Personal Fitness Odyssey Update

Took a moment to look up some of this unpleasantness at Columbia-wait, um,  Noose Gate?- and checked out the irreverent "Bwog" (which actually is an interesting source for breaking Columbia Universty news, from a student perspective.  Found a link to this Columbia Spectator article, which I think speaks for me, in my quest:

Basically, I felt like writing about working out because I’m proud of myself. A little shameless self-promotion never hurt anybody.

 

Link: Watching Chin-ups at Dodge | Columbia Spectator.

When I get back to NY, on the advice of MH, I am going to start doing resistance training.  I could probably also use the gym at the Amerisuites.  Interesting.  Thanks also to RM for suggestions about some fitness books.  Have to check those out.

DEN (>EN) is Back- see promos

I'm not going to lie- I really eally iked the >en.net  (den.net) show called "Frat Ratz."  It was just silly enough to be an enjoyable caricature of fraternity life.  DEN (Digital Entertainment Network)  was kind of ahead of its time in terms of offering  streaming original content over the internet for free.  Whatever advertising they may  have been able to get was probably dwarfed  by production costs [probably the production costs element hasn't c hnaged much- for  independent content producers, it's really really hard to make money  off of the "long tail" longtail.com] 

What has changed, then?

  1. Monetizing content someone already produced, especially if they went bankrupt doing it, is probably easier than ever./  Someone already realized they aren't going to get Seinfeld-order revenues from syndicating web video, but if they can get eyeballs, they have some options.
  2. Shows like Ask A Ninja or RocketBoom have proven that advertisers will get involved in content that has a wide audience, even ifg it's a little, um, juvenile or adventurous.  Advertisers are increasingly aware that they must venture into these waters
  3. Operating an ad-sales and delivery network for web video has gone from a custom built solution to a totally efficient option from likes of Revver. 

So check out the promo for DEN...and my old favorite, Frat Ratz is in there!

 

My company is a Neural Net Processor, a Learning computer

From: Advertising Age - Digital

Microsoft has called Avenue A | Razorfish the "learning vessel" in its ecosystem  and rivals are quick to suggest that if you re an agency client you exist to provide insights to Microsoft.

So now that we compete with "tra-digital agencies" (thank you, Grey worldwide, for coining that gem- MediaPost ) we are also a learning "vessel"?

Arnoldschwarzeneggerjudgementdaypho

However, if I were a vessel, I'd be the SeaQuest DSV.


skype and eBay: a losing proposition?

from the wsj deal book blog

Ebay’s 2005 acquisition of Skype was hatched when the telecom-over-the-Internet craze was in full bloom. The company was on the front of magazines (which reminds us of a certain social-networking site, by the way) and seemed destined to shake-up the world of communications.

There is little denying Skype has done that. But that didn’t make it worth the $3.1 billion eBay CEO Meg Whitman paid for it. Last quarter the unit produced more than $90 million in revenue, according to this WSJ article. But not enough profit to help offset the purchase price.

My dad and I were exchanging e-mails about this.  My position is that the WSJ blog post his is almost an indictment of economies of scope achieved by acquisition.  That angst is misplaced. EBay's acquisition of Paypal was arguably a way better idea than trying to pick off every auction site with an acquisition.

We could probably have anticipated this (eBay's "we made a booboo" charge)  based on Skype's limited pricing power in VoIP (indeed all voice telecom products pretty much have this problem).

In talking to my dad, I said "I'm not intimately familiar with the structure of that deal but I wonder about the impact of cheap debt markets as of the acquisition date-would it have been approved by eBay's board if corporate paper and bonds hadn't been so cheap?"  eBay doesn't appear to have had much if any debt dating back to 2005 or so, so that probbaly didn;t have an impact.

From what I recall from examining their fee structures and anti-fraud measures, this company is a cash machine- ut seems like a valid question to ask if they foresaw gaining more than a billion dollars or so in goodwill, less Skype's revenue bcontribution.

I need to look at the WSJ piece but I wouldn't dismiss this from strategic behavior, especially of the "strategic options" variety.

Open is the new closed, so they say

In the sprit of open is the new closed, public is the new private, I'm going to be making regular updates to my blog about my quest for personal Fitness.  I'm going to try to lose about 40-50 pounds.  I used scales in two different New York Sports Clubs locations, and they didn't come out the same at all- so I'm not even sure where I stand.  That said, I will attempt to track my progress in this shared Google spreadsheet.  I don't really want to become a health nut, I still want to enjoy the food this  city has to offer  and have fun with my friends.

What's wrong
My lifestyle is wrong.  I don't exercise enough, and I don't acknowledge this often enough.  I avoid exercise  or strenuous activities.  I make unhealthy choices, whether it's drinking, or eating, or one then the other.  My long term health is at stake and I need to make some changes

What I tried
I essentially tried the subway diet for lunch and swore off egg sandwiches for breakfast.  Subway got kind of repetitive, but I think I could live with it.  Probably need to  get 6 inch and not footlong subs, and eat fruit instead of bagels/breakfast sandwiches.

What I am doing now
I have been to the gym 5 times in the last 7 days (including going this morning).  I'm just doing cardio right now, but I ultimately will be doing weight training as well.   I would like to do this without a personal trainer, and try to  wok on the discipline of  going to the gym rather than  having someone kick the crap out of me (and pay them to do it).  I'm trying to do 40 minutes of elliptical (it is not so strenuous on my knees and feet) or some such every time I go to the gym. 

I hope that I have the drive and the willpower to accomplish my goal, to look and feel better.  I welcome comments, encouragement, tips or other advice.    

Report Depicts Recklessness at Blackwater - New York Times

I think when the full extent is known, the use of private contractors in this war will be embarrassing to the Bush administration.  I think this captures it nicely- something I remember hearing about on 60 minutes.  Private contractors are scarily expensive and tens of thousands of them operate with little to no oversight. 

The report also raised questions about the cost-effectiveness of using Blackwater forces instead of United States troops. Blackwater charges the government $1,222 per day per guard, “equivalent to $445,000 per year, or six times more than the cost of an equivalent U.S. soldier,” the report said.

Link: Report Depicts Recklessness at Blackwater - New York Times.  No draft, but being a contracting company is pretty lucrative, it seems.

W*dget F*rd


<p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p><p>About Me/W*dget F*rd</p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p></p>











I am a Strategist at Avenue A | Razorfish, a division of aQuantive.


Personal:

I have a BA in Political Science from Cornell.  I've lived in NYC for about three years, but am originally from Kahlifornia- the dot com bubble provided my earliest summer jobs, though most of those companies don't exist anymore :-).   On the side I am doing stand-up and improvised comedy and trying my hand at written comedy as well.  I'm also doing research about digital content markets and network neutrality.



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Flying around my mind this morning...

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Can we call it "Don't tase me bro"-gate at CSU Fort Collins? [NYTimes]

"Um, yeah the thing about our news show is, it's like, not news." Thanks, CW 11! The Best TV News, All About Us

14 year old pop/TV star not pregnant. Phew. Viral marketing taking lessons from F/X's Dirt? It’s Pimples, Not Pregnancy, for the Teenage Star Miley Cyrus 

Last but not least, Tell Me you Love Me is entertaining only if you like to heckle.  Are we heckling because the content is so overtly sexual?  Maybe, but with writing this awful and some very weak and annoying characters, I think I'm in good shape.

CBS 42 News in Texas Investigates One Person, One Vote

While you watch this expose on TX state legislkature members entering votews for each other, you might have an overpowering and debilitating feeling of cynicism. Then again, you might also not live in TX, so you can relax.

I ask: Does journalism hit any harder than CBS 42 news? I think not. Thanks to co-worker AC.


YouTube - Texas Legislation.

Geniuses Among Us? - New York Times Blog

I love this- the (annual?) MacArthur genius awards have been announced and 6 of 24 "geniuses"
are from NYC.  Lord knows I know many awesome folks ion NYC(shout out to NextNY!)- it's such a great and vibrant community, and I think the brashness of the city rewards the scrappy go-getter in all of us. 

Nominations and deliberations are secret, so you don't know if you are being considered or even if you have been nominated. I assume that this creates two distinct possibilities:
1. Maybe YOU are being considered right now.
2. I wonder if they can nominate a psychic/clairvoyant...

Link: Geniuses Among Us? - City Room - Metro - New York Times Blog.

NYT Roundup: Southwest Airlines, Silly String, Subway Cell Phones

While it's not going to assigned seats, Southwest Airlines is keeping the highly annoying incentive to stay up until just after midnight the day of your flight to get a low boarding number.   Southwest Alters Boarding Process - New York Times.

I LOOOOVE silly string.  That it could help our GIs find trip wires is a bonus.  Get our GI's some silly string!!!!!!! Toy Goo Might Save Some Soldiers’ Lives, but It’s Stuck Here - New York Times.

It had to happen eventually-our favorite gadget will work in MTA stations.  M.T.A. Makes Deal for Cellphones in Stations - New York Times.

12,000 Tons a Day: Incinerating is the new recycling

Apparently, NYC has a choice with what to do with its garbage: ladfill or incinerator.  You might have known that already.  But did you know that some people actually favor incinerator?  I couldn;t believe this either, but apparently incinerating is the new recycling- all via "waste to energy" plants.

Link: 12,000 Tons a Day, and What to Do With It - City Room - Metro - New York Times Blog.

The Graphing Calculator Story

This makes me a little weepy because I both used the Graphic calculoator app on my macs, and idolized the very first PPC mac I used (a Power Mac 6100/60) back when I could recite the hardware specs of every Mac made since the Mac Classic. 

However, I am pleased to link to this entertaining story about teh birth of Graphic Calculator, a fantastically  useful little program that came with Power Macs.

Link: The Graphing Calculator Story.

Want to Advertise Your new Content? screen it at the library!

A poster promoting a screening of the new HBO documentary "Alive Day Memories" is being viewed by some as advertising for HBO on a public building, and by the library as and advertisement for an event- public information.    A copy is being donated to the library and will be available to library patrons.

Are we so unwilling to believe it could be both information AND smart advertising?

At the Library, Useful Information, or an HBO Ad? - City Room - Metro - New York Times Blog.

Chelsea Explosion, Twitter, and Citizen Journalism

So there I was, about to head to bed at the end of a restful 3-day weekend, and I'm exploring the twitter posts I'm getting.  Probably not the best thing I could be doing, but, I surfed to Jeremiah Owyang's twitter and found this tweet (from Chris Messina):

Holy crap! Massive #explosion outside our hotel room on 29th St (NYC)... I think everything's cool, but holy crap!

The post had originated only moments ago.  I went to CNN, the New York Times, and 1010wins.com (which had timely coverage of the fire at the Coach building earlier this year) and NOTHING could be found anywhere. NO one was talking about it.

Just as I was starting to have an existential twitter crisis- are these SMS tweets real and believable?- There was another message:

yep, we're all cool, but there's a ton of firetrucks out there. Here's the scene: http://flickr.com/photos/factoryjoe/1318469008/

Check out the photo- it's a microstory, an article unto itself, with the notes on the photo serving to tell all the important pieces.  This probably happens a hundred times a day, and most of it is not "news" per se. However, in today's New York, this was news, even at 1am.  It turned out to be an explosion caused by a pipe bomb outside a theater in Chelsea [according to the New York Post- thanks NYTimes CityRoom Blog]. 

What does this mean for the future of News?

  1. Community and connectivity, when mixed together, can be powerful and authentic sources of "breaking" news.  We'll never listen to the radio again, because if our nets are wide enough, we'll have people "reporting live" from everywhere we care about.  Twitter makes this relatively easy because you can "follow" strangers or friends of friends relatively easily.
  2. Word of mouth is the same as it always was, but now "holy cow, did you see that, honey?" is heard not just in the apartment, but within an entire user community, with zero geographic boundaries, and with dramatically increased speed.  Should major news outlets subscribe to the global twitter feed?
  3. Skepticism of citizens breaking their own news is not going away- credibility of sources remains important and we will continue to look to journalistic organizations to investigate and add depth to stories.  While the NY Post story, last updated at 9:30 or so this morning, still had no photos, it did reveal that the explosion was a pipe bomb, and that the location of the blast was outside a theater owned by Sopranos star Michael Imperioli.  I could never have known that "in the moment."
  4. What we learn and when we learn it is increasingly a function of our social connections and not our digestion of the mainstream media.  The "alternative media" function well here, as they are driven by relationships between users-this sphere is made up of  blogs, RSS, FaceBook etc.  These media reward contribution, participation, and interconnection.
  5. Social graph based search, as described by  Robert Scoble, might or might not be the future of search- but it sounds awful lot like the information filter we're all going to need. Social networks  model trust relationships, so who you are connected to will play a significant role in the information you receive and its signal/noise ratio. 

Dot-com names get dottier - Los Angeles Times

In an article vaguely reminiscent of the Dillon Edwards "There was only one web address available" SNL commercial parody  (vaguely NSFW) the LA Times reports (a bit late maybe) that .com name shave lost all sense of meaning.  I'm inclined to agree.  My favorite line from the story:

"Naming a company is like naming a celebrity," said serial entrepreneur Jared Kopf, who has helped christen companies including Adroll.com, his online advertising firm, and Slide, a Web photo service. "Made-up words don't come with psychological baggage."

Well played.  See also NBCU/News Corp new site, "hulu"- as soon as they let me into the private beta I'll share more.

   

Dot-com names get dottier - Los Angeles Times.