Archive for May, 2004

Battle numbers

« 25 May 2004 | 12:41 | America, politics | No Comments »

Zogby’s batteground states poll.
My guess is, we’re seeing the theory that the underdog has greater incentive to be active earlier. But still, it’s encouraging. In fact, it must happen.

IHT: Sony Stumbles

« 25 May 2004 | 12:22 | biznomics, sonystyle | 1 Comment »

Lest I ruin the rest of my day, I’ll just post quotes:
Howard Stringer, 62, Sony’s vice chairman and head of the company’s U.S. divisions, says executives were so concerned about music piracy that they couldn’t agree with designers on the kind of player to create.

Now, Sharp leads Sony in unit sales of flat-panel TVs, according [...]

DAJ Fundraiser at Roti

« 24 May 2004 | 13:21 | politics, tokyo life | No Comments »

Family friend Bill Campbell runs Hotei Wines, and they’re helping out this week with the DAJ. Check it:

Why the Guardian?

« 24 May 2004 | 13:15 | America, law, politics | No Comments »

As BubbleGeneration points out, why did it take the Guardian?
George Bush’s ineffective leadership is a weapon of mass destruction…
Read Nick Berg’s dad’s story.

music downloads

« 24 May 2004 | 12:47 | biznomics, music | No Comments »

First Walmart, then Coca-Cola.
Now Oxfam. Anybody else?
Although the tipping point – of when the number of tracks owned by 3rd parties is greater than the number owned by Big Record Label (C) – may not come for some time, this is as good a sign as any that we’ll be singing “nah nah nah-nah, [...]

Games of the future?

« 12 May 2004 | 10:16 | geekery, media | No Comments »

The much anticipated Nintendo DS and Sony PSP are out! I’m still digesting, but I just may be convinced to pick one up – the last portable game player I owned was the Sega Gamegear…

Joining the Imperial family

« 11 May 2004 | 12:18 | Japan, law, politics, tokyo life | No Comments »

As mentioned briefly here, Princess Masako has been rather stressed, depressed, and in not so great health for the past year+. In the Prince’s announcement yesterday, he made it clear her ill-health was largely a fact of Imperial duties and not being able to maintain a career, let alone essentially function as a “normal [...]

Article flurry

« 10 May 2004 | 15:44 | America, diary, macnuttery, politics, scitech | 1 Comment »

Wow, I didn’t think I could’ve missed so much on the ‘net. Tons of catching up to do.

Sharing Playlists

« 10 May 2004 | 12:33 | geekery, macnuttery, music | No Comments »

The value of music is changing. Songs are being commoditized. Old farts and fat cats just don’t seem to understand – iPod competitors think battery life, storage space, and song prices are the weapons. Glad to see Apple is not in this group. Not convinced iTunes’ “Share Playlists” feature makes any [...]

Back to the grind

« 10 May 2004 | 12:00 | diary, travel | No Comments »

I’m back from a wonderful vacation visiting friends in San Francisco and Palo Alto. Pictures to be posted soon. In the meantime, the Stata Center has been making news since the recent dedication. Here’s a collection of some good photos.