Sheryl Sandberg talks about scalability

Heres the link to the podcast: http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2214 . The talk was given at Stanford University.

I made these notes while listening. Sharing these in case it is helpful for someone else as well..

• Have Impact -> Do something which can scale. Vision that scales…integral part of great leadership
• Focus on the economics of distribution and the kind of scale thats possible . Eg. Old print media had a significant cost of distribution whereas  distribution for blogs is free. Figuring out how to distribute it is as important.
• Leveraging the scale of online user base: Facebook translated in other languages. Turbotax service experience –> a community of users answering questions. Leveraging the social network scale thats available. Opportunity where transformation lies. Scale you can accomplish online is incredible.
• Scaling yourself. How do you leverage your network. Go prepared with your set of questions (more specific, the better) when looking for a mentoring relationship. Go with problem/issue/idea.. Use ppls times wisely.
•  Keep these separate:People who can hire you and ppl who can help you figure out what you should do. You should be really focussed in front of recruiters.
•  Authentic communication: use “I believe” … ” for this reason”
• Being a player: Take responsibility for your actions.

 

Recession for beginners..

Came across a radio program, The Giant Pool of Money that does a fantastic job of explaining the housing and mortgage crisis. Its a ‘must-hear’ if you are looking to get a view of the current economic situation.

 

Rock Climbers Thrill

Chris Sharma is one of the best known rock climbers in the world. In this video, he talks about some about his motivations, the “inner beauty” inherent in rock climbing etc.

 

Captain Gopinath contesting polls from South Bangalore

Captain Gopinath, of Air Deccan fame, is contesting the 2009 Lok Sabha polls from the South Bangalore constituency. He is contesting as an independent candidate. His online campaign can be found at http://votecaptaingopi.com/

I think this is a really positive development for Bangalore, and wish he is successful in these polls.

 

Adding LinkedIn Button To WordPress

A step-by-step guide to adding a LinkedIn button to your wordpress blog:

1) On the LinkedIn home, click on “Edit My Profile”

2) Click on the “Edit Public Profile Settings” tab on the right

3) Click on the “Promote your profile with customized buttons”. The three links are shown below.

4) Choose the button you like and copy the associated code

5) In your wordpress blog’s Dashboard, go to Appearances->Widgets

6) Select the Text widget and add the code copied in step 4 to this box and Save Changes.

You are all set now. A box promoting your LinkedIn account should appear on the blog.

 

World on fire

Came across this interesting video by Grammy award winning Sarah McLachlan. It shows how 150,000$ can be used to enrich lives.

http://www.worldonfire.ca/

 

LIFE photo archive on Google

One of the most magnificent photo archives of the past century is now available on Google. The LIFE photo archive contains images stretching from the 1750s to today. Most of the photos in this archive were never published and are now available for the first time. Below is a picture of the earth taken from Apollo 10 space ship.

 

Bus tracking, Bangalore

You can call the BMTC control room at: 2295 2522 / 2295 2422
They can give you the Starting point attendant’s mobile number who will provide you the exact position of the bus.

There is another interesting service to track the BMTC Volvo buses in Bangalore.

Supposing you are in Koramangala, and wish to go to Electronics City. The VOLVO bus route no V356C, connecting Kempe Gowda Bus Station and Electronic City (refer ‘route info’ above), touches Koramangala at Big Bazaar, St John’s hospital, Water tank Jn, Kripanidhi College, Madivala PS.

To know the current location of the buses along the route, send an SMS message to 99456 34666 reading ‘Yi V356C U’, where

	· Yi stands for ‘Yelli Iddira?’,
	· ‘V356c’ is the route number,
	· ‘U’ stands for ‘up’ (buses heading out of the ’starting station’ are
	designated to as ‘up’, and buses heading towards the ’starting
	station’ are designated as ‘down’).

And, within a minute, you will receive a reply stating, for example, “Singasandra; Bangalore Dairy; Maharani’s College”, meaning there are three buses on this route currently, each of them approaching the stops listed, after having left the previous stops. The bus approaching Singasandra is of no use to you now, and, depending on the time at your disposal, you may choose to catch either of the other two buses reaching up to one of the stops in / near Koramangala.

 

Life tips from Michael Jordan

Michael Jordan has been a long time hero to me. Some interesting quotes from him:

• “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
• “I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come. I don’t do things half-heartedly. Because I know if I do, then I can expect half-hearted results.”
• “If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.
• “Even when I’m old and grey, I won’t be able to play it, but I’ll still love the game.”
• “If you’re trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I’ve had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”
• “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.”

 

Gotham is Springfield!!

A friend, Manik, came up with an interesting hypothesis. And I agree, it appears that Batman does have a Simpson connection.  A striking resemblance indeed!