Wednesday, December 01, 2004
Miscellany
- The Leung Legacy~ We don't need no *Yahoo* to tell us that 'Blog' hogs pride of place in today's dictionaries. Nor Newsfactor, tho' bless Maureen for spotting and sending the link along and of course it gets posted. Say what? After all that press coverage and heavy seeding and sprouting by local megastar Julie Leung? Of course it's Numero Uno parole. You wait - baptism of the first Blog Doe isn't far off. Fine name, that. Maybe 'Blogiana' for a gal. A moniker you can trust.
Booksy anecdote - His first novel having been accepted, Brit author David Cornwell asked his publisher, the great Victor Gollancz, what sort of pen name he should come up with to keep his government employers happy. In that thick Czech accent of his, Gollancz rasped, "Go for something simple and *English* - 'Chunk Smith'. That would be good." Even in those days, Cornwell clearly knew his own mind: he went for John le Carré, nor does it seem to have hampered his progress.
- Good publicity attracts good feedback: s-o-o much better a name, that. The way things are going, *bucking* the cost is much more vital and to the point.
- Free Credit Report: hands up all y'all like me who over the years bought into those myriad credit report/rating deals that we were assured would save us from ID theft and general penury and disgrace?
Now comes the only FTC-approved *Free* Credit Report, once every 12 months from each of the big reporting companies whose very name causes knees to tremble: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
I still don't understand how it works: when I arrived here in the early '90s, my good track record with both my Hong Kong MasterCard and UK Visa counted as naught for credit with the local boys. Even today - with both in even better shape than 10 yrs ago - I've never seen them referred to in any of my US-generated credit assessments.
Mind you, this new free stuff won't be an overnight sign-up, even tho' we in WA are placed well in the queue.