Expect the unexpected, follow the lovers lost in this blog.

A blog to cater your mind,body,and soul as you drink Turkish Coffee. We are proud to present our new storyline called Cafe's search for his "Zahir". Everyday is a new day for the "Cafe" (from Istanbul) & his journey for "Zahir" (from Baku). Don't expect extraordinary drama from the narrator, me. Still, this is a drama (maybe real!), and have better impact on you than watching a soap opera. Guaranteed. There is genuine feelings within inspirational periods. Cross your fingers for this story to end with happy marriage :-) All rights are reserved.

EDIT (01 July 2009) - She is engaged with another man, and I finally made my marriage proposal bringing my family to Baku. The result: She stays engaged and will have her wedding, so called "toy", with that another man.

Rest in peace Ms. Zahir.

Monday, August 6, 2007

Logitech, Wikiversity, Google Cell Phone, UPS 100th Anniversary, and eBay Seller Tools

What is the best thing to do when your mind is full of thoughts but nothing to write about. Recently exploring the wireless keyboard of Logitech, seem to be satisfied with it. Decent deal from buy.com

Let's talk about my recent acquisitions (on my bookmark toolbar:)
I read the whole article, and wanted to point out some of the discussions.

1) Wikiversity: Word comes from PC World, again.
"Coordinators of Wikiversity, one of the major projects of the Wikimedia Foundation Inc.

Wikiversity is a free learning community, and aims to provide free educational materials and courses online.

Type just about any subject into Google's search engine, including how to do needlework, or build a Web site, and then add the word 'tutorial' and up pop several Web sites offering guides on the subject.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's MIT OpenCourseWare project, for example, offers over 1000 free courses."

By the way, MIT spotlights this news on their website on 6th August, 2007:
"MIT neuroscientists exploring how memory formation differs between children and adults have found that although the two groups have much in common, maturity brings richer memories."

2) Check out Feed The Pig website for some easy solutions how to resolve debt. Some interesting ideas, though not a blast of amazement.

3) Google bringing cell phone to the table.
PC World reports the story from a WSJ article:
"listening to advertisements before being able to make phone calls"
That sounds irritating. Suppose you need to make an emergency call, but you need to listen to one of those GEICO advertisements, telling you '15 minutes can save you 15% on your car insurance.' Can't believe this, it is hilarious!
"Google announced in July it was willing to spend $4.6 billion to buy wireless spectrum in a U.S. Federal Communications Commission auction."
Speaking about Google's rival iPhone, "Apple iPhone was a brand new category in wireless, and it wasn't from a handset vendor and wasn't from a network."

4) UPS Birthday after 100 years. BusinessWeek reports:
"It started out in 1907 as the brainchild of two teenagers in a Seattle basement, whose fledgling messenger service made deliveries on foot or on bicycle. It now is the world's largest shipping carrier -- a $47 billion business with a fleet of trucks, an airline and operations in 200 countries.

Increasing competition for delivery of goods has meant the company has had to broaden its global reach and expand its business beyond small package delivery to shipping heavy freight and providing logistics services for companies.

But even as the Internet has made it easier to send, receive or download items electronically instead of paying a service to deliver them, the breaking down of trade barriers has given shippers like UPS overseas opportunities they haven't had in the past.

Edward Jones analyst Dan Ortwerth described UPS as the "oil that makes the gears go" in the global economy.

"Regardless of whether I want a leather jacket sent to me by UPS because I bought it online, or a factory in any country you'd like to name needs a sprocket to make its machine go, UPS is there to deliver," Ortwerth said.

These days, the U.S. small package delivery market has slowed along with the economy. As a result, UPS has been increasingly looking beyond U.S. borders for business, offering faster delivery to worldwide destinations. International growth has helped the company's bottom line.

A century from now, Chief Executive Mike Eskew expects that delivering small packages will still be an important part of the Atlanta-based company's business, but he isn't sure it will be the largest part. In 2001, the company expanded its services by acquiring the Mail Boxes Etc. chain. Most of the stores were later renamed The UPS Store.

"We're going to transform as the world changes and our customers tell us to change," Eskew said.

Recognized by its brown trucks and uniforms, UPS' lifeblood is its 427,700 employees, who will play a big role in future growth. UPS, also known as United Parcel Service, said that's because customer service -- particularly drivers having contact with customers everyday -- will always be the area that keeps customers coming back.

Contract negotiations between UPS and the Teamsters union, which represents 238,000 UPS drivers and sorters, are currently ongoing. That contract expires July 31, 2008. Pension and health care benefits are major issues.

Linc Dalimonte, a UPS driver from Grand Rapids, Mich., said he recognizes the importance in a highly competitive industry of controlling costs. Dalimonte, who has been with the company since he finished college 15 years ago, said he believes UPS can do that by continuing to emphasize safety, which would decrease accidents and the costs associated with them.

Technology improvements, meanwhile, have led to greater efficiencies.

UPS uses technology to map out the shortest routes for its trucks to reach their destinations. The technology and greater use of alternative fuel trucks have allowed UPS to save on fuel, according to Robert Hall, director of ground fleet engineering at UPS.

In 2006, package flow technology, the software that among other things designs routes with right-hand turns, allowed UPS to save 28.5 million miles of driving off its U.S. fleet.

According to the company, the average UPS driver has been with the company for 16 years. Management turnover runs 5 percent to 7 percent per year. The company says its average driver is paid $75,000 a year, while its average pilot salary is $200,000 a year.

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?


There was competition even in 1907, when 18-year-old Claude Ryan and 19-year-old Jim Casey opened the American Messenger Company with a $100 loan from a friend of Casey. Working out of their basement headquarters in Seattle, employees -- Casey's brother and a handful of other teenagers -- ran errands and carried notes on foot or on bicycle.

In 1913, the company acquired its first delivery car, a Model T Ford, renamed itself Merchants Parcel Delivery and shifted its primary focus from messages to packages. Six years later, the company expanded beyond Seattle and renamed itself United Parcel Service.

The company, which moved into its Atlanta headquarters in 1994, went public in 1999. It rebranded itself as just UPS in 2003.

"At some point you think, we all think, it's time to let somebody else do this," said the 58-year-old. "Somebody else might have a different, fresher approach."

As UPS looks forward, Ortwerth, the analyst, said he doesn't believe competition and changing ways of sending goods and services will hurt UPS' growth as long as the company continues to adapt."

5) Vendio Gallery is a free seller tool for eBay sellers. Good service!