New York City Marshal Linda Swift and Legalized Extortion

Ever had your car towed away unexpectedly? How about being removed from your car by someone implying themselves to be a law enforcement official? I’d like to introduce you to the New York City Marshal program, and particularly to…

HTC Sense Android Screen Grab Gets More Evil

When I talk evil business practice, it’s generally Apple or Google that’s in my cross-hairs. Apple does so many things disguised as features but really designed to dominate markets at its users’ expense that the “Apple is Evil” conversation can go on…

The Real Reason Steve Jobs Was Such a Great Salesman

USPTO’s New Stupidity Record (Apple 7,657,849 & 8,046,721)

Here’s Why You Can’t Sell to Small Businesses

Are you still cold calling? Have you noticed that selling to small business in particular is all but impossible (and of course, selling to large business is even harder)?

The Conflict of The F-Bomb

One of the funniest pieces of stand-up comedy I’ve ever come across is by a guy named Ron White. Mr. White’s comedy routine revolves in large part around a southern redneck persona that, while clearly rooted in his real life experiences, I suspect he left behind when he started…

Google Worries. (Siri on iPhone 4S NOT a Virtual Assistant)

Any second now, Apple’s iPhone 4S is going to be “real”. October 14 is the official launch date for the latest version of iPhone, and once it’s “out” people will be walking around talking to their phones, giving us all…

Netflix, The Video Game

As business change continues to swirl around video games and other media properties, Redbox prepares a 20% price increase (albeit one that shouldn’t have a bad impact on or create fallout from their customers), and Netflix keeps making stupid mistakes, you might be wondering where…

The PressPausePlay Business Model: GIVE IT AWAY. Or Not.

The guys who made PressPausePlay have a problem: as they make abundantly clear in the film, anyone can make music or movies using inexpensive equipment that they might well already own. But whether that’s a good thing or bad is up…

A Timeline of The Trademark Dispute Over Timeline (Patents)

One of the things we do at Answer Guy Central is Intellectual Property Consulting. I don’t talk about that area of our expertise too often because … well, because it’s not very interesting. Besides, combined with our position…

Cute Kittens, Cuter Puppies, Facebook, and Privacy

This story is about “Ruffles”. Ruffles isn’t for sale, but as cute puppies go, he’s right at the top of the heap. I found Ruffles’ picture on Facebook, on the profile of a woman I had never met when I posted Ruffles’ picture on Facebook — but…

Yahoo Begs for Links, Offers Bribes. Is That SEO?

If there was ever a doubt in your mind about how important SEO Consulting and Search Engine Optimization are, you may now thank the good folks at Yahoo! for defining the issue clearly. SEO matters, and Yahoo! is handing out bribes.

Facebook Knows What People Talk About, Doesn’t Care

When I told you about The Facebook Timeline Version and its impact on privacy last week I was pretty laid back about it. Yes, Facebook is setting us all up to disclose even more information about ourselves than we had already been giving…

Thank You, Steve Jobs. RIP

Where Business Change Meets Journalism: EVERYWHERE

Back in the day, I served a couple of years as President of an international journalism group. The Computer Press Association was a collection of people who, as the name suggested, wrote about technology and took the tenets of journalism…

Video Games: Fertile Ground For Real Business Change

About a year ago, I told you about a court ruling that (maybe) makes selling software you no longer use illegal. It’s going to take years for that issue to resolve, and when it does you can bet that some attorneys will find a way to claim…

The Biggest Business Change You Never Heard of: The CMS

Sometimes, “Good Enough” is good enough. But only sometimes. And when designing your web site, you need to step up to something better than good enough.