Back in Orange County. Event-less flight from Rapid City to John Wayne Airport (via Denver) except for the usual turbulence going over the Rockies.
South Dakota is great. Albeit, a bit cold for my blood this time of year. Nonetheless, a hike up Fisher's Peak, one of the taller points in the Black Hills where a panoramic view treats you to a nice view of Mount Rushmore, the hills and the plains and Badlands.
I must have played hide 'n seek with my 4 nieces (ages 3, 4, 4, 6) at least a hundred times. The younger sweethearts always hid in the same place. Silly. Chasing around their Uncle Allan with decibel piercing shrieks and yelps never got old -- for them.
My mother would prefer not to show it, but I get a definite sense she is sad to see the end of an era. The era of the K bar S (K - S). When my brother made note that last night would indeed truly be the last night anyone in our family would sleep there, I think everyone's tears welled. But it's change. A new chapter. A blank slate. Or whatever metaphor you wish to use, point is that while Thanksgiving was a great time to look back and reel through the moments and memories, today is a day to look forward. For all of us.
I will try to post a link to some photos and video for those who wish to dip back just for a brief moment!
2:00:52 PM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
This is a test. Does this email to blog posting work?
What is it about airlines that even on the shortest flights they feel
like the have to parade up and down the aisle offering drinks and salty
snacks to the hurried and harried traveler? A 35 minute flight from
Orange County to Las Vegas and it's wham, bam need something to drink
mam and land. Barely time to blink.
I connected in Denver for my flight to Rapid City. Barely an hour
flight and for the second time today the ubiquitous beverage cart. For
me, I don't understand this, but I seem to always order a ginger ale.
Or nothing at all. Ginger ale. I never buy it at the store. I never
think of it except if I'm sick at home with the flu. But the flight
attendant asks and like some controlling force takes over before I can
think and I say, "I'll have a ginger ale."
Rapid City Regional Airport must be one of the smallest airports in the
country with real jetways. And while only three commercial airlines
offer service here, there are five ticket check-in counters. Built in
the last ten years, I think the planning commission had bigger ideas
for the airport. I'm told Continental flew here. But the service barely
lasted a year.
I brought my twelve-string guitar along for the trip. And the plan was
simple. It's time to put new strings on it. Stringing a twelve string
guitar conjures up of great excuses for procrastination. It's a big
job. Stringing and tuning. After the long arduous process, it's tuned
and ready to go. Almost. I broke one of the e-strings in the tuning
process. Not sure how. But trying to get it to hit that "G" -- snap. So
I've got an 11-string guitar. Of all things, the "G" string.
11:59:27 PM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
I'm packing my bags, guitar, cameras, cold weather gear and journal and headed to John Wayne Airport early this morning. Thanksgiving in the shadow of Mt. Rushmore and the ghost its sculptor Gutzom Borglum.
A family reunion kinda thing. Actually, more. My mom and stepfather have run a business and lived on a gorgeous property just minutes from Mt. Rushmore outside Keystone, South Dakota for over a decade. They sold the whole kit and kaboodle a month or so ago. It's a glorious property on 30+ acres with two houses and a long dirt road to get there. I feel away when I'm there. Broadband? Forget it? Fed Ex barely knows where it is. But family from Florida, Phoenix, Connecticut, Washington DC and elsewhere will all convene for the last big blowout at the K Bar S ranch. My laptop still hasn't arrived, so my ability to blog will be limited to my ability to figure out how to do it via email or through a web interface. So I appreciate your patience. But I will endeavor to update as often as possible.
2:48:01 AM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
I still have my old "hot rod" that I used to drive in High School. It's an old Detroit muscle car. But most important, it's a convertible. To some it's the quintessential California car. A Pontiac GTO convertible. The GTO takes us back to different times. Fun in the sun. California Girls. Beach Boys. Testosterone release through big block V8's.
I've been driving my GTO lately. The top hasn't been up in 6 years. At the end of my street is small grove of eucalyptus trees. Every time I'm leaving or returning to home, I smell those trees. To be honest, when I drive my everyday car, I never smell these trees. I never smell much of anything, I guess. And Ithink of our olfactory senses. The smell of flowers, Pine trees. Fire in the fireplace. And simply the smell of fresh air (ok, no jokes about southern california smog here). Makes you feel alive. Like a blog that takes you to new places and old, the smell of those eucaplytus trees takes me back to the time I first arrived in California.
Before I migrated the GTO to California and while the old GTO sat on blocks back in Connecticut, the only vehicles I owned for my first few years were motorcycles. I put over a hundred thousand miles on those bikes. And I remember how I could smell the trees. And perhaps most vivid in my mind is the bakery south of LAX on the 405 Northbound side. Whenever I would head north in the morning among the thousands of commuters in stop and go, I'd smell the bread baking. Aromatic and refreshing. And I think about all those people in their cars, listening to talk radio, putting on makeup, drinking coffee or even trying to read the newspaper. And I think they can't even smell the bread. Or the air. And sadly, my motorcycle years are behind me. But cruising around in the old GTO brings me back and and certainly makes me feel alive. Breathe in the air.
4:35:38 PM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
Halley has an interesting post that aggregates much of the talk about what's a blog. I've blogged on the topic a bit. What I think is interesting is Halley's comment about the coming age of the audio/video blog:
Blogs are embarrassingly textual and visual now, but will soon be audio/video. Don't hold it against them. They're trying to get there asap. You will hear them talking soon. Yes, that A/V guy who was a putz in 8th grade will be king. Just get used to it
My good friend, illustrator extroadinaire and flash magnate tells me blogging just isn't for him.
[...]that is all too confusing [...]
He's visual. Yet he'll listen to talk radio, watch Letterman and draw pretty pictures. Then there's my Uncle Ron who I introduced to the world of blogging and requests humbly:
[...] I was unaware of this treasure trove of idea sharing, and have just come from visiting for the first time [...] will try to print it out (hate reading things on the monitor -- gettin' old, i guess) [...]
[...] is it possible you could design the site to offer a Printable Version? Actually, not necessary for me, cuz i just copy and paste it into Word and edit out the stuff i don't need [...] good work.
There are many like him that just don't want to read on the web. I can only imagine as blogs evolve the audience will grow. There's still hope for me that Johnee Bee will read mine and other blogs.
I've been trying to add visuals to my posts without hogging up bandwidth. Pictures, sound and graphics do help tell a story. So stay tuned.
4:29:35 PM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
Joi Ito points to a fascinating article on The Mobile Internet. Where Justin Hall speculates on the future implications of blogging from a variety of mobile devices. I'm particularly fascinated with his discussion on how P2P technology may be implemented to offer realtime access and filtering to user-specified data. Joi discusses how with "server-based" filtering that a mobile blog may provide discretionary information on a bloggers state. And Marc Canter also makes some interesting observations (he's also includes inline photos and graphics which as noted earlier today, up the ante in the current textual state of most blogs).
4:27:58 PM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
It's that time of year again, catalog season. I've got nothing against direct marketing and catalog sales per se. But I do have an issue with the amount of waste, unnecessary frequency and overall poor customer profiling and segmentation -- at least when it comes to me. And even though I've written to the DMA to request that my name be removed from specific and compiled mailing lists, I'm still getting too much mail and way too many catalogs.
Wouldn't a simple postcard or personal letter inviting me to the online store of these marketers be sufficient? Provide an additional and measurable incentive. The dollars saved on printing and postage could be allocated to customer incentives. Build stronger relationships with customers through incentives with higher perceived value to build loyalty. No. They'd argue that there is no substitution for analog and tactile browsing through printed materials. Kinda like the Sunday New York Times. I don't care. It's time to put an end to the waste.
Dateline November 23, 2001: 23 catalogs this week. That's more than 3 a day. And I've received two copies each of the Marshall Field's Direct and Williams Sonoma Catalogs. Keep in mind, I don't buy. So I'm confident that any of you who've purchased from catalogs recently will receive many more catalogs this season than me. So this year we're going to have a little fun. Instead of hovering over the trash can while I go through the mail, I'm going to keep all catalogs mailed to me through the end of the year. And for the sake of clarity, I will stack them in a corner of my office and provide weekly updates and pictures here in The Digital Tavern.
Junk mail is nothing new. And with the enormous amount of discussion on email spam, I thought we'd mix it up a bit and see how much spam I get outside my email box. Difference is, of course, these catalogs cost a pretty penny to produce and mail. But like email spam, it's a numbers game. But the direct marketing gurus at these catalog marketers have it down to a science and very tactically measured return on catalog investment. Even Internet "Superstore" Buy.com has mailed me a catalog. Fact is, most of the gifts I'll give this season I will either make, purchase online or visit my local merchant.
5:03:24 PM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
That's right. Clone of the Attack. Sit back in the comfort of your home, remote control in one hand, Budweiser in the other and watch Gulf Wars II. Because you can: with the bravery of being out of range. Amusing yourself. Call it what it is. But it is. And that depends on what the definition of is is. What goes around. Comes around. Click here for the big picture.
2:29:31 AM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
More raves about last years Leonid shower. More rants about lack of dynamics for this year. Friend, photographer extraordinaire, associate and one time client Bob Pinkerton suggests taking a camera on these showering nights. An annual Leonid gazer, this photo is one of several Bob shot last year than ended up on Nasa's website. [ thanks bob! bob will be blogging soon. mark my words ]
Unfortunately for me, the bright moon and drifting clouds didn't leave much for more eyes. Though my friend Rob, in San Diego, says he watched and saw a meteor every five mintues until about after 10 he got tired of watching. Oh well. Next time?
2:16:28 AM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
Emotional because e-mail is the best way to get ahold of me. It's the best way for me to work with my clients, communicate with friends and frankly, stay in touch with my geographically disparate family. It's not that we hide behind the veil of e-mail. Honestly, I'm in touch with more people as a result of email than if I had to resort to the telephone. All for obvious reasons.
It also opens the door for new relationships, collaborations and knowledge sharing.
[...] the tool that lets a stranger respond to something you posted on your Web site or that lets a potential client contact you after reading an article you wrote [...]
I'm one of those trusting individuals who rarely locks his car, never locks the house when he's inside and looks into the eyes of people I pass on the street. I'm not comfortable with this concept of locking things. Remember that great line in the song "Signs"?
"And the sign said anybody caught trespassing would be shot on site.
So I jumped over the fence and yelled at the house, what gives you the right?
To put up a fence to keep me out or to keep mother nature in.
If god were here he tell it to your face, man is some kind of sinner."
If Werbach's prophecy has a tinge of truth in it, and I'm afraid I believe it does, we're about to lock our email boxes. Lock ourselves in and lock others out. All in the name of Spam. Today I stopped counting at 41 spam mails cluttering my inbox. Thanks to the great junk mail filter in Mac OS X's Mail.app, it's getting easier to glaze over it. But what is it missing? What am I missing?
[...] Because e-mail inboxes are open to anyone, longtime Internet users now receive hundreds of spams per day, making e-mail virtually unusable without countermeasures. [...]
Remember those silly petitions that were floating on the internet a few years back. Calling for us to stand up for our rights for free email. That congress was considering enacting legislation to charge for email? Hogwash.
I had the perfect response for these friends who were temporarily spamming me with such nonsense: I said there's no way I'll sign or forward this on. In fact, I rebutted, I think that each email should cost something. It would filter down the useless "What are you doing for lunch?" from the co-worker in the next cube and these silly internet viruses and other hoaxes. Oh and yeah. It would put the spammers in their place.
Excited about his new digital camcorder, my friend Amar invited me over for dinner and some great wine as well to take me up on my offer to get him, his wife and two young daughters up to speed on digital photography. A proud owner of new Sony digital video and still cameras.
The goal? Simple. Show how easy it is to take pictures or movies and then get them into his new iMac. Then edit movies, crop photos, create web pages. The whole nine yards. You know. The digital hub and lifestyle stuff. Confident I proceed to configure the camcorder out of the box. Date, time. battery and tape. Tape. I kinda like that word. In all this digital world, we're still using tape.
This tape however, was a bit funky. Small. Cool. As a loyal Canon user for many years, I'm not always up on the latest Sony camera stuff. But I proceeded to load the new micro sized tape into the camera. I verified it had a FireWire port and onto film the puppet show the kids were performing for us this evening.
Easy enough. I go through basic video photography. Setting up shots. Doing cutaways. Close ups. Etc. Then upstairs to the iMac. I plug in the FireWire cable and boot up iMovie. It was then I realized that something was wrong in SonyLand. Or perhaps Cupertino. iMovie didn't recognize the Sony Camera.
I thought this was odd. I know that Final Cut Pro sometimes has issues with supported cameras, but for the most part iMovie dumbs down everything to make it so damn simple. But no. Here I am supposed Mac and Video/Photo guru and I can't even edit a short clip on the iMac.
The Sony MicroMV IP7. I fiddled around and final did a search on the discussion boards. Aha! No wonder that tape is so small. It's a new format. Developed by whom? You guessed it. Sony! The technology looks great. The cameras offer up to 1.5 megapixels (this is video now) and 530 lines of resolution. The camera is tiny and so is the tape. It uses a Carl Zeiss lens, has BlueTooth built in. Wow. But this isn't right.
The new MicroMV format records in something totally different (MPEG-2) than MiniDV (the defacto standard). And as such, it is not supported by iMovie. Nor does any other standard consumer video editing software support it. Except one. Who makes it? You guessed it again. Sony. Good ole Sony Movie Shaker software.
Sony is one of those companies that aren[base ']t afraid to innovate. I like that. However good they look as a marketing company, they have the soul and spirit of an engineering company. For as many successes they've had, they've had more than that many failures. Technologies that were good. Maybe great. But they didn't stick. Sony is still trying to get widespread acceptance of MiniDisc. And what's up with this memory stick thing? Let's not forget their biggest blunder: BetaMax(an interesting sidebar on copyright and DRM in this nearly 20 year old decision). I could go on.
Who knows if this new MicroMV format will take off. But there are problems. Like where do you buy more tape on a Sunday in downtown Jefferson City? Sony is notorious for throwing proprietary technologies at the wall hoping one in 10 stick. But the consumer who has come to trust one of the most recognized brands in the world ends up with a garage full of junk.
Think of the flack that developers get when they incorporate technologies into websites or web applications that are not compatible with platforms, browsers or other technologies. Look at the heatMovieLink is taking for its non-cross platform compatible "innovative" service. And in web development, how many developers rant and rave about browser testing and the failure of Microsoft, Netscape, Opera, Omni, Mozilla or whatever to adhere to W3C standards?
But this is a free market. Competition is good. Breeds innovation and exciting new products. Yet in this era where traditional lines of competition are blurred and joint ventures, strategic partnerships and symbiotic relationships are created both for the good of business and the market, you'd think that with the hugely popular MiniDV format that Sony might have had a few more ducks in a row before unleashing yet another video format on an unsuspecting public? I guess it's tough to maintain margins on a maturing technology. And tough to command more dollars for parity products -- even with the strength of the Sony Brand.
And while I'm sure Sony disclosed somewhere in its literature, website or dealer training the limitations (issues) of yet another new technology, I'm afraid Amar just didn't get the big picture.
I helped Amar pack up the camcorder for return. We went back on the web and order another camcorder. Yes Sony. The format? MiniDV. And I'll look forward to another puppet show, great Indian food and iMovie training redux.
12:17:51 PM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
And they did it in the rain. I'm not sure what happened here. But this photo from this "southern belle's" blog is a lot different than the version posted on the Pt. Reyes Light newspaper's website. And it appears Ms. Sugarfused is getting a lot of hits from nude peace searchers on google and other search engines. Just who's doing the fancy photoshop work here?
6:37:29 PM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
The hell with airport security ;-) Doc reminds me that tonight is the best shot at catching an eyeful of meteors. Take some time and get out and experience the Leonid meteor shower.
1:54:27 PM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
Today marks the first day federal agents will replace private contractors to honcho screening of passengers and baggage at the nation's 429 airports. Fortunately, I'm not traveling today. Curious on how smooth this will be -- especially given the busy Thanksgiving weekend coming up.
10:54:32 AM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
I'm spending most of my time this weekend backing up all of my files, settings and preferences. Wiping my trusty TiBook clean so I can ship it off to its new owner.
I'm still getting 3-5 weeks quoted as ship time for the new PowerBook. Meanwhile, I'm restoring everything to an old trusty Mac B&W 400Mhz G3.
While I've always trusted Retrospect in the past for our 'enterprise' backup in the old PRISCOMM and Wirestone days. Today, I'm playing with Apple's Backup program. Apple has taken a lot of heat because it only is available (free) to .Mac subscribers. It actually validates the program each time you load by checking to see if you have an iDisc. You can use it to back up your files to your .Mac iDisc storage space or to DVD/CD. I don't under why it doesn't offer the option to back up to a basic hard drive? It failed me three times to write to DVD. So I've got three $5 coasters on my desk. And I played swap CDs yesterday to back up just my Users folder -- total 11 CDs. Not sure if its the drive or what. I was able to back up my applications folder on a single DVD. So its either the multiple DVD issue or the drive was just finicky, bad discs, who knows.
Overall, this .Mac and Backup can be justified just to back up the basics like Mail, Address Book, iCal (schedules/calendars), Internet Explorer settings (bookmarks etc.) to the iDisc -- a remote backup disk on Apple's 'secure' servers. But to backup a 30gig drive remotely to those servers not only would take a few days, you'd have to pony up quite a few dollars for the extra space ($350 per gig). Right now I've got the 100mb it comes with.
This is my weekend. And the sad part is, I'm going to have to go through it all again when my new PowerBook arrives. More later...
3:32:20 PM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
Last week Apple announced new PowerBooks. The appeal for me. Built in DVD writer - aka the Apple SuperDrive. Sure the benefits of 30GB more hard drive, a gig of RAM and of course a 1Ghz processor. Not that there is anything wrong with my existing Titanium PowerBook that I bought last November. But I dreamed. Planned. And then figured hmmmm, if I sold my TiBook for "bluebook" or perhaps a bit more with some of the goodies I've added, that I could justify to myself that I'd be buying a PowerBook for significantly less than "full retail". So I go and post my PowerBook on eBay. To be sure, I'd set my limit. And in fact, I purposely posted a higher reserve price for the machine. Not that I cared that in the past week several computers with the same specs as mine were selling for $100-$200 less than my reserve price. If someone wanted this, they'd pay a reasonable price for it. But I reasoned. No one would buy it at that price. Auction closed last night. You know what? It sold for $50 more than the reserve price. Shit. The reality of transferring, reconfiguring and packing and shipping this computer hit me like the noise on the floor of Comdex.
So I go online to order my new PowerBook. Reality wham again. My quoted ship date? 4-5 weeks. Shit, again. You know the moral to the story. And I know I'll be waiting. And perhaps to the delight of my family, I won't be bringing my computer to South Dakota for our family Thanksgiving get together.
6:44:49 PM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
I try not to get political here in The Digital Tavern. Yet, for the sake of clarity I think it's important to pull a few quotes out of William Safire's op-ed piece in today's New York Times.
As a marketing dude at heart, I love information. Demographic information. The more I know about the customer, the better I am to cater to his/her special needs. I can customize my message specifically to the customer or prospect. Basic relationship marketing, one-to-one marketing, loyalty programs, CRM or whatever the jargon du jour is.
Information in marketing is powerful. No question. And some would prefer not to let us marketeers (sic) know more than we need to. I've know several people who refuse to buy into those Ralph's Club (supermarket discount/loyalty cards) or any other retailer's membership cards. Even if they save up to 30% just by letting the retailer know what you're buying each time you go through the checkstand. Perhaps just a little concern someone will know just how much toilet paper she's buying or how many tubs of Ben & Jerry's she goes through a week. Important stuff to marketers.
So now imagine the federal government and key law enforcement or other agencies who just want a little background on you. Sure, I guess they could subpoena Ralph's for your grocery purchase history, American Express for your travel history. Or even comparing white collar criminals' purchase histories on Amazon to find other's (maybe you) who have purchased the same items. It's a whole new world of profiling. Yet, the new Homeland Security Act will give the government just this kind of power. Enter Big Brother.
[...] Every purchase you make with a credit card, every magazine subscription you buy and medical prescription you fill, every Web site you visit and e-mail you send or receive, every academic grade you receive, every bank deposit you make, every trip you book and every event you attend [~] all these transactions and communications will go into what the Defense Department describes as "a virtual, centralized grand database. [...]
An Oracle (think California) DBA's biggest nightmare. Yet perhaps the IT industry's biggest boost.
[...] every piece of information that government has about you [~] passport application, driver's license and bridge toll records, judicial and divorce records, complaints from nosy neighbors to the F.B.I., your lifetime paper trail plus the latest hidden camera surveillance [...]
Now at least a marketer's motivation is clearly identifiable. Sell shit. Influence opinion. Act or dress this way. Buy that. Think this. Lifetime value of customer. Etc. You know. Middle of the road mind manipulation. Primal persuasion. Marginal marketing. And while this stuff works on most, there are those who choose or choose not to let it influence our day-to-day life.
But the government's motivations. . . I'm afraid not so clearly identifiable. Safire notes that the New York Times and The New York Post has been dragging the dirt about this through its op-ed pages.
[...] This is not some far-out Orwellian scenario. It is what will happen to your personal freedom in the next few weeks [...]
The man behind it? John Poindexter. Who's shady past has brought embarrassment to both the Reagan and Daddy Bush White House.
[...] jury convicted Poindexter in 1990 on five felony counts of misleading Congress and making false statements, but an appeals court overturned the verdict because Congress had given him immunity for his testimony. He famously asserted, "The buck stops here," arguing that the White House staff, and not the president, was responsible for fateful decisions that might prove embarrassing [...]
Safire makes some bold statement in his piece. But he assures readers that "Political Awareness can overcome Poindexter and his plan. He points to how grass roots efforts helped put a stop to a similar overreach by John Ashcroft. In a way, Safire supports a little bit of marketing -- guerilla marketing -- to bring about changes in the Homeland Security Act. Is the Senate listening?
11:42:44 AM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
Rob Eccles pointed me to one of the funniest live TV bloopers I've seen in a while. Even if you don't care about Jennifer Lopez's new song or her heritage, just watch this. (requires Windows Media Player)
12:25:23 AM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
Geez. What is it many people talk about when they don't have anything to say? The weather. Ok. Ok. Cut me some slack here. Much to say. But let's take a breather. You know. The 'smell the roses' cliche kinda breather. Just for a short post. OK?
They get me every time. It's not that it's overly windy. No. That would be too easy. It's the planes on approach to John Wayne Airport from the opposite direction -- the Pacific Ocean. It's the spooky, yet seductive warm air in the day and the perky chill at night. For some, it aggravates and causes issue with sinuses. For others, skin allergies rear their ugly reminder. But for all of us, the winds paint our sky with the most surreal and intoxicating colors. I snapped these a few minutes apart just a little after 6pm last night. We're overlooking Newport Harbor. I was amazed how I could see Catalina Island. So close I swear I could reach out and touch it. Real photos. No Photoshop. No image enhancement. No desire to get the perfect shot. Simply to capture the moment. And yes. The sky did look like this. The effect of whatever the winds blew in from the desert and inland empire. I'm not going to think about the why today. I'm simply going to just enjoy the visual.
4:32:19 AM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
For those of us who've been blogging for sometime, we tend to wrap ourselves around this community of bloggers. As such we have our own lingo, our own set of characters and even blog "stars", but I know that there are many that are verely observers and not participants in this blog culture. The more I introduce people to "blogs" the more I get asked, "What's a Blog?"
This blogger has devised a unique interview format in a comic strip between a grumpy girl and an ant. A conversation that probes those hard questions about the difference between a blog and a website. Thanks to Liz to pointing me to this one. Read it you'll enjoy it. Maybe learn something, too!
Another interesting dip into history and weblog archive's is Rebecca's definition and history -- this from late 2000.
3:52:11 PM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
In case you haven't heard, November is National Novel Writing Month. The goal? Write a 50,000 word novel by midnight November 30th. Everyone at one time in life has dreamed for a brief moment or longer about writing a novel. Hey. I realize we're just about mid-month here. But the site gives tips, tricks and strategies. These guys even offer a course online. Good luck.
Speaking of writing, Doc pointed me to Tony. I really like what he is doing with his blog.
2:53:29 PM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
In another case of fear, paranoia and defensive maneuvering, it appears Microsoft just doesn't know what to do about this Linux and open source movement that may or may not be lurking in its shadows and following it every where it goes. What's a bully to do? Have you seen the memo?
1:54:21 AM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
Just downloaded through software update the update to Apple's Jaguar OS X operating system. First comment: why did I do it? These updates are usually no-brainers. But for some reason the improved performance in "mail" and "address book" is just not happening. On re-boot after install, Mail refused to open and continously quit. How? You guessed it. Unexpectedly. Explorer seems to run slower and overall I just feel a little sluggish. Anyone else experiencing this?
1:43:33 AM permalink | | trackback disabled due to spam
On Friday, fast food giant McDonald's (MCD) announced it is closing 175 underperforming restaurants. In the same press release it states it's going to emphasize sales growth at existing restaurants. Today, Standard & Poors is threatening to cut its rating on McDonald's because its plan may not be enough. Part of that plan includes a new brand and advertising strategy announced last week. McDonald's is in a defensive position. And when in such a position moves tend to be reactionary rather than strategic.
McDonald's is going down. To be sure, there will always be the golden arches. But the hey day of Fast Food (I prefer to call it 'neon food') as we know it is over. Until I read this I was sure McDonald's had more retail outlets than any other fast food firm in the United States. Last year Subway opened 904 restaurants putting it ahead of McDonald's at the time by 148 locations. Globally, McDonald's still is the king of neon food with more than 30,000 locations.
At one time there was McDonalds. They were number one. And they owned first place in the category. And there was a time I might have stepped into a McDonalds. What was I thinking? What are they thinking? It's not for lack of initiative. They've tried and tried to stay on top. But since Ray Kroc's original concept in the last century, McDonald's really hasn't done anything innovative. And it shows where it hurts most: earnings and balance sheet.
McDonald's just announced it's seventh out eight quarters earnings decline and it's stock price is at its lowest point in nearly a decade. So what are the brilliant minds at America's fast food success story going to do? Lower prices.
Brilliant. Oh. Wait. I'm sorry. No, they are creating a 99-cent value menu. McDonald's is playing with a full deck. And this is the foundation on which they will rebuild the enigmatic empire where the arches will rise again. The other cards McDonald's will play? A $1 billion makeover of its locations and a $40 million advertising campaign beginning this month. The message? "Got a Buck, You're In Luck."
Think about it. Here's one of the strongest brands in the world and they're going to take the next step to sell it out with lower prices. It's a battle McDonald's cannot win. And there's no reason it should nor need to go there. What McDonald's has lost over the years is its differentiation and its focus. But the latest moves by its top brass to save the ship from sinking further will prove to be fruitless.
Perhaps it's simply the fact that nobody on the team is passionate about resurrecting an icon of American consumerism. At one time perhaps more than half the world's association of America was McDonald's. For better or worse, CNN has brought our culture into the global living room of connected societies. This group certainly has issues with McDonalds.
A quick trivia break in this blog: There is only one state capitol that does not have a McDonald's in its city. What is it? Comment here. And I'll post the answer tomorrow. Winner gets gift certificates to McDonalds.
Time to get back. So let's briefly look at McDonald's answer to its problem. And join me as I scratch my head and wonder: what are they thinking? They've revamped their marketing team with ad agency outsiders, a P&G veteran and a few insiders. But even in what appears to be even more desperation, they brought Hal Schrage out of retirement. And Schrage is famous. Get this: among his accomplishments? He invented the Happy Meal. And he wrote one of the most famous lines in advertising: "You Deserve A Break Today". McDonald's new marketing arsenal also includes unlikely spokespersons Donald Trump (what?), Johnnie Cochran (huh?) and tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams. I'm sure this selection represent the desire for good value well. They will also resurrect old McDonald characters the Hamburgler and Grimace.
I can picture the meeting in Oak Brook at McDonald's HQ. The boardroom is wistfully silent as the "team" waits for the big guy. The "new" big guy. To unleash his strategy. And he delivers it punch after punch: We're going to be known as the fast food chain with "great value". We're going to bring back the dude who wrote great slogans and created the Happy Meal. And we're going to give him a New York Millionaire, an LA lawyer and a couple tennis stars to work with. Oh, and we've got these cute cartoon-type characters too. And the message we're going to send to the American public is "great value".
I'm sure that for several very uncomfortable seconds the silence was the loudest thing in the room. And then the room was awash in handshakes, obligatory accolades and pasted smiles. So they're on their way. Undermining brand equity and getting further into a game it just can't win. I mean how many fast food chains have value menus? Brilliant.
Oh well. At some point McDonald's will have the epiphany moment when it realizes that while it does need to reinvent itself, it needs to do so with innovation that leads to differentiation? This differentiation needs to be singular in focus and clearly understood and communicated. Most important, this differentiation must be important and relevant to its customers.
On another note, earlier this year McDonald's responded to a report on cause of obesity in children by changing the method in which it makes French fries. The result? McDonald's announced it would lower fat content. Just another example of McDonalds' reactive strategy.
Great value? And McDonald's is well on its way to spending more than $2 billion to communicate this message. Just brilliant.
I'm packing my bags, guitar, cameras, cold weather gear and journal and headed to John Wayne Airport early this morning. Thanksgiving in the shadow of 
They sold the whole kit and kaboodle a month or so ago. It's a glorious property on 30+ acres with two houses and a long dirt road to get there. I feel away when I'm there. Broadband? Forget it? Fed Ex barely knows where it is. But family from Florida, Phoenix, Connecticut, Washington DC and elsewhere will all convene for the last big blowout at the K Bar S ranch. My laptop still hasn't arrived, so my ability to blog will be limited to my ability to figure out how to do it via email or through a web interface. So I appreciate your patience. But I will endeavor to update as often as possible.
It's that time of year again, catalog season. I've got nothing against direct marketing and catalog sales per se. But I do have an issue with the amount of 
More 
and I'm afraid I believe it does, we're about to lock our email boxes. Lock ourselves in and lock others out. All in the name of Spam. Today I stopped counting at 41 spam mails cluttering my inbox. Thanks to the great 
This tape however, was a bit funky. Small. Cool. As a loyal Canon user for many years, I'm not always up on the latest Sony camera stuff. But I proceeded to load the new micro sized tape into the camera. I verified it had a FireWire port and onto film the puppet show the kids were performing for us this evening.
Let's not forget their biggest blunder: 
I'm not sure what happened here. But this photo from this "southern belle's" 
And then figured hmmmm, if I sold my TiBook for "bluebook" or perhaps a bit more with some of the goodies I've added, that I could justify to myself that I'd be buying a PowerBook for significantly less than "full retail". So I go and post my PowerBook on eBay. To be sure, I'd set my limit. And in fact, I purposely posted a higher reserve price for the machine. Not that I cared that in the past week several computers with the same specs as mine were selling for $100-$200 less than my reserve price. If someone wanted this, they'd pay a reasonable price for it. But I reasoned. No one would buy it at that price. Auction closed last night. You know what? It sold for $50 more than the reserve price. Shit. The reality of transferring, reconfiguring and packing and shipping this computer hit me like the noise on the floor of Comdex. 
Today, Standard & Poors is 
But since Ray Kroc's original concept in the last century, McDonald's really hasn't done anything innovative. And it shows where it hurts most: earnings and balance sheet.
A $1 billion makeover of its locations and a $40 million advertising campaign beginning this month. The message? "Got a Buck, You're In Luck."