I had a wisdom tooth pulled last week – unplanned, after a painful few days. The professionals who did the job quickly told me that they do this 30 times per day…. Much, much better now.
Wisconsin Senator Herb Kohl on the Induce Legislation
I received a belated response today to an inquiry I made to Senator Kohl’s Washington Office on the Leahy/Hatch Induce Act (Kohl sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which held a hearing on the bill this past July).
The Senator’s thin response leaves me disappointed in several ways:
- Kohl uses the term “piracy” which Hollywood has artfully used to try and kill all fair use rights (except, as the Professor says, the right to hire a lawyer). Let’s think about Wisconsin constituents interests. I can’t imagine a vote for the Hollywood Lobby in any way benefits Badger residents.
- He does not take a position on a bill which would outlaw the iPod and similar music players. I find that strange.
- The Copyright Cartel is going for the big score and trying to ram a copyright reform act through the lame duck Congress. I would like to see the Senator take a citizen friendly position on fair use rights. Perhaps he should try some podcasts…
His letter can be read by clicking the link below.
SBC Moves (slightly) closer to reality
Customer choice, in small steps, gets a win with SBC’s announcement that they will begin selling VOIP services to DSL only clients in 2005. Up to this point, many telco’s have required a conventional POTS (Plain Old Telephone System or land line for local calls) be part of a dsl agreement. Some consumers get around this by paying more for DSL only service (like me; in this case, I can upload files at the same speed I download them) and using a VOIP provider such as vonage or packet8.net (which I use and has provided generally good service).
Pepsi Spice – RIP?
John Moore sips and summarizes Pepsi Spice, proving once again that it is rare for large organizations to truly create new products (rather than simply repackaging an existing one). My guess is that most of the time and money went into packaging/marketing/ad agencies rather than the product. The entire soft drink process is fascinating….
Floating Loopholes
Eric Nalder has written a fascinating series on boating tax loopholes. Via taxprof.
The Declinging Value & Utility of 30 Second TV ads
The 30-second commercial is dying, according to In-Stat/MDR (http://www.instat.com). And while its death is not imminent, the high-tech market research firm believes that both broadcast networks and the advertising community are faced with the stark reality of a future without it, or at least a world where its effectiveness is continually diminishing.
U2’s Vertigo
U2 is almost alone now among rock bands in its determination to merge lofty ambition and pop impact. With songs that determinedly blur divine and earthly love, seeking grace as often as romance, the band doesn’t pander to vulgar impulses. Yet U2 has no interest in being a hipsters’ cult band; it has always aimed for audiences that can fill arenas, where its music is most at home.
PF Bentley’s Latest Pix Collection
Acclaimed photography PF Bentley’s photos of the historic 1992 campaign are now on display at the Clinton Library in Little Rock. PF has posted the photos online as well. Great shots.
NPR IRS 990 Filing
Michael Petrelis takes an interesting look at NPR’s latest IRS 990 filing, which discloses revenues ($120M) and some of their journalist’s salaries.
Data Mining & Wal-Mart
Constance L. Hays takes a look at Wal-Marts massive customer/product database.
URRICANE FRANCES was on its way, barreling across the Caribbean, threatening a direct hit on Florida’s Atlantic coast. Residents made for higher ground, but far away, in Bentonville, Ark., executives at Wal-Mart Stores decided that the situation offered a great opportunity for one of their newest data-driven weapons, something that the company calls predictive technology.
A week ahead of the storm’s landfall, Linda M. Dillman, Wal-Mart’s chief information officer, pressed her staff to come up with forecasts based on what had happened when Hurricane Charley struck several weeks earlier. Backed by the trillions of bytes’ worth of shopper history that is stored in Wal-Mart’s computer network, she felt that the company could “start predicting what’s going to happen, instead of waiting for it to happen,” as she put it.
The experts mined the data and found that the stores would indeed need certain products – and not just the usual flashlights. “We didn’t know in the past that strawberry Pop-Tarts increase in sales, like seven times their normal sales rate, ahead of a hurricane,” Ms. Dillman said in a recent interview. “And the pre-hurricane top-selling item was beer.”