Some business observations came to me from a dream I had...

In this dream, I was a short 9-year-old, following behind a jester who had holes in his pockets. As he galloped about, coins sprinkled from his pants into the grooves of the turgid road. The coins were colored in such a way, and landed in such a way, that combined with the road they formed a slick surface. The coins became invisible in their arrangements. But then, a taller, wiser man cavorted about and stopped by the road. Because of his keen eyes, he saw the coins, and so he scooped them up and galloped along merrily as well.

Thusly I formed two conclusions:

1) Billions of dollars are flowing all around me, many into sinks not proportional to hours-worked, value-of-product, experience-of-worker, nor social-utility, but merely the result of the jester of capitalism jiggling.

2) If a billionaire lost all his money, he wouldn't be poor for long. This may have a lot to do with the contacts he still has. But, let's say he loses all his friends, I'm certain he still would become rich in a short period of time. This can only mean that a special knack for opportunity has grown within him. The invisible coins in the dirt road may become resplendent to his magic eyes. (The exception to this are the rich who haven't earned it.)

What is this magic eye? I'm not sure. But a sampling of this could be, for example, the ability to size up others accurately. You may know someone who has a terribly brilliant idea and The Right Stuff, but lacks someone who believes in him. If you are more certain about his success than he is, you can offer him $5,000 for 10% of whatever he makes from the idea, and then guide him to millions.

Slate gets all giddy about Amazon.com's new "search books" feature..

What is the purpose of search engines..

We tend to think of search requests as generally taking the form of "find me something I've never seen before." But real-life search is often different: You're looking for something you have seen before, but you've somehow mislaid or only half-remembered. You search for your glasses or your car keys. Or, in the case of books, you search for that paragraph about the Russian revolution's impact on literacy rates that you read somewhere a few years ago. You know it's in a book somewhere on your shelf, you just can't remember which one.

When you search, you already have an object in your imagination. Therefore, Google is more of a memory-retrieval aid and supplement for the global and individual mind. As for discovering new information? I like StumbleUpon's approach.

If Google has mastered the process of retrieving the past, and if Blogger has mastered the meditation on the present, what tool will master the future? StumbleUpon is a nice start, but I see an opporunity here.

Also, if Google tries to use personalized results as a way of suggesting things you might like as a feature of its "search," it will clutter this... since Google is rarely used for "surfing" and more for reference.

Check out Howard Dean's Blog for America. I love his site as a case study in some fresh marketing ideas.

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There is a new marketing method afoot by dating sites whereby they reject applicants who aren't cool enough to fill their personals up. Personality tests, elite college degree requirements etc.. Amazing...

.. thing is I think I got rejected from a match site. I haven't graduated from college yet, only 21, only interested in a phyisical relationship, don't have a job, interested in philosophy and blogging... HOW COME I GOT SNUBBED!?!