silentflute

Author: Amo

  • Brewster’s Millions

    In the 1985 movie Brewster’s Millions Montgomery Brewster, played by Richard Pryor learns of an inheritance of $300 million. In order to get this inheritance, he has to spend $30 million in 30 days.

    What’s more he’s not allowed to have any assets to show for the $30m or waste the money in any way. In addition, he’s not inform anybody of the reasons why he has to spend the money.

    Throughout the film, many people claim that Brewster breaks the terms and conditions of the will on many occasions – for example, some people cite the using of the stamp breaks the “You must not destroy what is inherently valuable” clause.

    Ideas on how to spend $30 million in 30 days;

    1. 30 days of 24-hour partying, with the best food, champagne, wine and beer. Hire top-rate singers, dancers and performers. Pay 10 top bands, rent out a stadium and hire equipment and workers all paid extra for short notice.
    2. Use the “Donate 5% to charity, 5% on betting” clause
    3. Spend millions on an advertising campaign for a product that doesn’t exist – or better yet, pull the product a day before its launch and claim there was a fault with it
    4. Hire out penthouse suites in top 50 richest hotels of the world for 30 days at double the usual rate
    5. Run for a political seat, then resign
    6. Invest the money into Internet shares
    7. Rent out 30 cars, 30 chaffeuers and tell them to drive around the city for 30 days

    It does lead to the question – how would you spend $30 million in 30 days, but without purchasing assets? I guess you have to rent everything, and pay thrice the price, if you pardon the pun.

  • April Fools Day

    As it’s April Fool’s Day, here’s a quick yonder at some of the stuff that was reported by the press, and so forth…

    I don’t know why, but everybody thinks that the famous Swiss Spaghetti Harvest was one of the best pranks ever done, I personally don’t think it was *that* good.

    The story goes that in 1957 the respected BBC news show Panorama announced that thanks to a very mild winter and the virtual elimination of the dreaded spaghetti weevil, Swiss farmers were enjoying a bumper spaghetti crop. It accompanied this announcement with footage of Swiss peasants pulling strands of spaghetti down from trees.

    Huge numbers of viewers were taken in, and many called up wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti trees. To this question, the BBC diplomatically replied that they should “place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.”

    An April Fool’s Day for me is never complete without Arnold Schwarznegger prank calls or other celebrity prank calls.

  • Promoting your website

    Once youve built your website, you need to promote it and draw leads, customers and revenue.

    For many businesses this means search engine marketing, optimisation and placement however this is not the only way of promoting a website, or attracting new customers (and leads).

    Although such paid services as Google AdWords, or hiring expert SEO experts can be beneficial and bring you fast leads, it might be very expensive or way out of your budget.

    So, how else can you promote your website?

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  • Why web standards are important

    If you (or your business) have a website, chances are youve heard a lot about web standards, and accessibility and how businesses are working closer towards web standards than ever before.

    The reason why standards compliance is becoming important for a number of businesses (and private web owners) is because of a number of reasons.

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  • Benefits of Broadband for Business

    If youre a small business you might already have an Internet connection and may be considering broadband, but you might be unclear of the actual benefits of broadband.

    In this article, I hope to show some of the benefits of broadband for your business.

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  • Was Paris Hilton’s phone hacked?

    A number of sites have reported that Paris Hiltons mobile phone was hacked and private information, including photos and a database of celebrity phone numbers have been posted on the Internet.

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  • What is E-marketing?

    E-marketing is the use of digital and Internet technology to help promote and sell your goods on services.

    In some ways it shares a lot of features with traditional marketing it allows you to create communications that attract customers, leads and prospects, but crucially E-marketing can be far cheaper and more effective than traditional marketing.

    e-marketing is a process, not a destination.

    What examples are there of attracting new customers, keeping them and turning into loyal ones?

    This list is not exhaustive.

    Examples of E-marketing

    • Web sites / E-branding
    • E-mail marketing
    • Online competitions, vouchers, discounts and loyalty programs
    • Affiliate marketing
    • Send to a Friend technology
    • Mobile/SMS text messaging
    • Digital Advertising Platforms
    • Digital audio/video viral messaging
    • Broadband Entertainment
    • Virtual Reality
    • Digital audio, photos and movies
    • Search Engine Optimisation, placement, Google pay-per-click marketing, etc
    • Personalised customer login areas
    • Product/Service Recommendation engines
    • E-commerce shops
    • Forums, Message boards, Guestbooks, Customer Comments, etc
    • PDF Libraries, Press Releases
    • Plus, so much more

    Measuring the Results

    Before launching any e-marketing campaign, you need to be aware of what results you want to achieve. Is it to attract leads? Is it to generate sales? Is it to entice existing customers to spend more?

    Here are some examples of the kind of results you can record via site statistics, site logging and other technologies:

    • How many visitors or e-mail requests your website got? (How many leads?)
    • How many sales you got? (How many prospects?)
    • How many existing customers bought/sold products or services (How many retaining customers?)
    • How many new customers registered to your website (How many new loyal customers?)

    Like traditional marketing, E-marketing isnt about one thing (ie: e-mail marketing), its actually a process.

    A lot of companies over-complicate what e-marketing is and what it isnt. All you need to remember is to set simple benchmarks with clear goals and measure the results. Then, explore ideas on how to improve on your results and do the process again!

    Read about the benefits of e-marketing>

  • Who was the unknown rebel?

    One of the most potent images of the late 20th century was of the man who stood in front of a row of 17 or more tanks during the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

    This person is often referred to as The Unknown Rebel or Tank Man.

    But who was this mysterious person?

    According to the wikipedia.org and truthout.org, the persons identity is still a mystery to this day. Some newspaper columnists claim it was Wang Weilin, a 19-year-old student; however, this claim is dubious and unsubstantiated.

    As with most matter, the Tank Man topic is still a political taboo in mainland China; this man whomever he is was moved by his convictions, beliefs that he stood alone against not just a row of tanks, but by a country and a political philosophy.

  • Solving the dilemma for Video refereeing

    The match between Manchester Utd and Tottenham Hotspur will be remembered, not for the dismal 0-0 score-line, but because of a goalkeeping error, which lead to an unawarded goal scored by Pedro Mendes whose goal clearly crossed the line.

    This incident has re-ignited the desire to install video technology for referees. Whilst it probably wouldnt be sanctioned by FIFA, and perhaps some of the premier league clubs would argue for its use, but I for one would support their introduction and use. Although Im neither a Man Utd or Spurs fan I think it would stop the endless arguments, unless of course one of the clubs starts suing the Video Panel for the loss of a game.

    But how should video refereeing be used, benchmarked and improved? I propose a trial period of one season and the combined use of Video, Radio and Bluetooth technology. I also propose a panel of independent referees that are not in earshot of the TV and Radio Pundits to oversee the video footage, which must be 360°, finally all the Premier League bosses agree to its use.

    Then, at the end of the season simply call a meeting between the Premier League club bosses and some FA, and FIFA officials and simply review the overall results of video refereeing. Was it a success? Or was it a failure? I think by letting the club bosses benchmark it, it would resolve any controversy or issues.

    This needed be a job for a UN diplomat or ambassadors, but a simple solution could be within touching distance.

    All there needs to be is open discussion, listening and practical application and benchmarking. This is all that is needed for the success/failure of video referring.

  • Blogging the Asian Tsunami

    On December 26 2004, Boxing Day, a huge underwater earthquake struck Southern Asia, leaving hundreds of thousands dead, and massive damage in its wake.

    Perhaps some of the most vivid descriptions of the devastation in Southern Asia are on the internet – in the form of web logs. Bloggers have been posting information from around the affected region and are also providing information for those who wish to help.

    Of the blogs around, I think these offer the most poignant stories;