tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-96406182024-03-13T13:44:42.498-07:00ChaoticaEmbrace chaos, it's going to happen anyway...James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comBlogger152125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-90157565376683116212010-10-11T04:53:00.001-07:002010-10-11T04:54:22.523-07:00TestI blog, therefore I am...James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-78609364807736947622009-09-23T07:06:00.001-07:002009-09-23T07:06:30.698-07:00Test<input id="gwProxy" type="hidden"><!--Session data--><input onclick="jsCall();" id="jsProxy" type="hidden"><div id="refHTML"></div>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-8437650529483206102008-08-09T16:23:00.001-07:002008-10-30T14:31:25.212-07:00James Enck 3.0, beta<span style="font-size:130%;">Dearest mega-uber-value readers, the last time I wrote anything serious here was in April 2007, as I was <a href="http://eurotelcoblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/james-enck-20.html">embarking upon an amazing journey</a> into the world of principal investing within a major Wall Street bank. Recently you might have noticed that I started posting again, albeit in a fairly sparse, cryptic and non-committal way. This was because I wanted to prime the pump for a return in a non-controversial way while waiting for the paperwork to be signed off and final paychecks not to bounce (attention lawyers - the foregoing was a joke). Well, this has all come to pass without a hitch now, so the muzzle is off, for the most part, and I can do a bit of explaining, to the extent that I am able.<br /><br />I think a number of you seemed to work out that a job-imposed hiatus from blogging, followed by a sudden return, probably pointed to impending unemployment - and you were <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimiinc/2631653478/">right on the money</a>. In July I was "right-sized", along with much of the rest of my team. Many of you have sent me some very kind messages welcoming me back to the blogosmos, and while I share your sense of enthusiasm, it is far from a straightforward thing for me emotionally, as I feel intensely frustrated and disappointed at the ultimate outcome of my "reinvention" - not to mention the fact that I now find myself unemployed for the first time ever.<br /><br />No matter, I will resolve this in time. For now, perhaps I should try to paint a picture, for those who are interested (I must assume that most of you who seek this site out are to some extent interested in the person behind it), of what has transpired (to the extent that I am actually free to speak) in the past 16 months since we last met. I have spoken with or corresponded with a number of you during that period, and I have frequently encountered confusion as to the precise nature of my role, such that I eventually determined that the best way to answer questions was in the form of - duh - Q&A. So, I hope this helps to give some useful background. Apologies to those with a more sophisticated knowledge of the financial markets - I have assumed a very low level of knowledge in this regard.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;">Q: Why did you stop blogging?</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br />A: I was hired in April 2007 by the Principal Credit Group of Merrill Lynch (a.k.a. Merrill Lynch PCG - typically a low-profile group, though some limited <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=4&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.alacrastore.com%2Fstorecontent%2FThomson_M%26A%2FMerrill_Lynch_PCG_Inc_acquires_a_minority_stake_in_PODS_Inc-1767481020&ei=sQKeSNGJFYzGQLvT6cYC&usg=AFQjCNHPzB7LudrrPOL2nNV3n9d15AhAHw&sig2=rKbWePiJqbvZLbhQTLTmxQ">internet</a> <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=5&url=http%3A%2F%2Fhouston.bizjournals.com%2Fhouston%2Fstories%2F2007%2F01%2F22%2Fdaily66.html&ei=sQKeSNGJFYzGQLvT6cYC&usg=AFQjCNEUzx4M8o1elN0k1tSFqZKs1p-KdQ&sig2=u9EIwclJWM_LaIWntyyzow">footprint</a> <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.telecommagazine.com%2Farticle.asp%3FHH_ID%3DAR_3453&ei=1wOeSITcO6bGQezMpc8C&usg=AFQjCNGB4Is5i4mxm95HTboW7mpJbmQseA&sig2=xARboPx5_6ATlIUIxf-8_Q">exists</a>), and while my bosses and colleagues there seemed to be hip to the value of blogging and the ensuing potential network effects in the investment process, Merrill Lynch has some very clear policies which prohibit this. This is entirely understandable, given the potential abuses which could arise across the firm, but I guess this also illustrates the extent to which a firm-wide dragnet internet policy is also potentially counterproductive in terms of its effects on individual business units. In any event, the blog had to die.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;">Q: What was the Principal Credit Group of Merrill Lynch?</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br />A: This was a unit set up in 2002, to look for investment opportunities in the distressed end of the market, i.e., good companies with troubled finances, or bad companies with valuable assets which were undervalued due to the lack of market confidence in the management or market dynamics. For those of you too young to remember, 2002 pretty much marked the nadir of the post-dot.bomb era, and Merrill Lynch made a financial commitment to allow this group to invest the firm's own capital to focus on this space to maximize returns in its favor. In other words, it was an internally-funded hedge fund, or in Wall Street parlance, a "balance sheet group," "principal investing group," or "prop desk". At our peak we had just over 40 people onboard and just over $3bn in assets under management, and our portfolio covered all parts of the capital structure. Our Chief Investment Officer was a great guy named <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=boris+ehsani+merrill+lynch&btnG=Google+Search&meta=">Boris Ehsani</a>, and I reported to the fabulous <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=mark+devonshire+merrill+lynch&btnG=Search&meta=">Mark Devonshire</a>, who was an absolute joy to work with. While the group started out as a primarily credit (i.e., corporate debt)-focused unit, as pricing in the credit markets became more questionable, and the credit market became more crowded with newcomers who further exacerbated these distortions, the group gravitated more towards public and private equity situations, which is where I came into the mix.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;">Q: So, how did you end up as part of this team?</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br />A: In the summer of 2004, I got an email from a great man named Tim McDonald, from Merrill Lynch PCG, who expressed an admiration for my humble bloglet and expressed an interest in maintaining a dialogue. Tim had previously written his own <a href="http://trmcdonald.blogs.com/ruminations_on_telecom_an/">extremely impressive blog</a>, and seemed to understand what I was trying to do as a sell-side analyst. We continued to speak regularly, and when I ended up in NYC as a presenter at a <a href="http://eurotelcoblog.blogspot.com/2004/09/daiwa-eurotelcoblog-no_22.html">Columbia University event</a> in autumn 2004, I had a chance to meet him and Boris in person. Beyond the ongoing dialogue and friendship which developed between Tim and me, there were a number of informal meetings which took place over the next two years, all of which culminated in a formal interview process in late 2006, and finally a job offer at the beginning of 2007.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;">Q: Why you?</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br />A: You'd have to ask the individuals involved, to be honest. However, if I had to make a guess, it would be that I had/have a network of contacts which could/can deliver interesting and funky proprietary investment opportunities, independent of a major investment bank advisor or private equity sponsor. As things were starting to unravel a couple of months ago, I went back and looked at the transaction pipeline, determining that my own personal network alone delivered over $300m in investment opportunities during my time in the group, roughly 1/3 of which I would describe as "high conviction".<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;">Q: So, how was it?</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br />A: I loved every minute of it, apart from the getting fired bit. I genuinely loved working with my colleagues (respect, people, if you're reading this), our bosses were great, the atmosphere was one of mutual respect and intellectual rigor. It was a fundamental research-driven approach, at heart, which on one or two occasions was frustrating when I could see purely speculative investment cases being compelling, but that was the DNA of the group, and its track record (as portrayed in <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aAuYO9S1USYw">this article</a>) was hard to argue with. As my bosses used to chant at opportune moments, we were investors, not traders.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;">Q: So, what did you actually do?</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br />A: I had a beautifully wide mandate. While I was brought in to diversify investment opportunities on the private equity side of things, as one of the team of global sector analysts, my other duty was to identify and analyze opportunities in the public credit/equity markets. In practice, >85% of my time was spent developing investment opportunities in the private equity space from my own network, and the remainder was spent looking at secondary public market positions in credit and equity, as well as a handful of primary deals (keep in mind that, of course, the primary markets were closed within a few months of my arrival on the scene). Opportunities I focused on (please note that I am under NDA with a wide range of companies) include, generically: energy-efficient datacenters with a bias towards managed services in the virtualization space; datacenter virtualization OS developers; WAN optimization solutions for financial trading platforms; next-gen satcomm; P2P-assisted CDNs; wireless towers; 4G wireless; a variety of FTTH deployments; P2P video platforms; targeted ad-insertion platforms for telco IPTV deployments; enterprise 2.0 voice and messaging platforms; a couple of take-private scenarios for busted (i.e., zero liquidity) tech IPOs; one activist take-private of an operator (we were waived off for policital reasons); and one broadband roll-up vehicle in an unnamed European market.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;">Q: What did you enjoy most about it?</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br />A: Apart from the people I worked with, the thing which really impressed me was the extent to which being associated with a credible brand could open doors and command people's attention. What I personally liked most was getting interesting young companies/entrepreneurs in through the door and spending hours talking about what makes them tick. Yet, the job was not the clicheed typical role of <a href="http://www.vcwear.com/shirts/vcwear_noshirt.jpg">skeptical VC</a> - in fact, for companies we found promising, we usually presented ourselves as an alternative safe haven from the VCs, which, in my experience, many young companies often view as being arrogant and aggressive. Most of all, I viewed the eclectic nature of the role, ranging from quasi-venture to traditional private equity, as well as public equity and credit, as being an exciting and fulfilling mix.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;">Q: So what now?</span><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><br />A: Good question. I'm having a number of interesting discussions with a number of interesting people, as you might expect. My ideal scenario would be to resume the sort of role I had within PCG (i.e., free reign across the capital structure, globally, public and private), but with a properly funded, understanding, and supportive structure behind me. However, I remain open-minded overall - the point for me is to find THE job, as opposed to A job. Any ideas/suggestions would be warmly welcomed. For now, I'd like to extend thanks to the good people from the defunct PCG - I loved working with you and wish we'd gotten to where we had hoped to go.<br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); font-size: 18px; text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-84708457540051952512007-04-10T22:57:00.000-07:002007-04-10T15:03:19.240-07:00Me 2.0<span style="font-size:130%;">Sadly, this blog has to die, as I have explained <a href="http://eurotelcoblog.blogspot.com/2007/04/james-enck-20.html">here</a>. Many, many thanks to all of you who have stopped in to read. See you again, sometime, somewhere.</span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1169195223956191432007-01-19T08:20:00.000-08:002007-01-19T00:28:38.320-08:00Joost Babeling on<span style="font-size:130%;">Yesterday afternoon I got notification that I had been accepted to the </span><a href="http://babelgum.com"><span style="font-size:130%;">Babelgum</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> beta trial. When I finally got home last night I downloaded and installed it, though it was very late so I didn't have time to play around with it very much. (I will try to post some screen shots in coming days.) I also updated my old Venice client to Joost and took a few minutes to compare the two, one after the other. First impressions: Babelgum is a smaller download - a little over 6MB - and it seems to launch a lot faster. I was also impressed that I got accepted into the Babelgum trial within two days, while Venice took a couple of weeks. Best of all, it looks to me as if the image quality in Babelgum is better overall than Joost, at least on my laptop at 11:00 last night. I'd be interested to hear anyone else's impressions on this issue.</span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1168952207137368262007-01-16T13:02:00.000-08:002007-01-16T05:22:06.300-08:00Bloomblog<a title="photo sharing" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimiinc/359397890/"><img style="BORDER-RIGHT: #000000 2px solid; BORDER-TOP: #000000 2px solid; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; BORDER-BOTTOM: #000000 2px solid" alt="" src="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/144/359397890_1519fd33c0_m.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><p><span style="font-size:130%;">I just noticed today that back in late September Bloomberg added what it calls a blogging function to user accounts. Basically, it's just Bloomberg's familiar text-only interface, no photos (other than that associated with the user ID), and no ability to embed HTTP links. Oh, and there's no RSS syndication, and the potential readership extends only as far as the Bloomberg subscriber base. Otherwise, it's <span style="font-size:180%;">potent</span> social software... Actually, to be fair, the Bloomberg platform is an intensely social one, but in my experience this is more to do with messaging rather than communities of interest. I guess this is an attempt to change that, but it looks a pretty poor start, and I think it's pretty telling that in nearly five months of existence there have only been about 800 posts, <span style="font-size:180%;">total</span>.</span></p>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1168518256022174502007-01-11T12:13:00.000-08:002007-01-11T04:24:16.100-08:00Pleased to meet me<span style="font-size:130%;">Being blessed/cursed with the ability to speak and read Japanese, I think it's incumbent upon me to translate items of interest to mega-uber value readers which come my way from Japan. Typically, this is from <a href="http://japan.internet.com">japan.internet.com</a>, which conducts some amazing research with its various partners. This time around, the joint survey is carried out with Cross Marketing KK, and focuses on <a href="http://japan.internet.com/research/20070111/1.html">use of avatars</a>. (<a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/49/151777450_f94ff60181_m.jpg">Here's</a> <a href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/55/151804077_512177130a_m.jpg">mine</a>.) </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The sample group consisted of 300 persons aged 10 - 60 who had some familiarity with avatars. Remarkably, 45% of them claim to have some experience of creating/using an avatar. Of this number, 68% (92 persons) claim to have used <a href="http://avatar.yahoo.co.jp/?redirect=1168516398">Yahoo! Avatar</a>, followed in popularity by <a href="http://www.hangame.co.jp/">Hangame</a> (originally out of <a href="http://www.hangame.com/">Korea</a>), at 32% (52 persons), and a handful of others (livedoor, Avatown, et al) at much lower levels. Roughly one-third of those who had created avatars claimed to have purchased virtual items with varying frequency. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Mindful of the fact that the majority of avatar use is in blogsites and personal profiles in social sites, the interviewers asked in what other contexts users would like to use their avatars. The most popular response was "nothing in particular," but among those who expressed wishes, chat was most popular at 29%, followed by online gaming at 27%, bulletin boards/forums at 24%, and IM at 23%. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">I'm particularly interested in the gaming response. Is avatar interoperability the next battlefront?</span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1168426571653106792007-01-10T11:11:00.000-08:002007-01-10T03:21:06.920-08:00Jive talkin'<span style="font-size:130%;">A Pollonium 210 class mega-uber value reader submits this <a href="http://www.theretailbulletin.com/index.php?cat=news&page=5&tag=6948bd44c91acd2b54ecdd1b132f10fb">eye-wateringly funny piece</a> on T-Mobile UK's crusade against techno-jargon from <em>Retail Bulletin</em>. I like the fact that 10% of respondents think VoIP is an aid to the visually-impaired (which is not to say that much of the industry is not short-sighted!), or that 5% thought that HSDPA could boost the body's mineral content (now that would be something to get excited about). The underlying message is a serious one, however: industry insularity alienates the target audience. I wonder if T-Mobile's proposed solution possibly involves standardizing all terminology around the parent company's branding conventions? Candidates would include:</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">T-oIP</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">T-DSL (already exists)</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">T-SPDA</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">T-TTH</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">T-iMax</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">T-Pod</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">T-Tunes</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">T-iFi</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">T-P-TV</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1168339855844305772007-01-09T10:29:00.000-08:002007-01-09T02:58:55.386-08:00The return of sneakernet<span style="font-size:130%;">The first day of CES delivered a </span><a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=127160&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=948169&highlight="><span style="font-size:130%;">baffling</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><a href="http://www.nokia.com/A4136001?newsid=1096865"><span style="font-size:130%;">torrent</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> of </span><a href="http://www.tivo.com/cms_static/press_128.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">press</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><a href="http://us.slingmedia.com/object/io_1168286861787.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">releases</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> from all </span><a href="http://news.sel.sony.com/en/press_room/consumer/television/release/27367.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">the</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><a href="http://www.motorola.com/mediacenter/news/detail.jsp?globalObjectId=7564_7493_23"><span style="font-size:130%;">usual</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><a href="http://www.scientific-atlanta.com/newscenter/releases/07Jan08-1.htm"><span style="font-size:130%;">suspects</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">, making synthesis extremely challenging - though I guess the theme which is most prominent in my mind is media portability and the struggle to bridge the divide between the internet and TV. (Put another way, that's the gap between the living room and the bedroom, though I find it increasingly bizarre that we still refer to media experiences based on the layout of the home.) This message was underscored last night on BBC's 10 o'clock news, which contained a feature on the "battle for the connected home" from CES, which was somewhat slavishly skewed towards the wonders of Vista. My wife grumbled that all of this was aimed at 30-something males with too much money and no social life - and she's usually right about these things. I do wonder about just how much complexity and cost "the average person" is willing or able to embrace, which is why my favorite press release from yesterday was </span><a href="http://www.usbtv.org/downloads/USBTV_PressRelease_010807.pdf"><span style="font-size:130%;">this one</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> from SanDisk, sent in via a mega-uber value reader - nice and simple, plus involves occasional physical exercise in transferring data.</span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1167991342237516252007-01-05T13:36:00.000-08:002007-01-05T06:01:06.166-08:00Teledelic, baby<span style="font-size:130%;">True </span><a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/InfoTech/18017/"><span style="font-size:130%;">info-Chaotica</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> in the run-up to CES next week.<br /><br />Check out </span><a href="http://www.beet.tv/2007/01/net_video_is_co.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">this short interview</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> on Beet.tv with William Randolph Hearst III on his enthusiasm for his investment, </span><a href="http://www.akimbo.com"><span style="font-size:130%;">Akimbo</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">.<br /><br />Also, an interesting, if somewhat obvious, </span><a href="http://www.out-law.com/page-7604"><span style="font-size:130%;">article from Outlaw</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">, on the possible bandwidth implications of using Venice on a capped broadband package. The really explosive issue for me is (as I calculate it - I don't know how 320MB down/105MB up equates to 1GB every ten hours) that even on BT's most generous 40GB DSL package, just watching a little over three hours per day every day could put users afoul of the fair use terms - and that's not taking into account any other applications they might be running. As it stands now, you'd be hardpressed to find three hours' worth of content to watch every day on Venice, but that will change. I understand there is a lot more content coming into the pipeline, and I am hearing from other Beta testers who also have received tokens to invite new users, which means the network is actively being seeded out. So this issue for the telcos is not going to go away, and given the current pricing structures in the market, it is difficult to see what the options are if your top-tier customers start to overrun their "very generous" data caps. Incremental bandwidth "top-ups" have been tried and dumped before - perhaps we see the return in 2007? Or maybe broadband pricing simply has to rise - I'm not sure the competitive dynamic in the European markets will permit that. On balance, I think we'll see more "traffic shaping," undoubtedly under the guise of "protecting QoS." (<em>As a side point, I think Venice is a great piece of software. The UI is very elegant and intuitive. Picture quality is definitely not near-HD, at least not on my connection, but is certainly adequate and an awful lot better than a lot of the stuff on YouTube. My only gripe is the relative lack of breadth of content, but I am certain that is just a matter of time</em>. <em>At this point, I'm tempted to say it's a Zennstrom/Friis hat-trick</em>.)<br /><br />Speaking of differentiated content, this morning I had a chance to catch up again with old pal </span><a href="http://thamesvalleypod.tv/blog/"><span style="font-size:130%;">Neil Fairbrother</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> (if you ever needed an inspiring example of "life after telco," here's your man) to get an update on developments at his </span><a href="http://thamesvalleypod.tv"><span style="font-size:130%;">ThamesValleyPod.tv</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> venture. There's a lot to this business (i.e., potential revenue levers) which is not evident from the site, but which will become more evident in coming months. I understand a rebranding is in the works, as well as a significant deal which I cannot write about at this point. I think this is an interesting one to watch, and I can't understand why telcos hell-bent on doing IPTV don't try to embrace more of this sort of unique content in their offerings.</span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1167921670744301812007-01-04T14:25:00.000-08:002007-01-04T06:41:10.800-08:00Chaotica question of the day<span style="font-size:130%;">Does Amazon sell </span><a href="http://public.blueorigin.com/index.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">carbon offsets</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">?</span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1167919282230450882007-01-04T14:00:00.000-08:002007-01-04T06:02:59.803-08:00Can you see me now?<span style="font-size:130%;">AT&T is now a $220bn company, which puts it in the league of the oil super-majors. In the size-obsessed global telecom industry, everyone else must indeed be currently feeling more than a bit of, ahem, appendage envy. So what does any red-blooded American telco executive do when his manhood is called into question? Of course, <a href="http://adage.com/article?article_id=114066">artificial enhancement</a>, what else? Especially if he's got $1.6bn to spend (that's 2.9% of Sprint's current market value, vs. a mere 0.4% for the $1bn AT&T is going to spend in destroying the popular Cingular brand). Pump it up! </span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1167906884028837882007-01-04T10:24:00.000-08:002007-01-04T02:34:44.196-08:00Not only, but also...<span style="font-size:130%;">Chaotica footnote and potential datapoint of interest: In reading up on Amanda Congdon's </span><a href="http://amandacongdon.com/blog/?p=16"><span style="font-size:130%;">latest exploits</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">, I came across this </span><a href="http://amandacongdon.com/blog/?p=16#comment-200"><span style="font-size:130%;">response</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> from her to a comment on the site, the salient point being that "the show is doing so well that </span><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Amanda/"><span style="font-size:130%;">ABC</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> is already in the process of hiring another videoblogger". Interesting to see how Big Media, out of fear, desperation, or a genuine will to change, may yet find its way into some middle ground.</span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1167838926341625622007-01-03T15:36:00.000-08:002007-01-03T07:51:44.086-08:002007 starts with a bang - big cash for plastic<span style="font-size:130%;">Just yesterday a friend/mega-uber value reader and I were lamenting the overwhelming focus of the blogosphere on The Valley at the expense of some of the more innovative things happening in Europe. We ended our chat by sharing a wish that 2007 may see the balance redressed - and bang, today the ever-excellent </span><a href="http://www.thealarmclock.com/euro/"><span style="font-size:130%;">alarm:clock euro</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> has a piece on the $100m (this is not a typo) funding round </span><a href="http://www.plasticlogic.com/news-detail.php?id=300"><span style="font-size:130%;">just closed by Plastic Logic</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> in the UK to ramp up production of flexible electronic reader displays in Dresden. I guess the many thousands of workers currently handing out free newspapers on the streets of London are living on borrowed time...</span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1166558327371002312006-12-19T19:44:00.000-08:002006-12-19T11:58:47.400-08:00Auntie Torrent<span style="font-size:130%;">A mega-uber value reader pinged me today with this - BBC Worldwide </span><a href="http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20061219005306&newsLang=en"><span style="font-size:130%;">signs a distribution deal</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> with Azureus' </span><a href="http://www.zudeo.com"><span style="font-size:130%;">Zudeo</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">.</span> <span style="font-size:130%;">This is a major, major shot in the arm for P2P distribution from the mainstream content arena. </span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1166095613494912052006-12-14T07:15:00.000-08:002006-12-14T03:29:21.640-08:00Christmas wish list, 2011<span style="font-size:130%;">Dear Santa,<br /><br />Please bring me some of this kick-ass </span><a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/BizTech/17898/"><span style="font-size:130%;">electromagnetic induction carpeting</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">, and a </span><a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/player/06/12/14Greene/1.aspx"><span style="font-size:130%;">doll-house version</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> for the kids. As I obviously plan to be working at home all the time, following the destruction of the desk-bound analyst model in 2009 (which delivered massive cost savings to the company and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, but unfortunately led to a catastrophic downturn in the commercial property market and congestion charge receipts), this will help to ensure that I can work anywhere in the house without having to drag power cables around. Also, if you can fit it in your sleigh, can you deliver a </span><a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/BizTech/17894/"><span style="font-size:130%;">porta-me</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> to my office, in case anyone should insist on having a face-to-face meeting?</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Your friend,</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">Jimmy</span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1165418380900831062006-12-06T15:11:00.000-08:002006-12-06T07:19:40.990-08:00Skoogle<span style="font-size:130%;">Well, there probably aren't many people out there who have any lingering doubts about the Murdoch brigade's grasp of "this internet thing," but if so, here's the <a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=104016&p=irol-newsArticle_Print&ID=939641&highlight=">final nail in the coffin</a> - Sky and Google in a wide-ranging alliance covering advertising revenue share, a Sky-branded version of Gmail, UGC video, and an intention to "explore opportunities to provide further services such as Google's VoIP (voice over internet protocol) telephony services, enhanced storage and future product developments," and to "explore future forms of web, TV and mobile advertising." If you expect, as I do, that Sky is eventually poised to do something disruptive in wireless, then this last little piece is even more intriguing. Stay tuned. </span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1165404102251681842006-12-06T11:11:00.000-08:002006-12-06T03:40:29.926-08:00Broadcasters still think bloggers are not "media"<span style="font-size:130%;">Today I tried registering as a member of the press at the <a href="http://press.channel4.com/pressExtranet/home.action">Channel 4 website</a>, primarily because I think the company is involved in some very <a href="http://www.computeractive.co.uk/computeractive/news/2168831/channel-puts-programmes-online">Chaotica-friendly activities</a>, which are worthy of coverage for an audience outside the UK. C4 is apparently a big <a href="http://www.channel4.com/fourdocs/blog/index.jsp">believer in blogs</a> (at least to propagate its own content) and <a href="http://www.channel4.com/fourdocs/articles/fourdocs_map.html">participatory media</a>, but alas, I received the following response to my application:</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><em><blockquote><em>Dear James,<br /></em><br /><em>At this time we are unable to provide you with an account for the Channel 4 press extranet. If you require more information about why your registration has been refused please contact the press and publicity department at Channel 4.<br /></em><br /><em>Regards,</em><br /><br /><em>C4 Press Department.</em><br /><br /><em>##################################################</em><br /><em>Note:<br />Any views or opinions are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Channel Four Television Corporation unless specifically stated. This email and any files transmitted are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to which they are addressed. If you have received this email in error, please notify </em><a href="mailto:postmaster@channel4.co.uk"><em>postmaster@channel4.co.uk</em></a><br /><em>Thank You.</em><br /><em>##################################################</em><br /></blockquote></em>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1164987197981909312006-12-01T15:33:00.000-08:002006-12-01T07:33:17.983-08:00A bit of positivity<span style="font-size:130%;">There's a lot of harrowing coverage around today in connection with World AIDS day and the horrendous suffering of those affected, particularly children in the Indian subcontinent and sub-Saharan Africa. Education alone is clearly no panacaea, but it was nevertheless nice to see <a href="http://www.technologyreview.com/player/video/video_compact_leader.aspx?id=336122058&autoplay=true">this video</a> on the Negroponte & Co. initiative to deliver one laptop per child to the developing world.</span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1164986800166361492006-12-01T15:24:00.000-08:002006-12-01T07:26:40.183-08:00Open up, it's your user base<span style="font-size:130%;">Nice to see </span><a href="http://press.aol.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=1128&view_id=35&instance_code="><span style="font-size:130%;">this announcement</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> from AOL engaging the hordes of talented coders out there in the pursuit of something better and different.</span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1164729857020586662006-11-28T16:01:00.000-08:002006-11-28T08:08:06.533-08:00The vision thing<span style="font-size:130%;">Well, Monday is the moment of truth for BT's long-awaited entry into TV, and I guess there must be more than a few sets of white knuckles at BT Centre. The launch comes at a time when TV viewing in the UK is seeing some interesting shifts - around 40% of respondents to a </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/11_november/27/tv.shtml"><span style="font-size:130%;">BBC survey</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> say that internet video is displacing TV viewing to some extent, 20% say it is significant, and it also looks like the </span><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2006/11_november/21/hd.shtml"><span style="font-size:130%;">HD bug is catching</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">. I'm curious to see what BT delivers, and I wish the company well, but there are still some pretty difficult fundamental questions as to what the </span><a href="http://www.machinima.com/watch_flash.php?filmId=2079&adVideoTimeOut=25000&playAdVideo=true&useDefaultAdCO=true&playMacPromoVideo=false&noAdVideoStaticAdCo=TF&useDefaultNoAdVideoStaticAdCoURL=false&videoLink=http://69.46.0.183/streams_orig//renamed_SBGS_fast_start_med.flv&videoInfo=Silver%20Bells%20and%20Golden%20Spurs%2CBedazzle%20Studios%20%26%20Linden%20Lab%2CSecond%20Life%2CMar-17-06%2C%2C41%20MB&channelLink=http://www.machinima.com/films.php?engine=10&shrme=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.machinima.com%2Fsharevideo_form.php%3Femailfriend%3D1%26page_title%3DSilver%20Bells%20and%20Golden%20Spurs%26page_type%3Dvideo%26page_url%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.machinima.com%2Ffilms.php%3Fid%3D2079%26filmId%3D2079&dnld=http://69.46.0.183/streams_orig//dl.php?filename=./renamed_SBGS_fast_start_med.flv&fdbk=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.machinima.com%2Ffdbkvideo_form.php%3Ffdbk%3D1%26page_title%3DSilver%20Bells%20and%20Golden%20Spurs%26page_type%3Dvideo%26page_url%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.machinima.com%2Ffilms.php%3Fid%3D2079&autoRun=true&showWatch=true&showD"><span style="font-size:130%;">medium</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> </span><a href="http://www.machinima.com/watch_flash.php?filmId=2072&amp;adVideoTimeOut=25000&playAdVideo=true&useDefaultAdCO=true&playMacPromoVideo=false&noAdVideoStaticAdCo=TF&useDefaultNoAdVideoStaticAdCoURL=false&videoLink=http://69.46.0.162/streams_orig//SolarSystem_med.flv&videoInfo=Tour%20of%20the%20Solar%20System%2CAimee%20Weber%2CSecond%20Life%2CMar-16-06%2C%2C35%20MB&channelLink=http://www.machinima.com/films.php?engine=10&shrme=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.machinima.com%2Fsharevideo_form.php%3Femailfriend%3D1%26page_title%3DTour%20of%20the%20Solar%20System%26page_type%3Dvideo%26page_url%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.machinima.com%2Ffilms.php%3Fid%3D2072%26filmId%3D2072&dnld=http://69.46.0.162/streams_orig//dl.php?filename=./SolarSystem_med.flv&fdbk=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.machinima.com%2Ffdbkvideo_form.php%3Ffdbk%3D1%26page_title%3DTour%20of%20the%20Solar%20System%26page_type%3Dvideo%26page_url%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.machinima.com%2Ffilms.php%3Fid%3D2072&autoRun=true&showWatch=true&showDownload=false&postAdPreDownloadText=Your%20free%20download%20is%2"><span style="font-size:130%;">even is anymore</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> (ignore the long downloads and initial annoying advertisement - these are worth waiting for), which I doubt will be answered on Monday.</span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1164622624028486052006-11-27T10:01:00.000-08:002006-12-01T07:37:44.883-08:00Whose tube?<span style="font-size:130%;">The </span><a href="http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200611/200611270020.html"><span style="font-size:130%;">downside</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;"> of user-generated content, from South Korea, as some <em>shibpallom</em> gets literal.</span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1164109573030767492006-11-21T11:25:00.000-08:002006-11-21T03:46:13.416-08:00Things are in the saddle, and ride man<span style="font-size:130%;">It's 2015 in London, and you're still trying to recover from the fantastically successful <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/11/15/ugames115.xml">Olympics</a>. Your home has a 100Mbps symmetrical broadband connection which satisfies most, if not all, of your media and information needs. Your legacy PSTN connection is a distant memory, and in idle moments you reminisce about those bad old days when a movie used to take a few hours to download. Most of the applications you run are web-based, and a lot of your media is stored <a href="http://www.fabrikinc.com/register/features.php?view=store">somewhere other</a> than on a device in your home. Well, if <a href="http://www.logicacmg.com/r/5004/page/400004887">this LogicaCMG survey</a> is right, you'd better have your own generator, or a house covered in solar panels, if you want "five nines" access. I wonder how much of an issue the telecom industry sees in securing/guaranteeing a reliable energy supply for customers? Any comments, as usual, are most welcome.</span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1163754934075849162006-11-17T10:03:00.000-08:002006-11-17T02:20:10.876-08:00Abandoned blogs<span style="font-size:130%;">I thought this would be an appropriate topic with which to start the revival of Chaotica. Recent work commitments have made it impossible to maintain momentum here, but I will now return to regular posting as things have finally calmed down a bit. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">The hard-working people over at <a href="http://japan.internet.com">japan.internet.com</a> have updated their regular series of surveys into blogging, focusing this time on reasons why people <a href="http://japan.internet.com/research/20061117/1.html">give it up</a>. Interestingly of the 1,041 people interviewed, 42% claim to have published their own blog, but of this number 31% claim to have abandoned it. Of those who abandon their blogs, 67% say it is because "maintaining it is a hassle," 22% say they "got tired of it," and 17% say that the relevance of the topic their were posting on had diminished. Most interesting to me is that another 17% of respondents say that their attention has moved to community sites such as <a href="http://mixi.jp">Mixi</a>. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9640618.post-1161786239053883852006-10-25T17:15:00.000-07:002006-10-25T13:33:14.800-07:00MySecondHalfLifeTV<span style="font-size:130%;">I have been faring poorly in my pledge to increase posting frequency on this blog, and must do better. A mega-uber value reader alerts me to coverage of a Northwestern University project called <em><a href="http://infolab.northwestern.edu/project.asp?id=40">News at Seven</a></em> in </span><a href="http://www.newscientisttech.com/article.ns?id=dn10371&feedId=tech_rss20"><span style="font-size:130%;">NewScientist</span></a><span style="font-size:130%;">. Here's where it all comes together - entirely personalized text, audio and video content culled from RSS feeds and other sources, edited, transformed to natural speech and delivered by a virtual character. It's intriguing to think about what else could eventually be fed into such an update, for instance virtual life management things like, "In other news, you have two Skype voicemails, three friend requests from MySpace, a couple of unsavoury-looking people hanging around your virtual boutique in <em>Second Life</em>, and your guild is getting an ass-whoopin' in <em>World of Warcraft.</em>"</span>James Enckhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17214581678192360980noreply@blogger.com