randomwalks/dj

david posted a photo:

Originally from david's Photos, on February 25, 2006 11:39 PM

david posted a photo:

We rode home with Mark. Our friend Jason was also with us this morning but we did not photograph him.

Originally from david's Photos, on February 25, 2006 11:39 PM

Even after two more decades of Lynchian eccentricity and sensual derangement, "Blue Velvet" looks as odd and as beautiful as ever, and it's still a shock.

Originally from NYT > Arts, on February 25, 2006 11:39 PM

Originally from Tuberaider Video, on February 25, 2006 9:28 PM

Frederico’s spot-on when he says that Flickr’s frequent error messages are a lot easier to deal with because they seem human:

How many times have you seen Flickr fail? I have seen it happen quite a few times, but something behind the “Flickr is having a massage” message, shown whenever someone tripped on a few cables, keeps me comfortable - it lets me know my photos and those of my friends, are in good hands. It will all be okay, even when something has clearly gone wrong.

I like Flickr’s (and I paraphrase), “Whoah Nelly, hold your clicks! The server’s running HOT right now!” error message which is WAY more effective than “HTTP 500 Internal Server Error.” Just goes to show a little editorial goes a long long way.

The human side of the web applications [WeBreakStuff]

Originally posted by Gina Trapani from Spun, on February 25, 2006 9:28 PM

I've been looking for new ways to customize my personal TypePad site. Laura from TypePad Technical support recently posted a great how-to for creating your own favorite icon, or favicon, in TypePad. Then, one of my favorite TypePad bloggers, swissmiss, linked to the Favicon Generator, where you can upload any image and it's changed into a favicon, making it even easier to personalize your TypePad blog.

Originally from ProNet, on February 25, 2006 9:27 PM

a breath of fresh air to hear this; Ian Rogers agrees  

Originally from Waxy.org Links, on February 25, 2006 9:25 PM

It's has not been that hot here surprisingly.  The sun shines all the time and I am very, very tan but today it is pretty hot.  Just had to mention it.

I am leaving South Africa today.  I am sad to leave Cape Town but ready for the next adventure.  It is sad to leave the group really.  We finished the house and had a dedication ceremony for the owner, Zanele.  She is such a sweet and amazing woman.  Her whole family is so kind and serene.  I'll miss building their house and eating their lunches.  We made them flower boxes and a framed picture of all of us who built the house.  One day I will post pictures but uploading pictures takes time and time is money which I am low on right now.

Oh, an update.  My passport was returned.  My cash was gone but who cares.  I told on the rude woman at the hostel who tried to act like it was my fault for someone breaking into my room and stealing from me.  It felt good and her boss was horrified.  He did not even know my bag was stolen.

I feel like I should be more sad because I am leaving so many great people but I am not.  All of the friends I made at Habitat I will keep in touch with.  I feel confident about that. 

My time at the internet cafe is wrapping up so I'll go.  I'll post when I arrive in Rwanda.

Originally posted by Angela Tucker from tuckergurl, on February 25, 2006 9:25 PM

Dr. Larry Brilliant, the new executive director of Google’s new philanthropic projects, will recommend an early-warning system to the Technology Entertainment and Design “TED” conference now underway in Monterey, California. The system would identify and prevent the spread of infectious diseases and other disasters. WIRED NEWS Technology reports an announcement will probably come this Thursday. WIRED explains that a major industy effort is being called for:

"The best thing the TED community can do is to take our servers and search engines and venture capital and build something that can last forever that has international independence," Brilliant said. "The goal is to have the earliest possible warning of all bad things. Specifically that we find the first cases of pandemic bird flu, the first cases of new diseases like SARS or bioterror and we contain it with early response."

will be involved in the early-warning project, Brilliant said, adding that hundreds of Google employees, including engineers, are prepared to help set up the system. But he said his first step will be to recruit support from other companies and foundations, beginning with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The GPHIN uses an internet crawler to scan 20,000 websites in seven languages for events and chatter recorded online on blogs, news sites and other outlets that point to the early outbreak of diseases. Brilliant envisions a system that, with the help of companies like Google, Sun and Microsoft, will scan 20 million sites and deliver information in dozens of languages.

Originally posted by Judy Breck from Smart Mobs, on February 25, 2006 9:24 PM

Someone named “Ingy döt Net” (who turns out formerly to have been Brian Ingerson of Perl and YAML fame) wrote me in response to that AJAX Upside piece, pointing to Jemplate — A Template Toolkit for Javascript. It looks profoundly clever. Hold on... Ingy is legally changing his name to his domain name. Well, OK then. [Update: Jeremy Dunk writes to point at the TrimPath JavaScript Templates engine].

Originally from ongoing, on February 25, 2006 9:24 PM

The people over at Eyebeam recently launched a new tool, entitled Maya 2 Google Earth. It's an open-source, cross-platform tool that allows you to export 3D models as a single Google Earth Placemark (KML) file. The project was inspired by the Open GL extraction utility OGLE (also by Eyebeam), which allows for the capture and re-use of 3D geometry data from 3D graphics applications running on Microsoft Windows.

Some of the potential uses for Maya2GoogleEarth are:
-Remix or augment city architecture, with your own creations
-Extract your in-game character with OGLE and bring them into Google Earth
-Design buildings and then show them at their correct geographic location

They've even stated that the first person to have Godzilla attacking Tokyo will have it posted to the site.

The image above are of gnomes from MMP online game WoW implemented into Google Earth.

TAGS: Future, News, Google, 3D, Gaming,

Originally from Cool Hunting, on February 25, 2006 9:23 PM

Flo Design's Flat Table was inspired by synesthesia (a sense of "seeing" a color when hearing a sound, for example). The table top has an LED light source which shifts colors based on environmental changes. Eri Nagashima is the designer behind Milan-based Flo Design.

Featured at the Cologne International Furniture Fair at the Design Spotter booth.

TAGS: Design, LED, Furniture,

Originally from Cool Hunting, on February 25, 2006 9:23 PM

Outside of the quotes, photos and impressions you find here on the TEDblog, we're fortunate this year to have at least two TEDsters liveblogging the conference in great detail. For extraordinary real-time analysis, take a look at the blogs of Ethan Zuckerman, of Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, and Bruno Giussani, who produced TEDGLOBAL last summer. Their posts and others are also include in the feed to the right..

Originally posted by June Cohen from TED Blog, on February 25, 2006 9:22 PM

Via an entry on CDC at Wikipedia:

“It was after the delivery of the 6600 that IBM took notice of the new company. At the time Thomas J. Watson, Jr. asked (paraphrased) ‘how is it that this tiny company of 34 people (including the janitor) can be beating us when we have thousands of people?’, to which Cray quipped ‘you just answered your own question.’ “

[Thanks JR]

Originally from Signal vs. Noise, on February 25, 2006 9:22 PM

Originally from Susan's Nutrition Weblog, on February 25, 2006 9:21 PM

This CS Monitor article, Control of creativity? Fashion's secret, is over two years old, but resurfaced recently into my field of awareness. It contains this gem:

For virtually all players in fashion, some form of derivation, recombination, imitation, revival of old styles, and outright knockoff is the norm. Few denounce, let alone sue, the appropriator for "creative theft." They're too busy trying to stay ahead of the competition through the sheer power of their design and marketing prowess.

There seem to be two factors that make the fashion industry impervious to the kinds of intellectual property rigamarole plaguing the content industries: high speed and discernment. For the fashion world, creative cycles are measured in months, and any designer spending time pursuing creative rip-offs by others is probably falling behind on their next season's line.

Fashion appreciation also seems to require a high degree of perceptual subtlety and historical awareness. You don't just waltz into the haute couture industry without a deep understanding of the effect of small decisions and the web of aesthetic influences among competing designers. The entire industry is founded on the idea that there is a crucial and fundamental difference between a dress you see on the runway and one you see at the TJ Maxx. The former gains credibility and distinction by the presence of a near-identical latter, the same way that quoting another musician or filmmaker confers status on the source of the gesture.

The saddest aspect of Big Content's lawsuit blitz is the complete banality of the material they are defending, its utter and complete worthlessness. The total creative bankruptcy of these industries makes a nitpicking IP-based lawsuit culture necessary, because there's nothing else of value to defend. I suspect that their zeal to squash any artisic form or distribution method which doesn't pay tribute to traditional cartel privileges results from a deep realization of how useless their industry is in the face of genuine culture and spontaneous creativity.

Rant off.

Originally from tecznotes , on February 25, 2006 3:31 PM

In anticipation of US President George Bush's visit to Hyderabad, India, Muslim religious leaders have formed a committee to coordinate the campaign and use SMS and e-mail services to spread the message that President Bush poses a threat not only to the Muslim world, but also to others who do not like the domination and monopoly of the US. [via Rediff]

Originally posted by emily from textually.org, on February 25, 2006 3:31 PM

david posted a photo:

Originally from david's Photos, on February 25, 2006 3:30 PM

Six Apart created Moveable Type and TypePad, and bought LiveJournal. Now it's "working on a new product, codenamed Comet, that will start beta testing this quarter," according to co-founder Mena Trott, talking to BusinessWeek Online reporter Reena Jana. There are...

Originally from Guardian Unlimited: Technology blog, on February 25, 2006 3:30 PM

The "architecture of participation" is a key theme in the evolution of location-enabled services. Paul Levine - General Manager of Local for Yahoo! - reveals how his company is encouraging users, merchants, developers, and publishers to participate in Yahoo!'s local services and contribute to a grand strategy of expanding the sum of human knowledge.

Originally from ITC: All Programs, on February 25, 2006 3:29 PM

All-Out Civil War in Iraq: Could It Be a Good Thing? (Asks Fox News)



From the Cheney Administration's (corporate) Goebbels. Just posting this for posterity. David Asman, the twit with the yellow tie, is the classic dweeb who couldn't get a girlfriend in high school and had to join the chess club and still burns with resentment. Bush, a spoiled but powerful bully, is the perfect person for him to support.

Originally posted by tom moody from Tom Moody, on February 25, 2006 3:29 PM

While in Los Angeles earlier this week, Jake Dobkin spotted some sweet Banksy pieces on Melrose. You can see more here on LAist.

Originally from Wooster Collective, on February 24, 2006 2:27 PM

I just established the ogle-3d tag on Flickr for people to post cool photos/pics/renders of things they have done with OGLE. Do it up!

Originally from OGLE: OpenGLExtractor by Eyebeam R&D blogs, on February 24, 2006 11:37 AM

Vyatta is a San Mateo company comprising a stealthy group of developers who have been building an open source router to challenge San Jose networking giant Cisco. This morning it has opened itself to the public. Here is a press release we got last night (downloads file). As usual, when it comes to things telecom, Om beats us to the punch, and has already offered superior analysis here in his Business 2.0 piece. No one is safe anymore, Om makes clear in his additional blog post:...

Originally posted by Matt Marshall from SiliconBeat, on February 24, 2006 11:35 AM

yatta posted a photo:

To clarify: Frumin speaks about the use of OGLE in Second Life to the Second Life Future Salon in Second Life.

Originally from eyebeam - Everyone's Tagged Photos, on February 24, 2006 9:33 AM

eyebeam posted a photo:

nyc!

Originally from eyebeam - Everyone's Tagged Photos, on February 24, 2006 9:32 AM

3D displays that hover in midair have been a staple of science fiction for decades; after all, who can forget the hologram of Princess Leia in the first Star Wars? Now, Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST) has developed a method of projecting three-dimensional images in the air.

The system reflects laser light off of mirrors, and focuses that light into a point in the air using a plasma emission phenomenon.

The technology remains experimental, so there is no estimate of when it might appear in the marketplace.

Source: Minding the Planet

Originally from FutureWire - futurism and emerging technology, on February 24, 2006 9:32 AM

We don't have TV here in the hiphopmusic hobbit hole, but sources tell me there's a commercial running now that uses Public Enemy's "By the Time I Get to Arizona" to promote the PGA Tour. Can anyone help eradicate what remains of my sanity by confirming this? I never thought anything would top the "Revolution Will not be Televised" Nike...

Originally posted by jsmooth995 from hiphopmusic.com, on February 24, 2006 9:31 AM

Frumin speaks about the use of OGLE in Second Life to the Second Life Future Salon in Second Life.

Originally posted by Michal Migurski from tecznotes links, on February 24, 2006 9:31 AM

Another sweet use of OGLE, posted semi-anonymously to the forums. Someone named Karl out there has used it to capture a molecular model that they made using the open-source molecular modelling tool PyMol, and then texture, light, and re-render using Lightwave. Looks great if you ask me:

Originally from OGLE: OpenGLExtractor by Eyebeam R&D blogs, on February 24, 2006 9:31 AM

Linklogged, but worth mentioning repeating verbatim in the main blog since it's damn cool. We're having a SXSW party! We booked I Love You But I've Chosen Darkness! Kick! Ass!

That is all, continue on.

Originally from random($foo), on February 24, 2006 9:31 AM

Last month, seventy-three year old video art pioneer Nam June Paik passed away, leaving behind a large body of influential, risk-taking work. This Saturday, New York's Electronic Arts Intermix will present a 12-hour screening of the legend's videotapes, dating from 1965-2000. The program will include better-known pieces like Paik's early 'Electronic Fables' and his more recent 'Analogue Assemblage,' but will also include rarities like his TV collages made in collaboration with major figures such as Joseph Beuys and John Cage and the 80-minute '9/23/69: Experiment with David Atwood.' Paik was among the very first to experiment with video as an art form, in an era when 'media' was redefined to mean both 'the media' and artistic 'medium' in the same instance. His Fluxus-based performances, installations, and recordings often contained humorous pop elements, while remaining very politically savvy. At their core, Paik's works were always radically experimental, with the forward-thinking artist who anticipated the modern internet in coining the term 'electronic superhighway,' constantly pushing boundaries of form in ways that inspired generations of electronic artists. The EAI video retrospective is organized to begin with Paik's more recent work and roll backwords to his earliest projects. Taking this trip back in time will no doubt present glimpses into the future of future of media art. - Marisa Olson

http://www.eai.org/eai/02_06_paik_pr.html

Originally from Rhizome.org Net Art News, on February 24, 2006 9:31 AM

Wayfinder GPS software works on the N70 and now there's CoPilot Live available according to MobileBurn.

Originally from Nokia N70 Blog, on February 24, 2006 9:30 AM

The Implicit Association Test [1] is a sorting task which reveals something about our automatic, non-deliberate, associations [2].

The part of the test which betrays our automtic associations is a combination of two simpler sorting tasks. Both simple tasks involve sorting words and pictures into categories which are assigned to the left and right (by pressing the E and I keys, which are on the left and right of your keyboard). One task is to sort words (like 'love', or 'failure') into the categories 'good' and 'bad'. The other task varies depending on what you want to detect automatic associations about. In the 'race IAT' the task is to sort pictures of the faces of white americans and the faces of black americans. The race IAT isn't the only version, but it is the most (in)famous (you can also do the IAT on fat vs thin, arab-muslim vs non-arab-muslims, for different US presidents and in many other variations). The compound task involves sorting both words and pictures to the left and right where each side has two categories assigned to it - so 'good' and 'black american' on the left, and 'bad' and 'white american' on the right, for example.

What the IAT test does is compare your times for sorting good words when the 'good' side is also the 'white' side to when the 'good' side is also the 'black' side (and vice versa for sorting bad words, and for sorting white and black faces to the good and bad sides). By doing these comparisons the test can detect any evaluation of 'white' or 'black' as positive or negative that is affecting your time to classify the words or faces to the correct side. So, for example, if you take significantly longer to sort good words to the 'black' side than you do to the 'white' side then the result is an automatic preference for 'white americans' over 'black americans' [3]

What the Racial IAT indicates is that most Americans have an automatic preference for whites over blacks. Two things are important about this. First it isn't really clear what mechanisms lie behind the effects found in the test ('Voodoo' is one suggestion!), nor is it clear what they mean [4]. Second, the automatic preference shows up for most people, even in those who consciously express no race preferences and even in many black americans.

Now where did this automatic preference come from? It certainly can't be deliberate attitudes, since the bias shows up in people (including many black americans) who have explicitly anti-racist attitudes. Some suggestions have been made, like they are the residual of previously held explicit attitudes, or the result of a 'cultural bias' (whatever that means) [5], but I think a strong, and more likely causal [6], possibility is that that these preferences are the result of systematic exposure to particular associations (i.e that white = good and black = bad). Associations can become established in memory merely by the repeated co-presentation of two things (conditioning), there doesn't need to be any logical connection between the two. So if on television the adverts for flash cars and happy domestic scenes always feature white folks and the the crime shows more often have black folks as the bad guys you're going to absorb those associations.

The researchers running the project imply as much in an answer in their FAQ

...it is very possible to possess an automatic preference that you would rather not have (and the researchers who developed this test are convinced that they, too, fall into this category). One solution is to seek experiences that could undo or reverse the patterns of experience that could have created the unwanted preference. But this is not always easy to do. A more practical alternative may be to remain alert to the existence of the undesired preference, recognizing that it may intrude in unwanted fashion into your judgments and actions. Additionally, you may decide to embark on consciously planned actions that can compensate for known unconscious preferences and beliefs."
(My emphasis).

The interesting thing for me about the hypothesis that these automatic preferences develope from repeated exposure to particular associations is that you do not need to believe the associations on any deliberate level, nor do you need particularly to pay attention to them, all you need to do is to have them as part of your environment. In that way our Implicit Associations reflect a part of our minds which belongs as much to the environment of our experience as to ourselves - and, additionally, is as much common to everyone who has shared our environment as it is unique to our individual minds.

And this relates to advertising. Adverts are ubiquitious. Advertising shapes the statistical content of the stimuli we are exposed too, however much we decide to give ourselves certain experiences. Does the IAT give us a glimpse of the consequences we reap from an unclean mental environment? [7]

References below the fold

[1] You can get all the research papers here. How wonderful

[2] I nearly used the word 'unconscious' here but couldn't quite bring myself to. I'm afraid that if i say it three times the ghost of Freud will appear!

[3] e.g. here or here

[4] Here's one example of an intepretation

[5] The residual of childhood preferences? discussion at cognitive daily. Review Article Sources of Implicit Attitudes (2004)

[6] That's the problem with much psychology research. You can find factors associated with some phenomenon, but it's far hard to find what is truly causing it

[7] Guardian article about the clean mental environment movement

Originally from Mind Hacks, on February 24, 2006 9:30 AM

GQ is about to push its men's magazine franchise into the quickly growing world of wireless media, according to Business Week. "On Feb. 27, the Condé Nast title will announce the launch of a new service called GQ Mobile, providing text messages to readers via their cell phones. Starting in the March issue, GQ readers will be invited to sign up by using their cell phones to send a text message with "GQ" to GQMAG (or 47624) Once enrolled, GQ Mobile users will start to receive original content developed for the digital mobile service. It may include information about events, private sales, shopping nights, and giveaways. ... GQ sees new ways to market to its audience -- and reap additional advertising revenue in the process. Privately held Condé Nast says GQ has 854,000 subscribers and 4 million readers. Nearly all of them have cell phones, and 89% of those use text messages.

Originally posted by emily from textually.org, on February 24, 2006 9:30 AM

Originally marketed to repair old tennis shoes (which it does very well), this industrial strength rubber cement has many, many purposes.

I had a problem with the trim falling off of my second Mazda Rx-7, so I went around the car and pulled off all the trim and re-glued it with Shoe Goo. I never had the problem again. Through all kinds of weather and at very irresponsible speeds, the trim was still on the car after the vehicle was used up, wrung out, stripped of parts for my third Rx-7 and sold to a salvage yard for scrap metal.

Goop makes several other varieties that are supposedly specialized for different applications, but after trying them I keep going back to the original.

-- Justin Belshe

[Note: Apparently "Shoe Goo" is not a trademark. Several products from differing manufacturers use the same name, in very similar packaging. The link below is to the source which Justin Belshe used. Beware of imitations!]

Shoe Goo
$7
George's Shoes

Originally from Cool Tools, on February 24, 2006 9:28 AM

When Erika Thereian changed to a black-skinned avatar in the online game Second Life, she found that some of her friends no longer sought her out, certain men assumed she was sexually promiscuous, and that some people just don't like black folks. "Well, I teleport into a region where a couple people [are] standing around. One said, 'Look at the n***** b****.' Another said 'Great, they are gonna invade SL now.'" (both via rw)

Originally from Rebecca's Pocket, on February 24, 2006 9:28 AM

Cameron Sinclair is an architect whose unorthodox organization, Architecture for Humanity, shuns television coverage, refuses to put AFH or donor names on the buildings he builds, and makes his building designs available to anyone who asks, for free. "People don't realize that the largest humanitarian group in the world is the US military. They do more help around the world than most people realize. Where's the PR for that?" Cameron Sinclair, architect and founder of Architecture for Humanity.

This year, TED is granting him $100,000 and the chance to present one wish to conference attendees: To build community that actively embraces open source design to create innovative and sustainable design to improve living standards for all.

Originally from Rebecca's Pocket, on February 24, 2006 9:28 AM

Inspired by Kottke's retirement from professional bloggerdom, here are some quick back of the envelope calculations on what it would take to earn Kottke-style scratch as an ad-supported blogger (instead of one supported by 1,450 micropatrons).  You can use this as your guide to whether you should quit your job and join the New York Magazine aspirational set.

• Jason pulled in $39,900 from his campaign.  Let's throw in an extra $100 for a nice decent meal out to celebrate the end of your hard-blogged year, and put up a revenue target of an even $40k. 
• You're a blogger, not a sales person.  You're not hooked in with the cool kids, so The Deck ain't for you.  Your skill set's more in line with "copying and pasting JavaScript into my sidebar," so you go AdSense all the way.
• For arguments' sake, we'll say that you're able to pull down a $1.75 effective CPM (over the course of the year you average $1.75 in revenue for every 1,000 page views).  There is absolutely no guarantee that you'd actually be able to hit that; a healthy number for  a community generated content site could be targeted at $1 (especially after Google's cut).  But for argument's sake we'll say that over time your editorial integrity drives to something just this side of an automated blogbot, and you start targeting your content at things that people actually pay good money to advertise next to.

OK, here comes the hard part.  Math!  $40,000 at $1.75 per 1,000 page views means that you'll have to do north of 22.8 million page views in the year, or 1.9 million monthly, or approximately 64,000 a day.  Think you have it in you?

It doesn't take a math genius (like me!) to know that this calculation is highly influenced by the eCPM you think you could earn; if you think I'm off, post your calculation in the comments.[1]

[1] Obvious and transparent tactic to drive additional page views.

Originally posted by sip from this is sippey.typepad.com, on February 23, 2006 11:45 PM

How to cook and eat an artichoke. Did you know that 100% of the U.S. crop is grown in California?...

Originally from A Full Belly, on February 23, 2006 11:24 PM

a visualization of tags present within an arbitrary live XML/RSS feed by showing a matrix of corresponding images taken from the Flickr image database. see also flickrfling & tagnautica.
[anoptique.com|thnkx Olivier]

Originally posted by infosthetics from information aesthetics, on February 23, 2006 11:22 PM

silly 2002 April Fool's article predicts the future  

Originally from Waxy.org Links, on February 23, 2006 11:22 PM

Adam Gopnik just emailed me to tell me that, for some strange reason, a debate that he and I did for the Washington Monthly on the Canadian health care system six years ago has now been resurrected on various blogs. I just took a look. Here's one of my favorite comments: "Very like their roles at The New Yorker, Gopnik is the voice of bourgeois sense, and Gladwell of extravagant, contrarian sensibility." (I'm not sure Adam would be as happy with that descriptor as I am). In our debate, Adam vigorously defended the Canadian system, and I attacked it. But wait! That was six years ago! I've now changed my mind. I now agree with virtually everything Adam said and disagree with virtually everything I said. In fact, I shudder when I read what I said back then.

Originally posted by malcolmgladwell from gladwell.com, on February 23, 2006 11:21 PM

Originally from Tuberaider Video, on February 23, 2006 11:21 PM

malcolm gladwell gets a blog!

Originally posted by mathowie from del.icio.us/inbox/djacobs, on February 23, 2006 11:20 PM

looks like NZB indexes and forums instead of Usenet feeds  

Originally from Waxy.org Links, on February 23, 2006 11:19 PM

"FileChucker is an AJAX-based web application that lets you accept file uploads on your own website. It's simple to install (just one file), packed with features, fully configurable, nice looking, and very handy for when you want to share files with anyone."

Originally posted by Michal Migurski from tecznotes links, on February 23, 2006 11:19 PM

This is the kind of news that precedes some very tough negotiating with someone. William McCall of the Associated Press is reporting that Paul Allen's people are saying the Blazers are in dire financial straits, "all options" (presumably selling or moving the team--or at least threatening such things) are on the table, and most chillingly, these are problems they intend to fix now:

Allen, a Microsoft co-founder, has lost more than $12 billion on various investments in the past decade, and his NBA team has been hemorrhaging money for much of that time.

f his interest in the Rose Garden Arena, the home of the Blazers, after the company that ran it, Oregon Arena Corp., declared bankruptcy.

Conn told AP that Allen has decided it is time to cut his losses with the Trail Blazers _ or find a new way to finance the team.

"No business person could justify these kinds of losses continuing," Conn said.

He said Vulcan has invested $600 million in the team and the arena since 1988 but has yet to see a profit.

Conn also said the arena lease "is recognized as one of the worst in the NBA."

In a comparison with the Key Arena lease for the Seattle SuperSonics, Conn said the Trail Blazers receive no revenue for suites, clubs, courtside seats, game concessions or parking.

The Sonics, by comparison, receive 40 percent of the revenue for suites, 60 percent for clubs, and 100 percent for courtside seats, game concessions and parking.

NBA Commissioner David Stern recently told AP that he considered the Seattle lease "the least competitive lease in the league, which is a decided economic disadvantage."

But Conn said the Blazers' lease is "far worse" than the Sonics' lease. I can't believe the billionaire geniuses who have made all the decisions for this team most of my adult life are now going to play the victim card of all things.

If not the owner, then who is responsible for all this?

And, are you telling me that you have less faith in the future of this team than I do?

Paul Allen seems like a smart guy, and an interesting guy, but clearly he's not someone who knows how to run a successful businnes, despite starting with the advantage of billions upon billions. Most of his businesses are full-time dreams (and it's not like I'm stodgy; this is coming from a guy who founded and runs a blog agency, for crying out loud).

But, I mean, one of his other big businesses is space tourism.

He's like an NBA player who negotiates a massive long-term contract, and then gets bitter as hell in its final years because it seems like they could have done better. Should have thought of that when you signed in the first place! The Rose Garden contract sucks? Who created it? The fans don't love the team? They loved it before you came along.

My feelings about Allen are complex. I have loved having a hobbyist owner lavish excessive millions upon the team, the great sugardaddy spoiling us all rotten with lottery picks all those years. But his part-time passion, his being based in another city (or on a yacht), his billionaire's recluse, his weird fraternizing with the likes of Geena Davis, and his non-take-charge attitude that allowed all sorts of shoddiness--those are enough straws on this camel's back that I just simply won't tolerate any whining from this guy.

Paul Allen, you don't like owning the team? Sell it. You like owning the team? Then stop whining, roll up your sleeves, and fix it.

UPDATE: The Oregonian has more: seems like this is all about getting tax dollars.

the team is approaching state and local government at a time when purse strings are tight and fan support for the struggling team is low. The team also faces a potential public relations challenge in persuading government officials to consider giving any financial assistance to Allen, the seventh richest man in the world.

ing to be a question in the public's mind," said Dennis Howard, a professor with University of Oregon's Warsaw Sports Marketing Center. But "there's a lot of other wealthy owners out there for whom the community has been very generous with public support."

A team spokesman declined to comment Thursday on whether Allen might move the Blazers from Portland if he doesn't receive the help he is requesting.

So far, the team has remained tight-lipped about potential partnership scenarios. In meetings with Kulongoski, Multnomah County Board of Commissioners chairwoman Diane Linn and Metro president David Bragdon, the team has offered updates of its financial situation. They also discussed the economic benefits the Trail Blazers and Allen's now-defunct Oregon Arena Corp. which previously owned the Rose Garden - have provided to the community, Blazers and government spokespeople said.

The team also broached the topic of working together in a public-private alliance, although no specifics were discussed, said Trail Blazers spokesman Art Sasse. This is modern model of sports financing laid bare: billionaires asking for handouts. It's unfair to single out Paul Allen in this--it happens in practically every city, and it's lousy. If only voters across the country could all agree not to pay, then every city could still have teams--just with lower expenses. Instead, there's always another city (Oklahoma, step right this way!) ready to step in with the cash.

By the way, if Paul Allen really wanted to work the "woe is me" PR strategy, he'd be better off not threatening to move the team (which implies value), but to shut it down entirely and declare bankruptcy. If that were on the table, he'd be making headlines, and people would really believe he was serious about the money troubles. But since it isn't on the table, I think it's safe to assume that we're all just going to twiddle our thumbs until he curls up on the yacht and start writing checks again.

One last point: I find it amusing that his spokesman said no business person would put up with the kind of losses he has sustained. Wait, it's a business now? When did that start? Because he has been running the Blazers like his shiny new toy--one indulgence after another for most of his time as an owner. He only even made budget a concern at all in the last few years, after he had already signed the papers to doom the team's future income by signing away all the stadium-based revenue streams. That was bad business that is not the fault of taxpayers.

Originally from True Hoop, on February 23, 2006 11:19 PM

Originally from Tuberaider Video, on February 23, 2006 10:59 PM

The kottke.org that could have been

Originally posted by mathowie from del.icio.us/inbox/djacobs, on February 23, 2006 1:40 PM

Originally from Google Blog Search: ted2006, on February 23, 2006 1:40 PM

By Jason Quick The Oregonian Ruben Patterson on Thursday said he has been traded by the Trail Blazers to the...

Originally from Behind the Blazers Beat, on February 23, 2006 1:39 PM

Originally posted by inkdroid from del.icio.us/inbox/djacobs, on February 23, 2006 1:39 PM

New tests reveal that a death mask found in a ragpicker's shop in 1842 may — or may not — be a likeness of Shakespeare. (The article features a picture of the mask.)

Originally from Rebecca's Pocket, on February 23, 2006 1:39 PM

The competition to find an illustrator for Yann Martel’s Life of Pi has narrowed down the entries to a shortlist of 15 candidates. Each artist will submit 3 more images before a final winner is chosen in April. Shown here is the previously-blogged Tomer Hanuka.

Originally posted by Johnny from Drawn! The Illustration Blog, on February 23, 2006 1:38 PM

Download Fritz Lang's 1927 classic Metropolis , I have the restored version on DVD and it really does deserve it's status as an all time classic.
via Bibi

Posted to Art

Originally from Stunned, on February 23, 2006 1:38 PM