Sunday Morning Blog

November 26, 2005

Technorati Search Plug-In: Old News?

Maybe I am behind the times, but I discovered a great new search bar plug-in for Firefox today. Technorati is now included as one of the search engines in my tool bar... SPIFFY! It is always nice to check out what others are saying, and Technorati makes that possible. When people blog, Technorati listens.

Check it out if you haven't already: Todd Higginbotham's Technorati search plug-in

Posted by capecodcyclist at 10:04 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

November 21, 2005

When Will the Mass Media Entertainment Bubble Burst?

Has the recent uproar over copy-protected CDs and digital rights media software (or DRM) awakened the entertainment industry? The entertainment industry has an increasingly unhappy audience, yet they continue to show their disrespect for their consumers. It is frightening how out of touch they have become with their audience. Perhaps they just don't care. In an age when entertainment should be as simple and seamless as ever, consumers are faced with more difficulty than ever. Have digital audio/video and the Napster debacle forever changed the landscape of mass media entertainment for the consumer, the artist and the industry itself?

Consumers just want to be able to copy and share music as they always have (at least in all of my 36 years). That the medium for the sharing of music and video has changed should not alter that most basic practice between friends and family, or the act of making music mixes for personal use. Yet, we find this an increasingly difficult, annoying and, in some cases, an impossible process. The industry justifiably looks to increase and maintain profits, and the musicians themselves seem to vary greatly in their opinions. On one side, we have artists who simply want people to hear their music, and on the other, musicians and bands who view their craft as a commercial enterprise and want to protect their revenue at all cost. The consumer just wants their music back.

The music industry is not the only offender; the movie industry is far from immune to growing consumer wrath. Many DVDs are restricted to playback only in certain media players, and they have also grown increasingly annoying in their protections, previews and add ons. The days of popping a movie in the VCR and settling in for a movie are gone. Remember when you could put a movie in for the kids and walk away? It is the rare movie in which this is the case anymore. Not only are you forced to endure previews (fast forward is a thing of the past), but once you finally get to the menu screen, every movie seems to come up with new bells and whistles to get you to its main menu. Many are also designing tricks you must learn to enter the movie or different features different features. The movie watcher ends up like the puppy who has retrieved its first ball each time one succeeds in starting a movie or discovering a feature. Good boy Drew, good boy! There are even DVDs that have hidden eggs (hidden features) that can only be accessed by keying in special codes from secret screens. Anyone remember the old Dire Straits tune, Money for Nothing, and its lyric, “I want my MTV.” Well, here we are twenty years later and we just want our TV... forget the M and everything else you people are trying to force on us! We want control of our TVs back! Don't force us to watch your previews, and don't play games with your menu. If you want to play games with a menu, include it as one of your add ons, so some fool who doesn't care to get to the movie can select your flashy games from the menu. Maybe we'll even go back and watch your inventions afterward.

Okay, I feel better now to have vented a bit. I hope the entertainment industry gets the message. I know some of my favorite living artists are on the side of consumers in this. Perhaps it will take more loss of revenue for the industry to realize that their attempts at self preservation are coming at the expense of simple respect for their audience. I hope someday the DVDs or CDs we purchase will bear labels that declare them “consumer friendly.” How about this for a label?: “This CD/DVD has been formatted to play in any player you choose, has no built in protections, and defaults to good old, user friendly behaviors when placed in your player. Enjoy!” Show me a company that really makes an effort to show it cares about the consumer's enjoyment, and you will witness a company that rises above all others in mass media entertainment. There are very few left out there that grasp this concept and it shows. Horace said, “He who is greedy is always in want.” Such is the case for the entertainment industry, and until it wakes up, their want will only increase.

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November 20, 2005

Small Rodents, Taking Inventory, and Ass Over Tea Kettle

Do strange things happen at every family's birthday parties? Last weekend we had a birthday celebration at an elder family member's house, and the bizarre happenings continued. The oddity of the day was when Brady (the cat) went bounding through the room with what appeared to be a gigantic ball of lint hanging from his mouth. The curious little boy in me immediately went to investigate said lint ball and its origins, only to find the ball was actually a mouse nest (with no current occupants). For the record, it should be noted that I was chastised for explaining that my evidence of the lint ball's being a mouse house was "terds." Although I am sure in eighty plus years, our birthday celebrant had heard worse than "terds," apparently you do not say "terds" at grandparent's birthday parties... lesson learned. So, from this evidence it was established that mice had somehow infiltrated the previously impenetrable lair of Brady. Brady the cat was predictably perturbed by this, and has been spending the majority of his waking hours in pursuit of the invaders. He is inconsolable.

This past week, the family member noted above took it upon herself to purchase some mouse traps at the local hardware store (and no, they are not Have-a-Heart traps-- I already asked). On Tuesday, she prepared the upstairs guest bedroom for a one night visit from Brady. It should be noted that one stair is a feat for this individual, never mind climbing up and down the stairs twice: once to prepare the room, and another trip with Brady under arm. She closed him in the room, strategically placed the traps about the house and went to bed for the evening. The following morning, she gathered up the traps (all empty) and went about her day. The dish water from the previous night's dinner dishes was still in the sink, and when she went to drain the water, there was something obstructing the drain. She reached into the water, and removed the blockage. There, in her fingers, was one of the mice who had successfully avoided the many traps. Yes, another successful mouse trap invented: we will call it the Have-a-Pool. Just remember, to prevent escape, never leave the sink to counter ladder in place... the mouse will eventually tire of its swim, and the Grim Mouser will come. Drowning is supposedly a very peaceful way to go. Don't forget the bleach for the post-death sink and counter cleaning.

Yes, one would expect it to be difficult to top off a week with such excitement, but not to fear. There was more excitement to be had. This weekend was the biannual inventory at my place of work. Yippee! In this business, it seems we all inventory to a different drummer. I would like to say our inventory management is an exact science, but I am afraid it is only as good as the tired employees who perform it. In my opinion, an inventory should be a shelf by shelf, row by row, accounting of just what is present. I have yet to see one performed this way by everyone involved. Instead, in my industry, you have pairs of people walking around with computer print outs, often in search of what is on the sheets in front of them. If you are only looking for what is on the sheets, it is not a complete inventory-- you aren't catching everything that is present. Sure, with most products you are counting everything in the particular section that is on your count sheet, but you are not going from one corner of the store to another counting everything in the building. Also, with something as repetitive as reading off endless rows of consecutive numbers, there is always room for error by the reader whose eyes go cross-eyed as the day wears on. The person marking the count sheets can not possibly pay perfect attention to such repetitive recitation of numbers either. Aside from the big box stores, bar code scanners have been slow to catch on in the retail side of my business, but most warehouses use them to advantage (again, only as good as the operators). I look forward to the day when we enter the modern era, and bar code scanners can be used for store inventories. Shuffling around, rattling off numbers to someone, who nine times out of ten is unfamiliar with the numbering system to begin with, is monotonous, tiring, and error prone. The joys of retail...

The finale to the week was the phone call I received from home toward the end of inventory day. The same family member who I noted has trouble simply climbing stairs managed to venture to a local mall for some Saturday shopping. It seems the adventure took a turn for the worse, when she was plowed down by an inattentive driver who came around the end of an aisle without looking for people crossing the road. Plenty of passers-by came rushing to her aid, and luckily some bruising and swelling were the only results (not sure if her cane suffered any from its blow from the car as she shouted at the driver to stop). Of course, she stubbornly refused a trip to the hospital. She is now at home, using a borrowed walker that someone brought her, and feels more comfortable sitting than standing. We are just grateful that it wasn't worse.

While we wish we had been there with her, it is probably best that we were not. Unbelievably, she was just grateful nobody she knew was there to see her sprawled out on the pavement. Had we been there, I would have been more concerned about losing my cool at having yet another in an endless series of run ins with Cape Cod drivers not paying attention. You can tell the holidays are in the air, as more drivers seem to be suffering from cranial inversion. Open your eyes people, there are others sharing the road with you (and some of these get out and walk and ride bicycles once in a while). Parking lots are not extensions of our roads... very little gas pedal should be applied when navigating them. Mass. Law Flash: Pedestrians and cyclists have the same rights to the road that automobiles do (except pedestrian's ALWAYS have the right of way); please drive accordingly.

Another entertaining week...

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November 19, 2005

You Can Pick Your Friends, But You Can't Pick Your Llamas

I love the smell of llama in the morning! I try not to give away too many clues as to where I live, but this one could almost guide you to my front door. I don't imagine llamas are all that common on Cape Cod, but at my house, llamas are part of the landscape. I must admit, the smell is really not that noticeable. Every once in a while you get that Barnstable County Fair, petting zoo scent teasing the olfactory membranes. It is somewhat like hearing that song on the radio that brings back happy memories of people, places or events. The barnyard smell also reminds us that a farm is nearby, and provides an odoriferous remembrance of the days when farms were more common.

I remember when we first moved in, our next door neighbor asked us to sign a petition trying to oust the llamas from the neighborhood. I did not sign of course. Although I pity our neighbor's dilemma- visitors to his backyard pool must get blasted by the barnyard scent at times (there are chickens too), I certainly would not deny someone the right to their animals or livelihood. The avian flu has come to mind when considering the proximity of their chicken coops, but I am not planning any visits to the farm, so there shouldn't be cause for concern. The llamas, although I am not certain of their benefit, have never bothered me. The smell is not obtrusive, we just get a reminder of their presence on occasion.

The most excitement regarding our neighbor-herd was when the window and siding company arrived with van loads of illegal immigrant Ecuadorians (honest, I didn't check their papers). Apparently, llamas are more common in Ecuador than Massachusetts, and it was like old home week here at the farm. The wide grins, excited jabber, and pointing fingers all expressed recognition of their native beasts (or maybe they were just thinking barbecue). This is the closest the llamas have come to celebrity here since our move, but not everyone can brag of such neighbors. In Hyannisport they have the Kennedy's; in our neck of the woods, we have the Llamas. I will let you decide which neighbors I consider more respectable (and which more pleasing to the senses).

Suggested reading: The Twenty-One Most Commonly Asked Llama Questions

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November 12, 2005

November's Folly

A leaf
Blown from tree
The untouched rake

Cursed

Hefty bags
Tarps to drag
Barrels full

Led to the conquering
From branches above
The yard is barren.

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November 11, 2005

Back to Sunday Morning

I'm back. It took me all of two months to get back to blogging on my home page. I don't know that you can call one post "back" really, but it is a start. Two months ago, I was asked to start my "own" blog on Cape Cod Today. I am honestly unsure about what moved me to go back after my bad experience with them earlier this year. Having more of an audience to interact with is surely a plus, but it also has its drawbacks. Once you are in the spotlight, it becomes difficult to stop arguing and defending your views. However, babbling to oneself can get a little tiresome, and that is often how it has felt here. On CCToday there is rarely a concern of having no audience. Here, it is often like dropping a pebble into a bottomless pit.

Blogging has become an online diary for many people, but for other's it is so much more. In May of 2003, way back in the beginnings of this blog (which was then titled Life by the Drop, before finding that name was already in use) I was making posts about things political and expressing my support for Cape Wind among other things. Back then I received no feedback, so the politics and expression of my views were limited and not quite so passionate. On CCToday I get that feedback, and it brings out the conviction of my beliefs. Blogging in that kind of environment is like being part of a live editorial page. There is certainly no shortage of fans or critics. Blogs in forums like CCToday should allow commenters thumbs up or thumbs down options to accompany their comments. Perhaps that would be forcing people to be too black and white about their opinions though. So often there is that middle ground that a thumbs up or thumbs down just can't convey. On CCToday, you rarely if ever witness that grey area. It is all or nothing, pro or con, black or white, good or bad... there is rarely middle ground (except by those who have proclaimed themselves the sole posessors of open-mindedness). When the middle ground appears it is only an illusion. It is a trick played by those who are casting themselves in the light of their own game of self deception.

What I am trying to say is, blogs like CCToday are chock full of B.S. artists and people who are so vain they can't see beyond their own grand vision of themselves. They are so self-important and seem to have such a monoploly on right thinking that there is no possibility of reasonable discourse. That is the fun of it I guess. Debating the issues is what I was after, so I really can't complain. Placing value on opposing views is critical to getting along with people, and there seems to be far too little of that going on. For now, we should be happy that everyone is not just running through neighborhoods burning cars I suppose. At least there is some communication, although perhaps not between the people who should be expressing themselves.

This is certainly not my typical blog post. I promise an attempt at regaining that humble, back to blog feel again. I will leave the CCToday site for the politics and matters of culture and society that I feel most passionate about. I will work toward restoring Sunday Morning to its simple beginnings as a window into day to day Drew... if for nobody else, then just for myself.

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