This, the first of our regional blogs, is authored by the technology and financial journalist Dominic Basulto. Dominic is a New York native, has been a senior editor at Corante since day one and has written for a number of online and offline media companies. Send tips or story ideas to: basulto@gmail.com.
About this weblog
Here we'll report daily on the latest tech and business developments in New York City. Impossible we concede: comprehensive coverage of the city's every story. What we hope you'll find: tips, tidbits and perspectives you won't find elsewhere. As well as unique insights, original interviews and more that should be of interest to New York's vibrant community of technologists and those who track, invest in and report on them.
Note to readers: Will be taking a few days vacation next week, so will only be blogging and checking e-mail sporadically during that period. Since you're already here, why not take the time to check out some of the folks on the blogroll, or browse around the Corante site? Better yet, visit one of our sponsors and show them some love.
Apparently, Ryan Sager of the New York Post doesn't approve of Eliot Spitzer's crackdown of payola in the music business:
"Maybe Attorney General Eliot Spitzer should simply pay radio stations to mention his name on a daily basis as he gets ready to run for governor. That way, at least, we'd all be spared wastes of time and money like his recent investigation into music-industry payola..."
Sager questions whether Spitzer's crackdown on payola is nothing more than a tempest in a teapot: "The real question New Yorkers should be asking themselves is whether any of what Sony did is actually wrong or harmful to consumers. Payola is as old as recorded music itself. In fact, it's older..." In other words, it's business as usual, so stop with all the naivete. There are so many other ways for musical acts to reach consumers that radios no longer have a monopoly on what's popular. Cracking down on payola only leads to bland, faceless Top 40 formats, says Sager, where DJs no longer have any authority to determine what's played.
The New York Post had an amusing story on Thursday about a new comedy sketch, "Found on Craigslist," from the Upright Citizens Brigade that features hilarious and politically incorrect absurdist classics like "Chelsea Clinton Ski Trip," "What Crawled Over Me Last Night" and "Gays of our Lives." More details at Gothamist.
Just a reminder: this Tuesday at 6:30 is the monthly New York Tech Meetup. The Meetup is "informal and open to anyone - geeks, investors, entrepreneurs, hackers, anyone that wants to see or show something interesting." Kinda like a show-and-tell for the New York tech community, with a high likelihood of a drop-in appearance by the CEO of Meetup.com, Scott Heiferman.
A scary item in Newsweek: at a time when "health officials have been scrambling to stamp out polio around the world," a virologist at Stony Brook University has successfully assembled a polio pathogen from scratch. Why? Oh, come on, that's a silly question to ask a scientist: "The major purpose was to show that it can be done..." In other words, we did it because we wanted to, so leave us alone to spend our grant money however we want to. It's all legit, too, because the War on Terror (cue the spooky-sounding music) gives us the right to experiment with all kinds of ticking biological time bombs in order to protect us from (cue the really spooky-sounding music) the threat of Bio-Terrorism.
Newsweek follows up with a discussion of the trade-offs between biotech research and bioterror. The obvious question on everyone's mind: "If the polio virus can be made in a New York lab, what's next? Mail-order smallpox?" Around the U.S., all kinds of labs are now experimenting with deadly diseases, so what happens if one of these Black Plague-type of creations makes it out into the wild?
We're developing a strange fascination with gubernatorial candidate Eliot Spitzer. Love him or hate him, he's just more interesting than George Pataki. It's already clear that Spitzer will provide considerably more blog fodder than just about anyone else during the gubernatorial campaign because he's not afraid to take on the Establishment (with a capital 'E').
Anyway, Spitzer was in Schenectady this week, trying to win over New York's high-tech leaders. The easiest way to do that, of course, is to bash the governor over the head while he's not looking. According to Spitzer, the governor has shown little or no vision for how to develop New York's high tech sector:
"We are not capitalizing throughout the SUNY system, through our private universities; we're not capitalizing on the opportunities presented by bringing together educational systems and the economy and government to build the foundations we need for our economic growth."
Of course, some would beg to differ with Spitzer: both the nanotech and semiconductor industries have heaped generous praise on Pataki, with many giving the governor credit for making upstate New York a destination site for new R&D work. For now, it looks like Spitzer will try on his new "friend of high-tech" persona in places like Albany - if it helps him, he may bring the act to places like Long Island and New York City.
The New York Post has a warning for all the day traders out there: "Don't make trades on your wireless computer unless you know how to shoot down a new breed of high-tech pirates tracking your accounts." At least, that's the advice of the NASD, which apparently has just discovered the wonderful world of wireless Internet networks. (That happens sometimes with regulators -- they're always the last to know) Small cells of Wi-Fi hackers have apparently infiltrated Wall Street, with the ability to "tap into almost any WiFi network and lift personal information and even transfer holdings into their own hands."
For the blog voyeur in all of us, there's a funky five-minute video of "Lockhart Steele, Big Apple blogger" up at Inman Stories Online. For those of you who don't know him, Lockhart Steele is the founder and creative genius behind Curbed, New York's premier real estate blog. Follow Lockhart around the city as he gets into and out of New York City taxi cabs, walks up and down stairs, and adds a blog entry about Chelsea's proposed High Line development. (Hat tip: Fimoculous)
If you're interested in getting inside the head of another A-list blogger, there's also an interview with Elizabeth Spiers of Media Bistro (and before that, Gawker) over at the 92Y blog. On July 26, Elizabeth participated with a number of media experts, including Bill Grueskin of The Wall Street Journal, on a panel discussion about the future of online media.
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is hunting for more dirt on Dick Grasso, former head of the NYSE, and may have found exactly what he was looking for -- a super-secret second e-mail account that may yield more insider secrets:
"Yesterday, during a routine hearing in New York State Supreme Court, Spitzer's office filed a discovery motion related to an additional e-mail account of Grasso's: cody@nyse.com. A lawyer with the AG's office declined to comment on whether Grasso's primary e-mail account, rgrasso@nyse.com, has yielded evidence aiding their civil suit."
Apparently, Spitzer doesn't realize that there is a third, even more secret, e-mail account that links Grasso to all kinds of phishing scams and viagra rip-offs: kissmygrasso@hotmail.com.
The New York Post opens the kimono of Cablevision Systems: it turns out that the Dolan family's plan to take the company's cable systems unit private in a $7.9 billion deal is already in trouble. New Jersey-based Penn Capital Management, which owns 0.04% of the company (86,000 shares), sued to block the plan, claiming that the buyout offer was "triggered by a family feud" and that "Cablevision should have the corporate opportunity to sell those assets to the highest bidder."
Wall Street deal advisors (who are paid as a percentage of the total transaction size), meanwhile, seem content to let the two sides battle, pushing up all the banking and legal fees. In Wall Street jargon, there's "incremental value that the Dolans' offer has left on the table."
Business Week has a great story & slideshow dedicated to the future redesign of the traditional yellow cab. 2007, after all, marks the 100th anniversary of the New York City taxi, so it's almost time to think about "the cab for the next century." With that in mind, the Design Trust for Public Space, in collaboration with the Parsons School of Design, initiated a project ("Designing the Taxi") to come up with innovative ways of thinking about the yellow cab experience.
Pictured is an airport taxi stand for New York City airports. Weisz + Yoes came up with a high-tech kiosk for travelers: "Not just merely a dispatcher shelter, this version has multiple plasma screens with news on the weather, traffic conditions, and landmark scenes of the city to help orient frazzled travelers. It echoes taxis' yellow color for easy orientation and provides brochures and information for queuing passengers."
Everybody knows that IBM researchers are some of the best in the business. According to the New York Times, Yahoo is now attempting to tap into IBM's talent pipeline, especially the highly sought-after scientists who pioneered an advanced search-engine technology (codename: Clever) at IBM's Silicon Valley R&D facility. The race among search engine companies for the best and the brightest is underway:
"With the defection of a prominent computer scientist, Kai-Fu Lee, from Microsoft to Google last week, the Yahoo recruiting is part of a rush of interest among search engine firms in acquiring research talent that will provide an edge in developing a new generation of search technology."
Here's a prediction: mainstream media publications will scrap their plans for yet another "the best managers in the world are found at GE" for an article claiming that "the best researchers in the world are found at IBM."
Andrew Rasiej, candidate for the office of Public Advocate, continues to come up with innovative new ways to address everyday problems in the city. Yesterday, Gothamist pointed to a new Website created by Andrew Rasiej's campaign team: We Fix NYC. The site will track and document potholes in order to "build a photographic map of where they are and how long it's taking the city to fix them..." Information is then posted to a Google Map.
So, if there's a pothole in your neighborhood, here's what to do:
"Reporting a pothole is easy. Just take a picture with your cell phone or digital camera, and then send the photo to potholes@wefixnyc.com. Make sure to include the address or intersection where the pothole is located, otherwise we won't be able to mark it on our map."
The July/August issue of Consulting Magazine has an interview with IBM's Bill Pulleyblank, leader of the team which developed Blue Gene - the world’s fastest computer. Pulleyblank offers a behind-the-scenes look at the company's Center for Business Optimization, which combines researchers and mathematicians with front-line business consultants.
The New York Post is prone to sensationalizing any new story, and the battle over the future of the New York Stock Exchange is no exception. According to the Post, dissident seat-holder William Higgins, who is against the NYSE's merger with Archipelago, apparently received a death threat on his office answering machine. Like something out of a Goodfellas-type movie, an anonymous caller warned Higgins that he "better have somebody start his car if this deal doesn't go through..." According to Higgins, the NYSE has also engaged in a smear campaign against him, both online and in the mainstream media.
A new survey from Salary.com ranked the top 10 "sexy" jobs. No surprises that firefighters (FDNY rocks!) came in #1 or that jobs like lawyer, doctor and CEO also ranked highly on the Top 10 list. However, news reporters came in at a very impressive #3. As Paris Hilton would say, "That's hot."
In the New York Times, there's a look at the new plan by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission to experiment with hybrid vehicles. It took a bit of political arm-twisting by the New York City Council and Mayor Bloomberg, but the hybrid vehicles are finally here! (check out the handy graphic comparing horsepower, rear leg room and miles per gallon for different models)
According to environmentalists, hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius and the Honda Accord generally have higher fuel efficiency and fewer harmful emissions than conventional cars. With that in mind, other cities - such as Boston and San Francisco - have already embraced the idea of hybrid vehicles.
The Citizen's Guide to Refusing New York Subway Searches - now available as a free PDF flyer. If you're stopped by the NYPD for a random bag search, stay cool, calm and collected -- even if you don't like what's happening, never raise your voice or escalate the hostility level.
It's not official yet, but it appears that Governor George Pataki will not seek re-election in 2006, clearing the way for a possible presidential bid in 2008. The decision by Pataki also means that Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is the clear frontrunner to win election as governor next year, especially since both former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Governor William Weld have basically taken themselves out of contention as a replacement candidate for Pataki.
The New York Daily News claims that the MTA is maintaining a "secret database of people stopped and questioned for filming or photographing bridges and tunnels as part of the agency's efforts to thwart terror." Apparently, the database is under the auspices of the MTA's Interagency Counter Terrorism Task Force, but it's not exactly clear how this information is shared with the Department of Homeland Security or other anti-terrorist agencies.
While we applaud the MTA for doing its share in protecting the bridges and tunnels of the city, it's still a bit creepy to think that the MTA - an agency that can't seem to make the subway trains run on time - has tasked itself with assembling a secret dossier of information on individuals. What's next, the US Postal Service creating a top-secret file of individuals known to have received correspondence from Iraq or Afghanistan?
Long Island-based Computer Associates has acquired California-based Qurb, an email software security provider, in an all-cash deal. According to Crain's New York, the deal will beef up the company's security management portfolio. Security management -- protecting against phishing and other forms of email fraud, for example -- is a market segment with room for growth, as anyone with a PC and an email account can testify. Just last month, Computer Associates also acquired Tiny Software, a provider of desktop firewall technology.
Want a "hot summer beach read" full of intimate details about the dating life of a twenty-something New York woman? You won't find it at Barnes & Noble or The Strand, but you will find it in the blogosphere... The New York Times profiles Stephanie Klein, the "Carrie Bradshaw of New York bloggers. According to Technorati, her Greek Tragedy blog ranks in the top 1% of all blogs, giving her instant name and face recognition in the New York area:
"Today the blog has an international readership with fans who recognize Ms. Klein when they see her gallivanting around Manhattan and the Hamptons, and who find parallels to their own lives in her candid, freewheeling stories."
And that's not all: Klein now has a book deal ("Straight Up and Dirty") and a TV deal with NBC for a 30-minute comedy series.
Venture Voice has posted another in a series of podcasts with entrepreneurs, this time a 30-minute interview with Scott Heiferman of Meetup. Heiferman covers a lot of ground, including the creation of Meetup (“Meetup’s a really stupid, simple idea that couldn’t have been done before 2002"), the launch of New York Tech Meetup several months ago, and the role of Oprah in introducing new ideas to the masses:
"There’s one holy grail for anyone who cares about getting anything… no disrespect to the blogosphere but Oprah is where anyone should want to be. We’ve never gotten there, but if you really want mass America to know something, don’t think it’s anything but Oprah that can do that in 2005."
Good stuff, and thanks for the extensive show notes, Greg.
After three years and $1.2 billion in R&D expenses, IBM unveiled a new line of mainframe computers - the z9 - that is "not only twice as powerful as its predecessor but also intended to make it easier for corporations to encrypt vast amounts of customer information and to bundle the workloads of many smaller computers onto an IBM mainframe." Mainframes represent only a small percentage of revenues these days for IBM, but are an important way to land follow-on consulting work and sell other products and services. Whatever you've heard, the mainframe computer is alive and well, says an industry analyst:
"IBM is doing what it needs to do, which is to continue to invest in the mainframe to take on new workloads, so it's clear it is not an old technology and that the mainframe is not dead,"
InfoWorld has more on the debut of the z9 mainframe line in New York, where IBM executives emphasized three key themes: openness, virtualization and collaboration.
Slate takes a probing look at whether random subway searches conducted by the NYPD are legal. The answer? It depends. There is one basic test that these searches must pass:
"According to legal precedent, a random search is acceptable if it fulfills special needs like public safety. If New York's subway screenings are challenged in court, the city's lawyers could argue that the program's primary purpose is to protect the city from terrorism."
However, as Daniel Engber goes on to explain, proving this is sometimes harder than it sounds. Roadblocks used to screen drivers for drug-related crimes, for example, have been struck down as unconstitutional, as have random bag searches at last year's Republican National Convention in NYC.
Bottom line: even meeting the first test ("special needs") is not enough if the searches are deemed to be an invasion of privacy or if the police unfairly singles out certain people for the screening. And, as Michael Bloomberg found out this week, lawyers can really turn up the heat when bad things happen to good people -- such as when a group of British tourists were handcuffed and forced to kneel on a Broadway sidewalk in the blistering summer sun. As these Sikhs from Britain found out, parts of New York City have become real tourist traps during the summer...
Many New Yorkers are fanatical when it comes to their FreshDirect online grocery service. However, it looks like the honeymoon period for FreshDirect is drawing to a close -- while many New Yorkers still maintain that the grocery service saves them time and money and helps them eat healthier, a small but vocal minority complains about the packaging, about trucks idling in the streets and the "disconnection FD has created between consumers and their food...."
Apartment Therapy is running a quick survey in an attempt to separate myth from reality. Do you use FreshDirect -- and if you do, how often? (Hat tip: Curbed)
Business Week takes a potshot at Barry Diller, CEO of IAC/InterActiveCorp, saying that his earlier plans to become "the Internet's first swaggering Hollywood-style mogul" have fallen flat: "Like many Hollywood extravaganzas... Diller's production in the last two years has strayed from its script."
The upshot: while other glamour Internet stocks like Yahoo and Google sizzled, Diller's IAC was a flameout. Now, it's time for Plan B, says Business Week, as Diller bundles together his online travel businesses (Hotels.com, Expedia.com, Hotwire, TripAdvisor.com) into a separately traded company (Expedia Inc.). IAC will remain, holding a "grab bag of companies" like Ticketmaster, LendingTree and Ask Jeeves.
Eliot Spitzer has temporarily shifted his focus from Wall Street to the music industry, cracking down on what he calls "bribes" and "payoffs" paid to influence decision-makers who determine what songs are played on the air. The New York Times has the details of the legal settlement between Sony BMG Music Entertainment and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, in which Sony BMG Music Entertainment agreed to stop providing extravagant gifts, free trips and other giveaways in exchange for airtime for its artists on radio stations.
Expect more on this over the coming months: "The settlement... is the first in a broad investigation by Eliot Spitzer, the New York attorney general, into incentives that record companies offer to radio stations in hopes of getting airtime that will raise their artists' profiles, increase a song's ranking and, of course, drive up sales."Among the other companies targeted by Spitzer: Universal Music Group, the EMI Group and the Warner Music Group.
If nothing else, we now know why Jessica Simpson and J. Lo - both represented by Sony BMG - get so much airtime in key rotation slots.
The New York Daily News makes this sound more exciting than it really is: shopping from your sofa with a TV remote control. According to a spokesperson for the Electronic Retailing Association, "Interactive television is exploding. There's virtually no end in sight to the possibilities of improving the consumer's shopping experience."
Excuse me, "improving the consumer's shopping experience"? You mean, selling lots of products to brain-dead couch potatoes willing to make impulse buys as they flip through hundreds of cable channels?
One of the leaders in the trend toward interactive shopping via the TV, not surprisingly, is home shopping giant HSN, which has already lined up a number of brand name merchants like Wolfgang Puck, Nicole Miller and singer Patti Labelle. Other companies involved in the push to separate you from your dollars include QVC and Shop NBC.
Crain's New York courts the stoner crowd this week with a behind-the-scenes look at New York execs who like to smoke a little 420 after a hard day's work: "For many of these otherwise law-abiding citizens, taking a few tokes of their favorite illicit substance is simply their preferred way to decompress. Though they might conceal their after-hours smoking from their co-workers, they insist that, used in moderation, the evil weed doesn't have to hurt job performance."
In the New York Post, Christopher Byron breaks down a global stock swindle involving a shadowy financier from India who's wanted by Interpol but may be "wandering around New Jersey even as we speak." As Byron explains, "the swindle that began on the Calcutta Stock Exchange in the autumn of 2000 as a pump-and-dump scheme, spread like an oil slick until it had swallowed a New Jersey-based software company that Dalmia controlled called Allserve Systems."
Byron descends into the dark world of offshore IT outsourcing, investigating a series of phony deals and gray market transactions, only to find that ripples from the stock swindle "now lap at the unlikely feet of two of the American media's best-known business figures: The chairman of the Warner Music Group Corp., Edgar Bronfman Jr., and Philip Geier Jr., the retired CEO of the Interpublic Cos., the global advertising company." (Memo to self: never sit on the board of a company that you've never heard of)
If you tune into Byron regularly, you'll find that he does a great job of turning over rocks, sleuthing around shell companies, and digging through obfuscating financial filings. As this example shows, the paper trail often winds up in some fairly unlikely places.
The challengers to Netflix keep appearing like the heads of a multi-headed hydra that refuse to die. Just when Wal-Mart had exited the DVD rental business, it looks like Netflix will soon be doing battle with another retail giant with a worldwide brick-and-mortar presence: McDonald's. Yep, that's right. Mickey D's is on its way to becoming Mickey DVDs with the creation of a new subsidiary called Redbox Corporation that specializes in automated DVD rentals. So far, Redbox has only expanded to seven states, including five locations in Hartford and 19 in Washington, DC. New York, though, is only a hop, skip and shuttle ride away.
Dave Taylor of the Intuitive Life Business Blog, explains why Redbox could revolutionize the business of DVD rentals:
"It wasn't until I visited their Web site that I knew why this company is one to watch, and why agile little Redbox is going to redefine the entire world of DVD rental... It turns out that Redbox is a wholly-owned subsidiary of McDonald's Corporation, which was a delightful surprise: while McDonald's might not be where I personally go for something to eat, I certainly recognize that it's an omnipresent company with a remarkable reach into both our society and culture. Who better to tilt at the windmill of traditional DVD rental than a multi-billion dollar mainstay of the corporate world beloved by millions of people?"
Craigslist New York went live five years ago, giving New York Magazine the perfect opportunity to reflect on how Craig Newmark, the founder of Craigslist, has impacted a variety of different sectors and markets -- from reality TV shows to vintage furniture to, of course, real estate. The site receives more than 50,000 posts (not visitors) per day. New Jack City is now New Craig City.
Alan Meckler, the CEO of Jupitermedia, admits that he's not a "big fan of the ultimate commercial value of Social Networks," which means that he's less than impressed with Rupert Murdoch's $580 million acquisition of Intermix:
"So what did News Corp. get? Based on quotes from various sources at News Corp. they seem to be most pleased with increasing their Web traffic. One source stated that they had doubled their page views etc. This statement made me wince. Perhaps News Corp. is back in the 1990s and they think the just bought The Globe and Tripod?
I thought that most people had learned since 2000 that traffic does not mean revenue (and or profits). Contrast this purchase with The New York Times buying About.com or Dow Jones' purchase of Marketwatch.com. Both of these media giants paid huge premiums, but they bought real businesses."
Did you know that there's a black market for cellphone call logs? That with a single phone call and $110 in cash, anyone can find out who you've been calling on your cellphone?
With the goal of making cellphone snooping a felony crime, Senator Charles Schumer has introduced new legislation that would effectively close a legal loophole: "Stealing someone's cell-phone records is absolutely a criminal act and the fact that it can't be prosecuted as one has got to change." In addition, Schumer called on the Federal Trade Commission to set up a unit dedicated to the elimination of cellphone scamming.
Following the news that China has revalued its currency, Crain's New York speculates about the impact on New York's economy of a stronger yuan.
According to Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City, the move "could help break the political logjam between China and the U.S. and eventually lead to more Chinese investment here... For many global companies based here, China is the most important market for growth. We stand to do nothing but gain."
Among other things, that means more Chinese businesses setting up shop here, more Chinese investment in U.S.-based companies and more Chinese tourists traveling to New York. On the flip side, it also means that goods made in China will become more expensive for Americans (the classic "Wal-Mart effect") and that interest rates could rise (impacting both the U.S. bond market and the real estate market).
Skimming through the latest issue of the Bay News, happened to run across a profile of Flatbush's SHEE, a "hip-hop recording artist, songwriter and, now, an aspiring web game hero." One of the videogames is "SHEE is Sheer Badness," which features SHEE "fighting off her enemies with two guns while wearing high heels and a miniskirt." A big hat tip to SHEE -- she made it out of a Flatbush housing project to become the first person in her family ever to graduate college. Now, she's got a mater's degree from Central Michigan University and runs her own record label, Sheer Badness Entertainment.
The New York Times takes a look at the world of open source radio programs:
"Now a new Public Radio International program, "Open Source from P.R.I.," will test whether the collective intelligence permeating the Web can make not just loud radio, but smart radio. Not only does the program pull from unfiltered voices and opinions found on blogs, Open Source uses its own blog to cull ideas and sources from its listeners."
Thus far, the program is available in two formats: as streaming live audio online and as a podcast. Starting August 1, though, Open Source could begin broadcasting on XM Satellite Radio.
What enraged her bosses most of all was the scandalous tales of corporate perks lavished on anyone in a position to write up beauty products reviews -- items like "Marc Jacobs wallets and coats, plane ticket vouchers, iPods, overnight stays at the Mandarin Oriental, yearlong gym memberships..."
Over at her Jolie in NYC blog, Nadine Haobsh (the anonymous blogger) has a few words of warning for other insider types who plan to spill the beans:
"To all you would-be bloggers out there: even if you truly are "just being funny" or "don't really mean it", think before you write. And definitely don't write about your industry: things will absolutely be taken out of context or interpreted incorrectly, and that's just not fun for anybody."
According to Jossip, Ladies Home Journal is now putting in place a blogging policy to dissuade other would-be bloggers to dish out the dirt.
As noted earlier today, three cellphone service providers - Sprint, Nextel and T-Mobile USA - have been sued by the city for allegedly deceptive advertising practices. We use the term 'allegedly' here - but decide for yourself. This stuff seems pretty blatant. The New York Post has some examples of print ads that don't pass the proverbial smell test:
Sprint: "Nationwide long distance included. EVERY MINUTE, EVERY DAY." However, a footnote cites "an additional $0.25 per minute for long distance."
T-Mobile: "FREE LONG DISTANCE" and "FREE ROAMING" — but a footnote adds that "billing of roaming charges and minutes of use and services may be delayed" and that "call duration may be limited."
Nextel: "ALL INCOMING CALLS ARE FREE" — but read the fine print: "An additional access charge of either $0.10 per minute multiplied by the number of participants on the call . . . or a monthly flat fee."
A big hat tip to the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs for taking on these cellphone companies. According to the Post, Nextel, Sprint and T-Mobile USA are facing fines of up to $500 per violation.
On his campaign blog, Andrew Rasiej recently invited New Yorkers to come up with "21 New Ideas for the 21st Century":
"We’re looking for your best suggestions. Got an idea how to make life in New York City better, safer, smarter? How to improve education, or make it easier for people to find housing or health care? Or how to make your community more livable, or your commute more bearable? Send us your suggestions, and we’ll add yours to ours to produce 21 new ideas for the 21st century."
At this point, you're probably wondering: What's in it for me? Well, I'll tell you: if your idea is picked as one of the 21 best, then you'll win a free wireless router and a lunch with Andrew Rasiej. If you really impress Andrew and his campaign staff, one supposes, that lunch just might be at the 21 Club in midtown.
Ever signed up for a cellphone contract after being lured in with promises of free incoming calls, free long-distance, and free cell phones for other members of your family and then found out that all kinds of strings were attached? The New York Daily News has the latest on the lawsuit filed by the city’s Department of Consumer Affairs against Nextel, Sprint and T-Mobile USA. In the lawsuit, the city accuses the three cellphone companies of using deceptive advertising to sell wireless services and equipment.
Jonathan Mintz, head of the Department of Consumer Affairs, explains why some of the ads are so tricky: "They’re telling you one thing in the large print and taking it away in the fine print. Any way you slice it, that’s illegal."
MIT Technology Review and Michael Zimmer, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Culture and Communication at NYU, recently got into a minor tiff over the social impact of technology.
Zimmer kicked things off with a withering critique of the magazine:
"Technology Review just doesn't understand the complex relationship between technology and society... At times, they've provided thoughtful insights into emerging technologies and trends, but too often, they seem to ignore many of the social impacts of the technologies they exault. In short, TR too often engages in technological utopianism without properly assessing the social, value and ethical implications of our emerging technologies."
Then, Technology Review fired back:
"It is grossly unfair to accuse Technology Review of utopianism. We are, if anything, aggressively skeptical about new technologies. We worry about whether novel technologies will work as advertised, and we fret about the unintended consequences of such technologies when they do work. We are not fools: we also know that all new technologies are human artifacts and are good and bad in so far as we make them so."
Without choosing sides in this debate, it's fair to say that Zimmer raises a good point: is it really only "social" technologies like blogging and instant messaging that have a social impact on technology? Or do all technologies, in one way or another, influence the way that we interact with each other.
The do-it-yourself media movement -- whether it is blogs or podcasts -- has been gaining momentum recently. Mix in the success of call-in voting on shows like "American Idol" and it's perhaps no surprise that NY1 is creating a do-it-yourself TV broadcast programmed entirely by viewers:
"NY1 News has introduced "The Call," the first television newscast to be programmed exclusively by viewers... The newschannel is providing web users with a tool just like the one NY1's producers use to program their newscasts: A computer-generated rundown of all the stories available for that night's broadcast. Users can drag-and-drop the stories into the order they desire, then submit their personal rundown to the show's producers. The 9 p.m. broadcast will reflect the average of all the rundowns received that day."
Oh boy, I hope that doesn't mean a lot of Jessica Simpson, J. Lo and Michael Jackson on the 9pm news.
Apparently, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to be a successful Wall Street investor... According to the New York Post, a group of researchers from Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, and the University of Iowa recently published a paper in a respected scientific journal concluding that "brain-damaged investors are more successful." Brain-damaged investors do not experience fear, and thus, are more able to take risks that rational investors would not be able to take. More risk, more reward.
Jim Cramer (the host of "Mad Money" on CNBC), though, dismissed the findings as "pop psychology," noting that an element of fear is important to any investor -- it keeps you from making some break-the-bank types of decisions. A lack of fear, he says, does not make you a better investor - only a foolhardy investor.
Not to be missed - at the end of the piece, The New York Post takes a gentle swipe at Cramer: "Cramer, who champions rationality despite the fact that he begins every "Mad Money" by being led into the studio in a straitjacket..."
Hot off the presses: The NYPD will begin conducting random searches of packages and backpacks carried by people entering city subways. In the wake of the terrorist bombings in London, it's easy to see why these measures have been enacted by Mayor Bloomberg. Foreign tourists probably won't have a problem with the new policy, but it's easy to see why some New Yorkers may object. The NYPD, acknowledging these concerns, says it won't engage in racial profiling, but let's face facts: that sweet-looking grandmother hobbling down the steps to the subway probably doesn't pose the same threat as a twenty- or thirty-something male from a non-European ethnic background.
Anyway, plan to add 10-15 minutes to the commute. Oh- and leave the bulky gym bags and bulging backpacks at home.
The explosions in London today - coming just two weeks after suicide bomber attacks in the London Underground - remind us again of just how difficult it is to protect any city's transportation system. Earlier this week, the New York Daily News had an update on the MTA's "first wave of major anti-terrorism projects," including the installation of high-tech surveillance systems to protect the underwater tunnels leading into Manhattan:
"The systems will be able to detect intruders entering the 14 subway and commuter rail tunnels leading into Manhattan - sending alarms and images to Metropolitan Transportation Authority police and anti-terror staff in command centers, sources said. Cops would be dispatched immediately to thwart any possible attack."
It's a solid step forward, but the article hints that the MTA has been dragging its feet on the whole process. Despite having access to more than $500 million in funding for anti-terrorism, the MTA has spent only a miniscule fraction of this money -- money that can be used to protect New Yorkers.
Last month, the New York City Council Committee on Technology and Government held another hearing on affordable broadband Internet access for all New Yorkers. Over at Government Technology, John M. Eger (the former telecommunication advisor to Presidents Nixon and Ford) follows up with a concise look at why broadband Internet access is "as necessary as water, electricity and a telephone in an earlier era, and indeed, such broadband Internet service maybe the missing link to reinventing and renewing our cities for the global knowledge economy."
The only problem, says Eger, is that "traditional cable and telephone companies are preventing municipalities from developing their own aggressive broadband strategies. The telecom industry, long dominated by AT&T, now the so-called Baby Bells, together with the large and equally powerful cable communications companies, have joined forces to prevent any municipality from providing wired or wireless infrastructures of any kind."
Curbed points out that The Real Deal is now podcasting: "You're about to absorb a high-powered blast of information about the Manhattan real estate market via The Real Deal's first real estate podcast, with Jonathan Miller of appraisers Miller-Samuel... When you see us at the gym, you know what we'll be rocking out to on our iPod."
Over at Newsday, John Valenti points out that it may soon be possible for New Yorkers to take six-hour defensive driving courses online if legislation drafted by a Long Island politician is signed into law by Governor Pataki. A similar system is now in use in 15 other states, including California, Florida and Texas. The online course would cover standard defensive driving topics: driving techniques, road signs, accident avoidance, alcohol and drug awareness and regulations.
IBM's IT services unit, which now accounts for half of the company's worldwide annual revenue and more than half of the company's global workforce, has grown so big and so unwieldy that the company is splitting the unit into two separate pieces: a unit that will focus on high-end business consulting and another that will focus on the more mundane task of running corporate data centers.
There are a number of other factors at play, as well. Not the least is that a 30-year IBM veteran who was running the IT services unit recently jumped ship for more lucrative career possibilities at a leading private equity firm. In addition, IBM is moving to protect its turf from low-cost Indian outsourcing companies like Wipro Technologies, Infosys and Tata Consultancy Services.
If you're into podcasting, this is definitely something to keep an eye on: Click&Buy, a Manhattan-based e-payment service for digital content, is putting the finishing touches on software that will allow podcasters to sell content online for a small fee:
"Consumers will be able to pay for podcasts via credit or debit card when using the Click&Buy service. The software also converts currencies, so consumers do not have to pay currency conversion fees if they are buying a foreign podcast."
Other companies -- including iVillage, ABC.com, Kiplinger and Dolphin’s Gym -- have already used the Click&Buy system to sell digital content such as music and games online.
Under intense pressure to boost circulation and trim costs, John S. Carroll, the editor of the Los Angeles Times, stepped down yesterday. That move, of course, led to a lot of hand-wringing and navel-gazing by the MSM. New York Times editor Bill Keller, who knows a thing or two about newspapers losing credibility, says that the line between newspapers and blogs continues to blur:
"We've only got two things that distinguish us from blogs. One is we have reporting staffs who actually go out and see stuff and are trained professionals. And we have standards which are enforced by editors — you double-check things, make sure it's right — and all that costs money. If you aren't giving people the basics — good reliable news, smart analysis and in-depth investigations — then all they're going to see is the same stuff they can get on cable TV."
The Empire Journal has an excellent discussion of how blogs and other forms of Internet communication play an important role in guaranteeing the right to free speech. They enable us to voice our dissent with government and the powers-that-be and prevent the "heavy hand of censorship" from "slamming its fist down on people who dare to express their First Amendment right..."
We agree wholeheartedly with all that. It's a bit harder, though, to understand The Empire Journal's support of former New York City cop Edward Polstein, who was recently fired for putting up an overly-chatty Internet chat board about the NYPD. Now he's filing a complaint with the New York State Division of Human Rights and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, claiming that he was the victim of retaliation and reverse discrimination.
Is Polstein a do-good whistleblower who is being unfairly punished for publishing a Web site? Or is he an embittered former employee who was given sufficient warnings by the NYPD, violated the terms of his retirement package and willingly sought to humiliate top brass at the NYPD with a series of rants and politically-motivated cartoons? Sometimes, me thinks, it's all too easy to hide behind First Amendment rights.
Which is better, XM Satellite Radio or Sirius Satellite Radio? That's like asking who's better, the Red Sox or the Yankees? With radio, it often depends on the DJ, and with baseball, it often depends on the pitcher. (Even with Melky Cabrera in center and Tony Womack in left, we still like our chances when The Big Unit is on the mound.) The New York Daily News weighs in with its own evaluation of the two competing satellite radio providers in three different categories (oldies, country, popular standards).
Choosing a clear-cut victor may be difficult, but consider that Sirius offers an all-Elvis channel and, starting next year, an uncensored Howard Stern.
Curbed points to the "before-and-(maybe!)-after" images of Apple's Flatiron mini-store. It's not just TekServe that is concerned about Apple's invasion of the Flatiron district, says the real estate blog of the New York Observer: a member of the Landmarks Preservation Commission has characterized Apple's new design as "brutally modern, and nothing to do with the context of the neighborhood." A former board member admitted that it was a "great-looking building" but that it was simply "in the wrong place."
Somehow, when Rupert Murdoch promised to unveil a revolutionary new Internet strategy for his global media and entertainment empire, we weren't expecting this: a book blog for the New York Post. Yes, everybody's favorite tabloid newspaper in New York has apparently launched a New York Post Book Blog. Every month, June to November, the paper will recommend two paperbacks: one fiction and one non-fiction. There's also some kind of promotional tie-in, in which books promoted on the blog are also promoted in the paper on Mondays.
For those keeping track, Rupert Murdoch also launched a new Internet unit, Fox Interactive Media, at News Corp. last week. It will be interesting to see how The New York Post, just one link in Murdoch's worldwide media empire, fits into the company's overarching Internet strategy. In June, remember, Murdoch gave a wake-up call to newspaper editors around the world, warning them to embrace the Internet and step forward into the 21st century.
The New York Times takes a closer look at who's watching the city's 14 underwater subway tunnels. Somewhat surprisingly, given their vulnerability, nearly half of the tunnels have not been continuously guarded by the NYPD since 9/11. With the recent terrorist attack in London, though, the police department is scrambling to come up with a solution that will prevent intruders from entering the tunnels. Devising a full-blown strategy won't be easy, warns the Times:
"The question of how best to safeguard the tunnels is among the most vexing for the police and transportation officials struggling to address the many security challenges posed by the country's busiest mass transit system. It involves decisions about money, personnel and technology."
Maybe the idea of combining satellite radio assets with terrestrial radio assets wasn't such a good one anyway... Business Week is skeptical that Sirius Satellite Radio will make a play for Disney's radio assets. According to sources contacted by Business Week after published rumors of a Sirius-Disney radio deal appeared in the New York Post, a far more likely scenario would be a tax-free spin-off of the radio assets to Disney's shareholders. An analyst from S&P explains why a Sirius-Disney deal would not make sense:
"The deal would significantly dilute Sirius' long-term profile. It's not clear to us that there would be compelling synergies that would arise from the relatively incompatible business models for satellite and terrestrial radio."
