Author Archives: Steve Mays

Surrendering the rule of law

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“A nation consists of its laws. A nation does not consist of its situation at a given time. If an individual’s morals are situational, that individual is without morals. If a nation’s laws are situational, that nation has no laws, and soon isn’t a nation.”

“Are you really so scared of terrorists that you’ll dismantle the structures that made America what it is? If you are, you let the terrorists win. Because that is exactly, specifically, his goal: to frighten you into surrendering the rule of law. That’s why they call him ‘terrorist.’ He uses terrifying threats to induce you to degrade your own society.”

— Spook Country, William Gibson (pg. 136-137)

Nokia Tracfone

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Nokia100
I like paper plates (the good ones, not the cheap ones) and have the decency to feel guilty about using them. I’ve worn a plastic Casio wrist watch for years (less than $20). And tonight bought a year’s worth of minutes for my little Nokia Tracfone.

I paid $19.95 for the unit at Wal-Mart and have been buying additional minutes for the last 18 months. The Tracfone was made for people like me (and Avon Barksdale). No synching with Outlook. No texting. No camera. No nothing.

Yes, I do keep the Casio Exilim and the MacBook by my side, but the Tracfone and the camera fit nicely in the MacBook case. Weight is not an issue, given my limited travel.

I’ll bet I saw 50 iPhones at Gnomedex and everyone else had state-of-the-art hardware. When I pulled out the Tracfone at lunch, the guy across the table asked, "What’s that?"

"North Korean. I’m not supposed to have this out in public. Sorry." …as I jammed it back in my pocket.

So I’ve got all the minutes I need for the next year, for about $11 a month. What is that, 35 cents a day?

Mark Ramsey: “You’re not in the ‘radio’ business anymore

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Mr. Ramsey says the advertising industry is about to redefine radio’s “category.” According to a report by MediaVest, radio is now “audio”:

“In a new report being circulated to clients, MediaVest has adopted the position that terrestrial broadcast radio should no longer be looked at as a discrete medium in communications plans, but as part of a greater array of audio media–including satellite, online, mobile and a variety of personal media device technologies, such as iPods, other MP3 players, and even television, which increasingly is being used as an audio-only medium.”

“…radio should no longer be looked at as a discrete medium, but as part of a greater array of audio media.”

Ouch.

I agree with Mr. Ramsey that a) this has been coming for a bit and b) it is an important shift that too many “broadcasters” still don’t get. I encourage you to read the full post.

Gnomedex: Day One

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Gnomedex has to be one of the best covered events in that everyone in the audience is blogging, twittering, videoing and flickr’ing.

Photo: Scott Beale / Laughing Squid” laughingsquid.com

300+ intense, passionate, creative people who all happen to be interested in media, communication and –to some greater or lesser degree– changing the world. Every one a blogger and many podcasters to boot.

Many have been blogging long enough –and hard enough– to have become bored or exhausted (or both) by its demands.

Web 2.0 is familiar and comfortable to these people. Passe for some. But these are the early adopters, the adept. The advance guard of the blogosphere.

Traditional website vs. blog

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Here’s a really good example of the difference between a "traditional" website… and a blog. The Fair Fan Blog ("…taking pictures from the top of the ferris wheel so you don’t have to") is a project of Learfield Interaction. The bloggerista is Laura (Last Name Withheld to Protect Her Hotness) and she’s off to a bang-up start.

Google Web History

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Remember James Keown? He’s the former Missouri radio guy charged with first-degree murder in the the death of his wife, Julie Keown. Authorities allege Keown poisoned his wife by spiking her Gatorade with antifreeze so he could collect on her $250,000 life insurance policy.

One of the witnesses in the recent evidentiary hearings was Andrew Winrow, a computer forensic investigator who testified that Internet searches recovered from at least one of James Keown’s computer hard drives revealed a search for The Anarchist Cookbook and ” homemade poisons” allegedly occurring on Aug. 17, 2004 and Aug. 18, 2004, less than a month before his wife’s death.

This story got me wondering what I’ve searched for and, as you might expect, Google makes has this info. Looks like I can go back about 90 days. I didn’t spot anything incriminating, but it’s an interesting snapshot of what I’ve been thinking about. I assume the NSA has this information as well.

Big undersea quake hits Indonesia

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Reuters: A powerful undersea earthquake has hit Indonesia’s West Java island. No tsunami warning (yet) and no immediate reports of damage or casualties. There has been some panic (no shit). The Indonesian quake watchers measured 7.0, while the U.S. geological survey said 7.4.

Indonesia

The quake struck 46 miles northwest of Indramayu and could be felt by residents in the capital Jakarta, as well as in the nearby city of Bandung (X marks the spot), which is where brother Blane & Family live. Still waiting to hear.

Update: Better map.

Update: 10:23 p.m. Just got email from Blane. "What earthquake?" That’s my baby brother.