current on SWiK

SIPp

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:56:40 -0700

John McCain: An Example of Cognitive Dissonance

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 07:12:29 -0700

A condition of conflict or anxiety resulting from inconsistency between one's beliefs and one's actions, such as opposing the slaughter of animals and eating meat.

Now Playing: The Beach Boys - Barbara Ann

2008 Versioning Symposium

Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:10:32 -0700

PodTech: What Happens When You Misunderstand the Long Tail

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 05:53:23 -0700

Sometime last week I learned that podcasting startup PodTech was acquired for less than $500,000. This is a rather ignominious exit for a startup that initially entered the public consciousness with its high profile hire of Robert Scoble and the intent to build a technology news media empire using RSS and podcasts instead of radio waves and news print.

When I first heard about PodTech via Robert Scoble's blog, it seemed like a bad business to jump into given the lessons of The Long Tail. The Web creates an overabundance of content and products, which is good for aggregators but bad for creators. Even in 2006 when PodTech was founded you could see this in the success of "Web 2.0" companies that acted as content aggregators like Google, YouTube, Wikipedia and Flickr while content creators like music labels and news papers were beginning to scramble for relevance and revenue.

Kevin Kelly has a great post about this called Wagging the Long Tail of Love where he writes

So as one crosses the sections -- going from the short head to the long tail -- one should be consistent and view it from the aggregator's point of view or the creator's point of view. I think it is a mistake to conflate the two view points.

I've been wrestling with this for a while and I think the only advantage to the creator that I can see in the long tail is that aggregators can invent or produce a long tail domain that was not present before. Like Seth's Squidoo does. Before Squidoo or Amazon or Netflix came along there was no market at all for many of the creations they now distribute. The proposition that long tail aggregators can offer to creators is profound, but simple: you have a choice between a itsy bitsy niche audience (with nano profits) or no audience at all. Before the LT was expanded your masterpiece on breeding salt water aquarium fishes from the Red Sea would have no paying fans. Now you have maybe 100.

One hundred readers/watchers/listeners is not economical. There is no business equation that can sustain profits for continual creation from so few buyers. (It can of course support the business of aggregation above the level of creation.) But the long tail niche creation operates perfectly well in the realm of passion, enthusiasm, obsession, curiosity, peerage, love, and the gift economy. In the exchange of psychic energy, encouragement, meaning of life, and reasons to live, the long now is a boon.

That is not true about profits. Economically, the more the long tail expands, the more stuff there is to compete with our limited attention as an audience, the more difficult it is for a creator to sell profitably. Or, the longer the tail, the worse for sales.

The Web has significantly reduced the costs of producing and distributing content. Anyone with a computer can publish to a potential audience of hundreds of millions of people for as little as the cost of their Internet connection. This is great for content consumers but it has significantly increased the amount of competition among content creators while also reducing their chances of generating profits from their work since the Web/Internet has provided lots of options for getting quality content for free (both legally and illegally).

All of this is a long way of saying that in the era of "Web 2.0" it was quite unwise for a VC funded startup to jump into the pool of content creators and thus become a victim of The Long Tail instead of becoming a content aggregator and thus benefiting from the Long Tail instead. Of course, even that may not have saved them since the market for podcast aggregators pretty much dried up once Apple entered the fray.

Now Playing: Lil Wayne - I'm Me

Performance Management - Becoming a Performance Manager

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 06:44:30 -0700

Cognos / IBM

IBM TV on BAM

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:44:41 -0700

FAQ s nbsp - nbsp Now Transfer Fixed Fee Polish Money Transfer

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:45:34 -0700

Joomla - the dynamic portal engine and content management system, Got a questiuon about the Now Transfer<sep/>

FAQ s nbsp - nbsp Now Transfer Fixed Fee Polish Money Transfer

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:45:27 -0700

Joomla - the dynamic portal engine and content management system, Got a questiuon about the Now Transfer<sep/>

Freedom of Speech Doesn???t Mean Freedom from Consequences

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 18:49:14 -0700

A year ago Loren Feldman produced a controversial video called "TechNigga" which seems to still be causing him problems today. Matthew Ingram captures the latest fallout from that controversy in his post Protests over Verizon deal with 1938media where he writes

Several civil-rights groups and media watchdogs are protesting a decision by telecom giant Verizon to add 1938media???s video clips to its mobile Vcast service, saying Loren???s "TechNigga" clip is demeaning to black people. Project Islamic Hope , for example, has issued a statement demanding that Verizon drop its distribution arrangement with 1938media, which was just announced about a week ago , and other groups including the National Action Network and LA Humanity Foundation are also apparently calling for people to email Verizon and protest.

The video that has Islamic Hope and other groups so upset is one called "TechNigga," which Loren put together last August. After wondering aloud why there are no black tech bloggers, Loren reappears with a skullcap and some gawdy jewelry, and claims to be the host of a show called TechNigga. He then swigs from a bottle of booze, does a lot of tongue-kissing and face-licking with his girlfriend Michelle Oshen , and then introduces a new Web app called "Ho-Trackr," which is a mashup with Google Maps that allows prospective johns to locate prostitutes. In a statement, Islamic Hope says that the video "sends a horrible message that Verizon seeks to partner with racists."

I remember encountering the video last year and thinking it was incredibly unfunny. It wasn???t a clever juxtaposition of hip hop culture and tech geekery. It wasn???t satire since that involves lampooning someone or something you disapprove off in a humorous way (see The Colbert Report).?? Of course, I thought the responses to the video were even dumber; like Robert Scoble responding to the video with the comment ???Dare Obasanjo is black???.

Since posting the video Loren Feldman has lost a bunch of video distribution deals with the current Verizon deal being the latest. I???ve been amused to read all of the comments on TechCrunch about how this violates Loren???s freedom of speech.

People often confuse the fact that it is not a crime to speak your mind in America with the belief that you should be able to speak your mind without consequence. The two things are not the same. If I call you an idiot, I may not go to jail but I shouldn???t expect you to be nice to me afterwards. The things you say can come back and bite you on butt is something everyone should have learned growing up. So it is always surprising for me to see people petulantly complain that ???this violates my freedom of speech??? when they have to deal with the consequences of their actions.

BONUS VIDEO: A juxtaposition of hip hop culture and Web geekery by a black tech blogger.

Now Playing: NWA ??? N*ggaz 4 Life

Swimmill lets you swim in a Spa!

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:56:49 -0700

With Swimmill, you can turn a small sized pool or maybe even a spa into a swimming treadmill. Now, I got some ideas for future condos with a small sized roof pool that I can do miles of laps in.

Swimmill is the aquatic version of the treadmill; it allows you to swim without changing your position. The water current produced by Swimmill is the one that moves, just as the treadmill belt does while you are jogging.

via bornrich

Freedom of Speech Doesn’t Mean Freedom from Consequences

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:50:25 -0700

Several civil-rights groups and media watchdogs are protesting a decision by telecom giant Verizon to add 1938media’s video clips to its mobile Vcast service, saying Loren’s "TechNigga" clip is demeaning to black people. Project Islamic Hope , for example, has issued a statement demanding that Verizon drop its distribution arrangement with 1938media, which was just announced about a week ago , and other groups including the National Action Network and LA Humanity Foundation are also apparently calling for people to email Verizon and protest.

The video that has Islamic Hope and other groups so upset is one called "TechNigga," which Loren put together last August. After wondering aloud why there are no black tech bloggers, Loren reappears with a skullcap and some gawdy jewelry, and claims to be the host of a show called TechNigga. He then swigs from a bottle of booze, does a lot of tongue-kissing and face-licking with his girlfriend Michelle Oshen , and then introduces a new Web app called "Ho-Trackr," which is a mashup with Google Maps that allows prospective johns to locate prostitutes. In a statement, Islamic Hope says that the video "sends a horrible message that Verizon seeks to partner with racists."

I remember encountering the video last year and thinking it was incredibly unfunny. It wasn’t a clever juxtaposition of hip hop culture and tech geekery. It wasn’t satire since that involves lampooning someone or something you disapprove off in a humorous way (see The Colbert Report). Of course, I thought the responses to the video were even dumber; like Robert Scoble responding to the video with the comment “Dare Obasanjo is black”.

Since posting the video Loren Feldman has lost a bunch of video distribution deals with the current Verizon deal being the latest. I’ve been amused to read all of the comments on TechCrunch about how this violates Loren’s freedom of speech.

People often confuse the fact that it is not a crime to speak your mind in America with the belief that you should be able to speak your mind without consequence. The two things are not the same. If I call you an idiot, I may not go to jail but I shouldn’t expect you to be nice to me afterwards. The things you say can come back and bite you on butt is something everyone should have learned growing up. So it is always surprising for me to see people petulantly complain that “this violates my freedom of speech” when they have to deal with the consequences of their actions.

BONUS VIDEO: A juxtaposition of hip hop culture and Web geekery by a black tech blogger.

Now Playing: NWA – N*ggaz 4 Life

Deploying J2EE Applications or Modules to Sun Java System Application Server Platform Edition 8

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:42:39 -0700

Firefox 3 ist da

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 05:17:19 -0700

Fujitsu F706i is a water-proof TV Phone that will be here in about 3 years!

Fri, 30 May 2008 01:48:56 -0700

While us US consumers are still paying big bucks for outdated technology from various telecommunications carriers, people over in Asia and Japan are enjoying the water-proof TV Phone… Expect TV phones in the US in about 3 years. The current TV phones in the US don’t count, they are based on broadband connection not radio.

Fujitsu F706i is like the G-Shock of mobile phones, unfortunately it is only waterproof and not torture proof so it cannot handle a 6 feet drop. Like many Japanese phones you can watch TV on it, the clamshell’s crisp 2.7 inch screen makes viewing pleasurable. The F706i is waterproof and can withstand water pressure upto 6 meters and you can even watch TV underwater. Specs include HSDPA connectivity, 2 Megapixel camera, Micro SDHC card slot, full web browser and support for playback of popular audio and video formats. The unit measures 109×49×16.9mm and weighs 137 grams.

via newlaunches

JavaScript Strands

Wed, 28 May 2008 09:27:00 -0700

mykzilla: XPCOMless Preferences API

Tue, 20 May 2008 13:20:06 -0700

https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/attachment.cgi?id=220158

Sun, 18 May 2008 10:20:07 -0700

Simple tutorials - NSIS

Sun, 18 May 2008 10:20:07 -0700

XUL Tutorial:Localization - MDC

Sun, 18 May 2008 09:19:39 -0700

XUL Tutorial:Property Files - MDC

Sun, 18 May 2008 09:19:39 -0700

XUL:dropmarker - MDC