Jason Clarke

Via The Daily Dorrmatt, I discovered that MLB.com is helping to bury the NY Yankees by selling none other than 2005 NY YANKEES AL EAST CHAMPION TSHIRTS!!

Just in case this transgression mysteriously “disappears” from MLB.com, I’ve got a handy screenshot right here.

If you want a high-res version to print out and throw darts at, click the image.

A few months ago I signed up for a free trial of Audible, the online audio books service. After downloading their clunky, propietary audio player (that’s all I need- a sixth media player that only plays one type of media!), I began to browse their site to download me some audio lit.

I know they have a wide selection, but dang if they didn’t have a single book I was looking to listen to. I hung on, searched again a few weeks later, and came up empty again. Time to cancel my service, just a few days shy of the end of my free trial.

Fast foward to today, some FOUR MONTHS AFTER I cancelled my Audible.com account (also note- I was never actually a paying customer- just a free trial rider). I get my mail today, and inside I find a postcard from Audible asking me to return to them as a customer.

SO….when I CANCELLED my account, instead of deleting my info, they kept around my address, then used it to send me direct mail marketing! Worst of all was the copywriting: the lead asked me to spend “only $112!” Geez, you only want me to drop over $100 dollars to re-activate my account?! What a great intro offer!

So to recap:

1. If you cancel your Audible.com account, Audible will KEEP your account info on file
2. Then they’ll use your account info to send you direct mail marketing.

If one single person shoots back that “that’s a normal practice in the industry!”, then my response will be, Wow, you must be really proud of what is quite a terrible marketing practice.

Shame on you, Audible.

PS- Hey Audible, your current homepage looks like one of those freakin’ “GET A FREE IPOD” websites. And that is not a compliment.

I’ve owned my current mobile phone for just over 1 year. Some stats:

Total calls: 3,205

Total talk time: 125 hours, 0 minutes, 13 seconds (or 7,500 minutes, or 5.2 straight days on the phone)

Calls per day: 8.7

Minutes per day: An average of 20 minutes per day on the phone

BusinessWeek’s Blogspotting reports that Technorati has struck “exclusive deals” with some blog utilities to be pinged first before any other services (such as weblogs.com or Pingomatic) are notified that your blog has been updated.

So what? Is this a big deal?

It might not be, except for the fact that despite this alleged advantage, Technorati is still dreadfully slow and often misses a small to medium share of relevant data per site.

Over last weekend, I spent a good amount of time updating Network Landscape, the TV/DVD/movies weblog I publish.

Besides a fresh design, the site got a new RSS feed, enhanced “quick news” section, leaner code, an update to its underlying blog software, and some other tweaks.

Over the next few weeks, the site will be roaring back to life, with writer Henry Hanks reviewing much of this season’s new crop of shows. We’ll also have some great giveaways, like LOST season 1 on DVD and more.

Check it out and feel free to send your feedback.

Step one: read this article by Ben Stein defending George Bush.

Step two: If you are a blogger and you truly, seriously, honestly, blame George Bush for the hurricane, please call me and explain why. Check to make sure you’re sane first, because like most humans on earth I’m often quite busy.

Because, see, I’m not going to know the reasoning behind your belief that George Bush is the cause and effect of the hurricane. That’s because I am delinking and deleting ANY blogger from my blogroll, RSS feed, and headspace who dares to suggest that an act of God (or whatever YOU call it) was caused by our President.

Bloggers who I’ve already wiped from my life:

Dave Winer

Are you a web developer proficient in either PHP/MySQL or Google Maps API/Ajax development? Are you looking for a way to help the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts besides just donating some cash?

Then please check out the Katrina Caravan Rescue’s call for web developer volunteers. They need help getting their website & database up to snuff so they can help people even more. Please check it out, post about it, and pass it on.

To learn more about the Katrina Caravan Rescue, check their website.

I’ve been woefully remiss in following up on my posts last week regarding my switch from Technorati to IceRocket (if you missed it, CEO’s of both companies commented here last week).

Now comes a post from that other Jason (hehe), Weblogs, Inc. network prez Jason Calacanis. He’s not only fed up with Technorati, he’s asked his partner, Brian Alvey, to remove all embedded links to Technorati across all 80+ of the Weblogs, Inc. network sites:

Brian: Can you take Technorati out of the Linking Blogs link across the Weblogs, Inc. network and replace them with IceRocket?

So, last week I announce that I’m flipping my Technorati links over to IceRocket links…then today, Jason Calacanis, one of the world’s most influential blog publishers, announces the same!

Jason goes a bit further and offers some good advice to Technorati:

I think the company has a focus issue. They always seem to be busy doing odd side projects like mobile, Live8, the redesign and CNN. If I was running that company I would focus on one thing and one thing only: the quality of the search results. That’s it. That’s the only reason Technorati exists and that’s the thing they are doing worst.

I said something quite similar, but not as eloquent, in my first post on the topic:

If you’re going to shift your strategy towards mainstream, make sure you’re hardware/infastructure is 110% FIRST…Please, Technorati, don’t try to be Yahoo: don’t be the public service of the living web.

Just deliver results.

To be honest, I’m a bit surprised the changeover at the Weblogs, Inc. network didn’t happen sooner. After all, Technorati’s performance has been quite awful for some time now, and as Jason says in his post, he’s been complaning about them since February or so. Besides, if I’m not mistaken (don’t you find that people who write that often are?), Weblogs, Inc. blogger and investor Mark Cuban is also an investor in IceRocket.

Today, Instapundit is hosting a massive blog fundraiser for the areas and people affected by Hurricane Katrina.

The response is overwhelming- countless people have chimed in with a host of charities that deserve our support.

Rather than link to a larger charity though, I thought I might add to the fundraiser by linking to an individual who has been personally affected by the tragedy.

Livejournal user Amicablebitch (her real name is Mary) is a New Orleans resident. Over the past week, she’s been accepting donations at her site via PayPal. But the money isn’t going just to her- she’ll be using part of it to help rebuild, and also donating some of the money to other worthy causes as well.

If you want to catch a personal glimpse of the devistating effects of the hurricane and lend your support at a super-personal level, head over to her site, read her recent entries, and please consider making a donation.