Mixing Business with Pleasure - Don't Do It!

Google has announced that they will be introducing a "+1" feature to their search results. A +1 is similar to a "like" on Facebook or a "digg" on Digg. The contacts that participate in +1 are from Google Contacts, who originate from Gmail, Buzz and Reader. Essentially, +1 is a recommendation system built on the premise that you trust your friends and colleagues enough to let them influence the news that you are exposed to.

It is one thing to "like" a picture, a status update or an event, but it's another completely different matter to put media influence in the hands of your friends. There's a reason why you have your neighbor or great aunt's emails forwarded to your second email. We have enough media bias nowadays as is.

All I'm saying is – take a good, careful look at your Gchat list before you let them influence what you care about.

As if we could use some more bad PR...

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-march-23-2011/the-thin-jew-line

Seriously, sometimes we are our own worst enemy.

As satirical as the clip featuring Mr. Gottesman is, it still reflects the orthodox community poorly, and fails to explain exactly what an eruv is and what its significance is.

In a world where orthodox Jewry is seriously misunderstood to begin with, one (Jewish) man's ignorance will perpetuate more misconceptions and misled ideas.

Because we don't have enough problems...

Homemade rockets? Suuuure....

Its no big news that paying attention to the wording of description of recent events will be crucial in understanding the agenda of different sides. However, the media's claims are getting more and more outlandish recently:

Calling the rockets that Hamas that been sending into southern Israeli communities "homemade rockets." This rocket doesn't look like someone made it in their basement.

CNN described the bombing in Jerusalem as " a 'terrorist attack' - Israel's term for a Palestinian strike."

Even Obama said "I condemn in the strongest possible terms the bombing in Jerusalem today, as well as the rockets and mortars fired from Gaza in recent days, there is never any possible justification for terrorism."

This is just another reminder of how careful we need to be when choosing our media outlets.

Freedom of speech = big bucks

In 2008, Microsoft, Yahoo and Google complied with China's restrictive laws in the interest of salvaging their business relationships with China, a massive source of income.

The NY Times describes how Yahoo gave over information that led to the imprisonment of several Chinese activists, Google introduced a censored search engine, and Microsoft shut down a blog written by a Chinese journalist working for the NY Times.

These companies were challenged and eventually joined the Global Network Initiative, intended to protect online free speech and privacy in restrictive countries.

But lets take it back a step to before they joined.

Reflecting on my post about PepsiCo and their PR efforts, it is important to remember that no matter how genuine a corporation may seem, every business decision is an economical one.

That policy is reflective of Twitter and Facebook's efforts in Egypt - as genuinely as they seemed to be promoting freedom of speech for everyone, it is interesting to study process of events and it would be even more interesting to conduct an audit of their revenue during the revolution.

Intelligent illegal behavior

Certain crimes are just stupid and hateful, but others are more intelligent.

Case in point: The Town.

I think most people who watch that movie are rooting for the bad guys - at least, when the bad guys create amazing bank-robbery schemes.

A recent crime that I am impressed with is a case of impersonation.

Look online for University of Redwood, and you will find a legitimate looking website with an application form and (of course) and application fee.

This school is a copycat of Reed College. Their faculty listing and information have all been copied directly.

Reed officials are seeking to find the perpetrators and shut down the website, but I think they should find the perpetrators and perhaps invite them to Reed's school of business for some reformation and real business lessons. I have no doubt they'd be successful businessmen.

Whoever the creators of U of Redwood are, as wrong as what they did was, it's still pretty genius.

Steve Jobs does the job

In this day and age of digital communication, it should be understandable to consumers when a CEO who is away on medical leave cannot make it in for a product promotion.

This is not the case with Steve Jobs and his cult of followers.

Jobs returned from medical leave for the promotion of the iPad 2, and his appearance comforted his followers so much that Apple stock jumped $3, or 1% after he walked up on the stage.

I think Jobs should be allowed to do his job from home. Even though he is the CEO of such a large corporation, he doesn't need to have that kind of pressure when his health is at risk.