It’s all about control

I am not new to blogging.  At one point, in the distant past, I used Blogger as my blog hosting site.  It was recommended to me by an acquaintance who knew of my interest in writing but my inability to come up with enough of a story line to sustain a novel.  Blogger was free and so I signed up for a blog on blogger, which basically got me into the “sport” of blogging.

But as I became more proficient at it, I also became more particular about the appearance of my blog and, thus, more demanding of my hosting site.  With Blogger, I began to have difficulties with the formatting of the blog postings.  They didn’t always look the way I envisioned (or wanted).  So I did some research and found another blog hosting site called Typepad.

Typepad is not free.  In fact, it’s $4.95 per month, or $49.95 per year, to use it as a blog hosting site.  After looking into it, I decided to spring for the annual option and started a new blog with Typepad.  My rationale was that “you get what you pay for,” and since I was somewhat dissatisfied with the free Blogger web hosting site, I figured that if I paid for a site, I should expect more from it, including being able to exercise more control over the appearance of my blog.

All went well until, for personal reasons, I very suddenly stopped blogging.  In fact, all evidence of my ever having been a blogger on Typepad, or on Blogger for that matter, was removed.  Poof!

Truth be told, I found that I enjoyed blogging.  And I missed posting my thoughts and opinions in a blog.  So after a short hiatus as a blogger, I decided to start a new blog.  And this time I thought I’d try yet another free site, WordPress.

Any time you select a different blog hosting site, there is a bit of a learning curve and there are certain nuances about the particular hosting site that you have to get accustomed to.  It’s not rocket surgery or brain science, but it takes a while to find all of the ways in which to exploit the hosting sites features and functionality.  What I found so far in my relatively brief exposure to WordPress is that it is “okay” compared to Typepad.  Perhaps WordPress is a step up from Blogger, but I still prefer Typepad.

Again, the old adage, “you get what you pay for” seems true when it comes to blog hosting sites.  At least that’s my experience.  I’m rather persnickety when it comes to the look and feel of my blog.  I want it to be just right. What I’ve found with WordPress is that it comes close to being just right, but doesn’t quite get there.  And so, after a brief stay at WordPress, I am going to once again switch to Typepad.  Yes, it’s fifty big ones a year, but it works for me.

I’m going to keep the same name for my blog, “Mindful Digressions.”  I’m going to attempt to import all of my WordPress posts to my new Typepad blog so that they are viewable from the new venue.  To get to my new blog, click on the link to the right, or type www.doobster418.typepad.com in your web browser address field.

I hope to see you there.

Oh Verizon Wireless, wherefore art thou WiFi?

Let me start out by saying that I have been a Verizon Wireless customer for many years.  I switched maybe seven or eight years ago from what was then called Cingular Wireless (now AT&T) because, with Cingular, calls kept dropping.  With Verizon Wireless, it is very rare, indeed, when a call gets dropped.  And contrary to the AT&T commercials, I have found that I have “more bars in more places” not with AT&T, but with Verizon Wireless.

The new Verizon Wireless BlackBerry Tour is not WiFi enabled

My one beef with Verizon Wireless is that AT&T has all the cool smartphones.  It has the iPhone, of course, as well as the BlackBerry Bold.  It’s true that Verizon has the BlackBerry Storm and that it has also just introduced the BlackBerry Tour.  It was when I read about the new Tour that the idea for this post, borne out of frustration, came about.

Here’s the rub.  Neither the BlackBerry Storm, which was introduced last fall and was touted as the first “real” competitor to Apple’s groundbreaking iPhone, nor the just released BlackBerry Tour from Verizon Wireless, are WiFi capable.  AT&T’s iPhone is.  AT&T’s BlackBerry Bold is.  So why is Verizon Wireless seemingly shunning WiFi capabilities in the smartphones it offers?

When my son, formerly a Verizon Wireless customer, moved to Barrow, Alaska for a year, he canceled his Verizon Wireless account and opted for service from T-Mobile.  Neither Verizon Wireless nor T-Mobile offered cellular service in Barrow at that time, but T-Mobile did have cell phones that supported service through internet connectivity, which my son could get up there in that frozen wasteland for his laptop computer.

He has since returned to civilization, but continues to this day to use his WiFi enabled T-Mobile cell phone.  Verizon Wireless lost a customer because it doesn’t support WiFi connectivity in the devices it sells.

According to a recent report published by Fierce Broadband Wireless, WiFi is becoming a must-have for smartphone users.  The study suggested that 77 percent of mobile phone users want WiFi on their next handset and three-fourths of the people who have WiFi capability in their smartphones use it regularly.

Why is that?  Well for one thing, WiFi is significantly faster than the 3G networks the cellular services offer, especially inside buildings where 3G coverage is often poor.  I have WiFi at home and could certainly benefit from faster internet connections on my BlackBerry than I can get with the cellular service.

AT&T’s BlackBerry Bold, as well as the iPhone, available only from AT&T, can switch seamlessly between 3G and WiFi.  But my BlackBerry from Verizon Wireless doesn’t have WiFi connectivity, and it seems that even the latest smartphone devices being introduced from Verizon Wireless will be WiFiless.

In his “The Tech Beat” column for businessweek.com, Stephen Wildstrom wrote an article, Hands on with the BlackBerry Tour, about Research In Motion’s and Verizon Wireless’ answer to AT&T’s BlackBerry Bold.  Overall, Wildstrom was enthusiastic about the BlackBerry Tour unless “you really hate WiFi.”  Wildstrom seemed perplexed by the Tour’s lack of WiFi capability.  He referred to that lack as “the Tour’s single biggest drawback.”  He went on to say, “I suspect that pressure from Verizon, which still seems to hope that WiFi is a passing fad that will soon disappear, kept WiFi out of the Tour, as it did with the touchscreen Storm.”  Yet another cellular provider, Sprint, is making WiFi a requirement in all future smartphones and plans to bring out its own WiFi-equipped BlackBerry Tour in 2010.  If only Verizon Wireless would do the same.

Bottom line, Verizon Wireless, is that WiFi is not a “passing fad.”  And if you don’t start offering devices that are WiFi enabled, you will force my hand to seek out a different cellular service provider.  And I know how important my business is to you.  You keep reminding me when I call your customer service number and you ask me to continue holding because, as you repeat over and over again, “your business is important to us.”

“Cellphone straitjackets” stymie innovation

While it doesn’t relate specifically to WiFi capabilities in smartphones, there was an interesting opinion piece that appeared in the July 9, 2009 USA Today entitled, Cellphone straitjackets.

“When consumers walk into a store to buy a flat-screen television, they aren’t locked into a particular cable or satellite provider.  So why, when they get an Apple iPhone or a BlackBerry Storm, are they signed up with a particular carrier?” the editorial asked.

According to the editorial, in the mid 1990s, Congress and the Federal Communications Commission sided with the telecom companies in their quest to build proprietary networks, unlike the open platforms adopted by most of the rest of the world.  As a consequence, wired broadband and wireless services in the U.S. lag behind those in much of Europe and East Asia in speed, ease of use, and price, the editorial pointed out.

Because the two dominant providers, AT&T and Verizon Wireless, lock in exclusive deals with makers of popular devices, consumers are often forced to make unnecessary compromises between the device they prefer and the service that is strongest in their area.  For example, while I would prefer a WiFi enabled BlackBerry Bold from AT&T to the WiFi retarded BlackBerry Tour from Verizon, I refuse to subscribe to AT&T’s service because it…well, it sucks.

As the USA Today editorial summed up, the cellular service providers are squelching innovation through exclusivity.

So, Verizon Wireless, speaking from the perspective of the lowly and frustrated cellular service subscriber (whose business is very important to you), it certainly doesn’t benefit us poor, wretched consumers for you to stick with your proprietary networks and to withhold WiFi connectivity from your devices.

Frank Sinatra, Tony Soprano, and me

I shook hands with Frank Sinatra and Tony Soprano last month.  Seriously.

I spend a lot of time for my job traveling around the country meeting with clients and prospects.  As a result, I meet all kinds of people with diverse and interesting backgrounds and experiences.  Some of those people I have met share names with more famous people.  For example, I remember meeting a woman named Jean Dixon, but she was in no way related to THE Jeane Dixon, one of the best-known American astrologers and psychics of the 20th century.

And then there was John Carson, the head of HR for a company I once visited.  He bristled if anyone dared to refer to him as Johnny Carson.  Rumor has it that he walked into an internal staff meeting once and one of his recently hired underlings said, “Heeeeeer’s Johnny.”  Mr. Carson fired the guy on the spot, so the legend goes.

Just a few weeks ago my wife and I sat next to Dr. Ruth Westheimer at a social gathering.  Although the woman we sat with is, indeed, a therapist, she is not THE “Dr. Ruth,” the diminutive sex therapist, media personality, and author.

Still, when I tell people that I recently attended a business meeting in South Jersey at which both Frank Sinatra and Tony Soprano were present, no one believes me.  Hey, it’s not as if I claimed that Bruce Springsteen, another famous New Jersey native, was at the meeting as well.

Sure, the Frank Sinatra at this meeting was not THE Frank Sinatra.  Regrettably, THE Frank Sinatra is no longer among the living.  And THE Tony Soprano that we remember from the HBO series “The Sopranos” is merely a fictional character who was played by the actor James Gandolfini.  The Tony Soprano at this meeting is a real, flesh-and-blood human being who just happens to share his name with the character Gandolfini played.

The point is that two of the people at this particular meeting were named Frank Sinatra and Tony Soprano.  How many people can say that they were in a meeting with both Frank Sinatra and Tony Soprano?  Well, aside from the ten others who attended this same meeting, how many others can make that statement?

Neither of these men in any way resembles his namesake.  And both expressed their personal angst at sharing a name with a famous crooner or an infamous TV character.  How often must one be asked where the rest of the “Rat Pack” is, or respond to a “witty” request for his rendition of “My Way” or “New York, New York” before hauling off and slugging someone?  How many Mafioso mobster jokes must one endure before giving serious consideration to actually whacking some smartass joker?  Bada Bing!

I have to admit that I feel a bit more sympathy for Frank than for Tony.  After all, Frank, who is probably in his early forties, has had to endure the barbs, jokes, and snide remarks about his name for his entire life.  His parents had to have some inkling, when they named their new, bouncing baby boy “Frank,” that they were going to be scarring their little boy for life.

Tony, on the other hand, has only suffered this similar fate for a decade, since the debut of “The Sopranos” on HBO in January 1999.  There is no way his parents could ever have anticipated, when they chose to name him Tony, that their darling son would end up sharing the same name with an iconic TV series mob boss.

Be that as it may, both of these men will, for the rest of their natural lives, have to endure others who they know or who they meet making wisecracks about their names.

Of course, I was the wise ass at the meeting who asked Frank and Tony why Bruce wasn’t at the meeting.

Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon

Speaking about New Jersey natives, how’s this for an interesting little aside?  Steven Van Zandt, aka “Little Steven,” is best known as a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, for which he plays guitar and mandolin.  He is also fairly well known as an actor on “The Sopranos,” on which he played the role of Silvio Dante, Bada Bing strip club owner and mob consigliere to none other than THE Tony Soprano.

Spooky, no?

It’s a good time to bail.

Now here's a "real American." You betcha!

For the sake of full disclosure, I’m not a Sarah Palin fan.  It has nothing to do with her gender.  It has nothing to do with her looks.  It has nothing to do with her “folksy charm,” which, to me, comes across as contrived.  It’s all about her ideologies, her politics, her philosophies.

In what many consider a surprise move, Palin announced on July 3^rd that, as of July 26^th, she is resigning her post as governor of Alaska even though she has two years left on her term.  She hasn’t fully disclosed why she made this decision, and many speculate it is to position herself for a run for the White House in 2012.

Of course, in a demonstration of the full glory of her “folksy charm,” which so many seem to consider endearing, Palin noted that she asked her kids this question: “Hey, you want me to make a positive difference and fight for all our children’s future from outside the governor’s office?”  According to Palin, she received four yeses and one “Hell, yeah!”  It was, she said, the “Hell, yeah” that sealed the deal.  Doesn’t that make you just want to huddle up and hug Sarah and her four little darlings.  “You betcha!”

Being a governor is a tough job these days.  Most states are on the verge of bankruptcy; some are already insolvent.  Governors are faced with having to make tough choices, such as raising taxes or scaling back on vital services.  I don’t know the specifics of the financial status of Alaska at the moment, but I can’t imagine that it is immune from the woes of the economy that most other states are facing.

So it’s a good time to bail.

Also, there is speculation that Palin is resigning because of a pending federal embezzlement indictment so she can “get ahead” of expected U.S. criminal charges for embezzling federal funds during her term as mayor of Wasalla.

These charges stem from federal investigators discovering that the Wasilla Sports Complex and Palin’s house in Wasilla feature the “same windows, same wood, same products,” all installed by the same construction crews.

So it’s a good time to bail.

Of course, Palin hasn’t fared too well in the public spotlight.  During last year’s campaign, she was considered by many to be a political lightweight.  With comments suggesting that she had foreign policy experience due to being geographically close to Russia, where she can keep an eye on them Ruskies, to flying over Canada to get from Alaska to the lower 48, she became an easy target for late night comics Leno, Letterman, Stewart, and Colbert.

Her family situation is also a bit bizarre, ranging from her strangely named children, to the out-of-wedlock baby of her oldest daughter and the on-again, off-again nuptials of Bristol and Levi Johnston.  Her decisions to parade her Down’s syndrome baby, the pregnant Bristol, and baby-daddy Levi as props during the Republican convention and throughout the campaign raised media eyebrows.  Her statements and behaviors served as fodder for comic and media ridicule that she can’t seem to elude even to this day (e.g., her latest feud with David Letterman).

So it’s a good time to bail.

What will become of Sarah Palin?  She’s not saying, but I am speculating.  Sarah is not exactly flush these days.  Some say that she’s heavily in debt and that defending herself against the potential federal indictment will cause her and her family to sink deeper into debt.  Remaining as governor of Alaska is not exactly a lucrative vocation.

Savvy if not smart

I don’t know how smart Sarah Palin is, but she is most definitely a savvy person.  I believe that she can take advantage of who she is because, well, she is who she is.  She has a lot of options that will enable her to make a “positive change outside government,” which is one of the hinted-at reasons she gave for her sudden resignation.  And I believe that she’s also in an excellent position to leverage her notoriety, enabling her to make boatloads of money. <sigh>

So what is it that Sarah will be doing?

• She can go on the speaker circuit.  She’s very popular with a relatively large segment of the population…you know, those “real” Americans…and I believe she can garner big bucks for making speaker appearances.  You have to grant that she is a decent speaker and has a magnetic personality.  Hell, if Bill Clinton can get $100k a pop, Sarah is probably somewhere in the $25-$50k range.
• She can start her own nationally syndicated radio (and maybe TV) broadcast.  Just look at the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, and Laura Graham.  They’re all making fortunes espousing the same politics and ideology that Sarah espouses.  No question that Sarah will attract a large listening audience on a syndicated radio show.  And with a huge financial contract, which no doubt she could negotiate, she could afford to hire writers to tell her what to say.
• She can become a political commentator for FOX News.  FOX News already has Carl Rove and Mike Huckabee.  Oh, don’t forget Geraldo Rivera!
• She could do all three, go on the speaker circuit, get her own nationally syndicated radio program, and become a member of the FOX News team.

So Sarah has plenty of options that will be less stressful and significantly more lucrative than being governor of Alaska.  Rather than fighting the media, she can join it and make her “positive change outside government,” while raking in a fortune.

Of course, this assumes that she doesn’t wind up in prison due to the possible federal indictment.

So it’s a good time to bail