There was a small article in Ad Age today, titled Needs, Wants, and Everything in Between.  The article was more of a book review, but there were two engaging concepts that inspired this post.   Why do people want these goods instead of those goods? When will we know that the recession is over?   The answers are almost as simple as the questions   We buy goods because something inside of us drives us to buy them. The recession will be over as soon as we stop asking the question “is the recession over”   Elegant, eh?  Well, here are [...]

In a historic move for Metrolist MLS, the company has moved from a usage pricing model to a flat fee model. This move will likely save Metrolist’s active top producer members hundreds of dollars a year – a welcome change in a contracted economy. […]

During critical election times I became quite engrossed in learning all of the “facts” about political candidates so I signed up for several email newsletters so that I could learn about issues from several perspectives. In the heat of the battle I was not affronted by being asked constantly for funds.  The pitches for funding usually included some valuable information about the issues at hand so I was willing to put up with the incessant sales pitches. Fast forward to a year later.  Now the major elections are over.  I have already given at the office, donating to the candidates [...]

  According to sources close to the situation Google has been in on-again, off-again acquisition talks with Trulia, the real-estate search engine.  This blog post appeared on CNET today from Kara Shisher – whose wife is an executive with Google – EVP Biz Dev.  kara also writes for the WSJ and co-produces a conference with Walt Mossberg. Kara indicates that sources estimate that Trulia’s valuation ranges between $150 and $200 million – although the sale would place a premium on top of that. […]

Los Angles Times, 2009 - International Search Engine Company, Google - opens new company in Africa to begin scraping data outside the reach of United States and International Copyright Laws. This is fiction Today I read the Los Angles Times - paper edition (typing with black fingers).  There was an article covering Google Books - the Search Engine’s initiative to digitize every book on the planet in every language.  As it turns out, the French courts generally agree with the US Courts - that digitizing books violates copyright. I am not an international copyright lawyer, but I suspect that Google [...]

On this day in 1773 (as you surely recall from Sister Herman Joseph’s fourth grade class), a group of Colonists, disguised as Indians, boarded 3 British ships at dockside in Boston Harbor. And, as you probably also recall, they threw tons of British tea into the Harbor. And, you probably learned, this was all done to protest the outrageously expensive British tea. Well, you can’t be right about everything. The tea was not expensive; it was cheap - -too cheap. That was the problem. The good people of Boston had been making quite a living smuggling Dutch tea into the [...]

We’re always happy to report great news about companies from our hometown of Buffalo, New Yorik.  As reported in RIS MEDIA this morning, HUNT Real Estate ERA announced that it has formed a new joint venture with Empire Home Realty, Inc. based out of Saratoga Springs. Empire Home Realty currently operates two offices with over 30 agents associated with the firm. The newly established partnership will operate under the name of HUNT Real Estate ERA. Eric Eckardt, who was the Founder and President of Empire Home Realty, is now a General Manager of the region and Partner with HUNT Real [...]