Paul Newman

Paul Newman -- January 26, 1925 - September 26, 2008. What a remarkable human being.

clhack

clhack takes a lot of the time out of craig's list shopping. It allows users to view the same photos that the standard CL ad features, only is uses a photo viewer format and doesn't make you browse through thousands of off-the-wall attempts at attention-getting before you see the product. With a fairly simple interface, you play the usual click-and-view game; no instructions needed.

I wonder why the address is mywisebunny.com.


bk

i want this watch.

Sony Ericsson's new MBW - 200 watch is coming soon. It's bluetooth enabled, cute, and has the following functionality when paired with your wireless phone:

• analog time as well as digital time
• caller ID
• reject / mute phone call on unit
• remote features with music player
• SMS message alert

Okay, so it's yet another thing to charge at night, but it's still pretty cool.

Some interesting Ticketmaster stats

Ticketmaster's 10-Q quarterly report was published yesterday -- a good read if the entertainment industry lures you.
Ticketmaster's revenue is up 30% for the six months ending June 30, 2008 based primarily on a 9% increased average revenue per ticket AND a 5% overall increase in ticket sales. Additionally, domestic sales were up 31% . The best part -- Live Nation (+ subsidiary HOB) accounted for 18% of the total $731.35 million in revenue for the six months ending June 30, 2008 (pictured above). Sooooo...I wonder what this report will look like for the six months ending June 30. 2010 with the nixing of the LN / TM friendship and if LN's revenue will look anything like the $500k / half that they contributed to TM. What a fun little game to watch from afar.

See the full report -- LINK

bring on the bidding wars.

Live Nation ticketing vs. Ticketmaster Ticketing might be a fun race to watch. SMG - operated buildings [approx. 200] will be the first to transition, though I've read quite a bit on the reluctance of Ticketmaster to go down without a fight. Moriarty (Ticketmaster CEO) claims that the portion of the buildings owned by municipalities is obligated to seek bids. That sounds pretty typical as far as I've experienced, though Rapino, of course, replied that the number of buildings the standard effects is very minimal.

Let's hope [or not] that Rapino's team has put a good amount of effort into development and kink-ironing because we've all seen what double-selling, over-selling, or just plain screwing up can do to an event. I certainly wouldn't allow my building to be the guinnea pig.

bk

NYC Police finally got an IT department...

Release: NYC.com

NYC hotlines are now accepting photos captured on mobile phones as incriminating evidence. I wonder if Verizon and AT&T also created a new department: professional low-quality photo authenticity validators.

bk

Tikitag

Tikitag is probably one of the most impressive, outside-the-box new products I've seen in quite a while. The idea is based on the concept of what you know as "linking" -- marrying one product / site / idea to another because of a specific common denominator. Tikitag takes linking further using Near Field Communication (NFC); tag some tangible object with Tikitag and use your reader to get linked. Some ideas on the Web site take logistics to a whole new level.

The project is still in Alpha but it seems pretty fail-proof. I'm interested to see where it goes.

bk

...

I'd say it's a fairly good general rule to be mindful of the advice you're so willing to hand out.

bk

Is Wal Mart admitting to market saturation?

Photo: PSFK

Not likely. But spinning off a smaller business from such a giant is at least a nod at the success of specialization.

marketside, a small, neighborhood-friendly produce and prepared food source, is the new offspring of powerhouse Wal Mart. With no mention of the parent company, no similar colors or signage font, I'd be interested to know the motivation behind 'marketplace' branding. I can't help but jump on the assumption that sheer ignorance of the stores ties will drive initial business, since so many of us love to hate the most convenient store in the world.

The store is being tested, primarily in Arizona, and the pilot is said to consist of 10 stores.

It may just be narrow-mindedness, but this concept seems eerily similar to Whole Foods, which specializes in fresh, prepared (and outstanding) food options. I don't personally think I'll be switching once the store makes its way to Denver. Although I'll be interested to see what their price approach is and what it does to Whole Foods' pricing.


bk

Logitech Illuminated Keyboard

While I don't think that Logitech's intentions are entirely unfounded, I also don't think they're insanely sensical.

Sure, this keyboard with backlit keys is pretty cool, but the selling point has obvious flaws for anyone who does enough computing to warrant its purchase: the ad pitch says you can take your computing needs long into the night without needing another light source [in other terms]. Being extremely familiar with this scenario, I know that the issue Logitech is addressing is null and void; the light from a standard LCD monitor is more than sufficient in illuminating your keyboard, especially for the minimal keyboard glances it takes to maneuver with even an ounce of finger - familiarity.

That's not to say that I would never look in to purchasing the extremely sleek, media - enabled keyboard, but I certainly wouldn't spend the $80 merely to solve the non-issue.

bk

More DNC

...courtesy of Ross Hollman -- whose logistical awareness and overall industry knowledge made the DNC largely successful for Argus Event Staffing and other significant players.

...

i think too many decisions are made based on the premise of 'right' and 'wrong' rather than on the reality of the situation: both may actually be right or both may actually be wrong. if you can distance yourself from the cloud enough to get a good view, you'll more likely be able to make decisions that best suit you rather than ones that are most convenient -- for you or for others.

bk