Thanks to Blogger Support I can Upload Pictures
Apparently I signed up for Blogger just as they are updating their strategy after being acquired by Google. I had tried to "upgrade" my blog to "Blogger Plus" allowing me to upload pictures, but their site said this was "temporarily down" as they changed their system.

I sent an inquiry to Support on this and a few other questions (permalinks and track-backs - I didn't know the latter is a Movable Type feature) and got IMMEDIATE responses. In addition, they upgraded my account for free to upload pictures.

So a special thanks to Blogger support and Christine for helping me out as they go through upgrading their own internal strategy. I can now post sophomoric postings like this:

Do you REALLY believe this man:




would grope THIS woman:



posted by Director_Mitch @ 5:17 PM (Permalink)
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Meyers Briggs Personality Test
I have taken this probably 4-5 times at various companies, most recently last week in my present position (no results on that one yet). This quick test matches my memory of the last few I have taken.



I consider these types of tests just on the legitimate side of horoscopes, but think they are fun. Interestingly enough, I found another site telling how your personality will match your blogging:

ISTJ - As a weblogger, you will have a dependable form of posting <comment - whatever that means>. You may be more likely to be judgemental toward others who aren't as dependable <or don't agree with my opinion!>. You may get taken advantage of in group situations because you are known as not being able to say no <okay, way out of range since I learned to say no about three years into business>. Because of your respect for facts and information, you may need multiple blogs to keep all of the information sorted in your head <well done on that one, but I think that is true of a lot of people who spend time blogging>.


posted by Director_Mitch @ 2:11 PM (Permalink)
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The Death of the Fabless IC Model?
An article from EE Times today described a speech from the president of Nvidia, who made the following statement, which EE Times noted, raised a lot of eyebrows:

"A small fabless company is fundamentally long-term intractable," he said. Huang argued that given the increasing resources necessary to field a chip and the diminishing markets for application-specific products, the only survivors in the fabless world would be companies that "identified a broad swath of applications that could be met with a single piece of configurable or programmable hardware. Only then can they achieve the volumes necessary to survive."

This is one of those high-level general statements which might apply to a few fields, but does not apply to every single segment. He is correct that it is taking increasing amounts of capital to get an IC company off the ground, mainly due to the skyrocketing costs of mask sets, which are now over $1 million at the latest process nodes. But plenty of niches still exist where a nimble company with unique technology can create a "one-off" product and generate a large number of sales. They then have to maintain this lead as new companies and eventually the majors enter this field.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 12:13 PM (Permalink)
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Peru, Brazil, Whatever. At Least it was a Country on the Same Continent.
There was a Southwest Airlines commercial like this:

It was a monumental mistake for Alanis Morissette at the aptly named Monumental Stadium in Lima, the capital city of Peru! As Alanis capped her smash concert before 14,000 raving Peruvians, she suddenly shrieked giddily: "Thank you, BRAZIL!" Fans were shocked into silence and Peruvian papers slammed her the next day - although one excused her geographical gaffe, saying, "it must have been the emotion she felt for being in Peru." (Or those funny Peruvian cigarettes!)

She then said that she was drunk. She now says that she was misunderstood:

Alanis Denies Gaff

posted by Director_Mitch @ 11:26 AM (Permalink)
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Dateline: Last June - Location: Paramount Executive Suites
Okay, after watching this week's Enterprise last night, I can't resist doing yet another one.

Executive: First, Jenkins, have you followed up on my program to add more commercial time to the Enterprise time slot?

Jenkins: Yes, sir. We doubled the tempo on the opening credit song, therefore shortening the opening and adding 30 more seconds to the time slot.

Executive: Excellent. Now, the reason I called you in here. I see here in Variety that there's this movie that has become very popular with the younger crowd - this 28 Days?

Jenkins: Yes, sir. A British release that used unknown actors and viral marketing to create...

Executive: Yes, yes, yes, that's all fine and well, but what is it about?

Jenkins: Zombies, sir.

Executive: Zombies?

Jenkins: Plague zombies, to be exact, sir.

Executive: Well, as popular as this movie is, I think we need some on Enterprise, don't we?

Jenkins: But, sir, Enterprise is a science fiction show...

Executive: ZOMBIES, Jenkins. I want plague zombies!!

Jenkins: Yes, sir, I'll get right on it.

Executive: And I want it in October as we get close to Halloween.

Jenkins: You got it, sir!



posted by Director_Mitch @ 8:57 AM (Permalink)
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The Digital Hand
Sort of a follow-up to my post below on the "Immutable Laws of Consumer Electronics", I found this posting on a VC website which discusses the "Digital Hand", which is a marriage of Smith's Invisible Hand with Moore's law (no, Dr. Bob, it isn't something you do with on-line porn). It has a lot of the same concepts which I put in my posting, which are pretty obvious to anyone who is trying to make a buck in high-tech these days.

The Digital Hand

posted by Director_Mitch @ 4:27 PM (Permalink)
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Raising Taxes and Winning Elections
The following post on a new (?) site I now periodically read got me into posting mode today:

HEADS THEY WIN, TAILS WE LOSE

Which echoes my listing below about what democrats said after the California election - Ahnold being elected is a BAD sign for Bush (yea, right. Spin on, Garth)

That got me thinking about another area of democratic denial: raising taxes, which all major democratic candidates are running on. I then keep reading on left-leaning sites about how taxes will "help" the economy. While patently not true (never mind the economy seems to be improving just fine right now), the democrats seem to forget the following recent history:

- Davis just kicked out on his ass on a lot of anger of raising the car tax (plus licenses for illegals, which I submit put a lock on the recall)

- The "Latte Tax" failing in left friendly Seattle (we're talking about a bunch of rich left-wingers rejecting a dime increase on their morning $2 coffee)

- Rejection of the Tennessee Tax increase by voters

Anyone notice a trend here? And you want to get elected into national office by promising to raise everyone's taxes? In best Dr. Evil impersonation: riiiiiiigggggggt.


posted by Director_Mitch @ 9:19 AM (Permalink)
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The Midget Vote?
While everyone knows Ahnold won, what they maybe haven't heard is how some of the "lower tier" candidates fared. As of 9:15 today:

Arianna Huffington (Ind): 42,235
Peter V. Ueberroth (Rep): 21,569
Larry Flynt (Dem): 15,115
Gary Coleman (Ind): 12,518

Huffington and Ueberroth dropped out of the race, so their votes are either "protest votes" from their previous backers, or maybe people who voted "no" on recall who just wanted to pencil in a candidate.

Flynt's numbers are probably close to the number of paid subscribers to Hustler in California (and I REALLY don't want to research that, so let's just make the assumption).

And then there's Coleman, one of several "entertainers" on the candidate list (I am of course including Ahnold and the porn star). Over 12,000 votes for a midget actor (PC term: "Little Person"). So was the California "Little Person" population expressing its might? Let's do an estimate:

California Population: 33.9 Million
Eligible Voters: 21.4 Million (63%)
Estimate % of Dwarfism (from dwarfism.com): 1 in 40,000
Estimate of California Little People Voters: 535

Even if we double or even tripple the percentage in California assuming a higher concentration of those who come here to go into show business, Coleman's vote of 12,518 or .2 percent of votes is MUCH higher than the midget population of California. Congratulations, Gary!


Update: I had an email comment that Coleman is not technically a midget or dwarf, but just "short" (and suffers from kidney problems).


posted by Director_Mitch @ 10:06 AM (Permalink)
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Worst Business Web Site Ever?
I link. You decide.

RF Domus

posted by Director_Mitch @ 9:18 AM (Permalink)
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They Don't Get It
So, Ahnold was elected. No big surprise, but some just don't get it:

DEMOCRAT CHAIRMAN MCAULIFFE: 'PEOPLE ARE VERY ANGRY AT THE COURSE OF OUR NATION... PEOPLE ARE WORRIED ABOUT THEIR JOBS, THEIR HEALTH INSURANCE, THEY ARE TAKING IT OUT ON GRAY DAVIS.

He's not getting it - or in denial (for example, Davis passed a bill mandating employers give health insurance just last week). Davis has been charting the course of this State for nearly five years and has driven it into the ground by pandering to special interests - the economy alone wasn't enough for the recall to go through.

The first nail was the tripling of the car tax. Try paying that while not having a job. Then it was the bill giving drivers licenses to illegal aliens that put a lock on the election. The outrage from everyone I knew was palpable.

When I have friends who have identified themselves as democrats for years say, "That party no longer represents what I stand for," you have to wonder what the democrats are thinking. They are correct that voters are angry, but they are wrong about what it is directed towards.

posted by Director_Mitch @ 8:48 PM (Permalink)
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Imposter, Helper or IS Problem?
I got a strange email today:

Thank you for sending your resume to (Fortune 500 Company where I actually worked before). We appreciate your interest in becoming a part of our team and will keep your resume in our files for six months.

Here's the problem: I didn't submit, send or otherwise transfer my resume to this company. I have never applied for a job there in the six years since I have left the company. I haven't spoken or networked with anyone at the company in the better part of six months. I DO have colleagues there whom I would work for again IF the right opportunity came up (at the right price), but they would all call me first to feel me out, do the pitch, etc.

Here's my concern: I don't mind if my resume is floating around on the system of my former employer, but is it the right resume? Where did they get it? Did someone send it in? Did some scumbag headhunter find it floating out in the internet and submit it? Is some hiring manager there going through Standard Operating Procedures before giving me a job pitch? (unlikely) Or is this some HR glitch from someone moving around data of ex-employees?

I sent a reply saying as an ex-employee I would consider the proper opportunity, but that I didn't submit nor authorize the submission of my resume. The problem is that this seems to be the "mass in-box" of this company's recruiting department, so I am not confident of ever getting a response.

Weird.


posted by Director_Mitch @ 11:57 AM (Permalink)
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More on Mot
This caught my eye this morning since I don't believe it:

Galvin insists semi spin off not tied to his departure

Analysts and others have been telling Mot to spin off this division for years, especially after it fell out of the top 10 last year. Two weeks after Galvin announces his departure, they announce the spin-off. That isn't a coincidence. It isn't until near the bottom of the article that we see what's going on:

Galvin declined to say whether he would seek a position with a separate Motorola SPS company.

They are going to parachute him into the new corporation. This has happened a number of times with other spinoffs with CEOs keeping some sort of title in the parent and working at the spinoff and collecting big salaries for both (see: Dwight Decker and the companies of Rockwell, Conexant, MindSpeed, Pictos, etc.)



posted by Director_Mitch @ 9:19 AM (Permalink)
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Opportunity Knocking?
As a "Window Manager", one of the things I look for are new opportunities to be a real manager - whether to start my own company or find a position at another one. This news story piqued my interest today:

After years of analyst speculation, Motorola announced today that they are spinning off their semiconductor (SC) operations.

Pilot fish are small fish that swim around sharks picking up morsels of food they leave behind after a feeding frenzy. I imagine there will be some tidbits of food left after the divestiture, the question will be what areas and how to break into them:

Outside Investments - the semiconductor group has direct or indirect investment in a variety of companies through their corporate venture arm. One example is Morpho Technology, which makes reconfigurable processors. What happens to these investments? They will presumably go with the SC group, but the new company is unlikely to have the capital to keep up with future rounds, or may even be interested in selling off investments to raise capital.

On the other side of the investment, companies like Morpho were likely counting on Mot as a potential "buy out" candidate, especially in this era of tight venture capital and few IPOs. I think a quick Google and Mot press release search might be worth the time and effort to get a list of these companies for further study.

Additional Spinoffs - Motorola's semiconductor division has several areas where they not only lag, but have no revenue. These are candidates for additional "re-spins" to raise additional capital and focus the new company on a few key areas. One potential divesting area is the image sensor business, which they were in, left, and re-entered. They have little to no revenue in this area, which is actually booming. This could be picked up by an established player like OmniVision, or be picked up by some enterprising entrepreneurs. There are probably other product areas, as well as some manufacturing operations (there is a worldwide manufacturing overcapacity at this time, so not a good area).

New Suppliers/Consulting/New Staff - So as a new public company, the Mot SC company will need all sorts of people, personnel, consulting and services to run a new public entity. One example is an entire finance staff (not my area, but an example). The current CFO, treasurer, Investor Relations, etc. are all handled at the Mot "corporate level". These guys and their teams will likely stay with the Mother Ship (with an exception here or there), meaning that this entire area has to be hired at the new company (my previous experience with spin-offs is that the guys one step below executive are given the opportunity to get a promotion and go with the spin-off and then rebuild entire teams at the new company).

Additional areas would likely include the HR function and financial systems. Operations, Marketing, Marcom and the like are already at the division level.


The investment bankers (IBs), venture capitalists (VCs) and people who are already involved with Mot are already all over this, but it might be worth a little research and a call or two.





posted by Director_Mitch @ 4:39 PM (Permalink)
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Either She's Lying or He's Blind
Okay, raise your hand if you think ANYONE would grope this woman (I have to link to it until I figure out how to post pictures in Blogger).

Latest Ahnold Groping Claim

I would believe, on the other hand, that SHE made unwanted sexual advances at HIM.


UPDATE: She's lying (imaging that!) The hair stylist on the set came forward and said it was HE that did what she claimed and that Ahnold was no where near the trailer.

Her story was that Ahnold pulled up her shirt against her will and took a poloroid which was then posted on the ceiling of the trailer on the set. The hair stylist says that what happened was that the two of them (no one else) were were goofing around and he put the camera under her shirt (without lifting) and took a picture. She laughed and thought it was funny. The make-up artist (as apposed to the hair stylist) later posted it on the trailer as a contest to guess whose torso it was (this sounds like something out of my dorm in college days). Note this all happened around 10 years ago.

How many similar stories will we find once reporters start digging on the Ahnold allegations? One commenter called this whole thing political terrorism, and I think that is a good description.


posted by Director_Mitch @ 3:58 PM (Permalink)
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Is Making a Pass 30 Years Ago Against the Law?
Well, as a Californian it has been a very interesting week in relation to the recall. We have allegations on Ahnold "groping" women. We have allegations of Governor Davis "physically attacking" his staffers. We have allegations of Bustamante using the "n-word" during a public speech.

What we don't have is a discussion on the issues effecting the state, on policies in place that hurt the state, or on policies that can improve the state. The LA Times had a team of staffers "working for weeks" on the Ahnold report, but they can't find the resources to research corruption in Sacramento or how money is influencing policy decisions.

So what about these claims against Ahnold? There are several un-named sources (on the Davis claims, the LA times refused to run the story due to un-named sources, but decided to change their mind in this case). On the named sources, one has had an ongoing feud with Ahnold for over 20 years and makes claims against him that magnify the more successful he has gotten. Another is married to a democratic operative.

Davis and Bustamante have called for a "criminal investigation" (you knew that was coming). If true, is it criminal to tell a total stranger that she has a "nice ass" and to grab it? (Davis admits it would be only a misdemeanor). And how far back does one go?

Society norms have changed in 30 years and this activity in the 1970s was a legitimate way for a guy to make a pass. Today it could land you a lawsuit - nevermind a misdemeanor - especially if you're famous, which is why the claims sound untrue if they are more recent than about 15 years old. Get groped by a famous movie star, file a lawsuit, settle for six figures. It would be a no brainer. The fact that the claims from supposedly years ago are now coming out right before the election show they are politically motivated.

At this point it seems the claims won't have an effect on the election, but we'll know for sure in about 48 hours. I am rooting for Ahnold not because of his policies (which are thin, if anything), but because I think we need to send a message to the professional political class that enough is enough. Sort of like when Ventura won his election, it will hopefully make the politicians change the way they do business.





posted by Director_Mitch @ 12:24 PM (Permalink)
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