Commentary on Apple market share/install base [The Macintosh News Network]

I've made this argument, though not as lucidly in many forums. Market share is irrelevant for a profitable company. One should never, I repeat never, sacrifice earnings for market share. Install base, on the other hand, is very relevant, because those are your users/clients/customers/whatever you wanna call them, meaning the people that use your stuff. If they hate using your stuff you are convergently toast, if they love it, you may change the world...

7:09:51 PM  What do you think? ( Thoughts) Who linked? []   

How to change your body's timezone. Great Seattle Times article on some peoples' natural propensity to be early risers and others' to be night owls, and hwo to change from a night-person to a day-person. Good, popularist brain-hacking for the Eastern Standard Tribe.

In college, many people find their optimal rhythm and harness it. Larks join the crew team; owls discover they study best over the midnight oil. These morning folks may be asleep by the time the kegger is raring, but they will be vindicated when it's time to enter the real world. They show up before the boss and look like go-getters. Owls can either find a night-shift job, one with a flexible schedule or reset their body clock to join the 9-to-5-ers.

A body-clock mismatch also can be hard on lovebirds. If she wakes up on New York time but his clock is set on Pacific, she'll view him as lazy, and he'll grow bored spending evenings alone.

Link [Boing Boing]

6:57:48 PM  What do you think? ( Thoughts) Who linked? []   

Excuse me while I take this chain off my neck.

Okay, here's what I wrote a few hours ago:

Look at all the people who didn't get this joke.

Cuz, like, I'm sure it's a joke, right? Right? I mean, it's April the Uno. Foolishness time.

But I just got a call from somebody on The Inside at Google.

Doc?

Yes.

It's not a joke.

You're kidding.

No. It's not a joke.

Holy shit.

I gotta go.

So, am I the only one who thought this was a joke?

Just when I think I've given all the PR advice a former PR guy who's still a journalist can give, here's one more: If you're gonna shake the Earth with an unexpected announcement, don't pick the one day out of 365 (or this year, 366) when everybody's yanking everybody else's chain, okay?

[The Doc Searls Weblog]

Actually, I think it's brilliant to introduce an unbelievable offer in April's Fool. You get a lot of publicity. First the news, then the denial as a joke and then the denial of the denial... which ends up being a pretty good prank if you think about it...

3:31:42 PM  What do you think? ( Thoughts) Who linked? []   

Todd Gross, a weatherman from a local Boston station, points out a very interesting weather note (thanks Joe):

A Hurricane/Typhoon/Cyclone (pick a name, they don't have them down there, and all 3 storms are the same) struck southern Brazil coming off the S. Atlantic. The only problem... HURRICANES HAVE NEVER FORMED IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC IN MODERN DAY RECORD KEEPING!.  Well, the absolutely biggest clue to global climate change "might" be a Hurricane in the S. Atlantic, indicating that sea temperatures and/or circulation patterns have shifted.  The Hurricane in Brazil this past weekend (3,000 homeless) while only category 1 or 2, is one of the most important weather events ever to happen on Earth in your lifetime. It may or may not be a signal of further changes in global climate in decades ahead, but it is fascinating nonetheless.

Given the recent DoD report on rapid climate change (mini ice age) and its impact on world security, this is an interesting datapoint. [John Robb's Weblog]

This is a very worrying development for climate change. I'm surprised how it has been downplayed here (we are close to the South Atlantic, after all). Here is some more info abou this.

11:02:49 AM  What do you think? ( Thoughts) Who linked? []   

US vows to catch Falluja killers. Paul Bremer pledges justice for four Americans killed and mutilated in a horrific attack in Falluja. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

I doubt they can catch the killers, but they have films of the riots and corpse desecration. Can they do anything about that? It seems that the area is not under control...

9:53:30 AM  What do you think? ( Thoughts) Who linked? []   

Google unveils Gmail. Widely anticipated for some time now, Google has officially launched its e-mail service. The advertising-supported service will include 1GB of free storage along with robust search capability. By Eric Bangeman. [Ars Technica] "If this isn't an April Fools' joke, Google is rapidly trying to transform itself into the 800-pound gorilla of portal sites with its recent redesign and official launch of Froogle, its shopping engine. Let the portal wars begin."

If this is a April's Fool joke it has been brilliantly executed. A lot of people have been fooled...

Google plans rival e-mail service. Google, the world's most popular internet search engine, takes on Yahoo and MSN Hotmail with Gmail. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]

I doubt this is an April's Fool joke (but, what do I know?).

9:28:46 AM  What do you think? ( Thoughts) Who linked? []