(NOTE: Allen's "on the road" today, so M2 is backstopping him on this topic.)

Not content with "owning" the online search-advertising world, Google's now jumping into the print advertising world by giving advertisers the ability to extend to traditional magazine ads.

Allen and Mike discuss the differences between social networking and social search. And there are differences. 

Social-search is the emergence of how consumers find and rate everything from Vietnamese restautrants to political coverage etc. More to the point, out of social-search comes an important requirement -- and an opportunity for creating ranking systems that help establish an individual's credbility. 

I have mentioned it before in my other blogs, but I have this goal of running for Congress in Arizona (District 7) sometime after my daughter goes off to college. To that end, my wife and I are active in the Arizona Democratic Party and are precinct committeemen for our district.

Tonight, we attended the “Win in your Own Backyard” dinner for the Maricopa County Democratic Party. The food was lousy (as food is at political events), but it was worth it to see Governor Janet Napolitano speak. The governor was poised, charismatic, articulate and vibrant. How many politicians could be described in that manner?

In this clip from the event, the governor is introduced by Judy Kennedy, chair of the Maricopa County Democratic Party.

What madness is this?

Allen and Mike present and then challenge the notion of Google offering a mobile phone of their own.  Whether or not you agree with the notion, we think the assumptions that go into our respective opinions are food for thought.

It's no joke. Despite it's caveat, Current TV is rather daring to suggest everyday people shoot video of the impact of the hurricane. I am a huge believer in citizen journalism, but covering a Category 4/5 Hurricane is a job for experienced reporters.

Current Studio members,

Category 5 Katrina is bearing down on New Orleans and we'd like your
perspective. What are people in your town saying about the disaster
coming across the water? Are they all tuning in or only vaguely
aware of what's going on?

Most people never experience anything like this, except through TV.
Have you been through a hurricane or an evacuation before? What's it
like?
What did you leave behind?

We are NOT looking for you to put yourself in harm's way -- there is
real danger out there. This is not about the weather correspondent
tied  to a tree; there is loss happening right now, and we want to
connect with real voices and perspectives.

Upload anything you shoot to the Current Studio --

Mike and I have done two MADCasts on the subject of Widgets. Here’s a piece from Podcasting News on creating a Podcasting Widget.

After reading about this new search site, zabasearch.com, on The Gate, I had to check it out. What I found gave me chills. I found old personal phone numbers going back years. Is someone going through my cyberdumpster?

Note: comment spam will be not tolerated on this site. The person who has been adding spammed comments either manually or by bot is hereby on notice.

Yahoo! has a deal with Japan's Fuji TV to air a live interactive program during which viewers can ask questions via a chat or some sort of blog variant. Since Fuji TV was the creator of the original "Iron Chef," can we ask Chef Morimoto if his ponytail ever gets in the way when he's preparing sashimi?

What can I say about Google Talk that I haven’t said to countless reporters and in a document that will be appear on my company’s website later today?

It means Google is a Portal/Digital Media Titan and someone will be the odd man out. More on that in a MADCast later today.

BTW, anyone who wants to be on my Google Talk list can just send me an email at: allen.p.weiner@gmail.com

This will be a big week in Google’s history. It will mark its evolution from being a “search company” to being a fully fledged “Media Titan” and (like it or not) a Web Portal. Over time, these titles might become the same thing. There have been official announcements (Sidebar) and rumored ones as well.

Can the market support four Portals/Digital Media Titans? Maybe, but certainly only one will lead.

Sorry for the delay, folks.

In this installment, Allen and Mike expound upon the future of sports TV programming with the ESPN-COMCAST hook-up for hockey games as a discussion point. We follow that up with some chatter on Yahoo Music's (mostly) permanent low-low pricing for music subscriptions; and finally we go after the Oakland A's. We use the adjective "short-sighted" a lot in that last entry.

As if the newspaper world didn’t have enough grief. Looks like the major search titans are toying with the idea of embracing the analog world. It’s a good move as long as they figure out how to let the print guys run their business while integrating it smoothly into the search firm's digital operations. No mean task, if you ask me.

When Yahoo unveiled it's "beta" test version of the Yahoo Music service, the pricing -- $4.99/per month for an annual subscription or $6.99/per month for a monthly subscription both of which allow consumers to move content on to portable devices -- execs and staffers at Rhapsody and Napster muttered words like "gimmick" and "cheap come-on" (OK, M2 made up that last one).

Sorry to report, Rob (Glaser) and Chris (Gorog), but looks like Yahoo is making the low-low prices permanent. Given that you both have identical price points for your services -- $9.95 for tethered-to-PC and $14.95 for the to-go versions -- what happens now? Oh, and given those pricing gaps -- and Glaser's recent quote stating that portable subscriptions (those being the more expensive versions) are all "hype" (yes, he did say that ) it doesn't appear that anybody's real sure what to do with portable music subscriptions. 

Yahoo's strategy -- I mean to the extent that cutting your competitors' guts is a "strategy" -- is still the simplest and cleanest: take advantage of the traffic to your site based on your existing services and extend new service offerings to those who are interested in a specific topic/product e.g. music.  It's a lot easier than driving demand to a site dedicated to one thing that, frankly, is still not that easy to explain to consumers. 

Note: Yes, we're aware that Rhapsody and Napster have both posted solid growth in subscribers. What's indisputable is that neither is really knocking the cover off the ball, financially speaking. If Yahoo continues its practice of not quoting subscriber numbers in their next quarterly call, rest assured catty comments will fall upon them.

The LAWeekly has a story today that is either a bombshell or a blinding flash of the obvious, depending on your position in the digital media world as it applies to the future of newspaper publishing.

Expect more, not less, of this in the coming months...

Current TV does not accept MPEG4 submissions. What's up with that?

In today's episode, Allen and Mike admit that the past few days worth of news in the media world have left them slack-jawed at the speed with which world of TV is morphing.

Hockey on Outdoor Life? Oh yeah, that’s going to help ratings. Where’s Peter Puck when you need him.

My wife, daughter and I showed our support for Cindy Sheehan, the mother of the late Casey Sheehan, who died in 2004 in Iraq in service to our country. We were part of  one of more than 1,400 candlelight vigils tonight across the United States. Sheehan is camped outside President Bush’s home in Crawford, Texas, waiting for a chance to speak to him about her son... wanting to know his life was not lost in vain.

We went to the vigil held at 24^th Street and Camelback in Phoenix. It was a peaceful yet vocal protest. There were candles, placards and cheers as cars went by honking their horns in support.

The footage here is raw. I wanted to approximate the feel of the event. Whether or not you agree with Sheehan, you have to admire her courage and the strength of those who came out on a 99-degree evening to show their support.

By the way, I beat the local TV news by more than an hour with this footage!

At the Google Analyst Day, the first question asked about Google Earth related to the fear that the map imaging could be an aid to robbers, terrorists and other misguided sorts. Now this:

Zinio, a software and services company, has teamed up with McGraw-Hill to offer a trial of digital textbooks. Read below. But can the text be send securely to an iPod? That's the killer ap.

A student-friendly, interactive, lower-cost option to the traditional textbook is a reality as a result of a new alliance between McGraw-Hill Higher Education, a leading provider of electronic and print learning materials, and Zinio, the leader in digital publishing services. Through the alliance, 150 of McGraw-Hill's most renowned college titles are now available as electronic books, offering the highest quality reading experience -- at about half the cost of a print textbook.

I learned first hand the challenges of using your cell phone as a content foraging device.

In NY, I tried the mobile Web on my phone to find the location of a play that was in the vicinity of the restaurant at which we had lunch. OK, I think we all know the little screen stinks as an interface, but the inability to intuitively search is awful. And it’s amazing the number of sites that are not formatted properly for easy viewing on this peephole-sized interface. Ugh. And how many times can you get the error message “unable to connect” before you look for a nearby copy of the print Yellow Pages ®.

I tried again yesterday to find out the flight status of my daughter’s delayed trip from California. I had the big 5-Bar salute on my phone (top connectivity). I tried to type in the URL of her airline, but I kept getting the error message that no such URL existed. Yikes.

The cell might be OK for headlines, blasts and news alerts. As a foraging device for serious content (at least in the U.S.), I need to see some improvements in interface, reception and navigability before I try again.

Will I look at video on a cell phone? Are you kidding me?

According to the LA Times, Fox Interactive Media is looking at rich media search engine, Blinkx. As someone who has known Blinkx and its executive team for close to a year, the deal makes sense to me.

A vital part of “The Summer of Baseball” (which sadly is at an end) was our tour of the two New York City baseball parks—Shea Stadium and Yankee Stadium. It was my second trip to Shea and first to Yankee Stadium. I liked the fact that you exit the 7 Train and there you are—right smack at Shea.

So, in retrospect, since the first week of June, we visited Bank One Ball Park; Camden Yards; Citizens Bank Park; Shea and Yankee Stadium. Let’s not forget The Sandcastle (Atlantic City) and the pre-Spring Training home of the SF Giants where we witnessed a number of Arizona Rookie League games.

Number one? I have to go with Citizens Bank Park with Camden Yards close behind. Overall, though, neither is as cool at SBC Park (nee Pac Bell).  Hopefully, I can nail some video from SBC sometime soon.

Here's a guy playing a steel drum on a VERY hot afternoon just adjacent to Times Square.

It's the 9th Inning. Who do you call for a save? Only one name will do--the Yankees' Mariano Rivera. He's a personal favorite who almost always comes through in the clutch. Sure, he gave up the bloop single to Gonzo that gave the Diamondbacks the 2001 World Series, but it left Rivera unfazed.

For this career, Rivera has more than 360 saves (367 as of today). He's a certain first-ballot Hall of Famer. He's cool, he's calm and he has nasty stuff. In addition, he's a vital part of his community--both in New York and his native Panama.

When Rivera enters the game, the PA blasts Metallica's "Enter Sandman." I suppose that's because it's lights out for the opposition. For the record, Rivera lost the game at whcih I shot this clip. He gave up a triple to the Chisox's Juan Uribe in the 10th and the winning run scored when Posada failed to block the plate. Where's Yogi when you need him?

I don't think this family act is part of the official "Music Under New York" series, but they set the Times Square subway station ablaze with some amazing drumming. Sort of a low-rent version of "Stomp."

The Music Under New York series continues. This shot—like the violinist several months ago—is at Grand Central Station. Brenna Bavis (vocals) and Cary DeNigris (guitar) work on “(Baby, You Can) Drive My Car,” a Beatles song from Rubber Soul, circa 1965.

If you like what you see and hear, the musicians can be contacted at (917) 674-9961

We had a heck of a time finding it, but the statue commemorating "the kiss" at the VJ-Day celebration in Times Square, is temporarily at 44th and Broadway in New York. The statue, created by J. Seward Johnson replicated the Eisenstadt picture that appeared in Life magazine in 1945. The woman in the kiss--Edith Shain--was on hand a few days ago for the unveiling.

At 1:30 this Sunday, to honor the men and women of the armed forces, there will be a "Pucker Up for Peace"  kiss-in at the site of the statue.

After the guitar smashing, the crowd swelled in front of the Hard Rock Café. Some folks said that Bruce Springsteen was leaving the building, but it was Little Steven (aka Steve Van Zandt) standing in front doing some obligatory interviews. Like millions of others, I know Van Zandt as Silvio Dante from The Sopranos.

We were wandering through Times Square-actually in search of the new “Unconditional Surrender” statue-- and we came across a special event to honor to soon-to-open Hard Rock Café. We witnessed the “great guitar smash off” held above the café and on street level. After the smashing, everyone scrambled for a guitar piece; my intrepid wife wound up with a few small souvenirs.

The other afternoon, we took the “S” shuttle that runs from Times Square to Grand Central Station. Our destination was the Grand Central Oyster Bar for lunch. We sat at the counter and feasted on all manner of shellfish, grabbing a quick clip of the master chowder-maker at work. The light is a little dim, but it’s a fun shot.

Shhh... I am whispering in one of the world's most famous art museums--New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. We came for the Matisse exhibit but had to stop and see one of my favorites--Cezanne's "The Card Players." No, there are no card playing canines in the picture.

After this shot, I was busted by one of the guards who saw me shooting video... it's a no-no at The Met.

Interesting news today: seems venerated Silicon Valley VC firms Sequoia Capital and Kleiner-Perkins have decided to invest $8.5million in Adam PodShow, Inc., a business built by Ron Bloom and Adam Curry (yes, that Adam Curry).  Silicon Valley monarchs John Doerr and Ray Lane have are joining the PodShow board of directors.

Coincidentally, another podcasting pioneer, ODEO, received another round of funding from firms Charles River and Amicus, and a host of angel investors including Ron Conway.

So, now all the bright-eyed enthusiasm we've seen in the eyes of developers and podcasters, the confident exclamations that this podcasting thing "is going to break big" have come to pass.  Actually, not exactly.  Now comes the really hard work -- creating revenue generating businesses out of all this potential   energy. 

In other words, folks like Adam (PodShow) and Evan (ODEO) are the dogs who've been chasing the car in the streets of Silicon Valley for months. Today, they caught the car. Now what?

Seriously, the funding an business-development expertise that comes with the money are the fuel that will allow companies like PodShow and ODEO to develop tools and programs that will deliver revenue in the form of subscriptions, advertising etc. 

After wandering around West Greenwich Village, we came across a pick-up basketball game. It’s not the famous Rucker League, and we’re not likely to find the next Stephon Marbury here, but it was pretty intense.

The Summer of Baseball is drawing to a close. Today, after Phoenix, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Shea Stadium, we went to Yankee Stadium. It was my first trip to the Bronx and first time at Yankee Stadium. You get off the “D” train from Manhattan, and there’s no dramatic façade outside the steps (like Shea and Citizens Bank Park); you feel like you are in the middle of “The French Connection” and you expect Popeye Doyle to come careening around the corner.

We arrived way early, but too late to get in line for Monument Park. As we entered our seating area from the concourse, I thought of the scene from “City Slickers” when Billy Crystal recalled his first trip with his dad to Yankee Stadium. At my first trip, there was no Mickey Mantle homerun and the Yanks lost 2-1. The usually infallible Mariano Rivera gave up a run in the 10^th inning. Nonetheless, we had a blast

Well, it was just dumb luck. We were walking up Broadway when the crowd outside Viacom headquarters--home of MTV--was beginning to erupt. TRL (Total Request Live) was being filmed in the studio that faces Broadway, and the guest was 50 Cent. 50 Cent is in town after his concert last night at Madison Square Garden.

Here's a sax player on Broadway playing a little but of the Dave Brubeck classic, "Take Five."

Immediately following "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," the sound system at Shea Stadium broke into one of the songs from "The Godfather." I cannot find the name of the song, but I think it's a traditional Sicilian song performed at weddings and special events. Whatever it is, the crowd was on its feet cheering the Mets on to victory.

Almost as much as our mania for baseball, is our passion for Farmers Markets. Here's the one in New York's Union Square. Quite wonderful, and the perfect time of year to sample its bounty--summer stone fruits, tomatoes, greens, etc... Also, some wonderful handmade pretzels from the Pennsylvania Dutch Country. The market compares favorably with its California counterparts.

On 7th Avenue in New York City, we encountered a peaceful and meaningful protest of the persecution of millions of followers of Falun Gong in China. Falun Gong, according to the group's literature, is "a practice of meditation, gentle exercises, and the cultivation of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance in oneself."

AOL's purchase of Wildseed, a start-up that's been working on mobile phone software that allows a high degree of personalization, is an important step in its efforts to making AOL an important digital media portal.

Given last week's announcement that AOL was purchasing Xdrive (see, er, listen to our most recent podcast), and now this, AOL continues to make some intriguing moves in its post-walled-garden incarnation.

Is the CEO of a major public company -- with one of the most envied stock prices in the world -- a public figure? (We'd say so.) Shouldn't a news organization tasked with covering said company use all legitimate and legal means to seek and report information about the CEO? (Depends on what information and its context, but generally, we'd say yes, they should.)

So why is Google's vaunted PR team so up in arms about the fact that a CNET (we'll always call them CNET) reporter went and used Google to find out information about it's CEO? In fact, they're so upset about such disclosures as the fact that the CEO is, gasp,a resident of Atherton, CA. And, gasp, hosted a $10,000-a-plate fund-raiser for Al Gore's failed presidential campaign.

Perhaps they're too thin-skinned? Hubris? Lame? Really, this is all information available in public records (especially the fund-raising). Does being CEO of Google, or any large public company, convey some special status in terms of disclosure of personal information? We don't think so. We think such disclosures come under the heading "comes with the territory -- and the millions of $$$." 

Honestly, banning Google employees from speaking with CNET reporters for a year seems, well, pointless.

In today's 'cast, Allen and Mike talk about AOL's purchase of X-Drive and Yahoo Music's new search technology.

At the Toys 'r' Us Times Square store--the company's flagship--there is a spectacular ferris wheel that stretches from the basement to six floors up. I think it's $4 per ride, but that's assuming you want to wait in line for a ticket.

Our 2005 summer baseball tour takes us to Shea Stadium. We saw the Mets shut out the Cubs, 2-0. Wow. We took the infamous 7 train from Manhattan to Shea; that's the subway ridiculed by former Atlanta Brave pitcher/nutjob John Rocker. We thought it was cool.

Next up, Cap Day at Yankee Stadium. It could be the final stop on our summer tour. What a way to end an amazing run!

This is a story that cannot be overlooked. KMOX, one of the nation's biggest and powerful radio stations is dropping the Cardinals because the station cannot afford the rights any more. This is a trend. Take it seriously. If local stations continue to lose revenue, they will be forced to drop sports teams from the lineup. In some cases, baseball rights are a break-even situation and stations take on the games to carry over into other parts of their programs. It’s cool to be the “home of the Cardinals,” and adds prestige to potential advertisers.

MLB should be concerned. This could dramatically shift the economics of the game.

We’re beginning to run out of storage space on the server here at our friendly blog, so this is a timely story. AOL will come up with some sort of plan for consumers to use Xdrive as a personal storage tank, but even more importantly as a place to share rich media content. I was surprised to see yesterday that this blog told me I couldn’t upload any more files as I had used up my allotted space, so I had to nuke a few older videos to make room. That will only be a stopgap solution, so we’re hoping more blog providers offer powerful hosting/storing capabilities.

DULLES, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 4, 2005--America Online, Inc. the world's leading interactive services company, today announced that it has acquired Xdrive, Inc., a leading provider of online storage and backup services.

No joke. Google is looking for an executive chef. Read below:

One way of getting from there to there if you don’t want to fly is to take the train. I had to get from Lowell, Mass., to Stamford, CT. and did not want to head to Logan Airport, so I took Amtrak.

I was a bit surprised at the start of my journey at South Station in Boston. Very nice. Clean with lots of services. A mini version of Grand Central if you ask me.

This is everything Mike and I have been talking about. New players entering the market with the ability to take their message directly to consumers, circumventing traditional networks.

Am I a target customer? No, but there are millions of them out there!

Looks like Yahoo! has hired Elizabeth Osder to head up its social media initiatives. Great move! I first met Elizabeth in 1993 when I attempted to hire her to work for me at The Gate (the online SF Chronicle and Examiner). She’s a bright, talented and creative talent and Yahoo! is lucky to have her.

The last time I saw Elizabeth, she was working for iXL, a new media consulting shop (that is no longer in business). I think it was around 2000, and the site of that meeting? It was at a conference held at Windows on the World, at the top of The World Trade Center. Chilling.