Ryan Greene: Business

I Was All Psyched Up By This

Tue, 29 Oct 2002 22:02:39 GMT

Until I realized it was only the core, not the GUI of the OS.

Darwin on x86. Apple has released verison 6.0.2 of Darwin, the FreeBSD core of Mac OS X.... for the x86 Platform. <p> Download link at Apple | Rate it and Comment on OSDir.com <p>Hours of enjoyment for the whole family, that is, if the whole family loves a tcsh terminal. [Meerkat: An Open Wire Service]

Still, it's pretty cool of them to let the x86 folks play with their apps, and maybe, just maybe, they'll plan on porting some of the apps over as well. Now to find a good GUI for it.

The Aging Demographic

Mon, 14 Oct 2002 12:03:56 GMT

Article in the Times today about how the 18-34 demograophic is, in essence, crap form the perspective of marketing. They don't have the lion's share of cash to spend (that's the 50+ market), and in the case of Ford, they aren't even counting on them to buy anything now:

''These younger folks may not be big-ticket purchasers now,'' says a Ford spokesperson, ''but they may one day be. Ford wants to form a relationship with these younger buyers now and grow them up into our various brands.''

In other words, "Hey, we know that you don't hae the cash to spend now, but keep us in mind when you do, OK? Thanks! And hey! Here's your show!"

At the same time, consider what Doc was saying the other day about Tivo:

She just asked how many people in the audience own a TiVo. Not that many hands went up. At Digital Hollywood, nearly all the hands went up.

88% of ads in TiVo households don't get watched.

The goal of a market economy itslelf is to facilitate signals from customers to supliers... The problem is that moving that signal up the chain is like the game of "telephone."

I'm curious as to what the tipping point will be where it is no longer feasable for advertisers to bother with 30 second spots on shows. The first episode of the next season of 24 is running without any ads, and is being "Brought to you by Ford". While that makes watching the show with a six pack impossible, it is a pretty cool move for them to be making.

The Music Industry, and Why We Should Sic Washington On Them

Wed, 02 Oct 2002 13:53:17 GMT

Two stories that I find, interesting, to say the least:

Dan Gillmor: "The music industry, denying it's done anything wrong, decided to pay $143 million in cash and contributions to settle a price-fixing suit filed by two states."[ lawrence's notebook, 10/2/2002; 8:22:12 AM.]

MusicDish: "In a shocking statement made by Back Street Boy, Kevin Richardson, he testified that they have never received a royalty check." [ Scripting News, 10/1/2002; 9:00:18 PM.]

Hmmm, so on the one hand, we have price fixing, and on the other, we have artists getting ripped off. Dig into that second story for more of just how the labels have lied to and stolen from their artists, as well as the arcane audit process that is in place. Hey, the IRS seems to have more time on it's hands since it had to go all nice nice a few years back, let's get them to audit the books of the labels. An entertainment tax code, if you will, that labels will have to follow.

Dan Gillmor Rocks the Mic

Mon, 30 Sep 2002 13:13:01 GMT

My Response to Jack Valenti [Dan Gillmor's eJournal]

A Good Start for Solar

Fri, 13 Sep 2002 11:32:31 GMT

A Role for Solar, but It's a Cameo. BP Amoco has 157 solar-powered gasoline stations in the United States and 220 throughout 16 other nations, with plans for more. By Phil Patton. [New York Times: Science]

I'm glad to see someone doing this, as I think local co-generation is the way to go in the future. Being able to both generate (via solar/wind) and store (flywheel) energy locally will go a long way towards both lowering the cost of such installations as well as minimizing brownouts during peak load times.

Jake Rocks the Keyboard

Wed, 14 Aug 2002 16:53:30 GMT

Jake makes some great points about a strategy that Macromedia should be pursuing, with regards to WYSIWYG editors for web posting.

A Cautionary Tale

Tue, 13 Aug 2002 12:31:25 GMT

Adam has a tale of woe about his broadband provider and how they cut his access without warning or offering an upgrade. Bad Telenet! No more business for you!

OK, Cool, Naaaw, Fuck.

Thu, 08 Aug 2002 20:17:51 GMT

FCC pushes digital TV adoption. CNET Aug 8 2002 12:22PM ET
FCC requires all-digital TVs. MSNBC Aug 8 2002 12:30PM ET...
FCC to add anti-copy tech on digital TV. ZDNet Aug 8 2002 12:50PM ET...
FCC pushes piracy-proof, digital TV. ZDNet Aug 8 2002 1:04PM ET...

... [Meerkat: An Open Wire Service]

Doc Knocks Another One Out of the Park

Thu, 08 Aug 2002 16:59:12 GMT

Memorializing one of the few times that copyright paranoia lost the day

You gotta read Jack Valenti's testimony against the VCR back in '83. That's when Jack famously said, I say to you that the VCR is to the American film producer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone.

But there's more. So much more...

But now we are facing a very new and a very troubling assault on our fiscal security, on our very economic life and we are facing it from a thing called the video cassette recorder and its necessary companion called the blank tape. And it is like a great tidal wave just off the shore. This video cassette recorder and the blank tape threaten profoundly the life-sustaining protection, I guess you would call it, on which copyright owners depend, on which film people depend, on which television people depend and it is called copyright...

Because unless the Congress recognizes the rights of creative property owners as owners of private property, that this property that we exhibit in theaters, once it leaves the post-theatrical markets, it is going to be so eroded in value by the use of these unlicensed machines, that the whole valuable asset is going to be blighted. In the opinion of many of the people in this room and outside of this room, blighted, beyond all recognition. It is a piece of sardonic irony that this asset, which unlike steel or silicon chips or motor cars or electronics of all kinds -- a piece of sardonic irony that while the Japanese are unable to duplicate the American films by a flank assault, they can destroy it by this video cassette recorder...

Now, I don't have to tell anybody in politics -- I have spent most of my adult life in politics and you learn one thing. Nothing of value is free. It is very easy, Mr. Chairman, to convince people that it is in their best interest to give away somebody else's property for nothing, but even the most guileless among us know that this is a cave of illusion where commonsense is lured and then quietly strangled. That is what it is all about...

And my favorite exchange:

Mr. VALENTI. Now, let me tell you what Sony says about this thing. These are not my words. They are right straight from McCann Erickson, whom you will hear from tomorrow, who is the advertising agency for Sony and here is what they say. They advertise a variable beta scan feature that lets you adjust the speed at which you can view the tape from 5 times up to 20 times the normal speed.

Now, what does that mean, Mr. Chairman? It means that when you are playing back a recording, which you made 2 days or whenever -- you are playing it back. You are sitting in your home in your easy chair and here comes the commercial and it is right in the middle of a Clint Eastwood film and you don't want to be interrupted. So, what do you do? You pop this beta scan and a 1-minute commercial disappears in 2 seconds.

Mr. RAILSBACK. Is that all bad?

What got me started on all this was a signature in an email this morning:

Jack Valenti is to the American film viewer and the American public as the Boston strangler is to the woman home alone.

Heh.

[Doc Searls Weblog]

Thu, 08 Aug 2002 15:23:59 GMT

Smile, You're on In-Store Camera. Thanks to advances in various types of recognition software, you're not even safe from prying eyes -- and greedy retailers -- when you wander around a department store. By Erik Baard. [Wired News]

Brickstream Corp. makes a software system that can track customers as they move through a strore, noting how they flow through while they shop, what they look at, and how long they wait in line. Store managers can they track how the customers are shopping, how long theya re waiting in lines, the entire experience in the store. This allows them to better plan for peak service times, and therefore to better serve their customers.

Those who avoid shpping online and using frequent shopper cards can now be tracked as well, which may mean the death of private shopping, should large chains adopt this technology.

Wed, 07 Aug 2002 11:41:29 GMT

TiVo Might Rue Arrival of DTV. Hollywood's latest attempts to prevent consumers from copying shows takes place in the arena of digital TV. Owners of TiVo and ReplayTV might want to pay attention. By Brad King. [Wired News]

More FUD From Valenti -

If Hollywood gets its way, recording won't be as easy as it is today.

Jack Valenti, the head of the Motion Picture Association of America, has said that without proper security measures, the industry won't allow its movies to be broadcast. The reason: Digital signals create perfect copies that won't degrade. Executives fear they would deliver perfect copies to millions of viewers.

Just like VCRs destroyed the movie industry, right Jack? Because why would anyone go to the movies when they could watch them at home, Right? Riiight. And God forbid that the end user have a perfect copy of a film that they ahev the right to record, because, well, that's the first seal that will open the apocolypse, Right Jack? Just like selling movies for less than $89.95 will lead to massive piracy, Right Jack?

TANSTAAFL*

Tue, 06 Aug 2002 12:41:06 GMT

Credit Union Says A.T.M. Users Stole Millions After 9/11. Fifteen million dollars was looted from the Municipal Credit Union in New York City by its own members in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, prosecutors said on Monday. By Susan Saulny. [New York Times: Business]

The Municipal Credit Union serves state and federal employees as well as health care workers in the NYC area. When the towers collapsed on 9/11, the computers that linked to the NYCE (New York Cash Exchange) system went down as well. Instead of shutting down their ATM access, MCU decided to keep going, as a service to their members. Unfortunately, some people took advantage of that, ripping off the MCU to the tune of $15 million.

Now, the people that ignored offers to make restitution, including loans with deferred payments are being arrested. The worst case mentioned in the article follows:

One man, an employee of the Housing Authority, never had an end-of-the-month balance that exceeded $130, prosecutors said. "Nevertheless, he made 53 A.T.M. withdrawals ranging from $20 to $300 each, and charged 101 Visa purchases using his M.C.U. A.T.M. card between September 19th and October 22nd," according to Mr. Morgenthau's press release.

It continued: "The purchases were at stores including Foot Locker, Jimmy Jazz, Joy Joy Jewelry, Bronx BBQ, Hot Booz Liquor and the 216th Street motel."

Mr. Morgenthau said word of the glitch allowing the withdrawals was probably spread among friends in the various unions.

The man's account balance was a negative $10,378 by the end of October, prosecutors said.

Even though the credit union's computers were cut off from the New York Cash Exchange until early November, both organizations were able to keep track of how much money was withdrawn and from which accounts, officials said.

"There were a lot of ways to trace it," Mr. Siciliano said.

And so they did.

*There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch

The Death of Internet Radio

Thu, 01 Aug 2002 18:30:40 GMT

Doc rocks the keyboard with a scathing piece on the role that legislation has played in killing internet radio.

Law Blogs

Thu, 01 Aug 2002 15:25:18 GMT

We're just about at the tipping point for lawyer-bloggers. I'm starting to get a sense that if we have a legal question that's appropriate to ask in public, it's likely one of the lawyers will answer it, at weblog-speed, which is fast. They also write well. Here's a good example. "The Bronx is where I spent a great deal of the formative years in my professional life; it is a place apart in a lot of ways, a little banana republic in New York City." Hey I grew up in the Bronx too. It is like a banana republic, but I've never been to the courthouse. He tells a good story. I feel a kinship for the kind of lawyer who writes in public. Maybe this is a mistake? ";->" [Scripting News]

This is a very goood sign, as I think that the Law is an area that could benefit greatly from having blogs. Given the low cost of most blogging software, this is another market that could take off... What if a State Bar association decided to do womthing akinto that Salon just did, offering blogs for members?

Guerilla Marketing

Wed, 31 Jul 2002 14:11:07 GMT

WSJ. Guerilla marketing for a new phone/camera product from SonyEricsson. >>>In one initiative, dubbed Fake Tourist, 60 trained actors and actresses will haunt tourist attractions such as the Empire State Building in New York and the Space Needle in Seattle. Working in teams of two or three and behaving as if they were actual tourists, the actors and actresses will ask unsuspecting passersby to take their pictures.<<< [John Robb's Radio Weblog]

Whenever I'm in public taking photos with my PEG-NR70V, people always come over and ask me "Hey, what's that?" I explain the camera, the MP3 player, the movie player, the memory sticks etc, and people really seem to dig it. The point is, this campaign will probably help, right up until the subject of price comes up, much like with my Clie.

Mon, 29 Jul 2002 14:05:20 GMT

Adam has an great take on the DRM issue as well as the right to bear arms. Check it out.

Required reading 7/26/2002

Fri, 26 Jul 2002 18:29:55 GMT

DaveNet: Hollywood wants the right to hack your computer. In progress. [Scripting News]

Dysnia*

Fri, 26 Jul 2002 16:52:16 GMT

John Robb is kicking some ass and taking some names on the issue of corporate contributions to politicians. This is a huge issue, with regards to the wholesale loss of fair use rights to bad legislation.

*Term coined by Lawrence Lessig, that I read from Doc Searls

Wonder why there aren't more whistle-blowers?

Fri, 26 Jul 2002 15:14:02 GMT

Ethical hacker faces war driving charges. Houston, we have a problem [The Register]

Stefan Puffer is accused of breaking into the Harris county District clerk's WAN and causing $5000 worth of damage.

Puffer, who was employed briefly by the county's technology department in 1999, could get five years in jail and faces a $250,000 fine on each count if convicted, the Houston Chronicle reports.

So now he's facing 5 years in jail and up to a $250,000 fine if convicted. This is akin to driving by a store, seeing that the door is open, poking your head in and shouting to see if anyone is around, then getting busted for breaking and entering. It's insane, and I hope that he is cleared of all charges.

It would be nice to see network owners treat their systems like their physical space, checking the locks from time to time, and keeping an eye out for open widows and doors. Better yet, employing contracted tiger teams that try to break into the systems. I know that this is being done now in some areas, but ti would be good to see this become ubiquitous.

Business op for Apple

Fri, 26 Jul 2002 14:43:07 GMT

Apple's new .mac strategy is great, but why would I want to switch all my Windows gear over for it? Especially for the honor of paying an extra $100 a year for the services, in addition to having slower hardware.

Thought: Market the services for free to Mac users, but offer the apps for Windows machines for the aforementioned fee. A couple of corporate adoptions (at a reduced rate, of course) could fund the cost of the program for all Mac users.

AND/OR

Offer the .mac services as a part of the new rackmount servers, so that people can host their own .mac solution either in their homes or offices. Include this as apart of the suite of tools that the server arrives with, all the documentation on .pdf preloaded, and you'll have everything you'll need to get the admins rolling. This provides a back door entry into the market by letting the server admins play with the software and see if it's any good before it gets rolled out throughout a corporation. The last three companies that I worked at could would have benefited massively from this tech, as they all had people that would work from home during the week, and in the case of some, put in crazy hours from home as well. For those users, being able to synch up everything would have been a massive boon.

Either way would allow for greater market penetration by co-opting the existing Windows users without compromising the hardware control that Apple seems to need to have so very badly.

What was I just saying about enforcing existing laws?

Wed, 24 Jul 2002 17:47:21 GMT

Former Adelphia Executives Arrested for Fraud. Five former executives of troubled cable operator Adelphia Communications were arrested today federal charges, including at least two members of the company's founding family. By Reuters. [New York Times: Business]

It's about time.

Gonzo Marketing in effect, yo

Wed, 24 Jul 2002 15:07:52 GMT

Press release: "Salon Media Group, in partnership with UserLand Software, today announced the launch of Salon Blogs, a new service that will allow Salon's users to publish their own weblogs through Salon." [Scripting News]

Glad to see that someone is doing it

Wed, 24 Jul 2002 14:12:59 GMT

Ideas Aplenty From Idealab Head. After launching a string of famous Internet failures -- and a few successes -- Idealab founder Bill Gross hasn't given up on starting new companies. He lays out his modus operandi in a Wired News Q & A with Joanna Glasner. [Wired News]

One of the companies that this guy is working on will make a personal printer that makes objects. This would be one of the first tools in the home shop that I described back in February.

Diversion of the Day 7/24/2002

Wed, 24 Jul 2002 13:52:55 GMT

Tech-Interview Riddles [Slashdot]

Of course, the site is currently slashdotted, but this is an archive of riddles that people have been asked on job interviews.

Ethics and new media advertising

Wed, 24 Jul 2002 04:57:40 GMT

fake user "posts" on public forums and newsgroups. Yesterday I met a couple of guys from a local web-marketing company that showed me their proposal for our website. Among other interesting suggestions (user forum, mailing lists, and so on) they "suggested" some form of Internet marketing. And one of those really made me sad and thinking: the possibility to posts "user comments" on public forums and newsgroups about our product. Here I would like to discuss what will be my decisions, and what are my thoughts about such an ethical dilemma. [kuro5hin.org]

I was working at a company once, and once of my not bosses (the same level as my boss, but I that I did not report to) had gone to a site and posted a review of one of our products, masquerading as a satisfied customer. Their logic was that they could never be caught, because they had posted from a cybercafe using an identity that was borrowed from a friend. Ethics were not an issue, and I am glad that I am no longer dependent upon them for my wages.