The New York Times reports that the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued preliminary rejections of two wireless e-mail patents claimed by NTP, the holding company that has sued Blackberry manufacturer Research in Motion (generally referred to as RIM) over the patent claim.

NTP was incorporated to hold patents on technology developed by Tom Campana. NTP claims that Campana developed a wireless communications system for his pager company that he later patented, and that BlackBerry technology infringes upon that patent.

RIM argues that Campana's wireless technology is different than that used with BlackBerries because it only allows users to read and print e-mail, as opposed to compose, reply to and forward emails.

This has been a battle that threatens the ability of BlackBerry addicts everywhere to read their emails over lunch and furiously thumb replies as if the future of the world was at stake. George A. Romero has reportedly optioned the rights to make a horror movie based on all the conversations the BlackBerry addicts would be forced to have during lunch should NTP prevail in its efforts to shut down BlackBerry networks.

Stay tuned for more as it develops.

Technorati Tags:
blackberry, rim

I've gotten a few suggestions as a result of my call for good blogs. Keep 'em coming.

One of them was a link to Tyner Blain, a consulting firm that focuses on requirements management and other IT matters.

They have a post about the Juicy Studio Readability Test, which I tried the other day, leading to a bunch of big words in this post. I needed to get my Flesch Reading Ease score out of the Dick and Jane level and into the suggested 60 to 70 range.

I like the Tyner Blain blog the way I like Doc Searls' blog- I don't understand a lot of it, but there's good writing by smart people there. So I read and learn.

Technorati Tags:
new blogs

And we're not talking about the ten commandments either.

Tony Chung over at Tablet PC Blogs dumped his huge laptop in favor or a Toshiba M200 Tablet PC, and talks about how it has improved and organized his life.

He uses it to take notes in class, to read at a coffee shop, to organize his notes and other content, to make sketches- and it even takes dictation!

As I have found with my Thinkpad X41 Tablet PC, a tablet can do anything a regular laptop can do. And it can do it more places because it is lighter, easier to carry and has the ability to easily convert from regular laptop mode to slate mode.

Technorati Tags:
tablet pc

I made a secret promise to myself months ago that I would not use the phrase "Web 2.0" here because it sounded too much like "pre-owned cars." Just another fancy sounding slogan created by marketers somewhere to entice people into believing it's something more than it really is.

But Reuters has an article today that actually brought the whole Web 2.0 thing into focus for me. Rather than try to describe it (and thereby irritate me all over again), the article uses examples. Those examples are TypePad, Flickr and Del.icio.us. The article sums up Web 2.0 this way: "hosted online, relying heavily on users' submissions, and frequently updated and tweaked by their owners."

Anyone who reads this site knows that I think Flickr is the greatest thing going right now. I also use Del.icio.us daily. Add in some others like Technorati, Memeorandum and all the blogs I read and it becomes pretty apparent that pretty much my entire internet experience these days is all about Web 2.0.

It also becomes clear that Web 2.0 is a close cousin of the decentralization of media content that I am so interested in. The results of the process are more important than the name of the process, so I guess I better start looking at and thinking about this Web 2.0 business.

One of the issues with Web 2.0 is that people become dependent on remotely hosted services which, because of scale and other issues, occasionally (and sometime more often than that) have outages. When I can't make a post here or see photos or find good content to read because my blogging platform, Flickr or Technorati is down or acting up, it really bugs me. Web 2.0 moves in real time, and the reliability of these services will be one of the major testing grounds for their success. Given all of the changes that have occurred over the past year or so that lead to the Web 2.0 movement and that have spurred its incredible growth, however, we users have to accept and understand (at least for a while and to a point) that outages and hiccups will accompany the growing pains. Del.icio.us's frequent outages since it was bought by Yahoo are annoying now, but in order to be stable and scalable later, there have to be repairs and maintenance now. That's the order of well managed things- both on the web and in the real world.

We've just begun the Web 2.0 movement and I am certain there are a lot more treats in store for us. But the price for enjoying this new technology is the bumps along the way. It seems to me that's a pretty fair price.

Since I am so in favor of the concept behind Web 2.0, I guess I have to cowboy up (as I sometimes tell my kids) and use the dreaded word.

Just don't make me call my large, ornate cabinet an armoire.

Technorati Tags:
web 2.0, blogging

This is part ten of my A-Z review of Scoble's feeds. The rules and criteria are here. I've already done A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H and I.

There are a lot of good ones in the J's, so we have another tie:

J-Walk Blog (RSS Feed)

Jake Ludington's MediaBlab (RSS Feed)

J-Walk Blog, John Walkenbach's blog, has politics, humor, current events and photography. It's always a good read and occasionally I find something hilarious there. Good stuff.

Jake Ludington's MediaBlab promises audio and video answers for your digital lifestyle and delivers. There is a lot of useful information packed into this blog. If you're into digital technology, this is a must read.

Honorable Mention:

JKOnTheRun (RSS Feed) (ineligible because I already read it daily; otherwise it would be the hands down winner)

The Jason Calacanis Weblog (RSS Feed) (ineligible because I already read it daily)

Technorati Tags:
scoblefeeds, blogs, rss

Along the lines of the "move to the edge" we've been talking about recently, Business Week has an article today describing the newspaper of tomorrow.

One of the themes of the article is a more local focus and the use of readers to create and promote content. Techdirt sums it up by saying the newpaper of tomorrow will look like the web of today.

This is all very consistent with the movement away from the gatekeeper status long enjoyed by the mainstream media towards locally focused, community based content sites. The great thing about it is that since most of this stuff will be online, it will be possible to create overlapping communities based on interests, expertise and affiliation as well as by geography.

The move to the edge will localize things, but not solely by geography. Another thing to like about the move to the edge.

Technorati Tags:
media, newspapers

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes (the PC Doctor) wrote a story over at Problogger about how he doubled his blog traffic in 30 days.

Here's how he did it with my commentary, then I'll talk a little about my experiences:

1) He tagged his posts with Technorati tags.

I do that as well, and have for some time. Technorati is a great way to find both articles you want to read as well as people to read your articles. Around 8% of the traffic to Newsome.Org comes from Technorati. More almost certainly comes indirectly via links from other blogs who found Newsome.Org via Technorati.

Still I wonder how many non-bloggers use Technorati to find content? I hope a lot, but I bet a lot of Technorati users have blogs of their own. I hope over time non-bloggers will use it more and more as a springboard for blog content.

2) He leveraged his existing website by linking to his blog.

I do this a little, but my biggest website, ACCBoards.Com, is a sports site, and I don't post much about sports here (because this is a tech/music, etc. site AND because my network agreement with Scout.Com says I can't). So even though I have access to a ton of readers via ACCBoards.Com, it's a little harder to leverage off of that site because of the content differences. One thing I am considering doing in 2006 is adding a reference to my blog in my speakers bio, so people will hear about it when I'm introduced at conventions, speeches, etc. But again, the content is not a perfect match and the crossover will be limited by that fact.

3) He used trackbacks.

I use trackbacks some, but honestly not that much. Most people I link to find out anyway via Technorati or otherwise and some link back to me. I may reconsider trackbacks in 2006 and start using them more. I would love to hear thoughts, pro and con, about trackbacks via comments (see below for the comments link).

My experience building (and continuing to build) this blog has been both rewarding and a little frustrating. While my traffic and subscriber count have grown slowly but steadily, it's hard to keep up the momentum (boy is it hard). Too often blog growth feels like farming rocky ground. You plant the content and wait for the traffic to grow. Sometimes it does, but sometimes it seems like an uphill battle. Like farming, increasing blog traffic depends on a lot of variables you can't control.

And the most important variable? Inbound links from other blogs and websites. I am certain about this.

To grow a blog you simply have to find a way to attract inbound links. You need a "content web" that leads readers from one site to another as they follow a conversation. Ideally, you want these readers to join in the conversation via comments and trackbacks. But it all starts with links.

Attracting inbound links is hard, though.

I still don't feel comfortable asking someone for a link. For better or worse this is a fact, even though I enjoy it when I get an email fishing for one (and most of the time give one). I asked for links in my Christmas List (and got some- thanks all), but even writing that list felt a little uncomfortable. A lot of the experts say it's OK to ask for a link as long as you do it the right way, but it just feels odd to me.

I'd rather just write good posts and wait for the links to grow naturally. But that takes time and it's easy to get discouraged. Maybe I'm selling myself and all the effort I expend here short by taking this approach. Who knows?

I guess what I'm saying is that if you want to build your traffic organically, you have to work hard and be very, very patient. I'm trying, but it's hard.

Technorati Tags:
blogging

I just uploaded the New Years Eve Edition of the RanchoCast podcast. Click here to listen or download.

I talk a little about the past year and play a few New Years Eve songs by Chuck Prophet, Jim Cuddy, Slaid Cleaves and others.

Next episode we'll get back to our typical alternative country thing.

Happy New Year!

Technorati Tags:
podcasts, ranchocast, new years eve

When talking about RSS aggregators the other day, one of my themes was that no one has come out with the ultimate RSS reader yet, so the race is still wide open. I also noted that a new product generally needs to be viewed as an evolutionary advance for most users to abandon the application they know and use for one they don't and don't.

Now comes word that Dave Winer is working on a new RSS aggregator. For those who don't know, Dave is one of the pioneers of the whole RSS movement. So if he is working on a new way to read RSS feeds, you can be sure it will be newsworthy and very likely evolutionary. The fact that he's creating it may be enough for most people to view it as evolutionary.

One of the features of his new aggregator he has talked about is the "river of news" approach to aggregation. Dave describes it like this: "To me, this more approximates the way I read a print newspaper, actually it's the way I wish I could read a print newspaper -- instead of having to go to the stories, they come to me."

One of the reasons I believe the RSS application race is still very much on is because of the difficulty in presenting the information in a logical, intuitive and easy to navigate manner. I constantly find myself scrolling up, down and sideways, opening stories in new tabs and having to retrace my steps back to the topic list. If Dave's new aggregator can make this process easier and move intuitive, it could be the killer RSS app we're looking for.

I hope so.

Technorati Tags:
rss

I saw a link this morning for Pandora over at Ken Leebow's blog. Ken had great things to say about it so I checked it out. Pandora is a web service that takes the name of a band or song you like and plays similar songs you might like. I've tried this before with other music services and have never been all that impressed. But this time it was different.

I used Whiskeytown as my starting point and Pandora preceeded to play a bunch of songs, most of which I had never heard, that were very good. I heard songs I liked by Grant Lee Buffalo, Peter Case and even a couple I hadn't heard by Whiskeytown.

After a few songs you have to register for either a free, ad supported, account or a paid, ad free, one. I'm going to check out the free account and if I keep hearing good new music, I may upgrade to the ad free version.

Pandora is part of The Music Genome Project, which maps songs by melody, harmony, rhythm, instrumentation, orchestration, arrangement, lyrics, etc. to create groups of similar songs. Based on my listen today, it seems to work really well.

Technorati Tags:
music

I thought I was done with top 10 lists for 2005, and I have resisted talking about a few of them I have found interesting, but I have to bend for one more.

J.D. Lasica posted his Top 10 Tech Transformations of 2005 and I find a few of them as well as the overall tenor of the list to be very telling about what's in store for 2006 and beyond.

He titles his item number 1 "The Edges Gain Power," which is his way of describing the power flow away from the traditional media outlets and towards ordinary users and citizen programmers and journalists. This is a first cousin of the decentralization I have been talking about with respect to the music industry- where technology and the internet have become the great equalizer that obviates the need for the traditional gatekeepers (i.e., the record label cartel). With some reasonably priced technology, a little technical skill and an internet connection, musicians can make, distribute and sell their product directly to the public. That is a big win for the musician and the consumer. The only ones who complain about it are the record labels who fear the pending demise of the golden goose.

The same thing is happening with other media. A year and a half ago, I didn't really know what a blog was, yet today I get most of my news from blogs. The traditional media outlets (such as the daily newspapers and nightly newscasts) lost their purchase in a two-part battle. First people began getting news online as opposed to via the delivered newspaper (we haven't subscribed to a newspaper in many years and I rarely watch the 10:00 newscast becase I already know from reading online sources what it's going to be about). That was a heavy blow, but it was just the beginning of the exodus. Now people are moving away from the tradtional online sources in favor of citizen journalists and their blogs or blog-equivalents. There will always be a place for websites pushing content from the traditional outlets, but more and more those web sites are being thrown into the source bucket with a lot of other less traditional sources and read either via an RSS aggregator or an html aggregator (such as My Yahoo or a personalized Google page). Again, the days of the gatekeeper are over. The only thing holding the traditional media outlets together is the lack of computer savvy inherent in the older generations. Once that last fortification is overrun by the passage of time, the castles, now under siege, will fall completely.

As J.D. says, this is a thing of "pure beauty."

This move to the "edge" permeates J.D.'s list, with at least 7 of his 10 items having something to do with this trend.

I am always happy to go to the source, whether that's a musician or a blogger who interests, educates or motivates me. A level playing field is good for everyone who matters. The former gatekeepers will eventually have bury the goose and adapt to this new reality. Those who do it willingly will be ahead of those, like the record labels and some of the traditional media, who put their heads in the sand and hope the golden goose will rally.

Go tell Aunt Rhody, the golden goose is dead.

Technorati Tags:
2005, top 10, tech

And so hilarious. The only reason my friends didn't do this to me back in the day is because there wasn't a lottery.



Click on the photo to watch as some guys job their buddy into thinking that he won the lottery. They recorded the lottery numbers as they were announced for the previous drawing and then bought a current lottery ticket with those numbers. So this guy is unknowingly watching a recorded lottery number announcement while holding a ticket for the current lottery with the same numbers. Cruel...and brilliant.

WARNING: Lots of cursing, so don't watch at work or around tender ears.

Technorati Tags:
humor

The mainstream media is finally being forced to cover the misdeeds of its cousins' henchman, the priority-challenged RIAA thanks to some recent customer bashing by the RIAA and all the shotgun shells it's using trying in vain to stuff the cat back into the bag.

P2PNet has two very interesting things today.

First, it has an interview with the lawyer for lead target and allegedly innocent mom, Patti Santangelo, who lays out the mostly ex-parte (read without the knowledge or involvement of the target) court filings made by the RIAA to uncover the identities of its latest batch of moms, grandmoms and dead people. After obtaining an order from the court, the RIAA sends notice to the internet service providers of said targets, asking for their names and addresses. Then the RIAA sues the targets by name in the jurisdiction where they live. And for a few thousand dollars and a promise to keep the bag firmly tied (even though the cat is long gone), the RIAA will settle the case and move on to another batch of targets.

Second, it has a transcript from an American Morning with Miles O'Brien show on CNN where Ms. Santangelo appeared. The conversation with her is interesting and all, but things get really interesting when Cary Sherman, the President of the RIAA joins.

Here's a small portion of that transcript, with my thoughts included in bold font:

O'BRIEN: It might get that message out that it's illegal, but there's also another message which comes out, which is a question of fairness. Is it fair to go after a divorced mother of five who doesn't have a lot of financial means, who really didn't know anything about this and thought she was doing all she could to protect her kids online? [[[The RIAA doesn't care a whit about fairness. In fact, they probably figure if they sue enough innocent people, they will create a nation of little RIAA narks that will squeal on anyone who even thinks about listening to a song they haven't paid for at least once, and preferably twice.]]]

SHERMAN: And we understand that point. [[[Absolutely they do; that's why they're doing it.]]] And the reality is that an overwhelming number of people who have been sued tell us the same story, that they didn't know what was going on, they didn't know it was illegal, and so on and so forth. [[[Is it me, or is he calling her a liar on national TV? At a minimum he's saying he doesn't care about her sob story. Just give the RIAA some money- so what if it's your grocery money.]]]

O'BRIEN: And so what do you say? You just tell them -- say, tell it to the judge? Is that it? [[[No, he's saying pay us a few thousand dollars to settle and avoid the judge.]]]

SHERMAN: We basically try to settle at a reasonable number, taking into account all the circumstances of the particular case. In this case, if Ms. Santangelo did not do this, then she should tell us who did, and we would modify the complaint accordingly. [[[Great, now he's saying bring me your kids and I'll sue them too.]]]

O'BRIEN: Oh, well that puts a parent in a tough position. You know that. Yes.

SHERMAN: Well, but parents have to assume...

O'BRIEN: Would you do that as a parent? [[[I really wish they had forced him to answer this question hypothetically, assuming that he, like Ms. Santangelo, didn't have extra money laying around to give to the RIAA. I'd love to hear him answer that hypothetical. Just because he works for a misguided, anti-consumer organization doesn't make him a bad parent. At least he would have had to deal with the dilemma directly and not sidestep it like he did.]]]

SHERMAN: Parents have to assume some responsibility for their kids. I would probably do what you said you would do, which would be settle the case and let that be a lesson for the kid. We had one grandfather who had those kids work off the amount that he paid to settle as a way of teaching them a lesson and making this a family event. [[[So now the RIAA is providing family events- sort of like the Disney Channel.]]]

O'BRIEN: All right. Cary Sherman, thanks very much.

Look, I am not all that much of a defender of people who illegally download music (recall my take on the "I forgot to delete them" lady). And I know this Sherman cat has a really hard job.

But the indisputable fact is that the RIAA is trying to make the digital river flow back up the hill, and that's simply not going to happen. Why not try to recreate the now broken business model, paint yourself as a facilitator of positive change and try to get on the high road, both morally and, more importantly, public relations wise? Isn't that a better strategy than indiscriminantly suing a bunch of moms and grandmoms and dead people and whatnot?

Technorati Tags:
riaa, digital music

Here's an interesting proposal. An independent music store in Charleston, SC is offering to trade an iPod for your CDs. For 45 CDs you get a 512 MB iPod and for 175 CDs you get a 60 GB iPod. Granted, the CDs have to meet some pretty reasonable criteria, but this in a novel program that is sure to get some takers. In fact, if I were in Charleston, I'd grab some from my storage boxes and head on over to collect my iPod.

The math can get troublesome when you think about how much you paid for those CDs- 175 CDs at $13 a pop is $2,275. But that's a sunk cost since you can't sell them for what you paid. The real question is how much you could sell them for on eBay and whether it's worth the time and effort of doing so. Sell 175 CDs on eBay for $3 a piece and that's $525. You can get a 60 GB iPod for less than that, but to sell them you have to add them to eBay, administer the auction and ship them (that's a hassle, but not a deduction, since the buyer pays the shipping on most eBay auctions).

So would I rather sell them or trade them? For an average price of $3, I'd trade them and avoid all the work of selling them. For say $6 (for a total of $1,050) I'd probably sell them (but honestly it's a close call because it would be a royal pain to have to box and ship 175 CDs individually).

So my conclusion is that this is a pretty fair offer.

On a related note, I wonder how many people will delete the songs they have ripped from these CDs before trading them in?

Technorati Tags:
digital music, ipod

BetaNews reports today that there is a possible settlement in the Sony/BMG spyware case.

According to the report, Sony will agree to:

(a) continue to replace the spyware-affected CDs with clean CDs

(b) allow the affected customer to choose to receive either (i) $7.50 and one free album from a list of 200, or (ii) no cash payment and three free albums from the list.

(c) stop manufacturing CDs with a specific type of DRM program until 2008.

To be eligible, customers must provide evidence that they bought a Sony/BMG CD containing the DRM spyware and that the hidden DRM program was uninstalled from the computer or updated with the software fix released after the initial outcry.

While this seems like a pretty fair compromise, there are a couple of troubling parts.

First of all, the settlement does not prevent Sony from using DRM on its CDs. It only prohibits the use of hidden DRM. Sony is allowed to use DRM prior to 2008 as long as no programs are installed on the customer's computer without the customer's consent and only certain data is collected by the DRM program.

Additionally, we need to see the list of 200 albums. If it's a decent list, then this sounds like a fair solution. If it's not, it doesn't.

While this is certainly a win in the war against DRM, this is really about Sony's bad decision, initally bad management of the reaction and ultimate admission of fault and agreement to fix it. The greater war against DRM will continue to be waged.

Technorati Tags:
drm, digital music, sony

This is the another installment in my series of favorite records. The list so far is here.

I remember the first time I heard a Del Fuegos song. It was Backseat Nothing off of their first record. I went out that same day and bought the cassette tape. That record, called The Longest Day, could easily be on this list. But since the first one is virtually impossible to find, I'm going to pick their equally excellent second record.

Boston, Mass., their second record, is unfortunately also out of print, but you can find a CD for sale now and then on eBay.

From the first verse of Don't Run Wild, you can tell this is a more produced record than their first, with a little sharper edge to it. My favorite songs on the record are the very wistful I Still Want You and the rootsy Coupe DeVille, but every song on this record is excellent and still sounds fresh after 20 years.

The primary songwriter and singer, Dan Zanes, still makes music. He has released some of the best family records I've ever heard. I highly recommend them for both kids and adults.

The Del Fuegos didn't become the major rock stars I thought they would after their first two records, but they made some fine music. If you can find either of their first two records in a format you can play, buy it. You won't be sorry.

Technorati Tags:
top 50 albums, record reviews

Gina Trapani over at Lifehacker has posted her list of the top underrated applications of 2005. I love lists like this because it helps me find out about good stuff I don't know about.

Of the eight things on the list, I have only heard of half of them. Of the others, I am going to check out Instiki and GTDTiddlyWiki first. I need a good list management tool and these seem promising.

Technorati Tags:
software, 2005

Jeremy Hermanns tells of a bone chilling experience he had yesterday on a flight home from a holiday trip.

Thank God these people are OK. Imagining being on that plane with my girls brings me nearly to tears.

Related Note: Some of the commenters on Jeremy's page need to lay off the hatorade.

Technorati Tags:
air travel

Jonathan Skillings posts over on C|Net today that a survey has indicated that 78% of those who have ever listened to a podcast are male? Could that be right? Is podcasting really just a guy thing?

First of all, I wonder what the numbers are for music buying in general. I have no empirical data to cite, but over my 45 years it has been my experience that guys are generally, for whatever reason, more into music than women. My wife listens to the radio all the time in the car and she's been married to a musician/songwriter/music nut for 12 years, but she doesn't care enough about music to go out and buy a CD. In fact, I don't believe she has bought a CD for herself since I've known her. Her friends are mostly the same way as far as I can tell. Most of my non-musician male friends buy at least a couple of CDs a year. Some many more.

So my question is: are the numbers for podcasting different from the numbers for music as a whole or merely representative of the numbers for music as a whole?

I can add two podcast-specific points. First, the only people I know who actually own an iPod are both women. While I have no idea if they listen to podcasts, they have the gear to do so, which puts them at the musical frontier of my little world. Second, 3 of the 4 people who have ever commented to me in the real world about my podcast have been women. And all of them wanted to know how to listen over the internet- without having to download something into a computer program and then move it to a music player. Again, I think most people want easy and clicking the play button is easier than downloading and moving. Especially when you listen at a computer. And I bet more podcasts are listened to at a computer than in the car (again, I have no empirical data; this is just my hunch).

So I don't think podcasting is only a guy thing. I hope not. Either way, the generation of very tech savvy girls that are growing up here in my house, in my neighborhood and the world will have something to say about that one day. If podcasting becomes a permanent part of our culture, I believe that "girl power" will have a lot to do with it.

Technorati Tags:
podcasting, music

TV Squad had a post yesterday on how music licensing problems have killed or delayed plans to release some classic TV shows on DVD.

The studios have to negotiate with both the record label cartel for the right to use the recording (to play the recording of the song on the DVD) and the music publishers who control the copyright to the song (to use song itself, as opposed to the recording of the song, on the DVD).

These costs are why advertisers are getting play for sponsoring the music on some current TV shows. This happens every week on Nip/Tuck and may happen on other shows (I don't watch many current TV dramas, so I can't tell if this is a trend or not).

Anyway, the point is that the record label cartel continues its war against the consumer. The goal, of course, is not to keep the songs off of the DVDs. The goal is to make them more expensive, with the additional money to find its way into the cartel's pockets.

Technorati Tags:
DVD, music rights

Variety reports that TIVO, through its new deal-a-day CEO, is moving towards a showdown (cue Archie Bell song). Seems the TV networks, who presumably are the requiring force behind the DRM functions TIVO has been experimenting with, are all a tither about the forthcoming feature (or maybe it's already here- I have a $1000 HD-TIVO/doorstop that doesn't get any of the new features rolled out to the $100 boxes) that will allow people to download network TV shows to their iPods (really- will anybody actually do this?). Of course the networks are also worked up about the fact the TIVOs allow you to fast forward through commercials, even though (a) VCRs have allowed this for decades and (b) that's one of the main reasons people buy TIVOs (along with the ability to hold doors open once they are pre-maturely obsolete).

Here's my thing:

1) People can record network shows for their own use. The networks fought and lost that battle a long time ago.

2) No one is going to do this purely to rob the TV networks of their rights. While I will never experience it firsthand, I'm pretty sure a show on an iPod is less fulfilling experience than a show on an HDTV big-screen.

3) These shows are broadcast for free. I get most of my network HDTV over the air and so do most other DirecTV customers. It's not like people are stealing unreleased movies and putting them on the internet.

I honestly believe that the networks and the record label cartel are so freaked out by the gradual decline of the goose that has laid golden eggs for so long that their knee-jerk reaction any time they hear the word download is to start screaming and flailing around wildly.

The cat is out of the bag as far as media distribution goes. These companies need to start adapting to the world, because I don't think the world is going to stop turning just because their gravy train has slowed down a little.

Technorati Tags:
TIVO, DirecTV, DRM

This hacked version of a Bush press conference is very, very funny.

(Found via Dvorak Uncensored)

Technorati Tags:
humor

If you want to read more reasons while I will never buy a DRM-infested song or CD, check out David Berlind's article over at ZDNet.

He mentions a couple of problems that the record label cartel's beloved DRM forces on the unwilling and perhaps unsuspecting public- one of which is the inability to easily pass your music collection on to someone else when you die. That's a good point that I'd never thought about before. For the casual music fan who has a couple of hundred songs on an iPod, DRM probably isn't that big of a deal. Where it is a gigantic problem is when you are a huge music fan with thousands of records comprising a vast music collection that you spent a lifetime and tens of thousands of dollars putting together. In other words, the record label cartel is screwing its best customers the hardest.

Let's think about the practical effects of this problem. I have over 20,000 songs in my music library, all of which came from LPs, cassettes and mostly CDs that I have bought. All of them have been ripped onto my music server (which after several evolutions is now a dedicated hard drive in my computer and a synchronized back-up drive on my network). The CDs are all stacked in boxes in my garage- hard, tangible assets my kids can dust off and enjoy when they hit 40 and realize that dad's music isn't as lame as they thought (this happened to me when I had my "blues epiphany" back in 1994 and realized that most of the old blues songs I thought I hated were awesome songs). While I have some songs from my old LPs and cassettes that would never be recovered if my digital music library got destroyed, most of the songs are on those CDs in those boxes. On the other hand, if I had compiled my music collection via DRM-infested downloads, what exactly would I own? Or would I own anything? Is it truly an asset if you can't sell it at a garage sale or on eBay or leave it to your children? What's next, DRM on your mutual funds?

Whatever I would have (and I tend to think that conceptually I wouldn't own much), I would not be able to legally and easily pass that music on to my kids and even if somehow I could and/or did, the music could stop at any moment if I or they run afoul of the ever-growing list of restrictions that the record label cartel is putting on the downloaded music (some of the fine print relating to DRM indicates that additional restrictions can be added after you buy the song). In sum, you don't truly control (read truly own) DRM-infested song files and that's a deal-stopper for me.

The record label cartel uses fact that someone might allow others to acquire unauthorized (read unpaid for) copies of a CD as a carte blanche to sell us crippled and broken goods. If CDs do go away and the only music available is DRM-infested downloads, I simply won't buy any more music. I'll just listen to the radio (online and satellite- not over the air, since commercials are almost as unacceptable to me as DRM). Talk about an industry in trouble, traditional music radio is in a world of hurt, but that's a topic for another day.

David's article also links to a story about Elliot Spitzer's probe into the pricing of downloadable music. I suspect the Spitzer probe has to do with the record label cartel's desire to have variable pricing at iTunes and other online stores- that way if some song becomes a huge hit, they could charge more than a buck for the download. Funny how the ten bad songs on a CD never cost less than a buck. This is another proposed screw-job on the American public, and I hope Spitzer can beat the cartel back under its rock, but as far as I can tell this isn't really about DRM.

The only way I see to solve the DRM problem is for enough of us to vote with our pocketbooks. That's what I'm doing.

Technorati Tags:
digital music, drm

The Mercury News published its predictions for the Top 10 Tech Trends for 2006 today. It's a broad list that covers some areas I know something about and some I don't.

WiFi expanding seems like a sure thing. The big hurdle will be city-wide wifi, which would level the playing field and free us from Starbucks, McDonalds and price gouging hotels. Here in Texas the phone companies are trying to get the legislature to prohibit municipal wifi. Hopefully they will not be successful. If ever there was a bill that should result in an immediate cleaning house (and senate), that would be it. If municipal wifi gets legs, it could be the story of 2006.

Internet phone calls may be a trend, but someone has to convince millions of people like me that if we dial 911 on VOIP, someone will answer who can help and knows where we're calling from. There are often no mulligans when it comes to a 911 call, so creating certainty in the minds of the masses will be critical to the trend-ablility of internet phone service. Otherwise it will be a utility for a few and a toy for many.

Video blogging seems like a good bet too. I suspect video blogging will become a complimentary feature to a blog (much like a podcast is now), as opposed to a substitute.

I'm a bit mixed on office moving to the web. Yes, Microsoft Office will be more "web like," which is a very good thing, but no major corporation (and certainly no law or accounting firm) is going to allow mass storage of documents online for two reasons: one, liability; two, the fear of a bad decision ("if it's always been done this way and I keep doing it this way, I'm not responsible if it doesn't work; but if I change how it's done and it doesn't work, I'm toast"- I've actually had clients say this very thing to me before on more than one occasion).

I hope clean technology is a trend, but unfortunately the environment loses to the almighty dollar like the Generals lose to the Globetrotters.

I agree with Frank Gruber that RSS will also be a trend for the reasons I have already mentioned. RSS and the open-source movement are creating some incredible technology, and this trend is in its infancy. A lot of the great technology in 2006 and beyond will come from the cyber-garages that brought us Firefox and all of its extensions and add-ons. If I was trend hunting, that's where I'd start.

Technorati Tags:
2006, tech

Cassidy woke everyone up around 8:15. I came downstairs first to get the video camera ready, then the the girls came bounding down the steps to see what Santa had left for them. We opened presents, played with our toys and ate stocking candy for breakfast.

Later we went to church, where every child got to bring his or her favorite toy to the front for the blessing of the toys. It was the first time I recall seeing this, and it was very cool. Afterwards, we came home and the girls played some more and jumped on the trampoline. In the afternoon, we went to the Fenrichs for a wonderful Christmas meal of homemade gumbo and potato salad. We played a litte croquet and the kids exchanged gifts.

Then we came home, played some more and the girls collapsed in their beds after a fun and busy day.

It was a great Christmas.

Technorati Tags:
christmas

Duncan Riley over at the Blog Herald has listed his Top 10 Most Interesting People in the Blogosphere for 2005.

It's a good list and it's hard to come up with the Top 10 in anything. In no particular order, here are some of the people I found the most interesting in 2005. The ones in italics are on his list as well.

Robert Gale: I find A Welsh View to be a compelling, every day read.

Jason Calacanis: I like the way he speaks his mind with little reservation. It will be interesting to see if he will continue to do this now that he's with AOL.

Robert Scoble: A lot of what I have learned about blogs and RSS came either from his page or from links on his page. The place to start to learn the who, what, why and how of blogs.

David Sifry: I say it over and over- Technorati is the backbone of the blogosphere. Someone is going to pay a lot of coupon for Technorati in 2006. Imagine the blogosphere without Technorati and you imagine a colder, darker, disconnected place.

Gabe Rivera: Memeorandum is generally the first place I read every morning. The New York Times of the blogosphere.

Improbulus: A Consuming Experience has the best blogging tutorials I have ever seen. Much of what I have implemented here was learned there.

Duncan Riley: He can't put himself on his list, but he's an easy inclusion on mine. The Blog Herald has been a daily read of mine for a long time. Along with A Welsh View, it's one of the few blogs that can always be counted on for new and interesting topics.

Technorati Tags:
2005, top 10

Thanks to the wonder of the blogosphere and the kindness of my fellow bloggers, I have already received 4 of the 10 things on my blog-related Christmas list (thanks Fred, JK, Flickr commenters and Memeorandum). Thomas Hawk is a sure bet to take more great photos, so we'll count me at 50%.

My numbering is hopeless (I actually had to go back and ADD a number 4 because I skipped it (again)).

Kevin, J.P. and Dwight are still out shopping.

So tonight I want to focus on number 10- more good blogs to read. If you write or know of a good, regularly updated blog that would fit in on my blogroll, drop me an email. I'll take a look and if I add it to my blogroll I'll post a note about it here.

Technorati Tags:
blogs

Ray Ozzie has an interesting post today summing up 2005 and looking towards 2006. It got me thinking a little about the past and pending year.

2005:

Day Job: I did some stuff right and some stuff less than perfectly. Brand building was my focus, and we did some good there. Politics and diplomacy are my challenges pretty much 24/7/365. My challenges are to learn what I can fix and what I can't and to focus more of my efforts on the former. I think too many of us obsess on the broken stuff at the expense of the places we can make a positive difference.

Music: I suspect my completed song output in 2005 was about as low as it's been since I was in my 20s. I finished one song and co-wrote maybe two. I did get three songs recorded and had one chart in Europe. I need to either write more in 2006 or stop thinking of myself as a songwriter.

Internet: I renewed my ACCBoards.Com affiliation with Scout.Com. It's not a perfect relationship but it's one that benefits both companies. I moved Newsome.Org to a blog platform, first as a content management tool and then as a full-fledged blog. I have worked harder that I thought I would have to to generate traction, but I've actually got a bunch of readers- thank you, each and every one of you.

Family: Saving the best for last, this was a fun year for us. The girls are doing great. They have a little brother who will be born literally any day now. We bought the property next to us and built a play area and a soccer field. We are going to really enjoy it over the years.

2006:

I'm not going to make a lot of predictions, but I will say a few words about my plans and then make a couple I feel pretty sure about.

My Plans: As mentioned above, I need to adjust my sphere of concern a little- to encompass what I can change and not what I can't. This covers a lot of areas, but can be boiled down to this- try to be very, very good at a few things instead of pretty good at a lot of things.

My Projects: As we all know, Project Flickr was a failure. I will still do a little Friend Fishing. Everything else here will be more or less the same- maybe a little tweaking to write in a little more depth about things that interest me. I will also start a year long self-improvement project in early January, which will be updated regularly here. More on that later.

My Predictions:

I just can't help it, so here goes:

1) The new version of Internet Explorer will impress almost everyone. Tabbed browsing will help close the feature gap. But over time, Firefox will own the "geek" market and IE will be the choice of the (still large and worthwhile) non-geek market. Eventually, Firefox will make inroads there, but not so much in 2006.

2) Someone will release the killer podcast creation, publication and management application in 2006. I'm not talking about a website; I'm talking about desktop software. Maybe it's a better version of Audacity; maybe something else. But it will happen. Also the RIAA will loose the hounds on podcasting in 2006 in another futile effort to stuff the cat back in the bag.

3) RSS will gain widespread acceptance with the new version of Outlook (as we discussed earlier this week). More and more news services will