Google Offers Interactive Plots – Unemployment & Population

In the ongoing attempt by Google to provide access to all of the world’s information, Google has introduced a new search feature.  Google will now return interactive charts of unemployment rates and population using US government data.  You can access these charts entering ‘unemployment rate’ or ‘population’, followed by US, a state or a county.  The above image shows the unemployment rates for the US and two counties.  I lived in Duval county in the 1990s when unemployment was very low – I am surprised that the unemployment rate now exceeds the US average rate.  I also lived in Roanoke county in the early 2000s.  Roanoke county was known for it’s stable economy.  The graphic shows that the recession has likely spared very few communities in the US.

Although one has to be concerned about Google’s virtual monoply on search, tools such as providing access to government data can only be seen positively.  I have spent some time looking at government data and soon realized that I could spend hours trying to generate simple charts.   Google promises that this access to unemployment rates and population figuress is just the beginning to providing more access to government data.

My Online Glasses Do Not Work – Why?

photo credit: net_efekt

Some visitors have found my previous post on buying eyeglasses online because they were searching for help in figuring out why they could not see with the glasses that they had purchased online or they wanted help with measuring their PD.  In this post I will list some of the reasons why your vision might not be best with your new glasses and help you troubleshoot.  I also have included some links at the end of this post that will help you measure your PD accurately.

Before you read further … it is always a good idea to figure out if your vision is poor with one or both eyes.  To check this, alternately cover each eye and compare the vision with each eye while looking at distance or near – where ever you may be having a problem.

Prescription is Not Correct

Consider this a possibility if the new pair of glasses is your first pair with the new prescription.  If there was an error in determining your prescription or when writing it down, it is more likely that one eye is wrong than both eyes.  If you suspect that the prescription is wrong, you will have to return to the eye doctor that provided you with the new prescription or find a new doctor.

Interactive Graphic of US Job Losses (April 2009)

Chris Wilson at Slate has published a very impressive interactive graphic of job gains and losses from January 2007 through February 2009.   I have pasted the January 2007 map, which is mostly blue indicating job gains and the February 2009 map, which is mostly red, indicating job losses.   Please go here to see this graphic of job changes on a month by month basis and note the dramatic increase in red (job losses) that started in October 2008.  (credit to paul.kedrosky.com)

Invest In Gold and Eat It Too?

There has been a lot of buzz about investing in gold.  This post at Business Pundit is the first post that I have seen about eating gold. (credit to The Presurfer)

Wealth Itself Progress Report March 2009

March 2009 Site Update

I have always been drawn to blogger’s posts when they review the relative success of their site.  If you have a similar interest, please continue reading.  As a monthly feature, I will be providing a brief overview of visitors, post activity, income, expenses and key insights I have gained in developing Wealth Itself.

Expenses = $380.29

• I purchased the site during March for $299.00 on Sitepoint via an auction.  I purchased a site rather than starting a new site for the following reasons:
  • I thought that it would minimize the WordPress learning curve.  With a limited technical background, I couldn’t quite imagine starting from scratch.  I think that I made the right decision, although I have spent hours understanding how the site works and making changes.  The prior owner was very cooperative during and after the transfer.
  • I wanted a site with some presence in the search engines.   The site continues to get visitors because of articles and activities of the prior owner.  After changing the domain name, the site was indexed by google within days.  On April 1st, the PageRank of 1 of the prior site was assigned to Wealth Itself.  Sometimes, it can take months to get a PageRank value assigned for a new site.
• Domain registration fees = $33.86.  This is for two names, one abandoned, both with privacy registration.
• Host fees = $47.43 for one partial month and one year paid in advance.

Income = None

• I have included ads and links from Google Adsense, Commission Junction and Amazon.
• One link remains on the site that was sold by the prior owner; I agreed to keep this link as a condition of the sale of the site.

Blogging

• In addition to the two posts announcing changes to the site, in March I posted three original articles.
• I participated in one blogging carnival at MoneyNing.
• Visitors (tracking began on March 18th):
  • 174 first time visitors
    • 40 on peak day (due to my post on the the blogging carnival)
  • 4 returning visitors
  • 234 pageloads

S&P Chart – Bear Rally or New Bull Market (April 2, 2009)?

Chart from dshort.com - Click on chart for full size

I have posted a chart from dshort.com that contains the plots of the S&P averages during the last four major bear markets. While the stock market seems to be roaring ahead now, it is wise to remember that bear markets do not go straight down – even the crash of 1929 had bear market rallies. Also, the chart points out that we are 18 months into this recession – it took 30.5 months to reach the bottom of the tech market crash that started in 2000. Sometimes wealth preservation is the better option than wealth creation.

Best posts on Wealth Itself from Mar 2009

• 15 Minutes to Riches Has A New Owner
  Posted on Saturday, March 7th, 2009 in Site Update – Comments: (0)
  March 7, 2009: I have purchased 15minutestoriches.com from Matt.  Over the next week or so I will be working through the usual issues with a transfer, introducing a new name for the website and will begin regular posting.
• 15 Minutes to Riches is Now Wealth Itself
  Posted on Sunday, March 15th, 2009 in Site Update – Comments: (0)
  March 15, 2009: The new name of the site is Wealth Itself (www.wealthitself.com).  Please see About Wealth Itself on why I picked the domain name. If you are looking for a post, please search the Archives or use the site’s Google custom search function.  I will be soon posting regularly, mostly about the creation and preservation of wealth, but not exclusively.