Hollywood produces the content and P2P is the new kind of distribution.
The kind people like most: the FREE kind.
The more bandwidth and broadband available, the more the distribution changes hands.
But how long will it last?
As long as there is no other way to produce content.
A good alternative is YouTube or YouTubes like.
People begin to take to liking this new way of producing content and we are getting better.
I do not talk of the value, I talk of the quality.
The value of course reflects the cultural level of the audience, but in that they are not so much different from the paid content.
A mass market product cannot be a high level product.
If you have to please the majority, than you have to reflect the needs of the majority.
And people usually do not like education, that is something boring and difficult to understand.
People are lazy and getting lazier every day.
Once our grandmothers cooked for days and today cooking is putting something in the microwave.
Once they did a lot of manual work, now we have a lot of machines working as manuals.
Once they walked and today we drive.
It is not that once they were better, they just had less.
The problem is that with this lack of physical exercise you would expect an increase of brain exercise.
Nothing of that kind.
Lazy in the body, lazy in the spirit.
We have come to the easy and free society.
But one day WE ALL will have to pay the bill.
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Language is the way to a culture.
What about learning Italian?
What about being able to know one of the oldest culture of the World?
What about living in the wonderful and active city of Milano?
What about a full immersion in History?
All this and much more is what the italian courses in Italy will offer.
Italian is not an easy language, and to learn to speak it the correct way (perfection is something it's difficult to find even among Italians)you need good and trained teachers.
This is what you will find in the Accademia di Milano.
All their language courses fit the Common European Framework, the Council of Europe guidelines. The classes are small with an average of six students, to maximize proficiency.
The Accademia di Italiano is one of the best italian language schools in Italy .
So, if you plan to follow italian language courses in Italy you will hardly find a better place.
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
What about being able to know one of the oldest culture of the World?
What about living in the wonderful and active city of Milano?
What about a full immersion in History?
All this and much more is what the italian courses in Italy will offer.
Italian is not an easy language, and to learn to speak it the correct way (perfection is something it's difficult to find even among Italians)you need good and trained teachers.
This is what you will find in the Accademia di Milano.
All their language courses fit the Common European Framework, the Council of Europe guidelines. The classes are small with an average of six students, to maximize proficiency.
The Accademia di Italiano is one of the best italian language schools in Italy .
So, if you plan to follow italian language courses in Italy you will hardly find a better place.
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
Building tomorrow's world...
"We are at the early stage of building tomorrow's world. All I can do is talk vision right now - "
Everybody, always once in his life is "at the early stage to build tomorrow's world".
Being it doing something good and innovative or something the opposite.
That is our fate, unless we decide to survive doing nothing, which is not even possible...
Where does the bread come from?
Everybody, always once in his life is "at the early stage to build tomorrow's world".
Being it doing something good and innovative or something the opposite.
That is our fate, unless we decide to survive doing nothing, which is not even possible...
Where does the bread come from?
Surfing the Net you can fish a date with a Celebrity
Yes, a date with a HOT Hollywood celeb.
What do you have to do to give it a try?
Go to Free videos at GoFish.com
Submit one or more videos.
Each celebrity will give users 3 calls-to-actions to guide their video submissions in hopes of scoring the date. The more videos you submit, the better your chances are of winning.
How to win?
The problem is NOT knowing what it takes to win, Mirelly Taylor (yes the one who has appeared on movies such as Kiss Me Again and Serving Sara and television shows including “Las Vegas”, “Punk’d”, and “Numb3rs”) clearly says how her date should be.
The problem is ACTUALLY being the way SHE wants.
Something close to Mr. Perfection.
The bad thing is that few men are so perfect, the good thing is that it is enough to pretend to be that way.
The moment she will realize you are not, it will be too late.
You will already be on the dreamed of, looked for, sought of, DATE.
So, what you have to do:
1) Collect some good ideas about a video or more.
2) You can easily get them looking at other people's work. That is what I usually do anyhow.
3) Make the video as best as you can or nearly to.
4) Go to the website and submit it.
5) Beginning to hope.
Honestly you do not have many chances.
She IS beautiful, interesting, famous.
The goal is shared by many (and, let's be honest, may be better than you).
But you are there to live out LOUD, to try it HARD, to make it YOUR WAY.
By the way, who cares if you do not win?
In principle the nice part of it all is DREAMING.
Seduce a Celeb will run on GoFish.com over the next 14 weeks ( You have enough time to create something good).
Internet Neutrality
"Despite the urge to hold providers accountable for such activities, the ISP community has been remarkably
successful in maintaining a position of neutrality, the digital successor, in spirit and often in fact, to
the common carrier phone company.
Adopting this approach has required strict adherence to a cardinal rule often referred to as "network
neutrality." This principle holds that ISPs transport bits of data without discrimination, preference, or
regard for content.
The network neutrality principle has served ISPs, internet firms and internet users well. It has enabled
ISPs to plausibly argue that they function much like common carriers and therefore should be exempt from
liability for the content that passes through their systems."
The neutrality was more a way to get more customers than a way of seeing the Internet.
And now, when the customers are there and they contributed to make the Internet a global power as it is, they see the convenience in discriminating the users in base of the use they do of the broadband lines.
But they easily forget that the number makes the revenue and if the customer won't find the content he is looking for, the Internet will stop to have the appeal it has now, including the cheap calls.
successful in maintaining a position of neutrality, the digital successor, in spirit and often in fact, to
the common carrier phone company.
Adopting this approach has required strict adherence to a cardinal rule often referred to as "network
neutrality." This principle holds that ISPs transport bits of data without discrimination, preference, or
regard for content.
The network neutrality principle has served ISPs, internet firms and internet users well. It has enabled
ISPs to plausibly argue that they function much like common carriers and therefore should be exempt from
liability for the content that passes through their systems."
The neutrality was more a way to get more customers than a way of seeing the Internet.
And now, when the customers are there and they contributed to make the Internet a global power as it is, they see the convenience in discriminating the users in base of the use they do of the broadband lines.
But they easily forget that the number makes the revenue and if the customer won't find the content he is looking for, the Internet will stop to have the appeal it has now, including the cheap calls.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Are you going to get a new car?
Do you need a new or used car?
We are so spoiled now a days, with the Internet, we can do anything we have to, without the need to move from home.
You just click, look for the right website, pay with your credit card and all you have to do is waiting that somebody delivers.
You can really buy everything (also what you do not need, but this is another subject...)
If you need a new or used car, but you haven't decided yet, because you need some help, Autotropolis is the right website.
They not only help you to find the right type for your needs (or your likings) they also tell you where you can find it.
First they suggest you the type and model with the Vehicle Selector Aid, then they tell you what the right price should be.
And I guess they must have very good deals, because they actually encourage you to request a car quote from a local dealership.
They WILL tell you what the TIP (true Internet price) is.
You also have the chance to know everything you want about the car you choose, in the Automotive Community, in the Car Forums, in the Car Price Alert Blogs.
And if you want you can also find the list of the top ten most requested cars.
Last and not unimportant, you can find a Dealership Locator
, integrated with Google Maps. You'll have the list of all the dealerships in the USA, besides rates and reviews on local car dealers.
For the moment the locator is just for new cars.
But you can find dealers with new and also used cars.
Well, if you need a new car, this is really a good chance to easily find what you are looking for at the best price!
We are so spoiled now a days, with the Internet, we can do anything we have to, without the need to move from home.
You just click, look for the right website, pay with your credit card and all you have to do is waiting that somebody delivers.
You can really buy everything (also what you do not need, but this is another subject...)
If you need a new or used car, but you haven't decided yet, because you need some help, Autotropolis is the right website.
They not only help you to find the right type for your needs (or your likings) they also tell you where you can find it.
First they suggest you the type and model with the Vehicle Selector Aid, then they tell you what the right price should be.
And I guess they must have very good deals, because they actually encourage you to request a car quote from a local dealership.
They WILL tell you what the TIP (true Internet price) is.
You also have the chance to know everything you want about the car you choose, in the Automotive Community, in the Car Forums, in the Car Price Alert Blogs.
And if you want you can also find the list of the top ten most requested cars.
Last and not unimportant, you can find a Dealership Locator
, integrated with Google Maps. You'll have the list of all the dealerships in the USA, besides rates and reviews on local car dealers.
For the moment the locator is just for new cars.
But you can find dealers with new and also used cars.
Well, if you need a new car, this is really a good chance to easily find what you are looking for at the best price!
Bollywood iPod size
India's film industry, based in Munbai, is called Bollywood.
For the number of movies produced and probably the number of viewers, it is considered as the largest in the world.
Most movies are musicals, called Masala, after the famous mix of spices. How could Bollywood not be in a website YouTube like?
Aapkavideo is where you can mostly find Bollywood like videos.
It is fully free.
Free to upload and free to download.
Now you can be a movie viewer, a movie star and a movie producer.
What you need is a little bit of Skill, a little bit of brain and of course a little bit of time.
Of course you also have the freedom to choose the subject you prefer, including cricket and places of interest.
To invite people to use it they even have a contest for the most popular videos uploaded and couldn't be the prize something else than a free iPod?
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
For the number of movies produced and probably the number of viewers, it is considered as the largest in the world.
Most movies are musicals, called Masala, after the famous mix of spices. How could Bollywood not be in a website YouTube like?
Aapkavideo is where you can mostly find Bollywood like videos.
It is fully free.
Free to upload and free to download.
Now you can be a movie viewer, a movie star and a movie producer.
What you need is a little bit of Skill, a little bit of brain and of course a little bit of time.
Of course you also have the freedom to choose the subject you prefer, including cricket and places of interest.
To invite people to use it they even have a contest for the most popular videos uploaded and couldn't be the prize something else than a free iPod?
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
Who pays?
"BusinessWeek: How concerned are you about Internet upstarts like Google (GOOG), MSN, Vonage, and others?
Whitacre: How do you think they're going to get to customers? Through a broadband pipe. Cable companies have them. We have them. Now what they would like to do is use my pipes free, but I ain't going to let them do that because we have spent this capital and we have to have a return on it. So there's going to have to be some mechanism for these people who use these pipes to pay for the portion they're using. Why should they be allowed to use my pipes?
The Internet can't be free in that sense, because we and the cable companies have made an investment and for a Google or Yahoo! (YHOO) or Vonage or anybody to expect to use these pipes [for] free is nuts! "
Well, things are not as seen sometimes.
The cable companies or Internet Providers own or lease the broadband lines and MAKE A (HUGE) PROFIT leasing them to customers.
It is not YAHOO GOOGLE and so using the pipes for FREE it is the customers USING the pipes they PAY FOR...
Whitacre: How do you think they're going to get to customers? Through a broadband pipe. Cable companies have them. We have them. Now what they would like to do is use my pipes free, but I ain't going to let them do that because we have spent this capital and we have to have a return on it. So there's going to have to be some mechanism for these people who use these pipes to pay for the portion they're using. Why should they be allowed to use my pipes?
The Internet can't be free in that sense, because we and the cable companies have made an investment and for a Google or Yahoo! (YHOO) or Vonage or anybody to expect to use these pipes [for] free is nuts! "
Well, things are not as seen sometimes.
The cable companies or Internet Providers own or lease the broadband lines and MAKE A (HUGE) PROFIT leasing them to customers.
It is not YAHOO GOOGLE and so using the pipes for FREE it is the customers USING the pipes they PAY FOR...
We have come a long way, Mr. Backup
We really have come a long, long way.
I still remember the times when I had to deal with punched cards (created on an IBM 305), nicely divided by the color (each color was for another type of data).
First we filled a truck with them and drove them to the next IBM data center.
Then we had to unload them, carry them again to a bunch of punch card readers (IBM 711).
It was not finished here, because then you had to feed the sorting machines and readers with them.
Depending on the job this could have lasted for hours - until the big IBM mainframe (360 resp. 370 series) was fed enough to do its calculations.
And, of course, at the end of the job we had to carry them again back to the truck.
As time passed things have progressed forwards.
The cards were not transported anymore, but loaded (through punch card readers) onto magnetic tapes and these were fed to the computers.
Some time later it was possible to store the data directly onto a tape.
These were followed by magnetic discs - not in the gigabyte range but kilobyte and megabytes.
Well, now we are able to store the content of a full truck of punched cards in a small USB stick.
If these fall on the ground, your data is not damaged or gone which sometimes was the case in the good old times.
Now, we also have systems which do all the backup jobs automatically by a schedule - set up with a few keyboard strokes and a few mouse clicks, without carrying tons of material.
Nevertheless, I still miss the thousands of lights flickering on the operator console of my good old IBM /360-50 mainframe and the sound of the printers printing the salary sheets of thousands of employees. We even managed to write programs to let these printers play music - for example "Stars and stripes".
Its a long time ago - but unforgettable.
If you want to read more about Mr. Backup you can find a very good article on its history at The History of Backup.
I still remember the times when I had to deal with punched cards (created on an IBM 305), nicely divided by the color (each color was for another type of data).
First we filled a truck with them and drove them to the next IBM data center.
Then we had to unload them, carry them again to a bunch of punch card readers (IBM 711).
It was not finished here, because then you had to feed the sorting machines and readers with them.
Depending on the job this could have lasted for hours - until the big IBM mainframe (360 resp. 370 series) was fed enough to do its calculations.
And, of course, at the end of the job we had to carry them again back to the truck.
As time passed things have progressed forwards.
The cards were not transported anymore, but loaded (through punch card readers) onto magnetic tapes and these were fed to the computers.
Some time later it was possible to store the data directly onto a tape.
These were followed by magnetic discs - not in the gigabyte range but kilobyte and megabytes.
Well, now we are able to store the content of a full truck of punched cards in a small USB stick.
If these fall on the ground, your data is not damaged or gone which sometimes was the case in the good old times.
Now, we also have systems which do all the backup jobs automatically by a schedule - set up with a few keyboard strokes and a few mouse clicks, without carrying tons of material.
Nevertheless, I still miss the thousands of lights flickering on the operator console of my good old IBM /360-50 mainframe and the sound of the printers printing the salary sheets of thousands of employees. We even managed to write programs to let these printers play music - for example "Stars and stripes".
Its a long time ago - but unforgettable.
If you want to read more about Mr. Backup you can find a very good article on its history at The History of Backup.
Monday, May 28, 2007
About Insurances
The good thing about Insurances is that they help you to feel safe and sleep nicely.
The bad thing about Insurances is that once in a while, when you need it, they make you waking up from your dreams.
In a few words, you pay and when THEY have to pay, well it is hard to get your money.
There is always a small print somewhere that of course you didn't see and says, black on white: you are not insured for this and in this or that case...which is ALWAYS YOUR case...
So, what to do to avoid the worst?
First sign only with your eyes wide open (which I never do, because either I am in a hurry, or it is too late, or I haven't got the time, or I just trust that nice guy, why shouldn't I?)second try to choose a good insurance.
Especially when you have to choose a car insurance.
Because that IS SOMETHING SOONER OR LATER YOU WILL NEED...
Of course you are looking for a good bargain, but you are also looking for a safe bargain.
It doesn't hurt to have a nice discount, may be 10% or even 15%?
That is what you can have if you insure yourself through Nation Finance.co.uk
Their motto is: let us search for you.
That is quite OK for me.
I like when they do something boring for me.
You just have to go on their website and carefully read and compare (quotes in less than 4 minutes, from over 300 insurance plans, that is what they call service!) and with NO HURRY, decide and apply.
Easy and fast.
But if you are one of those who love to be informed before doing anything, this is your place.
You can find good and interesting articles , for example: "What is an Insurance?"Or: "Where is the best place to get car Insurance?"(of course their website, but you can read and know why...) Or: "Do you care more about your pet than yourself?" (of course not, but statistics say it differently, may be in England, it really IS NOT the statistic case in Italy...)
You can also find the latest insurance News or joining their mailing list.( it is not bad to be well informed when it comes to money)
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
The bad thing about Insurances is that once in a while, when you need it, they make you waking up from your dreams.
In a few words, you pay and when THEY have to pay, well it is hard to get your money.
There is always a small print somewhere that of course you didn't see and says, black on white: you are not insured for this and in this or that case...which is ALWAYS YOUR case...
So, what to do to avoid the worst?
First sign only with your eyes wide open (which I never do, because either I am in a hurry, or it is too late, or I haven't got the time, or I just trust that nice guy, why shouldn't I?)second try to choose a good insurance.
Especially when you have to choose a car insurance.
Because that IS SOMETHING SOONER OR LATER YOU WILL NEED...
Of course you are looking for a good bargain, but you are also looking for a safe bargain.
It doesn't hurt to have a nice discount, may be 10% or even 15%?
That is what you can have if you insure yourself through Nation Finance.co.uk
Their motto is: let us search for you.
That is quite OK for me.
I like when they do something boring for me.
You just have to go on their website and carefully read and compare (quotes in less than 4 minutes, from over 300 insurance plans, that is what they call service!) and with NO HURRY, decide and apply.
Easy and fast.
But if you are one of those who love to be informed before doing anything, this is your place.
You can find good and interesting articles , for example: "What is an Insurance?"Or: "Where is the best place to get car Insurance?"(of course their website, but you can read and know why...) Or: "Do you care more about your pet than yourself?" (of course not, but statistics say it differently, may be in England, it really IS NOT the statistic case in Italy...)
You can also find the latest insurance News or joining their mailing list.( it is not bad to be well informed when it comes to money)
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
Communications
A major deterrent to war is communications. It is vital that people be able to communicate with each other quickly, effectively, and frequently.
Greater communications capabilities tend to lead to greater exchanges of information, values, cultural activities, and economic opportunities.
Where communications facilities are most extensive, wars are least frequent.
It is precisely the communications links which authoritarian governments try to limit and sever whenever they seek to perpetrate massive acts of oppression.
Another major deterrent to war has been knowledge.
Surveillance satellites monitor the disposition of ground forces, the disposition of missile systems, the disposition of nuclear and chemical weapons, and the communications of all nations of the Earth.
Although there are obvious disadvantages to liberty and significant corruption has been uncovered in these monitoring operations, it is also clearly the case that major military initiatives are not possible without telegraphing the circumstances to the international community.
A third significant deterrent to war is opportunity.
When opportunities seem limited, it is often considered necessary or appropriate to take from someone else, from some other land or country the resources and opportunities which are needed.
Limited access to opportunities figure prominently in disputes over land, such as the Israeli-Palestinian situation.
Limited access to vital resources such as oil figure prominently in disputes such as the Persian Gulf War, the Iran-Iraq War, and numerous other military conflicts throughout history.
Space affords access to limitless resources.
There is more than enough for everyone. Realizing the extent of the resources available "out there" should, eventually, reduce the use of naked aggression in pursuit of terrestrial resources.
Liberally taken by "Indomitus"
Greater communications capabilities tend to lead to greater exchanges of information, values, cultural activities, and economic opportunities.
Where communications facilities are most extensive, wars are least frequent.
It is precisely the communications links which authoritarian governments try to limit and sever whenever they seek to perpetrate massive acts of oppression.
Another major deterrent to war has been knowledge.
Surveillance satellites monitor the disposition of ground forces, the disposition of missile systems, the disposition of nuclear and chemical weapons, and the communications of all nations of the Earth.
Although there are obvious disadvantages to liberty and significant corruption has been uncovered in these monitoring operations, it is also clearly the case that major military initiatives are not possible without telegraphing the circumstances to the international community.
A third significant deterrent to war is opportunity.
When opportunities seem limited, it is often considered necessary or appropriate to take from someone else, from some other land or country the resources and opportunities which are needed.
Limited access to opportunities figure prominently in disputes over land, such as the Israeli-Palestinian situation.
Limited access to vital resources such as oil figure prominently in disputes such as the Persian Gulf War, the Iran-Iraq War, and numerous other military conflicts throughout history.
Space affords access to limitless resources.
There is more than enough for everyone. Realizing the extent of the resources available "out there" should, eventually, reduce the use of naked aggression in pursuit of terrestrial resources.
Liberally taken by "Indomitus"
Never repent of having eaten too little
Language specialists claim that the five sweetest phrases in English are:
"I love you"
"Dinner is served"
"All is forgiven"
"Sleep until noon"
"Keep the change"
There are those who choose to add:
"You've lost weight".
I am unashamedly one among them.
Those terrible calories!
I am good in mathematics, but I always miss a few.
I count and count and the results are never what I would like...
I even changed the scale, hoping to find a friendler one.
Nothing to do.
If you are like me you can find a good calorie counter in a free website: myfitnesspal.com.
And it is really a fitness pal, because there they teach you how to track meals and exercise easily.
I am not so sure about the easily, what I am convinced is that it is the only way to effectively loose weight, as hard as it can look.
There is no magic fat burner, or passive gymnastic, or whatever; believe me it is just that damn free calorie counter that can really make a difference.
You can search what kind of food you'd better like, and yes, you can be sure it is NOT what you like best.
But you can always try to find something which you do not dislike and fits in calorie counting , reaching the number you are going to burn doing some exercise.
There is also a counter for the calories you use, so that, if you overdo, you also know how to fix it...
And remember: Better starve free than be a fat slave.
"I love you"
"Dinner is served"
"All is forgiven"
"Sleep until noon"
"Keep the change"
There are those who choose to add:
"You've lost weight".
I am unashamedly one among them.
Those terrible calories!
I am good in mathematics, but I always miss a few.
I count and count and the results are never what I would like...
I even changed the scale, hoping to find a friendler one.
Nothing to do.
If you are like me you can find a good calorie counter in a free website: myfitnesspal.com.
And it is really a fitness pal, because there they teach you how to track meals and exercise easily.
I am not so sure about the easily, what I am convinced is that it is the only way to effectively loose weight, as hard as it can look.
There is no magic fat burner, or passive gymnastic, or whatever; believe me it is just that damn free calorie counter that can really make a difference.
You can search what kind of food you'd better like, and yes, you can be sure it is NOT what you like best.
But you can always try to find something which you do not dislike and fits in calorie counting , reaching the number you are going to burn doing some exercise.
There is also a counter for the calories you use, so that, if you overdo, you also know how to fix it...
And remember: Better starve free than be a fat slave.
VoIP: the right business in the wrong hands
Remember: VoIP the Zero billion Euros business?
Sometimes offering the right thing in the wrong way, can produce unsuccessful results.
That is going to happen if the companies who deliver it do not understand the real customers' needs and the power of this new technology.
They have the wrong approach to it.
They see VoIP as a cheap replacement of the actual telephone service.
They hope in the blooming business of offering something similar for less.
Usually the cheap product means a widespread market.
But it is hardly like that in the specific case of VoIP.
The expensive parts of the telephone service are the international and intercontinental calls.
But those are not usually the need of the mass; the usual people mostly call locally.
This is even more valid for a country like Europe, which is not even a Union like the USA, since its many languages and nations.
We are still not a real Union.
The users of international and intercontinental calls are usually companies, but for them quality and services are still more important than cost in itself.
If VoIP fails to provide what the actual telephone service does, then most of them will just use it as a second line, the "cheap one".
But VoIP in its own nature is something that not only can offer a very cheap alternative in the case of telephony, but a huge number of services that the usual telephony lines cannot.
That is because its particular structure, see :
http://www.worldonip.com/endtoend.htm
and the fact that we have a "stupid line" and "smart devices" at both ends.
Using VoIP is using a computer directly connected to a phone line, that acts as a computer and a communication center in the same time.
You do not have to dial numbers, you just click on a name on your outlook list and you are immediately connected. You can have conference calls, you can send pictures, you can have video conferences you can do all what your computer can do.
This is the Power of VoIP
Sometimes offering the right thing in the wrong way, can produce unsuccessful results.
That is going to happen if the companies who deliver it do not understand the real customers' needs and the power of this new technology.
They have the wrong approach to it.
They see VoIP as a cheap replacement of the actual telephone service.
They hope in the blooming business of offering something similar for less.
Usually the cheap product means a widespread market.
But it is hardly like that in the specific case of VoIP.
The expensive parts of the telephone service are the international and intercontinental calls.
But those are not usually the need of the mass; the usual people mostly call locally.
This is even more valid for a country like Europe, which is not even a Union like the USA, since its many languages and nations.
We are still not a real Union.
The users of international and intercontinental calls are usually companies, but for them quality and services are still more important than cost in itself.
If VoIP fails to provide what the actual telephone service does, then most of them will just use it as a second line, the "cheap one".
But VoIP in its own nature is something that not only can offer a very cheap alternative in the case of telephony, but a huge number of services that the usual telephony lines cannot.
That is because its particular structure, see :
http://www.worldonip.com/endtoend.htm
and the fact that we have a "stupid line" and "smart devices" at both ends.
Using VoIP is using a computer directly connected to a phone line, that acts as a computer and a communication center in the same time.
You do not have to dial numbers, you just click on a name on your outlook list and you are immediately connected. You can have conference calls, you can send pictures, you can have video conferences you can do all what your computer can do.
This is the Power of VoIP
Nature and Spirit
There are moments when one's life appears strange.
One would like to stand still to collect one's thoughts, and as one looks back on the past and forward to the future, one asks oneself in quite astonishment , what the significance of the wonderful present might be.
This quiet astonishment fills me when I am in close touch with nature.
If you are going to spend some time for a nice holidays or just visiting the wonderful Yosemite park, there is a place where you should stop and spend a little time to find a "new self" and go back home reniewed in the physic and in the spirit.
It is :The Lotus Path Workshops held in the Sierra foothills, between Fresno and Yosemite.
You can find all details at The Lotus Path .
We all should find a little moment in our life to stop and think and try to find the answer to the question: what do we live, and work and suffer and enjoy, for?
We should talk and discuss and understand, we should try to connect to our higher self and work with divine energy.
The emotional well being of a person cannot be separated from his spiritual energy.
That is what they teach in The Lotus Path Workshops.
It is a four parts workshop :
1) Traveler
2) Journey
3) Tribal
4) Quest
They are part of the jorney through your spirit, after which you'll have a better knowledge of yourself and will be able to feel the energy that comes from your spirit.
Though several workshops are offered, The Traveler Workshop can be completed the same day and is only $40.
The spirit can help the body heal in a most powerful way, that is what you will find out after the Workshop.
So, if you plan a trip to Yosemite, don't forget my advice.
One would like to stand still to collect one's thoughts, and as one looks back on the past and forward to the future, one asks oneself in quite astonishment , what the significance of the wonderful present might be.
This quiet astonishment fills me when I am in close touch with nature.
If you are going to spend some time for a nice holidays or just visiting the wonderful Yosemite park, there is a place where you should stop and spend a little time to find a "new self" and go back home reniewed in the physic and in the spirit.
It is :The Lotus Path Workshops held in the Sierra foothills, between Fresno and Yosemite.
You can find all details at The Lotus Path .
We all should find a little moment in our life to stop and think and try to find the answer to the question: what do we live, and work and suffer and enjoy, for?
We should talk and discuss and understand, we should try to connect to our higher self and work with divine energy.
The emotional well being of a person cannot be separated from his spiritual energy.
That is what they teach in The Lotus Path Workshops.
It is a four parts workshop :
1) Traveler
2) Journey
3) Tribal
4) Quest
They are part of the jorney through your spirit, after which you'll have a better knowledge of yourself and will be able to feel the energy that comes from your spirit.
Though several workshops are offered, The Traveler Workshop can be completed the same day and is only $40.
The spirit can help the body heal in a most powerful way, that is what you will find out after the Workshop.
So, if you plan a trip to Yosemite, don't forget my advice.
Wi-FI, Wi not?
Content, content, content.
This is the heart, the brain, the blood and the Internet is the vessels.
Without blood there is no need for veins, without veins there is no humanity, without humanity the world would be different (I still have doubts if better, but this is my humble opinion).
Narrow vessels mean bad circulation as much as narrowband Internet means narrowband future.
Broadband will allow better communications, better downloading, faster streaming and spreading of content.
The next need is broadband at low cost.
DSL doesn't allow more than a certain limit, Fiber Optic is getting too expensive, especially in rural or semi rural zones.
Wi-FI is the natural evolution of the actual technology and the actual way of living.
Without considering the ubiquity of Wi-Fi that by itself would relegate to oblivion the wired world.
Wasn't the portable phone the biggest success by far?
I do not want to enter in discussion if it was a good thing or not, also that could be my humble opinion.
The fact is that it was a winner and Wi-Fi is its natural follower.
You need more, the telephone line cannot deliver, let's look for something else.
Wi-Fi, Wi not?
This is the heart, the brain, the blood and the Internet is the vessels.
Without blood there is no need for veins, without veins there is no humanity, without humanity the world would be different (I still have doubts if better, but this is my humble opinion).
Narrow vessels mean bad circulation as much as narrowband Internet means narrowband future.
Broadband will allow better communications, better downloading, faster streaming and spreading of content.
The next need is broadband at low cost.
DSL doesn't allow more than a certain limit, Fiber Optic is getting too expensive, especially in rural or semi rural zones.
Wi-FI is the natural evolution of the actual technology and the actual way of living.
Without considering the ubiquity of Wi-Fi that by itself would relegate to oblivion the wired world.
Wasn't the portable phone the biggest success by far?
I do not want to enter in discussion if it was a good thing or not, also that could be my humble opinion.
The fact is that it was a winner and Wi-Fi is its natural follower.
You need more, the telephone line cannot deliver, let's look for something else.
Wi-Fi, Wi not?
Saturday, May 26, 2007
The new Police CD
There are two singers in my life, whose voice accompanied romantic and special moments of my youth, two voices I will never forget because they belong to the Spring of my life and that is something you cannot live without remembering.
Those two singers are John Lennon and Sting.
Of course I loved the Beatles and The Police , but both groups came as something on the background of them.
How similar the voices and how different the melodies and the persons.
John Lennon was the mask of a weak and tortured man, while Sting was the strong idealist who was able to involve you in his goals and interests.
But both, in their own personal way were creative genius who had the talent and the courage to embody their personality in unforgettable songs.
Nevertheless could John Lennon reach popularity without The Beatles and Sting without The Police ?
Both share two moments of my life and the evolution of my tastes and love for music.
Both belong to the context of the era they dominated, and that shaped them: the sixties and the eighties.
How different and in the same time how close one group to the other, as if the second was the natural evolution of the first.
And how similar the story of the groups.
The Beatles never came back together, while The Police, never formally breaking up, after Synchronicity, decided to concentrate on solo projects. As the years went by, the band members, particularly Sting, increasingly dismissed the possibility of reforming. In 2007, however, the band reformed and announced a world tour and will release a 30 track double-disc CD, in the United Kingdom on 11 June 2007. The 30 track greatest hits collection will mark 30 years since The Police released their first single Fall Out in 1977.
The police cd includes:
1. Fallout
2. Can't Stand Losing You
3. Next to You
4. Roxanne
5. Truth Hits Everybody
6. Hole in My Life
7. So Lonely
8. Message in a Bottle
9. Reggatta de Blanc
10. Bring on the Night
11. Walking on the Moon
12. Don't Stand So Close to Me
13. Driven to Tears
14. Canary in a Coalmine
Disc: 2
1. Do Do Do de da da Da
2. Voices Inside My Head
3. Invisible Sun
4. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
5. Spirits in the Material World
6. Demolition Man
7. Every Breath You Take
8. Synchronicity I
9. Wrapped Around Your Finger
10. Walking in Your Footsteps
11. Synchronicity II
12. King of Pain
13. Murder by Numbers
14. Tea in the Sahara
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
Those two singers are John Lennon and Sting.
Of course I loved the Beatles and The Police , but both groups came as something on the background of them.
How similar the voices and how different the melodies and the persons.
John Lennon was the mask of a weak and tortured man, while Sting was the strong idealist who was able to involve you in his goals and interests.
But both, in their own personal way were creative genius who had the talent and the courage to embody their personality in unforgettable songs.
Nevertheless could John Lennon reach popularity without The Beatles and Sting without The Police ?
Both share two moments of my life and the evolution of my tastes and love for music.
Both belong to the context of the era they dominated, and that shaped them: the sixties and the eighties.
How different and in the same time how close one group to the other, as if the second was the natural evolution of the first.
And how similar the story of the groups.
The Beatles never came back together, while The Police, never formally breaking up, after Synchronicity, decided to concentrate on solo projects. As the years went by, the band members, particularly Sting, increasingly dismissed the possibility of reforming. In 2007, however, the band reformed and announced a world tour and will release a 30 track double-disc CD, in the United Kingdom on 11 June 2007. The 30 track greatest hits collection will mark 30 years since The Police released their first single Fall Out in 1977.
The police cd includes:
1. Fallout
2. Can't Stand Losing You
3. Next to You
4. Roxanne
5. Truth Hits Everybody
6. Hole in My Life
7. So Lonely
8. Message in a Bottle
9. Reggatta de Blanc
10. Bring on the Night
11. Walking on the Moon
12. Don't Stand So Close to Me
13. Driven to Tears
14. Canary in a Coalmine
Disc: 2
1. Do Do Do de da da Da
2. Voices Inside My Head
3. Invisible Sun
4. Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic
5. Spirits in the Material World
6. Demolition Man
7. Every Breath You Take
8. Synchronicity I
9. Wrapped Around Your Finger
10. Walking in Your Footsteps
11. Synchronicity II
12. King of Pain
13. Murder by Numbers
14. Tea in the Sahara
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
The Internet now interconnects almost all the world’s computers – and it’s well on its way to networking everything else.
Integrating real-time communications
functions into the IT environment …
… not only makes it possible to increase productivity
within companies, but also increases
speed and synchronization along all value added
chains.
When real-time communications is fully integrated into business
processes and IT applications, all media are able to receive information,
transmit messages and send alerts. Employees only have to click on the
presence awareness module, which contains everyone’s contact information.
The IT system also immediately updates any changes. The system
automatically accesses the correct information and medium.
The town marketplaces and trading centers
of an earlier time are proof that business
processes run fastest and most effectively
when all participants are at one location and
communicate directly with one another. This
situation is nearly achieved through the integration
of business applications and communications
technology. Therefore, real-time
communications has tremendous effects on
time, cost and quality factors.
The technical requirements for real-time
communications already exist or are in
advanced states of development.
There is a difference between integrated basic
telecommunications services and integrated
and mobile telecommunications applications.
Automatically transmitted error messages
from production areas shorten service personnel
response time.
Basic telecommunications services monitor all
communication events.
Security is improved through automatic
authentication and authorization.
Standardized interfaces between IT and
telecommunications solutions simplify data
exchange and prevent media discontinuities.
functions into the IT environment …
… not only makes it possible to increase productivity
within companies, but also increases
speed and synchronization along all value added
chains.
When real-time communications is fully integrated into business
processes and IT applications, all media are able to receive information,
transmit messages and send alerts. Employees only have to click on the
presence awareness module, which contains everyone’s contact information.
The IT system also immediately updates any changes. The system
automatically accesses the correct information and medium.
The town marketplaces and trading centers
of an earlier time are proof that business
processes run fastest and most effectively
when all participants are at one location and
communicate directly with one another. This
situation is nearly achieved through the integration
of business applications and communications
technology. Therefore, real-time
communications has tremendous effects on
time, cost and quality factors.
The technical requirements for real-time
communications already exist or are in
advanced states of development.
There is a difference between integrated basic
telecommunications services and integrated
and mobile telecommunications applications.
Automatically transmitted error messages
from production areas shorten service personnel
response time.
Basic telecommunications services monitor all
communication events.
Security is improved through automatic
authentication and authorization.
Standardized interfaces between IT and
telecommunications solutions simplify data
exchange and prevent media discontinuities.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Fresh, fresh, fresh
What does the word Florida suggest to me?
First the sun, second the everlasting summer.
And for somebody living in the North of Italy and hating snow and cold, it is almost like talking of Paradise.
But Florida is also and mostly the farming country.
The one that produces vegetables and fruits for the whole globe.
Farmers are the antefixes of a $87 billion industry, the ones who work without fuss and glory, the ones who produce the food we consume.
You can have a good idea watching the following video,
They say silence makes people invisible, may be it is true.
But their sweet peaches and strawberries and pineapples talk for them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRApjoxdsmw
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
First the sun, second the everlasting summer.
And for somebody living in the North of Italy and hating snow and cold, it is almost like talking of Paradise.
But Florida is also and mostly the farming country.
The one that produces vegetables and fruits for the whole globe.
Farmers are the antefixes of a $87 billion industry, the ones who work without fuss and glory, the ones who produce the food we consume.
You can have a good idea watching the following video,
They say silence makes people invisible, may be it is true.
But their sweet peaches and strawberries and pineapples talk for them.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRApjoxdsmw
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
Can the lack of built-in security endanger all this?
David D. Clark points to the Internet's dark side: its lack of built-in security.
In others, he observes that sometimes the worst disasters are caused not by sudden events but by slow, incremental processes -- and that humans are good at ignoring problems.
"Things get worse slowly. People adjust," Clark noted in his presentation.
"The problem is assigning the correct degree of fear to distant elephants."
Today, Clark believes the elephants are upon us. Yes, the Internet has wrought wonders: e-commerce has flourished, and e-mail has become a ubiquitous means of communication. Almost one billion people now use the Internet, and critical industries like banking increasingly rely on it.
At the same time, the Internet's shortcomings have resulted in plunging security and a decreased ability to accommodate new
technologies.
"We are at an inflection point, a revolution point," Clark now argues. And he delivers a strikingly pessimistic assessment
of where the Internet will end up without dramatic intervention.
"We might just be at the point where the utility of the Internet stalls -- and perhaps turns downward."
Business Week had a cover story in June :
The nearly 1 billion people online worldwide -- along with their shared knowledge, social contacts, online reputations, computing power, and more -- are rapidly becoming a collective force of unprecedented power. For the first time in human history, mass cooperation across time and space is suddenly economical. "There's a fundamental shift in power happening," says Pierre M. Omidyar, founder and chairman of the online marketplace eBay Inc. "Everywhere, people are getting together and, using the Internet, disrupting whatever activities they're involved in.
Peer power presents difficult challenges for anyone invested in the status quo. Corporations, those citadels of command-and-control, may be in for the biggest jolt. Increasingly, they will have to contend with ad hoc groups of customers who have the power to join forces online to get what they want. Indeed, customers are creating what they want themselves -- designing their own software with colleagues, for instance, and declaring their opinions via blogs instead of waiting for newspapers to print their letters. "It's the democratization of industry," says C.K. Prahalad, a University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business professor and co-author of the 2004 book The Future of Competition: Co-Creating Unique Value with Customers. "We are seeing the emergence of an economy of the people, by the people, for the people."
Can the lack of built-in security endanger all this?
In others, he observes that sometimes the worst disasters are caused not by sudden events but by slow, incremental processes -- and that humans are good at ignoring problems.
"Things get worse slowly. People adjust," Clark noted in his presentation.
"The problem is assigning the correct degree of fear to distant elephants."
Today, Clark believes the elephants are upon us. Yes, the Internet has wrought wonders: e-commerce has flourished, and e-mail has become a ubiquitous means of communication. Almost one billion people now use the Internet, and critical industries like banking increasingly rely on it.
At the same time, the Internet's shortcomings have resulted in plunging security and a decreased ability to accommodate new
technologies.
"We are at an inflection point, a revolution point," Clark now argues. And he delivers a strikingly pessimistic assessment
of where the Internet will end up without dramatic intervention.
"We might just be at the point where the utility of the Internet stalls -- and perhaps turns downward."
Business Week had a cover story in June :
The nearly 1 billion people online worldwide -- along with their shared knowledge, social contacts, online reputations, computing power, and more -- are rapidly becoming a collective force of unprecedented power. For the first time in human history, mass cooperation across time and space is suddenly economical. "There's a fundamental shift in power happening," says Pierre M. Omidyar, founder and chairman of the online marketplace eBay Inc. "Everywhere, people are getting together and, using the Internet, disrupting whatever activities they're involved in.
Peer power presents difficult challenges for anyone invested in the status quo. Corporations, those citadels of command-and-control, may be in for the biggest jolt. Increasingly, they will have to contend with ad hoc groups of customers who have the power to join forces online to get what they want. Indeed, customers are creating what they want themselves -- designing their own software with colleagues, for instance, and declaring their opinions via blogs instead of waiting for newspapers to print their letters. "It's the democratization of industry," says C.K. Prahalad, a University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business professor and co-author of the 2004 book The Future of Competition: Co-Creating Unique Value with Customers. "We are seeing the emergence of an economy of the people, by the people, for the people."
Can the lack of built-in security endanger all this?
How can you get people to your website?
What are the steps to reach a high page ranking and increasing the success of your company?
First of course you must begin from the beginning, and that is a good, alluring website.
So, if you are not a guru in "webmastering", or you just do not have the time to care for the "look" of your company, you have to choose a goodwebsite optimization firm.
Creative web design creates your company image.
In the Virtual world your website is the way you show your business to your customers.
Of course you want to look at your best.
Because the more trustable, the more convincing, the best message you send, the more successful your business is going to be.
"L'abito non fa il monaco " we say in Italy.
It means the appearance IS NOT everything, but believe me, it helps.
It helps dramatically.
A shabby, poor look will scare off your customers.
But it must not be only nice and alluring, it must also be useful, it must give all the information’s people want to find and in the easiest, fastest way.
For driving more website traffic to your website, a good website optimization firm will concentrate on the second step, which is the corporate blog marketing.
You will achieve in this way two goals, on one side you will be in touch with your customers and on the other you will upgrade your rankings and your presence on the Net.
The next step is Custom programming.
Web content stored in a database is converted in a dynamic web page "on the fly".
This is a "custom made" way to reach your audience in an individual way, in a few words, content that suits the receiver.
Last and not least important is to have a reliable web hosting.
That will assure that your web page, your contact with your customers, is always "on" also when your business is closed.
356 days a year, 24 hours a day.
So, do you need more traffic to your website? Now you know what to do.
http://www.loudlaunch.com/CampaignsImages/c5c7dce436.JPG
First of course you must begin from the beginning, and that is a good, alluring website.
So, if you are not a guru in "webmastering", or you just do not have the time to care for the "look" of your company, you have to choose a goodwebsite optimization firm.
Creative web design creates your company image.
In the Virtual world your website is the way you show your business to your customers.
Of course you want to look at your best.
Because the more trustable, the more convincing, the best message you send, the more successful your business is going to be.
"L'abito non fa il monaco " we say in Italy.
It means the appearance IS NOT everything, but believe me, it helps.
It helps dramatically.
A shabby, poor look will scare off your customers.
But it must not be only nice and alluring, it must also be useful, it must give all the information’s people want to find and in the easiest, fastest way.
For driving more website traffic to your website, a good website optimization firm will concentrate on the second step, which is the corporate blog marketing.
You will achieve in this way two goals, on one side you will be in touch with your customers and on the other you will upgrade your rankings and your presence on the Net.
The next step is Custom programming.
Web content stored in a database is converted in a dynamic web page "on the fly".
This is a "custom made" way to reach your audience in an individual way, in a few words, content that suits the receiver.
Last and not least important is to have a reliable web hosting.
That will assure that your web page, your contact with your customers, is always "on" also when your business is closed.
356 days a year, 24 hours a day.
So, do you need more traffic to your website? Now you know what to do.
http://www.loudlaunch.com/CampaignsImages/c5c7dce436.JPG
Cellphone screen is today's hip billboard
" Monty Solomon Date: February 21, 2007 9:03:39 PM EST
Cellphone screen is today's hip billboard
Ads must be targeted, relevant, and even cool
By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff | February 20, 2007
In an ad-saturated world, the cellphone screen is a nearly pristine canvas.
But a number of area companies are helping to transform the device that 220 million people are loath to leave at home into a personal, pocket-sized billboard, hawking everything from the latest ringtone to Fabio-favored "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!"
"We're calling the phone 'the brand in your hand' -- you're never more than a foot away from it, 24 hours a day," said Fareena Sultan , associate professor of marketing at Northeastern University's College of Business Administration. The challenge, Sultan said, will be to produce an advertisement for the phone "that excites the person holding it."
Fueled by faster wireless networks, more capable phones, and increasingly popular data services, the cellphone ad space is poised to grow, according to industry watchers, and a cluster of Boston start-ups have positioned themselves as the middlemen who bring brands to the screen."
We are so bombarded by commercials that our eyes and ears don't see or listen to them.
The only way would be to reinvent the commercials and NOT cooking the same soup in another device...
Cellphone screen is today's hip billboard
Ads must be targeted, relevant, and even cool
By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff | February 20, 2007
In an ad-saturated world, the cellphone screen is a nearly pristine canvas.
But a number of area companies are helping to transform the device that 220 million people are loath to leave at home into a personal, pocket-sized billboard, hawking everything from the latest ringtone to Fabio-favored "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!"
"We're calling the phone 'the brand in your hand' -- you're never more than a foot away from it, 24 hours a day," said Fareena Sultan , associate professor of marketing at Northeastern University's College of Business Administration. The challenge, Sultan said, will be to produce an advertisement for the phone "that excites the person holding it."
Fueled by faster wireless networks, more capable phones, and increasingly popular data services, the cellphone ad space is poised to grow, according to industry watchers, and a cluster of Boston start-ups have positioned themselves as the middlemen who bring brands to the screen."
We are so bombarded by commercials that our eyes and ears don't see or listen to them.
The only way would be to reinvent the commercials and NOT cooking the same soup in another device...
I am not as old as I used to be
The turning point of my life happened at 54.
It was quite late, but it came.
I finally was in the critical, dreaded state all women are supposed to hate: I was in Menopause.
But the funny thing is that I didn't feel all what I was supposed to feel.
I wasn't suddenly an old woman.
I just felt like the month before, with a burden less: I didn't have to care for period anymore.
Hot flashes and night sweats, joint pain, insomnia, headaches...they all came gradually later and I had to cope with them.
What I dreaded more was that I gained weight.
And it is so difficult to loose it. Almost impossible. You see your body change and you see your clothes not fitting anymore.
You suddenly see an old woman in the mirror and you cannot believe that is you.
You get depressed and depression makes everything worse.
You do not feel like to...for many things, and you get worse and worse.
But living with menopause symptoms is something every woman can do, it is something every woman should learn to.
And, as it happened to me, one day you realize you are not as old as you used to be.
If you reached that age and you think that menopause is a problem for you, there is a website that can help you.
Menopause A to Z is where you can find all the explanations, all the answers.
You can talk and discuss about what is happening to you and find out it is not an illness, it is something that you have to learn to live with, if possible with the help of natural remedies and help from other who lived it before you.
It is just the next step of your life and, yes, you will feel much younger than what you felt before.
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
It was quite late, but it came.
I finally was in the critical, dreaded state all women are supposed to hate: I was in Menopause.
But the funny thing is that I didn't feel all what I was supposed to feel.
I wasn't suddenly an old woman.
I just felt like the month before, with a burden less: I didn't have to care for period anymore.
Hot flashes and night sweats, joint pain, insomnia, headaches...they all came gradually later and I had to cope with them.
What I dreaded more was that I gained weight.
And it is so difficult to loose it. Almost impossible. You see your body change and you see your clothes not fitting anymore.
You suddenly see an old woman in the mirror and you cannot believe that is you.
You get depressed and depression makes everything worse.
You do not feel like to...for many things, and you get worse and worse.
But living with menopause symptoms is something every woman can do, it is something every woman should learn to.
And, as it happened to me, one day you realize you are not as old as you used to be.
If you reached that age and you think that menopause is a problem for you, there is a website that can help you.
Menopause A to Z is where you can find all the explanations, all the answers.
You can talk and discuss about what is happening to you and find out it is not an illness, it is something that you have to learn to live with, if possible with the help of natural remedies and help from other who lived it before you.
It is just the next step of your life and, yes, you will feel much younger than what you felt before.
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
More on Network neutrality
"Too many of us are stuck on a network neutrality argument that centers around the Googles and Yahoos and Amazons. But when the network neutrality tub is emptied, the big fish will survive. It'll be us little babies that get sucked down the drain."
David Isenberg
The big fish for surviving still needs food.The end of the predators usually comes for lack of preys to hunt.
Nature is a balance where every living creature has its value, as eater as well as food.
If the little babies are sucked down the drain, the big fish will have to skip lunch and may be dinner too...
Patrizia
David Isenberg
The big fish for surviving still needs food.The end of the predators usually comes for lack of preys to hunt.
Nature is a balance where every living creature has its value, as eater as well as food.
If the little babies are sucked down the drain, the big fish will have to skip lunch and may be dinner too...
Patrizia
What are window blinds for?
Most people would answer: to dress nicely a window, to give the room an elegant style, to add a certain touch to the wall, to give some privacy.
For me the most useful thing window blinds do is hiding a dirty window.
I do not know if it happens the same to you, but every time I decide to wash my windows, and it takes some time since my house is old, huge and has 32 big windows,I can be sure the next day we are going to have at least a few minutes thunderstorm, so that in those few minutes (even seconds) all my job is for nothing.
I even came to the point that it has become something like a ritual, something like the rain dance.
If I need rain for my garden the only thing I have to do is washing my windows.
That is why blinds are very welcome in my house.
But besides that, I love to add colors to my walls and I meticulously look for the right one.
The one that fits with my furniture and the colors of the room.
I am so fanatic about blinds that they are the first thing I notice in a room.
"They had nice blinds”, or "they had terrible blinds" that is what I usually comment when we go in a new place.
And everybody usually looks at me, because, of course, they didn't notice...
What are the kind I would suggest?
If you are looking for a neat and elegant style Roman blinds could be the best choice.
They have a modern, functional look and are not too expensive.
You can raise and lower them just by pulling the cords. They need little fabric, so they are cheap.
But you must be careful to perfectly measure your window, because they must fit perfectly.
The full kit costs around £12.99 which in my opinion is not too much.
For an office, if you are looking mostly to the functional side, Venetian blinds are still the best.
Now a days they come in many different colors and materials including aluminum and wood, which is my favorite.
If you are looking for a more romantic look Ready made voiles can provide a sophisticated look and add color or just match the white of the walls.
In Terrysfabrics.co.uk you can find everything.
From ready made to fabric, from blinds to bedding, lighting, rugs and so on.
All what you need to improve your house.
And at an affordable price. (very important)
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
For me the most useful thing window blinds do is hiding a dirty window.
I do not know if it happens the same to you, but every time I decide to wash my windows, and it takes some time since my house is old, huge and has 32 big windows,I can be sure the next day we are going to have at least a few minutes thunderstorm, so that in those few minutes (even seconds) all my job is for nothing.
I even came to the point that it has become something like a ritual, something like the rain dance.
If I need rain for my garden the only thing I have to do is washing my windows.
That is why blinds are very welcome in my house.
But besides that, I love to add colors to my walls and I meticulously look for the right one.
The one that fits with my furniture and the colors of the room.
I am so fanatic about blinds that they are the first thing I notice in a room.
"They had nice blinds”, or "they had terrible blinds" that is what I usually comment when we go in a new place.
And everybody usually looks at me, because, of course, they didn't notice...
What are the kind I would suggest?
If you are looking for a neat and elegant style Roman blinds could be the best choice.
They have a modern, functional look and are not too expensive.
You can raise and lower them just by pulling the cords. They need little fabric, so they are cheap.
But you must be careful to perfectly measure your window, because they must fit perfectly.
The full kit costs around £12.99 which in my opinion is not too much.
For an office, if you are looking mostly to the functional side, Venetian blinds are still the best.
Now a days they come in many different colors and materials including aluminum and wood, which is my favorite.
If you are looking for a more romantic look Ready made voiles can provide a sophisticated look and add color or just match the white of the walls.
In Terrysfabrics.co.uk you can find everything.
From ready made to fabric, from blinds to bedding, lighting, rugs and so on.
All what you need to improve your house.
And at an affordable price. (very important)
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
Nothing new
Arun Katiyar (CEO of Seraja) writes:
"Essentially, what we are looking at is this: People are willing contributors of knowledge and their time. They need a simple system that helps them contribute when they want, from where they want and how much they want. And, more critically, if they need to stay anonymous, that need must be respected.
Mobiles and the Internet are making this possible. There are a number of event entry mechanisms which are coming up that help make sense of the unstructured data that digital devices capture."
Nothing new on the horizon Mr. Katiyar.
When I was little my mother used to talk on the balcony with our neighbors.
They exchanged opinions and pictures (on paper).
They talked about TV programs and movies.
They gossiped.
Nowadays, the balcony has a broader audience.
Young people post their movies on YOUTUBE, discuss on forums, chat online.
They talk with neighbors thousand of miles away.
This is called “Communication”.
"Essentially, what we are looking at is this: People are willing contributors of knowledge and their time. They need a simple system that helps them contribute when they want, from where they want and how much they want. And, more critically, if they need to stay anonymous, that need must be respected.
Mobiles and the Internet are making this possible. There are a number of event entry mechanisms which are coming up that help make sense of the unstructured data that digital devices capture."
Nothing new on the horizon Mr. Katiyar.
When I was little my mother used to talk on the balcony with our neighbors.
They exchanged opinions and pictures (on paper).
They talked about TV programs and movies.
They gossiped.
Nowadays, the balcony has a broader audience.
Young people post their movies on YOUTUBE, discuss on forums, chat online.
They talk with neighbors thousand of miles away.
This is called “Communication”.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Drug Rehab
I guess one of the big tragedies for a parent is finding out that his son is addicted.
To any kind of drugs, including drinking.
And there is no real recipe to avoid it, I guess many times it is a matter of luck.
I am a pharmacist and I can talk, because I directly knew many who were good parents and had good children, but for terrible circumstances experienced the tragedy of addiction.
And I can also affirm that there is no way out of it unless the psychological aspect is cared of.
You can spend all your money and time in and out of clinics where they can help you get rid of the physical addiction.
That is hard, but easy to reach.
The hardest part is the psychological addiction.
And that you can cure just with the appropriate drug rehab program and in the right place.
At Stone Hawk they know how to, because they themselves experienced the drug addiction and were helped to come out of it.
Now it is their turn to help the others.
You can fill the form on their website or call a free number and you will be able to get all the information’s you need.
They follow the Narconon Drug rehab program which starts controlling drug and alcohol cravings, withdrawal symptoms and go on promoting clear thinking, improve memory ability and increase energy, giving a sense of well being.
Help your loved ones to have a new start in life and to get definitely rid of any kind of addiction.
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
To any kind of drugs, including drinking.
And there is no real recipe to avoid it, I guess many times it is a matter of luck.
I am a pharmacist and I can talk, because I directly knew many who were good parents and had good children, but for terrible circumstances experienced the tragedy of addiction.
And I can also affirm that there is no way out of it unless the psychological aspect is cared of.
You can spend all your money and time in and out of clinics where they can help you get rid of the physical addiction.
That is hard, but easy to reach.
The hardest part is the psychological addiction.
And that you can cure just with the appropriate drug rehab program and in the right place.
At Stone Hawk they know how to, because they themselves experienced the drug addiction and were helped to come out of it.
Now it is their turn to help the others.
You can fill the form on their website or call a free number and you will be able to get all the information’s you need.
They follow the Narconon Drug rehab program which starts controlling drug and alcohol cravings, withdrawal symptoms and go on promoting clear thinking, improve memory ability and increase energy, giving a sense of well being.
Help your loved ones to have a new start in life and to get definitely rid of any kind of addiction.
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
Responding to others is important. Getting a response from others is critical
The New Importance Of Outbound Contacts
Person-to-person communication contacts are
becoming easier to initiate, as contact information
becomes embedded in the message. It started with
the power of the messaging “reply” function in
both email and voice mail. Because voice mail
systems were connected at the hip with phone systems,
the “reply” soon became an immediate,
more responsive “call return” option. With unified
messaging, email messages are able to use the
phone for retrieval by voice, including the option
to “reply” with a voice message attachment to the
originator’s email in-box, or to initiate an
immediate “call return.”
Person-to-person communication contacts are
becoming easier to initiate, as contact information
becomes embedded in the message. It started with
the power of the messaging “reply” function in
both email and voice mail. Because voice mail
systems were connected at the hip with phone systems,
the “reply” soon became an immediate,
more responsive “call return” option. With unified
messaging, email messages are able to use the
phone for retrieval by voice, including the option
to “reply” with a voice message attachment to the
originator’s email in-box, or to initiate an
immediate “call return.”
Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Let's talk about money...
Let's talk about money and how easy it is to run out of it...
Let's talk about how easy it is to get a loan and how much you have to pay back.
Let's talk about the Cooperative Bank and the advantages you can have borrowing money from them.
First with a personal loan you can have very good conditions.
What about rates as low as 6.9% APR typical on loans from £7,500 to £25,000, spreading the payment over 1-7 years, fix rate throughout the term of your loan?
I guess they are so good conditions, that it is worth borrowing money not only to buy the things you are dreaming of, but also to pay off other expensive loans or credit cards.
So, if you think about loans I guess it pays off to visit their website.
Also because you can find useful information’s like legal information’s or you can calculate what you will have to pay and how using the loan calculator, besides checking all the offered products.
Last and not unimportant is that financial products are bound to their ethical policy, customers can be sure that the money they borrow has not come from the profits of unnecessary pollution, human rights abuses.
You only have to click, read and decide.
May be what you dream is just a few clicks away...
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
Let's talk about how easy it is to get a loan and how much you have to pay back.
Let's talk about the Cooperative Bank and the advantages you can have borrowing money from them.
First with a personal loan you can have very good conditions.
What about rates as low as 6.9% APR typical on loans from £7,500 to £25,000, spreading the payment over 1-7 years, fix rate throughout the term of your loan?
I guess they are so good conditions, that it is worth borrowing money not only to buy the things you are dreaming of, but also to pay off other expensive loans or credit cards.
So, if you think about loans I guess it pays off to visit their website.
Also because you can find useful information’s like legal information’s or you can calculate what you will have to pay and how using the loan calculator, besides checking all the offered products.
Last and not unimportant is that financial products are bound to their ethical policy, customers can be sure that the money they borrow has not come from the profits of unnecessary pollution, human rights abuses.
You only have to click, read and decide.
May be what you dream is just a few clicks away...
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
The big Beam
Forbes has an essay by David Gelernter:
The next Web--the Worldbeam, we call it--will resemble today's Web imploded or, if you prefer, turned inside out. It will be a single global "information beam." Every Web page ever posted is in this beam.
The Worldbeam is a constantly growing journal or time line of electronic documents. Its storage is dispersed over many machines for reliability and safety, but to users the Beam looks like one structure. Like so much contemporary software, it is created by two programs working together, one on a server (or many servers) and another on your own machine; these programs allow your machine to be an "empty" computer most of the time. Information is downloaded automatically and fast when you need it, and erased when you don't.
The bigger the beam the more the users.
I fail to understand the improvement of downloading automatically (fast is something we still have to verify) and everyday the same program.
Isn't it easier to download it once a year or even less and using it when you need it, from your computer?
So much fantasy forgets that the bigger the beam the bigger the number of hackers and good ones too.
I wouldn't really like to risk permanently to infect or to give away my job, just because I belong to the "beam".
The next Web--the Worldbeam, we call it--will resemble today's Web imploded or, if you prefer, turned inside out. It will be a single global "information beam." Every Web page ever posted is in this beam.
The Worldbeam is a constantly growing journal or time line of electronic documents. Its storage is dispersed over many machines for reliability and safety, but to users the Beam looks like one structure. Like so much contemporary software, it is created by two programs working together, one on a server (or many servers) and another on your own machine; these programs allow your machine to be an "empty" computer most of the time. Information is downloaded automatically and fast when you need it, and erased when you don't.
The bigger the beam the more the users.
I fail to understand the improvement of downloading automatically (fast is something we still have to verify) and everyday the same program.
Isn't it easier to download it once a year or even less and using it when you need it, from your computer?
So much fantasy forgets that the bigger the beam the bigger the number of hackers and good ones too.
I wouldn't really like to risk permanently to infect or to give away my job, just because I belong to the "beam".
The Inexorable Power of Digital Subliminal Communication
What is more powerful than the power of talking to our brain?
We assume the mind is located in the head, but the latest findings in physiology suggest that the mind "travels the whole body on caravans of hormone and enzyme, busily, making sense of the compound wonders we catalogue as touch, taste, smell, hearing and vision."
After reading this explanation I closed my eyes and concentrated on trying to locate just where my mind was...it certainly didn't feel like it was cruising.
Predictably enough it seemed to be inside my head.
I opened my eyes and suddenly the world intruded.
I noticed that it is the brain which sleeps while it's the mind that dreams.
You cannot deny the power of subliminal communication.
What can you achieve with it?
You can improve dramatically your memory and achieve a fantastic power , no more stress out of studying, you'll be able to remember everything you read, see and touch, recall information when you need it easily, quickly and without effort.
How?
With subliminal CDs.
What else besides empowering your brain?
You can win phobias, addictions, stop stuttering, in a few words you can be able to be a new person, the person you would love to.
And all that just listening to the appropriate subliminal CDs that you can find in the biggest store of this kind on the Net: Subliminal-CDs.com
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
We assume the mind is located in the head, but the latest findings in physiology suggest that the mind "travels the whole body on caravans of hormone and enzyme, busily, making sense of the compound wonders we catalogue as touch, taste, smell, hearing and vision."
After reading this explanation I closed my eyes and concentrated on trying to locate just where my mind was...it certainly didn't feel like it was cruising.
Predictably enough it seemed to be inside my head.
I opened my eyes and suddenly the world intruded.
I noticed that it is the brain which sleeps while it's the mind that dreams.
You cannot deny the power of subliminal communication.
What can you achieve with it?
You can improve dramatically your memory and achieve a fantastic power , no more stress out of studying, you'll be able to remember everything you read, see and touch, recall information when you need it easily, quickly and without effort.
How?
With subliminal CDs.
What else besides empowering your brain?
You can win phobias, addictions, stop stuttering, in a few words you can be able to be a new person, the person you would love to.
And all that just listening to the appropriate subliminal CDs that you can find in the biggest store of this kind on the Net: Subliminal-CDs.com
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
The world goes to town
After this year the majority of people will live in cities. Human history will ever more emphatically become urban history, says John Grimond.
I think exactly the opposite.
I talk about the Future and not the future.
After the Industrial Revolution we saw people abandoning the country and coming to live in the city because there they found a job and the way of survival, an income that the country couldn't provide anymore.
The Industrial Revolution was also the Society Revolution.
From an agricultural society the world became an industrial oriented community where people produced and consumed industrial products made by machines.
But with the Internet Revolution I think we will see the opposite migration.
No need to do certain jobs IN THE CITIES.
How many can work at home and communicate (cheaply) through the Internet.
We will see, thanks to VoIP the outsourcing of jobs like Call Centers from USA to India or wherever it is most convenient.
People in Europe consume Software produced in China, why not in a European rural place?
The Internet will mean outsourcing what can be outsourced, and many people will leave unlivable cities searching a "more human "life in a human friendly environment.
I think exactly the opposite.
I talk about the Future and not the future.
After the Industrial Revolution we saw people abandoning the country and coming to live in the city because there they found a job and the way of survival, an income that the country couldn't provide anymore.
The Industrial Revolution was also the Society Revolution.
From an agricultural society the world became an industrial oriented community where people produced and consumed industrial products made by machines.
But with the Internet Revolution I think we will see the opposite migration.
No need to do certain jobs IN THE CITIES.
How many can work at home and communicate (cheaply) through the Internet.
We will see, thanks to VoIP the outsourcing of jobs like Call Centers from USA to India or wherever it is most convenient.
People in Europe consume Software produced in China, why not in a European rural place?
The Internet will mean outsourcing what can be outsourced, and many people will leave unlivable cities searching a "more human "life in a human friendly environment.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Smile: you got the best
If you are one of those always looking for the best, this credit card is for you.
You can get:
0,5% cashback on every penny you spend with it.
You can also spend Euro and you get 5% cash back the same.
If you have a smile Bank account, you can have 13.9% APR typical/variable, in case you want to spend more than what you can actually afford.
But you must be fast, because on June the first it will be 15.9% APR variable.
And in the case you do not have a smile Bank account you can decide either not to spend or to pay respectively 16.9% APR till the first of June, and after the first of June, it will be 18.9% APR variable.
You can also decide to get a Gold credit card.
That will allow you to pay much less on borrowed money, as low as 9.9% APR typical/variable.
And if you are concerned about security, their Internet Banking Channel is extremely secure, you will be the one to choose your personal smile security code (and you'll be the only one to know it)besides five personal informations that you will choose as well, all of your online transactions will be protected by the leading digital ID certificate issuer, Verisign and their security system is always following the last technological updates.
The proof that they feel so safe is the no risk policy .
That means they will take full responsibility and repay you any money that is taken from your account due to any error by their staff or their system, or a computer crime which is not found and stopped by their security system.
And last: they give the best overall customer service for the third year running!
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
You can get:
0,5% cashback on every penny you spend with it.
You can also spend Euro and you get 5% cash back the same.
If you have a smile Bank account, you can have 13.9% APR typical/variable, in case you want to spend more than what you can actually afford.
But you must be fast, because on June the first it will be 15.9% APR variable.
And in the case you do not have a smile Bank account you can decide either not to spend or to pay respectively 16.9% APR till the first of June, and after the first of June, it will be 18.9% APR variable.
You can also decide to get a Gold credit card.
That will allow you to pay much less on borrowed money, as low as 9.9% APR typical/variable.
And if you are concerned about security, their Internet Banking Channel is extremely secure, you will be the one to choose your personal smile security code (and you'll be the only one to know it)besides five personal informations that you will choose as well, all of your online transactions will be protected by the leading digital ID certificate issuer, Verisign and their security system is always following the last technological updates.
The proof that they feel so safe is the no risk policy .
That means they will take full responsibility and repay you any money that is taken from your account due to any error by their staff or their system, or a computer crime which is not found and stopped by their security system.
And last: they give the best overall customer service for the third year running!
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
A step further VOD, fragmentation and so on...
Consumers are fed up with the usual soup. Consumers want to consume something different. Consumers do not want to read 10 articles to find what they want to read.
They want RRS feeds where they find all what they like already served on a silver tray.
Consumers do not want to loose time, they want to arrive at the goal. They want somebody else to provide the goal, so that they will just "consume".
And when the consumer will be fed up of consuming what is already prepared and wants to begin again to cook?
To choose? To be able to select?
When will consumers be again fed up with the more than usual soup? Because the ones who produce that special content will not have enough to supply daily, will have to recook what they served one week ago.
What if the consumers will be tired to read and know everything of nothing?
Welcome the old world of newspaper where you opened a new one everyday, without knowing what you were going to find inside.
Where you could discover that yes, on the contrary of what you believed, you can also be interested in cooking, or in certain sports, or in erotic or, may be of what happens in political life or in your town...
What id suddenly you found out that the news is nothing, what matters is the one who tells it, or writes it.
That everything can be interesting, providing that somebody is able to write it in an interesting way.
That was once called "good journalism" "independent journalism" "real journalism".
May be that is what consumers are looking for.
They are looking for the news that interests them, and ANY NEWS could be, providing that...
They want RRS feeds where they find all what they like already served on a silver tray.
Consumers do not want to loose time, they want to arrive at the goal. They want somebody else to provide the goal, so that they will just "consume".
And when the consumer will be fed up of consuming what is already prepared and wants to begin again to cook?
To choose? To be able to select?
When will consumers be again fed up with the more than usual soup? Because the ones who produce that special content will not have enough to supply daily, will have to recook what they served one week ago.
What if the consumers will be tired to read and know everything of nothing?
Welcome the old world of newspaper where you opened a new one everyday, without knowing what you were going to find inside.
Where you could discover that yes, on the contrary of what you believed, you can also be interested in cooking, or in certain sports, or in erotic or, may be of what happens in political life or in your town...
What id suddenly you found out that the news is nothing, what matters is the one who tells it, or writes it.
That everything can be interesting, providing that somebody is able to write it in an interesting way.
That was once called "good journalism" "independent journalism" "real journalism".
May be that is what consumers are looking for.
They are looking for the news that interests them, and ANY NEWS could be, providing that...
From Music to video: Making the Leap to the Next Revolutionary Mobile TV
Now you can be sure you'll never run out of videos to watch.
Whenever and wherever you are.
Remember those long and boring trips on a train or a bus? Or those waiting hours sitting in a queue without anything to do?
Well, if you are lucky to own a Video iPod you can convert any kind of videos and DVD movies, family videos, recorded TV shows, into iPod format, put it into iTune library and sync with your iPod and watch it whenever you feel like to.
How?
You do not need to be a computer expert, just download the DVD to iPod Video converter, the right software and with a few clicks of the mouse the trick is done.
The PQ DVD to iPod video converter software runs on PC (Microsoft Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP). (No Mac OS version has been planed yet) A standard DVD-ROM drive is required to rip/transfer DVD to iPod movie. iTunes software is required to copy/sync iPod movies.
This software supports high quality 640x480 H.264 and MPEG4 video, that means you can connect your iPod video to your TV and have the same picture quality as from the original DVD.
You can have a free trial and for $39,95 you can convert as many videos as you like.
This is a little, big step towards moving into mobile Tv, Movies or whatever you want...
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
Whenever and wherever you are.
Remember those long and boring trips on a train or a bus? Or those waiting hours sitting in a queue without anything to do?
Well, if you are lucky to own a Video iPod you can convert any kind of videos and DVD movies, family videos, recorded TV shows, into iPod format, put it into iTune library and sync with your iPod and watch it whenever you feel like to.
How?
You do not need to be a computer expert, just download the DVD to iPod Video converter, the right software and with a few clicks of the mouse the trick is done.
The PQ DVD to iPod video converter software runs on PC (Microsoft Windows 98/ME/NT/2000/XP). (No Mac OS version has been planed yet) A standard DVD-ROM drive is required to rip/transfer DVD to iPod movie. iTunes software is required to copy/sync iPod movies.
This software supports high quality 640x480 H.264 and MPEG4 video, that means you can connect your iPod video to your TV and have the same picture quality as from the original DVD.
You can have a free trial and for $39,95 you can convert as many videos as you like.
This is a little, big step towards moving into mobile Tv, Movies or whatever you want...
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
Shifting from Search to Subscription
"The data-enabled mobile is and will continue to be at the core of the Live Web. Because the Live Web is about immediacy, there is no other option. Mobiles are two-way devices, enabling us to publish as well as consume, both text and rich media. As wireless data networks become faster and cheaper, use of mobiles for "sensing" the world around us will grow.
If the underlying plumbing for the Reference Web is in the form of HTML documents being pulled by users, then it is RSS being syndicated to users that is at the heart of the Live Web. And this means the primary way we interact with the two Webs will be different, shifting from Search to Subscription."
Rajesh Jain's
I wouldn't shift from Search to Subscription, I would rather use both.
There are moments for Search and moments for Subscription.
I do not want to become a passive consumer of what the others provide me, I want to be able to use my "critical intelligence" to Search and decide what I want to read, after seeing what the others propose.
If the underlying plumbing for the Reference Web is in the form of HTML documents being pulled by users, then it is RSS being syndicated to users that is at the heart of the Live Web. And this means the primary way we interact with the two Webs will be different, shifting from Search to Subscription."
Rajesh Jain's
I wouldn't shift from Search to Subscription, I would rather use both.
There are moments for Search and moments for Subscription.
I do not want to become a passive consumer of what the others provide me, I want to be able to use my "critical intelligence" to Search and decide what I want to read, after seeing what the others propose.
Customer Relationship Software: the lifeblood of any company
What is one of the most important reason for the success of any company?
Quality.
Quality in the products they sell and quality in the services they give.
And the customer relationship is the secret to success.
Good quality relationship with your customers means also time and people committed to it.
So, how to lower the efforts and increase the efficiency?
With a good crm software.
Let your computer work for you in a most efficient way.
The AIMpromote software ( a web based CRM software) has a quite low cost of implementation, without any set up fees, and you can even integrate your system with your website with no charge.
It is also the best way to increase sales and control up to the smallest detail your market place and the performance of your products.
Besides you can be always in touch with the support staff for any question or problem.
They offer the email contact, a toll-free number and a forum where you can post your questions and feedback and be sure to get a fast answer.
You can begin at once, signing up for a 14 days trial!
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
Quality.
Quality in the products they sell and quality in the services they give.
And the customer relationship is the secret to success.
Good quality relationship with your customers means also time and people committed to it.
So, how to lower the efforts and increase the efficiency?
With a good crm software.
Let your computer work for you in a most efficient way.
The AIMpromote software ( a web based CRM software) has a quite low cost of implementation, without any set up fees, and you can even integrate your system with your website with no charge.
It is also the best way to increase sales and control up to the smallest detail your market place and the performance of your products.
Besides you can be always in touch with the support staff for any question or problem.
They offer the email contact, a toll-free number and a forum where you can post your questions and feedback and be sure to get a fast answer.
You can begin at once, signing up for a 14 days trial!
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
What is a blog?
Dina says:
a publication? a tool? a social tool? a conversation? a community space? guess again ---- it's a person!
A Blog is the place where a person tries to meet the World through a worldwide mean (the Internet).
A Blog is a place where you can say whatever you like and in whatever way you like and to whoever you like.
A Blog is freedom, a Blog is the expression of yourself.
A Blog is the place where you can feel an individual again and express individually what you think of the society.
A Blog is where you find the contraddiction which drives our life: being individually a community.
a publication? a tool? a social tool? a conversation? a community space? guess again ---- it's a person!
A Blog is the place where a person tries to meet the World through a worldwide mean (the Internet).
A Blog is a place where you can say whatever you like and in whatever way you like and to whoever you like.
A Blog is freedom, a Blog is the expression of yourself.
A Blog is the place where you can feel an individual again and express individually what you think of the society.
A Blog is where you find the contraddiction which drives our life: being individually a community.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Credit Cards Guide
It doesn't look like money, it doesn't smell like money, it doesn't feel like spending money, but it's money.
That is what sometimes people forget. And use them too much, even when they shouldn't.
If it is too easy to get credit, then some people can overdo.
But could we live without credit cards?
Certainly not.
"INTERNET MARKETPLACE REVENUES SWELL TO OVER ONE BILLION DOLLARS"
Could it without credit cards?
I do not think so.
More and more our purchases are on the Internet, more and more we cannot live without our credit cards.
But in the meantime we need to make them safer and ourselves more responsible.
So what is the best choice among the huge offers of credit cards?
You can begin reading the Credit Card Guide and, as they say: compare, choose and APPLY.
What to choose?
If you are the type that tends to exceed, because, as I said, a card doesn't look like cash, you can opt for a Prepaid Credit Card.
When the credit is finished, then you realize how much you spent and decide if you want to go on or to stop.
I like this type of card, also because it gives me a certain kind of feeling of safety against thieves.
At least I know they are going to steal just the amount that actually is on it and do not have access to my account.
Or you can prefer a 0% credit cards.
That is good if you are looking for a "free" credit.
At least a temporary "free" credit, that is for an introductory period before the standard apr is applied.
There is something more than just a credit card guide.
You can read interesting articles, for example How To Avoid Paying Those Pesky Credit And Debit Card Fees .
This is something I found very useful. We usually spend and then find out we could have avoided a part of the fees when it is too late.
It pays to know before...
Or may be you are interested in Credit Cards Insurance ?
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
That is what sometimes people forget. And use them too much, even when they shouldn't.
If it is too easy to get credit, then some people can overdo.
But could we live without credit cards?
Certainly not.
"INTERNET MARKETPLACE REVENUES SWELL TO OVER ONE BILLION DOLLARS"
Could it without credit cards?
I do not think so.
More and more our purchases are on the Internet, more and more we cannot live without our credit cards.
But in the meantime we need to make them safer and ourselves more responsible.
So what is the best choice among the huge offers of credit cards?
You can begin reading the Credit Card Guide and, as they say: compare, choose and APPLY.
What to choose?
If you are the type that tends to exceed, because, as I said, a card doesn't look like cash, you can opt for a Prepaid Credit Card.
When the credit is finished, then you realize how much you spent and decide if you want to go on or to stop.
I like this type of card, also because it gives me a certain kind of feeling of safety against thieves.
At least I know they are going to steal just the amount that actually is on it and do not have access to my account.
Or you can prefer a 0% credit cards.
That is good if you are looking for a "free" credit.
At least a temporary "free" credit, that is for an introductory period before the standard apr is applied.
There is something more than just a credit card guide.
You can read interesting articles, for example How To Avoid Paying Those Pesky Credit And Debit Card Fees .
This is something I found very useful. We usually spend and then find out we could have avoided a part of the fees when it is too late.
It pays to know before...
Or may be you are interested in Credit Cards Insurance ?
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
The new Era of Everything
"What it really represents, I say, is not just the further collapse of newspapers’ hold on classifieds but the crumbling of classifieds as a form of advertising itself. The monsters are huddling together for warmth. With better search, we’ll be able to find each other, buyer and seller, without having to go to a centralized marketplace.
It won’t be long before we see classifieds coming up in Google searches. In some ways, we do now. Search for new homes in Tampa and you’ll see ads next to that map. "
Jeff Jarvis
Finally they are beginning to discover the full potential of the Internet, better, they are beginning to use it.
What does social networking really mean?
It means you are there, in this big network, as you probably were yesterday too.
The new fact is that they are beginning to find you, better, they are beginning to find new ways to display you or, if you like they are beginning to discover new ways so that you can easily display yourself, if you want, if you are able to, if you invest what you have to.
And that means money or talent or time.
In this way it is much more democratic than the usual printed way.
There either you had money enough or you were out.
Here you need money or brain.
And sometimes brain is better than money...
I very much like that!
It won’t be long before we see classifieds coming up in Google searches. In some ways, we do now. Search for new homes in Tampa and you’ll see ads next to that map. "
Jeff Jarvis
Finally they are beginning to discover the full potential of the Internet, better, they are beginning to use it.
What does social networking really mean?
It means you are there, in this big network, as you probably were yesterday too.
The new fact is that they are beginning to find you, better, they are beginning to find new ways to display you or, if you like they are beginning to discover new ways so that you can easily display yourself, if you want, if you are able to, if you invest what you have to.
And that means money or talent or time.
In this way it is much more democratic than the usual printed way.
There either you had money enough or you were out.
Here you need money or brain.
And sometimes brain is better than money...
I very much like that!
Breast Augmentation
I read some time ago: 78% of the person you love is water.
So we love mostly water.
But where the water is, that can make a huge difference.
Especially for a woman.(but also for men)
What about taking some away from the belly and the hips, which is what they call liposuction and fill the breast, what they call
breast augmentation?
Once just the celebrities could afford it, but now a days, it is not that expensive any more and if you choose the right place you do not have to fear that it could be dangerous to your health.
For example at Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery, they have trained staff and surgical facilities that ensure the highest level of safety.
So what about Los Angeles breast augmentation or Beverly Hills liposuction?
It is much cheaper than what you think and they even offer some kind of financing.
They have relationships with several leading finance organizations. These groups can provide cash to pay for all or part of your procedure at Los Angeles plastic surgery center.
You can check the monthly fee you will have to pay for every kind of surgery and decide if you really feel like having a "new you" with the right proportion.
For example a breast augmentation in Los Angeles would cost you as low as $159 per month!
So we love mostly water.
But where the water is, that can make a huge difference.
Especially for a woman.(but also for men)
What about taking some away from the belly and the hips, which is what they call liposuction and fill the breast, what they call
breast augmentation?
Once just the celebrities could afford it, but now a days, it is not that expensive any more and if you choose the right place you do not have to fear that it could be dangerous to your health.
For example at Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery, they have trained staff and surgical facilities that ensure the highest level of safety.
So what about Los Angeles breast augmentation or Beverly Hills liposuction?
It is much cheaper than what you think and they even offer some kind of financing.
They have relationships with several leading finance organizations. These groups can provide cash to pay for all or part of your procedure at Los Angeles plastic surgery center.
You can check the monthly fee you will have to pay for every kind of surgery and decide if you really feel like having a "new you" with the right proportion.
For example a breast augmentation in Los Angeles would cost you as low as $159 per month!
Credit cards and SCAM
Are credit cards sure?
Certainly not. Everyday more and more we read about credit cards' fraud.
And thieves are getting everyday smarter.
One of the latest SCAM consists in calling for example a VISA ownwer, presenting themselves as Security and Fraud Department at VISA, reporting a fraud on your card and asking the security number. What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don't give it to them. Instead, tell them you'll call VISA or Master card directly for verification of their conversation.
The real VISA will never ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since they issued the card! If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you're receiving a credit.
However, by the time you get your statement you'll see charges for purchases you didn't make, and by then it's almost to late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report.
Banks and credit card companies have long warned consumers against providing personal information to unknown callers (or Websites). Con artists are often able to obtain partial information about a potential victim's account, then contact the person masquerading as a company representative to "verify" the account by requesting additional details as in the above case, the three-digit security code. But they might just as well ask for other pertinent details, for example, they may provide the last four digits of your account number (which typically show up on
sales receipts, etc.) and request the other 12 digits to "confirm" it.
Or they may already be in possession of your full account number and request the expiration date of the card, or your billing address. Any of these individual bits of information may be just what the scammerneeds to "fill in the blanks" and gain full access to your account, so beware.
Certainly not. Everyday more and more we read about credit cards' fraud.
And thieves are getting everyday smarter.
One of the latest SCAM consists in calling for example a VISA ownwer, presenting themselves as Security and Fraud Department at VISA, reporting a fraud on your card and asking the security number. What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don't give it to them. Instead, tell them you'll call VISA or Master card directly for verification of their conversation.
The real VISA will never ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since they issued the card! If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you're receiving a credit.
However, by the time you get your statement you'll see charges for purchases you didn't make, and by then it's almost to late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report.
Banks and credit card companies have long warned consumers against providing personal information to unknown callers (or Websites). Con artists are often able to obtain partial information about a potential victim's account, then contact the person masquerading as a company representative to "verify" the account by requesting additional details as in the above case, the three-digit security code. But they might just as well ask for other pertinent details, for example, they may provide the last four digits of your account number (which typically show up on
sales receipts, etc.) and request the other 12 digits to "confirm" it.
Or they may already be in possession of your full account number and request the expiration date of the card, or your billing address. Any of these individual bits of information may be just what the scammerneeds to "fill in the blanks" and gain full access to your account, so beware.
Friday, May 18, 2007
They will talk a lot about this in the near future
Today’s announcement that Google is changing its search to integrate video, photos, text, and news with results that used to list just text on web pages is, I think, more significant than it at first seems.
Now you have to figure out how to put some Google helium into your videos and photos and news headlines — all of which can now appear on the blessed search-result page.
And you also have to figure out what people get when they click on those things: where are your brand, your ads, your links? If you distribute your stuff onto more sites out there — if your video becomes a hit on YouTube and on bloggers’ embeds — does that get it higher on Google? What does this do to destination and portal strategies?
Big media people should be reaching for the gin tonight.
Jeff Jarvis
What's the near future of websites and blogs?
If you want to still be there beware: you must have Videos and use YouTube and work a lot more or invest a lot more.
That is the fight going on.
Do you want to be upthere? Well just begin the competiton and let the best win!
Now you have to figure out how to put some Google helium into your videos and photos and news headlines — all of which can now appear on the blessed search-result page.
And you also have to figure out what people get when they click on those things: where are your brand, your ads, your links? If you distribute your stuff onto more sites out there — if your video becomes a hit on YouTube and on bloggers’ embeds — does that get it higher on Google? What does this do to destination and portal strategies?
Big media people should be reaching for the gin tonight.
Jeff Jarvis
What's the near future of websites and blogs?
If you want to still be there beware: you must have Videos and use YouTube and work a lot more or invest a lot more.
That is the fight going on.
Do you want to be upthere? Well just begin the competiton and let the best win!
Thursday, May 17, 2007
What a web page should look like
What should a webpage look like?
I hate flash since the early days in which it appeared on the Internet.
Those were the days when most people had lousy connections and the ADSL was something belonging to the future.
Now the ADSL is something widespread (in the big cities) and broadband a word whose meaning everybody knows, and flash is something most webmasters have abandoned, at least for the "useful" websites, the sites where you go to look and buy something.
I like websites that follow a certain pattern: the pattern I am used to.
It makes it easier to find at once what I am looking for.
And this is something too many webmasters ignore.
People like easy and fast and usual websites.
People dislike waiting and having to look for and search for and ask for.
People are getting lazy because they are spoiled, and they are spoiled because sellers want to sell and one of the ways to easily sell is pleasing the buyer.
As simple as that.
You're busy trying to sell a service or a product or an idea to lazy people in a hurry.
Lazy as in not willing to read the instructions, follow the manual, do all the steps, invest the time in the research. Lazy as in willing to buy the first choice that's 'good enough' as opposed to finding the best choice.
Lazy, in a hurry, and in search of better are often contradictory ideas. Doesn't matter. We don't have to like it, we just have to acknowledge it.
So, what kind of miracle do the customers expect from a webmaster?
That he makes a website where you can search in a hurry and find the best.
So, they do not want flash, they do not like too many pictures or too many choices.
They like few clear buttons and a clear presentation.
This is what we have.
This is what it costs and this is where you can buy and pay and this is when you will receive it.
Do you need something special?
Well, there is a search window (and the search window is usually on the top of the page), just write what you are looking for and I will bring you there.
The colors must be nice and not disturbing.
Blue or beige or pale gray and the written words in black or dark grey, on a white backgroung please, so that my eyes will read it in an easier way...
PMC Telecom has just redisigned their website where they list BT Phones.
I guess it reflects what I am talking about.
First: the page is not too crowded.
Second: It is easy to navigate and displays all the informations a customer is looking for, in a fast and clear way.
Third: the search window is where I expect it to be, as the menu on the left.
I immeditely know what they have and I do not have to read for hours about things I am not interested in.
Fourth: there are all the required informations, including how to pay...
There is even a free telephone number on the Top.
Of course in every market, there's a subset of geeks and nerds that are neither lazy nor in a hurry. Well this website is ALSO for them.
Yes this is a sponsored post , but I really mean what I said.
I hate flash since the early days in which it appeared on the Internet.
Those were the days when most people had lousy connections and the ADSL was something belonging to the future.
Now the ADSL is something widespread (in the big cities) and broadband a word whose meaning everybody knows, and flash is something most webmasters have abandoned, at least for the "useful" websites, the sites where you go to look and buy something.
I like websites that follow a certain pattern: the pattern I am used to.
It makes it easier to find at once what I am looking for.
And this is something too many webmasters ignore.
People like easy and fast and usual websites.
People dislike waiting and having to look for and search for and ask for.
People are getting lazy because they are spoiled, and they are spoiled because sellers want to sell and one of the ways to easily sell is pleasing the buyer.
As simple as that.
You're busy trying to sell a service or a product or an idea to lazy people in a hurry.
Lazy as in not willing to read the instructions, follow the manual, do all the steps, invest the time in the research. Lazy as in willing to buy the first choice that's 'good enough' as opposed to finding the best choice.
Lazy, in a hurry, and in search of better are often contradictory ideas. Doesn't matter. We don't have to like it, we just have to acknowledge it.
So, what kind of miracle do the customers expect from a webmaster?
That he makes a website where you can search in a hurry and find the best.
So, they do not want flash, they do not like too many pictures or too many choices.
They like few clear buttons and a clear presentation.
This is what we have.
This is what it costs and this is where you can buy and pay and this is when you will receive it.
Do you need something special?
Well, there is a search window (and the search window is usually on the top of the page), just write what you are looking for and I will bring you there.
The colors must be nice and not disturbing.
Blue or beige or pale gray and the written words in black or dark grey, on a white backgroung please, so that my eyes will read it in an easier way...
PMC Telecom has just redisigned their website where they list BT Phones.
I guess it reflects what I am talking about.
First: the page is not too crowded.
Second: It is easy to navigate and displays all the informations a customer is looking for, in a fast and clear way.
Third: the search window is where I expect it to be, as the menu on the left.
I immeditely know what they have and I do not have to read for hours about things I am not interested in.
Fourth: there are all the required informations, including how to pay...
There is even a free telephone number on the Top.
Of course in every market, there's a subset of geeks and nerds that are neither lazy nor in a hurry. Well this website is ALSO for them.
Yes this is a sponsored post , but I really mean what I said.
Advertising
In this jungle of economies going up and down, there is one thing that has had an escalation similar to nothing else: the advertising market.
Since its early beginning the Internet has shown the potential to become the hugest market ever seen on earth, the only market that can group and offer a huge number of consumers on a golden tray.
Huge number because the footprint of the Internet covers the World and golden tray because nothing can be cheaper than spreading advertisements on the Internet.
But, as in all the good things of this World, its good sides attract so many that competition is hard and consumers get easily used to it.
The result is that you can burn a way to send advertisements in a very fast time and you have to rethink how to reach your audience much sooner than with any other mean.
Besides the Internet lets the user some kind of freedom of choice of consuming what he wants to, much more than TV for example, where the audience consumes passively.
The advertisement on the Internet must mostly be entertainments. Since you cannot enclose into it, it must be entertainment itself.
Since you cannot broadcast a movie with commercials in it, the commercials must be the movie.
Short and amusing videos.
The more so if you talk of mobile advertisement.
It must be good on a small screen, short and catching.
A real challenge for the future's marketing guys.
Since its early beginning the Internet has shown the potential to become the hugest market ever seen on earth, the only market that can group and offer a huge number of consumers on a golden tray.
Huge number because the footprint of the Internet covers the World and golden tray because nothing can be cheaper than spreading advertisements on the Internet.
But, as in all the good things of this World, its good sides attract so many that competition is hard and consumers get easily used to it.
The result is that you can burn a way to send advertisements in a very fast time and you have to rethink how to reach your audience much sooner than with any other mean.
Besides the Internet lets the user some kind of freedom of choice of consuming what he wants to, much more than TV for example, where the audience consumes passively.
The advertisement on the Internet must mostly be entertainments. Since you cannot enclose into it, it must be entertainment itself.
Since you cannot broadcast a movie with commercials in it, the commercials must be the movie.
Short and amusing videos.
The more so if you talk of mobile advertisement.
It must be good on a small screen, short and catching.
A real challenge for the future's marketing guys.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
VOD or Streaming?
"The interesting thing is that a straight forward evolution of today’s Internet gets us to faster and faster downloads while streaming is problematical. Expensive technologies like Verizon’s FiOS are designed to support the streaming we don’t really want. Hmmm…."
Tom Evslin
VOD is one thing and streaming a different one.
Why should they stream if people like to download and watch when they want?
First: Copyright reasons.
If you stream you can hope to protect your stream, while if they download it, they create a copy and DRM or not, a copy IS a copy.
Second: Everybody would like VOD, but a cheap and if possible free VOD.
Since somebody HAS to pay, that somebody may be is willing if you spare a little time watching also what he has to sell. ( in the hope that some will buy)
Streaming is the way to oblige the consumers to consume ALSO commercials in it.
Third: Bandwidth problems. On a cable or fiber optic network, you multicast your stream and reduce the consumed bandwidth.
In the case of a video it is NOT a small detail.
Fourth. The Internet offers what TV or any other kind of broadcast cannot offer: Interactivity.
But it must be REAL TIME.
This I think is the best reason.
Why should we use the Internet to broadcast when we have means like TV, with no problem of bandwidth?
(Yes I know, there is another big chapter to open comparing TV to Internet, that is the one man broadcasting...but I am talking about the usual broadcast)
Tom Evslin
VOD is one thing and streaming a different one.
Why should they stream if people like to download and watch when they want?
First: Copyright reasons.
If you stream you can hope to protect your stream, while if they download it, they create a copy and DRM or not, a copy IS a copy.
Second: Everybody would like VOD, but a cheap and if possible free VOD.
Since somebody HAS to pay, that somebody may be is willing if you spare a little time watching also what he has to sell. ( in the hope that some will buy)
Streaming is the way to oblige the consumers to consume ALSO commercials in it.
Third: Bandwidth problems. On a cable or fiber optic network, you multicast your stream and reduce the consumed bandwidth.
In the case of a video it is NOT a small detail.
Fourth. The Internet offers what TV or any other kind of broadcast cannot offer: Interactivity.
But it must be REAL TIME.
This I think is the best reason.
Why should we use the Internet to broadcast when we have means like TV, with no problem of bandwidth?
(Yes I know, there is another big chapter to open comparing TV to Internet, that is the one man broadcasting...but I am talking about the usual broadcast)
Spyware: the new frontier of cheating
The spyware allows to track a computer's Web browsing behavior in order to deliver targeted advertisements to that computer. Thus, if a computer with spyware visits music-related Internet sites, the spyware sends a signal of the computer user's activity back to the spyware installers which then target the computer with advertisements from music-oriented companies that paid for access to the computer through spyware.
Somebody claimed access to 12 million computers in the United States and gained national media attention (and criticism) for having obtained such access.
They can secretly install spyware by bundling it with other proper software that is available for free on the Internet, such as software for games. When a computer user installs a game, he allegedly and unknowingly downloads spyware.
The spyware is designed specifically to be difficult to remove from a computer once it is installed. Worse still, computer users are bombarded with annoying pop-up advertisements by virtue of the spyware.
Finally, the spyware destroys other legitimate software, slows down computers, and depletes bandwidth and computer memory.
In most cases it's difficult for customers to determine whether their anti-spyware tool has found anything and, if so, which adware it skips.
And the pick is the spyware that removes spyware and actually IS the spyware.
How many of us were invited to try a spyware detector software to scan the computer and found out their machine was full of any possible spyware?
The next step is offering a software to remove and protect the user.
The price looks very affordable compared to the damages detected.
The issue is that the spyware detector is the SPYWARE.
Its name is: SpyLocked.
In simple words: you have been cheated to believe your computer was infected in order to sell a software that you didn't need!
Schrock Innovations completely remove spylocked in five minutes.
And the good news is that it is the only complete set of instructions to remove SpyLocked for which you do not have to spend money or buy a product.(and also you do not have to install any kind of software)
Just follow carefully the detailed instructions you find on their website.
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
Somebody claimed access to 12 million computers in the United States and gained national media attention (and criticism) for having obtained such access.
They can secretly install spyware by bundling it with other proper software that is available for free on the Internet, such as software for games. When a computer user installs a game, he allegedly and unknowingly downloads spyware.
The spyware is designed specifically to be difficult to remove from a computer once it is installed. Worse still, computer users are bombarded with annoying pop-up advertisements by virtue of the spyware.
Finally, the spyware destroys other legitimate software, slows down computers, and depletes bandwidth and computer memory.
In most cases it's difficult for customers to determine whether their anti-spyware tool has found anything and, if so, which adware it skips.
And the pick is the spyware that removes spyware and actually IS the spyware.
How many of us were invited to try a spyware detector software to scan the computer and found out their machine was full of any possible spyware?
The next step is offering a software to remove and protect the user.
The price looks very affordable compared to the damages detected.
The issue is that the spyware detector is the SPYWARE.
Its name is: SpyLocked.
In simple words: you have been cheated to believe your computer was infected in order to sell a software that you didn't need!
Schrock Innovations completely remove spylocked in five minutes.
And the good news is that it is the only complete set of instructions to remove SpyLocked for which you do not have to spend money or buy a product.(and also you do not have to install any kind of software)
Just follow carefully the detailed instructions you find on their website.
This is a sponsored post, please read disclosure policy.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
The normal medium for human existence
“The system I refer to, of course, is the car-crazy infrastructure for everyday life, and all the activities supporting it, that most Americans now living regard as the natural and normal medium for human existence, as salt water is the natural and normal medium for squid.”
James Kunstler
Nothing new on this earth Mr. Kunstler.
Welcome peak oil if it brings the changes you forecast.
I do not love this type of society, I didn't even like it in the beginning when things were going well for almost all.
Now that they are good just for a few, I like it even less (or dislike it more).
Unhappy motoring is something that highly disturbs me, as much as happy cellphoning, or happy big brothering.
I am getting more and more kind of misanthropist, liking more and more silence and simplicity.
I love more and more sitting in a bus and letting the others drive, taking all the time it takes, never being in a hurry.
In other words: I am getting OLD...
James Kunstler
Nothing new on this earth Mr. Kunstler.
Welcome peak oil if it brings the changes you forecast.
I do not love this type of society, I didn't even like it in the beginning when things were going well for almost all.
Now that they are good just for a few, I like it even less (or dislike it more).
Unhappy motoring is something that highly disturbs me, as much as happy cellphoning, or happy big brothering.
I am getting more and more kind of misanthropist, liking more and more silence and simplicity.
I love more and more sitting in a bus and letting the others drive, taking all the time it takes, never being in a hurry.
In other words: I am getting OLD...
Where Entrepreneurs meet Investors
The innovative technology sector, which had been the engine of growth, has been throttled back, and many promising but risky companies are either dying from lack of cash or hibernating until the market recovers. That is not good news for the economy.
"Everyone has bad deals," said Bud Colligan,"The question is: Do you have 50 percent bad deals or 90 percent?"
Countries are scheming to steal each other's young. They want ambitious young people with graduate degrees in such fields as genome science, bio-informatics and entrepreneurial management.
The success is not related to racial composition but rather to education levels.
Among urban scholars, business leaders and big-city politicians, there is a chicken-and-egg debate over what exactly makes a high-tech city grow.
"Does technology come first and lure talent? Or does the mere presence of talent, through some creative alchemy, hatch technology that spawns high-paying jobs? The answer is both."
Venture Alliance Partners is where investors and entrepreneurs meet and look out for each others interests.
They not only provide capital to the young and promising companies, they also give support and confidence, helping the small grow into profitable.
They have the experience to take entrepreneurs into enterprises which produce high-paying jobs and companies that own the future.
"Everyone has bad deals," said Bud Colligan,"The question is: Do you have 50 percent bad deals or 90 percent?"
Countries are scheming to steal each other's young. They want ambitious young people with graduate degrees in such fields as genome science, bio-informatics and entrepreneurial management.
The success is not related to racial composition but rather to education levels.
Among urban scholars, business leaders and big-city politicians, there is a chicken-and-egg debate over what exactly makes a high-tech city grow.
"Does technology come first and lure talent? Or does the mere presence of talent, through some creative alchemy, hatch technology that spawns high-paying jobs? The answer is both."
Venture Alliance Partners is where investors and entrepreneurs meet and look out for each others interests.
They not only provide capital to the young and promising companies, they also give support and confidence, helping the small grow into profitable.
They have the experience to take entrepreneurs into enterprises which produce high-paying jobs and companies that own the future.
If the consumer doesn't come to the Media, the Media has to go to the consumer
“We can’t expect consumers to come to us. It’s arrogant for any media company to assume that.”
Quincy Smith, president of CBS Interactive
They have discovered the power of the number.
It is not good what is good, but it is good what brings many.
And in this view the success is not what you serve on a silver tray, but what people ask for, what the number wants.
That is why stupid programs like big brother are so succesful and most of all, almost monopolize the daily offer.
In Japan, I read not so long ago, on TV you almost find nothing else than "reality shows" and "quiz".
Because that is what the mass wants and that is what they offer.
We have to grow sick people in order to have a healthy economy.
Quincy Smith, president of CBS Interactive
They have discovered the power of the number.
It is not good what is good, but it is good what brings many.
And in this view the success is not what you serve on a silver tray, but what people ask for, what the number wants.
That is why stupid programs like big brother are so succesful and most of all, almost monopolize the daily offer.
In Japan, I read not so long ago, on TV you almost find nothing else than "reality shows" and "quiz".
Because that is what the mass wants and that is what they offer.
We have to grow sick people in order to have a healthy economy.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
In searching the Web may be you can find what you're looking for.
If what you are looking for is the profile of a company, contact information, and descriptions of products and services you should look for a professional search engine which can provide quick and easy what you want.
It's name is masterseek and it is a search engine which has the details of more than 45 million companies in 75 countries.
But you can also find business partners or sales opportunities or the products that you are looking for, just searching by a country (your country for example) and by product or features or categories.
And you can also sign up and be listed in the Search Engine and increase your opportunities to be reached and find new customers.
So, why wasting time with generic search?
It's name is masterseek and it is a search engine which has the details of more than 45 million companies in 75 countries.
But you can also find business partners or sales opportunities or the products that you are looking for, just searching by a country (your country for example) and by product or features or categories.
And you can also sign up and be listed in the Search Engine and increase your opportunities to be reached and find new customers.
So, why wasting time with generic search?
Greatest Software
InformationWeek asks: "What are the 12 most important programs we've seen since the modern Internet began with the launch of the Mosaic browser in 1993?"
12. AOL Instant Messenger
11. Digg
10. Hotmail
9. World Of Warcraft
8. Wikipedia
7. XMLHttpRequest object set
6. Amazon.com
5. eBay
4. The Well
3. Craigslist
2. AltaVista
1. Apache Web Server
They forgot the greatest, the one which made the luck of broadband:
P2P Software....
12. AOL Instant Messenger
11. Digg
10. Hotmail
9. World Of Warcraft
8. Wikipedia
7. XMLHttpRequest object set
6. Amazon.com
5. eBay
4. The Well
3. Craigslist
2. AltaVista
1. Apache Web Server
They forgot the greatest, the one which made the luck of broadband:
P2P Software....
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Horror movies
When my son was in elementary school wore a "husky" jacket and jeans, which were the clothes I (his mother) choose.
When he was in high school and was allowed to wear what he liked to, his favorite attire was a black vampire cape or alternatively, a big chain with a huge cross around his neck.
He was also a sucker for Dario Argento movies (and he still is) and has one of the biggest collection of Horror movies Kids are often harassed for wearing sub cultural symbols and even pushed into therapy. Some are suspended for writing the wrong ideas in essays or raising them in class discussions. Certain kids are even punished by their parents.
There are psychologists who think video games are training our kids to be killers.
These things strike me as precisely the kind of intolerant and taunting comments that these kids must get in school because they dress differently or act oddly in comparison with their more conformist classmates, or have different tastes in movies.
They say "film critics" have no knowledge of social problems.
I am a mother and I do think I have some expertise at this point on how culture works, how media is consumed, how media panics are started, how symbols relate to real world events, how violence operates in stories, etc., etc. and that's what I want to speak about.
How symbols could be used to express many things and that we need to understand what these symbols mean to these kids.
The key issue isn't what the media are doing to our children but rather what our children are doing with the media.
All of us move nomadically across the media landscape, putting together a personal collection of symbols and stories taken from many different places. We invest those materials with various personal and sub cultural meanings.
In simple words, it is not the fault of the media, it is the fault of a society which was not able to build a safe environment for a certain part of itself.
My son loves horror movies and video games, but he is a perfectly sane and a psychologically healthy person.
He perfectly knows what is good and what is bad.
Because he was able to see it and was able to choose.
Also what I wouldn't have liked him to choose.
Horror movies usually promise to be one of the most disturbing horror movies imaginable.
That should be enough to invite my son and his generation.
Most disturbing is what they are looking for, to prove they weren't disturbed after all...
When he was in high school and was allowed to wear what he liked to, his favorite attire was a black vampire cape or alternatively, a big chain with a huge cross around his neck.
He was also a sucker for Dario Argento movies (and he still is) and has one of the biggest collection of Horror movies Kids are often harassed for wearing sub cultural symbols and even pushed into therapy. Some are suspended for writing the wrong ideas in essays or raising them in class discussions. Certain kids are even punished by their parents.
There are psychologists who think video games are training our kids to be killers.
These things strike me as precisely the kind of intolerant and taunting comments that these kids must get in school because they dress differently or act oddly in comparison with their more conformist classmates, or have different tastes in movies.
They say "film critics" have no knowledge of social problems.
I am a mother and I do think I have some expertise at this point on how culture works, how media is consumed, how media panics are started, how symbols relate to real world events, how violence operates in stories, etc., etc. and that's what I want to speak about.
How symbols could be used to express many things and that we need to understand what these symbols mean to these kids.
The key issue isn't what the media are doing to our children but rather what our children are doing with the media.
All of us move nomadically across the media landscape, putting together a personal collection of symbols and stories taken from many different places. We invest those materials with various personal and sub cultural meanings.
In simple words, it is not the fault of the media, it is the fault of a society which was not able to build a safe environment for a certain part of itself.
My son loves horror movies and video games, but he is a perfectly sane and a psychologically healthy person.
He perfectly knows what is good and what is bad.
Because he was able to see it and was able to choose.
Also what I wouldn't have liked him to choose.
Horror movies usually promise to be one of the most disturbing horror movies imaginable.
That should be enough to invite my son and his generation.
Most disturbing is what they are looking for, to prove they weren't disturbed after all...
Investing in education the right way
While the states get poorer for insane wasting of resources and taxes, the condition of the citizens gets worse day by day.
The absurdity is that paying more taxes means getting less and worse services.
Because the political class is too old and too ignorant.
Ignorant in the sense that ignores the reality of their country and tends to sleep on the status quo.
If the politicians just spent 1/100th of their time surfing the web, not only they would realize that the world has changed, but they would get much better ideas how to rule their country and how to spend the money at their disposal.
One clear example being education.
While wasting enormous sums of money in new schools and new tools that soon get obsolete and anyway the majority of teachers cannot properly use, they should invest more in broadband, computers, elearning.
Special school transmissions, blogs, videos.
Those are the new means of communication, and communication is exchanging ideas, and exchanging ideas is the best way to learn.
The absurdity is that paying more taxes means getting less and worse services.
Because the political class is too old and too ignorant.
Ignorant in the sense that ignores the reality of their country and tends to sleep on the status quo.
If the politicians just spent 1/100th of their time surfing the web, not only they would realize that the world has changed, but they would get much better ideas how to rule their country and how to spend the money at their disposal.
One clear example being education.
While wasting enormous sums of money in new schools and new tools that soon get obsolete and anyway the majority of teachers cannot properly use, they should invest more in broadband, computers, elearning.
Special school transmissions, blogs, videos.
Those are the new means of communication, and communication is exchanging ideas, and exchanging ideas is the best way to learn.
Bloggerwave, the new "Be paid for blogging"
There is a new place where you can find opportunities to write advertising posts and get paid.
It works more or less like the others, but if you are interested in this kind of job, it is a chance more to work.
It is getting tough to be able to find something to write about, since the number of bloggers is daily growing, and even tough the number of opportunities is growing, very often, unless you rush and are always looking at, you'll be disappointed to find " All the available opportunities have been taken".
Besides, you also have the chance to find different subjects to write for, which makes the post writing more interesting.
So, what do you wait to sign in Bloggerwave?
It works more or less like the others, but if you are interested in this kind of job, it is a chance more to work.
It is getting tough to be able to find something to write about, since the number of bloggers is daily growing, and even tough the number of opportunities is growing, very often, unless you rush and are always looking at, you'll be disappointed to find " All the available opportunities have been taken".
Besides, you also have the chance to find different subjects to write for, which makes the post writing more interesting.
So, what do you wait to sign in Bloggerwave?
Friday, May 11, 2007
Internet on the Power line?
Is broadband over power lines a failed experiment, or does the upstart technology present a real challenge to the two primary sources of residential high-speed Internet access — the cable modem and the digital subscriber line, DSL?
Rick Nicholson, vice president of research for Energy Insights of Framingham, Mass., predicted that broadband over power lines growth would be limited by, among other factors, ''a lack of utility expertise in running commercially successful consumer telecom businesses.''
PPL, which last year expanded its broadband trials to parts of Bethlehem, Upper Macungie Township and Hanover Township, Northampton County, experimented with two forms of the technology.
One allows customers to connect to the Internet anywhere in their homes by plugging a portable modem into a power outlet. The other works like the wireless hot spots common in airports, hotels and cafes: The Internet signal — sent from a transmitter attached to a medium-voltage power line outside — is carried to the computer on radio waves.
Walter Adams, vice president of new technology for COMTek, said the power outlet approach offers several advantages.
First, it can be used in neighborhoods with below-ground utilities, whereas the wireless method relies on the availability of telephone poles. Second, it eliminates the problem of interference, since it does not require a line of sight between a telephone pole-mounted transmitter and the customer's house. And lastly, it doesn't require professional installation; all the customer needs is a modem, which can be
delivered through the mail.
There have always been three major problems for powerline:
1) can you get data reliably over the (very noisy) power cables themselves
2) can you do it without using so much transmit power that it interferes
with every device in the neighbourhood
3) can you do it economically
(1) has (in most deployment scenarios) been solved by the use of advanced signal processing techniques (for example home powerline LANs now work very well - though have been completely overtaken by the even greater convenience of in-home wireless)
(2) is largely solved - better receive signal processing reduces the need for power in the transmitter
(3) remains - largely due to the architecture with which power is distributed
Power systems rely on step-down transformers located close to the consumer - each tending to serve a relatively small number of homes. It's practically impossible to get a data signal through a transformer(!) which means that data has to be passed from the core network to a head-end device on the far side of the transformer. The hardware and deployment costs of this head-end device has to be shared amongst the users of the system. Since the transformers are generally only supplying a small user base the economics demand a VERY high take-up - something that experience shows is highly unlikely, unless you are in an area of zero competition. With all the
competing options (cable, DSL, satellite) that is unlikely. While the UK trials below are clearly working, that does not imply that they are demonstrating a good commercial model. Power companies (especially in the UK and Germany) have been trying this for years, largely in attempts to see whether they can persuade a high enough density of customers to adopt the service to solve this economic problem.
Interestingly - the service described in a previous [IP] mail used wireless for the last leg to the customer - which (I think) implies that they are inverting the more usual powerline scenario, where fiber is used to the distribution box and powerline gets to the customer (as in the UK trial below). In the wireless scheme I think they are proposing to use powerline over the main distribution network to replace fiber, and then using wireless instead of powerline in the local loop. Interesting, but hardly earth-shattering.
Andrew Bale
Rick Nicholson, vice president of research for Energy Insights of Framingham, Mass., predicted that broadband over power lines growth would be limited by, among other factors, ''a lack of utility expertise in running commercially successful consumer telecom businesses.''
PPL, which last year expanded its broadband trials to parts of Bethlehem, Upper Macungie Township and Hanover Township, Northampton County, experimented with two forms of the technology.
One allows customers to connect to the Internet anywhere in their homes by plugging a portable modem into a power outlet. The other works like the wireless hot spots common in airports, hotels and cafes: The Internet signal — sent from a transmitter attached to a medium-voltage power line outside — is carried to the computer on radio waves.
Walter Adams, vice president of new technology for COMTek, said the power outlet approach offers several advantages.
First, it can be used in neighborhoods with below-ground utilities, whereas the wireless method relies on the availability of telephone poles. Second, it eliminates the problem of interference, since it does not require a line of sight between a telephone pole-mounted transmitter and the customer's house. And lastly, it doesn't require professional installation; all the customer needs is a modem, which can be
delivered through the mail.
There have always been three major problems for powerline:
1) can you get data reliably over the (very noisy) power cables themselves
2) can you do it without using so much transmit power that it interferes
with every device in the neighbourhood
3) can you do it economically
(1) has (in most deployment scenarios) been solved by the use of advanced signal processing techniques (for example home powerline LANs now work very well - though have been completely overtaken by the even greater convenience of in-home wireless)
(2) is largely solved - better receive signal processing reduces the need for power in the transmitter
(3) remains - largely due to the architecture with which power is distributed
Power systems rely on step-down transformers located close to the consumer - each tending to serve a relatively small number of homes. It's practically impossible to get a data signal through a transformer(!) which means that data has to be passed from the core network to a head-end device on the far side of the transformer. The hardware and deployment costs of this head-end device has to be shared amongst the users of the system. Since the transformers are generally only supplying a small user base the economics demand a VERY high take-up - something that experience shows is highly unlikely, unless you are in an area of zero competition. With all the
competing options (cable, DSL, satellite) that is unlikely. While the UK trials below are clearly working, that does not imply that they are demonstrating a good commercial model. Power companies (especially in the UK and Germany) have been trying this for years, largely in attempts to see whether they can persuade a high enough density of customers to adopt the service to solve this economic problem.
Interestingly - the service described in a previous [IP] mail used wireless for the last leg to the customer - which (I think) implies that they are inverting the more usual powerline scenario, where fiber is used to the distribution box and powerline gets to the customer (as in the UK trial below). In the wireless scheme I think they are proposing to use powerline over the main distribution network to replace fiber, and then using wireless instead of powerline in the local loop. Interesting, but hardly earth-shattering.
Andrew Bale
Projecting made easy
In the Multimedia age, people will be able to have a wide variety of services without any knowledge of hardware. Three items, standardization, low cost of technology, and "human friendly" will be necessary to develop and popularize video projectors. In other words, we are living in the age of "soft computer".
How many would enjoy seeing and showing the movies of their trips to all over the world in HD on a huge screen and be able to live again the emotions they felt and feel a "real actor" in their own home?
How many companies would improve their sales and show their products in the best way on any show they attend to, if they could just use one of the latest model of projector?
What prevents them? Mostly the cost of the investment in a good quality projector, then the ability to use it in the proper way and not last the fact that they do not realize how big the impact would be on their audience.
All this could be solved just with a telephone call and projector rentals.
Yu only have one chance to make a first impression and the best presentation, so you really shouldn't miss it.
You can place an order 24 hours 7 days a week and be sure they will deliver in time a fully functioning item.
Because RENTING PROJECTORS is all they do.
How many would enjoy seeing and showing the movies of their trips to all over the world in HD on a huge screen and be able to live again the emotions they felt and feel a "real actor" in their own home?
How many companies would improve their sales and show their products in the best way on any show they attend to, if they could just use one of the latest model of projector?
What prevents them? Mostly the cost of the investment in a good quality projector, then the ability to use it in the proper way and not last the fact that they do not realize how big the impact would be on their audience.
All this could be solved just with a telephone call and projector rentals.
Yu only have one chance to make a first impression and the best presentation, so you really shouldn't miss it.
You can place an order 24 hours 7 days a week and be sure they will deliver in time a fully functioning item.
Because RENTING PROJECTORS is all they do.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
What is the "good"?
We need a theory of "the good." Mine is that "more, faster, open internet access is better for everyone." Whether spectrum should be "licensed" at all is a fiercely-contested question. We can’t predict what business sectors will flourish and which will die as a result of this policy, and that’s as it should be. No one is guaranteed a return on their investment in this life. We need a national social policy for internet access that takes the country as a whole and tries to do better for all of us, rather than for the few companies that currently control internet access.
Susan Crawford
That means better infrastructures also in rural areas where the few companies that control the Internet do not have enough revenues for investing.
It is true no one is guaranteed a return on their investment in this life, but the problem is, if you do not have a return then either you do not invest or you go bankruptcy.
Also the social policy now a days is requested to have a return.
Too many debts and too many unproductive investments bring countries to bankruptcy too.
So, the real good is a better, faster Internet, good infrastructures everywhere, but for reaching the goal we have to find out the way to give a return also to investments that look unproductive.
What about e-learning, e-schools, e-commerce?
Better infrastructures would bring more people to live in the country, because would create jobs in places where there is no job.
Developing software can be as productive in the country as in the city, may be even more...
The real "good" can be created thinking of the Future (a few years from now) not the future (tomorrow).
Susan Crawford
That means better infrastructures also in rural areas where the few companies that control the Internet do not have enough revenues for investing.
It is true no one is guaranteed a return on their investment in this life, but the problem is, if you do not have a return then either you do not invest or you go bankruptcy.
Also the social policy now a days is requested to have a return.
Too many debts and too many unproductive investments bring countries to bankruptcy too.
So, the real good is a better, faster Internet, good infrastructures everywhere, but for reaching the goal we have to find out the way to give a return also to investments that look unproductive.
What about e-learning, e-schools, e-commerce?
Better infrastructures would bring more people to live in the country, because would create jobs in places where there is no job.
Developing software can be as productive in the country as in the city, may be even more...
The real "good" can be created thinking of the Future (a few years from now) not the future (tomorrow).
Do you need a new look?
If you you need a new look for your website or blog, or a better look for your face or your body, in both cases the Internet comes at your rescue.
With the first it might be easier, but also on the second case it might be less difficult than what you think or you were used to think.
Especially if you live in California.
But if you do not live there, no problem.
It's summertime and you could combine a trip to South California with a visit to Los Angeles cosmetic surgery and may be go back home a new, reborn person.
In both ways, in the spirit, because you'll be able to rest on the wonderful beaches of Santa Monica (don't forget Venice) and in the body.
May be you can try Beverly Hills breast augmentation or, Beverly Hills tummy tuck, or eyelift (blepharoplasty) or rhinoplasty to get definitely rid of that ugly nose that ruins an almost perfect face.
And you won't have to suffer any physical pain because they work to make the plastic surgery process as pleasant as possible, with an attentive and well-trained staff and compassionate physicians.
They will help you not only to find the physical shape you always dreamed of, but also to change your full look, suggesting the right fashion for you and the right gym to keep improving your look also after the cosmetic surgery.
If what you are looking for is a complete new you, this is your place.
With the first it might be easier, but also on the second case it might be less difficult than what you think or you were used to think.
Especially if you live in California.
But if you do not live there, no problem.
It's summertime and you could combine a trip to South California with a visit to Los Angeles cosmetic surgery and may be go back home a new, reborn person.
In both ways, in the spirit, because you'll be able to rest on the wonderful beaches of Santa Monica (don't forget Venice) and in the body.
May be you can try Beverly Hills breast augmentation or, Beverly Hills tummy tuck, or eyelift (blepharoplasty) or rhinoplasty to get definitely rid of that ugly nose that ruins an almost perfect face.
And you won't have to suffer any physical pain because they work to make the plastic surgery process as pleasant as possible, with an attentive and well-trained staff and compassionate physicians.
They will help you not only to find the physical shape you always dreamed of, but also to change your full look, suggesting the right fashion for you and the right gym to keep improving your look also after the cosmetic surgery.
If what you are looking for is a complete new you, this is your place.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Markets
While this kind of behavior seems ominous, I'm not claiming it necessarily has predictive value. One can say that the financial markets per se are running in an impressive state of structural distortion and imbalance and that systems way out of balance do not stay that way forever. But I risk more opprobrium by stating the obvious.
James Kunstler
People (and markets, because they are run by people) don't have realized yet the difference of speed (time) of a spoken word and of an event happening.
The Internet Bubble explains it.
The market realized that the Internet was going to be the biggest Revolution of our time.
What it didn't understand was that one thing is the speed of thinking and saying and another is the speed of happening.
The same with peak oil or renewable or alternative energy.
One thing is understanding and talking about it and another is the time needed to make the same thing happening.
It is a reverse bubble.
You say it is, we understand it will, the market waits till when...
That of course doesn't mean that it won't happen, just like the Internet.
What is wrong is the TIMING.
And that makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE
James Kunstler
People (and markets, because they are run by people) don't have realized yet the difference of speed (time) of a spoken word and of an event happening.
The Internet Bubble explains it.
The market realized that the Internet was going to be the biggest Revolution of our time.
What it didn't understand was that one thing is the speed of thinking and saying and another is the speed of happening.
The same with peak oil or renewable or alternative energy.
One thing is understanding and talking about it and another is the time needed to make the same thing happening.
It is a reverse bubble.
You say it is, we understand it will, the market waits till when...
That of course doesn't mean that it won't happen, just like the Internet.
What is wrong is the TIMING.
And that makes ALL THE DIFFERENCE
Monday, May 07, 2007
Society and the many ways to rule the economy.
Politicians and bureaucrats are motivated by self-interest, and the will to power and control is deeply ingrained in them, perhaps more so than in the average person. Monopoly control of any market or institution is heady power. Controlling the educational sector is gives them an enormously powerful lever for controlling the economy. It is therefore quite understandable that the opposition to relinquishing that power would be formidable.
Here we look into what needs to be done, and leave aside for the moment the question whether it will be done, and if so how it is to be done. What needs to be done can be stated in one word: liberalization. The system is in chains.
In a socialistic economy, the state controls everything with the stated objective to reach the commanding heights of the economy. What actually happens is that the state commands and controls and flies the economy into a very deep ditch. Remember USSR? It's gone. A land lavishly gifted with natural resources and industrious smart people reduced to rubble. We have not fully learnt from their failures of the shackling of their economy. But there is a small possibility that we could learn from the successes of the limited unshackling of our own economy.
It is of course possible for governments to efficiently produce goods and services. The question rather is whether it is probable. The evidence is strong that it is highly improbable. The list of government failures is too lengthy to list here. But a few instructive examples which illustrate the general idea are worth considering.
Telecommunications was the government's sole preserve. The waiting times were measured in years, the prices were high, the quality poor. When the private sector was allowed entry, the prices dropped, quality improved, demand soared, supply expanded, and best of all, the public sector incumbents started performing as well. The same story can be told about the air transportation sector.
It is important to stress that the problem is one of government control of the sector, not whether it is served by private firms or not. Even if there are no public firms in a sector, government can control the sector by restricting entry (think license) of firms into the sector, thus limiting competition. The resulting low quantities (think permits and quotas) support high prices, therefore high profits. The competition for acquiring licenses is part of the rent-seeking game that is played by the politicians, bureaucrats and private sector firms. It is a nice little game (racket?) where all the players win, and the only losers are the poor consumers and the economy.
Liberally taken from Atanu Dey
Here we look into what needs to be done, and leave aside for the moment the question whether it will be done, and if so how it is to be done. What needs to be done can be stated in one word: liberalization. The system is in chains.
In a socialistic economy, the state controls everything with the stated objective to reach the commanding heights of the economy. What actually happens is that the state commands and controls and flies the economy into a very deep ditch. Remember USSR? It's gone. A land lavishly gifted with natural resources and industrious smart people reduced to rubble. We have not fully learnt from their failures of the shackling of their economy. But there is a small possibility that we could learn from the successes of the limited unshackling of our own economy.
It is of course possible for governments to efficiently produce goods and services. The question rather is whether it is probable. The evidence is strong that it is highly improbable. The list of government failures is too lengthy to list here. But a few instructive examples which illustrate the general idea are worth considering.
Telecommunications was the government's sole preserve. The waiting times were measured in years, the prices were high, the quality poor. When the private sector was allowed entry, the prices dropped, quality improved, demand soared, supply expanded, and best of all, the public sector incumbents started performing as well. The same story can be told about the air transportation sector.
It is important to stress that the problem is one of government control of the sector, not whether it is served by private firms or not. Even if there are no public firms in a sector, government can control the sector by restricting entry (think license) of firms into the sector, thus limiting competition. The resulting low quantities (think permits and quotas) support high prices, therefore high profits. The competition for acquiring licenses is part of the rent-seeking game that is played by the politicians, bureaucrats and private sector firms. It is a nice little game (racket?) where all the players win, and the only losers are the poor consumers and the economy.
Liberally taken from Atanu Dey
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