Riddle Me This, Jishman

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our loyal and not so loyal readers. Enjoy your day, and don’t forget, tomorrow is Black Friday….so…do whatever you’d normally do when crazy lunatics go shopping.

Sincerely,
Jishman

I have just been informed that Tiger Woods is out of a job. I am taking up a collection for Eldrick. He has a a child now, and a wife who isn’t working. If I owned a company, I would invite him to come sweep floors or answer my phones. You know, anything to help him get back onto his feet.

How do you like your Bond? Angry, like Timothy Dalton? Super Spy sexy, like Sean Connery? Intellectual, like Roger Moore? Just plain bad, like George Lazenby? Or emotionless, like Daniel Craig?

Have no fear, this dark movie has more twists and turns than the Saw Mill Expressway at 11 o’clock at night. Craig’s Bond is angry and a man on a mission, and he is not going to take it anymore. There’s a crazy Frenchman who speaks with an odd accent and seems cross eyed most of the time who acts as this movie’s Doctor Evil. Olga something-ridiculously-Eastern-European-sky acts as this movie’s “Love Interest.” Dame Judi Dench acts as Bond’s M-in-Law. And many people look at this as one giant snore-fest.

Craig’s Bond misses plenty of opportunities to be suave in favor of being boring. He tries to replace the inherent “Bond-ness” in favor of un-shown anger. No toys, no gadgets, no awesome “I so love Bond” moments. Plus, that title makes mention to the “Spectre-to-be” evil organization of the week.

I have to say, I love the idea of Bond and spy shows/movies in general. I love Mission: Impossible, Chuck, Alias, and all of those movies, especially when they don’t need to kill someone to make it all happen. Bond is a lot of things but a stereotype should not be one of them. Bond may end up being a character to retire until we can find a villain worth hunting, like we had with the Communists. Bond was a character of yesteryear, which is too bad.

This movie is a rental, which is too bad. I didn’t really like Casino Royale either, and I should have known better.

I have to credit my parents for sending this to me…. very, very funny!

To my friends who enjoy a glass of wine… and those who don’t.As Ben Franklin said: In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria.

In a number of carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 liter of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli, (E. coli) - bacteria found in feces. In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of poop.

However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine & beer (or tequila, rum, whiskey or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting. Remember: Water = Poop, Wine = Health

Therefore, it’s better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink water and be full of sh**t.

There is no need to thank me for this valuable information: I’m doing it as a public service.

Have a great weekend!

So, I was reading this article, and was thinking about all the fight Apple has put up over the years over the benefits of their DRM, Fairplay. Its what keeps songs bought on iTunes playable only on the iPod/iPhone and iTunes. This is a good thing, because it keeps people locked into Apple hardware and software. Unfortunately, as we’ve seen on the video front, the idiotic producers haven’t figured out how to monetize digital files as well as they could, and so they are resentful that Apple is making money off of them. Moreover, especially on the music front, that Apple has 80% market share, so the producers power is that much less. If DRM gets removed, other music products could be used along side iTunes, and this is a threat to Apple’s theoretical dominance in the music player space, but is it really?

If you assume for a moment that no one would DARE use another product besides the iPod because of its technical superiority, ease of use, ease of accessories, ubiquity, whatever you reason suits you best, then DRM is irrelevant. No one will switch regardless. “The iPod is dead, long live the iPod!” I want to take it one step further though, because I think it has everything and nothing to do with music. I think Apple is trading away a small chip for access to a much larger pie. I think they want video.

I think Apple is cashing in the music piece that the producers (stupidly) have been upset about for years so they can get access to the universal video pie and not risk cutting off that future cash cow. The video pie has the chance to be much larger than music especially as more video abilities get integrated into the iPod/iPhone. People will spend money on video - especially if Apple finds a way to make the Apple TV a worthwhile product - and just because the music store has sold a GAZILLION songs so far and the video store not so much, doesn’t mean they won’t. Apple knows that video is a different medium, and when NBC pulled its programming, big time shows were lost too (House, Battlestar Galactica, et al) and so was that revenue temporarily.

I think that Apple may be trading in a big chip in a smaller pie to get a bigger piece of a much larger pie. Renting and buying videos will work eventually, especially if - unlike now - they can get access to BURNING videos and tv shows too. That might be the ultimate piece. I guess we’ll find out.

I’m not about to go political on what is fundamentally a corporate America issue, but I have to say, while I haven’t agreed with him on much, I agree with Mitt Romney on this. The auto companies have been in trouble for a lot longer than the last year, but they seem to be the only ones who haven’t noticed. They are technologically behind the curve. They are way ahead of pack on price, and their labor situation is by far the worst. Couple that with the head of the UAW saying that the union wouldn’t compromise on anything and the car companies are in between a rock and a bigger rock.

My opinion is that going into chapter 11 bankruptcy, while difficult from a PR perspective, is the smart decision from a business one. it would allow them to make the necessary changes to what is by and large a broken business model. Americans have too many choices now that are much better than even the best selling cars by GM, Ford or Chrysler to care what they’re being offered. There needs to be genuine incentive to make people WANT to buy American, not just HAVE to buy it as they did 40-50 years ago. Toyota, Hyundai and Honda are making cheaper cars across the board than we are, and not just cheaper but better too. Although cheaper is a much more important word to many Americans these days.

I forgot who I was talking to the other day, but s/he said that s/he was watching an interview in which the questioner asked the guest to name one American car that was superior in class, and it was almost impossible to do. The Malibu, that was it. That was the only car in the last 5 years that was best in class, and even that superiority only lasted one year. It only lasted until the Hyundai Sonata came out remodeled this year. The Honda Civic is the highest selling car in America followed, not surprisingly by the Corolla, Camry and Accord, respectively (according to Consumer Reports).

Gasoline, Mr. Wagoner, did not do this to the American automotive industry, it was arrogance and a focus on growth and not innovation. No, Mr. Gettelfinger, it is not the job of the US Government to make up for your selfishness and desire to remain in power. As recently as 10 years ago, you were fighting over whether line workers should be allowed to smoke while stitching leather in $80,000 cars. I am sure I can find a place for you to stick the rejection I hope you get.

Now, don’t get me wrong, a bailout or piece of it is probably inevitable, but this is like putting a band aid on a broken leg. This weekend, Thomas Friedman called for Steve Jobs to take over the CEO’s job at a car company. While I applaud the effort, he’s right in one way, we need new blood and new thinking. Its time. Messrs. Wagoner, Mullaly, Nardelli, Gettelfinger, it is time for you to go. You are not helping anyone, and you are definitely doing more harm.

So, I agree with Mitt Romney (the best hair in politics), but inevitably, I think it won’t happen. Two and a half to three million jobs are too many to lose to prove a point.

Sorry I haven’t been able to post much. I’ve been a little busy recently, which is sad on all kinds of levels, but I’m hoping to post a bit more now as the holiday season comes up and my clients tend to go into hibernation until January 2nd.

Now, onto the stories, Mrs. Jishman and I are in the market for a blender. I’m curious if anyone has any recommendations on cheap ones.

I found these.

Cuisinart Smart Power

Oster Blender

Black and Decker

As you can imagine, I have never used any of them, so I basically just know what’s written in the descriptions, but if one of you knows anything about these or another one, let us know. I need my blueberry smoothies now.

As many of you know, I am nothing if not an exercise maniac. I love to exercise. And running. Running is by far my favorite thing. That was why I was so pleased when our exercise guru, Richard Simmons McHates-You, passed along this:

Now, after watching the video, I know what you all are thinking: “Its dumb.” “Really dumb.” “I’d feel like a rat on a wheel.” “How would I steer?” “How will I not die driving through the city in that?!?”

And I have the answers: “Yes. You would be like a rat on a wheel” and “You will.”

Now, back to reality, what mental midget thought this was a good idea?! Isn’t this simply the point of running on the road?!? Plus you won’t die!

Idiots.

Femtocells are some of the newest thing in mobile technology. What they do is use your existing Internet connection, add a device to it that acts as a micro-transmitter so the area can have more coverage than it presently has. I first heard about this technology 2 years ago in Europe where Internet connections have different meanings and costs, but high bandwidth cell infrastructure rollout is ubiquitous (unlike here). Yesterday, I was reading a site called MobileBurn that said that the FCC revealed Verizon’s intent on using Femtocells.

This makes me happy. It means that my apartment, which, while it has some coverage, can finally get better coverage - maybe even enough to have a phone call while in my kitchen. It saves money for Verizon Wireless (not that their recent earnings announcement show they need to worry about getting through the lean times) because now they don’t need to spend as much money on 3G network rollouts while the customers can still get that kind of coverage. It means for some of our readers that they can finally get good coverage in their homes - which aren’t so far away from other big cities either. Obviously it depends on cost, but this kind of device does make me happy.

Hopefully next we see city/nationwide WiFi networks and free coffee every day at Starbucks.

No jokes, no politics. Just go out and vote.

For the first week, one win, two losses. Alright…my bad.