we must always compare for its contrast.

so long Whitney Houston. you really are an Angel, hopefully anyway. you entertained us all both with a golden voice and as a silly neighbor here in Alpharetta horse country.

meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi will ever be your equal in championing the odd cause:

I miss Bill Clinton and all the things he did for his country, that Obama never will.

peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

brian patrick cork

I’m no fan of Google, most of the time.

but, I know they’ll get better, some how.

perhaps I’ll take that position because I’m an optimist, albeit a Prudent one, mind you. and, a gentleman.

as a contrarian though I can see alternative ways to help Facebook do good, despite their intentions. just read further. do it!

to be fair, John Haydon evidently thinks quite highly of certain tools found on Facebook, if you’re using it as a business page, some how. we’ll follow Mr. Haydon awhile, and sort him out.

however,  that said, I’m steadfast against Facebook. ironically, Google’s Chrome (that’s a browser) has a tool that helps you track how much time you waste on Facebook. I love that. none of my people (in my companies) care about Facebook, and a lot of people hire us to help them make even better decisions. there’s symmetry of purpose, in that.

but, I don’t like it that two of the goodly men I coach in business are in the midst of divorces and Facebook was arguably the ignition-point for each. one fellow rediscovered his ex-college sweetheart, and the other’s wife found a new man on a Triathlon Facebook page for her club. is that tit-for-tat?

just in case you go rooting around on the internet, (Yahoo is still often better than Google, but Bing is kind of awesome) you’ll note that I have a Facebook page. but, just so we are clear, my staff set it up and then we decided to never accept friends on it. I’m a rather unusually disciplined person, but Joanne simply asked that we not allow for any temptations. that’s good enough for me. but, it’s also the tip-of-the-iceburg for a lot of other people.

in any event, one of my brokers (yes, I use them) called today laughing about Facebook. he’ll certainly be able to get shares for us but won’t be recommending them to his people.

“they are for them other folks that are needed to for cannon fodder”, says he.

so… If Facebook says its worth $100 Billion dollars that means it will have to have sales of 27 x sales (currently $1B) and 100 x earnings. for perspective you need to know that Apple is currently at 3.3 x sales and 10 x earnings, and they actually do some good in the world. and, shares in the company will likely help families put kids through college (indeed, they’re helping me put other people’s kids through college) also… I’m willing to bet, and I am as a loyal shareholder and consumer, in fact doing just that, people will want and own iPhones than waste time on Facebook.

so… let other people buy Facebook. the same type that buy into Facebook, I’ll wager. I’ll short you later and put more kids through college.

peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

brian patrick cork

time certainly does fly, but all the more so when every Daddy grimly observes the ticking clock against the dreaded time his “little girl” lets go of his protective hand.

however, those fears can be reasonably set aside for the moment, because its that magical time of year, again. and, the 7th Annual – My Princess Dance is upon us! it is! so, mark your calendars! guard the date, and fiercely so! Saturday, February 18th at 630pm to 9pm at The Foundry at Puritan Hill. stand firm, goodly men, and register, here.

to be sure, you’ve read earlier stories on this Blog from last year, God gave me daughters. What did He give you?, Its time for a Princess to Dance!, the Princess and the me, and, investing in my daughters.

consider forging a few stories of your own.

I have three Princesses in my immediate family with the girl of my dreams at my side, and two daughters that I’m determined will realize their own.

I coach a good number of princesses in soccer. but, that is different. and, the stuff of other stories. you can always read about those adventures, here. now, I’m also coaching young lads in Lacrosse with the best hopes of influencing them to be gallant around any right Princess. more on all that, to be certain.

Haley Anne and I went to the first “Daddy/ Daughter Dance” six short years ago after a heads-up from Woody Faulk (a father of four girls of his own) let me know he would be hosting this inspiring event. it has quickly became an Atlanta-area tradition. Last year the event was renamed, and aptly so, “My Princess Dance,” and held at the InterContinental Hotel in Buckhead. More than five hundred fathers and daughters came to that My Princess Dance, and they are, and all of them, forever changed. complete with princesses, carriages, chocolate fountains, and a knighting ceremony, the evening was spectacular.

Haley Anne kicked me to the curb after seventh grade and I started taking Emma Jo to the dance. the experience has been brilliant for us all, and I’m keen to share it with any man that understands how important he is in the life of his daughter. I’m convinced this is a vital bond where God really trusts some of us with daughters. the anticipation builds with talks about pretty dresses and an afternoon getting hair and nails done (or, Mommy can certainly do that!). it’s dancing practice and perhaps a special dinner. then come the shared secrets and the memories that enchant a life-time realized in only the span of a few hours that leave us all the more excited about the next year.

the My Princess Dance is all about the importance of family by stopping the busy-ness of life, and spending time with those we love, and cherish, the most.

read more about My Princess Dance in this story, printed by the Atlanta-Journal Constitution: bit.ly/fLhOUt. do it!

and, then watch the video below for a sense of what is yet to come (sorry if it’s bleeding over on this blog page. it’s videos fault, and not mine own – yet, I’ll forgive almost anything that helps me share this wondrous event with you all.

peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

brian patrick cork

the U.S. International Trade Commission (“ITC”), a federal agency, just so we are clear, said Monday they are siding with Apple against HTC and will impose a ban that will enforce an import ban on HTC Corp. (“HTC”) phones that infringe on a patent belonging to the iPhone maker. In other words, Apple’s iPhone does not violate (as HTC and their partner Google and likely prayed) four patents owned by HTC. this is a significant blow to HTC, and probably Google.

so… perhaps the headline should read, instead, “Apple Wins Partial Victory on Patent Claim Over Android Features”.

the ITC said in a final ruling that HTC may import some refurbished phones to offer customers as replacements under warranties and insurance plans. HTC, which is based in Taiwan, is a major maker of phones that use Google Inc.’s Android operating software.

the ban takes effect April 19, 2012 so that wireless carriers will have time to adjust their plans. but, it also means customers have an open-door to bail on HTC devices, and that has grim ramifications for Google, that is again caught in the midst of “evil” /1. this involves a set of important features commonly found in smartphones that are obviously protected by an Apple patent, a decision that could force changes in the way Google’s Android phones function.

Apple spokeswoman Kristen Huguet reiterated an earlier statement, saying competitors (i.e. GOOGLE and HTC) should, “create their own technology”. I’ll add, not steal it from Apple.

NOTE: the ITC ruling can be appealed. But it is one of the most significant so far in a growing array of closely watched patent battles being waged around the globe by nearly all of the major players in the mobile industry. in fact, the case is part of a broader dispute involving Apple, HTC and many other phone makers. in federal courts and before the ITC, companies have been accusing one another of stealing ideas for popular phone features. while the courts can award damages, the commission has the broader and debilitating power to block imports of products and parts made with contested technology.

in fairness to how people might organize their own thinking around stock acquisition, or not, the ruling was only a partial victory for Apple because the commission did overrule an earlier decision in Apple’s favor in the case, involving a patent related to how software is organized internally on mobile devices. in simpler terms, it would have been harder for the defendant, again HTC, one of the world’s largest makers of smartphones that run the Android system, to adapt its devices to avoid infringing that patent. that’s what legal experts say, in any event.

but, this is clearly decisive for Apple; potentially deadly for HTC (whom by the way blew it in negotiations with Apple when they had an opportunity to be part of the build process for the iPhone); and certainly problematic for Google whose advocates have had to constantly twist numbers to make it appear that it can compete with the iPhone in terms of  the masses Android “can have”, and opposed to the iPhone “must have”.

people of discerning taste can eat Apples with better results. and, obviously Androids can’t.

peace be to my Brothers and Sisters.

brian patrick cork

1/ Google was supposedly founded under a mandate of “do no evil”. but, that hasn’t worked-out very well, for anyone associated with them.