Monday, January 10, 2011

foreclosure homes


LPS Applied Analytics released their November Mortgage Performance data. According to LPS:



• The average number of days delinquent for loans in foreclosure is a record 499 days

• Over 4.3 million loans are 90 days or more delinquent or in foreclosure

• Delinquency rates are down across all products as more loans entered foreclosure and new delinquencies declined.

• Foreclosure inventory increases are being driven both by elevated levels of foreclosure starts as well as a very limited amount of foreclosure sale activity.



Click on graph for larger image in new window.



This graph provided by LPS Applied Analytics shows the percent delinquent, percent in foreclosure, and total non-current mortgages.



The percent in the foreclosure process is trending up because of the foreclosure moratoriums.



According to LPS, 9.02% of mortgages are delinquent (down from 9.29% in October), and another 4.08% are in the foreclosure process (up from 3.92% in October) for a total of 13.10%. It breaks down as:



• 2.61 million loans less than 90 days delinquent.

• 2.16 million loans 90+ days delinquent.

• 2.16 million loans in foreclosure process.



For a total of 6.92 million loans delinquent or in foreclosure.



Note: I've seen some people include these 7 million delinquent loans as "shadow inventory". This is not correct because 1) some of these loans will cure, and 2) some of these homes are already listed for sale (so they are included in the visible inventory).



Two key numbers to watch in 2011 are:

• New delinquencies. With falling house prices, delinquencies could start to increase again.

• Foreclosures. With the end of the foreclosure moratoriums, foreclosure sales should increase - and the number of homes in the foreclosure process should decline.  However REOs (Real Estate Owned) will increase unless the homes are sold.



PR11-01-003

Text version after the jump



$432 BILLION PENSION FUND COALITION DEMANDS

BANK DIRECTORS IMMEDIATELY EXAMINE

FORECLOSURE PRACTICES


PR11-01-003

Contact: Sharon Lee / Matthew Sweeney, (212) 669-3747 January 9, 2011


$432 BILLION PENSION FUND COALITION DEMANDS BANK DIRECTORS IMMEDIATELY EXAMINE FORECLOSURE PRACTICES


View in pdf


NEW YORK, NY – A coalition of seven major public pension systems called on the boards of directors of Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup (NYSE: C), JP Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), and Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) to immediately undertake independent examinations of the banks’ mortgage and foreclosure practices.


Led by New York City Comptroller John C. Liu on behalf of the five NYC Pension Funds, the coalition also includes the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds, the Illinois State Board of Investment, the Illinois State Universities Retirement System, the New York State Common Retirement Fund, the North Carolina Retirement Systems, and the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund.


The coalition of pension funds called for the banks’ Audit Committees to launch independent examinations of their loan modification, foreclosure, and securitization policies and procedures.


“This will help to prevent future compliance failures and restore the confidence of shareholders, regulators, legislators and mortgage markets participants,” the coalition advised in its letter.


The coalition members’ insistence on immediate action reflects the urgency of their concerns over mishandled mortgages.  In November, the New York City Pension Funds and Comptroller Liu made a similar request for bank boards to conduct independent policy reviews as part of a shareholder proposal to the banks’ annual meetings in the spring.


“The banks’ boards cannot continue to pretend the foreclosure mess is the result of technical glitches and paperwork errors,” Comptroller Liu said.  “There is a fundamental problem in their procedures that endangers not just homeowners, but shareholders, and local economies.  Given the risks involved, only a swift and unbiased audit can reassure shareholders that the pension funds of 700,000 working and retired New Yorkers are in safe hands.  The boards of directors have no time to waste.”


The coalition represents more than $430 billion in pension fund investments, including $5.7 billion invested in the four banks.


“We don’t know exactly what the banks were doing, and we don’t know if they did it right,” New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said.  “Millions of families have lost their homes, and the investments of the million members of the Common Retirement System have been put at risk.  As investors, we need to understand what happened.  A full and open examination of the procedures used to foreclose on millions of families is the only way to make sure our investments are protected and no one is ever wrongfully evicted from their home.”


Federal Reserve Governor Daniel K. Tarullo testified to the Senate Banking Committee on December 1 that the Federal Reserve’s preliminary findings on bank foreclosure procedures suggested “significant weaknesses in risk-management, quality control, audit and compliance practices as underlying factors contributing to the problems associated with mortgage servicing and foreclosure documentation.”


The Congressional Oversight Panel has estimated that banks’ potential mortgage liability could total $52 billion, borne largely by the four banks contacted by the pension funds.  The Panel’s November 16 report, “Examining the Consequences of Mortgage Irregularities for Financial Stability and Foreclosure Mitigation,” concluded that banks’ could suffer “disabling damage” if they were found to have misrepresented the quality of loans sold for securitization and forced to reabsorb billions in troubled loans.


“The responsibility for making sure that internal controls and compliance process are in place for mortgage and foreclosure practices rests squarely with these Audit Committees,” said North Carolina State Treasurer Janet Cowell.  “The recent testimonies and studies strongly suggest the need for these Audit Committees to act swiftly and objectively in conducting an independent and comprehensive review of these practices.”


The coalition of pension funds called for the banks to report the findings of their independent examinations in their 2011 proxy statements this spring. As of December 31, 2010, the coalition’s combined holdings in each bank included: 97.1 million Bank of America shares valued at $1.3 billion; 226.6 million Citigroup shares valued at $1.1 billion; 40.7 million JPMorgan Chase shares valued at $1.7 billion; and 50.6 million Wells Fargo shares valued at $1.6 billion.


The New York City Comptroller serves as the investment advisor to, custodian and trustee of the New York City Pension Funds.  The New York City Pension Funds are comprised of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, Teachers’ Retirement System, New York City Police Pension Fund, New York City Fire Department Pension Fund and the Board of Education Retirement System.  The New York City Pension Funds hold a combined 138,786,887 total shares in Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM), and Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) for a combined asset value of $1,933,160,319 as of 12/31/2010.


The coalition’s letters to each bank are available on Comptroller Liu’s website:


http://comptroller.nyc.gov/press/2011_releases/pr11-01-003.shtm



TEXT IN-FULL OF SHAREHOLDER COALITION LETTER:


CONNECTICUT RETIREMENT PLANS AND TRUST FUNDS ● ILLINOIS STATE BOARD OF INVESTMENT ● ILLINOIS STATE UNIVERSITIES RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ● NEW YORK CITY BOARD OF EDUCATION RETIREMENTS SYSTEM ● NEW YORK CITY EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM ● NEW YORK CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT PENSION FUND ● NEW YORK CITY POLICE PENSION FUND ● NEW YORK CITY TEACHERS’ RETIREMENT SYSTEM ● NEW YORK STATE COMMON RETIREMENT FUND ● NORTH CAROLINA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ● OREGON STATE TREASURY


January 6, 2011


Name

Title

Company

Address

City, State


Dear [audit committee chair]:


Reports in fall 2010 of widespread irregularities in the mortgage and foreclosure processes at the nation’s largest banks have exposed BANKNAME (“the Company”) to intensive legal and regulatory scrutiny.  Despite management’s assurance that the concerns are overblown and will be resolved quickly, preliminary findings by top federal regulators suggest that internal control failures at the banks are in fact widespread.  Moreover, according to the November report of the Congressional Oversight Panel (COP), exposed banks could suffer severe capital losses.


As major institutional investors collectively holding XX million BANKNAME common shares, with a December 31 market value of $XX billion, we believe it is incumbent upon the Board of Directors to take immediate, independent action to restore confidence in the Company’s internal controls and compliance.  Specifically, we call on the Audit Committee you chair to conduct an independent review of Company’s internal controls related to loan modifications, foreclosures and securitizations and to include a report to shareholders with findings and recommendations in the Company’s 2011 proxy statement.


The requested review, the scope of which we further detail below, is already the subject of a shareholder resolution submitted by New York City Pension Funds for the Company’s spring 2011 annual meeting.  However, we believe the urgency and seriousness of our concerns require more immediate Board action.


The Congressional Oversight Panel’s November 2010 Report


In its November 2010 oversight report, the COP characterized the view expressed by management at the large banks that “current concerns over foreclosure irregularities are overblown, reflecting mere clerical errors that can and will be resolved quickly” as the best case scenario.  In its worst case scenario, the COP said severe capital losses could destabilize exposed banks and potentially threaten overall financial stability.


The largest source of potential instability is the risk of widespread mortgage put-backs due to breaches of representations and warranties to mortgage investors, as well as concerns regarding the proper legal documentation for securitized loans.  Using current estimates from investment analysts, the COP calculates industry exposure from mortgage put-backs at $52 billion, which it said would be borne predominantly by Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and Citigroup.


In addition, banks could be vulnerable to litigation from homeowners who claim to have suffered improper foreclosures. “Even the prospect of such losses,” states the COP report, “could damage a bank’s stock price or its ability to raise capital.”  The report also states that, as a result of flawed documentation, borrowers may have been denied modifications.


The Federal Foreclosure Task Force’s Preliminary Findings


On November 23rd, a week after the COP released its report, Assistant Treasury Secretary Michael Barr informed members of the Financial Stability Oversight Council that a federal foreclosure task force investigating some of the nation’s largest mortgage servicers had found “widespread” and “inexcusable breakdowns in basic controls in the foreclosure process.”  The task force, which is composed of 11 federal agencies, is expected to report its findings in January to the Council, which will then determine what regulatory actions would rectify the problems.


Federal Reserve Governor Daniel K. Tarullo’s December 1st Congressional Testimony


Most recently, Federal Reserve Governor Daniel K. Tarullo updated the Senate Banking Committee on a related interagency examination by the four federal banking regulators.  In his December 1st testimony, Mr. Tarullo said preliminary findings “suggest significant weaknesses in risk-management, quality control, audit, and compliance practices as underlying factors contributing to the problems associated with mortgage servicing and foreclosure documentation.” The agencies have also found “shortcomings in staff training.”


Mr. Tarullo testified that “foreclosures are costly to all parties,” noting their harmful impacts on homeowners, lenders, mortgage investors and local governments, as well as the broader economy.  “It just cannot be the case,” he said, “that foreclosure is preferable to modification for a significant proportion of mortgages where the deadweight costs of foreclosure, including a distressed sale discount, are so high.”


Among the possible explanations for the prominence of foreclosures, he cited “lack of servicer capacity to execute modifications, purported financial incentives for servicers to foreclose rather than modify, …and conflicts between primary and secondary lien holders.”  Although servicers are required to act in the best interests of the investors who own the mortgages, an October 2010 study provides compelling empirical support for the view that perverse incentives and conflicts of interest lead banks to foreclose upon or deny loan modifications to homeowners improperly.1


Federal Regulators and Congress May Impose Structural Reforms


Given the range of problems associated with mortgage servicing, including the degree to which foreclosure has been preferred to mortgage modification, Mr. Tarullo testified that “structural solutions may be needed.”  In addition to possible regulatory actions, recent House and Senate Hearings on the foreclosure crisis raise the prospect of additional legislative remedies.


For example, a bill introduced by Reps. Brad Miller (D-NC) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) in April 2010, before the recent round of hearings, would address one of the conflicts cited by Mr. Tarullo. The Mortgage Servicing Conflict of Interest Elimination Act would bar servicers of first loans they do not own from holding any other mortgages on the same property.  Enactment of the legislation would presumably force the Company, which is one of four banks that control more than half the mortgage servicing market and more than half the home equity loan market, to divest its servicing businesses or its interests in home mortgages.


Scope and Timeline for Independent Review


In light of the above, we urge the Audit Committee to immediately retain independent advisors to review the Company’s internal controls related to loan modifications, foreclosures and securitizations.  The review should evaluate (a) the Company’s compliance with (i) applicable laws and regulations and (ii) its own policies and procedures; (b) whether management has allocated a sufficient number of trained staff; and (c) policies and procedures to address potential financial incentives to foreclose when other options may be more consistent with the Company’s long-term interests.  For the purposes of this review, we do not consider your existing audit firm to be independent since the firm previously signed off on the Company’s internal controls.


The Audit Committee should disclose its findings and recommendations in the Company’s 2011 proxy statement.  In the event that the Committee is unable to complete its review prior to the filing of the Company’s 2011 proxy statement, we request that the Committee provide a preliminary report in the proxy statement detailing the scope of the review, the firm(s) retained to perform it, any preliminary findings and remedial steps taken to date, and the expected completion date.


Conclusion


As you know, the Audit Committee is ultimately responsible for the Company’s compliance with legal and regulatory requirements as well as its internal controls over financial reporting.  The Committee, however, appears to be relying on management’s internal review and assurance that any foreclosure irregularities are mere clerical errors that will be resolved quickly, while awaiting the outcome of various investigations by federal and state authorities.


It may be too late to protect the Company from the worst consequences of any past compliance failures.  It is nonetheless critical that the Audit Committee take immediate, independent action to assess the Company’s mortgage-related internal controls and address any underlying weaknesses.  This will help to prevent future compliance failures and restore the confidence of shareholders, regulators, legislators and mortgage market participants.


Thank you for your prompt consideration.  We look forward to your response by January 21, which you should address to New York City Comptroller John Liu at 1 Centre Street, New York, NY 10007.


Sincerely,


John C. Liu, New York City Comptroller

New York City Pension Funds


Denise Nappier, Connecticut State Treasurer

Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds


William R. Atwood, Executive Director

Illinois State Board of Investment


William E. Mabe, Executive Director

Illinois State Universities Retirement System


Thomas D. DiNapoli, New York State Comptroller

New York State Common Retirement Fund


Janet Cowell, North Carolina State Treasurer

North Carolina Retirement Systems


Ted Wheeler, Oregon State Treasurer

Oregon State Treasury


cc:  Board of Directors



In addition to Comptroller Liu, the New York City Pension Funds trustees are:


New York City Employees’ Retirement System: Ranji Nagaswami, Mayor’s Representative (Chair); New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio; Borough Presidents: Scott Stringer (Manhattan), Helen Marshall (Queens), Marty Markowitz (Brooklyn), James Molinaro (Staten Island), and Ruben Diaz, Jr. (Bronx); Lillian Roberts, Executive Director, District Council 37, AFSCME;  John Samuelsen, President Transport Workers Union Local 100; Gregory Floyd, President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 237.


Teachers’ Retirement System: Ranji Nagaswami, Mayor’s Representative; Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm, New York City Department of Education; Mayoral appointee Tino Hernandez; and Sandra March, Melvyn Aaronson and Mona Romain, all of the United Federation of Teachers.


New York City Police Pension Fund: Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Finance Commissioner David Frankel; New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly (Chair); Patrick Lynch, Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association; Michael Palladino, Detectives Endowment Association; Edward D. Mullins, Sergeants Benevolent Association; Thomas Sullivan, Lieutenants Benevolent Association; and, Roy T. Richter, Captain’s Endowment Association.


New York City Fire Department Pension Fund: Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano (Chair);New York City Finance Commissioner David Frankel; Stephen Cassidy, President, James Slevin, Vice President, Robert Straub, Treasurer, and John Kelly, Brooklyn Representative and Chair, Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York; John Dunne, Captains’ Rep.; James Lemonda , Chiefs’ Rep., and James J. McGowan, Lieutenants’ Rep., Uniformed Fire Officers Association; and, Sean O’Connor, Marine Engineers Association.


Board of Education Retirement System: Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, Mayoral: Philip Berry, Gitte Peng, Robert Reffkin, Tino Hernandez, Joe Chan, Tomas Morales, Linda Laursell Bryant, and Lisette Nieves; Patrick Sullivan (Manhattan BP), Gbubemi Okotieuro (Brooklyn BP), Dmytro Fedkowskyj (Queens BP), and Joan Correale (Staten Island BP); and employee members Joseph D’Amico of the IUOE Local 891 and Milagros Rodriguez of District Council 37, Local 372.


1. Agarwal, Sumit et al, “Market-Based Loss Mitigation Practices for Troubled Mortgages Following the Financial Crisis,” Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University, October 2010.  According to the study by researchers from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and Ohio State University, “loans owned by private investors are indeed less likely to become modified than portfolio loans with identical characteristics. …In a similar flavor to this result, we find that loans which are second lien (piggybacks) are less likely to become modified.   …We attribute this result to the conflict of interest between lenders.”



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Friday, January 7, 2011

Wotlk Making Money

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Thursday, January 6, 2011

Making Money Advertising


For years, the conventional wisdom in Silicon Valley was that social networks were expensive to run, and didn’t make much money. So as Facebook grew by hundreds of millions of users over the past few years, many people wondered if it was in financial trouble.


Revenue, however, appears to have doubled every year since 2007. And at this point it appears to be increasing even more sharply.


Based on what we and others have heard, we’ve tracked Facebook making $150 million in 2007, slightly less than $300 million in 2008, and somewhere up to $800 million in 2009. A number of reports have suggested that it will make $2 billion or more this year, and we have also heard the same estimates in recent months — up significantly from the $1.1 billion number that the company  loosely confirmed earlier this year.


How? Through growth in brand and performance advertising — payoff from years of investment — with revenue from its Credits virtual currency only starting to kick in.


But, aside from bits of information provided by sources close to Facebook, there is very little information available about how the latest revenue numbers actually break down. So here’s a closer look at what we think is going on.


Some high-level points, before we get started. Facebook’s user base has boomed from around 375 million at the beginning of the year to somewhere around 575 million today, with growth happening across the world, in all types of advertising markets (see our Inside Facebook Gold report for more details on Facebook’s worldwide traffic). Engagement is also massive: Facebook says that more than 50% of users visit the site every day.


Facebook’s product development has focused on continuing to increase engagement and gathering more user data — factors that help it target advertising more accurately to more people more often. And although we’re focusing on revenue here, we should also note that Facebook has made significant hardware and software investments to reduce infrastructure costs, helping it to become profitable as of late 2009.


Performance advertising


Zynga and other social gaming companies began utilizing Facebook’s self-serve advertising system in order to reach more users over the course of 2008 and 2009. Along with a smattering of online performance marketers, and a few early adopter small businesses and major brands, the developers provided significant boosts to Facebook revenue in past years.


That trend has continued, with local advertisers, social game developers and group buying sites like  Groupon reportedly making massive investments. Advertisers have reported prices steadily rising as more of them figure out how to achieve their desired returns on investment. As of this past fall, the average cost-per click in Facebook’s largest market, the United States, is around one dollar. For developers interested in learning more, we’ll be examining how advertising is working for Facebook and developers at our Inside Social Apps conference in late January.


Facebook has been making a significant new effort to help performance advertisers spend more money. It introduced an advertising API last year that allows third-party service providers to place thousands of automated, highly targeted ads on behalf of clients. While that program has rolled out slowly, big search marketing businesses like Omniture have moved in to offer services to clients, and a dynamic ecosystem of startups are competing for clients as well.


Facebook also ended most parts of its original advertising deal with Microsoft, where that company ran banner ads on the site and split the revenue — the relationship is now more product-focused, on things like social features for the Bing search engine.


In addition to more users, more engagement, more advertisers, and the new options available through the API, that switch helped make even more inventory available to sell against.


Brand Advertising


Facebook has been trying to pitch Madison Avenue on the benefits of its advertising services for years, and all those efforts appear to be paying off now. Most major brands at least have a Facebook Page today, and dozens have created more sophisticated applications, Facebook integrations on other sites, and other campaigns designed to engage with users.


While Pages are free, Facebook upsells owners into its performance and brand advertising services. The home page ads are only available to companies that spend $50,000 or more, and include a variety of engagement-focused options, such as the ability to Like a Page or RSVP to an Event with a single click.


The company has also aggressively stepped up its sales efforts to large brands, building out its staff in New York City and many other offices around the world, and hiring a series of veteran salespeople away from other technology and media companies.


While there’s little information available about the amount of revenue now coming from large advertisers, anecdotal evidence suggests it is booming. For example, a number of Page management companies, like Buddy Media, are saying that they’re seeing significant new interest.


Credits


While still in its early stages, Credits will likely form another key revenue driver for Facebook in the future. This past year, the company made it clear to developers that Credits would be the only payment option for virtual goods in canvas applications. While many companies have not fully integrated Credits yet, expect them to in 2011. Also look for Facebook to expand Credits to the web and mobile devices — something that many have speculated about, but has not yet happened. If Credits proves to be a big success in 2011, we expect Facebook to quickly expand it beyond the home site.




In 1995 I remember waiting in lines to buy Windows 95. It effectively ended the design lead Apple had for 11 years in personal computers. From then on Microsoft had both the thought leadership and the market share. Apple ended up with less than 10% market share. Microsoft had most of the rest.


Lots of people think that Apple could repeat 1995 in 2011. This time with iOS instead of Macintosh OS and with Google in the place of Microsoft.


We forget one little thing: 1995 was different.


Here’s how.


In 1995 Microsoft had a HUGE marketshare lead with DOS. That meant it had a huge army of developers who didn’t want to switch over to Apple’s system, which they saw as very closed and inflexible. I remember developers coming into the consumer electronics store I helped run in the 1980s and they’d complain bitterly about Apple’s policies (Apple was far less flexible back then than it is today and forced developers to fit into a “look and feel” set of guidelines).


But I look at who is making money. Back in 1995 developers were mostly making money from DOS. Remember, this caused WordPerfect and Borland to make bad bets. They bet on DOS for too long, while Bill Gates went and built some of the first and best Macintosh apps. The lesson, though, doesn’t pass from 1995 to 2011. Today where are most of the developers making their money? iOS (according to Sephora, Starbucks, OpenTable, eBay, and many other developers). So, Android has to convince developers to switch, or do both platforms at same time. That’s quite different.


Plus, back in 1995, who owned the best distribution and supply chains? Microsoft did. Today? Apple does. Apple didn’t have stores back in 1995 which will ensure its products get seen in the marketplace. Back then Microsoft could outspend Apple for shelf space at Frys and other retailers. Plus, Microsoft’s model of having many OEMs building hardware for its OS was far superior to Apple’s approach. Today that’s not really true, because the OEMs aren’t really able to bring that much value to the table and Apple has the best supply chains in China locked up (I visited one of them about two years ago and keep in touch with the folks there and that’s still the case). So, it’s not very likely that a Google phone will ship with better screens or better materials. At least not in volume. That is a huge difference from 1995 to today.


Other differences? Apple has outspent Microsoft on Advertising around the world. Look at this picture. It’s in Paris subway. Apple bought every square inch of advertising space (it bought the entire subway system’s advertising space, it seemed, iPad ads were plastered down the entire trackway). Google isn’t able to get its message there. That didn’t happen in 1995. Remember how dominant Microsoft’s advertising was back then? Microsoft even convinced the Empire State Building to change its colors that evening.


Let’s go back to how closed Apple is. Most apps this month got approved in less than a week. Some even got approved in less than four days. During the Christmas rush. Is this as good as Android’s (you can ship in minutes) policy? No. But, on the other hand, there are quality controls which consumers appreciate. The apps — overall — ARE better on iOS than on Android. Just check out TweetDeck. It crashes every few minutes on my Android phone. Twitter isn’t nearly as nice. Facebook isn’t as nice. And most apps aren’t as well designed, nor crash resistant, as on iOS.


I am sensing a switch, though. Fred Wilson is leading the charge. But other developers are grumbling about Apple and want there to be an alternative and they are all comparing notes with each other. “How’s Angry Birds doing with its advertising-only Android apps?” they ask. Very well, the answer comes back. So that means more developers will take the bet on Android, but so far I haven’t seen many go “Android only.” Why not? Because they know most of the PR comes from journalists who use mostly iOS devices and most of the best users are on iOS devices too (Sephora’s lead mobile developer told me 80% of the users who pull out a mobile phone in her stores are using iOS, that is echoed by nearly every developer I talk with). Even Swype, which has been kept from delivering their keyboard on iOS devices showed me a prototype of it running on an iPad and the inventor whispered “if Steve Jobs wants to talk, we’d love to ship this on iOS.”


So, when someone says that Apple is repeating the mistakes of 1995 (yes, I’ve been guilty of saying that in the past couple of years too) you should tell them that 2011 is not even close to the same set of conditions as 1995 has.


Comments


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Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


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Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


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Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


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Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


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Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


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Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


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Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


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Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


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Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


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Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


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Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


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Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


surface encounters noblesville
surface encounters

Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


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Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


surface encounters michigan

Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


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Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


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Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


surface encounters macomb
surface encounters

Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


surface encounters noblesville
surface encounters

Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


surface encounters rock tops
surface encounters macomb

Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


surface encounters
surface encounters michigan

Scripting <b>News</b>: Everything is dead

But programmers don't think this way, and I guess most programmers aren't news junkies. Because it was impossible to get through to them. No matter, the market eventually decided. A lot of wasted time, which sucks, but hardly the end of ...

Google <b>News</b> et Al: More Popular <b>News</b> Source than TV | Search <b>...</b>

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.

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Digital Photography Review

Olympus E-PL2 announced and previewed: Pre-CES 2011: Olympus has announced the Micro Four Thirds PEN E-PL2. Sitting below the E-P2 in the company's PEN lineup, the E-PL2 boasts the same 12Mp sensor but adds a raft of improvements, ...


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Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Making Money Now

I recently watched the movie Exit Through the Gift Shop from well-known artist Banksy. I got a kick out of this film for multiple reasons having liked Banksy's artwork for years now.


What most amused me though is how well it goes about making you question what celebrity is and how much you can achieve by becoming famous. The key point for me is questioning whether you really need to be creative and innovative above and beyond being famous.


Then Mike Butcher over at Techcrunch went and posted something this morning about startup teams trumping celebrity tech entrepreneurs. In summary, he too is making the point that execution far outweighs celebrity.


Basically, what I'm getting at, is all the parallels you're starting to see between the startup world and the movie business. I am definitely not an expert on the movie business and can only imagine what it's truly like from afar. Yet, we've all seen enough of it to realize a bit how things work in Hollywood. You basically have a couple large companies or studios as they're usually called. There you have management at the top who are the power-brokers in the industry. They back films which are used as vehicles to market actors who either succeed or not. If they do succeed, they are cast in further films and a ton of marketing is thrown at these films, regardless of whether these actors have talent or not.


Ultimately, the goal is to make as much money as possible and if you're the one making all this money, keep other people out so you can continue to make as much money as possible. Sure, there are some stand-out actors, managers and studios who go against the grain but basically it's an industry optimized to make money. Simplified by me immensely but I believe you understand what I am saying. 


Now let's switch over to the startup world. It's no longer Hollywood and we're now a bit north in Silicon Valley. You have a couple firms who call all the shots and are known as Tier 1 VC's (with some major players like Google, Apple, and Facebook thrown in for good measure).


These VC's fund firms instead of films run by entrepreneurs instead of actors. Some of these entrepreneurs are successful and some are not. Those who are get funded further by these Tier 1 firms. Lots of companies are started and sold since these power brokers in the Valley sit on each other's boards and pass deals back and forth. The power brokers continue to make money and those entrepreneurs who don't lead to successful exits get weeded out (where's the reality TV version of "out to pasture" for entrepreneurs?)


Ultimately, as in the movie business, you make as much money as possible and keep out the riff-raff who would keep you from making tons of money as long as possible. 


Now don't get me wrong. I am in no way arguing about whether the movie or startup business is right or wrong or skewed in someone's favor or not. I'm also probably simplifying it too much as well. But the point I am making is that we are in a world where it's about making money. Sure, you can get your touchy-feely on and say you're changing the world but ultimately you wouldn't "work" if it wasn't about making some money.


Hence, my advice to any entrepreneur is to take advantage of whatever you have if you ultimately want to be successful. If you are naturally good looking, get your face out there. Be on TV and in the press. If it helps you make money, go for it.


At the same time, if media attention doesn't help you make more money, don't focus on it. Get your pretty head down to business and execute like hell to innovate, optimize and sell your product. Or have the best of both worlds. Be a CEO focussed on getting your brand or product out there and have a number two (great blog post by Ben Horowitz) who takes care of business. What you need to focus on is making money and being the scrappy entrepreneur that you are, you'll optimize wherever you can to achieve your goal. 


In the end it's never about who was most popular that determines success. Just think back to all those football players and cheerleaders in high school. (I've seen some of them from my high school....thank you Facebook.....and had a good laugh!) So often there are people you never hear about making tons of cash since they don't need to focus on media.


On the other hand, if Twitter/Foursquare/Zynga/Groupon hadn't received so much media attention, you think they'd be where they are now? I highly doubt it and I guarantee you that they had a clear strategy in place to use media (and position their founders) from the start. Hence, don't waste time focussed on the wrong things. If you're a celebrity entrepreneur who's counting his millions hats off to you. If you've become a media darling and are broke, well tough luck kid. Try something new. 


By the way, here's what Exit Through the Gift Shop is about cut and pasted from Wikipedia. Think what you will about whether it's a real story or not but reast assured the dollars earned by "Mr Brainwash" were real!!


Exit Through the Gift Shop: A Banksy Film is a Gonzo Documentary which tells the story of Thierry Guetta, a French immigrant in Los Angeles, and his obsession with street art. It is presented as a documentary, but reviewers have questioned its factuality. The film charts Guetta's constant documenting of his every moment on film, to his chance contact with his cousin, the artist Invader, and his documenting of a host of street artists with focus on Shepard Fairey, and also Banksy though the latter's face is never shown, and his voice is distorted to preserve his anonymity


 





...hopelessly outgunned presidential campaign as if it was a business, not even spending more money than he had in hand. C'mon now, how laughable is that in this day and age in modern America that someone who wants to run the federal government should live within his own campaign means? Just like normal people who live on a real budget with no ability to vote themselves a pay raise and a higher debt ceiling when no one is watching C-SPAN!


When the ultimate Democratic winner, in league with the extraordinary gentleman Harry Reid and the tough-talking San Francisco grandma who's House speaker, has decided to spend a gazillion more dollars than any non-federal calculator has digits to display.


These people, for Nancy's sake, are already spending the income taxes of the unborn grandchildren of those 4,000 babies that Paul delivered. A shocking realization that may be helping to fuel the recent re-examination of Ron Paul, who never met a federal dollar that needed spending -- unless it was going back to his district near Houston.


Ron Paul came within something like 1,000 delegates of catching John McCain for the Republican nomination in St. Paul. But when he finally gave up, Paul still had about $5 million left over. He's been investing it traveling around the country to speak and helping like-minded RFR's (Republicans For Real) organize all over. And, who knows, maybe sell a few books.


But now, just as his fierce supporters fearlessly predicted all along, many in American politics are coming around to think that maybe RP's crazy ideas, for example, of auditing and controlling the Federal Reserve, are maybe not quite so crazy.


Our news colleague in Washington, Don Lee, details the sea-change in opinion in a comprehensive look at the old guy's rebirth for weekend print editions, which we're sharing here this morning as a distinguished guest post for Ticket readers around the world.


And for any surviving Ron Paulites, who won't dare leave their typically snippy comments below because that would require them acknowledging that their favorite fiction about a MSM conspiracy to ignore the old guy is fiction.


-- Andrew Malcolm


Because no federal funds are involved, Ron Paul would want you to click here for Twitter alerts of each new Ticket item. Or follow us @latimestot. Or join us over here on The Ticket's new Facebook FAN page.


Here's Lee's reported news item:


For three decades, Texas congressman and former presidential candidate Ron Paul's extreme brand of libertarian economics consigned him to the far fringes even among conservatives. Not a few times, his views put him on the losing end of 434-1 votes on Capitol Hill.


No longer. With the economy still struggling and political divisions deepening, Paul's ideas not only are gaining a wider audience but also are helping to shape a potentially historic battle over economic policy -- a struggle that will affect everything including jobs, growth and the nation's place in the global economy.

Already, Paul's long-derided proposal to give Congress supervisory power over the traditionally independent Federal Reserve appears to be on its way to becoming law.

His warnings on deficits and inflation are now Republican mantras.

And with this year's congressional election campaign looming, the Texas congressman's deep-seated distrust of activist government has helped fuel protests such as the tea-party movement, harden partisan divisions in Washington and stoke public fears about federal spending and the deficit.

"People are wondering what went wrong. And they're not happy with what the....



....government is offering up," said James Grant, editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, offering an explanation for why seemingly wonkish arguments over interest rate policy and the money supply are spilling over onto ordinary Americans.

Some of Paul's most extreme views are still beyond the pale for most economists. Despite the eroding value of the dollar, no one expects the U.S. to return to the gold standard, as Paul advocates; most economists think that could wreck the economy.

In their less drastic forms, however, Paul's ideas are being welcomed by conservatives and viewed with foreboding by liberals. For conservatives, runaway inflation constitutes the biggest potential threat to the nation's future. Liberals worry that cutting back stimulus efforts too soon could slow or even halt the current recovery.

The debate over that question -- what the basic thrust of U.S. economic policy should be -- is likely to dominate the coming elections and Washington policymaking.

And so far, Paul and his fellow conservatives are on the offensive. President Obama and congressional Democrats are repeatedly pledging not to increase the deficit and to begin cutting back soon.

"I think we're going to be in for more revival of fiscal responsibility," said William Niskanen of the Cato Institute, who headed the Council of Economic Advisors under President Reagan.

Niskanen sees the Texas Republican's increasing influence as stemming from the continued economic weakness. "To this extent, Ron Paul gains voice," he said.

Paul would go a lot further in cutting back the government's role than even free-marketers like Niskanen support. If Paul had it his way, for instance, he would do away with the Fed entirely. In his bestselling book "End the Fed," he lambasted the central bank as an "immoral, unconstitutional . . . tool of tyrannical government."

Such rhetoric might once have been dismissed as extremism.


But Paul's anti-Fed message has drawn broad support because of the central bank's failure to restrain the flood of cheap money and excessive risk-taking in the years leading up to the financial crisis.

It has stirred rallies on college campuses and supportive commentaries from Wall Street pundits. More than 300 representatives in Congress have embraced Paul's ideas for reining in the Fed.

The response "is even more than I ever dreamed," Paul said in an interview, reminiscing about one evening during his 2008 White House run when University of Michigan students chanted "End the Fed" and burned dollar bills.

Paul, a skinny 74-year-old with a hangdog expression, understands that historical circumstances have thrust his ideas to the fore. "An intellectual fight is going on," he said.

Paul traces his economic views to his frugal upbringing in Pittsburgh at the tail end of the Depression. He saved pennies from delivering newspapers and helping out his father's small dairy business.

And his first economics class at Gettysburg College was an eye-opener, Paul said. When a professor explained how banks keep only a tiny part of their deposits on hand and earn money by lending out the rest, Paul discovered one of the "tricks" of the financial system.

Beyond that, Paul's ideas are grounded in the work of economic thinkers from an earlier era who focused on problems similar to those besetting the U.S. today.

In particular, Paul is a disciple of Ludwig von Mises, an Austrian theorist born at the end of the 19th century who contended that government intervention in an economy would fail because free markets were better at allocating resources and fueling growth.

Having lived through Germany's devastating hyperinflation in the early 1920s, which helped pave the way for Hitler, Mises wrote long before the Great Depression that over-generous credit policies would encourage excessive borrowing, creating a boom and then a bust.

Mises' ideas became central to what is known as the Austrian School of economics, which emphasized tight controls on credit and money supply, a strategy that discouraged financial ups and downs but tended to slow growth.

By 1940, when Mises arrived in America, most Western economists had embraced the competing theories of Britain's John Maynard Keynes, who called for government to stimulate the economy by spending on infrastructure and cutting interest rates.

Obama has largely followed the Keynesian script, as President George W. Bush did when the economic crisis broke.

Paul's once-lonely espousal of the Austrian School's ideas has gotten new impetus from conservative economists and Republican political strategists.

"A lot of good ideas were shoved aside because of the Depression and the rise of the Keynesian view of the world," said George Selgin, an economics professor at the University of Georgia.

Paul contends that Austrian economics explains the most recent financial meltdown: "It says if you inflate too much, if you have no restraint on monetary authorities, you're going to bring on a crisis." Now, Paul says, administration policies are leading the country toward disaster.

Selgin and many mainstream economists agree that pumping too much money into the economy can lead to trouble, but they say Paul goes too far.

In the 1930s, say Selgin and many other economists, including Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, the U.S. economy began pulling out of the Depression thanks to federal easing of monetary policy.

The economy tipped back into depression after the reins were tightened too soon.

"In this aspect of the monetary system, he's just blown it," Selgin said of Paul.

However, like Mises, whose portrait hangs on his Washington office wall, Paul is intransigent, and that has earned him an ardent following.


"His views are strong and hardheaded, but you've got to stand firm or you'll get blown over in this world," said Mark Skousen, editor of the newsletter Forecasts & Strategies and a former economics professor at Columbia University.


-- Don Lee


Photo: Larry Downing / Reuters; Orlin Wagner / Associated Press; Associated Press (Paul argues with Mike Huckabee in a GOP primary debate).


 




individual online reputation management

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs <b>News</b> 1/5 - Arrowhead Pride

Happy Wednesday! I think I'm going to have to set the alarm clock a little earlier. There is a lot of Kansas City Chiefs news out there this morning. A couple of the stories overlap a bit, but there are some new thoughts/perspectives ...

New Edition of Huckleberry Finn to Drop N-Word: Instant Reactions

Auburn University professor Alan Gribben, along with NewSouth Books, plans to release a newly edited edition of the Mark Twain classic, with every instance of the N-word replaced with the word.

<b>News</b> - FIRST PIC: See Natalie Portman&#39;s Baby Bump - Moms &amp; Babies <b>...</b>

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Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Making Money Guide



The examples may not seem that relevant when thinking about technology and how it functions for an organization. But they do show how technology often intersects with the world for some amazing results.



In many ways, the discovery of that intersection can be transforming for an organization. It adds importance to the enterprise. With this thematic framework, emphasis can be put on developing an enterprise that adapts quickly to market conditions and fits with the organization's overall goals.



For example, 3D printing is first on the JWT list. Mack says 3D printers will come into mainstream use, allowing people to create everything from jewelry to lamps to homes.





In a blog post, Union Square Venture's Fred Wilson writes that the best success comes when you see the intersection with technology, the Internet, money, politics and other aspects of life. It's not purely about one thing.



3D printing is representative of services that use technology to change the means of production without the need to invest in expensive manufacturing equipment. The organizations banking on the advent of 3D printers include Shapeways, Hewlett-Packard and Google. All these companies made strategic decisions about how they structured its enterprise environments to provide 3D printing capabilities.



Google may be the best example of all. Its enterprise is designed to provide this type of innovation. Hewlett-Packard has leveraged its printing and networking strengths. And Shapeways, which has a Union Square investment, is a startup that is using the cloud to provide its 3D printing services.



The challenge for the enterprise is how it becomes a catalyst to act on opportunities before they becomes big trends. That may mean faster adoption of mobile technologies for its own workforce or shifting the way it thinks about developing products.



Mobile as the Everything Hub



Mack says mobile is the everything hub. Mobile is critical in our lives. The list is full of examples that demonstrate how organizations will be affected by this mega trend. For example, tap-to-pay is number 88 on the list.





Making the six spot on the list is Geoloqi, a startup based here in Portland, OR. The company is a study in how mobile technologies are changing how we view a world that is becoming more fluid than hard-wired. Geoloqi allows people to use their smart phones to do automatic check-ins. It allows people to set set automatic reminders and notifications--sent to themselves or friends-- for specific locations. People can leave "geonotes," at specific locations that someone in the future may view. It allows you to automatically notify people of your proximity.



Geoloqi demonstrates how smartphones help people adjust to a world where geospatial environments have any number of data layers. You can access these data layers with services that require nothing but the ability to send or receive a notification. You don't need to push a button to let someone know you'll be at a location soon. A service like Geoloqi will notify your colleague automatically. This is not being lost on the enterprise. There are a number of companies now offering geolocation services for enterprise environments.



Amber Case and Aaron Parecki are the company founders. Case is also an anthropoligist. In an interview with us, she touched on the dynamics that are in play now with the advent of touch technologies and how transforming it will be for the way we work and live:



In the past, an interface was an interface in the same way that a book is a book - it doesn't change - the words don't change. A computer had hardware buttons. If you wanted to change the buttons, you'd have to rewire the machine. Then interfaces became liquid. And if you wanted buttons to appear and go away, or to have different functions you'd just change the code. With touch screen phones, we're dealing with liquid interfaces. They absorb the functionality of the world around them. So most things that existed in real life - most functions - can now be done on a phone.


The examples Mack gives reflect on the way organizations are adapting to shifts in the way we live and work.



How we adapt is the big question. It's not just the cloud or virtualization. It's more rooted in how these kinds of technologies intersect with any number of different aspects in the market and society.












In embodying the actual meaning of "charity", nothing beats the Heifer Project.



Heifer International is in the business of ending world hunger. And it's actually working; today millions of people were fed thanks to 65 years of Heifer projects. And those people are standing on their own feet, and helping others to stand up. They aren't second-class clients of wealthy people suffering from liberal guilt, living on scraps; they are as good as anyone else in the world and they know it.



Heifer doesn't give sandwiches to people living unsustainable lifestyles in a unproductive wasteland. Those people will starve the minute you stop sending sandwiches, and in the meantime you've reduced them to beggary, and that's going to wreck their indigenous culture (if they have any left) and diminish them as individuals. Giving people food doesn't work as a long term solution, it's only worth doing in short term recovery situations as a part of a broader strategy.



Heifer provides people in war-torn and disaster-wrecked communities with the tools to build a sustainable future based on livestock and agriculture carefully chosen to suit the needs, abilities, and history of the inhabitants of those communities.



Please read about Heifer on their website at www.heifer.org - I'm not an employee or in any other way associated with heifer, although over the years I have helped buy an elephant, dozens of heifers, and many chickens, bees, and ducks.



Heifer is different. It's better. Recipients of Heifer assistance aren't asked to "pay it back" - they are required to "pay it forward" by helping somebody else get back on their feet. This means a homeless single mother doesn't have to sacrifice her pride in order to feed her children, in fact she will get to involve the children in an worthwhile global enterprise. Once she's paid forward, she can continue to be involved with charity work or not, as she pleases.



Since this is the Boing, I feel that I should point out that while Heifer was started by a Christian in accordance with his beliefs, it is not evangelical and does not discriminate based on faith or lack thereof. You are welcome to believe what you like as long as you want to help world hunger.



robert shumake

500 More Red-Wing Blackbirds Found Dead in - AOL <b>News</b>

Days after 100000 fish and approximately 4000 red-winged blackbirds were found dead in Arkansas, 500 deceased blackbirds and starlings were discovered on a Louisiana highway.

Small Business <b>News</b>: Starting Your New Business In A New Year

Whether your starting a new business or rethinking an existing one, 2011 offers fresh possibilities and a new start. If you're launching a new business, there.

Now Tucker Carlson Says Michael Vick Should Not Be Executed - AOL <b>News</b>

Fox News Host Tucker Carlson says that he. ... NEWS PHOTO GALLERIES. From The Wires � Top News Photos � Celestial Delights � Solar Eclipses � The Bright Side � Good News Now � Extreme Elements � Weather Photos � Their Intelligence ...


robert shumake

500 More Red-Wing Blackbirds Found Dead in - AOL <b>News</b>

Days after 100000 fish and approximately 4000 red-winged blackbirds were found dead in Arkansas, 500 deceased blackbirds and starlings were discovered on a Louisiana highway.

Small Business <b>News</b>: Starting Your New Business In A New Year

Whether your starting a new business or rethinking an existing one, 2011 offers fresh possibilities and a new start. If you're launching a new business, there.

Now Tucker Carlson Says Michael Vick Should Not Be Executed - AOL <b>News</b>

Fox News Host Tucker Carlson says that he. ... NEWS PHOTO GALLERIES. From The Wires � Top News Photos � Celestial Delights � Solar Eclipses � The Bright Side � Good News Now � Extreme Elements � Weather Photos � Their Intelligence ...


robert shumake


The examples may not seem that relevant when thinking about technology and how it functions for an organization. But they do show how technology often intersects with the world for some amazing results.



In many ways, the discovery of that intersection can be transforming for an organization. It adds importance to the enterprise. With this thematic framework, emphasis can be put on developing an enterprise that adapts quickly to market conditions and fits with the organization's overall goals.



For example, 3D printing is first on the JWT list. Mack says 3D printers will come into mainstream use, allowing people to create everything from jewelry to lamps to homes.





In a blog post, Union Square Venture's Fred Wilson writes that the best success comes when you see the intersection with technology, the Internet, money, politics and other aspects of life. It's not purely about one thing.



3D printing is representative of services that use technology to change the means of production without the need to invest in expensive manufacturing equipment. The organizations banking on the advent of 3D printers include Shapeways, Hewlett-Packard and Google. All these companies made strategic decisions about how they structured its enterprise environments to provide 3D printing capabilities.



Google may be the best example of all. Its enterprise is designed to provide this type of innovation. Hewlett-Packard has leveraged its printing and networking strengths. And Shapeways, which has a Union Square investment, is a startup that is using the cloud to provide its 3D printing services.



The challenge for the enterprise is how it becomes a catalyst to act on opportunities before they becomes big trends. That may mean faster adoption of mobile technologies for its own workforce or shifting the way it thinks about developing products.



Mobile as the Everything Hub



Mack says mobile is the everything hub. Mobile is critical in our lives. The list is full of examples that demonstrate how organizations will be affected by this mega trend. For example, tap-to-pay is number 88 on the list.





Making the six spot on the list is Geoloqi, a startup based here in Portland, OR. The company is a study in how mobile technologies are changing how we view a world that is becoming more fluid than hard-wired. Geoloqi allows people to use their smart phones to do automatic check-ins. It allows people to set set automatic reminders and notifications--sent to themselves or friends-- for specific locations. People can leave "geonotes," at specific locations that someone in the future may view. It allows you to automatically notify people of your proximity.



Geoloqi demonstrates how smartphones help people adjust to a world where geospatial environments have any number of data layers. You can access these data layers with services that require nothing but the ability to send or receive a notification. You don't need to push a button to let someone know you'll be at a location soon. A service like Geoloqi will notify your colleague automatically. This is not being lost on the enterprise. There are a number of companies now offering geolocation services for enterprise environments.



Amber Case and Aaron Parecki are the company founders. Case is also an anthropoligist. In an interview with us, she touched on the dynamics that are in play now with the advent of touch technologies and how transforming it will be for the way we work and live:



In the past, an interface was an interface in the same way that a book is a book - it doesn't change - the words don't change. A computer had hardware buttons. If you wanted to change the buttons, you'd have to rewire the machine. Then interfaces became liquid. And if you wanted buttons to appear and go away, or to have different functions you'd just change the code. With touch screen phones, we're dealing with liquid interfaces. They absorb the functionality of the world around them. So most things that existed in real life - most functions - can now be done on a phone.


The examples Mack gives reflect on the way organizations are adapting to shifts in the way we live and work.



How we adapt is the big question. It's not just the cloud or virtualization. It's more rooted in how these kinds of technologies intersect with any number of different aspects in the market and society.












In embodying the actual meaning of "charity", nothing beats the Heifer Project.



Heifer International is in the business of ending world hunger. And it's actually working; today millions of people were fed thanks to 65 years of Heifer projects. And those people are standing on their own feet, and helping others to stand up. They aren't second-class clients of wealthy people suffering from liberal guilt, living on scraps; they are as good as anyone else in the world and they know it.



Heifer doesn't give sandwiches to people living unsustainable lifestyles in a unproductive wasteland. Those people will starve the minute you stop sending sandwiches, and in the meantime you've reduced them to beggary, and that's going to wreck their indigenous culture (if they have any left) and diminish them as individuals. Giving people food doesn't work as a long term solution, it's only worth doing in short term recovery situations as a part of a broader strategy.



Heifer provides people in war-torn and disaster-wrecked communities with the tools to build a sustainable future based on livestock and agriculture carefully chosen to suit the needs, abilities, and history of the inhabitants of those communities.



Please read about Heifer on their website at www.heifer.org - I'm not an employee or in any other way associated with heifer, although over the years I have helped buy an elephant, dozens of heifers, and many chickens, bees, and ducks.



Heifer is different. It's better. Recipients of Heifer assistance aren't asked to "pay it back" - they are required to "pay it forward" by helping somebody else get back on their feet. This means a homeless single mother doesn't have to sacrifice her pride in order to feed her children, in fact she will get to involve the children in an worthwhile global enterprise. Once she's paid forward, she can continue to be involved with charity work or not, as she pleases.



Since this is the Boing, I feel that I should point out that while Heifer was started by a Christian in accordance with his beliefs, it is not evangelical and does not discriminate based on faith or lack thereof. You are welcome to believe what you like as long as you want to help world hunger.



robert shumake detroit

1930's European Costume 2 Embroidered Bodice Vests yqz Sold on eBay by Million Dollar Power Seller Norb Novocin User Name estateauctionsinc by gettingsoldonebay


robert shumake

500 More Red-Wing Blackbirds Found Dead in - AOL <b>News</b>

Days after 100000 fish and approximately 4000 red-winged blackbirds were found dead in Arkansas, 500 deceased blackbirds and starlings were discovered on a Louisiana highway.

Small Business <b>News</b>: Starting Your New Business In A New Year

Whether your starting a new business or rethinking an existing one, 2011 offers fresh possibilities and a new start. If you're launching a new business, there.

Now Tucker Carlson Says Michael Vick Should Not Be Executed - AOL <b>News</b>

Fox News Host Tucker Carlson says that he. ... NEWS PHOTO GALLERIES. From The Wires � Top News Photos � Celestial Delights � Solar Eclipses � The Bright Side � Good News Now � Extreme Elements � Weather Photos � Their Intelligence ...


robert shumake

500 More Red-Wing Blackbirds Found Dead in - AOL <b>News</b>

Days after 100000 fish and approximately 4000 red-winged blackbirds were found dead in Arkansas, 500 deceased blackbirds and starlings were discovered on a Louisiana highway.

Small Business <b>News</b>: Starting Your New Business In A New Year

Whether your starting a new business or rethinking an existing one, 2011 offers fresh possibilities and a new start. If you're launching a new business, there.

Now Tucker Carlson Says Michael Vick Should Not Be Executed - AOL <b>News</b>

Fox News Host Tucker Carlson says that he. ... NEWS PHOTO GALLERIES. From The Wires � Top News Photos � Celestial Delights � Solar Eclipses � The Bright Side � Good News Now � Extreme Elements � Weather Photos � Their Intelligence ...


robert shumake detroit

This is the 4th installment in my series of articles on how to make money in Runescape for both Free players and Members. You can find the original here, and the rest of the articles can be found somewhere on this page. This article focuses mainly on money-making methods for Free players, but some of my other articles are directed towards members. Let's get started!

Method 1: Killing Hill Giants. Bones are a valuable training commodity throughout runescape, mostly because they're the main way to train the Prayer skill. Big bones and dragon bones are often in high demand, and luckily hill giants are an easy-to-kill supplier of big bones. To start, you'll need armor, a weapon, a brass key (which you can buy), and a decent combat level. Head west out of Varrock until you reach a river. Don't cross the river, but head north until you find a little shack. Use the brass key on the shack, then head down the ladder. Start killing hill giants. Don't bury the big bones, but hold onto them. Also, if you get a limpwurt root as a drop hold onto it. Once your inventory is full, head to the Grand Exchange and sell everything. Rinse and repeat.

Method 2: Fist of Guthix. This isn't the best method for making money, but if you really love playing Fist of Guthix or don't have much to do it can be entertaining. Head to Fist of Guthix, switch to a themeworld, grab your gear and play. Every time you play a game you'll receive some tokens as a reward. Keep playing until you have enough tokens to buy one of the more expensive or useful items, like rune gauntlets, a rune berserker shield or combat robes. After you buy them, either use up all of their charges or ask the shop owner to uncharge them. You can then go to the Grand Exchange and sell them for a decent amount of money. I would really only recommend this to people with a lot of time on their hands or who really enjoy the game. For a full guide for Fist of Guthix, read this page.

Method 3: Mining coal. This isn't the best or the funnest method, but it does get the job done. You'll need 50 mining, but a higher mining level will get you more cash faster. This method simply involves mining coal, banking it, and repeating until you want to sell it. I recommend doing this in the Falador mine, and if you have a high enough level the mining guild is perfect for this. This is a fairly popular method because there is always someone buying coal for some reason or other, so you're guaranteed to always have customers on the Grand Exchange.

I wish you good luck on your quest to get money, and enjoy whatever stuff you buy with it. Have fun! Also, please check out my other articles.


robert shumake detroit

500 More Red-Wing Blackbirds Found Dead in - AOL <b>News</b>

Days after 100000 fish and approximately 4000 red-winged blackbirds were found dead in Arkansas, 500 deceased blackbirds and starlings were discovered on a Louisiana highway.

Small Business <b>News</b>: Starting Your New Business In A New Year

Whether your starting a new business or rethinking an existing one, 2011 offers fresh possibilities and a new start. If you're launching a new business, there.

Now Tucker Carlson Says Michael Vick Should Not Be Executed - AOL <b>News</b>

Fox News Host Tucker Carlson says that he. ... NEWS PHOTO GALLERIES. From The Wires � Top News Photos � Celestial Delights � Solar Eclipses � The Bright Side � Good News Now � Extreme Elements � Weather Photos � Their Intelligence ...


robert shumake detroit

1930's European Costume 2 Embroidered Bodice Vests yqz Sold on eBay by Million Dollar Power Seller Norb Novocin User Name estateauctionsinc by gettingsoldonebay


robert shumake detroit


The examples may not seem that relevant when thinking about technology and how it functions for an organization. But they do show how technology often intersects with the world for some amazing results.



In many ways, the discovery of that intersection can be transforming for an organization. It adds importance to the enterprise. With this thematic framework, emphasis can be put on developing an enterprise that adapts quickly to market conditions and fits with the organization's overall goals.



For example, 3D printing is first on the JWT list. Mack says 3D printers will come into mainstream use, allowing people to create everything from jewelry to lamps to homes.





In a blog post, Union Square Venture's Fred Wilson writes that the best success comes when you see the intersection with technology, the Internet, money, politics and other aspects of life. It's not purely about one thing.



3D printing is representative of services that use technology to change the means of production without the need to invest in expensive manufacturing equipment. The organizations banking on the advent of 3D printers include Shapeways, Hewlett-Packard and Google. All these companies made strategic decisions about how they structured its enterprise environments to provide 3D printing capabilities.



Google may be the best example of all. Its enterprise is designed to provide this type of innovation. Hewlett-Packard has leveraged its printing and networking strengths. And Shapeways, which has a Union Square investment, is a startup that is using the cloud to provide its 3D printing services.



The challenge for the enterprise is how it becomes a catalyst to act on opportunities before they becomes big trends. That may mean faster adoption of mobile technologies for its own workforce or shifting the way it thinks about developing products.



Mobile as the Everything Hub



Mack says mobile is the everything hub. Mobile is critical in our lives. The list is full of examples that demonstrate how organizations will be affected by this mega trend. For example, tap-to-pay is number 88 on the list.





Making the six spot on the list is Geoloqi, a startup based here in Portland, OR. The company is a study in how mobile technologies are changing how we view a world that is becoming more fluid than hard-wired. Geoloqi allows people to use their smart phones to do automatic check-ins. It allows people to set set automatic reminders and notifications--sent to themselves or friends-- for specific locations. People can leave "geonotes," at specific locations that someone in the future may view. It allows you to automatically notify people of your proximity.



Geoloqi demonstrates how smartphones help people adjust to a world where geospatial environments have any number of data layers. You can access these data layers with services that require nothing but the ability to send or receive a notification. You don't need to push a button to let someone know you'll be at a location soon. A service like Geoloqi will notify your colleague automatically. This is not being lost on the enterprise. There are a number of companies now offering geolocation services for enterprise environments.



Amber Case and Aaron Parecki are the company founders. Case is also an anthropoligist. In an interview with us, she touched on the dynamics that are in play now with the advent of touch technologies and how transforming it will be for the way we work and live:



In the past, an interface was an interface in the same way that a book is a book - it doesn't change - the words don't change. A computer had hardware buttons. If you wanted to change the buttons, you'd have to rewire the machine. Then interfaces became liquid. And if you wanted buttons to appear and go away, or to have different functions you'd just change the code. With touch screen phones, we're dealing with liquid interfaces. They absorb the functionality of the world around them. So most things that existed in real life - most functions - can now be done on a phone.


The examples Mack gives reflect on the way organizations are adapting to shifts in the way we live and work.



How we adapt is the big question. It's not just the cloud or virtualization. It's more rooted in how these kinds of technologies intersect with any number of different aspects in the market and society.












In embodying the actual meaning of "charity", nothing beats the Heifer Project.



Heifer International is in the business of ending world hunger. And it's actually working; today millions of people were fed thanks to 65 years of Heifer projects. And those people are standing on their own feet, and helping others to stand up. They aren't second-class clients of wealthy people suffering from liberal guilt, living on scraps; they are as good as anyone else in the world and they know it.



Heifer doesn't give sandwiches to people living unsustainable lifestyles in a unproductive wasteland. Those people will starve the minute you stop sending sandwiches, and in the meantime you've reduced them to beggary, and that's going to wreck their indigenous culture (if they have any left) and diminish them as individuals. Giving people food doesn't work as a long term solution, it's only worth doing in short term recovery situations as a part of a broader strategy.



Heifer provides people in war-torn and disaster-wrecked communities with the tools to build a sustainable future based on livestock and agriculture carefully chosen to suit the needs, abilities, and history of the inhabitants of those communities.



Please read about Heifer on their website at www.heifer.org - I'm not an employee or in any other way associated with heifer, although over the years I have helped buy an elephant, dozens of heifers, and many chickens, bees, and ducks.



Heifer is different. It's better. Recipients of Heifer assistance aren't asked to "pay it back" - they are required to "pay it forward" by helping somebody else get back on their feet. This means a homeless single mother doesn't have to sacrifice her pride in order to feed her children, in fact she will get to involve the children in an worthwhile global enterprise. Once she's paid forward, she can continue to be involved with charity work or not, as she pleases.



Since this is the Boing, I feel that I should point out that while Heifer was started by a Christian in accordance with his beliefs, it is not evangelical and does not discriminate based on faith or lack thereof. You are welcome to believe what you like as long as you want to help world hunger.



robert shumake detroit

500 More Red-Wing Blackbirds Found Dead in - AOL <b>News</b>

Days after 100000 fish and approximately 4000 red-winged blackbirds were found dead in Arkansas, 500 deceased blackbirds and starlings were discovered on a Louisiana highway.

Small Business <b>News</b>: Starting Your New Business In A New Year

Whether your starting a new business or rethinking an existing one, 2011 offers fresh possibilities and a new start. If you're launching a new business, there.

Now Tucker Carlson Says Michael Vick Should Not Be Executed - AOL <b>News</b>

Fox News Host Tucker Carlson says that he. ... NEWS PHOTO GALLERIES. From The Wires � Top News Photos � Celestial Delights � Solar Eclipses � The Bright Side � Good News Now � Extreme Elements � Weather Photos � Their Intelligence ...


robert shumake detroit

1930's European Costume 2 Embroidered Bodice Vests yqz Sold on eBay by Million Dollar Power Seller Norb Novocin User Name estateauctionsinc by gettingsoldonebay


robert shumake