Management Tip of the Day : Make the Most of Your Next Conference With Social Media

December 05, 2013 Dealing with logistics and meeting a new horde of people can make out-of-town conferences stressful, but using social tools can help you make them as productive (and fun) as possible.  With LinkedIn’s advanced search, find new or established connections in your destination city. If you want to meet with any of them while you’re in town, reach out ahead of time. To minimize dress-code anxieties and packing hassles, use a Google image search to find photos of past years’ events and check out what people wore. Use OpenTable to book 8-to-12-person tables at restaurants near the conference venue for each evening of the conference, and invite people to join you for dinner. (Saying you’re “convening a gang” avoids the implication that you’re paying for the whole table.) Enlist a few co-conspirators to invite two or three people each. Adapted from Work Smarter with LinkedIn, by Alexandra Samuel.

Pencils ... Just pencils....Faber-Castell shows how companies can stay competitive

Faber-Castell is the largest maker of wood-encased pencils in the world and also makes a broad range of pens, crayons and art and drawing supplies as well as accessories like erasers and sharpeners. 

New York Times | 5 Dec, 2013, 05.45AM IST

Largest maker of wood-encased pencils, Faber-Castell shows how midsize companies can stay competitive 
Jack Ewing 

Count Anton-Wolfgang von Faber-Castellhas been known to hurl wooden pencils from the tower of his castle to the stone courtyard below. It is not a petty fit of pique by a mad Bavarian aristocrat. 

The 72-year-old, the eighth in a long line of pencil makers, just wants to prove how durable the pencils that carry his family name are. The Faber-Castell family has been making wooden pencils by the hundreds of millions in Stein, Germany. A torrent of brightly coloured pencils flows from machines in a century-old factory with a tile roof and windows framed in pastel hues. 

Pencilling in a Surplus 

Faber-Castell is the largest maker of wood-encased pencils in the world and also makes a broad range of pens, crayons and art and drawing supplies as well as accessories like erasers and sharpeners. About half the company's German production is exported, mostly to other countries in the eurozone. That means that Faber-Castell contributes, at least in a small way, to Germany's large and controversial trade surplus — which now rivals China's for the world's largest. 

Faber-Castell illustrates how midsize companies — which account for about 60% of the country's jobs — are able to stay competitive in the global marketplace. It has focused on design and engineering, developed a knack for turning everyday products into luxury goods, and stuck to a conviction that it still makes sense to keep some production in Germany. 

"Why do we manufacture in Germany?" the count asked during an interview. "Two reasons: One, to really make the best here in Germany and to keep the know-how in Germany. I don't like to give the know-how for my best pencils away to China. Second, 'Made in Germany' still is important." Not all its factories are in Germany. But when Faber-Castell, which is privately held and had sales of 590 million in its last fiscal year, manufactures in places like Indonesia and Brazil, it is at its own factories. 

In contrast to many American companies, like Apple, that have outsourced nearly all production to Asia, Faber-Castell and many German companies keep a critical mass of manufacturing in Germany. They see it as central to preserving the link between design, engineering and the factory floor. The result is a large trade surplus. During the first nine months of the year, Germany exported goods and services worth 148 billion more than it imported — including a surplus of 20 billion in September alone. In absolute terms, it was the largest monthly trade surplus. 

Germany's trade surplus is so huge that it has drawn criticism from the US. The European Commission is conducting a review of whether it is unhealthy for the euro zone economy. Critics say Germany should invest more of the profits from exports at home, to stimulate its own economy and, by extension, the rest of the euro zone. 

But companies like Faber-Castell are more concerned about their ability to stay globally competitive, leaving the macroeconomics of trade to the bureaucrats of Brussels and Berlin. There are threats everywhere, including ever-more-sophisticated Chinese competitors and unpredictable shifts in technology. And when even preschool children operate iPads, there is no certainty of a future for coloured pencils.

Posh Pens 

"The biggest challenge for Faber-Castell will be how writing will develop with the advent of digital technology," said Hermann Simon, a management consultant who coined the term "hidden champions" to describe highly focused, midsize companies like Faber-Castell that drive German economy. 

"Will children still write? But Faber-Castell recognises this challenge." The current market is testing Faber-Castell. While sales in the last fiscal year rose 3.5%, profit declined 27%, to 24.2 million, in part because of the cost of building new operations in Asia and Latin America. The company said last month that sales so far this fiscal were down 9%, because of the depreciation of currencies in markets like Brazil and weak sales in southern Europe. 

Still, Faber-Castell, founded in 1761 when graphite pencils were a novelty, has overcome technological shifts before. When Anton took over the business in 1978, the company was a leading maker of slide rules. That was soon laid to waste by the electronic calculator. Then, in the 1980s, computer-assisted design gutted the market for its mechanical drawing products. 

The count revamped the product line to put more emphasis on higher-priced products, ranging from coloured pencils for artists to fountain pens selling for thousands of dollars. Premium products account for about 10% of sales. "You have to continuously shift," said Anton. "If you lean back and say, 'With my products I can be happy,' then it's the first step to hell." 

Anton, while aware of the digital threat, maintains that writing by hand will never disappear. Even in wealthy countries, he says, children use pencils and pens to learn how to develop the motor skills needed to read and write. "The pencil is in some way a very archaic product but still indispensable," he said. "The pencil will remain alive much longer than we probably believe."

Wipro exits PC biz: Another one bites the dust

by FP Staff Dec 5, 2013

The dwindling demand for PCs has claimed yet another victim. Wiprohas exited its PC manufacturing business, one of the very first IT businesses that promoter Azim Premji entered into—- long before he entered the IT services business that Wipro is known around the world for today.

Wipro will discontinue manufacturing SuperGenius line of desktops, EGO laptops and NetPower servers in a market where customer needs are changing rapidly. “All the affected employees will be redeployed in the company,” said Wipro in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).

“Our vision is to strengthen our position as a leading system integrator,” said SoumitroGhosh, senior vice-president and head of Wipro Infotech.

This news follows the footsteps of HCL Infosystems that decided to abandon the PC making ship and focus on distribution and services.

AFP

Research firm IDC has rightly predicted the slump in PC shipments this year. According to analysts, worldwide PC shipments are expected to fall by 10.1% in 2013, slightly below the previous projection of 9.7%, and by far the most severe yearly contraction on record.

“Perhaps the chief concern for future PC demand is a lack of reasons to replace an older system,” said Jay Chou, Senior Research Analyst, Worldwide Quarterly PC Trackers at IDC. “While IDC research finds that the PC still remains the primary computing device – for example, PCs are used more hours per day than tablets or phones – PC usage is nonetheless declining each year as more devices become available. And despite industry efforts, PC usage has not moved significantly beyond consumption and productivity tasks to differentiate PCs from other devices. As a result, PC lifespans continue to increase, thereby limiting market growth.”

India saw a mixed third quarter in 2013 and is in for a not so positive fourth quarter in PC sales.Manish Yadav, Market Analyst, IDC said, “July and August was noted to be upbeat as lower tier channels stocked up owing to exchange rate pressures. However, excess stock mixed with poor end user demand weakened channel buying in September”. Despite constrained spending, back-to-school season and festive demand starting Onam did drove pockets of investment amongst consumers, particularly around Portable PCs.

“However,” continues Yadav, “IDC expects Q4 to crumble because we anticipate seasonality and price hike to disrupt PC buying in the quarter ending December”.

Additionally, elections in Delhi, civil issues in the state of Andhra Pradesh are further expected to impact the overall buying in some of these larger states. Excitement around product transitions to ‘Haswell’ family of processors and the launch of Windows 8.1 may not drive demand in the near future.

In terms of market share, HP and Lenovo take the top two spots in India. But Kiran Kumar, Research Manager at IDC cautions vendors to remain careful about their inventory in the subsequent quarters as they prepare to transition to some.

Around 2 mn passwords stolen, posted online

F P Reuters Dec 5, 2013

Boston: Security experts have uncovered a trove of some 2 million stolen passwords to websites including Facebook, Google, Twitter and Yahoo from internet users across the globe.

Researchers with Trustwave’s SpiderLabs said they discovered the credentials while investigating a server in the Netherlands that cybercriminals use to control a massive network of compromised computers k nown as the “Pony botnet.”

The company said that it has reported its findings to the largest of more than 90,000 websites and internet service providers whose customers’ credentials it had found on the server.

The data includes more than 3,26,000 Facebook accounts, some 60,000 Google accounts, more than 59,000 Yahoo accounts and nearly 22,000 Twitter accounts, according to SpiderLabs. Victims’ were from the United States, Germany, Singapore and Thailand, among other countries.

Representatives for Facebook and Twitter said the companies have reset the passwords of affected users. A Google spokeswoman declined comment. Yahoo representatives could not be reached.

SpiderLabs said it has contacted authorities in the Netherlands and asked them to take down the Pony botnet server.

An analysis posted on the SpiderLabs blog showed that the most-common password in the set was “123456,” which was used in nearly 16,000 accounts. Other commonly used credentials included “password,” “admin,” “123″ and “1.”

Graham Cluley, an independent security expert, said it is extremely common for people to use such simple passwords and also re-use them on multiple accounts, even though they are extremely easy to crack.

“People are using very dumb passwords. They are totally useless,” he said.

Borrowers under pressure

BT Edition: December 2013

RBI reduced the marginal standing facility, or MSF, rate, at which it lends emergency funds to banks, by an identical margin. This rate cut is putting downward pressure on short-term rates.

 Borrowers face the heat as short-term rates under pressure

In its second quarter monetary policy released October 29, the Reserve Bank of India, or RBI, increased the repo rate, at which it lends to banks, by 25 basis points or bps. Simultaneously, it reduced the marginal standing facility, or MSF, rate, at which it lends emergency funds to banks, by an identical margin. This rate cut is putting downward pressure on short-term rates.

What it means for you: These moves will lower rates for short-term deposits. But long-term rates, especially on loans, are likely to rise.

After the announcement, HDFC Bank was the first to increase its minimum lending rate, called the base rate, by 20 bps to 10%. It also reduced rates for short-term deposits of 46 days to 6 months.

The next was India's largest bank, State Bank of India or SBI. The bank revised the rate for deposits of 180-210 days maturity by 20 bps. It also increased the lending rate by 20 bps. This increase means their minimum lending rates are now on a par with ICICI Bank's and Kotak Mahindra Bank's 10%, and higher than Canara Bank's 9.95%.

Will RBI increase rates further? The consensus view is that the RBI could increase the repo rate by another 25 bps by the end of the financial year, but this is not imminent in the December monetary policy.

Dr Shubhada Rao, Chief Economist, YES Bank, says: "Inflation is rising due to perishable commodities. Due to the effect of seasonality and expectation of good kharif output, the inflation in perishables should come down.

Therefore, a higher probability is that the RBI may decide to follow a wait-and-watch policy in December and raise the rate in the fourth quarter by 25 bps." Lakshmi Iyer, CIO, debt & head of products, Kotak Mutual Fund, points out that November inflation data will be released before the policy announcement.

Hence, it would be premature to conclude the outcome. "However, markets are already pricing in the possibility of another 25 bps rate hike in December," she says.

Rajesh Cheruvu, CIO, RBS Private Banking, who is expecting another 25 bps increase, however, says, "This could be the last hike for now." "The recent improvement in outlook for currency and crude oil prices combined with higher agriculture output is likely to stabilise inflation and avert further hikes," he explains.

Will banks also raise interest rates?"That possibility is very remote as of now. We will have to see how the RBI handles the liquidity crunch that the banks are facing," says Rao of Yes Bank.

To ease the liquidity crunch in the market, the RBI had conducted open market operations in November. This will give banks a breather. "If the condition worsens, it is possible that banks may end up increasing both lending and deposit rates," says Rao.

"If we see continued hike in repos rates, then banks would look at adjusting their lending rates upward. However, given that we are not seeing significant pick up on loan growth front, it will be difficult to do so if there is status quo on rates," says Iyer.

Everything you need to know about Bitcoins

Bitcoin is a decentralised peer-to-peer digital currency and payment network. (AP)

 I E Muhammad Zulqarnain Zulfi : New Delhi, Thu Dec 05 2013, 10:32 hrs

Digital currency Bitcoins were in the news recently after James Howell, an IT worker from Newport, Wales, discovered that he had accidentally thrown out a hard drive containing 7,500 bitcoins -- now worth almost $8 million.

 

Howell obtained the bitcoins in 2009 for almost nothing. When he discarded his hard drive last July -- now buried in a Newport landfill the size of a soccer field -- the bitcoins were worth nearly $9,00,000. Today, the value of one Bitcoin has soared to over $1,000.  

"Bicoins are wonderful idea of alternate money. Bitcoin is a digital money so no middlemen, no bankers make it more safer and convenient. All we have to do is solve complex mathematical problems,"explains Callmus Jones, one of the early miners of this crypto-currency. 

What is Bitcoin? 

Bitcoin is a decentralised peer-to-peer digital currency and payment network. But unlike traditional currencies, this one doesn't have a reserve. Instead, Bitcoin relies on a sort of honour system, and is traded on the web. According to the Bitcoin website, Bitcoin is free from the highs and lows of inflation, interest rates and market fluctuations, and its value is determined by the number of bitcoins in circulation -- that number is capped at 21 million. 

How does it work?

According to the Bitcoin website, "Bitcoin is nothing more than a mobile app or computer program that provides a personal Bitcoin wallet and allows a user to send and receive bitcoins with them." 

Bitcoins are typically bought through an exchange. The process involves setting up an account, then transferring funds into the account in order to start buying bitcoins. Bitcoins can also be exchanged in physical form through the Casascius coin, each of which is one digital Bitcoin.

Individuals can acquire bitcoins through: 

Payment for goods and services 

Purchasing them at a Bitcoin exchange 

Exchanging Bitcoins with other individuals 

Earning Bitcoins through competitive mining (a process whereby users create money through computing: users donate their computer power to Bitcoin so it can be used to solve complex mathematical problems required to validate transactions. When a problem is solved, bitcoins are issued). 

The world's first Bitcoin ATM went live in a downtown Vancouver shop in October this year, allowing people to exchange cash for the digital currency. Approximately 20 businesses in Vancouver now accept Bitcoin. 

In November, British billionaire Sir Richard Branson's commercial flight company Virgin Galactic announced it started accepting the digital currency for its Virgin Galactic flights to space. And on November 28, University of Nicosia, Cyprus' largest private university said it will start accepting Bitcoin for tuition fees -- the first university to do so. 

Advantages?

Efficiency: Money can be sent and received instantly anywhere in the world, at any time, without a bank or middleman. 

Low fees: Payments are processed with either no fees or very small fees. 

Privacy: Transactions do not contain users' personal information, offering stronger protection against identity theft. 

Control: Users are in full control of their transactions. 

Transparency: All information on transactions is available in the database. 

Risks?

Because Bitcoin isn't backed by a mint, transactions are not subject to the same regulations as other currencies. While every single transaction made using Bitcoin is posted publicly, the identity of the user remains anonymous -- making it hard to track perpetrators in the case of theft. 

The now-defunct online drug market Silk Road was an early driver in Bitcoin's growth, taking advantage of the currency's ability to provide anonymity to users. 

But according to the Bitcoin website, the most common vulnerability is user error. Similarly to physical cash stored in a digital form, Bitcoin wallets that store private keys can be accidentally deleted, lost or stolen.

Live: Bitcoin exchange rate 

Beyond 2013 : Beyond your Limitation lies success

 Beyond 2013 :Beyond your Limitation lies success

The Spirit of Dr A P J Abdul Kalam : “Thinking is the capital, Enterprise is the way, Hard Work is the solution”

“Thinking is the capital, Enterprise is the way, Hard Work is the solution”
 
― A.P.J. Abdul Kalam,



In 1963–64, he visited Nasa's Langley Research Center in Hampton Virginia, Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland and Wallops Flight Facility situated at Eastern Shore of Virginia.

 During the period between the 1970s and 1990s, Kalam made an effort to develop the Polar SLV and SLV-III projects, both of which proved to be success.