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	Phil's Blogservations Sunday, January 30, 2005 Posted by philgomes 3:29 PM Weekend Thought Weekend Thought The following music saw me through the weekend: "Are You Afraid? / Gravity," Type O Negative "I Will Remember," George Lynch "Nobody's Fault But Mine," Nina Simone "Don't Change Horses In The Middle Of A Stream," Tower Of Power "Heaven And Hell," Black Sabbath "Land Of Ladies," Greg Howe "Don't Give It Up," Larry Carlton (live in Japan with Steve Lukather) I'm in a cafe right now. Free WiFi, so it gets my business while I catch up on some work stuff. The thing is, it closes at 2:00 p.m. Oh, well... Wednesday, January 26, 2005 Posted by philgomes 10:59 AM "Little Hitlers, Grains Of Sand" "Little Hitlers, Grains Of Sand" Can someone please explain to me why everyone except Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong Il, and the world's raftloads of tin horn dictators can be called "Hitler" with a straight face by prominent people? Ted "Mouth Of The South" Turner is at it again. Now the programming folks at Fox News are "Hitler." Read all about it here, here, and here. To tell you the truth, I'm pretty lukewarm about the whole Fox News thing. People get pretty uptight about that network. Newsflash, people: A lot of what's passing for "news" these days is what most people should call "advocacy," and both major political factions in this country have their own set of outlets that favor their views. (I could write more, but it's not a good idea for a media relations person to do so, really.) That said... Turner hasn't screwed up this badly since he started colorizing films back in the 1980s. Oh... And then there's that whole marrying-Jane-Fonda thing. (Ed. note: The title of this blog posting comes from a lyric cribbed out of the underappreciated album Cyber Chords And Sushi Stories from the band Plan B. Yes, my musical tastes are based on stations that broadcast at ten watts.) Sunday, January 23, 2005 Posted by philgomes 1:37 PM Weekend Thought Weekend Thought The following randomly selected mix turned out to be ideal for my workout. Sample: "Sacrifice," Motorhead "Dusted," Sepultura "Jumpdaf**kup," Soulfly (w/ Corey from Slipknot) "Behind The Wall Of Sleep," Smithereens "Never Let Me Down Again," Depeche Mode "You Could Be The One," The Sisters Of Mercy "Chord Of Souls," Fields Of The Nephilim "NIB," Black Sabbath Gotta go shower now. Friday, January 21, 2005 Posted by philgomes 12:20 PM Code Named: "Kitchen Sink?" Code Named: "Kitchen Sink?" Call me crazy, but I distinctly remember that Ming The Merciless turned this gadget on Flash Gordon in the old serials starring Buster Crabbe. Gotta be a better way. Thanks to Engadget for the link. Thursday, January 20, 2005 Posted by philgomes 2:15 PM Classic Search Terms Used To Get Here Classic Search Terms Used To Get Here It always cracks me up to see what kind of search terms people use. These are my favorites month-to-date. Somehow, I always knew: red bull kills brain cells From the Horny Little Bastard Dept.: model kimberly guilfoyle guilfoyle kimberly lingerie guilfoyle newsom lingerie pictures kimberly guilfoyle lingerie kimberly guilfoyle lingerie pictures kimberly guilfoyle newsom lingerie pictures kimberly newsom pictures modeling lingerie I should charge a fee here: how to do media relations Some musical necromancy: dimebag beatles influence dimebag darrell seagram 7 dimebag's guitar setup dimebag favorite drink Digruntled metalhead: we don't miss you dimebag darrell Goths on Google (Sisters Of Mercy lyrics): detonation boulevard lyrics because the world is cruel and promises are broken f--k me and marry me young A potential threat: phil gomes there will come a time And, my personal favorite: dead hooker in ben affleck's trailer Posted by philgomes 10:06 AM When Potatoheads Go Bad When Potatoheads Go Bad And now, Darth Tater! "Luke... Join me and, together, we can rule the galaxy as father and spud..." Thanks to John Sun for the link. Wednesday, January 19, 2005 Posted by philgomes 7:57 PM Thought Of The Day Thought Of The Day The inventor of Gladware deserves to be in the space program. Monday, January 17, 2005 Posted by philgomes 10:34 PM Everything But The Funny Handshakes Everything But The Funny Handshakes So, I just got a call from someone named Jack. My membership in the Buon Tempo Italian club of San Leandro, Calif., also entitles me to a membership in The Loyal Order Of The Moose. No kidding. More news as it develops. Posted by philgomes 8:55 PM Your Very Own Self-Destruct Button Your Very Own Self-Destruct Button There are times — you're just having one of those days, weeks, months, years, or lives — when I'm sure that this comes in quite handy. Special thanks to my buddy Aaron "Papa Smurf" Grant for the link. Sunday, January 16, 2005 Posted by philgomes 11:53 PM There Weren't Enough Hours In The Day Before... There Weren't Enough Hours In The Day Before... ...and now your day is 2.68 microseconds shorter. From the News.Com article: Daytime is now 2.68 microseconds shorter because of last month's tsunami. The massive force unleashed by an earthquake off the coast of Indonesia altered the shape of Earth in a number of minute yet significant ways, NASA scientists have determined. Nice to know before you start work on Monday. Wednesday, January 12, 2005 Posted by philgomes 3:10 PM "Mom! Phil Has A TV In His Wallet!" "Mom! Phil Has A TV In His Wallet!" This is a really cute out-of-the-mouths-of-babes story that I have to tell. Last night, I had dinner with Richard, Mariya, and Galia. Lyle, Kim, and their kids (Joey and Jacob) live downstairs. It's awesome... I go to one address and get to hang out with so many awesome people. While scrubbing Lyle's PC of adware, I pulled out my leather-case-protected Palm Tungsten C because I wanted to look up a phone number. Kids (In Unison): "Oooooooh! What's that?" Damn... How do you explain something like this to a kid? Phil: "Ummmm... Well, it's kind of a tiny computer." Joey: "Show me." I'm certainly not going to want to explain HotSync, calendars, and AvantGo to a seven-year-old. As it turned out, I had a number of MultiMediaCards based on Matrix 3-D Memory from Matrix Semiconductor. (Disclosure: I work with them by way of Dryden Marketing Group.) At the risk of gross over-simplification, Matrix's advanced technology makes it possible to publish content onto such cards in the most cost-effective way available. Mattel, for example, uses Matrix-based cartridges for the Juice Box personal media player. On one of these cards, I had Kinoma-formatted movie trailers for Ice Age, Monsters Inc., and Matrix: Revolutions. I queued up Ice Age. Jacob: "Ooooooooooooh..." Joey: "Mom! Phil has a TV in his wallet!" Getting down to business, Joey later asked me if this "wallet" had any money. Funny. I eventually decided to show them AvantGo. "This is how I read the newspaper." (C'mon, folks... Cut me some slack. I'm talking to elementary school kids here.) Phil: "See? Here's The New York Times. And here's Computerworld." Jacob: "Newwwww York Tiiiiiiiimez... Compeeyooooturwurlllld..." Anyway... A good time was had by all. I rely on the Palm to manage day-to-day tasks and check in whenever I find a WiFi hotspot, but "the TV in my wallet" is certainly something that evokes very fond George Jetson memories. Maybe even James Bond. Posted by philgomes 9:33 AM There Is No Global Warming There Is No Global Warming It gets cold in this old Victorian sometimes. According to the news, there is no spot in the Bay Area warmer than 37 degrees at this time. Monday, January 10, 2005 Posted by philgomes 12:49 PM The Open Pitch The Open Pitch Intralinks, which apparently provides M&A services and process automation, wants Larry Ellison's business. No, really. See for yourself. (Flash warning.) The promises made in the pitch are a little on the extreme side, calling out the heads of Microsoft, SalesForce.Com, SAP, and so on. I'm sure Ellison was either entertained...or irritated. Friday, January 07, 2005 Posted by philgomes 7:08 PM "You're No Jack Kennedy" "You're No Jack Kennedy" In the 1988 VP debates, Lloyd Bentsen threw a withering retort at Dan Quayle during this exchange: Quayle: "I have as much experience in the Congress as Jack Kennedy did when he sought the presidency." Bentsen: "Senator, I served with Jack Kennedy. I knew Jack Kennedy. Jack Kennedy was a friend of mine. Senator, you're no Jack Kennedy." As most of you know, San Francisco's power couple — Mayor Gavin Newsom and Court-TV-anchor-and- former-lingerie-model-and- anti-dog-mauling-crusader Kimberly Guilfoyle Newsom — called it quits after three years. Amicable... Bicoastal careers... Still going to be friends... Yadda yadda yadda... For chrissakes, though, can we just stop it with the Kennedy comparison? The first such comparison, near as I can tell, was in Harper's Bazaar some time ago. Now, a few papers and news services have picked it up, perhaps uncritically. Are we that quick to anoint the next-big-thing? Okay... I get it already. They're both beautiful people. But, rightly or wrongly, the Kennedys are the closest thing to royalty that Sec. 9, Clause 8, of the U.S. Constitution allows ("No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States..."). Could the Newsoms have reasonably achieved such a status in fewer than three years? Granted, the Newsoms never explicitly invited the comparisons. But, then again, the political tie-in, the frequent photo-opping, their relative youth, and just being so damn attractive means that, well, they were kinda asking for it. Anyway... While it's bad enough to have a public divorce, it's positively wretched to have the shadow of the Kennedys hanging over it all. Gotta hand it to their comms folks, though. Timing the disclosure against Schwarzenegger's State Of The State speech and after the close of that business day was a masterstroke. One paper I saw couldn't possibly react quite in time — huge picture of Schwarzenegger on the front page, with the Newsom news slotted into a column-wide, jumped article on the right-hand side. Anyway... Best to the both of 'em... Posted by philgomes 6:13 PM CES Parting Shot CES Parting Shot It's almost over and I've been watching it from the home office. Another CES has come and it's about to go. Had to snicker at this, from Fortune's Peter Lewis about Gates' very-well-covered demo issues at CES 2005: If one of the world’s richest and most technically astute people can’t get this stuff to work, even with a year’s preparation and the support of the entire Microsoft corporation, what hope is there for the rest of us? My armchair-quarterback theory is that no one wants to tell the Big Cheese "no," as in "No, these demos aren't ready for prime-time." I've seen it happen time and again. Tuesday, January 04, 2005 Posted by philgomes 12:59 PM Drunk R2D2 Drunk R2D2 Just caught this on IMDB. The concept of an intoxicated R2D2 is strangely funny for reasons I'm just too busy to figure out. Star Wars R2-D2 actor Kenny Baker is challenging charges of drunk-driving - claiming his asthma prevented him from agreeing to the breath test to determine the alcohol in his body. The 70-year-old vertically challenged actor, who played the robot in the 1977 movie, is relying on blood tests to clear him of reckless driving after he was stopped by police as he drove his Maroon Mercedes in Lancashire, England, on December 17. Monday, January 03, 2005 Posted by philgomes 7:46 PM Why PR/Reporters Need RSS Why PR/Reporters Need RSS Here's a recent dispatch from ExtremeTech's Loyd Case, just ahead of CES 2005: Bear in mind that when I sign up as a member of the media covering the show, I fill out a profile sheet that checks off the areas I'm interested in. Yet, somehow, I get press releases and pleading emails from PR people from all the areas I didn't check off. But the number of messages I get from people outside my areas of interest pale compared to the ones I want to read. By mid-December, I was getting over 100 emails per day just about CES press events, booth appointment requests, and related mail. I recently had a conversation with Loyd's colleague Mark Hachman. By subscribing to Jonathan Schwartz's blog, he was one of the first to get the story out about Sun's Niagara CPU. I'm hoping to put the content of that discussion, and others, in a long awaited update to my original April 2003 paper on the topic. Posted by philgomes 1:32 PM Our First Desktop Videoconference Our First Desktop Videoconference Before Christmas, Jane gave my colleague John and I webcams and mic/headsets. We just finished up our first videoconference. Tah-dah... For a first time out, it was a "GOOBiE," as we used to call it at Hitachi. ("Good Out-Of-Box Experience.") Even the not-quite-full-duplex performance of the audio wasn't very distracting. In preparation, I tested it out the week before with a friend from the UK and the quality wasn't bad at all. She was in a busy cybercafe ("400 computers and one unisex loo") across the pond and the quality was still pretty good. Imagine a video-enhanced CB radio. Posted by philgomes 12:13 AM Where Ya Been, Phil? Where Ya Been, Phil? These days, I answer this question about as often as I blog. Things have been pretty off-the-hook, so I'll dry to deliver the Super Bowl Highlight Film version. First off, I've been pretty ill. One throat problem would go away, and then get replaced by a cold. Or the flu. Or the Australasian Swine Goiter. Anyway, the symptoms this past week have been easily dispatched by some combination of a hot shower, lapsang souchong tea, NyQuil, and the SciFi Channel's Twilight Zone marathon. Second, let's face it: The holidays are what they are. This year was a whirlwind — more so than I remember from past years. Third, as any PR person knows, the end of the year is replete with all kinds of reports, end-of-this-year-and-what-to-look-for-in-the-next pitches, and general preparation for the following year. Fun stuff is afoot, rest assured. I also cleaned my office, which I do twice a year whether it needs it or not. I haven't been silent, though. My talk to the PRSA about the intersection of weblogs and PR found some ink in this month's issue of Electronic Business. I met the article's writer, Howard Baldwin, about five years ago when I was working with Cohera and he was at Upside. I've enjoyed his work, so it was a pleasure to be interviewed by him. I also updated my FAQ and Heroes pages, so you might want to take a look. Noticed that interesting Fortune piece on "Why There's No Escaping The Blog." I'd link to it if Time Warner didn't KGB its online properties behind a costwall. Maybe corporations will start paying more attention to blogs in general? Anyway, here's to a wonderful 2005. Best wishes and benedictions to you all! ...now get back to work! 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.	ABOUT THIS BLOG This blog not only discusses PR and media matters, but Phil's everyday observations about a variety of topics. EMAIL phil[at] philgomes[[dot}]com 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.