Ctrl-Alt-Del Design, Gates –>Blames IBM – vía @mashable

Bill Gates said that a convoluted login screen was a big design flaw for Windows, but he’s not taking credit for it.

The Microsoft co-founder revealed in a speech at a Harvard University fundraiser that forcing users to use the control-alt-delete key combination to log into their PCs was a mistake — one made by IBM, the designers of the reboot combination. Gates went on to explain that the multiple-key command — often called the three-finger salute — was created by David Bradley, an engineer who worked on the original IBM design.

Fun Video: William H. Gates III COL ’77, LLD ’07 Q&A The Harvard Campaign Launch Continuar leyendo «Ctrl-Alt-Del Design, Gates –>Blames IBM – vía @mashable»

Desafíos en formación ejecutiva: «El pasado dorado de los MBA no garantiza su futuro»

Los MBA han cumplido más de 100 años

campus.iprofesional.com
Via http://www.arriverrhh.com.arMás de un centenar de decanos y profesores de escuelas de negocios de América latina, representantes empresariales y agencias de acreditación internacionales se reunieron estos días en Harvard para analizar un estudio realizado por el Programa Académico Internacional (IAP) y la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

Éste se basó en una encuesta realizada en 27 países latinoamericanos, y participaron un centenar de decanos de escuelas de negocios y más de 120 dirigentes empresariales, coordinados por el HBS Latin America Research Center.

Supone el desarrollo de la iniciativa «Rethinking the MBA» (Repensar el MBA) puesta en marcha hace unos años por el profesor Srikant Datar de la Harvard Business School.

A 100 años de la creación de las maestrías en administración de negocios, la academia se cuestiona si las escuelas pueden seguir en la dirección de siempre mientras el mundo cambia a su alrededor. Desde la Universidad de Madrid, en asociación con Harvard, invitan a repensar este consagrado programa.

En ese marco, corresponde plantearse, cuando los MBA han cumplido más de 100 años ¿las escuelas de negocios pueden seguir en la dirección de siempre mientras el mundo cambia a su alrededor?

En esta época nacen y se transforman las formas de aprender y de enseñar. Cambian los modos de comunicarse, las sociedades, las tecnologías, las dimensiones de los negocios y los propios conceptos de lo que es negocio. Son distintos los directivos, las empresas y sus necesidades; son diferentes los profesores y los estudiantes.Artículo Completo

How To Get Paid What You’re Worth & Other Negotiation Tips

by Sean Blanda | 99U.com

Ilustration: Oscar Ramos Orozco

For most us, the thought of bargaining over money is an awkward and painful affair, something we try to get over with as quickly as possible like a root canal or watching a slideshow of our in-laws’ vacation.

But if we skip a few minutes of haggling, we can leave some serious cash on the table and, more importantly, short-change our true value as creatives. One study found that negotiating a raise of $5,000 for your first salary can result in more than $600,000 in additional lifetime earnings.A Cautionary Tale

In 1912, Teddy Roosevelt’s campaign printed three million pamphlets with his picture featured prominently. It was only after the pamphlets were printed that his staff noticed a small line of text that read «Moffett Studios – Chicago» under the picture. The campaign did not own the rights to the photo and licensing a photo for reprinting usually cost $1 per reprint.

A campaign manager was tasked with calling the photo studio and negotiating a fair rate for the use of the image. Shrewdly, the campaign manager contacted the studio and simply asked how much it would cost use the picture, never revealing that the campaign had already printed millions of fliers using the photo. Without further inquiry, the studio quoted a price of $250, which the campaign promptly accepted.

Had Moffett Studios been savvy negotiators they would have taken the time to gather all of the information before offering $250 and proposed a much higher rate instead.

How To Become A Better Negotiator

While the Moffetts of the world might appear a little naive, oversights of this sort are extremely common: we often fail to consider the full impact of a deal in the long run.

To make sure you get a better deal, here are a few tips on mastering the dark art of negotiation:

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1. Separate the person from their position. This is one of the primary points of the popular negotiation book Getting to Yes. When we argue over positions, our egos are attached to what we are proposing. Instead, focus on the other party’s underlying interests. Find where interests overlap and work to develop solutions with the other party as a partner not as a combatant. An example from the book…. Continuar leyendo «How To Get Paid What You’re Worth & Other Negotiation Tips»

What is an Elevator Pitch? Is Your Elevator Pitch Ready?

freelanceswitch.com
Debbie Swanson | Freelance Marketing

When was the last time you’d heard that phrase? I hadn’t heard it in years, until a recent assignment for a magazine article led me to sit in on a local networking meeting. As I took my seat, the woman I was sitting next to drew me aside.
“After the general business, each person can stand up and give a 60 second elevator pitch,” she whispered.
I hoped my confident smile hid my panic. The last time I’d even thought about an elevator pitch was back in college. As I listened to the other members, I felt some relief. Some speeches were smart and polished, like the business designer who opened with “Is your brand in black and white? I can provide the color..” but others were completely informal “I’m laid off, I’ve been cleaning out the attic…”

By the time it was my turn I had worked out something better than the attic cleaner’s speech but not as good as the polished designer’s. Happy to have gotten past that, I was left with a nagging sense of unfinished business. I realized that when friends or acquaintances ask me what I do for a living, I don’t take the opportunity to boost my business. I decided to take my ‘elevator pitch’ more seriously.

What is an Elevator Pitch? Continuar leyendo «What is an Elevator Pitch? Is Your Elevator Pitch Ready?»

Scientists Convert a 53,000-Word Book Into DNA

digital-dna-600 by Peter Pachal | Mashable.com

In a scientific first, Harvard University researches successfully transformed a 53,426-word book into DNA, the same substance that provides the genetic template for all living things. The achievement could eventually lead to the mass adoption of DNA as a long-term storage medium.

Published Thursday in the journal Science, the experiment aimed to demonstrate the viability of storing large amounts of data on DNA molecules. Since the data is recorded on individual nucleobase pairs in the DNA strand (those adenine-guanine/cytosine-thymine pairs you may be straining to remember from high school biology), DNA can actually store more information per cubic millimeter than flash memory or even some experimental storage techs, IEEE Spectrum reports.

The difficulty is in the translation — both to DNA and back again (summarized in the diagram below). The researchers started with the book’s content, which included the text as well as 11 images and a javascript program, and converted it to binary code. Then they assigned every 0 and 1 a nucleobase.

dna-book-640

Top image courtesy of iStockphoto, alengo Continuar leyendo «Scientists Convert a 53,000-Word Book Into DNA»

5 Ways to Cause a Revolution in Your Business

Why are we so pre-occupied with how everything looks? Of course you need to stand out in a crowded market place and looking good is a big part of that, but too many great ideas get over shadowed by the aesthetics. What your customers think is more important than how pretty you think it looks. Microsoft understood this years ago when they released flawed software and improved it once it was out there. Apple didn’t and they got left behind because they wanted the design to be perfect before showing anyone. Apple now has hundreds of design awards, courtesy of Jonathan Ive and I don’t believe Microsoft have any – but whose balance sheet would you rather have? (Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department).

by jeremywaite| //jeremywaite.wordpress.com

Point of view by Me® (out of post):
In my opinion one of the leaders that inspire, amuse and provoke its readers.
Jeremy Waite, madness and genius in the right balance.

I recommend looking in the categories «jeremywaite.wordpress.com», where they found the collection of articles he published.

Gabriel Catatalano

Continuar leyendo «5 Ways to Cause a Revolution in Your Business»

Social Media is Getting Schooled

by Blake Bowyer

Of the sectors throwing caution to the wind and making social media integral to long-term communications plans, I perceive higher education as dragging its feet. Fresh off graduation, I can still smell the ink drying on hastily-minted digital plans for universities of all sizes and ilk. That’s why I was surprised after a recent finding from the Society for New Communications Research: higher education is outpacing the Fortune 500 in social media adoption by more than 2 to 1.

We must consider such inferences carefully. The deeper one digs into the study, the more context must be added. In one instance, researchers found 95% of schools use at least one platform to recruit. While the for-profit equivalent of recruiting is acquiring new customers, social media serve many more functions in both sectors. In education, uses include informing current students, communicating with alumni, and promoting curricula, courses, and extracurriculars internally, among countless others.

The study’s broad statements must be examined carefully and, while the rate of adoption may be high, it may not translate to effectiveness. Social media shouldn’t be drooled over solely for external promotion and recruiting, but also for opportunities to create an enriching stakeholder experience. For example, Harvard University has been an early adopter in its use of social platforms to welcome guests with campus tips on foursquare, serve diverse audiences on Twitter, and provide students resources to get involved via Facebook.

“Well, that’s freakin’ Harvard!” one might say. Sure, but it could be any university with the strategic insight to serve disparate audiences through social media. While not every institution can offer a custom foursquare badge to visitors, it can bring a campus, its students, and the community to life with a fuller interactive, multimedia presence. Obviously it’s no cakewalk and schools must address four fundamental uncertainties that inhibit effective use of social media in higher education:

by Blake Bowyer

Of the sectors throwing caution to the wind and making social media integral to long-term communications plans, I perceive higher education as dragging its feet. Fresh off graduation, I can still smell the ink drying on hastily-minted digital plans for universities of all sizes and ilk. That’s why I was surprised after a recent finding from the Society for New Communications Research: higher education is outpacing the Fortune 500 in social media adoption by more than 2 to 1.

We must consider such inferences carefully. The deeper one digs into the study, the more context must be added. In one instance, researchers found 95% of schools use at least one platform to recruit. While the for-profit equivalent of recruiting is acquiring new customers, social media serve many more functions in both sectors. In education, uses include informing current students, communicating with alumni, and promoting curricula, courses, and extracurriculars internally, among countless others.

“Well, that’s freakin’ Harvard!” one might say. Sure, but it could be any university with the strategic insight to serve disparate audiences through social media. While not every institution can offer a custom foursquare badge to visitors, it can bring a campus, its students, and the community to life with a fuller interactive, multimedia presence. Obviously it’s no cakewalk and schools must address four fundamental uncertainties that inhibit effective use of social media in higher education: Continuar leyendo «Social Media is Getting Schooled»

The coming melt-down in higher education (as seen by a marketer)

For 400 years, higher education in the US has been on a roll. From Harvard asking Galileo to be a guest professor in the 1600s to millions tuning in to watch a team of unpaid athletes play another team of unpaid athletes in some college sporting event, the amount of time and money and prestige in the college world has been climbing.

I’m afraid that’s about to crash and burn. Here’s how I’m looking at it.

For 400 years, higher education in the US has been on a roll. From Harvard asking Galileo to be a guest professor in the 1600s to millions tuning in to watch a team of unpaid athletes play another team of unpaid athletes in some college sporting event, the amount of time and money and prestige in the college world has been climbing.

I’m afraid that’s about to crash and burn. Here’s how I’m looking at it. Continuar leyendo «The coming melt-down in higher education (as seen by a marketer)»