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October 28, 2009
thoughts
Interesting article from a woman writer on the Late Show with David Letterman. Some things really haven't change. It's no better in the fields of business, technology, or science.
You know that manufacturing is hurting when SAP is hurting.
Awesome influenza virus video.
Researchers use poison to compete. Or, what exactly is in that cup of joe?
Dow Jones has gone underneath 10,000 again.
Posted by azileretsis at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)
October 20, 2009
Good use of Facebook is looking for a missing person.
What is Facebook courtesy? Do you really have to say yes to every friend request? I don't believe everybody needs to be friends with me on Facebook. Friendship is not predicated on being Facebook friends.
Using Facebook for me started as way to easy way to catch-up with friends I don't see. Instead, it's become a means by which people seem to know details about me that I don't need shared. People at work are not going to see me the same way that my high school friends see me. Just because I want to connect with you one time doesn't mean I want to be friends forever.
Friendship is hard enough without trying to figure out the Facebook etiquette. It's interesting to hear from friends who have cut off Facebook. I miss them but I understand their reasons. Drawing borders is difficult especially when it's your public face.
Posted by azileretsis at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)
October 14, 2009
relaxation
Halo theory has merit. I once heard a manager tell me a team member could do no wrong. I felt pity for both the manager and the team member. Who wants to work on a pedestal?
I've found the best teams are those that realize each member compensates of others' weaknesses. Each member's strengths and weaknesses are respected. Then again, I have been on really good work teams only a few times.
So, I read this article about paper batteries. I had to check the original article out. The Economist article failed to mention the paper's capacitance(optimally, 38−50 mAh g−1). AAAA battery has 625 mAh capacitance and weighs 6.5g. Interesting idea but the battery isn't an effective battery.
Can I make a plea that we need to be better neighbors?
I remember this strategy. In a business game, my team was easily drawn to my idea to diversify into International markets. However, I learned the pain or the cost of such a strategy short-term though long-term, the strategy was sound. Carrefour is caught between what is good for shareholders and what is good for the company long-term.
More news about the Great Recession.
Here are the costs of healthcare reform:
All this will cost $829 billion over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), a non-partisan agency
By imposing taxes on the most expensive insurance plans and planning swingeing cuts in Medicare, the state health scheme for the elderly, the CBO says the bill will not increase the government deficit. (These ideas, of course, are not part of the bill itself. They are bills to come.)
And the bill is likely to cost far more than currently advertised, because of two wheezes. One is a lethargic implementation plan, which means that the full annual cost will not kick in for a few years yet (thus making the CBO’s mandatory ten-year cost estimate misleadingly low). The second is the assumption of heroic cost savings from Medicare and big cuts in payments. Stuart Butler of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank, scoffs that “this legislation is an example of the triumph of budgeting hope over experience.”
Let me close my eyes tightly and dream that I die before I have to pay for my healthcare bills in old age. Stop taking away from LBJ's legacy!
This bill will probably help the economy short-term since healthcare is already 15.2% with the government spending at 45%. How could we not trust healthcare spending to those whose spending is so controlled?
If you want to do something, write your congressman and senator.
Posted by azileretsis at 11:50 PM | Comments (0)
October 09, 2009
work
Recently, a conversation with a friend made me look back on different working environments I've had. I think the key to a successful working environment is working with people who love the work that they do. However, even when that isn't the case, management can help improve the working environment but holding to the professed values of the organization. Only when those values are degraded or allowed to degrade do environments start to spin out of control.
Words such as energy, passion, and respect are not simply words invented by marketing or HR but can live within in organization.
The wave is coming! Playing with my Google themes.
Posted by azileretsis at 10:28 AM | Comments (0)
October 08, 2009
info
I think I am in love. Well-laid out screens, information is easily accessible. Nice use of color. Cool use of CM.
I had a discussion with my professor about pros and cons of statistical packages. Some people don't like using Excel due to its approximations of calculated values. However, as I mentioned to my professor, it is all about garbage in, garbage out. A pro for Excel is that it is written in an accessible programming language. This means you can work within Excel in ways you couldn't do in proprietary software. To summarize, information is only as good as how you analyze the data. I am an Excel evangelist.
Posted by azileretsis at 07:12 PM | Comments (0)