Ad Hoc

Apple is forming a strategic alliance with Cisco Systems, the huge communications equipment maker ... purportedly for the purpose of better enterprise solutions. However there is one throwaway in this deal that has caught my attention. And that is that this new alliance will provide Internet users better tools to block ads ... see: Fortune Magazine Article. And God knows I and many others would welcome some relief from the deluge of these bothersome pop-ups, wipes and overlays. If given an easy way to cleanse my on-line experience of these annoying distractions, I would jump at the chance ... and I really don't care that this may be damaging some pesky advertisers.

This may be a game changer for online advertising because these ads are the life blood of Google, Facebook, et al ... and are the most annoying aspect of these newer technologies ... and, interestingly, these are the kind of companies that Apple views as its biggest competition. However, there might also be collateral damage from this development ... and that will be that Internet news outlets (The Drudge Report, Huffington Post, etc.) and popular blogs (Powerline, Mother Jones, etc.) might also see revenue declines. Fortunately, for an obvious reason this blog would be immune ... see: No Ads.

Things I Don't Get ...

The following things fly right over my head:

- Comicon

- Climate change

- Tweeting

- Selfies

- Lady Gaga

- Photo-bombing

- Pass/fail grading

- Cosplays

- Purell

- "How I Met Your Mother"

- Superbowl halftime shows

- Gopro camera

- Texting

- Donut burgers

- Blogs

Post Trauma

Amazon's founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos, recently personally bought the Washington Post newspaper.  The expectation was that he would continue or expand its liberal editorial positions. Surprise! Surprise!  His newspaper has just created a partnership with the Volokh Conspiracy … a popular conservative blog that deals primarily in legal and public policy issues … see: Tumblr Story.  And he also has given the thumbs down to financing that uber-liberal, Ezra Klein for his independent website … and thus severed a longstanding relationship with him … see: Politico Story.

In times past I had a very loose interest in the Volokh Conspiracy (see: Volokh Conspiracy Blog) in that one of its contributors, Todd Zywicki, had good things to say about one of my blog sites, Dartmouth Traditions.  Todd Zywicki is a Dartmouth graduate, a famous lawyer, and a former trustee of the college on the hill.  A number of years ago, I occasionally visited his blog .,. but have gotten out of the habit.  I intend to remedy this lapse and will now regularly view it … and I recommend it to you.

Anti-Social

I just got an invitation to join a social-networking site called LinkedIn.  I won't join ... just like I haven't joined Facebook.  Actually, my name is on Facebook but I don't respond to all its "friending," "you have messages" and other requests for a variety of reasons -- it takes too much time; it might compromise my privacy; it's a young persons distraction; and it seems slightly vainglorious.

This social networking phenomenon has me perplexed.  I like most people, but I don't want them to know every inane thing I do.  However, I am willing to share my thinking with them ... thus all these blogs of mine.  So, by demurring, I am willing to be lumped into the "old foggie" category ... probably because that is exactly what I am.