the end of DAB?

Pete

As the proud owner of a DAB radio at home I found this article on the possible death of DAB quite interesting:

DAB audio article

Land of the giants

Pete

One of the best quotes I read this weekend on the Yahoo/Microsoft takeover was the following from Scott Rosenberg, Head of Miro Consulting, who says

'These big takeovers (AOL/Time Warner) are always about failure in the present and fear of the future. And they nearly always end badly'.

As someone who was on the receiving end of the AOL/Time Warner 'merger' I couldn't agree more!

Rate cuts

Peter

With the .25% rate cut announced yesterday a large percentage of the UK will issue a sigh of relief (even if they are on fixed rates at present) that mortgage rates seem to be heading in the right direction as the majority of lenders pass this saving on.

....but what's this, Northern Rock isn't joining in?

I’m off to see what its customers are saying online…should be entertaining.

Egg on their face?

Pete

If you believe Egg or not (that it was risk reviewing its customer base) the power of the internet has blown some massive holes in their statement concerning dropping 160,000 customers.

Various forums and message boards have reported a variety of customers with 'excellent' credit ratings being dropped along with those who have high levels of debt.

One of these customers just happens to be a lib dem councillor - tough break for Egg!

The cheque is dead

Pete

Well as far as Marks & Spencer are concerned. From March 1st they will no longer be accepted as payment.

Your M&S? Only if you carry plastic.

Do banners work anymore?

Pete

I was directed to this online conversation by our creative director on Brand Republic - 'Do online banners work still?'

Having been on both the media owner and the agency side I've got a different perspective than most and contributed to the conversation here:

Feel free to add your thoughts.

Bad press

Pete

Well it's a pretty rough day in the world of finance with a deluge of bad news money stories.

On a single page in the Metro Newspaper we have:

1. 'Britons become debt-free at 50'
2. 'Mortgages hit £22.6bn low'
3. 'People are living beyond their means'
4. 'Anger over £55bn Rock rescue deal'

It's enough to make you avoid the news for a week or two.

Free learning

Emma

I came across this site at the weekend www.gnutrade.com. It's an enjoyable way to learn about the markets as it allows you to speculate on the live financial markets without having to own any stocks, commodities or Bonds.

Needless to say I will be trading the live markets with play money, but if you're experienced at it, it's an original way to make money. And the site looks pretty nice too.

All that glitters is Gold

Pete

Gold may come in and out of fashion but as an investment it seems to be a consistent performer. Spot prices in London saw Gold hit $914 an ounce with the cost of bullion increasing 30% in 2007.

As Gold is priced in dollars it has become cheaper for holders of other currencies to buy it helping fuel the price increase.

This might just be the excuse I need to delay that eternity ring Mrs Pete has been hinting at. Will a barrel of oil be an acceptable alternative?

I'll see you in court

Pete

Today is the day when we find out whether the High Court feels that current account penalty charges are fair or not.

So m'learned friend it's over to you now.

Is no one safe?

Pete

Chairman of Barclays , Marcus Agius, was subject to ID Theft after a conman had Barclays issue a credit card in his name. Good luck to the Barclays head of security following that one.

I hope the perpetrator went for the Breathe Card which contributes 50% of net profits to tackle climate change.

You don’t have to be a genius to work here...

Richard

One or two of the blogs I read have a ‘Readability rating’ from http://www.criticsrant.com/bb/reading_level.aspx

So I tested ours.

Apparantly, the blog you’re reading right now came out as requiring a ‘genius’ level of reading. You even get a little graphic to put on your page (see here).

I was concerned. If this rating was any kind of reflection on reality, did it mean our blog is so densely written that it’s inaccessible to all but a few very clever people?

So I checked out half a dozen other marketing blogs. One or two required ‘undergraduate’ level education to understand. I began to see a pattern – elitists blogging purely for elitists. Once again, the everyman is excluded.

Then I checked one which used the word ‘vicissitudes’. Apparently, that only requires a ‘High School’ education. Weird. Then I checked the code behind the graphic above. The ALT tag behind it gave away it’s true purpose. It’s an ad for ‘Payday Loans’.

Bloody advertising. What a con.