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Personal finance advice from Benjamin Franklin

One of the earliest personal finance books can be considered "The way to wealth" , a 19 page introduction to Poor Richard's Almanac, filled with advice to work hard, be thrifty, avoid debt and don't spend your money on so-called luxuries.  Poor Richard's Almanack, which Benjamin Franklin began publishing in 1732, and went on to publish for 25 years, was created for the purpose of promoting his printing business. Poor Richard presented himself as a slightly dull, but often funny, country fellow who believed in hard work and simple living. Some of the personal finance nuggets gleaned from the book have circulated for years, but perhaps without people being aware that they stem from the same source: - But dost thou love life, then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of; - The sleeping fox catches no poultry, and that there will be sleeping enough in the grave; - Here you are all got together at this sale of fineries, and knickknacks. You call the...
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Service mentality

An excerpt from the CIA's "Studies in Intelligence vol 55" -    What I Learned in 40 Years of Doing Intelligence Analysis for US Foreign Policymakers" provides a pretty good overview of the IT managed services market " Excellence requires more than a standard of quality. I believe it also demands a specific approach to the craft of intelligence analysis: it requires a service mentality.  [...]  In a service mentality, the focus is on the customer—the consumer of our services—and specifically on how best to meet the customer’s needs. It is not about the author or the producing component; it is about the recipient. It is about helping that customer understand an issue. It is about being timely, relevant, expert, and  corporate  in our approaches to providing service, intelligence analysis. Success is measured not by the number of units produced, but by how well the product addresses and answers the specific concerns of an identified and targeted audience."...

Technology and how it impacts us

I have been thinking lately about the impact of technology in our lifes and how it came to affect us more than we imagined. One of the areas that interests me is security, protecting yourself from identity theft but at the same time being able to stay accountable for the things you are doing. I remember the black hole that is 4chan's /b/, which started the Anonymous movement. I have come across another tool that could be used to interesting but potentially dangerous outcomes:  https://telegram.org/  It is something that perhaps any scientist or engineer fears: what if the product I am creating will be used for the wrong purposes, such as the atomic bomb? The terrorists are perhaps using social networks to coordinate their attacks, as such what can be done? should we close those social networks? Should we return to the censorship days? Ericsson's vision for the future 10 years is "Connected life", connecting all devices, from smartphones to street lamps to cars, makin...

"How will you measure your life?" - a quick review

"How will you measure your life" by Clayton Christensen, is an interesting read for the student that is just starting his professional life, for the worker trying to climb the corporate ladder or for the entrepreneur trying to launch his business. Full of meaningful anecdotes, such as the realization that his classmates were part of the top management in the firms that created the latest stock market crisis, the author pushes us to reflect and consider whether one is doing it all for the right reasons. The main challenge parents face is equipping their children with the right capabilities to face the challanges the world is throwing at them. Most parents' natural tendency is to focus on building a resume: high grades, sport activities, medals, certifications. It would be a mistake to neglect developing the abilities that a child truly needs in life: Dealing with a tough teacher, having a failure in a sporting activity, navigate the complex social structure of school g...

Interesting times

"May you live in interesting times" is a chinese curse that to me doesn't actually sound like a curse, but we shall see. There is turmoil in the world, perhaps as it always is, but it is closer to home than it ever was. Europe's migrant crisis, Germany's economical problems because of Deutsche Bank's loans and Volkswagen's scandal, terrorism in Paris, the oil crisis, and much more create an idea of instability that is almost frightening, but also exciting.. what will be next? Another crash, I believe.. I'm starting to write here as a sort of journal of what I find interesting over the times, in order to have something to look back on, especially in the field of technology.