LIVEdigitally

Monthly Archives: August 2007

Google Blog Search helps make spam blogs earn money

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I was writing a new blog post for Bug Labs this morning, and wanted to take a quick scan for any new links to the company.  The first page of results is basically a-ok, until I sorted by date.  On this page, here is a summary of the results I saw:

RSS Watch

Bug Labs fleshes out BUGbase, BUGmodule details

links for 2007-08-29

Bug Labs BUGbase & BUGmodules

Open Source: Bug Labs Website BUGbase and Module Hardware Details

Bug Labs fleshes out BUGbase, BUGmodule details

Bug Labs: Products

Bug Labs fleshes out BUGbase, BUGmodule details

MAKE: Blog: Bug labs – hardware, first look

Quite a Punch

Of the above list, only three are original sources of content (shown italicized). The three references to the “fleshes out..” article all stem from an Engadget post, which did not make the page.  The other repurposed story links either reference MAKE magazine or Gizmodo.

Google may have improved search and found a killer revenue model with AdSense.  But my hunch is they have singlehandedly enabled more spammers than any other company.  The part that bothers me the most is I have no doubt that they could kill off all the spam blogs from their search results (they are fairly smart people over there).  So why do they choose not to do it? My guess is it would affect their bottom line.

I guess I’m starting to feel like the Potter Stewart on this.  I don’t exactly know how to define evil, but I know it when I see it.

A lot of things are broken, isn't it time we go fix them?

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I got into a great chat with Robert Scoble tonight.  We were talking about what’s interesting to blog about.  Covering “news” has gotten a little stale – any big topic that comes up can get dozens of links on TechMeme alone, not to mention the huge host of blogs who don’t get covered there.  I’m not exactly sure where the conversation train started, but it took us to an interesting spot, which I’ll try to summarize as best as I can.

My advice to Robert was that he should use his influential position within the technology industry to tackle some important topics, things that can actually make a big difference out there.  Here are a few of the topics I suggested:

  • Copyright legislation.  Pick up a copy of Lessig’s “Free Culture”.  If you can finish it and not be utterly convinced that something’s gone wrong in the media and content industries, I’d be stunned.  Simplest food for thought – why is it that the punishment for downloading 10 tracks is assessed at $1.5 million, when shoplifting a 10-track CD is penalized by $1500?  If someone reading this is a person of influence, please help draw attention to this issue, and let’s get Congress (we elect and pay them, if you recall) to put the power back in the hands of the people, and tell the big-5 media companies they need to evolve their business models.
  • Green tech.  I have a 3-month old, and I become more and more aware every day that he will inherit a world in peril.  I don’t have to wear hemp clothing to recognize that we have a looming resource, energy, and water crisis.  Maybe not the next 10-20 years, but most definitely the next 20-50 years.  Why isn’t the technology industry actively pushing to fix things from their side, rather than build endless streams of servers to provide endless streams of content distractions?  Again, how about we call on our government to put power consumption constraints on server farms at a corporate level?  How about we put a simple law in place that would require building owners to use motion detectors on all office building lights after 7pm?  Not hard to do, no massive cost structure, and easily tangible benefits.
  • Privacy Policies. How about holding companies and individuals truly responsible for selling private information to listmongers?  Better yet, actually hold ISPs responsible for spam that comes through their networks?  If we made the fines big enough and put the proper deterrents in place, change would happen (and fast).  I firmly believe we have built more than enough technology to enable better privacy filters, decrease (or even eliminate) most spam, properly block phishing attacks, and cut way down on identity theft online.  But nobody is really incensed to make these things happen.
  • Good old fashioned volunteering.  I also suggested that the next photowalks start or end at a soup kitchen, or a habitat for humanity.  When I get back from Montreal next month, my consulting company will begin taking on non-profit organizations and helping with their marketing strategy and outreach.  I’d love to encourage others to consider their skills and how they can apply them to those who are truly in need.  Not sure how?  Then pick up a hammer and help build a house, or read a book to a kid, or find any other opportunity that interests you – who knows, you might even live longer because you did.

Robert asked why I never blog about these things. Maybe a simple question like that is all it takes to motivate someone into a little more action.

Canon, can you please slow it down?

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Let me preface by saying – I really love Canon’s ELPH digital cameras. I’ve used many competitors’ models, and have yet to find any reason to recommend any other brand higher. Yes, Fuji has some better low-light processing, and yes Pentax has Divx video built-in, but for the masses, Canon just seems to build winner after winner.

But now they are doing too much of it, and I think it’s to the point of potential backlash. My rationale here is that they are making enthusiasts and evangelists like myself frustrated by having continuously out-of-date products. I purchased the Canon SD850is the day it was released, 9 weeks ago. Today it became obsolete. It’s too much, and now when I recommend Canon’s cameras, I always add a little disclaimer pointing out their rapid release cycles.

As a secondary, but important, issue, Canon’s numbering schema became really bizarre this year. The SD line was progressing fairly “normally”, from 100 to 110, to 200, to 300, and so on. Then there was the 700is and 800is, followed by the 750, 850is, 900, and 1000. Today they introduced the 870is and 950is. Here’s the catch – the 1000 is a distinctly inferior model to the 950is, and that’s just my example inconsistency (note to consumers: only buy the “is” line, the rest aren’t worth it).

In my opinion, Canon needs to pull this process together a bit. Here are my specific recommendations:

  • No more than 2 model cycles per year, preferably less. The more you cycle your models, the more you upset your “friendly customers” and the more FUD you create. By having too many opportunities to buy, you are also creating opportunities for competition. It’s not easy to remain top dog forever.
  • Create some kind of upgrade program. I would probably shell out another $50 or so to get the 870is form my 850is. Further, while this might sound hard logistically, it really isn’t that much work, especially if you partner up with some online companies that have the infrastructure. Like, say, eBay or Amazon.
  • Fix the ELPH numbering scheme.  Break up the is and non-is lines, start the numbers over, add a letter to the models, and be consistent.  Whether we all like it or not “higher” model numbers always imply newer/better products.

That’s it folks – again, I still like the products, but this process is at that precipitous edge of becoming frustrating and a bad experience.  Nobody likes to have a $400 item go from “newest” to “not so new” inside of the same season!  I hope my friends at Canon read this and take away something useful from it.

First Week with a MacBook

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Back in high school and college, the provided computers were all Macs, but I always had PCs at home – most of which I built myself. After leaving school I picked up a Toshiba Tecra laptop, and have stuck with Windows-based laptops ever since. I’d put myself into the “power user” territory, with Windows experience dating back to my first installation of 3.0, from floppies. Over that time my feelings about Macs have waxed and waned, but I was always one of those guys who couldn’t ever picture myself switching, not for any negative reason, just that PCs worked for me.

Along came Sony with their VGN-SZ460N Vaio laptop, powered by (and I use the term loosely) Microsoft Vista, Business Edition. In 10 short weeks, that combination has dropped about $1100 squarely into Apple’s hands, and unless some phenomenal shift occurs, I don’t see myself switching back anytime soon (and I’m not the only one). Granted, it’s only a single week, and no, I’m not gushingly in love with OS X or anything, but I am so much less frustrated than I was with the Vaio.

Let’s start on the negatives, the things I (so far) don’t like about the MacBook/OS X:

  • Terribly inconsistent and lacking keyboard shortcuts. I was so used to Alt-F, N for “new …” and there’s no equivalent here. Further, every different app uses a different combination of alt-arrow, ctrl-arrow, apple-arrow to skip words left/right. My friend Michael Gartenberg pointed me to this article on how mouse usage is faster than keyboard shortcuts, but it’s almost twenty years old now and I don’t think it’s accounting for the expertise one gains after 10+ years of doing anything.
  • No hard drive activity light. I’m a big multitasker, and often launch a few applications simultaneously, and however sluggish Vista might be, the HDD light is a handy way to know how busy the computer is. I’ve often found myself wondering if the Mac is doing something, idle, etc.
  • Can’t open the screen to 180 degrees. However terrible (and its terrible) the Vaio may be, it can be opened such that the screen is totally flat. I’m sure the designers had a reason – I just don’t know what it is.
  • Proprietary video connectors and no card readers. What the heck is this silly mini-DVI thing, and where’s an SD slot?
  • Files, folders, and applications. When I install something, why do I have to drag and drop it into Applications? How come ‘save as’ requires two different pull-downs to pick a location to save a file? It just seems like the objective to simplify has created extra burden for those of us who really want an organized file system.
  • Missing NTFS integration. This seems like a bit of a “childish” development decision, OS X is way too incompatible with the Windows file system. I hooked up my Drobo and my Seagate FreeagentGo drives, and neither worked well (if at all). Considering how much Apple is trying to get people to switch (successfully) you’d think they’d make this work properly.
  • Right click? I know it’s there, but c’mon…
  • I also don’t like the iCal/Mail/”meh” combo, but that’s really a comparison of Office, so I’ll hold off for now.

Now for the things I do like:

  • Sleep/resume. Oh my, is this impressive. In fact, coming out of sleep mode is so fast and works so well, the guys in Redmond should be utterly ashamed at how bad a job Vista does. It’s actually a very empowering feeling, knowing that if I need something off the computer, I can simply open it up, and in a few seconds, there it is. All computing should be this elegant and work this reliably.
  • Force quitting really quits. No, OS X is not immune to crashes, I’ve seen quite a few already. But, when I force quit something, it actually goes away, and does it instantly. When I relaunch it, the application loads fresh. Vista again, doesn’t even come close in this regards.
  • Parallels. Despite some weird glitch that had me waste about 4 hours on the first install, it’s otherwise one of the most impressive pieces of software I’ve ever used, on any computer, ever. It’s so well integrated I am surprised it was built by a third-party, and am surprised that Apple hasn’t bought em (maybe MS should!).
  • Battery life and performance. As far as I am aware, this ~$1100 MacBook has the same CPU, RAM, and screensize as my $2500 Vaio, yet it appears to run about 25% faster for multitasking or running comparable applications. The battery is 45-90 minutes longer (easily) and in standby it’s not even comparable. Last weekend I went away camping, and put both into sleep mode at the same time. When I got home, the Mac had about 3 hrs of juice left, the Vaio had shut itself down into Hibernate after having 5% battery life left.

That’s where I am so far. I haven’t really tried iLife or iWork yet at all. I’ve spent most of the time in transition and getting comfortable with the new interfaces. I’m still “uncomfortable” with a lot of the OS X nuances. But I am using a computer that I’d call reliable, and that alone is worth the $1500 LESS I had to spend on the MacBook than I did on the Sony. Check please!

==Thanks

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It’s the middle of the day here in NY, and I’m still riding that “good feeling” wave from last night’s Bug+(bar+NYC) meetup. Yesterday afternoon we had counted the comments on the blog and on Facebook and guessed that 20-40 people would show up. Instead, we had somewhere closer to 100 roll through the doors, which pretty much had me apologizing to the waitresses every 45 seconds as I was constantly in their way trying to do demos and meet everyone who showed up.

We’ve got a few pictures online here, and Peter’s written up a thank you note as well. Here are a few of my favorites:

Ken GilmerPeter in ConversationCrowd+HeatherAngled Crowd

Thanks again to everyone who made it there. As I mentioned at the event, we’ll be opening up a beta signup process in the coming week(ish – just gotta polish off the system), which we’ll announce on the blog. Also, I’ve tried to find all the links to any other writeups (some with pix) here:

Oh yeah – I am working on some way to track incoming Bug+BLANK location requests, and will post something on the Bug blog once I have it figured out. Also should be within the next week or so!

Open CEOs

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Back in my Sling days, one of the greatest fears I had in doing my job was watching or reading interviews with the CEO, Blake Krikorian. See, Blake’s one of those guys that is really fun to talk to, on just about any topic (other than when you screw up and miss a deadline or build a goofy feature into your product, of course), and really loves engaging with whomever he’s talking with. He’s also a super-enthusiastic guy when it comes to Sling Media – which is apparent in any video you may watch with him in it (even if he’s in a Japanese restroom).

So why was this a “fear”? Well, we we’d never be 100% sure as to what exactly Blake would talk about on any given interview. So we knew it would be good, and we knew it would be fun, but we never quite knew what would come out of it. At the end of the day, it’s clearly a “high class problem” as a friend of mine says – because the results were always good ones. Here’s Blake on Om’s Revision3 show.

One of the reasons Sling is so well-liked as a company is that Blake promotes a very open, friendly communication style. Sure the company has plans and initiatives that can’t always be disclosed in advance, but the general tone and demeanor is welcoming, inviting, and open.

These same principles are driving our marketing efforts for Bug Labs. Peter Semmelhack, the CEO, is keenly interested in not just having open source technology, but in what I am calling open marketing.  Next week I’ll be in the NY office for a couple of days, and even though we are a ways away from launching the product, we’ve blocked off an evening to have a few beverages with anyone who wants to come by (I’ve even made a Facebook event). No RSVP list needed, no exclusive invite for the tech-elite or media. Whether it’s a curious engineering student (of age, of course!) or someone with a vision of some amazing gadget, we want to meet them, and just chat.

Some of my favorite blogs to read are from company CEOs, ranging from Jonathan Schwartz to Steve Jobs. My advice to any company, whether small startup to huge megakeiretsu, is to have some form of open, transparent communication. You don’t have to reveal every single little plan or secret strategy, but being “out there” and “real” will help your company through good times and bad.

As both of my frequent readers know, I’m completely fed up and frustrated with Sony, and because they are such a closed, unapproachable company, it massively amplifies my frustrations. If the company had more of a “face”, I’m sure I’d still be annoyed, but in a less loathsome manner.

We are in a very interesting transition time when it comes to marketing technology products, and I firmly believe openness and transparency are essential.

Hath hell done frozen over???

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I bought a MacBook.

No, I’m not kidding.

It’s Sony’s fault.

I couldn’t take it anymore.

Seriously, I started counting the amount of seconds-to-minutes of “waiting for Vista” I was spending every day. 30-120 seconds from sleeping to awake. 5+ minutes to dock/undock. 10-60 seconds to go to sleep. 5-10 minutes from hibernate. 2-3 minutes to connect to a new network. Utterly intolerable.

I don’t know if it’s Sony’s fault or Microsoft’s, but I don’t care. As Joe Wilcox stated so clearly, Vista is, for lack of a better word, broken. I’ve spent about 5 hours on the phone with Sony since purchasing the laptop, most calls ended up encouraging me to reinstall the OS (I did it once, which worked for a few hours).

As I debated what to buy next, I’d considered the new Dell M1330 laptop, but to really give it the specs I want, the price shot to about $2100, far more than I was willing to spend (again) on another risky proposition. So I bought the lowest-end MacBook.

When you see enough people you respect, from family to colleagues to coworkers to clients, you start to wonder. As I iChatted with Peter Semmelhack from Bug Labs then Michael Gartenberg today, it was clearly a better experience than MSN Messenger had to offer (not that I didn’t see numerous ways to make iChat better, but that’s not the point). I didn’t get to try iLife ’08 yet, as I apparently need to pay $10 to get it, but I guess I’ll have to give it a shot.

I haven’t drunk the Koolaid (yet).

I’m not in love (yet).

I don’t need to talk with my hands (yet).

As far as I can tell, I’m either moving into Mac-land, or will end up dropping about $100 to return it next week.

Banning drivetexting is costly and pointless

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Read a few articles (well, mostly reprints of a Reuters piece which seems to be sponsored by a startup – but thats the news these days, right?) this week on the topic of 89% of Americans say texting while driving should be banned, despite the fact that 57% of them admit to doing it. Sounds to me like about 50% of the people feel guilty about the fact that they text while driving, but don’t really want to change anything.

Let me do a brief disclaimer before the anonymous commenters go nuts on me: I agree that texting while driving is not just dangerous, but downright stupid.

Here’s the deal: doing any brain-intensive activity while driving is problematic. It turns out that humans simply aren’t good at having a “complex, intense conversation” (scroll down to the end) and usng the steering wheel and brake pads at the same time. This actually doesn’t surprise me when I think about it, since I’ve found I can’t really do anything at the same time as having a serious conversation (other than pace or chew my nails). As an interesting aside here, the reports similarly show that intense conversation with a passenger can be just as problematic (the important difference being, a passenger is more likely to notice traffic than the person on the other end of the call).

In my opinion (read: not based on some stat/fact), what it comes down to is the issue that most drivers refuse to change their behaviors while using a phone (or at least the ones I see). I see people cruising the 101 at 80mph, phone in hand. I see drivers on busy streets during rush hour glancing down at their phone to make a call.

I’ll now address the other issue: legislation. How on Earth do you “ban texting”? Picture being pulled over for it. In that much time, anyone “good” at texting has erased their phone’s outbox, so the only proof a cop would have is accessible by subpoenaing your cell phone records (yup, one more invasion of privacy). So logistically, every attempt to penalize would require cops to spend more time dealing with paperwork and lawyers, and less time protecting me from bad people. Wonderful.

In my opinion, the only possible solution is to ban drivers from holding cell phones, period. This would be (1) safer, and (2) enforceable (and hey, the Irish do it!). Cop sees a driver with a phone, no questions asked, $50 (or whatever) fine and a point on the record. Anything else is, for lack of a better word, silly.

Come Meet Bug Labs in NYC

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I’ll be back in New York City next week (uh oh), going out for drinks with the rest of Team Bug Labs. If you are interested in hearing more about what the company is up to, or meeting some fine folks, please come on by. Details:

August 14th at Punch Restaurant (upstairs) in Manhattan for an open bar from 6-8pm.

As I alluded in my BugBlogger post, one of our goals is to have a very inclusive, open marketing approach. The more I look at the power of the community when it comes to the future of consumer electronics, the more I want us engaged with the community. Even if this is at the expense of “traditional” marketing activities (which are by and large out the window these days anyway).

I’m currently reading Mavericks at Work by William C Taylor and Polly LaBarre, and learning about TopCoder and other collaborative group efforts is truly inspiring. I highly recommend the book (amazon) or blog. When I think about Bug I think about the concept of “community electronics”. Then I start to think about blogging and RSS and other group efforts. They grew because of the community, and because anyone who wanted to participate was welcome to do so.

This is the same spiritual goal that we have at Bug Labs. Hope you can come join us next week in NY. We’ll be doing other inclusive activities and outreach across the country (and eventually beyond) in the coming weeks and months. If you’d like to see us somewhere “off the beaten path” please get in touch!

Oh, and yes, that did say open bar!

Those Poor, Poor Millionaires

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Ever read an article that makes you a bit nauseated, but mostly just angry? Here’s a gem on the millionaires of Silicon Valley. Dave Winer sums this one up pretty damn well:

You might as well live somewhere else and create, the network effect of being in the valley is negative. At least it was when I left, in 2003. It seems from the Times article that it’s getting worse. It’s great to see people on the east coast getting the message. Don’t live in the shadow of this place. There’s nothing there but people trying to make money, without a good idea why.

I’m no millionaire. I have no qualms against those who have made their money, be it by luck or by skill. But I have no patience – read NONE – for people who live not only better than 99.5 percent of Americans, but better than the top 99.999% of ALL HUMANS (oh, and better than 99.99999% of all humans who have ever lived), and have the audacity to complain about anything (and in public!).

“I know people looking in from the outside will ask why someone like me keeps working so hard,” Mr. Steger says. “But a few million doesn’t go as far as it used to. Maybe in the ’70s, a few million bucks meant ‘Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,’ or Richie Rich living in a big house with a butler. But not anymore.”

It’s these same people that are setting these terrible role models for recent college grads who think they can come out of school, go start some company with a friend or two, and make a few quick million. Nobody seems to want to work anymore, just instantly be rich. And then to complain about it? No thanks.

/rant

note: I’ve really edited and re-edited this piece a few dozen times, it’s gotten me that riled up. I can’t tell if this is the best version or not, but it’s probably the most to-the-point.

updated: after a few hours sleep (two red-eyes in three days, nuff said) and reading Mark’s thoughts I decided to add one more comment:  It is disappointing that the NYT article is so one-sided in its decision to portray rich SV folks in such a shallow light.  Not that what they wrote isn’t true, and not that I feel any differently.  I just have a hunch there are at least a few people reading that piece, feeling frustrated that their charitable efforts, good work ethics, family values, etc are being ignored.  Unfortunately, I think the article was all-too-easy to write and the story they tell was all-too-easy to substantiate.

Maybe that piece (and mine, Winer’s, etc) can encourage someone else to go dig in to find if the bad really does outweigh the good?  That’d be the ultimate “win” from all this.  Until that happens however, I think the rant stands.