27 June 2009

Apture

Apture is a service that allows content producers to link to media without sending users away from their site. So, if you want your readers to check out a cool music video, or learn a fantasmic new word, or get background information on an obscure figure, you could provide links which pop up smallish windows that keep the readers on your own site.

The editing magic is really in a widget added to blogger that allows you to easily embed/link to content while you are authoring a post. All you have to do is highlight a word, and click the apture button which is located on the blogger editor box along with the standard "bold", "italicize", and "insert link" buttons. An apture modal window pops up with a search box that is already populated with the highlighted text. You can search for all available content, or click on tabs for different media types, like pictures, video, audio, etc.

When you are done picking the media, apture creates a standard hypertext link with an "id" attribute that is prefixed with "aptureLink", which some apture javascript processes.

That javascript is contained in a sidebar widget which Apture adds to your blogspot. However, I removed the sidebar and just added the <script/> to the botton of my page template.

Cool stuff.

20 March 2009

Retroactive taxes on bonuses are not a help

I just read http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/business/20bailout.html?_r=1&hp

I think this is really awful.

For those who do not work in finance, I know it may be hard to feel sorry for those who make over $250k, but consider that people may have made financial planning decisions based on money that has already been in their bank accounts for months! The decisions may have included spending that the economy desperately needs on college tuition, homes, cars, electronics, and, well, anything else. I don't even understand how this is going to work. If the money is already spent, will the government foreclose on their homes?

I think the payout of large bonuses is outrageous, but forcibly recouping the money is not going to be any help to the overall economic situation. We should be mad, but maybe it's worth asking government why they didn't attach any terms up front?

I also know that the TARP funds were force fed to few banks on the list, not because the banks were in real need, but so that there would be public perception that the government was backing up the banking system. It is especially unfair that their employees should be punished.

--Disclosure: I do work for Goldman Sachs, a TARP funds recipient, but am not at the level that would be affected.