Microsoft’s earnings call dominated its week, with news of strong Kinect sales. Microsoft also fought TiVo and a Salesforce.com hire. – Microsofts
week was all about the numbers, courtesy of its Jan. 27 quarterly earnings
call.
For the three
months ended Dec. 31, Microsoft chalked up $19.95 billion in revenue and $6.63
billion in net income. It sold some 8 million Kinect units in the hands-free
controllers first 60 days of rel…
Russia will not support OSCE summit documents referring to “the conflict in Georgia,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday. “We are ready… to support the Geneva discussions. But we cannot agree that these discussions are devoted to ‘conflicts in Georgia,’ as some of our Western partners propose,” he said.
Serbia is committed to reaching a compromise, through dialogue, for the historic conflict between Serbs and Albanians, Serbian President Boris Tadić stated.
He warned that it would be a catastrophic mistake if anyone in the EU blackmailed Serbia into recognizing Kosovo in exchange for EU membership.
ISLAMABAD – The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing of withdrawal of the notification regarding judges’ restoration sine die and observed that all the institutions of the state were bound to implement the apex court’s orders and the judgment in this regard had already been passed.
Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhary, heading a 17-member bench hearing suo motu case related to media reports alleging that the government was considering withdrawal of the notification, said the judiciary was performing its functions in accordance with the Constitution.
The CJ asked the Attorney General Anwar-ul-Haq, “Whether anyone from the government has desired to file a statement?” The AG replied in negative. He, however, said that a committee has been constituted to probe the authenticity of the news story, and submitted its interim report and sought time for submitting the final report. The court conceded to the request and adjourned the hearing for an indefinite period, but said on the receipt of report from the committee, if need be, the matter shall be heard in court.
Anwar informed the court that notices have been issued to Wamiq Zuberi and Fakhar Rehman to appear before the committee, set up to investigate the news, on October 23.
The Attorney General also told the court that in compliance with the court order of October 15, 2010, he has sent the order to 105 constitutional and state functionaries and administrative heads and also already sent the compliance report to the Registrar SC.
During the proceedings, Justice Javed Iqbal said last night (Sunday) one of the private TV channels claimed that the PM even signed judgesÂ’ withdrawal notification. The AG said that neither such kind of notification was issued nor the government had such intention.
The court expressed concern over the word ‘standoff’ mentioned in the inquiry committee report, and asked the AG, does it mean a conflict? Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday said if someone uses this kind of language in a public meeting, then one can understand its meaning, adding all the members of the committee were responsible persons. “Every day we hear that there was a war between judiciary and the executive.” He said show any judgment that reflects that there was a war or conflict between these two organs of the State.
He said that the court had left the matter of National Reconciliation Ordinance to the Parliament, but it did not approve it. He questioned if the court takes notice on promotion of a convict then should it be declared a war. On the rental power plants issue, a parliamentarian, Faisal Saleh Hayat, had filed a case in the court, Justice Ramday said, and added the court did not ask Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Chaudhary Nisar to challenge the appointment of NAB chairman in the apex court.
Some representatives of the lawyers community, who were present in the court room, wanted to talk on the executive order, but the Chief Justice stopped them, saying the matter has been decided.
Last Friday, the bench had passed a restraining order that withdrawal of the judges notification was not possible after the apex court had settled the issue in its July 31, 2009 decision while any ultra constitutional move against judiciary would be tantamount to treason under Article 6 of the Constitution.
A question of holding the accountants to account
THESE are tough times for bean-counters. Recent revenue figures for two of the big four accountancy firms show small declines. Their auditing and tax-advice businesses are stagnant. But consulting is buoyant. PWC’s consulting revenues, announced on October 4th, rose 7.9% between 2009 and 2010. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu’s grew by 14.9%. Ernst & Young’s grew by a more modest 2%, but the trend is clear. For the big four—which also include KPMG—consulting now generates between a sixth and a third of global revenue, and this figure is growing.
Some people find this worrying. In America, accountants are barred from providing most non-audit services to firms they audit. (This rule was introduced after the collapse of Enron, whose auditor, Arthur Andersen, was thought to have gone easy on the crooked energy firm to protect its lucrative business advising it.) In other countries, however, the rules are less strict. …
The outlawed Basque separatist group ETA has called for international mediation to help resolve its conflict with the Spanish government, BBC reported Sunday. The appeal, which was published in a Basque newspaper, comes two weeks after the Spanish government dismissed the group’s latest unilateral ceasefire as inadequate, saying the separatists must renounce violence forever, BBC said.
Human and Minority Rights Minister Svetozar Čiplić has accused Islamic Community in Serbia Mufti Muamer Zukorlić violating the Constitution. On the other hand the mufti, who heads one of two rival Islamic organizations in the country, claims that the ministry is discriminating against Bosniaks.
The opposition Serb Progressive Party (SNS) is concerned that the country’s European integrations.
The party also worries about economic aid and donations that might be halted due to Serbia’s hastened resolution on Kosovo, it was heard in Belgrade on Friday.
Microsoft and Salesforce.com may have settled their mutual patent-infringement lawsuits out of court, but rising competition in the enterprise cloud space means other vendors could soon be starting battles of their own. – Microsoft and Salesforce.com may have settled their very public disagreement
over intellectual property, but the feud could be an indicator of things to
come in the enterprise cloud space, where a number of vendors are engaged in
ever-fiercer competition for business clients.
quot;As you take …
Does a warming world really mean that more conflict is inevitable?
AS THE planet warms, floods, storms, rising seas and drought will uproot millions of people, and with dire wider consequences. Barack Obama, collecting his Nobel peace prize, said that climate change “will fuel more conflict for decades”. He took the analysis not from environmental scaremongers but from a group of American generals.
The forecast is close to becoming received wisdom. A flurry of new books with titles such as “Global Warring” and “Climate Conflict” offer near-apocalyptic visions. Cleo Paskal, at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in London, predicts that floods, storms, the failure of the Indian monsoon and agricultural collapse will bring “enormous, and specific, geopolitical, economic, and security consequences for all of us…the world of tomorrow looks chaotic and violent”. Jeffrey Mazo of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, also in London, calls climate change an “existential threat” and fears it could usher in “state failure and internal conflict” in exposed places, notably Africa. …
Microsoft’s newly announced Windows XP vulnerability was first reported by a Google researcher, potentially raising more behind-the-scenes conflict between the two companies. Earlier in June, reports leaked that Google had begun transitioning its employees off Windows, apparently because of security concerns. Some analysts are questioning how these public security revelations will affect the two companies’ competitive stance, and whether Microsoft will be negatively affected in the longer term. – Microsoft and Googles recent interactions have analysts questioning whether
the two companies are engaged in indirect battle, using issues such as security
and operating systems to launch broadsides at each other.
On June 1, news leaked that Google was reportedly trying to transition its
employ…
Google June 3 purchased startup Invite Media, sparking concerns from ad experts, who believe Google is gobbling up too much of the online display ad supply chain. Invite Media’s platform lets advertisers buy display ad space from sellers across multiple ad exchanges, such as Google’s DoubleClick Ad Exchange, Microsoft’s AdECN and Yahoo’s Right Media, through real-time bidding. This buy strikes Internet ad experts as tricky. Some believe companies should not own ad exchanges and the so-called demand-side platforms they are intended to augment for advertisers. – Google purchased startup Invite Media June 3, sparking concerns from ad
experts, who believe Google is gobbling up too much of the online display ad
supply chain.
AllThingsDigtal broke the news June 2 and reported the deal amount to be $70 million.
Invite Media’s platform lets advertisers buy …
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao says there is an “urgent” need to avoid conflict between the Koreas following the sinking of a South Korean warship.
But Wen, speaking Sunday after a two-day summit with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, gave no indication that China is ready to join them in blaming North Korea for the tragedy.
Nokia launched a new legal complaint against Apple May 7, alleging that the iPad and iPhone violate five of its patents. This is the newest round in a battle that has seen the two companies fire off multiple patent-infringement suits over the past year, and the latest twist suggests there will be no firm and speedy resolution. In addition to its battle with Nokia, Apple has alleged that HTC violated several of its patents, although HTC’s recent intellectual property agreement with Microsoft gives the manufacturer more legal ammunition with which to fight the complaint. Nokia and Apple have issued similar language claiming they pioneered certain smartphone-related innovations first.
– Nokia launched the next round in its lengthy legal battle against Apple May
7, with a new lawsuit alleging that Apple’s iPad and iPhone infringe on five of
its patents. This newest action suggests that the two companies will remain
locked in acrimony for some time to come, short of an out-of-cour…
VMware ThinApp gains 32-bit and 64-bit support along with large .msi file support in a move that should make it easier for IT desktop administrators who are considering the options for Windows 7 migration. Application virtualization gives old apps a new lease on life by easing regression testing and enabling multiple versions of the same application to run on one PC without conflict.
– …
The decision of the Vojvodina assembly that lets its members hold two state offices “does not obligate the Anti-Corruption Agency”. “The agency would be obligated if the provincial assembly made a decisions that would be treated as other decrees, in the sense of Article 28 of the Law on Anti-Corruption Agency, which would obligate officials to hold more than one position,†agency member Slobodan Beljanski said.
I have to tell you that I’m not great at handling conflict. I’d much rather have things run smoothly and make sure that everyone gets along, works together, has fun and delivers great results, so when conflict happens I feel awkward and uncomfortable.
I tend to do what I can to set things up ahead of time for smooth sailing, and I’ve really had to work hard at dealing with conflict when and if it arises. Here’s what I’ve found has worked for me.
Sometimes it’s easy to let your emotions get tangled up in things, especially if someone’s disagreeing or even attacking your position. Anger, blame, hurt and a bunch of other provocative emotions can be at play, and before you know it you’ve got a bigger problem than you ever thought.
Don’t make it personal – people are allowed to disagree with your position, just as you’re allowed to disagree with others.
By all means be passionate, but that’s not the same as being defensive or coming out on the offensive with all guns blazing. The moment you start taking differences of opinion as personal criticism and judgement (even if that’s exactly what’s being thrown at you) you’ll be on the defensive or offensive, so balance that passion with the facts and a healthy sprinkling of common sense and perspective.
There could be facts you need to know about or areas you need to explore before taking action. Make sure you go deep enough into those areas to figure out the facts of what’s happening, but don’t dwell on detail after detail after detail.
This is often a tricky balance between doing enough due diligence to be informed, checking in with your instincts and leveraging your experience to anticipate the different paths, and it means you have to put a hold on resolving the conflict until all parties can do their due diligence.
Be clear on what do you need to know and the most effective ways to get those answers.  Work that out with an open mind and you’ll be in a stronger position to move forwards.
If you do one thing, make sure you hear everyone and respect their point of view.  This is not the same as understanding everyone’s perspective (that can take a lifetime), but it’s important to have a healthy respect for their position even if you strongly disagree.
Listening demonstrates the value of the relationships you have and that you’re willing to listen and engage with others. That can speak louder than any amount of yelling.
Also, it might just mean that you discover a way through that hadn’t occurred to you before, giving you the opportunity to use nuggets of gold from different people to create a way forward that’s a workable and effective compromise.
You have the right to be treated with respect and consideration, and coolly asserting that right is a powerful strategy.
To do that you need to watch that things don’t get overly complex – the more complicated you make things the more complex it’ll be for people to unravel and the more complex it’ll be to communicate clearly. Keep things simple (jot down bullet points if it helps) and figure out the simplest, most effective way to move forwards.
If you’re in a leadership position there’s often a point where the debate needs to be over, and you need to communicate that in a way that engages rather alienates. You might not have all the answers, but you need to be confident enough to be able to make a good decision. Then your job is to let people know coolly, simply and unambiguously what the facts are, the way forwards and what’s expected.
If you’re wrong, admit it.  Don’t hang on to your position just for the sake of wanting to be right – that’ll just get you into more hot water, is sure to waste everyone’s time and will probably end up with you looking or feeling silly.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking being wrong is undesirable, it isn’t. Allowing yourself to be wrong shows that you’re switched on enough to do the best thing for all concerned and find the best route through. It demonstrates that you’re lead by integrity and are willing to take on new ideas if they work better, even if that flies in the face of what you were thinking previously.
Be ready to be wrong – that’s how you grow.
Steve Errey almost died at age 5 as he choked on a grape. Today, Steve is a leading confidence coach for entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs, with a reputation for talking sense and getting results. Read more at The Confidence Guy and follow him on Twitter. He still loves grapes, despite the risks.
Pieter Feith says that the International Civil Office (ICO) does not want armed conflicts in northern Kosovo. “We can’t change with a magic wand what has been happening for years in northern Kosovo. It is clear that we do not want an armed conflict, but we don’t want a continuation of the cold conflict either, which has been going on for many years,†the ICO chief said.
Biodiversity down the barrel of a gun
THERE was a time when conservation meant keeping people away from nature. America’s system of national parks, a model for similar set-ups around the world, was based on the idea of limiting human presence to passing visits, rather than permanent habitation.
In recent years this way of doing things has come under suspicion. To fence off large areas of parkland is often impractical and can also be immoral—in that it leads to local people being booted out. These days, the consensus among conservationists is to try to manage nature with humans in situ. But there are still “involuntary parks”, to borrow a phrase from the writer and futurist Bruce Sterling, that serve to illustrate just how spectacularly well nature can do when humans are removed from the equation. …
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan have agreed to adopt regional approach to solve problems including terrorism and militancy.
“Solution to the problems confronting the South and Southeast Asian countries lies in the regional cooperation,” foreign ministers of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan said on Saturday during a joint press conference here at Foreign Office on Saturday.
The three foreign ministers said that only regional approach to regional problems could ensure stability and prosperity. “We are very much sure that our cooperation will not only defeat our common enemy but will also bring prosperity in the region,” they added.
Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi once again made it loud and clear that Afghanistan’s soil was being used by terrorists in promoting extremism and terrorism in Pakistan. “Afghanistan must take steps to stop the flow of weapons from Afghanistan to Pakistan,” Qureshi added.
Qureshi expressed Pakistan’s willingness to host a second tripartite summit that would be attended by Iranian, Pakistani and Afghan presidents, saying a joint strategy to tackle the problems being faced by the regional countries would be formulated in the meeting. He pointed to the joint statement issued after the first tripartite summit of the heads of state in Tehran, and said, “Pakistan holds itself committed to the statement and is ready to hold the second summit.”
It is pertinent to note here that last tripartite head of the state summit was held in Tehran on May 24, 2009 with the IranÂ’s President Ahmedinejad in the chair. President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan President Hamid Karzai attended the meeting.
The foreign ministers of Pakistan and Iran underlined the significance of a regional approach for resolving the ongoing crisis in the war-hit Afghanistan. They said that Pakistan and Iran had suffered from the consequences of Afghan crisis including the issues of insecurity and refugees.
According to the declaration, the three foreign ministers agreed to establish a joint committee of national coordinators. It said, “The committee would be headed by deputy foreign ministers of three sides who would determine practical measures and chalk out the timetable for holding of specialised meetings.”
The declaration further stated that regional stability and security can only be advanced through sincere and strict adherence to the principles of non-interference in the internal affairs of one another as well as respect for one anotherÂ’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The declaration affirms that three countries bear a shared and common responsibility for security and stability in the region. The three states commit that they will not allow their territories to be used for activities detrimental to one anotherÂ’s interests.
According to declaration, the interior ministers of the three countries will hold a trilateral meeting in Islamabad very soon. After the meeting of the interior ministers, the foreign ministers will also hold a meeting in Afghanistan. However the dates of these meeting will be announced later, it said.
