It's great to welcome back the Carnival. Don't forget to check out next week's host: Decker Marketing.
Before we get into the Carnival, Robert and Jay asked me to annouce Jotzel. If you need a daily fix of the Carnival, check it out and get your steady stream of business news and blogs.
Business & Technology
This being a software company, I would be remiss without starting here…
At Open Source Business, Clair has a public thank you for the KDE crowd for their continuous improvements and advancements. It's amazing what competition can do for you… just don't ask if Gnome is better.
In Explaining the Firefox $72M, Scott Milner talks about what factors make up this number, acknowledges that it may be a bit off, and compares it to some other browsers.. Other browsers?
In A New Angle on Wind Power, Photon Courier shares some news on the development of more effective wind power.
Personal Development
When you're running your own business, it seems like there's always something waiting to be done.. Clair Ching at Freelance Pro offers us some tips on what we can do to prepare for the dreaded all-nighter. Then, she offers a strategy to get smarter… which might prevent the need for all-nighters anyway!
Dave Lorenzo points out that Your Career is Your Business and should be managed with some of the same principles in mind. The rest of his site is filled with tips and strategies, check out Career Intensity for more.
In How to Find Success, Adrian Savage gives some tips for using your strengths to obtain success. Even if you already know it, a refresher course never hurts.
Crossroads Dispatches offers a perspective on work and life that we should all take in Overheard, Two Artists: “I Cannot Not Do It”. In business, in life, in religion, there is the fundamental question…
No work? Invest your time in something that will not only bring money but will help you land the job you want. Why long periods of joblessness may impact your career and ideas on what you can do to improve your chances of landing a job… whatever you do, Don’t Stand Still!
In The Art of the Handshake, Steve Mertz lays out a simple scenario… Your company has worked a year for a chance to give a 1 hour presntation for a mult-million dollar contract-don't spoil your efforts with a rotten handshake.
Skepticism is medicine for bad thinking. True, it sometimes tastes bad, but it's still the best cure for unforced errors. In Praise of Skepticism
In Flying Solo, Nina gives us an analysis on the emotions and economics of couples taking separate vacations.
Business Management
In It must be Friday – they are laying people off again, the highly esteemed David St. Lawrence points out the problems and raises some questions about companies who try to fire their way out of problems.
Political Calculations gives us detailed information on Air America’s Rating and Revenue in Air America's Ratings in the Top 100 Radio Markets. What happens if AAR loses it’s NYC flagship (WLIB)? Read on for details…
Over at Small Business Survival, Becky McCray gives some tips for Simplified Business Plans for the Real World. It’s hard to get more succint… 11 points covering 4 goals.
With many newspapers hemmoraging both subscribers and classifieds revenue, The Boring Made Dull takes a look at the Beacon Journal in Back on the Block.
In Hierarchy and GM, Professor Bainbridge traces GM's problems back to a number of hierarchy-related factors and discusses ways of combatting them. In the technology area, similar discussions have been occuring involving Microsoft.
In Two Different Worlds We Live In we read about the Google Annual Report which points out that the Internet universe is really made up of two worlds, the Desktop world and the Mobile world. It's important to connect with both.
Rob offers some Commentary on the book “Us vs. Them: Understanding Your Tribal Mind” and questions about how it may apply to business, specifically the transition period as companies grow from close knit groups to large organizations.
In addition to your standard ToDo list, have you ever considered Getting a “Stop Doing” list? Sometimes saying No can be more important as getting a customer to say Yes.
Accounting and finance
Firevault asks What’s the Best Way to Budget?. I generally go with the method he compares to dieting… how about you?
Dan Melson – a man I am personally indebted to for his advice when I purchased my home, thanks Dan! – offers an interesting discussion on Debt Consolidation Refinance – Pros and Cons. The different breakdowns are amazing…
How do people end up in situations like Dan talks about? David A. Porter offers some insight in Credit Bureaus are selling your personal mortgage inquiry!
It’s just that time of year… In Donation Deductions, Amanda offers some helpful tips in determining and tracking your deductions. We’re less than a month away.
Now, just to stay in the spirit of the season, Free Money Finance offers March Madness Free Money Finance Style, Round 1. In my first round bracket, I called 18 of the first 20 correctly. And then 6 after that…
Kirby on Finance asks the simple question of Can you afford to be so frugal? and points out that simply working to minimize outflows misses aspects that may end up costing you more.
Jack Yoest points out that some people understand the basics… of course, it's the Chinese government, not the US: Consumption Seen As Next Big Driver of Growth.
Human resources
At the Coyote Blog – one of my personal favorites – Warren Meyer talks about the recent rioting in Paris in Indentured Employertude and asks an important question about France.
Next, the InsureBlog has a simple thesis Employers are Stupid.
In Labour arbitrage and Indian IT, Interim thoughts talks about the opposite and the problems which result from the constant turnover and rising wages of India’s IT sector.
Regulations in Commerce / Daddy Knows Best
Brian Gongol highlights how fundamentally government is chasing windmills in Banning Junk Food in Schools Teaches the Wrong Lesson. As a graduate of the Illinois school system, I’m not surprised…
Trapier Michael asks us Who's Afraid of Socialized Medicine? and covers and ongoing tiff between some “intellectuals” – including the economically-challenged Krugman – about the nuance between socialized medicine and socialized insurance. Tim Worstall stays on the same topic with a different look in Too Much Choice?.
Roth & Company talks about Going Public with Tax Returns and what the implications and potential benefits are… if any.
Blueprint for Financial Prosperity gives us some background on what happens when price controls are suddenlyremoved in Electricity Price to Increase 72% on July 1st
Economics
At Eidelblog, Perry offers some critical analysis of basic market forces in If your compensation isn't enough, why do you work there?. I think Perry is closed, but he's missing the fact that people would have to take responsibility for themselves.
Financial Methods highlights some problems in the CPI calculation in Six Percent Inflation. I used to work for the company that calculates the CPI for BLS… stunning.
Marketplace Monitor demonstrates some problems that happen when basic economics are ignored in What If Profits Were Avoided?
In Pay It Forward asks Why is there so much month left at the end of the money? The Small Office attempts an answer by postponing raises for three months.
In Innovative Funding for College Athletics mark notes Several elite colleges have tapped into their alumnis expertise in venture capital to establish venture capital funds intended to endow collegiate athletic programs.
Marketing and sales
Kicking Over My Traces gives us some tips and analysis on improving sales and shopping online.
Wayne Hurlbert at Blog Business World continues on this thread in Online sales: Interior website pages sell. Thinking about your site in depth has a number of aspects and benefits Wayne discusses detail. Thanks Wayne!
Small Business Buzz challenges Bob Bly’s case against using business cards for networking and marketing in Anti-Business Cards.
Lip-Sticking shares some recent female-friendly success stories in A Woman for President: Vote Here and points the underlying principles exemplified.
The Japan Stock Blog shares some projections on the World Cup Soccer’s Economic Impact on Japan + Stock Plays. Looks like a good time to invest in televisions and beer…
Looking for a Sales Philosophy? Michael Bangert is kind enough to share his. Drop him a note or comment if you have questions.
Scatterbox raises some implications of the changing media environment in Changing business: More media covering fewer stories.
In Benefit Headlines Don't Work As Well As They Used To, Jim points out that benefits are and will continue to be important. But they aren’t as effective in headlines as they used to be.
Blogging for Business
In Adsense Optimization, the Internet Cashflow Guy offers some experience from monetizing one of his blogs. Wow, and my goal has only ever been to break even on out-of-pocket expenses…
Why aren’t more major-league investors blogging?. Good quesiton.. are they afraid to give up their secrets, are they simply too invested in the current media, or is there something else? The Daily Dose of Optimism takes a look and argues these points.
Now this is one motivated baby: Retirement Planning for Babies. What would you do if your retirement planning had a 65 year horizon?
The Market
Financial Options gives us a calendar of this week’s important events. No strategy here, just a list of things to listen for…
Over at Value Investing, and a Few Cigar Butts, Mike Price serves up a great interview with Henry Lu a guru on MITBBS the biggest Chinese forum in the US. Check out his strategy on picking winners.
The Net Worth Blog points out that “past performance is not an indicator of future performance” in Beware Historical P/E.
Mover Mike gives us a detailed analysis on strategies the Fed can use to fight a falling dollar in The FED's Falling USD Dilemma… unfortunately, like all economic policy, the tradeoffs could be the kicker. James Hamilton at Econbrowser asks Where are the financial crises? in his in own look at monetary tightening.
The VoluntaryXchange gives us a detailed step by step of how bonds – and their corresponding taxes – work in The Phantom Tax and IRS Pinheads.
For a good chuckle this morning, head over to The Big Picture to get You Know You are a Permabear When…
In Index Fund Valuations, The Real Returns offers some observations aobut the recent Yields of Index Funds.
Capitalism and Entrepreneurship
Jeffrey shares a small business horror story that he can’t get away from in The Hello Kitty Catch 22. As someone with a wife who owns a wall of yarn, I feel your pain…
In Banking on Black Markets, the Libertarian Policy Institute talks about the issues and oddities with having skin-color based marketing and branding in a business based on the services provided to customers…
Global Market Development gives some great information and projections involving Internet Adoption in China.
In 4 Ingredient Formula For Building A Successful Business, Jim Logan gives us some tips to building a successful business, regardless of the industry.
In Stop That Hovering, the highly esteemed Jeff Cornwall at The Entrepreneurial Mind highlights a problem between parental perspective and a student's risk-taking.
In America and Europe, we get some questions and challenges to the argument that Europe is going to lead the next round of innovation and creation.
Legal issues in commerce
In Wal Mart's Pharma-Power, View From a Height stops to take a look at Walmart's “monopoly” and finds a slight problem…
In The Law Of Unintended Consequences or Supply Meets Demand, Uncle Bill points out some disconnects between policy and reality. Read his followup for his final thoughts.