November 2007
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Looking for good flight tracking
Many flights aren’t in the air. They’re on the ground. Such as mine, UA7157 from IAD to BOS. It was supposed to depart at 2:35pm. It’s 4:30 now. The plane was delayed out of Philadelphia, and is on the ground now at IAD (Dulles, Washington DC). We’ll board shortly. Meanwhile, I’m looking at flight trackers.… Continue reading
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Conversations and conversions
In Post-Hiatus Notes: Kudos and Quixote, Markets and Soup-Kitchens, Hip-Hop and Zoot Suits, Podcasts and Dante, Stephen Lewis covers much ground, including rewarding conversations between us on the overlapping subjects of infrastructure and markets. Where I often traffic in supposition, Steve carries knowledge and experience — two assets of his on which I have come… Continue reading
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Markets are relationships. Or should be.
Tara Hunt: Now, I know what you are thinking: “Customers in charge? What about ME? I’m trained to get the word out there! Haven’t you ever heard of branding?” Yep. I’ve heard of it and I also see it declining in relevance. Truly long lasting brands are those who build RELATIONSHIPS with their customers,… Continue reading
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Flying wide
It’s 6:20 at Heathrow, from which I’ll soon depart. Got to spend much of the last two days in the company of Bob Frankston, whose understanding of the Net is challenging and far-reaching to say the least. His latest is Video Tipping Point Near? I think the answer is yes, simply because it will dawn… Continue reading
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Light candles. Our just send cash.
Chris Locke turns 60 on Monday, He asks that, in lieu of flowers, please send cash. Or Amazon gift certificates. Or just enjoy an original pre-framed (in black) Cluetrain Reunion Photo, featuring JP Rangaswami, Cluetrain’s 5th Beatle. As chance and obligation both had it, JP and I flew to Denver from the UK for Defrag,… Continue reading
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ClosedNet
The OpenNet Initiative (ONI) is following the shutdown of Pakistan. Its understated summary: The overall openness of the Internet today remains in question. Continue reading
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Quotes du jour
just because ads are socially targeted, it doesn’t make me want more ads. — Fred Stutzman. Also, Spamminess is the death of a network, socially targeted or no. And Nick Carr: Yes, today is the first day of the rest of advertising’s life. I like the way that Zuckerberg considers “media” and “advertising”… Continue reading
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Facebook doesn’t need to be Adbook
Erick Shonfeld at TechCrunch says Facebook is getting into the advertising business in a big way, as he covers Mark Zuckerberg’s remarks during Facebook’s ‘social advertising’ shindig in New York. Specifically, Facebook is announcing three things: Social Ads (ads targeted based on member profile data and spread virally), Beacon (a way for Facebook members… Continue reading
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Seeing the wrong things
It’s happening again, only this time it’s my right eye that’s giving me blue flashes and vision filled with floaters. Very annoying. Continue reading
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New World Disorder
Chaos theory: advertising cash will soon decrease, by Jeff Jarvis in the Guardian. I get quoted: Advertising is no one’s first choice as the basis of a relationship. For marketers, it’s expensive and inefficient. For customers, it’s invasive and annoying. And targeted advertising is only slightly more efficient and slightly less annoying. Clearly, the… Continue reading
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Toward a new search engine, powered by you
I ran into Jeremie Miller yesterday in an elevator here at the hotel where Defrag is happening in Denver. I last spoke to Jeremie while working on a story/interview with him for Linux Journal. Atlas: Hoisting a New World of Search is now up, and things have been moving along on the Atlas project, now… Continue reading
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Kids and Parents vs. Schooling
How Not to Talk to Your Kids: The Inverse power of praise, a piece by Po Bronson in New York Magazine, makes a case that praising kids, especially smart ones, may be bad for them. Specifically, Giving kids the label of “smart” does not prevent them from underperforming. It might actually be causing it. Among… Continue reading
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Denver dawn
Here’s what I saw when I looked out my Denver hotel window this morning. That’s venus and the moon, in a conjunction, high in the eastern sky. If you live on the West Coast and it’s clear, you can see the same thing right now (5:20am), and into the morning light. Same for folks in… Continue reading
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IQ: A caste system that gets personal
Jewgenics: Jewish intelligence, Jewish genes, and Jewish values is the latest by William Saletan in Slate. If you can, ignore the ethnic side of the story and concentrate on this excerpt: Entine laid out the data. The average IQ of Ashkenazi Jews is 107 to 115, well above the human average of 100. Note the… Continue reading
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Shooting Fawkesworks in Battersea
Had a great time watching the fireworks show at Battersea Park last night. Guy Fawkes Day isn’t until Monday, but this was a perfect night for it: not cold, not rainy. Which is the most you should ask of London in November. I stood there in a long sleeve shirt, carrying two layers of unnecessary… Continue reading
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My first Guy Fawkes experience
Heading to the fireworks in Battersea Park. Might see some of ya’ll there. Continue reading
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Verity du jour
David Simon: They’ll make more money putting out a mediocre paper than they would putting out a better paper. They know this. It’s their equation. They’re quite content with mediocrity. And within that culture we have people that are saying, “oh no, we’re going to do more with less,” which is one of… Continue reading
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The Corruption of Coffee, cont’d
Can somebody tell me where I can get a real cappuccino within walking distance of St. Paul’s in London? Or freaking anywhere besides Peets and Quebrada? Or what one might get, if lucky, by intercepting and patiently guiding the actions of a barista at the likes of Starbucks? I mean… Jeez. So i was just… Continue reading
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Holy landings
Dean Peters of HealYourChurch Website has embarked on a blognotated (that’s annotated by blog) sojourn to Jordan. His trip is wiki’d, and will be YouTubed along the way as well. His interests are historical, architectural, cultural and culinary as well as churchy. Dean’s blog is a good one and I’m sure his trip will be… Continue reading
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Low number
Rob Beschizza in Wired: 10 Reasons To Hate Cellphone Carriers. Bonus gripe. Hate and gripes withstanding, maybe this will help. Can’t make things worse. Could they make more money if their customers weren’t captive? If so, give us some examples. Continue reading