smays.com

Obama in Onawa (Iowa)

Illinois Senator and Democratic presidential hopeful Barak Obama held a web-event today, in the new public library in Onawa, Iowa, talking to a small crowd of about 40. It was broadcast on the Internet, with people listening in from "house parties" in each of Iowa's other 98 counties, and --according to Obama-- a total of 5000 locations around the country.

Okay, a sharp, young pol using the web to good effect. What I find blog-worthy (we used to say "note worthy") is I'm reading this on O. Kay Henderson's blog. And she has provided what appears to be a virtual (no pun) verbatim transcription of the event.

Now, I'm wondering... does this story, in this detail, exist anywhere else online? [Not as of 8:00 p.m. Central]

When Kay and I (and others) started Radio Iowa in 1987, she could not have done this story in this way. Oh, she could have written it and recorded the audio and put it up on the Radio Iowa satellite channel but no station would have given up the airtime for this kind of political deep-dive.

I just think that's... revolutionary. We (the people) are well-served by this technology. While Kay happens to work work for a radio network, she could have covered this story in exactly the same manner without any connection to MSM.

Whatever your politics, read Kay's post.

Apple TV and the economics of television

Steve Rubel on Apple TV: "Over time, niche content will change the economics of television. Millions of Americans will add one or more Internet-connected set-top boxes to their living rooms. Once they do, look out. As they discover there is niche HD video content that matches their precise interests, the existing TV networks will see their viewers erode even more. Further, brand marketers will see they don't need media to reach people in their living rooms. They too will produce their own content that will be distributed over the Internet for consumption on TVs."

For example: I'd love to watch a weekly 10 minute tour of the Prairie Garden Trust by Dr. Henry Domke. Just Henry walking and talking, sharing his love and fascination with the flora and fauna. Okay on a video iPod...great on Apple TV.

iTunes adds Major League Baseball video highlights

On Friday, Apple announced they'll be offering Major League Baseball video highlights for the 2007 season on the iTunes Store. MLB video on iTunes will include a daily 25 minute MLB.com Daily Rewind highlight show and two weekly Games of the Week, featuring full versions of the best games from the National and American Leagues.

Customers will be able to download individual episodes of MLB.com Daily Rewind and each Game of the Week for $1.99, or purchase a Multi-Pass for a month of Daily Rewind shows for $7.99 or a Season Pass for every Game of the Week at just $19.99. [Podcasting News]

I'm not a baseball fan but I do love highlights (of almost any sport). And I'll probably invest $1.99 just to see how these look on the Apple TV. ("I just don't know what you'd watch on that Apple TV thing.")

Regular readers know the company I work for has the multi-media marketing rights for 32 college athletic programs. I sure hope somebody is working on something similar for our schools.

Dem Chops: The Other White Meat

USAToday: "Power and money suffered a rare setback in the Senate on Thursday as Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., stopped the top Senate Democrat from inserting a favor for the billboard industry into a must-pass emergency funding bill.

The move was a defeat for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., who championed the provision, and for the Outdoor Advertising Association. The industry group's members and their employees gave more than $167,000 to congressional candidates in the last election cycle and spent more than $800,000 lobbying Congress last year."

Ending the war is the most important thing on Harry Reid's to-do list...just behind taking care of a big contributor/lobbyist. And lord knows we love our billboards here in Missouri.

Blog lemonade

The "West Virginia" printed on the shirts players wore after winning the NIT title with a 78-73 victory over Clemson on Thursday night is missing the last "i" in "Virginia." WVU sports information director Shelly Poe said the NIT printed the shirts.

Embarrassing? Maybe a little for the NIT. But certainly not for West Virginia. Their accomplishment is in no way diminished. But it will get a little ink for a day or two.

If I were the Resident Blogger for West Virginia Athletics, I would be having some fun with this.

• Invite fans to send in videos of themselves wearing the T-shirt and explaining the misspelling.
• Post an explanation loaded with typos.
• Have a fake professor (with British accent) explain how the spelling on the shirt is --in fact-- the original, "correct" spelling of "Virgina"

Blogging lemonade.

Disclosure: The company I work for handles multi-media marketing for Clemson.

"Citizens" against satellite radio; Who's got HD?

Mark Ramsey (Hear 2.0): "C3SR - the consumer group that was created to oppose the merger between XM and Sirius - is in fact supported by the NAB."

Also at Hear 2.0: "...the average consumer is more likely to die by accidental drug overdose or by hanging, strangulating, or suffocating themselves than they are to own an HD radio."

I'd love to hear from any smays.com readers who have HD radios. How's it sound? What are you listening to? Use Comment link below.

iPhoto Fun: Roger's Ski Vacation

Co-worker Roger Gardner bought his first Mac a few weeks ago and put together a little iPhoto slide show of a recent family ski trip to Beaver Creek, CO. He brought back some really nice images played around with the Ken Burns effect and all the other nifty effects that make up iLife.

Looks even better at high rez/full screen but wanted to show him how easy it is to upload to Google Video for easy sharing.

JibJab: What We Call the News

My favorite lyric from the new JibJab masterpiece ("What We Call the News") goes something like: "Only three percent of Americans can point to Kabul on a map, but ninety-six percent have seen Britney's puddy-tat."

I'm not sure if this would be more or less funny if it weren't so deadly accurate.

The blogger's kid has no posts

Insanely busy the last couple of weeks at work, which means lots of work at home. Almost no time for blogging. I am, however, spending a lot of time talking about blogging (with clients). Isn't there an old saw about the cobbler's kids don't have shoes?

On Tuesday I'm doing a couple of blogging workshops for high school kids from throughout Missouri, in town for a conference on preventing alcohol use by young people ("Irony spill in Isle 4"). Be interesting to see where they are, vis a vis blogging, relative to the adults I deal with.

We'll get back to smays.com di-reck-ly (as we used to say down home).

iPods help doctors recognize heart problems

Doctors can greatly improve their stethoscope skills and therefore their ability to diagnose heart problems by listening repeatedly to heartbeats on their iPods. Previous research has shown that the average rate of correct heart sound identification by physicians is 40 percent.

In a new study, 149 general internists listened 400 times to five common heart murmurs during a 90-minute session with iPods. After the session, the average score improved to 80 percent.

read more | digg story

Apple TV: The price of simplicity

I spent part of the weekend playing with Apple TV. George came over Saturday and we had the thing up and running within 15-20 minutes. I won't try to "review" this device because a) I don't have the technical chops, b) I'm not a videophile or power user by any stretch and c) lots of websites and blogs have provided professional reviews.

And just for the record: Windows Media Center is light years ahead of Apple TV. Superior in every way. A different league. Cheaper, better, faster, taller... you name it. I have no experience with Media Center but happily stipulate to the above.

George described Apple TV as "your iPod on steroids." A pretty good description. I liked this from a review in PC World:

"The basic rule of Apple TV content seems to be: If you can play something in iTunes, you can play it on Apple TV. That puts some limitations on users, but then, that's the price of simplicity."

The price of simplicity. Yes, I will pay that price. Gladly. And Apple TV does everything I wanted to do. And just those things. And does them beautifully.

When we turned it on, all of my photos and all of my songs and podcasts immediately transferred (wirelessly) to the Apple TV.

So I can now play my music through the TV speakers or the sound system speakers.

I created a couple of slide shows in iPhoto (with music from iTunes) and shoved 'em over to Apple TV. So easy that I'll do this a lot more now.

Probably as much fun as anything was to put the music on shuffle and let Apple TV shuffle images from iPhoto. And, as you might expect, Apple does this in a very cool and visually interesting way. You'd have to see it.

Navigating the Apple TV menu is as easy and intuitive as... well, the iPod. No learning curve. Which also describes the Apple remote [far right in photo below].

Bottom line for me: I will do a lot more with my music and my photos than I have in the past. Just as the iPod changed the way I listen to music (and podcasts)... Apple TV is going to change how I use my TV. Like the box says, "Now there's always something good on TV."

HealthCareFineArt.com

Henry says I first mentioned blogging to him in 2003. He let the idea percolate for a while and emailed me last weekend to say he was ready to start blogging (he's a thoughtful guy). I stopped by his office a couple of days later for my Are You Ready to Blog lecture. By the time I left, Henry had lost his blog virginity and had a couple of posts up at HealthCareFineArt.com.

Along with his medical practice, Henry has built a very successful business creating digital images for the health care industry.

Where was I? I remember. While Henry has a beautiful website, he had concluded a blog would be a valuable addition. People he knows and trusts warned him "this blog thing" might be a distraction. And he came to Dr. Steve for a second opinion.

Aside: Have I mentioned smays' theory that the first 48 hours are critical in the life of a new blog? At the end of two days you'll wind up with one, sad little "toe in the water" post... or a dozen or so posts.

I'm proud to report Dr. D. comes down solidly in Column B. He is off...and..running. And, like all good blogs, he has focus. He's writing for and about the health care fine art space (the oxygen is thin up there).

Like all natural bloggers, he didn't need much help. He came armed with passion, creativity and something to say. And he hasn't stopped saying it. He is... empowered!

(Throw up the Prediction graphic)

A year from now, a Google search for "health care fine art" will take you to Henry's blog. Comments are open, so if I'm wrong... I want to hear about it.

If any smays.com readers with blog want to give Henry a little link love, he'll appreciate it and so will I.

Learfield Communications: 1984

When I first posted this video, YouTube was --as we used to say-- just a gleam in Chad and Steve's eye. Seemed a shame not to get this New Tech Times (PBS) segment Toobed.

In June, I will have been in service to His Clydness 23 years. Would be fun to have someone come back and do a segment on Learfield 2007.

"Reform journalism school"

So says Dave Winer: "It's too late to be training new journalists in the classic mode. Instead, journalism should become a required course, one or two semesters for every graduate. Why? Because journalism like everything else that used to be centralized is in the process of being distributed. In the future, every educated person will be a journalist, as today we are all travel agents and stock brokers. The reporters have been acting as middlemen, connecting sources with readers, who in many cases are sources themselves. As with all middlemen, something is lost in translation, an inefficiency is added. So what we're doing now, in journalism, as with all other intermediated professions, is decentralizing. So it pays to make an investment now and teach the educated people of the future the basic principles of journalism."

Patient’s webcam sends shockwaves through hospitals

From the Boston Herald:

"A nurse’s discovery of a Webcam hooked up by parents in their child’s Boston hospital room has stunned the patient’s doctor, raised a mound of privacy issues and potentially left medical staff looking over their shoulders. The unidentified parents set up the camera so the child’s favorite relative could see what was going on during the long hospital stay."

"Dr. Deborah Peel of the Patient Privacy Rights Foundation said as long as a patient isn’t recording other patients, she doesn’t see violations of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, which protects patient privacy."

"Many people are very concerned that the quality of care in hospitals has decreased so much. I could understand the family wanting a Webcam to prove what care their family did or didn’t get,” she said."

That's the money quote in this story.

Create all the policies you want... hire good lawyers (like Barb)... but as long as families question the quality of the care their loved ones are getting (rightly or wrongly), they're going to be taking pictures and video. If you wind up in court, you might prevent it from being introduced as evidence, but you'll have a hard time keeping it off YouTube.

Who's privacy is the hospital really trying to protect?

If I was having a broken arm set and wanted Barb to video the procedure, on what grounds should the hospital prevent this? Is it okay if she watches the procedure and then opens up her laptop and blogs what she just saw?

The elephant in the room is the appearance of something to hide on the part of the facility and the staff.

Why wouldn't you train your staff to: "take care of every patient as though what you are doing is being recorded"?

Because, like it or not, it will be.

Google Audio looking better to radio groups

INSIDE RADIO reports from the Kagan Radio-TV Summit:

"Google is finding some friends. There are plenty of critics of Google’s foray into radio -- but we’re slowly seeing some group heads come out and say there may be a place for the Internet giant in radio sales. Regent tested the service in two markets and CEO Bill Stakelin says they sold “a tremendous amount of inventory” and the results “far exceeded our expectations.” He says the issue that remains to be worked out is pricing.

While Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan says “if Google has the advertiser that we’re never going to call on at rates that make sense ... then it’s business that we want to take.” Smulyan says Google’s efforts are especially welcome in “transactional” markets like New York and L.A. where radio has done a “marginal job” at attracting new advertisers.

Meanwhile -- Border Media Partners CEO Tom Castro says many folks are focusing on HD and streaming. But the real technological breakthrough will come on the sales side. Castro says “it’s not very sexy -- but it’s where we are going to make a lot of money in the future.”

Eddie, Wally and the Beav

If you don't know who Eddie Haskell, Wally and Beaver Cleaver are... the photo above is sad but doesn't make you want to blow your brains out. [Thanks, Lew. Thanks a lot.]

WSJ's Walt Mossberg reviews Apple TV

I confess I placed my order the the Apple TV without fully understanding exactly what it will do. It should reach my door by this weekend and once George helps me get it working, I'll give you a report. But Walt Mossberg has been test driving an Apple TV for the past ten days:

"Our verdict is that it's a beautifully designed, easy-to-use product that should be very attractive to people with widescreen TV sets and lots of music, videos, and photos stored on computers. It has some notable limitations, but we really liked it. It is classic Apple: simple and elegant."

I should point out that the Apple TV works with PC's as well as Mac's. Mossberg's review (watch the 6 min video) clearly explains what the device is and what it isn't.

Not so High Life

Not so long ago, if you felt like your employer wasn't doing you right, you could write a letter to the president and try to get a reporter to listen to (and publish) your story, but that was about it. Good chance you wouldn't get heard.

In 2007, you make a little video and put it on YouTube. Here's the background, courtesy of the Wisconsin Radio Network (a Learfield network):

"A David and Goliath battle pits a union local against the parent of Miller Brewing. Judy Burnick is business manager of the Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 35 in Milwaukee. In Madison Tuesday, she said workers are concerned that they'll no longer be eligible for pension benefits under terms of a new contract offer by South African Breweries, Miller's parent company. The union has filed complaints, with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Equal Rights Division of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development. Burnick said the union members know that the only way they are going to get a fair shake in retirement is through their pension plan. The workers have gone so far as to post a video on YouTube, aimed at Norman Adami, the president and CEO of South African Breweries North American operations."

When I watched the (semi-goofy) video, only 5,000 others had done so. But I'll bet you a cold Miller High Life that one of them was Norman Adami.

"Science Fiction Punk Psychedelia"

Following email came in over the smays.com transom from Mike:

"I google-image searched "Hippy Witch" and came across this picture (right). I think it's a fantastic image!!

Anyway, I'm a musician and I wanted to use it as the sleeve for a single I'm doing for a label called "HoZac." The name of my "band" is Blank Dogs, it's a home-recording thing and this picture fits the sound perfect. I guess I'd describe it as "Science Fiction Punk Psychedelia."

It wouldn't be used ironically, or poked fun at, I just think it's a super-great photo and I was wondering if I could get your permission to use it. It's an indie label and they wouldn't be able to pay anything for it's use, but maybe you think it'd be cool!"

No charge, Mike. We (Barb and me) are flattered that someone finally grokked what we were trying to express with these 1974 Halloween costumes. Note that Mike is not the first to appreciate Captain Banana.

With Mike's permission, we'll share a bit of the single when it's available. Yes, I think we all want to hear the sound that goes with this image. BLANK DOGS ROCK! (rocks?)

And the truth shall set you free

Bong Hits for Jesus

Reuters: "Today the U.S. Supreme Court considers its first major dispute on student free-speech rights in nearly 20 years, a case about the power of school authorities to censor what they viewed as a pro-drug message at a school-sponsored event.

At issue is whether a high school principal in Juneau, Alaska, violated a student's free-speech rights by suspending him for unfurling a banner that read "Bong Hits 4 Jesus."

Student Joseph Frederick says the banner's language was designed to be meaningless and funny in an effort to get on television as the Winter Olympic torch relay passed by the school in January 2002.

But school officials say the phrase "bong hits" referred to smoking marijuana. Principal Deborah Morse suspended Frederick for 10 days because she said the banner advocated or promoted illegal drug use in violation of school policy."

Well, shoot. You know where smays comes down on this one.

Update: (5:53 p.m. Central) Supreme struggles with case. I'm gonna leave the masthead up for another day. I kinda like it.

Million Queen March

Barb & Company returned safely from their first gathering of the Sweet Potato Queens. Looks/sounds as though they had a very good time. There were some men there but...I don't know. I think the event is really about Sisterhood.

If you're man/woman enough, you can check out the photos here. A few of my favorites.

Iraq: How bad will it be?

Rolling Stone convened a panel of experts and asked their opinions on what's next for Iraq. The panel was comprised of:

• Zbigniew Brzezinski - National security adviser to President Carter
• Gen. Tony McPeak (Retired) - Member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff during the Gulf War
• Paul Pillar - Former lead counterterrorism analyst for the CIA
• Richard Clarke - Counterterrorism czar from 1992-2003
• Bob Graham - Former chair, Senate Intelligence Committee
• Michael Scheuer - Former chief of the CIA's Osama bin Laden unit; author of Imperial Hubris
• Nir Rosen - Author of In the Belly of the Green Bird, about Iraq's spiral into civil war
• Chas Freeman - Ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War; president of the the Middle East Policy Council
• Juan Cole - Professor of modern Middle East history at the University of Michigan

In the article (Beyond Quagmire, written by Tim Dickin in the March 22, 2007 issue), they asked the panel members for: Best-Case Scenario; Most Likely Scenario; and Worst-Case Scenario.

For years we've been hearing "it's gonna be really bad if we leave," but I can't recall anyone getting very specific about that. The Rolling Stone panel seemed to conclude it's gonna be (is) a shit-story whether we stay or come home. But, finally, someone has provided an answer I can understand.

It's too late for pounding the Bush administration but General McPeak concluded the article:

"This is a dark chapter in our history. Whatever else happens, our country's international standing has been frittered away by people who don't have the foggiest understanding of how the hell the world works. America has been conducting an experiment for the past six years, trying to validate the proposition that it really doesn't make any difference who you elect president. Now we know the result of that experiment [laughs]. If a guy is stupid, it makes a big difference."

That's stinging for me because I was one of those smart-asses that thought/said it really didn't make any difference who was in the White House. Now I know.

Headlines

:: “Bong Hits 4 Jesus”
:: Helen Thomas, come on down!
:: "The web isn't TV"

300

"Based on the epic graphic novel by Frank Miller, "300" is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army."

300 is one of those movies I go see on a Saturday afternoon when Barb is out of town. I was reminded of scenes (plus look-and-feel) from Gladiator and Lord of the Rings. I think the movie will be showing for years in gay porn theaters and --for the next 20 months-- the White House screening room ("Show it again! Show it again!")

As for geopolitical symbolism... is "W" Xerxes or King Leonidas? I have no idea.

What every dolphin longs for

Henry spotted (and modified for Barb) this cartoon in the New Yorker.

Henry is scruffy, yet cosmopolitan.

Dubya: The Movie

The photo below reminded me of the flood of movies (documentaries, dramas and, yes, comedies) that will be spawned by the administration of Rove/Cheney/Bush (it doesn't seem fair not to write it that way).

Dennis Quaid's portrayal in American Dreamz was kind and forgiving. I think Will Ferrell will be more bankable but I'd kind of like to see Frank Caliendo in the role.

But the image above (and the story) made me realize Chris Tucker needs to co-star. Maybe some sort of road movie/buddy flick?

I might have to wait a while for this. It's gonna be awhile before even the comic geniuses above can make W intentionally funny.

March Madness stats, YouTube deal

Lost Remote: "As of 4 p.m. on the first day of the NCAA tournament, CBS Sportsline said it had logged 1.5 million visits and 800,000 registrations to March Madness on Demand, the site’s free live video service. Just before the tip off of the Maryland-Davidson game, 189,000 users were waiting in line to watch the game live. Impressive. Meanwhile, CBS cut another deal with YouTube, this time to stream March Madness highlights on the site. The section is sponsored by Pontiac, which is also sponsoring coverage on the air."

Hmmmm.

Do campaign yard signs work?

Perhaps what I really want to know is how they work. Front yards bristle with these things leading up to any election (local or national). So they must work at some level but I can't get my mind around how.

The obvious explanation would be: The candidate with the most signs has the most support and therefore deserves mine. Only in America could that sort of mindless herd logic make sense.

Or, perhaps: Lester down the street has a sign for Congressman Boil...I know and trust Lester...so, Congressman Boil must be the guy to vote for.

I'm old enough to remember a time when yard signs had to be assembled by hand, one at a time. You had posters printed and spent hours tacking (don't ask, it's obsolete technology) or stapling them to wooden stakes. The first good rain would turn the sign into a soggy mess. Today these eyesores are stamped out by the thousands, impervious to the elements.

In rural areas like where I grew up, the "big brother" to the yard sign was a 4 x 8 sheet of plywood, displayed along rural highways and intersections.

The popularity of these little "billboards" might have more to do with economics. Buying TV and radio time is probably beyond most local budgets.

I guess the thing that bothers me about all of this is the absence of ideas. These things don't tell us what the candidate thinks about the issues. Or the quality of their thinking, for that matter.

As long as our leaders can get elected by placing the most brightly colored signs in front lawns (or airing the most 30 second TV and radio "spots"), we're gonna get empty-headed, venal men and women running our lives.

More at Answers.com

Sweet Potato Queens

Just me and the pups this weekend. Barb, her sister Jan, niece Megan and pal Nancy are in Jackson, Mississippi, promoting sisterhood, self esteem and positive thinking with other Sweet Potato Queens.

The Sweet Potato Queens concept has been explained and made popular by a series of books by Jill Conner Browne of Jackson, who came up with the idea in 1982. (Browne is the author of a number of books which form the backbone of the Sweet Potato Queen "movement.")

It involves a belief in a sisterhood, appealing to mostly middle-aged middle-class women. In 2005, almost ten thousand women dressed up in costumes and came to Jackson for the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, proceeds from which benefited a local children’s hospital.

How to improve Google rank? Blog

Last night I posted about one of the speakers at a statewide child abuse conference that got underway here in Jefferson City on Wednesday.

Jan Hindman has served on the advisory board of the National Resource Center on Child Sexual Abuse, the National Network for Juvenile Sex Offenders, and she is currently a member of the Oregon Attorney General's Sexual Assault Task Force. She is also the past president of the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, as well as being an author of numerous publications and a national trainer, lecturer, and consultant.

Today I had occasion to google "Jan Hindman" and came up with 551 results. As I scanned down the list, I discovered that my post here on smays.com was #48.

I am not all that knowledgable about Google ranking, but that a blog post (on a site with modest traffic) could could show up in the top 10% of the rankings in less than 24 hours says something about the power of blogs.

Update (3/17/07): For some reason my post is no longer showing up in that Google search. As Roseanne Roseannadana used to say, "Never mind."

Correction courtesy of Bass (3/19/07): Emily Litella said, "Never Mind." Roseanne Rosannadanna said, "What are you trying to do, make me sick?" Both played by Gilda Radner.

Jan Hindman: "There Is No Sex Fairy"

Jan Hindman is the author of "There Is No Sex Fairy," a stinging indictment of those who think not talking about sex is the best way to protect children from abuse and a how-to on "raising sexually respectful children."

"Of course we love our children. We raise them to be Baptists, Catholics and Mormons. We teach them how to do Little League, and how to make a good omelet. But when it comes to sex, we do nothing. We just hope the Sex Fairy will zap them in the crotch when they walk down the aisle to get married and magically, they will turn into sexually healthy adults."

Ms. Hindman gave one of today's keynotes at a child abuse conference in Jefferson City. I was there helping a couple of clients blog the event.

I don't have children and didn't expect to hear anything very interesting or relevant (for me) from the speakers, but Ms. Hindman blew me a-way. She was a fantastic speaker. Funny, passionate...did I mention funny? She was just damned good.

She spoke for an hour but I encourage anyone with children (or planning to have some someday) to download the file and listen. [62 min 24 meg MP3]

Ever wonder how we can have so many sick fucks in this country? Ms. Hindman explains.

One more thing. When asked how she'd like to be introduced, she answered: "I'm fun and I dance close."

Nature recording with iTalk mic

When Henry saw my little Griffin iTalk, he ordered one immediately and took it for a walk-about in the Prairie Garden Trust and recorded (AUDIO) the Spring Peepers in full voice [larger image].

While Henry's amazing images capture the visual wonders of the prairie, hearing the sound adds a lot. And being able to put the iPod/iTalk in your pocket makes it that much easier.

How nice! It matches my hair.

Traditionally, the contest is over when the winner is announced. AgWired's Chuck Zimmerman went the extra mile. Several in fact. The giggling you hear is Chuck's sponsor expressing their delight.

Seth: "Good is not almost as good as great"

Seth Godin on good salespeople and great salespeople:

"The great ones reach out. They work the phones when they're not first in line. They understand what a customer wants. They're not just better than good. They're playing a totally different game.

My best advice: Fire half your sales force. Then, give the remainder, the top people, a big raise, and use the money left over to steal the best salespeople you can find from other industries or even from your competition. You'll end up with fewer salespeople. But all of them will be great.

And the good guys? Have them go work for the competition."

The best sales managers know in their guts this is good advice. They just don't have the stomach for it.

Google Audio Ads by the numbers

Mark Ramsey (Hear 2.0) offers still more insight on Google Audio Ads, including some screenshots of pages where you specify the demographic and geographic details of your buy. For businesses that don't need an "advertising consultant" to show up with a media kit and a coverage map, this might be an effective way to buy radio ads.

Cut me, Mick! Cut me!

We have two new affiliate relations reps for our news and ag networks and I was asked to sit in on a day-long training/planning session. For better or worse, I did that job longer than just about anybody (past or present). This is roughly equivalent to being a professional boxer for 20 years. You can do it, but you'll be a little punchy at the end.

I enjoyed tossing out (endless) war stories and everyone in the room was polite enough to look away when they rolled their eyes.

Not sure how many are on-point, but I mentioned "affiliate relations" in about 30 posts here over the last five years.

Radio Announcers

That's what they called them when my father and Mr. Rudy (Pylant) were on the air at KBOA in Kennett, Missouri. Pop and Mr. Rudy have since made the transition to Pure Amplitude Modulation but the audio waves of their wonderful voices are still streaking through space.

I had never seen this photo (larger version) of John and Rudy standing in front of the KBOA studio but, based on the automobiles behind them, it could have been as early as '49 or '50. The station went on the air in July of 1947 and my father started in 1949. Any of you car freaks able to ID the year of the car at the right edge of this photo?

What happened to the news?

A scary little story in today's USA Today about the findings of a study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism. According to Project Director Tom Rosenstiel,

"The dirty little secret of the information revolution is it has been more about repurposing or repackaging news than gathering it."

In recent years, because of their own cutbacks, radio and television have increasingly been relying on newspapers and wire services to do their newsgathering for them.

If you think the news is thin on local radio and TV stations now, imagine what it would be if they didn't have newspapers to rewrite. If,however, your local radio station long ago abandoned any pretense of news, you'll be okay.

Official 2007 NCAA Men's Basketball Bracket

I haven't followed college basketball for years but Learfield has a number of teams (left sidebar) showing up on the official NCAA Men's bracket. I'll hope some of our sports ops guys are still reading smays.com and will update this post via the comments.

Halliburton hauling ass

Halliburton, the big energy services company, said today that it would open a corporate headquarters in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai and move its chairman and chief executive, David J. Lesar, there. The company will maintain its existing corporate office here as well as its incorporation in the United States.

Halliburton, which was led by Vice President Dick Cheney from 1995 to 2000, is currently in the process of spinning off KBR, its military-contracting unit, to focus on its business of drilling wells and maintaining fields for oil companies. The company did not say what implications the Dubai development might have for its Pentagon contracts. [New York Times]

Riding the Google Bus

News.com: "In Silicon Valley, a region known for some of the worst traffic in the nation, Google, the Internet search engine giant and online advertising behemoth, has turned itself into Google, the mass transit operator. Its aim is to make commuting painless for its pampered workers--and keep attracting new recruits in a notoriously competitive market for top engineering talent.

The company now ferries about 1,200 employees to and from Google daily--nearly one-fourth of its local work force--aboard 32 shuttle buses equipped with comfortable leather seats and wireless Internet access. Bicycles are allowed on exterior racks, and dogs on forward seats, or on their owners' laps if the buses run full."

Okay, this is just a brilliant thing for Google to do. The full article is worth a read.

Onion News Network: "You'll Never Read Again"

My favorite fake newspaper is launching a fake news network. Lost Remote points us to the trailer for the Onion News Network, coming in April, 2007. Lost Remote astutely notes "The more satirical the fake news promos get, the more like real news promos they become."

Overlawyered.com

From the About Us page of the site: "Overlawyered.com explores an American legal system that too often turns litigation into a weapon against guilty and innocent alike, erodes individual responsibility, rewards sharp practice, enriches its participants at the public's expense, and resists even modest efforts at reform and accountability."

Hey, some of my best friends are lawyers.

The Death of Bingo (Seniors Online)

Someday in the not to distant future, our nursing homes ("long term care facilities") will be filled with residents who spent a portion of their lives online. Email, web surfing, etc. They'll expect/demand net access in this new phase of their lives. (I first posted on this in November, 2005)

If I owned such a facility, I'd install a fast DSL line, just for the residents. And a strong, wifi signal throughout.

I'd invite family members to equip mom or dad with a computer if they wanted and I'd have a procedure in place to make sure access was restricted to that resident and that the computer didn't walk off (a problem with valuables in many such facilities). I'd arrange to have some computers in the day room that anyone could use.

I'd invite high schools students to take part in a program to show the residents how to use the Internet. Help them send/receive/read email from family members. Send photos back to their loved ones around the country.

I'd put webcams on a couple of the computers in the Day Room (or whatever it's called). Yes, I know there are privacy issues, but I'd find a way to deal with that. And I'd encourage family members to video chat with their loved ones. Wouldn't have to be long or involved, just a short "visit" with a familiar face/voice.

All of this is going to happen eventually. But some enlightened, well-run facility has the opportunity to be a leader in this space. The winners are: the resident; the family of the resident; the young people who share their knowledge and --perhaps-- get some wisdom in return; and the facility that has improved the lives (if only for a few minutes) of their residents.

One quick search for found no shortage of info on the topic of "Senior Citizens Online," including this one at Ask Bob Rankin.

Disclosure: My wife, Barb, is a long-term health care attorney and many of her clients own or operate such facilities. But the idea for this post comes from my own interest in all things online and the time I spent visiting my father in such a facility.

No admittance without lobotomy certificate

I know what you're thinking. You liked Hugh Grant in Four Weddings and a Funeral, Bridget Jones's Diary, About a Boy and Notting Hill. So you'll like his new movie, Music and Lyrics. You won't. This dog turd has none of the charm of his earlier movies.

The sad thing about this movie is I walked out feeling so superior to the poor schmucks that hee-hawed at every lame line. My spiritual growth has been set back 1,000 years.

Music and Lyrics was written and directed by Marc Lawrence, who gave us Miss Congeniality and Miss Coneniality2: Armed & Fabulous. Oh yeah, he did a couple of episodes of Family Ties.

Your marriage is not worth saving if it means having to sit through this movie.

Why I would vote for George Clooney

George Clooney plays down any talk of being pressured to run for political office with a typically self-effacing quip. “No, I’ve slept with too many women, I’ve done too many drugs and I’ve been to too many parties.”

read more | digg story

How do I look? Is my swastika straight?

They had a little Neo Nazi march in Columbia, Missouri, this afternoon (It's been too darn cold to march against "jew communists" until the last week or so). About 20 marchers were met by throngs of students that cursed them and tossed eggs at them. One of our Missourinet reporters (Steve Walsh) covered the event and everybody's favorite photojournalist, Bill Greenblatt, took some photos, including this one [larger image].

Several things about this photo caught my keen fashion eye. Note the Eva Braun wannabe in the center of the photo, with the little red Storm Trooper tie. This would suggest that the Neo Nazi Clothing Catalogue has a Ladies' Department.

The guy that looks like he's getting ready to mix it up with "Drunk Punk" appears to be wearing some sort of hand-tooled leather belt that you might get from your uncle for your birthday (maybe it reads "Sieg Heil!)

And what serious skinhead takes a little pussy bullhorn like that to a march. Come on. And were they up all night sticking on the swastikas or do they come pre-swastuck?

Every parade needs clowns.

Fifteen songs

My iTunes Music Store Gift Card (courtesy of Dr. Paul) is burning a hole in my nano. But I'm overwhelmed by the choices. So I'm asking readers of smays.com to help me select 15 great songs. So here's the assignment: If you could only purchase one song from iTunes, what would it be? Just post it in the comments below. Please don't attempt to explain your recommendation, just go with title and artist. We'll wrap this up on March 31st.