When it comes to driving, I'll admit it...I cannot keep my cool. But I'm a defensive road rager, not an offensive road rager. I only get angry and vocal when people do things to me...I'm not the sort of rampaging asshole who cuts you off, then flips YOU the finger (for, apparently, objecting to his or her behavior or maybe for just being there in the first place.)

Connecticut is a hot spot for aggressive drivers, along with its neighbors New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts (it can't be a secret that people from Connecticut refer to Massachusetts drivers as "Massholes," but we are truly a pot calling a kettle black.) We don't realize how bad things are here until we go on business trips to places like Nebraska or Iowa, where people are nice to each other on the road and actually observe road signs and rules.

But now, I want to move to Washington State. Why? Washington State, I have recently become aware, has a special Web site you can visit to report aggressive drivers (http://www.wsp.wa.gov/traveler/agdrvng.htm). Not only is there space for you to describe the offending car or cars and their license plates, but there's a free-form space in which you can vent. ("Brief description of activities observed.") I wonder whose job it is to read those letters. Whoever the poor sod is, I hope he/she has access to therapy. Forty hours a week of reading rants like the kind I can produce when I get cut off by someone driving an aircraft-carrier-sized SUV who is chatting on a cell phone, swerving between lanes, sipping a Starbucks and driving at erratic speeds.

TES

It was only a matter of time until we started seeing identity theft insurance. Nine million people were the victim of identity theft last year, making this a not uncommon problem. While I'm normally a bit cynical about supplemental insurances above and beyond the traditional home, life and car insurances, for some people, this might turn out to be a wise purchase. On average, policies run between $25 to $50 per year. Both Traveler's and Allstate, among others, are offering such policies in some states. Payout, should you need it, is designed to cover the costs of digging yourself out from identity theft, and is generally used for expenses such as legal fees, notary fees, long-distance phone calls and postage, and lost wages during the time it takes to fight the theft. Some experts say that it takes, on average, about 200 hours of work to "undo" the results of an identity theft.

The states and the federal government could do more. Only two states, California and Texas, allow you to "freeze" your credit the moment you find out your identity has been stolen, which means that potential thieves cannot open new credit cards, credit accounts or checking accounts in your name. Problem is, neither can you, until the situation is resolved. However, it seems a small price to pay to prevent your life from being ruined, or at least seriously damaged. Not surprisingly, consumer goods companies are against any federal laws giving consumers the right to make such a credit freeze. Apparently, it might interfere with their ability to sell you more crap you don't need and can't afford. (At this time, 20 other states are considering legislation to allow consumers to freeze their credit.)

The Identity Theft Resource Center, a non-profit group dedicated to fighting identity theft, has a test you can take to see if you're at risk for having your identity stolen. I figured I would do pretty well on the test. Turns out I'm a disaster waiting to happen. Take the test yourself, here: http://www.idtheftcenter.org/idthefttest.shtml

Some experts say the best purchase you can make to protect yourself from identity theft it to buy a shredder. If you have a fireplace, burn all your sensitive personal papers. Apparently, identity theives are also great garbage pickers. Also, keep an eye on your mailbox: according to research firm Javelin Strategy & Research, 8 percent of identity theft incidents start because of stolen mail. Finally, and this is one I'm guilty of, don't carry your social security card in your wallet. If your pocket is picked or your purse stolen, you've just put your social security number into the hands of a thief. Memorize your social security number and put the card someplace safe: in a safety deposit box, for example.

The Web site of the above mentioned research company, Javelin Strategy & Research, contains a wealth of information on the topic; it's worth your while to take a few minutes to browse: http://www.javelinstrategy.com/

TES

Why am I blogging this on TMCnet.com? Because I've noticed that not a single mainstream news organization, thus far, has made reference to the fact that today it's "Happy 60th Birthday" today for guitar legend Clapton.

On a similar note, fancy seeing one of the four Cream reunion shows? (Clapton is to reunite with former Cream band members Jack Bruce and Ginger Baker for four Albert Hall shows in London in May). You can find them on eBay, if you've got about 1,000 pounds sterling ($1,875) to spare and are quick on the outbidding process. (Flight to London not included.)

TES

An important acquisition in the contact center arena was announced this morning: the acquisition of knowledge management company Knowledgebase.net by CRM player Talisma. The acquisition seems to be in line with what appears to be a recent trend of companies pulling more than one contact center functionality under a single umbrella (the recent purchase of Blue Pumpkin, a workforce management company, by Witness Systems, a call recording and monitoring company, comes to mind).

Think that a few short years ago, the components of the multichannel CRM that Talisma alone provides were, in many cases, separate components from separate companies: e-mail management, Web collaboration, IM, database functionalities, analytics. This recent trend seems to suggest that the contact center industry may be headed for a field of fewer players with larger offerings. Hosted delivery will, we hope, allow these larger companies to tailor their offerings to the small to medium-sized business market: the fastest growing consumers of CRM.

TES

Talisma Acquires KnowledgeBase.net

Talisma’s acquisition of KnowledgeBase.net advances its strategic growth path by leveraging Knowledge Management tools market opportunities, estimated to reach over $5 billion by 2008^*, as well as the expected growth in multi-channel call centers in North America, which are projected to climb from 6,600 in 2003 to approximately 13,800 by 2008^**. Both growth figures highlight the opportunity for the combined offerings of Talisma and KnowledgeBase.net.

“Talisma is committed to providing our customers with the best Multi-channel CRM solutions available,” said Dan Vetras, President & CEO of Talisma. “KnowledgeBase.net, a market leader in Knowledge Management products and services, delivers the most comprehensive, out-of-the-box knowledgebase solution available. Our tremendous success in selling KnowledgeBase.net on an OEM basis has led us to our decision to acquire the company. Moving forward, this complete and seamless integration will continue to deliver the most comprehensive suite of Knowledge and Customer Interaction Management solutions available – now under one umbrella.” 

About Talisma

Talisma is a leading provider of Multi-channel CRM solutions. Talisma Multi-channel CRM integrates the power of chat, email, phone, and real-time collaboration with a mature, robust multi-channel interaction management platform, comprehensive analytics, and a fully integrated knowledgebase and customer database. Talisma's global customers include Aviva, Citibank, Coast Capital Savings, Dell, HGTV, Microsoft, MWB, and Sony. Talisma is based in Bellevue, Washington, with offices across the United States, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visit www.talisma.com.

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court expressed concerns Tuesday over allowing entertainment companies to sue makers of software that allows Internet users to illegally download music and movies, questioning whether the threat of such legal action might stifle Web innovation.

During a lively argument, justices wondered aloud whether such lawsuits might have discouraged past inventions like copy machines, videocassette recorders and iPod portable music players — all of which can be used to make illegal duplications of copyrighted documents, movies and songs.

Justice Stephen G. Breyer said the same software that can be used to steal copyrighted materials offered at least conceptually “some really excellent uses” that are legal.

Justice Antonin Scalia maintained that a ruling for entertainment companies could mean that if “I’m a new inventor, I’m going to get sued right away.”

While seeming leery of allowing lawsuits, the court also appeared deeply troubled by efforts of the companies that manufacture so-called file-sharing software to encourage Internet piracy and profit from it.

Justice Anthony M. Kennedy pressed a software lawyer on the question of whether profits from trafficking in stolen property can rightfully be used to help finance a young technology business. “That seems wrong to me,” he said.

Two lower courts have sided with the software makers, Grokster Inc. and StreamCast Networks. How the justices rule could redefine how consumers can watch television shows and films and listen to songs that increasingly are delivered in digital formats.

Your innocent cable modem is the subject of a court battle. It's fate may be decided today. The U.S. Supreme Court is hearing arguments to determine whether cable Internet service is a "telecommunications service," which would mean cable broadband providers have to open up and allow competition in the same way the telephone companies have had to, or an "information service," the FCC's preferred definition, which means the Comcasts of the world are safe from competition.

"Comcast safe from competition" is a terrifying phrase to me. In the world of customer service, there's poor customer service, there's bad customer service, there's inept customer service, and then there's Comcast, which should get its own special category.

I recently moved into Comcast territory. My Internet service, and therefore my phone, is dependent upon my Comcast broadband service. Every time I have trouble with a bill, or a problem, I groan in despair. Just trying to get a human who knows anything within the morass that is Comcast customer disservice is akin to climbing Mount Everest in high heels. Getting them to acknowledge my account number takes three agents, two disconnects, one hangup, a lot of busy signals and 10 additional blood pressure points. I've actually read them my account number off my bill and had agents say, "I'm sorry, that's not a Comcast account number. That's OLD Comcast." Great. Then is it OK if I don't pay my bill? My local Comcast office's phone number has been permanently busy for rougly five years, and the office hours are "From Whenever We Feel Like It A.M. To Five Minutes Before You Get There P.M."

I never thought I'd be nostalgic for Cablevision (my former provider), but there it is...Cablevision, I miss you.

TES

From MSNBC:

 Cable Modem By Any Other Name ...Open Access And FCC Jurisdiction At Stake In Court Case

On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the Federal Communications Commission's appeal of a decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals as to whether cable modems are a "telecommunications service" or an "information service." The appeals court ruled in October 2003 that cable modems are akin to telecommunications providers, which meant that they would have to open their lines to rival Internet service providers.

The big question here is not so much what is a cable modem, but who gets to decide what a cable modem is. The appeals court had followed its own earlier interpretation of the federal statute, the Telecommunications Act. In the interim, however, the FCC had issued in 2002 a "declaration" that cable modem service should be considered an information service, which freed the big cable companies like Time Warner and Comcast from the all-comers obligation that applies to telecommunications providers such as SBC Communications and Verizon Communications.

The FCC says the courts should "defer" to its interpretation of the law because of its "expertise."

The Internet service providers who prevailed in the Ninth Circuit say that the FCC has no particular expertise and that the rule that normally requires deference to an expert agency does not apply to basic definitions or interpretations of statutes. This is especially true where the courts have already ruled, and the agency is essentially trying to reverse that court ruling, the ISPs and consumer groups argue.

The consumer groups argue that the appeals court's interpretation would allow more choice and lower prices in the broadband market, as they do in the traditional dial-up ISP market.

Cable companies, though, are eager to be classified "information service" providers, which would mean they would not be required to lease lines to competitor independent ISPs such as Earthlink or Brand X, a Santa Monica, Calif., ISP which filed the original lawsuit. For cable companies, a win in the Supreme Court would also free them from certain service standards and some public utility obligations.

The cable industry has joined forces with the Bush Administration in appealing the Ninth Circuit decision.

In an earlier statement, the Consumers Union said, "The principles of non-discrimination in communications have been a cornerstone of our democracy and dynamic economy since the founding of our republic. Indeed, it is a fundamental part of common law that reaches back to the earliest days of capitalism."

But the ISPs and consumer groups say this principal of deference should not apply where the agency has been inconsistent in its own interpretation of the law and where the agency did not rule at all until after the case got to court.

The Ninth Circuit said that the FCC is not particularly expert in interpreting the statute and the time for its deferring to its expertise had passed. "The judiciary is the final authority on issues of statutory construction," the one judge wrote.

But in their appeal to the Supreme Court, the FCC and the Justice Department say it is up to them. "Congress has delegated to the agency— not the courts of appeals — the primary authority to resolve statutory ambiguities," they argue.

The FCC, of course, has been reversed by appeals courts on important issues numerous times. Part of the reason is that the Telecommunications Act and other statutes it administers have been left by Congress deliberately ambiguous for years. Thus the issue of deference becomes the key to power. It is an issue that has been addressed by the Supreme Court numerous times, but never in a context like this.

Recent news that Dell is opening up new call centers in India (the company's third Indian facility, which will be an ultimately 1,500 person call center, was opened this week in the city of Mohali) is hardly the only India-related call center news as of late. It's no secret that growth remains explosive, so much so that companies are finding a shortage of trained, high quality staff in popular cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad, and are venturing further afield to smaller towns to recruit agents.

Symon Communications recently announced its own explosive growth in the Indian market. Demand for Symon's products, including contact management tools which the company customizes for the Indian market, remains bottomless.

TES

Symon Communications Announces Record Growth In India

Company increases revenues, personnel; expands client base

Symon Communications, Inc., a leading global provider of enterprise information, performance management software and visual communications systems, announced today record growth in the India market, including increased revenues of more than 75 percent over 2003. A number of factors contributed to Symon’s success in the region, including key marketing agreements with trusted alliance partners in the India market.

Much of the company’s international growth is attributed to increased sales activity in India, where demand for Symon’s contact center management tools is on the rise.  Through Symon’s real-time alerting solutions, organizations can gain valuable operational insight to ensure better-informed and faster decision making. To meet the needs of this multidimensional and growing market, Symon has developed India-specific products that fulfill key functions and maintain a customer-friendly price point.

“We are very pleased with the enthusiastic reception of Symon products and services within India,” said Nelson Smelker, managing director, Symon Communications, Ltd.  “In just two years our customer base in this region has expanded to more than 30 companies, and most of those relationships were forged in the past year.  We attribute this success to the quality of our products, the professionalism of our employees and the highly beneficial relationship we enjoy with trusted partners whose positioning and aggressive marketing in the growing India market has proved quite valuable in the delivery of Symon products to all areas of the enterprise.”  

Symon Communications creates software and hardware solutions that enable clients to collect business data from disparate sources and transform and redistribute that information to the correct individual(s) in a format that is appropriate to fulfill their information needs.  This consolidated, concise view of business data increases productivity and performance in many vertical markets and at all levels within the enterprise.  Fully 35 percent of the Global 1000, and 72 percent of the Fortune 100 leverage Symon solutions.

“Growth is a wonderful side effect of doing what needs to be done,” said Charles Ansley, president and CEO of Symon Communications.  “Our real-time data technology is making companies in India as successful as its proven usage in other global regions.  Once real-time information is available to employees, they become dependent on knowing at what level they are performing and how productive they are.  Employee morale and retention increases as their contributions to the business can be reflected in real-time visual communications seen by all.  Dedication to our clients’ futures and the future of this market is our primary driver – one that creates wins for Symon, our clients and our partners in India.  We will continue, through new product development and strategic partnerships, to grow our share in the market by best addressing our clients’ needs.”

Symon Communications adopted a product reseller strategy for the region at the end of 2002 to market and support Symon products including Symon Vista real-time productivity and performance software that is easily viewed from the Web, Symon NetLite II® wireless displays and Symon Community® browser-based workforce management software.  This strategy has initiated Symon product innovation targeted for the region, including the introduction of new messaging capabilities for contact centers and the development of a custom version of NetLite II, designed specifically for the India market.

About Symon Vista

Symon Vista real-time browser-based reporting, performance scorecard and executive dashboard tool is a solution specifically designed for demanding enterprise environments such as contact centers, help desks, IT centers and network operations centers. The Symon Vista software tool enables the real-time data capture, manipulation and reporting needed to consolidate mission-critical information from a wide variety of data sources and to display that information with browser-based custom and drill down capability, scorecards, and interactive dashboard views for almost any scenario.

 About NetLite II

The launch of NetLite II positioned the performance management tool as the only wireless LED panel, solving the need for improved team awareness of critical business metrics, regardless of time or location.  This next-generation LED is the most technologically advanced wireless real-time display in the industry today. Additional innovative technology with NetLite II includes its browser-based interface for configuration tasks. This eliminates yet another desktop application and simplifies maintenance activities for IT departments, reducing costs and resource investments.

NOVO1, a long-time participant in Customer Interaction Solutions' Top 50 Teleservices Agencies Ranking (NOVO1 ranked at #25 in the domestic inbound category and #15 in the outbound categories in this year's rankings), has announced that its CEO, George Dalton, was honored as the winner of the Small Business Times Bravo! Entrepreneur Lifetime Achievement Award. NOVO1 is based in Waukesha, Wisconsin and until recently was known as Call_Solutions. Customer Interaction Solutions extends sincere congratulations to Mr. Dalton.

TES

SBT Announces Expo Award Winners
George Dalton, the venerable founder of three successful Wisconsin businesses, has been named the winner of the first Small Business Times Bravo! Entrepreneur Lifetime Achievement Award. Dalton, who recently celebrated his 77th birthday, began his entrepreneurial journey as one of the co-founders of Midland National Bank in Milwaukee 1964.

From there, he was selected to create and run Midland Data Processing, which he ultimately acquired and relaunched as Fiserv Inc. in 1984. Dalton served as chairman and chief executive officer of Brookfield-based Fiserv for 16 years. Under Dalton's leadership, Fiserv became a publicly traded, global company with revenues of more than $1.4 billion. Dalton helped Fiserv identify, acquire and assimilate 92 other companies to fuel its growth.

Dalton retired from Fiserv in 2000. However, his retirement would not last long. Just five months later, at age 72, he founded Call_Solutions, a highly specialized customer contact marketing business in Waukesha. Call_Solutions changed its name to NOVO 1 Inc. last fall, when the company first became profitable. The firm has acquired 15 other companies and today employs more than 2,500 people, with annual revenues of more than $70 million.

In nominating Dalton for the award, F. Kevin Kasper, corporate senior vice president of NOVO 1, said, "George Dalton has been on an entrepreneurial journey practically all of his life. Actually, George didn't ever want to retire & He said retirement was like watching the grass grow, and if he didn't stay busy, it was likely to be from under the grass looking up. "Very few entrepreneurs get a chance to create two companies, let along three. George is one of the rare ones," Kasper said.
The Bravo! Entrepreneur Awards and the IQ (Innovation Quotient) Awards will be presented to the winners at the first Wisconsin Business & Technology Expo, to be presented by Small Business Times April 20-21.

The Wisconsin Business & Technology Expo, will take place at the Wisconsin Expo Center at State Fair Park in West Allis. More than 150 businesses and organizations have reserved exhibit booths at the two-day event, which will feature the awards, keynote speakers, business seminars and an after-hours networking opportunity.

Tim Sheehy, president of the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC), will lead a discussion on regional cooperation in business on Wednesday, April 20. The Bravo! Entrepreneur Awards luncheon will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Kevin Gilroy, senior vice president and general manager of Hewlett-Packard's small and medium business segment, will be the keynote speaker on Thursday, April 21, when the IQ Awards will be presented at a luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
All of the award winners will be profiled in a special publication to be distributed at the Expo and in the April 29 edition of Small Business Times.

The winners of the 2005 Small Business Times Bravo! Entrepreneur Awards are:
* Dennis Backhaus, Spiros Industries, West Bend
* Paula Hare, Hare Strigenz Design, Milwaukee
* James Lindenberg, World Class Wire & Cable Inc., New Berlin
* Scott Mayer, QPS Companies Inc., Brookfield
* Robert McNamara, FJA Christiansen Roofing Co., Inc., Milwaukee
* Chris Schmus, ProDriver Leasing Systems Inc., Greenfield
* Matthew Tharaniyil, Bloom Consultants LLC, Wauwatosa
* Gregg Tushaus, Tushaus Computer Services Inc., Wauwatosa
* Neal Verfuerth, Orion Energy Services Ltd., Plymouth
* Regional Spirit Award: Russ Reynolds, Batteries Plus LLC, Hartland
* Lifetime Achievement Award: George Dalton, NOVO 1 Inc., Waukesha

The winners of the 2005 Small Business Times IQ (Innovation Quotient) Awards are:
* Business: Avicom Marketing Communications, Waukesha
* Construction & Commercial Real Estate: Whitnall Summit Co., West Allis
* Consumer: Kangaroo Brands Inc., Milwaukee
* Insurance & Financial: Mitchell Bank, Milwaukee
* Manufacturing: KAO Inc., Racine
* Medical & Health: Everbrite LLC, Greenfield
* Nonprofit: Wisconsin Foundation for Independent Colleges, Milwaukee
* Software: Webcom Inc., Milwaukee
* Technology/Internet: ARI Network Services Inc., Milwaukee
* Telecommunications: The Frantz Group, Grafton

The award winners were selected from dozens of nominations submitted to SBT. An independent panel of businesspeople judged the nominations. The judges included: Michael John, vice president of corporate communications, Menasha Corp.; John Emory Jr., managing director of Emory business Advisors LLC; Jo Hawkins Donovan, founder of Hawkins Donovan & Associates Ltd. and an SBT columnist on executive coaching; and John Beckwith, senior vice president of State Financial Bank.

Additional information about the Wisconsin Business & Technology Expo is available at www.biztimes.com/expo.

If you're a "South Park" fan, you'll remember in the film version, the character Eric Cartman has a "V-chip" implanted in his brain in an attempt to clean up his language. Every time he utters a naughty word, he gets zapped, resulting in a (luckily, brief) period during which he can't utter his charming and rather anatomically impossible colloquialisms.

While South Park fans everywhere were glad the ploy was a very temporary plot device, computer users will take heart that IBM is about to begin offering a service which will essentially return spam to spammers. Not to the fake e-mail addresses they use, but to their computers. The more spam they send, the more overwhelming the deluge they receive; in effect, a blast from the spam v-chip.

If you find spam as blood-pressure-elevating as I do, take heart that soon, for every penis enlargement e-mail you receive, the perpertrator might be flapping his arms in distress as they all come tumbling back. Now, if we could only arrange the electric shock part, we'd be all set.

TES

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - IBM is set to unveil a service Tuesday that will send unwanted e-mail back to the spammers who send them, according to a published report Tuesday.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the new IBM service, to be known as FairUCE, uses a giant database to identify computers that are sending spam.

The paper reports that, using that database, e-mails coming from a computer on the spam list are sent directly back to the computer, not just the e-mail account, that sent them.

"We're doing it to shut this guy down," Stuart McIrvine, IBM's director of corporate security strategy, told the paper. "Every time he tries to send, he gets slammed again."

While this approach of a spam counter-attack has been available for some time, corporate technology departments have been reluctant to use it, partly because of fears of exposing companies to liabilities if a target is actually innocent of spamming.

This anti-spam offering is IBM's first major foray into the anti-spam market. Its executives argue that trying to capture spam with filters or discard it as quickly as possible isn't enough.

IBM says in a new report that, in February, 76 percent of all e-mails were spam. While its report says that is down from a summer 2004 peak of nearly 95 percent, it is well above levels in February 2004.

IBM will have to be careful not to violate anti-hacking laws, which prohibit gaining unauthorized entry to a remote computer system, even in order to stop it from harming yours, according to the paper. But IBM executives said their service will not violate that law, nor other prohibitions on increasing network traffic under "denial of service" rules.

"Yes, we are adding more traffic to the network, but it is in an effort to cut down the longer-term traffic," said McIrvine.

What do they have to hide? Are they afraid their customers might make comments they'll have to take seriously? Are they afraid they'll have to answer legitimate questions? Are they happy to take your money, but unhappy to hear your opinion?

Try finding an e-mail address for Burger King (www.burgerking.com). I'm not a fast food person in the first place, but I'm boycotting Burger King since I first laid eyes on their current television commercial campaign, "Fantasy Ranch."

I'm not an agitator. I've never been to a protest. Sure, I have defined opinions, but I'm far from radical. This commercial, however, made me queasy...perhaps you've seen it. Darius Rucker (a/k/a "Hootie" from "Hootie & The Blowfish"... looks like someone's career has reached a dead end) strums his guitar, and sings modified lyrics to the tune "Big Rock Candy Mountain," while trashily dressed women cavort cheesily in the background.

Lacking an outlet to fire off an e-mail, I sent the letter below to Burger King's corporate headquarters. I'm about 100 percent confident I will receive no reply. The same people who hyperventilated over a nano-second view of Janet Jackson's breast have no problems with the messages this ad is communicating? I don't get it.

TES

 Marketing/Public Relations, Burger King Corporation

5505 Blue Lagoon Drive

Miami FL 33126

To whom it may concern:

I usually think of myself as an even-tempered, non-extreme, balanced, and difficult-to-offend personality (I’m a Monty Python fan and love Mel Brooks films, both of which know how to offend with love), but I’d like to register with you the fact that I’m more than a bit appalled by your television ad campaign which an Internet search tells me is titled “Fantasy Ranch.” Interestingly, a blog search tells me I’m far from the only woman discussing this in the blogosphere.

Why don’t we go back to the days when women only served as T&A displays, there to delight a fantasizing male populace? “A nice caboose?” Why not just put the girls in a thong or include a couple of prime crotch shots? I bet that would stretch your “marketing opportunities” even further.

And U.S. viewers were outraged by a lightning-fast shot of Janet Jackson’s bare breast, but this is just dandy? “Hey, Americans, make sure your little girls are all stacked, dress skimpily and parade themselves for men’s enjoyment, all in the name of marketing! It’s the only value they have!”

I don’t object to nudity whatsoever. I do object to demeaning sexism (against women or men, for that matter: I can’t stand medication or cleaning supply commercials whose schtick is to make men look like total idiots) all in the name of the almighty dollar. Every time I see your commercial, I cringe in embarrassment for the model or aspiring actress who had to put on short-shorts and “bend over” for the camera so she could pay the bills, because it was the best gig she could get.

I have no problem in the future skipping Burger King for other, worthier restaurants. Besides…if I don’t dress in a cheerleader outfit and ladle on the lipgloss, you might not serve me, right?

Every time I'm lost in an unfamiliar city (or a familiar one, for that matter...I have a terrible sense of direction), trying to confirm a movie time, pondering a restaurant, or reaching for a factoid that's come up in a trivia conversation, I'll always ask my friends, "Doesn't anyone have a Web browser on their phone?" It's become a bit of a joke.

The truth is, all our phones allow us the service if we choose it. My friends are a high-tech bunch, yet none have chosen Internet access from their mobile devices. It seems that Web-browing on a screen roughly the size of a postage stamp appeals to no one, and for good reason. Web sites that have supposedly been customized for mobile devices are questionable at best, and relatively speaking, there are not that many of them available.

It seems Tim Berners-Lee, inventer of the World Wide Web, agrees. The market exists, he said, but is not being serviced (see below). If it were, perhaps I wouldn't get lost so often.

TES

TAMPERE, Finland (Reuters) -- A mass market exists for the mobile Internet, but it will remain untapped until designers make simpler Web pages that can be viewed properly on handsets, the inventor of the World Wide Web said.

"(The mobile Internet) will be a huge enabler for the industry... and for big profits," Tim Berners-Lee told a seminar on Thursday on the future of the Web.

"Web designers have learned to design for the visually impaired and for other people. They will learn in a few years how to make Web sites available for people with mobile devices too," he said.

Berners-Lee invented the Web in 1989 while working at European particle-physics lab CERN in Geneva, trying to make it easier for fellow scientists to share information and collaborate over the Internet.

While his invention has revolutionized the way people across the globe work and communicate, repeated attempts by mobile device makers and operators to lure users with mobile Internet access have failed.

"Everyone was supposed to be browsing the Web with their mobile phone, but the problem is that it has not happened," Berners-Lee said, adding later this was not a question of weak demand.

"It is a chicken or egg thing, just like originally when the Web became the Web. Nobody asked for Web clients or Web servers ... you have to get enough people to understand the potential returns," he told Reuters on the sidelines of the seminar.

Berners-Lee's original vision of the Web was as a resource for collaboration. He said that so far it had been "a big disappointment" in this respect, although exceptions such as "wikis" -- essentially interactive online note pads -- showed its potential.

"Wikis in general are great examples of how people want to be creative and not just suck in information," he told the seminar, pointing to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia as the most advanced development in this area.

Information on the Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page) can be edited by the site's users. The Web page currently shows around 500,000 items.

Denver-based teleservices provider StarTek abruptly announced late last month that it had parted ways with its most recent CEO, Bill Meade, who had headed up the company since June 2001. Meade's departure was the latest in a string of CEO turnovers.

StarTek, which provides 100 percent inbound services, has been in business since 1989, and in recent years, had posted good news in the form of new call ceners opened and positive growth numbers, has admitted to "disappointing performance" in this most recent quarter due to a drop in earnings.

Acting CEO Steve Butler hosted a conference call for members of the press recently during which he stated that for the quarter ending December 31, 2004, revenues were essentially flat, and fully diluted earnings per share from continuing operations decreased 46 percent to $0.30 compared to $0.56 for the fourth quarter of 2003. Fully diluted earnings per share including discontinued operations decreased by 44 percent to $0.30, compared to $0.54 for the same period in 2003.

StarTek Abruptly Ousts CEO

Drop in stock price, poor financial results preceded resignation

By Roger Fillion, Rocky Mountain News

William Meade has been unexpectedly ousted as chief executive of StarTek Inc.

Its stock is down 29 percent over the past year, and it reported its first quarterly earnings drop since 2001.

In a statement, StarTek said Meade and the board "mutually agreed that a change in leadership is in the best interests of StarTek's stockholders."

The company, which made the announcement late Friday, didn't provide further explanation, saying only that Meade had "tendered his resignation to the board to pursue other interests."

StarTek - which has experienced some high-profile executive turnovers in recent years - named Chief Financial Officer Steven Butler as interim CEO. A permanent chief executive is being sought.

Meade joined StarTek as CEO in June 2001. StarTek provides outsourced services to Fortune 1000 companies. Those services include customer support as well as packaging and marketing support and logistics.

StarTek's last reported global employee count was nearly 6,000. About 1,200 work in Greeley.

Troy Mastin, an analyst for William Blair & Co., called StarTek's recent financial performance "disappointing."

In the third quarter of 2004, -StarTek reported its first drop in quarterly earnings on an annual basis since the fourth quarter of 2001.

The Greeley Tribune reported last week that StarTek has decided to close its supply-chain division in Greeley and move the operations to Clarksville, Tenn. The paper said the closure could affect up to 40 employees.

A StarTek spokesman declined to comment, citing a mandated "quiet period" ahead of the company's release of its fourth-quarter earnings.

Asked about Meade's sudden ouster, Mastin said, "It's difficult to say why (he left) now."

Former Colorado State University President Albert Yates, who is a StarTek board member, is heading a panel to find a new CEO.

Reached by telephone, Yates declined to comment about Meade and referred questions to StarTek's co-founder and chairman, Emmet Stephenson. Stephenson did not return a phone call.

Looking ahead, Cingular Wireless' recent purchase of AT&T Wireless Services has presented a question mark for StarTek. The carrier has been a major customer.

StarTek has been among the providers of customer-support services for AT&T, and Mastin of William Blair noted that Cingular has indicated it may make changes in that area.

"They identified AT&T's customer service as an area where there was opportunity for improvement," said Mastin.

Mastin said that Cingular's announcement did not necessarily mean StarTek was in danger of getting dropped.

In the nine months ended September 2004, AT&T Wireless accounted for 42 percent of StarTek's revenue.

The resignation comes as the Denver-based computer-services company is experiencing a financial rough spot.