The Apple Newton

The Newton was Apple’s entry into the personal organiser market, launched in 199?. It was an amazingly innovative machine at the time, having no keyboard at all but a touch-sensitive screen with handwriting recognition. It also introduces the idea of having a handheld computer as an accessory to a desktop machine, with data being transferred between the two.

 

 

Here is the link to the original website. Old Organisers

Learning how to ask for help — and how to do it right — is critical to doing your job well and setting yourself up for success.

You may be afraid of looking dumb, but to be afraid to ask for help and get the help you need is inexcusable, especially when the stakes are high. Asking for help in the workplace is a good thing. In fact, asking for help the right way can show how smart you are: it demonstrates that you’ve got good judgment and shows that you know what you know and what you don’t know. Moreover, getting help up front saves endless time, energy and resources on the back end; in the Madoff case, it could have saved billions of dollars and immeasurable heartache.

Of course, it’s not just asking for help — it’s asking the right way. Think about the following strategy to get the best answer — and show how smart you are — the next time you ask for help:

1. Start your question with what you know. Do your homework first. Get enough background information to put your issue or problem in context. Give the other person an idea of what you’ve completed to date or what you know already and then proceed to explain what’s outstanding, where or how you’re struggling, or what you need help with.
   
2. Then, state the direction you want to take and ask for feedback, thoughts or clarification. Form an opinion on what you think the answer should be. Don’t just ask, "How should I reach out to the brokers?" Instead propose a course of action and get your boss’s feedback: "I’m thinking of sending out a mass email to the brokers but I’m not sure if that’s the most effective format…what do you think of that approach?"
   
3. If you don’t know the direction to take, ask for tangible guidance. Instead of asking "What should I do?" ask specifically for the tools you’ll need to make that decision yourself, such as a recent example of a similar analysis or a template for a given task. Or, ask for a referral to someone who has worked on a similar initiative or project in the past.

In the vast majority of cases, you’ll get a lot further in your career by asking the tough, smart questions.

Stay resourceful!

CB::I could’nt help but reproduce the ENTIRE article as is… amazing piece of advice(would make you think that this is common sense) however truly

(You can read Guy’s blog by clicking here)

On the heels of the 2007 SSPA Services Leadership Conference, Guy Kawasaki—noted author, columnist, Apple Fellow, and Managing Director for Garage Technology Ventures—offers his “Theory of Schmoozing Version 2.0” to the SSPA community. This article provides essential insights to expand your network, make sales, build partnerships, and create joint ventures—all stemming from your interactions at in-person events.

“It’s not what you know or who you know, but who knows you.” Susan RoAne.

The Guy Kawasaki Theory of Schmoozing version 1.0 was ad hoc: get to know the people that you need for a specific deal. It was short-term and focused. Version 2.0 is ad infinitum–maybe even ad nauseam. It’s taken me twenty years, but I’ve figured out that it’s much easier to make a sale, build partnerships, create joint ventures–you name it–with people that you already know than with people you just met.

The key is to establish a relationship before you need it. And this is why I’d like to provide the “art of schmoozing”.

1. Understand the goal. Darcy Rezac in his book, The Frog and the Prince, wrote the world’s best definition of schmoozing: “Discovering what you can do for someone else.” Herein lies eighty percent of the battle: great schmoozers want to know what they can do for you, not what you can do for them. If you understand this, the rest is just mechanics.
2. Get out. Schmoozing is an analog, contact sport. You can’t do it alone from your office on the phone or via a computer. You may hate them but force yourself to go to tradeshows, conventions, and seminars. It’s unlikely that you’ll be closing a big order with someone you met online at MySpace or via Skype. Get out there and press flesh.
3. Ask good questions, then shut up. The mark of a good conversationalist is not that you can talk a lot. The mark is that you can get others to talk a lot. Thus, good schmoozers are good listeners, not good talkers. Ask softball questions like, “What do you do?” “Where are you from?” “What brings you to this event?” Then listen. Ironically, you’ll be remembered as an interesting person.
4. Unveil your passions. Only talking about business is boring. Good schmoozers unveil their passions after they get to know you. Great schmoozers lead off with their passions. Your passions make you an interesting person–you’ll stick out because you’re the only person not talking about 802.11 chipsets at the wireless conference. Personally, my passions are children, Macintosh, Breitling watches, digital photography, and hockey if you ever meet me.
5. Read voraciously. In order to be a good schmoozer, you need to read voraciously–and not just the EE Times, PC Magazine, and the Wall Street Journal. You need a broad base of knowledge so that you can access a vast array of information during conversations. Even if you are a pathetic passionless person, you can at least be a well-read one who can talk about a variety of topics.
6. Follow up. Over the course of my career, I’ve given away thousands of business cards. At one point, I thought I was nuts because if all those people called or emailed me, I’d never get anything done. Funny thing: hardly anyone ever follows up. Frankly, I don’t know why people bother asking for a business card if they’re not going to follow up. Great schmoozers follow up within twenty-four hours–just a short email will do: “Nice to meet you. I hope we can do something together. Hope your blog is doing well. I loved your Breitling watch. I have two tickets to the Stanley Cup Finals if you want to attend.” Include at least one thing to show the recipient that she isn’t getting a canned email.
7. Make it easy to get in touch. Many people who want to be great schmoozers, ironically, don’t make it easy to get in touch with them. They don’t carry business cards, or their business cards don’t have phone numbers and email addresses. Even if they provide this information, it’s in grey six-point type. This is great if you’re schmoozing teenagers, but if you want old, rich, famous, and powerful people to call or email, you’d better use a twelve-point font. (These are the same folks that need the thirty-point font vis-a-vis the 10/20/30 Rule of PowerPoint.)
8. Give favors. One of my great pleasures in life is helping other people; I believe there’s a big Karmic scoreboard in the sky. God is keeping track of the good that you do, and She is particularly pleased when you give favors without the expectation of return from the recipient. The scoreboard always pays back. You can also guess that I strongly believe in returning favors for people who have helped you.
9. Ask for the return of favors. Good schmoozers give favors. Good schmoozers also return favors. However, great schmoozers ask for the return of favors. You may find this puzzling: Isn’t it better to keep someone indebted to you? The answer is no, and this is because keeping someone indebted to you puts undue pressure on your relationship. Any decent person feels guilty and indebted. By asking for, and receiving, a return favor, you clear the decks, relieve the pressure, and set up for a whole new round of give and take. After a few rounds of give and take, you’re best friends, and you have mastered the art of schmoozing.

Interesting article about how to ask questions to your audience.

Asking questions

As Technical minds, people get instant gratification of their ability to apply their capabilities in resolving problems – and they get this frequently. Promotion to being a manager changes the whole gamut of the level of “satisfaction” that is derived. It takes longer, harder and success is not even guaranteed –

However, that’s exactly the challenge some people prefer – playing in an unknown area, with unknown people and trying to get them to deliver results that you think are the significant ones – Management is Fun !

An old Cherokee chief is teaching his grandson about life:
“A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight between two wolves.
“One is evil—he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego.
“The other is good—he is joy, peace, love, hope serenity, humility kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.
“This is the same fight that is going on inside you—and inside every person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old chief simply replied, “The one you feed.”

I did some searching to see if the upgrade was worth the pain – The processor was definitely better than what I was using (Lenovo R60) – Passmark helped me make that determination.

If you are planning to buy a new laptop / desktop and want to compare the best deals with the best performance – then this is THE site to go..

Intel Core2 Duo L9400 @ 1.86GHz
1222
311

PassMark Software – CPU Benchmarks – List of Benchmarked CPUs

Extract from http://www.teachingexpertise.com

How do you spot a potential leader?
In Rush to the Top, the writers of the Hay Group publication list these indicators of someone with leadership potential:

• Confidence and credibility.
• The ability to see the big picture, to make connections and think of the whole organisation.
• Mastering the basics of their role quickly and looking for more.
• Getting involved (doesn’t look the other way).
• Initiative and self motivation (the sort of people you can’t stop from leading).
• Intellectual curiosity and capacity (sees the common threads).
• Resilience and empathy (to survive the pace of acceleration and learn from others).