I got home for work the other day and sat down with my family for dinner. "How was your day?" I asked my kids. My kids proceeded to tell me about how their days went. Everything seemed like it was going well. So, I asked my son, "Did you get to practice lacrosse today?" As a bit of background, my son plays on a highly competitive lacrosse team, and if he doesn't practice enough, he risks losing his position. "No dad. I didn't have time," he replied. Now this, unfortunately, is NOT an acceptable answer. In fact, according to Napoleon Hill, author of the famed…
Selected by effetti
-
Growthink
-
Successful Entrepreneurs Don't Do This
17 Nov 2009 | 2:32 pm -
Kim Kardashian, James Cameron's $500 Million Avatar, and Private Equity - A Parable
15 Nov 2009 | 7:49 pmTwo pieces of startling news to consider when thinking about how money is really made in our brand-driven 21st century economy: 1. James Cameron's 3-D beyond blockbuster "Avatar" - reported by the New York Times' Michael Cieply to have a total budget - production and marketing - in excess of $500 million! Director Cameron, of Titanic, is blowing away ALL movie cost records here. To give a feel of the size of the bet that Cameron, Fox, and private equity partners Dune Entertainment and Ingenious Media, are taking on the film, Avatar may have to become one of the top-twenty grossing… -
Business Plan Milestones: How They Are Essential To Your Success
10 Nov 2009 | 6:05 amOne of the absolute keys to a successful business plan is to create the right business plan milestones. Doing so is essential to securing investors and making real progress towards achieving your goals. The story below illustrates the importance of business plan milestones, after which is some guidance regarding how you can create the right business plan milestones for your company. There are lots of things that all of us do, and do as well as we have to, without thinking. Like pumping gas. I just pumped gas this morning. And thought nothing of it. Until now. The fact is that I didn't just… -
November 9, 1989 - The Proper End of History
9 Nov 2009 | 11:49 amPassing with surprisingly little fanfare, today is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. One of my most enduring memories of my college days (I was an International Relations Major at Stanford, Class of 1990) was a class that I took from an extremely engaging and charismatic young professor on Soviet Foreign Policy. One statement that my professor made stayed with me - that probably none of us in our lifetimes would see the Berlin Wall fall. Her reasons: a) The inevitable brain and talent drain that an opening of the wall would bring about b) The more that people in the old… -
Top 7 Business Plan Secrets [New CD]
9 Nov 2009 | 8:47 amI recently recorded a CD with my 7 best business plan secrets. This new 54-minute CD reveals my 7 best-kept secrets for how you can create a successful business plan that attracts capital and positions your company for success. Get all the details here. After listening to my CD, you'll be far ahead of your competition because you'll have critical knowledge and skills, such as: - How to make sure your business plan actually gets read - Why having lots of competitors can be a GOOD thing - What investors really look for in your business plan ...and more time-tested strategies that I've used to…
-
VentureBeat
-
Now anyone can try Brizzly’s app for Facebook and Twitter
20 Nov 2009 | 4:28 pmBrizzly, an application for managing messages in Twitter and Facebook, expanded its beta test today — now you don’t need an invite code, so anyone can use it. The application was created by San Francisco-based Thing Labs, and includes features like expanding links and photos, the ability to “mute” people who you want to stop seeing updates from temporarily, and recently-added support for Twitter Lists. In addition to opening the beta, Brizzly also added a new feature today, the ability to translate tweets with a single click (using Google Translate). Oh, and Thing Labs… -
Tweetmeme launches buttons for re-tweetable advertising
20 Nov 2009 | 4:14 pmTwitter said it’s planning a large-scale advertising network soon, but U.K.-based Tweetmeme beat them to the punch with a monetization effort of its own today. The startup, which creates those green ‘Retweet’ buttons you see everywhere (including on this site), is rolling out the same feature for ads. They’re partnering with Federated Media to insert retweet buttons into their advertising two weeks from now, enabling people to share compelling ads with others. Advertising in social streams has historically been a touchy issue (see: Facebook Beacon in 2007). Users… -
GreenBeat: Big thank you and media roundup
20 Nov 2009 | 3:30 pmThanks to everyone who made it out to GreenBeat 2009 yesterday and Wednesday! We were thrilled with the turnout, and couldn’t be more grateful for all the support we received from attendees, speakers, sponsors and the press. It’s clear that the Smart Grid has gained the momentum it needs for serious work to be done, and we are excited to play a big role in this conversation going forward. With Al Gore, and several of the biggest utilities and brightest entrepreneurs leading the charge, 2010 should be a big year for smart metering initiatives, regulatory reform and consumer… -
GreenBeat: Al Gore says Smart Grid part of ‘the single largest solution’ to climate change
20 Nov 2009 | 2:43 pmNobel Prize winner and former vice president Al Gore gave a wide-ranging, passionate talk at VentureBeat’s GreenBeat 2009 conference yesterday in San Mateo about combating global warming. We already liveblogged Gore’s talk, but for folks who don’t want to read the blow-by-blow description, here’s a summary. Perhaps the most significant point: That energy efficiency is “the single largest solution to the climate crisis,” and the Smart Grid will “play a crucial role” in achieving that efficiency. The Smart Grid will have a number of advantages,… -
New speakers, sponsors for DiscoveryBeat; today is last day for early-bird discount
20 Nov 2009 | 1:28 pmWe’ve got some great momentum for VentureBeat’s upcoming DiscoveryBeat event, which will attack the problem of how to get attention for an app in the midst of a lot of noise. One of our newest speakers is Randy Breen, chief operating officer at Social Gaming Network, where he oversees game development, business development, strategy and executive management. He has worked in the game industry since 1986 at companies such as Electronic Arts, LucasArts and Emotiv Systems. Today is the last chance to get DiscoveryBeat tickets at the early-bird rate of $114. That’s a 25 percent…
-
Fast Company
-
The 12 Best and Worst Digital Characters
20 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pm -
What Do Presidential Libraries Say About Their Namesakes' Legacies?
20 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pmPart of the point of a presidential library is that it's a monument to a leader's legacy--his style, his enduring affect on the world, even his reading habits...or lack thereof. Speaking of which, Laura Bush unveiled the design for her husband's book joint this week, and the ultra-traditional structure that nods to Washington but bows to the rest of Southern Methodist University's campus isn't winning any points with architecture critics. But how does W's design stack up against his predecessors? We checked out the libraries of fellow recent commanders-in-chief completed in the last three… -
Drive a Mercedes with Your iPhone and Nine Other Mind-Blowing Stories This Week on Fast Company
20 Nov 2009 | 3:45 pmMind-blowing phrase of the week: "interferometric modulation," which can be loosely translated as "Oh my God! Qualcomm’s Mirasol e-reader has color video!" Mercedes Benz unveiled an app that lets you control your car with the iPhone. But Intel one-ups the luxe car maker with an implantable chip that lets you control your computer using only your thoughts.Round two of the juice-packaging cage match started late last year with Pepsi’s Tropicana fiasco, and this week Coke’s Minute Maid unveiled a juicy new look (courtesy of Master of Design cover boy David Butler). Los Angeles took home… -
ComScore's New Study Finds Dope on "Movie Junkies"
20 Nov 2009 | 3:30 pmResearch group comScore released its study on "movie junkies" yesterday that surveyed the behavior of 500,000 moviegoers who bought tickets online in September 2009. Some of the highlights: Fandango rules the market. Over $31 million is spent each month buying online movie tickets, with 81% of those tickets purchased at Fandago.com. Females 25-54 are heavy online ticket buyers. Women are actually more likely to make decisions about movie night than men: movie ticket purchasers are 39% more likely to be female. Maybe men would rather watch at home? DVD sales were an equal split between the… -
Can Chegg Beat the Kindle at the Textbook Game?
20 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pmThe Kindle may be the king of e-readers, but it has a long way to go before being accepted as an acceptable replacement for textbooks. When Amazon's device was introduced at Princeton for classroom assignments recently, it received mostly negative reviews. Now the Kindle's budding classroom legacy is being challenged by Chegg, an online textbook rental service that just raised a whopping $112 million in a round led by Insight Venture Partners. Chegg deals in good old-fashioned print books, but saves paper by letting students rent textbooks in a Netflix-like model. The company, founded in…
-
The BIG Kahuna
-
The Improper Way To Use A Tagline
16 Nov 2009 | 6:41 pmI’ve written about Best Buy before but I just have to ask what the hell are they doing? Last year I wrote how I thought their new tagline “You Happier” was meaningless because it didn’t relate to their brand identity (whatever that is). Click here to view the embedded video. It’s not a brilliant tagline like Walmart’s :”Save Money. Live Better“. Walmart is using their tagline to actually leverage their brand identity of cost savings. But now Best Buy has again changed their tagline. Instead of “You Happier” it’s now… -
Lend America Playing On Our Fears?
29 Oct 2009 | 3:19 pmI’m sure you’ve all seen this cheeseball commercial: Click here to view the embedded video. Do you believe this brand called “Lend America”? Do you find it insulting how they pretend to be a newscast? In this day of mortgage crisis do you believe a bad credit score is okay? Have you done a Google search for the phrase “Lend America Scam”? Would you be surprised to learn there are over 51,000 results? http://www.google.com/search?q=lend+america+scam&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GGLG_en Your… -
Good Branding Is A Safety Net
24 Oct 2009 | 5:30 pmAs I walk the mall shopping and making buying decisions I always question why I buy one product over another. The other day I had a new home alarm installed. I shopped around and know for certain I could have saved a few bucks with a lot of other people. Who did I go with? Brinks. Sorry, Broadview. Why? I know if there’s ever a problem they’ll take care of me. I’m safe. Same thinking applies to all my shopping. Whenever I’m faced with a decision between two brands I’ll always choose the one that makes me feel the most comfortable. I’ll pay extra for that… -
Fox News – Fair and Balanced?
13 Oct 2009 | 7:18 amAh, no you’re not, and I watch you all the time. Let’s face it, you’re a conservative, Republican promoting TV News outlet. Get rid of this ridiculous tagline “Fair and Balanced”. It only makes you look weak. Embrace your brand identity of representing the right. No one else is. You’ll automatically stand for much, much more by embracing the brand. We all know CNN and MSNBC go way left. Liberals love those stations. They don’t have the guts to come out and say they are liberals either. You do Fox. Just proclaim your rightness and be done with it. -
Are You Blocking Your Employees From Social Networks Like Facebook?
12 Oct 2009 | 10:45 amIf you are stop it. Now. Really, cut the crap! This sort of practice just gets morale down and makes your company an undesirable place to work at. Go ahead, tell me your employees will be less productive. Hogwash. They’re doing it anyway from their SmartPhones, iPhones and whoziedoozzies. Soon we will all have chips surgically implanted in our heads and we won’t need a device. Here’s a great article on the issues, read it: Access to social media improves productivity. According to Dave Willmer, executive director of Robert Half Technology, “Using social networking sites…
-
The Big Picture
-
Friday Night Jazz iPod’s guilty little pleasures
20 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pmI will be incommunicado today, winging my way back from Berlin for 8 und eh heff hours. I wrote this back in 2005, but never published it widely. Enjoy: > What sort of crap do you have lurking hidden on your iPod? That’s the question on an older article I stumbled across from my old e&e blog. The Arizona Republic asked: “Those saccharine pop tunes and schmaltzy ballads cloaked from friends? There’s no excuse anymore. No blaming it on a CD that had just one song you liked. No claiming it belonged to your wife, husband or friend.You selected each and every tune. Like… -
From Bear to Bull By Sector
20 Nov 2009 | 11:02 amMost investors know that the S&P 500 hit a record high in October 2007 and a (the?) low in March of this year. But when you break it down by sector, things are a bit more complicated. Otherwise, for those who are wondering whether there is more upside ahead, the fact that four groups — telecom services, financials, energy, and utilities — have not seen new highs this month while the S&P 500 has might be a cause for concern. -
Site of the Day: Innumeracy.com
20 Nov 2009 | 10:30 am> Some good learnin’ here: This web site stems from a personal interest in critical thinking and is a collection of links to articles and sites pertaining to numeracy and critical thinking. Links should be good for at least the date posted. After the posting date, link reliability depends on the policy of the linked sites. Some sites may require registration before allowing access. -
The ‘Greatest Trade’: How to Make $20 Billion
20 Nov 2009 | 7:30 amThe WSJ’s Greg Zuckerman has a new book out titled, The Greatest Trade Ever: The Behind-the-Scenes Story of How John Paulson Defied Wall Street and Made Financial History. Here is an excerpt from his recent WSJ column on lessons on the subject: 1 Don’t Rely on the Experts Many investors lost big in 2007 and 2008 as housing crumbled and the stock market tumbled. But no one lost more than commercial and investment banks caught with toxic mortgage-related securities. These bankers were the very same ones who created these investments, and Wall Street’s top analysts had vouched… -
Deflationary Trend (Temporarily) Masked by Free Lunches
20 Nov 2009 | 7:30 amThe Quote of the Day comes to us via Bloomberg’s Alice Schroeder: “We’re in the midst of a deflationary trend that is temporarily being masked by inventory restocking and free lunches like Cash for Clunkers. Consumers are done with borrowing. They’ll keep refueling the deflation by going through their attics and garages to find stuff they can sell on Ebay to raise cash.” -Gold Tells You U.S. Bubble Hasn’t Popped Yet
-
The Personal Branding Blog
-
Want to Transition to a Green Job? Research and Network Your Way In
20 Nov 2009 | 6:35 amCompetition is growing exponentially for jobs in this hot industry. The key to success is investing time in targeted research, compiling a list of companies to focus on, identifying hiring decision-makers or leads within those companies, and penetrating their networks. Practice “give to get” networkingGently get to know them, what their needs are, and how you can solve their problems. Build evangelism for your brand and stay top of mind with them. When they hear of jobs that may be a good fit, they’ll think of you. • Familiarize yourself with industry trends, culture, and the… -
How Green is Your Personal Brand?
19 Nov 2009 | 5:35 amAs momentum for the green job market continues to grow, make sure your branding is as green as possible…and that often takes thinking out of the box. You may not be able to build a wind turbine, but you may work in sales at a financial firm that encourages green investments or be an accountant at a bank that funds green construction. These experiences count and may be invaluable in landing a “green” job. Here are some additional tips to color your personal brand green: • Walk the talk. Practice the three R’s – reduce, reuse and recycle – in your home life… -
Do You Bleed Green?
17 Nov 2009 | 4:52 amBefore you jump headfirst into the green fray, step back and ask yourself this: “How can I demonstrate my authentic motivation to make the world more sustainable?” Skip the memories of recycling water bottles and bringing your own coffee mug to Starbucks. Now dig a little deeper. What moved you to change your way of life and when, where, and why did it happen? Is there a story that clearly expresses your value or passion for sustainability? If the answer’s no, you’ve led yourself down the garden path. But if that story exists, communicating it from the heart will set you apart… -
Holidays Are a Great Time for Brand You
14 Nov 2009 | 6:40 amIn the United States, Thanksgiving Day is fast approaching with Christmas already trying to "beat it out of the gate" as signs of trees, wreaths and lights already adorn retail shops and even several homes. We are about to embark upon the season of the "grip, grin and graze". Yes, it's that time of year for family gatherings around a Thanksgiving meal quickly followed by Christmas parties, holiday happenings, big end of the year networking events, and holiday office parties.It's a time for great connection and relationship building and it's also a time… -
A Green Career Makeover
11 Nov 2009 | 5:23 amDoes your career need a make-over to be more competitive in the current job market? Think green! Green jobs are not just for technical and scientific profess-sionals such as eco-consultants and renewable energy engineers. In fact, your current job or profession could undergo a “green jobs” makeover without any additional training to become much more desirable by employers and more secure. Every company or organization in the green sector has openings for people in finance, administrative services, sales and marketing, and human resources. Begin by researching green industries such as…
-
Brandweek - News and Features
-
Wolf From 'New Moon' Howls on MySpace
20 Nov 2009 | 5:52 amSocial network's movie tie-in is the site's boldest ad-takeover yet. -
Social Media Users Really Are More Social
20 Nov 2009 | 12:50 amResearch finds offline relations enhanced by online social media. -
JC Penney's 'Doghouse' Lives to Bark Another Season
20 Nov 2009 | 12:38 amRetailer's viral marketing campaign is back for the holidays. -
Muscle Milk Shows Off Its 'Sexy Pilgrim'
19 Nov 2009 | 10:04 pmViral campaign for protein drinks aims to allure new customers. -
HP Scales New Heights
19 Nov 2009 | 8:47 amGoodby rolls out campaign that raises awareness for the global clean water crisis.
-
Twitter: The Economist
-
TheEconomist: The other D-word - Is Japan back in a deflationary trap? http://ow.ly/163apl
20 Nov 2009 | 9:41 amTheEconomist: The other D-word - Is Japan back in a deflationary trap? http://ow.ly/163apl -
TheEconomist: Hey, big spender - Which firms spend most on R&D? http://ow.ly/1639Il
20 Nov 2009 | 8:49 amTheEconomist: Hey, big spender - Which firms spend most on R&D? http://ow.ly/1639Il -
TheEconomist: Sod it - The latest plastic pitches are a goal-scorers delight http://ow.ly/1638Sa
20 Nov 2009 | 6:38 amTheEconomist: Sod it - The latest plastic pitches are a goal-scorers delight http://ow.ly/1638Sa -
TheEconomist: The result of our online debate on cloud computing is in. 53% think the cloud can be trusted. You can read the... http://bit.ly/11tdPl
20 Nov 2009 | 6:24 amTheEconomist: The result of our online debate on cloud computing is in. 53% think the cloud can be trusted. You can read the... http://bit.ly/11tdPl -
TheEconomist: Name a famous Belgian - Two minor but competent figures will be president and high representive of the European Uni... http://ow.ly/162YLp
19 Nov 2009 | 4:28 pmTheEconomist: Name a famous Belgian - Two minor but competent figures will be president and high representive of the European Uni... http://ow.ly/162YLp
-
NYT > Business
-
Your Money: Experienced In Love And Money
20 Nov 2009 | 4:35 pmSome advice from those with firsthand experience of divorce may help you avoid the financial pitfalls of a split. -
Patient Money: How to Find Mental Health Care When Money Is Tight
20 Nov 2009 | 4:12 pmHot lines, online groups and organizations that charge fees on a sliding scale are options for finding help. -
Shortcuts: When ‘Customer Service’ Seems Anything But
20 Nov 2009 | 4:12 pmSometimes it is hard to remember that the person on the other end of the phone line is not the enemy, but staying calm can help. -
Europe’s Bank Tightens Loan Rules
20 Nov 2009 | 4:03 pmIn a move to prepare the ground to unwind emergency liquidity measures, the European Central Bank has tightened rules for collateral it accepts against loans. -
Shares Finish Lower on Doubts About Recovery
20 Nov 2009 | 4:01 pmInvestors are increasingly wondering about the speed of the economy recovery and they are questioning the fast-paced rise of technology stocks.
-
Economy Watch
-
The Big Money
17 Dec 2018 | 5:38 pmParty Poopers Did Wells Fargo save any money by canceling its lavish event? The Way We Beg Depression Diary, Part 5 -
Stat header
18 Sep 2018 | 9:53 am1.0% Q2 GDP | 4.98% avg. 30-year mortgage | 10.2%Unemployment -
Markets flatten: Have they found their top?
20 Nov 2009 | 11:17 amIn early afternoon trading, stocks have pared some of their losses, but they are down for the second straight day (and spent most of Wednesday underwater before closing up), so it's worth wondering if this is a blip or the long-advertised "correction" traders have been predicting and awaiting. First, a look at the markets right now. As of about 2:15, the Dow is down three-tenths of 1 percent. The broader S&P 500 is down four-tenths of 1 percent and the tech-heavy Nasdaq is down six-tenths of 1 percent. Now, let's take a look back and see how the markets have been trending in recent months. -
Leonsis: I was not planning on selling Revolution Money
19 Nov 2009 | 11:44 amI had a long talk with Ted Leonsis on Wednesday night about American Express's $300 million purchase of Leonsis's Revolution Money, a PayPal-like online alternative-payment site. I wrote a story in today's paper, which you can read by clicking here. But I wasn't able to squeeze some interesting things he said into the newspaper story, so I wanted to share them with you here today. Let's be clear about this: This sale was probably Leonsis's best play for Revolution Money to continue growing. Trying to go up against the four big payment networks -- Visa, Mastercard, Amex and Discover is like… -
Rep. Brady to Geithner: 'Will you step down?'
19 Nov 2009 | 8:09 amRep. Kevin Brady (R-Tex.) just gave a severe tongue-lashing to Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner moments ago in the Joint Economic committee, concluding with a surprising call for Geithner to resign. For a change, Geithner didn't just sit there and take it. Geithner is ostensibly before the committee to argue for financial reform, but Brady used the opportunity to launch a partisan attack on Geithner reading a laundry list of what Brady termed as economic failures of the current administration. Geithner responded with a spirited defense -- edgier than usual -- and was clearly angered by the…
-
Economic Policy Institute
-
Spurring Job Creation (webcast)
19 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am -
Tracking the Money
19 Nov 2009 | 4:30 am -
Dire states—State and local budget relief needed
19 Nov 2009 | 3:00 am -
State and local budget shortfalls will cause heavy drag on growth
18 Nov 2009 | 3:30 am -
Progressive leaders warn of “social catastrophe”
17 Nov 2009 | 1:37 pm
-
Vox (EU)
-
The global distribution of carbon emissions
20 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pmJean-Marie Grether, Nicole A. Mathys, 21 November 2009What is the geographical distribution of CO2 emissions? This column identifies the Earth’s “polluting centre of gravity” since 1970. It is heading east faster than GDP, which suggests that Asian production is getting more carbon-intensive.Full Article: The global distribution of carbon emissions -
How preferential are preferential trade agreements?
20 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pmCéline Carrère, Jaime de Melo, Bolormaa Tumurchudur Klok, 21 November 2009Almost all economies are party to preferential trade schemes. But how much are they “giving away” or “receiving” in preferential access? This column presents a compact representation of effective market access and applies it to the proposed ASEAN-EU trade agreement. Full Article: How preferential are preferential trade agreements? -
Do elections in developing countries improve economic policy?
20 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pmLisa Chauvet, Paul Collier, 21 November 2009There is some evidence that democracies enjoy better economic growth. How do elections, a core component of democracy, impact economic policy? This says that free and fair elections in developing countries improve economic policy by disciplining governments. But infrequent or uncompetitive elections may actually make things worse. Full Article: Do elections in developing countries improve economic policy? -
Stabilities and instabilities in the macroeconomy
20 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pmAxel Leijonhufvud, 21 November 2009Economics lacks an anchored understanding of the nature of the reality that economics is supposed to illuminate. This column, which introduces a new CEPR Policy Insight, says that instability of leverage, connectivity, and the potential instability of the price level have all been neglected in stable-with-frictions macro theory. Technical innovations will not bring real progress as long as “stability-with-frictions” remains the ruling paradigm. Meanwhile, governments are not prepared to face another crisis.Full Article: Stabilities and instabilities in… -
Forecasting macroeconomic developments
19 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pmAlex Cukierman, 20 November 2009Ideology, institutions, political, and accepted economic wisdom shape economic policy choices. This column explores how political ideologies and academic conclusions shaped US policymakers’ responses to the global financial crisis. It says that forecasting macroeconomic developments necessarily involves forecasting the role of such beliefs.Full Article: Forecasting macroeconomic developments
-
Financial Times: Undercover Economist
-
Given the choice, how much choice would you like?
13 Nov 2009 | 3:49 pmIs more choice better? Ten years ago the answer seemed obvious: Yes. Now the conventional wisdom is the opposite: lots of choice makes people less likely to choose anything, and less happy when they do choose. The most famous supporting evidence is an experiment conducted by two psychologists, Mark Lepper and Sheena Iyengar. They set up [...] -
Dear Economist: How can I be fair to my grandchildren?
13 Nov 2009 | 3:46 pmMy son has two children and my daughter four. I propose to give £5,000 to each grandchild in my will. Would this be equitable, given that £20,000 would go to my daughter’s side of the family and only £10,000 to my son’s? Mr Robinson Dear Mr Robinson, Let me be frank: at first glance I thought your dilemma [...] -
How a celebrity chef turned into a social scientist
6 Nov 2009 | 4:21 pmI do not count myself as one of Jamie Oliver’s army of fans, but after looking at the chirpy chef’s antics through the eyes of an economist, I am starting to acquire a grudging respect for him. Yes, the recipe books are all but unreadable, but his “school dinners” campaign has been surprisingly successful. Oliver’s mission [...] -
Dear Economist: Why a ‘pointless’ tax cut really counted
6 Nov 2009 | 4:17 pmWhen the Chancellor of the Exchequer reduced value-added tax from 17.5 per cent to 15 per cent as an incentive for consumers to spend, there was a widespread view that the reduction was too small to be of use. Now that we are approaching the time when VAT returns to 17.5 per cent, some retailers say [...] -
My big decision
6 Nov 2009 | 5:43 amGrant Thornton did a photo-shoot and audio interview with me a few months ago about “My Big Decision”. I told them I don’t believe in big decisions, but for all three die-hard Tim Harford fans out there, here’s the interview.
-
Statistical Modeling
-
"Science revolves around the discovery of new cause-effect relationships but the entire statistics literature says almost nothing about how to do this."
19 Nov 2009 | 8:13 amSeth writes: Is this a fair statement, do you think? Science revolves around the discovery of new cause-effect relationships but the entire statistics literature says almost nothing about how to do this. It's part of an abstract for a talk I [Seth] will give at the ASA conference next July. Haven't submitted the abstract yet so can revise it or leave it out. My reply: This seems reasonable to me. You could clarify that the EDA literature is all about discovery of new relationships but with nothing about causality, while the identification literature is all about causality but nothing about… -
Senators and health care; also a discussion of pretty statistical graphics
19 Nov 2009 | 5:16 amNate, Daniel, and I have an op-ed in the Times today, about senators' positions and state-level opinion on health care. We write: Lawmakers' support for or opposition to reform generally has less to do with the views of their constituents and more to do with the issue of presidential popularity. . . . For instance, Senator Blanche Lincoln, a Democrat who has been a less-than-strong supporter of the present health care bill, recently told The Times, "I am responsible to the people of Arkansas, and that is where I will take my direction." But where does she look for her cue? Hers is a poor… -
Statfight!
19 Nov 2009 | 1:38 amFun stuff. -
They call me Dear Abby, or, This might at first seem like a pointless tautological exercise, but actually I think it can lead you forward
18 Nov 2009 | 12:50 pmDaniel Corsi writes: I am a PhD student in epidemiology at McMaster University and I am interested in exploring how characteristics of communities are related to child health in developing countries. I have been using multilevel models to relate physical characteristics of communities such as the number of schools, health clinics, sanitation facilities etc to child height for age and weight for age using observational/survey data. I have several questions with regards to the group (community-level) level predictors in these models. 1. My first question is about interpretation of the… -
Clearing up some misconceptions about Bayesian statistics
18 Nov 2009 | 4:03 amI was checking out the comments at my bloggingheads conversation with Eliezer Yudkowsky, and I noticed the following, from commenter bbbeard: My sense is that there is a fundamental sickness at the heart of Bayesianism. Bayes' theorem is an uncontroversial proposition in both frequentist and Bayesian camps, since it can be formulated precisely in terms of event ensembles. However, the fundamental belief of the Bayesian interpretation, that all probabilities are subjective, is problematic -- for its lack of rigor. . . . One of the features of frequentist statistics is the ease of testability.
-
Marginal Revolution
-
Badges? We don't need no stinkin badges.
20 Nov 2009 | 2:14 pmIn pursuit of an Eagle Scout badge, Kevin Anderson, 17, has toiled for more than 200 hours hours over several weeks to clear a walking path in an east Allentown park.Little did the do-gooder know that his altruistic act would put him in the cross hairs of the city's largest municipal union.Nick Balzano, president of the local Service Employees International Union, told Allentown City Council Tuesday that the union is considering filing a grievance against the city for allowing Anderson to clear a 1,000-foot walking and biking path at Kimmets Lock Park."We'll be looking into the… -
Assorted links, second dose
20 Nov 2009 | 10:11 am1. Air Genius Gary Leff is hailed by CNN.2. Good post on interest rates (though I am not sure I agree with it). Brad DeLong comments. Critically important stuff and two of the best recent economics blog posts, in some time.3. The world's first native Klingon speaker?4. Spider silk tapestry.5. Via Yana, France's hamster hotel, and here. -
Markets in everything?
20 Nov 2009 | 6:49 amA gang in the remote Peruvian jungle has been killing people for their fat, the police said Thursday, accusing the gang’s members of draining fat from bodies and selling it on the black market for use in cosmetics...Three suspects have confessed to killing five people for their fat, said Col. Jorge Mejía, chief of Peru’s anti-kidnapping police. He said the suspects, two of whom were arrested carrying bottles of liquid fat, told the police it was worth $60,000 a gallon.Colonel Mejía said the suspects had told the police that the fat had been sold to intermediaries in Lima, the capital. -
Assorted links
20 Nov 2009 | 4:08 am1. How much will U.S. taxes ever go up? 2. Useful lateral thinking and how it is described by the lateral thinker.3. The biological bases of business and entrepreneurship.4. One hour show with me in Second Life; they even did up a Tyler Cowen avatar. Other shows are here, including economist Robert Frank and libertarian Adam Thierer.5. Matt Kahn on "cash for caulkers".6. The new AEA calendar of economists. To whet your appetite, here is a photo of Francis Ysidro Edgeworth. -
*The Unincorporated Man* and slavery
20 Nov 2009 | 3:59 amAs long as we are on the topic of slavery, why not consider fiction? This science fiction novel has an intriguing economic premise: you're born a slave and you're not free until you can buy yourself back from your owner (which may be a corporation).It may sound funny to think that a slave can save money but arguably an optimal slavery contract in a high-productivity society will give the slave some residual claimancy and some property rights, in order to spur work effort.At some point you wonder whether a slave in this futuristic society is better off buying the rights to…
-
Twitter: Freakonomics
-
freakonomics: Of God and Money: A priest, a minister, and a rabbi walk into an economics lab. Which one is most likely to increa... http://bit.ly/08902E8
20 Nov 2009 | 12:47 pmfreakonomics: Of God and Money: A priest, a minister, and a rabbi walk into an economics lab. Which one is most likely to increa... http://bit.ly/08902E8 -
freakonomics: A Few Questions for Belle de Jour, Call Girl and Scientist: In 2003, a young American woman in London studying for ... http://bit.ly/8u7fB3
20 Nov 2009 | 10:32 amfreakonomics: A Few Questions for Belle de Jour, Call Girl and Scientist: In 2003, a young American woman in London studying for ... http://bit.ly/8u7fB3 -
freakonomics: Why Do We Hate?: "What makes hate tick? How can we stop it?" These are the questions that Jim Mohr, director of Gon... http://bit.ly/4CXcrs
20 Nov 2009 | 9:22 amfreakonomics: Why Do We Hate?: "What makes hate tick? How can we stop it?" These are the questions that Jim Mohr, director of Gon... http://bit.ly/4CXcrs -
freakonomics: Introducing "Applied Freakonomics": When blog reader Kyle contacted us with his story of how thinking "freakonomica... http://bit.ly/1ejprq
20 Nov 2009 | 8:00 amfreakonomics: Introducing "Applied Freakonomics": When blog reader Kyle contacted us with his story of how thinking "freakonomica... http://bit.ly/1ejprq -
freakonomics: When Football Violence Turns Real: It's well-established that domestic violence is bad for the children directly exp... http://bit.ly/qOM9c
20 Nov 2009 | 7:20 amfreakonomics: When Football Violence Turns Real: It's well-established that domestic violence is bad for the children directly exp... http://bit.ly/qOM9c
-
naked capitalism
-
Stop the madness now!
20 Nov 2009 | 1:08 pmBy Edward Harrison of Credit Writedowns. A reader at Naked Capitalism asked us to respond to a recent article from the Christian Science Monitor asking Does US need a second stimulus to create jobs? Marshall Auerback has already done some heavy lifting – and taken all of the heat in the comments. He says emphatically yes. Now I want to take a crack at this. My short answer is no. But before I go into this, as an aside, I wanted to mention Marshall’s new smiling, happy picture up at the great blog New Deal 2.0 where he now writes. Earlier, when Credit Writedowns was hosted at… -
Dodd: Bernanke Confirmation “Not Necessarily” a Foregone Conclusion
20 Nov 2009 | 10:06 amThis clip is from an interview with blogger Mike Stark. Apologies for the poor sound quality. While Dodd indicates that he is “inclined to be supportive” of Bernanke, he is surprisingly cautious about making a broader statement, a sign of a shift in sentiment. -
Ivy Zelman: “Home prices are going back down”
20 Nov 2009 | 4:59 amBy Edward Harrison of Credit Writedowns. Yves is stuffed again today, so I am going to post at least once or twice. Hopefully, we will also see something from Jesse or George as well. This is a post I wrote overnight about rising delinquencies and shadow housing inventory. I am not convinced house prices in the U.S. are headed higher permanently and this post points out why. The Mortgage Bankers Association is reporting that nearly one in ten households with mortgages are at least one payment behind. That is a record, my friends. And it certainly means we cannot believe house prices… -
Links 11/20/09
19 Nov 2009 | 11:02 pmthe price of water Archein Lions kill rare white tiger at Czech Republic zoo BBC (hat tip reader Steve L) Moira man fights off deer attack Press Republican (hat tip reader John L) Cinema popcorn is nutritional horror show: US study Raw Story (hat tip reader John D) The jobless rate-interest rate conundrum Tim Iacono Canada’s sub-prime mortgage time bomb Rabble Goldman Holders Miffed at Bonuses Wall Street Journal White House Rebuke: Angry Dems Shut Down Vote Huffington Post (hat tip DoctoRx) Easy Loans in Expensive Areas New York Times Leading Economic Indicators Losing Strength… -
“Does US need a second stimulus to create jobs?”
19 Nov 2009 | 10:02 pmReader Doug Smith was not happy with an article in the Christian Science Monitor yesterday, titled, “Does US need a second stimulus to create jobs? His remarks: Could you, Edward or someone consider reading this article and responding to it? My sense is that it perfectly captures ‘conventional wisdom’ and, in that sense, is a bell weather for what our nation is confronting when it comes to just how far conventional wisdom lies from real insight that matters. I am up to my elbows in alligators right now, and Ed Harrison and Marshall Auerback have offered to take this one on,…
-
drupal.org
-
Whitehouse.gov re-launches on Drupal and engages the Drupal community at DC users meeting
18 Nov 2009 | 2:23 pmEarlier this month, the Executive Office of the President of the United States of America relaunched their website, Whitehouse.gov, using Drupal. This week three members of the White House new media team presented at the Washington, DC Drupal users group. New media director Macon Phillips, deputy director of technology David Cole, and creative director Nik Lo Bue talked about their use of Drupal. In this video, Macon Phillips addresses how they want to create opportunities for citizens to participate in their government. David Cole talks about why they wanted to change their technology… -
Case Study: Concern Fast
17 Nov 2009 | 8:18 amEach year, thousands of people around Ireland join Concern Worldwide in the Concern Fast. During the Fast, people give up food for 24 hours and raise as much money as they can for some of the world’s poorest people. One aspect of this years campaign is an online element, where registered fasters can get their own online profile page. Through this, they are able to take sponsorships and return any money that they have raised offline directly through the site. Kirkdesigns built the Concern Fast website with Drupal 6, CiviCRM, a rather large handful of community contributed modules and of… -
Drupal wins Hall of Fame Award in the 2009 Open Source CMS Awards
12 Nov 2009 | 6:22 amDrupal has won the Hall of Fame Award in the 2009 Open Source CMS Awards. Drupal previously won the 2007 and 2008 Best Overall Open Source CMS Award. As a result of the previous wins, Drupal graduated to the Hall of Fame along with Joomla. It is a great honor for the Drupal community to be the first winner of the Open Source CMS Hall of Fame Award. The Drupal community has worked hard to improve Drupal by adding internationalization, enhancing security, facilitating customization, increasing extensibility, and easing the user experience. This award is a great complement to winning the 2009… -
Drupal wins best open source PHP CMS for second year in a row
10 Nov 2009 | 9:43 amDrupal has won best open source PHP Content Management System for the second year in a row in the Packt Publishing 2009 Open Source CMS Awards. Drupal won by popular vote and a critical selection by a panel of judges. This award reflects the strong support of the Drupal community and our focus on quality which leads to critical acclaim and rapid adoption for large, high quality projects. Drupal won best overall open source CMS in 2007 and 2008. From the award announcement, We are pleased to announce that Drupal has won the Best Open Source PHP CMS Category in the 2009 Open Source CMS Award. -
France 24 migrates to Drupal 6, codebase to be open-sourced
5 Nov 2009 | 5:26 amFrance 24 is a public 24/7 international news channel broadcast in three languages: French, English and Arabic. Its mission is to cover international current events from a French perspective and to convey French values throughout the world. The channel provides keys to understanding complex events through in-depth analysis. France 24 also puts culture at the forefront of its programming. France24 is part of the AEF (the "Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France" or French foreign media), along with RFI (a radio station) and TV5 (a TV station). Launched in December, 2006, the website was originally…
-
PHPBuilder.com New Articles
-
PHP Development: Getting Started
It's been a few years since I echo'd my first HELLO WORLD script. PHP has developed and evolved and ... -
A Look Into Web Services
When I first started working on the web and developing websites, the Web Service was a new concept t ... -
PHP Filters: An Important Security Feature
You may have noticed that I have mentioned in one of my previous articles that PHP's biggest weaknes ... -
Aptana Studio Professional 1.5, a Complete Developer's Toolbox
I'd read some articles and news items about Aptana Studio Pro, and after reading that it was not onl ... -
Session Security
Sessions are a very complicated part of PHP, and it is no surprise that the smarter website attacks ...
-
ProBlogger Blog Tips
-
Speech Recognition for Bloggers – The Ultimate Guide
20 Nov 2009 | 5:45 amSpeech recognition technology has come a long way in the last few years – in this in depth, informative and inspiring video which Jon Morrow (Associate Editor of Copyblogger and Co-founder of Partnering Profits) shares his first hand insights into speech recognition for bloggers. Jon does all of his blogging via speech recognition so he seemed like the logical guy to ask to cover the topic – in the video (I’m glad he agreed). In the video Jon makes recommendations of software, hardware (the hardware is key) and even demonstrates how he uses them in his everyday blogging. The… -
Review This Blog – Man vs Debt
19 Nov 2009 | 5:46 amLast month here on ProBlogger we ran a community review on a reader’s blog. I posted a link to a blog with some comments from the blogger and then opened it up for readers of ProBlogger to review it. The response from the post was great. 120+ comments were left including some great advice. I also had a lot of emails from readers saying that they learned a lot by reading the suggestions of others – many wanted to see these reviews done regularly. As a result I’m going to try to do these reviews on a monthly basis – today we have another one. As a little bonus to… -
Warning: Watching This Video May Lead to Work! [But It'll Also Improve Your Blog]
18 Nov 2009 | 5:55 amWhat’s your blogging Vice? Most bloggers that I know have at least one – whether it be compulsively checking blog stats, constantly tweaking template designs, obsessing over plugins and widgets, spending hour after hour ‘networking’ on Twitter, becoming preoccupied with SEO and… even allowing ourselves to become consumed by learning about blogging…. and not doing much of it. The reality is that as bloggers there are many tasks that compete for our attention. Many of them are important and can bring a lot of life to our blogs but most of them can also become… -
13 Ways I Get Back into Blogging after a Vacation
17 Nov 2009 | 5:49 amYesterday was my first day back at blogging after a 10 day vacation with my family and on Twitter I commented that I was finding it a little hard to get my brain back into blogging mode. @Mikeachim responded by suggesting I write a post on the daily rituals that I use to get my mind into gear. I thought I’d take his suggestion and jot down a few notes – both as a way of getting my head back into blogging but also because looking at the tweets I received this morning it’s a problem many bloggers face. As my head is a little scattered today (as I readjust) I’m going to… -
Email Marketing is Not Dead
16 Nov 2009 | 10:07 amWhile at Blog World Expo recently I recorded this video interview with Abby Johnson from Web Pro News. We covered a variety of topics including why email marketing is not dead – internet marketing for smart people – the new FTC regulations and touched on a new project I’m working on with Brian Clark and Chris Brogan. Read other recent email marketing posts on ProBlogger: 6 Reasons Why You Need to Consider Email as a Communication Strategy on Your Blog How I Use Email Newsletters to Drive Traffic and Make Money Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger. Email Marketing is Not Dead…
-
Business Blogs: How to Build A Better Blog
-
Business Blogging Tip - Niche Your Blogs (Video)
19 Nov 2009 | 6:56 amI'm often asked by new business bloggers if it's OK to write about multiple subjects on one blog. Mostly these are entrepreneurs, coaches and consultants who wear many hats and serve clients in multiple arenas. I can understand that the thought of more than one blog can feel overwhelming, especially when just starting out. Here's my response to that question... (Click here if you cannot see the video in your reader.) What's your opinion on this approach? One catch-all blog for all your business niches, or multiple niche blogs for your business interests? As a reader, what… -
Six Apart Launches TypePad Micro
17 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pmI've been hearing hints and murmurs about something new coming from TypePad for quite some time. Finally I got a sneak peak yesterday...TypePad Micro which launches today at noon Pacific Time. TypePad Micro, according to Chris Alden, CEO of Six Apart is......a new, completely free level of TypePad that is streamlined for microblogging. We see this new form of blogging emerging -- living between the short status updates of Facebook and Twitter and the full-length posts of classic blogs -- and we want to make that easy and fun with TypePad Micro. TypePad Micro is free, and comes… -
Business Blogging Workshop - What do you want to learn?
14 Nov 2009 | 7:10 amI'm delighted to let you know I have been invited to be on the faculty for the next Niche Affiliate Marketing System (NAMS) in January. By all accounts this is a top-notch learning event with a stellar faculty (Jeff Herring, Kathleen Gage, Ellen Britt, Willy Crawford, Lynn Terry, Nicole Dean, and many more). This is the third iteration and I heard rave reviews by many colleagues about the previous event in August. So I was honored to be invited by the organizer David Perdew, to do several presentations on blogging. The difference with this event is that it is a 3 day workshop - no… -
Unscientific Poll Reveals 70% prefer text over video
13 Nov 2009 | 7:40 amReading the stats about online video you would think that consumption of video has totally overtaken text as the preferred way we all want our information.Not so, according to my informal and unscientific poll. Inspired by a post by Cindy King, I wanted to find out how people really liked to get their content: text, audio, video or other.As of time of writing this post 81 people took the poll. Here's how it breaks down by preference: Text - 70% Video - 19% Audio - 5% Other (not real clear what other is) - 6% And there are caveats. Many excellent comments were submitted and the bottom… -
Online Visibility Tip - Comment on Blogs in Your Industry (Video)
11 Nov 2009 | 8:34 amOnline Visibility Tip: While I was working on an article for Social Media Examiner, I was exploring the concept of outreach, or reaching out to others in your industry (aka commenting) to set the groundwork for more opportunities. This also applies to creating visibility for you and your business. While it may seem obvious and you've heard it many times before, most business bloggers do not spend enough time on blog outreach. The video includes three sources to find related blogs in your niche. [Click here if you cannot see the video in your blog reader.) I'm curious to know how…
-
Blog For Profit
-
7 Top Content Tips for Bloggers – Part 6: Management
19 Nov 2009 | 7:32 amContributed by: Roger C. Parker Blog marketing success involves blog content management. Management implies that you not only plan your blog posts, but that you manage—or protect—them so that they will be available for later use. Blog content management becomes necessary when you view yourself as a proactive—as opposed to reactive—blogger. Proactive versus reactive bloggers Most bloggers are reactive. Most of a reactive blogger’s posts are in response to topics currently in the news, or currently being addressed by popular and influential bloggers in their field. Accordingly, their… -
Headway Themes 1.5 is live and ready for download
14 Nov 2009 | 7:08 amContributed by Clay Griffiths, developer of Headway Themes. Well, it has been a long time, but Headway 1.5 is finally ready for the public! Thank you, beta testers :-). You can log into the members’ area and download version 1.5 where you previously downloaded 1.0.1. If you’re installing or upgrading 1.5, read the instructions. Yes, I’m even talking to you technologically advanced folks. Click here for instructions on upgrading from 1.0.1 to 1.5 Click here if you’re installing 1.5 for the first time Changelog Additions: NEW LEAF: Photo Gallery Completely new interface. -
3 Simple Words That Are Destroying Your Blog
12 Nov 2009 | 7:58 amDid you know that your blog is slowly being eaten away by words? Seriously! You may not realize it yet, but your blog could be so much better if you only knew the definition of these three words. Did you want me to tell you what they are? Productivity You’re probably thinking that productivity is a good thing. Well, yes and no. You see, many bloggers aren’t using this word properly. The word productivity means the state of being productive. That is, you have to actually produce something to be productive. Do you have Google Wave? So what? I wrote five posts across four separate… -
How a Kitchen Timer Helps My Blog
11 Nov 2009 | 7:00 amThanks to a tweet from one of my tweeps on Twitter, I recently discovered the Pomodoro Technique, a unique system of time management. Pomodoro means tomato in Italian, and the technique is named for the tomato kitchen timer that the creator of this system used when first implementing his system. The premise behind the Pomodoro technique is that you set your timer for 25 or 30 minutes and seriously focus on one task for that time. At the end of the 25 minutes you get a 3 to 5 minute break to do whatever you want. Tweet on Twitter, check Facebook, grab coffee, read blogs…and then set the… -
There is no such thing as a shortcut to a successful blog
10 Nov 2009 | 11:39 amOver the last week or so I have had the unpleasant experience of watching as a so called “marketing firm” uses some rather awful “SEO tricks.” Why have I been watching this? Mainly because they have sold their bag of snake oil to one of our blogsite design clients. Let me first qualify why I am writing this post. I am not at all bitter at this firm. Their own stupid ass practices will net them just what they deserve. The sick feeling I feel in my stomach, while I get the feeds in my RSS reader are for our former client. What sickens me the most is the fact they were…
-
Entrepreneur
-
Dress Up Your Online Store for the Holidays
17 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pmThese tips will give your customers--and your business--plenty of reasons to celebrate the season. -
Stop Trying to Close and Enjoy the Ride
17 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pmInstead of giving clients the hard sell, just be helpful. -
7 Indispensible--and Free--Keyword Tools
16 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pmTake your social media strategy to the next level by using it to improve your products and services. -
Is Offshoring Really the Best Option?
16 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pm3 reasons why getting the most from U.S. employees may be a better strategy. -
Get to Know Your Competition
15 Nov 2009 | 4:00 pm7 shrewd strategies for forging alliances--and staying ahead of the pack.
-
Start A Business with Startup Daddy: Home Based Business Development
-
Community Building And Great Customer Service
12 Nov 2009 | 8:54 amI observed a couple of great examples of customer service and community building recently that I want to share with you. I believe that customer service and community building are the same thing, by the way. Whether your business is on-line or off, you better be viewing your customers as a community. They honor you by choosing you, and you’d be an idiot not to value and nurture that relationship. Doing it right by doing it wrong I read Chris Brogan’s blog a lot. I learn by watching successful people. I learn not just from what they say and write, but by observing how… -
SD14 | The Business Plan Video: Elements of the business plan VIDEO PODCAST
4 Nov 2009 | 7:14 amThis episode of Startup Daddy is my first Video Podcast. I made a video that talks about the different kinds of business plans and the elements that a business plan should contain. About a month ago, I posted this video to YouTube. When I compare my statistics for the number of people who listen to this podcast to the number of people who visit this site, there are a lot more of you who listen than visit. I have absolutely no problem with this. I am honored that you choose to listen to me at all. So I made the video into a podcast episode so that the subscriber only folks can have a look. -
What Do You Think, The World Started When You Were Born?!
26 Oct 2009 | 7:31 amI’m Lucky. I’m Old. At least that’s what my 6 year old told me recently. I’m 41, so I am lucky enough to have grown up in a world without the internet which helps me appreciate it. It also helps me factor in how technology is perceived differently among different generations. I read a blog post recently that got me thinking a lot about this. Most of us view the way technology has forever changed the way we communicate as a big advancement and a good thing. Many would argue though, that it has promoted isolation and gives a false sense of community where… -
SD13 | Interview With Marc Warnke Author Of ONO: Options Not Obligations
21 Oct 2009 | 3:35 amIn this episode of Startup Daddy I have a conversation with Marc Warnke, author of ONO: Options Not Obligations. A few months ago Marc popped up on my radar as he was promoting his book. What made me stop and take notice was his concept of the Family First Entrepreneur. This has been the way I approach my business since my daughters were born, I just didn’t have a name for it. We talk about the entrepreneurial mindset, the importance of teaching your children about basic business concepts, and what it takes to be a successful entrepreneur and keep your family your number one… -
10 Reasons I am Thankful To Be Living In Canada
9 Oct 2009 | 12:03 pmLast year my wife and I packed up our family and moved to Toronto. We didn’t have any grand expectations of a better life, we just wanted our kids to grow up near the huge extended family that was waiting for us here. I have to admit that the transition has been harder for me than I anticipated. I am a proud, fly the flag on July 4th American, but it wasn’t even the whole living in another country thing. I have spent a lot of time and energy focusing on why it’s not better here than back in Scottsdale, AZ. It seems that every other week some group goes on strike. …
-
Startup Economy
-
Can VC and entrepreneurs just get along?
11 Nov 2009 | 11:45 amI've been thinking about the discontent between entrepreneurs and VCs. The story goes like this:Entrepreneur (E), VC (V)E: The venture capital model is dead. I'm working on a hot company that's going to change the world. VCs don't understand my business.V: What's the correlation between dead VC model and your inability to raise VC money? Bring on the VC-fundable idea and team, and we'll write a check.E: We have a target market with no competition and great idea.V: No competition? If it's an attractive market, there's gotta be someone else competing against you in that market. No product? Too… -
Startup vs. Big Company - Politics
10 Nov 2009 | 6:34 am(used with a sing. or pl. verb) The often internally conflicting interrelationships among people in a society.so says Dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/politics)Many of us in startups talk about flat organization, no hierarchy, no politics quite often. We tend to believe that bureaucratic organizational structure in big companies is the enemy of all, and that startups are nimble and move faster to adapt to changes to customer demand and market conditions.I recently engaged in a discussion with some friends and talked about the office politics. There were entrereneurs,… -
Future VC Crisis
15 May 2009 | 7:22 amI usually don't pretend to predict the future outcome of industry. I'm often very wrong about the future like many people out there, but what the heck! There will be a VC crisis... at least in the small segment of those affected by the current trends and from pure perspective of financials .It is no secret that the cost of startup decreased dramatically. Paul Graham agrees here, and Prof (via NY Times) has an article here to reinforce the case in point. Wait, didn't I argue for rise of startup cost in the past? Not so fast here. Here's the difference:The cost of starting up a company (e.g. -
Ouch...
21 Apr 2009 | 4:16 amJohn Sculley: Don't Be Afraid to Make Tough DecisionsJohn Sculley says it was one of the hardest things he'd ever had to do as a CEO: stripping his friend and sponsor, Steve Jobs, of any operating role in the company Jobs had co-founded. Sculley spoke to Inc. in 1987 about what became a very public crisis at Apple Computer, explaining why working with entrepreneurs -- especially those who crave control -- can be trying. "The hardest part of dealing with entrepreneurs is getting them to recognize their own weaknesses. Sometimes they will say they are weak in certain areas, and then try to… -
Disengaging from Social Media
20 Apr 2009 | 6:29 amI've been trying out various social media tools to engage with other online audience personally and professionally. I got into the social media ecosystem that I'm getting to the point where the incremental value of utilizing another social media tools (at least in the contact management sector) is close to zero.The best tools so far has been Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook, and it should be no surprise.I tried to make sense out of more extreme professional contact management tool by using Plaxo. Today, I declare the permanent "uninstallation" of Plaxo... forever.I get too many spams and don't…
-
Golf Digest Latest News
-
LPGA Tour Championship: Rain Halts Play
19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pmWith Lorena Ochoa yet to tee off in her second round, the LPGA Tour Championship will resume Saturday -
Dubai World Championship: Westwood Leads By Two
19 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pmLee Westwood shot a 3-under 69 in the second round to grab a two-stroke lead over Rory McIlroy and five others -
LPGA Tour Championship: Ochoa Out In Front
18 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pmLorena Ochoa shot a 66 to take the first round lead as she attempts to catch Jiyai Shin in the Player of the Year race. -
Dubai World Championship: Allenby Starts Well
18 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pmRobert Allenby shot a 7-under 65 in the first round of the Dubai World Championship to take a one-shot lead -
LPGA Tour: 2010 Schedule
17 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pmHere is the 2010 LPGA schedule as released Wednesday by the LPGA.
-
Alpine Skiing News
-
Sunlight is sitting pretty
20 Nov 2009 | 12:19 pmSunlight Mountain Resort is enjoying some nice early season snowfall, and expects to be ready for the scheduled opening day of Dec. -
Eldora, Vail start ski season Friday
20 Nov 2009 | 7:50 amFriday, November 20, 2009 at 6:41 a.m. Read more: State , Business , Environment , Weather , Outdoors , Tourism , Consumer , Skiing , Ski Season , Eldora Mountain Resort , Eldora , Vail Mountain DENVER a ' More Colorado ski resorts are opening for the season. -
Recalls: cookware, ski bindings - AP
20 Nov 2009 | 3:12 amThe Associated Press= The following recalls have been announced: About 300 stainless steel cookware sets, manufactured in India and distributed by Cost Plus Inc. -
Get to know the Vonntourage _ skier Lindsey Vonn's traveling staff and fan club
19 Nov 2009 | 10:35 pmLindsey Vonn and her husband, Thomas, were sitting on the couch watching "Entourage" when the idea popped into Thomas' head - the "Vonntourage." As the top female skier on the World Cup circuit the past two seasons, Vonn travels full time with two physical trainers provided by Red Bull, her ski technician, and her husband - a former U.S. Ski Team ... -
Colorado ski resort yanks woman's pass after complaints
19 Nov 2009 | 6:10 pmIn letter, CEO says he refunded the $539 paid by Lauren Slaff so she could find a resort that better met her expectations DURANGO, Colorado - A company that operates a ski area on U.S. Forest Service land has yanked the season ski pass of a woman who criticized changes to its operating schedule.
