Hashemian Blog Web Tools, Financial Markets, Technology Tuesday, January 31, 2006 Google earnings and after hours reaction  Before blaming Google for their lower-than-expected earnings and the inevitable stock punishment tomorrow, let's get one point clear. The company reported stellar revenues and earnings for their past quarter, they just didn't live up to the lofty expectations. It's not Google's fault that traders got euphoric and drove the share price up to unsustainable levels. What is to follow is a natural correction by the market which might have finally discovered that a company, no matter how successful, can not be expected to conquer the world, and do it in such a short period of time. The market forces are always at work to equalize the paying field. Unfortunately there are always a few companies the manage to reach super-stardom and make people lose their sense of reality for a while. Google is a great company, but it would be irrational to expect it to grow so far so fast. There are always natural barriers to out-sized growth. Some initiatives do well, while others languish, a company could get hit by unforeseen missteps, regulatory issues, competitive forces, and setbacks that are just part of fast growth. The earnings miss is perhaps a blessing in disguise to allow Google to shake its speculative side a bit, and get on with the task of creating great products. google,earnings,stocks,correction <Google earnings and after hours reaction> // posted by rh 0 comments Sunday, January 29, 2006 Patent absurdity  One of my quirky traits is a penchant to read and examine everything that I come into contact with. It's a strange enough behavior that my kids often tease me at the kitchen table when I read the information printed on a jar of jam, or a bag of bread. "Daddy is investigating again", they proclaim. Once in a while I come across something interesting though, that makes little sense. Paper cup sleeves are one such example. I have seen these around for some years and I think they are a great idea. They save one's hands from being scorched, while consuming less material than a second paper cup. Whoever thought of this novelty should be thanked, but should such invention (if it can be called that) be given its own patent number. The patent office seems to think so. In fact the Starbucks paper cup sleeve has the patent number 5,205,473, and it is proudly printed right on it. Now I am all about protecting one's invention from copycats, but is this really that innovative of an invention? It's a piece of corrugated cardboard rolled into a funnel and glued at the edges. It seems like everything you can think of these days can receive a patent protection. No wonder some companies today are just in the business of patenting everything under the sun in the hopes of cashing them in at some future date through licensing or lawsuits. They are known in the industry as patent mills and they are poisoning the very reason why patent protection was created to begin with. Patents are supposed to foster creativity and innovation by giving the inventors protection from imitators. But if I were an inventor today, I might think twice about releasing my next great idea fearing the cost and time of patent conflict search, and the possibility of a lawsuit down the road by someone with an obscure patent. The patent system, in effect, has begun to stifle creativity and innovation, the very things it is supposed to encourage. patent,patent laws,paper cups,starbucks,patent mills <Patent absurdity> // posted by rh 1 comments Thursday, January 26, 2006 China brand obscurity  Quick, name a Chinese brand that pops into your mind? Give up? Other than Baidu.com (and I had to Google the spelling) I couldn’t come up with any either. Baidu.com is the Google’s equivalent in China. A popular search engine there, but largely unknown outside of China. These days there are a lot of comparisons between the Chinese economic rise and that of Japan some 30 years ago. But there is one glaring difference between the two, and that is brand recognition. Even when Japanese-made products were largely dismissed as sub-standard, many of the companies behind the products were household names. Honda, Toyota, Sony, Sharp, and Casio just to name a few. By contrast Chinese companies seem to mostly operate behind the scene. They crank out most of the products we use today, yet they exist in relative anonymity. It’s difficult to say whether such obscurity is deliberate or due to lack of marketing savviness by the Chinese. Maybe the Chinese market is not conducive to allowing a few to rise to the level of power and fame. By contrast, I can name a few Indian companies that operate within the industry India is renowned for, Information Technology. Tata, Wipro, and Infosys are the giant IT consulting firms that many IT workers in the US shudder to hear their names. Perhaps I know of these companies because I myself am part of the same industry. But then again, I can name a couple of South Korean companies such as Samsung, LG Electronics, and Hyundai. As china becomes a dominant force in the world economy, I wonder how far this dominance can extend if the companies behind the expansion are largely unknown. Are we seeing the beginnings of a new type of economic dominance, one where the whole matters and the parts are faceless? That remains to be seen. china,chinese,japanese,japan,korea,marketing,brand,indian,honda,toyota,hyundai,sony,baidu <China brand obscurity> // posted by rh 1 comments Wednesday, January 25, 2006 Disney, Pixar deal  There’s already a lot of buzz about the marriage of Disney and Pixar. Most are favorable and I am of the same opinion too. Judging by the way my kids view most if Pixar’s characters as Disney creations, it only made sense. Disney resonates with kids in a way Pixar never could. Most kids don’t even know the brand other than the logo appearing in the starting credits of their productions. The acquisition will no doubt generate some negative impact as all acquisitions go, but in the long run, it appears to bode well for both companies. disney,Pixar ,acquisition,merger <Disney, Pixar deal> // posted by rh 0 comments Sunday, January 22, 2006 Google's mini-correction  Last Friday the market got spooked and dumped a couple of percentage points, erasing all of its 2006 gains. With the oil jitters on one side and unsavory earnings from a few bellwethers, it wasn't hard to see why. Among the ruins was Google's stock dropping about 10%, going below $400; a decisive correction. Some attributed Google's misfortune on Friday to its hard stance against the government's request to peek into its records regarding usage patterns by its users. Google's refusal to share this data should be lauded. While there is strong possibility that they might eventually be forced to release this data to the government, if even on a limited basis, they must be commended for showing a backbone and standing by the rights of their faithful users. I would have to believe that there were other factors behind the thrashing on Friday, chiefly among them, the balloonish share price it was commanding. A few weeks ago I had blogged about Google's irrational exuberance, and how its stratospheric growth was unsustainable. The fact is that many investors already had itchy trigger fingers and were only waiting for an excuse to run for the doors. No, Google isn't headed for dire straits, and it's doubtful that its share price would fall much further, even though it is still quite inflated. But at least this correction was a show of sanity by the market. Some analysts were advising clients to pick up Google shares on dips such as this. I would however need a much bigger dip before I get onboard. Sorry, but a $120 billion market cap is still a little too rich for me. google,market cap,stocks,correction,stock market <Google's mini-correction> // posted by rh 0 comments Friday, January 20, 2006 Junk mail come on  If you receive a simple white envelope with the words "EXPLANATION OF BENEFITS" next to the address window, what would you think it is? If you answered "junk mail", you would be absolutely correct. I got such a letter, and I am embarrassed to admit that I was totally fooled. A letter like that would generally indicate a notice from your insurance company, or your employer, or perhaps some plan you might have just enrolled in. A subscription specially reserved for me from Forbes magazine is not exactly what I expected, but that's what I got. I feel so honored to be chosen for this phenomenal offer. It was like winning the lotto jackpot. It was so special, in fact, that I filed it with the rest of my important letters in my ultra sensitive document holder, the waste basket. Serves me right for being so naïve. junk mail,forbes,magazines <Junk mail come on> // posted by rh 1 comments Thursday, January 19, 2006 Google server errors  From time to time I receive this error page from various Google services like Gmail. I don't think I have ever encountered it with Google search though. Perhaps their search service is just too precious to be allowed to be afflicted with errors. This type of error generally indicates server unavailability due to various reasons, namely excessive traffic. Receiving Web server errors is not unusual. It happens to all Web servers occasionally, specially the busy ones. It just feels unusual getting this error from Google, a company with seemingly endless resources and money. Along the same lines, Blogger.com (Google's blogging service) was slow as molasses two nights ago. It was so sluggish, it took me a half hour just to make a post. Seems to be back to normal tonight. I guess this only shows that even the Internet gods get the hiccups every now and then. google,web server,error,blogger.com <Google server errors> // posted by rh 0 comments Tuesday, January 17, 2006 New life for assisted suicide  A fair decision came out of the supreme court today. It basically told the Feds to butt out of Oregon state's doctor-assisted suicide law. Oregon is the only state in US that allows physicians to assist terminally ill patients to end their lives with dignity. The right-wing agenda (including that of the current administration) is to force their religious beliefs on the whole nation no matter what the cost. I can't understand what gives the government the right to interfere with one's wishes to be rid of pain and suffering. Specially in the US where personal liberties are cherished and should remain undisturbed. A decision to end one's life is not a simple one, but such decision should be left to the individual making the choice. I can see that a healthy young person with a death wish might be considered insane and would require intervention to keep him safe, but the same logic can not and should not be applied to a suffering patient with a terminal case. What the conservatives are conveying is that it's better to sit and watch a person die in pain, than to give him a choice to die gracefully. In that case they are nothing short of sadistic beasts. Perhaps they are just obeying orders from their so-called god. Then they have allowed their beliefs to trump their fellow human's rights. That's what I call opportunistic. In a selfish act to be rewarded by god, they force others to suffer. Not so different a mentality than a cruel criminal. People shouldn't have to fight to die in dignity because others want to obey their gods and gain an admission ticket to the kingdom of heaven. If you want to die in pain, that's your business. And if I want to die in peace, that's mine. You can disapprove if you want, but you shouldn't have the right to see me suffer, unless I grant you that right. If your purported merciful god really did exist, it wouldn't allow suffering to begin with. suicide,oregon,assisted suicide,supreme court,god,religion,death <New life for assisted suicide> // posted by rh 0 comments Monday, January 16, 2006 Stardust  Yesterday marked the return of NASA's stardust probe. The probe traveled nearly three billion miles over the course of seven years to collect dust particles from a comet and returned the heavenly material back home for analysis. It is quite a miraculous feat indeed. By some accounts the collected dust could be as old as 4.5 billion years old. I read the news with a mixture of excitement and ambivalence. The geek part of me gets excited every time a space mission is successful. I become hopeful that some of our vexing questions about the universe we live in can be answered by these missions. The cynical side of me, however, questions the validity and usefulness of some the claims. Okay, the dust might be 4.5 billion years old, but you could dig up some dirt from your own backyard and it will probably have the same age as the comet dust, if not older. I suppose one might argue that comet dust is unadulterated material traveling through space for billions of years and it's not contaminated with biological matters. But then one might be able to dig a real deep hole in the ground and find some pristine dirt samples there. Volcano ashes and lava might also be considered pure as they are believed to be spewed from deep inside the Earth. None of this suggests that I am against space missions. On the contrary, I believe such endeavors are worthy causes, if only to satisfy our curiosity about the universe. I am also certain that the technical knowledge gained from these missions are invaluable to the world of science and engineering. The people running these projects are no doubt much smarter than I can ever be. But I think it's fine to question everything, even if the questions seem silly. stardust,comet,space,nasa <Stardust> // posted by rh 0 comments Thursday, January 12, 2006 Hermit Crab Goodbye  Not long after we lost one of our pet rabbits, our final remaining hermit crab died sometime yesterday or the day before. The reason the time of death is vague is because hermit crabs are generally lethargic creatures, at least in captivity. They do move about from time to time and engage in all sorts of activities, only at a slower pace. But sometimes they just hide in their shells (especially during molting times) and it's hard to tell that they are alive unless you pick them up and detect motion in the shell. They are extremely easy to take care of and require little time to look after. Just keep their food and water fairly fresh and clean the tank a couple of times a year and keep their crabitat warm and humid. We had already buried a total of three hermit crabs and this guy was the last. He or she lasted nearly two years, but about a month ago it developed a strange condition losing its legs or claws one by one, until he had lost it all at the end. A Google search revealed that this condition is usually caused by stress and some crabs can recover from it, but others succumb to it and die. This morning I buried the crab, complete with its shell and its severed last two legs, near the buried rabbit outside the house. the kitchen seemed emptier tonight without the crabitat but, as it is with all beings, death is inevitable. I think we did the best we could to make our hermit crab's final days as comfortable as possible. hermit crabs,rabbits,crabitat,pets <Hermit Crab Goodbye> // posted by rh 7 comments Wednesday, January 11, 2006 Million dollar home page eBay auction  Like many people around the world I have been both admiring and envious with the success of Alex Tew and his million dollar home page venture. While many might attribute the guy's success to his innovative approach, persistence, or foresight, I have to believe that luck played a big role. But then again luck is an important ingredient of just about any venture. Being at the right place, at the right time, and making the right moves made this plan work. All well deserved. The interesting twist was the final 1,000 pixels that went up for an eBay auction. It's been educational following that event. In its own way, this auction was a good window into how eBay auctions work, and the fact that they're not always smooth. There were fake bids, wrong bids, change of description, among others. Bids swung from $1 to over $6 million. How can a bidder make an offer with confidence if the veracity of the last bid is unknown? Someone won the hyped final spot on the million dollar home page. I wonder if the final price is worth the exposure received and if it could have been had for a much lower price. I also wonder what I would have done if I were running the site. Most likely I would have sold the last spot to the next in line at the same price as others. It's still too soon to tell if a whole new industry (pixel advertising) was launched as the result of this site, but one thing is for sure: this guy is a much better entrepreneur than I am. pixel advertising,eBay,auctions <Million dollar home page eBay auction> // posted by rh 0 comments Saturday, January 07, 2006 SBC, AT&T - Your World. Delivered?  I guess it's official now. My last SBC bill had an AT&T logo decorating the envelope and the SBC Web site has begun to flash the AT&T brand name here and there. And their telephone technical support has a preamble touting the merger and the new AT&T name. How do I know this about the phone support IVR? I actually had to call them from work last night to report a full outage at home. It was a true voice mail jail case. The IVR spun me around from one system to another. I was warned that talking to a live agent could take a lengthy wait time, so I used the automated support to report the outage. This morning the phone and the DSL services were back online, but by noon they were out again. Cell phone signals from our house are very poor, so I took my wife's cell phone ( I continue to refuse getting one for myself), and drove a few miles to get a good signal and did the same dance with SBC's phone support IVR. A few hours later, the service magically came back online. But just now there was another outage. Luckily this one was short-lived. Is this a preview of what's to be expected when SBC fully integrates AT&T? Word has it that they plan on a nearly $1 billion advertising campaign to promote the merger and the new name. Contrast that with the recent study that claims stocks of companies with better quality products, services, and customer service fare better than those of their peers that put more emphasis on advertising and marketing. Hey, SBC, or AT&T, no need to deliver my world to me. Just give me quality products and decent customer service. You will realize a must higher ROI than the billion dollars spent on showboating. sbc,at&t,phone,dsl,roi,advertising,ivr <SBC, AT&T - Your World. Delivered?> // posted by rh 0 comments Thursday, January 05, 2006 Ariel Sharon  Since the media is abuzz with Sharon's grim condition I thought I offer my 2 cents on this. Once again the con artists of the world have used god and religion in describing Sharon's condition. On one side you have the infantile Ahmadinejad of Iran offering his views on how he wished Sharon would die in retaliation of his past deeds. On the other side there's Pat Robertson with his rants of the bible verses and how god's wrath has brought about the man's sickness. Then there are the rabbis who have encouraged the Israelis to flock to their temples and pray to god for his recovery. As if god is suddenly going to wake up, take notice of this drivel, and either expedite or reverse his actions. What a pile of manure. I'd like to call these people insane, but they are in reality shrewd fraudsters spreading superstition among the naive. The man is 77 years old and over-weight. By all accounts he's lived a long and comfortable life. His illness is neither untimely nor unexpected. Anyone who lives to the age of 77 could be expected to kick the bucket at any moment. It's physiology, not divine action. Based on the interpretation of these people, anyone who dies or is near death must have been a villain and god is exacting punishment on him. Then they had better look up their own family trees and declare their dead as evil-doers. If there ever was such a place as hell, these crooks would have special early passes to enter the land of fire. Alas, god, heaven, and hell are all but tools in the hands of charlatans to deceive the masses. People have lived and died for uncounted years and there is no stopping biology, at least not for the foreseeable future. We are all destined to die and get recycled. What happens after that is anyone's guess. Even these liars know that, but they certainly aren't going to admit to that. There's just too much money and power at stake. ariel sharon,sharon,god,heaven,hell,religion,death,israel <Ariel Sharon> // posted by rh 0 comments Monday, January 02, 2006 Slush running  Of all types of weather to jog in, the rainy ones are my least favorite. I just don't enjoy running wet, unless it's from my own sweat. So when tonight I saw pouring rain outside my workplace, I was prepared to come up with a bunch of excuses to postpone my date with the road until tomorrow. Then the news came that my town, being in higher elevations, actually had blizzard conditions. That did it. I suited up and got in the car for the drive home. Indeed, as I got closer to home, the rain switched to snow and by the time I got to my parking spot in the town center, it was all snow. Jogging in snow is definitely harder than jogging in dry conditions or in the rain. There is much more resistance to overcome and one needs to spent energy guarding against slipping, but I don't mind it. The only problem was that the snow was actually falling on a fair amount of slush underneath and soon my shoes started to get heavy from splashing in all that mess. The worst part of the run came when a heavy truck sped by and my pants received a good amount of tire splash. A couple of hard profanities to ease the anger, and then I continued on. After so many years of running outside, I have accepted the annoyances that come with the territory. A treadmill in a climate-controlled room would be so much easier, but for me that would be too artificial. running,jogging,slush,snow,treadmill,rain <Slush running> // posted by rh 0 comments

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