Remembering Steve Jobs (1955 – 2011). You’ll be Missed

On October 5, 2011 (Wednesday), just one day after the launching of iPhone 4s, the co-founder of Apple Steve Jobs passed away. Apple and the world have lost one of the most innovative and visionary figure. During his life time, Steve Jobs had inspired lots of people with his attainments, his thought and his words.

Following are some of my favorites Steve Jobs words :

Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower

Recruiting is hard. It’s just finding the needles in the haystack. You can’t know enough in a one-hour interview. So, in the end, it’s ultimately based on your gut. How do I feel about this person? What are they like when they’re challenged? I ask everybody that : ‘Why are you here?’ The answers themselves are not what you’re looking for. It’s the meta-data.

That’s been one of my mantras – FOCUS and SIMPLICTY. Simple can be harder than complex. You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.

Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful … that’s what matters to me

I was worth over $1,000,000 when I was 23, and over $10,000,000 when I was 24, and over $100,000,000 when I was 25, and it wasn’t that important because I never did it for the money

You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them. By the time you get it built, they’ll want something new

Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works

In most people’s vocabularies, design means veneer. It’s interior decorating. it’s the fabric of the curtains of the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a human-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service.

Why join the navy if you can be a pirate? It’s more fun to be a pirate than to join the navy.

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it. They just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things. And the reason they were able to do that was that they’ve had more experiences or they have thought more about their experiences than other people.

Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It’s not about money. It’s about the people you have, how you’re led, and how much you get it.

Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.” It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I’m about to do today?” And whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered  to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you’re going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

Steve was among the greatest of American innovators - brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it (The White House Blog : President Obama on the Passing of Steve Jobs: "He changed the way each of us sees the world.")

How Dirty is Your Desk ? Accountants and Lawyers are the owners of the dirtiest desks

A research conducted by Viking, a UK based supplier of office stationery (www.viking-direct.co.uk) as published by Telegraph.co.uk revealed out that lawyers, accountants and computer workers are the most unhygienic office workers in the country. While social workers are more likely to have mouldy food on their desks.

A study of desks by office supplies firm Viking in hundreds of offices across the country found poor levels of hygiene. Germs were found in almost two-thirds of computer keyboards, while some even had mould growing underneath. Phones and desks also had  germs, Viking found after analysing swabs sent in by hundreds of office workers (Telegraph.co.uk – 03 October 2011).

Although many of office desks are not germ free, most of office workers are not aware of the present of germs on their desks because actually sometimes they are invisible. According to the study, not more than 50 percent of workers who realize that their desks are not sterile.

Besides, the habit of having lunch at the working desks also influential to the healthiness and cleanliness of the office space. About 2 of 3 employees surveyed admitted that they are not always clean up their desks after eating lunch or having snack on it.

So, your desk may look clean, but who knows thousands of germs are already partying beneath.

Dr Lisa Ackerley (Viking hygiene expert) has several tips to help you keep your desk away from germs :

  1. Clean your keyboard and desk regularly with an air duster to get into all of the tiny spaces followed by antibacterial wipes, particularly if you hot desk
  2. Always wash your hands with soap and warm water after going to the toilet. It should take the same time as singing the song “Happy birthday to you” twice. Hand washing should be followed up by using hand sanitizer gel
  3. Use anti-bacterial wipes to clean your office space, not a cloth, that way the germs are killed and the cloth is thrown away, no chance of the bacteria surviving and spreading around the office. It is also worthwhile keeping a container of anti bacterial hand gel on your desk to use throughout the day
  4. Wash your hands when you arrive at work (or get home) and use a sanitising gel throughout the day
  5. If food falls on the floor – bin it! (Many people believe that if you drop food on the floor, so long as you pick it up within 5 seconds, it will be safe. WRONG!)
  6. Clean your desk and telephone with an anti-bacterial wipe and use anti-bacterial gel on your hands.

(Source : http://www.vikingdirtydesks.co.uk/)

The 30th Inc.500 Annual List, presenting America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies

The Inc.500 is an annual ranking of the 500 America’s Fastest-Growing Private Companies, organized and published by Inc. magazine, a monthly publication magazine based in New York City which focused on growing companies issues.

The 2011 Inc.500 is the 30th publication of Inc.500 annual list. You may find the complete report from the September 2011 issue of Inc.magazine.

The Inc.500 list was conducted in accordance to the percentage of revenue growth of U.S based private companies over a four year period. To qualify, companies must have been founded and generating revenues by the first week of the starting calendar year, and therefore able to show four full calendar years of sales. Additionally, they had to be U.S. based, privately held, and independent – no subsidiaries or divisions of other companies – as of December 31 of the last year measured. Revenue in the initial year must have been at least $200,000, and revenue in the most recent year must have been at least $2 million.

The 2011 #1 of the list, ideeli (www.ideeli.com) is a New York based private company. Launched in June 2007, ideeli is now one of the fastest-growing retailers in the U.S. With over 4 million members and more than 1,000 brand partners, ideeli has pioneered a new and exciting way to shop.

Ideeli sells apparel, accessories, housewares, and travel, a mix similar to that of its best-known independent competitor, Gilt Groupe.

Check out the statistics of ideeli as published in the 2011 Inc.500 :

  • 3-Year Growth : 40,882%
  • Revenue (million) : $77.7 million (2010); 2007 Revenue was $189,510
  • Industry : Retail
  • # of Employee : 145
  • Founded in 2006

Follow this link to find the full list of The 2011 Inc.500.

Read also my older post for the last year 2010 Inc.500 : “The 2010 Inc. 500/500”, the list of 5.000 fastest growing private companies in America

Kate Middleton, amongst the 2011 International Best-Dressed Women

5609740 The attractive appearance of Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, always attracts the public attention. No wonder, Vanity Fair magazine nominated her among the top best-dressed women in their International Best-Dressed List.

As reported by Vanity Fair on August 3,2011,

“For the first time as a member of the British royal family, Kate Middleton makes her way onto the International Best-Dressed List – her inaugural appearance came in 2008, and a whirlwind of fashion successes since has earned her a nod this year. She’s captivated the world with her signature mix of high and low fashion” (Read further : Revealed! The 2011 International Best-Dressed List)

Not just the International Best-Dressed Women List, Vanity Fair also published the list of the International Best-Dressed Men. Within the list, among other are the Hollywood celebrities namely Justin Timberlake, Colin Firth, and Armie Hammer.

Here is the complete list of the 72nd annual Vanity Fair International Best Dressed List :

INTERNATIONAL BEST-DRESSED LIST : WOMEN

  1. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy : singer-songwriter, actress, and First Lady of France
  2. H.H Sheikha Moza Bint Nasser of Qatar : wife of H.H. the Emir of Qatar and UNESCO special envoy for basic and higher education
  3. H.R.H. The Duchess of Cambridge : wife of the future King of England
  4. Andrea Dellal : mother of four
  5. Carey Mulligan : actress
  6. Christine Lagarde : managing director, International Monetary Fund
  7. Tilda Swinton : filmmaker and actress
  8. Lizzie Tisch : entrepreneur
  9. H.S.H. Princess Charlene of Monaco : former Olympic swimmer and wife of Albert II, Prince of Monaco
  10. Jane Lauder Warsh : president of Origins and Ojon

INTERNATIONAL BEST-DRESSED LIST : MEN

  1. Mario D’Urso : chairman of Mittel Capital
  2. Arpad Busson : financier
  3. Alejandro Santo Domingo : financier
  4. Colin Firth : actor
  5. Stavros Niarchos : shipping heir
  6. Nicholas Foulkes : historian, writer and editor
  7. Marcus Samuelsson : chef, restaurant owner, and cookbook author
  8. Armie Hammer : actor
  9. Justin Timberlake : actor, producer, singer-songwriter and designer
  10. Jenson Button : Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 driver

The photo of Kate Middleton was taken from : AskMen.com

Chrome Incognito Mode, keep your privacy while browsing the net

If you’re Google Chrome user and you’re concerned about the privacy while browsing the net, then you may try to switch your browser to the Incognito mode (private browsing).

What is exactly the Incognito (stealth) mode?

Incognito (stealth) mode is one of the browsing feature available in Google Chrome browser which will help you keeping your privacy while browsing the web.

How does it work and how it can protect your privacy ?

Based on Google Chrome support pages, the Incognito mode works as follows :

  • Webpages that you open and files downloaded while you are incognito aren’t recorded in your browsing and download histories;
  • All new cookies are deleted after you close all incognito windows that you’ve opened;
  • Changes made to your Google Chrome bookmarks and general settings while in incognito mode are always saved.

How to turn on this feature? Read further : Google Chrome Incognito mode (private browsing)

Good Morning, Atlantis. This is Beyonce

Beyonce Knowles just granted an honor from the U.S. NASA. Her golden voice was chosen to be a wake-up call for astronauts who are aboard the Atlantis space shuttle.

Following in the footsteps of several famous singer artists who previously alarmed the astronauts with their special songs, such as Paul McCartney (Good Day Sunshine), Elton John (Rocket Man) and also REM-Michael Stipe (Man on the Moon), she must be very proud of this special mission.

Not just her single “Run the World (Girls)” was played on last Saturday, the ninth day after the astronauts blasted off, she was also messaging the U.S. NASA crew, “Good morning, Atlantis. This is Beyonce. Sandy, Chris, Doug and Rex, you inspire all of us to dare to live our dreams, to know that we’re smart enough and strong enough to achieve them.”

“Run the World (Girls")” is specially dedicated to Sandy Magnus, the only female member of the Atlantis spaceship. “This song is especially for my girl Sandy and all the women who’ve taken us to space with them and the girls who are our future explorers.”

How to Change Your Old Jeans into a Cool Laptop Bag

I just saw this video on YouTube. Quite impressive with the creativity and the idea of recycling an old jeans into a laptop bag. Cool enough I think. But it’s better to sew up the bottom part of the jeans recycled bag with sewing machine. This will keep the bottom of the bag stronger and to avoid the laptop from sliding down and crash.

Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, FHM and Maxim Sexiest Woman in the World

There are two notable days for Victoria’s Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in this May 2011. Just several days ago, on May 3, 2011 Maxim Magazine unveiled its “2011 Hot 100 List” and crowned her as their chosen Hottest Woman in the World. And then, following on May 5, 2011 another world’s popular Men’s Magazine, FHM in its “FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2011” also nominated Rosie Huntington as the World’s Sexiest Woman ever, replacing Cheryl Cole who occupied this position for two consecutive years.

At the second place of 2011 FHM 100 is Katty Perry, spouse of Russell Brand. Following seated at #3 is top singer Rihanna. While Megan Fox spotted at #4. And Olivia Wilde landed at #5.

Here is the top ten list of this year’s Sexiest Women of FHM :

  1. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
  2. Katy Perry
  3. Rihanna
  4. Megan Fox
  5. Olivia Wilde
  6. Brooklyn Decker
  7. Marisa Miller
  8. Kelly Brook
  9. Nicole Scherzinger
  10. Irina Shayk

Explore the complete 100 nomination in here : FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2011

 

Photo source : FHM.com

Who are the Hottest Women in the World? (MaximGirls 2011 Hot 100)

As posted on Tuesday, 03 May 2011, MAXIM, the guy’s guide magazine has launched its annual ranking of MaximGirls 2011 Hot 100. Who are amongst the list ?

Rosie Hungington-Whiteley, the super model of Victoria’s Secret and star of the upcoming movie (replacing Megan Fox) ‘Transformers : Dark of the Moon’ crowned on top of the list as the hottest 2011 MaximGirl. The second sexiest is Olivia Munn. Following by Katy Perry at the 3rd place. While Cameron Diaz and Mila Kunis spotted at the 4th and 5th place, respectively.

Kate Middleton, the new Duchess of Cambridge, spouse of Prince William elected amongst the 2011 hottest women of Maxim at #26, behind Britney Spears who was listed at #25, headed Kim Kardashian (ranked at #35 of the list), Lindsay Lohan (ranked at #38), Hilary Duff (ranked at #40) and even Selita Ebanks, one of the Victoria’s Secret angel who was ranked at #50 of the list.

Click the following link to explore the complete list of : MaximGirls 2011 Hot 100

Forbes Global 2000 List : World’s Biggest Companies. Who are getting BIGGER?

On April 20, 2011, Forbes.com launched the “Forbes Global 2000 List : World’s Biggest Companies. It’s a comprehensive report on the best performance of the world’s largest companies with JPMorgan Chase heading as the world’s largest public company for the second consecutive year.

The Global 2000 list was conducted by screening Interactive Data, Thomson Reuters Fundamentals and Worldscope databases via FactSet Research Systems for companies that were publicly trading as of March 11, 2011. Using such databases as the primary sources of data, the ranking of the biggest companies were selected in four metrics : sales, profits, assets and market value. The market value calculation is as of March 11 closing prices, including all common shares outstanding.

All figures are consolidated and in U.S dollars. A 12-months’ financial data (sales, profits and assets) were used for all selected companies in the U.S., Canada and off-shore (such as Bermuda). While the latest-fiscal-year financial data were used for international companies. Read more : Global 2000 Methodology

Seated on top, JPMorgan Chase reported sales of $115.5B, profits of $17.4B, assets of $2,117.6B and market value of $182.2B. At the second place is HSBC Holdings of United Kingdom with $103.3B of sales, $13.3B of profits, 2,467.9B of assets and $186.5B of market value. And the second runner up is General Electric with $150.2B of sales, $11.6B of profits and 751.2B of assets.

While ExxonMobil of United States spotted at the 4th place, following by Royal Dutch Shell of Netherlands at the 5th place.

Two companies from China, PetroChina and ICBC are ranked at the 6th and 7th respectively.

At the 8th place is Berkshire Hathaway of United States. And Petrobras-Petroleo Brasil of Brazil ranked at the 9th position. Closing the top ten position is Citigroup of United States.

Read the complete list from Forbes.com : Forbes Global 2000 List

Picture of JPMorgan Chase & Co was taken from : Politico.com

Watch the Glorious Royal Wedding of William and Kate Live on YouTube

Previously, the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton had been planned to be filmed in a 3D technology, but later it was cancelled.

As reported by The Telegraph on February 9, 2011, “Prince William and Kate Middleton’s wedding will not be filmed in 3D because of the space needed for the format’s cameras and its relatively small audience”.

Further, it also reported that there are a number of reasons for the cancellation, most notably the additional camera footprint in the Abbey, the relatively small audience for 3D, and the anxiety to not be distracted away from negotiating and facilitating the optimal 2D radio, photographic and online coverage of the day. Read more from The Telegraph

Although the plan to film the wedding ceremony of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 3D was cancelled, it’s still possible to watch the event that will be held at Westminster Abbey on April 29, 2011 live on YouTube.

The Telegraph on April 19, 2011 reported that the royal wedding will be broadcast live on YouTube after Prince William and Kate Middleton insisted they wanted their marriage to be the world’s most interactive public event.

Not just that, St James’s Palace will also use another popular social media namely Twitter and Facebook to host a dedicated social network giving the public constant updates and a chance to provide feedback.

A spokesman for St James’s Palace said : “We wanted people to be able to interact with the royal wedding as they watch it. Prince William and Catherine Middleton are like any other people their age in respect of social media. They are Facebook users and YouTube users .. and their intention has always been that their wedding should be accessible to everyone.” Read more from The Telegraph

To watch the royal wedding live on YouTube, just go to : http://youtube.com/theroyalchannel

Photo source : NYDailyNews.com

Top 10 Most Beautiful Royal Women of All Time

Queen Rania at Bambi Awards 2007 Kate Middleton, this name becomes familiar with us recently. Born as Catherine Elizabeth Middleton on 9 January 1982, she is the fiancée of Prince William of Wales. Their wedding is to take place on 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey. Her wedding with Prince William will crowned her as the third most beautiful royal women of all time.

According to a polling conducted by BeautifulPeople.com, a social networking and an exclusively beautiful community website which founded for the purpose of creating personal and professional relationship, Kate Middleton coming in at number three surpassing Princess Diana.

“That was a big surprise – that she surpassed Princess Diana,” said Greg Hodge, managing director of BeautifulPeople.com, as reported by New York Post. “But unlike Diana, who grew into her role, Kate Middleton comes in very fashion-forward. She’s living this fairy tale, and is about to become the most famous princess in the world.” Read more from New York Post

Based on the survey, Kate collected 84 % vote of 127,000 respondents which are the users of the site. Princess Grace of Monaco – also known as the Oscar-winning actress “The Country Girl” Grace Kelly – ranked at the top of the list, with a 91 % vote, closely followed by Queen Rania of Jordan who spotted at the second place with 90 % of vote. While Kate Middleton seated at the third place with 84 % vote, following behind her is Princess Diana at the fourth place with 82 % vote.

Here is the complete list of the “Top 10 Most Beautiful Royal Women” of Beautiful People.com :

  1. Princess Grace of Monaco – 91%
  2. Queen Rania of Jordan – 90%
  3. The candidate Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton – 84%
  4. Diana, Princes of Wales – 82%
  5. Princess Charlotte of Monaco – 76%
  6. Princess Gayatri Devi – 75%
  7. Princess Madeline of Sweden – 74%
  8. Crown Princess Mary of Denmark – 72%
  9. Princess Margaret – 70%
  10. Princess Masako of Japan – 68%

Read also from another related resources :

  1. Kate Middleton to become 'third most beautiful royal in history' when she marries Prince William - The Telegraph
  2. Most Beautiful Royals: Princess Grace, Kate Middleton, Princess Diana & More - Huffington Post
  3. Most beautiful royals in the world - CBS News

Check out the list from : Beautiful People.com

The photo of Queen Rania of Jordan was taken from : Zimbio.com

Need an Idea to Start a Business in 2011 ? Read first the List of Top 17 Chosen Industries to Start a Business by Inc.com

On April 11, 2011, Inc.magazine through its website Inc.com released its publication of “2011 list of Best Industries to Start a Business”.

Through the process of analyzing, comparing and compiling data from three private research companies, Sageworks Inc., which does past and current financial analysis of privately held companies, AnythingResearch.com, which provides industry market research analysis, reports and publications, and IBISWorld, which provides detailed past industry growth percentages, revenue forecasts for the next five years, employment growth, profit margin averages, and industry competition ratings, the list has pinpointed 17 industries that are not only growing, but also ripe for new companies.

What kind of industries are selected as the best industries to starting a business in 2011 ?

Maybe you will pick out the hi-tech industry or web based industry or maybe the property construction industry. Sorry to tell you that you’re absolutely wrong.

The survey and research conducted by Sageworks Inc., AnythingResearch.com and IBISWorld elected technical and trade schools as one of the best industries to starting business in 2011. As reported by Inc.com,  the technical and trade schools are particularly strong (with a 15 percent increase in sales), as the unemployed or underemployed seed additional skills, even as employment numbers slowly improve.

Here is the complete list of chosen industries to starting a business in 2011 :

  • Employment Agencies
  • Technical and Trade Schools
  • The Beauty Industry
  • Organic Snacks
  • Language Schools
  • Automobile Dealers
  • Public Relations Firms
  • Historical Sites
  • Clothing Accessories Stores
  • Financial Planning, Advice and Investment
  • Online Dating and Matchmaking
  • Location-Aware Apps
  • Physical Therapy
  • Environmental Consulting
  • Recreational Goods Rental
  • Real Estate Appraisal
  • Green Toys

Click the image below to read the original story from Inc.com.

Inc.com

Need for Speed ? Get Firefox 4 now

Do you use Firefox as your daily web browser ? If you do, what version do you currently use ?

On March 22, 2011, the Mozilla team has released the latest version of Firefox 4, replacing the previous version of Firefox 3.6.

Lots of new and improved features are included in Firefox 4 to make it more and more powerful. If you read from its official website, the discussion of such features are classified into several categories, such as “Browsing Made Easy’, “High Performance”, “Advanced Security”, “Powerful Personalization”, “The Cutting Edge”, and “Universal Access”.

Within the Browsing Made Easy section, you’ll find the Awesome Bar. Using this feature you may get to your favorite sites quickly – even if you don’t remember the URLs. Just type your term into the location bar (aka the Awesome Bar) and the autocomplete function will include possible matches from your browsing history, bookmarked sites and open tabs.

Another features which I concern mostly of this browser are the improvement of security and protection of user’s privacy while browsing the web. If you explore further into the Security section, you’ll find several encouraging reasons to trust this browser that it will always keep you in a really secure zone. For instances, the Content Security Policy in Firefox, as explained, is designed to shut down cross-site scripting attacks by providing a mechanism for sites to explicitly tell the browser which content is legitimate. The browser can then disregard any content that has not been blessed by the site, keeping you protected in the process. This really sounds good to me. Another good feature is the Anti-Virus Integration. Firefox integrate elegantly with your Windows anti-virus software. When you download a file, your computer’s anti-virus program automatically checks it to protect you against viruses and other malware, which could otherwise attack your computer. Besides, the browser also provides you with the Anti-Phising, Anti-Malware, Clear Recent History, Do Not Track, Parental Controls, Secure Updates and also the Securing Website Connections features.

What about the speed ?  Are there any improvement of speed of Firefox 4 comparing to the previous version ? Definitely. They promise you the super speed performance with faster start-up times, rapid graphics rendering and an improvement of page load speed. Even you can get more than 6X faster of velocity. Wow!

So, wait no more. Go to the official site of Mozilla and start downloading Firefox 4 to try and proof it by yourself. Or just click the following firefox image to bring you directly to the download page.

Firefox

(Updated on March 30, 2011) Here is a good article posted in lifehacker.com about Firefox 4 : Why I’ve Switched From Chrome to Firefox 4

Professor of Harvard ringing a bell on crisis potential in 2012

The global economic crisis is predicted to be back again in 2012. This is consistent with the 15-year crisis cycle with the capital inflow as one of the indication.

Harpel Professor of Capital Formation and Growth Harvard University Jeffrey Frankel in an event of “IMF-BI-BKPM Joint Conference Coping with Asia’s Large Capital Inflows in A Multi-Speed Global Economy”, held in Bali on Friday, 11 March 2011 stated that the cycle of crisis occurred in a tendency of 15-years at a time. And observing that inclination, then we will face a crisis again in 2012.

He also stressed that the emerging market countries should aware of the potential of such symptom. Because, the tendency of the impendent of economic crisis is often associated with the swift flow of foreign funds (capital inflow) to developing countries.

The first crisis occurred in 1982 resulted by the capital inflow that came about in 6 years (1975-1981), while the second crisis took place in Asia in 1997 with capital inflow which also happened during the 6 years of time span (1990-1996).

Noting from the above phenomenon, he is anxious that there will be another global crisis in the coming 2012, concerning that the flow of foreign capital already get in since 2003.

In addition, he also noticing that the rate of inflation in most developing countries already started to give pressure on the economic condition of such countries. India, China, Indonesia and Singapore are in threat of overheating.

Thus, he asked the emerging countries, including Indonesia to keep caution to the possibility of such potential indication.

For information, based on data of Institute of International Finance (IIF) submitted by the Director of Economic Research and Monetary Policy of Bank Indonesia, Perry Warjiyo, the amount of capital inflows that will enter to the emerging markets of Asia countries reached around US$400 billion, of which approximately US$13-15 billion will go to Indonesia.

(This article was freely translated from the original article published in Inilah.com : Profesor Harvard Ingatkan Potensi Krisis di 2012)

The 2011 World’s Richest Tycoons (Forbes.com)

Forbes  has announced on Wednesday, March 9, 2011, the list of its 25th annual World’s Billionaires. Among the list, Carlos Slim Helu & Family ranked at #1 for a second year as the wealthiest tycoon in the universe.

With a net worth of $74 billion at age 71, Carlos Slim, a Mexican business magnate and philanthropist who is also the chairman and CEO of telecommunications company Telmex and America Movil beat the Microsoft founder Bill Gates and the remarkable investment guru Warren Buffett.

Bloomberg in its today publication reported that Slim’s America Movil SAB is the biggest mobile-phone company in the Americas, with 225 million wireless subscribers. The company also controls Mexico’s largest landline phone carrier, Telefonos de Mexico SAB, and the largest TV and long-distance operators in Brazil, as well as phone and video carriers in Colombia, Peru and other South American countries.

His holdings in Mexico extend from retail, with the Sanborns department store chain, to banking and construction. He holds stakes in U.S. companies including the New York Times Co. (publisher), Saks Inc. (department store operator), Bronco Drilling (oil services company) and also BlackRock Inc. (money manager). Slim’s gains in 2010 included his bank Grupo Financiero Inbursa SAB, which surged 42 percent as it expanded its branches, and Grupo Carso SAB, which almost doubled as it prepared for spinoffs of its mining and real-estate units.

Bill Gates, 55, chairman of Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft Corp., was spotted at the second place again as his net worth rose $3 billion to $56 billion. While Warren Buffett, 80, chief executive office of Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., ranked at #3 with $50 billion of net worth.

Forbes.com commented that Gates is no longer the planet’s richest person, but that’s because he’s given away $30 billion to his foundation, The Gates Foundation.

Behind of Buffett on the Forbes list, ranked from #4 to #10 are Bernard Arnauld ($41 billion), Larry Ellison ($39.5 billion), Lakshmi Mittal ($31.1 billion), Amancio Ortega ($31 billion), Eike Batista ($30 billion), Mukesh Ambani ($27 billion) and latest of the top ten list, Christy Walton & family with net worth of $26.5 billion.

Bloomberg.com in its article “Carlos Slim Tops Forbes List of Billionaires for Second Year” reported that there were a record number of billionaires in 2011, with 1,210 in total, compared with the previous high of 1,125 in 2008. Of the 214 newcomers this year, 54 were from China and 31 from Russia. The Asia-Pacific region had more billionaires than Europe for the first time in more than 10 years and gained the most billionaires of any region, with 105 newcomers. Moscow displaced New York as the city with the greatest number of billionaires with 79, compared with New York’s 58.

Explore the complete list from Forbes.com : The World's Billionaires

Read also another related stories :

  1. Carlos Slim Tops Forbes List of Billionaires for Second Year (Bloomberg.com)
  2. World's Billionaires 2011: A Record Year For New Billionaires
  3. Steven Spielberg's Net Worth Unchanged, Oprah Winfrey's Up as Both Drop in Forbes Billionaire Ranking

Top 25 Political Icons chosen by Time.com

495px-MKGandhi Mahatma Gandhi, born as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on 2 October 1869 in Porbandar, a coastal city in the Indian state of Gujarat. During his employed as a lawyer in South Africa, he pioneered the concept of satyagraha, the resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, a philosophy firmly founded upon ahimsa, or total nonviolence. This concept helped India to gain independence, and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. His role in the bloodless revolution earned him the title of Father of the Nation (of India) and his birthday, 2 October is commemorated as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday in India, and worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence.

Time.com in its publication of “Top 25 Political Icons” on February 4, 2011 placed Mahatma Gandhi as on of its chosen political icon. Several popular and admirable characters such as Alexander the Great, Mao Zedong, Winston Churchill, Genghis Khan, Nelson Mandela, Abraham Lincoln and also Adolf Hitler are amongst the list. 

See the complete list from Time.com : Top 25 Political Icons

AskMen’s Top 99 Women 2011 Edition – who are amongst the top ladies ?

AskMen.com, men’s lifestyle site has published its annual rankings of the “Top 99 Women - 2011 edition”.  This year’s most desirable women nomination marks the 10-year anniversary of the site’s Top 99 polling.

According to the site, a woman’s ranking on the Top 99 list is determined by the value of her overall score; the higher the value, the higher her place on the list. Overall scores were determined by a vote hosted on AskMen. Readers were asked to rate each of approximately 200 finalists on a scale of 1 to 10. These results were then averaged out with AskMen's staff's own ratings. The highest median overall scores were then set aside to comprise 2011's Top 99 list. Approximately 5 million votes were cast for 2011’s Top 99 Most Desirable Women list.

Who are among the list of AskMen’s Most Desirable Women 2011 ?

Seated at the top of the list as the chosen #1 was “ the Gossip Girl” Blake Lively. Following with Mila Kunis at #2 and Sofia Vergara at #3. While the hottest models and Victoria’s Secret angels, Selita Ebanks and Miranda Kerr spotted at #4 and #5 respectively.

Here are the top 10 most desirable women of AskMen.com :

  1. Blake Lively
  2. Mila Kunis
  3. Sofia Vergara
  4. Selita Ebanks
  5. Miranda Kerr
  6. Cheryl Cole
  7. Scarlett Johansson
  8. Katy Perry
  9. Anne Hathaway
  10. Jessica Pare

Follow the complete list in here : Top 99 Most Desirable Women

The Tiger Mother and HER ROARING

Amy Chua GO googling the internet using the keyword “Tiger Mother” and you might be a little surprised with the result it brings you. Because, within the first page of the Google search result  you may find most of the articles regarding “Amy Chua’.

Who is Amy Chua and what is the relation of her with the “Tiger Mother” ?

Amy Chua is the John M.Duff, Jr. Professor of Law at Yale Law School. She joined Yale in 2001 after teaching at Duke Law school and serving as a visiting professor at Columbia, Stanford, and NYU. Her expertise is in international business transactions, law and development, ethnic conflict, and globalization and the law. She is also a book writer. Her first book, World on Fire : How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability and her second book, Day of Empire : How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance – and Why They Fall are all about the international affairs. While her third and latest book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother which was published in January 2011, is a memoir of her experience in raising her two daughters using the strict “Chinese mother” parenting techniques.

Following, on January 8, 2011, The Wall Street Journal published an article written by her under the headline “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior”. This article contained excerpts from her book (Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother) about, as she said, how Chinese parents are better at raising kids than Western ones. Soon, this article became controversial. I’ve noted there are more than 7 thousand comments posted at this moment. Many readers of her article (and also her book) disagreed with her strict parenting practices. Read further the article from WSJ.com : Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior.

I will give you one of her book readers’ comment which was published in Yahoo! Contributor Network : Amy Chua, the 'Tiger Mother' vs. Positive Parenting 

The photo of Amy Chua was taken from : FreeImageFinder.com

Read also another related article from The New York Times : Retreat of the ‘Tiger Mother’

The Oscars 2011 Nominees. Check Out the List

The Oscar 2011 nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards as one of the highest appreciation for the film artists were announced on Tuesday, 25 January 2011 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President, Tom Sherak.

Halle Berry, Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock and also Oprah Winfrey were amongst the presenters that will present on the awards ceremony. While Jeff Bridges, Collin Firth, Nicole Kidman, Natalie Portman and Annette Bening are amongst the nominees of the best actors and actresses. 

The big show will take place in Hollywood’s Kodak Theater on Sunday, 27 February 2011.

Here are the nominations of the leading Actors and Actresses :

Actor in a Leading Role

  1. Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
  2. Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
  3. Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
  4. Collin Firth in “The King’s Speech”
  5. James Franco in “127 Hours”

Actress in a Leading Role

  1. Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
  2. Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
  3. Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone”
  4. Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
  5. Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”

See the complete list of the nominations from : the official site of Oscar

The photo was screen captured from : www.oscars.org

How to backup your Ms Outlook files in an easy way

OutlookHow about if suddenly your Microsoft Windows crashed and you won’t be able to access your Ms Outlook at all ? It must be frustrating to face this situation.

To avoid the worst thing that may happen such as all of your contact and email wiped out, you have to regularly back up your Ms Outlook content.

All right, but how to do that ?

There is an easy way and no third party application required at all.

  1. First, you have to go to the File menu of your Ms Outlook and click on it.
  2. From that point, choose the ‘Import and Export’ menu.
  3. After the Import and Export Wizard menu appear, select the ‘Export to a file’ and click ‘Next >’
  4. Further, from ‘Export to a file’ menu, select the ‘Personal Folder File (.pst)’ as the type of file to export to, click ‘Next>’ again
  5. Then, from the ‘Export Personal Folders’ menu, select the folder you want to backup. If you want to include the subfolders in your backup file, you have to check the ‘Include subfolders’ menu. Click ‘Next>’
  6. After that, you have to select the file name and the location where you want to safe the file. By default, if you’re using Windows XP, your backup file will be saved to “Local Settings\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook\Backup.pst”. It’s better not to safe your backup file at the default place as provided. Choose the drive D:\ instead or another place that apart from the location where your OS was installed. it’s preferable to safe the backup file in the flash drive. It is important to do that, so in case your Ms Windows crashed or damaged by viruses and you have to reformat the drive C:\ where your OS was installed, it won’t influence your backup file at all. And another notable step to remember is always safe the file using the same file name as the source file. For example, if you are going to safe the ‘inbox’, safe the destination file as ‘inbox’ too. This is to keep you away from replacing the wrong file. To change the default location and the file name, click the ‘Browse’ panel.
  7. Finally, click ‘Finish’ to end the steps and you’re done.

Now, you already have the backup files of your Ms Outlook content. Anytime when you re-installed your Ms Outlook you just have to import the backup file from your backup folder, and all of your previous data will be available again (HRD).

CutePDF Writer, creating a PDF file for free

Creating Portable Document Format (PDF) file with Adobe Acrobat is quite easy. But, as you know it is not a free software.

If you're looking for a free and easy to use software to make PDF document, then you should try CutePDF Writer.

This application will help you, not just in converting your Microsoft Office Document such as Word or Excel into Pdf file format, but it will do lots more. For example, if you're opening a webpage and need to print it out for later reading while you're offline, but unfortunately you don't have any installed printer in your computer. Then, you can use this CutePDF Writer to print the webpage as a pdf file.

To install this app is quite easy. But first, you have to install the free GPL Ghostscript as the converter before installing the CutePDF Writer. You can get both from the CutePDF website for free, of course.

CutePDF Writer (formerly CutePDF Printer) is the free version of commercial PDF creation software. The latest Version 2.8 added support for both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 and Windows Vista and also for 64-bit Windows XP/2003.

Get the latest version of CutePDF Writer with 3.36 MB in size and the converter Ghostscript with 5.01 MB in size from CutePDF.com