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Toyota Recall – Time to Revisit the Fabled Toyota Production System
- August 28, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Automotive, Lean Manufacturing, News, Quality
No CommentsYesterday, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. announced that will conduct a voluntary safety recall of an estimated 1.1.3 million Toyota Corrolla and Corolla Matrix with model years ranging from 2005 to 2008. The recall is to address some Engine Control Modules that have been improperly manufactured. Federal safety regulators, this week, began an engineering analysis
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Hindenburg Omen – Strike Two and One to Go
- August 27, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Econometrics, Economy, Government, News, Stock Market
The Hindenburg Omen is an econometrics-based model that has been successful in predicting stock market crashes. The Omen has been behind every market crash since 1987, but significant stock-market declines have followed only 25% of the time. The Hindenburg, of course, was the German passenger airship LZ 129 Hindenburg which caught fire, and was destroyed,
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Chocolate: The New Heart Medicine
- August 21, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Consumer Products, Healthcare, News
A study, published online this week and reported in Circulation: Heart Failure, a journal of the American Heart Association, finds that chocolate protects women from heart failure. The nine-year study, conducted among 31,823 Swedish women, looked at the relationship between the amount of high-quality (70% cocoa) dark chocolate the eaten and the risk of heart
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Intel to Buy McAfee – Initiative to “Secure” the Future
- August 19, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: High-tech, News, Telecommunications
Intel Corporation announced today that it is buying computer-security software company, McAfee for $7.68 billion in an all-cash deal. The stated strategy is to combine McAfee’s security expertise with Intel-based products, especially for Smartphone and other, wireless internet-connected, devices. Intel looks at security as a necessary “third pillar” in the computing experience in addition to
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Dell Streak – Niche Tablet or Newton Wannabe?
- August 14, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Information Technology, News, Telecommunications
Remember the Apple Newton? The term PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) was coined to describe the Newton. Initially intended to reinvent personal computing, it ultimately was marketed as a platform which would be a complementary to the personal computer. Aside from its famous, and, sometimes not so accurate, handwriting recognition software, the Newton was just a
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HP = “Huge Problem” and Poster Child of Situational Ethics
- August 6, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Ethics, Leadership, News
Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Mark Hurd abruptly resigned today after the company revealed his secret relationship with a former contractor. This sent the stock tumbling in afterhours trading. The company said he falsified expense reports and other financial documents to conceal the relationship and help get the contractor paid for work she didn’t do. Hurd said
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Defining the Business Value of IT
- August 4, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Information Technology, News
A new white paper has been posted on SECG web site. IT spending has risen dramatically over the past decade, yet studies have shown it to be next to impossible to correlate IT spending to traditional business metrics such as ROI or productivity. Many models have been proposed, which are complex and, most often, rely
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Disney Follows the Money Toward Its Family Roots
- July 31, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Entertainment, News
The Walt Disney Co. has announced a deal to sell Miramax Films to a group of investors for $660 million. Miramax helped push independent movies into the mainstream. Miramax has many Oscar-winning films in its library and launched the career of director, Quentin Tarantino. The move comes at a time when DVD sales are on
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Luxury versus Luxury – Opposing Air Transportation Strategies
- July 23, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: News, Transportation
One is enormous, requiring airport renovation and runway lengthening to accommodate. The other is sleek, light-weight and easily able to access regional airports. The Airbus 380 claims 49 percent more room than a Boeing 747, with operating costs at around 15 to 20 percent lower per seat. The Airbus 380 claims lower emissions, less noise
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U. S. Oil Industry is Sinking
- July 19, 2010
- Posted by: Ted Bullen
- Category: Economy, Energy, News, Oil & Gas
Moody’s Analytics has estimated the impact of the Gulf Oil Spill: 17000 jobs lost by year end, due to federal deepwater drilling moratorium. Houston-based Diamond Offshore announced, on July 9, that its Ocean Endeavor drilling rig will leave the Gulf of Mexico and move to Egyptian waters immediately. It has other rigs that may leave