Soapbox: Redmond, Start Your Copiers

Apple has famously taunted Microsoft during the company's Worldwide Developers' Conference (WWDC) the last few years, using lines including "Redmond, Start Your Copiers", in the mindset that whatever new features and products Apple was to introduce would soon be absorbed into the Redmond, Washington-based software monolith in short time. This year, Steve Jobs went so far as to withhold some of the newer features of Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard), in part due to fear of co-optation from competition. But recent developments have shown that Microsoft isn't solely focused on Apple for ideas to borrow - er... steal.

Just a week or two after Microsoft imitated Apple with its announcement of its Zune line of MP3 music players, tomorrow, Microsoft is slated to introduce a service called "SoapBox", which mimics the extremely popular YouTube, in that it will allow users to load videos and share them for the Web. While it's currently in lock-down mode, open only to a select few, the doors will be opened to the general public soon, and I don't expect they'll be all that overwhelmed.

If Microsoft were to focus, they could make some amazing software. They have some of the brightest minds in the business, and more money than God (I checked, he's overdrawn...), but their idea of innovation is imitation - whether it was the Palm PC copying the Palm Pilot, Internet Explorer knocking off Netscape Navigator, MSN aimed at AOL, or most recently, the introduction of Live Search (copying Google), Zune (copying Apple) and now SoapBox. Surely, consumers are smart enough to see right through the smoke screen.

Given how Microsoft stock (MSFT) has been relatively flat for the last twelve months, twenty-four months, or even five years, the idea that this is a growth company has been absolutely shattered. You'd have been better off taking your cash and putting it in a low interest rate savings account than aiming to support the leader in imitation. This story is spread so thin, it's got holes.

Listening to ''Dangerous Power'', by Gabriel & Dresden (Play Count: 1)

Site Outage - Sponsored By Register.com

From approximately four p.m. this afternoon through near 7:30 this evening, all of louisgray.com was unable to be accessed from the outside world. While I noted the globe did not spin off of its axis, it was a minor issue for those on Athletics Nation who didn't understand why this week's ANtics was a 1x1 grayed-out pixel (that's not very funny...), and others looking to see my commentary on iTunes and Apple from external sites instead were confronted with time-outs.

In a situation like that, at the office, and unable to make calls to check in on it, I was sure it was my fault. Maybe the wrong credit card was the wrong one on the file... maybe some government agency didn't like my questioning of today's voting systems... or maybe somebody had hijacked the system?

Of course - it wasn't any of those things. In a chat with a support rep from Register.com, whose service powers the site, I was told, "We are running an emergency maintenance of our web hosting service," and that a "Lot of our web hosting customers are facing this problem." When asked how long it would be down, the first answer was "It will be done very soon," followed quickly by "We expect it to be done within a few hours."

Yeah... so "very soon" does not compute with "a few hours". And I haven't seen any notes of refunds or anything of that nature. Is 24/7 hosting too much to ask? Are hiccups to be excused? Good thing this site doesn't hold my main line of business or we'd be a little short of cash tonight!

Listening to ''Chasing Cars'', by Snow Patrol (Play Count: 3)

Political Rhetoric Heating Up in Time for Fall 2006

The political landscape in the United States has been completely incapable of consensus and compromise for the greater part of the last decade, seen dramatically with the impeachment of President Clinton, and the two highly questioned, litigious, divisive, general elections which resulted in George W. Bush taking the helm. Bush's policies have widened the controversy, as despite record low opinion polls, he and his cronies have pushed forward on an aggressive, radical agenda with mediocre results which may actually have made the economy weaker and the world less safe - and certainly has sullied the American reputation abroad.

As Electoral-Vote.com is showing, this fall's senate and House elections could put Democrats in the majority, if races go the way they are expected. There is a significant anti-incumbent, anti right-wing backlash that has catapulted previous unknowns into powerful swing positions for the party.

But while we see these challenges at the local  level, there continues to be white hot discussion around whether you can even trust the results of any election - as allegations of fraud and simple ineptitude are rampant. Unlikely source Rolling Stone magazine has delivered one of the most in-depth investigative news pieces into the discrepancies of the 2004 general election I've seen. Their conclusion? Widespread fraud and manipulation gave Bush the election over Kerry - especially in critical swing states like Ohio. Meanwhile, others, including The Washington Post, are saying that major problems at the fall polls are expected, as mandates to eliminate "hanging chads" are resulting in even less-trustworthy electronic voting machines, which have been proven extremely hack-worthy.

With all that said, the anger and frustration over the current administration has delivered an almost-nostalgic fondness for the Clinton/Gore years, when the economy was roaring, when our budgets  were balanced, and war was not on everyone's minds. While Bill Clinton can't run again, and Al Gore has repeatedly said he doesn't see it happening, they remain a huge political presence. With the success of "An Inconvenient Truth" and an upcoming book, planned for release in May called "The Assault on Reason", Gore has gained significant chutzpah, unseen in his uninspiring 2000 bid. Meanwhile, the UK's The Observer says that Clinton will become even more active in protecting his legacy from those who love to trash it, to rebuild his role as global statesman, and set up the opportunity to be the first "First Husband" in the White House, should Hillary go all the way.

Unfortunately, we can't go back to the Clinton/Gore years, and Bush's impact on the globe is both far-reaching and long-lasting. But we can at least hope that we have the opportunity to regain the simple trust that our democratic process is working and that our votes are counted - something we took for granted growing up and cannot even fathom now that things have slipped so far.

Listening to ''Ecstasy (Clubb Mix)'', by ATB (Play Count: 7)

Why Is Apple Asking Mac Users to "Get A Mac"?

It's no secret that I use an Apple Macintosh at home and at work - as often as I can. I've been a Mac user since I started using computers, and the debate was between the Apple IIGS and the Mac LC, and have followed the company through several generations. Knowing that, why is it that I continue to see Apple's "Get a Mac" ads on prominent Web sites that I visit? With Web tracking technology what it is, every Web advertiser should know what platform I am on, what browser I am using, and similar Web sites I frequent. With that said, why can't Apple have its Web ads shown only to non-Mac users, to increase their success rate?

If the idea is to get Mac users to upgrade to the latest Intel Macs, that makes sense, but use a different message.

If the idea is to let Mac users know that Apple has an ad campaign out there to increase market share, that's quite another message, but it's my feeling that the computer company could be more effective with their ad targeting, and save money while reaching more potential switchers.

Just thinking out loud...

Listening to ''Gabriel & Dresden (Continuous Mix)'', by Gabriel & Dresden (Play Count: 1)