JasonN.com - business

Researching my biz, finding others using open minded models

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:36:22 -0500

I'm finding more open minded models out there lately. Specifically, I see a lot of people giving away high quality media through social networks, etc. and creatively finding ways to monetize their work (sometimes just rehashing very old models, like live performance and advertising). It seems they "get it," in a way that big Hollywood and old-school Music Industry types are reluctant to accept.

Considering prepping for a marathon

Sun, 18 May 2008 17:02:30 -0500

Some websites about prepping for a long run.

The Universe is Big

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 07:14:27 -0500

As I contemplated the universe and it's amazing and awesome size and power, it dawned on me. The universe that contains uncountable stars filled with gas and gravity so immense that it literally fuses the atoms of hydrogen together to create heat we can barely fathom, the universe that sends nutrient rich comets with precious metals racing across the galaxies at seemingly random, yet amazingly predictable patterns, this universe of power, grace, beauty, and beaming with life can't even contain its own power and wealth - we know it extends into the void to increase what we know as existence constantly. Oil may be limited on this planet, but the vastness and bigness of the materials, including things like methane gas contained in comets that we'll one day mine for resources, are immeasurable. This universe doesn't hold it thievery for us to take our serving, as big as we like. There is no limit to these resources. And, the God that created this universe didn't mean for us to live a small, limited existence either.

Why Not Use the Free Information?

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 03:30:55 -0600

Business owners buy books. We sometimes pay too much and often buy books we don't read. I'm in a new phase I call wise. I don't like wasting money on things I can get elsewhere either cheaper or free.

Acting on advice in a podcast I listened to tonight, I am reading a book by Amar Bhidé called The Origin and Evolution of New Businesses. Although Amazon has several copies available through used retailers, from his website, completely free.

Sun on the Litigation War Path Again

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 19:18:28 -0500

"In addition to seeking the removal of their products from the marketplace, we will be going after sizable monetary damages. And I am committing that Sun will donate half of those proceeds to the leading institutions promoting free software and patent reform (in specific, The Software Freedom Law Center and the Peer to Patent initiative), and to the legal defense of free software innovators. We will continue to fund the aggressive reexamination of spurious patents used against the community (which we've been doing behind the scenes on behalf of several open source innovators). Whatever's left over will fuel a venture fund fostering innovation in the free software community."

Wow, Sun is on a litigation and public relations warpath again. Last time they focussed on Microsoft, won the suit, lost big time in their market cap because they were perceived by investors as they perceived the game themselves, to be playing in the small (personal style) server space instead of the big iron business, where they were once the heavy weights.

SSL Web Certificate Choices

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 09:13:22 -0500

After considering the cost, hassles, and other factors (and keeping in mind my dislike of big bloated companies), I settled on one of two options. There's a lot of small and startup SSL third party verification companies. Let's start off with a clear explanation of what an SSL certificate is, what it does, and why you would (or wouldn't) pay someone for it.

First, an SSL certificate doesn't require a third party, a purchase, or anything other than the technology standards set forth for the protocol.
The SSL protocol is simply a set of parameters to connect a public key with a private key to secure a connection from point A to point B (usually a PC to a website) for the purpose of encrypting the data passed from point A to point B and visa versa. You can sign it yourself or have a third party verify it so the person at the PC feels more confident that the SSL connection is legit - but the third party doesn't make the server or the company that owns the server more legitimate, nor does it mean the data is more secure or safe.
Since browsers have error messages that are designed to scare people when the website's SSL certificate isn't verified or "signed" by an approved third party SSL issuer, it's smart for the business owner to pay the trust tax and use some big third party verifier's certificate regardless of its meaninglessness.
The FUD is cranking up with different colors in Internet Explorer (Microsoft's browser) to force commercial websites to use the more expensive "more trusted" certificates where the third party issuer claims to investigate the validity of the website owners, whatever that is worth is yet to be seen.
For now, the cheaper entry level SSL certificates issued by third party issuers seem to do the trick for most users, since they cause no scary messages in the major web browsers.
Not all SSL certificate issuers are created equal, and big expense doesn't equal easy interfacing, just big money.

Thawte vs. RapidSSL

If you have less than 3 days to launch an SSL cert, using Thawte can be a problem. I've had certs take as long as 4 days to show up using Thawte. RapidSSL gives me a cert in 10 minutes.

Extended Computer Hardware Warranty

Thu, 23 Aug 2007 04:42:37 -0500

I think they are a bad investment for many situations. They are expensive and never solve any emergency problems. You only come out ahead in a total system failure where environment or human error didn't cause the problem. So, power surges, lightening, accidents, etc. are uncovered. Hard drives, cards, or even a processor failure are almost always cheaper than the warranty. That's why they sell them.

Good Magazine

Sun, 19 Aug 2007 15:20:20 -0500

I found Good Magazine while waiting on my daughter's lightening delayed plane to dock and let her off at the Birmingham (AL) Airport. Airport reading material usually reflects an odd coupling of mindless pop-culture dribble and cutting edge, thought provoking periodicals. I picked up this periodical because the cover caught my attention - an AK-47 sketch in black on an orange background with "GOOD" in big bold block letters at the top. I thought "yeah, that's a good design."

Corkd and TV.WineLibrary.com, 3rd Wave of Internet Profit

Wed, 16 May 2007 16:27:48 -0500

People who know me have heard my commentary on the first internet market wave (of which I was a part), the second wave (which is happening right now), and the third market wave which is the profit wave. Dotcom businesses were launched in the 90s to gain users, and the valuation was based on the innate value of users and not revenues. This is why so many internet businesses were valued well in the stock market and failed to generate real profits.

Motiono vs. Youtube Fans

Tue, 15 May 2007 15:39:21 -0500

Motiono is being pushed via spam on YouTube accounts. It may be the company, may not, but the result is some conversion (yes, spam still works) and anger. Check out this anti-motiono.com rant

Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act and Development

Mon, 14 May 2007 07:02:34 -0500

SOX has an interesting set of impact features for tech. This article has some good intel.

SaaS and GPL Infections

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 16:09:25 -0600

Companies like Google and Barracuda Networks use open source software to run their companies, often modifying the code to provide a service, bundling commercial (privately owned) software together with open source software and providing services that run on open source software, but not distributing their modifications. The issue at hand is whether or not a company can modify open source software and use it in their services without distributing their modifications to competing service providers.

Fighting with Microsoft Business Contact Manager (New in 07')

Sat, 18 Nov 2006 22:10:13 -0600

It's pretty, integrates with Outlook 07', and promises to help simplify your business contact system. It's also huge, bloaty, a nasty draw on resources, and expensive. Microsoft's Business Contact Manager requires Microsoft's SQL Server.

Every time someone tells me of how wonderful Microsoft X or Y is (in its latest expensive version), I try it out and wonder aloud "How do you people put up with an Operating System and Evironment that wastes so much of your time?"

Building SVN with FreeBSD

Mon, 18 Sep 2006 20:11:44 -0500

cd /usr/ports/development/subversion
make -DWITH_SVNSERVE_WRAPPER -DWITH_MOD_DAV_SVN -DWITHOUT_BDB

That installs the subversion server with the wrapper, the mod_dav, and I prefer to NOT use the Berkeley dB, since I've been told by smart folks that the file system option is MUCH simpler to maintain.

Becoming an Avid Do It Yourself Type

Sat, 09 Sep 2006 10:53:24 -0500

I used to complain about do it yourself types that constantly want to get their nose into things they don't really know. It's an obnoxious personality trait when you are the expert and the non-expert is insistant on delving into your expertise with a decade plus deficit in knowledge.

Two stories:

My grandfather's house had some plumbing issues, and I called a plumber on his behalf. They came in, cut a huge hole in the floor and subfloor, left a mess, and didn't fix the problem. My dad ended up fixing the problem, and could've done it without destroying hundreds of dollars worth of flooring; he also didn't take nearly as long or bill $100 an hour.