Pencil and paper...What Time Is It?

Just check here.

Wicked cool.

An orb that changes colors to indicate a change in data...whatcha gonna track?

Fake Poop

No, really.

Written while listening to The Only One I Know from the album "Some Friendly" by The Charlatans

Orkut

Those of us not working within the walls [virtual or otherwise] of Google are relegated to reading about their plans in the press. For Orkut users like myself this news comes as no great surprise.

Aww Shucks

There's been a lot of press as a result of our offical Digital Downloads launch yesterday. Apple doesn't appear to be very concerned:

"We think it's going to be increasingly difficult to imagine others catching up with iTunes,'' an Apple spokeswoman said.

That's a lot of hubris from a company that has a history of losing market share quickly (Full disclosure: I'm a Mac devotee and love just about everything they produce. I'm not, however, a fan of baseless cockiness).

The analysts aren't much better in their [ahem] analysis:

"Right now, this is going to be more of a ripple than a tidal wave,'' said Goodman, senior media and entertainment analyst for Yankee Group, a Boston research firm.

Of course I can't be specific about results but suffice it to say a lot of people shop at Wal-Mart stores each week. And it costs a lot more for other companies to aquire new customers than for us...we've got all that foot traffic through the stores as our captive marketing audience. Even before we've fully taken advantage of this audience, the results we are seeing make us very happy.

In conclusion I'd like to say neener neener neener.

Toons

Well, it's official. Our Music Download service has launched and so far the response has been incredible. I can't share numbers with y'all but suffice it to say we're happy about the results in just the few short hours since the press release went out. I'm apologize for not having been able to speak more about it until now...there are others who might read this blog for other than literary purposes. Have I mentioned I'm having a blast with my work responsibilities? Between this one, Contact Lenses online, Pharmacy, Gift Registry, and DVD Rentals I'm keeping busy with a stellar team executing...and that's just the stuff I can tell you about. ;^) More when we meet in person.

The Plex

I've got a few stories about Google. Some i can talk about on there and others will have to wait for another day (remind me to tell you about my conversation with Larry Page when we're together). As a nod to our readers employed by the fine purveyor of search i give you mainstream press about them.

And, while we're at it, I would love to see the videotape mentioned in here.

Written while listening to Leslie Anne Levine from the album "Castaways and Cutouts" by The Decemberists

From The Unfortunate URL Department...

http://www.ChoosesPain.com/
http://www.asscaffe.it
http://www.oldmanshaven.com
http://www.argoswine.co.uk
http://www.go2wasa.com/

Written while listening to Ariadne by Dead Can Dance

Wanna Feel Bad?

Then look at how much you haven't accomplished yet in life compared to these folks.

Who Responds To SPAM?

This dude, for one:

"Mr. Soto routinely comes home to some 150 e-mail pitches, and he loves getting them all. The 45-year-old grandfather opens most of them. He answers spam questionnaires. And he buys stuff pitched in spam e-mail -- again and again"

I can only imagine how big his "~5642 Member 3*_*_" is!

Written while listening to You My Lunar Queen from the album "Sounds Eclectic Too" by Cousteau 87ghbasd

Trekkie

Yeah, many of the technologies shown on the original show are now a part of everyday life. But I wanna know where the holodeck and replicator are?

GarageBand Noodling

I got a copy of Apple's GarageBand a ways back and finally had a chance to fiddle with it a bit last night. I plugged in my new M-Audio Ozone USB Controller (really cool cuz it doubles as a USB audio interface for my guitar) and away I went. The app has amplifier modeling in it meaning I can make my guitar sound like really expensive Marshall stacks, that's the idea anyway. I used a couple of different model for the following noodling I did last night. On the left-center channel is British Invasion and on the right in the background I've got a duck-quack envelope filter going. The song sucks, yes. But remember this was created in about 30 minutes. That's a powerful tool for the talentless masses, an equalizer of sorts.

Written while listening to Your Love Gets Sweeter from the album "Maverick A Strike" by Finley Quaye

Fourbucks...

...announces custom CD's. I'm interested in this story. ;^)

Freak Your Friends Out

Get a body tattoo. Or not.

Written while listening to Unite from the album "Hello Nasty" by The Beastie Boys

Let it Snow

Jerry, please buy some of this and let me know the cool that you and Zeke find to do with it.

San Francisco Days

Today was an incredible day in Golden Gate Park. Sunshine and heat made the people come out in droves. There were hippies in loose tie-dye and yuppies with tight Diesel all swaying to drum-circle beats. San Francisco really is the greatest city in the world. I mean, Vertigo was filmed here for pete's sake. The then and now pictures are great--a must see for the Frisco-philes among us (never say "San Fran").

Written while listening to Fuel My Fire from the album "The Fat Of The Land" by Prodigy

It's A Movie...Fiction..Fake

This guy refuses to suspend disbelief.

Written while listening to Largo from the album "The Mirror Pool" by Lisa Gerrard

Make Your Own South Park Character

I admit it, I like the lil' buggers from South Park (though I relate most to Terrance and Phillip). Now you can create your own character. In the case of the pic above, I was attempting a self-portrait. Knock yourself out.

Written while listening to Sunset from the album "Raise" by Swervedriver

Retirement Community Smackdown!

How long before this becomes a skit on SNL? (note the DOB's on the police report).

RFID

I've had the opportunity to see some pretty interesting demos of the new RFID technology that's promising to change the face of, well, life itself if you believe some rags. Truth is retailers stand the most to gain, at least in the short term. Hence Wal-Mart's insistence that one hundred of their top suppliers move towards their use. Turns out the retailers aren't the only ones looking forward to the maturation of this new technology.

Written while listening to Shower The People from the album "Greatest Hits" by James Taylor

Shark Jumping

Has Yahoo! Search already jumped the shark just a couple weeks after it's big re-launch? Larry Page thinks so:
"Any time you accept money to influence the results, even if it is just for inclusion, it is probably a bad thing."

Copyrighting Facts

If LexisNexis and Westlaw have their way, it'll become illegal for Google to display results culled from media databases or providing stories on its news page. This is potentially a big deal.

How Evil Is Your Page?

Walmart.com is 71% evil.
Amazon.com is 32% evil.
Ariped.com is 66% evil.
Whitehouse.gov is 11% evil

The algorithm is obviously still being refined.
How evil is your page? (Thanks to N.G. for the link)

Written while listening to Exhuming McCarthy from the album "Document" by R.E.M.

S.U.V. Tipping Point?

For those of you that missed it in the Jan. 12th New Yorker (insert endorsement for subscription here) comes Malcom Gladwell's essay on S.U.V.'s and the purported safety. You guessed it, they're not as safe as the automotive industry would lead you to believe.

Written while listening to Jemima Surrender from the album "The Band" by The Band

Man in the Machine

Here's a very creative use of Javascript and Flash.

Written while listening to To Match the Sun from the album "Hypersonic" by Janes Addiction

Until I was Nine I thought My Name Was Jesus Christ

That title (stolen without shame from Bill Cosby) has nothing to do with this:

"Christ said He is also working on a heist film based loosely on the loaves-and-the-fishes incident, but that the project is currently stuck in development."

But you can read more of this hilarity here.

And if that's not weird enough for, then we have give you this. Proving, once again, that truth is stranger than The Onion.

Written while listening to Any World (That I'm Welcome To) from the album "Katy Lied" by Steely Dan

A Good Training 'Interface'

User interfaces are everywhere around us. If we spent as much time being concerned about user experiences and user interfaces for everyday life things as we do for software I think the world would be a happier place (cue Rodney King snippet: "Can't we all just get along?"). I've been to plenty a training seminar that could have benefited from the principles espoused in here.

I'm sorry for being more out of touch than usual. I've been running pretty hot these days at work. Speaking of work, does anybody have a good Program Manager contact? I'm looking for a contractor to work on the Digital Downloads project. I figured I'd ask here since there are some X-MP3.com-ers we count among our readers.