From the Desk of Asif Nawaz

I received this relatively disturbing news via email from the DN (Domain Name) Forum today.  Please sign the petition and help domain name owner’s keep their domains:

Dear DNF members,

We feel it is our duty to bring this to light and make people aware of what’s happening. As you may have heard, Senator Olympia Snow (R-ME) has very recently introduced a bill that could threaten the future of the domain name industry and internet commerce. Snowe’s bill has been introduced as the “Anti-Phishing” bill, but contains provisions that are largely unrelated to these objectives. These provisions radically and unnecessarily expand the rights of trademark owners to essentially provide them with monopoly rights on registered trademarks. This would be to the detriment of millions of individuals and businesses engaged in lawful and legitimate Internet commerce.

If the bill passed through congress, it may allow large businesses to take domain names with little to no effort. Trademark owners already prevail in 85% of all UDRP complaints and nearly 100% of all ACPA cases. Yet some apparently now wish to establish a new regime for contesting allegedly “infringing” domains that is tilted even more in their favor by denying basic due process and substantive protections to domain name registrants – and that provides the possibility that they can use their power and influence to sway public officials to expend taxpayer dollars in defense of private Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs).

The proposal unfairly targets domain name registrants for a widespread Internet practice – if it’s aim is to halt the advertising monetization of brand names and typographical variations thereof when consumers engage in direct Internet navigation or in web searches it utterly fails in that endeavor, as this activity is also engaged in systematically by search engines, web browsers and ISPs.  

We need to do as much as possible to make sure the bill is revised to serve it’s purpose of preventing phishing scams and not to bury domain name owners. Please sign the petition at http://www.SnoweBill.com to help in the fight and to review all portions of the bill.

Thank you for your time and attention in this matter.

Lots…

Last few days I have kept pretty busy, and I think it’s going to get like that, but I’m going to work Asifism.com into my schedule too.

I’m currently setting up a new business (more information on that will come soon).  I’m also in the process of working out with a franchise issuing organization to purchase an accounting/bookkeeping franchise (more information on that will follow too).  In addition, I am studying for CIMA and actively working on DesignerPottery.com (http://www.designerpottery.com/blog).  I need some help on this, so if this even remotely sounds like something you can help out with, please visit the blog and give me insight, feedback, or simply contact me for how you can help.

Of course, business is my priority.  As part of marketing my accounting/bookkeeping consultancy, I am launching, in conjunction with VAFTA Solutions Limited (http://www.vafta.com) an accounting blog, which will start with me completing the second part of the accounting software article, where I will discuss and compare various accounting software.  Consider it a QuickBooks Vs. Peachtree Vs. Sage Vs. Microsoft Office Accounting.  Oh, and for the record, Sage sucks.  Don’t buy it if you can avoid it.  Get Quickbooks or Peachtree or Microsoft Accounting.  They’re all three about 10 times better than Sage.

Basically, this new blog/section is about the following:  many modern accountants/bookkeepers are able to use accounting software, but really, when you have a complex issue at hand, you always need to go back to your basic T-Accounts, i.e., the debits and the credits.  I’ll start off with the basics, and as I study for CIMA, I’m also getting a refresher of all the basics.  In addition, and this is probably going to be extremely productive and useful for some accountants or professionals, as I embark upon this journey to discuss accounting in hopefully an unambiguous way, unlike any other damn book (published by CIMA or Gleim or Kaplan or anyone else), I will point out the differences in the way the accounting is done under US GAAP and the way it is done under UK GAAP / IFRS.  This itself is a bit of gap bridging activity for me, since almost all of my practical experience is US GAAP driven, and now I have to adjust to the IFRS.  Please note that the differences arise at the basic level, and are carried through to the final stages, and there are problems if you hold a reluctant frame of mind about how the accounting needs to be done.  Consistency past borders is hard to find in this profession, and that can get frustrating.

In addition, I will discuss some of the certification processes along the way.  I am a member of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) in the USA, although I never really got a chance to sit for the Certified Management Accountant (CMA) exam while I was there.  In the UK, CMA doesn’t mean much, but CIMA means everything for good financial & management accountants.  So, I’m indulging in CIMA now, unfortunately, from the basics, and I’ll explain why when discussing the certification.

However, stay put for this new set of articles and lessons in the Accounting & Finance Category of Asifism.com.  In addition, these lessons may be reproduced on http://www.vafta.com/blog, but I’m not so sure of that.  If anyone is interested in writing on accounting, please be sure to email me at asif[at]asifism.com for more information.

For those of you who come here for QuickPlay.  That will keep coming, as will more information regarding it that comes irrelevant.  I’ve had some new problems with my HP dv2415, and I haven’t really had time to key that in, but I’ll be dicussing that too.  More Memoirs of the HP dv2000 series!  Please, the offer for the DVB Card/Software article is still on the table, but unless people are serious about it, we won’t be spending time putting that together.  Please vote on that:

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In addition, if you have hard success or failure with HP QuickPlay via Asifism.com, please let me know and leave comments on what needs to be changed. 

Of course, as I get time inbetween, I’m also dying to give my cynical political insight on things like the triple victory of Hillary Clinton over Obama (in Texas, Ohio etc.).  And of course, I’m dying to put down a few lines on Bush backing up McCain, and John McCain being very happy about it.  Like anyone cares what George Bush thinks anymore!

Well, that’s all for now folks!  Let’s get this rolling!

Okay, I’ve been asked this question in several comments and via email quite a few times, so I’m going create a post.

QuickPlay is a piece of software, like Windows Media Player, that runs your videos and audio.  To use QuickPlay or QuickPlay for Windows, you have to logged into your Windows installation, and it runs like any other normal piece of software.  Say you’re browsing the internet, and you’re done, and want to watch a movie, you either choose QuickPlay from the start menu or you use the Quick Launch Button (QLB) for hp QuickPlay on your laptop.  It will launch QuickPlay for Windows.

QuickPlay Direct, QuickPlay Direct 2.3, specifically the edition available on this website for download, makes a separate installation on a different partition on your hard drive.  You DO NOT have to be logged in to your windows installation or user account to use QuickPlay Direct.  Here’s how it would work.  Your laptop is turned off, but you want to watch a movie or listen to music, but without using any other feature in your normal windows installation.  You hit the QLB DVD button on your laptop, and whala, QuickPlay Direct boots and you can pop in your DVD and start watching. 

Here’s where it’s confusing.  QuickPlay for Windows installs like any normal piece of software.  QuickPlay Direct requires installation on a separate partition, and QuickPlay Direct 2.3 automatically installs Windows XP separately on that partition JUST FOR THE USE OF QUICKPLAY DIRECT.  So, if you launched QuickPlay Direct 2.3, you’ll see a Windows XP logo flash on your screen before you go on to HP QuickPlay Direct.  Before QuickPlay 2.3 and 2.0, the QuickPlay Direct versions made a linux installation on your Hard Drive Partition instead of Windows XP.

QuickPlay Direct 2.3 can be installed whether you use Windows Vista or Windows XP on your PC, because it will automatically do its installation of XP.  QuickPlay 2.3 for Windows is Windows 2.3 Compatible.  All QuickPlay for Windows Versions 3.0 and above are only Windows Vista compliant.

Still have questions?  Comment and post them.

I just came back from the cinema, and I wasn’t disappointed.  I haven’t been too impressed with the film industry lately, but with The Bank Job, they’ve got it right.

This movie has what every movie should offer: entertainment, story, decent acting, and more entertainment.  You would think that the fact that it is based on a true story might make it less interesting.  You don’t really get bored at any point during the movie, and Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows both give a good performance, which is further backed up by Richard Lintern.

Now, for those of you who have not yet seen the movie, spoiler alert!  I’m going to reveal a bit of the movie to ask the one question that I have. 

Here goes: so basically a psycho black guy called Michael X has photos of a certain Royal Princess indulging in some sexual activity in the Carribean.  This guy is responsible for importing drugs into the UK, probably running some brothels, and other crimes.  The government or intelligence (MI5 or MI6) cannot prosecute him or take action against him because he threatens to make the photos public.

However, they know of the exact location of the photographs: a locker 118 in the Lloyds Bank on Baker Street.  A bank robbery is set up up with some rather amateur robbers, the lockers broken into, and a bunch of things stolen from the bank.  Other high profile criminals also have items that have been stolen, and they get involved to recover their own items.  The stolen items also contain photos of various British MPs engaging in kinky sexual activity at a brothel in London.

Eventually, MI5 gets the photos, corrupt cops are arrested and prosecuted, and MPs have to resign.  It became a big mess because MI5/MI6 hired a group of amateurs to rob the bank, so it all looked like the intelligence or the government had nothing to do with it.  They eventually catch the black Michael X fellow once they have the photos.  The whole idea here was that when the photos are taken away, it doesn’t seem like the government has any involvement in it, because any of it could pose a threat to the reputation of the Royal Family.

Now, the movie was great as it is: fantastic entertainment.  Maybe this is too 21st centry, but won’t you agree, that if 2 guys wearing black suits walked into the bank, approached the manager, flashed their badges, and said they need to get into a certain locker, and the information has to be kept secret or the manager becomes a victim, break into the locker, and simulateneously go arrest Michael X.  Now they have the photos and they have Michael X, and the whole thing is hush hush.  Isn’t that how intelligence is supposed to operate anyway?

I know there are laws and regulations and procedures etc. etc.  But I don’t think the MIs in the UK or the CIA in the US typically operate within the law.  After all, their being above the law is the whole point.  Nonetheless, you could argue that they have had other copies of the photographs that they could have exposed if Michael X was busted like that.  Well, that could have happened the way he eventually gets busted in the movie too, and of course, eventually it all leaked, but was hushed with a D-Notice apparently.  And now we have a movie on it.

What do you think?  Wouldn’t the modern day methods have saved them a lot of hassle, although, I must confess, in that case we would not have had an entertaining movie.

 Tell me what you think. Vote & Comment!

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