Category: Uncategorized

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Rumours of bloggings death are greatly exaggerated | you are the new A List

Colin Henderson

I find the Calcanis exit from blogging laughable. My take … what he really is feeling is the death of A-list blogging. Note the key comment in the ‘death’ link – no-one in the iphone line recognised Scoble when he walked/ videoed the line up – not one! And that was in San Francisco! I watched the entire video, and its clear no-one recognised him. A-listers have become too caught up in their own importance. I loved it in 2003 when Scoble passionately spoke of what Microsoft had to do to improve. In 2003 it was fun and informative to … Continue reading Rumours of bloggings death are greatly exaggerated | you are the new A List

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RBC and BMO dabble in Sharia products

Colin Henderson

This has to be a harbinger of things to come. The story is worth clicking through to as it describes the sale of Aston Martin to a group that involved some Kuwaitis. The deal had to be structured to reflect the interest of the Kuwaitis and to conform to Islamic finance principles. The story goes on to note RBC and BMO have hired experts, and plan to expand their offerrings in this area. Canadian Banks & Insurance In February, Royal Bank of Canada hired Zaher Barakat, who teaches Islamic banking and finance at Cass Business School in London, as head … Continue reading RBC and BMO dabble in Sharia products

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Disruption comes to politics and lobbying

Colin Henderson

No comment on the politics of this, but I love the disruptive influence internet is bringing to politics. Scobleizer — Tech geek blogger » Blog Archive The changing power in Washington DC « Back to why they are pissed. Barack Obama, Ross told me, is raising tons of money $50 to $100 at a time outside of this “bundling” system. The people in the old system don’t like that a new system is being built and that they aren’t part of it. Continue reading Disruption comes to politics and lobbying

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How not to be customer focussed | Microsoft example

Colin Henderson

What strikes me about this email initiated by Bill Gates over 5 years ago is not a techie issue. The important email is not Gates words … its the two emails right after that begin a thread that is classic internally focussed, and just wrong. If you see your Bank here, then start cringing. Look for: no reply all to Gates – so we have to assume Poole sent a separate email to Gates profusely apologising, then wrote the cool, no problem email to Amir & Chris. Amir’s email refusing to acknowledge there is an issue. Note he says that … Continue reading How not to be customer focussed | Microsoft example

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Megatrends online today | Steve Rubel

Colin Henderson

Steve is developing into a thought leader, and his insights are worthwhile, providing a good synopsis of trends. Three here, pertaining to FriendFeed: peer influence as an emergent source of trust search as an emergent tool emergent millenial generation Why Tiny FriendFeed Will Be as Big as Google – Advertising Age – Steve Rubel First, there’s the rising influence of peers. Some 58% of opinion elites 35 to 64 said they trust a “person like me,” according to the Edelman Trust Barometer. Second, there’s search. Some 90% of the online population searches, according to the Pew Internet for the American … Continue reading Megatrends online today | Steve Rubel

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A request of RBC | where is your community feature?

Colin Henderson

I have been applauding RBC’s internet initiatives, and this one from what looks like a press release is no exception … except I cannot find it? Anyone out there at RBC care to help me out here. Finextra: RBC Direct Investing taps blogs for investment management Community is part of a wider site redesign by RBC, which is also adding a ‘sectors and industries’ page to allow investors to target areas and obtain more granular trending information. The bank says a ‘trading dashboard’ will be added this summer which will enable more active traders to consolidate research, tracking and execution … Continue reading A request of RBC | where is your community feature?

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A different set of economic problems still to come

Colin Henderson

There are stories all over the world that remain in the subtext, but are centred on one issue … inflaton.  There is much talk of emerging economies.  The facts are that many of the countries that are credited with the growth potential (Russia, China, India) will still find themselves in the situation of significant inflation, and that will result in changes to policies in those countries, that will have global implications. In short the future is not linear, and certainly not as clear as what we might think. ft.com Spare capacity in the economy (Russia), which facilitated its rapid growth … Continue reading A different set of economic problems still to come

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the new Tips tab — the Wesabe Value Engine

Colin Henderson

Wesabe continue to build very useful tools that just enhances the value of their service. Based on real transaction data, they offer up merchant comparisons including actual usage. Wheaties for Your Wallet » Blog Archive » New Feature: the new Tips tab | the Wesabe Value Engine We look at how much people spend at a merchant, how often they come back to give that merchant repeat business, and what they have to say about their satisfaction with that merchant. From these points, we build a comparison that lets you narrow in on the values in your neighborhood, and decide … Continue reading the new Tips tab — the Wesabe Value Engine