In my youth – even before I was a teenager – I got very interested in collecting rocks. There are extremely different kinds of rock collectors, so let me clarify that my goal was to identify kinds of rocks and collect contrasting samples. I had a collection that I enjoyed, including some stones with naturally inlaid garnets, and an incredibly light piece of crumbly pumice.
Most of my rocks came from Long Island in the 1950’s. There wasn’t an enormous variety there, I believe. I was thinking about this today as I walked past a property landscaped in rocks. Thousands of rocks made a two-foot swath next to a long sidewalk, in all colors, shapes, and states of weathering. How I would have loved to pore over this ‘scape when I was a rock hound!
Which brings me to today’s point. Landscaping with rocks is, I think, a lot more common, and acceptable, than it used to be.
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Lost the Valet:
In 1985, during a visit to Detroit, I handed a rental car over to Valet Parking and it was stolen in less than a minute. I blogged about this before, but I mention it now because I had a sort of “opposite” experience yesterday. I handed my car over to a valet parking operation, and then it took quite a while for them to give my car back to me. Because, you see, they lost the valet. Let me explain.
To get my car back, I handed my ticket to the valet. He took the keys and walked off to my car, which was perfectly visible about a hundred feet away. My mind wandered, and I failed to notice that he walked on past it, into an enormous parking garage. After awhile I asked one of the other valets, “I handed over my ticket; that's my car over there; when am I going to get it back?” Well, they realized what had happened, and they went off into the parking garage to spy out my key-carrying valet. Eventually one of them drove my car around and handed it over to me.
“You were lucky,” he said, “that guy can't drive a stick shift anyway.”
To get my car back, I handed my ticket to the valet. He took the keys and walked off to my car, which was perfectly visible about a hundred feet away. My mind wandered, and I failed to notice that he walked on past it, into an enormous parking garage. After awhile I asked one of the other valets, “I handed over my ticket; that's my car over there; when am I going to get it back?” Well, they realized what had happened, and they went off into the parking garage to spy out my key-carrying valet. Eventually one of them drove my car around and handed it over to me.
“You were lucky,” he said, “that guy can't drive a stick shift anyway.”
Monday, April 23, 2007
Blocking Out:
Many years ago I played lunchtime basketball at work. Some of the guys operated a forklift at work, and they made a basketball basket with a backboard, that they could attach to the forklift and raise to the appropriate height. And by the way, that meant there was no pole right under the basket, fewer foot and ankle injuries.
Everyone acknowledged that one player I'll call John was a high scorer. John was picked early when choosing sides. He was six feet tall and fast, but he was teased mercilessly for his miserable outside shooting. After a few weeks I realized why John was a good scorer, and next time I played against him, I begged to be allowed to guard him. It was a hard sell. He was a little taller than I, and much faster, I was overweight and slow. But I got my wish. He scored two points that day, not his usual fourteen or twenty. Somehow, no one asked what I was doing. I wouldn't have told them, because I expected to be on John's team about half the time. I guarded him five or six times that season.
John absolutely hated having me guard him, but he was a good sport about it. He did not change his game for me, and that meant we won when I guarded him. Here's what I had figured out: when John got the ball outside, he usually threw it up within a few seconds. His outside shots almost always missed, but guess who got the rebounds? John was incredibly good at grabbing his own missed shots and following with a sure layup.
I made no attempt to block his shots, or to keep him from getting the ball when he was outside. All I tried to do was block him out after his shot. (And I'll confess, some of those were moving blocks.) I never delayed John more than a second, he used his speed to run around me. But a second was more than enough, he never got his own rebounds.
Everyone acknowledged that one player I'll call John was a high scorer. John was picked early when choosing sides. He was six feet tall and fast, but he was teased mercilessly for his miserable outside shooting. After a few weeks I realized why John was a good scorer, and next time I played against him, I begged to be allowed to guard him. It was a hard sell. He was a little taller than I, and much faster, I was overweight and slow. But I got my wish. He scored two points that day, not his usual fourteen or twenty. Somehow, no one asked what I was doing. I wouldn't have told them, because I expected to be on John's team about half the time. I guarded him five or six times that season.
John absolutely hated having me guard him, but he was a good sport about it. He did not change his game for me, and that meant we won when I guarded him. Here's what I had figured out: when John got the ball outside, he usually threw it up within a few seconds. His outside shots almost always missed, but guess who got the rebounds? John was incredibly good at grabbing his own missed shots and following with a sure layup.
I made no attempt to block his shots, or to keep him from getting the ball when he was outside. All I tried to do was block him out after his shot. (And I'll confess, some of those were moving blocks.) I never delayed John more than a second, he used his speed to run around me. But a second was more than enough, he never got his own rebounds.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
A good basketball statistic?
When I check the stats of a basketball game, I usually calculate a statistic that you'll never see in newspapers. That probably means it's a useless stat, but gee, it seems good to me. You can use my stat to see whether a player's offense has been productive. It's very simple: points per field goal try.
Generally, players need to consistently score about 1.0,and players who do 1.25 and better are an offensive force. My stat is good for 3-point shooters who hit nearly 40%, but it's also good for players who take many tough shots, missing a lot, but drawing fouls and making their foul shots. So: please think about my stat.
A personal experience led me to be aware of this statistic. I'll tell you about it tomorrow.
Generally, players need to consistently score about 1.0,and players who do 1.25 and better are an offensive force. My stat is good for 3-point shooters who hit nearly 40%, but it's also good for players who take many tough shots, missing a lot, but drawing fouls and making their foul shots. So: please think about my stat.
A personal experience led me to be aware of this statistic. I'll tell you about it tomorrow.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Spring!
Living creatures know about spring. Both animal and vegetable. When I was young, when I sensed Spring, I couldn't do anything useful for a week, I had to just play and grow.
Spring officially began last March 21, but it's been weird here in the Northeast USA. Cold. Cold. Even when the high temperature of the day was high forties, it was only near the high for a few hours. Cold! Also gray and wet.
Yesterday I looked out at the morning. It was gray, cold and wet. But: I could hear many kinds of birds chirping, twittering and buzzing in the background. And I could smell it – greenery, growth, Spring! “Today, Spring begins!” I said to my wife. That was yesterday. Today, it's warm, mild and sunny. I was right.
Spring officially began last March 21, but it's been weird here in the Northeast USA. Cold. Cold. Even when the high temperature of the day was high forties, it was only near the high for a few hours. Cold! Also gray and wet.
Yesterday I looked out at the morning. It was gray, cold and wet. But: I could hear many kinds of birds chirping, twittering and buzzing in the background. And I could smell it – greenery, growth, Spring! “Today, Spring begins!” I said to my wife. That was yesterday. Today, it's warm, mild and sunny. I was right.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Replace All!
I never click the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button at Google, because I'll only get one result, and it might be the wrong one. I think it's laziness to try to save time by using the Lucky button.
Similarly, I try, oh I try, to resist pressing the "Replace All" button that every text processor offers. I know I'm better off eyeballing each replacement individually, one item is going to surprise me and I won't want to replace it. I was thinking about this just recently when changing all the words in a document from "spicy" to another adjective ending in y. All I had to do was highlight spic, type my replacement, and hit the "replace all" button, to do 37 replacements at once. What could go wrong?
Did you know that you can find the letters 'spic' in the word suspicion? And in lots of other words, too. Despicable.
Similarly, I try, oh I try, to resist pressing the "Replace All" button that every text processor offers. I know I'm better off eyeballing each replacement individually, one item is going to surprise me and I won't want to replace it. I was thinking about this just recently when changing all the words in a document from "spicy" to another adjective ending in y. All I had to do was highlight spic, type my replacement, and hit the "replace all" button, to do 37 replacements at once. What could go wrong?
Did you know that you can find the letters 'spic' in the word suspicion? And in lots of other words, too. Despicable.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
The Year 2007 Eastern Daylight Time Problem:
When we switched to Eastern Daylight Time earlier than usual this year, many computer systems weren’t ready for the change, right? A lot of systems had to be changed manually, but that didn’t cause any serious problems, right? And that proves that the immense effort to plan for the “Year 2000” problem was a waste of time, right?
Those are definitely not my sentiments. Although the money spent on finding Year-2000 problems meant that people had less to spend on developers like me, I still thought it was worth the effort to fix problems before they happened. I also believe that there WERE many problems with the time change this year, and that it would have been worth making more effort to avoid them. (The best way would have been not to change the date for starting daylight saving.) And I'll bet Cody Webb agrees with me.
Cody was arrested for making a bomb threat to his highschool, and served twelve days in jail, even though his voice sounded different from the recorded call. His principal pronounced him a criminal, and of course she didn't believe his protestations of innocence, they had to be lies, he was a criminal. The critical evidence: his phone was the only one to call the school at the time of the bomb threat. Until someone realized they hadn't corrected for the change to EDT, which (the news story is a little unclear) had apparently been made to the call-logging system but not the school clocks, or vice versa. All charges against poor Cody Webb have been dropped. Here's the news story. It's worth a lot of effort to keep computers from confusing people due to time changes.
Those are definitely not my sentiments. Although the money spent on finding Year-2000 problems meant that people had less to spend on developers like me, I still thought it was worth the effort to fix problems before they happened. I also believe that there WERE many problems with the time change this year, and that it would have been worth making more effort to avoid them. (The best way would have been not to change the date for starting daylight saving.) And I'll bet Cody Webb agrees with me.
Cody was arrested for making a bomb threat to his highschool, and served twelve days in jail, even though his voice sounded different from the recorded call. His principal pronounced him a criminal, and of course she didn't believe his protestations of innocence, they had to be lies, he was a criminal. The critical evidence: his phone was the only one to call the school at the time of the bomb threat. Until someone realized they hadn't corrected for the change to EDT, which (the news story is a little unclear) had apparently been made to the call-logging system but not the school clocks, or vice versa. All charges against poor Cody Webb have been dropped. Here's the news story. It's worth a lot of effort to keep computers from confusing people due to time changes.
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
A is for Any:
When my father entered law school at Columbia, the students gambled a lot. They held parties in their rooms at which quite a bit of money exchanged hands. After a while there was an armed robbery. The university was horrified that this loose dough had attracted robbers with guns, and it was declared that there would be no more gambling. But lawschoolers are competitive. Evenings, they turned to playing Guggenheim. Here's how to play. You may know this game by another name, “Categories.” In short, you have to think of words that begin with specific letters and fit certain categories, and you score high if you choose words that nobody else thinks of.
On the evening in question, one category was “words ending in A N Y”, and one of the starting letters was A. My father thought of a word beginning in A and ending in ANY, and he proudly wrote it down: “any”. None of the other eight players thought of this word. When time was up, they shared their words and scored the round. There was a furious argument about “any”, and eventually it was disallowed. (If you can't imagine why, my father would have loved you. The category is for words that begin with A, and end in ANY; that implies they begin with a different A than the A in 'any', don't you get it?)
Are you wondering how I came to know about this argument? Do you suspect that when I reached my sixteenth birthday or so, my father took me out to the middle of the Ashokan Reservoir in a boat and revealed the story to me, along with other great secrets of manhood? Well, no. Here's what happened: whenever my father got together with his friends from law school, the argument started up again. I heard both sides of this argument many times. My father never gave up trying to prove the obvious, that he had been right.
On the evening in question, one category was “words ending in A N Y”, and one of the starting letters was A. My father thought of a word beginning in A and ending in ANY, and he proudly wrote it down: “any”. None of the other eight players thought of this word. When time was up, they shared their words and scored the round. There was a furious argument about “any”, and eventually it was disallowed. (If you can't imagine why, my father would have loved you. The category is for words that begin with A, and end in ANY; that implies they begin with a different A than the A in 'any', don't you get it?)
Are you wondering how I came to know about this argument? Do you suspect that when I reached my sixteenth birthday or so, my father took me out to the middle of the Ashokan Reservoir in a boat and revealed the story to me, along with other great secrets of manhood? Well, no. Here's what happened: whenever my father got together with his friends from law school, the argument started up again. I heard both sides of this argument many times. My father never gave up trying to prove the obvious, that he had been right.
Monday, April 16, 2007
Viola Joe's Girlfriend:
In 1960 and 1961 I played first bassoon in a community orchestra in Manhattan. I met Joe, one of the violists there, and we became good casual friends. Joe liked to talk about his current girlfriend. (I think he had about five different girlfriends while we were in the orchestra together.) The last time he chose this topic with me, he had just started dating a new girl from the Bronx. He assured me that they hit it off really well, the girl looked fantastic, they were going to have some great dates together. “Joe,” I asked, “is her name Beverly Milkman?”
Joe looked at me like he'd been shot. He was dazed, embarrassed. Finally he said, “Yes, how did you know?”
“I just guessed,” I replied. It was a most remarkable guess, and I savored it. There were of course a lot of women living in the Bronx who were the right age – about 20 – and the correct religion – Joe dated only Jewish – but I knew very few of them. Now I had one more string to my bow, and that's how I managed my inspired guess.
Joe was partial to extremely short women. He always remarked on this when he was dating a short gal, and he reacted very positively to the shortest females in the orchestra. I knew Beverly Milkman was the right age, religion, and height: 4' 10”. And so ...
(Beverly, I apologize for using your real name in this blog item; my story just wouldn't be as good without it. I know you're out there, I'd love to get an email from you, I'm tobyr21 at gmail.)
Joe looked at me like he'd been shot. He was dazed, embarrassed. Finally he said, “Yes, how did you know?”
“I just guessed,” I replied. It was a most remarkable guess, and I savored it. There were of course a lot of women living in the Bronx who were the right age – about 20 – and the correct religion – Joe dated only Jewish – but I knew very few of them. Now I had one more string to my bow, and that's how I managed my inspired guess.
Joe was partial to extremely short women. He always remarked on this when he was dating a short gal, and he reacted very positively to the shortest females in the orchestra. I knew Beverly Milkman was the right age, religion, and height: 4' 10”. And so ...
(Beverly, I apologize for using your real name in this blog item; my story just wouldn't be as good without it. I know you're out there, I'd love to get an email from you, I'm tobyr21 at gmail.)
Sunday, April 15, 2007
Burning Imus:
I've got a tough piece to write here, because my wife and daughter strongly disagree with me. Please withhold judgment while I try to make my point.
The question in the Imus vs. Rutgers case is whether a person on the radio should be able to make an abominably stupid remark, make a heartfelt apology, and move on. In this case the answer is no, he has to be severely punished. This case will have a chilling effect on radio, TV, newspaper reporting and entertainment venues in general. We'll all lose because of the pablum we're getting when people are more afraid to make a tough remark and lose their jobs.
The good news about the Imus case is that everybody in the public eye now knows better than to say the exact three words that Imus said. The bad news is that no one knows what kind of shocking remark, or nasty witticism, or general comment it IS safe to make and keep your job. You may find that statement hard to believe, in which case I refer you to Randy Kennedy's opinion piece in the NY Times, april 15: Hey, that's (not) Funny. In this piece, he tries to explain what Imus did that was unacceptable, and it turns out that this isn't easy. In particular, Les Moonves, who congratulated the empire he works for, for sending a message by getting hard on Imus, works for a glass house empire. The same conglomerate also produces South Park, a thing created by two white guys whose program wallows in (acceptable!?) racial slurs.
Kennedy concludes that Imus's problem is trying to be serious. His show has serious commentary, serious guests. When he becomes a shock jock for a moment, people are confused. (I know YOU'RE not confused, and I'M not confused; but “people” are confused.) If you like this distinction, please note that it's the OPPOSITE of an established reason for deciding a first amendment case. (The Imus case is NOT a first amendment case, he works for a skittish business.) In the law, an utterance is protected if it has redeeming social merit. If Imus were a shock jock all the time, he would have practically no social merit, and his utterance would have less legal protection; but the way Randy Kennedy works it out, he has less protection BECAUSE he has social merit. I'm sure every TV reporter will easily understand how to apply this reasoning.
Please try to imagine yourself a radio or TV host, trying to avoid getting fired the way Imus was for anything you say on your program. Do you know exactly what to avoid? No. Do you know how to play it safe? Yes. Or sort of.
Sheesh.
The question in the Imus vs. Rutgers case is whether a person on the radio should be able to make an abominably stupid remark, make a heartfelt apology, and move on. In this case the answer is no, he has to be severely punished. This case will have a chilling effect on radio, TV, newspaper reporting and entertainment venues in general. We'll all lose because of the pablum we're getting when people are more afraid to make a tough remark and lose their jobs.
The good news about the Imus case is that everybody in the public eye now knows better than to say the exact three words that Imus said. The bad news is that no one knows what kind of shocking remark, or nasty witticism, or general comment it IS safe to make and keep your job. You may find that statement hard to believe, in which case I refer you to Randy Kennedy's opinion piece in the NY Times, april 15: Hey, that's (not) Funny. In this piece, he tries to explain what Imus did that was unacceptable, and it turns out that this isn't easy. In particular, Les Moonves, who congratulated the empire he works for, for sending a message by getting hard on Imus, works for a glass house empire. The same conglomerate also produces South Park, a thing created by two white guys whose program wallows in (acceptable!?) racial slurs.
Kennedy concludes that Imus's problem is trying to be serious. His show has serious commentary, serious guests. When he becomes a shock jock for a moment, people are confused. (I know YOU'RE not confused, and I'M not confused; but “people” are confused.) If you like this distinction, please note that it's the OPPOSITE of an established reason for deciding a first amendment case. (The Imus case is NOT a first amendment case, he works for a skittish business.) In the law, an utterance is protected if it has redeeming social merit. If Imus were a shock jock all the time, he would have practically no social merit, and his utterance would have less legal protection; but the way Randy Kennedy works it out, he has less protection BECAUSE he has social merit. I'm sure every TV reporter will easily understand how to apply this reasoning.
Please try to imagine yourself a radio or TV host, trying to avoid getting fired the way Imus was for anything you say on your program. Do you know exactly what to avoid? No. Do you know how to play it safe? Yes. Or sort of.
Sheesh.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Poison Ivy:
This is another reminiscence from my summer at Narrowsburg, NY (see last March 21). Late in the summer, I took another counselor on a date on our day off. We walked into Narrowsburg and admired the considerable suspension bridge across the river. What really fascinated me about this brdge was the field next to it, about the size of a football field. It was surrounded by a high mesh fence, except for an opening about fifteen feet wide. You could easily walk in and run around on this field.
But you shouldn't, because it was completely carpeted in poison ivy. I pointed this out to my date, and she said, "Really! I've never gotten poison ivy, I believe I'm immune." And before I could explain that you can lose your immunity at any time, she kicked off her sandals and ran barefoot all over that field for nearly five minutes.
In case you're wondering, I'm very good at identifying PI. If I say it's poison ivy, it IS poison ivy. And no, she didn't get a rash. Amazing.
But you shouldn't, because it was completely carpeted in poison ivy. I pointed this out to my date, and she said, "Really! I've never gotten poison ivy, I believe I'm immune." And before I could explain that you can lose your immunity at any time, she kicked off her sandals and ran barefoot all over that field for nearly five minutes.
In case you're wondering, I'm very good at identifying PI. If I say it's poison ivy, it IS poison ivy. And no, she didn't get a rash. Amazing.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
A few stray words:
I want to use the web today to memorialize a word and a phrase. The word is something my father used instead of "wobbly": Vocklely. We sometimes had vocklely chairs, for instance. I suspect that right here, before your eyes, I'm spelling this word for the very first time. ("Vocklely" is probably a Germanic loan-word. It's pronounced "vockle - lee".)
The phrase is "landing zone," and it has a special meaning in our household. When I make a cup of coffee for my wife, I offer to serve it to her -- that is, I offer to place it on the kitchen table so she can drink it -- provided there's someplace nearby to set the cup down. Our kitchen table is a pretty busy place, so I often find myself saying, "Please make a landing zone for your coffee."
UPDATE: This entry has been corrected.
The phrase is "landing zone," and it has a special meaning in our household. When I make a cup of coffee for my wife, I offer to serve it to her -- that is, I offer to place it on the kitchen table so she can drink it -- provided there's someplace nearby to set the cup down. Our kitchen table is a pretty busy place, so I often find myself saying, "Please make a landing zone for your coffee."
UPDATE: This entry has been corrected.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Geek’s gotta sew!
Many years ago, someone invented a gadget that would attach buttons to a shirt without any sewing. That pretty much ended any desire I might ever have to sew, a skill in which I lack all possible expertise. Just once, I really needed to sew something. How difficult can it be, I asked myself. I wish I’d made a list of all the things I did wrong (actually, more than THIRTY different kinds of mistakes), but I was too busy trying to finish to write them down. Sewing is indeed a sophisticated skill.
But times have changed, and now I do at least one sewing repair per year. Here’s why: There are three ways you can attach gadgets to a belt:
I’ve seen reviews of method (2) and such gadgets impress me, but I’ve never had the nerve to try them. I can’t understand why anyone goes for method (1), which usually means a simple clip-on to your belt. I’m sure I’d knock any clip-on off in a few days. But if you haunt the camera stores, you’ll see every form of appliance pouch, including some that have an integral belt loop. You run your belt through this loop and the pouch CAN’T POSSIBLY fall off the belt. When it’s new, anyway. Outside of a bathroom, anyway.
These pouches cost $10 to $20, so what do you do when the belt loop begins to crack or tear? The necessary sewing repairs will be invisible – between your pouch and your belt – an idea situation for the amateur sewer. I’ve done a number of sewing repairs, and I’ve extended the lives of my gadget-holders.
But times have changed, and now I do at least one sewing repair per year. Here’s why: There are three ways you can attach gadgets to a belt:
- So that they are in great danger of falling off.
- Using yet another gadget to “rivet” the object to your belt. (Here’s an example.)
- Using a pouch that attaches so securely to your belt, it’s just not going to fall off.
I’ve seen reviews of method (2) and such gadgets impress me, but I’ve never had the nerve to try them. I can’t understand why anyone goes for method (1), which usually means a simple clip-on to your belt. I’m sure I’d knock any clip-on off in a few days. But if you haunt the camera stores, you’ll see every form of appliance pouch, including some that have an integral belt loop. You run your belt through this loop and the pouch CAN’T POSSIBLY fall off the belt. When it’s new, anyway. Outside of a bathroom, anyway.
These pouches cost $10 to $20, so what do you do when the belt loop begins to crack or tear? The necessary sewing repairs will be invisible – between your pouch and your belt – an idea situation for the amateur sewer. I’ve done a number of sewing repairs, and I’ve extended the lives of my gadget-holders.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Slow down, brave Multitasker:
The New York Times recently published an article on multitasking, (“Slow down, brave Multitasker”, March 25). The article features pictures of clueless people using PDAs or music players while crossing streets and bicycling. The point of the article is that people are much worse at multitasking tha we like to think, maybe it should be disouraged. I found myself musing, “It's a pity the NYT doesn't believe in evolution.” Now let's face it: multitasking is a necessary skill in modern civilization. Studies show most people can't do it? Then encourage it! After a while, the only people left standing will be those who really can multitask. I'm talking survival of the fittest here, natural selection. Let's get it done.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
"Adult" content:
Why do we use the word "adult" to refer to the most childish material of interest to adults?
(Sorry I've been away for a few days. Regular posting resumes next Wednesday.)
(Sorry I've been away for a few days. Regular posting resumes next Wednesday.)
Monday, April 02, 2007
Punctuation in Virginia:
Punctuation would be really useful in vanity license plates, for much better word play and clarity in expression. So I’m delighted to report a little progress: I’ve seen ampersands on plates in Virginia. (E.g.: KAY&TAD).
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Viacom Versus Google – the Big Risk:
Viacom is suing YouTube (that is, they're suing Google's deep pockets) for copyright infringements posted on YouTube. This is an interesting legal case, because you'll find people saying it's obvious that the DMCA protects YouTube, and you'll find people saying its obvious that the DMCA (plus the Napster and Grokster cases) nails YouTube to the wall.
The conventional wisdom is that Viacom, by taking down all these pieces of their video shows, is killing off the best advertising vehicle in history. And more conventional wisdom says that Google and Viacom will settle, with Google giving up a ton of change.
I'd like to point out something I haven't heard yet about this case. Google's deep pockets mean it could contest this case in court, possibly dragging it out five years or more. And Viacom (and indeed the entire movie and TV industries) are taking a terrible risk if there's a real lawsuit: Google may challenge the estimated value of the copyright violations. I believe the current estimation (used by Viacom) is $750 per violation, it could even be higher. But there's no proof of any such estimate. In fact it may be hard to prove there are any damages at all, with the benefits of violations accruing to Viacom in the form of free advertising that boosts sales. Viacom will lose the war if a court case decides that yes, there were punishable violations, but that Google does not owe one cent to make the violations good.
I'd dearly like to see Google challenge the idea that copyright violations of video on the web cost the copyright owner anything.
The conventional wisdom is that Viacom, by taking down all these pieces of their video shows, is killing off the best advertising vehicle in history. And more conventional wisdom says that Google and Viacom will settle, with Google giving up a ton of change.
I'd like to point out something I haven't heard yet about this case. Google's deep pockets mean it could contest this case in court, possibly dragging it out five years or more. And Viacom (and indeed the entire movie and TV industries) are taking a terrible risk if there's a real lawsuit: Google may challenge the estimated value of the copyright violations. I believe the current estimation (used by Viacom) is $750 per violation, it could even be higher. But there's no proof of any such estimate. In fact it may be hard to prove there are any damages at all, with the benefits of violations accruing to Viacom in the form of free advertising that boosts sales. Viacom will lose the war if a court case decides that yes, there were punishable violations, but that Google does not owe one cent to make the violations good.
I'd dearly like to see Google challenge the idea that copyright violations of video on the web cost the copyright owner anything.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
CD Album sales, sinking like a stone:
You'll find it easy to read on the web that people now prefer to buy songs rather than whole albums that are fifteen times more expensive. Recording companies are signing new prospects to record a few songs rather than an album. The years of album sales are pretty much over. Now since album sales have routinely been a way for the recording companies to overcharge the public, you might expect me to shed no tears. After all, paying $15 for two good songs and nine bad ones is a poor deal. And many groups that were expected to record a whole album to get their hit song published were simply not up the task. But let's look at the other side of albums:
First, when a good group records an album they give you a great opportunity to learn their style. I bought a Dire Straits album just to get a recording of Sultans of Swing. The music on the album is quite uneven, but there are other excellent songs. Best of all, I learned that Sultans of Swing is an atypical song for them, off-style; yet it sounds better when you know this group's style and understand how it plays into and also varies away from their more typical offerings. Some groups, forced to record an album, must FIND heir style. This is a great exercise that the recording companies will no longer support.
Second, some albums are through-composed, intended to be listened to straight through from beginning to end. The Beatle's Sargeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band was one of the first of these. If you're wondering why there aren't many more – well it's harder to create an hour-long composition than a bunch of songs. But worse, the recording industry actively discourages them, it won't allow radio stations to play them! This assertion may sound remarkable, but I believe the FCC rule is that in one hour you can only play three tracks from a record. (We'll save classical music albums for another day, okay? Lots to say there, too.) The intention of this stupid rule is to keep people from recording a full album off the air so they don't have to buy it.
The Album-by-one-group is something of a historical accident, I think. It was simply the recording industry's best idea about how to fill out a long-playing record that could hold an hour of music. One way to see this is to imagine a different path: imagine the recording industry full of, let's call them “recording engineer artists,” or REAs. These REAs learn new music and new bands as fast as they hit the scene, and they cleverly interleave the best from different groups to create, effectively, through-composed albums of music from multiple bands (If REAs sound far-fetched to you, please note that disco DJs used to do the exact same thing, and they did it quite consciously.)
But there's no point having REAs if we can't play their full albums on the air, is there? So the album is dying, and it won't come back unless people who make recordings think creatively about it, instead of regarding the people who buy albums as a collective audience of suckers.
And by the way, there IS an excellent way for albums to make a comeback: On the web, where downloadable music can be any length at all, independent musicians do not need to compose the 3 or 4 minute songs. They can experiment with compositions of any length, and I'll bet they're doing it already.
First, when a good group records an album they give you a great opportunity to learn their style. I bought a Dire Straits album just to get a recording of Sultans of Swing. The music on the album is quite uneven, but there are other excellent songs. Best of all, I learned that Sultans of Swing is an atypical song for them, off-style; yet it sounds better when you know this group's style and understand how it plays into and also varies away from their more typical offerings. Some groups, forced to record an album, must FIND heir style. This is a great exercise that the recording companies will no longer support.
Second, some albums are through-composed, intended to be listened to straight through from beginning to end. The Beatle's Sargeant Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band was one of the first of these. If you're wondering why there aren't many more – well it's harder to create an hour-long composition than a bunch of songs. But worse, the recording industry actively discourages them, it won't allow radio stations to play them! This assertion may sound remarkable, but I believe the FCC rule is that in one hour you can only play three tracks from a record. (We'll save classical music albums for another day, okay? Lots to say there, too.) The intention of this stupid rule is to keep people from recording a full album off the air so they don't have to buy it.
The Album-by-one-group is something of a historical accident, I think. It was simply the recording industry's best idea about how to fill out a long-playing record that could hold an hour of music. One way to see this is to imagine a different path: imagine the recording industry full of, let's call them “recording engineer artists,” or REAs. These REAs learn new music and new bands as fast as they hit the scene, and they cleverly interleave the best from different groups to create, effectively, through-composed albums of music from multiple bands (If REAs sound far-fetched to you, please note that disco DJs used to do the exact same thing, and they did it quite consciously.)
But there's no point having REAs if we can't play their full albums on the air, is there? So the album is dying, and it won't come back unless people who make recordings think creatively about it, instead of regarding the people who buy albums as a collective audience of suckers.
And by the way, there IS an excellent way for albums to make a comeback: On the web, where downloadable music can be any length at all, independent musicians do not need to compose the 3 or 4 minute songs. They can experiment with compositions of any length, and I'll bet they're doing it already.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Making Murphy’s Law Work for you:
This is really amazing, but I’ve found a way to make Murphy’s law work for me. The elevator nearest my office usually takes a half minute or more to arrive after I push the button. But when I walk to the elevator, if I have some trash in my hand, say, a banana peel, I press the elevator button and walk further to a trash can eight steps beyond. The elevator always seems to arrive when I’m furthest from it - right at that trash can - so I drop in my peel and run back to the elevator, catching it a lot sooner than if I’d just stood there, waiting for it. Really. Trust me.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
The Egalitarian Office (sometimes sucks?):
Most offices I work in have a relatively egalitarian environment. You may have no idea what I mean unless you've experienced the typical office of the 1950's and '60s. In those days, important (and even routine) workers handed their work off to be typed, copied and mailed. There was an underclass of support people, mostly women, who also made the coffee, kept things clean, fixed the copiers, set up meeting schedules and so on.
The invention of word processing machines did not bring an end to the era of this underclass. Early word processing machines, whether typewriters or screen-based, were hard to use and required experts in this underclass to operate them.
In the 1970's, winds of social change, and the increasing cost of every support person (caused by rising salaries and benefits, I believe) caused companies to get rid of most of their support people. Inexpensive computers with word processing, spreadasheets and presentation software facilitated his change. Instead, as we routinely find today, people do their own writing, editing, printing, copying, mailing, and even fix copying machines, load paper reams and change toner units. (Making travel arrangements, and setting up meeting schedules are interesting exceptions these days, these still seem to require a lot of expert support.)
My point in bringing all this up, is that I do not fully believe in the egalitarian office. The tendency to treat the “support underlings” as a lower caste was always atrocious; but so is the idea of a busy manager cleaning the coffee machine and making the next pot, which could be done as well or better by a person making one tenth or less of that manager's salary. And there are plenty of people prepared to work such support jobs today, freeing precious people resources in the most overworked jobs. Why is it no longer economical for mid-sized companies to hire more support people?
The invention of word processing machines did not bring an end to the era of this underclass. Early word processing machines, whether typewriters or screen-based, were hard to use and required experts in this underclass to operate them.
In the 1970's, winds of social change, and the increasing cost of every support person (caused by rising salaries and benefits, I believe) caused companies to get rid of most of their support people. Inexpensive computers with word processing, spreadasheets and presentation software facilitated his change. Instead, as we routinely find today, people do their own writing, editing, printing, copying, mailing, and even fix copying machines, load paper reams and change toner units. (Making travel arrangements, and setting up meeting schedules are interesting exceptions these days, these still seem to require a lot of expert support.)
My point in bringing all this up, is that I do not fully believe in the egalitarian office. The tendency to treat the “support underlings” as a lower caste was always atrocious; but so is the idea of a busy manager cleaning the coffee machine and making the next pot, which could be done as well or better by a person making one tenth or less of that manager's salary. And there are plenty of people prepared to work such support jobs today, freeing precious people resources in the most overworked jobs. Why is it no longer economical for mid-sized companies to hire more support people?
Monday, March 26, 2007
My DS2 Recorder, a sinkhole for notes:
I usually carry around a DS2 recording device. It is superb for helping me to remember fleeting thoughts that I don’t have to act on right away. I can turn the recorder on in two seconds, record my thought – maybe I want to find a recipe for cauliflower – and I’m done. This is MUCH faster and more convenient than adding a note to my PDA.
Unfortunately the key is that these are notes NOT requiring immediate action. Quick-action notes have to be scheduled in my PDA so I’ll see them and get to them in time. I can listen to a few DS2 notes at leisure and do whatever I told myself to do, or put those notes in a more permanent form.
Or not! After all, the DS2 is merely a new way to be lazy. One day I noticed I had eighteen DS2 notes waiting for review. It took me about ten days to work them off.
Unfortunately the key is that these are notes NOT requiring immediate action. Quick-action notes have to be scheduled in my PDA so I’ll see them and get to them in time. I can listen to a few DS2 notes at leisure and do whatever I told myself to do, or put those notes in a more permanent form.
Or not! After all, the DS2 is merely a new way to be lazy. One day I noticed I had eighteen DS2 notes waiting for review. It took me about ten days to work them off.
Sunday, March 25, 2007
If Cleopatra's Nose ...
I don't know about you, but from my youth I've been fascinated by Blaise Pascal's remark that: “If Cleopatra's nose had been shorter the whole history of the world would have been different.” I have a little insight into this situation that I'd like to share with you. Don't rush now, and take your time to savor this: Cleopatra's nose actually WAS shorter.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
I ‘Read’ cookbooks:
I own many cookbooks, and there’s always a risk I’ll buy another one. Our family owns a lotalota cookbooks, and I peruse these, too. I also read cookbooks in libraries, and cookbooks in friends’ homes. And, I read recipes in the food sections of my favorite newspapers.
All this cookbook reading used to bother me, because I cook a lot, but I rarely follow recipes. I think that all the cook-reading I does affects my style, but … well, what does justify the time and expense?
I’m pleased to announce that in this little matter, I understand myself. I just like to “read” cookery. Okay?
All this cookbook reading used to bother me, because I cook a lot, but I rarely follow recipes. I think that all the cook-reading I does affects my style, but … well, what does justify the time and expense?
I’m pleased to announce that in this little matter, I understand myself. I just like to “read” cookery. Okay?
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Rock and Roll and Squares:
I was a camp counselor for the first time in the summer of 1959, near the town of Narrowsburg, NY. This is a Northwestern NY town, and it was rather rustic in those days. On counselor’s-nights-out, we would flock to the nearest bar to drink beer (okay over age 18), talk, and fool around.
We also watched the young locals (many of them about our ages), and they watched us. We absolutely did not mix, with one exception: a counselor-in-training aged fifteen, a svelte, friendly girl, who seemed to have torrid dates with every local who owned a car.
From time to time a local would drop coins into the excellent juke box, and they would dance four or five lindy-hops. Then, after refueling their beers, they would drop a few more coins and form up two squares. There was a good caller, the juke-box had plenty of square-dance music, and I found their square dancing entrancing. They never attempted anything tricky, no allemande rights or duck-and-dives, for example, but there was a bounce in their step that made the square dancing look an awful lot like the lindies. I especially remember the promenade step. It was so much like a casual rock step as to proclaim that square dancing was not the old way, but the still-cool way.
I’ve never visited a Narrowsburg bar since that summer, but I wonder how many more years passed before square dances were utterly forgotten there. Two or three years, I suspect.
We also watched the young locals (many of them about our ages), and they watched us. We absolutely did not mix, with one exception: a counselor-in-training aged fifteen, a svelte, friendly girl, who seemed to have torrid dates with every local who owned a car.
From time to time a local would drop coins into the excellent juke box, and they would dance four or five lindy-hops. Then, after refueling their beers, they would drop a few more coins and form up two squares. There was a good caller, the juke-box had plenty of square-dance music, and I found their square dancing entrancing. They never attempted anything tricky, no allemande rights or duck-and-dives, for example, but there was a bounce in their step that made the square dancing look an awful lot like the lindies. I especially remember the promenade step. It was so much like a casual rock step as to proclaim that square dancing was not the old way, but the still-cool way.
I’ve never visited a Narrowsburg bar since that summer, but I wonder how many more years passed before square dances were utterly forgotten there. Two or three years, I suspect.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
The Zune and Shelf Space (again):
Last December 25th, I blogged about what I thought was Microsoft's expectations for its Zune (a competitor to iPod). Based on the enormous amount of shelf space for the Zune, I decided that Microsoft really expected it to be a serious potential iPod killer (which it ain't). I've just heard an interview with David Caulton of the Microsoft Zune team. (This is Leo Laporte and Paul Thurrott's 17th Windows Weekly Netcast.) Caulton says something different, and I want to respect his position, which does not seem to me to be an "after the fact" explanation.
Caulton says their marketing goal was to be second to iPod. Now the player market is heavily fragmented after Apple, and this was not an unreasonable goal. A good way to pursue that goal at Christmas time was to eat up all the shelf space normally reserved for iPod's competitors, and that's what I saw in the stores, with space usually reserved for SanDisk, Zen etc. full of Zunes. So maybe Microsoft pursued a "second place" goal by attacking the sales opportunities of all the best-known smaller competitors.
That brings us to today. Microsoft's story is that they have a long term commitment to the music player market. They ought to be able to catch up to Apple faster than Apple can innovate. It will be interesting to see what happens in the rest of 2007 and beyond.
Caulton says their marketing goal was to be second to iPod. Now the player market is heavily fragmented after Apple, and this was not an unreasonable goal. A good way to pursue that goal at Christmas time was to eat up all the shelf space normally reserved for iPod's competitors, and that's what I saw in the stores, with space usually reserved for SanDisk, Zen etc. full of Zunes. So maybe Microsoft pursued a "second place" goal by attacking the sales opportunities of all the best-known smaller competitors.
That brings us to today. Microsoft's story is that they have a long term commitment to the music player market. They ought to be able to catch up to Apple faster than Apple can innovate. It will be interesting to see what happens in the rest of 2007 and beyond.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Today: a Joke.
Our local supermarket has good produce. I was standing in the vegetable section looking all around, and one of the vegetable workmen asked me in his distinctive Spanglish: “What are you looking for? Can I help you?”
“I'm looking for a bargain, a cheap vegetable,” I replied.
He waved me over. “Come here, I can help you.”
I walked over to him, and he told me this story:
Once there was a man who wanted to buy a cheap car. He went to an automobile dealer and said, “Show me the cheapest car on your lot.”
“I have just the car for you,” said the dealer, and he took the man to a small, ugly car.
“What does it cost?”
“A million dollars.”
“A million dollars! I asked you for a cheap car, not this!”
“You don't understand, just watch. This car has a genie, you can ask him for anything.”
The dealer opened the door and put the key in the ignition. A genie appeared!
“What do you want?” asked the genie.
“We're kind of busy right now,” said the dealer, “Just get us two cups of coffee.”
Poof! Two good cups of coffee appeared. As they drank, the man made up his mind. He rushed home. He sold his house, sold his possessions, borrowed money from friends and neighbors and returned to the dealer.
“Here! Here's your million dollars,” he said, “sell me the car.”
Soon he was cruising his neighborhood and everyone came out to see the car. He stopped and got out, they crowded around him.
“This is a million dollar car? Why did you buy it?”
“Just watch.”
He opened the door, put the key in the ignition, and the genie appeared.
“Genie, give me a million dollars,” he said.
“I'm sorry,” said the genie, “I only make coffee.”
The vegetable man roared with laughter, and I must say, I joined in.
I bought a three-dollar head of cauliflower.
“I'm looking for a bargain, a cheap vegetable,” I replied.
He waved me over. “Come here, I can help you.”
I walked over to him, and he told me this story:
Once there was a man who wanted to buy a cheap car. He went to an automobile dealer and said, “Show me the cheapest car on your lot.”
“I have just the car for you,” said the dealer, and he took the man to a small, ugly car.
“What does it cost?”
“A million dollars.”
“A million dollars! I asked you for a cheap car, not this!”
“You don't understand, just watch. This car has a genie, you can ask him for anything.”
The dealer opened the door and put the key in the ignition. A genie appeared!
“What do you want?” asked the genie.
“We're kind of busy right now,” said the dealer, “Just get us two cups of coffee.”
Poof! Two good cups of coffee appeared. As they drank, the man made up his mind. He rushed home. He sold his house, sold his possessions, borrowed money from friends and neighbors and returned to the dealer.
“Here! Here's your million dollars,” he said, “sell me the car.”
Soon he was cruising his neighborhood and everyone came out to see the car. He stopped and got out, they crowded around him.
“This is a million dollar car? Why did you buy it?”
“Just watch.”
He opened the door, put the key in the ignition, and the genie appeared.
“Genie, give me a million dollars,” he said.
“I'm sorry,” said the genie, “I only make coffee.”
The vegetable man roared with laughter, and I must say, I joined in.
I bought a three-dollar head of cauliflower.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Please Press the Button!
I'm sure you've often had this experience: you're running to catch an elevator, and you call to the person already there to hold it for you. I just discovered that there's a natural, related activity that has somehow escaped my notice all my life. (I would expect this situation to arise more at work than in a residential building.) Here it is: You want to catch an elevator, and you see a person about fifty feet ahead of you walking right past that elevator. You call to them, "Please press the button for me!" If they do, the elevator's more likely to be right there for you when you walk up to it.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
What's going to replace the floppy disk?
Just a few years ago, this was a hot question: What's going to replace the floppy disk? I hardly ever use floppies these days, and I know I'm not alone.
In the past there were many candidates to replace floppies. The most interesting were:
The conventional wisdom about these devices was that they were wonderfully useful but could not replace the floppy. They all required special hardware that you wouldn't find on every computer. (Zip drives, I think, came closest to being ubiquitous.) The other problem was price competition: Floppies cost $1 (more recently, more like 30 cents), a great price point for carrying a single file around. Who wants to buy a $20 disk to carry a single small file? And who wants to carry around a special purpose disk just in case you can use it on some computer systems?
Now look again, what happened? I think that the Internet, and USB flash drives (and even PDAs and music players and flash cards in cameras), are replacing the floppy. There are many ways to copy, store or backup a file on the internet, making it routinely unnecessary to use a floppy to carry a file. USB drives are incredibly convenient because of their size, even though they can't match the floppy's price point for a single file. The convenience of all these media is that they can be used almost everywhere without buying a special disk drive. If you pay $50 for a 4GB flash drive, your price per megabyte is lower than the floppy's. But the flash drive supports so many multiple instances of moving just a file or two, it soon catches up.
What interests me about the waning of the floppy is how quietly it has happened, after years of everyone watching to see who would knock the floppy off its perch.
In the past there were many candidates to replace floppies. The most interesting were:
- Small devices that could hold about 20 times as much data as a floppy.
- Many special drives like the Bernoulli Zip drives that used special platters and held 100MB and up.
The conventional wisdom about these devices was that they were wonderfully useful but could not replace the floppy. They all required special hardware that you wouldn't find on every computer. (Zip drives, I think, came closest to being ubiquitous.) The other problem was price competition: Floppies cost $1 (more recently, more like 30 cents), a great price point for carrying a single file around. Who wants to buy a $20 disk to carry a single small file? And who wants to carry around a special purpose disk just in case you can use it on some computer systems?
Now look again, what happened? I think that the Internet, and USB flash drives (and even PDAs and music players and flash cards in cameras), are replacing the floppy. There are many ways to copy, store or backup a file on the internet, making it routinely unnecessary to use a floppy to carry a file. USB drives are incredibly convenient because of their size, even though they can't match the floppy's price point for a single file. The convenience of all these media is that they can be used almost everywhere without buying a special disk drive. If you pay $50 for a 4GB flash drive, your price per megabyte is lower than the floppy's. But the flash drive supports so many multiple instances of moving just a file or two, it soon catches up.
What interests me about the waning of the floppy is how quietly it has happened, after years of everyone watching to see who would knock the floppy off its perch.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Would you (10) open an Email with this Subject?
- grossly anecdote
- Intestinal Mostly
- Couldst thou behold and think me still the same
- With folded arms with pensive nunlike air
- we are search responsible people
- charisma soiled
And would you open an email from:
- Well-meaning
- Richard and Judy probe extended
Oh, and would you listen to a rock group called the Dolly Llamas?
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Off-Web, Gotta Catch Up!
We were off the Internet at home for thirty hours, from mid-Sunday through Monday evening. Monday night I called Verizon and let the customer service guy do his thing. Then I called my router company, Linksys, and let Anna in the Philippines do her thing. Three hours later we were back on.
Now I can’t afford to waste three hours during an ultra-busy month, and I can't bear to stay up late before my Tuesday a.m. radio show, but I still count it as a win if the problem gets fixed. If I understand correctly, it went like this: Verizon decided my modem (which they sold me long ago) needed re-authenticating, so they shut me down until I called them. During the authentication process, in which the DSL modem was detached from the router and re-attached, the router decided it could guess what kind of modem I had but it couldn’t. After we TOLD it what my modem was, Verizon gave the modem a new Internet address, whereupon my firewall refused to let this strange new me access the internet, even with firewall permissions at their lowest settings. But we completely restarted the firewall and all’s okay. Sort of.
If you ask me, this whole thing was triggered by the new EDT time change, even though the change happened hours before we lost web access. I think practically everything that’s happened in the last two days is due to the new time change.
By the way, here’s something new: I always like to find out the locations of the customer service people who help me. The Verizon guy was in India, but he could not tell me his city “for security reasons.” Right.
Now I can’t afford to waste three hours during an ultra-busy month, and I can't bear to stay up late before my Tuesday a.m. radio show, but I still count it as a win if the problem gets fixed. If I understand correctly, it went like this: Verizon decided my modem (which they sold me long ago) needed re-authenticating, so they shut me down until I called them. During the authentication process, in which the DSL modem was detached from the router and re-attached, the router decided it could guess what kind of modem I had but it couldn’t. After we TOLD it what my modem was, Verizon gave the modem a new Internet address, whereupon my firewall refused to let this strange new me access the internet, even with firewall permissions at their lowest settings. But we completely restarted the firewall and all’s okay. Sort of.
If you ask me, this whole thing was triggered by the new EDT time change, even though the change happened hours before we lost web access. I think practically everything that’s happened in the last two days is due to the new time change.
By the way, here’s something new: I always like to find out the locations of the customer service people who help me. The Verizon guy was in India, but he could not tell me his city “for security reasons.” Right.
Sunday, March 11, 2007
A delicious food tip:
I've suggested a few ways you can flavor coffee (rather than buy flavored coffee): anise and cardamom. Here's another idea. When I thought of this I was so skeptical, I tested it in a small sample, I didn't want to waste a whole cup. But it's delicious, especially if you like malt: Add one tablespoon of Carnation Malted Milk powder (maybe other malt powders will do as well) to each cup of coffee. Mmmmmm ...
By the way, Blogger reminds me that this is my 1,001st blog item. So far, so good.
By the way, Blogger reminds me that this is my 1,001st blog item. So far, so good.
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