Whoah...New Blogger Look and Feel

You can't tell by reading this but there is a new management interface here on Blogger. Apparently, Blogger has been at work on this new system for a while. Frankly, it is going to take some getting used to.

Read the explanation here on the Blogger Buzz Blog:

It’s been a few years since we made major updates to Blogger’s look and feel, and there’s a lot more to these changes than just shiny new graphics. We’ve rewritten the entire editing and management experience from scratch so it’s faster and more efficient for you—and easier for us to update and improve over time.

I'll let you know how it goes...I'm still getting used to my iPhone.

How Gullible Are We?

StumbleUpon is a marvelous site. Found this today...and had to share it!

From: http://www.math.psu.edu/tseng/H2Ojoke.html


This was found on the newsgroup: rec.humor.funny

H₂O: Dangerous Chemical!

A student at Eagle Rock Junior High won first prize at the Greater Idaho Falls Science Fair, April 26. He was attempting to show how conditioned we have become to alarmists practicing junk science and spreading fear of everything in our environment. In his project he urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical "dihydrogen monoxide." And for plenty of good reasons, since:

1. it can cause excessive sweating and vomiting
2. it is a major component in acid rain
3. it can cause severe burns in its gaseous state
4. accidental inhalation can kill you
5. it contributes to erosion
6. it decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes
7. it has been found in tumors of terminal cancer patients

He asked 50 people if they supported a ban of the chemical.

• Forty-three (43) said yes,
• six (6) were undecided,
• and only one (1) knew that the chemical was water.

The title of his prize winning project was, "How Gullible Are We?" He feels the conclusion is obvious.

The Top List of Marketing Blog Top Lists

Looking for a handy guide of the top marketing blogs...but don't want to search yourself? Well, here you go... all the top lists...of marketing blog top lists!

Forbes Best of the Web Marketing Blogs

1. Marketing Vox
2. Adrants
3. Chris Baggott
4. Church of the Customer
5. Duct Tape Marketing
6. Seth Godin
7. Wonder Branding
8. Ypulse

AdAge Power 150 Marketing Blogs (Top Five)

1. Copyblogger
2. ChrisBrogan.com
3. Ads of the World
4. PSFK
5. Search Engine Land

Top 42 Content Marketing Blogs

1. TopRank Blog
2. Brian Solis 
3. Web Ink Now 
4. Convince and Convert
5. Copyblogger 

Finally, for an all encompassing list of marketing blogs, you could worse than check out Alltop's Top Marketing Blogs.

Kluge Estate and Winery heads to auction- another over-leveraged homeowner?

Interested in buying a 900 acre vineyard down near Charlottesville, VA? Here is your chance...pretty beautiful if you ask me, but probably out of my price range...

From the WBJ:

Less than a month after Bank of America took possession of Patricia Kluge’s Albemarle Estate near Charlottesville, Farm Credit is set to auction off the Kluge Estate and Winery.
Farm Credit repossessed the property by buying it at a foreclosure auction in December.
The 901-acre property will sell at auction April 7, according to J.P. King Auction Company, which will handle the sale.

Read more: Kluge Estate and Winery heads to auction | Washington Business Journal

Apparently, Donald Trump is interested in buying the property, according to this article in Luxist.com. Normally, The Donald's taste isn't for me, but this house is pretty fine.

Crushing Debt. Sounds like an Opportunity?

The whole country is struggling with the issue of too much debt. From families struggling with under water mortgages to states trying to figure out how to cut costs to the federal government's difficulty dealing with the $14 trillion national debt, it seems everyone is trying desperately to deal with this issue.

This month, there are 869,000,000 entries for "debt" on Google. And there are fun widgets to track everyone's debt





Economists are saying that economic growth will be stunted for years as families, states and the federal government divert money into debt and interest repayments.Check out a few random stories:

• Parent Sells Self On Craigslist To Pay Off School Debt 
• Ghost of Argentina Tempers Ireland Default Threats: Euro Credit
• Spat Over U.S. Debt Is Setting Off Aaa-larms

This intractable problem pervades everyday life, business and politics.Doesn't this sound like a business opportunity? Smart companies and clever marketers could address this issue by developing products and services to help people and governments either cut costs or raise revenue or both.