Clipmarks | mobilediner's Pops

The Web Knows How

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:29:35 GMT

clipped by: wildcat
clipper's remarks: and again where is clipversity?

Just about any practical task -- from changing a motorcycle's oil filter to the proper care and feeding of a pet monkey -- can be found on the Web on sites like WikiHow and Howcast. The sites vary widely in their approaches. Some limit their offerings to in-house video clips, while others employ a wiki model and make themselves completely open to revisions from anyone.

Terri Rossman considers herself a visual learner. So when the 52-year-old marketing professional wanted to learn a new knitting stitch, she turned to the Web.

"I searched for 'knit bobble stitch' on Google and I found a video of someone doing it," said Rossman, who lives in the Detroit area. "It was perfect for me."

The Web has become the place where people go to learn new tricks. Traffic to sites like eHow.com and WikiHow.com have doubled over the past year, according to figures from ComScore Networks, while start-ups such as Howcast.com and Findhow.com, a search engine to find "how-to" content, are entering the field.

Tags: web, net, knowledge, learning

Who Will Pay For The Politicians Promises?

Wed, 14 May 2008 09:48:30 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Because of onerous regulations, it has been 30-plus years since a new refinery has been built.

Similar regulations also explain why the U.S. nuclear energy production is a fraction of what it might be.

Congress' solution to our energy supply problems is not to relax supply restrictions, but to enact the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 that mandates that oil companies increase the amount of ethanol mixed with gasoline.

Anyone with an ounce of brains would have realized that diverting crops from food to fuel use would raise the prices of a host of corn-related foods, such as corn-fed meat and dairy products. Wheat and soybeans prices have also risen as a result of fewer acres being planted in favor of corn.

Congress' proposed "solutions" to the energy and food mess it has created include a windfall profits tax on oil companies, food stamps, etc. These measures will not solve the problem, but will create new problems.

Clip Source: www.ibdeditorials.com

Most of the great problems we face are caused by politicians creating solutions to problems they created in the first place.

The Community Reinvestment Act encouraged banks and thrifts to make so-called "no doc" and "liar" loans to customers who had no realistic ability to pay them back. A decade of monetary expansion by the Federal Reserve Bank, contributing to the housing bubble, encouraged lending institutions to take risks they otherwise would not have taken.

Government actions created the subprime crisis, and now government-proposed "solutions," such as foreclosure holidays, bailouts and further regulation of financial institutions, to the problems they created will create more problems.

Congress, doing the bidding of environmental extremists, created our energy supply problem.

The Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and eastern Gulf of Mexico offshore areas have enormous reserves of oil and natural gas. These energy sources of oil have also been placed off-limits by Congress.

Tags: congress, sub-prime crisis, bailouts, regulation, financial institutions, energy, food costs

Putting customers first

Sun, 06 Jan 2008 12:09:16 GMT

clipped by: edsim
clipper's remarks: great article on Jeff Bezos and Amazon-putting customers first to build a long term business can many times be at odds with Wall Street.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Wall Street, however, has never placed much value in Mr. Bezos’ emphasis on customers. What he has viewed as money well spent — building customer loyalty — many investors saw as giving away money that should have gone to the bottom line. “What makes their core business so compelling is that they are focused on everything the customer wants,” said Scott W. Devitt, who follows Amazon for Stifel Nicolaus & Company. “When you act in that manner many times Wall Street doesn’t appreciate it.” What Wall Street wanted from Amazon is what it always wants: short-term results. That is precisely what Dell tried to give investors when it scrimped on customer service and what eBay did when it heaped new costs on its most dedicated sellers. Eventually, these short-sighted decisions caught up with both companies.

But Mr. Bezos refused to give in. “He was spending his time on long-term value creation,” Mr. Miller said.

Tags: amazon, web, customers

Changing leadership

Tue, 01 Jan 2008 13:39:55 GMT

clipped by: edsim
clipper's remarks: it is never easy whether it be in business or sports but the comment that stands out most for me is that bringing in an Offensive Coordinator for Coach Billick would have been a band-aid. Companies and teams don't need band-aids-they need to make the tough decisions. So if you think your company needs a COO, think deeply about whether or not that is what you need or if you really need a new CEO

Clip Source: www.baltimoresun.com

Billick's personality and message had gotten stale, and his lack of discipline contributed to the problems this season.

Before yesterday, the Ravens and Billick had agreed to bring in a new offensive coordinator for the 2008 season, but that would have been a Band-Aid.

It's hard to justify having two highly paid coordinators running your team. That would have been another indictment of Billick. What was Billick supposed to do? Go to the first 20 minutes of practice and then take a nap?

Billick was on his way to becoming a figurehead, a once-powerful coach who kept losing more control every year since 2005, when Bisciotti publicly reprimanded him.

Billick was working in reverse. Over extended periods of time, great coaches such as Bill Walsh and Bill Parcells gain more power and become general managers and presidents as well as coaches. But Billick's power base was eroding.

Tags: football, entrepreneur, startup, leadership