It's all happening...

I just really like John Howard, Australia's PM.  In this AP story Australia Urges End to Sanctions in Iraq John says: "The most important thing now is for everybody to be realistic ... Provided all countries recognize that the United States and its coalition partners are running Iraq, I think everybody can move forward in a very practical and sensible way."  Yep.

Apple's iTunes Music Store has a great promotion - new music Tuesdays.  Each Tuesday they send everyone who's signed up for the service an email promoting some new bands.  You click the link, listen to the music, and if you like, buy it.  I really think they've hit on a great formula.

This would be cooler if they had some way to know "what you like".  Since they have the record of your buying patterns, they could make suggestions a la NetFlix or Amazon.  Perhaps they've already thought of this.

Another cool enhancement would be the ability for people to share playlists, kind of like the way Live365 lets people "broadcast" their own programs.  Then if you have a friend who's into a lot of the same music you are, you could listen to her playlists and [if you like the music], buy it.  Many, many ways to take this...

Winds of Change has a great post: RIAA Preparing to Attack its Customers.  Just as Apple is showing the right way to do music online, the RIAA continues to show the wrong way.  Actually they are not even wrong.  "This tactic defines extremism from an industry that deserves to die."  Business Week: Big Music, Win Some, Lose a Lot More?

If Apple's store continues to be successful, it is interesting to ponder where it could lead.  If this type of access and promotion sells music, does a band really need a label for promotion and distribution?  { They sure don't need a label to make music anymore;  anyone with a few microphones and a Mac can do that... }

Jeffery Pfeffer in Business 2.0: Don't Believe the Hype About Strategy.  "The best way to build a company for the future is to cut back on meetings and get back to work."  Yep.  This is one of the many reasons why startups out-execute bigger companies.

You know the Sony memory stick?  Well, apparently Sony is working on a TV tuner which fits into a memory stick slot for PDAs.  Wow.  (Click pic at right for larger view.)

Check out this hilarious movie, "Smokenders".  [ via Adam Curry ]

VentureBlog not only has good insight into VC investing, they are thoughtful about blogging, too.  In this post they discuss making their referer logs public.  Hmmm...

More blogroll philosophy: thinkers vs. linkers from Electric Venom.

Speaking of blogrolls, check out SARS Watch, my latest addition.  A good daily picture of what's happening in the SARS world.  So far the news is not good; "tip of the iceberg" seems to summarize what we're seeing in Asia.

If you're interested please read "How SARS Works", from the terrific science site "How Stuff Works".  There is some great stuff on the 'net, isn't there?

Related - an interesting article on Attacking Anthrax, in Technology Review.  "Anthrax stands apart in the rogue's gallery of bioterror diseases: the bacterial spores that cause it are relatively easy to acquire, mass-produce, and disseminate."  [ via InstaPundit ]

Switching gears, the Spurs looked pretty good beating the Lakers last night to take a 1-0 lead in their series.  Seems like the key was when the Lakers got into foul trouble, unusual for them.  Also Rick Fox will be missed more in this series than he was against Minnesota.  After watching the Nets beat the Celtics (the best in the East), I really think the L.A. / San Antonio winner is going to go all the way.

Wrapping up - the Interplanetary Internet (IPN).  I've read some blogs I thought were from Pluto, maybe someday they really will be!  { Note: due to crummy limitations in the speed of light, IPN transmissions will always be less interactive, more like email and less like surfing directly to a blog.  Of course, you could always have cache servers on each planet... }