Friday, January 29, 2010
hmm..
not in the best mood..
i feel like eating a piece of chocolate lava cake..
or maybe a big bowl of noodles.
what the hell am i thinking/doing.
realized several things all at once.
I'm really stupid sometimes.
I remember the other time I felt like this.
seriously, what's wrong w/ me.. should be better to myself..
having second thoughts.
glad I can write random crap here for myself.
looking forward to tomorrow night!
i feel like eating a piece of chocolate lava cake..
or maybe a big bowl of noodles.
what the hell am i thinking/doing.
realized several things all at once.
I'm really stupid sometimes.
I remember the other time I felt like this.
seriously, what's wrong w/ me.. should be better to myself..
having second thoughts.
glad I can write random crap here for myself.
looking forward to tomorrow night!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Why Canada needs RIM to win
Canadian Business magazine
For about 10 years now, Canada’s business experts have been waiting for Research In Motion to fail. At the start of the decade, the consensus on Bay Street held that RIM was insane to be trying to build and market its own handset, going head-to-head against Goliath competitors like Nokia, Motorola and Palm. Talk to most analysts and they were dead certain that Waterloo’s nifty little startup, with its cool e-mail pagers, would get crushed by bigger, smarter competition from abroad. The only reasonable strategy would be to find a strong partner and license their e-mail software in return for royalties. That would have been a nice, safe little strategy, and soon enough one of those big phone makers would have swallowed RIM whole. But Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis weren’t interested.
Once RIM proved that the BlackBerry was a wildly popular revolutionary device, more than capable of trumping anything Palm could come up with, the concerns about patents arose. “Look! RIM doesn’t even own their own technology! They’re doomed!” Well the patent wars dragged on, but in retrospect, they were little more than a temporary (though expensive) distraction. Now, of course, the experts are collectively preoccupied with increasing competition. The iPhone is slick, fun, and its e-mail capability is very nearly as good as BlackBerry’s. The Palm Pre is an impressive smartphone in its own right, and Google’s Nexus One looks like a formidable new player. All this has many claiming, once again, that RIM’s best days are over.
Sometimes it seems we Canadians just can’t bring ourselves to believe that we have a world-class technology champion in our midst. Rather than tripping over ourselves to predict its downfall, we should all be collectively rooting for RIM’s success.
If Canada is going to develop the dynamic high-tech industry we so desperately want, we’ll need champions capable of winning on a global scale. Right now, Canada has precisely one company that fits the bill: RIM.
Consider a few facts: When we ranked the 100 biggest technology companies in Canada last year, RIM stood atop the list with a market value of $45.7 billion. No. 2 was CGI Group, less than 1/14th RIM’s size. In fact, the market value of companies two through 100 combined added up to less than half RIM’s value. Now, there are certainly some very exciting small Canadian tech firms on that list, but not one of them can hold a candle to RIM’s reach and influence.
Between 2001 and 2008 (a period in which employment in Canada’s telecom and computer industries was essentially flat), RIM increased its labour force tenfold, from about 1,200 to 12,000. And then there is RIM’s impact on tech research in Canada. In 2008, the company spent roughly $383.6 million in the lab — making it the country’s sixth-biggest private R&D spender. And while most of the other big spenders were reining in budgets, RIM increased its spending by 51% in one year.
Then, of course, there’s the philanthropy. RIM’s top three executives donated $170 million to help establish the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, which is fast becoming a global powerhouse in the exploration of new scientific ideas. It’s exactly the kind of spinoff benefit that helps foster a culture of innovation that will pay real dividends for the future health of Canada’s knowledge economy.
When Nortel imploded last year, we lost this country’s biggest R&D spender, and a hugely important tech titan. We can’t afford to lose another.
------
I would like to cheer for RIM but my blackberry hasn't been that nice to me..
For about 10 years now, Canada’s business experts have been waiting for Research In Motion to fail. At the start of the decade, the consensus on Bay Street held that RIM was insane to be trying to build and market its own handset, going head-to-head against Goliath competitors like Nokia, Motorola and Palm. Talk to most analysts and they were dead certain that Waterloo’s nifty little startup, with its cool e-mail pagers, would get crushed by bigger, smarter competition from abroad. The only reasonable strategy would be to find a strong partner and license their e-mail software in return for royalties. That would have been a nice, safe little strategy, and soon enough one of those big phone makers would have swallowed RIM whole. But Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis weren’t interested.
Once RIM proved that the BlackBerry was a wildly popular revolutionary device, more than capable of trumping anything Palm could come up with, the concerns about patents arose. “Look! RIM doesn’t even own their own technology! They’re doomed!” Well the patent wars dragged on, but in retrospect, they were little more than a temporary (though expensive) distraction. Now, of course, the experts are collectively preoccupied with increasing competition. The iPhone is slick, fun, and its e-mail capability is very nearly as good as BlackBerry’s. The Palm Pre is an impressive smartphone in its own right, and Google’s Nexus One looks like a formidable new player. All this has many claiming, once again, that RIM’s best days are over.
Sometimes it seems we Canadians just can’t bring ourselves to believe that we have a world-class technology champion in our midst. Rather than tripping over ourselves to predict its downfall, we should all be collectively rooting for RIM’s success.
If Canada is going to develop the dynamic high-tech industry we so desperately want, we’ll need champions capable of winning on a global scale. Right now, Canada has precisely one company that fits the bill: RIM.
Consider a few facts: When we ranked the 100 biggest technology companies in Canada last year, RIM stood atop the list with a market value of $45.7 billion. No. 2 was CGI Group, less than 1/14th RIM’s size. In fact, the market value of companies two through 100 combined added up to less than half RIM’s value. Now, there are certainly some very exciting small Canadian tech firms on that list, but not one of them can hold a candle to RIM’s reach and influence.
Between 2001 and 2008 (a period in which employment in Canada’s telecom and computer industries was essentially flat), RIM increased its labour force tenfold, from about 1,200 to 12,000. And then there is RIM’s impact on tech research in Canada. In 2008, the company spent roughly $383.6 million in the lab — making it the country’s sixth-biggest private R&D spender. And while most of the other big spenders were reining in budgets, RIM increased its spending by 51% in one year.
Then, of course, there’s the philanthropy. RIM’s top three executives donated $170 million to help establish the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, which is fast becoming a global powerhouse in the exploration of new scientific ideas. It’s exactly the kind of spinoff benefit that helps foster a culture of innovation that will pay real dividends for the future health of Canada’s knowledge economy.
When Nortel imploded last year, we lost this country’s biggest R&D spender, and a hugely important tech titan. We can’t afford to lose another.
------
I would like to cheer for RIM but my blackberry hasn't been that nice to me..
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Banana Republic Luxe Leisure line
Banana Republic's new Luxe Leisure that will be sold at warm weather stores as well as a few other locations come March.
think they would sell the line here? it's been warm for January!
Monday, January 25, 2010
:(
it hasn't always been good.
but these years, i've/we've been trying to build a closer relationship.
and it's been good and I'm proud of it and very happy about it.
but then things like this happen (a small thing) and it seems like the relationship is so fragile.
i must have been a bad example.
good intentions can be taken the wrong way.
which leads me to think about other things and how it must have felt when sth similar like this happened..
maybe it's the rain after a mostly nice weekend.
and I'm depressed that it's Monday.
I'm not good at dealing with changing weather and bad coffee in the morning..
sweating at the gym didn't help this time.
so hopefully a hot shower will!
but these years, i've/we've been trying to build a closer relationship.
and it's been good and I'm proud of it and very happy about it.
but then things like this happen (a small thing) and it seems like the relationship is so fragile.
i must have been a bad example.
good intentions can be taken the wrong way.
which leads me to think about other things and how it must have felt when sth similar like this happened..
maybe it's the rain after a mostly nice weekend.
and I'm depressed that it's Monday.
I'm not good at dealing with changing weather and bad coffee in the morning..
sweating at the gym didn't help this time.
so hopefully a hot shower will!
Friday, January 22, 2010
Target considers Canadian expansion
Last Updated:
Friday, January 22, 2010 | 1:03 PM ET
But shoppers shouldn't get too excited about the prospects of another major U.S. retailer heading north, because any such move could take years.
A spokeswoman for the company, which markets itself as a more fashionable alternative to big box retailers like Wal-Mart or Zellers, says it's too early to determine whether Target will actually choose to expand into Canada.
She says the company is also looking at Mexico and Latin America as alternative markets, and it could be three to five years before a solid decision is made.
This week, Target announced plans to dramatically rein in its U.S. expansion plans and focus on spending $1 billion to renovate 340 existing stores this year.
In recent years, several popular U.S. retailers have launched stores in Canada, including hardware giant Loews and Bath & Body Works.
The Canadian Press
U.S. discount superchain Target Corp. has its sights set on international expansion, and that means the famed red bullseye brand could come to Canada.But shoppers shouldn't get too excited about the prospects of another major U.S. retailer heading north, because any such move could take years.
A spokeswoman for the company, which markets itself as a more fashionable alternative to big box retailers like Wal-Mart or Zellers, says it's too early to determine whether Target will actually choose to expand into Canada.
She says the company is also looking at Mexico and Latin America as alternative markets, and it could be three to five years before a solid decision is made.
This week, Target announced plans to dramatically rein in its U.S. expansion plans and focus on spending $1 billion to renovate 340 existing stores this year.
In recent years, several popular U.S. retailers have launched stores in Canada, including hardware giant Loews and Bath & Body Works.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
Holiday break
Some activities over the holiday break:
Boardgames night
girls sleepover :D & shopping on Granville
Boarding at Cypress
Battle scars. haha
hot tub & swimming at Jeanne's
Catching up over dinner & dessert with a important person.
family time.
sleeping in.
lots of chocolate cake.
Boardgames night
girls sleepover :D & shopping on Granville
Boarding at Cypress
Battle scars. haha
hot tub & swimming at Jeanne's
Catching up over dinner & dessert with a important person.
family time.
sleeping in.
lots of chocolate cake.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Bedroom
I love love love this room! It looks so perfect. Not too modern and so simple.. I mean there's hardly anything in the room.. but something about it makes me want to live there.
I want the perfect bedroom when I have my own place.
what would I do without my sister. go crazy probably..
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
New Skype seeks users who pay
Canadian Business Online
EBay announced on Nov. 19 that it had finally completed the sale of a majority stake in Skype Technologies to a group of investors, including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. While the sale was a struggle — Skype's founders launched a legal battle against eBay that put the deal in peril — the real work for the new owners is just beginning. The investor group, led by American private-equity firm Silver Lake, now has to figure out how to convince more Skype users to actually pay for the communications service, all the while fending off Google, which is becoming a major competitor.
Skype, which permits free video and voice calling over the Internet, launched in 2003. EBay snatched up the popular Luxembourg-based company in 2005 for a whopping US$2.5 billion, from founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. EBay wanted to integrate Skype with its auction operations, allowing buyers and sellers to interact, but the desired results never materialized. Under shareholder pressure, eBay announced the sale to the Silver Lake-led group in September. Founders Zennström and Friis, who still owned the underlying technology, quickly filed a suit. Ultimately, the pair settled for a 14% stake in the company. (The investor group, including the CPPIB, owns 56%; eBay retains 30%.)
It's easy to see why the founders wanted back in. Skype has added hundreds of millions of users since they sold it in 2005. In the third quarter alone, user accounts increased by 40.8%, compared to the same period last year, bringing the total to 521 million. Despite the huge boost in accounts, revenue during that time increased more slowly at 29%, to US$185 million. That's because most people use Skype for free. The company doesn't charge users to call another Skype account. It makes money only when customers call an outside mobile or a land line. Its chatty devotees tallied up more than 30 billion minutes on Skype during the third quarter, but only 10% of those minutes were paid. "It's a challenge migrating these customers to paid subscribers," says Amit Kaminer, a research analyst with the SeaBoard Group, a telecom consultancy in Montreal.
One Skype strategy: boost revenue by increasing its presence on mobile devices. The more Skype integrates itself into every aspect of communications, the more comfortable users will feel buying cheap minutes to make an outside call when necessary — or so the company hopes. Skype partnered with Nokia this year to preload its calling application on certain handsets, and also released apps for the iPhone and BlackBerry. However, that is spooking traditional carriers who are reluctant to let Skype access their networks for fear of losing out on voice revenue. Typically, carriers allow customers to make Skype calls over Wi-Fi networks but not their 3G networks, which are higher quality and provide better coverage.
AT&T in the U.S. is an exception. In October, it announced it would open up its 3G network for Internet calling applications such as Skype for the iPhone. Kaminer expects other carriers will eventually work with Skype, too. "It's better for them if they control their future," he says of the carriers, "otherwise they'll become a dumb pipe."
But Google could make things even more difficult. In November, it acquired a firm that offers a similar service to Skype called Gizmo5. The web giant already operates Google Talk for voice and video chat between users, and Google Voice, which offers a range of services, including voice-mail transcription and a single number for multiple phones. Combining those services with Gizmo5's technology means Google could soon offer everything Skype can — and more.
Analysts say Skype needs to aggressively expand to secure more loyal users, making it difficult for Google to win market share. Small and medium-sized businesses are a particularly lucrative opportunity. But that would require Skype to address security concerns and boost its virtually non-existent customer service. "In the business space, that's a huge red flag," says Jayanth Angl, a senior research analyst with Info-Tech Research Group in Toronto.
Canadians should hope Skype makes headway. After all, the CPPIB's stake means we're all investors now.
EBay announced on Nov. 19 that it had finally completed the sale of a majority stake in Skype Technologies to a group of investors, including the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. While the sale was a struggle — Skype's founders launched a legal battle against eBay that put the deal in peril — the real work for the new owners is just beginning. The investor group, led by American private-equity firm Silver Lake, now has to figure out how to convince more Skype users to actually pay for the communications service, all the while fending off Google, which is becoming a major competitor.
Skype, which permits free video and voice calling over the Internet, launched in 2003. EBay snatched up the popular Luxembourg-based company in 2005 for a whopping US$2.5 billion, from founders Niklas Zennström and Janus Friis. EBay wanted to integrate Skype with its auction operations, allowing buyers and sellers to interact, but the desired results never materialized. Under shareholder pressure, eBay announced the sale to the Silver Lake-led group in September. Founders Zennström and Friis, who still owned the underlying technology, quickly filed a suit. Ultimately, the pair settled for a 14% stake in the company. (The investor group, including the CPPIB, owns 56%; eBay retains 30%.)
It's easy to see why the founders wanted back in. Skype has added hundreds of millions of users since they sold it in 2005. In the third quarter alone, user accounts increased by 40.8%, compared to the same period last year, bringing the total to 521 million. Despite the huge boost in accounts, revenue during that time increased more slowly at 29%, to US$185 million. That's because most people use Skype for free. The company doesn't charge users to call another Skype account. It makes money only when customers call an outside mobile or a land line. Its chatty devotees tallied up more than 30 billion minutes on Skype during the third quarter, but only 10% of those minutes were paid. "It's a challenge migrating these customers to paid subscribers," says Amit Kaminer, a research analyst with the SeaBoard Group, a telecom consultancy in Montreal.
One Skype strategy: boost revenue by increasing its presence on mobile devices. The more Skype integrates itself into every aspect of communications, the more comfortable users will feel buying cheap minutes to make an outside call when necessary — or so the company hopes. Skype partnered with Nokia this year to preload its calling application on certain handsets, and also released apps for the iPhone and BlackBerry. However, that is spooking traditional carriers who are reluctant to let Skype access their networks for fear of losing out on voice revenue. Typically, carriers allow customers to make Skype calls over Wi-Fi networks but not their 3G networks, which are higher quality and provide better coverage.
AT&T in the U.S. is an exception. In October, it announced it would open up its 3G network for Internet calling applications such as Skype for the iPhone. Kaminer expects other carriers will eventually work with Skype, too. "It's better for them if they control their future," he says of the carriers, "otherwise they'll become a dumb pipe."
But Google could make things even more difficult. In November, it acquired a firm that offers a similar service to Skype called Gizmo5. The web giant already operates Google Talk for voice and video chat between users, and Google Voice, which offers a range of services, including voice-mail transcription and a single number for multiple phones. Combining those services with Gizmo5's technology means Google could soon offer everything Skype can — and more.
Analysts say Skype needs to aggressively expand to secure more loyal users, making it difficult for Google to win market share. Small and medium-sized businesses are a particularly lucrative opportunity. But that would require Skype to address security concerns and boost its virtually non-existent customer service. "In the business space, that's a huge red flag," says Jayanth Angl, a senior research analyst with Info-Tech Research Group in Toronto.
Canadians should hope Skype makes headway. After all, the CPPIB's stake means we're all investors now.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Milly's birthday dinner
Milly's green tea mousse cake. it was really good! not too sweet, and the perfect amount of green tea bitterness. I want to learn how to bake one :)
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
happy new year!
this holiday break passed by so quickly.
changes changes changes.
hope they will all be good ones this year!
I'm excited for the new year :)
Happy 2010!
changes changes changes.
hope they will all be good ones this year!
I'm excited for the new year :)
Happy 2010!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)