FSP 1.1

e billion by google

Today's filing SEC filing shows google filed to sell an e billion (2.71828183 x 10^9) dollars
of stock.

Google profile by Fast Company.

A9 as tiny url, feeling lucky

The new a9 web search from Amazon/Alexa[*] nicely repackages
google's safe search results.

Try a9.com/transit blog and you will find the top listing for
transit blog right here.

So if you are looking for a top ranked site, a9 is almost tinyurl and
google feeling lucky all at once.

Try it again: a9.com/fsp 1.1.

[*] A9: A + nine oher letters makes AmazonAlexa.

google is sixth brand

Periodically I search for search using google.

When google moved out of Stanford, google was about the
20th result for search. When google struck a deal with
yahoo, google was about the 12th result.

For the last two years, google has been the number one
answer for search. But today, even as google is proclaimed
a top brand, google's own ranking of itself has slipped
down to the sixth place for search.

(click on image to enlarge)

More posts about Google.

Kerry 2004, paid for by Howard Dean

	Purposeful web sites are making a mistake by inserting googleads.
	While acceptable for your web site to agree to have a sponsor, and for you to use links, text, images, and all the other modern conveniences to promote your sponsor, the googleads are bound to diminish your site.
	If you must add dross links to 'related' sites, just choose and add your own links or join a webring. Or if it's the coin you seek, get a sponsor that matches your taste.
	Allowing Google (or Overture/Yahoo or whoever) to randomly stuff your pages based on word association is doomed to lead to rivals' text and links splattered about your page.
And some readers just plain dislike being force-fed adverts, arguing that 'contextual advertising' is spam.

Click to see screenshot of context.

Keep score of the delegate count, and Slate's campaign field guide.
Slate on the pragmatism of electing electable candidates.

EZ pass vs privacy

There should be a 'donate my date' pledge,
like an organ donor pledge. Upon your death,
your data could then be used, for example, to
investigate our death.

E-ZPass Card an Investigative Tool
Being used in probe of slaying of Baltimore prosecutor in Pa.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

December 12, 2003

Baltimore - When Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Luna's sedan cruised through
a toll booth the night he was killed, his E-ZPass card automatically billed him.
More importantly, it left an electronic record of his travels for police investigating
the crime.

Millions of drivers now use electronic toll systems to pay for tolls without digging
out cash, and investigators are increasingly using the electronic record they
create as a possible crime fighting tool.

The New York Thruway System has received 128 subpoenas from investigators
since 1998, and has turned over records in response to 61 of them, said Terry
O'Brien, a spokesman for the thruway system.

The thruway system has issued electronic cards for use in 5.1 million vehicles,
so the number of records subpoenaed is a small percentage. But experts predict
the records will increasingly find their way into both criminal and civil cases.

In Illinois, a man reviewed his wife's electronic toll records during a custody
dispute, and divorce attorneys say they see potential for such records in the
future.

"Whereabouts can be very important, especially in a custody case where
somebody says, 'I'm always around. I can take care of this child,'" said Barbara
Ellen Handschu, a New York divorce attorney.

New York City officials last month transferred 30 detectives out of the narcotics
bureau for allegedly claiming false overtime. They were discovered passing
through E-ZPass lanes miles from where they were supposed to be working.

The key to the E-ZPass system - which operates from Massachusetts to West
Virginia and is expanding to Maine and New Hampshire - is the distinct radio
signal emitted by each card. Toll receivers detect the signal and bill the
corresponding account.

Similar regional systems are in use around the country.

In the Luna case, electronic toll records show the 38-year-old took a roundabout
route from Maryland to the spot in Lancaster County, Pa., where his body was
found last week, investigators said. Authorities fanned out across the region,
interviewing gas station attendants and hotel clerks.

An FBI spokesman in Baltimore would not comment on the bureau's use of
E-ZPass records in general, citing the ongoing investigation of the Luna case.
Investigators subpoenaed toll records from the Pennsylvania Turnpike
Commission, the commission said.

While that request was specific, investigators in Massachusetts have occasionally
asked highway authorities for general data. For instance: Did any blue Ford
pickup trucks pass through Exit 35 Friday night? Doug Hanchett, a spokesman
for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, said officials have fought to quash
subpoenas it feels are inappropriate. Even with a slight increase this year,
however, he said the agency only received about six subpoenas in 2002.

"We take it pretty seriously," Hanchett said.

Other uses beyond crime fighting have been found for electronic toll systems.

New York E-ZPass subscribers can instantly pay for parking at JFK and
LaGuardia airports and for food in the drive-through lanes of two McDonald's
restaurants in Suffolk County.

Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.

nynewsday.com/news/local/transportation/nyc-nypass123581135dec12,0,5460352,print.story?coll=nyc-manheadlines-trans

Charles M. Vest retires from MIT

Charles M. Vest, 62, retires retires as president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
after serving from 1990 to 2003.

He was visionary on the fundamental changes that were happening in academia,
he was tactical in terms of what M.I.T. needed, and yet he was extremely sensitive
in dealing with many of the issues of student life. It's not hard to find someone
who's good in one of those areas. To find someone who excelled in all three is quite
rare and precious.
-- Denis A. Bovin, vice chairman of Bear, Stearns and an M.I.T. trustee.

Chuck's success is that he is very much of the world of the newest of ideas
and high technology, and yet his nature is very low-key and like somebody you'd
meet on a street corner and get engaged in an interesting conversation with.
He made senators and others feel very comfortable because he didn't seem
surprised when they knew technical terms. That's very important.
-- Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, Democrat of West Virginia.

There is no issue in science where people don't look to him for very wise counsel.
-- Shirley M. Tilghman, the president of Princeton.

Source: NYT.

Silly CostCo maps

CostCo is a warehouse style big box retailer.

The goal is to find a CostCo near you (assume you are in zip code 63011,
or Clarkson Valley, MO).

Search by town and state, or by zip code.
This finds a reasonable list of CostCos.

The results show the CostCo on a map with detailed context,
and the results list each address. All good so far.

Selecting the South Saint Louis link brings a page exclusively about
that particular location.

Note that
1. The location's street (Rusty Road) in not shown on map

2. An exit route from freewys is not shown.
E.g., From I-270, should I exit from I-270, or change to I-55 then exit ?

3. The street (Rusty Road) is different from street listed on previous search
results page (South Lindberg (Lindbergh?).

Apple is much better:

Also good is the map from Pro-Retail.

Google nation

Google for google.
Results: USA, Germany, Japan, The UK, France, Canada, Italy... just like the G7.

1. google.com
2. google.de
3. google.co.jp
4. google.co.uk
5. google.fr
6. google.ca
7. google.it The G7 is complete.
8. google.ch
9. google.stanford.edu homebase
10. google.nl
11. google.br
12. google.be

Second Superpower

Faithful blogging spectator GEOFFREY NUNBERG reports that Google is
the Second Superpower, or rather the Second Superpower is the
Internet Community itself which posts the links and words for
Google to crawl.

Incidently, I met Prof. Nunberg at a BAYCHI dinner event when he first
spoke about blogging (almost two years ago) and he really does speak
in that lecturious voice he uses on NPR.

Collective upstart architecture

These days, young architects are forming collaborative firms right out of
architecture school; many don't even consider jobs with traditional firms, where
they worry they will have to spend years designing bathrooms and closets.

"Part of the collaborative spirit among younger architects is that they're seeing
what's required to compete in a profession dominated by fame and by track
record," said David Rockwell, who worked with the Think team. In an effort to
gain notice, he said, young architects ? emboldened because they can first
support themselves with computer-based design work ? are banding
together. Goodbye Fountainhead, Hello Kibbutz [NYT].

SARS vs Masked

It may be illegal to wear a mask in public, unless you're a welder, fencer, hockey goalie,
or burka wearing orthodox muslim.

Will SARS change this ? Ask Eugene Volokh.

SARS in Hong Kong Report by an SUV driver.

SARS in Hong Kong.

Lady Madonna

I searched for sex worker in the NYT, and the first
match was Madonna. Why search for sex worker ?

Excerpts from the review of the Material girl:

As she blankets the media yet again, Madonna is the exact opposite of a
politician striving to stay "on message." Madonna's priority is to keep people
watching whatever she does; she maintains a presence, not a message.

...

A few weeks ago, Madonna withdrew her original "American Life" video
because, she said, she was worried that it might be misinterpreted during
wartime. It had intercut a fashion show of camouflage fantasies with images of
bombs and destruction, and it ended with Madonna tossing a grenade that was
caught by a George W. Bush look-alike. He opened the top — it turned out to be
a cigarette lighter — and nonchalantly lighted a cigar.

Madonna told VH1 that the video, made before the war with Iraq, was meant
to insist that viewers should "stop being distracted by all of your entertainment"
and try to avert a war. Having the grenade turn out to be harmless was, she
said, "wishful thinking, symbolically, that we could find a different way to deal
with our conflicts with Iraq." But the video could also have been seen as a Bush
endorsement (he could bravely defuse a grenade) or a callous equation of
dancing and preening with bombings.

...

The music of "American Life" continues Madonna's collaboration with the
ingenious French producer Mirwais Ahmadzai, who produced the album "Music"
in 2000. It uses a similar mixture of acoustic guitar-picking, ticking drum
machines and swooping, buzzing synthesizer lines. The guitar signals the
sincerity of a singer-songwriter, while all the gizmos add the retro catchiness of
the synth-pop music now being revived under the name electroclash.

Bigger screenshot:

Interstate bugs

A few species of rare bugs are found only within two counties in Texas.
Therefore, they are regulated as interstate commerce. A nice way to
start a career.

The Bee Creek Cave Harvestman, the Bone Creek Harvestman, and the Tooth
Cave Pseudoscorpion are subterranean, eyeless arachnids (arthropods bearing four
pairs of legs and no antennae); they range in size from 1.4 to 4 mm. The Tooth
Cave Spider, a subterranean arachnid with eyes, measures 1.6 mm in length. The
Tooth Cave Ground Beetle and the Kretschmarr Cave Mold Beetle are subterranean
insects, the latter being eyeless; they vary in size from 3 to 8 mm..

Noted in appellateblog, and Greenlaw.

Banking on NSF fees

Web site for Old National Bancorp, a $9 billion bank based in Evansville, Ind.,
promoted its overdraft program by asking: "Ever run short between paychecks?
Ever been faced with unplanned expenses? If you answered `yes' to any of these
questions, you'll have peace of mind knowing you have the protection of Overdraft
Courtesy with your Old National checking account. If you ever need more money
than you have in your account, simply write a check."

NYT

Google baiting

NEW ECONOMY :Sites Become Dependent on Google
[...]

Sergey Brin, one of Google's founders and its president of technology, acknowledged that Google's large market share can leave Web site owners vulnerable to fluctuations in traffic. But he was unapologetic about Google's success and its emphasis on keeping users happy, even at the expense of Webmasters. "The only reason people come to Google is because it works for them," he said.

Sometimes a site's ranking plunges drastically or disappears from Google altogether. Often this means that Google detected some evidence that the site's owner was using deceptive tactics, like building a network of linked sites to create the illusion of popularity and thereby receive a higher ranking.

But site owners say Google can sometimes be overzealous in its fight against manipulation, and some say they live in fear that a small mistake or a technical glitch will get them booted from the search results and wipe out their income. Ms. Le Tendre, the yacht broker, for example, said she was building separate sites for two new branches of her business, just in case.

[...]

The free ride may not last, however. Ms. Johnson of Forrester says larger companies have been discovering the power of search engines and site optimization. As was the case on eBay when big retailers moved in, search listings are becoming less democratic. "It's going to be more and more difficult for small sellers to get noticed," she said. "The free listings lunch may be ending soon."

DAVID F. GALLAGHER

SOMA FM grooves

SOMA FM is back. Alas beloved CliqHop is gone, but Groove Salad lives on Shoutcast.

Yahoo is toast -- MyWay

Yahoo is toast. So says the sleek new MyWay portal.

I can't help but agree that the formerly useful Yahoo!
now has too many ads, popups, and other encumbrances .

SF FiDi

View from office in San Francisco Financial District.

Silly google searches

Silly google searches, an occasional series: proffesional+proofreading.

Pretty Good Business

From CNET:

Security company Network Associates said Monday that it had purchased a
small start-up whose software lets corporations and others "wiretap" their
computer networks.

[...]

While the system could easily be used to track unauthorized uploads to a
network--uploads by hackers, for instance--it could also be used to tap
e-mail, printing jobs, instant messaging discussions and even
voice-over-IP phone calls.

"It is completely transparent to the user," said England, who envisions
companies using the software to see what is going on around their network
and the government using it to investigate employees and hackers. While

Network Associates hasn't approached law enforcement agencies yet, the
network-tapping software could add considerable teeth to the FBI's own
network-tapping program, known as DCS-1000 or, formerly, as "Carnivore."

NAI completes its transition to the Dark Side writes one former PGP-fan.

Smog check

The SF Bay area is getting a new smog check, where cars
must be inspected for condition of various engine, exhaust,
and fuel systems, and tailpipe emmissions are tested while
the car runs on a treadmill.

Most inspections will be performed at gas stations or car repair
businesses which may repair cars failing the inspection or test.
However, some cars are required to submit to a test-only facility.

Explanation 1:

It also sends a small percentage of cars to test-only smog stations,
which cannot make smog repairs. That provision is intended to cut
down on unscrupulous mechanics who fake successful smog tests to
avoid redoing repairs.

Explanation 2;
Smog Check II also requires 15 percent of vehicles to go to test-only
stations, which are not allowed to make repairs. If the cars fail,
then they go to a second shop for pollution-reducing repairs. The
system was meant to curb fraud -- either needless repairs or bribes
to pass smog-belching vehicles.

Just One Fix

Coming soon: Meg Lee Chin's concert.

I asked for _Ministry_ at the Karaoke Bar,
and this concert is what I get.

2002 September 16 (Monday) 9pm

Galaxy, this Washington Avenue nightclub offers a dance floor and live stage.

The club mainly books ska, alternative and hardcore touring acts.
The nightclub is known for its infamous Fetish Nights where the underground
Goth scene emerges for industrial music and risqué fashion shows.
1227 Washington Ave., STL, MO. ph 314-231-2404.

Doors open for most shows at 8 p.m. and close at 3 a.m

From St. Louis Magazine.

Loaded Front for Maxim Ralph FHM, Esquire

An update of an earlier story:

I think that for a long time, the conventional wisdom
was that Time Inc. would never do a magazine like Maxim
because we didn't think the advertising would be there.

There was just a perception that young men didn't read and
didn't spend money, and it turns out that they do both.

-- Norman Pearlstine, editor in chief of Time Inc.

Post Partem

Tim Salam posted a good summary of project post partem reviews
(erroneously called post mortems when used for projects which did not die).

M$

It's annoying that government docs are distributed via
Microsoft PowerPoint files, thus requiring citizens to buy
Microsoft products in order to participate in democracy.

[1] unix strings works amazingly well to read .DOC files

[2] Try free viewers for MS Windows (yes, a Gates tax),
but you don't need to buy and keep updating MS Office.

[3] would you prefer .PDF files ? I keep asking for plain text,
but generally people (not just MTC and VTA) are too stupid
to be able to copy and paste plain text into a text document.

War chalking

None dare call it modemspotting.
A set of easy-to-draw symbols to identify the nearby presence of wireless
networks for laptop and palmtop users.

Matt Jones, a London-based information architect and designer, posted the
idea on his Weblog, and it stimulated online discussions and even a Web
address devoted to the cause: www.warchalking.org.

An initial set of symbols was offered for users to mark (and describe)
networks they had found, and for network operators, free or for a fee,
to advertise accessibility. In the spirit of Internet time, baroque
renditions by site visitors quickly transformed Mr. Jones's simple symbols
into three-dimensional locators with other details.

War chalking derives from "war driving," a pastime of discovering wireless
networks using widely available data-sniffing software that identifies
open and restricted wireless nodes in homes and businesses. (War
driving, in turn, comes from war dialing, modem-era hacker attempts
to dial number after number to find modems.) [nyt.com]

M$

Teare's What Happened To Realnames when they dealt with M$.

What are you worth ?

If you undercharge today, it will be very difficult to ever ask the
larger amount necessary to stay in business.

Pronto. Unless the delta is small, it's very difficult to raise fees
substantially once you set a rate. Here's a trick:
If, for whatever reason, you think you need to lower your rates, don't. Use
your standard rate. But give the client an *explicit* break. Literally. Tell
them that "as a sign of goodwill," "since this is our first project." "as a
long time customer," "as a prelude to a larger project" etc., you are
providing services worth $XXX without charge. Make sure they understand that
this is a one-time , tied to an explicit cause and in expectation of
future business. And *always* get something in return for your largess: more
flexible hours/deadline, more freedom in execution, promotional rights,
intro to their clients/departments, reuse of code, access to their services,
etc. In other words, make them think there is an exchange of considerations
going on here, as opposed to you merely giving up something worth money.
...
The scenario might be more complex. For example, say you have one client
who is willing to pay a sizable fee. You might be able to undercharge
another client and in the end you still make a profit.

That may prove to be short sighted. As a client I'd be furious if I find out
that I was paying substantially more for the same service and, in fact,
subsidizing my competition. Also, the client you're undercharging will most
likely expect you to continue to undercharge. If you happen to need the
money at any given moment (regardless of anything else), then, obviously,
you should do whatever it takes to secure payment. But as a career move,
this is risky. Ziya Oz

Pump you up

As you exercise and build stronger muscle with
ever heavier lifting, do you increase the chance
of tearing connecting tissue ?

Or does the exercise strengthen the connecting
tissue, making it less vulnerable ?

ghost town

The number of still-on-line but devoid-of-content portals and
skeletons of message forums grouped by physical community
is astounding.

Jump to St. Louis
Sidewalk CitySearch
etc.