NyQuil is Not NyQuil Anymore

As mentioned on their Web site, Vicks has removed pseudoephedrine from DayQuil and NyQuil because of its use in drug manufacturing. In DayQuil, they have replaced pseudoephedrine with phenylephrine, while NyQuil no longer contains a nasal decongestant. While this is annoying because I do rely on NyQuil when I get a cold, the interesting part is the reasoning behind the decision.

As I learned from a family friend who runs R&D at a large drug company, firms are developing alternatives to pseudoephedrine simply because they want their products to remain over-the-counter. When browsing an aisle, marketing (especially packaging) plays a big role - you pick NyQuil over the store brand because of the NyQuil brand. When you go to the pharmacist at Rite Aid, however, to get a product with pseudoephedrine, they are going to tell you that the Rite Aid brand is just as good and far cheaper than NyQuil. Vicks even admits as much on their Web site: "We wanted to be able to continue to provide NyQuil on store shelves so consumers could get it without having to ask the pharmacist." As with so many issues in so many industries, it boils down to shelf space (location, location, location).

Brown Starting Disaster Preparedness Consulting Firm

News Max reports that former FEMA Director Michael Brown is "starting a disaster preparedness consulting firm to help clients avoid the sort of errors that cost him his job." Now I know that firms need help (while still in college, I was on a Y2K consulting team for the Port Authority of NY/NJ), but come on - isn't there someone better qualified out there? I can just picture Brown's ads now....

End of the Crackberry?

CNN reports that Research in Motion may have to stop selling BlackBerries now that a judge ruled that he won't enforce a disputed patent settlement with NTP Inc. I doubt anything will come of it, but I sure am glad that I have a Treo :-)

An Intro to Ajax

Jesse James Garrett writes a primer about Ajax (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), which is a Web development technique for creating interactive Web applications. (you have to subscribe to a newsletter in order to download it). I still need to read into the technology more, but I'm hearing quite a buzz among my techier friends about Ajax.

Amazon's Customer Wikis

The "Church of the Customer" blog writes about Amazon's beta use of wikis in some of their product reviews. For those who don't know, wikis are a collaborative Web site comprising the work of many authors (example: Wikipedia. In Amazon's implementation, it allows multiple people to edit, delete or modify content in a product review. There are many applications of the technology, and firms are still experimenting, but I see lots of opportunities. One thing that my firm recently wrote about is the potential to use wikis internally for a firm's sales force, allowing them to collaborate asynchronously from disparate locations.

Harold's Pickles

Seth Godin wrote about Harold's, a deli in NJ not far from my in-laws. Seth wrote about the "gimmick" of having "all you can eat pickles with every meal, including breakfast." He is absolutely right, but fails to mention the real gimmick of the place - the size of everything. The sandwiches serve 4 people easily. The slices of cake are huge (an entire cake would serve 40). And don't ask about the matzoh balls (not to mention the size of the average patron). It is the size gimmick (more so than the pickles) that allows Harold to serve 14,000 meals a week in a non-descript location in NJ. Just more proof that you have to have a story to tell in order to differentiate and succeed.

Knicks getting Garnett? Interesting.....

ESPN Inside reports (membership required) that the Knicks (shockingly) are in preliminary talks with the T-Wolves about acquiring Kevin Garnett. According to Chris Sheridan, a "source told ESPN.com that the New York Knicks had made Minnesota an offer that included the expiring contracts of Penny Hardaway ($15.7 million) and Antonio Davis ($13.9 million). But for such a trade to work under salary cap rules, the Knicks would also have to take back Sczcerbiak. While that deal would be stunningly lopsided talent-wise, it would relieve the Wolves of $102 million in salary obligations over the next three seasons, allowing them to enter the 2006 offseason with approximately $25 million of cap space."

He continues that "one source close to several NBA players insisted that the viability of the Knicks' offer should not be dismissed, going so far as to say Garnett was making a private push through back channels to be dealt to New York and reunite with former teammate Stephon Marbury. "I'd bet money he'll be wearing a Knicks uniform by the end of February," the source said."

Free Flipbook Printer Software

A Web site called DonationCoder.com offers free software that allows you to take a movie from your digital camera and turn it into an old school style flip book printed on business card paper.

City Crime Rankings

The annual Morgan Quitno City Crime Rankings were released, finding that New York was the fourth safest large city and that my home town of Baltimore was the second most dangerous.

Bush Tried to Escape

The Washington Post reports on Bush trying to cut short a press conference in China and then going to a set of double doors leading out of the room. The only problem was that they were locked :-)

There is also video of the scene.

Gas Thief Escapes on Tricycle

National Geographic had an article with a great picture of a Chinese boy towing a floating plastic bag of stolen natural gas.

Who Really Owns the Internet?

Hammer of Truth writes about the ongoing debate about who "owns" the Internet. While no entity owns the Internet, ICANN does maintain a limited amount of control over, as Hammer of Truth says, "how we arrive at our favorite Internet destinations," but thankfully the UN did not get the control that some members wanted.

Although, as Reason points out, this is not the end of the debate and government "control" still looms as a scary prospect.

RIP Kevin McCormick

The Boston Globe reports on the unusual circumstances surrounding the death of Kevin D. McCormick, a high school friend of mine who I hadn't heard from in years. Kevin was always an odd duck, but I never expected anything like this from him. He was one of the smartest and geekiest people I ever knew - someone who set up a retina scan for entrance to his MIT dorm room and had a robot maid to vacuum his place way back in the mid-90s. I hope that the investigators can get to the bottom of this mess, and rest in peace Kevin.

Blog-Spotting With IBM

According to an article at Internet.com, IBM has launched the "Public Image Monitoring Solution," software that monitors and analyzes blogs, wikis, news feeds, consumer review sites, newsgroups and other community-generated content to help companies keep tabs on their image. Not sure about the cost, but definitely something that large companies should consider (and something small firms should find a way to do cost-effectively).

Kazakhstan to Sue Ali G

CNN reports that Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry has threatened legal action against Sacha Baron Cohen (better known as Ali G) becuase his character, Borat, portrays the country as one "populated by drunks who enjoy cow-punching as a sport." Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Yerzhan Ashykbayev may just be even funnier than Borat if he thinks that they have a case :-)

Being Buzz-Worthy Before Measuring Buzz

The Brand Autopsy blog writes about a recent Adweek article on measuring "buzz" (article available in PDF here). One interesting line from the blog post is their assertion that "the major reason why word-of-mouth hasn’t taken off is not because marketers lack the metrics to measure it[, but] because most products, services, and businesses simply aren’t worth talking about." I definitely agree with this - it is an issue that most of my clients struggle with daily.

Gates, Jobs, & the Zen Aesthetic

Presentation Zen writes about the contrasting presentation styles of Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Be sure to scroll down and consider the images, which are key to the comparison.

Interview With Max Goldman, Corporate Blogger

I came across this interview at if (a site for brand planners) with Max Goldman who was a good friend back in college. He is now a "corporate blogger" with the enterprise software company Success Factors.

Love in the Fast Lane

Autoblog writes about a new service in the UK (drivetoromance.com) that allows you to send a message to someone that you see while driving by leaving a message based on their license plate number. Not so sure I can see this taking off, but then again I never expected Match.com or other services to get so big back when Melinda and I met online.

Google Analytics

I don't mean to post about Google all the time, but Seth Godin reports that Google's Urchin division is about to offer their services for free: Google Analytics.

UPDATE: Google has posted to their official blog regarding Analytics.

It Is About Time That the Knicks Won!!!

FINALLY! I was worried that we'd be 0-9 before our next home game.

Google Enters the Traveling World

According to an article at CoolTechZone, Google is planning to enter the travel business. You can try a beta by visiting www.google.com/ncr and typing in the name of any two cities and clicking search. It can't beat SideStep right now, but I would never bet against Google.

Marbury Stalking Chauncey

I found it a little crazy that Stephon Marbury has been basically stalking Chauncey Billups since Larry Brown was announced as the Knicks coach, according to a post at YAYbasketball!. Through The Detroit News, Billups said: "After Larry took that job, Steph called me six times in two days, and he's still calling me."

Alito & Vanguard

CNN.com reports that Senate Democrats are pressing for records on the participation of Judge Samuel Alito in an appeals case involving Vanguard (with whom he had a six-figure investment) and other investment companies. It'll be interesting to see what comes out of this, but I guess it can't hurt my business to have a friend of the asset management industry on the bench :-)

Great Commercial

I don't want to give away the punchline, so I'll just link to the video and hope you enjoy. It is safe for work viewing, but you did need sound.

Blue Hill Review in NY Observer

The Eater blog posts a PDF file with review of one my favorite NYC restaurants, Blue Hill, which really captures the place. The review is from The New York Observer, which doesn't normally give our three stars.

Phoebe Cates' Blue Tree

The boyfriend of a friend reports on his blog that the one and only Phoebe Cates owns a small boutique called Blue Tree on 92nd and Madison. I may just have to run up to the Upper East Side sometime soon...