Category Archives: Other stuff

Today, AVG’s IPO is complete.  We start trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “AVG”.

I’m proud of those who have played such a big role in building the company to this point.  And I’m proud to have played a small role too.

Time to sit back and watch the ticker with fingers crossed.

I saw this article on BBC’s web site about how liberals and conservatives in the United States have differing reactions to positive and negative images.  Conservatives tended to focus on, and have stronger reactions to, negative images than did liberals.

Coincidentally, a couple weeks ago a long-time friend sent an email to numerous people in response to President Obama’s State of the Union address.  I don’t recall ever getting an unsolicited email from him about politics in the 15 years I’ve known him.  But it certainly was a rant.

Consider the emotions in some of the words and phrases from his email:

• “A brutally complex issue reduced to a nonsense issue”
• “I want to barf”
• “…it is the duty of everyone to work for his defeat in November”
• “A 2nd Obama term, totally untethered from public opinion will be a total disaster.  I hope all of you can take some role in ensuring his defeat in November”

Which drew the following response from someone else:

• “If we are now outnumbered by liberals, democrats with limited brain functionality, union workers, the uneducated, and young voters, then the chances are very real that the current “President” could win a second term”
• “And if that happens, then the chances are very real for a second American Revolution – this time against our own Congress, which has nearly completely caved in and lost its backbone”
• “If we do win, however, I believe we need to somehow change our system permanently so that Congress DOES WHAT WE SAY TO DO and nothing else, or we will vigorously prosecute them and send them to prison”
• “I fear the continued existence of the USA is in doubt if we don’t! One answer is to decentralize our Federal government and send our representatives and senators back to the states, where they are closer to home and we can watch them more closely. Please think hard about this”

Subjectively, it seems like a pattern.  Something has changed for these persons, and probably not for the better. Is it the stagnation of real income growth in the middle class?  The unrelenting pace of change driven by globalization and the strains of keeping pace?  I won’t speculate other than to say that these are very strong emotions, which begs the question why?

I’m proud to be part of a big milestone at AVG: its IPO filing which you can read here.

It’s now the “quiet period” according to our friends at the regulators, so I won’t comment beyond that.

I was surprised to randomly discover that I was nominated for the following award:  http://boston.blogger.cbslocal.com/most-valuable-blogger/vote/misc/

It proves that one’s readership can reach into many unexpected corners of the Internet.

Given my blogging has been silent for a few weeks (massive corporate strategy project followed by long vacation in mental recovery mode), maybe I’m not so worthy of a vote.  But if you’re willing to vote for me, by all means do.

I promise to be a better blogger real soon.  ;-)

There are several ways you can succeed.

For example, let’s say Hope has a success rate of 5%.  Prayer might also have the same odds of 5%.  Now multiple these two powerful forces together.  Hope times Prayer = 25%?

Actually, no.  It’s .25%

You might sense the sarcasm here.  Though I literally have seen organizations multiply low-probability tactics and believe that overall success is more likely. As they say, hope & prayer are not a strategy.

Osama Bin Laden’s death is a moment of choice for Islam.

Years ago, I had a heated debate with a (very) Republican friend.  I contended that Al Qaeda was in a battle for the hearts and minds of mainstream Islam.  And that the U.S. was a pawn of sorts.  We represent what Islamic fundamentalists oppose; secularism, capitalism, democracy, gender equality.  And moderate Muslims’ empathy toward U.S. culture is what those fundamentalists wanted to prevent.

Today’s event is another decision point for Islam: will Bin Laden become a martyr to others than the extremists?  Or will moderate, mainstream Islam close this chapter of history by turning its back on terrorists?

Choosing to oppose terrorism is not unto itself an endorsement of the U.S.  It’s simply a statement of what Islam does not stand for.  And the lack of support for terrorists means that their safe havens will wither and die.

Your move, Islam.

My shortest post ever?

Success = those who fail and never repeat that mistake.

Failure = those who fail and repeat the same mistakes.

Father’s Day is upon us.  My dad passed away recently and of course my thoughts turn to him today.

He had a certain style and flair, even in his last act.  He passed away on April 19 at 89 years old.  On the first day of my new job in Prague.  In the midst of the volcanic eruptions.  Imagine the challenge of getting to Canada in time for his funeral when only 750,000 of my closest friends were stranded too.  Thankfully, I made it.

He was a man of profound gifts and talents.  Certainly one of the smartest people I’ve ever known.  That’s saying something given my 24 years in high tech surrounded by smart, highly educated people.  He’d recite formulas and theorems for his grandchildren, a couple of whom were educated as engineers.  They were surely stunned that he remembered the stuff they were trying so hard to learn in college.

He had a clear, tuneful voice and probably could have been an accomplished performer had he put his mind to it.

He was an athlete, though I’m not sure he ever fancied himself as one.  Just a few years ago, he laced up his old hockey skates, which were the consistency of golf glove leather.  Soft.  No support.  He stepped on the ice and proceeded to glide the length of the rink with a couple of strides.  Amazing.

He learned golf at the age of 40 and became better than 95% of those who play the game.  Most people who play that well start very young when it’s much easier to learn.

His career took him around the world many times over, and he knew a lot about a lot of cultures and places.

For all of these gifts, he was human too.  I sometimes think that the smartest amongst us have a hard time enduring the rest of us.  He didn’t suffer fools.  I wouldn’t want to be on the other side of an argument with him at work, just as I didn’t at home.

Age made my father wiser and mellower.  And it’s the  latter part of his life I most want to emulate.

May we all be so gifted, and learn the humility to match.

Happy Father’s Day.

3 generations: my parents, my son and me