Levi's Makes Jeans for iPods

Further evidence of the iPod’s disruptive effect on our culture:  the venerable jean manufacturer Levi Strauss is developing a brand of jeans with a special pocket for holding an iPod.  The Levi’s RedWire DLX jeans, for both men and women, include a special iPod docking port, hip controls and a wire retractor.  The RedWire jeans will be available this fall.

Source:  MacDailyNews

Rupert Murdoch Takes Internet Distribution Seriously

News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch is one media head who realizes both the threat and the opportunity Internet distribution poses to his empire, according to this article from Variety:

News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch is fretting about the hefty cost of making and marketing movies as the day nears when pics can be put together cheaply and reach wide auds directly on the Internet.

Auds??

"It's an expensive game," he told investors at a media conference in Phoenix. "Especially if filmmakers can bypass studios for broadband."

As a result, "Our business models have to change and we're busy preparing ourselves for that," he said.

Murdoch said News Corp.'s MySpace.com will start offering free video downloads this week. "There will be millions of downloads a day probably," he said. He was likely referring to musicvideos, but it wasn't immediately clear.

He said he expects News Corp.'s newly acquired Net assets to hit revenue of $350 million-$400 million by 2007 if current trends continue...

Yahoo Go Gets Going

Not willing to be left in the dust by Google and MSN, Yahoo has launched a new virtual application called Yahoo Go. As with recent offerings from Google, data can be accessed through multiple devices, namely a PC/laptop, mobile device, and TV. Yahoo Go is a one-stop application that provides access to music, photos, movie listings, your address book, e-mail, blogs, communities and instant messaging.

Yahoo Go is still in its infancy, however. Many of the more advanced offerings are not yet available, and the mobile portion only works on Nokia Series 60 phones. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see what the early adopters are able to do with the existing offerings over the next few months... and how Yahoo's competitors will respond.

Are You a "Yupster"?

You are if you're, shall we say, older than a teenager and like edgy music from independent bands. Yupsters (yuppie hipsters) are turning on to indie music with the help of -- what else? -- the Internet and music download sites, which make tracks from unsigned bands and once-obscure labels as easy to find as anything in the Top 40. Easy access to music from "small" bands is something yupsters appreciate, as many of them are old enough to remember plowing through bins at hole-in-the-wall record stores and flea markets.

As a result of its growing audience, independent music is showing up more frequently in mainstream media, as part of the soundtrack to an episode of NBC's comedy series The Office, for example. Major advertisers are also scrambling to buy ad space on the increasingly popular indie music download sites such as Pitchfork.

Source: Newsweek

Wanted: Dangerous Ideas

The Edge Foundation's World Question Center has solicited essays on the world's most dangerous ideas. Some are futuristic, while others are simply provocative. All, however, make for fascinating reading and excellent starting points for spirited debate.

Study: Cell Phones Upset Work/Life Balance

Feeling more stressed at home as well as at work? Cell phones may be partly to blame, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.

In yet another example of how technological development outpaces human adaptation to it, the study found that easier communication afforded by cell phones blurs the boundaries between home and the workplace. People are more likely to get work-related calls after hours (usually in connection with an emergency or a difficult project), and parents often take calls from their kids at work (again, usually to report some kind of a problem). Women bear the brunt of this stress, as they are more likely than men to receive family-related calls at work, yet just as likely to receive work-related calls at home.

The author of the study, Noelle Chesley of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, recommends that parents take "on call" shifts during which they'd be available to take calls from children and other family members, so that one parent won't be overwhelmed with calls. Of course, this can't control calls from work to home, in which case employees may need to negotiate on-call agreements with their supervisors.

Source: MSNBC

Buying Pizza Through Vending Machines

Vending machines sell all kinds of products. But pizza?

Yes, pizza. A Massachusetts-based company called WonderPizza has introduced a vending machine that dispenses cooked 9-inch pizzas. The $18,000 Italian-built machines can vend three different types of pizza, cooking them in a toaster oven (not a microwave) and selling them for approximately $5-6 apiece. Total cooking time is about 90 seconds.

WonderPizza began rolling out the machines in 2003, and has installed some units on college campuses, including Boston's Brown University. Valuing low prices, 24-hour convenience and speed, college students would seem to be the ideal customers for vending-machine pizza.

Sources: Slice, Herman Trend Alert