Category: Business

Looks like this temporary worker thing is going to happen after all.

Businesses will love it.

Workers, not so much.

UPDATE: Maybe I posted too fast.

Years ago when we got our first cellular phone, it was with AT&T. We later expanded to two AT&T cell phones. Fast forward a few years, AT&T has split into 4 different companies. I got a Treo and switched to Cingular service because AT&T didn’t support the Treo. Eventually, Cingular aquired AT&T Wireless and Scott’s AT&T account transitioned over to Cingular. Less than a year ago, we finally merged the two accountss into one “Family Plan’ on Cingular.

Now, it seems that we’re going to be AT&T customers again.

AT&T Inc. said Sunday it will acquire smaller rival BellSouth Corp. for $67 billion in stock, in an apparent bid for total control of their growing joint venture, Cingular Wireless LLC.

[snip]
Under the deal, the Cingular brand will be phased out in favor of the AT&T brand.

At this stage of the game, cell service is enough of a commodity that the only real differentiators between companies are the phones they support and their crazy billing plans, so I don’t expect much will change for us. I just hope the billing doesn’t get screwed up when they transition the account over.

It’s pretty funny to be going ‘back’ to AT&T after all this time, though.

I really don’t understand how it is supposed to help small businesses to incent them to buy huge gas-guzzlers like Hummers but not more fuel-efficient vehicles for their businesses. Seriously, WTF?

Federal tax rules that took effect last month allow a credit of up to $3,150 for anyone buying a hybrid car. The credit is the same regardless of tax bracket.

However, owners of small businesses who buy a Hummer, Ford Excursion or other SUV weighing more than 3 tons get a deduction of up to $25,000

I have no idea whether or not this is legal. Requiring employees to have what amounts to multiple surgeries in order to perform their jobs? One to put the thing in, one to take it out. Plus possibly others if there’s ever a problem with the implant.

Details:

Two employees have been injected with RFID chips this week as part of a new requirement to access their company’s datacenter.

Cincinnati based surveillance company CityWatcher.com created the policy with the hopes of increasing security in the datacenter where video surveillance tapes are stored. In the past, employees accessed the room with an RFID tag which hung from their keychains, however under the new regulations an implantable, glass encapsulated RFID tag from VeriChip must be injected into the bicep to gain access, a release from spychips.com said on Thursday.

Although the company does not require the microchips be implanted to maintain employment, anyone without one will not be able to access the datacenter, according to a Register article.

Ironically, the extra security sought may be offset by a recent discovery of Jonathan Westhues, where the security researcher showed the VeriChip can be skimmed and cloned, duplicating an implant

I don’t usually do all-out commercial plugs here, but I make an exception for Cafe Cosa. It’s a family-run coffee company in Costa Rica that both grows and roasts the coffee in-country, then ship the finished product to the US in vacuum-sealed bags (which is not generally the case for Central American coffee growers). It’s nicely roasted, smooth, rich but not over-bold, and makes excellent coffee.

Coffee purists will object to the shipping time delay (about 2 weeks), and point out that the optimal coffee is achieved by roasting in small batches to maintain freshness, and the longer the beans sit, the worse they get. That’s true, but I’m not that much of a coffee geek. Roasted within the last month is fine by me.

Plus, even with the shipping, the price is very reasonable. So if you like coffee, give it a try!

Obligatory disclaimer: No, I do not get anything for pitching this product on my blog. The American agents of the company are friends, but I’m doing this because I want to. I like their coffee. And also because I don’t feel like blogging about the dismal political situation this morning.

UPDATE: It must be something in the air today. Digby is blogging about coffee too, and pointed me to a new blog on the subject: Smelling the Coffee.