Conferences? Usually? Frankly? Boring. I go for the networking in the halls.

Why? I never knew exactly, but now Jen Bekman may have found the answer. Homogeneity, all boring white tech nerds.

A breath of fresh air, much needed — her list of women speakers for your tech/media/fashion conference.

About time.

A Federal judge last week dismissed [1.7MB PDF] a trademark infringement case against Google, which was accused of infringing on the trademark “Rescuecom” by allowing others to purchase the term as a keyword to trigger sponsored search engine results.

Is this a “dog bites man” story? No, because on the Internet, famously, no-one knows you’re a dog. Things that would pass for perfectly normal in real life require special scrutiny on the Internet.

The judge ruled that Google’s use of the name did not constitute, er, use under U.S. trademark law. That ruling satisfied the senior iitigation counsel for Google, Michael Kwun, but it doesn’t satisfy me. Eric Goldman, in a nice succinct commentary on the ruling, says other judges’ rulings have been all over the map, and wonders if this one will settle the controversy.

I would have liked to hear the judge enunciate the principle that you’re allowed to compare brands in commerce, or rather, to have brands compared for you. The idea that an Internet search, unlike any other place of commerce, should not allow comparison shopping, seems absurd. If a TV network can take money from Coke for an ad that says “better than Pepsi”, Google ought to be allowed to generate sponsored results triggered by brand names.

BUT BUT it’s different — a user can’t search on TV. Yes, that’s right — and thank god for innovation. But just because we have finally escaped the tyranny of the one-way communication of the Tube doesn’t mean that comparison shopping should be illegal.

Curiously, one of Rescuecom’s claims is that Google prevented people from reaching their web page. As of this writing, they’ve found a more effective way — their URL has stopped resolving.

By way of CNET, by way of GigaLaw.

I’ve been watching language get turned into money. All languages, in fact, and all languages in concert with one another. It might be time to start thinking about how human language itself is becoming globalized — led, as usual, by the Internet.

Money is leading us toward one big global patois, which will be mutually semi-intelligible. Sort of like business English is today — great for Chinese factory orders, bad for pillow talk. It will exist next to our normal language, except that we may not even speak it, only type and read it on the Internet. Many pidgin langugages have grown up around commerce; we may be seeing the birth of a new one.

So what’s the vocabulary? Which words/phrases will become well-known across languages, and which will remain only in the local language? Keywords bids can tell us a lot.

We know that advertisers value some words more than others. They value the cross-section of two values: how popular a word is, and how easy it is to convert it into revenue.

So “the” is the most popular word, but isn’t much valued ($0.10), while “mesotheliomia” is very rare, but is highly valued ($12.01).

Here are some others values courtesy of the Yahoo view bid tool):

Within a category of similar words the same is true:

This snapshot shows how website publishers and advertisers, as they follow the money, are going to be drawn to some words more than others, which suggests that these words might become more widely used. (It might also show how our values are badly askew, but that’s a different blog.)

BUT, BUT — what about the objection that this just shows the commercial use of a word, which surely is not a good wider definition of language?

Well, yes and no. This is the dirty underbelly of customer power.

Many - have - said (and I believe) that the new Web has given power to the user/customer/reader, because they initiate the involvement with a web site by using search to find what they want.

Thus a business that wants to sell its goods or services needs to respond to the vocabulary of the user or risk getting no visitors. Which words ordinary people (users/readers/customers) choose to search with, therefore, will control which words are monetized for commerce. As a result the entire language, as it is used on the web, will become more or less commercialized. Words and phrases are now the subject of an efficient market which places a price on their use.

A corollary is how one language is valued over another. Here are some English words compared to their counterparts in German (German is the only other language I can find for which Yahoo! is making bid information available).

There are some words that are more valuable in German (e.g., “Bundesliga”, the name of the German football league), but words of general application are simply more valuable in English than in German (and, I’d wager, than in other languages). I contend that this is because English words are more convertible into money than German words are. The reasons for English dominance are manifold, and well-rehearsed by many commentators, but the consequence is that the language itself is more valuable. With keywords for search, and domain names, people are starting to profit from that value.

Domain names are another face on this. They may be more valuable than the top sponsored spot on a search engine results page, simply because you own a domain name uniquely, forever, without competition, whereas a top spot in Google is only as good as the last high bid you placed, only as good as Google is. On the other hand, the domain name market is far less efficient and not as good for comparing the values of words and phrases.

Thanks to search and domain names, realms where language is stripped of context and reduced to little “meaning units”, words and phrases on the Internet will start to function a bit like money — a powerful invisible scrip, owned by some, understood by a few, managed by many, influencing all.

I’m fascinated by behavioral science. But without academic credentials, I’m not allowed to view most papers published in scientific journals. Neither are you.

“Sorry Buster. No can do. Subscribers only. Subscriptions for institutions and academics only. Anyway you couldn’t afford it. Click here to go back to your plebeian hole.”

You and I have to make do with sloppy mainstream-press interpretations of science. The scientists hate it: they scream and cry about the quality of the coverage, and tell you how their study was misinterpreted. But ask them if you can look at the original study, and the answer is likely to be no.

My friend Peter Ayton turned me on to cognitive psychology, which has a lot to tell people who want to understand the Internet. It has been much in the news lately, partly because it’s undermining the notion of the rational economic actor, partly because it’s pointing marketers in new directions. There are some good sources out there, and it has reached the mainstream press, but many times I wish I could read the original research that people mention, or search or browse for interesting articles in academic journals.

The proximate culprit is copyright law, which allows the big journal publishers (Wiley, Elsevier, Blackwells) to restrict access to only those who pay — typically university libraries. They are scared to death of tinkering with what have been secure, predictable cash cows.

In fact, a lovely study on science journal publishers from the University of Utrecht shows that they’re quite happy jacking up prices even without significant increase in their costs.

The damning contradiction between the scientific establishment’s claims of openness on the one hand, and complete lack of public access on the other, is the reason (one hopes) that some scientists are poking their heads out from the Ivory Tower.

In a revolt against the big publishers, scientists are starting their own online open-access journals (most journals are online, just not available to you and me). The first I found is the Journal of the SJDM (Society of Judgment and Decision Making). The editor, Jonathan Baron, deserves credit for publicly setting out his Proposal.

Wired has a story about some academics who seem more concerned about the time it takes to get their paper peer-reviewed than about letting the public see the work their taxes are funding. Nonetheless, the Public Library of Science has set up has set up open-access journals where the public can not only read the papers, but criticize and dissect them prior to publication.

In this scenario, the good thing for scientists is that they get their stuff in circulation much sooner. The good thing for readers is that they have access.

Could bad science be released into the atmosphere and deceive an unwitting public? Possibly, but peer-review can be dangerous too. And it’s not as though crap science doesn’t sneak through as is.

I want original academic material online, whether it’s peer-reviewed or public-reviewed, so I can do research, learn a thing or two, and make up my own mind.

But more important, I want easy access to scientific-looking writing that I can use to bolster my previously-held opinions :-).

Tags: behavioral science, cognitive psychology, scientific journals, journal publishing, Peter Ayton, Jonathan Baron, peer-review, open-access journals

The Wall Street Journal published a piece today by Jeffrey Trachtenberg about how books publishers are trying to adapt to the Internet.

They nailed us. Names@Work is exposed as the brains behind “Pulse,” the online book we did for Farrar, Straus & Giroux, and we are further accused of doing “innovative marketing.” I am actually quoted, extensively. All that work we did to keep a low profile — gone, like tears in the rain…

Unlike “Pulse,” the Wall Street Journal is not available online without an expensive subscription, so it’s largely invisible on the Internet. You can find the full story in the WSJ of Sept. 11, page R4, in the Technology section, but we’re trying to get out in front of this public relations situation by releasing excerpts.

Read on:

Boundless Possibilities

As ‘networked books start to appear, consumers, publishers, and authors get a glimpse of publishing to come.

“Networked” books — those written, edited, published and read online — have been the coming thing since the early days of the Internet. Now a few such books have arrived that, while still taking shape, suggest a clearer view of the possibilities that lie ahead.

In a fairly radical turn, one major publisher has made a networked book available free online at the same time the book is being sold in stores….

Does the widespread distribution of essentially free content help or hinder sales?

At least one leading house think that it helps. Farrar, Straus and Giroux… has been posting several new pages of Robert Frenay’s “Pulse”…. at PulseTheBook.com seven days a week since April 10. A hardcover version of the book was published in April.

“This was an experimental way to market a book,” says Jeff Seroy, the imprint’s senior vice president of marketing and publicity. “The marketing consisted of releasing the entire book in installments for free.”

The publisher believed that the material, which provides a window into the latest advances in technology and biology, lent itself to innovative marketing. After meeting with Antony Van Couvering, chief executive of Names@Work LLC [that's me folks!], a New York-based business that focuses on Web marketing, [the] publisher committed itself to spending… virtually its entire marketing budget for the book. The publisher was intrigued by the potential for creating a like-minded community whose membership would focus on Mr. Frenay’s work. The site provides readers with a list of the most viewed posts, the posts rated highest by readers, book-related events….

Several hundred people have subscribed to the book, which means they get daily updates which they can read and forward to friends. In addition, a number of outside bloggers have blogged on specific topics on their own sites, thereby expanding the readership pool. A recent tally found a total of 59 blogs posting a total of 125 links to the site.

“The real power of the approach is that the entire book with be indexed in Google’s primary index, which means that anyone can find the book by its content as well as its author, title, or ISDN [sic] number,” says Mr. Van Couvering. It’s unclear how many books will lend themselves to such promotions. However, Mr. Seroy of Farrar, Straus suspects that the concept will become more commonplace as publishers better understand marketing dynamics on the Web. “Everyone is trying to figure out how to move forward,” he says.

The project extends through Nov. 6, at which point the entire 545-page text will be available. Readers can access the book by going to the Web site, or receive the daily chapters by email or an RSS feed. They can also post comments, or visit links on such subjects as politics, science and technology.

Farrar, Straus & Giroux was unconcerned about the potential of lost book sales. it reasoned that enough people who were curious about the entire book, would buy a copy rather than read the book a few pages at a time online. “We figured some would read it on the Web, some would buy it, and some would hear about it because it was a novel way to release the book,” says Mr. Seroy.

Mr. Van Couvering assumed responsibility for the daily updates, as well as maintaining the site. “What it does is extend the sales life of the book,” he says, comparing the approach to the serialized novels of Charles Dickens…. [I did, it's true. Sorry.]

So far, Farrar, Straus says it has been pleased by the results. Unlike an ad, the Web site, which has attracted more than 26,000 visitors, will be in place for months.

Further, book sales have been surprisingly robust. Farrar, Straus printed 9,000 copies of “Pulse,” and has shipped about 8500. Mr. Seroy expects the entire first printing to sell out. “The book got very little mainstream coverage, yet it still sold,” he says, attributing the strong response to the Web site.

Jeff Trachtenberg got the whole thing right, and did a great job with this piece. Any publicity is good publicity, but it’s really gratifying to be singled out in a solid piece by a good reporter.

Answer: No. And I’m not a Libyan agent either (see below).

So why am I even bothering with this absurdity?

Because a story Dan Richman of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer is giving currency to a backstabbing little dagger coming from one Brian Marcus, Director of Internet Monitoring for the Anti-Defamation League.

Mr. Marcus is either ignorant about how the Internet works, or (more likely, considering his job) he knows it exactly, and is content to sacrifice someone’s reputation for his greater cause. Mr. Richman, who is either ignorant about how the Internet works or just can’t bother to check his facts, is his carrying boy. (And journalists complain that bloggers are sloppy with facts…)

Marcus accuses eNom of aiding and abetting a terrorist group — in this case a Hezbollah-sympathizing TV station called Al-Manar — for the crime of renewing Al-Manar’s domain name. Furthermore, says Marcus, eNom may have violated a Federal law because Al-Manar is on the State Department’s list of terrorist organizations.

I feel for Paul Stahura, CEO of eNom. I’m sure he didn’t know that the registrant was a terrorist group. That’s because registrars aren’t supposed to decide if registrants are OK or not. A registrar is not allowed to check if a registrant is gay, Republican, has rickets, brushes his teeth, or is a fugitive from justice. A registrar just takes information down from a registrant, usually online, and delegates the domain name. That’s it. No checking against any list. Either Mr. Marcus or Mr. Richman could have found that out with a simple phone call to any registrar’s policy person.

Unfortunately this kind of FUD takes forever to go away.

I know this because I woke up one day to find that Andy Sernovitz, at that time head of the Association of Interactive Media, had accused me of being a Libyan agent at a Congressional hearing. (Sernovitz was until recently the CEO of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association too, but he has been erased, Trotsky-like, from their website. I wonder what happened — now that might be a real story, Mr. Richman.)

Ivan Pope, my partner in London, had agreed to help a Libyan anti-Qaddafi dissident (for goodness’ sake) by setting up the nameservers for .LY. We had done the same, as a favor to those less technically able, for several other small ccTLDs. I felt we were doing a Very Good Thing.

But there was my name in the New York Times:

Andrew L. Sernovitz, the president of the Association for Interactive Media, went on the attack at the hearing, accusing [various groups] of trying to hijack the Internet and turn it over to a Swiss “cartel” that would be able to overrule U.S. law.

As an example, Sernovitz cited the New York company NetNames USA, run by Antony Van Couvering, who is chairman of the Policy Advisory Board working with the Interim Policy Oversight Committee, for its acquisition of the Libyan country Internet domain, “.ly” in light of the U.S. ban on doing business with Libya.

“An immediate investigation must be launched to stop this blatant violation of the U.S. bans on dealing with Libya and executing contracts benefiting the Libyan government,” he said. “If this is how the leader of the PAB does business, how much faith can we have in the IAHC process.”

Van Couvering said in a telephone interview that he has asked the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for a ruling on whether or not his registry is violation the trade embargo by handling “.ly” registrations and that it has stopped using the “.ly” code until it gets that ruling.

So Sernovitz took our purely technical aid to a Libyan exile and turned it into a contract with the Libyan government. It took me six months to convince the Treasury Department that I wasn’t in fact a covert operative.

Now Paul Stahura may have to go through the same nightmare because some amoral flack thought it would be expedient to sully his name.

There are plenty of Sernovitzes and Marcuses out there who think nothing of slandering innocent people to serve their ends. It happened to me, and I’m not going to stand by, silent, when it’s happening to someone else.

Anti-Semitism is a sick disease and I fully support the ADL’s mission of exposing it and stamping it out when it emerges. But is it also ADL’s mission to defame others? They owe eNom and Paul Stahura an apology.

Tags: Brian Marcus, Andy Sernovitz, eNom, Paul Stahura, Al-Manar, registrar, domain names, shame

Today we’re honored to host the Carnival of the Capitalists. A carnival is a traveling collection of annonated links to articles within a given specialty — and Carnival of the Capitalists is one of the best, all about capitalism in its many incarnations. If you’re interested in knowing more about how these mini-festivals work and why they matter, we actually put together a little FAQ on carnivals for one of our recent projects. You should also visit the host site for Carnival of the Capitalists.

This week Names@Work was chosen to host the Carnival, which means that we read through all the submitted articles, summarize and comment on them, and chose our favorites. There were some great articles, and hard choices. So here they are!

Top Five Posts

The “Gifted” VCR Repair Lady: Is It Unethical to Sell to an Idiot?
Rob at BusinessPundit gives us an amusing anecdote about the business ethics of dealing with stupid people.

Darned if you do, or don’t…
A great post by InsureBlog about the reality of our aging population and the increasing costs of long term health care.

What IF There’s No Final Whistle?
David Maister, of David Maister’s Passion, People and Principles writes a post on re-thinking business “goals” as indicators of sustained and indefinite company growth, rather than as end points to a given strategy. Extended comment discussion is worth reading.

Why 9/11 - The Origin of the Palestine-Israel Conflict
My 1st Million At 33 takes a break from finance to delve into a better understanding of the Middle East conflict. Not directly COTC material, but I appreciated “frugal’s” attention to several important and current points about Israeli aggression.

Four Things To Look At Before Investing in an ETF
Ricemutt from Experiments in Finance looks at the pros and cons of ETFs and how to read them for their real value.

Investing & Finance

Improving Your Credit Score: Using Verizon Cell Phone Service
Free the Drones sends in an interesting tip about improving your credit score by using services from companies that report on-time payments from month to month, eg: Verizon. This is one part of a longer series on credit.

Cendant: Breaking Up is Hard to Do
Dan Appleman, one of the Investor Geeks, reviews the recent Cendant breakup, and the impact for former Cendant investors.

A Penny Saved…
Rob Sama from Sama Blog shares his breakdown of the how to profit from breaking down pennies and nickels into raw metals.

Collection Before It Is Even a Debt
Michael Herrin, author of Debt Collection Lawyer gives sound advice on how to file a debt collection lawsuit without getting stuck with the attorney’s fees.

Progress on Double Taxation of Dividends in Ohio?
The Boring Made Dull comments on recent reports from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

What They Want From Us in Mexico
Steve Faber at Debt Free argues against increasing US and Canadian development in Mexico because of “endemic corruption” and illegal immigration.

A Simple Suggestion that Saves You Money, Makes You Money and Keeps You in Shape
Free Money Finance talks about the financial and health benefits of gardening.

The Home Equity Debate: Take it Out or Leave it In
A Samuel at Property Blog writes about reasons to cash in on your home equity.

Company & Self Management

The Selection Decision
Michael Wade at Execupundit looks at a board that considered two candidates for CEO, and chose the wrong one.

The Risks of Viewing Your Career as a Noun
Jeff Cornwall, author of The Entrepreneurial Mind, writes succinctly about why your ‘career’ is just one of many important life activities.

Isn’t Life Fun?
Adrian Savage, author of The Coyote Within writes about the sexual shenanigans of the British. I mean, about having fun at “work”.

Slow Down For Your Customers’ Sakes Too
Carmine Coyote sends in a post from Slow Leadership about how the speed of response can affect customer satisfaction.

Strong Opinions Weakly Held
E. Sexton from AccMan Pro talks about the messy business of working with, around and beyond the Company Asshole. He includes a number of nice links and a personal story that I’m sure many can relate to.

The Shocking Ease of Breaching Corporate Security
Wenchypoo, of Frugal Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Warehouse, offers two amusing anecdotes about how any half-decent actor can hack into to a company’s “secured” information. Alternately titled, How to Get a Job as a Security Consultant.

GUI Development - Useful Advices
Pawel Brodzinski, author of Software Project Management blog, sends in a few helpful ideas to exploit when working on user interface.

Sometimes It Takes More than One Sign to Get Your Attention
David St Lawrence, author of Ripples, shares an anecdote about slowing down to appreciate a complete life rather than a busy one.

The Magic of a Great Business Leader
Jeannie Bauer from Bouncing Back writes about how to lead effectively by keeping a positive attitude..

Embrace Failure: Learn From It and You Will Succeed
Benjamin Yoskovitz writes in I Got News For You a bit of constructive advice for people who have recently experienced failure.

Happy People are Key
Marcus Markou from Business Opportunities Blog writes that business is driven by people who approach each task with passion and happiness.

Time Management is such an Illusion
Peter Kua from RadicalHop.com says it’s not time-management, it’s self-management that makes a difference in the workplace.

Business Ethics

SEO Ethics and Practices: a Guide
Wayne Hurlbert from Blog Business World writes a guide to “white hat” vs. “black hat” SEO with a lengthy discussion of all the “grey” issues that fall in between the lines.

Passing Thoughts
The Big Picture Guy from Big Picture, Small Office writes about the difficult questions raised by the passing of an employee’s wife, grappling for the line between personal and professional obligation in a small office.

How Building a Giant Mansion for Yourself is Better than Charity
John Rozewicki, of Supreme Narcissism examines the economic benefits of the Biltmore Estate. He argues that grossly rich people can pat themselves on the back for creating tourism, low-wage employment and a little piece of art history by building an enormous house.

A Rose Among Humanity
Abu Sahajj, writer of A Muslim-American Journal, shares a post on social justice, presenting evidence of the ubiquity of ethical disagreement, and a call to lawmakers to right the inequalities created by our capitalist society.

The Widespread Practice of Option Timing
Leon Gettler, author of Sox First posts some alarming statistics about the number of companies who might have manipulated the timing of stock-option grants.

Economics

Bernanke’s Latest Testimony
James Hamilton, author of Econbrowser, comments on markets’ reactions to testimony by Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke before the U.S. Senate this week.

Forcing Us To Finance Their Pipe Dreams
Neal Phenes of Et Tu Bloge presents two conservative rationalizations against hybrid cars and embryonic stem cell research.

Marketing

Experience the Glow
Yvonne DiVita, the voice behind Lipsticking, talks about smart marketing to niche audiences in her case study on The Knot, a site that caters to brides-to-be.

Before Your Idea Can Take Off
Tim King from J. Timothy King’s Blog posted a review and discussion of Jill Konrath’s recent book, Selling to Big Companies.

Let’s Talk About Branding for Your Business
Laurie Bluedom, the PRMama, references Target’s TV ad as a good example of how to use color for branding, with links to her own branding efforts.

Miscellaneous

Gas Gap
Nina from Queercents writes about how rising gas prices are widening the income gap in America.

Maryland’s Wal Mart Law Struck Down
Doug Mataconis from Below the Beltway reports on Maryland’s proposal to require Wal Mart to provide health coverage for all employees.

Deadlines in Real Estate Transactions
Dan Melson, author of Searchlight Crusade, writes a post about how to save money as a real estate agent by properly negotiating buyer and seller deadlines.

Why Your Business Must Forget 99% of the Population
Andrew Trinh at Trizoko Biz Journal reminds us of what really counts for small businesses - a small, targeted audience, a proven track record, and steady growth.

Italy On My Mind
Evelyn Rodriguez, author of Crossroads Dispatches, writes about how to take business inspiration from Italian culture.

No Fries with that Sheikh
Starling David Hunter from The Business of America is Business comments on the effectiveness of boycotts in relation to conflict in the Middle East.

Don’t Sell Duplicates
Nick Tritt from Power Selling on eBay advises ebay sellers to avoid listing duplicate items.

The Mobile Divide
Barry Welford, author of StayGoLinks, sends Stephanie Rieger a shout-out in his discussion of the divide between mobile and desktop communications.

On Annoying Customers
Tam Hanna from TamsPalm - the Palm OS Blog shares an anecdote about how frustrating it is to receive poor service.

Smart!
PhotonCourier submitted a post about Cracker Barrel’s audio book lending library.

Tags: carnival of the capitalists, carnival, marketing, economics, business ethics, management, Top Five

Soonr or latr, a new fad in names was bound to pop up. Remember the naming memes of yester-hour? You know, these (Igor calls them “morphemes”):

Acquient, Agilent, Alliant, Aquent, Aspirient, Aviant, Axent, Axient, Bizient, Candescent, Cendant, Cerent, Chordiant, Clarent, Comergent, Conexant, Consilient, Cotelligent, Equant, Ixtant, Livent, Luminant, Mergent, Mirant, Navigant, Naviant, Noviant, Novient, Omnient, Ravisent, Sapient, Scient, Sequant, Spirent, Taligent, Teligent, Thrivent, Versant, Versent, Viant, Vitalent, Vivient…

Now copycat namrs are dropping the finl vowl before the finl consonant to create company names in imitation of Flickr.

I love Flickr. Quickr and easier than my old standby Breezebrowsr (which has other irreplaceable qualities) and free (no stickr shock). It’s where I’ve begun to keep my photos, including a set of some of the great signs of Amstrdam.

I give Stewrt and Caterina kudos for their name as well as the software — original and irreverent.

It’s not so novl any more. You have to wondr how originl some of the products are when they jump on a fad for their company name. Take a look:

• Soonr - desktop files on your mobile phone
• Pluggd - podcast directory
• Zooomr - a Flickr competitr
• Gtalkr - flash integratr of gmail, gtalk and Yahoo maps
• mpire - online shopping analytics.

I know, I know - I’m a hatr, not a lovr…

Tags: naming, flickr, sheep

I was forwarded an interesting study from the National Science Foundation (NSF), which shows that companies with easy-to-pronounce names do better on the stock market.

Sez the NSF:

Researchers have found that companies with easily pronounced names and stock ticker symbols perform better in stock markets in the days following their initial public offering (IPO). The NSF-funded study shows that in the New York Stock Exchange and the American Exchange, stocks with fluent names initially appreciated more in value than did those with more complex names.

Based on this, many of companies recently mentioned as up-and-coming on Michael Harrington’s blog TechCrunch) will be leaving money on the table if they ever get to IPO stage:

• Guruza (expert advice via IM)
• mpire (online shopping analytics)
• zlango (communicate with icons on SMS)
• PeopleAggregator (meta social networking — six syllables!)
• TalkShoe (podcasters get a cut of conference call revenues)
• Külist (price-comparison engine)
• Platial (a “people’s atlas”)

Tags: names, stock prices, obvious

Fisherman at sunset, Lake Victoria

Just back from two weeks in Kenya. It was sort of a vacation. Probably better than a vacation, though I had to tromp around in the hot sun with 25 lbs of photographic glass on my back. I managed to get myself attached to a paleontological expedition as a photographer, to Rusinga Island, part of that small bit of Lake Victoria (zoom in to see Rusinga) that belongs to Kenya. It’s quite possible that some of my photos will be used at the American Museum of Natural History’s new Hall of Human Origins. We’ll see.

I should note that it’s quite unusual for a paleontological expedition to bring along a photographer. If you’re successful, and you’ve already found the missing link, and you’ve got National Geographic to sponsor you to go back to the site for the posed “Eureka” moment, yes they will send a photographer. Otherwise you’re lucky to get a working hurricane lamp.

This particular mission featured three young paleontologists out to make a name for themselves, and there wasn’t much excuse for me going along.

Will Harcourt-Smith, Kieran McNulty, and Holly Dunsworth, intrepid young paleontologists

Two circumstances conspired to get me on this trip. One, my father did his dissertation on the geology of Rusinga and mapped the whole island, while I as a 7-year-old went to one of the local schools, and they wanted him along to show them the likely fossil localities; and two, I paid my own way. That helps. I’m not quitting the Internet just yet….

I was a little anxious. I’d stored up many memories of my childhood there (living in a tent, swimming in the lake, nourishing my budding interest in ornithology), and I was worried that the place had been trashed. It was certainly more populated than it had been, but I’m happy to say it was still lovely, people still friendly, the lake (though in deep trouble) is showing signs of regeneration. At Rusinga Island at least, there were fish, otters, monitor lizards, and abundant bird life.

African fish eagle with catch

There isn’t any Internet to speak of in Kenya, by the way, at least outside of Nairobi. No computers either. Or electricity. Or running water. The roads are barely passable. My impression was that the digital divide is the least of the divides there. Everyone is desperately poor, and most are living an agricultural life, on small plots growing maize or millet, just one or two bad harvests away from a serious food shortage. And yet (just as I remember as a child), the people are the salt of the earth, friendly and generous and welcoming.

Young Luo boys on Rusinga Island

I put some (non-paleontological) photos up as a set on Flickr. I took hundreds of photos, this is just a small selection. Comments welcome.

Tags: Kenya, Rusinga, paleontology, Luo, digital divide