| X marks this iffy new gizmo
High-energy salespeople are hawking a device called Xpower at pumped-up meetings in Stockton banquet rooms, claiming it slashes home power bills. "Area directors" for Forum Technologies also are recruiting people into Forum's sales force, a multilevel marketing organization, or MLM, that the company's CEO says is not a pyramid scheme. The MLM half of the sales pitch, in other words, is not about buying an energy-saving gizmo but getting rich through multilevel marketing of Xpower and other Forum products. Concerned readers contacted me, saying scores of people eager for easy money are being recruited. I could not personally attend meetings, being held every few days at area restaurants, fearing that I'd be recognized. Instead, a trusted associate attended. My associate attended Sunday night's meeting at the West March Lane Carrows Family Restaurant.
Obama augments ads with network of volunteers
For generations, politicians with cash have campaigned one way in statewide races in California: Carpet bomb voters with TV ads and fill their mailboxes with direct mail. But the Barack Obama campaign is trying something different, something that that even its top organizers jokingly say is "insane" to try in a state that's 163,695 square miles broad: They're approaching voters as a community organizer might. Neighborhood by neighborhood, precinct by precinct, block by block. Although Obama is trailing Sen. Hillary Clinton by 12 points in the Field Poll released Tuesday, 20 percent of California's voters remain undecided. Steve Weir, president of a statewide organization of California county registrars, predicted half of the vote-by-mail ballots will arrive in the last nine days of the campaign, meaning we're approaching the hottest days of the campaign here.
The Real Rip-Off Report (87)
Joe Arpaio's deputies placed "hold" on U.S. Citizen Israel Correa, failed to inform ICE. 06:57PM 01/25/08 Russell Pearce, a.k.a., Mr. Ethnic Cleansing, and his sick new legislation. 09:42AM 01/24/08 Giant Upset? 11:11AM 01/28/08 New Times Sponsored Events 10:29AM 01/28/08 Better Than Petty?: Hypothetical Super Bowl halftime shows 09:21PM 01/18/08 Valley musician Mat Weddle gets props from Howard Stern 04:04AM 01/18/08 Bomberos is the bomb, yo 10:47AM 01/25/08 What will they think of next? 03:32PM 01/23/08 .
Latest Trick From RIAA: Pissing Off Music Reviewers With Annoying ...
It's no secret that the way that many albums get leaked online before their release date is via review copies that are sent out widely to music reviewers and radio stations. Apparently, the big record labels have been employing a new strategy to prevent that from happening. As TorrentFreak notes, they're putting annoying anti-piracy voice over throughout the CD. Thus, just as you're listening to a song, the music will fade out, and a voice over will announce some message about piracy and unauthorized uploads. This is pissing off reviewers, such as the one here who did his review of the album with the voice overs ("an album that can best be described as perhaps the Mona Lisa after a 2 year old covered in chocolate has crawled all over it. Yes it might once have been a great painting, and yes you can still see that greatness, but really all you can see now is little chocolate hand prints.") In other words, in its effort to prevent the inevitable, the labels are pissing off the reviewers of the album by making it impossible to actually hear the album as it was intended to be heard.
Nike’s Sasquatch for Women, Too
As General Manager of Nike Golf U.S., Cindy Davis, is one of the most important women in the golf industry. She played tournament golf in college, worked at the top ranks at the LPGA, and launched the Nancy Lopez line of clubs for the Arnold Palmer Company. Cindy joined Nike in January 2005 at the beginning of what may be a landmark year for womens golf as well as for Nike Golf as it launches its Sasquatch driver. I asked Cindy for five minutes of her time to answer a few questions.
NB. Cindy, I think that Nike is putting more of its marketing power into womens golf than previously. For example, I noticed that the early teaser advertisements for Nikes new Sasquatch clubs (to be launched November 1) included lots more women golfers. Can you tell me what was behind that? Does Nike see more buying power in the womens market than previously? CD.
Food markets getting greener, more sensual
In 2008, more products designed to appeal to socially conscious buyers will make it onto shelves, according to food-trend analysts. Companies are focusing on promoting green initiatives and making their food labels easier to read, using fewer scary-sounding ingredients and emphasizing additive-free and "good-for-you" products. At the same time, the grocery industry is turning its stores into pleasure palaces complete with mood lighting, piped-in smells and tasting bars. Last year, Safeway reopened on First Street in Livermore, making the transition from supermarket to "lifestyle" store - a concept designed to appeal to a generation weaned on iPods and text messaging who complain that grocery shopping "is so boring." "I actually had a young person tell me that," said Lynn Dornblaser, a trend expert for Mintel, an international marketing research firm.
VMware, Inc. Company Profile - View VMware, Inc. (VMW) Company ...
About VMware, Inc. VMware, an EMC company, is the global leader in virtual infrastructure software for industry-standard systems. The world's largest companies use VMware solutions to simplify their IT, fully leverage their existing computing investments and respond faster to changing business demands. VMware is based in Palo Alto, California. VMware, Inc. Executives Mark S. Peek [CFO] Debra Hagan [Vice President, Global Support Services] Diane Greene [founder] Betsy Sutter Brian Byun .
|
