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Louis CK’s direct-video experiment worked

Louis CK’s direct-video experiment worked:

Louis CK produced a comedy special on his own dime, put it up for sale on his website as a DRM-free video download for just $5, and made enough to cover his costs and consider it a success:

It’s been a really fun and intense few days. This video was paid for by people who bought tickets, and then bought by people who wanted to see that same show. I got to do exactly the show I wanted, and exactly the show you wanted.

Awesome.

[I’d have to agree. I wish for more courage.]
Source: Marco.org

The $7 trillion secret loan program

The $7 trillion secret loan program: The government and big banks should be punished for deceiving the public about their hush-hush bailout scheme. – Slate Magazine:

So what to do? The revelations of the secret loan program may provide the opportunity for Occupy Wall Street to suggest a few concrete steps that would be difficult to oppose.

First: Demand a hearing where the bank executives have to answer questions—under oath—about the actual negotiations, or lack thereof, that led to these loans; about the actual condition of each of the borrowing banks and whether that condition differed from the public statements made by the banks at the time.

Second: Require the recipient banks to use this previously undisclosed gift—the profit they made by investing this almost interest-free money—to write down the value of mortgages of those who are underwater. The loans to the banks were meant to solve a short-term liquidity problem, not be a source of profits to fund bonuses. Take back the profits and put them to a public use.

Third: Require the government officials responsible for authorizing these loans to explain why there was no effort made to condition these loans on changes in policy that would protect the public going forward.

Fourth: Ask congress to examine every filing and statement made to Congress by the banks about their financial condition and their indebtedness to see if any misrepresentations were made in an effort to hide these trillions of dollars of loans. Misleading Congress can be a felony, and willful deception of the Congress to hide the magnitude of the public bailouts should not go unprosecuted.
Finally: Demand that politicians return all contributions made by the institutions that got hidden loans. Pressure the politicians who continue to feed from the trough of Wall Street, even as they know all too well how the banks and others have gamed the system and the public.

[Incredible. For me, beyond belief. This is not the change I want…]

FBI Says Carrier IQ May Be Used in ‘Law Enforcement Proceedings’

FBI Says Carrier IQ May Be Used in ‘Law Enforcement Proceedings’:

Andy Greenberg:

After a video surfaced that seemed to show the software logging
keystrokes and monitoring data traffic on the more than 140
million phones on it’s installed by default, Morisy had asked the
Bureau for any “manuals, documents or other written guidance
used to access or analyze data gathered by programs developed or
deployed by Carrier IQ.”

The FBI responded that the material couldn’t be provided, and
cited an exemption to the Freedom of Information law for
situations in which handing over documents “could reasonably be
expected to interfere with law enforcement proceedings.”

Ugh. Not sure how to see this as anything other than confirmation of our worst fears about this Carrier IQ stuff.

[Me either.]
Source: Daring Fireball

In Africa, the Art of Listening

In Africa, the Art of Listening:

It struck me as I listened to those two men that a truer nomination for our species than Homo sapiens might be Homo narrans, the storytelling person. What differentiates us from animals is the fact that we can listen to other people’s dreams, fears, joys, sorrows, desires and defeats — and they in turn can listen to ours.

Many people make the mistake of confusing information with knowledge. They are not the same thing. Knowledge involves the interpretation of information. Knowledge involves listening.

So if I am right that we are storytelling creatures, and as long as we permit ourselves to be quiet for a while now and then, the eternal narrative will continue.

[We also listen first and speak second in our development.]

Google’s 3 Top Executives Have 8 Private Jets

Daniel inc jet2

[Regardless of the exact number of jets they own, I can assure you it’s hard to get the branding just right on these things…]

Google’s 3 Top Executives Have 8 Private Jets | TechCrunch:

The jets are not owned or operated by Google. Instead, the 3 Google leaders operate the fleet through an LLC called H211. Google has no official relation with H211. Ken Ambrose, the Director of Operations for H211, announced the funding offer at a public meeting this week. He also complained that NASA, which owns Hangar One, has taken too long to respond to the offer.

Some Days Aren’t Forgotten

Some Days Aren’t Forgotten:

December 7th, 1941 was the day that a Japanese carrier force launched a surprise attack on the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. While demonstrating the power of Naval Airplanes it lead way to the end of the might of battleships. It was the day that ratified the people of this country to join in one of the bloodiest and most costly wars we had ever seen. They fought at home and on foreign fronts for our safety, our rights as individuals, and our freedom. May people remember what happened that day December 7th, 1941, the lives that were lost and the families hurt. May we never forget what happened in that War so history doesn’t repeat itself.

[Indeed.]
Source: Jake Peterson’s Blog

Paypal: feel the love

Paypal: feel the love:

You’ve probably read about (or even felt) the anger over Paypal “stealing money” from Regretsy, which is only the latest in a series of things they’ve done that have pissed the Internet off. I suspect, given the attention this is getting, they’ll fix this. (Unlike them cutting off Wikileaks, this time Paypal is as coming as close to stealing from orphans before Christmas as one can get without writing a Dickens story.) This will quiet down. Then, within six months, they’ll do something else to piss the Internet off.

In no particular order, here’s a few random thoughts.

The key to understanding Paypal is this: Their policies in dealing with their customers are all crafted with the assumption that their customers are out to screw them. It’s not that they don’t want to do business with you, it’s that they don’t trust you. Ever. Under any circumstance. They want your money, but they hate you.

They hate you because in a measurable percentage of their transactions, people are trying to screw them over. As the cliché goes, it’s not paranoia when they really are out to get you.

Except that approaching every transaction with that attitude really is paranoia.

[The Internet is young, and we are collectively stupid for supporting organizations like this. Make sure you read the original post which is linked to in the first paragraph. It’ll make your blood boil, especially if you follow these stories (and toss in the issues folks have had with Google as well). What a mess.]
Source: Coyote Tracks

Harry Morgan, ‘M*A*S*H’ and ‘Dragnet’ Actor, Dies at 96

Harry Morgan, ‘M*A*S*H’ and ‘Dragnet’ Actor, Dies at 96:

Harry Morgan, the prolific character actor best known for playing the acerbic but kindly Colonel Potter in the long-running television series “M*A*S*H,” died Wednesday morning at his home in Los Angeles. He was 96. His son Charles confirmed his death.

In more than 100 movies, Mr. Morgan played Western bad guys, characters with names like Rocky and Shorty, loyal sidekicks, judges, sheriffs, soldiers, thugs and police chiefs.

On television, he played Officer Bill Gannon with a phlegmatic but light touch to Jack Webb’s always-by-the-book Sgt. Joe Friday in the updated “Dragnet,” from 1967 to 1970.

[RIP. Loved the characters he played. Amazing career.]

The Post Office: Neither snow nor rain | The Economist

The Post Office: Neither snow nor rain | The Economist:

Quasi-independent since 1970, the post gets no public money. And yet it is obliged (as FedEx and UPS are not) to visit every mailbox, no matter how remote, six days a week. This has driven the average cost of each piece of mail up from 34 cents in 2006 to 41 cents. Yet the post is not allowed to raise prices (of stamps and such) willy-nilly; a 2006 law set formulas for that. So in effect, the post cannot control either its costs or its revenues.

[New phrase for hamstrung projects where the business wants to control all sides of the delivery triangle (cost/time/features) “Don’t postal the project.”]

Monsanto Corn May Be Failing to Kill Bugs, EPA Says – Businessweek

Monsanto Corn May Be Failing to Kill Bugs, EPA Says – Businessweek:

Monsanto should enact a remedial action plan in fields where resistance to its Bt insecticide is suspected, the EPA said. That includes having growers use conventional pesticide to kill adult rootworm beetles late in the season and alternate pest control methods in the following season.

Monsanto tested rootworms for resistance in Nebraska, Illinois and Iowa and should expand the monitoring to Colorado, Minnesota, South Dakota and western Wisconsin because questions about the performance of Bt corn extends to all seven states, the EPA said in the memo.

Monsanto’s most advanced resistance problem is with crops engineered to tolerate its Roundup herbicide. Weeds that are no longer killed by Roundup have invaded 14 million acres of U.S. cotton, soybean and corn, according to Syngenta AG, a Swiss chemical maker. A Dow Chemical Co. study this year found as many as 20 million acres of corn and soybeans may be infested.

[What an incredible mess is being made with this. Life always finds a way. Try your best not to buy and eat these products (easier said than done, I know).]