February 18, 2010

Personal note for February 2010

Although the year is off to a busy start at work, I wanted to take a second and give you some updates on a few family milestones. For one as you can see here to the left, our little Andrij or Deeko, has been walking since mid January. He seems to be a bit more reserved than Santino, but none-the-less a real character. It’s funny, they are already wrestling with each other and they only weigh about 4 pounds apart. I can’t believe how time flies. Teeth are coming next, then high school, then college, and finally a position at AMRCON. Wait, I’m probably a bit ahead of myself. It’s unfair that we just can’t slow down time, but then again I guess that’s the life’s lesson.

We have some very exciting news that will be announced on March 1st. It pertains to AMRCON and we don’t want to disclose too much, just enough to make sure you watch out for the announcement. In advance I think that some pretty good things can come to those who can find patience, balance and a little wisdom in life. It’s certainly the case with my family and business life. It’s sometimes easier said than done and don’t get me wrong I need to refocus daily and work at it all the time. You can ask my wife Sunny. Not quite sure how she puts up with my stressful times. I think that’s when she watches shows like “The Housewives of Orange County”, just to make sure other people are more crazy than our family, lol!

As many of you know the purpose of this section of the blog is to let you know a bit about Dee Rudko and who he is. I think it’s an important part of doing business, knowing who it is we’re really working with. We’re all people behind the calls and emails. I want to avoid AMRCON being a transactional or impersonal relationship. I do this by staying in touch with our clients, providing annual ODS reviews on-site, and providing updates to this blog. I hope you agree and would love to hear from you all in the comment area this month about what you think is the most important part of relationship building with your clients or customers.

So I have to end on another family note to include Santino. I wonder what I’ll do when we have more children? I guess this page of the blog will just get longer… This picture makes me think a bit about my youth and when the change took place where we were having fun then all of a sudden we became responsible for ourselves? No one ever said that was going to happen, not that I would listen… Santino and his mother spent some time putting this great snowman together. This last snow was a bit better to build a snowman. Seems like the plowing companies have been very busy this year. It was nice to have snow but I must say I hope spring comes soon!

February 17, 2010

Small Business Executive Review

“Hello and welcome to AMRCON’s  “Small Business Executive Review”.  I am Taras Rudko and as many of you know I have been on board with AMRCON for just about a year now as their Chief Information Officer.  During this time period I have had the ability to experience and gather valuable information that I now plan on sharing with the AMRCON Community.

 We live and conduct business in a rapidly changing and complex landscape that does not only revolve around a successful P&L.   Making decisions that successfully guide you through that landscape require intelligence in the form of internal and external influences.  I hope to examine Technological, Political, Social and Governmental influences.   Blend them with a mix of life and career experiences to provide insight in the form of blog articles.

 Topics that I hope to cover in the blog installments will include, leveraging technology investments, security both physical and digital, operational awareness, political and regulatory impacts on small business and the like.

 I hope that you find the material insightful, educational and from time to time humorous.”

February 17, 2010

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February 16, 2010

Windows Mobile 7… coming soon to a PDA near you

Windows Mobile 7… coming soon to a PDA near you 

Apple Inc. rocked the wireless business by combining the functions of a phone and an iPod. Now, more than two years later, Microsoft Corp. has its comeback: phone software that works a lot like its own Zune media player.  The software, which was unveiled Monday at the Mobile World Congress, is a dramatic change from previous generations of the software that used to be called Windows Mobile. Microsoft’s mobile system powered 13.1 percent of smart phones sold in the U.S. last year, according to research firm In-Stat. That made it No. 3 after Research In Motion Ltd.’s BlackBerry and the iPhone. But Microsoft has been losing market share while Apple and Google Inc.’s Android gained.  All the while, the market is becoming increasingly important. People are spending more and more time on their phones, and the devices steer people to potentially lucrative Web services and ads. 

Phones with the new software will be on the market by the holidays, Microsoft said. All four major U.S. carriers will offer phones, just as they sell current Windows phones.  The new ones won’t be called “Zune phones,” as had been speculated. The software will be called “Windows Phone 7 series.” With the new software, “We really wanted to lead and take much more complete accountability than we had in earlier versions of the Windows phone for the end user experience,” CEO Steve Ballmer said at the Barcelona launch event.

 Microsoft is imposing a set of required features for Windows phones. Manufacturers must include permanent buttons on the phone for “home,” “search” and “back”; a high-resolution screen with the same touch-sensing technology as the iPhone; and a camera with at least 5 mega pixels of resolution and a flash. Hardware QWERTY keyboards will be optional.  A test device from Asus, also had a front camera and a speaker.

 Just as it did with the Zune, Microsoft has tried to avoid an icon-intensive copy of that setup. Instead, it relies more on clickable words and images pulled from the content itself. For example, if you put a weather program on the device’s home page, it shows a constantly updated snapshot of conditions where you are, rather than a static icon that you have to click in order to see the weather.  The idea of pulling information from different Web sites, like Facebook, and presenting them on the phone’s “home” screen isn’t unique to Microsoft: Motorola Inc. and HTC Corp. have created such software for their own phones.

 Windows Phone 7 Series borrows the clean look of the Zune software, departing from the more “computer screen” look of earlier Microsoft efforts. These were also reliant on the user pulling out a stylus for more precise maneuvering, while the software is designed to be used with the fingers. Most of the built-in applications complement or connect with existing Microsoft programs or services, such as the Bing search engine. The games “hub” connects to an Xbox Live account and lets players pick up where they left off with multiplayer games. They will even be able to play games against PC users. Microsoft also turns to the Zune programming for the phones’ entertainment hub, much in the way the iPhone’s music library is called iPod. And when users plug the phone into a PC, the Zune software pops up to manage music, movies and podcasts.