tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-96351612009-06-11T10:24:50.087-05:00American RoyaltyEbenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.comBlogger306125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-67260218562607312422009-03-25T15:05:00.004-05:002009-03-25T16:40:22.688-05:00

Just got a view from Ziff Bros. Investments in NYC via the NoImpactMan enviro blog. It's not the world we think it is people.I can't say "we are the world" without coming off corny, but we are. The world you see outside your eyes is what's real. There is no "them" just various "us"es. You are the audience for a TV show, you are the market for new cars. (I recently had a friend telling me that my

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-67997027465824205182009-03-02T17:19:00.006-06:002009-03-02T22:37:19.419-06:00

I just had a dream that seems to point out my beliefs. And I thought it might be informational and entertaining to ruminate on it here.From my research into physics, dark matter and the absolute nature of the universe I'm convinced that joy, god, love, happiness, talent, genius, wealth and all the other things you want and need are ultimately unconditional. That is--they require no work, no

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-82551641118850159202009-01-31T12:47:00.002-06:002009-01-31T13:43:08.547-06:00

Okay, I'm tired of trying to flip the idea of premium mass culture--I already described everything, if you're hungry for more, go back and sift through 2008. I'm not an expert I'm an artist. I know some shit the experts don't know, but trying to tell an expert anything is like trying to punch your way through a brick wall.Add to that that writing about untangibles is like dancing about

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-15232110670931637252009-01-15T19:16:00.005-06:002009-01-15T20:22:27.886-06:00

Here's my basic gist, based on 11 years of research and investigation:All systems within a given scientific paradigm are relatively similar in terms of efficiency. Thus, manual labor, internal combustion engines and life in Victorian England--which are all tangible, or Newtonian, systems--are relatively inefficient ways to deliver economic growth, forward thrust and an enjoyable life.Before

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-15765866697124225392009-01-09T14:14:00.002-06:002009-01-09T14:41:14.421-06:00

Okay, forget all this general philosophical and economic bullshit.Forget everything I've ever written on this blog.All I want to know is:Will you--you personally, not you generally--will you pay more for better culture?Will you pay more for better content?Will you as a consumer buy my book The Love Artist for $120?Will you as an investor discuss investing in White Gold?Will you as an artist pay

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-51178538528251788942009-01-09T13:37:00.003-06:002009-01-09T13:56:39.877-06:00

I was just looking at iPhone applications today and ruminating on, of course, content prices. If iPhone applications were arbitrarily limited to a price cap of $.99--or even $5.99--as songs, movies, books, magazines and television shows are, we'd have a mere fraction of the applications available. Does anyone think this is strange? No, it's just math, stupid. Less money equals less people (and

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-46070354527008953752009-01-06T15:42:00.006-06:002009-01-09T13:36:06.015-06:00

Ahh--at long last--the first actual crack in the fixed pricing system. Apple announced today that as of April, iTunes will go to a three tier pricing system--with songs at $.69, $.99 and $1.29.Anyone think this is the end? That this will save the music industry? It's just the beginning baby.Now who's ready to make some fucking money?If you've ever trusted me on anything--or if you even think I

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-73171414154667395612008-12-14T14:46:00.004-06:002008-12-14T15:19:38.393-06:00

A fixed price culture (one where, for example, all songs are $.99 and all movie tickets are $10) is like having only penny candy.This is the simplest way I can put it.If all candy were $.01, we'd have no Snickers, no Kit Cats, no Clark bars--and no organic gourmet chocolate, no Swiss chocolate, no Swedish fish (those were $.05 last time I checked), no Jelly Bellys, no Hershey's.There's nothing

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-29856187551065933632008-12-03T09:11:00.008-06:002008-12-03T12:08:31.011-06:00

I had a dream last night where an old punk rock friend asked me about something. I was about to send her off on the type of wild goose chase that I endured reclaiming my health and sanity without dropping into the new age abyss after I left punk rock when I realized I could hip her to the details in the length of time it took to have a long cup of coffee.And save her a whole bunch of time and

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-81134064430074236212008-10-28T15:32:00.005-05:002008-10-28T16:32:15.125-05:00

The Dow is up 10 pts today despite the lowest consumer confidence rating ever. That's the point of having experts run complex systems--and in a larger sense the value of capitalism and the specialization of labor. Sometimes the volk is having a bad day or doesn't have a clear picture of what's really going on. Without Wall Street and their highly paid CEOs, we would have missed on on huge growth

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-84160371184073176882008-10-28T11:54:00.005-05:002008-10-28T12:41:00.190-05:00

The internet decentralized content, and that was a fantastic positive. But with radical decentralization comes the growing impossibility of finding anything of quality.It's one thing if you know what you're looking for--say recent political polls. That's intangible content and fairly easy to tag, catagorize, etc. Intangible content is highly mediated and so lends itself to being organized under

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-27922219952924955622008-10-27T12:38:00.007-05:002008-10-27T13:41:28.596-05:00

Still don't believe that content prices are under massive pressure from consumers to rise? Still don't believe that boutique culture is the future?Here's some proof:A flick with no stars scores highest per-screen opening. $30 tickets. (And to think I've been talking about $24 price points for movies--I may have to adjust my prices upwards.)They seem to have done it by offering free booze but it's

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-58410898869878561132008-10-15T14:42:00.005-05:002008-10-15T15:20:55.790-05:00

As my posts run longer and different folks have different interests, here's a brief description of my last 5 posts:Where I'm From -- Who I be and my credentials for running the world's first premium content corporation.The Bridge Is Over -- Evidence that the fixed content price dam is under severe strain and will break soon.Get In On the Ground Floor -- How you can make money and enjoy love while

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-50603143845210869162008-10-14T17:27:00.008-05:002008-10-15T00:50:14.160-05:00

I've been getting a little business interest so I thought I'd give a little info about myself personally. I usually don't have much of an interest in beating my own chest but I understand that investors will want to know what I'm made of, so here 'tis:I'm 41, around 6' and W.A.S.P to the bone. In fact I'm such a W.A.S.P. that some of my family came over on the original coupla boats and were given

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-86194226740280124942008-10-01T14:08:00.003-05:002008-10-01T14:57:46.185-05:00

People--if you want to make money, hit me up!The fixed price content dam is breaking.Warner Brothers Wants Higher PricesApple Threatens to Shut Down iTunes Over Royalty IncreaseSongwriters Fighting for Living WageThis is the battleground of the immediate future and fixed prices have never held their ground before.If you can even partially feel premium mass content--read the next couple posts and

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-85091756854904512162008-09-21T15:05:00.004-05:002008-09-21T16:06:18.566-05:00

The universe is comprised of three distinct substances--matter, energy and dark energy.The first is tangible, the second intangible and the third untangible.The economy knows about the first two--they make literally trillions of dollars. It knows nothing about the last.Tangible systems are around 15% efficient (think internal combustion engines), intangible systems probably around 40-50% (think

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-37697181717251768962008-08-18T09:08:00.028-05:002008-10-11T14:02:44.980-05:00

There's a Yahoo Answers question up by Steven Hawking asking how humans will survive the next hundred years. Below is the post I wrote answering it. It's been edited and expanded a bit for clarity._______How Will Humans Survive the Next Hundred Years?I can tell you exactly how humans will survive--I've been studying itfor the last ten years. We will not only survive but thrive like wehave never

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-38065633901821751712008-08-01T09:33:00.005-05:002008-08-01T13:49:01.603-05:00

You may not have heard much about untangibles, but you will.Untangibles are to intangibles as intangibles are to tangibles. Times ten.Basically, when viewed scientifically, the universe is made up of three distinct components: matter, energy and dark energy.Matter is tangible--and relates to a corporation's products and material assets--buildings, trucks, computers, desks.Energy is intangible--

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-24168896623278441642008-07-31T17:43:00.004-05:002008-07-31T18:28:18.640-05:00

I had a heated conversation a few years back with the former marketing head of Whole Foods. This was when their stock was around $70 and they thought their shit was priceless manure.I was fishing for business and suggested that they didn't have any silver bullets and so could expect competition to do in much of their advantage over the next few years as they "taught" the rest of the market how to

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-69409231660148466782008-07-31T15:16:00.003-05:002008-07-31T15:29:11.083-05:00

Corroboration of my post the other day about the Adbuster's article.Today I happened into Barney's Co-op. I usually don't do Barney's, but I've been switching up my look a little and decided it might be worth another look. (It wasn't but that's what I get for entertaining stale sympathies for folks who pledge allegiance to communalism.)And what did my wondering eye observe? The 20 something clerk

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-47559380776534290782008-07-29T19:53:00.006-05:002008-07-30T13:04:01.854-05:00

I know the end is near now.How?The Adbusters cover story is blasting hipsters.Fuck, if that isn't the final solution of self-hatred curing itself, then nothing is or will ever be.A little history--I used to be a self-loathing graphic designer. I was on top of the corporate world (in a sense--I had international clients and my own firm but little interest in making money so didn't make any huge

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-72144979118548414112008-07-29T14:57:00.006-05:002008-07-30T13:26:27.370-05:00

Content has split.Upwards is Kanye West--high art that you're lucky to get once every two years. Concept albums with pretty videos and meaning. Rare quality. This is the tiny head.Downwards--not at all necessarily worse, mind you--is Lil Wayne. He just spits off tha top. He's reality TV to Kanye's immaculately scripted sit-comma. Mass quantity. This is the "long tail".We're all hungrier for the

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-58537305305973744412008-07-23T18:07:00.003-05:002008-07-26T13:22:56.504-05:00

They just changed the direction of the street in front of my window. Used to be one way south, now it's one way north.It's interesting when you think you know something and it becomes not only irrelevant but wrong.Do you get confused or imagine blockages with people just falling into chaos and punking it out (as I did)?Do you tell people "It's one way!" even though they're going the right way now

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-55785700983584798792008-07-18T17:04:00.003-05:002008-07-18T17:15:20.064-05:00

The view from my new balcony. Not bad for an as yet undiscovered motherfucker who hasn't had a real job in ten years. 900+ SF, floor to ceiling windows, granite, 42" cabinets, stainless steel appliances, indoor parking and "espresso" hardwoods--all brand spanking new. May god bless the City of Chicago's Housing Department.

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9635161.post-62070670267134881692008-05-25T10:37:00.007-05:002008-06-27T13:58:19.676-05:00

I'm first draft done with a book I'm writing about premium content and its ramifications for growth of all kinds--personal, economic, environmental and social.Basically, we humans started off as tangible beings and burned intangible producers (thinkers and scientists) at the stake. During this tangible, Newtonian, period, from 1000 (AD) to 1900 or so, the world GDP grew about .022/year.As soon as

Ebenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06732307163785109976noreply@blogger.com0