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Google Reader

Google updated their Google Reader yesterday.

Google Reader allows you to read any RSS feed on the web, and organize them in an intuitive way to keep up on what you care about.

I've been a big fan of RSS for a while. I think it represents the kinds of evolutions in Internet technology we should be thinking more about, and Google has done a good job making their news reader googly and easy to adopt by anyone wanting to start keeping track of their feeds. I hope they integrate this with Gmail.

Why RSS?

RSS allows you to be notified, without checking, if anything has been updated from a source you're interested in. Google also does a good job of explaining this, saying that it's kind of like your email Inbox, but for web pages.

This blog, for example, publishes an RSS feed through Feedburner at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GadielCom

Click that link and you'll be taken to a page that kind of looks like my blog, but is actually a machine-readable feed with options to "subscribe" through various Newsreaders.

The exchange of information has become a big part of what the web is all about. No site is an island and the more ways publishers can put their ideas "out there", the more people will come back to hear what they have to say.

Now we just need something worth saying...

The Power of NO

No is the hardest word to say.

We've set up No to be the negative, energy draining, the antithesis of growth.

How do you say No to taking on new business? To going after a new idea? To doing something that you think will propel you to the next level? To getting paid, right now, when you need it?

While it's hard to say, No can also be the most valuable tool in our arsenal.

No sets boundaries. No creates clarity. No focuses. No knows.

By saying No to the right things, you make it clear what the Yes things are.

It can have an incredible ripple affect to not only energize the proper path, but also set a precedent for future ideas.

Of course the real challenge is in figuring out which things to say No to.

Great Move!

What if I was a teacher and a student used their cellphone in class?



It's really amazing that at this point there is something on the internet for anything you might have been randomly thinking about recently...

Facebook

I signed up for Facebook today to see what all the hype was about. For those of you not living in my world of constant bombarded internet news, Facebooks is a social networking site that had previously been confined to College students. Meaning you had to be in college to use it. They broadened to High Schools and Work places recently, and then just this week opened up to the public.

I went through the somewhat simple registration process which not only included sending me an email to confirm that I'm real, but also a cellphone text message. You now have to have a cellphone to use the internet.

After playing with the site, importing this blog's rss feed and uploading a photo, I am left wondering what all the hype is really about.

To me, it just feels like a cleaner version of MySpace.

Maybe after using it for a while and connecting with friends and seeing what they're up to I'll get it more, but for now I'm left wondering what the real appeal of social networking really is, beyond wasting time (not necessarily a bad thing).

I've actually had this feeling for a while, and when we went to add social stuff to JamBase a couple of months ago, I kept reminding myself to keep it resource-focused. Sure, it can be about you and who you are, but let's really focus on the stuff people are likely to care about, like your favorite bands or where they're playing.

But this wasn't intended to be a post about my stuff, back to Facebook.

I think one of the appeals of Facebook to those on it (and likely those not on it analyzing it) was that it was exclusive. You had to be a part of the club (school) to join, so it had an inherent cool factor to it. It was a place where only students could go, it was just for them, and that felt good....I'm assuming.

Now that it's wide open and anyone can join, we'll see how much value can be extracted and if it can win, whatever that means in this day and age.

Honestly, sometimes I feel like a dizzy deer in headlights watching all of this internet news everyday. Time to go outside on a hike.

The Disco Biscuits Live_On

In honor of announcing today that they are releasing the entire third set of their New Years 2004 show (yup, only 3 songs), I decided to take a stroll down amnesia lane and pop in one of my favorite Bisco shows of all time:

2/19/99 from Legends Lounge in Las Vegas, NV.

If you've never heard the disco biscuits before, or haven't listened to them in a while, give it a spin. There's just something about the 20 minute mark of MEMPHIS that gets me everytime...

Bring on the Poets

Bob Leftsetz writes inspiring rants on the music business, and recently talked about how the CSN song Wooden Ships is still selling while nobody really cares about Whitney Houston's stuff.

I think what people often forget, although I know he's tried to remind them, is that great songs aren't written by pop stars, they're written by great songwriters. And the timeless songs are written by poets.

Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison, Paul McCartney, Neil Young - all poets.

The Grateful Dead, one of the most successful improvisational psychedelic touring rock bands ever, had great songs with incredible lyrics written by Robert Hunter and John Perry Barlow. Even the most out there tune, Dark Star, has some of the most amazing words.

Like a Rolling Stone is a poem, with many more verses beyond the recorded version than radio could bare.

The music business has been built to look for the wrong things in the wrong places. While they're busy finding the next superstar to prop up and flash in the moment, there is a kid in his basement writing the next great ballad. The stuff that's been churned out is mostly just catchy rhymes that don't last the test of time.

Instead of looking for hits, we should be looking for poets.

The Ticket Tax

The LA Times is running a story today about how Live Nation is going up against Ticketmaster to try and lower ticket prices. I think this is a very good thing for the industry, if only to spark the debate.

I went down to my local box office this past weekend to buy tickets for a few upcoming shows. The line was kind of long because apparently there were some printer errors, but after about 20 minutes I had my tickets in hand, sans "service" fees.

Had I purchased these tickets online I would have paid a $7.75 Convenience Charge per ticket plus a $4.60 order processing fee.

The show is less than two weeks out, so I wouldn't have the option to get the tickets mailed to me for free, but instead would have had the option to have them emailed to me and print them at home for an additional charge $2.50. Strange, isn't it...that I should be charged for using my own printer, not using up any human's time to give me the tickets or mail them to me, or pick them up on the night of the show, but instead do everything on my own.

I spent a total of $40 for two $20 tickets at the box office. The same tickets would have cost me $60.10 online. That's over 50% in fees, charges, whatever you want to call them...feels more like a Tax.

Why?

I understand the need to cover infrastructure, server and customer service costs, but in this day and age wouldn't you think it would be easier to get a ticket for a general admission show (no seat assignments needed) without having to jump through hoops, pay enormous costs or drive down to the venue to get your tickets?

It's hard enough to get people to commit to going out to see music as it is. Now add the additional costs and inconvenience of avoiding them and you end up with a lot of people waiting until the night of the show to decide to go. Those that do go could end up getting shut out of a sold out show, and it becomes all too easy for someone who hasn't bought a regular priced ticket to opt out for the evening before they even make the trek.

Sure, if you really like the band and really want to go, you'll make the call and bite the bullet one way or another. But what about the discovery? What about the young band on the cusp of greatness that still needs all the help they can get, even when playing a place that holds 1,000 people.

While people might not complain about ticket prices as they're walking out of the show, it certainly has a major influence on their decisions of whether or not they'll go. In a marketplace such as this, something should be done to make it easier.

Glad to see somebody is trying to do something about it...

The Olbermann Effect

As many of you know, I'm a big fan of Jon Stewart. For the last few years, I've tuned in to The Daily Show almost religiously as a way to get a burst of perspetive and 'real' news. I obviously found it ironic, as does Stewart himself, that I would turn to Comedy Central for reliable coverage. But it's true, in an age where it's easier to send a message to more people in the world than ever before, we are constantly bombarded by mis-information, and something has to cut through the clutter.

Enter Keith Olbermann. I don't know how long he's been doing it, but ever since I tuned in for his 9/11 special comment I've been intrigued by his straight laced progressive take on the days news. So much so, that I'm starting to find the Daily Show and Colbert Report a little bit silly...I guess that's the way it's kind of supposed to be.

His Special Comment tonite is one of the most impressive things I think I've ever heard or seen on television.

Thanks Keith - for having the courage to say what a lot of us are thinking...

Ben Kweller Ben Kweller

Ben Kweller Ben Kweller

New album from Ben Kweller. Still listening, enjoying...

Torture

Here's what I don't understand...

If Bush is unwilling to tell Matt Lauer what specific techniques he's looking for clarification on because he doesn't want the enemy to know since they might adapt, then how can he ask Congress for clarification on tactics if their response is going to be public record?

Or...is it going to be a secret pact between just the White House and Congress...then, uhm...what's the point?

And...how is somebody going to 'adjust' for the kinds of torture they'll likely undergo?

Here are the facts. Article 3 of the Geneva Convention clearly states:

In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions:

1. Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria.

To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:

(a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;

(b) Taking of hostages;

(c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment;

(d) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.

What part of that is confusing?

The 8 Free Things Every Site Should Do

Seth Godin published a list of things every website can do, for free (or almost free) to get more attention.

http://www.squidoo.com/topfreethings/

TubeYa

Marc Cuban wrote a nice riff on YouTube

He's right - the things that have made YouTube so successful are the simple fact that anyone can upload a video, for free, and embed it into their own website, for free. Or, another way to say it: FREE BANDWIDTH!!!

The other point he makes is that when you open the floodgates, you're bound to attract people who are going to spread copywritten works. It's inevitable.

And now, Warner wants to get in the game and play nice with YouTube, clearly trying to capitalize on the mania and make some cash while they can.

If this all smells a little too familiar, it is.

Beyond the free bandwidth and copywrite violations, there's also a couple other things that made YouTube so popular. It was free. Yes, I know, it's still free, but by free I mean it wasn't really capitalized on. It was a free-for-all. Anyone could post anything and you never quite knew what you were going to get. The coming commercialism of the Tube will likely create an expected sense of direct 'monetization' which has the repeated effect of sucking the life out of anything enjoyable on the internet.

This whole situation also underscores the online mob mentality. It's the wild west, and as soon as someone throws up an outpost where it's all you can eat for $0.00, people come and feast...or maybe like locusts, they feed and move on to the next great free for all buffet on the web's eternal frontier. What will be the next thing? Free money if you just visit our page? "We'll split our ad revenue with you, the reader!"

Would it really be so ridiculous if YouTube created a system where a video owner could, for a monthly fee, upload their movies, control the rights (distribute for free, charge to watch, sell ads/split profits) while maintaining complete and total legal copyrights and actually embracing the nature of the artists creating the videos and giving them a place online where their works could be viewed and supported? Isn't that what Google and iTunes are doing, sorta?

We have built up the notion that everything online should be free, to everyone, all the time. That it has created this cycle of trying to aggregate as many eyeballs as possible so you can show them distracting ads (i know, i'm also often guilty)

Back in the hay-day of the boom, we used to joke about the South Park episode featuring the underpants gnomes"

Step 1: Collect the Underpants
Step 2: ?
Step 3: Profit

Are we seeing the same patterns again? The thing we have to remember is that unless people are actually buying those things then it's just one big revolving pyramid scheme of AdnonSense. And isn't everything supposed to be free anyway?

---

By the way, i spent a good 1/2 hour on Google Video and YouTube tonight trying to find something enjoyable to watch. There really isn't too much there, except maybe stuff like this, and I don't quite understand what all the fuss is really about.

It's really just another evolution of America's Funniest (stupidest) home videos and Reality TV...on demand. Where's the Idol edge to it? Why can't I vote and get someone thrown off of the Internet? Oh...wait, there it is

I think it will be a long time before this amateur content replaces Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert and Keith Olbermann...

good night, and good luck ;)

Keith Olbermann

in case you missed it...

Reef Shoe: The Ultimate Real World Mash-up

Now if this isn't one of the most intriguing things I've seen in a long while. My buddy showed me his new shoes he got that he was so excited about.

Comfy? Sure

Stylish? totally

Functional? you have no idea.

Turns out these shoes come with a built in bottle opener! In each foot no less! (Go ambidextrous people!)

I guess it's perfect for those times when just can't find a bottle opener, or a lighter, or the side of a chair or table to open your non-twist off bottle opener.

What amount of market research went into the realization that people who wear these shoes also want to open a bottle of, I assume beer, when they're wearing these?

I wonder if wearing these shoes promotes heavier drinking, or at least makes you think about the fact that you could open a beer bottle with your shoe, and thus really really really want to, just so, you know...you could feel cool.

By the way, they don't scrape on the ground. A very import feature. I asked.