Monday, November 4, 2002

But the Marketers Keep Using Pop-Ups! SF Chronicle: Firms squelching pop-up ads. Pop-up ads may be slowly popping off. Consumer backlash against these often irritating online ads has recently prompted companies such as America Online, IVillage and Ask Jeeves to eliminate some of them from their Web sites. [Tomalak's Realm] I've been telling my consulting clients for some time not to use popups or popunders. But so many of the so-called Internet marketing gurus (who are real experts at direct selling but mostly clueless when it comes to understanding the culture of the Web) are still advocating them that it's hard to get heard above the noise. 4:44:52 PM    Add your viewpoint [ comments so far]

John Robb Gets It. AP.  Saudis deny US use of bases for attack on Iraq.  Little wonder given the backroom wrangling that is going on over Iraqi oil and the potential of a glut of $15 crude after the war.  The Saudis, Iranians, etc are slowly starting to realize that this war could radically deflate their wealth over the long-term. [John Robb's Radio Weblog] 4:38:09 PM    Add your viewpoint [ comments so far]

This is too funny. Give Bill Gates a fish, and he’ll buy some tartar sauce to go with it. Teach Bill Gates to fish, and he’ll build a tartar sauce factory and eventually corner the market. The tartar sauce won’t be as good as some other tartar sauce, but people won’t mind, they’ll just think that that faint hint of mercury is how tartar sauce is supposed to taste. Give Scott McNealy a fish, and he’ll rant about how it’s all Microsoft’s fault. But teach Scott McNealy to fish—and he’ll rant about how it’s all Microsoft’s fault. Give Steve Jobs a fish, and he’ll give it back, being a vegan and all. Teach Steve Jobs to fish, and you’d just be wasting your time, because he really doesn’t eat fish, I just told you. Give Larry Ellison a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach Larry Ellison to fish, and he’ll come up with a better fish, one that can’t be captured or killed. (Leading to ecological catastrophe as the lesser fish are killed off by this new fish.) [inessential.com] 4:35:43 PM    Add your viewpoint [ comments so far]

Apple Gets High Support Marks from PC World Readers. PC World magazine reports that overall customer satisfaction with computers is not getting any better. But the best marks for support go to Apple. (Thanks to MacCentral for the pointer.) 4:29:58 PM    Add your viewpoint [ comments so far]

Maybe the Niners Are Better Than I Thought. Gee, after the Niners finally won a road game against a team with a winning record by nudging cross-Bay rival Oakland yesterday, maybe I'll have to conclude that they are better than I thought they'd be. I sort of felt like this would be a 9-7, maybe 10-6 wild card kind of season for the Niners this year. But here they are 6-2, tied for the third best record in the NFL, two games up in the division race with the Rams not a real threat even if they revitalize themselves. It sure looks like they could win the division. They could win 11 or 12 games this year. That would be a wonderful surprise to me! 1:45:15 PM    Add your viewpoint [ comments so far]

© Copyright 2002 Dan Shafer.