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yeah, been busy as hell, but i’ve come up for air to quickly vent about something that is really tearing me up inside (sound of me choking back tears) - tons of talented writers wasting their lives away writing about every single irrelevant thing that elgoog does (”new reply button in calendar, read all about”), and worse, hundreds of others picking up on this worthless shit and recycling into the blogosphere…isn’t there anything else to write about? ever heard of oracle, sun, microsoft, dell, hp, intel, cisco, amazon, ebay? any of these ring a bell?

take a look at something for me: directions on microsoft…notice something? they get paid thousands of dollars to offer insight, commentary and analysis on microsoft…do you know why? because they’re super smart, have worked for the company, know a lot, have worked for the company and also previously worked for the company and have access to tons of current employees (because they worked for the company)…

nobody offers this for elgoog (yeah, maybe i’ll do it, okay? interested?)…and that’s why they pay for it from the companies that do offer it, for firms like microsoft and dozens of others….unfortunately, with bloggers as journalists, you typically get what you pay for…same goes for apple, where dozens of bloggers spew out ridiculous hypotheticals based on passing whims, at which point dozens of other bloggers waster their time (again) reposting the same baseless assumptions (”apple is making an ipod douche that sings ‘blinded by the light’ while douching“)…again, no former employees, no real contacts, and hence no real insight…

…or worse, some blogger claims to have ‘inside information’ but does not release it (okay, i will not name this dude but you all know who i’m talking about) - clearly proving that bloggers are not at all like journalists, and in turn proving that most bloggers are busy blowing sunshine up the asses of the companies they dream about getting fired from one day…

honestly, there’s absolutely NO real reliability and credibility measurement system that we can all agree upon, so we score and rate and evaluate these resources as we go and internalize the processes (as in, “hmm, he predicted the nano, could he be right about the idouche?”)….so what are we all to do? not sure, but i can think of one thing - and this is for technorati and all of the others like them (including digg) - allow your users to rate and score the actual sources, not just the authors, and don’t worry about fewer stories making it to the front page…

…in the interim, fuck blowing sunshine up elgoog’s ass or any company’s ass, i’ll just call it as i see it, and it won’t be about bullshit like new delete buttons…there’s a reason why people like yours truly go straight to the source when i wanna know shit, and if you want to understand why then spend some time trying to learn a lot about a company through blogs written by outsiders…

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okay, so i’m getting this shit rag publication delivered to my home for free, no idea why other than the fact that i apparently fit some key demographic …normally i look over the scantily clad chicks, peruse the new tracks and artist bits and then toss it…but alas there was finally a piece worth reading! it was all about assorted people who attempted to launch musical careers and shat the bed…i’ll skip the crapola part of the article and just share with you the real highlights (as in, who gives a shit about clinton’s sax or kerry on acoustic? exactly):

john ashcroft
… yes, that john ashcroft - yup the very same one - so yeah, he turned out some spiritual tunes, before christian rock really took off…check out:
John Ashcroft and Max Bacon - the best track is supposed to be “let the eagle soar”…but i’ll bet they’re all super god…err, i mean good!

orrin hatch
…yup, same dude …and you must click that link if for no other reason than to see orrin pictured with barry manilow (”i can’t smile without you, orrin“)…you can actually listen to tons of his tracks on his website (cool!), like the great one he wrote for muhammed ali ‘the different makes the difference‘ (clever boy, that song titler orrin…)

tony blair
…oh did he rock! before joining the labor party in ‘75, which was exactly one year before the aptly titled track from the alarm entitled ’spirit of 76′ didn’t come out (the alarm is the band that u2 ripped off btw), tony was the front man for the wickedly popular brit band ‘ugly rumours‘ - and for my super readers, i’ve tracked down a link to a hard-to-find picture of tony with his rocker hair going on, very queen…and here’s a great story about the band that i tracked down…

surprised? i sure was…next week i’m probably gonna find out that deval patrick plays the jew’s harp…

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yeah, so everybody’s still talking about web 2.0 this and office 2.0 that, and i’m all, ‘and?’ (as i await the next ridiculous buyout and ‘evolution’ of the broadband pig)…but in the interim, i thought that this was worth a laugh…it’s a roster of the most absolutely shitty web site names ever, though you must really read them carefully to see the humor…and btw, this was circulating in an email a while back - but please note that several of these were actually covered last year by newscientist in their feedback section (oh, right, i know, creativity is all about knowing how to hide your sources)…at any rate, the list:

1. A site called ‘Who Represents’ where you can find the name of the agent that represents a celebrity. Their domain name?
http://www.whorepresents.com

2. Experts Exchange, a knowledge base where programmers can exchange advice and views
http://www.expertsexchange.com

3. Looking for a pen? Look no further than Pen Island at
http://www.penisland.net

4. Need a therapist? Try Therapist Finder at
http://www.therapistfinder.com

5. Then of course, there’s the Italian Power Generator company
http://www.powergenitalia.com

6. And now, we have the Mole Station Native Nursery, based in New South Wales:
http://www.molestationnursery.com

7. Welcome to the First Cumming Methodist Church. Their website is:
http://www.cummingfirst.com

8. Then, of course, there’s these brainless art designers, and their whacky website
http://www.speedofart.com

9. Want to holiday in Lake Tahoe? Try their brochure website at
http://www.gotahoe.com

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you know, i’ve done many interviews in the past where i’ve been required to transcribe precise dialogue (primarily for a television show) - in these cases, i really took the high road…not only did i inform the subjects and request permission to record, but i also explained exactly how transcripts would be generated, who would see them and so on…otherwise, i’m just a super scribbler, like everybody else who gets on the phone (…i hope that my fellow members of SCIP are reading this post…)

…but alas, there are many who do not understand just how wrong it can be to record phone calls, including a very old employer with whom i wound up embroiled in debate resulting in my decision to move on (they really, really pissed me off pretending to understand neither the ethics nor the laws involved)…

so what’s a potential conversation recorder to do? try checking the law…and if you can’t afford a lawyer, then at least kick off your fact finding with a visit to this amazing guide from “The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press” - it’s called ‘Can we tape?‘ - it’s online, and it’s an outstanding free resource…it includes a state by state guide http://www.rcfp.org/taping/, tons of additional notes, as well as a few notes about the specific use of cellular phones (because yes, it’s actually quite easy to record from cell phones) …

from the rcfp, “This guide provides a quick reference to the specific provisions of each jurisdiction s wiretap law. It outlines whether one-party or all-party consent is required to permit recording of a conversation, and provides the legal citations for wiretap statutes. Some references to case law have been provided in instances where courts have provided further guidance on the law. Penalties for violations of the law are described, including criminal penalties (jail and fines) and civil damages (money that a court may order the violator to pay to the subject of the taping). Instances where the law specifically includes cellular calls and the wireless portion of cordless phone calls also are noted, but many laws are purposely broad enough to encompass such calls without specifically mentioning them.”

please, fellow researchers, given all that shit that’s going down with HP and the cloud that’s beginning to settle over the world of research, you need to begin to think about doing the right thing all of the time…

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