You have probably heard of these before, but these 11 management rules presented by HP co-founder Dave Packard in 1958 were very true then and remain so to this day:

1. Think first of the other fellow. This is THE foundation - the first requisite - for getting along with others. And it is the one truly difficult accomplishment you must make. Gaining this, the rest will be “a breeze.”

2. Build up the other person’s sense of importance. When we make the other person seem less important, we frustrate one of his deepest urges. Allow him to feel equality or superiority, and we can easily get along with him.

3. Respect the other man’s personality rights. Respect as something sacred the other fellow’s right to be different from you. No two personalities are ever molded by precisely the same forces.

4. Give sincere appreciation. If we think someone has done a thing well, we should never hesitate to let him know it. WARNING: This does not mean promiscuous use of obvious flattery. Flattery with most intelligent people gets exactly the reaction it deserves - contempt for the egotistical “phony” who stoops to it.

5. Eliminate the negative. Criticism seldom does what its user intends, for it invariably causes resentment. The tiniest bit of disapproval can sometimes cause a resentment which will rankle - to your disadvantage - for years.

6. Avoid openly trying to reform people. Every man knows he is imperfect, but he doesn’t want someone else trying to correct his faults. If you want to improve a person, help him to embrace a higher working goal - a standard, an ideal - and he will do his own “making over” far more effectively than you can do it for him.

7. Try to understand the other person. How would you react to similar circumstances? When you begin to see the “whys” of him you can’t help but get along better with him.

8. Check first impressions. We are especially prone to dislike some people on first sight because of some vague resemblance (of which we are usually unaware) to someone else whom we have had reason to dislike. Follow Abraham Lincoln’s famous self-instruction: “I do not like that man; therefore I shall get to know him better.”

9. Take care with the little details. Watch your smile, your tone of voice, how you use your eyes, the way you greet people, the use of nicknames and remembering faces, names and dates. Little things add polish to your skill in dealing with people. Constantly, deliberately think of them until they become a natural part of your personality.

10. Develop genuine interest in people. You cannot successfully apply the foregoing suggestions unless you have a sincere desire to like, respect and be helpful to others. Conversely, you cannot build genuine interest in people until you have experienced the pleasure of working with them in an atmosphere characterized by mutual liking and respect.

11. Keep it up. That’s all - just keep it up!

An interesting side note is the header on the HP website (where this list is published for all to see):

Dave’s document, reproduced here, is intended for HP internal use only. It may be shared informally with friends and family, but should not be sent to outside media or public bulletin-board systems.

If you wanted to keep it a secret (and why would you want to?), don’t put it on your website…

You may have heard about the new Homeland Security search rules that basically allow the U.S. government to grab your laptop (or any other digital or analog information carrier) from you upon entering the United States, take it to a location of their choice and read and copy anything off it and share it with anyone of their choice, and keep your stuff for as long as they like.

Do you think I’m kidding? Here’s a quote:

Federal agents may take a traveler’s laptop or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.

Also, officials may share copies of the laptop’s contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption, or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Mitch Wagner over at the InformationWeek blog has a good write-up of the new rules with some interesting links on how to protect your data. I personally think that it’s looking more and more like the Department of Homeland Security is turning the USA into an Orwellian totalitarian state this way, and that the government is using the people’s fear of terrorists to bully the populace into accepting these measures.
What’s even scarier is that it’s also happening here in Europe. Just mention terrorists or national security and you can get close to anything done.

The big question in my mind is: does nobody realise that anyone with a half-decent understanding of security and/or encryption can circumvent these rules? Does anyone anywhere ever seriously believe that terrorists, smugglers or traders in child pornography actually personally carry their data around when travelling? You’d think that they’d understand that the first rule of illicit transport of anything is: avoid the bottlenecks and choke-points (such as airports etc.). I.e.: you go through customs, your stuff goes through an unguarded back door.

A last thought that a friend of mine pointed out today: is the fact that I’m writing and publishing this on-line probable cause for stopping & searching me next time I go to the US? Brrrrr…

UPDATE: Two interesting quotes from the RISK digest. First from an R.G. Newbury:

The worst features of this are that IF you have done the smart thing and
used strong encryption to protect your data, the Customs agent will be MORE
likely to take away your entire laptop for examination… and he will take
your entire laptop, not just the hard drive out of it.

In effect, you have no Fourth or Fifth Amendment rights when crossing the
border into the US. Must scare the living bejusus out of most corporate
counsel and CIO guys.

And another one from Steven M. Bellovin:

It’s worth noting — repeating, actually — that border searches of laptops
are not restricted to the US.  See, for example,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/150465.stm which reports on British
policy.  Also note the date: 1998.  I have a different question: which
developed economies have explicit policies saying that they will not search
(the information on) laptops?

I went to see my doctor this morning about a painful lump in my left armpit, and to my surprise he sent me right on through to a surgeon in the ER at one of our local hospitals. Not 45 minutes later I was on the table under a local anaesthetic with said surgeon cutting into my armpit.

Turns out it was a mostly harmless abcess caused by an infection, but I was not a happy camper overall. Tonight I had to remove the bandages and it HURT like a mofo (my mom did the peeling, she’s a former nurse).

Right now it feels kinda weird having a one inch open cut in my armpit through which I can see the inside of me…yuk. At least I can lift up my arm again, so here’s hoping for a good night’s sleep.

Marcus Brigstocke goes apeshit on religion (the three main ones, anyway). Very funny, extremely insightful and he’s right! (well, I think so, anyway). Bit taken from BBC Radio’s “The Now Show”.

George Carlin is dead. Now in the arms of Buddy Christ has passed one of the coolest, funniest and truest people.

Bye George. Let us know what the 7 words up there are.

3:15 AM…I woke up without actually knowing why, and then it hit: heartburn. Man, I never had it this bad, now I understand how people can mistake heartburn for a heart attack, the pain totally sucks. I actually got up out of bed and drove to a local 24h pharmacy to get some Rennie antacid tablets. Now let’s hope these do the trick…

You there! It’s Mother’s Day. Go get some flowers and hug your mom. Stop reading right now. Go, go. Run!