Ah, Groundhog’s Day! That one day of the year where we discard all of the weather technology and forecasters and look to whether a furry animal sees its shadow to predict how the weather will be for the next few months. If the groundhog sees its shadow, then there is 6 more weeks of winter where if it does not, then spring arrives earlier.

Believe it or not, there are many groundhogs. The most famous is Punxsutawney Phil, hailing from its eponymous town in Pennsylvania. Phil saw his shadow, meaning we (defined as those in the US and Canada that actually put the event on their calendars) will have a longer winter.

However I tend to look for advice from the marmot northwest of Phil, Dunkirk Dave, hailing from the western New York town that inspired the name of my business. Dave did not see his shadow, meaning the warmer weather will come sooner. I don’t look to the city of my birth as an alternate, as I have always followed Dave’s predictions over Phil. As of this post, his prediction is not listed on Dunkirk Dave's own Web site, but it was reported by the Dunkirk Observer.

If we could only look to animals for predictions of business success…

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Starting out another year of reading I chose a book I have owned not too long, given to me by my friend Eric when it came out a few months ago. Never Give Up is the autobiography of New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi. Written with Boston Globe sportswriter Michael Holley, it tells the story of his life, focusing mostly on the stroke he suffered in 2005, weeks after the team won its third Super Bowl.

Bruschi’s story made national news, both the stroke itself and his return later that year to the team. This story tells his side, "the inside" I would all the “real” side of what he encountered within the year of his stroke. The background of his life story lays the foundation for his path through this episode of his life.

My greatest takeaway from Never Give Up is you will never truly know what is going on in “the inside.” I call “the inside” the private interactions of one or more people, including business partners or a couple married or in a committed relationship. Whatever you or I may see or experience from someone, it is on “the outside.” This is not saying what see of people on “the outside” is not genuine. It may well be, but it may not be as well. What happens on “the inside” is just for those there. We can all probably think of a case where we didn’t consider there was an “inside” or everything was or was not ok. Friends going through a divorce and my own move from Boston to Chicago come to mind as negative and positive “inside” events respectively. In the case of Bruschi dealing with his stroke and recovery, this book gives high-level insight with details of people and experiences.

Another takeaway is we must keep in mind we may never know the true “inside” when we react on the “outside.” Have you ever wondered why we didn’t get some business or haven’t heard from someone? I know myself I tend to think the worst – it may not be that I am not good enough, rather it could be the project was cancelled or the client wasn’t in a hurry to tell anyone.

In the book, Bruschi talks of how various people reacted to his stroke. Some wrote letters, some sent food. And some changed their tune, especially when Bruschi came back to football, though most of this came from the naysayers who didn’t have “the inside” information.

My last takeaway – don’t listen to sports talk! Talk about an entire industry centered on not knowing the whole story! Though I do reserve the right to rescind this takeaway if sports talk personalities and their listeners follow my first two takeaways.

Never Give Up is not just a book on sports, but is a story of a stroke survivor who happens to play football. I recommend you read this book, especially for those who themselves or a friend or loved one goes through trying times with an illness or medical condition, or may do so, which means this book is really for anyone.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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Book Take-Aways • Diversions • (4) Comments • Permalink

If you own or owned a Palm Treo 600 and/or 650 and had multiple returns for repairs or replacements, please read on.

I got an email from Palm on the settlement of a class action suit against them for the above reason, something I endured myself. A Web site has been created at palzasettlement.com with links to PDF documents relevant to the settlement and filing a claim. An owner can either get a repair, $75 if they owned a 600 or $50 if they owned a 650.

As I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on YouTube, check out the settlement Web site for complete details and you have until July, 2008 to file a claim.

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At the DOMAINfest conference last week there were 2 live domain name auctions. Professional auctioneers took bids from the audience at the conference anf from those registered and bidding online. It was an interesting experience, especially as the last time I saw a live auction it was for farm equipment!.

Below is a video I took of the auction of importliquor.com from day 1, which sold for US$3,500.00. Domain Name News has the complete list of domain names from day 1 and day 2 and what the sold for and which ones did not receive a minimum bid.

If you cannot see the embedded video, you can link to it directly on YouTube.

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