tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12712281313821529552011-11-27T16:57:08.276-08:00Love Life!Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.comBlogger271100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-91080459820384689612011-10-30T09:46:00.001-07:002011-10-30T09:46:58.292-07:00<div class='posterous_autopost'>The Movie released on Wednesday and as it was Diwali time - We were too rushed about the work at hand and a lot of things to do, I booked the tickets for Sunday with my BFFs.<p>The Sunday finally turned out to be my turn to watch Ra.One after a long super Diwali vacation I had.</p><p>Although being negativily publicized and criticized for its exaggerated IMC plan, the VFX applied, The second half being boring and what not, I believe the Movie stands upfront in all the aspects of a complete Bollywood Blockbuster. I will never go with collections it has made, but the way it has portrayed itself - is a rare commoditized combination of the ultra-modern graphics, the Indian Niceness coupled with a few fun loving scenes. The storyline makes you feel that we still believe in making this world a nicer place with the essence of Good winning over bad. Obviously, we have our own views on how should the movie would have been but I can say that SRK again has done a marvellous job as Shekhar as well as G.ONE.</p><p>On a lighter note, for me, the best thing happened in the movie was SRK taking my name for at least 100 times... Pratik...Prateek... It was just great and I feel honored to have the name....Kinda blessed!</p><p>We can so easily criticize something which we have not made and so easily get influenced with what others say... I would rather plead all of you to think - honestly about the movie and respect the kinda art that they have put foreword, the kinda message that they want to say and the kinda actors who have acted brilliantly.</p><p>The IMC plan was one of its kind and only King Khan can do such heroics. He has already been proved as a Super Marketer when we saw his team KKR in the inaugural IPL was the only team to make profits even after being right below on Leaderboard. Not to forget, it did repeat his profit making in the rest of the IPLs too.<p /> Very few people in the country would probably have the privilege to have a Brand Persona that he has in India as well as around the Globe.<br />Being an MBA student it only makes me feel proud that my favorite actor - also happens to be the God of Marketing.</p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/srk-in-the-good-vs-the-bad-raone">Pratik's Site</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-9108045982038468961?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-73514288217127790422011-02-11T06:17:00.001-08:002011-02-11T06:17:01.645-08:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><div><div style="line-height: 22px;">Just few days ago was - when the voice search was enabled by Google and Twitter for the Egyptians and now we see that there have been a lot of talks in getting the 140 character client to be overtaken by the Internet giants like Google and Facebook. The overall valuation of the company bogs down to $10 billion and makes sense in terms of the users who log in on to the website which invariably comes to 190 Million. Now, the very question of Twitter being the Microblogging  giant of the world and it being the most expensive acquisitions to be due of all times.</div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"> <p /><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-color: initial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;"> <b>Google&#39;s proposition:</b></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-color: initial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;"> Being positioned as the  web search giant of the world, the extent at which the information has been transmitted is gross. In order to get the saturation out, they also had introduced &quot;Google Instant&quot; few months ago which also made the optimization world go hay wire. Google, time and again has shown interest and henceforth acquired brilliant and innovative startups and well established companies as well. This just could be the next big thing for them</div> <p /><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-color: initial; font-size: 13px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;"> <b>Facebook&#39;s proposition:</b></div><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"> <div style="line-height: 22px;">The analytics company say that they&#39;ve just overtaken Google by it&#39;s number of visits for it&#39;s websites - makes them aggregate winner of all times. Apart from that, having a base of 600+ Million users also makes them the premier contender to buy the microblogging client - in term serving a lot of things. Although there is a paradigm shift in perceptions of the people who see both the sites Facebook and Twitter as Social Networking websites, there is a thought given over they being different. Facebook hasn&#39;t yet shown any signals of acquiring any small or medium sized company. So, it will be an eye-raiser as far as the Facebooker&#39;s are concerned.</div></div> <p /><p /><div style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-color: initial; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent;"> <span style="line-height: 22px;">Both the companies have denied the buyout as of now, but the fact of the matter is - someone will have to take a bold step in order to make this buyout before Twitter values itself something dramatically out of reach kinda amount. It will also </span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;"> allow the acquired company  to sustain, grow and  in the competitive web market.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 22px;"> This might be the boldest decisions taken in the history of Internet fraternity.</span></div> </div></div><p /><p /><div>- Pratik</div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/twitter-buyout-google-or-facebook">Pratik's Site</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-7351428821712779042?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-4821480601324605452011-02-05T06:45:00.001-08:002011-02-05T06:45:29.535-08:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote><div> <p></p><div><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/guykawasaki/FwtthlelpwrstkIcayuBwEovwgcwtwfgqtEmsDEwhojmAjitdwkugAtceavB/media_httpwearesocial_GscqC.jpg.scaled500.jpg" height="1760" width="500" /></div> <p></p> <p>Full story at <a href="http://wearesocial.net/blog/2011/02/foursquares-amazing-growth/" target="_blank">We are social</a>.</p> <p>Checking in with <a href="http://Foursquare.alltop.com/" target="_blank">Foursquare</a>.</p> </div></blockquote><div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://holykaw.alltop.com/foursquares-incredible-2010-growth-spurt-info">holykaw.alltop.com</a></div> <p>It's just amazing how people can use a Location based website to their interests.</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/foursquares-incredible-2010-growth-spurt-info">Pratik's Site</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-482148060132460545?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-11211982599712727962011-02-02T05:55:00.001-08:002011-02-02T05:55:48.833-08:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote><div> <p>Since the invention of the printing press in the 15th century, different forms of media have played a critical role in the spread of revolutionary thought and in bringing about political, economic and social change.</p><p>During the 1917 Russian Revolution, the Bolsheviks’ first steps were to seize the telephone exchange, the railway stations and the main bridges going in and out of Petrograd, the capital of the Russian Empire. This allowed them to control the message about the revolution and to prevent counter-revolutionary propaganda. They then used the wireless room of a loyal warship to broadcast messages appealing to the Russian people to support the revolution.</p><span></span> <h4>More related to this story</h4> <ul> <li><a name="&amp;lpos=Inline Article Related Links&amp;lid=top - 1" href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/what-direction-our-own-democracy/article1889415/">What direction our own democracy?</a></li> <li><a name="&amp;lpos=Inline Article Related Links&amp;lid=top - 2" href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/the-easy-part-of-the-revolution/article1889453/">The easy part of the revolution</a></li> <li><a name="&amp;lpos=Inline Article Related Links&amp;lid=top - 3" href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/lessons-from-a-revolution-irans-that-is/article1889288/">Lessons from a revolution (Iran’s, that is)</a></li> </ul> <span></span> <div> <a name="&amp;lpos=Widget - Inline Article Related video&amp;lid=Image Link" href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/video/mubarak-will-not-stand-for-re-election/article1890769/?from=1891015" title="Feb 01, 2011 5:24PM EST - Egypt's President took to the airwaves Tuesday night to announce he will not run for president again in September"> <img src="http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/01161/mubarak-speech-_1161422cl-3.jpg" height="123" alt="" width="220" /><p> <span></span> </p></a> <h6>Video</h6> <h3> <a name="&amp;lpos=Widget - Inline Article Related video&amp;lid=Headline Link" href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/video/mubarak-will-not-stand-for-re-election/article1890769/?from=1891015" title="Feb 01, 2011 5:24PM EST - Egypt's President took to the airwaves Tuesday night to announce he will not run for president again in September"> Mubarak will not stand for re-election </a> </h3> </div> <div> <a name="&amp;lpos=Widget - Inline Article Related video&amp;lid=Image Link" href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/video/obama-transition-in-egypt-cant-wait/article1890945/?from=1891015" title="Feb 01, 2011 7:42PM EST - U.S. President Barack Obama said he spoke by phone with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and told him that an orderly transition in Egypt must be meaningful, peaceful and begin now"> <img src="http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/01161/obama-egypt-150_1161741cl-3.jpg" height="123" alt="" width="220" /><p> <span></span> </p></a> <h6>Video</h6> <h3> <a name="&amp;lpos=Widget - Inline Article Related video&amp;lid=Headline Link" href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/video/obama-transition-in-egypt-cant-wait/article1890945/?from=1891015" title="Feb 01, 2011 7:42PM EST - U.S. President Barack Obama said he spoke by phone with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and told him that an orderly transition in Egypt must be meaningful, peaceful and begin now"> Obama: Transition in Egypt can't wait </a> </h3> </div> <div> <a name="&amp;lpos=Widget - Inline Article Related video&amp;lid=Image Link" href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/video/egypt-unrest-rattles-commodities/article1889798/?from=1891015" title="Feb 01, 2011 7:28AM EST - From the streets of Cairo to the worlds largest trading floor, the CME Group in Chicago.. the ripple from the Egyptian unrest is starting to become a worry on the global economy."> <img src="http://beta.images.theglobeandmail.com/archive/01160/0131dv_egypt_ec_1160141cl-3.jpg" height="165" alt="" width="220" /><p> <span></span> </p></a> <h6>Video</h6> <h3> <a name="&amp;lpos=Widget - Inline Article Related video&amp;lid=Headline Link" href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/video/egypt-unrest-rattles-commodities/article1889798/?from=1891015" title="Feb 01, 2011 7:28AM EST - From the streets of Cairo to the worlds largest trading floor, the CME Group in Chicago.. the ripple from the Egyptian unrest is starting to become a worry on the global economy."> Egypt unrest rattles commodities </a> </h3> </div> <p>During the 1979 Iranian revolution, a popular uprising similar to the ones we are witnessing today in Tunisia and Egypt, revolutionary ideas were spread through “small media” such as audio cassettes and printed leaflets that carried the messages of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomaini.</p><p>Authoritarian states, to preserve their control and to stifle opposition, have gone to great lengths to control the mass media, with a great deal of success in recent decades. But the emergence of social media – Web 2.0 – has presented a major challenge to the state’s ability to control the message and contain popular dissent.</p><p>The Tunisian and Egyptian governments’ censorship and media controls, not to mention their repressive restrictions on free speech and political association, could do little to prevent enterprising youths from organizing the initial demonstrations that would unleash upheaval in both countries. Short of shutting off the Internet and mobile phone communications, these states have been unable to contain the viral anti-regime activities of their wired citizens.</p><p>Facebook and Twitter certainly aren’t solely responsible for the growing wave of revolutionary ferment in the Arab world; pent-up frustrations had been bubbling for some time. But they helped to channel that frustration into action. The first major demonstrations in Tunisia and Egypt were organized via Facebook and Twitter, with activist leaders directing followers where to congregate and how to avoid blockades. Those gatherings then snowballed, drawing in citizens from all walks of life.</p><p>So what does this mean for Western democracy promotion efforts? Western states need not lecture repressed populations about the value of freedom or guide them in the building of democratic movements. Events in Egypt, Tunisia and even the 2009 post-election protests in Iran have shown that the focus of Western efforts needs to be on strengthening the Web 2.0 platforms that can facilitate the networking of activists, the sharing of ideas and the organization of movements.</p><p>Although many authoritarian regimes have been caught flat-footed by the emergence of social media and their political applications, others have been ahead of the game. China, for instance, has developed sophisticated cyber-control strategies that have included strikes against organizations such as Google that challenge that control.</p><p>Those seeking to defy such efforts by states like China must focus their efforts on keeping the Web 2.0 political space open, whether through technological innovation or by leveraging economic and political power to persuade regimes, corporations and private organizations to cease interference in free virtual expression.</p><p>There are more than 500 million Facebook and 200 million Twitter members in the world today, and the number is growing, particularly in the developing world. In fact, social networking is the Web communication medium of choice in the developing world, with those who are wired typically spending more time on social networking sites than e-mail. Chinese bloggers, for instance, are the most prolific in the world, despite increasingly stringent government controls.</p><p>There were revolutions, of course, before Facebook and Twitter, and most of the world’s population, particularly its poor and disenfranchised (those most in need of revolutionary change), still lack access to the Web. Nevertheless, the situations in Tunisia and Egypt have clearly shown the revolutionary potential of Web 2.0.</p><p>If Western states are serious about democracy promotion, they must work to harness this potential. This will require continued investment for innovation in social media technologies and the political will to keep them open and free at all costs. It will also require more openness among Western states themselves – which, in the era of WikiLeaks, may encounter some resistance. Like the printing press, radio and television, social media are evolving into a powerful tool to mobilize people and to promote positive political change. Let’s not miss the opportunity to use it.</p><p><em>Mark Sedra, a senior fellow at the Centre for International Governance Innovation, teaches at the University of Waterloo.</em></p> </div></blockquote><div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/revolution-20-democracy-promotion-in-the-age-of-social-media/article1891015/">theglobeandmail.com</a></div> <p></p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/revolution-20-democracy-promotion-in-the-age">Pratik's Site</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-1121198259971272796?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-36236047313607595412011-02-01T05:42:00.001-08:002011-02-01T05:42:35.248-08:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote><div> <p></p><div><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/guykawasaki/ilDpFBvoesencCHfuGvEIsEhdqtpffldfyyGpqhxcJaaGxhdrmkBfcejsGob/media_httpfarm3static_qyxqd.jpg.scaled500.jpg" height="308" width="450" /></div> <p></p> <p>Even the most technically proficient employees will likely be passed over for that promotion if they can't work well in small groups or lead a meeting of fellow staff. Those who do manage to get ahead likely possess emotional intelligence, a measure of how well a person can regulate his or her own emotions, as well as the emotions of other people.</p> <p>Emotional intelligence has remained a sticky subject in the years since it served as the title of Daniel Goleman's 1995 book. In this article, we'll take a look at the role emotional intelligence might play in predicting the likelihood of falling victim to depression, dementia and other brain disorders.</p> <p>Full article at <a href="http://health.howstuffworks.com/mental-health/human-nature/other-emotions/emotional-intelligence-iq.htm#mkcpgn=kaw1" target="_blank">HowStuffWorks.com</a>.</p> <p>Total aggregation of <a href="http://how-stuff-works.alltop.com/" target="_blank">HowStuffWorks.com</a>.</p> <p>Photo credit: <a href="http://us.fotolia.com/Tracker/alltop" target="_blank">Fotolia</a></p> </div></blockquote><div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://holykaw.alltop.com/is-emotional-intelligence-a-better-indicator-0">holykaw.alltop.com</a></div> <p></p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/is-emotional-intelligence-a-better-indicator">Pratik's Site</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-3623604731360759541?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-52417203515548310112011-01-30T04:56:00.001-08:002011-01-30T04:56:33.469-08:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote><div> <p></p><div><img src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/guykawasaki/EeicrHwqJhfCIbdatzbJoBuFbqfIqlstuqFuCDFDtlfdqacszwGFkGmuqxHq/media_httpfarm6static_saikw.jpg.scaled500.jpg" height="299" width="450" /></div> <p></p> <p>Does the thought of being cut off from social media cause you to break out in a cold sweat? When the fire alarm goes off, do you grab your phone before the cat? Chances are it’s time for an intervention, but Pam Moore is here to let you know the signs.</p> <blockquote> <p>1. You more often than not talk in 140 character increments.</p> <p>2. You forgot how to spell simple 3 letter words like “you” which you now reference as “U”.</p> <p>3. You go to the mall for an hour and come home with 10 new blog ideas.</p> <p>4. The grocery store clerk, mailman, dry cleaner, and Panera Bread head cook all know your twitter handle.</p> <p>5. You have a favorite seat at Starbucks and Panera bread.</p> <p>6. You have stayed past closing at least two times at either Panera Bread or Starbucks.</p> <p>7. You can’t remember the last time you went to the restroom without your Android or iPhone.</p> <p>8. You regularly sit down in front of your desk first thing in the morning while still wearing your jammies, to “send a few tweets” and then hit the gym. Unfortunately you’re usually still there at lunch time.</p> <p>9. You are the mayor of Panera Bread, Starbucks, the grocery story, drycleaner and your favorite burger joint.</p> <p>10. You refuse to do drive by FourSquare as you want to earn your badges the old school way!</p> <p>11. Your kids know the difference between a twit and a tweet.</p> <p>12. Your kids could easily describe a retweet, mention, hootsuite, and ping.fm to their friends who have parents who don’t tweet.</p> <p>13. Your spouse has threatened to divorce you if you don’t leave your cell phone at home at least one date night a month.</p> <p>14. You have real friends in Australia, the UK, Brazil and at least three other countries. You met them all on Twitter.</p> <p>15. You know many of your Twitter pals better than you do some neighbors.</p> </blockquote> <p>Full list at <a href="http://www.pammarketingnut.com/2011/01/60-signs-youre-addicted-to-social-media-twitter/?utm_source=feedburner&amp;utm_medium=feed&amp;utm_campaign=Feed: PamMarketingNut (Pam Marketing Nut)" target="_blank">The Marketing Nut</a>.</p> <p>A love affair with <a href="http://Social Media.alltop.com/" target="_blank">social media</a>.</p> </div></blockquote><div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://holykaw.alltop.com/60-signs-youre-addicted-to-social-media-and-t">holykaw.alltop.com</a></div> <p></p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/60-signs-youre-addicted-to-social-media-and-t">Pratik's Site</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-5241720351554831011?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-88669040856406709272010-11-30T05:36:00.001-08:002010-11-30T05:36:13.043-08:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <a href="http://holykaw.alltop.com/steve-jobs-action-figure"><img class="posterous_download_image" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/guykawasaki/zJyfHyFxwnxIFFdykwECEJkEmBJIhJDJgajFfitGGopIxcmsEDCjCoyiljFg/media_httpstoremicgad_cyeiz.jpg.scaled500.jpg" border="0" height="500" width="500" /></a> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://holykaw.alltop.com/steve-jobs-action-figure">holykaw.alltop.com</a></div> <p></p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/steve-jobs-action-figure-jobs-apple">Pratik's Site</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-8866904085640670927?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-75254111035142758032010-11-30T05:32:00.001-08:002010-11-30T05:32:58.505-08:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <a href="http://holykaw.alltop.com/top-10-world-heritage-sites"><img class="posterous_download_image" src="http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/guykawasaki/JpujlugEIhEJovBujbACeivgapIbmmIBjDIzawjiameoHpnhfgdsGypqdHCE/media_httpblogsnation_vuHHg.jpg.scaled500.jpg" border="0" height="375" width="500" /></a> <div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://holykaw.alltop.com/top-10-world-heritage-sites">holykaw.alltop.com</a></div> <p></p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/top-10-world-heritage-sites">Pratik's Site</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-7525411103514275803?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-42225801980484022102010-08-28T23:39:00.001-07:002010-08-28T23:39:37.381-07:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote><div> <blockquote> <div> <p><span><a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2265220/"><img src="http://img.slate.com/media/1/123125/2262359/2263929/2262928/100826_LG_helpWantedTN.jpg" height="195" alt="Help wanted sign. Click image to expand." width="252" /></a></span></p><p></p> <p><label>Web start-ups are having a hard time hiring good programmers.</label>When Michael Glukhovsky and Slava Akhmechet, the founders of RethinkDB, a database technology startup that changes how people store and access data, received $1.2 million in funding earlier this year, they began looking for their first employee. They turned to job boards. They recruited from their site. They tried to poach talent. They even wrote a blog <a href="http://www.rethinkdb.com/blog/2010/06/will-the-real-programmers-please-stand-up/" target="_blank">post</a> on their hiring woes and entered the <a href="http://www.rethinkdb.com/blog/2010/03/building-a-world-class-team-six-mistakes-i-made-early-in-my-career/" target="_blank">how-to</a> fray.</p> <p>Their efforts didn't end there. They briefed a recruiter on their complex technology, but ultimately that was a waste of time—and dollars. And in four months, the hundreds of resumes, dozens of phone screens, and numerous four-hour meetings with viable candidates yielded no one who fit their criteria. So they started their company with students and post-grads eager to tackle a computer-science problem rather than become founding members at a startup.</p> <p>Unemployment is chronic in much of the country, but in Silicon Valley, employees have their pick of jobs. In an economic climate that is the near converse of a recession, talent is scarce and star programmers have the upper hand. Pressured to solve the dull hiring puzzle, founders have started reconfiguring the way people get jobs. The result? Americans, more and more, will find work not via recruiters, job boards, and resumes, but by showcasing themselves online and undergoing less subjective automated assessments.</p> </div> </blockquote> <div>Full article via <a href="http://www.slate.com/id/2265202/">slate.com</a></div> <p>&nbsp;</p> </div></blockquote><div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://ycombinator.posterous.com/tech-startups-are-changing-the-way-workers-ar">ycombinator.posterous.com</a></div> <p></p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/tech-startups-are-changing-the-way-workers-ar">Pratik's Site</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-4222580198048402210?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-62520247518220633182010-04-01T09:51:00.001-07:002010-04-01T09:51:56.976-07:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><div class="posterous_bookmarklet_entry"> <blockquote><div> <p><img title="browsers" src="http://www.freelancestudents.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/browsers.png" height="275" alt="browsers" width="300" />Things have progressed a lot since 1991. We no longer have to worry about <a href="http://www.johnmajor.co.uk/">this</a>, nor put up with <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_r0oQE5jEU">this</a>, or dress like <a href="http://www.pdmcauley.co.uk/PSh.jpg">this</a>. In keeping with sensible improvements in politics and popular culture, the internet has also developed somewhat. Back in the early 90s the behemoth of technology we all now appreciate as the internet was merely a newborn monster, wet behind the ears and tiny. The only web browser available at that time was something called (imaginatively), the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorldWideWeb">WorldWideWeb</a>; now, there are scores of niche and custom browsers. Whilst an in-depth knowledge of the differences between a Midori and a SeaMonkey might be a little over the top, browsers nonetheless constitute an important way of managing both your time and your career capabilities through the medium of the internet. Here, I take a whirlwind tour of some of the freely available ones you should really know about. <span></span></p> <h3><a href="http://www.google.co.uk/chrome/intl/en/more/index.html">Google Chrome</a></h3> <p><strong>The Good</strong>: It’s ruddy fast, very secure and ‘sandboxing’ means if one tab crashes then you don’t have to restart the whole thing (take note Internet Explorer). Nice tool for creating web shortcuts on your desktop/start menu which means you can edit blogs without irritating toolbars in the way.</p> <p><strong>The Bad</strong>: Problems with handling RSS feeds have not been fully solved by the RSS Subscription Extension – it’s still clumsy and unreliable.</p> <p><strong>In Short</strong>: A genuine rival to the Explorer/Firefox monopoly, but still suffering from teething problems.</p> <h3><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx">Internet Explorer</a></h3> <p><strong>The Good</strong>: Several snazzy features make this a particularly useful tool for students. ‘Web Slices’ allow you to save specific sections of a Web page – i.e. job adverts on freelancestudents.co.uk – for quick viewing. ‘Accelerators’ can be used to make blogging and job-hunting easier.</p> <p><strong>The Bad</strong>: Still prone to rage-inducing crashes, and can struggle woefully for speed on older computers.</p> <p><strong>In Short</strong>: The ‘Daddy’ has worked hard to re-assert itself, and has much going for it for students.</p> <h3><a href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/upgrade.html">Firefox</a></h3> <p><strong>The Good</strong>: Quick as ever, less prone to crashes than its main competitors, a well-documented ability to handle RSS feeds and similar web developments, and numerous add-ons allow for customization of your browser. Automatic session restore means half-written emails/blogs can be recovered.</p> <p><strong>The Bad</strong>: Despite add-ons for blogging, an integrated, focussed feature could make Firefox indispensible. ‘Live Bookmarks’ is not immediately intuitive.</p> <h3><a href="http://www.opera.com/">Opera</a></h3> <p><strong>The Good</strong>:&nbsp; Latest update to new JavaScript engine has probably made it the fastest browser available. The ‘Opera Link’ function is a brilliant way to integrate your bookmarks and useful information across your PC, Laptop, and mobile.</p> <p><strong>The Bad</strong>: The amount of customizable features can make it daunting for less web-savvy users.</p> <p><strong>In Short</strong>: Probably the techno-geek’s browser par excellence – also probably why it struggles for popularity.</p> <h3><a href="http://www.apple.com/safari/whats-new.html">Safari</a></h3> <p><strong>The Good</strong>: Functions such as ‘Top Sites’ and ‘Cover Flow’ are the most engaging method available across the various browsers for bookmarking/viewing useful sites (i.e. job sites/blogs), and seeing where you found that great job the night before and forgot to bookmark.</p> <p><strong>The Bad</strong>: Still better and more customizable on the Mac. Lacks some security features.</p> <p><strong>In Short</strong>: Continuing to move away from style over substance, but still not the ideal browser for jumpstarting your career.</p> <h3>Honourable Mentions</h3> <p>As previously noted, browsers are ten-a-penny these days, and the above are only the main contenders to the browsing throne. The following are a few others that warrant a mention:</p> <p><strong><a href="http://www.flock.com/">Flock</a></strong>: With a built in blog editor; flickr, twitter and facebook integration; easy to manage RSS service; and split tabbed favourites/RSS homepage – this could be the future of browsing, certainly for students. For now it’s still a bit riddled with bugs, but worth a look nonetheless.</p> <p><strong><a href="http://www.maxthon.com/">Maxthon</a></strong>: Get past the security issues and lack of basic features such as thumbnail previews, and this one offers super-fast browsing, even with many tabs running, and the highly useful ability to save a web-browsing session and recover tabs shut by mistake – a God-send for the trigger-happy job hunter.</p> <p><strong>Netscape Navigator</strong>: The forgotten man of web-browsing, Netscape Navigator hasn’t updated since early 2008. You can still download the most recent version, which largely focuses on simplicity – however, the Netscape/AOL social networking integration remains an irrelevance for UK users, and the rest of the package is outmoded and largely obsolete.</p> <p>In Part 2, I’ll look in more detail at the Web Browsers I think are best suited to the needs of students and graduates.</p> <p> </p></div></blockquote><div class="posterous_quote_citation">via <a href="http://www.freelancestudents.co.uk/1162/web-browsers-%e2%80%93-an-overview-part-1/">freelancestudents.co.uk</a></div> <p></p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via web</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/web-browsers-review">Pratik's Site</a> </p> </div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-6252024751822063318?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-73595858971191508132010-03-10T06:31:00.001-08:002010-03-10T06:31:20.112-08:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Question 1. What is Creative Capitalism?</b></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>Ans</b><b>wer :</b><span style="font-weight: normal;"> </span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Creative Capitalism</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">is a term popularized by </span></span><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">American entrepreneur </span></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">and </span></span><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Microsoft </span></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">chairman </span></span><span><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Bill Gates </span></span></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">at the 2008 </span></span><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">World Economic Forum </span></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">in </span></span><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Davos</span></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">, </span></span><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Switzerland</span></span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">. The ideology calls for a new form of capitalism that works both to generate profits and solve the world’s inequities, using market forces to better address the needs of the poor. According to Gates, &#39;disparities between the rich and the poor are greater today than ever&#39;. Gates&#39; idea of creative capitalism combines the &quot;two great focuses of human nature -- self-interest and caring for others,&quot; he stated. By keeping business acumen in mind, the world&#39;s corporations can discover new, innovative ways to solve major problems for one billion of the world&#39;s poorest people, who don&#39;t get enough food or don&#39;t have drinking water or reliable access to medication, which the rest of us take for granted, he said.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;"><b>Question 2: What are the benefits of Creative Capitalism?</b></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Answer: </b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">There are enormous benefits for Creative Capitalism as it has a vision for the welfare of the people and acknowledgement of the Society.F</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">irst and foremost, directing collective talents of North America, Europe, and parts of Asia toward the emerging world could help improve the lives of billions of people mired in dire poverty. It&#39;s sounds a bit redundant to mention, but there it is.</span></span></p> <p align="LEFT" style="margin-top: 0.4cm; margin-bottom: 0cm; border: none; padding: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 0.45cm;"> But there&#39;s also a personal benefit, too. Working on ways to alleviate problems--if the dozens of people I&#39;ve met who&#39;ve worked in Africa or Latin America are any indication--is far more rewarding and interesting than six months trying to refresh the marketing campaign for a handheld. Look back at your own life. Chances are, some of your most vivid memories come from brief periods where you found yourself in unusual circumstances tackling something monumental.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;"><b>Question 3: Is there a difference between Creative Capitalism and CSR?</b></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Answer: </b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Yes,</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><b> </b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">CSR is the responsiblity of the organization towards the society involuntarily and not for the benefit for the company, whereas Creative Capitalism is also the responsiblity towards the society in consideration with the profits of the company.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;"><b>Question 4: Isn&#39;t the government&#39;s responsiblity to provide “Public Goods” and “Social Welfare” ? So why should Capitalists provide?</b></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Answer: </b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Yes, There are certain factors which are to be considered when we talk about the Government intervention to the responsiblities which are not so prevalent enough hence encouraging the Capitalists in a way could help accelarate the responsiblities by having better prospects for the company as well.While Gates has faith in technological advances to heal the pain of world poverty, the long-term answer really lies in shifting human consciousness, and on the capitalist front, broadly affecting behavior at the corporate level. As he continues to promote progress, Bill Gates should adjust his challenge to include such paradigm shift in consciousness over the longer time horizon.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"> <br /> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"> <br /> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"> <br /> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-style: normal;"><b>Question 5: Will Creative Capitalism wipe out the role of Government then?</b></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><b>Answer: </b></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Rather than the government what is imporatant and can be applicable is we n</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">eed more (and more innovative) social enterprises and I really want to see a top tier MBA programs with specialization in Social Enterprises. Call it B-school needs S-school. There are so many problems out there and sometimes we feel we are almost giving up. Our capitalist system is not adjusting well to these shocks. It is almost pointless for these endless debates on how things got to this point and who is to blame. The point remains: We&#39;ve got to change it—and change it fast – and change it for the better.</span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The last thing we want to replace these problems with a set of newer problems, I’ve seen in many case when smart people think they have a solution, but they are simply migrating the problems. There is hope. The good surprise is that business—the same institutions that bear a fair amount of the responsibility for the current situation—is also the most potent force for bringing change. No government alone can make that happen. Businesses are powerful, if we can align the forces. There are hundreds of social enterprises are doing exactly that.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Hence, </span></span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Creative Capitalism + Social Innovation = New Social Enterprises That Make Money And Change The World.</span></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">-- Pratik </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>Source: Wikipedia, Bill  Gates</i></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/creative-capitalism-an-overview">Pratik's Site</a> </p> </div> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-7359585897119150813?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-55490697612240588802010-02-02T01:12:00.001-08:002010-02-02T01:12:00.798-08:00<div class='posterous_autopost'><p><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">Excellence </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%;">is derived from the Latin word <i>excellentia</i>.</span></p><p><span style="line-height: 115%;">And the Wikipedia meaning tells -- is the state or quality of excelling. This blog will be hovering around the word for a while and then slightly giving you an indication of what it is – an in-depth analysis and what it can be for you in your Life. </span></p> <p><span><span style="line-height: 115%;">I abhor grades - If a child does his best, that&#39;s all that should be asked. ~ Richard Dawson</span></span></p> <p><span>Teachers and speakers always tell students that grades are not everything, but few kids listen. These wise speakers never stress the importance of initiative and leadership to the point where it is drilled into student’s heads.</span></p> <p><span>Interestingly enough, students still fail to learn from their own and from others’ experiences as their education progresses. The students who attempted to achieve perfection in high school continue to attempt to achieve it in college, and many of whom did not attempt it earlier attempt it later in college. They simply fail to realize that perfection is impossible, and we actually lose when we try to achieve it.</span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;"> Let me explain you one of my experiences in School. I was pretty new to a Language called – Sanskrit and never enjoyed the idea of learning that subject, even then I scored good marks in the subject. Au contraire, I had a greater interest in Geography (even today I do), used to love the idea of getting involved in many things which were relevantly newer to me, but the problem here was I was always scoring less marks in Geography. Now, this tells me no matter how affluent or perfect you are in one subject; it’s not the marks which really let you know that you have been the better-off in the subject mastering the art of perfection and vice-versa.</span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;">If you have scored 100/100 in one particular subject it really doesn’t mean that you have the optimum knowledge of it irrespective of whatever credits have been allocated for the subject. Experience is by far more important. You can read all you want about anything, but it will not make sense until you actually apply it to something.</span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;">In most cases, lessons go in one ear and out the other. People learn but they forget, they don&#39;t put it in their memory. So in the end, they never really learned anything at all. They just memorized some few things for a few weeks and when it wasn&#39;t covered anymore, they forget it all. There&#39;s no point in learning things if you can&#39;t make them stick in your mind, you know?<p /> Grades aren&#39;t the only thing in one&#39;s education. Think about the knowledge you gain, the friends you make in the class, and the influence your teacher makes on your life. It&#39;s about the experience, if not anything else. </span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;">I think, from past experience, that students have so much pressure to fill the columns up with 90, 90, 90 or above……..You get the point. Not to mention, keeping the percentile UP, UP, UP and UP!</span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;">As a result, students are just &quot;rush learning&quot; as I&#39;ll call it so they get that instant A on their report card. Perhaps, if there&#39;s anyway, the Marking/Grading system could be differently arranged to have kids wanting to learn, rather than wanting to earn. Overall, the experience is definitely more important, though, grades can determine many things other than actually learning, unfortunately. </span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;"> Applying <b>“3 Idiots”</b></span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;">Rancho cum Phunsuk Wangdu (Aamir Khan, brilliant and superlative as always) A  do-gooder in the world that has forgotten the meaning of the word &#39;good&#39;, a man of rebellious spirit in a world that is ruled by conventions, a guy who believes that excellence is the be-all-and-end-all of life and that success is only one of the many faces of excellence, that one should study to know the subject and not to get the grade; A man who talks of the heart and preaches about the heart to a world that has lost relevance of the word, &#39;heart&#39;! </span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;">And then there are people like us, people like Raju (Sharman Joshi) and Farhan (R Madhavan) who are forever running in a race, a race that will take them somewhere, but where none have an idea . One (Raju) is so bogged down by the pressures of being the next bread-earner of the family that he has forgotten what it feels to be young and happy - the other (Farhan) unable or the better word would be unready to tell his father that engineering is not his cup of tea.  Does this ring a bell somewhere? I do not know about you, but it does ring a strong bell somewhere in MY heart! </span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;">And who has not seen the results of such pressures, people turning into nervous wrecks, leading unproductive and frustrating lives, caught in careers that they did not want to be a part of, and all the time wasting their own talents and those of others.<p /> And then there are others like Joy Lobo (I wish I could remember the actor, he was really superb) who prefer to end their lives rather than live it as stooges of a society that does not recognize their personal identity and considers them only as parts to a mosaic rather than a whole mosaic itself.  A mosaic where the contributing colors lose their own identities, an ocean wherein the contributing rivers lose all traces of their own separate identities. It is a strange world, this world of mosaics wherein people as talented as Millimeter (well portrayed by another brilliant actor of whom we know very little) let go of their desires and end up becoming the fix-it guys of guys who should have been able to fix by themselves.</span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;">The idea of financial success has become so well entrenched that the very purpose of education has been defeated, so as Rancho(Aamir’s role) time and again points out, we have all become machines and machines have become the only ones to do what they are meant to do ..... In a memorable quote, Rancho asks rhetorically  <i>&quot;Pehle Engineering Ki, Phir MBA Kar Liya Aur Phir Banking Join Kar Li! Agar Banking Hi Karne Thi, To Engineering Kyoon Ki?</i>&quot; - Can anybody from IIT answer this simple question?</span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;">As Rancho observes, in yet another telling comment, &quot;<i>Chaabuk Ke Darr Se To Circus Ka Sher Bhi Stool Par Kudkar Baitthna Seekh Jaata Hai .... Lekin Ussey well-trained Kehte Hain, well-educated Nahin</i>&quot;</span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;">As the narrator, Farhan(R Madhavan) observes,&quot;<i>Hum Sab To Yahan Certificate Lene Aaye Thhey; Woh Akayla Yahaan Paddne Aaya Tha</i>&quot; (we had all come here to obtain Certificates, he was the only one who had come here to learn!)</span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;">The play may be a loose adaption of the story and there may be many changes incorporated in the story, still the spirit of the story remains unchanged. The manner in which the internal dynamics of the engineering college has been brought to the fore reflects the director&#39;s intimate knowledge of the dynamics pervading the world of Engineering Colleges and also the director&#39;s growing disenchantment with a system that confirms to conforming to tradition rather than allowing fresh thought. The pint is made time and again that man must follow his heart for that&#39;s where real satisfaction lies, the key of the success of the film lies in the fact that the film makes it&#39;s point “without becoming preachy”.</span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span><b><span style="line-height: 115%;">The Best Ways for Assessment! <br /></span></b></p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;">What is the purpose of grading? When assigning a project, a teacher must decide what he or she wants the students to learn. In deciding on learning objectives, the teacher must then also decide how the objectives will be measured. Measuring the extent to which students meet learning objectives seems to be what grading is about. However, it can easily go from black and white; multiple-choice, for example to gray (sketchbook assignments, exploration activities, working with students with special needs)</span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;">Teachers grade a lot of papers. But not all assignments fit a standard 100-point grading system. Moreover, because teachers record many grades and calculate many averages, having a simpler grading system can make the whole process easier. Although any grading system will be imperfect, in the end, grading is a necessary part of evaluating student performance. It lets the student know how he is performing in a given class </span></p> <p style="line-height: normal;"><b><span>Point Systems</span></b></p> <p style="line-height: normal;"><span> Instead of making all assignments worth 100 points each, group complimentary assignments into 100-point blocks. For example, if there are two tests in the term, make each worth 50 points. If there are four quizzes, make each worth 25 points. The final grade could be calculated as a straight average of each point block. Or teachers could weigh each block differently--tests might account for 50 percent of the final grade while homework and quizzes might account for 25 percent each.</span></p> <p style="line-height: normal;"><span><span> </span></span></p> <p style="line-height: normal;"><b><span>Account for Mistakes</span></b></p> <p style="line-height: normal;"><span>  Everyone makes mistakes. Design a grading system to allow for that. A truly fair assessment takes into account that one bad grade might not reflect accurately on a student&#39;s typical performance. Toss out the lowest quiz grade or homework grade. If using a point system, give five quizzes at 25 points each and only count the top four grades. Or perhaps keep the best 10 out of 11 assignment grades. Typically, students will not use this as an excuse to skip work. Rather, students will work with less stress knowing that one bad grade will not ruin their final average. </span></p> <p style="line-height: normal;"><b><span> </span></b></p> <p style="line-height: normal;"><b><span>Extra Credit</span></b></p> <p style="line-height: normal;"><span> Offer additional, optional assignments that go beyond the course requirements. In return, the student earns extra points. Those can be points earned to boost a test score, to help raise an average grade on homework assignments, or even as points to be added directly to the final grade. Make sure the additional work merits the points it earns. For many students, the opportunity to earn extra points means the difference between a B+ and an A-. </span></p> <p style="line-height: normal;"><b><span>Completion</span></b></p> <p style="line-height: normal;"><span>For some students, simply completing of project is a major accomplishment. While all students need to know what they did right and what they did wrong, sometimes a grade based on the percent of a project completed will encourage effort. Give students both grades (one for quality of the work, and one for the amount completed).<br /> Likewise, in some settings (particularly schools where truancy is a problem), attendance can be grade-worthy. The purpose of going to school is to learn more than the subjects taught in class, but also life skills. In the work world, attendance is often a factor in an employee&#39;s review; teaching students the value of regular attendance can help prepare them for that reality. </span></p> <p style="line-height: normal;"><b><span><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span></b></p> <p style="line-height: normal;"><b><span>Partial Grades</span></b></p> <p style="line-height: normal;"><span>Some projects have stages or simply take a long time to complete. For those, consider giving partial grades on individual portions of the project. Grading a project in its early stage should correct a student&#39;s misdirection, leading to improvements that will be reflected in the project&#39;s following stages. In the end, &quot;staged grading&quot; helps the student produce a better final project.</span></p> <p style="line-height: normal;"><span> </span></p> <p style="line-height: normal;"><span>These systems would not come in picture, but enlightenment is always important to procure it to the masses and too much of them who really believe that a change is possible and can seize onto the opportunity. </span></p> <p style="line-height: normal;"><span> </span></p> <p style="line-height: normal;"><span>Till then,</span></p> <p><span> </span><b><span>Master something</span></b><span>:</span></p> <p><span>It may be an instrument, a sport or even parkour (basically insane acrobatics while running – Thanks Ashish Rajan – for explaining it in his mind-blowing presentation). The more obscure the better.</span></p> <p><span>You want to find a niche, and then become the best at what you do. This is what colleges want to see: something different and someone who is damn good at what they do differently.</span></p> <p><span>Colleges read tens of thousands of essays about how a student has struggled through some obstacle and learned perseverance in the process. This is not a unique essay topic. College admissions officers could really care less… I’m on a serious tangent. So yeah, master something, and something unique, if possible. But mastering something unique is not where to process ends.  A college admissions officer will never know of your proficiency unless you demonstrate it by earning awards and winning competitions. They need a way to gauge your talents, and this can only be done if you if prove your talents through successes. The element of Passion should always be there so as to make sure you do not lose out in attaining the process. Passion claims anything and everything make sure you master the endless possibilities with passion.</span></p> <p style="line-height: normal;"><span> </span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;">As you read this blog, sit in class, at a café and even when you’re doing homework, I want you to constantly remind yourself of what you have just learned.  Look for CONNECTIONS. Try to apply your new understanding to what you are learning in class. I want you to continually ask yourself, “How can I relate this to something that I already understand?”  Be creative. Remember, initially, you will have difficulty relating your knowledge-base to obscure ideas, but, with practice, the technique will become natural.</span></p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br /> “Life is full of experiences. Never forget them.”</span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="line-height: 115%;">Pratik</span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/knowledge-the-real-parameter-of-success">Pratik's Site</a> </p> </div> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-5549069761224058880?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-26326888310443359382009-12-27T01:24:00.001-08:002009-12-27T01:24:01.612-08:001) If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on your right side. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on your left side. <br />2) If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. For when a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off. <br />3) Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying. <br />4) Your tongue is germ free only if it is pink. If it is white there is a thin film of bacteria on it. <br />5) The Mercedes-Benz motto is &#39;Das Beste oder Nichts&#39; meaning &#39;the best or nothing&#39;. <br /> 6) The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal. <br />7) The pupil of the eye expands as much as 45 percent when a person looks at something pleasing. <br />8) The average person who stops smoking requires one hour less sleep a night. <br /> 9) Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system. Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day. <br />10) The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear. <br />11) Dalmatians are born without spots. <br />12) Bats always turn left when exiting a cave. <br />13) The &#39;v&#39; in the name of a court case does not stand for &#39;versus&#39;, but for &#39;and&#39; (in civil proceedings) or &#39;against&#39; (in criminal proceedings) . <br />14) Men&#39;s shirts have the buttons on the right, but women&#39;s shirts have the buttons on the left. <br />15) The owl is the only bird to drop its upper eyelid to wink. All other birds raise their lower eyelids. <br /> 16) The reason honey is so easy to digest is that it&#39;s already been digested by a bee. <br />17) Roosters cannot crow if they cannot extend their necks. <br />18) The color blue has a calming effect. It causes the brain to release calming hormones. <br /> 19) Every time you sneeze some of your brain cells die. <br />20) Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart. <br />21) The verb &quot;cleave&quot; is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate. <br /> 22) When you blush, the lining of your stomach also turns red. <br />23) When hippos are upset, their sweat turns red. <br />24) The first Harley Davidson motorcycle was built in 1903, and used a tomato can for a carburetor. <br /> 25) The lion that roars in the MGM logo is named Volney. <br />26) Google is actually the common name for a number with a million zeros. <br />27) Switching letters is called spoonerism. For example, saying jag of Flapan, instead of flag of Japan. <br /> 28) It cost 7 million dollars to build the Titanic and 200 million to make a film about it. <br />29) The attachment of the human skin to muscles is what causes dimples. <br />30) There are 1,792 steps to the top of the Eiffel Towerl. <br /> 31) The sound you hear when you crack your knuckles is actually the sound of nitrogen gas bubbles bursting. <br />32) Human hair and fingernails continue to grow after death. <br />33) It takes about 20 seconds for a red blood cell to circle the whole body. <br /> 34) The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets. <br />35) Most soccer players run 7 miles in a game. <br />36) The only part of the body that has no blood supply is the cornea in the eye. It takes in oxygen directly from the air. <br /> 37) In most watch advertisements the time displayed on the watch is 10:10 because then the arms frame the brand of the watch (and make it look like it is smiling). <br />38) Colgate faced big obstacle marketing toothpaste in Spanish speaking countries. Colgate translates into the command &quot;go hang yourself.&quot; <br />39) The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning its head are the rabbit and the parrot. <br />40) Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. <br /> 41) The average person laughs 13 times a day. <br />42) Do you know the names of the three wise monkeys? They are: Mizaru (See no evil), Mikazaru (Hear no evil), and Mazaru (Speak no evil). <br />43) Women blink nearly twice as much as men. <br />44) German Shepherds bite humans more than any other breed of dog. <br />45) Large kangaroos cover more than 30 feet with each jump. <br /> 46) Whip makes a cracking sound because its tip moves faster than the speed of sound. <br />47) The penguin is the only bird that can swim, but not fly. It is also the only bird that can walk upright. <br />48) If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural cause. <br />49) The human heart creates enough pressure while pumping to squirt blood 30 feet!! <br />50) It requires 30 muscles to raise your eyebrows. <br />51) In 1562 a man was dug up six hours after his burial, after he had been seen breathing by someone at the funeral - he lived for another 75 years. <br />52) The human body has fewer muscles in it than a caterpillar. <br />53) Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of plaster. <br />54) At birth, a panda bear is smaller than a mouse. <br /> 55) Baby whales grow at a rate of 10 lbs per hour! <br />56) The average office desk has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet. <br />57) A metre is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299792458 of a second. <br /> 58) A ball-point pen is also called Biro after its inventor Lazslo Biro, a journalist who noted that new paper ink dried quickly. <br />59) Place head to toe, all the Barbie and family dolls sold since 1959, when Barbie made her debut, would circle the earth more than 7 times. <br />60) All polar bears are left-handed. They are also the only mammals with hair on the soles of their feet. <br />61) New York city, the oldest city in the US, was a Dutch colonial town and was known as New Amsterdam till 1665. <br /> 62) Raindrops are not actually teardrops shaped. They are rounded from the top and flat at the bottom. They fall at a speed of 11 kmph. <br />63) Artifacts found in Kandivali indicate that the 7 islands that constitute Mumbai have been inhabited since the Stone Age. <br />64) The national bird of New Zealand, the Kiwi, lays only 1 egg per year. Despite this, it has survived extinction. <br /> 65) Runrado May Day Stadium in North Korea is the world&#39;s largest football stadium and can seat upto 2,05,000 spectators. <br />66) Chopsticks were developed 5000 years ago in China. Today, 25 million trees are cut to make over 45 billion pairs a year. <br /> 67) Mexico city is the highest city in North America and world&#39;s largest capital. One-fifth of Mexico&#39;s population lives in the city. <br />68) A hummingbird flaps its wings upto 90 times per second or over 5000 times per minute making a humming like sound, of which it is named after. <br />69) Tequila is thought to be the first distilled liquor in the Americas. The Aztecs were known to have drank it before Cortez arrived. <br />70) Paris gets its name from the Parisii, a tribe of Gauls who settled on the Ile de le Cite between 250 and 200 BC. <br />71) Camels have three eyelids to protect their eyes from severe sand storms in the deserts. <br /> 72) The Goliath beetle is the heaviest insect in the world. It weighs 110 grams, almost the weight of an apple. <br />73) Greenland has more ice on it than Iceland and ironically, Iceland has more grass and trees than Greenland. <br /> 74) Termites build the largest animal homes. Moulds built by the termites can reach upto 39 ft, six times the size of an average adult human. <br />75) Aspirin went on sale as the first pharmaceutical drug in 1899. Felix Hoffman, a German chemist invented the drug. <br />76) The Codex Hammer, Leonardo da Vinci&#39;s notebook, was bought by Bill Gates in 1994 for a whopping 30.8 million US Dollars. <br /> 77) Mujava Desert in USA, houses 12,000 years old flowering shrubs called Creosote bushes, the oldest living flora on earth. <br />78) Tsunami travels at around 805 km/hr, slowing as it approaches land. When it strikes, the waves can be as high as 15 mt. <br /> 79) Toronto is home to the largest swimming pool in the world. The 2250 sq. ft. pool which can hold 2000 swimmers, opened in 1925. <br />80) An adult porcupine has approximately 30000 quills on its body, which are replaced every year. All porcupines can float in water. <br />81) The temperature inside the cylinder of an internal combustion car engine can reach upto 1700 degrees Celsius, which is as hot as molten lava. <br />82) La Paz, Bolivia is nearly fire-proof with its high altitude; the low oxygen content makes it difficult for a flame to sustain itself. <br />83) Araucana hens, first breed in Chlie, lay eggs that are blue, green, turquoise and even pink in colour. <br />84) Disney world in Florida covers 30,500 acres, making it twice the size of the island of Manhattan, New York. <br /> 85) The smallest airplane in the world is called Bumble Bee II. It is just 8.7 ft long and weighs 179.6 kg. <br />86) The Draco Volan lizard is known to escape predators by gliding from tree to tree. This lizard is popularly called the Flying Dragon. <br />87) Bhutan derives its name from the Indian word Bhotana, meaning the edge of Tibet. <br />88) The first full-length animated motion picture made in the United States, Walt Disney&#39;s &quot;Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs&quot; (1937), was produced from more than 400,000 hand-drawn sketches. <br />89) The mosquito is the hardiest of all insects. It is found in the coldest region of Siberia as well as in equatorial jungles. <br />90) A fly moves 300 times its body length in a second, three times faster than a jet, which travels only 100 times its body length. <br />91) Bananas are one of the few fruits that ripen best off the plant. They split open and the pulp becomes cottony on the plant. <br />92) Too much of coffee can be fatal. 10 gm or 100 gm or 100 cups in four hours can kill an average of human beings. <br /> 93) Jelly Fish do not belong to the fish family. They are related to the Coral family, with no head, brain, heart, eyes or ears. <br />94) The Climbing Perch discovered in 1971, is a fish that walks from one body to another in water, surviving for days on land. <br />95) Ostriches lay the largest bird eggs. An egg can be 7.1 inches long, 5.5 inches wide and weighs approximately 1.2 kg. <br /> 96) The Challenger Deep, in the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean is the deepest point in the earth&#39;s crust at 36198 ft below sea level. <br />97) Scuttling Huntress Spiders can move at 56 kmph and are responsible for over 2000000 deaths in Australia in last 10 years. <br />98) Damascus, in Syria, is the oldest inhabited city in the world. It flourished 2000 years before Rome was founded in 753 BC. <br /> 99) Gibson, the world&#39;s tallest dog is 977 kg of weight. More than 7 ft tall, he has a shoulder height of 42.6 inches. <br />100) Seikan Tunnel, the longest underwater tunnel is 51 km long. It links the Hokkaido and Honshu islands of Japan. <br /> 101) Although the largest Mackarel fish is rarely more than 1.68 metres long, each can lay as many as 500000 eggs at a time. <br />102) The famous marquee HOLLYWOOD is 50 feet tall, stretches 450 ft across and weighs over 204116 kg. It originally read HOLLYWOOD LAND. <br />103) Camels are known to stay for over 15 days without water, but rats can stay without water longer than camels. <br />104) The alloy, aluminium, was used in China as early as 300 AD. However, the western civilization did not discover it until 1827. <br />105) Despite its great strength, the octopus gets tired easily as the hemocyanin carrying oxygen in its blood is not sufficient. <br />106) Until the 1800s, as many as 60 million bison lived on the American Great Plains; by 1900 white settlers had reduced their number to fewer than 1,000. <br />107) The oldest-known skis were made some 5,000 years ago in Scandinavia, where skiing today is more popular than ever. <br />108) The word vaccine comes from the Latin word vacca, meaning a cow. The first vaccination was derived from cowpox. <br /> 109) Siberia grows so cold in winter that the moisture in a person&#39;s breath turns into ice crystals and can be heard when it falls down. <br />110) An original Persian ring has one million knots in every three sq. in. and can last for 500 years. <br />111) Each year green turtles swim more than 1,200 miles from Brazil to breed on Ascension Island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. <br />112) Clams are one of the slowest growing yet the longest living species on earth. They can take up to 100 years to grow 0.8 cm in length. <br />113) The Hudson River along the island of Manhattan flows in either direction depending upon the tide. <br />114) A toad can catch and eat as many as 10,000 insects during the summer season. <br /> 115) New York City was the capital of the United States from 1785 to 1790. <br />116) There are more than a million animal species. There are 6,000 species of reptiles, 73,000 kinds of spiders, and 3,000 types of lice. For each person there is about 200 million insects. The 4,600 kinds of mammals represent a mere 0,3% of animals and the 9000 kinds of birds only 0,7%. The most numerous bird specie is the red-billed quelea of southern Africa. There are an estimated 100 trillion of them. <br />117) Mammals are the only animals with flaps around the ears. <br />118) African elephants only have four teeth to chew their food with. <br />119) There are about one billion cattle in the world of which 200 million are in India. <br /> 120) A house fly lives only 14 days. <br />121) A dog was the first in space and a sheep, a duck and a rooster the first to fly in a hot air balloon. <br />122) The oldest breed of dog is the Saluki. <br />123) The bee hummingbird of Cuba is the smallest bird in the world. <br /> 124) An ostrich can run up to 70 km/h (43 mph). <br />125) An annoyed camel will spit at a person. <br />126) The world&#39;s smallest dog is the Chihuahua, which means &quot;tiny dog in the sky.&quot; <br />127) Pea crabs (the size of a pea) are the smallest crabs in the world. <br /> 128) 75% of wild birds die before they are 6 months old. <br />129) The pig is rated the fourth most intelligent animal but is mentioned only twice in the Bible. <br />130) Pork is the world&#39;s most widely-eaten meat. <br /> 131) In Denmark there are twice as many pigs as people. <br />132) The coyote is a member of the dog family and its scientific name, &quot;canis latrans&quot; means barking dog. <br />133) A giraffe can clean its ears with its 50 cm (20 in) tongue. <br /> 134) The South American giant anteater eats more than 30,000 ants a day. <br />135) It is impossible to out-swim a shark - sharks reach speeds of 70 km/h (44 mph). <br />136) The sailfish is the fastest swimmer, reaching 109 km/h (68 mph). <br /> 137) The slowest fish is the Sea Horse, which moves along at about 0.016 km/h (0.01 mph). <br />138) The heart of a blue whale is the size of a small car. <br />139) The tongue of a blue whale is as long as an elephant. <br />140) The scales of a crocodile are made of ceratin, the same substance that hooves and fingernails are made of. <br /> 141) A crocodile&#39;s tongue is attached to the roof of its mouth and cannot move it. <br />142) A snail has two pairs of tentacles on its head. One pair is longer than the other and houses the eyes. The shorter pair is used for smelling and feeling its way around. <br />143) The heaviest crustacean ever found was a lobster weighing 19 kg (42 lb), caught in 1934. <br />144) The largest jellyfish ever caught measured 2.3 m (7&#39;6&quot;) across the bell with a tentacle 36 m (120 ft) long. <br /> 145) The largest giant squid ever recorded was captured in the North Atlantic in 1878. It weighed 4 tons. Its tentacles measured 10 m (35 ft) long. <br />146) The giant squid has the biggest eyes of any animal: its eyes measure 40 cm (16 in) in diameter. <br />147) Domestic cats purr at about 26 cycles per second, the same frequency as an idling diesel engine. <br /> 148) Sharks are immune to all known diseases. <br />149) Sharks and rays also share the same kind of skin: instead of scales, they have small tooth-like spikes called denticles. The spikes are so sharp that shark skin has long been used as sandpaper. <br />150) Animals also are either right-handed or left-handed. <br />151) There are 701 types of pure breed dogs. <br />152) There are about 54 million dogs in the US, and Paris is said to have more dogs than people. <br /> 153) Some bird species, usually flightless birds, have only a lower eyelid, whereas pigeons use upper and lower lids to blink. <br />154) Fish and insects do not have eyelids - their eyes are protected by a hardened lens. <br /> 155) Flatfish (halibut, flounder, turbot, and sole) hatch like any other &quot;normal&quot; fish. As they grow, they turn sideways and one eye moves around so they have two eyes on the side that faces up. <br />156) Measured in straight flight, the spine-tailed swift is the fastest bird. It flies 170 km/h (106 mph). Second fastest is the Frigate, which reaches 150 km/h (94 mph). <br />157) Millions of trees are accidentally planted by squirrels who bury nuts and then forget where they hid them. <br />158) There are more than 150 million sheep in Australia, a nation of 17 million people. <br /> 159) New Zealand is home to 4 million people and 70 million sheep. <br />160) In 1961, Matisse&#39;s Le Bateau (The Boat) hung upside-down for 2 months in the Museum of Modern Art, New York - none of the 116,000 visitors had noticed. <br />161) Picasso could draw before he could walk and his first word was the Spanish word for pencil. <br />162) The first book published is thought to be the Epic of Gilgamesh, written at about 3000 BC in cuneiform, an alphabet based on symbols. <br />163) The first history book, the Great Universal History, was published by Rashid-Eddin of Persia in 1311. <br />164) The first novel, called The story of Genji, was written in 1007 by Japanese noble woman, Murasaki Shikibu. <br /> 165) The German PJ Reuter started a foreign news agency in 1858. Today Reuters is one of the biggest news agencies in the world. <br />166) The oldest surviving daily newspaper is the Wiener Zeitung of Austria. It was first printed in 1703. <br />167) The Bible still is the world&#39;s best selling book. <br /> 168) In 1097, Trotula, a midwife of Salerno, wrote The Diseases of Women - it was used in medical schools for 600 years. <br />169) The world&#39;s longest nonfiction work is The Yongle Dadian, a 10,000-volume encyclopaedia produced by 5,000 scholars during the Ming Dynasty in China 500 years ago. <br />170) Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote Meteorologica in 350 BC - it remained the standard textbook on weather for 2,000 years. <br />171) The first illustrated book for children was published in Germany in 1658. <br /> 172) Barbara Cartland completed a novel every two weeks, publishing 723 novels. <br />173) Ian Fleming&#39;s James Bond debuted in the novel &quot;Casino Royale&quot; in 1952. <br />174) Johannes Gutenberg is often credited as the inventor of the printing press in 1454. However, the Chinese actually printed from movable type in 1040 but later discarding the method. <br />175) The Statue of Liberty is the largest hammered copper statue in the world. <br />176) The largest statue in the world is Mount Rushmore, the heads of four US Presidents carved into the Black Hills near Keystone. The heads are 18 m (60 ft) tall. <br />177) The largest horse statue in the world, the Zizkov Monument in Prague, stands 9 metres (30 ft) tall. <br />178) Jean-Dominique Bauby, a French journalist suffering from &quot;locked-in&quot; syndrome, wrote the book &quot;The Driving Bell and the Butterfly&quot; by blinking his left eyelid - the only part of his body that could move. <br />179) When Leonardo da Vinci&#39;s Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre in 1912, 6 replicas were sold as the original, each at a huge price, in the 3 years before the original was recovered. <br />180) When Auguste Rodin exhibited his first important work, The Bronze Period, in 1878 it was so realistic that people thought he had sacrificed a live model inside the cast. <br />181) Ernest Vincent Wright&#39;s 1939 novel Gadsby has 50,110 words, none of which contains the letter &quot;e&quot;. <br />182) The shortest stage play is Samuel Beckett&#39;s &quot;Breath&quot; - 35 seconds of screams and heavy breathing. <br /> 183) There are more than ten billion web pages on the internet. <br />184) The world&#39;s libraries store more than a 100 million original volumes. <br />185) The Library of Congress, the largest library in the world, stores 18 million books on approximately 850 km (530 miles) of bookshelves. The collections include 119 million items, 2 million recordings, 12 million photographs, 4 million maps and 53 million manuscripts. <br />186) The problem of missing teeth was first discussed at length in 1728 by Pierre Fauchard in his book The Surgeon Dentist. <br />187) The first colour photograph was made in 1861 by James Maxwell. He photographed a tartan ribbon. <br /> 188) The first English dictionary was written by Samuel Johnson in 1755. <br />189) Noah Webster, who wrote the Webster Dictionary, was known as a short, pale, smug, boastful, humourless, yet religious man. <br />190) The first Oxford English Dictionary was published in April 1928, 50 years after it was started. It consisted of 400,000 words and phrases in 10 volumes. The latest edition fills 22,000 pages, includes 33,000 Shakespeare quotations, and is bound in 20 volumes, all of which is available on a single CD. <br />191) When Jonathan Swift published &#39;Gulliver&#39;s Travels&#39; in 1726, he intended it as a satire on the ferociousness of human nature. Today it is enjoyed as a children&#39;s story. <br />192) The length from your wrist to your elbow is the same as the length of your foot. <br />193) Your heart beats 101,000 times a day. During your lifetime it will beat about 3 billion times and pump about 400 million litres (800 million pints) of blood. <br />194) Your mouth produces 1 litre (1.8 pints) of saliva a day. <br />195) On average, people can hold their breath for one minute. The world record is seven-and-a- half minutes. <br />196) On average, you breathe 23,000 times a day. <br /> 197) On average, you speak almost 5,000 words a day - although almost 80% of speaking is self-talk (talking to yourself). <br />198) Einstein&#39;s brain was of average size (1375 grams - 49 oz). <br />199) Over the last 150 years the average height of people in industrialised nations increased by 10 cm (4 in). <br /> 200) In the 19th century, American men were the tallest in the world, averaging 1.71m (5&#39;6&quot;). Today, the average height for American men is 1.75m (5&#39;7&quot;), compared to 1.77m (5&#39;8&quot;) for Swedes, and 1.78m (5&#39;8.5&quot;) for the Dutch. <br />201) The tallest nation in the world is the Watusis of Burundi. <br />202) If the amount of water in your body is reduced by just 1%, you&#39;ll feel thirsty. <br />203) A person can live without food for about a month, but only about a week without water. <br /> 204) You&#39;ll drink about 75,000 litres (20,000 gallons) of water in your lifetime. <br />205) After a certain period of growth, hair becomes dormant. That means that it is attached to the hair follicle until replaced by new hair. <br />206) Hair on the head grows for between two and six years before being replaced. In the case of baldness, the dormant hair is not replaced with new hair. <br />207) Men loose about 40 hairs a day. Women loose about 70 hairs a day. <br />208) A person remains conscious for eight seconds after being decapitated. <br />209) The muscle that lets your eye blink is the fastest muscle in your body. It allows you to blink 5 times a second. On average, you blink 15,000 times a day. Women blink twice as much as men. <br />210) Unless food is mixed with saliva you cannot taste it. <br />211) The liver is the largest of the body&#39;s internal organs. The skin is the body&#39;s largest organ. <br /> 212) Not all our taste buds are on our tongue; about 10% are on the palette and the cheeks. <br />213) On average a hiccup lasts 5 minutes. <br />214) Fingernails grow nearly 4 times faster than toenails. <br />215) It takes about 3 months for the transplanted hair to start growing again. <br /> 216) About 13% of people are left-handed. Up from 11% in the past. <br />217) In 1900, a person could expect to live to be 47. Today, the average life expectancy for men and women in developed countries is longer than 70 years. <br />218) A newborn baby&#39;s head accounts for one-quarter of its weight. <br />219) The bones in your body are not white - they range in colour from beige to light brown. The bones you see in museums are white because they have been boiled and cleaned. <br />220) Our eyes are always the same size from birth. <br />221) Every person has a unique tongue print. <br />222) If all your DNA is stretched out, it would reach to the moon 6,000 times. <br /> 223) Approximately two-thirds of a person&#39;s body weight is water. Blood is 92% water. The brain is 75% water and muscles are 75% water. <br />224) The coloured part of the eye is called the iris. Behind the iris is the soft, rubbery lens which focuses the light on to a layer, called the retina, in the back of the eye. The retina contains about 125 million rods and 7 million cones. The rods pick up shades of grey and help us see in dim light. The cones work best in bright light to pick up colours. <br />225) We actually do not see with our eyes - we see with our brains. The eyes basically are the cameras of the brain. One-quarter of the brain is used to control the eyes. <br />226) A green diamond is the rarest diamond. <br />227) The ozone layer averages about 3 millimeters (1/8 inch) thick. <br />228) A diamond will break if you hit it with a hammer. <br /> 229) The crawler, the machine that takes the Space Shuttle to the launching pad moves at 3 km/h (2 mph). <br />230) Summer on Uranus lasts for 21 years - but so does winter. <br />231) The Sahara desert expands at about 1 km per month. <br /> 232) More than 70% of earth&#39;s dryland is affected by desertification. <br />233) The US has one of the highest fire death rates in the industrialised world, with more than 2 million fires reported each year. <br />234) The sun is 330,330 times larger than the earth. <br />235) The largest iceberg ever recorded was 335 km (208 miles) long and 97 km (60 miles) wide. <br />236) Hurricanes, tornadoes and bigger bodies of water always go clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere. This directional spinning has to do with the rotation of the earth and is called the Coriolis force. <br />237) Winds that blow toward the equator curve west. <br />238) Organist William Herschel discovered the planet Uranus in 1781 with the first reflecting telescope that he built. He named it Georgium Sidium in honour of King George III of England but in 1850 it was renamed Uranus in accordance with the tradition of naming planets for Roman gods. <br />239) Planets, meaning wanderers, are named after Roman deities: Mercury, messenger of the gods; Venus, the god of love and beauty; Mars, the god of war; Jupiter, king of the gods; and Saturn, father of Jupiter and god of agriculture; Neptune, god of the sea. <br />240) During a total solar eclipse the temperature can drop by 6 degrees Celsius (about 20 degrees Fahrenheit). <br />241) The tallest waterfalls in the world are Angel Falls in Venezuela. At 979 m (3,212 ft), they are 19 times taller than the Niagara Falls, or 3 times taller than the Empire State Building. <br />242) Although the Angel Falls are much taller than the Niagara Falls, the latter are much wider, and they both pour about the same amount of water over their edges - about 2.8 billion litres (748 million gallons) per second. <br />243) There are 1040 islands around Britain, one of which is the smallest island in the world: Bishop&#39;s Rock. <br />244) All the planets in the solar system rotate anticlockwise, except Venus. It is the only planet that rotates clockwise. <br /> 245) Earth is the densest planet in the solar system and the only one not named after a god. <br />246) Earth orbits the sun at an average speed of 29.79 km/s (18.51 miles/sec), or about 107,000 km/h (about 67,000 miles/hour). <br /> 247) One year on earth is 365.26 days long. One day is 23 hours, 56 minutes, and 4 seconds long. The extra day in a leap year was introduced to compensate for the discrepancy in the Gregorian calendar. <br />248) Plates carrying the continents migrate over the earth&#39;s surface a few centimetres (inches) per year, about the same speed that a fingernail grows. <br />249) On average, 13,000 earthquakes are located each year. <br />250) The magnetic north pole is near Ellef Ringes Island in northern Canada. <br />251) The magnetic south pole was discovered off the coast of Wilkes Land in Antarctica. <br /> 252) There is zero gravity at the centre of earth. <br />253) The deepest mine in the world is Western Deep Levels near Charletonville, South Africa. It is 4.2 km (2.6 miles) deep. <br />254) The deepest point in the sea: the Mariana Trench off Guam in the Pacific Ocean; it is 10.9 km (6.77 miles) below sea level. <br />255) Earth is slowing down - in a few million years there won&#39;t be a leap year. <br />256) The tail of the Great Comet of 1843 was 330 million km long. (It will return in 2356.) <br /> 257) There are more than 326 million trillion gallons of water on Earth. <br />258) About 500 small meteorites fall to earth every year but most fall in the sea and in unpopulated areas. <br />259) There is no record of a person being killed by a meteorite but animals are occasionally hit. <br /> 260) The Dead Sea is 365 m (1,200 ft) below sea level. <br />261) A storm officially becomes a hurricane when cyclone winds reach 119 km/h (74 mph). <br />262) Thomas Cook, the world&#39;s first travel agency in the world, was founded in 1850. <br /> 263) There are more TV sets in the US than there are people in the UK. <br />264) There are no letters assigned to the numbers 1 and 0 on a phone keypad. These numbers remain unassigned because they are so-called &quot;flag&quot; numbers, kept for special purposes such as emergency or operator services. <br />265) For 3000 years, until 1883, hemp was the world&#39;s largest agricultural crop, from which the majority of fabric, soap, paper, medicines, and oils were produced. <br />266) The word malaria comes from the words mal and aria, which means bad air. This derives from the old days when it was thought that all diseases are caused by bad, or dirty air. <br />267) The names of all the continents end with the letter they start with. <br />268) On every continent there is a city called Rome. <br />269) The first city in the world to have a population of more than one million was London. <br /> 270) The most populated city in the world - when major urban areas are included - is Tokyo, with 30 million residents. <br />271) The Vatican is the world&#39;s smallest country, at 0.44 square km (0.16 square miles). <br />272) The US flag displays 13 stripes - for the original 13 states. <br /> 273) The words &quot;electronic mail&quot; might sound new but was introduced 31 years ago. Queen Elizabeth of Britain sent her first email in 1976. <br />274) Eskimos use refrigerators to keep food from freezing. <br />275) The sentence &quot;The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog&quot; uses every letter of the alphabet. <br /> 276) Lightning strikes men about seven times more often than it does women. <br />277) Women make up 49% of the world population. <br />278) About 50% of Americans live within 50 miles of their birthplace. This is called propinquity. <br /> 279) The pleasant feeling of eating chocolate is caused by a chemical called anadamide, a neurotransmitter which also is produced naturally in the brain. <br />280) The living does not outnumber the dead: since the creation about 60 billion people have died. <br />281) Midday refers to the moment the sun crosses the local meridian. <br />282) Due to earth&#39;s gravity it is impossible for mountains to be higher than 15,000 metres. <br /> 283) It is not true that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made structure that can be viewed from space - many man-made objects, including the Dutch polders, can be viewed from space. <br />284) An ounce of chocolate contains about 20 mg of caffeine. <br />285) Coffee is the seed of a cherry from the tree genus Coffea <br />286) Three quarters of fish caught are eaten - the rest is used to make things such as glue, soap, margarine and fertilizer. <br /> 287) In September 1999 Dustin Philips of the US set a Guinness World Record by drinking a 400 ml (14-oz) bottle of tomato sauce through a straw in 33 seconds. <br />288) To make one kilo of honey, bees have to visit 4 million flowers, traveling a distance equal to 4 times around the earth. <br />289) Botanically speaking, the banana is a herb and the tomato is a fruit. <br /> 290) Bananas are the world&#39;s most popular fruit after tomatoes. In western countries, they could account for 3% of a grocer&#39;s total sales. <br />291) Bananas consistently are the number one compliant of grocery shoppers. Most people complain when bananas are overripe or even freckled. The fact is that spotted bananas are sweeter, with a sugar content of more than 20%, compared with 3% in a green banana. <br />292) The scientific term for the common tomato is lycopersicon lycopersicum, which means &quot;wolf peach.&quot; <br />293) There are more than 10,000 varieties of tomatoes. <br /> 294) The can opener was invented 48 years after cans were introduced. <br />295) Over the last 40 years food production actually increased faster than population. <br />296) The number of people who starved to death in the last 25 years of the 20th century is less than the number who starved to death in the last 25 years of the 19th century. <br />297) In the Middle Ages, sugar was a treasured luxury costing 9 times as much as milk. <br />298) Over 90% of all fish caught are caught in the northern hemisphere. <br />299) Wine is sold in tinted bottles because wine spoils when exposed to light. <br /> 300) Approximately one billion snails are served in restaurants annually. <br />301) Carrots have zero fat content. <br />302) Tea is said to have been discovered in 2737 BC by a Chinese emperor when some tea leaves accidentally blew into a pot of boiling water. <br />303) The first European to encounter tea was the Portuguese Jesuit Jasper de Cruz in 1560. <br />304) Ice tea was introduced in 1904 at the World&#39;s Fair in St. Louis. <br /> 305) The tea bag was introduced in 1908 by Thomas Sullivan of New York. <br />306) An onion, apple and potato all have the same taste. The differences in flavour are caused by their smell. <br />307) Coca-Cola was invented in Atlanta, Georgia by Dr. John S. Pemberton in 1886. <br /> 308) Pepsi-Cola was invented by Caleb Bradham in 1890 as &quot;Brad&#39;s Drink&quot; as a digestive aid and energy booster. It was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1989. <br />309) In 1929, the Howdy Company introduced its &quot;Bib-Label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Sodas,&quot; which became 7 Up. 7 Up was invented by Charles Leiper Grigg. <br />310) The first diet soft drink, called the &quot;No-Cal Beverage&quot; was launched in 1952. <br />311) Aluminum cans were introduced in 1957 and two years later the first diet cola was sold. <br />312) The pull-ring tab was invented in 1962 and the re-sealable top in 1965. <br /> 313) Plastic bottles were first used for soft drinks in 1970. <br />314) Chocolate is the number one foodstuff flavour in the world, beating vanilla and banana by 3-to-1. <br />315) Watermelons are 97% water, lettuce 97%, tomatoes 95%, carrots 90%, and bread 30%. <br /> 316) The 16th century Escorial palace of King Phillip II of Spain had 1,200 doors. <br />317) Playing-cards were known in Persia and India as far back as the 12th century. A pack then consisted of 48 instead of 52 cards. <br />318) Excavations from Egyptian tombs dating to 5,000 BC show that the ancient Egyptian kids played with toy hedgehogs. <br />319) Julius Caesar was the first to encode communications, using what has become known as the Caesar Cipher. <br /> 320) The first animal in space was the female Samoyed husky named Laika, launched by the Soviets in 1957. <br />321) In 1969 the US launched a male chimpanzee called Ham into space. <br />322) In 1963 the French launched a cat called Feliette into space. <br /> 323) Great Britain was the first county to issue postage stamps, on 1 May 1840. Hence, UK stamps are the only stamps in the world not to bear the name of the country of origin. <br />324) Napoleon&#39;s christening name was Italian: Napoleone Buonaparte. He was born on the island of Corsica one year after it became French property. As a boy, Napoleon hated the French. <br />325) Only one of the Ancient Seven Wonders of the World still survives: the Great Pyramid of Giza. <br />326) The world&#39;s first skyscraper was the 10-storey Home Insurance office, built in Chicago in 1885. (During Roman times buildings were up to 8 storeys high.) <br />327) Charles Macintosh invented the waterproof coat, the Mackintosh, in 1823. <br />328) Air-filled tyres were used on bicycles before they were used on motorcars. <br />329) Traffic lights were used before the advent of the motorcar. <br /> 330) Optical fibre was invented in 1966 by two British scientists called Charles Kao and George Hockham working for the British company Standard Telecommunication. <br />331) The Monopoly game was invented by Charles Darrow in 1933. He sold the rights to George Parker in 1935, then aged 58. Parker invented more than 100 games, including Pit, Rook, Flinch, Risk and Clue. <br />332) One hour before Alexander Graham Bell registered his patent for the telephone in 1876, Elisha Gray patented his design. After years of litigation, the patent went to Bell. <br />333) The first vending machine was invented by Hero of Alexandria around 215 BC. When a coin was dropped into a slot, its weight would pull a cork out of a spigot and the machine would dispense a trickle of water. <br />334) Leonardo da Vinci never built the inventions he designed. <br />335) Thomas Edison filed 1,093 patents, including those for the light bulb, electric railways and the movie camera. When he died in 1931, he held 34 patents for the telephone, 141 for batteries, 150 for the telegraph and 389 patents for electric light and power. <br />336) Count Alessandro Volta invented the first battery in the 18th century. <br />337) During the 1860s, George Leclanche developed the dry-cell battery, the basis for modern batteries. <br /> 338) Scottish inventor John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of television in 1926 in Soho, London. Ten years later there were only 100 TV sets in the world. <br />339) Today there are almost a billion TV sets in the world. <br />340) China has the most TV sets (200 million). <br />341) In the US there are more TV sets than telephones. <br />342) The first TV commercial was a 20-second ad for a Bulova clock, broadcasted by WNBT, New York during a game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies in July 1941.Bulova paid $9 for that first TV spot. Bulova also was the first watch in space. <br />343) The first regular TV soap was DuMont TV&#39;s A Woman to Remember, which began its run in February 1947. <br />344) The first televised sporting event was a Japanese elementary school baseball game, broadcast in September 1931. <br /> 345) The world&#39;s first TV news helicopter was introduced by KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles on 4 July 1958. <br />346) The largest movie theatre in the world, Radio City Music Hall in New York, opened in 1932 - it seats almost 6,000 people. <br /> 347) The Walt Disney company was founded in 1923, and in 1927 Walt came up with the idea for an animated mouse called Mortimer Mouse. His wife Lillian convinced him to change it to Mickey Mouse. <br />348) Mel Blanc, who played the voice of Bugs Bunny, was allergic to carrots. <br />349) Jack Mercer was the voice of Popeye the Sailor for 45 years. <br />350) The video recording machine was invented by the Ampex corporation of California in 1956. The first video recorder, the Ampex VR1000, stood 1,1 m (3 ft 3 in) high and weighed as much as a small car: 665 kg (1,466 lb). <br />351) Japanese company JVC introduced the VHS system in 1976. <br />352) About 80% of VCRs are made by Japanese companies. <br />353) The CD was developed by Philips and Sony in 1980. <br />354) About 2.4 billion CDs are sold annually. The number of recorded CDs and blank CDs sold has been about equal. <br /> 355) About one-third of recorded CDs are pirated. <br />356) In August 1983, Peter Stewart of Birmingham, UK set a world record by disco dancing for 408 hours. <br />357) Lebanon is the top movie-going country - 35.3 movies per person p.a. China is second with 12.3, followed by Georgia (5.6), India (5), Iceland (4.5), Australia is 6th at 3.9 then New Zealand and the US at just under 3.9. <br />358) The US has the most cinemas (23,662) while India [the country that produces the most movies - about 800 a year, twice as many as Hollywood] has about 9,000 cinemas and China has approximately 5,000 cinemas. - 300,000 people per cinema. <br />359) Indian comic actress Manorama has played the most leading roles of any performer in movie history. She began her career in 1958 and in 1985 had appeared in her 1,000th movie. <br />360) A piano covers the full spectrum of all orchestra instruments, from below the lowest note of the double bassoon to above the top note of the piccolo. <br />361) The harmonica is the world&#39;s best-selling music instrument. <br />362) DVD discs are the same diameter (120mm) and thickness (1.2mm) as a Compact Disc but a DVD can store 13 times or more data. <br /> 363) Bolivia holds the highest turnover of governments. Since their independence from Spain in 1825, Bolivia has had almost 200 governments. Since 1945, Italy saw more than 50 governments and more than 20 Prime Ministers. <br />364) Half the world&#39;s population earns about 5% of the world&#39;s wealth. <br />365) India is the world&#39;s largest democracy with more than 600 million voters. <br />366) The system of democracy was introduced 2,500 years ago in Athens, Greece. <br /> 367) The oldest existing governing body operates in Althing in Iceland. It was established in 930 AD. <br />368) About 50 Bibles are sold every minute. <br />369) Christianity is the world&#39;s most widespread religion (1.7 billion Christians). <br /> 370) Methuselah is the oldest man on record: 969 years old. <br />371) The 10 plagues of Egypt: <br />1. Water turns to blood <br />2. Frogs <br />3. Lice and fleas <br />4. Flies <br />5. Cattle die of diseases <br />6. Boils and sores <br /> 7. Hail <br />8. Locusts <br />9. Darkness <br />10. Death of first-born <br />372) The 7 last plagues (Revelation 16): <br />1. Sores <br />2. Sea turns to blood <br />3. Rivers turn to blood <br />4. People schorched by heat of the sun <br /> 5. Darkness <br />6. River Euphrates dries up <br />7. Earthquake <br />373) During the 6th Century, it was customary to congratulate people who sneezed because it was thought that they were expelling evil from their bodies. During the great plague of Europe, the Pope passed a law to say &quot;God bless you&quot; to one who sneezed. <br />374) Sound travels through water 3 times faster than through air. <br />375) The typical bolt of lightning heats the atmosphere to 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit. <br />376) A square piece of dry paper cannot be folded in half more than 7 times. <br /> 377) Air becomes liquid at about minus 190 degrees Celsius. Liquid air looks like water with a bluish tint. <br />378) A scientific satellite needs only 250 watts of power, the equivelant used by two hour light bulbs, to operate. <br /> 379) Radio waves travel so much faster than sound waves that a broadcast voice can be heard sooner 18,000 km away than in the back of the room in which it originated. <br />380) Hydrogen gas is the least dense substance in the world. <br />381) Water expands by about 9% as it freezes. <br />382) The surface of hot water freezes faster than cold water but the rest of the water will remain liquid longer than in a cold sample. <br />383) The smallest transistor is 50-nanometres wide - roughly 1/2000 the width of a human hair. <br />384) A compass does not point to the geographical North or South Pole, but to the magnetic poles. <br /> 385) The double-helix structure of DNA was discovered in 1953 by James Watson and Francis Crick. The length of a single human DNA molecule, when extended, is 1.7 metres (5 ft 5 in). <br />386) An electric oven uses one kilowatt-hour of electricity in about 20 minutes, but one kilowatt-hour will power a TV for 3 hours, run a 100-watt bulb for 12 hours, and keep an electric clock ticking for 3 months. <br />387) In the 6th century BC Greek mathematician Pythagoras said that earth is round - but few agreed with him. <br />Greek astronomer Aristarchos said in the 3rd century BC that earth revolves around the sun - but the idea was not accepted. <br /> In the 2nd century BC Greek astronomer Erastosthenes accurately measured the distance around the earth at about 40,000 km (24,860 miles) - but nobody believed him. <br />In the 2nd century AD Greek astronomer Ptolemy stated that earth was the centre of the universe - most people believed him for the next 1,400 years. <br />388) Fishing is the biggest participant sports in the world. <br />389) Football (soccer) is the most attended or watched sport in the world. <br />390) In 1975 Junko Tabei from Japan became the first woman to reach the top of Everest. <br /> 391) The record for the most Olympic medals ever won is held by Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina. Competing in three Olympics, between 1956 and 1964, she won 18 medals. <br />392) The very first Olympic race, held in 776 BC, was won by Corubus, a chef. <br />393) The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens, Greece in 1896. There were 311 male but no female competitors. <br /> 394) The Major League Baseball teams use about 850,000 balls per season. <br />395) About 42,000 tennis balls are used in the plus-minus 650 matches in the Wimbledon Championship. <br />396) Golf is the only sport played on the moon - on 6 February 1971 Alan Shepard hit a golf ball. <br /> 397) The oldest continuous trophy in sports is the America&#39;s Cup. It started in 1851, with Americans winning for a straight 132 years until Australia took the Cup in 1983. <br />398) In 1750 there were about 800 million people in the world. In 1850 there were a billion more, and by 1950, another billion. Then it took just 50 years to double to 6 billion. <br />399) Half the world&#39;s population earns about 5% of the world&#39;s wealth. <br />400) There are more than 600 million telephone lines, yet almost half the world&#39;s population has never made a phone call on a land line. However, more than half the world&#39;s population has made a cell phone call. There are more than 2 billion cell phones in use. <br />401) One in ten people in the world live on an island. <br />402) The chance of being born on Leap Day is about 684 out of a million, or 1 in 1461. Less than 5 million people have their birthday on Leap Day. <br />403) The odds of being struck by lightning are about 600,000 to one. <br />404) About 27% of food in developed countries are wasted each year. It&#39;s simply thrown away. <br /> 405) US Post Office handles 43% of the world&#39;s mail. Its nearest competitor is Japan with 6%. <br />406) Since 1972, some 64 million tons of aluminum cans (about 3 trillion cans) have been produced. Placed end-to-end, they could stretch to the moon about a thousand times. Cans represent less than 1% of solid waste material. <br />407) More than a billion transistors are manufactured. .. every second. <br />408) The amount of time that people spend on travel has been consistent at 1.1 hours per person per day in all societies. <br />409) Traffic jams of New York, San Francisco and Paris are well known - beaten only by those in Seattle where a driver annually spends 59 hours stuck in traffic. <br />410) Traffic jams are nothing new. In 45 BC, Rome banned all vehicles from within the city - and in other cities vehicles, including horses, were allowed only at night... because of traffic jams. <br />411) The Wright Brothers tested the first aeroplane in a wind tunnel before flying it. <br />412) The shortest scheduled airline flight is made between the island of Westray to Papa Westray off Scotland. The flight lasts 2 minutes. <br />413) More than 60 million people annually visit France, a country of 60 million people. <br />414) About a quarter of the world still drives on the left, and the countries that do are mostly old British colonies. <br /> 415) The pilot with the most flying hours is American John Edward Long. From May 1933 to April 1977 he flew 62,654 hours, achieving a total of more than 7 years airborne. <br />416) The fewest aeroplane passengers killed in one year was 1 in 1993 and the most was 583 in 1977 when two Boeing 747s collided on the runway at Los Rodeos airport, Tenerife, the Canary Islands. <br />417) The world&#39;s oldest surviving boat is a simple 3 metre (10 feet) long dugout dated to 7400 BC. It was discovered in Pesse Holland in the Netherlands. <br />418) The shortest war on record took place in 1896 when Zanzibar surrendered to Britain after 38 minutes. <br />419) The longest war was the so-called 100-years war between Britain and France. It actually lasted 116 years, ending in 1453. <br /> 420) Since 1495, no 25-year period has been without war. <br />421) The very first bomb that the Allies dropped on Berlin in World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo. <br />422) The alligator snapping turtle fakes out its fishy prey with a small appendage on its tongue that looks like a worm. <br /> 423) A newborn gray whale <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/facts-and-figuresall-amazing-omgfacts">Pratik's Site</a> </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-2632688831044335938?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-81127264370840877712009-12-26T09:09:00.001-08:002009-12-26T09:09:41.867-08:00In this experiment they put eight monkeys in a room. In the middle of the room is a ladder, leading to a bunch of bananas hanging from a hook on the ceiling. Each time a monkey tries to climb the ladder, all the monkeys are sprayed with ice water, which makes them miserable. Soon enough, whenever a monkey attempts to climb the ladder, all of the the monkeys, not wanting to be sprayed, set upon him and beat him up. Soon, none of the eight monkeys ever attempts to climb the ladder. <p />One of the original monkeys is then removed, and a new monkey is put in the room. Seeing the bananas and the ladder, he wonders why none of the other monkeys are doing the obvious, but, undaunted, he immediately begins to climb the ladder. All the other monkeys fall upon him and beat him silly. He has no idea why. However, he no longer attempts to climb the ladder. <p />A second original monkey is removed and replaced. The newcomer again attempts to climb the ladder, but all the other monkeys hammer the crap out of him. <p />This includes the previous new monkey, who, grateful that he&#39;s not on the receiving end this time, participates in the beating because all the other monkeys are doing it. However, he has no idea why he&#39;s attacking the new monkey. <p />One by one, all the original monkeys are replaced, eight new monkeys are now in the room. None of them have ever been sprayed by ice water. None of them attempt to climb the ladder. All of them will enthusiastically beat up any new monkey who tries, without having any idea why. <p />AND THAT&#39;S HOW VERY MANY COMPANY POLICIES &amp; PROCEDURES GET ESTABLISHED. <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/policies-and-procedures">Pratik's Site</a> </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-8112726437084087771?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-1056445688660931442009-12-23T07:26:00.001-08:002009-12-23T07:26:51.601-08:00<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">People have ideas all the time. In business, new ideas can lead to new products and services. They can lead to a better way of doing something. Ideas can come from existing businesses through research and development. For example, Apple, an established technology company, developed the iPod.</p> <p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Many ideas come from entrepreneurs who go on to start up new businesses. They also inspire competitors to invent new products in order to regain market share. </p> <p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>What is an Entrepreneur?</b></p><p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> An entrepreneur is someone that creates a new business. This can carry a high risk because it requires money to set up a new business without knowing if it will give a return on investment. Entrepreneurs need to have a good understanding of their markets. They find out what customers want and modify their products in line with market requirements. They also need to have good ideas.</p> <p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></p><h2 style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Types of business</h2> <blockquote style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"> <p><br /></p></blockquote> <p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">There are three main types of small business. Each has a distinct form and structure. </p> <p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></p> <h3 style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Sole trader</h3> <p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">A sole trader is a business owned by one person. Many plumbers, electricians, window cleaners and other trades people work in this way. A sole trader may employ other people to assist on jobs, to take phone calls or do the bookkeeping. It is simple to set up a sole trader business. There are few legal formalities. </p> <p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Sole traders have complete control of their business – they make their own decisions and take all the profits for themselves. However, sole traders can find it difficult to raise capital and they have liability for any debts incurred by the business. This means that sole traders potentially risk everything – their savings, their homes and other assets – if their business runs into trouble. </p> <h3 style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">A partnership</h3> <p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">This involves two or more people working together. The partners share the workload and the profits of the business. Partners will often have skills that complement each other and they can benefit from each other&#39;s ideas. </p> <p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">However, partnerships do not always run smoothly. There can be disputes between partners. Like sole traders, partnerships often find it difficult to obtain capital. Most partnerships do not have limited liability. This means that each partner can be held responsible for all debts incurred by the partnership. </p> <p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><br /></p> <h3 style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">A company </h3> <p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">This is a legal entity. It is owned by shareholders. The shareholders bring capital into the business. Shareholders take less risk than sole traders or partnerships because they have legal protection called limited liability. This means that if the business cannot meet its debts, then the maximum sum that shareholders can lose is limited to their investment in the company. Company decision-making is steered by a board of directors. <br /></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/entrepreneurship-an-overview">Pratik's Site</a> </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-105644568866093144?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-53449676530299382522009-12-13T07:06:00.001-08:002009-12-13T07:06:39.912-08:00When marketing their products firms need to create a successful mix of:<ul><li>the right product</li></ul><ul><li>sold at the right price</li></ul><ul><li>in the right place</li></ul><ul><li>using the most suitable promotion.</li> </ul><p />To create the right marketing mix, businesses have to meet the following conditions:<ul><li>The product has to have the right features - for example, it must look good and work well.</li></ul><ul><li>The price must be right. Consumer will need to buy in large numbers to produce a healthy profit.</li> </ul><ul><li>The goods must be in the right place at the right time. Making sure that the goods arrive when and where they are wanted is an important operation.</li></ul><ul><li>The target group needs to be made aware of the existence and availability of the product through promotion. Successful promotion helps a firm to spread costs over a larger output.</li></ul><p />For example, a company like Kellogg&#39;s is constantly developing new breakfast cereals - the product element is the new product itself, getting the price right involves examining customer perceptions and rival products as well as costs of manufacture, promotion involves engaging in a range of promotional activities e.g. competitions, product tasting etc, and place involves using the best possible channels of distribution such as leading supermarket chains.The product is the central point on which marketing energy must focus. Finding out how to make the product, setting up the production line, providing the finance and manufacturing the product are not the responsibility of the marketing function. However, it is concerned with what the product means to the customer. Marketing therefore plays a key role in determining such aspects as:<ul><li>the appearance of the product - in line with the requirements of the market</li></ul><ul><li>the function of the product - products must address the needs of customers as identified through <a href="http://www.thetimes100.co.uk/theory/theory--market-research--315.php"></a>market research.</li> </ul><p />The product range and how it is used is a function of the marketing mix. The range may be broadened or a brand may be extended for tactical reasons, such as matching competition or catering for seasonal fluctuations. Alternatively, a product may be repositioned to make it more acceptable for a new group of consumers as part of a long-term plan.<br /><h4 class="body_content">The price</h4><p><br />Of all the aspects of the marketing mix, price is the one, which creates sales revenue - all the others are costs. The price of an item is clearly an important determinant of the value of sales made. In theory, price is really determined by the discovery of what customers perceive is the value of the item on sale. Researching consumers&#39; opinions about pricing is important as it indicates how they value what they are looking for as well as what they want to pay. An organisation&#39;s pricing policy will vary according to time and circumstances. Crudely speaking, the value of water in the Lake District will be considerably different from the value of water in the desert.<br /></p><h4 class="body_content">The place</h4><p><br />Although figures vary widely from product to product, roughly a fifth of the cost of a product goes on getting it to the customer. &#39;Place&#39; is concerned with various methods of transporting and storing goods, and then making them available for the customer. Getting the right product to the right place at the right time involves the distribution system. The choice of distribution method will depend on a variety of circumstances. It will be more convenient for some manufacturers to sell to wholesalers who then sell to retailers, while others will prefer to sell directly to retailers or customers.<br /></p><h4 class="body_content">The promotion</h4><p><br />Promotion is the business of communicating with customers. It will provide information that will assist them in making a decision to purchase a product or service. The razzmatazz, pace and creativity of some promotional activities are almost alien to normal business activities.<p />The cost associated with promotion or advertising goods and services often represents a sizable proportion of the overall cost of producing an item. However, successful promotion increases sales so that advertising and other costs are spread over a larger output. Though increased promotional activity is often a sign of a response to a problem such as competitive activity, it enables an organisation to develop and build up a succession of messages and can be extremely cost-effective.<br /></p><br /><p>Pratik<br /></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/marketing-mix-price-place-promotion-product">Pratik's Site</a> </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-5344967653029938252?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-54534974957128240072009-11-30T01:20:00.001-08:002009-11-30T01:20:17.064-08:00<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(126, 126, 126); line-height: 21px;"><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"> <strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal;"><img src="http://blog.crowdspring.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/3020966666_f187384ff1_o-300x298.png" /></span></span></strong></p></div> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><br /> </b></span></p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b><br /> </b></span></p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: 14px; font-weight: normal;"></span>What is Copyright?</span></strong></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Copyright is a form of legal protection provided to those who create original works. Under the 1976 Copyright Act (United States), the copyright owner has the exclusive right to reproduce, adapt, distribute, publicly perform and publicly display the work. Any or all of these rights can be licensed, sold or donated to another party. One does not need to register a work with the U.S. Copyright Office for it to be automatically protected by copyright law (registration does have benefits - but we won’t be covering those in this article).</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Copyright laws around the world can differ in significant ways. Most countries are signatories to various International treaties and agreements governing copyright protection (such as the Berne Copyright Convention). Under the Berne Copyright Convention, if your work is protected by copyright in your own country, then your work is protected by copyright in every other country that signed the Berne Copyright Convention.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">What does Copyright protect?</span></strong></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Copyright protects works such as poetry, movies, writing, music, video games, videos, plays, paintings, sheet music, recorded music performances, novels, software code, sculptures, photographs, choreography, and architectural designs.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">To be protected by copyright, a work must be “fixed in a tangible medium of expression.” This means that the work must exist in physical form for at least some period of time. A tangible medium includes paper (even a napkin will do!) and digital forms of storage. Additionally, the work must be original. It doesn’t matter if the work is similar to existing works, and copyright law is blind to whether the work is good or bad - so long as the work is original, it is protected by copyright. Finally, a work must be the result of at least some creative effort by the author.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Copyright doesn’t protect an idea, system or process (you would need to obtain patent protection for those). So, for example, if your small business is creating software programs, you would generally be unable to protect under copyright law the algorithms, methods, systems, ideas or functions of software (your code, however, is protected – nobody can sell or distribute your code without your permission).</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">How Long Does a Copyright Last?</span></strong></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">For works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. For an anonymous work or a work made for hire (we’ll talk about that in a later post), the copyright lasts for 95 years from the year of its first publication or a term of 120 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first. For works first published prior to 1978, the term will vary depending on a number of factors.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">What Should Small Businesses Do To Avoid Violating Copyright Law?</span></strong></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Here are five practical things you should do to make sure you don’t violate copyright law:</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">1. Don’t copy material just because you don’t see a copyright symbol.</span></em><span style="font-size: small;"> Since 1978, U.S. copyright law has not required that the copyright owner post a copyright notice with their work. That means that any work reduced to a tangible form (paper or digital, for example), is automatically protected by copyright.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">2. Respect Creative Commons licenses. </span></em><a href="http://creativecommons.org/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(230, 32, 83); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">Creative Commons</span></a><span style="font-size: small;"> is a powerful framework that works alongside copyright law, but don’t confuse Creative Commons with “free for the taking.” There are a number of different types of Creative Commons licenses and you should review the specific license before you use something protected by Creative Commons. For example, when searching for images on Flickr to include in my blog posts, I always search for images licensed under Creative Commons and available for commercial use.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">3. Don’t use works created by someone else merely because you can’t find any copyright restrictions or the author’s identity.</span></em><span style="font-size: small;"> Merely because you don’t know who created a work doesn’t give you the right to use that work. This is commonly abused when people do a search - on Google, for example - for images and use an image they’ve found in an article, blog post, or design.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">4. Define Copyright Ownership.</span></em><span style="font-size: small;"> When you hire independent contractors to create work for you, consider including “work-for-hire” provisions in your legal agreement with your independent contractor (more about this in a later post) or provisions that transfer the ownership of the work created by those contractors - or at the very least, a license to use - to you and/or your company.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">5. Understand the Permitted and Prohibited Uses Under a Copyright License.</span></em><span style="font-size: small;">When you buy or use stock photos or other materials protected by copyright in your marketing materials, advertising, or as part of your website, pay attention to what you are and are not permitted to do with that work. For example, stock photos from sites like iStockphoto and Shutterstock are protected by specific licenses which restrict the uses for those photos and prohibit, among other things, use of stock for </span><a href="http://blog.crowdspring.com/2009/02/27/ask-crowdspring-can-royalty-free-stock-be-used-for-logo-design/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(230, 32, 83); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">logo design</span></a><span style="font-size: small;">. Don’t assume that a license gives you unlimited rights - it most likely does not.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">In a later post, we’ll talk about more advanced copyright issues, including what to do if someone violates your copyright. And If there are other small business legal issues you’re interested in reading about, please leave a comment and let me know.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Please remember that legal information is not the same as legal advice. This post may not address all relevant business or legal issues that are unique to your situation and you should always seek legal advice from a licensed attorney.</span></em></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">image credit: </span></em><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeblogs/3020966666/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(230, 32, 83); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">MikeBlogs</a></span></em></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i><br /> </i></span></p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Thank you</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /> </span></p><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pratik</span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/what-is-copyright-small-business-management">Pratik's Site</a> </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-5453497495712824007?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-56208066619728643042009-11-16T18:03:00.001-08:002009-11-16T18:03:04.274-08:00<p style="text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style="font: 7.0pt Times New Roman;">          </span></span></span><b style=""><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">Abstract</span></b></p> <p><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></p> <p><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;"> <span style="">               </span> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">A <i style="">Leader</i> is somebody who sets the direction and inspires other people. </span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></span></p> <p style="margin-top: 7.5pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-bottom: 15.0pt; margin-left: 0in; line-height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">A good leader will be able to motivate others:</span></p> <ul type="disc"> <li style="line-height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">by showing a passion for what they are doing</span></li> </ul> <ul type="disc"> <li style="line-height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">being able to communicate clearly with others</span></li> </ul> <ul type="disc"> <li style="line-height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">by encouraging others to get involved in decision-making</span></li> </ul> <ul type="disc"> <li style="line-height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">by being a good role model for the ideas that they are advocating</span></li> </ul> <ul type="disc"> <li style="line-height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">by clarifying objectives</span></li> </ul> <ul type="disc"> <li style="line-height: 15.0pt;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">By clearly setting out the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>benefits<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>to all parties of decisions that are made.</span></li> </ul> <p><span class="apple-style-span"><i style=""><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">Leadership</span></i></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;"> encompasses the skills and qualities needed to inspire others to achieve goals. Leaders can see the heart of a problem and suggest (sometimes unusual) solutions; they have a positive self image; they tend to be creative; they are often experts in a field and can sense change and respond accordingly.</span></span></p> <p><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></p> <p><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">Here is a Leader who has all the qualities mentioned above and stands out of the World for projecting himself in the hearts of People of his Nation as a leader of substance.</span></span></p> <p><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></p> <p style=""><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style="font: 7.0pt Times New Roman;">          </span></span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">Introduction</span></b></span></p> <p><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></p> <p><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;"><span style="">                                                </span><b style="">John Fitzgerald Kennedy</b></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></b></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12px;"><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif; font-size: medium; font-weight: normal;"><img title="John F. Kennedy" src="http://123mohan.blog.co.in/files/2009/01/john_f_kennedy1963.jpg" height="367" alt="John F. Kennedy" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-top-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-bottom-style: none; border-left-style: none; border-color: initial;" width="343" /></span></b></span></p> <p><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></p> <p><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">J</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">ohn F. Kennedy was destined to be president of the United States. He would rather mold history than let history mold itself.</span></span></p> <p><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">The 35th</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">President of the United States, that he was, also was the personification of charisma. People liked his smile. He knew how to project himself into the hearts of the American people. Behind the charisma and the oratory was substance. </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;">On January 2, 1960, Kennedy officially declared his intent to run for President of the United States.</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></span></p> <p><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;">Serving from 1961 until</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;">his assassination</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;"> </span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 10.0pt; font-family: Arial; color: black;">in 1963</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;"></span></span></p> <p><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span></span></p> <p style=""><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style="font: 7.0pt Times New Roman;">          </span></span></span><b style=""><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">Process</span></b></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12px; text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 12px; text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></p> <p><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">Trait Theory: (<span class="apple-style-span">Ralph</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="searchmatch"><span style="">Stogdil</span></span>)</span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"><span style="">                                </span>The lists of traits or qualities associated with leadership exist in abundance and continue to be produced. It happened with JFK as well. Had a great socio-economic background and also had good scholarly skills.</span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"> </span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;">On July 15, 1960, John F. Kennedy in his acceptance speech, at the Democratic National Convention, proclaimed, &quot;We stand on the edge of a New Frontier, the frontier of the 1960s....Beyond that Frontier are uncharted areas of science and space, unsolved problems of peace and war, unconquered pockets of ignorance and prejudice, unanswered questions of poverty and surplus.&quot; He dared Americans not to sit back on the status quo but to take up new challenges to push themselves to the limit. He challenged Americans to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade.</span></span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"><span style="">           </span>The mere speech and the application of that tells you he was</span></span></p> <p style=""><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style="font: 7.0pt Times New Roman;">          </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">Dominant (desire to influence others)</span></p> <p style=""><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style="font: 7.0pt Times New Roman;">          </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">Energetic (high activity level)</span></p> <p style=""><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style="font: 7.0pt Times New Roman;">          </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">Persistent</span></p> <p style=""><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style="font: 7.0pt Times New Roman;">          </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">Self-confident</span></p> <p style=""><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Symbol;"><span style="">·<span style="font: 7.0pt Times New Roman;">          </span></span></span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Arial;">Tolerant of stress</span></p> <p class="Default" style="margin-left: .25in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"> </span></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;">Behavioral Theory: (Douglas McGregor)</span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"><br /> <span style="">      </span><span style="">                          </span>These concentrate on what leaders actually do rather than on their qualities. JFK had a <span class="apple-style-span">definable, learnable behavior and when it came to his Presidency. His Priorities were categorized so much so that he was able to target his Country’s growth.</span></span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"> </span></span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;">Being in a Democratic Party that he was, he also was a person who followed Democratic Management making people to find out their opinions and then design a decision out of it. Certain matters were certainly decided through discussion and consultation. Through which he came upon with a thought and a speech,”<span style=""> Ask Not What Your Country Can Do For you</span>” which really made the American citizens to do something or the other for the country</span></span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"> </span></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;">Situational Theory: (Fred Fiedler)</span></span></p> <p class="Default" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;">This approach sees leadership as specific to the situation in which it is being exercised. </span></p> <p class="Default" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"> </span></p> <p class="Default" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;">The greatest test of John F. Kennedy&#39;s presidency came with on the morning of October 16, 1962 with bad news. He was shown photographic evidence taken by U-2 air planes that the Soviet Union under Nikita Khrushchev had placed offensive missiles in Cuba. America faced the danger of a speedy and direct nuclear attack from the unprotected south. On October 24, Kennedy proclaimed a naval blockade. The Soviet blinked and did not push through the blockade. On October 28, Premier Khrushchev agreed to dismantle the missiles already in Cuba. Even though there was no misreading of the enemy&#39;s intention, JFK was well aware of the potential of mistakes that could have been made. Kennedy took advantage of the occasion to arrange for signing of a treaty to end nuclear tests in the earth&#39;s atmosphere. Even more important, he arranged for a direct telephone line to be installed between the White House and the Kremlin in Moscow. Known as the hotline, future American presidents and Soviet premiers could contact each to prevent misunderstandings that could lead to war. He, after that addressed to the public ‘Have the Courage of Your convictions by Believe them. ‘</span></span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"> </span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;">Managerial Grid: (Robert Blake and Jane Mouton)</span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"><span style="">                                                    </span><span style=""> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 11px; color: rgb(96, 100, 130); line-height: 13px;"><img src="http://www.gridinternational.com/images/LeadershipGrid.jpg" border="0" height="307" alt="The Leadership Grid/Managerial Grid" width="320" /> </span></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"> </span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;">Under this model, JFK lies and gets the grid as 9,9, which terms as Team Type Democrat For his Team Development and being the leader for the people and being Task-oriented.<p /> </span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;">John F. Kennedy organized the &quot;Muckers Club.&quot; He and a group of friends engaged in mischievous misdeeds for which they were duly punished. Unlike his older brother Jack who did not make the right clubs at Harvard, he had such an engaging personality that his friends refused to join these clubs unless he could become a member also. Kennedy&#39;s PT-109 crew was devoted to him. When Kenney chose to run for Congress in 1946 in the Eleventh Massachusetts Congressional District in Boston, his buddies from the navy and the college pitched in to help with his campaign.</span></span><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"></span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"> </span></p> <p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"> </span></p> <p class="Default" style=""><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Symbol; color: windowtext;"><span style="">·<span style="font: 7.0pt Times New Roman;">          </span></span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;">Conclusion</span></b></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"></span></span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"> </span></b></span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;">The eternal flame over John F. Kennedy&#39;s grave is a symbol of courage, fortitude, and determination. Americans know exactly where they were when he was assassinated. Whether or not they voted for him, he will always remain a hero of their generation and an inspiration for future ones.</span></span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"> </span></span></p> <p class="Default" style=""><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; font-family: Symbol; color: windowtext;"><span style="">·<span style="font: 7.0pt Times New Roman;">          </span></span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;">Acknowledgements</span></b></span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"> </span></b></span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"> </span></b></span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;">Philip Ernest Schoenberg, </span></span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;">PhD in History</span></span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;">Presidential Expert</span></span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: blue;"><a href="mailto:Drphil@aol.com">Drphil@aol.com</a></span></span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: blue;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span></span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;">+1 (718)-591-4741</span></span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;">+1 (888)-377-4455</span></span></p><p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><br /></span></p><p class="Default"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Thank you</span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"> </span></span></p> <p class="Default"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"> Pratik</span></span></p> <p class="Default"><b style=""><span style="font-size: 9.0pt; color: windowtext;"> </span></b></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/a-case-study-on-a-leader-on-the-basis-of-thre">Pratik's Site</a> </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-5620806661972864304?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-4976313081618950932009-11-14T01:42:00.001-08:002009-11-14T01:42:50.985-08:00<b><div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 3em; margin-left: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); float: left; clear: both;"> <img title="Venture Hacks header image 2" src="http://venturehacks.com/wordpress/wp-content/themes/Cutline%201.1/images/header_2.jpg" height="0" alt="Venture Hacks header image 2" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; display: block;" width="770" /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold; line-height: 30px;"><span style="font-size: large;">How to pick a co-founder</span></span></div> <div style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; text-align: left; float: left; clear: both;"> <div class="posts" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 40px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; float: left;"> <h4 style=""> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></h4><div class="entry" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.65em;"> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://venturehacks.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/billpaul.jpg" alt="" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;">Picking a co-founder is your most important decision. It’s more important than your product, market, and investors.</p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;">The ideal founding team is two individuals, with a history of working together, of similar age and financial standing, with mutual respect. One is good at building products and the other is good at selling them.</p> <h3 style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> <span style="font-size: small;">The power of two</span></h3><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;"> Two is the right number — avoid the three-body problem. Think Jobs and Wozniak, Allen and Gates, Ellison and Lane, Hewlett and Packard, Larry and Sergei, Yang and Filo, Omidyar and Skoll.</p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;">One founder companies <em style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">can</em> work, against the odds (hello, Mark Zuckerberg). So can three founder companies (hello, @biz, @ev, and @jack). In three founder companies, the politics can be tough — gang-up votes, jockeying for board seats, etc. — but it’s manageable. Four is an extremely unstable configuration and five is right out. When 4-5 founder companies work, it’s because two founders dominate.</p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;">Two founders works because unanimity is possible, there are no founder politics, interests can easily align, and founder stakes are high post-financing.</p> <h3 style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> <strong style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Someone you have history with</span></strong></h3> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;">You wouldn’t marry someone you’d just met. Date first. Guess which pair of famous co-founders is in this photo:</p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px; text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" src="http://venturehacks.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/gatesallen.jpg" alt="" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;" /></p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;">Go through something difficult, like a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prisoner's_dilemma" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 96, 255); text-decoration: underline;">Prisoner’s Dilemma</a> or a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-sum_(game_theory)" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; color: rgb(0, 96, 255); text-decoration: underline;">Zero-Sum Game</a>. If being ethical was lucrative, everyone would do it!</p> <h3 style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> <span style="font-size: small;">One builds, one sells</span></h3><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;"> The best builders can prototype and perhaps even build the entire product, end-to-end. The best sellers can sell to customers, partners, investors, and employees.</p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;">The seller doesn’t have to be a “salesman” or “business guy”. He can be technical, but he must be able to wield the tools of influence. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs aren’t salesmen, but they are sellers.</p> <h3 style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> <span style="font-size: small;">Aligned motives required</span></h3><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;"> If one founder wants to build a cool product, another one wants to make money, and yet another wants to be famous, it won’t work.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;"> Pay close attention — true motivations are revealed, not declared.</p><h3 style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> <span style="font-size: small;">Criteria: Intelligence, energy, and integrity</span></h3><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;"> It’s not the kid you grew up next to. It’s not the person you like the most. It’s not the hacker most willing to work for free.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;"> It’s someone of incredibly high intelligence, energy, and integrity. You’ll need all three yourself, and a shared history, to evaluate your co-founder.</p> <h3 style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> <span style="font-size: small;">Don’t settle</span></h3><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;"> If it doesn’t feel right, keep looking. If you’re compromising, keep looking. A company’s DNA is set by the founders, and its culture is an extension of the founders’ personalities.</p> <h3 style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> <span style="font-size: small;">Pick “nice” guys</span></h3><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;"> Avoid overly rational short-term thinkers. There are bounds to rationality. Partner with someone who is irrationally ethical, or a rational believer that nice guys finish first. Be especially careful with the “sales” guy here.</p> <h3 style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> <span style="font-size: small;">What you don’t know</span></h3><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;"> Business founders who don’t code use bad proxies for picking technical co-founders (”10 years with Java!”). Technical founders who don’t sell also use bad proxies (”Harvard MBA!”). Learn enough of the other side to have an informed opinion. If you’re not seriously impressed, move on.</p> <h3 style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> <span style="font-size: small;">FAQs</span></h3><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;"> What if the right guy already has his own startup? Convince him to work on yours part-time — he’ll drop his idea once yours gets traction.</p><h3 style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 2em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 0px; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> <span style="font-size: small;">Breakups are hard</span></h3><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;"> If you’re going to fall out with your co-founder, do it early, recover the equity into the option pool to keep the company going, and recruit someone else great to fill the missing slot. Build in founder vesting (a.k.a. the “Pre-Nup”) to keep the breakup from getting messy. Building a great company without a partner is like raising kids without a…...Nearly everything in this topic applies to dating and marriage. Coincidence?</p> <p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; margin-left: 0px;"></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 18.0pt;"><b><span style="color: black;">A Good Co-founder is:</span></b><span style="color: rgb(126, 126, 126);"></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">1.<b> A pillar.</b> This person is nearly impossible to replace because you trust them and they add incredible value to the team. It’s even more so if you’ve built a friendship and/or working relationship with them over time. Imagine starting from square one and going to a cofounder’s mixer.. I can’t.</span><span style="color: rgb(126, 126, 126);"></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">2. <b>Full of faith for the vision.</b> They are not only motivated by the outcome but also by the work and the vision. They want to be a part of that vision because it’s something they fundamentally and philosophically believe in.</span><span style="color: rgb(126, 126, 126);"></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">3. <b>Someone who is not competitive with you. </b>Many people start companies with their best friends, but sometimes this is exactly the wrong approach. Human relationships are complicated and someone you’ve known for years might seem like a good person to start a company with, that is until you start a company with them. Just remember to keep an open mind and that if you’re competitive with your cofounder, it probably won’t work out.</span><span style="color: rgb(126, 126, 126);"></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">4. <b>Someone you would trust with your life.</b></span><span style="color: rgb(126, 126, 126);"></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">5. <b>Complementary.</b> If you have an idea they expand on that idea. If you’re a bit too liberal they’re a bit too conservative. Complementary should not be confused with diametrically opposed. There is such a thing as too different to get a long. A good example of a complimentary founding team would be the two Steves of Apple fame.</span><span style="color: rgb(126, 126, 126);"></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">6. <b>Unexpected.</b> The cofounder should impress you. Not because they want to or are trying to but because you just happen to be impressed with the quality of their work/ideas/direction or whatever.</span><span style="color: rgb(126, 126, 126);"></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">7. <b>Challenging.</b> They don’t blindly follow every word and they don’t challenge you on every point. They challenge you when you need to be challenged. After all, you can’t always be right even if you’d like to be.</span><span style="color: rgb(126, 126, 126);"></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">8. <b>Easy for you to get along with on some other level than just work.</b>Either you have similar political views/principals or you both love Family Guy.. Whatever it is you should easily be able to find stuff to talk about. If you can’t even have a conversation with this person, they probably shouldn’t be your cofounder.</span><span style="color: rgb(126, 126, 126);"></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">9. <b>Someone who sticks around even when the going gets tough.</b> Real tough. As I’ve experienced first hand startups are extremely trying for spouses, partners, friends, family and everything else. It takes its toll and no one can cross the finish line without paying that price. No one. You’re going to need someone who doesn’t just shine in the initial stages, they also need to shine when shit hits the fan and you’re losing hair, sleep, sanity and whatever else..</span><span style="color: rgb(126, 126, 126);"></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">10. <b>Someone who puts their money where their mouth is.</b> You’ll know what this means when the time comes.. But the true test of character is when people start putting their own money into the project and they do it with both feet.</span><span style="color: rgb(126, 126, 126);"></span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 18.0pt;"><span style="color: black;">11. <b>Well grounded with their ego.</b> I’ve run into this one a few times. You obviously want someone brilliant to cofound your startup with.. But at what price? Some of the most brilliant people I’ve worked with also happened to be paranoid and/or kind of crazy. Not in a good way. Don’t go for the guy with 2 PhDs and the nobel prize in Physics just because his IQ is 270. You have to first make sure they fit into your universe and in a good way. God does not play dice with the universe and neither should you with your startup. Take that Niels!</span><span style="color: rgb(126, 126, 126);"></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0in; line-height: 18.0pt;"><br />Pratik</p><p></p></div></div></div></b> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/everything-about-a-co-founder">Pratik's Site</a> </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-497631308161895093?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-64828167460171139652009-11-12T17:40:00.001-08:002009-11-12T17:40:53.956-08:00<p><b style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;">What is an Intrapreneur?</span></b></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;">An Intrapreneur is a person who is innovative, creative, backed up by self-motivation, able to think out of the box and has a zest to do whatever he is passionate of doing.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;">As a matter of fact there are two main types of Intrapreneurs:</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></p> <ol type="1" style="margin-top: 0in;"> <li style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;">The one who does innovative practices as an employee. They have the substantial finances of the company back their efforts and they can also take advantage of connections, experience, and skills available to the company.</span></li> <li style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;">The one who is Innovative and creative however, also is passionate about having an own Business. They are usually backed-up with identifying the merits and work on developing the idea into something workable in the real world.</span></li> </ol> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;">As a part of the case study and to lay down a challenging option, we will be taking in consideration with the second category of an Intrapreneur from mentioned above.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></p> <p><b style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;">Abstract:</span></b></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;">If you think about all the people that have high paying jobs, you’ll notice that some are talented and others are not. Regardless of how good they are, they are all perceived as “rock stars”. So what is this rock star formula anyhow? Some days ago, I didn’t know the answer, but now I think I’ve got it. If you want to become a “rock star” in your industry, you have come to the right place.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style=""> </span></span></p> <p><b style=""><i style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;">Neil Patel</span></i></b><i style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;"> -- Tenacious Blogger, Angel Investor, Guerrilla Marketer, Passionate Leader, Door-to-door Salesman and a Serial Intrapreneur.</span></i></p> <p><i style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></i></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;">Neil Patel is the co-founder of two Internet companies: Crazy Egg and KISSmetrics. Through these two companies he has helped large corporations such as eBay, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, TechCrunch, Walmart, and Zappos make more money from the web. By the age of 21 Neil was named one of the top influencers on the web by the Wall Street Journal as well as quoted in magazines such as Entrepreneur for his insights on the new aged web. During his free time, Neil enjoys blogging at Quick Sprout.</span></p> <p><b style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span></b></p> <p><b style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;">The Early Years</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /> Born in London, UK and then brought up in USA, <span style=""> </span>His uncle’s entrepreneurship rubbed off on her moms who encouraged her to start her own home daycare business, but it never revenued more than $100,000 a year and his dad was satisfied with his average job. He always had Entrepreneurship in his blood as was always attached with such people in the society.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;"> <span style="">Entrepreneurship:</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;">At school, his cousin, who is a year older than Neil, was selling burned music CDs to students at the time. Neil saw how he was making a few bucks so started doing the same thing within his freshmen class. He quickly realized that he could only make a few dollars a CD, so he started selling bootleg movies. Soon after he was known as the kid in high school who was selling anything pirated. </span></p> <p><b style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;">The Corporate Life:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /> Because his income from my businesses was not stable, He decided to get a “real” job. He was only 15 and the only local place He could pick up a job was at Knott’s Berry Farm, in the park services department. The department he worked in sounded cool, but he was in charge of picking up trash, emptying trashcans, cleaning restrooms, and sweeping up vomit. Although the job sounded bad, he loved it because he got paid a few cents more per hour for cleaning the restrooms compared to most of the jobs at Knott’s Berry Farm.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;">After 3 months of working at Knott’s, he quit and picked up a job at Quality Systems. He was selling a $1600 Kirby vacuum. After doing this for a month or so shockingly he sold a vacuum to an Indian couple. Realizing that the average American could not afford to buy a $1600 vacuum, he decided to look for other career opportunities. His sister was working for an Oracle consultant locally and she introduced him to Neil. He found out that as an Oracle consultant, his sister’s boss was billing companies 125 to 250 dollars an hour. He was shocked to hear how much he was making, which lead the Intrapreneur within him to come out once again. He tried to figure out how he could also make that much as a high school student, so he turned to Monster.com and started looking for Oracle consulting jobs. The problem was, he had no clue what Oracle was.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></p> <p><b style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;">.COM boom:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /> Instead of finding a job on Monster.com he learned about Monster.com’s business model and how they were making hundreds of millions of dollars. As a kid, he thought that if he could even make 1% of what they did, he would be rich. This lead him starting his own job board called Advice Monkey. After spending 5 grand to build the job board, He launched it and learned that you have to market a site for it to be successful.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;">Knowing that he needed some help with marketing, he hired an Internet marketing firm. Within a few months he learned they were taking my money and doing nothing valuable in exchange, so he fired them. He then hired two more firms who also provided little to no results.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;">Since He was broke because a few Internet marketers took all his money, he decided to learn Internet marketing myself and within a few months he became pretty good at it. Advice Monkey started to become popular, but it never succeeded because the site was not setup to take credit card transactions.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"> </span></span></p> <p><b style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;">The real Intrapreneur:</span></b><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /> The Internet marketing company started taking off and as a kid he thought he was “rolling in dough”. With the money he made he started investing in a few other companies. He invested around a million dollars into a hosting company called Vision Web Hosting that never worked out (sadly he lost all of the money he invested into it). After realizing investing wasn’t for him, his business partner and Neil took the rest of the money we made and created another company called Crazy Egg. Crazy Egg created a lot of buzz when it came out and he surely thought he would end up selling it for 10 million dollars. When he wasn’t able to get an asking price of 10 million dollars for Crazy Egg his business partner and Neil decided that we were going to raise venture capital because Crazy Egg wasn’t a profitable company.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;">After pitching Crazy Egg to venture capitalists for 6 months, He realized no one was going to invest in it. Because of this I had no choice other than to figure out how to make Crazy Egg profitable.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></p> <p><b style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;">Evidence of Success:</span></b></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;">This now brings up to date. Other than the Internet marketing company he also co-founded a few more companies such as KISSmetrics, which funny enough got funded by True Ventures who he once pitched Crazy Egg too. Some of the companies he co-founded didn’t do well and made him lose a lot of money whereas others have done great. But after 23 years of living he has learned one really important thing: life isn’t fair! <i style="">If you don’t like the cards you are dealt with, do something to change them. </i>And for some ungodly reason, if you are unable to change them, keep moving forward and don’t look back. All you can do is keep trying.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></p> <p><b style=""><span style="font-family: Arial;">Reflections and Future Developments</span></b></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;">He wishes he had a crystal ball that could tell him what the future holds for him, but he doesn’t have one. Luckily enough, He has made more money than he has lost and he has been able to leverage that money into investments like apartment complexes, houses, .com companies, the stock market, venture capital funds, and best of all his parents. </span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;">Over the next few years his number 1 goal is to share what he has learned with people so that everyone in the world can have a better life than him.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: 16.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This is was a real-time e-interview which was acknowledged by Neil Patel himself for the case study.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Arial;">Thanking Neil Patel</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: 16.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; padding: 0in;">Home Email:</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> <span style="">    </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="mailto:neil@neilpatel.com"><span style="color: windowtext; padding: 0in; text-decoration: none;">neil@neilpatel.com</span></a></span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: 16.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; padding: 0in;">Work Phone:</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> <span style="">      </span>+1-</span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">562-292-3834<br /> <strong><span style="font-family: Arial; padding: 0in;">Mobile Phone:</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space">    +1-</span>562-237-2515</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: 16.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; padding: 0in;">AIM:</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="font-family: Arial;">  <span style="">              </span><span style="">  </span><span style="">  </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">neil162<br /> <strong><span style="font-family: Arial; padding: 0in;">MSN:</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span style="">             </span><span style="">  </span><span style="">   </span></span>neil168<br /> <strong><span style="font-family: Arial; padding: 0in;">Yahoo:</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span style="">         </span><span style="">  </span><span style="">    </span></span>neilk_patel<br /> <strong><span style="font-family: Arial; padding: 0in;">Skype:</span></strong><span class="apple-converted-space"> <span style="">          </span><span style="">  </span><span style="">   </span></span>neil162</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: 16.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><b>Website:             </b><a href="http://www.neilpatel.com">http://www.neilpatel.com</a></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: 16.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: 16.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong><span style="font-family: Arial; padding: 0in;">Home Address:</span></strong><span style="font-family: Arial;"><br /> 737 Olive Way</span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: 16.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">#2006, </span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: 16.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Seattle</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">, </span></p> <p style="margin: 0in; line-height: 16.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;">WA 98101</p><p style="margin: 0in; line-height: 16.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in; line-height: 16.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p style="margin: 0in; line-height: 16.75pt; vertical-align: baseline;">Pratik</p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/a-case-study-on-an-intrapreneur">Pratik's Site</a> </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-6482816746017113965?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-8997814902217306032009-11-09T05:49:00.001-08:002009-11-09T05:49:04.231-08:00<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(158, 150, 134); line-height: 17px;"><p style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; line-height: 20px;"> <span style="font-size: small;">While writing a business report, you have to make every endeavor to make the reader understand the goal of your business, the business growth strategies you have implemented, and your overall business plan. There can be several situations when an entrepreneur may have to write this type of report; it can be meant for internal as well for external audience. These audiences may have either a nontechnical background or a technical background. Unless you know your specific audience well, you will find the task of writing a business report very difficult.</span></p></div> <h3 style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; display: block; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 25px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 5px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"> <span style="font-size: small;">Proper Format</span></h3><p style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; line-height: 20px;"> <span style="font-size: small;">A well-organized report is one that has been written in a proper format. This makes things much easier for the readers, and they are able to clearly understand the information thus provided. Besides, you can also save a great deal of time by opting for a standard sample format prepared by professionals. When there are readymade formats available, there is no need to be innovative enough to create a new format. Save your innovations for something more productive.</span></p> <h3 style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; display: block; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 25px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 5px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"> <span style="font-size: small;">Important Constituents Of A Good Report</span></h3><p style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; line-height: 20px;"> <span style="font-size: small;">When you write business reports, you have to follow some logical steps to explain the data and information related to various issues of your business. Some of the major constituents of a good report may include the following:</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: small;">A precisely developed title page that should include the reason of report, date, the author&#39;s name, and the name of the report. The report must also include a letter of transmittal, which should be the necessary background to the reader for which the report has been prepared. The letter also acts as an announcement that you have released the report as required. You must also provide a table of content with suitable titles for every section along with the page numbers. The table of content must include both headings as well as subheadings (if any) of the various sections of the report. If you have used illustrations, tables, or figures in your report, it will be a nice idea to include a list for the same. You can name it as &quot;list of tables,&quot; &quot;list of figures,&quot; or &quot;list of illustrations.&quot;</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: small;">The report body must also be neatly organized. It must contain an introduction, a main body, and a conclusion page. If you have some suggestions or recommendations for your readers, you should write it on a separate page. Last but not the least, make sure you have attached an Appendix page as well that should mention all the sources of your research in detail.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /> </span></p><p style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pratik</span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/writing-a-business-report-is-not-a-tedious-ta">Pratik's Site</a> </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-899781490221730603?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-17981133256017331232009-11-07T21:43:00.001-08:002009-11-07T21:43:30.321-08:00<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; color: rgb(126, 126, 126); line-height: 21px;"><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"> <span style="font-size: small;">For those of you who missed this announcement </span></p></div><a href="http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Ibm-NYSE-IBM-956353.html" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(230, 32, 83); text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">IBM Research and SAP Demonstrate New Cloud Technology: Real-Time Application Mobility</span></a> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">In this innovative merger of company values and large scale product offerings IBM and SAP are coming to market with a very clear Crowd computing solution.</span></p> <blockquote class="posterous_medium_quote" style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 18px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 22px; border-left-width: 4px !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) !important; line-height: normal; border-top-style: none !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-bottom-style: none !important; border-color: initial !important;"> <p style="margin-top: 10px !important; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">In this technology demonstration, IBM and SAP show how users can run enterprise applications in the cloud, in particular demonstrating the migration of workloads across physical servers and across data centers. This demonstration is another instance of IBM working with partners across the IT industry to gain insights about creating and configuring workloads, and help companies move to the clouds as smoothly as possible.</span></em></p> </blockquote><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">This opens the door to a ‘if the big guys can do it, so can we’ methodology and mentality which means the Cloud will not only get to be more innovative faster, but it definitely looks like we can be looking forward to a pretty aggressive and crowded set of Cloud offerings in the Enterprise space.</span></p> <blockquote class="posterous_medium_quote" style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 18px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 22px; border-left-width: 4px !important; border-left-style: none !important; border-left-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) !important; line-height: normal; border-top-style: none !important; border-right-style: none !important; border-bottom-style: none !important; border-color: initial !important;"> <p style="margin-top: 10px !important; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">In this demonstration, the migration of SAP workloads across the cloud is supported by IBM’s POWER6 systems, which enable users to run separate applications on different virtual machines, called logical partitions, on the same physical server. The IBM POWER6 system’s Live Partition Mobility capability further allows for the movement of a partition from one POWER6-based server to another POWER6-based server in the data center with no application downtime, resulting in better system utilization, improved application availability, and energy savings.</span></em></p> </blockquote><p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Application mobility, often one of the top of mind discussions around ‘Where does my app go” and “is it portable” is becoming more of a reality and less of a concern with the big as well as the small players.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Don’t think that the big blue getting involved will in anyway squelch the opportunity in this exploding market.  Infact quite the opposite.  IBM’s steps here today have likely increased the opportunity 100fold and that’s only touching on the surface of the offerings which so far are present in this otherwise very immature market.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Are you ready for Crowd computing?</span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/ibm-and-sap-introduce-crowd-computing">Pratik's Site</a> </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-1798113325601733123?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-31932605424649344452009-11-03T06:17:00.001-08:002009-11-03T06:17:49.790-08:00<div style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(158, 150, 134); line-height: 17px;"><p style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; line-height: 20px;"> <span style="font-size: small;">Successful businessmen are obviously the ones who know how to sell their products - whatever they are - to anyone. The most important thing in a business is to achieve the bottom line. For this, you must continue to put in serious efforts to increase the sales volume and enhance your customer base.</span></p></div> <h3 style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; display: block; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 25px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 5px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"> <span style="font-size: small;">Selling Is Both Art And Science</span></h3><p style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; line-height: 20px;"> <span style="font-size: small;">You must have heard it plenty of times that selling is an art, but it is important for you to keep in mind that it is a science as well. Selling is science in a sense that it involves lots of R&amp;D and innovative ideas to ensure a high-quality product tapping the needs of your potential customers while also dealing with the issues of perfect packaging. Yes, packaging also matters a lot. If you try selling gold wrapped in an old piece of newspaper, people will hesitate buying it - even if you offer it at a very cheap price. Selling is art in a sense that it involves reading your customers&#39; mind, prejudging their behavior, and then convincing them about the reason for purchasing your product.</span></p> <h3 style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; display: block; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 25px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 5px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"> <span style="font-size: small;">Know Your Target Customers</span></h3><p style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; line-height: 20px;"> <span style="font-size: small;">The first rule of selling is that you must be well aware of who your target customers are. To achieve this aim, you should conduct an extensive market research in order to find out the areas you have to focus on. Next, you should develop your strategies accordingly.</span></p> <h3 style="font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; display: block; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 25px; margin-right: 5px; margin-bottom: 2px; margin-left: 5px; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"> <span style="font-size: small;">Offer Quality</span></h3><p style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; line-height: 20px;"> <span style="font-size: small;">Selling anything does not mean selling inferior quality products and cheating your customers. This is the worst thing you can do to your business. By cheating your customers, you may be able to make some instant, short-run profits, but you will be losing those customers forever, which will be followed by a negative word-of-mouth advertisement. Consequently, you may end up closing your business very soon. So, make sure that whatever you are selling has value for the price you are charging your customers. They love quality; so, offer them what they love, and they will keep coming to you again and again.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Try some creative ideas while you are advertising your products. Always remember - in order to allow your products to radiate their presence in the market, you will need a good marketing plan to launch it properly.</span></p> <p style="color: rgb(85, 85, 85); margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 5px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; line-height: 20px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pratik</span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/the-art-of-selling-anything-to-anyone">Pratik's Site</a> </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-3193260542464934445?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-14859318391213062242009-11-02T01:40:00.001-08:002009-11-02T01:40:53.054-08:00<div style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px;"><p style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"> <span style="font-size: small;">The 9 to 5 workday is under siege.  61 percent of executives believe the </span></p></div><span style="font-size: small;">traditional workday will disappear within the next decade.</span><span style="font-size: small;"> This makes sense since few executives currently get to clock in and out during normal working hours, although they are usually compensated accordingly.  And there are plenty of reasons why more workers down the ladder will witness the end of 9 to 5 soon too.  New information technology tools enable everyone to work from wherever and collaborate across time zones.  Plus, many companies will likely continue the trend of skirting labor laws whenever the recession ends by hiring “independent contractors” who work on a project basis, instead of investing in that pesky concept known as an employee.</span> <p style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">There was a time when escaping the 9 to 5 grind seemed liberating.  Freed from cumbersome office traditions, the worker of tomorrow could show up in jeans whenever they wanted, since they could finish their proposal on the beach or navel-gaze over the next big idea on the golf course.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">As more workers see their 9 to 5 routine vanish, they’ll see just how absurd this fantasy is.   Flexible hours are really just irregular shifts at odd hours.  Flexibility means your boss can call you whenever they want–and you’re obligated to respond if you plan on putting food on the table.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Time off should be your time to relax, rejuvenate and enjoy the fruits of your labors–not time to catch up on emails.  And work should be time to hunker down and get things done.  Blurring the distinctions between working and living results in never really working or living life.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">So while I see a </span><span style="font-size: small;">shift away from 9 to 5 in the short-term,</span><span style="font-size: small;"> I think it will ultimately return with a vengeance.  It’s simply more productive to work a regular schedule in a sterile office environment and then leave it all behind at the end of the day. Don’t believe me?  Check out this podcast feauturing </span><span style="font-size: small;"><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"></strong></span><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Leslie Perlow,</span></strong><span style="font-size: small;"> a </span><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Harvard Business School</span></strong><span style="font-size: small;"> professor, who has found that </span><span style="font-size: small;">forcing employees to disconnect from the office</span><span style="font-size: small;"> on a regular basis makes them </span><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">more</span></em><span style="font-size: small;"> creative and productive.</span></p> <p style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /> </span></p><p style="margin-top: 20px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><span style="font-size: small;">Pratik</span></p> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/9-to-5-workday-on-its-brink">Pratik's Site</a> </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-1485931839121306224?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-27096251386474537812009-11-01T10:12:00.001-08:002009-11-01T10:12:47.890-08:00<div style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: medium;"><p>Data is like food. A good meal is served in reasonably-sized portions from several food groups. It leaves you satisfied but not stuffed. Likewise with information, we&#39;re best served when we can partake of reasonable, useful portions, exercising discretion in what data we digest and how often we seek it out.</p> <p>Unfortunately, we often do the opposite, ingesting information constantly to the point of choking on it. The risk of information asphyxiation touches all of us -- managers, Web surfers, even lazy couch tubers.</p><p>The most obvious locus of information inundation is the office: e-mail, voice mail, phone calls, meetings, business journals, faxes, memos, manuals, Web research. The list goes on. Far from bringing about the anticipated &quot;paperless office&quot; and reduced work load, technological innovations have increased both areas.</p> <p>David Shenk, in his book <i>Data Smog</i>, reports that between 1980 and 1990, paper consumption in the U.S. tripled to 1,800 pounds per person. Sixty percent of the average office worker&#39;s time is spent processing paper documents. Additionally, &quot;the typical business manager is said to read one million words per week.&quot; That&#39;s the equivalent of one and a half full-length novels per day.</p> <h3>Diminishing Efficiency</h3><p>Information technology, in fact, often diminishes workplace efficiency. <i>Scientific American</i>(&quot;Taking Computers to Task,&quot; July 1997) pointed out that despite the $1 trillion spent annually across the globe, &quot;productivity growth measured in the seven richest nations has instead fallen precipitously in the last 30 years ... Most of the economic growth can be explained by increased employment, trade and production capacity. Computers&#39; contributions, in contrast, nearly vanish in the noise.&quot;</p> <p>Blame can be pinned on everything from sound cards to solitaire, that numbing front-desk babysitter.</p><p>Also at fault, however, is the medium and people&#39;s lack of training in how to effectively use it. When employees use e-mail to communicate with someone 50 feet away, there&#39;s a problem. Saving customer quotes in a general &quot;user&quot; directory is just asking for the document to become lost among hundreds of other files. Inefficient inventory software yields frustration where a simple list on paper would do the trick.</p> <h3>Outside the Office</h3><p>The problem continues even outside the office. A Sunday edition of the <i>New York Times</i>carries more information than the average 19th-century citizen accessed in his entire life. Billboards smother our roadways and buildings. In some cities, advertising is even stuck to the sides of police vehicles. (Imagine a patrol car advertising a &quot;run for the border.&quot;) Cable and satellite TV offer dozens of channels of meaningless drivel. The check-out line at the supermarket proffers a host of magazines &quot;educating&quot; the reader on such wide-ranging issues as &quot;10 Ways to the Big O&quot; and new photos of a biblical ark discovered on Mars.</p> <p>We accept all this input with a tired, sometimes even curious, smile.</p><h3>Information Fatigue</h3><p>David Lewis of the International Stress Management Association originated the phrase &quot;information fatigue syndrome.&quot; The barrage of data to which we are constantly exposed carries a cost, both physically and mentally.</p> <p>In many ways, it is a bona fide addiction. I can live without the Web for a week, but I start getting antsy after a single day without checking my e-mail. At night, I read constantly from the dozen or so periodicals to which I subscribe while my wife channel surfs.</p> <p>This is our relaxation time? My spotty memory and short attention span are notorious to all who know me. I feel tired constantly, despite regular exercise, yet continue thinking about the day&#39;s information load all the way to unconsciousness.</p> <p>David Shenk sites psychological studies spanning thirty years and lists several of the symptoms which accompany information overload:</p><ul /><p></p><li>Increased cardiovascular stress, due to a rise in blood pressure,<p> </p></li><li>Weakened vision, siting a Japanese study which predicts a nearly universal near-sightedness in the close future,<p></p></li><li>Confusion (see below) and frustration,<p></p></li><li>Impaired judgement based upon overconfidence,<p> </p></li><li>Decreased benevolence to others due to an environmental input glut (which may very well account for part of the &quot;brusqueness&quot; which is commonly attributed to big-city dwellers).</li><p>There is a common piece of wisdom which holds that any given fact can be twisted to fit one&#39;s needs. Witness the nutrition dilemma. Based on this week&#39;s reports, is milk good or bad for us? The answer, of course, depends on whose report you read. There are so many conflicting reports emerging constantly that one is left not knowing what to believe, a condition sometimes referred to as &quot;paralysis by analysis.&quot;</p> <p>This phenomenon may account for some of the decline in American health. Angelo A. Alonzo, a professor of medical sociology at Ohio State University, told <i>USA Today Magazine</i>(October 1994), &quot;Health educators may well face a significantly desensitized population, segments of which are immobilized by fear, indecision, and confusion.&quot; When there is no clear method for improving our lifestyles, many adopt the course recommended most often by our mass media: fast food, material consumerism, and apathy.</p> <p>It is not enough to flee from the problem. Researchers at Israel&#39;s Tel Aviv University studied 76 electronics industry clerks and found that the sense of relaxation and happiness derived from a vacation began to fade only three days after returning to work. Pre-vacation levels of stress and burn-out returned within a mere three weeks (<i>Journal of Applied Psychology</i>, August 1997). For those who remain &quot;in touch&quot; via pagers, cell phones, laptops, radio, and TV, the results will be even more dismal.</p> <p>On a society-wide level, the dangers of information overload are enormous. The engendered feelings of helplessness, confusion, and anger will erode work efficiency, family functioning, and most likely increase crime rates. We will lack the information-processing skills needed to elect responsible leaders or counter the myriad waves of propaganda pushing our dollars this way and that. (Of course, the argument could be made that this has already happened.)</p> <p>If an individual&#39;s consciousness is formed by the information and stimuli he experiences, then the influence of data glut on our thinking is undeniable. Buy our food, says the McDonald&#39;s ad, because &quot;it&#39;s not your fault you had to get up this morning.&quot; In accepting this, a media-programmed individual gives up responsibility for his independent actions and is more susceptible to suggestion.</p> <h3>What To Do</h3><p>So what is to be done? The situation is not at all hopeless. Just as we require food, we similarly need information. The critical thing to remember is that we still have control over the information in our lives. Following are some suggestions on how to exercise that control in the different areas of our day. Overall, the maxim to live by is, &quot;decrease quantity, increase quality.&quot;</p> <ol /><p></p><li><i>At the office</i><ul /><p></p><li>Be careful with your phone time. Don&#39;t tolerate sitting on perma-hold, listening to elevator music and even more stupid radio commercials. Leave a short, efficient message which indicates precisely what action you want taken and move on. Remember: when in doubt, hit 0 for the operator. A recent Reuters survey found that 20% of all voice-mail time is spent fumbling through menus.<p> </p></li><li>Reduce paper. An old boss of mine told me to touch a piece of paper only once. Either use and file it or toss it in the recycle bin. To help facilitate this, switch to a fax/modem instead of a regular fax machine. There is no paper involved, and the &quot;delete&quot; key really can be your best friend.<p> </p></li><li>Get organized. CorelCENTRAL or Microsoft&#39;s Outlook are good examples of utilities which will structure your time, clear your desk of neon sticky notes, and maybe even consolidate your fax and e-mail functions. Also check out <a href="http://www.3m.com/Post-it/electronic_notes/software_notes.html">3M&#39;s electronic Post-It program</a>, a marvelous jewel which will do wonders to clean your desk.<p> </p></li><li>Keep meetings short, sweet, and focused. Make it known from the outset what your time limitations are and confirm beforehand the presence of a constructive agenda. I can&#39;t count the number of precious home hours I&#39;ve lost to a company-bought pizza and managerial meandering.</li> <p></p></li><li><i>At home</i><ul /><p></p><li>Kill your television -- or at least make it hard to use. Some families keep just one TV and leave it in the closet except for occasional viewing. Before sitcom stupor sets in, ask yourself, &quot;Is this a good use of my time?&quot; Even television news is mostly fluff designed more to sell commercials than to educate the public. Weather and commercials now account for half of each hour&#39;s broadcast. The U.S. Department of Health and Human services has published findings that TV might actually cause learning disorders (really?!), so try instating a family reading time instead.<p> </p></li><li>Keep your phone number unlisted to reduce solicitation calls.<p></p></li><li>Sick of junk mail? Contact the Direct Marketing Association (P.O. Box 9008, Farmingdale NY 11735) with your exact home address along with all the permutations on your name currently in use by junk mailers. Ask to be removed from all the direct mail lists with which they are associated.<p> </p></li><li>Prioritize your phone time. It&#39;s taken years, but friends and family have learned to call me with planned discussion items and then not take it personally when I shove the call to a conclusion.<p></p></li> <li>Develop a hobby. Many of us feel that we don&#39;t have the time or talent for a hobby, or maybe that was something our parents did -- and God knows we don&#39;t want to be like them. A hobby, however, besides having its own inherent rewards (not to mention a second possible source of income) will take time from otherwise wasteful brain drains like TV. Exercise can be viewed as a hobby. It may take an hour out of your nightly rerun ritual, but think of the extra 20 years of health you gain on the backside.</li> <p></p></li><li><i>On the Net</i><ul /><p></p><li>E-mail can be a virus in its own right. Only drop your address (especially on Usenet) when essential, because software robots will see it and automatically add you to marketing lists. Respond to junk e-mail messages indicating that you wish to be removed from the mailing list or else you will contact the sender&#39;s Internet provider (usually <a href="mailto:postmaster@provider-name.com">postmaster@provider-name.com</a>). Also, you can usually tell which messages are worth your time just by scanning the header. Dump the extraneous ones. Respond to non-important messages as infrequently as possible since correspondence tends to increase exponentially. Finally, take 30 minutes to download and install a good spam filter from <a href="http://www.tucows.com/">Tucows</a>.<p> </p></li><li>Newsgroups can consume your life. I used to lurk and contribute in half a dozen groups. Today, I only visit Usenet for research, targeting specific answers and ignoring all other conversation threads.<p></p></li> <li>Beware getting stuck in that tangled Web. The inescapable banner advertising is bad enough, but with 70+ million pages to muddle through, every Web user should master effective search techniques. I recommend <a href="http://www.metacrawler.com/">www.metacrawler.com</a>. Take ten minutes and learn the Boolean search terms. 10,000 hits may sound like a gold mine, but odds are that with a narrowed search you&#39;ll find your best nuggets in the first 10.<p> </p></li><li>Remember the library! When doing research, you may save innumerable hours forsaking the Web altogether and logging into your local library&#39;s server. Many counties (including Multnomah and Washington) provide free access to Magazines Online (MO), a searchable, up-to-date database of hundreds of periodical articles. MO often alleviates the need for costly magazine subscriptions, endless Web searches, and, at the very least, a lot of photocopying. In researching this article, the Web was virtually useless while MO supplied over a dozen valuable references.<p> </p></li><li>Use your printer. I know this conflicts with my earlier statements about saving paper, but it&#39;s so easy to become distracted by enticing link after link. When you find information that you need, print it. This saves both on reading time and the need to find the page again later. Of course, if you have the discipline to set up effective hard drive directories, saving such Web pages is a better solution. Simply saving a page won&#39;t allow you to keep graphics, though. I recommend using a program like <a href="http://www.folio.com/">Folio&#39;s Web Retriever</a>, which not only will save a page&#39;s graphics but archive an entire site.</li> <p /><p /></li></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/information-overload-32">Pratik's Site</a> </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-2709625138647453781?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-64706207884625141622009-10-31T10:37:00.001-07:002009-10-31T10:37:47.878-07:00<div style="color: rgb(66, 64, 55); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px;"><p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"> How to Salvage the Climate Conference </p><div class="field-article-summary-author-bio" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"> <div class="field field-type-text field-field-article-summary" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"> <div class="field-items" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><div class="field-item odd" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"> <div class="field-label-inline-first" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Summary -- </div><p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"> The Copenhagen conference won&#39;t solve the problem of climate change once and for all. Rather than aiming for a broad international treaty, negotiators should strengthen existing national policies and seek targeted emissions cuts in both rich nations and the developing world.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-type-text field-field-article-bio" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"> <div class="field-items" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><div class="field-item odd" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">MICHAEL A. LEVI is David M. Rubenstein Senior Fellow for Energy and the Environment at the Council on Foreign Relations.</p> </div></div></div></div><p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">This December, diplomats from nearly 200 countries will gather in Copenhagen to negotiate a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which for the first time bound wealthy countries to specific cuts in greenhouse gas emissions. Most of these emissions come from burning fossil fuels -- coal, oil, and natural gas -- for energy, from deforestation, and from the agricultural sector. They must be cut deeply in the coming decades if the world is to control the risks of dangerous climate change.</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Most of those devoted to slashing the world&#39;s greenhouse gas emissions have placed enormous weight on the Copenhagen conference. Speaking earlier this year about the conference, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was emphatic: &quot;We must harness the necessary political will to seal the deal on an ambitious new climate agreement in December here in Copenhagen. . . . If we get it wrong we face catastrophic damage to people, to the planet.&quot;</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Hopes are higher than ever for a breakthrough climate deal. For the past eight years, many argued that developing nations reluctant to commit to a new global climate-change deal -- particularly China and India -- were simply hiding behind the United States, whose enthusiastic engagement was all that was needed for a breakthrough. Now the long-awaited shift in U.S. policy has arrived. The Obama administration is taking ambitious steps to limit carbon dioxide emissions at home, and Congress is considering important cap-and-trade and clean-energy legislation. The road to a global treaty that contains the climate problem now appears to be clear.</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">But it is not so simple. The odds of signing a comprehensive treaty in December are vanishingly small. And even reaching such a deal the following year would be an extraordinary challenge, given the domestic political constraints in Washington and in other capitals that make such an agreement difficult to negotiate and ratify. The many government officials and activists seeking to solve the climate problem therefore need to fundamentally rethink their strategy and expectations for the Copenhagen conference.</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><br />Pratik</p></div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/copenhagens-inconvenient-truth-0">Pratik's Site</a> </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-6470620788462514162?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1271228131382152955.post-84258957311612634132009-10-30T08:46:00.001-07:002009-10-30T08:46:13.685-07:00<div style="color: rgb(66, 64, 55); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 21px;"><p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"> If you spend, or plan to spend, substantial dollars on Web services or software support for your startup, you’ll want to read this post. I’m going to show you how, with my <strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">8 Steps to Running Your Business Off Low-Cost Web-Apps</strong>, it is possible to run a substantial company on software services and infrastructure that are either entirely <em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">free</em>, or available for a <em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">low monthly fee</em>, on the Internet.</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">As an entrepreneur and bestselling <a href="http://www.brucejudson.com/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(188, 113, 52); text-decoration: none;">author</a>, I’ve lectured and <a href="http://www.alleyinsider.com/2007/09/bruce-judson-so.html" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(188, 113, 52); text-decoration: none;">written previously</a> about how intense competition on the Web has lead to a proliferation of companies that offer mission-critical services for free or at very low-cost. <a href="http://www.entrepreneurs-journey.com/820/moving-the-free-line/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(188, 113, 52); text-decoration: none;">I am not the only one</a> who has recognized this phenomenon.</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">In late September, I took another step to try and amplify the benefits of this trend for entrepreneurs: I launched <a href="http://www.searchfreeapps.com/index.html" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(188, 113, 52); text-decoration: none;">Search Free Apps</a> , a search engine that includes over 700 hand-picked enterprise-quality applications that are free on the Web. This week I will also launch the <a href="http://www.searchfreeapps.com/new-audits.html" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(188, 113, 52); text-decoration: none;">Your Web Applications Audit by Search Free Apps</a>, which you can use to save more money on the Web services you’re currently using, or to locate new services to support your startup’s low-cost expansion.</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">The benefits of this approach extend beyond lowering your operating costs. Avoiding a cost-prohibitive investment in custom technology will also afford your young company greater flexibility to adopt new, better Web technologies as superior technologies or services evolve. This will be even more important as your company grows. All of which adds-up to a more competitive firm.</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">At the end of this post, I share the list of free or low-cost apps that deliver mission critical infrastructure to my startup, <strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Search Free Apps</strong>. I hope you try <a href="http://www.searchfreeapps.com/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(188, 113, 52); text-decoration: none;">my service</a> to find additional apps that suit your particular business. Even if you don’t, read my <strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">8 Steps to Running Your Business Off Low-Cost Web-Apps</strong>, below. Follow them to gain <em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">even more value </em>from my low-cost strategy.</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">1) Establish a bias towards software-as-a service.</strong><br style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;" /> Find free online applications (such as Weebly or ImageShack) that you rent on a monthly basis. Software should only be adopted in extreme situations. By adopting capabilities that reside on the Web, you eliminate the headaches associated with software maintenance. You also get the benefit of ongoing upgrades.</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">2) Identify the services you need; assume free or low-cost versions are available.</strong><br style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;" /> (See sample list below). Low-cost services should form the baseline for your ultimate choices. Then, any higher-cost service you identify needs to demonstrate the value of a premium price through some combination of factors including: better features, greater reliability, superior support, or greater ease of use. (In my experience, many premium-priced products do not).</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">3) Never commission custom software.</strong><br style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;" /> Custom code limits your flexibility by locking you into the offerings of a specific vendor for a lengthy period of time. You’ll pay for upgrades, and also lose the opportunity to try new low-cost Web services that come to market.</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">One way of thinking about this issue is to look at the costs of sophisticated services over time. It’s not an exaggeration to say that if a particular feature costs $50,000 to $250,000 today, a year from now it may well be available as a Web-based service that can be rented for less than $40 per month, and two years from now it may be one feature in a service package that rents for less than $25.00 per month.</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">4) Live by my 60% rule.</strong><br style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;" /> If a particular service meets 60% of your needs today it is what you should use. It’s good enough. As Web-based services are constantly enhancing their offerings, within a few months it will likely meet 80% of your needs, or even include valuable features that you had not imagined.</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">You must also accept that in a 60% world some potential customers will get away. But the appropriate question to ask is: How much revenue can I add to our business by filling in the gaps in a 60% solution? The answer is likely to be very small. Moreover, it’s my experience that businesses that invest in finding infrastructure services that are perfect, as opposed to good enough, rarely achieve profitability. They spend too much time looking for “perfect capabilities” outside their core offering, tend to over-spend on these capabilities, and thus, lack the flexibility of their competitors.</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">5) Focus on how a service works, not the brand-name provider who sells it.</strong><br style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;" /> In a large number of cases, sophisticated service platforms may be designed for one purpose, but can be implemented to provide a variety of purposes that are valuable to the needs of your enterprise. Think creatively about how a service may be extended and integrated into your infrastructure, and you will find many valuable uses for it.</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">6) Automate as much as possible.</strong><br style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;" /> There may be aspects of your business, particularly in your core offering, that require human intervention. However, you want to build a low-cost infrastructure that automates everything else. Once you need to put people power against any part of your infrastructure, you have lost the ability to easily scale the business.</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">7) Always have a backup ready.</strong><br style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;" /> The long-term reliability of any Web service should always be on your mind. I counsel companies to have a replacement for all services identified at the time they decide what services to use. Also include an estimate of the time it would take to replace a specific service, and an ongoing means of ensuring any valuable data or records accumulated by any of your services are transferred to you..</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">8) Learn <em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">html</em></strong><em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">.</em><br style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;" /> You or someone you trust must be educated in simple <em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">html</em>. Sure, many Web businesses have in-house capabilities that eliminate this issue. However, I have seen too many start-ups founders from outside the Internet industry become totally at the mercy of outside vendors. For the lack of some easily obtained knowledge, they lose the ability to make the majority of the responsible judgments and tradeoffs advocated above.</p> <p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">The low-cost or free Web app can be a very powerful tool in the arsenal of any company. In today’s intensely competitive environment every startup founder should carefully investigate whether his or her company is fully integrating these cost-saving and flexibility-enhancing services.</p> <blockquote style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 10px; border-left-width: 4px !important; border-left-style: solid !important; border-left-color: rgb(221, 221, 221) !important;"> <strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Sites where I get free or low-cost services for Search Free Apps:</strong><br style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;" /> <ol style="margin-top: 15px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 20px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><li style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"> <a href="http://mozy.com/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(188, 113, 52); text-decoration: none;">Mozy</a>: continuous online backup of PC’s. It’s <strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">free</strong> for the first 2 Gb.</li> <li style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><a href="http://www.weebly.com/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(188, 113, 52); text-decoration: none;">Weebly</a>: <strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">free</strong> site hosting and easy Web site creation service.</li> <li style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><a href="http://wufoo.com/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(188, 113, 52); text-decoration: none;">Wufoo</a>: sophisticated forms; <strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">free</strong> for the first three forms.</li> <li style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><a href="http://www.aweber.com/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(188, 113, 52); text-decoration: none;">Weber</a>: auto-response service, with unlimited follow-ups and mailings for $19.95/month.</li> <li style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><a href="http://www.feedburner.com/fb/a/home" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(188, 113, 52); text-decoration: none;">Feedburner</a>: <strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">free</strong> <div class="caps" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">RSS</div> management.</li> <li style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><a href="http://www.typepad.com/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(188, 113, 52); text-decoration: none;">Typepad Pro</a>: unlimited blogs for 14.95/month. (Other are <strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">free</strong>, like <a href="http://wordpress.org/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(188, 113, 52); text-decoration: none;">WordPress.org.</a>)</li> <li style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><a href="http://www.web-stat.com/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(188, 113, 52); text-decoration: none;">Web-Stat</a>: Web tracking <strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">free,</strong> or $5.00/month.</li> <li style="margin-top: 5px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"><a href="http://www.imageshack.net/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(188, 113, 52); text-decoration: none;">Image Shack</a>: <strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">free</strong> web-based management of images.</li> </ol><p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"></p></blockquote><p style="margin-top: 18px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;"> <br style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;" /><a href="http://mba.yale.edu/faculty/profiles/judson.shtml" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(188, 113, 52); text-decoration: none;">Bruce Judson </a>is a Senior Faculty Fellow at the Yale School of Management, the author of <a href="http://http//www.brucejudson.com/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(188, 113, 52); text-decoration: none;">Go It Alone!: The Secret to Building a Successful Business on Your Own</a> (one of the first books to be published on the Web, Bruce’s book is <strong style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">yet another free resource </strong>for you to tap!), and the founder of <a href="http://www.searchfreeapps.com/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(188, 113, 52); text-decoration: none;">Search Free Apps.</a><br style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;" /> <em style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px;">Copyright 2007 Bruce Judson. All rights reserved.</em></p> </div> <p style="font-size: 10px;"> <a href="http://posterous.com">Posted via email</a> from <a href="http://prkworld.posterous.com/8-steps-to-running-your-business-off-low-cost">Pratik's Site</a> </p> <div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/1271228131382152955-8425895731161263413?l=iprkworld.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>Pratik Gandhihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07333301038758457590noreply@blogger.com0