Hashemian Blog Web Tools, Financial Markets, Technology Monday, November 30, 2009 Google's Big Wave  Among my other emails this morning was finally an invitation from Google Wave. I had applied for Google Wave a couple of weeks ago, so at first it seemed exciting to get the invitation. Turns out that I wasn't so special after all. apparently throngs of people had received the same invitation over the weekend and some hadn't even applied. Wave is an interesting concept. It's sort of a cross between email and chat, social media and collaboration. After kicking the tires for a bit, I found it to be useful tool, but nothing earth-shattering. Conversations (known as waves) are kept as lists. People participating in each conversation can update it and the updates are visible to others in real-time. Each user is assigned an email with the address username@googlewave.com, but it cannot be used to send or receive emails to/from external users. That's one feature that would make the product more useful. At this point I think Gmail is still a more robust service, but Wave is a work-in-progress. At some point Google may decide to integrate it with Gmail. As Wave matures and as more people jump on, it has the potential to become a valuable tool, as many other Google products have proven to be. We'll see. google wave,gmail,google,social media Labels: google <Google's Big Wave> // posted by rh 0 comments Monday, November 23, 2009 Credit Card Interest Rate Games  Citibank MasterCard - for me it started years ago like many others. The 0% offer in the mail and the 1% cashback, and I was in the game. Fast-forward a few years and the cashback is still there but I just received a notice that the interest rate on the card will soon be 23.99%. It hasn't happened abruptly. First it was 5%, then 9%, then 13%, then 17%, then 20%, and now 24%. What is it with the 0.99%? Do they think that consumers are stupid? Ok, I'm not exactly a profitable customer for these guys. I never carry a balance. Yes, they make a marginal profit from merchant charges, of which they return 1% back to me, and who knows how long that's going to last. But with new consumer protection laws looming the banks have just gone wild, hiking fees and charges and interests all over the map. Why stop at 24%? Why not 50% or 100% or even 10,000%? But wait, it gets even better. The letter states that if the account is in good standing and there are $1,500 or more in monthly charges, they'll credit 10% of the total interest for the given month. "This can offset the increase in your purchase APR.", the letter states. How kind of the bank to make this generous offer. First of all, the naïve customer may think that the bank will drop the interest rate from 24% to 14% - hardly. That's 10% of the 24%, for the grand total of 2.4% in credits. In other words the interest rate will be 21.6%. Second, who has the time to spread out the charges every month in a precise manner to take advantage of the credit? Third, who is going to make certain that the bank is actually abiding by this rule? I'm sure the rules are so complex that the bank will never have to honor the credit. And last, as stated in the letter, "We reserve the right to change or end this program with 30 days' prior written notice." In other words, good luck getting a dime back. There are some who advocate ditching credit cards altogether and paying everything with cash instead. It's a great idea on the surface, but hardly practical. The banks have rigged the system so well that a cash-only lifestyle in the modern world is all but impossible. Try to book a flight, rent a car, reserve a hotel room, or shop online and you'll be running back to the credit card with your tail between your legs. Use a debit card? Good luck getting your money back when a hacker empties your bank account and vanishes into the ether. For now the only thing you can do is to use the credit card sparingly, pay off your balances every month, and just try to stay one step ahead of the banks as they continue to change the rules of the game in the hopes of tripping you up. credit cards,interest rates,citibank,mastercard Labels: credit cards, financial <Credit Card Interest Rate Games> // posted by rh 1 comments Friday, November 13, 2009 Madoff's Programmers  Bad reputation. Lawyers have it, used-car salesmen have it, priests and clerics have it. And now computer programmers? That's what I thought when I read about the two programmers working for Bernard Madoff's Ponzi investment firm being arrested and charged with fraud. It seems that their skills were put to good use by fabricating reports and statements for clients and the SEC, making them look legitimate. According to the story, they both knew that they were engaged in shady work, and they both had complained about it. But in return for a mediocre bonus from the company they'd stopped complaining and had silently continued manipulating the numbers and generating phantom reports. As a programmer myself this story gave me a pause. What would I have done? I'm not the blackmailing type, but would I have just drawn a salary and turned a blind eye? Would I have raised my concerns, not to extort, but out of moral obligation or at least out of concern for my own complicity and the possible punishment? Or would I have left the company without leaking a word, just to save my own skin? Businesses ask many things of their employees. Some are blatant violations of ethics, but some others fall into gray areas. I wonder if these two programmers could have avoided the hot water if they had kept their mouths shut and just did what they were asked. The fact that they raised concerns only to bury them after payoffs has certainly been a factor in what they're facing now. At any rate, I have a good feeling that if Madoff's scheme hadn't turned into a high profile case that it is today, these programmers would have never been implicated. There's just too much public fury and too few targets to go after. I mean how many programmers at Enron have suffered the same fate? As far as I know, none. madoff,enron, securities fraud,wall street,programmers Labels: financial, programming <Madoff's Programmers> // posted by rh 0 comments Wednesday, November 11, 2009 Online Radio and Traditional Media  I don't remember exactly when or why, but up until a few years ago traditional radio stations were barred from broadcasting online. I believe it had something to do with advertising rules. But then the rules were apparently relaxed and one by one the stations started broadcasting online in addition to the airwaves. Still, internet-only broadcasters such as Pandora, Slacker or Last.fm have had a competitive edge. They have large cache of music, they play few or no commercials, and they can adapt to their listeners' tastes. But as the music industry has begun to demand royalty payments, the internet-only stations have had to adapt by playing more commercials and/or charging fees. Previously I wrote about my defection from Pandora to Slacker for that exact reason. Now I've left Slacker for traditional radio and so far have been happy. What convinced me to make the switch? When I found a radio station that played the kind of music I like. A few weeks ago while driving to Hartford, CT to run a half-marathon, I was flipping through radio stations when I stumbled on an alternative music station (104.1 FM WMRQ, Hartford, CT) that kept me listening song after song. I thought what a shame that I couldn't get the station where I live or work. Fortunately it wasn't long before I found that the station also broadcasts online and I've been listening ever since. Sure there are commercials and DJ interruptions and the selections are not perfectly tuned to my taste (pretty close though), but listening is as simple as clicking on a link, no logins and no fees. In fact internet-only radio isn't perfect either and they play more commercials these days anyways. My experience speaks to a bigger issue here. To borrow a quote form Mark Twain, the reports of the traditional media's demise are greatly exaggerated. The arrival and propagation of the Internet has not necessarily just given rise to the upstarts to the detriment of the traditional companies. On the contrary, it has given the old media new means of serving their audience and also reaching new ones. The Hartford radio station is one such example whose listeners aren't necessarily within the sphere of its antenna's influence anymore. radio,online radio,radio stations,media Labels: internet, music <Online Radio and Traditional Media> // posted by rh 0 comments Sunday, November 01, 2009 NYC Marathon  What a nice day to be a part of the biggest marathon event in the world. Only thing is that I wasn't there. I did register for the New York City Marathon a few months ago but I was in the pool of some 60 thousand people who were turned down. No hard feelings though. I know there's a limit on how many people are allowed in and managing 40 thousand runners is a no small feat. So in sympathy, I decided to run a mini-marathon of my own in my own hometown today and I logged 16+ enjoyable miles. Ok, I admit that running solo on back roads isn't exactly like being a part of a big event, but for me the fun is just the same, maybe even more. With the solo runs there are no rules and no crowds. It's just me and the road. I get to choose the time, the distance, and the routes, and I can change them as I go along. There's definitely something liberating about setting your own rules and it costs nothing. The challenge, the therapeutic effect, and the satisfaction of finishing the course are still there. No, there are no official times, no like-minded people to hang with, no medals and no parties at the end. But for me running means a lot more than that. How many activities can give one that kind of return with a pair of sneakers and a road? And as for the NYC marathon, maybe next year. Meanwhile, congrats to all of today's participants. marathon,nyc marathon,running Labels: running <NYC Marathon> // posted by rh 1 comments

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