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Sound like today much?

I got this directly from the NY Times…  So I don’t get credit for finding this piece, but in 1933, an American economist by the name of Irving Fisher had this to say…

Banks concerned about their corporate customers’ indebtedness demand debt liquidation, which forces firms to sell off assets at fire-sale prices to pay them back.

Money in circulation declines as banks hoard the dollars, which causes spending to drop and prices to fall, depressing businesses’ net worth and profits and throwing many into bankruptcy.

Production is cut; workers are laid off. This deepens pessimism and leads to more hoarding of money.

This sounds pretty darn familiar.  What do we do now though?  Well, as I see it, we plow ahead.  As a sometimes leader, I keep going.  I tell my friends that they haven’t seen the worst, but that we keep working.  We keep putting one foot in front of the other.  Right now, we might be walking (or even sliding) down a hill, but if we keep putting one foot in front of the other, we’ll be walking up hill soon.  The thing is that we want to actually start on a good foundation though, so we have to stay on our feet all the way to the bottom.

Let us not rebuild on top of a bunch of consumer debt or government handouts.  Let us listen to Obama!

Let us build roads, bridges and infrastructure.  Let us invest in green manufacturing and technology.  Let us invest in schools and vision.  And let us not be afraid of a bit of inflation.

Let us not be afraid to start over!

Posted in Business, Contemplative, Politics.

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By Anonymous – December 20, 2008

Ever feel like this? Like a foreigner and f’n happy about it!!!

I’m not really a Scott, and I can’t really ever claim the high ground, but I’m pretty sure that Sridevi has a rant like this about being Indian.  Luckily she hasn’t unloaded on me!

Posted in Personal, Rant.

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By Anonymous – December 19, 2008

Not that I want prints, but what a job…

These are amazing photos.  Not just being in the right place at the right time, but creating the right place and capturing the right time!

These (sorry not to put a link the body the first time…)

Posted in Uncategorized.

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By Anonymous – December 19, 2008

The perfect christmas present for GW & the EFF

The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) has produced a cute little song to solicit donations and I think they’ve earned their money this year, working hard on a multitude of issues including Travel Screening, Fair Voting and chasing down the NSA.  So what do they work on?

  • Free Speech Rights
  • Innovation Issues
  • Intellectual Property
  • International Issues
  • Privacy Rights
  • Transparency

(They say it better though.)

Someone else who deserves a gift is our outgoing president.  We would figure that the upcoming time off would be enough, but to be fair, he doesn’t really need more time off (he takes a bit more than 12 weeks a year).  So what should we get him?  Well, the good people of San Francisco decided not to name their sewer plant after the President.  It just wasn’t fair to the hard working plant.  Don’t get me wrong, they truly considered it.  They even put it on a ballot.  So how about a gift membership to the EFF?

GW has been very kind to the EFF over the past eight years.  He has handed them more work than they ever thought possible.  In fact, without GW, they might never have gotten the publicity it takes to really make a difference.  So how about a gift membership in the name of George W. Bush?

Merry Christmas!

Posted in Uncategorized.

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By Anonymous – December 17, 2008

Working together…

I think the internet is somewhat like this; built by a collective, spanning vast areas, and in general looking very designed.  The introduction is a bit long, but stick with this video for the 6 and a half minutes for an amazing look at what a collective mind can do…

Posted in Business.

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By Anonymous – December 12, 2008

Dignity matters!

Steven Yastrow on Tompeters.com (which I read regularly) talks about these days (our darkest maybe) as a time when customer loyalty is key.  I agree!  He also talks about how the difference between promotional bribes and true customer loyalty.  What he hasn’t really brought up is that a promotional bribe doesn’t produce true shared dignity.  It leaves the customer feeling like they won.  And that isn’t the impression that we want to leave behind.  The only thing that matters is the impression that we leave behind!!!  Let me repeat that!
The only thing that matters is the impression that we leave behind!!!

There are many other things that seem to matter, but in the end, they don’t.  I posited awhile back that the goal of customer service was shared dignity.  A concept in customer service that I’m extending to all of my relationships.  Whenever I interact with someone, my goal is to leave with my dignity intact, AND the dignity of the other party.

I can be an overpowering personality.  True statement.  It has been put in other, less sugar coated ways before, but that’s what it boils down too.  (Ok, I’ve been called an asshole.  I’ve been called arrogant and I’ve been told that I talk over people.  I’ve even been told that I think I’m the smartest one in the room.  And I’ve been told that I don’t listen.)

I can be an asshole, but I am trying to learn and  I’ve got news for you.  I do care.  I do listen and I’m not always the smartest one in the room.  To me, it matters greatly what impression I wanted to leave behind, but if that isn’t what I left behind, I failed.  In the end, failing doesn’t help anyone at all.  So I attempt to do a better job of listening.  I try to improve.  I try to learn.  I still fail regularly, but that is my cross to bear.

In today’s market though, it’s an important thing to consider.  A truly loyal customer feels like family, like an equal.  When they look at the grass, it’s green on both sides of the fence.

That’s dignity!

Posted in Buddhism, Business.

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By Anonymous – December 7, 2008

India Trip – Day Twelve (Photos Fixed…)

As a few people pointed out to me, day twelve was broken…  Also, as everyone can tell, many days have passed since the trip ended and I still have a week of blogging to post.  Never fear, it is coming.

Posted in Family, India, Photos.

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By Anonymous – November 20, 2008

India, 2008 – Day Fourteen

One of my best friends, other than Sridevi, lives in India.  We worked together at Rapidigm and while Shreyas has visited our home in Portland 3 times, it was the first chance for me to return the favor.  In fact, neither Sridevi nor I had met his wife Pooja who is still waiting to visit the states.

This was a totally different day than any others, both in that Pune is very cosmopolitan compared to Vizag and that we were basically hanging out with friends our age.  We all talked a bit of business and got to know each other a better.  Along the way, while Sridevi and Pooja took a timeout to shop (ending the day in matching outfits nonetheless) Shreyas and I reminisced about our days at Rapidigm.  OK, really we just vented a bit. For me though, things are really good right now, while Shreyas has been stuck in the world of Fujitsu, which amazingly has actually gotten steadily worse since they acquired Rapidigm.

You would think that your average 40 billion dollar a year Japanese company could have a bit of a long term view.  But then, you would be wrong.  Their MO is to pay hundreds of millions for companies and Immediately put immense pressures on short term profits, driving the talent away in droves.  I thank my stars again that I got out of Rapidigm before Fujitsu arrived.

At any rate, we hung out with friends and then had a nice meal at a local Chinese place.  Quite good in fact.  Tomorrow we are off to tour the Fujitsu facility and then the next day a visit to a “Rajastani Village”, or rather a replication of one…

Posted in Family, India, Photos.

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By Anonymous – October 24, 2008

India, 2008 – Day Thirteen – Photo Gallery

Posted in India, Photos.

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By Anonymous – October 23, 2008

India, 2008 – Day Thirteen

On the thirteenth day in India, we visited the Ajanta Caves.  Unlike the Ellora caves, these are strictly Buddhist, without the Hindu and Jain caves.  What makes Ajanta stand out, is not so much the caves themselves, but instead it is the paintings.


Nowhere else in the world are there Buddhist Frescos.  And the Japanese have recognized this to the point that they have funded a new airport in Aurungabad combined with a new highway from the airport to the Ajanta caves.  Furthermore, they are funding much of the restoration work on the paintings themselves.

You might say that we were the lucky benefactors of the political unrest in Mumbai.  The riots were so bad that most people stayed home and we had a relatively peaceful experience at the caves with light crowds.  In some ways, I wish that more time had passed between Ellora and our visit here to Ajanta, as I felt much more like a tourist and less like a pilgrim here.

It was akin to the difference between visiting a church and a museum.  In one you are a spectator, whilst in the other you are a participant, however minor.  Some of the paintings were truly exquisite, but I feel more of a connection to the stone somehow.  And never fear, there are plenty of amazing sculptures here.  They have a Buddha lying down (portraying death) that is beautifully lit (piped in through fiber optics according to the guide).  As all of the artwork here depicts the life story of the Buddha (according to the guide) this is the story of the end of his life.  Interestingly though, this is from the branch of Buddhism that is more aligned with Hinduism, where the Buddha has been recognized as a Hindu god.


This was something that the Buddha always denied, but several hundred years after your death, it is hard to argue a point.  At any rate, the dedication and devotion to a simple man is immense.  His presence must have been quite a thing to behold, as he has influenced so many.

Quickly though, we were ushering our way onto a bus to the parking lot and then rushing, I mean RUSHING, in our taxi to catch our bus on to Pune and the modern world.  I had figured that once we got to the bus the rush would be over, but…

The driver soon belied that, as we wove in and out of traffic, even venturing into oncoming traffic for a few miles (on the freeway) to pass people.  In a BUS!!!  He was good at his job though and before 10:00 PM we were safely in Pune sitting down to dinner with Shreyas and Pooja (his wife).  Within about 15 minutes of our arrival, Pooja and Sridevi were fast friends!

Posted in Business, India, Photos.

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By Anonymous – October 23, 2008