nature and why we bother to read and take interest in the world around us.

My conclusion is that facts are one thing but their implications to us as individuals is entirely another matter and one for conjecture and deliberation. As such dot joining is perhaps far more important than Junkers suggests. How possibly could we otherwise, without the shared views and counselling of others, ever develop our own thoughts and act accordingly. Therefore keep on joining the dots.