http://determix.com/

Before the rise of the Digital age, research and forensic scientists, biologists, and botanists, painstakingly identified each and every living organism by searching their various ranks in the Nomenclature Code rule book. Using advanced technology however, has made it possible to simplify these steps in just a couple of clicks on the computer. Determix has created Lysandra Online, an internet-based, biological database that classifies all organisms using interactive catalogues and identification guides. Everything is basically there; and unlike a trip to the library, it wouldn’t take a day to find a strange organism’s Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, and Species classification—all in one sitting.

This is good news to scientists all over the world. Lysandra Online is co-authored by leading specialists in the fields of zoology and biological sciences; and it uses complex algorithms to search for an organism’s specific hierarchies. It makes things even easier by adding illustrated catalogues, handy navigation, and print output in its features. And here’s the best part: it can organize random search lists from the general catalogue and even create mini-presentations. Some of its published works include beetles and butterfly classification, butterfly identifcation database, and all that can be easily accessed via website.

The best part, however, is that it’s free. All its database and facilities are available after installation, and some of its demo databases don’t even need registration. Today, it is used as an accurate guide to biological classification, and Determix has now released a commercial version of its database that contains completely illustrated tools, maps, and pictures for better identification.

[Via - MadConomist.com]

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http://www.flowboard.com/

When Michael Kern came across a 14-wheeled “flowboard”–basically a skateboard-snowboard-surfboard hybrid–in 2001, he knew he had to jump on an opportunity. His 20-year-old company, Sport Technology, bought the licensing rights, then the original board-maker’s company, and now also produces the Snowskate, which replaces the wheels of a skateboard with four mini-skis for free-footed mayhem on the slopes. It’s available at major retailers, including Target, Walmart and Toys”R”Us, as well as through more than 60 independent toy, specialty and catalog retailers. Company revenue in 2010 was around $10 million, more than double the year before; 2011 revenue is close to $20 million; and Sport Technology forecasts $36 million for 2012. A bad-ass (and lucrative) crossover.

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http://www.impactarmortech.com/

Although police officers in most countries are issued bulletproof vests, they don’t necessarily wear them at all times - would you want to heave one of those things around for an entire shift? What they do often carry, however, are clipboards. Taking the “every little bit helps” approach, Ohio’s IMPACT Armor Technologies has put two and two together, and come up with something that should actually offer some protection - a Ballistic Clipboard.

Besides holding arrest warrants, speeding tickets and other cop-type papers, the clipboard is also capable of stopping bullets. It reportedly “provides multi-hit protection against 9 mm, .357, .40, and .44 mag rounds” at up to point blank range, in hot or cold temperatures. It is also said to protect against knives and blunt weapons. Unlike a vest, however, it weighs less than two pounds (907 grams).

While some people might picture an officer desperately trying trying to hide their entire body behind a clipboard, it presumably isn’t intended to work that way. More likely, in situations where an assailant fires wildly at an officer’s chest, there would actually be a pretty good chance of their bullet striking the clipboard instead.

It’s apparently not that wacky of an idea, as IMPACT first designed the device in response to a request from local law enforcement personnel. Additionally, the company is not the only one offering such a product. Although the somewhat riot shield-like design of IMPACT’s clipboard is unique, more ordinary-looking bulletproof clipboards are available from several other manufacturers.

[Via - Madconomist.com]

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Several years ago, Satoshi Kanazawa, then a psychologist at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, analyzed a biographical database of 280 great scientists–mathematicians, physicists, chemists, and biologists. When he calculated the age of each scientist at the peak of his career–the sample was predominantly male–Kanazawa noted an interesting trend.

After a crest during the third decade of life, scientific productivity–as evidenced by major discoveries and publications–fell off dramatically with age. When he looked at the marital history of the sample, he found that the decline in productivity was less severe among men who had never been married. As a group, unmarried scientists continued to achieve well into their late 50s, and their rates of decline were slower.

“The productivity of male scientists tends to drop right after marriage,” says Kanazawa in an e-mail interview from his current office at the London School of Economics and Political Science in the United Kingdom. “Scientists tend to ‘desist’ from scientific research upon marriage, just like criminals desist from crime upon marriage.”

Kanazawa’s perhaps controversial perspective is that of an evolutionary psychologist. “Men conduct scientific research (or do anything else) in order to attract women and get married (albeit unconsciously),” he says. “What’s the point of doing science (or anything else) if one is already married? Marriage (or, more accurately reproductive success, which men can usually attain only through marriage) is the goal; science or anything else men do is but a means. From my perspective, scientists are no different than anybody else; evolutionary psychology applies to all humans equally,” he adds.

The Marriage Toll on Women

Marriage has also been shown to have an adverse impact on the careers of female scientists. Data from the National Science Foundation show that female, doctoral-level scientists, and engineers are less likely to be married than are their male counterparts (66% versus 83%). Among those married, however, women are more likely to confront problems accommodating a two-career marriage–one reason being that they are twice as likely as men to have a spouse who works full-time.

Add children to the mix, and the problem is compounded. Research by Kimberlee Shauman, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of California, Davis, found that time off for birth and child rearing poses a significant, often irreversible, impediment to a woman’s career.

Marriages That Enhance Careers

Is marriage truly and inevitably a scourge for male and female scientists? Or can it help advance scientific careers? To hear some real-world viewpoints on the impact of marriage on a science career, I raised the issue on the ScienceCareers Forum.

Several forum contributors saw marriage as a source of emotional and financial stability rather than a dangerous undertow. David, a molecular biologist, met his wife while both were in graduate school. Now married for 6 years, David “wouldn’t change anything. I cannot even imagine trying to get through all that I (we) have without her as a partner.”

“Having a working spouse in graduate school or as a postdoc can be a tremendous advantage since you’re no longer trying to make do on the single, low-level salary,” says Rich, an engineer. “In my case, it’s also helped that I’ve been very good at making sure my career is part of my life–and not the other way around.”

“I’m a final year Ph.D. student,” says another. “We both are in medical research, and she’s got a master’s degree and believe me, it helps to be married. We both don’t have enough money, but there’s a lot of happiness as each day is exciting, a great future to think about.”

Kristen married her closest colleague 6 months before completing her dissertation and is satisfied with what she calls her “in-lab” and “at-home” collaboration. “One major advantage is that we are both scientists, in a similar field of research, and we understand the drive and passion that is part of the profession. Having someone who understands you and supports you wholeheartedly is a great asset through grad school, the postdoc years, and beyond.”

Last month, when I attended a writers’ conference in New York, one of the speakers was Sreenath Sreenivasan, an assistant professor and dean of students at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. A scene he described from his marriage evoked a vivid image in my mind. He was sitting against his pillow in bed with his laptop in hand. His busy, multitasking wife (a management consultant and mother of twin toddlers) was also working on a laptop, seated right beside him. The two were tending electronically to their demanding jobs, but they were also instant messaging each other, obviously on the same emotional “bandwidth” in their devotion to both career and marriage.

Marriages That Fall Apart

Some marriages aren’t strong enough to withstand the strains of a scientific career. “I was always hoping it would get better–after graduation, after the postdoc, after tenure,” says Chris, a second-year postdoc in Canada. “Unfortunately, nothing improved. If anything, it got worse (more committees, more conferences, more papers, more students, more grants, more reviews, and more frustration). I would say if you are the scientist, yes, get married. If you are the scientist’s partner, think long and hard if you can live with that in your relationship,” he says.
Rewton, a tenured associate professor with a 9-year-old child, couldn’t agree more about the personal challenges posed by a scientific career. “The balance of work and home life has always been an issue in our marriage. There is a certain scientific culture that is difficult to relate to for a non-scientist,” he says. “It was a more serious issue earlier in my career when I was jockeying for faculty jobs, etc., but it is still an issue.”

“I was married to a fellow scientist, but the relationship deteriorated after I got a faculty position (and he didn’t). My new job forced us into a long-distance marriage (300 miles) which didn’t survive,” says Elizabeth.

Nasif, the principal in a Mexico-based organization called Biology Cabinet, recounts that over 30 years of marriage, his wife was jealous of the time he devoted to his career. As his work continued to increase, she became bitter and finally left. He doesn’t blame her. “What bothers our wives is neglect. Buy her a rose bouquet each week, when you purchase scientific supplies for yourself like a book, a microscope, a Petri dish, etc.”

Marriages That Never Happen

Many scientists complain that the very nature of a science career limits opportunities to find a partner. “Much of science is disproportionately male,” says Chad, an engineering trainee. “There were weeks during graduate school where I literally did not speak to a female. I also remember attending parties of 50 people or more, yet you could count the women on one hand; all of whom were taken.”

“The moving-around issue is a huge problem,” he adds. “Even if I found my dream girl, which is unlikely given the intense workload, why would she be interested? Fewer things are a bigger downer than telling a date that you’ll be moving to a distant place in the near future.”
“To be honest, I was one of those people who put everything on hold through my scientific career,” says Os. “However, I wouldn’t suggest others do this because meeting people and starting relationships just gets harder.”

“It’s like Noah’s Ark, and you’ve missed the great pairing up,” says Kelly.

According to a recent article in the German newspaper Die Zeit, it’s not only finding a partner but also starting a family that is made more difficult by a scientific career. The article reported on a study of scientists ranging from doctoral students to assistant professors. It found that a whopping 73% of 37- to 42-year-olds had no children. Explaining the phenomenon, the article noted that it is so difficult for scientists to find a permanent position in Germany that those below the age of 40 are often forced to take short-term employment without any financial or residential stability.

Making It Work

Unfortunately, the academic climate often exacerbates the problems inherent in scientist marriages. “The situation of young families can be especially problematic given the long road (from undergraduate to graduate to postdoc to junior scientist) that certainly extends through a woman’s fertile years,” says a postdoc, who is also a parent of a young child. “The Whitehead Institute, Caltech, and Stanford have made steps in the right direction, but the current training environment is not ‘family-friendly’, ” he adds.

This postdoc then rattles off his wish list: more liberal leave programs that allow graduate students and postdocs time off; small grants to hire technical or institutional support staff to help manage experiments when a sick baby has to be picked up from daycare; assistance in defraying the costs of childcare; loan assistance for postdocs; options for part-time work; and comprehensive administrative, financial, and legal assistance.

Other trainees note that juggling science and marriage often requires sacrifice as well as flexibility: giving up a job opportunity to allow a partner to remain in his or her lab, missing a family event to keynote a conference, or being late for work because of taking care of a sick child, for instance. “In a perfect world, you could have it all, never sacrificing anything for either marriage or career,” says Liz. “The world isn’t perfect. Is it worth it? Every minute.”

“Sacrifice is a two-way street. Sometimes you sacrifice time in the lab to spend with a girlfriend or a wife, … but I can tell you it’s well worth it. In the end, when your friends get married and have their own families, your parents pass away, and families move apart and you grow older, your gel box isn’t going to be there for you on the holidays and those moments when you need someone for support,” says Bob. “Really, what’s the point of discovering the greatest thing in the world if you have no one to tell it to when you come home?”

[Via - MadConomist.Com]

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There is no doubt that TV costs people far more financially than they believe. For most people, TV is a habit that costs in excess of $1 million over a lifetime, or the equivalent of a healthy retirement account.

I made a conscious choice about five years ago to drastically reduce the amount of TV I watch. The average person now watches 4.5 hours of TV a day.

While my watching habits weren’t quite that bad, I did find out I was watching about three hours a day, far more than I thought at the time.

I made the conscious decision to take those three hours and devote them to creating a website with a friend of mine.

Over the first three years I used the time I had been watching TV to help create and build our websites while still working full time in another job.

It’s amazing the amount you can accomplish when you find an extra 3,285 hours to work on something you enjoy doing rather than vegging in front of the TV.

Those hours helped us create a small network of websites and blogs which allowed both of us to quit our jobs and work on them full time a couple of years ago.

To put it into perspective, if you watch an average of 31.5 hours of TV each week (which the average person in the US does) and you value your time at minimum wage of $5.85 an hour, you are spending nearly $800 a month to watch TV. That comes to nearly $10,000 a year.

I would imagine that most people reading this value their time well above minimum wage, so the cost is likely several times that number. When you look at it from that perspective, watching TV is an extremely expensive and financial draining habit to have.

[Via - Webiot.com]

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In Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets, Bonner and freelance journalist Lila Rajiva use literary economics to offer broader insights into mass behavior and its devastating effects on society. Why is it, they ask, that perfectly sane and responsible individuals can get together, and by some bizarre alchemy turn into an irrational mob? What makes them trust charlatans and demagogues who manipulate their worst instincts? Why do they abandon good sense, good behavior and good taste when an empty slogan is waved in front of them. Why is the road to hell paved with so many sterling intentions? Why is there a fool on every corner and a knave in every public office?

2. A Demon of Our Own Design: Markets, Hedge Funds, and the Perils of Financial Innovation

Why do markets keep crashing and why are financial crises greater than ever before? As the risk manager to some of the leading firms on Wall Street–from Morgan Stanley to Salomon and Citigroup–and a member of some of the world’s largest hedge funds, from Moore Capital to Ziff Brothers and FrontPoint Partners, Rick Bookstaber has seen the ghost inside the machine and vividly shows us a world that is even riskier than we think. The very things done to make markets safer, have, in fact, created a world that is far more dangerous. From the 1987 crash to Citigroup closing the Salomon Arb unit, from staggering losses at UBS to the demise of Long-Term Capital Management, Bookstaber gives readers a front row seat to the management decisions made by some of the most powerful financial figures in the world that led to catastrophe, and describes the impact of his own activities on markets and market crashes. Much of the innovation of the last 30 years has wreaked havoc on the markets and cost trillions of dollars.

3. Poop Culture: How America Is Shaped by Its Grossest National Product

Poop Culture is an excellent book about a topic that is largely (and unfairly) ignored. Perhaps the greatest asset and the greatest weakness of the book is its breadth. The author covers many different approaches to the topic–from the psycho-social elements of poop (i.e. shame) to the history of the toilet to cultural symbolism to poop in art to the economic/ecologic effects of the way we as a society deal with our poop. It’s at once odd and heartwarming to see a diagram of the best way to poop (squatting) or talk of South Park in the same book that also contains theoretical musings on Jonathan Swift and Marcel Duchamp.

4. The Logic of Life: The Rational Economics of an Irrational World

I think that I have read all of the recent “economics of everything” (Harford’s phrase) books and this one is, in my view, the best. I also try to keep up with recent research in applied economics and found some gems in these pages that I had missed. The author alludes to about 200 papers and books from recent economics research and presents them in the most reader-friendly way, all in about 200 pages. I call that very efficient. Harford’s summary is also a useful antidote to all the “behavioral economics” that the popular press has picked up. The idea that some of us depart from rational choice on occasion is hardly news. The point of this book, that the rational choice model, has amazing power range is worth reiterating.

5. The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Four hundred years ago, Francis Bacon warned that our minds are wired to deceive us. “Beware the fallacies into which undisciplined thinkers most easily fall–they are the real distorting prisms of human nature.” Chief among them: “Assuming more order than exists in chaotic nature.” Now consider the typical stock market report: “Today investors bid shares down out of concern over Iranian oil production.” Sigh. We’re still doing it.

6. The Economic Naturalist: In Search of Explanations for Everyday Enigmas

The book indeed is like Freakonomics in that its purpose is to reveal the economic rational behind everyday matters. It is different from Freakonomics in that it follows a “top-down” approach: each of the book’s chapters corresponds to a basic economic principle (for example supply and demand for a chapter, and signals and asymmetric information for another) that is explained via real world examples. So if one can say that the goal of Freakonomics was in reaching the bottom reason/motive of particular phenomena, it can also be said that the goal of The Economic Naturalist is to elicit fundamental economic principles through questions and answers. In this sense the book is more educational.

7. Discover Your Inner Economist: Use Incentives to Fall in Love, Survive Your Next Meeting, and Motivate Your Dentist

The book is full of fascinating stories in which psychology meets economics. The author applies the above concepts and ideas to a wide, wide variety of everyday situations, such as chess, doing the dishes, UN diplomat parking violations, bonuses in the workplace, petty crime, expercise programs, student drinking, tardiness, RSVP’s, meetings, going to museums, buying paintings, reading, buying music, toilet seat positions (a very, very important topic), gift giving, pickup lines, personal ads, marriage, being tortured, recognizing liars, gym memberships, shopping, eating and restaurants and getting the best food, “The Seven Deadly Sins”, sexual intercourse, beggars, charitable giving, and tipping. WHEW! WOW!

8. The Wisdom of Crowds

In 1906, Francis Galton, known for his work on statistics and heredity, came across a weight-judging contest at the West of England Fat Stock and Poultry Exhibition. This encounter was to challenge the foundations of his life’s study. An ox was on display and for six-pence fair-goers could buy a stamped and numbered ticket, fill in their names and their guesses of the animal’s weight after it had been slaughtered and dressed. The best guess received a prize. Eight hundred people tried their luck. They were diverse. Many had no knowledge of livestock; others were butchers and farmers. In Galton’s mind this was a perfect analogy for democracy. He wanted to prove the average voter was capable of very little. Yet to his surprise, when he averaged the guesses, the total came to 1197 pounds. After the ox had been slaughtered, it weighted 1198. James Surowiecki takes Galton’s counterintuitive notion and explores its ramification for business, government, science and the economy. It is a book about the world as it is. At the same time, it is a book about the world as it might be. Most of us believe that valuable nuggets of knowledge are concentrated in few minds. We believe the solution to our complex problems lies in finding the right person. When all we have to do, Surowiecki demonstrates over and over, is ask the gathered crowd.

9. The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less

Like Thoreau and the band Devo, psychology professor Schwartz provides ample evidence that we are faced with far too many choices on a daily basis, providing an illusion of a multitude of options when few honestly different ones actually exist. The conclusions Schwartz draws will be familiar to anyone who has flipped through 900 eerily similar channels of cable television only to find that nothing good is on. Whether choosing a health-care plan, choosing a college class or even buying a pair of jeans, Schwartz, drawing extensively on his own work in the social sciences, shows that a bewildering array of choices floods our exhausted brains, ultimately restricting instead of freeing us. We normally assume in America that more options (”easy fit” or “relaxed fit”?) will make us happier, but Schwartz shows the opposite is true, arguing that having all these choices actually goes so far as to erode our psychological well-being. Part research summary, part introductory social sciences tutorial, part self-help guide, this book offers concrete steps on how to reduce stress in decision making. Some will find Schwartz’s conclusions too obvious, and others may disagree with his points or find them too repetitive, but to the average lay reader, Schwartz’s accessible style and helpful tone is likely to aid the quietly desperate.

10. Crimes Against Logic

This book deserves the widest possible exposure in America, especially so close to the election, because it an excellent primer on how to guard yourself against the faulty reasoning that governs so much modern political discourse - and avoid adopting it yourself. I first heard about the book because one of its points was mentioned in an essay. The point was basically that just because someone has a motive to hold a certain position doesn’t necessarily mean that the position is false. This seemed pretty obvious, but as I turned to the media I was amazed at how often politicians use this method, and how easily I had accepted their claims if they lined up with my political preferences.

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1. Frank Schilling - The Multimillionaire Domainer

The two Web multimillionaires had never crossed paths, but when Russell C. Horowitz and Frank Schilling finally met to talk business three years ago, the summit began in style - sipping soft drinks poolside at the Four Seasons Las Vegas and chatting about private jets.

2. Feds shut down California’s domain name over hacker intrusion

The US General Services Administration (GSA), a federal agency that oversees government Web sites, took steps earlier this week to shut down California state government’s Internet and email service after a hacker apparently was able to route incoming Internet traffic to Web sites that contained the domain name ca.gov to a porn Website.

3. How To Sell A Nine Dollar Domain For $38,650

There comes a time in every internet marketer’s career when they are faced with a burning desire to do better and bring their business and projects to the next level. Unfortunately for most of them, they’ll never get there. This happens because most people aren’t willing to take on much risk, due to thinking too far into the future, or just putting too much thought into taking a leap of faith.

4. Domain Book Cancelled

An upcoming book about the domain name industry is on hold. Writer David Kesmodel, who currently writes for The Wall Street Journal, has worked hard over the past year or so on the book, but the original publisher involved with the project canceled the book. Kesmodel’s agent is currently shopping the book to other publishers. “I’m very disappointed, but I’m hoping to find another publisher soon,” Kesmodel told Domain Name Wire. “Lots of people spent a lot of time with me to help me write what I believe is a compelling book.”

5. The Ethics Of Domain Name Selling

A few months ago, when my wife was still pregnant, I registered the domain name “Babycation.com.” I had been making jokes with a friend about how my time off from work for paternity leave was going to be one big vacation where I’d get to catch up on lots of book reading and TV. (Not surprisingly, I was wrong on that.) I took to calling my paternity leave my “Babycation” and while we were discussing this, I checked and saw the domain name was available. I bought it for about $10. And forgot all about it.

6. Watch out for Chinese domain name issues

For some businesses, having an internet site (most likely in the Chinese language) that can be found at a “.cn” domain name might be valuable. Others might prefer to have a link on the main dotcom page that goes to a Chinese-language site. Yet, again, as with their trademarks, even these companies should consider filing for key domain names under the “.cn” regime to protect them defensively. The filings will also keep those domains available for future use.

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1. Canadian Porno Pizza Proves Once Again - Sex Sells

Porno Pizza in Winnipeg has been doing brisk business since opening last week, titillating the hungry with racy pictures at the bottom of every pizza box. “They range from softly-lit, lube-on-the-lens pictures like in Playboy, to raunchy, hardcore photos that would make (porn publisher) Larry Flynt blush,” pizzeria owner Corey Wildeman said. “The image is revealed as you eat the pizza.”

2. Poop Scooping Millionaires

The most noted pioneer in the poop-scooping business is Matthew Osborn, who runs Pooper-Scooper.com. He never knew that this business would one day make him a millionaire. Osborn got started back in 1987 when he opened Pet Butler in Columbus, Ohio. “I had been interested in small-business ideas since I was a kid,” he says. “My friends thought it was an interesting but far-out idea, and many of them just couldn’t grasp the concept. They all said, ‘People aren’t going to pay you for that.’”

3. How Unknown Designer Tricked Stars Into Taking Her Purses To Oscar

It was Friday afternoon, two days before the Oscars, and Lauren Merkin, a little-known New York handbag designer, waited inside her room at the swank Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel, hoping that the $31,000 she had invested in producing a collection of 65 one-of-a-kind “Red Carpet” bags for Hollywood’s biggest evening was about to pay off.

4. The Richest Piano Player You’ve Never Heard About

After ten years of university training in classical piano, Lorie Line finally landed her first job as a professional musician. For $40 a day she was hired to tickle the ivories every afternoon at Dayton’s department store in downtown Minneapolis. Wedged between handbags and lingerie, she serenaded shoppers with a seamless stream of pop tunes - and occasionally gave directions to the restroom - without missing a note. But the young pianist in the glamorous black gown was definitely resourceful. After noticing shoppers lingering around the girdle racks listening to her play, she figured she had the start of a fan club. So she cashed in her husband’s 401(k) and used the $2,000 to record a CD, which she stacked on a corner of the piano to sell. It proved to be as popular as the push-up bra. Within three years she had sold more than $1 million worth in Dayton’s.

5. Pregnant Woman Finds A Strange Way To Make Money Online

When Holly was pregnant a few years back in 1999, she looked for a unique way to tell her friends and family of her pregnancy. Making phone call after phone call to every cousin, aunt and uncle was a daunting task, but she still wanted to share her news with everyone. She hunted through stores and on the Internet and all she could find were birth announcements. Thus, Holly’s idea for Fetal Greetings was born.

6. How To Make Millions Destroying Something

Looney Bins found a market niche by contracting with local Hollywood movie studios to deconstruct movie lots containing wood, cardboard, metal, plastic, and other salvageable items; Looney Bins then sells and/or donates the recovered materials. Some of the uses promoted by Looney Bins have included providing wood to a company that makes reconstituted pallets; reusing Warner Bros. Studios’ telephone poles for the Special Olympics; shipping reclaimed nails, screws, and other building materials to hospitals overseas; and helping a Southern California nursery reuse wood scrap for planter boxes.

7. How To Turn $5000 To $25 Million In 5 Years Selling To … Babies

Most great ideas are born from a need. The Baby Einstein Company LLC based in Littleton, Colorado, came from Julie Aigner-Clark’s need for a learning tool for her infant daughter. In 1995, this former teacher and new mom read the latest research regarding babies’ capacity to learn. Finding nothing in stores that used the research and that was developmentally appropriate, educational and fun, Aigner-Clark (pictured with daughters Sierra, 3, and Aspen, 6) decided to create something herself.

8. How One Guy Became A Millionaire Selling Antenna Balls

As Jason Wall sees it, success is all about having a ball. Since 1998, Wall has been topping car antennas with happy faces, 8-balls and even cowgirls - complete with braids and hats. Wall is president and CEO of In-Concept Inc., the company behind Antennaballs.com, which manufactures more than 500,000 custom antenna balls per month.

9. How To Make A Ton Of Money From Balsam

Wendy and her husband Jack moved from East Brunswick, New Jersey to Maine in 1979 with a dream of building their own home and have a simple, natural life. Wendy, then 24, even went back to college to study the newest methods of farming in anticipation of their new life because “that’s what we thought we would do when we came up here.” Their hope was simply to lead a self-sufficient life. As she puts it, “we didn’t want to become big farmers.” The reality, however, was not easy.

10. Big Money In Coming Up With Domains For Others

At the beginning of the ‘dot com’ era you could get paid thousands of dollars for a single domain name if it caught the attention of the right people. Dmitry Davydov’s success online went something like this, except he charged a measly fifty dollars for each domain name that he came up with. The buyers liked it since it was risk free and they didn’t have to pay anything if they didn’t like the name. Dmitry liked the idea because every single domain name he sold meant fifty dollars gotten doing something that he enjoyed. Soon enough The San Francisco Chronicle got wind of his story and with the fame came more customers. Crowd sourcing became the next step for Dmitry and the rest is history.

The Million-Dollar Idea in Everyone: Easy New Ways to Make Money from Your Interests, Insights, and Inventions

IdeaSpotting: How to Find Your Next Great Idea

How to Make Millions with Your Ideas: An Entrepreneur’s Guide by Dan S. Kennedy

101 Businesses You Can Start With Less Than One Thousand Dollars: For Stay-at-Home Moms & Dads

Make Your Ideas Mean Business

Link of the day - If You Sell Links On Your Site, I Will Buy Them Off You

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THE global internet regulator is investigating domain tasting, the controversial process where users register domain names to test their effectiveness in collecting extra traffic and then cancel the registration before fees become due.

2. Courts Are Starting To Issue Restraining Orders Against Cybersquatters

Companies sometimes find that opportunistic purchasers of domain names (often referred to as “domainers”), will purchase a domain name quite similar to that of the company, and establish a site at the URL loaded with revenue-generating sponsored ads. To accomplish these purposes, domainers seem to prefer the services of companies like HitFarm and Domain Sponsor. A web user types in the confusingly similar URL and is bombarded with pop-up ads and sponsored links to goods and services, often competitive to the company whose name or trademark is being appropriated in the URL.

3. Russia fights with ICANN to save .SU domain name

The US organization that oversees the web’s structure, ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), wants to kill of the .su domain that was assigned to Russia just 15 months before the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The new domain assigned to Russia is, of course, .ru which is the most popular domain but many Russian organizations continue to register and use the older .su domain, partly because of its nostalgia.

4. Iraq.Com Is On Sale On Sedo. Current Bid Is $560,000

The domain name Iraq.com is up for auction at domain name aftermarket Sedo, and is currently bid up to the equivalent of $560,000 USD. Eight bidders have staked a claim, but the reserve price hasn’t been met. On the plus side, you don’t have to set foot in Iraq to own a piece of the country by buying this domain. Unfortunately, buying Iraq.com doesn’t come with any oil rights.

5. Grassroot Effort Started To Give New York City Its Own Domain Name (.NYC)

Is it time for the big city to start cornering a piece of the Internet? A growing grassroots movement says yes, and is trying to create a “.nyc” domain name to go alongside the dot coms and dot orgs of the World Wide Web. “When Ford introduced their first car 100 years ago, no one thoughtto start building roads for it,” said Tom Lowenhaupt, an interactive marketing consultant who heads Connecting.nyc, a group he formed to lead the effort. “So we ended up having to tear down miles of the Bronx to build freeways to start accommodating them all. It’s the same thing now. We have the opportunity now to plan for the future and start organizing ourselves and our resources in a responsible way.”

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