I belive this statement released by TIVO's soon to be former CFO might be the best example I've ever seen of a one sentence, over the top spin job:

"In light of the company's recent accelerated achievement of its profitability target, its very strong financial position, and the successful transition in CEO leadership, I feel that this is the right time for me to turn my attention to new and different pursuits."

David H. Courtney, who became TIVO's CFO in 1999, is resigning from his management roles at the company in early 2006.

I don't know anything about this guy. What I do know is that TIVO is fighting for its life right now, and major executive turnover probably isn't good news.

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tivo

If, like me, you are getting sick and tired of the media's obsession with fear and devastation, the Good News Blog is for you.

Here's what the "About" page has to say:

GoodNewsBlog.com is about real news, about positive news. Its about people helping people, lucky escapes, miraculous rescues, great scientific breakthroughs. It’s about the majority of people going about their daily lives without making that bad big impact that gets them that negative headline. Its about you and me just living our daily life.

There is a definite, though not in-your-face, Christian slant to this blog. That's a good thing (both the slant and the not in-your-face part) as far as I'm concerned, but I thought I'd point it out for those who feel differently.

After all the bad news we've seen, heard and read lately, the Good News Blog is a much appreciated breath of fresh air.

Technorati Tags:
favorite links

C|Net has released its list of the top 10 digital products of the last 10 years. I went 7 for 10, having owned or used all but three.

Here's the list, with my take:

1) iPod- I've never owned or used the device C|Net proclaims the best ever. The file limitations and DRM are more than I am willing to deal with. If you consider iPods to be the representative of MP3 players in general, however, I can't argue with a high ranking. I've used several Creative products, including the small MuVo, which remains my MP3 player of choice.

2) TIVO- My TIVO deathwatch demonstrates my love of this technology. TIVO is dying a sad death at the hands of DirecTV and the Hollywood cartel, but I would nevertheless put it number 1 on my list.

3) Google- Google changed the web and the world, for the better. No argument here. I use it several times a day.

4) Napster- The original incarnation, not the DRM infested current imposter, ushered in the age of P2P. It was revolutionary technology that worked...until the RIAA killed it.

5) Firefox- I use Firefox some. In fact, I'm using it right now. But top 10 all-time? You've got to be kidding me.

6) PalmPilot- I'm a Blackberry guy, but I've used PalmPilots and they are very intuitive and useful.

7) Motorola Startac- I used one for years. I'm over the flip phone now, but it sure was a vast improvement over the corded monster in my truck that it replaced.

8) Apple iMac- Here's a confession: I haven't even touched an Apple computer since the Apple II. It may be the greatest thing ever, but I wouldn't know.

9) Sony Digital Mavica- I had (actually still have) one of these. It takes digital photos directly onto a floppy disk! A great digital camera at the time.

10) The Sims- I played this game a little bit. It was cool, but not as cool as Sim City or Sim Farm, and definitely not one of my big four games.

Technorati Tags:
personal technology

I was planning to write a Tech Tips for Tweeners piece on spam, including when to try the "opt out" approach, but Ed Bott just did an excellent piece on it.

One thing I would add: with practice, you can tell which opt out links are more likely legitimate and which ones are totally bogus. As a general rule, an opt out link that merely sends an email to a free email address (Yahoo, Hotmail, etc.) is totally bogus and, as Ed says, will get you nowhere. A form at some offshore web site will likely not reduce your spam and may increase it. A form at a .com web site, and particularly one that seems, upon a review of the web site, to be a legitimate mailing list server is the best (but not guaranteed) bet.

One of the head IT guys at my firm did an experiment. He tried to opt out of every piece of spam he received over an extended period of time. The result: he says he got less and less spam over time. The "never reply to spammers" approach should be canned in favor of the "judiciously respond to spammers" approach.

One final tip. The best thing to happen to spam prevention in a long time is the new version of Outlook (Outlook 2003). It has a very effective spam filter that will eliminate a lot of spam. Be sure to keep the spam filter updated, either automatically via Windows Update or via the Help/Check for Updates menu. There is a new service pack update that adds additional spam protection.

And as Ed reminds us: never, ever, ever buy anything from a spammer.

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spam

C|Net is reporting that XM Radio has surpassed the 5 million subscriber mark. It is on track to have 6 million subscribers by the end of this year. Additionally, XM has invested in WorldSpace radio in order to facilitate expansion overseas.

I have been an XM subscriber for a couple of years now. I have not listened to one second of traditional radio since the day I got XM in my truck. I can't imagine a scenario in which I would return to traditional radio. The mindless banter and, more importantly, the ads are simply unacceptable to me in the days of XM and, at least for a while longer, TIVO. As of a few months ago, you can also access many XM stations over the internet (as long as you are already a subscriber).

I expect XM will do very well over the long haul, as long as it doesn't overpay for sports broadcasting rights. Eventually there will be a crossroads between more music channels (which I want) and more sports (which I'm sure XM believes many of its target audience wants), but until that time, I expect to be very happy with XM.

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xm

When Gmail first came out, there was quite the buzz. People begged for and even bought beta invitations. I have used Gmail (though not as my default email program) for months and I think it is a very good email solution (2.5 gigabytes of storage can't be a bad thing, right?). But it still looks looks like a web based email application. In other words, it looks like another, better version of Hotmail or the current Yahoo email. The search for the perfect web based email application continues.

Yahoo may be about to change that. Yahoo bought Oddpost, a well liked web based email application, last year. Now it seems that Yahoo is about to combine its existing email application with Oddpost technology into a revolutionary new version of Yahoo email.

I haven't yet scored an invitation to beta test the new Yahoo mail, but based on the reviews and screenshots I have seen, it looks like a significant improvement over everything that's out there currently.

TheUnofficialYahooWeblog has a good review of the application, along with some screenshots. Improvements in the new application include:

1) 3 pane view, with folders, inbox and message preview available on one screen. This makes Yahoo email look and feel more like Outlook and other traditional email programs than any other web based service. It works with Firefox as well as Internet Explorer.

2) A tabbed interface that lets you line up several messages for later review, reply, etc. This feature is similar to Firefox's much heralded (including by me) tabbed browsing.

3) Lots of formatting options for email composition. I am very strictly a plain text email person, but lots of people aren't and if you want to make your email pretty or annoying (depending on your perspective) the new Yahoo email will give you lots of ways to do so.

4) The new Yahoo email application doesn't target advertising based on the content of your emails the way Gmail does. This is not a big deal to me, but it will make the privacy crowd happy.

As more people move towards web based applications, which allow you to access them from any computer, not just your own computer, web based email will almost certainly see wider acceptance. By making the experience similar to what people already use, Yahoo is positioning itself perfectly to take advantage of that growth.

If I can get a beta invitation, I'll take the new application for a spin and post more notes and updates.

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email, yahoo

This is the fourth part in my series of favorite records. The list so far is here.

One of my favorite country rock bands is The Amazing Rhythm Aces. Led by a fantastic singer and songwriter, Russell Smith (a neighbor of my sister in Tennessee), they put out 6 excellent records in a row between 1975 and 1981.

The last of these is the double live album Full House, Aces High. This limited release album was recorded by the band as a sort of farewell to their fans (the band later reunited) and for years was pretty hard to find. I have the LP and later bought a CD-R copy from one of the band members. Now this gem of a record has been released on CD.

From the first note of The End is Not in Sight through the last note of I'm Gonna Miss You (Like the Devil) this record captures the best of the country by country rock sound. Highlights include a bluesy version of Just Between Me and You and the Wall (You're a Fool), the best version of Dancing the Night Away and my favorite drinking song ever, Amazing Grace (Used to be Her Favorite Song). King of the Cowboys is dedicated to John Wayne ("my hero" according to Russell Smith) and could be a bookend for Guy Clark's Desperados Waiting on a Train.

This record has been criticized some for a bad mix and record pops (the CD was probably recorded as a needle-drop), but I hear none of those problems. The mix sounds perfect to me, especially the keyboard track, which is an integral part of the sound. The occasional needle pop only adds to the authentic experience of hearing this band at the top of its game during a time when LPs still ruled.

There is not a bad track on this record. If you like good country/country rock, you will love this record.

Technorati Tags:
top 50 albums, new music

So now after adding DRM restrictions (or, at a minimum the capability to add them) TIVO has decided that if you cancel your subscription within the first 12 months, you have to pay a $150 early termination fee. The PVRblog tries to take the glass half full approach and hope that this is the end of the rebate approach. Perhaps that will be one good side effect, but mainly this is another attempt by TIVO to recreate itself in a market stacked against it.

TIVO was the great liberator as far as recording and time shifting programming. DirecTV blows it off, so now it's trying to marry the cable companies, flirt with the Hollywood cartel and dress up like the only thing people hate more than their cable company- their cell phone company.

I don't buy it. One of the greatest technologies ever is reduced to this. Pity.

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tivo

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes (the PC Doctor) has completed his week-long experiment with Firefox. His conclusions: he liked some things about it, did not find it to be more secure than Internet Explorer and will not make it his default browser.

I had much the same experience with Firefox when I tried it. Having said that, I have continued to use it about half the time. I did get that Flash plugin installed, though someone not a computer geek would have given up in frustration.

I really like the tabbed browsing. I haven't seen that many pages that won't display properly in Firefox. My conclusions remain mostly the same: take away tabbed browsing (or add it to Internet Explorer) and I see no compelling reason to use Firefox over Internet Explorer.

But as I said before, a two horse race is a win for consumers, so I am pulling for Firefox to gain and keep market share.

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firefox, internet explorer

You know the drill. Open up your jukebox of choice, point the shuffle feature to your entire library of songs and list, without exception, the first 10 or so songs that play. Each week, I add a little commentary about some of the artists, songs, albums, etc.

Reunion - Jimmie Dale Gilmore (Spinning Around the Sun) (1)
Why You Been Gone So Long - Micky Newbury (Heaven Help the Child) (2)
Don't Break No Hearts - Steeplejack (Kitchen Radio) (3)
The Weight - The Staple Singers (Best of) (4)
Circle - Edie Brickell & New Bohemians (Shooting Rubberbands...) (5)
She's Got a Future in Movies - Doug Stone (From the Heart) (6)
Love in Vain - The Rolling Stones (Let It Bleed) (7)
Virgo Clowns - Van Morrison (His Band & the Street Choir) (8)
Tonight the Bottle Let Me Down - Elvis Costello (Almost Blue) (9)
Going to New York - Jimmy Reed (The Very Best of) (10)

(1) A good song from one of the original Texas masters. Probably my favorite song on my least favorite of his records. Start with After Awhile or, if you want to hear real country music, Fair and Square.

(2) A straight country number off a 1973 record by one of the best, but most under-appreciated, songwriters ever. Micky was a friend of mine, but I can say without the slightest fear of bias that every one of his records from the 70s is a masterpiece. But for how messed up the music industry has become, Micky's records would all be platnium.

(3) Steeplejack's 1996 Kitchen Radio is one of my favorite alt. country records. It rocks when it needs to rock and it's wistful when it needs to be. This is a mid-tempo number with a bite.

(4) They do a very fine, soulful cover of a great song written by Robbie Robertson and made popular by The Band.

(5) I thought Edie was going to be a superstar after I heard this record and saw the band live at Numbers in 1989. This is one of my favorite songs on the record. Their second record was not as good, so she married Paul Simon.

(6) Good straight ahead country song by one of the guys who briefly made country music country again back in the late 80s.

(7) The Stones have always done great blues songs, and this cover of the Robert Johnson song is one of them. A great album that suffered a little by following one of the greatest albums- Beggars Banquet. The albums the Stones did from 1968-72 are simply some of the greatest music ever made.

(8) I like Astral Weeks and Moondance Better, but this is still a fine album. Virgo Clowns is an acoustic, spiritual love song that would have fit well on Moondance or Tupelo Honey.

(9) A great Merle Haggard cover off of one of the best country records ever made. If you have any interest in good country music, you simply have to own this record.

(10) Jimmy Reed rocks. A classic blues number.

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music reviews

After beating ECU for win number one in this soon to be written off season, the Deacs took on Maryland this afternoon in the Deacs' Homecoming game. Not too many people came home if the crowd on TV, particularly early, was any indication. The Deacs lost a game that was only within reach because of Maryland mistakes 22-12.

Rather than rehash how bad we looked, how predictable our offense is and how we couldn't throw the ball in the ocean from the shore, I think I'll jump right to my conclusions:

1) Like everything in college sports, it comes down to recruiting. Some optimists at ACCBoards.Com love to bash recruiting rankings and claim such rankings are skewed and don't matter. Here's the only problem with that: it's utterly and completely wrong. While rankings are certainly part art as well as part science, it has been empirically proven by the ACC Area Sports Journal on more than one occasion that the teams that get the higher ranked players will win more games than those that don't. I'm not bashing our players by saying that- I am simply stating a fact.

2) The fact that WFU generally battles Duke for the lowest ranked recruiting classes in the ACC requires Jim Grobe to do things to compensate for the talent differential. At first, he was able to close that gap by running a lot of misdirection and orbit plays (I don't know where that overused and never successful shovel pass came from- it was on almost as much as the commercial for that stupid golf movie). The problem is that other teams, especially the other ACC teams, have figured it out. The smoke and mirrors quit working and while the coordinators have not distinguished themselves this year, there's only so much they can do. The way to win more games consistently over the medium and long term is to recruit players as good or better than most of the other teams you play. I don't know if that's possible at WFU, but trying to pretend it's not necessary is a recipe for failure. You simply can't count on sneaking up on people to get you to a bowl every year or five.

3) The talent differential also makes it easier for other coaches to implement halftime adjustments than for Grobe to do so. The second half trends this year bear that out. Grobe appears to be getting outcoached at halftime, but again there's only so much he can do.

4) WFU does not have a single real threat at wide receiver. Part of the reason Ben (who ain't jamin') Mauk looks so bad out there (and he does look really bad out there) is because his receivers can't get open. And even when they do and he actually throws the ball to them instead of tucking it for yet another QB keeper (if I were the running backs I wouldn't even bother running on the option plays because Mauk never gives them the ball), they often drop it. If we had better receivers, Mauk would look less bad.

5) Now for the thing I'm the most certain about- the coaching staff does not have confidence in Mauk. They can say they do, but their game plans make it obvious they don't. Grobe said earlier this year that Mauk does not have the green light to audible out of plays except in certain situations (which must mean that all the pointing and walking around pre-snap is some sort of head fake designed to fool any defensive players who didn't read that interview). If that's the case, then the play calling makes it abundantly clear that the staff views Mauk's arm as the weapon of last resort. Whether this is because of him or them, I don't know. But if this is so obvious to me, it's also obvious to other coaches, which is exactly why other teams keep daring Wake to pass the ball.

This all adds up to a long season for the Deacs. I'm not sure if there is an answer, but if there is, someone on the WFU board at ACCBoards.Com will come up with it.

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college football, wake forest

The wind blew very, very hard all night. We lost our biggest and most productive banana tree and a few smaller tree limbs, but otherwise everything is in tact. The hurricane has moved up to east Texas. We are still getting a lot of wind, but nothing like we had overnight. We had very little rain. Other than a few spikes, we never lost electricity.

Gas is going to be a problem for a while, so it will take some time for things to get back to normal. It will also take time for the million or so people who evacuated to get back home.

We'll have some limbs to clean up, but as I have said so many times, we were very lucky.

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hurricane rita

We are now within the outer bands of Hurricane Rita, though again we seem to have been spared the worst of it.

The wind is blowing very hard, at least by non-hurricane standards. It's raining, but not all that hard. The eye of the hurricane has not reached the coastline, however, and the question now seems to be how fast and where the hurricane will begin to slow down after it reaches landfall.

As the eye reaches the coast we expect a lot more rain. So far our power has stayed on, but I have noticed a lot of spikes (4 since I started writing this post). That is a bad sign as far as keeping electricity goes, but maybe we'll get lucky again.

I sound like a broken record, but we are so much better off than what we expected, and I am very thankful for that. I was extremely nervous when Raina and the girls couldn't get to Fort Worth yesterday and came home. If someone had told me yesterday morning that we'd have only moderate rain and electricity right now, I would have laughed.

I am going to sit up for another hour or so, and then I'll try to get some sleep. My prayers tonight will be prayers of thanks for our good fortune so far and prayers of concern for the people in the direct path of this storm.

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hurricane rita

The fact that I have the time to pick Friday's Link tonight and electricity and an internet connection to post it speaks volumes to how kind Hurricane Rita has been to us so far.

Freshblog is one of my favorite blogs. It regularly provides good tips about creating and customizing blogs as well as good takes on technology in general. I have used several tips I read on Freshblog to improve the Newsome.Org pages, but you don't need to have a blog to enjoy Freshblog. All it takes is a desire to learn about how people are using the internet to create and distribute content- blogs and otherwise.

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favorite links

It has started to rain, although not hard (yet). The wind comes in gusts, but nothing like we were expecting (so far). I don't want to jinx us, but it seems like we may be spared the horrible storm we were expecting. I'm not ready to relax yet, but it is starting to feel a little better

The news indicates that the hurricane continues to move eastward towards Lousiana. In fact the weatherman on channel 13 just said that it's possible the entire eye of the hurricane may land east of the Louisiana line. This is the same guy who usually tries to scare us to death, so if he's saying that, it must be true.

We're still expecting a severe storm, but with every passing hour, we become more hopeful that this will not be as bad as we expected.

Now, my take on the media and its "scare tactics." First of all, most people will only hear the good news in a mixed news story. As a result, the media and the government leaders probably have to turn up the scare volume in order to get the message across. Having said that, I felt yesterday and last night that some of the newscasters and writers were going a bit overboard in their analysis.

In particular, I thought Eric Berger, who writes a blog for the Houston Chronicle that I generally enjoy, was at times a little over the top. Take this post, for example:

"Unless the storm turns south or north in the next 24 to 48 hours we are set up for a truly horrific event. I am not going to sugar-coast this, my friends. If the storm comes ashore as forecast, it would essentially be the worst-case scenario described here."

Again, he has to tell it like he sees it, and as a blogger he has greater latitude to express his feelings and personal perspective (that's what makes blogs an improved method of news delivery), but as someone who, at the time, was at home alone preparing to ride out a category 5 direct hit, I didn't need any help being nervous.

Some folks are already being critical of the media, and I think a lot of the criticism is logically sound. But here's my thing:

(a) There are never enough rules and models to plan for this sort of thing.

(b) As mentioned above, people need to be told very bad news to hear moderately bad news.

(c) People were, in general, doing the best they could. I especially thought Mayor White did a good job.

(d) In hindsight, everyone should have seen the evacuation traffic and gas problems as 100% inevitable. All of those people have to get back home via those same roads, so let's not stop thinking about traffic and gas for a while.

(e) We have a culture of fear in this country that is propagated mainly by the media because the media believes, rightly or wrongly, that scary things bring higher ratings. Watch any newscast, even when there's not a hurricane coming, and note how many scary stories there are. I believe this is a major problem in our country, but it has nothing to do with hurricanes.

We have been very lucky so far. That's what matters the most, and we are thankful.

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hurricane rita

At almost exactly 5:00 p.m. the wind kicked up a few notches. You can definitely tell that a storm is coming, even though not a drop of rain has fallen yet and the sky is not very dark.

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hurricane rita

Another deceptively pretty day (so far), but the clouds are starting to build and it's getting windy.

Raina and the girls came back home, thinking that our house with supplies is better than a sofa in someone else's house a mere 20 or so miles away. The other family that was travelling with Raina came back home too, and we will ride this thing out together. Even if the women and children wanted to try to leave today, the road and gas situation makes that impossible.

The nursing home where the bus that burned up originated is about a mile and a half from our house. My kids sing Christmas carols there every December. When I was walking back home after taking Raina's car to higher ground I heard one of my neighbors telling her neighbor that someone they both knew was on the "survivor list." As soon as the hurricane passes, the entire town of Bellaire will mourn for the people on that bus.

The news indicates that the hurricane appears to be headed for landfall east of here, which is much better for us (though obviously not for the folks over there) than here or west of here. All of that could change, but we hope now to be spared from the worst of this storm. My constant prayer is all of the evacuations and preparation will greatly reduce the damage about to be caused by this storm.

Tomorrow this time, we'll know one way or the other.

Technorati Tags:
hurricane rita

Here's the latest. A deceptively beautiful day today.

Raina and the girls gave up trying to get to Fort Worth. Can't get there from here. They left at 6:00 a.m. and made about 15 miles in 6 hours. The group which includes all non-daddy members of another family diverted to a relative's house in Spring. That's not very far from here, but at least it's in the right direction.

Home Depot was surreal this morning. The line for plywood (in the parking lot) was as least an eighth of a mile long. People were calm, but serious. The Home Depot employees deserve medals for being there and being so calm, efficient and friendly. Inside, there was stuff on the shelves, but no flashlights and no regular batteries. I picked up two rechargeable 18 volt batteries for my cordless flashlights and a car charger, that will let me charge those two and my three others in my truck.

Lucky Dog and I are set as far as food and water goes. I have moved the pool and yard stuff inside and I have taped some of the bigger windows. At least 3 of my neighbors are riding it out in their homes, so we can help each other as needed.

Now comes the weird part. Having done most of what I can do to get ready, I have more than 24 hours to finish a few things and chill. The news is far too scary to watch and I've just about done everything I can do from here work-wise (I'm not certain my blackberry is receiving my work email, so if I haven't responded to you, that may be why), so I think I'm going to watch my latest Netflix delivery. I'm not sure what it is, but I'll post a 20 second movie review later.

It's eerie here, but it's only beginning.

Technorati Tags:
hurricane rita

The press is doing its usual "scare tactics" routine, which makes it hard to know what the real story is about Rita and the likely effect on Houston. It's a big one for sure and there may be serious wind and water. My girls have evacuated to Gigi and Papa's house, but I'm here for the ride.

Tomorrow, I'll move all of our pool and deck furniture into the garage, get some supplies ready and wait. There have been other hurricanes and tropical storms in the 20 years I've lived here, but this one seems to be the biggest and baddest yet.

My sense is that there will be a lot of rain and a lot of wind, and probably some fallen trees. If we get that or less, I'll be glad I stayed behind to manage and begin repairing any damage. If we get more than that, I may be sorry I stayed. Time will tell.

I intend to post updates here as long as I have power, and maybe even a photo or two. Hurricanes are just part of the deal when you live here. It's time to dig in and wait.

Technorati Tags:
hurricane rita

If we didn't already have enough reasons to hate the RIAA, now it seems that priority-challenged organization is trying to get the FCC to impose copy-protection standards on digital radio. Could there be a more anti-consumer organization in the world? The most irritating thing is that this is an organization that claims to be protecting me.

As a songwriter with numerous songs on commercial records, I actually make a little money in performance royalties. Both I and Err Bear Music, my publishing company, are affiliated with BMI. BMI collects royalties (in this case royalties from radio stations, as opposed to royalties from record sales which are collected by a different agency) and distributes them to songwriters and publishing companies. Every quarter, BMI sends me a little money and a statement showing which of my songs are earning royalties. I'm all for royalties, I just don't think pissing off the entire world is going to increase my royalties.

As people who make and sell music, we should be more consumer-friendly. Instead, the RIAA makes us look like greedy, paranoid luddites. People have been recording songs off the radio for decades. I did it when I was a kid. I didn't turn into a song stealing music thief. What I did turn into is a music fan who has bought thousands of CDs, not to mention hundreds of LPs, 8-tracks and cassettes, many of which were bought again on CD.

Copy protection won't stop a criminal from making copies of a CD any more than gun control will stop violence. It may be harder to copy songs with DRM restrictions, but it can, is and will be done. If someone wants to make and sell illegal copies of a CD, he or she is always going to be able to figure out how to do it- there will always be technology to defeat technology. Heck, I personally know of several album reissues that were done by "needle drop" (i.e., making a second generation master from an ordinary copy of an LP). The people who will be frustrated by these ridiculous limitations are the honest kids who would otherwise grow up to buy thousands of records, just like I did.

Fortunately the EFF is rising to the challenge of bashing the RIAA for this idiocy. The EFF's comments make good and logical reading. Dwight Silverman reports that even Steve Jobs is calling the RIAA greedy. The more people that call out the RIAA on this sort of thing, the better chance reason has of prevailing.

The RIAA tries to act like it's looking out for songwriters and performers, but the only group the RIAA is truly interested in is the record label cartel which thinks it can stuff the cat back in the bag and bring people back to the record stores to buy CDs for $15 that cost a dollar or less to produce. That, my friends, is the real agenda. It's not about my rights or those of any other songwriter or performer.

Technorati Tags:
riaa, drm

This is the third part in my series of favorite records.

I've talked about the Allman Brothers before, and I'm about to do it again. They put out a lot of great records that combined blues, rock, jazz and country into an excellent sound that serves as the voice of the New South to me and many others who grew up in the South during the 60s and 70s. They have at least four records that could make my list of all-time favorite records.

But I'm going to pick Live at Fillmore East. I love Brothers and Sisters just as much, but I've already praised that record. At Fillmore East starts off with the single greatest slide guitar riff ever put on vinyl- Duane Allman's lead off on Statesboro Blues. Next is a rocking cover of Done Somebody Wrong, an Elmore James song. The defining cover of Stormy Monday follows. You Don't Love Me is a 20 minute jam that would be the best song on about any other live album. The last two songs, In Memory of Elizabeth Reed and Whipping Post deliver the knock out punch that understandably became the highlight of the Allman's excellent live shows.

When I want to introduce someone to good music, particularly blues or southern rock, this is the album I start with. It's hard to call anything perfect, but Tom Dowd's production work on this album is perfect. I have listened to this record hundreds of times and I never get tired of it. A masterpiece performance by the best blues band ever.

Technorati Tags:
top 50 albums, new music

Here's a short video I made of some photos I took on my trip. My old street and house, my parents' headstones, my old church and some great people. When the video starts, you can right click and zoom to full screen, if you want. The video is hosted by Castpost.

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home video, cheraw

Tom Evslin has posted the first installment of his blook (a book serialized on a blog) at Hackoff.Com.

The novel takes place during the dot.com bubble and bust period of 1999-2003. It involves the murder of the CEO of a network security company, who was, it seems, a reformed hacker himself (see the "Chat Board" comments).

The neat thing about this project is the depth of the experience you get via the Hackoff.Com website. Not only can you read each chapter as it is posted (chapter 1 is up and chapter 2 is scheduled for 9/22/05), you can also click around to embedded links such as the link to the fictional company, and once you're there to normal company related "About Us," "Team," "Support," and even "Careers" pages (I think the job posting for "Portfolio Manager" is notable). The story begins with the CEO's death in 2003, but chapter 2 will go back to 1999, as the company works towards its IPO.

Based on chapter 1, I'm interested in seeing where the story goes and look forward to reading, and experiencing, this project. It's early but so far it reminds me of a more immersive Michael Crichton experience, which, in my book, is high praise.

One minor criticism: I don't like it when movies use gratuitious cursing, and I don't like it when books do it either. It is virtually impossible to offend me and, as my secretary will attest, I have been known to use a lot of colorful language. But I don't do it around my kids or other kids. There is a word used on the fictional chat board that simply doesn't need to be used. Granted, kids are unlikely to read this blook, but there are other less offensive words that could have easily been used for the same effect (the "b" word, while still a curse word, would be less offensive). I think that as blooks become more common, we need to keep in mind that they will be more accessible than traditional books (now I'll step off my soapbox).

You can read Tom's blook via the web site (which I recommend for the total experience) or via RSS or email subscriptions.

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book review, blook

I got back from my trip Friday afternoon. The trip was a sad one, as the reason for my return was to attend the funeral of one of my oldest friends, Kinney Stanton. There's nothing I can say, in person or on the internet, that will dull the pain that Kinney's untimely death has caused his family and friends. I was told that the line at the visitation at the funeral home on Wednesday evening was the longest in Cheraw history. I don't doubt it- there were a lot of people there. I hope there's a TV in heaven so Kinney could see how much he was loved and by how many. And of course so he can watch his Clemson football games.

One last gift Kinney gave his friends was to bring us together at and after his funeral. I saw some dear friends that I hadn't seen for far too long. The afternoon at that bar on Highway 9 was special, as were the trips back to the ice house and dinner Wednesday night. Kinney was a "people person" and he brought people together, even after he could no longer join us. I rebuilt valued connections with a lot of people whom I care for deeply. Just one more in a long list of things Kinney did for others.

Kinney was not a perfect person- none of us are. But in the end people should be judged by their hearts. And Kinney's heart was always in the right place. We were lifelong friends. We did good together. We raised hell together. We were allies and, on occasion, we strongly and even violently disagreed. We made each other laugh a lot, and we talked about life's mysteries and challenges. But through it all, I never doubted Kinney's heart. He cared for people deeply, maybe even too deeply.

Phil Lee has a song called The Mighty King of Love. The first time I heard it years ago, it reminded me of Kinney. The best part goes:

You call me the King of Love
Don't I wish I were
I wouldn't even call myself
A gifted amateur
I am the king of nothing
I am mostly skin and bone
And of all the broken hearts I broke
I mostly broke my own

Here's an MP3 for anyone who wants to hear it. Phil, if you see this, it's a low bit rate MP3, and a lot of people will probably buy the CD after hearing this song. Please don't let your record company sue me.

One final thing I would note, to demonstrate the strength and kindness of the people who come from my hometown. At the visitation, in a time of almost unbearable grief, Kinney's dad, who was one of my dad's close friends, told me that he wanted to tell me a story about my dad sometime. The next day, just after the service, he sat me down in a folding chair and told me a story about my dad. The only stories I really know about my dad are the ones that he and others have told me, and I'm sure he knows that. The fact the he would take the time to tell me a story during such a sad time both humbles me as a human being and makes me unbelievably proud of where I come from. It is the Prettiest Town in Dixie, but not just because of the dogwoods.

My trip home was so intensely sad, but it was a healing thing as well. I am still sad about all the loss, but somehow it feels like things might turn out OK. There's a ways to go, but thanks to the Mighty King of Love, we have a chance.


Kinney (right) with Thomas Burr, another lifelong friend, on the playground at Robert Smalls Elementary, 1971

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grief

Engadget is reporting that the previously mentioned evidence of TIVO's implementation of DRM continues to mount. My favorite part of that post is this comment by a reader:

"What is the point of a TiVo then? They're crippling themselves, and even though I don't own one, it pisses me off."

I couldn't agree more. The problem for TIVO is that it is caught between a rock (DirecTV non-support) and a hard place (Hollywood). It's trying to recreate itself in a hostile environment. As a result, TIVO's death throes are getting more and more hard to watch.

I'll continue to hope that TIVO can beat the odds and remain a relevant and useful technology, as least until I conclude that TIVO is not telling the truth about this DRM business.

Note to TIVO: the best way to lose the last remaining part of your once large and loyal subscriber base would be to be less than forthcoming about this DRM business. DRM is a hot button for most of your subscribers, so the best way to address this mess is to play the "I have to do this to get the content you want" card. Blame it on the Hollywood cartel. No one likes them anyway.

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TIVO, DRM

One of the primary purposes of Newsome.Org is to introduce and explain computer-related programs and features to other in-betweeners like me- people who are the parents of the youngsters to whom computers and the internet are as integral as the telephone and the children of our parents who have no intention of ever embracing computers.

As the neighborhood computer geek, I get a lot of calls for help with computer-related problems. Without a doubt, the large majority of those problems are related to computer security, or the lack thereof.

There are 3 things that everyone must do to protect their computer and the data thereon. If you don't do them, you will eventually encounter a problem. The only question is whether it will be a minor problem (such as a hijacked internet home page) or a big problem (like the loss of data or the theft of personal information).

Having said that, don't avoid the internet like an unsafe neighborhood. The convenience and benefits are too great for that. We don't give up driving just because there are bad drivers and potential carjackers out there. We simply wear our seatbelts, lock the doors and watch where we are going. There are a few simple things you can do to increase your computer safety and manage the risk.

One: Install a Firewall

A firewall monitors your incoming and outgoing internet (and other network) traffic and helps prevent traffic (e.g., connections) you don't want from doing something bad to your computer. There are two kinds of firewalls: hardware and software. We are talking about the software kind.

Even if you connect through a router, you still need a software firewall.

There are a lot of choices out there, and I'll recommend two. If you want to make things as simple as possible, use Windows' built in firewall. You need to have Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installed in order to use Windows firewall, but (and this is very important) you need XP and SP2 installed for many other reasons. If you have an older version of Windows, upgrade. If you have XP make sure SP2 is installed. If your computer is too old to run XP and you are determined not to buy a new one, check out Zone Alarm (see below).

If you can't or won't use Windows' built in firewall or if you want a little more protection, check out ZoneAlarm. There is a free version and a more robust ZoneAlarm Pro version, which is what I use. Both are easy to install and configure. $50 a year is not much money to protect your computer, so I suggest shelling out the dough. Also, unlike Windows firewall, ZoneAlarm works on Windows 98 (Second Edition) and later. If you have an earlier version of Windows, it is seriously time to junk it and get a new computer with a new OS (like Windows XP).

Two: Install Antivirus Software

After you get your firewall up and running, buy and install an antivirus program. Antivirus programs attempt to identify and eliminate computer viruses before they infect your computer. Unlike a firewall, which stops unwanted connections (where another computer "talks" to yours), antivirus software stops a usually hidden or disguised computer program from making changes to your computer.

Windows does not yet have an integrated antivirus program, although Microsoft is working on one. I'll make two recommendations. One, which I use, is Norton Antivirus. You can buy it online, download it and install it right away. One note: resist buying the once indispensable Norton Utilities, which bundles other programs with an antivirus program. These once great programs have been largely rendered unnecessary by Windows XP and now serve mainly to cause unnecessary programs to run in the background, possibly slowing your computer down. The program costs another $50 per year, but is worth it.

The other program that I like, though less than Norton Antivirus, is McAfee Antivirus. Again, avoid buying a bundle of software. Buy only the antivirus program.

Important Note: No matter which program you buy, it is critical that you run regular updates, which can be automated if you like. The developers post regular updates that identify new viruses. If you don't update the software regularly (at least once a week), you will not have adequate protection. Finally, make sure you have enabled email scanning, which allows the program to automatically scan every incoming and outgoing email for viruses. Most computer viruses are delivered via email, some of which may be disguised as emails from someone you know (once a virus infects a computer, it will often access the computer's address book and email itself to the contacts therein- the idea being that people are more likely to open an email from someone they know).

Three: Install an Anti-Spyware Program

Firewalls keep hackers from communicating with your computer. Antivirus programs keep virus files from changing your computer, but there is still spyware. Spyware is malicious software intended to take partial control of a computer's operation without the owner's consent. Spyware differs from viruses in that it does not usually self-replicate (e.g., email itself via your address book). Like many recent viruses, spyware is primarily designed to exploit infected computers for commercial gain. I would also add that spyware is generally less damaging than a virus and is much more common on even a careful user's computer. My unfortunate experience has been that spyware, particularly the tracking kind (that allows some program you have installed or some website you have visited to track where you go on the web), is virtually inevitable. The goal is to regularly scan for it and delete it.

Microsoft is also working on an integrated anti-spyware program and there is a beta version available for free. I haven't used it, so I can't comment other than to say that this will, like Windows firewall, become the easy choice in future versions of Windows. In the meantime, I'll make two recommendations. First, Ad-Aware, the program I use. Like ZoneAlarm, there is a free version and an Ad-Aware Plus version for $40). I use the free version and it has always worked well for you. One note: the pay versions claim to prevent spyware before it infects your computer (and perhaps making spyware less inevitable). I haven't used them, so I don't know how well the prevention works. If anyone has any thoughts, please post a comment.

Another good program is Spyware Doctor. I have only used it a little, but it got a great review from PC Magazine. I stay with Ad-Aware, because I have used it for years. If I were starting anew, I'd shell out the $30 for Spyware Doctor.

Conclusion

I don't want to overstate my point and cause undue concern about computer security. I use the internet for everything from banking to shopping to data storage and I have never suffered a serious security problem. The reason I am so comfortable using the internet so extensively is because I understand the risks and take these steps to manage them. It will take a couple of hours to buy and install these programs, but if you install them and keep them updated, you will protect yourself against some very real but manageable problems. Get to work and happy surfing!

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computer security, beginner tips

Fred Wilson has posted a review from the Stone's Giants Stadium show last night. He lists the entire set, with a little commentary. I took Cassidy to see the Stones the last time they were in Houston (1/25/03), because one of my graduate school friends went with his parents to see The Beatles when he was four and I wanted to give Cassidy a similar story to tell.

I've seen the Stones 4-5 times and have tickets for the Houston show in a few weeks. Absolutely are they great live. Here are a few of my all-time favorite concerts:

1) REM - Fox Theatre, Atlanta (1984): Simply the best rock concert I have ever been to. Every moment was magical.

2) Bruce Springsteen - Charlotte Coliseum (around 1976): He played for 4 hours, including 30 minutes or so after the lights were turned on. I was just getting into Bruce at that point, but I knew I had seen a show I'd never forget.

3) Allman Brothers - Somewhere in Charlotte (around 1979): The only time I have ever seen one of my all-time favorite bands in concert. It was at some outdoor place. I didn't drive, and I can't recall exactly where it was.

4) Lynyrd Skynyrd - Charlotte Coliseum (around 1976): Also the only time I ever saw the second greatest southern rock band (behind only the Allmans).

5) Neil Young - Houston Music Hall (around 1987): We were afraid it was going to be a rockabilly show, but it turned out to be a Crazy Horse reunion show and an amazing one.

6) Boz Scaggs - Charlotte Coliseum (around 1977): I got drug to this when all I knew about was Lowdown and before I knew about his blues roots. He rocked the place and I was so glad I we