A milestone of sorts, this column is.

This is the 300th time it has appeared in this Saturday space during the last 12 years. The Times' continued support and encouragement is much appreciated.

However, as I think about those 300 columns -- the musings, the rants, the immodest proposals, the occasional insights -- I have to conclude the power of the press is vastly overrated.

You see, a number of goofy things in the business world that have drawn the ire of this scribe during the years continue to exist, despite this column's ramblings and remonstrations.

Yes, the business world remains a very imperfect place.

Take CEO compensation, for instance. Column 59 from October 1998 railed against undeserved executive pay and column 97 pointed out the ironies of the "failure bonus" for some CEOs. The headlines for a 2002 column read, "Greed at the top destroys trust." Hmm. The last time I checked, those things still were very much with us.

The focus of a 1999 column about redundancy looked at the absurdity of businesses referring to "ATM Machines" and "PIN Numbers," both of which are redundant (the "M" in ATM already stands for "machine.") It seems even worse now.

Not only do I still run into those two verbal violations of common sense, but other new beauties like "DSL Line" have entered into the language.

Column 147 pointed out the extensive use of "teen talk" at work, with the observation that people even at the upper levels of companies were slipping into adolescent illiteracy by using expressions such as, "So, I'm like," instead of "So, I said."

Stuff like that presaged the fall of Rome, yet the trend continues.

And you might remember a 2004 column about the most preposterous of all gifts: the naming of a star after you. Just send the "International Star Registry" $60 and they'll do just that.

It's simultaneously a great business model and a great scam -- selling something that is not theirs to sell and having an unlimited inventory that costs them noting. I think their business is thriving, column notwithstanding.

Column 79 in July 1999 took a hard look at the growing practice of taking work on vacation. And that was even before the Blackberry Plague had made work-life imbalance so convenient. That column certainly was low impact.

So, maybe this column hasn't changed the business world. Nutty tipping practices still are in place (112), people at work still say, "no problem," when they should say, "you're welcome" (147) and Fortune's "Great Companies" still are not the same as Fortune's "Best Places to Work" (219).

But the "atta boys" I get from readers far outweigh the notes that say, "Hoban, you are a moron." And that's why the column exists -- to provide you a few new insights and/or a few laughs. And every day something happens in the biz world that is column material. You can't make this stuff up.

So, thanks for reading and stay tuned. It's been "no problem."

Opinions expressed solely are those of the writer. Mike Hoban, of Crown Point, is a senior consultant for an international leadership development and training firm. Send mail to him c/o The Times, or e-mail him at business-at-large@sbcglobal.net.