Market Power

New Comment Policy

I've been getting a lot of what appears to be comment spam in recent weeks, so I have arranged for Typepad to automatically authenticate each comment.  I realize that this authentication process will add to the cost of leaving comments, and I apologize to all readers who might be affected by this.  But the volume of spam has gotten annoying, and I felt this was a necessary step to take.

How to Be a New Media Douchebag

Via Kip who posted this over at Facebook.

Playing with the Template

I am going to be making some template changes here at MP.  I won't be doing anything drastic - just changing some feeds and making some changes to post footers so that interested readers can add posts more easily to Facebook, Stumbleupon, etc.  It's been awhile since I've dug deep in the guts of this blog, so to speak, and I'm a bit rusty.  Hopefully I won't mess anything up, at least not too badly.

Merry Christmas

I want to wish all the readers of MP a Merry Christmas!

Newspapers are Key to Democracy?

Jason Whitlock argues that newspapers are key to democracy, the idea being that well-trained journalists know how to root out information and get it to the public.  He argues that if newspapers die, then democracy will be undermined.

Of course, that's not true.  Newspapers are dying not because people are less interested in reading the news.  What has happened is that competing technologies have emerged that have taken the place of newspapers - creative destruction.  Blogging has emerged as a competitor to the opinion page, craigslist has emerged as a competitor to the want ads, and Twitter has become a competitor to the breaking news section online (via Instapundit). 

What is happening to newspapers is what happened to the slide rule and the horse and buggy (and what should happen to so-called "American" car companies, if only the government would allow it).  When a new technology or some other type of innovation comes along that makes company A's product less valuable at the margin, company A can get with the program or it can go the way of the dinosaurs.  Society at large is made better off because of the innovation, even if company A and its employees are not.

More Trouble at Market Power

I just noticed that when I reach my blog through the bought-and-paid-for URL (marketpowerblog.com), the permalinks, when clicked, don't appear in the address window.  All I get is marketpowerblog.com.  If I reach the blog from marketpower.typepad.com, all is well.  I don't know what's up, but I'll see if I can't figure it out.

There's a 71% Chance that I'm a Man...

... according to the GenderAnalyzer.

Results

We think http://www.marketpowerblog.com is written by a man (71%).

In comparison, Ironman is 98% male.  Stud.

The folks (including me) at The Sports Economist are 84% male.

Doc is 78% male.  King and Janet at SCSU Scholars are 74% male.  Bill Polley:  73%.

I am a Guardian!

Well, not me, actually.  Just this blog.  KPC are mechanics.  N. G. Mankiw is a Scientist.

Here are the details.  My writing suggest that I am anal once I decide on a plan of action.

By the way, I usually don't wear ties much and my hair isn't long.

ESTJ - The Guardians

The organizing and efficient type. They are especially attuned to setting goals and managing available resources to get the job done. Once they´ve made up their mind on something, it can be quite difficult to convince otherwise. They listen to hard facts and can have a hard time accepting new or innovative ways of doing things.

The Guardians are often happy working in highly structured work environments where everyone knows the rules of the job. They respect authority and are loyal team players.

Trouble at Market Power - Some Content is Missing

John LaPlante noted that he wasn't able to access this blog via my http"//www.marketpowerblog.com URL (thanks John!).  He was able to get the banner, the picture of Truman the Tiger, and my category and archive lists, but nothing else.  I noticed this awhile back too, but haven't had time to dig into it.  I'll poke around and see what the problem is.  I aplogize for any incovenience this may have caused.

In the meantime, you can change your book marks or feed readers to http://marketpower.typepad.com/

Update:  that didn't take too long.  I didn't have Typepad set up to forward my domain name to this blog, although I have no idea why John and I were able to access the stuff noted above but none of my posts and some of the other sidebar material.  But it's fixed and unless I get more inquisitive or something else goes wrong, I won't explore it any further.

Comments Policy Change

I've decided to stop reviewing the comments before posting, at least for a time being.   I will still moderate them and delete inappropriate comments, such as spam, threats, and posts of a "you suck" nature.