Blog updates

Silo Point [The Real Estate Wonk]

2009-07-12T04:29:33-07:00

A year ago, I wrote a tiny post that linked to a story about Silo Point prices. And goodness gracious, you've had a lot to say since then on the subject of the development in Baltimore's Locust Point neighborhood that transformed a grain elevator into condos. You're still commenting on the prices -- and the condo fees, sales numbers, etc.

I mention this because Lorraine Mirabella has a condo story today that includes details about Silo Point. No doubt all you commenters will want to take a look. In between commenting here about Silo Point, naturally.

Some of those details:

At the 228-unit Silo Point, [developer Patrick] Turner says he has 75 contracts, including 46 buyers who have settled and moved in. He says his strategy of setting prices as the condos are completed, rather than selling pre-construction, has preserved sales that otherwise might have been lost if buyers backed out of contracts after values declined. Last month, Turner opened sales in the final section of the now-completed project, where units feature huge windows, soaring ceilings, granite kitchens and exposed concrete columns.

And now, a few excerpts from the debate among you readers.

The frequent commenter is Baller, who says he (I'm assuming here on "he") is a future resident and calls the development a "masterpiece" that fits his housing requirements (including parking, deck and a good neighborhood). In a tough market for new condos, Baller said, it's selling well: "I find the price very reasonable considering what you pay $/per sq. ft. and the modern amenities (that are usable compared to those of The Ritz)."

When Tye2K called the price too high, Baller challenged him to go see the property in person. Tye2K reported back Saturday that the amenities appealed to him but not the surroundings: "Rusted trains and a working shipyard is not my idea of a view." But the real issue for him was his calculation of monthly costs: "Silo Point would be close to $1,400 in fees and taxes. - So, why would I *buy* a property just to pay in taxes & fees what I currently pay in RENT? - And remember, if something breaks, *you* are responsible for it."

Another commenter, Jaded, said he loves Silo Point and intended to buy there but was also turned off by price and property taxes. So, he said, he opted for a choice that doesn't cost him anything in city taxes -- he moved to the county.

What's your take?

NYT: Cheney ordered CIA to hide program from Congress [Jay Hancock's blog]

2009-07-11T14:59:04-07:00

More information Americans need to know from Scott Shane & the NYT:

The Central Intelligence Agency withheld information about a secret counterterrorism program from Congress for eight years on direct orders from former Vice President Dick Cheney, the agency’s director, Leon E. Panetta, has told the Senate and House intelligence committees, two people with direct knowledge of the matter said Saturday.

More on June home sales [The Real Estate Wonk]

2009-07-11T10:15:33-07:00

Prices down, home sales up in the Baltimore metro area in June, as I mentioned yesterday. You can read more about it in today's story, which includes these thoughts from Mark Zandi, chief economist with Moody's Economy.com:

"Prices have more to fall, given the high level of foreclosure, but sales and construction, I think, are at bottom," Zandi said. "And part of it is related to much-improved affordability."
Zandi's not expecting much in the way of sales gains, though. Just the promise of some stability after years of retrenching.
"As long as the job market is sinking, it's hard to imagine home sales taking off to any considerable degree," he said.

No space in the story for this, but I also asked him about his expectations for price drops. Moody's Economy.com is forecasting "peak-to-trough" declines in the Baltimore metro area of 25 percent, as measured by the median price for resale homes. Nationally, the forecast is for a 37 percent decrease.

A smaller drop for our area, then, but Zandi expects it will be over sooner for the U.S.: the third quarter of next year, compared with a first-quarter 2011 bottom in prices for the Baltimore metro area.

Here's what he had to say about our market and its price outlook:

"It's certainly been hit hard, but it's held up much better than I thought it would through this period. It may be that I've been overly pessimistic. The region's economy has actually held up reasonably well given the severity of the national downtown. That may go to the preponderance of health-care activities in the region, which is the one industry nationwide which has continued to do reasonably well.

"It may also suggest, though, that Baltimore house prices don't start rising to any significant degree for longer. Prices didn't come down as much as I thought, so that means affordability hasn't improved as much as I would have hoped for. ... Prices need to fall a bit more to sufficiently restore affordability based on incomes and effective rents in the Baltimore metro area."

What's the magic number? He thinks an affordable median price for the metro area is around $210,000 to $220,000. Right now, as measured by MRIS, it's $250,000.

Thoughts?

CIA hid program from Congress for 8 years [Jay Hancock's blog]

2009-07-10T19:10:01-07:00

More outrage. Classic CIA. They're not so great at keeping secrets from U.S. enemies. But when it comes to hoodwinking Congress and sometimes the president, they're real pros. From Scott Shane of the NYT:

By SCOTT SHANE Published: July 9, 2009 WASHINGTON — The Central Intelligence Agency is conducting an internal review of how it briefs Congress on secret programs, intelligence officials said on Thursday, as Democrats and Republicans traded barbs over an admission by the agency’s director that the C.I.A. failed for eight years to inform the Intelligence Committees of one unidentified program. The nature of the program was the subject of speculation in Washington on Thursday but remained a mystery. Officials said it did not involve interrogation but declined to describe it further, saying the matter was highly sensitive and legitimately classified.

Credit card foreign conversion fees [Consuming Interests]

2009-07-10T14:17:28-07:00

Earlier this week, I posted a comment from Mary, who was charged a fee by her credit card for a foreign currency conversion, even though she made her purchase in Switzerland in U.S. dollars.

I asked if anyone knew of a card that didn't do this.

Curtis Arnold, founder of CreditRatings.com wrote in: "Just wanted to let you know that we track these for the NY State Banking Dept. every quarter and also that the Charles Schwab credit card does NOT charge any currency fees.

And he provided the link.

Breaking: BGE unveils 'one of the most advanced Smart Grid initiatives in the nation' [Jay Hancock's blog]

2009-07-10T12:54:41-07:00

This just in from Baltimore Gas and Electric:

BALTIMORE (July 10, 2009) - Baltimore Gas and Electric Company (BGE) today announced that it will hold a press conference to unveil plans for one of the most advanced Smart Grid initiatives in the nation, highlighted by the planned installation of 2 million residential smart meters throughout the BGE service territory and anticipated cost savings for BGE gas and electric customers in excess of $2.6 billion over the life of the project.

The presser is Monday. If these really are smart meters, they'll offer the option of "real time" pricing for residential users, letting them refuse the most expensive kilowatts during the day and passing along most of the huge savings available for offpeak, nighttime use. BGE's "time of use" plan, as presently designed, doesn't pass along enough of the offpeak savings. The $2.6 billion in projected savings, which would be achieved by using less electricity as well as through prices lower than they otherwise would have been, may be optimistic. Does it include the cost of the meters, which will be considerable? We'll find out Monday.

Free Slurpees on 7/11 [Consuming Interests]

2009-07-10T10:37:58-07:00

One more guest post from Andrea K. Walker:

Saturday is 7-Eleven’s 82nd birthday and the convenience store chain is giving away free Slurpees Saturday to celebrate. The chain is giving away 5 million of the 11.7-ounce frozen drinks --- a nice summer treat for cash-strapped consumers.

Thanks to Sun community coordinator Maryann James for the tip. And if you're still in the mood for something chilly, don't miss free McDonalds McCafe Mocha drinks on Mondays through August 3.

(photo: Lloyd Fox/Baltimore Sun)

Here are some random Slurpee facts from the company:

Slurpee drinks are all served at 28 degrees.
Slurpee was "invented" when some sodas were put in a freezer to cool them down - and they became all slushy.
Winnipeg, Canada is generally thought to be the Slurpee capital of the world, due to their amazing Slurpee fanaticism.
When Slurpee first hit the market, it wasn't self-serve. The machine was behind the counter and the clerk served the product to you.
At Slurpee, we call it a BrainFreeze. The scientific name for it is Sphenopalatine Ganglioneuralgia. Really.
Sugar is the anti-freezing agent in most Slurpee drinks.
American Slurpee is injected with air. Canadian Slurpee is not.
Every day more than 11.6 million Slurpee drinks are consumed around the world.
In 2004, 7-Eleven created an edible Slurpee straw.
Only one private individual owns a bona fide Slurpee machine. The rest are in 7-Eleven.

Free McDonalds McCafe Mocha on Mondays [Consuming Interests]

2009-07-10T10:18:01-07:00

Get a free McDonalds McCafe Mocha on Mondays at participating McDonalds locations through August 3!

That's right, stop into any participating McDonalds location between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on July 13, July 20, July 27 or Aug. 3 and enjoy a free McCafe 8 oz. Mocha or 7 oz. Iced Mocha while supplies last.

Thanks to intrepid business reporter @hanahcho for the tip!

The McDonalds site does not list which locations are participating, and warns that the offer is only valid while supplies last, so please report back here when you find Golden Arches that recognize the deal.

And if you can't wait utnil Monday, get a free Slurpee drink from 7-Eleven on Saturday ... 7/11.

Work to begin soon on Columbia Wegmans [Consuming Interests]

2009-07-10T09:36:09-07:00

Looks like something is finally about to get started on the much-anticipated Wegmans super-sized, gourmet supermarket coming to Columbia soon, reports colleague Larry Carson, who covers Howard County.

Crews began erecting fencing Friday around a large warehouse in east Columbia where the 160,000 square foot Wegmans supermarket and parking garage are to be built, Larry reports.

Jo Natale, a company spokeswoman in Rochester, N.Y., told Larry that demolition of the warehouse, last used as a filming studio for the Baltimore-based HBO series "The Wire," should be complete by August’s end.

The firm has also applied for a grading permit, Natale said, to prepare the site for construction.

"There is no construction schedule or opening date yet," she said, adding that the store will not be ready to open in 2010. Plans for building a Wegmans on this site, on Snowden River Parkway have been discussed since 2004.

Wegmans already has a store in Hunt Valley, and plans to build several more in Maryland.

Why did Evian wait a decade for roller babies ad? [Jay Hancock's blog]

2009-07-10T09:20:07-07:00

Evian bottle water, owned by Danone of France, had a huge hit in 1998 with its synchronized swimming babies. Now it has brought the tykes back to the screen, clothed them in onesies (the swimmers were starkers) and scored another blockbuster, this time on youtube. The agency, BETC Euro, is the same. The technology is the same. Why did Evian wait a decade to relaunch the babies? Maybe partly it's the American Idol strategy: If you don't run the content constantly, maybe people won't get sick of it. The English version is all over the Web. Here's the French version.

Live Chat: What you can learn about estate planning from Michael Jackson [Consuming Interests]

2009-07-10T09:11:32-07:00

Hey gang, on Tuesday at noon I'm having another live chat on the blog. The topic is estate planning lessons you can take away from Michael Jackson. Yes, there are some.

But the chat is open to other personal finance questions, too.

You can post your questions then, or if you like, submit them here beforehand and we'll put them up on Tuesday.

Home sales: Up. Yeah, you heard me. UP. [The Real Estate Wonk]

2009-07-10T08:49:02-07:00

Baltimore home sales increased last month compared with a year ago, Metropolitan Regional Information Systems said this morning. That's the first time we've seen sales activity go up since January 2007. So even though it wasn't a tremendous surge (2 percent), that's still pretty darn interesting.

Cue the debate on whether this is a blip -- as January '07 was -- or the start of a trend. (I talked to economist Mark Zandi for tomorrow's story, so you'll get to hear his opinion soon.)

Speaking of debate: The folks who run The Baltimore Sun's Twitter account started one -- unintentionally -- when they tweeted my web story with this teaser: "A glimmer of hope: Baltimore-area sales rise for 1st time since Jan. '07. The bad news? Average prices still falling."

Yup, you know what happened. As one person responded, "dont see why its a neg that avg home sale prices are falling."

It's not great news for people underwater on their mortgages, that's for sure, but falling prices make the housing market more affordable for first-time buyers. And when buyers buy, sellers can move on with their lives.

Style for less: Ixia sells its decor [Consuming Interests]

2009-07-10T08:24:50-07:00

Another dispatch from elite retail reporter Andrea K. Walker:

If you liked the nouveau style of the former Ixia restaurant in Mount Vernon, today could be your last day to take a piece of it home with you.

The upscale Mount Vernon restaurant, which closed late last month, has been selling off everything in the restaurant. Today is technically the last day of the sale, although restaurant designer and spokesman David Briskie said they might extend it into Monday or Tuesday.

What’s up for grabs? Wedgewod China, upholstered furniture, leather bar stools and one-of-a-kind art. Just to name a few things.

The sale lasts until about 5 p.m. Briskie said whatever doesn’t go will be put into storage for the next venture.

“Any designer should come because there are great deals,” Briskie said. “We paid a fortune for it and and we’re letting it go well below cost.”

(photo: Kim Hairston/Baltimore Sun)

Is Delaware the new tax hell? [Jay Hancock's blog]

2009-07-10T08:17:45-07:00

The Sun's editorial page notes that Delaware, long reputed tax haven, is cranking up taxes to fill an enormous budget gap. Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, it reports, has:

increased the state's gross receipts tax to about 2.1 percent and the income tax on top earners to 6.95 percent. (And when Delaware says "top earners," it means anybody making more than $60,000 a year.) Taxes on cigarettes, alcohol and slot machine proceeds are going up, too. The state is increasing corporate franchise taxes and the public utility tax and is resurrecting the estate tax. All that still probably won't bring our neighbors to quite the level of Maryland's combined state and local taxation. The Washington-based Tax Foundation ranked Maryland fourth in that measure in 2008, while Delaware came in 24th at 9.5 percent. This new increase would put Delaware in the 10 percent range, still lower than Maryland's 10.8 percent. That difference amounts to about $1,187 less in taxes per person in Delaware. Then again, Marylanders make $7,820 more per capita than their counterparts in the First State, so moving still might not be such a great idea.

I think Delaware may still look pretty good next to Maryland the next time the Tax Foundation does its study. Delaware's gross receipts tax -- a stealth sales tax -- is still far lower than Maryland's 6 percent sales tax. Unlike Maryland, Delaware has no "piggyback" income tax for localities. So even a top income-tax bracket in Delaware of 6.95 percent is far less than what most Marylanders pay even in lower brackets for the combined state and local income tax. That's the first thing taxpayers see. (Note that the Tax Foundation percentages are not tax brackets. Rather they represent all state and local taxes -- property, sales, income etc. -- paid by people in that state as a percentage of personal income.)

Free movies next week! Food, Inc., Handmade Nation [Consuming Interests]

2009-07-10T07:27:02-07:00

Watch two FREE movie screenings next week!

To kick off DIY@Artscape, on Tuesday, July 14, there will be a free screening of Handmade Nation, a documentary exploring do-it-yourself culture.

The free Handmade Nation screening starts at 7 p.m. at the University of Baltimore auditorium, 21 W. Mount Royal Ave. A question-and-answer session with the director will follow the 65-minute film.

Discovered via The Broken Plate Company via Baltimore DIY Squad.

Then on Thursday ...

... July 16, head to the Charles Theatre for a free showing of Food, Inc., sponsored by Chipotle Mexican Grill.

The documentary Food, Inc. is about industrial food production and its impact on workers, human health and the environment.

Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis so get there early.

And don't miss other free & cheap summer movies in Baltimore and beyond. There are lots of outdoor screenings to choose from!

NYT: Ned Kelly eased aside after FDIC clash [Jay Hancock's blog]

2009-07-10T07:21:09-07:00

Ned Kelly, who sold Baltimore's Mercantile Bankshares to PNC Financial after he replaced Baldy Baldwin as CEO, was bumped from being Citigroup's chief financial officer to vice chairman after he clashed with the FDIC and tried to resign, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal are reporting. From the Times:

Tensions had already been simmering between the bank and the F.D.I.C. for months. But they reached a boil in early June after Mr. Kelly expressed growing frustration with the agency, publicly calling it a “tertiary” regulator behind the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. By the end of the month, the F.D.I.C. abruptly placed the finance chief’s role high on a running list of concerns it wanted the troubled bank to address, a move that bank officials read as a signal they needed to replace Mr. Kelly, according to two people briefed on the situation. Citigroup officials also feared that the F.D.I.C. would put the bank on its list of troubled institutions if they did not act, these people said, a step that would raise its deposit insurance expenses and deter some customers from doing business with the company. By then, Mr. Kelly had already come to believe that his remarks were turning into a flashpoint in the bank’s dealings with the agency, the people briefed on the situation said, and that he had become a “hindrance to the company.” Shortly before heading to his Virginia farmhouse for the Fourth of July holiday, he tendered his resignation to Mr. Pandit — a move that was quickly rejected. Instead, Mr. Kelly was given a new perch as vice chairman overseeing strategy and deals, making official what had been his informal role as one of Mr. Pandit’s most trusted advisers. Just after Citigroup’s board signed off on the switch, F.D.I.C. officials were formally notified around 7 p.m. on Wednesday, according a person with knowledge of the situation.

Recalls! Kolcraft play yards and Kidde smoke alarms [Consuming Interests]

2009-07-10T06:07:45-07:00

On the heels of a recall of 400,000 Simplicity drop-side cribs, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced a voluntary recall of nearly 1 million play yards made by Kolcraft Enterprises, Inc.

The yards, which were sold under the brand names Kolcraft, Carter’s, Sesame Street, Jeep, Contours, Care Bear and Eric Carle, have side rails that can fail to latch properly, causing a fall hazard, according to the CPSC. There have been nearly 350 reports of this happening, with 21 injuries to children reported (including one concussion).

The model numbers and pictures of affected units are available on the CPSC's Kolcraft play yard recall Web site. They were sold at retailers and online from January 2000 through January 2009.

Some of the models have changing tables, vibrating areas or parent organizers.

Families should order a Kolcraft play yard repair kit by calling 800.453.7673 or by filling out this online form for a retrofit kit. Consumers can also e-mail Kolcraft at customerservice@kolcraft.com.

The CPSC also announced this week the voluntary recall of about 94,000 Kidde PI200 dual-sensor smoke alarms, sold between August 1, 2008 and May 4, 2009.

In two situations the smoke alarms, which have "HUSH" and "PUSH TO TEST WEEKLY" buttons on the front, have been damaged by electrostatic discharge during installation and failed to respond to smoke.

Anyone who owns one of the affected Kidde smoke alarms can contact the company for a free replacement by calling (877) 524-2086 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or by going to the Kidde smoke alarm recall Web site.

Working for the cult of Mac [BaltTech]

2009-07-10T04:53:35-07:00

Two local businesses shared their stories with me on how they're making a pretty decent living servicing Apple products to different kinds of customers in the Baltimore area. One is MacMedics, which has been around for 20 years and is based in Millersville. The other is Chesapeake Systems Inc., which is based in Hampden. Here's the top of my story, which ran in yesterday's print edition, and is online here: Dana Stibolt was in his early 20s when he started seriously tinkering with Apple computers at his parents' computer shop in Severna Park. It was the late 1980s and the computer that he taught himself to fix was called the Macintosh Plus. What's interesting to note is that both of these businesses have done well because they've specialized in some areas of Mac product expertise. MacMedics offers consulting on networking, including integrating Macs and PCs; while Chesapeake has expertise in Apple's video hardware and software offerings, i.e. Final Cut Studio, and building out enterprise systems for companies that do a lot of video work.

$22 million to combat Md. homelessness [The Real Estate Wonk]

2009-07-10T04:04:45-07:00

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is sending $22.4 million to Maryland to get people who are homeless -- or at the brink of homelessness -- into rental housing. The money, part of a new $1.5 billion program, is supposed to pay for short- or medium-term rental assistance and services, HUD said. That might mean security deposits, for instance, or utility payments.

HUD, which issued its 2008 report on homelessness yesterday, says it's seeing a change that reflects these recessionary times: "many more" people are showing up at shelters who until the night before had a place to stay. The agency says "most of these persons appear to be wearing out their welcome with family and friends." Also:

Between 2007 and 2008, the share of the sheltered homeless population in suburban and rural areas increased from 23 percent to 32 percent. The increase does not reflect increased capacity of residential programs in suburban and rural areas, but instead more intensive use of that capacity.

The agency estimated that Maryland's homeless population shrank a bit last year, to 9,219 from 9,628. But that count was done in January 2008, one month into the national recession and before Maryland's unemployment rate began rising fast. (Joblessness was a low 3.6 percent at the beginning of '08. Since then it's doubled to 7.2 percent, the highest in 26 years.)

HUD ranked Maryland 18th among the states for its number of homeless residents compared with its total population. That share: 0.16 percent, the same as New Jersey and Tennessee.

Oregon, at 0.54 percent, had the country's highest share of homeless residents, according to the estimates. Kansas, with 0.06 percent, had the lowest.

Home maintenance [The Real Estate Wonk]

2009-07-09T18:43:49-07:00

One of the joys of being a homeowner is replacing appliances when they break. Thus I spent last night researching my buying options after coming home to discover that my dryer was -- technically speaking -- no longer a dryer but rather a sort of amusement-park ride for clothes. (In wet, out wet, despite great tumbling action in between.)

It seemed the right time to replace the washer as well -- both washer and dryer are 17 years old, so they're elderly as appliances go. Total bill: $931.

This got me musing about the difficulty deciding when to replace and/or upgrade things. Get a new carpet, for instance, and you might have to repeat the purchase when it's time to sell (can you tell I own cats?). But if you hold off getting new things with the idea that you'll do it when you're leaving, you'll never get to enjoy them. And if you wait until things break, well -- you could end up with a pile of wet laundry.

How have you homeowners out there dealt with this now vs. later dilemma? What sorts of things have you replaced and why?

And you buyers out there: What deferred maintenance issues really bug you in homes for sale?

Local condo law blog launched [The Real Estate Wonk]

2009-07-09T18:37:41-07:00

Here's something to check out if you're a condo owner: Raymond D. Burke, a Baltimore attorney with law firm Ober Kaler, has started blogging about condo issues at Maryland Condo Law Blog. So far he's weighed in on mold, warranties and maintenance.

Burke specializes in construction defect cases.

Other condo-law attorneys see their field as a ripe one for blogging, too. There's a Northwest Condo & HOA Law Blog, for instance, and an Ontario Condo Law Blog.

Calling all twentysomething-thirtysomething investors [Consuming Interests]

2009-07-09T12:23:41-07:00

I'm writing an article about investing in a bear market, and am looking to speaking to those in their 20s and 30s about whether they have cut back on investing or are putting even more money in the market because they have years for stocks to turn around.

Send me an email if you'd like to talk at eileen.ambrose@baltsun.com. Thanks.

Fear, terror and economic anxiety [Consuming Interests]

2009-07-09T10:21:51-07:00

(art by Regina Boyce)

Last night I had a fascinating discussion with attendees of a community conversation organized by Art On Purpose, a local arts organization.

The group had held art workshops at several library branches exploring themes from Edgar Allan Poe’s work, including love and loss, madness and obsession, and fear and terror.

Several Baltimore residents created pieces addressing fear about the economy, and so for last night’s talk at the Waverly branch library, we dug deeper into what money provides and what folks were doing differently in the face of economic uncertainty.

We talked about priorities, and I offered up my frugal philosophy for life: how money gives us choices, whether it’s the kind of food we eat, the place we live and the health care we can enjoy. It’s better to start saving early, because you can’t take a loan for retirement.

Several attendees talked about the struggle to budget, how jarring it can be to suddenly become aware of how little money remains after addressing fixed expenses such as rent and utilities.

Another guest spoke about blowing up fixed expenses such as utilities altogether and going entirely without gas and electricity for most of last summer.

An experiment like that would certainly make you appreciate the simpler things. Another guest shared a story about a group of pre-teen girls who put aside their fancy video cell phones for more than hour to play with an old-fashioned deck of cards.

What are you doing differently because of the recession/economy, whether it's finding more economical entertainment, or cutting back on extras and rethinking eessentials?

You can see more art from the Art On Purpose workshops at other branch libraries this month as well as at the Baltimore Museum of Art this fall. The events are free and open to the public.

Lenny Dykstra, were index funds too boring for you? [Jay Hancock's blog]

2009-07-09T10:06:06-07:00

Another sad story of a jock blowing his millions. Lenny Dykstra, who loved the Atlantic City casinos when he played for the Phillies, sought protection from creditors under Chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code, Bloomberg reports. Since retiring in the 1990s he has put his money in the dumb places typical of jocks: A "lifestyle" service for athletes, a magazine, a car-wash chain and a Web-based stock-picking service. What, no restaurant? The players unions really need to do a better job of educating retiring athletes. A diversified portfolio of stocks, bonds, commodities and real estate is what these guys need. But they have already beaten the odds by making it to the majors, and they are accustomed to thinking of themselves as exceptional. They figure they'll get to the bigs in business, too. Rarely happens.

July 8 (Bloomberg) -- Lenny Dykstra filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a petition that says the former Major League Baseball All-Star owes $10 million to $50 million. The former center fielder for the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies has less than $50,000 worth of assets and 50 to 99 creditors, according to a petition filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California in the San Fernando Valley. Dykstra, 46, already faces about 20 lawsuits stemming from his entrepreneurial work, including The Players Club, an athletes-only magazine start-up. He owes JPMorgan Chase & Co. $12.9 million, according to the filing, and Bank of America Corp.’s Countrywide and credit-card units a combined $4.2 million. Dykstra also owes almost $1 million to jet charter services, about $342,000 to celebrity lawyer Daniel Petrocelli and $229,000 to literary agent David Vigliano.

UPDATE: I missed this last month. Former Cleveland Browns QB Bernie Kosar filed for Chapter 11.

Don't put porn or taxes on your credit card [Consuming Interests]

2009-07-09T09:07:47-07:00

Credit card companies are clamping down on any consumer who suddenly seems like a financial risk.

But according to Robert Manning, author of Credit Card Nation, card companies are doing data mining to look at where we spend our money to determine if we might have lost our job or appear to be having money problems.

In an interview with Marketplace, Manning compiled a list of 10 things you shouldn’t buy with your credit card lest it send up red flags to your card company.

Among them:

Purchases at 99 cent stores or Wal-Mart, if you never shopped those bargain places before. From the card issuer’s viewpoint, it’s suspicious that you are suddenly a discount shopper.

Retread tires. What, you can’t afford new ones?

Porn or strip clubs. Are you trying to take your mind off financial problems?

Marriage counseling. Could it be that you are your spouse are fighting about money?

Taxes. Bad sign if you add debt on a card to pay off another debt obligation.

Check out the list and tell us what you think. Do you really believe card companies are scanning statements for such purchases?

Citigroup promotes ex-Mercantile chief Ned Kelly [Jay Hancock's blog]

2009-07-09T08:45:16-07:00

The star of Ned Kelly, who sold Baltimore's Mercantile Bankshares to PNC Financial, seemingly continues to rise at troubled Citi. Kelly had been head of global banking at the New York financial giant up until March, when he was named chief financial officer to replace Gary Crittenden. Now Crittenden, who became chairman of Citi Holdings, is out. And Kelly is becoming vice chairman. From AP:

Crittenden is leaving the company to spend more time with his family and pursue other business interests, Citigroup said in a statement. Aside from his departure, Citigroup said Edward Kelly, who had been serving as CFO since Crittenden switched positions, will become vice chairman of Citigroup. Kelly will take on responsibilities for strategy and mergers and acquisitions in the new position. John Gerspach will assume the role of CFO, becoming Citigroup's third CFO this year. Gerspach previously served as controller and chief accounting officer at Citigroup.

Hard to tell what it means. Often promotion to vice chairman is actually a demotion, a way of putting out to pasture whom you don't want to fire. The CFO slot at Citi is still one of the most prestigous positions in finance. But if Kelly really does have power to steer strategy instead of just sitting in meetings where strategy is discussed, he'll be a player.

Now playing on YouTube: loan-modification advice [The Real Estate Wonk]

2009-07-09T08:32:36-07:00

The variety on YouTube is pretty amazing, when you stop to think about it. Old music videos. Clips of random people making silly faces for your amusement. Whatever hot new visual meme is making the Internet rounds. And -- now up this week -- a Freddie Mac video for borrowers who are behind on their payments and want to request a loan modification.

Foreclosure prevention amid the pop culture.

Freddie Mac says in a press release that homeowners will have an easier time of it if they gather these documents before calling:

* Most recent monthly mortgage statement;

* Pay stubs or other documents showing their household's monthly pre-tax income;

* Most recent tax return;

* Second loan or home equity line of credit statements;

* Account balances and minimum monthly payments on credit cards, car loans, student loans or other debt;

* A short, concise description of the financial hardship that is causing – or leading to – a mortgage delinquency.

Fair warning: There's no guarantee it won't still be a difficult process.

And be wary of consultant-type firms promising to get you a loan modification if you'll pay an upfront fee. The New York Times notes in this story that you can end up closer to foreclosure and several thousand dollars poorer, even if you got a "money back" guarantee. The Federal Trade Commission is going after some companies for "marketing potentially deceptive relief programs," the newspaper reported.

For advice on avoiding foreclosure-prevention scams, check out the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation's foreclosure-help page.

More Google Voice accounts starting to roll-out? [BaltTech]

2009-07-09T08:08:08-07:00

If you just look at Twitter, dozens and dozens of people today are tweeting about recently receiving an invitation to launch their new Google Voice accounts.

Google Voice, as you may know, is Google's revamping of the Grand Central phone app that the company bought a few years back. Google lets you use one phone number to manage multiple phone numbers. Some think it'll be revolutionary. Check out the list of goodies it promises to offer us, such as free voicemail transcription and answering any of your multiple phone lines (home, work, cell) on one phone.

I'm wondering if the big roll-out wave has finally begun. Can anybody help confirm? I know Google started sending out invites to some in late June. Is this just another big batch of invites, or the whole enchilada?

Baltimorean Patrick Knight sent me a copy of his invite. Here it is below:

You are invited to open a free Google Voice account.

To accept this invitation and create your account, visit https://www.google.com/voice/

If you haven't already heard about it, Google Voice is a service that makes using your current phones much better!

Here's what it offers:

• A personal phone number that rings all of your existing phones when people call

• All of your voicemail in one inbox with unlimited online storage and free voicemail transcripts sent to your phone and email • Low-priced international calling to over 200 countries and free SMS

• Other powerful features like the first phone spam filter to protect you from unwanted callers, the ability to ListenInTM on your voicemail messages while they are being left, conference calling and more

To learn more about Google Voice before registering, visit: http://www.google.com/voice/about Please note that Google Voice is only available for sign up in the US.

We hope you enjoy Google Voice,

The Google Voice Team

Baltimore hackerspace formed. First project: Use Twitter to change your lamp's color. [BaltTech]

2009-07-09T07:05:57-07:00

Some fellas have gotten together to form Baltimore Node, a self-described hackerspace where computer/techy-minded people can get together to work on interesting little projects.

(A hacker, by the way, is not necessarily a bad, evil person. Hackers can be good, as I'm sure the folks involved with Baltimore Node are.)

Hackerspaces have been popping up all over the world. Members use the Web to connect with each other and other spaces -- just check out the Hackerspaces.org site for the big picture.

Baltimore Node's first group project will take place tonight, from 7-10 p.m. (Event details.)

They'll be building lamps whose color can be changed by simply Tweeting a hexadecimal color value to it.

Now, hackers, why would you want to do that? Short answer (I think): Because you can.

But, more importantly, it's an excuse to dip your toes into Arduino, a nifty open-source hardware/software programming platform that enables people to create interactive gadgets.

Learn more about Arduino here. Anybody going to build an Arduino lamp tonight? If so, take a few pics or video of your creation and share with us.

Summer wine tasting: Cheap Trick Thursday [Consuming Interests]

2009-07-09T06:16:56-07:00

The restaurants at the Tremont hotels --- Tug's Bar and Grille, the Grand Cafe and the Plaza Deli --- will host a complimentary wine and cheese tasting from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, July 9.

The restaurants and cafes plan to offer similar events every Tuesday and Thursday in July, according to the Downtown Partnership.

Dear France: Maryland is not Virginia [Jay Hancock's blog]

2009-07-09T06:15:12-07:00

Agence France-Presse wrote this earlier this week:

Some Democrats have hinted they may favor a second stimulus measure, drawing sharp attacks from Republicans that the giant package approved months ago had demonstrably failed to create or save jobs and turn the US economy around. "I think it's certainly too early right now... to say, you know, it's not working. In fact, we believe it is working," said Hoyer, who hails from Virginia.

Maryland is not Virginia. This column says so.

Ripped from the bomb-astic tech headlines: Torpedo firings, frontal attacks and nuclear death blows [BaltTech]

2009-07-09T05:54:00-07:00

I continue to giggle at all the online news and blog-post headlines that we see thrown at us whenever "big tech news" breaks.

If something truly major (at least for the geekarati) happens, we inevitability see headlines tinged with violence and military analogies. Sometimes, they're just ridiculous and fun.

A supposedly game-changing product is usually called an "X slayer" or "Y Killer" -- something that will put down an aggressive competitor with a "death blow." Other verbs and analogies are tossed, like "rocked," "bomb," and "nuke."

Let's take yesterday's news about Google readying a new operating system, based on its Chrome browser, that will supposedly compete with Microsoft.

Here are some fun headlines:

* Five ways Microsoft Will Bring the Hurt to Google Chrome (PCWorld)

* Google drops a nuclear bomb on Microsoft. And it's made of Chrome. (TechCrunch)

* Google Chrome: Microsoft Killer? (CNN)

* Ten reasons why Google Chrome OS is no 'Windows Killer.'(Datamation)

* Google launches frontal attack on Microsoft. (Financial Times)

* Why Google's Chrome OS bomb has minimal fallout on Apple (TechCrunch via WashPost)

* Google to Microsoft: It's on (CNET)

* Google launching Chrome OS, firing torpedo into Microsoft (Silicon Alley Insider) -- My personal fave, btw. I mean, they got "torpedo" into a tech headline!

* Chrome OS: A nuclear death blow to smash Windows? (The Raw Feed)

Can you come up with an attention-grabbing headline for the Google Chrome OS vs. Microsoft story? Leave it in the comments below. I'll tweet my favorite ones later today.

TED conference coming to the Mid-Atlantic [BaltTech]

2009-07-08T13:29:33-07:00

::Updated at 4:25, with embedded video below of Clay Shirky giving a TED talk on how "social media can make history."

::@TEDxMidAtlantic news breaking on Twitter now....

The TED conference has been licensed to some independent organizers who want to bring a version of it to the Mid-Atlantic in November 2009. And by "Mid-Atlantic," they mean Baltimore, hon.

Here's the Website: http://tedxmidatlantic.com/

Admission will be free but limited to about 250 people. No word on location yet. The theme of the conference, according to @TEDxMidAtlantic's Twitter feed: "The Power of Stories" - Humans organize the world in stories; it's how we perceive design and art. Every design tells a story.

So what's TED? From its website:

TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with the annual TED Conference in Long Beach, California, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK, TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Program, the new TEDx community program, this year's TEDIndia Conference and the annual TED Prize.

The event is being pulled together by Dave Troy, a Baltimore-based entrepreneur who helped organize the recent Barcamp Baltimore event. Troy has also started the Beehive Baltimore, a coworking space, and the Baltimore Angels, an investor group focused on funding promising Baltimore-area startups.

It's the latest event we've seen in the Baltimore area that's targeting the region's creative and entrepreneurial classes, to pull them together to bounce big ideas off each other. (We've had SocDevCampEast, Ignite Baltimore, Barcamp Baltimore, WordCamp Mid-Atlantic -- all in the span of about 18 months.)

How badly does Baltimore need stuff like this? What do you think?

Meantime, you can watch Clay Shirky talk about how social media is transforming our society.

Analysts: No French deal, no new CEG generation [Jay Hancock's blog]

2009-07-08T10:37:57-07:00

Jeffries & Co. published a report today saying that a rejection by the Public Service Commission of Electricite de France's proposal to buy half of Constellation Energy Group's nuclear energy business would prevent CEG from building new generators. CEG owns Baltimore Gas and Electric. Some highlights:

If the JV [joint venture] were not approved, the balance sheet of Constellation and BG&E will not support new investment. Instead, the companies will need to use surplus cash to pay down debt. • BG&E would be unable to build or contract for new generation because of balance sheet constraints. Although the electric utility re-regulation proposal would require BG&E to build new power plants, the utility would need to dedicate its surplus cash generation to debt pay-down in order to preserve its credit rating. • Among the projects which BG&E would likely have to abandon would be the proposed new nuclear power plant at the Calvert Cliffs site.

I don't know why they're confusing BGE and CEG. The proposed Calvert Cliffs nuclear unit would be built by Constellation, not BGE. But the overall analysis stands. Constellation, after its near-death experience last year, needs outside capital to build plants. Or an order from the PSC that would build capital costs into BGE's rates for residences and businesses.

A quick round-up from the local blogs [BaltTech]

2009-07-08T10:00:40-07:00

I've been a little busy the last week putting together some print stories, but finally today got a chance to do some catching up on my blogroll. With a cup of coffee and a cup of instant oatmeal in hand (one at a time) I took a quick cruise through the Baltimore/Maryland/DC tech blogosphere. Here's a snapshot of what people are writing about: * DCTechEvents. Scads of events and meet-ups all week, except for Friday, when apparently all the DC Techies just drink alone. * UMBC's Ebiquity blog takes a look at the "high impact factor" of the Journal of Web Semantics. * Entrepreneur Dave Troy takes a look at Baltimore from the train in his simply-titled post: "From the train, Baltimore looks like hell." * Beltway Startups covers some local tech-company news, such as Merkle (of Columbia, Md.) buying Cognitive Data, and Cognitive Data buying CMS Direct. Is this a case of big fish eating smaller fish, which ate an even smaller fish? * In one of the more pleasantly insightful Michael Jackson-inspired blog posts, local tech guru Mario Armstrong writes about the recently deceased pop singer's patent on special shoes that would help give you the illusion you're leaning forward at a 45-degree angle. * One Fine Jay gave himself a new blog look, and he's got a post about how Twitter hashtag contests are hurting the free service. Amen, brother. Oh, and he thinks the phenomenon of bloggers generating mindless lists also stinks. Double amen to that. (I haven't done any lists for this blog, I think, though I'll concede you might see me generating an occasional list or two here; I will try, try, try to make them absolutely useful, One Fine Jay. I promise.) * Want to learn more about Wolfram Alpha (that new computational search engine)? Somewhat Frank sat down with one of its co-founders for an interview, with video. See below. * Technosailor, taking a cue from the Steve McNair death coverage, urges the mainstream media to report important breaking news even if it's a rumor, to hedge your bets. * Things are looking up for Technotheory, who is off to Barcelona for the summer. Good luck! Have fun! Eat lots of tapas for me. * EastCoastBlogging writes about Tweetdeck and Evernote as a match made in heaven. I haven't gotten into using either app yet. Should I?

What the Center for Science in the Public Interest thinks America eats [Jay Hancock's blog]

2009-07-08T08:15:12-07:00

From This Is Why You're Fat. HT Carla.

Who will say 'no' to excessive medical procedures? [Jay Hancock's blog]

2009-07-08T08:04:52-07:00

Alec MacGillis asks the crucial question in today's Washington Post:

The bills being written would put new emphasis on evaluating treatments according to their "comparative effectiveness," or weighing the risks and benefits of different types of treatment for the same illness, but the bills stop short of incorporating cost-benefit analyses into the findings or of requiring that providers abide by conclusions. Lawmakers are also considering ways to reform Medicare payments to emphasize the overall quality of care over the quantity of treatments. But lawmakers are not going as far as Massachusetts did; it is considering shifting entirely from a fee-for-service model to one where salaried physicians would be paid an overall annual price for covering a given person or family.

Search Baltimore Housing violations & code enforcement [Consuming Interests]

2009-07-08T07:07:03-07:00

I'm wearing my Watchdog hat while sharing this Consumer Web Site of the Week: Baltimore Housing's list of active code violations.

On this site, you can search for code violations at specific city addresses, or find code violations within a specific neighborhood. Addresses with stepped-up code enforcement and court orders are listed there too.

From the Code Enforcement Legal section page, choose "case tracking" to see court orders and outcomes.

Other goodies from the Baltimore Department of Housing and Community Development Web site include links to the Housing Code Enforcement handbook as well as the Permits and Inspections handbook.

Google docs: Still in beta [Jay Hancock's blog]

2009-07-08T06:33:34-07:00

I'm sorry. Gmail may be out of beta. Google Docs most definitely is not. That is all.

Mortgage fraud in Maryland [The Real Estate Wonk]

2009-07-08T06:27:31-07:00

Sure, it wasn't hard to get a mortgage under false pretenses when the rules were so loose that anyone qualified. But shouldn't mortgage fraud be easing now that we're several years into a lending clamp-down?

Nope. Mortgage fraudsters will always find a way.

That's the lesson of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's newest Mortgage Fraud Report, which notes that the crime "continued to be an escalating problem in the United States during 2008." The FBI lists Maryland as one of the "top 10 mortgage fraud states" last year.

The problem ranges from people fudging numbers so they can buy a home -- the "crime? what crime?" folks -- to sophisticated thieves using faked documents to grab loan money and run.

The FBI warns that FHA loans, used to devastating effect in Baltimore flipping scams about 10 years ago, offer opportunities for today's crooks. And the housing slump is hardly a deterrent:

Multiple fraud schemes are being conducted by industry professionals who are in a position to exploit the current depressed housing market. Market conditions are also fueling the use of traditional and emerging schemes which have the potential to multiply across jurisdictions as foreclosures increase, the market contracts, access to credit diminishes, and more homeowners are unable to sell or refinance their homes. Properties affected by these schemes negatively impact neighborhoods; federally insured loan programs; the mortgage, banking, and securities industries; secondary market investors; tax payers; homeowners; and the overall US economy.

Restoration Hardware warehouse sale, now through the weekend! [Consuming Interests]

2009-07-08T06:04:27-07:00

Restoration Hardware Warehouse Sale in Edgewood! July 8 through July 12!

RH will throw open its doors for a final closeout sale, letting visitors peruse its stock of more than 5,000 discontinued, returned or otherwise rejected furniture, lighting and home accessories.

Discounts range from 50 to 75 percent off.

Hours of the sale are ...

... 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Wednesday, July 8 to July 12. On Sunday, it's open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Here's the address: 1701 Trimble Road, Edgewood. The number is 410-671-9687.

Google operating system to take on Microsoft Windows? [BaltTech]

2009-07-08T05:53:18-07:00

And now, faithful readers, we receive news that Google is planning its own operating system, in a direct challenge to Microsoft and its Windows hegemony. The New York Times and tech-news site Ars Technica, broke the news on their respective websites. Inquiries from the press forced Google to disclose the news a day earlier, last night, on their official blog, which gives a light rundown on why they're doing what they're doing.

In a nutshell, Google is looking to expand its Chrome web browser as an operating system for the cheap netbooks that have proliferated in the marketplace. Some initially believed we'd see a version of Android, Google's mobile computing platform, transmogrified into some type of operating system. But Google went with the Chrome platform instead. In the company's own words:

Speed, simplicity and security are the key aspects of Google Chrome OS. We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. The user interface is minimal to stay out of your way, and most of the user experience takes place on the web. And as we did for the Google Chrome browser, we are going back to the basics and completely redesigning the underlying security architecture of the OS so that users don't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work.

So what does this all really mean? From a competitive standpoint, some folks, like the guys at TechCrunch, see it as Google dropping "a nuclear bomb" on Microsoft, which dominates the personal computer OS market.

Most netbooks run slimmed down versions of Windows, running the XP platform, or Linux. Some tech watchers seem to think the netbook market is a race to the bottom -- in terms of price point and profitability, which is why many think Apple has shied away from putting one out -- and companies may eventually give them away for free in exchange for a commitment to a wireless Internet provider.

Do you think a Google Chrome OS can really compete against Microsoft Windows?

It appears that Google, at least for now, is mainly targeting the cheap netbook market with some good instincts: on ultra portable computers, people just want them to fire up quickly and get them on the Internet.

Having a fairly small, light Dell laptop running XP myself, it usually takes several minutes -- about 5, really -- to boot up from a cold start and get online. If Google's new OS can chop that time down to a minute or so -- without sacrificing security and functionality -- I think we'd have a contender. And maybe that's the sweet spot for Google -- getting your little laptop/netbook fired up quickly, without hassle. Does the thought of that get you going?

Want to read up on the Google Chrome OS news? Check out these stories.

Southwest's $30-$60-$90 sale is 48 hours only [Consuming Interests]

2009-07-07T10:41:07-07:00

OK, I get a lot of airfare sales in my inbox. I'm sure you do too. I don't even look at all of them, so I can't say this one is the best. But it's certainly one I haven't seen from Southwest before and the price is right.

Here's the deal: One-way fares are based on the distance you're traveling. Travel up to 400 miles is $30 each way. For example, BWI to Boston or New York. (Take that Megabus.com. Well, not really, but it's close.) Travel between 400-650 miles is $60 = BWI to Fort Lauderdale or Milwaukee. Anything more than 750 miles is $90 = BWI to San Diego or Seattle.

You have to travel between Sept. 9 and Nov. 18. Great for a fall leaf-peeping trip. (I can't believe I said "leaf-peeping" and it's not even August yet. Groan.) Book now - sale only lasts 48 hours - through 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.

The University of Maryland's guitar hero? [BaltTech]

2009-07-07T07:04:11-07:00

I know next to nothing about electric guitars. Several years ago, I was lucky enough to get a tour of Paul Reed Smith's fascinating guitar factory in Stevensville, for a story I wrote about his business. Some big rockers use PRS guitars, including Carlos Santana and Creed.

So, knowing what I know about PRS's local growth into a big-name guitar company, I was interested to read about the work of Bruce Jacob, a University of Maryland electrical and computer engineering professor, in the field of electrical guitar-making. (What a cool field to be working in, huh?)

It seems Jacob -- with the help of students and partners -- created some new electronic gadgetry that allows you to squeeze many more different sounds out of the same guitar. They formed a company, Coil LLC, that, in addition to guitar-building, is also sponsoring audio electronics development at the university with the help of a $135,000 state grant. It's located in the new TERP Startup lab, a tech-incubation program for university faculty, students and entrepreneurs.

Coil LLC, started selling guitars this week via their Website.

To get a full rundown on what Jacob and Coil are doing, check out this news release out of College Park (which, incidentally, mentions PRS guitars.) And to watch young dudes jamming on Coil guitars, check these videos out. Gnarly! Rock on!

Oh, and if you're daydreaming of quitting your day-job and learning how to build guitars, Jacob even offers a course: ENEE 159b: Start-Up 101 - Electric Guitar Design.

Study: Maryland has huge potential to cut energy use [Jay Hancock's blog]

2009-07-07T06:13:43-07:00

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has done a state-by-state analysis of the potential for "demand response" mechanisms to cut peak electricity use. Demand response involves incentives and other measures to get people to use less juice. Part comes from agreements like BGE's Peak Rewards plan, which pays households that allow BGE to cycle off their air conditioning at critical times. Demand response will also eventually come from response to price signals. Peak-use electricity is very expensive; on really hot days the price for electrons can jump 20- or 50-fold for a few minutes. Yet the customer has no sensitivity to these spikes because the meters aren't sophisticated enough. The AC stays turned on no matter how expensive the electricity gets. Eventually "smart" meters will put households at risk for incurring high charges for peak-demand electrons. Adjusting and cutting down shouldn't change you lifestyle much. You should be able to program your meter/thermostat to shut down the AC when megawatt hours reach a certain outrageous price -- say, $100 per megawatt hour. In theory that would leave your unit off for only a few minutes and not enough that you would notice much. And if everybody does it it makes a huge difference for pressure on the grid. The FERC study finds that Maryland has enormous potential to cut peak demand by virtue of the fact that it already has some peak demand programs in place and the fact that it has a high concentration of central AC among households. Says FERC:

Ranked by demand response potential as a fraction of peak demand, Connecticut, Maryland and Maine are highest; each has substantial amounts of existing demand response, Maine has an above-average share of peak demand in the Large commercial and industrial customer class, and Maryland has a relatively large amount of residential central air conditioning.

Maryland, the agency says, could cut peak demand by 28 percent by 2014 and an amazing 32 percent by 2019. Not only will that reduce pollution. It will ease upward pressure on electricity prices and reduce the need to build generators.

Recent fave: 13-year-old reviews Sony Walkman [BaltTech]

2009-07-07T04:14:03-07:00

For those of us who remember owning a bona fide Sony Walkman back in the '80s, this cheeky little review by a 13-year-old will bring back some memories.

The review is titled "Giving up my iPod for a Walkman," and it's been making the Internet rounds lately.

This part made me chuckle, hard, and helped me realize I am indeed of the older generation. Not the iPod generation, but the Walkman generation.

It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape. That was not the only naive mistake that I made; I mistook the metal/normal switch on the Walkman for a genre-specific equaliser, but later I discovered that it was in fact used to switch between two different types of cassette.

Kids these days. They might have their Touches and iPhones and iPods and Zunes now, but never forget, Generation X (I think that's us, right?), we were there first to have portable music in our hands, in our ears and on our hips, with the proliferation of the Sony Walkman (which, incidentally, recently celebrated its 30th birthday.)

Love the photos in the article, too. I, too, was once a young teen strapping his Walkman to his belt, jamming to whatever it was I listened to back then, and wearing jams. (Photos of yours truly during this period are mysteriously missing from the historical record.)

If you still have your Walkman, share a pic of it with us over on the Flickr group. Vintage photos of you with a Walkman, back in the day, however, would be much preferred. ;-)

(Photo credit: AP Japan, the original Walkman)

At least McNamara admitted mistakes [Jay Hancock's blog]

2009-07-06T09:17:25-07:00

Despite the death, horror and heartache he sowed across two nations, I respected and appreciated Robert McNamara's attempts to question and ultimately condemn what he had done. Self-doubt is a hallmark of the honest man. Penitence is a foundation-stone of religions, a lesson to others and a way toward spiritual peace. From the NYT obit:

In 1995, he took a stand against his own conduct of the war, confessing in a memoir that it was “wrong, terribly wrong.” ...

Most public officials will never come close to being so candid. I certainly never expect it from Dick Cheney.

More search options for home buyers [The Real Estate Wonk]

2009-07-06T06:19:28-07:00

You might use Google to search for a variety of things, but chances are you don't for real estate listings. Thing is, you can.

Search Engine Land, a search engine news site, notes today that Google Maps has expanded its real estate information. To take a look, throw in "Baltimore real estate" on the site, then click on the option to "Search for real estate listings near Baltimore, MD." (If you don't click that option, you'll see a map dotted with real estate companies and organizations.)

What you get isn't all you can find on the established real estate search engines. But you might find it useful:

On the map, each individual listing, whether a property for sale or rent, behaves like a business listing does in Google Maps’ business search. Users can click the red icon/dot for more information about the property; they can get directions, save the listing to My Maps, or send the listing to someone else via email, phone, car, or GPS.

I was interested to see how local listings (at least the ones Google could find) were spread out in nearly all the nooks and crannies of the area. You really can get a fuller perspective by seeing something mapped out.

I also tried searching for Baltimore real estate on Google Base. There, you can specify if you want to see properties for sale or for rent, or things that are being sublet, or even rooms for rent. Google Base tells you where it's pulling the information, so you can jump to those sites if you want to search them directly.

Thanks to the excellent Liz Kay for noticing the Search Engine Land article! Seen any other interesting housing-search options lately?

Maryland better than New York for start-ups? [BaltTech]

2009-07-06T06:03:58-07:00

There's a new New York-focused study that came out last month which compared that state's efforts with other states in encouraging investment in start-up ventures. Interestingly, the study claimed that Maryland does a better job than New York in turning federal research and development dollars into viable businesses. I couldn't get access to the full study, but here's the press release that details it. Here's a snippet:

In 2006, NY universities and academic research centers drew $4.5 billion in primarily federal R & D spending, second only to California. In commitments to state-supported venture funds, however, New York ranked 25th, whereas California, Pennsylvania, Texas and Maryland all ranked in the top ten.

And here's a July 4th news article from the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle that gives some perspective. What's your take on the Maryland start-up and venture capital scene? Strong or weak? I know more small companies than venture capitalists, and the common refrain I've heard in the past is that it's hard to attract attention and investment from the locals. But some think the tide is changing. Share your thoughts here. I'm all ears.

Raw video: The wait for Maryland biotech tax credits [BaltTech]

2009-07-06T04:13:43-07:00

Remember the story about the long, five day wait for tax credits for biotech start-ups? The company execs started lining up because the state program, which started accepting applications for the generous credit on July 1st, would only dole them out on a first-come/first-served basis (per state law.) The wait took place at a conference room at the University of Maryland-Baltimore's BioPark. The university's news team was there to shoot video of the scene. Check it out below: If you can't see the embedded video above, here's the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIbqOzHSCZU

New poll: Weigh in on Q&As [The Real Estate Wonk]

2009-07-05T17:51:16-07:00

So: Q&As with housing experts -- with the Q's coming from you rather than me. You've already weighed in on the types of experts you're most interested in questioning (though feel free to keep suggesting professions or specific people in these comments). Now let me know how you'd like to do it. Live? Not?

The nice thing about a live chat is that it can turn into a conversation, with answers to questions begetting more questions. The downside: You'll miss it if the time doesn't work for you. (Worse, if no one shows up on the blog at the allotted time, the chat will become the proverbial tree falling in the woods.)

Take a moment to tell me whether you'd come to the blog for a live chat -- almost certainly over lunch hour -- or whether you'd prefer another option:

Poll results: The experts you'd like to question [The Real Estate Wonk]

2009-07-05T06:08:16-07:00

I'm thinking of lining up some expert-types willing to do live (or email) Q&As with you folks. When I mentioned that last week, I asked you to choose the sorts of experts you're most interested in questioning.

The results of the multiple-choice poll:

Housing-market forecaster got the most interest, with 19 votes. Not surprising, since the direction of prices and sales is always a hot topic among commenters here.

Close behind was appraiser -- also not surprising, what with recent debate about the effectiveness of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct.

After that, in order of popularity:

Mortgage originator

Credit-score expert

Real estate agent (a few of you offered specific suggestions -- thanks!)

And with one vote each: home stager, successful investor and flipper. (The last two were write-ins.)

Now, here's the thing: Housing forecasters -- good ones, at least -- have plenty of opportunities to appear in the national media. I don't want to convince one to free up a half-hour to an hour for a live chat and then have no one show up to ask questions. They'll never do it again -- ya follow?

So here's the deal: I'll look for a knowledgeable local appraiser willing to give this a go, and you be ready to pepper him or her with great questions. If that goes well, I don't see why we can't do this with a forecaster next, and then a mortgage originator and so on down the line.

Does that sound like a plan?

In secondary poll results, I asked you if you'd like to see fewer polls. (Yes, a poll about polls. Oh the irony.)

Almost half of you say you like the weekly polls and to keep doing them. Twenty-seven percent of you have no opinion one way or the other. Nineteen percent of you say less frequent polls would be preferable.

Of the remaining two voters, one of you opted for the choice to stop the polls altogether, and the other wrote in this suggestion: "how about doing some REAL reporting?" (Er -- you do realize you don't have to read this blog if it annoys you, right?)

I think Wonk reader MrRational's recommendation could make most folks happy: "Having polls is a great feature; but don't feel obliged to create one because of a schedule." So I'll still aim to do regular polls, but if nothing suggests itself in a particular week, I won't sweat it.

Tougher times for renters, landlords [The Real Estate Wonk]

2009-07-04T04:10:02-07:00

We all hear that layoffs and salary reductions are bad for homeowners and will probably keep foreclosure numbers from dropping anytime soon. But the cuts aren't good for renters, either. And what's not good for renters -- in this case -- is bad news for landlords.

Half of U.S. property managers are having more trouble filling their units with "qualified renters," according to a new TransUnion survey. Eight out of 10 say they're worried about how the rest of the year will go. (TransUnion, a credit-information company that sells renter-screening services, said it surveyed more than 870 property managers last month.)

But what about the people who got foreclosed on? Aren't they in need of a place to rent? As it happens, only half the surveyed property managers reported an increase over last year in applicants leaving foreclosed properties. TransUnion speculates that "many consumers coming from these circumstances are moving in with family members or friends to share expenses."

Local landlords, how are things going for you? (Come on, now. I know some of you are reading. Well -- maybe not on the Fourth of July, but I'll wait.)

Renters, have you needed to make a change -- moving to a cheaper apartment, bringing in a roommate, going back to live with parents -- to deal with tighter finances? (Or are things going so well that you're moving to a nicer place?)

Hey there, underwater borrowers: Want a refi? [The Real Estate Wonk]

2009-07-03T18:04:49-07:00

HUD announced this week that the Home Affordable Refinance Program will now accept borrowers who aren't behind on payments but are up to 125 percent underwater -- people who aren't going to find anyone else offering them a refi. Originally, program eligibility was limited to borrowers whose mortgages totaled no more than 105 percent of their home values.

You still need a loan that was bought or guaranteed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. (Don't know if it was? Ask your lender. Or check here for Fannie and here for Freddie.)

Zillow, the real estate information site, estimated yesterday that 29 percent of Baltimore-area homeowners are prime candidates for the program because they owe between 80 percent and 125 percent of their homes' value on their conforming first mortgages. That's 151,000 homeowners. But Zillow can't say how many meet the Fannie/Freddie requirement. (That's not publicly available information, the company says.)

These figures are up from the 113,000 (or 22 percent) of metro-area homeowners with conforming mortgages who owe between 80 and 105 percent of their home values.

The number of potentially eligible folks is higher nationwide: 36 percent of conforming-loan borrowers now and 26 percent under the original rules, Zillow estimates.

But apparently-eligible and actually-eligible are very different things, as the original rules of the program prove. Bloomberg reports that Fannie and Freddie have refinanced 80,000 mortgages under those guidelines, a tiny fraction of the participation the feds hoped for. And 60,000 of those had loan-to-value ratios of 80 percent or less. Mortgage professionals say it's tough for borrowers to qualify.

Has anyone out there tried to refinance under the older rules? I'm curious to know how it went.

Instead of new homes, these folks got heartache [The Real Estate Wonk]

2009-07-03T18:04:29-07:00

If you put down a deposit on a new home, you expect to get a new home. But whenever you hand over a chunk of change for something in return down the road, there's always an opportunity for something to go horribly wrong.

Example one:

Two business-partner siblings who registered a homebuilding company with the state near the beginning of the housing boom pleaded guilty this week to misusing deposits from 22 couples and individuals. I reported the story for today's paper -- you can read more about it here, but here's a taste:

Walter Osborne Ely Jr. and Kimberly Zahrey started JAE Developers in 2002 and collected between $1,000 and $50,000 in upfront payments from prospective home buyers, according to Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler's statement of fact submitted to Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge Vicki Ballou-Watts. Instead of putting the money in escrow accounts as required, the two quickly spent it. Some of the money went to business expenses that had nothing to do with building the customers' homes, the state said. Some of it Ely and Zahrey spent on themselves, the state said.

Meanwhile -- example two -- the state attorney general announced Wednesday that a Garrett County homebuilder also failed to build homes for several customers or return their money.

This comes on the heels of Lorraine Mirabella's stories about Altieri Homes, which the state has charged with "failing to start or finish construction of at least 20 homes in Harford and Howard counties after taking deposits and payments." Owner Greig Altieri said in a story last month that the tough economy put him out of business.

This story makes me feel itchy [The Real Estate Wonk]

2009-07-03T18:03:26-07:00

The City Paper's Edward Ericson Jr. has a story that will send a chill down the backs of homeowners and renters alike: Bed bugs are an increasing problem in parts of Baltimore. (There's a map here showing the location of bed-bug-related 311 calls.)

He writes, "They are fiendishly hard to eradicate, tougher than roaches, silent as a draft."

Just the thought of them makes some of the people interviewed in his story start "involuntarily" scratching. Many of the readers probably have, too.

The fake iPhone phenomenon [BaltTech]

2009-07-02T06:16:26-07:00

Fake iPhones and iPods: Is this a problem in the U.S.?

Over the weekend, Dana Stibolt of MacMedics in Millersville, Md., tipped me off to a video he shot of an ingeniously faked iPhone that a customer brought into his shop for servicing. (The customer claimed he bought it off eBay.) The belief was that it came from China, where there is a white-hot market for fake and look-alike phones and other gadgets.

I got to thinking: how big of a problem is this? So, as any ~~good~~ hack journalist sniffing for a trend story would do, I worked the phone, the Google, the Nexis, the Twitter, and the other secret sources I turn to, a.k.a. photog/gadget wiz Jerry Jackson in the newsroom. (Oh wait, I forgot to use Bing!)

And yes, I watched the Youtube videos of people showing off their fake iPhones, like this one.

I left messages for Apple, eBay and Craigslist (which can be another online market for knock-off/counterfeit products). I'm waiting to hear back from them on the topic of iPhone/iPod fakes in the market place. I'm wondering: should I hold my breath?

I chatted with Leander Kahney, editor of CultofMac.com, about the prevalence of fake Apple products in the American market. He's written about this stuff before. (Funny aside: I could barely hear Kahney, who was talking to me on an iPhone during our interview. The call was dropped and he had to call back.)

So, here's what I now know:

Very little.

There's been no significant disclosure of the prevalence of Apple fakes in the U.S. market, as far as I can tell. And the company's gadgets -- the iPods, iPhones and Touches -- have been one of the hottest must-have gadgets around for several years now.

There are reports from overseas, mainly coming out of China, Thailand and other Asian countries, about look-alike iPhones (ever hear of the Hi-Phone?) And there's apparently a brisk market in such gadgets, some of which may actually be labelled as an Apple product, though they're not.

But how many are turning up in the hands of U.S. consumers, thanks to the Internet and such sites as eBay and Craigslist? Maybe Apple, eBay and Craigslist know -- in fact, I'm gonna guess they have a pretty precise handle on how big (or small) of an issue this is for them. But so far, they haven't shared what they know, as far as I can tell.

Some good signs, though: Stibolt of MacMedics has only seen a small handful of fakes in his 20 years servicing Apple products. And iResQ, one of the bigger servicers of Apple gadgets based in Kansas, told me they almost never see fakes.

And CultofMac.com's Leander, who wrote the biography Inside Steve's Brain (about Apple founder Steve Jobs, of course), said he thought the fake/phoney/knockoff phenomenon was a bigger problem overseas, but not in the U.S.

What do you think? What do you know? I could use some help in digging out some facts, figures and sources on this topic, to see if it's still worth pursuing as a story. Where do I go from here? Please share with me in the comments or shoot me an email at gus.sentementes(at)baltsun(dot)com.

An Italian biotech consultant's shock, awe and questions [BaltTech]

2009-07-01T07:58:48-07:00

Last week here, I wrote about a rush of small Maryland start-up biotech companies to get in line for a generous state tax credit that was available for investors in the nascent industry. ("Maryland biotech companies crazy for tax credits!") An Italian biotech consultant saw my post and was shocked -- shocked! -- by what we were doing here in Baltimore, Md. She wanted to know more. (She shot me an email. You'll see it below.) To quickly recap: biotech companies started lining up Friday morning at the University of Maryland's BioPark in Baltimore to wait in line. The tax credits are doled out by the state every year on a first-come/first-served basis. Last I heard yesterday, 17 companies had stationed representatives in line, in an auditorium at the BioPark, to camp out for five days -- just so they could submit their applications for the tax credit this morning at 9 a.m. (I'm still waiting for the final headcount on how many submitted today.) Several of the company reps I interviewed lauded the state for offering big tax breaks to drive investment in biotech here. One company, Noxilizer, told me how they were able to attract investors who live in other states, because of the tax credit. Few states have anything like this "Biotechnology Investment Incentive Tax Credit" program to kickstart the biotech industry, they told me. About $36 million has gone into funding biotech startups over the past three years -- with half of it tax-free for investors, according to the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development. What's happening in the state's biotech industry will eventually come under more scrutiny in the future (Gov. O'Malley has a Bio202 initiative to build up the industry over the next 10 years), as the public, politicians and business leaders will expect concrete results after all this investment, including new job creation and blockbuster products. (Mary Spiro ponders this future in her post on Maryland biotech's "boom or bust.") Now, for the email from Valeria Spagnoli, a self-described biotech consultant in Italy who wants some more insight from biotech companies in Maryland on how they're going about getting funding from the state. Who wants to help her with her questions? Hi, I’ve just read the article about tax break for biotech investors on the BIO smartbrief newsletter. I found it amazing that companies line up days before the application time opens up, they just sign their names on a blackboard…In my country we are overwhelmed by the so-called red tape procedures, papers and papers to fill in, this is why I would appreciate if you could provide more detailed information to this regard, such as: how are companies selected as beneficiaries? Just the first come first served basis ensures they are granted the money? How long does it take to become eligible? Thank you so much for your kind reply! Have a nice day! Valeria P.S. to Valeria: As my full story points out, there's only a limited pool of money -- $6 million this year -- so once it runs out, no one can get more funding. Each investor is entitled up to $250,000 in tax credits and no company can claim more than 15 percent of the total tax credit pool of $6 million. That said, there are some other nuances that maybe others closer to the process can jump in and explain for all of us. (Published June 1, 2009)

Big online gaming co. Zynga opening 1st East Coast office in Baltimore area [BaltTech]

2009-06-30T06:05:19-07:00

Some of you have been seeing the job ads posted locally for a couple weeks now and wondered what Zynga Inc. was doing recruiting in the Baltimore area.

I'll tell you what they're doing: they're opening their first East Coast office, here in the Baltimore/Timonium area, hiring 12-15 people, and calling it Zynga East.

One of the biggest companies in the booming field of online social gaming, Zynga has come to the East Coast -- and chosen Baltimore (er, maybe Timonium) to plant their flag. If you've ever played Mafia Wars or Texas Hold'Em or Pirates or Scramble on Facebook or MySpace, you've played a Zynga game.

To lead Zynga East, Zynga hired Brian Reynolds, an 18-year veteran of the Baltimore-area gaming scene who co-founded Firaxis Games (Hunt Valley) and Big Huge Games (Timonium), which was bought last month by Curt Schilling's (yes, the retired Major League Baseball pitcher) 38 Studios.

(That's Brian Reynolds to the left, in a pic taken Feb. 17, 1999 by a Sun photographer, when he was VP of software development at Firaxis Games, and designed the game Alpha Centauri. Sorry Brian, couldn't find a more recent pic in our archives.)

A Zynga spokeswoman told me in an email last night that Reynolds will be bringing some of his "key associates" to work with him.

Zynga East will be working on a new online game, but the company wouldn't say what it was about.

Reynolds has a deep background in building strategy games, so maybe that's what we can expect to see more of?

The Baltimore area has become a bit of a game developer's haven.

Zynga's presence here will add a new competitive dimension to the game development scene, with online gaming being white-hot right now. And Zynga itself is a buzz machine.

They've attracted something like $40 million in investment capital and they're reportedly cash flow positive, with around 250 employees. It reportedly has sales of around $100 million and is profitable, but it's privately held, so we don't know how profitable.

BusinessWeek's Valley Girl has the good lowdown on the company and how -- you ask -- it's actually supposedly making all this money. Basically, it seems people are willing to pony up a few bucks here and there to play their games. They've got 12 million daily users and 50 million monthly users, the company reports.

For a quick rundown of Zynga in the news, check this out. And my online news story is here. Good news for Baltimore area game developers? Let me know what you think.

Get your Outlet Baltimore [BaltTech]

2009-06-29T10:07:00-07:00

Tomorrow evening (Tuesday, June 30) is the fourth installment of Outlet Baltimore -- an uber casual socializing and networkizing event for techies and creative types in the Baltimore area.

Outlet Baltimore in its own words:

Outlet Baltimore is a semi-regular gathering for New Media professionals in Baltimore and surrounding areas. The goal is to provide a mostly informal opportunity for us to convene in the real world and put faces to the names behind our blog posts, websites, Twitter feeds, and LinkedIn/Facebook profiles. It’s designed as a complement to some of the more formal and/or targeted events that Baltimore is already lucky to have, such as Ignite and Refresh.

This one is being held at the Windup Space, 12 W. North Ave., Baltimore, Md.

I've been before and it's a pretty chill scene. Maybe I'll see you there.

P.S. I think it starts around 6 p.m., right Outlet Baltimore? (I didn't see a time listed on the site. Past events have started at 6 p.m.)

Apple a Day blog shuts down [Apple a Day]

2009-04-30T16:33:56-07:00

This will be my last blog post on Apple a Day, just short of its second anniversary. I was let go from The Sun yesterday.

While this blog has been a lot of work – I did most of it on my own time – it has been a labor of love. I appreciate all of you who were regular readers or even occasional visitors. Hopefully I shed a bit of insight on the world of Apple.

Should I decide to continue the blog on another forum (that’s what iWeb is for, right?), you’ll be able to find a link to it from MacSurfer.

-Dave Zeiler

Protests over Baby Shaker iPhone app put Apple on the spot [Apple a Day]

2009-04-25T02:25:55-07:00

By now you’ve probably heard of the scandal that erupted over the past few days over a “Baby Shaker” app that debuted on Monday. Apple pulled it from its App Store Wednesday after a public outcry.

The 99-cent app presented a crying baby the user quieted by shaking the phone. The silenced baby had two red X marks over its eyes.

In a week that otherwise featured great news from Cupertino – a record non-holiday quarter and the billionth app sold from the App Store – the affair was an inopportune distraction.

Responding to multiple media inquiries, Apple spokesperson Natalie Kerris delivered this brief apology Wednesday:

“This application was deeply offensive and should not have been approved for distribution on the App Store. When we learned of this mistake, the app was removed immediately. We sincerely apologize for this mistake and thank our customers for bringing this to our attention.”

The developer responsible for Baby Shaker, Sikalosoft, apologized as well. A statement on its Web site says, in part: “Yes, the Baby Shaker iPhone app was a bad idea. You should never shake a baby! Even on an Apple iPhone Baby Shaking application. In case you are unaware Baby Shaker was an Apple iPhone application that was greatly lacking in taste.”

But several organizations concerned with the prevention of head trauma to infants and children remain unsatisfied. In particular, the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation has announced a prolonged national demonstration against Apple and iPhone partner AT&T that will run from May 3 through May 17 across 15 U.S. cities unless Apple does more to atone for its error.

This is one of those times when Apple’s characteristic reticence does not serve it well.

The Baby Shaker app is offensive in a way much more profound than some of the other questionable offerings on the App Store, such as those that make rude noises or simulate bouncing breasts. This app made a joke out of a deeply serious and tragic issue.

And because from the outset Apple has insisted on screening every app, it assumes responsibility for anything objectionable.

That means Apple is on the hook for more than just a terse 44-word statement. It has a raging PR fire on its hands, and the quicker it acts to extinguish it the better.

The folks at the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation have requested Steve Jobs publicly apologize to the families and victims of Shaken Baby Syndrome, provide a full explanation of how the app got through Apple’s screening process and take action to “mitigate the damages it has caused to the many prevention efforts throughout the country.”

Mostly, I agree. One of Apple’s greatest assets is its image. Allowing that image to become further tarnished by this incident is unwise and unnecessary. Waiting for it all to “blow over” would make Apple look like just another big, callous corporation.

Here’s what Apple should do:

Get personal: Tim Cook, not Steve Jobs, should apologize to the families. Cook is in charge during Jobs’ medical leave; it’s his responsibility to deal with any crisis. Showing some heartfelt contrition here would help defuse much of the anger.

Fix the system: Apple is loath to offer any details about how it does anything internally, but could at least say it is investigating how the Baby Shaker app got approved. Better still, it could promise to identify the responsible employee(s) and discipline them. That could mean involuntary discharge, though that would be up to Cook. Apple needs to fix whatever went wrong not only to placate the offended, but for its own good.

Make a contribution: Since it was sold for only two days, the Baby Shaker app likely caused little actual harm, so I don’t see much need for Apple to create a plan to mitigate damage.

But that doesn’t mean Apple shouldn’t try to help. The company has a vast pile of cash – $28.9 billion -- at its disposal. Some large donations to a few organizations working to help victims and families of Shaken Baby Syndrome would be a great gesture and could make a real difference.

Ironically, the publicity from this unfortunate incident probably will help those organizations by focusing a great deal of attention on an issue most people rarely think about. Raising public awareness is a major function of these groups.

Although Apple never should have let this happen, a pro-active approach could mitigate damage to its image while aiding a worthy cause.

But only if it can defy its obstinate corporate culture. Frankly, I’m not sure that’s possible.

Thanks to iPhone, Apple blows away earnings expectations [Apple a Day]

2009-04-23T05:13:03-07:00

Apple may not quite be recession-proof, but it’s darn close.

Reporting earnings for the March quarter yesterday, Apple exceeded Wall Street expectations by a resounding 24 cents per share. Its profit of $1.21 billion translated to $1.33 per share, well above the $1.09 predicted.

To put this achievement in perspective, consider that Apple’s total profit was 26 cents per share as recently as the September quarter of 2004. In its fiscal 2003 Apple’s entire annual profit was just 19 cents per share.

So once again Apple made the gloomy prognosticators look foolish. (Even I admit I had my doubts.)

Overall Apple had its best non-holiday quarter ever, said Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer, with revenue increasing 9 percent year over year and profits increasing more than 15 percent.

Though Mac sales declined 3 percent from 2.29 million units in last year’s March quarter to 2.22 million, the iPhone picked up the slack and then some.

Unit sales of the iPhone rocketed 123 percent resulting in a 302 percent revenue increase year over year. The iPhone contributed $1.52 billion to Apple’s revenue total for the quarter, compared to $378 million last year.

Of course, the comparison isn’t exactly fair. The iPhone now is sold in 81 countries; in the early part of last year it was available in just four, including the United States.

Meanwhile, iPod unit sales grew 3 percent to 11 million, though revenue declined 16 percent from $1.818 billion to $1.665 billion.

I found this odd since Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook said iPod Touch sales had more than doubled year over year. I’d have thought the Touch’s higher margins would have helped prop up overall iPod revenue.

But the iTunes Store segment (which includes “iPod services and Apple-branded and third-party iPod accessories) had a nice 18 percent bump in revenue from $881 million to $1.049 billion.

The amazing success of the App Store – which is on the verge of selling its 1 billionth app -- apparently gave the iTunes Store an extra boost this quarter.

A less likely contributor to Apple’s successful quarter was the Software, Service and Other sales category, which also saw revenue increase 18 percent to a tidy $625 million. Oppenheimer said that sales of the iLife ’09 and iWork ’09 suites, introduced in January, were better than anticipated.
A few more nuggets from the conference call:

Mac holds its own: For the past three months, numerous analysts and pundits have berated Apple for refusing to lower prices or introduce a low-cost laptop to compete with cheap netbook PCs. Apple has stubbornly held its ground, but was not punished as harshly as some predicted.

In fact, given the “challenging economic environment, Oppenheimer said the company was “very positive about our Mac performance.” He noted that IDC data showed the larger PC market contracting by 7 percent in the quarter, making the 3 percent decline in Mac sales look better by comparison.

No wonder Oppenheimer prefers IDC’s data; its report last week showed Apple’s market share increasing from 7.2 percent to 7.6 percent. Gartner’s report showed Apple’s market share falling from 8 percent to 7.4 percent.

The 2Q results could have been much worse. Cook said the refresh of the entire Mac desktop line March 3 gave sales a big boost at the end of the quarter. He said Mac sales in the U.S. suffered because both creative professionals and education customers were putting off buying due to the poor economy.

Unit sales of laptop Macs dove 22 percent, and many of those who did buy went for the previous-generation model $999 MacBook. Cook called that a “good thing,” seeing it as strength among the consumer market.

The dreaded netbook question: Asked about the diminutive PCs, Cook blasted the category as he has before, criticizing the “cramped keyboards, terrible software, junky hardware, [and] very small screens.”

Cook said Apple had no interest in creating such a product, then deftly pointed out that the iPhone and iPod Touch can perform many of the tasks for which people buy netbooks, such as e-mail and light Web browsing.

And then he hinted once again that Apple might be developing some sort of innovative product in the genre, offering teasers such as “the product pipeline is fantastic for the Mac.”

Retail Stores: The stores made a bit less money, but Apple is selling its wares – particularly the iPhone – in more places these days. Still, Oppenheimer said “about half” of all Mac sales in the stores were to customers who had never previously owned a Mac, same as he always does. So apparently people haven’t stopped switching from Windows to the Mac, no matter what Lauren says.

The money’s in the mattress: Apple’s cash position grew by $841 million, bringing its war chest to $28.9 billion. And no plans to spend it. “Our investment priority for the cash continues to be preservation of capital,” Oppenheimer said. So there.

Steve Jobs: When asked for an update on the recuperating CEO, Oppenheimer reiterated the company line: “We all look forward to Steve returning to Apple at the end of June.”

The iPhone platform: The combined sales of the iPhone and iPod Touch have reached 37 million units, with about 21 million iPhones and 16 million Touches. Both Cook and Oppenheimer spoke often of the new platform’s potential, particularly with the iPhone OS 3.0 coming this summer. “I think it unleashes a whole new level of innovation that keeps Apple years ahead of everyone else,” Cook said.

Feeling the love for AT&T: Piper Jaffray’s Gene Munster, citing survey data showing that some people don’t buy an iPhone just to avoid AT&T, asked why Apple maintains the exclusive relationship in the U.S.

Cook replied that AT&T has “done a very good job with the iPhone.” He said Apple is happy with AT&T and has no plans to change the relationship. He also admitted that Apple’s choice of GSM technology – driven by the need to make the iPhone work with the most common networks globally -- precluded a relationship with Verizon, which uses CDMA.

You’ll get used to $1.29 songs at the iTunes Store [Apple a Day]

2009-04-15T06:15:54-07:00

It’s been a week. Are you still hopping mad about Apple introducing a triple-tiered pricing scale at the iTunes Store that tops out at $1.29?

Maybe some of you still are. But in all probability you’ll get over it in time. And if you bought music from the iTunes Store before, chances are you’ll continue to do so even if you boycott it for a while.

As of April 10, Apple did what it said in January it would do – leave behind the 99 cents for each song doctrine for variable pricing at three levels: 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29.

Although I’m just as displeased about this development as everyone else, from a business standpoint it makes sense for Apple.

It’s obvious the record labels pushed for this increase, particularly considering that both Amazon and Wal-Mart both added a more expensive tier to their services ($1.29 for Amazon, $1.24 for Wal-Mart) almost immediately after the iTunes increase went into effect.

But I wonder how much Apple protested. With its dominant market position, Apple can best afford to risk charging more. And you can bet Apple gets a proportional cut from the price increase, which will make the iTunes Store more profitable.

Some have argued that the price increase will deter customers and eat into profits for all digital music vendors.

In particular a Billboard report last week that noted how many of the $1.29 songs slipped several positions in the charts, while several 99-cent songs moved up.

That’s to be expected, but it won’t last. Anyone who prefers shopping at the iTunes Store will recover from the sticker shock within a few weeks or, at most, months.

Let me share a little story. A couple of years ago, the snack vendor at the Baltimore Sun raised the prices on everything in the machines. For the first week, I bought nothing out of those machines.

But after another week or so, I cracked. I bought a bag of chips. A few days later, a cinnamon Danish. I wasn’t buying as much as before, but I was buying.

As the months went by, my snack purchasing gradually climbed back to its previous health-endangering level. I eventually stopped thinking about the price increase.

You may be ticked about $1.29 songs now, but you want your music and you’d rather not go the piracy route. Otherwise, you wouldn’t bother paying for legal downloads.

The reality is neither Apple nor its rivals needs the 99-cents-fits-all policy anymore. Yes, it was genius in 2003. It kept things simple and encouraged a wary public to try out iTunes.

But as a business tool, it has outlived its purpose.

Truth be told, the new pricing structure is not all that bad for customers. Apple has succeeded in completely eradicating digital rights management from legal downloads. Most albums remain $9.99. And if we ever see more of those 69-cent songs, fans of less in-demand music will actually pay less than before.

As for Apple’s competitive position, it remains unchanged. Amazon and Wal-Mart have less expensive offerings on the whole, but that was true before last week.

Apple will continue to dominate. According to research firm NPD Group, 87 percent of people who download digital music use the iTunes Store. Amazon is second with 16 percent, Wal-Mart a distant third.

Digital music customers seem less fixated on price and more on convenience and ease of use. Having the dominant MP3 player helps, too.

“Customers are pleased with the Apple ecosystem,” says NPD’s Russ Crupnick in his blog.

Another Apple advantage is those ubiquitous gift cards.

Crupnick says gift cards usually negate concerns over price. “Let’s face it, many consumers look at the face value of the gift card, rather than the cost of each song they’re purchasing.”

Finally, many downloads bought elsewhere end up on iPods anyway. The iTunes Store profit is a bonus. As long as people keep buying iPods, Apple wins.

Demise of HomePage may rankle some long-time MobileMe subscribers [Apple a Day]

2009-04-10T17:06:25-07:00

Though not a complete surprise, Apple’s email to MobileMe subscribers Thursday announcing that HomePage -- the old .Mac Web page creation utility -- would be shut down for good as of July 7 nevertheless has caused some consternation.

Anyone who made extensive use of HomePage faces a fair amount of work to transfer their files to MobileMe pages. For most people, that will mean photos and videos, although you could use HomePage to create any kind of personal Web site.

Subscribers can continue to edit pages made with HomePage until the July 7 cutoff. After that existing Web pages will exist in perpetuity, but users won’t be able to change or even delete them.

Thankfully, files won’t disappear because they’re stored on the user’s iDisk. Users who stored their media on their iDisk only (and did not have copies on their Mac’s hard drive) will need to download each file and reconstruct new pages on MobileMe from scratch.

Apple has posted instructions on its Web site on how to do this, but how about automating the conversion process somehow? Perhaps that posed to many technical hurdles, but Apple could have made an effort.

After all, people shell out $99 a year for MobileMe. Many have subscribed since it converted from the free iTools to a paid service in 2002. Is it too much to ask for a bit more consideration of your most loyal customers?

Then again, this is business as usual for Apple. Whenever it leaves a technology behind for something new and better, veteran users clinging to older technology feel the pain.

For instance, another feature that goes away July 7 -- .Mac Groups – has no equivalent in MobileMe whatsoever. If you relied on .Mac groups for anything, tough luck.

This doesn’t mean MobileMe stinks. Overall, it’s a significant improvement over .Mac.

But Apple’s transitions often seem to inconvenience the most steadfast Mac users – those who have stuck by Apple for many years but don’t necessarily have the means to keep up with the company’s latest and greatest.

Anyway, enough grousing. What does the end of HomePage mean to you?

In the case of converting HomePage pages to MobileMe pages, folks who own iLife ‘08 or iLife ’09 should have the least trouble. The newest versions of iPhoto and iMovie automatically integrate with MobileMe.

People using iLife ’06 – and I’m sure there are still quite a few, as iLife ’06 was preinstalled on Macs through mid-2007 – will need to use iWeb to re-create their pages. Fortunately, both iMovie ’06 and iPhoto ’06 include an option to send files to iWeb, which can publish to MobileMe.

Anyone using iLife ’05 or earlier, however, will need to upgrade if they wish to continue creating and editing Web pages on their MobileMe space. That would include anyone who’s still using a Mac purchased in 2005 or earlier and never bothered to upgrade iLife.

Although I’m not a fan of “forced upgrades,” clearly anyone still using iLife ’05 is missing out on some terrific improvements in the suite. You do what you gotta do, I guess.

Here are the links to the relevant Apple KnowledgeBase pages, for convenience:

MobileMe/.Mac HomePage FAQ

Migrating photos from HomePage to MobileMe

Migrating movies from HomePage to MobileMe

MobileMe .Mac Groups FAQ

Palm Pre won’t hurt Apple; BlackBerry, iPhone rule smartphone kingdom [Apple a Day]

2009-04-08T03:57:01-07:00

Whatever success the Palm Pre may enjoy, it won’t come at the expense of Apple.

According to the latest ChangeWave Research survey on smartphones, only 1 percent said they were “somewhat likely” to but a Pre. No iPhone owners were “very likely” to buy a Pre.

Owners of Research in Motion’s BlackBerry displayed a similar loyalty; just 3 percent said they’d be “somewhat likely” to switch to a Pre, with 1 percent “very likely.”

Those most likely to buy the Pre were current Palm customers. However, if the Pre should gain traction, the bulk of its share gains will come from weaker players in the smartphone market, such as Nokia and Samsung.

Apart from that insight, the ChangeWave results indicate RIM and Apple will continue to dominate the smartphone arena for the foreseeable future, and that Apple will continue to thrive.

Rockville, Md.-based ChangeWave conducted the survey of 4,292 cell phone owners March 17-23. The company conducts frequent surveys from among the 20,000 members of its “ChangeWave Alliance,” a self-selected group of mostly U.S.-based business professionals and early adopter consumers.

Apple’s numbers haven’t changed much from the previous survey (conducted in December), which mostly is good news. The iPhone continues to hold a strong No. 2 position to RIM’s ever-growing family of BlackBerries.

In fact, Apple gained 1 point from December, reaching 24 percent of current owners while RIM held steady with 41 percent. It’s the seventh consecutive ChangeWave survey in which Apple has increased market share.

In the data on planned purchases, Apple maintained its 30 percent while RIM dropped 2 points to 37 percent.

ChangeWave also asked some iPhone-specific questions, including some speculating on the new models expected to appear in June.

A hypothetical new $299 32GB iPhone 3G appealed to 9 percent of the respondents, while 11 percent said they’d buy a $199 16GB model. And 8 percent would go for a $99 8GB iPhone without 3G network capabilities. The ChangeWave report surmises that such new models “have considerable potential to move the needle.”

The new iPhone operating system also could help attract more customers. One out of five respondents said the upgraded iPhone OS 3.0 would make them “significantly more likely” or “somewhat more likely” to buy an iPhone.

For those not considering the purchase of an iPhone, Apple has made significant progress in the key area of affordability. The number of people who cited cost as the main reason for passing on the iPhone fell from 14 percent in December to 6 percent in March. That number was as high as 23 percent as year ago.

Only 1 percent named the economy as the primary reason for not wanting an iPhone, which could indicate that iPhone sales won’t get hit too badly by the recession.

Other nuggets from the ChangeWave survey:

Steve Jobs: For the past three surveys, ChangeWave has asked what impact the departure of Steve Jobs as CEO would have on the likelihood of buying Apple products in the future (not just the iPhone).

The number saying it would make them “less likely” has fallen each time, from 18 percent in June 2008, to 14 percent in December and just 9 percent in the current survey.

“While Apple still has a long way to go in ameliorating consumer concern,” the report says, “ things do appear to be moving in the right direction.”

Satisfaction: Apple once again led in customer satisfaction with 79 percent of iPhone owners saying they were “very satisfied.” That’s up from 72 percent in December, but almost identical to Apple’s rating in the June 2008 and March 2008 surveys.

RIM fell two points to 50 percent. RIM had a 54 percent rating in both the June and March surveys last year.

Operating Systems: The current share for the iPhone OS remained the same as in December -- 22 percent -- although it had more than doubled from 10 percent in June 2008. RIM slid 1 point to 39 percent, while Google’s Android registered for the first time with 1 percent.

Windows Mobile notched 18 percent, a 2-point decline. That continues Microsoft’s plummet from 29 percent in last year’s June survey.

When asked what OS they’d prefer on their next smartphone, Apple got 22 percent, but RIM just 27 percent. Apple had the same number in December, but RIM dropped from 32 percent. Android got 4 percent.

Windows Mobile picked up a point here (to 12 percent), but has fallen from a high of 24 percent in January 2008.

Mac-toting UVA freshmen rise 925 percent over 5 years [Apple a Day]

2009-04-05T13:33:51-07:00

A dramatic shift in the Mac to PC ratio at the University of Virginia over the past five years is nothing short of a Machead fantasy.

After languishing around the neighborhood of 4 percent for years, the Mac began a startling rise among first-year students at UVA, doubling to 8.26 percent in 2004. Large gains have followed every year since, with the number just passing 37 percent this past fall.

That, my friends, is a 925 percent increase, a once unthinkable turn of events.

If this is in any way representative of a general shift among young consumers toward Apple, the future of the Mac could be brighter than ever.

Although extremely well regarded (U.S. News and World Report ranked UVA second in its 2008 list of the best national public universities), the University of Virginia is in many ways a typical public university. It offers a broad range of studies and recent freshman classes have been increasingly diverse, both ethnically and economically.

And unlike some institutions, UVA doesn’t have an expressed preference for either Macs or Windows PCs. That freedom of choice makes it a viable test bed for computer preferences among university students.

UVA doesn’t offer any explanations for the shift to Macs; it simply complies the data every year and publishes it on the university Web site. However, based on other data collected by UVA in the same survey, the legendary “iPod halo effect” appears the most likely cause.

UVA has asked about MP3 players only since 2006, but that year 67 percent of the incoming students owned iPods, with only 10.27 percent owning another brand of music device. In 2007 that number rose to 75 percent; an additional 2 percent owned an iPhone.

In 2008 UVA lumped the iPhone and iPod Touch together. In the current freshman class, 18 percent owned a Touch or iPhone, with another 64 percent owning another type of iPod. Admitting the possibility that some students may have answered affirmatively to both, the two categories nevertheless add up to 82 percent.

I realize this is only data from one school, and that UVA’s student population probably can afford Macs more easily than the average U.S. college student.

Still, as recently as 2001 only 2.8 percent of UVA students arrived on campus with a Mac. Such an extraordinary turnaround in such a short period indicates Apple has had a profound influence on teen-age consumers (at least in the sample attending UVA).

What we have here is a piece of evidence, small though it may be, that Apple’s “Trojan Horse” strategy -- to win over customers first with the iPod, and more recently with the iPhone – continues to bear fruit.

And the orchard has only just begun to blossom.

It’s official: Microsoft scared of Apple [Apple a Day]

2009-04-02T02:12:47-07:00

Microsoft finally crossed the line.

It’s most recent TV ad, “Lauren,” showing a perky young woman shopping for a laptop with a 17-inch screen that costs under $1,000, mentions the Mac by name.

One of the generally principals of advertising is to avoid mentioning a competitor by name. This is especially true for market leaders, and in the computer market Windows retains an overwhelming 90 percent share.

That Microsoft feels compelled to send Lauren into “The Mac Store” (as she misidentifies it) in an attempt to convince viewers that Macs cost too much for regular people, tells me the company can hear Apple’s footsteps.

Numerous Mac Web sites have deconstructed the ad over the past several days, noting among other things that the $699 Hewlett-Packard laptop Lauren obtains at a Best Buy is a lousy PC. Moreover, the ad ignores why increasing numbers of Windows users have switched away from cheap PCs to Macs, such as the iLife software suite, superior build quality and overall ease of use.

The “Lauren” ad is but the latest sign that Microsoft doesn’t like what it sees in the marketplace, despite having lost just a tiny amount of market share to the Mac.

Knocking Apple in a TV ad probably has as much to do with the other areas in which the two companies compete as it does with the computer market.

In the bigger picture -- one that includes music and smartphones -- Apple’s success clearly irks Microsoft. Combine that with the constant needling from Apple’s “I’m a Mac/I’m a PC” ads and one can imagine the gang in Redmond has been itching to punch back for quite some time.

Take the music arena. Although Microsoft’s Zune MP3 player feature for feature is competitive with the iPod, it has made almost no headway in gaining market share. That has to drive the folks in Redmond nuts.

However, Apple’s greatest threat to Microsoft lies in the smartphone market. When Apple announced the iPhone in January 2007, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer infamously dismissed the iPhone as too expensive.

“There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share,” Ballmer said in an April 2007 USA Today interview. “No chance. It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60 percent or 70 percent or 80 percent of them, than I would to have 2 percent or 3 percent, which is what Apple might get."

Let’s see how that turned out, shall we?

According to statistics for 2008 released by research firm Gartner March 11, the iPhone had 8.2 percent of the worldwide market, while Windows Mobile had 11.8 percent.

But the numbers specific to the fourth quarter show Microsoft gaining a little share but Apple closing the gap. Windows Mobile had a share of 12.4 percent, the iPhone 10.7 percent – a mere 1.7 percent difference.

Apart from stiff competition, the popularity of the iPhone presents another problem for Microsoft: like the iPod, it’s introducing Apple technology to millions of Windows users. Among the factors in the rise in the Mac’s market share has been the iPod “halo effect.”

Hey, if I ran Microsoft, I’d be worried, too.

Expect Redmond’s public assault on Apple not only to continue, but to get nastier. Microsoft doesn’t need to dominate music or phones (as much as it would love to), but the near-monopoly it has with Windows on PCs remains one of its primary profit centers (Office being the other.)

Mac sales may have slowed for now, but when the economy improves its increases in market share will resume. The Mac experience is about much more than "the logo," as Ballmer derisively put it last week.

A resumption of the Mac's growth is what Microsoft fears. So it’s exploiting the bad economy with an ad like “Lauren” to depict Macs as an impractical choice.

It might even be marginally effective in the short term, but what’s the strategy when the economy perks up?

Any thoughts, Mr. Ballmer?

More from PWN2OWN winner Charlie Miller: It’s the apps, not Mac OS X [Apple a Day]

2009-03-27T03:27:35-07:00

Macs aren’t immune from malware attacks.

After conducting an e-mail interview with Charlie Miller, who has gained notoriety in the Mac community by compromising the Safari Web browser on a Mac laptop to win the PWN2OWN contest two years running, I’m now convinced Macs could easily fall prey to malicious exploits.

I know the notion of Mac vulnerability is unpopular, but Miller makes convincing arguments (see the full interview below). And unlike vendors of anti-virus software, Miller and the company he works for – Baltimore-based Independent Security Evaluators – have nothing to gain (ISE is a consulting firm that analyzes applications for security holes).

Miller has an impressive background: He worked five years for the National Security Agency before becoming a principal analyst at ISE. He’s written two books, one of which is “The Mac Hackers Handbook.”

Furthermore, Miller likes Macs; he prefers them, in fact. His primary computer is a 1.83 GHz MacBook. Although he’s won both a MacBook Air and a MacBook Pro at the PWN2OWN contests, he prefers his trusty old MacBook.

Mac susceptibility to malware is not as black and white as many people believe. Apple haters celebrated Miller’s feat; Safari was the first browser to fall in last week’s contest. (Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox also were breached, but Google’s Chrome was not.)

Meanwhile, the Mac community mostly jeered, noting Miller had prepared his exploit in the weeks before the contest. Although true, it doesn’t change the fact he discovered a valid hole in Safari’s code. Mac users should be less critical and more concerned.

And frankly so should Apple. Imagine the PR disaster that would ensue should an exploit for the Mac become widespread. It would punch a huge hole in one of Apple’s major selling points for the Mac – as a safe alternative to malware-plagued Windows PCs.

Now, the interview:

Q: I've been reading the fallout your, er, exploits have caused: cheering from the anti-Apple crowd, defensiveness from the Mac users.

A: Yes, I mostly notice the defensiveness of the Mac fan boys. I've had them say I cheat, that it’s only in the open source components (which it isn't this year), that I'm out to ruin Apple, etc. Some people  can't face the reality when it’s staring them in the face. I probably  haven't made a lot of friends with my new book "The Mac Hackers  Handbook" co-authored with Dino Dai Zovi, the guy who won Pwn2Own three years ago.

Q: Should Mac users be worried?

A: They should definitely be a little worried. Any security expert knows  that Mac OS X is less secure than Windows. The question is which is SAFER. Because Mac OS X is still relatively rare, it is actually a little safer. But it has nothing to do with it being more secure, but  rather, that bad guys are entirely focused on Windows at the moment  due to the overwhelming market share Windows has. At this time, I  still don't recommend anti-virus for Mac OS X users, because there  simply isn't much malware for that platform. However, if Mac OS X  market share ever goes up, there will be a landslide of exploits and  malware.

Q: When you say "landslide of   exploits," does that include self-replicating viruses such as those that plague Windows and spread around the globe within hours? That's not supposed to be possible on OS X, so they say. Could someone get control of my Mac at home, which is behind a router with a firewall  (but sans commercial AV software)?

A: Yes, it is built upon UNIX. However, there is a ton of Apple  developed software running in Mac OS X, so that is mostly irrelevant.  Being based on BSD, there probably isn't a remote root in the TCP  stack, but it doesn't affect whether there is a bug in Safari of Mail  or how exploitation would fail. So yes, a BSD box is very secure. A  BSD box with Safari, Mail, mDNSResponder, iChat, etc is as likely to have bugs as any other operating system.

As for a worm, I could imagine a bug in Mail being wormable, as an exploit could mail itself to all the people who have sent you mail, etc. You are protected from server side attacks from your router, but then again, so is your Windows PC.

Q: I understand one common objective is to  take control of a PC to use it as a spam-sending zombie. Is that the kind of thing that could happen to Macs?

A: Yes, everything you could do on a Windows machine: turn it into a  "bot,” send spam, perform DDOS [distributed denial of service], etc. can be done from a compromised Mac.

Q: Has Apple been remiss in leaving so many holes in Safari?

A: All software has bugs, so I can't really blame them for that. Safari may seem to have more bugs because it tries to do more. It tries to make the user experience nice by handling hundreds of different file  formats and URL handlers. With more code come more bugs. (For  example, Safari comes default with Flash and Java installed, Windows  doesn't. I personally like this but it does increase the attack  surface).

Q: If it is indeed so easy to hack OS X, shouldn't we have seen at least a few examples of malware in the wild by now? The Mac's share has been growing in the past two years, especially among the group least likely to protect themselves: consumers.

A: I think the reason is economics. Hackers don't do things for fame  anymore; it’s a business. It simply isn't profitable to try to make a  botnet of Mac OS X machines when there are so many more Windows  machines. I like to say that if 90% of computers are Windows  machines, bad guys will spend 100% of their time on Windows, not 90%.

Q: Is Windows, at its core, more secure than Mac OS X? And why is the iPhone less vulnerable?

A: Yes. It’s not about the bugs, but rather the technologies which make it difficult to go from a bug/vulnerability to a bad guy running code on your system. Windows has it, OS X doesn't. The two technologies  that Windows has that Mac OS X lacks, specifically, are Address Space  Layout Randomization (ASLR) and a non-executable heap. These two  things make it very hard to write exploits (the code that gains  control of your computer) in Windows.

IPhone is more secure than OS X because it has a smaller attack  surface (Mobile Safari doesn't try to do everything in the world) and it has some anti-exploitation technologies built into it (specifically  a non-executable heap).

Q: Do Mac users need to do anything now to protect themselves, or is it safe to wait until the exploits appear?

A: If you are paranoid, there are some steps you can take, the most basic  being anti-virus. However, at this time, I don't think its necessary  considering the expense and potential slow-down versus any benefit  gained.

Q: Could Apple make some easy changes to OS X to make it less vulnerable? Or are the problems so deeply rooted in the OS that major code revision would be needed?

A: Most of the changes are pretty major and will have to wait for Snow  Leopard at least. I heard a rumor that Snow Leopard will have ASLR  for example, although I don't know if this is the case.

Q: Do you think Apple has been too cavalier toward security in Safari and the Mac OS? Does Apple need a Bill Gates-like initiative to start closing the most obvious holes before it’s embarrassed by a wave of malware?

A: I think Apple has stepped it up in the last couple of years but could definitely improve. It boils down to economics. Apple is in business to sell computers. Frankly, that is all they care about, as any company should. Consumers feel Macs are more secure than Windows  (even though they are wrong). Where is the economic incentive for  Apple to spend money on security in light of this fact?

I have been  talking about this issue for a while because I don't want it to come  to some large worm or other security issue to force Apple into action, although I'm afraid that is what it will probably take. I want to see  Apple become more secure. Until the bottom line is affected, I don't  see major changes coming from them. Ironically, Microsoft spends a  ton on security, is more secure, but is perceived as less secure!

For further reading, Tom’s Hardware conducted a much more technical interview with Charlie Miller earlier this week.

Am I really one of them? A review of the MacHEADS documentary [Apple a Day]

2009-03-25T02:37:17-07:00

If you’re a veteran Mac user, and particularly if your loyalty traces back to the earliest days of the Mac, the documentary film MacHEADS is about you.

The mirror that Israeli filmmakers Kobi and Ron Shely hold up to the Mac community is at turns flattering and embarrassing as it examines its subject from many angles.

The film premiered at Macworld in January and was released to the public Jan. 27.

Much of the footage was shot in 2007, when Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone at Macworld. Early on in the 55-minute film we see a lot of the folks who showed up at Moscone West in San Francisco in the wee hours of the morning in the hope of gaining entry to the Jobs keynote.

They came from all over the world, a testament to the fervor of the most devoted members of the Mac community. It’s simultaneously inspiring and vaguely disturbing.

Perhaps the wackiest of the lot is a bearded man wearing a t-shirt bearing an image of Steve Jobs. After showing off a belt buckle with a scrolling light message that reads, “Thanks Steve,” he proudly points out he’s wearing something he calls a “Utilikilt.”

Later in the film this guy says, “Steve knows what we want, and we agree with him,” proudly embracing the stereotype of the Kool-Aid-drinking Mac fanatic. Yikes.

Fortunately, the filmmakers also spend a lot of time with many well-known personalities in the Mac community, such as former chief Mac evangelist Guy Kawasaki, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Andy Ihnatko and Shawn King of the Internet audio show “Your Mac Life.”

King in particular delivers much-needed perspective throughout MacHEADS. “It’s just another company,” King observes, warning those who believe in Apple’s beneficence to keep in mind it remains a for-profit enterprise.

“It’s the [user] community you want to talk about. It’s the community that’s cool,” King says. “Don’t love Apple, love the community.”

MacHEADS tries to give as complete a picture of the Mac community as possible – how it started, what keeps it going, what sort of people are drawn to it. For the most part, it hits the mark.

The film is divided into several sections. After the introductory sequence with the folks in line for the keynote, MacHEADS delves into the early days of the Mac with some impressive old footage, including the very first Macworld and period interviews with founders of the Berkeley Mac Users Group.

A grim segment follows on how the most loyal members of the Mac community struggled to keep the faith through the dark days of the mid-1990s, when Apple nearly went out of business.

Then we see how Apple’s revival has thrilled Mac users while weakening the bonds that hold the community together.

The last segment, “The Cult of Jobs,” focuses on the borderline excessive reverence the Mac community has for Steve Jobs, de facto guru of the Mac “cult.”

One of the recurring themes in MacHEADS is how much Mac owners love their machines, sometimes to apparently unhealthy extremes. The first person we see in the film admits his obsession with Macs has “kept me isolated, kept me from having a life, kept me from having a wife.”

A more striking example takes place in New York’s legendary Tekserve, where Mac owners bring their ailing machines for repair. Forlorn Mac owners sit in a waiting area, cradling their disabled iMacs and MacBooks on their laps while stroking them like a beloved pet.

I love my Macs, too, but I don’t think I’m that bad.

Near the end of MacHEADS several long-time Mac users express concern that Apple seemed less involved with the Mac community than it had been during its "beleaguered" days.

Several Macworld 2007 attendees say they’re disappointed at the company’s emphasis on the iPhone and iPod while apparently ignoring the Mac.

The Mac personalities all point out that once Apple became a successful business again, it no longer needed to court its customers as Mac evangelists.

“The Mac community scares Apple,” King says bluntly. “Apple’s all about control. It can’t control these people.”

One nitpick I have with MacHEADS is that I don’t think it makes enough of a distinction between the shrinking Mac user groups that consist largely of original members from the 1980s and the far larger Mac community that flourishes on the Internet.

In the film, the folks who continue to meet in person lament the loss of the social aspect of the Mac user groups. I don’t disagree, but a lot of the old camaraderie and willingness to help each other solve problems lives on in Mac online forums.

All in all though, MacHEADS does an excellent job of portraying the Mac community in all its oddball glory. Every Mac devotee should see it.

You can rent it online from Amazon’s video on demand service for $2.99 or buy the download for $9.99. The iTunes Store offers MacHEADS as a $3.99 rental or $14.99 download. Don’t ask me why Apple charges more than Amazon. Or you can buy the DVD here.

Would-be iTunes Store killer SpiralFrog goes extinct [Apple a Day]

2009-03-21T16:16:04-07:00

The ad-supported music Web site SpiralFrog went dark Friday just short of 18 months after it launched with the goal of luring customers from pirate sites.

The music was free, but only as long as the customer maintained a subscription. Songs could not be burned to a CD. SpiralFrog-obtained music is expected to stop playing for current customers within 60 days.

Although many in the media at the time SpiralFrog launched suggested it could grow into an “iTunes Store killer,” I disagreed. I predicted SpiralFrog would fail with a year because of its many drawbacks, not the least of which was incompatibility with Apple’s market-dominating iPod.

SpiralFrog employed Microsoft’s PlaysForSure digital rights management, limiting the service to WMA-compatible MP3 players only. That excluded Microsoft’s own Zune as well as the iPod.

Customers also had to renew their subscription every 60 days or lose access to their music. And SpiralFrog could only get two of the four major labels on board (Universal and EMI), which restricted the breadth of its catalog.

Changes in the competitive landscape since SpiralFrog’s Sept. 2007 launch further destabilized its business model. Within a few months Amazon was selling DRM-free MP3s. The iTunes Store went completely DRM-free this past January.

According to a story on CNET, the collapsing economy and the resulting shrinkage in advertising pushed the company over the brink. A heavy debt load didn’t help, either.

The demise of SpiralFrog, along with another ad-supported music Web site (Ruckus, which shut down Feb. 6), implies that particular model may just be unworkable.

Certainly such sites have never seriously threatened Apple’s iTunes Store, although I think they would have fared better had they been compatible with iPods.

How is it all those iPod killers, iTunes Store killers and iPhone killers never quite land that fatal blow?

What’s holding up the announcement of WWDC 2009? [Apple a Day]

2009-03-20T01:26:17-07:00

3/26/09 UPDATE: Today Apple finally announced the dates for WWDC 2009: June 8-12. More information can be found on Apple's WWDC Web page.

By this time each year, Apple usually has announced the dates for its annual Worldwide Developers Conference. Why the delay, I wonder?

Two weeks ago I posted a prediction that WWDC would occur June 7-12, with the keynote – and the concurrent release of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard Monday, June 8. Since then I haven’t found any evidence to the contrary.

While researching that post, I discovered that in the previous four years Apple has announced the dates for WWDC no later than mid-March.

Even in 2007, when Apple delayed WWDC until August to coincide with the release of new Mac Pro and Xserve models – which completed the transition to Intel processors – the dates were announced March 7.

Last year Apple announced the dates March 13, and we’re already a week past that.

What’s up with that?

Maybe Apple wants to keep up the steady drumbeat of positive news. Note how in the past several weeks Apple gave us Safari 4.0, a complete refresh of the Mac desktop line, a new iPod Shuffle and just this week the iPhone OS 3.0 beta.

Each announcement has come about a week after the previous one, usually on a Tuesday. It’s a clever way to reinforce the notion that Apple isn’t afraid to forge ahead with a barrage of new products despite the poor economy.

It’s possible Apple has saved the WWDC announcement to serve as next week’s news, unless it has yet another new product hiding up its sleeve.

Otherwise, I'm struggling to come up with possible explanations. Could it have something to do with the arrival of the third generation of the iPhone? Have unforeseen issues cropped up with Snow Leopard that might (gasp!) stall its release past the summer?

Beats me. Suggestions, anyone?

iPhone 3.0 software brings new capabilities, long-awaited features [Apple a Day]

2009-03-17T14:34:04-07:00

What can’t you do with the iPhone?

The third version of the iPhone’s operating system, demonstrated today by several Apple executives, accelerates its evolution into the Swiss Army knife of mobile computing.

Apple Senior Vice President for iPhone Software Scott Forstall, who led the presentation along with Apple vice president of iPod and iPhone marketing Greg Joswiak, said this “major update” to the iPhone software includes 100 new features.

The addition of perhaps the two most requested features, MMS (multimedia messaging service, which allows audio and photo files to be sent via text message) and cut and paste should quiet some of the harshest criticism of the iPhone.

Since just about every competing smartphone already offers those two features, they were way overdue in the iPhone.

Nevertheless, the cut and paste feature looks particularly well implemented and easy to use. My favorite part: shaking the iPhone serves as the “undo.”

Apple also said it has solved issues with its push technology, which allows the iPhone to “listen” for such things as e-mail and instant messages, sending them automatically to the iPhone without the user having to do anything.

Push was promised for the current version of the iPhone software, but developer requests for extended capabilities delayed it until now (at least that’s the reason Forstall gave).

Beyond those major enhancements, the new iPhone software includes many other welcome changes.

For example, users can search not only their contacts, but also their calendar, iPod music, e-mail and notes. Just as on the Mac, the feature is called Spotlight and is available from a new, additional Home screen.

Many users also will like the ability to use the landscape keyboard – which makes the individual keys wider and easier for fat fingers to hit accurately – in all of Apple’s apps, such as Mail and Notes, not just the Safari browser.

Several of the iPhone 3.0 features pitched as tools for developers – Apple is giving developers more than 1,000 new APIs – could result in a variety of clever new apps for users.

Peer-to-Peer connectivity, either wirelessly via Bluetooth or via the dock connector, has tons of potential. It allows the iPhone to recognize and connect to other iPhones or devices by using the Bonjour automatic network discovery protocol built into Mac OS X.

As an iPod Touch owner I wonder whether this feature will be enabled on Touches upgraded to the 3.0 version of the iPhone OS. The Touch does not have Bluetooth switched on, but when iFixit disassembled a second generation Touch last fall it found a chip capable of both Bluetooth and FM reception. (Crossing fingers.)

Also intriguing is the new ability to control hardware accessories. Forstall demonstrated how the iPhone’s equalizer, for example, could control external speakers.

Something developers will appreciate is how Apple has made it easier for customers to make purchases from within apps. Now people who buy a magazine app can buy a subscription right in the app. Likewise, a game app can offer additional levels. Of course, developers need to add this support to existing apps.

Thankfully, the “In-App Purchase” feature will work only in paid apps, not the free ones, so “you won’t be asked to buy something in that app,” promised Forstall. I think this is a good idea, but I hope developers won’t abuse it.

The changes to the iPhone software show Apple plans to keep pushing the platform forward aggressively. It will remain the envy of rival phone vendors, all of which are desperately trying to copy it.

Some statistics Joswiak gave at the start of the presentation illustrate just how big of a phenomenon the App Store has become. The number of apps has exploded to 25,000 in just eight months, with the total number of downloads exceeding 800 million. That won’t be easy for competitors to duplicate.

Developers can get a beta version of the iPhone 3.0 OS as of today so they can start building cool new apps; customers will get it “this summer” (no date was given). The update will be free for iPhone owners and a $9.95 upgrade for iPod Touch customers.

All previous models of iPhones and Touches can run the new OS, but not every new feature will work. For example, MMS won’t work on first-generation iPhones because of a slight difference in the hardware.

Tricky choices face Apple engineers working on netbook/touch device [Apple a Day]

2009-03-13T02:22:37-07:00

By now, virtually everyone who follows Apple expects some sort of new portable computing device before the end of the year.

A lot of folks have imagined assorted designs for Apple’s Next Big Thing in recent months.

Some say Apple will produce a traditional (clamshell with keyboard) but elegantly designed netbook running Mac OS X.

Some say Apple’s entry will revive the Mac Tablet concept, but substituting the iPhone’s Multi-Touch interface for handwriting recognition.

Some say we’ll see a slightly larger iPod Touch – a device sized somewhere between the iPod Touch and a Mac Tablet.

Two reports earlier this week added fuel to the already nearly incessant speculation that Apple is indeed working on a netbook.

Both -- one from the Chinese-language Commercial Times report and another from Dow Jones -- said Taiwan’s Wintek Corporation will supply 10-inch touch screens to Apple, but offered no other details.

Of course, a few naysayers claim the iPhone, iPod Touch and MacBook Air already comprise a complete line-up of mobile computing devices, so Apple has no need for another.

But I agree with those who believe Apple does in fact have a major new mobile product in development. Apple has many options, though – perhaps too many.

Some issues with which Apple engineers could be grappling:

Keyboard: If we’re talking about a netbook-sized device, does Apple go with an undersized physical keyboard as seen on many PC netbooks or opt for a larger version of the iPhone touch-screen keyboard, which appears on the screen as needed? Critics of the iPhone knock it for its lack of a physical keyboard, yet mobile phone makers have rushed to imitate the touch screen concept.

Size: As described above, Apple could build a 9- to 10-inch Mac netbook, a 9- to 10-inch tablet about half as thick, or a larger iPod Touch with a 5-, 6- or 7-inch screen. While Apple loves miniaturization (see: new iPod Shuffle), any device intended for a lot of Web browsing will benefit from more screen real estate.

Operating system: Obviously Apple will use a variation of Mac OS X, but will it be the one on the iPhone that omits some services to make it sleeker and more efficient on a less-powerful device or the full version used on its Macs? Less powerful devices will extend battery life, but a device with a full version of OS X could do more. A full version of Safari would make Web browsing a lot easier.

Storage: Most netbooks use relatively cheap hard drives to keep costs down. Using flash memory helps reduce physical size and weight as well as power consumption, but sacrifices capacity and drive up cost. Since Apple already buys a big chunk of world’s flash memory for use in its iPods and iPhones, it can get better deals than anybody else. Nevertheless, the price/capacity gap presents a dilemma.

Connectivity: Any mobile device Apple releases in 2009 should incorporate the 802.11n wireless networking standard. A USB port and Bluetooth also are strong possibilities.

The real question here is whether Apple will build in support for 3G – the type of connection smartphones use. With 3G, you’d have Internet access anywhere you can get a cell phone signal, just like with the iPhone. The disadvantage is the hefty fees cell phone companies charge for use of their data networks.

Price: The MacBook Air, with its larger screen and more powerful processor weighs about the same as the typical netbook PC (3 pounds) but costs about four times as much. Clearly Apple can get away with charging a premium for a new mobile device, particularly if it’s groundbreaking in some way (a good bet, given the company’s track record).

But if the intent is to take a bite out of the netbook market, a product priced too high may not lure away enough buyers -- even those who don’t mind paying more for a revolutionary device.

My guess: Like many, I lean toward a larger iPod Touch -- an iTouch, I suppose.

Less is more in this case. A smaller device is not only more portable, it will cost less to manufacture and be better able to compete with netbooks on price.

I envision a device about 3.6 inches wide with a 5-inch touch screen, otherwise very similar to the iPod Touch. At this size, it still fits in a shirt pocket, yet provides a screen much more suitable for such things as reading books or browsing the Web, not to mention gaming.

It could run any app in the App Store in a compatibility mode, but would offer developers opportunities for new apps designed for its bigger screen (and faster ARM processor).

This iTouch would use a scaled up version of the iPhone’s onscreen keyboard, but a USB port multiples the possibilities. While plugging a regular keyboard into an iTouch would be awkward, imagine third parties building special keyboards that attach to the device, making it a single unit that could be used like a netbook.

For that matter, imagine third parties creating similar USB-based game controllers. A USB port creates more user options without adding cost to the device.

Such a sleek gadget could compete with netbooks, Amazon’s Kindle and handheld gaming devices all at once without threatening MacBook sales and only mildly cannibalizing the iPod Touch, particularly if priced correctly – I’d say between $499 and $599.

What do you think?

Reasons to vote for Woz on “Dancing with the Stars” [Apple a Day]

2009-03-09T03:02:12-07:00

For fans of Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and the reality show “Dancing with the Stars” on ABC, tonight is the night you’ve been waiting for. The program’s eighth season begins tonight at 8 p.m. EDT.

The “Woz” has been paired with Karina Smirnoff, a professional dancer who has won many championships. This will be her sixth season with “Dancing with the Stars.”

Those of us who started their computing lives on any iteration of the Apple II will always have a warm spot in our hearts for Woz. While Steve Jobs had the vision (even in the very early days), Wozniak had the engineering chops to transform that vision into the first personal computer anyone could use.

Although I’m not a fan of “Dancing with the Stars,” I wish Woz the best of luck. Win it for the geeks!

But if Wozniak is to have a chance at victory, he’ll need the heavy support of geekdom in addition to Smirnoff’s skilled and patient tutoring. In fact, Woz is counting on it. On his Web site he encourages his fans to show their support.

To vote for Woz and Karina, call 800-86834-10 (800-VOTE4-10), use your cell phone to text in the code 3410 or log in to the “Dancing with the Stars” Web site.

Bonus reasons to vote for Woz:

1. He looks good in a pink shirt.
2. There is a street named after him in San Jose.
3. He sponsored the US Festivals in the early 1980s.
4. He once dated comedian Kathy Griffin.
5. I met and interviewed him in 2003, when he spoke at the 25th anniversary celebration of the Maryland Apple Corps user group.
6. The Segway Polo “Woz Challenge Cup” was named in his honor. Woz plays on the Silicon Valley Aftershocks, which won the trophy in 2007.

Fans of “Dancing with the Stars” (or any reality show) can follow the developments on baltimoresun.com’s Reality Check blog.