051220071273 Originally uploaded by Loose Wire. I’m amazed by how many restaurants, cafes and bars scare away business by not allowing patrons to use their power outlets. In Hong Kong, the manager at Dan Ryans in Pacific Place said they were worried that people recharging phones or running laptops off their outlets would damage the… Read More »
A few people have asked for the transcript of yesterday’s commentary on the BBC’s World Business Daily about getting your mother’s voice to be your ringtone. It follows below, and here’s the (still active) link to the actual program from whence it came. Thanks for listening, and to the crew at Business Daily for their… Read More »
I know in my previous post it sounded like user-generated content isn’t the be-all and end-all, but it has its place. Like this one, from iTunes Store, where Ricky Gervais’ new show is available as an audiobook for 10 quid. The description is the usual blurb-like drivel written by an intern and proof-read by someone… Read More »
The Wall Street Journal’s holiday gift guide is out. My contributions, some of which would be familiar to regular readers: Sleeptracker Pro $179. A successor to the Sleeptracker which I wrote about a couple of years ago (Sandman’s Little Helpers, Jan 13, 2006), the Pro is a watch which monitors your sleep patterns — more… Read More »
Steve Outing writes a bittersweet eulogy to his failed startup, the Enthusiast Group, which tried to build a business around grassroots media. His conclusion: with the exception of one or two sites that make it big (YouTube, Flickr) user generated content is not strong enough to stand on its own. In my view — and… Read More »