An American Lion

This is where Norman Rogers practices the manly art of curation.

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The Frisky Mole Boy of Groton

Norman Rogers recounts the summer he spent hiding from the stern love of his father and living as the world-famous “frisky mole boy” in the Groton, Connecticut sewer system. The Frisky Mole Boy of Groton seduced the women of the town and solved crimes, all while subsisting on a steady diet of depravity and confusion.

Rampage of the Innocents is my unfinished but brilliant Historical Romance Novel (now, with more sex and violence for my teenaged readers)

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    An American Lion

    Entries in Communications (42)

    Tuesday
    Aug102010

    The Disintegration of the Ringtone Business

    Wimax Range mapI've never understood the appeal of having a special "ringtone" on a cell phone. It seems like a lifetime ago, but the masses craved ringtones and begged in the streets for them and ran wild when ringtones were made available to them via websites and whatever else. It was as if men were standing in the backs of trucks throwing them into screaming crowds reaching up to get whatever they could.

    Now? Forget about it. Ringtones are dead:

    Ten years ago, three brothers in Germany founded Jamba, jumping head-first into the global fad of selling ringtones, which ultimately grew to be a billion-dollar industry. Since then, the well-known mobile content company has taken a number of twists and turns. Long story short, Jamba was acquired by News Corp (NSDQ: NWS) to become part of Fox Mobile, and celebrated its 10th anniversary last week under a circus tent in Germany. However, it’s questionable these days how much celebrating should be done.

    Last week, on the eve of Jamba’s party, News Corp. confirmed rumors of its intentions to sell off the mobile division, and Fox Mobile, like other ringtone providers, are left scrambling to find new business models as the clock runs down out their traditional revenue streams.

    At the height of the ringtone business, carriers, music labels, artists and third party companies, like Jamba, Thumbplay and others, were making piles of easy money—selling a snippet of a song for three times what a whole track sells for today. John Fletcher, an analyst at SNL Kagan, said ringtone sales in the U.S. peaked in 2007 at $714 million, and today are closer to 2005 levels. “It’s been a depressing story for a couple of years.” As consumers have transitioned to smartphones, users can often load a full-track MP3 to their phone and designate a portion for a ringtone.

    Fox Mobile and Thumbplay are two of the largest companies that specialized in ringtones and are now trying to reinvent themselves. But both companies have a long way to go to be successful. News Corp. said last week it was writing off $217 million from the value of its outdoor and mobile businesses, though it was not clear how that money was split between those two areas. News Corp. acquired Jamba in two chunks, for about $400 million. If it decided to put Jamba on the block, Fox wouldn’t likely make back that purchase price. Meanwhile, Thumbplay has raised roughly $61 million since being founded in 2004. Investors include Brookside Capital Advisors, Cross Creek Capital, Bain Capital Ventures, Redwood Partners, New Enterprise Associates and Meritech Capital Partners.

    Who has that kind of free time on their hands? To sit there and slice out a piece of an MP3 and then make that the ringtone when your favorite booty call rings you up smacks of something out of another time. This is the age of austerity. When a cell phone rings, pray it is McDonald's offering you a night shift job at eight bucks an hour.

    Sunday
    Aug012010

    There Go All of My Readers in Saudi Arabia and the UAE

    You can get Celebrity Disaster on your BlackBerry if you click on the photo, sirIn direct response to the fact that so many people in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are checking in with my blog and enjoying them some Safe For Work Hotties, the governments of those countries are frantically trying to block access to my blog:

    Two Gulf states have announced bans on some functions of the Blackberry mobile phone, claiming security concerns.

    The United Arab Emirates is to block sending emails, accessing the internet, and delivering instant messages to other Blackberry handsets.

    Saudi Arabia is to prevent the use of the Blackberry to Blackberry instant messaging service.

    Both nations are unhappy that they are unable to monitor such communications via the handsets.

    This is because the Blackberry handsets automatically send the encrypted data to computer servers outside of the two countries.

    I'll probably be okay. I'm not so much worried about freedom of expression or anything like that. I'm worried about the Hotties. I'm worried about Veronica Vanoza:

    Veronica Vanoza

    I'm worried about all of the hotties, but, mostly, I'm just worried about myself. I don't think I can handle being banned in the Middle East. We get a lot of hits from Saudi Arabia. I think we can survive, provided the government is willing to give me a loan.

    I shall ask the government to give me a loan to tide us over until more traffic from China or Yemen can start coming into the site. I will use the many examples of my brilliance to sort of "wow" the government and then I'll get a loan from them. Maybe a grant. I don't know. We're getting the paperwork printed off right now. 

    Friday
    Jul302010

    Follow Me on Your Mobile Phone

    Mippin Portal for An American LionI don't know if this is even going to work, but it sure sounds like something I need to be doing. Follow me on Mippin!

    Here's the Mippin button:

    Add An American Lion Mobile Version Mippin widget

    Enjoy!

    Friday
    Jul302010

    Microsoft's Partnership With Dell is a Mistake

    Blast from the pastMaybe I'm barking up the wrong tree, but there's an inherent advantage in all things Apple--the marketplace has embraced the brand. Microsoft is betting that they can break that embrace and win people over to their side (will they ever lose their share of the market? Probably not). It's not so much a fight over the average consumer; it's a fight over the elite consumers who have flocked to Apple and who continue to badmouth Microsoft.

    I think Microsoft's partnership with Dell is a mistake:

    Microsoft Corp set out its ambitions to dominate the consumer electronics market on Thursday with Windows-powered tablet computers and smartphones designed to beat back advances by Apple Inc and Google Inc.

    Microsoft has been irked by Apple selling more than 3 million iPads since the launch in April and is working with PC makers Acer Inc, Dell Inc, Toshiba Corp and others to develop so-called tablet or slate devices running the Windows operating system.

     

    New tablets will be available as soon as they are ready to ship and phones will be on the market this autumn, CEO Steve Ballmer said, setting up a key test of Microsoft's ability to capture the imagination of tech-savvy consumers.

    "We're coming full guns," said Ballmer at the company's annual presentation to analysts at its Redmond, Washington headquarters. "We're going to sell like crazy; we're going to market like crazy."

    Dell is supposed to make something that can rival the iPad? I don't think so. People are waking up to the fact that all of those Dells they bought turned out to be junk. People are mightily sick of Microsoft operating system failures (I had the 64-bit version of Vista for as long as I could take it, and then I just went and started using Miranda's Apple laptop).

    Microsoft will never win back all of the big bucks consumers who have rejected its brand. This would be like a lifelong Ford customer suddenly deciding that Chevy makes a sweet little compact--why not buy one and throw everything Ford-related to the wind. I think it's more likely that a Honda--or a foreign substitute--might make inroads against Apple. I don't think Microsoft and Dell have anything people are really going to get excited about buying.

    Thursday
    Jul292010

    Will the iPhone Really Allow Porn to Flourish?

    Adult Film Star Teagan Presley smiles and uses her iPhoneSteve Jobs has said that he, and his company, and the products he makes, have a combined moral obligation to save us all from porn (or something prudish to that effect). And that's fine by me.

    I think there's way too much of it going around, and I say that as a man who brings you the safe for work hotties. I think it all needs to be dialed back. Less is more. I think it's better to see what I bring you than what is being rammed in your face. But that's just me being weird and opinionated again.

    There's a great deal at stake here, and the money might just be too big to ignore:

    It's a maxim of technology: Invent the newest gadget and the porn industry will find a way to cash in.

    So when Apple launched the iPhone 4 and its FaceTime videoconference feature, it didn't take long for adult-entertainment companies to develop video-sex chat services and start hiring workers through Craigslist.

    With more than 3 million of the phones already sold, the adult industry stands to make big money on this new way to reach out and touch someone — even if it puts Apple, which has always taken pains to keep its iPhone apps squeaky clean, in an awkward spot.

    In at least five cities, Craigslist ads seek models specifically for video sex chat on FaceTime. Many of the ads even offer to throw in a free iPhone 4 for the new employees.

    Can people really make money this way? Well, the fact of the matter is, they have been making money hand over fist since the technology started to change back in the 1980s. As the access becomes more personal and easier and quicker and more compact, people who are naturally inclined to seek out that which interests them are going to prevail over the technology. This is simply an update on the 900 number, the Internet chat room, and the webcam. Using your iPhone to access porn is your business, is it not? Or should we allow the morals of Apple Inc. to dictate what you can and cannot do with the phone you're paying a great deal of money to make use of?

    It's as if the fellow who designed VHS tape put a special feature in his product to burn up if someone appeared nude on the tape; how long would the product have lasted? And before it became obsolete, wasn't it really no big deal in the end anyway?

    Thursday
    Jul292010

    Chuck Todd Does Not Run a Competent News Organization

    I have a corncob with your name on itI think John Cole deserves a medal for this one:

    You know what. Here’s your news org doing what it does best:

    Oh noes! People speaking on a private email list had opinions while my news organization has devolved to stirring up food fights about a wedding. Talk about burning Rome and then fiddling.

    Wait a minute—President Obama isn’t going to Chelsea Clinton’s wedding?

    That’s huge news. What it means is that Chelsea Clinton is only inviting friends and family to a private function and has no wish to involve the security circus that would surround an appearance by the POTUS.

    Breathlessly, you must conclude that President Clinton hasn’t been invited to his own daughter’s wedding. Wait--yes he has. But who cares? If the media speculates, the truth need not put in an appearance. The point of Cole's post was that Chuck Todd has no business complaining about how someone cheapens the news because he, himself, is part of an organization that always cheapens the news. The higher lesson is, don't take any of these carping nonsense-spreaders seriously. The actual hard work of journalism would force many of them to go back to selling insurance or used cars.

    This is the sort of thing that would drive MAJOR traffic to a website (not mine, of course), and news organizations are praying for more snubs and more scandalous guest list omissions. I can’t wait til we get to find out from Maureen Dowd how the bridesmaid dresses were designed to signal the collapse of Hillary Clinton’s subconscious menopausal libido.

    Monday
    Jul262010

    A National Security Apparatus Too Incompetent For Words

    LTG Keith Alexander attends the groundbreaking ceremony for some such boondoggleThere has been a lot of coverage of the Wikileaks incident, but here are a few comments and observations that I'd like to make.

    First, there was this tidbit:

    National Security Adviser Gen. James Jones lashed out Sunday evening at the publishing on the site Wikileaks of more than 90,000 files related to the Afghanistan war.

    The giant trove of classified documents covering six years of the Afghanistan war was to be published on the Wikileaks site Sunday but was made available first to The New York Times, the Guardian and Der Spiegel. Under the conditions of the agreement with Wikileaks, the papers withheld their reports on the documents until Sunday.

    "The United States strongly condemns the disclosure of classified information by individuals and organizations which could put the lives of Americans and our partners at risk, and threaten our national security," Jones said in a statement released by the White House. "Wikileaks made no effort to contact us about these documents — the United States government learned from news organizations that these documents would be posted."

    And so, with the National Security Adviser out there on a limb, the Department of Defense makes use of the stenographical talents of Michael Isikoff and cuts it off:

    An ongoing Pentagon review of the massive flood of secret documents made public by the WikiLeaks website has so far found no evidence that the disclosure harmed U.S. national security or endangered American troops in the field, a Pentagon official told NBC News on Monday.

    The initial Pentagon assessment is far less dramatic than initial statements from the Obama White House Sunday night after three major news organizations – The New York Times, the Guardian and Der Spiegel — published what was touted as an unprecedented “secret archive” of classified military documents relating to the war in Afghanistan. The documents appear to show, among other matters, close collaboration between elements of the Pakistani intelligence service and the Taliban — an awkward issue that U.S. intelligence officials have strenuously complained about for some time but are loath to talk about publicly.

    The news organizations said they received the documents from WikiLeaks, a controversial website that specializes in soliciting and publishing sensitive government documents.  No sooner did the stories appear this weekend than U.S. National Security Adviser James Jones “strongly” condemned the WikiLeaks disclosure, saying that the trove of classified documents “could put the lives of American and our partners at risk and threaten our national security.”

    But David Lapan, deputy assistant secretary of defense for media operations, told NBC News on Monday that a preliminary review by a Pentagon “assessment” team has so far not identified any documents whose release could damage national security. Moreover, he said, none of the documents reviewed so far carries a classification level above “secret” — the lowest category of intelligence material in terms of sensitivity. 

    Happy landings, General Jones. The real power is in the hands of one Mr. Gates. Once again, you lose. Once again, your public statements are absolutely trashed and laid bare within twenty-four hours of their being issued. Did you run over Bob Gates' dog once? Jeebus.

    If I were General Jones, I would have resigned a year ago and just allowed Bob Gates to be the de facto National Security Adviser.

    Watching him get cut off at the knees is like watching Richard Simmons go on the Letterman show--it's not going to end well, someone is going to mug for the cameras, and someone else is going to end up gnawing at the inside of their cheek because of how pathetic things will look to the folks back home.

    So with General Jones sitting there, with what might appear to be egg on his face, you can't help but think of that newly minted general who has been charged with running the United States Cyber Command. If newly-promoted General Keith Alexander can't keep us safe from Wikileaks, then how does he still have a job? Doesn't this incident prove we don't really need a Cyber Command?

    Now, isn't that a fair question? We are beginning to pump billions of dollars into a Cyber Command infrastructure that will, I presume, dedicate itself to making sure that classified information cannot be stripped from government networks and blasted around the globe for all to see. Why? If someone on the inside can undermine a multi-billion dollar boondoggle, then retire General Alexander, slash the funding to the bone, and turn Cyber Command over to a two-star general who can't get a decent billet and be done with it.

    Thursday
    Jul222010

    Allow Me to Take You to School, Professor

    While I am not a fan of big government, and that's never been a secret around here, I am a fan of anyone who hunts down and kills terrorists like the running dogs that they are.

    Here, you have a snooty Poindexter's take on the Washington Post series on contracting and the Federal Government's intelligence apparatus.

    For example, the authors point to the fact that large numbers of Americans hold top-secret security clearances, but fail to distinguish between those who are genuinely involved in intelligence work and those who require the clearances for other reasons -- such as maintaining classified computer equipment or, for that matter, serving as janitors or food service workers in organizations that do classified work. 
    That's where Dana Priest and her compadre in crime win and you lose, sir--food service workers usually have a simple background check done on them, and are accorded "red badge" status whereby they work in areas where people go and eat their lunch. These non-secured areas are where discussing classified information can get you in a heap of trouble. 
    The database they have assembled details not only organizations involved in counterterrorism work, but also those working in unrelated fields such as Air Force technical intelligence. In so doing, they have made it easier for America's enemies to defeat U.S. efforts to ferret out their secrets and have thereby made it more rather than less likely that the United States will be surprised by a future adversary.

     

    Air Force technical intelligence FEEDS the counterintelligence apparatus, as do other sources of information. They are hardly "unrelated" feeds. Information of a vital counterterrorism nature can by corroborated or enhanced by a piece of technical information collected by another agency.

     

    The database was assembled, I suspect, by simply collating the contracts awarded to companies by the government. If a government contract is released into the public record, as part of government transparency in contracting procedures, then the contract information--the money spent, the location where the contractors will work, for how long, and in what capacity--becomes part of the public record. To be certain, classified information is redacted, but the contracts themselves are simply open to the public (otherwise, how could anyone bid on the work and how could anyone have discovered all of the contractor malfeasance that has come to light in recent years?).

     

    You get a D minus, sir. Next time you come to my class, bring your A game.

     

    Thursday
    Jul082010

    Earth-shattering News of Major Importance That Cannot Be Ignored

    No, there's no trouble down at the millHold on to something:

    So the Washington-based organization has quietly changed its name to its familiar initials. Much like the corporate names KFC or AT&T, the initials now stand for the initials.

    NPR says it's abbreviating the name it has used since its debut in 1971 because it's more than radio these days. Its news, music and informational programming is heard over a variety of digital devices that aren't radios; it also operates news and music Web sites.

    Hence: "NPR is more modern, streamlined," says Vivian Schiller, NPR's chief executive. She points to other "re-brandings" by media organizations, such as Cable News Network, which has been plain old CNN for years.

    NPR hasn't formally announced the change. But it has told its staff and some 900 affiliated stations in recent months to use only the initials on the air or online.

    Did you feel that involuntary lump in your throat, too? I swear, the excitement of this nearly made me pass out and fall down a flight of stairs holding three lamps and a bucket of dominoes.

    These are heady times. You may find yourself being overtaken by events. Do not be frightened. It's just the out-of-control arc of these exciting events that we are cursed to live through. Wear clean underwear.

    Friday
    Jul022010

    This is Why Chris Christie is Getting So Much Attention

    New Jersey Governor Chris ChristieDon't talk--just lead:

    At the heart of Christie’s appeal, both within the state and outside its border, is an unfiltered, straightforward approach that is startlingly different from many of his gubernatorial colleagues.

    He achieved YouTube fame for a video in which he dressed down a local reporter who regularly covers him for asking a question about temperament but Christie insisted that he wasn’t falling victim to the prosecutorial demons that haunted Rudy Giuliani and Eliot Spitzer when they became mayor and governor of New York, respectively. 

    “It’s not a struggle, it’s just an awareness you have to keep” of the differences in the two jobs, he said, adding that he had commented before the voting began on his budget that “the U.S. Attorney job was much easier, there was no democracy. I was the boss, I made the decisions. When I said go, [we’d] go; when I said stop, [we’d] stop.”

    He added, “I’m surrounded every day with the realization, especially having a Democratic majority in the legislature, that, you know, pushing people around’s not what’s gonna do it.”

    You cannot dismiss the appeal of a man who looks like everyone else but sounds like a natural leader. The easy thing to do is to dismiss this man because he is not your traditional Presidential candidate or natural heir to the leadership of the Republican Party. This man leads. He does what he is supposed to do for the people of his state and he simply leads in a time of startling budget realities. 

    What makes him a formidable candidate on the national level is his everyman appeal and image, his straight talk, and his ability to make the state of New Jersey actually work. My fear is that the better he is at his job--and the more compromises he makes--the more the purity trolls who populate the Right will move to tear him down. If I was President, the purity trolls would come for me as well. I tend to want to get things done, too.

    The Republican Party will never regain national prominence and power if it cannot demonstrate leadership and the ability to govern. No amount of pledging to be all things to a narrow base will accomplish anything.