Management and Strategy

I guess this is good news. You cannot limit patents too machinery or physical transformation…

The Supreme Court on Monday loosened the limits on the kinds of inventions that are eligible for patent protection in a case that was closely watched for its impacts on innovation.

Supreme Court relaxes limits on innovations that can be patented

Author: Michael Lewis

I had heard about this book a while back but after last years Wall Street Crash it was right time to read it. It took me a while to read it. It is not a very easy read. But I am glad I read it though.

Michael Lewis has shard story of Soloman Brothers and their collapse. Lewis illustrates how economic decisions made at the national level changed securities markets and made bonds the most lucrative game on the Street. His description of the firm’s personalities and of the events from 1984 through the crash of October 1987 are vivid and memorable.

It is a very good book to learn how Wall Street actually runs, what goes in mind of people at Wall Street. How investment backs make money etc…

It is fascinating to see how history repeats itself. You will read this book and think as if it was written after last years crash. This book is from 80’s.

It is a great read for anyone who wants to learn how mortgage securities market took off and how credit swaps came in play. Great book.

Author: Chip & Dan Heath

This is an awesome book. I was looking for book on storytelling this is an ideal book on that.

Made to Stick focuses on telling your story/message in a way that it sticks with the audience. Author focuses on very common themes like Simplicity, Unexpectedness, Concreteness, Credibility, Emotions, Stories to make the stories stick.

Book also has some good punch line which are good. The one I liked and remembered was “Avoid burying the lead. Don’t start with something interesting but irrelevant in hopes of entertaining the audience. Instead, work to make the core message itself more interesting.”

Other Good quotes:

• "And that’s the great thing about the world of ideas — any of us, with the right insight and the right message, can make an idea stick."
• "Becoming an expert in something means that we become more and more fascinated by nuance and complexity."
• "Abstraction is the luxury of the expert. If you’ve got to teach an idea to a room full of people, and you aren’t certain what they know, concreteness is the only safe language."

It is really great book to read. I will try to take authors class if I get a chance it is that good. Enjoy.

Another amazing video. This one is on Elevator Pitch.  

I was looking for something completely different and found this. It is awesome.

I own a Kindle and I love it. But never thought about environmental impact.   Good article that highlights environmental impact of e-paper technology.

Photo via Christian Steen

Tech On reports that the e-paper market is set to grow at an astounding rate, from US$70 million in 2008 to US$2.1 billion in 2015 and US$7 billion by 2020. And about 50% of that market will be thanks to e-books and the push for e-readers. However, we also just noted that consumer gadgets are taking up a whole lot of energy, offsetting efficiency efforts. That means it’s time to start asking some sustainability questions.

Digital e-books are a great way to lower the impact of reading, same as digital music cutting down the consumption of materials like CDs, CD cases and so on. e-Readers allow for not only thousands of books to be held on one energy efficient device, but also documents, which helps cut down on the need for printing in business settings. There are a lot of pros to e-paper technology and the efficiency gains it gives to consumer electronics that utilize it.

Soaring e-Paper Market Means It’s Time to be Careful : TreeHugger

Amazing Visualization of Swine flu cases. Makes it real…

Tracking Swine Flu Cases Worldwide

Health officials continue to report mild cases of swine flu throughout the United States and worldwide. Among the hundreds of confirmed infections, 53 people have died, including 48 in Mexico, three in the United States, one in Canada and one in Costa Rica.

New cases are no longer being reported here.

• Changes to the map: Confirmed cases will be based on figures reported by the C.D.C., W.H.O. and the Public Health Agency of Canada, not individual states. Suspected cases will no longer be tracked, as officials report them irregularly.
• The W.H.O. and the C.D.C. have reported a total of 4,780 cases in 30 countries, including 2,618 in the United States.
• Officials in mainland China reported their first swine flu case, a man who had recently flown there from the United States.

Swine Flu Cases Map – Interactive Graphic – NYTimes.com

There are very few books or videos that really change your life. Last lecture is one that will really change your life. It is all about achieving your childhood dreams.  Randy is no more with us but he has left a legacy. Dream and Dream big and then work hard to achieve them. I had seen the lecture first and then I read this book. Book provides background on the lecture and Randy’s life. Was a great read. Actually some portions of book are really emotional. Great read I will highly recommend watching the lecture and reading the book.

[rating:5]

Microsoft moved from 5 to 4. Apple and Google are still 1 & 2.

With the sudden reversal of the global economy, businesses are struggling not only with shrinking income and budgets, but also with seismic shifts that are upending entire industries, from autos and retail to banking and entertainment. These same forces are apparent in our latest ranking of the Most Innovative Companies. While the 2009 list includes some stalwarts in their usual top positions—namely Apple and Google—15 newcomers have joined the lineup, the biggest change since BusinessWeek and Boston Consulting Group first partnered on this proprietary survey in 2005. These include more companies headquartered outside the U.S. than in the past, such as Volkswagen, Infosys, and Telefónica

The 50 Most Innovative Companies

Recently started reading blog on compete.com really good stuff. I found this post very interesting. I think this is because Apple has not launched a new version of IPhone and Blackberry had launched new products hence there is more traffic on that site. But who know… :) 

The chart below shows traffic to U.S. phone-specific portions* of each manufacturer’s website between July 2008 and February 2009.

Changing of the Guard? Blackberry Passes iPhone Online