What is News Worthy

  • Is Musk the new Murdoch?
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  • FTX & Bankman-Fried: Is Silicon Valley Responsible?
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  • Google Search Result: A cluttered Maze
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  • Stanford Hospital Acquires Fremont based Washington Hospital - Obamacare effect?
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  • Bond King is Back and Has a message to Powell: STOP RAISING RATES!
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  • Average selling price of GM has reached BMW, Benz Territory- Legalizing Cannabis effect or just another bubble market?

Silicon Valley Vibes!

  • Tesla & SpaceX didn’t listen to WS and Pundits …Should Twitter & Musk Now?
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  • Would you allow Siri to drive you around?
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  • Finally Adobe is Discounting its products and services
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  • SalesForce departure….is it voluntary or…?
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  • Dot Com burst brought Java Programmers to earth…..are we there yet?
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  • Contract Workers: Secret for Google & Apple not reducing headcounts?

FANG News:

  • Not A Royalty …Just the Benefits, Please! Harry, Megan & Netflix
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  • Where is Bezos….enough Romance & Honeymooning..Amazon shareholders need you!
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  • Is Google missing Eric Schmidt?
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  • World minus USA wedded to WhatsApp more than any other platform.. should FB reap the benefits soon?
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  • When Microsoft drops its subscription fees will it feel the pain? As the new generation does not know Office, Really!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Bulls , Bears & the Swans!

They say it takes three to Tango on Wall Street...and so I will take the third leg just to make it interesting!

Gold- as the commodities bubble is struggling to go anywhere(the industrial ones) ..it is easy to move gold with very little capital...even at a much higher level it should have very little effect on the recovery

As Euro keeps trending lower the debt financing for US is well on track and another month like this and US is safe for another couple of years..the sideshow of Greece, Spain and the likes will never enter the main street in Europe...In US after neutralising Wall Street the White House will break the fixed income players rein on the currency and commodity market making it difficult for non-economic capital to influence policy makers and disrupt globalization..

UK - with the Government effectively reporting to the Queen...a political disruption will have no impact unless the common go against Her Majesty
Which is still far away..and more over other than benefiting from the Keynesian control of the global monetary system, which they will continue to benefit for some more time and save the Palace economically....they have very little to contribute to the global economy!

China - as it prepares to manage currency ...Japan will grow and help the global economy and start to recover from its 20 years of lost glory...

India will continue to prosper at the expense of China as it continues to balance its domestic priorities with export needs. India will falter if the Gandhi (actually The Nehru) family takes over the Power posts after leaving it to non controversial party members for so long.

With dollar strengthening Middle East will start contributing to the global economy in a more meaningful way. Russia will emerge out stronger as its ambition to rebuild USSR will become a reality with the faltering Europe supporting Putin's dream.

As the Policy makers and Politicians gain control over money managers and corporate governance - capitalism may take a new meaning while economy will continue to recover with global imbalances reaching a manageable level in the next decade!

With more and more Swans getting black and easy to manipulate the market gyrations with very limited capital....it will give way to some other esoteric title making a millionaire out of some other theorist!!

Monday, May 10, 2010

The Forbidden Apple!

Atleast for me, said my Brain to my Heart as I walked out of the famed Palo Alto Apple shop!

After resisting the initial urge to taste Apple during the iPad Wi-Fi Lollapalooza - and staying away from the Hit buttons on a couple of times while thumbing through them in the On-line store, decided to walk into the Great Apple Mecca this week-end!

Saturday Morning walking on University Ave - sharing the Pavement to those Walking their Bi-cycles with a white Cord dangling around their neck and stepping around those walk-way cafeteria crowds glued to their cappuccino and their White Macs - was an experience by itself!

A block away and I was already sweating and excited at the thought of Walking in and buying an Apple -iPad - finally!

Stepping in- there were an equal number of Blue Shirt Apple carded people as there were MacHeads- or is it PadHeads?

As I was getting lost in my decisions a friendly Blue shirt stepped closer and offered help- A bit shy, may be like that PC guy, pulled out my sheet - proud for coming prepared, and rattled all my questions....

One by one she answered proudly and at times brought in an expert to clarify more in-depth questions!

When I asked about configuration on the iPads for ordering - she said - 'Oh we are sold out and you can however reserve at no cost' and they will call when it arrived!!!!

Disappointed , my impulsive side of the brain , needed a few more apps related questions answered, obviously comparing it to my PC soul - and came a bit short on satisfaction - as she said to look at those thousands of third party Apps available to serve my needs!

PC in me was quick to hah-ha and said Not soo soon Steve! and walked out of the Apple store - not succumbing to his Magic- as I breathed Olive oil and Dark beer floating from the joint next door!

Back home - my kids shaking and twisting their i-Whatevers and screaming (the happy kind) in the backdrop- as I open my Laptop, came running only to go back quickly to their i-Screaming on hearing my disappointed visit to Palo Alto!

Browsing through a few sites - on iPad Apps - was surprisingly shocked at their creative offerings and how innovative their approaches to using technology from Apple were! And as I saw Mr O - a Berryhead , a first in the Whitehouse, slap those i-whoevers during a University Address- it slowly dawned on me for thinking so PC like!

The slowing mind stared at the power of i-Everything and the Power of Jobs!

Decided to break the barrier and take a bite at that forbidden Apple - well i-Whenever it is available!

Sunday, May 9, 2010

7 Reasons Why this is only a Correction!

Cramer and the likes have turned bearish very early to avoid missing the train!

Apple's market capitalization is still far from 500 billion!

PIMCO and the ever popular Mr Gross started loading up on long end US Bonds running against his mouth!

One more push and Euro will break:Bond Makers cannot afford a broken Euro and hence will support the currency!

German Election though against Merkel - it is over! The english Tea Break for election is over too! With Elections over Mr Trichet and ECB will wake up!

WhiteHouse has wallstreet execs on a leash (along with Auto, Healthcare, Defense..that's about 60 percent of GDP)!

And the the most important. Reason is:

World cup soccer just a month away!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

78 Billion and more to come...!

Aided by the Greek riots?

German Election?

And the English uncertainity?

As the riots in Greece gets mindshare of the media- and the Chinese celebration on the largest and most extravgant Expo gets underway....the Global market spirals downward! Looks like the last time the Chinese had this celebration - the Olympics ....the beginning of the Financial Whatever wass underway with the Russians marching into Georgia!

The smart and slowly healing American economy- while perplexed at the possible Olympic Proportion of teh Euro crisis - US government papers are selling like hot cakes...as $78 Billion of those are hittig hte market jut in time to capitalize the situation!

Will this weekend see a possible end to the European melae with the Germans and Brits winding down their political change over or just enter another week-end negotiations in Europe escalating the chaos to another level?

Another month of similar uncertainity to the unity in Europe will seal the deal for the Fed and Treasury as they accelerate their Trillion dollar endeveaour!

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Confrontational or Opportunistic?

Moving slowly away from a Financial Whatever into an era of confrontational Policy makers globally seems to be gripping the financial markets - as the politicians look for the next opportunistic kill!

Yes from White House to the Jail House in Down Under - it appears the strong arming tactics is being overlooked- at least amongst the media and the common!

Yes From Angela Merkel to Hu else in Asia - seems to be enjoying the uncertainty offered in a platter by the Media and the financial market!

Yes From Blankenfein to Mr Howard is scrambling to polish their manners and PR effort to stay below the radar!

Yes From Nancy Pelocy to Mr Shelby - there doesn't seem to be a strong original feeling that lasts for more than a week or so!

Yes from Trash talking Whitman to smooth talking Chris every one seems to be waging the populist war to grab power!

Taxing the people and penalising the corporation - whether in the form of resource penalty or to plug the whole in the Ocean is enjoying an easy passage!

Is this the beginning of Change that will lead to a new form of global governance?

And pave the way for a New medium of transaction?

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Did Goldman get a Black eye...?

NO!

Actually its more like a Black FACE!

Mr Whitacre...Please slow down!

It is not surprising to see the turn around of General Motors under the new chiew.

It is not surprising to see GM gaining ground with the consumers!

It is not surprising to see GM give back some money lent back to the Government!

It is not surprising to see Mr Whitacre crowing his accomplishment in such a short period!

But..But..

Seeing the recent commercial of General Motors talking about giving back all the money lent to it....by Mr Whitacre?

Yes it is good to gain market share..but seems to be a stretch to the truth!

What was wiped out was not just the shareholders but sidestepping the bankruptcy laws! Yes it was the right thing to do during the Financial Whatever ...but GM's problem was not the result of the Financial whatever..it has been in the making for a couple of decades of Detroit Management style!

A little bit modesty by GM in this tough times will go a long way for Mr Whitacre and GM!

Yes - in this column we have talked so high of GM's cars and Mr Whitacre and we are extremely positive about the GM's future- and we also feel its only a few years away for GM to re-establish its leadership position..!

However it will be nice for GM's management to be a little polite and stick to just what they do best - CARS!
Slowing to Smell....!

After going through several blogs I came to the conclusion that it is very difficult to write about your day to day life!

Fascinating to see how creative people are and how so many people around the world are able to choose a variety of topic and pour their heart out and paint something so wonderful- full of life and color!

Need Humor! Need Depth and more than anything need perspective! I found it is easy to write about something substantial in which a person is well versed in. It made me think - I went around the last few days looking around and paying attention to everything from nature to relationships!

Now curiosity started posing a question - what is more important to writing? Chosing a topic or having the patience to research and articulate about the impressions that every day events brings to a person?

I thought I will try this every day! For 30 Days!

Impulsive and spontaneous
!

No research - just type as the feelings flow and as the words can portray! Thanks to the Blackberry - now I can try doing that the moment the urge happens without waiting!

As I was deciding on this I found myself in a shop - decided to pull my Blackberry and type what I saw around me...so begins my first piece.

PS. Since Blog has major restricitons on how many posting and what kind of flexibility one can have using the standard template I will try to find a work around using a couple of gadgets to display a couple of days posting at any given time till I figure out a way to display the history!

To avoid dilution of this site I have moved the experiment to another blog under

http://dailylifesigns.blogspot.com

The following is a sample on content with no photos- the Daily Life Signs posting will be more of a pictorial experience!






Walking around a woman's shop!

Looking at the colors in a woman's shop is like peeking into a kaleidoscope. However, one doesn't have to change to feel the vibrant mood.

Amazing styles and fascinating fashion! Trying to coordinate gives the several option that is needed to meet the day to day lifestyles of varying moods and differing ages.

Age appropriate colors! Shades for fading moods!

Bold red!

Sober red!

Flashy red!

Bland red!

Blood Red!

Romantic Red!

Decisions! Decisions! and Decisions!

Deciding the color at the time of shopping gives the option to choose and refine to the various rainbow moods that a person possibly can go through in a fast paced connected world!

Sizes and fits to match every form and need.

Having a choice helps in refinement!

And helps!

In Decisions! Decisions and Decisions!

Startup Wisdom!

May be there is a reason they want a Money Man to run the venture- but the following tip will save a buck or two! This will list a couple of grey hairs to keep!

  • Success is contageous- start it immediately!
  • Share the Vision but not Leadership!
  • Smart money is great - but Lucky Money is even better. Get some!
  • Being passionate is essential - but only after motivation to make money.
  • Establish the TRUE Pecking Order!
  • Let Sales be part of your core strategy- everything else can be bought!
  • If you havent done Selling START DOING IT NOW!

Building your 2nd Million!

Skip the first million and go straight to the second- as the first one is the most difficult one to bring home! The second one can be as tough as the first one but is never tougher than the first one! You can make money - working - investing in stocks/etc - real-estate - starting a business - others Choose your area of interest first as this will help you identify the opportunity and make you easily motivated to work on the 2nd million!

Not in any particular Order!

  • First lets know the facts: 1) Your work life is 40 something years (even at conservative estimate) so lets make sure we plan that Properly
  • 2) Lets identify opportunity to make money with out too much effort- living for Today is Good but lets not lose today's free money in the process like - benefits, tax breaks, sale,coupons,etc
  • 3) Lets not try to make ALL THE MONEY in the same way! Lets break the objective into smaller chunks and assign different ways to make them individually
  • 4) Put the 1st Million in Auto-pilot and set a 10 Years plus Time table
  • Convince yourself that you need the Money
  • Set a time line to achieve the goal.

Relationships - Learning to enjoy them!

Do we retain relationships? Expectations out of frienships vary from society to society & age group to age group. How long do we carry them? Some of them bring fond memories- and some not so pleasant! Here you can expect to see nuggets from my experiences and analysis!

Family & Friends: We spend less time with family than with friends- yet we feel more comfortable with family than friends- Why? Is it because we dont have expectations with family members but we have some on friends?

Allowing the other person to finish their train of thought builds a very long lasting relationship - as it makes you understand the other persons point of view fully & also to respond being aware making even an opposing point of view reasonable.


  • Cherry Pick your arguments - Left or Right Brained!
  • Make every encounter a transaction - this will make leaving baggages behind easy!
  • Qualify the type of relationship - however strange it might be
  • Chasing friendship is not always helpful as it leads to compromise.
  • Family circles - define it and accept it whether you like it or not!
  • Its ok to do different activities with different people!
Prof Dr Peik A Monie's Corner

  • if being number two is not enough go to a lower market
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  • proceeds from a street dog dont bark
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  • shooting the papparazi dont break cameras

DIGITAL IRIS - An inexcusable view of the photograpic world!

Let me see if I can add a few lines every week highlighting my 2 cents on photography- my experiences and desires

Things that make good photos -

- excellent and expensive set of lenses; in this digital era spend less on the body and keep investing in the high end lenses as the lenses will not lose value and the body is still under construction!

- accessories and the right tripod; never underestimate your advantage with a tripod

- plan & choose the subject and the location

- know your subject well!

- look and follow the calendars; simple things like a night with a Full moon- we dont realise that it does not happen every day - if you narrow it to the summer when the sky is still blue - I guess it becomes a couple of times a year- and if you factor n the location and your availability at that location and time...so Knowing the calendar and season helps for a good but not so common picture

- Take some luck with you!

  • Print and Enlarge Some Too
  • Delete Bad Pictures from Storage
  • Isolate Subject's color
  • Assess various profile
  • Add a subject to the frame
  • Take Nature after rain - they look better
  • Transparent Objects like flowers have creative effect with light behind them
  • If you want to enjoy the trip - leave the camera behind!
  • Define the subject for the shoot out trip
  • Take a survey trip before the real shoot out
  • Learn & Buy the Best Tripod
  • Always take a handy utility camera
  • Use Multiple exposure & shots in action oriented moments- this will help you pick the ideal snap - as even a fraction of a second makes a HUGE difference in photos.
  • Know your camers settings!
  • Understand Shutter Lag
  • Understand the camera shakes

AfterMarket Pulse- The boring Services Industry!

Keeping it inefficient is good for every one- A success story and why it will be restricted to a handful in the services Industry- A serious look at the Service Industry and my views on improving them. As a society we have accepted that everything breaks down and needs periodic maintenance. We are willing to pay both money and time to accomodate such services. What we have not done is define what is the service level that is needed for every such incident. From household appliances to industrial equipments we are forced to accept the cost and quality that the market offers. In such a sellers market room for mediocracy is enormous- giving way for opportunities. Yes predicatability is not always easy when it comes to failure or repair - or for that matter to identify what is wrong once the item is broke as it is not always possible to run the equipment ot see what is going wrong! And there are companies that can afford stupidity & those that cannot- if you want to change choose wisely!

  • Three steps: 1) Localize Failure 2) Response to Events 3) Time to Life
  • Inter-dependency at a higer level accelerates return
  • Resposiveness is rewarding - even if it is just to show on site of event!
  • Failure Prevention is difficult - yet possible
  • Know your Industry problems: Inventory, Turn time, Forecasting Failure, Estimating Cost, Finding Talent, Automation tools
  • Know your industry Practices- Swapping parts, using refurbished items, penalty
  • Define Quality of service
  • Attract talent - as service industry does not attract fresh talents
  • Innovote service packages

About Me

Seen me go through cycles driven by Age, Money, Deception, Affection, Success, Failure, Fear- etc. The current cycle puts me in a middle aged bucket with sculpted bitterness trying to tame it to embrace the sweet crime of success and affection.