a multi-tasked stream of consciousness or perhaps just emails to myself
not exactly….This just in:
From: CEO of Walmart <21913_9533_200301061331@ferb.currentmail.com>
Date: Mon Jan 6, 2003 5:07:54 PM America/New_York
Subject: New Business Venture–What do you think?
I know that H. Lee Scott, President and chief executive officer,Wal-Mart Stores Inc. , would approve of neither his title nor his brand being used in this way… interesting tactic though, poorly followed through given the subject line.
Just the kind of debate that we like to see….
Swappers aren’t absolved of standard copyright abuse, either. Copying entire seasons of “The Sopranos” for Net distribution is still a no-go. “It’s one thing to have hacked it,” Zittrain says. “‘Distribution of works’ is another violation altogether. It’s apples and oranges,” and the oranges could still land you in jail. But an attorney with DMCA experience under his belt says precedents set in the VCR-related suits of the early ’80s mean network TV is still up for grabs if the commercials are included in the video. It looks as if lawyers will have a lot to say, actually, before all of this is settled.
Source: Fortune.com
It is MacWorld week afterall… this was a great one.
Magic?
For some reason, reading Jakob Nielsen’s last alertbox reminded me of Apple’s Knowledge Navigator video: it did looked like magic then. A vision of the future more than 15 years old. Check it out…
[Paolo Valdemarin: Paolo’s Weblog]
This is something I would love to see… hopefully soon enough thanks to developers like Brent leading the charge.
An extension to the various weblog APIs that I’d love to see would be easy image uploading.
Not just images, but movies, Flash files, etc.
I get lots of requests for that as a feature to add to NetNewsWire. Unfortunately there isn’t a common API similar to the MetaWeblog API for uploading media files to weblogs.
But hey, listen—webloggers (at least some of them) really want this. [inessential.com]
This is so ridiculous it is amazing. Verisign paid about $21 Billion in stock to acquire at the height of their market cap and muddles with the brand for 2 years only to roll it back out?? aigh… They certainly could have saved millions of dollars not rebranding everything and re-marketing everything only to reverse it all back.
VeriSign has created a wholly owned subsidiary to operate a new version of the domain name business it bought three years ago. As part of the move, the company will revamp the Network Solutions brand, which has been downplayed since the VeriSign purchase.
I am back in the office today after a nice long break. Seems to be off to a quiet start, let’s see how the day plays out.
I noticed as I was walking out the door that my Palm did not pick up the event I had scheduled in iCal. I might have to start my process within Meeting Maker for the whole thing to happen. Also, two banners I created within Meeting Maker have not come over either. I guess only timed events work which is not ideal.
The Intel / SONICblue Personal Video Player, or PVP, is just one of (hopefully) many new cool devices being shown this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. I can’t honestly say I want one of these unless it serves other purposes as well. My briefcase (and back) can only take so much…
Both updates (including tonight’s update to iCal)are very strong and should be considered if you have not already done so. I have found that the way iSync now handles calendar events (from within the app, not the palm conduit) allows for a more sophisticated approach. You can choose which calendars to sync on each device as well as sync more than one calendar application. I can now sync my Palm, Meeting Maker and iCal.
Speaking of iCal… It has gotten a needed update in speed and responsiveness. I can now consider it my calendar of choice, though I do need to continually check through Meeting Maker in order to get notices through my office. This may actually get resolved in the next update to Meeting Maker as well since they have indicated support for iCal.
eWeek: Apple Tablet?: “Apple Tablet Rumors from rumors Matthew Rothenberg” Source: MacRumors
My sources sketch the following picture: A device that superficially resembles a large iPod with an 8-inch diagonal screen, lacks a keyboard, packs USB and FireWire ports, and runs Mac OS X along with a variety of multimedia goodies. I’m going to hazard a guess that this specimen also features wireless connectivity.
I’ve opined before that Apple is preparing to apply its InkWell handwriting-recognition technologies and its lengthy experience with portable design to a new product that puts a distinctive spin on the pen-driven paradigm currently being touted by Microsoft and its Tablet PC partners.
A compelling, stylish device that puts Mac OS X in a new form factor, plays to Apple’s multimedia strengths, and borrows momentum from the iPod’s success would fit the bill nicely—and point the company’s Mac OS X pitch in a dramatic new direction.
Thanks to Kung Tunes, a very cool app I’ve been waiting to use, I can now show what music I have been listening to on my sidebar. It’s not exactly where I want it to be…
I can’t figure out how to get my Amazon ID in the historical list and I can’t quite get the sidebar to allow itself to expand either. hmmm… the limits of my technical knowledge/abilities come forward.
So my iTunes app/library bit the dust. I started to get an error which repeated on startup which read – A fatal error occurred while saving the file ITunes 3 Music Library. Nice right? I deleted the prefs but something was seriously wrong as it returned soon after a relaunch. I tried to delete all 3 preference files, but the error was quite persistent in returning.
My solution was a bit tough perhaps, but since I could not find an answer on the Apple Support boards, I had no other choice but to start over. I did a backup of the iTunes library file and made a copy of that, just in case. Then I moved it away and relaunched iTunes as if it was being done for the first time.
Time to import… I dragged my collection into iTunes and then walked away. I have over 32GB of music, it was actually over 34GB, but I found a host of duplicates and files that were just old downloads of things I never listen to. After iTunes processed everything I had only to rebuild my playlists, which was actually quicker and easier than I expected. Since I keep my playlists sorted as albums, for easy listening and iPod syncing, i just sorted my library by album and highlighted each one to create a new list for each selected group.
Most of my music is either ripped from my collection or traded with friends, rather than straight downloaded to maintain a level of quality in the files. I was amazed at things I guess I never had listened to, or was keeping for some archival purpose. I was able to purge my system of about 2GB of Krap (the K is for emphasis). Anyway, I now am back on the air, listening to my music which has been reorganized beautifully with only a small sacrifice of time.
It’s never easy going toe to toe with a superbrand. But a war over sneaker cool is heating up. [New York Times: Sports]
Eric Liedtke, director of footwear marketing for Adidas, is a high-energy, high-intensity man. Veins pop from his neck. He often waves his arms around in the air for no clear reason. He curses a lot, and wears athletic shirts that wick the sweat from his skin. At a large whiteboard on the wall of his office, Liedtke messily sketches out his plan of attack.
Seekers of ‘.biz’ Names May Get Money Back (TechNews.com)
Consumers who tried to buy certain “.biz” domain names in 2001 will be eligible for refunds now that Sterling-based Internet address seller NeuLevel Inc. has settled claims that it staged an illegal lottery to dole out the names.
Though I read this a few days ago, I am sure there are those who missed it as well and can appreciate the catch up post.
In an unusual turn, three products out of the 10 to receive the Wired News 2002 Vaporware Award also appeared on last year’s list. Tech-hungry readers wonder: Why can’t these developers get it together? [Wired News]
WOW! I will have to definitely look more into this one…
Wi-Fi by land to the sea: A company has quietly installed $5 million worth of Wi-Fi gear pointing outwards from major coastal areas to serve private boating and the cruise ship industry. This is remarkably clever, as physics tells us that a tower not very high up on the coast can have a direct line of sight to a huge swath of sea within its range. The company, Wheat Wireless Services’s TeleSea division, says that they cover the coast from Baltimore to the Florida Keys, Puget Sound, San Francisco Bay, Long Island Sound, Southern California, and Hawaii. Their source of financing isn’t mentioned. How did they submarine this deployment, no joke intended? [via TechDirt]
Salon.com People | Phish wraps New York Times
Tom Hanks, Phish-head?
I don’t think so.
But everyone from the New York Times to the Associated Press to MTV seems to have fallen for a little gag Phish played on its audience the other night during its big New Year’s Eve concert at Madison Square Garden.
Sometimes you just have to share the good things…Thanks to Davezilla for the pointer!
Playalong is the ultimate companion to iTunes. It displays album cover art and rating information.
Happy and Healthy New Year to all!