Domestic US Travel - Baggage rules changed!
Did you know that beginning May 5, some of the larger airlines are going to charge for the 2nd bag? Yes, those are some changes coming your way. Here is a sample from United: United Airlines Baggage Allowance
If you are traveling for a short business trip it may not matter. If you are traveling on your nickel and going for economy fares, then you will be restricted to free baggage allowance of 1 bag weighing 50 lbs or less! Also, all the airlines making this change are making it effective May 5! Is this a racket or what?
Information Overload
Recently there was a blog entry on Wall Street Journal blogs (http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/03/13/its-official-theres-too-much-information) on size of data that is being stored on various storage devices. Going forward this amount is going to increase exponentially. Is there really that much more information or is the same information being duplicated endlessly without paying attention. Many of us don’t pay attention on how we are adding to the problem. We tend to keep multiple copies as device failure is inevitable. We are also guilty of storing more information because the monetary cost associated with it seems very low (at least if we are not paying for it).
What would you do in the following scenarios?
- Imagine if you had to pay for every email that you sent based on it size just like snail mail, would you think twice about attaching and forwarding jokes?
- What about when you hit the ‘Reply’ button vs. ‘Reply All’ button?
- What about sending those documents to all the recipients – especially in the case of corporate email users?
Would your behavior change if you had to pay (monetarily) for it?
If you are a believer in the lean principles, do less accomplish more principles, how would you go about organizing your data? Of course, the need to preserve electronic documents such as photos or PDF copies of statements is important and will eat up storage. What else are you storing that is really clutter? All this leads to another topic of backup. I will jot those thoughts in a separate post. In the mean time, join me in clearing up our own electronic clutter!
What’s your legacy going to be?
Many years ago I heard someone talk about epitaphs. He said that one should consider what they are doing through their entire life as the epitaph doesn’t give much room for essays but a short description.
Recently I watched a video at TED online. The video is embedded here for you. There is one phrase that I liked in this talk – ‘we should leave a value legacy and not a financial legacy’. The idea of a ‘value’ legacy resonated with me. Everyone’s personal situation is different.
I had seen a book written by Gulzar, a Indian movie director, lyricist, writer, and poet. The book was a collection of poems that he used to present to his daughter. It seems on every birthday he would present her with a poem. Those poems turned into a book. I thought what a nice way to compile a legacy.
I am also very fortunate that my dad and I also exchange frequent emails and letters. Once in a while, we make it a point to write hand written letters to surprise each other. Recently I got into an emotional mode and wrote a letter to my daughter on her 7th birthday. I recalled the joy of her birth and the past few years. The experience was quite enriching for me personally as I was able to jot down my emotions now rather than some future date. I hope I can continue doing that regularly.
The following video is only 5 min.
Book - Myths of Innovation
During a recent visit to the library the title of this book caught my attention. I wanted to browse a few pages but found it hard to put the book down. It dealt with the our preconceived notions of how innovations work. The book also gives a systematic overview of what it takes for innovations to be successful. If you are in the mood for understanding how innovation works, this book is a good read. The following are some of the points discussed.
How Innovations Start
- Hard work in a specific direction
- Hard work with direction change
- Curiosity
- Wealth & Money
- Necessity
- All of the above
Challenges of Innovation
- Find an idea
- Develop a solution
- Sponsorship & funding
- Reproduction
- Reach your potential customer
- Beat your competitors
- Timing
- Keep the lights on – keep afloat to pay your current bills
Paths to Innovation
- Self knowledge
- Be intense, but step back
- Grow to size
- Honor luck and the past
How Innovations Gain Adoption
- Relative Advantage – value of new vs. old
- Compatability – how does it fit current environment, transition effort needed
- Complexity – how much learning has to be done
- Trialability – ease of trying it out
- Observerablity – visibility of results