• lots of pictures: why the restrain? digital pics cost friggin' nothing, why when I inquire about a 750k euro house I receive three or four pictures? I'd send a hundred !! Why not a digital movie (equally free)? Why not a nice (and free) slideshow?

• long, detailed descriptions; even better, a full 3D model enabling a virtual visit by the prospective buyer. This full model of our summer house in St Raphael was created in about 2 hours with Sweet Home 3D, a cool and very easy to use freeware software. The resulting model can be viewed as a flat image as you are doing now or, if you install the software, navigated and visited at leisure.
  
  
  
  • tell me about where it is. As the adage says, the three most important characteristics of a property are location, location and location and it is nowadays very easy to show the precise location of a property: see for example this same house in Google Maps
    
    
  A universal marketplace
  This is not even a market in any modern sense: realtors have a very small stock of properties for sale in the immediate vicinity of where their store is. As a consequence, if the prospective buyer is on the market - as it is my case - for a house which could be anywhere is a list of perhaps 15-20 villages, I have to take the trouble of physically visiting 30-40 tiny realtors asking them the same questions over and over again; no wonder then I feel I am doing all the work - I am ! How will you convince me to pay you your commission if I feel I have done all the work?
  
  If however properties were listed in a unique marketplace, sellers would pay for sophisticated pre-sales services enhancing the marketability of their property and therefore its value. They would be assured that their property would be visible by ALL the prospective buyers, but how well it will sell would depend also on how effective the promotion is in catching th eye of the prospective buyers.
  
  And this would require in turn the pre-sales services of The value add would be obvious: the better the service, the more money you make and - consequently - more commission I'd be willing to pay to use the services of the more sophisticated realtors - come to think about it, why should they get all paid the same commission? Are we some kind of communist economy where retribution is independent of merit and quality of work?

• Download here the latest CAPT driver released by Canon, install it and restart
• Download here the new printer definition file for the LBP 2900, unzip it and copy it to the /Library/Printers/Canon/CAPT/Profile/Device folder.

• Download the complete CAPT folder from here, unzip it, rename your old /Library/Printers/Canon/CAPT to CAPT_OLD or something, then copy the downloaded folder in its place (this is a folder of some guy that got it to work on one of his machines, but was unable to replicate the procedure on another Mac, so he simply copied the folder over, and bam!)
• Install the CAPT driver you downloaded before

"Dork! Put the iSync app back into the main Applications folder to install this plugin"

• Will there be one more serving aisle ? (Petrol, Diesel, GPL, piss)
• Or maybe they will repurpose all of these foul-smelling urinals?
• Or maybe cars will come equipped with your own small receptacle (white, of course) for piss-refilling.
• Or - again - is this perhaps a new revenue stream for pub-owners ?

1. while the platform is a standard one (basically any recent cellphone), the sensor is not included. It would seem silly to imagine that in the future some cellphones are sold with a CO2 sensor, while others measure thin powders, so it is important that the sensor can be easily plugged into the spime - for example, data could flow through a simple Bluetooth connection (meaning that the sensor needs to be able to run the BT stack
2. in this interview with the OpenSpime founders, they explain that the coupling API is open, making it easy to write third party apps which use the data once it has been collected and geo/time tagged; they also talk about the SpimeID, which is a unique code making sure that the collected data are trustworthy; SpimeIDs are sold by OpenSpime (that's their revenue source) but I am not sure in which way this ID provides more trustworthiness than - for example - the equally unique MAC address most Internet capable phones (at least the ones which can do WiFi) have nowadays. Or the IMEI code every cellphone carries.
3. not all applications need spimed data - I have attempted to define the characteristics of the ones that truly stand to gain the most:
   ---> geographical micro-variations are important (in this respect, the CO2 measurement is probably NOT a good candidate, as the results which can be inferred by a spime collection are not significantly better than the ones coming from fixed sensors)
   ---> the quantity being measured varies rapidly with time (otherwise a fixed sensor with a discrete polling sequence would probably deliver the same information)
   ---> mobility plays a role (not sure about this one - maybe it's not mobility, but rather the opportunity to piggyback on the wide availability of spime platforms - which you don't have to pay for - to payload them with the sensor)
   ---> the feedback loop can be closed with an action whose effectiveness is as granular as the measurement; in other words, if all the spime app tells me that there is more CO2 in the center of Milan during rush hour than there is on top of the Pale di S.Martino all day long, I only remain confirmed in my long term goal to end my life above 2000 m of altitude
4. who's going to buy the sensors? who's gonna pay for data transmission? And if it's consumers, why ? In other words, what's in it for them?
5. what about privacy? How permanent is the SpimeID connection to the actual consumer, and who will have access to this information? Why should I trust OpenSpime, when most people don't trust Google?

1. Save on airfare, splurge on hotels - now, before I get accused of squandering the company's money (who's paying for getting my revered butt from A to B to C) I need to qualify this. I truly, honestly see no difference between a low cost flight and a standard one: I am taller than average, so I won't fit in either seat, food is forgettable, I don't drink much... But there is a huge difference in quality of life between an hotel at La Defense and my nice old style hotel just above the Montmartre cemetery (just because I happen to be in Paris tonight); so I will happily save a couple hundred on air and spend an extra fifty for the hotel.
2. Explore. Most meals when on business are additional opportunities to socialize and crap like this; or if you're visiting another office, the local people will bend over backwards to give you a taste of the local food. Which in most cases makes perfect sense: only an idiot would have refused the guidance of Liliana and Bogdan when I was in Bucharest,  but how many times have I been to Paris, or London? The worst thing you can do with a night by yourself is eating at the hotel restaurant. Go out, walk a couple of blocks and stick your nose in the first restaurant that catches your fancy. You won't be disappointed.
3. Avoid taxis. I am so childishly proud I can find my way in the Paris or London metro, I am beginning to work on Dusseldorf and Munich; in the age of portable navigators (did I tell you how I love my N95 for that ?) it's almost impossible to get lost; when in the US, drive! Rent a banger and find your way (NOT in New York, though, I did that once and ended up spending countless hours in lines and a fortune in parking tickets).

Oh, right. One more thing. This is the last Uncov. Ever. I have been getting tired of it, and this has been manifesting itself in my writing. After seeing the spectacle at the Crunchies, I think it's finally time to quit.

• the processor is the crawling 1.6 Intel Core 2 Duo - if you want the 1.8 GHz (still slower than the slowest of the regular MacBooks, not to mention MB Pros) you have to accept to be gouged with the madly expensive 64 gig solid state drive (see below)
• the lame duck 80 gig hard drive is 4200 RPM (significantly slower than the regular 5400RPM MBP hard drives, and almost half the speed of my 7200RPM drive)
• I thought - should you want to splurge - you could always top-up the hard drive with the pricey solid state 64 gig drive. Except you can't. Either one or the other
• The 2 gig RAM cannot be upgraded to 4
• Battery is NUR (iPod style)
• apparently (but this is something I read around) the screen glare is uncomfortable
• One USB port; no Ethernet, no Firewire

Companies hoping to use social networking to sell products should set aside part of their marketing budget to "court" influential members of forums and groups, [...]  known as "super-advocates"

But marketing departments have to be cautious. "Unfortunately, the reason that people are attracted to social networks in the first place is that reliance on user-generated content is seen as relatively free of traditional corporate content and advertising," the report says. "If users perceive that a social network is becoming 'polluted' they will leave and the evidence suggests that this can happen extremely quickly.

Oh, c'mon ! Respect for authors and books is not embodied in the physical objectivity of the printed word - otherwise Gutemberg should have been the biggest enemy of the printed [it should say "written", here] word, instead of its greatest hero.

Don't think of the people (like Nick and many here, including myself) whose bookshelves are bulging with thousands of books. [hey, I'm a white hat, I posted this on this very blog!]

Think of the free-press commuters who read an average  of 0.75 books per year. [sorry, it's a made-up statistic]

Think of european college students and their back-breaking backpacks.

Think of all those times I'd gladly catch an essay or a novel when stuck in an airport lounge.

Think of how ridiculous I was carrying around "A new kind of science" for a whole summer.

You guys are whining as if traditional books all of sudden were forbidden. Get a grip, boys!

Sure it could change the way people read, maybe enticing more of them to read more, which by any measure it's A GOOD THING.

Except it won't.

It won't because of DRM (and a few minor design problems), it won't because of price, it won't because its butt-fugly appearance will not turn it into a cult object, but rather into the Prius of ebook readers.

What a shame !

• light - as in "light like a paperback" - enough to hold with a single hand
• small - as in "small like a paperback" - enough to slip in a coat's pocket
• decent screen - I want to read about 2,500 11-point characters before I need to turn a page, but I'd also love resizable text because I'm not getting any younger
• readable in full light
• instant on
• a search function, both at book and bookshelf level
• enough storage to carry a decent stock of books (at about 1 MB apiece, a 16GB solid state device should carry 10,000+ books)
• a screen protector that doesn't get in the way when you're reading and which you cannot lose
• decent battery life, like a couple of day's worth, and please allow for USB charging (oh, and automatic turning itself off after XX mins of inactivity
• a smart solution to buy books (I expect a tight integrated package like the iPod + iTunes combo); off the air would be fantastic for those long hours in airport lounges
• no DRM crap
• no Windows

Some may be wondering why Amazon is de-focusing and entering into something that is far from its DNA as an e-commerce service. To respond to that question, take a look at the table below, which compares some financial data of Internet bigcos:

Company	Net Profit Margin (%)	2006 Annual Revenue ($M)	Market Capitalization ($B)
Google	29.02	10,604.92	210
eBay	18.86	5,969.74	50
Yahoo	9.96	6,425.68	45
Amazon	1.77	10,711.00	37

In terms of 2006 annual revenue, Amazon is even stronger than Google and well ahead of the others. However, in terms of market capitalization, it is ranked only 4th. That's because of Amazon's more traditional, less technology intensive business model - which pushes their net profit margin down with high inventory costs.
That's why, in order to remain strong, Amazon is investing more and more in technology - which will increase its net profit margin.

• no registration or "free account" crap
• minimalist interface (remember the reason we loved Google ?)
• select a file, select an expiry time, hit Upload
• send the link you get to the other guy/gal
• the download begins immediately as soon as s/he gets the link from you
• max 100 megs
• max 1 week

1. Storage packages growing larger: as the quantity of storage we need grows exponentially, portable drives will increase in size accordingly: I think an order of magnitude every five years is reasonable; I also think we'll see a corresponding increase in connection speeds: the fastest transfer speed are currently achieved by IEEE1394b devices (800 Mbit/s), with which it takes about 3 hours to transfer 1TB - should these drives increase in size a hundredfold, we must expect connection interfaces to speed up, to at least 50GBit/s.
2. Move to solid state: in parallel, expect solid state memory to grow as fast if not faster: solid state holds two great advantages over magnetic disk: shock invulnerability and lower power consumption. 4GB memory card are now fairly common also in telephones or camcorders, so we can assume we'll have 0,5TB cards around the fifty euro/dollar price point in maybe ten years. At that point, portable computers will pack maybe 200 gig of solid state memory, forget about moving disks altogether and rely on the household storage facility (see #3) for large volumes.
3. Storage-enabling of houses: as more and more information becomes digital, storage will become a fixture of everyday objects; in fact, it will probably evolve into a HSF (for House Storage Facility), into which all storage-using appliances will plug in, perhaps through the IP-over-powerline domestic network. Hence, TVs will not need their own storage devices anymore, nor will home computers: it will be much easier and cheaper to install  a fully-redunded petabyte HSF in the basement of a new or retrofitted house, and to have it optionally backed up every night to some central service provider; the house electrical system will feature HSF ports alongside the electrical plugs  to connect portable storage (e.g. thumbdrives or iPods).
4. Houses as nodes of the Social Network: this will turbocharge CGM even more, as now we have humongous masses of content, all digital, all share-able, all securely stashed away and ready to be published on the net: all you need to do is to slap an Apache on our HSF and firewall it to the incoming 20 MBit/s pipe. Our home servers will become the nodes of the new Social Network and will be fed every time we unload a picture from a camera or buy a movie or a song, or shoot a video of our kids. Of course we'll be able to protect as much as we want of our own lives from sharing with others: privacy will become a proactive rather than a reactive behaviour, but it will retain all the importance it has now. The interesting thing in this scenario is that it creates a replica of the real life based on storage clusters: sharing becomes the act of connecting the already existing storage clusters, allowing individuals from cluster "A" to access the data belonging to individuals of the "B" cluster.
   
   -----------------------------------
   Note *
   In the last 15 years, technology has increased the areal density of bits on a magnetoresistive surface by an average of 60% per year. Assuming that this rate continues (i.e. no major technology breakthroughs), one can imagine that the cost of 1 petabyte of storage will drop well below EUR 100 by the year 2017.

From: refunds@2checkout.com
Date: 09/10/2007 13.27

To: gianni.catalfamo@pleon.con
cc
Subject: 2CO Transaction Modified

A credit/refund has been issued on the following order.

Sale:   3819680007  Amount: 199.00  

Additional comments: Order made by mistake.


A refund can be issued by 2Checkout for various reasons, including:

1 ) Requested by the cardholder.
2 ) Requested by the vendor.
3 ) Failed internal fraud checking.

Your refund should appear on your credit card/bank statement within the
next 7-10 days.

• include A-GPS capability in every handset and all of sudden you can build a social network where I know where my buddies are right now and can organize the evening without a need for a computer or a clumsy handheld browser
• sign up for mobile couponing and get eligible for discounts by nearby bars or discos

1. Why do you refuse to provide the interoperability information needed to the marketplace? I mean, here's a decision by a Court of Justice with which you're refusing to comply, even to the price of 1.5 million dollars of fine PER FRIGGIN' DAY !
2. You have spent more than 3.5 Billion dollars (yes, billions, enough to fund a medium size acquisition) in litigation settlements over the past four years. How do you explain this to your stakeholders, customers and partners? (Answer: they don't and some shareholders have been complaining bitterly)
3. I keep hearing your executives saying you will "take over the Internet" - what do they mean by this?
4. You own the office apps market - yet I have to look at Apple to find a truly innovative alternative to stale old Powerpoint. What are you doing to revitalize your bread and butter profit-making machine?
5. Let's be frank - if new, sexy software products where whizzing out of your door, most of this trouble wouldn't even make news. And now Google are making a serious stab at your cash cows - what are you going to do about this ?

Technology journalists at all job levels across the spectrum of media, including newspapers, business press, consumer, trade publications, broadcast and online were surveyed. The following are some of the results:

• When asked: "Has social media impacted your stories or the way you cover news?" a plurality of 40% said "Yes" with 10% of respondents selecting "I feel as if I have a new job now."
• 78% read blogs
• A plurality of 49% read just 1-3 blogs and most consult blogs several times a day.
• 31% regard bloggers as credible sources.
• 35% maintain their own blog.
• 67% cite blogs in their articles.
• Search engines were the top ranked means for researching companies and trends.
• Most prefer to get information from companies or agencies via email, with relatively few rating RSS as important.
• More journalists ranked company websites as being important for article research, while podcasts ranked relatively low. The majority were neutral on blogs, Wikis and videocasts.

• the email transmitting the press release to the journalist will be a one-liner linking back to the release - you can't get any lighter than that. Or can you ? (more later)
• the release itself is equally light as all multimedia are stored in picture sharing or video sharing services (in this case Picasa and YouTube, but it'd work equally well with, say, Flickr and Metacafe); the facilities to download the pictures or the video are provided by the industrial strength of the platforms themselves, but even more importantly, they are offered in a manner that makes use by the journalist a snap.
• On the right hand sidebar you see slideshows of other pictures of the products - no more calling the press office to find other pictures: they're all there for you to browse and/or download and/or embed in your article.
• The release is as rich in external links as we want - in our fictitious example we simply linked some entries in Wikipedia, but of course we could link back to technical papers on the company's corporate site of other background materials available online.
• And, should you want to do that, you can obviously comment on the release itself there and then.

• My sense of taste is greatly altered - I eat all right, but there's hardly any pleasure in doing so.
• Any touch however light or delicate to the area from my nose down is unpleasant.
• I cannot smile nor laugh. Facial expressivity in general is still impaired.
• I cannot kiss (or be kissed).
• The control of my lower lip is still somewhat unreliable.
• I have started chewing gum (which I never liked) simply to get more exercise to the damn jaw muscles, and I think it's helping.
• Brushing my teeth is an outright unpleasant affair, with the added complication that I never know if my teeth "feel" clean, and I end up brushing compulsively every couple of hours.

As many as 38% of those who rely mostly on the internet for news say they have an unfavorable opinion of cable news networks such as CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC, compared with 25% of the public overall, and just 17% of television news viewers.

We'll be trying out a mechanism for publishing comments from a special subset of readers: those people or organizations who were actual participants in the story in question. Our long-term vision is that any participant will be able to send in their comments, and we'll show them next to the articles about the story. Comments will be published in full, without any edits, but marked as "comments" so readers know it's the individual's perspective, rather than part of a journalist's report.

Yahoo will announce new tools for online advertising today that could pull the company ahead in the race for what is called "behavioral targeting," that is, the ability to better tailor online advertisements to the people most likely to buy.

The product, Yahoo SmartAds, would help marketers create custom advertisements on the fly, using information on individual buyers and information on real prices and availability from the vendors. For example, a person who had recently searched for information about blenders might see an ad from Target that gives the prices for the blenders that are on the shelves in the store closest to that person's home.

The Internet has long promised this kind of one-to-one marketing, but it has often been difficult for advertisers to customize display advertisements with a broad reach.

"Ad agencies have been really struggling with how to scale the value proposition of the Internet," said Todd Teresi, senior vice president of display marketplaces at Yahoo. "We now can get scaleable one-to-one marketing."

The announcement of SmartAds also comes while Yahoo is recovering from an extensive reshuffling in the executive offices, including the departure of its chief executive, Terry S. Semel, and Wenda Harris Millard, the company's longtime chief sales officer. Yahoo has struggled to catch up with Google in search advertising and has disappointed investors with its ad sales the past few quarters.

SmartAds is one attempt to catch up. Although the technology is complex, the goal of SmartAds is simple: show the right advertisement to the right person at just the moment that he is about to pull out his wallet to make a purchase.

SmartAds is being tested on Yahoo's network of sites - which includes local newspapers as well as its own portal - by two major airlines, although Mr. Teresi would not name them. He said the system will be offered to other industries in the coming months, including automobile companies and retailers in the fall.

The technology will also be applied for free across advertisements bought on Right Media, the online ad exchange that Yahoo purchased this spring (although the deal is still pending). The new feature may give Right Media a competitive advantage over other exchanges - like a new one created by DoubleClick, the online company that Google agreed to purchase for $3.1 billion in April. (The Google-DoubleClick merger is pending an antitrust review by the Federal Trade Commission.)

This is how Yahoo's new system works: the advertiser (or its agency) would provide Yahoo with the components of its display ads - including the logos, tag lines and images. The retailer would share information from its inventory databases that track the items on the shelves in each of its stores. Next, Yahoo would combine that data with the information it has about its users' demographics and actions online to create a product-specific advertisement.

For airlines, SmartAds uses Yahoo's information about its Web surfers to create display advertisements for each person that feature ticket offers with actual prices listed. In time, Yahoo plans to offer rich media advertisements where users can buy the ticket at that price right within the ad unit, rather than having to click through to another Web site.

Mr. Teresi said Yahoo hopes to work directly with creative agencies as they design their online advertisements. Large advertisers, he said, can buy entire sites, and Yahoo will step in to create the right advertisement for individual consumers.

"We're doing real-time creative assembly that leverages what we know about our audience," Mr. Teresi said. "You can buy the entire Wall Street Journal site, and when a female shows up, we will create a different ad or when someone from New York shows up, another one."

Display advertisements have lagged behind search and text advertisements in the ability to send consumers specific product messages. Instead, much of display advertising online has been brand messaging. Yahoo's new product may help ad agencies begin thinking of display ads differently, said David W. Kenny, chairman and chief executive of Digitas, a digital agency in the Publicis Groupe.

"This fills a need that some advertisers have needed for a while - applying personalization to display ads, so they work like search and listing ads," Mr. Kenny said. "Yahoo has a real advantage in SmartAds because of the data from their big and engaged audience, the combination of deep display and improving search capabilities, and the new changes to work with us at the technology level instead of just selling inventory."

Why is this relevant ? I think the money quote is this "the advertiser (or its agency) would provide Yahoo with the components of its display ads - including the logos, tag lines and images. The retailer would share information from its inventory databases that track the items on the shelves in each of its stores. Next, Yahoo would combine that data with the information it has about its users' demographics and actions online to create a product-specific advertisement." If the technology performs as promised, this means that also banner ads and other forms of graphical display ads will have the opportunity of contextual adaptation, so that each visitor to a page gets displayed an ad that reflects his/her behavior and interests.

This is exciting because it opens up the possibility of using more creative, richer forms of advertisements to make a Company's Value Strategy known to consumers in a CGM environment.

Attentive readers of this blog (ha !) will remember that connecting consumers to your Value Strategy is the essential element of t he "Connection" leg of any CGM strategy (the other being "Insight", getting to know your consumers better) - so far this was possible through a whole roster of engagement techniques, but the advertising element was mostly limited to keyword advertising: of course the devil is always in the details, and the secret to Google's success is not only the sheer idea, but (and maybe mostly) also how well the profiling works.

So we need to see this newest addition to the arsenal at work on the battlefield, but the promise is surely exciting!]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/0307200710.23.30GCABUR.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0307200710.23.30GCABUR.htm?opendocument&comments Sun, 1 Jul 2007 16:34:07 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/3006200716.34.07GCAK4E.htm Polyarthitic Geek Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/3006200716.34.07GCAK4E.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/3006200716.34.07GCAK4E.htm
Early in the week I find I keep spitting stitches when I brush my teeth, which probably means healing is more or less done.

Coming back from St-Raphael where the family has moved I forget elastics and my big tweezers there, dammit ! At home I get some more elastics, but standard tweezers is too small and smooth, putting them on is now truly difficult..

Oh, and I finally got hold of the oh-so-horrible pics of me doctors took before the operation - gawd, I look so ugly I was tempted to just drop them in the bin, but then my blogging conscience (is there such a thing ?) took over, and here they are.

Go ahead, say it ! ]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/3006200716.34.07GCAK4E.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/3006200716.34.07GCAK4E.htm?opendocument&comments Sat, 30 Jun 2007 16:43:10 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/3006200716.43.10GCAKA2.htm Digital Life Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/3006200716.43.10GCAKA2.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/3006200716.43.10GCAKA2.htm DVD Jon reports it took him and a friend a total of five minutes to buy one in SF.

RSJ will be pissed to hear there aren't enough suckers out there ready to drop $600 for his underfeatured creature to mop up stocks.

UPDATE: exactly !]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/3006200716.43.10GCAKA2.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/3006200716.43.10GCAKA2.htm?opendocument&comments Wed, 27 Jun 2007 08:33:20 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2706200708.33.19GCA9PV.htm Digital Life Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2706200708.33.19GCA9PV.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2706200708.33.19GCA9PV.htm some Nokia board member going out on a limb and dissing the iPhone. Wait, that's Fake Steve Jobs reporting, maybe I should check my sources better... (Stefano, a relative ?)

Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how people vote with their wallets, but hard to see how ANY product could live up to that kind of hype...

On my part, I'm just wating for ShoZu to release a version for my N95. Content over form. ]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/2706200708.33.19GCA9PV.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2706200708.33.19GCA9PV.htm?opendocument&comments Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:20:35 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2506200720.20.33GCAPHW.htm Fun Stuff Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2506200720.20.33GCAPHW.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2506200720.20.33GCAPHW.htm this is not very techie, but still I love the reference to "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fans who hate themselves"]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/2506200720.20.33GCAPHW.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2506200720.20.33GCAPHW.htm?opendocument&comments Mon, 25 Jun 2007 15:42:59 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2506200715.42.58GCAJ4E.htm CGM Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2506200715.42.58GCAJ4E.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2506200715.42.58GCAJ4E.htm causticTech. It is unusual and good, but posts are few and far between, so don't get hurried]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/2506200715.42.58GCAJ4E.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2506200715.42.58GCAJ4E.htm?opendocument&comments Sun, 24 Jun 2007 10:03:21 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2106200710.03.19GCABG6.htm Polyarthitic Geek Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2106200710.03.19GCABG6.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2106200710.03.19GCABG6.htm
On wed I leave for Vienna, for our yearly Summer School event; it's only an hour's flight and, braces notwithstanding, security doesn't blink an eye. Apparently I am not bionic enough to worry them :-D

The bad news is that the aircraft is one of those crappy regional small airplanes, and, to boot, it's not turboprop but jet. I hate those - true turboprops are noisier, but they don't fly as high as jets and in those small tinboxes pressurization is always subpar: when we start our descent, I get a visit from my old friend barometric sinusitis. If you have tried, you know how effective she is in getting ALL of your attention, if you haven't, be happy..

I used to suffer from that nasty problem about 15-20 years ago, and it was really driving me crazy: those last 20 minutes of each flight were so painful that had a door been open, I'd jump off the plane without hesitation. Unrelenting blades orf raw pain shred your upper skull and orbital area, pressure seems to mount inside your head and no amount of compensation does anything to relieve what feels like someone driving glass shards in your head. God, that is awful !

The fix was then several sessions of acupuncture, who did something to relieve the muscular knots that prevented my skull bones to move ever so slightly to allow pressure to distribute evenly: after that fix I never had that problem again, so I guess I need to repeat the procedure. My surgeon confirms on thursday that it is OK to do so even if my bones haven't completely healed, so I'll look for my old acupuncturist as soon as I return.

Talking of return, I need to look into other alternatives: surgeon sez not to worry, just gulp a ton of painkillers before the flight, but if there is a nice train from Vienna, I'll sure be tempted...]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/2106200710.03.19GCABG6.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2106200710.03.19GCABG6.htm?opendocument&comments Fri, 22 Jun 2007 00:20:41 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2206200700.20.36GCAU7X.htm Digital Life Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2206200700.20.36GCAU7X.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2206200700.20.36GCAU7X.htm Here. Enjoy.

Updated: now complete with downtown Vienna photowalk and Leopold Museum visit (Klimt, Schiele, yumm !) ]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/2206200700.20.36GCAU7X.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2206200700.20.36GCAU7X.htm?opendocument&comments Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:26:32 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/1906200715.26.32GCAHS5.htm Digital Life Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/1906200715.26.32GCAHS5.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/1906200715.26.32GCAHS5.htm I had this for two months, now !

Yawn !

P.S. the noise canceling thing is insanely great, though ! It really is !]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/1906200715.26.32GCAHS5.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/1906200715.26.32GCAHS5.htm?opendocument&comments Mon, 18 Jun 2007 16:19:53 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/1806200716.19.52GCAJTH.htm The Web Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/1806200716.19.52GCAJTH.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/1806200716.19.52GCAJTH.htm here. I must say I believe this figure. Anything a company with the visibility of Apple pushes out is bound to attract masses of that size, if nothing else to kick tires and see how it stacks against more entrenched competition such as Firefox or Opera.

That is not to say Safari for Windows has a million users: in fact Firefox has been downloaded 363,237,473 times (at the time of writing), yet its market share hovers at less than 15%, or maybe 100 million active users as many people (around three quarters of them, according to these stats) after having tested it perhaps out of curiosity find it's not good enough to switch from what they have.

If anything, I think the sustainable conversion rate of Safari will be even lower than Firefox', as the incentive NOT to use software from Microsoft that motivated some users is now adequately satisfied by FF or Opera, so Safari will needs to slug it out on features.

And as someone who uses Safari on my Mac, I honestly think its feature set is on a par with FF or Opera - in fact, I think Opera is the best of the three, at least on the Mac; fast quick, small - the only little problem might be the compatibility of some sites, but hey, the same goes for Safari.

So the question I'd ask El Jobso is whether this is really worth the effort - does the world need another browser? I don't think so.]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/1806200716.19.52GCAJTH.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/1806200716.19.52GCAJTH.htm?opendocument&comments Sun, 17 Jun 2007 13:29:38 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/1506200713.29.33GCAFH3.htm Polyarthitic Geek Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/1506200713.29.33GCAFH3.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/1506200713.29.33GCAFH3.htm
Surgeon explained that everything is according to the plan, but the repositioning and training of muscles is significant and wants no risks; he did agree however to remove the elastic bands during the day, but that is really of no real advantage as it does not affect the painful part. He encourages limited use of painkillers when I need to talk for extended periods of time and says I ought to start eating more or less anything I want. There is no denying that this is NOT what I expected, but not much I can do.

The doctor also agrees to bend inwards a few of the most offending spikes, so this eases some of the pain in a couple of badly damaged areas.

On wed and thu I have pretty talk - intensive days, esp on thursday when I need to speak in front of about 30 senior executives at a client meeting, so I opt for a selective use of painkillers (which obviously won't do any good to my stomach but hey, one problem at a time); so on thursday I perform actually pretty well, even if at the end I am rather exhausted.

On the plus side I can tell the lower lip is improving - it is incredible how you become able to discern even incredibly tiny progresses, which in turn casts a discouraging light on the vastity of the recovery process.

This also means doing Vienna with this stuff on, which is a shame, but again... ]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/1506200713.29.33GCAFH3.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/1506200713.29.33GCAFH3.htm?opendocument&comments Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:30:03 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200714.29.56GCAGNT.htm Guitar Masters Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200714.29.56GCAGNT.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200714.29.56GCAGNT.htm
No top hat, sorry]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/0306200714.29.56GCAGNT.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200714.29.56GCAGNT.htm?opendocument&comments Sun, 10 Jun 2007 12:54:03 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200712.54.01GCAEST.htm Guitar Masters Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200712.54.01GCAEST.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200712.54.01GCAEST.htm
Aerosmith's "Dream On" - take a rock band, and squeeze it into a 6-string classical guitar. Respect.


Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" - forgive the rude audience]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/0306200712.54.01GCAEST.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200712.54.01GCAEST.htm?opendocument&comments Sun, 10 Jun 2007 10:55:48 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0506200710.55.48GCACGY.htm Polyarthitic Geek Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0506200710.55.48GCACGY.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0506200710.55.48GCACGY.htm On monday as promised the bite goes off! My mouth feels very strange, none of my teeth seems to be where I remembered it, but this is not uncommon (remember the funny feeling when one of your teeth gets encapsulated? Think that times 32, so it will take a while to get used to it)

On monday night I eat, for the first time in three weeks ! Takes me forever, but I refuse to give up, I regard this as exercising some muscles that have been lazying for a while...

Note to self: tomorrow please remove the bands before eating and put them back on afterwards. Anyway the simple experience of eating with the rest of the family does a great deal to make me feel "healed" again; it's still a bit messy, but a positive if funny feeling.

I am beginning to control my lower lip (sort of, only basic-basic movements) and this helps a lot with the drooling, which is almost gone.
Gone out a full evening today, resuming my role as teacher (?) at our church for soon-to-be-married couples. This involves a lot of speaking, which is tiresome, but on the other hand you got to restart all of these things.

Eating is still a challenge, but I put it down to a couple of nasty spikes that keep scraping the inside of my mouth when I move the jaw, so that should go away on tuesday with the removal of the braces.

I oscillate between elation and depression, the latter due to the realisation that complete healing is a long way off: yes, on tuesday the hardware goes, but I still feel nothing in my lower lip or chin areas and the gums are not in much better shape; also the jaw muscles seem to get tired very easily which possibly has to do with the new way the jaw moves.]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/0506200710.55.48GCACGY.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0506200710.55.48GCACGY.htm?opendocument&comments Fri, 8 Jun 2007 13:41:16 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200713.41.12GCAFQB.htm Guitar Masters Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200713.41.12GCAFQB.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200713.41.12GCAFQB.htm
"Layla" (with Mark Knopfler)]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/0306200713.41.12GCAFQB.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200713.41.12GCAFQB.htm?opendocument&comments Thu, 7 Jun 2007 18:59:15 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0706200718.59.12GCAMX3.htm Fun Stuff Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0706200718.59.12GCAMX3.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0706200718.59.12GCAMX3.htm

or these two are the same person ?
Can't be. Peter Boyle unfortunately left us december 12, 2006. RIP.]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/0706200718.59.12GCAMX3.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0706200718.59.12GCAMX3.htm?opendocument&comments Thu, 7 Jun 2007 12:26:21 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0706200712.26.21GCAE9J.htm CGM Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0706200712.26.21GCAE9J.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0706200712.26.21GCAE9J.htm this. He's right.
He also suggests every kid that does a 6 months stage at Pleon should learn this by heart. He's right again.
I will add that I'd hope some clients would read it as well.

Go ahead and read. I'll be asking questions later.]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/0706200712.26.21GCAE9J.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0706200712.26.21GCAE9J.htm?opendocument&comments Thu, 7 Jun 2007 10:22:04 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0706200710.22.03GCABTV.htm Digital Life Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0706200710.22.03GCABTV.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0706200710.22.03GCABTV.htm
But it might be a sign of the desperate need to pour silicon in other corners of our houses, it may be creativity gone berserk: here's Microsoft coming up with the wackiest of schemes, after Surface, please welcome Kitchen.

Don't laugh, oh ignorant masses, it's NOT a prank!

They are thinking family calendars, recipes (to be shared with whom?) and shared bulletin boards: imagine being able to post simple to do items and having Microsoft Kitchen send an SMS to your husband/wife "honey, remember to buy the milk on the way home" - maybe you will be able to turn a "beeeyotch" feature on to complain because s/he is late.

On the other hand, if they come up with a Microsoft Bedroom, he could program his calendar to ask her calendar whether they can make out tonight. She in turn could program an "Headache tonight, leave me alone" automatic response.

Enough to give a luddite serious wood.]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/0706200710.22.03GCABTV.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0706200710.22.03GCABTV.htm?opendocument&comments Wed, 6 Jun 2007 14:11:27 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200714.11.23GCAGB7.htm Guitar Masters Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200714.11.23GCAGB7.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200714.11.23GCAGB7.htm
"Romeo and Juliet"


"Sultans of Swing" (10 minutes +)


"Money for nothing"  (check out the lineup: Eric Clapton, Elton John... jeez !)]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/0306200714.11.23GCAGB7.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200714.11.23GCAGB7.htm?opendocument&comments Tue, 5 Jun 2007 13:04:05 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200713.04.02GCAEZ4.htm Guitar Masters Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200713.04.02GCAEZ4.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200713.04.02GCAEZ4.htm
"Living in the country" ]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/0306200713.04.02GCAEZ4.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/0306200713.04.02GCAEZ4.htm?opendocument&comments Sun, 3 Jun 2007 21:34:00 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2805200711.34.56GCAD9D.htm Polyarthitic Geek Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2805200711.34.56GCAD9D.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2805200711.34.56GCAD9D.htm After a brave attempt, I decide to work from home as the logistic challenges (starting with the fact I cannot drive) are too big. I attend meetings when I have to, but then return to my carefully engineered working station.

• 80 gig mass storage (solid state only for power economy)
• a flexible (rollable display) like the one above
• a laser virtual keyboard

WEDNESDAY, DAY 1

TUESDAY, DAY 0

MONDAY, DAY -1

PROLOGUE

I suffer from Polyarthrtitis since I was two. At that age, it is a rather uncommon affection, so it took doctors about 10 to 12 years to finally decide it was it; while they were settling the dispute, they were treating me for a wide variety of illnesses with similar symptoms: intense joint pain and inflammation, progressive and rapid deformation of joints, high fevers - all of this probably accompanied by such robust doses of wailing by the subject to make you realize why Spartans found easier to deal with such conditions by throwing the poor child off mount Taigetus.

For the scientific-minded among readers, PA works by eating away at that precious slicker-than-teflon membrane that coats your joints, called carthilago: when there is no more carthilago left, the joint grinds bare bone or bare bone which is both intensely painful and disfunctional.

Anyway by the age of fifteen my PA had substantially reached a stable phase: it had deprived me of the use of my wrists, had made my finger joints materially weaker but still working, ditto for feet and ankles and left me with a marked lower jaw ipoplasy: in other words, no chin.

Not bad for someone that used to be stuck in bed for whole months' stretches as a child. As a result, I lead a largely normal adolescency and youth: I played football, I skied, I went rock-climbing and bycicling, albeit usually with subpar results.

However, PA is an astute illness: it will throw your way a very attractive decoy, so it will continue to work elsewhere undisturbed. In my case it was first the knees, then the wrists. Wrists have always been a source of worry for me. Even after giving up a career of professional wrist-wrestler (kidding!) there are MANY activities where the lack of wrist force or dexterity becomes a real impediment: from opening bottles of mineral water, to lacing your shoes, to buttoning your shirt or knotting your tie, and I could go on forever.

The usual alarm bell my body throws off when it meets such a situation is localized bouts of impossible to ignore pain: you hit a bump when bycicling and pass out from wrist pain; luckily, it it is also very easy to deal with: episodes such as this spontaneaously subside in a few minutes, and any more chronical evening crises due to the many strains of the day can usually be fixed by nothing more sophisticated that generous doses of aspirin.

As a result I am a world expert at opening revolving doors with my elbows, or to spot always the lighter and more ergonomic trolley bags or backpacks, and any advertisement announcing how IBM shaved off another third of a pound from their latest Thinkpad is enough to attract my attention; miraculously typing is not one of the painful activities, while handwriting decidedly is which may have been one of the reasons I took on computers early on.

Little I knew that all of my research and attention focused on wrists was allowing the little bastard to continues its disruptive work on the unassumed (and pain-free) area of the lower jaw, which it basically went on deforming by making it smaller and smaller. The work was rather done by not allowing the jawbone to grow with the rest of the face; age-induced relaxation of throat tissues doing the rest and condemning this condition to worsen over time.

I have always loved driving fast cars (how unusual for a boy !) and enjoyed my fair share of speeding tickets, temporary license revokings and a few accidents; but a couple of years ago, when I was driving to the airport to catch an early flight to Stuttgart I crashed blindly on the car ahead - luckily the speed was low because of traffic and nothing was damaged except miles of german metal, but the reason was not difficult to interpret: I had fallen sound asleep while driving. Now, many people now me for short sleeps, but that happened after a relatively peaceful fullnight and so threw off an alarm bell as big as a house and prompted a full sleep analysis session which immediately diagnosed me with OSAS, short for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome: when not enough oxygen reaches your brain, that smart organ wakes you up; this happens to everybody several times during the night without even consciously fully waking up, but in my case it turned out it was happening an average of 62 times PER HOUR.

I thought I slept, but I didn't - and God only knew for how long this had been going on .

The organic reason was equally simple to diagnose: the progressive ungrowth of the lower jaw had diminished the gauge of my trachea from the average of 10 to 12 millimeters to about 3.5.

There are both an interim and a definitive solution to the problem: the interim one is a little pump (CPAP - continuous positive air pressure) that forces air down your throat and nose - you wear it at night and this ensures adequate oxygen supply, But due to its mechanical nature, after a few years it tears your throat apart and so it is mainly used for elder patients. The defintive one is to surgically reposition the lower jaw, a two-and-a-half hour affair whereby they cut the jaw bone in two points and insert little titanium plaques to extend it. This is all done internally, as it is the rage now, making healing much easier and faster.

In my case, this otherwise straightforward procedure was met by a stopgap problem due to the presence on an embedded wisdom tooth exactly where the bone had to be cut, which meant a further three months delay to allow the body to absorb the shock of the tooth removal (itself a rather messy and bloody affair) and bone reformation .

And so on a nice monday morning in may, the actual operation can begin.

5 hygiene rules for Corporates
approaching Consumer Generated Media

1. Never attempt to change the nature of Consumer Generated Media. They are not Traditional Media, nor they want to be.
2. Listen, for Heaven's sake. This is sane, safe and consensual - and makes good business sense, too.
3. Tread carefully when you try to influence them. Not individually, but many of them are WAY more knowledgeable than you'll ever be as to what is traceable and what not. If it's worth it, they'll expose it.
4. If you engage them, do so openly. Don't pose, don't attempt to pretend you're an individual insead of a Communications department. Yes, of course they'll complain, they'll say that they want to speak to "the man" (whoever he/she is), but if you have interesting stuff to contribute, they'll listen.
5. If you engage them, do so continuously. One post or one response smells too much of adding a blog to the press release mailing list. Not good.

Both will soldier on, as sources among many other sources, and if they proffer or produce something that is entertaining, maybe some will stop by and be entertained. But it will never return to the way it used to be. Just ask the record companies.

• 3G
• GPS
• 5MP camera
• 30 fps video limited only by memory card size
• straight MP3 play (no messing around with iTunes)
• 2.5" LCD

COPYRIGHT COME MOLLA PER LO SVILUPPO E L'INNOVAZIONE, PERCHE' IL NOSTRO PAESE NON LO VUOLE CAPIRE ?

Nel "controcorrente" di oggi su Il Sole 24 ore non è tanto la banale e populistica posizione anticopyright a soprendere ma la la totale assenza di qualsiasi conoscenza, da parte dell'estensore dell'articolo, dei meccanismi di gestione dei diritti e perfino dei soggetti che producono contenuti.. Si confonde SIAE, che è una società degli autori ed editori, che rappresenta un monopolio ex-lege, con le case discografiche, che sono invece "clienti" di SIAE, in quanto da essa acquistano diritti e che operano nel libero mercato in competizione tra loro (esistono più major musicali attive in Italia rispetto alle società di telefonia...) . Si confonde l'associazione dell'industria discografica americana RIAA con la stessa SIAE, e quindi produttori con autori (come se FIEG e FNSI fossero la stessa cosa ad esempio) Mi chiedo, ma come è possibile un serio dibattito, se mancano le basi più elementari ?

Detto questo vale la pena di citare due recenti dati presentati al Senato USA il 30 gennaio scorso (Copyright Industries in the U.S. Economy: The 2006 Report) e che confermano quanto rilevante sia l'industria della proprietà intellettuale per l'economia americana.  Il core business delle industrie che producono copyright ha prodotto solo nel 2005, 819 miliardi di dollari, ovvero il 6,56 % del PIL degli Stati Uniti. Le industrie che producono copyright hanno contribuito per il 12,96% alla crescita dell'intera economia americana e che tale contributo è stato il doppio del valore dello stesso comparto (6,56%) sull'intero PIL

Molto interessante inoltre, le industrie che producono copyright negli Stati Uniti hanno assorbito l' 8,49% in più di lavoratori nel 2005 con un incremento della retribuzione che è stato all'incirca del 40 % superiore alla retribuzione media di un lavoratore negli Stati Uniti.
Per non parlare del contributo all'export di tali industrie, che ormai ha raggiunto i 110.8 miliardi di dollari, superando molte industrie "tradizionali".

E l'Italia ? Il nostro Paese sta perdendo il treno dell'innovazione e le industrie creative che producono contenuti sono lasciate al proprio destino, proprio in una fase strategica essenziale, dove le nuove tecnologie consentirebbero, ad esempio, all'industria musicale, di essere competitiva con l'offerta globale e conquistare market share grazie alle nuove reti digitali. Oppure dove sarebbe necessario attrarre investimenti dall'estero favorendo condizioni ideali per lo sviluppo di contenuti creativi. Ma tutto ciò sembra lontano mille miglia da chi deve determinare le strategie del Paese con riferimento ai contenuti creativi, vero asset del futuro, come dimostrano i dati citati nel caso USA. Cosa troviamo invece in prima pagina sul maggiore quotidiano economico ? La proposta di abolire il copyright, tramite magari una "lenzuolata" del Ministro delle Attività Produttive. Non è necessario il lenzuolo, perchè sull'industria della creatività da tempo il nostro Paese ha calato un triste sudario.

Cordiali saluti
--
Enzo Mazza
Presidente
FIMI - Federazione industria musicale italiana

[science fiction]
What's the incentive? Unholster your trusted slide rule

• Office revenue stands at about $6-7B per year.
• Assume this goes the way Firefox went and captures 10%-15% of the market...
• ...that's almost a cool billion wiped out of a certain other west coast software company.

Not impliying that is the reason, but....
[/science fiction]

• Hey, isn't that our logo?
• No it isn't sir, but it sure looks similar
• Similar as in "Copyright-infringing similar" or what?
• Well I'd say so, Sir, and we might want to move fast to reaffirm our ownership of that copyright
• Yeah, right, slam the jerks !!!
• Cease-and-desist letter follows...

Ginsu Yoon Says:
January 21st, 2007 at 2:57 pm
This notice is provided on behalf of Linden Research, Inc. ("Linden Lab"), the owner of trademark, copyright and other intellectual property rights in and to the "Second Life" product and service offering, including the "eye-in-hand" logo for Second Life and the website maintained at http://secondlife.com/.

It has come to our attention that the website located at http://www.getafirstlife.com/ purports to appropriate certain trade dress and marks associated with Second Life and owned by Linden Lab. That website currently includes a link in the bottom right-hand corner for "Comments or cease and desist letters."

As you must be aware, the Copyright Act (Title 17, U.S. Code) contains provisions regarding the doctrine of  "fair use" of copyrighted materials (Section 107 of the Act). Although lesser known and lesser recognized by trademark owners, the Lanham Act (Title 15, Chapter 22, U.S. Code) protecting trademarks is also limited by a judicial doctrine of fair use of trademarks. Determining whether or not a particular use constitutes fair use typically involves a multi-factor analysis that is often highly complex and frustratingly indeterminate; however a use constituting parody can be a somewhat simpler analysis, even where such parody involves a fairly extensive use of the original work.  

We do not believe that reasonable people would argue as to whether the website located at http://www.getafirstlife.com/ constitutes parody - it clearly is. Linden Lab is well known among its customers and in the general business community as a company with enlightened and well-informed views regarding intellectual property rights, including the fair use doctrine, open source licensing, and other principles that support creativity and self-expression. We know parody when we see it.

Moreover, Linden Lab objects to any implication that it would employ lawyers incapable of distinguishing such obvious parody,. Indeed, any competent attorney is well aware that the outcome of sending a cease-and-desist letter regarding a parody is only to draw moreattention to such parody, and to invite public scorn and ridicule of the humor-impaired legal counsel. Linden Lab is well-known for having strict hiring standards, including a requirement for having a sense of humor, for which our lawyers receive no exception.

In conclusion, your invitation to submit a cease-and-desist letter is hereby rejected.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, it is possible that your use of the modified eye-in-hand logo for Second Life, even as parody, requires license from Linden Lab, especially with respect to your sale of goods with the parody mark at http://www.cafepress.com/getafirstlife/. Linden Lab hereby grants you a nonexclusive, nontransferable, nonsublicenseable, revocable, limited license to use the modified eye-in-hand logo (as displayed on http://www.getafirstlife.com/ as of January 21, 2007) to identify only your goods and/or services that are sold at http://www.cafepress.com/getafirstlife/. This license may be modified, addended, or revoked at any time by Linden Lab in its sole discretion.  

Best regards,

Linden Lab

And we thought lawyers didn't have a sense of humor. Pure genius !! ]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/none http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/none?opendocument&comments Sat, 27 Jan 2007 20:25:14 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2701200720.25.13GCAQSB.htm Guitar Masters Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2701200720.25.13GCAQSB.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2701200720.25.13GCAQSB.htm

Leo Kottke - 1988 Jack Fig	Jimi Hendrix - 1969 Voodoo Child
Frank Zappa - 1988 Watermelon in Easter hay	John Fahey - 1978 Poor Boy / Steel Guitar Rag medley
Paco de Lucia, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin - 1980 Mediterranean Sundance	Jimmy Page - 1969 Stairway to Heaven
Mark Knopfler - 1996 Going home	Slash - 1992 The Godfather theme
Angus Young - 1979 Live in Paris	Duane Allman - 1970 Elizabeth Reed
Jerry Garcia - 1994 Cumberland Blues	Chuck Berry (and Bruce Springsteen) - 1995(?) Johnny B Goode

]]> http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dxcomments/2701200720.25.13GCAQSB.htm http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2701200720.25.13GCAQSB.htm?opendocument&comments Wed, 24 Jan 2007 12:03:41 +0200 http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2401200712.03.40GCAEYV.htm CGM Gianni Catalfamo http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2401200712.03.40GCAEYV.htm?opendocument&comments http://www.pleon.it/web/blogs/geektalk.nsf/dx/2401200712.03.40GCAEYV.htm Web 2.1
A point release in the world of social media







Since september, 2005 when Tim O'Reilly explained to the world what was Web2.0 we have seen a steady increase in its relevance and more and more confirmations that this is a long term trend.

So by now, we kind of take for granted that at least a certain segment of consumers is relying more and more on social (or Consumer Generated) media for their information / relationship needs.

This fast catched on with businesses and other entities alike (as I said many times, at the end of each industry there is a consumer) and nobody is now really surprised that all three best placed democratic contenders for the 2008 US presidential election (Clinton, Obama and Edwards) have chosen some form of social medium to announce their candidacy.

After more than a year of taking on the road across Europe my presentation on the Challenge of Consumer Generated Media, I feel we need now to move on, and building on the basis of what we discussed so far, look at the specific challenges and opportunities for businesses as they want to move beyond having a corporate blog.

So what are the interesting things to focus on? Well here is a initial list - some of this stuff I have written about before, some it's new, but I think it all points in a direction of social media being more and more "built in"  (as opposed to "grafted on") the marketing mix:

I: the attention economy	As we discussed elsewhere the three currencies of all things online are Information, Support and Attention; but while the first two have been around for a long time and have fueled the expansion and success of the Internet, the real discontinuity happened with the addition of Attention. Whether it's MySpace or Flick'r, most social media compete and offer attention - their trump cards being how easy they make for my original content to attract the attention of fellow members of that enormous peer community.
II: examples	SWU and GoodYear - when GoodYear hired temporary workers to replace striking union members, the SWU reacted using social media to make itself heard.
	Starbucks -
	SecondLife about itself - how do you turn a potentially nasty fights over copyright in a positive PR story, leveraging the sense of humour so characteristic of this category of people? For more on hacker's sense of humour, read Eric Raymond
	Do you use social media or are you used by them? - here Microsoft develops an Xbox ad which is never aired (a "banned" commercial) only to find its way on YouTube to then be taken as a model for a true flashmob, which again gets filmed and ends up on YouTube.
	Tech giants getting a SecondLife - why are the likes of Cisco and IBM opening shops and more in generale getting a significant presence SecondLife ? Are they seeing something that we don't? (for those with SL accounts: visit Cisco; visit IBM)
	A spanish ONG gets its message across on SL - from the very large to the very small: spanish non-profit Mensajeros de la Paz has created a SL avatar in the form of a child who bears a cardboard sign with a promotional message for the ONG
	Microsoft criticized for "tainting" Wikipedia - How do you deal with collaborative media such as Wikipedia? Is there a way to get yourself rightfully represented but avoid the media backlash should they find out (and they will) when you go at it undercover?
	CBS promotes a TV talk show - Craig Ferguson is a sweet scottish stand up comedian; his show airs every nght after Dave Letterman on CBS. I live in Italy, my satellite does not include CBS (although Dave's show is syndicated to international networks so I occasionally get it) yet I watch Ferguson about every night. How? YouTube of course !
	WalMart criticized for its fake bl