Archive for Writing & Blogging
Mon 12 May 08 · Filed under Writing & Blogging
Welcome to the May 12, 2008 edition of carnival of fraud.
Tracy Coenen presents Mary Kay Cosmetics suing little company for daring to make money off Pink posted at The Fraud Files Blog, saying “Mary Kay Inc. is trying to shut down a small company that helps consultants get rid of excess inventory. Nice.”
Wenchypoo presents Three Little Words Limit Severe Consequences posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket.
Leon Gettler presents PCAOB targets mortgage securities posted at Sox First, saying, “Here’s a warning to all audit firms and subprime fraudsters: the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has signalled that it will target securitized mortgage loans and collateralized debt offerings when it inspects 2007 annual reports.” Read the rest of this entry »
Tue 6 May 08 · Filed under Fraud News Stories, Writing & Blogging
The Huffington Post ran a really nice story about the one and only Timothy Sykes today. Tim just rolled out a new website, which is kind of a portal for everything related to stock trading. Of course he peddles his book and DVD set there, but he also details his stock trades and teaches others his methods.
Tim is notorious for being arrogant and flamboyant. I see it mostly differently: He has a total passion for what he does and stands up for what he believes in. He is trying to teach others about his craft (shorting penny stocks) and although some may disagree with that as a trading strategy that can work for the common person… I give him kudos for believing in the strategy and teaching others about it accordingly. Read the rest of this entry »
Sat 3 May 08 · Filed under Writing & Blogging
A few of my masterpieces from this past week included…
Are you lying to yourself about money? - Quit making excuses to spend money. You don’t have to lie about needing it. You don’t have to make up a reason to “treat” yourself.
Traditional real estate agent services going out of style? - You can save a ton of money with an a-la-carte brokerage. And still get the same level of service!
Jails are on budgets too! - No dessert or extra toilet paper for the inmates. As it should be. Read the rest of this entry »
Mon 28 April 08 · Filed under Writing & Blogging
I’ve been writing quite a bit for WalletPop these days. I love that gig!
One bright spot on the horizon for air travelers? - A new configuration for seats in coach that gives the illusion of much more room, and more actual comfort for passengers.
Travel insurance would have paid off: A cautionary tale - Don’t blame the cruise ship for exercising caution with regard to your child’s health!
Planning for $7 a gallon gas - It may or may not come to pass, but you can start planning your life now with that possibility in mind.
Consumers defrauded by telemarketers can file claims - Wachovia Bank has agreed to a settlement in the case in which it allowed fraudulent telemarketers to use their banking system to steal money from consumers’ bank accounts.
Will your tax rebate check be ‘found money’ to you? - What will you do with your check? Be responsible and save it or strategically pay down some debt? Or will you run out and spend it just because you can?
One more responsibility for schools- Schools are doing more parenting than lots of parents these days. New thing to add to the list: Teach kids about money.
Smoking (and lying about it) could cost you your job - If you lie about smoking on your health insurance forms at work, you should pay the price.
Fri 25 April 08 · Filed under Writing & Blogging
This afternoon I was cruising Amazon.com, and found my name in the acknowledgments of a book. I HAD NO IDEA! It is so touching to be thanked in this way, by someone who is both a business associate and a friend.
Rebecca Ryan, the head of Next Generation Consulting, helps companies attract and retain young talent. Specifically, she’s an expert on Generation X (GenX) and Generation Y (Millenials) and helps management come to terms with the fact that it’s not the same business world as it used to be. Employees value many different things than they did 30 years ago, and the old ways of managing people won’t work anymore. Read the rest of this entry »
Tue 22 April 08 · Filed under Writing & Blogging
A few weeks ago, I wrote about my experience with Google’s new Ad Review Center. This tool enables you to block advertisements from certain advertisers. When you use this feature, advertisers who want to bid on your ad space must be approved first.
But it’s not quite that easy. There are a lot of advertisers who aren’t going through the bidding process, so they can still end up on your site without your approval. To block them, you need to use the competitive ad filter.
Initially, this whole process was appealing to me, because I had advertisements for a lot of scam “business opportunities” showing up on my sites. This process helped me eliminate many of them. It’s not a foolproof process, and there are still plenty of scams that can easily pop up pon my sites. Read the rest of this entry »
Mon 21 April 08 · Filed under Productivity & Professional Development, Writing & Blogging
The Essentials of Corporate Fraud book tour is going full steam ahead. Next week I’ll be talking with a group of accountants, attorneys, and bankers in Milwaukee on How To Commit Fraud and Get Away With It… A look at how management can spot the warning signs of corporate fraud.
Come join Corporate Casual at their April 29 meeting at the Milwaukee Bar Association: Read the rest of this entry »
Thu 17 April 08 · Filed under Writing & Blogging
Today Alexa has announced that it has made big changes to the algorithm it uses to rank websites. I don’t know if this is good news, bad news, or simply neutral. Most people have known for a long time that Alexa rankings are practically worthless. In spite of that, many advertising services do rely on Alexa numbers to assess web pages.
Why is Alexa so unreliable? The site tries to rank the traffic of websites, which can’t really be done reliably unless a website inserts code that allows someone to track the real page views and visitor count. Alexa tries to approximate site traffic by having internet users install a toolbar that logs all of their web activity. Alexa uses that data to estimate traffic from the web as a whole. Read the rest of this entry »
Thu 10 April 08 · Filed under Writing & Blogging
The product rankings on Amazon are of limited usefulness, basically because they’re updated every hour, and a sale of one or two books can bump you up far. My book, Essentials of Corporate Fraud, just jumped back up to #1 on the list of Auditing books. (For now, anyway.) It’s fun to watch my book go up! Read the rest of this entry »
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