Can a Super Bowl spot that doesn't have dogs, babies and big celebrities possibly be the best spot of the game?

Martin v. Freeman, ___ P.3d ____, 2012 WL 311660, 2012 COA 21 (Colo.App., Feb. 2, 2012). Full Opinion at http://goo.gl/OeMWp

With the biggest sports event of the year upon us this week, Karl Moore drew leadership inspiration from both Tom Brady and Eli Manning with "Know Your Teammates: Leadership Lessons from the Super Bowl Quarterbacks." Lisa Arthur looked beyond both those stars with her "Super Bowl MVP Prediction: No, Not Brady or Manning. It's Social Media." Dov Seidman let us know who?also neither Brady nor Manning?is really "The Super Bowl's Inspirational Leader." Peter Daboll revealed "Five Secrets of a Winning Super Bowl Ad," while Jacquelyn Smith concluded that "Experts and Viewers Agree: Apple's '1984' Is the Best Super Bowl Ad of All Time." Avi Dan took "A Surprising Look at How Those Great Super Bowl Ads Are Made"; Jean Halliday offered "A Look Inside: How This Year's Skechers and Suzuki Super Bowl Ads Were Created"; and Jennifer Rooney warned that "Doritos Is 'Crashing the Super Bowl' Again, and Frito-Lay CMO Ann Mukherjee Explains Why." But Frances Adams of Denny's held out: "No, We Won't Be at the Super Bowl This Year."

On one level, opportunities for women in business are brighter than ever in Asia. China, for instance, has the world?s largest number of self-made women billionaires. Funding appears to be more readily available than ever, too (see related story here).

The revelation that Facebook?s Mark Zuckerberg plans to exercise $5 billion worth of stock options before his IPO suggests his 2012 tax bill could be close to $2 billion! See Zuckerberg's 2012 personal income tax bill: $1.5 billion. If size matters, that will make Zuckerberg The Incredible Hulk of Taxpayers. After all, the 400 wealthiest filers only averaged $48 million in federal income taxes in 2009.

A young woman I know is a star. In her early thirties, she had an M.B.A. and was already running a small division of a successful fashion company. She had that rare combination of design sense and business savvy that makes a virtuoso fashion executive.

There are some cases I just cannot resist. ANTHONY MURPHY, INC. t/a MURPHS LIQUOR & BAR and PETER MURPHY, Individually, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. DIRECTOR, NEW JERSEY DIVISION OF TAXATION, Defendant-Respondent is one of them.

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When well-performing venture capital-backed start-ups raise an additional round of capital, the valuation of the business is usually higher than it was at the previous fund raising round.  The portion of VC-financed start-ups that experiences ?up rounds? - as new fund raising at a higher valuation is called - is an indication of how well venture capital-backed companies are doing.  If most of the companies obtaining additional capital experience an up round, then start-ups are generally doing well.  But if the majority of companies face down rounds, then venture capital-backed companies in general are having trouble.

Anyone who?s had a blazing insight in the shower or leaped ahead at work after a languorous vacation recognizes that sometimes, the path to creative insight isn?t a direct line. On the surface, it might even look random or wasteful - but that process is often necessary for real innovation. That?s the view of Michael Schrage of MIT?s Center for Digital Business and the author of Serious Play: How the World?s Best Companies Simulate to Innovate. With a nod to technology theorist George Gilder, Schrage told me in a recent podcast interview, ?In the early days of a technology, technology is expensive - so you had to write the most elegant, dense, and precise software...The key point is that you can?t afford waste when things are expensive. But what happens when memory is cheap??

The indictment of the Wegelin, the oldest Swiss private bank, moves the global banking transparency battle from bows and arrows to nuclear weapons. Do Swiss bankers' nerves fray after Wegelin indictment? Yes, no question.

Could Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) snag a tax break for supporting her slacker boyfriend who?s moved in with her on NBC?s 30 Rock? Maybe. If your boyfriend, grandma or unemployed brother is crashing on your pull-out couch, you might be able to claim them as a dependent on your federal income tax return. Yes, it?s not just children, or even relatives, that can count as dependents, but unrelated friends whom you support and who live with you. The idea is these folks aren?t filing tax returns and taking a personal exemption for themselves. So you add them to your return as a dependent, taking a dependent exemption, and share the wealth.

I spent a huge amount of time and money attending Harvard Business School (HBS). For the record, I loved almost every minute of it, and would strongly recommend it. However, more than 15 years later, I only remember a handful of things.

One year ago, there was a lot of chatter about Verizon Wireless getting the iPhone and the effect it would have on rival carrier AT&T. Now that 2011 sales have been tabulated and AT&T turns out to have activated far more iPhones than Verizon did ? 17.5 million units vs.

Just in time for the Super Bowl, Electronic Arts is launching its Madden NFL Superstars game on the Pokki desktop app platform. (I'm probably not watching since the 49ers are out, but I digress.) That means that people who were playing the Madden game on Facebook can now also play in on their desktop PCs. Pokki, which I've previously covered, is an app platform for desktop PCs. The service is designed to bring apps that have the functionality and feel of mobile apps to the desktop. That functionality includes real-time notifications and always-on functionality from the desktop without having to log-in to Facebook or other platforms.

Today's article on the New York Times website, "Expert Advice on the Best Ways to Secure Financial Aid,"  is a glaring example of more bad college advice. To say that parents should, "Embrace the fact that there is no 'secret,' no magic way to increase your aid chances," is misleading at best.

If animal testing is at odds with your values, there's something you can do to stop it. Nothing radical, just a little brand switching?and you don?t have to forgo shiny hair, lips and floors to do it.

I bet you don't think a lot about blogging platforms anymore. It's a piece of technology we take for granted. So easy to do, just a repeatable platform ready for you to fill with any words you want after a brief sign-up session, some custom colors and like magic, you have a blog.

Just read a really interesting piece by Dan Schwabel on the Amex Open Forum called Why Startup America Makes Your Life Better. He talks about President Obama's "Startup America" legislative agenda introduced, with the support of companies like American Express and Microsoft, to support entrepreneurship in America by lowering the barriers to entry for starting a business.

David Choe, 36, is an accomplished painter in Los Angeles who has exhibited his work in galleries and museums. But he achieved worldwide fame this week when tweeters and headline writers dubbed him "The Facebook graffiti artist." The accompanying story was less about his success as an artist, than about his success as an investor.

A Cambridge, Mass. startup is proving that technology doesn?t have to be slick or expensive, as long as it works.

For Brazil's richest man, billionaire Eike Batista, it's all about diversifying these days. That helps explain why he is investing in so many different sectors of the country's booming economy. In spite of having made his fortune in the mining and oil and gas industries -- his OGX company has just began the final procedures to extract its first barrel of oil -- Batista also recently partnered up with IMG Worldwide to acquire a sports and entertainment company (Brasil1, which was rebranded as IMX) that is involved with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and a number of other high-profile events in Brazil.

January?s jobs report on Friday showed widespread employment growth in the private sector, a trend that?s consistent with improved revenue and profit trends that financial information company Sageworks Inc. has seen among private companies over the past 18 months.

 

The ?Sales Funnel? is one of the most tried and true tools in business today. For every prospect you put into the top of the funnel, only a small percentage will drop out of the bottom of the funnel as a closed sale. Unless the funnel is constantly replenished at the top, it will experience moments when no sales drop out of the bottom. Every CEO, VP of Sales, and sales rep understands the importance of constant vigilance over the funnel ? or else deal with the consequences of dry spots as they go on.

I recently had the pleasure of collaborating with Peter Sims, the best-selling author of Little Bets and co-author of the best selling book True North.

You might know the script of the popular movie Very Bad Trip. A bunch of pals go out to celebrate before one of them's wedding. They wake up the next morning with a hangover, without remembering what happened as it all went wrong.

Patents by foreign-born employees play an important role in startup companies. Silver Peak, based in Santa Clara, California, is a great example. ?All issued Silver Peak patents have foreign inventors,? according to Tony Thompson, senior director, corporate communications at Silver Peak.

Helped by an overall positive market sentiment fuelled by a better than expected payroll report this morning, the stock of Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) crossed the $20 mark for first time since last March. Cisco?s? stock must have also been helped by an overall tw0-month high-tech rally, as it has gained roughly 15 percent since early December.

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Thinking about telecommuting but not sure how to discuss the topic with your boss? A reader recently contacted me and asked for advice. Here is our discussion with suggestions on how to handle the topic with your manager. Q: How should I bring ...

Telecommuting or working from outside the office, "keeps talented women in the workplace," according to an online survey conducted by market researcher Ispos, on behalf of Reuters News. This is due to these women now having the option to stay with their ...

Out: commuting, 9-to-5 schedules and standard-issue office computers. In: telecommuting, more flexible hours and using your own laptop or smartphone for work. Here's more on those and other changes that could be coming to your workplace this year ...

The struggle to drag yourself out of bed in the morning, grab that coffee-to-go, then settle in for a long drive to work may have some Canadians dreaming of working from home, but a poll has found that, while telecommuting is on the rise worldwide, it hasn ...

A couple of weeks ago, Seattle was hit by a major snowstorm that forced the city and its surrounding areas to close schools and offices, including mine. Initially, it seemed fortunate that I have a job that is mostly writing and editing and could be done ...

According to a new Ipsos/Reuters poll, one in five workers worldwide telecommute. A lot of people still have misconceptions about the telecommuting "work-style." It's not a surprise to me that so many people are working at home. In my family ...

A new poll of over 11,000 workers worldwide by Ipsos and Reuters shows that telecommuting is an increasingly popular choice, especially in non-Western countries. This will come as no surprise to many, but the numbers are higher than some might have guessed.

But if you’re in Europe, you still need to show up at the office. Telecommuting has become a global phenomenon. A new poll of more than 11,300 employees across 22 countries finds that one in six (17%) employees who can be connected online to their ...

Read more: Business, Community, Work at Home, Tax Season, Refund, Utilities, Mortgage, Dollars, IRS, Business, Dining Room, Telecommuting, Employer's Convenience, Uncle Sam's, Office, Deduction, Moneytalks, Sunrise With tax season upon us, we're all ...

Designed specifically for independent business owners, SmartBrief on Small Business is a FREE daily e-mail newsletter. It delivers the latest news and information independent business owners need in their quest to turn good ideas into great business.

Spotting a trend ahead of the competition can give you a big leg up. But how do you know what a trend is before it develops? Here are five ways you can spot trends while they are still on the horizon.

To make your home business successful, you need a game plan. Start your home business on the right foot with a plan that addresses these three issues.

Does your business have a marketing plan? You can probably survive without it, but if you really want your business to surge ahead, you're going to want to create one. Learn these three basic steps for creating a marketing plan.

Whether you're a big corporation or small business, getting employees to embrace change doesn't come easy. Find out what skills a leader needs in order to implement changes with less resistance.

Small businesses don't have the luxury of being able to test numerous marketing campaigns since they are usually working with a very tight budget. These five tips can help small businesses improve their advertising techniques without spending a lot of money.

If there's one thing politicians have mastered, it is defending their actions and statements. And though you might be tired of the political commercials, interviews and debates dominating the airwaves these days, there are a few things you can learn from them about defensive communication.

Marine's work never done, even when he returns home Jacksonville Daily News “Anything that comes up major, work through it. Don't leave any loose ends.” The last communication came just hours before he arrived home. “He called me about 11:30 last night and asked me why I wasn't sleeping. I haven't slept in days I'm just so ... and more »

Daily Mail

Millions urged to miss work to avoid one-hour Olympic queues on the Tube Daily Mail Firms have been told they should send staff on holiday or let them work from home to ease the strain on London's Underground as millions of visitors flood into the capital during the Games. Olympic organisers are also asking people to walk to work from ... and more »

In Adversity, Pieces of Home New York Times Tiffany Tyler In 2010, when Tiffany Tyler was out of work, she fell behind on rent. Previously homeless in 2001, she now has an apartment and is determined to find steady work to support her son. Piece of Home: Apartment key “If you have a key, ... and more »

The Virginian-Pilot

Changing times in real estate The Desert Sun “Some people need the structure of a large corporation, an office to go to every day, social atmosphere, whereas I work from my home,” he said. / Omar Ornelas, The Desert Sun Of nearly 3600 real estate agents licensed and operating in the Desert Area ... Housing correction isn't deterring agents-in-trainingThe Virginian-Pilot all 6 news articles »

Citizens Voice

Fire destroys Plains Twp. home; two firefighters hospitalized Citizens Voice By Andrew Staub (staff writer) KRISTEN MULLEN / THE CITIZENS' VOICE Firefighters work to extinguish the fire. Two people and three dogs were able to escape. Firefighters carry an injured firefighter away from the scene of a fire at 28 Henry St. in ... and more »

Vacuum Cleaner Entrepreneur Launches Home Party Business Houston Chronicle As Oreck explained, his devotion to America, and a strong desire to put more women and men to work, prompted him to start the new home party sales division called “David Oreck Candle Company.” “At this stage in my career, my goal is to give back to ... and more »

knox.VillageSoup.com

Marion Salminen — a life of work, family and community knox.VillageSoup.com Farm life meant work and home were inseparable. "They had a set-up in the basement to weigh and package eggs," said Calinda. "I remember being up here at night, listening to them talking and weighing. Their day never ended." "A lot of my friends lived ...

Home victories by Illini will do their bidding Peoria Journal Star Still sitting on the NCAA bubble, Northwestern has work to do in earning its first NCAA berth in school history, Palm said, before Illinois (16-6, 5-4) plays host to the Wildcats (13-8, 3-6) at 2 pm Sunday. The Illini resume is solid. and more »

PR Web (press release)

Manhattan Home & Apartment Renovation Company, Detail Renovations Announce the ... PR Web (press release) ... Detail Renovations in 2002 and specializes in apartment & home remodeling & renovations in Manhattan, New York. Being that Detail Renovations does remodeling for a living it essential that their website displays the latest and great of his work. and more »

How Memories Keep Us Apart Huffington Post Whether it was a problem at work or a fight at home, by having them concentrate on it and using the procedures, rapid change usually occurred. Fascinating connections were made, and it was like having a window into the brain. and more »