Disney lawsuit could ripple through Corporate America

Disney lawsuit could ripple through Corporate America
One should always remember that nothing in the world can strictly be called "mine". What comes to a person comes to him because of a combination of causes and conditions; it can be kept by him only temporarily and, therefore, he must not use it selfishly or for unworthy purposes.
The best way for a ruler to reign over his country is first of all to rule himself.If an important minister of state neglects his duties, works for his own profit or accepts bribes, it will cause a rapid decay of public morals. People will cheat one another, a strong man will attack a weaker one, a noble will mistreat a commoner or a wealthy man will take advantage of the poor, and there will be no justice for anyone; mischief will abound and troubles will multiply.
Under such circumstances, faithful ministers will retire from public service, wise men will keep silent from fear of complications, and only flatterers will hold government positions, and they will use their political power to enrich themselves with no thought for the suffering of the people.
Under such conditions the power of the government becomes ineffective and its righteous policies fall into ruins.
Such unjust officials are the thieves of people's happiness, yet are worse than thieves because they defraud both ruler and people and are the cause of the nation's troubles. The king should root out such ministers and punish them.

The Teaching of Buddha

Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai press, Tokyo

Blogging for Business

I know, I know, i'm being graded on these postings. And we are supposed to comment on the importance of this corporate blogging phenomenon. However, this article upset me on so many levels, I just had to say it.
SO WHAT?
There are a million and one blogs out there. Behind many of these blogs are individuals or small groups of people who are passionate about what they are doing, and who are using the blog to connect to other people who are passionate about the same stuff.
well, maybe connect is too big a word. I mean, sure, sometime they try to connect. but sometimes it's just a way to say what you have to say uninterrupted.
ain't that the corporate big-boss' dream? you're big. and you're powerful. and those pesky media types insist on editing you, as if not realizing the demi god status you have achieved.
i'm just being unfair here. there are many great and deep thinkers who have made it to the top of the corporate world, and we should all be so lucky to get a chance to read an unedited version of their writings (without having to buy a book). but still, there are many great and deep thinkers out there and many of them have blogs.
popularity wise, the fact that these blogs might prove popular does not neccessarily indicate their quality. i can think of several kinds of stuff to put on my blog that would make it popular, as well as extremely googleable.
another faulty reasoning is in the Jeff Pulver story. He advocated a point of view. The FCC decided not to regulate something. hence - he affected change. that is so less than scientific proof. it's a logical fallacy. and the booster to this piece is the fact that he managed to recruit a 100 people to test an application in 24 hours through his blog? what does it have to do with it?
what does it say about the corporate world? I don't know. I have to admit it's interesting to hear the thoughts of some of those people. but the stuff about rank and file employees being free to write whatever they want on company blogs, as long as it's not confidential? c'mon, give me a break. maybe it says something about the reporter who quoted that? or was she counting on the intelligence of the reader to make us smile?
i mean, i might find myself reading some of these guys blogs, especially if i was looking into their companies, either for research or for job hunting (if it's for any other reason, who has the time...), but whenever i turn on my laptop, i would be sure to check out this management guru's site first.

Taken today (digital) at the westgate playground.
Probably belongs to this family.

Some campus wildlife. Taken with film camera (on my balcony), no cropping or editing. 

O'Brien to replace Leno

O'Brien is to take over the helm of the Tonight Show from Jay Leno, in 2009! Welcome all you new MIT freshmen with your 2008 t-shirts. By the time you graduate, Leno would still be hosting the show. Feel better now?anyway, here are a couple of links to this story.

here

or here

The articles were supposedly written by different people. If news was academia, they would be expelled. Both stories are the same story, verbatim (at least significant parts of them). Wonder how that goes.We can look at TV networks as trying to have competitive advantages over each other, with assets (or resources) being people like O'Brien and Leno. Trying to keep those assets means paying them lots of money, as well as binding them contractually for long periods of time. In this case however, they are trying to keep their asset with a promise (backed by the huge penalty for breaking this promise which is in the contract) of something this asset really really wants. As this asset is valuable, rare and hard to imitate, it would provide the network with sustained competitive advantage (maybe). So far, that's pretty Barney. However, looking at it in a Porter way, O'Brien may be a costumer for the network, as well as a supplier of services (is it a two way relationship, depending on how you look at it?). There is threat of substitution, meaning he can go for what he needs (airtime, salary, ego boosting, perks and whatnot) somewhere else, with a switching cost that might be paid by his new employer. After all, he might be worth it. If the switching costs are low, try to raise them! Which they did. Now he'd be losing the Tonight Show. Cool. On a different note, publishing these plans reduces the chance of O'Brien being approached by another network. In a more general sense, keeping secrets costs you money and puts you at risk of these secrets being exposed when the timing is not right for you. It is very wise not to keep secrets unless you have to. That's true on any level, but is the subject of a different discussion altogether