"Bão", segue uma ilustração de mais uma dentre as múltiplas utilidades de uma pesquisa de mercado... a informação bem apurada faz a diferença entre ver e enxergar efetivamente, e esta, se bem utilizada, possibilita ao empreendedor e à sua organização o alcance de vantagem competitiva!!!

O marketing, assim como as demais áreas da empresa, necessita comprovar sua eficácia e eficiência para justificar a captação de receita para seus projetos. Além disso, a mensuração do desempenho permite que se implante um ciclo de melhoramento contínuo, uma otimização dos processos de marketing da organização. Novas métricas vêm sendo desenvolvidas, mas de nada vale uma fórmula se os dados que serão utilizados nesta não são coletados e aplicados de modo correto!

"

Gerenciamento de performance de marketing: quebrar o conhecimento de marketing tradicional.

por Lane Michel

Precisamos de um "Freakonomics" para o marketing! Uma mulher sentada ao meu lado em um vôo praticamente gritou isso quando relia o livro de Steven Levitt e Stephen Dubner's.

"Freakonomics" nos revela fatos obscuros da economia, mas que, no entanto guiam o comportamento e resultados. Para a maioria de nós é mais conveniente, rápido e satisfatório seguir o senso comum. É seguro. Mas é errado.

Minha companheira de viagem me ajudou a criar este exemplo de como nós erramos ao confiar no senso comum para tomar decisões de marketing.

Uma empresa líder em telecomunicação sem fios gastou milhões em segmentação. A companhia trabalhou duro para trazer as pessoas para suas lojas e, ao mesmo tempo, entrar em contato com os consumidores pela Internet. Em 90% dos casos, no entanto, não havia como medir o gasto em marketing. A saída foi comparar os gastos com os dos concorrentes e trabalhar para diferenciar a mensagem.

A Verizon Wireless reduziu o churn (mudança de operadora) pela metade, abocanhando um grande pedaço do mercado e criando um valor significativo e o maior retorno sobre clientes de sua indústria (veja "Understading the Paradox: Cash Rich and Customer Poor" da edição de janeiro de 2006 do Return on Customer).

Nenhuma das concorrentes acreditou que a estratégia da Verizon era sustentável. Muitos alegavam que eles "sabiam" que a Verizon gastava tanto quanto investia em publicidade. Mas o que se descobriu foi que o investimento em retenção e novos serviços reduziu o churn e permitiu a conquista de novos clientes. O mix de mídia e os gastos pareciam similares, mas os fatos que guiavam a estratégia de marketing eram novos. Mas a empresa a qual nos referimos anteriormente não entendeu isso.

Somos muito parecidos com essa companhia. Pense nisso:

É a história que guia o marketing de sua empresa, tanto para os clientes atuais quanto para os clientes potenciais. O que se considera é a experiência pessoal de sua equipe, aquilo que funcionou antes para sua empresa ou para os concorrentes.

O modo como você mede o desempenho de marketing também nasceu dessa experiência. Ele está estampado na estrutura da organização e acaba vacinando sua equipe contra novas idéias, fazendo de qualquer mudança um enorme desafio.

O "deathonomics" no marketing de sua empresa impedirá que você saia do velho marketing convencional - a não ser que você desafie o senso comum com fatos.

Há um meio de quebrar essa inércia. E nesse instante os veteranos do bom e velho database marketing estão com um enorme sorriso: o marketing guiado por dados é a chave para derrubar crenças e premissas que nos levam a criar campanhas de resultados imprevisíveis e de baixo desempenho.

Leiam "Moneyball" de Michal Lewis. Esse livro descreve como a renegada análise de dados desafiou o senso comum que governa o baseball profissional. Quando dois economistas-estatísticos resolvem consolidar dados do baseball, eles descobrem que podem predizer o desempenho dos times. Muitos os ignoraram por anos, pois não admitiam que pudessem dizer como o baseball deveria ser gerenciado. A fama veio quando as equipes começaram, uma depois da outra, a testar, usar e adotar esse conhecimento. E começaram a ganhar mais e gastar menos.

A análise de marketing é o melhor meio de gerenciar sua equipe de marketing. Dois exemplos rápidos de como quebrar o senso comum e atingir ótimos resultados.

Uma das maiores cadeias de hotéis da América Latina acreditava que tinha um milhão de membros em seu programa de fidelidade. Mas os "clientes fiéis" mostravam pouca familiaridade e interesse com a rede de hotéis. O senso comum diria que teriam que gastar mais com uma boa parte desse grupo clientes. Análises de valor e necessidade mostraram algo bem diferente: somente quarenta mil clientes eram realmente fiéis. Investir nesses 4% de clientes gerou lucros muito além das expectativas (veja “Analytics Can make Your Numbers Really Add Up”).

Fidelity Instruments reorientou seu orçamento e estrutura para concentrar-se mais em novos clientes que em funções. Começou com uma grande análise das necessidades dos clientes. Ao invés de posicionarem os clientes como "donos de fundos", eles eram vistos como domicílios. As métricas foram alteradas para focar o incremento de valor total ao invés de aumentar o número de contas. A satisfação e os retornos financeiros continuam a ser muito bons (veja "CRM is Not for Micromanagers" na edição de abril de 2003 da "CIO Magazine").

Não continue a tomar suas decisões baseado no que você "sabe" que deu certo. Traga para sua equipe um membro que venha para desafiar o conhecimento que você tem."

Fonte: http://www.1to1.com.br

Verizon Phones

1. The Rapture VU30

This phone is a stylish flip phone that looks a lot like the Motorola Pebble from a few years ago. Its features include:

• Verizon 3G
• V Cast Music with Rhapsody support (for downloading music to your phone and PC)
• VZ Navigator- for Turn by Turn GPS right on your phone
• Mp3 and Video player with V Cast Video support
• Micro-SD card slot- With room for up to 8 GB of space for storing those tunes and videos
• 2 megapixel camera
• 1.6 inch external screen with touch controls- This is becoming a trademark with Motorola, and this touch screen should offer a way to control music, take pix with the external screen, and possibly even read text messages if Verizon chooses.

The Rapture VU30 is available for order today from Verizon's site for $129 after a 2 year contract and $50 mail in rebate.

The Rapture VU30

2. VU204

A much simpler phone, designed similar to the Rapture (albeit not as sleek and stylish looking), but not as fully featured.

• Small Design- nice, little flip phone that should fit in any pocket.
• Smaller external screen with no external media controls
• Only a VGA camera- does not take as nice pix as a megapixel camera like on the VU30
• Verizon 3G
• V Cast Navigator- Gives you Turn by Turn GPS on your phone

This phone will also be out on October 14, for a much cheaper $29.99 after a 2 year contract and $50 mail in rebate (though for those so inclined to get this phone- I'd recommend waiting a little longer after launch as it will probably drop a couple months after to a free on contract phone).

It is not a bad phone, but I would also recommend looking at some of Verizon's other phones like the LG VX9400 (WHILE SUPPLIES LAST! This also is running for $29.99, but is much more feature packed- 1.3 megapixel camera, cool swivel screen design and V Cast Mobile TV are some of the features), instead of picking up this phone.

VU204 Open

AT&T

Motorola Razr V9x

This is an update the Razr 2 V9 that AT&T got lost year. I gotta say- I really like this update and wished they could've put some of these features on the V9 when I had it. The features on this phone include:

• Large 2.0 inch external screen with 2.2 inch screen on the inside-Both screens are very nice if they are anything like the older version. The external screen used to only do music control, but now also does....
• GPS, watch AT&T Cellular Video (and any videos you put on the device), AT&T Music Store accessing, as well as text message viewing and other alerts!- This is all on just the external screen, without opening up the phone! I am so glad they added this, but am also pretty angry they didn't do it when I had the phone. I really wanted the viewing text messages without needing to open the phone, but hey, what can you do.
• New Gray Color- The older V9 was only available in a dark "mahagony" or really dark reddish purple. That color wasn't terrible but am glad they made this one with a more appealing blue.
• Crystal Talk technology for Voice Calls- The most amazing feature for anyone who wants to make phone calls with their phone (yes, there are some people who do this :) ). This really works, and works really well. Calls sound very clear with this and make talking on a cell phone actually enjoyable.
• AT&T 3G
• Mp3 and Video player
• Micro-SD card slot- allows you to add up to 8 GB of memory onto the phone for storing all those music and videos.
• 2 Megapixel Camera
• AT&T Video Share- For doing one-way video calls with other people who have AT&T and are in a 3G area with a Video Share phone. Basically, something cool, but also something you'll probably never find use for.

Price and release date have yet to be announced. These are great additions to an already great phone, and I just hope that AT&T launches this soon for a good price.

Razr 2 V9x (with AT&T Navagator- GPS- on front screen)

Those are just some new phones to think about as the holiday season approaches. Right now, the V9x is the only phone here I recommend, as I used the V9 and was really happy with it- really is a great phone, very good with texting. The upgrades in the V9x make it even better, and a phone to seriously think about for those with AT&T assuming this comes out soon and at a fair price.

I am not sure if the Verizon phones are worth the investment, because Verizon has several other excellent phones:

• LG Chocolate 3 lineup-- (we reviewed it here) very good and at the same price as the VU30 ($129.99)
• LGVX9400-- also very nice and at the same price as the VU204 ($29.99)
• Samsung Alias- a dual flip phone that when you flip up gives you a regular phone layout, but when you flip to the side it gives you a full keyboard; it also has Verizon 3G and V Cast amoung many other features (see here for full product page) -- for just $49.99.

Also, two of arguably Verizon's top phones -- the Dare and Voyager -- will most likely see some big price cuts over the coming months with the holiday season under 3 months away (and America's economic crisis- look at the front page of a newspaper or turn on MSNBC, Fox News or CNN if that doesn't ring a bell). There will also be the addition of the touchscreen Blackberry Storm to the lineup soon at $199.99 (when it launches, we'll keep you posted on that).

What you think, these Motorola phones worth it for AT&T or Verizon customers, a different phone on these networks you would recommend (or not reccomend)? Sprint and T-Mobile a better choice with some of their phones like the Instinct and the upcoming G1? Let us know in the comments.

Information from Verizon.com, Cnet.com, and Motorola.com (click here for V9x and here for VU204)

The second is the Verizon commercial for Blackberry Storm that ran on CBS last night, via Engadget.

Yeah so two reviews/screencaps tomorrow (for sure, if not then kill me, slowly...) on Akane-iro ni Somaru Saka and Toaru Majutsu no Index. Hopefully I'll be in a better mood tomorrow too! (My speech was pushed back so that sorta annoyed me...) Yeah, look forward to it! For now, I'm gonna keep rewatching Hyakko (I did that all day yesterday and it still hasn't gotten old! (Must be Aya's voice that keeps me in it.))

It appears that Best Buy is preparing for a slew of phones to be launched in late October through Mid November according to Boy Genius Report. They are still showing the Blackberry Bold to be launched by AT&T sometime in October, though the exact date is unknown. Best Buy will have the HTC Touch Pro on the Sprint Network on October 26th alongwith the Blackberry Pearl Flip on the T-Mobile network. However, the biggest news has to be that they will have the Blackberry Storm on the Verizon Wireless network on November 16th, just 10 days before the holiday shopping season officially starts. This gives good credence to the phone itself launching on the Verizon Network in November before launch at Best Buy. However, I think that Verizon Wireless might launch before November 7th, maybe even October 30st (launch party in NYC) or November 1st.

When the iPhone launched on the pokey EDGE network last year, the Apple faithful flocked to the device, but the slow network triggered a flood of complaints. The newer version launched in June (and went on sale in July) with a lower price tag and faster speeds. I imagine a mix of the two is what tempted those on the fence, and made the iPhone 3G the top-selling smartphone during the summer months, according to NPD. It was followed by the BlackBerry Curve, BlackBerry Pearl and the Palm Centro.

That is mostly good news for consumers, who are making clear to carriers that network quality and ability to get online are important to them. Now that carriers recognize how much consumers value the 3G experience, expect to see more phones optimized for web surfing -- and more network upgrades.  However, the price sensitivity means that carriers aren't likely to abandon the subsidized handset model anytime soon, which gives rise to evils like two-year contracts and high termination fees. This might feel bitterly ironic to those consumers who held off on the iPhone for a year because they were waiting for a better network. So far, many find the actual AT&T network and iPhone experience disappointing.

So here's a novel idea -- why don't either of these ad-trackers offer us something of value in return for our private and personal behavioral information? Maybe discounted service? Or features/functions/capabilities? Give us something in return! While you're at it, maybe they can grant us some ability to control what information is marketed on our behalf – so we end up with relevant offers.

Mark Smith

COO, AnchorFree

The data compiled by the site's "Apple Finance Board" have taken a look at the IMEI numbers of shipped iPhone 3Gs as a way to estimate the total number of iPhone 3Gs shipped and compiled them into a spreadsheet. IMEI's are issued in an specific order and can be used to figure out how many phones have been produced.

As to how this works, I'll let the report's author explain it.

One 6 digit number, known as the TAC, or Type Allocation Code, signifies a particular build or set of iPhones being manufactured. The second 6 digit number is unique to each individual iPhone produced in that particular series—so that 1 million iPhones can be registered to a specific TAC.

Using this data, the Mac Observer team estimates that Apple may have sold as many as 9.2 million iPhone 3Gs: a staggering statistic. Even allowing for 1.5 million iPhone 3G's to still sit unsold, some 7.6 million units would already be in consumer's hands. This would mean Apple would have sold 10 million phones already when adding in first-generation iPhone sales.

Moreover, the number of phones sold during the quarter will number between 7 to 7.5 million, 80% higher than analyst's estimates, and a number that should please any Apple shareholder.

More evidence that this could be the case can be gleaned from looking at operating system market share data from Net Applications. From July to August the iPhone's overall operating system share nearly doubled from .19 percent to .30 percent, which the report's authors suggest that it indicates an increase of iPhones in the market of around 6.75 million.

I will fully admit here, while at BetaNews, I was one of those people in the press that did publicly question Apple's 10 million device goal prior to the iPhone 3G. Let's be honest here: Apple allowing its phones to be sold with the subsidy that is common with other devices was something that nobody saw coming.

The reason why Apple is wiping the floor with its competitors right now is simple, and that's price. At $199, it is at that sweet spot for smartphones. For whatever reason, $200 seems to be that magic price point for a lot of high-tech electronics. When RIM started getting its devices below that $200 level, the device made the jump from the toy of Wall Street businessmen to the must-have accessory for busy soccer moms.

Speaking of other people who were wrong? Verizon Wireless. NPD released data Monday that showed that one in three iPhone 3G customers switched from another carrier for the device, with 46 percent of them coming from Verizon. Oops, should have taken up Apple's offer when you had the chance!

SAN JOSE, Calif., October 6, 2008 – eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) today announced two acquisitions that significantly extend the company's leadership position in online payments and classifieds. In payments, the company is acquiring the U.S.-based online payments business Bill Me Later® for approximately $820 million in cash and approximately $125 million in outstanding options. In classifieds, the company has acquired Denmark's leading online classifieds site dba.dk and vehicles site bilbasen.dk for approximately $390 million in cash.

The company also announced plans to reduce its global workforce by approximately 10 percent, affecting about 1,000 employees in addition to several hundred temporary workers and the reduction of open positions. The global reduction is intended to simplify and streamline eBay's organization, improve the company's cost structure and strengthen the overall competitiveness of the company's existing businesses. The reduction is expected to result in pretax restructuring charges of approximately $70 million to $80 million, with the charges predominantly recorded in the fourth quarter of 2008. Read more..

We're still buying Alltel - Verizon

LITTLE ROCK — Verizon Wireless still faces significant hurdles in its $28.1 billion bid to acquire Alltel Corp. in a financial climate that has steadily worsened since the companies reached the agreement in June. Read more..

Chelsea owner wants a yacht good enough for Command & Conquer

When you have a personal fortune of £11.7billion, you can perhaps be forgiven for feeling the need for protection.

In Roman Abramovich's case, the solution is to order an armour-plated mega-yacht with missile detection system to offer early warning of attack by pirates or terrorists.

At 550ft long, the vessel, costing more than £200million, will be the largest private yacht ever constructed. Read more..

Happy 17th birthday Linux!

Singapore: Ministry of Sound shuts down

SINGAPORE: The curtains have come down on Singapore's Ministry of Sound (MOS). Lifebrandz Limited, which brought the popular club to Singapore in 2005, announced in a statement that it was ceasing MOS' operations from October 6. Read more..

Singapore: Singtel hikes up prices

SINGAPORE: SingTel is increasing its local fixed line subscription by S$10 a year from January 1, 2009.

Local fixed line call charges will go up from 0.7 to 0.8 Singapore cents per 30—second block during peak hours or per 60—second block during off—peak hours. Read more..

Philippines: Pinoys irrated over controversial BBC skit

MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos in London are set to launch "concerted efforts" against British government-owned British Broadcasting Corp (BBC) for its reportedly "racist and humiliating" portrayal of a Filipina domestic worker, a lawmaker said on Monday.

Batangas Rep. Hermilando Mandanas, head of the subcommittee on the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), said during the plenary debates on the proposed 2009 budget that Philippine Embassy representatives in the United Kingdom were already coordinating with the Filipino community there regarding their protest actions. Read more..

So. Tomorrow, it seems, I will be returning to the internet on more than a scatter-shot basis.

While you may seen or heard about the sexy Japanese cell phones from sites like Gizmodo, this is what you can actually expect when you buy a cell phone here. There are several companies to go with, two of the major ones being Docomo and AU. With Docomo you have to actually pay for the phone itself which can cost upwards of $500 for an average looking phone you could get for free in the US. With AU, as far as I know, most phones come free with the plan which is why I went with them.

With almost every cell phone plan you only get about 20 minutes every month of talking time, with additional fees if you go over your limit. Furthermore, there are no nights and weekends plans with any of the carriers. As such, most people end up only using their phone for text messaging. In America, I was devoutly against sending text messages, but without the liberty of 450 minutes a month, one gets used to texting pretty fast.

My phone has a micro SD slot and a headphone piece so I can listen to music…but it won’t play MP3s. I have no idea why and it’s incredibly frustrating. It came with an installation CD for a program called Lismo, which is a proprietary music player. So, in order to listen to music on your phone you have to reconvert all of your MP3s into the Lismo file extension. However, the software will not install on any foreign computers. Pretty frustrating.

The phone I have is one of only a few bilingual capable phones, but there is still a great deal of Japanese on the phone as you get deeper into the menus.

On the pro side, it has a built in English-Japanese and Japanese-English translator which is extremely helpful for writing and deciphering emails. With the notepad function, I can also save new words that I want to remember. It will however only translate one word at a time so you need some basic knowledge of Japanese sentence structure in order to make sense of long emails.

One of the coolest features is the television and it’s completely free. On the downside however, it only gets about three channels and weird menus in Japanese pop up as you’re watching TV. Also, I’m not fluent so I don’t quite understand what’s happening on TV anyway.

Despite some pretty cool features, I’d probably jump at the chance to lose them in favor of my old 450 minute Verizon plan that I had in America.

overnment recruiting 6,000 more spies to strengthen its existing cadre of nearly 25,000 personnel. The IB will also get modern gadgets to monitor cyber communication.

The idea is to turn the internal spy agency into a potent force to fight terrorists through effective intelligence in the age of modern communication systems. While new-age gadgets will give IB an edge through technology, the increased manpower will widen the scope for human intelligence (humint) — which played an important role in cracking recent terror attack cases.

The home ministry also plans to set up an exclusive "research & technology centre" within IB to keep a complete databank of terrorists and suspicious persons under one umbrella. The job of the new centre will also be to "research and analyse" the technological aspects of threats which have, of late, multiplied due to extensive use of the Internet by the new breed of educated terrorists.

"Widespread use of cyber technology — like Wi-Fi system — in the recent terror attacks, where terrorists of Indian Mujahideen (IM) had not only used it for sending emails but also for networking among their cadres for planning and execution of their operations, has forced us to rethink our strategy," said a senior home ministry official.

The plan for modernisation and increasing the strength of IB — which has already got Cabinet nod — came up for review recently when home minister Shivraj Patil asked the agency to complete the recruitment process of 6,000 additional spies, including technical and cyber experts, by next year. The emphasis in the meeting — attended by IB chief P C Haldar and home secretary Madhukar Gupta among others — was on impressing upon states to strengthen their special branches (intelligence wing) with the Centre helping them out with funds and expertise.

Referring to how new technologies were increasingly being used by jihadis for assembling bombs (using integrated chips for the first time in Bangalore and Surat operations) and networking among themselves through Internet, the official said, "Since terrorists the world over are using new communication technologies as 'weapon of mass influence' for the warfare, we cannot afford to function in the traditional way — even though it has its own importance."

Though the official did not disclose the kind of methodology being adopted to fight tech savvy jihadis, he mentioned the possibility of bringing certain changes in the Information & Technology Act to widen the scope of cyber intercepts, including snooping on text messages.

Looks like Verizon will be the first to experience this awesome phone. RIM has set the release date for their first touch screen device for November 4th. That is one month away, so you better starting saving money by picking up those pennies you see on the floor at the cash register.

Can we expect T-Mobile to have the 9520 and AT&T to have the 9510? That seems to be their naming sceme in the past. We'll see where things go.

Sorry...The iphone? What is that?

This will be the first touch screen Blackberry ever and will be available at Verizon Wireless later this year. Wow. This phone really looks hot!

Stay Fly!

NOVA YORK - A confiança de cadeias de restaurantes e varejistas em outras empresas, para lidarem com pagamentos feitos com cartão de crédito e outras funções que envolvem tecnologia da informação (TI), é em parte culpada pela vazamento de dados pessoais dos consumidores, de acordo com pesquisa da Verizon Communications.

The Wendy's Double Stack - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8t8kBeNDog 

In this commercial, the one guy is trying to prove to his friend that his Double Stack burger is worth more than the $1 he paid for it.  He does this by asking the friend for a dollar which the friend happily hands over.  He then asks for the Double Stack, which the friend will not give him, implying that the burger is indeed more valuable.

This commercial has several logic flaws.  First, the guy with the burger could reasonably assume that the friend would pay him that dollar back in due time, and he probably would not need it before he is repaid.  But if he does not get a replacement for his lunch quickly, then he will go hungry.  That makes the burger more valuable to him at this point in time than the dollar.

We can also assume that he had travelled to Wendy's to obtain his burger, and brought it back to the office or wherver the commerical takes place.  Assuming that the office building does not have a Wendy's in house, this does require some effort.  The effort alone makes the burger more valuable than the dollar that he has paid.  He would now have to go to the trouble of obtaining something else for lunch.  He will essentially make twice the effort without gaining anything. 

And considering the prices of gas, if he had to drive somewhere to get the Double Stack, and he now has to drive somewhere else to get another lunch, he has come up well short in this transaction.

To sum up, while the Double Stack may cost a dollar at the store, when in the hands of the customer, it is worth far more. 

Verizon's Beware of Dead Zones - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOiKG7hb8Pg

Now these commercials I like.  It takes a concept we're all familar with - horror movies - and cleverly twists them to make a selling point about their product.  The ads are memorable enough, and after you watch them, you end up thinking "Verizon has fewer dead zones than other carriers."  Mission accomplished.

DirecTV - Terminator 2 and Poltergeist

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NvSjUDYsiE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSyGF4PqSI8

DirecTV has several commercials where they take scenes from classic movies and change them to have the character discuss the merits of DirecTV.  In the Terminator 2 commerical, Robert Patrick reprises his role from the movie as the liquid metal T-1000.  He says that he didn't travel back in time to kill John Connor, he just wanted to watch his DirecTV.

Now, this is a ludicrous concept.  The movie is from 1991 (although it may have taken place in 1994).  Was DirecTV even available back then?  And if so, they certainly didn't have HD channels available.  If a robot was going to travel back in time to watch TV, I'd say that coming back to 2008 would be a much better choice, since there are numerous HD channels, and TV technology has advanced greatly. 

You could argue that maybe he liked the shows of the early 90s better.  But considering that old shows are now all regularly available on DVD and the internet, that argument doesn't hold much weight.

At first I thought it was ridiculous for a robot to even travel from the future just for the purpose of watching TV.  After all, wouldn't they have even better technology in the future?  But then I realized that since the future world was a desolate wasteland, and humans were either being hunted or fighting, the available programming wouldn't even be top notch.  And there's a chance that the robot wouldn't be given permission to watch TV in the future, but once in the past, he would be freed from the obligations placed on him by his superiors.  So the basic concept of the commercial is not flawed, just the execution.

As far as the Poltergeist commercial goes, I just find it amusing that they have to put a disclaimer at the bottom saying that "This does not represent actual cable viewing experience."

Oh, and although not current, I still find this to be the worst commerical ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9RO3_9NBalE

Moving on...

The Phillies have won the first two games of their best of five series against the Brewers, largely behind two excellent pitching performances by Cole Hamels and Brett Myers.  Now they just need Jamie Moyer to finish the Brewers off on Saturday.  He may be the perfect guy for the job considering how overanxious the Brewers' hitters have looked.  Then again, the Phillies haven't made much easy on themselves this season, so it wouldn't surprise me to see the Brewers win the next two games.  Can't they make things easy on their fans for once?

My kickball team has its playoffs on Saturday.  We'll have a relatively small squad present as Mrs. Cutter and many of the other girls on the team will be on a wine tour.  Will we be good enough to bring home the championship?  One can hope.

And on Sunday, I will be going to Philly to watch the Eagles take on the Redskins.  Hopefully, the game goes like the one I attended last year when the Eagles scored at will against the Lions.  After the Redskins beat the Cowboys last week, this is as close to a must win for the Eagles as it can get in week five.  It's looking like Brian Westbrook will be back in the lineup, and if he is, I like their chances.  After all, the Redskins really aren't as good as they've looked.

I leave you with the Top Five Eagles Games I've Seen Live:

5. Eagles 20, Redskins 16 - December 16, 2001 (Fed Ex Field)

The one game I watched in an opposing stadium.  Wearing my McNabb jersey, I expected some harassment.  But Redskins fans are quite docile when compared to Eagles fans.  Eagles got going in the second half to win the game.

4. Eagles 36, Cowboys 10 - December 7, 2003

The Eagles were in the middle of their run of NFC East titles, but they were challenged by the Cowboys this year.  After a close first half, the Eagles started pouring it on in the second to win the game.  Nothing makes an Eagles crowd happier than beating the Cowboys, so a lot of fans left happy this day.  And yes, Squinty, this is the game that I still have the newspaper from.

3. Eagles 28,  Vikings 17 - December 6, 1992

I got to see a great performance out of Eagles QB Randall Cunningham, who might have been the most athletic football player ever.  He rushed for over 100 yards in this game.  The game was sealed on a late interception by LB Seth Joyner.

2. Eagles 56, Lions 21 - September 23, 2007

Wearing throwback uniforms, the Eagles were unstoppable on offense this day.  McNabb, Westbrook, and Kevin Curtis all had huge games.  Plus, they sacked Lions QB Jon Kitna nine times.  I almost got tired of singing the Eagles fight song.  Almost.

1. Eagles 44, Bengals 42 -  November 30, 1997

The Bobby Hoying game.  Hoying was a second year QB, and looked like he was going to be the next big thing.  Matched against Bengals' QB Boomer Esiason, this game went back and forth, until finally Hoying led the team down the field for a last second game winning field goal.  He never really did much after that, but for this one game, it was one of the best QB performances I ever saw.

Two circumstances led to Senator Kohl's inquisition, which has begun in the form of a letter to the company's CEO's. First, the European Union has started a similar process, trying to uncover why the cost of text messaging is rising for consumers. Second, as the Senator points out in his letter, while the costs to consumers have been increased, he has not found evidence that costs incurred by the carriers to execute text messages has.

As the investigation carries on, this could have a potentially positive impact on the consumer adoption of texting. It's not rocket science -- the cheaper it is for consumers to send and receive text messages, the more they'll do it. And, by extension, the more they'll be willing to accept texting as an everyday part of their lives.

This opens up a world of opportunity for mobile marketing and for brands to develop a more personal brand relationship with their consumers.

Analysts have been predicting an explosion in mobile marketing for years now. If this investigation ends up with a reduction in the cost for consumers to text, or even in a flat rate, then it's an important domino to fall that will increase consumer adoption.

When I was in the PI I also thought of getting one to use, thinking maybe it's cheaper there, but to my surprise, it's more expensive! Awww, I always used Nokia and this free Nokia phones sounds good also! Check out how you can get free ones too. Right now I am using a kinda obsolete Motorola phone, so time for me to change that. I deserve it I guess? I'm going to see if this free Blackberry Curve is the right unit for me. Check out for yourself!

Get free phones or cash back, isn't that great?

Andrea had to leave to get back to Omaha, and I was sad to see her go. Like actually really sad my friend was leaving. And I’m not just saying that because she reads this blog. LOL. I really didn’t realize how much I love having you around, Drea. Thank you for everything you did for me this weekend. (And don’t worry, Tim, that wasn’t a sexual reference).

She left and I hit the bar. I was still not ready to be alone. I went to Pub and sat with a group of Husker fans and did nonstop shots with them during the game. I ended up have 18 shots between game time and the end of the night, three beers, a half a bottle of Merlot, and a couple of screwdrivers. To say the least, I was fucked up. I watched the game and then went next door for live music, because my friend’s band was playing. They were fucking amazing. But the alcohol might have made it better. I’m not sure. I would wake up the next day with four new phone numbers in my phone and no idea which of them was which girl I had talked to the night before except one of them. LOL. Stupid stupid me. Although it didn’t matter, because I couldn’t actually call them anyway until Monday, when I would go pay my phone bill. By then, they’d assume I was an asshole who had given them a fake number.

We hit an afterbar party at “the penthouse” where my friend Eric and I made fun of a lot of people, made references to shows that haven’t been on TV in years, and commented on how the black man dancing in front of us had a remarkable resemblance to that one guy from Boys II Men. We all drooled over Hot Jillian, and then we left.

On the way home, my friend gave me a speech about how I needed to get over my ex so I didn’t end up like him. He pointed out that his girlfriend dumped him two years ago and he was still holding on. How it had affected his life, his grades, his confidence, etc. How he still held out hope, knowing it could never happen and he told me DO NOT END UP LIKE ME. The more I thought about it, the more I realized his drunk ass was right. I got online and talked to Jamie and decided it was time to move on with my life. My ex is out there somewhere dating that little rich handsome med school asshole she dumped me for. She doesn’t want me. I’m not positive she ever did. I think she mistook our friendship for something more, and let me go along to places she should have never gone. I don’t hate her for it. I love her for it. I would have gone through my entire life wondering. Now I don’t have to. Now I know that it couldn’t work. Saturday night, my recovery process was finally kicking in to full gear. I finally knew what I had to do. And I set out to do just that.

Friday, I woke up and got a text from DeNae, but I couldn't return it, since my phone was still off.  I went to Omaha. My friend Andrea took me back to South Dakota. We stopped at the casino on the way and had a great time. Then it was off to my house, for a movie and a shower. Then to Vermillion, so she could see the joy that is my sad little life. We ended up going from bar to bar, doing shots and drinking jack and coke. Did some gambling at the Pressbox and then made our way to the Eagles for Karaoke.

I ran into a group of people I hadn’t seen in ages who all used to be friends with my ex, but who had all, in some way, either been fucked over by her or felt they had. We had a great heart to heart, not just about her, but about how we’d all gone our separate directions. We took some photo ops for facebook and we called it good. Andrea and I proceeded to continue drinking. Went to an afterbar where people played RockBand all night, and then went back to my place. Where nothing happened. So there. The last thing I remember was laying in bed next to her, thinking about how nice it was to have someone who actually liked me for who I am nearby. We will never date, but what I would give for a girl like her. I’m pretty sure I fell asleep with a smile on my face for the first time in weeks.

I’ve dislocated my knee three times in my life. The first time hurt the most. The second time was a freak accident. The third time I just sat there, on the ground, holding my knee, not crying, wondering why this keeps happening to me.

I woke up that Thursday morning and for the first time since everything began, I felt like I was actually ready to get up and face the day. Provided I had alcohol. I started by driving to the liquor store and buying another two bottles of Zin-Fat-U-A-Tion. I went back to my cousin’s house and proceeded to drink one of the bottles. Six glasses. It was great. I followed that with two bottles of bitch beer and sat around watching crappy chick flicks all day long. I wasn’t crying anymore, but I was getting angry at all of the stupidity of the chick flick people. I switched it up and went back to watching Chapelle.

Around 3:30, my cousin came home, and I was jah-runk. I was happy drunk though. Annoyingly happy drunk. I was following her around, popping my head around door ways and giggling hysterically to myself. She said we needed to go pick up her friend from work, so I went along, acting like a retarded monkey. I made her friend laugh her ass off, said ridiculous things, and tried to jump out at a liquor store at a red light. We went home and I started to sober up a bit.

We went to my cousin’s workplace’s picnic. There’s this girl there that I have thought was gorgeous since the first time I laid eyes on her, and I thought it would be a great way to get over what I was feeling (plus I was still sort of drunk). So I went. I got to meet Joseph Hall, the Elvis Impersonator, who was on America’s Got Talent. I’ll be honest, I could have cared less about meeting him, but my mom loves the guy, so I took some pics of him and such. Then I found her. The girl I wanted to hook up with so badly – DeNae. DeNae is just gorgeous. I went and introduced myself, and we hit it off, and we talked a lot. She had to leave early, but told me to call her sometime, so that was that and I was in a good mood again.

I went back to my cousin’s, where we had pizza and more wine. Because Merlot totally goes with pizza, by the way. ; ) I talked to the ex on MSN for a while, and she was pissy and rude. We texted a few more times after that, and I could tell her sister totally told her I went to see her. But that’s life. Still, the hurricane hadn’t attacked yet. So that’s something.

Then, Jamie came and picked me up and we went to the almighty hot tub party. We were making out and things were getting sort of hot, and she looked at me and said, “You’re not ready, are you?” And I realized that I actually wasn’t. She told me she’d take a rain check. I didn’t know people still accepted those. We made out some more and then she took me back to my cousin’s place. I couldn’t sleep, so I kept drinking and playing online. At 5AM, the best thing happened to me. My phone got turned off because I hadn’t paid my bill. It wouldn’t be until Monday that the ex and I were able to text again. It was wonderful.

This just in: Verizon is preparing Blackberry Storm demos for the stores. We are working to confirm this tip, but according to the tip, it appears starting next week, Verizon stores will have Blackberry Storm on hand for users to play with. At that time, users will also be able to place pre-orders with delivery beginning in November. While no dates were confirmed, the tipster thinks that the November 7th date mentioned earlier might be spot on. This also jibes with the October 9th press event by RIM, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone.

 Bryan Sartin, the director of the investigative response team for Verizon Communications inc states "Even a chain with thousands of restaurants might have only 100 employees in information technology, so it uses outside vendors for many IT functions." 

Organized data-stealing gangs "go to the call centers, the Web development companies, the content development companies, the business partners, the people who pick up the backup tapes," Sartin said. "They say ... if you hate your boss and you're in financial straits, we're your solution. Give us access to your customers. Better yet, give us your data."  In a typical case Sartin was involved in, the team was approached by a large oil company in Canada, with thousands of gas stations. Customers were finding spurious charges on their credit cards after using them at the stations.  The team soon figured out that someone at a technology vendor was responsible, but couldn't pin it down. The investigators set a trap in the system to see who accessed customer data. According to Sartin "The trap went off on Saturday morning," because workers think cameras don't work on weekends.  I wouldn't go to that extreme but will say I along with many other ppl can relate to rules, and regulations being more permissive. Come to find out it happened to be a 21-year-old who supported the software that operated the gas pumps. He had sold lists of customer data to organized crime.

I guess in this case like in many others many breaches don't happen through outsourcing. In one of the largest cases in recent years, the gang that stole 41 million credit and debit card numbers from chains including TJX Cos. obtained access through unsecured wireless networks, not through subcontractors' systems.  Outsourcing eases the organized crime but i guess organized crime can occur within also.

Im a political dude soo In addtion to the latest in fashion, and music look out for me phillyfreck posting buisness/political issues

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