This should qualify as one of your questions, as I was asked on Monday “do you still post your reading lists?”
OK, I’ve slacked off posting my reading lists as I didn’t think it was of value, but here we go. Here the list of what I had the chance to go through this month in the ‘to read’ pile. I’ll also start posting links to the podcasts on my Zune.
Immigration Fight: Tech vs. Tech (BusinessWeek)
BusinessWeek reveals the top 200 users of H-1B visas and how the likes of Microsoft and Oracle compete with outsourcers for them. With policymakers in Washington in the midst of a contentious debate over immigration reform, a rift is developing…
H-1B Visas: Immigration and the Visa Maze photo essay (BusinessWeek)
Originally meant to help U.S. companies hire skilled workers from abroad when none were available at home, H-1B visas are increasingly being used by non-U.S. companies. By Peter Elstrom and Moira Herbst
The World’s Thinnest Notebook: Intel mobile Metro notebook (BusinessWeek)
If it catches on, Intel’s sleek laptop could be a game changer for PCs – The result, code-named Intel mobile Metro notebook, is less than 0.7 inches thick—about one-quarter of an inch thicker than Motorola’s (MOT) iconic cell phone, making it the world’
Attracting the twentysomething worker (Fortune)
You raised them, now manage them. The baby-boomers’ kids are marching into the workplace, and look out: This crop of twentysomethings really is different. Fortune’s Nadira Hira presents a field guide to Generation Y. By Nadira A. Hira, Fortune writer
An End Run Around The Set-Top Box (BusinessWeek)
CableCARDs bypass a rental box, but the old providers won’t give up without a fight – Cable companies, telephone outfits, and consumer-electronics makers are back at it, fighting over your television. At issue this time is an obscure, wafer-thin device…
A Cable Company People Don’t Hate (BusinessWeek)
How Cox is keeping customers happy and stealing business from the phone giants. There’s a ton of money to be made in phone service–about $60 billion of yearly revenue just on voice plans for U.S. consumers. And don’t cable companies know it.
Japan’s Lost Generation (BusinessWeek)
By just about any measure, Japan is back. The economy is growing at 2% a year, company profits are soaring, and land prices are rising. Unemployment, meanwhile, is down to 4% as Japan Inc. has started hiring again…
NPR: Retreating Youth Become Japan’s ‘Lost Generation’ (NPR Audio)
All Things Considered, November 24, 2006 · Many young people in Japan have become hermits — retreating into worlds that consist of little more than their rooms. And that’s difficult for families. Michele Norris talks with Michael Zielenziger…
Even Yahoo! Gets The Blues (BusinessWeek)
CEO Semel’s next turnaround task: Boost morale and keep employees from leaving. May 28, 2007
Parker on Wine: A Superlative New Generation In Provence (BusinessWeek)
A Superlative New Generation In Provence – Domaine Pierre Usseglio, a 53-acre estate in Provence‘s Châteauneuf du Pape appellation, always made good wine. But when Pierre‘s sons, Thierry and Jean-Pierre, took over the winemaking at the domaine…
Cleaning Messy Message Boards (BusinessWeek)
Companies are turning to a spate of new filtering tools to keep online conversations from devolving into either hate-filled arguments or meaningless drivel. April 6, 2007, by Catherine Holahan
Web Attack
Nastiness online can erupt and go global overnight, and “no comment” doesn’t cut it anymore. Here’s how to cope April 16, 2007
The new Silicon Valley: Siberia (Fortune)
A tech boom is giving life to a former Soviet center for science. IBM, Intel – and even Oprah – are paying attention. By Brett Forrest, Fortune March 26 2007
Online Extra: Talking with Toyota’s Top Man (BusinessWeek Interview)
Katsuaki Watanabe made his name at Toyota as a cost cutter. Now he’s steering the world’s most profitable automaker to No. 1. If it’s tough at the top, Katsuaki Watanabe isn’t showing it. Since taking over from Fujio Cho as chief executive of Toyota…
Why Toyota Is Afraid Of Being Number One (BusinessWeek)
It’s overtaking Detroit—with trepidation. Now, the carmaker is relying on ever-savvier PR to avoid the U.S. backlash it dreads. Ask consumers why Toyota may soon be the largest automaker in the world, and they will point to the Camry. Or the Prius…
Play Book: At Your Service – Customer Service Best Practices (BusinessWeek)
Creating consistently good customer experiences is one of the hardest tasks in business. Here are ideas from our winners. BusinessWeek March 5, 2007
Customer Service Champs (BusinessWeek)
BW’s first-ever ranking of 25 client-pleasing brands included JetBlue, until it got stuck on the runway March 5, 2007
Where Is Microsoft Search? (BusinessWeek)
Its stumbles on the Web could open the door for rivals to come after its core business. Time has always seemed to be Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT ) ally. In the company lore, the software giant takes three cracks at a market before establishing supremacy.
The Mind-Bending New World Of Work (BusinessWeek)
APRIL 2, 2007 – Motion-capture technology has burst out of Hollywood and into businesses from aerospace to advertising. By Aili McConnon Online Extra: James Cameron on the Cutting Edge Online Extra: Video: Screens That Track Eyeballs…Literally Online
Invention Deficit Disorder (BusinessWeek Book Review)
THE WIZARD OF MENLO PARK: How Thomas Alva Edison Invented the Modern World, By Randall Stross, Crown; 376pp; $24.95 The Good A perceptive account of the inventors’ life–and surprisingly limited achievements. The Bad…
Virgin America lands approval to fly U.S. routes (MarketWatch)
Nearly five months of regulatory wrangling and steep concessions finally have paid off for Virgin America. The fledgling airline, an offshoot of billionaire Richard Branson’s London-based Virgin Atlantic Airways, announced…
Free laptops open new doors for pupils in Uruguay hamlet (Seattle Times)
The machines are the first in South America from the much-publicized “One Laptop Per Child” project, which hopes to put low-cost portable PCs in the hands of children in developing countries.
Do Us A Favor, Take A Vacation (BusinessWeek)
Futurists in the 1970s predicted that by now technology would have so shrunk our workloads that we’d all be paddling about in a leisure-and-vacation playland. May 21, 2007
Can Microsoft and Cisco Still Be Pals? (BusinessWeek)
Cisco and Microsoft have a similar view of the future: They agree that networked software will help users pull down information with the device of their choosing and let them share it in ever more useful ways.
J.D. Power: Satisfaction With the Wireless Retail Sales Experience Declines Considerably When Customers Are Not Greeted Within 30 Seconds of Entering (MSN Money)
While the average wait time before customers are greeted after they first enter a wireless retail store is approximately five minutes, overall satisfaction declines considerably if the wait time exceeds 30 seconds, according to the J.D. Power and Associates…
Sony: Remade in the USA (BusinessWeek)
Sony’s comeback may ride on its Yankee know-how. Once little more than a sales and marketing arm, the U.S. consumer electronics unit has become key to Sony’s worldwide turnaround efforts.
Omniture: A Radar Screen For E-biz (BusinessWeek)
Little Omniture’s software is helping biggies like Toyota and Microsoft track Web performance, but rivals are hot on its heels. Its desktop readouts are like the instrument panel on a jet plane.
Teaching The Body To Fix Itself (BusinessWeek)
Cancer vaccines still in trial stages may be able to prolong life with few side effects, but the FDA has yet to be convinced. BusinessWeek, April 30 2007
Wal-Mart’s Midlife Crisis (BusinessWeek)
Declining growth, increasing competition, and not an easy fix in sight. April 30, 2007 By Anthony Bianco
Cautious Consumers (BusinessWeek)
The Chinese are on a spending spree, right? Not really. In fact, they’re so tightfisted, Beijing is worried
Jaman: At Last, An Online Art House (BusinessWeek)
Jaman has an eclectic catalog of easy-to-download movies. According to the “long tail” theory of the Web, e-merchants can make a bundle selling low-volume products to niche markets because they don’t bear the cost of maintaining retail floor space…
The 50 Most Innovative Companies (BusinessWeek)
BusinessWeek teamed with the Boston Consulting Group to find out which companies are the most innovative in the eyes of senior executives. BusinessWeek, May 7, 2007
Xerox’ New Design Team: Customers (BusinessWeek)
Its dual-engine printer was a close collaboration with users from idea to sketches to final testing. Its dual-engine printer was a close collaboration with users from idea to sketches to final testing.
Zune’s Secret Shutdown Extends Battery Life
Instead of holding the pause/play button down till the screen goes dim, try holding down the down button on the directional pad along with the Back button at the same time.
Site link: yoName, to search for people accross social network sites
From th esite description: “yoName turns your computer into a private detective. Look for anyone you want. You can even look them up by a username or an email address! If they’re on any of the big-time networks like MySpace or Facebook…
HandBrake (All platforms) – Lifehacker
HandBrake can turn DVDs into iPod-friendly MPEG-4 or H.264 video files. It includes iPod, Apple TV and even Sony PS3 presets, but you can also customize various audio and video settings to your liking.
HDTV Guide: The short and sweet version – Lifehacker
Then we realized: There are a million HDTV guides out there, but very few that make the purchasing process any easier. You probably don’t care about every last detail of HDTV technology—you just want to know what to buy. So here you go. The HDTV Primer
Livin’ la Vida Google: A Month-Long Dive Into Web-Based Apps (Wired)
Are Google Apps ready for prime time? For the last month, I’ve been working exclusively in the browser, replacing all my desktop apps with Google’s web-based alternatives — Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs & Spreadsheets and so on.
Webapps not ready to replace desktop software – yet (Lifehacker)
Wired writer Michael Calore ditched desktop applications for an entire month and lived solely on webapps. Everything went swimmingly at first, when he realized the wonders of Gmail, but then things started to get difficult…
Still Can’t Beat A Post-It Note: HP TouchSmart IQ770 Review (BusinessWeek)
Review: HP’s sleek new PC makes a clunky home message center. By Stephen H. Wildstrom. “Every “home of the future” I have ever visited—and I’ve been in a lot of them—features a family messaging center designed to replace paper calendars, notes…
The 21st Century Meeting (BusinessWeek)
THE FUTURE OF TECH: Beam them up, Scotty: The latest gear may finally deliver on the promise of videoconferencing. (Online Extra: Slide Show: Business Travel Is Obsolete) FEBRUARY 26, 2007
Flat Panels, Thin Margins (BusinessWeek)
Rugged competition from smaller brands has made the TV sets cheaper than ever. FEBRUARY 26, 2007
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