Behemoth Big Brother invaders!

A friend of mine forwarded me this article which I must say is the most ridiculous thing I have read in a while!

Wired Article

If you don't have time to read it, the short and sweet of it is that Sony BMG has shipped software with it's CD's that automatically installs, what in all aspects equates to a virus on any PC playing the CD, without the users permission or knowledge.

It is 'software' (malware might be a better term here) for tracking copy right infringements. They have repeatedly lied about it's purpose and specs saying it doesn't phone home when it does, pretending it isn't there when it is etc.

This is the reason big companies run into problems. The amount of time Sony BMG have spent developing rubbish like this could surely be better spent finding new areas to generate revenue for themselves and the artists who's 'best interests' they represent. The bad publicity and the millions of dollars lost in recalls, law suits and credibility are going to hurt thousands upon thousands of people indirectly.

Media Companies:

...and in the darkness bind them!

I know this is an odd blog article but this was something that was brought to my attention recently and I really thought it made sense.

It seems that in my experiences working with Ad agencies all over the globe, there is no system out there that can please all the parties involved in delivering an ad to the consumer.

If you build a system for the creative team, the analysts will hate it. If you build a system for the analysts, the creative folks will hate it. The very tasks that the various roles perform make it almost impossible to find a common ground. However if you look closely at the process of delivering an advert, you can find something that is consistent throughout, no one does anything without the media companies data. The media planning provided by media companies, such as OMD and PHD of Omnicom Group, is the foundation on which any successful ad campaign is built.

The media plan drives everything from how much money do we need spend, did we actually spend, to how big is the creative, who are we showing this to. Without these critical details and more you would be putting adverts for snow in front of Eskimos at exorbitant costs. These details have enabled folks to build systems that can drive the entire process from start to end, creating a common platform for all the people involved to communicate and share as the campaign evolves.

I plan to expand on this over the next few days so please keep checking for updates.

Disease Possibilities are Expensive

On reading the news on Google this morning 2 articles under the Health section caught my eye. They were...

Bush seeks billions for bird flu threat response

On a Crusade to End Malaria, Gates Pledges $258 million

I decided to read a bit further and what I read made me sick to my stomach. The first article is about George Bush asking for billions of dollars ($7.1 billion to be exact) to prevent a possible (yes POSSIBLE) pandemic outbreak of bird flu.

The second article is about Bill Gates giving of his own money, not taxpayers money, to help aid research to finding a cure for malaria.

What is wrong with this picture? On the one hand you have a possible threat that hasn't materialized yet and on the other you have a disease with a death rate equivalent of "seven jumbo jets, full of children, crashing every day".

Now I totally understand that money should be poured into prevention of a pandemic because as we all know it can be extremely deadly (the Spanish Flu killed 20 million across the globe) but malaria kills a million people and sickens 300 to 500 million every year! It seems our priorities are messed up if we can spare hundreds of billions of dollars fighting a war in Iraq, tens of billions to rebuild New Orleans where 3-4 billion would have sufficed, and now 7.1 billion to prevent an outbreak that has not happened yet.

My point is this, we pay our taxes, we should care where the money goes.