One Killer App

Ian says that wikipedia and Google are the new killer apps. I say no way. I say email is the only killer app in that it does what it promises and is useful to anyone who comes into contact with it. The web, conversely, fails in many many ways…but even saying that is not getting it. Is there any other industry and activity which lacks any real critical analysis of its downside? The teflon effect of the Internet is likely its greatest success.

Who Believes This?

And by belief I mean belief…like model railroaders believe what they do is important. This is part of a Boingy announcement for a conference:

The Information Revolution has brought into question the wisdom of intellectual property regimes and their relationship to society, culture, jurisprudence, commerce, and government. Intellectual property law is built upon historical notions of tangible property ownership—with the basic premise of restricting access by others. By contrast, the Information Revolution is grounded in concepts of enhanced access and a more universal sense of ownership. Cultural, social, intellectual, and economic growth must be driven by creativity and innovation, and successful growth increasingly depends upon the dissemination of information and application of knowledge.

I would ask Craig to speak to this as it appears to be something that could be out of a really bad hippie movie circa 1968. Here is what I think when I read stuff like this:

  • Who says so? Who made up the rules of the revolution that isn’t, the era of captial and operational waste?

  • Was there a toaster revolution when pop-down pop-up technology came to be? Did it require a shift in the law of ownership.

  • What all else of my stuff is now considered by others to be partly theirs? Will I get a letter in the mail when I sell it with an invoice for their part of the proceeds? Is Winer going to share out the proceeds of his part of the “universal ownership”? Is Cory out of his guru fees?

When will this dumb idea go away so people can get on with making stuff that is cheap, just does what you want, doesn’t break and doesn’t have a stupid stupid 2.5 inch TV screen on it.

Update: the numbing continues with the toxic e-poisoning of the world with digital residual crap is, by golly, dislocated from the insatiable drive of demand.   If the new order is based on “a more universal sense of ownership” does it mean that someone else has to pay for cleaning up after, too?  It is odd how the new e-worlders are so similar to the 19th century industrialist.

Cheese Law

The hammer has fallen. There is no such thing as Yorkshire feta according to the braintrust at the EU:

A North Yorkshire food producer has revealed her disappointment after an EU ruling stopped her using the name “feta” on her locally-produced cheese. Judy Bell, who runs Shepherds Purse Cheeses near Thirsk, said she was not surprised by the ruling by the European Court of Justice. Mrs Bell’s business has been caught up in a five-year tussle within Europe over the feta name. But on Tuesday, judges ruled Greek feta had “Protected Designation of Origin”.

I want to be an EU “Protected Designation of Origin” cop. Right after I finish my career as a male model. Really, where do you sign up? I know I have been sullied by non-Greek feta my whole life and I know it is wrong. I want to change my ways. I want to slap down the Italian haggis cartel.

100 MPH

Fifteen minutes before game two of the World Series and all I could think about all day when I thought of the opener was 100 miles per hour. Jenks, the closer for the White Sox, threw three or four fastballs in a row all at 100 miles per hour in the ninth last night. Tonight, it’s overcast and 45°F or 7°C in Chicago. I wonder if the lads from Texas who play inside are going to be able to take seeing their breath again.

NCPR Drive – Last Day


…radiation of pure thought…

It is the last day of the NCPR funding drive and I have been strangely attracted by the whole event. I gave my $75 bucks early on – and I hope you did, too. You didn’t? What is up with that?

You pretend that you can live in a virtual community, you look out your window and wonder why you live where you are and then you pass up joining a group that gives you the illusion of community better than few others. Think about it. If the web promises anything it is that you can rearrange the elements but what you still want after that rearrangement is a sense of place. And this place looks like this – pass Humblebub a hankie, would you?

And keep in mind I am not talking utopia. New York state politics is one of the most entertaining forms of screwy corruption meeting massively complex interests that you will ever come across. Ask NYCO. Plus it is that woodsy edgy bit of the state, way more Northern Exposure than Twin Peaks…mostly. And if you are in Kingston – did you know that you get 2-for-1 pizza from Tatas with an NCPR member rewards card? That alone may pay for my contribution. This is a great virtual space and one which is largely paid for by the people who listen to it. I think it could be the mega-station of NPR stations, one global smalltown.

So why not pick NCPR as the backdrop of your internet experience, like one of those screens with a picture of a forest scene used behind in photo studio portraits of children. Where else would be better?

Let us meet there all together one fine day.