Dapper MashupAds Turn Your Website Into Contextual, Display Ads

Posted on November 10, 2008
Filed Under web 2.0 |

This is a great example of what is possible when you enable widgets with a communication mechanism (as in communicating with other data elements) and take advantage of microformats. Great work by the Dapper team, this is a very novel solution (in all fairness, it is essentially what AFC is doing, so novel is subject to interpretation).

The most important ad for a company or brand is its Website. So why not use that Website to generate ads? Dapper, a startup that can create a feed from any Website, is applying its technology to generate contextual, display ads from the constantly changing content on an advertiser’s own site. [From Dapper MashupAds Turn Your Website Into Contextual, Display Ads]
Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Corporate Taxes Are Killing the U.S. Auto Industry

Posted on November 10, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized |

Let’s agree that lowering corporate and capital gains taxes will result in more stimulus for U.S. auto makers than pouring taxpayer monies into them. The Toyota example may suggest an incongruent factor that disproves the thesis, but Toyota doesn’t have the UAW on it’s back either.

To make matters worse, the main competitors that are not Japanese all operate out of countries with much lower tax rates than the United States. When profits pile up in the good years, U.S. companies pay about 34 percent more in taxes than those operating elsewhere in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development–an international group of the richest nations. This drains cash reserves that are necessary for retooling when the bad times hit.

[From AEI - Short Publications - Corporate Taxes Are Killing the U.S. Auto Industry]

Nokia to Launch Traffic Network

Posted on November 10, 2008
Filed Under Wireless |

I’ll be curious to see how this is implemented. Being able to syndicate the structural traffic network content (e.g. road sensors) to mobile phones makes a lot of sense but the user generated content piece is more suspect. First of all there is the input mechanism given that SMS is illegal while driving (and for good reason, as opposed to handsfree requirements), but more ominously, there is no way in hell they will get a critical mass of individuals to input data about traffic conditions in real time.

Based in part on the results of an earlier experiment, Nokia believes that a community of users with GPS-equipped mobile devices can help reduce traffic and the amount of time spent on the road. Providing real-time information about traffic congestion helps drivers make more informed decisions - such as whether to take alternative routes, public transport or reschedule their journey.

[From Nokia Research Center Puts Mobile Millennium in Gear to Help Reduce Traffic Congestion]

BTW, this is a Java app so the possibility of an Android version is real, however unlikely, but an iPhone version would be a significant effort. This may sound odd to suggest given that Nokia is the sponsor, but for the content network to flourish it would be essential to have a broad array of handset manufacturers involved, and considering that this project is funded in part by a grant from the Department of Transportation, the notion that it would benefit a single vendor, who is a foreign company nonetheless, is odious.

The Revolt Against Traffic Cameras

Posted on November 10, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized |

I hate traffic cameras used for enforcement. Cities use public safety arguments to promote this electronic police force, yet highlight revenue goals as a measure of success because data simply doesn’t support the assertion that safety follows implementations of cameras. Furthermore, with cities like Union City over in the East Bay having been discovered for shortening the yellow light timing in order to boost revenue from cameras, the safety claims simply go out the window. The lowering of speed limits where cameras are installed is yet another example of the less than honest motives behind these cameras.

Mostly I object to third party contractors operating these camera systems on the grounds that they are acting as an agent of the government without the requirement for oversight and transparency to the public. When you get a traffic ticket, it should be coming from a police officer whom you can challenge in court, not a camera operated by a faceless and undisclosed company with a contract to the municipality you are in.

I predict we will see a growing revolt against these traffic cameras, it already happened in Texas, and most recently in Ohio.

Following this week’s successful voter referendum banning photo enforcement in Cincinnati, residents in two more Ohio cities are looking to oust red light cameras and speed cameras. The sponsors of the Cincinnati initiative are now exploring the possibility of putting ticket cameras on the ballot in Toledo. In Chillicothe, more than 17 percent of the city’s 13,000 registered voters has already signed a growing online petition demanding camera removal. “The undersigned will take action to elect new city council members therefore removing all those responsible for this unconstitutional act unless the said members make motion to remove and terminate this contract the city signed with Redflex Traffic Systems immediately,” the petition states. The possible consequences of the revolt were not lost on city leaders who are expected to discuss the issue at an upcoming city council meeting. One of the camera system’s main supporters, however, blamed residents for the program.

[From Ohio: Anti-Camera Voter Referendum Push Expands | The Truth About Cars]

Remembering Veterans and Devil Dogs

Posted on November 10, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized |

Tomorrow is Veterans Day but today we observe it. Veterans Day is set aside to honor all who have served in the armed forces (as opposed to Memorial Day when we honor those who have died in combat), so today is a good day to go over to Operation Shoebox and send a care package to a soldier. An interesting observation on the impact of technology in a soldier’s life, ink cartridges are highly requested items in Iraq and Afghanistan, you can get a recycle box from Shoebox and send in your old cartridges for reuse.

Today is also the birthday of the United States Marine Corps, which on November 10, 1775 was created by an act of the Continental Congress and since then the Marines have fought in every conflict the U.S. was involved with, including fighting Barbary pirates along the “Shores of Tripoli.”

The Long Tail of Search is Much Longer Than Expected

Posted on November 10, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized |

We’re still discovering that the depth of search has yet to be determined, which should provide comfort to those who believe that keyword search is but one part of an eventual landscape that offers multitudes of opportunity for startups. Having said that, the dynamics of mass market brand recognition still exist and it will be increasingly difficult for a search engine to break out without having a strong distribution partner to help them.

Building a new user base for a search service is a tough prospect, taking search to an existing user base much more appealing.

According to Woodard, the long tail of search is in fact far longer than most other reports have assumed. The top 100 search terms account for 5.7% of all search traffic and include keywords like ‘myspace,’ ‘google,’ ‘bank of america,’ and ‘ yahoo mail.’ Those numbers are not unexpected. However, the top 1,000 search terms only account for 10.6% of all search traffic, and even the top 10,000 search terms only drive 18.5% of all search traffic.

[From Hitwise - The Long Tail of Search is Much Longer Than Expected - NYTimes.com]

The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression

Posted on November 9, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized |

I read this book earlier this year and it’s imprinted upon me in a most forceful way, so much so that I’m considering rereading it again. I recommend this book because I hear many politicians today talking about a modern era New Deal approach to our economic problems, yet there is an increasing consensus that FDR’s New Deal actually prolonged the Great Depression rather than relieving it. Clearly the events of WWII make it impossible to know what the outcome would have been if left to a natural course, but the evidence is compelling nonetheless.

It is precisely this consciousness of history that we simply have to be versed in.

In her telling, policymakers of the 1920s weren’t so incompetent as they’re often made out to be—everyone in the 1930s was floundering and all made errors—and WWII, not the New Deal, ended the Depression. This is plausible history, if not authoritative, novel or deeply analytical. It’s also a thoughtful, even-tempered corrective to too often unbalanced celebrations of FDR and his administration’s pathbreaking policies.

[From Amazon.com: The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression: Amity Shlaes: Books]

UPDATE: After this post went up I received an email from Frank Thomas with a link to this video. It’s a great compilation of Depression era photography set to music and beginning and ending with words from FDR’s inaugural address. It’s a compelling video, worth the 5 small minutes to watch it.

Cap-and-Trade Carbon Plan Coming

Posted on November 8, 2008
Filed Under Clean Tech |

Get ready for the new Congress and a dedicated push for cap-and-trade carbon emissions legislation. I’ll leave it to the comment section to debate the merits of the underlying problem that cap-and-trade attempts to address, but for me the big loser here are workers because for such a system to work the initial credits will be auctioned off by the government, so it’s essentially a tax and for those that can afford it they take their costs up front while those that can’t will take it in small doses through penalties and a market mechanism. In the end I fear this is nothing more than a job killer.

No matter which man leads the committee, Pelosi said she would pressure him to move a “cap and trade” bill that would limit greenhouse gases and allow emitters to trade credits to emit gases. She acknowledged it might take Congress time to put together the complex and controversial legislation. [From Pelosi says voters misunderstood Prop. 8]

Lastly, I can’t help but find the irony given recent events involving open markets that trade hard to value intangible assets, that the Congress would suggest setting up a market for… hard to value intangible assets. Imagine the mark-to-market implications of having carbon credits on your books?

Related articles by Zemanta
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

He Said What?

Posted on November 7, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized |

It’s hard to believe that ANYONE could make this suggestion without laughing loudly upon hearing the words come out:

Levy argues that the reason a temporary tax increase won’t worsen the economy is that the money continues to circulate in California. It will be spent in ways that benefit the economy; it will just be spent differently than consumers would have spent it.

“The tax increase does take money out of the hands of consumers and put it toward government programs that the governor himself says are very critical areas,” Levy said.

[From Analysis: Is Schwarzenegger wise to raise taxes in a bad economy? - San Jose Mercury News]

Apparently Levy believes that footing the bill for unlimited gas cards and car leases for state legislators benefits the economy and represents a critical program that requires additional taxes to continue funding.

Everyone in government talks about reducing wasteful spending but in reality it never happens and budgets grow without end. Reducing wasteful spending begins not with platitudes but with a detailed line by line review of what taxpayer money is being spent on. When taxpayers believe that their money is being spent appropriately, they will support new taxes when it is necessary.

Extending credit: the pain continues

Posted on November 7, 2008
Filed Under Uncategorized |

Dennis provides an example of how the credit markets are impacting supply chains.

This tongue in cheek look at the US dollar’s rise and fall would be funny if it didn’t mask the pain that many feel is upon the global economy. But then I read in the FT that Tesco is strong arming 300 of its non-food its suppliers to pony up an extra 30 days’ cashflow as it seeks to release more cash into its coffers. Over on HotViews, Richard Holway reports the same disease has spread to Computacenter and DSG, noting that:

[From Extending credit: the pain continues | AccMan]

With GM in the news today and not for good reasons it is somewhat reactive to simply say “let them fail” considering the impact such a development would have on the thousands of suppliers and millions of workers who are in play. I’m no fan of government intervention but also remain acutely aware of the consequences of inaction as well. Exhibit A is the Feds decision to save Bear Stearns but let Lehman fail, which in hindsight set of a chain of events that led to the demise of AIG and countless others.

We are living in extraordinary times, as much as I despise that bailout plan and more so how poorly it was conceived, communicated and ultimately acted upon by the Congress, I think we all have to admit that any playbook we thought we had has been ripped in half and we are playing the second half only on audibles.

« go back — keep looking »

  • Feeds