Blog and Podcasting Class

Well, the Blog and Podcasting class got off to a good start last night. The participants were from the business community and we were able to explore a number of business-related blogging applications.

Next Thursday promises to be as interesting. At that meeting, we will look at podcasting: what it is, business applications, and how to do it.

Vista & Office 2007 FREE FREE!

Well, at least the presentation at the college is free. What will happen is a PowerPoint show and demo of Microsoft's Vista and Office 2007. It will hosted by Paul Stennett and myself.

The topics and handouts cover:
1. What is Vista
2. How does it compare to XP
3. What does Vista include and how is it organized
4. The search functions
5. What's new in Office 2007
6. Some things to consider before you buy

Join us Wednesday , 7 p.m., February 21, 2007, Boyle Education Center, Room 155, COCC.

Seating is limited, so be there early.

Remember--it is FREE!

Harry Potter and The End of the Cash Cow

You may recall that we spend some time in class talking about the advantages of a pre-publication sale of your book. Not only does it give you some money to help pay for printing costs, it also gets the buzz started.

Well, the latest Harry Potter book is being pre-sold (like it needs help creating a buzz). The book is due out this summer. If you place an order now, the retail price is discounted 46%. So, I asked about the retail price and discovered it is $64.79! That means the pre-publication price is $34.99. Wow!!!

Hope all the kids who enjoy the Harry Potter books have a second job.

I suppose the author, who is listed as a billionaire, wants to get the maximum revenue from the book--particularly since she swears that this is the last in the series. Maybe it is the publisher who wants to make one more killing before the whole thing goes away while not putting out any money for printing. Whatever the case, the consumer is really paying the price.

And the publishing houses wonder why sales have been flat.