The Sam Whitmore Sampler

Insecure Security at SFO

Check out this piece from KCBS. The SFO-based dufuses in charge of the "Clear" program, which is essentially a "fast lane" program for low-risk frequent flyers, lost a laptop containing the personal information of 33,000 program applicants. The dufuses work for a firm called Verified Identity Pass, Inc. (sounds like a TSA front). Its CEO is none other than Steven Brill, former editor of Brill's Content. I kid you not.

Anyway, the laptop suddenly reappeared today, after more than a week. Who knows where it went, and with whom?

Christy and I considered applying for the Clear program but decided against it when we learned we'd have to pay something like $130 a year to be part of it, and who knows how much thereafter?

We Have a Winner

Congrats to Neila Matheny of Engage PR for winning the second in a series of SWMS contests. We hold them in our Facebook group, open to all SWMS news & research subscribers.

Neila successfully answered the following five questions, and won a ticket to see the UC Bears play Colorado State in late September. Christy and I will accompany Neila, along with a prominent Bay Area tech editor.

Wanna take a crack at the questions just for fun? Leave your answers in a comment.

To which western U.S. state did Mike Arrington's parents retire?

In which New England state did Jim Louderback attend college?

Which tech PR agency did Natali Del Conte once work for?

In the San Francisco radio market, on which AM frequency did the late, great CNET Radio transmit?

Name any of the three U.S. states that Sam Whitmore has not yet visited (you can make three guesses).

Goodbye to the NFL

This will be the first NFL season in about 20 where I just don't give a shit. There was a players strike a long time ago where the NFL fielded replacement players (scabs) in order to keep the money coming in. That alienated me the first time. Eventually my interest rekindled. Watching the games themselves are fun and probably always will be, and I tried to look at the NFL purely as "the game on the field."

In recent years it was all about Fantasy Football. I loved picking the lineups. For two years I played in a Fantasy league and lost $410 each year. That was enough. In 2006 and 2007 I set up a free online league on FoxSports.com and owned all 12 teams, each named -- believe it or not -- after a Beanie Baby. Last year, in case you were wondering, Lips beat out Tank for the Beanie Baby League championship.

But this year I'm walking away again, this time for cumulative reasons. The Bill Belichick videotaping scandal sent me over the edge again, big time. Belichick is an arrogant, lying sack of shit as far as I'm concerned. The NFL also bullied ESPN back in 2003 into removing "Playmakers" from the air... it was a bit too realistic for the NFL. ESPN didn't want to lose its valuable TV rights, so Disney caved.

Well, this year, Brett Favre is the new Roger Clemens. The announcers still can't mention the point spread, even though that's why 90 percent of the viewers are tuned in. I can no longer deal with the hypocrisy and all the jingoistic Budweiser and Chevy truck ads. Fascinating that GM lost $15 billion last quarter and the Belgians own Budweiser. Sorta sums it up, doesn't it?

I think I'll go have some coffee now. :-)

The Office Away from the Home Office

When I head back to Ipswich, MA later this month, my "office" becomes Zumi's coffee shop. It's one of those local hang-outs -- not a chain. The clam diggers come in and pass the time, as do students, Moms and their kids... all hailing from the Nawth Show-ah. Zumi's co-owner, a guy named Om, shows up about 8a -- two hours after me -- and always has the grace to put up with me as I sit there for hours on end, doing e-mail, researching and writing posts for SWMS. Oh, I buy coffee and pastries, but it must get annoying seeing the same guy sitting there tippy-tapping on his Mac. Well, Om, I'll be seeing you soon. Save my seat!

The Sopranos

Just to give you an idea of just how retro I am, I'm only now sitting down and enjoying The Sopranos. We're about halfway through Season 3. In the last episode we saw, Tony's mother died -- conveniently -- so she didn't have to testify about the stolen airline tickets. I don't know how people managed to wait seven days between episodes. We crank through three or four at a sitting, thanks to wonderful DVD technology.

Why hasn't there been a Sopranos movie yet?

George Thorogood and Buddy Guy

Saw George Thorogood and Buddy Guy last weekend in Murphys, CA, at a winery whose amphitheatre can accommodate more than 5,000. There were a lot fewer than that on Sunday night: the ushers automatically upgraded our seats from "halfway back" to 12th row because so few tickets were sold. Maybe there's something to this recession thing...

Thorogood's band was good but, I dunno, it played the same set as it would have 20 years ago. George himself looked OK but a bit paunchier than he used to -- then again, who doesn't?

Buddy Guy was totally into it. He walked through the crowd (gotta love wireless) and let loose with many a funny blues verse. My favorite:

One leg pointed East
One leg pointed West
I was right there in the middle
Trying to do my best

Water Rationing in the East Bay

The region east of San Francisco known as the East Bay is under mandatory water rationing. Yesterday we got a document from the water authorities laying out our consumption patterns over the past three years, and ordering us to reduce our consumption by 19 percent from that baseline amount. If we don't, we'll be fined $18 a day, which over a 60-day billing period comes out to $1,080, or $6,480 a year. And that would be on top of the 10 percent rate hike that's already been put in place for everyone, whether they conserve or not.

So I think twice when I lean over to flush the toilet. I don't languish in the shower. Our car is filthy. If your local reservoirs are full, be thankful.

Protestors Outside Fox News HQ

It's about time. About 50 people protested yesterday in front of News Corp.'s NYC headquarters. The charge: racism in Fox News reporting. There's plenty of it. TV Newser has details.

Don't get me started about Fox. You've seen the Outfoxed site, right? Buy the DVD. Support Robert Greenwald's organization. They do wonderful reporting work. So does ProPublica. A topic for another day.

Neil Young

Heard him speak today at Fortune Brainstorm in Half Moon Bay, CA. Young is still making music but he's also an entrepreneur: he's helping to develop new, more efficient automobiles, and he's also trying to establish a new "high-res music" standard.

Let's talk about the music. Young has no use for Steve Jobs or iTunes, whose compression algorithms destroy music's fidelity, Young claims. No one cares about how music ought to sound; it's all about convenience, Young laments. He thinks the PC/Windows industry can and should establish a high-resolution audio standard, displacing MP3 and AAC with something offering higher highs and lower lows. Young says he spoke to Michael Dell about this, who in turn said he will look into it. It's gonna take a lotta love to change the way things are. What do you think?

Secret Twitter

Technorati legend Dave Sifry last night mentioned that the majority of Twitter feeds are private, locked down by their authors and not searchable through Summize and the usual methods. Same with Facebook posts, of course. Hmmm... maybe "search rights" can be part of a business model for these silo-ed social media companies.