March Madness and Super Bowl Pools Still Illegal but Not Quite as Much

/

I don't know anyone who has been thrown in jail or fined $5,000 for participating in a March Madness pool, but, whew, effective January 1st, at least we don't have to worry about this prospect! Thanks to California Assembly Bill 58 "Sports Betting Pools" law signed last year, the your prospects for going to jail have been reduced even further!

Well, that's not exactly the case. If you run or participate in a sports betting pool that has at least $2,500 at stake and/or is run...gulp...online, you continue to face a possible misdemeanor or even felony charges.

But even if you participate in a little $5 sports pool and fill out your selections on those printed bracket sheets, you still face the prospect of a $250 infraction.

Now I'm wondering if there are any loopholes. If everyone wagers, say, a six-pack of beer, does that

Read More

Outlawing Trans Fats and Fast Food

/

NOTE FROM CONEJO JOE:  THIS WAS ORIGINALLY POSTED ON JULY 31, 2008 BUT WILL TAKE EFFECT TOMORROW, 1/1/10.

Last week Arnold signed AB 97, the California Uniform Retail Food Facilities Law, which outlaws trans fats from restaurant foods by 1/1/10 (with the exception of baked goods, which get a year reprieve to 1/1/11).  This makes California the first state in the nation to enact such a ban and makes use of trans fats a misdemeanor punishable by fines ranging from $25 to $1000 per infraction.

This is not so bad given trans fats, mostly liquid oils made into solid fats like shortening and margarine by partially hydrogenating them, are bad for you!  Consumption of trans fats as we know is linked to heart disease and related ailments.  No doubt this will make it more costly to eat out.  But think of all the savings in medical expenses down the road!  Not to mention, maybe it will create more jobs...for Trans Fat Cops!

McDonalds has stopped using trans fats by switching to Canola Oil blends.  Hot Dog on a Stick uses soy

Read More

A Friend of Mine Told Me I Had to Go See Michael Jackson's This Is It

/

This friend, who I trust very much, told me that I HAD to see Michael Jackson's This Is It, that it will be one of the top selling movies of all time, that it will win numerous academy awards and will be celebrated as one of the best movies of all time.

Whew! I told him I'd see it!

My friend Chuck rewarded himself to a movie after finishing a major project. He chose This Is It on the day of the movie's release, October 28, 2009. He saw the movie at the Roxy Stadium on Verdugo in Camarillo. There were maybe 15 people in the theater.

Chuck and I, both in our mid-forties, enjoyed Michael Jackson's music over the years and had an appreciation for his musical and performance talent.  We bought his music from time to time, albums like Thriller and Off the Wall. Who could possibly not enjoy any of MJ's music!?  He is an icon.

Yet we were not MJ fanatics, never went to his concerts and didn't rave about him. We both thought his cosmetic surgery escapades were pretty strange and that he completely disfigured himself. So what though, he had some quirks. We didn't pay much attention to his legal issues through all the years, giving MJ the benefit of the doubt (though still acknowledging MJ did some weird stuff).  But we respected and admired MJ for his incredible talent.

Chuck was mesmerized by the movie. He saw the side of MJ that we never saw before. This was MJ in pure work mode, preparing for his upcoming sold out series of 50 concerts at the O2 Arena in London (we're talking over a million seats sold out within like a week). This was MJ's first concert tour for a dozen years, considered the biggest concert comeback of all time.

What impressed Chuck was the pure perfectionist MJ was in the film footage, tirelessly working on details with his talented entourage. We saw MJ interact with musicians and dancers.  We saw how soft

Read More

Thousand Oaks 2009 Community Attitude Survey Report Issued October 9th

/

Since 1969, the City of Thousand Oaks has conducted a communitywide attitude survey every 5 years to sample city residents' views on planning and other community issues.

The 2009 survey was conducted this summer by True North Research of Escondido.  They phone surveyed a "statistically representative" sample of 400 Thousand Oaks residents in area codes 91360, 91361, 91362 and 91320.  There are 94,000 adult residents in Thousand Oaks and 129,000 total residents. True North said with this sample they are 95% confident that survey results are within a +/- 4.9% margin of error.

Enough of that statistical mumbo jumbo.

They also did a supplemental web survey, sending postcards to residents in late August/early September - 2,785 people logged in and completed the survey (including me). But this survey was not considered "valid" because people were self-selected, not randomized.

Thousand Oaks residents by a landslide are happy to live here. 97% of residents are happy with the quality of life.  This is consistent with previous surveys, where this has ranged from 96% to 98% of residents. In fact, True North indicates in its report that T.O. residents are among the most satisfied residents among over 100 similar studies it has done in California.

There is lot of other information in the 68 page survey report accessible at http://www.toaks.org/survey/ but here are some things I found interesting:

Commuting

52% of T.O. residents commute outside of the Conejo Valley for their jobs, and 35% of those commute over 60 minutes round trip. In the larger web survey, 54% commute and 48% of those commute over 60 minutes round trip. These numbers indicate anywhere from 18% to 26% of Thousand Oaks workers commute more than an hour a day.  That's a lotta driving!!

What We Want More Of

People were asked what they want to see more of in Thousand Oaks. 27% (30% in web survey) want more family restaurants like Olive Garden and Red Lobster. 17% (23% on web) want more discount stores like Costco and Big Lots, 15% (17% on web) want more department stores like Target and ugh, Walmart, and 11% (12% on web) want more speciality goods stores like Dick's Sporting Goods and Babies R Us.

Information Sources for News, Events, Programs

They asked people to list their top 3 information sources used for learning about City news, events and programs.  The top 5 sources were The Acorn (41%), Ventura County Star (29%), Internet (general) (26%), City website (22%) and City newsletter (14%). WOW!!  The Acorn blew away the VC Star on this question.  Maybe because The Acorn is delivered free of charge weekly and it because it focused very specifically on highly localized news. 

But even more shocking was that 73% of the 2,785 web survey takers say they use The Acorn compared to 46% for the VC Star. Then the 3rd top choice in the web survey, at 26%, was utility bill inserts.  What the??  Only 2% of phone survey takers mentioned utility bill inserts.  Ironic that only 5% of the web survey takers listed the internet as a top 3 choice vs 26% in the phone survey.

Something tells me this was a poorly designed question.  There is way too much disparity between the 400 person phone survey and the 2,785 person web survey results. But kudos are still in order for The Acorn.

Survey Methodology

This year's survey cost $30K according to The Acorn. The last survey done in 2004 cost half that I believe because it was done by the City. The 400 person "randomized" approach this year was new. In prior years, the survey was physically mailed to nearly 12,000 households at random with a 27% response rate. Response rates using this approach ranged from 27% to 37% going back to 1979.

Well that's it! For more details, visit this article on The Acorn website and this one at the VC Star.

Look Ma! I Got My California IOU Today!

/

An update: Wells Fargo and B of A announced they will start accepting the IOUs again. Wells Fargo on 9/4 and B of A on 9/9.  Yippee! Or alternatively you can mail the IOU to the State Treasurer's office with a return address and they will send you a check to cash in return. 

Yippee!  California State Controller John Chiang today (8/13/09) announced they will be able to stop issuing IOUs on 9/4/09 and start redeeming previously issued IOUs on that date. 

Well you know, maybe holding on to this IOU isn't such a bad thing after all.  With money market and CD interest rates hovering near 1%, holding on to this $2000 IOU paying 3.75% isn't so bad.  And, the added bonus is that interest on the warrants is both state and federal TAX-FREE!  If you're in the 9.55% state and 28% federal tax brackets, that equates to a pre-tax yield of 6%!

So John Chiang, while I still enjoy ranting about these ridiculous IOUs because the cost of issuing and processing them must be outrageous, could I hold on to mine for another year!?

Chiang will give a more definite answer on the IOU redemption timeline after his emergency meeting with the Pooled Money Investment Board on 8/21/09.  I spoke with the California State Treasurer's office about the time frames involved. He confirmed that IOU holders will have to either mail in the IOUs to receive a check (with interest) or perhaps after the PMIB meeting, more banks will start accepting the IOUs again.

But if ya ask me, I'm holding on to mine until the end at this point.  If you take the IOU to the bank, they get all the interest :<

Originally Posted 7/25/09:

Its my own fault I suppose for filing my tax returns 3 months late (with extensions). Today I received, f

Read More

Recent American Express Letter Regarding Security Breach - An Example of Good Communication

/

My wife recently received this letter in the mail from American Express:

The 2nd page of the letter (not shown) apologized for any inconvenience and was signed by the VP, Privacy Officer.

While at first it was scary to read the letter, it quickly was apparent that Amex had a handle on the situation and was closely monitoring the account for fraud perpetrated by the former employee who obtained the credit card information.

And I was most impressed by the fact that the toll-free was immediately answered by a LIVE PERSON when I called at 8 pm!  No wait, no transfers, no provide all sorts of information.  The woman on the other end of the line was friendly, cordial, knowledgeable and answered all my questions. I was truly expecting a recorded line, 20 minute wait, hold, provide card number, PIN, mom's maiden name, mailing address, etc., etc.

Nice job Amex! You took a negative situation and turned it positive!

FREE eBook "Free: The Future of a Radical Price" by Chris Anderson

/

This book entitled "Free: The Future of a Radical Price" has been launched as a free eBook by author Chris Anderson.  The book is about launching products for free or less than actual cost while converting some of the customers to additional paid features. Click the rectangle in the upper right hand menu below to enlarge the book.

FREE (full book) by Chris Anderson