Saturday, August 16, 2003
Xeni Jardin on NPR talking about social networks.
Xeni Jardin is one of the most interesting bloggers and new tech people I know. She was on NPR recently talking about Linked In and other social networks. Check it out here.
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Dept of Social Networks: It's a small world after all
The Small World project has published a new set of data; meanwhile, I am reading a journalistic account of Small World networks, as the sociologists like to call them, entitled NEXUS: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Theory of Networks.There's a nice synopsis of the commentary at Blogalization Conspiracy.
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Stuck in Chicago
Flights all messed up to California because of thunderstorms in the sky and cancelled flights the past few days. Instead of being home in California, I'm in a hotel outside Chicago's Midway airport, stuck here till morning, when I can pick up a flight to San Jose.
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Friday, August 15, 2003
Six Degrees of Seperation: The Black Out version
So, yesterday I'm caught in NYC in the blackout and it takes 6 hours to get out of the city and home to my business partner's house is Westchester. Mayor Bloomburg says "Take a snow day and stay home," and it is a beautiful Friday morning when we awaken in the burbs. We're supposed to meet with a friend and potential client in midtown, so we decided to drive back into Manhattan. Even though much of the city's power is still off, the friend has sent an email that the meeting's on.
Okay, so it's 90 degrees in NYC and there are so few cars we can park in the street. But our meeting never happens..the building--and the company are closed. After about 40 minutes of waiting around, our friend calls and we work out plan #2.
After the details are worked out, friend says: By the way, you know I'm subletting my apartment in NYC, right? So I came in from California at 3 am last night and there was a business card on my dining room table from one of the partners at 5ive (my consulting company).
It turns out that said friend is subletting his apartment to DJ Spooky, who met with one of my 4 5ive partners this week! And we're meeting with said friend today (only we didn't beccause of the black out).
If there are no coincidences, then what does this one portend? Is this a small world or what?
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Okay, so it's 90 degrees in NYC and there are so few cars we can park in the street. But our meeting never happens..the building--and the company are closed. After about 40 minutes of waiting around, our friend calls and we work out plan #2.
After the details are worked out, friend says: By the way, you know I'm subletting my apartment in NYC, right? So I came in from California at 3 am last night and there was a business card on my dining room table from one of the partners at 5ive (my consulting company).
It turns out that said friend is subletting his apartment to DJ Spooky, who met with one of my 4 5ive partners this week! And we're meeting with said friend today (only we didn't beccause of the black out).
If there are no coincidences, then what does this one portend? Is this a small world or what?
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Zollman: How I became an (AOL ) Spammer
from Poynter's eMedia tidbits:"... I opened my "sent mail" box on AOL, looking for an e-mail I'd sent, and lo and behold there were outbound e-mails from me to "AngelGirl," "Andresxx," and others, with titles like "What's new?" and "Check this out!" So --- as any responsible individual would do --- I called my ISP (America Online) to say, "Hey, let's see if we can catch these guys." After a brief stopover with customer support in Bangalore, India, I reached someone on the "community action team" (security department) who essentially said, "Well, someone's hijacked your password -- so change it, update your virus software, and then don't worry about it."
More here.
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More here.
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Power Outage Traced To Dim Bulb In White House
It ain't just a blackout: Greg Palast rants away.
"Is tonight's black-out a surprise? Heck, no, not to us in the field who've watched Bush's buddies flick the switches across the globe. In Brazil, Houston Industries seized ownership of Rio de Janeiro's electric company. The Texans (aided by their French partners) fired workers, raised prices, cut maintenance expenditures and, CLICK! the juice went out so often the locals now call it, "Rio Dark."
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"Is tonight's black-out a surprise? Heck, no, not to us in the field who've watched Bush's buddies flick the switches across the globe. In Brazil, Houston Industries seized ownership of Rio de Janeiro's electric company. The Texans (aided by their French partners) fired workers, raised prices, cut maintenance expenditures and, CLICK! the juice went out so often the locals now call it, "Rio Dark."
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Paula and Marlon and Linda and Courtney: Celebrity Gossip in spades
Did writer Paula Fox (The Servant's Tale,) have an affair with Marlon Brando and bear his illegitimate child? That's what Page Six reports that Linda Carroll, Paula Fox's daughter, is telling folks in London.
Given that Paula Fox is Courtney Love's grandmother (don't ask about that one), that would make Marlon Courtney's pap-pap.
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Given that Paula Fox is Courtney Love's grandmother (don't ask about that one), that would make Marlon Courtney's pap-pap.
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Bumped by the Blackout: Back online now
Am in NYC till tomorrow--many of my meetings got trashed by the blackout. Yesterday, I was in a loft on 19th Street, with my partners in 5ive, when the power went out.
Snapshots from the streets:
--A frail women in her 70's hitching a ride uptown on 20th street and Third Avenue
--Office workers lounging on the steps of many Park Avenue office buildings, smoking, laughing, and drinking 40's and glasses of wine.
--The full moon over the Central Park viaduct, the sky dark.
--BBQ and a bonfire in the courtyard of a building on 103rd Street
--Central Harlem at 9 am, pitch-black with no cars, white flashes of t-shirts as groups of kids walked outside
--Six police cars clustered outside the trashed out buildings on 145th Street and Madison Avenue, their drivers out directing bus traffic
--The dark silence of the West Side Drive, no lights anywhere, the water glimmering beyond the embankment.
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Snapshots from the streets:
--A frail women in her 70's hitching a ride uptown on 20th street and Third Avenue
--Office workers lounging on the steps of many Park Avenue office buildings, smoking, laughing, and drinking 40's and glasses of wine.
--The full moon over the Central Park viaduct, the sky dark.
--BBQ and a bonfire in the courtyard of a building on 103rd Street
--Central Harlem at 9 am, pitch-black with no cars, white flashes of t-shirts as groups of kids walked outside
--Six police cars clustered outside the trashed out buildings on 145th Street and Madison Avenue, their drivers out directing bus traffic
--The dark silence of the West Side Drive, no lights anywhere, the water glimmering beyond the embankment.
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Thursday, August 14, 2003
Phone stuff: Brit tots carrying mobiles
A recent Mediapost story reports that there are growing number of young children in Britain with mobile phones. The mobile youth study highlights that there are now 400,000 children in the UK under the age of 10 owning a mobile phone, as against only 80,000 in 2000. The figure will pass the half a million mark by the end of next year.
Think about the school yard flash mobs and lunch time pizza mobs this could support...
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Think about the school yard flash mobs and lunch time pizza mobs this could support...
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Wednesday, August 13, 2003
News Readers: What Adam Curry Wants
Via Mark Graham, Adam Curry's vision of what a one-page news aggregator might look like.
"...The web browser would have been great as a 'transceiver' for creating and receiving content. Weblogs perform this task currently, but html is doomed to fade away into a void of static now that Microsoft has announced it will no longer support or continue development on a standalone version of internet explorer.
...RSS provides a 'static free' format for content and is constantly being improved to do things like carry attachments (just like email) along with written words. No formatting, no fancy script thingies or blink tags, just plain content. RSS is the content carrier wave of the future. And everyone with a weblog can or is already creating a compatible broadcast channel."
Adam is absolutely right, and he goes on to praise one page aggregators as the no fuss, no muss way to read news and information. The rest of his post has really good "beyond the browser" ideas and information as well....
Conclusion: Tech folks are building good stuff, but it's important for the users to weigh in with their wishes and vision, which is what Adam does.
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"...The web browser would have been great as a 'transceiver' for creating and receiving content. Weblogs perform this task currently, but html is doomed to fade away into a void of static now that Microsoft has announced it will no longer support or continue development on a standalone version of internet explorer.
...RSS provides a 'static free' format for content and is constantly being improved to do things like carry attachments (just like email) along with written words. No formatting, no fancy script thingies or blink tags, just plain content. RSS is the content carrier wave of the future. And everyone with a weblog can or is already creating a compatible broadcast channel."
Adam is absolutely right, and he goes on to praise one page aggregators as the no fuss, no muss way to read news and information. The rest of his post has really good "beyond the browser" ideas and information as well....
Conclusion: Tech folks are building good stuff, but it's important for the users to weigh in with their wishes and vision, which is what Adam does.
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Paid Content Goes RSS
New feeds for the news-reader addicted: Rafat Ali's Paid Content Newsletter via a daily RSS newsfeed (Thank you, Rafat)
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Tuesday, August 12, 2003
Top music artists from unnamed portal site
A friend sent me this internal list of top music artists from one of the large portals: This is a list of most requested audio streams, in order of request
50 Cent
Hilary Duff
Luther Vandross
Christina Aguilera
Black Eyed Peas
Justin Timberlake
Nelly
Evanescence
Rolling Stones
Mariah Carey
The utter blandness of this list shows that the public wants what it knows. No surprises there.
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50 Cent
Hilary Duff
Luther Vandross
Christina Aguilera
Black Eyed Peas
Justin Timberlake
Nelly
Evanescence
Rolling Stones
Mariah Carey
The utter blandness of this list shows that the public wants what it knows. No surprises there.
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Heading to New York: Light blogging tomorrow
Early flight to NYC tomorrow; back on the weekend.
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Scobled: Big Shot Bloggers Parodied Anew
Denizens of the blogosphere are starting to parody their more visible and uh, unique, counterparts, proving that virtual communities not only form, they like to rib their members. The latest is from the Scobelizer, who's just published a very clever dish on a number of blogerati:
Dave Winer: Anyone who disagrees with me is a festering disease-carrying burnt-toast maggot. I am the Internet, doncha know that? I made it what it was. I invented Blogs. And my markup spec's are the all.
Anil Dash: New York. New York....Pretentious New York City life random observations. The other day, I had beef mushroom barley soup. But that was unusual, not just because it included mushrooms, but because Carson Daly was sitting about 10 feet away at the time. But I digress. Links about Links. Links. More Links..
Jeff Jarvis: "...Some info about Blogs as Journalism. Buzz buzz buzz. News story comment quip. War story comment quip. NYT story comment quip. Republicans-Are-Evil-But-So-Are-The-Democrats story comment quip. Link to this, link to that. News Story Comment. Smarty News Story Comment. News Story Comment. News Story Comment. Sarcastic News Story Commenting. Buzzwords. Buzz."
If you think this is funny, Bob has lots more.
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Dave Winer: Anyone who disagrees with me is a festering disease-carrying burnt-toast maggot. I am the Internet, doncha know that? I made it what it was. I invented Blogs. And my markup spec's are the all.
Anil Dash: New York. New York....Pretentious New York City life random observations. The other day, I had beef mushroom barley soup. But that was unusual, not just because it included mushrooms, but because Carson Daly was sitting about 10 feet away at the time. But I digress. Links about Links. Links. More Links..
Jeff Jarvis: "...Some info about Blogs as Journalism. Buzz buzz buzz. News story comment quip. War story comment quip. NYT story comment quip. Republicans-Are-Evil-But-So-Are-The-Democrats story comment quip. Link to this, link to that. News Story Comment. Smarty News Story Comment. News Story Comment. News Story Comment. Sarcastic News Story Commenting. Buzzwords. Buzz."
If you think this is funny, Bob has lots more.
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California Surf Culture: Museum show celebrates the beach
The San Jose Museum's opening an exhibit on California Surf Culture: The Art History of Surfing later this week.
While recently the Valley is known more for trashed dot coms and economic woes, 3 years ago there was a hopping surf culture here, and there are still many people who surf every day, especially down Santa Cruz way. Organized by the Orange-County-based Laguna Art Museum, the exhibition is touringthe country, but is adding about 50 vintage board from local collectors to the show.
I'll definitely check it out, but somehow, I am prepared not to like it. Sounds like a silly show.
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While recently the Valley is known more for trashed dot coms and economic woes, 3 years ago there was a hopping surf culture here, and there are still many people who surf every day, especially down Santa Cruz way. Organized by the Orange-County-based Laguna Art Museum, the exhibition is touringthe country, but is adding about 50 vintage board from local collectors to the show.
I'll definitely check it out, but somehow, I am prepared not to like it. Sounds like a silly show.
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Dept. of Taking the Pressure Off: AOL Unit requests AOL TW drop AOL name
"Recently, I told Dick Parsons that I have concluded that AOL's brand would benefit from being removed from the corporate name, and Dick is considering this step," --AOL unit chief executive Jonathan Miller in a memo to AOLTW Chairman Dick Parsons recently obtained by Reuters.
More stories here.
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More stories here.
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Monday, August 11, 2003
NJ.com: NJ Weblog list and forum
Okay, so I was bitching about the lack of a Jersey web log list and said Jeff Jarvis and NJ.com would do something about it. And they did! (Not because of me, believe me). NJ.com now carries a nice little list of NJ.com--sponsored web logs, along with a small, but hopefully growing list of Jersey web logs from civilian folk. Also a weblogs forum for local obsessives in NJ and elsewhere. Of course, right now, 90% of the posts in the weblogs forum are from NJ.com editor Dean Betz, but hey, it's a start--why don't you go there and post right now if you have even the faintest interest in Jersey blogs? Tell'em about your blog, why doncha? Help them make this list really good, worthy of Jersey Pride.
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Paid content surgelet: Time Inc. Interactive sees paid subscriptions bump up
A Wall Street Journal story today describes the success in gaining paid online subscribers Time Inc magazine sites are having after they restricted free access, allowing only AOL members a chance to peek without paying. The Journal story says that while some sites such as People and Entertainment Weekly, have seen traffic fall, others, including Sunset and Parenting, have seen surges in online subscriptions of, respectively 67%(900 new subscribers a week), and 70%(roughly 1,800 per week). In addition, about 60,000 newsstand buyers and subscribers are using the barcodes on their magazines to register and gain online access.
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AOL: You've Got Auto Dealers
After more than a year of planning, AOL announced today that it's launched a new auto channel. According to the press release, AOL's new Auto channel, launched in partnership with Edmunds.com and Kelley Blue Book, along with long-time partner Autotrader, will "give members an opportunity to
to be contacted by local car dealers who offer the exact cars they are looking for," as Chris Croll, AOL VP ECommerce, describes the new service.
What this means for AOL, more importantly, is that they now have a means to participate in CPA, aka revenues from lead generation, for autos, one of the high-ticket items customers use the web to research and evaluate, at the same time they have retained their (lucrative) relationship with Autotrader.com, who, in the past has paid them on a CPM basis.
Also included in the deal: Consumer Reports Buyer's Guides for Autos, another popular and fast-growing series from a very reputable AOL partner (and a company I have worked with).
Would it be cruel to mention that it's taken AOL 5 years to offer what CarPoint, now the MSN Autos channel, launched with in 1996?
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to be contacted by local car dealers who offer the exact cars they are looking for," as Chris Croll, AOL VP ECommerce, describes the new service.
What this means for AOL, more importantly, is that they now have a means to participate in CPA, aka revenues from lead generation, for autos, one of the high-ticket items customers use the web to research and evaluate, at the same time they have retained their (lucrative) relationship with Autotrader.com, who, in the past has paid them on a CPM basis.
Also included in the deal: Consumer Reports Buyer's Guides for Autos, another popular and fast-growing series from a very reputable AOL partner (and a company I have worked with).
Would it be cruel to mention that it's taken AOL 5 years to offer what CarPoint, now the MSN Autos channel, launched with in 1996?
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What I made for dinner
First time we had people over in the new house! Prepared:
Fresh Guacamole with chips
Artichokes
Corn
Vegetarian chicken patties (we love Quorn) and Gardenburgers
Beefsteak tomaoes from my garden (my landlady rocks)
Sweet onions
Mint chocolate chip ice cream
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Fresh Guacamole with chips
Artichokes
Corn
Vegetarian chicken patties (we love Quorn) and Gardenburgers
Beefsteak tomaoes from my garden (my landlady rocks)
Sweet onions
Mint chocolate chip ice cream
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San Jose Jazz: Greg Osby
Spent the afternoon at the San Jose Jazz Festival, a three-day riot of music, food, and shopping. The wow of the afternoon was Greg Osby, a jazz musician from St. Louis whose immense skill with the alto sax is evenly matched with his taste for long, free-form and somewhat atonal compositions.
Half the audience was grooving in their seats; the other half was heading for the exits.
Part of what made Osby so strong was his musicianship; the other part were the powerful sidemen he'd assembled. Eric McPherson was one of the best drummers I have ever heard; he played complicated, compelling rhythms effortlessly. Ambrose Akimusirie, the trumpter, and Matt Brewer, the bassist, were both excellent as well, though Brewer seemed a little busy.
Listen to Greg Osby's music by downloading MP3s from his site.
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Half the audience was grooving in their seats; the other half was heading for the exits.
Part of what made Osby so strong was his musicianship; the other part were the powerful sidemen he'd assembled. Eric McPherson was one of the best drummers I have ever heard; he played complicated, compelling rhythms effortlessly. Ambrose Akimusirie, the trumpter, and Matt Brewer, the bassist, were both excellent as well, though Brewer seemed a little busy.
Listen to Greg Osby's music by downloading MP3s from his site.
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