Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Roadside Emergency Kit

Even if you faithfully follow our 10 maintenance tips, some breakdowns are unavoidable. Do yourself a favor and save some room in your trunk for the following items. They could turn a potential trip-wrecker into nothing more than an unexpected pit stop:
  • Screwdrivers and wrenches of various sizes
  • Jumper cables
  • A jack and tire iron
  • A can of "Fix-a-Flat" for temporarily sealing and inflating a flat tire
  • Water for both the radiator and yourself
  • Emergency flares and reflectors
  • Gloves
  • Blanket and towel
  • Flashlight [source: CBS News]
Read more at HowStuffWorks.com

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Wipe Your Feet

2.22.09

Wipe Your Feet

Article:

As a boy, my mother routinely reminded us to wipe our feet when we dashed into the house at full speed. She rarely even looked up as we came in. She just knew that brother and I would have dirty shoes.

Mom had good reason for concern. The empty lots and open fields were our playgrounds. And on the way home from our ventures, we walked through every mud puddle.

As an adult, I still clean my shoes before entering my home after a long day at school or work. I don't need my mother to remind me anymore—I get it because I pay for the carpet.

Recently, I've been thinking about the symbolism of removing the dirt from the world before entering my home. For years, I collected bad attitudes and negativity from the work world and brought them home to my young family. They never knew what my mood was going to be. Silently, hesitantly, they would size me up.

"What kind of day did he have? Can I tell him my problems? Can I share some good news? Will he snap at me for no reason?”

Read more at The High Calling


Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Poka-Yoke: A Misunderstood Concept

Shigeo Shingo introduced the concept of poka-yoke in 1961, when he was an industrial engineer at Toyota Motor Corporation. The initial term was baka-yoke, which means ‘fool-proofing’. In 1963, a worker at Arakawa Body Company refused to use baka-yoke mechanisms in her work area, because of the term’s dishonourable and offensive connotation. Hence, the term was changed to poka-yoke, which means ‘mistake-proofing’.

Poka-yokes are mechanisms used to mistake-proof an entire process. Ideally, poka-yokes ensure that proper conditions exist before actually executing a process step, preventing defects from occurring in the first place. Where this is not possible, poka-yokes perform a detective function, eliminating defects in the process as early as possible.

Read more at Manage Mentor


Got my new Nokia E51 last week. It's quite a nice smartphone. I've been a Windows Mobile user for many years and I though I'd never go back to Nokia. But with my E51, I'm finding that I could do as much as with my Windows Mobile phones.

I'm compiling some useful websites here:

http://www.getjar.com -- lots of free java applications and games
http://www.noeman.org/gsm -- Symbian apps and games forum
http://kma.mv/forum/ -- Symbian apps and games forum
htttp://dailymobile.se/ -- Daily Mobile forum. Your all-in-one phone blog
http://www.persian-forums.com/ -- Symbian forum
http://www.symbian-freeware.com/ -- free Symbian software
http://www.mobilecastle.biz/mobiles/ -- another smartphone forum
http://www.finestfones.com/
http://free-ngage-downloads.blogspot.com/
http://pinoy-symbian.com/ -- nice pinoy forum with a good number of applications
http://www.fillmobile.com/ -- free mobile software
http://www.mobile9.com/ -- online destination to share and download FREE content for your mobile phone

Monday, July 06, 2009

It pays for companies to take care of talent
By Abigail L. Ho
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:22:00 07/06/2009


MANILA, Philippines - The economic downturn is forcing businesses to cut costs here and there, sometimes going to the painful extent of letting people go.

While this may make sense at the onset, enterprises should think twice, thrice, 10 times before doing something that drastic.

The People Management Association of the Philippines says businesses should focus on strengthening their human resource if they want to be able to ride the recovery wave when it comes.

In a presentation at the Philippine International Franchise Conference and Expo 2009 last week, PMAP president and Corporate Executive Search managing director Grace Abella-Zata said the best route was to combine “buying, building and borrowing” talents.

Read more at Philippine Daily Inquirer Money