blogger mobile @ the drive-thru

Remember when drive-throughs were "modern?" I don't, although I have been told.

Lessig on Copyright Law

Ever wondered where copyright law came from?

watch this video:
http://lessig.org/blog/archives/003696.shtml

and the follow-up, here:
http://www.lessig.org/blog/archives/003709.shtml

A refreshing bit of honesty in late night talk television

from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bbaRyDLMvA

updated May 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGLzpt3caHw


Interesting how the audience, who showed up expecting comedy, takes a few minutes to realize there is no punch line coming.


Excerpt:

Ferguson: People are falling apart. People are...People are dying. That Anna
Nicole Smith woman—she died!
[Audience laughs.]
No, it’s not a joke. You
know, it stops being funny, that. She’s got a six week old kid, or six month old
kid. What the hell is that? You know, and I’m starting to feel uncomfortable
about making fun of these people. For me, comedy should have a certain amount of
joy in it. It should be about always attacking the powerful people—attacking the
politicians, and the Trumps and the blowhards—go after them! We shouldn’t be
attacking the vulnerable people.

Reminds me of a Bill Hicks or Andy Kaufman audience.

Craig Ferguson keeping it REAL!

(more here)

WCMSaaS: Web Content Management Served as a Service

Hello, my name is Crockett Dunn, and I build web applications on hosted content management platforms. My company is Gold Zeppelin, and I primarily use EXP Web to offer hosted WCM (Web Content Management) to clients. Very recently I've begun toying with DotNetNuke in an effort to remain vendor neutral.

Saas, or, "What Happened to all of the Application Service Providers?"

Hosted software solutions are the way to go. Before the dot-com bubble burst, this was a hot idea: the concept of the Application Service Provider. Now the same (still great) idea is hot again, and it has the sassy new name, "Software as a Service," or, "Saas" for short.

This was a great idea then, and it is still a great idea now. Inevitable, really. The idea is basically this: you pay for use of the software but do not own the product or the means to "run" the software. Remember "dumb terminals?" And remember when we were all excited about "thin clients," (before thick clients got so cheap)? It's a similar concept, organized slightly differently.

Consider an automobile industry analogy: why buy the car, service station, and mechanics when you can pay monthly to use a car. Not only would you receive unlimited access to drive the car, but you also have it constantly serviced or even replaced. Your licensing fee would also ensure your car was always running with a full tank of gas, to save you the time of stopping at filling stations.

Moreover, would you rather "build your own" insurance PLAN, by purchasing extra, "backup" cars, service stations, and mechanics, or might you purchase an insurance policy (a guarantee of services) from experts?

To sum it up, rather than owning the car, you would own the right to always have the latest car model, access to automobile experts, and the car would essentially service itself and fill its own tank?

This may seem like a stretch, but owning a software product, and server hardware, and server software, and backup software, and disaster recovery plan, and uptime/redundancy solution, and expert administrators- that is as crazy and generalized as keeping your own auto factory and home-grown insurance policy just to be able to drive a car.

Software as a Service is the inevitable next step in the evolution of how we pay to derive value and utility from intellectual property.

What's the deal with Content Management?

Now that we're all on the same page, Let's talk quickly about content management. Specifically, web content management (WCM), more specifically, hosted web content management (a Saas model), with my company, Gold Zeppelin.

First, what the heck is content management? My experience has been that a good starting place for this concept is to convey to a prospective client the value of separation of design from content. The business argument is that this will free resources to perform other, more valuable work, rather than being buried in HTML for weeks.

Migration to a content management platform will also enable your business to be more focused with its future web efforts. For example, you will never again have to work on something as broad and nebulous as “the website,” or, "the new website."

From now on finances and human resources can be properly allocated towards specifics, examples of which include or new content contribution, visual redesign, navigational hierarchical re-organization, or my favorite, dynamic web application development (smart search, form submission, online registration, view my info, credit card payments, auctions, accepting donations, etc.).

EXP Web will serve as a foundation from which all of these tasks can be more easily performed. It is a web platform.

Here are the fancy presentations: http://www.sungardexp.com/menus/documents/octane8_1.html

Thanks for reading.

It's just like- it's just like... a mini--- mawl! Hey Hey!

This song is catchy! Seriously, a buddy (from my home state, Alabama, I might add, just like the main character here) showed me this several weeks ago, and it seems to have permeated my conscious and subconscious mind!

Exhibits Dalrymple sign, possible indicator of of hyperthyroidism.

What good is tail wagging?

Where did tail wagging come from, I mean, in the Darwinian sense? Today, we interpret it as a communication device, or a "happiness indicator" for dogs. But I don't konw about that. I suspect it's left over from some aquatic animal and swimming-related.

The same force that privately put man into space will solve global warming?

I love it when the private sector does nifty things such as putting a person in space, or solving global warming:
http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn11146-25-million-prize-for-greenhouse-gas-removal.html

Monetize This! (Life is about give and take. Money is but a vehicle.)

Recently, I have been a little shocked to encounter more than a couple former childhood pals, now all grown-up, using the word "monetize" in 2007. Am I alone in my bristling at this conept and the popular use of the word, "monetize?" Monetize in the sense of, "monetizing," web properties?

OK, I acknowledge that I do indeed like to trade products, service, information- value of all sorts- for money. But the thing is, monetize makes it sound like the money is an end in itself.

And that is just CRAZY talk. The value of money is dependent on one's ability to exchange it, right? And this value is also a function of one's desire to get stuff (even if one can spend, one might not need or want). Put a couple other ways: we can't take it with us & richness comes from within.

Is there something wrong with me that money is not my favorite thing and ultimate objective? I think sometimes money can interfere with our opportunity to properly experience a rich life. So in that sense, money can be like the opposite of fulfillment.

Didn't someone, about 100 years ago, warn, "Mr. Rockefeller your fortune is rolling up, rolling up like an avalanche! You must keep up with it! You must distribute it faster than it grows! If you do not, it will crush you and your children and your children's children"? The way I understand it, Mr. Rockfeller's life was quite miserable for a period before he began aggressively putting his money to work.

The other thing is that we (mankind) INVENTED money as a way to store value over time, and that is why it's so crazy to lose sight of a more simple, maybe even primitive humanity in favor for money worship. Life is all about give and take. Money is but a vehicle.

Institutional Pathology

Just received an invoice for approximately $1000 for blood tests that were part of a routine physical.

I called my insurance company, got a human, but apparently this human was helpless within the larger machine of her organization.

She explained to me that the reason I was being billed was because the diagnostic code submitted with my claim was, "routine gynecological exam." Not only did I not have a routine gynecological exam, but also I am a male. So Blue Cross sent the claim back to Quest Diagnostics with the information, "diagnostic/billing code inconsistent with patient gender." Later, Blue Cross tells me, they received a re-submission, with the same diagnostic code.

As I type, I am on the telephone on-hold with Quest Diagnostics, the laboratory company that apparently did my bloodwork for my routine physical exam. The voicemail labyrinth is all dead-ends leading to either "pay," or, "call your physician."

Now I am calling my physician (I wonder if I'll be subject to some sort of gender test? The comedic possibilities are endless...).

No answer...
more later
....14 hours later....

I was able to secure a face-to-face encounter with a human, who agreed that this diagnostic code was incorrect. I am assured all will be taken care of. Thanks to my friends at Crown City Medical Group in Pasadena for having real, accessible, and thinking people available!

Blog as an incubator

It occurs to me that few ideas make it to blog perfectly packaged or even completely cooked. But I put the raw ideas out there anyway. In this way, the blog serves as a sort of conceptual incubator and idea beta test platform for the global consciousness.

Self consciously yours,
Crockett

Helio Stranger Beacon- the next step in connected anonymity?

[inspired by Helio Buddy Beacon]

Connected anonymity? Or is that anonymous connectivity? Call it what you like.

The time is right to sell technology for singling out and "pairing" with an individual for SMS, walkie-talkie, or video communication via cell phone. I'm calling it, "The Opt-in, Directional, GPS-Enabled Proximity Communicator/Buddy Finder." Or Helio Stranger Beacon, for kicks.

This is inevitable... the result of the cultural influence of social networking sites, IM, SMS, Second Life, and voice-chat-enabled online gaming.

The next step is for someone in REAL LIFE to feel compelled to point to someone and ADD TO BUDDY LIST. Of course, the someone would have to approve the buddy add, after opting-in to being online. Users would always have block/invisibility options, just like with other connected/anonymous services.

Stay with me here... Aren't you tired of vehicle-to-vehicle communications being limited to smiles, bird flipping, honking, word mouthing, and "go-ahead" gesturing? Have we forgotten the CB Radio craze of the 1970s? What happened with that, anyway?

I think the public is ready. I've watched enough users talk to strangers on xBox live, Playstation, and IM to understand this will be adopted by a young audience. Maybe delayed slightly by the typical fear-mongering we have seen with all of the previous technologies. But scary news will always be scary news, and predators will always be predators. Abuse, harassment, stalking, and predatory behaviors can be extended to any technology.

Once we get over those fears, I think we will all be flipping on our "stranger beacons" when we hit the road or arrive at any large social gathering.

Woman, Amazing

Here is an amazing woman named Analisa:

How does a dog eat yogurt?

very carefully.

(This is my first mobile blog attempt, via Cingular 8125. It has been my pleasure sharing it with you.)

Mo, Leroy, and Princess Buttercup Clarification

It has been requested that I provide more clarification about the cat door innovation. Ready?

Big Leroy eats up here on the counter.


(That's B's food on the floor. We still haven't figured how to allow B to eat unsupervised without Leroy grazing on her leftovers.)

Leroy tends to gobble down meals faster than his brother, Mo,


and wait outside the bathroom where Mo is secured inside (not locked, but secured via a latch that can be pushed open from the inside.)



It's all about the latch.

Innovation is the Spice of Life

Innovation makes life worth living. Seriously, it is my Favorite Thing. Here are some recent examples:

Innovation example 1: My dogs favorite toy. This is a squeaky fuzzy bird stuffed inside a squeaky fuzzy hoop mashed against a chirping fuzzy bird.

Innovation example 2: Mo's dining quarters. What's wrong with this door mechanism? You mean, what's RIGHT with it, right??? Well here is the deal:

Analisa and I had a problem with our cats. Leroy was morbidly obese to the point it was seriously affecting his life quality. He was stiff and achey up and down the stairs, and could no longer clean himself well.

So we put Leroy on a strict diet. But Leroy's brother, Mo (right) began to waste away. The solution: feed them separately to prevent Leroy from eating Mo's food.

Problem: I don't like to stick around to open the bathroom door when Mo is done eating, and I can't very well confine Mo to the bathroom all day.

The ultimate solution: reverse the door latch so that it can be pushed open from the inside when Mo is done eating. Awesome...

.

Move Over Microsoft, Here Comes the Oral-B Triumph

Hey, did Microsoft release a new operating system or Office suite?

I guess I didn't notice, because I was too captivated by the release of the first toothbrush with an ON-BOARD MICROPROCESSOR!!!!

ALL BEHOLD, the Oral-B Triumph!

I'm being humorous, but seriously, this is interesting. We are now one incremental step closer to mainstream MP3 toothbrushes. Heck, we're already one year past the MP3 Toilet technology threshold!

Off to huddle with the Luddites in my bomb shelter.