Sofia Says

New Media for Marketing Courses

2011-11-17T09:42:00.001-08:00

Time to create a list!

Today I helped Tom Schlesinger with New Media.

We worked on connecting his Facebook page and linkedin account to Twitter.

There are a few websites that let you do this but I find that people do not want to post the same content to Facebook as they do to Linkedin. I also think you need to post new content to different new media sites so that people are not getting three versions of the same thing from you everyday.

We tested out the tweets and the tweets from linked worked and the tweets from twitter to Facebook worked but we are having a problem getting posts from Facebook to twitter. (This is a new service provided by Facebook)

Because this was helpful to Tom, I will be creating a tutorial with this information so that you can also do the same thing with your twitter, Facebook and linkedin accounts.

Please, before you become too twitter happy, determine what is your strategy for each new media channel. For Tom, we tentatively decided the following:

Linkedin would be used for business connections so the content posted on Linkedin will be associated to his business network.

Facebook and Google plus would be used for students and personal depending on what group he is targeting. (Now you can target specific group on both Facebook and Google+)

Twitter would be used to get information out from Linkedin and from Facebook that everyone in general would find interesting (the dates for new classes, where he will be traveling, new projects etc)

I also made a few marketing suggestions today which included adding a welcome landing page to his Facebook page and to migrate anyone who is now in his personal Facebook account over to his business account if they are not family or close friends so that he can keep the two separate.

It was fun helping Tom start getting his new media in order. I like keeping things in order.

Cheers everyone!

Emmy

Blink of an Eye -Graduation from Founder Institute Berlin

2011-07-20T06:26:00.000-07:00

We are done going to Berlin and now, I now I have my eye on Mr. L who has some work to finish.

While you're waiting for Smeevee to be ready, feel free to wander over and check out my videos

Smeevee Founder Institute Berlin Update

2011-06-28T10:03:00.001-07:00

Berlin Early in the Morning

2011-06-21T04:40:00.000-07:00

I have been traveling to Berlin for the last few months and I have learned the following:

1. I like going to Berlin every week.
2. I am capable of traveling light (small carry on Tumi suitcase with one set of clothes and my running equipment)
3. I can live two days without my laptop (I am using an ipad which seems to fill the gap really well)
4. When I have seven hours to do nothing, I am capable of doing nothing and not go crazy.
5. My German is better than I realized even when people are talking about technology.
6. My business idea is one of the few that has lasted through the program. It gets rated well and I still love it even after dissecting it and looking at it through a microscope.
7. We are German but not creating a clone of an American Company. (This is actually pretty unique)
8. I am lucky to have a CFO who is amazing with money. Many start-ups do not have this and really need it. Having an amazing idea doesn't mean you will know how to budget for marketing or how to make sure your money will last for more than six months.
9. Creative people have more ideas and will share their ideas openly. The remaining six companies at the Founder Institute are full of entrepreneurial people willing to share new ideas and make your idea better.
10. I am the CEO and CTO for our company. Time to stop looking for someone else to fill the role of CTO.

Founder Institute Berlin

2011-05-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

For the last month, I have been going to Berlin to attend the Founder Institute and have accumulated lots of TO DO lists in addition to the ones I already make for my project. The TO DO lists help me finish what the institute wants us to do each week and helps me to visually see what needs to be done by my staff (yeah, you know me, myself and I).

I will write a longer blog post about the institute on my way to Berlin tomorrow. If you want to keep up to date on what is happening in Berlin, you may want to watch my vlogs. You can find them at:

http://www.youtube.com/sofiamedia and http://www.youtube.com/thesmeevee

If you want to get a daily tweet from me, subscribe to my tweets at http://www.twitter.com/sofiasworldsays

AND if you are on facebook, please like our Smeevee page. We need likes so that we can get our own address.

Who gets to tax the internet?

2011-03-18T09:53:00.000-07:00

Living in Europe, we don't necessarily have the same issue with sales tax that Americans have because we have an enormous tax imposed on us called a VAT. This tax can be more than 20 percent of the price depending on which EU country you are in (Germany's VAT is 19%) and Amazon has their distribution for mainland Europe in Luxembourg because of taxes (one of the lowest rates at 15%).

When I read this story about how the US states are going after Amazon in the US for taxes, I was surprised that states would rather lose jobs and income in order to pursue sales tax rather than negotiate something/ anything with Amazon.

I wrote about this a few posts ago and I am saying it again. Don't chase businesses away when you really need them to stay. It doesn't help your citizens if you are spending money and asking them to pay more money and then scaring away employers.

As was recently shown by the City of Miami, taxes are not appreciated by citizens (they recently removed their mayor for raising their property taxes) and taxes are not appreciated by companies who are trying to keep their prices competitive. Taxes are also a reason that companies will stay away from your state and will eventually leave the US. Why do you think so many companies have their headquarters in Switzerland. It isn't because they love Swiss cheese or cows, it is because of the very favorable tax structure of Switzerland.

So, at this point, Amazon is not buying barges to float off the US Coast to avoid sales tax, but they certainly are closing centers and affiliates without a second glance because paying taxes sucks and if they give in to one state, they will have all the rest chasing them for their share.

Stay strong Amazon. We need you not only for books but to defend the legal rights of all online commerce.

Texas Governor Wants Amazon to Stay

2011-02-14T09:58:00.000-08:00

Let them eat cake or maybe a waffle.

My company is an internet start-up and I'm trying to figure out what state to incorporate in to avoid having complicated tax issues like the ones Amazon is facing.

The state of Texas has stated that Amazon owes 269 million dollars in uncollected tax and the state comptroller would rather have Amazon close its distribution center in Texas, lose hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars than back down and give Amazon some kind of tax break.

Texas isn't the only state that Amazon is fighting with about taxes. Amazon is also fighting with North Carolina. In a recent legal skirmish with the state, Amazon won the right not to share information about its customer's specific purchases but has not resolved the issue regarding taxes.

The Texas governor is now pleading for new legislation so that Amazon can stay in the state and he has a very good reason to be concerned. Amazon was going to expand its center in Texas but now because of Ms. Combs, Amazon is threatening to close their Texas center and move its distribution to a more tax friendly state.

I know times are tough in the US and that states are looking for money wherever they can. I know that Ms. Susan Combs is just doing her job, but shouldn't the governor of the state have some say on what happens? If the governor can get someone off of death row, why can't the governor save hundreds of jobs for Texans?

This isn't rocket science. Just do the math and if Amazon brings more money into your state than what you argue they owe you in Tax, give them a tax credit and let Amazon keep creating jobs for your voting citizens. Save face and jobs at the same time.

Will.i.am is now Creative Innovation Director for Intel

2011-01-26T01:03:00.000-08:00

I like that companies are started to realize how important creativity can be to their organization.
In the Intel Anncoucement, Deborah Conrad stated, "We’re thrilled to tap into the limitless creativity will.i.am brings to the table. He’s not only a brilliant artist and producer, but also an innovator pushing the bounds of technology professionally and personally. We share a strong interest in innovation around music, art and lifestyle, and are excited to join forces to establish an authentic, emotional connection with consumers.”

Ok. In the first link, the blogger talks about how Lady Gaga has also joined forces with Kodak to help the company creatively. What do you think of these collaborations? Do you think this is the way technology companies should go in their search for market share and innovation?

I have been saying for years that technology companies are not paying enough attention to creativity and design and that if they change this, they will attract more customers. Is this really the best way to attract customers for a product which no one really sees?

I am interested to see how Will.i.am will be able to make intel more creative and help Intel connect with consumers. Are they using him just for marketing to replace their Intel inside slogans or are they going to start marketing a chip that is affiliated with him like automobile dealers do with cars. Instead of an Eddie Bauer version of an automobile, you can have a Will.i.am chip. (what would it include? His voice integrated into the chip somehow or a flexible idea of intellectual property rights?)

I believe this is the right direction for technology companies but I don't think you need to be using celebrities.

There are a whole slew of creative people out there that you can tap into to help make your products more interesting to consumers... .Check out Deviant Art and you will see that people love being creative, who are talented and are using technology or hire some Youtubers who use technology daily to put out there vlogs, movies and viral entertainment.

Do you understand financial speak?

2011-01-24T02:25:00.000-08:00

In the years that I have been writing this blog, I haven't bothered to focus on the financial industry but today something happened and the financial industry collided with my world. Motley fool wrote an article about EU law, technology and buying shares online.

Reading the article, I thought about a few things:

The man writing the article doesn't know how mainland Europeans think because:

Most of the Germans I know want to own a house but can't because it is too expensive and they don't want to get into debt just to own a piece of property. They would rather have as much cash as possible to put down on the property so that they don't have a mortgage for more than a few years or rent and take lots of vacations when they are old.
Retirement accounts. Germans must contribute to their government pension and after you have paid a huge amount for taxes, health care, public pension account, rainy day fund and vacation fund, there isn't that much money left for living let alone another pension account.
Europeans like to keep things safe and the stock market isn't a safe place to invest money.

I liked the author's description of EU directives and how the UK handles directives at the national level. For those of you who don't know about EU law, I would suggest you read it to get an understanding from a British perspective. For those of you who don't care, maybe you would be interested in reading the article to get an idea of how the British think..

Eric Schmidt steps down as CEO of Google

2011-01-21T03:20:00.000-08:00

Oh no! Adult supervision is no longer needed!

When was the last time you heard those words from a CEO? I have been told time and time again that my little startup will need "adults" running it when it gets bigger. How is it possible for a company like google to no longer need the adults?

In the article, they talk about how Google failed with products like Buzz and the lack of proper social networking but does an internet company like google need to have their fingers in every pot? Do they have to have a great social networking site?

I think one of google's strengths is its advertising, video streaming, search engine, business applications, blogging etc. I don't think Google should be jumping on an established bandwagon. They should be looking five to ten years ahead and see what is going to be replacing facebook, what is going to be replacing iphones, what is going to be replacing search engines.

That was a big mistake by Microsoft. They tried to get their fingers into everything else and forgot that their main business was software. Now they are scrambling. It wasn't just the EU verdict that put Microsoft where it is today, it was also their inability to look ahead.

Yahoo is another company that is just painful to watch. Come on folks! Every year you become more and more a brand name with nothing behind it... pitiful.

Mr. Schmidt might have felt like he was the supervising grown-up but that role is what helps stabilize a large company and will Larry Page want to be the grown up managing Google? Being a visionary and being a manager of the mundane are two very different things.

What do you think? Does a company need only one person leading the pack?

How many Chinese are addicted to the internet?

2011-01-20T02:51:00.000-08:00

Where did I leave that darn computer??

Are the Chinese addicted to internet?

Oh Journalists! Or should I say editors? Here is a story about China and the internet and they used the word hooked in the title but they don't mean addicted, they mean connected... Darn! According to the article, 34.3 percent of the Chinese are using the internet. Tsk. Tsk. Hooked gives the impression that the Chinese are addicted and that would have been fascinating.

Reading through the article they do give some useful and interesting tidbits of information including:

There are 53.11 million bloggers in China! Holy Crap! That is a lot of people writing, how do they censure them all? That must be a full time job of some special ministry of the government go create computer programs to scan all those blogs.
Chinese are connecting more with their computers than with their phones. I personally can understand that. It is so much easier to surf and do things on a larger screen. I only surf the web when I have to on the phone or use specific applications on the iphone to access particular websites (like Vente-privee my favorite shopping site... if you need an introduction, send me your email and I will enter it into the site so you can start shopping like a fiend!)
The survey was done using 60k Chinese. Although that is a very small percentage of the people actually using the internet, that is a larger database than most surveys use (Surveys of less than a 1k should be banned)
Chinese spend around 2.6 hours a day on the internet. Hmmm, since my company is an internet company and I blog and vlog, I spend WAY more than 2.6 hours on the computer and the internet. Luckily my internet is superfast, I would be very upset if I had to use their SLOW internet ( 100.9 kbps, kilobytes per second) which is probably why it takes these 53 million bloggers 2.6 hours a day to just get their ideas online.

Momentrepreneurs.. interesting video

2011-01-19T06:39:00.000-08:00

Some good tips and some really down to earth women.

How Marketing With Famous People Americans Don't Know Doesn't Work

2011-01-19T01:13:00.000-08:00

Here is a very good blog article about this video which highlights one of the problems about trying to change your global image using advertising.

The chinese created an advertisement using famous Chinese people that very few Americans know. In fact, Americans know very few celebrities from any country other than America because they have no real interest in knowing about celebrities from other countries that don't speak English.

Because they have no interest in finding out about other countries celebrities, trying to influence their feelings about a country this way is pointless. It is the same thing as having a display at Disney. Wow, look at all those Chinese. It does nothing to give you an impression of how hard these famous people have worked in their fields, why they are famous or help change the Americans viewpoint on China.

Having lived in Asia, I would have loved something that focused on how old the country is and how that history is celebrated today and incorporated into modern China. Americans can't understand China very well because they have no clue about Chinese history or how the Chinese think. Most Americans are too ethnocentric to venture that deep into another countries culture and an advertisement in Times Square is not going to influence anyone's opinion except to maybe go have Chinese food for lunch.

If you want to change public opinion with Americans, you really need to hire Americans to help you with the marketing and ad campaign to ensure that your message is understood by those you are targeting.

Cloning Very Large Extinct Animals in Five Years

2011-01-18T03:54:00.000-08:00

Clone Something REALLY big.

What do you think of using science to clone a Mammoth? Do you think this is something that we actually need? What animal would be more useful? Looking at the extinct animal list, I would think it would be more useful to clone an animal that has become extinct like the DoDo because of our stupidity rather than because of nature. We didn't kill off the Mammoths, they were killed of by nature. Leave them dead and increase the number of endangered animals that have actual places to live on this planet.

The scary thing about this is I could see people wanting to clone their deceased relatives not realizing that you have the genetic code for the body but not for the soul that was in it.

I love technology but I don't think this is the best use of this technology. If you want to read more about Professor Akani Iritani click here.

A digital reader like Kindle for magazines would be greatly appreciated

2011-01-17T02:10:00.000-08:00

Magazines are they really going to wait around like that? Why don't magazine publishers look at the potential they have of filling a niche that is wide open in the market instead of complaining that the devices that are on the market are not fitting their needs.

Why don't they create their own device. Amazon created the kindle for the sole purpose to read books, so why can't the magazine industry create a device for the sole purpose of reading magazines.

As a women who loves magazines, I would gladly purchase a device to read magazines so that I didn't have to have piles of magazines littering my house. It would be a wonderful way to archive the information that I get in a magazine and to be able to access it without digging through piles of paper that my dogs eventually end up chewing on when they are bored.

When I read this article, a few thoughts came streaming through my head and here they are:

Magazine Ads. I like them. Actually I love getting Vogue and some of the other fashion magazines just for the advertising. You can forget about the pharma ads, they are horrible but that is what happens when you have to have two pages explaining what the product is to avoid lawsuits.
I love well written articles. I love reading interviews by writers who can write and I love reading thoughtfully written articles which are available in magazines.
I love cooking magazines. I love the pictures and I like the ideas they generate. I love getting them in the mail and then making the recipes. I would love to have them on a digital device that I can take to the kitchen.. at this point, I use my ipad on a stand but I would buy a device that is just for magazines that connected to the internet for more information... so had the magazines but also a browser in case I needed to get information off the internet about some kind of cooking device etc.
I don't think magazines online should cost as much as a physical magazine. Having worked for a magazine and having worked in new media, I know creating the content is a major expense but online magazines should be discounted or should get the benefit that the file distribution cost is minimal (except on itunes where you are having to share 40 percent of the revenues)
I buy technology gadgets and it is ok to have more than one. Women don't think like guys. We buy a hairdryer, a curling iron, an iron just to straighten hair, ten different brushes, five different perfumes, fifty different pair of shoes, so what makes you think we wouldn't buy more than one technology device? Go ahead and make a device just for magazines. We will buy it just like we bought the kindle. We carry purses and have no problems having more than one device in our purse. In fact, at this time, I have a flip camera, my new Fuji camera (bought at Saturn for 35 Euros), my ihpone and my ipod all tucked away for daily use.

I like to read magazines and non fiction books so a device just for magazines that allows me to download and read any magazine would be good... don't make the device only for one publisher which limits the usefulness of the device and don't make too complicated or too simple... make it so that it can sync with my computer and I can archive the files in a hard drive.

Make it so that I can read or see more information online regarding the article.. I know that the journalist took a huge amounts of notes for that article, allow that info to be browsed through as an additional bonus for the reader. I know from experience that the writer only has so much time to write a piece but will gather quite a bit of information on the subject that doesn't get used because an ad cut into the pieces space or because the article flowed better without the information. Like on Youtube videos, make this information available to the reader if they want to read it.. It will have them coming back for more.

A new program that allows you to Add Widgets to Moodle.

2010-12-23T05:51:00.000-08:00

So there is something cool for moodle If you are a school or an company that offers classes using Moodle check this out.. it might be useful for you.

Have an Awesome Holiday! Will see you next week.

There are Rebels in Singapore - Entrepreneurs

2010-12-22T05:31:00.000-08:00

I love Singapore and I am happy to see that there are rebels in Singapore that are very successful in business.

In the article, Ms. Chew talks about starting her company and the challenges she faced.   Singaporean women who are interested in being entrepreneurs need advisers who understand what it is like to be a women in business. They need more women like Ms. Chew.

Having lived in Asia, I can fully understand how difficult it was for this women to start her own company and pursue it passionately. It goes against everything she is "supposed" to do as an Asian and an Asian women.   As a business women, I fully agree with her that your company should have a steady stream of cash to help keep it growing.

I also liked her comments about what she looks for in employees. People are always looking for hard skills but Ms. Chew is right that employees with soft skills, those who are happy, smiling and love dealing with people are very valuable but do you agree with her that they are hard to find?

Supposedly, a high level of entrepreneurship indicates a healthy economy.   What do you think? Are the two related?

Publish Post

Change- Product development - Playmobil

2010-08-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

Change happens whether you need it or not. Here is a change that was absolutely needed. Look at these two shoes. They look the same but they are not. The blue one is hard plastic and the yellow one is made out of rubber. I don't know how long it took Playmobil to figure out that rubber is a doll's best friend but Polly has known about it for years...

Here are Polly and Anna showing how the clothes look. I know Anna looks like an hispanic cowgirl but those jeans are the only thing of Polly's that would fit.

As Anna and her friend Polly happily demonstrate the various wardrobe items from Polly's closet I would like to tell you that getting those jeans on Anna was not easy. It was almost as hard as getting skinny jeans on a normal sized human.. but the jeans didn't tear which says something about my ability to get what I want.

But I digress. They have so much potential and I would love to design clothes for them. I'm tired of having 100 dolls all stuck in just one outfit... At least Anna can wear jeans and doesn't have to run around in a swimsuit when the weather is cold.

Another issue with Polly's wardrobe is that Anna can't fit into any of Polly's shirts cause her hands are HUGE which are good for grabbing bags but horrible for sharing wardrobes. This is where a knit sweater may come in handy OR wider sleeves or a slight alteration in the hand design.

Also, Notice in the photo of Polly and Anna... Polly is being held up by Anna and a piece of tape..she can't stand on her own. Anna is the independent one standing on her own two feet. Now as an independent girl who can chase dragons and fly helicopters, I think Anna deserves a shirt on her back and her own pair of jeans plus maybe 101 pairs of shoes...

As a side note totally off topic, why doesn't barbie have replacement hair? I read a blog yesterday where a women showed her barbies where she had cut their hair and my daughter has cut most of her polly pockets hair. Why don't they make the heads different on barbie so you can flip off the hair like a wig... take a hint from playmobil which lets you pop off the hair...

I love looking at products and the companies that design them and see where they can make them better... such a fun thing to do and that is how the mind of an entrepreneur works.. sometimes it is frustrating, sometimes it is pointless but sometimes if you hang in there, there will be an awesome idea that makes your heart flutter and the cash register go kaching.

Its in the details - I love playmobil

2010-08-23T01:44:00.000-07:00

Blessed father, it has been a freakingly long time since my last blog confession.....

No, I am not making this a religious blog but like the catholic that I sort of am, it seems appropriate to begin this blog the same way any catholic would after a very long time away from the confession box.

What have I been doing that I have not bothered to write? I have been working as a writer and researching about the brain, change management, psychic developments, running, online learning, nutrition and directing. So many different topics which have taken up a lot of time but have not really fit into my blog in a way that I could share the information with you.

I have been thinking about writing for about three months and then... a few weeks ago, it all came together. All those topics seems to snap into place like a puzzle but where should I start?

How about the Ipad? Ipads which will be a women's best friend in a few years but for the time being, it is more of a guys toy. I let my boyfriend play with it while I keep my laptops scattered around the house because I am a touch typist and I like having a keyboard to use... my iphone keyboard still drives me nuts but when the ipad lets you use a wireless keyboard, then it will be my best friend...for now, it is my boyfriends little trophy sitting on his desk in all its glory.

Now, onto the topic which has me blogging again after all this time.... PLAYMOBIL.

I know.. a children's toy but a company that knows not only how to produce toys but also how to slowly integrate changes without you even really noticing.

I would like to show you what I am talking about... here she is:

Isn't she cute... I mean she has my hair and she has my name... I couldn't get more excited by this new doll... so my idea for her is this...you take this little doll.... who already had her own car, her own house, horses, farm, castle, hopital, ships, airport, garbage truck, confederate army, spaceship, roman and viking ships, grocery store, police station, (the list goes on and the toys take up a whole room in my house) so you take this doll, and you change her a bit... you know, give her a pair of underwear instead of a swimming suit and you give her clothes... a decent alternative to the polly pocket!

They already started... you see those yellow slippers she is wearing.. those are made out of rubber! Usually playmobil clothing are rock hard horrible things that snap on... guy clothes.... but now, playmobil is moving in the direction of girly stuff... those shoes.. the thing women love more than anything in the world... are made of rubber.. they stay, are easy to slip on and they are not painted on her feet!

The tan isn't fashionable of course but I can pretend she is Indian cause you know, half the world thinks I am some nationality that I am not.. so let her be some nationality she's not... ok back onto the doll, look at her legs... they have made them look more like legs than sticks another super duper change.... she is looking a little more like a person instead of a robot.

I love the changes they have made in the is little doll.... it will be a year before she hits the US market... so I have a year to get her all dressed up and ready to hit the town cause there is no way she can go on the street looking like that.... She needs a decent wardrobe and I have now something fun to do on my wacom board when I am not working on the new business which is going to have me blogging and vlogging over the next few weeks... yes, I am going to start talking on video.. with the help of my little friend Anna...

Yahoo and Microsoft sitting in a tree... What kind of baby will they make?

2009-08-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

Microsoft and Yahoo.. Finally!

I know it is a "partnership" but that is better than nothing and may be useful for both companies in shaping their strategic planning (something that many companies forget to do)

Microsoft has been running around trying to figure out how to stop their product share from dropping and even plans on opening stores (Microsoft products are not sexy enough to attract women and men already have all the technology stores they can handle)

On the other hand, Yahoo started figuring out what direction to take. I guess when you don't have too much left to lose, you are willing to start taking some chances or take on some partners.

Yahoo purchases xoopit

2009-08-04T02:47:00.000-07:00

According to Reuters, Yahoo purchased Xoopit.

Why does that interest me? Well, Yahoo has been floundering around for a few years trying to figure out what it should be doing, what exactly it is. They have been running behind everybody else straggling into each category at the tail end. Now, they seem to have started to look at who uses Yahoo and what they can do to keep those users.

Who uses Yahoo? Women use Yahoo. (Lots of women) 500k women are using the following Yahoo Group:

One of the publishers that I talked to said that a women's magazine was their most popular magazine ...a cross stitch magazine. Popular means profitable and that is what every company is trying to do... be profitable.

Yahoo is buying products (Intentionally?) that help women who use yahoo. Are they finally focusing on women and working to keep them loyal users of Yahoo?

Social Networking in the Workplace Increases Efficiency

2008-11-30T04:41:00.000-08:00

Here is a recent statement from AT&T about Social Networking. I used data from this survey for my recent article about Serena's use of Facebook.

Dallas, Texas, November 11, 2008 From AT&T's corporate Website:

London, 11 November 2008 — AT&T Inc (NYSE: T) announced that the use of social networking tools as part of everyday working life has led to an increase in efficiency, according to an independent market report released by AT&T. The pan-European survey of more than 2,500 people in five countries, conducted by Dynamic Markets, shows that of those employees using social networking tools in the workplace, 65% say that it has made them and/or their colleagues more efficient. In addition, 46% say that it has sparked ideas and creativity for them personally.

The top 5 social networking tools being used by organisations across Europe are:

Companies' own collaboration sites on intranets (39%)
Internal forums within the company (20%)
Company-produced video material shared on intranets (16%)
Online social networks, like LinkedIn, Facebook etc (15%)
External collaboration sites on the web and internal blogging sites (both 11%)

The study shows that 65% of employees surveyed in Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands say that their company has adopted social networking as part of their working culture. The research also reveals that the rate of adoption is most popular in Germany, leading the way at 72% while Great Britain lags behind with 59%.

The independent market research was commissioned by AT&T in order to gain a greater understanding of how organisations are currently using social networking technologies. The company has published a white paper entitled “The Business Impacts of Social Networking” which outlines the challenges organisations face when taking advantage of new technologies that will benefit their business.

When asked, 74% of European employees think there are benefits to using social networks and online communities in the workplace. Increasing an individual's knowledge and giving access to solutions to problems (both 38%) were the two main benefits highlighted. Harnessing the collective knowledge of employees, customers and suppliers (36%) and stimulating team building and better internal collaboration (32%) were also mentioned by those employees who have first-hand experience of using social networks at work on a daily basis.

In contrast, the research also highlights a number of challenges, with the two main negatives being that social networks are a distraction to employees (49%) and a source of company leaks of confidential information (45%). In addition, 24% of employees admit they are not sure how the return on investment (ROI) of internal sites could ever be measured.

"The change is sociological rather than technological, thus is will be difficult to justify with traditional ROI models", says Martin Silman, executive director at AT&T. "Social networking is changing the way corporations communicate and if the corporate vision incorporates and builds upon the move to social networking and web 2.0, then the key performance indicators will easily follow."

"The research shows that there is a clear trend across Europe for business users to embrace the benefits of 'web 2.0' technology to underpin collaboration, improve productivity and embrace business efficiency. It is clear that CIO's and their colleagues need to think about the implications this has for their own internal networking strategy and ensure that they are equipped to make the most of the opportunities created by social networking."

YANG- YAHOO CEO RESIGNS

2008-11-18T14:47:00.000-08:00

Finally!

The sad thing is he killed the Microsoft deal, the stocks plummeted and employees bailed... what kind of legacy is that to leave behind. Like some of the older sports stars, he should have left when he was on top.

As I have been saying for years, Yahoo struggles with its identity and understanding what it is but this weekend I found their business section and happily signed on for a business webpage and store... If they focus this product for the female entrepreneur, I think they have something exciting happening...

In Germany most of the entrepreneurs are women.. most of them are ignored and most of them need services like Yahoo business... Just like Nintendo, being at the bottom might actually help Yahoo leap ahead of the pack.

Look What I Found - A Nokia E71 That Looks Smashing

2008-11-14T22:17:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, I dropped my Nokia N95 and the back fell off. My mobile phone is my only phone and this injury was serious. I needed the phone and didn’t want to give it to the Nokia repair center and be without a phone. First, I tried using a hair tie to keep the phone together but the back kept slipping out underneath the rubberband and my phone would turn off. Finally I decided to use a bandage to keep the phone together. Since the injury, my phone has looked like this:

Although it didn’t bother me to have my phone look like this, it bothered other people enough that I got this phone today:

So far it is working (I got my first text message) and I will be writing about my new phone as I get used to it. Why did I decide to get the Nokia E71 instead of the Apple iphone? The camera. I just didn’t want to be without a camera!

Pepsi Blames the Economy, High Gas Prices and Eating Healthy for their Problems

2008-10-14T17:00:00.000-07:00

Pepsi is cutting jobs. I don't drink Pepsi so I don't really care but I found their justification puzzling. This should be a great time for the snack company! Yes, people may have lost equity in their homes and they may have to buy expensive gas but that is not going to stop them from snacking. That is an American hobby. I agree that people may not buy the 2 dollar soda at the gas station but they will just take it with them when they leave the house. Also, since people are unable to go out for entertainment, they will stay home, snack and watch movies, play boardgames or their Wiis.

Pepsi also says they are going to revamp their lines.. repackage them....

What I learned so far from interviewing thought leaders is that you need to concentrate on your core business and brands when things get tough.. not make new products necessarily but focus on your strengths and get rid of things that are not making enough money, are not adding to your brand.

Yes, laying off workers may seem like a good idea but when your product is water with chemicals added into it, or comfort foods.. the last thing you should be doing is cutting out your marketing.. that is where you are getting your consumers attention..

FOCUS that energy and money on your core products...

Hearst Closing Cosmo Girl

2008-10-11T03:07:00.000-07:00

Earlier I was writing about Cosmo magazine being in trouble because of the type of advertising in the magazine but it looks like Hearst is already having difficulties and closing their teen version of cosmo

Cosmopolitan magazine seems a bit confused

2008-10-10T18:04:00.000-07:00

You know there is something wrong at a magazine when the advertising gets confused. When I pick up certain magazines, I expect to see certain ads and when someone gave me the latest cosmo magazine so that I could read about how to be a bigger bitch, I was perplexed to see ads from Wal Mart and JC Penny. What is happening?

Yes, I go to Wal Mart (when I live in the US) but I would never buy my clothes there and I would never consider Wal Mart an upscale store. It is where I buy cold medicine and toilet paper. Is that what Cosmo is trying to say? They are no longer upscale? Is Cosmo trying to say they are middle America like Reader's digest?

Who owns a Gucci purse and shops for their clothes at JC Penny?

The articles in Cosmo are light and designed just to fill space. There is never any new information and they don't even try to pretend to be journalists... they are just having fun.. which is fine when the advertising is good but when the advertising sucks, I really don't want to have the magazine filling up space on my desk. I would rather have Vogue or Elle with all their cool advertising.

I already told my friend not to bring me another Cosmo. This is the second issue with this crap in it and I am not interested in seeing anymore. When you decide to go upscale again, please let me know.. or go and start putting some content in that is useful like recipes.

Singapore Formula 1 Race - Branding a City

2008-09-28T17:06:00.000-07:00

The City of Singapore/State of Singapore is working very hard to brand itself as a Global City. In an effort to check off one more criteria in their list, (there is an actual report that outlines what is needed to be a global city) the city hosted the first Formula 1 nightrace.

Will Formula 1 and a casino make Singapore an Eastern Monoco? Will Banking make Singapore an Eastern London? Will Education and Art make Singapore an Eastern NYC? What will make Singapore a Global City? Can you force a city to be global? Is there a specific formula?

If there is, all Singapore needs to do is follow the safety car.

Singapore Night Race

2008-09-27T07:35:00.001-07:00

I wrote an article about the AT&T Williams team and today I watched a bit of the Formula 1 Practice.... Here is a photo of the track.

SPORE is a Great Family Game

2008-09-25T20:46:00.000-07:00

We have Spore at home and love it!

My daughter is six and we played the game last night and again this morning before she went to school. Her favorite part so far is making new versions of our animal.. she does not like having to kill her own food so our character keeps dying ... we will have to create a new character that is an herbivore so that she can play a little longer.

This is a really good game! Thanks Entertainment arts!

Bringing Rodents Into the House - We dumped the Mighty Mouse and Bought a Pat Says Now Mouse Designed by the Swiss

2008-09-22T01:11:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I split an apple in two and this weekend I wrestled with a mouse and lost. The mouse is the Mighty Mouse by Apple. I thought a blue tooth mouse was a good idea but I have too many technology products and they confused the poor thing.. so today I purchased this mouse which came with its own pet.

When Video Shopping Meets Flying Jesus

2008-09-19T23:24:00.001-07:00

I am not sure if Jesus would appreciate this video but I did. I found this company, Shopflix, that is pursuing an ebay system using video.

There are two things wrong with the site right now.. paypal is the only payment option and there are areas of the website which have no content.. Looking at the creators, they should know better than to do that.. you can add a button (page) once you have content but don't have a button if there is no content... It is annoying and a waste of my valuable surfing time.

David Found a Bag of Stones - Pystar Going After Apple

2008-09-18T03:15:00.000-07:00

Look Who is suing Apple. I talked about them before and it looks like they have been spending the last few months doing a little bit of research and finding the right lawyer. Of course, I think the US is the wrong country to be suing Apple, if they did this in Europe, the EU would jump on board and help out.. the US government is not going to be interested but Microsoft might find it fun to rally behind Psystar.

Bad news to be involved in law suits but the good news is that this company still exists and we may someday be able to use Apple's operating system on a Sony Laptop.. now that would be great.

Did I tell you I had to install Windows on a mac this weekend. It was a sad day for me but sometimes you need to compromise. At least I got this person to buy an Apple... even though he wouldn't let go of Outlook and asked me to install Windows JUST for that program. So now he has an Apple Macbook Pro with a split personality.

Both Apple software and Windows software are running smoothly on the Macbook Pro which means that the Apple operating system should be able to run on other computers .. remember.. you make LOTS more money with software than with hardware.. don't you ever forget that.... Bill Gates is ranked one of the richest men in the world for a reason.

How To Eat Chicken And Talk On Your Mobile Phone

2008-09-17T15:56:00.001-07:00

A few days ago, I saw this women trying to answer her mobile while eating her Popeye Chicken. I could only snap the photo while she was getting ready to hang up but she did have that phone by her ear and was holding it there in almost the same manner... trying not to get the greasy chicken from her fingers all over her designer phone.

How do you solve this problem? I think she should have a blue tooth device, those ugly star trek things people wear to avoid having to touch her phone (But they are so ugly to wear) OR she should just be considerate and not talk with someone else while enjoying lunch with her friend.

I find it interesting in Asia that if your phone rings, and you are in a meeting, people seem to think it is OK to start another conversation. As if the person who is calling you has first right to your time even though they have no idea what you are doing.

Formula 1 For HRM Singapore

2008-09-17T05:21:00.000-07:00

I am currently writing features for this magazine. It was great interviewing a formula 1 team... look how cool that car looks! I am looking forward to the race which takes place in ten days. We have tickets across from the pit which should be an awesome place to be sitting. I will post a photo online If I can get anything in focus with my new Sony.

Women Understand Body Language

2008-09-16T17:12:00.000-07:00

I interviewed someone who is an expert today and our conversation was on the phone. During the conversation he asked me to guess where he was and I said he was standing. I was wrong. He was lounging on his couch looking at the ocean.. so we were both lounging and having a good chat about body language.(Topic of the cover story I am writing for November)

During our conversation, he made the following observations:

First, women are intuitive and already know most of the body language information he teaches.

Second, most of the people going to his workshops on body language are women

Third, men really need to know how to read body language.

Fourth, most men do not instinctively know how to read body language and only attend his workshops when dragged by women.

From a different source, I know that men, who are from abusive families, have the intuitive ability to read body language…. so men can develop the skill if it is needed for survival… Does this kick in only when abused as a child or do businessmen develop the ability when they exist in a Dilbert type work environment?

Sony DSC-H50 Cyber-Shot is My New Office Equipment

2008-09-08T18:46:00.000-07:00

There is a fine line between what is fun and what is work... at least for me. Here is a photo I took using the Sony DSC-H50 last night on the way home from one of the Sony Stores on Orchard (There are two of them there).

I know it isn't a professional camera but I walked around for an hour this morning holding it in one hand and my arm isn't sore. I also didn't want to put it away and I didn't feel like a tourist.

An added bonus of this camera is that it still fits in my purse!

There is a company that promotes their brand by saying you are just keeping it for the next generation (Watch Company) but with my Sony products, we pass them down to the next generation after a few years and is probably the only time my daughter is happy to get a hand me down...

Sony Recall laptops which may burn you

2008-09-06T01:29:00.000-07:00

Sony announced a recall of its vario laptop...

I have a Sony Vario in the closet ... I should toss it out but I love that laptop and I just can't get rid of it and even though I use mostly Apple products right now. If Sony can improve its operating system I would get another one. I love their design.. the new colors their adding and now their laptops even come accessorized (mice and bags that match)

I just happened to be at the sony store today to get a camera for someone and I saw the Sony HSC-HD50. I have a point and shoot camera, my phone camera (nokia N95) and I have a SLR with some serious lenses but this camera caught my attention. Not only is it light (Thank YOU!) It looks like you are using a serious camera instead of a credit card. I wince when I take the SLR anyplace because it is so heavy and it is another bag to carry but this new Sony camera will fit into my Tumi purse without a problem... so I played with the HD50 and took photos and was happily keeping myself busy with this new gadget while waiting for my guests to buy their little point and shoot...

When I got home, I looked up the camera and saw that it got excellent reviews from those people who know about cameras and that made me happy... not only did it look like fun, it also was worth the money. (about 300 Euros)

Parental Control on an Apple Computer

2008-09-04T19:09:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, the hard drive on my iMac failed. It was not a surprise, I leave it on almost all the time and I use it for everything. So when my computer started to run slow I got nervous and backed everything up. Then, I tried reinstalling my software but it just gave me a big fat NO. No you cannot reinstall software and No you can't access anything and if it had a tongue my computer would have been sticking it out at me.

I packed up the iMac in its HUGE box and lugged it down to the store. The customer service in Singapore for Apple is great and after telling me that it was probably my fault, she took the computer and gave it to the technicians... two days later I got a call to pick up my computer.... it was not my fault.. the hard drive failed and they replaced it with a smile... even lugging the box to my car. (the box is bigger than my child and barely fits in the BMW Mini)

Now, I have a fresh hard drive and I want to keep my daughter from downloading stuff.. she gets onto kids sites and hits print and then we get all kinds of interesting things coming out of the printer using up my valuable ink. (paper is ok.. ink is the killer)

So, Avanquest is now offering net nanny for Apple computers which gives me the option to limit my daughter's access to the internet without having to sit right next to her while she plays children's flash games. (fun only the first time for adults) I am happy that Avanquest is heading in this directon.. they bought Emme, I thought I would be seeing more of them. I guess it takes awhile to tackle the female market even for a big software distribution company.

CHROME is Not Out Yet For Apple

2008-09-04T01:15:00.000-07:00

I was all excited to try Chrome and went to download the new browser but it would not let me... they don't have the apple version out yet...so here I sit, actually jealous of my friend and his IBM laptop.... his laptop may freeze twice a day but he gets to try all the cool new things made for PCs.

On a brighter note, here is my new logo... I registered my company in Singapore under the name Sofia Says and used my hippy bunny as inspiration. I will be changing my website to Sofia Says and moving forward with my project... Having worked at a magazine for awhile, I think my first inclination was the right one and I will continue to pursue my project knowing that it will be able to make some money.. eventually.

Vista Me a New One - Microsoft Tries To Improve Vista's Image

2008-07-29T17:21:00.000-07:00

I dislike when companies tell me that it is just my perception that is wrong. All I need to do is use their product and I will be much happier. Microsoft recently did a blind study in San Francisco (typical US city) where people watched videos of Vista.

Let me see. What other activities might be fun to watch but would be painful to actually implement? I love watching shows where people eat live insects or jump into sewer holes looking for the dirtiest job but that doesn't mean that I would enjoy the experiences.

Most of my computers are Macs but we do have an IBM sitting here that crashes at least once a day.. usually after one of the many upgrades Microsoft sends.

I think this information that they released should have been kept in house and used to make their software better not used to show that it is the user's fault. It is never the user's fault.

Users may be inexperienced. They many not know how to hook up the monitor properly but they are never the one at fault. If they are having problems, it is your fault for making the product too complicated.

Microsoft might be right, but they have much bigger problem on their hands. Word of mouth is stronger than any publicity campaign and if they want to change how people feel, they need to change their corporate mentality. We don't need Microsoft. We have Apple and Linux willing to take their place. Stop acting like the consumer doesn't matter.

OLPC Making Their Laptop Look Like A Book

2008-05-21T06:44:00.000-07:00

One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project came out with their new laptop. What is the point?
I am not impressed with the new design and I really like gadgets and innovation. I can see where they are going but they better be careful that they don't become labeled as a glorified digital reader.

One thing I learned living in Asia is that the people in Asia do not want something sort of like what other people have. They want exactly what other people have. They want the BMW. They want the Gucci bag. They want the Tiffany ring. It is the same in South America (where my mother is from) They want a name brand. As we already know, the margins for hardware are very very small. The profit is to be made in the software.

Yes, I understand that the redesign is supposed to look like a book but did you ask the kids what they wanted or the politicians? My daughter wants a computer that looks like mine. She sees me working on a keyboard and she wants the exact same thing. Also, did you talk to the phone companies? There is a reason that Palm Pilots and phones still have buttons.. market research has shown that people like the feel of buttons.

The idea of a touch screen is nice though... I have a wacom board and my daughter loves it but are they going to provide the kids with digital pens too or are the children just going to use this computer as a glorified book?

I am happy that other computer companies are realizing that there is a market niche and are filling it nicely. I hope that the one laptop per child is able to achieve one of their goals.. they did achieve one of mine.. getting laptop makers to make a cheap laptop so that I can give it to my children.

Sugar Labs Alternative to Windows

2008-05-20T17:42:00.000-07:00

I wrote several times about the one laptop for every child organization and also about the Asus computer that I plan on buying.... well, it looks like the acceptance of Microsoft as an alternate form of software for the children's computer shook things up at the non profit... now we have Walter Bender opening a new company called Sugar Labs to create content for the new little computer. I am excited about this. I have been surfing the internet for interesting software to put on the little Asus computer ...software like Pencil which lets you create animations on a linux system.

The new little Asus is less than 900 SD or 450 Euros. A great deal for a little 20gb laptop which connects to the internet and has a built in camera . Too bad it is ugly, but that can be fixed with some detailing. Just like a car, we can make a cheap computer look just as beautiful as my Apple (almost).

Singaporean Mini Skirt Accessories

2008-05-11T23:58:00.000-07:00

Who said that women don't like technology? Here is a woman who walked down the street without a purse but could not leave home without her tech gadgets. In one pocket she stuffed her mobile phone and in the other pocket her iPod gadget.

Not only does this show you that women will carry around gadgets if they are small enough but more important, you don't have to worry about pick pockets when visiting Singapore.

Zune lets you share music

2008-05-06T02:50:00.000-07:00

I just read an article in the NY times talking about Microsoft's Zune and Apple's Ipod. In the article, the writer talks about how the market is defined by the brand and not the technology but that is not just Microsoft's problem is it.. people buy microsoft because of the brand not because of the quality of the products... so there must be something wrong here... why does Microsoft have so few customers with brand loyalty?

Also, I do not think that Ipods are invincible.. It really depends on distribution and getting the 50 percent of the market that Sony is targeting. If you can get women to buy the Zune, then you will be doing ok.. the thing is that women have no clue that Zune exists and only know about the ipod because their kids have it, someone bought it for them or they hear it in the media ALL THE TIME ... what do women use the ipod for? I listened to a podcast on my ipod last week and the two southern women were discussing how they carried all their photos on their ipod... so it now replaces having photos in your wallet... they were not carrying music.. they were using the ipod to share information . something very very feminine... using technology to bond with other people instead of isolate themselves... the ipod now has an enormous memory to store all kinds of media.. and women are choosing to use it to store family photos and memories.

Sony targets women with advertising

2008-05-04T18:52:00.001-07:00

I passed this ad this morning. Would you be compelled to buy a hoover if a women is naked holding a hoover? No. I personally do not think any naked women could get me to buy a computer.. maybe a naked man.. with the computer strategically placed... a cute male model.. NOT an IT guy.... I know they are playing with the slogan but I think they could have done something a little more interesting than naked women... boring... Think of Apple ads.. they are just really cool....

On Thursday, walking into the Sony store at the tech mall, I was the only women in the store. They have some wonderful accessories coming out but of course women do not know they exist because they are not entering technology stores. We did see a woman buy a sony computer but she bought it at the outdoor display not in the store...

I read a review about computers a few days ago where the journalist reviewed the new Sony laptop, apple laptop and a linux version. She said that she loved the Apple and would be getting it for her next computer. In her review she said that she liked the Sony but it had so much stuff but not the best for what she wanted (video streaming was one of the problems)

I agree with her.. I love both Sony and Apple but if I had to chose right now, I would choose the Apple computer because it is just easier and when you do not have hours to spend to figure something out, it is great to just be able to work on the computer to do things like this:

I did this with my Wacom board, my Imac And Adobe software...... The software to create this project is available for all computers we just need computers capable of handling the software and the file management for such a project.

Poster created with Wacom Cintiq and Adobe Creative Suite

2008-04-22T23:30:00.001-07:00

Psystar a Real Alternative?

2008-04-22T23:29:00.000-07:00

For the last week, I have been following the articles about the Miami based company offering a computer that will run Apple Software. Psystar realized that there is a market demand for such a product but in a rush to get the product on the market forgot a few business basics. I understand the problem with processing orders but they certainly did not plan how to deal with the media and viral marketing. That is a pity but hopefully they will have time to learn. There has been a lot of talk about how they are not professional but they are entrepreneurs.. that does not make them professionals. I wish them luck but the US is not the location to try this kind of stunt… this sort of activity would work in Asia or Europe where the court systems are more sympathetic to the end user. In the United States, the individuals involved (not only Apple but some other owners of intellectual property) will make it difficult for this company to succeed. Who has the most money to spend in the court systems of the US?

100 Dollar Laptops for children Meets Reality

2007-12-02T00:03:00.000-08:00

So why is it so hard for a non profit to help children?

I know that the computer industry in general has no interest in helping out the unfortunate and that they are scared that there is a group of people out there who proved that you could build a cheap computer for children but give me a break.

When you approach a company and ask for help, they ignore you until you pose a threat... unfortunately this non profit has quite a few giants to contend with....

How do you deal with this issue in a business plan? Here is an organization with a good product, with a good purpose that is being thwarted because it is not looking to make a profit.

You Are Dragging Down My Internet

2007-11-23T00:56:00.000-08:00

What happens when everyone starts to distribute data? You end up with a very slooooooow internet.

People seem to forget that the internet is based on a system of wires that connect the globe. wires that cross over the ocean floor, wires that cross underneath your neighborhood yards... wires that cross over your head... all those wires are moving the data around the world. Not only is it moving the data over the world but it does it very inefficiently... it sends the data in all directions and it bounces all over the place.

How can we get the internet focused so that it doesn't use so much wire space. What alternatives do we have to all these wires? Will Satellite work? Will that be a better solution?

Sometimes the better solution is unable to compete with the easiest or most accessible.

It is nice to think that the internet downloading is a good way to distribute data but when it takes you longer to find things and even longer to download it, that isn't the best option... as least for Women. What is a good solution for women? Maybe we should be asking Sony.. they are spending quite a bit of time trying to figure this out.

I got some funding for my company this week.. i will start contacting distributors in January.... You can never be done branding but now I am ready to start creating my company.

Asian version of the EU

2007-11-19T23:47:00.000-08:00

So Asia is interested in creating their version of the EU

I studied the EU in Europe and taught EU law in Europe... I am excited to be in Asia as they decide to follow a similar treaty scheme. I hope that it will work. The European Union's countries are a little more stable than the Asian community but maybe a series of international treaties will help stabilize the region.

I spent Saturday listening to academics/Directors of Art museums talk about modern art.... One interesting thing that I noticed is that art museums have the same problem as other industries. How do you get the public to take notice? This seems to be a universal issue.

Google Wants You to Create some Applications

2007-11-14T23:48:00.000-08:00

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/calling-all-developers-10m-android.html

Google would like you to create applications for the new open source phone operating system called Android. We watched the youtube video yesterday and I was impressed. I want this software on my Nokia N95. The thought that we had while watching the video was how do I try out the software without screwing up my beautiful phone. I am not a hacker but I liked everything this system could do.

If you want to try and win the ten million dollars, follow the link to Android and find out how to develop some software for Google's Android.

NANOWRIMO 2007

2007-11-13T20:19:00.001-08:00

For the last two weeks, I have been working on a novel for the NANOWRIMO. The problem I am having with this novel is that I started with an outline and then I got a better idea thrown in my lap and now I am debating whether I should follow the new idea or stick with my outline. I have been talking about the novel development at www.sofiasays.com/Blog

In addition to working on the novel, I started working for the Singapore Art Museum as a project manager. They are creating a new museum and I get to help plan the project. The position is a contract position... they want my writing expertise and I want to help shape a museum. I think that is a good combination.

Is that really a Sony MP3, I thought it was a phone

2007-11-01T02:51:00.000-07:00

I was talking with a friend the other day and I mentioned a commercial on the television here in Singapore. The woman is walking down the street listening to music and then when she gets into her car, the music is on the radio.

I have no idea why, but I just never think of this commercial as an MP3 player ad. My first thought is that it is for another mobile phone.

Maybe it is the shape of the player or the way the women holds the device but I continue to think of this device as a phone. Maybe it is just because I never think of Sony when I think of Mp3 players.

Sony is Ericsson and mobile phones or computer or my camera or my videocam. If they want me to think of them as an mp3 company, they should just go out and buy Creative.

Uruguay buys first 100 dollar Computers!

2007-10-29T21:14:00.000-07:00

I am hispanic so it warms my heart that Uruguay is buying the computers.

I also read an announcement today that the computer will be getting some kind of energy pack... I will see if I can find the article to post the link.

So there you go, my vacation is over and I am back to blogging. My blog was not accessible in China because this blog is on Blogger but I took some wonderful photographs of Shanghai which I will share...

Here is the first one:

Feedburner Does Not Work In Shanghai

2007-10-21T17:31:00.000-07:00

I loved visiting Shanghai but I did not like having my internet access blocked. While in Shanghai, I was unable to write in this blog and I was unable to access Feedburner feeds. I also was unable to follow links in my Google news feed.

Other than having my internet access restricted, I found China an interesting place to visit. I will be posting some photographs that are related to work this week.

Get Therapy on you laptop or mobile phone

2007-10-15T17:06:00.000-07:00

In the UK, there is a six month wait for therapy. That is a long time to wait to see a doctor. Now, they have a computer program that helps patients start therapy before actually attending a session with a therapist.

This type of program would be good for the female market. Women are more likely to look for therapy options and seek out information and help. Having this kind of program available on the consumer market would be interesting. Remember, self help books are one of the best selling topics behind romance novels...

Blinkx Can Really Make You Thinkx

2007-10-14T00:34:00.000-07:00

So lets see what happens when I start putting my videos on here with some advertising.

I copied the name of this company down on a piece of paper earlier in the week and gave it to a friend to research. Not hearing back from him and having a bit of free time today, I decided to try out the blinkx site myself

This is google's competitor for advertising on videos and you can use youtube videos as your video to have ads on. How is that going to work when google begins adding video ads?

Apple iPhone Prisoners of Company Agreements

2007-09-28T18:03:00.001-07:00

According to this BBC article, the Iphone updates are creating a problem for iPhone owners.

I can see having your phone locked into a service provider if you get the phone for a sharp discount but if you are paying full price for a phone, you really should get to use it wherever you want. Apple has always been very possessive of its products and that is one reason that is just will not dominate the market for long in any category.

Let those iApple phone owners use their phones wherever they want. Don't sabotage their phones. They bought the phone and own it... What is apple going to do, have ATT as the service provider for three months and then offer it to all service providers, once again messing with the innovators who make the product popular.

Ask Diamler benz what happened to their sales when they joined forces with Chrysler. They had a great Mercedes brand and then mucked it up. Now Diamler is having to win back clients who left because they were not provided with the service and quality they expected.

Don't mess with your brand.

btw, I was told that Levis is coming out with a phone. Now that is a very strange brand extension. I would not think that a jeans company should go into technology. They are not licensing their name.. they are actually creating a phone.

Lets see what other brands decide to create a phone.... Wal Mart phones with coupons delivered by sms or how about Penthouse phones... all the pornographic material already loaded onto the device.

Ok. It is Saturday, I am done talking about phones, time to go to the pool.

Another Infobit from "Life is Not Complete Without Shopping" by Chua Beng Huat

2007-09-27T16:47:00.000-07:00

So, I am still reading this book about consumerism in Asia with an emphasis on Singpore. Today's quote gives you some insight into how they think...

The first quote is about the TV show Friends.

"The episode then ends with them returning to either of the two hang-outs to lick their wounds. One may say that it is these personal wounds that bind them together; a bunch of beautiful losers against the rest of the cold real world out there...However that they are all occupational losers make them unlikely role models for Singaporean viewers in a similar age-group."

"Indeed, the "Singapore Dream" a trope which engages local politicians and policy orientated academics from time to time is cast entirely in terms of property and cars. Their unaffordability has cast a pall of pessimism among young professionals."

what is the Singapore Dream? The joke is that it is Cash, Car, Credit card, Condominium, and membership to a Country club... The five Cs.

For an essay on the Singapore dream go to this link.

Tomorrow I will give you a quote about some of the advertising in Singapore. Why Western and Japanese advertising does not work/make sense for Singapore. They may be Asian but each country in Asia has their cultural foundation and Singapore is a mixture of several making it a unique society.

Know your Consumer Market - Asia- Singapore Specifically

2007-09-26T05:12:00.000-07:00

I am currently reading a book written by Chua Beng Huat. The book is bright pink with a bar code on the side and is entitled "Life is not Complete without Shopping - Consumption Culture in Singapore."

I doubt this book will be on the best seller list but it does give some interesting information about Singapore and Asia. The author is a professor at the National University of Singapore and I find it interesting to read his viewpoint.

I have quite a few quotes that I want to share and today's quote is the following:

"Twenty-something Singaporeans are on the make, impatient for success. Deprivation from car-ownership, contextually the ultimate success symbol, has made their bodies the locus of consumption. clothes and other body accessories have elevated status as expressions of "success".

This piece of information is good to know if you are trying to market high end products in Singapore. People cannot afford cars so they will be expensive accessories like mobile phones etc.

For 400 dollars get Two Children's Laptops

2007-09-24T03:35:00.000-07:00

Go to the homepage of one laptop per child
and sign up to be able to buy one of the children's laptops.

They are having consumers pay for the charity laptop. Just awesome. We signed up and will be giving my five year old a laptop and donating a laptop to some child in a foreign country.

It would be really cool if my daughter could have the name of the person who got the laptop and if they could email each other. I know my daughter would really enjoy the process and it would be a great learning tool for her.

I am just excited that the laptop is coming on the market. I have been a big supporter of this idea and know that the computer will sell like crazy at Christmas.

NOW. Who makes software for linux? I need to start lining up programs for my daughters new computer! Online sites would be good too... so that she doesn't have to clog up her computer with programs.

At the present time, my daughter likes Neopets but I get tired of having to go in and feed her pets and play the games.. I would like to have something a little more educational.

I found that my younger daughter loves Adobe photoshop and the cartoon software we tested earlier this year. My older daughter loves creating webpages and using photoshop. So Art type programs will sell big in my family.

Software Freedom Law Center Sues to Enforce Open Source

2007-09-22T18:20:00.000-07:00

US Lawsuit to try and enforce open source

It will be interesting to see what the judges decide.

Product Testing

2007-09-22T04:10:00.000-07:00

See what I found. I found a harddisk that comes in lots of different colors. The disk works with Windows and Apple but if you have an Apple do not try using the software, just use the harddisk with your Apple Disk Utility.

If you do not have an Apple, you will be happy to know that your external backup drive will match the new Sony Vaio laptop... I checked.

I am pretty sure the two reds do not clash. I found out recently that Sony is targeting women.. and of course their new ad series "Life is a party. Dress For It" certainly shows their target audience is women. Pictures on Monday...

Where Are The Female Directors In Singapore?

2007-09-20T02:40:00.000-07:00

So I am going to be in Singapore for a little bit and I am excited to meet the artistic community of this city. So far I have been playing tourist and working on my tan along with my websites so networking has not really been happening but today on my way to my walking tour, I passed a poster that talked about the creative directors in Singapore.

The first thing that struck me was that it was an interesting Ad. Placing creative people on an advertisement but look closely. When I stopped to take the photograph, I realized there are no women in the poster... not even a token female...

That made me wonder what kind of network exists for women creatives in Singapore and whether this is going to be a futile search.

To help build a Singapore network, I went ahead and created my facebook profile today. I also created a few groups to go with my podcasts.

I told you a few weeks ago that I made a serious decision about the direction of my company and my decision was enforced by the announcement this week by the NY Times. The New York Times decided to make most of their content online free since they make more money off of advertisers than from subscribers.

I decided that this was a better strategy. I have unique and interesting content. I will provide it for free and start getting advertisers that are interested in targeting the female market.

The focus of my company is to create a publishing and distribution company. I am now publishing on the internet and I need to increase the brand recognition so that I can start distributing...

How do you increase the awareness of your brand?

1. Become an expert in your niche.
2. Have an interesting logo/brand name and make sure that people will think of your company when they need to buy the specific product. In my case, I am interested in distributing multi media and technology products to women.
3. Focus on your specific niche (of women.. All Women would be an enormous challenge).
4. Don't give up. It takes time, energy and a little blood.

OK. I have to go back to work.

Laptop for Every Child

2007-09-18T00:19:00.000-07:00

So there is this article that just appeared that says that the laptop for every child will cost more than 100 dollars.

The actual cost of the computer is closer to 200 dollars. The article suggests that the added cost will stop countries from buying the computer. I don't agree but I do think that the computer should have a commercial arm that helps offset the charitable computer. So a regular computer company should have a computer that is sold and a portion of the sales go to support the non profit computers sold to third world countries.

Here in Singapore, we give money every weekend for some charity that is collecting near the subway. Most people like to contribute to charity when they know it is going to a good cause. This computer program is a good cause and should be supported by the non profit arms of large corporations and individuals.

Not only will the computers help third world countries, but it will help build up the idea that technology can cross the line between the wealthy and the poor. The computer is a tool and should be giving to all children so that they can expand their learning opportunities.

Where Did My Homepage Go?

2007-09-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

I spent the last few days making it easier to upload podcasts and in the process I lost the Sofia Magazine homepage. I put a filler page in its place and I am now considering leaving that page in place for awhile since the homepage really does not have any information on it ... I might play with the fonts but I like the whiteness of the page.

Right now I have the creativity podcasts as the first page you enter but I think I will change that later this week... I have to think about it a little bit. I fixed the feeds so that everything should still work for iTunes and for the subscribers through feedburner.

This week, I am starting the Sofia Says writing class again and also will be posting two more podcasts in other categories.

Last week, I talked with a start up in Singapore that would like to use my magazine articles for their website. It will probably be in written form but it will be a nice use of articles that are already written for the podcasts.

So my list for this week is:

1. podcast writing assignment
2. podcast Ask Betsy Article
3. podcast article about Social Networking (maybe over weekend)
4. Figure out which page should be first page for Sofia Magazine Website
5. Work on video

Apple's Window of Opportunity

2007-09-15T17:24:00.000-07:00

I just read an interesting article by a professor in California

It is interesting how such a large company as Apple could forget one of its core products because a new product is in the limelight.

I just wrote a comment this morning on someone's blog about why they should buy an Apple computer. I did not go into great detail but I wanted the blogger to know that owning an Apple is actually a pleasure and worth the added expense.

A friend of mine always compares things to cars so I will compare my apple computer to a car. If my Apple computer was a car, it would be a BMW Mini. Small, fun, quick and interesting. I can't compare my friend's IBM computer to any cars. Most cars can go at least one year without breaking down. How is it that cars can go one hundred thousand miles before falling apart but an IBM laptop can't make it around the corner.

I know that the operating system is one of the problems that my friend is experiencing. His windows environment keeps crashing. That is fine if you are playing and are working to build up your patience in a twisted Zen experiment but when you have a fifty page power point presentation disappear, you realize that you want a computer that is reliable and will work for you not against you.

Apple has a lot of potential to build up market share or sell their operating system to companies willing to pay for a system that does not crash when you open more than two programs. Apple has the ability to increase market share because people want a computer that is created for the new media society. A computer with all the right software and that is easy to use.

It will be interesting to see if Apple starts taking their computers more seriously. I like this professors idea of having someone in charge of increasing the distribution channel. How about bundling an iPod and iphone with the computers. Make it the New Media Package.

With any major purchase, a few extra dollars doesn't really matter, right?

New Ipod Nano

2007-09-13T19:00:00.000-07:00

I just read this review about the Ipod Nano and thought I would share. I am waiting for the player to arrive in singapore so that I can take a peek. I have an older version of the Ipod Nano and now the Nokia N95 which acts as a music player and video player.... so I really do not need another music player or do I?

This reviewer thinks that the new iPod Nano is a better deal than the ipod, so it might be worth your while to check it out.

Solar Powered Desktop PC for 400 dollars

2007-09-12T17:16:00.000-07:00

One of the nice things about the non profit sector is that it sometimes makes the commercial market pay attention. Here is a link to an article about a new computer created by Lenovo that is made out of recycled materials and is powered by solar energy...

So now we have something that is in the price range of a Playstation or mobile phone... Now what we need is a system where you get the computer for one dollar if you subscribe to a service for two years. Just like a mobile phone. The money is made in the software, we know that so give people the vehicles to use the software. For the children's market, that means making sure that the children have a computer that they can use and where their parents do not have to worry about internet predators.

Yesterday I met with an entrepreneur in Singapore who is starting a new company. He is still in the development stage so I will mention him again when I have something I can link to and talk about. One of the things he mentioned yesterday was the need to focus.

Focus is very important for entrepreneurs but, as an entrepreneur, you need to also be flexible and be willing to change your plan when it just is not working.

After talking to him, I had an idea of what to do with those videos I started to play with and how to incorporate that into the branding of Sofia without straying from my business concept.

Changing Website Design

2007-09-10T01:57:00.000-07:00

I need to change the magazine website so that is the goal for this week. I added a videocast to sofiasays and now I have to add those capabilities to the magazine.

I need to start posting again to the magazine and I want to make it easier to add podcasts so I am changing the website design but I am concerned and I do not want to lose the subscribers so I have to make sure that the subscription address remains the same even after I change the location of the files.

Betsy Sansby sent a message with approval to use more articles so I will have a few podcasts coming up based on her articles... here is her details that will be included in future podcasts of Ask Betsy:

Betsy Sansby, MS, is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist with 25 years experience counseling individuals, couples, and families, and over 10 years experience supervising other therapists. She is the creator of The OuchKit, LoveBites, and other communication tools for couples. She is also the author of "Ask Betsy," an online relationship advice column, which you can read at www.TalkAboutRelationships.net. Betsy has appeared in Redbook Magazine, and is regularly featured therapist in the popular Ladies' Home Journal series "Can This Marriage Be Saved?"

No, You have to tell me your spying on me....

2007-09-09T23:45:00.000-07:00

Well, if you are in the US that is... A new ruling on requesting records has been released... Here is the article

So far, the FBI has made approximately 142,000 requests and "from 2003 to 2005 and in hundreds of cases broke the rules to get them by either seeking information not permitted under the act or else not getting sufficient approval, a congressionally-requested report found."

This ruling should interest any company using the internet for distribution and client management.

Experimenting with the Nokia N95 Camera..oops Phone

2007-09-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

I am having a great time playing with the Nokia N95. I have been playing with the phone this week and yesterday I created this little video of a trip to the market. I found that unlike photos, if you take video sideways, it stays sideways... someone I met in France did the same thing with her camera and asked me if this could be corrected. I do not know of any software that makes the correction... I guess this is now on my list of practical software needed for the female consumer.

Not only does the N95 take videos it takes photos...

oh, and yes, it is a phone... I will spend this coming week actually using the phone and talking about the phone aspect... but it is a Nokia.. so I already know it will be dependable but is it easy to use?

Working with iMovie

2007-09-06T16:21:00.000-07:00

The Audio for retail banking has a few slides and so I made a small movie to include the slides. I was given six slides for a thirty minute audio presentation. The file is available at www.figlobalgroup.com

I think that next time, I will use more stock photography to fill in the space between slides.

With this kind of audio, it might be fun to go out and film some video... I might actually do that for Tuesdays podcast for the writing course. Now that my vacation is pretty much over, it is time to start podcasting again.

This was a nice way of getting back into the routine.

How Banking and Technology Companies Have the Same Branding Issues

2007-09-06T01:34:00.001-07:00

For the last few weeks, I have had this project on my virtual desk.

http://www.figlobalgroup.com/

I finished the first podcast and after listening to it a few times, I realized that technology companies should listen to this podcast about banking.

Why? Well, banking is an industry struggling with branding and so struggles technology companies. These two industries have quite a bit in common and both are struggling with the issue of identity with female consumers.

Here are some common factors:

The industry is dominating by a few large giants who move slowly

For women, there is no brand that dominates the market.

The technology and banking companies both try to tackle problems which are not important to the consumer and ignore the problems which are of great importance to the buyers.

Really, after creating this podcast, I am certain that Dr. Kern could change technology companies with his ideas..... Just substitute Technology for Bank and off you go...

Taking Video Footage with Nokia N95

2007-09-04T02:59:00.000-07:00

I have been having fun playing with the Nokia N95 and today I went and created this little video from the footage that I took with the phone over the weekend. I used iMovie to create the clip.

I am not a big fan of complicated phones but so far I am finding this phone to be easy to use and the video clips transferred to Iphoto on my computer when I connected my phone to the Apple laptop. I did not have to figure out how to transfer the data nor did I have to hunt for it. the two devices, my Nokia N95 and the Macbook Pro like each other.... Hurray!

Nokia N95 Blog Test

2007-09-01T20:07:00.000-07:00

Before leaving Germany, I was offered a smart phone to test but since I was not going to be on a European network or talking to Europeans, the review has been delayed. I was a little sad about not getting to play with a new gadget so when I arrived in Singapore, I got a Nokia N95 to amuse myself.

Nokia is my favorite phone brand and on the television in Singapore they have been showing an Ad for Nokia Phones which includes this model. I did a little research and found that this phone has all kinds of fun perks that women might like using. I also wanted to find out if this phone would be easier to use than my last 02 phone which relied on a windows environment and kept crashing.

I like things that are fun and reliable so I will be blogging about the phone and what I think about all the features for the next thirty days.

Traditional News Magazines Need to Change and Hearst Uses Games to attract Magazine Subscribers

2007-08-23T23:57:00.000-07:00

Marketing Sherpa has an interesting case study about Hearst using games on its magazine webpages

www.marketingsherpa.com has a case study which I thought was interesting and I have an excerpt at the end of this blog entry.

I just picked up two magazines while I was in Paris and was surprised and disappointed. The titles that I picked up were Business Week and the Economist. The Economist was fine but I was greatly disappointed with Business Week. Not only did I know almost all the information in the magazine from reading internet news, I found the articles to be less informative than the internet news.

What is that saying about this magazine? This magazine's target audience is men and specifically business men. Not housewives or blue collar. Here I was picking up a business magazine and I was bored and annoyed. Nothing new. Why bother picking up the magazine if you are not going to find information that I have not already read on my google news or news alerts.

If you are going to duplicate what is on the internet news in your magazine, you better make it more in depth or give it a different angle. Unfortunately, the articles were shallow and provided very little in depth information. Business men are not going to buy a magazine that does not give them an added value. How can you add value to news that is already a week old?

Anyways, here is the case study of how Hearst is drawing in people to their websites and to their magazines... fifteen percent is a big leap in subscriptions so this information is good to know.

Aug 23, 2007 Case Study #:
How Hearst Grew Subscriptions 15% With Online Games That Complement Their Brand

SUMMARY: If you’re looking for fun ways to drive traffic to your site, try games that match your brand’s image. Hearst Magazines developed exclusive games for its magazines that engage different demographics of its online readers while staying true to each brand.

They found big hits with the likes of Makeup Mah Jongg, Shopdoku and Boy Toy. Some weeks, the gaming area accounts for 20% of site traffic, and consumers stay on the site much longer. Best of all, they've seen double-digit increases in online subscription sales.

CHALLENGE
For years, the marketers at Hearst Magazines watched as the Web evolved and interactive content -- such as quizzes, surveys and online videos -- proved their ability to attract consumers and keep them engaged.

Last year, when the company began migrating their magazine Web properties out of the iVillage network and onto dedicated URLs supported by a new, in-house content management system, they looked for ways to increase their interactive content. Christopher Johnson, Content Director, Hearst Magazines Digital Media, wondered if online games might be a good fit.

“Casual gamers are such a large audience, and it’s something that’s very accessible to people at home or at work looking for a fun time-killer,” he says. “Everything pointed to gaming as a way to amp up our entertainment content, increase time spent online and do it in a branded way.”

If you would like to read the rest just click the link and you should find it at Marketing Sherpa

Advertising on YouTube...Get Ready for Ad Skins

2007-08-23T03:11:00.000-07:00

It was bound to happen when You Tube was bought by Google,an advertising company. Now like those commercials you see on Soccer, you will have the pleasure of one more ad exposure in your daily life. I am curious to see if the ads will be put into the same formula as adwords...will my Creative Stone video show advertising for competitors or for Creative?

Companies Block FaceBook Access

2007-08-22T00:03:00.000-07:00

It looks like Facebook is getting hit on all sides. Not only is there legal problems and advertisers withdrawing, now companies are restricting their employees access.

Another Google AdWord Lawsuit

2007-08-20T00:33:00.000-07:00

Google Adwords keep getting in trouble..here is a lawsuit by an airline

I know...I am a news junky and today seems to be lots of news that interests me.

EA comes out with computer games for mac

2007-08-20T00:09:00.000-07:00

Nice to know that Entertainment Arts has figured it out. They are bringing out a line of computer games that will work on Apple computers. Since Apple showed that their computer sales have gone up, this seems to be a good move...even better if Apple decides to sell their operating system to generic manufacturers.

Rewriting History on Wikipedia

2007-08-19T23:44:00.000-07:00

A common saying is that history is written by the winners of any war but what war are we waging in cyberspace. Wikiscanner, a website designed by Virgil Griffith,¨digs through the data on Wikipedia and finds out who is actually making the corrections to data entries.

This is nothing new. We write history the way we want to see it not the way that it actually occurred...we have been seeing history rewritten before our eyes by the US government in the way they discuss the wars in the middle east and their relationships with various countries.

History is fiction based on fact. The facts are the most difficult things to ascertain.

Do you trust survey information as legitimate fact

2007-08-16T06:13:00.000-07:00

So here is an article about a survey performed in the United States. If you read through the article, you find out that the survey covered 200 companies over 45 industries. what was the purpose of the survey and who did they survey specifically. college students? Professionals? Women?

Have you ever stopped and answered the questions for one of these surveys? What kind of survey would you waste your time on? I did one recently for podcasting that was mailed to me directly because I podcast but otherwise I avoid participating. I would rather have information that is a bit more focused and I hate the way they manipulate the information. Data is data and there are lots of ways of playing with the information to get the answer you want.

This survey says that customer satisfaction was higher for Yahoo than Google. Customer satisfaction? Did they survey the advertisers? Do Google and Yahoo really have the same customers?

Limewire sells music

2007-08-16T02:29:00.000-07:00

So a known brand limewire has decided to sell music...this is a good move since I actually know the name limewire and that is half the battle is it not?

If You have Two Pennies rub them together, If you have two credit cards run for your life

2007-08-15T05:31:00.000-07:00

I am on vacation and we happen to have British television in France.

Last night, three ads in a row showed consumers getting consolidation loans. I got mad. People just do not seem to understand that a consolidation loan is usually a secured debt on your property whereas a credit card debt is not secured... this blog is not going to go into detail about this but this article showcases what happens when you do not have cash left in your house (no more credit lines off your investments) and you have reached the limits on your credit cards and you have spent your paycheck

Americans just do not have any money left. This is not the fault of high paying jobs leaving the United States. This is the fault of each and every consumer who feels it is necessary to purchase a new car every three years and the newest gadget on the shelves every six months. It is not just the big purchases that causes problems. It is the mentality that I can buy it now and worry about it later.

Americans have an addiction to shopping and a need for immediate gratification. I see the need for immediate gratification echoed in American businesses here in Europe. If there is no result in six months, they declare it a failure and want to change strategies. Unfortunately, Europeans are weary of change and six months is not enough time to get your foot in the door.

So it looks like Americans and American companies need to stop looking for immediate gratification and American consumers need to learn that shopping is not a way of life.

Not only are Americans going to be losing their houses in droves because of the second mortgage fiasco but they have no concept of how to live life on a realistic budget.

How did we end up like this? Who is going to save Americans from themselves.

Will First Data come to the rescue? It seems that credit card companies will have to teach consumers how to be responsible just like Alcohol and Cigarette companies have to teach users not to drink or smoke.

computer down

2007-08-10T01:01:00.000-07:00

powercord adaptor hell..... I love apple until something breaks and I find out there is a three to four week wait for the part. Time to leave France and head back to civilization! Two more weeks without my laptop in rural France... I guess I am now officially on vacation.

I will try to post on this French computer but I am typing like a turtle. I will not be whinging when I return later today....

Apple Still Depends on Computers for Revenue 47 Percent

2007-08-09T02:17:00.000-07:00

Even though Apple took computer off its name, it still earns 47 percent of its revenue from computers. That is an increase from the previous year. Such a nice side effect from the iPod craze. By giving people a product they can afford, they get a taste of apple products and have the opportunity to see how well crafted Apple hardware actually is.

Microsoft prevails over Alcatel in MP3 patent case

2007-08-07T00:47:00.001-07:00

I love it when Judges just throw out what the Jury decided... This happened to my father once in business which is the reason I went and got a law degree. I am curious to see what the appellate court will have to say about this decision. I wonder if the judge golfs with technology executives.

Have fun reading this short article... Did you see that this company has not filed any other lawsuits but is licensing with companies for the patent that they own..

so, this lawsuit is the wake up call for business... letting them know they need to pay another company for the honor of using MP3 technology.

Is there an open source solution for this?

How To Make Money With Art

2007-08-06T23:04:00.000-07:00

I like people who are entrepreneurial. Here is a smart businessman who is making money from artists and for artists.

Linux Offered on Adult Laptops

2007-08-06T14:42:00.000-07:00

So if the kids are going to be using Linux, better get the adults using Linux too

Ohhhh now this is exciting. If Linux is going to be offered on laptops, that means the price of laptops should be dropping. Will this make laptops cheaper than a Game Box?

Will this bring the price of a laptop down to 300/400 euros so that I can buy one for my daughter. During this vacation, I have found myself having to share my laptop a little too much. I would have loved for each of the girls to have their own hardware.

FaceBook Losing Advertisers

2007-08-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

It seems that Facebook has bigger problems than a small lawsuit, now they are losing advertisers which is how you keep one of these companies working.

Facebook needs to talk to Google. Google had a series of lawsuits in Europe regarding advertisers in their google adsense program that were showing up on competitor searches. At the time, you could ask google to show your Ads when someone searched for a competitor. Europe is split on how to deal with this issue.. France made Google pay money and Germany didn't......

Because of this, Google changed the way that ads show up on their search pages and also put in a submit your company name page so that it will be registered with Google to avoid this kind of search fiasco.

How can facebook make sure that advertisers are showing up on the "right" pages without being next to ads from companies or associations which do not reflect well on the company or make the company look like it has a policy it does not actually have.

It seems that Facebook has some serious issues to address this summer. Hopefully Facebook won't crash and burn OR they can get a larger company to swallow them up...

Amazon, What Are you Really?

2007-08-04T01:37:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you feel like a nut and sometimes you don't. Do you know that jingle? It is for a candy bar. How about "My bologna has a first name it is o-s-c-a-r, my bologna has a second name it is m-a-y-e-r." That jingle is for an American food company. Odd that I seem to remember the commercials from the 60s to 80s but I don't really remember commercials that I see today except "Do you Yahoo?"

Is this because I am not longer paying attention to advertising? Am I swamped by so much advertising that no single ad makes an impression anymore OR, are the ads just not that interesting. How about technology advertising... what advertising ad can you remember from today? Any good slogans or jingles?

How about companies? Do you know what Amazon's Slogan is? Do they have a Jingle? What exactly does Amazon do? Can you create an elevator pitch for Amazon? I know they sell books and merchandise but how could I know that Amazon has a serious side? Amazon actually offers services that are for business and have nothing to do with selling online books etc.

Amazon seems to have a few things inside that will surprise you and me like a payment service. Seems like a smart idea... are you paying attentionYahoo?

Yahoo always seems to be one step behind and seem to clutter up their business because they have no idea of what they do... no wait, this is what they say they are:

Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! seeks to provide online products and services essential to users' lives, and offers a full range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to connect with Internet users around the world. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Amazon is a store.. it is a good idea to have a payment service... That fits in well with their business and will help their clients use more of their services. Ebay is a store and has the payment system paypal.. that fits in with their model.

How does a payment system fit in with Google's business model? Those are questions that Yahoo should be asking. What questions are going through the head of the business development department at Yahoo? Hopefully they are not thinking of a payment system...

Copying other giants is OK for the first few times and then it just gets old.. is this an idea you are going to try to pursue Yahoo... should I be shaking my head with a sad smile and saying "and you too Yahoo?"

China Has a Few Problems

2007-08-03T08:00:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks, we have been reading about all the problems the Chinese business man is having with the US... they seem to be having quite a few goods and produce recalled. In addition to having a small trade war going on with the US, the Chinese now are trying to clean the closets and get rid of corruption.

How is a businessman supposed to do business in a country where so many officials are corrupt? How is this corruption going to affect the olympics? What kind of punishment will officials who confess have to face?

I know I am asking a lot of questions, here is the article that started my line of questioning about business in China.

Product Update: One of my writers who I hosted for a few weeks has almost finished her first piece. I am not sure how long it is but we agreed on the title. I also opened a storefront and will have that online next week. I decided at this stage not to run my own store because I just don't have time. The store is in the United States. I will use downloading sites for downloading products in Europe and I contacted a German publisher/distributor to see if we will be able to distribute hard copies through him. At this point, I am not in a hurry.. I have waited this long a few more months is not a problem.

The highlight of the day was finding the art store in Angouleme. It had everything we needed and more.

Comic Book Program For Work

2007-07-30T09:30:00.000-07:00

Along with Audio books what else am I taking to the Book Messe in Frankfurt? Well, you saw one of my characters earlier this year.. now you can see a fun program that makes it easy to make the comic books.

Here is an example page using the Tour de France:

The program is called Comic life and you can try it out for free for 30 days.

Ok. I have to let my children play with the program.. I am on vacation and I have to share (for another thirty days)

Interesting Way to Get People To Subscribe

2007-07-30T00:06:00.000-07:00

There is a company out there that will give a couple of film makers one dollar for each person that subscribes to their website. The film makers financed their movie using credit cards (ouch!) and this company wants to use their movie to bring people to their site.

Thanks to the credit card industry, this film was created.

I watched the video this morning and it is ok. I can't believe it cost 100k to make but I liked the video and I hope that people subscribe so that they can start paying off that huge credit card debt.

Where did I find this video?

I found the video while looking at French blogs... so even though the film is made in the US, there are Europeans supporting this artistic venture which shows you how global the internet can be in terms of viral marketing.

Dominating the Market

2007-07-29T03:15:00.000-07:00

First Microsoft, now Intel... It looks like Europe just doesn't like big business or is it that Europe just doesn't like big business that has their headquarters in North America....

Either way, it will be interesting to see how this litigation is resolved.

Did you know that many business schools in France require the students to study law. The same thing in Germany. It is very important if you are a business person to understand how the law will shape your business...

Here the legal arm of the EU is shaping the future of European business.... The EU legislature has not figured out how to make a set of laws to take care of intellectual property or the high tech sector so I guess the laws will be shaped by the court of justice.

Education There Needs To Be An Alternative

2007-07-28T03:04:00.000-07:00

Today I read this article about education in the UK

Living on the continent and not on the island, I get to meet a lot of expatriates from England who are more than happy to be living away from England.

England is just an expensive place to live and the salaries that people make in England don't cover the cost of living.

Educating your children is one expense but eating and living in England is a big expense and not just for students.

what alternatives do the English have? I really like the Open University system.. if the biggest expense for attending a private school is the boarding expense then maybe the students would be able to attend on a virtual campus so that that major expense may be eliminated. Maybe cluster the students in areas where they live so that they have a bit of a social life... One of the reason to go to a private school would be the contacts created... this benefit would be lost if you are going to a virtual campus... I guess...

All right, my Saturday rambling is over... I am supposed to post three times a week but that is not so easy when you are on vacation... I will try to put four posts up next week for you.. now that I am on my semi vacation (which means I am working in a vacation spot.. sunny France)

FaceBook and Trade Secrets

2007-07-26T10:20:00.000-07:00

What is a trade secret? At the present time, a trade secret is an idea that you can't patent or dont' want exposed to the eyes of the public.. like the recipe for Diet Coke.

Reverse engineering allows you to create a product like Pepsi but not an exact replica.

At the present time, Facebook's founder is being sued for stealing a trade secret while attending harvard. ConnectU believes that their ideas were stolen and used to create Facebook.

So far, I have several invitations to join facebook which I chucked. I have not received any invitations to join connect U. Maybe they should concentrate on building their user base rather than fighting in court which just makes them look like sore losers. Yes, he may have stolen your idea.. join the club.. your ideas will be stolen or used in ways you never thought about... that is life and business. As consultants keep telling me, business is never fair. If you want fair, stay at the university and in your ivory tower.

Ugly Doesn't Sell

2007-07-17T20:53:00.000-07:00

See. You need pretty phones to sell more advanced services... Ask what O2 Needs from you (Phone Manufacturers)