Benton Pena @ technology + culture + life and everything in between

Yesterday June 27, 2008 Gates stepped down from his top job at Microsoft to turn his attention to running his foundation, these are 5 things we should know about Bill an American business magnate and philanthropist.

From an interview in The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch

1.  HE DOESN’T WANT TO BE THE RICHEST PERSON IN THE WORLD. I said to him, “You’re a competitive person, would it ever upset you if you weren’t the richest guy in the world?” And Gates’ responded,  “I wish I wasn’t, there’s nothing good that comes out of that,” he said. “You get more visibility as a result of it.”

2. HE’LL NEVER RUN FOR OFFICE. When I asked Gates if he would follow in the footsteps of other wealthy Americans who have entered into the political arena, Gates told me, “I certainly will never be a politician”. When I pressed him and asked why he replied, “For every reason. I wouldn’t like it, I wouldn’t be elected. I’m better at what I’m doing.”

3.  HE DOESN’T CARRY A WALLET. I asked him, “What did you carry around in your wallet…. how much cash are we talking here?” to which he replied, “I don’t carry a wallet around that often”.  I guess when you’re that rich you don’t have to!

4.  HE DOESN’T HAVE AN iPOD.  Ok duh, this was a given but I had to ask just to hear what his response would be.  “I don’t have an iPod. I think a phone is a nice portable device to have one’s music on…and I think some other people may do that in the future too, we’ll see.” he said.

5.  HE LOVES GOING TO THE MOVIES.  I asked him, “Is it tough for you go to a soccer game with your kids or to just go to the movies?”   He told me, “No, the movies are great - they turn the lights out!”  “I’m not bothered when I’m out in public or anything,” he said. “Somebody might ask for a signature, rarely, but that’s not a difficult thing.”

Santo Domingo. — ONEMAX, la primera empresa en el mundo en ofrecer comercialmente Internet y teléfono inalámbrico con tecnología WiMAX móvil anunció la ampliación de su cobertura.

Thien Doan, Vicepresidente de Mercadeo, dijo que la empresa ha instalado nuevas antenas que les permite llegar a sectores tales como : Los mina, Los Tres Brazos, Cancino, Villa Juana, Mejoramiento Social, y otras zonas . Agregó que está gratamente satisfecho con la respuesta del público dominicano con la tecnología.” Realmente no esperábamos menos de un país con una población mayormente joven y amante de la tecnología”, expresó Doan.

Por otro lado, Christophe Ngo Van Duc, Vicepresidente de Informática y Sistemas, explicó que por ser una tecnología tan nueva, para ONEMAX es sumamente importante garantizar un servicio óptimo a sus clientes. “Con la instalación de estas nuevas antenas hemos extendido nuestra red logrando ampliar la zona de cobertura y mejorando la calidad de la señal para continuar brindando un servicio optimo de Internet y Voz a nuestros usuarios”.

La red desplegada es de 3.5 Gigahertz (GHz), lo que representa un avance significativo en la introducción comercial del servicio de WiMAX móvil y destaca la oportunidad de este servicio para operadores de todo el mundo.

ONEMAX es una empresa que cuenta con el respaldo de un prestigioso grupo dominicano y la participación de inversionistas internacionales como Alcatel-Lucent. Es presidida por Raoul Fontanez quien dijo que “El lanzamiento de ONEMAX, en la República Dominicana, ha generado mucho entusiasmo,  un mercado ideal para la tecnología WiMAX,  debido a su economía en fuerte crecimiento, su población relativamente grande y joven de más de 9 millones de personas, con un crecimiento rápido demandando servicio de banda ancha y esto tenía que  ser proporcionado. Sin duda alguna abrimos  la puerta del nuevo concepto  de   Internet y telefonía al alcance de todos para integrar las nuevas formas de comunicarse, informarse y entretenerse. Las innovaciones tecnológicas de ONEMAX acabarán convirtiéndose en parte integrante de la vida cotidiana de todos nosotros”.

This is a music video to inspire peace, introspection, and growth. Thanks to thephatconductor

Here the Bob Parsons 16 Rules for Success in Business and Life in General, for those who don’t know this guy, he is the CEO and founder of GoDaddy.com, he credits this rules for propelling him from humble youth to his role today as CEO and founder of his company.

1. Get and stay out of your comfort zone.
2. Never give up.
3. When you are ready to quit, you’re closer than you think.
4. Accept the worst possible outcome.
5. Focus on what you want to have happen.
6. Take things a day at a time.
7. Always be moving forward.
8. Be quick to decide.
9. Measure everything of significance.
10. Anything that is not managed will deteriorate.
11. Pay attention to your competitors, but pay more attention to what you’re doing.
12. Never let anybody push you around.
13. Never expect life to be fair.
14. Solve your own problems.
15. Don’t take yourself too seriously.
16. There’s always a reason to smile.

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I may buy one Nintendo Wii take a look at the results from Mickey DeLorenzo experiment:

After 45 days, he managed to shed a full 15 pounds, or about 2.56 pounds a week, and he dropped his body fat % from 20.8% to 18.4%.

"I LOST 15 lbs. IN 41 DAYS JUST BY ADDING WII FIT TO MY DAILY ROUTINE!"

Take a look:

The Wii Fit Experiment - Workout Montage from WiiNintendo.net on Vimeo.

More information about Nintendo Wii Fit here:
http://www.nintendo.com/wiifit/launch/?ref=http://www.nintendo.com/wii

Here an interesting comparison between a CIO and a CTO, I also got confused…

"The CIO and CTO job roles are frequently confused, but there are clear distinctions between the two positions in most large enterprises. The two require different skill sets and are focused on different goals. "

When you start talking about IT leadership roles and IT career tracks, the question that almost always comes up is “What’s the difference between the CIO and CTO positions?”

Here’s a quick breakdown of the distinguishing characteristics of those two roles.

Chief Information Officer

• Serves as the company’s top technology infrastructure manager
• Runs the organization’s internal IT operations
• Works to streamline business processes with technology
• Focuses on internal customers (users and business units)
• Collaborates and manages vendors that supply infrastructure solutions
• Aligns the company’s IT infrastructure with business priorities
• Developers strategies to increase the company’s bottom line (profitability)
• Has to be a skilled and organized manager to be successful

Chief Technology Officer

• Serves as the company’s top technology architect
• Runs the organization’s engineering group
• Uses technology to enhance the company’s product offerings
• Focuses on external customers (buyers)
• Collaborates and manages vendors that supply solutions to enhance the company’s product(s)
• Aligns the company’s product architecture with business priorities
• Develops strategies to increase the company’s top line (revenue)
• Has to be a creative and innovative technologist to be successful

[Source]

There is water ice on Mars within reach of the Mars Phoenix Lander, NASA scientists announced Thursday. Interesting read at Wired Science, read on:
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/06/mars-phoenix-tw.html

"Are you ready to celebrate?  Well, get ready: We have ICE!!!!! Yes, ICE, *WATER ICE* on Mars!  w00t!!!  Best day ever!!" the Mars Phoenix Lander tweeted at about 5:15 pm.

These guys keep celebrating with every success and I’m totally agree with it! keep up the great work NASA!!!

Nutritionists are baffled after researchers show that drinking coffee can actually be a good thing. Well, I guess if you drink Dominican coffee prepared by Dominican people (not by Starbucks) you double these stats.

Learn About Business and Investing With These Books
By MELLODY HOBSON

Knowing how to invest is a life skill that can pay off big. If you’re just getting into the game though, learning how to play the markets to your advantage can be complicated.

The books below tell you what you need to know to make money, without a lot of financial terminology. They’re not your typical textbooks they’re as fun as they are informative, and must reads for anyone interested in business and investing.

"A Random Walk Down Wall Street"

For novice investors, "A Random Walk Down Wall Street" provides a great foundation for getting started whether you plan to manage your own investments or want to work in collaboration with a broker or financial adviser.

By using the bursting of the dot-com bubble as an example of how not to invest, Burton Malkiel offers advice on how to evaluate a wide range of investments from stocks and bonds to real estate and collectibles. He also provides a "life cycle" guide to investing, which helps you to better understand how your asset allocation should change at different ages and with different investment goals.

"Buffet: The Making of an American Capitalist"

Warren Buffett also known as the "Oracle of Omaha" is one of the greatest investors of our time, and this book not only provides insight into his investment philosophy, but it also gives you the inside scoop on who he is as a person, from his early career, to his unique marriage, to how he has chosen to raise his children.

As you will see, despite his astronomical net worth he’s the third richest person in the world, according to Forbes magazine he lives a very modest life, but has made a major impact on the world of investing. Buffett is a value investor, which means he buys companies that are currently undervalued by the market.

But Buffett isn’t just looking for cheap companies. Rather, he is looking for niche players with "economic moats"  his term for sustainable competitive advantages around their business.

Buffett is a great practitioner of the idea of investing in what you understand and can easily explain, and his investment in a company like Coca-Cola is a great example of this. This book is a page turner and more of a "beach" read than you might think.

"One Up on Wall Street"

Author Peter Lynch another superstar investor employs an investment approach similar to Buffett. His philosophy is based on the idea that people can reap significant rewards by investing in companies with easy-to-understand products that are encountered in everyday life. In "One Up on Wall Street," Lynch provides his perspective on how he built a tremendous track record as the portfolio manager of Fidelity’s multibillion-dollar Magellan Fund.

To give you a sense of the magnitude of Lynch’s accomplishments: When he started managing Magellan in 1977, the fund had about $18 million in assets. By the time he left, in 1990, the fund was up to approximately $14 billion in assets with a portfolio of more than 1,000 stocks.

In addition to telling his own story, Lynch also provides some basics for how to evaluate companies, and includes advice on which numbers on a company’s financial statements really matter.

Similar to "A Random Walk Down Wall Street," this book is an excellent read for those looking to become more skilled investors by learning the basics from one of investing’s greats. Click here to read an excerpt.

"Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap & and Others Don’t"

This book reads like an investor’s road map for me. Jim Collins does an incredible job of identifying and explaining the elements that take a company from as the title implies good to great. Most importantly, he talks about two things: leadership quality and focus.

A great company is one where its leaders are disciplined, passionate about what they do and doing what they do best. When investing, I look for companies with management teams that fit this definition. It is important to not get caught up in what management says, but what they are doing, and if their actions are consistent with their words.

"Moneyball"

"Moneyball" is so much more than a book about our nation’s pastime. Michael Lewis masterfully writes about Billy Beane, general manager of the Oakland A’s, and how he uses deep, thoughtful, qualitative research to put together a winning team. What is so amazing about Beane is he was able to consistently put together a playoff team, despite having a budget that’s smaller than almost every team in baseball.

Beane does not fill his team with the big, perennial and expensive superstars, but, rather, looks for players who are consistent. Beane is all about value one of the key ingredients to successful investing. However, he makes the important distinction between something being cheap and valuable. I love this book and recommend it to everyone.

"Succeeding Against the Odds"

John Johnson is a pioneer. This is the story of how he took a $500 loan and turned it into one of the most successful publishing and cosmetics companies in the world. He founded Ebony, the first national black publication, and had the courage and vision to do what others did not. Not only is Johnson’s story inspirational, but it is also a must-read, how-to book on creating and sustaining a good business.

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