João Rufino’s Blog

2009 is over and  another downturn is behind our back (we hope!). Last year I set up my resolutions and this year I’ll do the same…

Personally,  I can say it was a great year with very strong professional development where the challenges were overcome successfully. I’ve done a bit of traveling across Europe and the US, met new friends and learn a bunch of new things, both professionally and personally.

It’s time to set personal and professional objectives for 2010:

• Visit family and friends (Portugal) more often;  I’m keeping this one…
• Travel to Asia or the Caribbean (Who knows, maybe both?); I’m keeping this one…
• Master a new language (Russian); I’m already in Trinity College (lower intermediate level) and I’ll keep working on this one;
• Keep working hard.. keep getting results ;
• Eat less fried food; This is going to be hard..
• Run more, specially when playing football;
• Post more on my blog; I’ll keep this one as I failed miserably in 2009
• Eat Nando’s more often with my friend Keith ; It’s the exception to the eat fried food objective
• Have fun!

I wish you all an excellent year of 2010 full of adventures and success!

EDIT: In case you need tips for your 2010 resolutions check This year I will… Some are quite good

Posted by João Rufino under Misc | 3 Comments »

A few months have passed since I last posted in my blog and I apologize for that.

I’ll come back to this topic later but take this as an introductory post on Cloud Computing.

Cloud Computing is a concept that 10 years ago seemed a dream because of very slow internet connections,  today is a very solid reality.  It is amazing to see productivity gains, amazing collaboration potential etc. With cloud computing and SaaS (Software as a Service) you can take full advantage of a service without having to maintain all the technology behind it. It’s like going to a pub, enjoying a draft beer without having to worry about goes on in the background.

Below, in a glance, the potential that Google Apps can bring to your business…

Did you know that the name “Cloud Computing” is based in the cloud symbol that is used to represent the Internet in flow charts and diagrams

Posted by João Rufino under Business & Internet | No Comments »

I recon that jpprufino.com is not the easiest name to remember but unfortunately joaorufino.com was taken. Recently I managed to buy joaorufino.com and now you can access the blog using both addresses.

(I know these are not great news but it makes me happy)

Posted by João Rufino under Misc | 3 Comments »

“Two heads think better than one”. I truly believe in this saying and I think brainstorms can bring several creative ideas and new ways to approach problems.

It is true that not all brainstorms are successful and they can get very messy and turn into arguments. If you respect some basic rules you can increase the probability of success and avoid unnecessary discussions.

1. Prepare the room. I personally like white boards, post-its and different color pens. Cut all communications to the outside world (that includes notebooks and mobile phones!) and provide water as people need to vocalize their ideas ;
2. Set your expectations clearly and give an introduction of what you plan to achieve.
3. Have a moderator (that is not a contributor). His/her goal is to keep people focused on the problem at hands;
4. Get a heterogeneous group and I always think small groups are better to manage (around 10 people)
5. Give a few minutes for individuals to think on their own ideas and write them in a post-it and explain the purpose of the color pens (good to divide the ideas into groups). After a certain time, the moderator puts them all together in the board. Encourage people to write all their ideas, even if they can foresee roadblocks to their success
6. The golden rule is: Do NOT debate the ideas themselves. You can only in witch group they belong

I thinks these tips would help you get one good and creative idea for your problem.

Posted by João Rufino under Business & Internet & Marketing | No Comments »

As you can see, I haven’t been very active in what regards posting on my blog. My time as been split apart between work and a new challenge that I’m taking. My free time has been dedicated to the remote diploma in the University of Oxford that I mentioned previously.

The diploma in “New economic Powers” has been a very nice experience. The course consists in studying the macro-economy and the decisions taken by several countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China) that allowed them to grow at a higher rate then developed countries and the expectations raised that they will be the “new economic powers” of the XXI century.

The course itself consists in weekly lessons where you are given a few papers to read. Each week we have to write a few blog posts about the subject in hands and do public posts on the forum about questions that are made. We should also contribute to the discussion by commenting on other posts and raise questions. By the end of the course we will have two longer essays that we need to submit for appreciation by the professor.

Continue Reading »

Posted by João Rufino under Internet & Misc | 2 Comments »