“Help I’m a Prisoner in an Amsterdam Shower”

At first I thought it was the “Cone of Silence” in honor of the release of the new “Get Smart” movie. Now I understand it’s actually a shower in m hotel room at The CitizenM in Amsterdam.

-Bill

JFK to LAX on Virgin America…

I made a 7:30am flight from JFK to LAX on Virgin America…which I have to say is a pretty good airline. Similar in many ways to jetBlue but some nice additional services. However our 7:30am flight didn’t take off till almost 8am and while we scheduled to land at 10:35am PT we were stuck in the plane since there were not gates available for almost 30 minutes.

I had lunch with my friend Marty Meyer at a really nice Thai place in Hollywood and then stopped by her house in Hollywood Hills to snap the above photo of Mr. Hollywood!

Later in the afternoon I had a meeting with my LA based attorney, Bob Schrage at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel…which felt like the LA version of the Algonqin in New York.

From Hollywood I stopped in Burbank to do some shopping and then headed up to Solvang since I have a meeting first thing in the morning in Santa Barbara about 30 minutes away. Solvang is an interesting town. Solvang (Danish for ’sunny field’), is a little city in the Santa Ynez Valley. Founded in 1911 by a small group of Danish teachers.

Tomorrow…Santa Barbara and back to LA.

Bill

George Carlin 1937-2008

I just received news that comedian George Carlin passed away earlier this evening here in Southern California.

I was a fan of Carlin, both for his humor as well as his willingness to take risks. Ironically, just last week Carlin was tapped by the Kennedy Center to receive this year’s Mark Twain Prize, a lifetime achievement award presented to an outstanding comedian.

Carlin reinvented social commentary, discussing everything from religion and politics to airport security. He excelled at stand-up, whether at the Roostertail in Detroit, the old Cellar Door in Washington or Carnegie Hall. His three books have been bestsellers. He has won four Grammy Awards, spanning 1973 to 2002. His TV shows have been nominated for five Emmys.

-Bill

George Carlin Has Died

ET breaks the news that comedian George Carlin has died from heart failure. The man who made famous the “seven words you can never say on television” passed away at 5:55 p.m. Sunday at Saint John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, his longtime publicist said. He was 71.

Carlin, who has had several heart attacks and a history of cardiac issues, went into the hospital this afternoon after complaining of heart problems.

Carlin has more than 20 comedy albums, 14 HBO specials, numerous TV and movie roles, and three best-selling books to his credit. Last year, he celebrated his 50th year in show business, and he had just finished his last HBO special in March, “It’s Bad for Ya.”

Ed Koch Commentary

At last week’s NYBR dinner I had a brief chat with former Mayor Ed Koch who mentioned he does a weekly commentary for friends and clients. He was thrilled when I told him I would post them to my blog on a weekly basis.

 

Following his tenure as the mayor of the city of New York for three terms from 1978-1989, Mr. Koch returned to law practice. His career in government began in 1966 when he was elected to the New York City Council. In 1968, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served on the House Committee on Banking and the Appropriations Committee. He also was secretary of the New York Congressional Delegation.  -Bill

One of the top issues in the presidential campaign is medical insurance, or rather, the lack of it.

The New York Times reported this week that, “About 25 million Americans did not have sufficient coverage last year to shield them from financial hardship,” and that is an increase of nine million since 2003. Add to that number “the approximately 50 million uninsured Americans,” and that is 75 million Americans that face an economic catastrophe should they get seriously sick, approximately 25 percent of the United States population. If either candidate or even a minor party candidate could persuade that block of voters to bullet vote on that issue alone, that candidate could win or decide who would.

Neither Senator Obama nor Senator McCain adequately address the issue. Obama permits those who - primarily young people - believe they will never get sick and need no insurance and can avoid the premiums to do so. That violates a basic premise of insurance, which is that you cover the sick and the healthy to reduce the collective cost.

McCain requires no one to be covered, leaving it to the individual to take or not to take the income tax exemption provided under his proposal and buy their individual policies. The proposal offered by Hillary Clinton is still the best and should be appropriated by one of the two candidates.

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I believe that the United States now has a responsible immigration policy. We allow about a million people a year to enter our borders and become eligible for U.S. citizenship. However, there are those — and that includes both presidential candidates — who believe that illegal aliens should have a path to citizenship as well. I do not.

I believe if more immigrants are desirable, and I think they are, it should be done by increasing the legal numbers permitted to come here. The supporters of illegal immigrants advocating amnesty and “a path to citizenship” raise the false specter of arresting 12 to 20 million illegals, putting them on buses and boxcars, and shipping them home. That, of course, is ridiculous and no one is advocating such a Nazi-like tactic. What everyone knows is that if there are no jobs available, huge numbers of illegals will contemplate going home on their own and in fact that is now happening.

On May 1, 2008 The New York Times reported, “As a result of the difficulties [getting a job and law enforcement efforts], among immigrants who had been here less than five years, 49 percent said they were thinking of returning home, while 41 percent said they planned to remain in the United States. Overall, slightly under one-third of the immigrants said they were thinking of leaving this country. In 2001, the last time a similar survey asked a comparable question, about 20 percent of Latino immigrants said they were thinking of going home.” The pressures should be brought on the employers. White collar criminals need only a brief stay in jail to give up their avarice - a 30 day sentence for a first offense, with the doubling of the sentence for each subsequent offense, along with a hefty fine, in my judgment, would be adequate to stem the lawlessness.

I repeat a suggestion I made some time ago. The federal government should offer free transportation back to the country of origin and a $500 per person reward for those who appear at the American embassy in the country of origin to collect it. Regrettably, none of this will happen because there are so many institutions and public officials that defend illegal immigration and believe in a policy of open borders. It is a philosophy which would impose limitations on the United States which are not imposed on other countries. Another example is the constant attack by environmentalists on the United States and President Bush for not joining the Kyoto Treaty which is up for renewal in 2012.

No matter how many times it is pointed out that China is a huge user of fossil fuels and a polluter which recently took second place heretofore held by Japan following the United States, those criticizing the U.S. excuse China and do not bracket the two demanding both sign the Kyoto protocols simultaneously. How will those critics of the U.S. react now that, according to The New York Times of June 14th, “China has clearly overtaken the United States as the world’s leading emitter of carbon dioxide, the main heat-trapping gas.” The Times further reported that “in 2007, China’s emissions were 14 percent higher than those of the U.S.” and China had “carbon emissions seven percent higher by volume than the U.S. in 2006.” Kyoto excluded from coverage the developing nations of China and India.

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In Great Britain, Prime Minister Gordon Brown just won a vote in Parliament on providing additional time to hold terrorist suspects in jail without charging them from 28 days to 42 days, by the skin of his teeth with the Conservative Party and a substantial number of Labor backbenchers voting against the bill. According to The New York Times, should the law be enacted, “for suspects to be held beyond 28 days, the government would have to win parliamentary backing for an order, valid for 30 days, declaring ‘a grave exceptional terrorist threat.’ Any suspect held beyond 28 days would have the right to appeal to a judge,” and “compensation, which some lawmakers said would be as much as $6,000 a day.”

Britain has been plagued with severe homegrown terrorism from its local Muslim population. Congratulations to Prime Minister Brown who is exhibiting the understanding of the dangers of Islamic terrorism recognized by Tony Blair and not being deterred by those who for philosophical or political tactics decline to. Regrettably, I believe those with resolve to stand up to worldwide Islamic terrorism in the United States are weakening.

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The New York Times reported on June 12th that “a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday that immigration judges and the appellate system established as a check on their decisions committed ‘obvious errors’ by denying asylum to three Guinean women who claimed that they were victims of genital cutting back in Africa.” One of the lawyers for the women said, “Today’s ruling is a tremendous victory for women who seek our nation’s protection to escape the brutal practice of female genital mutilation and the other forms of gender persecution that are associated with it.”

The Times article continued, “The practice of genital cutting, a tradition throughout sub-Saharan Africa, has long been criticized by human rights groups and the United Nations.” Of course, but does that mean that the millions of women who live there are eligible to enter the U.S. as refugees? The Times reported, “In previous cases, the board has said that women subject to forced sterilization are routinely granted asylum.” This would cover millions of women living in China under that country’s one child only policy. I believe that the United States should be compassionate, but irrational, no.

 

The Coffee Cat in Santa Barbara

I’m writing this blog entry from a neat little coffee shop in what’s called the “Mission” district of Santa Barbara called “Coffee Cat.” Its a pretty typical college town type coffee place (we’re very close to UCSB), great coffee, breakfast-type stuff (including a varitety of crepes) and great music.

While they have WiFi throughout the place the shop itself has no website…which I find interesting.

Anyway, if your travels ever take you to this part of “Northern Southern California” check it out.

-Bill

1201 Anacapa St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 · 805-962-7164

A popular student hangout, Coffee Cat also welcomes patrons who like to spread out, do a little table work, and nurse an espresso or two. Booths are especially coveted, and literary types claim them early. Should you realize the need for sustenance, you’ll find everything from bagels to more elaborate hot fare. If you need to pick up something to go, the staff are happy to accommodate as well.

 

Average Main Course Price: $4.00

Payment Methods:

Visa, Master Card

Location Based Services conference in NYC on July 11th

 heard about this event thru my friend, Sonja Kosman, who you might know recently completed her MBA at Columbia GSB and is now working at an exciting new company called Spotzer, the first global advertising agency dedicated to making high quality video advertising fast, affordable and highly targeted. Feel free to share this with friends, clients, vendors and/or colleagues.

With regard to this event (see below) I’m hoping to attend and I thought I would share it with you in addition to adding it to my blog later today.

I have attended a number of events produced by this group at Columbia and they have all been excellent.

-Bill

This is Christine Wang from Columbia Institute for
Tele-Information (CITI). CITI is holding a Location Based Services
conference on July 11th, which I am organizing.http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/citi/events/lbs08

We would like to let you know about a web, telecoms, media, marketing
and VC relevant conference at Columbia University on Friday, 11th of
July that may be of interest to members in your group/department. This
symposium looks at the transformation underway with web and mobile
phone based services much of which is centered on leveraging a user’s
location.

Examples of Location Based Services include:
- GPS applications on the iPhone 3G and Google Android mobile phones
- Google Maps, MapQuest or Yahoo! mapping applications on any website

These allow users to do such things as:
- Extend their social network functionality to know where their
friends are and who is nearby
- Make comments/feedback on service providers (like restaurants) by location
- Access and contribute to immense quantities of user generated
content and information by location

Lunch and networking drinks afterwards are provided.

The conference details are here:

Hope you and members of your group can make it Thanks.

Regards,

Christine Wang
Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (CITI)

Woman Sues Victoria’s Secret Over Thong ‘Malfunction’

I have to say I just don’t get it…then again if anybody is wondering why network news is so bad just take a look at the report on NBC “Today” this morning at the bottom of the 7 o’clock hour (7:30am).

First off lets give a bit of perspective here…I’m usually out of the house so early I never get a chance to watch any of the morning news programs. However this particular morning I worked from home and decided to catch a few minutes of Matt and Meredith. I was shocked…the story (below) was about a woman who is suing Victoria’s Secret over a malfunction with a thong…apparently it snapped and scratched her eye.

So…this is the kind of story network news executives think is important…this is something we need to know about…this is something worth spending almost 10 minutes of network news time?

I’ll say it again…I just don’t get it. Can someone please tell me if I am missing something here?

-Bill

Woman suing Victoria’s Secret over thong-gone-bad

Woman suing Victoria’s Secret over thong-gone-bad Macrida Patterson, 52, a traffic cop for the Los Angeles DOT, is suing the lingerie giant “Victoria’s Secret” over a thong incident. According to the latest reports, Patterson has filed a lawsuit against Victoria’s Secret, after a thong fastener snapped and injured her eye. The thong, a Victoria’s Secret Sexy Little Thing low-rise v-string, had a heart-shaped pendant attached to the fabric with a metal fastener, according to the lawsuit, when one of the metal pieces snapped off the thong and struck Macrida Patterson in the eye. “I was putting on my underwear from Victoria’s Secret, and the metal popped into my eye. It happened really quickly. I was in excruciating pain. I screamed. That’s what happened,” she told TODAY’s Meredith Vieira during an interview. According to her lawyer, Patterson suffered a scratched cornea and had to miss two weeks of work. The unfortunate woman is now suing the lingerie company for compensation for lost wages.

Do You Want to Ruin Your Industry Reputation?

I am preparing for a a couple of panels I am moderating at Promax/BDA today…one on networking (social and business) and the other on career transitions (focused on media/entertainment).
Ironically, I came across this article this morning and plan to incorporate it into my presentation this morning.

-Bill

 
5 WAYS TO RUIN YOUR INDUSTRY REPUTATION

By Sean Cheyney

In a highly connected industry, your reputation can either be your greatest asset or your Achilles’ heel. Here are common mistakes that can hurt your industry credibility.

Why is it that some people appear to repel business while others have an abundance of business everywhere they look? On both the buy side and the sell side, a handful of missteps can ruin your industry reputation and leave you fighting an ongoing uphill battle towards your business objectives.

In my 10+ years in the interactive space, I’ve observed many different types of personalities, business styles and sales tactics. Over this time, with all of the changes that have happened in our industry, I keep seeing people make the same mistakes that leave me scratching my head saying, “What was he thinking?”

Although there are numerous ways to flush your industry reputation down the toilet, here are the top five that I’ve witnessed over and over again.

FOR THE COMPLETE ARTICLE FROM IMEDIA CLICK HERE

Cutcaster

John Griffin, a NY:MIEG member and FOBS has been telling me about his new start-up “Cutcaster” for a while and he is finally at a point where they are looking for funding.

I thought you might be interested in hearing about this unique service.

-Bill

 

Cutcaster is a community based content marketplace to license digital videos, motion graphics and photos. Cutcaster offers royalty free images, stock photos, stock footage and stock photograhy to the advertising, publishing and web design community. Cutcaster is the first licensing platform, which is dynamic and lets sellers set their prices or choose the Cutcaster pricing algorithm to correctly find the market price. In addition, buyers can immediately download or bid on content, which a seller can accept, decline or submit a new offer back to that interested buyer. Members can also equest custom content from the entire Cutcaster community by putting out a call and getting a response from the active community of photographers, videographers and designers.

We are just beginning to raise an angel round of financing and have been funded by myself and two other investors to this point. I’m looking to speak with any angels who are interested in the space and learning more about Cutcaster or anyone interested in licensing their content or someone else’s photos or videos for a project they are working on.

CONTACT:
John Griffin
www.cutcaster.com
www.cutcaster.com/blog
(215) 688-2751
Skype - johnnywgriffin

What is a MagicJack?

MagicJack plugs directly into a USB Port on a laptop or Desktop (PC or Mac)

Screen Controller for MagicJack

I love cool products and apparently I’m not alone. Last week I was watching an infomercial about something called a

MagicJack and I was blown away…I ordered it, the thing arrived a few days later and it is really cool.

Ironically my friend Eleanor Haas, Managing Director of The Calyx Group sent me an email
with the following article by Peter Svensson singing the prases of this incredible product.

-Bill

Cheap PC gadget for Internet calls selling well

By PETER SVENSSON
NEW YORK

What’s the fastest-growing fixed-line phone company in the United States?

It’s not Verizon Communications Inc. or AT&T Inc. — they’re losing lines. What about cable company Comcast Corp., which is raking in subscribers for its phone service? Even that company is being beaten by a small Palm Beach, Fla., company called YMax Corp., judging by its own figures.

You may never have heard of YMax, but you may have noticed the TV ads for its product, the MagicJack, which works with a broadband connection.

It’s about the size of a matchbox and plugs into a PC. After plugging a regular phone into the MagicJack, the user can make and receive calls much like using a regular landline.

In January, just after the broad advertising campaign started, YMax was selling a few hundred MagicJacks per day, said Jim Donlon, its chief marketing officer. Now, it’s selling 8,000 to 9,000 per day, and the company is on track to have half a million subscribers by the end of June.

That’s a meteoric trajectory in the phone business, propelled by the pricing: The MagicJack costs $39.95, including one year of free calls to the U.S. and Canada. Another year of service costs $19.95.

“It’s extremely low-risk. Most people I know are willing to gamble on 40 bucks,” said TeleGeography analyst Stephan Beckert, who follows voice-over-Internet providers.

Unlike most voice-over-Internet Protocol — or VoIP — providers, YMax is licensed as a phone company in the continental U.S. and operates a wide network of servers to carry its calls. VoIP providers generally outsource that side of the business.

Comcast, the fastest-growing cable voice provider, signed up a net average of 7,100 customers per day in the first quarter, ending with 5.1 million on March 31. Vonage Corp., the leading independent provider of VoIP that works with regular phones was averaging 334 per day, for a total of 2.6 million.

YMax’s subscriber numbers are “significant,” Beckert said, but he noted that its revenue is much lower than that of competing providers because it charges about as much for a year of service as its rivals do for a month. Even eBay Inc.’s Skype, which uses computers for calling, charges significantly more.

It’s unclear what effect the MagicJack is having on competitors.

YMax Chief Executive Don Burns said many customers buy a MagicJack as a complement to a cell phone, compensating for poor cell coverage at home. When the computer is off, the service can be set to forward incoming calls to a cell phone.

Burns and inventor Dan Borislow founded the company, financing it largely themselves. They’re telecom industry veterans — Borislow pioneered selling long-distance service to AOL subscribers in the 90s and Burns was the CEO of Telco Communications Group, which provided discount long-distance calls.

Burns says YMax’s structure helps keeps cost low and call quality high. In the future, the company plans to sell advertising that shows up on the PC screen while calls are being placed. It would use its knowledge of the customer’s location to display relevant ads.

Even so, Beckert is skeptical of the business model. Like YMax, Vonage has recruited customers by TV advertising for years. But Vonage has consistently lost money.

“I’m still not sure how you make money at $20 a year,” Beckert.

MagicJack’s next moves are to get on the shopping channel QVC and possibly expand sales beyond the Web and call centers.

“We have big-box retailers jumping at this,” Donlon said.

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