sMoRTy71.com: October 2004

Morrissey in Louisville
First, let me say that Morrissey's performance was terrific. His voice and stage presence were great. His band was tight. The crowd was really into the show. And he even had these giant lighted letters, like KISS uses, that spelled out "Morrissey" in red.

Unfortunately, there were a couple things not related to the music that really diminished the quality of the show for me:

1. Peta: The first thing I see when I walk into the Palace is some drone in a Peta T-shirt pushing a clipboard at me. He apparently wants to trade the possibility of winning a Morrissey poster for my signature on his Peta petition. I declined his offer and told him that I wasn't down with Peta.

On top of that, there's a table with all sorts of Peta propaganda including a TV showing images of animals being slaughtered.

Then during the show, Morrissey had to make a point of bringing up Peta and mentioning that all of the band members were vegetarians.

My problem with all of this is that I don't care what anybody at the concert had for dinner. Not one bit. Even if I did, I wouldn't support an organization like Peta who funds terrorism (bankrolling members of ELF who bomb research facilities that test on animals) and preaches hate (harrassing and threatening employees of animal shelters).

2. Politics: I understand that Morrissey's music often talks about politics; however, I don't particularly care to hear him talk about it between songs, too. Twice he took shots at Laura Bush. Even though I don't care for the President's policies, I don't have a personal issue with his wife. I guess I just don't want to be preached at about anybody's politics even if the beliefs are similar to mine. That's not what I paid to see.

So the musical portion of the show was great (a nice mix of new stuff, old stuff and Smiths stuff), but I probably wouldn't go see Morrissey again considering all of the other crap that he feels he needs to subject his customers to.

BTW, I went to the show with my friend (and militant Republican) Pat. He had a much more extreme reaction to the show. Read his take here.

Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley
Rolling Stone is reporting that a new documentary of the life and music of Jeff Buckley premiered in New York on Saturday. Titled "Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley," the film has been in the works for the past six years and features interviews and performance footage from all stages of Buckley's career (from his early Sin-e performances up until his drowning death in Memphis in 1997).

I am very eager to see this film. I have been a fan of Jeff Buckley since I first saw the video for "Last Goodbye" back in 1994. I was actually living in Memphis at the same time that Buckley was; however, I didn't know it. I even saw an ad in the Memphis Flyer for one of Jeff's shows (which was at some really crappy dive downtown), but figured that it couldn't be that Jeff Buckley. It wasn't until he went missing that I realized that it was him.

In addition to interviews and performances by Buckley, the film also features other artists who enjoyed Jeff's work. Apparently, Skid Row does a cover of Jeff's "Eternal Life" live. That has got to be quite a sight.

If you haven't heard any of Buckley's work, definitely check out "Grace." It is an amazing album. I believe it made Rolling Stone's list of the best albums of the 1990s. "Forget Her," which didn't make the original Grace release, is one of my favorites. You can check out the video here.

HBO and Fair Use
HBO has decided to place limits on how their OnDemand content can be used by their customers. In a nutshell, users will not be able to make a copy of content from their OnDemand service. Here's the explanation of the policy from the HBO website:

"HBO has begun using a copyright protection mechanism that helps to enforce existing copyright laws. The technology is known as the "Copy Generation Management System for Analog" or CGMS-A. You will still be able to make one copy (analog or digital) of a program that airs on either HBO or Cinemax, but you will not be able to then further duplicate that copy. However, cable subscribers will not be able to record HBO-On-Demand (HOD) or Cinemax-On-Demand (MaxOD) programs. Since HOD and MaxOD already provide the viewing conveniences afforded by having a personal copy of a program (i.e., the ability to watch what you want whenever you want to watch it), HOD and MaxOD subscribers do not need to copy HOD and MaxOD content. (This does not affect DBS satellite subscribers, since HOD and MaxOD are not currently offered on those platforms.)"

Engadget's coverage of this policy had one of the funnier lines I've heard regarding fair use:

"People are already on HBO about the fact that this caps fair use, but they don't seem to care, as they are looking to protect their content from the evil people who want to watch it."

Turn that TV off
Have you ever been sitting in a bar or restaurant and wish you could turn off the omnipresent TV that seems to attract everyone's attention? If you have, then Mitch Altman has a product for you. Mitch has developed the TV B Gone which is a keychain fob that blasts hundreds of remote control "power" codes with the single click of a button. The result? All TVs within range of the TV B Gone go off.

Mitch claims that he was tired of going out with friends and having everyone zone out watching the TV.

I've tried to check out his site since reading about the TV B Gone on WIRED yesterday; however, it appears all of the press coverage has resulted in Mitch exceeding his daily bandwidth.

Interview with TiVo's CEO
Engadget has a really good interview with TiVo CEO Mike Ramsay. He talks about everything from TiVo to Go to The Induce Act to their recent deal with Netflix.

Ramsay sees broadband playing a bigger and bigger role in the delivery of video content (thus the deal with Netflix). He also hopes that TiVo can be the UI for accessing all of the various types of digital content that will come into the home whether it is from cable, satellite or broadband.

More about I Love Bees
While the novelty of the whole I Love Bees viral marketing thing for Halo 2 wore off for me several weeks ago, some people continue to take it a little more seriously.

WIRED is reporting that many people are treating the ILBs "game" as an entirely separate experience from Halo 2 with some people braving Hurricane Ivan to answer a damn payphone.

I know that some people think playing video games is sort of dorky; however, this whole ILB thing reminds me too much of the ultra-dorkiness of flash mobs.

I don't mind if the ILB fans have their fun by running around and answering payphones in Iowa, but don't tarnish the good name of Halo 2 fans by lumping us in with flash mobs.

Parlez-vous Halo 2?
According to GameSpot, pirates have leaked a French-language version of Halo 2 onto the internet. As for the potential penalty for downloading the leaked version, GameSpot warns:

"It should be noted that players who download the game illegally could face a maximum penalty of $100,000 per instance for copyright violations."

I think I'll just wait until November 9th.

AT&T Wireless sucks!
First of all, I hate having a cellphone. Hate it. However, I've accepted the fact that I have one. Well, AT&T Wireless is trying their best to make me hate it even more than I already do.

We used to be T-mobile customers; however, we decided to get rid of our cellphones about a year ago, so we dropped their service. Well, a couple of months ago, we decided to get service again since my wife was returning to work (and, as a nurse, she is often driving pretty late).

While we were going to go with T-mobile again (since we never had a single problem with them), AT&T Wireless was offering some ridiculous special that included 2 $250+ phones, a $49 per month rate (plus $10 per additional line), no activation and free shipping. We figured that nothing upfront and $59 per month was a pretty good deal for all we were getting...we were wrong. AT&T Wireless SUCKS!

First problem: We receive our first bill and find that we owe $110 instead of the $59 we were supposed to pay. According to the bill, we didn't actually have the plan that we signed up for. We had a plan that had fewer minutes. This resulted in us exceeding the minutes of the plan they had us under (although we were well under the minutes limit for the plan we signed up for). A call to customer service was useless. They said that they couldn't do anything about that bill; however, they would correct the mistake and switch the plan the next month.

Second problem: We receive yet another bill for $100+. We call customer service and we explain the promise made by the last CSR to adjust our plan. This rep say that they don't know what we're talking about and that the offer we were promised had expired. Screwed again. So we had to sign up for a higher-priced plan in order to get the minutes needed to avoid the $100 charges. This plan is supposed to be $69.

Third problem: One of our phones starts acting flaky. The microphone wouldn't transmit the voice signal sometimes. Other times, the volume of the earpiece was completely out. So we called customer service and they said they could send out a new phone for $14.95. We agreed. However, between the time we called and the phone arrived, the phone started working again. So when the package arrived, we refused delivery.

Fourth problem: We got our bill last night. The total is $85! You want to know why? They charged us the $14.95 for the other phone. We called back and said that we didn't accept the new phone. Turns out that the $14.95 was for shipping and that wasn't refundable. $14.95 for shipping? Come on.

So now we're stuck with a plan that is more expensive than what we signed up for and every month seems to result in some sort of charge to jack the price up even more. The customer service is absolutely horrendous. And to make it even worse, we're stuck with them for another year and a half.

I am seriously considering paying the cancellation fee and getting rid of the service. It looks like that will actually be cheaper in the long run. BTW, did I mention that AT&T Wireless SUCKS?!

FOX 41 finally goes HD!
I had all but given up on our local FOX affiliate (WDRB) ever making the switch to high definition. However, it appears that they stopped broadcasting off of their analog coat hanger and made the switch to HD over the weekend.

Because the quality of their previous attempt at a digital signal was so bad, I had stopped watching the FOX OTA signal and watched only the SD FOX channel on my DirecTiVo. However, last night, I hit the wrong button on my HD receiver's remote and was startled by the beautiful (although slightly compressed) HD signal from the Yankees - Red Sox game.

In addition to sports programming, the two FOX shows that I watch ("Arrested Development" and "24") will be broadcast in HD. See the complete list here.

With the addition of FOX, DirecTV customers in Louisvile now have access to over 13 HD channels (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, HBO, Showtime, Bravo, ESPN, HDNet, HDNet Movies, HD PPV, Discovery HD Theater), not to mention the 6 or 7 HD games each week for NFL Sunday Ticket subscribers.

A-Team movie on the way!
According to Variety, "James Bond scribe Bruce Feirstein is writing the movie version of popular 1980s television series "The A-Team" for Fox." Stephen J. Cannell, who created the original show, will co-produce the film.

Unfortunately, the role of Bosco Albert Baracus (Note: the initials B.A. did NOT stand for "bad attitude" as widely reported) will not be reprised by Mr. T. However, he is expected to have some role in the film.

Because Variety is a subscription-only site, I am linking to the BBC article for those who want more info.

RSS Calendar
OK, I realize I have been on kind of an RSS kick lately; however, I'm really digging all of the cools uses people are finding for it. The latest one I've found is called RSS Calendar. As the name suggests, it lets you create an calendar that you distribute via RSS.

In addition to allowing you to keep track of your own appointments, other users of RSS Calendar can save events from your RSS feed into their own RSS Calendar.

One of the cooler features is the ability to publish your RSS Calendar on your website. I am thinking about developing a new feature on sMoRTy71.com that keeps track of upcoming game, movie and music releases. If I can get the formatting right, I may give it a try.

Even if I don't use it on the site, RSS Calendar might just allow me to transition away from Outlook (until Gmail adds a calendar function or until Mozilla's Sunbird is finished).

Marketers will pimp RSS...
as soon as they figure out how. ClickZ, a site dedicated to that notable professional of online marketing, has posted an article on the marketing value of RSS. Apparently, it took Yahoo! adding an RSS reader to My Yahoo! for them to really recognize the potential of the format.

Anyway, some of the marketers quoted in the article question the value of RSS, in its current form, as an effective marketing tool. They claim it doesn't provide any real value because publishers can't directly tie revenue to their feeds. My favorite quote comes from the VP of Pheedo who longs for the day that marketers can do to RSS what they did to online and e-mail:

"Look at the history of online and e-mail...We could only do text in e-mail on day one. Now look what we can do inside an e-mail. We can embed audio, flash, HTML, track it, monitor it, serve ads. We're going to be doing that same stuff in RSS some day." Great, RSS spam!

I guess things like loyalty and brand affinity don't count for much anymore in the online marketer's mind. It seems to me that those metrics would be much more important in the crowded online news market.

Who the hell watches ELR?
Thanks to NFL Sunday Ticket, I watch a lot of football on Sundays (a lot!). So, every week, I hear a lot of promos for CBS' primetime lineup. The announcer will say something like, "And don't miss America's most-watched comedy 'Everybody Loves Raymond.'" I usually don't think too much about it (because it isn't football); however, this morning, I actually stumbled upon the ratings for the previous week.

I'll be damned if that show isn't the most-watched comedy. 18.7 million people watched it! How can that be? I saw part of the show once and it wasn't good. And I don't know one person who watches it. Not a single one.

Although I have nothing to back this claim up, I bet that if more people had TiVo, very few would consume shows like "Everybody Loves Raymond."

"Pink" Floyd sues Richard Linklater
Richard Linklater, who has directed some of my favorite films ("Slacker," "Before Sunrise," "Before Sunset"), is being sued by three former high school classmates for using their names in his 1993 film "Dazed and Confused."

Bobby Wooderson, Andy Slater and Richard "Pink" Floyd claim that Linklater's film, which was released 11 years ago, has ruined their lives (I claim that the fact they still live in Huntsville, Texas may have more to do with it).

Interestingly, they filed their lawsuit in New Mexico because their statute of limitations had run out in Texas. I wonder if this lawsuit has anything to do with Linklater's recent commercial ("School of Rock")and critical success ("Before Sunset"). Otherwise, why wouldn't they have filed suit in 1993 when the film came out?

RFID watch prototype
Technology Trends is reporting on an RFID watch prototype that has been developed at the University of Washington. The watch will, among other things, alert you if you forget items like car keys or your cell phone.

Gaetano Borriello, who developed the prototype, says that the watch is really just part of a larger building-wide system that he hopes to complete within the next year.

"We would have about 1,000 people using it and get a better understanding of what the future will bring while we still have a chance to do something about it. We want to explore not only how these systems would work, but also social issues like privacy implications."

As I have posted here before, I am really excited about RFID and what it could mean in the world of personal technology and home automation. I am very eager to see how Borriello's project turns out.

Here is the original press release referenced in the Technology Trends post.

TiVo for audio
WIRED published an article on podcasting this morning that I found interesting. I had heard the term before; however, I dismissed it as just some dorky thing that Apple drones did on their tangerine "computers." Turns out that it is actually something kind of cool. And because podcast advocates, like Adam Curry at iPodder, are using all the right buzzwords (TiVo, RSS, even Howard Stern), it's caught my interest, too.

In a nutshell, podcasting involves recording internet radio content and automatically downloading it to a portable music player. Once the user installs one of the various podcast apps and selects their programming, the rest happens without user intervention.

Howard Stern is mentioned in the article as a great candidate for podcast distribution. Considering his jump to satellite radio, he will be providing a digital stream of his show in 2006. If Sirius develops a way to record that stream, I may be a little more interested in satellite radio and podcasting than I am right now.

HackADay.com
The guys over at Engadget have launched a new website called Hack A Day that, as the name implies, posts a new hack everyday.

The site, which is in beta, has only been up about 10 days, so there aren't a lot of hacks yet. Today's hack is running OS X on your Xbox (which borders on blasphemy). Another one shows you how to read RSS feeds on your TiVo.

You can get their RSS feed here.

Win advanced copy of Halo 2
7-11 and Mountain Dew are teaming up on a contest to give away advanced copies of Halo 2 to winning entrants. There are other cool prizes (like a trip to Bungie's Redmond offices, Xbox consoles); however, I'd be content with getting my hands on Halo 2 a week before everyone else.

You do have to provide your e-mail, name, zip code and gender, so privacy nuts need not bother. Everyone else can enter here.

Mountain Dew drinkers get a free Halo 2 t-shirt for buying 10 Mountain Dew 2-liter or 20 oz. bottles and filling out this form.

We still need a great HTPC UI
As Microsoft prepares to release Windows Media Center Edition 2005, I am (somewhat painfully) reminded that there is still not a great HTPC front-end application that makes the HTPC as easy to use as my TiVo. With all of the companies, including Microsoft, out there trying to figure it out, I still don't understand why we don't have one.

So, I am going to offer my wishlist of features (in addition to the basic photo, music and video features)for a front-end app in hopes that someone (anyone!) will build it:

Customizable, unified interface: I currently use the software that came with my FireFly remote. While it does a good job at allowing me to customize the "launch" screen with all of the applications that I want to access, I still have to open each application in a separate window with its own separate UI.

I want an HTPC front end that will keep all of the other apps within its UI. For example, if I select "Win DVD 6," I want Win DVD 6 to open within the UI of the front-end application. Think of it as putting a custom skin on each app.

Until there is a unified interface that allows you to add apps of your choice, HTPC will still not be as easy to use as they need to be for mass market success.

Truly universal remote control: Many apps and tuner cards have their own remote control; however, I have yet to find one that just works with everything. My FireFly is very close but it still needs some help with some apps like Rhapsody. Maybe the unified interface mentioned above would actually make it easier to create a single universal remote control.

RSS support: Because I don't watch the news on TV, I need to be able to access all of the dozens of RSS feeds that I use on my HTPC. Seems like a simple enough request. GB-PVR already includes that functionality via an RSS plugin. Again, this would require the unified interface and the ability to use a remote to make it worthwhile.

Browser that formats web for television display: The experience of using a browser on my HTPC is still not very good. Opera has created it "Opera for Home Media" technology; however, it is intended for the set-top box market. We need someone do to the same for HTPCs and include it in the (you guessed it) unified interface.

While there are probably more features that I could dream up, I think that these offer some of the basic funtionality that is necessary to make HTPCs more useful (and appealing to a larger audience).

First Impression: Snap.com
Yet another company has introduced a new search engine. This time, it is Idealab who is ready to take on Google, Yahoo, MSN, IceRocket, etc...

The site, Snap.com (interestingly enough, that domain used to be owned by my current employer), aims to help users refine searches until they get what they really wanted. According to Bill Gross' post on the Snap blog, the site was built to provide three things:

1. User control
"...you get to change the order of search results, refine search results instantly, and hone in on exactly what you’re looking for. We think you’ll love it. Give it a try. It works on any search, just refine by entering filter words in the field above any column, or click on any column to sort."

2. User feedback
"We take into account what happens AFTER people click on search listings at our site AND others, to use as feedback on the relevance, and get you better results up at the top. This helps you avoid dead end searches, and saves you time. We also can figure out, based on millions of users, what people are really looking for so we can put custom formats on search pages where previous users signaled their 'intent' by their follow-on searches."

3. Transparency
"We want to reveal every action and transaction at the site, so you know what we are doing and what other users are doing. We even are revealing OUR REVENUES. Our conviction is that you get better results because transparency prevents advertisers or others from gaming the system."

While I think the idea of using other user's searches to help predict the current user's intent is an interesting concept (and it seems cool to fiddle with the tools on Snap), I'm not impressed by the interface. For example, in the "Product Finder" section (do a search for "digital camera"), clicking on a product result doesn't take you to the website for that product. Instead, it displays information about that product within the Snap page. Unfortunately, that information is displayed down in the middle of the page (instead of at the top) and it isn't apparent what is happening.

I also think that there may be too many controls. Some people are just really bad at searching for stuff. I don't think that giving them a bunch of refinable columns in their results page is necessarily the answer.

Plus, the columns require too much thinking on the user's part. There is a column for "web popularity" which can be refined with a text box. What do I put in that box? A number. Ok, but what number? What is the range of popularity that I have to choose from? Is 1 the most popular? The same problem exists for the columns labelled "web satisfaction, "popularity" and "satisfaction." And what is the difference between "web satisfaction" and "satisfaction."

Most importantly, they don't have enough results about ME (And, no I didn't mean "sporty" when I searched)!

The site just launched yesterday and it is still in Beta, so it will be interesting to see how it evolves over the next few months.

VOOM Whole House DVR Demo
Check out this demo video of the upcoming VOOM Whole House DVR that was shot at CEDIA by The Satellite Guys. The system will consist of a central high-definition set-top box server with multiple high-definition set-top box clients throughout the home. Because the system is IP-based, it can handle simultaneous HD streams to each of the clients.

This looks like the first product that can rival some of the more high-end HTPC setups. In addition to HD video, it will support audio and photo viewing. One of the coolest features is the ability to "move" shows. For example, if you are watching a show on the living room TV, you can pause it and then move it to the bedroom TV. Sweet.

The Whole House DVR is due out in 2005.

Are the old Beasties back?
I've got to admit that the Beastie Boys attitude over the past few years has kind of gotten on my nerves. They've gotten too political and a little too soft (you don't apologize for "Licensed to Ill" or "Paul's Boutique"!).

However, CNN has an article on their latest tour (which they insist is a pageant) and they sound like their old selves. MCA explains the "pageant" concept:

"We should make it clear that this is not a concert tour, so much as a traveling pageant," says MCA, a.k.a. Adam Yauch. "We tried to gather feedback about the kinds of things that children are into and what came back to us was a pageant, repeatedly."

"It involves certain kinds of dress, certain kinds of festivities, celebrations, feasts or food. I'd like to emphasize the feasts, if I might," Yauch says. "You don't just nosh, you feast; you don't just throw on some clothes, you get dressed, and these are the differentiations."

And then, the dog show that opens the pageant:

"By watching the dog show, I get inspiration," Yauch admits. "'Cause you see them and like, they don't hold back, you know? And they know how to work the crowd. They get up there and they know when to use subtlety."

Finally, they go over their setlist for the tour:

"We go way back," Diamond says. "We do some songs from 'Toys in the Attic,' 'Rocks,' 'Dream On.' "

Yauch chimes in: " 'Destroyer' (referring to a Kiss record)."

"We also do some of our newer songs that we feel really proud of like, 'Dude Looks Like a Lady,' " Diamond says.

Welcome back.

The Crew of Halo 2

WIRED.com has a profile on 6 of the people responsible for the design and development of Halo 2. Some of the job titles highlighted include Cinematics Director, Environment Designer and Weapons Artist.

One non-Halo tidbit that I found interesting was that, prior to joining Bungie, Audio Designer Marty O'Donnell wrote the jingle for Flintstones vitamins. "We are Flintstones kids - 10 million strong, and growing!" I bet he'll be able to write a similar jingle about Halo players after November 9th.

Blogs as recruiting tools
News.com has an article on the growing use of blogs as recruiting tools. Turns out that both hiring companies and prospective employees are talking themselves up in blogs.

Some bloggers, who aren't actively seeking a new job, are being approached by company recruiters based on their blog posts. According to one blogger featured in the article, "That's the advantage of blogging--if you do it well and have interesting things to say, people pay attention."

WorkPoop.com
Have you ever wondered how much money you make when you are using the restroom at work? Yeah, neither had I...until I heard about WorkPoop.com. By entering in your hourly wage (you'll to calculate that if you are a salaried employee), your daily #2 time and the number of times per week that you have #2 time, WorkPoop.com will calculate your yearly poop pay.

For those who aren't sure how much time it takes, the site also has a stopwatch feature that allows you to start it when you leave your desk and stop it when you return. It then tells you exactly how much you earned.

In addition to the calculators, the site also has merchandise (surprise!) and a forum (which include categories "The Singles Stall," "Poop Stories" and "Women of Workpoop."

Gmail adds RSS functionality
I noticed that Gmail has added RSS support for your Inbox (look for the little "ATOM" icon under the toolbars in the left column). This allows you to get notified in your feed reader of choice when you get a new Gmail e-mail. Cool.

Now if they would just add a very basic calendar function, I could ditch Outlook altogether.

Gates hints at next Xbox features
In a recent talk with students at UC-Berkeley, Bill Gates made a brief mention of the next Xbox. One of his comments hints that the next-generation Xbox will allow for online gaming spectators:

"The next Xbox 'may not be good for productivity, but it will be fun,' he said. While not offering too many details on the device, he said communications will play a bigger part in the gadget, as will the idea of having an audience in addition to just players. 'It's not just one person sitting there shooting at artifacts,' Gates said."

While it might be cool to have all of your buddies watch you school someone online, I would imagine that most people would prefer to be playing games instead of watching them. I'll guess we'll have to wait and see how this actually manifests itself.

Drewster911 = chump
The only reason I bring this up at all is because Drewster911, who really has no business playing a football video game, turned off his Xbox in the middle of the 3rd quarter (of a 17-0 beatdown I was putting on him on ESPN NFL 2K5) in order to avoid getting a loss on his record. On top of that, during the game, he would rapidly pause and resume the game (causing a strobing effect on the screen) any time I scored or sacked him or intercepted him. IMO, that is worthy of "chump" status.

I think that, from now on, I will post the Xbox Live Gamertag of any chump-worthy opponents I face online. Consider yourself warned, Toonces 66.

Mahlon's first football game

Mahlon tries to put on his "game face;" however, his mouthpiece kind of gets in the way.

Mahlon had his first flag football game this morning. He played several different positions including offensive line, defensive line and tight end.
Although they don't officially keep score in this age group, the Chiefs scored 22 points and the Bills scored 6. See more photos from the game here.

Halo 2 is finished
According to a post on the Bungie website, Halo 2 is finished:

" We are basically done making Halo 2. Seriously. Barring any unexpected shenanigans, Halo 2 is done and dusted, simultaneously, for every region it will be released in worldwide. Oh, and Parsons has been hitting the sushi again...It isn't literally the last update of course, since there's lots to do and say between now and November 9th, but I can honestly say that there's no more updating on the progress of the game, since the game is done. Finished and shipped to a nebulous region known as RTC (Release To Certification) where it will be dumped from eight digital tapes onto a DVD and go through some final testing."

While it is good to know the game is finished, it is still something like 38 days away from release.

Amateur Revolution
FastCompany has an article on what author Charles Leadbetter calls the "amateur revolution." He includes Linux, rap music and astronomy as areas that have made great strides on the work of so-called amateurs.

While Linux sticks out from that list to me as something that wasn't the product of amateurs (it was more a product of collaboration among software engineers), I think we are also seeing an amateur revolution in areas that Leadbetter doesn't mention.

The most obvious is the effect that bloggers are having on professional journalism. Bloggers are constantly scooping and often duping the major news outlets.

And while it isn't really a revolution, I think niches like home theater PCs demonstrate the same phenomenon. You have a bunch of people who aren't getting what they want out of their consumer electronics devices, so they piece together components and make their own. Many of the developments/ideas of the HTPC enthusiasts are slowly making their way into PCs and consumer products.

In addition to the FC article, Leadbetter is releasing a paper on the Amateur Revolution in November.