Monthly Archive for March, 2006

Page 4 of 6

Who knows a spam pigeon?

Published on March 17, 2006 in spam and TV. Closed

Don't try this at home
I wrote about the economics of spam earlier:

P$ = [N * (I% * S% * W% * B% * M$)] – (N * E$) – (L% * C% * R$)
where
P$ = profit, bottom-line

N = number of emails sent (can be millions!)
I% = % of addresses that are valid/correct
S% = % of addresses that are not intercepted by anti-spam software
W% = % of emails to cause the receiver to go visit the website
B% = % of site visitors that actually buy the product
M$ = margin per product sold

E$ = cost of sending 1 email

L% = risk of having legal action taken against you
C% = risk of getting convicted when you’re in court
R$ = average fine you would have to pay

What I often ask wonder about is the B%: people that actually buy the product. People actually order blue pills upon receiving emails like the one above? People believe they have been chosen to transfer millions of dollars out of some banana-republic?
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Parelvissers aflevering 4 komt uit de kast

Published on March 17, 2006 in Belgium, NL and TV. Closed

Parelvissers: Trailer aflevering 4

Het kan aan mij liggen, maar ik denk dat er in aflevering 4 veel uit de kast gaan komen:

Mr Y: Guido, da is toch nen homo, he?
…
An: Hebde gulle da nooit meegemaakt dat iets nie kan of nie mag en dat ge het toch niet kunt laten?
…
Piet: Ik kan dat perfect uitleggen. Kom sebiet naar mijn kamer en ik zal u alles vertellen, ok?
Lucas: Binnen 5 minuten, ja?
Piet: En hou het tussen ons, he.

Nu wordt alles dus duidelijk: een driehoeksverhouding tussen Piet, Guido en Lucas. Maar An had ook iets met Guido, of misschien ook met Sofie? Zondag op uw beeldscherm!

(Wie is wie in “De Parelvissers”: check mijn geheugensteuntje)

1969 was an inspiring year

Published on March 16, 2006 in music. 3 Comments

69 Année Heroique
Russell Lichter writes the Monthly Mix Challenge blog: interesting monthly lists of songs on particular themes: e.g. titles with the word ‘hate’ in them or female drummers (that I mentioned earlier).

At the end of last year he listed songs with a title that contains a year (number). And it appears my birth year was most inspiring:

2. “Born in ‘69” Rocket From the Crypt (1995)
…
7. “Death Valley ‘69” Sonic Youth (1985)
…
13. “69 Année Erotique” Serge Gainsbourg (1969)
…
19. “1969” The Stooges (1969)
from russlichter.com

That is, without even counting Brian Adams’ “Summer of ’69″, The Vines’ “1969″ or The Sisters Of Mercy’s “1969″.
However, I’m not sure whether Fat Boy Slim’s “Star 69″ was actually about the year.

“They know what is what,
But they don’t know what is what,
They just strut.
What the …”

REQ: more “BEING SPACES” in Brussels

Published on March 15, 2006 in Belgium, Brussel and wifi. 6 Comments

Anyone who often works at home is probably familiar with this: sometimes you would like to work somewhere else to finish something undisturbed, to see some people while you work instead of just the PC and the refrigerator, to have a meeting in a pleasant location, to be in another environment. I often do some work at the Recyclart or the AB Café, and almost always I’m the only nomadic worker there. Both places are cosy and have free Wifi, but they’re not real offices: there is no printer, no meeting room, no water cooler. And since I don’t pay for the accommodation, I feel obliged to order stuff. When I’m hungry, that’s OK, when I’m not, drinking 3 coffees in a row transforms my ADD into ADHD .
I would be glad to pay something between €50 to 100 per month to have a place in Brussels where I can drop by anytime, get some work done (wifi, printer, fax, meeting room, beamer) and maybe have some stimulating conversation with other people present. So when I read about “BEING SPACES”, it really struck home:

(…) urban dwellers are trading their lonely, cramped living rooms for the real-life buzz of BEING SPACES: commercial living-room-like settings, where catering and entertainment aren’t just the main attraction, but are there to facilitate small office/living room activities like watching a movie, reading a book, meeting friends and colleagues, or doing your admin.
from trendwatching

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