HTNet - A Notepad of Tech, Business, Science and Self Improvement

Photo Credit: Jean-François Chénier

Regular HTNet visitors will know that I’ve left my comfortable job as an Analyst Programmer to venture into the world of entrepreneurship. I’ve taken the first steps to set up a private limited company and the process will take around ten days.

Under Malaysian law, a private limited company must have at least two directors. I’ve approached a close friend to join me in setting up the company one and a half months ago. This friend of mine knows next to nothing about IT. However, he has wide experience in marketing from credit cards to cars and property among other things.

He wants a 50% stake in the venture and I have no problems with that. All I wanted in return was for him to cough up 50% of the starting capital, which he agrees is a fair deal. Nevertheless, as lunch break of my last day at work comes, I have nothing concrete from him at all.

I sent him an SMS asking if he’s still committed to the plan, and informing him that I’ll be meeting my tax/account advisor the next morning to iron out the details of registering the company. I got no response from him until 8:18pm, a good eight hours and eight minutes from when I sent my inquiry.

Read the rest of The Only Thing That’s Consistent Is Inconsistency »

KUALA LUMPUR, August 7, 2008 – Driven by the realization that climate change is an issue that businesses can, and should, mitigate, both commercial and government organizations are under pressure to ‘go green’. IDC’s research has shown this driver has filtered down into the IT department as organizations question what Green IT can do in this overall ‘Green’ strategy. As CIOs embark on this journey, there is clear evidence that ‘going green’ not only saves the planet, it also makes good business sense. Hence, the IDC event theme, The Economy of Ecology.

Read the rest of Green IT Conference 2008: IDC Explores The Economy Of Ecology »

Photo Credit: FotoRita [Allstar maniac]

Change is an incident beyond norm. There are certain changes that are caused by you and others are totally independent of your actions. Some changes are positive and others are negative. One thing that’s sure is that changes happen around us all the time.

Humans are generally change averse creatures. Most of us prefer the familiar over discovering new ways to do thing. If it’s not for the explorers, tinkerers, geeks and boffins we lot would have gone nowhere! We’d still be living in caves and hunting for food.

The fact is that the world around us keeps changing. Our ancestors realize that some days are colder than the norm. Out of necessity they discovered fire, used fur and leather as clothes, reared animals and farmed. Why? Because keeping the status quo will ultimately lead to their doom.

Read the rest of Are You Ready For Change? »

Photo Credit: wa–ti-

Have you ever postponed doing something potentially profitable because you wanted to see if it really is true? What did you tell yourself?

• I need to see if this really works
• Maybe there are better opportunities out there
• I’m too busy right now, I’ll take it up later

Chances are, you never got back on the offer. Worse still, the opportunity was snapped up by someone else. The absolute worst case: he made a decent amount of income!

…and all you could do was think; “Damn, that could have been me!”

Read the rest of Why Waiting For The Right Opportunity Is Something You Should Stop Doing »

Photo Credit: Rescue Dog

Nothing bugs me more than people who complain about the rising cost of fuel (or gas, or petrol, black gold, Texas tea… whatever you call it in your neck of the woods). It’s not really rocket science and you can start saving money spent on fuel right now!

I’m not selling you some snake oil gizmos like fuel saving magnets. I’m simply going to tell you 12 scientifically proven ways to avoid spending tons of money on a liquid that you’ll burn anyway.

The following people shouldn’t bother to continue reading this article:

• People living in Venezuela or Saudi Arabia where fuel is dirt cheap (but everything else is as expensive as sin)
• George W. Bush (I’m sure you’re happy with how fuel prices are at the moment)
• OPEC committee members (for the same reason as Dubya)
• Malaysians who are absolutely certain that Anwar Ibrahim will be our next PM

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, let’s get on to business.

Read the rest of 12 Tips To Save Fuel That You’re Still Not Doing! »