Sonic Boom II

These sonic boom photos are by Andreas Zeitler, Flying Wings, and published on airliners.net.

This is What a Sonic Boom Looks Like

You can hear a sonic boom when a jet exceeds the speed of sound. But have you ever seen one? I think these photos, sent to me by Eric Jayne, are indeed the real thing. He's the type of guy who understands these things.

The Sawfish Grabs the Logs Underwater

I always relish the chance to sit down with the latest issue of Wired Magazine. This month's issue, with a new redesign that I'm not wild about, did not disappoint--I read about underwater logging in British Columbia.

Back in 1954, Ootsa Lake was created to power a hydroelectric dam for an aluminum smelter, leaving some $1.2 billion worth of valuable pine trees submerged. With this profit available, it took entrepreneur Chris Godsall to develop a machine to harvest the wood. It's called the Sawfish, and consists of a platform, a control room, cables, an underwater saw, and a joystick so an operator can cut giant logs at the bottom of the lake and bring them to the surface using airbags.

It's an ingenious device that provides a truly ecologically perfect harvest. The cold, oxygen-poor water preserves the wood, and instead of skidding them through a forest, they float to the surface to a waiting barge. And because they've been underwater, they're generally stripped of bark and foliage, usually another step and expense.

Godsall has millions of trees waiting for him down in Ootsa lake, and they can scan the bottom for the perfect types of trees, like lodgepole pines, and ignore the less valuable species. He is looking at underwater trees in lakes all over the world, including Volta Lake in Ghana, where the trees sometimes puncture holes in passing boats and ferries.

"Mother Nature never intended for trees to be underwater," Godsall told Wired's Michael Behar. Just waiting for a guilt-free harvest by the Sawfish.

How Much is Annoying Your Readers Really Worth?

I wrote a letter to a local newspaper to complain. We get a stack of the local weekly newspaper here at the cafe, and every time someone goes to pick one up, a sheaf of ugly ad inserts falls out. There is no way around it, they always fall down and litter the place.

I wrote to tell them about Craig's list, and how the CEO there decided that it is the users who are the most important. That even though Craig's could accept text ads and reap literally, billions of dollars, they say no. But this CEO was straightfaced when he said 'none of our users have asked for text ads' as the reason to not have them.

Because it is the USERS who matter to Craig's list, and these readers, aka users, should matter to this local paper. But the suits upstairs want to keep the dough, so of course no letters to the editor nor other comment will change them from accepting these annoying inserts.

Oh well, I tried, on behalf of all of us users.

"I'll Take a Case of Costco" Disease

I am glad to know I'm not the only one who has this experience. I walk into my local Costco store to stock up on cafe supplies and often emerge with some huge extravagance that I had no intention of buying. Today's NY Times had a story about 'the Costco phenomenon.'

"Temporarily stocked surprises are a calculated part of the Costco shopping experience. “We try to have hundreds of items that are different each time a customer comes to the warehouse, to create a treasure-hunt atmosphere,” said Joel Benoliel, a senior vice president. “We’ll always have the same staples — the cereal, the detergent — and then we add in the ‘wow’ items.” But at the same time, there can be a comforting sameness to each cavernous location.

So, along with purchases of jumbo packs of paper towels and other supplies, impulse buying can be a big part of the Costco experience, because only the most well-liked, trendy, and fast-moving items are stocked.

Those items include iPods, individually wrapped cheese sticks to put in a child’s lunch box, as well as a few of the latest fashions.

FOR those who want to minimize impulse buying, consumer experts say, it is helpful to shop as infrequently as possible, to arrive at the store with a list and a budget, and to walk down only the aisles that contain an item on the list. Conventional wisdom would also say that it is a good idea not to shop when hungry.

Crucial to the company’s continued growth will be people like the Schneiders, who find shopping at Costco both utilitarian and serendipitous. “I might be going in for lettuce,” said Ms. Schneider, who on the spur of the moment once bought a $2,000 baby grand electronic piano at Costco, “but if I come out with other things, I don’t mind.”

Painting Olive Green and the Joy of Drumming

Yesterday I grabbed a paintbrush and changed the color of my bedroom to an olive "GoNOMAD" shade of green. Francisco, my sturdy son-in-law, did most of the work but I helped turn my crappy white walls into a terrific new shade. Today we tackle the harder part of doing the trim in an ivory off white. It was wonderful to see that new color the next day, and hard to believe that in all the years I have lived on Mountain Road I never painted that room. Better late than never!

Then last night I joined Shady, Paul, Joe, Johnny and George to play some tunes in Joe's studio. I had almost forgotten how much pleasure can be derived from playing music, listening to the collective sounds of a group of musicians and being a part of it. After listening for a while (and beginning to nod my head) it was my turn behind the skins. I kept the beat, and got into the songs and was complimented on my time.

I am always amazed that people notice my time....that it works and that I can play the drums and keep everybody else happy. Drums are like newspaper delivery...you only notice it when it's not done right. I got into the groove and had a blast!

Geothermal Power is David Reynold's Pursuit

Today's Montague Reporter included an article about Geothermal power in New England. It got me interested in knowing more about this limitless, pollution free source of power. I found this on a cool website about Geothermal power.

"So what is geothermal heating? It may not be well known in Connecticut, but it is a common heating source in other parts of the world. Geothermal energy is tapped into by more than 20 countries, most notably Iceland, which gets 17% of its electricity from geothermal energy. Geothermal heating relies primarily on the earth’s natural thermal energy, a renewable resource, to heat or cool a house or multi-family dwelling. The geothermal process uses the heat contained in the earth.

The ground’s temperature is always a steady 55 degrees. Pipes are buried in deep, vertically drilled holes. Water (or other transfer liquid) is circulated through the heat exchanger nd back out through the loops continuously. An indoor unit compresses the fluid to a higher temperature; after it boils, the steam runs a turbine which gathers power, then the water is recondensed and sent through the cycle again.

David Reynolds, of Wendell, is actively working to prove that geothermal power is viable for New England, wrote the Reporter. His company, Atlantic Geothermal, proposes a massive 50' wide, 100-mile long tunnel to harness the heat and spin turbines. He is thinking big: 1600 megawatts. In Iceland, the 10 plants there pump out only 340 mgw/ a year.

Reynolds recalls that the state built the giant pipeline from the Quabbin 100 years ago, and it was 25 miles long, by dug by hand--So this huge distance of pipe could viably be done by today's computer run tunnel-drilling rigs.

Sometimes You Need a Geek, not a Deal Maker

Fred Vogelstein writes in the current issue of Wired about how Yahoo is losing (or lost) the war with Google over search advertising. It's brutal.

"When Terry Semel became co-CEO of Warner Bros. in the early 1980s, he was steeped in the marketing and distribution plumbing of Hollywood. So it's no surprise, in retrospect, that his legacy is as one of Hollywood's biggest innovators and risk takers. He grew Warner's revenue to nearly $11 billion when he left in 2001.

But now, despite Semel's achievements in Hollywood and early success at Yahoo, Silicon Valley is buzzing with a familiar refrain: Wouldn't an executive with a little more technology savvy be a better fit? Semel has been Yahoo's CEO for nearly six years, yet he has never acquired an intuitive sense of the company's plumbing.

He understands how to do deals and partnerships, he gets how to market Yahoo's brand, and he knows how to tap Yahoo's giant user base to sell brand advertising to corporations. But the challenges of integrating two giant computer systems or redesigning a database or redoing a user interface?

Many who have met with him at Yahoo say he still doesn't know the right questions to ask about technology. "Terry could never pound the table and say, 'This is where we need to go, guys,'" one former Yahoo executive says. "On those subjects, he always had to have someone next to him explaining why it was important."

One could have made a convincing argument two years ago that such deep technical knowledge didn't matter much. But now we have empirical evidence: At Yahoo, the marketers rule, and at Google the engineers rule. And for that, Yahoo is finally paying the price."

News from the GoNOMAD Front

So much goes on in this little office, it is like a whirlwind....people coming and going, old friends and acquaintances saying hello, and all sorts of interesting calls and emails coming in from around the world.

*We're working on a plan to provide travel content to a Dubai-based magazine about the Middle East. People just find us, our stories are compelling and we have a lot to offer.

*We're working with a local printing company to design and write a monthly company newsletter to send out to their customers. Our prototype design wowed them so we are moving forward with this very soon.

*Google has approached us about being one of a select bunch of websites that will offer video advertising. We hope that these live action commercials will be interesting and informative and pay a higher cost-per-click!

* National Geographic called us wanting to contact a writer who wrote a piece for us about baboons in South Africa. It's always nice to hear from 'the big boys.'

*We're putting the final touches on our exciting expansion plan at the cafe...more tables, a new GoNOMAD office next door--hey soon we'll have a real restaurant here, not just a small cafe with too few tables.

Kidnapping the Wrong Guy

Last night in the NY Times William Grimes reviewed a book by an improbable hero named Stanley Albert, an assistant federal attorney in New York City. One night, on Albert's birthday, he was strolling down a street and struck up a conversation with an attractive woman. But behind him lurked two armed thugs, they snuck up and forced him into a nearby Lexus. He was about to be the victim of a robbery by ATM, but his captors hadn't bargained for such a tough nut as Albert.

Albert's book, "The Birthday Party: a Memoir of Survival" tells the tale of a victim who cleverly kept all of the details about his captors and where he was held in his head. After all, he was an attorney, and he knew what the cops could use these details to get the bad guys in the end.

They took him to Brooklyn, to a dingy apartment. As they smoked dope, played with their guns, and had sex with prostitutes, he looked on, once turning down the chance to hook up with the hooker. At one point, Sen, a captor, is singing about sick, violent fantasies of murder and mayhem. Then Albert realizes that he is simply singing a Busta Rhymes song playing on the radio.

The thugs wanted him to go to the bank and withdraw thousands of dollars, but somehow it doesn't work out that way. He manages to escape, and within 48 hours, the perps are captured. As Grimes writes, New Yorkers often like to one-up eachother with tales of muggings and break-ins. With this tale, Albert trumps them all.

Two Very Angry Women Crashing Cars

Google Video presents, "Two Very Angry Women Crashing Cars." The two women wind up crashing their cars into each other and finally go into a head on collision. The expressions on the two women are priceless.

Look What You Can Get for Only 99 Rupees!

Tonight I found an article about the My Dollar Stores, one of India's most popular American imports. These stores are able to import direct from China to nearby India, and in the big cities they have proven very popular.

One lesson the California-based founders of My Dollarstores learned was that you need to educate the average Indian customer...so there about 20 employees per 1000 square feet, more than ten times the average for a US store. Employees are cheap here, the average store employee paid about $150 a month. So when the customers come in to purchase the thousands of different items, all for 99 Rupees (about $2), they also come with questions.

Many Indians are suspicious of the quality of the 99 Rupee merchandise. There are always plenty of staff to answer the queries. The chain even offers a money-back guarantee if something's not right, that is unusual in India.

The stores bring in more than 600 customers every day, three times the number who come in to shop in US stores. They plan on building up to 400 stores in the next three years.

Who Wouldn't Want to Stay at the Beagle B&B?

AOL told us about the Beagle B&B in Cottonwood, Indiana. "You enter the body of the beagle, nicknamed "Sweet Willy' from a private, spacious second story deck. Inside and up another level in the head of the dog are a loft room for additional sleeping accommodations and a cozy reading nook in the dog's muzzle. The beagle sleeps up to four people. And the price is right for almost any family budget, $88 per night, including breakfast, for two people; $8 for each additional person.

Coffee: America Loves the Dunk and Folgers, Ugh!

AOL polled its readers and asked them to name their favorite coffee and their favorite coffee they make at home. Below are the results of more than 89,000 votes. Shudder.

What's Your Favorite Home Brew?
Folger's 30%
Maxwell House 20%
Eight O' Clock Coffee 11%
Gevalia 8%
Kona 8%
Chock Full O' Nuts 7%
Green Mountain 6%
Jamaican Blue Mountain 5%
Newman's Own 2%
Bustelo 2%

Pick Your Favorite Cup to Go!
Dunkin' Donuts 33%
Starbucks 27%
7-11 11%
Mc Donald's 9%
Wawa 5%
Caribou Coffee 3%
Peet's 3%
Tim Horton's 3%
Panera 3%
Krispy Kreme 1%
Burger King 1%
Sheetz 1%

Kissing the Nude Pot Smoking Mom in the Pool

Last night we watched a provocative movie called "Laurel Canyon," at the house with our friends Jack and Laura. We had a fire going and it was fun to enjoy a movie none of us knew anything about--another Blockbuster Surprise.

The movie began with a sex scene. A woman named Alex, (Kate Beckinsdale) told her partner she 'was good' before the gent even had time to finish. Interesting. The pair were moving west into the house of his mother, a pot-smoking hippy record producer, (Frances McDormand), who was in "Friends with Money."

The scene at the house was bubbling bongs, musicians and passing joints, and the uptight Alex is upstairs trying to write her dissertation about genetics. The musicians crank out tunes and inquire about what she's writing--"We've been to university, we will understand what it's about," they tell her.

Before long Alex gets tempted and as her hubby is off doing medical things, she tokes on the doob and kisses (gasp!) his mother Jane.

Later we see that Alex has become interested in the buzzhead musicians and especially, that the mom's boyfriend Ian is quite interested in Alex. We watch mom and Ian frolick nude in the pool, and Alex strips down to bra and panties (oh rats!) to join them. Whoa again, as she kisses mom and we almost see her going down on Ian. But no---this is only an R-rated movie, so mom comes to her senses, and then the hubby barges in.

Hubby of course is not saint, he is observed necking in the car with a foxy husky voiced Russian co-worker. But he turns her down, only to find almost-a-threesome going on, but breaks it up.

Needless to say, no one fell asleep despite the copious pourings of white wine and Belvedere Vodka.

The NFL Looks to the Cafe for a Sticker Save

Stuff happens at the cafe that continues to amaze and delight me. This morning we got a call from the NFL. Yeah, the National Football League's Michael Davis wanted to speak with the owner. It seems that a promotion they do with Wal-mart that provides stickers for sale for local football teams has run into a snafu.

The NFL shipped stickers to the local Wal-Mart in Hadley but left off our local team, the Frontier Red Hawks. Now they need somewhere to sell these special edition Red Hawks bumper stickers. So they called us....and of course we decided, as Bill Belichick would say, 'GO FOR IT.'

Tomorrow morning we'll get a courier pack with 150 stickers that will include the Red Hawks logo, and even a little plug for the cafe. And when Peyton Manning announces in the Wal-Mart ad during Sunday's games that the only place you can get your local high school stickers is Wal-Mart, he's wrong.

You can get the NFL Official Red Hawk stickers right here at the GoNOMAD Cafe!

Good News for Newspapers--Blogs Are It

Reuters reports today that there is good news for newspapers---their blogs are being read more and more. Unique visitors to blog sites affiliated with the largest Internet newspaper sites rose to 3.8 million viewers in December, according to Nielson/NetRatings.

"This is the first time we've really drilled down into the traditional newspaper online segment (for blogs)," Carolyn Creekmore, Nielsen//NetRatings senior director of media analytics, told Reuters.

"There's certainly a degree of comfort level that has grown over past year or so (for reading blogs)," she said. "We've all gotten a little more comfortable in having a conversation online."

Blog pages accounted for 13 percent of overall visits to newspaper sites in that month, up from 4 percent a year earlier. Total visitors to the top newspaper sites rose 9 percent to 29.9 million.

About 60 percent of online newspaper readers were men, with the percentage rising to 66 percent of blog readers, Nielsen//NetRatings said.

The top U.S. newspaper site in December belonged to the New York Times Co.'s flagship newspaper at NYTimes.com, with 13.2 million unique viewers, followed by Gannett Co.'s USAToday.com site, with 9.1 million viewers, and the Washington Post's washingtonpost.com, with 7.6 million viewers, Nielsen//NetRatings said.

Your Thing is Your Thing--Just Ask VW

A few months ago, I roared with laughter at a little brochure that was folded inside of my copy of Wired. It was VW's "Official Back Seat Driver's Guide," providing straight-faced tips on how to manage life behind the guy who's driving. It had that classic look of a manual with spot-on references to how you have to act back there.

I just read another clever piece of copy, this time a magazine ad for the Passat Wagon. It pictures the gleaming white Passat with its useful tailgate open and this text inside:

"You have 'a thing.' And no. It's not your 'issues.' Or your 'stuff.' It's the one thing you love doing. And maybe even being. Maybe you feel it when you're plugging in a guitar. Maybe you feel it when you're sitting in the middle of the ocean, alone. Waiting. Maybe you feel it when you're taking a load of Little Leaguers to Districts, two states away. Whatever it is, it's your thing. And it's always been your thing. Ok, sure. People may share the same thing. But deep, deep, deep down, you know your thing is a little different. (Okay...a lot different.) The Passat Wagon is a thing for people who have a thing, not just things.

So fill it up. Load it up. All 73.7 cubit feet of it. And do your thing."

Who Knew Coffee Was So Damn Good For You?

It's positively freezing out, and almost everyone I know is thrilled about that. Funny how getting such warm and unseasonable weather makes us all yearn for the 'real winter.'

The Daily Hampshire Gazette published a section about health yesterday, including an article about the power of coffee. "The good news is that most of the bad news you're hearing is wrong," said James Coughlin, spokesman for the National Coffee Association.
"There are actually some very nice beneficial effects of coffee consumption." Drinking small amounts of coffee frequently throughout the day is better than having a Big Gulp at the end of the day. Studies have shown that coffee reduces depression and anxiety.

"There's a whole group of diseases where coffee may have a protective effect," Coughlin said. "Not just athletic and mental performance--we're talking about real diseases." Among these are type 2 diabetes, colon cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, and even Alzheimer's. And coffee provides antioxidants which we all know are good.

And you know what I'm gonna say next...yeah, come drink our coffee at the GoNOMAD CAFE!

Ships are Meant to be Sailed, Part Two

John A. Shedd was the man responsible for writing the eloquent toast that we enjoyed hearing on Saturday night in NYC. It was a book called "Salt in My Attic," published in a 500 copy issue, in 1928. My cousin Steve, our Associate Editor, found it for me quickly. We all wanted to know where it came from and now we do.

Random Questions and Dump Runs in Deerfield

Deerfield Scene One

Driving to the dump has been a part of my life since I moved to South Deerfield in 1990. Every week, nearly, I've cobbled together all of my recyclables and trash and made that trip over through the windy cornfields of South Mill Village Road. At the dump, it's the usual suspects manning the shed. "Hey Wesley," I yell, and he gives me back a toothy grin. "Yeah, how ya doin'? Throw it all in, go ahead, just throw it all in the compactor." Wes always has a cigarette going and wears one of an assortment of about two thousand logo'ed baseball caps. He also usually wears something with USMC on it.

On today's trip I encountered two new guys, both standing next to a Town of Deerfield sanding truck. They looked at eachother and then at me, quizzically. "Gonna need some sand tonight, huh?" I offered. "Are we expecting snow?"

"No snow...ice!" they replied in unison.

Deerfield Scene Two.

Inside the GoNOMAD CAFE, five young women are finishing off their turkey pesto bagel sandwiches. I approach them and have to ask them: Do you watch American Idol, and do you care that the premier is tonight?

The answer was clear: They don't really care. "I watch it at the beginning," one girl said. "Just to see the dorky people who are so funny and try to get on." I guess Cindy and I are pretty square for still watching it, all the way to the finish.

Crazy Cramer Wows the College Crowd

Joanna Weiss writes on Boston.com about an unlikely hero among college students, Jim Cramer.

"If "Mad Money" is a business primer, it's a crash course designed for the ADHD set. Cramer has a penchant for madcap props -- he has eaten cereal drenched in soda pop and worn diapers to drill in a point -- and he presides over a busybox of noise machines, pushing buttons like a crazed suburban father. His bulging-vein energy, along with his ability to move markets with yelped suggestions, has drawn the ire of Wall Street traditionalists.

But among college students, Cramer has developed a cult following since the show began broadcasting in March 2005. "Mad Money" is CNBC's top-rated show among 18- to 54-year-olds -- something that surprised the show's producers when they first noticed that college students were calling in. About 60 colleges have asked to be part of an occasional tour that has broadcast from Harvard, the University of Michigan, Columbia, Georgetown, and Boston College. The studio is in Englewood Cliffs, N.J.

And for the host, who really is a crazed suburban father, this unlikely audience has led to a new sense of purpose. "This show has given college kids something to talk about with their parents," Cramer, 51, said proudly, a few hours before his BC appearance.

You're flipping through the channels and some guy's throwing a chair. Some guy's shouting at you. Some guy's wearing a diaper," said Mason, a senior at Harvard. "It's sort of compulsively watchable."

Cramer thinks students tune in for his antic personality, for the sense of danger, and for the avalanche of obscure-but-"Google-able" references, both to stocks and to popular culture.

"It's clear that I have no idea where I'm going. It's also clear that I have severe mental problems," he said.

A Ship Was Built to Sail the Seas

Rain pounds down outside and we're back in New England after the show. One moment that I remember fondly was at a dinner we had to celebrate being together in NYC. We went to an upstairs table at Patsy's Pizza, where they make pizzas in a coal-fired oven. Over wine and pizza and big family style bowls of pasta, we listened as Paul Shoul offered a toast.

"To Max," he said, "The guy who got us all together...Someone sent me a note a few days ago with a quote that is apt for this setting. It said that a ship is the safest when it's docked in a harbor. But that's not what ships were built for."

We all liked that quote because we share the same wanderlust, the same excitement that comes from traveling. We all get that tingle when we're waiting to board a plane, or planning a trip, or thinking about where we might go. Like everyone who walked the aisles of that big travel show, we are dedicated to our travels, and it was nice to hear Paul's toast, expressing that so eloquently.

The Show Continues a Great Tradition in Travel

Tradeshow days and New York City nights! It is always exciting to be in the Big Apple, just walking down the street provides a jolt of energy and makes me feel lucky to be alive. Today we met hundreds of people who all share a love of travel...that's why they came to Pier 94's Unconvention Center to visit the 200 booths, including ours. The Adventure Expo 2007 has not disappointed us!

GoNOMAD always gets a boost...from increased exposure, to advertisers who come and meet us, to the many media outlets who we meet and who want to write about us. We also get to say hello to many freelance writers who come and pitch stories. After four years we have built up a solid reputation...now when people come to the booth and we ask them if they've ever been to GoNOMAD, many of them say YES. One reader said "I'm addicted to you guys." We love it!

Paul Shoul traveleled down from Northampton, to join us at the show. Sony Stark came to the show and made the rounds, and she too will be here tonight when we go out to dinner and celebrate our comraderie and our shared love of voyages.

it's Showtime Again in New York City

New York City--I'm just settling into the New York Midtown East Marriot hotel, on busy Third Avenue. Twenty-three floors down, the traffic honks and roars, across the street an office tower is still lit up and people, ant-like, move about their offices and check their email. I'm happy to say we're all set up over at the Unconvention Center for the 2007 Adventures in Travel show.

GoNOMAD has exhibited here since their first show back in January 2004. That year was the coldest we've ever seen, and I remember the wind tunnel near Broadway and the frigid walk (then taxi) down to the Javits. That year there was a huge turnout, and four years later, we hope the buzz is still there for this show.

We've got our giveaway pads, our stickers, flyers and business cards, and a great-looking booth on a pretty good and well walked aisle. In the cafe this morning as I was manicly trying to get all of the stuff done and remember everything I had to bring, I told a regular customer where I was off to. "You guys are really big time, you know, this is a real serious operation you have here."

I was happy to say, yeah, we do get around, and we think there's no place else like New York City--it's Show time and time for Kent, Lisa, Cindy and I to man the booth. a few other members of our talent pool might also make the show--Sony Stark and Paul Shoul. Can't wait to get it all started tomorrow at 10:30 am.

A Mirror Into the Mystery that Is Iran

Cindy gave me a fascinating book for my birthday in October that I recently finished. It's called Persian Mirrors: The Elusive Face of Iran, by Elaine Sciolino. The author is a Newsweek and New York Times writer who has spent more than twenty years visiting Iran and has built up an impressive knowledge of this ancient place and of the Iranian psyche.

In the book we get a multilevel understanding of what makes the Persians tick, and why America has been enemy number one since 1979. She takes you into the private homes, where women and men sit together, sip alcohol, and even let their hair and arms (gasp!) show.

It's very difficult for an American to grasp the tight noose that is looped around the Iranian's necks. Stepping out in public showing a few wisps of hair, or a woman riding in a car with someone male who's not a relative, earns lashes and interrogation. Western music and anything alcoholic is cause for more lashes and grief.

One thing all Iranians love nearly as much as Allah is the poet Hafiz. "No other people I know takes its poetry so seriously," she writes, "...even the revolution and the creation of the Islamic republic could not eradicate that unique sense of Persianness that goes hand in hand with the poets who extolled the virtues of beauty, love and bravery."

She said everywhere she goes in Iran, she hears poetry. If there were a contest between reciting the Koran in Arabic and reading memorized poetry in Persian, the poetry would win out.

"Check the Computer, Mom"

Misha Cornes writes in Adotas, an interactive media newsletter, about the digital divide and the senior online set.

"My mom is 64. On those rare occasions when I send her an email, with, say, my flight information, I have to call her first to let her know to “check the computer”. Her PC sits in the far part of the house, under a plastic cover, and is connected to the Internet via a painfully slow dial-up connection.

My dad is even worse. At 66, he refuses to learn to type, and he is the kind of executive who still has his assistant print out emails to read at his desk.

Well let me paint a different picture. There are 11.5 million Seniors who regularly access the Internet, defined as those 65 or older.
Jupiter expects that number to double by 2010. Whereas only a third of the Senior population is regularly online today, in 2010, online Seniors will represent half of the total Senior population.

They’re educated and affluent. The divide between online Senior consumers and their offline counterparts mirrors other age groups. The have more disposable income and are more likely to have a college degree. They are also more likely to be married or living with a partner.


They’re not all watching 60 Minutes. Seniors use email, send e-greetings, and share photos at nearly the same rates as the general online population.

So how are Seniors different? Simply put, they don’t have the same trust in technology that we find in younger consumers. It’s no surprise that in a recent Forrester survey, only 25% of Seniors somewhat or completely agreed that “Technology has made my life easier”. Only 18% agree that “The Internet helps me get ahead in life”. They can perceive the Web as an intimidating technology barrier, rather than as a source of knowledge or productivity.

Bill Remembers the Details of the Books We Read

Last night I enjoyed a few laughs with one of my oldest and best friends, Bill Hewitt. There is something that is so wonderful about old friends...the kind who really know you, remember stuff, and who get the joke--every time.

We watched the Florida Gators trounce the Ohio State Buckeyes. I don't usually watch college football, but this was the national championship, and in some ways it isn't really about the game...it's more about hanging with an old friend, and laughing about the silliness of the 'pageantry, the magesty' of the halftime show, and what the players do to eachother. In college, unlike the pros, you see so many late hits, so many cheap shots, it's like these guys are all so pumped up, they just can't be civil, and as a result, get penalized many yards for unnecessary late hits and facemask penalties. Their exhuberance makes the games more fun to watch.

Another thing I like about Bill--he reads the books I lend him. Last night we had fun talking about a book I just loved. Jeffery Tayler's "River of No Reprieve" that is about a journey down the Lena river in Siberia in an inflatable boat. Bill remembered so many of the details, such as what the Siberians call the Muscovites and the whole West--the Materiak--and we chuckled over the scenes such as the village where, even from the river, the author could tell that everyone in the town was drunk as a skunk.

Yep--old friends are the most valuable thing anyone can hope to keep and cherish. I am sure glad I've got mine.

Separate Sleeping Zones are In for 2007

I found two items in the local newspaper that were interesting yesterday.

One was a story in the Republican's Home section about trends in bedrooms. It seems that MacMansions are going out of style...people are not asking for 5000 square foot homes anymore, the new trend is smaller, cozier, and rooms that do more. In the bedroom, another trend has become dominant. Two sleeping zones, one for Her and one for the snoring Him. We know more than a few couples who long ago stopped sleeping in the same bed, not for lack of intimacy, just that one of them snores so loud the other can't sleep. So these new house designers are making a master chamber with two beds, when the earplugs won't cut it.

Then I saw a story by Larry McDermott, the publisher of the same newspaper. He said that in the top ten stories for 2006, the editors chose the election of Deval Patrick. But this wasn't the story most read on the paper's website--that honor goes to a story about a family who sued after they found the bride proffered in an arranged marriage was ugly and had buck teeth. Now that's the story people really wanted to read and share. Another editor explained..."that's a 'hey Martha!' story, one that you can call out to share with your wife or the folks at the office.

Makes me wonder though why there is such a difference between what the editors think is good for the readers and what the readers are actually most interested in.

Now That's a Latte!

 
This latte was picked up in one of the 800 cafes Goteborg, Sweden.

Writing a Yearly Letter to a Dear Godmother

Today was a good day to catch up with someone special. I have a tradition that every year my godmother Caro sends me a Christmas check. And in return I write her a very long, old fashioned snail mail letter, telling her everything I've done over the past year. It's an instructive exercise, and this year I included many photos, including this one, showing a cozy cafe in Sweden where Cindy and I went last month.

Looking back at trips to Cyprus, Sonoma, Malaysia, Austria, Greenland and Sweden was fun, and each one gave me something to remember. Plain old personal letters are way too rare these days, so I was happy to post one to my beloved Aunt Caro today.

Today Show Misses the Big Weather Point

I get emails from a guy named "Riff" called Real Media Riffs. Today's post chastised the mainstream media for their blase attitude toward global warming. He begins with a new issue of Yankee Magazine---the cover shows a tot with snow falling around him "Snow Days where to go, why we love them." They should have read their own weather predictions!

"Like most Northeasterners, we've experienced occasional spells of freakishly warm weather, but what we're witnessing now is no Indian summer. It's more like an endless summer.

The media are often criticized for missing the most important stories in any given year. If Al Gore is right, they may be missing the most important story of our species. And that cover line may read: "Inhabitable For Humanity."

Sure, big media covers the story every once in a while, but most of it is either out-there, alarmist stuff, or prosaic pedestrian journalism.

Global warming is the biggest story ever. It should be the lead story every day, and there should be an acute media focus on exactly what our society is doing to address the issue: what the government and industry are doing, and what we as citizens are doing.

If NBC's "Today" show coverage of the phenomenon is any indication, not much.

In a segment entitled "Why the wacky weather this winter?" on this morning's edition of "Today," anchor Meredith Vieira gushes, "Now to what can only be described as wacky winter weather," and asks, "Has the world been turned upside down?"

NBC News correspondent Lisa Daniels goes on to report, "Ice skating without jackets in Central Park. Cherry blossoms in Washington D.C. in January. What's going on here?" The segment then cuts to a woman-on-the-street interview in which a sunny- dispositioned global warming fan admits, "I enjoy it. I think it's great."

Ashley Will Never Grow Up--On Purpose

I took a break after cooking dinner (a rarity my daughter often points out) and came downstairs to read the Guardian UK on the 'net. A story about how a family chemically caused their paralyzed 9-year old daughter to stop growing up caught my eye.

"The cause of the controversy is the "Ashley Treatment" - a course of surgery and hormone supplements devised for her at her parents' request and with the blessing of doctors - that will for ever keep her small. It involves surgical operations, including a hysterectomy, and hormone prescriptions that will, in effect, freeze-frame her body at its current size.

Although she has a normal life expectancy, she will, physically, always be nine years old. Her growth has been suspended at 4ft 5in, rather than the 5ft 6in she would probably otherwise have become. Her weight will stick at around 75lb rather than 125lb.

This week Ashley's parents, who have chosen to remain anonymous and have only let it be known that they are "college-educated professionals" living in Washington state, have posted on the internet a lengthy explanation of their desire to stunt her growth.

She was diagnosed, they explain, with brain damage with unknown causes just after birth and has remained at the same developmental level since about three months. Three years ago she began to show early signs of puberty, and they grew anxious about the impact of fertility and of her rapidly increasing size and weight on the quality of her life. In discussions with doctors at Seattle Children's hospital they devised the treatment: removal of Ashley's uterus to prevent fertility, excision of early buds on her chest so that she would not develop breasts, and medication with high doses of oestrogen to limit her growth by prematurely fusing the growth plates of her bones.

Debate has raged among doctors and medical ethicists. Jeffrey Brosco of Miami University has co-written an editorial in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine criticising the procedure as an experiment without proper research controls. "This is a technological solution to a social problem. I work with severely disabled children and know how hard it is on families, but what we need most is better federal funding so that they can be cared for properly."

The ethical row is likely to deepen as the Seattle doctors, led by Daniel Gunther, say they are considering other children for similar treatment, though only after monitoring by the hospital's ethics committee.

Ashley cannot say what she thinks. But in a telephone interview with the Guardian last night, her father said that many people had assumed he and his wife had to agonise over their decision.

"We didn't. It was easy," he said. "We clearly saw the benefits to Ashley's quality of life. We have also been criticised for harming Ashley's dignity. But for us, what would be grotesque would be to allow a fully formed woman to grow up, lying helplessly and with the mentality of a three-month-old."

Fate of Gloucester's Fisherman Told in Film

A few nights ago I found a documentary on public television about the Gloucester fishing business. The story portrayed several of the members of the communitie's fishing families, who have struggled in recent years as catches have declined, and the federal government has had to step in.

In the late 1970s, a law was passed that forced foreign factory ships out at least 200 miles from shore. This was an attempt to regain the stocks that had plunged after these huge ships vacuumed all life from parts of the sea.

Afterwards, the federal government began loaning out easy money, to get American fisherman to build bigger boats and pursue the same area themselves. As the fleet grew and grew, the catch began to decline, and then it was again time to do something.

The Conservation Law Foundation sued the Marine Fisheries Division for not doing anything to help the groundfish stocks. A judge ruled that there would be a 50% reduction in fishing days. Gloucester's Mayor swung into action. In the film you see this powerful and unflinching public servant, making speeches, getting Ted Kennedy to come and make a speech, and working valiantly to save the fishermen's livelihoods. Rarely has a politician done so much so selflessly, and it was really a poignant thing to see.

The mayor and the advocates prevailed and the judge changed the ruling to only 20% less days at sea. Still, over the years since the fish stocks have still gone down, and many fishermen have given up the pursuit.

Still a Thrill to See My Story in the Advocate

As the winter that didn't yet happen moves into January, I had a chance to relive the real winter of 2004 when I traveled to Whitefish Montana for a press trip. There I skiied Big Mountain on skis and snowcycles, went dogsledding, explored Glacier National Park and and did some icy cross-country skiing.

I was pleased yesterday to pick up the Valley Advocate and find a version of the story I wrote for GoNOMAD on their pages. They have a new sports column, focusing on the alternative view of sports, not so much balls as activities like skiing, running and other pursuits. I guess my piece was right for the space. Tom Vannah selected a photo of a Bighorn sheep hopping on a rock from Getty Images that was shot in Glacier National Park, where part of the story took place.

Remembering back to the olden days of the late '70s when I worked at the Advocate it is a real treat to now be a contributor. In those days I used to write music reviews and other articles. I remember once I went up to Flat Street nightclub in Brattleboro to do a piece about Stephane Grapelli, the jazz violinist. I brought two women with me, and the guy at the door sighed. Then he said 'oh well, you gotta have the press,' and let us through for free. It's been that way ever since!

Through all of the successive decades that paper has come out every week, and while it has changed, it's always had a loyal readership--despite being free, most people pick it up and read.

A Smaller WSJ? We Still Won't Read It

Today is the big day, or should I say, the small day for the Wall Street Journal. In a bid to gain 'younger readers' they've slimmed down the paper, knocking 3 1/2 inches off papers gargantuan width. Gordon Crovitz, the publisher, said that focus groups indicated that this made the paper more convenient and literally handier. It's free on many newsstands today and you can even log into their website (gasp!) for free.

But as usual, the multimillion dollar change misses the point. Younger readers!? Yeah right. They are not going to gain younger readers unless they offer to read the paper to them while these youngsters multitask. The point is that it is TIME that is short, it isn't the size of the thing. It's that it comes at you six days a week, an unending onslaught of paper, younger readers will continue to just go to the web --they aren't stretching out in their easy chairs with their pipes and slippers reading the newly designed WSJ!

Yesterday the editors and reporters union took out a $110,000 ad in the NY Times decrying that this new size "also means a smaller news product and diminished quality." Among their claimed beefs is a 400% increase in their health insurance costs and staff cutbacks. It's a slow and steady downward spiral, and cutting the size ain't gonna fix that.

That's the Smell of Cooking Memory

Memories are fickle. I found this out twice when I thought I'd just easily increase my computer's RAM by adding two new 1 Gig sticks. Easy enough, right? Just unscrew the case and pop out the lighter ones, then put in the new ones and feel the surge of power. NOT! Last week I put in one of the new sticks, and then fired up the machine. A burning smell was quickly present, with wisps of smoke. Egad! I opened it back up to see that one of the slots had scorched the new memory. So I sent it back and replaced the lighter one.

This week in my mail came the replacement for the cooked memory stick. I did the same thing, then smelled that teen spirit and again, zap, I had cooked my computer. Egrggghhh!!

So now Joe has my new computer, purloined from my fleet of five cafe units, and we'll just have to limp by with four, and I will start all over again with a 'new' computer. Funny, I had thought it would be so easy, and it's turned into a huge headache instead. Makes me think, maybe I should be happy with all the speed I already had!

Sarah Ayers Was the Star of First Night

Last night we went out on the town of Bethlehem, with our friends Trudy and Graham whom we're visiting in their spacious new house in Northampton, PA. Like the other events across the US, First Night offers dozens of musical and comedy acts. We began in an old ice house by the Monocacy creek, listening to the Ultrakings, a rockabilly trio. Then we saw a few folk artists performing in the entranceway to a Comfort Inn, a sad choice of venue since oncoming hotel patrons walked in front of them as they sang "Jerusalem," which was our NMH class hymn so I knew the words.

But one group stood out from all the rest---The Sarah Ayers Band. Fronted by the smiling Sarah with a black sleeveless top and glittering bling, from the moment they began their set you could just about peer inside of her soul. She sang a bittersweet song about loving a man who rejects her, and the pain of trying so hard in vain to get him back. Her words matched her pitch, she had a powerful and clear voice, and her three musicians were sparse and crisp. With their shoulder-length hair and tight chops, I thought they must do this music full-time, or in as studio cats.

Sarah moved on to songs about drugs, singing variations on 'I'm addicted to you,' despite her mother's protestations about her lyrics. Then she sang in her clear powerful voice about abuse--'don't put your hands on me' and finally, about her young daughter in a late-night paen to get her to fall back sleep. "Cassidy, it's 3 am, you're awake again, please, please sleep again." She moved on to some choice covers, Norah Jones, Sheryl Crow, and a fine rendition of White Rabbit, doing this classic tune a respectable turn.

We drove home in the rain and as the clock turned over to 12:00, we didn't blow noisemakers or cheer. We watched a movie til 2:20 am and it was, looking back, a worthy New Year's Eve.

You're Never Too Old To Be a Porn Star

Debbie, known as De'Bella, has a day job as an administrative assistant in the sex business, but one day decided that she too wanted to get in front of the camera. She's 50, and still looks pretty hot, so she now makes porn movies joining a large number of oldsters who have spawned a new niche market---older women. Today's Sunday NY Times includes a story by Sharon Waxman on this phenomenon, titled 'the Graying of Naughty.'

Part of the reason has been the popularity of TV shows like Desperate Housewives, songs like 'Stacey's Mom,' and the prevelence of MILF sites that feature Moms we'd like to ....., well you get the point.

"The market for beautiful, airbrushed women 'is oversaturated' said director Urban Martin, 'this is more normal people, more meat on the bone, like what you have at home."

The article says the biggest fans of the older women genre are young men fulfilling boyhood fantasies of teacher lust or wanting to do their friend's moms. This and a backlash from the tired old 'young helpless teen thing.'

Not only are women getting into sex on camera in their 40s and 50s, men too are popping Viagra and shooting sex scenes. Ron Jeremy, the most well-known and well-endowed porn star, is still shooting at 53. And at 66, Dave Cummings bills himself as the oldest porn star around.

He said he only needs Viagra 'when I'm working for a producer who's very demanding, or if he has to do back-to-back sex scenes. One of his videos showed him leaning on a walker, in this DVD he and his other senior buds all have sex with a 19-year-old.