Friday Link Harvest

I lost my Dad to cancer this week, so I've been harvesting tears and memories of his smile. Life is so short and as I ponder this and many other things, writing Dah Filtah has been a good diversion this week.

I notice there is a movement to ban public smoking in France. And everyone (it seems) still smokes there. If you ever need to be convinced that smoking should be history, just hold someone's hand who is dying from lung cancer.

When I was in my clubbing mode years ago, smoking was still in vogue. But I have a feeling that it's less so now - but if you've been to a so-called secret club party, you'd probably know for sure.

This week I got an email invite to a "secret party." The lengthy email talked about the Boston-based founder James Lowenstern and his website, asecretclub.com.

"Started just a few months ago it is slowly getting populated with women and men that can place profiles and classifieds for free while being assured that they will always get an email concerning the next party."

The email says parties have been held at Felt, VOX, The Bristol Lounge and Stephanie's. Sounds very Austin Powers groovy baby. Apparently they're trying to publicize it "quietly" and only allow 800 people at a time. Yeah, sounds secret to me. Anyone been to one of these?

Enigmatically-named Biz Filtah reader El Guapo's Ghost chimes in on the whole iTV idea.

"iTV is going to be the next big thing if they can get it to work with HD broadcasts. iTV is the future, but it has to work with the future of TV or HD. iTV has to be more than just music and picture transfers to your home entertainment system that stuff is easy and is functional now. The TV concept is the big draw and has to work with the latest technology. If I don't have to guess, which kind of HD DVD will make it, and just purchase an iTV, it would be great. Well that's my take from a potential consumer point of view.

From a business prospective, this could be the way that Apple eliminates the need for cable/satellite and DVDs. The PC/Mac and iTV becomes the new medium in which to purchase TV and movies. Buy only the programs you want to watch from iTV. For broadcasters, helps supplement their future loss of ad revenue due to DVR/Tivo becoming more and more popular among the target demographic."

Adam Crossman laments the possible demise of YouTube.

"Is the Youtube case in fact the same as Napster? Youtube only has snippets and such of copyrighted material, most of which would be hard to market and sell in hard form. I mean, where am I going to buy a music video from? Do you see YouTube going under due to lawsuits? I'm hoping they don't turn out the same, it would be a shame to see YouTube and all its impact go away..."

Yeah, YouTube is becoming very embedded for me. This week I saw an interview on The Colbert Report on YouTube prior to seeing it on TV.

The unsubstantiated Rumor du Jour is that Google is buying YouTube for $1.6 billion.

And speaking of alternative news sources...a new study shows that The Daily Show is a "legitimate source of news."

"While a second-by-second analysis of "The Daily Show's" audio and visual content found considerably more humor than substance, [the] study found that a similar analysis of network newscasts found more hype than substance in their content. ("Hype" included things such as references to polls, political endorsements and photo opportunities.)"

So, while you can't rely on just one source of news, The Daily Show definitely counts as one.

Even more blogging going on over at Babson College. This time from their blogging, podcasting Undergraduate Dean, Dennis Hanno.

Stan DeSantis tips off Biz Filtah readers to a Boston Business Journal article on a planning snag for the Apple Store destined for Boylston Street in the Back Bay. The roadblock "has nothing to do with clashing architectural styles. The problem? A humble fire escape." Stan can't wait until it opens.

I went to the Apple Store in New York last week and I was indeed impressed with the subterranean creation. Though it was smaller than I thought it would be. Cool elevator.

Robin Low, CEO of Boston-based Greenyarn, writes to tell Biz Filtah readers about her company that innovates with processes and material to create eco-friendly textile and apparel.

"We make interesting 200 needle count, cushioning socks that contain nano-particles of bamboo charcoal which kills bacteria and controls odor."

Very cool. Locally you can get them at the Bill Rodgers Running Center in Boston and Cambridge Naturals in Porter Square.