TED Talk - Parag Khanna maps the future of countries

Wow really interesting video;

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/parag_khanna_maps_the_future_of_countries.html
Many people think the lines on the map no longer matter, but Parag Khanna says they do. Using maps of the past and present, he explains the root causes of border conflicts worldwide and proposes simple yet cunning solutions for each.

Thanks Janera


Cheers,
Dean

Global Debt Comparison

Interesting website; http://buttonwood.economist.com/content/gdc

The per capita (USA $22,067.80 and Australia $6,944.05) always seems the most 'personal factor to me. Eg compare it with your personal credit card debt you might be carrying.

Though at the end of the day is the percentage against GDP that is the 'most important' (USA
48.3% Australia 17.3%). This is the percentage of what you 'owe' versus the amount you 'earn' each year.

Though like all things 'national' the ability to pay things off is determine by the value of your currency. The main issue for the USA is what their dollar is worth - luckily for the USA unlike Australia most of the rest of the world doesn't want the US dollar to sneeze otherwise they (China) would catch a cold.


Cheers,
Dean

P.S. if you want to get really tricky check out the 'year' slider. For example in 2000 Australia owed $95b BUT it was 25% of gdp compared to 17% now for almost 50% more in dollar value. Could have been currency based but i think it's probably productivity based.

Der Baader Meinhof Komplex

I went to see Der Baader Meinhof Komplex movie tonight
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0765432/

Fantastic movie. I dont know why more people haven't been talking about this.

Never in a movie have i flipped from supporting one side to the other (lol at times i felt like a far right republican to a leftist radical supporter).

There were people you could see on both sides who were passionate and intelligent . By the end you just feel a desire for something/anything to change the eventual outcome - it's like watching a train wreck in slow motion and no one around you seems to be doing anything about it but at the same time you also dont have any solutions of your own.

I'm surprised people aren't drawing parallels about what is happening in the world today.

Great movie that will have you talking and thinking for days.


Cheers,
Dean
BTW Johanna Wokalek http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0937557/ sensational actress. Not sure about her range but in this roll as a motivator you can see why the 2nd and 3rd generation followed. Hopefully she'll be able to cross over into english films and get more exposure.

The Art of the Long View - Peter Chernin and Gordon Crawford

hmmm cable tv was invented in Pennsylvania, in 1948 !!! wow i had no idea.

Check out the history of how we got to here from around 4 minutes to 7 minutes in this video



Some other comments on the video topics;

Laughing at the comment around the 12 minute mark about "who bought cd's recently" - i only buy cd's BECAUSE i prefer not to be 'controlled' by someone elses DRM that may disappear in the future. Sorry i'll pay the $15 once and own for good even though i rip all my music content as 192bitrate mp3's to store electronically on my own servers.


al la carte cable programming at about 22 minutes - yes but if no one is watching the 250 channels then don't they deserve to go away....?


29 mins - I love the comment about 'value' hasn't gone away it's just shifted to other people. I totally think technology is just shifting 'leaders', it's only the losers (NYT eg mentioned at 30 mins that are complaining).



lol - boiling trees tossing onto people driveways comment at 34 mins. I've never heard it put that way about "Yesterdays news - is the practise that we are trying to defend"

55mins - smart guy, better to cannibalise yourself rather than have someone else cannibalise you. never a smarter sentence been said about being revolutionary and surfing the 'leading edge wave'


Cheers,
Dean

lol yeh right

Dont you love spamming companies who market you something like "Learn how to build on demand apps" but cant event manage a mailinglist properly.

Dear Salesforce, Force.com, Ciol.com, CyberMedia India Online Ltd - You #FAIL

Time Warner residential ISP in NYC - 50/5 wideband :)

Drats, brooklyn heights missed out but cant be far away.

Time Warner Cable has joined the ranks of cable operators who have deployed DOCSIS 3.0-enabled data services with the launch today of a business and residential service in New York City.
Residential subscribers can sink their teeth into a 50 Mbps downstream and 5 Mbps upstream wideband service, which is called Time Warner Cable Wideband Internet, for $99.95 per month.
http://www.cedmagazine.com/News-TWC-DOCSIS-bandwagon-092409.aspx


currently i have 20mb down/2mb up for around $50 a month so I'm a definate candidate for the upgrade as soon as it's available here :)

I only wish i could justify fixed ip addresses.


Cheers,
Dean

How much do Mexicans spend annually on trips into the U.S.?

How much do Mexicans spend annually on trips into the U.S.?

Forty billion dollars annually.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=113819&lfe=1


Wow really? I had no idea it would be that much.


Toni Banuelos, Hispanic marketing manager for Ikea, says, "The Tijuana consumer is important to our San Diego store, and having the opportunity to influence their purchasing decision as they sit idle at the border is a key factor to driving our business from Tijuana." Toni says that Ikea asks consumers at point-of-sale for their zip codes. For foreign consumers, it enters a special code for non-U.S. residents. "We know from that data that 7% of our consumers in our San Diego store come from Mexico although we conservatively account for an extra 3% because of additional sales at the self-serve kiosks plus some Mexicans use a U.S. post office box or a zip code from their American relatives."

Australia needs a 20x population explosion

An article in The Australian newspaper today
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,,26116017-5013479,00.html

Caused my friend to write this comment - my reply is below.



Hey Max, hate to say this but you are wrong.

What he is saying is that population increase for Australia is a good thing. I totally agree.

We desperately need a 20x increase in the number of Australian residents.

Until we do Australia will always be a 2 city country.

No one wants to live in Wangaratta.....because no one lives in Wangaratta (ask me why wangaratta in another medium....too long a story for Facebook but has to do with copper mesh floors).

The best thing Australia could do is implement a 5 year 'rural only visa') that opened the floodgates to anyone willing to move to Australia BUT live in the country/rural areas for the first 5 years.

Employment and manafacturing for this new influx would then spring up in places like..... Wangaratta :)


Cheers,
Dean

upfront vesus monthly

Reading the article about espn apple app - http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/34452/ESPN-Radio-app-goes-live-for-iPhone


Makes me wonder is getting $2.10 upfront ($3 - 30% for apple) is better than getting someone to sign up for a subscription at $1 a month?

I mean apart from the 10% compound interest per month for the upfront - the attrition rate from $1 per month subscription fees, you would probably also find that the decision making process for a $1 subscription is "longer and more tortured" than a one off $3 purchase.

If you have purchased a low value application - what do you think?
If you sell a low value application - what do you think?


Cheers,
Dean

net neutrality speech by fcc

http://openinternet.gov/read-speech.html

I see the 'desire' but I'm waiting to hear exactly how they will create the 'stick'.
What if the ISP's just say no?


Cheers,Dean

42nd street subway

LOL - yep and i live in NY why exactly?

Cheers,
Dean

www.MyPostButler.com

I'm back baby, bigger and badder than before - www.MyTwitterButler.com is now www.MyPostButler.com

Lawyers cant hurt me baby, only makes me more determined, been working on a kick butt new feature "Bulk Unfollow Users".

Feel free to tweet it on.


Cheers,
Dean

The Angels

There is something very cathartic about listening to The Angels at 4am in the morning to help blow out the cobwebs from your headphones.

I've uploaded some tracks to the music box (down on the bottom right) in case you are of a certain age and a certain nationality and care to partake :P


Cheers,
Dean

Ballsy move by Australian government

Ballsy move by Australian government, i've got to say i'm actually impressed


Yesterday evening the Australian government announced major telecoms reforms. The dominant operator Telstra will structurally separate under its own steam, or the government will step in and do it anyway. Simon Kearney and Guy Daniels report.

Political double-speak was at fever pitch this week as the Australian Government proposed a “voluntary” break-up of incumbent Telstra, backed by laws that will lock the US$37billion giant out of wireless spectrum sales if it does not comply.Australia’s Communications Minister Stephen Conroy is well-versed in his political party’s tradition of doing the deal first and having the debate later – and this is clearly how he intends to deal withTelstra. Announcing new legislation the Labor Party Senator said: “It is the government’s clear desire for Telstra to structurally separate, on a voluntary and cooperative basis.”And then came the sting, in the background paper: “Telstra will be prevented from acquiring additional spectrum for advanced wireless broadband while it: remains vertically integrated; and owns a hybrid fibre coaxial cable network; and maintains its interest inFoxtel.” The deal was done.

Telstra can sign an enforceable agreement with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commissioner by the end of the year to break itself up or face so-called “functional” separation under legislation that would force its network and wholesale operations to work at arms length from the rest of the company.

Telstra’s new CEO David Thodey expressed “disappointment” and a willingness to discuss “options around separation”. But it seemed Telstra was caught like a rabbit in the headlights. Colourful former CEO Sol Trujillo might have come out swinging but he is long gone.

(more http://www.telecomtv.com/comspace_newsDetail.aspx?n=45487&id=e9381817-0593-417a-8639-c4c53e2a2a10)


Like i said - pretty gutsy move.

Cheers,
Dean

microcell fail

Microcell Fail -

http://www.engadget.com/2009/09/20/atandts-3g-microcell-does-unlimited-calling-but-it-aint-cheap/#comments

I was thinking about changing from AT&T to Tmobile because of the crappy coverage in my apartment.

Now i'm definitely thinking about it and will start checking out plans this week for the new Touch Pro 2.

What are these guys thinking, my power, my internet connection fixing your crappy network and you want to charge me $480 over 2 years for an AT&T Microcell...... yeh right.


Cheers,
Dean

William Shatner reads Sarah Palin Twitter poetry

Lol crackup.

Cheers,
Dean

Money makes the world go round

My sister, got to love her, she is all class :)

Cheers,
Dean

Kudous linking - what do you think?

Just sent this to the Yelp Facebook development team ....... am i wrong?


hi, i just started using Yelp a few weeks ago, and overall it's pretty good with very few minor flaws (search is average).
But i just recently used the facebook integration for the first time and you have a major UI issue.
When i post a review within facebook it links to the main page of the restaurant and NOT the specific review.
This is a major no no.
If you have users generate content and provide integration into their social networks you need to 'put them front and center' not the rest of your site. Dont worry people will scroll up for the main restaurant information after they read the review.
Cheers,
Dean

BTW here was the review 'Public' - Sunday Supper Menu


Cheers,
Dean

Apple App Store - SDK access only 2 years old

Wow i didn't realise until reading this article it's only been 2 years since the app store/sdk was made available to developers.

http://www.applelunch.com/2009/09/20/%E2%80%9Chey-let%E2%80%99s-get-an-app-store%E2%80%9D/

- the converse of this is that the iPhone app store has only been around for 2 years, who knows where we will be in 2 years from now (lol people who act like the iStore is the be all and end all have very short term views....Android anyone?)

btw i wont be going as i already sold the www.MobileAppstore.com domain but came across this conference coming up shortly that looks interesting.
http://www.chetansharma.com/blog/2009/09/20/mobile-application-store-event-at-ctia/
http://www.mobileappevent.com/


Cheers,
Dean

Tweepml

hmmm interesting use of twitter - shared industry follow list autofollow tools

http://tweepml.org/Analysts-on-Twitter-List1

Penn Station

Since when did the 34th st/Penn station area become such a wasteland?

The amount of junkies hanging out there this afternoon with shopping carts etc was really surprising.

Adobe buying Omniture

http://seekingalpha.com/article/161750-adobe-s-acquisition-of-omniture-could-help-define-monetization-analytics

Yes this acquisition makes sense.

Imagine having to 'only' use an adobe tool in order to get 'omniture analytics' about a flash banner ad.

or better still imagine getting built into pdf's analytics about usage/opening-closing times/real time access to ip address forwarding etc.

This is a long term deal which is why the street is against it but it is a game changer.

Watch out for MS buying something to compete along similar lines.


cheers,
Dean

Australian NBN Co

It’s still a long way out and a lot can go wrong between here and there, but I thought this might interest a few of you.


NBN Co intends to build a GPON (gigabit passive optical network), providing Layer 1 and Layer 2 of the network, leaving layers 3 and above to service providers. In other words, NBN Co wants to offer very little more than the most basic physical layer - enabling service providers access in such a way that it almost feels like they are using their own network.

Quigley said he would expect the NBN Co's domain to "end at an Optical Network Terminal (ONT)... on the side of the house."

http://www.crn.com.au/News/155871,quigley-offers-isps-a-rough-sketch-of-nbn-architecture.aspx



Kind of curious why they think the ONT will need a POTS connection, surely anyone offering POTS can just provide an ethernet enabled ATA as a separate box?

Cheers,
Dean

Ah to be young

Ah to be young....... (look at the text on the led sign above the 80).

I miss my bike.

Was really surprised how many people were riding motorbikes in Sydney but cant blame them, weather is almost perfect year round so why wouldn't you.

I was at a breakfast one morning for geek startups and counted at least 5 people who left the event with helmets etc.

Unfortunately in NY it's either too hot/too cold or just a PITA to get curbside parking for bikes. Something to look forward to when i go home then.


Cheers,
Dean

Amoeba with attitude

A friend of mine wrote this on his facebook page



- i thought my responce was worth posting here.


Sorry Brian, not everyone agrees with you. I think what Cass Sunstein is saying is true and accurate.

I don’t know why people get all worked up over 'life'. It is what it is, no big deal.

Saying cloning is bad because it recreates a life is BS. That would be like saying growing cows for food is bad because they are a life also (last time i checked you liked cows with your burgers).

My point being is what makes humans so special...?

Because they are top of the food chain? big deal once dinosaurs were the top of the food chain, should the be revered.

I've had this saying for a long time "Humans are just amoeba with attitude".

I think the sooner people start human cloning (and I don’t mean research, i mean full body birth cloning) it will change how human beings think about themselves and life for the better.

Basically they will realize they aren't so freaking special.

Cheers,
Dean

Update for MyPostButler

As discussed elsewhere i originally wrote the MyTwitterButler application to find people twittering about baseball games for my www.LiveBaseballChat.com application.

Basically i automated what i was doing manually on the twitter search website.

So i guess what Twitters lawyers are saying is if i manually log into twitter and click to follow each of the people who just wrote about my application “thats ok”

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=mytwitterbutler

BUT if i use a little .Net application to do it “Then I’m breaking the ‘Law’ and must – Cease and Desist”

My application doesnt ‘cheat or get around’ the twitter API limits eg i cant follow more people in a day or there is no way to cheat and direct message more people than Twitter already allow you to do.

So basically i’m confused – what exactly am i doing via the API that i cant already do via the website?

Yes the application can be used for 'spammy purposes' but so can most cars be used to break the speed limit. fine the driver NOT ford the motor car company.

Most of the people who have purchased my application are corporations who are using it to find people who tweet about their company online. Basically this enables them to rectify customer issues etc identify areas they can improve their products etc.

Someone else who purchase the application ran a cancer prostate support group.

I'm sure there are some users who aren't using it for 'noble' pursuits BUT while twitter allows us to autofollow via the API then i'm going to continue to sell the software.

I've decided to change the name to www.MyPostButler.com BUT NOT give up the original www.MyTwitterButler.com domain name. If they want that they WILL have to sue me.

(btw also spent the past 2 weeks adding a new Twitter Bulk Unfollow function, lol so i'm sure they really hate me now.


Cheers,
Dean Collins
www.MyPostButler.com

America has the health care system it deserves

This finally proves Americans are insane.

My thoughts after watching this video is "America has the failing health care system it deserves", if you guys are this opposed to changing the current system then you deserved to get raped by your health insurance companies because they have no competition and lets face it ....what are you going to do as an alternative go with nothing?

People in Australia looked at me weird when i was trying to explain to them last month that we pay $752 per month for health insurance (or an amount equal to 1/3rd of our mortgage).

This video is crazy. The man needs a police escort for supporting the idea that people should be provided health care when they are sick.

I thought America was the land of competition..... what are you guys so scared about from a public option providing competition to the failing private solution being offered now.

If private is so much better then no one will join the public option so you can stop your protesting.

I think 90% of this crowd are pissed off republicans that are using this as an option to protest against Obama. Sore losers, what did you expect would happen 8 years ago when you voted George Bush to lead the republican party - there had to be a back swing coming.


Cheers,
Dean

Live Mesh media player

Want a ghetto way to listen to your audio tracks remotely from your 'home pc' using any browser that you happen to be sitting in front of?

Check out Windows Live Mesh then.

Generally i just use Live Mesh to automatically sync via AT&T any photos i take with my mobile phone to my PC as well as upload ebooks etc.

But i noticed that Live mesh also has a browser file viewer option, basically you can look at all of your files 'in the Live Mesh cloud' from any browser.

In addition there is a MP3 media player, so if you have some mp3's store in your Live Mesh folders these are also available to play using your browser.

I'm not sure what the upper limits of Live Mesh are or how it would handle the 142gb of MP3's i have but you 'could' do it if you wanted to.


Cheers,
Dean
(PS Yes i know there are other better apps to do this eg run stream cast or some other app on your home pc to make mp3's available via the web - was just an example).

CableLabs have opened up their licensing for cablecard interfaces recently and all heaps of innovation are occuring including a 6 tuner cablecard device from Ceton.

Wondering if i should dust off the business plans for CableCard3 (n. Cablecard Cubed)...... nah probably still too early but if i win MegaMillions tomorrow I'd certainly through a few million towards the concept though.


Cheers,
Dean

Hmmm my @LiveNFLchat twitter account just got suspended

It's probably an automatic suspension because the twittersphere went crazy today talking about the Titans V's Steelers game tonight but my @LiveNFLchat twitter account has been suspended this afternoon even though I followed all of the Twitter API rules for 24 hour follow limits.


Like I said it’s probably an automated suspension but it’s hard not to feel that someone singled this account out because of my use of MyTwitterButler for the first time in 2 weeks.

I’m holding off raising hell for 24 hours and hopefully someone at twitter re-activates the account but this yet another example of why twitter needs to get serious about third party involvement now - either you want us adding value or you dont.

Cheers,
Dean

Followup: Well it appears that this was just random that my account got suspended and nothing to do with MyTwitterButler - however yet again a twitter employee is saying that you shouldn't be using the API to follow or unfollow users (see highlighted section below) LOL he even said we shouldn't be using third party apps to Tweet, though i'm sure that was just a typo...... can you imagine what would happen if twitter banned all third party apps from posting messages.

As I've said many times before if you dont want people to do this function via your api then remove this functionality from the api - until then i'm just playing by the rules that you've set.

Well like i said turns out it was just a 'random' speeding ticket and had nothing to do with MyTwitterButler. The account has been re-instated.

Newspaper micropayments to save the day?

Shelly Palmer tipped me off to this article in the NY Times about potential micropayment platforms for newspapers.

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/09/google-plans-tools-to-help-news-media-charge-for-content/

There WAS a link in the article to the 10 RFP responses ...... and now they are not available..... (it's since been put behind a username/password wall
http://www.naa.org/resources/articles/paid-content-platforms/paid-content-platforms.aspx)

I guess the NAA has a lot to learn about securing restricted content and someone screwed up and tried to fix it...... however you can still access the pdf’s directly if you know the url
eg http://www.naa.org/docs/Requests-For-Information/CircLabs.pdf


It's disappointing that none of the responses were from micropayment specialists/startups, but what do you expect it appears the NAA only went to the majors

eg the MS response was a joke though, so either they feel it's not necessary to share their real plans in this public forum - or they think the NAA proposal is a joke and will never get off the ground http://www.naa.org/docs/Requests-For-Information/microsoft.pdf

Google at least seemed to put some thought into it http://www.naa.org/docs/Requests-For-Information/Google.pdf


So what are the hot micropayment startup companies that are out there?

Are you ready to pay for content?

Would you be willing to 'trade' personal information for content in lieu of payment like the http://www.naa.org/docs/Requests-For-Information/CircLabs.pdf browser bar looks to propose (hmm would you trade personal information to your ISP in return for cheaper broadband as was proposed with PHORM)

Will anything save the day for newspapers?


Cheers,
Dean

BTW - Check out slide 8 from the ibm proposal http://www.naa.org/docs/Requests-For-Information/IBM.pdf sounds familiar to what i posted about 45c ad free tv for 1 hour here http://deancollinsblog.blogspot.com/2007/11/advertisement-free-tv-well-whats-it.html

Telstra closes down its social media channel

Telstra closes down it's social media channel,
http://mumbrella.com.au/telstra-closes-nowwearetalking-com-au-9274

I guess you either get social media or you dont, wanting to 'control the message' will never work.

I dont get why management think they need to 'control customers', utilised right social networking tools can turn customers into fans and advocates.

Now We Are Talking should be seen as an example of everything done wrong.


Cheers,
Dean

Unlimited cell minute plans

Welcome back to the USA....... the land of the unlimited cell minute rate plans. New Yorkers talk such crap on their cell phones.

Every conversation i heard while walking along the street this morning was worthless oxygen consuming crap.

Drives me nuts considering i just spent 2 weeks telling my friends in Australia one of the reasons I loved the USA was unlimited mobile data plans.


Cheers,
Dean

Straighterline college

Read this today via slashdot http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/feature/college_for_99_a_month.php?page=1

Any thoughts?

Checked out Accounting 101 course structure, looks pretty comprehensive - well worth $99 it would take someone to get through if they spent enough time each day on the course work.


Cheers,
Dean

outlook 2007 urls stop working

Just spent 30 mins trying various alternatives to solve a problem on a relatives computer and want to bump up the 'solution' that worked.


http://www.slipstick.com/problems/link_restrict.htm#reg2

Basically outlook 2007 under Vista Ultimate wasnt allowing you to click on urls or mailto links. Lots of the various 'incorrect solutions' ask you to reset defaults and check ie7 is the default browser. This didn't solve the problem.

Even the regedit for "current_computer" didn't solve the problem. It had to be solved with the .html registry setting as per the slipstick instructions above.


BTW turns out the culprit is an incorrect removal of Chrome browser.

- 1 for microsoft that doesn't give better "reports" on what the problem is..... asking home users to contact the system administrator is hardly a solution.


Cheers,
Dean

Heading home

Looking forward to heading home to NY, this said, Sydney is absurdly picturesque at times.

Cheers,
Dean