“Car Talk will now be available via the Windows Media Player, rather than RealMedia. That’s right, we’re unceremoniously dumping RealMedia. Why? Because, for a long time, we’ve had tons of complaints about RealNetworks. And the one that ticks us off the most is the perceived trickery they use to sell their premium products. This is just our opinion, mind you, but it’s shared by enough of our listeners, that we finally decided to take action. Here’s the problem. In order to hear our audio, you have to go to Real.com and download their ‘free’ RealPlayer. But when you get to the web site, the free player is harder to find than Osama Bin Laden at night. And the site seems to do everything it possibly can to get you to ‘buy’ a player instead. You have to work very hard to get the free player. And we think that stinks. And get this. It stinks so much that it even makes Microsoft look good by comparison. That’s something, huh?”

“Searching for signs of confidence? Gaze no further than the small-business world. The number of new incorporations shot up in 2003. The number of limited-liability corporations registered in Delaware ó long popular for its incorporation-friendly state laws ó is up 30% in the past year. Incorporation represents a commitment; only dynamic businesses serious about future growth will go through the effort and expense.”

“Our first survey of great leaders looks beyond heroics to find the most effective managers for this tough economy. Find out how six top entrepreneurs get workers to follow them (almost) anywhere.”

“Boards of directors, increasingly impatient with CEOs who donít deliver, have climbed on the execution bandwagon too. Booz Allen Hamiltonís annual study of CEO succession trends showed that forced turnover of underperforming CEOs at major corporations reached a new high in 2002, rising a staggering 70 percent from 2001 and accounting for 39 percent of all chief executive transitions. But is execution simply a matter of firing the CEO and bringing in a charismatic leader who can get on with ‘getting things done?’ Not at all.”