URL Shortener

Did you try to tweet a URL on Twitter - and then found that you don't have enough space to write the actual message?

Or did you ever think of sending a URL to someone with the intent of hiding actual address of the URL from the recipient? 

Or did you want a URL which people could easily remember?

Well, the answer to all of these questions is a "URL Shortener".

To understand this better, check out this link. (http://bit.ly/5rdxu8)

Well, this is the the address of my blog - http://soreanblog.blogspot.com/ - in a shortened format.

Doesn't this sound like an alter ego?

Check out this interesting article which explains how URL shortening works.

And if you want to shorten your URL, then you can use this website.

Pressure

Many a times, I find myself talking about working under pressure.

This includes recounting my experiences where I thought I worked "under pressure". Or asking my reportees to get themselves prepared to work "under pressure".

However, this quote below has left me humbled.

And I have made a silent vow never to talk about working under pressure again.

This is what Jose Luis Chilavert, Goal keeper for Paraguay, had to say during the France 98 Football (Soccer) World Cup.

"Pressure? This is just a football match. When you do not know how to feed your children, that is pressure."

Covey's Quadrant

Stephen Covey is a man well know and well respected in the corporate world.

After all, he is a best selling American author of the notable book - The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

Well, I haven't read this book of his. However, one thing which has been been accredited to Covey has caught my attention in the recent years. 

And it is Covey's Quadrant.

Covey's Quadrant focuses on the effective time management. And serves as a guiding force for any individual who wishes to manage his time more effectively.

Covey's Quadrant categorizes tasks based on two factors

• Importance of the Task

• Urgency of the Task

This results in a two-by-two matrix - as above -  with four sectors.  This forms the fundamental of his concept. 

The most important point conveyed by him is - Sector 2 is the key.

Many a times, you find yourself fire fighting at work. This translates into working in Sector 1 as per Covey's Quadrant. Sector 1 is the Quadrant of Necessity.

Although working in Sector 1 may be the need of the hour, it is in our best interests to avoid working in this sector. 

Working in this sector, many a times, means that we have overlooked problems for too long. It also means that you are in a crisis situation - and this impacts your overall mental health. (After all, no one loves a crisis - it is always better to stay away from them). It also results in severe work-life imbalance.

Next comes the Sector 3. This is the Quadrant of Deception.

Quite often you find yourself in a discussion which you could have best avoided. Or discussing a matter which may be urgent - but not to you - but to the other person. In such cases, you are in Sector 3.

Such matters - which seem urgent - but which not are actually urgent - pull away your precious time which you could have put to better use.

Sector 4 is referred to as a Quadrant of Waste.

Many a times you find yourself sucked into these activities - quite against your wishes. Well, this should be OK once in a while. But if this is frequent, then you may consider that you are wasting your time. This wouldn't give you any significant benefits. And if you wish to relax, it's better to that dedicatedly - rather than relaxing at work.

The concept recommends that it is in our best interest to avoid Sector 3 and 4.

And manage your time in Sector 1 - manage what is most important and critical for your business. But you should make every effort to ensure that none of your tasks come into Quadrant 1.

Now, if Quadrant 1 is to be managed effectively and Quadrant 3 and 4 are a strict no-no, what is it that we have to do?

The idea is to to ensure that you work mostly in Sector 2.

Sector 2 is the Quadrant of Quality and Personal Leadership.

Covey urges to focus our efforts and time on this Quadrant - to focus on work which is important and not urgent.

What is the advantage?

Well, the first fact is that we appreciate that what we are doing is important. This will make an individual take things a bit more seriously. Important work involves extensive preparation and planning. 

And the fact it is not urgent gives us a significant peace of mind. It gives us the added advantage to work without pressure, with the best planning and taking appropriate steps to avoid errors in the future - to prevent failures.

Working on tasks in Sector 2 gives you a benefit of building upon things which will help you in the long run.

If we pull our time from Sector 3 and 4, and use it for the tasks while they are in Sector 2, I think we are making a significant and substantial effort in preventing tasks from slipping into Sector 1.

These thoughts have lead me to make an effort to work in Sector 2. I have not yet been successful fully.

Finally, this interpretation of Covey's Quadrant is fully mine.

Read more about the official version here.

French Open 2010

The season for back to back Tennis Grand Slams start on Monday 24th May 2010 with The French Open in Paris. This will go on till 6th June 2010. After a short break of two weeks comes the Wimbledon.

The two week grand slam is played on clay. In fact, it is the only grand slam to be played on clay.

Clay is the slowest surface for playing tennis. This also makes it one of the toughest - especially for players who like to play on the fast grass courts.

The draw and the seeds are drawn for this year's French Open. And it is time to estimate the probable winners of this year's Open.

Starting with the men's draw, you have the familiar favorites - Rafael Nadal,  Roger Frederer. Frederer is seeded first and Nadal second.

Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are the dark horses. 

And on clay, you can never discount the Spaniard's. Someone out there might be lurking to make this tournament his very own.

My personal favorite to win the Open this year is last year's champion - Frederer.

The women's draw is wide open - considering the wide variety of talent that is on display these days.

As always, you have the Williams sisters - with Serena seeded first. Her sister Venus is seeded second.

Then you have the talented ladies from Eastern Europe - Jelena Jankovic from Serbia & Dinara Safina and Svetlana Kuznetsova and Elena Dementieva from Russia.

Then you have the former super stars - who are not in great form these days - Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic and Justin Henin.

As far as fashion is to be considered, it looks to be straight battle between Ana Ivanovic and Maria Sharapova.

But on the court, one girl who is going to give all of them a run for their money is Caroline Wozniacki from Denmark. She has made a lot of news this year for her talented display of tennis.

She is seeded third and is my favorite to win the title this year.

A Bad Year For Flying

It has been a terrible year for flying.

There have been several horrific air plane crashes in the past one year - making air travelers extremely apprehensive about flying.

It all started approximately 1 year back. 

On 1st June 2009, an Air France Jet crashed in the middle of the Atlantic. It was on its way from Rio in Brazil to Paris in France. The flight is supposed to have crashed in severe turbulence caused by a thunderstorm.

All 228 people on board died - making it one of the worst crashes in aviation history.

In the same month, on 30th June 2009, a Yemenia Airway flight crashed into the Indian Ocean while attempting a second landing at the Hahaya airport in Moroni, Comoros. 153 people were on board. A 14 year old girl was the only survivor.

Just 15 days later, a Caspian Airlines plane crashed near Tehran just after take off - killing all 168 people on board

Only God knew what was happening - three horrible crashes in a span of 45 days.

The new year 2010 also began with a disaster. On 25th Jan 2010, an Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed into the Mediterranean Sea killing 90 precious lives.

Three months later, on 10th April 2010, a Polish Military plane crashed in Russia as it attempted landing in dense fog. All people on board, 96 to count, died in this accident. The then Polish President Lech Kaczynski and his wife were also killed. Many top people from the Polish political spectrum were also killed.

If all of this was not enough, just a month later, on 12th May - an Afriqiyah Airways flight crashed while landing at the Tripoli Internation Airport in Libya. 103 people on board died. A Dutch boy was the lone survivor.

Just a few days back, a plane crashed in Afganistan killing all 44 people on board.

This made me feel really bad - thinking about the several air crashes which we had over the last one year.

And today, an Air India air plane crashed in the South Indian City of Mangalore just after landing. 166 people were on board and only 8 survived.

All in all it has been a terrible year for air travelers.So many people have lost lives in this tragic accidents.

I strongly hope and pray that flights, crews, and travelers are more lucky and fortunate going ahead - so that their flights take off and land safely. Hope suitable measures are taken to minimize the risk for such horrible air accident.

Cougar

News articles help you realize how ignorant you are. They also improve your vocabulary skills.

Wonder what makes me say this?

Well, I learned a new word today - Cougar.

Cougar is a large powerful wild cat of mountainous regions of the Western Hemisphere, having an unmarked tawny body.

But I didn't read this word in the context of an animal.

It was in the context of a woman. Surprising, Isn't it?

Well, Cougar has one more meaning - a woman, 35 years of age or older, who pursues younger men, typically more than eight years her junior.

Read more about it here.

Demi Moore and Cameron Diaz are considered to be famous Cougar's - considering their relationships with Ashton Kutcher and Justin Timberlake respectively.

And finally, the news article that sparked this blog post.

Google has landed itself in trouble by censoring advertisements for a so-called 'cougar' dating websites for women despite taking no action against ads of similar sites for men.

The company labeled the ad for the website, called CougarLife, which promotes relationships between older women and younger men, as "non family safe".

Read more about it here. 

Google was accused of sexism and this is what the founder of the website in question had to say.

Claudia Opdenkelder, who is the founder of the CougarLife, and whose partner is 14 years her junior, accused the search giant of sexism. 

"It's age and gender discrimination. It's just about older, successful, independent, strong women who enjoy someone that's younger."

Hope the controversy settles down soon.

Are They On Course To A War?

The situation is tense in East Asia.

Looks like the two neighbors and rivals - North Korea and South Korea - are on a collision course.

It all started about two months back when a South Korean warship sank in the Yellow Sea.

The ship sank in mysterious circumstances. Although several sailors were rescued, 46 sailors lost their precious lives. 

Many people suspected the North Koreans. But South Korea decided to play it cautious and didn't blame the North Koreans directly.

However, several days later, the ship was lifted from the sea floor. News floated around that the ship was sunk by a torpedo attack. North Korea looked to be an obvious suspect.

Subsequent analysis by the South Koreans must have revealed some details which has resulted in the current frenzy.

First it was the United States of America.

Two days back, A top U.S. State Department official said Wednesday that the pending release of a report that is expected to blame North Korea for the sinking of a South Korean warship in March raises a "very serious set of circumstances" for the region.   

Read the entire news article here.

And if this was not enough, we have had this news today where the South Korea's defense chief has  vowed to make North Korea pay for the sinking of the South Korean warship.

"North Korea surpassed the limits and for such an act we will make it pay," said defense minister Kim Tae-Young.

Hope the situation is diffused based on discussions between the two countries. 

Otherwise the world will have to face a war it doesn't want and cannot afford.