50 best business blogs~! i recommend

here's are some great blogs for you.
economics is classical place, but it's the best. simply the best~!

See below also... from times
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The 50 best business blogs

Some of the biggest corporations have been forced to review company policy after campaigns by bloggers

Rhys Blakely

Internet blogs are taking on big corporations and winning. As the bloggerati continue to set the agenda Times Online provides the first full list of the 50 top blogs, corporate and anti-corporate alike. This list is a work in progress - scroll down to let us know your suggestions.

ECONOMICS

1. Stumbling and Mumbling

The dismal science has delivered several very readable bloggers. Chris Dillow combines political polemic with more whimsical matters. Recent post: “Why is West Indian cricket so bad? Here’s a theory – only a partial, tentative explanation. But it’s an overlooked possibility. It’s because the players’ names are unusual.” Read the blog

Related Links

• Everybody’s got something to say

2. Freakonomics

Steven Levitt, the University of Chicago economist, and Stephen J Dubner, the New York Times journalist, carry on from where their bestselling book Freakonomicsleft off, “exploring the hidden side of everything”. Recent post: “There are recent studies of the death penalty – most bad, but some reasonable – that find it has a deterrent effect on crime.” Read the blog

3. Marginal Revolution

“Truly open borders would put an unbearable strain on the cultural foundations of American liberal democracy; many of the immigrants themselves would be the biggest losers.” Read the blog

BANKING AND FINANCE

4. Going Private

Billed as the “sardonic memoirs of private equity professional” and written by an anonymous author who says: “I spent five years manoeuvring to land, by hook or by crook, a coveted position in private equity. After all that, I may or may not live long enough to actually regret my decision.” Recent post: “There are certain moments when a good antiperspirant is simply critical. Perhaps your husband comes home early. Maybe Third Point acquires 8.5 per cent of your common stock while you are on vacation in the South of France.” Read the blog

5. Capital Chronicle

On the iSoft saga: “That not everyone who shits on you is your enemy and not everyone who gets you out of the shit is your friend have been useful guides in this ongoing soap.” Read the blog

6. Beehive

The blog of Steve Bee, head of pensions strategy at the Royal London Group. Was involved in the so called “battle of the pensions blogs” with James Purnell, the Minister for Pension Reform. It adds: “Steve achieved notoriety some years ago by becoming the only person ever to have submitted a paper in evidence to a Commons Select Committee in cartoon-strip format.” Read the blog

7. Abnormal Returns

A daily directory of investment reports, comment and rumour. Read the blog

CONSTRUCTION AND PROPERTY

8. House Price Crash

The name says it all. Sample quote: “To have an idea of the timing of the crash in the UK, look at the Irish market example. Very nice charts . . . soon showing in our country!” Read the blog

9. The Rat and Mouse

Spleen from unhappy house owners. “Remember the scandal of the drive-by surveyors, charging up to £1,000 for a compulsory remortgage valuation, but failing, even, to shift from second gear . . . it might even be worse.” Read the blog

10. Consumerist

A US blog that promises to allow “shoppers to bite back”, though it will offer praise when fitting: “ShopLego is super nice about sending you out new Legos for free when your mail truck plunges into a gorge.” Read the blog

11. Just Food

Blog on the global food industry. Asks questions such as whether “food miles are sufficient in measuring the environmental impact of food production.” Read the blog

ENGINEERING

12. Fastlane

The embattled General Motors has sought to blaze a trail on the blogging front, deploying heavyweight executives including Bob Lutz. “I am not bored with blogging, far from it,” the vice-chairman recently wrote. “And I’m not going to let the comments of an extreme sub-set turn me off to it, either. I will continue to do it, whenever I can, and as long as it seems people want to read it. And by the way, GM thinks its blogs are a success, too, and will forge ahead with all of them and more.” Read the blog

13. AG Blog

Frank news on aerospace sector. Sample headline: “Saudi Typhoon deal was dirty – are you surprised?” NB: Main blog requires a subscription. Read the blog

14. Have Your Say

Set up by a disgruntled Land Rover owner. “I have never suffered such contempt from any manufacturer,” says one contributor. Read the blog

HEALTH

15. Dr Crippen - NHS Blog Doctor

“Dr Crippens” experience as a GP working for the NHS. Sample comment: “Massive litigation could force companies to leave the vaccine business, threatening the future of one of medicine’s greatest achievements.” Read the blog

16. Pharmalot

One entry: “Rosemany Johann-Liang, the FDA medical reviewer who was punished for pushing a black box warning for Avandia, left the agency Friday, becoming the latest in a string of staffers to feel the heat for refusing to back down on safety issues." Read the blog

17. PharmaGossip

Promises to “look beyond the spin of Big Pharma PR”. Read the blog

INDUSTRIALS

18. The Tin Basher

The award-winning company blog of Butler Sheetmetal, a small fabrication shop “in the darkest recesses of northwest England”. Read the blog

LEISURE

19. Mark Cuban: Blog Maverick

Written by Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks and chairman of HDNet, the cable network. “What else is there to do while I sit here in the Cayman Islands relaxing and enjoying every minute of it than ponder the NBA (National Basketball Association) Lottery.” Read the blog

20. Who Ate All The Pies?

Football blog. “Shove! Ouch! Gulp! That’s the sound of David Beckham ramming the words of his Real Madrid overlords down their throats.” Read the blog

MEDIA & MARKETING

21. Tom Glocer

Despite his sporadic posting habits, the Reuters chief executive gets an honourable mention as one of the few FTSE 100 chief executives to blog. Read the blog

22. Byrne Baby Byrne

By Colin Byrne, of Weber Shandwick. On the Olympic logo: “If your initiative attracts bad headlines and thousands of people take to the blogosphere as ‘badvocates’, it could be described as a PR disaster.” Read the blog

23. Richard Edelman

PR man Richard Edelman’s blog. “There is no place in PR for spin . . . We are in the business of presenting reality . . . ” Read the blog

24. Seth Godin

By Seth Godin, the marketing guru. “The web has billions of pages. You’ll see so few of them over your lifetime that the percentage is almost unmeasurable.”

NATURAL RESOURCES

25. White Sun of the Desert

By Tim Newman, “a British expat living on Sakhalin Island, married to a Russian, and doing what I’m told”. Sample post: “Yesterday I sat from 8am until 4pm in a decrepit old Soviet classroom attending what was described as a training course in industrial safety. In actual fact, this training course was no more than a Russian bloke reading out Russian Federation Law No 116 line by line, in Russian, and then pausing whilst it was badly translated into English. The training course cost $375 per person.” Read the blog

26. Commodity Trader

From coffee to gold, news and comment from the commodity pits. Read the blog

27. Oil Change International

Anticorporate site protesting about the oil industry. Read the blog

RETAIL

28. Wal Mart Watch

One of the anticorporate blogs that look to dominate the retail sector. Sample headline: “Wal-Mart still selling Nazi T-shirts.” Read the blog

29. Tescopoly - Every little hurts

“The Tescopoly Alliance is calling for a block on any new takeovers by Tesco or other major supermarkets.” Read the blog

30. Amazon bookstore blog

A group blog written by staff at Amazon.com, the world’s biggest online retailer. Read the blog

31. Seeking Alpha: Retail

Markets news, mostly US-focused, on the retail sector. Read the blog

LAW

32. Square Mile Law

“A blog by a law student soon to be in a training contract at a City firm." One entry reads: “If a bank assigns a large number of law firms to its panel, these firms are unlikely to want to jeopardise their income by acting against that bank.” Read the blog

33. Overlawyered

“When Sacha Baron Cohen accepted his Golden Globe award for Borat, he famously thanked all the Americans who hadn’t sued him ‘so far’.” Read the blog

34. The Becker-Posner Blog

As heavyweight as blogs come, written by Gary Becker, the Nobel-winning economist and Richard Posner, the prominent US judge and legal theorist. Read the blog

TRANSPORT

35. The Ticket Collector

As in retail, the transport sector is overrun with disgruntled customers. “To top it all, as with all bank holidays, Notwork Rail has decided to improve the track and completely shut down the line.” Read the blog

36. Going Underground

More trivia than hard corporate news, but often amusing. Sample post: “Some of you might be familiar with the ‘If Germany had won the war’ Tube map.” transportblog.com More transport woes aired as “a bunch of libertarians try to get around London. Read the blog

TECHNOLOGY

37. Scobeleizer

By Robert Scoble, a former Microsoft employee who often criticised the company, accruing credibility for himself and his employer on the way. Read the blog

38. Jonathan's Blog

By Jonathan Schwartz, the chief executive of Sun Microsystems, the first blogger to receive an official comment from the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Read the blog

39. The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs

A parody, but so good, the real Steve Jobs reads it. “Okay, I must return to meditating before the big speech. Much love. Namaste. Peace out. Let’s stay positive.” Read the blog

40. Boing Boing

Boing Boing is the world's most linked-to blog, which is often seen as a measure of authority. It's a group blog which reports about technology, media and culture. Read the blog

41. Buzz Machine

Written by Jeff Jarvis, the tech and media commentator, a complaint from whom was enough to persuade Dell to review its customer service policy. Read the blog

42. TechCrunch

By Michael Arrington, whose scoops include Google’s $1.65 billion acquisition of YouTube last year. Read the blog

43. direct2dell.com

The blog Dell launched to speak to its customers. Read the blog

TELECOMS

44. Charles Dunstone's Blog

Charles Dunstone gets a mention, although the Carphone Warehouse chief executive spends much of his time apologising for problems rolling out his “free broadband” service. Read the blog

45. ABI Reseach: Wireless

Analyst comment on the telecoms sector. “I would like to comment on Arun Sarin’s (Vodafone chief executive) remarkable rehabilitation with the investment community.” Read the blog

46. NT Hell

“For information, help and advice that NTL [now Virgin Media] technical support or customer services forgot to give you”. Read the blog

47. The Mobile Weblog

More mobile news, including analysis of the much-anticipated Apple iPhone. Read the blog

UTILITIES

48. The Energy Blog

Tagline: “The Energy Revolution has begun and will change your lifestyle.” Lively blog about all kinds of alternative and green energy sources. Read the blog

49. CleanTech Blog

Dedicated to news and comment on “next generation energy”. Read the blog

50. Gas Guide

A blog from the Guides Network, which offer consumers tips on how to cut bills Read the blog

Reader suggestions:

David writes to suggests two excellent London-based economics blogs: Economics UK and New Economics, winner of a Satin Pajama award.

5 Tips for Introducing a Second Cat

i like cats, sometimes feels stupid, but cute, and lovel. they rub my skin with their face.. it gives me comfortable moods. see below

If you've ever thought of bringing a second cat home as a companion for your first kitty, you may have been frightened off by friends' graphic tales of fighting and fur-flying.

Don't be discouraged just because the initial introduction may not be easy. Cats are territorial, and you have to respect that and do the introduction in a way that allows both the resident cat and the newcomer to feel secure.

1) Prepare a sanctuary room. The newcomer will initially need a room of his own. This is an important step to help him get his bearings and create a feeling of security when he first enters this unfamiliar environment. It also helps reduce your resident cat's feelings of being threatened, because the newcomer's presence will be limited to one specific area. Place a Feliway Comfort Zone diffuser in the newcomer's room, and one in your resident cat's main area.

2) Don't rush things. Before you attempt an actual introduction, let the newcomer get to know his sanctuary room, because this environment is totally unfamiliar to him. Let your resident cat get used to the idea that someone is in her house, but is not an immediate threat. During the actual introduction, continue to take things slowly.

3) Create positive associations. Here's the secret to doing a successful introduction: give the cats a reason to like each other! Let them see each other for very brief periods while being offered something irresistible, such as a treat or a meal. Keep them far enough apart so each kitty feels comfortable. As soon as they've eaten, separate them again and do another session later.

4) Never leave cats to "fight it out." You may have heard this advice from friends. But it's counter-productive and dangerous! There's no reason why either kitty should feel so threatened that they resort to battle. Do brief introduction sessions using positive associations to build in them a tolerance for each other, with minimal stress. Keep an interactive toy handy to use for distraction if things get tense. Da Bird is a great toy for that.

5) Create an environment for two. It's stressful when there isn't enough room for both cats. Even a small apartment can be large enough, if you allow for each cat's preferences. Don't ask them to share one litter box or eat out of one food bowl. Set up two litter boxes, scratching posts such as the Smart Cat post, and two feeding stations, as well as a few cozy napping areas or window perches.

Every introduction is unique, so don't be discouraged if your cats take a while to become friends. The biggest mistake I see is rushing the introduction. Invest the time now, so your cats can enjoy a lifetime of companionship. For more specific help on introductions, see the book Cat vs. Cat.

do you wear mom jeans?

web scraps... do you wear mom jeans?
i don't like gays, in fact i hate them...(please don't be a mad girl!) but it's only a advice for your fashion. see below also.

William Sledd is Not a (Fashion) Victim
How a manager at a Gap store in Paducah, Ky. became the hottest style guru on the Internet -- as well as a strong voice for tolerance.

By KEVIN SITES, TUE JUN 19, 6:56 PM PDT


Does the world need another gay fashion guru telling us how to dress?

In the case of William Sledd, the answer is an unequivocal yes.


Sledd, 23, has parlayed a fey, southern-fried sense of humor and six years of hard-earned, chain store product knowledge as a manager at the local Gap in his hometown of Paducah, Ky., into the fourth most popular channel on YouTube.



William Sledd is a rising Internet star.
The segments of "Ask a Gay Man" are like an Internet mashup of "What Not to Wear" and "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" — couture advice delivered with soft-handed snark, beginning with his signature opening line: "Hey, bitches."


It doesn't matter if you abide by his style tips or not. Sledd is worth watching just for the laughs, like in his breakout "Denim Edition" in which he and his sometimes sidekick and next door neighbor Stephanie warn viewers that "Mom jeans" are the devil and that carpenter jeans are never OK — unless you're a carpenter.


Some of Sledd's best comic understatements come during his video critiques of his competitors for best series award on YouTube.

"Rednecks shooting at snowmen," Sledd deadpans after showing a clip from "Snowmen Hunters," a survivalist parody. "At least I feel at home."

He mocks another contender, "Ask a Ninja," for wearing too much black, then appears dressed as a Ninja himself — covered in pink.

With almost 60,000 subscribers and millions of views, Sledd says the site has caught on because viewers see him as just a normal, small-town person they can relate to.

Well, normal for a guy who's not afraid to says things like, "I'm a little pro man-bag," and who has a walk-in closet with two shelves full of pajama pants.

Sledd's unapologetic embrace of his sexual orientation has helped win loyal supporters, but there are detractors too: anonymous posters making homophobic comments about his videos. To them, he directed a few choice words in a recent clip he made in honor of Gay and Lesbian Pride month, calling them "cowards hiding behind their computers."

"It's so easy to hate," he says in the video. "Oooh I'm gay, let's leave nasty comments. Send. You know what? Why? There's no need. It's my month, bitch!"

As bold as Sledd is about his sexual preference on the Internet, he has been more circumspect at home, where he still lives with his parents. "We kind of have a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy," he says of his family.




Sledd tapes his vlogs from his Kentucky home.
Sledd is a good example of the Internet's peculiar brand of stardom in which you can be known around the world and yet remain virtually anonymous in your own neighborhood.

He says he likes it that way. He refuses to do local media interviews in Paducah. "This is my place, this town where I live," he says. "This is my home. This is where I get away."

"Is this your protective shell?" I ask him.

"This is my shell," he says, flipping his hair over the left side of his face, as he often does on his webcasts. "I mean, I can turn my cell phone off. And turn my computer off, and pretend nothing happened."

But with a growing coterie of famous friends and development deals in the works with mainstream media outlets like NBC, pretending nothing happened is no longer really an option for Sledd.

In fact, he's already quit his job at the Gap and he knows he may have to consider leaving Paducah.

"What happens when you're not that guy in Paducah anymore? Will people still think you're cool?"

"I'm that fabulous guy in New York," he says.

"Just a different place, same guy?"

"Yeah."

Let's hope so.
- Producer: Erin Green
- Video Editor: Steve Neilson