Ditch your browser—RSS makes surfing for news a joy. [Slate Magazine]
Chameleon Card Changes Stripes
This is one of the more out there ideas. I would think it would be easier to use an electronic device like a phone or PDA than to have a master card you morph into the card you need. How do you convince merchants you are not pulling one over…
An upcoming product promises to lighten your wallet in a good way — by replacing all those credit, bank and customer-loyalty cards with a single, programmable card. [Wired News]
Where I’ve been…
Circuit City picks up Vonage VoIP phones
Moving to Cross the Chasm…
The broadband phone provider moves beyond its early “geek” adopters, reaching its first deal with a national retailer to sell its services. [CNET News.com]
How long should it take for customer service?
I sent an email to Six Apart today at 2:47 pm EST about my data corruption issue. I was given an email address to use as a paying customer for support and expected that I would hear back shortly, yet I have not even received an auto-responder stating that my message even got to someone’s mailbox.
Since you’ve made a premium-level donation of $45 or more, you are
eligible for a higher level of support. To initiate a help request,
simply email us at (withdrawn for now). Priority support requests
will be elevated to instant messaging as required, and you will receive
IM contact information in the event such support is needed.
Seems in theory that the system is there — but so far zippo from Six Apart. I expect prompt service as a paying customer (since it seems most people are not and simply rely on the P2P methods within the support forum), am I being unreasonable? The whole reason I decided to pay was for the support…
UPDATE – 11:11 pm …Just got an email from Ben at Six Apart. The help begins!
Will DVD mean VoD is DOA?
DVD is going to be single biggest roadblock for massive deployment of Video On Demand. Mike Walsh writes that, “After a decade of whispered promises, the prospects of video on demand are finally looking up. Certainly the current buzz about a possible Comcast/Disney tie up has started the rumour mill up again. But with Hollywood already addicted to the consumer love affair with DVD, is it too late for VoD?.” [GigaOm: Om Malik’s Broadband Blog]
Just my opinion here, but I don’t think so. VOD is pretty damn convenient and if they can get a deeper catalog going and even add HD, I don’t see it going away just yet. Sure DVD offers a great high quality experience, but you have to buy or rent it, which takes planning, when with VOD you can just click it with the remote. In theory, you could enhance the broadcast further with multiple streams and data layers… I think they are just beginning to get going.
Leaked Memo Revives SCO-Microsoft Connection Furor
Dirty Secrets?
Did Microsoft help fund SCO, and, by association, SCO’s lawsuits against Linux vendors and users? A new internal memo leads to that conclusion. [Technology News from eWEEK and Ziff Davis]
Some Like It Hot
OK, P2P is ‘piracy.’ But Hollywood, radio, cable TV and, yes, even the music industry all sprang from different forms of thievery. By Lawrence Lessig from Wired magazine. [Wired News]
New Clear Flip Cases for the T3 and Zire 71
These look very slick!
Javoedge has a interesting set of new cases out for the Tungsten T3 and Zire 71. They are a clear plastic that wrap around the handheld for protection that also features a flip cover. [PalmInfocenter]
Movable Type – Gallery Plugin
Useful stuff!!
Gallery Link Plugin for Movable Type: I knew it wouldn’t be long before these two platforms came together.
[This plugin] allows you to add graphical links to photos on your Gallery website in a way that required much less cutting and pasting and will probably save you much headache if you move your Gallery site.
“How I Lost the Big One”
Professor Lessig revists Eldred v. Ashcroft with this article on legalaffairs.org. [Lessig News]
RSS NewsMaster
The newsmaster is an individual capable of personally crafting RSS-based specialized information channels by utilizing technologies that allow hir to select, aggregate, filter, exclude and identify quality news, information, content, tools and resources from the whole universe of content, news and information available on the Internet.
Newsmastering is the ability of a human being to concert, orchestrate, edit, and refine quality search formulas that tap into the whole Internet content universe and beyond, and that filter out relevant information through selected keywords, source selection, ranking, heuristics, and many other possible criteria. [E M E R G I C . o r g]
Amazon does the RSS thing
Amazon recently turned on a whole bunch of RSS Feeds. Very cool. [Scobleizer]
The passion of Howard Stern
Interestingly Clear Channel still feels Howard is good enough to use on air as voice talent for commercials he reads. Nice…
From the moment last week when Clear Channel Communications suspended Howard Stern’s syndicated morning show from the company’s radio stations, denouncing it as “vulgar, offensive and insulting,” speculation erupted that the move had more to do with Stern’s politics than his raunchy shock-jock shtick.
Stern’s loyal listeners, Clear Channel foes and many Bush administration critics immediately reached the same conclusion: The notorious jock was yanked off the air because he had recently begun trashing Bush, and Bush-friendly Clear Channel used the guise of “indecency” to shut him up. That the content of Stern’s crude show hadn’t suddenly changed, but his stance on Bush had, gave the theory more heft. That, plus his being pulled off the air in key electoral swing states such as Florida and Pennsylvania.
This week, Stern himself went on the warpath, weaving in among his familiar monologues about breasts and porn actresses accusations that Texas-based Clear Channel — whose Republican CEO, Lowry Mays, is extremely close to both George W. Bush and Bush’s father — canned him because he deviated from the company’s pro-Bush line. “I gotta tell you something,” Stern told his listeners. “There’s a lot of people saying that the second that I started saying, ‘I think we gotta get Bush out of the presidency,’ that’s when Clear Channel banged my ass outta here. Then I find out that Clear Channel is such a big contributor to President Bush, and in bed with the whole Bush administration, I’m going, ‘Maybe that’s why I was thrown off: because I don’t like the way the country is leaning too much to the religious right.’ And then, bam! Let’s get rid of Stern. I used to think, ‘Oh, I can’t believe that.’ But that’s it! That’s what’s going on here! I know it! I know it!”
Stern’s been relentless all week, detailing the close ties between Clear Channel executives and the Bush administration, and insisting that political speech, not indecency, got him in trouble with the San Antonio broadcasting giant. If he hadn’t turned against Bush, Stern told his listeners, he’d still be heard on Clear Channel stations.
Stuck between Berkeley DB and MySQL
So it appears that the database containing everything I’ve written and linked for the past few years (amazing how time flies) is corrupted, an unfortunately common occurrence in Moveable Type Berkeley DB installations. I can export my posts just fine, but cannot import them into a fresh install on a new server. I also cannot upgrade my existing Berkeley DB to MySQL, which would be my choice on this and the new host for the same corrupted reason.
I’ve checked the file and frankly things look good in the export. I can see the entries where an import halted and even after copying and pasting the next entry (yes creating a duplicate) things still eventually crap out again. I’ve done this quite a few times and been forced to reinstall MT on the new host too many times in order to maintain my permalinks for each entry. I’ve got to keep things the same if at all possible moving forward or risk some serious google linkage.
I’m stuck for now… Hoping eventually some helpful sole reads this or even replies to my calls for help on the MT support boards. I actually paid for MT so perhaps the staff at Six Apart can kick in some assistance. This sucks.
Xitel debuts Ground Loop Isolator
Xitel has announced its Ground Loop Isolator designed specifically to stop the ground loop hum that can result from connecting computers to home stereo equipment. “As the trend towards more and more consumers playing digital audio from their computers through their home stereo systems continue, many are discovering an annoying hum in their speakers. The most likely cause of this hum is not their PC or home stereo, but a ground loop in their home or apartment mains power wiring, which can occur through differences in resistance in the electrical system.” It is available for $30. [MacNN]
mehack
Raffi Krikorian, author of TiVo Hacks and occasional contributor to this site has launched a new site of his own called mehack. It’s along the same lines as TiVo hacking but goes beyond to cover how to hack just about any electronic device in your home or car, and covers news and equipment necessary to do the job right. [PVRblog]
Best of Luck to engadget
Back in August of 2002 I helped found Gizmodo, the gadgets weblog. It was a labor of love, but never intended as more than a part-time freelance job. After nineteen months I’ve decided to take a risk and launch a new site that will let me do what I want: Blog about gadgets full-time. In partnership with The Weblogs, Inc. Network (WIN), I’ve launched Engadget (www.engadget.com), where I’m already posting obsessively about everything exciting on gadgets and personal technology. [engadget.com]
Under Construction…
Doing a bit of construction behind the scenes and looking to move this site to a new host very shortly. Not sure exactly when the domain switch will take place… I am still sorting out an import issue on my newer installation of moveable type at the future locale. Stay tuned… hopefully nothing will break down. I’ve got a very similar config going so my linkage from others and google will hopefully remain. Likewise with my email… fingers crossed!
This image is actually from right outside our apartment (though shot from the 20th floor). Lovely to wake up to … or nap to if you are a 3 month old.
Written while listing to — Bob Marley “ls This Love (Horns Mix)” from Songs Of Freedom (Disc 3) (1992).
Thank you Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings!
Sure the real reason is to get confidence cooking in the company, but I am just glad they are seemingly going to produce this. I really enjoyed the Chronicles of Narnia books as a kid and would welcome a live action version. I’ve recall seeing an animated version a long time ago and have heard a cool spoof on the radio during a winter episode of the Prairie Home Companion.
The Burbank, Calif., entertainment company’s Walt Disney Studios unit took out color ads scheduled to appear in The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, among others, announcing a deal to co-finance and distribute a live-action film based on C.S. Lewis’s children’s fantasy classics, “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” Such announcement ads typically are limited to Hollywood trade newspapers like Daily Variety.
The effort to show Disney’s commitment to a big new fantasy franchise comes as Disney Chairman and Chief Executive Michael Eisner faces one of the biggest tests of his career. After a fierce three-month campaign led by former board members Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold, at least 30% of shareholders are expected to withhold support for Mr. Eisner at Wednesday’s annual meeting.
Monday, state pension funds in Ohio and Florida joined others in California and elsewhere in announcing they would withhold support from the longtime Disney boss, while the pension fund of New York City said it would support him.
The showdown comes after Mr. Eisner and the Disney board last month rejected an unsolicited takeover offer from cable company Comcast Corp. In a bid to appease shareholders, Disney board members have been talking to Mr. Eisner about the possibility of curbing his powers by removing his chairman title, according to people familiar with the matter.
Detailing its latest project, the studio said it hopes to make several movies from the novels written by Mr. Lewis, who was an English professor and Christian writer — in much the same vein as “The Lord of the Rings” and the “Harry Potter” series. The announcement came a day after “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” swept the Academy Awards, winning 11, and followed the huge box-office success of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.” It also came after talks broke down to extend a lucrative and long-running distribution deal for Pixar Animation Studios’ computer-animated films.
Disney’s partner on “The Chronicles of Narnia,” Walden Media, bought the film rights to the seven-book epic in late 2001. The production company announced a year later that Andrew Adamson, director of the computer-animated hit “Shrek,” would direct the first film. [WSJ.com]