louisgray.com: live

As blogs go, this one is hardly controversial. Our adulation for sports and general geekery doesn't ruffle too many feathers, and the most eyebrow-raising we'll get might be in response to a rant against our current political situations. But don't let that fool you - there are people on the Web who have found louisgray.com when looking for a lot more than the latest insight into Apple or Google or how the Oakland A's are planning their off-season.

For instance, around noon today, I was startled to find a visitor from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia had stumbled upon the site in a quest for "live sex webcam sites saudi arabia". (See here for that site visit) I don't generally associate the religiously strict country to be one that panders to live, streaming, fornication, but it appears there is a market after all.

So why louisgray.com for live sex webcam sites from Saudi Arabia? My thoughts exactly. Well, if you do a search on Alta Vista (and when was the last time anybody used that instead of Google?), louisgray.com is the 7th highest response. (See here)

It turns out that Alta Vista still relies too heavily on words in the page, rather than their logical strings. On that page, from May 2006, I managed to mention the word "sex" twice - once in a song title from iTunes, and once in a joke, the term "Saudi Arabia" once in a note on Jeb Bush, the term "Webcam" in relation to an Apple store opening where a geek proposed to his fiancee, and the words "live" and "site" appear several times.

Did the words "live sex" or "sex webcam" show up paired anywhere? No. That would have given you a better search result... and those search engines that use better rules don't inaccurately say that my site is the place to get your porn fix. In fact, searching for the same string, "live sex webcam sites saudi arabia", doesn't put louisgray.com in the top ten pages (100 results) in Google at all. There just might be something to this need for accuracy in search results.

Listening to ''Assorted Progression Volume 4'', by Nyman (Play Count: 2)

More in an irregularly occurring series...

This morning, Apple quietly upgraded their new MacBook Pro laptops, claiming the machines are up to forty percent faster than the previous version. While in previous years, the mere mention of a potential product release would have had the Macosphere abuzz, this is taken in stride. My PowerBook G4 is doing great at home, and I haven't pushed for an upgrade at the office yet...

As expected, the greater amount of buzz around Apple is instead around their digital devices. Wired has a great, in depth look at the iPod's birth and how it was initially perceived, including a first-person look at how Bill Gates took in the device the day after its debut. Forbes also chimes in on "Why Apple Won". Meanwhile, MacNN is looking forward to how the much-anticipated iPhone and iTV are going to further accelerate Mac growth.

But Apple's resurgence isn't the only concern Microsoft has to face right now. As applications become more Web browser-centric, led by Web 2.0 pioneers and Google, the Redmond monolith is losing its grip on the consumer. On Malik, contributing to Business 2.0, despite going independent, says that while you've heard this story before, it's really happening.

Speaking of online apps, the one making the most buzz this morning, is of course, Google. Google released a new custom search engine through Google Coop, where webmasters can host Google search engine code on their own sites, and drive search results internally, without buying expensive custom hosted software. We're definitely going to give it a look here and at the office, to see if it can save us a few grand a year.

Near our offices, you have a handful of available lunch spots in walking distance, and wider variety the further you drive. One of those reliable stops is Carl's Jr. Nothing fancy, but the fast food joint offers enough variety to make it interesting, and it's worth stopping ever couple weeks or so. Given that the Cal Bears football team has a "buy one, get one free" offer on every game ticket, we're finding our trips to Carl's Jr. are coming with a fair regularity - following Saturday football.

But while we have been to the restaurant a fair number of times in the five-plus years at the company, and I can recognize some of the staffers by face, there are clearly others who have made Carl's Jr. an every day experience. One gentleman, quite heavy by any standards, can be counted on to have his lunch there every single day we show up. His routine, without fail, is to get his lunch at Carl's Jr, and then retreat to a corner table with his back to the front entrance. While in previous years, he tended to bring reading material from home, he's been reading the newspaper every time I've seen him in 2006.

His being at the restaurant is as much of interest as any of the menu items. Our first glance upon entering the restaurant is over our shoulder to see if he's there, in his regular spot. Today, arriving a bit earlier than usual, we were surprised to not see him there. Instead, two men (not regulars that I know of) were eating their own meals, likely not knowing the spot "belonged" to someone else. Yet, halfway through our meal, my colleague pointed out that the regular was back, and I looked back to see him wedging behind the table - in the one directly adjacent next to his usual spot, even though there were many more convenient open tables in the restaurant. That he even had to make the adjustment over from one table to that next to it seemed to pain him, as he looked uncomfortable in his new surroundings.

While having a routine is not uncommon, we've all heard about those with Tourette's Syndrome or Asperger's Syndrome who have to have things a certain way, often to the point of exactness, before they are comfortable. As I've never sat with Carl's Jr.'s favorite patron, I've never learned what makes him the way he is. I've never seen anybody sit with him, and I've never studied what he orders, to see if he eats the same meal every day. It wouldn't surprise me if he did, even as his weight has ballooned, even in the time I've seen him.

Other than the obsession with Carl's Jr., and the preoccupation with sitting in the same seat, day after day, there's nothing overly odd about this man. His clothes are tidy, his demeanor quiet, and his hygiene is clean. As far as I know, this could be his only vice, or his only escape from whatever other pressures move him to and fro. But he certainly makes me wonder. All I know is that the next time we go back to Carl's Jr., I'm sure he'll be there, furthering the mystery.

Listening to ''Trilogy'', by ATB (Play Count: 36)

The minor to medium changes continue to take place on this blog, as I work to make it more navigable, search engine friendly, etc, or to better represent what people can find when they do drop by. Most clearly, the site now has a title identifying it as a "Silicon Valley Blog" with a focus on technology, sports and politics. Many blogs are successful through niching themselves in a segment that is underserved, while others largely cater to friends and immediate family. This one, so far, is in between. It's not heavily marketed, but people should know what they have found.

Another addition is a slogan (for now) that says to "Never Assume Rationality". It derives from a conversation I had with a coworker nearly five years ago, where the two of us were debating internal strategy and how we could pitch a concept to those at higher management levels. When I questioned how it possibly could be turned down, and wondered aloud as to one individual's reaction, I was told that my big mistake was in "assuming rationality." If I came in with the fundamental expectation that those around us were rational, I could be blindsided. Instead, the new approach was to make the case and withstand all potential objections, be they rational or not.

We don't live in a Mr. Spock world of black and white, logical or illogical. Much of what we do requires the input and/or approval of others who may have widely different viewpoints, goals or expectations, and though we may both be trying to act rationally, our own actions can seem way off the mark to others.

Additionally, on a more fun note, it's not entirely rational to devote so much energy and value to non-essential things such as sports, or technological gadgets. One's "fandom" for the Oakland A's, for Apple Computer, or for one political party over the other can sometimes border on the irrational. And here, at least, that's okay. As a blogger, I'm not a journalist. I don't need to be impartial, and I don't need to be rational. So don't assume I will be all of the time.

Listening to ''Cherry Pie'', by Underworld (Play Count: 4)

One of the most-common themes you will see in the blogging world is the story of the echo chamber, where it's believed a blogger truly has an audience of one: themselves, or that an echo chamber exists - where they continue to post despite a lack of interaction, and even where there are occasional comments, they are from a small group who keeps to themselves. As a result, the blog, like a black hole, collapses onto itself, signifying nothing.

While some would argue a blog's success should not be counted in number of page views, or visitors or comment count, those blogs considered the most successful very often have a vibrant of community of people sharing ideas, and bouncing their commentary off experts. Otherwise, you may as well just be posting your diary online for everybody to read, and quite honestly, very few people really care what you had for breakfast.

Louisgray.com was started as a natural metamorphosis from a static Web site to one updated more frequently, to share experiences, and offer a new take on news, sports and technology. It has no budget, and I have a real full-time job, so it's not as if I expected to retire on Google AdSense revenue any time soon (I haven't even looked into the possibility). But while I've continued to post, with more than 500 entries since the beginning of the year, the lack of comments at time seemed surprising. I felt the topics we were discussing were of interest and timely, and the ANtics never failed to get responses elsewhere. So why the silence here? Was it truly because this blog signifies nothing?

Turns out the answer is likely somewhere between the two. While making a follow-on comment to last night's post on how my iPod was trying to commit suicide, I noted the comment didn't immediately appear on the front page. It turns out, of all things, that every single comment that has been posted to louisgray.com since the end of March has been pending moderation, and I hadn't gone through and approved them. Oops. To make a long story short, I went into Haloscan and approved them all last night, meaning the "Comments RSS" link isn't empty, and if you had anything to share, we're finally listening.

And - one last thing... yes, I hate it when stuff like that happens. Makes me feel like a tech newbie.

More in an irregularly occurring series...

It's been an extremely busy start to the week, so I apologize for the light posting thus far. We've had a surprising confluence of events taking time away from the blog.

With that said, it's always a good idea to start with the top of the alphabet, with the A's. In the team's first playoff game against the Minnesota Twins, Frank Thomas hit two home runs and Barry Zito pitched masterfully in a 3-2 victory at the Metrodome yesterday, giving the team a 1-0 lead in the series, which continues today. The Twins were said to have needed a win in yesterday's game to win the series, and they didn't get there. Now the A's have picked up home field advantage. Of course, Athletics Nation was completely nutty for the day game, with nearly a thread an inning, and 3,000 comments. We were in meetings all morning and didn't see a single inning live, thanks to the ridiculous schedule.

Interestingly, the world of blogging has added a new wrinkle, as Zito himself has a blog he's keeping up in the post-season. After yesterday's victory, he sat down and wrote how he was feeling - both in preparation for the game, and as it progressed. Unlike many in sports, Zito has always come across as more on the analytical side, as you can see. (An Awesome Day In Minnesota)

Working down the alphabet, to Apple (and Microsoft), after the dust has settled, critics and potential customers alike are finding themselves wholly underwhelmed with Microsoft's release of Zune, their iPod-copycat music player. Wired writes that "Zune Won't Kill the IPod", while in an amusing slant, Roughly Drafted illustrates 10 reasons that Zune isn't the iPod challenger some would have you think it was. One reason? It's just not cool. I mean, brown? We don't have to work for UPS, so why would brown all of a sudden be hip? It's like HP and Dell trying to convince us beige is in this year.

I have to admit I've tried to stay above the fray and ignore much of the scandals in Washington of late. It seems if you give the GOP enough rope, they'll hang themselves, and they are well on their way. With Mark Foley's indiscretions being well-discussed, Electoral-Vote.com says that the Senate races show a near dead-heat for both parties, and a virtual tie in the House as well. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that in a jaw-dropping move, the Republican-led budget tucked away $20 million for a big celebration of our successes in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, to be held in Washington DC. Mission accomplished, anyone?

You know how it seems that regardless of the situation, or the market or the product, there is always a car analogy waiting in the wings to annoy you? Why is it that every example is expected to be made more easy to understand because you can relate it to a brand of car, how well they are kept up, or horsepower and engines? It seems like the English language ran out of nouns and adjectives to adequately describe most incidents, but we've all managed to imbibe Kelly's Blue Book and your automobile owner's manual.

Recently, I mentioned how my lack of routine maintenance on my teeth turned into a litany of dental visits, to the tune of four in four days (some kind of record, to be sure). While at the dentist, I was given the standard lectures on how to take better care of myself, and the old, reliable analogies were thrown out there. "You know, fillings/gums/etc. are like your car. If you don't rotate the tires/change the oil/etc. every few thousand miles, you will have problems."

Well, thank you very much, Dr. Einstein, D.D.S. But you don't realize who you're talking to.

Instead of a maniacal auto-obsessed gearhead who changes the oil in his driveway and can analyze every ping with a simple pop of the hood, you're talking to somebody who very recently managed not to get the oil changed in his 1998 Mercury Tracer for more than 6,700 miles, more than double what is advised. In fact, as I had the oil changed on New Year's Eve in 2005, I went a full nine months between Jiffy Lube visits, before somewhat reluctantly taking care of it yesterday.

So, when somebody says I should have the same level of "routine maintenance" for me or anything else, they're in trouble. I'm sure part of the issue resides with my ego telling me the rules don't apply.

Want me to pay that bill within 30 days? Why? Because it's convenient for you? Well, send me another notice, and I'll think about it. Want me to see the dentist every six months? Why, because some bureaucrat decided that was the new rule? Want me to update my driver's license to show where I really live instead of somewhere I used to? What's the point? Heck, even my bank checks still say I live in Belmont, and I haven't been there since 2002. What do I care - the money still comes out of the account...

So long as the lights stay on, the water keeps running, and my belongings don't get repossessed, it really doesn't bug me if you get paid within 10 days or 90 days. I have a primary care physician, but I bet you he doesn't know me, and I certainly haven't seen him this year. And if my car starts to slow down for whatever reason, I'll keep driving it until it simply stops. Then I'll get a new one. But don't tell me I should have rotated the tires and gotten the air pressure to 32 pounds per square inch. Those rules are for other people.

Listening to ''Better Off Alone'', by Alice Deejay (Play Count: 5)

More in an irregularly occurring series...

Fresh off of their division-title clinching win, the A's put up a laugher of a lineup, so that their supposedly hung-over stars can rest up for the playoffs ahead. Yet somehow, early on, they are maintaining a 3-1 lead over the same Mariners, despite the B-squad acting as fill-ins.

We're also playing the role of B-squad fill-ins at Athletics Nation, running the threads tonight. In other self-centered blogosphere news, we noted on Sactown Royalty that free agent Bonzi Wells could be days away from heading out of town. All signs are pointing to Houston, Texas as his next stop.

Another day, another Apple rumor. Or is that the denial of one? New York Times columnist David Pogue says not to expect the long-rumored iPhone any time soon. As he says, "I think cellphones are as ripe for a radical rethink as the online music store was when Apple set up iTunes. But let’s not go all wiggy every time someone passes around an iPhone rumor on the Web."

In other tech news, HP's recently-departed chairwoman Patricia Dunn is now arguing that she was unaware of the pretexting and other aggressive investigative methods used at the company to root out leaks. Given all the hubbub around the company and her role, she comes off as believable as the tobacco and oil executives. I hear Enron and Worldcom are hiring...

Meanwhile, Om Malik speculates that with Rupert Murdoch's tremendous purchase of MySpace, the next logical step is to migrate the power of the blogosphere to traditional media. As papers like the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and others are trying to find a place for themselves in a Web-connected world, he argues a shakeup is needed, and Murdoch just may be the guy to kick it off.

Listening to ''Are You Ready'', by Ferry Corsten (Play Count: 6)

More in an irregularly occurring series...

As HP's pretexting scandal continues to grow with new news every single day, the company's chairwoman, Patricia Dunn, gave her immediate resignation today, amid rumors that CEO Mark Hurd was aware of or even endorsed the aggressive policies the company engaged in to root out leakers.

Even had HP been acting within the law, you simply can't win the war of public relations when you're doing unsavory activities that target the very reporters who are there to cover you. It's a recipe for disaster. As a colleague said, they now have their "pound of flesh" in Dunn, and she may not be the last to fall. Hurd has now acknowledged he was aware of the inquiries.

Following an annual internal company meeting at Microsoft, the anonymous blogger, Mini-Microsoft, says that the software being used to power Zune is still "under construction", and that CEO Steve Ballmer stubbornly refuses to back down when the company is losing a market share battle, and will not fold. More on Mini's always-interesting blog.

Closer to home, TiVo is rumored to be working with Amazon to bring the company's Unbox service to its DVR customers. As Unbox has gotten horrible reviews since its unveiling, it's unlikely that we would be interested, but its good to see two innovative companies trying to find new ways to entertain customers by combining forces.

Discussion: (GMSV: http://blogs.siliconvalley.com/gmsv/2006/09/well_this_ought.html and MacRumors: http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=236399)

And we simply couldn't have a single day without more Apple rumors, right?

AppleInsider says that the company is timing their entry into the cell phone market, rather than forcing their hand. Meanwhile, the New York Times' David Pogue turns back the clock a decade to "When Apple Hit Bottom".

Listening to ''Dance 4 Life (12" Mix)'', by TiÎsto feat. Maxi Jazz (Play Count: 4)

Often, while in the car to and from work, or when driving home from A's games or Cal football, we have our radio dialed in to local sports talk stations, hoping to gain some insight on the just-concluded game, or hear how other fans are speculating the team will do in the next contest. Yet, annoyingly, it seems that very few of them understand how to act on the air once they get there. Quite invariably, the vast majority of callers, seemingly almost all men, would rather appear "cool" than get the point, preferring to make small talk with the hosts, who themselves sound quite fatigued by the practice.

For example, on your typical radio call-in show, the host will "go to the phones" to "Bill in Alameda". Bill, upon being introduced, will say, "So, how's it going?" or "Hey guys, what's up?" and the host, who has already been talking for the better part of an hour or more on exactly just "what is up" has to quickly go, "Hey Bill, how's it going?", to which he responds, "I'm good. Now, I wanted to talk about the (fill in team name or player or situation here)."

It's not as if the caller really has no idea "what's up" or "how it's going" with the sportscasters. After all, even in the odd chance they weren't listening to the show to begin with, they probably had to listen on the phone when they were on hold, and have some idea. So for all of us listening for some tidbit of info or helpful discussion, we have to wade through the forged pleasantries - and start the routine again with the next brain-dead caller. It's almost enough to put in a CD or flip to the FM dial rather than listen. Just thought I'd mention it.

Listening to ''Know You Can (Rick Pier Vs Dav'', by Whatever Girl (Play Count: 7)

More in an irregularly occurring series...

We're on the verge of kicking off a sports-filled weekend, with the Oakland A's back in town to take on the World Champion White Sox, and the Cal Bears also home to take on Division I-AA quasi-power Portland State. Being good season ticket holders, I'm going to aim to be at all three games this evening and tomorrow, but there is certainly some overlap on Saturday that could make things dicey, especially if the A's haven't blown out the Sox by the early innings...

On the technology side of things, It still seems to be all about Apple all the time. Apple's iTV announcement and enhancements to the iTunes Store to include videos continues to make waves. Interestingly, one of the quieter announcements was that Apple's moved to reduce the 30 gigabyte iPod to a pricepoint of $249. This apparently has hurt Microsoft's big rollout of Zune this week. While unveiling the music players, Microsoft did not announce a price at all - which some are saying is a direct result of Apple's price cut. Fun to have the Redmond giant on the wrong side of volume discounts. In addition, TechCrunch reports Amazon is the next giant expected to deliver feature film downloads, which explains their frustration with studios that have sided with iTunes.

And even though Apple just held a big media event, everybody seems to be yearning for the next big thing from Cupertino. ThinkSecret now says the long-awaited Apple iPhone will hit in the first quarter of 2007, and a contributor to GigaOM claims that Apple will enable consumers to run Windows Vista in a virtual desktop as part of the company's Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard rollout. Also in the same vein, Storage Mojo is very intrigued on Apple's future plans to help consumers store and backup their downloaded feature films, which could take gigabytes apiece.

Stepping away from Apple for a second, it's said that the pretexting scandal at HP is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. The company's chairman, Patricia Dunn, has been summoned before Congress, where she will no doubt be harangued by politicos who love to see themselves on C-Span making non-enforceable threats, shaking heads and wagging fingers. Or maybe I'm just cynical?

Listening to ''Until You Love Me'', by 4 Strings (Play Count: 11)

Each of the last two days, I had the "pleasure" of driving between Sunnyvale and Burlingame and spending way too much time on Highway 101 on the San Francisco Peninsula - a trip that according to Google Maps and Yahoo! should take only 30-plus minutes but in actuality ranges between an hour or an hour and a half. Spending so much time in a car over the last two days - there and back, there and back, made me think a lot about the quality of life, and whether I'd be best off just sitting on my rear and telecommuting everywhere.

But another thing struck me - to my left, in the carpool/commuter lane, I wasn't passed by a series of partnered businesspeople looking to save gas and time, or a family's minivan, but instead by Toyota Prius after Toyota Prius, with the occasional Honda Civic Hybrid thrown in for variety. As these high gas mileage hybrid cars have the option to drive in the carpool lane, I was continually mocked for continuing to drive my boring old 118,000+ mile 1998 Mercury Tracer, which gets a cool 25 or so miles a gallon itself. As I sat, admiring the dirt on my windshield and debated whether my back speakers were blown out or just falling apart, on my left, I would see Prius, Prius, Civic, Van, Prius, Van, Prius, Civic, Prius. And I'm jealous.

The only question is, if I were to plunk down $25,000 that I don't have on a car I don't yet need, how long would it take to make up the money on saved gas and saved time? It's time to break out the calculators - or I'll never know.

Listening to ''That's Right'', by Blank & Jones (Play Count: 5)

More in an irregularly occurring series...

Unfortunately for me, I'll be away from the computer for most of tomorrow (but of course latched to corporate e-mail like I should be via Blackberry). This means that while every other techno-geek, media reporter, and computer nerd is finding out all they can about Steve Jobs' plan to extend world domination to online video downloads and quite possibly much more, I won't be participating. Sad story, huh?

Well, don't let that ruin your fun. While Mac rumor prognostication used to be carried on by a select, and unwashed, few, it's now a role everyone else is eager to take on. Now even the mainstream bloggers, including TechCrunch and GigaOm are on the Apple rumor bandwagon.

The current expectations for the special event on the 12th include iTunes 7.0 (with movie downloads), updated iPods and iPod Nanos, and what some are calling a "TubePort", which will enable wireless transmission of videos from your computer to the TV. MacRumors weighs in by saying "Movies will be available as either a smaller iPod-format (which will cost $9.99 per movie), or as a larger, streamed movie to be streamed to your TV via TubePort. This cost $14.99 per movie. To purchase an iPod-formatted movie and a streamed version of the same movie, it will cost you $19.99."

As always, I'm more inclined to say it's not something I'll jump to, but we'll see. I usually tend to get fairly suckered in after watching all the glitzy demos.

On a completely other note, you haven't lived until you've consumed the original "Numa, Numa" featuring Gary Brolsma, an overweight teenager from New Jersey who rocketed to Internet fame when his lip-synching and chair-dancing to a little-known Romanian group went viral. After years of hiding out in relative obscurity, he's back with a vengeance, ready to capitalize on his fame, with the "New Numa". The official site is at http://www.newnuma.com, of course, or you can watch on YouTube. I guess if you can't beat them, join them...

If you're still not ready to dance around to some goofy kid, a much more serious video that helped us revisit a darker time from five years ago was unveiled today - as a woman living a few blocks from the World Trade Center for the first time introduced her documentarian chronicling of that day without analysis or soundtrack - just raw video, emotion and genuine fear. You can try and watch it on their site or download the full thing. It's 134 Megabytes and runs for more than 20 minutes. Humbling.

Revver.com: September 11: What We Saw

Listening to ''Live at Aria Montreal (11-06)'', by DJ Tiesto (Play Count: 4)

It'd be hard to completely ignore a few of the biggest scandals out there right now.

The first deals with HP's chairman of the board hiring private investigators to use less than ethical methods to spy on reporters and gain access to their phone records in an attempt to ferret out leaks. This Bush-like breach of privacy is the first of its kind in Silicon Valley and has got the worlds of technology and media alike on edge. Some publications are calling for the director's head on a platter, and reporters are more than justified in their exasperation over this breach of confidence.

The second is on a planned "documentary" by ABC on the events around 9/11, and their cause. The show inaccurately portrays the Clinton administration in a light that directly contradicts the 9/11 commission's report, and even as its airing nears, it's said that edits are continuing to be made to bring the piece further in line with accuracy - although disclaimers have been added to say it is not intended to be fully factual, but more in line with a historical drama. Unfortunately, it's been shown that we have a lot more people in the country who are plenty comfortable with watching TV, but not focused enough to read a congressional report, and they'll remember the one they saw when holding the remote and sitting in a recliner. Lawyers for former President Clinton have gone so far as to recommend ABC cancel it altogether.

On that note, with the 9/11 anniversary coming up soon, the Washington Post has said we were on the heels of capturing Bin Laden at the end of 2001, but the trail went cold, and military strength was subsequently redirected toward efforts in Iraq rather than on capturing the initiators of the terror strikes. Oddly, this falls completely in line with what Senator Kerry argued over with Bush during the 2004 debates, and was so roundly denied. Not that anybody can align the administration with the side of truth these days...

Listening to ''Underwater Love'', by Smoke City (Play Count: 8)

Cross-posted at Asypta.com...

Not just companies get the honor of joining the Asypta fold. Sometimes, the most ordinary-looking and most ordinary-sounding firms will debut products or subsidiaries that follow the Asypta guidelines, as Amtrak did in 1999 when they debuted their new line of high-speed trains, dubbed nothing else but... "Acela". Though clearly derived from the root word "Accel", Amtrak followed the mantra many companies do during the process of naming, throwing an "A" at the end for good measure. And try as they might, Amtrak made an attempt to explain just what "Acela" stood for anyway.

From the March 9, 1999 announcement:

"Acela is more than just a name for Amtrak's new high speed trains, Acela is a brand representing a whole new way of doing business," according to Amtrak President George D. Warrington. "A combination of acceleration and excellence, Acela means high speed and high quality - we are changing the journey for every customer on every train with faster trip times, comfortable amenities and highly personalized service."

In an era of commuter jets, carpool lanes, and telecommuting, it's no wonder that Amtrak had to do something to juice passenger statistics on trains - more-commonly associated with the 19th century than the 20th or today. While other countries have lapped the US in their ability to roll out highest-speed transportation, including "bullet trains", Amtrak and its new Acela line has seen very limited success. As Wikipedia states, "Technical difficulties have led to a joke about Acela standing for "Amtrak Customers Extremely Late Again" trains."

Now there's a fantastic acronym we can get behind.

It's always interesting to see when a company does such a poor job of naming itself and identifying the name with the brand that consumers go out of their way to apply their own definitions. Acela clearly falls in that category.

For going through the process of announcing a new name that fully meets the Asypta criteria, and introducing confusion into the marketplace, Acela is the second entry to the hall of fame!

Overall Asypta-Meter Score: 10.0

Listening to ''Miami Sunset 2005'', by DJ Irish (Play Count: 1)

Cross-posted at Asypta.com...

The Asypta model is somewhat flexible. If you look at Altria, you have a slight variation - extending to A consonant, vowel, A, but the phonetics of the word are the same, as the "ria" sounds like "riya", which maintains the Asypta rule verbatim.

With that said, Philip Morris' choice to rebrand as Altria in January 2003 is a classic example of selecting a name without any meaning and plugging into what I term the Asypta name generator. As widely reported, the company, which owns a wide variety of cigarette brands, ranging from Marlboro to Benson & Hedges and Virginia Slims, was looking to divorce itself from its life-long relationship with tobacco, and instead, highlight a healthier, more anomalous self.

From the press release on January 27, 2003, the company opted to change its name to Altria Group, Inc. As they said in the release, "The Altria name and logo powerfully express these enduring qualities: its drive toward excellence, its companies' focus on building brands, its passion for success, its openness to innovation, its commitment to its communities and societies, and its focus on its people."

And just how do they do that? If you look at the Altria logo, It's a 5 by 5 pixelated square made of many colors. A 25-grid square, symbolizing nothing. The word Altria doesn't demonstrate quality or excellence or success or innovation, unless you believe it does. Just like when the tobacco companies had you believe that "Nicotine is not addictive", this too has to be taken at face value, when there is in fact, no value.

More about Altria can be found on the company's "Who We Are" page, where they say "By changing its name, Altria Group has clarified its identity as what it is: a parent company to both tobacco and food companies that manage some of the world’s most successful brands." Gotcha.

For fitting the criteria set out in the rules of Asypta, and further befuddling corporate identity, we give Altria a near-perfect score. They just miss the hall of fame, due to a lacking consonant before the second A. Sorry, guys.

Overall Asypta-Meter Score: 9.5

Listening to ''Silent Words - Chiller Twists'', by Jan Johnston (Play Count: 25)

Cross-posted at Asypta.com...

Avaya is a classic example of a company built out of the "Asypta" school of naming. A, consonant, vowel, consonant, A. Avaya was spun off from Lucent at the end of 2000, and during the era of dot-com frenzy, the company didn't define exactly what it did very well.

From the company's spin-off press release in June of 2000, Lucent's president and CEO, Don Peterson said, ""We chose a name that would set us apart and capture what we're doing with the company - focusing on communications solutions for business customers. Avaya sounds open and fluid-reflecting a company that's open-minded and that provides seamless, effortless interconnections among people and businesses."

Source: Lucent

But what does that mean? Open, Fluid? Open-Minded? Sounds like some nice words to explain "Don't Know Exactly".

The Daily Telegraph, in a piece from December of 2005, ties into that very issue - company names that don't really stand for squat. They partially blamed Landor Associates, a San Francisco design group, for the name, and many others like it.

"If you ever wondered where those bizarre unpronounceable company names come from, look to the Landor crew. Avolar, Midea, Avaya, Spherion, Onity, Lucent. And Lucent's rival, Agilient. You know, like Lucent - but agile! Nice. Soon lots of big branding companies were picking up briefs and now our world is littered with Arrivas, Aptivas, Achievas and Avandas."

Source: Igor International

For fitting the stern criteria set out in the rules of Asypta, Avaya scores a 10.0 and is the first inductee to the Asypta hall of fame!

More in an irregularly occurring series...

It's odd how even in what could be considered a small wave of bad publicity, some companies wait out the storm and somehow come out unscathed. After yesterday's $100 million lawsuit settlement with Creative Technologies, Apple followed on today with news that they - like Dell - have issued a recall for more than 1 million laptop batteries which may catch fire. It's highly possible the PowerBook I've got is in the listed serial numbers eligible for replacement... but even with both of those announcements, Apple stock didn't take any kind of hit. In fact, Apple (AAPL) rose less than one percent on the day, even with the news. For what it's worth, my most-recent investment in Apple is doing fairly well, up 24 percent. I had sold some of my holdings for a loss, because I could use it to drag down my total income at tax time by the end of the year.

Of interest to those who follow Apple closely, as I do, an unlikely foe has beaten them to the punch for an online movie store - AOL. The would-be owners of Time Warner (oops!) announced today that for  a mere $10 to $20, customers could download full-length films, with no option to rent. Sounds steep.

Earlier this month, I mentioned how Topix.net's newly-introduced one year news archive search tool could bring huge benefits to companies and PR agencies. Apparently, my feelings are not just mine alone. Steve Rubel, who works for Edelman PR, said Topix "doesn't get the attention it probably deserves", and delves further into the site, to help track companies or individuals and use advanced search features.

The A's have an off day this evening, which means activity on Athletics Nation should be significantly lower than normal - as I, as well as many others, are probably taking the day off as well. For a good fix on AL West baseball, you can check out the LA Angels site at Halos Heaven or the much funnier Seattle Mariners blog at Lookout Landing. Also, be sure to catch Blez' input on why ESPN has lost all relevance for him and many west coast sports fans. The worldwide sports leader is a mockery of its old self these days.

Listening to ''Forever Today'', by DJ Tiesto (Play Count: 14)

More in an irregularly occurring series...

In politics, some of the biggest news surrounded the court's call for an immediate halt to the illegal NSA-sponsored domestic wiretapping that Bush and his right-wing cronies have been saying is an integral part of our security against terrorists at home or abroad. Interestingly, in the judge's summation, she wrote, "There are no hereditary Kings in America and no power not created by the Constitution. So all "inherent power" must derive from that Constitution." Her comment on hereditary kings sounded particularly apt when one looks at this administration, and that of the 1988-elected George Bush Sr., a man who towers over his son in intellect and scruples, Iran-Contra aside.

Vanity Fair's James Wolcott piles on in a piece called "Turd on the Run", where he asks, "Is Bush an idiot? Is water wet?"

In technology, gadgets reign supreme. The Web is abuzz over the first leaked photos on Gizmodo of Microsoft's wannabe-iPod killer, Zune. The pictures don't show the device on, or even its true color, in an effort to mask the leaker. But that didn't stop a wealth of discussion on iLounge, Engadget, Slashdot and CrunchGear.

In other news, this morning, a judge ordered that EchoStar has to stop selling its digital video recorders, and must pay TiVo approximately $90 million for patent infringement. It's good to see a company have the opportunity to successfully defend its intellectual property. (Tivo's response)

And finally, in sports, the A's play a rare doubleheader against the lowly Kansas City Royals, after a rainstorm thankfully interrupted a would-be A's loss earlier in the season, forcing a makeup game. The green and gold take on the AL Central's cellar dwellers starting at 2:10 p.m. Pacific. Until then, check out Athletics Nation's interview with A's pitching legend Dave Stewart.

Listening to ''Play For Today'', by The Cure (Play Count: 6)

It's no secret that this summer is one of the hottest ever recorded across the Northern Hemisphere. After 100+ temperatures for more than a week, we saw the mercury lessen to the 90s range here in the Bay Area, unfortunately coinciding with our trip to Boston, where upon our arrival, the East Coast chimed in with their own version of a sticky heat overload. With temperatures pushing 100 outside, I did my part to stay indoors at the convention hall, keeping my external wandering to a minimal level. But the heat was certainly noticed by many outside. Even every Conan O'Brien monologue that week started out with a lame joke about the heat...

Now that we're back in the Bay Area, we're finding things a bit warm again. Not oppressively so, but enough that our four