Friday, April 27, 2007

Help Save Internet Radio - A Response from Senator Bob Corker

This is a follow up from my previous post. Senator Bob Corker and his team have responded to me regarding Internet radio. His response is below:

Thank you for contacting my office to share your concerns about the increase of music royalty rates. Your input is important to me, and I appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts.

As you may know, all decisions regarding music royalty rates are determined by three judges appointed to the Copyright Royalty Board. On March 2, 2007, the board set new rates for webcasting between 2006-2010. In response, internet radio operators requested a rehearing and postponement of the May 15th deadline by which they would be expected to pay the new rates. The rehearing request was rejected by the Copyright Royalty Board who stated that new evidence had not been presented to support reconsideration of the ruling.

Like you, I agree that the implications of this ruling need to be considered, and I assure you that I will continue to monitor the situation. Should relative legislation come before the United States Senate, I will certainly take into consideration your concerns.

Thank you again for your letter. I hope you will continue to share your thoughts with me over the next six years.

Sincerely,

Bob Corker
United States Senator

Initials/kr

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

New Site to Check Out: Jott.com - Mobile Note Taking

Alright, so I finally got off the computer for a little while tonight to go and have a drink at Swig.

While there I learned about a huge web site that you have to check out! It's called Jott.com.

It's free and it allows you to call a 1-800-# and leave messages for yourself. Those messages are then turned into an e-mail that is sent to you.

That way, when you're away from home and you think of something that you'd just love to write down, but can't, you can just call Jott. The messages will all be waiting when you get back home.

I haven't tried it yet, but I just know that I'll like it. I'll try to let you know how it turns out!

(I must say that it's amazing the sites that are floating around out there besides Google...! hehe.)

Monday, April 23, 2007

MSNBC: Gender pay gap begins 1 year after college

Interesting article on MSNBC.com today... What can I say? Learn to negotiate! :~)

NEW YORK - Women make only 80 percent of the salaries their male peers do one year after college; after 10 years in the work force, the gap between their pay widens further, according to a study released Monday.

The study, by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, found that 10 years after college, women earn only 69 percent of what men earn.
...
The organization found that women’s scholastic performance was not reflected in their compensation. Women have slightly higher grade point averages than men in every major, including science and math. But women who attend highly selective colleges earn the same as men who attend minimally selective colleges, according to the study.
...

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Happy Earth Day

Happy Earth Day!
Wikipedia defines Earth Day as "... a name used by two different observances held annually in the (northern) spring, both intended to inspire awareness of and appreciation for the Earth's environment. The United Nations celebrates Earth Day each year on the vernal (March) equinox; while a global observance in many countries is held each year on April 22."

I love Google's Earth Day logo today:


Help Save Internet Radio!

I don't typically post many call to actions here in my blog, but there's something today that I would like for you to consider:

As you may have heard, recent US legislation has tripled the royalty fees that are placed on Internet radio. This legislation threatens to force out sites that offer streaming radio for free.

Included would be sites like http://www.pandora.com/ (LOVE Pandora) and http://www.allmemphismusic.com/ (I work on this one).

If you love Internet radio as much as I do, you NEED to sign the Saving Internet Radio petition. It will send a custom letter from you to your representative expressing your concern.

Without heading down too much of a rant, when radio first started, it was very entrepreneurial... since, it's become corporate. The Internet is very much the same; humble beginnings resembled the wild west. Since then, more rules and regulations (admittedly, some are necessary) make the Internet a more controlled and corporate place to surf. It's important that something as basic as streaming music is preserved in a way that's affordable for everyone, not just a select few.

I filled the letter out and messages were sent on my behalf to Senator Lamar Alexander, Senator Bob Corker, and Representative Steve Cohen, all from Tennessee.

Thanks to Towform for bringing this site to my attention!

Happy Listening!

Monday, April 16, 2007

Don't Forget Cone Day: Ben & Jerry's

Don't forget to stop by your local Ben & Jerry's tomorrow for their annual Cone Day, where you can get a free Ben & Jerry's ice cream cone!



If you're in Memphis, you have 3 choices for locations:


SHOP ADDRESS
DISTANCE



1 Ben & Jerry's Beale Street
175 Peabody Place
Memphis, TN 38103

0.6 mi (0.9 Km)
2 Ben & Jerry's East Memphis
5007 Black Road
Space #110
Memphis, TN 38117

9.2 mi (14.8 Km)
3 Ben & Jerry's Germantown
The Village Shops of Forest Hill
9155 Poplar Ave., Suite 14
Germantown, TN 38138

17.6 mi (28.3 Km)

Friday, April 13, 2007

Angie's Memphis Food -- My Google Maps

Google has added the ability to create and edit your own Google map, more easily than the mashup concept that I mentioned yesterday.

I've created "Angie's Memphis Food" for your next dining adventure-- check it out!

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Google Maps Mashups -- Housing and Wine

I just love the Google Maps mashups that everyone seems to be doing these days!

I've even heard there's a new version out that allows users with little programming knowledge to put together their favorite things on a Google Map.

In the meantime, here are a couple of the interesting maps that I've found...

Housing Maps . com -- http://www.housingmaps.com/ -- Someone has put together the Craigslist postings on for sale and for rent places in major cities. You can see where the place is, map to it, look at pictures of it, etc. It's great and I highly recommend checking it out if you'll be moving anytime soon!

Well, I can't find the other one... it's a vineyard mapping API... if I find it, I'll be sure to share it.

For now though, goodnight!

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Google Earth + Crisis in Darfur - Socially Responsible Technology

I came across the following article today on CNN.com. Google Earth is using their free mapping feature to teach others about the crisis in Darfur. Check it out below.

(For entire article, visit: http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/04/10/google.genocide/index.html.)

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- If you Google the word Darfur, you will find about 13 million references to the atrocities in the western Darfur region of Sudan -- what the United States has said is this century's first genocide.

As of today, when the 200 million users of Google Earth log onto the site, they will be able to view the horrific details of what's happening in Darfur for themselves.

In an effort to bring more attention to the ongoing crisis in Darfur, the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has teamed up with Google's mapping service literally to map out the carnage in the Darfur region.

Experts estimate that 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million more have been displaced since the conflict flared in 2003, when rebels took up arms against the central Sudanese government.

The new initiative, called "Crisis in Darfur," enables Google Earth users to visualize the details in the region, including the destruction of villages and the location of displaced persons in refugee camps. (
Interactive: See how the new technology works)

Elliot Schrage, Google's vice president of global communications and public affairs, joined museum director Sara J. Bloomfield to make the official announcement about the new feature.

"At Google, we believe technology can be a catalyst for education and action," Schrage said. " 'Crisis in Darfur' will enable Google Earth users to visualize and learn about the destruction in Darfur as never before and join the museum's efforts in responding to this continuing international catastrophe."

Sunday, April 08, 2007

Sign Up Now: Free Movie and Servathon!

I'm dropping you a note about two exciting Net Impact opportunities comingup in April! Mark these on your calendar and e-mail me back to sign up!:~)

I'm looking forward to seeing you! Please take the time to come out andget involved in these fun, worthy activities.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FREE MOVIE SHOWING: Iraq for SaleTime: Tuesday, April 17th @ 7:30 PM
Cost: FREE
Location: Power House
Address: 45 G.E. Patterson (near Earnestine & Hazels)
RSVP: E-mail rsvp@memphisnetimpact.org




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hands on Memphis Servathon --
Join Net Impact as we partner with MpactMemphis! We'll be volunteering to help out an organization in Memphis.Our team is "It's All Good" and you can get more details by clicking on the following link.

Time: Saturday, April 21st @ 9 AM
Cost: $20 donation
Location: TBD
RSVP: E-mail rsvp@memphisnetimpact.org


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please forward this to anyone you think may be interested in joining in!


Thank you!

Saturday, April 07, 2007

Guy Kawasaki and the Travel Com Internet Marketing Conference

A quick note before I forget-- I have been gone since Tuesday to the Travel Com Internet Marketing Conference in Las Vegas.

I got back to Memphis this evening (which probably partly explains why it's 3:45 AM right now...).

Anyway, yesterday Guy Kawasaki spoke on how to change the world using technology. I COMPLETELY enjoyed the presentation. It really made the conference worth it for me.

I've heard about Guy many times through a professor that I had at Pepperdine. I've read one of his books (Art of the Start) and I've kept abreast of his blog from time to time, as you may have noticed in a previous post.

I won't post all of my notes here, but I'll say that his Blog is a great reference point. Check it out: http://blog.guykawasaki.com!

Sunday, April 01, 2007

Reason 2,365,901 to Get an Extended Laptop Warranty

My Sony Vaio's hard drive crashed today. It's been acting up lately, which I'll blame my lack of posting on.

It's been randomly restarting and having all sorts of unexplained errors.

Anyway, this afternoon all was explained when the Vaio gave the error message "Hard Drive Crashed. Back Up Data."

After over an hour and a half on the phone with Sony, and three customer service people later, a box is on order.

If you've ever sent a laptop back, you know that the cardboard box is worth gold... once you have convinced them to mail you a box, it's pretty much smooth sailing.

Thank goodness it happened today... my 3 year extended warranty is up in around 3 months.

Whew.