Based on the tone of Micron’s analyst conference in Salt Lake City Thursday, it was hard to imagine that this is a company that has lost more than a half billion dollars over the last year.

Micron CEO Steve Appleton in no way acted like he was preparing to step down from the company as one analyst speculated last week.

He didn’t address those rumors at the meeting, but I understand he’s planning on talking about it tonight in an exclusive interview on his favorite television station.

What Appleton did talk about, was how bright the future appeared for Micron.

It has been a year since Aaron Stanton of Boise started his quest to get an audience with someone at Google.

Last February, he launched the Web site CanGoogleHearMe.com. His goal was to meet with someone at Google to pitch his idea.

He tried going to the company’s mammoth Mountain View, Calif. Headquarters, but was turned away when he walked in the door.

He could have given up, but he stayed in California and kept blogging on his Web site about the experience. It finally got him noticed and eventually a meeting with someone at Google.

I wasn’t surprised by Jim Ellick's request to take leave from the Commerce Department.

I’m not privy to the reason, but there has been talk that it could be health-related and of course there is no shortage of speculation that he may have been regretting his decision to take the position.

Will he come back? I don’t know. After my interview with him in January, I immediately wondered how long he would stick around.

It is apparent that he isn't a politician and is more comfortable in the CEO mode where he could point out problems and direct people to fix them.

I was impressed with his candor, but I was sure he was going to rub the majority of Idaho’s legislators the wrong way. I didn’t think they would take kindly to his “crazy talk.”

I knew I was in trouble when I tried to do a story on the whole Rambus and Micron legal saga that has been playing out for the better part of decade.

It is a battle we haven’t followed in any great detail other than a few one-time stories here and there when there’s a ruling of one type or another.

So I attempted — in just a few days — to get my head around the upcoming trial that starts next week in San Jose.

Just like cramming for the big test in college, I knew full well that my story wasn’t going to meet the standards of the people who have followed this saga religiously over the last decade.

Since it was first introduced, Pleo the robotic dinosaur has received almost universal acclaim.

But last week, Pleo didn’t exactly charm a New York Times reviewer. David Pogue summed the toy up as a “novelty” that wears off quickly.

Having met Caleb Chung, who invented Pleo with a team of engineers in his Eagle lab, I at first felt the reviewer was being a little too harsh.

But as I thought about it, I do agree with the overall point of his column. I still think Pleo is more than a “novelty.” On a broader scale it does a lot toward developing the whole idea of an artificial life, which as Chung will tell you is one of the reasons for its development.

It would be nice if the state would finally unveil an aggressive economic development campaign to encourage the growth of tech companies in Idaho.

But after reading an article in the Twin Falls Times News on Sunday, I’m still waiting.

The article highlights the Idaho Department of Commerce’s new “Recreational Technology Campaign.”

But don’t get too excited about the word technology in the title. This campaign has little to do with technology. It is an effort aimed at gun manufacturers.

Now that the Governor’s Science and Technology Advisory Council is no more, I thought it might be a good time to suggest some key areas that Gov. Butch Otter could focus on to help grow Idaho’s tech industry.

I’m not sure what will replace the council, but I doubt it will be an organization that meets in public.

So when Gov. Otter is meeting privately with his new advisors on tech, I would like to offer the following suggestions for them to consider to help tech:

• Create an Idaho Science and Technology Corporation governed by a public-private board of directors with an initial $500,000 in state funding to guide Idaho’s efforts to grow the tech industry.

In today’s paper you’ll find the Idaho Statesman’s sixth annual look at the health of Idaho’s high tech industry.

Accept for my brief departure to state government in 2005, I have been involved in this effort for five out of the last six years.

My former colleague Julie Howard, who is now with the Department of Commerce’s Office of Science and Technology, deserves the credit for getting this effort started.

Each year the effort has been well received from the tech industry and we’ve raised some important issues.

But I have to admit that I wasn’t looking forward to doing it again this year, simply because it felt that other than the tech industry few were paying attention over the last five years.

Since I moved to Idaho from Montana in 1999, I’ve been either writing about or personally involved in Idaho’s economic development efforts.

But I haven’t been able to get a good handle on how the outside perception of Idaho affects economic development efforts especially when it relates to high tech.

I have to think it has some impact.

There is the positive perception people have from articles in magazines like Forbes or Boise State’s big Fiesta Bowl win. Both can help draw people and companies to the state.

But I get a sense that the positive perceptions of Idaho are being outweighed by the ongoing negative perceptions.

A Nintendo DS, iTunes gift cards, Wii Games, Guitar Hero III, DVD sets and digital photo frames.

These are just a few of the high tech items on my family’s Christmas wish list this year.

This is the time of year we load up on the high tech gifts. It’s been a long time since my children have asked for anything that didn’t have a computer chip or require a battery.

With so much high technology invading every aspect of our lives, it’s easy to see why so many of Idaho’s new companies are tech companies.

So why isn’t there overwhelming support for the science and technology industry in Idaho from our state leaders?