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Monday, July 31, 2006

Community is where it's at

Community based websites are all the rage these days - Craig's List, MySpace, Digg, etc.... Here's some insights into developing one of these sites from the Craig.

Friday, July 28, 2006

Sushi Rematch!


Yes, we found our sushi eating hole - All you can eat floating sushi M-Th.

Our first showdown was last week with a honorable win of 14-11-11, Mike-Joe-Okaey. This week's rematch proved a truly impressive battle. Okaey, aka the "Sushi Sprinting Master" protected his honor with a 20-20-21 win. Bow to the gastronomic master.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

"Unlimited" Cell Phone Data (EVDO )?

EVDO is the new high-speed data connection for wireless users on the CDMA type network (ie Sprint and Verizon). These service providers sell data packages to wireless customers so that we can check our email, browse, and instant message. Some of these packages are tiered to provide up to XX MB per month while others are "unlimited". However, the definition of "unlimited" is outlined in their terms of service and apparently doesn't correspond to what any reasonable consumer would define.

A recent post on ArsTechica details this. While it is clear that there are limitations to a cell phone tower's bandwidth for voice and data, it seems that this re-definition would be similar to the service provider claiming that there are limits to unlimited night and weekends due to over or excessive use. Another analogy would be like limiting a cable customer to a certain number of hours that they could watch or limiting a phone customer with unlimited US minutes to a certain monthly usage. The provider should realize that some of its users will be super users while others will fall into the more normal use category. Further, they should realize that if they market the service as "unlimited" it really should be unlimited, that is without limits.

Any other interpretation of this marketing term would render the service inferior to its expectation. The government should be legally enforce a change to this practice to protect consumers. How would you feel about McDonald's advertising french fries as Healthy Fries? What reasonable person would consider them healthy?

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Google Maps (Mobile) now has traffic

Google Maps for the mobile phone (Java based) v1.3 now includes traffic data for 30 cities in the US.  Combined with a GPS unit, this makes a very nice, free mapping solution.  It's only a matter of time before Google releases some way to announce turns for a mapped route.

You can test drive this new feature here and see what the traffic map looks like in your area.  Google expects to come out with this data on their desktop version in the near future.

Here's a sample image:


Microsoft in Healthcare

Microsoft is now getting into healthcare software.  They are now a direct competitor with GE Healthcare, my current employer.  Read on about their growth strategy.


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Negotiations - First Offer

I've been involved in several negotiations recently and have revisited my class materials.  One of the first things that you learn in the class is when and why make a first offer.  This article clearly covers this topic.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Leadership

A recent article on FastCompany.com titled "Everything I Thought I Knew about Leadership is Wrong" presents some good points about what a leader should do today.  Here are some main points for those of you who are interested:

Main Points

-Compensation tied to profit-and-loss performance is a short-term motivator.  May not align management to long-term objectives.
-Maximizing personal economic success in this situation means long hours and myopic focus.  Company risks becoming a place where the best people do not want to work.
-A culture that expects dominating negotiations (not just winning) is fundamentally destructive.  It may be sometimes better to leave some value on the table, to make customers feel like partners.
-Never lose sight of the fact that we're in business to creat a first-clas organization and to survive.
-More expansive definition of victory.

3 Jobs of a Leader

1.  Make sure the organization knows itself.
    -Durable principles that underlie an organization
    -Leader should embody those values.
2.  Pick the right people to be part of the organization and to create an environment where those people can succeed.
    -Encourage others to help develop strategy
    -Collaboration and teamwork at every level
3.  Be accessible.
    -Make it known that everyone can contact you.
    -Respond to important communications, even those that would embody the organizational values (see cancer story).

Friday, July 21, 2006

Fast...no I mean really fast

0-60 in 1.67 seconds for $500K?  Possibly.  Now if the TKR handles well too, that would make it worth it.

Tax Time - AMT Calculation

I am a firm believer in getting a "feel for the numbers" as some of my old Chemical Engineering professors used to say.  It means that you should familiarize yourself with the calculations to a point where you have some judgement as to what effect a change in a certain independent variable (income, state and local tax, capital gain, timing) will have on a dependent variable (your Federal Tax).  As many of us head into middle life and the inevitable middle to upper class salary range, we need to keep a watch on our exposure to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). 

The AMT can be painful.  Unfortunately the government has let the AMT thresholds stagnate and lag behind inflation.  This means while salaries and prices have increased with inflation, the AMT thresholds remained constant (ie low).  As time has passed more and more individuals have fallen into the "owes AMT payment" category or what I like to refer to as the "so you thought you were paying lower taxes" present.

Here is some background on the AMT and how you can calculate it for your own circumstance.  It's not pretty.  But it's definitely worth the excercise so that you can gauge when you will be exposed to this neglected and unnecessary alternate tax system.

Also you will definitely want to calculate your AMT if you:
          a) Make more than $75,000 in a year
          b) Have a lot of capital gains
          c) Have a lot of Schedule A deductions

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Get it while the getting is good.

Microsoft's recent announcement puts a damper on one of my beloved free applications - PSTools.  I use this suite on a daily basis to monitor and kill windows processes.  I'd recommend downloading the current version while they remain free and not part of Windows.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

I am so pround to be and owner of the Subaru WRX. I think this video just reaffirms this. I need to learn to take corners like this....avoiding the car damage of course.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

An RFID alternative? Possibly. But HP's new technology will no doubt be more expensive. Just think of the uses though. You can trade files with someone nearby, you can pass data, or even send virus files. I'm guessing that this may go the way of the USB drive - companies will freak out about missing data and unregulated devices on the network.

Monday, July 17, 2006

It's that time again

Time to make sure you are on track for your tax witholdings this year.  Check out the IRS calculator.

Friday, July 14, 2006

When Progress is returning to the 1800's model

If you've been to the grocery store in the past year you know that organic, natural foods are the new fad.  Whole Foods and the like have proven that the "High Benefit" marketing strategy (as opposed to the low cost Walmart Strategy) was successful in the niche market.  And more recently the strategy/business model has enjoyed expansion into the mainstream to the extent that other chains want to reposition themselves to capture their share of the profits.  Here's an interesting tidbit on the debate on whether this is a fad or permanent shift.