Coupons for holiday shopping

I hate to admit it. But the Christmas shopping season has begun. I got a call from my Mom yesterday--she was looking for our wish lists.

Unfortunately, this seasonal change means two things: 1) I need to start shopping; 2) I need to start trying to explain to my family where to find all the electronic gadgets that I hope they'll buy me this year!

Needless to say, I do all my shopping online. One of my favorite things about online shopping is the coupons, and Coupon Chief is where I usually start. This year I'll start with the Nokia coupons, because my wife is looking for a new phone.

What am I looking for? My fondest wish (are you reading this, Mom?) is a new digital camera. And world peace.

Link: coupons

The Internet -- For Better or Worse, Part of the Fabric of Life

This story from the VOA is just jaw-dropping. Yes, the Internet is part of the fabric of life here in America, and we all know that. No, the Internet isn't a part of the fabric of life all over the world--in Baghdad, for example, or Darfur. Doesn't the VOA know this?

It's called the Virtual World, but many people are making it more and more part of their real worlds. It's modern-day life on the Internet. Paul Sisco takes a look at where we are -- and where the Internet could take us from here.

Link: The Internet -- For Better or Worse, Part of the Fabric of Life

PPP vs Google!

I've been on a bit of a kick, trying to explain the difference between PPP and other outfits that try to make money off of bloggers. But basically it is simple. Most companies try to make money off of bloggers: you create the content, and we'll reap the benefits. PPP tries to make money with bloggers: you create the content, and we'll pay you for it. To put it simply, with PPP you actually get paid for blogging.

I thought I'd put a little drama into this idea by creating a video battle between PPP and Google (guess who wins!). Check out this dramatization and blow-by-blow account:



Link: get paid for blogging

Business investment boom ending: experts

Drops in business investment are now happening worldwide. The question is, will central bank policy makers realize that this development is just as important as the changes in housing prices and consumer sentiment? Or will they continue to hold rates up until we're pushed into a recession?

Australia's business investment boom looks to be coming to be an end, with capital expenditure plunging in the third quarter and spending plans for 2006/07 increasing only slightly.

Link: Business investment boom ending: experts

Get Paid to Make Videos like this at PayPerPost.com

Working with PayPerPost.com has been a really interesting journey. Getting paid to blog gives me a motivation to expand the scope of my coverage, try new blogging techniques, and remain committed to my site.

Take videos, for example. I had never posted a video on YouTube before being encouraged to do so by PayPerPost.com. Now, I post not only paid vidoes, but many videos of my own family, snippets from our trips, etc. I have a really good time with it.

You, too, can get paid to make videos. Check out my newest video below and then post one of your own. If you've got a video camera and iMovie it is really a snap. Five minutes of shooting, five minutes of editing, five minutes of posting, and you're done.



Link: get paid to make videos

Lure of Great Wealth Affects Career Choices

This is a great story about the difference between those who look for the routes to extraordinary wealth in their professions and those who just follow the map. You can't acheive anything extraordinary by doing the ordinary.

The opportunity to become abundantly rich is a recent phenomenon not only in medicine, but in a growing number of other professions and occupations. In each case, the great majority still earn fairly uniform six-figure incomes, usually less than $400,000 a year, government data show. But starting in the 1990s, a significant number began to earn much more, creating a two-tier income stratum within such occupations.

Link: Lure of Great Wealth Affects Career Choices - New York Times

Poker, DIY-style

I've found an amazing poker site that reminds me of the online chess sites, which allow sophosticated management of public or private games or even whole leagues. The site is called PokerDIY - Connecting Poker Player for Live Games, and it provides tools for connecting individual poker players, finding live poker games, or organizing more complex events such as tournaments or leagues. This is a brilliant combination of technologies that amounts to evite for poker.

I think that with the recent change in U.S. online gambling laws, more players are going to be looking for fun games or leagues.

They have a funny promotional video as well:



Link: PokerDIY - Connecting Poker Player for Live Games

TVNewser: how does he do it?

This report about Brian Stelter and TVNewser is absolutely amazing for those of us who blog every day. Here is an outsider to the TV News industry whose blog is read every day by the most powerful people in the TV News industry. The article has a quote from one executive who estimates that he refreshes his browser 30 or 40 times daily.

When people in the television news business want to find out what’s going on in their industry, they turn to a blog called TVNewser. But while the executives obsessively checking TVNewser are mostly high powered and highly paid, the person who creates it is not: he is Brian Stelter, a baby-faced 21-year-old at Towson University here, a few miles north of Baltimore.

When his postings dropped off last month after his girlfriend dumped him, Mr. Stelter found himself fielding complaints from powerful network executives about when he was going to get over his romantic travails and get back on track. “I was dealing with drama,” he said.

It is read religiously by network presidents, media executives, producers and publicists, not for any stinging commentary from Mr. Stelter, whose style is usually described as earnest, but because it provides a quick snapshot of the industry on any given day. Habitués include Mr. Williams and Jonathan Klein, the president of CNN’s domestic operations, who long ago offered up his cellphone number to Mr. Stelter.

Meanwhile, I am over here bloggin my buns off, having some success, but very minor success.

It sounds like the key here is Brian's relationship with his readers, in a business where relationships are key. Perhaps the same goes for places like dailykos, valleywag, and others. The time and commitment required to cultivate such connections is enormous, and I am pressed for those two luxuries.

Link: NYT article about TVNewser

Finding insurance

I've been looking for renter's insurance for my son and checking out online services allowing me to do this. I ended up using Insurance Quotes Online, which provides Free Insurance Quotes for auto, home, renters, or health insurance. You fill out a reasonably quick and simple form and get two kinds of information in response. Some matching insurance agents are provided immediately, with contact information. This is a joy because it is so easy to pick up the phone and make this call, without waiting for an online response from a busy agent. Other agents, however, will contact you by e-mail with offers that may be better suited for you.

I recommend this free service, but I think that the process could be simplified somewhat to encourage more use. Some users will balk at providing their telephone number and physical address, for example. Better to get the minimum essential information before passing the visitor on to agents.



Link: Free Insurance Quotes

Property can be worth more than trading business

I, too, see a pattern here:

We are seeing it as a pattern. When an owner is ready to sell his business, perhaps to a competitor or new manager, someone who has a big yard or similar property is finding his property is worth more than the trading business.

The pattern I see is spelled B-U-B-B-L-E, and it has been repeated all over the U.S. in Europe over the course of the last decade. The Scots will soon wake up, just as the Americans have.

Link: Property can be worth more than trading business

A cash rebate for your home

One of the worst, most corrupt ideas in history is the 6% commission for real estate agents. Effectively, the 6% commission means that for every 20 homes that change hands in this country, one home is being given to real estate agents. The cost of this insanity boggles the mind.

Many new real estate services are helping to reduce this absurd cost by offering full traditional brokerage services (for both buyers and sellers) at reduced rates. AlCan Realty Partners is one such brokerage dealing in Dallas Real Estate. One of my college roomates recently used AlCan to purchase a new 3 bedroom, 2 bath home in Dallas. He told me about AlCan because--wait til you hear this--he received a 1.5% cash rebate on the cost of the home at closing. In his case, the rebate amounted to about $10,000.

This model makes more sense to me. A full 6% commission is simply unsustainable, and brokerages like AlCan will knock this down over time, which will be to our benefit.

Link: Dallas Real Estate

Loring Ward sells business management unit to focus on asset ...

It is hard to imagine how much money can be made from wealth management services in the United States. Those fees of 1.5% to 3% add up to an almost unimaginable pile of cash. Think about this when you go shopping for wealth services, and make sure that you get your money's worth.

Loring Ward International Ltd., a financial company spun off from the former Winnipeg-based Assante Corp., is selling two remaining business services divisions in California as it focuses on building its wealth management business in the United States.

Link: Loring Ward sells business management unit to focus on asset ...

CreditCardSearchEngine.com

I've become interested in niche search engines and have been trying to review them, one by one. Some of these niche categories are already saturated, such as job search engines.

Recently I was pointed to CreditCardSearchEngine.com, a search engine for...you guessed it...Credit Cards. This is a standout idea that is unique, as far as I know. In addition to a standout idea, the site is extremely well designed, quick, and effective to use. There are credit cards for every imaginable situation, including Low Interest, Cash Back, Rewards, Airline miles, student, business, and credit cards for bad credit. All in all, an impressive site that will surely be imitated by others eventually.

Link: Credit Cards

Business chamber plays down fair employer scheme

You know, I'm not in favor of schemes like this. But let's not be so tranparently duplicitous as this:

Business Chamber chief executive officer Mark Grimson says most employers in the Illawarra do not need a union-run scheme to demonstrate whether they are fair or not. "Obviously in the current employment market, employers that don't do the right thing with their employees are going to find it fairly difficult to attract good [staff] and keep staff, and any employer will tell you that, so really it's about Mr Iemma keeping on board with the unions with the lead-up to the state election, that's clearly what it is about," he said.

I mean, this is ridiculous. Plenty of deceptive, lousy employers do attract workers in tight markets.

Link: Business chamber plays down fair employer scheme

New version of Voice 123

I've been following the Voice123 web site, which helps voice talents and voice seekers find each other. You might recall that I think a lot of my own voice, and I'm wondering if there's any there there. I'm wondering if I could ever do voice overs.

Well, I recently noticed that Voice123 is moving to version 2.0 shortly. There aren't a lot of details yet on this upgrade, but I found a great trailer. The trailer uses a voice talent found on Voice123, and it is hilarious. The talent has a wonderful, deep, booming voice like those usually found in movie trailers, and his work for Voice123 is really impressive. That talent really knows how to create a mood!



Link: voice overs

Flair for business flourishing in Dubai

I am impressed with people who are just so linked to their culture that they can create a business out of it. I'm a bit more of a loner--I don't always have the perfect Simpson's quote, for example. But there are some people who just thrive on their connection to others, and it shows.

On their return to Dubai from college in the West, Shaz Sheibani and Shehab Hamad, both 29 now and from Iran and Egypt respectively, missed some of the culture they had grown to love alternative music, films, art and photography. Three years ago, with another partner, 32-year-old Ben McDonald from the UK, they started Kitsch22, adding fashion distribution and retailing along with public relations, graphic design and corporate launches. Starting out with two, the company today has a staff of 20 and a turnover of about Dh2.5 million.

Link: Flair for business flourishing in Dubai

How to buy a business

I've been a business owner for about five years now. About six years ago, I thought that running a business would be easy for a smart guy like myself. If I didn't know the area, I'd hire somebody who did.

So I went ahead and put my life savings on the line and bought a business (well, a good chunk of a business). This turned out to be a rather rash decision, because: guess what? There is a whole science to business that you just don't have time to reinvent as a business owner.

I'm considering going back to school to get my MBA, but I don't know if I can stand the young kids who will be my classmates. I've also been looking at Trump U, which promises that I can Learn the Art of Buying a Business. Mainly I am attracted to the impressive list of faculty at Trump U. Also, this is a home study course with access to the teacher for Q&A, an arrangement that would allow me to maintain my extensive day-to-day interaction with my own business. I am very impressed with Trump University.

Link: Learn the Art of Buying a Business

Gordon Brown woos business with new tax rules

These types of promises are always nice...when they are promised. Haven't I said before that the devil is in the execution? Maybe about two posts ago?

The Treasury today offered an olive branch to the business sector with the publication of a report recommending greater speed and certainty in the decisions made by Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) on important corporate issues.

Link: Gordon Brown woos business with new tax rules

Diesel trucks that outrun Corvettes

I've written recently about drag racing and stock-car racing. Among my other destructive tendencies, I am attracted to speed in all things.

I recently found an impressive site that teaches how to improve diesel performance, to the point that you can get up to 300 horses out of a truck and make it competetive with a sports car! This seems like a hoot, ideal for the farmer who wants to outrun some city slickers. More impressively, the economic advantages of diesel don't disappear with this high performance--a tuned diesel can still get 20-25 mpg. Pretty impressive, more after the jump.

Link: diesel performance

PC World gets down to business

This is a sorely-needed service: a single site for small and large businesses to buy technology supplies. My business currently operates from a hodgepodge of local suppliers, as do many businesses whose operations I know. But the devil here, as with all things, is with execution. Does a magazine really have the know-how to pull this off and make it work?

The new PC World Business site offers a wide range of items including computers and laptops, networking hardware, servers, audio visual equipment, office supplies, furniture, printers and consumables, software, security hardware, and software.

Link: PC World gets down to business

Understanding aging

There have been a spate of articles lately about attempts to slow the aging process.

It has long been known, for example, that calorie restriction slows the aging process in worms and mice. We aren't talking about minor-league calorie restriction, though, we're talking about cutting down to about half of the calories normally eaten by other mice. For humans, this would be a major, major sacrifice. Mice and rats who achieve this sacrifice, though, live about 30% longer than other mice. A few crazy humans are now attempting this, among them some of the scientists who have studied calorie restriction in mice. It's my guess that these humans are deeply unhappy people who will probably die in a car crash, or from sheer boredom.

To give you some idea of how profound the calorie restriction is that we're talking about, the proposed mechanism that leads to slower aging is lower body temperature. That's right, these folks are eating so few calories that they are actually failing to maintain their body temperature. How much energy could they possibly have to enjoy the finer things in life?

More recently, some scientists at a company (who used to work at Harvard) have shown that an extract of grapes containing resveratrol can also slow the aging process. The goal of the company is actually to extend life by providing pills containing resveratrol. Sounds like this company will probably have about as much success as Ponce de Leon in this endeavour.

Perhaps more impressively, and likely more successfully, other folks feel that extracts of natural foods, especially those containing antioxidants, can increase energy, improve brain function, and stimulate the immune system. Proleva is one of these products containing extracts of blackberry, cranberry, grape, and strawberry. Now this is a plan that makes sense to me. Take some items that we already know are good for us, concentrate them, and provide them daily. The relatively low cost of such a product is easily justified by the benefit most important to me: knowledge that I am doing something good for my body that will augment my efforts to excercise and eat right. If you want to try it, click here to order proleva.

Link: proleva, order proleva now, click here to order proleva, or something of the sort

What Next? Mobile Broadband Internet!

The point of this article is that mobile services are moving to a fixed-monthly-rate plan, similar to fixed broadband services. There are now two calling plans available, for example, that allow unlimited Skype calls over the broadband provided by your mobile phone. Confused yet? No? You will be when you see your bill!

In a move that could well be the beginning of Internet access through mobile Broadband, Hutchison Whampoa has forged a group of global Internet companies, and handset makers - Nokia and Sony Ericsson, to globally launch Broadband mobile Internet access on the same flat fee model as fixed Broadband Internet.

Link: What Next? Mobile Broadband Internet!

Getting back to church

I am a classic lapsed Catholic. My parents came from a deeply-religious ethnic community, were deeply religious themselves, and raised me in the church. I went to church almost without fail every Sunday until I was about 13 years old.

Then I went away to prep school (which I loved, BTW). I stayed away for college. And I became an intellectual, I dare say a liberal. I realized that there were significant differences between my world views and those of the church.

Now, I am married to a religious woman and I have children to raise. The one thing that I /always/ enjoyed about the Catholic church was its /active/ engagement of ethical issues. I started wrestling with moral issues in catechism classes when I was about eight years old. I think that this education played a big role in making me who I am today.

So, I am in the process of getting back to the church. I feel that my family is stronger when we attend church together. To my amazement, I recently found a podcast that is targeted a folks exactly like me: the Catholic Show. I'm impressed that there are Catholics out there who are hip enough to podcast! The mission of this program is to invite former Catholics back to the church and to support a Church vibrant and growing as never before. I recommend that Catholics, especially lapsed Catholics, check it out.

Link: Catholic Show

Canada wants deregulated Internet phone service

What gives? Have the Canadians finally woken up? Here in the US I think it will always be a struggle to keep regulation of Internet communication (of all kinds) to a minimum.

The Canadian government has told the country's telecoms regulator to keep hands off some types of Internet phone services because it wants to open up further competition in the sector, a move that drew praise from Canada's two biggest phone companies. Industry Minister Maxime Bernier said on Wednesday that the minority Conservative government has called on the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to start deregulating Internet telephone services that are considered access independent, or available over any broadband connection.

Link: Canada wants deregulated Internet phone service

Come on, Megaglobe, let's see that search engine!

I wrote a post about a week ago talking about how much I was looking forward to Megaglobe, a new international search engine. This new engine will be available in 45 languages and will represent the whole world, with ads available worldwide in 50 different currencies. I think it is even more important that Megaglobe will be putting a significant effort toward detecting click fraud.

You know what's happened since then? Diddly. Still no Megaglobe (though there is a site where you can submit your own site to the index)! I have just one thing to say about this situation: We Want Megaglobe! In fact, I made a little video to emphasize this point:





Link: We Want Megaglobe

Bahrain: Gulf Air wins Best Business Airline award

Gulf Air is indeed a great airline for business travel, although I unfortunately have rarely had the chance to travel to areas served by Gulf Air. I'm looking at leisure travel now for next summer. In my book, for leisure travel to Europe there is only one airline worth thinking about: Virgin Atlantic. Great service and very comfortable.

Gulf Air won the Best Business Airline award at the British Travel Awards at the World Travel Mart (WTM) expo in London. The airline was honoured by members of the UK travel trade and consumers, beating off major carriers such as Qantas, Cathay Pacific, Emirates, British Airways, Virgin, Malaysian Airlines, Etihad, Singapore Airlines and EOS.

Link: Bahrain: Gulf Air wins Best Business Airline award

I out-catfish Antonio

OK, folks, I didn't want to do this to Antonio, but I had to. I'm a bigger, better illusionist than he is. Antonio managed to transform a human into a catfish, which is a nice party trick. In this video, I transform...a *lion* into a catfish! That's right! I'm crossing the lines of species and genus both! You've got to see it to believe it:



You, too, can get paid to make videos at PayPerPost. If that made you cringe, then...I don't want to know!

Link: get paid to make videos

Contact may sell metering business

My father retired about ten years ago from...Contact Energy. In fact, he worked on logic and displays for metering systems. Interesting to here that this business is potentially worth $100M. $100M? Doesn't this seem like an awful lot of money for a metering business?

Contact Energy has confirmed it is testing interest in its metering business from other market players. Contact communications manager Jonathan Hill said that the company had periodically looked at divesting its metering business, which it did not see as a core activity for an electricity generator and retailer.

Link: Contact may sell metering business

LoopyLove Online Dating

I've written about online dating sites before. These sites fascinate me. On the one hand, these sites use technology, and data mining, in ways that have interested me for a long time. They collect a huge amount of information about people, then pick some criteria to allow matchups, and then...they get feedback about how things pan out. The question is: how can one use that feedback effectively to build a model of human attraction?

See that? That kind of dispassionate analysis is the reason I've always had so much trouble meeting fun people! Why can't I just say that online dating sites are about gettin' some?

LoopyLove takes the opposite view: they think that meeting people online can be fun! My brother uses LoopyLove in the UK and really loves that site. Registration and use of the site is free, but LoopyLove is a sophisticated operation that allows everything you'd expect in a third-generation dating site: online profiles, posting pictures, e-mail integration, etc. But, in addition to these basics, the site features free online chat. The chat rooms are quite lively and interesting without being salacious. For example, my brother was chatting with one woman who was Welsh and called herself "mini-CZ-J" throughout the conversation. She knew that my brother is American and figured that all American men are hot for Catherine Zeta-Jones (this is mostly true!)

My favorite feature of the site, though, is the "picture feedback" allowed. This converts the site into a kind of mini hotornot.com, but with dating. It goes without saying that the negative picture feedback is the funniest, but the positive feedback can be very touching. The site seems to be filled with good-humored Brits who aren't afraid to say what they think. Americans are few and far between, which is probably a point in the site's favor.

If you are looking to find love in the UK, then I recommend this site.

Link: find love in the UK

O. J. Simpson is an idiot

OK, I'm sure I'm not the only one posting about this, but it is just too pathetic and infuriating to be ignored. O.J. is saying "I didn't do it, but here's how I would have done it?" This is the physical incarnation of poor judgment. By the way, I am not one of those people who has always believed OJ to be guilty. I'm agnostic. I don't know. But, clearly, the man is an idiot.

O. J. Simpson, who was acquitted 11 years ago in the 1994 death of his wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald L. Goldman has written a book and will appear on television telling “how he would have committed the murders if he were the one responsible,” his publisher and the Fox television network said on Tuesday.

Link: worst judgment ever (NYT)

Antonio, the world's greatest impressionist

These folks over at PayPerPost, and especially the founder, seem to be real firecrackers. This "catfish impression" from Ted Murphy has been a big hit here in my house:



I thought that this was hilarious, it really gave me a chuckle. The lead-in is a bit overdone, but the impression itself is just so unexpected and over-the-top and damn effective. The guy actually looks like a catfish!

The video also impressed me, a little bit. Ted seems to have that great combination of drive and extroversion that is often found in successful entrepeneurs. I have the drive, but not the extroversion. I wonder if Ted performed his impression for PayPerPost's VCs?

Link: PayPerPost

The Art of Pricing Great Art

This is a great article about how to get useful information from a bunch of data.

Galenson took the trouble to collect the data, then analyzed it properly, and found out something that is (in my opinion) useful. Each of these steps is problematic for the small investor looking to understand market data. Getting the data is expensive. Analyzing it requires specialized skills.

So he began collecting data on the sale price of works by Warhol, Jackson Pollock and other American artists, and he discovered a pattern. Most of them produced their most valuable work either very early in their career, like Warhol, or very late, like Pollock. When he expanded his research to European painters, he found the same pattern. Not only that, but the two groups tended to approach art, and to talk about it, in strikingly different ways. The young geniuses, like Gauguin, Picasso and Van Gogh, were conceptual innovators whose paintings broke sharply from previous work. They typically had a precise goal in mind when they started a piece and didn’t need long to finish it. “Above all, don’t sweat over a painting,” Gauguin once told a friend. “A great sentiment can be rendered immediately.

I love the quote from Gaugin.

Link: NYT

I LOVE PPP

I've been writing some paid posts for about a month now. I received my first payments yesterday, totaling $42.50. And I've got to tell you, I want to shout it from the rooftops: I LOVE PPP.

In case you haven't heard, PayPerPost offers blog advertising to advertisers and a little bit of extra income to bloggers. Advertisers post "opportunities" on the PayPerPost site, and bloggers who take the opportunities get paid a few bucks for post.

I have used PPP both as an advertiser and as a blogger and have been delighted from both perspectives. Advertising on PPP sent my Technorati ranking skyrocketing within the space of about a month and doubled my monthly visits. Blogging for PPP has provided me with enough extra income that I feel really motivated to blog. And PPP advertisers are the types of businesses that I want to blog about anyway: often technology based, usually small, usually cutting edge.

What do I love best about PayPerPost? I love the boundless enthusiasm of the company for its own great idea. PPP makes no effort to discourage bloggers from disclosing their ties to the company--in fact, PPP has encouraged every blogger to post a disclosure policy. And PPP is staffed by a fun group of people who know how to motivate bloggers. I am terribly impressed with this company.

Link: blog advertising

Internet ad revenue rises to $4.2 bln in 3rd qtr

I am trying to balance my evident enthusiasm for the web with my own sense that some of this growth has to be illusory. I have always had the idea that advertising just can't be that valuable, because it doesn't seem very effective. Perhaps it is much more effective when shown to others than when shown to me!

Internet advertising revenue rose 33 percent in the third quarter to a record $4.2 billion, but showed more minimal growth on a consecutive quarterly basis, according to data released on Tuesday. A report compiled by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers showed Web advertising rose 2 percent compared with the second quarter of 2006, even as the dollar amount spent was the largest ever for a single quarter.

Link: Internet ad revenue rises to $4.2 bln in 3rd qtr

My first mortgage

My wife and I are looking around at homes in a desultory fashion. We figure that the market is taking a pause, we have a little money, we may as well check out the market.

We've been reminiscing about our first mortgage loan back in Michigan. We walked into a branch of the local bank and sat down with a real sleazeball who made us feel special. He basically said, "Look, you are students so you really shouldn't be approved for a loan. Buuut...I am such a great loan officer that I might be able to get it done. Let's see what I can do."

Needless to say, we were pre-approved (probably at a higher rate than we could have gotten elsewhere), but the loan itself was dependent on a cash gift to me from my father. My father was a good man who never denied me anything he could give me. He told me he'd send me a personal checks in the mail. No need for me to get a slimy payday loan.

Needless to say, this was a bit of a disaster. When the check finally arrived, I deposited it to my money market account, which takes 11 business days (11 business days!) to make funds that come from personal checks available. Meanwhile, the closing date inched closer.

But it all ended happily. We got the loan, the housing market took off like a rocket, and all is well. The question is: how would it all have ended if the market was in a slump, like it is now? I think there are going to be a lot of unhappy students out there in the coming years.

Link: personal checks

Video Search Made the Internet Star

Yes, LonelyGirl15 was pretty interesting and funny. But is she really a star like, say, Jon Stewart is a star? Of course not. The truth is that YouTube was successful because they distributed copyrighted content for free. I personally don't have a big problem with this, but let's not be coy about the real reasons for their success.

Nothing in the search industry has generated more buzz than the recent growth in online video search tools and social bookmarking sites. LonelyGirl, the Mentos guys from Maine, the Evolution of Dance dude and countless other 'normal' people have found fame for themselves on the Internet with the advent of user generated video and social media, and the new video search tools that allow millions of users to find and watch these new generation "stars."

Link: Video Search Made the Internet Star

Win an extreme home makeover

I am an inveterate tinkerer. Be it gadgets, cars, or homes, I like to fool with it and make it better. I'm usually more careful with my house than with my gadgets, but not always!

Making over a room in your house (or the whole house) represents such a large investment of time and money that it pays to be careful. I plan projects in advance, check for tips both in books and online, and make sure to clear the kids out of the house. I set aside enough time to do the job right.

One of my resources on the web is ultimatehomemakeover.com. This site has lots of tips and suggestions. In addition, at the moment the site is offering the chance to win an extreme home makeover! This means that you wouldn't have to do the home makeover yourself, which would be nice. Remember, too, that you won't win just a regular makeover like you might plan on your own. This is an extreme makeover they're talking about! Entering is simple and requires only an e-mail address.



Link: home makeover

South Africa: State Hatches New Small Business Plan

I heard a long and interesting report on development in Africa on the BBC world business program last night. The commentator made the argument that significant strides have been made in a large percentage of African countries. I'm wondering if some African countries could amount to the next Russia, with the rich natural resources required for rapid development with strong finances. Time to look for a new fund?

Trade and Industry Minister Mandisi Mpahlwa has called for greater policy and institutional co-ordination in small business promotion activities and said an integrated service delivery model for small business would be presented at the cabinet's January meeting.

Link: South Africa: State Hatches New Small Business Plan

ClearCube Blade Servers

As you know, everybody wants to be a blade vendor. As software moves increasingly to a web-based model, a larger and larger of the fraction of corporate computer spending is going to buy blades.

My company has been looking at a ClearCube Blade Server. The ClearCube blades offer an interesting twist on the standard blades, because they deliver full PC functionality to the user from a centralized location. The Blades are compact and house all the standard PC components including the latest Intel Pentium 4 and Xeon processors, memory, hard drives and video cards. ClearCube calls this the "blade workstation" concept. Ever user has an Ethernet port coupled to a display, keyboard, mouse, and peripherals. But the workstation is located on a blade in a centrally-managed rack. This arrangement allows tremendous flexibility for the user (who gets the full functionality of a PC) and powerful management tools for the IT department.

Link: Blade Server

China Internet cafe bombers sentenced to death

It is amazing to me that the people in China are detonating bombs in internet cafes. They already have the government working against them. How could individual citizens be against this medium for communication?

HEFEI -- An uncle and nephew were sentenced to death on Monday for detonating homemade bombs in two Internet cafes in the eastern city of Hefei, killing two ...

Link: China Internet cafe bombers sentenced to death

Bingr is working for me!

For the past several weeks I've been using Bingr.com to create trackable redirect links. The results have been outstanding.

The service works like this. You provide the address of a web site and ask for a link from Bingr. Bingr provides a new, short URL that you can use on your blog to link to the site (like so: gardening info). When your readers click on the link, they are taken to the correct site--but their action is tracked on Bingr. This way, you know how many users have clicked, when they clicked, and what countries they are from.

The results are almost magical if you are a serious blogger. Since starting to use Bingr, I've been able to track the outbound traffic from each of my posts. I have been able to see, in real time, the decay of traffic over time and have found that posts remain "live" for about one month--in other words, the posts continue to attract visitors, who remain interested in clicking on the links. I've found that although most of my readers are from the United States, most of my outbound visitors (who are visiting advertisers and affiliate programs) are from the UK. This information has allowed me to focus both my coverage and advertisements on UK users.

I am a big Bingr fan! Check it out.

Link: Bingr.com

Internet Explorer Auto-Updates Begin

I work on Mac OS X, and I find the auto-update process a bit scary. My computer is always informing me that it needs to install some new software, and I'm forever allowing it. I find this strange, because I know that new software can break things. But I allow it for some reason. Anyhoo...imagine if the updates were from Microsoft, of all places, master of the blue screen of death. Don't think I could bring myself to allow these updates.

Microsoft has slowly begun shipping automatic updates of Internet Explorer 7 (IE 7) to all users of the English language version of the browser...

Link: Internet Explorer Auto-Updates Begin

English Schools

One of my fondest memories from high school is of teaching English to families in Barcelona, Spain. I was 15 years old and needed to make some cash. So I let my Spanish mother know that I was willing to teach English and waited for opportunities to roll in. I was surprised at the result! I guess I was hoping that a bunch of hot Spanish girls would sign up for classes (my Spanish mother was a schoolteacher). Instead, a bunch of families signed up to learn English together.

The result was marvelous. Usually I was invited to spend 1-2 hours with each family speaking English, often during a meal. I got to be friends with many of these families and had a wonderful time. To this day, I have an abiding interest in language education, which I think is a benefit to everyone.

A UK-based web site, www.answerenglish.co.uk, offers a twist on this them: English language courses in London. These courses are for folks visiting or living in London who want to improve their English. And, speaking as a Californian, I can tell you: there is no better place to learn it! The school offers English for work - fun - study - Answer English - English for Work - or any other purpose. In fact, I think they've left out a crucial category: English for Dating!

Link: Answer English - English for Work

Character Group sees FY profit for ongoing business above market ...

The truth is that I wasn't very imaginative as a child. I wasn't real into character-based toys, magazines, etc. And I'm still not, so I don't really understand businesses like this, though. It's funny how our children can be so unlike us. My son is very much into imaginative play and it is a joy to watch him work at it.

Character Group PLC said strong sales in the last days of the financial year mean that it expects profits for its ongoing business of toys ...

Link: Character Group sees FY profit for ongoing business above market ...

Telescope hunting

My off-season buying spree is getting out of hand. I've written before about looking for new binoculars. This led me to the feeling that I'd need a warm sleeping bag for fall camping, a new camp stove, and some new hiking boots.

Now, after all this, I've realized that I need a new telescope! OK, need is a strong word, but the winter is a desperate time for an outdoorman with a thin skin.

I could take a telescope camping in the spring--but I could use it in the winter as well. I'm thinking of setting it up on the balcony of my house in Lake Tahoe and really getting to know the stars. I grew up in a middle-class family that really valued education, and my poor father was forever buying us telescopes and star maps. The flaw in his plan, though, was that he never purchased sufficiently powerful, high-quality telescopes. To look up at the stars and have fun, you need a good scope.

Some of the best telescope brands are Celestron, Bushnell, Tasco, TeleVue, Vixen, Swarovski, and Leica. I'm thinking of a Leica because I know the Leica sales reps from my work and can get some advice from them. I'll buy the scope online from Optics Planet, though, which has better prices!







Link: telescopes

Risks and interest rates

I read an interesting article yesterday that suggested that the days of companies with high credit ratings are gone forever. This article argued that companies are expected to have lower credit ratings now and that those with very high credit ratings are not taking enough risks. Similarly, taking risks in personal investment seems to have become perfectly normal. I was surprised to read this article suggesting that Kiwis are in a slightly different place on this topic. Makes me think that there is an investment opportunity there somewhere that might pay dividends as the Kiwis "catch up."

C Neilson and Raboplus research shows that Kiwis are a cautious bunch with 69% only willing to take very limited risks when investing their hard earned cash.

Link: ASB Business: November 13

Refer a Postie

I've said that I'm experimenting lately with PayPerPost. In fact, I like it a lot. I've tried the system as both a blogger and an advertiser, and the system works for both types. Bloggers make decent money, while advertisers get more Google Juice, higher PageRanks, and more visitors. I'm very pleased.

Now PayPerPost is offering $5 for referrals that hook up new bloggers with PayPerPost. If I convince you to sign up, just enter my e-mail address in the referral field when you sign up and I'll get $5. So readers, if you are also bloggers: sign up for PayPerPost and give me credit for your referral.

ICICI enjoys brisk business in Blighty

Truly, the internet has transformed retail banking. Five years ago, I hated my bank. I don not think this is too strong a word. Now I bank with Bank of America, and although I don't much like their fees or interest rates, their online banking software is top-notch. I never lose a change to talk about it. Banks that do this well are going to dominate in coming years.

ICICI Bank is growing rapidly in the UK, with its clients comprising not only NRIs but also other sections of the British society. Buoyed by the success of ‘direct banking’, an Internet-based facility, ICICI Bank UK Ltd is building a large clientele among the local population. ...It is planning to launch personal loans through the Internet and start transaction...

Link: ICICI enjoys brisk business in Blighty

Home Improvment

I'm working on our bathroom. I use the term "working" quite loosely here: it means that I spend a lot of time drinking beer and talking about how nice our bathroom will be when it is finally done.

My plan has always been to install a tile floor. My father installed his own tile, and in truth he was somewhat obsessed with high-quality mudset tile. When we went shopping for my first house he scoffed at every home that had tile installed directly on the drywall. And he was right. This is low-class and it doesn't last.

Lately, though, I've been thinking about a laminate floor, which is easier to install. I found a nice site about laminate flooring pros and cons. The site says that laminate flooring is easy to install, eco-friendly, and beautiful. The only major drawback seems to be relative lack of durability. Laminate floors, of course, cannot ever be refinished.

Maybe the decision depends on how soon I am planning to sell my home.





Link: laminate flooring pros and cons

Mobile way to business

I completely agree that companies should provide mobile phones to most workers, just as they provide laptops. Both are productivity tools. Both keep workers working for you longer--while also keeping them happy.

We note that companies are paying for laptops, but not mobiles. While there is a policy to manage laptops, specify the operating system and make, etc, why is there not a policy for mobiles? Mobiles should also be offered to employees on the same principle. To ensure widespread adoption in enterprises, however, we need to ensure the ecosystem of phones is perfect. The service has to be in place, along with suitable choice of handsets so users will not feel cramped for choice. Enterprises have yet to understand the power and flexibility (choice for users) offered by the smart phone.

Link: Mobile way to business

Flashlights for outdoorsmen

I've spent the summer trying to get my youngest son, who is five, into camping. Well, the season is over and...he's still scared! He worries about the bears, the racoons, the weasels...you name it, he's scared of it.

So I've decided to buy a bigger flashlight. I figure if I can get a flashlight the size of a lamppost, then he won't be scared any more. I'll just install that baby inside the tent so the bears can see our silhouettes clearly. After they gobble us up, we'll have no more worries about camping or anything else!

Does this make sense? No, I guess not. The truth is, I'm just sitting here mooning over the fact that it's too cold to go camping any more and figuring I'll spend some money to make myself feel better! I'm a gadget guy, and gadget guys love flashlights. We all own MagLites, of course, that goes without saying. So I'm looking for something special.

I've been checking out the flashlight section of www.OpticsPlanet.net. These guys have the tip-top brands (far better than MagLite): SureFire, StreamLight, and Pelican LED flashlights. They've got discount pricing and FREE UPS on order over $29.95. I am in gadget-guy heaven, and I'm pretty sure that I'm going to qualify for that free shipping easily.

Link: flashlights

Candidates answer business community survey

My wife is Canadian and she thinks these guys are all yahoos:

Sixteen questions posed by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business paint a picture of where Toronto's three top mayoral candidates stand on business ...

Link: Candidates answer business community survey

RateGenius

I mentioned earlier this month that my wife and I are in the market for a new car. We will buy this car with cash. Two years ago, though, I bought a car for my recently-graduated daughter using financing. I've decided that this interest rate is too high, though, and recently check out RateGenius, a web site that focuses on Auto Refinance.

I was delighted with the result. RateGenius has partnered with over 40 lending institutions, comprising one of the most diverse lending networks accessible in the world. The customer service was top-notch and the transaction (I decided to use one of RateGenius's lenders) was smooth as silk. If you are looking to refinance a car loan, I recommend it.

Link: Auto Refinance

The attraction of MySpace

I find it really interesting that we older folks are constantly forced to question whether these new-fangled businesses like MySpace simply have no business model, or whether we are too old to appreciate that model. I think, actulaly that it is a mixture. I consider myself fairly hip and very tech-savvy. But I am still shocked by each and every text message I receive.

Outside Silicon Valley’s technology capsule, many of these innovations would probably be greeted with bemusement. But an older, more conservative generation struggles to see the attraction of MySpace and its rivals, even as the networking sites bite chunks out of the time previously given over to watching television.

Link: The Sunday Times - Business

RevenueSource.com

I now run a half-dozen different websites which together receive about 3,000 hits daily. Until recently, I've been content to have my little community exactly where it is, but lately I've become interested in how to improve this figure. I don't want to become an internet mogul, but I'd like to have as many people as possible visit my sites, because I am putting in a lot of work.

Recently I joined RevenueSource.com, which provides Affiliate Marketing & SEO Forums. These forums are filled with people who are thinking along the same lines as myself but who are often more experienced. Their comments have been very helpful to me. This is a great place to Discuss SEO Strategies - RevenueSource.com.

Link: Affiliate Marketing & SEO Forums

United Internet Third-Quarter Net Rises on Web Users (Update2)

I believe that web access providers will start to do well again in the US in the coming year. The NYT article on 802.11n draft wireless routers has got me thinking that there is going to be a lot of enthusiasm for high-speed access, and that will be costly.

United Internet AG, Germany's second-largest Web access provider, said third-quarter profit doubled after the company added users of its ...

Link: United Internet Third-Quarter Net Rises on Web Users (Update2)

New subscriptions

My wife, it must be admitted, is a bit of a celebrity watcher. She's not a stalker, not mentally ill, mind you, but just...perenially...interested. So she requires us to subscribe to a lot of magazines. I have learned that it is useless to argue with her on this topic.

I recently found a wonderful site if you are looking for a deal on magazines: MagazinePriceSearch.com. This site searches a large number of online sources for magazine subscriptions and returns the best deal. As you probably know, the market for magazine subscriptions is extremely competetive, so some of the deals that come back are amazing. I just signed up to get Vanity Fair for less than $1 per issue!

Link: MagazinePriceSearch.com

US Bancorp to buy municipal trustee business from LaSalle Bank

I am not so bullish on municipal bonds. These bonds have their uses and have been booming in recent years but I believe that this trend is drying up.

US Bancorp on Friday said it has agreed to buy the municipal bond trustee business of LaSalle Bank for an ...

Link: US Bancorp to buy municipal trustee business from LaSalle Bank

Megaglobe: the international search engine

I have a fairly interenational lifestyle, business, and web presence. I travel abroad several times each year, at least once on vacation. Many of my oldest friends live abroad, and I have an excellent current knowledge of trends in business across the world. My business gets more than half of its revenue overseas. And my web sites receive more than half of their visitors from abroad.

Working across borders these days is a major pain in the neck, especially on the web. Google, Amazon, Yahoo, heck all the biggies have nation-specific sites. Therefore, my own web sites need to make an effort to determine locale and then send visitors to the right place. Dealing with comments--and click fraud--in several different languages is time-consuming and, frankly, difficult for me, with my rather limited and smattered knowledge of different languages.

Megaglobe - New International Search Engine aims to change that. It will be available in 45 languages and will represent the whole world, with ads available worldwide in 50 different currencies. Perhaps most importantly, Megaglobe will detect click fraud coming from all across the globe. This is important because most click fraud originates from abroad, where people can be paid very small sums to do just one thing: click on ads. In fact, I believe that click fraud underlies a significant portion of Google's sales and hurts us all. Perhaps Megaglobe can change this situation.



Link: Megaglobe - New International Search Engine

Nigerian banker wins African business leader award

This item was of interest to my wife, who went to business school with Tony Elumelu in London:

A Nigerian banker was named African Business Leader of 2006 in a magazine-sponsored competition to honour major contributors to economic development on the world's poorest continent. Tony Elumelu, chief executive officer of the Lagos-based United Bank for Africa, was hailed by UK-based African Investor Magazine as a believer in excellence.

Link: Nigerian banker wins African business leader award

Free stuff!

FreebieFanatic is an amazing site. The sites that amaze me most on the Internet are those that were clearly built with absolute devotion by the site owners. FreebieFanatic is like that. It is so complete that it must have been created by a true fanatic. Everybody loves free stuff, but not everybody creates a web site that is very nearly exhaustive in its coverage of free stuff on the net.

In fact, there are hundreds of free articles about free stuff: free stuff for babies, free wedding stuff, free food, free coupons, free stuff for pets...I could go on, but I'll spare you. Suffice it to say, that FreebieFanatic has it covered.

Link: free stuff

Restaurateur Singh wins Asian business award

I've actually eaten at Mr Singh's Indian restaurant near Charing Cross, and I recommend it highly! Can't say that I dined on Mr. Singh's cuisine with Bill Clinton, but I take what I can get.

Glasgow curry king Satty Singh was last night crowned Entrepreneur of the Year at the Scottish Asian Business Awards, hosted by weekly newspaper Eastern Eye. ...

Link: Restaurateur Singh wins Asian business award

New products and inventions

I am a scientist who has been involved in more technology ventures than I care to mention here. It is an embarrassing number, a number that can only be achieved by joining a bunch of fatally flawed companies.

The flaws in companies I've joined have not been restricted to any one area, mind you. Poor management, poor financing, poor concept, I've seen it all. But there is one common thread in the particular business I've been involved with: poor technology protection. The inventions that were licensed by these businesses were not adequately protected. Often, the inventors had filed patents on their own, or filed patents without the help of a competent professional.

The Invent-Tech Network is an Inventor Assistance firm whose whole purpose is to help independent inventors in overcoming the traditional headaches and hassles associated with bringing a new product to the attention of the industry. In my opinion, these "headaches" and "hassles" are so mountainous that they collectively represent a threat to every valuable new invention. Worse yet, the headaches and hassles can pose a threat to businesses that may rely on these inventions down the road. I've found that in these businesses, worries over the quality of technology protection never go away. Need another round of financing? Time to have Orrick review the portfolio again. New investors thinking about piling in? Time for their counsel to review the patents again. Technology protection needs to be done right the first time.

So the best thing that Invent-Tech has going for it is that it fills an important need. The 'Invent-Tech Blog' is a good place to see how Invent-Tech fills this need in detail. The blog keeps the company's clients informed of recently licensed products and inventions, letting them know when licensed product by Invent-Tech hits store shelves.

Link: licensed product by Invent-Tech hits store shelves

Business on defensive as Dems win in US election

I think it is pretty clear that the Democrats couldn't possibly be any less fiscally responsible than the Republicans. So there is no need to be on the defensive:

The Business Roundtable, which represents corporate chief executives in Washington, issued a ...

Link: Business on defensive as Dems win in US election

PokerSavvy

I've written before about the poker run that I'm on. In fact, I write often about consumer topics on this blog, including posts about consumer technology and also about sports. Of these sports, poker is my favorite (yes! It is a sport.) Poker is getting interesting in my house now because my son turns out to be a pretty good player. I am trying to balance my desire to protect him from poker with my desire to...play a lot of poker.

Bottom line is, I'm looking for opportunities to play Online Poker. I recently found that PokerSavvy has information about playing poker online (particularly Hold'em, which I don't play with my son yet) including reviews of particular casinos. Even discounts on new accounts at these casinos.

I think that this is going to beat playing against the cold, inhuman computer by a mile!

Link: Online Poker

Summit Draws Many Internet Entrepreneurs

OK, I know three people who have started "Web 2.0" companies in the past month. I am not a particularly well-connected guy. It is a boom. Accept it. Roll with it. Start a company if you feel you must!

Although conditions haven't returned to the feverish levels of the dot-com boom, the Internet's business atmosphere is clearly heating up. ...

Link: Summit Draws Many Internet Entrepreneurs

Online Safe Deposit

My wife and I have been doing a little disaster planning. Finally went to 72hours.org and made a list, at least, of items that we need to buy at the store. Made an appointment with a lawyer to make our wills.

And we've started thinking about safe deposit boxes. If we have a major earthquake in San Francisco, how are we going to get access to the insurance policies and other documents we need to rebuild our lives? After doing some research, I found an Online Safe Deposit Box at keepyousafe.com. This service allows you to store electronic copies of your most important documents in a highly secure location. Copies of the documents are then available over the web in case of need, with everything mirrored in multiple countries. Furthermore, the site offers a free small-sized Online Safe Deposit Box for one year, and can upgrade to a larger permanent box for as little as $3 per month.

I am really impressed with this idea, I'm going to try it.

Link: Online Safe Deposit Box

Capitol expands Internet program for Misamis Oriental

This is ridiculous. Google's plan to connect San Francisco to the internet using free WiFi is being beat out by Gingoog City. You heard me: Gingoog City has a technological lead on San Francisco.

... over the 24 municipalities of the Province of Misamis Oriental including Gingoog City will soon be connected to each other and to the world through the Internet ...

Link: Capitol expands Internet program for Misamis Oriental

Five free songs!

I've written before about Vimo, a web-based service that makes buying healthcare and insurance easier, cheaper and much more transparent. Vimo also has a sub-section where people can review their doctors. This type of service is a life-saver for folks who have just moved to a new city.

Vimo is now offering a promotion of FIVE FREE SONGS on emusic.com for every doctor that's reviewed. They're MP3s so you can play them anywhere. So: go tell 'em about your doctor. Rant, rave, whatever turns you on. Then grab your songs.



Link: Vimo

Enemies of the internet named and shamed

Follow the links for the full list. I don't think you'll see any major surprises, though. The US Government isn't on the list, by the way, though perhaps it should be!

A list of 13 countries that represent a threat to freedom of expression on the internet has been published by human rights campaigners Reporters Without Borders...The group uses two criteria to justify the inclusion of countries. The first is the level of online censorship. This could include banning of political opposition sites and excessive monitoring of internet activity. The banning of internet communication tools such as Google's Gtalk IM service, which is forbidden in Burma, is also a problem. Countries that arrest or harass so-called cyber-dissidents - people who use the internet to oppose the government - will also find themselves on the list.

Link: Enemies of the internet named and shamed

NFL Football Picks

I've started playing in a fantasy football league with my brother, and I am getting hammered. My brother's dissolute habit of setting aside all day on Sunday, every Sunday during football season, to watch TV is helping him a lot. Actually, my brother's TV watching helps him in a lot of annoying ways: he is good at fantasy football, trivia pursuit, and Simpsons quotes, which is a pretty nice package.

Recently I've started to get help from jimfeist.com's team of handicappers, which offers picks and full game analysis on all major games and sports including football. The site is very well organized and the handicappers know their stuff as you'd expect. It is obviously organized for peole involved in more hardcore sports betting, but very useful to a small fry like me as well. In fact, free picks are given out daily and have tended to showcase the handicapper's talents at calling the game's winner.

My favorite feature of the site are the "Handicapper's Editorials". These editorials can tackle every topic, but usually at least one editorial each week covers the upcoming games. These editorials are sort of a gut check for me, allowing me to measure my own gut feelings against handicappers with a longer track record and more data at their disposal. The editorials don't always change my mind, but they often do.

Link: Football Picks

The actress, the Internet, the sex film and Iran

This story is somewhat hilarious (because it is so predictable, whether it be in Iran or in the US) but also somewhat sad. It seems that this is the only way for many of these starlets to really get noticed, if you catch my drift. There has to be a better way to develop actors than to display their breasts online.

Sex films, soap stars and international fugitives were an unheard of combination on the front pages of newspapers in conservative Muslim Iran until now. For Western readers who regularly feast on celebrity antics in popular scandal sheets, a grainy film of sexual activity is probably no big deal. But Iranians have been transfixed by a judicial inquiry into media reports that a budding starlet is the woman in a graphic film widely distributed across the Internet.

Link: The actress, the Internet, the sex film and Iran

RAZZ mixer for bloggers

I have a private family blog, and we've been having a LOT of fun with the RAZZ mixer over the past few days. I have been using iMusic to record funny songs sung by my family, and have then posted them to our blog, and everybody has gotten a kick out of it. But iMusic is a bit hard to learn.

So my brother pointed me to the RAZZ mixer, an online application that is much simpler than iMusic but suitable for laying down a quick track while sitting at the computer. You could even do this at work, if you get there very early, before anybody else has arrived.

You can Try the RAZZ Mixer Yourself, or check out my funny little sample:



Make your own Razz!

The possibilities are endless!

Some screenshots:







Link: Try the RAZZ Mixer Yourself

MySpace and Softbank form joint venture to bring Internet social ...

I think that this is just pathetic. Yes, MySpace is popular here for reasons that remain unclear but are largely cultural. Does this suggest that it will be difficult to translate this success to another culture? You bet.

AP. TOKYO: MySpace and Japan's Softbank Corp. announced plans Tuesday for a 50-50 joint venture to bring the popular Internet social networking site to Asia. ...

Link: MySpace and Softbank form joint venture to bring Internet social ...

Cheap Vitamins

My whole family takes vitamins now. They are just part of my life. All of us, from five years old up to 35 years old, takes one multivitamin per day. We give a simple one to the kids just to make sure they are getting what they needs, but I've been taking vitamins to keep up with my constantly increasing sports schedule. I now swim twice a week, bike three times a week, and lift three times a week. I find that the vitamins help me keep up.

I have been buying the vitamins at a local health store, but recently I found Vitamins and supplements available at CheapVitamins.com. They have great prices, 20-50% lower than my local store, and the site was very effective in helping me find the right vitamins and supplements. If you are involved in sports or bodybuilding, the site is worth a look.

Link: Vitamins and supplements available at CheapVitamins.com

Assistance extended to rural business

I hope that they are ready to increase this funding every year for the comig century as the planet gets hotter. Oh, yes, and meanwhile they'll need to up the funding for hurricane relief down in Florida.

DROUGHT assistance has been increased to $1.2 billion after the Federal Government said it would give payments to small businesses in drought-declared areas. ...

Link: Assistance extended to rural business

Heavy's Angels

I have to admit that I have a weakness for cute women. I'm not talking about slutty, depraved women (though I know they have their fans). I'm talking about cute, confident women who make me laugh.

This is part of the reason that I'm such a fan of sites like YouTube and others with user-generated content. These sites feature a lot of smart people who are confident enough to put themselves out there in front of the world. Lonelygirl15 is a great example: funny, smart, and all that. Fake, too, but maybe that's beside the point. Although, I must say that I find it embarrassing that I respond to lonelygirl in exactly the way nerdy guys are supposed to.

Heavy.com has just launched a webcam competition called Heavy's Angels. Girls post videos to the site and the girl with the most video views wins...get this...a car.

My favorite girls are:

1. zilchnerd: she's got rhythm, and I like her devil-may-care screen name
2. SWIFTMONEY: this girl is cute and her videos actually have pretty decent production values, if you can believe it. Her clips tell a little story.
3. oxycottontail: there is just one word for this one: smokin'. She is almost over the edge of cute and into the gorge of Gorgeous. Her video is really quite a tease, with her constantly walking the line between dressing and undressing, if you catch my drift.

Link: Heavy's Angels

IP Unity and VisionOSS Expand Partnership for Integrated Business ...

These deals are getting done because people want VOIP to happen. I wouldn't be surprised if the conventional phone network was completely gone within five years or so.

... VisionOSS will deliver its Business Voice Services Manager (BVSM) and IP Unity’s media-rich Mereon Unified Messaging and Collaboration features for entities ...

Link: IP Unity and VisionOSS Expand Partnership for Integrated Business ...

Voice overs

This may sound to you like an absurd boast, but I have a beautiful voice. Not a singing voice, mind you, but a speaking voice. It is just deep and resonant and nice.

I've always wondered if I could turn that vioce into spending money by doing voice overs. Mind you, I doubt it, it seems like the sort of thing that is more difficult than it seems at first. But this is the profession that came to my mind while watching the absurd Seifeld episode in which George becomes a hand model.

Voice123 is a voice-over marketplace with a database of voice over talents. The site is not only for producers and advertisers, but also for voice-over talents who want to promote their services.

It's amazing to me to think about what a big job it must be to find the right voice for a project. I mean, sure, I have a decent voice--does that mean if you know me that you just sign me up? Of course not! I imagine that it is an enormous task to find just the right voice that conveys just the right emotion to listeners. Voice123 wants to help you complete that task.

Link: voice overs

Business Owners Expected to Vote in Record Numbers

Yes, we will be. I know I'll be, but...this year the economy isn't my only issue. The loss of thousands of American lives is my big issue this year.

... The recent downturn in the economy, coupled with long-standing issues like tax cuts and rising health-care costs, are expected to drive business owners to the ...

Link: Business Owners Expected to Vote in Record Numbers

My long distance bills

I've recently reconnected with some friends abroad and my long-distance bills are getting out of hand. In part, this is because I make a lot of calls from the office (don't tell my boss!) using a calling card. Recently I found that Pingo provides International prepaid calling cards at great rates. In fact, I received a free phone card just for joinging Pingo's residual income affiiliate program.

Pingo is more than just a calling card vendor, though. They have a recharge program that allows you to refill your calling card as necessary.

Check out their rates. I checked the Spain calling card rates and was amazed.



Link: International prepaid calling cards

Fly to Europe in business class

I guess I'll just admit it. I've never flown business class to Europe. Too many kids with me, most of the time. But next summer my wife and I intend to go alone, so maybe this is the time to try.

If you'd like to fly to Europe in style, we have some deals that could put business class within reach. The comfortable ...

Link: Fly to Europe in business class

Link tracking

I've written before about my belief that bloggers are taking news out of the hands of newspapers. I'm talking about real bloggers, now, not just link hounds, but people who report on the situation in their own cities and towns.

Because of this, the companies providing services to bloggers are exploding. Bingr.com, which is completely free, is among the coolest of these. This site combines TinyURL-type functionality with Count Trakkula-like link tracking. In brief, you can create concise links to complex pages and then count the outgoing clicks that you recieve. For example, I created this link to Amazon:

Amazon

If you click on it, I'll know. Go ahead, I dare you. The traffic report generated is also quite impressive, showing, for example, the country where the click originated. This will be useful to me for optimizing my revenue from affiliate programs, which often require country-specific links.

The potential of this service is impressive. This service will allow you to measure where your readers are going and what they are interested in. Posting 50 stories a day about web services and 6 about politics? Maybe you'll find out that your readers are a political bunch, and increase that coverage.

The same goes for links to revenue-generating sites, including affiliate programs. Bingr.com gives you a central location for collection information about all traffic out of your site. Inbound traffic information is widely available, and important. Until now, outbound traffic information has been much harder to collect and analyze. If you are serious about your blog, I urge you to check it out.



Link: Bingr.com

TMC Names Best of Show Winners from INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference ...

Looks to me like many different companies shared the "Best in Show" designation, which pretty much eliminates its usefulness, doesn't it. I guess I'll just focus on what is available. Here in SF, I saw a sign yesterday advertising AT&T high-speed internet for $15 a month. I'm going to call today to see if this offer is real or a scam.

... Marketing Corporation (TMC) today announced the winners of its prestigious “Best of Show” award at the recently concluded INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & ...

Link: TMC Names Best of Show Winners from INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference ...

Apogee SEO Blog

The more time I spend blogging, the more I become interested in search engine optimization. This is only natural, right? I am putting a lot of myself out there on the web and I want to make sure that this stuff reaches people.

I've recently started reading a Search Engine Optimization Blog at Apogee search. An SEO Blog isn't for everybody, I admit, but if you are as fascinated by the search engines as I am, then it is a must read. The author digs up a ton of little-known and otherwise little-linked articles about the arcana of search. Recommended for all bloggers.

Link: SEO Blog

Biotech center unveils grant program

I have seen so darn many of these grants programs come and go. I'll tell you that just one thing really changes the game for biomedical research in a state: the availability of venture money. When there is a bunch of ventre money on the table, the scientists just plain work harder.

The North Carolina Biotechnology Center has launched a new grant program to promote bioscience research across the state. The Research ...

Link: Biotech center unveils grant program

FAFSA online

It is that time of year again: time to start working on financial aid applications. I despise this process, but at this point I've been through the process so many times that I'm almost numb: dredge out my boxes of financial data, sit down with the FAFSA, send it in, wait on edge of seat for the result in the mail, then grouse about the result.

Only this year I'm hoping that things will go a little bit more smoothly. I found a site called www.FAFSAonline.com that allows me to file the FAFSA online. Maybe more importantly, the site offers a series of "secrets" to help maximize the amount of aid that I may receive. These "secrets" are not cheap gimmicks, but rather in-depth explanations of how the financial aid process works and how this can be used to your advantage.

In fact, the whole site is really informative and easy-to-use, with a compelling walkthrough and/or audio tour offered to new visitors. This site is making the FASFA process a lot easier for me this year.

Link: FAFSA online

Public, private sectors should align to aid state's economy

Colorado is a cool state that actually has a chance of nurturing some of these industries, including biosciences. I remember visiting Janus Capital out in Denver and thinking that it was such an unusual choice to place a mutual fund company in Colorado, and such a great one.

"Business for a Competitive Colorado" highlights the importance of creating a vibrant economy and identifies 11 statewide industry clusters - agriculture, tourism, aerospace, bioscience, energy, financial services, information technology and software, air transportation, beverage production, broadcasting and telecommunications, and computer storage and peripherals - that are essential to strengthening the state's economy.

Link: Public, private sectors should align to aid state's economy

Dating School

I recently got some help from the Dating School Newsletter! The newsletter has helped me get past the age-old problem, the seemingly insurmountable problem, of being told 'Let's just be friends...' all the time.

I'm just giving you a moment to digest that statement. See, I know that you know that I'm married. I was just checking to see how you'd react.

I meant that I got some help because my brother got some help from the Dating School newsletter. My brother spends the better part of an hour on the phone with me each week complaining about his dating life. The girls are too driven, or too needy, or too lonely, or all of the above. His biggest complaint, though, by far, is that the girls are too friendly. By this, he means that they frequently wind up a date, even a successful date, by saying that they just want to be friends.

This problem is as old as the hills. It seems to be a simple truism that women like to take relationships more slowly than men.

After talking about this problem with a single friend of mine, he pointed me to a site offering Free Dating Advice. This site offers a newsletter from an author who has given careful thought to all these old quandaries. So, I went ahead and signed my brother up. I'll tell you, he has never been more grateful for any gift I've given him. Try it! I recommend it highly.

Link: Free Dating Advice

Microsoft and Linux

There is only one way to understand this type of apparently nonsensical move: it is meant to drive Red Hat out of business. How can Red Hat compete with both Oracle and Microsoft at the same time?

Once bitter rivals, Microsoft Corp. and Novell Inc. entered into an agreement to allow open-source Linux software to work with Windows. ...

Link: Business & Finance

Online Coupon Codes

The availability of online coupon codes just amazes me. The other day I bought a charger for my cell phone, and before pressing "Complete my order" I decided on a whim to check for coupon codes. On a whim a decided to Google search for coupon codes available for the retailer--and found one offering 20% off. 20% off, just for being motivated enough to check Google.

My best source for these coupons is couponchief.com. This site has coupons for big-name merchants, not just the tiny guys like I bought my charger from. For example, CouponChief has Dell coupons, which I intend to use liberally this holiday season. These coupons, combined with depressed prices due to the late Vista release, should allow me to sprinkle new computers throughout the family this year.

Link: coupon codes

Office suites: Desktop

The really big news for Microsoft isn't Vista. It's Office Live. There is a fascinating article in the WSJ about Office Live, which explains that Office Live has nothing to do with Vista. Instead, Office Live is a suite of online tools for managing your business. The basic version of Office Live, which is quite feature-complete, is free.

Today we exclusively revealed the Australian pricing details for Microsoft's Office 2007 suite, which is scheduled for release at the same time as Vista in ...

Link: Office suites: Desktop

PayPerPost Boards

I've been trying PayPerPost occasionally for the past few weeks and I have to say I'm impressed. I'm impressed by the concept but I'm very impressed by the company. I think it is well run, and if I were an investor (I'm not!) I'd be happy about it.

The best example I can think of is the PayPerPost forums. These forums are fill with comments by other bloggers--but also watched by PayPerPost employees, who occasionally jump in to clarify a confusing point. In short, the forums are a really useful place, usually providing an answer to your question within a few minutes of arrival.

I like 'em.

Link: PayPerPost

Amazon Wants to Run Your Business

I really believe that Amazon is on to something with their distributed storage service. But I'm concerned that they may be missing something just as important, provided by Office Live: simplicity. See my next post on Office Live.

... computer system and physical-distribution network that powers its retail business, Amazon is now starting to offer those services over the Internet to other ...

Link: Amazon Wants to Run Your Business

Drag Racing Fanatics: listen up

There's another teaser out for the PINKS drag-racing premiere, in which drivers lose their ride if they lose the race. Here's a preview video from YouTube:



More Drag Racing Clips are available at Speedtv.com. There will be an all-day PINKS marathon on Speedtv.com on November 23rd, followed by a premiere of PINKS All Out.

I am pumped and my wife, frankly, is horrified. But I think she'll watch with me just for the chips and dip.

This post sponsored by Speedtv.com.

Link: Drag Racing Clips

World Internet summit ends

This reminded me of the sad story on Slashdot yesterday saying that the drive for 100,000 people to purchase the $100 laptop for $300 (in order to provide two computers to the developing world) had failed. I was signed up. Were you?

The first UN-hosted summit on the Internet ended with promise of breakthrough technologies to accelerate online access in developing countries and concerns of ...

Link: World Internet summit ends

Ted's Confessional

The "confessional" video of Ted Murphy, founder of PayPerPost, is really funny. Apparently, he went out trick-or-treating with his nephews, who call him "Chunk Butt" and were dressed as stormtroopers.

Ted reminds me of my own brother, also an uncle who enjoys outings with his nephews, in a kind of I'm-not-a-parent-so-I-don't-fully-get-this-kind-of-way. I like my brother very much, and he's as stressed as Ted Murphy, but both are stressed in a different kind of way from us parents. Ted is stressed in a I'm-responsible-to-the-investors kind of way. Parents are stressed in a my-kids-are-neglected-and-will-end-up-on-drugs kind of way.

Check out the confessional:



So, Ted, tell me about it! I struggle with my weight and getting to the gym constantly, and I imagine I'll continue struggling for the next, oh, 18 years or so.

Link: PayPerPost