The pursuit of Peace

There is a good bit I would like to say here but this speaks for itself. I will however draw a parallel at Soky.Biz in relation to small business.

Fighting a Global War on Terror

"There's always a temptation, in the middle of a long struggle, to seek the quiet life, to escape the duties and problems of the world, and to hope the enemy grows weary of fanaticism and tired of murder. This would be a pleasant world, but it's not the world we live in. The enemy is never tired, never sated, never content with yesterday's brutality. This enemy considers every retreat of the civilized world as an invitation to greater violence. In Iraq, there is no peace without victory. We will keep our nerve and we will win that victory."

-- President George W. Bush October 6, 2005

http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/nationalsecurity/

Stick to the basics

This has been my observation as well. No... not with just my local paper but all newspapers. You will likely recall that I recently did a study of small town newspapers in Kentucky and I can confirm the findings of the study mentioned in this article.

Unused Potential in Online Classified Ads
› › ›   Advertising/Marketing

By Enid Burns | October 13, 2005
Dramatic gaps exist between the classified offerings of large newspaper publishers, smaller publishers and online-only players, suggesting that newspapers are missing the opportunity to use audio, video and other technologies. That's the conclusion of a new study conducted at the University of Missouri's graduate school of journalism.

The research paper, "Interactivity and Vividness in U.S. Newspapers' Online Classified Ads," was written by graduate student Sarah Farebrother and assistant professor of journalism Shelly Rodgers. Farebrother evaluated the automotive, employment and real estate classifieds at 24 online newspapers of various sizes, examining their interactive and rich media features.

The study states that while many newspapers have increased interactive and rich media features on their sites, "they appear to have gone after the low-hanging fruit, those features easiest to add," Farebrother wrote. None of the newspapers studied use audio clips; video clips are deployed by only 4.2 percent; audio/video clips are available on just 8.3 percent of sites, and an IM chat feature can be found on just 2.8 percent of newspaper classified sites. E-mail notification is another feature popular with online-only sites, yet missing from the majority of newspaper publishers.

Whole article >>>

What immediately comes to my problem solving mind is; "how?" How can I develop tools that would make it easy for print publishers to evolve with the market? What learning curves will have to be overcome and what barriers might have to be circumvented.

While I agree with the article, one has to wonder if all those bells and whistle are necessary. Does a newspaper want to start offering audio and video on their websites? Newspapers communicate with still photos and well written words, should a print publication try to keep up just for the sake of keeping up? Or is there a valid motive for expanding the online presence?

I say, unless a print publisher can see a tangible benefit for implementing the bells and whistles online, be it competitive advantage, market expansion, revenue enhancement or value added service, they should focus on what they do best and that is to offer well written, creatively presented and accurate information in a manner that best fits their market. For example, instead of adding high quality audio/video content, improve the text content of the classified; make it searchable; make it attractive; make it effective; make it something that people want to read and what people want to buy.

Again, back to basics...

• Know your customer. (Better than anyone else!)
• Reach your customer. (Better than anyone else!)
• Serve your customer. (Better than anyone else!)

In my humble opinion of course.

Cancun - Domingo

Cancun - Domingo
Originally uploaded by MalakianOne.

Most travelers to the hotel zone in Cancun are familiar with the Rainforest club and the surrounding areas. This image gives a good perspective of the damage in the area. The Mexican Government predicts that Cancun will be 100% ready for tourists in 100 days. They have allot of work to do.

WHOA! Miers Withdraws

Miers Withdraws Supreme Court Nomination
WASHINGTON (AP) - Harriet Miers withdrew her nomination to be a Supreme Court justice Thursday in the face of stiff opposition and mounting criticism about her qualifications.

Wilma : Beginning and after

Wilma : Beginning and after
Originally uploaded by Eric Baillargeon.

What's the damage? That is the famous Senior Frogs on the hotel zone in Cancun... I think it will be a while before tourists are allowed to come back. (Wondering if there is any such thing as hurricane insurance? In Mexico? Does it cover lost revenue?)

Speed test

I was going to write a glowing article about our ADSL service here in my office. We purchased the total choice from Bell South and the business DSL service. It's touted to be "up to" 3 meg per second. I was skeptical but I must admit, I have been most pleasantly surprised. Our services has only gone down twice in almost a year and the bandwidth hold steady between 2.5 and 3.0 meg per second. (Trust me, I've been watching it.) Care to check your ISP speed? Try the Speed Test below. (I am not affiliated with the site or company in any way.)

Pictures from Cancun hotel zone

EL MAR SE TRAGA LA PLAYA
Originally uploaded by MalakianOne.

Follow this picture to Flickr and you will see some of the damage done yesterday afternoon. This person kept posting until dark. I'm not sure how with no power or telephone service, I'm guessing battery powered laptop and a cell phone.

Hiding from good economic news?

Reading the doomsday economic reports on the web and other media, so many people would have you believe that the economy is on the brink of ruin. I have made the statement and hold fast to my opinion that we are recovering from poor management during the last administration as well as dealing another issue from the previous administration called the war on terror (though the economic affects are mixed) and a few issues that are completely out of the control of anyone and that's the recent (and pending?) natural disasters.

I've posted quite a few opinions on this, even on sites that supposedly support our current president only to be quickly "corrected" and warned that things are going to get worse. I'm not convinced. With all the circumstances pushing and pulling on the domestic and international economies, we really are doing great. Even the recent decline in jobs was way below expected when factored in with the displaced people in Louisiana.

But in all fairness, I am no financier!! That is for sure. All I can go by is what I see, what I know and my own common sense... which I have been told is sorely lacking. Okay, but from a simple mans perspective, a small business owner and as a social and economic conservative, I'm here to tell you that things are going great! Our economy is holding in the face of high fuel prices, natural disasters, a war on terror with many fronts and most pointedly, a deep and passionate political divide in America. We may not be making huge gains but the fact that businesses are growing, earnings are improving and jobs are available tells me that the next ten years are gonna be boom years.

Where do I get such wild ideas? Simply look at this morning's Associated Press headlines. I added color coding for easy reference.

I've posted this opinion before, but I truly believe that the economic glory years of the 90's was due in no small part to the conservative economic foundation set forth in the 12 years prior. It took 8 short years to destroy it and that is another influence on the current economy. I may be way off but it remains my opinion.

If I'm wrong then you can tell me you told me so... if I'm right then we all win now don't we.

(updated) News from WhiteHouse.gov

Monday, October 17, 2005

News from WhiteHouse.gov

Well, I spent a good amount of time today messing with a little script to insert the news in my Blog. I've got it all worked out except for the style definition so it's going to have to wait. It's pretty cool though. What it does is use XML to retrieve the RSS and then ASP to kind of manipulate it. Then a simple JavaScript to insert it into these Blogger static HTML files. Boy I can't wait until they allow a definition of ASP. I'm sure the PHP kiddies are all screaming for it so it will come soon enough.

Any-whey, look for it tomorrow or the next day. This is actually foundational work for my state rep site because the scripts extract just the first ten articles, modify the description to only 200 characters and cache the results to only hit the server once an hour. It's pretty slick actually so I'm looking forward to putting it on here.

Great day to be a webmaster... I even got some work done on SendMeToParadise.com

UPDATE: (now)

It works!

• latest 10 articles

• only checks the server once an hour

• shorten the description to 197 charecters + ...

• fit inside the nav bar of the blogger template

Surprised?

You are a Social Conservative (35% permissive) and an... Economic Conservative (70% permissive) You are best described as a: Republican Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Daily news opinion - WOW

Most of the time, when I click on the "our opinion" link at bgdailynews.com I am expecting to disagree. Today was no exception but I was pleasantly surprised to read a positive and affirming opinion about President Bush. All too often the national media take the low road to shock and awe simply for ratings or controversy. This opinion is a keeper so I am posting it here...

Bush deserves praise for resolve against terrorists

Monday, October 10, 2005 9:05 AM CDT Bowling Green Daily news website.

President Bush deserves praise for his recent speech in which he showed steadfast resolve against Islamic terrorists.

Bush accused Islamic militants of seeking to ”enslave whole nations and intimidate the world.“

”The militants believe that controlling one country will rally the Muslim masses, enabling them to overthrow all moderate governments in the region and establish a radical Islamic empire that spans from Spain to Indonesia,“ Bush said.

This might be the terrorists' hope, but they will fail.

It is important to note that the vast majority of Muslims are peace loving and want to live in harmony with the other faiths of the world.

Bush is correct when he says that against such an enemy, we shouldn't back down, never give in and not accept anything but complete victory.

These terrorists despise what America and other free nations stand for and they are doing all they can to disrupt countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan from enjoying those same freedoms that we enjoy.

Bush noted that Iraq has become the central front in the war on terror.

This only reinforces the need to finish the fight in Iraq and defeat those who wish to impose their radical ideas on those in that country and others.

”We will keep our nerve and we will win that victory,“ Bush said.

This is the kind of commander-in-chief we need at this time in history - one who sees the importance of the war on terror and won't cut and run when polls show his approval ratings falling.

For us to give the enemy a timetable for a withdrawal of our forces would be to give the terrorists a victory.

We must never relent against these brutal murderers and we know that as long as Bush is commander-in-chief, this won't happen.

We commend him for his devotion to spreading democracy and more importantly his determination to eliminate the terrorists abroad so we don't have to face them here on our own soil.

Winky has captured an Angel

I'm going to the Smoky Mountains for the wedding of two great people. Winky has captured an Angel and I'll be there for the nuptials. It's a working trip so I'll bring back photos and information of the area. I may be posting again this weekend... bye for now. (Winky is the nickname for a good friend who works for a local TV station (WNKY 40), Angel is her real name.)

The Conservative Edge www.conservativeedge.com

I've bookmarked a political website and have been watching it closely. I have even commented on a few posts and registered as a member. It is interesting to watch this website as it evolves. The Conservative Edge seems to be fair and timely even if somewhat slanted to the conservatives. Since I'm somewhat conservative, I enjoy the perspective.

http://www.conservativeedge.com/ Registration Information (WhoIs) Conservative Edge 131 Baybrook Circle Nicholasville, Kentucky 40356 United States

About Us The Conservative Edge is the World's first Conservative Online Information and News Service. Our purpose is to provide news and opinions from the conservative side of America. All three writers call Kentucky home, so our Site will focus on Kentucky. However, national news impacts us all, so events in Washington and around the country will be fair game.

Brian Goettl, Leland Conway, David Adams, Darrin James

There was a post made on September 26th that I had missed until yesterday. It inspired a couple of thoughts. First, they were not all fluffy Bush which kind of goes against the grain of what I have seen there in the past. Second, I agreed with it.

The post:

Bush out to lunch on gas issue

President Bush has called on Americans to think about ways of reducing their driving, to cut down on gas consumption. You can read a Washington Post story here. Someone may want to clue Bush in, that most Americans are already cutting their driving. Not so much to reduce gas consumption, as to have MONEY TO BUY FOOD WITH. Maybe instead of calling on the average American to do what it is they are already doing, Bush could call on his "Big Oil" buddies to do a little less price gouging. You know, only make obscene profits instead of grossly obscene profits. It's days like today, that you have to wonder if Bush is out to lunch. Posted By: Brian Goettl @ 9/26/2005 9:55:00 PM http://www.conservativeedge.com/

I agreed with it and even offered a comment. Since their comment system does not allow formatted text, not carriage returns, it's all one string. (That drives me almost as crazy as the inability to link to a specific post. They need a good webmaster (grin)) I reformatted the response here.

The reply: (spelling corrected slightly)

Yes, I agree too.

I'm usually quite supportive of President Bush even when I don't completely agree. But this man, his family and his friends do have the muscle to make some significant improvements. There are a few speed bumps to possible solutions however, mostly because if it is not voluntary, it could be seen as inviting an unfriendly administration into their business someday.

From a marketing and PR perspective, this would be a wonderful time for US oil companies to make points by lowering their margins AND forcing their distributors to bite the bullet and keep their margins at normal levels.

The old adage, "supply and demand" should be ignored in the name of good press and helping America. I talked with one service station owner who indicated his margins have never been better and the past few weeks have been the most profitable of the year. I didn't say anything at the time but I was sickened by this.

It's NOT all the big oil companies fault, unthinking small franchise owners are to blame as well. Let Bush and Co. flex their muscle from the refinery to the street, I think that would make all the difference in the world.

Again, from a small business marketing and PR perspective, the small gas stations would do well to lower (or eliminate) their margins on fuel and write it off as advertising/marketing/public relations/community involvement. I think they would be surprised how fast the news gets out that they are selling gas 25 cents lower than everyone else. I am also confident they would be equally as surprised how loyal those new customers would be.

Just my thoughts. -- sokybiz @ 10/2/2005 8:36:00 AM

This is sort of a dual post, one about the Conservative Edge and one about the fuel. Maybe Google (and soon Yahoo) blog searches can figure it out. (grin)