luni, 1 aprilie 2013

Seth's Blog : Is the new Kindle Zero the sign of things to come?

 

Is the new Kindle Zero the sign of things to come?

AmazonfreelogoIt was always going to happen, but most of us didn't think it would happen so soon. Every Kindle has been cheaper than the one before it...

This afternoon, Amazon is going to announce the Kindle Zero, (screenshot) the first ebook reader that's free (to Prime members, of which there are millions). If you want one, you should hurry, because free goes quick... (here's a sneak preview of the prototype Zero)

The trend has been clear--electronic devices always get cheaper, and locking people into a platform has always been profitable. Hotmail, search engines... free is the driver of attention.

Beyond the surprise of leaping into the free reader, though, are the announcements from Random House and Wiley that 10% of their titles (the ones that used to be free) will now come with a cash incentive. (HT to Kevin for the original idea).

Read a book, get paid in cash. This is beyond free.

People have long treated reading books as a chore, as work, as something to do as little as possible. Now, for the first time, you can get paid for the drudgery of reading.

What this means is simple: you can now order 150 books and a new Kindle and get paid more than $3,000 just for accepting them and reading them when you can. Dense, difficult books like Russian tragedies and others earn you even more, up to $45. Per book. And of course, how-to books earn you hundreds of dollars each, but you do have to read them.

Of course there will be ads. Once it's free, you're not the customer any more, you're the product.

As a pioneer in free ebooks more than ten years ago, I feel like I have to keep up, hence my announcement today that to go with the new Kindle Zero, the free edition of my new book comes with a new Buick LeSabre or a large fig newton, your choice. While supplies last, one per customer.


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duminică, 31 martie 2013

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis


Italian President Giorgio Napolitano Denies He Is Stepping Down After Phone Call From ECB President

Posted: 31 Mar 2013 10:58 AM PDT

Whether or not Italian President Giorgio Napolitano intended to step down or it was just a rumor, following ECB President Mario Draghi phone call, Napolitano denies resignation reports.
Napolitano pledged on Saturday that he would stay in office until the end of his term on May 15 following reports that he planned to step down to break the deadlock created by last month's election, which left no party able to form a government.
Months of Pressure on Bersani and Silvio Berlusconi

The ECB clearly does not want to take a chance that Beppe Grillio's Five Star Movement will win the next election, so the pressure is on by the ECB for a different result.

Bloomberg reports Napolitano Names Advisers in Renewed Push for Italian Deal
Italian President Giorgio Napolitano renewed his push to forge a government from the country's divided parliament by drafting advisers from two of the top three political forces.

Members of the parliamentary coalitions headed by Pier Luigi Bersani and ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi were among the 10 men selected, according to an e-mail sent late yesterday by Napolitano's office. Civil servants, a former politician, a retired judge and a central banker rounded out the two lists. Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement, the third-largest group, had no lawmakers included.

Grillo, an ex-comic who characterized his party's mission as the French Revolution without the guillotine, criticized Napolitano's appointment of advisers in a blog posting today.

Italy "doesn't need 'caretakers of democracy,' but rather to make its parliament function better and quickly," Grillo said. "The country doesn't need mysterious negotiators or facilitators of the caliber of Violante, the grand master of backroom deals, to cite just one, to act as a group of wise men."

Violante, a former speaker of the lower house of parliament, didn't respond to a request via his website for comment.
Coalition Won't Last

If Napolitano does manage to scrape together a coalition, it will not last long. Berlusconi is angling for the right to name the next president to form a government. However, once that is done, he will no longer need the coalition and will be happy to have elections free from worry over prosecution and also with rule changes more favorable to his party.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Happy Easter

Posted: 31 Mar 2013 09:10 AM PDT

I wish all of you a happy Easter. Here is a colorful image from Der Spiegel that I wish to share.



click on imager for larger view

Each year, Volker Kraft decorates an apple tree with more than 10,000 colourful eggs in Saalfeld, Thuringia, to celebrate Easter and the arrival of spring.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Seth's Blog : Just the good parts

 

Just the good parts

"I want to be an actress, but I don't want to go on auditions."

"I want to play varsity sports, but I need to be sure I'm going to make the team."

"It's important to sell this great new service, but I'm not willing to deal with rejection."

You don't get to just do the good parts. Of course. In fact, you probably wouldn't have chosen this path if it was guaranteed to work every time.

The implication of this might surprise you, though: when the tough parts come along, the rejection and the slog and the unfair bad breaks, it makes sense to welcome them. Instead of cursing or fearing the down moments, understand that they mean you've chosen reality, not some unsustainable fantasy. It means that you're doing worthwhile, difficult work, not merely amusing yourself.

The very thing you're seeking only exists because of the whole. We can't deny the difficult parts, we have no choice but to embrace them.


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sâmbătă, 30 martie 2013

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis


Time to Wave the White Flag on the "War on Poverty"

Posted: 30 Mar 2013 06:38 PM PDT

In response to Unwilling to Work; 25% in Hale County AL Collect Disability, 14 Million Nationwide; A Simple Solution I received some interesting emails from readers.

Regardless of Insurance, Taxpayers Pay

Reader Chris writes
Hey Mish,

I have been discussing disability for quite some time with others. I know a few people on disability who should not be qualified. I also have one good friend who is on disability for back problems. He had several surgeries and is genuinely disabled. The interesting part is my friend paid for his own insurance for 25+ years and the minute that he was declared unable to work, a lawyer saw to it that he would go on SS benefits. The insurance company collected premiums for 25+ years and now the government (taxpayers) pay.
Discussion on Radio Station KMJ

I was on radio station KMJ in Fresno, California for 45 minutes on Friday discussing my post on disability. Mike, a disabled worker was kind enough to share his thoughts. Mike writes ...
Hello Mish

I just heard you on KMJ and agree with what you have said. I am a disabled person working in the social services system, I will soon be retiring due to stress related problems. I would like to keep working at another position with less stress but many of my friends think I am stupid for wanting to work instead of taking social security.
Time to Wave the White Flag

Reader Claudette, writes ...
Hello Mish

Thanks for a good post on a complex issue. SSI/SSDI comes from social security funds, making that program even less sustainable over time.

I also see those who are truly disabled and unable to be competitively employed...they are being sustained in poverty by this program because of the sheer numbers in the program.

Multiple disincentives are built into the system to getting a job for fear of losing your stable disability check and Medicare coverage, so that it is very hard for the state Vocational Rehab system (where I work) to get disability recipients back to work.

There are few entry level jobs that pay enough or have benefits adequate for the recipients to take the risk of leaving the safe harbor of Disability.

Let's just raise a white flag and admit that the "war on poverty" has been lost and look critically at how our programs sustain people in poverty rather than lift them out of it.
Thanks all. Yes, it is time to raise the white flag. Many of these programs are structured to keep people on disability rather than get them off disability.

Reader mike shows the pressure on the few who really do not want to take advantage of the system.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Beppe Grillo "We are the French Revolution Without the Guillotine"

Posted: 30 Mar 2013 09:38 AM PDT

With Beppe Grillo unwilling to form a coalition government, and with Prime former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi making demands that Bersani will not go along with, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano Considers Options.

One of those options includes stepping down early so the next president can call elections. Under Italian law, an outgoing president is restricted. Napolitano's term ends mid-April.
Napolitano, who met with lawmakers yesterday, may make an announcement today, the president's spokesman said late yesterday. Napolitano will continue talks with leaders in parliament and may consider resigning, daily La Repubblica reported today, without citing anyone.

To reach a compromise, Napolitano would need help from lawmakers loyal to either former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi or Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement. Berlusconi said yesterday he would back a government in partnership with the Democratic Party, while Grillo reiterated he will shun a deal with other parties.

"We were and still are open to giving life to a coalition," Berlusconi, 76, said yesterday after meeting Napolitano. "We think it's logical that if we form a government together, a coalition government, then together we must discuss about who will be the best president of the republic."

Vito Crimi, Five Star's head in the Senate, and Roberta Lombardi, the party's leader in the Chamber of Deputies, repeated their resistance to compromise after meeting Napolitano yesterday. That position was praised by Grillo later in an interview broadcast on his website.

"We're going to win with our ideas and our strength because we're a miracle," Grillo said. "We are the French Revolution without the guillotine."
Poison Pill

Silvio Berlusconi is willing to form a coalition but his price of admission is high.

Berlusconi wants to shield himself from further lawsuits, and he wants new rules favorable to his PdL party. He also wants the PdL to name the next president.

Grillo would never go along with such demand, and Bersani has thrice ruled out such a deal.

The sane thing to do would be for Napolitano to step down so there could be early elections. If he goes the route of attempting to find a technocrat suitable to everyone, the odds of success will be very low, and the odds the election delayed until September, high.

My main scenario remains No Working Government for 7 Months, Then Elections in September but an early resignation by Napolitano could alter the time line.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

SEO Blog

SEO Blog


3 Simple Ways To Optimize Your Internet Marketing Campaign

Posted: 30 Mar 2013 11:42 AM PDT

You will run out of time if you are moving into ineffective acts on a persistent basis. Most internet marketing failure roots itself in ineffective action. Move your attention to goal achieving actions to accomplish a whole lot more in a bunch less time. Think through your internet marketing campaign;...
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Reach out your targeted audience with concept of SEO and SMO

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 11:30 PM PDT

The day when the internet has evolved till today's date thousands of new website have come up and you might want that when a user types a query your website should show in top search results of Search Engine. The technique that helps to get more and more traffic in...
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Another March Mozscape Index is Live!

Another March Mozscape Index is Live!


Another March Mozscape Index is Live!

Posted: 29 Mar 2013 07:18 AM PDT

Posted by carinoverturf

We're happy to announce the second Mozscape index for the month of March is now live! Data has been refreshed across all SEOmoz applications - Open Site Explorer, the MozbarPRO campaigns, and the Mozscape API.

I know you're all thinking - but wait, you just launched an index last week?! This was one of our fastest indexes to finish processing - taking only 11 days! But processing overlapped slightly for this index and our previous March index. However, the good news is that it just means lots of fresh data for you!

As you can see from the crawl histogram, a large volume of the data in this index was crawled in the beginning of March and the oldest data dating back to about the first week of February. 

Crawl histgram for March 28th Mozscape index

Here are the metrics for this latest index:

  • 81,359,307,805 (81 billion) URLs
  • 12,256,956,717 (12.2 billion) Subdomains
  • 149,419,721 (149 million) Root Domains
  • 774,927,201,776 (775 billion) Links
  • Followed vs. Nofollowed
    • 2.18% of all links found were nofollowed
    • 54.51% of nofollowed links are internal
    • 45.49% are external
  • Rel Canonical - 15.80% of all pages now employ a rel=canonical tag
  • The average page has 75 links on it
    • 64.04 internal links on average
    • 11.03 external links on average

And the following correlations with Google's US search results:

  • Page Authority - 0.35
  • Domain Authority - 0.19
  • MozRank - 0.24
  • Linking Root Domains - 0.30
  • Total Links - 0.25
  • External Links - 0.29

We always love to hear your thoughts! And remember, if you're ever curious about when Mozscape next updates, you can check the calendar here. We also maintain a list of previous index updates with metrics here.


Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

Weekly Address: President Obama Offers Easter and Passover Greetings

The White House Saturday, March 30, 2013
 

Weekly Address: President Obama Offers Easter and Passover Greetings

President Obama uses his Weekly Address to mark a sacred time for the millions of Americans celebrating Easter and Passover, and he calls on everyone to use this time to reflect on the common values we share as a nation. The President says that this is a chance to embrace loved ones, give thanks for our blessings, and help those less fortunate as we celebrate our individual traditions as well as the thread of humanity that connects us all.

Watch this week's Weekly Address.

Watch this week's Weekly Address

In Case You Missed It

Here’s a quick glimpse at what happened this week on WhiteHouse.gov:

Middle East Trip: Last Friday, President Obama wrapped up his visit to the Middle East. The President paid respects with a visit to Mount Herzl where he honored two Jewish heroes, Theodor Herzl and former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Then President Obama took a tour of Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Complex.

Later, President Obama joined Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the West Bank where they toured the crypt containing the birthplace of Jesus.

The President then traveled to Jordan, the final stop of his trip, where he was greeted at Al-Hummar Palace in Amman by King Abdullah II and his son, Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah. The President participated in an official welcoming ceremony followed by a series of events in Jordan.

Check out our Middle East trip gallery and visit our Middle East page for more information.

Remembering Sandy Hook: On Thursday, President Obama promised Americans he had not forgotten about the Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy. Standing with parents and teachers of gun violence victims, the President pressed Congress to pass legislation to protect our children and our communities.

And I want to make sure every American is listening today. Less than 100 days ago that happened, and the entire country was shocked. And the entire country pledged we would do something about it and that this time would be different. Shame on us if we've forgotten. I haven't forgotten those kids. Shame on us if we've forgotten.

In January, the President put out a series of common-sense proposals to reduce gun violence. Download the plan here.

Spirit of America: On Monday, President Obama gave remarks at a naturalization ceremony for 28 active duty service members and civilians who came to the United States from all over the globe, "from Nigeria to Nicaragua, from the Philippines to Peru."

"But what binds you together -- what binds us all together -- is something more meaningful than anything of that," said President Obama. "A love for this country and all that it represents -- that’s what unites each and every one of you."

President Obama called on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform that lives up to our heritage as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants.

Learn about the President’s proposals here.

First Female U.S. Secret Service Director: On Wednesday, President Obama swore in Julia Pierson as the first female director of the U.S. Secret Service. With President Obama watching, Vice President Biden administered the oath at the swearing-in ceremony.

"I have to say that Julia’s reputation within the Service is extraordinary," said the President. "She’s come up through the ranks. She’s done just about every job there is to do at the Secret Service."

African Leaders: On Thursday, President Obama welcomed four African leaders -- President Sall from Senegal, President Banda from Malawi, President Koroma from Sierra Leone, and Prime Minister Neves from Cape Verde. Through democratic governments and expanded human rights, the four leaders have exemplified the progress in Africa. President Obama thanked them for their tireless work and ensured the United States will be a partner in progress:

"You should know that you have a great friend in the United States, in the people of the United States, and in the President of the United States, because we believe that if you’re successful, that ultimately will help us grow our economies and contribute to a more peaceful world, as well."

New National Monuments: On Monday, President Obama celebrated our nation’s rich history and national heritage by signing proclamations establishing five new national monuments. The landmarks are in Delaware, Maryland, New Mexico, Ohio, and Washington. Each commemorates extraordinary events in our nation’s history, while preserving our natural resources for future generations.

"These sites honor the pioneering heroes, spectacular landscapes and rich history that have shaped our extraordinary country," said the President. "By designating these national monuments today, we will ensure they will continue to inspire and be enjoyed by generations of Americans to come."

President’s Passover Message: On Monday, President Obama shared his warmest wishes to all celebrating Passover at home, in Israel and around the world. The President touched upon the importance of Passover and looking to the future to better our world.

City of Champions: On Wednesday, President Obama honored the Stanley Cup champion LA Kings and MLS Cup champion LA Galaxy. This marks the second year in a row the Galaxy have come to the White House to celebrate a championship, while the Kings are new visitors to the White House. The Kings enjoyed their first Stanley Cup in franchise history last season. Watch the full ceremony here.

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