Mainstream migration of Podcasts

Fidelitypodcast

Steve Rubel, over at Micro Persuasion, makes a brief mention of new podcast downloads at Fidelity Investments’ Registered Investment Advisor Group.  While not in the true podcast spirit (To access the actual audio, you have to go through a registration process), the fact that Fidelity is offering this service is worth noting.

I think we’re just beginning to see this type of audio-on-demand ‘brochure-ware.’  As more and more people bring podcasts (and vodcast – videocasts) into their daily lives, the medium will serve as a powerful replacement (possibly enhancement) to mass marketing vehicles like brochures and radio advertising.

Some good advice for using del.icio.us

De.licio.us is a really cool social bookmarking website.  So cool in fact that it’s hot!  Yahoo bought de.licio.us last week.  I just read an excellent post over at Slacker Manager about how to best use del.icio.us.  Now that Yahoo owns del.icio.us, I hope they integrate it with the Yahoo Companion toolbar, a browser add-on that I have used, and depended on, for years.

Reinventing web email services

It seems that email service innovation went into hibernation after the dot-com bubble burst.  There were incremental improvements in features, like better spam filters or more space, until Google shook up the space with Gmail.  Gmail’s initial attraction was the ‘unlimited’ space offer that Google used to promote the service.  Google also introduced a new approach to categorizing your email, using tags instead of folders.  One email now could be assigned to many ‘tags’, no folders needed.  I’ve had a Gmail account for some time, and find it adequate for some needs.  For many, however, Gmail is not user friendly enough to justify a switch.

While Google has taken a spartan approach to using web interfaces, the other major services have decided to move closer toward mimicking desktop applications.  Marc Orchant, over at the Office Weblog, has a great initial review of where Microsoft, Yahoo, and AOL are taking their services. Continue reading “Reinventing web email services”

Time to introduce Kiwi

Well, its been a few weeks since I brought this blog online.  I’ve been trying to get something going for months now, but I had two outstanding issues that didn’t seem to have a clear solution.  The first was constructing an adequate disclaimer, even though I did not have any plans to discuss detailed issues from previous clients or prospects on this blog.  The second was finding a WordPress template that was unique in its approach to presentation and format, while still maintaining all the powerful features of WordPress on the back-end. Continue reading “Time to introduce Kiwi”

Venture Capital investing and Wal-Mart

 It’s hard to imagine Wal-Mart as anything but a clearing-house for goods made in China, India, and other developing countries.  The retailer, however, has recently partnered with Aldus Equity Partners to build a small, but interesting venture capital fund.  Since Wal-Mart is only investing a paltry $25 million in the fund, the real question is why Wal-Mart would even waste time and effort to move in this direction?  Well, the fund is aimed at investing in small women and minority owned businesses, and Fortune believes the idea is to placate diversity advocates who have been a drag on the Wal-Mart image of late. Continue reading “Venture Capital investing and Wal-Mart”

Good Grief, Charlie Brown!

Charlie Brown

Image via Wikipedia

I know, I know, everything about Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts has been commercialized already. In fact, Charles Schultz built an empire on the proceeds of Peanuts licensing. So, it should come as no real surprise that Ford bought rights to use the Peanuts theme song (known as Linus and Lucy) for the company’s latest television ad campaign, right? I mean, MetLife, the huge monolithic insurance company, has been using Snoopy literally as a part of the company logo for years now. What can be worse than an insurance company personifying itself with the use of America’s most beloved cartoon dog? Continue reading “Good Grief, Charlie Brown!”

Are business plans of any use?

Everyone, from high flying venture capitalist to your neighborhood banker, wants a startup to present them a business plan. In most instances the need to create a business plan doesn’t prove that the business is feasable, but it does prove to a good exercise in crystalizing the core ideas that drive a young company. David Cowan, a partner a Bessemer Ventures, has an interesting post on how NOT to write a business plan. Continue reading “Are business plans of any use?”

Finding product keys: A great utility to hunt them down

Pretty much all commercial software that ships today comes with some sort of serial number or product key. Most are printed on the back-side of the CD sleeve, as sleeve that is usually lost quicker than $20 in Las Vegas. Over at Download Squad, Victor Agreda, Jr. introduces us to a pretty useful utility that pulls out product keys from installed software.

I try to keep my product keys in one centralized location (for me that is SplashID, but there are a few that slip through the cracks. ProduKey does a great job in finding many, although not all, product keys. This makes reinstalls a lot easier.

Thanksgiving time again!

This Thanksgiving is sizing up to be a real disappointment to the naysayers out there. Despite higher fuel costs, bankrupt airlines, and a perceived general malaise amongst the public, the AAA has once again predicted a banner Thanksgiving travel holiday. I guess there isn’t much that will prevent Americans from cruising out of town to enjoy the four days full of feasting, football, and fun!

Have a great Thanksgiving!