Welcome Thank you for stopping in! It is my pleasure to welcome you to Covington Law. Please click on “Welcome” above, and take a minute to sign the guestbook by leaving a quick comment. Take a few minutes to look around, do some reading, review my profile, or check out the In-house Counsel program. Keep me in mind [...]
Thank you for stopping in! It is my pleasure to welcome you to Covington Law. Please click on “Welcome” above, and take a minute to sign the guestbook by leaving a quick comment.
Keep me in mind as you have a need, or as you come across a need for quality legal service. Thanks!
iPhone lawyer I am now an attorney with an iPhone. The 8525 is a great tool — nearly a mini net book, but Apple, “You had me at the app store.” After all of this, and this, and temptation by this, I’m a recent convert. Development toward the iPhone (ie, it’s so prolific that everyone’s trying to get [...]
I am now an attorney with an iPhone. The 8525 is a great tool — nearly a mini net book, but Apple, “You had me at the app store.”
After all of this, and this, and temptation by this, I’m a recent convert. Development toward the iPhone (ie, it’s so prolific that everyone’s trying to get a piece of the action) and its nearly seamless capability to mashup data, media, and GPS, helped it wedge its way into my life.
Now that “iT” is here (my IdPhone), some disparate comments:
Apps iDig: Maps (the street view added with 2.2 update); EasyWriter (landscape keyboard which will ‘paste’ to mail); Evernote (sync your notes and then some); Wikipanion (quick wiki search tool); NetNewsWire (only for my top 10 feeds; syncs with Newsgator); Google mobile (voice search, Reader … great, as ever); Shozu (upload photos as you shoot); GrandDialer (for your GrandCentral number); Dialer (Melodis; voice contact search/dialer); Yelp (find nearby java, gas…);
Oh, and yes — I’ve come to terms with the fact that there is value in a fun interface. Say what you will, the iPhone has it.
Navy Veteran “It is with great pleasure and pride that I offer my endorsement to one of the finest individuals and former military professionals with whom I had the pleasure of serving while we were on active duty together at FASOTRAGRUPAC in the mid-to-late 90’s. As the Commanding Officer of FASOTRAGRUPAC, I had approximately 500 military and [...]
“It is with great pleasure and pride that I offer my endorsement to one of the finest individuals and former military professionals with whom I had the pleasure of serving while we were on active duty together at FASOTRAGRUPAC in the mid-to-late 90’s. As the Commanding Officer of FASOTRAGRUPAC, I had approximately 500 military and Civil Service personnel on my staff … Although the Navy lost a wonderful professional when he elected to pursue graduate studies, we at the command were grateful for his many contributions and shared in his excitement as he and his lovely wife departed to commence his studies at the University of Kansas School Of Law. Dan Covington is a true patriot and gifted professional who served his country with honor and is now taking that talent and dedication to serve his community. Dan deserves every success that his hard work and selfless commitment to duty have earned for him over the years. America needs to produce more individuals like Dan Covington.”
- Marv Serhan, Captain, USN, Ret., Commanding Officer, The United States Navy’s Fleet Aviation Specialized Operationsl Training Group Pacific Fleet
Highlight Midwest #hm1 So, you don’t own/operate a business, participate in social media, or leverage technology on a routine basis? Don’t attend this October 29th Kansas City event: Focused Highlights 9:00am - 4:00pm at the Record Bar Some of the region’s finest entrepreneurs, technologists, social media experts, and new media success stories presenting. Emcees: Alternageek’s Christa Casebeer and Microblink’s Rob Jensen. New Heights [...]
So, you don’t own/operate a business, participate in social media, or leverage technology on a routine basis? Don’t attend this October 29th Kansas City event:
Focused Highlights
9:00am - 4:00pm at the Record Bar
Some of the region’s finest entrepreneurs, technologists, social media experts, and new media success stories presenting.
October 29, 2008 from 5:00pm - 8:00pm at the Kauffman Center of Kansas City
A reception showcasing the entrepreneurs, innovators, and early-adopters using web technology to grow their businesses, advance their careers, and enrich the regional economy in new ways:
Three of the area’s up and coming social media strategists will present an overview on how the web is changing their cities for the better and how new opportunities for innovation are expanding the importance of web-based technology in the Midwest.
A wrap-up panel: Where do we go from here? After a day filled with all the cool individual things that are occurring in Des Moines, Kansas City, Omaha, and the surrounding areas, we’ll discuss actionable items along the lines of “What now?“.
Just so you know, those attending will enjoy a stellar panel of presenters.
{Note to organizers: Congratulations in advance for this event! It’s already FTW!}
District of Kansas WiFi The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas is pleased to announce the availability of wireless internet access in the District and Bankruptcy courtrooms in Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita. The only thing you will need to provide in order to access the internet in the courtroom is a laptop equipped with a wireless [...]
The U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas is pleased to announce the availability of wireless internet access in the District and Bankruptcy courtrooms in Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita. The only thing you will need to provide in order to access the internet in the courtroom is a laptop equipped with a wireless network card (802.11 b/g), usually a standard component on most laptops. The attorney workroom at each location is also equipped with wireless internet access in addition to desktop computers which are available for your use. We hope these added features are of assistance to you while you conduct business at the courthouse.
Photo-des-Tages #138 - 3GS-Jailbreak Wie bereits verkündet, sollen auch die aktuellen iPhone 3GS-Geräte anfällig für den 24Kpwn-Exploit sein. Damit ist es George Hotz nun anscheinend gelungen, den ersten 3GS-Jailbreak auszuführen. Einmal mehr beeindruckend wenn man bedaenkt, das die 3GS-Veröffentlichung gerade einmal acht Tage zurückliegt. via iphonejtag.blogspot.com
Wie bereits verkündet, sollen auch die aktuellen iPhone 3GS-Geräte anfällig für den 24Kpwn-Exploit sein. Damit ist es George Hotz nun anscheinend gelungen, den ersten 3GS-Jailbreak auszuführen.
Einmal mehr beeindruckend wenn man bedaenkt, das die 3GS-Veröffentlichung gerade einmal acht Tage zurückliegt.
UN to Meet Monday The president of the General Assembly of the Organization of the United Nations (the UN), Miguel D’Escoto announced that a emergency meeting is scheduled for this Monday. “We have summoned an emergency meeting of the General Assembly to give opportunity to the Member States of this organization to give opinion on the matter”, announced D’Escoto. The Secretary [...]
Curfew Imposed in Honduras The newly sworn-in acting president of Honduras has imposed a two-day nationwide curfew. Roberto Micheletti told a news conference that the curfew would run from 9pm to 6am on Sunday and Monday Micheletti is from the same Liberal party as Zelaya, and promised to govern with “transparency and honesty” and “work tirelessly to restore the peace and [...]
[KlimBim] Firmware-Neuerungen, Flickr-Bilderstrecken, weltweite Prepaid-Angebote und ein Spezial-Unboxing Mehr ‘Wisch-Gesten’ für das iPhone. Wer den kleinen Pfeil in der linken oberen Ecke des iPod-Menüs schlecht trifft, kann vom aktuellen Hörbeitrag auch mit einem Fingerzeig nach links zurück in die Titelübersicht springen. (Danke, Lukas!) ~~~~ Blumige Ankündigungen wie ‘verbesserte Tastaturen’ klangen toll, nur wusste keiner was damit gemeint war. Wer sich exemplarisch das finnische Layout anschaut [...]
Mehr ‘Wisch-Gesten’ für das iPhone. Wer den kleinen Pfeil in der linken oberen Ecke des iPod-Menüs schlecht trifft, kann vom aktuellen Hörbeitrag auch mit einem Fingerzeig nach links zurück in die Titelübersicht springen.
(Danke, Lukas!)
~~~~
Blumige Ankündigungen wie ‘verbesserte Tastaturen’ klangen toll, nur wusste keiner was damit gemeint war. Wer sich exemplarisch das finnische Layout anschaut (und damit etwas anfangen kann) wird entzückt feststellen, dass häufig verwendeten Buchstaben wie ‘ä’ auf die erste Tastatur-Seite gewandert sind.
~~~~
Fünf Bilder lassen sich gesammelt an eine E-mail anfügen. Wer noch mehr Darstellungen mit einer einzigen Sendung verschicken mag, kopiert die Photos und hängt diese manuell an eine Mail. Dies birgt außerdem den Vorteil, dass die Photo-Auflösung nicht heruntergeschraubt wird.
~~~~
Wer sich vertippt und dadurch einen unerwünschten Programmstart in Gang setzt, kann diesen mit Firmware 3.0 nun augenblicklich abbrechen. Ein Knopfdruck auf den Home-Button ist dafür ausreichend. Firmware 2.2.1 hat - zumindest teilweise - dieses Kommando erst nach dem ‘Ladebildschirm’ ausgeführt.
~~~~
YouTube und Flickr werden mit iPhone-Galerien befeuert. Stündlich könnte ich an dieser Stelle neue Bilderstrecken veröffentlichen…und das tun wir auch.
In ‘Bits und so’ Folge 149 bereits als Audio-Kommentar aufgegriffen, folgt hier noch einmal der schriftliche Hinweis auf preisgünstige Prepaid-Tarife im (weltweiten) Ausland. Wer ein netlockfreies iPhone gekauft oder entsprechend modifiziert hat, ist damit generell günstiger im Netz unterwegs, als mit seinem heimischen Mobilfunkpartner.
Share the restaurant experience with pictures and music, not words Great short video made by my brother and a buddy in Phoenix, with night and day shots of his favourite local restaurant Palatte. We have a mutual challenge to each create 25 videos in 25 days (and I am waaaay behind). This is quick, easy video production: the right music tells so much of the 'atmosphere' story - no words needed! You have customers who could do this on their ear for the cost of a few meals...just ask - barter is back in fashion!
Great short video made by my brother and a buddy in Phoenix, with night and day shots of his favourite local restaurant Palatte. We have a mutual challenge to each create 25 videos in 25 days (and I am waaaay behind).
This is quick, easy video production: the right music tells so much of the 'atmosphere' story - no words needed! You have customers who could do this on their ear for the cost of a few meals...just ask - barter is back in fashion!
Nakoda Textile Industries Ltd The Company was incorporated as a Private Limited Company on 13th August 1984 under the name of Nakoda Textile Industries Private Limited. It became a deemed Public Limited Company by virtue of Sec. 43 A of Companies Act 1956 on 17th August 1989. By means of resolution passed by Read More..
Wine websites: for art or commerce? Last week I saw a set of witty, original wine labels (on bottles)...and wanted to buy a case for gifts and drinking. Found the website, thinking that would lead me to a supplier. Big mistake - it was one of the most frustrating and over-designed sites I've ever experienced. Moved to rage (time on my hands?) I let fly when I finally found their email address (even that was a chore). Below are some excerpts from our correspondence over several days: Me: Love your labels but gotta say the website is a royal pain in the arse - you sure it doesn't actually prevent sales? Them (in reply): thanks for the note. You know, you're not alone, other people also dislike the website, others the artwork which adorn our wines and there are some that dislike the wine itself...What in particular was the monarchical travesty you refer to with regard to the website? Me: I wasn't just sniping, but want to help you SELL MORE WINE. A website should make it EASY for me to find out about the wine, ask questions, and BUY. Even getting through the home page [a flash page] at the beginning was maddening - I persisted because I'm stubborn, but my guess is most would not. That means fewer sales, and fewer holidays in Europe. On one level, the site matches the uber-cool labels, but I also believe it's a 'sales prevention' tool, not sales enhancement - your web dudes really need to be taken in hand, or replaced. Seriously. Them: We see where you're coming from, however we share a different point of view. There is a plethora of rhetoric I could supply outlining these choices, but at the end of the day, we love making booze and love the implementation of design be...
Last week I saw a set of witty, original wine labels (on bottles)...and wanted to buy a case for gifts and drinking. Found the website, thinking that would lead me to a supplier. Big mistake - it was one of the most frustrating and over-designed sites I've ever experienced. Moved to rage (time on my hands?) I let fly when I finally found their email address (even that was a chore). Below are some excerpts from our correspondence over several days:
Me: Love your labels but gotta say the website is a royal pain in the arse - you sure it doesn't actually prevent sales?
Them (in reply): thanks for the note. You know, you're not alone, other people also dislike the website, others the artwork which adorn our wines and there are some that dislike the wine itself...What in particular was the monarchical travesty you refer to with regard to the website?
Me: I wasn't just sniping, but want to help you SELL MORE WINE. A website should make it EASY for me to find out about the wine, ask questions, and BUY. Even getting through the home page [a flash page] at the beginning was maddening - I persisted because I'm stubborn, but my guess is most would not. That means fewer sales, and fewer holidays in Europe. On one level, the site matches the uber-cool labels, but I also believe it's a 'sales prevention' tool, not sales enhancement - your web dudes really need to be taken in hand, or replaced. Seriously.
Them: We see where you're coming from, however we share a different point of view. There is a plethora of rhetoric I could supply outlining these choices, but at the end of the day, we love making booze and love the implementation of design be it label or website... just kicking it the way we see fit.
And the winner is? I'm guessing the smug web designers...no money has left my hands.
KUALA LUMPUR: The next time you go to a fast-food stall for your burger or doughnut, don’t worry if you have forgotten your money as all you need is your Touch ’n Go card. By next Saturday, you can buy such items from 21 outlets in the Klang Valley under a pilot scheme for the Touch ‘n Go card which is currently a toll, public transport and parking paying device.
The outlets are from A&W, Burger King, Dunkin’ Donut, 7-Eleven, Carrefour hypermarkets, Caltex convenience stores and Cineleisure.
According to Touch ’n Go chief operating officer Hasni Zarina Mohamed Khan, this project would be the start of the card being used for retail purchase. Describing it as a natural progression, she pointed out that the card was an electronic purse and supports Bank Negara’s move for a cashless society.
“We have issued 4.5 million cards to date of which 50% are active (used at least once a month). “At present, the cards are used mainly for toll payment but we hope that by next year, 5% to 10% of the cardholders will use it for retail,” she said in an interview.
She said even for the Octopus card – the transit electronic purse in Hong Kong that is one of the most successful in the world – only 20% of the holders use it for retail purchase.
Touch ‘n Go hopes to increase the number of retail outlets by 20 a month. There could be even more than 150 such outlets throughout the country by year’s end.
She explained that her company had to supply the card readers and backend solutions for the outlets and this took time.
“Consumers need not worry about hidden cost because all the chain stores have an agreement that there will be no extra charges for those using Touch ’n Go cards compared to those using cash. If the item is RM1 then it will still be RM1 if you use our card,” Hasni Zarina added. Hasni Zarina said cardholders could top up the value of their cards to RM1,000 and need not worry if the cards were lost or stolen.
“All they have to do is to inform us immediately and we can block the card. We can then issue a new card with the remaining value,” she said.
The card could also be a good way of controlling children's spending as this could be their one card from taking public transport to buying their lunch or snacks.
Due to rapid growth of Em-Globalnet.com online advertisement portal from March 2008 to May 2008. Em-globalnet.com will release the online advertisement portal quarter turnover report to member. Em-globalnet.com will distribute the dividend to our Plan B share holder from the profit gain.
Em-Globalnet.com online advertisement turnover summary. * emw = E-Wallet point
Each point of Plan B share value worth 0.005 emw. e.g. If a share owner purchase 50 unit of plan B, and 200 points appointed from the 5 plan B unit owned. Share holder will obtain 200 x 0.005 = 1 emw.
http://www.em-globalnet.com/ would like to thanks for the support to the online advertisement portal user. We will keep on improving our system and service to serve our supporter better. Company will keep on distribute the dividend to our share holder on the profit gain in future stay close with us for more news about dividend.
IPC is the Main Organiser to present the "Sichuan Schools & Families Rebuilding Fund Charity Concert" which will be held at the Arena of Stars in Genting Highlands, Malaysia on 15/08/2008 at 8 pm !
The Battle Between Google and Facebook [ Return To WebDevTips ] [ Continue to http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r2057819740 ] More... (http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r2058352599)
Posts about Small Business Info as of Monday, June 22, 2009 Letterhead Printing – gold-price-blog.info 06/21/2009 Communication is key to having an effective marketing campaign to promote your business. Without the right words in your marketing collaterals, you can kiss your business growth goodbye as nothing can make or break your business as your words can. Whatever it is, be it poster Small business consulting using the [...]
Communication is key to having an effective marketing campaign to promote your business. Without the right words in your marketing collaterals, you can kiss your business growth goodbye as nothing can make or break your business as your words can. Whatever it is, be it poster
smallbusiness consulting I run a web company that delivers help in the form of smallbusiness management and accounting software tools and … this and make earn a living from smallbusiness consulting? I’m always willing to give advice as I am lucky enough to spend a major amount of the time of my day interacting with smallbusiness owners
I read two news this week, which makes me think this is coming … , the government did not collect sales tax for two reasons: 1) The online business is small, not much to collect … . I am not lawyer but I lean towards the discounted rate. Amazon may stop doing affiliate business
Viewing your desired classic and modern movies have never been so handy in the moment … . Its rechargeable battery lets you to simply use this while in a long journey towards Asia for a business trip … players accessible nowadays. In fact, almost every regular DVD makers also produce their small
Posts tagged Pharmaceutical+stocks at BloggingStocks . India-based Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (NYSE: RDY) … Stocks Posts — BloggingStocks Small Cap Network Issues Analysis of Pharmaceutical Stocks The Small Cap Network (smallcapnetwork.com), a leading online investment community focused on small cap
Once upon a time, back in those distant days when the Internet was still new and exciting, a new medium developed and flourished: The blog … invitations – it seems pretty much everything is available with a click of the mouse button, and business operators are finding it makes good commercial sense. “This is a great way of doing business from home
Home Entrepreneur Newsletter for erfiojrfeioj Publisher: David Riklan – http://newsletters.selfgrowth … you like to join a small group of everyday people who’ve used his 7-figure business blueprint to make … Coaching Business Starter Kit — Inspirational Quote for Home Entrepreneurs: Zig Ziglar — Article
Meet the New Mr. Goodbar Gordon Basichis In 1975, the not prolonged ago defunct Judith Rossner published her most appropriate charity book, Looking for Mr. Goodbar. The book told the story of the immature womanlike schoolteachers poke for the undiluted man, Mr. Goodbar
Mauritius Discusses IMF Credit Line, Finance Minister Says – Bloomberg Mauritius Discusses IMF Credit Line, … , but when I checked the airline Web … A Credit Squeeze for Small-Business Owners – New York Times Entrepreneur A Credit Squeeze for Small-Business Owners New York Times, United
In this era of globalisation and community building in the virtual space, it is the tools of social networking that comes as a much aided service … in reading between lines of this small informal, technical write-up in a lay man’s language … as a component of business internet strategy with Yahoo
LinkBee Lets You Make Money from Your Short (You Know) I’m back! (sort of..) Regular posting of jobs for those who’d like to work from home will resume soon… In the meantime, here’s one new way to make money from links. *LinkBee is this new link-shortening service that lets you earn from those short links! How? Sign up for a LinkBee account and then create short [...]
And we’re back… Sort of, actually… So, how’s everyone? I’m finally blogging here again. Yay! Yes, all about working from home still. After a few online marketing clients and some virtual assistance projects, I’m now focusing on building my team. If you have solid SEO skills, feel free to send me an email.
TBW Alliance renews partnership with Wilhelmsen Ships Service Wilhelmsen Ships Service announced that TBW Alliance, comprising Teekay Shipping Limited and BW Fleet Management, has renewed their core products contract with the company for the next two years, with an option to extend for a third year.
Cargotec gains two ship-to-shore crane orders for Latin America Cargotec has received two significant Kalmar ship-to-shore (STS) crane orders for customers in Mexico and Guadeloupe. Delivery of the crane to Port Autonome de la Guadeloupe in Guadeloupe and the crane for Pinfra’s subsidiary, Infrastructura Portuaria Mexicana in Altamira, Mexico are scheduled for the last quarter 2010.
Accumulate ABG Shipyard, target of Rs 230: P Lilladher Prabhudas Lilladher has maintained its accumulate rating on ABG Shipyard, with price target of Rs 230, in its report dated June 22, 2009. “Although ABG’s debt increased from Rs 12 billion in Q3FY09 to Rs 15 billion in Q4FY09, the overall finance charge declined from Rs 513 millio...
Buy Blue Star, target of Rs 385: Sushil Finance Sushil Finance has recommended a buy rating on Blue Star, with price target of Rs 385, in its report dated June 09, 2009. “During FY09, Blue Star’s net sales increased by 15% YoY to Rs 25689.5 million. Its EBIDTA increased by 16% at Rs 2725.8 million, while the EBIDTA margins dec...
Buy Shanthi Gears, target of Rs 65: Sushil Finance Sushil Finance has recommended a buy rating on Shanthi Gears, with price target of Rs 65, in its report dated June 22, 2009. “On back of the tough business environment, Shanthi has taken measures to revamp and restructure the entire operational and organizational structure, which m...
Accumulate Sun TV, target of Rs 264: P Lilladher Prabhudas Lilladher has recommended a buy rating on Sun TV, with price target of Rs 264, in its report dated June 25, 2009. “Sun TV’s core business stands firm despite the industrywide slowdown. The company has guided for 12-15% growth in the ad revenues for FY10. However, the sa...
Ustedes I spent some time in Mexico last weekend visiting my brother and his family. His wife’s from Venezuela, he’s from Colorado, any they have a daughter who was born in Mexico. They speak to her in Spanish and English at home, but mostly she speaks Spanish (I’m always fascinated by little kids who speak a [...]
I spent some time in Mexico last weekend visiting my brother and his family. His wife’s from Venezuela, he’s from Colorado, any they have a daughter who was born in Mexico. They speak to her in Spanish and English at home, but mostly she speaks Spanish (I’m always fascinated by little kids who speak a foreign language, or who speak English with a non-North American accent). Years of studying Spanish in university paid off, and I found I was able to speak with my niece and the odd taxi driver with only minor difficulties.
While in this environment I was reminded of the usefulness of the word ustedes in Spanish. We don’t have this word in contemporary English, but loosly translated it means all of you, as in como están ustedes (how are you guys in English). But after having become used to ustedes while speaking Spanish, I find it awkward having to say you guys or you (hoping the inferred plurality is picked up by the recipients). It just seems inefficient.
So I did some research and found that indeed in old-English a literal translation for ustedes did exist. Ye was used to refer to all of you (plural), while you meant, well, you, in the singular sense. Why would we remove ye, a compact, easy to pronounce word from modern English? How much easier would it be to say how are ye instead of how are you guys? Ye does sound very Shakespearean, but then again Australians still say fortnight instead of “two weeks”, and that to me sounds Shakespearean too.
It seems interesting that a language construct would devolve becoming less efficient, not more. Maybe I’ll just stick to Spanish so I can use ustedes.
Why It’s Been Quiet Aaron Newman and I have been working for several months on putting an Enterprise 2.0 implementation guide together. Aaron Fulkerson, CEO of Mindtouch, has been doing the tech editing for us. And we’ll have another all-star, Jevon MacDonald, doing the forward for us. This is my first book, and let me tell [...]
Aaron Newman and I have been working for several months on putting an Enterprise 2.0 implementation guide together. Aaron Fulkerson, CEO of Mindtouch, has been doing the tech editing for us. And we’ll have another all-star, Jevon MacDonald, doing the forward for us. This is my first book, and let me tell you the process is extensive. Figures and illustrations have to follow a special naming pattern, chapters have to meet pre-determined page counts, and the tone of the book has to be consistent (which is tough when you have two authors writing it). Aaron and I edited each other’s chapters as they were completed, then sent them on to Aaron F. for more editing.
Then it’s the publisher’s turn to edit which means even more revisions and re-organization. But I must say this process, though tedious, adds tremendous value.
What’s really interesting is I’ve never met my co-author in person nor have I had a phone conversation with him. We used Basecamp to manage our deadlines and share deliverables. Twitter, IM and email were used for everything else (Basecamp rocked). I am continually amazed at how efficient it is to collaborate using social technologies.
I’ve been spending a lot of time with the book over the past few months (they didn’t give us any chance to give our input into the cover design. I’m not sure what I think of it), which is largely why I’ve been neglecting this blog.
But besides the book I’ve spent time adapting to the consumer world with my job at active.com. We’ve got a lot in the works to overhaul the site and make it more social, engaging and single-purposed. But we’ve got a long way to go and I’ve got a lot of people to manage.
Through the transition away from consulting towards a proper job I’ve learned a lot of things about how E2.0 may or may not add value to an organization. I must say I’ve been somewhat unbalanced with this blog tending to lean in favor of Enterprise 2.0 without adequately considering alternative perspectives. Going forward I plan to entertain opinions from the dark side a bit more to drive debate into a growingly homogenized E2.0 “industry”.
Managing Being a Manager I had an interesting conversation with a good friend of mine while rock climbing tonight about being a Manager. He runs engineering and IT Ops for a medium-sized company in San Diego, and we’re almost exactly the same age. I asked if he ever feels settled with his job. He said “no”. And I feel [...]
I had an interesting conversation with a good friend of mine while rock climbing tonight about being a Manager. He runs engineering and IT Ops for a medium-sized company in San Diego, and we’re almost exactly the same age. I asked if he ever feels settled with his job. He said “no”. And I feel the same way.
Back in the day I was a Software Engineer. My ability to do my job was easily measurable - almost binary even. If I wrote good code quickly that had few bugs it could be easily guaged that I was doing a good job. Bugs and features are all tracked and can be reported on. Life as a Software Engineer is, well, very quantifiable.
But life as a Manager is not. It’s qualifiable. Managers are good if they develop maintain trusted relationships with others within the company, if they delegate, and if they empower those who work for them. And how is “good” measured? It’s not, really. If the team’s producing, then the Manager must be doing a good job. But what if the team is producing because it’s a good team in its own right? What effect do I, as a Manager, actually have on output? It’s hard to say.
So how do the people who’ve been managing for 20 years stay sane? How do they feel like their teams are better because they’re there? I think they’ve learned to let go. To concentrate on a few important items, and to delegate the rest, even when that means “the rest” might fail.
The chart above illustrates where a good Manager will find himself operating. If he’s planned well, the matters at hand will not be urgent. And if he’s properly plugged into the business and maintains healthy relationships, he’ll be able to identify what’s important and what’s not. A good Manager, then, wants to exist in quadrant IV on a daily basis. The rest should be delegated.
Quadrant IV is the key to sanity. It’s the key to managing being a Manager. I guess I haven’t figured out how to get to quadrant IV yet.
Only in San Francisco… Only in San Francisco can you find advertising for open source software. SugarCRM is a popular open source Customer Relationship Management application. Good competitor to the likes of Siebel and Peoplesoft. I was walking in the lobby of a building in the financial district when I saw this. I must say [...]
Only in San Francisco can you find advertising for open source software. SugarCRM is a popular open source Customer Relationship Management application. Good competitor to the likes of Siebel and Peoplesoft. I was walking in the lobby of a building in the financial district when I saw this. I must say it’s pretty cool to be in the land of technology and innovation.
E2.0, Agile and Offshore I’ve been in Xi’an, China this week meeting my offshore team for the first time. The picture here is of the parking lot walking into the office (the doorway is underneath the red letters). This is the first time I’ve ever been to China, and other than feeling like I’ve been smoking a [...]
I’ve been in Xi’an, China this week meeting my offshore team for the first time. The picture here is of the parking lot walking into the office (the doorway is underneath the red letters). This is the first time I’ve ever been to China, and other than feeling like I’ve been smoking a pack of cigarettes every day this place has truly impressed me. There is construction everywhere, and the people are fashionable and optimistic about their bright economic future.
One of the items on my agenda was figuring out how to do agile software development with remote teams. This has been a challenging task, as agile wants constant communication, and in-person at that. Time zones and language barriers are certainly enemies to agile.
But I came across a great article from Martin Fowler discussing how Thoughtworks does agile with its remote team in India. One of the many points he makes is to use wikis to contain common information:
Any common information can be put there, story cards, design guidelines, build instructions, notes on progress - anything that needs to be written down for reference by the team. We’ve found it’s very useful to use the change notification capability that many wikis have, so that page changes trigger notifications through email or an RSS feed.
I think this should be extended to include other Enterprise 2.0 technologies. One of the primary ways to be successful with an offshore team is to build personal relationships that engender trust. Social computing is a good option here. Onshore and Offshore teams should blog about what they did on the weekend, upload pictures of their pets or the vacation they just went on, discuss ongoing projects, exchange ideas, etc. These activities help project the human element of each team member and build bonds that will come in handy under work-related pressure situations.
I will leave China with a renewed passion to implement Enterprise 2.0 for my team.
I’ll also leave with renewed respect for how good the Chinese are at crossing the street at busy intersections.
People become cranky and irrational just because it's hot. It's going to get a lot hotter than this where you're going.
Rogers “Pay As You Go” US roaming The customer service fairy seems to have paid a visit to Rogers recently. Yesterday, I called and inquired about roaming rates to the US for my trip next week. I was pleasantly surprised to find that roaming data rates to the US have dropped from $6,000 per gigabyte, and that I could now buy a [...]
How did you spend your weekend? #iranelection I spent much of my weekend glued to the Internet, transfixed by the images and words coming from Iran. Unable to keep up with the flow coming from Twitter, I turned to Andrew Sullivan’s excellent Daily Dish, where he has published a digest of the more reliable Twitter sources, as well as videos and commentary [...]
Truphone adds 11 Nokia handsets The team at Truphone has been focused for quite a while on their iPhone products. Yesterday, however, they made an announcement that hearkens back to their roots. 11 new Nokia devices have been added to their list of compatible devices, including the N96, N78, N85, N79, 5630, 5800, 5320, 6210, 6220, 6650 and E63. All [...]
Apple iPhone proves the axiom: it takes three tries to get any tech product right. It’s been famously said of Microsoft that it takes them three tries to get anything right. In actual fact, it probably takes every company three tries to deliver a truly great product. Release 1 – get the product to market. Release 2 – listen to customers and correct the biggest omissions in the product. Release [...]
Get Your Priorities Right Hi Everyone, This can be a useful test to really see how your attitude and approach to time management has changed. Imagine that your cherished home is constructed of wood. It catches fire and you have at most 11 minutes to rescue items form your house that you really need to save from the fire. Consider what you would [...]
Hi Everyone,
This can be a useful test to really see how your attitude and approach to time management has changed.
Imagine that your cherished home is constructed of wood. It catches fire and you have at most 11 minutes to rescue items form your house that you really need to save from the fire.
Consider what you would do first and then next and so on.
The answers you give will confirm whether you have got your priorities right, whether you are realistic in what can be achieved in the time available and whether you are getting better at setting your goals.
The $10,000 Facebook Email Challenge I dread getting email on Facebook. How is it that Facebook, with 200 million users, still suffers along with the same broken email client as two years ago. With no folders, no offline mode, slow search, no forward, no ability to add people to a thread, no archive capability, and no ability to delete multiple [...]
Ich kann Kanzler: Horst Schlämmer kandidiert Horst Schl�mmer, stellvertretender Chefredakteur beim Grevenbroicher Tagblatt, hat seinen Job endg�ltig satt. Er sucht nach neuen Herausforderungen und beschlie�t, in die Politik zu gehen und Bundeskanzler zu werden. Er gr�ndet die “Horst Schl�mmer Partei – HSP” und bringt mit seinem ziemlich “horstigen” Wahlkampf die arrivierten Parteien m�chtig auf Trab. Auf dem Weg nach oben begegnet [...]
Mando Diao lassen die Fäuste fliegen Schwedens Musikexport Nummer 1 zur Zeit d�rfte Mando Diao sein. Am vergangenen Samstag konnten die Softrocker ihrer Karriere ein weiteres Highlight hinzuf�gen! Beim weltweit ausgestrahlten Boxkampf zwischen Wladimir Klitschko und Ruslan Chagaev stiegen die 5 Musiker ebenfalls in den Ring! Mando Diao spielten als offizieller Show Act eine neue, speziell f�r diesen Kampf geschrieben Version [...]
Kommunale Fairness: Neuss als erste Fairtrade Kommune ausgezeichnet Wie man in Zeiten der globalen Wirtschaftskrise positiv von sich reden macht, zeigt die kleine Gro�stadt am Rhein Neuss. In Neuss hat das Engagement f�r den Fairen Handel seit 1991 Tradition. Seither kauft die Stadt Neuss f�r den Eigenbedarf nur fair gehandelte Produkte bei Kaffee und Tee. Jetzt hat Neuss als erste Stadt im Bundesgebiet die [...]
How to be Stealth like a Ninja Monkey during a Job Search We’ve all done it. We’ve looked for another job while still employed at our current company. During this recession, workers are keeping one eye on the job market and the other eye on job security. ...
We’ve all done it. We’ve looked for another job while still employed at our current company. During this recession, workers are keeping one eye on the job market and the other eye on job security. It’s like playing a game of chicken. I have friends, who are trying to figure out, “When do I start looking for another job because I might get laid off? If I’m lucky enough to get another job in a new company, will I get laid off there because I’m the low man on the totem pole?” My friends don’t know whether to keep driving forward or when to turn off the road.
Clueless in the 90s
If you’ve decided to search for another job, while still employed, then check out, “How to Minimize Chances The Boss Will Learn You Are Looking” by Dana Mattioli. I l laughed, as I read it, thinking, “Who would be stupid enough to post on a job board and not protect their identity?” Then I remembered, “Me!” Back when I was job hunting in the late 90s, I forgot to block certain companies from viewing my resume. I don’t even remember job boards having the ability to block back then. That’s how clueless I was about using online job boards. I cringe just thinking about it.
Cover Your Bases
If you’re job hunting right now or planning to, then don’t forget to cover your bases. When posting on job boards, it’s easy to forget that your employer may be trolling around the same ones. What could happen if your boss finds out? The possibilities are endless, so be careful by choosing job boards that give you options to protect your privacy. The following job boards have features that protect you during your job search: Monster.com’s “privacy plus,” Hotjobs.com’s “hot block,” and TheLadders.com’s “bio confidentiality.” Remember, your company may be using a recruiter. These features may not prevent recruiters from viewing your resume. So be wary.
Six Tips on Conducting a Job Search
Here are six common sense details to remember:
Clothes: never wear interview clothes at work (especially if your company is business casual).
Faxing or printing resumes and cover letters: never fax or print your resumes at work.
Work email or work telephones: never email or use the work phone for job search calls.
Web surfing activities: never use your computer to search job boards.
Blind ads: be careful when you see a blind ad that doesn’t name the company, since it could be your company.
Interviewing: take a personal day for interviews rather than doing it during “lunch” or an “appointment.” We all know interviews take longer than one hour.
Moral of the story? Be stealth like a ninja monkey, as you search for your new job.
I earmarked page 47, Identifying Market Opportunities and Developing Targeted Offering chapter, because I found the Nine Ways to Build DemandModel to be timeless. I always go back to this 3×3 matrix, when I need to brainstorm business strategy. Do you need to leverage your existing customer base, since it’s easier to sell to existing customers than new ones? Kotler’s model shows three options: market penetration, product modification, or new product development. Do you have the resources and experienced sales team to go after new customers? Then try segment invasion with existing and modified product(s) and diversify with new product development.
My second favorite page from Kotler on Marketing? I also earmarked page 49 of the same chapter, because I admired Disney’s Portfolio Evolution. Kotler used an excellent visual representation of the Disney timeline, from 1920 to present as they grew from animation into merchandising, music, and publishing; filmed entertainment; broadcasting; live entertainment; theme parks; and vacations, resorts, and property development.
This book changed the way I approach strategy as an entrepreneur and knowledge worker. While I may revisit Beyond the Core and Blue Ocean Strategy, Kotler on Marketing is the must-have book on marketing that also includes strategy. Is there a book in your library that changed everything for you? If not, then it’s time to find one that becomes the one tool you rely on in your black box of your personal brand.
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12 Questions for Career Mindfulness Series
The 12 Questions for Career Mindfulness Series reflects on twelve questions to help you reflect about the course of your career. Perhaps once you see your answers, you’ll see patterns or maybe you won’t. These questions conjure up memories of jobs that may still create some undercurrent of discomfort. I hope some questions validate your strengths or your weaknesses, while some questions provoke a memory that you thought you forgot.
How was the first day of your last job? How was the last day of your first job?
If you wrote an email to yourself on attitude adjustment, how would it read?
What things did you do or love as a child that explains how your work today?
Write about a phone call that changed everything in your life.
Write about the book that changed everything in your career.
If you could ask a former boss a question you wanted to ask, what would that question be?
Have you experienced a painful loyalty?
What happened on a workday that was different?
How did it all go wrong so fast?
What if you didn’t get that job?
What is the elephant in the room?
What if you finally get to do what you always wanted?
I’ll post one question on career mindfulness per work day for the rest of June 2009. For previous entries in this series, click here.
How can you not like Taylor Swift? She’s likable. She’s versatile. And she dreams big. We should all take a page out of her career management playbook. Speaking of young talented people, Suzy Welch has advice for college graduates, entering the workforce during this recession. Today’s economic uncertainty has changed how we manage our career, Herrick warns that we may sending signals that we’re a poor job performer, putting our job at risk. Check out his advice on how to avoid looking like a unproductive worker. BTW, the government’s still hiring, find out the details at Forbes.com.
Soaring Past Annoying Little Coworker Things: Lisa Rosendahl offers advice on how to ignore the little things that annoying coworkers do by taking the high road and staying above the fray.
The Welch Way: Release Your Inner Extrovert: BusinessWeek Columnists Jack & Suzy Welch say that introverts employed by large organizations often find they have to outperform colleagues just to hold their ground. What’s an introvert to do? Release the inner extrovert.
Be Likable and Dream like Taylor Swift: Swift’s brand is consistently positive, likable, and hopeful. Swift is a success story that dreaming big, having vision of self, being talented, relentless discipline can help you achieve your career goals.
Smart Lemming Diary: It’s all about Goals & Objectives August 6, 2005 Yesterday, Amanda made a comment alluding to her absence of goals from Tom. She quickly softened the comment with a follow-up statement, but it was clear that she felt she didn’t have something ...
August 6, 2005
Yesterday, Amanda made a comment alluding to her absence of goals from Tom. She quickly softened the comment with a follow-up statement, but it was clear that she felt she didn’t have something to shoot for. Of course, she knows she must close as many sales as possible for the new channel. Yes, she knows she has to develop leads for direct sales. Tom has admitted to me that he’s not, “The best manager.”
How should Amanda deal with this? Should she wait for Tom to come up with specific goals and objectives for her? Should she be proactive and do her own needs assessment, helping her define how she could be aligning her work to the sales goals?
100-Day (or 90) Plan
Contrary to his management of Amanda and probably because he feels he has so much riding on hiring me, Tom was quick to request a 90-day review period in my letter of acceptance. On my first day, we had a meeting with Amanda and the VP of Engineering to identify their priorities for Marketing, along with his goals. My first draft is due on August 12, with initial drafts going through reviews with Amanda and Luke for a collaborate approach.
Develop a Needs Assessment to I.D. Deliverables for Your 100-Day Plan
As part of my process, I used my Needs Assessment form to identify specific deliverables across the continuum from strategy to tactical marketing. I identified what should be covered in the 100-Day and what was beyond 100 days. Having tools like this make it easier to re-use for new projects or new jobs. I recommend coming up with something similar if you have deliverables or tools that you always produce in your career.
Review Two Key Books as Part of Your 100-Day Plan
Thank goodness, I read and love the two books: The First 90 Days: Critical Success Strategies for New Leaders at All Levelsand High Impact Middle Management. Having this knowledge helps me think through what I have to cover in my first 90/100 days. While I admit I’m having a hard time carving out time for creating the plan, I will make time this weekend. I don’t want to forget any steps or make any missteps with my first draft due on Friday.
Long and Short of It
In the absence of a 90-day plan from Tom, I hope Amanda’s light bulb goes off on her own, rather than waiting for them from Tom. If I were Amanda, I would define my job into three key areas: direct sales, channel sales, and client services. She could be thinking through what her goals should be for each function, since she already knows that she has to help the channel partner close on 60 sales. I don’t fault Amanda for being unaware that she should be proactive by defining her own goals, present to Tom, and work with him on validating the goals before working on them.
The Smart Lemming Diary is a series that chronicles a journey of laid-off worker, who becomes a Vice President of Sales Operations & Marketing for a small entrepreneurial healthcare technology company.
Smart Lemming Diary: First Day of Work as Director August 1, 2005 Today was my first day of work as Director of Marketing. It’s hard to believe that I wasn’t even looking for a job, when this one cross my path in early June. How ...
August 1, 2005
Today was my first day of work as Director of Marketing. It’s hard to believe that I wasn’t even looking for a job, when this one cross my path in early June. How often does an opportunity emerge, that’s the next rung up the career ladder? I was fortunate that the process took a little over a month. I had three weeks to get my business projects started, hiring web contractors, so I could start my new job.
I had a great first day in the office. I like my new boss, Tom . He’s calm, quiet spoken, and a nice guy. Even the Controller, who’s supposed to be a “cranky” guy, seems very friendly. It’s nice to have a fresh start. I thought I’d be keyed up like the first day of school, but I it was more of a “matter of fact” feeling. Either I’m getting older, where nothing fazes me or I’m just more confident and prepared.
I spent my first hour with Tom. We mostly chatted, as he gave me the tour, introducing me to everyone, my office, and work laptop. I haven’t had an office, since two jobs ago so that’s a plus. I’m stuck with a little Sony Vaio, which concerns me, since I haven’t had the best luck with Vaios. I had one, but the hard drive crashed twice, so I finally bought an HP. I’m hoping to use my laptop mostly with a flash drive, so I can transfer files or something. I already had mail come in my name for a trade show that we have to attend in September. Talk about hitting the ground running.
First Meeting with Key Colleagues
Tom quickly scheduled a meeting for us with Amanda and the CTO, both of whom, I’ll be working very closely with. They gave me their priorities for marketing. Tom would like me to have a first draft of my 100-day plan by August 12. From Barbara and Luke’s perspective, they’ve identified the following as top priorities:
Product collateral: channel and direct
Proposal (standard template): channel and direct
Tradeshows: speaking engagements, new booth, and lead integration information into Salesforce.com
Top priorities from Tom’s perspective:
Initial Plan for 100 days
Qualified leads to sales
Channel development and support (there are two more channels he’s trying to development)
Non-channel (direct) marketing
Tom mentioned he realized he hadn’t prepared for me, so he started to work on something. He found my two documents that I had given him during the interview process, the 100-day plan and the needs assessment, so he stopped and realized he didn’t have to do anything but show up for my first day of work.
Our Daily Work Tools
I’m such a creature of habit. I always use a separate keyboard and mouse with laptops. I found today to be inefficient, due to not having the right tools. Fortunately, I never unpacked my box of personal items from my previous job. In my personal box, (I believe in not personalizing workspace, in case you need a quick exit), I have my keyboard, mouse, mouse pad, halogen desk lamp, desk pad, desk accessories, and other things. I need my whiteboards, my desk chair, and other things, and then I’ll be truly ready to hit the ground running.
My Portfolio: Key to My Success
The binders I created for Tom have made the rounds with the Management team. For example, my Sales Reference Guide with examples of my work were passed from Barbara to the COO/EVP and CTO; both of whom were very excited to see that they too could have tools like that for their company. These notebooks were key to landing the job. More importantly, my portfolio demonstrated I’ve created these documents before. It’s been nice to hear positive feedback from everyone.
First On-site Demo Tomorrow Morning
I’ve been invited to sit in on a sales demo with Tom and Barbara for tomorrow morning. It’s not very often these things happen locally, so I’m looking forward to seeing both of them in action.
The Smart Lemming Diary is a series that chronicles a journey of laid-off worker, who becomes a Vice President of Sales Operations & Marketing for a small entrepreneurial healthcare technology company.
3 Winning Resume Strategies for 10 Distinct Career Stages Resumes are an art form. While it’s easy to think one resume fits all. It doesn’t. Learn the basics of resume writing, how to tailor resumes for ten different career stages, and how to fill ...
Resumes are an art form. While it’s easy to think one resume fits all. It doesn’t. Learn the basics of resume writing, how to tailor resumes for ten different career stages, and how to fill in the gaps in work history.
Focus on Specifics: “Using a generic résumé instead of a targeted résumé is the biggest mistake [job seekers] at all levels make,” says Pat Kendall, a nationally certified résumé write.
Stick to One Page: According to Karlene Comiskey, president of Washington executive search firm KDSearch,”Unless you’re Bill Gates, there’s no reason to go over two pages,” Comiskey advises “After that, people just stop reading.”
Misspellings Are a No-No: “KDSearch’s Comiskey says forgiving HR people might let you slide with one flaw, but two is an express route to the trash can. The best way to make sure you’ve covered all these grounds: Hand over your résumé to someone you trust and respect for a second opinion.”
While these three tips are self-evident, it’s still worth you to read MacMillan’s article. I also recommending creating resumes specific to the job class you’re pursuing. For example, I had a product marketing resume, a product management resume, and a “middle management” resume. If you’re taking a multi-lateral approach like this, then play to your strengths for each job type, using MacMillan common sense tips.
If you’re having problems gaps in your résumés, then check out Marty Nemko’s video for resume writing advice on how to deal with this issue, proposing a simple solution for the work gap problem.
2. Master’s Degree: Is It Worth It?: with the recession hitting college graduates hard, consider staying in school to get your master’s degree. Recently laid off? Consider continuing education to ride out the recession.
3. 4 Reasons Why those Non-Dream Jobs are Important to You: after you write your strategic plan, determine if more education is an option for you, make peace with your job that you may not be excited about. For the unemployed, any non-dream job will do to make ends meet.
4. Do I Need a Portfolio of My Work?: even if you’re employed, start identifying materials for your portfolio. You never know when you’ll be forced into a job search, due to the continued threat of layoffs by employers.
7. A Smart Lemming Success Tale - Business Books Add Value: Now is the time to start reading business books or any books that will introduce you to new ideas and skills that will help you will your job, job search, or discover your passion in work.
10. 8 Ways to Become an Effective Executive: whether your employed or unemployed, a manager or a worker, learn how you can contribute to your company, ensuring improved success in your job performance.
Feeling Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable If you’re like me, you do not like being uncomfortable. As you move up the career ladder or become an entrepreneur, you’re constantly in unfamiliar situations like going to events, being in meetings with key ...
If you’re like me, you do not like being uncomfortable. As you move up the career ladder or become an entrepreneur, you’re constantly in unfamiliar situations like going to events, being in meetings with key investors, or pitching potential acquirers. For others, it might be making public appearances, meeting public personalities, or posing for photos. Through out your career, the events that cross your path are unfamiliar. A key to success is learning to cope in these situations and thrive in them.
But how do you learn to become comfortable with unfamiliar situations? If you want to learn this key to success, check out Barry Farber’s video. He’s an entrepreneur, who discusses how to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. He reminds us that we shouldn’t be afraid to do the thing that makes us uncomfortable. The only way to get good at something is to actually doing it. Simple? Yes. But scary for some.
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Smart Lemming Diary: Former Sales Colleague Interviews Well August 16, 2005 My former sales coworker, Jamie, flew in Sunday night for Monday interviews. She met with Tom first. whom she had to convince that working remotely from her home office was effective. Jamie sold ...
August 16, 2005
My former sales coworker, Jamie, flew in Sunday night for Monday interviews. She met with Tom first. whom she had to convince that working remotely from her home office was effective. Jamie sold over $4 million in products for our last employer. Tom liked her. Until he’s fixes the sales compensation plan, he won’t be able to make her an offer, assuming everyone on the loop agrees on her. The commission structure and percentage is off. I took Jamie to lunch. She made it clear that she loves the company, people, and Tom.
Sales Compensation Package
The stock options are a big deal for her and it was a key recruiting point that Tom would like to flip the company with all his employees make money. Today, I’m sure Tom will get all of us together to discuss whether to give her an offer.
Jonathan’s Deadlines is EOD Today
The other key hire we’re trying to recruit for my direct report is Jonathan for a marketing position. Tom gave him the deadline of end of day today, as a way to get a response from Jonathan on whether or not he’s going to accept or decline the offer. Tom did tell me that if Jonathan declines because the salary is a little too low, then he was willing to increase it. We’ve given Jonathan a very good deal that he would never find at another company in our product category. I hope Jonathan adjusts his expectations that living in the city are different from in small towns. We’ll see how the day unfolds. I guess I’ll know by 5:00 pm PST today.
The Smart Lemming Diary is a series that chronicles a journey of laid-off worker, who becomes a Vice President of Sales Operations & Marketing for a small entrepreneurial healthcare technology company.
You have a brilliant idea. But do you have a business model? Check out,“Your Business Model: More Than a Pitch” by Gwen C. Edwards, who used to run a $400 million networking division of SBC Communications (now AT&T). She explains that a business model must answer four critical questions:
How do you plan to engage the market?
How do you plan to make money?
Do you plan to sell your product directly or through other channels?
Do you plan to provide services or manufacture product? Do you plan to charge users, advertisers, or some other party who gains value from your offering?
Edward also points out how a business model refers to more than how you make money, but where you are positioned in your industry by answering three additional questions:
How do you fit in?
Are you disruptive?
Are you creating a new way of doing business?
Business Model Affects Everything In Your Business
Edwards’ also explains why your business model affects everything about your business:
Know that your choice of business model has profound implications on your rate of revenue, the amount of capital you will need, and the competition you will face…You may be tempted to choose more than one business model, but you’ll be pushed to pick just one—the model you think is most likely to succeed, and give you and your investors a home run! Know that your choice of business model will affect your capital requirements, competition, resources required, types of skills you’ll need, and just about everything else about your business. Your decision also tests just how clearly and thoroughly you’ve thought about your business.
Are You Sure Your Business Model Is What It’s Supposed To Be?
There’s nothing worse than realizing that the business model you thought you have, in fact, wasn’t at all what you thought you built. Mistakes like this can cause your burn rate to accelerate, forcing you into more funding. The actual business model’s not compelling, possibly threatening to force you out of business.
Edwards’ article is a reminder for entrepreneurs to define, check, and recheck your business model, since it’s mission critical for survival. She uses Starbucks and Salesforce.com as examples of the business model itself being the essence of the breakthrough idea. Edwards offers recommendations to entrepreneurs on testing and refining your business model. If you think you have the next big thing, then read her article to avoid blind spots in your business model.
Thought you might enjoy seeing a prototype of an outdoor Fonera we're working on. There have been lots of requests for a device like this and we're working on it! No price or release date, just a working model at this point.
The FON Wiki has grown to around 850 pages in 11 languages. To celebrate it's growth and the addition of video support we're giving away 5 La Fonera 2 Beta's! Over the next month we'll pick the 5 best contributions to the Wiki and reward them with a La Fonera 2 Beta. We'll judge on quality not quantity! Any type of contribution counts, including translations. So show us something new, advertise a great FON spot, introduce a video or surprise us. You can find detailed contest rules here.
Names of the winners will be published on FON WiKi the 3rd of April. The FON Wiki is the Wikipedia of FON. It’s a collaborative way to share knowledge about FON, a place where Foneros can gather and share their tips, tutorial, links and much more with the community. In the Web 2.0 tradition, anyone is welcome to contribute. You just have to create an account and confirm your email to start editing or adding new content.
Great news for Foneros in Continental Europe and Japan, the Fonera 2.0 is back in stock! We clearly underestimated demand but we have them in stock now and you can order here!
Our maps let you search for restaurants, bars, and FON spots wherever you are. Now our maps are available as an iPhone application! Now you can easily find FON Spots on the go. Best of all the app is free, just like WiFi access for our members!
For developers keeping up with the latest and greatest on the Fonera 2.0 we have firmware to announce! You can download the latest on the wiki. This update features a complete remodeling of the routers management console. The new dashboard raises the bar for traditional router management consoles. It's without a doubt the nicest I have seen. Teaser shot is below. Of course, you can buy the Fonera 2.0 and see it for yourself. Remember to check the blog at Fonosfera for all the latest news.
Right Place, Right Time For Tesla. Electric Car Maker Gets $460M From US Gov San Carlos-based Tesla, maker of a $109K electric sports car, has won $350M in low-interest loans to develop a $57,499 four-door sedan and $100M to expand a drive train business that sells parts to other automakers. The loans come courtesy of the US ...
Aria Medical Equipment is now on Twitter Aria Medical Equipment recently launched its own Twitter page! By following us on Twitter, you will find our warehouse item of the day, promotions, and news. It is a great way to keep up to date with what’s going on at Aria Medical Equipment. As a Twitter follower, you may even receive special insider information.
By following us on Twitter, you will find our warehouse item of the day, promotions, and news. It is a great way to keep up to date with what’s going on at Aria Medical Equipment. As a Twitter follower, you may even receive special insider information.
National AED/CPR Awareness Week The first week of June was declared as National AED/CPR Awareness week by Congress in December of 2007. The goal of National AED/CPR week is to encourage everyone to establish programs that offer CPR and AED trainings. With this knowledge, people will be skilled to respond to a life-or-death situation confidently. Aria Medical Equipment has created [...]
The first week of June was declared as National AED/CPR Awareness week by Congress in December of 2007. The goal of National AED/CPR week is to encourage everyone to establish programs that offer CPR and AED trainings. With this knowledge, people will be skilled to respond to a life-or-death situation confidently.
Aria Medical Equipment has created a special promotional package to honor National AED/CPR awareness week. This package includes the Defibtech Lifeline AED unit, an extra set of adult defibrilator pads, a wall storage cabinet, a V-shaped sign, and a CPR rescue pack and check tag.
Now through June 30, you’ll receive an additional 5% off UMF power tables, plus free dock to dock shipping.
Zoll AED Plus Recalled Due to recent incidents of a failure to shock, the Zoll AED Plus automated external defibrillator has been recalled. Please visit http://www.zollaedplusbatteryhelp.com/ for more information.
Due to recent incidents of a failure to shock, the Zoll AED Plus automated external defibrillator has been recalled. Please visit http://www.zollaedplusbatteryhelp.com/ for more information.
Why would any sane person buy a home in the Bay Area? Yes, home values have dropped, significantly,painfully, and quickly. Yet the prices here in the East Bay Area are still ridiculously high. Measured by “affordability index”, rent/value ratios, or compared to national averages we are still 50% too high. But, There are a couple of reasons, and they are so pervasive that it’s sometimes hard for us to fully appreciate [...]
Yes, home values have dropped, significantly,painfully, and quickly.
Yet the prices here in the East Bay Area are still ridiculously high.
Measured by “affordability index”, rent/value ratios, or compared to national averages we are still 50% too high.
But,
There are a couple of reasons, and they are so pervasive that it’s sometimes hard for us to fully appreciate it.
Diversity
Diversity in people and culture of course. but that’s easy to see. I often travel to Tulsa, Oklahoma to check on my investment properties. There is a stark, jolting difference between the racial makeup of people in the Tulsa airport compared to Oakland airport. I arrive back home at OAK and feel at home. Tulsa is great, but the Bay Area reflects the beauty the world.
We also have incredible diversity of cultural opportunities. We have great museums, parks, forests, beaches, trails, etc. (be sure to so to the new California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate park). My children go to Chinese school on Fridays, I make pottery in Walnut Creek, we can go to Chinatown for Dim Sum. The Realtors in my office speak something like 15 different languages.
From a Realtor’s perspective the diversity that really counts is in the real estate. It’s possible to find any sort of home, from classic craftsman to funky modern. I can show clients big city urban or horse country rural. All in one day. It’s really spectacular.
I recently have been looking on Alameda Island for a client. There are neighborhoods with Craftsman, Victorians, and all sots of fantastic choices.
Comfort
We can enjoy our homes inside and out. When you look at the number of days we can sit outside compared to most parts of the US our “home price/days-sitting-in-the-sun” index is better than almost anywhere. As I write this (Dec 6th) my son is sitting on our deck in a short sleeved shirt.
We love to complain when home prices get too high to afford.
We complain even more when they drop in half.
Still, when you look at the whole lifestyle package, homes here are a bargin.
Posted in Alameda, Chinese, Contra Costa, East Bay area, Non-business, Price change, real estate, Real Estate agent, Real estate investing, Real estate market stats, Tulsa
The Iranian Election Surprise: Neda! Did anyone THINK that the elections would be fair? Would the spiritual head of Iran allow a more pro-Western stance win the election? Could tens of millions paper ballots be counted in a matter of hours? That’s NO surprise; however, the real surprise is that the losing opposition has become so determined. Iran hard-core leaders [...]
Did anyone THINK that the elections would be fair? Would the spiritual head of Iran allow a more pro-Western stance win the election? Could tens of millions paper ballots be counted in a matter of hours? That’s NO surprise; however, the real surprise is that the losing opposition has become so determined. Iran hard-core leaders are totally surprise by the degree of insurrection and rebellion as a result of the rigged election.
NEDA has become one of the many battle cries as a result of the violence and deaths over the last week.
“RIP NEDA, The World cries seeing your last breath, you didn’t die in vain. We remember you.” That post on Twitter came from a man who identified himself as an American guitarist in Nashville, Tennessee. Amid the hundreds of images and videos of Saturday’s brutal crackdown on protesters in Iran that flooded the Internet, it was the graphic video showing the death of a young woman that touched a nerve among those following the events in Tehran for more than a week.
What the religious leaders in Iran have discovered is that the internet and digital world that w now live in has great perils for their power.
Having done all that they can to block out the deaths, violence, and mayhem, the news is still getting out through social networking formats such as Facebook and Twitter!
One blogger posted that Neda was protesting with her father in Tehran when pro-government Basiji militia opened fire and shot her in the heart. “The final moments of her tender young life leaked into the pavement of Karegeh Street today, captured by cell phone cameras,” the unnamed blogger posted on Newsvine.com. “And not long after, took on new life, flickering across computer screens around the world on YouTube, and even CNN.” As the adage goes, a thousand deaths is a statistic: while one personal death is a tragedy.
Who would have guessed that the young life of Neda would become the new FACE of the Iranian election?
Musikindustrie steht Kopf: 1,9 Mio. $ Schadensersatz für 24 illegale Musikdownloads Motor Entertainment startet Gegenbewegung zur Popkomm Wie in den letzten Tagen durch alle Medien und Acht-Uhr-Nachrichtenpl�tze verbreitet, findet die diesj�hrige Popkomm in Berlin nicht statt. Der Vorsitzende der Bundesverbandes der Musikindustrie, Dieter Gorny, sagt die Popkomm aufmerksamkeitsheischend mit der Begr�ndung ab, dass “viele Unternehmen es sich wegen des Diebstahls im Internet nicht mehr leisten k�nnen, an [...]
Mando Diao lassen die Fäuste fliegen Schwedens Musikexport Nummer 1 zur Zeit d�rfte Mando Diao sein. Am vergangenen Samstag konnten die Softrocker ihrer Karriere ein weiteres Highlight hinzuf�gen! Beim weltweit ausgestrahlten Boxkampf zwischen Wladimir Klitschko und Ruslan Chagaev stiegen die 5 Musiker ebenfalls in den Ring! Mando Diao spielten als offizieller Show Act eine neue, speziell f�r diesen Kampf geschrieben Version [...]
Ich kann Kanzler: Horst Schlämmer kandidiert Horst Schl�mmer, stellvertretender Chefredakteur beim Grevenbroicher Tagblatt, hat seinen Job endg�ltig satt. Er sucht nach neuen Herausforderungen und beschlie�t, in die Politik zu gehen und Bundeskanzler zu werden. Er gr�ndet die “Horst Schl�mmer Partei – HSP” und bringt mit seinem ziemlich “horstigen” Wahlkampf die arrivierten Parteien m�chtig auf Trab. Auf dem Weg nach oben begegnet [...]
Musikalisch-literarische Masken: Wenzel vertont kongenial Lyrik von Christoph Hein (Hans Eckhard) Wenzel (der etwas tierische Vergleich sei mir gestattet und sogleich verziehen) ist ein echtes Tr�ffelschwein, was das Aufsp�ren sch�ner deutscher Texte angeht. Ein Entdecker von Kostbarkeiten, die uns als H�rer ebenfalls zu Entdeckern machen. Denn der begnadete Liedermacher ist jemand, der solche raren Werke mit viel Herz, Hirn und Humor aufbereitet und aus der [...]
Picture Pogo: Zwonull macht Medienpunk für die Toten Hosen Reden wir heute ausnahmsweise mal nicht so viel �ber die Toten Hosen und ihre Rampensau Campino vorne auf der B�hne, sondern mehr �ber das, was da w�hrend der „Machmalauter!”-Tour hinter den D�sseldorfer Vorzeigepunkern passiert an wildem Bildersturm. Das ist dann automatisch Werbung f�r Wolfram Zwanziger alias Zwonull, der mit seiner fabelhaften Medienarbeit f�r die Hosen allerdings [...]
Mariah Carey ist besessen Zumindest was ihre Musik betrifft geh�rt Mariah Carey zu den manischen K�nstlerinnen. Die Chartqueen, die sogar den ewigen Elvis vom Bestenlisten-Thron gestossen hat, legt nach ihrem 2008er Hitalbum „E=MC²“ nach. Die erste Singleauskopplung ihres f�r den August zu erwartenden Albums hei�t also ganz folgerichtig Obsessed und feiert bei uns heute Radiopremiere! Schon seit rund 20 Jahren [...]
[studie] Labour flows in Belgium De paper beschrijft de banenstromen in België, berekend aan de hand van microgegevens op bedrijfsniveau die afkomstig zijn van de sociale balansen die de ondernemingen elk jaar bij de Nationale Bank van België moeten neerleggen. Het onderzoeksdomein is zeer ruim: het omvat alle industrietakken en commerciële diensten. De paper draagt bij tot de bestaande literatuur door de analyse van een lange periode van 1998 tot 2006, die zowel opgaande als neergaande conjunctuurfasen in de Belgische economie omvat. Op basis van de gegevens van de sociale balansen kon bovendien, naast met de heterogeniteit van de bedrijven, rekening worden gehouden met die van de werknemers: de banenstromen konden worden opgesplitst volgens het socio-professioneel statuut en het soort arbeidsovereenkomst.
Forest fire is burning in the East Bay, And it’s not all bad… I have seen a lot of pain in the professional part of my life this year. We all have been hit by the scary financial mess and real estate bust. Many of my Realtor colleagues are out of the business, many of my friends and family are facing uncertain financial futures. I wish I could do more to [...]
I have seen a lot of pain in the professional part of my life this year. We all have been hit by the scary financial mess and real estate bust. Many of my Realtor colleagues are out of the business, many of my friends and family are facing uncertain financial futures. I wish I could do more to help. It’s a bit like firefighters who are able to protect a few homes, but can only watch the forest burn until Mother Nature steps in. This fire is still burning. The bright spot is that opportunities have opened up for many buyers who felt they had been passed by. My Niece in Seattle,my Nephew in LA, and my Cousin in Napa are all in their 20s and are able to buy a first home. I am working with various Clients to help them buy their first rental house. Rational real estate buying is possible again in the East Bay for the first time in 10 years. It’s like the trees that need fire to open their cones to seed the new forest. Rational investing means that the deal makes financial sense the day you buy it, and into the foreseeable future. For most simple rentals a rough test is the 1% rule [ if rents equal 1% of the purchase price it might be a good deal ]. For example, if you buy a 3/2 rental for $190,000 and can rent it for about $1,900/month it’s probably a very good deal. I now see a few these deals here in the East Bay (still takes a lot of effort to find them).
Are you ready to take action? If you are, call me. If not, what can I do to help you get ready?
Eric Haggin Keller Williams Realty 925 336-6462 Eric@EastBayPlus.com
Posted in 1031 exchange, Alameda, Cash Flow, Concord, Contra Costa, Dublin, East Bay area, foreclosure, Foreclosures, Fremont, Keller Williams, Livermore, NOD NOT REO, Pleasanton, real estate, Real estate income, Real estate investing, San Ramon Tagged: rational investing, Rental homes
Ready to buy a home or investment property? When you are ready to buy a home or rental property, I hope you will contact me. I am ready to help. But first… It’s critical to contact a skilled mortgage professional to help you decide what you can truly afford. You will need to show bank statements, proof of employment, tax records, and other information. We don’t care [...]
When you are ready to buy a home or rental property, I hope you will contact me.
I am ready to help.
But first…
It’s critical to contact a skilled mortgage professional to help you decide what you can truly afford.
You will need to show bank statements, proof of employment, tax records, and other information. We don’t care if you make a little or a lot, we just need to help you find the best loan for your unique situation.
After you are pre-approved I will know exactly how much you can spend on your new home. I help Buyers in any price range as long as they have already spoken with a trusted mortgage broker first.
Keller Williams Realty 760 Camino Ramon, #200 Danville, CA 94526 Posted in Alameda, Cash Flow, Contra Costa, East Bay area, Foreclosures, Keller Williams, Real Estate agent, Real estate income, Real estate investing, San Ramon
San Ramon is hot… The current San Ramon real estate market is not what you would think if you only watched the news. For the past few years I have been compiling MLS data and charting the Active/Pending ratio in various cities of the East Bay. Here is San Ramon as of 5/1/2009: The current level of this ratio on this chart [...]
The current San Ramon real estate market is not what you would think if you only watched the news.
For the past few years I have been compiling MLS data and charting the Active/Pending ratio in various cities of the East Bay.
Here is San Ramon as of 5/1/2009:
The current level of this ratio on this chart looks like a SELLERS market !
This matches my recent experience.
I am currently working with Buyers in Vallejo, Concord, Walnut Creek, Fremont, Tracy, and San Ramon.
By far the most difficult area is San Ramon because of the very limited inventory of sellable homes. We have 2 months (enough homes that if no more came on, all currnt listing would sell in 2 months) on the market, but actually almost half are Tenant occupied short-sales so they are hard to show to my Clients.
San Ramon is special because of the very powerful draw of the school system and because it’s location is central to the East Bay. I spoke with Buyers a few days ago, the wife works in Berkeley, and the Husband work in Fremont. San Ramon is a perfect commute compromise.
But really, it’s all about the schools.
Eric Haggin
925 336-6462
Eric@EastBayPlus.com
Posted in Contra Costa, East Bay area, NOD NOT REO, real estate, Real estate investing, Real estate market stats, San Ramon
$25,000 price reduction- Near San Ramon Valley High We have made a significant price reduction on my listing at 52 Danville Oak Pl in Danville. 52 Danville Oak Pl.—Westside Danville This is a beautiful, large condo walking distance to San Ramon Valley High School. MAP of 52 Danville Oak Pl, Danville More photos MLS Listing 3 bed, 2.5 bath home. Over 1600 sq ft. Garage plus an assigned [...]
We have made a significant price reduction on my listing at 52 Danville Oak Pl in Danville.
52 Danville Oak Pl.—Westside Danville
This is a beautiful, large condo walking distance to San Ramon Valley High School.
Zepol announces top five insights in the US Census Bureau’s merchandise trade data; Examination of April’s Trade Data Leads to A Few Surprises The United States Census Bureau released its monthly merchandise trade data report, which tracks the movement of goods between foreign countries and the United States, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and US Foreign Trade Zones. The report found that the country’s deficit in goods and services increased to $29.2 billion in April from $28.5 billion in March. To further understand the government’s trade numbers, Zepol Corporation has created an update showing the top five surprises within the data.
DHL enhances direct LCL services DHL will enhance its Less than Container Load (LCL) services with the launch of direct LCL services connecting Tokyo and Yokohama to Chicago, US The introduction of these weekly guaranteed services reduces transit times by at least three days compared to current services, while enhancing security and increasing both business efficiency and competitiveness.
Bank of France less gloomy, trade deficit narrows The Bank of France forecast a marginally less gloomy outlook for the French economy in the second quarter and trade figures for April showed a slight narrowing in the deficit.
1-way PSA “Automation” So earlier yesterday we were going over our launch plans for our PSA integrations and one of the API’s just doesn’t have the same level of functionality to create and manage contracts and companies remotely. And as I mentioned here, if I do something for one group and not the other the holy war ensues. So [...]
So earlier yesterday we were going over our launch plans for our PSA integrations and one of the API’s just doesn’t have the same level of functionality to create and manage contracts and companies remotely. And as I mentioned here, if I do something for one group and not the other the holy war ensues.
So here is the problem we are trying to address: Most of OWN’s services are subscription based and the quantity of subscriptions can vary from month to month because the only way you can make money in services is by giving the end user full control to add / remove / modify services when and how they please. This creates an awesome income effect, until the last of the month when you have to reconcile the accounts between us and your PSA.
Now, you could just enter the service changes into your PSA as OWN notifies you of new services and changes. And I’m the bunny Vlad that makes the cookies.
The So-so-solution…
Yesterday we talked this over and we just can’t find a way to make it happen with a 2-way sync as we do in the other PSA integration.
So I coined a new phrase: 1-way automation. It works like this:
Just tell them to create all the contracts manually. When a new contract is created, we’ll just automate our side of notifying them to create a contract so we can update and modify it remotely.
You call it a crappy email alert. I’ll call it 1-way automation
Now obviously that still falls into the category of “your job is so worthless it could be done by a retarded monkey” so it’s a no-go. We also have no proactive way of running a kick-start script as we do with the other PSA.
So the only thing we got left is screen macro playback. This is the software used in software testing where you can record case scenarios and the software moves the mouse, fills in input fields, scrolls down, fills pages, does stuff in sequence. We can automate creation of a macro that would go through your software, locate company, locate appropriate tabs, create products and services and notes – so we can then automatically sync them via API.
If this were the only way to shave off what is at least 2 hours a month in double data entry, would you do it? Got a better idea? Please voice all your comments and ideas to your OWN/ExchangeDefender Partner Account Manager (not me, please don’t bother as I’m not touching the @vladville.com email until next week as previously noted)
We’re still planning as next Monday being the launch day for all our PSA integrations, 1-way or otherwise
Bittersweet WPC Earlier today the team wrapped up our Microsoft WPC plans and agenda. We will be sponsoring the event that I’ve traditionally made my biggest deals at. Microsoft WPC used to be THE event to meet big decision makers, spec out new vendors, work with peers and learn from the best in business. This year we will [...]
Earlier today the team wrapped up our Microsoft WPC plans and agenda. We will be sponsoring the event that I’ve traditionally made my biggest deals at. Microsoft WPC used to be THE event to meet big decision makers, spec out new vendors, work with peers and learn from the best in business.
This year we will be sponsoring WPC for the very first time, coming to it as a stronger and more profitable company than we’ve ever been, with the record growth to boot a very promising future.
Yet, this event will be very bittersweet. Despite the record amount of business we do with Microsoft, they have never been a more irrelevant part of our business future. Our of all our key relationships, we work with Microsoft the least yet send them the most money. Between Dell, HP, Autotask, AhSay, Sophos, ConnectWise and Microsoft, I have the least bit of a working relationship with Microsoft. I’m simply a consumer of their goods.
As someone who has built a company trying to emulate Microsoft’s success in the approach with the partners, I have to admit I’m sad with the direction they have taken the company. I have to admit, even though they are now competition, that I am even more disappointed that it’s not working. Last year I posted a very (appropriate or profane, you be the judge) picture of what Microsoft did to it’s partner base – and by all accounts it’s done more to alienate people from Microsoft and make it less popular than ever before.
As a partner and as a stock holder, I am disappointed.
As a sponsor and a business man, I’m moving forward with Microsoft looking for the win. However, when relationships become “just business” people soon only look at the numbers.
This is a good, albeit tragic, thing to pay attention to no matter where you are in your business maturity: there is a reason why people work with you. If you don’t nurture the very reason people work with you, they will consider your competition even if they don’t win “the feature spec battle.”
Napping Your Way To The Top I’m like a little kid, when it comes to sleeping. I hate sleeping. There’s 101 other things that I’d rather be doing than sleeping. I try to remember there negative effects of sleeping deprivation, so ...
I’m like a little kid, when it comes to sleeping. I hate sleeping. There’s 101 other things that I’d rather be doing than sleeping. I try to remember there negative effects of sleeping deprivation, so I can make peace with sleeping every night:
Sleep scientist Sara Mednick’s book Take a Nap! Change Your Life explains how power napping helps health and work productivity. There’s “extreme napping” for people in high stress situations that can’t fit in core nighttime sleep. Mednick adds,
“Extreme napping is a way to regulate short amounts of sleeping and waking. So you could, over 24 hours, take a 1 1/2-hour nap every 8 hours. It can be successful, but if you don’t do it right, you could get sick. I recommend it for short-term use only–say, if you’re under a deadline or you’re attending a conference. Ultrashort sleep is a way to make sure your body gets enough.”
The Recurring 1:00 pm Appointment So, why not try power napping around 1:00 pm each day. It sounds like we should nap only 20 minutes, which is easy to get out of. If we sleep longer, like 60 minutes, we become groggy, making it harder to get out of deep sleep. Want to be more productive today? Find a quiet spot, and power nap for 20 minutes today.
The Favoritism Test: Discover If You Play Favorites Leaders like suck-ups? Really? Marshall Goldsmith knows how to identify if leaders like ”suck-ups” and are in denial about it. In his post “The Favoritism Test” at Strategy+Business.com, Marshall shares his ideas on: Why leaders knowingly ...
Leaders like suck-ups? Really?Marshall Goldsmith knows how to identify if leaders like ”suck-ups” and are in denial about it. In his post “The Favoritism Test” at Strategy+Business.com, Marshall shares his ideas on:
Why leaders knowingly or unknowingly like suck-ups
If leaders may be in denial about liking suck-ups
How we, as leaders, can assess if we are in denial about it.
Marshall writes, “If leaders say they discourage sucking up, why does it dominate the workplace? Keep in mind that these leaders are generally very shrewd judges of character. They spend their lives sizing people up: taking in first impressions and recalibrating them against later impressions. And yet, they still fall for the super-skilled suck-up. They still play favorites. The simple answer is: We can’t see in ourselves what we can see so clearly in others.”
We play favorites? What if I’m really in denial? How can I determine if I like suck-ups?
The Pet Dog Quiz
During consulting sessions with leaders, Marshall often asks, “How many of you own a dog that you love?” Big smiles cross the executives’ faces as they wave their hands in the air. They beam as they tell me the names of their faithful hounds.” Then he’ll quiz the leaders by asking, “At home, who gets most of your unabashed affection? Is it (a) your husband, wife, or partner; (b) your kids; or (c) your dog?”
More than 80 percent of the time, the winner is the dog.” Their replies all sound the same: “The dog is always happy to see me.” “The dog never talks back.” “The dog gives me unconditional love.” In other words, the dog is a suck-up.
This is why I’m a cat person. Cats make you earn their respect. Before we know it, we’re trying to do all the right things, just so the cat will let us pet it. I’ve had three cats in my life, but not right now. We do have a dog in Seattle and love the fact our dog loves me no matter what. I’m always saying to the dog, “Would you please be more aloof? Don’t let me pet you when I want, only let me pet you when you want me to. Make me earn your trust!” All kidding aside, Marshall’s example makes me pause, wondering about why I respond to unconditional love from my pets.
The Favoritism Test
Marshall notes, “Leaders can stop encouraging this behavior by admitting that we all have a tendency to favor those who favor us, even if we don’t mean to. We should then compare our direct reports on three measures,” by taking his “Favoritism” test:
First, how much do they like me? (I know you can’t be sure. What matters is how much you think they like you. Fawning is acting, and effective suck-ups are good actors.)
Second, what is their contribution to the company and its customers? (In other words, are they A players, B, C, or worse?)
Third, how much positive personal recognition do I give them?
After answering his questions, look for a stronger correlation between measures one and three or measures two and three. “If we’re honest with ourselves, our recognition of people may be linked to how much they seem to like us rather than how well they perform. That’s the definition of playing favorites.” Uh oh. We like do like suck-ups. But we does that mean? What should we do? As Marshall says, “This quick self-analysis won’t solve the problem. But it identifies it, which is where change begins.” Check out Marshall’s at Strategy+Business.com for more information and insights into the family dog.
“A number of top managers engage in indirect communication or even delivery messages via third parties…A lot of bosses manage by hinting around [about you or your performance].”
Now that’s a scary statement. Peers can also give career-derailing cues too? Bosses hide their subtle messages in performance evaluations?
Egodigwe identifies typical cues that you maybe missing in your job, causing you to miss opportunities or worse, realize that you are in jeopardy. Here’s her quick list of career-derailing cues:
Work social gatherings: you’re invited to a gathering that you think is optional, only to find out that your presence was missed by higher ups. A third party, communicating for the higher ups, delivers the message that “they noticed you were absent.”
Performance evaluations: subtle messages can come in praise, but buried in your evaluation as “one little thing.” This “little thing” is often missed as an important cue.
Decline in workload: all of a sudden you’re workload is lighter. You’re job functions are transferred to someone else. Before you know it, you’re positions eliminated.
Co-workers and direct reports: peers and reports don’t invite you to lunch, where important information is exchanged. This cue signals that you may be difficult to work with or direct reports have a problem with your authority.
Action Plan to Avoid Miscues, Keeping Your Career on Track
Egodigwe outlines a four-point action plan to avoid miscues so you can keep your career from derailing:
Ask for feedback: ask clients, customers, constituents, and colleagues what more or less you could be doing to be more effective. Think 360-degree feedback so you can course correct.
Understand corporate politics: build relationships. It’s not enough to get the job done, even if it’s done well. Develop varying types of relationships that gives you insight into you environment or your job. However, you have to balance this with look scared or needy. Keep up a calm, brave face even if you are scared and needy.
Build and market your personal brand: see yourself as a brand. Market it, get feedback on it, define it, improve it, and sell it.
Foster communication: If you’re a boss, creative an environment that allows your direct reports to give constructive criticism. If you’re a direct report, use your own subtle cues to demonstrate that you “get it” and that you’re working on it.
What If You See the Cues?
This article reminded me of one of my former jobs. In fact, I had a tiny pang of hurt,after I read it. I once saw the cues of my decreased workload, as I transitioned from my job functions. Over the course of a few months, a consultant was brought in to fix our process. Through intuition, I knew that my job was on the line. I didn’t say anything political during the consultant’s meeting with me, because I could see the warning signs. Before I knew it, my COO and supervisor met with me, informing me know I was getting my annual bonus for my performance review, but that my job was being eliminated.
Exiting, Stage Right
I felt validated, because I knew that I wasn’t being paranoid. My teammates were shocked, while I wasn’t. I transitioned quickly out of the office, into my home office during my last two weeks. I documented all my processes, so the next guy could take over my work. I took pride in knowing that I created repeatable processes for others to follow.
However, I failed to email or call my original supporters, who also turned out to be the people letting me go. I regret this because I should have thanked them for the wonderful opportunity regardless of how things went down. Frankly, it was the best thing to happen to me. Looking back, I’m relieved that I saw the cues. I knew I couldn’t change the events in progress. If I had been in the COO’s shoes, I would have done the same thing.
There’s a Reason for Everything
Everything works out exactly as it is supposed to work out, so don’t despair if you are caught in a similar situation where you’re decoding cues that are subtle and meant for you. Keep your chin up, be reflective and philosophical, don’t say anything that you’ll regret, and then exit with grace. That’s all you can do. Also, look forward to the future because there’s something very special waiting for you. You just can’t see it yet.
The 12 Keys to Success What drives you to be successful? Are you motivated by the meaning of work or the perk? After reading Gerhard Gschwandtner’s article on the twelve keys to success in Selling Power, I learned new keys ...
What drives you to be successful? Are you motivated by the meaning of work or the perk? After reading Gerhard Gschwandtner’s article on the twelve keys to success in Selling Power, I learned new keys that I have never considered. Unfortunately, Gschwandtner’s editorial isn’t available online. I’ve outline his success principles with my additional commentary:
1. Passion
“Successful people pursue their dreams with passion, not because they get paid. Money is not the key driver, nor the key motivator. Passion comes from pursuing meaning, not money.”
Early in our career, it’s easy to become seduced by money. I once quit a job to pursue a higher salary, but ended up hating it. I quit, but then ended up unemployed for almost a year and a half. Of course, this was very early in my career, prior my master’s program. I just shake my head when I look back at that time. Today, I’ll work my tail off for no money at all, if I’m passionate about it.
2. Work
“Successful people know that nothing worthwhile comes easy. Winners tell us, ‘Do what you love or learn to love what you do.’ It is important to have fun, so don’t be a workaholic, be a ‘workafrolic’ instead.” Work is hard, but it should also be fun. If you are in a job that’s fun, it’s easy to forget this fact, as we complain about how we work 12+ hours a day, commuting 12-14 hours per week.
3. Curiosity
“Successful people are not curious just about their field, they are curious about EVERYTHING. They continually probe people, they ask hundreds of questions, and they always try to figure out how things work.” When I’m curious about a new thing in work, I buy every business book I can get my hands on. I also buy books or do research on something that I’m not curious about, but that’s important to get done. I’ve figure out how to get motivated. What buttons do you push to turn on your curiosity or motivation?
4. The ability to push ourselves mentally and physically
“Pushing through the wall of self-doubt. Go beyond your fears. Push yourself to the edge of your abilities.” You can always push a little harder, a little farther. You’ll be surprised what you end up doing, when you enjoy working. There are times, when I’m into my work that I don’t want to take breaks, preferring to push on, until my project is done.
5. Turning failure into a learning laboratory
“Edison failed thousands of times before he found a filament that would glow in a vacuum tube, which lead to his invention of the light bulb.” Sometimes it feels like my failures were life altering. Over time, I learned to reframe my failures by turning them into a learning opportunities. Failures allow me to improve or adapt my tools in my toolkit or find a better job.
6. The ability to focus
“Focus requires concentration and persistence. Focus leads to clarity about goals, directions, and decisions.” For some of us, focus comes after defeating procrastination; it’s the catalyst for creativity.
7. The willingness to serve
“We can’t become successful by serving ourselves. We have to serve and deliver value to others.” My former CEO reminded me that, at times, I was too deferential, seeing my role, as one to make him look good. I over-functioned in the opposite direction, rather than being too self-serving.
8. Innovation
“Successful people know that having innovative ideas is not enough; speed of innovation hold the key to winning.” When successful people are motivated, their innovative ideas are developed and tweaked, and quickly executed. Innovative people are on fire, when it comes to taking theirs, and running with it. One of my friends is good at the innovation process, that he’ll come up with the idea for a website, find the right template, tweak the template, launch the site, within a 24 hour time period.
9. Conquering adversity and disappointment
“Successful people don’t view failure as final, nor do they mistake success for a final destination. They focus on the journey. This simple change in philosophy helps them deal with the inevitable criticism, rejection, antagonism, and pressure.” Adversity and disappointment grooms us by making us stronger. Reframe “failures” as learning opportunities or else the journey will seem futile.
10. Solving problems early and completely
“Successful people know that it is more profitable when problems are acknowledged early, understood quickly, and resolved completely.” Realize or admit mistakes early, don’t hide them. Mistakes only grow exponentially (at least it seems like they do), when we go into denial or avoidance about our mistakes. Identify early so you can solve early, giving you time to complete it or fix it sooner versus later.
11. Resourcefulness
“Successful people don’t ask for more resources to turn their dream into reality. They are more resourceful about closing the gap between dreaming and doing. While anybody can dream of success, few are willing to reach deep inside to find the resources and do what needs to be done to reach success.” You’ll be amazed how resourceful you can be when you really want something, but can’t secure the resources needed. Tap into that resourcefulness.
12. Fulfillment
“We can give people all the tools they need and all the love they want, but we cannot give them fulfillment. Fulfillment is an art, not a science. It is the art of fusing our energies and our achievements with our highest aspirations.” To add to his point, I think of fulfillment as passion+energies+little wins mixed with some failures+achievements+highest aspirations+enjoyment of the journey=fulfillment.
Gschwandtner’s keys to success are for knowledge workers, middle managers, C-levels, and entrepreneurs alike. When it comes right down to it, his list speaks to those of us, who want passion in our work and practice excellence in our work, as we enjoy the journey of becoming successful.
Speedlinking: Brad Pitt, The Soloist, Slowing Down to Enjoy Life Why the obsession with Brad Pitt? How the new movie, The Soloist can inspire you to make sustainable change. Middle managers don’t get respect. Understanding motivation and motivators, to get through the stress of job ...
Why the obsession with Brad Pitt? How the new movie, The Soloist can inspire you to make sustainable change. Middle managers don’t get respect. Understanding motivation and motivators, to get through the stress of job uncertainty during this recession. Speaking of recession, how can you get promoted during this scary time? Are you the youngest of your siblings? Sorry, but you’re probably earning something different than your siblings. Remember to be more Zen-like, slow down today and this weekend, enjoying life more.
Why Brad Pitt Might Be Working in The Next Cubicle: Don’t like Brad Pitt just like you don’t like a particular coworker? Read Suzanne Lucas’s article to learn why you should think twice about your dislike of Pitt and your coworker. Besides, Pitt in Friends was worth watching.
The Soloist - Creating a Sound Distinctly Yours: Harvard Business blogger Stewart Friedman reflects on why the movie, The Soloist, inspired three themes, resonating with his own teaching on creating sustainable change in all aspects of life.
Harvard Business IdeaCast 146: The Truth About Middle Managers: Paul Osterman, author of The Truth About Middle Managers: Who They Are, How They Work, Why They Matter, discusses why middle managers get a bad rap in this podcast.
How to Stay Motivated During a Recession: Mark McGuinness explains how human beings are driven by four basic types of motivation and how we can use four motivators to get through the recession.
My 90-Second Video on How to Get Promoted in a Recession: Check out this video, which is one of a series of 90-second career musts videos Marty Nemko did as part of his work as Contributing Editor for career matters at U.S. News & World Report.
Self Confidence, Optimism and Success: Bud Bilanich explains that we should do three things in order to become Self confident, that’s one of the keys to career and life success. Check out his three recommendations for becoming a self-confident, successful person.
Speedlinking: 10 Posts You Should Read Today, June 5, 2009 Have a God-like complex? Will it help you during an interview? Check out this post on interviewing skills, and my nine other recommended posts for today, covering self-awareness, conquering your fear, how to increase your ...
Have a God-like complex? Will it help you during an interview? Check out this post on interviewing skills, and my nine other recommended posts for today, covering self-awareness, conquering your fear, how to increase your success in life and work, interview with the Blue Ocean Strategy authors, 100 best business blogs, keys to successful entrepreneurs, and tips on how to energize.
Positive People, Lifelong Learning and Success: Bud Bilanich, of Success Common Sense, recommends three steps to becoming an outstanding performer: (1) stay on top of your game by becoming a lifelong learner; (2) set high goals. Do whatever it takes to achieve them; and (3) get organized.
The Escape Corporate America blog provides an inspiring success story of Albert Einstein, from the Office Drone worker to genius physicist. It’s easy to forget that Einstein worked on physics on the side as he worked a 40-hour week as a clerk in the Swiss patent office.
After a number of disappointments, Einstein finally made his breakthrough, continued to work as a clerk, and then finally made the career change to academia “to focus full-time on an extraordinary career as a physicist and undisputed genius.” This post is a reminder that even genius’ face setbacks, as they follow their passion, often working on this passion while holding a full-time job. Check out this post for details on career lessons from Einstein’s journey from office drone to physicist.
With mounting job uncertainty, financial repercussions if we lose our jobs, and the physical toll stressed caused from these two factors causing on our bodies, EmploymentDigest.net offers six tips on how to manage your stress and plan for the future, during this time of great uncertainty. We should think of ourselves as the CEO of our own business, thinking through our value proposition and target market for our skills, knowledge, and experience.
This post is a resource for any job seekers, who are feeling the stress from economic uncertainty, offering tangible action items on how to minimize this stress.
Receiving calls from people in your network? Do these people want job leads or a reference from you? Checkout this article by Eilene Zimmerman about how you should field these phone calls and how much time you should dedicated to helping these job seekers over the phone and what type of requests should be taken over the phone. Zimmerman also offers advice on whether you should have in-person, one-on-one meetings with someone in your network that wants a reference from you. Are there consequences to helping too many people? Zimmerman weighs in, while offering advice on how to decline a request for a reference.
This article is a must-read for anyone, who’s being asked to be a reference from his or her network.
What’s Will Smith’s secret to success? His work ethic. Jon Gordon has studied successful people, finding that these people aren’t especially more talented or were beneficiaries of serendipity. Successful people are successful because they work harder. “When others are sleeping, they are working. When others are wasting time, they are improving. When others are scattering their energy they are practicing and zoom focusing.”
Marshall Goldsmith offers advice on how managers and leaders should think twice in coaching someone who’s uncoachable. He details how to determine when someone is uncoachable, how to detect a lost cause and how four indicators that indicate if we’re dealing with an uncoachable person. Goldsmith recommends that you learn his four indicators in identifying these people, so you can save time, skipping the heroic measures.
According to a very reliable source, IPC Travel and Tour PteLtd have been officially launched in Taiwan on 01/07/2008 !
This shows that IPC keeps on moving towards its Vision - "Spending Becomes Income" ! That is from our daily expenses we can create our Wealth ! More and more Projects will be announced soon !
"IPC Members : Are you ready ? IPC is now linking with many Countries with different Projects to enhance and add value to our Members' Benefits and Activities for every Member !
Let's hurry up to follow the Company's Progress to build up your Empire !
IPC is the Main Organiser to present the "Sichuan Schools & Families Rebuilding Fund Charity Concert" which will be held at the Arena of Stars in Genting Highlands, Malaysia on 15/08/2008 at 8 pm !
IPC CEO Professor Dr. Steven Leow has been nominated as the Candidate for the 2008 China's Top 10 Brilliant Person (Finance and Economics) ! You may go and vote for IPC CEO at http://www.cnelect.com.cn/2008/ now !
More good news will be published at this Blog soon !
I would like to share with you the above Photos and Message sent to me by a Reader of this Blog => "Hello ! Very beautiful Mercedes Benz F700 photos for your viewing and also as a reminder of our dreams. Our IPC dreams.................. !"
By the way, another Group of IPC Members from China will be visiting IPC Malaysia in June 2008 ! Many Good News will be pouring in from June 2008 onwards !
KUALA LUMPUR: Touch 'n Go Sdn Bhd is offering motorists a personal accident (PA) insurance policy worth RM10,000 and hospital reimbursement worth RM2,000 with any purchase of its Touch 'n Go cards until the year-end.
The free insurance package, under Etiqa, is valid for one year and requires motorists to pre-register at any Plus point of sale, or online at www.tng.etiqa.com.my. Touch 'n Go Sdn Bhd chief operating officer Hasni Zarina Mohamed Khan told a press conference yesterday that the cards under the campaign would be sold in denominations of RM20, RM30 and RM50.
The promotion is part of Touch 'n Go Sdn Bhd's second instalment of its mobile sales unit the Touch 'n Go Zappers which will see the employment of direct-selling of the cards at 36 Plus toll plazas nationwide for a period of one month. She said they were aiming to sell 10,000 cards each week, a 40% increase over last year (6,000 cards).
“This is part of our effort to provide convenience for the public especially in anticipation of the school holidays which start this weekend,” she said.
Plus Expressways Bhd general manager (Operations Division) Mohammad Fuad Khusairi added that all Plus cash lanes were equipped with Touch 'n Go card readers. Go to www.touchngo.com.my for details of the campaign which began yesterday
Now we have more Artists from China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Malaysia to participate in the Sichuan 815 Charity Concert to be held held at the Arena of Stars in Genting Highlands, Malaysia on 15/08/2008 at 8 pm !
Moreover, Astro will be the TV Broadcasting Station to give the full coverage of the Charity Concert !
Now in France, Italy, and Spain you can buy the MSI Wind and Fonera 2.0 for only 379 Euros! If your not familiar with the MSI Wind the video below is a comparison of the MSI Wind to some it's competitors as narrated by FON founder and CEO Martin Varsavsky.
Thought you might enjoy seeing a prototype of an outdoor Fonera we're working on. There have been lots of requests for a device like this and we're working on it! No price or release date, just a working model at this point.
Our maps let you search for restaurants, bars, and FON spots wherever you are. Now our maps are available as an iPhone application! Now you can easily find FON Spots on the go. Best of all the app is free, just like WiFi access for our members!
Great news for Foneros in Continental Europe and Japan, the Fonera 2.0 is back in stock! We clearly underestimated demand but we have them in stock now and you can order here!
The FON Wiki has grown to around 850 pages in 11 languages. To celebrate it's growth and the addition of video support we're giving away 5 La Fonera 2 Beta's! Over the next month we'll pick the 5 best contributions to the Wiki and reward them with a La Fonera 2 Beta. We'll judge on quality not quantity! Any type of contribution counts, including translations. So show us something new, advertise a great FON spot, introduce a video or surprise us. You can find detailed contest rules here.
Names of the winners will be published on FON WiKi the 3rd of April. The FON Wiki is the Wikipedia of FON. It’s a collaborative way to share knowledge about FON, a place where Foneros can gather and share their tips, tutorial, links and much more with the community. In the Web 2.0 tradition, anyone is welcome to contribute. You just have to create an account and confirm your email to start editing or adding new content.
Virgin's Big 24 Hours: Flagship Megastore Closes, iTunes Challenger Announced A close friend of mine used to work at the Virgin Megastore here in San Francisco. An affable fellow, he coordinated the in-store sets by the rather diverse array of musicians who used to pop up to do a few songs. Increasingly, he also managed other areas of the operation when fewer musicians started showing up. As sales of music slowed and the store grappled to reorganize around merchandising, my friend started to lament his fate within the larger context... A close friend of mine used to work at the Virgin Megastore here in San Francisco. An affable fellow, he coordinated the in-store sets by the rather diverse array of musicians who used to pop up to do a few songs. Increasingly, he also managed other areas of the operation when fewer musicians started showing up. As sales of music slowed and the store grappled to reorganize around merchandising, my friend started to lament his fate within the larger context of music retailing. "I didn't get into this to sell t-shirts," he said to me once. He quit and went back to work as a trombone player in a number of local bands.
Well, today is an interesting day. And somewhere this gentleman is probably going to see this post in my Facebook feed and have an interesting moment of introspection. Because there is not one, but two fascinating pieces of news coming out of Viginland today. First, yesterday marked the closing of the flagship of Virgin's Megastore chain--the 57,000 square foot, two level outlet in New York's Union Square. But much more significantly, today Virgin announced a plan that may eventually prove to unseat Apple's iTunes and redefine the model by which the increasingly digital world of media is consumed. In fact, if you're my musician friend you might want to sit down right about now.
Unlimited MP3 downloads. From the world's largest music family of record labels in the industry: Universal Music Group. For $24.50 a month.
People familiar with the service said it would cost 10-15 pounds ($16.30-$24.50) per month, which could appeal to parents concerned by children accessing illegal sites. The service, which both sides described as a world first, would allow Virgin Media broadband customers to both listen by streaming and download to keep as many music tracks and albums as they want from Universal's catalog.
The music will be in the MP3 format, meaning it can be played on the vast majority of music devices, including the iPod and mobile phones.
The service, which would compete with Apple's iTunes, is set to launch later this year.
Unlimited MP3 downloads. For a flat monthly fee. Say it again. All of a sudden, the entire model of consuming music is flipped on its ear. Just like that, the primary consideration is no longer the cost or illegality of acquiring music, but the cost of storing it digitally. The ownership issue might even be rendered moot by a new breed of consumer--one who is probably also intimately familiar with the streaming-download model--that doesn't need to own the music to enjoy it pretty much whenever and wherever.
While I couldn't reach Lars Ulrich of Metallica for comment, one has to wonder how this model can adequately support the payment of artist royalties. Moreover, one has to wonder what this portends for all manner of copyright-protected media. Are subscription services the future of other forms of media as well? With this media increasingly consumed via digital device and stored on hard-drive(s), "ownership" in the sense defined by the thousands of LPs I currently have in storage may be headed out the door. We'll just pay some set amount, borrow what we want, in whatever degree of permanence we desire, and then press delete when we're done.
It's hard to believe, but it has been scarcely more than 100 years since the mass marketing of gramophones began and with it the era of the consumption of recorded music. Before that time, the only way to consume music was to see in performed live by someone else, or to play it yourself. With not everyone being talented in this capacity, the world of live performance was where the music really lived. As the record industry matured and American consumerism grew up alongside it, the propensity to maintain large music collections flourished. Now, perhaps the pendulum is swinging back in the other direction. If you can listen to or own virtually any piece of recorded music anytime you want, maybe the thrill and value of ownership is diminished. And paradoxically, perhaps this will return the original form of consuming music to greater prominence. I'll have to ask my trombone-playing former Virgin employee friend in ten years or so.
Daniel Turman
If Harry Potter Did Packaging Design Check out this unboxing video for the Samsung WB1000. Ok, it's a spoof but a very clever one. I was fooled at first and I don't think I was the only one judging by the comments. The interesting thing is that the video is posted in two places. On Samsung's Youtube page, as well as a regular user edanhush184, who seems to be getting more views than Samsung's page. And what exactly is "unboxing"? One of the most celebrated...
Check out this unboxing video for the Samsung WB1000. Ok, it's a spoof but a very clever one. I was fooled at first and I don't think I was the only one judging by the comments.
The interesting thing is that the video is posted in two places. On Samsung's Youtube page, as well as a regular user edanhush184, who seems to be getting more views than Samsung's page.
And what exactly is "unboxing"? One of the most celebrated geek rituals...
"It begins with a rush right from the moment of purchase, whether online or off, to the foreplay of opening the package, examining its contents, and ends with the exhilarating finish of turning on and using your tech toy... Think Lolcats riding rainbow rollercoasters; the sensation in the pit of your stomach...that unforgettable." Jank (nixiepixel.com)
Adam Turinas
Can Twitter Fuel A Revolution? Until recently, the buzz about Twitter had been almost entirely focused either on its explosive growth or on challenges to its cool cred (how many instances of "Twitter" can be found paired alongside "jumped the shark" in online posts? About 43,500 according to Google). Then, #IranElection happened. Now, the conversation has turned from Ashton Kutcher to how social media may supplant traditional communication channels in times of crisis or dissent. While foreign news coverage is being severely curtailed and...
Until recently, the buzz about Twitter had been almost entirely focused either on its explosive growth or on challenges to its cool cred (how many instances of "Twitter" can be found paired alongside "jumped the shark" in online posts? About 43,500 according to Google). Then, #IranElection happened.
Now, the conversation has turned from Ashton Kutcher to how social media may supplant traditional communication channels in times of crisis or dissent. While foreign news coverage is being severely curtailed and reporters are being kicked out of Iran, satellite coverage cut off, and state news is... well... being run by the state, at least a few tech-savvy citizens on the ground are finding ways to break through government-mandated blackout via Twitter and other social media services.
With its unique capability to post user reports via SMS, the Web or other applications, protesters are embracing Twitter as a tool to pass along eyewitness reports ("police are acting party on protesters side"), assist others ("Help protect the bloggers in Iran: change your settings so that your location is TEHRAN & your time zone is GMT +3.30"), and organize ("demonstration Wednesday at 4:00 pm from Enghelab Sq. to Azadi Sq.").
Expats and others supporting the protesters are in turn forwarding their tweets and posting their photos and videos on Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and other social media aggregators for the world to see. The Iranian government has responded by attempting to shut off access to social media properties, although many are getting through via proxies set up by others outside of Iran to access the blocked sites. Others like our very own State Department are quietly helping as well, requesting that Twitter delay scheduled maintenance earlier in the week to avoid disrupting communications in Iran.
Whether this will make the difference for Iranians hoping for democratic legitimacy or greater freedoms remains to be seen. While protesters are so far successfully transmitting their message to the world, the world may have a difficult time interpreting what it all means. The sheer number of posts (#iranelection is the top trending Twitter topic) are mostly unverifiable without an independent press. Anonymous or third party posters make it almost impossible to know who to trust. And the messages that are getting out are deeply local and personal rather than analytical or contextual in nature. All of this makes it easy for the world to get caught up in the rush of events, but makes it difficult to assess actual impact.
Can Twitter fuel a revolution?
For more analysis and information on how the post-election protests are being waged via social media, check out the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University: http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/node/5446
Bridget McKinley
Augmented Reality You Can Really Use The U.S. Postal Service recently launched a very nice way to use augmented reality (AR). Their Virtual Box Simulator is unusual in that it offers real utility by allowing users to determine appropriate box size for what they want to ship. Simply print out their eagle logo. Then use your webcam.Branded AR executions are under fire these days and agencies who use the technology are often derided for buying into a novelty that offers little value to end users. Some... The U.S. Postal Service recently launched a very nice way to use augmented reality (AR). Their Virtual Box Simulator is unusual in that it offers real utility by allowing users to determine appropriate box size for what they want to ship. Simply print out their eagle logo. Then use your webcam.
Branded AR executions are under fire these days and agencies who use the technology are often derided for buying into a novelty that offers little value to end users. Some critics have even gone as far as to draw comparisons with Second Life.
Dan Neumann notes: Recently, I've seen a few executions that seem to defy much of this criticism.This is one of them.
Karri Ojanen wrote about a mobile application that broke through this with entertainment value. The Virtual Box Simulator is another. And it appears to bring much product and service value. How long before the other shipping companies follow?
Thanks to Dan Neumann for the link. Sarah Jo Sautter
More prototyping Adobe has joined the list of companies making tools for rapid prototyping with the Flash Catalyst. Formerly known by its codename Thermo, Catalyst - according to Adobe - is "a design tool for user interface designers" that will enable them to develop rich UI.Currently available for download in beta, Catalyst first appears like a Flash version of Axure. But there is a major difference: where in Axure you most likely create prototypes out of wireframe-style templates, drawings, and widgets,...
Adobe has joined the list of companies making tools for rapid prototyping with the Flash Catalyst. Formerly known by its codename Thermo, Catalyst - according to Adobe - is "a design tool for user interface designers" that will enable them to develop rich UI.
Currently available for download in beta, Catalyst first appears like a Flash version of Axure. But there is a major difference: where in Axure you most likely create prototypes out of wireframe-style templates, drawings, and widgets, in Catalyst you can import actual design files created in Illustrator or Photoshop, create interactions, and then send the file off to a developer who can work with the same file to create the final product. Of course, you could choose to work in Catalyst with wireframe-style visuals at an earlier stage of development, but clearly Adobe has had just the visual designer and developer in mind, without thinking of throwing a dedicated Experience Architect in the mix.
Catalyst generates MXML, the XML-based language that is used to describe Flex content, and, according to Adobe, the code is very clean and human-readable so that developers will indeed be able to work with it without having to clean it up first.
I've downloaded the beta version and have played around with it a couple times. It's an interesting concept that I will follow up with, but I'm a little sceptic about the way Adobe seems to see the design process.
Karri Ojanen
ThreeMinds Weekly Digest 06.19.09 Now the big, big news story this week was the developments surrounding the #IranElection, at its peak bringing in more than 220,000 Tweets Per Hour. But the new and profound impact of the tool Twitter is much too large for this article, which is why Bridget was kind enough to have written something specifically about it. Old Rivals, New Rivals: What Happened This Week? While Microsoft and Google have been battling it out for a while... who could woo...
Old Rivals, New Rivals: What Happened This Week? While Microsoft and Google have been battling it out for a while... who could woo Yahoo!, who would own the world of online documents (Google Docs or Office Live). But, now the battle has a new twist called Bing. While they will likely not overtake Google any time soon, Bing's traffic and buzz keeps growing. For a Microsoft launch, it is refreshingly positive, and that has Google shaking.
Docs Are Old-School, We Need PageRank for People I'm going to let you in on the Search industry's dirty secret... Google is slipping. Google's big innovation was in realizing that a link to content is the same as a vote. By tracking all the links pointing to a page of content Google assesses how influential that page is - its reputation. Google calls this 'PageRank' and it's old tech. PageRank assigns a reputation score to the URL where content is published. This makes it a great fit...
I'm going to let you in on the Search industry's dirty secret...
Google is slipping.
Google's big innovation was in realizing that a link to content is the same as a vote. By tracking all the links pointing to a page of content Google assesses how influential that page is - its reputation. Google calls this 'PageRank' and it's old tech.
PageRank assigns a reputation score to the URL where content is published. This makes it a great fit for content that stays put in one location. However, evolving content distribution via blogs, RSS, guest columns, and syndication are a challenge for PageRank. Tweets, retweets, micropublishing, ratings, and comments - even bigger problems.
The solution lies in associating reputation with the identity of the author - a PageRank for People.
Reputation is Personal At issue is how Google attributes reputation.
If marketing guru Seth Godin publishes an article on NYT.com, marketing wonks want to read it. If he publishes it instead at PodunkMarketingBlog.net, they still want to read it, because hey - it's Seth Godin. Google would rank the article at NYT highly, but Seth's work would be next to invisible when published at Podunk.
We assign reputation to people; experts, advisors, consultants, coaches, gurus, friends, etc. Search engines to date have relied on some proxy for this real-world reputation.
Content Lives Everywhere In the physical world, your reputation follows you. If you're the world's foremost expert on AJAX, your opinion on the topic will be respected wherever you go. Imagine if the same held true online. Publish an article on an obscure web dev blog, it ranks highly, because hey - you're an expert. Pen a guest column on "AJAX and You" for Women's Day magazine and it ranks great, because you're the best in your field. Post a comment on the blog of an up-and-coming developer and that post gets a boost, because one of the luminaries in the industry judged it worth weighing in on. These are just a few of the possibilities, I'm sure there are plenty more.
Mapping reputation to people instead of URLs makes PageRank portable. It's PageRank for people.
PageRank for People What we're talking about here is a fundamental shift in how we track and evaluate content online. One that mirrors how we assess information in the physical world: "Who's this guy talking? What's he done before? Do I like him? Do people I like, like him?"
Some of the criteria the PageRank for People algorithm would look at: • Topics of expertise • Number of links to your posts and the reputation of those doing the linking • Number of comments and the commenters' reputations • Who's in your community (those linking, commenting, reposting your content frequently) • Ratings, weighted by the reputation of each rater • Where you've been published • How long you've been online • Maybe even semantic analysis of your content (are you a troll?)
What About Privacy? "Ok - so we've got a new search engine that knows who you are and on the topics you're an expert on. What about privacy?" The key thing here is that the search engine doesn't need to actually know who you are, only that you're the same identity it has been tracking across the web. The New York Times recently published an article "A Service to Prove You Are Really You" describing a new Equifax I-Card identity verification service that could provide verifiable, anonymous ID on the web. Imagine the ability to use one or more aliases online, all of which track back to an I-card capable of verifying these aliases while keeping your real identity anonymous. OpenID with modifications could also provide the necessary anonymity + verification needed to make the system work.
The Future is Social In the physical world we've got couple millennia worthy of debugging invested in how we evaluate information and people in real life. Moving these same systems online will deliver huge gains in the accuracy and trustworthiness of information and will help align Search with the increasingly social aspects of the Web. As associated technologies improve, I'm sure we'll see some of the ideas discussed here implemented in one form or another.
Marshall Clark
Are They Really Reinventing the Web? Our little Norwegian-based company, Opera, is at it again with a bold claim that it will "reinvent the web" with its new Opera Unite service. Some of the features available to Mac, PC, or Linux/Unix users:• File sharing -- securely share files direct from your computer • Web server -- turns your home computer into a web server via Opera Unite URL • Media player -- direct link to your music collection from any web browser • Photo sharing -- shares... Our little Norwegian-based company, Opera, is at it again with a bold claim that it will "reinvent the web" with its new Opera Unite service.
Some of the features available to Mac, PC, or Linux/Unix users:
• File sharing -- securely share files direct from your computer • Web server -- turns your home computer into a web server via Opera Unite URL • Media player -- direct link to your music collection from any web browser • Photo sharing -- shares your image library over the web without requiring a photo service • Lounge -- self-contained chat service running on your computer • Fridge -- a place where friends and family can post notes
All sounds good on paper. But we have some skeptics here:
"These Swiss army knife apps that attempt to do everything for everyone tend to fall short in the end. The convenience of having all that functionality in one place often comes at the expense of the robust functionality we expect from dedicated apps.
Take the photo-sharing feature. Sounds nice, but are you really going to use go for that over Flickr or Picasa? Especially if it means fragmenting your library? Will the media player have the codec support I have in my dedicated media player?
Looks nice on paper, but I'm not buying shares just yet." - Dan Neumann
"I'm wondering how this would compare to Google Wave. Google Wave is claiming to 'reinvent email', but it sounds like they are trying to do a lot of the same stuff by making it more collaborative, real-time, and enable sharing." - Marta Strickland
"Opera's promo video and new list of features are uninspired, in my opinion. One could replace Opera with Facebook, Twitter, Google, Xbox, and probably countless other platforms, and no one would notice the difference. This is a failure in branding and product strategy.
As for this vs. Google Wave, the Wave team has truly examined the experience from the user's perspective, and uniquely rebuilt communication online, while Opera Unite seems to be just adding on functionality that certainly isn't revolutionary. That is, the elements of Wave aren't new, but most people don't use things like Wikis and Twitter... Wave is positioned to take over because of its simplicity and intuitive structure.
And btw... 'Fridge?' Dumb." -Craig Ritchie
These are all valid points and they've left us wondering three questions: 1. Will people really make the leap from their "trusted" current browser? 2. How long before other browsers copy these services? 3. And last but not least, the privacy issue. Will people be fearful of sharing their stuff?
Opera has been around for over a decade and had features like tabbed browsing and a search bar at the top of the browser before Firefox did and is looked to as an innovator on the web browser front by companies like Mozilla. So the thought about other browsers copying Opera's services is absolutely correct.
Opera claims their mobile and computer-based browsers are very secure - even safer with user data than Firefox and any product they develop tends to include the same encryption and security. Even if people trust that, it may not get past the legal barriers. The file sharing aspects of this product may be frowned upon by the U.S. legal system, as they will likely fall into the same category of services like Grokster and Napster. However, with a much larger following for Opera outside of the US, and being Norway-based, we don't really think they're concerned about that.
Do you think the new Opera will do as they promise and "reinvent the web?"
Tyler King Sarah Jo Sautter
Razorfashion: The Challenges of Introducing Digital Experience to Retail Space The Emerging Experiences team at Razorfish recently unveiled their experimental retail platform Razorfashion. The system is built around a multi-touch enabled surface display that aims at augmenting the user's shopping experience in offline stores. It is indeed an interesting exploration and contains several inspired ideas. However, this "retail experience" that Razorfish created may not actually be a consumer darling in a real retail space. Here's why: Retail experience that isn't Due to iPod's dominance, some competitors attempted to unseat... The Emerging Experiences team at Razorfish recently unveiled their experimental retail platform Razorfashion. The system is built around a multi-touch enabled surface display that aims at augmenting the user's shopping experience in offline stores. It is indeed an interesting exploration and contains several inspired ideas. However, this "retail experience" that Razorfish created may not actually be a consumer darling in a real retail space. Here's why:
Retail experience that isn't
Due to iPod's dominance, some competitors attempted to unseat it by introducing new killer features. One of these seemingly attractive innovations was wireless song sharing, however it never gained much traction. The problem is that it goes against people's expectation of what "sharing" embodies in physical space. When you are together with your friends, the music is shared by co-listening through the same pair of headphones or speakers. The wireless transmission of files deprives users of the intimacy or camaraderie that the act of sharing traditionally promises. Same problem here. The retail experience for most shoppers is the enjoyment of seeing/feeling/touching merchandises, comparing/matching them side by side, trying them on, and admiring oneself in the mirror. If one wishes to "shop" on a computer screen, he or she can simply stay home.
In the nascent stage of e-commerce, many had the misguided notion of replicating brick and mortar experience in the cyberspace. Some went so far as to champion 3D virtual mall built around the (then) cutting-edge VRML. Now the pendulum has swung to the other end; efforts such as Razorfashion aspire to recreate digital experience in physical space using the (now) cutting-edge touch surface. It just might be as futile. It is my opinion that our digital social lives have evolved to the point that the real world is starting to collide with the virtual one. Experience design professionals now need to take a hard look at how these two realms can compliment and enhance each other. Replication is not the answer.
Crossing the chasm and then back
In order to induce such a tectonic shift in shopper behaviors, a critical mass is needed to create strong enough network externalities. Razorfashion's clever responses are a) to create an inter-store system that facilitate a continuous experience in the same shopping center, and b) to leverage the consumer's personal social networks such as Facebook.
The former would be a vast infrastructure-building initiative. Not only the cost can be prohibitive, it also ignores the differences in branding requirements of all these diverse stores in the same mall. One design does not fit all, and some brands may flat out refuse to be associated with any modern technology. Even if we somehow manage to establish such a network, the user's personal data is portable only through his or her own mobile device. Coupling with the fact that the social network touch points Razorfashion trying to duplicate already exist on said mobile device, one has to question the wisdom of building an elaborated display network in the first place. Why not keep the experience on the mobile device from end to end?
Private touch in public space
There is no question that the characteristics of multi-touch interface such as tactility and direct manipulation lend itself well to small devices that are personal and intimate in nature. Problems however arise when the surface is scaled up. Most early applications of large-scaled touch interface were collaborative "workbench" systems. Since they were often used in semi-private settings with trusted participants, the tension between private and public modes of computing, while emerging, was still well contained. Nonetheless, the simple act of bringing up the surface from its traditional upward-facing orientation to its new full-frontal public posture stirs up that tension to new height. Exactly which parts of people's shopping experience they deemed private and which parts public need to be researched and then addressed accordingly. Razorfashion's social network mashup features further underscore the issue.
The deployment of multi-touch surfaces in public space also faces a couple of problems that are trivial but not any less real. First, due to the size of the display certain operations are difficult or imprecise to operate with just one hand, thus all the two-handed actions that you saw in the Razorfashion demo video. This would spell trouble in its intended environment, where users are likely carrying shopping bags or handbag. The second issue is one of sanitation--real or perceived. Witness how people loathe the finger smudges on their iPhone; now imagine magnifying that smeared screen and placing it in a shopping center where sees thousands of visitors...in flu seasons. It seems a contact-less gesture-controlled interface, not unlike the Xbox Project Natal, is more suitable for large public display.
Despites the aforementioned issues, projects such as this and IconNicholson's interactive mirror are important trials that surely will one day lead to better retail design and services. Integrated online/offline service design is likely to become the new focal point of the industry. It is exciting times to be an experience designer.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on May 28 affirmed an arbitration award of more than $4.1 billion, sending shock waves through the labor and employment bar in California.
The award went to Paul Thomas Chester, a former executive at iFreedom Communications Inc., who brought a wrongful termination suit against his former employer, its affiliated businesses and the founder, Timothy Ringgenberg.
The case ended up before an arbitrator, William F. McDonald, a retired supervising judge of the Orange County, Calif., Superior Court's complex civil litigation panel, who now works at JAMS.
Michael D. Young, a partner in the Los Angeles office of Atlanta's Alston & Bird, wrote about the award on his firm's labor and employment blog, "Who's the Boss?" Young spoke to The National Law Journal about the lessons that employment lawyers and their clients could learn from the outcome in this case regarding arbitration agreements and the arbitration process.
Young also broke down the award, to explain how the arbitrator came up with such an astronomically high number.
Top 100 stocks with the lowest P/E Following is the list of stocks having a P/E less than 4.20. For people who don’t know what P/E is about I recommend them to check it out here. The list is generated as on 18th June 2009 But ...
Nifty reclaims 4300; Tata Motors, DLF in lead MUMBAI: Equities rebounded on Friday on the back of positive cues from overseas markets. Realty and capital goods fronted the upmove. Secondline counters were trading on a positive note as well. “We expect the market to bottom out today and expect buying at lower levels. We are positiv...
Sebi approves concept of anchor investor in IPOs The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) Chairman, C B Bhave on Thursday approved the concept of anchor investor (AI). The new entity will be allowed to take part in the public offers to give the required boost to the primary market. During the board meet, it was also decided th...
IRB Infra emerges lowest bidder, stock surges 4% IRB Infrastructure Developers has surged on hopes of winning the bid for the NH-15 in Punjab.The stock opened 7% higher at Rs 140 and slipped to a low of Rs 134. Soon it surged 9% to a high of Rs 143. The stock is currently up 4.3% at Rs 137. Over 631,000 shares have been traded on the BS...
Intraday calls for 19-06-09 Buy Central Bank of India at 81.20, target: 83.50. Stoploss: 80.30 Buy Opto Circuits at 150, target: 158. Strict stoploss: 147 If markets show weakness later during the day, short sell: Reliance Capital. Please trade in small quantities. View Market hou...
Tilaknagar Ind allots 41.70 lakh warrants to promoter MUMBAI: Manufacturer and supplier of Indian-made foreign liquor Tilaknagar Industries on Thursday said its shareholders have approved to issue 41.70 lakh convertible warrants to a promoter of the company on preferential allotment basis. Shareholders of the company has approved the allotm...
Opto Circuits Q4 net up 62% at Rs 55 cr Manufacturer of healthcare devices Opto Circuits India today said its consolidated net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2009, rose by 62 per cent at Rs 55.37 crore, over the same period last year.The company had a net profit of Rs 34.20 crore in the same period ended March 20...
Govt mulls 10% stake sale in Bhel NEW DELHI: The government will ‘positively’ consider selling 10% stake in state-run engineering firm Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd, minister of heavy industries Vilasrao Deshmukh said on Friday. The government currently owns 67.7% stake in Bhel and the stake sell can fetch Rs 1...
[nieuwsberichten] Armoede in België Ter gelegenheid van de ‘Werelddag van Verzet tegen Armoede’ op 17 oktober heeft de Algemene Directie Statistiek en Economische Informatie van de FOD Economie een profiel opgesteld van de bevolking die in armoede leeft.
[studie] Wage Dispersion and Wage Dynamics Within and Across Firms This paper examines wage dispersion and wage dynamics in a stock-flow matching economy with on-the-job search. Under stock-flow matching, job seekers immediately become fully informed about the stock of viable vacancies. If only one option is available, monopsony wages result. With more than one firm bidding, Bertrand wages arise. The initial and expected threat of competition determines the evolution of wages and thereby introduces a novel way of understanding wage differences among similar workers. The resulting wage distribution has an interior mode and prominent, well-behaved tails. The model also generates job-to-job transitions with both wage cuts and jumps.
[conjunctuur] Faillissementsstatistieken (maart 2009) edurende de maand maart 2009 gingen in België in totaal 1007 bedrijven failliet, een stijging van 40,6% in vergelijking met maart 2008. Het aantal faillissementen gedurende de laatste drie maanden bedraagt 2.572 dat betekent een stijging met 27,7% tegenover dezelfde periode van 2008.
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Rogers Home Phone. Too little, too late? Late Friday afternoon, “Mookie” from Rogers called to talk about our phone service. Rogers is pushing to convert as many of their customers from the incumbent Bell Canada over to Rogers Home Phone. Rogers has a plan for $30.95 per month which gives you 5 calling features, and 1,000 minutes of long distance in North [...]
Opera Unites Web Browser and Services Opera Unite launched overnight. A browser with a built-in web server, and some services like file, photo and media sharing, chat, and a web server, Unite is touted as a game changing “reinvention” of the web. The idea is that instead of uploading your photos to Flickr to share, for example, you’ll simply send the [...]
Who is Komrade @Mashikov? You may have seen a couple of posts over the past week grumbling about the new Twitter game Spymaster. I called it dull, and questioned the game play. Thursday night, however, I recognized that there was a great opportunity to have some fun with a role play. So I invented cold warrior Komrade Mashikov, the [...]
Be thankful you don’t live in the EU. This morning I’m glad I don’t live in the EU. Apparently caught between their desire to ship Windows 7 by October of this year, and the EU’s intractable stance on including the browser in the operating system, Microsoft has decided to ship European specific Windows 7 SKU’s with no browser whatsoever. Computer manufacturers will be [...]
Razorfashion: The Challenges of Introducing Digital Experience to Retail Space The Emerging Experiences team at Razorfish recently unveiled their experimental retail platform Razorfashion. The system is built around a multi-touch enabled surface display that aims at augmenting the user's shopping experience in offline stores. It is indeed an interesting exploration and contains several inspired ideas. However, this "retail experience" that Razorfish created may not actually be a consumer darling in a real retail space. Here's why: Retail experience that isn't Due to iPod's dominance, some competitors attempted to unseat... The Emerging Experiences team at Razorfish recently unveiled their experimental retail platform Razorfashion. The system is built around a multi-touch enabled surface display that aims at augmenting the user's shopping experience in offline stores. It is indeed an interesting exploration and contains several inspired ideas. However, this "retail experience" that Razorfish created may not actually be a consumer darling in a real retail space. Here's why:
Retail experience that isn't
Due to iPod's dominance, some competitors attempted to unseat it by introducing new killer features. One of these seemingly attractive innovations was wireless song sharing, however it never gained much traction. The problem is that it goes against people's expectation of what "sharing" embodies in physical space. When you are together with your friends, the music is shared by co-listening through the same pair of headphones or speakers. The wireless transmission of files deprives users of the intimacy or camaraderie that the act of sharing traditionally promises. Same problem here. The retail experience for most shoppers is the enjoyment of seeing/feeling/touching merchandises, comparing/matching them side by side, trying them on, and admiring oneself in the mirror. If one wishes to "shop" on a computer screen, he or she can simply stay home.
In the nascent stage of e-commerce, many had the misguided notion of replicating brick and mortar experience in the cyberspace. Some went so far as to champion 3D virtual mall built around the (then) cutting-edge VRML. Now the pendulum has swung to the other end; efforts such as Razorfashion aspire to recreate digital experience in physical space using the (now) cutting-edge touch surface. It just might be as futile. It is my opinion that our digital social lives have evolved to the point that the real world is starting to collide with the virtual one. Experience design professionals now need to take a hard look at how these two realms can compliment and enhance each other. Replication is not the answer.
Crossing the chasm and then back
In order to induce such a tectonic shift in shopper behaviors, a critical mass is needed to create strong enough network externalities. Razorfashion's clever responses are a) to create an inter-store system that facilitate a continuous experience in the same shopping center, and b) to leverage the consumer's personal social networks such as Facebook.
The former would be a vast infrastructure-building initiative. Not only the cost can be prohibitive, it also ignores the differences in branding requirements of all these diverse stores in the same mall. One design does not fit all, and some brands may flat out refuse to be associated with any modern technology. Even if we somehow manage to establish such a network, the user's personal data is portable only through his or her own mobile device. Coupling with the fact that the social network touch points Razorfashion trying to duplicate already exist on said mobile device, one has to question the wisdom of building an elaborated display network in the first place. Why not keep the experience on the mobile device from end to end?
Private touch in public space
There is no question that the characteristics of multi-touch interface such as tactility and direct manipulation lend itself well to small devices that are personal and intimate in nature. Problems however arise when the surface is scaled up. Most early applications of large-scaled touch interface were collaborative "workbench" systems. Since they were often used in semi-private settings with trusted participants, the tension between private and public modes of computing, while emerging, was still well contained. Nonetheless, the simple act of bringing up the surface from its traditional upward-facing orientation to its new full-frontal public posture stirs up that tension to new height. Exactly which parts of people's shopping experience they deemed private and which parts public need to be researched and then addressed accordingly. Razorfashion's social network mashup features further underscore the issue.
The deployment of multi-touch surfaces in public space also faces a couple of problems that are trivial but not any less real. First, due to the size of the display certain operations are difficult or imprecise to operate with just one hand, thus all the two-handed actions that you saw in the Razorfashion demo video. This would spell trouble in its intended environment, where users are likely carrying shopping bags or handbag. The second issue is one of sanitation--real or perceived. Witness how people loathe the finger smudges on their iPhone; now imagine magnifying that smeared screen and placing it in a shopping center where sees thousands of visitors...in flu seasons. It seems a contact-less gesture-controlled interface, not unlike the Xbox Project Natal, is more suitable for large public display.
Despites the aforementioned issues, projects such as this and IconNicholson's interactive mirror are important trials that surely will one day lead to better retail design and services. Integrated online/offline service design is likely to become the new focal point of the industry. It is exciting times to be an experience designer.
Fang-Yu Lin
Augmented Reality You Can Really Use The U.S. Postal Service recently launched a very nice way to use augmented reality (AR). Their Virtual Box Simulator is unusual in that it offers real utility by allowing users to determine appropriate box size for what they want to ship. Simply print out their eagle logo. Then use your webcam.Branded AR executions are under fire these days and agencies who use the technology are often derided for buying into a novelty that offers little value to end users. Some... The U.S. Postal Service recently launched a very nice way to use augmented reality (AR). Their Virtual Box Simulator is unusual in that it offers real utility by allowing users to determine appropriate box size for what they want to ship. Simply print out their eagle logo. Then use your webcam.
Branded AR executions are under fire these days and agencies who use the technology are often derided for buying into a novelty that offers little value to end users. Some critics have even gone as far as to draw comparisons with Second Life.
Dan Neumann notes: Recently, I've seen a few executions that seem to defy much of this criticism.This is one of them.
Karri Ojanen wrote about a mobile application that broke through this with entertainment value. The Virtual Box Simulator is another. And it appears to bring much product and service value. How long before the other shipping companies follow?
Thanks to Dan Neumann for the link. Sarah Jo Sautter
YouTube is Ready to Change the Game. Again. Exhibit A: BooneOakley's new website.Did you click? Press play. But try clicking from the traditional URL too: booneoakley.com. See how you were seamlessly ported off to the YouTube video. It is the agency's site. One that has embedded links to the portfolio and all other points of relevant interest. And all presented in convenient YouTube format. Shareable, embeddable, and comment-able. And , as one commenter noted: "Boone Oakley - 1, The rest of you hacks - 0."Exhibit B: Getyourbasketballon.com.Blast Radius... Exhibit A: BooneOakley's new website.
Did you click? Press play. But try clicking from the traditional URL too: booneoakley.com. See how you were seamlessly ported off to the YouTube video. It is the agency's site. One that has embedded links to the portfolio and all other points of relevant interest. And all presented in convenient YouTube format. Shareable, embeddable, and comment-able. And , as one commenter noted: "Boone Oakley - 1, The rest of you hacks - 0."
Blast Radius hires Charlie Murphy from The Chappelle Show to star in an elaborate and ingenious mythology around the man who beat out Michael Jordan for the last spot on his 10th grade basketball team: Leroy Smith. Deliberately lo-fi, the site's brilliant integration of YouTube and social media is matched by the talent on hand. Better still, it promotes Nike subsidiary, Brand Jordan, without a single Jumpman logo to be seen. And Charlie Murphy as a ludicrous basketball motivational specialist? It's like unaired Chappelle show sketches.
Now, for the rest of us? Time to get our YouTube on.
Daniel Turman
PS. Hat tip to Sacha Reeb for finding the BooneOakley site and providing the following commentary: "Smart site placement. Direct viral path. Endless seeding possibilities." Agreed. See Exhibit A.
PPS. Not all of the Leroy story is a myth. He really did beat out Jordan for the one spot for a sophomore on their team, largely because he was taller. And as an homage, Jordan used the name "Leroy Smith" as his alias when checking into hotels throughout his career.
Magic's Turkoglu will opt out of contract Hedo Turkoglu will delve into the free-agent market on July 1, quickly testing whether the Orlando Magic can keep a core of key players together who led the club to an appearance in the NBA finals.
Akau tops qualifying for 101st Manoa Cup Christian Akau, the 2004 Army Invitational champion, captured medalist honors in the Manoa Cup qualifying round yesterday, firing a 2-under-par 69 at Oahu Country Club.
Co-Working: Home Office Sickness Solution? Laura Spencer has re-focused the spotlight to co-working with her Is Co-Working the Next Stage of Telecommuting. Co-working is one working trend that allows telecommuters or home based workers to temporarily work with others ala old office setting. Co-working is known to solve one of the most popular setbacks of working from home - isolation. Due to [...]
Virtual Assistant Job Leads and Hints on Applying for Jobs Posted Here If you’d like to know more about these job openings or any job posts you find here, click the links. Virtual Paralegal for Jones and Associates Virtual Data Input Assistant for Jones and Associates Virtual Assistant for a Cool Guy � Please DO NOT ask me to email you the details about any of these job openings. Follow the [...]
LinkBee Lets You Make Money from Your Short (You Know) I’m back! (sort of..) Regular posting of jobs for those who’d like to work from home will resume soon… In the meantime, here’s one new way to make money from links. *LinkBee is this new link-shortening service that lets you earn from those short links! How? Sign up for a LinkBee account and then create short [...]
Looking for a Co-Blogger (Updated) I give up! I can’t continue on updating this blog with job posts. But I’d surely want to, you know that right? So if anyone would like to help updating Work-at-Home Gal (yep, I’ve renamed it due to getting tired of having to explain why the old name of ADSNTBC’), please contact me. Now will you be [...]
Public Domain: Source of Online Income Have you ever used the public domain to make money online? I’ve never tried it before but I know that many are earning lots from this source of income. For the uninitiated, public domain is when a product such as a book, music, photos, software and other media’s copyright expires. These products then can be [...]
Home Based Jobs: Call Center Agent - Data Encoder Experienced Virtual Assistant for The SYNERGY Events Part-Time Data Encoder SEO - Link Builder for New Horizon Business Services Homebased Outbound Call Center Agent
Work at Home Jobs Telemarketer - Transcriptionist - Virtual Assistant Outbound CSR and Telemarketer for Great North Star International Website Categorizer Technician for eSoft, Inc. Home Based Medical Transcriptionist for CPM Inc. Virtual Assistant Freelance Transcribers ($20 per audio hour)
Happy Administrative Assistant Day! To both offline and online admin assistants, popularly known as virtual assistants (Yay! Me!) - Happy Administrative Assistant Day! However, I can’t celebrate it fully because I’m not being a good virtual assistant these past few days and even weeks - thanks to my really bad online tools, (Can I call them online tools, when Internet [...]
Posts about Small Business Info as of Wednesday, June 10, 2009 iPAQ Voice Messenger – dragontune.com 05/28/2009 326.6 Compact, sleek, yet surprisingly powerful, the HP iPAQ Voice Messenger combines a simple, elegant design with a multitude of business features. With 3G Quad-band Smartphone functionality … Messenger is the small phone that’s big on features. Summary of Features [...]
326.6 Compact, sleek, yet surprisingly powerful, the HP iPAQ Voice Messenger combines a simple, elegant design with a multitude of business features. With 3G Quad-band Smartphone functionality … Messenger is the small phone that’s big on features. Summary of Features Voice Calls
Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing , Supercars , Chrysler, LLC … offer for the firm’s Dodge Viper automotive business, and it is well under the $10 million asking price … . The sole $5.5 million bid came from Devon Motor Works, a small boutique coachbuilder based in Grand
Lack of policy and infrastructure to support breastfeeding in the US means that breastfeeding is made unnecessarily difficult … by the federal government, based on an assessment of just a small fraction of disease in infants
BWI Holdings, Inc., the small but growing Canadian based waste collection and processing company, has shown a remarkable ability to generate profit in spite of one of the worst economic downturns in memory. While many far larger companies have been scrambling just to remain in business, BWI
I need a 5 page website completed in a short time. Tags: company , probing , probing company , probing company joomla , the probing , … Website Design And Codi Seo Position For Small Company Seo Company Logo Seo & … Need Card Made For My Company Need Business Contacts Leads Need A Logo For Company
KOKOMO, Ind., May 28 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — After a number of meetings between the National Automobile Dealers Association and the Obama administration in which NADA urged for greater access to floorplan loans, the SmallBusiness Administration announced today it’s launching a pilot program that will — for the first time — provide
This content from: Duct Tape Marketing No Recession Can Survive Main Street? So much was made of the theoretical Main Street vs … s can the recession survive the can do spirit of smallbusiness. You know the kind of business I mean, right … of entrepreneurs really does exist in the small towns and urban neighborhoods all across America
Amortization: Your Enemy; the Banker’s Friend I have to digress a bit to property cover the next aspect of SmallBusiness Wealth Creation. I want to show you the detrimental effects of loan
As we continue our in depth look at leaders the Facebook Platform payments ecosystem , today we turn our attention to Gambit, … you realize the business opportunity in providing payment services to online gaming communities? Noah … on MySpace, #1 app on Facebook, and many other small and large properties. The U.S. is five years behind
The cost of a wedding has long overwhelmed couples trying to plan their perfect day … party small. The bigger your bridal party, the bigger your budget. Not only will you save on bridal
links for 2009-06-10 Songkick’s Social Concert Database Chronicles One Million Events "Now instead of just getting notifications of upcoming concerts and tours, Songkick users can use the site to create their own “gigographies,” which serve as online records of events" (tags: music_business marketing musician music) DRUMMERWORLD - The World of Drummers and Drums Not sure what rock I've been living under, but [...]
"Now instead of just getting notifications of upcoming concerts and tours, Songkick users can use the site to create their own “gigographies,” which serve as online records of events"
Not sure what rock I've been living under, but I was led to this site today - by a non-musician author. The content here is endlessly mindboggling. Enjoy!
The secret numerical codes of future events that are man made by loyal nazi cult followers can be found somewhere within these chapters of Adolf Hitler Mein Kampf the, “Devil incarnate.”
MEIN KAMPF
——————————————————————————–
Adolf Hitler, born April 20, 1889, in Braunau-on-the-Inn, Austria, refused to surrender and died on April 29, 1945 in Berlin, Germany.
“And so I believe to-day that my conduct is in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator. In standing guard against the Jew I am defending the handiwork of the Lord.”
——————————————————————————–
HURST AND BLACKETT LTD., Publishers since 1812 LONDON • NEW YORK • MELBOURNE
This translation of the unexpurgated edition of “Mein Kampf “ was first published on March 21st, 1939
——————————————————————————–
INTRODUCTION Volume I: A RETROSPECT CHAPTER I: IN THE HOME OF MY PARENTS CHAPTER II: YEARS OF STUDY AND SUFFERING IN VIENNA
CHAPTER III: POLITICAL REFLECTIONS ARISING OUT OF MY SOJOURN IN VIENNA
CHAPTER IV: MUNICH
CHAPTER V: THE WORLD WAR
CHAPTER VI: WAR PROPAGANDA
CHAPTER VII: THE REVOLUTION
CHAPTER VIII: THE BEGINNING OF MY POLITICAL ACTIVITIES
CHAPTER IX: THE GERMAN LABOUR PARTY
CHAPTER X: WHY THE SECOND REICH COLLAPSED
CHAPTER XI: RACE AND PEOPLE
CHAPTER XII: THE FIRST STAGE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE GERMAN NATIONAL SOCIALIST LABOUR PARTY
Volume II: THE NATIONAL SOCIALIST MOVEMENT CHAPTER I: WELTANSCHHAUUNG AND PARTY CHAPTER II: THE STATE
CHAPTER III: CITIZENS AND SUBJECTS OF THE STATE
CHAPTER IV: PERSONALITY AND THE IDEAL OF THE PEOPLE’S STATE
CHAPTER V: WELTANSCHHAUUNG AND ORGANIZATION
CHAPTER VI: THE FIRST PERIOD OF OUR STRUGGLE
CHAPTER VII: THE CONFLICT WITH THE RED FORCES
CHAPTER VIII: THE STRONG IS STRONGEST WHEN ALONE
CHAPTER IX: FUNDAMENTAL IDEAS REGARDING THE NATURE AND ORGANIZATION OF THE STORM TROOPS
CHAPTER X: THE MASK OF FEDERALISM
CHAPTER XI: PROPAGANDA AND ORGANIZATION
CHAPTER XII: THE PROBLEM OF THE TRADE UNIONS
CHAPTER XIII: THE GERMAN POST-WAR POLICY OF ALLIANCES
CHAPTER XIV: GERMANY’S POLICY IN EASTERN EUROPE
CHAPTER XV: THE RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENCE
EPILOGUE
——————————————————————————–
Foot Notes:
1) In order to understand the reference here, and similar references in laterportions of Mein Kampf, the following must be borne in mind:
From 1792 to 1814 the French Revolutionary Armies overran Germany. In 1800Bavaria shared in the Austrian defeat at Hohenlinden and the French occupiedMunich. In 1805 the Bavarian Elector was made King of Bavaria by Napoleonand stipulated to back up Napoleon in all his wars with a force of 30,000men. Thus Bavaria became the absolute vassal of the French. This was ‘TheTime of Germany’s Deepest Humiliation’, Which is referred to again and againby Hitler.
In 1806 a pamphlet entitled ‘Germany’s Deepest Humiliation’ was publishedin South Germany. Amnng those who helped to circulate the pamphlet was theNürnberg bookseller, Johannes Philipp Palm. He was denounced to theFrench by a Bavarian police agent. At his trial he refused to disclose thename of the author. By Napoleon’s orders, he was shot at Braunau-on-the-Innon August 26th, 1806. A monument erected to him on the site of the executionwas one of the first public objects that made an impression on Hitler asa little boy.
Leo Schlageter’s case was in many respects parallel to that of Johannes Palm.Schlageter was a German theological student who volunteered for service in1914. He became an artillery officer and won the Iron Cross of both classes.When the French occupied the Ruhr in 1923 Schlageter helped to organize thepassive resistance on the German side. He and his companions blew up a railwaybridge for the purpose of making the transport of coal to France more difficult.
Those who took part in the affair were denounced to the French by a Germaninformer. Schlageter took the whole responsibility on his own shoulders andwas condemned to death, his companions being sentenced to various terms ofimprisonment and penal servitude by the French Court. Schlageter refusedto disclose the identity of those who issued the order to blow up the railwaybridge and he would not plead for mercy before a French Court. He was shotby a French firing-squad on May 26th, 1923. Severing was at that time GermanMinister of the Interior. It is said that representations were made, to himon Schlageter’s behalf and that he refused to interfere.
Schlageter has become the chief martyr of the German resistancc to the Frenchoccupation of the Ruhr and also one of the great heroes of the National SocialistMovement. He had joined the Movement at a very early stage, his card ofmembership bearing the number 61.
2) Non-classical secondary school. The Lyceum and Gymnasium were classicalor semiclassical secondary schools.
3) See Translator’s Introduction.
4) When Francis II had laid down his title as Emperor of the Holy Roman Empireof the German Nation, which he did at the command of Napoleon, the Crownand Mace, as the Imperial Insignia, were kept in Vienna. After the GermanEmpire was refounded, in 1871, under William I, there were many demands tohave the Insignia transferred to Berlin. But these went unheeded. Hitlerhad them brought to Germany after the Austrian Anschluss and displayed atNuremberg during the Party Congress in September 1938.
5) The Phaecians were a legendary people, mentioned in Homer’s Odyssey. Theywere supposed to live on some unknown island in the Eastern Mediterranean,sometimes suggested to be Corcyra, the modern Corfu. They loved good livingmore than work, and so the name Phaecian has come to be a synonym for parasite.
6) Spottgeburt von Dreck und Feuer. This is the epithet that Fausthurls at Mephistopheles as the latter intrudes on the conversation betweenFaust and Martha in the garden: Mephistopheles: Thou, full of sensual,super-sensual desire, A girl by the nose is leading thee. Faust: Abortion,thou of filth and fire.
7) Herodotus (Book VII, 213–218) tells the story of how a Greek traitor,Ephialtes, helped the Persian invaders at the Battle of Thermopylae (480B.C.) When the Persian King, Xerxes, had begun to despair of being able tobreak through the Greek defence, Ephialtes came to him and, on being promiseda definite payment, told the King of a pathway over the shoulder of the mountainto the Greek end of the Pass. The bargain being clinched, Ephialtes led adetachment of the Persian troops under General Hydarnes over the mountainpathway. Thus taken in the rear, the Greek defenders, under Leonidas, Kingof Sparta, had to fight in two opposite directions within the narrow pass.Terrible slaughter ensued and Leonidas fell in the thick of the fighting.
The bravery of Leonidas and the treason of Ephialtes impressed Hitler, asit does almost every schoolboy. The incident is referred to again in MeinKampf (Chap. VIII, Vol. I), where Hitler compares the German troops thatfell in France and Flanders to the Greeks at Thermopylae, the treachery ofEphialtes being suggested as the prototype of the defeatist policy of theGerman politicians towards the end of the Great War.
German Austria was the East Mark on the South and East Prussia was theEast Mark on the North.
9) Carlyle explains the epithet thus: “First then, let no one from the titleGehoernte (Horned, Behorned), fancy that our brave Siegfried, who was theloveliest as well as the bravest of men, was actually cornuted, and had hornson his brow, though like Michael Angelo’s Moses; or even that his skin, towhich the epithet Behorned refers, was hard like a crocodile’s, and not softerthan the softest shamey, for the truth is, his Hornedness means only anInvulnerability, like that of Achilles…”
10) Lines quoted from the Song of the Curassiers in Schiller’s Wallenstein.
11) The Second Infantry Bavarian Regiment, in which Hitler served as a volunteer.
12) Schwabing is the artistic quarter in Munich where artists have theirstudios and litterateurs, especially of the Bohemian class, foregather.
13) Here again we have the defenders of Thermopylæ recalled as theprototype of German valour in the Great War. Hitler’s quotation is a Germanvariant of the couplet inscribed on the monument erected at Thermopylæto the memory of Leonidas and his Spartan soldiers who fell defending thePass. As given by Herodotus, who claims that he saw the inscription himself,the original text may be literally translated thus:
Go, tell the Spartans, thou who passeth by,
That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.
14)Swedish Chancellor who took over the reins of Government after the deathof Gustavus Adolphus
15) When Mephistopheles first appears to Faust, in the latter’s study, Faustinquires: “What is thy name?” To which Mephistopheles replies: “A part ofthe Power which always wills the Bad and always works the Good.” And whenFaust asks him what is meant by this riddle and why he should call himself‘a part,’ the gist of Mephistopheles’ reply is that he is the Spirit of Negationand exists through opposition to the positive Truth and Order and Beautywhich proceed from the never-ending creative energy of the Deity. In thePrologue to Faust the Lord declares that man’s active nature would grow sluggishin working the good and that therefore he has to be aroused by the Spiritof Opposition. This Spirit wills the Bad, but of itself it can do nothingpositive, and by its opposition always works the opposite of what it wills.
16) The last and most famous of the medieval alchemists. He was born at Basleabout the year 1490 and died at Salzburg in 1541. He taught that all metalscould be transmuted through the action of one primary element common to themall. This element he called Alcahest. If it could be found it would proveto be at once the philosopher’s stone, the universal medicine and theirresistible solvent. There are many aspects of his teaching which are nowlooked upon as by no means so fantastic as they were considered in his owntime.
17) The Battle of Leipzig (1813), where the Germans inflicted an overwhelmingdefeat on Napoleon, was the decisive event which put an end to the Frenchoccupation of Germany.
The occupation had lasted about twenty years. After the Great War, and thepartial occupation of Germany once again by French forces, the Germans usedto celebrate the anniversary of the Battle of Leipzig as a symbol of theiryearning.
18) The flag of the German Empire, founded in 1871, was Black-White-Red.This was discarded in 1918 and Black-Red-Gold was chosen as the flag of theGerman Republic founded at Weimar in 1919. The flag designed by Hitler –red with a white disc in the centre, bearing the black swastika – isnow the national flag.
19) After the debacle of 1918 several semi-military associations were formedby demobilized officers who had fought at the Front. These were semi-clandestineassociations and were known as Freikorps (Volunteer corps). Their principalpurpose was to act as rallying centres for the old nationalist elements.
20) Schiller, who wrote the famous drama of William Tell.
21) The reference here is to those who gave information to the Allied Commissionsabout hidden stores of arms in Germany.
22) Before 1918 Germany was a federal Empire, composed of twenty-five federalstates.
23) Probably the author has two separate incidents in mind. The first happenedin 390 B.C., when, as the victorious Gauls descended on Rome, the Senatorsordered their ivory chairs to be placed in the Forum before the Temples ofthe Gods. There, clad in their robes of state, they awaited the invader,hoping to save the city by sacrificing themselves. This noble gesture failedfor the time being; but it had an inspiring influence on subsequent generations.The second incident, which has more historical authenticity, occurred afterthe Roman defeat at Cannae in 216 B.C. On that occasion Varro, the Romancommander, who, though in great part responsible for the disaster, made aneffort to carry on the struggle, was, on his return to Rome, met by the citizensof all ranks and publicly thanked because he had not despaired of the Republic.The consequence was that the Republic refused to make peace with the victoriousCarthagenians.
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Don’t Arrive Too Early Hi Everyone, Hope you have all had a relaxing yet productive weekend.Now that spring has sprung the garden had to be tackled and the tidy up has begun. Hard work but very satisfying. My arms and legs are really aching this morning !!! Anyway, I hate being late, I hate waiting for people to arrive and I [...]
Hi Everyone,
Hope you have all had a relaxing yet productive weekend.Now that spring has sprung the garden had to be tackled and the tidy up has begun. Hard work but very satisfying. My arms and legs are really aching this morning !!!
Anyway, I hate being late, I hate waiting for people to arrive and I have a tendency to arrive for appointments very early. When I sat back and examined this I realised that I was wasting a lot of my valuable time. What I do now is really think about what time I need to set off for any appointments and if there is a danger that I may get held up in traffic I allow a bit of extra time. I like to arrive only 10 minutes early these days and I take my unread post with me so that during those 10 minutes I can read it.
We all want extra time available to us during the good weather so plans do need to be adjusted to build this time in. Remember unless you plan for it it will probably never happen.
Until the next time
Julie
There Are 24 Hours In A Day Hi Everyone, If there are 24 hours in a day why do so many people keeping saying “there aren’t enough hours in a day”. Is it their excuse for not getting everything they need to get done, done ? I’ve made a number of postings and covered a wide range of subjects within the Time Mangement arena so [...]
Hi Everyone,
If there are 24 hours in a day why do so many people keeping saying “there aren’t enough hours in a day”. Is it their excuse for not getting everything they need to get done, done ?
I’ve made a number of postings and covered a wide range of subjects within the Time Mangement arena so I sincerely hope that some of the information has been helpful and that you have implemented some of the tips and strategies discussed.
I have pointed you in the direction of very useful products that can help you including:
These sites are not gimmicky and full of super slick sales copy that makes you want to throw up. They are serious sites with affordable products that can genuinely help you have a better life. There is no multi millionaire Internet Marketing Guru hiding behind the sites either. Don’t you just hate those sites.
Most of us are more than capable of achieving anything that we desire BUT most of us need help along the way.
I am currently researching some other helpful self improvement products and hope to be in a position to tell you all about them shortly.
Meanwhile, please feel free to send your time saving tips to me so that they can be shared. Knowledge is pointless when you keep it to yourself.
Cheers
Julie
Anti-virus Companies Get Slapped with Fees for Resubscribing People The most important part of this story is that there was notice provided to customers of the resubscriptions, but because it was buried in the license agreement, the courts determined that the subscriptions were charged without consent. The investigators found that "information about automatic renewal charges was not clearly disclosed, but was instead hidden at the [...]
The investigators found that "information about automatic renewal charges was not clearly disclosed, but was instead hidden at the bottom of long web pages or in the fine print of license agreements".
The companies have now agreed to provide electronic notification both before and after the renewal of subscriptions. Customers will also be allowed to apply for refunds for up to 60 days after being charged.
Just because it's in a contract, doesn't mean someone understands it. Companies have enormous leverage against regular people and it's nice to see that courts are standing up for the little guy.
Cum masuram gradul de implicare al clientilor …sau “customer engagement”. Cand evaluam modul de interactiune al clientilor sau prospectilor cu brandul nostru, trebuie sa stim ca, gradul de implicare depinde de ciclul de viata in care se afla clientul si de produsul de care vorbim (de folosinta indelungata, de consum zilnic etc) Evident trebuie sa masuram ratele de deschidere a mesajelor, ratele de click [...]
Printre securisti! Aproape o saptamana mi-am petrecut-o printre experti in securitate si anti-spameri la Amsterdam la intalnirile celor de la OTA si MAAWG…pe langa faptul ca Amsterdamul mi s-a parut superb, anti-spamerii mi s-au parut foarte sociabili si in acelasi timp foarte secretosi, foarte suspiciosi. Absolut toate intalnirile, asa cum relateaza cei de la Yahoo aici s-au desfasurat [...]
S-au updatat standardele De curand (pe 3 Iunie, 2009), o noua versiune a standardelor de deployment pentru DKIM au fost publicate. Ceea ce este nou in aceasta noua versiune este ca se ofera posibilitatea ca un email sa poarte doua sau mai multe semnaturi DKIM, pentru mai multe domenii (daca aceasta este aplicabil si dorit). Desi inca nu vad [...]
April Toast It might seem obvious that we know our dreams from our waking life. If someone asks you how you can be sure, really sure, that you do not every morning fall asleep from the reality of flying through clouds and speaking with animals and cascading through time, to the dream life of going to school and doing the dishes and always seeing the same people again and again, you don't really have to argue with them. Or so it might seem.
Lately my dreams have been several measures more banal than my real life. Some cases in point:
When I do laundry in real life, I put the stuff into the machine and walk away. In my laundry dreams I can believe for days until I see my laundry pile has remained unwashed, I put the stuff into the machine and then I just sit there, watching it tumble, tumble.
I went through a tax audit in a recent dream. The auditor went line by line through the actual financial statements of my company, and I had to bring up some transaction details on the computer and print them out. I could smell the printer ozone.
After going out dancing with my friend until three in the morning, we went back to her place and collapsed asleep. In my dream, she woke me up in the middle of the night, saying we needed to have a "conversation". The dream version of my friend said that if we were going to be friends, then I would have to do a better job of communicating what I was thinking and how I was feeling. But I just kept mumbling back, the words would not come out. She got more and more irritated.
Anyway, as I told my twitter earlier, for NaPoWriMo I am going to write thirty poems about my hatred of toast. It is a topic I care about a great deal, and here are the first two first drafts:
Breakfast Activism
You claim I bring this on myself Look at the menu, you say, If you hate toast so much, you are free not to eat it.
You remind me to exercise that mythic power a customer is said to enjoy, to let my wallet speak and order, perhaps, the granola
I don't want, because it is the only item served without toast. Well, I think you're a smug asshole and I hate being expected
to live out through breakfast activism. Last time I asked a waiter to hold the toast he brought it anyway: it was whole wheat
and sagged with butter into the inner edges of its triangles. What kind of freedom is that?
The Manufacture of Croutons
Cubes of styrofoam, doused in butter made paradoxically dry sprayed twice with wood glue and rolled like dice that always come up short through powder, a Ramen flavor pack stolen from the lunch some unsuspecting consumer is left with; her plain, starchy regrets.
Ottawa Brunches You can always count on people in Ottawa to say flabbergasting things.
Brunch
It comes down to photographs like these: packed dirt, a clay brick schoolhouse, its mortar from one page to the next has thinned, the children in their uniforms look so proud it will break your heart. Here is the focus of her next project, "like this village was made for us," she is delighted. In the capital it is raining, it always is, it pours into the gutters and pools out from her umbrella at brunch. She orders bottled water, an aid worker's habit, and heaps the jam of an exotic fruit onto her toast. She cannot get enough.
Eye Contact I have been in a good mood. Oh, not everything has gone my way, there are mild hassles and I never get enough sleep, but I just can't hold back the happy. People are looking sexy and languid, the fire fountain has started, I am back at jeet kune do and yoga, I am even playing bassoon. Writing ideas come quickly. Business is good, projects are wrapping up well, new ones are getting started. My chess game is improving. I have wonderful new shoes.
As always, there is an LJ feed at secretvespers for those of you who use it.
I just received kerblamo's wedding invitation wrapped in a little pink bow I presume his fiancée must have attached. I remember tying his tie one time back in the day. Funnily enough, I had only started wearing suits for work earlier that year.
Stay classy, Internet!
Navarrette: U.S Help on the way for Mexico’s drugs war By Tony Allen Mills BY THE hair-raising standards of torture, murder, kidnapping, extortion and other drug-related mayhem that has become tragically routine along the US border with Mexico, the inspection of a battered red Ford pickup truck travelling south through the Arizona desert this month hardly seemed worth recording. US border patrol agents stopped the vehicle as [...]
By Tony Allen
Mills BY THE hair-raising standards of torture, murder, kidnapping, extortion and other drug-related mayhem that has become tragically routine along the US border with Mexico, the inspection of a battered red Ford pickup truck travelling south through the Arizona desert this month hardly seemed worth recording.
US border patrol agents stopped the vehicle as it headed towards Mexico through the Organ Pipe Cactus national park. A search quickly uncovered seven assault rifles – two of them Russian-made AK47s – a couple of handguns and thousands of rounds of ammunition.
Compared with the recent seizure of 500 rifles and 100 fragmentation hand grenades close to the Texas border, it was scarcely a big haul. Yet it was the latest evidence that Mexico’s drug cartels are resorting to sinister techniques that are changing the nature of border violence and confronting President Barack Obama with an expanding threat on US soil [timesonline.co.uk]
Among the things I am too lazy to google today: can you really buy thousand dollar glacier ice? In that song where they put all the trees in a tree museum, do they charge people a dollar or a dollar-and-a-half just to see them?
Scientists are always letting us down. They are too collegial! I want the proponents of differing theories to have heated arguments in cafés. I want them to shout, call each other names, and fantasize about hate sex with each other.
It is Memorial Day, and do you know what that means? From tomorrow until Labour Day I can wear my bright white suit with impunity!
Don't Cry Drivers! This isn't what I signed up for. Once I get through them, however, I will have a tablet for my MacBook and I will be able to draw anything, anywhere, and bring it into the computer right there. Life will be perfect and I will never feel heartbroken again.
What’s it # 12 ? So, what do all of these have in common ? AC/DC, Alice in Chains, Allman Brothers Band, APM, Asia, Bach, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Bad Company, Barry White, Big Bill Broonzy/Little Walter, Billy Squier, Black Sabbath, Black Toast Music, Blind Faith, Blue Oyster Cult, Bob Dylan, Bob Seger System, Bon Jovi, Booker T and the MG’s, Boston, [...]
So, what do all of these have in common ?
AC/DC, Alice in Chains, Allman Brothers Band, APM, Asia, Bach, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Bad Company, Barry White, Big Bill Broonzy/Little Walter, Billy Squier, Black Sabbath, Black Toast Music, Blind Faith, Blue Oyster Cult, Bob Dylan, Bob Seger System, Bon Jovi, Booker T and the MG’s, Boston, Brian Tichy, Brimstone Howl, Captain & Tennille, Cheap Trick, Chris De Burgh, Classic, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Daniel May, Def Leppard, Fall Out Boy, Filter, Focus, Foreigner, Frank Sinatra, Free, Goodnight City, Grand Funk Railroad, Herb Alpert, Hound Dog Taylor & The HouseBreakers, Huey Lewis and the News, Iron Butterfly, James Gang, Jamie Dunlap, Jason Manns, Jefferson Airplane, Joe Walsh, Joey Ramone, Johnny Cash, Journey, Junk Food, Kansas, Kenny Smith & The Loveliters, Kid Gloves Music, Kip Winger, Les Paul & Mary Ford, Leslie Gore, Little Charlie and the Nightcats, Living Daylights, Low Five, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Martyn Laight, Mother Superior, Muse, Nazareth, Nichion Sounds Library, Night, Nine Days, Ozzy Osbourne, Paul Richards, Poison, Queensryche, Quiet Riot, Ratt, REO Speedwagon, Robert Johnson, Rosemary Clooney, Rush, Sam and Dean, Sasquatch, Scorpions, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Screaming Trees, Son House, Soundgarden, Spinal Tap, Split Habit, Steve Carlson, Steve Ray Vaughan, Styx, Survivor, Ted Nuggent, The Allman Brothers Band, The Animals, The Chambers Brothers, The Doobie Brothers, The Doors, The Eagles of Death Metal, The Mamas and the Papas, The Republic Tigers, The Rolling Stones, The Stooges, Three Dog Night, Tito and Tarantula, Triumph, UFO, Vue, and White Zombie
Consider this an unrelated "What’s It"
Turning a bowl into a sink A man’s bathroom should not have a "vanity"! I’ve said enough on that subject. In the wetroom, I am installing a "vessel sink". Finding the right sink has been a task I’ve deferred for quite a while. I couldn’t put if off any longer. I did a little scouting and found an aluminum fruit bowl [...]
A man’s bathroom should not have a "vanity"! I’ve said enough on that subject.
In the wetroom, I am installing a "vessel sink". Finding the right sink has been a task I’ve deferred for quite a while. I couldn’t put if off any longer. I did a little scouting and found an aluminum fruit bowl at one of the local antique /flee markets. I took it back to the shop and performed surgery on it.
drilled a pilot hole in the middle of the bowl
inserted a 2-1/8" hole saw in the drill press and set the depth to 1/8" from the bottom
drilled the bowl, creating a recessed ring
flipped the bowl bottom side up
inserted a 1-1/2" hole saw in teh drill press
cut all of the way through the bowl
ground out the metal between the outer circle ring, and the inner circle hole (using my "Rotozip turned monster Dremel")
Here are the before and after images.
The paint booth goes into production The paint booth is fully operational now. The design has been posted in bits and pieces so here is how it all lays out … The standard booth is just over 6 feet wide by 18 feet long and 8 feet 6 inches high. There is a 24 inch explosion proof fan at one end [...]
The paint booth is fully operational now. The design has been posted in bits and pieces so here is how it all lays out …
The standard booth is just over 6 feet wide by 18 feet long and 8 feet 6 inches high.
There is a 24 inch explosion proof fan at one end with two filters, stacked, in front of it.
The door is at the opposite end of the room and has been customized to accept two filters, over under style.
All of the filters are the same size for convenience and economy.
There are 4 four foot fluorescent lay bays in the ceiling.
The long wall has a custom 12 foot wide double door which allows for large items to be moved into the booth but also allows the booth to be expanded for short periods of time to tackle large objects.
There are a series of hooks in the ceiling for hanging items.
There are two turntables for rotating furniture items while painting.
There is a 100psi air line coming into the booth that has it’s own filter and water separator.
The HVLP guns have a secondary regulator to operate between 15psi and 45psi.
Currently there are 6 guns - two each for primer paints and latex; finish coats of enamel, epoxy, and lacquer; and touch-up work.and primer.
The plan was for the walls to eventually be painted white but odds are good they will actual get all of the colors from my projects. I find it easy to use the wall as a target when I am balancing, air pleasure, spray pattern, and pain volume to get a perfect finish.
The first items through the paint booth are the interior doors. They will get 3-4 coats with sanding between the first and second coats.
It took a bit of trial and error to get a good finish with the latex. It’s thinned about 30% with water and then filtered before going into the pot on the gun. The air pleasure is about 35psi and the spray pattern is relatively narrow with the pain volume just low enough to not have globules. The right balance means the paint is still wet enough when it hits the surface that it flows out just a little and fine enough to give a thin coat. Too much air and the paint is nearly dry when it hits and the finis his dull and rough. Too much volume and the paint is splotchy with tear drop runs.
In the photo collage, you can see the door with it’s clean blue filters. The test door is shown and you can just see the exhaust fan filter behind it. Those filters get changed often as they collect all of the over spray. The collage als oshows the primer gun ready for use and the ceiling hooks with swivels.
How to sync Lotus Notes contacts with an iPhone (but there must be a better way) Here is a graphical depiction of how to sync your Lotus Notes contacts with an iPhone or iPod Touch … The whole purpose of this "experiment" was to keep my personal contacts in sync with my iPod Touch so I could then use Google Voice (aka GrandCentral) as my new telephone solution. This is part [...]
Here is a graphical depiction of how to sync your Lotus Notes contacts with an iPhone or iPod Touch …
The whole purpose of this "experiment" was to keep my personal contacts in sync with my iPod Touch so I could then use Google Voice (aka GrandCentral) as my new telephone solution. This is part of the "one device to rule them all" challenge. Thus far, the iPod Touch is taking up the gauntlet very well. It now has control over the phone (calls, answering machine, and SMS), the music (my iTunes library, Genius playlists, Last.fm, ambient sounds, and alarm clocks), and video (movies, Hulu TV [experiment], and TV series on DVD).
Tú me das… …yo te doy. Yo creo… que nos están cagando. (El ojo avizor es de Carlos Moffat)
TryWho y una oferta que no podrás rechazar… Parece una ironía del destino que los mejores datos periodísticos lleguen cuando no tengo tiempo de sentarme a escribir, pero este es uno que bien valía pasar del almuerzo. Como sabrán, hace unos días TryWho (aka Who Chile) entró en un inesperado receso. Según ellos se trata del término de su “etapa beta”. Según el sentido [...]
Parece una ironía del destino que los mejores datos periodísticos lleguen cuando no tengo tiempo de sentarme a escribir, pero este es uno que bien valía pasar del almuerzo.
Como sabrán, hace unos días TryWho (aka Who Chile) entró en un inesperado receso. Según ellos se trata del término de su “etapa beta”. Según el sentido común, las cosas se pusieron tan feas que están esperando la calma antes de relanzar su negocio. Sin embargo el equipo tras el sitio sigue respondiendo correos y fue justamente la vía que aprovechó nuestro lector, Roberto Zenteno para exigir que lo eliminaran del sistema.
Como era previsible la firma se negó invocando que no hacen nada ilegal (lo que es vergonzosamente cierto), pero en la respuesta de la empresa se desliza una insinuación mucho más preocupante:
Estimado Sr.
Agradecemos su comunicación y cumplimos con informarle al respecto que Who? No utiliza los datos personales con las finalidades establecidas en el Artículo 3 de la ley 19.628.
Como who? No es una base de datos sino una interfaz de acceso a la Información que está disponible hace muchos años en fuentes de acceso Público, who se encuadra en el artículo 5 de la ley, es un sistema de Transferencia electrónica de la información respecto de fuentes De libre acceso al público.
En todo caso Precisamente una de las aspiraciones de Who? Es que la gente pueda decirle al mercado a través de nuestro servicio que no desea recibir información comercial. ¿Le gustaría a Usted contar con este servicio?
En otros países existe y gracias a él la gente no es molestada por Los agentes comerciales.
¿Podemos entender que Who está evaluando un servicio de bloqueo de datos personales? Pues de ser así estaríamos frente a un negocio redondo de ribetes gangsteriles: lucramos con tus datos y, si no quieres que te molesten, también nos pagas. Ni Dicom lo habría formulado mejor.
Porque es cierto, en otros países existen entes reguladores del uso de datos personales, pero estos son estatales y gratuitos… no concebidos como parte de otro negocio.
Si nuestros parlamentarios quieren resarcir el numerito que hicieron el otro día en TV, esta es su oportunidad de aprobar una ley de protección de datos personales que realmente nos defienda, creando un organismo independiente que vele por cómo son utilizados.
Y a propósito, en Microsoft aún no me responden respecto de su postura frente a TryWho. Porque seamos claros: si bien la gigante informática no acusa más rel
“It is with great pleasure and pride that I offer my endorsement to one of the finest individuals and former military professionals with whom I had the pleasure of serving while we were on active duty together at FASOTRAGRUPAC in the mid-to-late 90’s. As the Commanding Officer of FASOTRAGRUPAC, I had approximately 500 military and Civil Service personnel on my staff … Although the Navy lost a wonderful professional when he elected to pursue graduate studies, we at the command were grateful for his many contributions and shared in his excitement as he and his lovely wife departed to commence his studies at the University of Kansas School Of Law. Dan Covington is a true patriot and gifted professional who served his country with honor and is now taking that talent and dedication to serve his community. Dan deserves every success that his hard work and selfless commitment to duty have earned for him over the years. America needs to produce more individuals like Dan Covington.”
CC simon1944
announce the availability of wireless internet access in the District and Bankruptcy courtrooms in Kansas City, Topeka, and Wichita. The only thing you will need to provide in order to access the internet in the courtroom is a laptop equipped with a wireless network card (802.11 b/g), usually a standard component on most laptops. The attorney workroom at each location is also equipped with wireless internet access in addition to desktop computers which are available for your use. We hope these added features are of assistance to you while you conduct business at the courthouse.
I had an interesting conversation with a good friend of mine while rock climbing tonight about being a Manager. He runs engineering and IT Ops for a medium-sized company in San Diego, and we’re almost exactly the same age. I asked if he ever feels settled with his job. He said “no”. And I feel the same way.
Only in San Francisco can you find advertising for open source software. 
I’ve been in 
We’ve all done it. We’ve looked for another job while still employed at our current company. During this recession, workers are keeping one eye on the job market and the other eye on job security. It’s like playing a game of chicken. I have friends, who are trying to figure out, “When do I start looking for another job because I might get laid off? If I’m lucky enough to get another job in a new company, will I get laid off there because I’m the low man on the totem pole?” My friends don’t know whether to keep driving forward or when to turn off the road.
When you think about it, is there a book that you read, read again, and then again?
and 
How can you not like Taylor Swift? She’s likable. She’s versatile. And she dreams big. We should all take a page out of her career management playbook. Speaking of young talented people, Suzy Welch has advice for college graduates, entering the workforce during this recession. Today’s economic uncertainty has changed how we manage our career, Herrick warns that we may sending signals that we’re a poor job performer, putting our job at risk. Check out his advice on how to avoid looking like a unproductive worker. BTW, the government’s still hiring, find out the details at Forbes.com.
: (1) the thoughts and stories you have create your future; and (2) the thoughts and stories your organization has creates the future for your organization. He reminds us that the future is ours to create.
and 
August 1, 2005
10 Action Items to Proactively Manage Your Career Now
If you’re like me, you do not like being uncomfortable. As you move up the career ladder or become an entrepreneur, you’re constantly in unfamiliar situations like going to events, being in meetings with key investors, or pitching potential acquirers. For others, it might be making public appearances, meeting public personalities, or posing for photos. Through out your career, the events that cross your path are unfamiliar. A key to success is learning to cope in these situations and thrive in them.
August 16, 2005
You have a brilliant idea. But do you have a business model? Check out,“
I’m like a little kid, when it comes to sleeping. I hate sleeping. There’s 101 other things that I’d rather be doing than sleeping. I try to remember there negative effects of sleeping deprivation, so I can make peace with sleeping every night:
Leaders like suck-ups? Really? Marshall Goldsmith knows how to identify if leaders like ”suck-ups” and are in denial about it. In his post “
“A number of top managers engage in indirect communication or even delivery messages via third parties…A lot of bosses manage by hinting around [about you or your performance].”
Why the obsession with Brad Pitt? How the new movie, The Soloist can inspire you to make sustainable change. Middle managers don’t get respect. Understanding motivation and motivators, to get through the stress of job uncertainty during this recession. Speaking of recession, how can you get promoted during this scary time? Are you the youngest of your siblings? Sorry, but you’re probably earning something different than your siblings. Remember to be more Zen-like, slow down today and this weekend, enjoying life more.
Have a God-like complex? Will it help you during an interview? Check out this post on interviewing skills, and my nine other recommended posts for today, covering self-awareness, conquering your fear, how to increase your success in life and work, interview with the 
, talks with 
Career Management Brief: Highlights of the Week
, 
Anatomy of an Arbitration Disaster
German Austria was the East Mark on the South and East Prussia was theEast Mark on the North.
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![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
Parece una ironía del destino que los mejores datos periodísticos lleguen cuando no tengo tiempo de sentarme a escribir, pero este es uno que bien valía pasar del almuerzo.