A musical on Yodok?! North Korean prison hits the stage

I was cruising around YouTube for some video clips on North Korea and Ahn Myong Chol, a former prison guard who later defected, for a North Korea story I’m putting together for Gadling. Chol has made his name as a journalist by sneaking back into the country and recording all kinds of footage that would be impossible to secure otherwise. Well, I couldn’t find the videos he shot of an open market where human flesh was (allegedly) being sold, but I did stumble upon something very strange: a video trailer promoting a musical about Yodok, one of the most notorious prison camps in North Korea.

That’s how strange it is to cover North Korea. You really never do know what you’ll encounter. A musical on Yodok? Crazy. Fortunately, I hate musicals.

New York Loves Me!

Yeah, I really like the new TJ Maxx ad. I think it likes me, too.

Drake, AICPA and tax software … Dad wins

My father and I have a running thing about Drake Software. I used to be the software review writer for CPA Magazine, which I did for more than three years (until I needed a break). When it came to vanilla tax prep, most of them were generally the same. But, my father’s a big Drake fan, and I always felt it differentiated itself by its poor user interface design.

So, a recent e-mail from my father was good for a laugh. The 2009 American Institute for Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) just published its annual survey on tax software, and Drake came out on top.

You win, Dad.

Read the AICPA survey >>

Obama tells banks to lend, clearly doesn’t understand risk management

Bankers need to put their money to work, President Obama says. On Sunday, he said that the “fat cat bankers,” a safe expression to use when appealing to Middle America, “still don’t get it.” So, he’s pushing them to make more loans and accept the fact that regulation is coming.

The People’s Jeans

Corporate Blogging: Ignore the “B” Word!

Too often, companies interested in launching blogs spend too much time agonizing over the “B” word. Either they fear what they think is the “wild west,” or convention-constrained Gen Xers and Gen Yers get hung up on whether the ultimate creation is actually a “real blog.” Forget all this shit. Look at a blog as a technology platform, and think of it as something to be filled with content that will advance your company in the marketplace. A successful corporate blog will fall somewhere in between. Just keep the following four tips in mind.