Category: business
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Mr Warhol and photography copyrights
Since Andy Warhol died in 1987 – the Supreme Court was probably/technically ruling against his “estate” in their recent decision. Mr Warhol had used a photograph of Prince (“The Artist”) in a 1980’s painting (“Orange Prince”) – money changed hands among the concerned parties back in the early 1980’s so there wasn’t any problem until…
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Marketing and Propaganda
In its best form “marketing”/”advertising” is just “information” If you have a great product that does “whatever” the best use of your “marketing” budget is to build awareness of the products benefits among folks that need to do “whatever it is that your product does” e.g. say you make beer or running shoes – and…
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Profit Margins
If a company is “profitable” over a long period of time that PROBABLY means it is “well run” or “managed properly.” Of course we need to define “long period of time” — in a healthy economy companies will come and go just by the natural cultural shifts and technological advances. e.g. Thirty years ago multiple…
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… have a drink on me
… “spirits” as a reference to “distilled alcohol beverages” apparently traces back to the belief that they drinks held the “life force” (i.e. “spirit”) or the “essence” of the grains or plants that were used. the English word “spirit” (first usage as a noun – 14th Century) traces back to the Latin “spiritus” (literally, breath,…
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To REALLY mess things up …
SO, I tried to change “permalinks” in WordPress and ALL the links broke. I’ve been using WordPress for years – but to be honest I’ve never tried to do anything “complicated” (i.e. beyond the “content management” for which WordPress is designed). Of course this “blog” thing isn’t making me an $$ so I don’t put…
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talkin football
The NFL “divisional playoffs” were this weekend (January 22, 2023) – I thought the “better teams” all won today (Cincinnati beat Buffalo, San Francisco beat Dallas) Bengals The final score was Bengals 27 – Bills 10. To my eyes the Bengals are playing like a championship team – I’m not predicting anything, just saying that…
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authentication, least privilege, and zero trust
When we are discussing “network security” phrases like “authentication”, “least privilege”, and “zero trust” tend to come up. The three terms are related, and can be easily confused. I’ve been in “I.T.” for a while (the late 1980’s) – I’ve gone from an “in the field professional” to “network technician” to “the computer guy” and…
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Brand value, Free Speech, and Twitter
As a thought experiment – imagine you are in charge of a popular, world wide, “messaging” service – something like Twitter but don’t get distracted by a specific service name. Now assume that your goal is to provide ordinary folks with tools to communicate in the purest form of “free speech.” Of course if you…
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Random Thoughts about Technology in General and Linux distros in Particular
A little history … In the 30+ years I’ve been a working “computers industry professional” I’ve done a lot of jobs, used a lot of software, and spent time teaching other folks how to be “computer professionals.” I’m also an “amateur historian” – i.e. I enjoy learning about “history” in general. I’ve had real “history…
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Jaws, sequels in general, and Steven Spielberg
Jaws – 1975 There have been a couple documentaries about the 1975 blockbuster “Jaws” — which probably illustrates the long term impact of the original movie. Any “major” movie made in the era of “DVD extras” is going to have an obligatory “making of” documentary – so the fact “Jaws: The Inside Story” aired on…