I suck.

At least as a ‘blogger (if your definition of such requires that I post more regularly) or I just suck – more generally – as a writer.

“A writer writes every day”, right? (Do emails count?)

Whatever. I will stubbornly cling to the TWP charter. These days a random aperiodic dump must suffice.

A la carte – a la MOOT.

Another of my pet issues (IPTV) continues to evolve. As offerings like Joost blossom, will the Fall 2007 TV season be the harbinger we’ve been expecting? Another bill to force cable operators into offering so-called “a la carte” channels is in the works, but at this stage the more relevant issue is WHO WILL CARE? ( This issue comes up regularly. )

When I can get practically every show I ever wanted via the Interweb (either for free or a small fee), how long until I ditch those suits? (Sure, I still pay them for the broadband … which is where their future lies anyhow – take notice, Time-Warner!)

When the little missus misses an episode of Grey’s, it’s right there for free at the ABC website. Got a hankerin’ for some TVLand? Go spend an hour (or ten) at AOL’s site in2TV … there is more vintage TV there than you can shake a remote at … all available in nice “HiQ” video downloads or fast-loading streams. Nobody else has Max Headroom, m-m-m-man!

YouTube & Yahoo have the music video scene covered (it’s not like they play them on VH-1 or MTV anyway), and there’s always the iTunes store for things you can’t find for free. ($1.99 to catch the season finale of The Office? You bet!)

So … keep your eyes on the browser, and get ready to re-allocate your $50 – $100 a month. You’ll still spend it, possibly even on TV viewing … but it will all be so much more populist!

What if – “life here … began out there?”

So Slashdot was reporting on an interesting essay by SF writer Charlie Stross, about the virtual impossibility of humans ever colonizing the galaxy, or possibly even the solar system. Talk about stirring a hornet’s nest! Of course, I get the impression that Chuck is a smart enough guy to have anticipated the strong reaction.

He deftly includes some scenario-changing caveats at the opening of his piece, a few “all bets are off” developments that would change the rules. Still & all, an interesting read. (Warning: it is fairly long & detailed… especially if you spend time in his back & forth comments section.) This whole discussion also relates to the Fermi Paradox, another deep and fascinating rabbit-hole.

I wonder if Mr. Stross is familiar with the Interplanetary Superhighway, a plan which opens all sorts of interesting possibilities for saving fuel & resources using nothing more than some elegant Newtonian mechanics.

I am accursed!

Finished an interesting biz-book this week. “Made To Stick” by the Brothers Heath is all-the-rage in some circles these days, and worth picking up. Lot’s of good nuggets (or pearls, if you prefer) concerning branding and why some ideas have staying power.

Most noteworthy (on a personal level) was their inclusion of the concept of the “Curse Of Knowledge“.

Some of the concept is rooted in a 1990 PhD project by Elizabeth Newton, wherein she conducted a fairly well-known experiment generally referred to as “Tappers and Listeners”. In a nutshell, she had one group of subjects “tap out” familiar tunes (like Happy Birthday) on a table-top … no humming or melody … just “taps” … and then asked the members of the second group to guess the titles of the tunes.

What was noteworthy about the experiment was the DISCONNECT between what the tappers expected and the actual performance of the listeners. They expected the listeners would score FAR HIGHER than they did. Her conclusion was that when you are the “expert” in a situation, it is very hard to place yourself in the shoes of someone who does not know what you know … and in “Made To Stick” this concept is explored as a major barrier to effective communication.

A white paper from 2005 explored the same principle in email communication, and why so many of us expect it to be more effective (and clearer) than it ever actually is.

Woe is me! I am undone!

If ever someone was guilty-as-charged in this area, it is I.

In fact, as several have noted, this very forum is a case-in-point. Which, I suppose, is what makes it so self-indulgent. One could suggest that all ‘blogging is, to one extent or another … or all writing, for that matter? Does the artist create for himself or for others? Or can the two be separated?

Enough knowledge-cursed material for today.

I will leave you with an un-solicited pitch for the best social networking site I have found in a long while, last.fm.

I love this site!!!

First of all, it is a great resource for free Internet-radio. I love the opportunity to just type-in an artist I like (or want to learn about) and get an instant (FREE) stream of that artist and others like them. It is also a fantastic way to find new music in genres I already enjoy.

And the “scrobbling” feature which tracks everything I play in iTunes or WMP makes the whole thing so much more intelligent and less random. By the way, it also makes a great way to learn more about your friends’ taste in music and share preferences. (Example: you can go to my last.fm profile page and listen to some “custom stations” made from music that is regularly on my playlist.)

Peace, out.