another reason not to listen to Celine Dion?

Like I needed one. Thanks for this update Kevin. I hope we can garner a class action suit against her. I'd go out and buy it today and crash one of my computers if it would help. The more I think the music industry heavies can't get any stupider, the more I am proved wrong. Don't get me started. I am married to someone who has dealt with this corrupt industry all his life at many levels, me by his side. Signed to MCA for many years, I could scan and link to original contracts that would make you puke. Goes like this: We parade you around the world, work you like mules, and we give you nothing but notariety in return. What, you think you deserve more? What publishing? Oh that's nothing. Don't worry your head over that. You're artists. We'll take care of the business.

The recording industry today is nothing short of a pyramid scheme. And the few who reap the financial rewards at the top must defeat anything that threatens that structure (i.e. the net). To spread the control around the middle and bottom of that structure would mean the destruction of an entire industry as it was built. And I would love to be there to see it come crashing down.

My husband and I work our business within a corrupt industry the best we can. We were pro-napster people, seeing it as an incredible tool, a digital library at our fingertips--what was that chord change? How did that section go? Ah. Would have paid for it too.

As for the hubub over giving music away, I see nothing wrong with throwing a few tunes from a CD online for download, free. You like my work, you'll buy. If you want to put those two or three tunes on your own CD with two or three from another artist, and another, why should I as an artist, label, or record company care? It's the best promotional gimick going.

And how is it any different from what Amazon does with books? You can get up to 20 sample pages for some books, free for the reading, you like it go ahead and order it. If not, go read pieces from another book. How is that so different? Because it doesn't open in acrobat and let you save it to your hard drive? You could do screen clips if you wanted to. But you don't want to. If you like the work, you're going to BUY it. You want to see the jacket, you want it in your collection, on your bookshelf. You want to refer to it in its entirety from time to time.

Here's an out there idea for the taking--you heard it here first. Fill the dead air between tunes with value-add stuff (interviews with artists, outakes from studio sessions, cooking with Bono in his kitchen--conversations, humor, political statements, whatever). Give away 2-4 tunes free for downloading. The real macoy CD has all the tracks plus this new between track shit that makes it worth buying the disc.

this betwen track stuff becomes the meme. Right? Has anyone but me heard the Buddy Rich on the Bus bootleg that's been floating around for years? Buddy ranting at his band day and night, with explatives even RageBoy hasn't uttered yet? Or the Ray Charles gig where the drunk guy comes off on stage and Ray spends a good two minutes trying to get someone to "take the man off the stage."

This is the stuff that could make CDs more than 11 separate tracks joined together by silence. And something that could bolster the worth of any compilation. And how about we get really cool (my husband has no idea I'm saying this shit), and we have more than one version of that stuff between air--Hey man, did you get the one with Sting swearing at his dog or the one with him talking on the phone?

Hell, I don't know. I'm on a rant today. Tell me I'm insane and I'll shut up. Or I probably won't.

Celine Dion could crash your computer

It seems that the music industry is determined to go beyond Gonzo and use Bozo marketing.

Sony have released the latest Celine Dion album using a 'protection' technique that crashes PCs and Macs when the disc is inserted.

Denise, are they liable under this law for $10,000 and 16 months for each computer they crash, or just once?

(4) Knowingly accesses and without permission adds, alters, damages, deletes, or destroys any data, computer software, or computer programs which reside or exist internal or external to a computer, computer system, or computer network.
(5) Knowingly and without permission disrupts or causes the disruption of computer services or denies or causes the denial of computer services to an authorized user of a computer, computer system, or computer network.

As ever, this will do nothing to prevent the CD being ripped and distributed, but lots of people will be upset by this when they put he CD into their computer.

No, in French the word for "joke" is "englais" . . . .

Tee fucking Hee, an antipodean former British colony joke.

Anyway, last monday was my birthday and a bus driver rammed the back of my four wheeled pride and joy, so that's either a warning not to invest too much sentiment in material things or not to expect your birthday to necessarily suck any less than any other day.

Take your pick.

I am comforted by the law of absolute liability that accrues to any driver hitting another vehicle from behind - hooray! Still, it puts a dent in your joy when you see that big orange bumper surging up in the rearview mirror.

How about that Beam, eh? Bit presumptive of him to assume that *he* is "people" I thought. For all we know he's a bot produced by the Marketing Division of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation.

Indeed, for all *he* appears to know he is a bot produced by . . . . . . well, you get the picture.

Now lemme tell you a story
the Devil, he's a plan
Bag o bones in his pocket
Get anythin you want

More irrelevant nonsense that nevertheless somehow seems appropriate by Talking Heads, aka David Byrne and Friends.

Denver Fletcher
Head of Inappropriate Material Dismissals
blogtank

Bienvenue!

Is it true, Christophe, as Geoffrey Nunberg says, that en francais "blog" is the word for "joke?" If so, you must be having a good chuckle!

Cobblers

I only ever read a newspaper article when someone links to it. I never read one on paper.
On the web, we can know how many readers we have, how they found us, and roughly where they come from.
In paper they can indulge themselevs in the comforting illusion of the circulation figures, and pretend to themselves that they all read their column. (I just found out that my blog shows up high on searches for CBDTPA - I'll have to write some more reasoned rants about it - for example the Enron-style accounting of the 'losses' due to copying).

Boston Globe on Blogs and Micromarkets

Alex Beam writes for the Globe (quoting John Ellis of Fast Company): "'The golf stuff connects directly with about 35 people,' Ellis says. 'But those 35 people really are into it.'" Not that Beam is buying any of it. He exhorts would-be bloggers to give it a go by promising maybe they'll "even be mocked in a medium that people actually read." [Link: Library Stuff]

Merci Jeneane !

Hi all, hi rageboy.
A lot of work today. Like David, I really need to sleep...
Currently trying to find out new "french commutations", "hook" and "pro-create" french "gonzo spirits".

Yesterday, I found out a quite old french funky magazine (published in 1995 by Ariel Wizman - famous french gonzo guy).

Could we say the co-authors of the manifesto have "stolen" one of his "edito" n° 9 : ...

"C'est, selon la façon dont on le perçoit, l'ambition ou le manque d'ambition de ce journal, qui est fier de ressembler parfois à ce que l'internet a de plus utile et de plus délectable : LA CONVERSATION HUMAINE".... "Peace. Love. Rhino".

Gonzo spirits exist in France. But for most of them, it's a bit tough to be heard on french TV ;-)
Sorry for my very poor english. I have first to find out french copywriters.
Thankxxx. xtof.
New french partyblog running on http://www.elanceur.net. You are all welcome in the "international commutations block".

France is in the house

I've added Christophe Ducamp of elanceur.org to the team list. If you see posts in French, you will know that Christophe is talking to us, and to his colleagues in France who would like to follow our conversation as well. Perhaps Christophe or another team member can provide the English translation of his posts so we can keep up too.

Sorry I've been such a slouch lately. I had gotten rather mad at blogging and the whole notion that we might be changing the world here. Because it seems the more we blog, the more fucked up the world becomes. And I don't know if we're keeping it from being even more fucked up, or if the fucked-up-edness is a result of too many charged voices. Or what. I guess I don't know much these days. But I'll be back. I just have to get my head around what's new, which, I feel something is, but I can't quite define it yet.

Marek, we need a nice stream of consiousness world changing post from you about now. Are you back from Poland?

Blog on.

Nickles for Net Heads

If you didn't buy your copy of Gonzo Marketing through the EGR link to Amazon that chunks a small pourboire into the RageBoy coffers, then your purchase doesn't count and you will have to try again. I have expressed my irritation at this attitude with Mr. Boy. He complimented me on my ranting style. Now I gotta work on the screeds.

"Buzz"

Gonzo Marketing is 3,518 this morning on Amazon. Do you think there's a way to submit sufficient proofs of purchase to be politely excused from the next "you guys are a lower form of life than moldy toe-cheese" edition of EGR? (Nah, forget I asked. "Sufficient" might require leasing extra storage space. And just for the receipts...)

Kevin, thanks for the link to Thomas's site. Cause-oriented Gonzo - I think I read about that somewhere? Now, if we could only secure a partner for Thomas with influence, ahem, somewhat broader than our own. I like the artwork, especially The Tiger, and the fact that even Dad displays a piece, although "not officially a child."

Thomas Pacheco

Thomas Pacheco is a bright, loving, and happy seven-year-old who was diagnosed on March 7, 2002 with a rare cancer.
Thomas will lose his right eye and eye socket to this cancer, and will subsequently undergo at least six months of chemotherapy. This horrible course of treatment is Thomas's best hope, but he is fighting a rare and tenacious cancer with long-term survival rates of less than thirty percent.

Edamame

Over at blogtank I've posted my theory of why the web is like boiled soya beans.

Fair Use Protections "Remain Vague..."

Alex Salkever comments in Business Week about the Hollings bill. (More here.)

Loosely Joined Conversation with David Weinberger

Marek J interviews David Weinberger about his new book "Small Pieces Loosely Joined".

 

Resistance is Futile...

I work in a place where most of the employees have hockey sticks in their offices (it's a Canadian thing). Most of our great ideas or solutions come after a 20 minute hockey break when all seems lost. Smart employers realize that people need these kinds of breaks and if they don't get it, there is nothing. It doesn't matter how hard they work if they are stuck. Doing the same thing and expecting different results is insanity.

It's time to invest in home-detention anklets...

because we don't have the jails to house the multitudes who would violate the proposed Act. Its efforts to preserve "the limitations on the exclusive rights of copyright owners, including the fair use doctrine," and to restrict security measures that flat-out prevent copying, appear half-hearted. And leaving fair use considerations aside for a moment, seeking to eliminate a crime by banning the means of carrying it out seems better suited to guns than computers and mp3 players. I'm sure there will be discussion and debate in the legal press and I'll keep my eyes open and try to point you toward anything that looks worthwhile.

Sorry for my silence

The CBDTPA actually being filed knocked me off balance. I know it has been coming, but its sheer unmitigated effrontery and foolishness takes some digesting.
I'd love to hear your take on it Denise, or any pointers to lawyers discussing it. I'll pass on your 'weblogs for lawyers' paper to my friendly neighbourhood lawyers. Consiering how weblogs facilitate citation, it should be a natural fit for them.

Gonzo steps?

Well, I got word Friday that an article I submitted about blogs and the legal field will be published in California's legal newspaper, The Daily Journal (which is not yet available online, unfortunately). It's definitely "remedial reading" for this group, but if anyone is so inclined please feel free to take a look.

Is there anybody out there?

Resistance is Futile

I once showed a manager of mine an article (sorry, no, I don't still have it. wish I did) where it said that those moments where your employees stare out the window day-dreaming are to be considered the most productive moments of their employment. Don't just leave them alone, encourage them to take more such moments! (As long as the work is getting done, natch) At the same time I also had one that said that the manager of your internal IT network (guess who?) may be responsible for the single most valuable asset your company owns. Cut them some slack and show them some respect. (wish I still had that one, too)

I guess the point which I am attempting to fashion with such glacial slowness and amoebic intellect, is that working for people who think that you're doing more for them because you *look* busy really is futile.

It'll kill you dead, man. It'll destroy your faith, shatter your hopes, and extinguish what little respect you may have had for them or the organisation to begin with. I've found that resistance is truly futile, I will just leave when this sort of shit goes down. I have better things to do with my life than waste it on dickheads.

Like hang out with you guys!

Yeah . . . . .

Don't be afraid Marek J, you're far too cool to fall for that corporate dominatrix emotional transference freak show. Show yourself the door, babe. Hell, you know that much better than I do!

Just hop on the bus, Gus
Make a new plan, Stan
Drop off the key, Lee
And set yourself freeeeee
- The Man, aka Paul Simon, from 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover.

We are Bor - uh, Sony

One thing can be said for the maker of this and of this: it is nothing if not free of all human understanding.

Robot heal thyself

Well, crap, Marek. The further we come in here, the further back we slide out there. Don't use the Internet? They actually tell you that? I haven't heard that at work since 1994. I understand that training and professional development budgets have all but washed away, so there's no hope of actually learning something via the workplace, but it sounds like someone's actually trying to make sure you stay stupid (uh, not "you" Marek--that's the royal "you") by *prohibiting* Internet access at work. Like, gosh, next thing they know you'll be questioning the "war effort" and the "axis of evil" and then what? You might turn into a Muslim. And then what? Well, you know what those people do. And then what? We might as well kill him before he kills us. And so it goes.

As for the robot, I'm sick. That's all. Maybe they'll strap some interchangable parts on it, and we won't need spouses either. Or teach it how to build stuff with legos and say "Yes, mother" and then we won't need kids anymore. If one of these things chugs up to me with a diet coke while I'm in a meeting, I'm taking out my pocket wrench.

how depressing.

Sony robots dream of becoming submissive employees

Restrictions in a workplace? Well, I can't use Internet at work. I was asked politely twice. Last time it was a hush-hush "You better not use the internet. We got the reports and we don't want you in trouble so just don't use internet". I wonder if they come the third time. On the other topic why bother having humans when you can have Dancing Robots. Who knows, maybe your next employee produced by Sony will not need to surf the net. He will dance for you anytime you want it to.

Sony's SDR-4X, bigger and better than the 3X unveiled a year-and-a-half ago, sought to steal the spotlight from Asimo, which Honda is already leasing out to International Business Machines Corp and other companies as a high-tech receptionist and hospitality robot.

GONZOID! (and that ain't a good thing)

Everything, absolutely everything, about this bothers me. Corporations, you stupid goobers, wake UP. Please don't make us leave you. We like living split lives. It's good for the company, and it's good for our health and happiness (which, incidently, you may not care about but which is also good for the company). Don't you hear us? Don't you see us? We're not surfing porn sites. We're creating a universe over here!!! And we'd really like to have you--well the people you think are you, the ones you make buy all this spywear stuff--with us. But if not, we're happy to go on without you. We have to. That's why we all do this. We HAVE to.

The restrictions -- which range from bans on instant-messaging programs to time limits on recreational Web surfing -- are an extension of the already commonplace practice of blocking access to offensive websites in the workplace.

Uses of the Blog, Continued

Dave Rogers, a sometime preacher by his own admission, wrestles with the difficulties of preaching in today's hyperactive, warp-speed times, and muses on ways of adapting to them:

"But I keep wondering if St. Paul meant "preacher" as only as a person who stands in a pulpit and speaks to a congregation. Or can/should "preaching" extend itself beyond that to incorporate new forms and media? Paul himself certainly adapted his preaching style to that of the prevailing culture (see Acts 17). Shouldn't we do the same?


I'm not suggesting using PowerPoint or overhead projectors to augment the spoken message. I'm wondering about new paradigms and means and technologies. I'm wondering about interactivity, about team preaching (where messages are prepared by a multidisciplinary group), about (for lack of a better term) "blog-type" sermons that don't end at 12:15 sharp--about sermons that nest in cyber-space where people can chew the fat together, debate, question and mull. (Much like we do right here on a variety of topics.) And where the pastor is freed by the congregation to engage in such delightful conversations."

I'd say go to it , Dave!

. . . . The Final Frontier

Well, I really *wanted* to look at all those blog articles - no, really! - but I got kind of blogstracted, and I ended up looking at SkyCars and Rotary Engines instead.

Now I'm totally consumed in imagining some sort of snorkelling water craft, a really groovy swoopy rad Jetsons kind of bubble thing that can operate underwater for a couple of minutes at a time but spends most of its time on the surface. An entry for Kevins new blog perhaps? Maybe a super-cavitating lumo fashion statement model for the really obscenely over-monetarily-endowed, such as those who spend their time blogging can only dream of becoming.

But I spose the biggest give away for me was that, in spite of having some inkling that "something is going on in BlogsVille, Missouri" these guys at Fast Company persisted in popping up annoying little windows every time I moved around their site. To me that is spamming, no better than hacking (messing with *my* PC for their own ends), and closer to FuckedCompany than anything else.


animals think
they're pretty smart
shit on the ground
see in the dark

- Animals, from the album Fear of Music, by Talking Heads.

question for the technobility

I can't wait to dig into the articles below. But first a question. Is there a way (i.e. easy way) to track hits on a site that isn't your own?

thank you
the mgmt

Blog-Fest at Fast Company

Fast Company is featuring a slew of articles today about blogging. I'm just starting to cruise through them, and would be more excited about doing it if this one from last month hadn't turned my stomach. According to Messrs. Mathews and Wacker, micromarkets are just little mass markets waiting for "more media coverage" to help them grow up; five-yard penalty and loss of down for jargoneering, crediting Cher for taking tattoos to "the next level," and fizzled meme attempt: "Devox." Not everything about the article is distasteful, but it's hard to get around its infomercial tone: "Now you, too, can put *Deviance* to work for you!!! With just three easy payments of $19.95, the *Secret* can be yours!!!" The authors end on a Gonzo note, so maybe I should just take an Alka-Seltzer and cut 'em a break: "The challenge to business is simple: Think deviant. Start by finding the most deviant person you know. Take her to lunch. Do it today."

Anyway, in the current series of blog articles, the "Devox" who inspired this blog is listed as one of Fast Company's contributing bloggers, along with David Wienberger, Daniel Pink, Seth Godin, John Ellis and Heath Row.

Community and other musings

For me the difference between a discussion group and a team blog is the feeling that we are all here for the same thing. That's not always the case with discussion groups. We have a community here and that means that certain conversational niceties have to be observed - keeping quiet while others have their say, smiling, nodding encouraging, or shaking our heads. What it isn't is a public meeting where people shout at the podium or each other.

As far as the Jenkins article is concerned, he hits on the essence of communication using the web. If you cast your bread on the waters,then it will come back to you. It may be wet, mouldy and unpalatable when it arrives, though. Traditional journalists have spent most of their lives saying that they understand their readers without really doing anything to get to know them better. When the readers have turned up and given their opinions, there is a tendency for journalists to suddenly rely on their position in the "establishment" and stick their tongues out and waggle their bottoms with a "I know best, so there" attitude.

That's not good enough any more. People can and will answer back. The challenge is going to be to come with a measured and valuable response to the hail of criticism that might result from an article.

PS please don't take me of the list because I have been so bad at posting Jeneane, my silence has been an eloquent comment on things. (honest)

More on authenticity in writing

Anita Brookner writes in a review of Margaret Atwood's book on writing 'Negotiating with the Dead":
No man is a hero to his own body, observes Margaret Atwood in her disquisition on writers, still less a woman. In the act of writing (or painting, or acting, or composing) the limited corporeal self is left behind, so that another component is free to gain strength and live. ‘The author is the name on the books. I’m the other one.’

[...]the writer has two lives. He, or more probably she, is the hapless character who goes to the supermarket, performs domestic tasks, and is invariably worsted in arguments, and that other one to whom Margaret Atwood refers, the cold logician who observes a beginning, a middle and an end, who determines causality, although subject, like everyone else, to the irrationality of circumstance.