Posts Tagged ‘spruikers’
Scoundrels
I’m reading a version of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island to my young son. This neat interchange caught my eye: Soon the Captain waved his hand for silence and we all stopped talking, except for the good doctor, who went on speaking loud and clear. The Captain glared at him and commanded —”Silence below decks!” […]
Ad-supported site … or ‘supporting’ the advertisers? A case study.
An interesting debate is rumblng about the use of Ad-blockers on web browsers… Ars Technica’s Ken Fisher laid out his case “Why Ad Blocking is devastating to the sites you love” including this section which got me thinking: My argument is simple: blocking ads can be devastating to the sites you love. I am not […]
Bluster and threat are commonplace
As in life, bluster and threat are commonplace in business – especially the technology business. So that interaction was good preparation for a later meeting with Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. They’d flown in over a weekend to meet with Scott McNealy, Sun’s then CEO – who asked me and Greg Papadopoulos (Sun’s CTO) to […]
“God was telling me the other day …” Oh yes?
Interesting bits of news on the “God was telling me” front today First, an even greedier-than-usual fundraising effort at Destiny Church appears to have sparked an ‘exodus’ — a step too far for their Brisbane pastor and his flock, according to news reports. TV3 News reported it last night, and the NZ Herald chimed in… […]
Ace communicator or duplicitous spruiker? (VIDEO)
There are certain ‘sales types’ who veer so close to Con artists and scammers that you wonder why the ‘authorities’ don’t shut the lying bastards down. Newly-bankrupt Mark Bryers of Blue Chip seems to fit into that category, judging by some of the material I’ve seen privately and from reports in the media and from […]
Free Trial Scam!
A friend of mine got caught in this ‘free trial’ scam. Never thought I would EVER get scammed online….but DID! RealFreeSamples – a link on Facebook got me good..have cancelled my credit card but am out by $450..so annoyed at myself…. That means the fine print says they’ll keep sending you shipments until you jump […]
A discredited profession? — Financial advisors.
About time!
The backlash against the alarmingly greedy pigs on Wall St (“Bail Out People, Not Banks”) was long overdue. Self-inflicted wounds. We’re also familiar with the loathing of the corporate fat cats who showered excess on themselves even as the punctured airship foundered — and, more scandalously, even in receipt of taxpayer-funded bailouts. But now I […]
Pe-lonker!
How to show off about your car, but soften the blowhard-ish bit: Hi! My name is B**** Mc***, you may or may not have heard of me before, either way, that’s OK with me. I’ve never been featured in the BRW Rich 200 (nor do I want to), hardly ever wear a suit and tie […]
Sacred cows and calls for censorship
“Don’t mention the war” — Basil, Fawlty Towers I took some interest in a recent comment on a discussion forum which attacked a journalist for reporting bankruptcy proceedings being undertaken against a failed property developer — accusing the journalist of improper motives for the story. The critic himself has a somewhat unfortunate track record in business […]
Merlin Mann on the internet
The internet is becoming this thing where it’s just people trying to become successful on the internet by showing other people how to become successful on the internet. It’s this unbelievably fractal ponzi scheme. It’s very Escher. Boy, it’s a terrible terrible ghetto of information out there. It’s like a snake masturbating its own tail. […]
