Off Traveling

I'm off criss-crossing North America for the next week so blogging will be light to non-existent. Maybe one of my guest bloggers will contribute.

Am writing this sign-off during the Oscars since they are LAME this year. I agree with Captain's Quarters that the opening bit with Crystal was great and went down hill from there (seeing Moore getting crushed was a nice trade-off for the inevitable left-wing speech that follows the documentary category). I don't know why they lifted the time limit on speeches. The only thing I am happy about is that LOTR seems to be winning every category it was nominated for, so I am waiting for best picture/direction in, what, 3-4 hours now.

Create Your Own On-Line Country

Friend Jim Carson sent me a link to a on-line political game where you create your own country. I am just getting started and can't say if the game is any good, but I do like my country (although with my tough-on-crime policies, I am surprised I have a lot of it)

The Republic of Director Mitch
National Motto: "No Handouts"
UN Category: Capitalist Paradise
Civil Rights: Very Good
Economy: Thriving
Political Freedoms: Excellent
Location: the West Pacific

The Republic of Director Mitch is a tiny, socially progressive nation, remarkable for its complete absence of social welfare. Its hard-nosed, hard-working, intelligent population of 5 million are either ruled by a small, efficient government or a conglomerate of multinational corporations; it's difficult to tell which.

There is no government in the normal sense the word; however, a small group of community-minded, pro-business individuals is mainly concerned with Law & Order, although Commerce and Religion & Spirituality are on the agenda. Income tax is unheard of. A robust private sector is led by the Uranium Mining, Door-to-door Insurance Sales, and Cheese Exports industries.

Crime is pervasive. Director Mitch's national animal is the owl, which teeters on the brink of extinction due to widespread deforestation, and its currency is the hayes.

(I'm crying a river over my owls, but I'll put some in a zoo somewhere and start a cloning program).

Sounds close to paradise to me, especially since I'm running it.

I Agree with Reuters?

At least it's on a business/marketing issue. According to Reuters: Cost of Mini iPod Raises Questions

As I noted when they announced it I thought Apple priced it $100 too high. I went and checked one out at an Apple store yesterday and wasn't impressed. I thought its construction was a bit cheap (it felt "plasticy") and what was once an impressive interface seems a bit dated now. However, due to its trendiness, it appears that initial demand is healthy.

And that has what made Apple able to hold on in its niche in a brutally cost competitive market. It isn't the cost/value proposition of its products that people like, but their trendiness, almost their ability to get their electronics positioned as fashion statements: candy colored desktop computers, pedestal-with-attached-screen iMacs, and now multi-colored mini iPods.

At the end, even at $100 too high and something I wouldn't buy (even though I am an iPod owner and love it), I think Apple will have a profitable product on their hands.

PC Game Review - Call of Duty

I don't have a lot of time (now) to play games, and since I only buy about one game a year, I usually wait until I hear about one game that is supposed to be really good and go out an get it. I just got Call of Duty, which is a "first person shooter" based on WWII. You go through different characters, starting out as an American D-Day paratrooper, move to being a British Special Forces unit (where I am now) and end up being a Soviet tank commander (the games says "Russian" instead of Soviet).

With the "briefings" before each mission, the game is actually educational about the strategy and tactics used during D-Day, for example, and I assume all the weapons used are historically accurate (and if true, the British weapons sucked - I keep having to use captured German guns instead of the British ones in my current levels).

If you like first person games and WWII just a little, I recommend getting this. If you like to try before you buy (and maybe worth it at $50), there is a free download available of one of the levels (start at the site linked above).

Unions Discourage Higher Education?

While reading an article on the ending of the grocery worker's strike over at Master of None, this quote by the union hit me in the head:

the markets were threatening to destroy one of the last U.S. jobs available that could provide middle-class comfort without requiring years of higher education.

I was raised by parents who both grew up in very poor families, but managed to go to college, becoming the first generation in both families to do so. And through this education, they escaped the poverty they grew up in.

What these two hammered into my brain is that if I didn't get good grades, get into, and finish college, I would be no better than a street beggar. Maybe with hard work and no education I could aspire to a trailer home in the bad part of town, so hard work by itself wasn't going to work. By the time I was ten, it was ingrained in me that education meant a better life.

So to see our unions bemoaning lack "middle class comfort" for the uneducated is just...ridiculous. OFCOURSE people without advanced education have a harder time working their way up the economic ladder. The job the unions should be doing is to get their members better education and training to work their way up the ladder, not trying to strong-arm companies into artificially paying their workers more than their worth to society.

As Michael says in his commentary, Welcome to the Real World. We are now living in a global economy, meaning Americans are now competing with a few billion more people. Americans can no longer enjoy being 5% of the planet's population while enjoying nearly half of it's economic wealth without being better educated, better trained and working harder to keep the lion's share of the planet's wealth.

While You Were Out...

Boy, leave civilization for a few days and look at all the stuff that happens (okay, we actually had cable, so I got the news if I decided to turn it on, but I had NO internet or email, which was VERY hard):

I Made The Carnival of the Capitalists - This is published on Monday but I didn't find out until today. My entry that answered cellphone market questions was really How to Get Free Market Data.

Protection of Marriage Amendment - This seems pretty straight forward to me. There are states that would adopt gay marriage and the Equal Protection clause of the Constitution would mean that a state like California can cram its views down the throat of a state like Texas (i.e. Texas would have to recognize the marriage even if they had laws on the books against it. California has laws on the books against it, but the judiciary and a few city officials are going to cram their views down California's throat, which is another story). The democratic hypocrites candidates say they want to "leave it to the states", but the purpose of this amendment is to leave the decision to the states (i.e. civil unions could be recognized within a state, but since it is not "marriage", other states could ignore it when the couple moves elsewhere).

As for the current marriages in California, I have a prediction: There will eventually be a lawsuit filed by a gay person saying the marriages are not legal. Here is the scenario: rich Seth and poor Antoine get "married". Things go stale and they get "divorced". Antoine files for alimony under California law. Seth counter sues saying they were not really "married" and owes no alimony. I am not saying it will work, but it will be filed.

Interestingly, I wonder if a state could create a "marriage" between a gun owner and his gun? Then when they move to New York City or other municipalities that have strict anti-gun laws, the Equal Protection Clause would mean they would have to allow the gun owner to keep his piece (or something similar).

The Passion of the Christ - There are reams of articles and hours of video being taped about supposed "anti-Semitism" in the movie, but when a bus load of Israelis is blown up or school boys with yarmulkes are beaten within an inch of their life in France, there is a collective yawn from the same press that is apoplectic about this movie.

All of this uproar is not about anti-Semitism, it's about anti-Christianity. Anyone who knows anything about Christianity knows that we, as sinners, are the ones responsible for Christ's death.

Personally, I have reservations about seeing the movie since both its supporters and detractors agree that the movie is violent (Michael Williams has some commentary on why this is necessary, and I agree, but I am just not sure I want to see it). And as a fellow Catholic I admire Gibson's views, but I disagree that Christ's crucifixion is the most important aspect of His life (I'd vote for Resurrection, but it wouldn't be as interesting a movie - maybe just a sequel).

Nader Enters Race - With Dean out we did need a Whacked out Nutjob (tm) in the race for pure entertainment.

Haiti - Ah. Whatever. That's why we hire those smart people in the State Department so I don't have to think about it. I'm sure they'll figure it out. Or send in the UN.

Business News - Movement in some stories, but based on a few things that happened while was away, I predict: Martha Walks, Eisner Parachutes, Skilling Fries.

Was there any other news I missed?

Back From Skiing

I'm back from my first vacation in several years. I had forgotten the benefits of getting away: stepping back and getting a perspective on one's life. I think as we work through the day-to-day grind of work, family, etc. that we can lose sight of the forest through the trees, so it was good to get away for awhile, especially with this kind of scenery, taken right off the mountain on Monday:

The skiing was pretty nice. Mammoth has a huge base and it snowed most of the time we were there, so we got some good powder in. Fun to do, but hard on the legs. My thighs must be a few inches larger in circumference after only a few days. And here is a picture of me, complete in terrorist ski mask.

Hitting the Slopes

I'm outta here until late next week. Snow has been dumping on Mammoth and I am going to check it out.

Reader Questions - Cellphone Market Data

One of the services I am pleased to offer my readers is free consulting services (well, as long as it is an easy question or data I have ready access to, and doesn't create a conflict of interest with any of my current responsibilities). Long time reader David sends in the following question:

Where can I find data on what manufacturers own what % of the US handset market?

The underlying assumption I am making is what "free" data is available. There are a variety of market research companies such as Gartner, Instat and others that will provide you all sorts of data, but will charge thousands of dollars per report. There is nothing wrong with that - they have to make a living - but often marketing managers just need a few data points and not a whole report. In addition, many marketing managers have a problem getting funds from management for marketing reports ("Why do we need to buy this? This is your job!) and this is especially true in a start-up, which David happens to be in.

First, here is the most current data I have for handsets for the U.S. and WW market. The U.S. market is at the end of 1H03, so a little stale, but it probably hasn't changed more than a few percentage points, and I have provided a graph to show how the data changed from the end of 2002. The WW data is probably current. Quarterly numbers are usually released in the second month of the following quarter, so the 4Q03 numbers are either just released or coming out soon:

So, where do you find this (free) data?

1. Press Releases and Articles - The market research companies issue press releases and the like to generate interest in their reports (their form of marketing). Most of the tech journals and many of the business journals publish this data as a reader interest story ("Samsung Gains Ground on Nokia in U.S. Market"), so I found the U.S. market data in the Wall Street Journal and saved it. In addition, these press releases are also published on the research companies' web sites, which is where I found the WW market data and where I will likely get an update for the 4Q numbers.

2. Schmooze the Analyst - Another way to get the data: call up the analyst at the research company who specializes in the area you need, tell him who you are, and what specific data you need (if it is only a point or to). Usually in order to generate good will and cultivate a potential client, they will release a few small data points to whet your appetite. In addition, if you can provide him with some valuable market data that makes his job easier, they are often willing to do a data trade (I am currently working this angle with an analyst at a Japanese analyst company for data I need on that market). Of course, data acquired this way cannot be publicly disseminated like I have with the data above, which was released into the public domain by the research companies themselves. It is vitally important that if you create a relationship with an analyst that you keep his data - his livelihood - confidential.

3. Talk to the Vendors in This Market - If you go to Samsung's cellphone group, they will be proud to tell you what their market share is in the U.S. market, how they are gaining on Nokia, and will release all sorts of data on the market to the right people. Vendors use both internal data as well as data from the research companies, so it usually matches.

Home Officing Survey

I am in my second week as one of the growing legion of home workers (aka "telecommuters" and a few other phrases) and am finding I am missing just a few of the little things one enjoys in a "regular" office.

My new work laptop finally arrived and I spent more than half a day getting it to the point where I needed it: transferring files, adding software, getting it talking to my home network, which suddenly has problems of its own. It makes me miss the days of calling Joe over right before lunch, giving him a list my PC problems, and telling him to have it done by the time I got back.

I am also doing a lot of self-service HR things since the gals in the home office (HR is dominated by women across industries) keep emailing me and sending me links for stuff I have to do for benefits, taxes, and payroll.

Anyway, I calculated that three of my co-workers from a previous company are all home officing in the area and sent them the following questionnaire. If you are also a home worker, feel free to send your responses to director_mitch@yahoo.com and I will publish a summary of the results with commentary in two weeks (responses will not be listed with any name or email addresses, which will stay anonymous). I have added my own responses below:

1. How long have you been home officing?
Second Week

2. Do you like it compared to "real" officing? Which do you prefer?
So far so good. As long as I have a phone and email, I can work. No distractions of people coming by and disturbing me, etc. No wasteful meetings. I can blare music while I do email.

3. What do you wear to the "office"? (pajamas, sweats, biz casual, etc.)
Biz casual. I get up and get dressed just like I were going to a regular office unless I decide to work out in the morning, in which case I put on sweats.

4. Are you alone during work hours or are there others in the office? (spouse, kids, pets)
All alone.

5. How often do you visit the "home office" (in this case, "home office" meaning headquarters and not your real home office)
Twice a month.

6. What hours do you work? Do you work more or less than if you were in a real office?
I put in less contiguous hours during the work day, but I am "on call" pretty much 24/7, so overall I will end up working more than if I were in a real office.

7. Does your spouse/SO ask you to do things around the house since you are home, even though you are working?
Yep. I already had to remind her that I was working and not just sitting around watching TV.

8. Do you try to get more appointments and lunches outside the house in order to get more human interaction or try to get out of the house more?
Even though it is my second week, I think I will be scheduling more lunches with people. I used to run errands and the like during lunch, but now I will use it to interface with people.

9. Any distractions at home that you wouldn't have to worry about at work?
A close pantry is going to be a problem for me.

10. Any other comments or observations?
Pretty good gig if you can swing it. There is a sales office near by where I can go if I want to interface with work people in addition to the bi-monthly trips to HQ.

Why Is It Us vs. Them?

While working today I had Rush on, but he was interrupted by the Dean withdraw speech. The thing that really struck me about the speech is how much I - an ordinary working American who leans conservative - is so hated by the democratic party and by liberals in particular. The start of the speech was okay - thanking workers for the hard work everyone put in, etc. It was a typical, uninteresting withdraw speech.

Then came the second half, filled with hate-filled diatribes of how the country was "taken way" and how people "don't have a voice" and how conservatives should be lined up and shot (okay, that last one is made up, but he was heading that direction). I laughed out loud when he talked about "Bush's right-wing agenda" since - except for foreign policy and cutting taxes - there is nothing Bush has done that could be considered "right-wing". There has been little for moderates to complain about outside of these two areas.

I guess I was actually saddened by the speech. He said nothing positive. He didn't talk about moving forward with new ideas or plans. It was all about getting "them" (meaning me). It was about revenge. And I hope it was the reason that Dean was rejected by his own party.

PMA: Not Much To Report

As noted below, I attended the Photo Marketing Association tradeshow last Friday. While the show was very worthwhile for me (5 meetings), it didn't seem that interesting for the average consumer unless you are really into digital or film photography.

The show still focuses on the film photography industry, so a majority of floor space is still dedicated to that segment: minilabs, paper, chemicals, stuff for studios, frames, you name it. Even those companies that have both film and digital cameras seem to focus more on their film cameras for this show (since CES is the highlight for tech, this is probably why). I would say that less than less than 10% of the floor space was for to digital cameras, printers, monitors and other high-tech tools for digital imaging. Photographyblog has a complete listing of all the announcements, mainly focusing on digital imaging.

That being said, here are a few things I noticed in the digital imaging realm:

Digital Photo Receiver - I still don't get these gadgets, but I guess I'm not the target audience. These are essentially little monitors that hook up the internet and upload digital pictures, i.e. a digital picture frame. The pitch is that you can change the picture every day!, but that isn't a value proposition for me, especially at $150. They said grandparents out of state are the big audience. These things hook up to the internet via a phone line. When asked if they had a WIFI version, their reply was "Grandparents don't know what WIFI is," but admitted they had one on the drawing board (my guess is that there is a cost problem).




Digital Video - The video camera market seems to be fragmenting into two areas:

1. Low End - Little cameras smaller than a typical MP3 player were in several booths, but most notably the Panasonic booth. These record low quality video onto a memory card and usually do several other functions as well (voice recording, MP3 playback, etc.).




Probably not something to take on vacation, but fun for kids and the like. This sort of gadget goes into the whole (CAUTION: Overused Word Warning) convergence thing that is going on with portable devices. We have cellphones with cameras, PDAs that play music, MP3 players that play video games, etc. The theory is that one day we have a portable gadget that does everything well. My guess is that we will wait a long time.

2. High End - "Normal" digital camcorders were still a big thing at the show. The trends in this segment haven't really changed: more resolution, smaller size, and recording directly onto DVD. I keep thinking a solid state camcorder will be announced (other than the low end ones above), but that doesn't seem to be happening. As HDTV takes off, expect direct to HDTV format camcorders in the near future.

Digital Still Cameras - I didn't spend a lot of time looking at this segment, but there were no big announcements that caught my eye. The digital SLRs at the high end keep getting more and more impressive and if you have a big budget, I would recommend looking at these before you buy your next high-end film SLR. The consumer DSCs are getting higher resolution with prices continuing to decline. No-name brands were in everywhere in this space and I think the Japanese are going to have to abandon this segment at mass retailers.


So overall, nothing really big to report to the average reader, but a worthwhile business trip for me personally.

Excellent

Let's hope this happens.

Government Considering Dismantling BBC

80s Memories

For us children of the 80's, there is a site that lets you play classic video games. However, this doesn't need all the emulation software and downloads, but just pops up a browser window with the game and you're off. I tried out Pacman and although the controls are a little slow, it's the real thing.

Hat Tip: Outside the Beltway

Friday Happy Hour Review

Rorschach here with a Special Scotch Review:
You like a nice smooth blend? A Little Dewar’s and soda? Some Walker Red? This review is not for you. Disclaimer 1: I enjoy a nice blended scotch from time to time as well, I’m not some crotchety purist who demands only single malts or death. But for the case of this monograph, we will consider two very polarizing single malts from the Islay region, and two of my favorites. Expand your horizons, and you may find a friend for life. Disclaimer 2: very much like Cuban cigars, I would not choose to drink these kinds of scotch every day. They are to be savored and appreciated, special occasion and all that. There are two standout features for Islay region Scotch that I love (and some hate) : the flavors of Smoke and Peat. (And what is peat? the upper stratum of soil bound by grass and plant roots into a thick mat, That’s right: DIRT)


A great introduction to Islay malts is Lagavulin. (pronounced "Lagga-voolin") It is by no means smooth when compared to your Dad’s blended scotch. But it has a certain refinement for its appellation. Lagavulin is one of the oldest distilleries in Scotland, so these lads know what they’re doing. I am not a great poet of tasting notes, if you must read about whiffs of chocolate and clover, see here. I will say that the aroma of this Islay is subdued, and the peat flavor is not so strong.





But when you want to go Xtreme Islay (sigh), you must consider Laphroaig. (“La-froyg”) As my good friend at redleopard put it: “Man it’s like chewing on a bog.” And he meant that with love, truly. This is an intense PEAT experience. The aroma alone may put you off tasting, but I urge persistence. Like truffles, it can truly be rewarding. So pour a wee dram, get into a pensive mood and have a flavor explosion.




One last note: how do you take it? Some purists demand that the scotch be taken straight up, room temp (cool-ish). This can be the best way to enjoy the aroma and the flavors, but I have been known to throw a block of ice in my glass from time to time. Just don’t ruin these gems with any water or (gasp) mixer.

Vegas? Again?

I will be attending my third trade show in four months tomorrow in Vegas. Not a big surprise since it is the city picked most often for trade shows, but it is getting OLD. I have been to Vegas dozens of times on business and pleasure and the city has just lost that magic it had when I first started going.

I have stayed on every major hotel on the Strip and Downtown. I have been to all the casinos, most of the shows and many of the better restaurants. While I enjoy gambling as a form of entertainment, it is something I am simply not interested in doing for hours on end, so, in short, Vegas gets boring for me in about a day. The grand hotels and glitz just seem like the tacky, Americanized bastardizations of the real places I have been to (Paris, Rome, Venice, etc.). It's "been there, done that".

Anyway, the trade shows are interesting, and that is why I am going. I will post a report on PMA/DIMA (Photo Marketing Association/Digital Imaging Marketing Association) by Monday. I hope to see some interesting products and trends for consumer imaging products, sort of a specialized case of what I reported from CES.

Fourth Day on Job - The Truth Comes Out

It has actually become apparent over the last few days that the situation of my product isn't exactly what I was lead to believe when I interviewed. The implication was that the product I am marketing was a new entry that my company made a large investment in last quarter in PP&E (Plant, Property, Equipment) and this quarter in people (like me).

Turns out this isn't quite true. Well, it IS true, but it isn't the whole story.

While the company did invest a lot of money last quarter to bring this business on-line, it turns out this isn't exactly a new product category for my company. In my conversations with potential customers and with field sales, I find out that my company had actually entered this market several years ago and pulled out 18 months ago pissing off more than a few customers. Turns out that my three biggest leads were actually being sold this product when my company pulled the plug, leaving these guys "high and dry".

Now 18 months ago was near the bottom of the tech bust and a lot of tech companies were cutting products, people, overhead, you name it. Apparently this product category was cut with little notice to field sales or customers, so one sales guy had the distinction of traveling overseas with the president of the customer company to do a factory tour to show how committed we were, and then telling him a week later we were canning the product.

So my job is not only to market this product, but also to mend fences with some pissed off customers. Surprisingly, the customers I have contacted have been open to meeting with me, perhaps due more to my personal connections than anything else. My first job, however, will be to convince the customers that my company is serious about being in, staying in, and supporting this product category, making my job just a little harder.

Would knowing this info had changed my mind about accepting the position? No, it wouldn't. In a way, it just adds to the challenge of the job. But it would have been nice to have heard the whole story before I began, and at least before I started contacting customers.

Second & Third Day on Job - Win Over Sales

I have commented before about the epic battles between Sales and Marketing and how to avoid them. I am following my own advice and being very proactive about getting connected with the sales force and letting them know my strategy and plans, and getting their input and advice. This was very important to do immediately since I was already contacting potential customers I knew in this market and setting up meetings at an upcoming trade show. So here are the steps I took:

Step 1 - Contact VP Sales - I actually called him last week before I started, but he wasn't in, so I left a voice mail. I followed up with an email on Monday introducing myself and my desire to make sure we had "good sales/marketing coordination in this segment". I then listed the companies I was already in contact with about setting up meetings.

I received a "Welcome Aboard" email with the names of the salespeople for the accounts I named, and a thanks.

Step 2 - Contact Sales People - Dropping the name of the VP ("VP Sales gave me your name as the person to contact") I called and emailed the sales people, letting them know who I was, my position, and my desire to speak to them about their specific account. They all called back almost immediately and I had great conversations with all of them. They appreciated me getting their insight, account history, and their advice on how to move forward. In return I gave them my contact names and information, and my promise to keep them up to date on everything that happened at the trade show.

So now that I have included them in my strategy formulation and made them a part of the process from the beginning, sales and marketing can feel (and act like) we are on the same team.

Where Are They Now?

I remember protesters from about a year ago protesting the death of "innocent Iraqis". Where are they now?

Second Iraq Bombing Pushes Deal Toll to 100

First Day On Job - Update Rolodex

So I hurried to work today at the new job. Traffic was light until I ran into a stack of folded laundry on the stairs. That little back-up took a second or two to get around, so my total commute time was 12 seconds getting downstairs this morning.

When I took the job, they said I could work out of the local sales office (5 miles away) or from home. I have to work out of the house this week since my work laptop won't be ready for a while, and my personal laptop won't connect to the Lotus Notes server at the sales office. Even when I get my work computer, though, I think I will end up working from home most the time. The sales office is small - about 6 people - and they are usually out at customers. So if I am going to be alone at an office, it might as well be the one in my home (Mrs. Director works and Little Ms. Director goes to a nanny during the day, so I am ALONE).

I won't be lonely if today was an indication since I spent most of the day on the phone (and I will be traveling a lot so won't be in town probably 25% of the time). The product I am marketing is in a segment I was in 18 months ago, so I spent time calling some of my contacts to let them know where I was (and to find out if they would be interested in my product). The good news is that EVERYONE was interested in my product (well, service, actually). The bad news is that some of my contacts are no longer around.

Several times today I connected to a secretary and asked to speak to someone I knew. "That person is no longer with us" didn't stop me for a second. "Can I talk to the person who replaced him", or "This is Director Mitch from Company A and I would like to talk to the person responsible for ...." was my usual response. Each time I was connected to the right person and had good conversations, but it just goes to show you how fast a rolodex can get out of date.

Why Kirk is Better than Picard

Like you need a list of examples, but here's 100 (no permalink for the listing, so just scroll down to find the entry). A few of my favorites:

90. Kirk would personally throw Wesley off his bridge.
86. Kirk would never sing to children in a crisis.
66. Kirk says "Shoot first and wait for retaliation."
45. If Kirk finds a strange spinning probe, he blows it up.
26. Kirk plays god with lesser cultures, and then exploits them for resources.
6. Three Words: Flying Leg Kick

Of course Picard is better than either Janeway or Archer. I would put Archer at the bottom, BUT Archer is doing better this season, at least within the Zindi story line. Anyone who puts someone in an airlock and starts decompressing it in order to get info gets a big star in my book (I don't know how many times I rolled my eyes at some wimpy decision by Janeway). I didn't watch DSN enough to judge Cisco Sisco, but he's disqualified anyway since he is a captain of a stationary barge instead of a star ship.

Hat Tip: Poliblogger

Quiz for Friday!

Rorschach here, with a rare contribution. What's my pirate name? Too cool. How did I fare?

My pirate name is:

Red Roger Vane
Passion is a big part of your life, which makes sense for a pirate. You tend to blend into the background occaisionally, but that's okay, because it's much easier to sneak up on people and disembowel them that way. Arr!

Cigar Review: Habana Cohiba Lanceros

If there can be wine reviews on Outside the Beltway and Professor Bainbridge, I figure I could have periodic reviews on cigars (and maybe I can convince Rorschach to get away from his knife reviews and post some scotch reviews here).

Whether you are an American capitalist or a communist tyrant, there is just something about a cigar that allows you to relax and enjoy the fruits of your labor or the mass suppression of your people (although Castro supposedly stopped smoking for health reasons a few years ago).

In anticipation of my last day at my current company, I decided last night to enjoy one of the contraband Cuban Cohibas that I received as a Christmas present (non smokers should be aware that there are some Cuban and "non-Cuban" brands with the same name. Many of the non-Cuban brands were (re)started in other countries by the legitimate Cuban owners after they were run out of their country. So there are "Cohibas" and "Cuban Cohibas" or "Habana Cohibas" to specify the difference).

Now when I first started smoking cigars about a decade ago, I figured the mystique about Cuban cigars were just hype. I thought the combination of the "forbidden fruit" aspect of Cuban goods in conjunction with clever marketing made the reputation of Cuban cigars better than they deserved. After all, it's not like the other Caribbean countries that produce cigars - everywhere from the Dominican Republic to Haiti - are that far away from Cuba, so the cigars can't be that different.

Turns out - for me at least - that the mystique is true. The top two cigars I ever had are both Cubans, and I had one of them last night.

Gold Medal - The best cigar I ever had was a Habana Monte Christo No. 4. Enjoyed in the Cigar Bar of the Ambassador Hotel in Seoul, this cigar had an intense, complex flavor with absolutely no bite or after taste. People in the bar might have thought I was smoking something else since I kept turning the cigar towards me and looking it at after every puff, amazed at the richness of the flavor. Typically a cigar with a intense taste can be harsh and leave the taste with you long after words. If you go with a cigar that is less harsh, you usually end up with a bland, uninteresting taste. This cigar had the best of both: incredible taste and incredible smoothness. A perfect 100 in my book.

Silver Medal - Habana Cohiba Lanceros - This is actually the "current" review and the cigar I had last night. Like the Monte Christo, it has a rich intense flavor with hardly any bite. I didn't pick out this cigar since it was a gift, so this particular size was a little thinner and longer than I like (see info on cigar sizing here). I typically like larger ring gauges since I think they smoke cooler, and this length is longer than I like just due to the time it took to smoke it. So this would probably be close to perfect in a different size, but still an extremely good smoke. 96/100.

Bronze Medal - The only non-Cuban to medal is the Macanudo Vintage 1988 (Dominican Republic). These are 1988 versions of the Macanudo No. 5 that were specialty boxed since the company realized, like a wine, they had a great vintage on their hands. These are now extremely scarce and I haven't been able to find a box in three years, but these were the best non-Cuban smoke I have experienced. They don't have quite the complexity of the two Cubans above, but are extremely smooth with little bite whatsoever. There are also Vintage 1993s that are marketed, but I don't think they are nearly as good as the 1988s. 94/100.

Last Day As A Window Manager

So today is my last day as a window manager (but not as The Window Manager). Here is what I have been staring at for 14 months (taken with the handy camera phone, so fairly low quality).

(That's "Saddle Back" in the background, which is a landmark in Orange County, so I actually had a good view).

In a way, I am disappointed. When I accepted this job I was soooo happy and excited (of course after six months of unemployment I would have been happy getting a job cleaning toilets). I entered this job with a lot of hope that it would be a good career move and that I would be contributing to the company. It was probably four months into the job before I figured out that I wasn't being utilized for anything and that for the sake of my sanity and career that I would need to leave.

However, I did feel that I owed it to the company - and the guy who hired me - to stick around for at least a year. In an Asian company if someone leaves too quickly the hiring manager can actually lose face, so I hoped staying a year would mitigate that issue. The fact that my hiring manager was fired just before I announced actually made things easier for me and the company since my resignation can be pinned on the former president.

My total time at this company is exactly 14 months. That doesn't look great on a resume ("Why did you leave so soon?"), but I had to make the move. I don't expect my next job to be perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I do expect it to provide the challenge and growth that I need in my work.

Tasks for Bringing on a New Hire

As I go through all the tasks for starting my new job next week, it is interesting to compare it to 15 years ago when I started my first professional job.

My first day at a "real" job was in 1989 at what was then - and is today - one of the largest semiconductor companies in the U.S. There were about a dozen of us young, fresh college grads that went through half a day of "orientation", which gave an overview of the company, it's history, a video tape message from the CEO, and an overview of benefits. Being 21 and immortal, I didn't pay much attention to the health plan details, the pension (yes, they had one at that time), or any of the other benefits they droned on about (I remember thinking they seemed targeted towards people with families and how unfair that was).

I then went over to my building, where I was shown my cubical. Already waiting for me were a package of business cards (my first business cards!), a *286* (wow!) desktop (there was no such thing as a "laptop" in 1989, although Compaq had introduced 20 lb. "portables"), and a standard office phone. The company then assigned a guy to sit next to me who had been there for two years be my "mentor" and show me the ropes of the internal msg system (external email didn't really exist then, but the company had a mainframe email system which drove the company) and other things I needed to learn for my job. As a new college grad unfamiliar with the semiconductor industry, I would honestly say that I was not really an asset to the company until at least half a year or more into the job.

Fifteen years later I am starting a new company and things have changed. There won't be any "orientation" for me. I already understand the benefits well since they were a major point of the negotiations before I started by job (I have 401K match in my old job, but won't in the new job for a year, so I used the loss of matching as an argument to raise my salary even more). Pension? Does anyone have that anymore? The health plan details were handed out to me during the interview and poured over with the spouse before I even accepted the job. Any other benefits that help people with families will be greedily exploited.

I am getting a top of the line notebook, BUT it won't be ready until a week AFTER I start. Since this company uses the dreaded Lotus Notes system, this means I won't have access to my new work email until I get my notebook, so I am dead in the water computer and email wise for my first week (time to hit the phones!).

Business cards were ordered by the HQ secretary today, but they won't come in time for a trade show I am going to next week, so I have had to print up some temporary cards for my first week.

My cellphone - which didn't exist 15 years ago - is already in-hand, but only because I was responsible for getting the phone and contract, which the company will reimburse me for and then pick up the monthly contract.

Orientation? Someone showing me the ropes? Not this time. I was hired for a specific knowledge, skill, and sales set and I am expected to hit the ground running with little to no oversight from HQ. In essence, I am supposed to show THEM how to work this particular market segment.

Overall, I would give the new company a "C" for bringing me on board, mainly due to the computer taking so long. I accepted over two weeks ago and the ball should have started rolling the day they got my signed acceptance letter. However, based on a few other companies I have worked for and other people's experience I have heard about, this is probably about average for the typical company.

If a Buddha Bowl, Why Not...

I had lunch yesterday at a Thai restaurant where I enjoyed a Buddha Bowl, which was described on the menu as

Enjoy our dish of hot coconut milk broth, fresh lemongrass, shitake mushrooms and vegetables served over rice. A vegetarian delight Lord Buddha himself would enjoy!

So if one of the world's major religious figures can have a lunch special named for him, why not some of the other religions?

Lamb of God - Jesus Himself would recommend our stew of lamb, potatoes and vegetables. Even if it isn't your Last Supper, it would be a Sin not to enjoy this hearty meal.

InfidelKebob - Declare jihad on your hunger! This tender pork kebob is fired over mesquite to give it an explosive flavor. It would be suicide to miss this dish!

Moses Lunch Special - Is your appetite wandering in the wilderness? Don't let it plague you any longer. Our Kosher deli has a variety dishes that will make you believe you are experiencing manna from heaven.


It is left as an exercise for the readers to come up for a Hindu one (Ganesh?) in the comments section (or do a better one for the ones I have).

Stealing Credit Card Numbers with Cameraphones?

Techdirt links to a claim about camera phones being used to steal credit card numbers. Techdirt rightfully doubts the story and I thought it would be easy to put it to the test.

So, go ahead and steal my credit card info below. I put one of my credit cards (can you even tell which one?) and a small calculator with some digits on it side by side. I took a picture with my camera phone from arm's length, so about 3 feet away - which I assume would be the closest a criminal could get behind someone holding his credit card in his hand.

Picture was taken in VGA mode with a Samsung SPH-A620.

I don't think I will worry about anyone running up an Amazon bill with this.

Are Things Getting Better?

I read this by a anonymous commenter over at Slings and Arrows: If you think things are going well, you don't understand what the hell is going on.

So, are things going well? How do we tell? I think most people look at their situation and of people around them to judge how things are going. The layoff at some steel mill on the other side of the country is meaningless if you just got a huge raise and a postcard from your neighbor vacationing in France Spain. Similarly if you are unemployed, the news that incomes are up and unemployment is down isn't going to convince you that you should be happy.

So for me, I will compare two time periods about 18 months apart:

July 2002
- BOTH the wife and I are unemployed. My high-tech start-up went belly up, and my wife was laid off from her high-tech company during their third round of layoffs. Mortgage, young child, no income. What fun!

- Of the 42 people I worked with at my high-tech start-up, two were working.

- Post-grad roommate - also a techie - is unemployed in Seattle.

- Neighbor 1 is still unemployed after nine months. He was an executive in the hotel industry who lost his job a month after 9-11.

- Neighbor 2 is unemployed, but is okay financially. His consulting company sold out during the tech boom and he is sitting on cash, but getting bored at home. He thought he would have a job already.

- All direct family members are working, but feeling uneasy.

- For the record, unemployment during this time is 5.8% and GDP growth just ended 2Q01 at 1.3%.


Today
- After being employed for over a year, I am changing jobs to something more challenging. New salary is about 20% more than I was making at the time I become unemployed. Mrs. Director has been working at her job for over a year at a higher salary than she was making when she was laid off. She has in-the-money stock options vesting today and is getting a raise this month.

- Of the 42 people I worked with at my high-tech start-up, two are NOT working full time. One, our CFO, was working but resigned voluntarily when he had a run-in with his new CEO. The second guy is working part-time at a tech company, and I am actively talking to him about a potential full-time position at my new company.

- Ex-roomie has been employed at Amazon for over a year.

- Neighbor 1 has been working as an executive at a mid size company for half a year. A month after he started his new job he married his long-time girlfriend.

- Neighbor 2 has had four interviews in the last three weeks and thinks he will land two of the positions. His main concern about choosing his new job is his commute.

- Family is all working. Sister-in-law got promotion. Brother got promotion. Brother-in-law got promotion. Sis decided to work part time to spend more time with her son due to hubby's new promotion.

- Current unemployment is 5.7% (after peaking in the sixes), GDP growth is 4%.


So from MY point of view, things are going pretty darn well. If someone wants to tell me that things aren't going well, they're selling something, and whatever they're selling isn't going to make my life any better.

Of course someone blogging from Rochester - site of a yet another huge round of layoffs at Kodak - might give a different picture. But no matter how good things are going, there is always SOMEONE who isn't doing well. Even during the best of the internet bubble, people were laid off, people lost their homes, companies went out of business, and personal bankruptcies hit a record (for that time).

But overall I think most Americans are seeing what I'm seeing: things are improving. Keep in mind that 94.3% of Americans are working, and that's a big number in a country of about 150 million workers (and never mind that some economists think that the unemployment number is not capturing large swaths of the self-employed).

The bottom line, however, is that whatever you think - times are good, or times are bad - who do you fault or credit and what do you propose the government do about it? This is the fundamental question that separates conservatives and liberals.

You Sometimes Gotta Wonder About People in Business

Business Pundit has a link to the 2003 Awards for 101 Dumbest Decisions in Business. It takes a while to read through them, but all of them are the familiar stories from last year that made you go "What were they thinking?!?!" when you read them with your morning coffee.

It's stories like these that make you think that one has to be REALLY stupid to get to be a top decision maker in a U.S. company, or that perhaps a lot of people just lose touch with reality once they get the brass ring.

Just Because Everyone Else Is Doing It

create your own visited states map
or write about it on the open travel guide




create your own visited country map
or write about it on the open travel guide