Wednesday, October 24, 2007

Sites we like...Pogue's Imponderables

Do you have the answer to any of NYTimes Technology Writer David Pogue's imponderables?

In his column last Thursday, he posed the following questions to his readers.

October 18, 2007

Pogue’s Imponderables

As a tech writer, I'm in the business of providing answers. Sometimes people ask me questions one at a time ("What camera should I buy?"), and sometimes the substance of the question is implied because I have a tech column ("What's new?").

But I've got a lot of questions, too—a lot of them that I don't have answers for. In fact, I've been keeping a little list.

Some of them are answerless because nobody knows the answer. Some may have answers, but only industry insiders know what they are. And still others are answerless because they're incendiary hot-button issues, and there's no consensus.

I thought: What better way to find the answers than to lay out my list for the reading public?

So here they are: Pogue's Imponderables.

* Why is Wi-Fi free at cheap hotels, but $14 a night at expensive ones?

* What happens to software programs when their publishers go out of business?

* Would the record companies sell more music online if it weren't copy-protected?

* Do cellphones cause brain cancer?

* What's the real reason you have to turn off your laptop for takeoff?

* Why can't a digital S.L.R. camera record video?

* Wi-Fi on airplanes. What's taking so long?

* Who are the morons who respond to junk-mail offers, thereby keeping spammers in business?

* I'm told that they could make a shirt-pocket digital camera that takes pictures like an S.L.R., but it would cost a lot. So why don't they make one for people who can afford it?

* How come there are still no viruses for Mac OS X? If it has 6 percent of the market, shouldn't it have 6 percent of the viruses?

* Do shareware programmers pay taxes on all those $20 contributions?

* How are we going to preserve all of our digital photos and videos for future generations?

* Why are there no federal rebates or tax credits for solar power?

* Why do you have to take tape camcorders out of your carry-on at airport security, but not the tapeless kind? Couldn't you hide a bomb equally well in either one? (Actually, I have about 500 more logic questions about the rules at airport security, but I have a feeling they'll remain answerless for a very long time.)

* Laptops, cameras and cellphones have improved by a thousand percent in the last ten years. Why not their batteries?

* SmartDisplay, Spot Watch, U.M.P.C., Zune… when will Microsoft realize that it's not a hardware company?

* Why don't public sinks have foot pedals?

* Why don't all hotels have check-in kiosks like airlines do?

* Five billion dollars a year spent on ringtones? What the?

* How come cellphone signal-strength bars are so often wrong?

* Do P.R. people really expect anyone to believe that the standard, stilted, second-paragraph C.E.O. quote was really uttered by a human being?

* Why aren't there recycling bins for bottles and cans where they're most obviously needed, like food courts and cafeterias?

* Why doesn't someone start a cellphone company that bills you only for what you use? That model works O.K. for the electricity, gas and water companies —and people would beat a path to its door.

* Why doesn't everyone have lights that turn off automatically when the room is empty?

* What's the deal with Palm?

* Why are so many people rude on the Internet?

If you know the answers, by all means—fill us in at nytimes.com/pogue.



If you have the answer, share them with us and with him. Also - what are the questions that keep you up at night. Post them as well and may be one of our other readers has the answer.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Sites we like...TheBuriedLife.com

“What do you want to do before you die?”

If there was a top ten list of most unusual cocktail party questions, I think this would be one of them. Johnnie, Dave, Duncan and Ben, the four men behind www.theburiedlife.com, are traveling across the country asking ordinary people and celebrities this question while checking off their combined list of 100 things they want to do.

It’s an interesting question. We encourage you to visit their site, make your list, and start moving ideas into action.


Please feel free to leave a comment. What do you want to do before you die?

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Autumn Newsletter on Barnesconti.com

We've released our latest Barnes & Conti Newsletter. You can read it by clicking here.

Articles in this installment include"The dog ate my passport" by Kim Barnes on using influence in a tough situation and "Innovation and Project Management" by Jeffrey Belding. As always, the newsletter includes updates from Barnes & Conti and a delicious recipe.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Where in the world is Kim Barnes...

Hanoi, Vietnam


This is the second in a series of posts from our CEO Kim Barnes. Kim, the author of Exercising Influence: A Guide for Making Things Happen at Work, at Home, and in Your Community (Pfeiffer, 2007), has the opportunity to travel frequently to present our courses throughout the world.

Hanoi is...hot, humid, bustling, noisy (the primary means of outdoor communication is the horn), dynamic, smoggy, full of contrasts, life-threatening to pedestrians. Two hours of it both fascinated me and set my teeth on edge. Bicycles, rickshaws, cars and endless streams of motorbikes jostle for space on the streets and occasionally the sidewalks, which are filled with formal and informal vendors and shops. Sidewalks along the side streets have become parking lots for motorcycles; I have to sidestep along the street in competition with the traffic. Women carrying the traditional baskets slung from a pole vie for space with tourists and young businesspeople talking on their mobile phones. A young basket-carrier asks if i would like to take her photo, knowing that I will then feel obligated to buy her bananas. I am offered rides in taxis, on motorbikes, in rickshaws in between the informal vendors suggesting that I will want to buy whatever they are showing me - one man asks "Why not?" in perfect English when I refuse. A man from Michigan is working the tours desk of the tourist office when I stop to see what might be on offer for a day tour when I am finished with business here. He had a Vietnamese girlfriend in the States, came to visit her family and never left - except for one visit when he was stopped for driving while honking his horn, he said. It was hard to get out of the habit.

There is evidence of the French occupation everywhere, though mostly behind the scenes. huge Gothic cathedral stands near the hotel. A hospital named after Ste. Marie sit behindA shops selling traditional crafts and fruit. The penchant for keeping one's hair dark does not seem to have arrived here as yet, there are many grey-haired people, some bent
from years of work in the fields, I assume - they must find the squads of American tourists amusing, given their memories of the war...