Hamlet concludes that suicide is not a path out of Samsara:

To be, or not to be … that is the question.
Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take up arms against a sea of troubles - and by opposing them end them?
To die… To sleep… no more…
And by a sleep to say we end the heartache, and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to..
Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished!

To die… To sleep…
To sleep? Perchance to dream!
Ay there’s the rub! For in that sleep of death what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause…

There’s the respect that makes calamity of so long life.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, the oppressors wrong, the proud man’s contumely?
The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay?
The insolence of office,
And the spurns that patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make - with a bare bodkin?

Who would fardels bear, to grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveller returns,
Puzzles the will, and makes us bear those ills we have,
Than fly to others we known not of?

Thus conscience doth make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought;
And enterprises of great pith and moment,
With this regard, their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action.

I’m 42…

“The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.”

– Michelangelo

According to The Effective Executive In Action, an effective executive:

• Manages their time
• Focuses their efforts on making contributions
• Makes their strengths productive
• Concentrates their efforts on those tasks that are most important to contributions
• Makes effective decisions

…and leaves you the following questions:

“What am I getting paid to do? What should I be paid to do if I am being paid for getting the right things done in my position? Am I doing things that I shouldn’t be doing?

Eliminate or reduce the activities that do not contribute to effectiveness, the things you shouldn’t be doing. WHat are some of these activities?”

Before stepping out this morning I came across another Cinematical entry that links to the new Rocky trailer.

As a Rotarian, I feel it is important to introduce a simple set of rules which help govern ourselves, and will certainly benefit others…

Of the things we think, say, or do:

Is it the TRUTH?

Is it FAIR to all concerned?

Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?

Will it be BENEFICIAL to to all concerned?

A new find for me, Sub Rosa is an electronically-distributed magazine “where science and magic, history and myth meet”. The newest release features content based around Manly P. Hall and Aleister Crowley’s works, to name a few, and is an interesting read. They also have a blog called The Daily Grail which is worth a read.

The artist’s work is outstanding, too.

In Tom Peter’s “Henry Mintzberg Is Crazy“, he briefly describes different management/leadership styles, leaving us with two styles: linear and non-linear. Generally speaking, non-linear management runs on passion and may be viewed as more of a “by the seat of your pants” style. …maybe it is, but look at this slide and you’ll see that there are a lot of positive attributes that are definitely to be desired in your company.

Find a happy medium of the two? I’m not so sure that we need to find a “happy medium” — there’s a lot of wow-factor that results in non-linear leadership!

While you’re reading Tom’s stuff, check out Tom Peters’ Free Stuff link.

“8. Develop a client portfolio. Get practical experience to build your skills and a portfolio of clients, even if you initially work at a greatly reduced cost to them.”

While, obviously, it’s important to build clients, you may perpetuate reduced-cost offerings if you start this way, especially if done incorrectly. Through personal experiences I have witnessed the long-term effects where clients become accustomed to low-rate offerings.

So, sell on value, and position yourself with your pricing. By selling on value, you’re focusing on the benefits the client receives in purchasing from you — not on the product or service itself. Your pricing can still be competitive, but it’s likely that your services are worth a premium, and this pricing strategy places you above your competition in the mindset of your potential client: they’re thinking, “You get what you pay for.“

Sacha Noam Baron Cohen’s characters are hilarious. (I’m a big fan of Da Ali G Show.) I just checked out the Borat movie tonight and was suprised to see South Carolina students in part of it. I’m even more surprised to see that, according to Yahoo! News/AP that those students are suing him for their sexist and racist remarks.

I passed by Last.FM some time back and didn’t think twice about it, but tonight I revisited it and found it to be very easy to use and the tagging and personal radio are really neat — now I’m able to find music that is similar to that of my favorite artists. Awesome.

They even have APIs over at the backend website: http://www.audioscrobbler.net/data/

It wasn’t uncommon for curious modem-owning computer users to war dial, attempting to find local BBSes or other accessible devices by configuring their computer to continuously dial telephone numbers, noting which ones answer with modem tones.

In the movie War Games (1983), David Lightman uses a wardialer and finds what he thinks is a computer game, only to find himself actually starting real-life weapons systems… The movie is a classic, and the Cinematical Blog has news that a sequel is coming out, but the line-up may not deliver a movie that meets expectations. (The original features more realistic hacking and phreaking than newer movies that attempt the same, but overly exaggerate.)