Halloween Computer

Enjoying Halloween with a corresponding computer.

Today is the evening when old and young alike will go out to celebrate Halloween.  For those who like computers, you might celebrate the evening with a Halloween Computer.  Trick or Treat? Good day.

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Photograph: Tea Fields

Credit: Pixdaus, God gave us Pics!

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Google Released Chrome Version 0.3.154.9

In an effort to keep up with the pack and maintain its competitive edge amongst Web browsers, Google unveiled Chrome’s Version 0.3.154.9 yesterday; the third Chrome Beta release.  Chrome users can expect an automatic update soon.

What is new in this release?  I’m using information researched by Thomas Claburn of InformationWeek. Let’s take a look.

Version 0.3.154.9 fixes a security issue that allowed address spoofing in pop-up windows. “The window’s address bar could be manipulated to show a different address than the actual origin of the content,” explains Mark Larson, Google Chrome program manager, in a blog post.

“Version 0.3.154.9 also enables laptop touchpad scrolling, improves plug-in and proxy performance and reliability, fixes a PDF crash generated by closing a tab, and eliminates the storage of data from secure sites.

The updated Chrome also has benefited from some housekeeping and interface changes. The menu commands “New incognito window” and “New window” now always open new windows, privacy protected and normal, respectively. The spell checker now works on text input fields and allows users to add words to the spell check dictionary. And file downloading has been changed to make it more secure.”

Chrome is currently available for Windows XP and Vista; Google plans to release a Mac version in the near future.  There are two ways to obtain this latest release.

1. Automatic Update:  Click General Settings button located on the upper right hand corner.  It’s the one with a little blue wrench icon.  Next, click About Google Chrome.  Next, click the Update button to upgrade application.  Next, restart Chrome and you’re done.
2. Download Chrome Version 0.3.154.9:  Download and install Chrome’s latest release by clicking here.  Remember to select Chrome’s language.  The list of languages is quite generous as you can see.

Now that you have Chrome’s latest version, go ahead and surf the Web to your heart’s content.  Good day.

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The Sinking Ship of Jerry Yang

As time passes by the future of Yahoo is more and more uncertain. It's sad to see a sinking ship.

Unless you have been living under a rock, you already know that Yahoo missed the opportunity to sell all its shares to Microsoft. The deal went On and Off for several months, until both parties decided that it was “Thanks but no thanks”.

Basically Microsoft’s unsolicited bid for Yahoo was worth $44.6 billion. The bid, which would consist of cash and Microsoft stock, valued Yahoo shares at $31 a share, a 62 percent premium on January 31, 2008 closing price.  Specifically this is what Microsoft proposed:

“I am writing on behalf of the Board of Directors of Microsoft to make a proposal for a business combination of Microsoft and Yahoo!. Under our proposal, Microsoft would acquire all of the outstanding shares of Yahoo! common stock for per share consideration of $31 based on Microsoft’s closing share price on January 31, 2008, payable in the form of $31 in cash or 0.9509 of a share of Microsoft common stock.

Our proposal represents a 62% premium above the closing price of Yahoo! common stock of $19.18 on January 31, 2008.”

At this moment, Yahoo’s share are selling for only $13.03 and the winds at Wall Street are still blowing strong.  If a miracle doesn’t happen soon, the price of those share will be near to zero, zip, diddly, nothing, nada, zilch.

I’m afraid Jerry Yang’s Yahoo resembles a sinking ship.  In an attempt to save their lives, many valuable top executives are jumping overboard.  Even though Yahoo recently announced a strategic reorganization, the situation hasn’t changed an iota.  The problem with this step is that that the company is losing many of the executives who have control over day-to-day operations.

And in some cases, the departures spread multiple steps down the hierarchy, depriving Yahoo of talent to promote and of expertise to train any new arrivals. Major turnover on this scale can turn succession planning into improv theater.

Yahoo played down the importance of the mass exodus. “We have a deep and talented management team across all areas of the company…and we continue to recruit outstanding talent,” the company said in a statement.

Yerry Yang is trying desperately to keep his vessel afloat, but Wall Street isn’t cooperating.  The latest action by Yang is to reduce it’s payroll by ten percent.  This will save the company $400 million in annual costs.  I’m afraid he will have to do more than that.  With precious gems like Flickr and Delicious, Yahoo should create new service consolidations to make the profit machine start coughing greenbacks.  For that you need loyal, hardworking and innovative people on your side.  But the problem is, these are precisely the people leaving the company.

This is the E-mail Yang sent to all Yahoo’ers on October 21, 2008 (Yang doesn’t like to use capital letters in his internal correspondence):

From: Jerry Yang [mailto:jerry@yahoo-inc.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 21, 2008 2:20 PM
To: all-worldwide@yahoo-inc.com
Subject: update

yahoos,

i feel it’s important for me to reach out to you after our earnings announcement, and before our all hands meeting tomorrow.

we as a company have been through a tremendously challenging year; and managing the increasingly turbulent global advertising climate has been an important focus for the last three months.

throughout the first three quarters of 2008, we have been balancing between investing in our top priorities, and managing our cost structure. beginning in september, with the help of Bain & Co., we initiated a series of steps to determine how we can become more efficient and productive as an organization.

we heard from you through the YEES survey, and through your suggestions on backyard, and we’ve identified many areas that we all feel we can improve upon. our productivity efforts, based in part on what we heard from you, will involve initiatives such as streamlining our organizational structure through reducing layers and increasing spans of control, and eliminating redundancies. longer term structural efficiencies include consolidating facilities, improving procurement, and standardizing our global technology platforms.

today as part of our q3 earnings release, we said that our goal is to reduce our current annualized cost run rate of roughly $3.9 billion by more than $400 million before the end of 2008. we are targeting non-headcount expenses wherever possible, such as facilities and outside services. however, because compensation expenses are the single largest part of our costs, we anticipate a reduction of at least 10% of our global workforce by year-end.

affected employees will be notified of layoffs in the next several weeks. we understand that hearing this news now creates uncertainty, but we are moving ahead in a way that balances speed with a clear focus on accomplishing what is necessary to set the organization up for long term success. going forward it will continue to be important for us to make the right decisions to keep our business efficient and strong.

having layoffs is very difficult, particularly in light of all we’ve experienced this year. but we don’t take these decisions lightly, and are committed to treating affected employees fairly, offering severance and outplacement services.

the steps we are taking are not easy for us as a company, but as we become more fit as an organization, decision-making will be faster and it will be easier for us all to get more done and stay focused on our strategy. these changes will also prepare us to better deal with the macroeconomic downturn. as with previous downturns, yahoo! continues to be a place where consumers turn for information and communications, and is an integral part of their internet day. as the global economy improves in the future, i certainly believe that we will be stronger and benefit from the actions we are taking now.

as always, i thank you for all you do as yahoos.

best,

jerry

Will Jerry succeed and refloat his Titanic?  What do you think?  Good day.

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Photograph: Windmills

Windmills (Credit: Pixdaus, God Gave Us Pics!)

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Know Thy Reader – Web Browsers

In an effort to better understand  the characteristics of my readers, I would appreciate if you would take a few seconds of your time to take the following poll about Web browsers.  Thank you very much for your cooperation:

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More on English Idiomatic Expressions

If you have traveled to the United States, you were certainly exposed to many English idiomatic phrases that meant nothing to you, yet made a lot of sense to native Americans. I remembered those days when I visited New York for an international sales seminar and heard conversations of Americans that were riddles to me. What kind of English are they talking? Well, it was the use of idiomatic phrases that were so confusing to me.

By idiomatic expression, we mean an expression (a group of words) in a fixed order that have a particular meaning that is different from the meanings of each word understood on its own. This manner of expression is called idiom.

The bad thing about idioms is that you can’t find their definitions in standard English dictionaries. Another annoyance is that idioms are not usually taught at traditional English courses. Thus therefore, non-native speakers of the English language will find it very difficult and confusing when used in communication to them directly or indirectly. However, they are very easy and quick to learn when their meanings are explained.

R. Edmondson, author of blog Did You Know?, has written an extensive article about these English idiomatic expressions. I have selected ten idiomatic expressions that are widely used by most Americans in their everyday conversations as an example:

1.  Back to square one
Meaning: Back to the beginning, to start again.

2.  Chip on his shoulder
Meaning: To harbor a grudge.

3.  Crocodile tears
Meaning: Fake tears.

4.  Get off on the wrong foot
Meaning: Make a bad start to a project or relationship.

5.  Get your feet wet
Meaning: To get your first experience of something.

6.  Have an ax to grind
Meaning: Have an ulterior motive.

7. Hold your horses
Meaning: Hold on; be patient.

8.  In a Nutshell
Meaning: In very few words; briefly; clearly and to the point.

9. Kick the bucket
Meaning: Die.

10.  Last but not least
Meaning: An indication that something or someone are not necessarily in order of importance.

I encourage you to read and study the ample list provided by Mr. Edmonson. If you do, the next time you travel to the United States, you will not be exposed to embarrassing communication situations.

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Photograph: Follow The Leader

 

Credit: Pixdaus, God Gave Us Pics!

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The Helping Hand of Uncle Sam

When is enough enough?  For several years, the U.S. Treasury has been printing bills at a frantic pace to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Then the printing press was used once more to bail out Wall Street companies, banks and insurance companies that were on the brink of going belly up.

Now, waiting in line is the automobile industry.  Even as we speak the Bush administration is examining a range of options for providing emergency financial help to spur a merger between General Motors and Chrysler.

The White House is exploring the option to provide financial assistance to the deeply troubled Big Three Detroit automakers, possibly by using the Treasury Department’s wide-ranging authority under the $700 billion bailout program recently approved by the U.S. Congress.

A bailout for carmakers would be the latest in a series of government-financed rescue efforts for banks, Wall Street firms and an insurance conglomerate. While few experts dispute the car industry’s troubles, rescuing them would also increase political pressure to help ailing industries like airlines and steel producers.

Both G.M. and Chrysler are in desperate need of cash to stave off possible bankruptcy filings. G.M., the nation’s largest automaker, lost $18.8 billion in the first six months of the year, and is burning through more than $1 billion in cash each month.  The company had $21 billion in cash as of June, but is rapidly depleting its reserves to offset declining revenues. Analysts said that at its current cash-burn rate, G.M. would fall below its minimum operating requirements by sometime next year.

The failure of General Motors, the Ford Motor Company or Chrysler would have broad consequences for the economy. The companies combined employ more than 200,000 people in the United States, and indirectly support jobs for millions more Americans through their suppliers and dealerships.  If any of the three companies were to go bankrupt, it would probably leave behind huge liabilities for federal and state governments.

I understand many companies will be hit by the current financial tsunami in Wall Street, but the sixty thousand dollar question is; does the U.S. Treasury have unlimited funds to bail out all the companies that could go bankrupt?  In my book, you can’t spend more than what you earn.  It’s time for Mr. Bush to open his eyes and start adding his incomes and expenses.  He doesn’t have much time.

Source:  White House Explores Aid for Auto Deal – The New York Times

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Photograph: Spooky Moon

Spooky Moon (Credit: Pixdaus, God Gave Us Pics!)

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