Another Airline bites the dust...

Aloha Airlines announced today that they are closing their flight operations. Everything shuts down on April 1st (tomorrow).

You WILL Save Money with Redfin

It perplexes me why anybody would consciously choose not to use Redfin when buying or selling residential real estate. (For those of you who don't know Redfin is, it is a real estate broker that refunds you 2/3 of the commission price back to you)

This last week they announced statistics that they had collected in the Seattle and San Francisco markets in 2007. These stats showed that their business model allows for a $5,000 negotiating advantage over buyers using other brokers. So, not only will you get 2/3 of the commission price returned, Redfin's services also has the added advantage to get a $5,000 deeper discount than others.

What is your excuse not to use them now?

Lights Out

Introducing Adobe Photoshop Express (Free)

Nobody wants to pay for the full blown version of Photoshop, nor do most need it. Their is a large market of people that want to fiddle around and alter their pictures a bit. First thing to roll of their tounge is that they want to, "Photoshop" the photo. Well now they can...for free and online!

Photoshop has come out with a free online version, which they call Adobe Photoshop Express. It gives you the most basic tools that Photoshop has to offer along with 2GB of storage space!

Why wouldn't you sign up...It's free!

New Search Market Share Numbers Released: Google Dominates

February's US Internet Search Share Rankings were announced yesterday by Neielsen. The results were not surprising. Google has a significant share of the market at 58.7% of the market. This is an increase from 56.9% only a month previous in January.

Yahoo, and Microsoft saw significant decreases in their market share during the month of February. Yahoo went from 19% to 17.6%, and Microsoft went from 12.1% to 11.2%. When you only have such a small market share, losing 1% can be about 10% of their business in this case.

If Microsoft drops any lower, they will become completely meaningless in this game against Google. Maybe instead of just buying out Yahoo, they should buy up, AOL, Ask.com and the others in addition. Then at least then they would become competitive!

Starbucks + iPhone Application

Okay, this may be just a demo created by somebody, but this is exactly what Starbucks needs to implement as regards to an iPhone application:




View the demo video

Howard, if your listening...Believe me, you build this...and it'll be a home run!

BMW on my Radar

I'm a long time Lexus fan, but as their product line has stayed stagnant in the past couple of years, I've began to look over the fence at some new innovative products BMW has just recently introduced.

BMW 1 Series
This new coupe, which also comes in a convertible, starts at $28,600. As the 3 Series starts to creep up in price, it's nice to see that there is still an introductory priced BMW for those not able to afford a $40,000 car right out of the gates.


BMW X6
This new SUV will add to the already 2 SUV's (X3 & X5) BMW currently upholds within their lineup. The car has yet to hit stores, but is set to go on sale in '08. Prices have not been announced, but expect it to be priced above the X3 and X5. They have hit this car DEAD on with the design. Take a look at the photo gallery.

Watch March Madness on Your Computer!

It's time for March Madness! But if your like me, stuck at work, and live and die for this stuff, you want to be watching the games! Luckily CBS Sportsline, has March Madness on Demand, enabling you to watch live on your computer! And unlike the last two years, the quality this year (tested by me) is actually damn good!

Check it out for yourself, and watch now.

Starbucks Impliments some new pratices

Starbucks today during their annual shareholders meeting announced new things hoping to make an improvement in their customers experience.

1. Better coffee making machines - Better quality, fresher coffee...but also shorter (in height) to allow better interaction between barista and customer.

2. Loyalty program - This program (which wasn't given too much detail) will begin in April, and will award Starbucks customers. Some details announced, were that it would allow drink "extras" to be added for free when a part of the program. This will begin in starting in April.

3. Mystarbucksidea.com - Starbucks will host a dedicated website to customer feedback, eventually implementing the best ideas which can be voted upon. I've already suggested three ideas. Go on and log your idea (my suggestions were an iPhone app to order drinks, more live music at local stores, and staying open later at more urban areas.)

I would say none of this is ground breaking. I won't run out and buy myself a latte today, but definitely steps in the right direction to bring Starbucks brand back to the status it belongs!

I'm still waiting to be able to order my drink via my iPhone instead of standing in line. I feel like a herded cow when in line anywhere...anything to not stand in one!

There were other things talked about, and announced, for the information visit Starbucks press release.

Virgin America Takes off out of Seattle

Live in Seattle? Looking for flights? You have a new choice in town. Virgin America, is a brand new airline that has many advantages over it's competitors.

For starters every seat has an entertainment screen in front of them. You can enjoy movies, music, and other entertainment on screen. The display in front the seat also allows customers to order and pay for meals throughout the flight. Running out of power for your iPod or laptop? Every seat has a plug in. And coming soon you'll be able to use the internet on board! These are just a handful of the features available on board Virgin America Planes.

Something not as easy to communicate is the mood lighting that Virgin America offers. Purplish blue mood lighting, which change during the time of the day, really adding a much different feeling to the interior of the plane. I think the mood lighting alone differentiates them from their competitors. No other airline feels like a luxury airline inside. Also, it might feel like a luxury airline, but it's price is positioned as competitively as anybody.

There is something really different about Virgin America Airlines, and I can't wait to get an opportunity to fly them to experience what they are all about! They are currently flying from direct from Seattle to LA, and San Francisco, along with other multiple stop destinations as well.

Diamond Studded Master Card

Okay, you might've heard of the American Express Black Card, but this card might have it beat.

It is a diamond studded Master Card.

Only one catch...the card is only distributed in Dubai, and by invitation only, so good luck getting one. There aren't that many details about it because it is such a limited distribution, but there is absolutely no spending limit on this card.

I wonder what happens if you lose the card...

Innovation: iHome Lamp

It's a pretty simple, yet innovative idea: A lamp, and an iPod speaker.

I like it! (wonder if it sounds any good)

It's $99 if your interested.

New $5 Bill!

No, it's not fake, it's just the new $5 Bill. The new bill, begins shipping today.

What's new about it you ask? Not a ton visually...You'll notice a bit of light purple, and gray towards the edges. most of the changes are made to eliminate the fruadulant money makers.

Read more about the bill here.

Facebook enters self serve CPC advertising market

Facebook enters the game for users to set up cost per click (or CPC) advertising. What does this mean? Basically, a marketer can easily target a set of specific customers very easily...and now anybody can do it within minutes.

Facebook does this with ease because it has information on all it's users, making the ad's from advertisers highly targeted. For example...I am currently running an add for my other Downtown Bellevue website with the following requirements: Bellevue Residents, 22 years old and older, males & females, all relationship status', particular keywords, & no specific education required. (there are more fields...these are the only ones I filled out)

While they don't compete head to head with Google, Yahoo, or Microsoft, it allows marketers to have MUCH more control over who their add is getting viewed by. I'm excited to see this service evolve!

AOL sucks, and is now up for sale.

Hopefully all AOL users by now have figured out...you don't actually have to pay twice for the internet. AOL is not an ISP, (unless you have dial up) and there is really no good reason to pay for their services. Most customers finally realized this about five years ago, and following this AOL was then forced to give away their email services away for free.

An article in TechCruch, goes into detail about Time Warner finally putting AOL up for sale...and maybe if we are lucky to bed for good.

AOL practically ignited the internet revolution, but never innovated and became stale over time.

Old Arrogant Microsoft vs The New Microsoft, who will win?

I found this great article at Techcrunch that articulates exactly how I feel about Microsoft. (It's a big company that is in disagreement with itself) There is the "New Microsoft" and the "Old Microsoft".

The two personalities sometimes contradict each other, and surely do not consult one another.

The new Microsoft innovates, has open standards, and attempts at good customer usability.

The Old Microsoft is arrogant. They feel that because they have such a large market share they have no need to improve the end user experience.

Anyways, read it already!

Apple Allows Developers to Create iPhone Applications

In addition to an already superb platform, Apple announced today that they will allow third party developers to create applications to run on the iPhone.

Some applications will be available for a small fee, but many will be free. Applications will be available in June, and will be available via iTunes, or even better though the "iTunes App Store" on your phone.

The sky is the limit for the type of applications in June.

Apple & Nike Partner With Fitness Equipment

After the very successful launch of Nike + almost two years ago, Nike and Apple have now partnered up with major gym equipment manufactures such as Life Fitness, Precor, Star Trac and Technologym to make their cardio equipment Nike+ & iPod compatible.

Look for these fitness equipment machines to be able to track your workouts to your iPod and Nike's website.

Okay, I've gotta toot my own horn here for a second...A year ago when working for a local Seattle consulting company, I helped our sales team pitch a job to Precor, the equipment manufacture. I was in charge of market research and the direction we would take in with how we would help them. My conclusion was that iPod integration was essential. I saw the grand success Nike+ was having at the time, and knew they needed to partner in some sort of way to integrate the iPod. Regardless of how they got to their decesion to do this...they did!

Can't wait to see the products in action.

Advice to gym's nationwide...start purchasing these cardio machines...it will pay off in major dividends.

Google Does Healthcare (coming soon)!

Have you ever wanted your medical records more accessible? If you're like me, you're just hoping that your many different doctor's are doing a good job of keeping all your records.

How great would it be if all your records were safely organized online so that they could be assessable for yourself?

Google has announced it will provide a service, Google Health, in the future that will help with building a medical profile, download medical records, find helpful resources, search for doctors and hospitals, and connect to online tools and services in the health field.