Bath of Princes

Name of this place was 'Bath of Princes."
It was inside the carpet bazar in Esfahan. I don't recall seeing it before.
I was interested in seeing the inside but was it was closed for renovation.

Pleasure

One of the pleasures in the world for a parent I think, is to see pure joy on the face of his toddler when he gets a piece of Chocolate... :) it is hard to describe.
(but it should not happen very often...)

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy

This was a long article and I could not cut it shorter than this.
I found it very interesting. It seems like it tells me having virtues is somewhat inherent to the person!
Use the link to read the entire article if you will.

2. Virtue, practical wisdom and eudaimonia
A virtue such as honesty or generosity is not just a tendency to do what is honest or generous, nor is it to be helpfully specified as a "desirable" or "morally valuable" character trait. It is, indeed a character trait — that is, a disposition which is well entrenched in its possessor, something that, as we say "goes all the way down", unlike a habit such as being a tea-drinker — but the disposition in question, far from being a single track disposition to do honest actions, or even honest actions for certain reasons, is multi-track. It is concerned with many other actions as well, with emotions and emotional reactions, choices, values, desires, perceptions, attitudes, interests, expectations and sensibilities. To possess a virtue is to be a certain sort of person with a certain complex mindset. (Hence the extreme recklessness of attributing a virtue on the basis of a single action.)
The most significant aspect of this mindset is the wholehearted acceptance of a certain range of considerations as reasons for action. An honest person cannot be identified simply as one who, for example, practices honest dealing, and does not cheat. If such actions are done merely because the agent thinks that honesty is the best policy, or because they fear being caught out, rather than through recognising "To do otherwise would be dishonest" as the relevant reason, they are not the actions of an honest person. An honest person cannot be identified simply as one who, for example, always tells the truth, nor even as one who always tells the truth because it is the truth, for one can have the virtue of honesty without being tactless or indiscreet. The honest person recognises "That would be a lie" as a strong (though perhaps not overriding) reason for not making certain statements in certain circumstances, and gives due, but not overriding, weight to "That would be the truth" as a reason for making them.
An honest person's reasons and choices with respect to honest and dishonest actions reflect her views about honesty and truth — but of course such views manifest themselves with respect to other actions, and to emotional reactions as well. Valuing honesty as she does, she chooses, where possible to work with honest people, to have honest friends, to bring up her children to be honest. She disapproves of, dislikes, deplores dishonesty, is not amused by certain tales of chicanery, despises or pities those who succeed by dishonest means rather than thinking they have been clever, is unsurprised, or pleased (as appropriate) when honesty triumphs, is shocked or distressed when those near and dear to her do what is dishonest and so on.
Given that a virtue is such a multi-track disposition, it would obviously be reckless to attribute one to an agent on the basis of a single observed action or even a series of similar actions, especially if you don't know the agent's reasons for doing as she did. (Sreenivasan 2002) Moreover, to possess, fully, such a disposition is to possess full or perfect virtue, which is rare, and there are a number of ways of falling short of this ideal. (Athanassoulis 2000.) Possessing a virtue is a matter of degree, for most people who can be truly described as fairly virtuous, and certainly markedly better than those who can be truly described as dishonest, self-centred and greedy, still have their blind spots — little areas where they do not act for the reasons one would expect. So someone honest or kind in most situations, and notably so in demanding ones may nevertheless be trivially tainted by snobbery, inclined to be disingenuous about their forebears and less than kind to strangers with the wrong accent.
Further, it is not easy to get one's emotions in harmony with one's rational recognition of certain reasons for action. I may be honest enough to recognise that I must own up to a mistake because it would be dishonest not to do so without my acceptance being so wholehearted that I can own up easily, with no inner conflict. Following (and adapting) Aristotle, virtue ethicists draw a distinction between full or perfect virtue and "continence", or strength of will. The fully virtuous do what they should without a struggle against contrary desires; the continent have to control a desire or temptation to do otherwise.
Describing the continent as "falling short" of perfect virtue appears to go against the intuition that there is something particularly admirable about people who manage to act well when it is especially hard for them to do so, but the plausibility of this depends on exactly what "makes it hard." (Foot 1978, 11-14.) If it is the circumstances in which the agent acts — say that she is very poor when she sees someone drop a full purse, or that she is in deep grief when someone visits seeking help — then indeed it is particularly admirable of her to restore the purse or give the help when it is hard for her to do so. But if what makes it hard is an imperfection in her character - the temptation to keep what is not hers, or a callous indifference to the suffering of others — then it is not.

"Just Listen"...

I came across this interesting check list, and thought of sharing it...

The Narcissist Inventory* rating the person on a 1-to-3 scale (1 = rarely; 2 = sometimes; 3 = frequently):

How often does the person need to be right at all costs?

How often does the person act impatient with you for no good reason?

How often does the person interrupt you in the middle of what you're saying, and yet take offense if you interrupt?

How often does the person expect you to drop whatever you're thinking about and listen to him or her--and does the person take offense when you expect the same in return?

How often does the person talk more than he or she listens?

How often does the person say "Yes, but," "That's not true," "No," "However," or "Your problem is"?

How often does the person resist and resent doing something that matters to you, just because it's inconvenient?

How often does the person expect you to cheerfully do something that's inconvenient for you?

How often does the person expect you to accept behavior that he or she would refuse to accept from you?

How often does the person fail to say "Thank you," "I'm sorry," "Congratulations," or "Excuse me" when it's called for?

To score your inventory, add up the total:

10-16 =The person is cooperative

17-23 = The person is argumentative

24-30 = The person is a narcissist

And by the way, narcissists not only come in the aggressive type that we are so used to. Excessively needy people who whine, complain, make excuses and feel sorry for themselves can also exhibit many of the behaviors in the Narcissist Inventory and can be just as "self-involved" as the more aggressive variety.

From:
Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Absolutely Anyone. By: Goulston M.D. and Keith Ferrazzi

Copper-smith bazar In Esfahan

Even though this profession is not very economically sound any more, for sake of tourism in Esfahan (Iran) copper-smiths still work and show their crafts, and truly do a great job.
I hope they can continue this work and transfer their skills to future generations...

Jean Piajet

An interesting site to explore.

From Sohrab Sepehri...

I’ve never seen two rival pines.
I’ve never seen a willow, Sell its shadow to the earth.
An oak happily offersIts branch to the raven.

And wherever there is a leaf,
in me, passion blossoms.

"Sohrab"

I am and I am not...

I said I shall tell the tale of my heart as best as I can;
Caught in the storm of my tears, with a bleeding heart,I failed to do that!I tried to relate to event in broken, muted words;
The cup of my thoughts was so fragile, that I fell into pieces like shattered glass.

Many ships were wrecked in this storm;What is my little helpless boat in comparison?
The waves destroyed my ship, neither good remained nor bad;
Free from myself, I tied my body to a raft.

Now, I am neither up nor down-no this is not a fair description;
I am up on a wave one instant, and down under another the next.

I am not aware of my existence, I know only this:
When I am, I am not, and when I am not, I am!
(Divan 1419:1-6)

Grahame's final recited poem:

"I was born the day I met you,
Lived a while when you loved me,
Died a little when we broke apart."

More on Virtues and Vices...

http://www.uoregon.edu/~rbear/hallch.htm

Come, Come...

I know there are claims that this poem may be unauthentic, but that is not important. The importance is in the message. Nevertheless I like this poem very much…

"Come,
please, come again,

Whoever you are.
Religious, infidel, heretic or pagan.

Even if you promised a hundred times, and a hundred times you broke your promise.

This door is not the door of hopelessness and frustration.
This door is open for everybody.

Come, come as you are."

-Rumi

On Ethics and Virtues.

Interesting notes By Dr. John Morris.

Deontological thinking rests on 2-3 fundamental principles -
1. Rights: Best captured under the rubric of “human rights”

2. Justice to include:
A. Distributive: how were outcomes provided
B. Procedural : what processes were used
C. Interactional: what communication processes were used and were they appropriate and/or fair.

3. Virtue ethics: what is moral/ethical is not only what rules dictate but also what the mature person with a “good” moral character would deem appropriate.

Virtue: an excellence in being. For humans (as opposed to angels and animals?) Excellence in being involves both right thought and right action. That is, virtue isn’t just thinking “right” thoughts but also involves “right” action.
Virtues include such things as:

Politeness
Fidelity
Prudence
Temperance
Courage
Justice
Generosity
Compassion
Mercy
Gratitude
Humility
Simplicity
Tolerance
Purity
Good faith
Humor
LOVE

Intresting self test... how many of the items can we check from the list?!

Barry Schwartz on our loss of wisdom

Don't Capture My Tears...

Back, out of the Business Class assignments.

Giant star fishes at Seattle Aquarium.

Case Study on Chapter 15

3- The strategy of Avnet for creating the CookBook and keeping the local ERP systems can provide some ease on local operations. Howoever, it can also reduce efficiency and effectiveness of data transfer from local systems to the CookBook. Causing delays in transfer of information or disconnects between sources.
The offsetting benefits can be such as ease of use for local employees, use of local language etc. Keeping local systems can also help comply with local regulation for which the system is designed. Things that can’t be incorporated in CookBook and implemented globally.

4-A transnational strategy may be more practical for market of electronic equipments and parts in respect to cost, but it can also compromise reliability and quality.
A multinational strategy can create more centralized financial management to the business and in the meantime use the resources from other locations with less compromise in quality and management.

Chart 15-3 was not available for comparison.

WTO mission statement

WTO mission.
The World Trade Organization — the WTO — is the international organization whose primary purpose is to open trade for the benefit of all.

About WTO.
"The WTO provides a forum for negotiating agreements aimed at reducing obstacles to international trade and ensuring a level playing field for all, thus contributing to economic growth and development. The WTO also provides a legal and institutional framework for the implementation and monitoring of these agreements, as well as for settling disputes arising from their interpretation and application. The current body of trade agreements comprising the WTO consists of 16 different multilateral agreements (to which all WTO members are parties) and two different plurilateral agreements (to which only some WTO members are parties).

Over the past 60 years, the WTO, which was established in 1995, and its predecessor organization the GATT have helped to create a strong and prosperous international trading system, thereby contributing to unprecedented global economic growth. The WTO currently has 153 members, of which 117 are developing countries or separate customs territories. WTO activities are supported by a Secretariat of some 700 staff, led by the WTO Director-General. The Secretariat is located in Geneva, Switzerland, and has an annual budget of approximately CHF 200 million ($180 million, €130 million). The three official languages of the WTO are English, French and Spanish.

Decisions in the WTO are generally taken by consensus of the entire membership. The highest institutional body is the Ministerial Conference, which meets roughly every two years. A General Council conducts the organization's business in the intervals between Ministerial Conferences. Both of these bodies comprise all members. Specialised subsidiary bodies (Councils, Committees, Sub-committees), also comprising all members, administer and monitor the implementation by members of the various WTO agreements."

In a globalized world role of WTO works like the role of the U.N. in a commercial sense, or at least that is my impression. It appears that "The end result of easy trad for all" has increased the standards of life even in cheap countries that were sources of providing inexpensive labor.for the rest of the consumers in the world. Now the expectations in most of those countries like (India, China, Indonesia etc) has increased dramatically that makes them not very economical anymore.

One would wonder what would next generation of World Trade Organization focus on? Where are we going to look for the next inexpensive labor? Other planets? Or should we change our expectations from the commercial world, and demand less.

Sources:

http://www.wto.org/index.htm

Case Study on Chapter 13

Q1: ALCS was outdated, cumbersome, unreliable, and not compliant with the current IT security requirements. ALCS actually was not a loan control system handling all the details of the loan, it was just a tracking system that interfaced with the agency’s mainframe that ran a program that actually funded and dispersed loans. Applications should be generated and followed up all in paper form. The physical files were sent back and forth, and there were chances of them being lost, duplicate entries were made, calculations were mistaken, and this all causes delays. The agency required 200 people to control the files, and over 3000 people on staff to feed the paper monster.
Q2: At some point in history it would make sense to have multiple regional locations to assist the file generation and follow up, but today this is very much outdated. Each center was a duplicate of the other, and in addition each had its own IT infrastructure. Therefore, there was a need to consolidate the centers to create a single point of contact and base of command for IT support. By creating a single call center, all calls now go through one place rather than being routed based on geography. Plus, by centralization, one office could handle the loans and legal staffs and disburse loans. Same software could be used by all people involved without need of any mail courier, therefore cutting the time needed for communication and significantly reducing the cost.
Q3: Self-service applications should be implemented. Staff management tools can keep track of work hours of the employee. In addition, personalized profiles can be made for applicants to track the process of their claims, and see the balance sheets on their loan, and/or make direct transaction online, eliminating the waiting time on claimed checks, money orders, etc.

Obama's Information Technology Priority

Obama's Information Technology Priority
BeyeNetwork:
Global coverage of business intelligence ecosystem

This article seems interesting and relevant to our class and current state of economy and government:
As Obama administration noted ” Barack Obama understands that we must use all available technologies and methods to open up the federal government, creating a new level of transparency to change the way business is conducted in Washington and giving Americans the chance to participate in government deliberations and decision making in ways that were not possible only a few years ago. To achieve this vision, Barack Obama will encourage the deployment of the most modern communications infrastructure. In turn, that infrastructure can be used by government and business to reduce the costs of health care, help solve our energy crisis, create new jobs, and fuel our economic growth.”

This article suggest some solutions and comments on this policy and points to some of the related issues that government needs to tackle.
1- Such as state of Federal IT projects that are in trouble;
2 -much higher indirect cost of IT project for the government
As an example, consider the IRS mission critical information system, the Electronic Fraud Detection System (EFDS). Between 1994 and 2005, the IRS spent $185 million on EFDS. This system had multiple problems and was abandoned in 2006.
Approximately $185 million was lost on this project in direct costs.
3- There have been two major initiatives to help the federal government improve its ability to manage IT. The first is accounting. The second is architectural.

Now Obama is adding National Health Service and VA system in the list for IT upgrades.

To help this process Obama promised to appoint a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for the federal government. This person will work “with chief technology and chief information officers of each of the federal agencies, to ensure that they use best-in-class technologies and share best practices
This article suggest the highest priority for the new federal CTO is to declare a War on Complexity of IT projects is .

• Drive a consensus on the need to control complexity.
• Identify candidate methodologies that show promise in helping control complexity.
• Test the candidate methodologies in real life scenarios.
• Choose the one that does the best job of controlling complexity.
• Train project managers throughout the federal government in the use of that methodology.
• Require the use of that methodology on all new IT projects.
• Continuously reevaluate and refine the methodology.

Sources:
Perspectives of the International Association of Software Architects, Issue #7, January, 2009 Copyright 2009, IASA,
http://www.b-eye-network.com/view/10426
BeyeNetwork:
global coverage of business intelligence ecosystem

Business Intelligence Software's Time Is Now

BusinessWeek.com
Special Report March 2, 2009.

Companies that have established business intelligence tools throughout the organization in a consistent manner stand to benefit from the ability to get high-quality information and respond more quickly. For example, in the month leading up to the December 2006 European launch of Wyeth's (WYE) Enbrel (a drug by Amgen) prefilled syringes used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and other conditions, the company saw forecasted demand triple. Because the company uses SAP Business Information Warehouse to aggregate information from throughout its enterprise, the plants were able to anticipate this spike in demand and respond accordingly. they can very quickly move product or capacity from one location to meet patient needs or market demands anywhere in the world.

Business intelligence software can help companies mine customer data that they already track to potentially sell new products or services.
Lots of companies use business intelligence to understand what has happened in the past, but it's really important, he says, to do strategic modeling to understand how to move forward, whether it means solidifying relationships with your most profitable clients or figuring out which employees are the least productive and will need to go in the next wave of layoffs.
all around BI software are gaining more popularity in most industries an will help the bottom line of the cooperation and make them run leaner and meaner.

Source:
By King, BusinessWeek.com in San Francisco.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/mar2009/tc2009032_101762_page_2.htm