Be Yourself

"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. "
.............. Ralph Waldo Emerson

Chinese New Year dates

The dates of the Spring Festival from 1996 to 2019 (in the Gregorian calendar) are listed below with pinyin romanizations for the earthly branches associated with the animals, which are not their translations.

Strategy and Results

“However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results”
................... Winston Churchill.

Curiosity

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reasonfor existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he comtemplates themysteries of eternity, of life, of marvelous structure of reality. It is enough ifone tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never losea holy curiosity"
...........................Albert Einstein

Getting ready to live

"We are always getting ready to live but never living."
................ Ralph Waldo Emerson

On mental attitude

"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude."
................... Thomas Jefferson

Take a walk

"Few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications are endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence and nothing too much."
..................Ralph Waldo Emerson

You become what you think about all day long

"You become what you think about all day long."
........... Napoleon Hill

The best executive

"The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it."
............Theodore Roosevelt

Irrational and excessive stock price fluctuations

"Most of the time common stocks are subject to irrational and excessive price fluctuations in both directions as the consequence of the ingrained tendency of most people to speculate or gamble... to give way to hope, fear and greed."
........... Benjamin Graham

He is happy whom .....

"He is happy whom circumstances suit his temper; but he Is more excellent who suits his temper to any circumstance."
............ David Hume

A penny saved is a penny earned

"A penny saved is a penny earned."
................. Benjamin Franklin

By accident or by hardwork

"I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work."
............. Thomas Edison

Ten Job Hunting Myths

... the perfect opportunity probably won't fall in your lap. Search smart by avoiding these common misconceptions.

Read the full article here.

Investing: Enthusiasm in Wall Street

"While enthusiasm may be necessary for great accomplishments elsewhere, in Wall Street it almost invariably leads to disaster."
.............. Benjamin Graham

Motorola, July launch mobile 'virtual mall'

Motorola and July Systems are launching a mobile storefront application that creates a "virtual mall" experience for users via their mobile phones. Motorola's GAMA Integrated Mobile Marketplace uses GUI-based tools for the operator, retailer, and content provider that include subscription services, rentals, pay-per-use, and try-before-you-buy services. The companies said the solution will support all mobile content types. Motorola's equity firm also led July System's $10 million third round of investing.

For more on Motorola's joint venture with July Systems:
- see this press release

Renewed interest in satellite communication

One thing that did work during Hurricane Katrina and its immediate aftermath were satellite phones. Now, satellite communication provider Inmarsat said it has filed a petition with the FCC asking for authorization to provide Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) by 2010. The service will use a spacecraft operating in the 2 GHz band. Globalstar and Iridium already provide satellite phone service in the US, but they do not have terrestrial repeaters so their service is expensive and the coverage limited to the outdoors.

Some history: The FCC reallocated part of the 2 GHz MSS spectrum (15+15 MHz) to terrestrial fixed and mobile services and retained the bands 2000-2020 MHz and 2180-2200 MHz for mobile satellite services. Four years ago the FCC authorized eight companies to use the 2 GHz band for MSS with the provision that certain satellite construction milestones be met. Six of these eight companies have since forfeited and gone out of business. Inmarsat has applied for the unused spectrum so it could meet increased demand for new multimedia and emerging broadband satellite services. Inmarsat is near completion of its $1.5 billion Inmarsat-4 satellite project, and the company is working on a next generation MSS system and multimedia services across a hybrid satellite-terrestrial architecture.

For more on Inmarsat and its plans:
- see Inmarsat's website
- read the company's FCC petition
For more on MSS:
- see details at this website

Study: Future economic impact of technology

A new study by the nonprofit research group RAND concludes that the high costs of breakthrough technologies like new cancer drugs, more efficient pacemakers and new treatments for Alzheimer's could end up putting serious pressure on Medicare and programs like it. Researchers examined the future cost of 10 new technologies and found that costs are likely to be extremely high. The team concluded, for example, that anti-angiogenesis drugs which fight cancer by intelligently attacking tumors could end up costing as much as $638,000 per patient life-year added. The real question, of course, may be what the price tag for an individual human life should be.

- read this story from the Boston Globe
- see this detailed abstract from RAND

Sun, Bango start mobile game delivery service

Mobile content solutions developer Bango and Sun Microsystems are teaming up to deliver Java-based mobile games and applications to mobile devices. The service will streamline the process of paying for and locating games and applications for the mobile phone. The service requires users register at java.com. After registering, a WAP Push message is sent to the user's mobile phone. The message opens automatically on their handset and connects the user to java.com. Users of the service can pay via credit card, Paypal or wireless bill. The venture will service subscribers of over 250 wireless carriers worldwide.

For more on Sun and Bango's new mobile content service:
- read this press release

SEC discerns fraud in wake of Katrina

One legacy of Katrina may be a spike in securities fraud. The Securities and Exchange Commission expects a variety of schemes to bubble forth soon, according to MarketWatch. People may be asked to invest in companies that say they have a new way to make bleach or a hurricane-proof construction process or something similar. Linda Thomsen, the director of the SEC's enforcement division, said in a recent speech that she has already seen signs that such fraud is in the offing.

> Here's the MarketWatch article.

Not to be unduly worried by unjustified market declines....

"The investor who permits himself to be stampeded or unduly worried by unjustified market declines in his holdings is perversely transforming his basic advantage into a basic disadvantage. That man would be better off if his stocks had no market quotation at all, for he would then be spared the mental anguish caused him by other persons' mistakes of judgment."
.................... Benjamin Graham

On-demand CRM market shares: Salesforce.com - 49.5%, RightNow - 13.5%

On-demand CRM market shares: Salesforce.com - 49.5%, RightNow - 13.5% by ZDNet's ZDNet Research -- The appeal for on-demand customer relationship management (CRM) applications was strong in 2004, says IDC, generating approximately $300 mln dollars in revenue. IDC delivers the first vendor ranking for on-demand CRM applications providers which reveals a high revenue concentration among few vendors: the top five vendors accounted for 81.6% of the total market. Salesforce.com holds the leading position with 49.5% market share followed by RightNow Technologies in second with a market share of 13.5%. Surprises in the leadership table include Siebel Systems who entered the on-demand CRM applications market in January 2004, but still managed to score a fifth place ranking.

Review investing losses with care

"While losses should never cause strong self-disgust or emotional upset, neither should they be passed over lightly. They should always be reviewed with care so that a lesson is learned from each of them. If the particular elements which caused a misjudgment on a common stock are thoroughly understood, it is unlikely that another poor purchase will be made through misjudging the same investment factors."
............. Philip Fisher

A genetic algorithm beats the FBI

A genetic algorithm beats the FBI by ZDNet's Roland Piquepaille -- Computer scientists from the University of Texas at Austin have used a genetic algorithm to develop a program which can better digitally improve images of fingerprints than the human-based FBI's fingerprint image compression program.

Check out the Article.

Mobile TV to be strong in Asia, U.S.

According to a new study from Screen Digest, Asia will dominate the global market for mobile digital television handsets within seven years, with 43 percent of the total market share. The U.S. and Europe will trail Asia with 32 percent and 25 percent of the market, respectively. The study claims that by 2012, 255 million MDTV handsets will have shipped worldwide. MDTV services are already available in South Korea and are under testing worldwide. Commercial MDTV services are expected to launch in North America and other Asian countries in 2006, with full commercial launches in Europe by 2007.

For more information about the Mobile TV trend:-
check out this article from Digital Media Asia

Headphones may increase hearing loss

New earphones for cell phones and MP3 players which fit snugly in the ear may be leading to serious hearing problems for Americans over the long term, according to researchers at Purdue University. That may be bad news for heavy cell phone users who rely on new head sets designed to keep their phones away from their heads. Robert Novack, head of audiology at the school, says he is seeing "older ears on younger bodies," a trend that began with the arrival of the Walkman two decades ago and has grown increasingly worse.
- see this story from the AP

Common Stock Price Fluctuations

"Most of the time common stocks are subject to irrational and excessive price fluctuations in both directions as the consequence of the ingrained tendency of most people to speculate or gamble... to give way to hope, fear and greed."
........... Benjamin Graham

Palm OS nearing final days?

Palm CFO Andrew Brown indicated his company will switch to a Windows OS for its Treo smart phone since, arguing that Windows is more likely to woo customers who have been reluctant to buy a Palm device. Insiders say the idea that a Palm device could be built around an OS other than Palm OS points to a shift in the market where anything is possible.

Following Access' acquisition of PalmSource last week, some analysts speculated that Access may push the software maker's Linux-based OS and leave the legacy Palm OS behind. Access and PalmSource have only confirmed continued support for existing deployments of Palm OS. Access said it will finish creating PalmSource's Linux-Palm OS hybrid but gave no time frame for its completion. Two years ago PalmSource was formed when the software and hardware divisions of Palm split into two separate companies.

For more on the future of Palm OS:-
read this article from ZDNet

Samsung's new chip doubles storage capacity

Samsung today unveiled a new NAND flash technology that combines 16 individual chips to produce a card with a total capacity of 32GB. This new technology has obvious implications for the next generation of high-end phones; a 32GB chip could store roughly 8,000 song files or hundreds of hours of video. Samsung expects to mass produce the chip in late 2006, but no OEM's have yet signed up yet.

To read more about Samsung's flash memory chip:-
read this story from IDG News

Character and tree

"Character is like a tree and reputation like a shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing."
..............Abraham Lincoln

Katrina shows need for EMRs

Advocates of electronic medical records continued to point at the chaos in New Orleans as evidence of how important it is for hospitals to make the transition to digital records. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt told an audience in Washington, DC, that EMR technology would have avoided many of the problems now being experienced by the healthcare system on the Gulf Coast. "If there was ever a case for (electronic health records), this disaster underscores the need," Leavitt said.

- see this story from Government Health IT

How much mobile music is enough?

With the advent of the iTunes phone, analysts debate if there's room for more mobile phone/digital music hybrids. Nokia's N91, capable of storing roughly 1,000 songs, points to the potentially vast storage capacity for mobile music phones. However, a recent Solutions Research Group study found that the average user of high-capacity digital music devices stores only 375 songs. Given this, mobile music phones may not need to store as much music as some critics claim to be successful. Article

Market fluctuations

"Look at market fluctuations as your friend rather than your enemy; profit from folly rather than participate in it."
........... Warren Buffett

iTunes phone video

iTunes phone video by ZDNet's Dan Farber -- At a press event in San Francisco, Steve Jobs shows off the new Apple/Motorola iTunes phone [video and news report], dubbed Rokr (like soccer), which can hold up to 100 songs. U.S. availability from Cingular Wireless.

US-Cert report on spyware

US-Cert report on spyware by ZDNet's Suzi Turner -- US-Cert has published a report on spyware, http://www.us-cert.gov/reading_room/spyware.pdf, a 15-page document that includes an overview, definition and examples of different types of threats. Starting on page 10 defensive measures are outlined, emphasizing education and awareness. It notes that social engineering is a major means of distributing spyware by tricking users into downloading and installing malware. The recommended [...]

Purpose of Our Lives

"The purpose of our lives is to add value to the people of this generation and those that follow."
............. Buckminster Fuller

Show them with your actions

"If you really are smarter than others, show them with your actions."
.............. Napoleon Hill

Being busy.. Real work...

"Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing."
.........Thomas A. Edison

15% of digital camera owners never delete any images

15% of digital camera owners never delete any images by ZDNet's ZDNet Research -- The number of aggregate digital images captured per month continued to grow another 18 points in 2005, largely driven through cheaper flash memory card prices and increased capacities, IDC found. As a result, the total number of average monthly prints is expected to increase by 29% in 2005. However, printing behavior is changing with home printing continuing to decline in favor of retail locations. The mean number of digital images captured per month is 75. 14% of total digital camera owner respondents capture more than 100 images per month. 15% of total respondents never delete any images, while 6% delete all their images.

IT Facts: Win FS beta 1 is born

Win FS beta 1 is born by ZDNet's Dan Farber -- For those of you anxious for Microsoft's next generation file system, Channel 9 has a one hour video on Win FS with lead developers via cinematographer/interviewer Robert Scoble. The Win FS team also has a blog. The download is here for MSDN subscribers. Slashdot chatter here. News story here. Taking a cue from the Web [...]

IT Facts: Web-based e-mail shares

Web-based e-mail shares: Hotmail - 35.5%, Yahoo! Mail - 35.1% by ZDNet's ZDNet Research -- ComScore Networks is quoted in a Reuters article with the data on Web-based e-mail usage. With 221 mln users (35.5%) MSN Hotmail leads the market, followed by Yahoo! Mail with 219 mln users and 35.1% of the market.

Investment Diversification

"Wide diversification is only required when investors do not understand what they are doing."
................. Warren Buffett

Why stock go up

"I think you have to learn that there's a company behind every stock, and that there's only one real reason why stocks go up. Companies go from doing poorly to doing well or small companies grow to large companies."
.................... Peter Lynch

Being wrong

"Once we realize that imperfect understanding is the human condition there is no shame in being wrong, only in failing to correct our mistakes."
...................George Soros

Circumstance and Temper

"He is happy whom circumstances suit his temper; but he Is more excellent who suits his temper to any circumstance."
................. David Hume

Price and Value

"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get."
........... Warren Buffett

If you really are smarter

"If you really are smarter than others, show them with your actions. "
..............Napoleon Hill

Wonderful Company, Fair Price.

"It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price."
................ Warren Buffett

Before you act

"Before you speak, listen.
Before you write, think.
Before you spend, earn.
Before you invest, investigate.
Before you criticize, wait.
Before you pray, forgive.
Before you quit, try.
Before you retire, save.
Before you die, give."
...........................William Arthur Ward

Miracle

"When we do the best we can, we never know what miracle is wrought in our life, or the life of another.""
...... Helen Keller

Investing rules

"Rule No. 1: Never lose money.
Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1."
..... Warren Buffett

Design is how it works

"Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."
....... Steve Jobs

Experience is ....

"Experience is not what happens to a man.It is what a man does with what happens to him."
....... Aldous Huxley

Investment in Knowledge

""If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest."
...... Benjamin Franklin

Investing is simple

"Investing is simple, but not easy."
.... Warren Buffet

Think

"All the problems of the world could be settled easily if men were only willing to think. The trouble is that men very often resort to all sorts of devices in order not to think, because thinking is such hard work."
............ Thomas J. Watson

Which month for the market?

"October. This is one of the peculiarly dangerous months to speculate in stocks in. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August, and February." ..........Mark Twain

Changing the world

"Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself."
...... Leo Tolstoy

Innovation and Discipline

"To turn really interesting ideas and fledgling technologies into a company that can continue to innovate for years, it requires a lot of disciplines."
..... Steve Jobs

Early Bird and Early Worm

"I think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm." ...... Franklin D. Roosevelt

Market Sentiments

"You get recessions, you have stock market declines. If you don't understand that's going to happen, then you're not ready, you won't do well in the markets."
... Peter Lynch

Obscurity and discussion

"In one case out of a hundred a point is excessively discussed because it is obscure; in the ninety-nine remaining it is obscure because it is excessively discussed."
..... Edgar Allan Poe



[This is a scan of a very old photo on print, at a park in New Zealand.]

Be an investor, not speculator

"The individual investor should act consistently as an investor and not as a speculator. This means... that he should be able to justify every purchase he makes and each price he pays by impersonal, objective reasoning that satisfies him that he is getting more than his money's worth for his purchase. "
... Benjamin Graham

[First meal in Korea on a tour.]

Buy stock at the bottom ?

"When stocks are attractive, you buy them. Sure, they can go lower. I've bought stocks at $12 that went to $2, but then they later went to $30. You just don't know when you can find the bottom. "
... Peter Lynch

Lemonade

"When fate hands you a lemon, make lemonade." ..... Dale Carnegie

Don't do unto others ......

"Don't do unto others what you don't want others do unto you."
......... Confucius

What is Management ?

"Most of what we call management consists of making it difficult for people to get their work done."
...... Peter F. Drucker

Wealth

"Wealth is not his that has it, but his that enjoys it."
..... Benjamin Franklin

Investing and Anticipating

"Just as a cautious businessman avoids investing all his capital in one concern, so wisdom would probably admonish us also not to anticipate all our happiness from one quarter alone."
........ Sigmund Freud


"Successful investing is anticipating the anticipations of others."
.... John Maynard Keynes

Investing and IQ

"Investing is not a game where the guy with the 160 IQ beats the guy with the 130 IQ."
....... Warren Buffett

Desires and Means

"Bring your desires down to your present means. Increase them only when your increased means permit. " ...... Aristotle