On Monday I saw the Australian Pink Floyd Show here in San Diego at the Copley Symphony Hall. I was blown away! They played pretty much the entire Wall double album (one of my all time favorite records) from start to finish and then bits of Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Where Here, etc. for their encore. I didn't know anything about these guys until a few days before the show. Pink Floyd is one of the few bands that I have always wished I had been able to see, but haven't yet, so I figured a tribute band was the next best thing. It was unbelievable! The venue was great and the sound fantastic. I went with ex Linspire patriot Kevin LaRue (and fellow progressive rock fan) and we had a great time on the 5th row. They tour all the time, so if they are coming to your town, GO!
Then last night I saw Coldplay in Orange Country at the Honda Center (the "pond"). This is my third time seeing Coldplay. Last time I saw them in 2005 we were on the front row, and this time on the second. As always, the band was fantastic. I wasn't thrilled with the sound of the Honda Center, however, as it had this very annoying echo, and you'd heard every sound slapping back at you a split second later. It made it nearly impossible to even understand what Chris Martin was saying when he'd talk into the mic. Also, I tend to have the worst luck with sitting by annoying fans. Last night it was the two women sitting right behind us who wouldn't be quiet all evening and spilled their drink on me! Literally, dumped the entire cup down my back. Fans need to learn to not get so drunk that they ruin the show for everyone around them.
Two great nights. Below are photos and video I shot from the shows.
This is a short excerpt of video I shot of some of the night with Coldplay. The best, up-close footage is in the last half of the video.
Some photos I took from the Coldplay show (click to enlarge)...
Some photos I took from the Australian Pink Floyd Show (click to enlarge)...
I didn't shoot the below video, but it gives you an idea how fantastic these guys are. Comfortably Numb was a real mind blower!
Here is some great audio of their show just a few weeks before ours.
I remain impressed with Canonical and Ubuntu. My Ubuntu computer works brilliantly. With each release I see the delta between my main OS (Mac OS X) and desktop Linux, becoming smaller and smaller. Mac still has a bit more polish and service offerings, but the main difference for me remains the quality of software available for Mac vs Linux, but even there the line is starting to blur considerably.
Ubuntu 8.10--Impressive OS is only four years old.
Considering that Canonical is barly four years old, here are some impressive numbers to consider (source):
Ubuntu has 8 million+ users.
Ubuntu has over 500 active developers.
120+ of those developers are full-time Canonical engineers.
Canonical has over 215 employees.
Ubuntu has over 600,000 forum users.
The latest 8.10 release of Ubuntu is now available for download. If you haven't already, you should check it out. It's definately better than Vista, and getting very close to OS X.
Five Months And Counting--What Happened to Linspire?
It's been five months since Michael Robertson sold off Linspire in a secret back-room deal with Xandros, and yet, the 100 some-odd minority shareholders haven't received any details about this transaction. Robertson has time to file frivolous lawsuits against me to try and take away my freedom of speech, but he doesn't have time to talk to all those shareholders who have lost thousands and thousands of dollars on worthless Linspire stock.
Is there anyone who can be left with doubt as to Robertson's attitude toward employees, investors and shareholders?
Michael Robertson--No Respect for Investors and Shareholders
What is Robertson hiding? Incompetence? Greed? Theft? All three? After five months, if he had a reasonable story to tell shareholders, wouldn't he have done that by now?
By my calculation, Linspire blew through around $35 Million and left absolutely nothing to show for it. Perhaps Robertson is just embarrassed by his colossal failure with Linspire. I netted a profit during my two years as Linspire's CEO, and there were millions in the bank when I left, yet in one quick year it's all gone.
Linspire, SIPphone, MP3tunes, AJAXwindows, not exactly an impressive track record. I can see why Michael prefers to keep in hiding.
Here is the end game of my highest score to date (85 Rounds, 432,250 points, Medium Level). I took this snap shot just seconds before losing my last life, thanks to a flood of those blasted helicopters!
You'll notice I leave an alleyway along the top. This way, when the enemy is about to the end of my route, but they are still kickin', I can "unlock" my field by releasing the sole man in the upper left-hand corner, then locking the end of the route, forcing the enemy to head back in the opposite direction and taking an additional beating. (I guess there is even a term for this, "juggling.") It's just those dang helicopters that can fly overhead that I need to beef up more for!
Here are my high scores (all on the Medium Level, other than score #8 was on Easy):
Any other Fieldrunners addicts? Share your score.
Some great scores (and pointers) to be found here.
As those of you who follow my blog know, I was a Mitt Romney supporter for President. I felt our country needed someone like Romney, who really understands how the economy works and has shown time and time again he can turn things around. Unfortunately, Romney lost in the primaries to John McCain, who I then reluctantly supported because I didn't like Obama's lack of experience, position on taxes, and Liberal record. Today, however, America has spoken and Barack Obama will be our next President.
Congratulations to Barack Obama -- I'm Proud of America
Even thought Obama's associations, lack of experience, view on taxes, and Liberal voting record concern me, there is one thing about his victory that I'm very happy about, and that is I'm proud to be an American today, which just elected an African American as its president. I'm excited to have our first minority as President. I believe it shows that America isn't a racist nation. Of course there are those few who still discriminate and hold racist attitudes and views, but I believe the majority of Americans do not hold race against others.
I do worry about Obama, Pelosi and Reed controlling the federal government, and I'll do what I can to keep our country from swinging to big government and expanded social programs (and will be ready to support Romney in 2012 if Obama drops the ball!). However, for today, I'm just going to be proud to be an American where we have a free election system and where anyone truly can become President.
Congratulations to Barack Obama and his historical victory. Regardless of who you voted for, today every American should be proud of their country. I am.
UPDATE: I easily won this lawsuit. Read results here.
As many of you know, I have used my blog as a resource to bring to light the questionable actions of Michael Robertson, and to go public with his treatment of employees and shareholders. Today I was served with a lawsuit by Michael Robertson in an effort to obscure my blog and impede my freedom of speech. I have to say that I wasn't surprised to learn that Michael would use a frivolous lawsuit to threaten and silence me, but it won't work. I will not let Robertson bully or intimidate me with this or any other nuisance suit. Such lawsuits only serve to shed further light on his unscrupulous tactics.
Michael Robertson--No Champion of the 1st Amendment
Robertson, unhappy about my blog, sues me
The Internet has become a bastion of free speech for bloggers. Robertson, who claims to be a strong supporter for such rights, seems to feel quite differently when that speech is critical of him.
You see, just as the Internet is a marvelous vehicle for companies to promote their goods and services, it can be an equally effective tool for dissatisfied customers or disgruntled employees and shareholders to criticize a particular product, company or management team. Much to the chagrin of trademark owners, such "gripe sites" (which often include the company name or trademark in the URL), are very difficult, if not impossible, to shut down. Fortunately, the First Amendment typically shields the operators of corporate gripe sites from liability. If the gripe site is non-commercial in nature, the operator's freedom of speech will generally override the trademark owner's interest in controlling the use of its company name or trademark, as it should.
Freedom of Speech on Freespire.com
Earlier this year, Linspire was given the opportunity to purchase the domain name Freespire.com. They declined. When I was CEO, I spearheaded the Freespire project, but I was unable to obtain the freespire DOT COM domain name, so we did everything at freespire DOT ORG. We tried incessantly to obtain the .com domain, but the owner would never sell it to us. So you can imagine my surprise when earlier this year, the owner finally agreed to sell the domain and it was offered to Linspire, but they declined to acquire it. (I think that also sums up the commitment Linspire had to Freespire.) So, around eight months ago, only AFTER Linspire declined to purchase the freespire.com domain name, I decided to acquire it as a non-commercial opinion site to share my views about Linspire, Freespire and desktop Linux in general.
It had been over six months since I had left Linspire, and I had become increasingly disappointed with its management and decided to use Freespire.com to vent that dissatisfaction. I had certainly been observing the downfall of the company, and by this time I had learned about Robertson having filed false claims against several executives, calling severance payments "embezzlement," and I wanted a venue to express my displeasure. For me, the writing was on the wall that Robertson was destroying the company. (Just a few months later the company was gone and the shareholders remain in the dark.)
At the freespire.com site, I praised the good work other distributions were doing with Linux (Ubuntu, Mint, Nimblex, etc.), expressed dissatisfaction with Linspire/Freespire, and linked to my blog. At no time have I ever sold any of these distributions or had a financial stake in them. I was merely exercising my freedom of speech.
So, today, Michael Robertson (via the now-defunct Linspire shell company "Digital Cornerstone") sued me for "cybersquatting, trademark infringement, and unfair competition," claiming that the freespire.com "gripe" site should be taken down and seeking $100,000 and other damages.
First, I'm a little confused how Robertson is suing me for trademark infringement, considering there is no registered trademark for "Freespire." (Linspire filed for one but never actually got it registered and all the Linspire IP went to Xandros months ago.)
My freespire.com site never sold anything. It never used the Freespire logo or even used the Freespire name in large fonts or type. There was certainly no confusion, as it was quite clear this site wasn't Linspire's site. In fact, there was even a disclaimer stating the fact that the site was not owned by or affiliated with Linspire or the Freespire distro in anyway.
Companies hate "gripe sites," but consumers appreciate them and the First Amendment Protects Them
As I pointed out earlier, it's rare that a non-commercial blog or opinion site is found to be cybersquating or violating trademarks, as they are protected by the First Amendment. And it's extremely rare for monetary damages to be awarded in a cybersquating case, particularly one as non-consequential as this one. (The freespire.com domain only got around 100 hits per day, and even fewer today. See the Alexa graph at the end of this blog.) Yet Robertson is seeking $100,000 in damages? Linspire never complained or objected about the site, even though there was a clear contact link for the site's webmaster on every page. No cease and desist letter was ever mailed. They never sought relief or arbitration from ICANN. No, instead, in classic Robertson fashion, he headed straight to the court room because this lawsuit is about intimidation and suppressing speech, not about legitimate damages.
The lawsuit even states, "Although the FREESPIRE mark was recently assigned as part of an asset purchase, [Robertson] expressly reserved all rights in and to all claims against Carmony arising from the freespire.com domain name and website." Now, why would Robertson want to carve out that one thing to hang on to? He's no longer involved with Freespire, so why does he care? Is he desperate for money? With Robertson's companies struggling and laying employees off, does anyone really believe this is the most important thing Robertson should be concerning himself with? His motives are pretty transparent--to suppress freedom of expression that is critical of Robertson.
Keep Speech Free at Freespire.com
This is a nuisance lawsuit, intended to silence my freedom of speech. I will defend my right to free speech by continuing to point freespire.com to my blog and keep reporting on Robertson's disturbing actions.
I'll keep you posted on this YARL (Yet Another Robertson Lawsuit).
Kevin
UPDATE: Michael Robertson made a pretty ironical post today on his Michael's Minute. So I made an appropriate response, and it was quickly censored and removed. Below is a screenshot of what it looked like BEFORE my post was censored (click on it to enlarge to read). Michael Robertson is welcome to post here at anytime and I will assure him his non-anonymous comment will be published. As I say, Robertson can dish it, but can't take it. Just more evidence of his desire to squash free speech.
Censorship at MichaelRobertson.com
Penn & Teller on the First Amendment (Explicit Language)
I didn't shoot the below video, but it gives you an idea how fantastic these guys are. Comfortably Numb was a real mind blower!
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