Pat's Blog

Pat's at Yankee Stadium

2009-04-03T23:47:00.004-04:00

I just finished a 3 minute conversation with someone from the Food Network about whether I might enjoy the fish tacos or hearth-fired pizza more.

One of the most striking features about the new Yankee Stadium is the vast allocation of concourse space. You can walk away from your seat and never come back. I think the people at the bar behind me have no intention of returning to the game. There are the usual bottlenecks of a big crowd and opening night. Security going in to the game tonight seemed no smoother than at the old ballpark. And the fancy automatic bar code turnstile didn't work the first two times.

But the stadium is well staffed and the crowd is having fun checking out what you get for $1.5 billion. (I should also make clear that I've written this entire post while waiting for my fairly simple food order. I'm up to about 20 minutes now. I think I'll eat at home before my next game.) Clearly the stadium was designed to have the feel of the old ballpark. If you are in your seat (and disregard the outrageously sharp high definition big screen) it's not hard to imagine you're in the old place.

4th inning now.Must admit I haven't seen much baseball. But that's not really the main attraction tonight.

Baby don't forget my number

2009-04-03T03:31:00.005-04:00

The ten digit mobile phone keypad is dying. At the cell phone industry's biggest North American trade show, USA Today noted that only a handful of new phones have the traditional numeric keypad. Almost every cell phone coming to market has some sort of QWERTY keyboard or touch screen instead.

I guess this shouldn't really come as a surprise given the number of people who agreed with me yesterday that they prefer e-mail to voice mail. Show organizers say the trend away from numeric keypads is a direct reaction to a trend in the business toward e-mail and text messaging. US mobile phone customers send a trillion text messages last year -- three times as many as in 2007.

Valentino dressed in orange

2009-04-02T17:18:00.003-04:00

He really is orange.

Fashion designer Valentino was on the red carpet last night for the premiere in LA of a documentary about his work.

As seen on Sky News and TMZ, his fake tan really is quite frightening.

Please don't leave a message

2009-04-02T04:57:00.003-04:00

Technically, I still have an answering machine at home. But I've pretty much lost interest in checking it. It just seems like voice mail is an inefficient way to reach me when I'm so easily accessible on e-mail.

A story in the New York Times today supports my view about voice mail becoming obsolete. The Times says "the burden of having to hit the playback button and sit through the "ums" and "ahs" can seem too much to bear."

Google says April Fools!

2009-04-01T09:04:00.003-04:00

Everyone knows Google likes to be the best at everything. Now they can add something else to their list: best April Fools Day gag. Check out the Gmail "Autopilot" program, allowing users to outsource the pesky task of answering a whole inbox--from relationship terminations to communications with your therapist--to a computer program.

Not much news in Detroit

2009-03-31T03:36:00.003-04:00

Newspaper coverage of the automakers' future was scarce in Detroit yesterday.

I had forgotten about the timing of this until the Wall Street Journal pointed it out. As the Obama administration pushed GM and Chrysler closer to bankruptcy yesterday, Detroit's newspapers were beginning their new system of distribution. Under the plan, there's no home delivery on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Those readers are expected to get their news online or visit a newsstand.

Message from Pat

2009-03-25T09:58:00.000-04:00

We’ve shut the webcast for a few days so we can focus on the re-launch of Pat’s Papers. Be sure to mark April 6th on your calendar—that’s the date we’ve picked to showcase the new and improved Pat’s Papers.

We’ve been working on the website for a couple of months and we’re almost ready to go. We plan to use the next two weeks making sure our transition is a smooth one.

But we won’t be sleeping in—we’ll continue to produce the print version of Pat’s Papers every weekday. If you scroll down on the main page, you find headlines and links to the newspaper stories that caught our eye. Again, our re-launch is set for April 6th. We hope you can come back to us that day and everyday thereafter for our carefully edited look at the top headlines from US newspapers.

Like Simon Cowell?

2009-03-20T08:29:00.002-04:00

Fun quote from the President in his Leno appearance last night. He said, "In Washington, it is a little like "American Idol," except everybody is Simon Cowell."

I think the President is giving his critics in Washington too much credit. Yes -- Simon is known for speaking his mind and sometimes being mean. But he's usually correct in his criticism. The same can't be said for much of the partisan bickering in DC.

Does a facial help your skin?

2009-03-19T03:37:00.002-04:00

The New York Times says those $200 skin treatments you've paid for may not be "required maintenance" to the degree that your local spa would have you believe.

An article in today's Thursday Styles section says:

Today’s bloated and breathless spa menus promise more than a mere facial can deliver, dermatologists say.

The story also includes a Tip Sheet that lists the components of a facial that dermatologists consider most worthwhile: exfoliation, microdermabrasion, glycolic peels and extraction.

Natasha Richardson ski tragedy

2009-03-18T05:44:00.004-04:00

We're working at NY1 this morning to get more information about the condition of actress Natasha Richardson after her skiing accident. The NY Post and the NY Daily News both say she's brain dead.

Her fall happened on a beginner run at Mont Tremblant. I skiied the run -- called Nansen -- several times last year and there's not much trouble to get into. The reports from the mountain indicate she didn't hit anything but the snow. But she wasn't wearing a helmet and complained later of a headache. Her condition quickly slipped from there. She was flown to New York yesterday on life support.

Village Voice interview

2009-03-17T20:55:00.004-04:00

I did an interview with Brian Parks of the Village Voice last week.

It went up online today at villagevoice.com

Highlights include the "Are Canadians funnier than Americans?" discussion, and the quirky final question that required me to assemble an all-star fantasy "Match Game 2009" panel. I got to play Gene Rayburn.

iPhone 3.0 Cut and Paste

2009-03-17T18:04:00.004-04:00

Why this wasn't part of the iPhone software from the first day it was sold I'll never understand. But Apple informally announced today that iPhone will cut and paste by this summer.

Amazing that cut and paste is a breakthrough. But it will be a big email relief.

Maybe in 2010 they'll figure out how I can search my inbox and store important messages offline.

From Bloomberg:

The new operating system software, called iPhone OS 3.0, adds more than 100 new features for users. In addition to being able to cut, copy and paste information between applications, it offers support for photo, video and audio messages.
UPDATE: As Dan points out in the comments below, Apple did actually announce an iPhone search function and the ability to use the "widescreen" keyboard when sending e-mail. The people have been heard!

Sudoku solved

2009-03-16T10:04:00.001-04:00

This might take all of the fun out of it -- but a mathematician says he's figured out a foolproof way to finish Sudoku puzzles. He's developed a step-by-step plan for completing any version of the popular numbers game. USA Today publishes complete details this morning.

Cramer vs. Stewart

2009-03-13T03:41:00.002-04:00

Some excerpts from the much-hyped Jim Cramer appearance on the Daily Show last night.

Stewart was informed and merciless. Cramer had few good answers. The interview had more of a "60 Minutes" tone than a Comedy Central tone. "Everybody got it wrong. I got a lot of things wrong," Cramer admitted.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Interview Outtake Pt. 1

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Economic Crisis

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Interview Outtake Pt. 2

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Economic Crisis

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Interview Outtake Pt. 3

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Economic Crisis

President Obama's teleprompter

2009-03-10T13:00:00.002-04:00

There's an interesting editorial in the Washington Times today -- about President Obama's love of the teleprompter. The Times goes so far as to say "... we would like to have a President who occasionally comes across as more than a TV anchor reading a script." (For the record: I strive to occasionally come across that way as well.)

The editorial suggests many Americans may not realize he rarely makes public remarks without his prompter. Even in question and answer sessions, the prompter is sometimes used to remind the President of key facts and figures. The Times goes on to say you can easily imagine the Saturday Night Live skit where "a technician with a canned set of answers" cues up the wrong one.

Photo from JURVETSON on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/3227299501/sizes/s/

Warren Buffett on CNBC

2009-03-10T11:09:00.005-04:00

One of the top stories in the Patcast today was the New York Post's coverage of Warren Buffett's CNBC interview. Here are some video excerpts:

Foreigners need not apply

2009-03-10T08:18:00.001-04:00

There's a story in the New York Times this morning about the impact of the economic bailout on "foreign workers." Companies that take government money will be restricted in any effort to hire employees who need a visa. The "Made in America" provision mostly applies to skilled foreign workers who would be hired by a bank under an H-1B visa.

I was a "skilled foreign worker" for many years before getting a green card and eventually becoming a US citizen. I like to think I made a positive contribution to the economy in the time I was on my H-1B visa.

Foreign workers aren't evil. The H-1B program is far from perfect, but it does help to bring in skilled workers in areas where there may not be enough experienced local workers.

And here's the key point for me: This is another example of a layer of bureaucracy on top of another layer of bureacracy. The immigration service already has plenty of hurdles in place to prevent large numbers of foreigners from taking jobs from Americans. This "Made in America" hiring restriction is overkill.

A-Rod out for 9 weeks

2009-03-09T06:11:00.004-04:00

Overexposed Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez is headed for hip surgery and will likely be out of the lineup until May. Could he please just hide somewhere until then?

I'm really tired of the headlines. It's been everything from Madonna to steroids to divorce to hip trouble. I'm having trouble working up much energy for any of it.

Free my iPhone

2009-03-06T07:54:00.003-05:00

There are two things I would love my iPhone to do.

1) Serve as a video camera in case I encountered a breaking news story and wanted to put it on TV.

2) Connect to my computer to give me internet access anywhere.

Turns out -- the iPhone can do both. But they're not Apple "authorized" applications. Today the Wall Street Journal takes a look at the growing industry of unauthorized iPhone applications. The new Cydia Store online brings many bootleg iPhone applications together in a challenge to Apple's official applications.

Among the offerings: the Cycorder video camera application and PdaNET, which provides the computer to iPhone data link I long for. Despite Apple's protests and legal moves, the Journal story says 1.7 million iPhones have been "jailbroken" to break the bonds of Apple's restrictive policies.

Apple .. are you listening?

What if life had an audio guide?

2009-03-05T22:57:00.004-05:00

Saw a fun short film tonight. My TV business news colleague Jon Erlichman and his wife, actress Caroline Lesley, came up with the idea while spending an afternoon at a New York museum. They saw everyone walking around with those rented "audio guide" devices. At each piece in the museum, you key in the audio guide number, and a really smart guy tells you something that gives you great insight.

Which led to the concept for the movie: what if everything in life had an audio guide number?

My favorite moments were when the audio guide's emotionless explanations poked fun at our behavior in everyday events. Noting the lack of interaction between cab driver and passenger, the narrator says: "The rider and he inhabit the tiny space of his taxi and yet notice how they barely speak." Somehow that impersonal taxi moment seems more wrong when it's pointed out this way.

Read more about the movie at http://www.audioguidemovie.com/

End of the Night

2009-03-04T17:23:00.003-05:00

At least I got a trip to LA. And the weather was nice.

In January, 20th Century Fox flew me out to California to shoot a scene for "Night at the Museum 2." Great shoot. Fun crew. Fellow Canadian Shawn Levy back as director.

We used a fancy "motion control camera" to make it appear that I was standing in front of a moving, zooming picture of the actual Museum of Natural History. (The irony of this "green screen" shoot is that the REAL museum is only a few blocks from my apartment.)

Today the phone rings. Big problem with the motion control system and my shot doesn't move at the same rate as the shot behind me. Unusable. Not enough time before release date to reshoot.

There will be no Night for me.

March snow in New York

2009-03-03T04:40:00.007-05:00

Our storm coverage on NY1 is featured this morning in Richard Huff's column in the New York Daily News:

"March is coming in like a lion," Pat Kiernan said on NY1. "The city is getting pounded with a major storm."

I got plenty of e-mail and voice mail yesterday from teachers who heard me say I was "surprised" by the decision to close public schools in NYC. They accused me of having no regard for their safety and the safety of students. Not true, of course. I really was just surprised, because schools have often been open in similar storms.

And that's the end of the story ...

2009-03-01T00:29:00.004-05:00

Radio legend Paul Harvey died Saturday.

Someday I hope Pat's Papers can achieve a fraction of what he did through his reach to radio listeners.

His concept was similar and it was masterfully executed: harvey and his staff searched across the country and around the world for stories that may have been overlooked or covered from a different perspective elsewhere. He was a "news aggregator" 50 years before anyone had invented that buzzword.

Harvey loved the job and listeners loved him. He signed a 10-year contract with ABC Radio in 2000 at the age of 82. His reports were picked up by more than 1300 radio stations. As mass media divides into niche media and "news on demand," there may never be anyone who matches the influence Paul Harvey packed into just a few minutes on the air each day.

Citibank Premier Pass

2009-02-28T22:29:00.005-05:00

A few years ago, I applied to Citibank (yes, the "our stock dropped 39 percent on Friday" Citibank) to take advantage of the generous rewards program on the "Premier Pass" credit card. One aspect of that was a special type of reward that wasn't typically available within the "Thank You" network. The "fixed flight" option put the card on good competitive footing with all of the airline loyalty cards.

I won't get into the whole story -- but basically the card allowed you to redeem 25,000 points for up to $600 in domestic airfare. Pretty good deal. That got you just about anywhere in the country on an advance purchase fare.

Then they trimmed it back. You could get $400 in airfare for 20,000 points. Still an OK deal, because they had a multiplier that allowed you to earn points at a faster rate than the typical rate of one point per dollar spent.

Today was the final day they honored that arrangement. They announced a while back that they're cutting back yet again. Basically they've cut the potential value of the points in half, switching to a variable reward that gives you roughly a penny of airfare for each point you spend. In other words -- those 20,000 points that bought me $400 in airfare today will buy roughly $200 tomorrow.

The dishonorable act of devaluing points someone has already earned has been discussed many times on the airline frequent flier blogs. I was determined to get a ticket in my hands before the changes took effect. It took me 2 hours and 15 minutes of "on hold" time with the Citi Premier Pass / Thank You Network call center. But they got it done once I finally got through.

If by chance you're reading this and didn't realize this change was about to strip away some of the value of your Thank You points, one of the call center agents mentioned that they're extending the deadline (slightly) to make amends for the fact that they weren't able to accomodate everyone today. I was told you have to call WHEN THEY OPEN on Monday, but they will open a short extension window to try to let people claim the rewards they thought they had earned.

Pay to Pee

2009-02-27T11:09:00.002-05:00

First it was peanuts. Then came luggage. And now, toilets? USA Today says Ryanair is looking to install coin slots on their aircrafts' bathroom doors as a way to keep costs low. The Irish airline is known for cheap tickets and no-frills flying but even their pilots aren't on board. The Times of London quotes one employee wondering how many 'tokens' the crew will receive a day. It seems like there might be legal issues here too, though the Times' article says airlines are not required by law to provide a bathroom for customers. And the plan might backfire. An industry expert told Sky News that if passengers have to pay a pound to use the bathroom, they will be less likely to indulge in the "over-priced drinks on board." It all sounds like taking the whole no-liquids-on-the-plane thing a bit too far.