Dell Offering "Bounty" on iPods

File this under Acts of Desperation: Dell puts $100 bounty on iPods, where they are offering $100 rebates for people who trade in iPods for the Dell MP3 player.

My first thought was that a used iPod is worth more than that, and a quick look at eBay shows used iPod auctions at $100 and higher, so $100 seems to be the floor. This means that iPod users can probably get more by selling it to someone else, plus it means that people can't "game the system" and buy a used iPod for cheaper than $100 and get the trade-in (I assume the trade-in doesn't apply for broken units, although this isn't explicity stated in the article).

The article does predict that Dell is unlikely to get many takers.

The iPod is not just about the hardware, it's about the entire experience. Apple still offers the best integrated experience, from using the iTunes music store and application to the (iPod) hardware.

The article also points out that if an existing iPod user wanted to change to Dell, it would be no trivial task to transfer his library from the iPod format to the Dell.

Rorschach wrote a very favorable review here in November on the Dell MP3 player and I know others who like them, but I think getting existing iPod users to change will be an uphill battle. I know I'm not interested in trading in my iPod.

Democratic Strategy: Stick Fingers in Ears, Chant "I Can't Hear You"

Captains Quarters links to news that the U.S. created 250,000 new jobs in June, bringing the total to 1.4 million new jobs created since January. He also lists other administrative developments:

So the Bush economic strategy has paid off, Iraq has its sovereignty back, we've so far avoided another terrorist attack in the US, Libya has disarmed, India and Pakistan have expanded diplomatic ties, and NATO has agreed to support both Iraqi and Afghan security forces to assist in establishing democracy in Southwest.

You could add that home ownership is at an all-time high, consumer confidence is at a two-year high and climbing, industrial production and productivity is up, that the economic recovery means that tax receipts are actually climbing.

All this good news for the country is bad news for democrats. They will continue to push bad economic data, such as inflating the number of jobs that are outsourced (saying it's millions rather than a few thousand a quarter) and trying to convince voters of an alternate reality universe (like trying to convince the world there was no link between Saddam and terrorism despite plenty of proof that there was).

Update: Jobs growth was 112K, which was lower than anticipated, making the total more like 1.3 million new jobs this year.

Run From Police, Get Hit, Sue for "Brain Damage"

Lawyer: Beating Victim Shows Signs of Brain Damage

LOS ANGELES-June 30, 2004 - The attorney for a black man beaten by police last week in a televised arrest is now saying his client is showing "classic" signs of brain damage.

The burden of proof will be to show that he wasn't brain damaged before the beating.

Attorney Richard Nussbaum says his client - Stanley Miller - suffers from severe headaches, slurred speech and difficulty concentrating after a Los Angeles police officer hit him repeatedly with a flashlight.

None of which can be proven or disproven medically.

I figure Mr. Miller will see a windfall of several million, courtesy of the LA taxpayers

On-line Test: Are You a Neocon?

Like I needed a quiz.

Based on your answers, you are most likely a neoconservative. Neoconservatives…

Want the US to be the world's unchallenged superpower
Share unwavering support for Israel
Support American unilateral action
Support preemptive strikes to remove perceived threats to US security
Promote the development of an American empire
Equate American power with the potential for world peace
Seek to democratize the Arab world
Push regime change in states deemed threats to the US or its allies

Historical neoconservative: President Teddy Roosevelt
Modern neoconservative: President Ronald Reagan

Fairly accurate, except for the "American empire" swipe - test must have been written by one of those Realists in State.

Try the test yourself. The other results are Isolationist, Liberal, and Realist.

Rock and Roll Station FM 95.5 KLOS Endorses Left-Wing Causes

Coming back to the office from lunch today I happen to have my radio on FM 95.5, which is your basic rock-and-roll station. Between songs the disk jockey, Cynthia Fox, starts in on a five minute endorsement of Michael Moore and his latest film, gushing with pleasure of how the film is "moving people" to "get involved" and encouraged everyone to see the film as well as some Moore interview that is on tonight. There was no mention of the film's lies and distortions, the wild-eye conspiracy theories it endorses, or the simple fact that lots of Americans - around half - just might happen to disagree with the film.

Ms. Fox is certainly entitled to her point of view, but this five minute love fest to Moore was more suitable for Air America than a music station, and it's disappointing that she had to stoop to this tactic to get her views across to the public. If I want to listen to a radio station promote left-wing causes, there are plenty of stations like Pacifica or NPR I can listen to (I assume Air America will be off the air shortly).

It isn't surprising that the station is owned by ABC Radio. Needless to say the station is no longer programmed into my radio.

This Picture Says It All

This was taken right after Bush was told about the hand-off of Iraqi sovereignty.

I think it tells a great story.

Hat Tip: Spot On

What An Accurate Headline

Since, after all, they hold the same views:

Early Iraq Handover Surprises Rebels and Reporters

I'm Not Dying to Retire

And I mean that literally. Most people suspected it, but today's WSJ "special report" on retirement (no direct link yet) discusses a scientific study showing that people who were working at age 70 were 2.5 times more likely to still be living at age 82 than those who weren't working:

It isn't clear from the data how long a person needs to continue working beyond the regular retirement age to reap the benefits to longevity, but it appears that the longer you continue working, the better:

The article also notes that "work" in these older years includes volunteering, while staying "active" and involved with family and friends doesn't cut it:

But for those workers who find themselves miserable in their jobs and can't wait to retire, the Israeli study did offer some hope. It appears that the same level of protection offered by paid work also can be obtained by doing unpaid work -- essentially, extensive volunteering that amounts to a regular job. The study found that busy volunteer workers were also more likely to be alive than their fully retired counterparts.

This study just solidifies my plans not to ever retire. I was "retired" when I was unemployed for half a year in 2002 and I hated it. And this was while I was in my mid 30s, in good health, and in fairly good financial shape. Simply stated, I was bored out of my mind, and I don't see that changing in 35 years.

So my plans are to keep "working" in some capacity until I drop. More than likely this will probably mean some sort of consulting once I am forced into retirement, but who knows what the labor landscape will look like in 30+ years. A different article in the same section noted that the ratio of workers to retirees will be down from today's 4-to-1 to 2-to-1, so with Social Security being insolvent by then, maybe the government will give companies special incentives to hire and retain older workers. If I'm lucky I'll have my own business and can run it as the old curmudgeon, but no matter what I do, I don't see myself stopping work.

In the mean time I know people who are literally counting down the days until their retirement. I just hope I can carve time out of my work schedule to go to their funerals.

Californians Are Not At The Top of The Food Chain

While I eat whale, mountain lions eat Californians. Poetic justice, I guess.

Edible Political Correctness

The WSJ (paid subscription) has a story today about the backlash against politically correct eating.

One of the biggest political battlegrounds in America these days isn't Bush and Kerry -- it's fish and dairy (or at least milk-fed veal). Gourmet edibles are coming under a new barrage of legal and activist attacks, and some diners and chefs are striking back...

Foodies are resisting, including a San Francisco chef who staged an all-foie gras dinner with picketers assembled in front of his restaurant. (The same chef says he'll keep serving Russian Beluga "until it becomes illegal.") Fish lovers are gobbling farmed salmon...Veal is appearing at high-end restaurants at the highest rate since 1998

And my take on this? I ate WHALE in Japan a few years ago, and you can't get more politically incorrect than that, so you can guess my stance on this topic (if you're curious it's a little chewy and tastes like beef). To be fair, I wouldn't volunteer to go out and eat whale, but as a guest at the dinner, turning it down would have been a severe breach of politeness, causing my host to lose face. And while I have might have had personal misgivings about it, I am certainly not going to tell the Japanese (or anyone else) what they can and can't eat.

Of course, I WOULD put my foot down at eating dog in S. Korea. Yes, there ARE restaurants that serve dog there (someone pointed one out to me before), but it is eaten by a very small percentage of S. Koreans and the practice seems to be dying out.

Hat Tip: Prof Bainbridge

Restaurant Recommendation (SoCal Only)

I've never blogged on a restaurant, but I had such an good experience last night, I thought I would pass on a recommendation on to my readers in Southern California.

Looking for something different, I decided to try a Moroccan restaurant not too far from my house, and both the food and ambiance were great. The place is set up like an authentic Moroccan establishment, with short tables and couches with lots of hanging curtains separating eating areas of 3-6 tables, almost like you're inside a very large tent. If you didn't know any better, you might have thought you were next door to Rick's in Casablanca.

The waiter, from Morocco, came to our (short) table wearing a fez, handed us towels, and washed our hands in warm, scented water poured from a silver pot. Traditionally, you eat your meal with your hands - and we did for most of the courses - although they also provide silverware. 98% of Morocco may be Muslim, but that doesn't stop this place from having a full bar, so I enjoyed several "Kasbah" mixed drinks while my wife had a "Belly Dancer", before having a surprisingly good glass of Moroccan wine. (A link here explains that alcohol consumption was customary before Islam penetrated the country, so alcohol is both manufactured and sold there).

The menu is a set, five-course meal (soup, salad, appetizer, main course, desert) and the food was outstanding, and very different from what you might be used to eating. The meal is topped off with a very good glass of hot mint tea.

The place is called Marrakesh and they have three places in SoCal: Costa Mesa, Studio City, and La Jolla. The food will cost you about $30-$35 a person, so with drinks a party of two will be about $100. With the great food and ambiance, I recommend it as money well spent.

To My Readers in Quebec: Happy St. Jean Baptiste Day

To all my right-wing, conservative readers in Quebec who might be reading my site (there is a population of one who fits that description in the whole province), a happy St. Jean Baptiste Day.

The calendar company that sells into Office Depot must also distribute in Canada, so there are all these Canadian holidays on there...

End of An Era

I remember when Comdex was THE tech show in North America. It was large, it was fun, it was business. Now it's dead, something I indicated might happen after my last visit: Comdex's Organizers Cancel This Year's Show

Since I Haven't Posted a Stupid Quiz In a While...

Early in this Blog I used to have a Friday quiz. That lasted about six weeks, but I still occasionally find amusing, time-wasting quizzes on other blogs. This one is courtesy of Prof Bainbridge, and is surprisingly accurate for me (you have no idea how often I pine for the mid 80s...)

My inner child is sixteen years old!

Life's not fair! It's never been fair, but while adults might just accept that, I know something's gotta change. And it's gonna change, just as soon as I become an adult and get some power of my own.
How Old is Your Inner Child?


Note that the good Professor is much older than I am...

Reader Advice: Do You Volunteer Plans For a Year Out During a Job Interview?

Got the following email today from a reader (edited for content and length):

I had a part-time administrative job with no benefits for about 4 months. Two months ago, I got engaged and told everyone at work that I would very likely have to move when my fiancé graduated in about a year. At this point my plans were essentially public knowledge.

A month later my department created a full-time, full-benefit administrative position that I was highly qualified for. While not management level, it was better than the part-time position I had, and I was the best qualified in the department for the post.

I applied for the position and got it. During the interview, my boss never asked me about my plans to stay with the company, so I never brought it up. We discussed my interest in the job, my experience with the work, and some things we had in common.

After I got the job, a co-worker started asking me if I told my boss about my plans to move, and has been pressuring me to go back and warn my boss that I might not be there in a year. This co-worker is a good friend, and I honestly think she's been making this suggestion with my best interest at heart. She didn't apply for my job herself, and had told me she thought I was the best candidate. The problem is that she allows other people to talk to her and those people were trying to make a political issue where there was no need. If anything, her pressure was an attempt to diffuse gossip and back biting.

Was I under any obligation to bring this subject up? Does it really benefit anybody if I do so now?

You have two issues: one ethical, the other political. On the ethical side, you are okay since you were under no obligation to volunteer the fact that you might move for the following reasons:

"Maybe", "Perhaps", "Likely" - You state that it is very likely that I would have to move. This is not definite, and plans always change. I see no reason to put your career on hold and not take a job you are suited for since something "might" happen later on. (The company "might" shut down)

Time Frame - A year? If it were four weeks, then, yeah, sure, tell him during the interview. But a year is forever in business time. Can ANYONE in your company guarantee they will be there in a year? It's more likely that the company will change the department by then (laying you off, changing managers, etc.)

Being a Manager Means You Have To Manage - Your manager knew when he was interviewing you that you aren't going to spend 40 years in this position and then retire. Turnover is a fact of life and every time a manager puts someone in the position, there is the risk the person might leave for professional or personal reasons. It's part of the job, and he'll deal with you eventually leaving, no matter when it is.

Level Not High Enough - CEO position? VP position? I can see where someone in these positions might bring up potential plans a year from now, but at this non-managerial position you are talking about I don't see this as important. In addition, there is no "training period" before being up to speed in this position, so it's not like there is a huge corporate investment in the position before it's proficient (in which case, the interviewer would definitely have asked you about long-term plans).

At Will Employment - You don't give the company any guarantee that you will be there in a year, and the company doesn't guarantee you will have your job in a year. It's a two-way street, and unless this company can give you its employment picture for 12 months out (no way), I see nothing "unethical" about taking this particular job promotion with the possibility that you "might not" be around in 12 months.

So ethically, you are okay.

The second problem, the political one, is a little more difficult, but I don't think the problem is that your co-workers have a problem with the possibility of you leaving. The problem is that no matter who gets promoted, there are people who are always upset. If they didn't know you might leave in a year, they would find another reason, trust me (other favorites are "not here long enough", "not ready for promotion", and "he got the job because he's friends with the manager"). Inter-office rivalry and envy are going to exist and you are not going to change their minds.

There is also the possibility that one of these co-workers might let it "slip" to your manager that you got engaged and might be moving. You have to decide how you want to handle this situation: let him come to you and ask about it, or go to him and let him know.

I would really have to understand your relationship with your manager and any plans to stay in this particular industry, but based on the information I have, my advice is to do nothing. If he does approach you, let him know that you simply don't know what your plans are and for the time being you are staying here, but if your plans change, he will be the first to know. Of course if/when you do make a definite decision about leaving you have to decide when to let him know, but that's a question for another time.

In the mean time talk to your friend/co-worker and outline the reasons you are not going to talk to your boss - the basic one being that you really don't know what is going to happen a year out. You can't prevent her from talking to others in the group, but if she knows that your plans really aren't definite, it might help defuse the situation.

Anyone else have additional or contrary advice?

Open Your Door To A Voter Drive Felon

File under democratic stupidity. Wait, that one's full. I'll put it under democratic desperation:

A Democratic group crucial to John Kerry's presidential campaign has paid felons - some convicted of sex offenses, assault and burglary- to conduct door-to-door voter registration drives in at least three election swing states.

Yeah, everyone deserves a second chance, so let's send sex offenders door-to-door to find women staying at home alone with their small children and burglars to find out which homes are empty.

I Can Finally Try Grey Goose

With my boycott of French goods, I hadn't allowed myself to try Grey Goose, but it looks like I will be able to give it a taste in a few weeks: Bacardi to Buy Grey Goose Vodka

My Generation's Search for Meaning

We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War, no Great Depression. Our Great War is a spiritual war. Our Great Depression is our lives...and we are very, very pissed off.

- Brad Pitt as Tyler Durden in Fight Club

A great line from a clever movie, and one that really hit home when I watched it in 1999 (one of these days I'll read the book). This line still resonates, but I wonder if it would make it into a movie post 9-11-01.

Those of us in our 30s grew up in relative affluence and peace. Other than an occasional economic hiccup or a bomb being lobbed at Libya, those of my generation grew up not having to worry about the world at large. It was the "end of history" and we went out into the world to make a buck and figure out the meaning of life. In the movie, the angst-ridden protagonist was unable to find any meaning other than being a consumer, and he couldn't accept it:

You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet. You're not your fucking khakis. You're the all-singing, all-dancing crap of the world.

In today's world, five years later, I think our protagonist could find meaning, either as standard barer in the War on Terror, or perhaps as a member of the opposition. Either way you lean politically, 9-11 and the subsequent activity that followed it woke the country up from the inward-looking, angst-ridden search for meaning into a full-scale war against terrorism as well as ourselves.

This is why the political dialog has gotten so nasty. This is why students are getting more involved politically. This is why the number of blogs is exploding. It's our new meaning. It's our Great War.

Not Surprised, But Still Pissed Off

I typically try not to blog on the exact same things as the "majors" since I rarely have anything to add that hasn't already been said. However, I will say this about the Johnson beheading: after Berg, I am not in the least bit surprised, but it still pisses me off. I would like to think that this will strengthen America's resolve, but nearly three years into the War on Terror, I am afraid I know better. I expect calls from the opposition within the next 24 hours blaming Bush and advocating everything from appeasement to withdraw.

As usual, one of the major bloggers said it better than I did. Outrageous, if unsurprising.

Truth in (Self) Advertising

A friend of mine - who is one of the most talented marcomm people I have ever met - is looking for a new job and wants to create a resume that is absolutely truthful:

Objective - Get paid a lot to hang around with interesting and intelligent people all day, travel to great locations, and only do the type of projects that I want to do.

Works for me, but she may want to wait until the next bubble to try this.

New Project: Home Expansion

I couldn't afford my home if I were buying it today. From the time I bought it in 1999 to today, it's value has skyrocketed, putting the modest 2,000 sq. ft house with a very large back yard within striking distance of $1 million. Yes, it's less than two miles from the ocean, convenient to shopping and services, and in an okay neighborhood, but coming from Houston where a 6,000 sq. ft. mansion was only $250K, I find it ridiculous.

In the past, when Americans grew out of their homes and had savings and incomes that had grown, they would "buy up" to a new home. The problem is that I want a new home and can't afford the next size up. My next size house in a comparable neighborhood would cost me at least $1.2 million, probably more like $1.4. Even if I sold my house for more than $900K, "moving on up" would require a substantial increase in my mortgage, property tax and home insurance, and I don't see that as a good use of my money.

One solution is to move out of California, which I have looked at, but the one place where my company would allow me to move is definitely a step down from SoCal. Another option is to move inland from where I am now, but I would get only marginal improvements in home prices and both my wife and I - who are less than three miles from our offices - would have to commute. Besides, I enjoy drinking my coffee on the beach every morning. The best solution, I have decided, is to take advantage of my huge back yard and the run-up in the home's value and expand my house. I can easily add 700 sq. ft. - growing the house by nearly a third - and still have a decent sized yard.

The downside to this proposal is the time involved. With the decision being made this week, I don't expect to post pictures of my new expanded house for at least a year. The first step - getting an architect - is going to take at least 6-8 weeks since they are so backed up (everyone else is also taking advantage of high home values and low interest rates to expand their homes so architects are in high demand). Then there are the contractors, who are backed up even more than the architects. The few I have talked to told me not to even call them back until I had my architect, then they would see how many months away they could schedule me.

After multiple phone calls I managed to get a hold of two architects, both of whom could take the project in the late July timeframe (both were recommended). I hope to meet with both of them next week, pick one, and get in the queue. Then I'll wait.

Will update the very slow progress as it happens.

Kerry's Running for School Superintendent?

Polyblog read my mind when he commented on this:

Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said Wednesday he would create a federal program that would pay to keep schools open until early evening to help working parents.

Is this a Presidential issue? Aren't schools run locally? And Kerry must not talk to parents in California since the biggest issue facing working parents I know isn't a couple more hours in the afternoon, the issue is that California schools are closed all the time on work days. Take a look at a schedule: President's Day, MLK Day, Staff Development Days (multiple), End of a Quarter (multiple), Veterans Day, Spring Recess. There are dozens of days the schools are closed throughout the school year, and this doesn't include early dismissal, which for some secondary schools is as often as every other week.

But this isn't the case in the thousands of school districts across the U.S., which brings up the point: is this a national issue? Best case, it's a local issue and worst case it's a state-wide issue, but it certainly isn't something I expect the Leader of the Free World to spend time worrying about.

Anxiously Waiting for the Day Kennedy Joins His Brothers

He's a drunk. He's committed manslaughter. He's an embarrassment to the senate. But the morons in Massachusetts keep electing him because of his last name: Kennedy Meets VIPs Who Want Bush Impeached

WSJ: Don't List Your Blog on Your Resume

Under the "information we don't need" department (no direct link available):

Big Companies like Dell, Abbott and Sprint say that resumes increasingly are turning up that contain links to the applicants' personal Web sites, which include everything from baby pictures to political rants to sample cuts from personal bands.

The article then recommends candidates avoid listing or even mentioning their blogs, and interviews a few employers who sited examples where they got turned off from reading a candidate's personal web site.

In most cases I have to agree with the article. First, remember that you are dealing the morons in the HR department. Second, even though I am an active blogger, in my role as a hiring manager I don't want to see a candidate's blog on their resume. Blogging can be anything from a hobby to a political activity, and unless the blog is somehow related to the job at hand (a political analyst, for example) it really shouldn't come into consideration for employment.

Even if I were interviewing for a position and found that the hiring manager was a kindred spirit with my personal and political beliefs, he might wonder how I manage to enter so many blog entries during business hours...

Guilty Pleasure : The Scott Peterson Case

I'm ashamed to admit it, but I am one of those people following the Scott Peterson case. Unlike the OJ trial, which I avoided as much as I could, this case for some reason intrigues me.

The OJ case didn't interest me since wasn't a huge surprise that a wife beater became unhinged and ended up murdering his wife (along with some poor guy who was at the wrong place at the wrong time). Motive wasn't an issue. And the whole race thing with OJ also just turned me off from the trial - I knew he was going to get off - so I just avoided it.

With Peterson, the whole question of motive is debatable (was it planned, or did he snap during an argument?) and the whole way he has handled himself after the fact - everything from his alibi(s) to his interviews - is like watching a bad soap opera, except this is real life. I also think the verdict isn't a slam dunk, although I am putting odds on a conviction.

I am into this thing enough that I actually watched the USA Network movie on the ordeal, The Perfect Husband (yes, it was trash, but it was good trash).

SoCal Law Blog is following the case if you're interested.

The Power of Capitalism Even Extends to Free Services

You've probably seen this since nearly everyone I know has at least one Yahoo email account:

Dear Yahoo! Mail User,

Thanks for using Yahoo! Mail. It's our goal to offer you an email experience that makes it easy and enjoyable to stay in touch. Periodically, we make service changes to enhance that experience for our users. As of June 15, 2004, you'll enjoy the following benefits:

Increased storage capacity – from your current level to 100MB (still a big difference from the free 1G on Google, but a big improvement)

Increase in total message size to 10MB (I think the old one was 2MB)

A streamlined interface that's even easier to use

As noted before, this is in direct response to Gmail, showing that the power of capitalism extends even to free services (if you call seeing ads while you read your email "free").

Update: I should note again that this is for the free level of service only. As Techdirt points out, there is even more storage - 2 Gigs! - for the paid level.

As If You Needed More Reasons to Hate HR

Guest blogger Dr. Bob wrote here before about HR being the anti-marketing group of a company. Just Procrastinating has more examples of petty, power-tripping morons who populate this profession.

If You Thought People Talking on Cellphones While Driving Was Bad...

...wait until they can watch TV on their cellphone (link requires registration).

Samsung Develops TV-Over-Cellphone Chip - Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has developed an integrated circuit that provides terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) services within mobile telephones, according to reports out of South Korea...DMB is a South Korean digital video standard similar to the Digital Video Broadcast (DVB) suite of standards in use in Europe for cable, satellite (DVB-S) and terrestrial broadcast (DVB-T).

Cellphones will soon do everything from taking pictures to transmitting TV. I just hope one of the phones of the future allows me to talk on the road between my home and my office without dropping the signal.

Run it on Page 14, Section C!

UN inspectors: Saddam shipped out WMD before war and after

This is the UN saying this. You know, the body that the Left thinks is needed to legitimize everything. And they are finally admitting to Iraq having WMD over a year after the U.S. went in there to remove Saddam.

The blogosphere is going to be all over this, but I expect very muted coverage in the mainstream press.

Why I Manage My Own Money

Money Manager Sought in L.A. Scam - The U.S. says Won Charlie Yi defrauded Korean immigrants of at least $36 million (link requires registration; remember to lie).

If you read the article, this crook's method is pretty standard: he promised investors ridiculously large returns with low risk because he had an "inside" deal on purchasing discounted stock. Once investors were in, he would send them statements showing huge growth in their accounts. As these things usually go, the thing fell apart when investors tried to cash in, at which point he promptly fled the country.

Now, for every crook stealing investors' money there are 1000 hard working professionals trying to make their clients a buck. I even have several relatives that work in professional money management, but the fact of the matter is that no one is going to treat your money like its their own unless they think it is their own. And since few of us can afford to lose our life savings and start over, I manage my own money.

I probably have an advantage over the average person on the street since, thanks to my MBA, I understand portfolio theory (CAPM), bond pricing (duration, etc.), options pricing (Black-Scholes), and other details of the capital markets.

But the truth is that the average investor has modest assets which aren't that hard to manage, and putting them to work doesn't require an MBA: put aside money each month, stay out of debt, balance your portfolio between cash, stocks and bonds. This isn't rocket science, so I am always surprised when I read articles like this where people hand over their life savings to someone they hardly know.

Examples of Hollywood Idiocy and Intelligence

Like you need more examples of Hollywood idiocy, but in this case it was corrected by another star:

A week of "Russian Nights" in Los Angeles culminated with an awards ceremony on April 22 at the prestigious Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood. The gala event was held at the end of a weeklong "festival that celebrates Russian contributions to the world of art."

Scheduled to receive "narodney artyst" awards (cleverly translated as "the Russian People's Choice Award") were two Oscar winning actors: Dustin Hoffman and Jack Palance, both of whom trace their roots to Ukraine.

In accepting his award, Dustin Hoffman noted that his grandparents came from "Kiev, Russia" and expressed gratitude to the "Russian people" for helping defeat Germany. He thanked them for saving his grandmother who otherwise "may have ended up as a bar of soap."

Next in line for the Russian government's highest artistic award was Jack Palance. Born Walter Palahniuk in Pennsylvania in 1918, Palance won the Academy Award in 1992 for his memorable portrayal of Curly in "City Slickers".

After being introduced, Palance said "I feel like I walked into the wrong room by mistake. I think that Russian film is interesting, but I have nothing to do with Russia or Russian film. My parents were born in Ukraine: I'm Ukrainian. I'm not Russian. So, excuse me, but I don't belong here. It's best if we leave."

Palance and his entourage proceeded to get up and go. Palance refused to accept the award, even in private.

Dustin, the only time Kiev was part of Russia was when Ukraine was subjugated by those same troops you admire so much, who aided in the extermination of over 7 million Ukrainians. You might also want to note that Ukraine, whose capital is Kiev, declared its independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

When Movies Ruin Great Music

I finally got around to purchasing Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez, and it's an absolutely beautiful piece of music, especially the second movement. The only problem is that it has been used as background music in Spaghetti Westerns (a genre I love) so it keeps bringing up pictures of Clint on a dusty street about to start a gunfight.

If you don't know what I'm talking about, listen to Amazon's excerpt (second track) here.

Where Are You Most Productive?

Mike at Techdirt links and comments on an study that was done on where workers are the most productive.

Turns out workers are more productive while flying business class and in hotel rooms. Mike questions the basis of the study, but it's absolutely true for me.

If I had to rate where I am the most productive, it's in a hotel room. Most of the time this is because I am overseas and awake in the middle of the night, and the only thing on TV is in Korean or Japanese. I bring movies with me these days when I travel (the magic of the PC DVD), but after a blog entry or two, I nearly always end up doing email, working on action items, doing my expense statement (can't get behind on that), and other tasks. The same is true of flying business class, but without an internet connection, I do usually end up watching movies.

That leaves office and home, and between the two I am definitely more productive at home. So if my employers want more work from me, they should send me home from the office, buy me a ticket in business class, and fly me to an overseas hotel room. In this situation I would be unstoppable.

No Instalanche, but I Evolved

I want to thank everyone for linking to and referring to my Carnival of the Capitalists entry this week. Unfortunately Glenn is on vacation, so I just happened to do the CoC that didn't get an Instalanche.

But I'm not complaining. Everyone else's links and referrals sent my traffic up quite a bit this week, and the additional links evolved me into a Large Mammal (see the cool picture below right I picked for this level).

Update: If you establish a permanent link to my site, let me know via email and I will cross-link to you. I try to keep up with links using various blogging tools, but none of them are very efficient.

This Calls for A Major Economic Policy

From today's WSJ (link requires subscription):

THE U.S. SAID that 4,633 workers lost their jobs to "offshoring" during the first quarter, in the government's first attempt to count the number of workers who get fired when their jobs are transferred overseas.

Out of a labor force of about 142,000,000 workers, that is .0032% of all workers. I'll even take a yearly number and say it's .013%.

Should the U.S. enact major economic policy changes for 0.013% of workers?

Taking an Opportunity Vs. Standing By Your Principles

I’m in Silicon Valley today for a day of sales calls. On last evening's flight up here, the former CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation who is now starting a VC fund came on board the plane and sat right next to me. This was a golden opportunity to make an important business contact and I had the perfect opening line “Hi there. I used to work for you!”

Yes, one of my CEOs from many moons ago was sitting right next to me on the plane. I was a low level employee in a corporation of thousands, and the two of us had never met, but the common background gave me the opening to start the conversation.

There was only one problem: I consider him a total, unethical scumbag and hate his guts. This particular CEO’s specialty was breaking up corporations, lining the pockets of himself and a small cadre of lieutenants at the expense of employees and shareholders. I got out of this particular corporation as fast as I could - just over a year - because of what was happening, but after I left I continued to watch as 1000s of employees were laid off and shareholders lost billions of dollars in value while he and a few buddies got ridiculously rich. The company was broken up into something like three or four pieces - I have lost count - and the remnants are still shedding employees all these years later in the middle of a tech boomlet.

It didn't take me long to make a decision. He closed his eyes and nodded off. I read my paper. An hour later we both got off the plane without saying anything to one another.

For Relaxing Times, Make It Suntory Time

The title of this post is from Bill Murray in Lost in Translation. I know I seem to be referring to this movie a lot, but Sofia Coppola did capture a lot of the strange things Americans notice while traveling in Asia.

The reason Murray's character is in Japan is to get paid a ridiculous amount of money to do a commercial - something most major movie actors wouldn't be caught doing stateside. The fact is, this really happens. I picked up this little flyer in the Seoul airport for Lancelot Scotch:

In fact, there is a dedicated web site that chronicles major American actors doing commercials in Japan which allows you to search by last name.

People who have never been to Asia might not get the fact that the reason Murray is in Japan is a part of the movie's humor.

Reagan Coin or Currency

As a currency collector, I was very interested when I heard about the proposals for putting Reagan on the $10.

(Photoshop courtesy of Outside the Beltway)

Putting him on the $10 makes sense (cents?) since most people have no idea who Hamilton was or why he was put on our currency in the first place (he was instrumental in setting up our modern banking system and was the first Secretary of Treasury). Personally, I think he was one of the more interesting Founding Fathers who lived a charmed life until he caught that bullet from Burr. But he was never a President. Calls for replacing Jackson on the $20 or Grant on the $50 miss the point that, no matter what people think about them today, they were Presidents of this great land while Hamilton was not (Franklin on the $100 was also not a president, but everyone would agree he was a greater Founding Father than Hamilton was).



Perhaps a better proposal would be to put Reagan on the $1 coin in place of Sasquatch, or whatever her name is who is on there now. The $1 coin has had the most turnover in portraits in the last 50 years having everyone from Anthony to Eisenhower. And to mollify the anti-Reagan crowd (of which there are many), it could be a commemorative issue, similar to what we do with State quarters today.

Apple Martini Recipe

After noticing that Jim Carson blogged on a banana bread recipe, I thought I would add my recipe knowledge to the blogosphere in a area I know well: martinis. I always get compliments on my apple martini recipe, so I thought it would be the best one to pass on. It may seem very simple, but it took me many, many trials and errors to come up with just the right ingredients and ratios, a search for martini perfection that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Ingredients - Kettle One Vodka, Dekuyper Apple Pucker (don't use other Apple mixer liquors - this is the best one. Vodka is a matter of taste, but I think Kettle One is a good premium vodka that isn't extremely expensive).

Optional Ingredients - Illicit Cuban cigar (pictured above), Apple Schnapps

Ingredients Not To Use - I tried many, many ways to make this and recommend not adding real apple juice, using gin instead of vodka, or using a low-end vodka.

Instructions - Mix two parts Apple Pucker with one part Vodka. Mix in martini shaker (I prefer mine shaken, not stirred, to the point where small ice chips appear on the top of the drink after pouring). For an extra kick add a small amount (like a cap-full) of apple schnapps before mixing. Enjoy your capitalistic decadence with a socialist Cuban cigar.

Carnival of the Capitalists

Welcome to Carnival of the Capitalists 101. Everyone find a seat. If you're looking for Carnival of the Vanities, it's across the hall.

I'm your instructor, Director Mitch, and I'm a real-life Marketing Director at an international technology company. I've broken down today's class by topic. Please hold all questions until the end of the lecture:

Marketing - My favorite business topic since it's what I do for a living.

o A boom in knitting? It's true. Small Business Trends looks at how this fuddy hobby is suddenly cool.

o Want to market your blog? Blog Business World has the ins and outs of the DMOZ Directory.

o Interested Participant makes me glad I turned down that marketing job at Maytag last year. Maytag's lack of a cost cutting strategy over the past decade means they are now forced to make a big change all at once, meaning big layoffs.

o Pricing is one of the Four Ps, and everyone hates the high prices of CDs. The Big Picture looks at why the planned CD price cuts went off track.

o The only thing people hate more than high CD prices is high gas prices. Steve Verdon notes that everyone likes to blame oil prices, but are missing many of the other factors contributing to high prices at the pump. Calico Cat looks at the political aspect of gas prices and wonders why politics gets in the way of a sound energy policy.

o Marketing includes sales, and a great way to improve sales is to read and understand the book Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. Synergy Fest reviews the book and finds it very valuable.

Finance and Economics - Here we'll get out of the "real" world and get into theory and even some philosophy.

o Maybe this should be filed under Marketing: Curryblog explains how investment consultants and portfolio managers purposely misuse the term Tracking Error to make their portfolio performance seem better than it is.

o Catallarchy explores how markets allow selfishness to result in cooperation and uses everyone from Smith to Hobbes to explore how it has resulted in higher living standards for everyone.

o Wheat and Chaff fisks Orwell's book The Road to Wigan Pier and finds Orwell's criticisms of capitalism didn't take into account economic freedom, and how central planning of any kind results in losses of all freedoms.

o Consumption Taxes and how they tax dissaving is explored over at Tim Worstall

o How much do you believe in the economic principal of capitalism? Enough to go to a pro-capitalism rally? Ego suggests you attend one.

Corporate Governance - How is a corporation run? How are decisions made? Do you have a succession plan? What's the role of government in business? Those are only a few questions this area covers.

o One of my daily blog reads, Professor Bainbridge, looks at how hard it is to pass down a family owned business using the Mondavi wine family as a case study.

o Voluntary Exchange uses the example of the WMD recently found in Iraq to explain Framing Effects and their role in decision making.

o Leadership in corporations is vital and Photon Courier passes on a vignette on Eisenhower and his efforts to maintain positive relationships within his organization.

o My own entry this week asks readers for advice for when you find out customer is acting unethically.

o Jeff Doolittle examines FCC regulation and the long term plan for reallocating radio frequency spectrum

Entrepreneurship - Start-Ups are an area where I am 0 for 2, so a good topic for me do some reading on.

o The Entrepreneurial Mind looks at the need for entrepreneurs to find rest in their lives. I've yet to meet a successful entrepreneur who had any rest, so an interesting read.

o Which has created the most innovations: large companies with huge R&D budgets, or independent inventors? It's not hard to guess the correct one and Econlog wonders why large companies aren't the ones doing radical innovations.

That's it for today. Some of this material will be on the mid-term. Are the any questions? Bueller.....? Bueller.......?

Thanks for everyone's contribution. Next week's Carnival will be at We The People. Send your entries to capitalists -at- elhide -dot- com. Go to the CoC home page for more information on this weekly event and how you can become a host.

The Economic Picture Just Keeps Improving

Kerry and his crew were throwing around phrases like "worst economy since the Depression" as recently as May 7 in an effort to weave a reality distortion field . This has become their main battle tactic - pitching their version of events in face of overwhelming facts. This is true on the economy, the war on terror, you name it.

On the economic font, good news is coming out in a pretty steady stream on improving economic conditions, much to the dismay of the democratic leadership:

o The Department of Labor reported that payroll employment increased by 248,000 jobs in May following even larger job gains in both April (346,000 new jobs) and March (353,000 jobs).

o First quarter GDP growth was revised up to a 4.4 percent annualized rate, from the earlier reported 4.2 percent rate

o Over the past 12 months, unemployment has fallen in 47 states (leaving the democrats gleeful in Montana, Rhode Island, S. Carolina, and the District of Columbia).

I expect continuing economic growth and improvement in employment in the months leading up to the election, meaning the democrats are going to have to try to convince people that the economy is worse than it really is.

Ethics Case Study

What do you do when you find out you have a customer who is acting unethically? Here is a real-life situation my company is facing.

Customer "E" purchases services from my company using a consultant/purchasing agent. My company had nothing to do with the set-up and, in fact, were told by the end customer to use the purchasing agent over our objections.

Purchasing agents typically make their money by placing an "adder" on what we quote, and in return for a margin on the business usually provide consulting, project management and other consulting services. Manufacturers such as my company don't like them since this structure simply adds a middleman that brings little added value and inflates the cost of our business to the customer.

Turns out there is another reason this middleman is being used: he is providing kickbacks to one of the managers at the customer:




Here are the other facts for the case:
1. My company had no say in the set-up of this middleman and actually requested he not be used in the first place. In other words, we had won our business directly (and ethically) with Customer E and were told after the fact that this was to be the set-up.

2. Word of the kick-back scheme is based on rumors and contacts with others who "are in the know", but there is no proof of this scheme that could be used in court

3. This customer is one of the few loading the factory on this particular product and losing the business, while not hurting the company at a high-level financially, could result in the temporary layoff (6-8 weeks) of overseas line workers until the line is converted to another product.

So what are the options? Here are the few I see:

1. Walk away from the business - personally I rather not deal with unethical companies, but walking away from the business doesn't solve the problem. The set-up will just be taken to one of our competitors while some of our line workers pay the price with losing a month or two of pay.

2. Inform upper management at the customer - This couldn't be done through official channels since we would be passing on a rumor without proof (but we believe is true). It would have to be done through an executive level meeting in a non-business environment (over dinner, drinks, maybe unethical Cuban cigars) where word of the rumor could be passed onto the customer's executives. Perhaps they root out the problem, perhaps they ignore it, but we passed on what we heard.

3. Do Nothing - The past of least resistance, and you know what they say about that.

I like option 2. Does anyone else have any suggestions or comments?

Tips on Smuggling

After over 15,000 miles of travel I am finally back to hearth and home. Before moving off to other topics, I thought I would end this series of posts with some smuggling tips.

Director Mitch smuggles? Certainly that must a mistake made by a jet-lagged addled mind. But it's true. This paragon of virtue, this beacon of justice has one vice that requires smuggling of illicit contraband: Cuban cigars.

Now, as a right-wing, commie-hating business man, I am all for the Cuban embargo and will hopefully soon read about the death of Castro and the overthrow of his regime. But as noted before, Cuban cigars are better than others, and I have to get them from somewhere.

Finding Cuban cigars overseas is easy enough. I got mine from a duty-free shop in the Seoul airport, and my boss, who hooked up with me for my last leg of the trip, thought I was on to something and picked some up from a duty-free shop in Taiwan.

Before dispensing advice, I should note: the penalty for smuggling small quantities of Cuban cigars for "personal consumption" is simply confiscation of the merchandise. Bringing in large quantities for "dealing" (more than a couple of boxes) is dealt with pretty harshly - you can serve time - and drug dogs at the airport aren't trained to go off on tobacco, and they are all over the place these days at international arrivals. So read this post as tongue-in-cheek since I'm not taking any real risks and since my pointers won't help with real contraband. So here are my tips:

Pigs get Fat, Hogs Get Slaughtered - an entire box of cigars (20) is hard to hide. The boxes are bulky and should a screener open your luggage, even a casual glance through your clothes will turn up that bulky box. Instead I buy the small boxes of 5 cigars that easily fit in the inside pocket of a suit jacket. After all, even if you are screened, pat-downs are still pretty rare these days, so I only buy quantities that fit on my person.

Businessmen Are Low-Probability Targets: As a Customs screener, who would you stop:

The second guy might be an Enron executive ripping off stockholders, but that isn't the Custom Agent's problem. He's looking for contraband, and the best bet is to screen people who look like they've been hiking through poppy fields in Cambodia.

Quite frankly, I am a bit surprised that there are people who travel internationally looking just like the first picture, but there are. They might as well just put a big SCREEN ME sign on their forehead. And it's worse over in Asia. I've seen backpackers have every single item in their possession turned inside out by custom agents in Japan because they fit a profile.

Racial profiling isn't practiced, but I guarantee that every other form of profiling is.

Nervous? I'm Not Nervous - One time in Europe, I took the Chunnel from Paris to London looking pretty disheveled: I was in jeans, I hadn't shaved, and I looked more like a student than business person. Sure enough, I was "randomly" approached by a customs agent as I got off the train:

Screener: Sir, did you know that marijuana and pornography are illegal to bring into the country? (Mitch: okay, he knows about Amsterdam, so I understand that part of the question, but why did he peg me for porn?)

Mitch: Of course (Mitch: although as an American I actually didn't know about porn being verbotin).

Screener: Would you mind if I search your luggage?

Mitch: Not at all. (pointing towards a table and starting to walk that way)

Screener: Never mind. (abruptly turns to more people behind me)

Obviously he was looking for an adverse reaction, a change in my facial expression, a stutter saying that wouldn't be necessary. Seeing that I didn't care, he concluded that I had nothing to hide and went off looking for someone else to screen.

U.S. Customs does this, as well as other low-level psychological screens. They ask how your trip was. What business you're in. Where you were. They don't care what you answer. They care how you answer. They're looking for signs of lying and nervousness.

Remove Identification - Cigars are legal. Cuban cigars are illegal. Remove their identification, and suddenly your illegal contraband is legal. You can even declare it. I have cigars. They were a gift. Don't know where they're from. Customs can't do anything, so off you go with your unmarked cigars.

Of course, after doing this it becomes difficult brag about your illegal cigar with your friends and colleagues, but if taste is what matters, it's the safest route.