Tuesday, September 05, 2006

Killer

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

JFK - the moon speech

We choose to go to the moon not because it is easy but because it is hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone and one which we intend to win!


Excellent, really!

Thursday, August 24, 2006

New Planet Definition Enlarges Solar System

Being a planet used to be an old boys club with 8 or 9 members. It ain't so anymore.

The new proposed definition of a planet is: a celestial body with sufficient mass to assume a nearly spherical shape that orbits a star without being another star or a satellite of another planet. By this definition, the list of planets in order from the sun now reads: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Ceres, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto-Charon (considered a double-planet system) and the newly discovered and officially unnamed 2003 UB313, otherwise known as Xena

Science & Technology at Scientific American.com: New Planet Definition Enlarges Solar System

Saturday, August 19, 2006

Top Ten Signs You Bought A Bad Computer

Letterman's Top Ten
Top Ten Signs You Bought A Bad Computer
  • 10.Runs on 200 "D" batteries.
    9.In the morning you have to defrost it.
    8.Runs on Windows '78
    7.Box reads "Pre-loaded with hundreds of viruses!"
    6. Tech support number is a Silicon Valley Applebee's.
    5. For better internet reception, salesman includes pair of rabbit ears.
    4. You move the pointer around by licking the screen.
    3. It's made by IBN.
    2. The mouse bit you.
    1. When you tell it to print, it tells you to go screw yourself.
  • The seven ways that people search the Web.

    The seven ways that people search the Web. By Paul Boutin - Slate Magazine

    Snakes

    I come from an environment where if yoy see a snake, you kill it. Here [at GM], if you see a snake you hire a consultant.

    Ross Perrot

    Friday, August 18, 2006

    Seth's Blog: Advice for authors


    With more than 75,000 books published every year (not counting ebooks or blogs), the odds are actually pretty good that you've either written a book, are writing a book or want to write one.

    Hence this short list:

    1. Lower your expectations. The happiest authors are the ones that don't expect much.
    2. The best time to start promoting your book is three years before it comes out. Three years to build a reputation, build a permission asset, build a blog, build a following, build credibility and build the connections you'll need later.
    3. Pay for an eidtor editor. Not just to fix the typos, but to actually make your ramblings into something that people will choose to read. I found someone I like working with at the EFA. One of the things traditional publishers used to do is provide really insightful, even brilliant editors (people like Fred Hills and Megan Casey), but alas, that doesn't happen very often. And hiring your own editor means you'll value the process more.
    4. Understand that a non-fiction book is a souvenir, just a vessel for the ideas themselves. You don't want the ideas to get stuck in the book... you want them to spread. Which means that you shouldn't hoard the idea! The more you give away, the better you will do.
    5. Don't try to sell your book to everyone. First, consider this: ' 58% of the US adult population never reads another book after high school.' Then, consider the fact that among people even willing to buy a book, yours is just a tiny little needle in a very big haystack. Far better to obsess about a little subset of the market--that subset that you have permission to talk with, that subset where you have credibility, and most important, that subset where people just can't live without your b"

    Bryan Tracy - Quotes

    • I've found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often.
    • You have to put in many, many, many tiny efforts that nobody sees or appreciates before you achieve anything worthwhile.
    • Perhaps the very best question that you can memorize and repeat, over and over, is, “what is the most valuable use of my time right now?”
    • A major stimulant to creative thinking is focused questions. There is something about a well-worded question that often penetrates to the heart of the matter and triggers new ideas and insights.
    • Practice Golden-Rule 1 of Management in everything you do. Manage others the way you would like to be managed.
    • A clear vision, backed by definite plans, gives you a tremendous feeling of confidence and personal power.
    • People with clear, written goals, accomplish far more in a shorter period of time than people without them could ever imagine.
    • If what you are doing is not moving you towards your goals, then it's moving you away from your goals.

    Thursday, August 17, 2006

    7 rules to ask questions

    from Seth Gobin;s blog:


    John Sawatsky of ESPN knows how to ask questions, and he thinks you don't.

    You need to ask questions every time you interact with a consumer, a job applicant, a co-worker with a great idea or even someone sitting next to you during an interminable wait for the airplane.

    I found John's seven rules in a search cache. Here's a summary of what doesn't work:

    1. Asking a question with no query

    Examples: "Your neighbors don't like you." "Some people think you killed your wife."

    2. Double-barrelled questions

    Like: "Is this your first business? How did you get started?" You're unlikely to get answers to both. One question at a time.

    3. Overloading

    Ask: short, simple questions. "What is it like to be accused of murder?"

    4. Adding your own remarks

    Again, this is not the time or place to say that you hate Chryslers... You're not being interviewed.

    5. Trigger words

    One famous example of this was when TV reporter John Stossell asked a pro wrestler about the "sport'' by volunteering this about the fighting: "I think it's fake." The pro wrestler hit him--twice. "Was that fake?" he demanded...

    6. Hyperbole by the questioner

    Overstatement typically causes the interview subject to counterbalance by understating...

    7. Closed query (Yes or No question)

    If the question begins with a verb, its most likely a closed question -- and will generate a one word answer.

    Friday, August 11, 2006

    The top 10 worst company URL

    The top 10 unintentionally worst company URL
    Everyone knows that if you are going to operate a business in today’s
    world you need a domain name. It is advisable to look at the domain name
    selected as other see it and not just as you think it looks. Failure to do
    this may result in situations such as the following (legitimate) companies
    who deal in everyday humdrum products and services but clearly didn’t give
    their domain names enough consideration:

    1. A site called ‘Who Represents’ where you can find the name of the agent
    that represents a celebrity. Their domain name… wait for it… is
    www.whorepresents.com

    2. Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange
    advice and views at
    www.expertsexchange.com

    3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at
    www.penisland.net

    4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at
    www.therapistfinder.com

    5. Then of course, there’s the Italian Power Generator company…
    www.powergenitalia.com

    6. And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South
    Wales:
    www.molestationnursery.com

    7. If you’re looking for computer software, there’s always
    www.ipanywhere.com

    8. Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website is
    www.cummingfirst.com

    9. Then, of course, there’s these brainless art designers, and their
    whacky website:
    www.speedofart.com

    10. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at
    www.gotahoe.com