Recession Letter

Is the United States getting ready for a recession? It all depends on who you talk to. Most experts agree that we are in a slow period, but time will only tell if we are in mist of a recession.

A letter sent to employees at a Silicon Valley company in October 2001:

Due to the current economic conditions we have seen our business decline from $132 million annually to a current run rate of approximately $40 million annually. The $40 million run rate is the consistent amount that we have been achieving over the last six months. The management team has spent a significant amount of time analyzing and evaluating our expense structure and employee base. We have over the last few months made a number of changes to reduce expenses to regain profitability to the organization. While this has not been easy, we have made a lot of progress.

We believe that we now have enough information to further right size the organization to the current market demand which appears to have stabilized. In right sizing the organization, we have had to further reduce our staff by five employees. In order to have the current expenses not exceed current profit, as well as to retain employees, the management team has to implement a companywide 10% salary reduction. While this is not easy, this is necessary to make sure that we have a healthy company that will be here through these tough times. At the same time, we will continue to look for other ways to control and reduce expenses.

It is fully our intention to reverse this reduction once we return to a reasonable profitability level which is maintained for three consecutive months. The management team will define this level of profitability during the next quarter. This reduction will be effective November 1st and will be reflected in your November 15th payroll check.

If you have any questions about this, please see your manager or stop by my office. I believe that we have a great staff and I also believe that we have all the tools we need to grow this company. Thank you for your understanding.

Anyway Poem

Anyway Poem found in a book at the Concord Public Library

Found the following in a book I was reading in the Concord Public Library in 2002:

Anyway

People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered.
Love them anyway!
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives
Do good anyways!
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyways!
The good you do today, will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway!
Honestly and frankness makes you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway!
The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest minds;
Think big anyways!
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for the underdogs anyway!
What you spend years building up might be destroyed overnight.
Build anyways!
People really need help, but will attack you if you help them.
Help them anyway!
Give the world the best you have and it may kick you in the teeth.
Give the world the best you've got anyway!

- Author Unknown

Disable Window's Indexing

Find out why cidaemon.exe is running.

The cidaemon.exe or cisvc.exe is Windows Indexing server, which is used to search for files on the local computer. You should turn Indexing off on the server to improve overall performance.

To turn off Indexing:
Go to my computer and right click on the drives. Click properties and uncheck "Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching" in the General tab. Repeat for all your drives.

Quote of the Month

Quote/Email of the month:

XXXX,

Can you please create VPN account for me (with SQL server user authentication) . Because of my car problem I am not able to come to office today , it will ready by today evening only. Please do the needful.

Thanks,
Fnfvxhzne

Um... Please do the needful???

THE WAY TO WEALTH

From THE WAY TO WEALTH, by Benjamin Franklin

“Friends,“ said he, “the taxes are indeed very heavy, and, if those laid on by the government were the only ones we had to pay, we might more easily discharge them; but we have many others, and much more grievous to some of us. We are taxed twice as much by our idleness, three times as much by our pride, and four times as much by our folly; and from these taxes the commissioners cannot ease or deliver us by allowing an abatement. However, let us hearken to good advice, and something maybe done for us; God helps them that help themselves, as Poor Richard says.

“I. It would be thought a hard government that should tax its people one-tenth part of their time, to be employed in its service; but idleness taxes many of us much more; sloth, by bringing on diseases, absolutely shortens life. Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wears; while the used key is always bright, as Poor Richard says. But dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of, as Poor Richard says. How much more than is necessary do we spend in sleep, forgetting, that The sleeping fox catches no poultry, and that, There will be sleeping enough in the grave, as Poor Richard says.

Quote of the Day

Quote of the Day:

From page-a-day calendar from Dr. Phil:

"Its quiet possible to be extremely busy, without being productive."

Andy Grove

Not only is Andy Grove right in 2003, but this quote is right today:

"E-commerce is happening the way all the hype said it would. Internet deployment is happening. Broadband is happening. Everything we ever said about the Internet is happening. And it is very, very early. We can't even glimpse IT's potential in changing the way people work and live."
-Andy Grove (BusinessWeek/August 2003)

There is so much areas of the internet that has yet to be explored.

Get Excited! Remember, please keep your hands inside the vehicle at all times!

Google Advisory

Look like Google has now gone into the censorship business. They have teamed up with StopBadware.org to warn people before visiting certain sites that the website may contain programs that could harm your computer.

Now there's nothing wrong with educating the public about Spyware programs, but I don't think that is the job of a search engine. The responsibility lies within the browser to warn you before you download something, such as downloading programs that you didn't request and the responsibility lies with the OS, to prevent programs from hijacking the computer.

If your running Windows and have been hit with a lot of spyware in the past and are experiencing problems with popups, you really should look into changing your computer's operating system. Its clearly not doing its job. Are you really being productive? Why is Norton Anti-Virus the #1 Utility software on Windows?

So what's the solution? Change your Operating System! I would recommend going to an Apple Store and checking out the latest computers. You'll be surprise what the latest Apple computers can do and what you won't be missing by switching. Talk to the people at the Apple Store, play around with the computers. Checkout the software that's available at the store and online.

The Charlie Card

This morning Fox Morning News covered the new Charlie Card, that will replace the tokens that the MBTA is currently using.

One of the disadvantages of the Charlie card is that it will be a lot easier for the MBTA to change prices on different routes.

All you have to do is look at the chart at any Washington METRO station to see how much it cost to go between stations. That chart is coming to a T station near you....

HOW DOES PURCHASING A HOME COMPARE WITH RENTING?

The two don't really compare at all. The one advantage of renting is being generally free of most maintenance responsibilities. But by renting, you lose the chance to build equity, take advantage of tax benefits, and protect yourself against rent increases. Also, you may not be free to decorate without permission and may be at the mercy of the landlord for housing. Owning a home has many benefits. When you make a mortgage payment, you are building equity. And that's an investment. Owning a home also qualifies you for tax breaks that assist you in dealing with your new financial responsibilities- like insurance, real estate taxes, and upkeep- which can be substantial. But given the freedom, stability, and security of owning your own home, they are worth it.