If you think the combined stuttering of Twitter, Facebook, and LiveJournal this morning–which has been attributed to several DDOS attacks–were rough for you, well, try dipping into the shoes of the developers who make software based on Facebook and Twitter APIs.
Author: CBPS
Peter Mehit is co-founder and Managing Partner of Custom Business Planning and Solutions, a business consulting firm that provides problem solving, planning and process help. He has worked from private equity to the Fortune 100 at all stages.
He can be reached at pmehit@wbpllc.com or at 800-741-8444.
Hilarious
The Value of the “Too Big to Fail” Big Bank Subsidy | Dean Baker and Travis McArthur
‘Too Big to Fail’ banks have nearly a one percent advantage over small banks, a $34 billion dollar subsidy.
This piece deals with one of the many consequences of the bail out.
Consumer Spending Falls In September, Biggest Drop In Nine Months
By Martin Crutsinger – Huffington Post
WASHINGTON — Consumer spending plunged in September by the largest amount in nine months, reflecting the end of the government’s Cash for Clunkers auto sales program. Incomes, the fuel for future spending, were flat.
While the government reported that the overall economy grew in the July-September period, signaling the end of the worst recession in seven decades, the weakness in spending and incomes as the quarter ended underscores the fragility of the recovery.
Continue reading “Consumer Spending Falls In September, Biggest Drop In Nine Months”
Mark of shame for Texta-mask burglars | ninemsn
Two accused burglars in the US who covered their faces with permanent marker as a disguise were arrested soon after an apartment robbery with their faces still blackened.
Recovery Task Force Announces $156 Million in Recovery Act Funds Now Available for Energy Efficiency and Solar Projects
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s California Recovery Task Force today announced that more than $156 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act) funds are now available for application for energy efficiency and solar projects in California. A package of options under the State Energy Program (SEP) and the Energy Efficient and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG) Program offer local jurisdictions, non-profits and private organizations the opportunity to invest in energy efficiency and photovoltaic energy projects – while helping to stimulate their local economies. Governor Schwarzenegger announced that California was the first state in the nation to apply federally for SEP funding available under the Recovery Act.
Brain Wave Zero | Peter Mehit
Marketing, as it has been taught for the last couple of decades, involves identifying prospects by their preferences, demographics, and psychographics along with a host of other factors to try to craft the perfect message to reach them. The prospects are split off from their homogenous groups into market segments to be carpet bombed with logos, ad copy, videos, offers, coupons, radio and television ads with the fervent hope they will purchase something from us.
If there is one lesson from the rise of social networking, it’s that people don’t care about brands anymore, they are brands. They sell to us as much as we sell to them.
Continue reading “Brain Wave Zero | Peter Mehit”
SBA Raises Limits, Guarantees | SBA
The Small Business Administration has raised the limits for 504 and 7a programs, along with relaxing some requirements. Since the SBA doesn’t actually make the loans (banks do) and doesn’t have to service them or carry them on their books (banks do), it remains to be seen if this will launch a renaissance in small business lending or is just another feel good photo op.
10 Things Corporations Can Learn from Pro Wrestling | Fast Company
I’ve found wrestling often acts as a carnival mirror to our culture, stretching and magnifying the underlying fears, prejudices and tension points amongst us. However, I think wrestling provides all sorts of learning that corporate America should pay attention to as well.
2009 UN World Drug report – The Big Picture – Boston.com
2009 UN World Drug report – The Big Picture – Boston.com.
The 2009 United Nations World Drug report, released earlier this year, notes that 2009 marks “the end of the first century of drug control (it all started in Shanghai in 1909)”, and that the illicit drug market worldwide has now become a $320 billion-per-year industry. As drug-related violence in Mexico appears to continue unabated, and crackdowns in Afghanistan are being made against its massive opium crops, new efforts are also being made worldwide in methods of enforcement and treatment of recovering addicts. Collected here are a handful of recent images from the rough world of illegal drugs across the globe. (37 photos total)
Dispatches From The Front 