Owner: Cube-Business URL:www.cube1986.blogspot.com Join Date: Wed, 07 Mar 2007 13:16:25 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: An Irish business students views and thoughts on business, techonolgy and life Site statistics:Click here
Sicc 2007 - summary 2007-03-19 01:32:00 Well the results are in and unfortunatly team ucd didnt place in the top 3, so we were down there with the rest of the bottom feeders! Team hong Kong came out the winners and i must say it was entirely deserved, and they really have a much greater grasp of finance than most.However although we did not win the competition, i really must say this has been one of the most exciting and important experiences of my tiny little life..I have learnt how great Canada is. I have yet to meet an unfriendly Canadian, from the airplane to the taxi to the hotel, conference, nights out and everything in between, i have be truley humbled by the politness and hospitality of the Canadian people, to make things weirder im told that the toronto area is considered the least friendly part of the country.... the mind bogglesI have made so many new friends both Canadian and Otherwise in the last week, that i will have friends to visit all over the world for a long time to come, mixing with all the different cul
New York, NY 2007-03-20 16:31:00 central park is ...coldsubway is..nice Read more:New York
Madison Square Garden 2007-03-21 16:52:00 MadisonSquareGarden
really is a pretty cool place, i have never been in a place that held sooo many pissed off New Yorkers. The game was pretty great until half time, and then the Mavs pulled away and essentially whomped the Knicks with a Texan hammer. Me and Enda started up in the nosebleeds at the very top of the arena, but at half time launched a bit of an assault on the lower seats. We took some back stairs down to the lower section and walked around frantically looking for seats, we tried one place but the guy sitting near the seats said "hey guys i used to do this too when i was a kid..better luck next time"....oh noooo, so we kept walking and found some seats ridiculously close to the court in the second section so about 12 rows back. But then the rightful seat owners came back after about 5 mins and we got escorted out of the fancy area by security...yay. Back to the cheap seats for us. then near the end we sneaked back down to the good seats again because all the LOYAL New Read more:Madison Square
, Madison Square Garden
Pie Charts 2007-03-28 16:39:00 I didnt create this pic, its done its rounds on the internet for a while now, but i heavily support its hilarity! Any student in any businessy course will have viewed maaaany boring pie charts in their day. I WILL be using this in a presentation whenever i get the chance Read more:Charts
It only a good pass if.... 2007-03-28 03:06:00 Picture the scene, early on a Saturday morning, me and my friends are practicing basketball in St Andrews. We are playing a relatively insignificant 4 v 4 game, but I still want to win…quite badly. I throw the peerrrfect pass to one of the players on our team, firm, fast and accurate, but he fumbles the pass and we go on to lose the game.I remember that at the time I was truly furious with the guy and gave him a really hard time over not catching the pass and how it lost us the game. And then as happened many times in my school days, in came the voice of reason Coach Conan Doyle, a constant source of basketball wisdom.I remember what he said to me clearly, and like most good things in life it was simple and easy to understand and has stuck in the back of my mind ever since. He told me that“its only a good pass, if the person catches it”Now on a basic level you may disagree with such a claim, but it really is true and true throughout life wherever you care to take a look. Although
2007-03-28 22:31:00
Wrong place, Wrong time 2007-03-30 15:56:00 This situation is well known to all of us, being in the wrong place at the wrong time. This poor fella was brought onto bbc news 24 to discuss the legal proceedings between Apple computer and Apple music label, turns out he is a business graduate from the Congo, awaiting a job interview, but had turned up to the wrong reception, and had been mistaken by the receptionist for the wrong man when the call came.I loooove his reaction when she announces who she thinks he is, has such replay value. He actually makes quite a good job at pretending to know what hes doing. Read more:Wrong
Its simple, Right? 2007-04-01 21:20:00 I must admit am a bit of a stickler for simplicity and efficiency, I think its because I am generally quite a lazy creature, and when someone is getting paid handsomely to design something, be it a product or a service they owe it to the end user to make it as easy to use and as straight forward as possible.If you read through some of my other articles you may well have gathered that I am somewhat of a fan of Apple computers and their operating system, mostly because they have perfected the art of making features much easier to use and more visually pleasing.Palm were a company that were extremely popular in the 90s and produced handheld computers that could compute to, at the time, reasonably high levels, for each model in the design phase, the company had a designated "click counter”. The post came about when the CEO at the tine Geoff Hawkins had declared that any application or feature that was more than 3 clicks away from the main screen, was just not good enough and would have Read more:Right
London, Ontario the comic book 2007-04-04 15:26:00 click picture to make bigger These are some photos i forgot to take off my camera, but found last night and had a bit of a laugh when I saw them.In clockwise order...Human pyramid in UWO social sci buildingUs and the reluctant janitorGetting "wrestled" by some localsMe, Enda, and the biggest legend ever. Read more:Ontario
, comic book
The reach of Blogs 2007-04-03 23:32:00 I was checking through the stats on my google analytics report, (google analytics is really good stuff by the way) and as I looked down through the looong list of reports available I decided to give the old "Geo location" chart a check. It really does give you an idea of the global reach that a blog gives you, I can see from the chart for instance that an impressive 0.51% come from spain, a country which has....bad relations with me....obviously they are spying on me.Lessons to be learned?Blogs
spread ur ideas across the world (although chances are they dont care)Google analytics is great for anyone who wants detailed info on their site/blogDon't go to spain
The "Cargo Cult" 2007-04-05 19:20:00 During World War II, as part of their operations in Japan the US air force started constructing air bases throughout New Guinea to act as base camps. The startled locals watched on wide eyed as the troops laid out the runway, constructed a control tower and went about building all the things an airstrip needs to operate. Then, from the skies planes started landing on the airstrip! They brought with them plentiful supplies of clothing, food and all the necessaries for life. The indigenous population were spell bound by the events that had unfolded in front of their very eyes and came to a few interesting conclusions. They decided that they too would like food to mystically be delivered from the skies 2. They figured that it would be quite a simple operation to achieve this.So with much fervour and energy they set about clearing their own patch of land, and marking out their own primitive runway, they proceeded to construct a makeshift control tower out of logs, and they even fashio
Options, options 2007-04-08 04:27:00 Keep water same temp and buy a sign to warn peopl of the fact that the water is too hotChange the temperatureLondon Heathrow prefer the 1st option
A stroll down Times Square 2007-04-07 18:36:00 5mics: Commercial genius?On my first day in New York, Me and Enda had a bit of time to kill before heading back to the apartment we were going to be staying in, so we went for a stroll in search of some cool NY like stuff. We eventually arrived at TimesSquare
, When we got there we were subjected to a pretty unique sales technique by a local rap artist, i think it is probably best explained by the dialogue that took place at the time.5mics: hey maaaan you like rap music?Ed: eh..kinda yeh5mics: Yo man, listen to my beats then man, listen to my BEATS*ed listens to the headphones**music is moderatly acceptable*Ed: eh yeh thats great...5mics: Yo man *points to enda* listen to this*enda reluctantly listens to it*5mics: hey whats his name manEd: Enda*5mics takes out one of his cds and a permanent marker**writes "to A-N-D-A" on it*Enda: thats not how you spell my name man5mics: how do you spell itEnda: with an E5mics: ok ok man, t Read more:Times Square
Asia and the "Death by Internet" problem 2007-04-11 21:09:00 For most of us the internet plays a huge part in our day to day life, a fact which cannot be denied. A stroll past your university computer centre or any study room on campus will testify to the fact that we need the internet more than ever, and we have access to it on an unprecedented level. Yet, while it can be an invaluable asset to have for communication, learning and leisure, increasingly the bad side effects of internet usage are rearing their ugly head and being noticed on a worldwide scale.This is apparent no where more than in Asia
, a continent where great changes are being brought into place to remedy the problems that are arising with increasing regularity. From what I have seen, Internet
Cafes in Ireland are usually a rather run of the mill affair, a few tables, run-down, old computers and invariably uncomfortable chairs usually set the scene quite nicely. It would be fair to say, that in Ireland in 2007 internet cafes do not play a huge role in our day to day life. However
Starbucks 2007-04-16 13:35:00 I used to dislike coffee, but in recent months ive become somewhat of a fan. On my recent journey to the US i noticed that coffee in North America = Starbucks
, and to be honest i have to say that I am a big fan. There are a couple of reasons why I think starbucks is a great chain of outlets and why they are so successful.All starbucks are the same: Whether i walk into a Starbucks in Times Square or the main street in London Ontario, the shops are basically identical, the lighting is the same, the smell is the same, and even the flooring is the same. The key here is that the customer knows EXACTLY what they are gonna get, which is a reassuring thing.There are ALOT of options: There are so many variations of coffee on a starbucks menu that once you get bored of one you can migrate to liking another type. Of course if you are like the comedian Denis Leary and are somewhat of a coffee traditionalist this may infuriate you, as it is almost imposible to get a "coffee flavoured coffee"You get
Betty Crocker - "just add an egg" 2007-04-17 02:53:00 Betty Crocker
is a brand of instant cake/brownie/etc mixes that provide a pretty tasty treat with minimal effort, and it can be found in most supermarkets of note in the western world.Life for "Betty" started life in 1921 as an invented persona for replies to customer queries to the US food company general mills. The name Betty Crocker
gave the more personal, soft touch that a CEO or directors couldn’t. The name was later adapted to a series of cookbooks released by the American food giant in the 40s. By 1945 Betty Crocker was voted the 2nd most famous woman in the United States by the business magazine Fortune, second only to Eleanor Roosevelt. On the back of this fame the General Mills company decided that they would do some market research into creating a range of “Betty Crocker mixes”, after much research they decided that customers were sufficiently enthusiastic for this convenient product, and they marketed it on the basis that all the customer needed to do was add a littl Read more:Betty
Stockpicking.....easy? 2007-04-21 14:11:00 Stockbrokers and traders will have you believe that they posses knowledge and skill that will give you the advantage over your average Joe and get you above par returns on your investment. The website TradingMarkets, which charges its subscribers for investment advice, decided that it would be a great publicity stunt to Invite 10 playboy bunnies to take part in an investment competition. By the time the competition was over 40% of the bunnies delivered better results than the index average, compared to just 29% of actively managed mutual funds in America. Maybe playboy needs to start offering financial adviceYou can see the full list here, the winner of the competition, Deanna Brook had an incredible return on investment of 43%
Explore... 2007-04-20 15:21:00 A good quote, and a valid point indeed. Came up with this pic when me and Jenny Fung, acCanadian business student were talking about a conference shes organising for first year students about traveling and getting involved in extra curricular stuff, should be good.
Ireland vs Luxembourg - Ice Hockey World Championships 2007-04-22 17:28:00 Yesterday I witnessed my 1st ever Ireland
ice hockey game, and let me tell you.... so damn good.We set of from manuels on the epic journey at about half 6 and it became apparent kinda early on that we prob werent going to make it on time for the start of the game, due to a certain PC World
employees tardyness. So down the M1 we headed with Dundalk and its fabled icedome in our sights, however once we got to dundalk we got a little lost....however this resulted in the true hilarity of seeing the Mongolian Ice Hockey team at a bus stop waiting for a public transport bus back to their hotel! poor fellas.Once we got to the Ice Dome I went to collect the tickets that one of my Canadian buddies (Chris "the boy" Boyko) dad had organised for us free of charge, but seems his contact here forgot to leave them at the desk. So for a while it looked like we woulod have to get back in the car and go home, after much pestering on my part the receptionist just let us in anyway, but warned that there w Read more:Luxembourg
, Championships
Pizzanomics 2007-04-27 18:01:00 Made up this diagram to show how stupidly small 7" pizzas are. Viva le "Wagon Wheel" 20 incher
The customer is NOT always right 2007-04-27 03:00:00 "The customer is always
right."Throughout history (albeit recent) the above phrase has been bandied about with great fervour by great sections of the service industry. The phrase however implies that customers know exactly what they want... the truth is, if you think of any major advance in consumer goods in the last few centuries, you'll find that the customer did not dictate what the products should be, look like, or how it should work, the customer was wrong. (do give me examples of cases where this is true btw) Listening to a podcast earlier I heard Seth Godin give a perfect example of the wrongness.If Thomas Edison had listened to his "customers" he would have invented brightercandlesThe point is that until they see the product or hear of the service customers have NO IDEA of what they want, I am willing to bet that no one came up to Mr Edison and requested that he create a light emitting glass bulb.So sometimes adopting the stance that the customer is right, can lead an idea dow
Leftie or Rightie? 2007-04-27 02:57:00 Hey try this out, its a rather crude but fin test to see what way your brain is biased in terms of a left vs right ratio. Seems mine are about the same. Let me know how you get on.You Are 45% Left Brained, 55% Right BrainedThe left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning.Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others.If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic.Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet.The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility.Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way.If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art.Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.Are You Right or Left Brained?
Technology in the classroom 2007-04-26 14:52:00 This is a really great video of a powerpointesque presentation timed and matched to perfection by the music in it, some REALLY interesting facts here about education. Read more:Technology
The importance of a 2nd opinion v2.0 2007-04-26 04:19:00 Sometimes spelling is not important, and as long as the person gets the general gist of your message its fine, for instance scribbling down an important phone note, the grammar or spelling intricacies do not really affect the credibility of the message.However when you are designing a cover for a product, a computer game for instance, and more specifically a SPELLING computer game, you should make it your business to get it completely, totally and irrefutably correct.Eamonn Holmes is a much..."loved"...."celebrity" that frequents our televisions with annoying regularity, but recently he decided that he needed to enter the world of educational computer games to enlighten us mere mortals.The creators of the game DDS media, in their infinite wisdom spelt Eamonns name wrong on the cover and cd of the first 10,000 units, meaning they had to be scrapped. The title had misspelt his name including only one "n", and was only pointed out when Eamonn was sent a copy just before launch. An irate H Read more:opinion
CV Blunders 2007-04-25 20:39:00 I'm not usually in the habit of copy and pasting stuff onto this blog, but this was too hilarious to pass up. If you are rewriting your CV keep these in minds as things you really shouldnt do.Fortune.com writes...Job site CareerBuilders.com recently asked pollsters Harris Interactive to survey hiring managers and find out the wackiest resume items they've seen lately. Out of 2,627 responses, here are the top ten:A job candidate...1. ... attached a letter from her mother.2. ... used pale blue paper withteddy bears printed around the border.3. ... explained a three-month gap inemployment by saying that he was getting over the death of his cat.4. ...specified that his availability to work Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays islimited because the weekends are "drinking time."5. ... included a pictureof herself in a cheerleading uniform.6. ... drew a picture of a car on theoutside of the envelope and said the car would be a gift to the hiringmanager.7. ... listed hobbies that included sitting
University Observer 2007-04-24 16:34:00 Got featured in the UniversityObserver
today, really cool to see your writing in print for once!Problems with internet addiction are beginning to appear in many western countries, but nowhere are they more apparent than in Asia.Great changes are being brought into place on that continent to remedy the problems that that internet users are experiencing with dependency and addiction to the internet. A prime example of this extreme internet usage is the case of 24 year old Kim Kyung Jae.During the Chinese new year celebrations, Kyung Jae collapsed and died after having playing online games at the internet café in the South Western City of Kwangiu for an incredible 86 hours without a break.Another shocking example of the power of the internet and online gaming over human logic is presented in the case of a Korean couple who left their 4 month old baby at home alone for more than a day to go to the local internet café and play the online game “World of Warcraft”.The couple commented
The Heart Attack Grill 2007-04-24 01:27:00 Sometimes it gets kind of annoying watching companies like McDonalds try and keep up the illusion that they are healthy, trying to be more healthy and really really reallllly care that their customers are healthy. The logic behind it- “this will be good marketing”I stumbled upon wildly succesful “Heart
Attack Grill
” a burger restaurant in Tempe, Arizona, that maintains a remarkably honest advertising campaign, the flagship product of the outlet is the Quadruple Bypass Burger, featuring 2 pounds of beef, four layers of cheese, 12 slices of bacon, and 8,000 calories it is also accompanied by Flatliner Fries which are cooked in lard, of course that may not be for everyone, there is also the lesser “triple bypass burger”.Sometimes intentionally being “wrong” can work out
Guinness in Africa: A branding success 2007-04-29 14:37:00 In recent year sales of the iconic Irish drink have been falling on a domestic level so Diageo decided that it would have to look further a field to developing markets for new sales.Diageo got in touch with the famous advertisers Saatchi and Saatchi and started about entering the Africa
n market and creating what the advertising company call a "lovemark", described as a brand that enjoys loyalty beyond reason from consumers.As African Managing Director of Diageo Eric Frank said in 1999 they wanted to create a brand that says "Inside me there's a powerful heroic assured person"In 2002 the company started running television and radio ads following the trials and tribulations of Michael power (seen in the billboard above) an exciting African James Bond-like character who evaded danger and saved the beautiful woman, followed by the phrase "Guinness
brings out the power in you". And the advertising has instilled this feeling of power in its new found enthusiasts as one Nigerian man commente
Google madness 2007-05-02 05:19:00 I get a fair few hits from google.com everyday through various searches that end up being somewhat related to my articles. However when looking though the links to my blog, I noticed that I feature…extremely high for some pretty general searches. Below are some examples of where Cube rates.Bebo addiction problem - 4th out of 110,000Randy couture ufc - 9th out of 334,000Guinness Ad Africa - 4th out of 611,000(my personal fave) Wrong place wrong time - 7th out of 116,000,000 Read more:Google
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