Apr 30, 2007

NNUTS 1

There are so many ideas/solutions/questions I come up with that I later learn have been around for awhile, that I've decided to make it a category.

The first nothing new post is on 'natural swimming pools,' or as they're also known, ponds. I've thought for awhile that it would be cool to have a pool that relied on some natural process to keep the water clean. They've got 'em. More popular in Europe, of course, you can get a pool that uses no chlorine or other chemicals, saving money (about the same cost to build, but cheaper to maintain) and being a little environmentally smarter. Plus, think of the fishing you could have from your deck.

Bustling ecosystems

Now this is cool - not just because it indicates the sheer numbers of bikes in China, but because it demonstrates how some industries not only can be highly dispersed, but have to be, balancing the other trend of increased homogeneity and geographical consolidation in commerce that often feels more impending and unwelcome.

Dispersed, ever-present service is a model that will persist (and can't be replaced by the business juggernauts tied to box stores that exist more to sell items than they do to help you buy them). Look at banks and credit unions: though I don't like the attendant sprawl, the explosion of branches signals a sea change in the industry driven by the realization that the only way they can compete is through service. Anyone can change a tire, anyone can hold your money; to do it for me, you have to be where I am when I need your service.

Why is this important? Because any company anyone that wants to do more than sell a bunch of trinkets on a razor-thin margin needs to incorporate the same type of service availability offered by clouds of bike technicians on every street in Beijing. In Michigan, if service businesses that use ideas like this don't emerge as the foundation of the post-Big-3 economy, we won't ever get out from under our current rock.

Apr 24, 2007

Yurgasmic

How cool is this?

NASA hosted an all-in-one rave(-lite), science exhibition, art display, and music performance at their Ames Research Center in Palo Alto. Even the logos and website are very catchy.

Oh, and surprise, surprise, Google was one of the sponsors. As if I needed one more reason to move to northern California...

Just as I suspected...

poor guy

GWB wasn't feeling funny at the recent Correspondents' dinner. Appropriate, since he was introducing Rich Little.

In addition to his reason given, I wonder if he was still feeling a bit gun-shy from last year's dinner. I would've loved to hear that sputtered directive last year: 'Didn't he know he's supposed to be funny?! I know funny! Next year get Henny Youngman! He's dead? Sonofa... Well then, get Rich Little!'

Apr 22, 2007

Apr 17, 2007

Everyone becomes their own best marketer

photo by Karen Moskowitz

There's a really good band called Maktub ('It is written,' in, I believe, Arabic.). I get emails from them once in a while so I know when they'll be in town; even if I listened to the radio, they wouldn't exactly get a lot of press there.

They started offering what they're calling MARC7 memberships: for $50 you get your "name in the liner notes, a signed CD, and a few other perks..." Pretty cool if you're a fan - I'd likely do it if I had 50 extra bucks and one of the perks was Reggie shaving off his hair, making it into an afrotastic wig, and giving it to me.

I haven't heard of other bands doing this, but I'm pretty out of the loop anymore music-wise, so I wouldn't be surprised to see this increased level of personalization coming out of bands looking to increase both their revenue and their ties to their biggest fans, and is only one of many possible strategies that will be coming out of a music industry forced to reinvent itself. This is similar to Bowie's attempt to offer an IPO on himself a few years back, which I've always thought would be a cool idea. Why shouldn't we be able to invest directly in our favorite writers, musicians, artists, athletes, comedians, MBAs, whatever? If you could invest in someone, you'd be giving them some income through the hard times, you wouldn't have to buy another tshirt for the pile at home, and you'd be taking a vested interest in their future monetary success if they ever struck it rich. Can you imagine the return if you'd gone to www.owenandlukewilson.com/ipo and picked up a few shares after seeing Bottle Rocket in the mid 90s?

hmmm... some savvy developers could come up with a system to make it easier to meet legal requirements of filing earnings and loss statements, etc., and I could buy stock in their company as well as their clients, thereby avoiding any real work other than coming up with the cool idea.

Maktub's got a new album coming out soon - add it to the list of things you'll be buying me for my birthday, and then stop by badjuju.com/IPO and invest in our future.

UPDATE: The new album, Start It Over, should be coming out early October.

Apr 16, 2007

Marilyn Manson was right. Everybody is.

A friend sent me the link to this article, which was much better than I expected, given the subject matter. I've had little to no opinion on this Imus matter, other than wondering why he's catching all this flack now.

Some interesting stuff:
Some defenders of rap music and hip-hop culture, such as the pioneering mogul Russell Simmons, deny any connection between Imus and hip-hop. They describe rap lyrics as reflections of the violent, drug-plagued, hopeless environments that many rappers come from. Instead of criticizing rappers, defenders say, critics should improve their reality.
"Comparing Don Imus' language with hip-hop artists' poetic expression is misguided and inaccurate and feeds into a mindset that can be a catalyst for unwarranted, rampant censorship," Simmons said in a statement Friday.

Simmons has a LOT to protect, so his word is IMO automatically suspect, in spite of the fact that I believe he's a very savvy and intelligent man. How does he seperate the 'poetic expression' of a rapper's misogyny from Imus', though? What's the difference? They're both artists selling a persona, right? I think he's fooling himself so that he can continue to reap huge rewards from the music industry. It'd be interesting to see what percentage of his money comes from suburban white kids that miss the subtle distinction between beatin' hos down and the pained, poetic depiction of a society which is reflected in the song lyrics of a sensitive artist trying to share his experiences. Additionally, that "critics should improve their reality" bit particularly sticks in my craw coming from a person who has done much to feed the echo chamber of black youth. He's absolutely right, we should all focus more on helping to improve that reality, but given the hugely disproportionate air time offered to that segment of society (how many people actually have to live through that type of experience compared to the percentage of records sold containing lyrics based on that experience?) and the great unlikelihood that censors and women's lib groups are actually going to reshape the inner-city, it's at best an empty but eloquent turn of phrase.

In 2004, students at Spelman College, a black women's college in Atlanta, became upset over rapper Nelly's video for his song "Tip Drill," in which he cavorts with strippers and swipes a credit card between one woman's buttocks. The rapper wanted to hold a campus bone marrow drive for his ailing sister, but students demanded he first participate in a discussion about the video's troubling images. Nelly declined.

Nelly's a straight up pussy. As if it isn't enough that he has a woman's name, he had the gall to talk about women like that, then ask to do a bone marrow drive at a women's college, and then refuse to face a bunch of smart women who would surely have made him look in debate like the low-grade jackoff that he is.
"It's only when we interface with a powerful white media personality like Imus that the issue is raised and the question turns to 'Why aren't you as vociferous in your critique of hip-hop?' We have been! You've been listening to the music but you haven't been listening to the protests from us."

Crouch said that change in rap music and entertainment likely won't come fast, because corporations are still profiting from the business — but it's coming.

The superstar rapper Snoop Dogg also denied any connection to Imus. "(Rappers) are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls who have made it to the next level in education and sports," he told MTV.com. "We're talking about hos that's in the 'hood that ain't doing ---- that's trying to get a n---- for his money."

The woman quoted is right about the debate being granted access to the nation's consciousness only once a white personality is involved. Blacks should be thankful Imus said what he did - it offers a new frame for what many if not most whites in this country see as a tired, old, hypocritical discussion about misogyny and racism. That said, it's a shame that we need it.

I alternately think Snoop Dogg should be thrown in jail or the Capitol Building. A very interesting, but mostly disappointing, guy. Smart, capable, and a voice (if diluted by drugs and his weak clinging to his history) that blacks could rally around, but basically Malcolm and Martin should be spinning in their graves. What you've said about the crabs in the box rings true with him; the sad thing is that given his talent, brains, and PILES of money, he doesn't have the guts to stand up and say, 'You know what, I DID come from gangs and hos and pimps and guns, and a lot of these songs are about that, but YOU don't have to - You can get out of that, and here's how I'm going to help you." Much like Simmons, he makes some statements about empowering black youth (mostly the athletic ones, of course, further chaining blacks into a stereotype (a lot could be studied in the black entertainer/white audience niche)), but largely continues to make piles of money on a message that carries, among other messages good and bad, those of rampant misogyny, violence, and hopelessness. Snoop's justification is revealing: 'We're not talking about those girls doing something with their lives, we're talking about the hos trying to get a n---'s money.' What exactly is the difference between a hopeless woman willing to do what she has to to get a 'better life' and a hopeless man willing to do what he has to to get a 'better life?' One is f***ing while the other is killing. Should that woman really be denigrated for that? Let's keep a little perspective on who Snoop's n---s are; they're certainly not people doing something with their lives as are the women he was excluding from his list of hos.

I reserve the last of my scorn on this subject for Imus' listeners, like Snoop's and Nelly's, who were not only too easily entertained, but too vapid to realize it. Marcus Aurelius said, "Prefer the hard." If you're older than fourteen, don't stand in line to give money to people who think so little of you that they would continually serve up the weakest and easiest slop of racism, misogyny, or plain old-man, addle-brained, simple-mindedness that they can. Expect a little more of yourself, for f**k's sake.

Apr 12, 2007

Vonnegut

Only he could have seared images of the bombing of Dresden into my brain, while ridiculously balancing them with those of Montana Wildhack, a beautiful woman Billy Pilgrim couldn’t possibly have deserved.

We’ve lost the last great voice of absurdity.

Apr 11, 2007

delicious

Apr 10, 2007

and all the great territories...

been to many of these towns?

Some memories:
Prescott - almost consider it my birthplace, I was so different after my first year of college there.

Albuquerque - if the hood on the jeep in front of you should wobble in the wind and then fly up, smashing against the windshield, don't try to pass the guy on the right, on the shoulder, if he should slow down and try to get off the freeway.

St. Louis - first time I saw it was from the bridge of whatever that east/west freeway is, and the Mississippi was so high ('93?) it lapped just below the level of the base of the arch.

A new marquee on Woodward

At the cost of one that should stay.

"The State Theatre's overhaul will include a marquee makeover, and some familiar Fillmore touches also will be added, such as a large bowl of apples in the lobby."

:|

You may as well get Martha-f-ing-Stewart to redo the City Club. This is my dear, squandered youth you're screwing with here. Apples in the freaking lobby.

Speaking of the State, a belated yawp to Flogging Molly, who more accurately reflect the state of the State than a bowl of apples - my awesome wife got us tix to the Green 17 Tour for Christmas. First time I'd seen 'em but definitely won't be the last. Can't say it better than this guy.

Apr 6, 2007

"I found my moving buddy."

This article from CQPolitics.com, via Yahoo!, details a study based on voting records for 2007 showing that if they want to differentiate themselves, the four top Democratic candidates for President (Biden (B), Clinton (C), Dodd (D), and Obama (O)) are going to have to be pretty creative. What's telling, though, are not instances when they voted similarly, but when they voted differently, most of which are summarized below:

To bar members of Congress from paying their families with campaign funds: B, C, and D against, O for.

To require the names of “earmark” sponsors to be made public and mandated the disclosure of earmark recipients: B, C, and D against, O for.

To create an independent Office of Public Integrity to investigate alleged ethics rules violations by members of Congress: C and D against, B and O for.

Regarding federal homeland security grants to states:
Reducing the minimum guaranteed grants to 0.25 percent of the total for all states: B and D against, C and O for.
Reducing the minimum guaranteed to states to 0.25 percent and also apply a rate of 0.45 percent to states with an international border or port. B and D, who represent small-population states, were against. O and C, who represent large-population states, were for.
To set the minimum guaranteed to states for federal homeland security grants at 0.75 percent: B and D for, O and C against.

To set a sunset provision so as to allow Congress to review and modify legislation based on recommendations made by the Sept. 11 commission if needed: B, C, and D against, Obama for.

To require the rerouting of rail shipments of hazardous materials near high-risk areas: C against, B, D, and O for.

To strike $100 million in emergency funding for the 2008 presidential nominating conventions from the fiscal 2007 supplemental war spending bill: B, C, and D against, O for. Notably, the amendment was rejected 45-51, meaning B, C, and D's votes helped us narrowly avoid the tragedy of $100M not being appropriated for presidential conventions. I hope that isn't what it sounds like it means.

For the above votes, only one candidate agreed with me every time. Suddenly his lack of experience isn't bothering me so much.

visited wikipedia this morning

**** me, I'm Scottish - Happy Tartan Day!! Go out, wear a kilt, have some Laphroaig, and beat someone up out of the sheer frustration of it all... or at least go read anything by Irvine Welsh.

In other news,

Michael Phelps breaks five world records in swimming at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships in Melbourne, Australia and becomes the first person to win seven golds at a World Championship

Apr 4, 2007

tl4

"Too much safety seems to yield only danger in the long run."

Aldo Leopold

If you haven't read A Sand County Almanac, borrow it from me.

Apr 3, 2007

OK, once more: green is good

If this doesn’t scare the hell out of you, I’m curious to know what in the world you like about this blog. From Science Against Evolution, via Strange Maps (a very cool blog for cartophiles):
The wonderfully illustrative icing on the cake, from Strange Maps:
This map is taken from the website Science Against Evolution, which quite cleverly tries to win the debate for creation by arguing that the theory of evolution itself has been discredited by scientific evidence and by numerous scientists. However, the map is drawn up by a proponent of evolution, as can be deduced from the remarks on the map and even its colours (green is good, red is bad).
Morons. If you can’t make your own color-appropriate map to support your stance, you’re not smart enough to have your own theory about the origin of species. Go back to Afghanistan, or whatever smugly ignorant burg you inhabit.

They're coming

Tesla Motors is opening five service centers across the country to coincide with the public launch of the Tesla Roadster later this year. Evidently they're already selling well, even at $92K a pop; they've taken orders for 350 and sell "another one or two a day."

obligatory hot rod by the ocean shot

From ZDNet:

The service centers will be located in Chicago, Northern California, Southern California, New York and Florida, according to a Daryl Siry, vice president of marketing. Each of the centers will have a couple of the cars in different colors, displays on the technology used in the vehicles, technicians and, of course, cheery, helpful salespeople ready to take that cashier's check.

More will follow, Siry added, largely because the company will start producing a line of sedans in 2009. "To do 10,000 units for Whitestar (the codename for the sedan) we need to be in a lot more places," he said.

Unlike most other car manufacturers, Tesla will not sell its cars through independent dealers. Instead, it will sell them through its Web site and company-owned dealership/service centers...

Siry also added that the company wants to control the customer's buying experience. Most of the time, buying a car is unpleasant: dealers are paid to move the cars they have on the lot. Changing that arrangement could help Tesla-owned dealerships gain an edge in sales, he said. Additionally, selling through independent dealers might hurt the company's plans to sell direct. Large manufacturers like Ford, for example, can't sell cars directly in a state where an independent-dealer Ford franchise exists. Thus, by establishing company-owned dealers, Tesla will circumscribe where it can sell direct.

Apr 2, 2007

fotD 13


So it's not actually from flickr, nor is it even recent, but it is opening day (as if I'd known that before it turned my 30-minute commute into an hour and a half).

Honorable mention - from the same guy (photo, not the artwork), I walk past this fairly often :

Your tax dollars at work

I work in a federal agency that just implemented a new travel management system. The old one worked fine at our level (though it wasn't web-based), and no one's quite sure why we changed over, but we did.

A couple weeks ago I attended a function for which my only personal expense was parking, $7. I wasn't even going to do the fifteen minutes work to be reimbursed, but this was my first opportunity to use the new system, so I did. Once I finally got to the submit page (shown), I learned that not only is this a tremendously non-intuitive and convoluted system (one example: the 'My Approvals' doesn't go to travel approvals I've amassed, it points to a page I'm not qualified to use so instead throws an error), it costs us $5 for every single transaction. Even $7 ones. Even $2 ones. This same transaction in the old system was free.

At first I didn't want to submit it, but then thought 'Screw it - if enough people spend $5 to get 7, maybe they'll scrap this POS.' Unfortunately that will likely require a CIO to look at the expenditures and make a decision they either screwed up or didn't have the authority to make in the first place.
Every day I spend here, I swing more toward libertarianism.