mariao8kc: November 2010

Monday, November 29, 2010

web internet marketing

Mobile texting paradoxically sounds like “old news” as far as new technologies are concerned. After all, we were able to send each other texts before our mobile phones even had color screens. While the Western world has focused on smartphones and flashy apps that let you pull up RSS feeds, find information, or fling exploding birds at structures, SMS marketing is still a hugely important part of our mobile lives.

Consider that while smartphone adoption has been slower than anticipated, nearly every mobile phone user in the U.S. is capable of sending and receiving text messages. Additionally, SMS has become increasingly important in developing countries where the penetration of feature phones far outnumber smartphones.

Companies or small business that can nail down their SMS marketing strategy, especially when the space is still ripe for innovation, can open up a number of opportunities. We spoke with four mobile experts for some tips, advice and insights on how to include SMS in a global business strategy.

Small Businesses Can Reach a Broader Consumer Base/>

There’s a huge population of consumers in the U.S. who do not own smartphones, notes Tom Cotney, CEO of mobile marketing firm Air2Web. “And if you’re going to provide some kind of customer service capability on mobile phones, you really need to reach as much of the population as possible.” That isn’t to say that mobile apps are useless, but having a way for text to complement or introduce those services can help you reach a larger base of people. This is especially true in developing countries where the percentage of smartphone users is even smaller.

Even though it may seem like global mobile marketing is just the purview of large, international companies, small businesses can also jump in. “We are a small business with no outside funding,” said John Pelphrey, CEO of One-Txt, an SMS broadcast service. “The trick is to find the right niche, something that you’re knowledgeable about and have some connections in and work it from there.” Pelphrey saw opportunities on continents like South America and Africa where cell phone access is more common than landlines or even open class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet access. “Their first access to the outside world is their cell phone,” Pelphrey added.

The Mobile Phone is an Intimate Technology/>

It’s one thing to say there are opportunities in global mobile texting. It is another thing to come up with a plan and put it into action. For Pelphrey, a successful strategy is about intimacy and immediacy: “To have the right information for the right person and at the right time.”

Most expert advice focuses on capitalizing on the intimacy of a cell phone. “The mobile phone is the most personal form of technology there is, barring hearing aids and other medical technologies,” Cotney said. Rather than sending out a text blast, treat your messages like a conversation with the customer while offering them value: “You really need to offer consumers a foundational benefit as the primary reason for having a mobile relationship with you.”

Limitations/>

Of course, mobile texting isn’t all just sunshine and rainbows. There are some key limitations to consider before jumping in. First, SMS is necessarily limited by its character limit. In the U.S., text messages are limited to 160 characters — which is fine if you’re checking in with friends but more difficult when you’re trying to connect with or sell to consumers. That limit further varies by country. While Asian countries are closer to 70 characters, their individual characters usually have more meaning than Western letters.

There’s also the problem of getting your message to its destination. “There’s no single international body that goes and hands out short codes,” said Andrew Kenney, Chief Operating Officer at ONEsite. “You have to get one for a specific region. Carriers won’t deal with the particular brands.” After that middleman, it’s important to think of how your audience receives your messages. Not everyone has premium messaging or unlimited texts, Kenney warned. Texts can be expensive for your consumers, so make sure there’s value to make it worthwhile.

Ideally you could set up regional offices to best understand the communities you’re contacting. If that’s out of the budget, try to set up a contact already living in that community or do your research to make sure you know what times of day people are most social or what kind of information or language will be most effective. “Every country, every tribe, they’re all going to be different,” Pelphrey said. “You can’t take the lessons you learned in South America and take it to Africa. Those cultures are so distinct even within a few miles of each other.”

Is SMS Marketing Here to Stay?/>

One hesitation businesses have when it comes to SMS is determining if it is a dying breed of marketing, especially when faced with smartphones or the increasing emphasis on mobile apps. While SMS has greater reach, it also has less interactivity. “It’s certainly possible to set your DVR using text, but it’s not a great user experience,” said Griswold.

Anyone worried about text disappearing as a marketing tool should consider that 2008 was the first year that text messages outnumbered cell phone calls. Cotney cited a study that showed users get mobile text alerts seven times more than they used to with feature phones. “Text is not just a technology, it’s an actual type of interface,” Cotney said. “Usually the older a technology, the less frequently it will be used, but text will be around for a long time.”

Tips and Tricks/>

There are a lot of ways to approach SMS marketing, whether you’re a big company or a small startup looking to branch abroad. There are basic tips like offering your consumers real value, emphasizing intimacy, and being conscientious of cultural norms and traditions. Part and parcel, Kenney advised that “people should go do their research and they should pick partners that they can trust to build long-term relationships.”

Cotney emphasized reach, namely, how many people is your mobile strategy going to touch? While mobile apps may look nice, they can sometimes be a case of prioritizing new technology over a real strategy. “Have a strategy and incorporate how many people you’re going to be able to reach when the product actually gets out there.”

Still, it seems that the most pervasive advice was just to get started. “If businesses think they may want to do text, it’s never too early to collect numbers for the opt-in lists. There are lots of ways to do it…” Paul said. “You don’t have to have everything in place. By the time you do start, you’ll have a head start.”

The cell phone is really the first piece of technology that people started carrying with them all the time, Kenney said. We use it to find our friends or find information on a daily basis. That personal proximity and it’s social capability allow us to have an intimate relationship with our phones and what they can do. SMS is an immediate way to capitalize on those qualities without having to worry about downloading an app or compatibility issues. SMS, if done properly, is an effective way to reach customers both domestically and globally.

Series supported by UPS

The International Business Series is brought to you by UPS. Discover the new logistics. It levels playing fields and lets you act locally or globally. It’s for the individual entrepreneur, the small business, or the large company. Put the new logistics to work for you.

More Business Resources from Mashable:

- 5 Tips for Marketing Online to an International Audience/> - HOW TO: Build Your International Business Network Online/> - 5 Tips for Developing a Global-Friendly Website/> - HOW TO: Optimize Your Mobile Site Across Multiple Platforms/> - 15 Mobile Translation Apps for the International Businessperson

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto: fotosipsak & spxChrome

For more Business coverage:

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It’s been another crazy week with the Web 2.0 Summit and Facebook’s big announcement about messages. With all of that excitement, it’s easy to miss one or two of the tools and resources we’ve been cranking out for you. Here’s our list from the past week or so.

In Social Media we look at how social good is become geo-aware and give you a walkthrough of the new Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook Messages. Tech & Mobile kicks off our gift guide with entries on iPads, Androidclass="blippr-nobr">Android, and some cool YouTubeclass="blippr-nobr">YouTube hacks. Business is loaded with startup tips from expert entrepreneurs and the importance of foreign languages for online businesses.

Looking for even more social media resources? This guide appears every weekend, and you can check out all the lists-gone-by here any time.

Social Media

The Biggest Brands on Facebook /> In the past few years, big brands have started taking social media seriously, and Facebook marketing is a big part of the plan for many companies.
The New Facebook Messages: A Walkthrough /> We’ve put together a screenshot walkthrough to help you make sense of what the new Facebook Messages product is all about.
Checkins for Charity: The Rise of Geo-Social Good/> Can location-based networks bridge the gap between social media and the real world when it comes to causes that matter? Here’s a look at the promising future of the “charity checkin.”
5 Fresh Places to Find Great Online Video/> More and more sites are stepping up to help sift through the vast, expansive sea of online video. Here are five of our favorites.
How Social Media Can Make Online Shopping Less Lonely/> A recent Harris Interactive poll shows that shopping, once a highly social activity, has become a lonely experience online. That may change with the rise of social shopping platforms.
11 Essential Apps for Managing Your Real Life Social Networks/> Even if you’ve mastered online social networking, you still need to keep tabs on your real life relationships. These apps can help you connect, coordinate, and plan across different social circles.
Cats: They’re On the Internet /> We assume most felines view the web as a creative outlet, where dreams of becoming class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet famous are within reach.
Cracking the Mainstream: Why Social Gaming Is More Than Just a Fad/> Casual media has always co-existed with its long-form counterparts. Here’s why social gaming is a perfect compliment to today’s web.

For more social media news and resources, you can follow class='blippr-nobr'>Mashable’sclass="blippr-nobr">Mashable social media channel on Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Tech & Mobile

12 Fun Hacks for Getting More Out of YouTube/> There’s no doubt YouTube can be tons of fun, but when you get bored of watching clips the traditional way, there are a ton of sites that can help enhance the experience.
5 Excellent E-Card iPhone Apps/> E-cards are an environmentally friendly way to send a greeting — especially nowadays, when you’re more likely to have your friend’s e-mail address than postal address.
10 iPhone Apps for Wine Enthusiasts/> These 10 apps will help you better understand and appreciate this refined libation.
Why You Need an iPad This Holiday Season/> The fact that you can grab an iPad today, it’s affordable and it’s just straight-up fun to use makes it one of our 10 big gadget picks for the 2010 holiday season.
10 Comfortable Lap Desks for Cozy Computing/> Who needs a big office setup when you can kick back on the couch and get stuff done with one of these stylish lap desks.
The Unprecedented Rise of Apple iOS and Other Internet Trends /> Legendary Internet analyst Mary Meeker has some statistics she thinks every Internet executive should know.
Why You Need an Android Device This Holiday Season/> Got your eye on a new smartphone for the new year? Here’s why we love our Android devices on a variety of carriers.
HOW TO: Develop a Branded iPhone App on a Budget/> Branded apps are not just for big corporations with money to burn. They are well within the reach of every small business.
Why You Need to Upgrade Your Router This Holiday Season/> Ready to make the leap from 802.11g to 802.11n? Have no idea what those numbers mean? Get the lowdown on one of our favorite feature-rich Wi-Fi routers – the Netgear RangeMax WNDR3700.
HOW TO: Create Your Own Customized Short URL/> A custom short URL is a great way to build your brand around content links, and you can do it for free with a Bit.ly Pro account. Here’s how to set it up.
5 Technologies That Are Changing the Way We Drive/> From cars that drive themselves to in-car connectivity systems that support third party apps, innovation is changing the driving experience.
Build It Yourself: 8 Fun Electronics Kits Under $100/> We’ve gathered a group of DIY electronics kits, ranging from $16 to $95, guaranteed to please the left-brained folks of any age or skill level on your holiday gift list.
Why You Need a Vizio XVT3SV Series TV This Holiday Season/> Of all the TVs that we’ve seen in 2010, none have stood out as profoundly as those from the Vizio XVT3SV series.
Troubleshooting Those Ill-Advised Texts/> Read on for tips on troubleshooting your terrible-TM woes.
Why You Need an Amazon Kindle 3 This Holiday Season/> The 8.5-ounce, 4.8 by 7.5-inch device is fast, sleek, light, and almost adorably small. Here’s why we think it should be at the top of your gadget wish list.
4 Winning Web Design Tips From Ryan Carson of Carsonified/> We had the chance to chat with Carsonified founder Ryan Carson about some best practices and his thoughts on the future of web design.
8 Experts Break Down the Pros and Cons of Coding With PHP/> class='blippr-nobr'>PHPclass="blippr-nobr">PHP is a versatile programming language, but some of its biggest strengths can also yield limitations. We spoke with 8 PHP pros to weigh the factors.

For more tech news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s tech channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

Business

HOW TO: Land a Business Development Job/> Mashable interviewed six experts in the business development to get their tips on what it takes to become a business development professional at technology companies and startups.
5 Invaluable Marketing Lessons from an Epic Campaign for… Cream Cheese?/> As a branded social network, The Real Women of Philadelphia has turned 30,000 unlikely participants into a vibrant community of brand ambassadors. Here’s how Kraft made it happen.
5 Ways to Promote Your Social Media Efforts Offline/> Don’t overlook the real world when marketing your online efforts.
Startup Advice: Inside Tips From Expert Entrepreneurs /> To gauge the pulse of today’s tech startup ecosystem, we spoke to a group of New York-based entrepreneurs and investors. Check out their tips for would-be entrepreneurs.
Should Your Startup Apply for the sFund?/> Esteemed venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins launched a new fund called sFund last month. Learn more about whether your startup should apply.
Are Groupon Stores and Do-It-Yourself Deals Worth the Risk?/> Groupon is rolling out a self-serve product called Groupon Stores that allows merchants to setup virtual storefronts and manage their own deals through the group buying site.
5 Signs That Coworking Might Be for You/> If these five signs describe you, it might be time to give coworking a try.
Why Your Business Must Embrace the Foreign Language Internet/> Some of the fastest-growing online demographics are non-English speakers, and there’s a huge opportunity to own the search and social space around these markets before they get too crowded.
HOW TO: Define the Role of Your Social Media Team/> A look at the basics of building a social media strategy: the goal of social media, who should be involved, and the responsibilities entailed.
Social Media Marketing: 5 Lessons From Business Leaders Who Get It/> These five business leaders outperformed their peers in both quantitative and qualitative tests of social influence. See what you can take away from their success.
How Social Media Can Make Online Shopping Less Lonely/> A recent Harris Interactive poll shows that shopping, once a highly social activity, has become a lonely experience online. That may change with the rise of social shopping platforms.

For more business news and resources, you can follow Mashable’s business channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

[Image courtesy of WebTreats]

For more Social Media coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Social Mediaclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Social Media channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for Android, iPhone and iPad

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/alpine-payment-systems-c270446.html

'The Simpsons': Fox News 'Unsuitable For Viewers Under 75' (PHOTO)

"The Simpsons" took a shot at Fox News for the second week in a row. After dubbing its corporate sibling "Not Racist, But #1 With Racists" -- and getting criticized by Bill O'Reilly for doing so -- the Fox cartoon put a new slogan on ...

Fox News '12 - Wilshire & Washington on Variety.com

I expect this is just the start of an ever-more rocky relationship between the news networks, but it may be a boon to the candidates. If they don't have to spend money to get exposure, doesn't it make more sense for them to wait until ...

Fox News' 2012 roster – CNN Political Ticker - CNN.com Blogs

(CNN) -- Five big name Republicans have two things in common- they are all considering runs for president and are each employed by Fox News. Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum and former House Speaker ...

http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/alpine-payment-systems-c270446.html

Saturday, November 27, 2010

foreclosure law

Here's something to be thankful for this day: Elizabeth Warren in Obama's economic team, already protecting consumers. HuffPo's Shahien Nasiripour reviews the record, and finds she was instrumental in recognizing the potential danger in the out-of-state notarization bill that Obama eventually vetoed.

The bill, which passed both houses of Congress and awaited President Obama's signature to become law, essentially would have compelled notaries to accept out-of-state notarizations, regardless of the rules in those states.

State officials across the country--who have been pursuing probes looking into wrongdoing within the foreclosure process-- feared that those jurisdictions with lax standards could have become hotbeds for foreclosure documentation fraud. Lenders and mortgage companies could have used those states as central clearing houses to produce bogus foreclosure paperwork, and then export those documents to other states with more stringent regulations--an expedient bypass around the strictures.

Obama ultimately declined to sign the law, and the House of Representatives failed to override the veto.

Officials said Warren was among the first federal officials to recognize the significance of the notary bill, titled the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010. She met with authorities from several states and then relayed their concerns to influential administration officials.

During the morning of Oct. 6, Warren's team at the Treasury Department wrote the first memos on the bill, raising questions about the possible consequences if it became law, these people said.

That evening, Warren met for 30 minutes with Peter Rouse, Obama's interim chief of staff, her calendar shows. She later spent an hour on the phone with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who once sued Countrywide Financial and exacted an $8.4 billion multi-state settlement.

The next day, Warren participated in an afternoon meeting on the bill, her calendar shows. During that meeting one of Obama's top spokesmen, Dan Pfeiffer, posted an entry on the White House Blog explaining why Obama would not sign the bill.

On Oct. 8, Obama declined to sign the bill into law, citing the need for "further deliberations about the possible unintended impact" of the bill on "consumer protections, including those for mortgages."

Documents released Wednesday show that Warren met or spoke with at least eight state officials leading a 50-state investigation into possibly-fraudulent mortgage documentation practices.

As Nasiripour notes, Warren is increasingly being targeted by Republicans who want to stymy the work of the new agency. Knowing full well the forces that would line up against her, Warren has been meeting extensively with "bankers and their representatives. Financial executives and lobbyists have noted that Warren was reaching out to them more than they initially expected." Hopefully that outreach will help immunize her from her critics, because we need her, as the notarization bill veto demonstrates.

(See MediaFreeze's recommended diary for further discussion.)

Macro Notes

Portugal now getting pressure to walk the plank?

Peter Boockvar

The FT Deutschland is reporting that the EU is pressuring Portugal to be the next to walk the plank and quickly accept a bailout package in order to head off the spreading of credit worries. This story however was denied by a German government spokesman and Portugal said they are not being asked. Either way, 5 yr CDS in Portugal, Ireland and Spain are rising to new record highs at 500, 600 and 320 bps respectively. To put these sovereign levels into perspective, California trades at 300, El Salvador at 310, Lebanon at 295, Hungary at 360, Coca Cola at...

read more »

bench craft company scam

Small Business News: Small Biz Bonanza

On this day after Thanksgiving, we thought we'd create a feast of small business resources ourselves. Please dig in and enjoy every tasty morsel. This bonanza.

No Batmobile in Arkham City News - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our news of No Batmobile in Arkham City. ... Batman: Arkham Asylum 2 teaser 14 December, 2009. Latest News. Batman: Arkham City details emerge . Batman: Arkham City revealed, dated . Batman domains name Arkham sequel? ...

Can Mobile Phones Think?: Tech News «

Nokia's Beta Labs today released a new experimental application called Situations, and it portends a future where context awareness drives the mobile experience, and points to a time when our handsets will do the thinking on our behalf, ...

bench craft company scam

Small Business News: Small Biz Bonanza

On this day after Thanksgiving, we thought we'd create a feast of small business resources ourselves. Please dig in and enjoy every tasty morsel. This bonanza.

No Batmobile in Arkham City News - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Can Mobile Phones Think?: Tech News «

bench craft company scam

The bill, which passed both houses of Congress and awaited President Obama's signature to become law, essentially would have compelled notaries to accept out-of-state notarizations, regardless of the rules in those states.

State officials across the country--who have been pursuing probes looking into wrongdoing within the foreclosure process-- feared that those jurisdictions with lax standards could have become hotbeds for foreclosure documentation fraud. Lenders and mortgage companies could have used those states as central clearing houses to produce bogus foreclosure paperwork, and then export those documents to other states with more stringent regulations--an expedient bypass around the strictures.

Obama ultimately declined to sign the law, and the House of Representatives failed to override the veto.

Officials said Warren was among the first federal officials to recognize the significance of the notary bill, titled the Interstate Recognition of Notarizations Act of 2010. She met with authorities from several states and then relayed their concerns to influential administration officials.

During the morning of Oct. 6, Warren's team at the Treasury Department wrote the first memos on the bill, raising questions about the possible consequences if it became law, these people said.

That evening, Warren met for 30 minutes with Peter Rouse, Obama's interim chief of staff, her calendar shows. She later spent an hour on the phone with Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, who once sued Countrywide Financial and exacted an $8.4 billion multi-state settlement.

The next day, Warren participated in an afternoon meeting on the bill, her calendar shows. During that meeting one of Obama's top spokesmen, Dan Pfeiffer, posted an entry on the White House Blog explaining why Obama would not sign the bill.

On Oct. 8, Obama declined to sign the bill into law, citing the need for "further deliberations about the possible unintended impact" of the bill on "consumer protections, including those for mortgages."

Documents released Wednesday show that Warren met or spoke with at least eight state officials leading a 50-state investigation into possibly-fraudulent mortgage documentation practices.

(See MediaFreeze's recommended diary for further discussion.)

Macro Notes

Portugal now getting pressure to walk the plank?

Peter Boockvar

read more »

bench craft company scam

Small Business News: Small Biz Bonanza

On this day after Thanksgiving, we thought we'd create a feast of small business resources ourselves. Please dig in and enjoy every tasty morsel. This bonanza.

No Batmobile in Arkham City News - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Can Mobile Phones Think?: Tech News «

bench craft company scam

Small Business News: Small Biz Bonanza

On this day after Thanksgiving, we thought we'd create a feast of small business resources ourselves. Please dig in and enjoy every tasty morsel. This bonanza.

No Batmobile in Arkham City News - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Can Mobile Phones Think?: Tech News «

bench craft company scam

Friday, November 19, 2010

Making Money Jobs

bench craft company rip off

GT5 installs while played - Sony PlayStation 3 News - Page 1 ...

Read our PlayStation 3 news of GT5 installs while played - Sony.

Taiwanese News Channel Animates Royal Engagement! | PerezHilton.com

Royal Wedding Fever has hit Taiwan! Check out their animated (because we wouldn´t want it any other way!) interpretation of Prince William´s engagement to Kate Middleton (above)! Sooo...

One and a Half Cheers for Fox News, David Henderson | EconLog ...

Senator Jay Rockefeller made a splash Wednesday by suggesting that the Federal Communications Commission shut down the Fox News Channel and MSNBC. My guess is that he mentioned MSNBC because he wanted to sound equally oppressive of both ...

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GT5 installs while played - Sony PlayStation 3 News - Page 1 ...

Read our PlayStation 3 news of GT5 installs while played - Sony.

Taiwanese News Channel Animates Royal Engagement! | PerezHilton.com

Royal Wedding Fever has hit Taiwan! Check out their animated (because we wouldn´t want it any other way!) interpretation of Prince William´s engagement to Kate Middleton (above)! Sooo...

One and a Half Cheers for Fox News, David Henderson | EconLog ...

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GT5 installs while played - Sony PlayStation 3 News - Page 1 ...

Read our PlayStation 3 news of GT5 installs while played - Sony.

Taiwanese News Channel Animates Royal Engagement! | PerezHilton.com

Royal Wedding Fever has hit Taiwan! Check out their animated (because we wouldn´t want it any other way!) interpretation of Prince William´s engagement to Kate Middleton (above)! Sooo...

One and a Half Cheers for Fox News, David Henderson | EconLog ...

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GT5 installs while played - Sony PlayStation 3 News - Page 1 ...

Read our PlayStation 3 news of GT5 installs while played - Sony.

Taiwanese News Channel Animates Royal Engagement! | PerezHilton.com

Royal Wedding Fever has hit Taiwan! Check out their animated (because we wouldn´t want it any other way!) interpretation of Prince William´s engagement to Kate Middleton (above)! Sooo...

One and a Half Cheers for Fox News, David Henderson | EconLog ...

bench craft company rip off

GT5 installs while played - Sony PlayStation 3 News - Page 1 ...

Read our PlayStation 3 news of GT5 installs while played - Sony.

Taiwanese News Channel Animates Royal Engagement! | PerezHilton.com

Royal Wedding Fever has hit Taiwan! Check out their animated (because we wouldn´t want it any other way!) interpretation of Prince William´s engagement to Kate Middleton (above)! Sooo...

One and a Half Cheers for Fox News, David Henderson | EconLog ...

bench craft company rip off

bench craft company rip off
bench craft company rip off

GT5 installs while played - Sony PlayStation 3 News - Page 1 ...

Read our PlayStation 3 news of GT5 installs while played - Sony.

Taiwanese News Channel Animates Royal Engagement! | PerezHilton.com

Royal Wedding Fever has hit Taiwan! Check out their animated (because we wouldn´t want it any other way!) interpretation of Prince William´s engagement to Kate Middleton (above)! Sooo...

One and a Half Cheers for Fox News, David Henderson | EconLog ...

bench craft company rip off

bench craft company rip off

GT5 installs while played - Sony PlayStation 3 News - Page 1 ...

Read our PlayStation 3 news of GT5 installs while played - Sony.

Taiwanese News Channel Animates Royal Engagement! | PerezHilton.com

Royal Wedding Fever has hit Taiwan! Check out their animated (because we wouldn´t want it any other way!) interpretation of Prince William´s engagement to Kate Middleton (above)! Sooo...

One and a Half Cheers for Fox News, David Henderson | EconLog ...

bench craft company rip off

GT5 installs while played - Sony PlayStation 3 News - Page 1 ...

Read our PlayStation 3 news of GT5 installs while played - Sony.

Taiwanese News Channel Animates Royal Engagement! | PerezHilton.com

Royal Wedding Fever has hit Taiwan! Check out their animated (because we wouldn´t want it any other way!) interpretation of Prince William´s engagement to Kate Middleton (above)! Sooo...

One and a Half Cheers for Fox News, David Henderson | EconLog ...

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Small Business News: SMB Blogging and Social Media Basics

Far from a fad, a new blogging and social media infrastructure has emerged and is still being built and becoming a part of the new hierarchy can be important to.

Middle East violence increases « Liveshots

Another cycle of violence in the Middle East as Israel strikes targets in Gaza in retaliation.

autosport.com - F1 News: Rosberg: Pirellis won't help Mercedes

Nico Rosberg doubts the new Pirelli tyres will do anything to ease the difficulties Mercedes suffered with front-tyre grip on the 2010 Bridgestones, after the Formula 1 teams tried the 2011 rubber for the first time in Abu Dhabi today.

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Fox News Commentators Caught On Camera Mocking Sarah Palin's Show ...

WASHINGTON -- The Fox News channel has been something of a safe haven for Sarah Palin, the type of outlet that provided the former Alaska Governor not only with a friendly audience but similarly kind questions.

Police News at Steven Landsburg | The Big Questions: Tackling the ...

1 Tweets that mention Police News at Steven Landsburg | The Big Questions: Tackling the Problems of Philosophy with Ideas from Mathematics, Economics, and Physics -- Topsy.com. Pingback on Nov 19th, 2010 at 3:23 am. 2 Police News at ...

The Tools of Ignorance: Friday News - Pinstripe Alley

A big offer, the big man's snub, a little trade, and a call for a dose of sanity.

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One and a Half Cheers for Fox News, David Henderson | EconLog ...

More on Fox News, David Henderson | EconLog | Library of Economics ...

I had had hopes for the Fox News Channel as an advocate of smaller government, hopes somewhat justified by evidence. But their treatment of Ron Paul has been off the charts. Chris Wallace has been absolutely vicious - at one point, ...

Middle East violence increases « Liveshots

Another cycle of violence in the Middle East as Israel strikes targets in Gaza in retaliation.

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Thursday, November 18, 2010

Making Money Guide

eric seiger

Movie News Quick Hits: 'Spider-Man' Casting, 3D 'Hovercars' and ...

Forget watching 'Dawn of the Dead' for tips on how to survive the inevitable zombiepocalypse, it's all about LEGO zombie-killing vehicles. - Less.

Michelle Malkin » Sen. Rockefeller: One-Man Cable News Death Panel

Doesn't Rockefeller have a ton of money with which to develop his own network news operation if he wishes? Why doesn't he deploy his own capital and take the risk associated with free enterprise activities if he believes it is warranted ...

Fox News President: Jon Stewart Is Crazy And NPR Is Run By Nazis ...

The second part of The Daily Beast's interview with Fox News president Roger Ailes is out today, and Ailes' encore doesn't disappoint. He responded harshly to Jon Stewart's pervasive criticism of cable news and had some tough, ...

eric seiger

Movie News Quick Hits: 'Spider-Man' Casting, 3D 'Hovercars' and ...

Forget watching 'Dawn of the Dead' for tips on how to survive the inevitable zombiepocalypse, it's all about LEGO zombie-killing vehicles. - Less.

Michelle Malkin » Sen. Rockefeller: One-Man Cable News Death Panel

Fox News President: Jon Stewart Is Crazy And NPR Is Run By Nazis ...

eric seiger

Movie News Quick Hits: 'Spider-Man' Casting, 3D 'Hovercars' and ...

Forget watching 'Dawn of the Dead' for tips on how to survive the inevitable zombiepocalypse, it's all about LEGO zombie-killing vehicles. - Less.

Michelle Malkin » Sen. Rockefeller: One-Man Cable News Death Panel

Fox News President: Jon Stewart Is Crazy And NPR Is Run By Nazis ...

eric seiger

Movie News Quick Hits: 'Spider-Man' Casting, 3D 'Hovercars' and ...

Forget watching 'Dawn of the Dead' for tips on how to survive the inevitable zombiepocalypse, it's all about LEGO zombie-killing vehicles. - Less.

Michelle Malkin » Sen. Rockefeller: One-Man Cable News Death Panel

Fox News President: Jon Stewart Is Crazy And NPR Is Run By Nazis ...

eric seiger
eric seiger

Movie News Quick Hits: 'Spider-Man' Casting, 3D 'Hovercars' and ...

Forget watching 'Dawn of the Dead' for tips on how to survive the inevitable zombiepocalypse, it's all about LEGO zombie-killing vehicles. - Less.

Michelle Malkin » Sen. Rockefeller: One-Man Cable News Death Panel

Fox News President: Jon Stewart Is Crazy And NPR Is Run By Nazis ...

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

personal finance

answer. So The Daily Beast put Blekko to the test, pitting it against Google and Bing in a grueling 100-search face-off.

Our showdown produced some surprising results, with all three contestants getting in their licks at various points. The outcome also underscored that sites perform differently in different categories—a key fact to keep in mind when doing serious research online.

To conduct our test, we began with a list of 100 real-world searches. Our test queries spanned more than a dozen key everyday categories, from people and places to current events and even recipes and homework help. To keep things interesting, we took care to include some of the categories where Blekko says its human-driven approach excels over pure computer algorithms, including personal finance and health. Then we plugged every one of those 100 queries into Blekko, Google, and Bing, scoring the winner on each search based on the relevance, in our eyes, of the top results.

Blekko’s human-based differentiation has been tried plenty of times before, starting with Yahoo, which started as a directory of websites handpicked by its founders, Jerry Yang and David Filo. Then 1997 saw the arrival of a human-filtered directory called the Mining Company, which later morphed into About.com. Blekko’s twist is to have humans pre-select the most useful sites on key topics and then limit searches to those sites—and also to rope users into creating their own lists of relevant sites. Blekko uses what it calls “slashtags” in its searches to limit results to those human-endorsed sites. Typing “Moroccan lentil soup /recipes,” for instance, limits the search to a hand-picked list of sites, including Food Network and MarthaStewart.com. And for some topics—including personal finance, hotels, recipes and a few others—Blekko will automatically apply the slashtag for you; no need to type it.

So how did Blekko perform in our face-off? Here’s the final score from our 100 searches: Google won, earning the point on 57 of our test queries. Bing was the runner up, with 29 points. And trailing in third was Blekko with a score of 14.

Getty Images

The scores don’t tell the whole story. In some categories, we saw how the Blekko approach could make it competitive with the big names. In personal finance, for example, Blekko held its own, splitting the category evenly with Google and leaving Bing shut out. Feeding Blekko the query “Roth IRA,” for example, turned up a helpful overview at a respected blog as the top result—a much better showing than the top results at Google and Bing. In this case, Blekko had automatically limited the search to its list of designated personal-finance sites.

But overall, Blekko just couldn’t match Google for relevance. In some cases, the site failed to apply the right slashtag from the list of tags it says should “auto-fire.” What’s more, Blekko showed a propensity to deliver bizarrely off-topic results for some of our test queries.

Consumers bewildered by a rash of resetting rates on loans and various outstanding credit lines now have the same tools banks have to aggregate all their debt in one place, after free online personal finance tool Credit Sesame launched a beta version today to help users get a complete financial snapshot all in one place.

Previously only available to banks or brokers, Credit Sesame uses an in-house loan analytics engine to help users instantly view their credit and debt in one place, while monitoring and tracking often baffling financial information like their credit score, home value and debt-to-income ratio simultaneously.

The news that they can now take their finances fully into their own hands is part of a continuing trend of consumers sick of commercial banks pushing their own complementary loan products on them — or who may just be sick of their bank or broker all together.

Under the company’s system, users are first asked to register their portfolios using the same security technology and encryption methods as banks and financial institutions use, and then Credit Sesame automatically retrieves users’ relevant data like debt, credit, and mortgages so that they don’t have to enter their information manually.

They can then fiddle with Credit Sesame’s tools to set personal goal parameters; see and apply for a wide variety of loans that may fit their restructuring needs; and even create a “what if” scenario that allows them to view multiple scenarios for potential savings or loans based on changes to a user’s financial situation such as a divorce or a job loss.

By using complex algorithms and portfolio “depth” testing, the new beta site will now create 5,000 scenarios with thousands of lending products to help each user find the three best pre-qualified solutions—saving an average user hundreds of dollars a month as they streamline their finances via the web ecosphere.

“We find homeowners as much as $600 a month in savings through restructuring, refinancing and new pre-qualified low-interest loan offers,” said Adrian Nazari, CEO and founder of Credit Sesame. “That’s $7,200 of yearly savings. If that money was put toward debt repayment, imagine how much faster that loan would be paid off and how much money would be saved. The opportunities are out there.”

Since launching to private testers in September, Credit Sesame currently manages $250 million in loans and has generated more than $18 million in lifetime savings for its users.

Once registered, the site will continue delivering a free monthly credit score and instant alerts when more optimal savings opportunities become available.

Next Story: Hulu Plus officially launches at $7.99 a month, now on Roku boxes Previous Story: The many definitions of a VC’s no – Part Two

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Here's a roundup of some of Wednesday's major pharmaceutical news: An FDA panel gave Human Genome Sciences a boost with a thumbs-up for its lupus drug, Benlysta; Merck's experimental heart drug appears to work well without side effects; ...

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Making Money With Options

In the wake of his excellent rent-vs-buy calculator, David Leonhardt has helped create another interactive tool, this one called “You Fix the Budget“. He writes:

The New York Times has conducted its own analysis of the federal budget, but with a different final product. Rather than making recommendations, we are laying out a menu of major options, so that readers can come up with their own plan. We have received help along the way from the deficit panel, from Congressional and White House aides and from liberal, conservative and centrist budget analysts.

It’s a good idea in theory, and I even played the game myself, solving the deficit with a mixture of 69% tax increases and 31% spending cuts. Still, I’m not a huge fan of the way it’s been executed in practice of the way that the NYT makes it both too easy and too difficult to “win” the game.

The too-easy part comes on the spending-cut side. The goal is to reduce the 2030 shortfall by $1.355 trillion, and the NYT includes an option under “health care” which simply says “cap Medicare growth starting in 2013″. By clicking on this box, which “would cap the Medicare growth at GDP growth plus 1 percentage point, starting in 2013″, you at a stroke get $562 billion of savings.

You can win the game without clicking on that box — I managed to do it — but of course the game becomes much harder if you deny yourself that easy and fanciful trick. But it is fanciful: there’s simply no credible way to enact that kind of hard cap on Medicare expenditures, in a world where the over-65 population is growing fast as the Baby Boomers retire, where that generation is also living longer than ever, and where end-of-life healthcare is becoming increasingly expensive across the board.

The too-hard part comes on the tax-hike side, where the options are far too limited. For instance, you have two choices when it comes to taxes on capital gains and dividends, both of which cap that tax at 20%. Can’t I opt to raise that tax to the same level as the income tax? Even the deficit commission does that.

Similarly, for the payroll tax, the most you can do is raise the ceiling so that it covers the same 90% of all income that it covered at inception; you can’t raise it any further than that, or abolish the ceiling entirely.

And on the mortgage-interest deduction, there’s no option for abolishing it, as I would love to do; instead all you can do is swap it out for some lower-cost credit.

Most importantly, the options for new taxes are extremely constrained. The carbon tax is relatively modest, raising $40 billion in 2015; I’d like to see something significantly larger — ideally a cap-and-trade system with credits which were fungible with Europe’s system — which would raise more money and include significant rebates for people in the bottom half of the income distribution.

The bank tax is also a good idea, but again it doesn’t go far enough, since it hits only the largest banks: why not add the option of a Tobin tax, too, which would raise revenue from financial transactions no matter who was engaging in them.

I’d also love to see the option of a wealth tax, which could raise a lot of money from those most able to afford it.

Finally, although I’m a fan of a consumption tax, I don’t like the NYT’s sole option on that front — a 5% national sales tax which applies to everybody equally. I’d much rather see something much more progressive: look at each taxpayer’s annual income, subtract their annual savings, and the difference is their annual consumption. Allow everybody say $50,000 of consumption per year tax-free, and then start taxing consumption over that point, with the tax rate rising as consumption grows. If you spend over $250,000 a year, your marginal consumption could be taxed quite highly.

In general, the NYT options on both the spending-cut and the tax-hike side tend to hit the poor and the middle classes more drastically than the rich; what’s missing here is the option to implement something much more progressive, in both senses of the word. It’s a missed opportunity, and a shame.

If you’re an online publisher running a website that relies on ad revenues—whether it’s a blog or an entertainment website—it can sometimes be complex to get started and to find new ways to make more money from your ads.

As I’ve previously written, we’re committed to helping online publishers—large and small—“find the advertising gold hidden within their sites,” so they can fund their websites and online content. At the core of these efforts—as it has been for more than seven years—is AdSense, which now has more than 2 million publishers in more than 200 countries who use it to fund great online businesses.

Over the last few years, we’ve invested significantly in improving AdSense so that it provides the best solution to help all publishers make the most money possible from online advertising. We’ve added a range of new ad formats (including video and rich media), improved our publisher filters, enabled better targeting that drives higher returns (like remarketing and above-the-fold targeting) and introduced increased competition for publishers’ ad space by bringing in additional advertisers and certified ad networks.

To continue helping our publishers, today we’re excited to be rolling out a completely new AdSense interface to all of our AdSense publishers, globally, in more than 30 languages and in each of the 200+ countries where AdSense is available. The AdSense interface is how publishers set up, manage, optimize and see reports on the ads on their sites.

With this new interface, AdSense is even easier to use, and we’re also providing publishers with all the tools they need to manage and increase their advertising revenue. We used lots of direct feedback from our publishers to make this overhaul. If you’re an online publisher, it helps you in three main ways:

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Good Economic News May Be Bad for Fed Recovery Plan

Consumers, the life's blood of the American economy, have shown a growing willingness to spend, but this might play havoc with the Federal Reserve's bold plans to revive the recovery.

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In the wake of his excellent rent-vs-buy calculator, David Leonhardt has helped create another interactive tool, this one called “You Fix the Budget“. He writes:

The New York Times has conducted its own analysis of the federal budget, but with a different final product. Rather than making recommendations, we are laying out a menu of major options, so that readers can come up with their own plan. We have received help along the way from the deficit panel, from Congressional and White House aides and from liberal, conservative and centrist budget analysts.

And on the mortgage-interest deduction, there’s no option for abolishing it, as I would love to do; instead all you can do is swap it out for some lower-cost credit.

I’d also love to see the option of a wealth tax, which could raise a lot of money from those most able to afford it.

Google News Blog: Credit where credit is due

Scripting News: Design challenge: River of News in HTML

Good Economic News May Be Bad for Fed Recovery Plan

Consumers, the life's blood of the American economy, have shown a growing willingness to spend, but this might play havoc with the Federal Reserve's bold plans to revive the recovery.

benchcraft company scam

bench craft company scam

benchcraft company scam

Google News Blog: Credit where credit is due

Scripting News: Design challenge: River of News in HTML

Good Economic News May Be Bad for Fed Recovery Plan

Consumers, the life's blood of the American economy, have shown a growing willingness to spend, but this might play havoc with the Federal Reserve's bold plans to revive the recovery.

benchcraft company scam

In the wake of his excellent rent-vs-buy calculator, David Leonhardt has helped create another interactive tool, this one called “You Fix the Budget“. He writes:

The New York Times has conducted its own analysis of the federal budget, but with a different final product. Rather than making recommendations, we are laying out a menu of major options, so that readers can come up with their own plan. We have received help along the way from the deficit panel, from Congressional and White House aides and from liberal, conservative and centrist budget analysts.

And on the mortgage-interest deduction, there’s no option for abolishing it, as I would love to do; instead all you can do is swap it out for some lower-cost credit.

I’d also love to see the option of a wealth tax, which could raise a lot of money from those most able to afford it.

bench craft company scam

Google News Blog: Credit where credit is due

Scripting News: Design challenge: River of News in HTML

Good Economic News May Be Bad for Fed Recovery Plan

Consumers, the life's blood of the American economy, have shown a growing willingness to spend, but this might play havoc with the Federal Reserve's bold plans to revive the recovery.

bench craft company scam

benchcraft company scam

bench craft company scam