Automated check-in facilities in hotel chains reminds me of the check cashing machine case that I was working on recently. a technology solution that was deployed too early with out proper beta-testing. Like the case of check- cashing machines, these automated check-ins are also facing a huge problem.

“The problem is that the automated check-in kiosks are unreliable. It is estimated that more than one in 10 hotel kiosk transactions fail, either because they are incapable of making contact with the hotel’s reservation system, or, if they are able to make a link, because they generate a key to the wrong room "

Its 100 years since Einstein has published 5 papers which shook the Physics world.
They were:
1. Einstein’s first paper, submitted in March, concerned quantum physics, the peculiar realm of the ultra-tiny in which certainties are replaced by fuzzy clouds of probability.Light was a particle as well as a wave

2. Einstein’s second  paper comprised prediction that the size of molecules could be gauged by the effects of dissolving sugar in a liquid.

A Ring Tone of a Moped Outsells a Hit Song:

The story of the song is a tale of Internet collaboration over time and across international borders among people who have never met. About five years after Mr. Malmedahl sent an e-mail message containing his moped MP3 recording to friends, it reached another Swede, Erik Wernquist. Mr. Wernquist used the noise as a sound track to a cartoon that featured a blue frog with a goofy grin, motorcycle helmet and leather jacket. Nearly two years later, the sound was picked up by a company specializing in ring tones, Jambal, and became their most popular download, known as the “crazy frog” ring tone. This year, two German club disc jockeys, Reinhard Raith and Wolfgang Boss, mixed the noise with “Axel F,” the instrumental theme from the 1984 Eddie Murphy film “Beverly Hills Cop.” They released it last week as a CD single.

Yesterday while I was reviewing a few concepts in statistics, I felt a need for a software which could help me draw a concept map for the entire subject. I felt this way becoz I realized that the entire branch of statistics can be distilled down to a few concepts , the knowledge of which should be more than enough to play with the statistical packages.

Somewhere, someone seems to have heard this demand .

Same Company, Same Product, Different Story thr new packaging – Hopefully leading to different customers

Makers of popular snacks like Oreos and Pringles have found a new way to appeal to consumers who are trying to lose weight: selling small-portion snacks by their calorie count.

Fast Company and Inc. , the two most popular magazines that cover biz world are valued at $ 0.  Four year back , they were valued at 0.5 Billion USD !
Tech Bust is showing its repurcussions on the other biz , albeit after a lag, but certainly with the same intensity.

Link: Bad Business for Magazines About Business

A Ring Tone of a Moped Outsells a Hit Song:

The story of the song is a tale of Internet collaboration over time and across international borders among people who have never met.

About five years after Mr. Malmedahl sent an e-mail message containing his moped MP3 recording to friends, it reached another Swede, Erik Wernquist.

Mr. Wernquist used the noise as a sound track to a cartoon that featured a blue frog with a goofy grin, motorcycle helmet and leather jacket. Nearly two years later, the sound was picked up by a company specializing in ring tones, Jambal, and became their most popular download, known as the “crazy frog” ring tone.

MSNBC:

“For all the fretting about outsourcing and trade deficits in the United States, MTV offers a high-end case study in how to export what seems, at first glance, to be a uniquely American brand. For 24 years, it’s tapped into, and shaped, the genes of the irreverent, trendsetting, exuberant “MTV Generation.’’ But it turns out to be an attitude without borders. MTV reaches more than 1 billion people worldwide, making it the most ubiquitous television network on the planet.

Same Company, Same Product, Different Story thr new packaging – Hopefully leading to different customers

Makers of popular snacks like Oreos and Pringles have found a new way to appeal to consumers who are trying to lose weight: selling small-portion snacks by their calorie count.

Fast Company and Inc. , the two most popular magazines that cover biz world are valued at $ 0.  Four year back , they were valued at 0.5 Billion USD !
Tech Bust is showing its repurcussions on the other biz , albeit after a lag, but certainly with the same intensity.

Link: Bad Business for Magazines About Business

Dr. John B. Simpson(Bay Area’s most prolific biomedical entrepreneur):

I am obsessed with making sure that if you develop a technology it has to have real clinical relevance. It’s got to be the real deal.
If it really works well for the patient and has a big impact on the procedure and/or their lives, then I can get real excited. If it’s not – if it’s just an incremental improvement on something that’s kind of pretty much the same thing, but a different color – that really doesn’t do much for me.

Why smart people defend bad ideas :

“Speed kills”. I was never very good at pool, but this one guy there was, and whenever we’d play, he’d watch me miss easy shots because I tried to force them in with authority. I chose speed and power over control, and I usually lost. So like pool, when it comes to defusing smart people who are defending bad ideas, you have to find ways to slow things down.

I always used to look at the search button at various websites and wonder , will it not take the users to various other search engine sites and thus losing the stickiness of the site. Now I think there’s a better way of handling the search box on websites. Here’s a product from Yahoo labs which addresses that gap.
Y!Q Beta :

Embed Y!Q into your site to give your users convenient, related searches

Its been almost ages that I had last read anything about Bayes theorem , perhaps the last time I stumbled on the theorem was when one of my friends Tarun sent a email forward with the subject line" How to choose your spouse using Bayes theorem". Though much of the article was only meant for mathematician’s world, It never occurred to me that there are a lot of commonalities between the statistical world and Bayes theorem.

Paul Allen asks :

" Who is your business hero? Whose life inspires you? Whose keys to success have you chosen to study and adopt for yourself? Have you ever carefully studied a biography or autobiography of a great entrepreneur? Have you chosen from the vast field of history a hero whose example can help you achieve your goals? “

There are Great entrepreneurs who have diligently tried reading the successful people’s lives and trying to apply the same kind of thinking in their lives and become successful.

Chase Offers Contactless Cards in a Blink:
Chase is offering a new RFID enabled cards which can be used by customers in various locations. The advantage touted are:
Convenience AND a 20-second reduction in transaction time using contactless payments, and the results of pilot tests point to higher per-transaction spending when consumers use contactless payment devices instead of cash.

Peter Lynds:

His controversial paper in 2003 has shook the world, and the coming few years will tell us whether he would be able to piece up a conclusive theory. His main premises are :

• There is no clock; “time” is an illusion

• Time has no indivisible unit.

• There is no “now,” only sequences of events.

Anatole Gershman: .

If you look three to five years out, the underlying technology trends that … will continue to drive innovation are:

1. The rise of intelligent sensor networks.
2. The rise of scalable intelligence techniques – all the techniques that can analyze the data that is coming from all the sensors and could lead to useful business insight.

3. The rise of technology that enables you to be and act “there” from a distance and cope with lots of information, and it will be driven by pixels. We’re going to have very inexpensive pixels everywhere – we see it in cell phones.(RFID enabled smart shopping carts which will suggest shopping options based on their shopping patterns,etc)

I should start appreciating statistics from now onwards for various reasons . Here’s a Quote from ‘Art of War’ which sums up the importance of number crunching

With many calculations, one can win; with few one cannot.  How much less  chance of victory has one who makes none at all!
    –Sun Tzu

The opportunities enabled by RFID beyond the supply chain fall into three categories: safety and security, mobile asset management and complex process simplification.
**
Safety and Security :**
The first benefit among this category is the reduction or elimination of theft and counterfeiting. RFID can also be applied to important, sensitive or valuable documents, providing document security and also avoiding productivity-consuming searches for missing files.

Mobile Asset  Management
Many industries have many millions of dollars invested in mobile/moveable assets that are needed for internal operations or to serve customers.Often, the amount of time such equipment is in actual use, known as asset utilization, is quite low, sometimes due to lack of information about its whereabouts or condition. This comes at a significant financial cost. This cost can be minimized
**
Complex Process Simplification**
Complex process simplification using RFID technology can offer particularly important benefits to many enterprises. Many organizations have processes and workflows with a lengthy “chain of custody,” where a product, asset, document or even a person is “touched” by many different people and/or pieces of equipment at different times, with few if any being involved from beginning to end.
  
IT Strategy should include data management, network and end-user device management, and a new category for many IT organizations, sensor management

Here’s something new that I came across. Looks like the concept has been there for quite sometime on the blogosphere, but somehow I seem to have to missed it

Concept is the Book tour: Book Tour consists of an author “stopping” at a given number of websites in a given about of time, the same as they would do at bookstores during a real world tour. At these stops, the author may be interviewed, may take over the site for a day and blog themselves, may answer questions from readers, get their book reviewed or do all four.

I just stumbled on to this article ( Don’t let skeptics dissuade you) and was reflecting on the times I am facing now. These days are probably the most important times of my life. Though I am about to move to the E quadrant, I keep wondering about the path I have taken till now. Many people find it difficult to move to the B quadrant, but luckily I did not find it that difficult. My heart lies in the B quadrant and as I begin to look out for a job , I am experiencing a tremendous amount of distress in moving to the E quadrant.

On-Again, Off-Again Entrepreneurs :
The on-again off-again entrepreneur is someone who moves back and forth between being employed and owning his or her own business – multiple times.

Looking at my current conditions, I definitely fall under On-Again Off-Again Entrepreneur.Out of the three profiles mentioned I  fall under 20-something or 30-something entrpreneur
**
20-something or 30-something entrepreneur -** This person has a strong desire to be a business owner, but faces financial commitments – because of a young family perhaps – that require taking a job. Our thirties tend to be some of the heaviest spending years, because of buying homes and raising children. So it is no surprise a person may feel financially-pressed, and feel he or she has to take a job out of necessity.

I should start appreciating statistics from now onwards for various reasons . Here’s a Quote from ‘Art of War’ which sums up the importance of number crunching

With many calculations, one can win; with few one cannot.  How much less  chance of victory has one who makes none at all!
    –Sun Tzu

Michael McLaughlin :

Never settle. If you can’t keep your fire lit, you are in the wrong business. That’s the ultimate secret of business success.

Here’s something new that I came across. Looks like the concept has been there for quite sometime on the blogosphere, but somehow I seem to have to missed it

Concept is the Book tour: Book Tour consists of an author “stopping” at a given number of websites in a given about of time, the same as they would do at bookstores during a real world tour. At these stops, the author may be interviewed, may take over the site for a day and blog themselves, may answer questions from readers, get their book reviewed or do all four.

I just stumbled on to this article ( Don’t let skeptics dissuade you) and was reflecting on the times I am facing now. These days are probably the most important times of my life. Though I am about to move to the E quadrant, I keep wondering about the path I have taken till now. Many people find it difficult to move to the B quadrant, but luckily I did not find it that difficult. My heart lies in the B quadrant and as I begin to look out for a job , I am experiencing a tremendous amount of distress in moving to the E quadrant.

On-Again, Off-Again Entrepreneurs :
The on-again off-again entrepreneur is someone who moves back and forth between being employed and owning his or her own business – multiple times.

Looking at my current conditions, I definitely fall under On-Again Off-Again Entrepreneur.Out of the three profiles mentioned I  fall under 20-something or 30-something entrpreneur
**
20-something or 30-something entrepreneur -** This person has a strong desire to be a business owner, but faces financial commitments – because of a young family perhaps – that require taking a job. Our thirties tend to be some of the heaviest spending years, because of buying homes and raising children. So it is no surprise a person may feel financially-pressed, and feel he or she has to take a job out of necessity.

Michael McLaughlin :

Never settle. If you can’t keep your fire lit, you are in the wrong business. That’s the ultimate secret of business success.

OnlyOnce :

BATNA – Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement.
One needs to have a BATNA be it in a negotiation, investment pitch or life !

Here are some vital points that should characterize any Corporate Weblog Manifesto
Scobleizer: Weblog about your product or your company

Seth Levine puts gyan on the steps to become a VC :

• Step one: Assume you will not be able to land a job as a venture capitalist.
• Step two: Understand the math.
• Step three: Get close to VC’s. 
• Step four. Be smart about networking.
• Step five: Don’t get discouraged.

Here’s a firm to watch out , solving the business need of reduced traffic jam hours :

“Redmond-based-Inrix has raised its initial round of capital to help sell prediction software alerting drivers to potential traffic gridlock up to days in advance.

The company received $6.1 million in the first round, the largest amount a Washington software company has obtained at that stage in almost two years. But Inrix has another first, as well.It is the first startup  to license technology developed in-house by Microsoft’s research division.”

Mat Blumberg has a nice post on  how to negotiate a  term sheet with a VC.
**
Here’s the summary:

1. Get a good lawyer.**

2. Focus on terms that matter, otherwise known as Pick your battles. A typical VC term sheet will have at least 20 terms spelled out in it. There are only a few that really matter in the end, although you should at least make sure your lawyer is comfortable that the others are reasonable and somewhat standard. Spend time on valuation, the type of security, the option pool, Board composition, and your own compensation and rights.

Google fires its first salvo at MyYahoo, MSN with an integrated portal of its services
Link: CustomizeGoogle.com

Some facts and Quotes about Raising Seed Capital - Via Paul Allen

• Angels fund 30-40 times more companies than VCs, but they do much smaller deals.

• VCs fund 1-3% of the deals they look at

• Angels fund 22% of the deals they seriously consider

• Angels fund 84% of rounds under $250,000

• #1 source of initial funding for startups is entrepreneur’s own savings (74%)

• 10-15% of entrepreneurs who pitch at non-profit capital forums raise money

**
Characteristics of a Good Business Model**

Review of the business models of 70 companies finds no single model guaranteed to produce financially superior results; however, the more successful models do share three characteristics.

First, they offer unique value—sometimes in the form of a new idea. More often, it is a combination of product and service features that offers more value; lower price for the same benefit or more benefit for the same price. Home Depot, for example, combines the low price and selection of a superstore with the knowledgeable advice of a full-price specialty hardware store.

**
Characteristics of a Good Business Model**

Review of the business models of 70 companies finds no single model guaranteed to produce financially superior results; however, the more successful models do share three characteristics.

First, they offer unique value—sometimes in the form of a new idea. More often, it is a combination of product and service features that offers more value; lower price for the same benefit or more benefit for the same price. Home Depot, for example, combines the low price and selection of a superstore with the knowledgeable advice of a full-price specialty hardware store.

Via: JotBlog
Jotspot has an event called hackathon which helps engineers in the firm become more creative.
It’s a day-long event where our engineers each crank on something:

• valuable to the company
• but not what they’re “supposed” to be working on and
• that can be taken from idea to working prototype in one day

Results are stunning!

Some people can fly but they have forgotten how to fly . So they forgot
Some people completely do not know they can fly . So they never learned
Some people have flew before, but forgot how to. so they never remember.
Some people know they can fly, but never try because they are surrounded with fear. So they quit
Some people wanted to see others fly before they fly. So they wait
Some people are waiting for a mentor to teach them how to fly. So they wait
Some people flew before and fell down. So they claimed that flying is dangerous and useless. So they whine and fret

Some people can fly but they have forgotten how to fly . So they forgot
Some people completely do not know they can fly . So they never learned
Some people have flew before, but forgot how to. so they never remember.
Some people know they can fly, but never try because they are surrounded with fear. So they quit
Some people wanted to see others fly before they fly. So they wait
Some people are waiting for a mentor to teach them how to fly. So they wait
Some people flew before and fell down. So they claimed that flying is dangerous and useless. So they whine and fret

Its very important to try out things and when the obstacles seem unsurmountable ,it is even more important to create situations that make you go for it. This is superbly narrated in the form of a story by Seth Levine: .

Two friends were walking together through some fields when they came to a high wall. The wall stretched as far as they could see in both directions. As they were talking about what to do in this impassable situation one of the men takes off his favorite felt hat and throws it over the wall. The other looks at him and says “why did you do that – that was your favorite hat,” to which his friend responds “now we’re going to have to find a way over that wall.”

Via: JotBlog
Jotspot has an event called hackathon which helps engineers in the firm become more creative.
It’s a day-long event where our engineers each crank on something:

• valuable to the company

• but not what they’re “supposed” to be working on and

• that can be taken from idea to working prototype in one day

Results are stunning!

Came across this word in seth’s post - was curious to know its origins :
**
Doppelganger :**
Meaning “double walker” a doppelganger is a shadow-self that accompanies every human. Only the owner of a doppelganger can see it, otherwise it is invisible to human eyes. Dogs and cats have been known to see doppelgangers. Providing sympathetic company, a doppelganger almost always stands behind a person, and they cast no reflection in a mirror. They are prepared to listen and give advice to humans, either implanting ideas in their heads, or a sort of osmosis. It is said to be bad luck if it is seen, and rarely a doppelganger will make itself visible to friends or family, often causing great confusion. Doppelgangers can be mischievous and malicious.

Years ago, I was given an article by my classmate titled " How Resilience Works " . Though I had read it long time back, I could not relate to the article for many reasons. It was debunking the oft repeated quote from many a people who say " I am resilient “. Infact one does not know whether he is resilient or not, unless one goes through some hardship.

Let not thy winged days be spent in vain,

for no amount of gold can bring them back

                                                                                    - Abdul Kalam ( President of India)

We do come across a lot of crap jargon in documents and ppts. Possibly we are also prey to that attitude of using jargon..Here’s a tool from Deloitte! which helps remove Bull from documents.
Link: Download Bullfighter .

Thomas Friedman talks of 10 things that made the world flat:

1. Fall of the Berlin Wall The events of November 9, 1989, tilted the worldwide balance of power toward democracies and free markets.

2. Netscape IPO The August 9, 1995, offering sparked massive investment in fiber-optic cables.

3. Work flow software The rise of apps from PayPal to VPNs enabled faster, closer coordination among far-flung employees.

4. Open-sourcing Self-organizing communities, � la Linux, launched a collaborative revolution.

Link: HBS Working Knowledge

Maximization does not work as a measure of success What is the right measure of success in your eyes? What is it for your company or school? Is being really successful inevitably a matter of being the best, highest, youngest, richest, smartest, and prettiest on every scale you know—that is, celebrity winner-take-all? Such standards are maximized forms of accomplishment. Simply put, maximization is any form of going for the extreme—genius intelligence, superhuman effort, the best house, the unique lifestyle, and the most profit possible. Pick up any magazine and you can find a glamorized message of “making it” that assumes not only extreme performance but maximized reward: great wealth, drop dead attractiveness, all the attention, and possible omnipotence. What is the right measure of success in your eyes? Maximized measures begin to start counting success at the limits, only after you’ve gone further than most other people. This leaves individuals and organizations facing a very large territory of failure and a very small sweet spot in which they can actually feel they’ve won. And the spot changes with each new competitive achievement—moving targets. No wonder we’re stressed out. Maximized versions of success are more than superficial presentations. They have the power to co-opt our innermost standards of expectation, however insecure they may make us. Undoubtedly, goals calibrated to maximization have the power to inspire. “Be all that you can be” sounds more like a virtue than a vice. “Go further than humankind has ever gone.” Who would argue the opposite as a rule for success? But even if you are drawn to the positive aspects of maximization as your standard, most people’s sense of success demands high scores in many differing categories. Sometimes these goals contradict each other: Wealth and best friends who love you for yourself, not your money. A generous nature and being in the top position. Leading a team and being able to do everything your way. Not to mention being best at every activity of your life, from tennis to cooking to managing your portfolio. For this kind of mix, maximization will not work as an operating paradigm.

If one can start a service which involves yoga for TODDLERS! , yes Toddlers, it definitely classifies for a purple cow.
Link :Itsy Bitsy Yoga .