Link Soup

I always come across articles that apply to where I work in a Dilbert-esque way. Since I always seem to mis-place them or can't find them before I share them with a larger audience, I might as well post them here so I can find them again.

Forecasting Misunderstood

Scott Adams interview from 1999

Interesting Word of the Day

Tufte. Need I say more?

I need to find a different career, maybe?

Multiple Choice Question

From George:

"We have started a petition to Sesame Street and PBS Kids asking them to
allow Bert and Ernie to get married on the show. If done tastefully,
this would greatly help put an end to ______"

A. Homophobia
B. World Hunger
C. The Belgians
D. PBS subsidies

Please vote in the comments section below.

Lose the Bafflegab Already!

I've seen enough corporate strategies to choke a polar bear but could never really put my finger on what was wrong with them. Then again, I am not the one to create these things either. Criticism is always easier to do than create, and it's a lot more fun.

Strategy is not what many people think it is. It is not a fill-in-the-blanks mission statement blathering about how XYZ Corp. will ethically serve its stakeholders by implementing best-in-class integrated sustainable practices to grow as a global leader while maximizing shareholder value. Such bafflegab is “Dilbert“-fodder that generates cynicism and contempt. It is, at best, a big waste of time.

Neither is strategy a declaration that the ABC Co. will increase sales by 20 percent a year for the next five years, with a profit margin of at least 20 percent. Strategy is not the resolve to hunker down and try harder -- what Kenichi Ohmae of McKinsey criticized in a 1989 Harvard Business Review article as “do more better.” Effort is not strategy. Neither are financial projections. And neither are wishes.

A strategy “is a way of dealing with a high-stakes challenge,” Rumelt told me in an interview. “It’s a way around the obstacles or problems in a difficult situation.”

Every good strategy, he writes, includes what he calls the kernel: a “diagnosis” of the challenge (“What’s going on here?”), a “guiding policy” for dealing with that challenge (the core idea often called a strategy), and a set of “coherent actions” to carry out that policy (the implementation).

Egypt vs. Extremism

There is no way I can do justice to this opinion piece by Boutros Boutros-Ghali. Just read it.

On Jan. 6, the eve of Coptic Christmas, thousands of Muslims showed up at Mass to act as human shields and show their solidarity with the beleaguered Christian community.

Amy Chua's Chinese Parenting Style

I know I should have something to say about this but many others have weighed in. So, in typical fashion, I will reduce all of the thoughtful commentary on both sides of the issue contained in the links above to the creative, anonymous ramblings of an Internet meme.

It's been a long time...

I don't know why I stopped blogging right around the time Rob and George stopped blogging here. A lot has happened since the last time I posted something in November of 2008 -- I have two daughters now, Pilar (21 months) and Pasqualina (4 months), more gray hair, the same job, a lower interest mortgage (twice), and a new desire to start blogging again.

There are a number of topics I could wax poetic on from politics, to music, to child rearing, to computers, to zombies, etc. However, being the ADD person I am, I can't seem to settle on a topic. Even if I were to settle on a topic I don't think I could settle on a sub-topic. In fact, I prefer just rambling on and on and on and on.

I could write about work but that would just get my blood boiling and then I'd shut down again. I need a creative outlet, someplace where I can be creative. This might be the place.



That's Rob on the left, me in the stroller (and awesome pink diamond-plate-pattern-pants), and George on the right. Yes, the woman in the picture is our mother. This shot was taken in 1975 I believe. The 70's were awesome.



That's little Pasqualina Maribel just after she was born. Well, ok, sometime is the past three months, OK?



That's Pilar Penelope in Hoboken, NJ back in May. She wanted to go to Hoboken, so we took her.



Those two people? Those are our parents, Bob and Catherine. This photo was taken on their latest cruise.

So, that's about all I got for the blog for today. I will try to think up some topics that will bring traffic to the site and people clicking my Amazon links so I can earn a penny or two in 2011.

--Mike

Noteboek

(Not a typo: it's Dutch.)

A Dutch artist has made a video of her and her notebook that you won't want to miss.

Hat tip: Dubious Quality

Pay Toilets in Space

So it seems like the governments on the ground are getting antsy about other nations' astronauts using their stuff, and have started charging for the use of toilets, among other things.

Interesting that the shift from sharing everything in common to paying for use was initiated by the (hopefully ex-)commies....

Can't even trust his own brother

WOBURN - The half brother of Dane Cook has been ordered held on $1 million bail on charges alleging he stole millions of dollars from the comedian.

(More)

The real crime here, of course, is that Dane Cook had millions of dollars in the first place.

Collecting from the Bereaved

Wow. This is just so, so wrong. (And, yeah, linking to the NYT feels wrong, too.)

It's kind of quiet around here...

I am quite surprised that Rob didn't have anything to post during the political season or that George didn't have some amusing story. I've mostly been over on Facbook taunting liberals and making a complete jackass of myself. That's to be expected, I guess.

I don't have a whole lot of time on my hands as I've been working, running, and not much else -- Manuela will affirm that, in fact, I don't really do much anyway. All my vacation days are gone so I will be in the office Black Friday, Christmas Eve, the day after Christmas and every other day the stock market is open. It's ok, it'll be quiet and I have a lot of paperwork to do.

That's all for now.

Something a bid odd about these mascots?

Knife amnesty results

British police conducting a knife amnesty (sic) program were quite surprised at one item. Lacking the cultural sensitivity of us Americans, they overreacted and probably offended a population that you really, really shouldn't.

Geek points to anyone who can name the weapon (and spell it correctly). Extra geek points for cartoon links.

(PS: "Knife amnesty"? WTF? Did the NRA make this up? What's next, baseball-bat -- I mean, cricket-bat -- amnesties?)

The only Red Sox related item you'll ever see me post...

This is one of my co-workers' kids.



Not to mention he's also a recipient of a lot the Jimmy Fund has to offer. If you met this kid in person you'd immediately be taken over by his engaging personality.

--Mike

You thought it was bad that your Tivo was wrong about you...

Now you can see what your browsing history says about you.

--Mike

A picture is worth 1,000 words or pounds or donuts...

Now THIS is pretty cool

Take a look.

--Mike

Oh why is the "I" capitalized in English

NYT Magazine writed waxes poetic as to the derivation of the capitalization of English's first-person-nominative-pronoun. Is it because of some odd sense of self-importance? Is it associated with our collective greed as a culture? Doubtful. I think it's another hook thrown in there to confuse foreigners -- see all of the -nyms and -graphs in our language.

Calvin and Jobs

I found this gem through Digg. What I won't let happen here is my disgust for Digg bleed through into this post. It's not like I actually READ Digg on a regular basis, I just happened to have it in my RSS reader. What I really don't like is that I cannot just go from RSS directly to the topic, I must go through the discussion page first. Why can't they be more like Daring Fireball?

(Yes, DF is off my shitlist as I finally received BOTH of my t-shirts.)

Laughing Gas

Don't ask me why I was looking up nitrous oxide on Wikipedia, but check out what I found about its history.

Gee, remember how easily dented whipped cream cans were at Superfresh, guys?