Sunday, May 28, 2006
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
links for 2006-05-24
New ways of financing movies
Great article. I just reserved the book "White Man's Burden" at the library. Should be good reading!
Monday, May 22, 2006
links for 2006-05-23
Rupert Murdoch is a genius!
I think this is a great idea.. shareholders who keep their shares longer SHOULD have more say over corporate governance! How else can you get people to think long-term??
Another cool t-shirt company...
Really cool
Sort of cool.. useful for times when you're trying to plan a dinner but are flexible on date, time and location... I have LOTS of email threads in my email like this!
Very instructive. Agent/principle problem at work!
Friday, May 19, 2006
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
links for 2006-05-17
Makes me think of the book the 'Millionaire Next Door' - most millionaires in the book wanted their children to become lawyers and doctors
A point of view on malaria-preventing mosquito nets. Give them away or sell them?
A take on the recent Global Private Equity Conference
Interesting!
Hmmm... I think I would love this except for (1) the fact you have to download something in order to clip pages and (2) privacy concerns -- what if Google gives away your private thoughts?
Great analysis!
Kottke comments on the creation of talent... agreed!
... or will he simply do so until the next downturn? MBAs and Investment Banking Careers. You need a login for this one, but it's very interesting
It flies around the room sputtering until you get up and put it to death
Friday, May 12, 2006
Tuesday, May 9, 2006
links for 2006-05-09
My favorite column - the authors of Freakonomics discusses new research that dispels the idea that hard work and training do not matter
Gosh, how true these social situations are...
Saturday, May 6, 2006
links for 2006-05-06
Why does Ticketmaster have such a monopoly on concert venues? I imagine Ticketmaster pays giant fees to concert venues for "exclusives". Since fans just want to see the bands, they have no choice. And bands need a place to play
A view from an economist
Six tips for happiness
Kind of cool
Friday, May 5, 2006
links for 2006-05-05
This group seeks to organize "not-just-for-profit" companies... interesting. I couldn't find a list of groups they were affiliated with or any links on their site for that matter.
This site claims that they are "not greedy." How can that be true? When someone says they aren't working in their self-interest (aka not greedy), it's confusing and also it seems like they are being slightly dishonest. What do you think?
I think it's a great idea, even if it's kind of too pricey ($1000+?!).. I think the lack of keyboard is probably okay though
M brother pointed this out to me yesterday. Looks really cool. It's basically an invisible keyboard!
Gosh big pharma sure is aggressive
Thoughts on Ticketmaster and Price Sensitivity
I just tried and failed to buy Radiohead tickets for Kane.
So then, to see how I could improve my "Ticketmaster skills" I did a blogsearch on Google for "Ticketmaster." Instead of getting tips on how to successfully buy high-demand tickets, I just found a lot of hatred and anger towards Ticketmaster.
Despite fans' rabid hatred, though, it seems like people use Ticketmaster anyway. They have no alternative! It looks like Ticketmaster will mark up fees 60%+ for concerts. How can they do that? Why do they have the power to do so?
It seems to me whenever there are multiple parties between and different motivations of decision makers, egregious pricing can result.
Ticketmaster has contracts with concert facilities, who negotiate the convenience fee the fans pay. Since the facility isn't paying the fee, they are less incented to reduce the fees. In fact, it seems they have incentives for the fees to be higher (they are getting a cut I think.)
So then, to see how I could improve my "Ticketmaster skills" I did a blogsearch on Google for "Ticketmaster." Instead of getting tips on how to successfully buy high-demand tickets, I just found a lot of hatred and anger towards Ticketmaster.
Despite fans' rabid hatred, though, it seems like people use Ticketmaster anyway. They have no alternative! It looks like Ticketmaster will mark up fees 60%+ for concerts. How can they do that? Why do they have the power to do so?
It seems to me whenever there are multiple parties between and different motivations of decision makers, egregious pricing can result.
Ticketmaster has contracts with concert facilities, who negotiate the convenience fee the fans pay. Since the facility isn't paying the fee, they are less incented to reduce the fees. In fact, it seems they have incentives for the fees to be higher (they are getting a cut I think.)
Wednesday, May 3, 2006
links for 2006-05-04
You can withdraw real money from this virtual world!
The Harvard Independent takes a closer look at book "packaging" companies, specfically the one that packaged Kaavya Viswanathan's book
Tuesday, May 2, 2006
ShopWiki
ShopWiki is a website that I noticed last week.
I think it's a great idea! The site is essentially a shopping guide / wiki which indexes everything that can be purchased online.
So part of the site is sort of similar to My Simon or Froogle in that it lets you do price comparison. Where I think the site takes off in comparison though is that there are wikis on the site where users can add information/facts on buying something.
When I first came across it, I sort of thought it was neat, but wasn't sure if I would ever use it. Then today I was thinking about making a purchase, but I wanted to do some research beforehand. Right now there's not really any single place to look to do research. If ShopWiki can be a kind of content aggregator of some sort, for example, linking to all the product reviews on a certain type of product and collecting information and putting into an easily searchable place, I think it could be really awesome.
Before people make a purchasing decision, they need objective information to figure out what they're going to buy. There's tons and tons of reviews and articles on things everywhere on the web, but right now they are sort of all over the place. Having one place to find information is really appealing. Also, the community aspect of sharing and people helping each other out is another awesome characteristic of this site.
Of course, they still need to build up their content, but it looks like team behind the site has pretty impressive Internet credentials. Let's see what happens with this site! I also think it's neat the company is based in NYC, home of tons of media/advertising firms.
Sorry if this sounds like a commercial, I don't know anyone involved with the site and just came across it on the Internet... I just think it sounds like a neat idea.
I think it's a great idea! The site is essentially a shopping guide / wiki which indexes everything that can be purchased online.
So part of the site is sort of similar to My Simon or Froogle in that it lets you do price comparison. Where I think the site takes off in comparison though is that there are wikis on the site where users can add information/facts on buying something.
When I first came across it, I sort of thought it was neat, but wasn't sure if I would ever use it. Then today I was thinking about making a purchase, but I wanted to do some research beforehand. Right now there's not really any single place to look to do research. If ShopWiki can be a kind of content aggregator of some sort, for example, linking to all the product reviews on a certain type of product and collecting information and putting into an easily searchable place, I think it could be really awesome.
Before people make a purchasing decision, they need objective information to figure out what they're going to buy. There's tons and tons of reviews and articles on things everywhere on the web, but right now they are sort of all over the place. Having one place to find information is really appealing. Also, the community aspect of sharing and people helping each other out is another awesome characteristic of this site.
Of course, they still need to build up their content, but it looks like team behind the site has pretty impressive Internet credentials. Let's see what happens with this site! I also think it's neat the company is based in NYC, home of tons of media/advertising firms.
Sorry if this sounds like a commercial, I don't know anyone involved with the site and just came across it on the Internet... I just think it sounds like a neat idea.
Monday, May 1, 2006
Windows Live Sort of Sucks
A9 seems to be using Windows Live as its search engine now and it really sucks!!
When I search I often get 2 or 3 results compared to Google's thousands, and when I did a search for "time in nyc" they sent me to website squatter rather than a real website!
I wonder why they are using Windows Live? Must be cost/other Microsoft incentives.... at the long-term expense of attracting users to A9... bleh!!
When I search I often get 2 or 3 results compared to Google's thousands, and when I did a search for "time in nyc" they sent me to website squatter rather than a real website!
I wonder why they are using Windows Live? Must be cost/other Microsoft incentives.... at the long-term expense of attracting users to A9... bleh!!
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