Life's hard but found some peace & happiness

To be frank, i found life's quite hard.. with inflation, looking for more biz, finding funding,.. it's tiring.. but somehow i feel better than before.. perhaps i found freedom to do what i want to do.. guess i must treasure what i have today.. ;-)

With my wife and supportive friends, i believe we can achieve whatever we want to achieve. Just do our best! ;-)

a sad case for the whole world

i'm sad to learn that the China Olypmics opening ceremony sweet little child singer lip-sync.. ;-(
And the real less-than-pretty child singer was backstage..

She was never openly acknowledged for her wonderful, tear-inducible singing.. So the organiser felt that 'ugly' child shouldnt be on stage.. It's funny cause i remembered i saw a older man signing on stage as well.. he aint good looking at all!

This is a step backward for China.. as mighty as they may in their economy success.. sad as they loose their basic human values..

Where does that lead us to? human extinction?

SPARE customer - conversion route

this morning i read something interesting on customer buying pattern - conversion route.. here i tried to capture some essence plus my own interpretation.. the concept is encapsulated in the acronym S.P.A.R.E.

S - Suspecting customer. The market segments you may be interested in but you have not decide yet.

P - Prospecting customer. Your target market segments. Marketing efforts will be pumped into here.

A - Actual customer. Converted paying customers. Actual brand/product/service is being experienced here by the customers.

R - Regular customer. If they like it, they become your regular customers with repeat buys.

E - Excellent customer. They like it so much that they started telling others their experience with the brand/product/service as well.

Beautiful voice.. Touching songs.. pretty child

Branding - an overused and often misunderstood

Years ago, it was innovation - all the hype. In more recent years, it was branding. Today, many companies thought they understood branding and were jumping into it. Almost everyone wants to do branding or claim to have a brand. Do they?

Many thought a name and/or logo is considered a brand. Fortunately a recent article on Singapore Airline helped to clarify that branding is not just skin deep. It's the internal processes and great people running the show daily that exhibit the brand experience customers wanted. Maybe this is branding at the next or highest level.

Certainly, as more companies matured and understood branding, the standard will be raised. And will branding fade away like many management fad? I think not. At worst, it will be another hygiene factor businesses have to consider no matter what. Marketing, including branding, and innovation are still relevant in today's businesss context.

So, what's the recent or future mgmt fad? The Long Tail concept?

Miss and Love

Just finished watching the movie The Leap Years on DVD.. It reminded me of Samantha, a friend of mine.. and at the same time i remembered the movie's actress said something about all love literatures/writings most used words is not love but miss.

Yes, i miss my friends. Wonder how they are living.. are they happy? We are all so busy with making a living or enjoying life tat we tend to forget about our friends.. maybe we think there's always a tomorrow to catch up.. i was a culprit too.

i will make an effort to meet up my good old friends somehow.. ;-)

Love holds no bound - including animals like lion..

The lion's video is really touching..

Singapore Taxi Telephone Numbers

Taxi is so expensive in Singapore these days.. Since we are going to pay good money for taxi, we might as well know which taxi companies provide the best service.

A sad day

Today is a sad day for me. Coz at first i thought i found a good 'brother'. But over time i realised that despite the fact that we have similar goals, our value system and working style are vastly different. So sad that we had to part ways.. However, i wish him well and i'm sure he will attain his goals. 

As for me, i will probably take a short break.. work on my mulist.com and then move on..

Blessings!

Listening to yourself

Andrew Matthews wrote " If you dont know what you like doing, maybe you stopped listening to yourself years ago".

He was so right! Perhaps i have stopped listening to myself...  ;-(

Time to make the right choice! Nothing is more important than happiness, health and family.  ;-)

Money is essential for survival. But it's not everything.

Success & Probability

"Success has no precedence.

It has only probability."

- Kenneth Woo

humbled by knowledge

been reading almost one book every two days.. mainly for work though it's my personal interest too.. has but humbled me in many ways..  There're so much to learn.. and every book taught me something new.. This is better than gold! And i realised i know so little.. compared to the vast ocean of knowledge yet to be read & uncovered.. ;-)

How technology changed us

This is funny

DA VINCI CODE - Chinese Version... PRESS Ctrl+a, you should see something
different in the picture...  ha ha.. ;-)

if it doesnt work, u probably have to download to your PC.. and Ctrl+a

Buddha was here - song & video

This song was written & released on Youtube in Jan 2007. So more one half years later, it had gathered over 1,600 views. I am happy! Like Buddha was here with me. Blessings! ;-)

Nice Cute Paintings

i love cute paintings! saw these paintings by Splatter at Marina Square. must say i'm impressed. I think they have been able to make a business out of such paintings.. with quality, vibrant colors and cool/nice/cute designs tat fit the current consumers. it's relevant to the working professionals here.. i believe.

What is Concept, Theory & Model

Concept

Simply, a concept is an abstract notion or idea, something that isn’t concrete.

"A word or set of words that expresses a general idea concerning the nature of something or the relations between things, often providing a category for the classification of phenomena."

Theodorson & Theodorson 1969

In other words a concept is an abstract summary of characteristics that we see as having something in common. Concepts are created by people for the purpose of communication and efficiency.

A concept has no set meaning and it is up to us to define what we mean by the concept. But if concepts have no set meaning then anyone can define a concept in any way that they wish. But if everyone can define the concept in any way they like the concept becomes worthless; unless there is agreement on the meaning communication is impossible. A concept therefore has to be defined, but in such a way that it has a degree of acceptance. Experts in the field usually propose such definitions.

Theory

A very loose meaning of the word is:

That part of the study of a subject which is not practical.

For example, teaching theory is often contrasted with teaching practice.

More substantial definitions of a theory are:

"A theory is a set of interrelated principles and definitions that present a systematic view of phenomena by specifying relationships among variables with the purpose of explaining natural phenomena."

Kerlinger 1986

"Any set of hypotheses or principles linked by logical or mathematical arguments which is advanced to explain an area of empirical reality of type of phenomenon."

Jary & Jary 1995

In effect a theory includes a set of basic assumptions and axioms as the foundation and the body of the theory is composed of logically interrelated, empirically verifiable propositions.

Concepts are generally regarded as being at a lower level of abstraction than a theory but a necessary part of any theory, since theories are formed from concepts.

Model

Lucey (1991) defines a model of "any simplified abstract of reality ".

For example we are all familiar with scale models of aircraft, cars, ships, housing estates, etc. These simplified versions of the real thing are called physical or iconic models. They are based directly on the representation of the phenomenon being studied and look like the object.

An extension of the physical model is the analogue model. These models are physical in form but do not have the same appearance as the object being investigated. The circular movement of the hands of a wristwatch is an analogue of the behaviour of time.

Models may be very simple or very complex. Since the world we observe cannot be observed in totality, each model reflects only a limited aspect of the total world. No single model, or combination of models, reveals the truth of the structure of reality. Each model reveals and orders reality from a particular perspective.

In practice concepts and especially theories are often referred to as models.

goto Reference site.

Fuchsia Lane - Re-engineered Tees

I got to know this creative & interesting lady who re-engineered tees with chinese flair.. dont know how to explain.. but i think it's cool.. never see such combination ever before..  And i'm happy to know her as a friend now.. ;-)

U can see more designs at www.fuchsialane.com 

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