All New Blogger

We've got a new look, new feel software as Google Overhauls Blogger. Good days.

Ponzi Scheming on Wall Street

Is the Stock Marketa big Ponzi Scheme? An intelligently articulated post on How to Save the World says that it is. Is the shape of Wall Street a Pyramid?

Get Paid to Click Ads

This Times of India article on India's secret army of online ad 'clickers' bothers me.

Securities Exchange Commission Filing Form S-1 Registration Statement

So far, it's turning out to the the most interesting registration with the SEC in quite a while.

If you've never read an SEC filing before, this might a good one to start with if you've ever googled around the web.

Selling off the web (portals)

The history of Lycos recounted is a history of the rise and fall of web stocks in the late 1990s. It's kind of intriguing, kind of sad, and something to keep in mind if you're considering buying stock in companies based on the web.

News that the American parts of the Lycos Network are for sale are interesting.

Talking Macs

It's great to hear that Apple computers will soon start shipping with speech technology integrated into their operating systems. See: Macs get their voices back

Disposible Cars

The Christian Science Monitor is reporting that new cars are getting too expensive to fix. As I look at prices and features, I'm wondering how well a retro car would do on the market.

You know, one that has windows you roll down, and steering that requires hand-over-hand turning, where the air conditioner is rolling down both windows and driving fast (known as twin-fifties in some neighborhoods).

I guess that there are quite a few retro cars on used car lots, and in junk yards across this nation. But I mean a new car, where simplicity of design is as important as value, where the cost of maintenance is considered by the engineers who design it.

Maybe we need that type of attitude to extend to more than just cars.

Sometimes you just have to let kids play

As I suspected, wasting away hours in front of a computer playing games wasn't the unproductive time I thought it was. That time may have done more to provide life skills to me than I ever imagined.

I also suspect that we can make school a whole lot more fun, too. If only we tried.

A prescription for subscription sites

I know there are some successful subscription sites out there. The Wall Street Journal seems to be doing OK. I have some friends who play online games on a subscription basis.

I recently tried out GuruNet. and their free trial subscription. Nice service. Would I subscribe? I'm not sure.

Marketing Sherpa takes a look a the business practices of subscription sites on the web. They have some suggestions that might help that type of site succeed.

International blogging

Some great ideas on International blogging from Hossein Derakhshan.

When did R&B first transform in R&R

Clearly before my time. I suspect that sometime in the late 1940 is when it happened for the first time. The Guardian investigates: Will the creator of modern music please stand up?

Instead of Ike Turner, writer of Rocket 88 in 1951, they should look at Big Joe Turner and Shake, Rattle and Roll.

Though, like any movement, music or otherwise, it's often impossible to pinpoint the exact date that a trend started or first began.

Utah takes on Spyware

Spyware is a crime in Uah that can earn someone a fine of $10,000 per incident. I'm in favor of outlawing spyware, but that sounds like a lot of money, and I hope that the law isn't so vague that innocent people get prosecuted under the law.

The other concern I have is that, like laws criminalizing spam, enforcement might not be well thought out, or spelled out, and the law may make absolutely no difference, except on paper.

Wal-mart and Linux, Perfect Together

I'm kind of fond of the idea of Wal-Mart selling computers which use a Linux operating system. The news that Wal-Mart will sell Linux PCs was announced today.

Inexpensive, affordable, computers with a high volume company distributing them could quickly change the desktop landscape. I'm glad the pres release for this wasn't sent out on April Fools' day.

Of google mail and evil

A new email service, being launched by Google, had me convinced that it was an april fools day joke, even though a patent application has been filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Why should I get one of Google's "free" email addresses? Why should I let them scan, record, and index my private correspondence?

Here's a quote from the Press Release

The inspiration for Gmail came from a Google user complaining about the poor quality of existing email services, recalled Larry Page, Google co-founder and president, Products. "She kvetched about spending all her time filing messages or trying to find them," Page said. "And when she's not doing that, she has to delete email like crazy to stay under the obligatory four megabyte limit. So she asked, 'Can't you people fix this?'"

I'm sorry, but that doesn't sound like a statement that the President of a large company should make. Kvetched?

Google. I don't care about whether or not I'm able to keep most of my email. I don't want most of my email. Figure out a way to reduce the amount of spam I get in correspondence, not a way to increase it by including ads in legitimate mail.

cleaning up Washington, DC

Good news for a Friday morning, the effort by a large group of Volunteers to clean up Potomac.

The Donald gets preempted

Will Donald Trump trademark the phrase "You're filed?" Should he be able too? I don't think he should.

But, regardless, it seems that a chicago potter is claiming first dibbs on the commercial use of the phrase. Sincerely, both of them should get attorneys who know what they are talking about, and have those attorneys explain what a trademark actually is. The trademark identifies the goods. The trademark is not the goods. This attempt to try to use trademark as a way to copyright a short phrase is silly at best.

From the US Patent and Trademark Office:

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.

Steps for Computer Security

A report today on the BBC noted that many small businesses don't take adequate precautions to make certain that their computers were safe and secure: Small firms fail security checks

What steps do you take?

Do you use passwords? Make certain that you have the most up-to-date virus definitions for your anti-virus software? Do you even have antivirus software? Do you scan your system regularly? Do you scan attachments in emails before you open them?

Do you make backups of your data on a regular basis? Remember, software can always be reinstalled, but once your data disappears, it may be impossible to retrieve it.

If you're connected via broadband, you may not want to keep your computers on when they aren't in use. That connection to the web is a bit of a security risk.

Software patches aren't uncommon, especially from operating systems manuafacturers. Check regularly for security warnings, and updates and patches from those manufacturers.

I'm fond of Zone Laboratories Zone Alarm. It's a software firewall program, which can help you avoid intruders on your computer. If you connect to the web, seriously think about a firewall program like that.

Emails? Set your reader to read them as text rather than html. Shut off preview panes in email readers. Don't open attachments on emails from people you don't know. Don't open attachments from people you do know unless you've been expecting the attachment. If you do receive one, check with the person first to make certain that they sent it.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology have plenty of other ideas and suggestions listed in their Computer Secutiry Division pages, such as encryption for communication, and security for local area networks.

Lawsuit Limits

What makes a corporation a responsible social entity? My opinion is that it starts with how the treat their employees - all of their employees, and not just the top level of management. The next is how they treat their customers. Are they people they provide goods to real flesh-and-blood folks, or are they numbers in a cost-benefit analysis?

Can we get an idea of a corporate philosophy of a company by how much they talk about civil lawsuits and how they would like to see tort reform efforts take place? Maybe.

I'm not a big fan of limiting lawsuits and trying to keep consumers from trying to have a day in court. A civil justice system is supposed to set the standards for our society, and if the average ordinary citizen doesn't like the results of the cost-benefits analysis that many large corporations follow when assessing risk, then they should bring a suit.

This article looks at why the corporate complaints are getting listened to a little more than in past years: Robin Hood is alive in court, say those seeking lawsuit limits

There are businesses who care about their employees and happy customers.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal noted that Costco shareholders might be getting harmed because the company treats employees and customers so well. I think that is a myopic view, especially considering the much lower turnover rate of employees at Costco. And happier customers.

I was visiting with my parents last weekend, and they actually mentioned Costco a couple of times, and how much their like their food, and the way they prepared some of their items at the store. When ordinary consumers start conversations talking about how much they like a store, the store must be doing something right.

Can MSN compete when there's no competition?

Microsoft seems poinsed to take on the world of search, making blogs, news, and web sites its target. Ready to launch this summer, can MSN carve a niche that needs to be filled. I'm not sure that bloggers really need MSN.

Things they never taught me

Why is it that lessons learned the hard way are often the ones that stay with us the longest? It's so much easier learning from the mistakes of another. Things such as "never start your business two weeks after the Yellow pages ads need to be submitted when your business relies upon that advertsing as a primary way of gaining new customers."

This list is priceless: Michael McDonough's Top Ten Things They Never Taught Me in Design School. It's scope goes way beyond designing.