'... "Does a price that ends in -000, like $490,000 seem casual? Is $499,999 too blue-light special?" I stared into my salad. Little did I know that Redfin's mad scientist, Mose Andre, was working on that very problem, crunching statistics on the data-set we pulled to calculate the Redfin Advantage. ...' [0]

great article. what made it better was reading the blog [1] ~ hilarious. The first thing I read is company blog(s). You can tell a lot from the blog (SWOT) [2]. The company hierarchy, culture, toolset used, market. If a blog is boring, doesn't contain at least some sort of technical (even if it's just a hint), I mark that down as a 'old skool' software company who's roots are shipping executables or companies without leaders who understand 'transparency'.

Reference

[0] Redfin blog, 'Pricing Advice: Make the Last 3 Digits -500'

http://blog.redfin.com/redfin/2007/03/pricing_advice_make_the_last_3.html

[1] Redfin, 'Redfin blog mentioned in article'

http://blog.redfin.com

[2] SWOT is an analysis tool and stands for Strength, Weakness, Opportunity & Threat

Wow, thanks a lot for the link. As someone who has not fully submitted myself to the blogging craze, I had some trouble seeing what it was all about. After reading this article, I am thoroughly convinced that widespread blogging is a very good thing.

I guess the main thing holding me back from publishing my own musings online is the thought, "Well, who is going to care?" This article emphatically declares, "Google will, and all who seek information on you in the future."

Google's stated mission "is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." I find it refreshing to discover that a large corporate entity has actually been able to improve the world in a way not even predicted by a typically lofty mission statement, by giving truth a voice.

Well personally I find that keeping secrets hurts any relationship, company or personal.

People are bloody minded bastards when they think you are not on their side, but when you clean up your messes and make them feel included they will take a bullet for you.