*michael parekh on IT*

ON YOUR SUGGESTIONS FOR POSTS

BESPOKE BLOG POSTS HERE

As I highlighted a few weeks ago, I've been blogging here consistently for over three years now, and it's been a terrific experience thus far. 

I've tried from the beginning to hopefully have something interesting to say and/or point to in a post every single day.

That's been easy on some days and distinctly hard on others. And in most cases, I've been governed in my choices with what piqued my interest at the time.

A new site called Skribit thinks there may be an additional option for bloggers.  Here's what they're about:

"Skribit is a user-generated content suggestion application for blogs. Effortlessly assemble what your readers really want to hear."

And it offers bloggers an easy way to add a widget to their blog in order to drive this reader democracy.

It may not be a bad idea, and I'm game to try it if you are.

I've added the Skribit widget on the far right column, right under "Recent posts".  Would be happy to entertain suggestions on topics for this blog, or for that matter, my Twitter blog (www.twitter.com/mparekh).

A resulting blog post may not come immediately, but all suggestions will be most welcome, not to mention read and considered.

Happy Skribiting to us all.

ON A MILESTONE OF SORTS

THANKS FOR ALL THE FUN

I missed this in the hustle and bustle of the past few days, but last Friday the 15th marked the fourth anniversary of this blog.  It's been a long road, and I didn't think this exercise in public communication would last this long.

It started humbly enough, with the following objective outlined in the very first post:

"This blog reflects my personal views and thoughts on topics, mostly about the Internet and Technology and its effects globally, but sometimes about media, the arts, politics, and the goofy, marvelous and always surprising world around us. 

It's an experiment, and the blog is likely to have its fits and starts, but I'll try and keep it going and hopefully interesting.

So, welcome to mp.blogs.com.  It started as a lark, inspired by Fred Wilson's VC blog with the ultra-cool, and ultra-early avc.blogs.com...Checked out and saw mp.blogs.com was available. Thus, I homesteaded the  URL, knowing that the site may lie fallow for a while."

Well, the blog did lay fallow for a year, despite the best of intentions, and I didn't start posting again until a year later, on February 22nd, 2005.

And I haven't stopped posting almost every day since, with over 1,300 posts made in the last three years.  Of course  you're the best judge of whether that's a good thing or not, but it's been a blast from my perspective.

I've made lots of new friends along the way and become re-acquainted with quite a few more.  And it's been helpful both personally and professionally to be able to connect with folks on issues large and small that interest me.

So thank you all for indulging me, and as usual, suggestions on how this whole exercise can be improved upon, are always welcome.

ON LESSONS FROM VIETNAM

A DIFFERENT TAKE

This post from the Wall Street Journal's "Informed Reader" blog, titled "The Real Lesson Vietnam Teaches about Iraq", is not the political partisan piece one might expect.  It actually offers a different twist on the subject:

"Vietnam offers guidance for the challenges facing Iraq, but the lessons are economic, not military, says historian Stephen Kotkin in the New Republic.

In a review of a new Ho Chi Minh biography, Mr. Kotkin credits Vietnam’s entrepreneurialism, falling poverty and rapid economic growth to its trading ties with China and South Korea. In the long aftermath of the war and U.S. withdrawal, both countries provided capital for businesses and a large market for Vietnamese products.

There are of course vast differences between Vietnam in the 1970s and Iraq in 2008. But Vietnam’s post-war experience suggests that regional economic shifts might have more impact on Iraq than anything the U.S. does there now.

Mr. Kotkin says there are some countries that might serve as Iraq’s China and South Korea. Turkey is growing fast and is close enough to fill the bill. As India’s economic influence broadens, it might become a key trading partner with Iraq. And China itself could be an important player in Iraq’s future.

Mr. Kotkin, a professor of history at Princeton University, makes no guarantees that these countries will serve that role.

But, he notes, the U.S. has become Vietnam’s biggest trading partner, which has the political side effect of encouraging reconciliation between the two nations. “Who foresaw such a turn of events during the apocalyptic 1970s, or the 1980s,” says Mr. Kotkin of Vietnam. “Impossible as it now seems, such a future may one day await Iraq.” – Robin Moroney."

Definitely thinking different.

ON FUN AND GAMES CHRISTMAS DAY

HO HO FUN

How could I not comment on an article with the headline "Joysticks to the world" from USA Today? Especially on Christmas day after I've opened my presents to find not one, but three games from the article?  (There go the productivity resolutions for January).

The article is a good video games guide to the latest and greatest just out for the holiday season, and a good list to peruse if you're scrambling for that last-minute stocking stuffer.

In the meantime, I'm going to try and find time at least boot up one of my three games for a few minutes of gaming fun today.

Which of the three should I crack open first?  See list below*.

Merry Christmas and Happy holidays all!!  Take it easy on the Christmas feasting, but not the fun.

*Activision's Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, from $49.99), Valve's The Orange Box (PC, Xbox 360, PS3, from $49.99), EA Games' Crysis (PC, $49.99),

ON A CHOCKERBLOCK FLYING SEASON

FEELING STUFFED

Flew on a red-eye on USAir last night to Pittsburgh last night, en route to my in-laws for the holidays.  Heard the following announcement before our flight boarded (image source):

"Ladies and gentlemen, tonight's flight is severely oversold.  We're looking for volunteers who would be willing to fly to Pittsburgh on our first flight out tomorrow.  In exchange you'll receive a round-trip voucher for travel anywhere within the 48 states, or $200 off on a flight to Hawaii or Alaska".

Now we've all heard announcements like this from airlines, especially around the holidays.  What made this one unusual is that they repeated it half a dozen times before boarding, plus two more times AFTER we'd boarded.  They were really trying to get volunteers.

Arriving at our hotel this morning, I picked up a copy of USA Today at the counter.  One of the lead stories titled "Higher fares don't deter holiday fliers" caught my eye, especially this bit:

"The price for flying home for Christmas has jumped nearly 14% in the last two years, but higher fares haven't put a dent in robust holiday demand for air travel...
A major reason for higher fares:  More passengers will be squeezing into roughly the same number of airplane seats on domestic flights as a year ago. 
To boost fares and make the most of every tank of jet fuel, U.S. carriers have scheduled the same amount of domestic flying capacity as last holiday season despite stronger passenger demand."

Guess we're going to hear more beseeching calls for volunteers to give up their seats on flights across the nation this season.

ON A NEW LATE NIGHT SHOW

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

This two and a half minute promo for a new, late night comedy show, Frank TV, on TBS made a good enough first impression for me to check it out. 

The host is Frank Caliendo, a terrific comedian who does great impressions.  The trailer off YouTube gives a sense:

It's a skit-driven show that seems promising.  This Seinfeld 2027 skit is a good example:

The show is likely affected by the Writer's strike like most other late-night shows, but think I'll have to Tivo it.

ON LOSING MARC ORCHANT

REST IN PEACE

I'm saddened like so many of my fellow tech bloggers by the passing away of Marc Orchant (see this Techmeme thread--picture source).

I've known and followed Marc only through the tech blogging world.

Although I didn't have the pleasure of meeting him personally, I've enjoyed getting to know him through his writings online both on ZDNet, and his most recent venture, Blognation.

He was only fifty years old, and passed away  suddenly after a massive coronary.

As Robert Scoble puts it so aptly upon hearing the news, "Damn..."

My deepest condolences to his wife Sue and their family.

His last post online was one of his most passionate, titled "Hey Facebook:  Buh Bye".  Ironically, he ends his departure from Facebook with this:

"According to Facebook:

Wrong!

I still have all my friends. The only friend I don’t have anymore Facebook is you!

Here’s my parting shot…

I feel so much better now…"

I remember reading this post vividly, since I shared his frustration with the company's Beacon adventures.   His act of leaving Facebook elicited some admiration for having followed through on his convictions.

Goodbye, Marc Orchant, you were right. 

You still have all your friends, both online and off. 

And you will be missed in both places by us all.

P.S.  Check out this post by Marc from last year, to get a better sense of what he was about. 

ON GIVE A GARMIN CAMPAIGN

PITCH PERFECT

Don't know about you, but this 30-second Garmin commercial for the holidays hits just the right notes of the warm and fuzzies for me:

Here's a darker version of the ad with the same musical theme.  How many of us can't relate to this one:

Garmin's previous ads have not all been great (see this Superbowl ad as an example).

But this holiday season, they've found their stride.  Well done.

ON A HOLE IN THE UNIVERSE

SOMETHING OLD BUT NEW

Hope everyone's having a great Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends.

This bit from New Scientist is one mind-bender for me this evening, especially as I, like so many others, deal with a two-day Thanksgiving food coma:

"The void: Imprint of another universe?

IN AUGUST, radio astronomers announced that they had found an enormous hole in the universe. Nearly a billion light years across, the void lies in the constellation Eridanus and has far fewer stars, gas and galaxies than usual.

It is bigger than anyone imagined possible and is beyond the present understanding of cosmology. What could cause such a gaping hole? One team of physicists has a breathtaking explanation: "It is the unmistakable imprint of another universe beyond the edge of our own," says Laura Mersini-Houghton of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

It is a staggering claim. If Mersini-Houghton's team is right, the giant void is the first experimental evidence for another universe. It would also vindicate string theory, our most promising understanding of how the universe works at its most fundamental level."

Going to have to keep track of this, as the experts try and get their minds around this.
Happy Thanksgiving weekend, all.

 

ON A GADGET IN BARRON'S

SNOOZE NEWS

Not often one finds an interesting new gadget in Barron's, so this item in the weekend Barron's caught my eye.  It describes a watch that analyzed how you sleep:

" The SleepTracker is hardly a traditional alarm clock. It can detect if you're sleeping lightly 20 minutes before wake-up time, and if so start ringing early -- on the theory that you may be on the verge of slipping into a deeper, harder-to-awake-from sleep.
It also records information throughout the night and lets you download it to your computer. You can then generate charts showing changes in your sleep, from deep to light, throughout the night.
Would cutting out a nightcap hurt or help your sleep? Try it and see if the patterns change. Ditto for watching the 11 o'clock news, or working out just before bedtime."

The gizmo is priced at $179, with more info at the company's site. 

Not sure why Barron's has an article on a gadget that analyzes sleep, other than given recent market volatility, their readers are likely getting less of it.

Update:  Coincidentally, this Sunday's NY Times Magazine cover story is titled "The Sleep-Industrial Complex". 

Everything you've wanted to know about better engineered sleep, but didn't know where to start.

ON CURRENCY CLASHES

BREAKING OUT

This is one of the more innovative financial services ads I've seen in a while.  Titled "The Arena", it'll keep you scratching your head trying to guess what it's trying to hawk.

It's not as heart-warming as the Mastercard ad I highlighted a few weeks ago, but it does depict market forces with a sense of humor.  Well done.

P.S.  The next version of this ad could have Cowboy Dollar trying to free Mandarin Renminbi from it's cage, and join the fight.

ON A NEW GAME OF TELEPHONE

MAKING THE ROUNDS

One of the unintended side-effects of services like Techmeme is how stories get passed along, commented on, and morphed up and down the discussion chain.

Whether it's this morning's discussion on the valuation of TechCrunch, or the valuation of Facebook on any other day, it's now possible to see the chain of comments as never before.

It's the old game of Telephone, done Web 2.0 style (image source).

And unlike the traditional game of Telephone, where the players remain somewhat anonymous, this game is played in full view, and for posterity.

Ain't the internet grand?

ON TYPEPAD LOSING PUBLISHED POSTS

LOST

I had a post titled  “ON REASONS TO LIKE AD-BASED INTERNET CALLS”, published for this monday, September 24th, 2007.   The link to that post is now attached to my Tuesday post somehow.

The original Monday post is missing and I'm trying to recover it through Typepad support.  This has happened several times over the past few years that I've been using Typepad to publish this blog.  Have not been able to recover these lost posts in the past.

The missing posts somehow re-connect to later posts, along with any comments that were made on the original post.

In this case, I had a comment by Alex Tolley, which is now attached to my Tuesday post.

I've re-published an earlier draft of the original post until I can hopefully recover the lost post with Typepad's help and get the right comments re-attached to it.

Thanks for your patience.

ON A REMARKABLE RECORD IN GAMES

THANKS FOR ALL THE FUN

A great "top 25 best selling video games of all time" list by Gunslot.com.  I'll let them describe it:

"Video Gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry where over two (2) billion video game titles have been sold. Below, we examine the top twenty five best selling video games of all time including a title that sold over 20 million copies.

Some of these games will surprise you. (The sales of games listed below represent independent sales of packaged games, for example packaged with Nintendo Super Mario Bros. sold 40 million copies. This list includes international sales.)"

Scanning down the list, there is only the Grand Theft Auto franchise (ranked 7, 10, and 11), that I remember spending a lot of time on.  But the most remarkable aspect of the list, is highlighted by an anonymous commenter:

"17 of 25 of the titles all made by Nintendo itself -- not just for a Nintendo system, but BY Nintendo itself."

Some other commenters re-state that count to 15, but even at 60% share of this top 25 list is impressive by any measure.

And now Nintendo is back on top on the hardware console race with the Wii and the DS and DS Lite portable systems.  Quite a come-back story.

Another good summary of the list comes from another commenter, modsuperstar:

"So basically people like playing Pokemon, Mario, GTA, GT and The Sims."

Nicely put.

ON SOME APPLE/SONY SMACK-TALK

IT'S ON!

It's been interesting to see how Apple and Sony have diverged over the last couple of years in their stock prices (see Yahoo! Finance chart below).  Part of the reason of course is Apple's success with iPod and iTunes over Sony's Walkman franchise. 

It looks like Sony's not planning to give up the opportunity on the video side, as
this bit from Fake Steve Jobs (aka FSJ) explains:

"Howard Stringer of Sony says they're going to make a big push into the U.S. market for video downloads and go head-to-head with Apple. See the WSJ story here. This news comes in the wake of our rift with NBC.

It's Sony's way of saying, "Hey guys, remember us? Over here? Sony? Big name in the last century. Still in business. Still want to be your partner. Call us, bokay?"

Oh well. Looks like we'll have to back up the Hummer and drive over them again."

I've learned never to read FSJ while drinking coffee again.

ON SUMMER'S END

SHORT AND SWEET

This clip from YouTube reminded me of my five-year old nephew Neal, who simply can't wait to get back to school next week.  Why? Because he "misses his friends".  It's only sixteen seconds long:

Mastercard simply hits the nail on the head with this one, music ("We want the funk") and all...priceless.

ON FAKE STEVE JOB 2.0

HE'S BACK...

It's been almost three weeks since the dastardly unveiling of Fake Steve Jobs (aka FSJ), and contrary to my concerns back then, the unmasked FSJ is pulling no punches...just like the masked FSJ.  Here's how he kicks off his post on the Gateway-Acer deal, as an example:

"So when I said recently that we need a good merger I really didn't mean something as boring and unimportant as this Acer-Gateway deal.

See here. Honestly, this is one of those deals where it's like going to a wedding where the two ugliest losers you know are getting hitched. You're happy for them, I guess.

You're glad they found each other. But you sure as f*** hope they don't have kids."

And it gets much better than that (by the way, the dilution of the f-word above is mine).  Here's a more serious, balanced look on what the merger means from PCMagazine.

Coming back to FSJ, you know he's really back though, when he comes to the aid of young damsels in obvious distress, as in this hilarious post on the Miss Teen USA 2007 candidate from South Carolina, answering a simple question (via YouTube).

This clip already has over 4 million views on YouTube alone.  Thanks FSJ, for coming to her defense.  An obvious case of stage fright in front of millions of TV viewers, compounded by not having a thing to say on the question at hand.  Again, in the interest of fairness, see this response from her on the flubbed performance.

Welcome back FSJ, truly.  Peace out and Namaste.

ON ANOTHER COOL PLACE IN ITALY

MUST-SEE ITALY

The second most e-mailed article* in the Sunday New York Times is this travel feature on a special place in Italy.  I mean, how can one resist reading about a place described as:

"It's almost unfair how much intense beauty, great cuisine and amazing aromas are jampacked into such a compact space."

Some might say it's unfair how many cool places Italy has to visit.

What they're describing is a place called Cinque Terre in the northern Italian Riviera. 

The adjacent picture also tells part of the story.

Nevertheless, this one's going on the "must-check-out-some-day-soon" list, just like some of the other places I've added, like this one in China a few days ago.

* The most e-mailed article from the NY Times is also the most discussed article on Techmeme right now.  All about millionaires in Silicon Valley. 

ON iPHONE EASE OF USE

GET 'EM YOUNG

One thing to talk about how easy the iPhone is to use, quite another to see a 1-year old baby do it (via YouTube).

Pretty darn cool, not to mention cute.  (Part 1 of the series here).

Wonder how he'd do with a Zune.

ON LIFE IMITATING MOVIE ART

BELIEVE IT OR NOT

This story in today's Wall Street Journal caught my eye,

"A federal criminal investigation into stock-options backdating at Broadcom Corp. has taken an unusual turn, probing allegations of drug usage and other excesses by the company's co-founder and former chief executive, Henry T. Nicholas III."

Here's the bit that was particularly interesting:

"The allegations surfaced in a civil lawsuit filed earlier this year by Kenji Kato, a former personal assistant and bodyguard to Mr. Nicholas.

Mr. Kato, who claims he worked for Mr. Nicholas on and off from 1999 to 2006, alleges in a case filed in Los Angeles Superior Court that he was forced to indulge in illegal narcotics with his boss, whom he portrays as leading a raucous lifestyle that included spiking clients' drinks and offering prostitutes to customers."

They had me at "personal assistant and bodyguard"...

I mean, if you're interviewing to fill such a position, wouldn't a candidate named "Kato" bring to mind this image from classic "The Pink Panther"?

Here's a video clip in case you don't quite remember:

Enough to give even a billionaire some pause, one would think.

ON THE FACEBOOK GENERATION AND TECHMEME

MIA

Something Robert Scoble says in his post on the Age Discussion/Debate raging on Techmeme, caught my eye:

"Anyway, this debate between the youngins and the old is as old as life itself."

He's right of course, but there's something else.

Going back over the various posts the last couple of days in the Techmeme subject on this thread, it hit me:  there aren't too many posts from the net natives UNDER 30 in this thread. 

Most of them seem to be from us net natives of old, arguing about this amongst ourselves as it were.

Maybe the "youngins", as Robert calls them, don't read Techmeme?  Or maybe they don't blog as much as us "old" ones?

ON A NEW LOOK FOR THIS BLOG

CHANGES IN THE AIR

You'll notice this blog looks a bit different today.  I've decided to use the newest 3-column template announced by Typepad, the service that hosts this blog.

The main advantage is that the two side bars are now on the right, making the main column with daily posts the first to load in your browser.

An added advantage of this approach is that the main post column also loads first on mobile phones and PDAs, where the smaller screen often makes reading traditional blogs a painful experience given traditional side-bars.

Hope you like this new look.

As usual, feedback and suggestions are always welcome.

Thanks.

ON SUMMER SHOTS

PACK IT IN

Here's a timely gizmo for summer pictures.  The New York Times has a piece on a new hand-held camera from Panasonic that packs 12 mega-pixels, and the ability to shoot in really low-light situations:

"The 12-megapixel Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX100...

...uses a 28-millimeter Leica lens and built-in image stabilization to prevent blurring while on the move and, thanks to improved control over sensitivity, even in low light.

It can shoot at up to ISO 6400, an impressive range for a small camera."

That is a cool feature, as is this, almost bonus feature:

"It can also record video at near-high-definition quality."

Another $400 temptation...should be available next month.

ON PRICELESS DESIGN INNOVATIONS

CRYING NEED

It's not just about a $100 laptop that could change the developing world.  This New York Times article provides a glimpse into why not:

“A billion customers in the world,” Dr. Paul Polak told a crowd of inventors recently, “are waiting for a $2 pair of eyeglasses, a $10 solar lantern and a $100 house.”

The article goes on to explain:

"To that end, the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, which is housed in Andrew Carnegie’s 64-room mansion on Fifth Avenue and offers a $250 red chrome piggy bank in its gift shop, is honoring inventors dedicated to “the other 90 percent,” particularly the billions of people living on less than $2 a day.

Their creations, on display in the museum garden until Sept. 23, have a sort of forehead-thumping “Why didn’t someone think of that before?” quality."

A good example is this picture below.

"For example, one of the simplest and yet most elegant designs tackles a job that millions of women and girls spend many hours doing each year — fetching water.

Balancing heavy jerry cans on the head may lead to elegant posture, but it is backbreaking work and sometimes causes crippling injuries.

The Q-Drum, a circular jerry can, holds 20 gallons, and it rolls smoothly enough for a child to tow it on a rope."

I'm looking forward to showing this picture to my mom.   

As a young girl in a small village in India, she had to carry water daily, from the village well on her head, much like the young woman pictured here .

Better late than never, she'll likely reply.

I know she'll want to go and see the exhibition, on her next trip to New York.

I can't wait to take her.

ON MEMORIAL DAY 2007

SILENT THANKS

This Memorial Day feels different from most others in recent years, even the one last year, given the ongoing casualty reports streaming in from Iraq in recent days.  An article in the New York Times today seemed particularly apt for the times.

"LEWES, Del. — No one talks, but a lot is said at the intersection of Savannah Road and Kings Highway.

Every Sunday for more than two years, rain or shine, they have shown up here, nodded politely to each other across Savannah Road, and stood motionless for 45 minutes like sentinels. They differ in politics but share a faith in the power of silence..."

"Supporters of both sides in the debate over the war in Iraq have gathered here every week since September 2004 at the busiest intersection of this tranquil shore town of about 3,000 residents..."

"They stand just about 35 miles from Dover Air Force Base, the arrival point for the bodies of soldiers shipped back from Iraq."

It made me go back to this video tribute to our men and women abroad from last year:

Heartfelt thanks to them and their families, this Memorial Day.

ON SONY vs. APPLE STORES

CONNECT THE DOTS

The New York Times has an article on why Apple's store strategy has been more successful than other computer and electronics vendors over the last few years, as these numbers illustrate:

"Last month, Apple released results for the quarter ended March 31. More than 21.5 million people visited its stores, which now number more than 180.

Store sales were $855 million, up 34 percent from the quarter a year earlier, and they contributed more than $200 million in profits."

Specifically, the piece compares Apple's efforts to Sony's. 

This is a subject I've posted on last year, talking both about Apple's success here, and how Sony's efforts compares.

This quote from the NYTimes piece titled "Apple's Lesson for Sony's Stores:  Just Connect",  was particularly interesting, giving Sony's perspective on how they compare to Apple. 

The reporter talks to the Sony executive in charge of the Sony store strategy:

"...Dennis Syracuse, senior vice president for Sony Retail, who assured me that Sony’s stores drew an average of 350,000 visitors annually per store. Mr. Syracuse rejected the idea that his store concept could be compared to Apple’s.

His stores were conceived, he said, as a “fashion boutique for women and children” that incidentally happened to carry electronics instead of clothing.

When describing how Sony had entered a new retail world as “fashion merchants,” he pointed with pride to the choice spot he had secured for the first store, next to Gucci and across from Versace.

Indeed, if you would like to accessorize an outfit with a color-coordinated laptop, the Sony Style store offers models in pink, violet, champagne and many more."

Talk about being not connected to your potential customers. 

I've visited SonyStyle stores across the country, and anecdotally, have mostly seen more men browse the gizmos than women.

In fact whenever my wife and I are at the mall, and I suggest taking a look around in a Sony store, her typical reaction is to have me meet her at a clothing store next door after I'm done looking around in the Sony store.

When I pointed this article out to her this morning, and suggested that she think about a Sony laptop as a "fashion accessory", she responded with "Nice try, Honey".

Not sure Sony has figured out it's target markets for it's stores yet.

ON CELL CALLS FROM NEW HEIGHTS

TALL ORDER

For almost forty years since the moon landing in 1969, a generation have been able to use the following statement:

"We can send a man to the moon, but we still can't do XYZ",

where XYZ can be anything that should be relatively doable with a little elbow grease, and a lot of government sponsorship, billions of dollars, and a global, life-or-death, cold-war fueled rivalry.

Well, we now finally have something that can replace the statement above, with something more suitable for the 21st century.  The BBC reports that:

"A British climber has set a world record by making a mobile phone call from the top of Mount Everest...

The calls were made possible when China set up a mobile base station with a line of sight to the north ridge."

So now, whenever any of us can't make a quality call, whether we're in the canyons of New York City, or the valleys of the Bay Area, we can say:

"We can make a call off of Mount Everest, but we still can't get a good, reliable signal out of XYZ."

A whole new spin on "Can you Hear me Now?"

ON THINKING ABOUT FATHER'S DAY ALREADY

TURNING WITH STYLE

OK, I know most of us are just making sure we're all ready for Mother's Day this Sunday, but this item from Uncrate probably needs to be filed away for Father's Day":

"Sculpt your lawn like the pros with Swisher's Big Mow Zero-Turn Riding Lawn Mower ($4,490).
This top-of-the-line model has a 66-inch-wide cutting deck, powerful 27-horsepower Briggs & Stratton Extended Life Series V-Twin engine, and the sought-after zero degree turning radius, which Swisher has been perfecting since 1945."

As a Big Apple resident, I had no clue that zero degree turning radius was so sought after.
Wonder if it comes with a GPS navigation system.

ON THE JOYS OF INDIAN TRAFFIC

RULES OF THE ROAD

My almost five-year old nephew, who recently returned from a short trip to Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), India, has gotten his whole pre-K class here to want to go back with him next year. 

Why?

He's apparently been describing Mumbai as a place where "there are no police cars", and where "cars can go wherever they want".  As a result, all his close friends are now clamoring to go check it out the next opportunity.

It reminded me of my wife's first reaction to traffic in India, when minutes after leaving the Delhi airport, at 10 pm at night, we were confronted with cars and buses coming at us, oblivious to the fact that they were driving on the wrong side of the road (image source).

To make matters more hair-raising, many of the commercial vehicles had their lights off at night, in a brave effort to preserve bulbs and batteries.

And if a vehicle broke down on the road? 

No matter.  It was left right where it stopped...in the middle of the road...in the dark...with no signs or warnings that there might be something that could make you go bump in the night.

There are brand, spanking new highways going up everywhere in India. 

And they do make travel a lot easier.  But watch out for people, and animals, crossing the highways wherever they please.  A real life and death game of Frogger, played every day.

For those of you who may not be familiar with what my nephew and I are talking about, here is a YouTube video for a brief taste:

You can almost smell the smell of rickshaws and buses in the air.  For more pictures on the India's traffic, you can check some of these out on Flickr.

And that's just the first few hundred million getting their hands on their own cars and trucks.  Only a billion more to go.

ON DC/PC vs. Marvel/Macs

SWITCHED

Well, Spiderman 3 is out and apparently breaking all types of records.  As a kid, while I appreciated Spiderman comics, I was way more into what was going on with Superman and Batman. 

Ironically, as adults, we've got a world where far more Marvel comic book characters have been brought to the big screen than DC Comics characters, which of course include my two favorites.

There's a hilarious series of YouTube video highlighting this state of affairs, done in the form of PC vs. Mac Apple ads. 

Here's the first in the series, with DC's Superman squaring off against, the hip Spiderman from Marvel, playing of course the role of the Mac.

If you like that one, here are # 2, 3, and 4 in the series.  Enjoy.

And if you're a DC fan, don't fret...our time will come.  In the meantime, try getting a Mac.

ON AN IDEA FOR MOTHER'S DAY 2007

NOW YOU SEE IT

Update:  The Wall Street Journal has a Mother's Day idea list worth perusing in this Saturday's paper.

Mother's Day is over a week away on May 13th, and the airwaves are already getting saturated messages to get one's act together and send her some flowers.

This item from Gizmodo made me smile, given that it focuses not on the flowers, but something to put them in:

"Stick a rose into this Outline Vase by designer Yuko Tokuda, and you've suddenly got yourself a first-class sight gag...

"The short one's $34 and the tall one is $48."

Talk about living on the edge.

ON MORPHING ICONS

END RESULTS

This 35 second video on YouTube, one of the most viewed in recent days, does make one pause:

Sometimes, one does need to speed some things up to see it in slower perspective.

ON INNOVATIONS IN A GARAGE

COOL TOOLS

This prosaic item from Gizmodo caught my eye:

"Does this look like a Craftsman toolbox? No one will be the wiser that hidden among all those other toolboxes is a refrigerator where you've stashed a few brewskis or maybe some sandwich fixin's.

They'll all be right where you need them after tuning up that hot rod of yours. The 4.4-cubic-foot refrigerator will set you back $350. – Charlie White

Product Page  [After 5, via Oh Gizmo]"

The interesting thing is that this innovation in refrigerators FOR a garage, is from Craftsman, which as Wikipedia reminds us, is

"...ranked by men as the No. 1 brand in America for overall quality, according to a recent brand survey."

And it even comes in Ferrari Red! 

May have to drive down to my local Sears for one.

ON NEWS HERE AND THERE

VIEWS OF THE WORLD

Tuned to the BBC News on my Sirius radio while driving to a breakfast this morning.  In a few minutes, heard about the troubles in Nigeria, Mogadishu and Rwanda, along with a sprinkling of events in Iraq, Russia, China and India. 

Tuned next to CNN and Fox News on the same radio, and there were endless loops of Talking Head interviews squeezing the life out of the tragic Virginia Tech shootings.

It's a familiar refrain I know on our mass media vs. the rest of the world.  But this morning, the contrast was particularly harsh.

ON BENDING AND BREAKING LIGHT

LET THERE BE LIGHT

I've talked before about how lighting in general is poised to see some very disruptive innovations in the coming years. 

A technology called OLED has been one of those promising innovations for some time now.  Now, thanks to Youtube, we can see a two minute demo in the lab (GE) showing just how flexible  and resilient these things really are:

The possibilities boggle the mind.

ON DESIGNING WEATHER

RAIN OR SHINE

Weather thingies are a dime a dozen, both online and off.  But I think Gizmodo hits it on the nail with this new gizmo from Oregon Scientific:

"This little device from the weather junkies at Oregon Scientific is like bringing a desktop widget to real life. It has two circular displays that will display the current temperature and the upcoming temperature.

It does the magic future-predicting with an internal barometer. I wish it included Wi-Fi or something to more accurately predict the weather, but for $20 I'm not expecting much."

I've always pictured Oregon Scientific products to be a bit ho-hum from a design perspective, which admittedly can be a very hit or miss business. 

But with this little humble product, they may have gotten their design groove back.

ON SIZING THE COSMOS

FRESH LOOK

If you're into astronomy, or just into understanding how everything relates to everything else, check out this innovative way to look at the very small, and the very, very large.

As Webware correctly describes it,

"...Nikon's Universcale web app. It puts the entire universe into proportion, from the smallest particle to the largest measurements of space.

From the femtometer to the light year, Universcale spans 40 magnitudes of measurement into a single cosmic web app. It's really amazing when you zoom all the way out into stars and galaxies and realize that every time you go a magnitude higher, everything you saw before, from the flea to Mount Everest, is contained in this tiny little grid in the lower-left side of the screen. Of course, the Carl Sagan-should-be-narrating-this planetarium music helps."

It's a tw0-dimensional, web version of the famous powers of ten video sponsored by IBM in 1997.  Although that video is not available due on YouTube to a copyright claim, here's a twist on that video from YouTube:

You do get more out of the Universcale application when you spend a little time interacting with it.  But it's pretty rewarding in the end.  Recommended.

ON PROMOTING MUSIC FROM TV ADS

WHERE THERE'S A WILL...

The Internet has obviously made it so much easier for folks to quickly find a piece of music they like from a TV commercial. 

Case in point is this one-minute Bacardi Mojito TV Ad, which may be familiar from it's recent run, via YouTube:

What's unusual in this case, is that the music is not by a traditional music act.  Rather, it's a remix by a DJ.  DJ Sadegh, to be specific, who has brilliantly used the same medium, and same service, YouTube, to offer a two and a half minute "commercial remix" of the song, along with a link to a download.

Ain't the Internet grand?