April 2007 Archives

I got about 8.5 hours of sleep last night. It was, however, a fight.

Up until a little after 4:00 AM, I was exhausted. Still, for no apparent reason I woke up at 6:15 AM. I put my head down and tried, successfully, to sleep again.

That wouldn't be the last time I opened my eyes. I was up two or three more times before finally deciding enough was enough.

Usually a sound sleeper, not only did I wake up those few times, I also had a bad dream and 'lost' both my camera and laptop computer! Oh, the humanity. This has to be associated with my bad case of jet lag.

I'm hoping tonight will be simpler - please.

As I type this entry, I'm playing poker and watching 60 Minutes, all on my laptop. I'm in the family room, but I could be anywhere in the house or nearby.

Until a few minutes ago, we had been using an 802.11b Wifi wireless network. The pipe wasn't wide enough to pass high quality video. Now it's 802.11g.

Simply, I increased the network capacity a factor of five just by substituting one piece of hardware for another. The additional investment was under $50. The practical implication is, my DVR¹ can now push high quality, full motion video over our in-house wireless network.

When I put the original wired/wireless network in, there was no hint it might not produce enough bandwidth. In fact, when that original network went in, my connection to the outside world was through a dial-up modem.

Now, I realize, this new network is just an interim step in a never ending search for unlimited bandwidth. I will constantly need more bandwidth in-house and more bandwidth from the outside world. There will be more reasons to push bits around the house.

Some of those reasons, like video, I understand. Other reasons probably don't yet exist.

Here's how more bandwidth changes my DVR. Until recently, if I wanted to look at a recorded show without sitting in front of the actual DVR computer, I copied the whole file, machine-to-machine, across the network.

Even on the fastest in-house connections, computers that are wired not wireless, it took a few minutes to move a file to the playback machine (my typical video file runs approximately 2 Gb per hour). Now I can stream to the playback machine, moving only the bits needed when they're needed. Playback starts instantly.

This little hardware switch also allows me to use a new piece of software, the MythTV Player. I'm watching 60 Minutes using it right now.

There's nothing about this player that looks any different as it sits on my computer desktop. What it does do is read markers produced as my DVR records shows. They point to the beginning and end of commercial breaks. This player automatically removes the commercial breaks as you watch a show... and it's been very effective so far.

As you might imagine, this is pretty scary to over-the-air and cable television stations, which make their money selling commercials. That's how my employer pays my salary.

Luckily for me, the immediate nature of TV news makes it relatively DVR proof. That's not true for most entertainment programming. Viewers should understand - no one will pay for big budget programming unless there are big budget returns.

This technology is changing the landscape of television. Some of the changes will be very good. Other aspects are sad. Without revenue, highly produced programming will disappear.

What good is having unfettered access, if there's nothing to access?

¹ - My DVR is a homebuilt computer running MythTV software on top of Ubuntu Linux. The guts of the computer were being thrown away. I added a $75 card and extra hard drive. My only other cost was time and a modicum of grief.

Later today, I return to my night job after a few days last week working mornings. The two shifts couldn't be more different - not just the actual hours, but also the content.

First the obvious. I'm not sure how anyone gets used to, or comfortable with, those early morning hours. I had to be up at 2:00 AM. Working backwards, for eight hours of sleep you need to be in bed by 6:00 PM! I didn't like that beditme when I was three.

Morning anchors have the most trouble when they try to shift their bodies to 'normal' human hours on the weekend. It just can't be done... at least it can't be done at my age.

I am nocturnal. Getting home from work at midnight seems a whole lot more civilized to me than waking up at 2:00 AM. Left to my own devices, I'd probably drift to these late night hours naturally.

The less obvious part of last week's exercise was the immediate understanding I had in what the viewers needed, expected and would put up with.

Last part first. I think viewers are more willing to embrace someone who's a little bit silly in the morning. Look at what works on the radio.

Luckily, the anchors I worked with were willing to play along. Not every anchor is. Their willing participation made my life easier.

Weather in the morning is much more short term oriented. That's what viewers want and need. The extended forecast is never the focus. It's always about the next 8-10 hours. I immediately understood that on a visceral level.

In today's world, the evening shows are still the most important, even though mornings present the best growth area in local TV. On the other hand, I think the forecaster plays a more pivotal role in the morning shows.

Anyway, it's over. If you're expecting some announcement... some schedule change... I don't think it's going to happen. For three days, it was fun to walk in someone else's shoes. That's where it ends.

In this morning's Wall Street Journal:

Will I be called upon to go row-to-row to help people who can't connect?

Actually, I think this is a great idea. It will be interesting to see how much bandwidth each plane will have and how quickly someone's streaming video will bring that to a halt.

Rumored price is under $10 per flight.

My guess is, I'm the last to know about this video. It's been on Google since August with over 150,000 views.

Not only is it funny, it's clever enough to watch and watch again.

Here's the 'alleged' backstory:

We bought our house in the early 90s. It had been sitting, unsold, for well over a year. The housing bubble had burst and the developer was holding on, hoping to get his price. He did not.

That's not to say we bought at a dip. The housing market continued to fall and it was years before our house was worth what we paid for it.

Even now, the best part of our housing investment has been our (and when I say our, I mean Helaine) attention to paying down the balance. Sometime over the next few years, the house will be ours, free and clear

The simplistic thought is, real estate always pays off. It does not. There are short term bumps and starts. We are probably in the early stages of a major nationwide housing bust right now. Buy or sell at the wrong time and you can get hurt.

This is all leading to the video I've attached just below. Someone took the average home cost, adjusted for inflation from 1890 to today, and plotted using "Roller Coaster Tycoon," a computer game.

If you're more 'old school' here's that same data plotted as a standard graph.

This shows the real volatility of real estate better than anything I've ever seen before. It's fun too.

I know I've been attaching a lot of 'outside' videos recently. I'm going to try and not let it become a crutch, but some of this stuff really deserves to be seen.

Steffie is in Florida, visiting my folks. She has a good time with them. When asked, Steffie will offer up how they don't act their age.

Here's the interesting part to me. In their retirement condo environment, Steffie is 'arm candy' to my parents. She is an object of envy to their friends. How many of them get a 20 year granddaughter to spend a week with them?

Still, this isn't all about my folks. Steffie's IM away currently message reads: "conquering florida one store at a time¹."

Believe me - truer words were never spoken.

¹ - Capital letters seem to be optional for anyone under 30.

Over the years I have had reasonably decent results while on the Atkins Diet. When I'm off the diet, I balloon up like the pig I am! What happened to those good old days when all I had in my 'fridge was a bottle of Coke and Hydrox Cookies?

Diets are not immunization against your own foolish acts.

I'm back on the diet.

It had to happen. My clothes aren't fitting well... or in some cases, they don't fit at all. I haven't had the guts to weigh myself, but I've got to be close to my all-time high weight.

Some people at work have questioned why I'm dieting. I can't believe they don't see it.

Atkins is a very strange diet as far as what you can eat. Lots of protein. Very few carbs. Heavy cream is good. Corn is bad.

Tonight I had a spinach salad with broiled Cajun chicken. I was very proud of myself. Then Helaine asked if I knew how much sugar was in the Cajun coating?

The nice thing about Atkins is you lose fat (therefore inches) right away. I expect a noticeable difference in my clothes within a few weeks. Unfortunately, it's a marathon, not a sprint. It is going to take months and months before I'm where I want to be.

I don't really think I have a choice.

I was sitting here on the sofa, playing some poker, when I realized this game might be an obsession.

I quickly captured the screen so you could see what I could see. That's my game on the left and professional poker player Phil Gordon, who I was watching on "Poker After Dark" on my DVR, on the right.

So far Rudy (our mailman), Dale (DHL) and some blond guy (sorry - don't know his name... where's Victor?) in a UPS truck have been to our door today. Yes economy, we're here for you!

When did this switchover to mail order take hold so deeply? Why don't we have to touch to buy anymore?

Growing up in Apartment 5E, as I did, our mail box could barely hold a #10 envelope. I don't even know what happened when we got packages, because I don't remember ever getting any. I'm sure we did, but it was such a departure from the regular that I can be forgiven for forgetting it over the intervening 40 years.

Back to the big question. When did touch and feel become unimportant in purchasing... and how were we led to accept that?

Catalogs, websites and TV shopping channels show an altered reality as far as 'real' goods are concerned. I remember commenting how one TV shopping channel used enough lighting and filter tricks, they could make a pencil sparkle! Certainly, catalog and web shots can make merchandise look better than it would in 'real life'.

Stores like Circuit City¹ and Best Buy get the worst of all worlds. Shoppers go there to fondle the goods, then buy online. That seems unfair.

We're even sparking relationships without physical proximity. That's pretty much the same thing, right?

A friend in Atlanta met his wife (truly gorgeous) on the Internet. By the time they met, they already knew each other.

How far will this go? What haven't we bought by mail, which some day we will? Maybe I don't actually want to know.

¹ - Have you heard about their upcoming layoffs, made on the basis of salary level? The better you are... the more experience and expertise... the more likely you are to be canned!

I have no idea what my local phone company charges for directory assistance... only to say it's too much. Someone told me $2 for their cell carrier's 411 service. Ouch.

This is a service that used to be free. It looks like it's free again.

I've tried it and it's an amazing service, just as you'd expect from Google. The most amazing part is, you can be connected to your party... for free! I'm sure they'll find a way to make money with this, though they aren't right now.

It has already received a speed dial position on my cellphone.

I am always very critical of rules for rules sake. You know, rules which promote going through the motions with no benefit.

An example would be the little mouse type which rapidly scrolls across your TV screen during any financial or auto commercial. It's there. It satisfies some law. It provied zero benefit!

I faced another one of these situations this evening. Helaine and I drove to Bradley International to pick up Steffie. Helaine went inside while I hovered. Actually I drove away from the terminals and parked on the curb side of some yellow cones at the very periphery of the airport's entrance. As far as I can tell, Bradley has no officially designated area to sit and wait.

When Steffie's flight arrived, and she and Helaine moved downstairs to the baggage claim, they phoned and I pulled into one of the curbside loading spaces adjacent to baggage claim. There are probably 8 or 10 of these spaces, which are separate from where the courtesy vehicles operate. Two were filled.

I turned on my flashers, picked up a magazine and prepared to wait the two minutes until the girls arrived curbside. Well, that was my plan. About a minute later two non-cops, with badges and quasi military sweaters, walked up to my car and asked me to leave.

"My wife and daughter are picking up their bags," I said.

"You have to move," was the reply.

It's a rule. I understand that, and so I left. But, why is it a rule?

It can't be security, because if I were an evil doer, I'd just park the car, lock the doors and walk away. Tick, tick, tick. Sure they could move it... but it would be sitting at the curb for enough time to cause trouble before anyone would get it out of the way.

It can't be crowd control. There were no crowds. There was no chance these spaces would be needed in the minute or two I'd probably wait until Helaine and Steffie arrived.

It's a rule without reason.

I told the non-cop I was going to move away, but I thought the rule was stupid. He told me to complain to Governor Rell. Thanks non-cop.

That he would recommend the governor as the source of my problem shows he doesn't know what it's all about either... and that he's a wise ass.

I pulled out of the space and twenty seconds later my phone rang. The bags were coming out.

I was on a tour of the airport's arterial road system.

It would be cruel and unusual punishment to dress your child as a character for every holiday. Not so for a pup!

Of course, this is only a still, so we don't know if Tallulah¹ is doing her best to pull the ears off. I can only judge by Ivy who, though normally sedentary, made her disdain for costumes well known by extreme paw action.

That never stopped us from dressing her again on the next holiday!

The bottom line is, dogs dressed up are cute. Get over it.

¹ - Tallulah is the shorter half of the Tracey Doherty family. Tracey 'rescued' Tallulah, an act for which Tallulah will be forever grateful.

I'm going by what I've just read online - but it's a classic technology story.

Someone has their MacBook laptop stolen. There's no trace until a few weeks later when photos begin to show up on Flickr. It turns out this Mac was set to automatically upload any picture manipulated in Photobooth to Flickr!

Yes, that's right. Most likely the 'current owner' of the laptop has been posting pictures that the former owner can now see.

Who are these people? I have no clue. But, based on a similar story with a purloined photo shooting cellphone, I suspect this Mac will somehow find its way home.

And you think she looks surprised now. Wait!

On March 28, I wrote about White House staffers using 'off the books' email addresses from work. I thought the story would gain traction. It has not... until now.

The LA Times has picked up the story with a fairly long piece in this morning's paper.

It's funny how some news explodes while other stories slowly gain steam until they reach critical mass. It's as if the editors are looking for cover by making sure others approve of their story choices.

No, it's not as if. It just is! Everyone needs some assurance their choices are correct. Editors are no exception.

I am not at work today. I am one of three members negotiating a new contract between my employer and our union, AFTRA. In its annual report, my bosses claim good employee relations, and I can't dispute that. These are not 'to the mats' sessions.

I'm not going to talk about the negotiations.

After today's session, the three of us and our union rep headed out for a quick bite and strategy session. At a nice new casual restaurant on Temple Street, before my Chicken Caesar arrived, I pulled out my laptop to send email.

I was surprised to see at least eight or nine wireless networks, a few of which were open. I connected to one and hit send.

Earlier, while negotiating at the Omni Hotel, there were even more networks, though none would give me Internet access. I especially liked the one named "Janeisenet."

Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was. This is Downtown New Haven, not Midtown Manhattan. When I opened the laptop, there was no expectation of actually seeing something.

Even here at home, I have seen as many as four unprotected networks show up (all with weak signals). When my Internet service has disappeared, I've logged on to at least one of them.

Thanks unknown neighbor.

Over time I expect to see more and more of this free available Internet access. To quote Yakov Smirnoff - "Is this a wonderful country, or what?"

I went to look through the continuing comments concerning the stolen laptop story of a few days ago and found the photo you see on the left.

What's up with that?

Near the bottom of the comments was this one from "LucyEvans11"

The plot thickens.

And out-of-town friend and no pot. Yeah - that's the ticket.

I've been keeping a very close eye on tomorrow's weather. Even more anal than usual! How often is snow possible in April?

It looks like we dodge the bullet this time. On the other hand, my sister and brother-in-law in Milwaukee are watching the snow fall right now.

Everyone I speak with, even the snow lovers, are begging for spring.

Maybe most puzzling is, this extended period of cold weather - what some are calling the coldest April on record - comes as the rhetoric on Global Warming ramps up another notch.

Tonight the lead story on our news concerned an armed robbery at a video game store in North Haven. Playstations and PS2's were heisted.

What happened to robbing for cash?

"OMG!" - two co-workers and I had dinner two doors down at Panera. We were right in the same plaza. In fact, we headed back to the car while the robbery was in progress.

Saw no one.

Heard nothing (there were shots fired).

I am worthless as a crime fighter.

For the past few weeks I have been following (here and here), with great interest, stories about White House staffers using non-governmental email accounts while discussing government business on 'company' time. Obviously, that makes them somewhat more difficult to find (especially if people searching didn't know there was any off site email to begin with).

It seemed like such an explosive story... but there's hardly any buzz.

The LA Times seems to be carrying the water on this. Wednesday evening they added:

I hate it when email gets lost. It's so convenient tragic.

This story has been bubbling for a while - weeks now. Will it graduate to the big leagues? Who knows. It's funny how some stories ooze out as opposed to break out.

It still looks like a big story to me.

I wanted to write something about the Imus case, but after reading my own words, realized they were just too inflammatory. It is a volatile topic - there's no way around that.

My question is, should the treatment of Imus become the standard for all public misogynists and racists?

Back when I was hosting PM Magazine, I quickly learned, you can never find the perfect example for your story - never. Is the Imus case the perfect example of how punishment should be meted? Is Imus the perfect example of the new value of apologies?

There are already people using Imus as an example to call for the heads of such diverse figures as Rush Limbaugh and Jesse Jackson. Could there be two more dissimilar people?

Is Imus' expulsion from the airwaves the beginning of the healing or the beginning of a bitter battle?

I watched the replay of Keith Olbermann's show tonight when I got home from work. Not a particularly exciting news day. I had already seen or read nearly everything he reported.

While he was doing the Imus story, Keith made reference to "1,200 Hamburgers To Go," Imus' iconic comedy bit/album. And then Olbermann told the fiction normally associated with it - that it was a real call made on-the-air.

When this bit first aired, Imus worked at WGAR in Cleveland. After he left, I also worked there. All we shared in common was program director John Lund, who hired us both.

That McDonalds guy... it's Lund! That's what John told me nearly 35 years ago. I was asking about the bit, thinking at the time it had been a real call, when John told me the backstory.

I didn't think about it until years later when I was watching Woody Allen's Bananas. Siding with the rebels in a broken down Central American setting, Allen is sent to get lunch for the troops.

As far as I can tell, Imus' album came out in 1972, a year after Allen's movie. The scene's are virtually the same.

The bit was funny. It just wasn't original nor legitimate.

Keith Olbermann and I have corresponded in the past via email, but MSNBC has seen fit to 'obscure' his address. Since I can't tell him, I'll tell you.

Blogger's adendum:

I have made some additions to the previous entry. If you've already read it, please look again and skip to the italicized text at the bottom.

I thought putting it on the original page would be better for keeping things in context than creating a new page with that info alone.

The word is out. It's time to replace Helaine's SUV.

Of all the purchase decisions in our lives, this is the one we enjoy the least. Seemingly, there's no good way to buy a car and guarantee you're getting something good for a good price. How can you not have buyer's remorse?

I've been pouring through Consumer Reports. Most of their info is good. They seem a little heavy handed in the way they push their own service, which provides the actual price a dealer pays for vehicles. I'll probably swallow hard and buy it anyway. Isn't Consumer Reports supposed to be a little less self serving?

We went to two dealers today. At the first we looked around, acted sheepish, looked at a few cars and decided which might do.

We realized, after about thirty seconds, their midsize model was too small and their big model too pricey. A salesman came over as we were deciding to leave. I apologize here for costing you an 'up'.

We've scouted out financing, but there's a 'deal' currently underway from the manufacturer. Zero percent for 36 months. That's a better price (duh) and there are legal advantages to dealer financing.

I have some rules at a car dealership. If you're my salesman, we are joined at the hip. You cannot leave my side to consult with your manager. If you go, I go. They never like hearing that.

You may not treat me like a fool. If you lie to me, and believe me it's happened, I will call you on it before I walk out. Lying infuriates me. I do not suffer fools or liars gladly.

Helaine made me promise not to make anyone at the dealership cry. I get a little nuts during the heat of battle, but it's their fault. Decisions at the 'car store' are stacked in their favor. They have all the info. You have little. And, the salesmen have incentive to make you pay as much as is possible.

In the end, we'll find the car we want and desperately try to get bids from three dealerships. I did that when we bought Helaine's first SUV and I think it worked well.

I should probably sell Helaine's car privately. Do I want to be in the used car business? Of course, you lose a lot when you trade a car in.

During the last shopping cycle, long after I left one dealership, the manager related to a friend of mine who just happened to be there, "Geoff Fox was here. He was shopping on price. He won't be back."

You've got that right, bucko.

It's my day off from work, but not exactly. I'm still very conscious of the weather and check the data from time-to-time. We're not done and some areas have already seen 5+ inches of rain.

My friend Bob's extreme weather site¹ has been interesting to watch as some of the world's most extreme weather was right here in the Northeast.

It's been interesting to watch the tides¹, seeing how they vary from the astronomical predictions. As of low tide, New Haven and most of the Connecticut Shoreline, showed tides two feet above predicted levels. Now they're closer to three feet high, though stabilizing.

We got a call from a neighbor around 4:00 PM. Their basement was flooding. Water was pouring down the 'walk out' stairs. Did we have a wet vac? We do. Now they do.

Helaine asked if, maybe, I'd like to check our basement. Bone dry! Phew.

I was on-the-air all last week 'advancing' this storm. Truth is, most people can do nothing to prepare themselves... well, at least nothing that doesn't take a lot of time and money.

That's the sad part. sometimes prediction can get you out of harm's way. Sometimes, it just gives you more time to worry.

¹ - These are 'live' sites, meaning whenever you click, you will get current data, not the horrendous info I was seeing when I wrote this.

The rain continues to fall - much of it heavy. I think I just heard the rumble of thunder. I'm not 100% sure, but it's been reported nearby, so maybe.

The real reason I'm posting this is to show a static picture of the recent tide cycles. My earlier link pointed to live data, but this is what's on the NOAA site as I type. It's pretty impressive.

As the high tide went out, the water level rose sharply. It looks to be about three feet above astronomical predictions. The practical effect was to prolong what was probably a flooding tide to begin with.

Just in case you didn't take Oceanography (probably my favorite course from Mississippi State), that three feet is how much higher the water level is off the bottom. Since the bottom is sloped, three feet of higher tide can bring Long Island Sound tens or even hundreds of feet farther inland! Any waves are on top of that!

Anyway, it's pretty awful out there. Hopefully not much longer. We can't take it much longer.

How much does it cost to call France? Don't answer yet.

Stef has an assignment for a journalism course. She has to compare media in the United States with media in another country. I know two people who've worked in media in Singapore. I suggested she choose that. Contacts are invaluable.

My friend Farrell, who now runs a TV network in Poland, used to run stations in Singapore. Usually we talk on the computer, using IM or email. To ask some questions for Stef, I figured I'd call.

It's not that easy.

There's a broadcasters' convention currently underway in Cannes, France. Farrell is there.

He gave me his phone number, tapping it out on his Blackberry via IM and I called the hotel... but instead of getting it, I got a recording telling me my call couldn't go through and I should check with my system administrator.

That's me! I hate when that happens.

A quick call to my VOIP phone provider, Broadvoice (where tech support answered on the FIRST RING!!!) brought an equally quick answer. Buried two menus deep on their website was a checkbox allowing international calls on my account. The box was unchecked.

When you call a hotel in France, they answer in French. I don't know enough to ask for a room, so I panicked and blurted out my request in English. The operator totally understood.

"Merci," I said... though probably too late for her to hear. Farrell picked up a second later.

I have to say, the quality of this call was very impressive. Because I was typing notes, I had him on the speakerphone. Helaine commented he sounded better than if he were on my cellphone.

So, how much for the call? My plan, Broadvoice's least expensive, is $9.95 per month for unlimited calls to Connecticut. International is extra.

Ready?

Each minute to France was 3¢! That's crazy.

I remember, in 1967, when AT&T totally overhauled its rate structure for domesticlong distance calls. Station-to-station, direct dial calls within the United States went down to 10¢ per minute as long as the call was placed after 11:00 PM or on the weekend.

We live in amazing times for technology.

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know I've been writing about the use of Republican National Committee mail servers by White House staffers (here, here and here).

When I began writing, I just knew it was wrong in the abstract. I had no idea if these non-governmentally served emails would pose a problem or enter into any partisan battle.

I guess they do. Tonight, Jon Stewart spent the first 7:00 of his show on the subject. After the break, he came back and did some more.

The original reason for me to write about these email accounts was to question if and how long it would take for a big story to develop. My first entry on this was March 28, 2007.

Not all breaking news explodes. Some just simmers its way into the public consciousness.

Thanks to a 20 minute conversation with Ed Stannard of the New Haven Register, I'm in Tuesday's paper. The story is about Sunday's horrendous weather and the havoc it caused in this area.

It's out of The Register's coverage area and not there, but I am seriously worried about flooding Tuesday night and Wednesday on the Connecticut River. If it's not major, it's sure going to be close.

By the way, being quoted n the paper this way is much better than being there for committing a crime - in case you were wonderirng.

I'm not in Las Vegas for the National Association of Broadcasters convention. I wish I was.

It's a hardware, not content, affair. I was there a few years ago, demonstrating products on behalf of a weather equipment vendor. This broadcasters convention attracts a lot more production companies than TV stations.

Announced at NAB and most interesting to me, without really knowing everything that's there, are new software suites from Adobe and Microsoft. These are made for posting richly interactive multimedia content on the web. This software facilitates an experience more than a few steps beyond just watching a video on YouTube in a small window.

What concerns me is the deep insertion of DRM, or digital rights management into the output of these products. Producers want the ability to make sure you watch the commercials if you watch their content. Certainly they're entitled to make money to pay for their troubles.

The problem is, so far DRM has been an invasive add-on. It adds another layer of complexity to the viewing experience. It is software designed for the customer, but not the end user... or at least it has been until now.

I worry because Microsoft's Silverlight platform requires people watching the content to first download a new plug-in (as you do for Flash, Real, PDF files, etc.). When Microsoft asks me to install free software, I instinctively count my fingers and lock the silverware.

A perfect example of DRM gone wrong shows up in the Sony-BMG DRM debacle. Sony's audio CDs installed secret software on computers to protect Sony. Unfortunately, the software wreaked havoc with some PCs.

There are rumors Sony's at it again with DVDs that won't play in some (even Sony's own) DVD players.

Maybe, in these rapidly changing days, there's a better way to include commercial content? Maybe the 'roadblock commercial' we've accepted for over 50 years needs to change?

In the meantime, my opinion is, Adobe and Microsoft are not working for you.

I believe Drudge's inclusion of Emily Jane Hilscher's photo, with the caption "Was Cho crazed over Emily" is unconscionable.

This poor, murdered girl is but a peripheral player in a terrible tragedy. Why drag her through the mud by connecting her to Cho's warped mind? Would any sane person claim her actions are to blame?

In this case, Drudge is way over the line.

I found this on Shoptalk, a daily broadcast news newsletter, this morning:

Newspath is a branch of CBS news which serves local affiliates. ABC, NBC and CNN have services like this as well. You'll seldom find the Newspath reporter on a network newscast and seldom find the network reporters on the affiliates local newscasts.

With this week's tragic events at Virginia Tech, amateur video has again come to the fore. Virginia Tech graduate student Jamal Albarghouti shot the widely seen and heard cellphone video as shots rang out.

CNN, who solicits video from bystanders, referred on-the-air to Albarghouti as a reporter. I've got a problem with that characterization, but let's save that concern for a later entry.

User provided content is being touted everywhere. Isn't that what Youtube is all about... and look at Youtube's success.

I spent some time a few days ago actually looking at Youtube's user submitted content. By and large it's terrible. Actually, unwatchable is a better characterization.

Go ahead. Try it yourself. Browse through Youtube limiting yourself to user provided content.

I've also tried, four separate times, to watch justin.tv. Justin, a twenty something from San Fransisco, has a camera on him broadcasting live on the Internet 24/7. Really - you can watch Justin sleep! I've never made it more than a few minutes before bailing from boredom... even when Justin was in a crowded bar.

User produced video sounds great to broadcasters and webcasters because the price sounds great. But, truth is, you've just shifted the expense. Unless you're Youtube, running a mainly user submitted video website, someone's going to have to view, categorize, approve and most importantly, cull these videos.

"Someone" is a euphemism for "free stuff will now cost."

I can't imagine doing that job, wading through the vlogs of 16 year old girls. Talk about a prisoner like existence.

What I'm getting at is, there will be exceptions based on circumstance, but by and large most of the video we watch will continue to be produced by professionals, aided by a very few talented amateurs (who will probably later succumb to the siren song of pay for work).

All the companies now thinking of free content as be their salvation will soon realize, there's still no such thing as a free lunch.

I called my friend Kevin yesterday. His wife, Melanee, answered the cellphone. They were at Yale/New Haven Hospital, on their way to get some tests.

Kevin's got pancreatic cancer. Tests are a large part of his life. I didn't think twice until he called back later.

On Monday, Kevin wasn't feeling right. There was shortness of breath. Who knows what else? He'd just been through a round of chemo. The reaction to that is never totally predictable. Melanee, his wife, brought him to Yale and he was admitted.

It looks like he suffered a very minor heart attack (if such a thing is possible) and has a blood clot in his lungs. All this is in addition to the cancer he's been fighting since last summer.

I drove over to visit before heading to work today.

Yale/New Haven is to hospitals I remember as a child, as Home Depot is to Willie's Hardware in Flushing. People are scurrying everywhere. It's immense and confusing. I many ways, it's the workings of a major teaching hospital are undecipherable to anyone but staff.... and even they only understand a few pieces of the puzzle.

On my way up the elevator, a young woman (my guess is a medical professional of some sort) slumped against the back of the car. She was the poster child for chronic exhaustion.

Kevin's on the 9th floor of the hospital's East Wing. He's on the left, down the hall, well past the nurses station.

As I walked toward the room, I passed two nurses pushing rolling 'podiums' containing computers. Why carry a one pound chart when you can push a four foot tall podium?

Kevin's room was bright and clean. It's a double, though Kevin is the only resident right now. Melanee sat in a comfortably overstuffed chair. It's a hospital chair, built to never wear out. Kevin was on his back in bed.

His skin is more ashen than pink. His face is a little puffy. His hair more gray than ever.

He smiled. We chatted. He's eternally positive.

When he was brought in, Kevin was asked to quantify the pain. He was at 9. Now he's a 5. That's good as a trend, though 5 doesn't seem like a number to aim for.

We talked a little about his pain meds and I kidded him about how he now knows what he missed by walking the straight and narrow in college.

Last night his speech was slurred. Probably a byproduct of the drugs. Today he was much more distinct as he spoke, but you could see he was a little doped up.

I'm not saying anything Kevin doesn't know. He is very much the realist. Very much cognizant of what's going on around and to him.

He is not ready to die. He didn't tell me that, but I know it. He is sick, but not near death just yet. There is still too much for him to live for. He's making plans you don't make if you're about to die. You can't convince me that doesn't enter into the whole sickness, wellness scenario.

It takes nothing away from my other friends to say, Kevin is the nicest, kindest, most giving friend I have. I've never known his actions to have a subtext or ulterior motive. He truly would give you the shirt off his back. No one I know has had a more consistently positive attitude.

What's going on now should not have happened to him. My first thought was, the whole thing is a mistake. I'm still not convinced it's not.

When a friend is ill, it's easy to visualize your own mortality through him. I think some people withdraw from sick friends for just that reason - I totally understand. I am just not ready to give up on Kevin.

No one wants to see him this way.

You probably don't know... probably don't care who Kitty Carlisle was. Recently, she died at the age of 96.

Helaine will read this and say, "old reference." She's right. It's been a long time since Kitty Carlisle was a household name - though she most definitely was.

She was part of my youth as a game show panelist in the 50s and 60s. Before that, she'd been an actress of middling success. She acted, and sang in the Marx Brothers classic "A Night at the Opera." She appeared on Broadway. She sang opera at the Met.

I had no clue what her claim to fame was, nor did I care. She was a sophisticated New Yorker, dressed elegantly and on TV - a class of person foreign to my distant section of New York City. When I was a kid, I looked up to everyone on TV!

Today, The New York Times published a long, sweet, obituary written by Marilyn Berger. I was particularly touched by one passage deep within the piece:

I'm not sure what proper journalism is anymore. Maybe it shouldn't be Marilyn Berger's place to act as reporter and expert; confirming the beauty of Miss Carlisle's gams.

I think it was sweet.

I was thinking of dropping the top as I drove to work today. I only decided against that because I was heading to the car wash.

I should have dropped the top.

Car washing seemed Connecticut's most popular avocation today. The line was as long as I'd ever seen.

I'm no psychologist, but my amateur sense of sanity says human behavior is heavily influenced by the weather. Keep it cloudy for a week... keep it extra cool for a month... people get surly. And they have been more than a little surly recently.

Luckily, all it takes is a day or two of sunshine and cooler heads prevail.

Getting back to the car wash for a moment: A few years ago I stopped at another car wash on a bright, sunny day. The girl behind the counter said her dad, a large and somewhat threatening presence, was upset with me.

I'm used to hearing that, and it's usually a joke from someone who wants to complain to me about the weather - as if I had something to do with what was going to happen.

I walked toward the office and this guy was really pissed! Then he started to let me have it about the extended forecast (5 days worth back then).

"There's always rain in the forecast," he complained. And, of course, he was right. It's tough to go five days in Connecticut without at least some shower activity.

"If there's rain," he continued "no one gets their car washed." Then he told me, I shouldn't have an extended forecast. This was not a gentle man.

As I said, he was a physically imposing presence. I got out of there and have never been back. But I think about him whenever the Sopranos are on!

As I was saying, the weather will sparkle over the next few days. The car wash man will be very pleased, I'm sure... though I won't ask him personally.

Good grief! I just heard the entire Alec Baldwin voice mail message to his pre-teen daughter. That's a lot of anger Alec!

As a parent, I have had occasion to be upset with my daughter. I'm sure I've told her I was angry or upset, sometimes in a loud voice.

OK, I've yelled at her.

I'm not proud of that. Just because you're the parent doesn't make everything you do correct.

However, this recording is beyond anything I could imagine. How could a parent harangue his child this way?

I cringed as I listened. Even worse, when there were opportunities for Baldwin to stop and just hang up the phone, he continued, consistently ratcheting up the rhetoric time-after-time.

Word is, the breakup of his marriage to Kim Basinger had the feel good atmosphere of a Shia/Sunni picnic. Tough break. That doesn't give him a pass to sound like a sociopath and be a cruel jerk toward his child - even if it puts his anger in perspective.

I really don't have pithy advice to offer here. There's no payoff to this entry. I just wanted to make it public; I've heard the recording and I'm flabbergasted.

It will live forever on the Internet. To his 11 year old daughter, Ireland, forever is going to be a very long time.

Fishing season began early this morning. No one called. I slept in.

I am not a fisherman, but somehow the whole thing intrigued me as a photo-op. This afternoon, long after Helaine said all the fishermen would be gone, I drove to the Mill River, just a few minutes from here.

Spring has come slowly to Connecticut. The trees are still bare. Until yesterday, nippy would have been the proper characterization for our climate. Luckily, fishing season arrived with our first real warm spring day!

I parked my car alongside some stores on Whitney Avenue and walked toward the river. A few days ago the river was well out of its banks. Even today under the strong April sun the river's edge was muddy and my sneakers oozed in a little with each step.

The river was crawling with fishermen and they seemed to be catching a good amount of fish!

Fishing is much more communal than I would have thought. There were groups of two, three or more anglers, hanging together along the bank. If there were lone fishermen, I didn't spot them.

I am very lucky to live in an area that nature has blessed with beauty. The river itself is majestic. The close proximity to Sleeping Giant just adds to the scene.

I quickly snapped around 30 photos. My wife and daughter will tell you, that's about as close to zero as I get! For most of them I used my 70-300mm zoom lens. I was pretty far away.

There's only one that struck me as a keeper. It's the one at the bottom - two boys in hip waders and one caught fish. To them, this was the perfect day.

I read a listing of the most popular sites on the Internet and saw Classmates.com listed. I was surprised. Last night, before going to bed, I went and took a look.

I signed up for a free account and began to systematically look at every listing from my high school and graduation year. It was a huge school. My graduating class had nearly 2,000 students.

Through the A's, B's C's and D's - nothing. No friends. Not even a recognition of the names. Didn't I know people? It's possible I didn't, as there's no one from high school I'm still in contact with.

Finally a few names rang a bell. I just couldn't remember if we were friendly, or I just knew the name.

Howard Epstein was there.. Was this Howie Epstein? Is this the guy who rebuilt a Model "A" Ford, putting the transmission in upside down? Am I even remembering the name correctly?

Where was the guy who used to leave English class to call his stock broker? This was the mid-60s. No one I knew owned stock, much less had a broker to call on a daily basis. He wore a three piece suit to school. Was his name Immerman?

I graduated at the height of the Vietnam War. One of my classmates went on to West Point. Did he make it through the war? Did he even make it through four years at West Point?

I saw one classmate listed who lived in my apartment building. We went to high school together for four years, traveling an hour and a half in each direction by bus and subway. As far as I remember, we had nothing in common and never spoke. At least I recognized the name.

Where were the guys I used to ride the GG and 7 train with? Who did I eat lunch with? Anyone from the A/V squad? I'm at a loss.

I did see George Sau listed, and dropped him an email. George and his brother Johnny lived in a very tough neighborhood in Jamaica. When I'd visit their family's Chinese food take-out place, they'd be the only Asians in the area... and I, the only Caucasian.

I've heard sites like Classmates are responsible for some marriage breakups, as spouses reconnect with old flames. I went to an all boy's school. I was socially inept back then. It's not a concern.

Do I really want to find the people I knew in the late 60s? That's not as simple a question as it sounds. Better still, do I want them to find me?

How much of what I was back then am I now?

We went to the movie theater yesterday to see The Hoax; the new Richard Gere movie based on Clifford Irving's retelling of his amazing Howard Hughes hoax. Judging by the numbers at BoxOfficeMojo, not many others went. The Hoax was #16 for the second week.

The Hoax is playing locally at Cine4 in North Haven. An independently owned and operated theater, we enjoy going there, in spite of its somewhat worn interior.

The parking lot is painted with faded lines denoting the spaces. I mention this because cars were parked in a somewhat free spirited fashion. I actually saw a few cars which were blocked, front and rear, by other cars!

The Hoax tells the story of Clifford Irving, an author down on his luck. He's already spent the money from a 'sure thing' novel which suddenly gets axed. Desperate, he hatches a plot to write Howard Hughes autobiography.

Of course, Hughes was a recluse - speaking to no one. And, he was in the midst of troubling civil litigation, giving him extra incentive to stay out-of-sight. Who could possibly deny Irving's book was bonafide? Certainly not Hughes!

I remembered a good part of this story. Those were turbulent times and the whole Irving/Hughes affair became a big deal in the press.

Toward the end, Irving (who also wrote the book on which this movie is based) implies he was actually set up by Hughes... a victim of opportunity.

Irving also implies Watergate might have been brought on by Richard Nixon's paranoia over what Howard Hughes might have had on him - details which were released to Clifford Irving.

It was a little tough to buy those two factors. I suppose they could be true. My thought is, they were added by Irving to make him seem a little more sympathetic.

Richard Gere and Alfred Molina were effortlessly wonderful as Irving and Dick Suskind, his friend/researcher/collaborator. It is nice to see fine actors, like Molina, who aren't pretty, get meaty roles.

The movie featured a strong supporting cast, including Eli Wallach, Hope Davis and Marcia Gay Harding. If Helaine hadn't told me which part was played by Stanley Tucci, I would have missed him.

My guess is, you're probably too late to see this in the theater. It's definitely a worthwhile rental... an opportunity that seems to come closer and closer to the theatrical release.

Over the weekend, I wrote about the Classmates website. The site attempts to connect former classmates via the web. It's really hit and miss since you're not listed on Classmates unless you want to be.

I started to think about the people I went to school with and one name came up: Eric Drucker. He was not on Classmates.

We were not best friends, though we were friendly. Like me, Eric was an apartment dweller, inconveniently far from our all-city high school. If I remember correctly, he was even farther away than I was.

I remember Eric because of one specific incident. I had followed him to the Bronx to see some homebuilt ham radio equipment. We were in our teens and both ham operators. What was amazing to me was he could build this stuff on his own in the little apartment he shared with the rest of his family.

It was early evening by the time we hit the Bronx. Eric was showing me a power supply. That's the unit that converts what comes out of your wall socket to higher voltage DC. We're talking comparable voltage to the third rail on the New York subway!

Somehow, Eric got a little close. A spark flew and the next thing I knew, Eric was flying across the room toward the wall. It was a blur. It happened in an instant. There was no warning.

I'll never forget that, even though it happened around 40 years ago.

I found Eric using Google. His name brought links to an electrical engineer with the right graduation year for college, advanced degree (Eric was very bright) and an email address at a high tech company in California. I sent off a quick email to see if it was who I thought it was.

I sent it over the weekend. This morning there was a reply waiting when I turned on the laptop.

I suppose near electrocution increases your memorability.

It's possible there's a business where the employees have larger egos than we do in TV, but I haven't found it. By the way, I'm not excluding myself. I have a room sized ego - and a large room at that.

That's one reason why Roger Friedman's revelation (and Gail Shister's this past weekend) of trouble in Katie Couric's paradise is not a big surprise to me.

Avuncular Bob Schieffer - really? Again, no surprise.

Once you've make the decision to be 'on' TV, you really should give up all pretenses of not being interested in the superficial aspects broadcasting brings. They are intoxicating. They can be kept under control... no, they should be kept under control, though that's more difficult done than said.

I've heard stories of news anchors who had their spouses time the 'reads' each anchor had! Don't shortchange my hubby, you hussy!

Even people I've sat next to on the news set have looked at me as if I'd dropped in from another planet. They were poised to blame me personally for any lack of success that might follow.

The truth is, any time there's any ratings falloff people go searching for a scapegoat. If you work at a car dealership, people might not like your cars. If you work on TV, the product is often you!

I once worked with an anchor team that couldn't stand each other. He was quiet and studious. She was brash and abrasive. One night she let him have it with a horrific tongue lashing, which she ended by telling him he was a "no talent."

She timed her diatribe to finish just as the theme ended and the mikes went live. He was left without the ability to respond. I can't imagine how that must have felt.

The CBS Evening News ratings are off. But, what you mainly hear is, Katie's ratings are off. It's tough when so much of the product is considered to be you. It's also an insult to the other people reporting, producing and executing the show... but they're not the 'face.'

When you make $15,000,000 per year there's a huge bullseye on your back. Lots of people are anxious to point out, they told you so.

I'm not sure if Katie will make it through her contract, but if she doesn't, I'd bet the pressure will come from inside, not outside.

Yesterday, Helaine asked if I had seen our weeping cherry tree? Not yet, but I made sure to get a good look on my way to work.

It is the only fully blooming member of our front yard family so far. Like so much of what's been planted over the last 16 years, it came in via the back seat of our car - probably the Mazda 929 that moved here with us.

The weeping cherry is now tall and full of blooms.

Helaine's intention yesterday was to cut suckers from the tree's lower trunk. Tough as it is, all tree and bushes need some pruning. She didn't get a chance, because the tree was full of bees.

When I went out to take photos this afternoon the bees were still there, but I realized Helaine had made a mistake. It seemed like the tree was crawling with bees because of how rapidly the two or three there were flitting from bud-to-bud.

I stood and watched for a while. They really were busy as bees. For the first time that phrase makes sense.

It was really neat to watch. They have a job to do and do nothing else.

I tried taking some shots with the bees, but it was difficult because of how quickly they moved and how far away I had to stand in order to feel safe. My long lens has a very small viewpoint when focusing a few feet away.

The blooms on this tree are very pretty, but they'll be gone in a week or two. Springtime is our most colorful season. It just doesn't last long enough.