Google - What I like, What I don't (sort of)

I like:

• Google Search for the iPhone. Tired of typing? Just say your search query, and it does the "typing" and the search for you. Brilliant.

I'm not sure if I like:

• Google SearchWiki. I'm apparently one of the lucky "few" to have first dibs at trying it out. Essentially, you can edit the ranking of your search results, and Google will remember them for your next search. Additionally, you can add comments to your search results, or view comments from the entire web -- only problem is people are stupid, and already I'm seeing a lot of comments like "lol, this site is the best". My next question -- so what does this mean for sites that add new relevant content that a consumer may want to see that wasn't aware of before? Are they out of luck?
  

Too much work = no posts

wow, I'm just getting progressively worse at posting, aren't I? I'm hoping my shiny new iPhone will remedy that... Yes, you guessed it. I finally took the plunge. Now all I need to do is setup a twitter feed and you'll have the pleasure of knowing my wherebouts and latest ramblings at any given moment. Speaking of, there is actually an iPhone app you can download that uploads your exact location to a website every 5 seconds. How creepy is that?

Happy Don't Get Tossed into the Doghouse Day!

Walking into Target tonight around 9:30, I stumbled across a group of men desperately searching for what surely must have been the most thoughtful and meaningful way to show their undying love for their significant others. It was a Hallmark dream come true.

I don't know about you, but nothing says "I love you" like buying a greeting card that someone else took the time, energy, and thought to create.

And that, my friends and random readers, is why Valentine's Day sucks.

DRM With Boundaries

I really dig the British electronica group Faithless. My brother's friend Joost introduced them to me. I still remember it like it was yesterday -- driving through the Netherlands in his Passat with its hip blue dials glowing from the dashboard while Sunday 8PM was grooving through the speakers. It was and still is one of my favorite memories from my European travels.

They are one of the few artists whose work I will purchase without giving any prior listen. So I was a little disappointed (yet excited at the same time) this weekend to discover that they came out with a new album this past year, only to be released in the UK.

I have since ordered it online, but it brought up some points that I found quite annoying:

• As globalized as the world has become, why do record companies choose to release certain albums in only one section of the world? Who does that benefit?
• I switched my iTunes settings to browse the UK's iTunes Store, only to be told upon attempted purchase that I was only allowed to buy from the US store. Thanks DRM.
• Record companies have been complaining loudly about slumping record sales in regards to the digital revolution, yet here I am attempting to buy music digitally from them and they won't let me? Don't you want my money?

You're Pre-Approved

If you're anything like me, your mailbox gets bombarded daily by pre-approved credit card offers.

And if you're still anything like me, you want this unnecessary waste of paper to stop. The good news is there is something you can do about it. Go to www.OptOutPrescreen.com or call 888-5-OPTOUT.

Filling out the online form stops them for 5 years. Printing out the form and sending it in stops them for life. This doesn't in any way stop you from getting approved for a future credit card, it just stops the proliferation of unsolicited junk mail.

The fine print at the end of the process states that this might not stop all offerings, and that it depends on each business. I'm crossing my fingers. If nothing else, there is always this.

If I Were an Engineer...

...I would build dehumidifiers into basements, and use the collected water to:

1. Fill up toilet tanks
2. Water the lawn / garden
   

The Computer of Tomorrow, er, Today

In case you haven't heard...just today, Microsoft came out with Surface (check out the link for cool demos), a touch-screen computer that looks more like a modern coffee table than your typical box plugged full of wires.

Will it revolutionize computers as we know it? Change our lives for the better? If you ask me, it looks pretty promising, and I'm excited to see one in action. However, if Surface's user experience is anything like its marketing campaign, then it's just going to be one expensive foot rest.

Compared to Apple's iPhone, whose campaign had everybody talking and immediately plotting how to get out of their non-Cingular contract, Surface has stayed underneath the radar. In fact, I was shocked when I visited Microsoft's homepage. I thought for sure it would be some full-page flash advertisement for Surface. Instead, they had a pathetically small link 3/4ths of the way down the page (click the image below for a larger view):



6 years of secret development, and this is the big hurah? If I were Bill Gates, I'd get me a new marketing manager.

p.s. Bill, if you read this (as I'm sure you will), I'm willing to talk.

I Heart SOX

There's nothing I'd rather do on a beautiful spring Friday afternoon than sit at my computer and trudge through fileshares, SAP Transports, and countless emails all in the name of Sarbanes-Oxley. Oh Sarbanes-Oxley, how I love thee.

If I ever make it to Congress, I'm going to change the acronym to SUX.

I got 99 problems

The timing of this is definitely not ideal, but it's the funniest thing I've seen in a while and provided me a much needed laugh, and therefore wanted to share. For those of you that aren't familiar with Jay-Z (mom, dad, others), I apologize.

I found this when I stumbled across Au$10's blog (one of Decatur's finest CD salesmen and Paste contributor).

Fight the Power

I think Public Enemy has been right all along. We need to fight the power. Ironically, the power in this case is essentially the same group of people that made Public Enemy who they are -- the producers and record labels of the music industry.

Congress just released a mandate increasing the royalties that internet radio stations must pay to record companies. Not only are the new royalty levels retroactive for 2006, but they also are set to increase year after year.

Numerous companies, including wonderful Pandora, Real Networks, NPR, and others have already started to fight the power. Pandora's CEO says that they would instantly be out of business if such a royalty hike were imposed. NPR is planning to fight. Many others are too.

I think increasing royalties would be incredibly short-sighted. I discover a lot of new music through Pandora (which I blogged about ages ago) that otherwise I would never know about. And then something amazing happens. I actually go out and buy the CD of the artist (or pay to download via iTunes). If Pandora didn't exist, millions of people would not be introduced to thousands and thousands of artists and albums, and millions of dollars would fail to exchange hands. And I'm only mentioning one of many, many internet radio stations.

Personally, I think the entire music industry needs to rethink the way they do business. They need to embrace the internet, get rid of DRM, and come up with a new marketing plan that works in today's world of iPods, music-playing cell phones, and a generation that shares music one way or another -- legally or illegally.

Who's with me? I know Flava Flav is.

Rough Weekend

I can't wait for spring.

This weekend was rough. Lauren and I had plans to travel down to Ames to see Cirque du Soleil with my parents. That didn't happen thanks to the snow and ice storm that blanketed the midwest.

We decided to go to a movie, and my car started making an awful noise just a few blocks from the house. So we couldn't do that either.

We then tried to watch a movie at home, but 3/4ths of the way through the DVD skipped relentlessly, eventually forcing us to shut it off early.

We had to shovel snow. Twice. Sunday morning looked as if we hadn't touched a shovel Saturday night. I felt awful having Lauren help, but she was incredibly sweet and insisted. We should have made a snowman instead. I don't know what I was thinking.

I can't wait for spring.

Boo

What to see something scary?

Go to PublicRecordsNow.com and type in your name and birthdate. I understand that certain records are public domain, but do they need to open them up for the entire world to see with just a few clicks?

Wal-Mart is (and others are) Shady

I recently read an article in the Wall Street Journal that described how Wal-Mart Cuts Taxes by Paying Rent to Itself (I had to link to an anti-Wal-Mart site because the WSJ Online is subscription-only).

Granted, Wal-Mart isn't the only company using this tactic, but they're an easy target and that's why I'm assuming the WSJ published the article about them in particular. Regardless, I find it pathetic that businesses will knowingly partake in such shady undertakings.

Perhaps even shadier is Enrst & Young -- Wal-Mart's external auditor -- which originally proposed and sold the the strategy to Wal-Mart in the first place.

I could bore you with a few paragraphs summing up the strategy, but it's a lot easier and simpler sharing this graphic, taken from the WSJ:

MPG

The other day I brought my 1997 VW Jetta into the shop to get fixed.

When I walked in the main door of the VW dealership I walked past a few new cars -- a Passat, a Rabbit, and a Jetta. It seemed like the average City MPG rating was around 20-22, and a Highway rating of around 28-32 MPG.

My 10 year old Jetta averages 28 MPG. Anyone else find it painful that in the past ten years automobile engines for the most part have not become any more fuel efficient? You can go buy a car that tells you where to turn, heats your butt, plays movies, and helps you parallel park...but you can't buy one that takes you 60 miles on a gallon of gas?

But now for the real question: Who's to blame? If we consumers didn't purchase these inefficient machines, would automobile companies continue to make them? I think not.