Monthly Archives: January 2005

Creating and Managing Change – The Car Business

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Queuing up at the local car wash recently, I was behind a guy in his 60’s who had a nearly new Cadillac CTS. While waiting for our cars to make the short wash trip, I asked him how he liked the car (the CTS has received many favorable reviews, as has the new STS – including the STS-V).
He has owned Cadillacs for 25 years and this one (CTS) does not ride nearly as well as his previous cars (big sigh). The older Cadillacs were known for essentially riding like a sofa. Personally, I like the direction they’ve gone with Cadillac (performance, efficiency, improved handling and interesting transmissions), though I’m not a big fan of the designs.
Cadillac is attempting to resurrect its product line and change the public perception (see their Led Zeppelin advertisements), something that is very difficult in any business, particularily with strong competitors such as Acura, Audi, BMW, Lexus, Mercedes and Volvo, among others.
In a related note, famed car guy Bob Lutz, #2 at GM and a former exec with BMW, Ford and Chrysler is now evidently blogging here [RSS Feed]. Interesting reading, particularily the opportunity he now has to interact with buyers, sellers and everyone in the GM supply chain. I applaud the effort and hope the result is better, more attractive and economical cars from the firm that used to have 50% of the US market.
Background Fat Link: Bob Lutz

Wisconsin Open Records: Bill Leuders on AG Peg Lautenschlager’s support

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Isthmus news editor Bill Leuders writes about Wisconsin Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager’s strong support for our open records rights:

Last spring, the newspaper I work for had a problem obtaining some public records from Madison schools. Officials demanded that we first send a check for $613.08 to cover the costs they expected to incur reviewing the records and deciding what information to black out.
These costs put the records effectively beyond our reach. Worse, I knew from my involvement with the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council that this was part of a much larger problem. Throughout the state, records custodians were seizing on some loose language in a 2002 Supreme Court case to justify charging exorbitant fees designed to thwart records requests.
I asked state Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager for an opinion on this practice. Her office reviewed the matter and in short order issued an unequivocal opinion stating that Open Records Law does not permit such costs. Custodians may charge only for copies and in some cases for the cost of locating records.
It was a major win for the cause of openness in Wisconsin, one of many on which Lautenschlager has played a role. Indeed, in my opinion, no one in Wisconsin has done more to preserve the public’s right to know.

Bill Gates CES Meltdown

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It’s interesting to compare this simple legacy media press release framed as an article with a very different perspective [Lessig | Boing Boing] on Gates Las Vegas comments regarding our fair use rights (he essentially sides with the hollywood cartels). Slashdot discussion. Bottom line – don’t do Windows.
A bit more research (a few seconds on google) and we have Bill Gates in 1991:

“If people had understood how patents would be granted when most of today’s ideas were invented and had taken out patents, the industry would be at a complete standstill today”

Thanks to Jeff Keltner for that pointer.

Hackworth: It’s up to us

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David H. Hackworth:

so here’s my New Year?s resolution: to keep countering Pentagon lies with the truth until enough concerned citizens demand that Congress set up a congressional investigative arm to formally expose the liars and hold them accountable.
For almost six decades, I?ve borne witness to scuzzy machinations that had little or nothing to do with America?s national security. And because of them, I?ve watched my beloved country become enmeshed in far too many blood-splattered military misadventures only because they were good for Pentagon business. I?ve seen trillions of dollars allocated for gold-plated pork of value only to the monsters who manipulate the military-industrial-congressional complex and absolutely worthless to our gallant soldiers ? the kids who end up paying the ultimate price for the madness of war.?
Had a decent chunk of that dough been spent on the right stuff ? supporting our troops ? our warriors wouldn?t have fought in Korea in 1950 with World War I gear or be slugging it out in Iraq in scrounged ?hillbilly armor? and told to go to war with the Army we have and to suck it up.