Here’s an indicator of when a product crosses the rubicon of word-of-mouth phenomenon to mass-market adoption: the iPod as an accessory in the $80 billion wedding industry.
Rosanne Cash’s Latest: Black Cadillac
I heard a bit of this new music on LA’s KCRW last week. Rather promising. Alan Light has more:
Relationships between parents and children, between the past and the future, between public and private lives are among the threads running through Ms. Cash’s new album, “Black Cadillac” (which is being released this week on Capitol). Its 12 songs were written between the spring of 2003 and the spring of 2005, a period in which Ms. Cash, now 50, lost three parents: her mother, Vivian Liberto Cash Distin; her stepmother, June Carter Cash; and, in between, her father, Johnny Cash.
Getting the Telco Story Wrong
Doc Searls rounds up the latest discussion on large telco attempts to end “net neutrality” (the current internet does not give performance preference to any site or service).
Blogging the Movies at Sundance
Reuters has published a look at the presence of bloggers at Sundance, the popular independent film festival held each year in Park City, Utah.
General Motors Death Watch
It’s increasingly obvious that this necessary (not to say inevitable) “restructuring” will have to wait until GM goes under. The General’s generals made that clear when they reacted to Turnaround King Jerry York’s suggestion that GM should deep-six or sell their Saab and Hummer brands. GM execs dismissed the idea with the PR equivalent of a derisive snort. Marketing Maven Monster Mark LaNeve, a man whose comments about GM’s pricing strategy sound a lot like a snake-handler speaking in tongues, assured the press that “all GM’s brands will eventually be profitable.” Bet your bottom dollar? Done. GM has mortgaged its future on baseless brand optimism.
Harsh. We’ll see how it plays out.
The Making of the Logan: a $6,000 Car
Designer Kenneth Melville explains how just how tough it is to build a $6,000 car, including some swallowing of pride
TSA to Offer Pre-Approved Security Passes
AP:
Airline passengers who buy a preapproved security pass could have their credit histories and property records examined as part of the government’s plan to turn over the Registered Traveler program to private companies, federal officials say.
How To Foil Search Engine Snoops
On Thursday, The Mercury News reported that the Justice Department has subpoenaed search-engine records in its defense of the Child Online Protection Act, or COPA. Google, whose corporate credo famously includes the admonishment “Don’t Be Evil,” is fighting the request for a week’s worth of search engine queries. Other search engines have already complied.
The government isn’t asking for search engine users’ identifying data — at least not yet. But for those worried about what companies or federal investigators might do with such records in the future, here’s a primer on how search logs work, and how to avoid being writ large within them.
Google’s data mining tools are not without controversy. Battelle has more here.
Fascinating Charts
Fascinating charts by Karl Hartig.
Adults Can Take Steps to Delay Alzheimer’s
Older adults who exercise at least three times a week keep their minds sharper as they age, a new study shows.
Researchers at Group Health Cooperative in Seattle found that regular exercise, in as little as 15 minute intervals, can delay the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease in adults over 65. Their study offers the most conclusive evidence to date that physical activity can help stem the degenerative diseases.