Stanley Bing is a columnist for FORTUNE Magazine and may also be read on a daily basis at stanleybing.com

Blog Entries by Fortune's Stanley Bing

Sorry, Accenture!

Posted December 15, 2009 | 03:34 PM (EST)


I certainly rail against the boneheads on the Internet who don't check their facts carefully enough, so it's kind of embarrassing that here I am one of them today. As many of you noticed in your comments, I was completely messed up when I said that the Arthur Anderson that...

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Wanted: AIG Management (Must Work for Cheap)

2 Comments | Posted December 7, 2009 | 11:47 AM (EST)


I would suggest that compensation czar Ken Feinberg place the following ad in all the appropriate entities immediately:

WANTED: Bright, dedicated corporate professionals for key posts at massive insurance entity now essentially owned by the Federal government. Positions open in finance and operations. Must be willing to work for...

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Journalism on the Internet: Garbage In, Garbage Out

11 Comments | Posted December 4, 2009 | 01:07 PM (EST)


Those who haven't already seen it should immediately hit this link for what I think is the best rundown of how the Internet is polluting and distorting our information cycle. It was written by tech writer Ed Bott on ZDNet two days ago. It chronicles the way that the...

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The Attack Of The Killer Holiday E-Discounts

1 Comments | Posted November 30, 2009 | 12:51 PM (EST)


This news arrived via e-mail just this morning:

Canon USA wants me to Wrap Up All My Holiday Shopping right now, and has many ways for me to save money.

Lulu.com, which helps people make vanity books, has a Cyber-Monday Sale.

Fantagraphic Books, which is a premiere publisher of comics...

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Your Country Needs You! Go Shopping!

17 Comments | Posted November 27, 2009 | 12:31 PM (EST)


Pick up those new GPS systems, now on sale at Best Buy, Wal-Mart and other fine stores for under $100!

Don't forget that flat-screen TV that's suddenly within your price range!

Remember to stop by the gigundo superstore to stock up on potato chips, lawn furniture and frozen shrimp!

Swing...

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What Are You Thankful for?

5 Comments | Posted November 23, 2009 | 01:38 PM (EST)


Thanksgiving is upon us. And it's the rare individual among us who doesn't have a lot to be thankful for. As we prepare for Thursday's festivities, I thought it would be nice to ask you what you would put on that list. Personally, here are some of the things that...

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Back off, Santa!

Posted November 20, 2009 | 12:38 PM (EST)


I was riding in a taxi the other day. The driver had the radio on. I don't like to tell drivers who have their radios on to turn them off. First, if it's not too loud, I figure it's their home for 10-12 hours per day and they have the...

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Hey! You! Get Off Of My Cloud!

Posted November 17, 2009 | 10:52 AM (EST)


It is my understanding that by the time we get to Web 4.0 everything we do will be up in the cloud. All our writing, our spreadsheets, our photos, our videos, all up in the cloud, wherever that is. I guess it will be like heaven. Nobody knows where that...

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Yes, I Found Everything I !@#!$# Wanted!

15 Comments | Posted November 16, 2009 | 12:35 PM (EST)


China is growing triple digits as we politely chug along toward greater mediocrity. Sarah Palin is topping the charts. Winter is coming in. My 401K is still under water. War in the East is widening. Bonuses will hit record highs on Wall Street this year. Do all these things...

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Let's Buy Donald Trump's Jet!

Posted November 11, 2009 | 02:41 PM (EST)


Today it is reported that Donald Trump, clearly not feeling the pinch of the times, is upgrading his mode of travel and putting his old 1968 private jet on the block. A nice tour of the facilities may be found here on this very site.

As jets go, it's pretty...

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Has Warren Gone Off the Rails?

8 Comments | Posted November 5, 2009 | 12:54 PM (EST)


I've been in a good mood all week about the announcement that Warren Buffett was investing $32 billion in Burlington Northern Santa Fe, the nation's 2nd largest railroad. "From my standpoint, it's a lot easier to make a $32 billion investment than 10 $3 billion investments," Mr. Buffett said, and...

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Come To Think of It -- eBay?

3 Comments | Posted November 3, 2009 | 10:32 AM (EST)


Reaction is mixed to the big new eBay advertising campaign, "Come to think of it -- eBay." Of course, reaction to anything is mixed these days. Anybody who does anything worth noting is stuck like a shish kebab by somebody who's got a bone to pick with something or another.

...
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Help! I Don't Wanna Die!

4 Comments | Posted November 2, 2009 | 10:30 AM (EST)


Those who were enjoying a weekend of high sports drama or familial bliss might have missed another media obituary this past Sunday -- David Carr's persuasive au revoir to business journalism in the New York Times.

Carr cites several "technical reasons underlying the collapse -- and that's what it is...

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Northwest Pilots and the FAA: Snoozing? Cruising?

15 Comments | Posted October 29, 2009 | 12:58 PM (EST)


The Case of the Northwest Pilots keeps getting funnier and funnier. Of course, it wouldn't be one bit amusing if it had happened to me, but as Woody Allen once said, when I get a hangnail, it's tragedy; when you fall down the stairs, it's comedy. Or maybe it wasn't...

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This Is It! The Biggest (Secular) Dead Guy Ever!

2 Comments | Posted October 27, 2009 | 02:32 PM (EST)


Today is This Is It Day in Los Angeles. All the theaters at the swank new multiplex downtown are devoted to the premiere of Michael Jackson's new posthumous movie, a lovely, gift-wrapped sausage made up of everything they could find on the floor after the Grade A beef left the...

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Things That Don't Work: The Universal Remote

3 Comments | Posted October 26, 2009 | 02:18 PM (EST)


I got a Universal Remote. Have any of you ever had one that worked? This one didn't. Doesn't. Won't.

I've had them in the past. But sometimes when you have an object that disappoints you, you try again a few years later. Like, a while back I tried to set...

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Plea$e, Mr. Feinberg! $ay it Ain't $o!

1 Comments | Posted October 22, 2009 | 12:30 PM (EST)


So it's finally coming down. The pay czar has studied the situation. Thought about it. And declared his intention to send a message. Pay for the top 175 executives at the financial institutions that took a bailout are to have their base pay cut by as much as 90%, and...

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Imagine No Foreclosures... (It's Easy If You Try)

7 Comments | Posted October 20, 2009 | 10:52 AM (EST)


All it would take would be a little legislation.

How about this: Let's have a federal bill that states that any bank that took a bailout loan and hasn't paid it back yet isn't permitted to foreclose on anybody's primary residence. In addition, bonuses for senior officers at lending institutions...

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10 Ways You Can Celebrate Boss's Day

16 Comments | Posted October 16, 2009 | 02:39 PM (EST)


  1. Say "Happy Boss's Day" to your boss. Without irony, if possible.
  2. If you have a problem on the job, do not bring it to your boss on this day without also carrying with you an appropriate solution. This will be a nice change for some of you.
  3. If there is...
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BusinessWeek and Bloomberg: Congrats to the Happy Couple!

1 Comments | Posted October 15, 2009 | 10:22 AM (EST)


A few months ago, I had dinner with a friend of mine who's in the magazine business. "Business Week is for sale," I said. "You guys want to buy it?"

"I don't think we need any more liabilities," he replied.

Of course, I knew where he was coming from, and...

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