Business: February 2004 Archive Page

--Netstore USA (opengroup.com)

Buy my book, Technology in American Drama, 1920-1950... Priced at just $197.70! Outside of the US, that's $216.60, or about a dollar a page! Order now!

Sheesh! At that price, with the royalties I've earned so far, I could buy THREE WHOLE COPIES! Oh, wait, they already charged me for the advance copies I purchased, I guess I could buy just two more copies.

Thanks for the so-disturbing-you-just-have-to-laugh link, Rosemary. (It's much cheaper at Amazon, but if you ask your local university library to buy a copy, they'll be able to get it for less, and more people will get to read it.)

The L.A. Times ('free' registration required--thus my extensive quoting) has story about how:

the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control recently declared that American publishers cannot edit works authored in nations under trade embargoes. Although publishing the articles is legal, editing is a "service" and it is illegal to perform services for embargoed nations, the agency has ruled.

This raises all sorts of questions like does tagging and indexing a blog post count as editing, does reformating an article to fit a house or blog style count as editing? And is a 'service' really a 'service' if no money changes hands? It seems some publishers, including the American Chemical Society, have decided to risk "fines of up to a half-million dollars or jail terms as long as 10 years" by editing scholarly articles they publish. --U.S. Embargos Extended to Editing ArticlesKairosNews/LA Times)

Since the LA Times requires an obnoxious registration, I'm linking to Scott's post on KairosNews instead.

All of this carrying on is fine, but if Spike really wants shows men like to watch, they've missed a few great concepts. Here are ten new programs that appeal to real men:

• The Explosion Show - Every week, the hosts fill some interesting object with black powder and then, well, you get the idea...
  
• Crank Callers - Contestants harass strangers and win prizes
  
• Celebrity Mud Wrestling - The name says it all
  
• Target Practice - Like those hunting shows on the Outdoor channel, except that the big game they're after is the neighbor's lawn ornaments
  
• Psycho Friends Network - Wisecracking comedians staff fortune-telling phone service
  
• Pick-Up Truckers - This is our reality show: Blue collar guys are taken to a real bar and compete to see who can be the first to convince a female patron to come home with them
  
• Mug Shot Makeover - Fashion experts visit the drunk tank with timely grooming advice
  
• Riding Lawnmower Demolition Derby - OK, it's sort of a sport, but it's not on ESPN
  
• Cheer Factor - Adult cheerleader routines are rated by regular guys with number cards
  
• Simian Nightly News - The events of the day are reviewed by chimpanzees dressed in designer suits

Are you listening, Spike?
--Driving the Spike [Scroll down a bit] (Every Fool's Guide to the Universe)

This site seems to archive only by page, so I can't send you to the entry I'm quoting from. It's the one posted at 9:58PM.

A 40-plus-year-old A-list actor pondering whether or not to appear in a game? Heck, even Roger Moore would have been loathe to actively participate in what was once the perceived domain of momma's boys.

"Traditionally, Hollywood signed away rights without any expertise or any idea of the plot lines," said industry analyst P.J. McNealy.

Several factors helped change Hollywood's mind. Technology advanced exponentially, making it possible to accurately recreate the voice, looks and movements of real people. Another factor was the Sony PlayStation 2. Or to be more exact, 60 million PS2s, GameCubes and Xboxes sold in the United States alone.

As games became synonymous with mass entertainment, Hollywood got it. The movie executives who chanted "cross-branding" and "synergy" at power lunches got it. Game developers got it. Even the actors got it. Soon Electronic Arts was convincing not only Brosnan, but Bond regulars John Cleese ('Q') and Judi Dench ('M') as well as William Dafoe, Heidi Klum and Mya to join "Everything or Nothing." --Tom Loftus

--Stars seek more control over video games (M$ NBC)

Via Terra Nova, which features some thoughtful musings about digital rights and the creative freedom of game designers.

Email newsletters continue to be one of the most important ways to communicate with customers on the Internet. Newsletters build relationships with users, and also offer users an added social benefit in that they can forward relevant newsletters to friends and colleagues. Still, users are highly critical of newsletters that waste their time, and often ignore or delete newsletters that have insufficient usability. --Jakob Nielsen --Targeted Email Newsletters Show Continued Strength (Alertbox)

She asked how I was adjusting to the "difficult" corporate world after coming from the "less stressful" academic world. It was all I could do to keep from bursting out laughing.

Let's see: I'm only working five days a week. At night, I am not furiously preparing a lecture for the next day. And I actually enjoy weekends without the nagging feeling that I should be working on more revisions and resubmissions. Yeah, I think I've adjusted just fine, thanks. --Robin Moriarty --Finding Nonacademic Work Overseas (Chronicle)

I'm actually quite happy as a college professor, but there were brief moments during the dot-com craze when I wondered why I didn't feel compelled to head for Silicon Valley and see what happens. Actually, the fact that my wife doesn't want to live anywhere near the San Andreas Fault pretty much solved that career crisis, but it was still interesting to daydream, and it's somehow comforting to remind myself that I'm not the only academic who brings home bookbacks bulging with homework. For me tonight, it's about a four-inch stack of papers to grade, a teaching demonstration, and about 20 e-mails connected to a research project that just hit a major setback. Such is the life of an eternal student.

I can't wait until Spring Break -- when I can really get caught up on my work.

Always capitalize and use trademarks in their correct form.

CORRECT: The image was enhanced with Adobe® Photoshop® Elements software.

INCORRECT: The image was photoshopped.

INCORRECT: The image was Photoshopped.

INCORRECT: The image was Adobe® Photoshopped.

Trademarks must never be used as slang terms. --Hey, Adobe® ... Photoshop® THIS! (Adobe.com)

Somebody hand me an aspirin -- I'm crying in my coke here, because lawyers simply aren't real people. I recognize that the company has an obligation to protect its trademark so people don't xerox it so much its value lands in the dumpster -- but this prescriptive grammar twaddle (look that up in webster's) won't exactly make photoshoppers quivver like Jell-O. The strategy is at best a legal band-aid.

Adobe's website also uses, without the ® symbol, "whiteout," "escalator," "Frisbee", "gramophone," "linoleum," "cellophane," and "spam". I think I've made my point, but if anyone would like to keep searching for additional evidence that Adobe doesn't live in the same world it wants users of its products to live in, check out this Genercized Trademark list.

Unless we get an influx of suggestions within the next three hours, I'll have no choice but to watch this year's Super Bowl. I write this post from the living room of Vidiot Emeritus Peter Ko, and if the prospect of sparing me from the tedium of this year's game isn't enough to spur your creative suggestions, the least you can do is spare Pete from the tedium of my company. --Super Bowl Weblog XXXVIII (Tee Vee)

An interesting site... the Tee Vee bloggers are commenting on the commericals. (How far did you get in Colossal Cave Adventure, Monty?)

My kids are sick, so Leigh and I planned to go to church separately today. I tried to go to an early mass at a different church, but couldn't find the church... my wife had given me directions that she later admitted weren't very good. So I decided to go to the latest mass in the area -- the 7:00pm service at the cathedral. But apparently the bishop is a football fan -- mass was cancelled.