Melanie's Final Show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ut_cWFrR8b0 YouTube video showing Melanie's final art project from the Moore College of Art. May 18, 2008.

The Paradox: by George Carlin

Every now and then Carlin is so right! One of his more thought provoking works as sent to me by my good friend Appolos. ___________________________________________________

The paradox of our time in history is that we have:

• taller buildings but shorter tempers,


• wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints.


• We spend more, but have less,


• we buy more, but enjoy less.


• We have bigger houses and smaller families,


• more conveniences, but less time.


• We have more degrees but less sense,


• more knowledge, but less judgment,


• more experts, yet more problems,


• more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.

We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice.

We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less.

We've learned to rush, but not to wait.

We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and small character, steep profits and shallow relationships.

These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancierhouses, but broken homes.

These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.

It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stock room.

A time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or to just hit delete...

Remember; spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever.

Remember, say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.

Remember, to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn't cost a cent.

Remember, to say, 'I love you' to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.

Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again.Give time to love, give time to speak!

And give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER:Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Why is gasoline so cheap in the US?

Interesting read from CNN Money about just how cheap gasoline really is in the US.

Why companys fail at customer service - an Interview with Jeff Bezos in BusinessWeek

BusinessWeek has a great article and interview with Jeff Bezos on innovation and putting customers first. Below is just one of the great answers offered up. Much to learn.



Q: Every company claims to be customer-focused. Why do you think so few are able to pull it off?



A: Companies get skills-focused, instead of customer-needs focused.



When [companies] think about extending their business into some new area, the first question is "why should we do that—we don't have any skills in that area." That approach puts a finite lifetime on a company, because the world changes, and what used to be cutting-edge skills have turned into something your customers may not need anymore. A much more stable strategy is to start with "what do my customers need?" Then do an inventory of the gaps in your skills. Kindle is a great example. If we set our strategy by what our skills happen to be rather than by what our customers need, we never would have done it. We had to go out and hire people who know how to build hardware devices and create a whole new competency for the company.

Newspaper Demise - $42B+ up for grabs?

Today's Silicon Valley Insider claims that $42B in Ad Rev is up for grabs in the coming years and it's at least clearer to see why after reading their article. The online format is merciless on inefficiencies and throughout its history publishing in general is all about "warehousing" more information than you actually need. And worse newspapers try and do it everyday! That said it's easy to see why national newspaper such as USA Today and WSJ are actually gaining circ. with their new formats and style that include the incorporation of the web in their product whereas traditional papers are sticking to their knitting and dieing. (Only the NYT would make the new info free and charge for the archives; geez what a bunch of knucklheads.) Same with many periodicals such as BusinessWeek vs Wired. Its all about the product!

At the Web 2.0 Expo last week a statement was made that in general for every newspaper sold their are 10X viewers of that same content on line. However, the newspaper publishers have only been able to monetize those on-line viewers at a rate of approx. 1/10 that which they get from the ink-on-paper version. Hmmm. Why is this so hard for those in the newspaper business to figure out. Lead with the online; not the printed format and make sure that the traffic generated is efficiently converting those ads to leads not just traffic - click crap.

Web 2.0 Expo: Day Three

Jonathan Schwartz, CEO of SunMicrosystems, Inc. (JAVA) offered a compelling argument for why every CEO worth his or her salt ought to be blogging; its communication and not PR. Blogging is almost an anachronistic term and should instead be referred to simply as "communication". Among the chief responsibilities of any CEO is to communicate with their employees, shareholders and customers and a blog is simply just another means to do so. "Web 2.0/blogging what ever you want to call it is simply another way for me to reach those I need to connect. Yes there were bumps to get started but I my guide was to blog just as I would talk with anyone about the business."

Web 2.0 Expo: Day Two

Yahoo's Ari Balogh rolled out their new Search Monkey; a feature that enables 3rd parties an opportunity to upgrade their search results over those traditional organic results. The concept is simple but the idea that one of the premier general search engines are willing to allow web site owners the ability to upgrade search results that are displayed by Yahoo is truly revolutionary. It's no secret that with MSFT breathing down their necks Yahoo's Yang has to break the mold and try something new. Besides anything that could improve bail-rates from Yahoo's results would be a welcome improvement; something that only site owners could offer.

Will this Wiki-like approach to improving that which Yahoo serves up enable Yahoo to catch Google, probably not. But it will certainly improve some of the results and hence user experience. Bravo Yahoo; too bad you waited so long to offer this feature. I suppose necessity is still the mother of invention even in the Silicon Valley.

Mark Andreesen was interviewed by John Battelle and as usual proved to all why he shares the mantel in Silicon Valley lore with the likes of Steve Jobs, the Google Guys, David Packard, Larry Ellison and Gordon Moore as one of its true stars. Among the many things discussed was a stroll down the memory lane of the mid 90's when first his Mosaic browser opened the Internet to the public and then his Netscape Navigator to the masses. Additionally, he wouldn't take Battelle's bait (is MS "defanged") when queried on his feelings about MSFT and their incursion into Netscapes's space with IE but instead he took the high road and saluted Gates and gang for their efforts and in bringing a standard to the desk-top operating system that has enabled the development of all things Web 2.0. Prior to OS there were dozens of systems that ran PC's and developing products for those PC required multiple versions and lower productivity; something the cell phones business could learn from. Finally, he talked about his newest venture Ning; a social network platform for the masses. My guess is that like his Mosaic browser Ning will prove itself a winner especially given its unique viral format. Investors think so.

Presentation by executives from FaceBook and MySpace about marketing techniques and lesson's learned were informative (i.e popularity of the new 646 X 60 banner) and how paying attention to the four (4) pillars of an on-line ad programs 1) Ad Size, 2) Formatting, 3) placement and 4) ad network can dramatically impact your results. Hey, I'll always pay attention to someone who is speaking for a web site [ MySpace] that has 117 million UVs in March '08 and is adding [registering] over 200,000 new users each day!