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Wednesday, November 17, 2004

Speaking Out Loud

Power of articulation

Andy Boyd:

Isn't it great how explaining yourself outloud to others, allows you to self reflect better then mulling it over in your own mind.

Me:

I always need a conversation for growing my ideas. This is the main reason I blog. Even if no one comments, blogging makes it a conversation: I come to the idea next day and I can discuss it with "yesterday's Lilia" :) Of course, articulation helps growing ideas as well. [via Mathemagenic]

Speaking out loud works well even if you're alone. Although people who overhear may think you're daft, simply hearing your thoughts out loud provides a good check on logic, flow, and coherence. I learned this some years ago in Toastmasters, where you really need to practice your speeches out loud in order to make a good presentation. It's also a trick many writers use - reading their material out loud to see how it sounds. Getting your thoughts out in the open, even if there is no one else to hear them, can help you work through difficult issues and evolve your ideas.

Posted by:  Terry Frazier at 11:12 PM  | Permanent Link  | Trackback URL | 
Categories: Collaboration, Learning

When Ad-ing Equals Less

You buy a device, take it home, and the device manufacturer changes how the device operates post-purchase. WTF? This really is the objective of the media cartel - to subvert the entire concept of physical property ownership to the vagaries of intellectual property ownership. Good ole' Dan Glickman says so.

But this TiVo thing is really obnoxious. Where do you go? What do you do? Anyone up for building a FreeVo box?

On the Birth of TiVo-tising (Donna Wentworth)

Alan Wexelblat @ Blogbook IP:

Copyfight, among others, has been tracking the varied zigs and zags of TiVO as that company tries to navigate the shark-infested waters of modern electronics. OK, those are [Copyright] Cartel lawyers, not sharks, but who can tell the difference?

Now it appears that TiVo has sold out entirely, but not to the Cartel. Instead, they've climbed into bed with a coalition of 30 big advertisers to implement a "feature" (and I use that word advisedly) that takes away your ability to skip ads. Instead of a simple forward jump, you get to have your commercials overlaid with... wait for it... commercials. But they're TiVo's commercials. Soooo much better.

According to the LA Times story linked above, these "tiverts" as I think I'll call them will pop up during fast-forwards, offering contest entries, giveaways or links to other ads. And of course, this is accompanied by a vast giveaway (well, technically it's probably a sale) of your personal information to the advertisers.

Even if you don't participate in this effort to get you to mainline commercialism, you'll still be part of an intensive "market research" effort in which TiVo will examine your viewing habits on a second-by-second basis (no, I'm not making that up) and then sell THAT data.

"The message we really want to get across," says Davina Kent, TiVo's advertising and research sales manager, "is that we now have a dedicated road map for advertising." It's completely unclear to me whether they have a dedicated roadmap for customer satisfaction.

Another must-read post, on the off-chance you haven't seen it yet: TiVo Sells Your Fast-Forward Button to Advertisers [Cory Doctorow @ BoingBoing]. [via CopyFight]

Posted by:  Terry Frazier at 6:45 PM  | Permanent Link  | Trackback URL | 
Categories: Copyright, Technology

Linux For Beginners

I'm looking forward to this -- a Linux magazine targeted at new users. I so need to be bi-lingual. Dead-tree version will be on newsstands in Feb.

New bird, same hand

SSC, the parent company of Linux Journal and IT Garage (among other things) is coming out with TUX, "The First and Only Magazine for the New Linux User." It will launch in February 2005. Our publisher, Carlie Fairchild, writes,

The format of TUX will include easy-to-understand tutorials, insightful hardware and software reviews, useful tips and tricks, enlightened opinion, and in-depth exploration of the tools Linux users use day. In addition, TUX will present this information in a style that is practical, hands-on, user-friendly and jargon-free so that everybody will be able to explore the world of Linux.

After all these years, I still fit the target profile. As will lots of other people, as easy-to-use Linux desktops (and, more importantly in the long run, laptops) show up in the marketplace. [via The Doc Searls Weblog]

Posted by:  Terry Frazier at 6:30 PM  | Permanent Link  | Trackback URL | 
Categories: Technology

Wet Your Finger, Stick It In The Air, See Who To Fine

Posted by:  Terry Frazier at 5:50 PM  | Permanent Link  | Trackback URL | 
Categories: Policy & Regulation

Big Investors Watch Blogoshpere

Looks like big institutional investors konw where to turn for the hottest tips, fastest breaking news, and most accurate fact checking -- the blogoshpere.

Hedge Funds To Monitor Blogs Via RSS & PubSub

This is quite interesting. You know the hedgies would be on top of things:

NEW REAL-TIME INTERNET MONITORING SERVICE, MONITOR110 INC., GIVES INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS COMPETITIVE EDGE ON DATA

Joint Venture of Geometric Group and PubSub Leverages Powerful “Matching Engine” To Rapidly Locate, Alert Users to Relevant Data

New York, NY, November 17, 2004 - Geometric Group LLC. and PubSub Concepts Inc. today announced the creation of Monitor110 Inc.. The new company taps powerful prospective search / “matching” technology to offer institutional investors better and faster access to the data needed to make investment decisions.

Monitor110 will leverage PubSub’s proprietary “matching engine”, which is able to read millions of data sources, perform rapid complex analysis, and instantly notify users when relevant data is discovered. Monitor110 also plans to offer a variety of complementary technologies related to data visualization, web data collection and real-time linguistic contextual text analysis...

See more at Trader Mike.

Posted by:  Terry Frazier at 5:31 PM  | Permanent Link  | Trackback URL | 
Categories: Technology

WebDrive

While I'm thinking about tools... I've been meaning to blog this for a while. WebDrive is the most kickass FTP client for Windoze I've ever used. I've used a number of FTP clients (WS FTP, CuteFTP, CoffeeCup FTP, etc.) I've also done the manly-geek thing of logging in via SSH and executing some robust remove -r and .htaccess commands.

But WebDrive lets me treat an FTP volume just like a local drive, with all the access that entails. I can add/remove folders (including all contents), drag-n-drop files, etc. Very nice. And worth paying for. $59.95 from South River Technologies.

Posted by:  Terry Frazier at 5:18 PM  | Permanent Link  | Trackback URL | 
Categories: Productivity, Technology

Beyond Soldier of Fortune

Posted by:  Terry Frazier at 5:08 PM  | Permanent Link  | Trackback URL | 

Tools to Get Things Done

If you're a fan of David Allen's "Getting Things Done" (GTD) methodology for personal productivity management, Trader Mike has found a nice set of notes on David's latest seminar in Bah-stun:

Getting Things Done Seminar Blogged

You 'Getting Things Done' fans may want to check out the notes from David Allen's recent seminar posted at Buzznovation. (They start at that post and continue on for several more pages.) [via Trader Mike's Move the Crowd]

GTD is a little metaphysical - too much so for some people - but it's gaining a tremendous following. It's not your father's Todo list. I've seen GTD described thusly, "It's not time management, but rather managing yourself in time." That's a good summary. I have both the book and the Audible audio version. (Oddly, it seems impossible to link directly to the summary page for an Audible title if you aren't a member. Hmmm.)

And there is A wealth of tools is being developed to support GTD in your knowledge work environment. From Trader Mike again, here's some info on a promising PalmOS app called Life Balance. And if you're a Mind Mananger fan and Outlook user, Aussie David Buchan has good things to say about ResultManager by Gyronix.

Posted by:  Terry Frazier at 4:12 PM  | Permanent Link  | Trackback URL | 
Categories: Productivity

Is Walmart Innovation Really Good for America?

Excellent Frontline documentary on Wal-Mart last night. A very different approach from the CNBC special on Sunday night. Lots of interviews with vendors discussing Wal-Mart negotiating practices. Interesting discussion of the practice and effect of their "lowest price entry point" philosophy. Stronger focus on China and how Wal-Mart uses the labor there to drive lower prices. (Feature on Chinese company TCL Holdings  - now the largest maker of televisions in the world, and their largest customer is Wal-Mart.) In three years Chinese mfgs have grabbed 30% of the high-end TV market.

In one segment economists talk about "creative destruction" and Brink Lindsay of CATO institute says Wal-Mart is good for America. Wal-Mart spokesmen adamantly deny that there could be any negative effects from their practices, all in a backdrop of closed factories, dilapidated little factory towns, and unemployed factory workers.

Maybe it's good. I have mixed feelings. But I know there are deleterious effects from the Wal-Marting of America.

Have you ever bought an innovative product at Wal-Mart? Or even a high quality product? The blue jeans you buy there are "Wal-Mart" jeans -- even if they have a Wrangler or Lee brand on them. They are not the same as the jeans you get at Gap or the local western wear store. They're thinner, cheaper, and less durable. The same can be said of many products at Wal-Mart. There are lots of things I would never  buy at there - like a toolbox.

I grew up around professional mechanics - men who made their living with tools. They bought SnapOn tools that looked like works of art, and heavy-duty toolboxes by Mac Tools. Shake a toolbox at Wal-Mart and it feels like a flimsy, $15 bookshelf. It's cheap. It will do the job as long as you don't need much but don't load that thing up with full set of tools. It's likely to collapse.

The best things to get at Wal-Mart are products that fit the Wal-Mart mentality -- blockbuster products with massive appeal and huge sales, completely commoditized, and interchangeable with other brands/products. Wal-Mart innovates in its supply chain, and there are lots of lessons to be learned from them there. But don't look to Wal-Mart for innovative products, and don't expect them to support manufacturers who innovate in areas other than cost reduction.

Wal-Mart's relentless drive to cut costs leaves no room for innovation in product development - only in reducing expense. Only the most highly-refined or mature processes can make products to Wal-Mart's pricing requirements, and that means we have to look elsewhere for innovation in the products, services, and new ideas that can change our lives.

Wal-Mart may be good for America, but where is the Wal-Mart of innovation? Where is the blockbuster of creative ideas and products that will make things better, not just cheaper. I don't think this is it.

Posted by:  Terry Frazier at 3:26 PM  | Permanent Link  | Trackback URL | 
Categories: Strategy

Sunday, November 14, 2004

Blog Ads and Tracking Tools

Trader Mike tracks the trends in blogger tools a little better than I do. Here's a couple of interesting additions to the advanced blogger's toolkit:

Some Bloggy Stuff

I recently joined two great services that are very useful to bloggers -- FeedBurner and BlogSnob. I'm a little late to the party on both, but better late than never.

FeedBurner solves the problem of figuring out how many people are reading your site via RSS. It allows you to seamlessly route your RSS feed(s) through FeedBurner and provides detailed traffic reporting. (At least I hope it's been seamless for those of you who are syndicating this site. Let me know if that hasn't been the case.) And of course it's free.

BlogSnob is sort of P2P advertising for blogs. It's similar to Google's AdWords in that it allows you to create advertising campaigns specific to a topic. In BlogSnob's case the topics are categories ('Business & Finance', 'Technology'..) as opposed to AdWords' keywords. Instead of bidding for ad placement, members of the network earn credits for displaying ads from the network. The more credits you get the more often your own ad(s) get displayed on other blogs. I just signed up this morning and have already found a coupe of interesting blogs via the ads appearing on my site. [via Trader Mike]

Also noteworthy, Mike got some major props from Barron's this weekend for being a great resource for people who want to learn about trading. Mike trades his own money and shares much of what he knows and what he learns via his blog. Barron's requires a subscription but Mike has the details. Keep up the great work, Mike!

Posted by:  Terry Frazier at 6:44 PM  | Permanent Link  | Trackback URL | 
Categories: Technology

Better Than Desperate Houswives?

Probably not, especially if Teri Hatcher gets naked again. But well worth setting the Tivo for:

CNBC's Wal-Mart Documentary

In case you missed it (like I did), CNBC is re-airing 'The Age of Wal-Mart' Sunday at 9 PM and again at midnight (12 AM Monday). I've seen clips of it and read/heard some comments about it and it seems... [via Trader Mike]

Posted by:  Terry Frazier at 6:20 PM  | Permanent Link  | Trackback URL | 
Categories: Strategy

Friday, November 12, 2004

Dan Glickman on the Importance of Movies to America

Dan Glickman, new President and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and the successor to Jack Valenti, is speaking to the National Press Club on C-SPAN.

He's spending a lot of time explaining how movies are the storytellers of our time, and drawing analogies to campfires and cultural exchange. Of course, he doesn't mention that no one ever copyrighted those stories, or that his industry is built largely off those stories and never paid anyone a dime for them.

• The movie industry is a leading economic driver in the US. Exports more than imports. Talks about how the movie industry is bigger than lots of other industries. Calls it a valuable, new 21st-century, information-based business.
• Technology is wonderful, but the greatest threat this industry has ever known. The movies thrive on new technology. We have our own geniuses. We know technology. Look at all the ways you can buy movies today. Providing movies over the internet is very exciting. Of course, he fails to mention that the MPAA fought all these technologies at every opportunity. Says we will fight to protect copyright while protecting innovation (within the industry - nowhere else.)
• Now quoting a bunch of economic stats.
• Now talking about suing customers. We have to do this. We cannot let them permanently damage our business. Movie business loses $3.5 billion annually on piracy. No mention of how they calculate this number. Calls his customers thieves. Says downloading is just like walking out of Blockbuster with a DVD. Says we have to provide good product, at a reasonable cost, in a convenient fashion for customers. We have to let them get it in ways that they want, at a cost they find acceptable.
• Quotes the Copyright Act to Protect and Promote...etc. Says we need to push our copyright law out to other countries.
• Now talks about in-theatre camcorder usage. Very bad. 
• Now about educating students that the only people that can be trusted with intellectual content is the movie industry.
• Now about working with tech companies to make computers into better TVs.
• Now talks about their really bad business practices -- $140 million average cost. 6 in 10 fail.
• If MPAA falls the entire spectrum of movies, blockbusters to independents, will collapse with it.

Now there is Q&A.

• Can you support more screens to show independent films? - The industry fully supports independents. The studios recognize this.
• Where do pirates get access? Isn't it in the industry itself? - Primarily due to camcorders. Technology has really made this a tough thing to stop. Putting rewards in place, working with theatres.
• Will the movie industry lose favor just like the music industry did by attacking customers? - The music industry had some troubles, but is coming out of this ok. We have no choice. These are not customers. These are thieves. We have to signal them. You cannot take someone else's property without compensating them for it. If we don't stop it now we'll be in the same shape as the music industry.
• Will the new laws on camcording movies be enforceable? How? - This is just like robbing a bank or stealing food from a store. We have to stop it.
• Can you describe edu initiatives that are under way? - Gives kudos to American Mullah John Ashcroft. Says he's given this issue more focus and support than any AG in history. Says he has helped universities and colleges understand they have the ability to shutdown student systems. Says the French are in lock step with the MPAA on stopping piracy. But others, mostly Asian, are not.
• Will Republican control in Washington be a problem? Is Hollywood perceived as being out of touch with "red state" America? - Say MPAA is non-partisan. We pay both sides no matter who's in charge. We always have. We spend a lot of time making sure that our interests are well known on both sides of the aisle. Says freedom of expression is important. The industry can make wonderful movies for all kinds of audiences, still recognizing right to innovate. Talks again about the economic impact. Balance of payments is favorable. Movies create all kinds of jobs - not just for stars but for writers, crewmen, popcorn salesmen, etc. Huge industry.
• Do you plan to lobby more and what legislation can we expect? - Stacy Carlson new head of gov't relations. Building new lobbying team. I was hired because of my relationships in DC. We'd like in-theatre camcording to be a federal crime. (Sheesh!) We have to protect copyright. But we also want to protect the free expression of ideas.
• How do you plan to work with the tech industries? - Will go to CES and try to work with tech companies. Need to find new ways to distribute, but have to protect copyright. Can do both. Don't have to trade off.
• Is the business model of film to theatre to DVD to cable going to survive? - passes on this question.
• Who are you suing now? Can we expect to see more lawsuits? Are you suing individuals? - The RIAA did face some legal challenges but we've learned from that and we have to go through a more difficult process.
• Why do you think people are so comfortable "stealing" IP today, or buying it from people who do steal it? - Says the internet has given people the idea that whatever in their home is theirs. Has made it difficult to establish ownership rights. This is very tricky. The internet changes the paradigm. Ownership will be an issue for all kinds of areas in the future.
• How does politics in Hollywood compare to politics in Congress? - too early to tell.

Posted by:  Terry Frazier at 5:46 AM  | Permanent Link  | Trackback URL | 
Categories: Copyright

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