Category: Uncategorized

NetIQ sold off WebTrends to Francisco Partners. [here]
I always wondered about the NetIQ deal, so it’s nice to see WebTrends on it’s own again…but it is now going up against Google.
More on the deals here and here
More from SVW here.
John Battelle With more comments on Web Analytics Shake-Up 2005. [here]
Andrew Goodman has a great Urchin/Google Round-Up. [here]

Ouch. I thought this one was worthy of some analysis. Google acquire Urchin. [and here]
Why does this make sense? As one of the comments to the link above states, the link between search algorithms makes some sense, as you will be able quickly isolate and identify trends within the reams of visitor data that is collected daily.
This makes linking business performance and visitor traffic that much easier for large enterprise firms. If they can link visitor traffic quickly to revenue and cost data with a simple and powerful search tool, the sale becomes that much easier.
I am working on a project to re-define Web performance benchmarks, and this type of tool would be crucial in that process. Web Benchmarking as it is currently stands is broken and outdated. Attempts are being made on all sides to try and re-define how businesses measure and benchmark their Web performance so that it can fit into a larger business context.
Is a faster site more profitable? Or simply more costly? Does increased traffic improve or reduce revenue?
A tool that allow companies to quickly link performance and analytics data gets firms that much closer to a holistic view of Web performance.

Distance between Marlborough, Massachusetts, United States and Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, as the crow flies:
2506 miles (4033 km) (2178 nautical miles)
Initial heading from Marlborough to Victoria:
west-northwest (298.2 degrees)
Initial heading from Victoria to Marlborough:
east (80.0 degrees)

Care of Indio and Tim Yang

As a follow-up to my post commenting on Peter Davidson’s post…
Peter takes yet another swing at Daimler/Chrysler’s boneheaded marketing department. [here]
GIVE ME MY SMART CAR!

Interesting posting on this topic here.
I vote for cubes. I prefer to have some space to call my own, especially for the 10 hours a day I spend there.

BL Ochman comments on her iPod Headphones. [here]
I’m not sure where she got her Sony headphones, but I have had mine for a couple of years and they are so much better than the ear-buds that came with my iPod Shuffle. I keep thinking that the Pod earbuds should go in the trash…errr, garbage. [I hate it when Americanisms slip into my writing/speaking!]
If you have a hundred bucks burning a hole in your pocket, go with the Etymotic Isolators. I don’t, so the Sony Fontopia’s (in black) work just fine.

This is the Browser Percentage breakdown for The Newest Industry over past 30 days.

This is a part of an ongoing series inspired by the browser percentage graph at ongoing.

Dave Winer notes that Silicon Valley isn’t what it used to be. [here]
Now, with Yahoo getting its mojo back [here and here], and a few other happenings in the Valley, there are some signs of life.
But there is still a lot of vacant real-estate. The office buildings that housed Webvan are still vacant after 3 years, and they have a great view of the Bay and the San Mateo bridge. There is still a vacuum there.
I can’t speak of the lap dogs, as I am a mere prole.
However, I do disagree with the comment Dave W. makes about schools. If he is referring to Colleges and Universities, ok, I agree. But the public school system in the Bay area, and in California in general, is one of the reasons why I was not too upset to move to Massachusetts.
My kids were going into the highly underfunded, if not malnourished and dying, system of non-education in California that resulted from one of the greatest breeders of inequity in the modern world — Proposition 13.
I love this statement from Warren Buffett:

Buffett cited the inequity of property taxes he pays on his homes in Omaha, Neb., and Laguna Beach, Calif., and said the California cap on property taxes imposed by Prop. 13 “makes no sense.”
His $500,000 house in Omaha has a tax bill of $14,401. His $4 million house in Laguna Beach has a tax bill of $2,264. The taxes on his Omaha home increased $1,920 this year, compared with $23 on the Laguna Beach home, he said.

Complain about the other taxes; then remember that your kids are going to schools that are 40^th in the US by funding.
I miss the great garden we had. But my kids are learning more by not being in California Public Schools.

Heard this on NPR on the way home tonight. very relevant to this discussion.

…then I don’t want to work for you. [here]
Fred Wilson nails this one. I am someone who has a degree from a good Canadian University, a technical certificate that allowed me to get a job, and then 6 years of very intensive work experience to get where I am right now.
I consider that my six years of on the job training better than any degree program I could have gone through, as I was able to focus on the key topics that affect my specialty as a part of real-world scenarios. A sterile, controlled academic environment could not have given me that experience, or even prepared me for it.
If someone tells me they went to an “prestigious” university, I say “So, what can you do?”. I have learned that you get your “street cred” by doing, not being.
So, Mr./Ms. MBA from an Ivy League/”Prestigious” university — what can you do to make my customers want to work with us? What will you do to make my company “remarkable”?
Do it; don’t be it.

David Parmet, one of the very few people who reads this blog regularly, has done some amazing US PR work on behalf of Tom Mahon of the English Cut.
As a reward, he is getting a finely crafted, hand cut, stitched and fitted bespoke suit.
If my style wasn’t mountain climber casual, I would be jealous.