That Olde Tyme Radio, Gone?

Could someone explain this one to me? Apparently some nozzle in the federal government decided that Internet Radio broadcasters weren't paying their fair share of costs for sending out music over the Internet. So, they've decided to increase the rates, drastically, at which the 'net broadcasters have to pay per performance. OK, so maybe they should have to pay more, after all, they've probably been paying less than everyone else for years, right? It's only fair.

Well, maybe not.

Now, granted that this comes from the Live365.com site, which does have a vested interest in this whole situation. If it isn't true, I'd appreciate someone setting me straight. According to Live365, Internet broadcast stations will now have to shoulder the highest royalty payments. Satellite and cable radio pay about half the 'net broadcast rates, and old-fashioned AM/FM radio doesn't have to pay those royalties at all.

So, could someone explain to me how this works out to be fair? I would really like to understand.

Live365 has apparently always paid the rates expected of it for it's broadcasters. Unfortunately, these new rates will mean that it has to drastically roll back its support of niche genres. Right now, it has in the neighborhood of 260 different genres. If these rates come to pass, they will be reduced to about 10.

And do you want to bet that those stations will sound remarkably like the homogenized, bland offerings which we get to hear every day on broadcast radio?

When I was younger, OK, much younger, I loved to listen to recordings of old radio programs. Our local public library had a few copies of The Phantom, War of the Worlds, and I seem to remember even hearing some of the old Lone Ranger radio dramas. Imagine my pleasure when I recently discovered that Live365 had a whole genre devoted to these old radio dramas, comedies and so much more.

Unfortunately, like jazz, traditional folk music, and the occasional celtic reel, old radio plays aren't exactly in the mainstream. I'm guessing that shortly Fibber McGee, the Green Hornet, and my old friend Sherlock Holmes will once again fade from memory and all that will be left is the dull hum of a radio tuned to a station which no longer exists.

Perhaps you should give a listen before the final "off" switch is thrown.

Cheap(er) Gas

If you are like me, you've got maybe two or three gas stations you frequent on a regular basis. As far as you know, they tend to have the lowest prices in the area, right?

Well, how do you know?

I mean, really, unless you drive to each of them, how do you know that the one you choose will be the lowest price in the area that day? And wouldn't all that driving around just use up the money you would have saved (not to mention the waste of time)?

Introducing GasBuddy.com

I don't have anything to do with this site other than as a happy visitor. All you have to do is go to the site, enter your zip code, and presto! you have a list of gas stations in your area, listed in ascending order by price per gallon.

Isn't it wonderful that all of these gas station owners are willing to post their prices. Wow! They must be super confident that they have the best prices around.

Right.

The reason this site works is that the users are the ones who keep it up to date. If you want to help out, all you have to do is register and you, too, can lead your fellow motorists to the cheapest fuel in town. The site even has a social reward for the reporters. The person who reports the current price at a given station is posted next to that station along with an icon representing how frequently they contribute. The social recognition, I'm sure, is what keeps people coming back.

I still won't go too far out of my way to save 5 cents a gallon, but if I'm out running errands, I might check along my path to see where I'm going to get the best deal.

Oh, and they even have support for mobile phones. They've got a site which is specifically designed for smaller screens or, if you prefer, there's an option to get the information using text messaging.

What a cool use of the group mind on the Internet!

So, what other daily activities could make use of a similar feature?

Cool People: MegaGear

The author of this blog would like to apologize in advance for the following highly emotional and wholly inappropriate outburst. Thank you for your patience.

[Fanboy mode on]

Oh my gosh! I got to meet Fred Gallagher, the author and artist behind the webcomic MegaTokyo! I got to see his warehouse! He talked to me for a whole hour! I didn't even have to wait in line like at a convention. Woo Hoo!

[Fanboy mode off]

Once again, we apologize for any discomfort or inconvenience this childish outburst may have caused. We now return to our regularly scheduled blog post which will be shown in its entirety.

It's funny, but you never know who you are going to meet during the course of a normal day. I've been reading MegaTokyo for over a year now and only recently discovered that the creator of the webcomic was from the area. Of course, I could have walked past him on the street and wouldn't have known him from Adam, but it was kind of neat to know that someone whose art I enjoyed was a local.

So, this leads up to a couple of weeks ago, when I got a message from Cheryl O'Brien. She's the membership director for the Ann Arbor Area Chamber of Commerce. I volunteer for the Chamber as one of Cheryl's Ambassadors. She wanted to know if I was interested in tagging along to deliver a new member bag (it has a bunch of information about being a member and, of course, the plaque which you display proudly in your place of business). The name of the business? MegaGear.

MegaGear? Why does that sound familiar? I thunk for a few minutes and realized that MegaGear was the merchandising alter ego of MegaTokyo. For those who've been with me that long, you might remember that MT was on the list of comics that I recommended you check out a few months back.

So last Wednesday, I met Cheryl at the Chamber offices. We drove over to the MegaGear warehouse where I got to meet Fred Gallagher, the author and artist responsible for MegaTokyo, and his lovely wife and business partner, Sarah, the person who apparently keeps him sane and on track.

Both Fred and Sarah welcomed us warmly and made us feel right at home (or as much as they could in their warehouse). While Cheryl and Sarah took care of the whole "new member bag" thing (I knew there was some reason for this visit), Fred and I spent the next hour or so chatting about comics, science fiction, conventions and the vagaries of fans. In the course of our discussion, I felt that I was chatting with a kindred spirit. Ironically, he was at University of Michigan at about the same time I was (though in completely different disciplines -- his was architecture, mine was computer science).

I appreciated the opportunity to chat with Fred and to understand some of what he has to go through as a part of the creative process (when he first started the comic, it would take up to eight hours for him to complete a single four-panel page -- on top of his full-time work in an architectural firm!). Then there are also the challenges he faces being someone with a fan following. If it's all the same, I think I'll stick to being the faceless, nameless Webmaster. It seems like a heck of a lot less trouble.

If you'd like to meet Fred and Sarah, they are going to be at "Wizzyfest" at the Wizzywig shop in downtown Ann Arbor this Saturday, Mar 31, 2007. I'm sure they'd love it if you stopped in to say hello (and maybe picked up a book or two or all four). In the meantime, you can read all of the comics for free online (though I've found reading the books to be a completely different experience). If you do enjoy the dead tree versions of MT, be on the lookout for book number five coming out soon.

So, what cool people could you meet in the course of your everyday work?

When Two Equals Three

Those of you who have had first grade math realize that the title of this post doesn't make any sense at all. After all, numbers are numbers. How could two equal three? Stick with me. It will all make sense in the end.

So, last night I sat down to get the third issue of my biweekly e-zine ready to send off. That's "biweekly" as in once every two weeks (this is where the "two" comes in). I was so proud of myself. I had set up a "to do" list on my personalized Google homepage in order to remember some of the ideas I wanted to cover in the articles I was to write. I had added a recurring event to my "Remember the Milk" calendar, so I'd know which Tuesday I was supposed to be sending out the next issue. I had even blocked off the time necessary to write up the introduction and article and to look through ezinearticles.com to find a good "guest" article.

At this point I should tell you that I have a template for the structure of the e-zine message. I make a copy of it and rename the copy with the date of the issue as the file name. As I was copying the file, I glanced at the other files to make sure that I had formatted the file name correctly.

It was at this point that I realized that the most recent file was three weeks ago (you guessed it, that's the "three" part), not two, as intended.

No! That's not possible! I did all of this stuff to make sure that I would stay on time. I was organized. I was prepared. And yet, somehow, that extra week had crept into the calculations. Apparently I have a problem with multiplying and adding small numbers (isn't that what the computer is for?).

Let this be an object lesson for me. I sometimes forget that, while the tools with which I surround myself run almost perfectly, as of yet, they cannot think for me. If I don't check the information that I provide, I shouldn't be surprised when the computer tells me, quite logically, that up is down, black is white, war is peace, and the next issue of a biweekly e-zine will be in three weeks (or 2 == 3, Q.E.D.).

Assuming I haven't frightened you away from the idea, if you are interested, you can sign up to receive my biweekly (no, really) e-zine on the subscription page. It should be coming out every two weeks from now on. I usually write about interesting widgets, gadgets, and other cool things I find on the web, some for work and some for fun.

I hope you'll join me!

So, when was the last time you were caught by a "two equals three" moment?

17 Random Thoughts on a Sunny Day

Scott Ginsberg in his post from Monday challenged his readers to make a "random thoughts" post. His was so entertaining, I thought I would give it a shot. Hope you enjoy the ride!

1. Just because he or she wears a uniform, doesn't mean that there isn't a person underneath.
2. Impatience will get you into trouble. Slow down and enjoy the experience.
3. In sales, the difference between theory and practice is a yawning abyss. I've learned a lot of information already in my sales training. Ask me how my first sales meeting went.
   
4. In any pursuit, the difference between theory and practice is a yawning abyss.
5. When learning new skills, the most uncomfortable place is "conscious incompetence". You start out at "unconscious incompetence" -- you don't even know that you don't know. Then you learn a little and you realize how monumentally ignorant you really are. Fortunately, this gives you motivation to move quickly into "conscious competence".
   
6. 5 to 10 minutes every day is more powerful than an hour once a week. This is true of just about everything, good or bad.
   
7. Random thoughts tend to skitter away when approached too openly. You have to sneak up on 'em.
8. The hardest time to work is the first sunny, 60-degree day of Spring.
9. When you are recording your daily voicemail message, the cat will meow on the last sentence.
10. Sometimes you have to make a decision without all of the information. Even ambulances get moving without knowing the final address.
11. You don't always need the latest and coolest gadget for a good website, sometimes you just need the latest news.
12. A papercut covers only a fraction of a percent of your skin's surface, yet it has a marvelous way of focusing the attention. This is why people will pay more to avoid pain than to achieve pleasure.
13. Working on your own business is often harder than working on someone else's. This would be why the cobbler's children have no shoes and why my website is still under construction.
14. The person on the other end of the phone line can tell if you are standing or not. Stand up and smile. Hunching over your desk sounds like desperation.
15. If I don't record it, it never happened. We get to choose the life we remember.
16. Websites are a lot like a newspaper. No matter how well-written or beautifully laid out, no one wants to read it if it's two years old.
17. I've heard a theory that cats have "naps" stored in their fur. This would explain why I tend to fall asleep as soon as they jump into my lap.

Well, I think that might be my level of profundity for today.

So, what random thoughts have you had recently (the ones that won't get you locked up)?