About Me 0090

Monday, January 10, 2011

Making Money on Line

Values, Value and Valuation — The money is all relative

Oh how timing sometimes works out to be funny. I was driving home tonight and started thinking about the value of products, the valuation of companies and how the values that a company portrays can change the rest. No sooner had I sat down to write this piece than the news of Goldman Sachs investing $500 million into Facebook broke and refreshed the entire thing in my mind. So let’s look at these three things, and try to see if one manages to sway the rest.

Values

Do you, like me, find yourself more inclined to use or purchase something that comes from a company that you can believe in? The ethos of a company can — for me at least — completely break me away from the product. That very fact, because I feel that I’m likely not alone in my actions (or lack thereof) can have a serious impact on the bottom line of a company.

Look at Facebook, for instance. When the Social Graph was announced and the new privacy changes went into effect, many people threw up their hands in disgust. But many others continued with life as usual, even if a bit annoyed. Why? Because Facebook has this outward appearance of a company that’s simply trying to do cool things, and it needs information in order to do them. The company’s values seem, for the most part, to be in line with the things that we Internet users want. As such, there was a lot more wagging and a lot less barking from the angry dogs crowd.

You’re starting a company? There’s likely something to be said for developing an ethos ahead of time, making it known and then sticking to it. Would Google be where it is today if not for the “don’t be evil” tag line? Even if you don’t fully believe that the company runs that way, you still remember it. Point made.

Value

When value exceeds cost, even by a single cent, the purchase will be made – Grant Cardone

That quote is one that has stuck with me for some time now. A few years ago I was making my living selling cars and it is sometimes exceedingly difficult to overcome the objection of price. In the technology world, we’re constantly being offered products for “free”. The only cost? A bit of information, a slice of our privacy or somethings similar. But then, after using those “free” products, we start to build our own value for them.

Don’t believe me? Just look at some of the things that you likely use every day. Gmail? You’d pay for that. Twitter? You don’t want to admit it, but it’s likely become a valuable asset to your daily Internet life. The same can be said for so many things and yet we get them for “free”. But there’s a down side to this issue as well — it becomes very difficult for a maker to charge for a product when there are free alternatives. Don’t believe that? When was the last time that a box office movie didn’t get a torrent version?

And yet, even as companies try to build value in their products, still others think that the economy allows for them to set their own values and tell us what something is worth. TV networks are probably the most well-known perpetrators of this heresy. Apple TV launched, ABC and Fox decided to jump on board and see what would happen. Some of the rest? They decided that $.99 was devaluing the product and yet as the provider of the product, there is no one entity that is more unqualified to name the value.

Consider it a lesson in business, I suppose. The potential buyer will determine the value of your product. Always.

Valuation

Now here’s a sticky one. Valuation is one of those strange things because it means so many different things to different people. To the potential investors, it’s a measure of how much money can be made. To the business owner it’s a gauge of how well the business has done. To the end user? It’s…honestly not much.

As a case in point, around TNW we love Twitter. We want to see it succeed and we are sure that it will. The valuation continues to climb prior to any IPO and yet, as users of the service, it really doesn’t matter much to us. Sure, it would matter if the site closed its doors, but beyond that there simply isn’t anything about the valuation number that matters.

And so, as an entrepreneur you have to ask yourself where the balance lies. Do your company values allow you to build value in your product? If so, then the chances are that your valuation will end up right where it needs to be. There’s a fair amount of truth in the thought that, if you handle the small stuff, the big stuff will fall into place.

So with that, I offer you a thought going into the new year — start with your values. The rest will fall into place.

Weekly Pulse: GOP Plays Chicken with the Debt Ceiling

By Lindsay Beyerstein, Media Consortium blogger

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) is calling for a "big showdown" over the upcoming vote to raise the nation's debt ceiling to $14.3 trillion from $13.9 trillion. The debt ceiling is simply the maximum amount the government can borrow.

Congress routinely raises the debt ceiling every year. It's common sense: Since the government has already pledged to increase spending, Congress must authorize additional borrowing. (Remember that the government is now forced to borrow billions of extra dollars to pay for tax cuts for the wealthy, which Republicans insisted on.) If the ceiling isn't raised, the United States will be forced to default on its debts, with catastrophic consequences.

Why would default be catastrophic? The principle is the same for countries and consumers alike: If you have a good track record of paying your bills, lenders will lend you money at lower interest rates. If you don't pay your bills on time, or default on your obligations altogether, lenders will demand higher interest rates.

Congressional Republicans say they oppose raising the debt ceiling because they favor fiscal responsibility. This kind of rhetoric is the height of recklessness. The interest on our debts is a big part of government spending. Even idle talk about defaults could spook some creditors into raising interest rates on U.S. debt and cost taxpayers dearly.

Steve Benen of the Washington Monthly quotes Austan Goolsbee, chair of the White House's Council of Economic Advisers, who says that congressional GOP members are flirting with the "the first default in history caused purely by insanity."

Making work pay (for real)

An astonishing 80% of full-time minimum wage workers can't afford the necessities of life, according to new research by labor economist Jeannette Wicks-Lim of the Political Economy Research Institute, featured on the Real News Network.

Wicks-Lim argues for a two-part solution to the crisis of working poverty in America: i) raising the federal minimum wage to $12.30/hr from $7.50/hr; ii) Increasing the earned income tax credit to 40% of income. She estimates that these two policy changes would raise the income of a minimum wage worker from $15,000 to about $36,000 at a manageable cost to employers and taxpayers.

Her proposal is a revamp of President Bill Clinton's attempt to "reform" welfare by cutting social service benefits and shifting government spending to tax credits. Currently, the Earned Income Tax Credit is a subsidy for the working poor that is designed to "make work pay"--i.e., if workers aren't making enough in wages to secure a decent standard of living, the government provides an income subsidy to reward them for working.

However, if a decent standard of living remains out of reach for 80% of full-time minimum wage workers, Wicks-Lim argues that the minimum wage is too low and the subsidies are too modest to achieve the stated goal of making work pay.

Colorado minimum wage inches up

Speaking of minimum wage issues, Scot Kersgaard of the Colorado Independent reports that the minimum wage in the state ticked up from $7.25 an hour to $7.36 on January 1. The modest increase represents the annual adjustment for inflation. Every bit counts, but Colorado families are falling further behind. According to a new report by the Denver-based Bell Policy Center, 8.3% of working families in Colorado live below the federal poverty line, which is $22,050 for a family of four. Fully one-fourth of Colorado families do not earn enough to meet their basic needs, which requires an income approximately twice the FPL, according to the report.

Colorado is one of only 10 states that automatically adjust their minimum wages for inflation.

Wage theft epidemic

Unscrupulous employers are stealing untold millions of dollars from hardworking Americans, Dick Meister reports in AlterNet:

The cheating bosses don't take the money directly from their employees. No, nothing as obvious as that. The employers practice their thievery by underpaying workers, sometimes by paying them less than the legal minimum wage. Or they fail to pay employees extra for overtime work, or even force them to work for nothing before or after their regular work shifts or at other times. Some employers make illegal deductions from employee wages. And some withhold the final paycheck due employees who quit.

In New York City alone, an estimated $18 million worth of wages is stolen every week. Workers in the restaurant, construction, and retail sectors are at increased risk of wage theft. Wage thieves disproportionately target undocumented workers because they assume that these employees will be less likely to report the crime.

Debt collection from beyond the grave

The dead don't tell tales, but they have been known to sign debt collection papers, Andy Kroll reports in Mother Jones. Martha Kunkle died in 1995, but her printed name and signature appear on paperwork filed by the debt collection agency Portfolio Recovery Associates as late as 2006 and 2007. The ruse was discovered and PRA, facing a fraud lawsuit, agreed in 2008 that the "Kunkle's" documents couldn't be used in court. That didn't stop the agency from trying to use them again in 2009.

The attorney general of Missouri has announced that he will investigate whether any of Kunkle's handiwork was used to support debt collection in his state. The attorney general of Minnesota is already investigating whether debt collectors have used fraudulent paperwork in court.

This post features links to the best independent, progressive reporting about the economy by members of The Media Consortium. It is free to reprint. Visit the Audit for a complete list of articles on economic issues, or follow us on Twitter. And for the best progressive reporting on critical economy, environment, health care and immigration issues, check out The Mulch, The Pulse and The Diaspora. This is a project of The Media Consortium, a network of leading independent media outlets.

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Friday, January 7, 2011

Making Money on Line

On every user-profile page, you will now find a "Donate" button. Click it and you can give some of your available means away. This donation can be made anonymously.

As we suggested last month, Flattr's new feature will likely benefit WikiLeaks, as Flattr remains one of the only ways to make a donation to the site now that PayPal, Visa and MasterCard have closed those paths to funding. Beyond the support for WikiLeaks, Flattr has developed a small but thriving network of users: since opening its beta, it has gained 46,056 registered users and has passed more than €114,057 through its peer-to-peer payment system.

If you're still looking for more ways and more things to Flattr, a developer has taken Flattr's API and built Flattr4Android, a tool that will let users scan a QR code off-line. This code is tied to a Flattr account, making it easy for you to submit and flattr content via your mobile phone.

With these changes, Flattr address two things poised to be big trends this year: the growth of mobile money and expansion of peer-to-peer networks.

It’s being reported by BGR that some Best Buys may be unable to activate new T-Mobile lines at their stores. Normally, you may think “What’s the big deal?” but it’s causing issue for those hoping to buy the new Nexus S superphone. With Best Buy unable to activate a new service line through T-Mobile, some BGR readers are reportedly having to pay the full retail contract-free price of the Nexus S ($530) in order to assure that nobody else nabs their phone. Brutal!

According to the reader, he couldn’t activate the new line in store, and after heading home, he called back and after repeated calls, they said that if he wanted to get a Nexus S, he would have to pay full retail for the phone. Now, this seems to be an isolated incident, and who knows if the guy was black listed by T-Mobile or something.

BGR reached out to Best Buy’s press relations people, who apparently didn’t respond to their questions. Have any of our readers had this issue? We’d love to find out. Tell us about it in the comments section.

To briefly recap the specs of the Nexus S, it’s not a bad phone, though it’s basically a Galaxy S with Google branding and a curved display:

4-inch OLED contour display
1GHZ processor
512MB RAM
16GB storage
Android 2.3
5MP Camera w/ LED flash

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Thursday, January 6, 2011

How to Making Money

Values, Value and Valuation — The money is all relative

Values

Value

When value exceeds cost, even by a single cent, the purchase will be made – Grant Cardone

Consider it a lesson in business, I suppose. The potential buyer will determine the value of your product. Always.

Valuation

So with that, I offer you a thought going into the new year — start with your values. The rest will fall into place.

Capacity vs. Usage

Kepes emphasizes the following financial benefits of Infrastructure-as-a-Service:

Economies of scale - IaaS vendors can offer cheaper access to infrastructure by purchasing equipment in bulk.

Pay as you go for what you use - With cloud computing, you can pay for what you use, like a utility, instead of investing in a fixed capacity infrastructure that may either exceed or fall short of your organization's needs.

Cloud services can be paid for out of the operating expenditures budget - And because computing resources are paid for like a utility, they can be paid for out of the operating expendetures budget instead of capital investments.

Kepes then emphasizes the need for organizations to select IaaS vendors that allow them to actually take advantage of these benefits. For example, it's important that customers make sure than billing for cloud services is as granular as possible.

Kepes also looks at issues such as Service Level Agreements, support and compliance. This is the first of a series of free white papers by Kepes. Hopefully we'll see further depth and some papers for more advanced practitioners.

Photo credits: Flickr user Kevin Dooley

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

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Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Small Business News: Recommitting To Social Media in 2011

How important will social media be to small business in 2011? Likely even more important than it was in 2010. Let's face it. Social media gives small business.

Google News et Al: More Popular News Source than TV | Search ...

Where do you get your news? Certainly, newspapers have faded out as a top resource. However, if you answered from TV news programs, you're part of a group.

Putting our Accessibility Heads Together - openSUSE News

Categories. Announcements Build Service Derivatives Distribution Education Event Calendar Events Infrastructure Marketing People of openSUSE Project Sneak Peeks Uncategorized Weekly News Wiki ...

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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Who's Making Money

Fishing for compliments is something of a misdemeanor in most social circles — unless your circle is the Internet and you’re fishing with a shiny, new vanity app.

ThreeWords.me is making the rounds this week. It’s a simple app that lets you solicit three-word responses from your friends around the web. Each respondent simply goes to your unique ThreeWords.me URL and enters three words about you.

Your friends can also add comments along with their three words, and you can reply to any entries. In your dashboard, you can see which words people entered the most.

You might get a lot of complimentary words, but be warned, o ye of little self-confidence: The app allows for anonymous commenting, so steel yourself for trolls, profanity and put-downs. You can delete any of the entries at your discretion. You can also choose to make all your responses private.

The premise is ever so grade school, which adds to the app’s charm. While ThreeWords.me is without question a slightly narcissistic game aimed squarely at the perpetually insecure social media scene, it’s nevertheless cute and catching on like wildfire through class='blippr-nobr'>Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter and class='blippr-nobr'>Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook.

Its UI is simple, as well. You get to upload a background image and profile photo; other than that, the pages are decidedly bare-bones and lacking in the design department. Then again, the design isn’t what matters about this app; getting people to talk about — and hopefully compliment — you is what drives traffic to the pages in this case.

*Words blurred to preserve the author’s lingering sense of humility.

You can connect the app to Facebook, but sadly, you can’t use Facebook or Twitter to find your friends who are also using the app. You’ll have to do that part manually, a major shortcoming that’s likely holding the app back quite a bit in terms of adoption and growth.

ThreeWords.me puts us in mind of Formspringclass="blippr-nobr">FormSpring, Facto and a slew of other vanity apps we’ve been watching lately.

The app was created by college freshman Mark Bao, a teenager who’s been trying his hand at web-based entrepreneurialism for quite some time already. While we don’t see ThreeWords.me as a money-making endeavor right now, we’re sure the exposure can’t hurt.

Have you tried ThreeWords.me yet or seen others in your circle using it? Let us know what you think in the comments.

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

John Cole

You absolutely did say the essence of that, when the rape accusations against Assange came out last summer. Without missing a beat. And reiterated it thereafter. And if you don’t believe it, I’m sure your archives are more accessible to you than they are to me.

I have no idea why they are more accessible to me than you, but if you put “rape assange” in the search box you will see I dismissed the charges WHEN the Swiss dropped them, stating it is deeply troubling when charges of rape are tossed around, because rape is a serious thing.

The only other thing I said about it was the following:

You know what? Maybe he is a pervert and a rapist. But you don’t exactly have to be Alex Jones or Paul Watson or drinking grain and rain water to think this is a little sketchy. Especially the way it just sort of appeared after the military document dump, and now after the latest dump, the arrest warrant is issued. It is just getting too convenient (Ritter) that every time someone throws a fly in the ointment, this kind of thing happens. Maybe there is something in the personality type and it is all just a big coincidence. Or maybe not.

And I stand by that. You don’t exactly have to be a conspiracy theorist to note that every time someone speaks up, this sort of thing happens. And even then, I noted the possibility of his being a rapist and that maybe there is something in the personality type that makes people who are defiant (like Assange or Ritter) that also coincides with their being sexual deviants.

As to this bullshit:

I eagerly await a link to where you—similar to your hero Glennzilla—ever said anything along the lines of “Regardless of anyone’s opinions of Assange and Wikileaks, an accusation of rape is a serious matter to be resolved pursuant to the applicable law—and no one should EVER attack the accuser, or question her motives, any more than they should assume the guilt of the accused.”

Lo and behold, I linked to two pieces that SAID JUST FUCKING THAT. Here is the Amanda Marcotte piece I linked:

We can be grown-ups here. We can entertain the idea that Wikileaks is performing a valuable service while acknowledging the strong possibility that Julian Assange is himself an asshole who treats women like they’re objects he can exert his massive power issues on. We can criticize Interpol for treating these alleged sex crimes more seriously than they ever treat sex crimes and maintain sympathy for women who reportedly were quite afraid they had been exposed to unintended pregnancy or worse. Maybe we can even do one better than that, and accept that more than a few men who consider themselves liberals or even leftists—-or may even claim to be feminists—-still act like women’s concerns should be dismissed and our rights can be transgressed with ease. I’m not accusing Assange of anything, but I seriously think it’s silly to think the accusations couldn’t be credible.

And here is Feministe:

I’m not particularly interested in debating What Assange Did or Whether Assange Is A Rapist, and I’d appreciate it if we could steer clear of that in the comments section. Rather, I’m interested in pushing back on the primary media narrative about this case, which is that women lie and exaggerate about rape, and will call even the littlest thing — a broken condom! — rape if they’re permitted to under a too-liberal feminist legal system. In fact, there are lots of good reasons to support consent-based sexual assault laws, and to recognize that consent goes far beyond “yes you can put that in here now.” It’s a shame that the shoddy, sensationalist reporting on this case have muddied those waters.

You have now trotted out every single form of weak bullshit imaginable, and the facts and the archives have shot you down each and every time. You even got to throw in a weak shot at Greenwald.

Do you want to stop now, or keep digging?

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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

budgeting personal finances

The theory is simple: "If you don't have the money, don't charge it. Try to leave your credit card at home and only use it to pay bills," advises April Lewis, director of education for Consolidated Credit Counseling Services. Then immediately pay off your credit-card balance. As for old credit-card debt, sit down and commit to paper a plan for paying them off. Go for a quick hit, like paying off the smallest balance first, or decide to take on the highest rate card first. Get the job done.

Here's a second tip: Be proactive about managing your credit. Call up your lender and ask it to lower your interest rate. Usually, lenders will lower callers' rates by 2% to 3%, says Scott Gamm, founder of HelpSaveMyDollars.com. Also check your credit report. You can check your credit for free at annualcreditreport.com, for example. If you see mistakes, contact the credit agencies and get those mistakes corrected. If errors are dragging down your score, eliminating them can boost it to where it belongs and make you eligible for better rates.

2. Think automation

Free online banking tools can make it easier to manage your finances with less work. To help grow your savings, for example, you can schedule regular transfers from your checking account. Manisha Thakor, author of Get Financially Naked: How to Talk Money With Your Honey, suggests setting up the transfer of a set amount of money into your savings account every pay day.

Also automate recurring bill payments so you never miss a due date or pay a late fee, which sends money down the drain. Even without late fees, timely payments are key: 35% of your credit score is based on your ability to make payments on time. If you sign up for automatic payments, however, make sure to check your monthly bills for errors. One other caveat: "Make sure you have enough cushion in your checking account to avoid any overdrafts" before setting up auto-payments, money coach Lora Sasiela says.

Over the past few years, much of the news has revolved around the economic crisis in the United States. I have opened newspaper after newspaper only to find the words “debt” and “budget” streaming across the headlines more mornings than I would have thought possible. One can conclude one of two things from these frequently reoccurring words. Either journalists are having an incredibly troublesome time finding synonyms for them, or debt and budgeting are two serious issues facing both individual Americans and our overarching political establishment.

I would venture to say most would agree that it is the latter. Debt is a financial reality for countless Americans, as well as the United States government; however, this discussion will not revolve so much around the government but the American people.

Debt could be easily be compared to a common illness that seems innocent enough—until you find yourself unable to get out of bed because it has rendered you helpless. Debt starts out a bit like that. It seems harmless enough until you receive the credit card bill at the end of the month.

Far too many individuals in the United States not only spend recklessly but spend far beyond their means. Just think about it. A grande cappuccino from Starbucks costs somewhere between $3 and $4, possibly more if you prefer soy milk or extra flavors. Now I am well aware that drinks such as these are delicious treats. With every Chai Tea Latte I consume, I feel an instant peace ensue throughout my body. That may be due to my caffeine addiction, but whatever the case may be, it would undoubtedly be more cost-effective to purchase a pound of coffee beans and brew the caffeinated beverages myself.

That is only the beginning. Consider the number of new vehicles you see driving along the highway each morning, some worth well over $50,000. That in itself could fund almost my entire college education.

robert shumake detroit

Opinion: Can Oprah Help Restore Civility? - AOL News

Oprah began her new cable television network -- OWN -- at noon on New Year's Day, a network dedicated to the total and complete absence of mean-spiritedness.

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Sean Ryan, who arrived at News Corp. mid-year to set up a new online gaming unit, is moving to Facebook to head partnerships at its key gaming platform, according to sources. Currently, Facebook does not create social games, ...

John Roberts Leaves CNN for Fox News - NYTimes.com

Executives at CNN confirmed Monday that John Roberts, who served as the morning anchor for the network since April 2007, would be joining Fox News as a national correspondent.

robert shumake

Opinion: Can Oprah Help Restore Civility? - AOL News

Oprah began her new cable television network -- OWN -- at noon on New Year's Day, a network dedicated to the total and complete absence of mean-spiritedness.

News Corp. Online Gaming Head Sean Ryan to Head Facebook's Social ...

John Roberts Leaves CNN for Fox News - NYTimes.com

Executives at CNN confirmed Monday that John Roberts, who served as the morning anchor for the network since April 2007, would be joining Fox News as a national correspondent.

robert shumake
The theory is simple: "If you don't have the money, don't charge it. Try to leave your credit card at home and only use it to pay bills," advises April Lewis, director of education for Consolidated Credit Counseling Services. Then immediately pay off your credit-card balance. As for old credit-card debt, sit down and commit to paper a plan for paying them off. Go for a quick hit, like paying off the smallest balance first, or decide to take on the highest rate card first. Get the job done.

Here's a second tip: Be proactive about managing your credit. Call up your lender and ask it to lower your interest rate. Usually, lenders will lower callers' rates by 2% to 3%, says Scott Gamm, founder of HelpSaveMyDollars.com. Also check your credit report. You can check your credit for free at annualcreditreport.com, for example. If you see mistakes, contact the credit agencies and get those mistakes corrected. If errors are dragging down your score, eliminating them can boost it to where it belongs and make you eligible for better rates.

2. Think automation

Free online banking tools can make it easier to manage your finances with less work. To help grow your savings, for example, you can schedule regular transfers from your checking account. Manisha Thakor, author of Get Financially Naked: How to Talk Money With Your Honey, suggests setting up the transfer of a set amount of money into your savings account every pay day.

Also automate recurring bill payments so you never miss a due date or pay a late fee, which sends money down the drain. Even without late fees, timely payments are key: 35% of your credit score is based on your ability to make payments on time. If you sign up for automatic payments, however, make sure to check your monthly bills for errors. One other caveat: "Make sure you have enough cushion in your checking account to avoid any overdrafts" before setting up auto-payments, money coach Lora Sasiela says.

robert shumake detroit

robert shumake

Opinion: Can Oprah Help Restore Civility? - AOL News

Oprah began her new cable television network -- OWN -- at noon on New Year's Day, a network dedicated to the total and complete absence of mean-spiritedness.

News Corp. Online Gaming Head Sean Ryan to Head Facebook's Social ...

John Roberts Leaves CNN for Fox News - NYTimes.com

Executives at CNN confirmed Monday that John Roberts, who served as the morning anchor for the network since April 2007, would be joining Fox News as a national correspondent.

robert shumake

Opinion: Can Oprah Help Restore Civility? - AOL News

Oprah began her new cable television network -- OWN -- at noon on New Year's Day, a network dedicated to the total and complete absence of mean-spiritedness.

News Corp. Online Gaming Head Sean Ryan to Head Facebook's Social ...

John Roberts Leaves CNN for Fox News - NYTimes.com

Executives at CNN confirmed Monday that John Roberts, who served as the morning anchor for the network since April 2007, would be joining Fox News as a national correspondent.

robert shumake

After graduation I took a trip with my friends. The trip was immense fun but it wasn't fun when I did the expenses. When I sat down to settle the trip bills, I knew I had to be stricter with my finances. Here's a plan I made for myself and it has continued to help me to stay on track. I hope it helps recent graduates like me.

Make a budget for variable expenses: We all have expenses that are fixed- rent and bills. But expenses such as food, laundry and other personal expenses can change. Set a budget for such variable expenses.

Track your expenses, ALWAYS: if you don't know how much amounts to your variable expenses, track them for previous months. You are sure to come to an average amount. Then set a ceiling for how much you should spend on them and stick to this number rigidly. Don't give up tracking. Always track your expenses.

Avoid swiping your credit card for lesser amounts: pay by cash or use your debit card to pay for smaller amounts. Smaller amounts like the 10s and 20s amount to quiet a big number on your bill. It feels good to get them out of your way when you pay by cash.

Start cooking at home, because that is much cheaper than eating out every day. And it can save you a lot of money.

Avoid eating out as much as possible. Need I say again that it can save?

Say no: you don't need to always catch that flick with your friend or go out every weekend for dinner. It is difficult to say no but your friends will understand.

Pause before you shop: Before you are ready to swipe your card, ask yourself if you really need the item you are buying. Can you do without it? If the answer to this question is 'yes' you know what to do. Few days back I was in BJs doing grocery shopping. I picked up a lovely winter jacket which was costing only $30. I was tempted to buy it. I roamed the entire store with it in my cart knowing I shouldn't buy it. Eventually I put it down and bought only the required groceries.

It can be difficult to curb yourself from shopping in the beginning. But after you see the difference it makes it isn't that difficult. All the best!

robert shumake detroit

Opinion: Can Oprah Help Restore Civility? - AOL News

Oprah began her new cable television network -- OWN -- at noon on New Year's Day, a network dedicated to the total and complete absence of mean-spiritedness.

News Corp. Online Gaming Head Sean Ryan to Head Facebook's Social ...

John Roberts Leaves CNN for Fox News - NYTimes.com

Executives at CNN confirmed Monday that John Roberts, who served as the morning anchor for the network since April 2007, would be joining Fox News as a national correspondent.

robert shumake detroit

robert shumake detroit
The theory is simple: "If you don't have the money, don't charge it. Try to leave your credit card at home and only use it to pay bills," advises April Lewis, director of education for Consolidated Credit Counseling Services. Then immediately pay off your credit-card balance. As for old credit-card debt, sit down and commit to paper a plan for paying them off. Go for a quick hit, like paying off the smallest balance first, or decide to take on the highest rate card first. Get the job done.

Here's a second tip: Be proactive about managing your credit. Call up your lender and ask it to lower your interest rate. Usually, lenders will lower callers' rates by 2% to 3%, says Scott Gamm, founder of HelpSaveMyDollars.com. Also check your credit report. You can check your credit for free at annualcreditreport.com, for example. If you see mistakes, contact the credit agencies and get those mistakes corrected. If errors are dragging down your score, eliminating them can boost it to where it belongs and make you eligible for better rates.

2. Think automation

Free online banking tools can make it easier to manage your finances with less work. To help grow your savings, for example, you can schedule regular transfers from your checking account. Manisha Thakor, author of Get Financially Naked: How to Talk Money With Your Honey, suggests setting up the transfer of a set amount of money into your savings account every pay day.

Also automate recurring bill payments so you never miss a due date or pay a late fee, which sends money down the drain. Even without late fees, timely payments are key: 35% of your credit score is based on your ability to make payments on time. If you sign up for automatic payments, however, make sure to check your monthly bills for errors. One other caveat: "Make sure you have enough cushion in your checking account to avoid any overdrafts" before setting up auto-payments, money coach Lora Sasiela says.

robert shumake detroit