The Business > Biz Bits
Hubba Hubba
Check out these two new USB hubs.
The LaCie Huby
www.lacie.com $79 If you’re a fan of funky design, you might consider this futuristic hub with eight flexible cables to connect external storage devices, printers, keyboards, mice and more.
Th ere are four USB ports, as well as two Firewire ports—and it even comes with a fan and light. Glowing LEDs indicate when a port is pugged in; and each is a diff erent color for added style and simplicity.
The Belkin CableFree USB Hub
www.belkin.com $129 Using ultra-wideband technology, this cable-free hub allows you to place your USB devices—including printers, cameras and scanners—anywhere in the room. It boasts data transfers at up to 480Mbps, plus the hub comes with a dongle stand to give you optimum wireless reception.
Your desk has never looked tidier!
Off the Cuff
A look at the classiest cufflinks
Tenacious T
www.tumi.com $65
Tumi, a leading name in travel accessories, has recently added cuff links to their range. Th is enameled pair, finished in polished nickel and adorned with Tumi’s signature T, proves this brand extension a success.
Sparkling Stones
www.rotenier.com $395
Paris-born designer Robin Rotenier personally carves every model in his collection. Th is style, from his Classic collection, is just that and is made from sterling silver and blue topaz.
Use simplicity as a solution and get tips on how to plan an active retirement.
Keep it Simple
FedEx executive Tom Schmitt and business attorney and civic leader Arnold Perl attribute their success to one strategy: make things simple. Th ey solve complex business problems by breaking them down into manageable components. In Simple Solutions: Harness the Power of Passion and Simplicity to Get Results (Wiley $22), they explain how to go about it. Here the authors share the five tools and five passions they believe will make you succeed. So get reading…
Tools:
Management Savvy: Work smarter, not harder.
People Skills: Make people the top priority.
Collaboration: Think like one big team, not individual players.
Time Management: Align the time you have with the proper goals. Execution: Do it. Don’t sacrifice good action now for better action later.
Passions:
Ambition: Be ambitious for your people and the cause. Leadership: Leave a place or a company better than you found it. Vision: Be able to imagine the possibilities.
Focus: Use a laser to figure out problems, not a floodlight. Determination: Stick to the big plan and the big goal.
Business Glossary: Life Portfolio
Retirement can be daunting; which is why David Corbett, author of Portfolio Life: Th e New Path to Work, Purpose, and Passion Aft er 50 (Jossey-Bass $25) has developed the “life portfolio”—a life planning model that helps you make the most of the new extended middle age. Here are his top five tips for building your own life portfolio:
1. Work for pay or passion, but on your own terms.
You’ve spent your career working for others, and, hopefully, you’ve enjoyed your work. But now you have the opportunity to love what you do. You might get paid monetarily for it, or the payoff might be that you experience bliss. But you’ve waited for this chance your whole life and now, finally, the possibility is open to you.
2. Learning and spiritual growth.
Now you have the time that you always used as an excuse. You can get that degree. You can hike, or go to your house of worship, or explore your connection to the universe in whatever ways feel right to you—and you don’t have to wait for vacation time to do it.
3. Recreation or down time.
Whether you want to improve your golf game, become conversant in current movies and other aspects of pop culture or travel to all the places you’ve never been—now is the time when you finally can indulge yourself.
4. Connect with family and friends.
Sure, you’ve always loved your family and valued your friendships. But you’ve never had the time you wished you had to devote to building those relationships, because you were so busy with your career track. Now you can strengthen those bonds and give the most important people in your life the attention they deserve.
5. Give back.
You’ve had bills to pay, and perhaps you’ve had children and grandchildren to support. But now that you’ve made it to retirement, you can take the pressure off yourself. You can use your money, time, and energies in ways that please you. Do you want to contribute money to your community, house of worship, or an organization that matters to you? It’s done—if that’s your choice.