First, let me say that I was a long time PC user (since 1983). I supported the PC over the Apple computers largely on the basis of the software support it enjoyed (mostly in the business space). But after Apple decided to open stores in shopping centers and malls, I got a chance to marvel [...]
Archive for December, 2007
Was the iPhone Worth the Hype?
Posted in technology, tagged Adobe, Apple, cell phone, Flash, gadget, handheld, iphone, iTunes, Mac, Microsoft, network, PC, ringtone, smart phone, stylus, voice mail, Web, WiFi on December 30, 2007 | 5 Comments »
BUY Music You Like
Posted in marketing, media, music, tagged downloads, labels, marketing, media, music, myspace, publishing, recording, youth culture on December 30, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
My company, Cloudshine Global Music maintains a page on MySpace. After more than 3,500 “friends” joined our site, most of them raving about our music, we realized that there was absolutely no correlation between the professed support for our recent album release (Laura Pursell: Somewhere In This Room) and actual sales. Many were musicians, bands, songwriters, [...]
Beyond Belief
Posted in controversial, philosophy, tagged chief joseph, Christianity, disproof, epistemology, god, Islam, Judaism, knowledge, moral code, proof, religion, science, scientific method, spirituality, world trade center on December 24, 2007 | 2 Comments »
Belief as a basis for acquiring knowledge is not only ineffective, it is dangerous. I do not mean that one should not believe in anything; one can believe in something if it represents a confluence of experience and facts that make such a hypothesis likely, although not yet proved. A physicist may believe in the [...]
C.H.U.D. AND THE CITY: Can Hollywood Show Us True Evil?
Posted in media, philosophy, sociology on December 24, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
In 1983, I produced a little horror movie called C.H.U.D. The movie had not one, but two meanings. Fans will note that the posters all said that C.H.U.D. stands for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dwellers while the plot turns on its true meaning of Contamination Hazard Urban Disposal. The first meaning was supplied by [...]
The Appeal of Evil – or Why I Got Out of The Movie Business for Ten Years
Posted in media, philosophy, sociology on December 24, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Evil in the Supermarket
So I’m in the ole A&P and there’s this guy wearing a tee shirt that says “Criminal Intent” in three inch block letters. An aisle down there is a six-year-old girl with a pink tee that says “Naughty”. Back home, on the TV, there’s one of those awful local [...]
THE MEDIA AS SOCIAL ORGANISM: Or How Big Bird and Earl Warren Put a Hole In The Ethical Ozone Layer
Posted in media, philosophy, sociology on December 24, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
Today, as the first generation reared under the influence of ubiquitous electronic media has taken control in the fields of journalism, television, movies, advertising and public relations, we face a moral and ethical crisis of serious and historic consequence.
The seemingly irreconcilable interests of commerce and social responsibility tend to tug the media [...]
My Philosophy
Posted in philosophy on December 24, 2007 | 1 Comment »
Everything I believe is based on the following background elements:
1) My view of human spiritual Evolution
2) Acceptance of the Scientific Method as the basis for acquiring and testing knowledge
3) Humans have a fundamental drive to know. This is a primary drive akin to hunger and sex. It is not simply a need [...]
Consciousness, Appreciation of Life, and Time Travel
Posted in philosophy, tagged life, philosophy, time on December 24, 2007 | 2 Comments »
What would you do if you had only one week left to live? Would you read? Would you travel, would you eat all the gourmet food you could get your hands on?
I suggest that whatever our choice here, it will be futile if the goal is to appreciate and enjoy what is [...]
A Boomer’s Adventures in MySpace
Posted in marketing, media, music, sociology on December 17, 2007 | Leave a Comment »
When I opened my music label Cloudshine Global Music, I did what the common wisdom dictates you should do: Get on MySpace and build up a fan base. As a 50+ baby boomer, I felt a little like Dorothy must have felt at her first glimpse of color after leaving black and white Kansas. But I [...]
