Tuesday, October 26, 2010

I can't find my phone

You can't find your phone and nobody is around. What should you do? Well, if you have access to the internet then this cool little website might be helpful! :-)

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

wiki vs blog

How are you doing today? I felt like it was still summer yesterday when the temp reached high of at least 80 degree (I think). Mr. Weather, however, suddenly blows out some chilly air today. What a moody guy!
Anyway, I was looking at some materials for the upcoming Data modeling test and came across these little videos about wiki and blog. Hope these are helpful!
Have a beautiful day! :-)

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Paperback Business Best Sellers


What are you reading right now?

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell topped the New York Times September's paperback business best sellers list.

The full list can be viewed here .

Happy reading! :-)

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

A bright spot in the economy


The travel industry is recovering from its slump much faster than the rest of the economy. According to the WSJ, while the economy as a whole only saw an increase of 1.6%, spending on airplane travel, hotel rooms and car rental grew 3% at an inflation adjusted annual rate in the second quarter. Hotel occupancy rose 5%; spending on air transportation rose 3.9% for same period. The recovery is also felt in other sectors such as resorts and national parts. The number of visitors to Acadia rose 13% compared to last year. It is worth noticing that employment in travel and tourism rose 2.2% in the second quarter, making the first increase after eight straight periods of decline. A full article can be found here.

Have a relaxing fall break! :-)

Thursday, September 30, 2010

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! :-)

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

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?

Friday, September 17, 2010

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?