Get a load of this: earlier this month, the Royal Canadian Mint introduced a gold coin with a face value of C$1 million. It’s 99.999% pure gold and weighs 100 kilograms, or 45 pounds 220 pounds.
Category Archives: Business and economy
Travelers gets its red umbrella back
Another chapter in the long story of corporate rebranding: a couple of weeks ago the Travelers insurance company regained its iconic red umbrella logo after its former parent Citigroup decided to stop using it and sell it back. How did Travelers loseWeight Exercise it in the first place? Here’s a nifty diagram I put together, …
Taiwan or China? answers
China Airlines: Taiwan Air China China National Petroleum Corporation Chinese Petroleum Corporation: Taiwan (now called CPC Corporation, Taiwan) China Post Chunghwa Post (chunghwa means “Chinese”): Taiwan (now called Taiwan Post) China State Shipbuilding Corporation China Shipbuilding Corporation: Taiwan (now called CSBC Corporation, Taiwan) Central Bank of China: Taiwan (now called the Central Bank of the …
Way too many editions of Office 2007
I thought five editions of Windows Vista was a bit much, but then I saw that there are eight editions of Office 2007. Take a look at the comparison matrix from Microsoft’s web site: There are holes where you wouldn’t expect*, and there is no single edition that contains every Office program. Office Ultimate lacks …
2 out of 2 economists agree: voting Democratic will improve the economy
Today is Election Day in the U.S., and I’m reminded of a funny thing I saw on CNBC last Friday. Morning Call hosted two economists, one from the AFL-CIO labor union, and the other from the libertarian Cato Institute. Surprisingly, they both agreed that a Democratic majority in Congress would improve the economy. The AFL-CIO …
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Walking while working
Soon after I started working, I noticed I was even less physically active than as a computer science grad student (which is saying something), and I’ve dreamt of putting a treadmill in my office and walking while I worked. Not surprisingly, I’m not the only one with this brilliant idea: Dr. James Levine at the …
IBM Software product names getting spiffier
I’ve blogged previously about IBM software getting snappier names (e.g., Sametime->”Instant Messaging and Web Conferencing”->Sametime). Looks like this philosophy is slowly spreading. For example, take a look at this name evolution: Workplace Client Technology Micro Edition, Enterprise Offering Workplace Managed Client for WebSphere WebSphere Everyplace Deployment for Windows and Linux Lotus Expeditor It also shows …
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Bank of America customer service phone number
Updated August 5, 2006: I’ve found a new way to reach a BofA customer representative, at least in California: Call 1-800-622-8731, which is listed in the BofA’s Contact Us page. Press 1 for more options, then press *. I’ve removed the old information, since it just seemed to be confusing people.
Cody’s Books’ Telegraph store to close
Kepler's Books in Menlo Park may have barely survived, but other venerable indies are hurting. The main Cody's Books store on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley is closing. I have fond memories browsing through (and even buying!) books there. Although its two smaller stores will remain open, this hurts.
Good ideas going nowhere at work? Set up a market
The management of a technology company realized they didn't and couldn't know all the great ideas within the company. So they set up a marketplace, where ideas become stocks and employees can buy and sell shares in them. The more valuable the idea, the more valuable the stock. Here's an Idea: Let Everyone Have Ideas …
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