Business

  • Ever Want to Monitor a Web-Page for Changes?

    101106 Diphur Logo Usually, bookmarks are static links. Diphur alerts you when content changes occur on the sites you choose.  For example, with Diphur you can?

    • Get real-time notification of specials, price-drops, or giveaways.
    • Receive an e-mail when a new file or update is available on a site you track.
    • Monitor breaking news or competitive information. 

    Here is an example of a message it sent alerting me when a web conference (I was waiting for) went live.

    101105 Diphur Example

    Similarly, here is a sample link showing how Diphur ChangeUps work; click here to see content changes occurring at Yahoo News right now.

    Diphur gives you a lot of control about how you specify what you want and when you want it. You can:

    • Set Diphur to monitor the website – hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly.
    • Filter changes by size.  Do you want all changes (or just about the big ones)?
    • Use Keywords to further filter changes that do not have certain words in them.

    There is even a browser bookmarklet that lets you add a bookmark to the page you are viewing without visiting Diphur.

    Try it here.

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  • Ever Want to Monitor a Web-Page for Changes?

    101106 Diphur Logo Usually, bookmarks are static links. Diphur alerts you when content changes occur on the sites you choose.  For example, with Diphur you can?

    • Get real-time notification of specials, price-drops, or giveaways.
    • Receive an e-mail when a new file or update is available on a site you track.
    • Monitor breaking news or competitive information. 

    Here is an example of a message it sent alerting me when a web conference (I was waiting for) went live.

    101105 Diphur Example

    Similarly, here is a sample link showing how Diphur ChangeUps work; click here to see content changes occurring at Yahoo News right now.

    Diphur gives you a lot of control about how you specify what you want and when you want it. You can:

    • Set Diphur to monitor the website – hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly.
    • Filter changes by size.  Do you want all changes (or just about the big ones)?
    • Use Keywords to further filter changes that do not have certain words in them.

    There is even a browser bookmarklet that lets you add a bookmark to the page you are viewing without visiting Diphur.

    Try it here.

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  • Another Cool Change Blindness Video: The Color Changing Card Trick

    This video shows how narrow your focus can be.  You'll have some fun, and what is revealed at the end is surprising. So pay attention as you watch the video. See what you notice.


     

    It was done by pychologist, magician, and author Prof Richard Wiseman. Click here for background information about this video and the psychology behind it.

    Professor Wiseman has more videos here.

    In part 1 of this post, we examined Change Blindness and how we can miss incredibly obvious things (right in front of us) if our attention is focused elsewhere.

    In an information-rich environment, attention is a scarce and essential resource.

    Think how often your focus blinds you to the obvious.

    Here are two books written by Professor Wiseman.  The first is called Quirkology, and it is about discoving big truths in small things.  The second is called 59 Seconds, and it is about little things that make big differences.

                      101030 Quirkology Book Cover       and       101030 59 Seconds Book

    Here is a link to a short video about 59 Seconds.

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  • Another Cool Change Blindness Video: The Color Changing Card Trick

    This video shows how narrow your focus can be.  You'll have some fun, and what is revealed at the end is surprising. So pay attention as you watch the video. See what you notice.


     

    It was done by pychologist, magician, and author Prof Richard Wiseman. Click here for background information about this video and the psychology behind it.

    Professor Wiseman has more videos here.

    In part 1 of this post, we examined Change Blindness and how we can miss incredibly obvious things (right in front of us) if our attention is focused elsewhere.

    In an information-rich environment, attention is a scarce and essential resource.

    Think how often your focus blinds you to the obvious.

    Here are two books written by Professor Wiseman.  The first is called Quirkology, and it is about discoving big truths in small things.  The second is called 59 Seconds, and it is about little things that make big differences.

                      101030 Quirkology Book Cover       and       101030 59 Seconds Book

    Here is a link to a short video about 59 Seconds.

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  • Yankees, Rangers payroll disparity largest in playoff history

    Even if you are not a baseball fan, here's a statistic that jumps out and demands attention. 

    101030 Rangers Yankees When the Texas Rangers competed against the New York Yankees, it marked the greatest disparity in raw dollars between payrolls in the history of playoff baseball, at $152 million.

     

    In case you don't get enough spreadsheets at work, here is a
    comparison of the 2010 payrolls of both teams

     

    In addition, there are some fun facts for you to impress your friends.   For example, the Rangers could triple every current player's salary, sign Mark Teixeira away from the Yankees, and still have a lower payroll.

     

    Another reminder that money is not the best way to motivate better performance.

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  • Yankees, Rangers payroll disparity largest in playoff history

    Even if you are not a baseball fan, here's a statistic that jumps out and demands attention. 

    101030 Rangers Yankees When the Texas Rangers competed against the New York Yankees, it marked the greatest disparity in raw dollars between payrolls in the history of playoff baseball, at $152 million.

     

    In case you don't get enough spreadsheets at work, here is a
    comparison of the 2010 payrolls of both teams

     

    In addition, there are some fun facts for you to impress your friends.   For example, the Rangers could triple every current player's salary, sign Mark Teixeira away from the Yankees, and still have a lower payroll.

     

    Another reminder that money is not the best way to motivate better performance.

    Enhanced by Zemanta

  • Global M&A Deal Activity Has Increased 38 Percent This Year

    101018 Deal-Flow-Indicator The Q3 2010 IntraLinks Deal Flow Indicator™ (DFI) was just released and reports a 38 percent increase in global M&A deal activity in Q3 2010 versus Q3 2009. In the last quarter, deal activity is up nine percent compared to Q2 2010, a 68 percent increase from the Q1 2009 low.

    Results show six straight quarters of growth in M&A deal volume, with a 68 percent increase from Q1 2009

    The overall positive trends are consistent with the following factors in the marketplace:

    • General improvement and stability in the market
    • Impending tax environment changes and stockpiles of committed capital have provided the return of private equity buyers and sellers
    • Reduced strategic buyer fear of “double dip” recession resulting in more exploration of opportunities to supplement slow organic growth prospects and enter new markets.

    Here is a chart.

    101018 Deal-Flow-Indicator Chart
    Read the Q3 2010 IntraLinks Deal Flow Indicator at www.intralinks.com/dealflow.

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  • Global M&A Deal Activity Has Increased 38 Percent This Year

    101018 Deal-Flow-Indicator The Q3 2010 IntraLinks Deal Flow Indicator™ (DFI) was just released and reports a 38 percent increase in global M&A deal activity in Q3 2010 versus Q3 2009. In the last quarter, deal activity is up nine percent compared to Q2 2010, a 68 percent increase from the Q1 2009 low.

    Results show six straight quarters of growth in M&A deal volume, with a 68 percent increase from Q1 2009

    The overall positive trends are consistent with the following factors in the marketplace:

    • General improvement and stability in the market
    • Impending tax environment changes and stockpiles of committed capital have provided the return of private equity buyers and sellers
    • Reduced strategic buyer fear of “double dip” recession resulting in more exploration of opportunities to supplement slow organic growth prospects and enter new markets.

    Here is a chart.

    101018 Deal-Flow-Indicator Chart
    Read the Q3 2010 IntraLinks Deal Flow Indicator at www.intralinks.com/dealflow.

    Enhanced by Zemanta

  • Awareness Test Video – Your Attention Span Is Smaller Than You Think

    You look, but do you see?

    Daniel Simons' experiments on visual awareness have become famous.  The primary conclusion drawn from his research is that we can miss incredibly obvious things, right in front of us, if our attention is focused elsewhere.

    Test Your Awareness.

    Watch this video and count how many passes the team in white makes. 

    This is worth doing so you experience it yourself.

    Try to ignore the black team.  Just focus on the white team, and see if you can accurately count how many times they pass the ball. 

    OK, click the video to do it now.


     

    Did you get the right answer?  Even though I knew what to expect, the result or effect was surprising.

    By the way, there is a newer version of this video, here.

    Think how often your focus blinds you to the obvious.

    Change Blindness.

    Missing an invisible gorilla or a moon-walking bear may seem strange.  However, the next experiment may be more surprising.

    This video demonstrates "change blindness".  In an experiment, 75% of the participants didn't notice that the experimenter who bent under a counter was replaced by a different person.


     

    If you liked that, here is a version done by Derrin Brown. It is quite clever and worth watching. It was even more surprising to me because it was done in public with "real people".   How did people not notice a white male switching with a black guy (or an asian female) in the middle of a conversation?

    Warning: Objects In Your Attention Span Are Fewer Than You Perceive.

    101022 Invisible GorillaMoment by moment, the brain selectively processes information it deems most relevant. Experiments, like these, show the limits of our capacity to encode, retain, and compare visual information from one glance to the next. 

    More importantly, this suggests that our awareness of our visual surroundings is far more sparse than most people intuitively believe.  Consequently, our intuition can deceive us far more often than we perceive.

    Clearly, in an information-rich environment, attention is a scarce and essential resource. So, pay attention (or automate the things you know need to be done right, every time).

    Related Resources.

    Enhanced by Zemanta

  • Awareness Test Video – Your Attention Span Is Smaller Than You Think

    You look, but do you see?

    Daniel Simons' experiments on visual awareness have become famous.  The primary conclusion drawn from his research is that we can miss incredibly obvious things, right in front of us, if our attention is focused elsewhere.

    Test Your Awareness.

    Watch this video and count how many passes the team in white makes. 

    This is worth doing so you experience it yourself.

    Try to ignore the black team.  Just focus on the white team, and see if you can accurately count how many times they pass the ball. 

    OK, click the video to do it now.


     

    Did you get the right answer?  Even though I knew what to expect, the result or effect was surprising.

    By the way, there is a newer version of this video, here.

    Think how often your focus blinds you to the obvious.

    Change Blindness.

    Missing an invisible gorilla or a moon-walking bear may seem strange.  However, the next experiment may be more surprising.

    This video demonstrates "change blindness".  In an experiment, 75% of the participants didn't notice that the experimenter who bent under a counter was replaced by a different person.


     

    If you liked that, here is a version done by Derrin Brown. It is quite clever and worth watching. It was even more surprising to me because it was done in public with "real people".   How did people not notice a white male switching with a black guy (or an asian female) in the middle of a conversation?

    Warning: Objects In Your Attention Span Are Fewer Than You Perceive.

    101022 Invisible GorillaMoment by moment, the brain selectively processes information it deems most relevant. Experiments, like these, show the limits of our capacity to encode, retain, and compare visual information from one glance to the next. 

    More importantly, this suggests that our awareness of our visual surroundings is far more sparse than most people intuitively believe.  Consequently, our intuition can deceive us far more often than we perceive.

    Clearly, in an information-rich environment, attention is a scarce and essential resource. So, pay attention (or automate the things you know need to be done right, every time).

    Related Resources.

    Enhanced by Zemanta