Subject to Change

One of the Cheddarsphere’s favorites is blogging again! Or is it a clever imitation?

Sorry. I think the site is supposed to remain under the radar.

So… Have you counted yet?

I don’t think I can do it with less than 12 squares.

On Friday Jeff Wagner talked about a proposal to curb violence on TV. The idea is to have congress mandate cable ala-carte, which would allow consumers to order individual channels rather than bundled packages. The topic got cut tragically short. Yours truly was the last caller on the subject!

My comment to Jeff was that the V-Chip was supposed to be the answer to inappropriate television. It was a government mandate. In order to pass this new mandate, we’d have to admit that the first government mandate failed. I’m certain that Jeff’s audience recognized the foolishness of chasing one government mistake with another. I also commented that I have no intention of using my V-Chip unless I discover that my son is developing bad TV habits. The point of the comment was to say that I plan to raise my child in such a way that I don’t wonder or worry about what he’s watching on TV.

Later on, I was reflecting on the topic again. This time, I realized something about the concept of charging by the channel. Of course, the public will be sold on the idea that this will help lower cable prices. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the only way to lower your cable prices is to cancel service.

Cable companies have resisted cable ala-carte for as long as I can remember. They’re either stupid or lazy. After the initial investment that restructuring will require, they’ll be making a mint! People will think they’re saving money by selecting only the channels they watch, and most of them won’t even realize they’d be getting a better deal with bundled channels. To prove it to yourself, you need only look at the cell phone market.

Cell phones used to come with games on them. Just try and find that now. You have to buy games now! You can also buy ringtones, and other applications. Most people with cell phones (and cable) have disposable income, and they love to spend it recklessly. The best way to sneak it out from under them is to do it a dollar at a time, and bill them for it later.

Apply this to cable. Basic bundles run in the tens of dollars ($40-50) . Gee, Wally, I can order 90 channels for $50 or I can buy them for a dollar each. What should I do?

If you don’t see the opportunity here, calculate how many channels the cable company needs to sell you at $5 per month in order to exceed their package price. I don’t think they’d have a hard time selling channels a five bucks a pop, either. Then, they just need to sit back and let you get sick of watching The History Channel, Animal Planet, Discover Channel, and Comedy Central. Or, they can make limited time offers for the Disney Channel. You’ll gladly pay a dollar for six months and forget to cancel later on. You’re getting a great deal, right?

There’s no government mandate needed here. Sooner or later the cable companies will figure this out. Until then, we’re all better off anyway.

From BrainyHistory

1492 Columbus is given royal commission to equip his fleet

1798 Department of Navy forms

1803 U.S. doubles in size through Louisiana Purchase

1861 President Lincoln ordered Federal Troops to evacuate Indian Territory

1864 New York becomes 1st state to charge a hunting license fee

1889 George Washington Bridge linking New York City and New Jersey opens

1900 U.S. annexes Hawaii

1904 Ice cream cone makes its debut

1937 General Douglas MacArthur marries Jean Faircloth

1947 Boulder Dam renamed in honor of Herbert Hoover

1955 Element 101, Mendelevium, announced

1973 Nixon announces resignation of H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman

1974 President Nixon hands over partial transcripts of Watergate tape recordings

1986 Ashrita Furman peformed 8,341 somersaults over 12 miles

1997 President Clinton’s daughter Chelsea chooses to attend Stanford College

1997 Big Ben stops at 12:11 PM for 54 minutes

1997 42 million watch “Ellen” admit she is gay

At the Blog Summit, Charlie Sykes talked about his “rule of five.” He clarifies it here. The point of the comment was that any one person’s blog reading time is limited and they have a tendancy to narrow their reading to a handful of favorite blogs.

It’s a concept I’m fully aware of, as the proud entertainer of fifty pairs of prying eyes. That figure has been consistent for long enough that I feel good about having loyal readers and disappointed that my blog has peaked so early.

I agree with the concept of the Rule of Five, but it’s different for me than the way Charlie describes it. I use a feed reader, which allows me to visit all the blogs I read in one easy sitting. The feed reader tells me who has posted material since my last reading and makes it easy to catch up. It has also taught me a few things about when people typically post new material. My personal Rule of Five isn’t a limit on the number of bloggers I read. It’s a limit on the number of posts I can manage to read. On a given day, anybody could write something that catches my eye. I use my sidebar to quickly flag posts that I liked and want to share with the rest of the blogosphere.

Mike Gousha was a great emcee!

Last year, I thought the legal discussion was the most useful information to an active blogger. I think the same was true this year. I just hope that when I get sued I have a jury that understands that although the internet has the potential to reach millions of people, my humble site only reaches a few. My influence extends from me to only a few dozen people crazy enough to care what I have to say.

The “Are all voices being heard” panel really didn’t strike a cord with me, except that all the panelists (including Eugene Kane) were highly entertaining. What I learned from that panel: there are vast numbers of white males in the blogosphere, because white males have more free time. I’m not sure, but I think I’ve been offended. The other thing I heard repeated several times was that minority bloggers felt they needed to be asked to blog. Seriously? I’ve met plenty of minority folk who didn’t need to be asked before they would express their opinions. If you need to be asked to express yourself, then blogging might not exactly be your cup of tea.

There probably is a difference in exposure to the blogosphere. I would imagine that more white males grow up with keyboard in hand. But, what about white females? Could it be that boys and girls really are different and maybe women don’t have an interest in spending unlimited hours at a keyboard? I only have to fire up my laptop and listen to the nagging coming from the next room if I want to answer that question.

The after party was, of course, the best part of the blog summit. I’m not sure if you knew this, but I really enjoy meeting and hanging out with other bloggers. Now that the left and right sides of the Cheddarsphere have finally knocked back a few cold ones together, I hope that we can start seeing more of each other at events like Drinking Right and Drinking Liberally.

My blog day wasn’t finished after the bar, either. Kelly and I were fortunate enough to enjoy the company of a certain masked blogger last evening. We opened a bottle of plum wine and had a very Femcast worthy conversation. I also learned that I’m really no good at Guitar Hero. My fingers just don’t move that fast!

From BrainyHistory

1553 Flemish woman introduces practice of starching linen into England

1715 John Flamsteed observes Uranus for 6th time (*snicker*)

1813 Rubber is patented (*chuckle*)

1834 Charles Darwin’s expedition sees top of Andes from Patagonia (He remarks, “this glacier looks smaller than it did last year.”)

1852 1st edition of Peter Roget’s Thesaurus published (What’s another word for “trivia?”)

1861 Maryland’s House of Delegates votes against seceding from Union (placing Maryland on the winning team)

1905 2″ rain falls in 10 mins in Taylor, Texas (global warming?)

1926 France and U.S. reach accord on repayment of WW I

1927 Construction of Spirit of St. Louis is completed

1945 Terms of surrender of German armies in Italy signed

1945 Japanese army evacuates Rangoon (reading that makes me hungry, for some reason)

1957 1st military nuclear power plant dedicated, Fort Belvoir V

1967 Aretha Franklin releases “Respect”

1974 President Nixon said he will release edited tapes made in White House (expletive deleted)

1976 Minister Irene Vorrink begins fluoridating Dutch drinking water

1981 Phillie Steve Carlton is 1st lefty to strike out 3,000 batters

1990 Wrecking cranes began tearing down Berlin Wall at Brandenburg Gate (Wunderbar!)

1992 Voting ends on choice of Elvis stamps

1992 Jury acquits Los Angeles police officers of beating Rodney King, riots begin

From BrainyHistory

0585 War between Lydia and Media ended by solar eclipse (Likewise, the Iraq war will end when Rosie O’Donnell’s big fat ass eclipses her big fat mouth.)

1503 Battle at Cerignalo: Spanish army under G Cordoba beats France (Pete Rose bets on the French)

1788 Maryland becomes 7th state to ratify constitution

1789 Fletcher Christian leads Mutiny on HMS Bounty and Capt William Bligh

1910 1st night air flight (This one’s for Dan Deibert)

1914 W. H. Carrier patents air conditioner

1919 1st jump with Army Air Corp (rip-cord type) parachute

1937 1st commercial flight across Pacific (Dan, again)

1937 1st animated cartoon electric sign displayed

1939 Hitler claims German-Polish non-attack treaty still in effect (The world breathes a sigh of relief)

1942 “WW II” titled so, as result of Gallup Poll (“WWII” polled slightly higher than “quagmire”)

1958 Vice President Richard Nixon begins goodwill tour of Latin America (Nixon spreads cheer?)

1963 Martin Luther King, Jr. delivers his “I have a dream” speech

1965 U.S. Marines invade Dominican Republic, stay until October 1966

1967 Muhammad Ali refuses induction into army and stripped of boxing title

1988 Aloha Airlines Boeing 737 roof tears off in flight; kills stewardess (sorry, Dan)

1989 Argentina, hit by rocketing inflation, runs out of money (Peter Francis Geraci helps bankrupt country out of debt)

1990 Guns and Roses’ Axl marries Erin Everly, annulled same year

1992 Brewers beat Blue Jays 22-2 with AL record 31 hits in 9 innings

2001 Dennis Tito becomes the first space tourist by paying $20 million to fly on a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station.

In order head off any potential questions tomorrow, I’d like to explain the situation with the podcast. First of all, I haven’t forgotten it. In fact, if you listened to the last one (bless you), you’ll know that I’ve reconfigured all my gear to make podcasting much more comfortable for myself.

The major obstacle is that I’ve always felt the need to continually improve the program: better guests, better topics, more toys, better show prep, etc. Obviously, with a newborn in the house the pressure to justify my time in front of the microphone is even greater. It’s part of “Domestic Harmony Order #65536.”

In the past, I’ve made appeals for assistance from the Cheddarsphere. If you enjoy the podcast, as many of you do, the request is permanent and still outstanding. Instead of asking me “what happened to the podcast?” tomorrow, tell me what you want to do to help out. I’ve got plenty of things I can use a hand with:

Voluteer to be a guest. It would be nice to maybe have some “on call” guests, too.

Suggest or help book a guest.

Help with show prep.

Fill-in hosts. I can put the show on autopilot, to a certain extent. You can fill in for me or Jenna.

Theme music!

I’m also willing to help any aspiring podcasters out, by lending them my equipment virtually. Through the magic of the internet, all I need to do is hit a record button and walk away. Then, I can make your audio files available to you and you can do whatever editing is needed.

From BrainyHistory

1773 British Parliament passes Tea Act

1805 U.S. Marines attack shores of Tripoli

From the Halls of Montezuma
To the shores of Tripoli
We fight our country’s battles
In the air on land and sea.
First to fight for right and freedom
And to keep our honor clean;
We are proud to bear the title
Of United States Marines.

Our flag’s unfurled to every breeze
From dawn to setting sun;
We have fought in every clime and place
Where we could take a gun.
In the snow of far-off Northern lands
And in sunny tropic scenes;
You will find us always on the job –
The United States Marines.

Here’s health to you and to our Corps
Which we are proud to serve;
In many a strife we’ve fought for life
And never lost our nerve.
If the Army and the Navy
Ever look on Heaven’s scenes,
They will find the streets are guarded
By United States Marines.

1861 President Abe Lincoln suspends writ of habeas corpus

1937 U.S. Social Security system makes its 1st benefit payment

1940 Himmler orders establishment of Auschwitz Concentration Camp

1960 1st atomic powered electric-drive submarine launched

1982 Trial of John W. Hinckley, Jr. attempted assassin of Reagan, begins