Diet Day 2

Monday, March 31, 2014 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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82,6 kg and 22,5% fat. (yesterday 83,6 kg and 24% fat)
This first 2 kilograms were easy because i cut carbs/sugars. This frees some water. Tomorrow progress is going to slower there is not more water to lose.
Yesterday i ate:
1 Apple & 2 cup's of Green Tea with Cinnamon in the morning
1 Veggie Soup at noon
1 Tuna Salad without dressing
1 Veggie Soup at 3 pm
1 Banana at 5 pm
Then i went to the Gym at 7 pm for 90 minutes. I burned 1300 calories. Average pulse 149, average watts 250.
For dinner i had 1 Veggie Soup & Clorella
1 Cup of Black beens 1 one big plate of Broccoli
During dinner i drink lemonade with no sugar, just cold water with squeezed Lemon
Mint Tea after dinner

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Hollidays

Monday, March 31, 2014 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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Diet Day 1

Monday, March 31, 2014 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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Just came from holidays with 83,6 kg and 24% fat! See the previous entry about South Aftrica.

 I am on diet day 1.

 i will post about my progress.




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South Africa Notes

Sunday, March 30, 2014 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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I spent the last 2 weeks traveling in South Africa 
The Plan was to land in Cape Town and rent a car and drive to Johannesburg with almost nothing booked in advance (I booked a 3 day Safari at the end in Lion Sands) 
Some quick notes
1.People drive safely in South Africa, there are almost no Potholes in the roads
2.Almost no one uses the car horn, people pull to the left to let you pass
3.The most famous Food chain in SA is KFC, South Africans love chicken big time.
4.By some reason that i could not find out people love Enrique Iglesias. Any radio station played his songs 2/3 times every hour. Unbelievable.
5.If if you don't want to have meals at very early hours everything closes, except KFC. People have dinner from 7 to 9 and after that hour is impossible to eat!
6.They didn't know the existence of Easy Open Canned Food yet.
7.I have never seen so many tattoos like in SA. It's already explored. Not a business opportunity. 
8.It's strange that the Sun set is not in the sea like in Portugal. When we booked a Hotel with a room facing the sea front the sunset is in the back of the Hotel. Strange.
9.SASOL is the most incompetent Oil Chain. It takes twice as much to fill the tank. I think it's a buy, if they improve there is a lot of upside.
10.Frame insulation is also a big opportunity because the quality of the frames is poor.A lot of wind & cold sneak into the room trough the windows.
11.Everything is cheap. It's so good to feel rich. A bottle of good Cabernet can cost USD 14 at a restaurant.
12.There are a lot of cyclists everywhere.
13.I would live in Cape Town. Weather, the sun goes down in the sea and the mountains.
14.The Safari is different from Kenya/Tanzania. The Lodge is much better service but the Game is not so abundant like in Kenya. It's not possible to see big herds of Zebras. They have a lot of Elephants & Leopards. The Ranger is a very smart guy & parks the car very close to the game. 

Next year I would like to do a SAFARI on horse in Botswana. yes it's possible.

 One word on Lion Sands, very expensive & very good. No Tv, we had a butler, service unbelievable!

This pic was taken by Ferdie Muller our Safari Ranger. We where below this Leopard eating an IMPALA. The Blood was drooping in our 4x4. An Hyena was sitting below the tree!





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Just a bit....

Friday, March 14, 2014 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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Unfortunately i know that when i drink my bike performance suffers. No doubt about that!
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Sales are the Company Oxygen

Friday, March 14, 2014 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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  • Some companies forget that without sales there is no business
  • The best thing for an operations guy is to have thousands of sales people feeding him with business





  • Quote 2.6.14.png

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How to sell anything

Friday, March 14, 2014 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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My friend Pedro Colaço from GuestCentric shared this picture.

 I just add that if you sell a service, something that is going to be delivered in the future (not a gadget) the most important thing is for the client to know that you are there if there is any problem. And trust me there are always problems. Don't disappear, be present and solve any problem promptly.

How to sell Anything.png
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Bill Gates on Jobs

Friday, March 14, 2014 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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From Business Insider
Big changes are coming to the labor market that people and governments aren't prepared for, Bill Gates believes. Speaking at Washington, D.C., economic think tank The American Enterprise Institute on Thursday, Gates said than within 20 years, a lot of jobs will go away, replaced by software automation ("bots" in tech slang, though Gates used the term "software substitution").
This what he said:
"Software substitution, whether it's for drivers or waiters or nurses … it's progressing. ...  Technology over time will reduce demand for jobs, particularly at the lower end of skill set. ...  20 years from now, labor demand for lots of skill sets will be substantially lower. I don’t think people have that in their mental model."
He's not the only one predicting this gloomy scenario for workers. In January, the Economist ran a big profile naming over a dozen jobs sure to be taken over by robots in the next 20 years, including telemarketers, accountants and retail workers.

He's not the only one predicting this gloomy scenario for workers. In January, the Economist ran a big profile naming over a dozen jobs sure to be taken over by robots in the next 20 years, including telemarketers, accountants and retail workers.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-bots-are-taking-away-jobs-2014-3#ixzz2vvD8fthd

Well what to do?  Buy the computer company shares or study code.

For the governments there isn't much they can do. If Government ends taxes on workers prompting companies to hire instead of buying a Robot those companies would be less competitive and would go bankrupt.

The way is to tax heavily those who have jobs and pay people to do nothing. More on people living all their life from the state subsidy.

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Deflation?

Wednesday, March 12, 2014 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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The production of too many useful things results in too many useless people
― Karl Marx


Copper is at a 5 year low 

why? well capitalism is about doing more with less, essentially deflationary.
In the past there was a big war every 50 years. In those wars the destruction was massive. We don't have wars (which is good)  but now we have overcapacity everywhere.
what to do? Don't spend because tomorrow it's going to be cheaper. Brands have a chance because they have a bit of pricing power. Pharma should do well because they also have some pricing power. As Karl Marx says we will have lot's of useless people in the world. Perhaps entertainment & games should also do well. I guess the useless people must be entertained.

NYMEX-per-pound-copper-prices-NYMEX-per-pound-copper-prices_chartbuilder
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Infantary without soldiers!

Wednesday, March 12, 2014 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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But another turning point in the history of humankind may be on the horizon. Continuing progress in automation, especially continued cost drops, may mean that someday soon, autonomous drone militaries become cheaper than infantry at any scale.
Note that what we call drones right now are actually just remote-control weapons, operated by humans. But that may change. The United States Army is considering replacing thousands of soldiers with true autonomous robots. The proposal is for the robots to be used in supply roles only, but that will obviously change in the long term. Sometime in the next couple of decades, drones will be given the tools to take on human opponents all by themselves.


The army was one the the most human intensive industries! Not anymore. What is left for the person who doesn't know how to write code is less and less.

More on the same subject



robot pictures
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Tigers are Cat's !

Monday, March 10, 2014 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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 From Bloomberg

The MSCI Emerging Markets Index dropped 1 percent by 8:16 a.m. in London, as China’s CSI 300 Index closed at a five-year low. 

From Business Insider

The big market story of the day? It was a brutal session in China.

Over the weekend, a bunch of bad economic data came out, including an exceptionally weak export number.
That led to a swift market reaction in China.
The Shanghai Composite, which is already having a fairly rough year, lost 2.86%.



Well S&P the american index is at a 5 year high and an all time high. The same goes for the Germany DAX.

Now you know who is winning the Globalization contest. Not the Tigers.

More on the same subject


Definition of 'Tiger Economy'

A nickname given to the economies of Southeast Asia. Some of the tigers are Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea and China

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Why some actors don't win?

Friday, March 07, 2014 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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My know how about the industry is very limited. I just enjoy going to the movies. I came across this graph from Business Insider. What can i say about this.? If you do a movie like Philadelphia the first movie about AIDS/HIV i guess the chance of TOM Hanks getting a Oscar are big. 
John Travolta participated in Saturday night fever/Grease & Kill Bill (I loved Saturday Night Fever) i guess the chances are small because there are no messages in those movies. If you do a movie about some minority you are on your way to get an Oscar.




actors who haven't won oscars
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Does Education matter?

Thursday, March 06, 2014 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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In her book (Alison Wolf), Does Education Matter? Myths about Education and Economic Growth, she questioned the widespread view that higher public expenditure on education would increase economic growth. Instead, the causality ran in the opposite direction. 

From Antifragile....Serious empirical investigation (largely thanks to one Lant Pritchett, then a World Bank Economist) shows no evidence that raising the general level of education raises income at the country level.

Is it possible that education is very profitable on the individual level but doesn't make a difference in the GDP of one country? Does this make sense?

facts:

 1.There is no relationship between progress in education and the economic performance of countries. It could even be the opposite, get rich first and then put people in schools.

 2.lawyers are the best paid profession in USA. If one individual takes law school it's possible that that person gets ahead vs someone that doesn't take law. But if everybody takes law the benefits would disappear (Scarcity matters).

 3.It's clear that since many colleges sort and pick the best, when they are out of college they are still the best. There is no evidence that school can pick a stupid/dumb guy and turn him into a smart guy.

 4.Education today is an acceptable way of ranking people before entering active life. Companies use this tool as the only one tool. To be picked it's better to be a good student

 5.Some of the best people i came across in my 26 years of professional life are not very articulate. They are not a good company for a nice dinner, but they are doers. They execute and they are the best in their job. If i asked them how they do what they do they can't explain. If i asked them anything outside their field they are clueless. They may never read a book!

 6.Some very educated people with lot of diplomas & degrees are a very good company for a dinner/party but can't do a practical job. They can say how to do a job but but can't execute.

 7.From what we know is equally necessary to have a workforce with basic skills (maths & language) or a workforce with college graduates.

 8.People with college degree have less unemployment.

 My Conclusion (The judge is still out):

 To have good marks & a degree makes a difference because education is a tool to be chosen for the best positions. It's not clear that the guy with a diploma will do a better job than someone without a degree. For society it doesn't make sense to pay for higher education. A country that invests heavily on education might not have a payoff in growth, they are not related.
more about Education

 http://thoughtmeme.blogspot.pt/2013/06/what-is-formal-education-for.html







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I have never been to Ukraine or Russia !

Monday, March 03, 2014 Francisco Carneiro 2 Comments

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Communism doesn't work because people like to own stuff.
Frank Zappa 

I have never been in either Russia or Ukraine but my impression is that people who have experienced communism will never allow it to return. Only the people from Western Europe (Ex Portugal my country) allow Communist policies because they never experienced the real thing.

I bet Ukrainians & Russians will not let their leaders drag them to some stupid situation.

Life is too good to be wasted. Communism is a waste.

 Hang On or came to Portugal. We already have good Ukrainians living and working in Portugal. No stealing, no robbing and no mafia yet. These people are welcome first they work well & second they can tell the Portuguese people how is a Communist country.



Communism doesn't work because people like to own stuff.
Frank Zappa

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/f/frankzappa163100.html#1HpK3bTbWjPOytFK.99
Communism doesn't work because people like to own stuff.
Frank Zappa

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/f/frankzappa163100.html#1HpK3bTbWjPOytFK.99Markets are punishing Russia big time. As i said above i have never been to Russia or Ukraine but my view from a distant place like Portugal is that no one that has experienced Communism will  want to revive it. People will die 


Russian-share-prices-Jan-1-2014-100-RTS-index-Micex-index-Gazprom-Sberbank_chartbuilder
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Proximity is not a stand in for expertise.

Monday, March 03, 2014 Francisco Carneiro 0 Comments

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I came across this in Seth Godin's excellent Blog.


http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2014/03/never-eat-sushi-at-the-airport.html


Never eat sushi at the airport

or sleep near a train station.
Don't ask a cab driver for theater tips.
Never buy bread from the supermarket bakery...
and don't ask your spouse for honest feedback about how you look.
Don't do business with a stranger who calls you at home during dinner.
Think twice before you ask your ad agency how many ads you should run.
And never eat the macadamia nuts in the mini bar.
Proximity is not a stand in for expertise.

This is so true but the human mind is very easy to trick.  I would add some more lines

Never ask the Hotel Doorman about a restaurant tip. Probably the guy gets a commission!
Never buy an IPO or secondary offer, just because it's being offered to you. The seller knows much more about the company than you.
If someone comes and offers you a fund or financial product wait at least 1 year before you buy! Normally they just approach you after a hot period of performance.
The mark of expertise is to do something for a long time, to do just that for a long time. If someone is doing something for a long time they must have something. If someone is the son of a medical doctor doesn't mean that he knows more about health than you.






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