Oracle Announces General Availability of Oracle E-Business Suite 12

If there's one thing I've learned from doing business on the web, it's that the database is everything. There is a very interesting article on the technology behind MySpace that emphasizes this point. Search "MySpace" on Slashdot to find it. Anyhoo, I'm an Oracle believer and have been for a long time.
I feel bad for Oracle at press-release time. Their software is so incredibly complex--and important--that it is impossible to describe without using a lot of hot air:

Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 makes it easier and less expensive to implement, manage and scale global applications. For example, Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 includes hundreds of services so that IT can easily integrate the E-Business Suite into cross-business, cross-product business flows. With an updated web services repository, Oracle enables lower cost integrations with third party applications and adaptable business processes. Additionally, Oracle has certified Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12 on Oracle Fusion Middleware, which includes the ability to manage processes spanning heterogeneous applications.

Link: Oracle Announces General Availability of Oracle E-Business Suite 12

The "E" in e-mail stands for "enervating"

MindComet provides Email Marketing and has asked for my thoughts about e-mail. My thoughts on the subject of e-mail, to say nothing of my feelings about e-mail, are confused and would probably require a few volumes to fully explore. Nevertheless, at MindComet's request, I have attempted to sum up my feelings about e-mail in only five words. Check out the video below.

This post brought to you on behalf of MindComet.



Link: Email Marketing

NY Monks to Sell Bread, Cake on Internet

This type of story was really interesting about 15 years ago. Now everybody is on the web, even my sleazy neighbor who sells CZ diamonds in his so-called jewelry store. What I want to know is: do these operations make any dough? If so, how?

The New York order of monks who don't watch TV or listen to the radio will soon be going high-tech to offer their baked goods for sale on the Internet. ...

Link: NY Monks to Sell Bread, Cake on Internet

It's true: I attended an Air Supply concert

It's true: I attended an Air Supply concert. I wasn't a fan, but I had to choose between the embarrassment of attending an Air Supply concert and the sheer coolness of going to any concert at all. I was in eighth grade, so what did I know?

While at the concert, I had an experience that was both outrageous and embarrassing, which I've recounted for you in the video below. This video is part of the PayPerPost Concert competition: the more folks watch it, the better chance I have of winning $500. So check it out!



Link: PayPerPost Concert

Time Warner gets boost from cable business

You can make a profit by selling AOL? AOL has been a dog for as long as I can remember; I wouldn't pay 50 cents for it. Are they still selling dial-up?

The results included a $769m gain from the sale of AOL's internet service businesses in the UK and France. Excluding this and other special items, ...

Link: Time Warner gets boost from cable business

T-Mobile myFaves

My wife and I had a decidedly low-brow Christmas this year. We got cell phones and iPods. That's right, those gadgets have become very low-brow indeed. If we were a little more sophisticated, we would have bought antique furniture.

My wife got a free T-Mobile RAZR and I got a smart phone, which I'm planning to review for you later. To get the free RAZR we had to get a new plan, which turns out to be the best part of the whole deal.

We also switch plans to T-Mobile myFaves, which I absolutely LOVE. This plan allows you to define a circle of friends to whom calling is free. These friends can be on home phones or cell phones, local or long distance.

Basically, myFaves has eliminated all the overages we used to have. It turns out that about 90% of my calls are made to the same four people: my wife, my brother, and my two business partners.

I've now noticed that T-Mobile is offering a rebate of $50 when ordering a new T-Mobile plan online (through March 31). I can't recommend this plan highly enough! If you are nearing the end of your contract, check it out.



Link: free T-Mobile RAZR

Stay focused on business trips

So easy to tell your employees to stay focused on business trips. So hard to buy them the first-class airfares and accomodations that would make such focus truly possible.

Don't let business trips derail your professionalism. Take them in stride with a few tips and shortcuts from one veteran business trekker. ...

Link: Stay focused on business trips

Shopping with coupon codes

Amazon.com is my favorite online store to shop at with a coupon code. Especially around the holidays, the huge selection and relatively cheap shipping are a huge advantage. In fact, I feel a bit guilty, knowing that Amazon's financial results are hurt by their cheap shipping. The available Amazon coupon codes make things even better. What did I get at Amazon this year? Books, CDs, iPods, cameras, you name it.

Link: CouponChief

US probe hits Internet gambling shares

I just don't understand how these companies can be publicly listed. Their business is so incredibly vulnerable to regulation, I can't believe that investors would take them seriously:

European gambling companies, including PartyGaming, have been taking business from the United States for many years arguing that until last October US ...

Link: US probe hits Internet gambling shares

Mortgage Rates and Calculators

My wife and I have been trying to pull the trigger on purchase of a second home for quite some time. Here in California, the real estate market is hitting a relative low, and it might be a good time to buy. So my wife is out looking every day.

Meanwhile, I'm at the office staring at Mortgage Rates and, especially, Mortgage Calculators. I am fascinated by the idea that the real cost of a mortgage is given by the interest rate minus the rate of price appreciation over the life of the loan. Therefore, for example, the cost of a 7% loan in an area with 6% annual price appreciation is only 1%. I can use a mortgage calculator to figure out the real impact of that 1% cost on our cash flow.

What can I say? I'm a numbers guy, while my wife shoots from the hip.

Link: Mortgage Rates

Now Internet Code to Protect Privacy

This effort is pretty funny because it is so transparently pointless:

Microsoft, Google, Yahoo!, and Vodafone have signed an agreement with online activists, human rights groups, and press freedom groups to draw up an Internet code of conduct to protect free speech and privacy of Web users. These four companies will together develop a code of conduct with a coalition of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to promote freedom of expression and privacy rights. Besides, they will establish a set of rules that will govern how they deal with censorship and other restrictions on human rights.

Can you imagine working for a powerhouse like Google and being assigned to the "New Internet Code of Conduct" effort? Just imagine the absolute derision of your co-workers, most of whom are working on worthwhile or at least potentially worthwhile projects!

Link: Now Internet Code to Protect Privacy

SpoofCard for prank calls

OK, I am one of those folks--some of you may find us annoying--who really likes to make prank calls. NOT of the prince-albert-in-a-can variety. Instead, I like to call up my brother/wife/friend and pretend to be his boss/girlfriend/boyfriend for a few minutes at the start of a call.

And cell phones have ruined all this. Now, whenever I call somebody, they know in advance that it's me calling. Pretending to be somebody else is just a formality, if I bother at all.

So my wife pointed me to SpoofCard calling cards, at www.SpoofCard.com, which offer the ability to change what shows up on the caller ID when they receive a phone call. Now this is a platform that I can get behind. In fact, SpoofCard also offers--you won't believe this--a voice changer. That's right, the software will actually allow you to change your voice to sound more like the boss/girlfriend/boyfriend that you are trying to imitate!

It is amazing to me that somebody would set up a service that is so perfect for my own peculiar needs! Have fun with it and send me your SpoofCard stories.



Link: www.SpoofCard.com

When to jump back into oil

It's become an old saw: "The world's demand for energy will never cease. Which is why a girl in Kansas is walking a dog..." So, the prices will come back up. The question is when. I'm looking for a low in the $48 range.

Crude-oil futures fell back under $51 a barrel Wednesday morning in a continued response to Saudi Arabia's rejection of calls from major oil producers for further output cuts as a way to stem the almost 17% decline in the price of oil since the start of the year.Crude for February delivery was down 41 cents at $50.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded as low as $50.60 earlier, but that was above Tuesday's 20-month, intraday low of $50.55.

Link: Crude futures fall back below $51 as OPEC output cut hopes fade - MarketWatch

Multi-lingual ecommerce software

I've been setting up new online businesses at a pretty decent clip in the past year, about one every 2-3 months. Mostly, these businesses are small affairs that I can manage on my own but occasionally I've hired a more extensive team.

One of the most difficult parts of managing so many disparate enterprises is managing all the finanacial transactions--mostly small financial transactions. I have one site where I sell $600-$700 worth of books monthly in increments of about $10-$20. At another site I sell $1000-$1500 in T shirts every month in similar increments. It is painful to manage so many different transactions over at PayPal, Google Checkout, and my own provider's e-commerce solution. About half of the transactions are in foreign currency, which only magnifies the problem.

I've been checking out Magnet Commerce as a possible solution to this problem. Magnet Commerce offers Multilingual ecommerce software that supports multiples languages and multiple currencies inside of one web-driven application. So I can launch a site in multiple languages and in multiple country-specific domains but manage all transactions from within a single application. They provide shopping cart software (with multiple language support) as well as some traditional hosting technologies, such as business e-mail. Magnet Commerce's support for search--/very/ difficult to do well but probably the most important driver of actual sales. The administration panel on the back end is more than a transaction processor. It also supports a product database including images and promotional tools. The pricing is also very reasonable compared to similar services. And there is a free trial to boot. I've been using the service for about a week and have been extremely happy with it. The bulk import function made it very easy to get up and running, and I was able to transfer all my transaction processing to Magnet (for one web site) within a few days.

If you create as many websites as I do, you might want to check it out.



Link: Multilingual ecommerce software

NCR to Split Up, Spin Off Teradata Database Business

I agree with the analyst who supposes that Teradata will become a takeover target. I think that this splitup is really a way to dump Teradata, which has never developed as hoped:

NCR Corp., the world's largest maker of automated-teller machines, will split into two companies, spinning off its Teradata database business. The stock had its biggest increase in more than two years...He said Teradata may ultimately become a takeover target for private equity firms or competitors such as SAP AG and Hewlett- Packard Co., which is now run by former NCR chief Mark Hurd.

Link: NCR to Split Up, Spin Off Teradata Database Business (Update6)

Overdue gifts

It is January 16. I still have gifts to give. What happened was this: we left town for the holidays, and returned to find a stack of gifts on our stoop! These were late arrivals from other folks, and now it's time to give back.

This year I've been big into telescopes and sunglasses. I'm into astronomy and I love to spread that joy by giving a telescope--but a telescope clearly isn't for everyone. So, if I don't think that you'd liike a telescope, you're very likely to receive sunglasses. Kids are more likely to receive flashlights. My father-in law received a rangefinder (for golf). One of my old Michigan buddies received wiley x goggles (perfect for a Michigander!).

This year I've gotten most all of these items from www.OpticsPlanet.net. They have a huge selection, discount sale pricing, and free shipping on orders over $30 (mine always are!).

Please see my Disclosure Policy in the right sidebar.





Link: wiley x goggles

Nokia launches phone with Internet calls

I still don't get this. Most of the time I can barely manage to connect to the Internet with my wireless laptop in San Francisco. How on earth are people going to use 802.11 to make wireless calls in Omaha?

Nokia Corp. said Monday it is cooperating with a leading provider of Internet-based phone services to enable cell phone users to make wireless calls without ...

Link: Nokia launches phone with Internet calls