I know this is only a flight simulation, but it has all the various audio tracks stitched together to really give you a sense of how harrowing a situation this was and how little time Sullenburger had to make decisions. Absolutely riveting…
– Dave
This article in the New York Times gives an interesting perspective on China and the Internet, specifically pointing out that as much as supposed Chinese cyber-attacks are trumpeted in the press and by our government, China themselves are dealing with the exact same issues. And because so many of the government computers are said to be running pirated versions of Windows, those computers do not have access to the latest security patches and, therefore, are much more vulnerable to outside attack.
The article also explores the use of social tools like Twitter as vehicles to stir unrest, foment revolution. Fascinating reading…
– Dave
Sky News did an interview with Rupert Murdoch to discuss the coming evolution in the news industry. You’ll find the entire interview below. I found the whole thing riveting and incredibly informative. To me, one of the highlights of the interview was Murdoch’s discussion of Google. Murdoch owns a huge number of media properties, including one of the first to make for-pay news actually work, the Wall Street Journal. Murdoch makes the case that preventing Google from indexing his sites is the future of his empire and will, ultimately, be profitable.
To clarify this, when an indexing robot hits a web site, it checks for a file named robots.txt that lays out the rules for indexing that site. This is called the Robots Exclusion Protocol. Murdoch is suggesting that his properties will turn on “full disallow”, making all his sites non-searchable by search engines like Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.
Many people view this as a bluff. After all, if Google and company are not allowed to index your site, no one will find your site and your visitor count will dry up and disappear. But those folks miss Murdoch’s vision. Murdoch believes that the only value in having huge numbers is to support on-line advertising, which he sees as having minimal value in the long run. Instead, Murdoch wants to turn all of his sites into high quality for-pay news/media sources like the Wall Street Journal. Much smaller audience, but one that he controls. Right now, when someone visits one of his news sites, the news aggregator owns the audience. As an example, if you visit Google News and see a story that interests you, you’ll follow the link, read the story, then close the window. This will leave you back in Google News. They own you.
Ultimately, I think Murdoch will win this game. And, in doing so, I believe the model he espouses will save the dying news industry. Without this approach, the quality of news content will continue to wallow. After all, the open source model does not guarantee quality. It guarantees equal, free access to information, true. But who will pay for the Christiana Amanpours of the world? The Walter Cronkites? The Woodward and Bernsteins? Without a high quality for-pay news model, those folks will become a distant memory.
To be clear, I am no fan of Murdoch or of Fox News. But I worry about the current direction of the news industry as news outlets pull back on their coverage. I believe a healthy news industry is vital to our way of life.
– Dave
Bill Keller is the Executive Editor of the New York Times. He’s an odd duck for a New York Times editor, having been a staunch proponent of the invasion of Iraq and an opponent of Colin Powell. Excellent creds, though, having won a Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of the breakup of the Soviet Union. And now he’s overseeing the transformation of the New York Times for stodgy grey lady to a leading member of the emerging digital news culture.
Earlier this year, Bill answered questions from readers about the future of the New York Times. Fascinating. Here’s the article.
More recently, Bill gave a talk to the digital group at the New York Times, talking about the movement of the Times to the web and to mobile devices. I found the talk fascinating, more for its tone and insights into the culture of the paper than for any particular revelation about the future. But I also found it interesting that he mentioned the “impending Apple Slate” as one of the mobile platforms they needed to perfect support for. That mention is in the talk below at about 8:30. Enjoy…
– Dave
I find this amazing. A two-year-old smart enough to be recognized as a genius. Two years old!
Remember the name Oscar Wrigley. You will be hearing more about him.
– Dave
Every year, Fortune updates their list of the best 100 companies to work for. I was doing a bit of research for a project and I happened across their current 2009 list. Bet you can’t name the top three companies. Go ahead, take your best guess, then read on.
According to the official Fortune list, the top three companies are NetApp (in Sunnyvale, CA), Edward Jones (in St. Louis, MO), and Boston Consulting Group (in, you guessed it, Boston MA).
Rounding out the top five? Our good friend Google, followed by Wegmans Food Markets.
Interestingly, Apple is not on the list. I wonder why? Apple has great benefits, amazing campus, and is filled with the best and brightest, not to mention fun people. Interestingly, Fortune lists Apple at number one on their list of the most admired companies. So Apple is incredibly admirable, but not a good place to work? Makes no sense to me. Personally, Apple is my dream job, number one place I’d like to work…
– Dave
First off, happy birthday to my Mom and to Chris Bowles.
Speaking of birthdays, on of my twitter friends, Angelo DiPaolo, was born on December 7th. We were commiserating on the famous birthdays and I was reminded of Roosevelt’s famous “Infamy” speech. Back on December 8th, 1947, the day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt gave a six and a half minute speech that would be remembered for a most famous phrase, describing the previous day as a “date that will live in infamy.”
I think of that speech every September 11th. If you are interested in a bit of history, here’s a link to the wiki page dedicated to the speech, and here’s a link to a terrific article about the speech that includes photos of Roosevelt’s draft of the speech. Fascinating stuff.
Happy Birthday, Mom! (You too, Chris)…
– Dave
I am such a big fan. If you are new to Auto-Tune the News, then start with this one, which is my favorite. It contains the original “very thin ice” bit from Katie Couric.
Here’s the latest…
– Dave
Amazing video of the ongoing fire in the Angeles National Forest. Glad they are getting this one under control. Stu and Leslie live there…
– Dave
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