Magical software: For you Tiger OS Xers (OS X Tigers?), here’s a gee-whiz thing I just discovered because I live with a 14-year-old. Add the Sing That iTune widget to your Dashboard. Then go to iTunes and under the radio tab, start streaming RCN 9412. Then, open the dashboard and be amazed when the lyrics of any song playing magically appear. (It works with any iTunes song where it can track down lyrics, however, it’s rather magical to see it work with a radio stream.) Also, how the 14-year-old became a classic rock fan, I’ll never know.

On a related note, while not nearly as cool as a widget that automagically looks up Lynard Skynard lyrics, Khoi Vinh today discovered a cool thing to do with a couple of Macs on a train.

How many engineering graduates does it take? To figure out how many engineering graduates there are. The WSJ’s Numbers Guy has figured out one thing: The U.S. doesn’t lag China and India in engineering graduates as much as we’ve been led to believe.

If Miss America moves to Nashville: I think Gretchen Wilson should host it.

Here she comes, Miss America? Remember that rumor about the Miss America pageant moving to Nashville. Well, it’s leaving Atlantic City and because it is now being broadcast by CMT, some speculate that Nashville may become its home. I think, also, that our fair city has an edge due to the number of hair dressers it has who are experienced in doing big hair.

If CMT were still owned by Gaylord, I could see it happening — a nexus of travel, tourism and media interests all focused on the right market demographic. However, Miss America is deep in debt and will be looking for a major bailout from any new hometown. And, frankly, CMT is a New York-based business, not a Nashville one. I doubt we’ll be hearing Nashville city officials and the Chamber of Commerce, in the midst of a referendum vote in which citizens are being encouraged to pass a tax increase to support education, making any announcements related to tax-breaks, incentives or subsidies being handed out to the Miss America Pageant.

By the way, does Bert Parks still host the pageant?

But, then, I’ve been wrong before.

Why I’m not a war blogger: Just when I thought I had a fix on who was fighting whom in Iraq, I learned that Shiites were fighting Shiites. I was confused by this at first, but then I remembered I grew up a Southern Baptist.

The anti-splog manifesto: Doc Searls declares a war on splogs which is short for blog spam, “automated” blogs that point to other blogs with the goal of driving up search engine results, or as they call it, “search engine optimization” (SEO).

Quote:

I suggest that everybody in the search engine business, including all the Static Web and Live Web companies I listed above, pool their knowledge and expertise, and beat a cancer that (in my humble but considered opinion) threatens the whole Live Web, including blogging in particular and frequently updated free content in general. Across the search engine marketplace, there is an enormous amount of duplicated effort fighting splogs and other forms of blog spam. There is also an open source solution to this: share the know-how. Even the data (perhaps through a public list of offenders).

Observation: I’ve noticed some weird sites pointing this way so now I know what they are and why they do it. Much like trackback spam, I suppose, which I notice is cropping up here also. Good luck to Doc on his call for Anti-splog Storm Troopers.

Why do people who purchase things online ignore negative feedback? Two words - “cognitive dissonance” says Seth Godin. Translation: For the same reason your former best friend married that jerk even after you pointed out that obvious fact.

(rexblog helper link - wikipedia: cognitive dissonance)

How I pack underwear: Some people make it onto the pages of Business 2.0 because of their professional accomplishments. Others (like on page 129 of the September issue, headline: “A Sock Drawer to Go”) make it for our somewhat obsessive business-travel packing hack (My hack: Purchase everything on this page.) (If you’re a subscriber, I believe the article is available here.)

What Washington Post columnist Robert MacMillan said: “‘I really like reading your blog,’ a reader recently wrote to me.
There must be some mistake, I thought. Random Access is a column. Well, a column or blog is in the eye of the reader.”

(via: romenesko)

My final Condé Nast business magazine punditry: In adding updates to my earlier post on the topic pointing to new coverage of the announcement, it appears the focus has been on the “tough time in the business advertising category” angle and that “Condé Nast is known for upscale fashion magazines” angle.

Both of those completely miss the point. So, let’s back away from Manhattan and see what we have.

Business advertising is exploding — maybe not in the tight community of the national business magazines noted, but Google demonstates daily that businesses will buy advertising if you prove its direct value — and, if you can figure out a way to generate revenue from smaller advertisers who could not previoiusly afford it. Alot of Google’s success is coming from local business advertising. The early coverage of the Condé Nast announcement fails to note that the company is owned by a very large media company that owns a vast network of local business weekly newspapers and a wide swath of daily newspapers with local business news sections. That same media company owns businesses that are savvy business-to-business players, as well. That same media company owns a rather potent online brand called “wired news” as well. That same media company owns other businesses that are savvy in business-related events and custom publishing. On-and-on. I’m sure there are silos there, but this is a group of people who know how to make money. The know “business.” (I’ll skip the obvious knowledge they have of creating magazines that really matter to people.)

Also, no where in the announcement did I see anything about Condé Nast starting a business news magazine — yet that’s where the “not the right time” remarks are directed. (Typical of the coverage, in an article suggesting the magazine is going to be like Fortune, the WSJ includes this quote from the editor recruited to develop the book, “This is exciting because it’s an opportunity to create something totally new, without any preconceived notions about what a business magazine should or shouldn’t be.”) They could be starting a “Lucky” for business for all we know — and, frankly, they should. (Come to think of it, that would NOT be without precedent in the Condé Nast family). What about an Architectural Digest for business. A business Vogue? Take off your blinders, pundits.

That’s all the punditry I’ll be providing on this topic. I am officially retiring from the Condé Nast beat.

What Nick Bradbury said: (About Apple’s “opaqueness”): “One way or another, people will talk to you.”

Craig’s (book) list: Craig Newmark, founder and chairman of craigslist, suggests some books for “inspiration and sound advice” for those thinking about launching a new venture or expanding an existing business.

AOL news has mojo - not: (From Search Engine Watch) “AOL News has quietly and quickly sprinted into a leading news search engine, joining Yahoo News, Google News and Topix.net as a primary destination for online news.”

Observation: Using the term “tennessee titans” as a control, the rexblog-labs just conducted a five-minute benchmarking study that reveals the AOL news search not ready for prime time — even when I chose “date” as the sort-option, the most recent story is from 8/23. Hands down winner with my control term: Topix.net’s dedicated “Titans Channel” complete with RSS feed)

(via: PaidContent.org)