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Have you ever heard of Nollywood? Apparently, Nigeria’s film business is 2nd only to its better known cousin from India. A story by Will Connors datelined Lagos told the story of a booming business that’s threatened only by something insidiuous–piracy. In 2006 nearly 900 movies came straight outta Lagos. Not […]
I’m thinking about Beaumont, Texas on this glorious pre-holiday Friday. The cafe was booming so I finally now have time to do what I spend many hours avoiding every day. That is writing the stories that result from my travels. Travel writers will tell you that getting back to a […]
The other day I found a story about the top ten high tech busts of the past decade. A few surprised me. On the list was YouTube.com, Microsoft’s Zune music player, Microsoft’s Vista operating system, Sirius/XM satellite radio, Gateway Computer, and the Segway device. Oh, and the Iridium satellite telephone […]
I sat on the treadmill at the Y yesterday and watched a silent TV. Silent because the jack that I was supposed to plug into didn’t work. On one of the TVs a man bowled and I watched him throw 12 strikes! The show was called “America’s Best Bowler” and […]
I awoke with great relief the other morning. The big lump in my abdomen was only a dream. I compared this wash of relief to how I felt today as I read a long, sad winding story about Edmund Andrews, a New York Times business reporter, who experienced first hand […]
It’s gonna be a hot day today, all of that pent up heat finally pouring forth from the May sun. At the cafe we’ve got some new people working in, getting a feel for what we do. I was stunned yesterday when I called five applicants back and asked them […]
Here is some advice that I gave the writer from Reader’s Digest who just published a guide to travel bargains around the US. I was in good company, including Pauline Frommer, Peter Greenberg, Matt Gross (NYT’s Frugal Traveler), and AP travel editor Beth Harpaz. Massachusetts and Vermont: “Ecotourism doesn’t have […]
It’s a new day and time to meet a bunch of new potential hires. I will put four prospects to the test, I asked them all to stop by and meet us. Half the test is seeing if they actually show up, or call as a result of our reaching […]
I was walking down the cellar stairs, carrying an enormous basket of laundry, when I hit something and my feet came out from under me. I landed with a thud, but not a lot of pain, on my mid-back. I made it through my day so far without a lot […]
We woke up to unseasonably cold temps in Holyoke, and were glad the heat came on to warm the chill. A lot is happening in my busy world, it’s spinning like a top. But what’s the alternative? A slowed down world wouldn’t be any fun, so I forge ahead and […]
In London, newspaper marketing has reached a new low. In today’s WSJ, a story reveals a new strategy to promote a revamped Evening Standard, the lone paid daily paper, that competes with two free dailies and is losing the battle. Their pitch? We’re sorry. The afternoon daily began a billboard […]
David Pogue writes with clarity and eloquence about complicated topics that other writers make too dense. He, like me, is inspired some times by new products and inventions and a recent Personal Tech column in the NY Times stood out. The device he was raving about is called the Novatel […]