Your World. Delivered. To the NSA.
Posted 12 May 2006, 08:42 in Business 1 Comment
I received the following from EFF, who is launching a class action lawsuit against AT&T for providing customer data to the NSA.
Recent news reports have revealed that AT&T, Verizon, and BellSouth are violating the law and the privacy of millions of ordinary Americans by secretly giving the NSA information about your telephone calls without a court order.
In January, EFF filed a lawsuit against AT&T for collaborating with the NSA. This case is the best way for us to uncover and shut down the government’s secret spying program and to hold AT&T accountable.
Stand up for your rights by supporting EFF and our case against AT&T. And please forward this message and spread the word to your friends and family members.
This appears to go beyond the “war on terrorism” agenda that the Bush administration has been promoting. This has become a war on information, folks. And the question would be… how safe do you feel knowing the government has your call records and knows who you are calling? Definitely an interesting issue to keep your eyes on.
Related Articles: Join EFF | About the AT&T Case
All Fired Up
Posted 25 April 2006, 15:23 in Business Technology 1 Comment
Entrepreneur Magazine in an article this month asks if companies should be redesigning their sites to the web standards-compliant Mozilla Firefox browser?
The short answer: absolutely yes! Why you ask? Because there have been over 140 million downloads, and about 40 to 50 million people use Mozilla Firefox as their browser on a daily basis.
Pacific Wings, a new airline in Hawaii, started marketing their company a few months ago. Their TV ads were impressive enough to warrant a visit to their website. Unfortunately, I was greeted with a message stating that my browser of choice was not compatible with their website. This website is also not compatible with Netscape and Safari. It means that all households with a Mac would not be able to book airline tickets with this company.
It boggles my mind why any company, in 2006 I might add, would develop a website to cater to a specific browsing audience. Doing so blocks potential revenue stream from audiences that use different computing platforms or prefer using alternative web browsers.
Companies who are due for a new website should be aware that there are alternative web browsers, and should not block potential business by catering to a single browsing audience. Search for web developers that understands how to create standards compliant websites set by W3C. Doing so will ensure that your potential customers are able to view your website without any problems. Otherwise a TV commercial or marketing campaign like Pacific Wings will not reach its fullest potential, sending marketing dollars down the drain.
Turning a passion into a business
Posted 22 April 2006, 18:54 in Business Leave a Comment
I’ve been taking non-credit photography classes during my free time for the past 4 months with a relative of mines. Today we took a class on the art of children photography. Granted I do not have a child nor am close to having one. I took it because our previous instructor stressed that photographing children is one of the most difficult genres to get into. My thinking prior to taking this course was that if I can master the art of children photography, then I can easily apply these techniques to general portrait photography and make my life easier.
The class was instructed by Michael Gilbert who started getting serious about photography at the age of 17. He has made a very good living behind the camera, living on the island of Maui and traveling a lot, doing photo shoots for his high-end and very rich clientele. His photographs have graced the covers of countless magazines and marketing campaigns for companies such as Disney. And based on his website, he is a curator of an art museum on the island of Maui.
One thing that intrigued me most about Mr. Gilbert was the way he structured his 7-hour class. 70% of the class was towards the technical aspects, while about 30% was towards the business aspect of photography. We learned proper lighting techniques, settings for our camera, lens that he prefers, using flash, and not giving a child sugar before a photo shoot. There was also a toddler and a young boy who served as models, which allowed us to take our own pictures under different lighting conditions.
He also gave many ideas on how we can approach photography as a business. I really did not seriously think about the business aspect of photography, since I’ve been taking these courses with the primary goal of becoming a better photographer. When we spoke to him after class, we got many tips on how we should shoot my sister’s upcoming wedding as well as ideas on how to present and prepare ourselves for possible referrals.
Needless to say it was a great day having met someone who is really good at photography and has the business smarts of turning a passion into a business.
