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TurboTax Business
I think every Mac user must have a love-hate relationship with Intuit. I still don’t understand why Intuit had dumped Quicken for Quicken Lite a/k/a Quicken Essentials for Mac. Ugh. But, I’m glad that I jumped on iBank instead of waiting around for the long-rumored Quicken Deluxe for Mac. I’m sure it is still just…
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YUM Seeking to Acquire Majority Interest in Little Sheep
YUM! Brands, Inc., which operates KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Long John Silver‘s and A&W All-American Food Restaurants, is seeking to acquire a majority interest in Little Sheep. From the YUM! most-recent quarterly report: We currently own 27% of the outstanding shares of Little Sheep Group Limited (“Little Sheep”） a Hot Pot concept headquartered in…
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Marketing, Propaganda or Marketing Propaganda
During a recent trip to China, I stopped by a store in Wuxi that displayed this slogan: Wuxinees Admire Virtues and Wuxi is A Trustworthy City For Consumption I am certain that the sign would have been better off without the English translation. The sign isn’t suffering from the typical “Chinglish” problem. Instead, the slogan…
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Biased Americans
I spotted this funny line in the San Francisco Chronicle: But [the Chevrolet Malibu], in this country, should be outselling the Camry and Accord. It’s surprising to me how much bias there still is among U.S. consumers against their own country’s car brands, and in favor of the Japanese models. Merriam-Webster defines bias as “an…
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Not Just a Nation of Knock-Offs
New York Times: China Drawing High-Tech Research From U.S.: For years, many of China’s best and brightest left for the United States, where high-tech industry was more cutting-edge. But Mark R. Pinto is moving in the opposite direction. It’s one thing for a Chinese engineer to return back to China for better career opportunities. However,…
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Made in China
Yesterday, I heard a PRI report on Violins – Made in China. Initially, I was quite surprised to learn that China manufactures 70% of all the world’s violins. 70%!! However, after some reflection, I realized that China’s manufacturing prowess should not have been that shocking. As an experiment, I’m looking at the place of manufacture…
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Jackie’s Chan: The Myth
iTunes is selling Jackie Chan’s: The Myth for $9.99. However, a better deal is watching the film on Hulu for free. Preferably sometime within the next 48 hours because streaming rights expire on 12/31/2009 at 11:45 PM PST. Sure, Hulu can run its Cadillac ads, but I think something is missing in the equation. Why…
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AG-13 Batteries
Last weekend, I received my AG-13 batteries from Publications International Ltd. Needless to say, the shipment did not require the stated 4-6 weeks. More like just under two weeks. If I had known that the turnaround time was that fast, I would have ordered them a year ago instead of hunting around on and off…
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AG-13 Batteries
I have quite a few electronic books, all of which need new batteries. Unfortunately, I have not been able to secure a reliable and inexpensive supply of the needed AG-13 batteries. Fry’s sells them for about $2.00 per battery, but doesn’t have a large supply on hand. At 3 batteries per book, I need a…