Verizon is on my sh-t list. Ok, so I bought a new computer (a Sony with the new VISTA operating system  I tried that stupid Cingular card that came with it – did not work. Canceled. Bought the Verizon thing. Went out of town. Tried to log on. Did not work. Spent 2 hrs online and on tel with customer service. They blamed it on windows. Had tech team try and fix it. Did not work. They all indicated it may need to deal with the reg edit and stuff. Anyway, store manager sends a note saying don’t worry, bring the card back, we will cancel. Finally get time to bring it back, and they won’t take it. I now need to call corp HQ, threaten to file a complaint with the FCC or FTC or whatever. And deal with their collection practice (arggggg). key words:  Verizon Sucks, Verizon Wireless, Aircard, wireless card

I thought the video of Clay Shirky: institutions vs.collaboration; and the presentation at TED was interesting for many reasons.  I saw it referenced on the OT Post in reference to the mathematical explanation of the distribution of posters.  Statistically it is called a power law distribution curve, and is a very common form for social networks.  More noteworthy to me is the relevance of the impact on contributions in an organizations and the impact of technology.  Scott Cohen, Dimestore Media

Going to climb Mt. Ranier with my friend Chaz to celebrate his 55th Birthday in August.  Fact is, I should have began training a while ago.   See the notes below re the plan of attack.  I went to NYHRC yesterday, and tested my ability on the stair master thing.  So, this is the best way for me to keep track. Session 1 – 30 min, level 13 (1-20), with arms, finish 1.9 miles, hr 119 Felt good, jumped on again and did Session 2 – 20 min, level 17 (1-20), with arms, finish 1.35 miles, hr 122 Both sessions where "HILL" Feel good, going to swim. And finished with 100 laps. In afternoon: Hill – level 19 – 2.21 miles 30 min. Hill – level 20 – 2.31 mi 30 min pulse rate peak 135 – 150 Plus another 100 laps Feel pretty good – not sore – need to get a pack and see how I do with some weight. A good start… I am not as worried as I was. THREE DAY SUMMIT CLIMB PROGRAM SUMMARY Day 1: The Mountaineering Day School 7:00 – 8:00 a.m. Rainier BaseCamp facilities in Ashford open at 7:00 a.m. Climbers may register with Rainier Mountaineering, Inc., pick up rental equipment and purchase last minute items from Whittaker Mountaineering during this time. Pre-ordered trail lunches and meals may also be picked up at Whittaker Mountaineering. 8:00 a.m. Final check-in. Team assembles in preparation for the day. Please arrive dressed for hiking, packed with your Mountaineering Day School gear, and ready to go! We begin the morning with a welcome and introduction of team members and guides. Guides will offer some final packing and clothing suggestions, and answer any questions. We depart BaseCamp immediately following our initial preparation. Transportation is provided between BaseCamp and Paradise, where your training begins. The entire day is spent on the lower snow slopes of Mt. Rainier, just above Paradise between 6,000 and 6,600 feet. Our Mountaineering Day School offers participants an overview of various techniques which help meet the challenges set forth by this magnificent mountain. It serves as a great introduction or as a refresher if you haven’t been in the hills for a while. You should find that our guides are excellent teachers relaying this information to you in an easy to understand manner. On this day you will be introduced to a number of skills, from the basic techniques of efficient mountain travel (rest-stepping and pressure breathing) through cramponing, roped travel, and ice axe arrest practices. Our first priority is the safety of our participants. Participation in the Mountaineering School within the current season is required for joining our Summit Climb. During the School you will be asked to demonstrate that your fitness will allow you to climb safely, and that you are able to perform the new climbing skills proficiently. We will continue to assess each team member throughout the course of the training and the climb. Following the day of training, the shuttle takes our group back to Rainier BaseCamp. 888.892.5462 info@rmiguides.com www.rmiguides.com PO Box Q, Ashford, WA 98304 Setting the standard in mountain guiding excellence since 1969 888.892.5462 info@rmiguides.com www.rmiguides.com PO Box Q, Ashford, WA 98304 Days 2 & 3: The Summit Climb 8:00 a.m. Check-in at Rainier BaseCamp. Team assembles in preparation for the trip to Camp Muir. Immediately following a short team preparation for today’s events, the shuttle departs for Paradise, and our Summit Climb begins. Our Summit Climb takes place over the course of two days. On the first day we hike to Camp Muir, and on the second day we make the attempt on Mount Rainier and return to Ashford. The hike from Paradise (5,400’) to Camp Muir (10,060’) is nearly 4.5 miles, and will take us most of the day. The hike travels through the spectacular alpine zone and onto the Muir Snowfield, named after John Muir who climbed the peak in 1888. The Snowfield is climbed for some 3,000 vertical feet, opening up grand vistas of the wooded lowlands and flanking glaciers. Groups typically climb for about an hour and then break for 10 to 15 minutes. Once at Camp Muir, the climb leader will address the specifics regarding the rest of the climb, including route conditions, food, equipment, clothing recommendations, and any further questions you might have. Accommodations at Muir consist of a small mountain hut with bunks and sleeping pads. The Muir hut is locked during the climb, so items not needed for the summit bid may be left behind. Early the following morning we don ropes, crampons, helmets, and grab our ice axes. Our route begins with a rising traverse across the Cowlitz Glacier, and ascends the steepening switchbacks of Cathedral Gap. This allows us to gain the Ingraham Glacier; one of the mountain’s largest and longest glaciers. We then climb onto the steep ridge known as Disappointment Cleaver, the namesake and physical crux of the route. The remaining slopes and hours are whittled away as we zig and zag through the many crevasses of the upper mountain. It is truly a spectacular climb, and one that you are likely to remember for a while to come. As we make our ascent, we climb steadily for one to two hours at a stretch followed by a 10 to 15 minute break. The summit of Mount Rainier is spectacular. A large crater dominates the summit, with steam rising out of the cavernous summit vents. The bare ground near the summit will be warm to the touch. We always hope to cross the quarter-mile wide crater to stand on the high point of the mountain, Columbia Crest. At 14,410 feet, Mt. Rainier is the highest point in Washington. After spending some time on top (depending on the weather), we begin the descent to Camp Muir. This takes about half the time of the ascent, and also requires significant effort. (Accidents are traditionally recognized as more likely to occur on descents. Because of this, we ask that your training specifically includes preparations for descending. This will help ensure that your ability to safely descend is not compromised.) Once back at Camp Muir, the group will take a break to pack for the final hike down to Paradise. A shuttle will then take our group down to Rainier BaseCamp. We plan on arriving back at Ashford in the late afternoon or early evening.

SO — on the IFILM site, they have a button to post to your myspce — but let’s see if you it works for live spaces. http://www.ifilm.com/efp

Bud.TV going flat as visits decline By Andrew Wallenstein March 13, 2007 Bud.TV may be leaving a sour aftertaste for Anheuser-Busch. The beermaker’s new 24/7 branded digital entertainment network has seen the fizz from its Super Bowl kickoff evaporate quickly, averaging just 253,000 visitors in February, its first month online, according to new data from Comscore Media Metrix. A-B marketing execs reportedly projected reaching 2 million-3 million visitors per month by year’s end. It’s an underwhelming start for a highly anticipated $30 million initiative that aimed to put Bud.TV on the same playing field as entertainment companies online. Aimed at young-male twentysomethings, Bud.TV launched Feb. 4, after Super Bowl XLI, featuring a collection of shortform comedic programming with Hollywood cachet from the likes of Kevin Spacey’s Triggerstreet Prods. and Matt Damon’s LivePlanet Prods. Sources also indicated that a last-minute marketing decision to concentrate online promotional efforts around the Super Bowl on sites where viewers could revisit Budweiser commercials that aired during the big game came at the expense of Bud.TV, which didn’t get as much exposure as it needed. Tony Ponturo, vp global media and sports marketing at Anheuser-Busch, attributed the sluggish traffic to the controversial age-verification system necessary to access the site. "The first week after Super Bowl, the site got an average of 20,000 visits a day, but only about 800-1,000 a day were registering — we think because of the registration process," Ponturo said via e-mail. Last month, attorneys general from 23 states petitioned A-B concerning Bud.TV’s age-verification system, complaining that it wasn’t enough to weed out underage viewers. Meanwhile, critics have noted that the system is a barrier for site entry that has dampened its viral potential. The site had the advantage of promotion during the high-rated game, including electronic billboards that plugged the URL during the third and fourth quarters. But Bud.TV may have been hamstrung by minimal online promotion coming out of the Super Bowl, when insiders had to choose between throwing their weight behind the new venture or multiple sites where the company’s Super Bowl commercials could be reviewed, including Budweiser.com and YouTube. To avoid misrepresenting Bud.TV as just another place to find Super Bowl ads, the company decided after much internal debate to put its marketing support elsewhere. Consequently, the slighted site missed out on what could have been a key boost. Banner ads have since proved to be a boon to Bud.TV; an online promo blitz that hit during Presidents Day weekend lifted the number of site registrants to nearly 8,000 per day over the following week, according to Ponturo, who estimates nearly double that amount visited the site on those days. He said the site’s traffic has leveled off at 15,000 in its third week, but now only roughly one-third are registering. Bud.TV has attracted attention for portending a paradigm shift for online media, allowing advertisers to pitch directly to consumers with their own programming, including such brand-integrated series as "Replaced by a Chimp" and "Truly Famous." Alex Woodson in New York contributed to this report.

Start-Up Aims for Database to Automate Web Searching Darcy Padilla for The New York Times Danny Hillis, left, is a founder of Metaweb Technologies and Robert Cook is the executive vice president for product development.77 Published: March 9, 2007 SAN FRANCISCO, March 8 — A new company founded by a longtime technologist is setting out to create a vast public database intended to be read by computers rather than people, paving the way for a more automated Internet in which machines will routinely share information. The company, Metaweb Technologies, is led by Danny Hillis, whose background includes a stint at Walt Disney Imagineering and who has long championed the idea of intelligent machines. He says his latest effort, to be announced Friday, will help develop a realm frequently described as the “semantic Web” — a set of services that will give rise to software agents that automate many functions now performed manually in front of a Web browser. The idea of a centralized database storing all of the world’s digital information is a fundamental shift away from today’s World Wide Web, which is akin to a library of linked digital documents stored separately on millions of computers where search engines serve as the equivalent of a card catalog. In contrast, Mr. Hillis envisions a centralized repository that is more like a digital almanac. The new system can be extended freely by those wishing to share their information widely. On the Web, there are few rules governing how information should be organized. But in the Metaweb database, to be named Freebase, information will be structured to make it possible for software programs to discern relationships and even meaning. For example, an entry for California’s governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, would be entered as a topic that would include a variety of attributes or “views” describing him as an actor, athlete and politician — listing them in a highly structured way in the database. That would make it possible for programmers and Web developers to write programs allowing Internet users to pose queries that might produce a simple, useful answer rather than a long list of documents. Since it could offer an understanding of relationships like geographic location and occupational specialties, Freebase might be able to field a query about a child-friendly dentist within 10 miles of one’s home and yield a single result. The system will also make it possible to transform the way electronic devices communicate with one another, Mr. Hillis said. An Internet-enabled remote control could reconfigure itself automatically to be compatible with a new television set by tapping into data from Freebase. Or the video recorder of the future might stop blinking and program itself without confounding its owner. In its ambitions, Freebase has some similarities to Google — which has asserted that its mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. But its approach sets it apart. “As wonderful as Google is, there is still much to do,” said Esther Dyson, a computer and Internet industry analyst and investor at EDventure, based in New York. Most search engines are about algorithms and statistics without structure, while databases have been solely about structure until now, she said. “In the middle there is something that represents things as they are,” she said. “Something that captures the relationships between things.” That addition has long been a vision of researchers in artificial intelligence. The Freebase system will offer a set of controls that will allow both programmers and Web designers to extract information easily from the system. “It’s like a system for building the synapses for the global brain,” said Tim O’Reilly, chief executive of O’Reilly Media, a technology publishing firm based in Sebastopol, Calif. Mr. Hillis received his Ph.D. in computer science while studying artificial intelligence at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1985 he founded one of the first companies focused on massively parallel computing, Thinking Machines. When the company failed commercially at the end of the cold war, he became vice president for research and development at Walt Disney Imagineering. More recently he was a founder of Applied Minds, a research and consulting firm based in Glendale, Calif. Metaweb, founded in 2005 with venture capital backing, is a spinoff of that company. Mr. Hillis first described his idea for creating a knowledge web he called Aristotle in a paper in 2000. But he said he did not try to build the system until he had recruited two technical experts as co-founders. Robert Cook, an expert in parallel computing and database design, is Metaweb’s executive vice president for product development. John Giannandrea, formerly chief technologist at Tellme Networks and chief technologist of the Web browser group at Netscape/AOL, is the company’s chief technology officer. “We’re trying to create the world’s database, with all of the world’s information,” Mr. Hillis said. All of the information in Freebase will be available under a license that makes it freely shareable, Mr. Hillis said. In the future, he said, the company plans to create a business by organizing proprietary information in a similar fashion. Contributions already added into the Freebase system include descriptive information about four million songs from Musicbrainz, a user-maintained database; details on 100,000 restaurants supplied by Chemoz; extensive information from Wikipedia; and census data and location information. A number of private companies, including Encyclopaedia Britannica, have indicated that they are willing to add some of their existing databases to the system, Mr. Hillis said.

Should have posted this last week.  So now we have 2 IPOs (one sold to WPP), and one company sold to a media company.  I’m counting on VideoAdGames (soon to be renamed) to be my biggest hit yet!   I had the pleasure of working with some very talented people at Game Trust.  After I left GT, Neal Sinno (who I worked with at LivePerson) did a phenomenal job of doing deals post our signing of AOL. RealNetworks to Acquire Game Trust:  Real’s Casual Games Syndication Partners Will Benefit from Game Trust’s Customizable Community and Commerce Technology Platform SEATTLE, Sept. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Digital entertainment services company RealNetworks(R), Inc. (Nasdaq: RNWK) today announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire Game Trust, Inc, a casual game infrastructure company based in New York. Real plans to add Game Trust’s innovative community and commerce capabilities to the technology platform currently offered to Real’s games syndication partners. The transaction is expected to close early in the fourth quarter.     "Our partners want to add social networking to their sites to further engage their game players," said Harold Zeitz, senior vice president for Real’s Games Division. "This acquisition will create enhanced consumer experiences for our partners’ offerings and for Real’s casual games players."     Real powers more than 200 casual games channels owned by popular media outlets and portal companies worldwide.     "We are very excited to join Real and push the casual games industry forward," said Adeo Ressi, CEO of Game Trust. "This agreement unites the industry’s top content, top distribution, and top technology platform. The players will ultimately benefit."     "Social networking is a critical next step for the casual games industry and for Lifetime," said Kris Soumas, vice president of Games at Lifetime, the leading network for women and a top syndication partner with Real. "We’re looking forward to implementing Game Trust’s technology with Real to enhance our extremely popular games section and strengthen the sense of community on LifetimeTV.com."     Nielsen/NetRatings recently reported that online players of casual games are 30 percent more likely than adult Internet users overall to participate in bulletin boards and 75 percent more likely to visit a chat room to interact with friends or family.     "Social networking will be a catalyst for the next wave of casual games growth," said James Kuai, a research analyst at Parks Associates. "This new partnership demonstrates how industry leaders like RealNetworks are capitalizing on the growing popularity of social networking and community to provide a richer experience for casual games audiences."     Game Trust’s Game Frame platform is the industry-leading software platform for community, affinity, and commerce models in online casual games. Game Trust syndicates the platform to leading media companies around the world. Real will continue to support and strengthen these partnerships.

I moderated a panel yesterday about Hype-targeting called " The Advertising & Commerce Platform, Hypertargeting: Ad Networks, Serving & Targeting" and was happy to use this article as  a keystone to the questions asked of the speakers.  (http://digitalhollywood.com/08BBlocks/BBlocks08-Tues9.html) .  Below is the articla from the WSJ. Wall Street Journal – ADVERTISING Targeted-Ad Initiative Is Crucial for MySpace Questions Multiply On Site’s Potential to Turn a Big Profit By AMOL SHARMA and EMILY STEEL, August 4, 2008; Page B1 When News Corp. reports its fiscal 2008 earnings Tuesday, investors will scrutinize the company’s plans to generate more advertising revenue from the enormous amount of traffic on its MySpace social-networking Web site. One initiative that could be critical to MySpace’s success, according to media buyers and industry analysts, is a system that lets marketers aim their ads at particular groups of users. As part of this "hypertargeting" system, MySpace has analyzed the profiles of its users to gauge their interests and then categorized them into more than 1,000 "buckets," including rodeo watchers, scrapbook enthusiasts and "Dancing With the Stars" viewers. The marketing service was launched last fall, and feedback from some early advertisers has been positive. Concert promoter Live Nation Inc. got a good bump in traffic on its Coldplay summer-tour page after buying display ads on MySpace that were directed at fans of Coldplay and those of bands with overlapping audiences, like Modest Mouse and Death Cab for Cutie. "The closer you get to the audience you want, the better you get in terms of clicks or sales of the product," says Sean Muzzy, senior partner and media director at digital ad agency Neo@Ogilvy, owned by WPP Group PLC. Mr. Muzzy has managed several hypertargeting campaigns, including the one for Live Nation. James Kiernan, a media buyer at Publicis Groupe SA’s Starcom MediaVest who has handled hypertargeting campaigns on MySpace for a dozen or so Procter & Gamble Co. brands, says he has seen the approach yield a 25% to 30% increase in consumer response compared with regular ad purchases. Other big brands testing the targeting service include Adidas, which aimed a recent campaign at MySpace soccer fans. MySpace, which has cheap advertising rates, like other social networks — only a few dollars, at most, for 1,000 displays of an ad, compared with the $50 or $60 per thousand charged by some niche sites — says it can charge roughly double those rates by offering targeting. But it’s far from clear that the ad-targeting service will address growing concerns about the business prospects of MySpace and other online social networks. Because a significant number of MySpace user profiles contain suggestive or otherwise edgy photos or language, many big marketers still worry that their ads could end up alongside inappropriate material. No one is committing huge sums yet, media buyers say. The biggest concern among marketers is that social-network users simply aren’t in the mood to pay attention to ads — regardless of how well-targeted they are — while they are exchanging messages with friends or looking at photos. Privacy concerns about online ad targeting are also an issue. MySpace rival Facebook faced a wave of complaints from consumers when it unveiled a new advertising feature last year that updated users’ friends about online purchases the users had made. On Friday, a congressional committee asked 33 technology companies, including Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc., to provide information about their ad-targeting policies. The stakes are high for MySpace and News Corp., which acquired the site three years ago for $580 million just as MySpace was becoming a Web phenomenon. The site has become one of the Web’s biggest destinations, with nearly 118 million unique monthly visitors, according to Internet tracking firm comScore Inc. But questions are growing about News Corp.’s ability to turn that huge audience into big profits. Earlier this year, the company said its Fox Interactive Media division, which includes MySpace, would miss its $1 billion revenue target for fiscal 2008. Research firm eMarketer expects MySpace, which accounts for most of the division’s revenue, to bring in about $755 million this year. MySpace says it doesn’t comment on revenue forecasts. (News Corp. also owns Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal.) Much of MySpace’s revenue is coming from splashy ads on the MySpace home page, such as a recent campaign to promote the latest Batman film, "The Dark Knight." But there is a limit to how many of those kinds of ads MySpace can sell because the homepage has only one spot for ads. Another big source of revenue is Google, which agreed to make payments to MySpace totaling a minimum of $900 million over three years for the right to broker sponsored links on the site. But that deal may be running into some problems. A Fox Interactive executive acknowledged that consumer response to the ads Google brokers has been disappointing but said the two sides are working on technology to improve it. Google has said it is having trouble monetizing social networks generally, but hasn’t singled out MySpace. MySpace also isn’t the only company betting that analyzing data on users’ profiles will unlock the value of social networks. Facebook offers its own technology that marketers can use to target ads based on geography, age and interests that users have listed in their profiles. Among the tens of thousands of advertisers that have used its system, Facebook says, is a wedding-photography company that aimed its ads at women whose profiles indicated they were engaged. For some marketers, especially small ones, more generic targeting suffices. The New York Health & Racquet Club spent $5,000 on a MySpace campaign that displayed 2.3 million ads to users on the site. Though the health club could have chosen to target ads at people who say in their profiles that they enjoy rock climbing, yoga or working out, it chose instead to simply target by age and ZIP codes near its facilities. The club said it was relatively happy with the campaign, which generated roughly 1,000 clicks, a response rate of just 0.04%. Adam Bain, a Fox Interactive executive whose team created the hypertargeting technology MySpace is using, argues that the system won’t just pay off by boosting ad sales. It is also a way for marketers to glean valuable information about their target audience. If the advertiser wanted to reach scrapbooking hobbyists, for example, it could find 236,475 of them on MySpace. But the system also shows that 99% of them are female, and lists several other hobbies they tend to be interested in, including sewing, baking and watching the TV show "Grey’s Anatomy." As Mr. Bain puts it: "The beautiful thing about MySpace is that people go on every day and share with us what they’re passionate about, what their interests are."

Sent this to one of the CEOs running a company I’m on Board of ..  LESSON:  You have to touch the customer! IN THE LEAD By CAROL HYMOWITZ CEOs Are Spending More Quality Time With Their Customers WSJ May 14, 2007; Page B1 When Intel made a bid to become the microprocessor supplier for Apple’s new Apple TV, Chief Executive Paul Otellini told his top engineers they needed to make some swift design changes. Intel’s microprocessors, which the company had begun supplying for Apple computers in 2005, met performance specifications but their traditional packaging had to be thinner and smaller to fit Apple’s small set-top box that connects TV sets to a computer or the Web. He heard grumblings that this change wasn’t possible — at least not anytime soon — but Mr. Otellini pushed ahead. "Instead of saying no, we can’t, let’s say yes and figure out how," he recalls telling his senior team members. He won them over and soon had a new packaging design to show Apple, which chose Intel as its supplier. It was a lesson in change and in how to approach customers, he says. "We’re adjusting and tailoring products for them and moving much more quickly," explains Mr. Otellini, who came up through the sales and marketing ranks. Top executives like Mr. Otellini find they are working more closely than ever with their customers, and listening and responding to their requests for product customization or service and training. They are becoming involved even in the nitty-gritty of contract negotiations. "Ten years ago, a sales executive would have given a pitch, but today big customers want the CEO’s commitment that if they buy from you, you’re forming a partnership with them and will deliver exactly what you promised," says Ed Peters, chief executive of OpenConnect, a Dallas company that makes software that uncovers business-process inefficiencies. "And if you don’t, your failure will be broadcast on the Internet and quash possible deals with other customers." Mr. Peters says he spends at least 60% of his time on the road meeting with customers. Last week, he sat in on a sales presentation with a large global customer. His managers knew the client’s business processes inside and out. But his customer wanted to hear from him how they would save on costs. Next, he’ll meet with the client’s top executives to give them more information. Having the CEO make a "ceremonial visit" to only the biggest customers to tell them, "You’re important to us," isn’t cutting it anymore, says Kevin Coyne, a Harvard Business School professor. "They’re getting substantively involved in the biggest deals, showing up for key parts of a negotiation," he says. And they’re following up to make sure employees deliver what they’ve promised. At a time of product proliferation, they’re thinking about customers around the globe, he adds. Nike CEO Mark Parker recently met in Shanghai with 50 Chinese artists, fashion and industrial designers, and photographers who gave him "insights I wouldn’t get reading an article about China," he says. "The message that came through was they want their own voice" and were concerned about being overwhelmed by Western products, he says. He hopes Nike’s concept of personalization appeals to them. The company has Web sites that allow anyone to customize a pair of shoes with different colors, trims or team names. "I enjoy connecting with people" who influence the taste and cultural trends, adds Mr. Parker, who was named CEO last year. He says it is critical for all business leaders to connect with customers. Clients today, he says, are "highly individualized, want products that excite them — and have more choices than ever." For Mr. Parker and other CEOs, the must-see list is growing in number and variety. Nike has long used team sponsorships and star athlete endorsements to market its products and sought advice from athletes for its designs. But he also spends time with musicians, graffiti artists and other creative talent. "I meet regularly with our biggest retail customers but I also go off the beaten path where I can stimulate the right side of my brain — and discover new tastes in music, fashion, cuisine," he says. At Sun Microsystems, Scott McNealy maintains a list of 50 large customers. His relationships with some of them have spanned his whole tenure at the company he founded, although he is now chairman, not CEO. "I have 25-year relationships with a lot of these people," he says. Since stepping down as CEO last year, he has created a new job for himself circling the globe to keep in touch with his customers. Just this past Saturday, he had plans to fly to Japan to meet with clients, and to do the same in India and Germany before returning to the U.S. He estimates he does about eight or 10 events each day when he’s traveling: scheduling lunch or dinner with scores of people, plus some one-on-one conversations with others. Company CEO Jonathan Schwartz gets reports daily from Mr. McNealy about what happens in those meetings. Even so, Mr. Schwartz also spends time with the customers. "But unlike Jonathan, I don’t have 15 direct reports who each want a piece of my mind, and I don’t have to come back jet-lagged and run a staff meeting," says Mr. McNealy.

My friend Lynn asked me about Massive — and then just a few days later, here’s an article on Google entering the space.  My expectation is there will be a lot of road kill over the next year. Google’s next ad frontier may be inside videogames Google’s next ad frontier may be inside videogames Google is in talks to acquire closely held Adscape Media, whose technology allows for the delivery of ads over the Internet and in videogames. Nick Wingfield and Kevin J. Delaney, Wall Street Journal Posted: Sat, 20 Jan 2007 16:58 | (c) Moneyweb Holdings Limited, 1997-2006 Google Inc.’s efforts to broker advertisements beyond the Web could soon expand into ads that appear in videogames. The Mountain View, Calif., company is in talks to acquire Adscape Media Inc., a closely held San Francisco company whose technology allows for the delivery of advertising over the Internet and placement within videogames, according to people familiar with the matter. They added that a deal could be reached as early as next week. While the possible terms of a deal aren’t known, Microsoft Corp. last year acquired Massive Inc., a company that delivers in-game ads, for close to $200 million. An acquisition of Adscape, if completed, would allow Google to offer the hundreds of thousands of advertisers who currently buy online ads through its system to also buy ads that appear within videogames. The market for delivering ads into games — such as a virtual billboard on a racetrack or a poster in a boxing arena — is still in its infancy, but major games publishers such as Electronic Arts Inc. believe it could be a lucrative business and many are pursuing it aggressively. Sending ads over the Internet is just now becoming more feasible through new game consoles such as Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3 and Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which are designed to be connected to the Internet. One person familiar with the matter says Google for months has been discussing with game publishers the prospect of delivering ads over the Internet into the action of their games. If completed, a deal with Adscape would form part of an ambitious Google effort to broker advertising across many types of media globally. The Internet company, whose 2006 revenue is expected to top $10 billion on the strength of its online-ad sales, currently is testing systems for selling ads in newspapers and on radio, and has said it plans to extend into television ads. People familiar with the matter say it is discussing a possible agreement with CBS Corp. that would include brokering TV and radio advertisements. Both CBS and Google have declined to comment on any talks. A Google spokesman declined to comment on any talks with Adscape, saying "We are always considering new ways to extend Google’s advertising program to benefit our users, advertisers and publishers. In-game advertising offers one such possible extension among many others." Adscape Chairman Bernard Stolar said he "has spoken to every major player" about a possible acquisition of Adscape, but there currently is no such deal. People familiar with the matter say Google had looked at Massive prior to Microsoft’s acquisition of the company. A purchase of Adscape would add a new front to expanding competition between Google and Microsoft, which today stretches from Web search to word processing. Google could look to form an alliance with Microsoft’s archrival in the games console business, Sony. In-game advertising has attracted an array of contenders, including IGA Worldwide Inc. and Double Fusion Inc. Adscape’s chairman Mr. Stolar is a well-connected veteran of the games business, having previously served as an executive at Sega, Sony’s U.S. games division and Atari, and could help Google form crucial partnerships with publishers.

Friend created this logo for The Life Cube Project. #ENVISIONTheLifeCube #downtownlasvegas #DowntownProject #dtlv #lifecubeproject #wishcube #artartatburningmanartatburningmanbm2011bm2012BM2012BurningManburningman2011BurningMan2011artburningman2012burningmanartburningmanburningmanlifecubeskeeterTheLifeCubeThe #lifecube #LifeCubeLogo #lifecube #lifecubeprojectlifecubethelifecubeprojectlifecubeproject

Over a year ago, I wrote down the goal of creating a Life Cube art installation in a city or museum around the world. The Life Cube Project in Downtown Las Vegas is a dream come true. The number of people that are helping make this all happen is amazing. We begin pre-build in Jan, site construction in Feb, and burn it in March. Plans include a place for people to write their dreams, goals, wishes, aspirations and deposit in the Cube, tapestry walls, multiple murals, photo archives of old Downtown LV, write-boards, and satellite Cubes in businesses and schools. Very exciting to be involved in this project. More details to follow. Below are some photos I’m using to tell the story to people in the Las Vegas community. #ephemeralart #lifecube #lasvegas #dtlv http://www.facebook.com/thelifecube The Life Cube Project Logo Nov 2013 The first Life Cube built in Black Rock City. 8′ x 8′ able to support 10 people. Build Team was 4 people, burn team 20 people. Life Cube Official Wish-Stick 2011 Life Cube design for 2012. 16×16 feet; Team 50 people. Life Cube 2011 Lighting by Trevor Brown Burn in Black Rock City attended by about 1000 people. Life Cube 2013 design by Kevin Pellon, DSB+ Architect. Size 24 x 24 Feet. Write down your goals, dreams, wishes, & aspirations and deposit them here. Life Cube Wish-Sticks Depositing Wish-Sticks in the Life Cube, creating a moment. Life Cube Write-Board Life Cube Tapestry Wall Assembly Over 100 artists submitted 2×2 foot panels for the Life Mosaic Tapestry Wall on Life Cube 2013 ` Photos of Burning Man since the early days on The Life Cube Mural by Angelina Cristina Photo of Life Cube by Tomas Loewy Life Cube Burn 2013 Black Rock City Life Cube Wish-Stick 2013 with Sacred Geometry #lifecubedtlvlasvegasephemeralartburningmanurbanartthelifecubescottcohen