knofun

So I was reading the other day about a native american group that is asking the Supreme Court to make the Redskins (NFL Team located ironically in Washington DC) change their name, because

The Native American organization claims that the name “Redskins” is a disparaging term. The goal of the group is to have the Redskins trademark canceled. The team has had a valid trademark for the name since 1967.

So naturally I laughed at how much time people have on their hands and how they choose to spend it. But today I was reading an excellent biography of Thomas Jefferson (“The Road to Monticello” by Kevin J. Hayes), and in doing so found it necessary to refer to my copy of the Declaration of Independence. In that sacred and hallowed document there is the following passage:

… bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

So maybe the Redskins should change their name to “Merciless Indian Savages” ? Or maybe this native american group should sue the estate of Thomas Jefferson?

rant declaration of independence, nfl, redskins, thomas jefferson

A while back I mentioned in a blog post that I was buying a domain name.. here’s what I said: 

So I am trying to buy this domain I want, and I want it so badly I offered what I considered a ridiculous sum. We haggled back and forth for a while and to my dismay I offered twice my original (and already ridiculous I might add) offer. Guy said great, just wanted me to submit the bid through his domain parking service so they could handle the escrow and all that. I said great because I wanted that security, after all I was talking about a lot of money! Turns out when you submit a bid on this particular domain parking service, the domain holder can then open an auction for said domain as the original bid as the first bid in the auction. Not so great for the unwitting buyer but an amazingly useful tool in the hands of an opportunistic and fortunate seller. *sigh* Oh well hope I get it but I am not raising my offer.

So I didn’t raise my offer. And I didn’t really pay attention to when the auction closed. I got off a plane in vegas a few weeks ago, turned my phone on, and got two emails. “You’ve been outbid” “This auction is closed”

Ever since then I have been kicking myself. Over and Over. To me, the domain was worth 5x-10x times what I was paying for it. Easily. 50x maybe. So every morning I wake up and feel like a jerk because I was trying to save a few bucks, and ended up costing myself millions. The lesson? Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. Don’t be greedy and if you really want something don’t be afraid to pay for it.

rant, web marketing greed, lesson

I mentioned a dinner I had at Switch in Encore at ASW with DK and Michael from Market Leverage. Our conversation ran five hours and spanned topics from international travel, mountain climbing, federal bailouts, laissez-faire economics, the constitution, and much more.

One part that stuck out in particular came when we were discussing the horrors of war. I argued that the same atrocities have been committed by both sides of any war for tens of thousands of years, the difference now is people who aren’t on the front lines can witness the horror on ustream or CNN. This age of unprecedented transparency and availability of information has ushered in a new morality, one where a politician can no longer say one thing publicly and authorize another privately. I’m not saying we know everything about everything, but it is definitely harder to hide something from a person today who decides to educate themselves. 

I drew parallels to the Milgram experiment, where students would knowingly “shock” other students at the behest of their superiors. They would deflect blame by saying they were just doing what they were told, and the superiors claimed they didn’t do anything wrong because they didn’t actually do the shocking. We discussed Jefferson thouroughly during the dinner, but now I am reminded of a Benjamin Franklin quote: “So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable creature, since it enables one to find or make a reason for everything one has a mind to do.” 

So now, with all this information and heretofore unprecedented transparency, is it not harder to find a reason? If you can no longer do one thing privately and claim another publicly, will people do the right thing? These are important questions as we enter a new era under President-elect Obama. I for one hope personal responsibility, the core of the American spirit, will triumph. Let the Information Age lead us into the Age of Transparency.

rant asw09, morality, transparency

In a move demonstratory of extreme idiocy, Comcast has this page specifically made to educate people who use Google Chrome or other browsers not on their list. Interestingly enough, Opera works fine even though it’s not on their ‘recommended’ list.

Read more…

geek stuff, rant chrome, comcast, google

I had really high hopes for eBay’s separation from Commission Junction. For one, it’s usually always better to communicate directly, without a middle man. And that’s all CJ was, a middle man in our way, preventing us from getting our reporting on time. Or so we thought.

In my mind, perhaps I built up the changeover too much. I imagined a sugar-coated fantasy land where we had real-time click stats, and could click right through on a day’s numbers to see the auction data behind it. Tell me, why wouldn’t eBay just let us run our reports, then click through to a detail to clearly see which transactions resulted in commissions for us? Why the hassle of downloading a CSV file and using third party websites like MyePNReport.com? I mean if that guy can build a tool that breaks up that report and links to auctions, shows you how much you made etc, how come eBay can’t do it? Maybe they don’t want to do it?

Couple this with all the people complaining their earnings are off and would we have to conclude that as of now, ~40 days into the changeover, maybe getting rid of CJ was a mistake? Not a mistake from eBay’s perspective, because I don’t know what % they were paying out to CJ and it must be nice to have that big () missing from the monthly report. But from the affiliate’s perspective? I guess you can only call a decision a mistake if it was your decision to make, and with this one we unfortunately have to suck it up.

A couple other affiliates have blogged about their lackluster earnings including my friend hanjicode. I am not going to post my earnings but April compared to March is off by more than 40%. Now I understand about cookie lag because I am still getting earnings in the account I stopped posting links for 40 days ago. I also understand that maybe a lot of people are implementing their links wrong. I have been writing code for a living for 10 years and I assure you I am not posting my links wrong. The click tracking is for the most part fine, numbers are not off there. Is there an issue? Was there an issue with CJ inflating numbers and therefore their % and this is the correction? I think we might never know about that one.

One thing that is definitely not working is geo targeting. When eBay was with CJ I had geo targeting written into ZinText. I just applied to all the eBay programs through CJ and used the MaxMind free geoip database to send the click to the correct ebay. I would say maybe 15% of my clicks went to ebay.ca, ebay.co.uk, and ebay.au. When ePN announced geo targeting as part of their program, I was happy, one less thing I have to worry about, right? Right? Right? Wrong. I have 0 clicks outside of eBay US. Yes, I have checked the geo targeting option. Yes, I am using type 2 or 3 links. No answers so far from eBay, I am waiting to ask them at the eBay Developer’s Conference they have graciously invited me to.

I understand that eBay has a HUGE affiliate program and changing over from CJ is no small task. I actually expected reporting issues! But the little things I imagined, the detailed reporting, it is a disappointment to me that those things aren’t there. This was an opportunity to reach out and really bring their affiliates into the fold, and it just doesn’t look like that’s happening. The boards have been more active than I’ve ever seen them, and 98% of those people are upset. I really hope eBay does whats right and listens to their affiliates. After all we are on the same team aren’t we? Aren’t we?

rant, ventures, web marketing affiliate, ebay, epn

Was just reading about MySpace’s revenue woes on gawker and I was just amazed. Apparently their plan is

an ad network which lets his salespeople sell ads all over the Web, not just on MySpace and other News Corp. sites.The idea is to take what MySpace has learned about its own users and share it with publishers and advertisers, to better target ads. What behavioral insights Bain expects to garner from “thanks for the add” isn’t clear. But at this point the Fox Interactive Media Audience Network remains little more than a thought bubble

So I thought to myself, what would I do if I owned MySpace? Well, look at their top users. Mostly mainstream music acts, Models, etc. All people out there pushing a brand and making money through their profiles. So why not create an AdBrite type system where advertisers can buy ads on specific profiles, and MySpace shares revenues with the users? More traffic, happy advertisers, and happy users. You guys can just send the check to my PO box.

geek stuff, rant, web marketing internet, marketing, myspace

I hate the NFL network. Or rather, I hate my cable company. Or rather, whichever is responsible for there being NFL football on and me not being able to watch it. Last week it was the epic NFC matchup between the Cowboys and the Packers we were locked out of, now its the emotional conflict with Sean Taylor’s team.

I can see merits on both sides of the argument, but come on! The NFL is trying to get the most money for its network, and the cable company has a thin margin between what they payout for content and what they charge subscribers. I get it. But you both are spending more on ad campaigns (the nfl even with tv commercials on espn, both with extensive newspaper ads) than you stand to lose on making a comprimise that works for the CONSUMER. So in the meantime, fuck both of you.

If you want to watch the games you are locked out of on the NFL Network FOR FREE, use this guide on Zeropaid.

geek stuff, play, rant free, network, nfl

Last week digg had an article entitled “Warner Music chief has epiphany, praises Apple”, which linked to this story on AppleInsider which “borrowed” from this MacUser article. My oh my what have the apple fanboys brought us now?

In the article(s), Bronfman Jr. is quoted as saying:

“We used to fool ourselves,’ he said. “We used to think our content was perfect just exactly as it was. We expected our business would remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant connection and file sharing was exploding. And of course we were wrong. How were we wrong? By standing still or moving at a glacial pace, we inadvertently went to war with consumers by denying them what they wanted and could otherwise find and as a result of course, consumers won.”

Wow, at first glance this seems like an intelligent, albeit late, and well articulated insight. But let’s get into context here. Who the hell is Edgar Bronfman Jr. and why does him saying something most intelligent people know already make news?

Well, he is currently head of Warner Music, owners of little labels like Atlantic and Bad Boy. Put it this way, someone waaaaaaaay down on the org chart from him cuts Puff Daddy’s checks. Where did he get all this paper? The old fashioned way of course, he inherited it. Loooong story shorter, he sold off the assets of his family’s company Seagrams (you drink it we distill it we used to bootleg it), including a 25% stake in chemical giant DuPont for $9 billion, so he could invest in his real love which is entertainment. He did this by buying stakes in various production houses like MCA and Universal Pictures, but pretty soon he realized he needed a partner. Enter Jean-Marie Messier and Vivendi, a multi billion dollar french conglomerate that was also moving out of their traditional businesses into new media and entertainment. In 2000, Edgar thought it would be a great idea to merge the two companies into one and form a internet-music-movie giant in a move that cost him all his remaining shares in Seagrams and his new media company. He resigned as chief in December of 2001, just before the value of the company plummeted more than 80%:

In 2004 he bought Warner Music Group for $2.6 Billion and here we are. Along the way he has always been very vocal about his opinions on Music and Technology. In 2000, he likened the use of Napster to slavery and communism which garnered a shockingly intelligent response from Courtney Love. After becoming head of Warner, he endorsed the RIAA’s lawsuits against consumers, going as far as to say that parents should be held accountable for their kids downloading habits. That was of course before he admitted his kids download unauthorized music too.

I had the pleasure of meeting both Edgar Bronfman Jr. and Jean-Marie Messier when they came to San Diego to buy MP3.com for $372 million in cash and stock. I distinctly remember having a bad taste in my mouth as he stood at the podium telling us all that we could “put the ugliness of my.mp3.com behind us” and “move forward in cooperation with the majors.”

Listen you jerk, you bought the solution you are looking for now in 2001, but were too (stupid? arrogant? ignorant? smart?) to realize it. Now you are giving advice to the mobile industry whose ringtone business has supported your sagging bottom line for the last 4 years on how to handle their consumers, and how you shouldn’t go to war with them. I know you didn’t go to college (neither did I really), but that one should be common sense. Trying to buddy up with the mobile industry now and seem hip to all your consumers who do what they want regardless of the whims of an entertainment tycoon will not work. How about you step up to the plate and do something real, like condemn the RIAA’s CONTINUING practice of suing your customers. Funny how you think its ok to make a lot of public statements on how pirating music is tantamount to evil, but you can mince words and beat around the bush when you are admitting you were wrong. Just say you were wrong, and then actually DO SOMETHING to correct the practice of “going to war with your customers.”

In the words of Michael Corleone, “I hope they will have the decency to clear my name with the same publicity with which they have now besmirched it.”

digital media, entertainment, file sharing / p2p, rant bronfman, itunes, music, riaa, warner

Popular TV streaming site TV Links has been shut down and the owner arrested. I won’t link to it here because someone has put up a typical domain parking page for the clueless traffic. Keep in mind this guy, who lives in the UK, wasn’t hosting any copyrighted content. He wasn’t stealing anything. He LINKED to streams that are publicly available on the internet. Hmm, who else links to copyrighted content? I would love to see them try and arrest Sergey and Larry for that shit.

As usual there are tons of TV Links replacement sites popping up, so nothing has been solved from a copyright protection standpoint, just the ruining of a young man’s life.

file sharing / p2p, geek stuff, rant

So I have been with T-Mobile for about 2 years, and today i got really fed up with them and since this is my only platform to vent here I go. I used to have the Sidekick 3, and the sidekick plan from T-Mobile is $19.99 with unlimited messaging, browsing, email, etc. I kicked that sidekick to the kurb and got the blackberry pearl, which I absolutely love. Switching phones meant switching plans to the unlimited blackberry plan, which at the time I had no idea didn’t include messaging, and they didn’t feel it was necessary to tell me that along with all the disclaimers and crap they make you listen to on those customer service calls.

I also have my plan on autopay, meaning my bill just gets paid on my credit card every month. So I usually don’t pay any attention to it, but last month my bill was over $400, so I started poking around. I was doing $250/mo in text messages! On top of that, my pearl crapped out on me this weekend. I could see that I was getting calls and who was calling me, but I couldn’t answer or call back. I could see I had texts, but I couldn’t read them. Now there is absolutely no way I can operate efficiently without my phone, so first thing this morning I went to a t-mobile store and got a pearl for the full retail of about $400.

*time for the only good part of this story*

Blackberrys rock. I plugged my old phone into my computer, clicked backup in the blackberry software, plugged my new phone in, and clicked restore. Viola! My wallpaper was back, my call logs, my texts, my phonebook, EVERYTHING. Awesome and just the way I would want it to work. Kudos to RIM.

So back to the shittyness of T-mobile, I called their customer service people and told them what had happened, and went over my billing history. Since January (when I switched from my sidekick), I had spent over $4000 with t-mobile! This is ridiculous. I got on with a supervisor and went over everything, and basically told them I didn’t really care about the money but spending $400 a month for a phone is just stupid, and if they didn’t figure out a way to make it more reasonable I would just leave. The lady went back and forth, then finally backdated a messaging plan on my account, and credited me $100. Wheeeeeeeeee. I hate t-mobile’s customer service but I am kind of having to accept the fact that all mobile companies suck and I should just be content with my new $120/mo unlimited plan. Now that I have vented, I think I can.

Read great essays on cell phones including one on cell phone history  at HistoricalTextArchive.com. 

geek stuff, mobile phones, rant