I finally finished reading Fast Food Nation.
I wrote previously that the book didn't contain many real surprises for me. I'd say that is still the case. The book has been accused of being merely anecdotal and spun heavily against the food industry, corporations in general, and Republicans. I came out with the same taste in my mouth. Although the book is painstakingly researched with 60 pages of bibliographical references, it does seem to me that the facts were carefully chosen to spin those forces in a negative light.
That said, the research and anecdotes seem undeniable, and I do feel affected by the content. The gory realities of feed lots and slaughterhouses; The questionable, albeit legal, manner in which livestock are fed and maintained; The effect of fierce price competition on all stakeholders including employees, franchisees, and consumers. It all definitely adds up to a bit of a sick feeling about the dark side of capitalism, democracy, and human behavior.
These are the points that stuck with me most:
- Livestock should not be fed the remains of other animals. It is a common practice in the US. It is not a natural feed and it opens the door for foodborne illness.
- The price of meat is determined largely by line speeds and safety practices at meat packing companies. Fast food companies often get better,safer meat than stores, because their brands depend on it. I may start buying higher priced meat as a result.
- More food than you think is flavored with chemicals that are not disclosed to you.
- Obesity costs far more to the economy than fast food companies earn.
- Advertising to children is powerful and probably should not be legal. It is already illegal in some countries.
- The US government doesn't have much power or inclination to protect the public from poor quality food. The large food chains are actually much more effective at creating positive change in the industry. And they answer mainly to their customers.
I have considered the possibility of becoming a vegetarian after reading the book. It probably will not happen, and it may not even be a good idea for me. But it's the first time the thought has ever crossed my mind. I fully expect, however, to eat better and think more about what I am eating all the time. Many people may believe that overthinking every aspect of life this way is a downer. I now see that attitude as a form of denial.
Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Open
I made my first contribution to the open source community today. I noticed a grammatical error on the George Pataki page of the Wikipedia. I knew that common folks were allowed to make changes to any page on the website and so I clicked edit, made my update, and bang, my change was made public without any sort of workflow approval process. Interesting.
I've also, coincidentally, just begun looking at SourceForge to see if there are any open source projects on which I might be interested in collaborating. It seems like a good way to use and improve my skills, and a good way to connect with the software developer community at large.
We'll see what I find.
I've also, coincidentally, just begun looking at SourceForge to see if there are any open source projects on which I might be interested in collaborating. It seems like a good way to use and improve my skills, and a good way to connect with the software developer community at large.
We'll see what I find.
Tuesday, December 06, 2005
Smart
I sometimes get the feeling, when pondering Google's inner workings, that the people there are so smart, their service sometimes seems like magic to us peasants.
They clearly seem to have the notion of "simple yet functional" down to a science. And functional is a tremendous understatement. They are the Ghooda.
I did some upgrades to my lyrics website last week, including 10,000 new song titles. Also, since my visitor volume has been up (about 150,000 page views in November), I decided to re-evaluate my advertising.
I looked at Google's AdSense optimization tips which suggested that my ad clickthrough rate might go up if I put my Google text ads across the top of my content (aka Leaderboard ad) rather than down the right side (aka Skyscraper ad). I figure they must have done plenty of research, so why not take their advice.
After a week using the new configuration, I noticed an unexpected trend. My clickthrough rate actually went down a tiny bit, but my earnings per impression went up by about 50%. What this means is that fewer people actually click through the ad links on the website. But the ads they click on tend to have a higher pay rate.
My conclusion from this is, although it is a bit early to conclude anything, is that Google actually rewards me for taking their placement advice by sending me more lucrative ad links. More likely is that they are ensuring they get the best possible clickthrough rates (due to placement) on the highest paying ad inventory, thus making more money for themselves.
Google tends to be very mysterious about their logic and policies on these matters, but at every turn, they always seem to be doing the smartest possible thing.
My advice: Always do what Google tells you to do.
They clearly seem to have the notion of "simple yet functional" down to a science. And functional is a tremendous understatement. They are the Ghooda.
I did some upgrades to my lyrics website last week, including 10,000 new song titles. Also, since my visitor volume has been up (about 150,000 page views in November), I decided to re-evaluate my advertising.
I looked at Google's AdSense optimization tips which suggested that my ad clickthrough rate might go up if I put my Google text ads across the top of my content (aka Leaderboard ad) rather than down the right side (aka Skyscraper ad). I figure they must have done plenty of research, so why not take their advice.
After a week using the new configuration, I noticed an unexpected trend. My clickthrough rate actually went down a tiny bit, but my earnings per impression went up by about 50%. What this means is that fewer people actually click through the ad links on the website. But the ads they click on tend to have a higher pay rate.
My conclusion from this is, although it is a bit early to conclude anything, is that Google actually rewards me for taking their placement advice by sending me more lucrative ad links. More likely is that they are ensuring they get the best possible clickthrough rates (due to placement) on the highest paying ad inventory, thus making more money for themselves.
Google tends to be very mysterious about their logic and policies on these matters, but at every turn, they always seem to be doing the smartest possible thing.
My advice: Always do what Google tells you to do.
Wednesday, November 30, 2005
Mosquito
Apparently someone has finally figured out a way to keep loitering teenagers away using a high frequency sound device, called The Mosquito, that only young people can hear. Genius.
Green
One cannot help becoming more environmentally conscious living in this city.
A few weeks ago, I went to The Green Festival, essentially a trade show for environmentally friendly products and services. I definitely got the impression that these were mainly entrepreneurs, certainly with a profit motive, that targeted well-meaning left-leaning individuals as their primary market.
As I see it, if you're going to be in business for profit, there is certainly nothing wrong with keeping environmental preservation as a top priority. However, it seemed to me a bit like they were using people's tendency to support this cause as a way of digging deeper into their pockets. I was somewhat disturbed by that. Sigh. Always a skeptic.
I did learn one thing there that I found interesting and valuable.
Shannon and Michael, who are buying a boat soon, wanted to know how they might use biodiesel fuel in their boat. I had heard that these fuels burn cleaner than fossil fuels and are mainly vegetable based. So I set off to the festival with the mission of finding out.
I have seen various diesel cars on the road, mostly old Mercedes, with biodiesel stickers on them and have always been a little curious. I imagined some process of taking your car down to the local university to have some hippy grad students fit your engine with some kind of vegimatic machine like the DeLorean in Back to the Future. A fun science project to impress all the dreadlocked girls around campus.
As it turns out, there are no modifications required to burn biodiesel fuel. All you need is a diesel engine in your car, and you can pour the fuel right in to your tank with any mixture of fossil fuel you choose. That's it.
Now biodiesel gas is a bit more expensive than regular gas, currently about $3.65 per gallon at the local biodiesel co-op. But compared with the new hybrid cars that come at a several thousand dollar premium over standard engines, this type of fuel is a great way for people to do what they can for a cleaner, less oil-dependent environment, one dollar at a time.
I feel a bit sad that I found this out after I leased my new Jeep Liberty, which now comes with a diesel option. Oh well. The next car.
A few weeks ago, I went to The Green Festival, essentially a trade show for environmentally friendly products and services. I definitely got the impression that these were mainly entrepreneurs, certainly with a profit motive, that targeted well-meaning left-leaning individuals as their primary market.
As I see it, if you're going to be in business for profit, there is certainly nothing wrong with keeping environmental preservation as a top priority. However, it seemed to me a bit like they were using people's tendency to support this cause as a way of digging deeper into their pockets. I was somewhat disturbed by that. Sigh. Always a skeptic.
I did learn one thing there that I found interesting and valuable.
Shannon and Michael, who are buying a boat soon, wanted to know how they might use biodiesel fuel in their boat. I had heard that these fuels burn cleaner than fossil fuels and are mainly vegetable based. So I set off to the festival with the mission of finding out.
I have seen various diesel cars on the road, mostly old Mercedes, with biodiesel stickers on them and have always been a little curious. I imagined some process of taking your car down to the local university to have some hippy grad students fit your engine with some kind of vegimatic machine like the DeLorean in Back to the Future. A fun science project to impress all the dreadlocked girls around campus.
As it turns out, there are no modifications required to burn biodiesel fuel. All you need is a diesel engine in your car, and you can pour the fuel right in to your tank with any mixture of fossil fuel you choose. That's it.
Now biodiesel gas is a bit more expensive than regular gas, currently about $3.65 per gallon at the local biodiesel co-op. But compared with the new hybrid cars that come at a several thousand dollar premium over standard engines, this type of fuel is a great way for people to do what they can for a cleaner, less oil-dependent environment, one dollar at a time.
I feel a bit sad that I found this out after I leased my new Jeep Liberty, which now comes with a diesel option. Oh well. The next car.
Tuesday, November 22, 2005
Convergence
I checked out a cool website today that took a relatively small amount of effort but delivers a substantial value. Housingmaps.com appears to be a mere hobby project for a clever programmer.
It combines Craigslist apartment listings with Google maps to give a visual representation of apartments for rent in San Francisco and other cities.
Small wonders.
It combines Craigslist apartment listings with Google maps to give a visual representation of apartments for rent in San Francisco and other cities.
Small wonders.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Threads
I was struck yesterday by a contrast.
This week I got to take a tour of the new St. Regis Hotel, specifically the luxury homes located high atop the hotel high rise. I have to say that, for all the money rich folks must spend to live there, it didn't seem much more livable than any other homes I have been in. The views were certainly impressive, although I did feel a little woozy way up there.
One thing that impressed me was the doormen's uniforms. Each door to the hotel was manned by a large, hyper-polite man wearing a beautiful full length coat. They seemed to be made of some soft luxurious fiber. I wondered how much the hotel paid for each coat.
The very next day, I was walking in the financial district among many nicely dressed individuals when I saw a group of paramedics. They were also in their uniforms, only theirs were dark blue cotton, and they were very worn and unimpressive.
I considered the relative importance of each of those men's jobs. One opens doors, the other saves lives.
I wondered if there was any significance to this.. if it makes any statement about our world. Clearly the five star hotel is selling a product that cannot be tattered, while paramedics are out on the asphalt every day.
But somehow it still struck me.
This week I got to take a tour of the new St. Regis Hotel, specifically the luxury homes located high atop the hotel high rise. I have to say that, for all the money rich folks must spend to live there, it didn't seem much more livable than any other homes I have been in. The views were certainly impressive, although I did feel a little woozy way up there.
One thing that impressed me was the doormen's uniforms. Each door to the hotel was manned by a large, hyper-polite man wearing a beautiful full length coat. They seemed to be made of some soft luxurious fiber. I wondered how much the hotel paid for each coat.
The very next day, I was walking in the financial district among many nicely dressed individuals when I saw a group of paramedics. They were also in their uniforms, only theirs were dark blue cotton, and they were very worn and unimpressive.
I considered the relative importance of each of those men's jobs. One opens doors, the other saves lives.
I wondered if there was any significance to this.. if it makes any statement about our world. Clearly the five star hotel is selling a product that cannot be tattered, while paramedics are out on the asphalt every day.
But somehow it still struck me.
Monday, October 31, 2005
Natural
I'm currently reading the book, Fast Food Nation. I fully expected this book to contain all kinds of horrifying facts sure to send anyone screaming from their nearest McDonald's restaurant. In truth, there is relatively little in the book that I find surprising so far. There is a fair amount of interesting history of how the industry came to be, and an in depth investigation into the inner workings of food suppliers, franchise agreements, labor standards, etc. Not a thriller by any measure.
One section I found very interesting discusses the semantics surrounding natural and artificial flavoring. We see these ingredients listed on many of the foods we eat. I often read ingredients labels and have always been suspicious of these entries on the list because they are just so darn vague. What's in an artificial flavor?
As it turns out, the vagueness is intentional and authorized by the FDA. In order to protect the secrecy of food recipes, food makers aren't required to list flavor ingredients as long as they are "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS). This designation, after looking at the FDA website, does not appear to imply that the FDA has, itself, determined the safety of the ingredient, but has examined the evidence supplied by applicants, and does not object to it. There are interesting exclusions to this rule as well. For example, additives commonly used in food before 1958 are automatically considered safe.
Also, the difference between the designations natural and artificial are not what one would expect. They both allow for the same list of chemical ingredients. The difference is in how the chemicals are produced. It seems that older methods may be considered natural, while newer, more scientific methods would be designated artificial, even if the latter produced a purer, safer end result. Since the natural designation is more appealing to consumers, those methods are more likely to be used, even though they may result in a less-safe product.
As a result of the GRAS secrecy rule, these flavor recipes contain many chemical ingredients that are not listed. For example, a typical artificial strawberry flavor contains the following:
Amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl acetate, ethyl amylketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphenyl-2-butanone, a-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, neronlin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, y-undecalactone, vanillin, and solvent.
Remember, all of these ingredients are on the GRAS list. The fact that this is an "artificial" flavor merely indicates how these chemicals were extracted from their sources, not what chemicals are present.
What this means is that when you see the words natural flavor or artificial flavor, you must assume that a list of similar chemicals are likely involved whether it is a strawberry candy or a cup of Stonyfield Farm Organic Strawberry Yogurt.
Buyer beware.
One section I found very interesting discusses the semantics surrounding natural and artificial flavoring. We see these ingredients listed on many of the foods we eat. I often read ingredients labels and have always been suspicious of these entries on the list because they are just so darn vague. What's in an artificial flavor?
As it turns out, the vagueness is intentional and authorized by the FDA. In order to protect the secrecy of food recipes, food makers aren't required to list flavor ingredients as long as they are "generally recognized as safe" (GRAS). This designation, after looking at the FDA website, does not appear to imply that the FDA has, itself, determined the safety of the ingredient, but has examined the evidence supplied by applicants, and does not object to it. There are interesting exclusions to this rule as well. For example, additives commonly used in food before 1958 are automatically considered safe.
Also, the difference between the designations natural and artificial are not what one would expect. They both allow for the same list of chemical ingredients. The difference is in how the chemicals are produced. It seems that older methods may be considered natural, while newer, more scientific methods would be designated artificial, even if the latter produced a purer, safer end result. Since the natural designation is more appealing to consumers, those methods are more likely to be used, even though they may result in a less-safe product.
As a result of the GRAS secrecy rule, these flavor recipes contain many chemical ingredients that are not listed. For example, a typical artificial strawberry flavor contains the following:
Amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl acetate, ethyl amylketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphenyl-2-butanone, a-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, neronlin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, y-undecalactone, vanillin, and solvent.
Remember, all of these ingredients are on the GRAS list. The fact that this is an "artificial" flavor merely indicates how these chemicals were extracted from their sources, not what chemicals are present.
What this means is that when you see the words natural flavor or artificial flavor, you must assume that a list of similar chemicals are likely involved whether it is a strawberry candy or a cup of Stonyfield Farm Organic Strawberry Yogurt.
Buyer beware.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Uptight
Last weekend I wanted to rent a movie. Since I have a great pay-per-view selection on my cable TV at home, I rarely rent movies anymore. But for some reason, it seemed like a fun thing to do and the Blockbuster store happened to be right there in front of me.
As I walked in, I vaguely remembered leaving annoyed the last time I had visited the store - without renting a movie. I couldn't remember why, but continued the movie mission anyway. There is something about Blockbuster that rubs me the wrong way. Maybe its size, maybe the fact that I don't care for their movie selection. In any case, it has never struck me as a company to celebrate.
I searched for The Corporation, a documentary I wanted Monica to see. I walked around the whole store twice before I found the documentary section - probably about 20 titles. No luck.
We settled on The Life Aquatic, a Wes Anderson film, and proceeded to the checkout. I realized I didn't have an account there and would probably have to open a new account. I figured it was probably pretty streamlined by now, considering the movie rental industry is about 20 years mature. Again, no luck. They made me move to a different window and gave me a long legal sized form to fill out. My attitude toward the movie mission began to deteriorate.
The form asked for my name, address, date of birth, driver's license number, credit card number, and a series of signatures waiving various rights.
I filled out the form, getting more and more annoyed at each question and check box. It occured to me that the thin piece of plastic I was renting was actually worth less than the restroom keys you borrow from gas stations, and they don't require nearly as much paperwork. After filling out the form, I was sent back to the original window to pay my $4, and we left.
After getting only a few feet from the store, I was reminded of the security process hoops I am currently jumping through at the city for collecting similar, although much less sensitive information from those making payments on our websites. I am not, even as a pseudo city manager, entitled to possess those pieces of information even for a few minutes. The people I work for consider it far too great of a security risk. The information is processed and then erased forever in some cases.
But I had just handed over even more sensitive information to a video store clerk who would probably stuff it into a file cabinet in the back that's likely used frequently to deal with non-returned videos. Now, the staff at Blockbuster seemed very friendly, competent, and trustworthy. But video stores just seem like the kind of place that would have high employee turnover, and besides, it seems to me Blockbuster should be able to come up with a better system than paper stuffed in drawers for that type of information.
I began to become very uneasy, even though I knew many people hand the same information over all the time. The fear started... Identity theft!! Ugh.
We got home to watch the movie, and it didn't work. The picture was all screwed up. Double Ugh.
That was the last straw. I decided I would take the movie back, get my money back for the defective DVD, and get my precious paper form back.
The next day, I did just that. I was bracing for a hassle, planning my rebuttals.. but alas, the friendly, competent, probably trustworthy manager returned my money and my form without argument. He seemed a bit inconvenienced. He had to rummage through two separate drawers stuffed with forms. But was far more compliant than I expected. He did have to use a key to get into the drawers, but the key was in the cash register drawer... Not super high security.
So after getting what I wanted, I was left wondering if I was just being paranoid. I was also left with a slightly better taste in my mouth about Blockbuster, at least the Church & Market store. I feel a little bad about not trusting those people.
I may be a little uptight. But I'm glad I got my form back.
As I walked in, I vaguely remembered leaving annoyed the last time I had visited the store - without renting a movie. I couldn't remember why, but continued the movie mission anyway. There is something about Blockbuster that rubs me the wrong way. Maybe its size, maybe the fact that I don't care for their movie selection. In any case, it has never struck me as a company to celebrate.
I searched for The Corporation, a documentary I wanted Monica to see. I walked around the whole store twice before I found the documentary section - probably about 20 titles. No luck.
We settled on The Life Aquatic, a Wes Anderson film, and proceeded to the checkout. I realized I didn't have an account there and would probably have to open a new account. I figured it was probably pretty streamlined by now, considering the movie rental industry is about 20 years mature. Again, no luck. They made me move to a different window and gave me a long legal sized form to fill out. My attitude toward the movie mission began to deteriorate.
The form asked for my name, address, date of birth, driver's license number, credit card number, and a series of signatures waiving various rights.
I filled out the form, getting more and more annoyed at each question and check box. It occured to me that the thin piece of plastic I was renting was actually worth less than the restroom keys you borrow from gas stations, and they don't require nearly as much paperwork. After filling out the form, I was sent back to the original window to pay my $4, and we left.
After getting only a few feet from the store, I was reminded of the security process hoops I am currently jumping through at the city for collecting similar, although much less sensitive information from those making payments on our websites. I am not, even as a pseudo city manager, entitled to possess those pieces of information even for a few minutes. The people I work for consider it far too great of a security risk. The information is processed and then erased forever in some cases.
But I had just handed over even more sensitive information to a video store clerk who would probably stuff it into a file cabinet in the back that's likely used frequently to deal with non-returned videos. Now, the staff at Blockbuster seemed very friendly, competent, and trustworthy. But video stores just seem like the kind of place that would have high employee turnover, and besides, it seems to me Blockbuster should be able to come up with a better system than paper stuffed in drawers for that type of information.
I began to become very uneasy, even though I knew many people hand the same information over all the time. The fear started... Identity theft!! Ugh.
We got home to watch the movie, and it didn't work. The picture was all screwed up. Double Ugh.
That was the last straw. I decided I would take the movie back, get my money back for the defective DVD, and get my precious paper form back.
The next day, I did just that. I was bracing for a hassle, planning my rebuttals.. but alas, the friendly, competent, probably trustworthy manager returned my money and my form without argument. He seemed a bit inconvenienced. He had to rummage through two separate drawers stuffed with forms. But was far more compliant than I expected. He did have to use a key to get into the drawers, but the key was in the cash register drawer... Not super high security.
So after getting what I wanted, I was left wondering if I was just being paranoid. I was also left with a slightly better taste in my mouth about Blockbuster, at least the Church & Market store. I feel a little bad about not trusting those people.
I may be a little uptight. But I'm glad I got my form back.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Nikka
I have a new favorite recording artist for whom I'll likely hold a torch for at least a few weeks. Her name is Nikka Costa. When I ask others if they've heard of her, they say yes. But somehow I never have until yesterday. She is performing at The Independent next month and I have the fun habit of pre listening to upcoming shows there to gauge my interest in attending. Napster has two of her albums which are both excellent. She continually reminds me of many great artists (Prince, Chaka Kahn, Stevie Wonder to name a very few) and integrates all of those influences seamlessly. I can't wait for her show.
Update: I saw her show on Sunday night. All I can say is don't ever miss this woman if she is performing near you. The energy in that room was tremendous and her voice and band are fantastic. I think everyone in attendance was blown away.
Update: I saw her show on Sunday night. All I can say is don't ever miss this woman if she is performing near you. The energy in that room was tremendous and her voice and band are fantastic. I think everyone in attendance was blown away.
Thursday, October 13, 2005
Napster
Along with thousands of other early adopters, I've been undertaking a grand experiment in digital music consumption. The introduction of digital music files several years ago and the, at first, illegal trade in them via services such as Napster has since evolved into a new, still immature business model for the music industry.
The Apple iPod has become an extremely popular consumer electronics device, and millions of music files have been purchased legally to fill them up. Apple is now enjoying a cultural phenomenon that businesses only dream of. Because of its popularity, their product's name, iPod, is now becoming synonymous with the class of product (think Band-Aid, Kleenex, etc). Since their product is closely tied with their music purchasing service, they only need stand by and watch as a whole generation passively accepts their business model for selling music online - Pay a dollar, get one song.
But theirs isn't the only model. Napster re-emerged as a legal subscription based service. Their model is - pay ten dollars per month, listen to anything in their catalog - pay fifteen, and transfer all of it to a portable device as well - but you still don't "own" the song until you pay the dollar for it. Depending on one's music listening habits, this model may or may work better for some people.
I, for one, don't like the idea of paying a dollar for a song I haven't heard before and don't know if I will like. Apple and other services allow you to listen to a 30 second snippet of the song before purchasing. With Napster, I can listen to the song as much as I like, then only if I wish to burn it to a CD, pay the dollar. This way works better for me because, you see, I'm cheap.
A side effect I have noticed from this easy access to music is jade. It's now very tough for me to find music so interesting that I believe I'll listen to it frequently enough away from my PC to justify paying for it. When I listen to music now, I'm much more inclined to sample artists and titles I've never heard. Read a review in a magazine - take a listen. An artist I've never heard of is playing in the city - let's see if I'd like them. Why buy it?
So lately I've been trying the portable music model that Napster offers called "Napster to go". I bought one of the compatible mp3 players (iPods are not an option) called the Creative Zen Sleek. It held 20 gigabytes worth of music, or about 10,000 songs. It seemed like an awesome notion to have that much music walking around with me all for the price of my monthly subscription. Napster liked to point out in their ad campaigns that to put that much music on an iPod would cost $10,000.
My fantasy that I would just dump 10,000 songs onto my new portable player was just that. Not only did I have to actually dream up that much music to transfer, but each song can take up to a couple of minutes to download from Napster. I soon realized that 20 GB worth of storage was probably overkill, and that a smaller, lighter player would probably work just as well.
I returned the Sleek and bought another Creative player, the new Zen Microphoto. It holds 8GB and is much smaller than the Sleek.
Now am I happy? Well.. not so sure. I've discovered that it's really not all that comfortable for me to dink around with headphones and player controls while I'm walking around the city. It's alright to have music with me, but it certainly isn't changing my life.
Also, I was expecting to use one of those fancy FM transmitter things to play music from my player while I'm in the car. It turns out those things are pretty crummy so I can't really do that.
So we'll have to see if this thing survives my 30-day no-questions return policy from Best Buy. At this point, it's kind of a cool toy, but probably not worth the price tag. We'll see.
The Apple iPod has become an extremely popular consumer electronics device, and millions of music files have been purchased legally to fill them up. Apple is now enjoying a cultural phenomenon that businesses only dream of. Because of its popularity, their product's name, iPod, is now becoming synonymous with the class of product (think Band-Aid, Kleenex, etc). Since their product is closely tied with their music purchasing service, they only need stand by and watch as a whole generation passively accepts their business model for selling music online - Pay a dollar, get one song.
But theirs isn't the only model. Napster re-emerged as a legal subscription based service. Their model is - pay ten dollars per month, listen to anything in their catalog - pay fifteen, and transfer all of it to a portable device as well - but you still don't "own" the song until you pay the dollar for it. Depending on one's music listening habits, this model may or may work better for some people.
I, for one, don't like the idea of paying a dollar for a song I haven't heard before and don't know if I will like. Apple and other services allow you to listen to a 30 second snippet of the song before purchasing. With Napster, I can listen to the song as much as I like, then only if I wish to burn it to a CD, pay the dollar. This way works better for me because, you see, I'm cheap.
A side effect I have noticed from this easy access to music is jade. It's now very tough for me to find music so interesting that I believe I'll listen to it frequently enough away from my PC to justify paying for it. When I listen to music now, I'm much more inclined to sample artists and titles I've never heard. Read a review in a magazine - take a listen. An artist I've never heard of is playing in the city - let's see if I'd like them. Why buy it?
So lately I've been trying the portable music model that Napster offers called "Napster to go". I bought one of the compatible mp3 players (iPods are not an option) called the Creative Zen Sleek. It held 20 gigabytes worth of music, or about 10,000 songs. It seemed like an awesome notion to have that much music walking around with me all for the price of my monthly subscription. Napster liked to point out in their ad campaigns that to put that much music on an iPod would cost $10,000.
My fantasy that I would just dump 10,000 songs onto my new portable player was just that. Not only did I have to actually dream up that much music to transfer, but each song can take up to a couple of minutes to download from Napster. I soon realized that 20 GB worth of storage was probably overkill, and that a smaller, lighter player would probably work just as well.
I returned the Sleek and bought another Creative player, the new Zen Microphoto. It holds 8GB and is much smaller than the Sleek.
Now am I happy? Well.. not so sure. I've discovered that it's really not all that comfortable for me to dink around with headphones and player controls while I'm walking around the city. It's alright to have music with me, but it certainly isn't changing my life.
Also, I was expecting to use one of those fancy FM transmitter things to play music from my player while I'm in the car. It turns out those things are pretty crummy so I can't really do that.
So we'll have to see if this thing survives my 30-day no-questions return policy from Best Buy. At this point, it's kind of a cool toy, but probably not worth the price tag. We'll see.
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Funk
Urban living is getting to me today.
Working the entire day in a ten story concrete cube means that I usually need to escape for lunch to get some sunlight and fresh air. Unfortunately, I work in civic center which isn't always so fresh, so I regularly ride some form of public transit to a more pleasant lunching atmosphere.
That journey takes me through an especially colorful part of town. The Tenderloin district is known for it's drug dealers, users, and other shady types. I used to be so disturbed by the cast of characters, that I would take the underground train just to avoid the spectacle. Over time, I became used to it, and now rather enjoy the show much of the time.
Today though was somehow my day to find myself next to far more than my statistically likely share of smelly people. Young and old, street and professional. There were laundry mildew mishaps, musty old men, leave-behind BO, and urine stench a go-go.
I couldn't help but wonder how this could happen. Today was nice and cool... no hot day sweaty excuses this time. I know that some of my fellow citizens live in much less luxury than I do. But one thing seems likely to me: If you have a home, you have access to bathing facilities. Some form of sink, shower, or tub comes with anything you could possibly refer to as a home. That gives one the ability to wash clothes and self.
I imagine that cultures change on this subject. I know that Europeans think Americans are far too concerned about such matters. Cleanliness is one American trait I'd like us to hold on to. If notions of cleanliness ebb and flow in culture, I wonder in which direction this one is headed.
Today wasn't a good sign.
Working the entire day in a ten story concrete cube means that I usually need to escape for lunch to get some sunlight and fresh air. Unfortunately, I work in civic center which isn't always so fresh, so I regularly ride some form of public transit to a more pleasant lunching atmosphere.
That journey takes me through an especially colorful part of town. The Tenderloin district is known for it's drug dealers, users, and other shady types. I used to be so disturbed by the cast of characters, that I would take the underground train just to avoid the spectacle. Over time, I became used to it, and now rather enjoy the show much of the time.
Today though was somehow my day to find myself next to far more than my statistically likely share of smelly people. Young and old, street and professional. There were laundry mildew mishaps, musty old men, leave-behind BO, and urine stench a go-go.
I couldn't help but wonder how this could happen. Today was nice and cool... no hot day sweaty excuses this time. I know that some of my fellow citizens live in much less luxury than I do. But one thing seems likely to me: If you have a home, you have access to bathing facilities. Some form of sink, shower, or tub comes with anything you could possibly refer to as a home. That gives one the ability to wash clothes and self.
I imagine that cultures change on this subject. I know that Europeans think Americans are far too concerned about such matters. Cleanliness is one American trait I'd like us to hold on to. If notions of cleanliness ebb and flow in culture, I wonder in which direction this one is headed.
Today wasn't a good sign.
Thursday, October 06, 2005
Ghosts
I Googled myself today and came across a document from the California Court of Appeals. The document describes in great detail the dramatic story of several of my high school friends, one of which eventually killed the other in cold blood. I was close friends with the killer's brother Joey growing up and also good friends with the victim, Steve, who actually helped teach me to drive my first car.
This document describes the events in greater detail than I have ever heard before. Up until now, I have relied on newspaper articles and hearsay, mostly.
I don't know what has become of Rob, the defendant. I know that he was the subject of controversy in past years because he was paroled but kept in prison by then governor Gray Davis.
I had heard that the San Francisco gay community had rallied to Rob's side, arguing that he was the victim of gay bashing. Although there is truth to that as described in the case, it doesn't appear to me to rise to the level of justifying death to the basher. It always seemed to me that Steve had been forgotten by the courts, the press, and the activists. And that always bothered me. It still does.
Steve didn't always behave well. But he was a good guy. And I miss him.
This is the document
This document describes the events in greater detail than I have ever heard before. Up until now, I have relied on newspaper articles and hearsay, mostly.
I don't know what has become of Rob, the defendant. I know that he was the subject of controversy in past years because he was paroled but kept in prison by then governor Gray Davis.
I had heard that the San Francisco gay community had rallied to Rob's side, arguing that he was the victim of gay bashing. Although there is truth to that as described in the case, it doesn't appear to me to rise to the level of justifying death to the basher. It always seemed to me that Steve had been forgotten by the courts, the press, and the activists. And that always bothered me. It still does.
Steve didn't always behave well. But he was a good guy. And I miss him.
This is the document
Friday, September 30, 2005
Baggage
Shower faucets are like relationships.
Yesterday was a fun day. Although it was a normal Thursday at work, there was also fun to be had. Not only was it a beautiful warm and clear day in the city, it was also the first day ever, San Francisco hosted a ski jump competition on its steep city streets.
It was going to be tough for me to make it there because the event was held in Pacific Heights, across town from civic center where I work. The bus rides alone would have eaten up my whole lunch break. But Shannon came to the rescue and offered to chauffeur me from work to the event and back and even brought me a sandwich to eat. She's so nice.
We made it up there along with thousands of others and witnessed what could be a once in a lifetime event, judging by the controversy surrounding the disruption it caused.
Here are some pictures
Later on, after work, Shannon and I were expecting guests. Her previous roommate, Sue, who now lives in Los Angeles, and her band, Tsk Tsk, have a couple of shows in the Bay Area this week, and we agreed to put all of them up for a couple of days at our apartment. We're so nice.
They rolled into town about two hours before they were supposed to go on stage last night. Since we have two bathrooms in our house, I offered to let a couple of them use my shower to save them some time.
They made it to the venue, put on a lovely show, and a good time was had by all.
This morning, when I got into my shower and turned on the water, I noticed that the previous occupant had pushed down the faucet handles really hard, using far more pressure than necessary. I felt bad for the poor little handles.
I imagined that whoever last used the shower must have a real problem with water continuing to drip out of their own home shower after shutting it off. Even though my shower does not have the same problem, that person applied their usual compensating solution anyway.
People do this in relationships also. Not that it has happened to me recently, but I think people have a habit of compensating for the issues of past significant others, even though it's not necessary with their current partners.
If you're in a relationship, try applying only the amount of pressure needed when shutting someone down. I know you'll try. Because you're so nice.
Yesterday was a fun day. Although it was a normal Thursday at work, there was also fun to be had. Not only was it a beautiful warm and clear day in the city, it was also the first day ever, San Francisco hosted a ski jump competition on its steep city streets.
It was going to be tough for me to make it there because the event was held in Pacific Heights, across town from civic center where I work. The bus rides alone would have eaten up my whole lunch break. But Shannon came to the rescue and offered to chauffeur me from work to the event and back and even brought me a sandwich to eat. She's so nice.
We made it up there along with thousands of others and witnessed what could be a once in a lifetime event, judging by the controversy surrounding the disruption it caused.
Here are some pictures
Later on, after work, Shannon and I were expecting guests. Her previous roommate, Sue, who now lives in Los Angeles, and her band, Tsk Tsk, have a couple of shows in the Bay Area this week, and we agreed to put all of them up for a couple of days at our apartment. We're so nice.
They rolled into town about two hours before they were supposed to go on stage last night. Since we have two bathrooms in our house, I offered to let a couple of them use my shower to save them some time.
They made it to the venue, put on a lovely show, and a good time was had by all.
This morning, when I got into my shower and turned on the water, I noticed that the previous occupant had pushed down the faucet handles really hard, using far more pressure than necessary. I felt bad for the poor little handles.
I imagined that whoever last used the shower must have a real problem with water continuing to drip out of their own home shower after shutting it off. Even though my shower does not have the same problem, that person applied their usual compensating solution anyway.
People do this in relationships also. Not that it has happened to me recently, but I think people have a habit of compensating for the issues of past significant others, even though it's not necessary with their current partners.
If you're in a relationship, try applying only the amount of pressure needed when shutting someone down. I know you'll try. Because you're so nice.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Points
One good thing about being the master of a tiny little domain in government is that I have the opportunity to apply my own personal values and opinions in the formation of public policy surrounding my little world.
The project I work on at the city was started as a pilot program to test the feasibility of taking city payments online. It seems like an obvious idea to improve efficiency and customer service, but everything has to prove its fitness in the real world. For the past three years I have managed the project and watched it grow slowly into a fit, soon-to-be self-funded, well-received corner of city government.
Then, just as I was finishing a forecast showing that in just 12 short months, the project would no longer require any city budget, funding itself solely on the small convenience fees charged on some payments, an article came out in the Chronicle. The article described a photo op the Mayor had been on the previous day at the Department of Parking and Traffic. The article mainly told how the department was a nightmare to visit for any reason, mainly due to long lines and long waits.
Since some of the people were there merely to pay a parking ticket, the question was asked, "why do people have to pay a fee to pay tickets online?". That question had the unfortunate consequence of causing a city official to go (trumpets please) "on record"... as saying that he and the Mayor would try to eliminate those fees. Once on record, my project and its funding became the focus of great scrutiny by those wanting to carry out the Mayor's wishes.
I am one of the only people on Earth who knows this project and its business model intimately. The other person is Marco, my client at the city. He and I unfortunately do not share the same outlook for funding this project. He believes in eliminating fees. I believe in retaining them.
Since I am mainly here to serve his needs as his consultant, pushing my own agenda is something I only do when particularly passionate about a subject.
I have two passions in this case. One is that I truly believe that services should, if at all possible, be paid mainly by those who use the service. The other is that I'd like to see this project continue without struggling for funding. We are just so close now.
My problem became how to try and see my own wishes carried out without causing conflict with my client on this very visible issue.
I wrote up an argument for my case intended for consumption by a city official unfamiliar with my project, someone like a county supervisor. I thought maybe I could get the ideas to them through a third party so that I could remain ostensibly impartial. However, the information is so detailed, I am certainly implicated as its author.
Below were my points:
------------
Facts:
Although eliminating convenience fees from online transactions gives the appearance of making the services more accessible and less expensive to the public, the expense to San Francisco citizens would be much greater overall and threatens the continuation of the service. Alternatively, if the fees were reduced little by little over time, the service is ensured continued growth, assuming DPT continues to use Online Services as a payment processor.
------------
So far, I have not sent these points directly to anyone influential, mainly to maintain my client relationship. However, I did get to meet yesterday with the city's Deputy Treasurer. Marco and I both met with her to discuss these issues. I was pleased to find that, although I didn't go the meeting intending to split from Marco's wishes, she was clearly receptive to my ideas and I was able to make most of my points, leading her in my preferred direction whenever possible. Since she will be making recommendations directly to the Mayor's budget office, I feel that I have made a real difference.
These types of moments are rare in my world and I have taken note the satisfaction it brings. For all the frustrating, petty, political bickering in this city's crazy government, it feels good to see my own wishes carried out on a relatively large scale.
I'm not sure that alone is enough to keep me around city government too much longer. But we'll see.
The project I work on at the city was started as a pilot program to test the feasibility of taking city payments online. It seems like an obvious idea to improve efficiency and customer service, but everything has to prove its fitness in the real world. For the past three years I have managed the project and watched it grow slowly into a fit, soon-to-be self-funded, well-received corner of city government.
Then, just as I was finishing a forecast showing that in just 12 short months, the project would no longer require any city budget, funding itself solely on the small convenience fees charged on some payments, an article came out in the Chronicle. The article described a photo op the Mayor had been on the previous day at the Department of Parking and Traffic. The article mainly told how the department was a nightmare to visit for any reason, mainly due to long lines and long waits.
Since some of the people were there merely to pay a parking ticket, the question was asked, "why do people have to pay a fee to pay tickets online?". That question had the unfortunate consequence of causing a city official to go (trumpets please) "on record"... as saying that he and the Mayor would try to eliminate those fees. Once on record, my project and its funding became the focus of great scrutiny by those wanting to carry out the Mayor's wishes.
I am one of the only people on Earth who knows this project and its business model intimately. The other person is Marco, my client at the city. He and I unfortunately do not share the same outlook for funding this project. He believes in eliminating fees. I believe in retaining them.
Since I am mainly here to serve his needs as his consultant, pushing my own agenda is something I only do when particularly passionate about a subject.
I have two passions in this case. One is that I truly believe that services should, if at all possible, be paid mainly by those who use the service. The other is that I'd like to see this project continue without struggling for funding. We are just so close now.
My problem became how to try and see my own wishes carried out without causing conflict with my client on this very visible issue.
I wrote up an argument for my case intended for consumption by a city official unfamiliar with my project, someone like a county supervisor. I thought maybe I could get the ideas to them through a third party so that I could remain ostensibly impartial. However, the information is so detailed, I am certainly implicated as its author.
Below were my points:
------------
Facts:
- The Online Services Group within DTIS processes online payments for several city departments.
- If left alone, the Online Services Group will be self-funded by convenience fees in about 12 months, requiring no additional money from city budgets.
- Convenience fees are small amounts added to online payments to cover processing costs.
- Convenience fees are paid by citizens and others who actually use the online services.
- The Mayor wants to eliminate convenience fees for parking tickets.
- Most Online Services transactions are parking ticket payments.
- About half of convenience fees collected go to project expenses and about half to Visa/MasterCard fees, which are charged as a percentage of the credit card transaction.
- Eliminating convenience fees from transactions will require the city budget and, by extension, all San Francisco citizens to pay for Online Services whether they use them or not.
- 35% of online parking ticket payments are made by non residents of San Francisco.
- Eliminating convenience fees would transfer the entire cost burden of the project to SF residents and relieve the non residents of any costs.
- Eliminating convenience fees is expected to sharply increase online services volume since it would become the cheapest method of payment.
- Larger payment volume means proportionately larger Visa/MasterCard fees and some project expense increase.
- Currently Online Services processes about 10% of all parking ticket payments.
- For the past 3 years, online payment volume has increased at a rate greater than 30% per year, with no changes to convenience fees.
- Doubling the volume to 20%, which is conservative if fees are eliminated, will cost the city about $1 million more than current volume, much of that in Visa fees that would no longer be covered by convenience fees.
- Tripling or quadrupling of online volume over one or two years is not an unreasonable expectation.
- The actual reduction in check processing labor by DPT for a 10% reduction in paper payments is unclear.
- With forecasted growth and economies of scale, convenience fees could likely be reduced over time as costs per transaction fall soon after the break even point around 12 months from now.
- The city contractor that runs online services for the city does not receive a "cut" of the fees. They are paid a flat monthly rate. The city is the only entity benefiting from those fees.
- Eliminating this consistent funding source for the service makes its future less certain as its budgetary worthiness would continue to be reviewed each fiscal year.
Although eliminating convenience fees from online transactions gives the appearance of making the services more accessible and less expensive to the public, the expense to San Francisco citizens would be much greater overall and threatens the continuation of the service. Alternatively, if the fees were reduced little by little over time, the service is ensured continued growth, assuming DPT continues to use Online Services as a payment processor.
------------
So far, I have not sent these points directly to anyone influential, mainly to maintain my client relationship. However, I did get to meet yesterday with the city's Deputy Treasurer. Marco and I both met with her to discuss these issues. I was pleased to find that, although I didn't go the meeting intending to split from Marco's wishes, she was clearly receptive to my ideas and I was able to make most of my points, leading her in my preferred direction whenever possible. Since she will be making recommendations directly to the Mayor's budget office, I feel that I have made a real difference.
These types of moments are rare in my world and I have taken note the satisfaction it brings. For all the frustrating, petty, political bickering in this city's crazy government, it feels good to see my own wishes carried out on a relatively large scale.
I'm not sure that alone is enough to keep me around city government too much longer. But we'll see.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Sick
I have a crummy immune system. I think I always have. It's not that I get horrible diseases. I just get all of the little ones - mainly colds and flus.
It's a familiar cycle:
Over the past year, I have been trying a new strategy that has worked very well. Wanna know what it is?
Sleep.
Previously, I would only stay home from work if I was too sick to work. This was my major mistake. By the time I feel that bad, there is no amount of rest or remedy that will break the sick cycle.
Now, when I feel like I am certain the sick is coming on... I just don't get out of bed. Even though I'm able to work, I set out to kill the virus as a first priority. I just call in sick, albeit a little guilt ridden, and sleep until I am totally unable to stay in bed anymore.
The result: One day off of work... and then.... nothing. Totally fine. No sneeze, no sniffle, no cough.
I wonder why no one has ever pushed this remedy on me before. I suppose because you can't bottle it and sell it in a health food store.
Someone get me a Nobel prize.
It's a familiar cycle:
- Do something bad for my immune system (e.g. drink too much, get no sleep, etc.)
- Start to feel a sore throat
- Sit by helplessly as the sore throat turns into an inferno
- Get sniffly, sneezy, achey, and stuffy headed to the point of disfunction
- Cough for about three weeks.
Over the past year, I have been trying a new strategy that has worked very well. Wanna know what it is?
Sleep.
Previously, I would only stay home from work if I was too sick to work. This was my major mistake. By the time I feel that bad, there is no amount of rest or remedy that will break the sick cycle.
Now, when I feel like I am certain the sick is coming on... I just don't get out of bed. Even though I'm able to work, I set out to kill the virus as a first priority. I just call in sick, albeit a little guilt ridden, and sleep until I am totally unable to stay in bed anymore.
The result: One day off of work... and then.... nothing. Totally fine. No sneeze, no sniffle, no cough.
I wonder why no one has ever pushed this remedy on me before. I suppose because you can't bottle it and sell it in a health food store.
Someone get me a Nobel prize.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Paper
Paper is so important to our culture, we can't live without it.
I had a realization in the men's room stall at work today. It occurred to me while I was trying to unwind a wad of TP from the roll, that our public and home bathroom tissue expectations are wildly different.
When one goes to the supermarket to shop for home supplies, the TP aisle is an abundance of luxurious, pampering goodness. Cushioned, multi-ply softness dominates. Generally, even if you buy the cheapest generic store brand, the products are by and large very useful and satisfying.
In public restrooms, however, it's a whole 'nother scene. The paper is sometimes so thin, that the inertia from the rest of the roll is just too much for the poor micro thin fibers, causing a single square to vaporize while exerting the gentlest pull humanly possible. Sometimes it takes two hands. One to turn the paper roll, and the other to gingerly catch the coveted prize as it is revealed inch by inch. Other times, the paper is thick like paper towel material, making one wonder if someone made a mistake when pulling packages from the supply closet.
Whatever the deficiency, two things strike me:
Just follow the paper.
- We use paper to write love letters.
- Agreements between people are practically null and void unless they are written on paper.
- We exchange paper money as currency that has no other real value except for our own acceptance of it.
I had a realization in the men's room stall at work today. It occurred to me while I was trying to unwind a wad of TP from the roll, that our public and home bathroom tissue expectations are wildly different.
When one goes to the supermarket to shop for home supplies, the TP aisle is an abundance of luxurious, pampering goodness. Cushioned, multi-ply softness dominates. Generally, even if you buy the cheapest generic store brand, the products are by and large very useful and satisfying.
In public restrooms, however, it's a whole 'nother scene. The paper is sometimes so thin, that the inertia from the rest of the roll is just too much for the poor micro thin fibers, causing a single square to vaporize while exerting the gentlest pull humanly possible. Sometimes it takes two hands. One to turn the paper roll, and the other to gingerly catch the coveted prize as it is revealed inch by inch. Other times, the paper is thick like paper towel material, making one wonder if someone made a mistake when pulling packages from the supply closet.
Whatever the deficiency, two things strike me:
- That the people in charge of choosing products are clearly more cost conscious than, let's say, "customer service" conscious. Obviously, these public papers are not the type anyone would like to use themselves. But they somehow feel justified in inflicting them on the faceless masses.
- This cruel stinginess is so widespread and institutionalized, that commercial restroom supply companies stock and sell heaping masses of these tortuous products even though no supermarket wouldn't dream of carrying such substandard toiletries. These products are conceived of and manufactured purely to satisfy the cheapskate commercial world.
Just follow the paper.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
Ideas
As if I'm not busy enough, I like to fill my tiny bits of free time with website hobby projects. These sites only occasionally get finished and rarely get used by anyone. Though I usually have a glimmer of hope that a substantial number of folks may someday find the fruits of my work useful, I doubt I'll ever make any real money from them. But you never know.
My lyrics website, Lyricsbeat.com, is probably my best success story and actually does get a fair amount of traffic - about 4,000 page views per day. Not only do that many people find the song lyrics they're looking for, it makes enough money with Google AdSense advertising to pay for its own hosting and will probably subsidize my next, more ambitious project. So I can chalk that one up as a success.
I tend to like to build projects I would want to use myself. That way, the worst case scenario is that I have a useful tool that will at least be used by me and any pliable friends I might recruit.
Lately, I've been wanting to work on a project that might do some actual good in the world. Short of volunteering for someone else's project, I haven't come up with one yet.
Past projects have included:
- SpeakUp.com - A website that matches users with their elected government representatives at all levels (do you know who your state senator is?), then takes surveys of current events and routes users' sentiments to their matching elected officials in nice summarized constituent reports. Outcome: Keeping the current event surveys current was a daunting daily task and there was no indication that any elected officials actually wanted these reports.
- FilmPal.com - A website that helps circles of friends pick movies (theatre or rental) to watch together. By emailing new release titles to members and having them rank new releases by desire-to-watch and already-seen, a quick visit to the website could pick the most wanted movie for a given group. Outcome: Keeping the new releases current wasn't a huge job, but big enough for me to slack off. Also tough to find users.
- EzWF.com - A workflow and task manager tool that a group can use to communicate, track, and assign task list items to one another. Outcome: I use this for my current project at the city. I had a few hundred users try a free trial, but I suspect that it was too complicated for most to use without training or consulting.
Now I have some new ideas I may work on:
News recommendation website - A website that would use collaborative filtering technology to create a single website users could visit and view blog entries from many blogs ranked by the recommendation engine that would use their own rankings of blogs they read to determine other articles they would be interested in. The articles would all be displayed on a single website, not linked around to others. It's not as hard as it sounds - I don't think. Possible domain names: newzer.net, newsface.com, newzo.com, bloghog.net, customfitnews.com
Online Checklist - A website on which one could build a daily checklist of recurring tasks that may recur at different intervals. The items are similar to recurring calendar reminders, only this would create a record of those tasks actually accomplished and when. It could also be used by a group who shares tasks. Possible domain names: cheqlist.com, cheklist.net, checklistmaker.net, taskcheck.net.
Wish me luck... and motivation.
My lyrics website, Lyricsbeat.com, is probably my best success story and actually does get a fair amount of traffic - about 4,000 page views per day. Not only do that many people find the song lyrics they're looking for, it makes enough money with Google AdSense advertising to pay for its own hosting and will probably subsidize my next, more ambitious project. So I can chalk that one up as a success.
I tend to like to build projects I would want to use myself. That way, the worst case scenario is that I have a useful tool that will at least be used by me and any pliable friends I might recruit.
Lately, I've been wanting to work on a project that might do some actual good in the world. Short of volunteering for someone else's project, I haven't come up with one yet.
Past projects have included:
- SpeakUp.com - A website that matches users with their elected government representatives at all levels (do you know who your state senator is?), then takes surveys of current events and routes users' sentiments to their matching elected officials in nice summarized constituent reports. Outcome: Keeping the current event surveys current was a daunting daily task and there was no indication that any elected officials actually wanted these reports.
- FilmPal.com - A website that helps circles of friends pick movies (theatre or rental) to watch together. By emailing new release titles to members and having them rank new releases by desire-to-watch and already-seen, a quick visit to the website could pick the most wanted movie for a given group. Outcome: Keeping the new releases current wasn't a huge job, but big enough for me to slack off. Also tough to find users.
- EzWF.com - A workflow and task manager tool that a group can use to communicate, track, and assign task list items to one another. Outcome: I use this for my current project at the city. I had a few hundred users try a free trial, but I suspect that it was too complicated for most to use without training or consulting.
Now I have some new ideas I may work on:
News recommendation website - A website that would use collaborative filtering technology to create a single website users could visit and view blog entries from many blogs ranked by the recommendation engine that would use their own rankings of blogs they read to determine other articles they would be interested in. The articles would all be displayed on a single website, not linked around to others. It's not as hard as it sounds - I don't think. Possible domain names: newzer.net, newsface.com, newzo.com, bloghog.net, customfitnews.com
Online Checklist - A website on which one could build a daily checklist of recurring tasks that may recur at different intervals. The items are similar to recurring calendar reminders, only this would create a record of those tasks actually accomplished and when. It could also be used by a group who shares tasks. Possible domain names: cheqlist.com, cheklist.net, checklistmaker.net, taskcheck.net.
Wish me luck... and motivation.
Tuesday, September 06, 2005
Playa
I returned to the Black Rock Desert last week. There is something about that place that is beyond words. There is of course the art, the interesting people, and activities that make Burning Man what it is. But the desert itself, the playa, the landscape, the vastness of the blank canvas is what makes one feel as if he or she has left the earth. The dusty, cracked, and completely flat white soil and cold nights evoke a sense of what the moon might be like.
People return there every year for different reasons. For me, I really enjoy the human painting that spreads across miles of the desert in a cooperative, organized manner. Most of the people are coming to help paint it, not merely to come see it. Everyone is an artist there in his own way. Some people contribute to large art installations, while others decorate themselves and their belongings in such a way as to add to the overall visual experience. At times it appears to be an enormous petri dish with life forms at all levels, from tiny sand robots, to bikers, to giant animal machines, to even larger art cars carrying scores, to giant raves hosting hundreds. The occupants organize into small groups and large groups, often in response to some rumored stimulus like a parade, a popular DJ, or free sushi. There is a schedule of events, but people rarely heed it. Instead there is a collective wandering. The serendipity of experiences are part of the fun and memories.
It's a painting. It's a petri dish. It's a circus. It's a party. It's a city. It's at very least a spectacle.
It's also a lot of preparation, time, energy, and money to make it there. It is miraculous that people keep returning. I'm not sure I will. It is a common sentiment during the recovery period known as decompression. That time when we all return from the moon and re-enter the earth and wonder which place we like better.
This week, I'm choosing Earth. We'll see what I say in a few months when tickets go on sale again.
People return there every year for different reasons. For me, I really enjoy the human painting that spreads across miles of the desert in a cooperative, organized manner. Most of the people are coming to help paint it, not merely to come see it. Everyone is an artist there in his own way. Some people contribute to large art installations, while others decorate themselves and their belongings in such a way as to add to the overall visual experience. At times it appears to be an enormous petri dish with life forms at all levels, from tiny sand robots, to bikers, to giant animal machines, to even larger art cars carrying scores, to giant raves hosting hundreds. The occupants organize into small groups and large groups, often in response to some rumored stimulus like a parade, a popular DJ, or free sushi. There is a schedule of events, but people rarely heed it. Instead there is a collective wandering. The serendipity of experiences are part of the fun and memories.
It's a painting. It's a petri dish. It's a circus. It's a party. It's a city. It's at very least a spectacle.
It's also a lot of preparation, time, energy, and money to make it there. It is miraculous that people keep returning. I'm not sure I will. It is a common sentiment during the recovery period known as decompression. That time when we all return from the moon and re-enter the earth and wonder which place we like better.
This week, I'm choosing Earth. We'll see what I say in a few months when tickets go on sale again.
Friday, August 26, 2005
Toxic
My friend Erin is very interested in environmental safety. She may actually go to graduate school soon to study it and get more active in bringing information to people about environmental dangers.
She gave me this link to Skin Deep, a study by the Environmental Working Group who rated a large number of personal care products that may contain harmful ingredients. You can look up the products you use to check what types of toxins they contain. It is a bit gloomy to read some of the possible health effects, but it could help you make your next toothpaste or deodorant purchase at the supermarket.
She gave me this link to Skin Deep, a study by the Environmental Working Group who rated a large number of personal care products that may contain harmful ingredients. You can look up the products you use to check what types of toxins they contain. It is a bit gloomy to read some of the possible health effects, but it could help you make your next toothpaste or deodorant purchase at the supermarket.
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