As I pay my taxes this weekend, numerous complaints about our insane taxation policies come to mine, but the following just seems like there could be no earthly reason to justify: why can we no longer file taxes online for free?? Starting this year if your household adjusted gross income for a joint filing is a hair over $52,000, you are no longer allowed to use a free filing service. So let's get this straight. I have to PAY, in order to GIVE MONEY to the IRS in a method that makes it EASIER for them!? By submitting my taxes digitally, the IRS gets to: handle less papers that take up physical space, they can easily crunch numbers for statistics, they can easily crunch numbers to determine whether an audit might be advisable and most importantly of all, it would cut down on errors on both sides since numbers are automatically calculated for taxpayers and automatically transcribed for the IRS!! I can only come up with two possible reasons why this policy is in effect:

1) Tax preparation companies such as H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt have spent a great deal of money and effort lobbying the Ways and Means committee and others.

or

2) The IRS is a bureaucracy like any other, i.e. they have an inherent bias to either grow or at least maintain the status quo. After all, it would be very likely that an increase in efficiency for them would mean a reduction in employees and budget.

Meanwhile, it seems all I can really do is cling to my pipe dream of the Fair Tax where this annual headache and waste of time would be abolished.

The now-infamous Aqua Teen Hunger Force bomb scare in Boston has brought to light the recent increase in guerilla and viral marketing techniques from companies. The move makes sense really when you look back at the evolution of advertisements. It began with the simple testimonial approach at the beginning with '9/10 doctors agreeing', celebrities telling you their product of choice, or fellow 'housewives' telling the audience what products work from them. Then around the 80/90s there seemed to be a move towards simply placing products next to sexy images (to the point where advertisers such as Budweiser were satirical of themselves in years to come). It makes sense that this gradual move towards subtlety would eventually result a new emphasis on Word-of-Mouth Marketing (WOM). I can't help but feel this really caught on with Ronco infomercials and his "if you promise to tell just 3 people..." sales pitches.

It's even got to the point where entire companies are devoted to increasing this WOM advertising, such as BzzAgent where consumers are paid to conduct WOM advertising among friends. Does this bring up an ethical question? Companies like BzzAgent claim that there is no condition that forces the product 'ambassadors' to give positive reviews--but is it not somewhat implied? When someone cooks me a free dinner, I don't give them an objective critique of their product. Heck, even at the grocery store where they are giving out free samples, I feel it impolite to say anything negative about the free food I was just given (as if the employee heating the product up in the microwave cares!).

At the end of the day though, as long as people are not being seduced into pyramid-scheme rip-offs or products dangerous to their health, does it really matter? If my friend subconsciously influences me to buy a diet Pepsi instead of Coke next time I'm at the vending machine, does it hurt anyone? (well besides Coca-Cola that is!). Perhaps the best argument against it is that we may be at beginning of a dangerous downhill slope?

Reading about successful business entrepreneurs, the lesson that seems to come through the strongest is that contrary to some public perception, having a successful business is not a easy path to riches, but one of tireless work, long hours, concentration, patience, and absolute commitment to success. Attempting to start one's own business with anything less than 100% commitment to the endeavor is the surest and quickest route to losing one's business, savings and mind. This is nothing new of course in the arena of entrepreneurship as we see in this old photo of an inventor selling his new "bulletproof" vest to the police department.

An interesting article in the BBC news today how a simple foreign accent can impart so much meaning to someone’s perception of a person, particularly in America. I was lucky enough to do a bit of traveling after high school and it was very interesting at the hostels how the Americans seemed enamored by British/Australian/New Zealand accents while the reverse didn’t seem to be true much at all. My theory is that its due to the overwhelming exportation of the American entertainment industry where other English-speaking countries are inundated with American accents to the point where it’s commonplace. Conversely, in America we only come into contact with the occasional accent in the media and it’s often used purposefully to add something to personality/character, whether the stuck-up Brit Simon Cowell, the friendly Australian Claire (Lost), the English gentleman Jude Law or the posh Robin Leach on Lifestyle of the Rich and Famous. This is where the article is particularly interesting when they interviewed a former real estate agent who used it to market a product to appear upscale which is not a rare occurrence when you think of everything from Lexus car commercials to even Sheba cat food!

I don’t like to mix politics into this blog too much but I feel like this is something any American should be educated about. Whether for or against the current action in Iraq, it is surprising how many of us (government officials included) know so little about the differences between Sunnis and Shiites (or ‘Shias’). This is a great summary of some of the primary differences between the two groups of people who we are fighting and/or helping over there. Surely a better education on this can only help general understanding of the issues often being discussed such as federalism, multiculturalism, secession, civil war, etc.

Time management has always been something that has plagued me, particularly when I was a student. Most time management advice I have read or heard has been mainly fluffy and vague. Recently, however, I came across David Allen and his Getting Things Done (GTD) approach. I’ve had a chance to read some of the stuff in his ‘free’ section (great that he gives away a fair amount of free advice instead of just teasers for his books and seminars) and in contrast to most of what I’ve read before, he has some great concrete advice such as exactly how he sets up and uses his PDA as well as specific categories he uses for organizing incoming work. Its some great stuff that I hope to learn better and try to incorporate into my day to day life. Certainly something that will come in useful should I go into business school and especially in a career in business afterwards.

This is the kind of innovative business where you're pulling for them to succeed. Pizza places seem like one of the most common small businesses to open. It seems easy--some dough, tomato sauce, cheese and cut up toppings and you get to charge 15+ bucks for it, right? The problem of course becomes that many see this and you get a litany of pizzarias opening up that all seem about the same regardless of whether they're chain or locally owned. Therefore its great when someone actually puts a little innovation into this somewhat-tired industry. The layout and functionality of the site looks great and so does the corporate culture. Hope they make it to the U.S. someday!

Well the Oscars have come and gone and I most definitely did not watch it this year you might think is strange considering I made a good effort to see most of the major movies leading up to it. Besides the fact that I wasn't greatly looking forward to Ellen Degeneres hosting (too bad Billy Crystal can't just do it forever), the movies this year have really been disappointing. With the exception of Little Miss Sunshine, I hardly cared much for anything in 2006 (Prestige is the only one I would add next to Sunshine). The Departed was a pretty unoriginal cop/mafia story that would look pretty sorry without its all-star cast. Babel seemed like it was just trying to fit the mold of a 'powerful-movie-with-a-message', but just seemed bland to me. The Queen was interesting at first since I didn't know what it was about and thought it was bold to do a movie on something so recent as that without the guide of memoirs or first-person narratives, but it somewhat bored me after a while since I knew where the story was going and nothing seemed to really grab my attention. I never quite felt in the mood for Iwo Jima, so I can't really comment on that, though it didn't seem like a movie I'd particularly love. The only war movies I've liked in the past have satirical black comedy thrown in.

It's certainly possible that I just missed the movies that I would have liked better. I still haven't seen the foreign films such as Pan's Labyrinth, the Lives of Others and The Science of Sleep.

Regardless, here's hoping 2007 picks it up!

Whole Foods has just announced that they've merged with Wild Oats. I always find this an interesting practice where companies are getting a little competition from another company so what do they do but simply buy them out. I better know "Wild Oats" as "Henry's", where I go to for the kind of items Whole Foods carries without the ridiculous markup. In the summer the differences in pricing between those two stores' produce is incredible--I remember them selling 7 lbs of oranges for $1 at one point. Hopefully Whole Foods will keep Henry's as it is and just leave it as filling a niche that their main store does not--the way that the Gap has Banana Republic, Abercrombie & Fitch and the Gap to bridge niches in the market.

No matter what though, at least I'll still have good ol' Trader Joe's!

Zillow's Report Card: Proceed with caution

Definitely one of the coolest Web 2.0 sites that can be used for business out there is Zillow. The basic premise is that it is a real estate service company which combines satellite data with value estimates of homes all across the country. Certainly not without criticism, but a recent article from the Wall Street Journal found that although it is surprisingly accurate most of the time, approximately 1 out of every 10 of these "Zestimates" can be woefully off by 25% or more. Still, as a ball park figure, it certainly can aid both buyers and sellers estimate the homes value. Furthermore, Zillow is always in development, having created a wiki recently with possibly more such tools in the future. As always though, a market comes down to how much a buyer is willing pay for the good and how eager a seller is to relinquish it. This is something a general algorithm will never be able to accomplish with complete precision.

Recently Wal-mart executives (ironically joined by union leaders from other parts of the country) made a public call for Universal Health Care to be offered by the state. Naturally, given the general public perception of Wal-mart's altruism, many are skeptical of the multi-national corporation's true intentions. Certainly it can't be ignored that getting taxpayers to fund their employees' health care benefits would save the company billions of dollars--perhaps even increase employee productivity among those who are not covered by the health plan (over half). Perhaps this is being a bit too skeptical though. I do think Wal-mart gets a disproportionate amount of negative attention simply to due to being the biggest of the retail superstores since it makes them the most cost-effective for advocacy groups to target. I must agree with them however, the current plan of depending upon employers to give health benefits is certainly not working fantastically, with 45+ million Americans uninsured, with Wal-mart being a prime example of this.

When searching for a used car to buy last month following getting rear-ended, I decided to subscribe to Consumer Reports Used Car Buying Kit, which although seemed quite expensive ($24) was probably worth it in the end given how much money was being spent on the car itself. I must say the website is very useful. From the Buying Kit, I went from being very sure I would get a used Nissan, to finding a Toyota Avalon that I am very happy with yet I knew next to nothing about the Avalon model before seeing it as a recommended car on the website. Not only was the Kit extremely helpful, but the website itself is very useful for other random consumer reviews such as: hefty being superior to glad, Trader Joe's dishwasher detergent being very good, Wal-mart's laundry detergent being easily the best buy and Sears' vacuum beating out the much fancier and expensive Dysons. I doubt I'll keep up the subscription, but I think I might print out some of these reviews while I can...

In what is probably unsurprising news to those of us at the pump, Exxon Mobil recently reported the largest annual profit in U.S. history, $377 billion (beating the previous record that was held by none other than Exxon Mobil with $370 billion the previous year). Alongside them Royal Dutch Shell set a personal best as well this year with $25 billion.

Now I am someone who respects a company with a sound business policy that satisfies customers and makes huge profits, but this is just an antitrust robbery! How else can a company make these sorts of achievements while really doing nothing to improve the way they do business? There has been no significant raise in demand for their product, yet they thrive. Obviously I'm not the only one to be a bit shocked by all this, and yet nothing continues to be done. Given the current state of affairs, it seems like an alternative product or perhaps a cut in demand for oil seems the only way Exxon Mobil et al. will cease to continue setting records at the expense of frustrated consumers.

I continue to ponder what to do with my career. I do know that I need to move my career forward somehow seeing as I want to eventually support a family, but right now I’m unsure as to ‘how’? Paying rent, bills and all other expenses at the same time as attending business school seems like so much to take on right now. I’ve had many people further in their careers warn me about the perils of taking on a huge student loan. The only solution I can really see is attending an online business school while working full-time, which seems like a lot, but could definitely be the best available option. Simultaneously I’ve been looking at learning day-trading which just from the outset, is a tidal wave of necessary knowledge and potential risk from my current perspective. Then again, I suppose going into the business world always presents significant risk as is the case in any open market. Right now I will continue to look at both options for the future, studying for the GMAT and reading up on technical analysis and hopefully come to some sort of decision.

Or who knows, maybe some day I can do both 

Easily one of the biggest stories in the world of business today is Microsoft's impending release of Vista . Those of you who read my previous tirade against Apple's business practices might assume I am happily anticipating this release. However this could not be further from the truth.

Reports are that Microsoft worked extremely hard at this upgrade, pouring in billions of dollars, but what really came out of it? Rounder corners? (Isn't that what XP did?) Translucent window edges? (Who cares?). Certainly one thing it is reported to do well: eat up an enormous chunk of your computer's available RAM.

Right now as I use XP, I don't really see anything I 'need' from an operating system. What I love about windows is its compatibility where millions of people around the globe develop great freeware that I can use with XP. I need something to find files instantly? Download Google Desktop Search. I like Mac's visually appealing program launcher on the bottom of the screen? Download RKLauncher. Don't like Internet Explorer? Get Firefox and the tons of compatible extensions. There's even a Windows XP Vista theme that has fooled some people into thinking its the $200+ new operating system.

Still though, people will upgrade to upgrade, businesses will tack it on to their ample IT budget just like they did with flat-screen monitors in what seemed like increased DRM ability that Micro$oft has its eye on, Vista being a bit of a Trojan Horse.

Really though, this is still mostly speculation, though one thing I feel comfortable speculating is on Microsoft's current business model allowing Vista to make them a whole lot of money.

Update on the car crash-

Well over a month later and this car crash business is still affecting us. I've been driving around in a rental car for a few weeks now- finding a new car has not been easy. After paying for a consumer reports package on how to look for a new car I have been searching through the different models looking at reviews, recommendations, and blue book values.
My priorities were: good gas mileage, low road noise, enough room to cart things about (not a 2 door car), relatively safe and not too expensive to maintain. Then of course my budget- $3500- $7500 (I received $3200 for my totaled car)

So firstly I was looking at Camry's and Corollas, both highly recommended as reliable on consumer reports, easy to maintain being so popular- easy to get parts for etc. I had actually got as far as deciding on a specific 2000 Corolla a few days ago (I was loving the gas mileage in these times of Global Warming.) When I drove it however, it really did just feel a little too small- it just didn't feel safe- particularly as I now know what it is like when an SUV hits a much smaller car. After weeks of research and looking at cars I felt back to square one. Still with the rental car at $35 a day I knew this was no time to give up for a while and today I can report good news!

I DID finally buy a car! It is a 1998 Toyota Avalon with 100k miles. Its a few more miles than I was hoping for, but apparently they run as long as Camrys (~250-300k) since they have the same engines. It also has more room in the back/trunk and they say it gets great gas mileage--30+ on the highway. Also I managed to pay a little over $1,000 less than for the 2000 Corolla (with 83k on it).

So yay- our Chiropractor appointments still continue but we do have the car part out of the way!

A recent big piece of news from the business world was the iPhone. On January 9th of this year, Steve Jobs unveiled what had been strongly rumored by salivating Apple fans. I must admit, I come from a bit of a bias having quite a distaste for Apples. Although I grew up on them, and can see some of their benefits, overall I hate their business plan.

Now that's a strong word, but I'm surprised its not a stronger sentiment among consumers (Apple seems to be growing quite well since Jobs' resurgence and the emergence of the iPod). I'm surprised that more consumers aren't taken aback by Apple's attitude of forcing their customers to use their hardware only as Apple sees fit. At first it was restricting software for the Macintosh computer, then it was the dreaded iTunes music service on the iPod (I particularly dislike how it is impossible to have a subscription service) and now, in a similar attitude they are not allowing the future customers of the iPhone to install software on the Mac OSX that the device is running as well as forcing customers to use a specific phone service, Cingular instead of the current preferred carrier (where I live currently, for example, Verizon has much better service).

However, even with my problems with how Apple does business, I must admit, it does look pretty amazing.



I just hope there's some truth behind the the rumored "Googlephone" or else I might find myself betraying my business principles!

The first step of starting your own business is an idea. Something about your business must be original in some way, correct? It might be something as plain as a location for a franchise store where there is a market niche, or it might be a revolutionary technology. I have yet to come up with anything ground-breaking for sure, but I thought I'd put out an idea I had to my readers. Feedback is of course welcome.

From what I've seen, there are people out there who might have no problem drinking a $2 Charles Shaw alone, but would feel awkward putting it out for guests. Yet these same people might not want to shell out the $10-15 a bottle or more when sering at their house to their 20-something year old guests who can hardly tell the difference beyond seeing an interesting label from a respectable locale such as Napa, Chianti or Bordeaux. This is where my product would step in. For a relatively low price, we would ship stickers of fictional yet exotic-sounding wines that can be easily applied onto any bottle. Sounds shameless, but in this age of anonymous online ordering, I believe there's a market!

Oh and no stealing! ;-)

Well apologies all for the lack of posts recently. I have been involved in a car crash and have been spending a lot of time dealing with the many repercussions that come along with such things. It does seem horribly unfair that even when you have done absolutely nothing wrong you still have so much to take care of. Insurance can only do so much.

The accident happened as follows: I was at a stop light which then turned green and I set off down the street, meanwhile a guy coming in the other direction decided to suddenly turn across our line making a left turn. Crazy behavior causing me to throw on my breaks all of a sudden. The big SUV behind us then ran into the back of our car.

Following the accident things didn't seem so bad, our body work in the back of the car was messed up, but the car seemed almost drivable. My wife and I both seemed fine, apparently no injuries. One of the craziest things was that the guy who turned across our lane causing the accident just drove away not stopping. Luckily we got his license and handed it over to the police. It appeared the lady behind us was to be full responsible however, she was very apologetic and exchanged details with us no problem. We sent the car into the shop and spent the remainder of the day in a good amount of shock, but otherwise fine.

Next day we awake and my wife's neck is killing her, she hadn't been able to sleep all night, my neck is similarly sore. We are advised to seek medical attention and have spent some good time now with a Chiropractor. The next brick to drop is that our car has been totaled. Weeks after spending $1500 on the clutch we are now going to be given just $3200 for our car- it's gone :-(
what seemed like a small accident has turned into a nightmare, with medical bills, neck braces, rental cars and many many decisions to be made. Life is suddenly a whole lot more complicated.

've been doing some more reading into technical analysis with the intention of eventually day-trading some of my investments. So far most of my reading has been establishing the base of reading price action—looking for trends through support/resistance levels, patterns such as triangles and wedges, and reversal signals such as heads-and-shoulders and triple-bottoms/tops. My understanding is that these are really meant to be side-additions when interpreting signals from tools such as moving averages and oscillators which I'm just beginning to get into now. There's a fair amount of me that's still a bit skeptical of the field of technical analysis, but I know that there are people out there who are successful at it, so why not me?