As I said in my post yesterday, things are moving fast in the business of blogs. Strong rumours yesterday, confirmation today. In a press release dated today, Six Apart announced that it has acquired Danga Interactive, the owner of Live Journal, for an undisclosed amount of stock and cash. The press release says that, with […]
Category: Business
Corporate governance fuels boom for enterprise software vendors
Business Week reports on the success of enterprise software vendors and their ‘corporate governance programs’ to fix internal accounting problems, which have become hot sellers in a booming new market: […] It’s a growth business in a mature industry: Market researcher Gartner expects spending on corporate-governance software to hit $6.9 billion in ’06, more than […]
Oracle closes PeopleSoft deal
Oracle is closing its PeopleSoft acquisition today, after receiving more than 97 percent of PeopleSoft shares in its tender offer. CNET News reports that Oracle set a deadline of Thursday evening for PeopleSoft investors to tender their shares, and was able to meet the 90 percent threshold to do a fast-track close on the deal […]
The inadequacies of current copyright laws
So bloggers are firmly among the guilty in the area of ignoring copyright: […] Bloggers, in general, have little respect for copyright laws and tend to snatch and grab anything out there as “theirs.” One blogger who was involved in this had possession of 12 videos that he was making available on his site. He […]
Understanding copyright law is the hard part
In the past two weeks I’ve posted two commentaries about copyright – copyright myths and the inadequacies of copyright laws. In each, I argue that current copyright laws are inadequate protection of anyone’s intellectual property rights in the online world because it’s so easy to just grab someone else’s work. Equally, bloggers and website owners […]
A worthy checklist for presentation planning
Seth Levine, a Principal at Mobius Venture Capital in the US, posted a handy guide on putting together an effective presentation when you’re calling on VCs to pitch your wares. Reading the guide, all of it struck me as wholly valid in almost any situation where you have to explain something to someone in order […]
Two star offerings from ChangeThis
A new selection of manifestos from ChangeThis is available on free download from today. Among the six new ones, I immediately downloaded two in particular which really are good and worth time in reading: The Hughtrain by Hugh McLeod. Liberally sprinkled with Hugh’s wicked gapingvoid cartoons: “You’ve read The Cluetrain, now Hugh McLeod brings you […]
Growing European resentment at Sarbanes-Oxley
A rising tide of resentment is building at the increasing pressure European companies are feeling to comply with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, with some European companies threatening to de-list from US stock exchanges. Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) is legislation passed in the US in 2002 in response to a number of major corporate and accounting […]
iPod Shuffle: The new Official Cool
This could be a no-brainer decision for anyone (like me, for instance) contemplating getting a digital music player – get an iPod Shuffle. Launched this week at Macworld in San Francisco, the iPod Shuffle is a USB flashdrive-based player that costs just $99 for the one with 512 megs capacity and $149 for the one-gig […]
Oracle plans big cuts
Following completion of its PeopleSoft acquisition, Oracle is in the process of a mass layoff of staff that’s expected to cut thousands of jobs, Infoworld reports. And it’s not just PeopleSoft employees who will go – reports such as Infoworld’s talk only of ‘cuts’ and ‘layoffs’ without specifying which company. Some financial analysts are expecting […]
Smart apple
From a BBC News report today by BBC North America business correspondent Stephen Evans on what is it about Apple and its products that inspires such near-religious devotion from users: Clearly, [Apple] is getting a lot right. Its devotees (disciples?) swear by their products as being effective and easy to use. It’s just that there’s […]
The harsh reality for PeopleSoft employees
CNET News: Oracle appears to be adding insult to injury in its merger with PeopleSoft – taking the unusual step of notifying workers of their termination by sending pinks slips via express mail to their homes. Shipments to thousands of PeopleSoft employees across the [United States] are expected over the weekend, according to sources close […]
The business goal is the only goal
eWeek: After last year’s buyout of Scala Business Solutions, ERP and supply-chain vendor Epicor Software Corp. is now giving serious thought to more acquisitions, especially in vertical markets, said Epicor president and CEO George Klaus. Completed during the first half of 2004, Epicor’s purchase of Scala has turned out to be "a very, very good […]
Breaking news blogger style
Steve Rubel has a very interesting story on a news story that’s not yet a news story (in the traditional sense) but probably will be soon – once the the media pick up on what blogs are already saying. He talks about the posts and comments in blogs about an apparent rift between Hewlett-Packard and […]
Complaints about Apple prices in Europe spur online petition
ZDNet UK reports today that an online petition has been set up to put pressure on Apple to bring European prices for the new Mac mini in line with their US equivalents. The petition – created by and written by Timo Schöler and simply called Reasonable price for the Mac mini in the EU – […]
Linux: A very different business model
For its 31 January edition, Business Week has an intriguing story online about Linus Torvalds, the Finnish creator of the Linux Unix-like operating system. The story has insight commentary on how the Linux open-source developer community works in conjunction with big-name ‘establishment’ companies, and the real threat Linux presents to Microsoft and its Windows family. […]
The bespoke tailor who blogs
Last night, I was reading the posts on English Cut, the website of Thomas Mahon, bespoke Savile Row tailor, London (says the blog’s tag line). He’s in the tailoring industry (if I dare describe it thus). I discovered Mr Mahon’s blog from a post on Hugh McLeod’s gapingvoid. What a delightful blog! In a post […]
Blogging jump-starts your relationships
Christopher Carfi says it all: Reason #6537 why business folk should write, podcast, or otherwise communicate often, and in their own voice: your customers, vendors, and partners get to know you before they even meet you, so when you do get together, you already have shared context and can get things done 10x faster than […]
GM executive blog and the role of PR
General Motors’ Vice Chairman, Bob Lutz, is not the only one blogging The FastLane Blog, GM’s executive blog. Last Friday, Tom Stephens, Group Vice President, GM Powertrain, joined Lutz as another senior GM executive blogger. This fits with the intent of this blog as this statement on 5 January says: The FastLane blog is your […]
Skype is getting very interesting
A few weeks ago, I joined the Skype beta testing program for their planned voice messaging service. It is good! In case you haven’t heard of Skype yet, in a nutshell it’s an internet phone service that enables you to speak with other Skype users anywhere in the world for free, and optionally call normal […]