RAIN, RAINThe dregs of Hurricane Max made their way up California on Monday and Tuesday. Yesterday afternoon and evening we received some of the moisture and electrical activity.
In my mind we aren't supposed to get rain until October. But in fact we got dumped on. This is not good for the almond harvest, which is still in process, and which requires dry orchard beds to run the sweepers. At least the leaves on the trees are clean -- along with the no longer dusty brown roofs on all the buildings.
ON THE GOVERNOR'S DESK
SB 724 is sitting on the governor's desk awaiting a signature. If he signs, the schools in the California State University system would be given permission to grant doctor of education degrees. Currently, the only publicly-funded schools in California allowed to grant doctorates are in the University of California system. At this point 13 of the 23 "Cal State" schools do have joint-doctoral programs with other universities -- mostly UCs. This bill would allow them to solo. I bet it gets a signature. It should.
CASH FOR BABIES
The French government, concerned about the fact that there is negative population growth among professional class women, will be offering a cash incentive for middle-class women to have a third child. Currently, French couples have an average of 1.9 children. The government's concern is both economic and social (although the social issue isn't raised in public). Between 20 and 30% of the population under 25 is now Muslim -- mostly from immigrant families. These families tend to have more children. And there is real fear that France could become a predominantly Muslim country. Muslims currently make up 10% of the population. Link
HERITAGE USA
Jim and Tammy Faye Baker's abandoned live-in theme park is wasting away. Photos (via)
FARMER'S DEN
Yesterday was day-off and with the kids back in their routines we were able to get back to our routine of Tuesday lunch-out. Cheryl and I drove west of town a few miles to Farmer's Den, West Main and Crows Landing Road. Even though it is new, the Farmer's Den is vintage country cooking. And it is now definitely on our repeat eatin' list.
GOOGLE WI-FI
There are more signs that Google is moving into the free Wi-Fi business.
GREAT TOOL FOR PEOPLE PROFILES
Zoominfo.com
HOW TO WRITE SENSIBLE EMAILS
Read this for the sake of everyone with whom you communicate. (via)
LOGOS IN THE EMAIL HEADER
Start-up Iconix has introduced a service that places companies' logos in the "from" space in some e-mail clients. The offering is aimed at helping senders build their brands and distinguish themselves from phishers, but it requires recipients to install a plug-in.
The offering, called Truemark, builds upon the authentication standards -- Sender ID and DomainKeys -- which have been widely adopted by e-mail senders and ISPs. When e-mail marketers sign up with Iconix, its system looks at incoming e-mail, authenticates that the message is actually coming from the purported "from" domain, and then displays the logo associated with that domain. Senders pay a fraction of a cent each time the logo is shown, and more each time a logo-enhanced e-mail is opened.
Am I being too curmudgeonly to ask why I would want to install a system sucking plug-in in order to subject myself to yet another company logo? We don't really need our email to be "authenticated" with logos. This innovation has more to do with marketing and branding than providing an actual tangible service to the consumer. Thanks but no-thanks.
4 comments:
Tried the zoom info page.
Looked up my name and it still ties me in with some UFO nut, even though he has a separate listing.
But there was only one Brad Boydston. As if there could be more than one.
'California State University ...University of California'
reminds me of that part from Monty Python's life of Bryan where the dissdent says 'I'm not with the People's Front of Judea, I'm with the Judean People's Front!' ;-)
"But there was only one Brad Boydston. As if there could be more than one."
Actually, there is a cousin once or twice removed with the same name. He occasionally pops up on the radar. Poor guy.
I have a lot of respect for companies that are out trying to engage the blogosphere. Thanks, Lance, for your comments.
However, I probably still wouldn't buy into Iconix's product. ISTM that anyone who is smart enough to look for a logo in the "from" line is already smart enough to know that you don't send sensitive information via email and that legitimate companies will never use email to ask you to provide sensitive information -- either directly or via a website. It's a commonsense thing. If you don't have commonsense no application is going to fix that.
It seems that the greatest value of the application will be for marketing.
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