Thank you for mispelling

In the last two days, I misspelled two sites I visit frequently, Amtrak and Typepad (don't ask why I just don't have them bookmarked...). But no worries, because there are sites at the URLs I typed:

http://www.tyepad.com/
(notice I skipped the first "p")

http://www.amtral.com/
(I mistakenly hit the "l," right next to the desired "k" on my keyboard)

I didn't bother linking to these. Feel free to visit if you'd like. I think I saw some train related links on the Amtral site.

I didn't dig deep into these site, but I assume someone is making money off of them somewhere or else no one would do it. Although I somewhat admire the ingenuity of the plan, I just don't think I could live with myself if my living was based on the misspellings of others.

Update 2/26: This Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer had an article on the business of tasting domain names. It discusses how the 5 day grace period in domain name registration added to the ease and automation has created an industry of firms that gobble up thousands of domain name variants, create sites with search ads, test which ones work best, and dump those that don't:

During the grace period, the entrepreneur puts up a Web page featuring keyword search ads and receives a commission on each ad clicked. Services like Google Inc.'s AdSense for Domains and Yahoo Inc.'s Domain Match help large domain name owners set them up, even as the search companies officially oppose abuses in tasting.

Addresses likely to generate more than the $6 annual cost of the domain name are kept - not a high threshold given how lucrative search advertising is these days.

...

The department store chain the Neiman Marcus Group Inc. even filed a federal lawsuit last year accusing the registration company Dotster Inc. of tasting hundreds of names meant to lure Internet users who mistype Web addresses. At one point, the lawsuit said, the misspelled NeimuMarcus.com featured ads for Target Corp., Nordstrom Inc. and other rivals.

Rabbit ears and HDTV

I posted recently about my use of rabbit ears (the tv antenna), but did not mention that during my search for an antenna, I saw some models touting the ability to receive HDTV signals. These antennas were more expensive than the model I was after and I don't have an HDTV-ready television, so I passed them by and picked up the $12 model. But I made a mental note in the back of my mind about it. I smiled at the thought that I could some day have HDTV but still avoid cable.

Today I was reading Newsweek and there is an article about using HDTV antennas to pick up HDTV signals outside cable and satellite. Interestingly it seems a battle between a cable and media company has bolstered sales of the antenna:

A corporate clash in televisionland has helped give antenna sales a boost. The dispute involves cable giant Charter Communications and broadcaster Belo Corp., which owns TV stations in several cities. In January, Belo said that unless Charter agreed to pay extra for the high-def signals Belo provides, it would bar the cable operator from redistributing any HD programming that originates from its stations. In cities like St. Louis, where Belo owns the CBS affiliate, that meant viewers wouldn't get the Super Bowl in high-def—as horrifying a prospect to many Bears and Colts fans as running out of beer and chips. Enter Terrestrial Digital's Schneider, announcing an antenna giveaway in St. Louis. "The best HD for no monthly fee," Terrestrial Digital declared in local radio ads, touting a free antenna for the first 200 customers. "It was bedlam," Schneider told NEWSWEEK. "We had lines stretched around the block." The Super Bowl was—believe it—saved by rabbit ears.

Oh...and I better start planning. I didn't realize the following:

Analog TV broadcast switch-off: In December 2005, the Senate passed a budget bill that calls for over-the-air television stations to cease their analog broadcasts by February 17, 2009. After that date, TVs and other gear with old-style NTSC tuners would be unable to receive over-the-air broadcasts. Part of the government's quandary is that the switch-off would cause thousands of TVs to go dark and would deprive many lower-income viewers of their only source of television. To address this issue, lawmakers propose to subsidize converter boxes that would allow people to watch the new digital broadcasts on their old analog TVs. Further details on the transition to digital and the converter box subsidy are still being worked out, and given the slow progress over the last 9 years since the introduction of digital and HDTV, we wouldn't be surprised to hear of more changes before 2009.

More and more advertisements

I've noticed for a while now, and you probably have to, but it really hit me as I was standing in line at the Bethesda Bagel Shop and there was this new huge (maybe 36 inch) flat screen TV showing me ads for local businesses mixed in with trivia and news.

I've seen these tv-like devices in elevators, in line at the shopping market, in taxis, and other places. I guess this is a good business idea. Here is this tv screen (everyone has been trained to stare at that already) that displays trivia, weather, news headlines or some other attention grabbing piece of information and then some ads for local or national businesses. In places that never had this before.

But man, do we need more ads thrown in our faces. Some day we will have ads on the insides of our eyelids.

One last note. This is a different type of delivery, but the DC metro has ads appearing on the inside of the subway tunnel, at least on the red line. I assume it is a series of still pictures, but the speed of the train gives them motion, sort of like a cartoon flip book.