The Laszlo Letter

Forget the prints. Publish a book instead!

Once in a while I like to tell you about something that I find fun, refreshing and useful in my personal life. My Canon XTi digital camera is one of those and you have heard my views on that in the past. Now comes something with a huge WOW factor, the BLURB web site.

Imagine a piece of software that is fun to use and allows you to create a professional (really!) published book that can rival something you would normally buy at Barnes & Noble. I set out to find something like this and actually found it!

Read on...

The case for cocaine reimportation

One of the great benefits of blogging is the freedom to say anything you want. This also means that when you are not censored (i.e. edited) you can end up publishing something really dumb. I'm hoping that this post is not one of those. If it is, I'm sure you'll let me know.

The September 22, 2007 issue of The Economist showed a nice graph of retail cocaine prices (per gram) around the world. So you don't have to go there, here is the list as extracted by me:

• Australia - $250
• Japan - $240
• Norway - $155
• United States - $110
• Britain - $95
• France - $85
• Germany - $80
• Israel - $70
• Canada - $65
• Colombia - $3

These numbers gave me a few business ideas. Read on...

ATM and Credit Card fees during foreign travel

  I took a nice long vacation to Italy last year and learned the hard way that banks can charge you excessive fees on ATM withdrawals and credit card purchases. This is in contrast to what I would normally be charged when using the same services in my native country, the United States.

Here is an example. I used an ATM machine in Genoa, Italy to withdraw €300. The local bank charged me about €2 for this privilege. No problem with that! They are providing me with a useful service and I'm not a regular customer.

When I got home and received my Chase bank statement, I found a separate fee of $12.38. BIG problem with the additional fee!

So, here is the bottom line. If you stay home and withdraw about $400 from an ATM you will be hit with a small ATM fee from the local bank. If you go to another country and do the same, you will still pay the ATM fee and also get hit with a fee of 3% on the total amount you withdrew! The same can happen with any credit card purchases.

Where I come from we would call this a "rip off." In other words, my bank thinks that it's OK to extract whatever they can from my wallet without giving me any commensurate services in return. Consider that the entire transaction is done electronically and the most the bank's computers need to do is look up the exchange rate, calculate the US dollar equivalent from the original Euro amount and make the deduction in my account.

So, I'm outraged. But what can any of us do about this situation? Well, read on...

My Lost Month

By looking at the publication dates of my posts, it became painfully clear that I did not write a single piece in July. So, I think I owe you an explanation.

Writing The Laszlo Letter is a hobby. Something that I love doing but recognize that it does not put food on the table. With the latter in mind, my simple excuse is that I was completely immersed doing work for three different clients, each of which decided that things had to be finished by the end of July. Thankfully, all of these are now out of the way and I again have some leisure time on my hands.

And yes, I was concerned that readership would drop if no new articles appeared. Thankfully, this has not happened. I thank you for that.

So, check back often since I will be posting new items starting yesterday!

Video: Web 2.0 Explained

In case you were wondering about Web 2.0, here is a refreshing and fun video courtesy of Michael Wesch at Kansas State University.

It's a fun way to get you going but remember that there is a lot more to it than what you'll see here.

Enjoy...

Fascinating! Video about scientific photography

The photo to the left is of a yeast colony growing on a petri dish. It's just one of many illustrations of scientific photography by Felice Frankel brought to you by the NY Times.

Click here to see the rest.

2007 New York Auto Show

Since it's Easter Sunday today, I decided to take the day off from blog writing. It was much more fun to go to the auto show!

So, if you are interested, you can see my photos HERE.

Just click on any of the images to go into slideshow mode. Then use the VCR type controls on the top right to go forward or backward.

For those of you who are interested in digital photography, all of the photos were taken with a Canon XTi camera set at ASA 1600. The zoom lens is a Canon EF 20-35 mm. All photos were taken using natural light (i.e. no flash). The secret to getting close-up shots of entire vehicles is to use a wide angle lens. You also need patience since lots of people will tend to walk right in front of you just as you're ready to take the shot. And I'm one of those people.

About the Cigar - AGAIN

Those of you who have been reading my articles for a while will know that I have encouraged responses to them. So, here is one I just got today:

"I am so completely turned off by the sight of someone smoking a cigar - someone who is evidently in the business of making information available to others in the life sciences industry - that I will definitely not be attending the information session about your product."

Wow!

I must admit that this is not the first time the notorious cigar has been mentioned to me. Some people like the photo while others (see above) think that smoking a cigar somehow undermines my dedication to improved health care.

So, let me clarify my position on THE CIGAR!

First, you may want to look at my previous entry on this topic from April 2006. You will note there that I don't really smoke cigars. In fact, I think they are GROSS.

Second, once in a while it is good to do something out of character. It shows that you are unpredictable. And, it's fun too.

Third, comments like this one remind me that sometimes people in this industry take things a bit too seriously. Lighten up!

Fourth, I'm actually upset that someone would think less of my opinions and recommendations simply because there is a cigar in my hand.

Fifth, I'm not sure I understand the reference to my "product." My blog is devoted to giving equal time to the key vendors in any software or hardware category and I don't have any products of my own. Perhaps the reader was confused since the entry to which her comment was attached was about Search software.

Last but not least, I applaud the writer for not withholding her identify. It shows that she is willing to stand behind her principles. Had the comment been made anonymously, I would not have bothered to respond.

P.S. - All those who think I should use a different photo, please let me know.

Technology and The World Economic Forum

Once in a while it's good to toot the horn for somebody else. So, I'd like to take this opportunity to point you to the blog of John Newton.

As some of you may remember, John was one of the founders of Documentum. He is also the founder of Alfresco, a company developing and marketing an open-source enterprise document management system. That is a mouthful but something that you definitely should check out (no pun intended.)

If seems that John was invited to the World Economic Forum (WEF) where he was both a speaker and an awed participant. Him musings about WEF are both amusing and enlightening. It's worth visiting his blog just for that.

So, click that link above and enjoy the read.

P.S. - On a related note, I am happy to report that Howard Shao, the other founder of Documentum and its Chief Technology Officer, has finally retired from EMC Documentum. You may bump into him on some steep and challenging ski slope as he is in search of the perfect run.

Laszlo Letter Blog Stats for 2006

Well, I guess I must be doing something right.

As you will be able to tell form this graph, monthly visits to The Laszlo Letter have been going up steadily.

Click on the image to see a larger view of the graph.

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Although I was away from mid-October to early December, there was only a slight dip in readership.

There are two things that would make me really happy if achieved by the end of 2007:

1. Readership going up 10 fold;
2. Reader feedback going up significantly

So, we shall see what unfolds. In the meantime, many thanks for reading my opinions about this great but controversial industry.