thelaggard

THE LAGGARD HAS MOVED

2005-06-05T18:01:00.000-07:00

Thelaggard has moved due to make room for more content. Please visit us here:

Changing planet revealed in atlas

2005-06-04T20:47:00.000-07:00

BBC has an article that shows satellite images taken over the past few decades. The images are extremely detailed and help to point out changes in the landscape due to deforestation, urbanisation, and climate change.

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Changing planet revealed in atlas

Another performance enhancer in Major League Baseball

2005-06-04T19:06:00.000-07:00

Ran across this article while surfing today. A new type of contact lens work like sunglasses. They are being used in sports on a daily basis. Not only do they help to see the ball, they also protect your eyes from sun damage.

FOXSports.com - MLB- Performance-enhancing contact lenses?

Apple to use Intel chips in '06-CNET

2005-06-04T18:55:00.000-07:00

This is quite interesting. Why would Apple move to Intel when Intel just got their 64 bit chips out recently. IBM has had their 64 bit chips out for quite sometime. Thoughts?

Apple to use Intel chips in '06-CNET - Yahoo! News

Ford sales decline AGAIN and AGAIN and AGAIN

2005-06-01T10:41:00.000-07:00

Well what do you know? Ford sales were down again. At least this time, they didn't disguise the fact by only pointing out the rising Mustang sales. Look at these stats:

Lincoln sales down 20.2%

Mercury sales down 7.6%

Ford sales down 13.9% (F-Series down 9%, Taurus & Focus down considerably, Mustang up 47%)

Yes, SUV sales were down, but they were up for Nissan who posted an impressive 15+% sales increase over last year.

Ford's Sales Decline

AIM Triton Beta Test, NEW INSTANT MESSENGER

2005-05-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

Take a look at the latest offering from AOL. As most of you know, AOL is looking to become more of a portal such as Yahoo! or MSN. With their latest instant messenger offering, you can see this to start to take place.

First of all, I must disclose that I currently prefer using Trillian because of how poorly AIM looks. I have always thought it looks quite childish and needs to update its look. With that being said, the new Triton version of AIM looks much better. It uses tabbed messaging which always comes in handy. It helps to reduce the number of windows open on your taskbar. The other feature that they have added is better contact management for your buddies. The contact info is now accesible within the IM conversation. Lastly, they have added an image window, file transfer window, and VOIP window for easy access.

Although it is in beta, I suggest checking it out. I just wish you could upload your Microsoft Outlook contacts. BTW, what is with the beta thing? Did everyone copy Google?

AIM Triton Beta Test

Hilton Hotel users gain automatic upgrades!

2005-05-24T08:52:00.000-07:00

For those of you that are road warriors or just travel a lot, here is a code for Hilton Hotels and their customer loyalty program. By just calling the Hilton Honors customer service line and mentioning "CTCH," they will give you instant access to their preferred Gold membership. The Gold membership privileges include free breakfasts and automatic upgrades to suites if they are available. I have included another link below that lists all of their brands under the Hilton Honors name. They include Doubletree, Hampton, and Conrad! Thank me later and help support thelaggard! Also, please let me know via the comments box if you are looking for more promotions such as these....

Hilton Hotels

Hilton Brands

Your credit card payment just doubled

2005-05-18T17:39:00.000-07:00

Interesting article that talks about how the major card companies such as MBNA, Citibank and Bank of America have increased minimum payments from 2% to 4%. I believe the government pushed for this as they have see the average debt levels for households dramatically increase as consumer spend has gone up.

MSN Money - Your credit card payment just doubled

Economic Report: U.S. PPI up a larger-than-expected 0.6% in April

2005-05-17T17:17:00.000-07:00

Some of you may have seen my posting concerning the lowest trade deficit in 6 months posting. Just to add to that, I have provided a link to the PPI report from this week. Some economists have said that with the yuan is is undervalued by about 40%. This makes all of China's exports extremely cheap for the major consumers such as the US. What could a revaluing of the yuan do to the US economy? Considering Walmart plays a major role in keeping inflation lower, we could see much higher prices. Energy wouldn't be the only contributing factor.

So what can we do? To counter the potential increase in inflation, you may consider picking up inflation protected securities. I recommend taking a look into Vanguard's VIPSX. Although it has already seen a decent run up in the short term, this could be a great hedge pick for the next couple of years. You can't beat the expected 3 year expense projection of just $58 for a $10,000 investment.

Economic Report: U.S. PPI up a larger-than-expected 0.6% in April

Trade deficit lowest in 6 months?

2005-05-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

This press release states that our trade deficit is the lowest it has been in 6 months. Granted that it is still considerably higher than the averages of the past couple years, but this is good progress. The US is starting to show their strength in the services arena and it also looks like commercial aircraft exports are helping.

My only question is what will the potential revaluing of the yuan do to the deficit. I really am not looking forward to paying 20 cents extra for my Chinese imported Wrangler Jeans that I plan to pick up from Walmart next month....

Trade Deficit lowest in 6 months

Revaluation of the Yuan

Reply to The Huffington Post's post about the iPod

2005-05-09T18:27:00.000-07:00

I ran across this entry lately, that I didn't agree with. The author's name is Hilary Rosen and she writes for The Huffington Post. Her bio states: "Hilary B. Rosen is currently an on-air business and political commentator for CNBC and MSNBC; and a consultant in the media industry. She is the former Chairman and chief executive officer of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the trade group representing the U.S. sound recording industry where she served for 17 years before retiring in June 2003."

The commentary is outdated and doesn't address new material, ideas, or suggestions. Hilary just got an iPod recently and points out that the .aac format is proprietary. I think that she doesn't give Jobs and Apple enough credit for the revolution that has been started. Apple was the first mover in this space to gain a mass audience. Until Apple begins to start losing market share or feels a threat from the other online stores/manufacturers, I don't believe Jobs and Apple should budge. I will be the first to admit that I wish .aac was universal, but why would Apple open the format at this point in the game? A previous post on thelaggard points out that Apple has already gained 58% of the flash market after releasing the Shuffle 6 months ago. Why is this? It's because Apple has created a product that is easy to use that the market enjoys using. The iPod revolution has people of all ages downloading, uploading, swapping, and creating playlists all over the world. Yes, the sleek design and marketing of Apple has played its part, but its ease of use and simple user interface is what put this product on the map. I still believe that Apple has no need to open it up until one of the following happens:

1. Market share in music downloads begins to fall.

2. Market share for hard drive players begins to fall.

3. Market share for flash players begins to fall.

4. Margins on any of the products fall below Apple's normal margins and they are forced to open up the iPod to 3rd party manufacturers.

Am I wrong in my thinking? Look at what this product has done to the earnings of Apple....Comments are appreciated.

Previous posts are on the lower right, please support thelaggard.

The Huffington Post | The Blog

American Express hurting its brand image?

2005-05-09T12:03:00.000-07:00

As you probably know, American Express has granted MBNA the chance to distribute their cards for close to a year now. The idea was to build the customer base and in turn force more merchants to accept Amex. As you also know, Amex has some of the highest merchant fees. Therefore the burden would fall onto the merchants. Due to the size of Amex's customer base, the merchants are basically forced to accept Amex. Walgreens actually stopped accepting Amex, but ended up pulling them back.

Here is my question: Is American Express hurting its brand image? Have they lowered their standards for new card applicants? Or have they created brand/card extensions with higher APR's for the lower standard applicants? Will Amex retain the exclusive image it has held for so long? Amex has pushed the consumers to believe that Amex is for financially responsible, successful middle to upper class citizens. The use of Coach K of Duke University, Jerry Seinfeld, and their strong push into financial services for corporate America.

I don't yet know the answer, but I do know that Wall Street is enjoying their growth in revenue. But is the long term damage more severe? It seems as if the only differentiator now for Amex is their customer service and HUGE reward network. Thoughts, questions?

MBNA/Amex Offerings

American Express Chart

Newest marketing/retail concept from Apple (AAPL)

2005-05-07T12:52:00.000-07:00

This is Apple's latest marketing/retail concept. They have gone "mini" on their retail stores and now use vending machines to sell iPods. This was actually spotted in Atlanta's Concourse A. Just because I might get sued by Apple, here is the disclosure. DISCLOSURE: THESE ARE NOT OWNED AND OPERATED BY APPLE. Check out previous posts to the bottom right and help support thelaggard.

iPod vending machine on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Save your mobile phone bill!

2005-05-07T07:29:00.000-07:00

Add your cell phone to the "Do Not Call Registry," simply because of this statement:

"In a few weeks, cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sale calls. You will be charged for these calls. Call this number from the cell phone you are registering with the Do Not Call Registry, 888-382-1222. Or, you may process your do not call information at www.donotcall.gov. It is the national/federal DO NOT CALL list. It only takes a minute of your time and it blocks your number for 5 years."

National Do Not Call Registry

Review of the new 2006 BMW 330i Sedan

2005-05-06T09:35:00.000-07:00

Wasn't a huge fan of the older 330i, because I fell in love with the G35 coupe, but this year's 330i is looking mighty impressive. The latest version is still a sedan but has the look of a coupe. Impressive stat of 0-60 in 6.1, but still has the price tag of a BMW. Take a look at the review from Car and Driver. Enjoy!

Car and Driver - 2006 BMW 330i - April�2005

Update: GM & Ford now JUNK status

2005-05-06T07:26:00.000-07:00

Just an update to a previous post....See previous posts below on right sidebar.

S&P slashes GM, Ford ratings to 'junk' status - Transportation Equipment - Automobiles - Transportation - Manufacturing - Analyst - Bond Market

Bill Gates and Microsoft vs. Google

2005-05-05T07:25:00.000-07:00

A long article from Forbes about Bill Gates vs. Google. Here is an excerpt:

"Microsoft was already months into A massive project aimed at taking down Google when the truth began to dawn on Bill Gates. It was December 2003. He was poking around on the Google company website and came across a help-wanted page with descriptions of all the open jobs at Google. Why, he wondered, were the qualifications for so many of them identical to Microsoft job specs? Google was a web search business, yet here on the screen were postings for engineers with backgrounds that had nothing to do with search and everything to do with Microsoft's core businesspeople trained in things like operating-system design, compiler optimization, and distributed-systems architecture. Gates wondered whether Microsoft might be facing much more than a war in search. An e-mail he sent to a handful of execs that day said, in effect, "We have to watch these guys. It looks like they are building something to compete with us.""

If this is true, why did it take them that long to figure out they were planning to compete? MSN.com was already taking a hit by that time on page impressions because of Google's popularity. The next step is obviously developing web tools similar to what Yahoo! and MSN were doing.

Technology - Why Google Scares Bill Gates - FORTUNE

General Motors (GM) is up over 18%?

2005-05-04T14:25:00.000-07:00

Are you kidding me? A couple of comments here.

Why is a company that is doing this poorly going to shoot up 18% due to an investor increasing his stake in the company?

Negatives:

1. GM is paying an average of $1600 per car in just pensions and benefits.
2. Their market share has been sliding for decades.
3. They pay the highest incentives in terms of cash rebates, 0% APR of any other manufacturer.
4. Their current contracts force them to keep all their factories running at 80% utilization, but they are already holding way too much inventory.
5. They have a TON of cash, but are burning through it very quickly at this rate.

Positives:
1. They have a nice dividend. Let's just hope they get rid of it to save some cash.
2. Nice run up and support from a major shareholder today, but it was most likely due to all the shorts covering their positions. There has been a huge amount of negativity towards GM lately. Have you seen the latest cover of Business Week?

Overall, I'm not saying I would never invest in GM, but in this times, I am going to wait for it to base. From there, I will see if anything has changed in terms of their operations, dividend payout, etc. At that point in time, I will re-access.

GM: Summary for GEN MOTORS - Yahoo! Finance

Kerkorian's Tracinda Offers to Buy GM Stake

Apple Exec: Shuffle Grabs 58% of Flash Player Market

2005-05-04T13:59:00.000-07:00

Based on this posting, Apple's Shuffle has already grabbed 58% of the market after six months. Truly is amazing when you consider that the Shuffle is nothing revolutionary. iTunes, its ease of use, and the iPod hype are most likely the largest factors of its success.

Apple Exec: Shuffle Grabs 58% of Flash Player Market

Mac OS X Downloads - Yahoo! Local Traffic

2005-05-04T06:46:00.000-07:00

This is an awesome DL for the new Panther operating system Dashboard Widgets. Enjoy!

Apple - Mac OS X Downloads - Dashboard Widgets - Yahoo! Local Traffic

Rave Reviews for Tiger OSX 10.4

2005-04-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

Check out the rave reviews for Apple Computer's Tiger OSX 10.4. As most of you know, Walter Mossberg writes for the Wall Street Journal in the Personal Technology column. Keep in mind that it gets released tomorrow! Some of his quotes about Tiger OSX include:

"This is a big deal. Along with a similar built-in search capability Microsoft is working on for its next version of Windows, Spotlight could spark a major change in the way people use computers."

"Overall, Tiger is the best and most advanced personal computer operating system on the market, despite a few drawbacks. It leaves Windows XP in the dust."

Enjoy and please support thelaggard!Personal Technology -- Personal Technology from The Wall Street Journal.

Full Xbox 360 Image

2005-04-27T10:22:00.000-07:00

Here comes more Xbox 360 information. Not sure if these pics are real, but expect to see more leak as we get closer to the unveiling next month. Personally, I think this looks just like the old one, big, bulky, and boring. Sony's will probably look a lot more sleek.

Please support the laggard.

Full Xbox 360 Image : Gizmodo

AOL Testing Next Generation AIM Client - Triton

2005-04-26T19:42:00.000-07:00

As you know, thelaggard is a huge advocate of instant messaging. Well, here comes the much needed AOL IM update in the form of Triton. This really is long overdue. I was about to delete the current program off my laptop because of its lack of tab browsing. How annnoying is it chatting with 3 seperate people and having three seperate windows?

Anyways, take a look at this link and be sure to stay tuned to thelaggard to find out when the beta is released.

BetaNews | AOL Testing Next Generation AIM Client

The Adobe Acrobat killer?

2005-04-26T12:49:00.000-07:00

Is this finally the end of the .PDF? I sure hope so. How many of you have computers that basically crash when opening a .PDF. Don't get me wrong, Adobe's Photoshop is awesome, but I absolutely hate their Acrobat Reader. What do the rest of you think?

An Adobe Killer from Microsoft - Search Engine Journal

The ultimate credit card!

2005-04-24T14:46:00.000-07:00

I have found you the ultimate Mastercard for all of your needs. Not only does is it reloadable, it also has an enchanting picture of Clay Aiken. Please do not sign up for this. Is it just me or does Clay look a troll slash/hobbit? He would be perfect for Lord of the Rings.

Clay Aiken Mastercard