For those of you who enjoy hearing the torque and crunch of poetry, PennSounds is systematically making short readings available online, mostly in MP3, and always free.
In hopes of developing a market for "song-length" poetry, the manifesto explains the emphasis on MP3, poetry "singles" and the embedding of bibliographic material in each cut so that the poem is able to live in the wild on its own. The poems are also available via podcast.
More at:http://www.writing.upenn.edu/pennsound/
Monday, May 14, 2007
Last.fm
Online radio station Last.fm is adding a video section to its site this week, enabling users to create their own personalised video channels - similar to how users can already create radio stations based on their music tastes. Last.fm is partnering with major and independent labels for this. The company also claims that the quality of videos on its site "will be significantly higher than that of YouTube", with audio encoded at 128kbps compared to YouTube’s 64kbps.
Initially it will be mainly independent labels featured on the video Last.fm - such as Ninja Tune, Nettwerk Music Group, Domino, Warp, Atlantic and Mute. However among the rosters of those independents are brand name artists like the Arctic Monkeys, Moby and Aphex Twin. Last.fm has also made partnerships with big labels like EMI and Warner, along with "over 20,000 independent labels".
More at:http://www.last.fm/
Initially it will be mainly independent labels featured on the video Last.fm - such as Ninja Tune, Nettwerk Music Group, Domino, Warp, Atlantic and Mute. However among the rosters of those independents are brand name artists like the Arctic Monkeys, Moby and Aphex Twin. Last.fm has also made partnerships with big labels like EMI and Warner, along with "over 20,000 independent labels".
More at:http://www.last.fm/
How To Scale Mt .Google
A little over a year ago, Giovanna Villanueva was toiling away in virtual obscurity. No matter what she did to her website, where she sells kitchen cabinets for several brick-and-mortar businesses, it ranked so low on Google that the search engine was hardly bringing her any customers.
Yet today KitchenCabinet-Mart.com is a remarkable turnaround story: Search "kitchen cabinets" - the most popular phrase in the category - and her site pops up near the top of Google's all-important first page, even trumping one of the country's largest cabinetmakers, Merillat. The result: revenue of $10,000 a month and more inquiries than her one-woman business can handle. "I can't keep up with the e-mail," Villanueva says.
A methodical application of SEO techniques did the trick. SEO - shorthand for search engine optimization, the craft of increasing your rank on search engines - is now a $4.1 billion industry. Ad agencies have entire SEO divisions. Companies hire SEO pros. Yet expertise isn't a must; understanding basic SEO strategies can help the smallest site climb Google's "organic," or nonpaid, results.
How to make money without really trying
How? By diligently working two of the key factors that affect Google placement: links and search phrases. A few years ago, you could exchange links with just about any website and then watch your site shoot to the top of Google. Those days are all but over. Inbound links are critical to building what's referred to as "link authority," but Google tirelessly works to sniff out bad ones - from spammers, those irrelevant to your topic, or newly registered sites that don't yet have Google creed. Such links will hurt your ranking and could even get you banned from Google. Says SEO veteran Greg Boser, who runs a firm called WebGuerrilla, "These days Google pretty much looks at a site as guilty until proven innocent."
Different sites need different kinds of links, of course. But certain rules apply: Google tends to give weight to links from major companies, trade groups, government organizations, and especially sites built on .edu domains reserved for educational institutions.
The quest for the perfect online ad
Spammers are currently one step ahead of Google on this front. Search "buy Vicodin," for instance, and you'll find loads of sites connected to .edu addresses. If it works for Vicodin peddlers, it'll work for you (at least temporarily). So find academics and hit them up for links. But remember that for lasting credibility with Google, the links need to be relevant. Villanueva, for instance, e-mailed dozens of college instructors who teach woodworking and courses about the lumber industry and snagged two .edu links.
Next figure out who's linking to your competition and cut deals with them. Yahoo's Site Explorer (siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com) will show you a site's inbound links. Joining Web directories is also worthwhile. Lesser-known ones like BOTW.org and JoeAnt.com can be helpful, but be careful: If your site is about phone services and you don't see Sprint (Charts, Fortune 500) or Verizon (Charts, Fortune 500), you might be right to assume that they won't provide much of a boost on Google (Charts, Fortune 500). Yahoo (Charts, Fortune 500)'s and Business.com's directories can cost a few hundred dollars each, but you'll likely get what you pay for when it comes to your search ranking.
More at:http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/05/01/8405661/index.htm
Yet today KitchenCabinet-Mart.com is a remarkable turnaround story: Search "kitchen cabinets" - the most popular phrase in the category - and her site pops up near the top of Google's all-important first page, even trumping one of the country's largest cabinetmakers, Merillat. The result: revenue of $10,000 a month and more inquiries than her one-woman business can handle. "I can't keep up with the e-mail," Villanueva says.
A methodical application of SEO techniques did the trick. SEO - shorthand for search engine optimization, the craft of increasing your rank on search engines - is now a $4.1 billion industry. Ad agencies have entire SEO divisions. Companies hire SEO pros. Yet expertise isn't a must; understanding basic SEO strategies can help the smallest site climb Google's "organic," or nonpaid, results.
How to make money without really trying
How? By diligently working two of the key factors that affect Google placement: links and search phrases. A few years ago, you could exchange links with just about any website and then watch your site shoot to the top of Google. Those days are all but over. Inbound links are critical to building what's referred to as "link authority," but Google tirelessly works to sniff out bad ones - from spammers, those irrelevant to your topic, or newly registered sites that don't yet have Google creed. Such links will hurt your ranking and could even get you banned from Google. Says SEO veteran Greg Boser, who runs a firm called WebGuerrilla, "These days Google pretty much looks at a site as guilty until proven innocent."
Different sites need different kinds of links, of course. But certain rules apply: Google tends to give weight to links from major companies, trade groups, government organizations, and especially sites built on .edu domains reserved for educational institutions.
The quest for the perfect online ad
Spammers are currently one step ahead of Google on this front. Search "buy Vicodin," for instance, and you'll find loads of sites connected to .edu addresses. If it works for Vicodin peddlers, it'll work for you (at least temporarily). So find academics and hit them up for links. But remember that for lasting credibility with Google, the links need to be relevant. Villanueva, for instance, e-mailed dozens of college instructors who teach woodworking and courses about the lumber industry and snagged two .edu links.
Next figure out who's linking to your competition and cut deals with them. Yahoo's Site Explorer (siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com) will show you a site's inbound links. Joining Web directories is also worthwhile. Lesser-known ones like BOTW.org and JoeAnt.com can be helpful, but be careful: If your site is about phone services and you don't see Sprint (Charts, Fortune 500) or Verizon (Charts, Fortune 500), you might be right to assume that they won't provide much of a boost on Google (Charts, Fortune 500). Yahoo (Charts, Fortune 500)'s and Business.com's directories can cost a few hundred dollars each, but you'll likely get what you pay for when it comes to your search ranking.
More at:http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2007/05/01/8405661/index.htm
7-Eleven
7-Eleven® has been a convenience retailer for eight decades, and a leader in the franchise industry for more than 40 years. Today, 7-Eleven is the world’s largest convenience retailer, and offers a very different franchise opportunity… an opportunity to operate a truly neighborhood business with all the advantages of a global retail giant.
Global scale
7-Eleven, Inc. is the premier name and largest chain in the convenience retailing industry. Based in Dallas, Texas, 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses more than 7,200 7-Eleven® stores in North America. Globally, 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses some 32,000 stores in 17 countries and U.S. territories. To customers everywhere, we are synonymous with convenience. They know our products and they know they can rely on us 24/7.
More at:http://www.7-eleven.com/franchising/franchising.asp
Global scale
7-Eleven, Inc. is the premier name and largest chain in the convenience retailing industry. Based in Dallas, Texas, 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses more than 7,200 7-Eleven® stores in North America. Globally, 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses some 32,000 stores in 17 countries and U.S. territories. To customers everywhere, we are synonymous with convenience. They know our products and they know they can rely on us 24/7.
More at:http://www.7-eleven.com/franchising/franchising.asp
Why Vertical Integration Is Working?
In microeconomics and managing management, the term vertical integration describes a style of ownership and control. The degree to which a firm owns its upstream suppliers and its downstream buyers determines how vertically integrated it is. Vertically integrated companies are united through a hierarchy and share a common owner. Usually each member of the hierarchy produces a different product or service, and the products combine to satisfy a common need. It is contrasted with horizontal integration. Vertical integration is one method of avoiding the hold-up problem. A monopoly produced through vertical integration is called a vertical monopoly, although it might be more appropriate to speak of this as some form of cartel.
One of the earliest, largest and most famous examples of vertical integration was the Carnegie Steel company. The company controlled not only the mills where the steel was manufactured, but also the mines where the iron ore was extracted, the coal mines that supplied the coal, the ships that transported the iron ore and the railroads that transported the coal to the factory, the coke ovens where the coal was coked, etc. Later on, Carnegie even established an institute of higher learning to teach the steel processes to the next generatio.
More at:http://www.informationarbitrage.com/technology/index.html
One of the earliest, largest and most famous examples of vertical integration was the Carnegie Steel company. The company controlled not only the mills where the steel was manufactured, but also the mines where the iron ore was extracted, the coal mines that supplied the coal, the ships that transported the iron ore and the railroads that transported the coal to the factory, the coke ovens where the coal was coked, etc. Later on, Carnegie even established an institute of higher learning to teach the steel processes to the next generatio.
More at:http://www.informationarbitrage.com/technology/index.html
Mointoring You
Helping Institutional Investors turn Internet information into alpha generation
Monitor110 gives you unique information few have seen before it becomes news .
More at:http://www.monitor110.com/
Monitor110 gives you unique information few have seen before it becomes news .
More at:http://www.monitor110.com/
New Company Insights Center
If you do much investing and are looking for new sources of information, check out Businessweek's new Company Insights Center. It has all the usual financial information, news, and analysis you would expect to see in a tool like this, but everything is very slick and easy to use. Plus, there is information about employees and compensation that I haven't seen in most free tools. If you are like me and lean towards a focused portfolio and value investing style (I only own six stocks in my main account), then you probably spend lots of time on research. This is an excellent tool for that. It's much more useful for fundamental analysis than for technical analysis.
More at:http://investing.businessweek.com/research/company/overview/overview.asp
More at:http://investing.businessweek.com/research/company/overview/overview.asp
Local.com
Local.com will begin offering a new service it says will help small businesses compete "with the big boys" in the online ad world. As MediaPost explains, Local.com's new "Local Verified" service gives businesses the choice of paying an annual fee to receive top placement in its localized search results. For a premium listing with the website, businesses can expect to pay $249. Is it worth it? According to comScore, it is. The site found that almost half of consumers who visited a local search website visited a local retailer as a result of their search. And it doesn't hurt that Local.com attracts about 10 million visitors per month.
Local.com also provides free listing services for businesses not wanting to purchase the premium services. "Local Promote Basic" is the name of its free online listing service, which allows local businesses to post and update their business' name and contact information, even if they don't have a website.
More :http://www.local.com/
Local.com also provides free listing services for businesses not wanting to purchase the premium services. "Local Promote Basic" is the name of its free online listing service, which allows local businesses to post and update their business' name and contact information, even if they don't have a website.
More :http://www.local.com/
New Face Of Facebook
Facebook add classified ad listings to their services. Yesterday, Facebook announced the decision to promote free listings to their 22 million active users. The site joins the ranks of MySpace, the largest social networking site, by offering the classified listings. Friendster says it also has plans to add the service to its site. Facebook's listings will be broken up into four categories including housing, jobs, "for sale" and "other." Users who create classified ads can only share them with their designated friends on the service or anyone in their "networks." This type of advertising makes selling a bit more personal. "The advantage of having classifieds linked to a social network is that you know something about the seller. You're less likely to buy a lemon from someone who's a friend of yours," said Charlene Li, an analyst at Forrester Research.
More:http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/index.html
More:http://www.entrepreneur.com/blog/index.html
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