As a businessman mostly in the IT industry, it is worthwhile to note that cooling and powering office space is responsible for over 40% of the carbon emissions in the US, and it uses up 70% of the electricity usage.  This is becoming an issue because more powerful processors eat up more electricity and in turn also makes it more expensive as every watt your computer has, you probably will need another watt to cool it.

Computers in American offices burn over $1 billion worth of electricity annually — and that does not even take into account additional air conditioning to cool it.

Two ways you can purportedly save our environment.

-Set computers to power down automatically after 15 minutes of idle time.

-Another big wate allegedly comes from toilets.  Toilet flushing is the single biggest water hog in office buildings using up to 4.8 billion gallons a day.  It may be worthwhile to retrofit old toilets that uses 8 gallons per flush to new toilets that use only 1.6 gallons per flush. 

To be passionate on certain things, isn’t that what gives meaning to life?  If he spends his lifetime collecting books and reading it, would you say that he was seldom miserable in finding companionship in books?

ScienceDaily: Man’s love of reading costs him his home

A bookstore owner’s obsession with the written word has cost him his Pennsylvania home after local officials deemed his book collection a fire hazard.

Authorities in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., condemned John Puchniak’s apartment this year when a routine inspection raised concern the bookstore owner’s collection of nearly 3,000 texts could cause a fire, The (Wilkes-Barre) Times Leader reported Wednesday.

Puchniak now resides in a local hotel, while attempting to limit the stacks upon stacks of books that decorate his condemned apartment.

I just saw this in passing and thought it would be good humor to share this.  This is more of how a boss perceives itself, and of course, when the boss strikes on an air of importance, it can always be humorous.  But note!  We are after all, humans, and with all humor, this strikes a chord of relevance.

Rule no. 1.  The Boss is always right!

Rule no. 2.  If the Boss is wrong, see Rule no. 1

Rule no. 3.  The boss does not sleep.  He rests.

Rule no. 4.  The boss is never late.  He is just delayed elsehwere.

Rule no. 5.  The Boss never leaves his work; his attention is just required elsewhere.

Rule no. 6.  The Boss does not read the paper in the office.  He ’studies’.

This is an excellent article in Time.  If you want to master life, and achieve happiness, it is important to develop habits that are conductive to your living to the fullest.  Addictions forces you to desire to continue something even if you know it is bad.  Probably understanding better how we get ‘hooked’, can allow us good strategies in combatting this.

According to Time, 18.7 million people in the US are alcohol abusers, 3.6 million are dependent on drugs, 71.5 million are users of tobacco, and over 80% craves caffeine.  an estimated 4 to 8 million are also considered problem gamblers, and 16 million are said to suffer from compulsive sexual behavior.

How We Get Addicted - TIME

“Addictions,” says Joseph Frascella, director of the division of clinical neuroscience at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “are repetitive behaviors in the face of negative consequences, the desire to continue something you know is bad for you.”

China is growing rapidly, but growth has its price.  According to a World bank Study which was recently published in the Financial Times, as many as 750,000 Chinese die prematurely each year due to the effects of pollution.  It is said that 16 of 20’s most polluted cities are in China.

The US has another problem.  37% of US births in 2005 are borne out of wedlock.  In 1960, that was 5.3%.  today, 47% of adults in their 30s and 40s have lived with a partner who was not their spouse. 

We need both Facebook and LInkedIn, so says Anita Campbell.

Entrepreneurs Need Both Facebook and LinkedIn » Small Business Trends

I can see value in both Facebook and LinkedIn. Facebook seems suited for furthering relationships and for getting to know the complete you. LinkedIn is suited for maintaining an online resume of your professional credentials and for finding employers, employees, service providers, and those who can introduce you. My plan is to use both.

My son finished his copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, his final adventure by Monday.  So did some of his classmates, and I reckon so did tens of thousands of other people, if not hundreds of thousands worldwide finished their copy in one or two days.  Such is Pottermania.

It is said that in 2000, 3 million copies of the fourth book Goblet of Fire was sold in two days.  In 2003, 5 million copies of the Order of the Phoenix was sold the first 24 hours.  In 2005, 6.9 million copies of the Half-Blood Prince was sold in 24 hours.  By most estimates, the final book sold over 10 million the first 24 hours. 

Time outlined the elaborous preparations that Scholastic went through in order to give his millions of fans that magic moment when everybody gets the book for the time and pours in without knowing in advance the spoilers.  Such things like never using the internet, nor even the most trusted couriers.  It was said that JK rowling wrote the manuscript, and it was printed, and a person personally printed it out, and bring the copies to the publisher.   No couriers.  No emails.  Just personal delivery.  The press was not named, and copies were transported by GPS tracked boxes to publishers who have strict instructions not to open the boxes until 12:01 a.m. on July 21.

Bookstores and resellers have to sign long, tightly worded legal agreeemnts, and it was said that one person is currently serving 4.5 years in jail for tryin gto sell an advanced copy of the Half-Blood Prince.

In this time of the internet, news travelled fast.  It is a testament to modern technology that you can distribute more than 10 million books in one day, and it is the challenge aso how to do it all without doing it earlier, and how to make thousands of people involved in such an endeavor not to leak or do it early.

This is another anecdote. Unlike the other one, this shows how we can be discontended even if we are so fortunate:

Two businessmen met in the street. One was looking so sad, so the other person asked why:

“Well, three weeks ago, an uncle died and left me with $50,000″, the sad fellow said.

“That’s not bad”, said the busnessman.

“Yes, and two weeks ago, a cousin I did not know had an accident, and I found out he left me with $20,000.”

“So what is the problem?” the businessman queried.

“Well, that’s not all. Last week, my grandfather passed away, and left me with $500,000.” said the sad fellow.

“I still don’t see the connection. why are you so sad then?”, ask the friend.

“Look. The week is almost over… And so far - nothing! Nobody died!”

Got this anecdote to share: This illustrates how the kid appreciates what the parents do.

Two kids were talking to each other. One says, ” I’m really worried. My dad works twelve hours a day to give me a nice home and good food. My mom spends teh whole day cleaning and cooking for me. I’m worried sick!”

“What have you got to worry about? Sounds to me you are so fortunate?”

The first kid says, ” What if they try to escape?”

As a Business, we have a couple of retail stores.  Can you increase your sales by providing more choice or less?

According to a study conducted in the supermarket of California, two professors, Dr. sheena Iyengar of Columbia University and Dr. Mark Lepper of Stanford University , they had a simulation in which there were two stores.  One store had 6 different brands of flavored jam, while another had 24 different brands.

The passerby was monitored, and then studied.  The larger display, with 24 brands attracted 60 percent of the people, while the 6 brands attracted only 40 percent.

HOWEVER, only 3 percent of the people who visited the larger display bought, while 30 percent of those visiting the smaller display bought.

That would seemingly indicate that ten times more people visiting the smaller display bought.  This purportedly means that giving too much choice to the customer will lead to inaction.

We should give choice, but increasingly consumers are relying on your rrand and your choice to limit it for them.