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	Phil's Blogservations Sunday, February 29, 2004 Posted by philgomes 2:25 PM Go See Thoth So, for about the past month or so I've been dipping my toe into art/entertainment PR. Helps to broaden my tech-focused horizons a bit and, besides, I'm pretty active artistically in my off-hours anyway. Thanks to my friend Alena, I had the good fortune to be introduced to Thoth. Thoth is easily one of the most pervasively creative, passionate, and skilled musicians that I have ever been fortunate enough to meet. By singing, dancing, playing violin (ambidextrously), and drumming with his feet, he envelopes the listener in the world of The Festad — a mythical land of his own creation, complete with its own languages, heroes, villians, history, customs and, most immediately noticeable, mode of dress. Photo: Susana Bates During our many phone conversations, after business matters have been completed, we've shared many enjoyable discussions about music, creativity, mythology, and art. I encourage you to check out one of his prayformances while he's still in the Bay Area during the next couple of weeks. The calendar on his site has all of the details. You can read about him in the San Francisco Chronicle, the Chron's Pink Section, the SF Weekly, and the East Bay Express. | Friday, February 27, 2004 Posted by philgomes 3:59 PM Rate My Workspace No sooner had I shared my workspace with the world did I receive an IM from my buddy Troy Petersen, PR at Logitech. According to a market research survey sponsored by the company, the average office worker gives their workspace a "C+" grade. According to the CNET article by Ed Frauenheim: In a survey sponsored by computer peripherals company Logitech International, 42 percent of office workers graded their work space design a C. Another 10 percent rated their cubicle or office a D, and 4 percent gave it an F. Only 6 percent gave their space an A. Logitech this week released the results of the study, which surveyed 1,003 U.S. office workers. My favorite part: Seven percent said their desk was a safety hazard, while 6 percent were embarrassed by their space and another 9 percent wouldn't want their mother to see where they work, Logitech said. Well... Since my parents do read my blog, I guess the cat's out of the bag now. Sorry, Mom. While things here may sometimes get untidy around crunch time, it is organized! So, what do you folks think? How would you rate my workspace? Send me an email. Me? I give it a "B." Everything's where I need it, more or less. I guess it would slouch towards "A" territory with a better webcam, newer speakers, a wireless mouse... (That's a hint, Troy!!) Until then... Peace, Prosperity, and Permanent Markers.*8-) | Posted by philgomes 3:34 PM Tour My Office Enough of you have asked, so here it is! | Thursday, February 26, 2004 Posted by philgomes 11:32 AM Product Review For A Truly Killer App Us PR pros have done plenty of product review programs. For my part, I've prepared USB keychains, software, and all manner of high-tech products for review. But could you imagine doing such a program for a weapon? Noah Shachtman points us to a product review in Army Times. (The deep link to the article itself is not available.) Army Times has just tested out the service's new rifle, the XM8. To say the paper's psyched would be somewhere south of an understatement. "One Awesome Weapon" is their XM8 cover story. Or how about this on your business card? | Posted by philgomes 10:04 AM A Glimpse Of A New Hiptop (Sort Of...) The Register wasn't able to snap a photo of the new Danger hiptop device at the 3GSM World Congress, but they managed to do the next best thing: | Tuesday, February 24, 2004 Posted by philgomes 4:01 PM Touring The Microsoft Campus Robert Scoble points to this interesting photo tour of the Microsoft campus, courtesy of Dylan Greene. The vastness of the campus is incredible. According to one of the captions, "This was one of the several buildings used by [the Microsoft] Office [team]." (Emphasis added.) | Posted by philgomes 1:20 PM Is It Wrong To Kick Your Robotic Dog? From the article: Among those celebrating the ability to forget a pet without consequence is a national animal rights group, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). "The turn toward having robotic animals in place of real animals is a step in the right direction," says PETA spokeswoman Lisa Lange. "It shows a person's recognition that they aren't up to the commitment of caring for a real animal. Practically speaking, from PETA's perspective, it really doesn't matter what you do to a tin object." Thanks to John Paczkowski at GMSV for the link. | Posted by philgomes 1:04 PM "Teachin' The Law... Teachin' The Law..." Tonight I'll be doing the guest lecture thang at SFSU as part of Roberta Silverstein's PR class. We've got a lot of ground to cover this time around, but I'm most excited about the first unit that we'll be discussing: media law. I find it unfortunate that a lot of communications and business curricula don't impart the importance of landmark case law like NYT v. Sullivan or — my personal favorite — Saunders v. WHYY-TV. While many of these might be orthogonal to PR, aren't PR practicioners expected to be media experts? Isn't a basic knowledge of these watershed cases part of building this expertise? Anyway, I'm sure it will be a lively class. | Monday, February 23, 2004 Posted by philgomes 11:31 AM Wisdom From Robert Cringely Mitch Wagner reminds us of this great quote from Robert X. Cringely: If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get a million miles per gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside. Note that this could be the Cringely from PBS, or the person currently using that pseudonym at InfoWorld, where PBS' Cringely — neé Mark Stephens — originally acquired the name. Here are links to both the original, now-with-PBS Cringely, and the current "Cringely" at InfoWorld. The former, incidentally, comes up higher on a Google search. | Friday, February 20, 2004 Posted by philgomes 11:09 PM Going Into The Weekend: Celebrity Blogs Before I headed off into the weekend, I came across this post about celebrity bloggers. A lot of them are names you already know, like Wil "Wesley Crusher" Wheaton, but it's an interesting read nevertheless. Note the disdain with which the author regards Neil Gaiman's publicist, which is later alleviated when he discovers that Gaiman does indeed write his own blog. (The publicist just, well, publicizes it.) | Thursday, February 19, 2004 Posted by philgomes 5:58 PM My Buddy's Last Days As A Single Man Meet Sam "Supa" Arroyo: He's started a blog about his last 30 days before marrying the lovely Heather. Sam's final 30 days before he is married to his true love. This is the shape of his head. | Wednesday, February 18, 2004 Posted by philgomes 11:13 AM iTunes Giveway Thwarted By Physics | Tuesday, February 17, 2004 Posted by philgomes 7:03 PM Eating, Sleeping... Mere Luxuries... A long time ago, back in my pre-permalink days, I blogged an article about an awareness drug called "Provigil" that, rather than supply stimulants, reduced the chemicals in the brain that tell your body it's time to sleep. I wondered (feared?) that the PR industry and other professions might get a hold of this drug and make its consumption an unwritten, compulsory condition of employment. This research began with the U.S. government and, after all, lots of government research eventually finds its way into civilian hands — like the Internet. Noah Shachtman, host of the excellent Defense Tech blog, has an article that extends this theme: According to the government, why should people have to eat either? From the article: Soldiers' moms will no doubt be horrified. But the Pentagon is looking into ways for GIs to fight for up to five days — without eating a single meal. During a mission, soldiers in the field typically don't have the time, or the inclination, to chow down. That lack of food can affect their battlefield performance. So Darpa, the U.S. military's far-out research arm, wants scientists to figure out if soldiers can operate at top levels — without lunch breaks. "The question is: 'Are there temporary biochemical approaches we can use to squeeze the last ounce of performance out of soldiers when they're already worked to exhaustion?'" said a Darpa life sciences consultant, who asked not to be named. Frightening... I'm not sure I'd want to be named either! Again, it's not at all inconceivable that these sleep- and food-substitutes could percolate down to the private sector within several years. Is eight hours of sleep preventing you from achieving maximum productivity? Take Provigil! Is eating at your desk providing an undue distraction? Well, then, there's going to be something for that too! It's not as way-out as one might think. People take prescription psychoactive drugs to essentially create a "designer personality" for themselves as much as to remedy severe maladies. (Do you remember the marketing behind the Paxil ads?) Creating a "designer physiology" can't be too far behind. | Posted by philgomes 11:18 AM Humor, Frustration Uncovered In Windows Source Code For those of you who have never written programming code, bear with me. When programming, it's customary to insert comments within the code in order to let other programmers know what the instructions say, how they relate to the rest of the program, and perhaps where problems might occur. The alleged inadvertent release of the Windows source code contains some humor in the programmers' comments. Those readers with an aversion to cursing probably should not click here. | Monday, February 16, 2004 Posted by philgomes 10:57 PM Kitty Case Mod Author and St. Mary's College professor Barry Eckhouse has posted his feline-themed custom case mod to his site. Check it out! Also... Yes, I'm a PR guy, but I'll say this for free: Barry's book Competitive Communication is an indispensible work for business communicators. I own it and I've recommended it to account team members. | Friday, February 13, 2004 Posted by philgomes 12:32 PM Networking Tips From VentureBlog I've noticed some renewed interest in taking stock of business networking techniques. Maybe it has something to do with the energy around the whole "social networking" category. (Is there any other kind? I've never heard of "anti-social networking," "acerbic networking," or "curmudgeonly networking.") Now, VentureBlog has posted some great tips. Enjoy and learn. | Posted by philgomes 11:46 AM Dan Gillmor Audio Interview IT Conversations has a great audio interview with Dan Gillmor. This look into 2004 covers the "copyright cartel," WiFi, the influence of Dan's work (which he politely dismisses with characteristic modesty), open source, and many other topics. The site offers a brief and accurate description of Dan's work: His technology column for the San Jose Mercury News usually appears in the Business section, but Dan's self-assigned beat includes a personal blend of technology, economics, law, and civil liberties. The MP3 requires site registration and is a 9MB download. Very worth doing both. | Thursday, February 12, 2004 Posted by philgomes 12:38 PM Trying Out A New Place While the name evokes recollections of Master Ninja and countless westerns, I'll probably be checking out Oakland's Cafe Van Kleef tomorrow. My friend Chris describes it as a "hip new jazz/blues cafe/bar in downtown Oakland." We can always use more of those! | Wednesday, February 11, 2004 Posted by philgomes 6:30 PM Jim Turley And Marketing Buzzwords I just came across this while doing some research. Many have put up lists for the "retired jerseys" of technology marketing buzzwords (e.g., "feature-rich," "robust," "seamlessly integrated," and their ilk), but this one from renowned microprocessor industry observer Jim Turley is better than most. Delivered as his newsletter's editorial policy: "Solution" is a solid dissolved in a liquid, not a catch-all term for any product or service. "Platform" is a structural surface bearing weight, not a computer, processor, or operating system. "Engine" is a device that burns fossil fuel to produce mechanical force, not a semiconductor device. The word "actually" is not to be used more than tree times in a single sentence. "Unique" shall mean one-of-a-kind, singular and unprecedented not "somewhat different from similar products or services." "Methodology" is banned until such time it can be demonstrated that the word differs in some significant respect from the existing and apparently identical term "method." Like I said... There are a lot of these lists out there, but I'm pretty sure this one hasn't made the rounds of PR blogs and email lists just yet. (And I read all of them.) You're welcome. *8-) | Posted by philgomes 4:51 PM "Till Death Do Us... Oh, Waitaminnit..." Little-known fact: France allows posthumous marriage. | Posted by philgomes 12:30 PM Harlan Ellison's Misguided Copyright Fight Let me start this off right: I am a gigantic fan of Harlan Ellison's work. I own several anthologies, original works, and signed editions of his stories and razor-sharp opinion pieces. His writing has had as much an influence on mine as William S. Burroughs has, which is why you'll see them both on my "Heroes" pages. But his lawsuit against AOL just seems dumb. According to the AP by way of Techdirt, the Ellison case is back in the courts. Sure, every artist has the right to defend the ownership of his or her work. The fact that some 35-year-old drifter who still lives in Mom's basement (conjecture) took the time to scan and OCR Ellison's work to put it on the public Usenet is pretty deplorable. But Ellison's decision to take action against AOL just because the ISP was the means by which he discovered these pilfered works makes no sense. Sure, AOL took longer than DMCA statutes prescribe in order to respond and, perhaps, that put them in an actionable situation. Fine. They probably took that long because they were likely trying to see how they could possibly be culpable. Aside from the issue of access, AOL couldn't control the Usenet any more or less than I can. Does that make them guilty? Then there's the issue of actual harm. I mean, I search the Usenet religiously through Google, but I'm in the minority. My impression is that very few use the Usenet anymore. In several guest lectures for SFSU and one at GGU, I've asked for a show of hands as to how many students have used or even heard of the Usenet. I've gotten one hand raised in two years. This legal fight, while noble, just wasn't worth emptying the retirement fund. I hope Ellison will drop this and spend more time writing. | Tuesday, February 10, 2004 Posted by philgomes 3:31 PM The Social Networking Craze: Wisdom From Ted Nugent "The Motor City Madman" said it best in the song "Cat Stratch Fever": I don't know how they do it but they sure do it good / I hope they're doin' it for free..." While riding the BART train yesterday, it seemed that everyone was reading Verne Kopytoff's piece in the San Francisco Chronicle about the social networking craze characterized by the likes of Ryze, Friendster, and Orkut. From the article: Some analysts see many similarities between this latest dot-com boom and its bigger predecessor in the late 1990s. Indeed, many social networking sites — flush with millions of dollars in venture capital investment — have proven to be more adept at spending money than making it. This is starting to sound all-too-familiar. It's as if a micro-bubble is starting to inflate, goosed along by a let's-just-wait-and-see dead-cat-bounce uptick in the economy and the "Google halo effect," which has rightly or wrongly bouyed everyone's hopes for Silicon Valley. Sure, some of these sites have revenue plans. Well and good. However, some of these sites almost operate as if they were hobbies that eventually exploded into something someone hitched their investment hopes onto. Yet another concept with zero barriers to entry. Where do I sign? "I love you, my pokey little index fund. Don't ever change." I have profiles on Orkut, Ryze, and Friendster, but I'm not sure that my life has changed due to any of them. I suppose one gets as much as they put into it and, right now, I simply don't have the time. Most people I know are similarly busy with work, life, and other pursuits. We'll just have to keep our ears to this particular rail. | Posted by philgomes 10:20 AM Wisdom From My Roommate "I'd rise up and protest apathy if I gave a sh*t." Funny. | Monday, February 09, 2004 Posted by philgomes 10:11 AM Turning Swords Into Ploughshares Not quite, but making AK-47 ammunition clips into MP3 players is a good start. Open up and say "Da!" | Friday, February 06, 2004 Posted by philgomes 11:02 AM Patrick Bateman Moment: Motorhead For those who haven't seen the film American Psycho, the Patrick Bateman character frequently trails off into thoughtful soliloquies about his favorite artists, usually before he slaughters his not-quite-listening audience. I certainly won't be indulging in mayhem here, but I have noticed lately that 1) my knowledge of certain artists is encyclopedic in scope, and 2) I can hold forth about those artists for hours and hours. So, today's Patrick Bateman Moment has to do with Motorhead and their speed-addicted bass-playing frontman Lemmy Kilmister. I went to the gym last Saturday. I sometimes take my AM/FM walkman on Saturdays because I will occasionally do cardio while listening to the O'Donnell On Technology show. It's refreshing to hear computer advice on the radio from someone who really knows his stuff. It usually keeps my mind occupied just enough that I don't get bored doing repetitive exercise. I felt the need to unplug from tech for a while, though. What to do? What to do? I remembered a discovery I made while cleaning out one of my closets: An RCA Kazoo MP3 player. It was one of the earliest ones and I purchased it two years ago from EBay. It held 32MB internally and 64MB externally — paltry by today's standards. The battery still worked and the primitive display said that it had 99 minutes of music inside. Unfortunately, one needs special software in order to load or remove songs from the device... Software I lost in the move from Oakland to Alameda. Figured that any songs on that thing were there to stay until I got that software back, so I decided to take it to the gym anyway and give it a whirl. I think I was going through a retro-metal phase when I loaded the thing. The first song was Ronnie James Dio's melodramatic "Rainbow In The Dark." I chuckled as I climbed onto the elliptical cross-trainer and started doing my best impression of a mouse in a wheel. I seem to get the same charge out of '80s metal that most people get from, say, K.C. And The Sunshine Band. I can't help but smile sometimes. What followed was a half-hour medley of Motorhead's greatest hits. I remember buying the double-CD set. I was irritated that the collection didn't have "Stone Deaf In The U.S.A.," but it had all of the other great ones. Lemmy has one of the most instantly recognizable voices in rock, kind of like he gargled with a bag of rusty nails and washed it down with turpentine. His rattling bass-playing is also a trademark; it's just as much a part of him as his meth addiction and encyclopedic knowledge of WWII history. Then there's the unusual mic stand placement, the gigantic facial warts, the cowboy hat... All of which combine to make him look like equal parts street thug, Hell's Angel, and apocalyptic prophet. Lemmy once said that Motorhead was the kind of band that would make your front lawn die if they moved next door to you. I still don't know what that means exactly, but it does make some sense. While some of the later work like Overnight Sensation trends dangerously close to cheese-metal territory, there's still some amazing songwriting to be had. I would have loved to have observed the creative process behind a song like "Sacrifice," with its amazing drumming and pit-inspiring chorus. Also, few can wield a cover tune so well: "God Save The Queen" and "Please Don't Touch" (with Girlschool) are essential listening. "Shine," "Dogs," and "Snake Bite Love," were also key parts of this long-forgotten mix. Sure "Iron Fist" seems to borrow a little from "Ace Of Spades," but... Who cares, really? I mean... AC/DC has made the same album almost thirty times and few are complaining, right? Anyway... Cheers to Lemmy and Co. | Thursday, February 05, 2004 Posted by philgomes 7:12 PM When The Right Name Eludes You This is pretty fun. This Random Name Generator can supply male and female names with varying degrees of obscurity, from "Stanley Bridge" to "Thalia Henzler." The site says to "Use it for screenplays, fake id's, car rentals, pick-up lines, books, prank calls, movies. Give a random name to that special someone you meet at the bar." Thanks to Dylan Tweney for the link. | Posted by philgomes 4:45 PM With Apologies To Neil Postman... ...We really are "amusing ourselves to death." Gone are the days when a powerful performance is all that's needed to deliver a watercooler moment. Nowadays, a barely there outfit, same-sex smooching or foul language — and now, a flash of nudity — are what's required to get America talking. (Source: CBS News) | Wednesday, February 04, 2004 Posted by philgomes 8:34 PM Chariots Of The Gods And Other Thoughts Lately, I've been occupying the off-hours reading up on paranormal phenomena. After watching this video about the upcoming Alien vs. Predator movie, I was reminded of the book Chariots Of The Gods by Erich Van Daniken. I bought it for a buck at The Book Shop in Hayward. Though rhetorically unsound in spots, Chariots is a great read. Von Daniken posits that the great structures of ancient civilization — Easter Island's monoliths, Egyptian pyramids, Mayan temples — were the result of human/alien collaborations. In addition to reading, I've also been pretty big on the Coast To Coast AM radio show, hosted by George Noory on the weekdays and Art Bell on the weekends. I found this blurb on the site about one physicist's theory that Egyptians had mastered antigravity. Whu-whu-WHAT? Not likely, but fun to think about. And it certainly would answer a lot of questions. Speaking of paranormal phenomena... Where's my Fields Of The Nephilim DVD, anyway? | Tuesday, February 03, 2004 Posted by philgomes 10:37 AM Please Make It Stop Oh, jeez... This is too much! | Posted by philgomes 10:22 AM Oh, My... Words fail me. | HOME | OBSESSIONS | FAQ | HEROES | CAREER | BLOG | CONTACT Note that the views expressed on this site do not necessarily reflect those of Phil's employer, its business partners, its clients, or anyone or anything that doesn't come from Phil's demented imagination. Hell, to be perfectly honest, even Phil disagrees with what he thinks sometimes. This site has virtually no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Clicking on a link doesn't automatically send a 1/2-cent donation to UNICEF. You can't buy, sell, auction, swap, find a date, win friends, influence people, cross the chasm, or decode the human genome using this site. You won't get free email. You won't win a PalmOne Treo or a Playstation2. This site will not end world hunger, foster peace in the Middle East, help you smell better, teach you how to swing dance, or move the global economy from petroleum to hydrogen fuels. You'll learn a lot about this site's master, though, which amounts to a haphazard collection of strange and useless facts that pretty much won't help you at all.	ABOUT THIS BLOG This is the blog of Phil Gomes, VP with Edelman Digital and senior advisor to the Society for New Communications Research. This blog not only discusses PR and media matters, but Phil's everyday observations about a variety of topics. Phil currently resides in Chicago, IL. EMAIL phil[at] philgomes.com View my page on PROpenMic SYNDICATE Feedburner ARCHIVE YAHOO! IM SKYPE WISH LIST PITCH POLICY MY PHOTOS www.flickr.com Photostream RSS Enter your Email Powered by FeedBlitz COMMENT AND TRACKBACK POLICY Comments and trackbacks are unmoderated, though I will delete the patently offensive ones. Any comments and trackbacks are the opinions of the individual writer of those comments and trackbacks, and not those of Phil Gomes, his employer, its clients, or its business partners. If you have a bone to pick, bug the people who wrote the comment or trackback.