have a fun weekend :-)

I watched this cheese commercial a few months ago and my roommate just showed it again to me today. Hope you like it. Have a fun weekend! :-)

crowdsourcing

I came across this article today and what a coincidence! I just ordered a T-shirt from Threadless a few days ago for my friend's birthday. I have made several purchases from the website and really like how it works. I, however, never knew that part of Threadless's success is from what called crowdsourcing.

Here is a video I found on Youtube about crowdsourcing.

It can be seen that crowdsourcing has created a competitive advantage for such companies as Threadless. It has helped them to generate ideas from customers. It's a great way to get customers involve in designing future products- ones that the customers are going to buy. Besides, companies will also have a better understanding of their customers through this participating process. How do you think of crowdsourcing?

have a relaxing weekend :-)

Oh languages! I wish I could speak all languages in the world (or maybe just a few major ones) so that I can talk to everyone I meet. I thought it was cool that one can speak more than two languages. I started learning English when I was in elementary school. It was a required course though. I tried to learn Japanese when I was in middle school, then some French in high school. The French class was required but the Japanese was not. I then got interested in Dutch when I was in Belgium for my study abroad, so... I took a Dutch course. Well, this is not the end. I started Czech last year (self-learning). I thought I was cool. I am not! I don't think I can now handle a minimal conversation in Japanese, French, Dutch or Czech. All I know now is just saying "hi" or "how are you" or "thank you". And that's it! I have set a goal for this year: (not another language but) basic Czech. I'm now brushing up some words that I learned last year. Here are some of the very basic (maybe the only Czech phrases that I can still recall) in case you ever encounter a Czech business partner. I still think that it's cool that one can speak more than two languages :-) Also, don't you think that it would give you some little bonus points if you can speak (although very little) to your clients in their mother languages? Here you are:

Dobry den: hi/good day!
Dekuju: thanks!
Na shledanou: goodbye
Prominte: Execuse me!

Prosím: Please
Ano: yes
Ne: no

And this is the link to how to say hello to the world. Enjoy! :-)
By the way, what languages are you interested in learning?

model simple, think complicated

Model simple, think complicated- Michael Pidd

I was reading Chapter two from the Management Science textbook and the part where they discuss the simplicity of modeling really got my attention. I find it hard to be simple sometimes. I was working on a homework problem and found myself struggling in sketching the influence chart. I added some elements, removing them, bringing them back, adding new ones, and then repeating the whole cycle. It was so hard for me to forgo some factors for fear of inadequacy. Are you having the same problem?