I found this WSJ article interesting. It highlights what some call a growing trend where buyers acquire multi-million dollar yachts for the purpose of reselling them for a profit, often a huge one if reports are to be believed. Here’s what WSJ’s Robert Frank had to say about it:

Rich Buyers Sell Unfinished Boats, Reaping Millions in Profits

Terry Taylor, a Florida car dealer, has purchased five yachts since 2001. But don’t expect to see him anchoring off the coast of Cannes this week. Mr. Taylor is boatless, having sold all of his yachts to other buyers for huge profits.

“I wouldn’t feel too bad for Terry,” jokes Felix Sabates, a partner in Trinity Yachts of Gulfport, Miss., which built Mr. Taylor’s boats. “He’s probably made more money off those boats than we did.”

Mr. Taylor is part of a new breed of wealthy boat buyers: yacht flippers, who sell their costly purchases often without taking them on a single cruise. … more

I dabbled in the practice a few years ago and, while I made a little money, it wasn’t enough to make me want to press my luck. I’ve always been somewhat of a risk taker, but these days some things are just too rich for my blood.

My wife had occasion yesterday to call Dell Computer and was connected to “Roy”, a pleasant chap with a noticeable Indian accent. A polite query confirmed that she was indeed speaking to a Dell call center representative in India. I’m sure you’ve experienced the same thing with increasing regularity.

I’ve often wondered how it is that India is able to provide call center services at such a competitively low cost. They have to be cutting corners somewhere, right?

So when my cousin Mike sent the following series of photos taken in India, it all became crystal clear…

Cox & Forkum

From CNN: Size matters, so does shape under new postal rates.

The postal rate increase that kicks in Monday is shaping up to be a big headache for many businesses. Many companies say they are confused and frustrated as they try to adjust to the new rules, and some say mailings could be severely curtailed due to higher postage costs.

The new regulations mean larger envelopes and packages will automatically cost more than smaller mail. Currently, postage is determined by weight, unless it’s an especially large or odd-shaped package that warrants special handling.

If your solution come Monday is to stuff the same amount of material into a smaller envelope, the Postal Service could get you there, too: There are new thickness restrictions. For first-class, letter envelopes, the allowed thickness is a quarter inch. If you go over a quarter inch, you run into more costly large envelope or parcel rates.  […]

Cindy Golebiewski, an office manager in Wilmington, Delaware, said her company faces much higher postage costs under the new rules. “The price is just doubling,” she said. If not for the new thickness limits, “we would be better off stuffing a 6-by-9-inch envelope than putting it into a big brown envelope,” she said.

The Direct Marketing Association in New York is “very, very unhappy,” said spokeswoman Stephanie Hendricks. “The rates go into effect on Monday under protest.”  […]

Even mailing a simple brochure may pose a problem for businesses. Postage for a three-panel brochure weighing an ounce might cost the new rate of 41 cents — up from 39 cents — unless it’s not folded well and the envelope puffs up to half an inch. If the mail can’t be easily flattened, then the postage would shoot up to 80 cents. Under the old rules, the envelope could puff out and still cost the same.

Details of the new rates are available at http://www.usps.com/ or (800) 275-8777.

I found this curious. Microsoft, always on the cutting edge of flawless security (wink wink), is making it more difficult for Mac and Unix users to use Vista on their systems claiming it’s “for security reasons.” While it’s more likely a business decision they would simply rather not explain, it does seem counter to sound business logic.

With Macs now using Intel chips, virtualization programs let Mac users easily switch back and forth between Apple’s Mac OSX operating system and Windows. So you’d think Microsoft would welcome the potential additional sales of its Vista operating system to both Mac and Unix users.

Well, apparently not. Buried within Vista’s 14-page licensing rules lies a ban on using the least expensive versions of Vista in virtualization engines. Instead, people wanting to put Vista  in a virtualized program must buy the $299 Business version or the $399 Ultimate package.

Scott Woodgate, a director in Microsoft’s Vista team, concedes that the least expensive versions of Vista would work in virtualization programs but says Microsoft wants to restrict it because of security holes [in the cheaper versions] spawned by virtualization technology.

Yeah, right.

At long last, Vista is here. But Tuesday’s San Francisco launch of Microsoft’s new computer operating system, which it hopes will revolutionize the technology world, didn’t pack much punch according to Ryan Blitstein in an article today in the Mercury News. The Redmond, Wash., company spent $6 billion developing Windows Vista, plus billions more on Microsoft Office 2007, which officially launched Tuesday. Microsoft’s Exchange Server 2007, the software for e-mail and calendars, was released last month. …

Says Ryan, “So far consumers don’t seem that excited about Vista, especially compared with the much-hailed release of Windows 95, when thousands of buyers lined up at stores for a midnight release. …”

“Twelve years ago, Microsoft introduced a new operating system, Windows 95, in a frenzied global marketing blitz that was unlike anything the industry had ever seen,” say Jeremy Peters and Thomas Crampton in an article today in the International Herald Tribune’s Tech section. “But Tuesday, shortly after midnight, when Microsoft put its latest Windows successor, Vista, on sale, there was considerably less hoopla.”

“The lights on the Empire State Building were not changed to hues of Microsoft red, yellow and green. The lines at stores were much shorter. In many ways, the change reflects how much Microsoft’s influence in the computer technology marketplace has faded as the fortunes of rivals like Google and Apple have grown. … ”

Good Morning Silicone Valley reports that when Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates appears tonight on “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart, it won’t be for  “Microsoft Spend Your Entire Day Installing Printer Drivers Day” but to plug Windows Vista an hour before its official midnight launch. Seems Microsoft has found wisdom in the words of former “Nightline” anchor Ted Koppel, who once whined, “A lot of television viewers — more, quite frankly, than I’m comfortable with — get their news from the Comedy Channel on a program called ‘The Daily Show.’”

Quite the PR stunt, no? It will be interesting to see how it plays out. Certainly there’s ample room for hijinks; Stewart’s had his way with Microsoft before, and John Hodgman (Apple’s “I’m a PC” guy) is a correspondent on the show…

In other Windows Vista launch news, The Associated Press reports that NBA star LeBron James is slated to make cameo ads for the product. 

If you’ve been following Bill Gates’ media tour this week (I have, with mild interest) you may have watched him on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night and nearly every other outlet in the last 24 hours. Most bizarre for me has been watching him highlight features of Vista and pretend that Microsoft “innovated” them. 

Still on the Vista media blitz, Gates appeared on CNN only to be asked the question of questions: “Were you going after a specific look there, the Mac look?” The following YouTube clip from CNN is entertaining as the host pushes Gates toward admitting his continued inspiration in Cupertino…

As Cult of Mac puts it, “Bill Gates occupies [an] alternative universe where Vista is innovative.” Amusing.