I had dreams of a Subway Series as a kid. (But it was enough that the NY Mets won the 1986 World Series, vindicating my 17 years of die-hard fandom.) So today I actually turned to ESPN (I never seem to watch any of the many sports channels I pay for) to see a few innings of the Mets vs. Yankees before the rain-out. I missed their first interleague game in 1997 and all subsequent ones. I just haven’t been a good fan since I left the NY area. But it was kinda like old times today with David Cone pitching and Joe Torre in the dugout. ‘Cept they were on the wrong team (plus Darryl Strawberry’s in rehab and Dwight Gooden just signed a Yankees’ minor league contract). The 3 innings they got in left me yearning for a good ol’ “MOOO” and a wonderfully biased announcer like Ralph Kiner.

Startup BlueLinx is marketing a product called Q-Zone which will automatically switch cell phone ringers off or to vibrate mode in areas where it is installed. A theatre could install this device and create a “quiet zone” while the show is going on. I first read about this in the Merc’s Leigh Weimer’s column; he’d been complaining about cell phone etiquette and someone from BlueLinx contacted him about their product and he wrote about it. Of course, as with most advance marketing hype, he, or his contact more likely, neglected to mention an important fact. This is new technology based on Bluetooth so it will only make any headway if cell phones are equipped with the Q-Zone client software.

I suppose cell phone manufacturers can turn this into a selling feature: no need to worry about turning your ringer off. But until Q-Zone becomes ubiquitious, cell phone users will always have to check their ringers. BlueLinx will have to develop a smart business model to get market penetration with three customers (users, manufacturers and venues). They face a chicken and egg problem. They could give the transmitters away for free to get the ubiquity and depend on profits from it as a cell phone feature. But would that be enough?

With cell phones themselves becoming ubiquitous, I suspect users will want less annoying and more personal cell phone “ring” indicators, so over the long term, silencers may not be needed. Also since it’s my embarrassment on the line, I’d probably check my own phone anyway, to make sure it really was off. Or will the onus of cell phone silence be shifted to the venue operators?

I finally saw Casablanca on the “big screen” at the Stanford Theatre. With the Wurlitzer organ prelude. Wonderful. There were scenes that I did not remember from previous viewings, and I wondered if they had been edited out for TV brevity. Not that my brain is a steel trap or anything.

Zannah linked to Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About today which was amusing to me because I was just about to concoct a log entry titled “One Word Responses Boyfriends Use That Get Them In Trouble”. But I wasn’t sure if I could think of enough words. So far I have:
“Who?”
“Anniversary?”
“Her?”
“Fat?”
and “Yup.” or “Nope.”
See the problem is, I can’t convey the exact nuances of how each word needs to be said. But you get the idea, I hope.

On a personal note, I’d like to welcome Raine Annabel Shank into the world. Born at a birth center, welcomed into the world by midwives and loving parents, she’s off to a warm and caring start in life. Congratulations Eric and Jane!

Jobs I never knew existed: Chicken Catcher. Chicken farms have humans who catch the chickens and bring them in for slaughter. Now Perdue is trying out an automated machine to fetch the birds. It’s a modified John Deere riding mower. “On the front of the mower is a rolling barrel with foot-long wiggly rubber fingers.” And, surprisingly, the machine method reduces bruising by 14%, which means more saleable product. Sounds like the chicken catchers, who are trying to unionize, are going to be a dying breed soon.

A little while ago, The Motley Fool printed an interesting analysis of Borders and their Waldenbooks chain. It claims that “Walden hasn’t done anything right since Henry David Thoreau died”, with their badly designed stores, whereas Borders’ superstores have a much better atmosphere for book-buying. The Fool is hoping that Borders can hang onto their superstore profits while realizing that Waldenbooks is suffering as much, if not more than, their Borders.com online venture, which they have put little marketing dollars into.

I was disturbed by some of the implied solutions in this article on how software, especially Microsoft software, stifles creativity and locks users into frustrating interactions with their computers. I agree that a lot of software, especially Microsoft software, has poorly designed user interaction. I do not, however, think it is the software or Microsoft’s fault if people are “less likely to take chances” and “curiosity and serendipity — are lost to the dictates of a software template”. The idea of software is that it is a tool to take away the mundane parts of an activity and leave the user to spark the creation and innovation. If educators believe that a software package is turning students into think-alike zombies, then the incorrect emphasis is being placed on the software, or the software should not be used. It is a bit like knowing when students should not use calculators. If software is inhibiting a task or not teaching the right skills, then don’t use it. You can blame Microsoft for bad user interface design and immoral business practices, but incorrect use of software, even well-meaning use of bad software, is the user’s fault. There are usually alternatives. And users should know that they can demand better instead of just being Microsoft sheep, as the article does point out later on. (article via RebeccaBlood)

OK, forget MyFreeCar and Autowraps. Soon you can wear advertising on your clothes. Impressions are registered by infrared heat sensors. Sign me up for “special deals on Britney Spears merchandise if fans wear the pop star’s videos on their clothes.” Woo hoo. (I’m kidding! Really.) Seriously, though, this makes me think of the wonderful possibilities for high-tech “kick me” signs when these come out. If it’s on someone’s back and he can’t see it, boy is that a hacker’s dream come true. (btw, apparently Carvertising has run out of gas.)

This in-depth NY Times Magazine article describes the lives of students on the “Intel track” at Midwood High School in Brooklyn. Carrying full schedules of advanced classes and research work with actual scientists, these teenagers work towards the prestige of a finalist spot in the Intel Science Talent Search (formerly Westinghouse). The premise of the article is that today’s science geeks are earning new respect in a world of startup millionaires, where previously the students who entered science fairs were badly dressed nerds with “clueless social instincts”. I don’t know what it was like during the author’s school years, but 15 years ago my high school had smart, socially aware, fashionable students who did this kind of stuff. I don’t see this as a new trend. Granted, I was in an upper middle class community, which may have made a difference. The new potential for a very profitable future probably does lend more of a cachet to the science geeks these days.