What’s free software?

When Debian developers and users speak of “free software”, they refer to freedom rather than price. Debian is free in this sense: you are free to modify and redistribute it, and will always have access to the source code for this purpose. The Debian Free Software Guidelines describe in more details exactly what is meant by “free”. The Free Software Foundation, originator of the GNU project, is another source of information. You can find a more detailed discussion of free software on the Debian web site.

Free software is sometimes called Open Source (R) software — Open Source is a certification mark. Since Open Source (R) is trademarked, only truly free software can call itself Open Source (R). You may encounter vendors who try to mislead you by claiming their software is “free”, while in reality it has significant strings attached. The Open Source (R) trademark gives you some assurance that the software really is free software. ‘Open Source software’ is occasionally abbreviated ‘OSS’.

You may be wondering: why would people spend hours of their own time to write software, carefully package it, and then give it all away? The answers are as varied as the people who contribute.

Many believe in sharing information and having the freedom to cooperate with one another, and feel that free software encourages this. There’s a long tradition starting in the 1950s upholding these values, sometimes called the Hacker Ethic. (You can read more about it in Steven Levy’s enjoyable book, Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution.)

Others want to learn more about computers. More and more people are looking for ways to avoid the inflated price of commercial software. A growing crowd contribute as a thank you for all the great free software they’ve received from others.

Many in academia create free software to help get the results of their research into wider use. Businesses help maintain free software so they can have a say in how it develops — there’s no quicker way to get a new feature than to implement it yourself or hire a consultant to do so! Business is also interested in greater reliability and the ability to choose between support vendors.

Still others see free software as a social good, democratizing access to information and preventing excessive centralization of the world’s information infrastructure. Of course, a lot of us just find it great fun.

Debian is so committed to free software that we thought it would be useful if it was formalized in a document of some sort. Our Social Contract promises that Debian will always be 100% free software. When you download a package from the Debian main distribution, you can be sure it meets our Free Software Guidelines.

Although Debian believes in free software, there are cases where people want or need to put proprietary software on their machine. Whenever possible Debian will support this; though proprietary software is not included in the main distribution, it is sometimes available on the ftp site in the non-free directory, and there are a growing number of packages whose sole job is to install proprietary software we are not allowed to distribute ourselves.

It is important to distinguish commercial software from proprietary software. Proprietary software is non-free software, while commercial software is software sold for money. Debian permits commercial software to be a part of the main distribution, but not proprietary software. Remember that the phrase “free software” does not refer to price; it is quite possible to sell free software. For more clarification of the terminology, see http://www.opensource.org or http://www.fsf.org/philosophy/categories.html.

Sources: Debian Manual Book

All about you!

1. You are a generous and moral (not to confuse with moralizing) person. You always work on self-improvement. You are very ambitious and have very high standards. People might think that communicating with you is difficult, but for you, it isn’t easy to be who you are. You work very hard but you are not in the least selfish. You work because you want to improve the world. You have a great capacity to love people until they hurt you. But even after they do. . . you keep loving. Very few people can appreciate everything you do as well as you deserve.

2. You are a fun, honest person. You are very responsible and like taking care of others. You believe in putting in an honest day’s work and accept many work-related responsibilities. You have a very good personality and people come to trust you easily. You are bright, witty and fast-thinking. You always have an interesting story to tell.

3.You are a smart and thoughtful person. You are a great thinker. Your thoughts and ideas are the most important. You like to think about your theories and views alone. You are an introvert. You get along with those who likes to think and learn. You spend a lot of time, thinking about morality. You are trying to do what is right, even if the majority of society does not agree with you.

4. You are perceptive and philosophical person. You are a unique, one soul of your kind. Next to you there’s no one even slightly similar to you. You are intuitive and a bit quirky. You are often misunderstood, and it hurts you. You need personal space. Your creativity needs to be developed, it requires respect of others. You are a person who clearly sees the light and dark sides of life. You are very emotional.

5. You are self-assured and in charge. You are very independent. Your guiding principle in life is ‘I’ll do it my way.’. You are very self-reliant and know how to stay strong for yourself and the people you Love. You know exactly what you want and are not afraid of pursuing your dreams. The only thing you demand from people is honesty. You are strong enough to accept the truth.

6. You are kind and sensitive. People relate to you very well. You have many friends and you love helping them. You have this warm and bright aura that makes people feel good when they are around you. Every day, you think about what you can do to improve yourself. You want to be interesting, insightful and unique. More than anybody else in the world, you need to love. You are even ready to love those who don’t love you back.

7. You are happy and unflappable. You are a very sensitive and understanding person. You are a great listener who know how to be non-judgmental. You believe that everybody has their own journey in life. You are open to new people and events. You are highly resistant to stress and rarely worry. Normally, you are very relaxed. You always manage to have a good time and never lose your way.

8. You are charming and energetic. You are a fun person who knows how to make people laugh. You live in a state of harmony with the universe. You are spontaneous and enthusiastic. You never say no to an adventure. Often, you end up surprising and even shocking people. But that’s just how you are. . . You always remain true to yourself. You have many interests and if something proves of interest to you, you will not rest until you acquire a profound knowledge of this area.

9. You are optimistic and lucky. You believe that life is a gift and you try to achieve as much as possible and put this gift to the best use possible. You are very proud of your achievements. You are ready to stick by the people you care about through thick and thin. You have a very healthy approach to life. The glass is (at least) half full for you. You use any opportunity to forgive, learn, and grow because you believe that life is too short to do otherwise.

Is changing the world good?

Recently, I was asked and mentioned many time by many people. A couple days ago, a young boy at SmallWorld said being unique is hurting or making live more difficult. Why? He spoke in the sense of referring to me, while we had lunch at a local restaurant.

It’s because I was only eating fishes and I only use one folk to eat rice. Usually, people eat with spoon and folk or/and knife. I just feel I don’t need spoon.

This is a reminder for me that I don’t try to be different. I was and am only being “me”. The most important thing was and is that it does not hurt anyone that I do this.

Also, I feel like eating animal meats rather than just fishes, vegies, and fruits would make me feel sick. Though, I have been eating meats all my life. So the change is made feel a bit more hungry, but I feel great about myself.

Anyway, I think “you don’t have to change the world with what you do, but you should not allow the world change you from what you want to do. If you really think be who you are and do what you do make you happy and does not hurt the world, you should continue”.

Men who want to change the world alway messed up the rest, because he forgot who he is himself.

In contrast, it is also important too for self to see ourselves mistakes and have the courage to change ourselves by ourselves.

It’s just a half a cent idea.

Cheers*Cheers=EchoingCheers

Elevator Pitch

A straightforward template to create your next elevator pitch

Who

Describe who you are.
Keep it short! What would you most want the investor to remember about you.

What

Describe what you do.
State your value phrased as key results or impact.
This should allow the investor to understand how your company would add value.

Why

Why you are unique?
Show the unique benefits that your company brings to business,
and what it does that is better or different than others.

When

Your road map to success. Describe your goals.

Remember, goals should be concrete, defined, and realistic.

Tap in some numbers (go to the Financials).

Business Model

In general, a business model describes the rationale of how a company creates and delivers value to its customers. Get started with your next business model by using this sample template.

Value Proposition

What is your company’s value proposition? More importantly, how will you deliver that value to your customer base? Focus on strategies that distinguish your product offeringin your market. What do your customers want most and how best can your business deliver that to them?

Customer Segments

Segmenting your customer base is an essential part of identifying your venture’s critical sales channels. Focus on key demographics, age groups, ethnicities and genders in order to segregate your customer base. From this exercise you should be able to distinguish between those customers that your enterprise deems to be the most important and essential to growing your market.

Channels

Once you’ve segmented your customer base, you’ll now have to decide upon those aforementioned channels to market. This may ultimately force you to use multiple channels. For instance, you may opt to sell direct to end-users for some product lines, while using sales agents and distributors for others.

Customer Partnerships

What do your customers expect from you in terms of servicing and maintaining their business? Can your enterprise bundle special services with your product offering that might help to set it apart from its competition? Move away from seeing sales as a series of singular transactions where you try and maximize gross profit on each additional sale. Instead, see your customers as potential partners and define what it takes to retain their business for the long-term.

Revenue Streams

Define your company’s revenue streams. Will you only derive revenue on sales of a given product line, or will you charge for essential services such as delivery and special packaging? Approach this step with the mindset of your customer segments. What are your customers willing to spend in order to benefit from your enterprise’s value proposition?

Key Resources

What resources must your company acquire or secure in order to attain its value proposition? Your venture’s resources can be its business knowledge, its core competencies, its management, its employees, or even its physical assets, such as equipment and machinery. What resources does your venture require in order to achieve your value proposition?

Key Activities

What activities or operations are essential to growing your business? Think of those business activities that your enterprise must excel at in order to meet its value proposition. Think of the importance of a well-defined supply chain, one where vendors are properly aligned and can immediately turn around raw materials and parts. Think of the importance of having solid partnerships with creditors and investors.

Key Partnerships

Who are the venture’s main stakeholders, and of those stakeholders, who are the most valued partners? When looking to define your venture’s stakeholders, look to isolate those strategic partnerships so vital to your venture’s success and ones that are essential in mitigating risk. Focus on key investors, suppliers and creditors. Next, define their relationship to your enterprise and their appropriate roles and responsibilities.

Cost Structure

In this step you’ll define your company’s cost structure relative to your value proposition. What costs are essential to manage in order to deliver your value proposition? How best can you manage these costs in order to derive the greatest return? Focus on segregating those resources and activities where you’ll need to have strong cost controls. Lower costs means these activities will bear fruit earlier in the process.

Financials

Seed Capital Business Plan

Looking for a seed capital investment for your startup venture? Make use of this sample template to create your business plan and improve your chances of attracting investors.

Company Purpose
Define the company or your business in a single declarative sentence.

Problem
Describe the problem of the customer. Or the problem of the customer’s customer. Outline how the customer addresses the issue today.

Solution
Describe your company’s value proposition to make the customer’s life better. Provide some use cases.

Timing
Why now? Set-up the historical evolution of your category. Define recent trends that make your solution possible.

Market Size
Identify your customers. Calculate the TAM (Total Available Market) – the absolute maximum that can be reached by the product; SAM (Served Available Market) – the fraction of the total available market that is accessed by the product now; SOM (Share Of Market) – the fraction of the served available market that the product controls.

Competition
List your competitors. Spell out your competitive advantages.

Product
In most cases, customers will only buy a simple product with a singular value proposition. Describe your product line-up (features and functionality, architecture, intellectual property), and development roadmap.

Business Model
Describe your revenue model and pricing. What is the average account size and/or lifetime value? Describe your sales and distribution model. List your customers or pipeline.

Team
Make a list of: Founders and Management, Board of Directors and/or Board of Advisors.

Financials
A set of financial projections is included with this section automatically. You may leave some comments or assumptions.

“Growth” Business Plan

Executive summary

Although positioned at the beginning of the plan the executive summary is best completed at the end. It’s primary purpose is to “sell” the plan to the intended audience, enticing them to read on. It should be an easy-to-read overview presented concisely, ideally on one side of A4.

Business aims

What will your business be doing in 5 years time? What will it have achieved? What are the main growth targets for sales revenue and profit by the end of year 3? By the end of year 5?

The offer to target customers

What does the product or service do (the features)? What benefits make the offer unique, or just different? What customer problem does your product or service solve? How would you describe a typical customer for the offer? How do you know they will spend money on your product and/or service?

Market potential

What is the market potential in terms of sales revenue? Is the market growing, staying the same, or declining? What is causing this? Who are your main competitors? Describe their strengths and weaknesses. How will the business compete and grow in the market (e.g. faster service, lower cost etc.)?

Marketing and sales

Which routes to access your target customers will you choose (e.g. shop, distributor, website etc.)? What is your basic approach to pricing (e.g. high price/low volume, low price/high volume)? What range of promotional methods will you use (e.g. email, social media, advertising, discounts etc.)? How will the pattern of your sales develop and grow over the next 3 years?

Providing the offer

What assets (e.g. equipment, machinery etc.) are needed to get started and grow your business? What are the ongoing resource requirements (e.g. premises, outsourced services etc.)? What are the key processes in your business (the activities that makes the most difference for your customer)? How do you measure and cost the capacity available for supplying your product and/or service? Who are your key partners (e.g. suppliers, subcontractors) and what is their role?

The team

Who are the key team members, their roles and profiles (e.g. skills, experience) Are there any important gaps in skills and/or experience to fill? How will these gaps be filled now, and in future to achieve your growth targets (e.g. employ, specialist consultant)? Who will act as your mentor/adviser?

Managing performance and risk

What are the key internal measures of performance that must be closely monitored (e.g. unit costs, response times etc.)? What are the key external measures of performance (e.g. monitoring customer satisfaction and needs, market and competitor intelligence)? What potential events would have a significant adverse impact on your business or prevent its growth? What is their likelihood? What specific countermeasures will you take?

First year action plan

List the main goals, activities and/or events in the next 12 months that will help you to reach your growth targets.

Financials

What is your financial contribution to the business? Is there any additional funding needed? Where will it come from (e.g. friends, family, bank, business angels, venture capital)? What will it be used for?

You may wish to add comments and highlights on the financial projections below such as financial milestones already achieved (e.g. break even) and/or the assumptions made (e.g. about the rate of forecast growth).

The Lean Startup Business Plan

The offer to target customers

What does your product and/or service do? What benefits make your offer unique, or just different? What will motivate customers to switch to your product and/or service? How would you describe a typical customer for your product and/or service? How would you describe a group(s) of target customers?

The market potential

What is the market potential for your product and/or service? Is the market growing, staying the same, or declining? How many competitors are there? How will you compete (e.g. faster service, more convenient etc.)? What sales can you realistically achieve in the first 6 months? First year?

Reaching target customers

Which route(s) to access your target customers will you use e.g. website, shop etc. What promotional methods will you use (e.g. email, social media, advertising etc.)?

Provision of product and/or service

What resources do you need to get started – premises, equipment, machinery etc.? What is the key function in your business (e.g. scheduling drivers to collect and deliver parcels)? How much could you provide in total (hours available and/or maximum production)? Who will be your suppliers and/or subcontractors?

The team

What relevant skills and experience do you have? Who will be responsible for what in your business? What skills and experience do other team members bring? Who will act as your Mentor/Adviser?

Simple financials

Will it break-even? What is your own financial contribution to the business? Is there any additional funding needed? Where will this come from (e.g. owners, friends, family, bank, business angels, venture capital) What will these funds be used for?

Business Marketing Plan

By definition, a marketing plan is a written document that details the necessary actions to achieve one or more marketing objectives. Here’s a sample template to get started with your next marketing plan.

Target Market

Identify your target market. Take time to research the demographics (age, gender, geographic location and household income) as well as the psychographics (buying habits, beliefs, and culture characteristics) of your customer base. Establish numbers of potential customers in your service area based on those criteria.

Objectives

Establish objectives. What do you hope to accomplish through your marketing? Be specific. “Increase sales” is too general to be helpful, but “Increase sales by 10% by the end of Q2” is both specific and measurable.

Strategies

Define strategies. These are the methods that you will use to accomplish your objectives. A strategy can be a broad overview, such as “Utilize social media” or “Implement e-mail campaign.” There are dozens of different strategies that can be employed for any given goal, so it may take some time and research to determine those that will help you accomplish your objectives.

Tactics

List your tactics. Tactics will be the specific methods within your strategy that will help you accomplish your goals. Working from the social media strategy already mentioned, you might list, say, “Offer exclusive coupons via Facebook and Twitter”


Metrics

Establish metrics. In order to determine if your objective has been met, you will need to establish a benchmark for tracking your success. This can be the number of new Facebook friends, the response rate of your direct mail campaign, or the number or dollar amount of sales from new customers.


Return on Investment

Before you implement any strategy or tactic, it is important to calculate the cost of a campaign and the income that is required to break even. When possible, you will want to use figures that relate to the metrics you established above.


Story behind my birthday

Not all of it true, but it is funny and some are true. It makes me feel like oh yeah, ah maybe, hmm let’s see. Apparently, it’s encouraging me to look at engineering subject once again lol…

Below is the story.

“You are the incompatibles people in the world. You are so strong, physically and mentally… You are often have big-aims. You will work hard and hard to get there. Normally you suffer in the early age from family problems and generally you will have fighting life.. But when you achieve what you have done, it’s always a big task you have done! You are so much respected in the community, you are a person who can make a challenge and successfully finish the matter off.

You are very naughty in your younger age, often beaten up by your parents and involve in fights and you seemed to have lots of injuries in your life time. But when u grow you become calm and macho type.

Love is not an easy matter for you. You are good in engineering or banking jobs because people always trust you.

Your family life is very good, but will have worries over your children.

Your such qualities are humanitarian, patient, very wise & compassionate.

You are born to achieve targets and serve every one all equally without any prejudice.

You are totally a role model to anybody in the world for a great inspiration.”