Thursday, September 08, 2005
pocket projector
here is a pocket projector from mitsubishi slated for release Q4 of this year. LED builb (10,000 hrs) pricing around 800 bucks.
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
beatniks
I found this yet again on kevs only link. I find it particularly interesting because we discussed beatniks this weekend as the predecessor to hippies. If hippies had 'free love' what did beatniks have?
picaresque
Pronunciation: /pik-uh-RESK/
adj : of or relating to roguish heroes and their adventures
"The party was filled with beatniks, hippies, and sundry picaresque characters."
picaresque
Pronunciation: /pik-uh-RESK/
adj : of or relating to roguish heroes and their adventures
"The party was filled with beatniks, hippies, and sundry picaresque characters."
tesla
thanks to kev for the ONLY link on his link page I followed it to a small story about tesla here i've read a little of Teslas work, but I've never heard of this. it makes me want to get some more literature on the dude.
Tesla was virtually written out of history by the wealthy Energy Cartel, and later by the United States Government; who had him working on Top Secret Projects like the so-called "Philadelphia Experiment". This combined Tesla's technology with Einstein's still-secret discoveries in physics causing a US Navy Destroyer called the Eldridge to disappear in 1943 into a parallel Universe with 493 men aboard.
Tesla was virtually written out of history by the wealthy Energy Cartel, and later by the United States Government; who had him working on Top Secret Projects like the so-called "Philadelphia Experiment". This combined Tesla's technology with Einstein's still-secret discoveries in physics causing a US Navy Destroyer called the Eldridge to disappear in 1943 into a parallel Universe with 493 men aboard.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
OB: reaction paper#1
a reaction paper for organizational behavior. i'm sure you guys will like it.
Program Reaction:
The program is finally off and rolling! It all started 1 year ago when I was on the motorcycle trip up to Canada and my father in law suggested I enroll in an MBA program. he said "an MBA will help you as much with your career as your undergrad in engineering has" so the only way to prove him right or wrong is to do it and see what happens! I have been anticipating the start of this program for awhile now and I was really hoping it would start last spring. I completed the application, took the GMAT, and thought I was accepted, but the school kept pushing the start date out. so... like I said, I'm really happy the program has started.
Teacher Reaction
The experience in big business (medical hospital field) is a great slant to add to the course material. my mother has been in nursing even before I was born, so I have heard much about the industry from a workers perspective. now I look forward to the bits and pieces that are always divulged during a good class discussion that will give insight into the inner workings of the corporate level of the medical industry. Its always fun to learn that even though the fields are very diverse (engineering compared to running a hospital) the same people issues seem to come up. its the people side that makes being a manager entertaining / challenging, and I hope your background can supplement my own and through our in class interaction help me to view people from a more rounded perspective and make me a more effective leader.
Powerpoint
I absolutely HATE powerpoint. I find that people throw a gazillion slides up and then read them to the audience. I always think to myself "WHY are you even standing there?, your just blocking the screen". I learned in my speech class in undergrad that visual aids are a must, but keep the slides to no more than about 1 for every 2 minutes of talk time. wait, maybe it was 2 for every 1 minute. well. I can't remember exactly, but the point is slides are a SUPPLIMENT to the material. as a new manager, I have found the importance of powerpoint in delivering information the those that work for you. there is MUCH info that my boss wants to me 'share' with those that work for me, the powerpoint presentation just serves as a reminder when I talk to keep me on topic. or rather I should say it will be when the company gets me the laptop. I'm sure you were reading this thinking I was going to dog on your use of powerpoint, but your wrong. I think you only had 4 slides the first night. you didn't read the slides to us, you used it as a reminder to share key thoughts with us. AWESOME. thats what powerpoint is all about. short, to the point, don't' read it.
Class diversity
Since Organizational Behavior is about people, why not analyze the class real quick! I was amazed to find that the class is over 1/3 GE, about 1/3 misc. engineering firms and 1/3 state workers. mix and match a little home entrepreneurs and harley davidson finance guys and you have our class. it really didn't shape up to be what I predicted. I figured it'd be 1/2 GE and 1/2 Starbucks, but for some reason Starbucks didn't really show? what gives? I guess that goes to show that no matter what type of group you 'think' you'll end up with, if you are open minded you can end up with just about anything. Thats something I need to put to work immediately. I need to remember not to stereotype people. on a whole a stereotype may be an accurate generalization but you will be hard pressed to hold free thinking people to 'the norm'
Class goal
I was glad to see that ALL of the people in the class are working professionals, that all look like a die hard crowd to finish this thing. I wonder how many people will drop out along the way? I"m sure we'll lose some, but right now it looks like the class shares the same hard viewpoint of making the classes meaningful. I like that the comments are on topic, and people aren't sleeping, walking in late, or taking tons of cell phone calls like undergrad. I hope the class maintains a professional atmosphere, as it is really inducive to learning.
Teams for Case Study
I wasn't quite sure what to expect for the case study groups. When I first read the syllabus I thought we were going to have to propose a topic the first night. I was very relieved to find a list of topics that we just had to sign up for. it was also convenient that you forced the teams to be 3 or 4 people. this made sure there wasn't half the class on one topic, and then each of the other topics only had 1 person assigned. I was a little puzzled that you didn't just throw the teams together by random. I appreciate you letting the teams self form, but I"m afraid what I've seen in the past will repeat itself and all of the 'smart' highly driven people will end up one team and a lot of people that may need more help, or be lacking one area, will be forced to be all together on one team. its kind of sad in a way. I think the rational that was given was that the people that were near each other could be on a team but was does location have to do with it?! this is the era of high speed communication. email, IM, blogs, webct, and even fax if you had to. I venture to say you could have thrown just about anyone together and if they had 21st century technology it wouldn't be a problem. oh wait. theres my stereotypical view again. now that I think about it again, I think there most defiantly are some in the class that are more tech savvy than others. it would be VERY challenging for me to be on a team with people that weren't Internet savvy, so my hat is off to you for letting us self form! thanks
Herzeberg
I have no idea what case study topic I signed up for. I must admit I just signed up for the first one to get it done. I hate procrastination. it just makes it more painful later. I say get it over with! and if I go first theres no major class standard I'm held to. I get to set the bars starting point. I like that. it eases the pressure.
MAIC
The book talks about the Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control process of six sigma in the first chapter. GE uses the DMAIC process, where D is Define. I learned in intro to engineering, one of the very first classes I took in undergrad that to find a suitable solution, you must FIRST understand the problem. so WHY in the world doesn't the authors of the book talk about the DMAIC process? is it not industry standard to first DEFINE the problem? its very strange and puzzling to me, and worth more investigation when I find time.
Teachers just work for money comment in class
In class, there was an article handed out about how there is a shortage of teachers in the local community. One person made the comment that it was 'just all about money, its always about money and the majority of the class went into a mini uproar. I can't believe people want to deny that they work for money. If you were so naive to admit to your boss that you just worked there because you liked your normal day job better than any of the hobbies you had, you'd be an idiot. I'm sure this class will bring up additional reasons why I go to work, but right now, I'm letting you know that I work for money. That is may main reason for working, is to put bread no the table. side reasons include: mental stimulation, growth (in all senses of the word), friends, atmosphere. reasons to NOT work include: being pissed off, not getting along with people, it costs money to commute to work, work takes up time that I'd rather be doing something else. hey look, I have my own little list of criteria for the Herzeberg report!
Program Reaction:
The program is finally off and rolling! It all started 1 year ago when I was on the motorcycle trip up to Canada and my father in law suggested I enroll in an MBA program. he said "an MBA will help you as much with your career as your undergrad in engineering has" so the only way to prove him right or wrong is to do it and see what happens! I have been anticipating the start of this program for awhile now and I was really hoping it would start last spring. I completed the application, took the GMAT, and thought I was accepted, but the school kept pushing the start date out. so... like I said, I'm really happy the program has started.
Teacher Reaction
The experience in big business (medical hospital field) is a great slant to add to the course material. my mother has been in nursing even before I was born, so I have heard much about the industry from a workers perspective. now I look forward to the bits and pieces that are always divulged during a good class discussion that will give insight into the inner workings of the corporate level of the medical industry. Its always fun to learn that even though the fields are very diverse (engineering compared to running a hospital) the same people issues seem to come up. its the people side that makes being a manager entertaining / challenging, and I hope your background can supplement my own and through our in class interaction help me to view people from a more rounded perspective and make me a more effective leader.
Powerpoint
I absolutely HATE powerpoint. I find that people throw a gazillion slides up and then read them to the audience. I always think to myself "WHY are you even standing there?, your just blocking the screen". I learned in my speech class in undergrad that visual aids are a must, but keep the slides to no more than about 1 for every 2 minutes of talk time. wait, maybe it was 2 for every 1 minute. well. I can't remember exactly, but the point is slides are a SUPPLIMENT to the material. as a new manager, I have found the importance of powerpoint in delivering information the those that work for you. there is MUCH info that my boss wants to me 'share' with those that work for me, the powerpoint presentation just serves as a reminder when I talk to keep me on topic. or rather I should say it will be when the company gets me the laptop. I'm sure you were reading this thinking I was going to dog on your use of powerpoint, but your wrong. I think you only had 4 slides the first night. you didn't read the slides to us, you used it as a reminder to share key thoughts with us. AWESOME. thats what powerpoint is all about. short, to the point, don't' read it.
Class diversity
Since Organizational Behavior is about people, why not analyze the class real quick! I was amazed to find that the class is over 1/3 GE, about 1/3 misc. engineering firms and 1/3 state workers. mix and match a little home entrepreneurs and harley davidson finance guys and you have our class. it really didn't shape up to be what I predicted. I figured it'd be 1/2 GE and 1/2 Starbucks, but for some reason Starbucks didn't really show? what gives? I guess that goes to show that no matter what type of group you 'think' you'll end up with, if you are open minded you can end up with just about anything. Thats something I need to put to work immediately. I need to remember not to stereotype people. on a whole a stereotype may be an accurate generalization but you will be hard pressed to hold free thinking people to 'the norm'
Class goal
I was glad to see that ALL of the people in the class are working professionals, that all look like a die hard crowd to finish this thing. I wonder how many people will drop out along the way? I"m sure we'll lose some, but right now it looks like the class shares the same hard viewpoint of making the classes meaningful. I like that the comments are on topic, and people aren't sleeping, walking in late, or taking tons of cell phone calls like undergrad. I hope the class maintains a professional atmosphere, as it is really inducive to learning.
Teams for Case Study
I wasn't quite sure what to expect for the case study groups. When I first read the syllabus I thought we were going to have to propose a topic the first night. I was very relieved to find a list of topics that we just had to sign up for. it was also convenient that you forced the teams to be 3 or 4 people. this made sure there wasn't half the class on one topic, and then each of the other topics only had 1 person assigned. I was a little puzzled that you didn't just throw the teams together by random. I appreciate you letting the teams self form, but I"m afraid what I've seen in the past will repeat itself and all of the 'smart' highly driven people will end up one team and a lot of people that may need more help, or be lacking one area, will be forced to be all together on one team. its kind of sad in a way. I think the rational that was given was that the people that were near each other could be on a team but was does location have to do with it?! this is the era of high speed communication. email, IM, blogs, webct, and even fax if you had to. I venture to say you could have thrown just about anyone together and if they had 21st century technology it wouldn't be a problem. oh wait. theres my stereotypical view again. now that I think about it again, I think there most defiantly are some in the class that are more tech savvy than others. it would be VERY challenging for me to be on a team with people that weren't Internet savvy, so my hat is off to you for letting us self form! thanks
Herzeberg
I have no idea what case study topic I signed up for. I must admit I just signed up for the first one to get it done. I hate procrastination. it just makes it more painful later. I say get it over with! and if I go first theres no major class standard I'm held to. I get to set the bars starting point. I like that. it eases the pressure.
MAIC
The book talks about the Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control process of six sigma in the first chapter. GE uses the DMAIC process, where D is Define. I learned in intro to engineering, one of the very first classes I took in undergrad that to find a suitable solution, you must FIRST understand the problem. so WHY in the world doesn't the authors of the book talk about the DMAIC process? is it not industry standard to first DEFINE the problem? its very strange and puzzling to me, and worth more investigation when I find time.
Teachers just work for money comment in class
In class, there was an article handed out about how there is a shortage of teachers in the local community. One person made the comment that it was 'just all about money, its always about money and the majority of the class went into a mini uproar. I can't believe people want to deny that they work for money. If you were so naive to admit to your boss that you just worked there because you liked your normal day job better than any of the hobbies you had, you'd be an idiot. I'm sure this class will bring up additional reasons why I go to work, but right now, I'm letting you know that I work for money. That is may main reason for working, is to put bread no the table. side reasons include: mental stimulation, growth (in all senses of the word), friends, atmosphere. reasons to NOT work include: being pissed off, not getting along with people, it costs money to commute to work, work takes up time that I'd rather be doing something else. hey look, I have my own little list of criteria for the Herzeberg report!
Thursday, September 01, 2005
started class
I started my MBA this week. night classes for (count them) THREE YEARS. I am in two classes right now, organizatoinal behavior, and financial accounting. the course is comprised of 30 working professionals. over half the class is engineers from my company. the rest is comprised of a few engineers from other local business's, and then some misc. entrapanuaer (sp?) type people. its a fun mix. everyones serious about getting stuff done so not alot of stupid crap.
last night the instructor for the finance class brough CANDY to class. how cool is that. one class is 6-8:45 on mondays, and the other class is 6-8:45 on wednesdays. she said she didn't want us falling asleep. both classes should be very fun, but they are a SURVEY level. not many assignements, a bit of reading, and graded MAJORLY on in class participation. i'm not going to complain but I did expect a harder level for a masters. again it just proves you just have to do it. maybe i'll be proven wrong, and it'll be harder than I forsee, but I really doubt it.
they are also doing some of the classes through a chat room type thing over the internet. so it so happens that this holiday, thanksgiving and what not all happen to fall on an 'internet' day so that makes it super cool for vacations.
i've been working my nomral 40hr week, AND staying 2 hours late on monday and wednesday to wait for class to start (its in a building across the street). its KILLING Me. I leave teh house around 6:30 am and get home around 10pm. i'm sure i'll get use to it but its crazy. i'm glad its 2 days a week and no more. if it was everyday I'd die.
last night the instructor for the finance class brough CANDY to class. how cool is that. one class is 6-8:45 on mondays, and the other class is 6-8:45 on wednesdays. she said she didn't want us falling asleep. both classes should be very fun, but they are a SURVEY level. not many assignements, a bit of reading, and graded MAJORLY on in class participation. i'm not going to complain but I did expect a harder level for a masters. again it just proves you just have to do it. maybe i'll be proven wrong, and it'll be harder than I forsee, but I really doubt it.
they are also doing some of the classes through a chat room type thing over the internet. so it so happens that this holiday, thanksgiving and what not all happen to fall on an 'internet' day so that makes it super cool for vacations.
i've been working my nomral 40hr week, AND staying 2 hours late on monday and wednesday to wait for class to start (its in a building across the street). its KILLING Me. I leave teh house around 6:30 am and get home around 10pm. i'm sure i'll get use to it but its crazy. i'm glad its 2 days a week and no more. if it was everyday I'd die.
good looking?
I'm sure most of you have heard that tall good looking men are on average more successful in their carreers than the short stubby variety. I wonder if the same is true for women? I was looking through some recent candidates for a position, and I thought to myself no, no, no. and then I meet one of them. I reconsidered on looks.
Saturday, August 20, 2005
TPS reports
it has been such a productive afternoon surfing. I found some tps reports over here
TPS memo
TPS report
I'm going to have to print them out and put them on a select few desks at work to see what happens.
TPS memo
TPS report
I'm going to have to print them out and put them on a select few desks at work to see what happens.
links
yup.. found something else worthy of the link section. the newest edition, 'logons' seems to be someone caching logons for those places you just can't seem to get into and for the ones you really arn't motivated enough to load up a script to get in. I found some random site requiring a logon and it worked! wow.. cool. that qualifies it for the link section. I was however glad to see no one had put in an account for my remote access at work. that would have been very disturbing.
chainsaw to the neck
saw this on MSN's weekend pictures. the thing that struck jen and I is DON"T LET THE SAW SLIP. it'll take your neck out!, click for larger view.
alaska motorcycle trip
on this site someone posted a prelimary route to alaska. we road part of this rout when we went up the first time. its worth having a picture of.. click to enlarge
craigslist
For all of you that arn't at the heart of the west coast, you may have never heard of craigs list, so I thought I'd tell you guys about it. it seems its really big in the bay area. we have recently been using it to shop for motorcycles, and we almost got someone to rent our rental house through it. if they don't have a listing in your area, or the one in your area isn't very active, you can still use it to search its huge collection of classifieds type posts and see what your junk is worth. its actually very time consuming and fun.
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
house update
we had the inspections (pest and structural) yesterday. everything came back pretty good except the structural guy found a missing support under the floor. someone removed it when the ductwork was installed. I'm not too concerned about it, the only snag is if this would effect teh appraised value and not allow them to do their 100% financing then were screwed. I was going to crawl under there and fix it myself last night, but I was too tired. the buyer seems to be a pretty handy guy so he may just prefer the cash (500 to go towards improvements) and I'm happy writing the check and being done with it. I'd give him 5 crisp 100's if it meant closing the deal without a hitch. Jen is siding on lets just wait and see but i'm pretty anxious to get this done. turns out they own an aluminum trailer in the north poorer) section of town, and have it payed off at 70k or something. we learned this through our realtor when she overheard them talking during the inspections. the house would be a major upgrade for them. We wern't present for the structural. and got home at the end of the pest. the pest inspector was interested in the rental, so we gave him the address and hope to hear back from his t his afternoon if he's
interested, so that was a lucky coincidence.
interested, so that was a lucky coincidence.
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
free books
it seems print.google.com was indexing books, but as of recently has stopped scanning in at attempt to address copyright info.
that won't stop me from reading ben raines in the ashes series. see for yourself here.
that won't stop me from reading ben raines in the ashes series. see for yourself here.
Monday, August 15, 2005
dragon illusion
the Dragon optical illusion is some kind of paper thing that looks odd. see how to build it here and let me know how it works!
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
waterproof paper
I love these kinds of accidents. you know, the kind where you spill some crap on your paper and discover you just made water proof paper that you can still write on. sounds like the teflon story.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Desk warez
People come by my desk and love to play with miscellaneous things that I have sitting out, so far all I have is a hacky sack I got for my birthday, a couple of broken units that we build here (those are not the favorite) and a pet wooden snake I picked up while I was on company business.
I usually keep the snake hidden as it seriuosly offends my boss, but its lots of fun to 'leave out' and see what happens.
what ideas do you guys have for cool things to have on the desk for people to play with when they come to talk to me?
I usually keep the snake hidden as it seriuosly offends my boss, but its lots of fun to 'leave out' and see what happens.
what ideas do you guys have for cool things to have on the desk for people to play with when they come to talk to me?
Monday, August 08, 2005
guess-the-google
thanks to kunae gives us guess the google picture game that pops up 20 images from a google images search and you have to guess the search word. I suck at it. the only one I got right was because the search word was part of one of the imiages, kitsch
Saturday, August 06, 2005
Monday, August 01, 2005
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