Online music pricing

As almost always, an interesting story in the Economics Focus section of the latest Economist magazine (hopefully not behind their firewall). For some reason this is one of my favorite sections of the magazine and this story on online music pricing shows why. I am shocked with the idea that people would pay well over $2 per online song, but the idea of different pricing models is definitely a good one. Offering 100 downloads for $25.00 could interest me in a way that current iTunes pricing never will.

But then, I'm the guy who got tapes of his friends' albums when I was young, so I'm probably too far down the curve to be of huge interest to music sellers.

I can't stop playing!

A good story about some of the features of casual games that make them addictive to people. Its not Bejeweled for me, but I totally understand the concept. Of course knowing why probably won't make them any less addictive to us.

Raise a toast on Nov. 9

A bit early, but this excellent story from Reason magazine reminds us all of the incredible events of 20 years ago. For me, the falling of the Berlin Wall, begun on November 9th really represented the end of the Soviet era and the beginning of an incredible transformation of our world into a better place for everyone. So lets mark our calendars and drink a toast on the 20th anniversary of this amazing event.

I want that Honda!

Well, outside of Nokia suing Apple for patent infringement on the iPhone, its not a big news day in mobile, but I love the look of the upcoming Honda CR-Z in this Wired story. I agree with the overall point too, small, fuel-efficient cars in the 80's were better than they are today.

Stargazing

I highly recommend stargazing, even just casually like I do, and here's a good story about how to best enjoy it. I'm blessed with reasonably dark skies at night and an open area for viewing at my home, so just look there.

Battle of the Clouds

This article in the latest Economist does a nice job of summarizing the positions of Microsoft, Google and Apple in the area of cloud computing (possibly only available to subscribers). The key point is that its unlikely that cloud computing will have the same strong network effects we have seem in things like the OS and search, so that there should be room for all 3 to do well, as well as allow for many others.

Ringtones falling

This blurb from a Fierce Wireless review of the recent CTIA show was particularly interesting:

Ringtones, once the biggest revenue-generator of the mobile content vertical, are now little more than an afterthought. Ringtone sales in the U.S. declined from $714 million in 2007 to $541 million in 2008--a 24 percent year-over-year drop--according to research firm SNL Kagan, which says the annual decline is the first ever posted for a U.S. mobile content category. In all, ringtones' share of total U.S. mobile music revenues fell from 80 percent in 2005 to 63 percent in 2008.

SNL Kagan credits the slump to consumers learning to create their own ringtones by side-loading edited MP3 clips to their phones and in turn bypassing operators' direct sales channels. "We're in the middle of a generational shift in terms of how consumers purchase content," said Robb McDaniels, CEO of digital media distribution firm INgrooves, during a Mobile Entertainment Live! conference panel last week. "It's pretty bad right now." So bad, in fact, that McDaniels cracked the panel, titled "View from the Top," should be retitled "View from the Bottom" to more accurately reflect the current state of the music business.

Read more: http://www.fiercewireless.com/special-reports/ctia-it-2009-scorecard-mobile-content#ixzz0URUR1ZV8

I think part of the problem was operators thinking that customers would pay $3.99 for a ringtone when they could buy the whole track for $0.99 if they even bothered to pay for that.

We are all in a hurry

Check out this slideshow of a recent poll on people's experience with the mobile web. Its clear from this that people are expecting an experience comparable to what they get at home and won't tolerate much less. This will be a real challenge going forward, as between network bandwidths and overall phone and site capabilities there is still some way to go.

Smartphone trends

I'm always a fan of the analyst who often miss shifts in the market with their methods of just assuming things will continue, but there are exceptions. I think Seybold stands out from the crowd with posts like this that are right on. This is their value, in being able to step back a bit and point out the obvious when the CEO's are spouting some conventional wisdom.

Nokia losing smartphone marketshare

Nokia announced a huge loss today and though the numbers are primarily driven by their Nokia Siemens business, the bigger news is their marketshare loss in smartphones. Given that the overall mobile market is moving strongly in the direction of smartphones and that both RIM and Apple have only just begun their expansion outside of North America, this could bode ill for Nokia overall.

Do What Matters to You

I'm not a mushy guy or have much tolerance for such things, so was unsure of this article for a bit, but the essence of it is right on especially at the end. Given my own position today, I found it helpful to hear these words and the very important message it sends. Its why I love living when we do that we can do what matters to us.

You will like Google Wave

Great story from Gizmondo on Google's upcoming plans for Wave and related products, enjoy.

Great take on future of mobile apps

This story is a great place to start as it really does an excellent job of capturing some of the state of the industry, http://www.andrewseybold.com/commentary.asp?ID=272. I'm on Mr. Seybold's side on this discussion and think that this is why there are great opportunities for upstarts to still make an impact in the field, despite the dominance of many large players.

Back on

Well its been several crazy months, during which I decided not to keep posting, but things have changed and its time to try again. This will become more mobile industry focused as that's been my focus and I have time now to keep up with much that's happening. Lets see how she goes this time.

Cheney needs to shut up!

I'm sure that Mr. Cheney would call me naive, but torture is torture and not appropriate for America. You can call it "enhanced interrogation methods" all you want, that doesn't stop making it torture. I grabbed the following bit from his speech to show some of the hypocracy in his words. He starts by praise what makes us a force for good and includes human rights, but then uses this to justify torturing of prisoners. Not only that Bush did more to destroy our liberty than just about any President in history, so was he helping the terrorists by taking away what they hated about us? Thank god these people no longer speaks for us!

The United States of America was a good country before 9/11, just as we are today. List all the things that make us a force for good in the world - for liberty, for human rights, for the rational, peaceful resolution of differences - and what you end up with is a list of the reasons why the terrorists hate America. If fine speech-making, appeals to reason, or pleas for compassion had the power to move them, the terrorists would long ago have abandoned the field. And when they see the American government caught up in arguments about interrogations, or whether foreign terrorists have constitutional rights, they don't stand back in awe of our legal system and wonder whether they had misjudged us all along. Instead the terrorists see just what they were hoping for - our unity gone, our resolve shaken, our leaders distracted. In short, they see weakness and opportunity.

Bush/Cheney have ordered the deaths of over 30,000 Americans by fighting the war in Iraq, so how many lifes have they saved with this sacrifice? Does sacrificing our soldiers in some godforsaken land that we have no right being in really make us safer? How many more soldiers need to die to keep us safe? This is just in Iraq, where we have killed over 1,000,000 people! How many of them were terrorists? Why does anyone let him continue to speak without answering these serious questions? Dick Cheney lives in a dream world.

Prepare to be pissed

Meanwhile, check out this blog post in Reason and watch the attached video to see just how insane our police have gotten. Its truly amazing how far things have gone, with SWAT teams conducting alcohol permit inspections. What saddens me the most here is less that police are doing this and more that judges seem so comfortable with allowing them to. Are judicial system has really degenerated over the last few decades and the weakness in this branch of government is a disaster for us all.

lack of posts

Its been a while since I posted, after a good run, and unfortunately this will become more the norm. I like the idea of a blog and I think I'd get better as I kept going, but as stated in the beginning, life is just too busy and I can't do everything I want. But I'll do what I can and who knows how things will run.

Everyone poops

Fascinating blog about relieving yourself in space, from the ever interesting Gizmondo.

Go Land Sharks!

Very cool name for the Dolphin's stadium!

California sinks

Another excellent column from George Will, one of the few voices of reason and intelligence out there. The point is clear, which is that my poor state has finally succombed to the years of abuse that are only possible under a staunch liberal government. Combine that with the past 8 years of conservative (if we can really call the insanity that was George Bush conservative) abuse at the federal level and its a wonder the country and state are not in worse shape. The most interesting part of this column was this bit:

Flinching from serious budget cutting and from confronting public employees unions, some Californians focus on process questions. They devise candidate-selection rules designed to diminish the role of parties, thereby supposedly making more likely the election of "moderates" amenable to even more tax increases.
But what actually ails California is centrist evasions. The state's crisis has been caused by "moderation," understood as splitting the difference between extreme liberalism and hyperliberalism, a "reasonableness" that merely moderates the speed at which the ever-expanding public sector suffocates the private sector.

The state needs a revolution, but who is there to lead?

Funny video bit

Check out this advert from the "Better off Ted" crew when their season finale was bumped by an Obama press conference. Its very funny, I will have to check out the show:

Teabaggers Unite!

Good story on the recent tea parties to protest government spending. Its hard to condense this into a couple of key points, but here is a reasonable try:

This was not a typical conservative Republican rally, with local GOP activists, Ron Paul enthusiasts, and single-issue obsessives. (Those folks always show up—and they did in Atlanta.) The difference was the new people: Young hipsters, families, angry moms, and retirees alike left their normal routines and work obligations to show up in protest of government policies that they passionately believe will ruin what is unique about America. ...
Did the tea parties matter? One reasonable measure of progress may be the sheer volume of vitriol produced by their critics. ...
In the long run, the faces I saw in Atlanta represent a potentially potent new constituency for fiscal discipline and government restraint. Compositionally, this is the same voting block that showed up to vote for the very first time in 1994 in reaction to the big government overreaches of the Clinton Administration, throwing House Democrats out after 40 years of policy hegemony.
I don't believe that the official Republican apparatus can effectively organize these voters for 2010. Indeed, the very nature of the tea parties defies top-down direction. The protests, just like the free market process they tacitly espoused, were decentralized and driven by voluntary action. But as Saul Alinsky might tell you, activists need to stay active. Many of the most effective organizations and community leaders that emerged from the tea party movement have already gathered behind a March on Washington on September 12, 2009. Other efforts will add more structure to the tea party communities, and perhaps target some grassroots pressure towards particular politicians during specific legislative battles over socialized health care, higher spending, and other big government schemes.

I wish them well and agree that the answer, at least not today, is the Republican Party. In fact, the biggest danger that these activists have is that they will be taken over by Republicans, who will distort and destroy the key messages that they are trying to promote.

Windows 7 better, if not faster

Good news on the Windows 7 front from Gizmodo, who say that even though the raw performance numbers on Windows 7 may be coming out slight slower than Vista, Microsoft has spent a lot of time improving user experience performance. The story here makes sense, at least to me as writing to the screen often seems to be the root of my performance problems.

Cal video

Well, we're not likely to be in the race for the National Championship, but its been great seeing Cal play well under Tedford. Here's their latest video promoting the team, which is very nicely done and great for generating some football excitement in the off-season:

100MPH Hummer

Can't resist this story about Raser Tech's development of a Hummer that gets 100MPG. And with a range of over 400 miles, that's quite impressive. Here's hoping that it becomes more than just a prototype.

Three words: F*** you Scalia

It seems to be a day for cussing, with now this story about the Supreme Court ruling in the FCC's favor on the broadcasting fines for cussing. Bad decision, bad law, bad court.

Julie Roberts can cuss

Here's a fun story about Julie Roberts getting a bit dirty at a dinner honoring Tom Hanks. My take on this is that she's a bit drunk and perhaps tired of these dinners, but it sounds like she can cuss with the best of them. Makes me want to get drunk with her sometime, but of course I'd love that for more than just the chance to trade obsenities.

The Singularity is Near!

Short, but sweet interview with Vernor Vinge on the singularity. This is a fascinating concept that deserves much more attention than it generally gets. Of course, most likely it will slip in unnoticed so that even if it happens in say 2020 it may not be noticed until 2050 when the effects become obvious to everyone.
Vinge is a great author of some wonderful SF novels (Deepness in the Sky is a good example), but I think the Singularity will end up more like the Industrial Revolution than some major shift in man's basic being.

ICE and DEA complicit in torture and murder

If you haven't seen this story, its not surprising. While the MSM has no problem attacking individuals like Bernacke and Paulson (well deserved attacks as I noted below), its another to show that our government can be even worse, especially when it comes to the War on Drugs. This is truly a horrific story, even more so as you learn the details, and illustrated how horrible our government can be in the pursuit of their own self-interests.

Soon we will own half of GM

So will the fact that us taxpayers will own half of GM, see this story, make us more likely to buy a GM car? Especially since Saturns, Hummers, Pontiacs, and Saabs will not be available.

Feds force BofA to buy Merrill

This is a good story from the WSJ opinion section on the recent news about Ken Lewis, head of Bank of America, being given an offer he can't refuse to buy Merrill Lynch despite the enormous debts and risk associated with the merger. Its truly shocking to think that we could have had such cowboy behavior from the feds, except that it was just another Bush legacy that Republicans can take such pride in. And this terrible behavior only serves to justify the next story's actions.

Wrong answer, its seniority

I was losing interest in this story up until the paragraph before last. Its about a teacher who was voted Teacher of the Year by the PTA, based on ratings by the students, but who will be laid off next year. The statement, by the school principal was the following:

"We've got a great teacher," Carpenter lamented, "and he's gone because of the budget problems."

This is exactly wrong. This teacher is being let go because of union rules forcing teachers with less seniority to be let go first. I'm going to come off as a cold, heartless bastard, but the teacher's union in California has destroyed our educational system, making it one of the worst in the country despite the huge amount of money that is spent on education every year (teachers salaries are the highest in the country, yet we consistenly rank near the bottom on test scores with states like Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and New Mexico). As a father of two going through public schools now, its painful to see and hear this hypocrisy.

Does California need a new constitution?

This story discussed the increased interest in updating California's constitution. About the only thing we can all agree on here is that the system is broken, but how can any citizen of this fine state trust a state politician to do the right thing here. Note that this is a state that has increased spending over the decade at a rate well above the inflation and population growth rate and yet has completely failed to provide its citizens with any significant improvements to their way of life.
The saddest part is that there is no obvious place to start to work for real reform. Certainly not with either party, one of which has orchestrated this mess (Dems have run the state for decades) and the other of which is more concerned with gay marriage and abortions than about the stuff that really matters in government. What a shame!

Give yourself a deadline for pleasure

Great story about recent behavioral psychology research. The point is that deadlines can also be useful in making us do pleasurable things and not just those we don't like. I definitely see this in my life. Ms. Postrel is an excellent writer with very good observations.

Body paint doubles as wire

This is some really cool stuff, though I can't think of how it could be used other than as described in the story. Just thought it was interesting technology.

Libertarians were right

Good story about how much better off we would be if Bush had listened to libertarians. Of course, don't expect to see this elsewhere and don't hold your breath for the Republicans to actually become libertarian again. Its not even worth hoping for anymore.

Verizon Hub price cut

Looks like the Hub is not selling so well, so Verizon is offering a $50 rebate on it. The concept is an interesting one, though I can't help thinking of the Internet appliances that were all the rage a few years ago, the most well known was the Audrey, but didn't sell at all. Plus, this is not really cheaper than getting a laptop and broadband connection, so I can't see it selling well even when they remove the Verizon customer restrictions.

Too skinny?

The recent attacks on thin supermodels has heated up recently and the latest story on this involves an Australian Miss Universe runner up. Reuters, for inexplicable reasons didn't include an image of the woman in there story, but we are not that easily deterred, see this story.
Its easy to see how this image could create shock, but efforts to stop her from competing just because of her size seem very unjust. I wonder how these critics would feel if we prevented women above a certain size from competing as it was deemed inappropriate to let young girls think that its OK to be obese?

Apple Aps store controversy

This story is about the Apple Apps store removing a game days after approving it because of complaints by parents groups and others. The sad thing about this, as someone who rather enjoys tasteless things (note South Park reference in previous post, which was also banned from the Apps store), is that this bodes ill for future applications as they will be constrained by what is considered appropriate to Apple. I guess it won't be so bad for me, as a Windows Mobile user, since Microsoft doesn't have the all wonderful and beautiful Apple image so may be more willing to include the fun stuff.

Britain attacks drinkers, calls them "Fatties"

Here is the latest story from Britain to try and convince their citizens that "alcohol is baaaaddd" (to paraphrase Mr. Mackey from South Park). What's interesting is that (1) they need to use annual figures to make the amounts sound bad and (2) they throw in stuff about how drinking leads to bad eating habits since the calorie numbers are not as bad as the headlines make them out to be. The key statistics are probably these,

a glass of white wine had the same calories as a bag of crisps - and ... a pint of lager had as many calories as a sausage roll.

So which is better, drinking a glass of wine or eating a bag of chips (crisps)?

More Penn with a dash of Carlin

Here's my effort to embed a video and this one is a good one:

From Crackle: Kelly Carlin

Not only is it a great tribute to George Carlin, but what Penn says about his daughter and how he also hopes to see the same respect from his kids is wonderful. Given the recent death of my mom and our efforts to celebrate her life it was particularly relevant and so true. Having children that still love and respect you when they grow up is truly a great accomplishment and something to be proud of.

Penn Jillette speaks

being a fellow libertarian, I certainly like Penn Jillette and though these rants are less harsh than expected do beware of the language on them. I picked this one about Larry King because who can't resist the opportunity to bash that horrible man who has probably the worst interview show ever. How is that popular, the few I have seen were terrible with no interesting discussions at all. Anyway, listen to Penn he speaks truth to power (to use a stupid catch phrase).

Biblically incorrect

Its the last line of this story that really got me:

"It's not about being politically correct," she said. "For me, it's about being biblically correct."

Does she even know what it means to be biblically correct? Should we allow poligamy again because it was biblically correct? Should we sacrifice sheep and goats again for our sins?

Cheney responds

Dick tries to justify torture by claiming it works, news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8009571.stm. He just doesn't get it.

More bad news on the White House front

This does it for reading the news tonight, Obama has appointed the head of MADD to run the NHTSA, the body that oversees our highways. This is like a bad nightmare of liberal insanity running amok. Expect more harassment of drivers and lets all pray that we aren't breathing into tubes just to drive to the corner store within 5 years. Perhaps its time to buy that old Mustang that I've always wanted (though my friends were all Camero fans):

Happy 420 Day!!

Lets hope that we can soon celebrate this day as it should be!

Future of political discourse?

What's interesting in this Reason story about the Food Safety Modernization Act is not the discussion about the act itself, but Doherty's ideas about whether this is a model of future political discussion, with the fall of the mainstream press. Read to the end where he makes these comments:

To put it another way, the H.R. 875 debate is a lively representation of what “journalism” in a post-newspaper age can do for “democracy.” Which is something far more important and detailed than just one writer with a million other things on his plate making a few calls and making a decision for you.(Meta-ironies noted.)

Certainly, it’s more convenient for a reader to think he’s read one 900-word piece in a respected source and therefore understands some public policy topic. The debate over H.R. 875 may well be an example of the rising dominant model of political reporting: contentious fighting among often careless, agenda-driven forces producing
all of the information that the truly interested would need to know what they need to know.

This is certainly an interesting observation, but as a life surfer it provides some cause for concern. Few of us have the time to read the whole text of bills like this, its the whole point of having a representative democracy, so there will certainly continue to be a demand for "trusted sources" to do our homework for us and provide the crib sheet. Of course, this doesn't mean that we should subsidize the press, who's to say that they are any more trusted than a well researched blog or website.

Best Artist Ever?!!

Bopping to Fatboy Slim during my workout, I wondered if he is the most underappreciated artist ever, or at least here in the Bay Area. Here is a link to a great music video for one of his tracks, "Right Here, Right Now:" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R795KiMD4zs. My all-time favorite is probably "Praise You," one of the most iconic songs ever, but this is an artist that has just put out so much great music! I don't understand why he isn't played more locally.

Perhaps this is in bad taste, but don't you think that one of the CIA agents during these interogations, http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090420/ts_nm/us_usa_security_interrogations_2, must have said, "Well I don't know what else to do, lets just waterboard him again and see if that helps?" This is the only thing that we can take comfort in seeing some improvement with Obama, and its alot.

blog versus Facebook

Having started a blog after getting more active in Facebook has led to some interesting thoughts about what should go where. There is certainly an interesting grey area between the two, though blogs are definitely better for longer posts and more detailed items. This spot is also better for me to rant on politics and other areas that might be considered boring or that they disagree with (living in CA my friends lean heavily to the liberal side).

Still, its fun to have both for now and lets see if I can maintain both to a reasonable level.

Politics as usual in Washington

An excellent story about how Obama's adminstration is not above the very politics that he condemned: http://www.forbes.com/2009/04/16/school-voucher-washington-dc-teacher-union-opinions-contributors-obama.html. Not surprising given all that has happened since he took office, but the sheer audacity of these actions is truly sad and shakes your belief in all politicians. For the kids, my ass!

Tea Parties!

Related to the previous post, and what sparked some of those thoughts, were the stories around the Tea Parties that were held on Wednesday to protest the bailouts and high taxes. The Republicans, and normally rightfully so, seem to absorb these as coming from them, but I believe the reality is much different. I read that at a counter protest there was a sign asking where were you 6 months ago when Bush was doing the bailing out and my first thought was exactly where I am now, just as pissed off and against his actions as now. But the point was real, where was Hannity and the others that think they can usurp this anger?

Can we ever be Republican again?

As someone who supported the Republican Party as a teen and who has never voted for a Democrat for any major office, the question above would seem like an easy one to answer. But my beliefs were always along the lines of a very small and focused government, only doing the core jobs that a federal government should do (defense, foreign policy, maintaining a level playing field in an otherwise open market, providing basic consumer support, etc.). This included keeping government out of our private lives.
But the Republican Party has moved away from these beliefs over the years, first with their dreadful alliance with the ugly Religious Right groups, and the last 8 Bush years have shattered all claims to small government conservatism. Is there any hope that we can again hear a top-ranking Republican rage against Obama's massive governmental increases and wonder why we didn't hear anything from them last year, or the one before, or the one before, going back through the whole decade?

Fast downloads over the air coming soon

Verizon's announcement on LTE coming next year just came out, see story at http://www.engadget.com/2009/04/17/verizon-releases-early-data-focused-lte-specs-cdma-nowhere-in-s/. This is exciting news, though I'm not a Verizon customer, as mobile download speeds are still not quite there to give a good overall experience.

A fun old Daffy Duck cartoon, http://www.220.ro/PhEJFgFKwf/05-Draftee-Daffy. Its much better than the pro-taxes Donald Duck that was originally pointed to in another blog.

Madden retires

Big news for the NFL, http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_12155757?source=rss. Madden has always been one of my favorites in football and despite the badmouthing, how many people can say they coached a Superbowl winning team? I loved those Raiders, still some of the best football of all time! A big part of the reason that football is still my favorite spectator sport, easily.

Test message, a successful message from the phone. Now for a nice photo!

counter added

Lets see how long before I get my first visitor! Perhaps we need to let my Facebook friends in on the site.

Everything you know about Columbine is wrong

Good story about the facts behind the Columbine killings, the anniversary of which is next week, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm. Its not surprising to hear most of this, but as always don't expect the anti-video game crowd to stop using Columbine as a reason to further restrict our rights (and fun!).

Bailout Naivete

I always thought that this whole baloney about supporting Detroit and the car guys was about politics, but of course I was looking the wrong way as they want you to. This isn't about jobs or supporting businesses too big to fail or any of that. Its about protecting the UAW, because if GM (or Chrysler) goes into bankrupcy, as they should, then the union loses control over the company and they are forced to renegotiate. It might also call into question the value of a union that destroys its members jobs, given that the other auto factories don't have the same union control and are not having the same problems.

I still need to work on my conspiracy language to make this sound better, but hopefully the gist is clear.

new posts

I just sent a couple of nice photos through from my phone, so hopefully they will show up on the blog.

Things have just been a bit too exciting in the office today to focus on the blog, though my effort to send an entry via the phone failed. That needs some learning still, but we'll have this up and running well in no time. After that, its embedding links!

Check out this site and especially watch the second video, http://www.stopspendingourfuture.org/! It really puts the bailout into a perspective that would scare anyone. And sign their petition while you are at it.

It struck me that I am starting this at a time when I am super busy and don't have time for doing this. But that actually makes sense also, as the busier I am the more I do. Anyway, lets see if I'm still doing it in a month, at which point we may want to monetize ourselves.

first post

In the spirit of the site name, which will be explained later, I'm starting up a blog. It will be pretty typical in that it will be filled with my thoughts, ideas, links to cool stories, and the usual blog stuff. Lets hope that this experiment is a long and successful one!