Eubie's notes

Wired: Roads Gone Wild: No street signs. No crosswalks. No accidents. Surprise: Making driving seem more dangerous could make it safer.

In West Palm Beach, Florida, planners have redesigned several major streets, removing traffic signals and turn lanes, narrowing the roadbed, and bringing people and cars into much closer contact. The result: slower traffic, fewer accidents, shorter trip times.

The Business Review (of Albany): Troy manufacturer nailed by shoddy work in China; pulls out

Milwaukee Business Journal: No more free rides: Milwaukee ponders ‘gifts’ from nonprofits to fix city’s budget woes

Portland Business Journal: Banfield claws way to top of pet heap: Firm embarks on aggressive expansion

San Francisco Business Times: Microsoft’s ‘Halo2’ game changes balance in industry

Current: “State of Fear” by Michael Crichton. Good read. That’s why I look forward to his books.

Finished:
“Little Scarlett” by Walter Mosley. First time to read Mosely. Want to read more

“Rule of Four” by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason

“Skinny Dip” by Carl Hiaason

“Plain heathen mischief” by Martin Clark.

Audio Books

Current: “There must be a pony in here somewhere: the AOL Time Warner debacle and the quest for a digital future” by Kara Swisher.

Finished:

“Riding in Cars with Boys” by Beverly Donofrio

Intelligence in war (from Nelson to Hitler)” by John Keegan. About a third of it.

“Shadow Divers” by Robert Kurson

“The last stand of the tin can sailors (the extraordinary World War II story of the U.S. Navy’s finest hour)” by James D. Hornfischer

ZD Net: Nanotech golf ball corrects its own flight. Golf ball developed by NanoDynamics in Buffalo, N.Y., expected to hit stores in the spring and cost about $7 each.

Pansonic decides to stop making VHS recorders and a major retailer in Britain decides this month to stop selling them. The days of VHS are numbered. From Lockergnome’s Tech News Watch: Converting VHS to DVD.

Business First of Buffalo: Commercial banks: Spitzer’s next target?

Phoenix Business Journal: Flight schools soaring again

Puget Sound Business Journal: Low-carb fare is losing its luster

Romenesko: Survey finds a lot of unhappy business publication editors

Dallas Business Journal: Desperately seeking drivers: Trucking industry losing business for lack of gear-jammers

Puget Sound Business Journal: New military target: payday loans

Phoenix Business Journal: Cold meds restrictions rankle retailers

Sacramento Business Journal: Retiree finds success marketing once-forgotten route across U.S.

Oligopoly Watch: DVDs triumphant. The main source of revenue for movie studio feature films is now the DVD release (63 percent) compared to 21 percent from the box office. “On the whole, however, the DVD is making the movie industry more than ever into the beneficiary and slave of the same market forces as face Coca Cola and Colgate.”

If you need more suggestions on writing for the web, especially with a business blog, go to BusinessLogs and their PDF on Writing for the Web.

Among the suggestions:
* Break articles up with headings.
* Use meaningful titles that tell the reader what the section is about.
* Use bold text to place emphasis on important words and phrases.
* Start the article with a short summary.
* Short paragraphs, especially in longer articles.