RSSBirmingham Fund Raiser For the Natalee Holloway Trust Fund
I had the good fortune to be invited to the Benefit for Natalee held in Birmingham on Thursday Evening, the 25th of August. The event was held in a converted warehouse that could hold over 1,500 people. And I have to say, the building was filled to capacity.
The room was decorated with a Wizard of Oz theme, as it is a favorite of Natalee’s while also reminding everyone that “There is no place like home”. The invitation stated that the party was organized by Courtney Cox and David Arquette, as Courtney came from this area, and still has family in the Birmingham area. They famous couple was not in attendance but did provide a video appearance to the event, and helped coordinate a very impressive selection in the Silent Auction.
Google Ad words - Is it a new fraud target?
There is a new concern popping out on the web, and it is click fraud. Seth Godin responds to it here. He talks about a growing army in India that for their work they click Google ads.
Fred Wilson relates a story about a Seth’s son. From :A VCSeth’s 11 year old son asked him “dad, why don’t they just pay people to click the links?”
Now I know Seth’s son is smart - apples don’t fall too far from the trees after all - and soon he’ll figure out that you don’t even need people to click on the links.
And what if you are paying $120 a click for the keyword mesothelioma as this ambulance chaser law firm does?
I am looking to place Google ads soon, and I am afraid that it will be a losing proposition as time goes by. This will be very interesting to follow as time goes by.
Also, I wonder how one can get the term mesothelioma on to show up on their adsense page?
I guess I just did…
Did Blogs Kill the NYT Tech Section?
Steve Rubel, a PR agent who studies how Weblogs interact with business, has found this rumor.
Rumor has it, according to the New York Post, that The New York Times is said to be planning to end “Circuits” as a stand-alone section covering the high-tech world by the end of April. My immediate thought is - did the rising influence of the major gadget blogs like Engadget and Gizmodo play a role? This may be a sign of a coming shakeout in tech media.
A sea change is coming to the newspaper industry. Craigslist has changed the classified marketplace in the markets it has entered. Classified advertising was a cash cow for the newspapers. Now it is an afterthought.
Byrd Denies Hitler Comment
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Robert Byrd’s description of Adolf Hitler’s rise to power was meant as a warning to heed the past and not as a comparison to Republicans, a spokesman for the West Virginia Democrat says.
As they said in the 80’s:
Theres more….
“Terrible chapters of history ought never be repeated,” said Tom Gavin, spokesman for Byrd. “All one needs to do is to look at history to see how dangerous it is to curb the rights of the minority.”
Message to Tom Gavin, he is spokesman for a KKK Kleagle! This is the true nature of the good Senator.
New and interesting site
This is an interesting site that categorizes all of the interactions on the left. It has a visual map tool that is intriguing. I found this through Neal Boortz site, and according to him, the left is outraged by it.
I think that it is a situation where the truth hurts. And shows the power of transparency that the internet brings.
The Walmart Paradox
Seth Godin talks about the WalMart effect for retailers. I worked for a company that sold to Walmart, heck they were about 35% of the business. The only problem for the manufacturer is that WM is tough as heck on them. If they come out with something new and innovative, WalMart will insist it be included in the planogram, or else.
With Walmart it is always, or else.
Getting what we deserve?
The New York Times > Business > More Gloom on the Island of Lost Toy Makers points out that the toy business is crumbling. The reason: all the stores that love to sell toys are disappearing, defeated by WalMart.
Walmart wants to sell classics and heavily advertised hits. And they want to do it at close to cost. This appears to be good for consumers–get a Barbie for $12 or whatever.
The problem is that NEW toys aren’t classics and it’s hard to make the bet that new toys should be heavily advertised.
The second problem is that once you reach the level of success of a classic, selling at cost is no fun at all.
The end result is that the toy guys don’t have the guts to launch the new and the remarkable. They are boxed in, encouraged by Wall Street and management to play the Walmart game, which leads to short-term revenue and long term destitution.
These toy companies have always needed the profit from their hits to fund their next generation.
So what’s the answer?
The answer is to tell Walmart to go away. Toy companies are beginning to discover that they can’t win this game. The answer is to find a new and better and more consistently profitable way to launch the remarkable stuff.
And that’s happening. It’s happening when they sell online, or through local stores, or directly to people who care. No, this isn’t mass. This isn’t a fraction of what an endcap at Toys R Us was worth. It’s still the best deal in town. Over time, consumers will be trained that the toys they need are only available in places that aren’t Walmart.
Obviously, I think this same mantra applies to plenty of products in a similar situation. And I expect that the realists among you will tell me to get a clue, that Walmart is the market and you need to play or be irrelevant. I’m saying that playing is making you irrelevant.
Poor Jeff Jarvis
He professes to be a liberal. However, the liberals do not want him anymore. The far left have declared war on him, and they are showing no mercy.
This is the death knell (spelling corrected) for the Democrats. The Kos wing has taken over the party and they will turn the Jarvis’s, the thinking Democrats into Republican voters. There is only room in the inn for the fire breathing, hate anything Bush, democrats in the party. It is a shame.
I am a Republican. I was overjoyed that GWB won, but I am very scared. The nature of politics is that sometime the party in power will screw up. Then the other party, no matter how wacky, gets it turn (see Jimmy Carter).
Do we want the modern incarnation of the Democratic Party of Hatred to have the power? Please, Please Moderate Democrats fight for your party. Otherwise, when power does shift, we are going to have one heck of a mess on our hands.
And Jeff, I am a huge fan of yours , and appreciate all that you do. A year ago, I offered a place in the republican party to you. I rescind (spelling corrected) that offer. Please get your party back in order. Help them to see that they are needed to be logical. Not oppressive.
One for the Good Guys
Marine accused of murder in Fallujah was not charged due to a lack of evidence. This is a good sign that the politically correct in the military do not hold sway.
Hat Tip to Kate at Outside the Beltway via Wizbang
How I learned to fear the Bomb
Arlen Spector is up to his old tricks, lied to the people and lied to his party. All to achieve his goal to be Judiciary Chair.
Very scary man , Very scary position. Wish the Republicans had the nerve to use the Nuclear Option on him. Senator Frist, realize you made an error, and correct it.
Must Read: Ankle Biting Pundits take on the Spector situation tonight.
Hat Tip via Polipundit
Voice recognition and change
If you are not reading Seth Godin, you are missing out big time. This is one of my favorite posts of his, as it relates so much to the issues that we run into with our 8 year old.
I heard on the radio yesterday that “scientists” are predicting the next big computer breakthrough will be voice recognition. Chips are getting fast enough that computers will soon be able to understand what we say. Which will make airports very noisy places, but that’s a different story.
The other day, I took a four hour flight sitting next to a very aggressive hunt and peck typist. He must have written three thousand words on the flight… nailing each key as hard and as fast as he could.
Then I got home to discover that they’re teaching my third grader how to write in cursive.
Something’s wrong here.
Cursive is a fundamentally useless skill in this century, and if we were inventing the curriculum from scratch, it wouldn’t even show up in the top 1,000 things you need to know. Typing, on the other hand, is way up there, at least until the scientists come up with voice recognition.
All organizations are slow to change. Organizations that don’t measure their results are even slower.
