A Firmware Engineer at Tesla Motors (they make a very cool electric sports car that goes 0-60 in 4 seconds!) decided to build these all-electric pink bunny slippers just to see if they could.

If you have a home based business, freelance and work from home, or telecommute, these babies are just the ticket. They only go 15mph, but for a jaunt to the grocery store you can save gas and keep your bunny slippers on too.

Twenty-six states have ‘business opportunity’ laws to protect you from those idiots that claim you can make thousands of dollars while you sleep. The laws prohibit the sale of business opportunities unless you’re given a pre-sale disclosure document that must be filed with a designated state agency.

They typically cover every imaginable type of business opportunity that might be offered. If a business opportunity seller is not required to provide pre-sale disclosures by the FTC Franchise and Business Opportunity Rule, then these disclosures will almost always be required by the laws of the states listed below. If you live somewhere else take a look at one of the other states laws to see what questions you should ask.

The disclosures required by state business opportunity laws differ somewhat, and typically they provide more abbreviated information than the FTC’s Rule requires. However, most of these laws provide you important rights and remedies, including required security bonds to cover investor losses. If the opportunity you’re looking at can’t be verified with a state agency or the FTC, run don’t walk to the nearest exit.

If you are considering purchasing a work-at-home or other business opportunity, and live in a state with a business opportunity law, find out more about the protection provided by your state statute before you invest.

Alaska, California,Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky,

Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Carolina,

Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin

Alaska (filing required)

Attorney General’s Office

Commercial and Fair Business Section

1031 W. 4th Avenue, Suite 200

Anchorage, Alaska 99501

(907) 269-5200

[Top]

California (filing required)

Attorney General’s Office

Public Inquiry Unit

P.O. Box 944255

Sacramento, CA 94244-2550

Toll-free in California only (800) 952-5225

Out-of-state callers (916) 322-3360

E-Mail: piu@doj.ca.gov

[Top]

Connecticut (filing required)

Department of Banking

Securities Division

260 Constitution Plaza

Hartford, CT 06103

Phone: (860) 240-8230

Toll-free: (800) 831-7225

Fax: (860) 240-8295

Website: http://www.state.ct.us/dob

E-mail: marcelle.groves@po.state.ct.us

[Top]

Florida (filing required)

Dept. Agri. & Consumer Services

407 S. Calhoun St.

Finance & Accounting Section

Tallahassee, FL 32301

(850) 488-2221

(800) 342-2176 (FL only)

[Top]

Georgia (no filing required)

Office of Consumer Affairs

No. 2 - Martin Luther King Dr.

Plaza Level, East Tower

Atlanta, GA 30334

(404) 656-3790

[Top]

llinois (filing required)

Illinois Securities Department

Lincoln Tower

520 S. Second St. Suite 200

Springfield, IL 62701

(217)782-2256

[Top]

Indiana (filing required)

Indiana Office of Attorney General

Consumer Protection Division

302 West Washington Street

IGCS 5th Floor

Indianapolis, IN 46204

(317) 232-6330

[Top]

Iowa (filing required)

Securities Bureau

Second Floor

Lucas State Office Building

Des Moines, IA 50319

(515) 281-4441

[Top]

Kentucky (filing required)

Office of the Attorney General

Office of Consumer Protection

1024 Capital Center Drive

Frankfort, KY 40601

(502) 573-2200 NOTE: DOESN’t Work

[Top]

Louisiana (bond filing req’d)

Office of the Attorney General

Consumer Protection Section

1885 3rd St.

Baton Rouge, LA 70802

(225) 326-6460

[Top]

Maine (filing required)

Banking Bureau

Securities Division

State House - Station 121

Augusta, ME 04333

(207) 624-8551

[Top]

Maryland (filing required)

Attorney General’s Office

Securities Division

200 St. Paul Pl. - 20th Floor

Baltimore, MD 21202

(301) 576-6360

[Top]

Michigan (notice required)

Consumer Protection Division

Dept. of the Attorney General

PO Box 30213

Lansing, MI 48909

(517) 373-7117

[Top]

Minnesota (filing required)

Department of Commerce

Registration Division

133 East 7th Street

St. Paul, MN 55101

(651) 296-6328

[Top]

Nebraska (filing required)

Dept. of Banking & Finance

Commerce Court

1230 “O” Street, Suite 400

PO Box 95006

Lincoln, NE, 68509-5006

1-877-471-3445

Website: http://www.ndbf.org/

[Top]

New Hampshire (filing required)

Attorney General’s Office

Consumer Protection Div.

State House Annex

Concord, NH 03301

(603) 271-3641

[Top]

North Carolina (filing required)

North Carolina Department of the Secretary of State

P.O. Box 29622

Raleigh, NC 27626-0622

(919) 807-2000

[Top]

Ohio (no filing required)

Attorney General’s Office

Consumer Protection Section

25th Floor, State Office Tower

30 E. Broad Street - 14th Floor

Columbus, OH 43215

(614) 466-8831

800-282-0515 (in-state only)

Website: http://www.ag.state.oh.us

[Top]

Oklahoma (filing required unless exempt)

Oklahoma Department. of Securities

Suite 860, First National Center

120 N. Robinson

Oklahoma City, OK 73102

(405) 280-7700 (voice)

(405) 280-7742 (fax)

Website: http://www.securities.ok.gov

[Top]

South Carolina (filing required)

Secretary of State’s Office

P.O. Box 11350

Columbia, SC 29211

(803) 734-2169

[Top]

South Dakota (filing required)

South Dakota Division of Securities

445 E. Capitol Ave.

Pierre, SD 57501

(605) 773-4823

[Top]

Texas (filing required)

Secretary of State’s Office

Statutory Documents SectionP.O. Box 12887

Austin, TX 78711-2887

(512) 475-1769

Website: http://www.sos.state.tx.us/statdoc/statforms.shtml#BOAF

[Top]

Utah (filing required)

Consumer Protection Division

160 East 300 South

Salt Lake City, UT 84111

(801) 530-6601

[Top]

Virginia (no filing required)

Consumer Affairs Office

101 North 8th Street

Richmond, VA 23219

(804) 786-0594

(800) 451-1525 (in-state only)

[Top]

Washington (filing required)

The Department of Financial Institutions

Securities Division

P.O. Box 9033

Olympia, WA 98507-9033

Voice: (360) 902- 8760

Fax (360) 902-0524

[Top]

Wisconsin

Wisconsin Department of Agriculture

Trade and Consumer Protection

P.O. Box 8911

Madison, WI 53708-8911

(800) 422-7128

[Top]

The President and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki spoke today by secure video while Bush worked from home on his ranch in Texas (image below is White House).

Seems like a good choice when one estimate we found suggests it cost $68,000 an hour to operate each of the two special Presidential Boeing 747s a.k.a USAF VC-25. The National Geographic says the aircraft—called Air Force One when the President is aboard—cost $180 Million a year to operate and maintain.

If those numbers are accurate, a round trip to Baghdad from Andrews AFB in Washington costs something like $1.5 Million, not counting all the costs associated with advance planning, transportation of Secret Service personnel and equipment, etc. etc.

Seems to us that a teleconference makes a lot of cents. As the cost of travel continues to climb you’ll see more and more of this kind of telework thanks to improved video confencing and secure telecommunications.

Deb Perelman over at ZDnet posted a blog last week titled “What your boss hates about telecommuting.” She argues that

1. Telecommuting is often poorly defined.
2. Not every company, or job role or individual is cut out for remote work.
3. There is no substitute for face-to-face interaction.

Can’t argue with any of those points, in general. But she doesn’t seem to understand some of the fundamentals of telecommuting.

Telecommuting, like any other business method, needs to be understood and managed. If it’s poorly defined then someone isn’t doing their job. Furthermore, if anyone thinks that telecommuting simply means not driving to the office, that you should be at your desk just as if you were in the office, then some education is in order. In the office and at home results are what matter not sitting at a desk from 9 to 5. If you or management can’t define your work in terms of product, not process, the definition problem goes deeper than just telecommuting.

She quotes Susan Harkins at Tech Republic’s Tech of All Trades blog in defense of her second point: “…Technical support can be awkward. IT has never made a house call to my house.” But tech support using remote desktop software and other more sophisticated tools means that most tech support solutions will work at home. Obviously if your job depends on technology and you don’t have a clue how to do what’s necessary to keep it working there’s a problem that isn’t a telecommuting issue.

While the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ problem may be an issue in old style companies, modern companies actively embrace the advantages of e-work. The three founders of the hugely successful mySQL (24 million installations, 50,000 downloads a day)), for example, each live in a different country. Today their 400+ employees live in 26 countries on every continent except Antarctica.