Funny.....

Image from WikipediaI just read on CNN.com that starting tomorrow (Monday March 31, 2008), Aloha Air will shut its operations. They will no longer be taking reservations. While this is sad, what I found funny was the following quote from their President - David Banmiller "Unfortunately, unfair competition has succeeded in driving us out of business,"......

Since when has competition been fair? Its always unfair to those who give up.

New Job and LinkedIn Activity - coincidence?

I have been watching a correlation between folks getting new jobs and an increase in their activity on LinkedIn. Why is it that their LinkedIn activity peaks only during these times? Should'nt networking be in the DNA of every person with a career? That said, is there a correlation between non-activity (on LinkedIn) and a person's career? It will be interesting to see if LinkedIn has any stats to share.

Is there a correlation between Twitterers and their Twittering activity? One thread on this from my favorite, Scoble

Never Shop Online without first visiting this website

You would be wasting precious $$$ if you do not visit RetailMeNot.com before your next shopping binge online. Infact, I have made this my starting page on my browser.

Today (March 14 - 314 ) is Pi Day

Happy 'Pi' Day! This website is dedicated to Pi. Today also happens to be Albert Einstein's Birthday.

I am still looking for why there is so much interest in Pi - is it because it (the value of Pi) just keeps going on and on?

Anyway, enjoy your Pi Day.

How to save money - running a Start-up or an Established Company

A few days ago, Jason Calacanis at Mahalo.com gave us 18 tips that could save scarce/needy $ towards tasks really important to the survival of a Start-up. The number of positive echoes on this topic from folks like Mike Arrington at TechCrunch , Robert Scoble at Scobleizer.com and a host of others, is testimony to the truth in the 18 tips.

I have never had the good-fortune of working at a start-up and have throughout my career been with titans in the High-Tech/Services sector. We go through a similar set of exercises every Quarter and I was wondering why we, working for established companies, could not implement these 18 tips. I would like to examine, starting tomorrow, a few things supplementing the 18 tips, that we could execute immediately.

Stay tuned.......

Should I be Scared?

What does being 'Non Responsive' mean?

This happened at work last Thursday. One of the Directors at our company sent me an email on problems his team was facing and I replied to his note immediately. I offered 3 options to help resolve his problem and asked him to choose the option which my team could then take it to resolution. I got a call from him a few minutes later and he said that my reply was 'non-responsive'.

I did not understand what he was saying.. Did I not reply to his email immediately? Did I not offer 3 options? Did I not offer my teams help to take his option of choice to resolution? Why was I being called 'non-responsive'? I simply could not understand. After a few minutes of conversation, I understood that his team was already down a path (one of the options I had suggested) and then were unable to move further along.

Now, how could I have known this without chatting with him in detail? Anyway, what I have learnt is that, when a Director calls you about a problem, its better to check with your team and his direct reports on the details and then frame a reply.

I thank this Gentleman for teaching me this.

Not Signing the back of your Credit Cards - Experience

I wrote while back on the advantages of not signing the back of your credit cards and I recently had an experience that makes me think otherwise.

I went to the Post Office and paid for the transaction with my credit card and this lady, at the counter, looked at the back of my credit card and not finding any signature refused to accept the credit card. I presented my Drivers license and that was not sufficient for her. She pointed me to a line on the card which says 'Not Valid Unless Signed'. Unfortunately, none of my credit cards are signed. So, is it wise to leave your credit cards unsigned?