Filed under: World wide web, Security, Utilities, Web services

If you’ve spent more than a few minutes on the internet, you probably know that it’s not usually a good idea to click on a link if you don’t know where it takes you. The last thing you need is to visit a site that wants to install malware on your PC. Or nearly as bad, a link that takes you to a site with explicit contact while you’re at work, or perhaps using your mother’s personal.

But popular URL-shortening services like TinyURL ask you to do exactly that: click on a link without really knowing where it will take you. Fortunately, TinyURL also offers a way to preview links before visiting them. All you’ve to do is visit TinyURL’s preview page and click “enable previews.” The service will add a cookie to your browser so that each time you click on a TinyURL link you’ll first be taken to a page showing the complete URL. You can click “disable previews” to remove the cookie if you don’t feel like going through a two step process each time you click on an abbreviated link in the future.

If you want to share a shortened link with others but make sure they always see the preview page, just add preview to the URL. For example, http://tinyurl.com/by8fm will take you to the Download Squad home page, while http://preview.tinyurl.com/by8fm will take you to a page letting you know that you’re about to visit the Download Squad home page.

[via the How-To Geek]

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Businessfinancemag.com: Best Practices for the Finance Executive
BusinessFinanceMag.com provides its community of CFOs and senior finance executives with ideal practices and how-to content to help their organization succeed in today’s highly

Finance: Williams College of Business - Xavier University
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Google Finance offers a broad range of information about stocks, mutual funds, public and private companies. In addition, Google Finance offers interactive charts, news and

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Filed under: Industry, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, Microsoft (MSFT), Sony Corp ADR (SNE)

Nintendo has done extraordinarily well with its Wii game console. The Wii regularly outsells Sony (NYSE: SNE)’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT)’s Xbox 360. But, the most successful Nintendo product is the older DS which, according to The New York Times, outsold the Wii, 1.53 million units to 981,000, in November, based on sales figures compiled by NPD Group.

What makes the figure more interesting is that the Nintendo DS is three years old. The DS is compatible with older Nintendo games, but does not have the “hot” new features of current devices like HD TV playback.

The success of the DS may point to a “rotation” in the video game sector, and that is a movement away from pricey and complex machines that have multiple functions, high prices, and harder to understand features. Keep it easy, stupid.

It would make some sense that the market for big, complicated machines would be limited. Playing video games appears to be of interest to a broad section of the population, but reading 300-page instruction manuals probably isn’t.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Banking.com - Banking Terminology
Primary regulator for state-licensed and state-chartered financial entities and other financial institutions operating in New York.

Banking & Finance
RBI releases Banking Statistics - Quarterly Handout

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Filed under: Web services, web 2.0

WooMe
It was only a matter of time before speed dating entered the Web2 on the internet space. This service backed by the founder of Skype takes the crazy world of speed dating and wraps it up on the web in a way to meet new users, live. Hook up a mic and web cam and join “sessions” that are based on topics that you enjoy.

Continue reading Weekend Web 2.0 roundup for December 30th

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Filed under: Products and services, Television, Competitive strategy, Sony Corp ADR (SNE)

Indicating reduced profitability in the video display market, Fujitsu (OTC: FJTSY) has announced its departure from the production of high end plasma televisions. This news comes via ars technica and is indicative of a major trending pattern. Much is astir among Japanese electronics manufacturers as companies there take a turn for the lean and are engaged in forming manufacturing power alliances.

Much is being affected by the near total domination of liquid crystal display technology within a tightening, yet deepening image display sector. Take further evidence of change by considering Brian White’s post about the exit from rear projection TV by Sony Corp. (NYSE: SNE). The LCD field is currently saturated and for it’s improvement it needs to thin out.

Strides are still being made in regard to making LCD displays thinner and engineers are working on reducing power consumption. Little can be done however, to improve LCD profitability with so many companies cranking out cheap displays. What’s needed now is for some of the remaining display manufacturers to aggressively address some considerable quality issues.

Gary Sattler does not knowingly hold financial interest in the companies he blogs about.

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Filed under: Earnings reports, Deals, Competitive strategy, Intel (INTC), Advanced Micro Dev (AMD)

Advanced Micro Devices (NYSE: AMD) comes to the end of year at a 52-week low of $7.62. Very few stocks have done as badly over the last couple of years. In February 2006, the shares traded above $42.

When the company was doing well, it was taking market share in the server and Personal computer industries by producing superior chips than more massive rival Intel (NASDAQ: INTC). In some of these segments, the company had about 25% of the market and said it could get to 40%. Intel fought back. It pushed its R&D to produce superior products and cut what it charged for chips, which injured AMD’s gross margins and drove the company to a loss.

AMD made matters worse by purchasing graphics chip company ATI. That loaded AMD’s balance sheet with debt, just as its operating income fell apart.

AMD could do a few things to improve its position.

The chip company says it will have an operating profit by the end of next year. But, it keeps releasing its products late, and they’re often underpowered. The firm’s new Barcelona chip has been a disappointment. AMD might be superior off giving conservative release dates and product information and then doing better than forecasts.

Another part of AMD that troubles Wall Street is its debt, which is over $5 billion. As painful as it might be, AMD should sell ATI. The company’s operations brought in $252 million of AMD’s $1.62 billion in revenue last quarter. And, the unit had negative operating income.

The last thing AMD needs to do it let CEO Hector Ruiz go. He has been the architect of the current disaster and investors are unlikely to think he has the ability to have a hand in fixing it. After all, the company has lost well over three-quarters of its market value.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Filed under: Earnings reports, Competitive strategy, Apple Inc (AAPL), Starbucks (SBUX), McDonald’s (MCD)

Shares in Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) are as hard to comprehend as those of almost any other massive public company in the U.S.

In the fiscal year ending September 30, revenue for the company was up over 20% to just shy of $9.4 billion. Operating income rose 18% to $1.054 billion, according to the Starbucks 10-K. But, the price of the company’ stock dropped from just over $40 in November 2006 to the current price of $20.13.

Starbucks can’t fix its Wall Street problems all at once, but it could look at the things investors don’t like about the company and begin to address them.

First, investors believe that McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD) will take a great deal of the Starbucks premium coffee business. The fast-food chain states its earnings are being helped by its push into high-end coffee. Starbucks already knows whether it is being hurt by McDonald’s. It certainly keeps enough detail on each of its local outlets. Perhaps it could share that data with investors.

The other huge knock on the coffee company is that it is opening stores too fast in the U.S. It ends up competing against itself in some markets. The facts about this should not be hard to come by. Starbucks certainly selects locations based on not taking business from its other outlets. If those decisions are working, perhaps the company could pass that along.

The last significant question about the firm is whether its move into breakfast foods, music, and a partnership with Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) are doing anything for the bottom line.

Starbucks might do better with Wall Street if it would just give out a tiny information.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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Filed under: Products and services, Consumer experience, Competitive strategy, Marketing and advertising, CBS Corp ‘B’ (CBS)

With the writers still on strike, late night hosts are gearing up to putting on shows without help from any writers [subscription required]. For the past two months, while Hollywood writers have been on strike, late night TV viewers have been served up re-runs of their favorite speak shows, but that is about to change.

It has definitely been a strange time for our late night shows to be on hiatus. With the now heating up presidential race offering up loads of good material, you know that the late night hosts have just been dying to get back into the action. But, don’t anticipate to be seeing the same sort of shows you are used to seeing when they return to the air next week. The shows should prove to be very different than business as usual.

The exception to this rule might be the two late night shows on CBS (NYSE: CBS). David Letterman’s production company, Worldwide Pants Inc., is currently in talks with the Writers Guild of America and hopes that its “Late Show with David Letterman” and “Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson” will be able to reach a deal to grant its writers to be able to contribute to its shows.

One of the aspects of late night that we have come to love and anticipate is the interviews with major movie actors regarding their new releases. While this typically represents at least one guest each night, it could be lacking from the shows when they return in the next few weeks. Most major actors have vowed that they will support the writers and avoid the speak shows. The negotiations between Worldwide Pants Inc. and the guild could be the only thing that leads to actors being able to come out and promote their upcoming releases.

One thing is for sure, as the shows begin to slowly come back on, we’ll all be getting our fill of commentary on the current presidential candidates, and who can complain about that?

Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last four years working as an analyst for the on the internet investment advisory service Investor’s Observer.

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Filed under: Consumer experience, Internet, Competitive strategy, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), Wal-Mart (WMT), Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), Apollo Investment (AINV), Videos, Technology

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) was early to the video download service, beginning to offer movies over a year ago. Now that service has been shut down, according to Reuters. The company says that Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) is no longer offering the technology needed to run the operation, but that seems pretty thin.

Wal-Mart probably figured out that having a lot of customers online does not translate into successfully offering them new services. Most on the internet research numbers show walmart.com as one of the top two or three e-commerce sites. But Wal-Mart customers are often not affluent and might not be best targets for a video download operation.

There’s also the question of competition. Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) has its iTunes service, which is growing. Netflix (NASDAQ: NFLX) has another, similar operation, and there are a dozen others.

People may buy clothes and household goods from a retail website, but that does not mean that the customers can be moved to digital downloads. “Would you like a movie with that shirt?” does not necessarily work.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

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