An Apple today keeps a Samsung at bay!

In a landmark outcome, a US court in San Jose, California, has handed Samsung a serious blow in its campaign to dominate the smartphone and tablet marketplace, via a whopping $1B in damages to be paid to Apple Inc. 

These damages are to be paid to Apple for what was ratified as infringement of various Apple design patents, and/or, if you prefer, for outright copying of various design aspects of both the iPhone and iPad devices. In technical speak, Samsung was found guilty of infringing on design patents, utility patents and trade dress for a total of eight devices (out of 28 involved in the case), and Apple wants them banned from sale in the US. 

The cash involved is far from the biggest issue for these two electronics giants as each has stockpiles of the stuff, and for Apple in particular, one billion is nothing that will change their world. However, there are serious implications for Samsung moving forward, and unquestionably this will also translate into issues for you and I, the consumer, looking ahead. 

If, de facto, Samsung are ultimately found guilty of directly copying Apple designs (naturally, they are appealing this recent verdict, and some analysts expect certain things to be overturned) then this opens up the whole issue of Apple having insisted that certain Samsung products be removed from the American market.  This move has been unsuccessful in other parts of the world, but it could be a very different thing in North America.

Personally speaking, I don't think that Apple truly expects the various devices to be banned outright from America, and neither does Samsung.  The compromise here will almost certainly be that Samsung will be forced to pay Apple a royalty on each and every device sold, and that will be way more acceptable to Samsung instead of having no sales at all in this uber-competitive market. 

Why? Well, it comes back to the consumer issue that I raised above: if Samsung are forced to hand over $1B in cash and, say, a $10 royalty to Apple on every Samsung device sold, then who do you think is going to help pay for it? Yes, you. And I. The consumer!

I was almost suspicious of how cheaply I was able to switch to Galaxy SII when my iPhone reached the end of the contract, and in fact, I was given cash to take the phone! This, even though it was the phone that all the geeks were saying was the #1 smartphone, no, superphone, on the market at that time?! Based on my own immediate experience with it, I knew that it was as good as they said and I never looked back. 

I think Samsung saw the trouble coming, and decided to flood the market in advance of any legal verdict against them. It just didn't make sense: take an iPhone 4GS at a price point of the order of a few hundred dollars, or grab a chic Galaxy SII at no charge and we will give you $125 in cash on top as a bonus?! While the merits of the two phones could be discussed in great detail (and are on various tech insider sites), I shall summarize it by saying that given such similarities as they do have in common, a free SII plus over a hundred in cash is a hands-down winner, every time! 

The worries do not stop there. Apple is claiming ownership of certain "design features" such as for example, "rectangular phone design". Show me a smartphone today that is circular! It is probably no coincidence that the new Galaxy SIII has rounded edges, which may well be an attempt to exempt it from the scrutiny that its predecessor, the SII, may well face. Are we going to get into an argument now over whether a rectangle with rounded edges is or is not a true rectangle?! I much prefer the hard clean lines of my SII, so, and for those like me who have also procured their Samsung device at a great price while the going was good? Rejoice! 

There are many other companies that are going to be under the spotlight, including all Android devices, and various companies cannot be happy with recent developments. It is going to mean headaches for them all, and as expected, a less competitive market fro the consumer in terms of less bargains and higher prices. 

One should not be that shocked; Apple loves to corner the market and then charge an arm and a leg for it. On this blog we have covered their alleged attempt to corrupt the self-publishing marketplace and jack prices up artificially for everyone, even allegedly coercing other major publishers and even Amazon to follow their dictates. It is estimated  that the public was bilked out of as much as an extra $100M in this scenario. 

Yes, Apple are true innovators who have developed some of the most functional, and functionally chic electronics out there today. Yes, as a reward for that, they have become staggeringly wealthy. But yes, time and again, they have come across as grumpy and greedy, and that leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

It is highly ironic also that it is Samsung who supply certain major components of the iPhone and iPad such as the mobile processors that are at their core, as well as very cool display screens and memory chips. What would Apple do if Samsung in return refused to act as a components vendor for any future Apple device? Again, this hurts you and I more than anyone at either of these two companies, in terms of increased prices once more. 

As much as Samsung did try to take a big bite out of the Apple, an Apple today does keep a Samsung at bay, even if the Apple might be biting the hand that feeds it at the same time! ;) - Kevin Mc

One giant step that continues to leave an enormous, lasting impression on the sands of time

On July 20th, 1969, this picture was taken of astronaut and NASA's Apollo 11 mission commander, Neil Armstrong, after he had collected some dust and rocks as the first man to ever set foot on the lunar surface. This photo and many others taken at the time remain iconic images of a staggering achievement for mankind, and one that remains unmatched even today, notwithstanding the recent conquering of Mars by NASA's rover.

Armstrong died on Saturday at the age of 82 due to complications arising out of recent cardiovascular surgery. He was pretty much a conundrum to many, in that he tended to play down his own fame and/or achievements, and people felt that they were scratching the surface only, never really catching a glimpse of the expected fire inside. The media quite naturally wanted to penetrate that exterior and paint a more detailed  image on the rather blank canvas presented to them, but Armstrong rarely if ever let his guard down.

In today's world of attention-seeking media-hugging wannabe-celebrity, famous people like Neil Armstrong are very hard to come by, and for that alone he will be sadly missed. In 2012, being born rich and being the son or daughter of some Hollywood face can be an express ticket to your own TV show about nothing at all, and all the media attention any airhead twenty-something could desire. In stark contrast, the first man to set foot on a distant planet almost 250,000 miles away, himself an engineer, turned his back on the fame game and went back to work. It's quite an example to follow, and one that more people should learn from today. 

Apollo 11 was Armstrong's last rendezvous with space, and he left NASA in the early 70's to become a professor of aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati, where he remained pretty much out of the spotlight. However, more recently, in 2010, he did step back into it to voice his respected opinions on the Obama administration's decision to shut down NASA's Constellation Program for moon exploration. He was far from supportive over the mere idea that private American "space taxis" would transport US astronauts to the international space station, given that the space shuttle was to be buried. 

"We will have no American access to, and return from, low-Earth orbit and the International Space Station for an unpredictable length of time in the future.  For a country that has invested so much for so long to achieve a leadership position in space exploration and exploitation, this condition is viewed by many as lamentably embarrassing and unacceptable", he wrote in 2011. 

One could argue all day long about whether space travel is worth the expense today, with two overseas wars still ongoing and the economy living (and dying) in the dumpster. But you only have to look at the media and public reaction to seeing the Curiosity rover's touchdown on Mars, and excitement over the images being transmitted back to Earth, to realize how awe-inspiring man's conquering of other planets remains, not least because it sort of augments our own feeling of being, well, human! 

Looking back now, from 2012, it seems unbelievable that we were able to walk on the moon back in 1969, with technology that was so much more primitive than today. The first man to do it, and to take that giant leap, has now sadly passed on from this mortal coil; for all intents and purposes however, the name Neil Armstrong will be a name that reaches immortality. The fact that he appears to have been someone who had no interest in that particular aspect of his legacy simply makes that notion even more inspirational. - Kevin Mc  

The Lance Armstrong affair: the mess that keeps on giving!

Waking up to a shocking headline on the morning news today prompted me to revisit a topic that I addressed in some detail recently [see blog of June 14th, 2012], and rather sadly I feel the need for further comment  given recent developments. The topic of that blog was none other than cycling hero Lance Armstrong, and his ongoing and seemingly never-ending battle with the authorities over doping allegations.

The first words that I saw on NBC's Today show intro segment, with my eyes still waking up and a bit blurry, were "Armstrong stripped of his 7 Tour de France titles". Given that I knew that he had not gone up against the USADA as yet, and merely had failed in his attempts to have the charges against him ruled unconstitutional, I simply could not believe it! Armstrong is a man known as a fighter, and fighting until he wins, and that includes his own victory against the testicular cancer that he was diagnosed with back in 1996. So why is he giving up now?

As I said in my last blog on this subject, I strongly feel that any man (or woman) who was put through a two year investigation by federal prosecutors on criminal charges, which were dropped due to insufficient evidence, by the way, has been put through enough. One can only imagine what kind of personal toll such a process must involve, particularly when the subject is famous and subject to enormous media attention at the same time. It's the kind of pressure chamber that cannot do much good to a cancer survivor's system, I imagine. 

But USADA head honcho Travis Tygart still had Armstrong firmly in his sights, and seemed determined to get him, one way or another. Although he appealed the charges initially, unsuccessfully trying to get them thrown out by an appeal judge, now seemingly out of the blue Armstrong has decided to give up the fight, which means giving in to and effectively accepting the charges. This is not like Armstrong and it will be seen by many as an admission of guilt. 

It all depends which side you are on of course: loyal die-hard fans will claim the poor man was exhausted and it was not right to subject him to yet another witch hunt, and the skeptics will simply conclude that he was guilty all along, and now wants to run away. He is an extremely polarizing figure, not least due to the phenomenal success he has achieved, but also due to his apparent previous disregard for any claims against him, or the agencies placing the charges. It is either very ballsy to take that approach if you have cheated, or plain stupid, because if you did do it, and you look like you are mocking them, they are gonna come at you, harder. As they have done. 

"I know who won those seven Tours, my teammates know who won those seven Tours, and everyone I competed against knows who won those seven Tours.  We all raced together.  For three weeks over the same roads, the same mountains, and against all the weather and elements that we had to confront. There were no shortcuts, there was no special treatment.  The same courses, the same rules. The toughest event in the world where the strongest man wins. Nobody can ever change that. Especially not Travis Tygart."

As much as this sounds righteous and the words of a real competitor, it is only valid if he didn't cheat. They are hollow empty words if he did in fact take a shortcut, and did in fact partake of special treatment, such as the "special" lunch bags that a former US Postal Service teammate said that the top riders were given. The USADA has stated that it has overwhelming evidence of such "special treatment" that includes blood doping, EPO  use, hGH use, anabolic steroid use, and so on. Additionally, as I noted in my last blog about this, the agencies have now turned fellow riders into the equivalent of mafia rats, offering them deals so they can get testimony against the Godfather himself. This is quite despicable, I feel, in each direction; the people who bribe them into testifying, and the teammate (potentially rife with jealousy) who turns against his partner, are each held in contempt.

What I really cannot stand about this entire story is the hypocrisy. We all know (do we?) that cycling has a reputation as a dirty sport. Everyone knows that doping is going on, and many are doing it to be able to stay competitive. The International Cycling Union (ICU) is the sport's governing authority who should be dealing with Armstrong, and strictly it is them and only them who have the authority to strip Tour de France titles. However, the USADA claims that as a signee of the World Anti-Doping Code, the ICU has no choice but to approve the stripping of the 7 Tour titles, without argument. But the ICU has been relatively silent, and I am sure it's to do with the Catch 22 of this horrible situation: strip the titles, and deal a devastating blow to a living legend's legacy, to help clean up the sport, but at the same time having always known the truth, but not wanting to deal a devastating blow to the entire sport of cycling at the same time. 

I cannot help but feel that what irks Armstrong most is the hypocrisy, too. For the longest time, it was an inside job, with everyone knowing that basically everyone was at it, so let's get on with the competitions, as it sort of is a level playing field, if everyone is at it. So if rider X is doing it, then the only way that rider Y gets a fair chance is to do it also. It was probably an unspoken rule to leave Armstrong alone, and let him shine as he was the future of the sport. Now, suddenly, the entire sport has turned against him, everyone is opening up about it, and as the big dog, he is the one they all wanna see shot down, in flames. But this is no phoenix; the stripping of the titles comes with a lifetime ban on competitive cycling, and he will also lose his Olympic bronze medal. The total irony being, of course, that each title taken off Armstrong and handed to the second-placed rider, might simply be the taking of a medal from one doper, and giving it to another!

Another question that arises out of this is whether an athlete who "beat the system" say, 10 years ago, and won various titles, should then be threatened with new technology 10 years later, and subsequently shamed in front of the world. This seems so destructive and is devastating to a public who worship the athlete like a demi-God over many years, only to have them declared a cheat and a liar later on. It comes back to a question that I have asked before, which is, what is the best thing to do and what is the right thing to do? Many believe that the best thing to do would have been to let it all go the second the US Justice Department dropped their charges, while still others believe that if he did use performance-enhancing methods to win those titles then the only right thing to do is to strip them. 

It truly is a shocking fall from grace, not only for a superstar professional athlete, but for a man who is also a cancer survivor and whose LiveStrong Foundation has raised almost half a billion dollars to aid cancer victims. To accept the charges against him thereby allowing a default verdict of "guilty" will affect many people around him, and tens of millions around the world. The USADA has said that various revenues that Armstrong made from being the world's #1 rider may also be subject to confiscation, and if one takes that to an extreme, someone could claim that every dollar made even from his popular rubber wristbands was earned fraudulently, and must be handed back to the public. As I said, this is a mess that keeps on giving!

I shall close by remembering that when I asked someone (not just anyone, either) who is a former cycling professional and has even won a stage in the Tour de France, whether he thought that Armstrong was a clean rider, I got a smirk of ridicule, as if I had asked whether the sky was yellow, followed by an answer that was something like: "Did you have your coffee this morning? Wake up!". I shall leave it at that because the actual details were more depressing than they were revelatory, and I think that everyone's imagination is quite capable of creating the various scenarios that seem to be or are part and parcel of competition at that level. It is war, and all is fair in love and war, as they say in the trade! Now, where is my mug of coffee?! - Kevin Mc 

Zuckerberg: out of the frying pan, and into the fire?!

Now that all of the hype and hysteria of Facebook going public have died down (somewhat!), it is time to move on to what was the inevitable next phase: daily gossip about the removal of Mark Zuckerberg as CEO and head honcho. It sounds a bit ridiculous, or even just ridiculously early, to be already discussing this particular topic, but guess what? They are no longer a private company! They went public, they now have various shareholders, and the board now answers to those shareholders, who collectively are far from happy today.

Why? For the same reason that any investor, institutional or private, invests: money! Now that the hype and hysteria have faded, so has the share price, dropping down below even the $19 mark as of this morning. This represents a full 50% loss since the company went public back in May, when it was (over)priced at a heady $38, which in and of itself caused a massive amount of debate about what the real price should have been. But the value has been cut in half, and like it or not, for any public company's CEO, that always tightens the noose around their neck. Even if that neck is rarely if ever restrained inside a crisply starched shirt collar and a necktie!

Let's make one salient point right from the get-go: we all know that the value of the stock was overrated at the time of the IPO, for a company with no tangible "product" or clarified plan on how to monetize their massive membership moving forward. Yes, they have Facebook advertising, but it seems that many now understand that in general one is paying for "likes", not for sales; this was underlined recently by car manufacturing giant General Motors yanking their ads, stating that they did not positively impact their bottom line. That sentiment has been further echoed in the comments of other users of the Facebook ads system. So overall, the drop in share price was totally expected, and one can not completely dump the responsibility for that onto Zuckerberg's young shoulders, even if, as the boss, he has to accept responsibility. 

Making things even more interesting, we now hear of the high profile exit today of a very early but very prominent investor in Facebook (Peter Thiel), who sold off more than three quarters of his stock for an exit of around $400M. Thiel remains a board member of Facebook, all the while giving the impression of wanting to jump off the sinking ship, on a personal level. This cannot help but increase nervousness among other high level investors, and solidify the growing storm clouds full of whispers that a change in leadership is needed, sooner rather than later. 

Zuckerberg did a fantastic job of taking Facebook to where it is today. Notwithstanding the fact that his own insistence on showing up to high level pre-IPO investor showcases in trademark hoodie and sneakers did undermine his status somewhat, and raised questions about his seriousness, maturity and professionalism. While I personally can understand the desire to go to work looking like a 22-year-old college dropout, I also can understand the need to not apparently offend or insult a very different breed whom you depend upon for a successful public offering of your company, or more importantly, for your own continued involvement as CEO following that offering. Does he need to be taught that being the "boss" of a funky collegial social media techie outfit is an extremely different thing from being the CEO of a publicly-traded company initially valued at over $100B? I hope not!

While he may well be capable of metamorphosing into a more typically professional executive with time, that could be an irrelevance. It is already felt that there is a lack of corporate guidance and leadership at Facebook, and the pressure to articulate anything remotely looking like a valid plan to monetize the huge membership is mounting daily. He is going to have to look long and hard in the mirror as to whether even he truly thinks that he is the man to carry the company forward into its financial expansion and growth. I am certain that various investors already have their eyes on Facebook COO, Sheryl Sandberg, who has stellar educational achievements in finance and business, and is one seriously smart woman. 

It's ironic that because Facebook is so universal and so much a part of our recreational lives that we would see it as more tragic than usual that Zuckerberg should step down, because his story is so great and what he achieved is greater still. But as I said at the beginning, if you step out of  the frying pan (boss of your own private company) and into the fire (CEO of a public entity), then you might just have to pay a price. Please note that I did not say "get burnt", because in this case, even if he goes, he will leave as a twenty-something multibillionaire! Now that's my kind of "getting burnt"! - Kevin Mc

Snooker: a British game played with balls!

In a direct follow-up to our last blog discussing the political asylum granted to Julian Assange by the Ecuadorean government, we report today on the public address made by Assange this afternoon (London time) from a balcony at the Ecuadorean Embassy in Knightsbridge, London. As promised, for the first time in two months, Assange addressed the public and took the opportunity to take a swipe at US President Barack Obama at the same time. 

He emerged to cheers from the crowd of supporters waiting for him, and not to any tear gas or special forces descending from the rooftop or helicopters to nab him. None of the expected drama or hullabaloo took place, and he got to have his say without interruption. Someone must have decided that such actions might just help to further polarize entire nations who are already at polar opposite ends of the spectrum over the fate of the man who lives for such polarization.

Assange thanked the Ecuador government/people for their having taken a "stand for justice" and also gave a shout out to several South American countries for their support. He also called on Obama to tell the FBI to drop its "witch hunt" against WikiLeaks and himself, and to release Bradley Manning, the US Army Intelligence analyst who is accused of having supplied the cables that WikiLeaks released en masse, in 2010. 

As much as it makes for great TV, and appears to be a classic David and Goliath story, I think we must remember what the main problem is in this stand-off. Theoretically, at least, it is the sexual assault charges in Sweden that are the root problem for Assange. If those did not exist, then the UK would not have legitimate reason to prevent him flying off to a new life in Ecuador. He would then be free to operate from there, and live in principle as a free man. 

But he claims that even the sexual assault charges are part of the conspiracy against him, and that once he would set foot on Swedish soil to address them, he is guaranteed to face extradition to the US where he will face persecution, an unfair trial, resulting in potentially a considerable if not indefinite period of incarceration. So, therefore, he cannot risk going to Sweden, for now; certainly not without certain guarantees in place.

This probably seems way too convenient for some, and perhaps quite believable for others. While I do not doubt that there are individuals inside the Obama administration who are salivating at the thought of having him delivered into their hands, it is a much bigger stretch of imagination to believe that any of them could have had a hand in creating fake charges of sexual assault in another country in Europe. Notwithstanding the fact that yes, there is a highly unlikely coincidence in the timing of when these assaults are alleged to have taken place, thereby allowing the US to use this opportunity to have him extradited following facing those charges. 

It's funny how the David vs. Goliath thing can distract people from the bigger issues, because it does not appear that sexual assault charges have resulted in any significant loss of popularity for his cause. At the same time, if there is any truth to those charges, then his status as an anti-secrecy pro-rights man-of-the-people figurehead simply evaporates, as he himself would formally become a criminal facing serious time in jail. 

The charges in Sweden have complicated matters considerably, and one is forced to wonder what would have transpired in their absence. As much as Assange seems to thrive in an environment of stirring the pot and being in the eye of the hurricane, one cannot help believing that Mr. Assange must also wonder how much easier life would be, were they absent. - Kevin Mc

Out of the madness, but all tied up in the asylum!

In an update to an item that I discussed two months ago [see blog of Friday, June 22], it now transpires that the Ecuadoreans have granted asylum to WikiLeaks head honcho Julian Assange. The man perpetually on the run has now found a new home, even if he remains effectively under house arrest in the embassy of Ecuador in London.  He is stuck there in his chic Knightsbridge digs because effectively the UK authorities have refused to let him fly to South America, due to an outstanding warrant for his arrest in Sweden.  

As much as this news appears to have little or nothing to do with my last blog on the ending of the London Olympics, there is one aspect that I raised in that blog which unfortunately raises its head mere days after the closing ceremony. I am referring to the great sense of unity, collective sense of purpose and "togetherness" that such event provide, and my concern over how long it would take for that to be pushed aside, and we would get back to the business of fighting with each other again. It took a lot less time than even I had pessimistically predicted!

Ergo, it now seems that friendly, loving old London has been switched back to its more typically British self if their response to Assange being granted asylum is any barometer of the stiff upper lip with which they are associated. The British government has issued a diplomatic comminique, referred to as an aide memoire, de facto stating that if Ecuador granted asylum to Assange then they could exert their right to enter the embassy to apprehend him. This communication was read out by Ecuador's foreign affairs minister, Ricardo Patino, who stated that he felt that it was a "direct' threat" from the UK, and clarified that Ecuador is not a colony of the great empire, and that in fact, "the days of the colony are over." Britain suggested that they could effectively revoke the embassy's status thus allowing them access to grab the interloper. 

The reaction to the British "letter of intent" has been swift, with even some experts in diplomacy somewhat perturbed by the concept, leaving them wondering what the British really mean to do, and whether they intend to totally ignore the rights of a foreign embassy standing on UK soil. I am not sure what the precedents are, but frankly, if a foreign embassy is not a refuge for citizens (or those granted asylum) abroad, and it has no capacity to prevent the host nation from entering it at will, then what's the point? They may as well go ahead and close the embassy, making sure to kick the British out of Ecuador at the same time! If Assange was an axe murderer or someone who had stolen millions of pounds from a British bank, I might get the point a little better, but come on! He's the founder of an anti-secrecy "cult" who released some classified information, just like the Obama government does on a regular basis. Oh I see, if a government surreptitiously releases classified information, to suit its own ends, then that kind of leaking is sanctioned, but if Mr. Assange does it, then it's potentially a crime? Uh-huh. Only time will tell what the gravity of the Swedish charges is likely to be, if he ever does go back to face them.  

Ironically, in a mood reminiscent of the Olympic spirit, this threat by the UK has actually garnered support for the decision to grant Assange asylum in Ecuador, and the citizens seem to be rallying around President Rafael Correa. An even newer sense of national pride has arisen in Ecuador, in reponse to being threatened by a relative superpower such as the UK, and increased solidarity with the Ecuadorean state has been the result.

Correa himself wrote that "Nobody is going to intimidate us!" on Twitter.

Once again, Julian Assange has done what he does best: polarizing people, and whole nations; all the while with the hot topic being none other than, you guessed it, Julian Assange!

It's quite ironic that by losing their Olympic spirit, immediately, and returning to their old colonial ways, the British suddenly rekindled the flame of being Ecuadorean. But then again, as I said in that last blog, nothing unites a nation as strongly as international competitive sport, or war. Let's hope that this affair remains a storm in a teacup, or at worst becomes a war of words, and only words. No one needs another ridiculous Falkland's War-like fiasco. - Kevin Mc  

  

The flame burnt out, the song is over, but the music (and spirit?) will live forever!

After 16 days of glorious competition among more than 200 nations, we arrived at the closing ceremonies of the 30th Olympiad. The show involved some 4,000 performers, most of whom were volunteers, and it came with the title of "A Symphony of British Music" which was surely guaranteed to get the nostalgia meter trembling with anticipation. 

I am not going to comment on who won what, or how the various countries stacked up, other than to say that the host nation accounted itself very well, obtaining 29 gold medals out of a total of 65 medals won. It is never a good thing when the host nation performs badly, not least in this case due to lack of initial public support for an event that ended up costing twice the predicted amount, coming in with a nine billion pounds ($14.2 billion) price tag. The very respectable medal count is expected to assuage the resentment evident on the streets of London prior to the games, due to the state of the British economy. 

Now if there's one thing that the UK deserves gold for every time, it is popular music. Yes, I am biased, but that doesn't make me any less correct! There is nowhere in the world that can compete with the sheer originality, style and class of the rock and pop that emanates from British shores out and around the globe. London Calling, indeed!

Bohemian Rhapsody. Imagine. Freedom. Pinball Wizard. Ziggy Stardust. Wish You Were Here. I Am The Walrus. You Should Be Dancing. Wonderwall. We Will Rock You. My Generation. 

There's not even the need to mention the names of the artists responsible, as these songs are so ubiquitously heard and revered around the world. Anyone who claims not to know at least half of these songs never mind who sang them, is just someone disconnected from this world and/or is the total opposite of "cool" and "hip". That is true whether the excuse is either "too young" or "too old"! 

I reserve a very special spot for one artist and one song which is as uniquely British as anything else that was heard, and should serve as a real reminder to young/aspiring artists about what great songs and great musicianship and musical greatness are all about. I am referring to none other than Waterloo Sunset by Ray Davies/The Kinks. To hear this song with new life breathed into it, and sung so remarkably well by an almost (unbelievably) 70-year-old Davies, was simply spectacular: not for Ray Davies the usual embarrassment of a singer well past their prime pathetically trying to reach notes that now belong only and firmly to their past. He made it sound like he had recorded that song a few weeks ago, and the all-round poignancy of the song mixed in with the occasion at hand left me with a definite lump in my throat.  It was truly moving. 

There are two lingering thoughts on the ending of the Olympiad that remain with me now, as the music begins to fade, the flame is sadly extinguished and life slowly returns to normal for both spectators and (most) athletes alike.  The first is how much the Olympics are a metaphor for life itself: like all the others, this Olympiad has been one of both staggering successes, but also for some, one of staggering failures. There can only be one winner, and one gold medal. After four years of sacrifice and dedicated preparation, fed with sustained passion, there will only ever be one winner and way more losers (in the sports sense of the word, only!) than medal winners.  For every one who achieves major success and glory, there are countless others who only get to taste the bittersweetness of being so close, and yet so far. 

This is often the case in everyday life, whether it's competing with others for a new job, or working on achieving of some other kind of dream. Life is not fair, and there is usually only one winner, and that's the bottom line. All we can do is do everything in our power to stack the odds in our favor, and then give it all one's got on the big day(s). The key is in the never giving up, and the keeping on trying; irrespective of certain failures along the way. For sure, that is what the Olympics represent. 

The second aspect that strikes a chord (!) in me over events such as the Olympiad is how they appear to bring people together, or even seeming to bring a whole nation together, perhaps briefly. Hell, maybe even temporarily bringing entire nations together collectively in one unique atmosphere of communal vision and sense of purpose. There is no question that the event seems to have triggered this phenomenon in the host nation, with the streets of London feeling friendlier than ever, and the whole UK fizzing with national pride and sports fever. 

But there were two key words used in my description of the second aspect: briefly and temporarily. Not long after the music and flames fade, and the stadium and pubs empty, all the banners and hoopla coming down and being packed away, will this apparent new found "spirit" also fade away, and people will retreat into themselves once again. Silently staring over at the person sitting opposite in the subway, or head buried in a book or newspaper to avoid their eyes,  or worse, back to the arguing and fighting with neighbors and colleagues and even family. Even the sporting spirit itself will dissipate, and people who are all British will be back physically fighting among themselves over domestic soccer matches on terraces between teams that are all examples of British athletic brilliance. 

It seems that nations unite (in sport or war) only for brief periods when they are "fighting" other nations, and once those battles are won and lost, nations go back to fighting amongst themselves. If we could only harness some of the positive energy that seeps through events such as the Olympiad, and find a way of sustaining that spirit and positivity beyond the fading music of the closing ceremony, then it all might begin to have even a greater depth of meaning for all concerned. 

But one must take it where one can find it, so for now we are left basking in the afterglow of what was a hugely successful 30th Olympiad that brought many people and nations together in a united front, and even that is such a rare phenomenon these days that we simply must rejoice at the closing of what just transpired, and look forward with much anticipation to Rio in 2016.  The London games of 2012 are dead, long live the games of Rio, 2016!! - Kevin Mc    

A river stocked with molecules...

My river was one that passed through a small town of about 3,000 people, a small town in Ireland, with no particular claim to fame: just the way I liked it. I knew I was going to escape when the time came, because it was too small to hold me, and I had bigger plans ahead. But as a place to grow up and pass through the trials and tribulations of boyhood and young manhood, it was fine. And thank God, yes, a river did run through it. I always saw the river as existing primarily in the stretch on which I fished it, but it did press on further into town, stamping itself onto the town’s identity. To get onto the hill which was the bottom of the town’s main street, one crossed a short old stone bridge, the hissing and whispering waters beneath the feet. I always felt that the East and West sides of the river had entirely different personalities, and the bridge kept the two separate. “Ne’er the twain shall meet!” I would say to myself as I crossed over.

We lived on the Eastern section of the river, and for me this was where the mystery, and darkness, and depth, and lively personality of the river resided. In general this section of the river was narrower, more hidden by trees and countryside, dotted with more mini-waterfalls pouring into deep pools topped by creamy, foamy heads, gushing with wonderful sounds. I definitely felt that the fish would be on the East side, rather than the wider, shallower West side, which was more populated by people from the town, and the houses and schools that resided near it. The West side was public territory, but the East side was mine. This is how I saw it. Well, okay, maybe mine and a few other likeminded souls, but the East was where I lived, and I was sure it was where the best fish lived too.

We lived a little bit out of the town, quite literally on the edge of town itself in those days, and coming down the hill of the housing estate to the main road, one would reluctantly take a right to go to school or the town, or take a glorious left to be in the country almost immediately, and walk a wide atmospheric tree-lined leaf-covered conduit to peace and quiet. It was about twenty minutes or so, along the Castlewellan Road, to a small junction, where I would turn right, onto the Ballydown road and down the steep hill that led to the river.

This stretch of road was always unique for me, it did not feel like part of the same world I had walked from: it was a retreat into earlier times. Memories hung in the air of the town’s prior standing as a major flax and linen powerhouse, with more than 20 bleach greens housed on the river’s banks. The silent hill was dotted with lonely stone buildings and the inevitable broken windows, what looked like old weaving warehouses, most of which had locked gates, their former courtyards overgrown with grasses and weeds. A smelly chicken house, which along with a farm plant business on the left hand side halfway down, seemed to be the last signs of an older world, before I was born. 

It was both charming and sad at the same time. I always wondered what life had been like there before, and what happened to the owners, workers, and their lives. But I was too young to dwell on such matters, and the river and its sounds and smells and sights were always calling me. The sun usually shone brightly on the deserted old stone buildings, shining some warmth onto their cold, forgotten interiors. A bit further on down, one came to a little row of tiny houses on the left hand side, houses that seemed so small I could not imagine entire families living in them. They actually jutted out onto the road itself, making it narrower along their length. It looked like some had been deserted, while some seemed to still contain life, reasonable curtains in the windows. This was more at river level, and you could see watermarks on the pebble dashed outer walls, implying these houses were partly under water if the river flooded. The trees covered this stretch of road heavily, so the sunlight did not make it through at all, making the houses seem even colder and less welcoming. Damp leaves were always under the feet on the cold tarmac. In all of my years descending and ascending that hill, not once did I ever see anyone entering or leaving that small row of houses. 

Of course, my imagination ran wild, and I saw them potentially as “safe” houses of some elite passionate fishermen’s club, where they could hide from the wife, and be near the river with a healthy supply of cold ale, and the luxury of a bathroom for emergencies. This is how I usually saw it in early mornings, with the day ahead and the sunlight visible below them where the trees cleared. 

On the other hand, coming back up at twilight, their dark, dank exteriors and interiors, made me think of witches and devil worship. They could house some secret coven whose members used the darker forces of the river for their evil ways, and they could easily nab passing young boys for ritualistic sacrifice to the demons of the river. On nights when I was a little late and it was almost dark, I would move over to the left side, away from the houses, my fishing rod as my sword against the evil-doers, and I would walk faster, heart beating loudly. I could feel the eyes watching me, peering out with evil intent from behind the thin, worn curtains, but the key was to never look. If you looked in, and they suspected you knew they were there, further up the hill a black clad figure would jump out from thick bushes, and drag you off to their lair in the woods; dancing flames around a huge pentagram lined with black candles, and the High Ipsissimus at the altar, cow’s blood and an unholy sword at the ready. I would recognise some of the faces of course, local school teachers and businessmen, and naturally, Father McCracken from Sunday chapel. 

Like all Catholic schoolboys at that time, we were indoctrinated with the fear of God, and what he would do to us if we sinned. In my case, I always saw the chapel as a scary place, especially when empty, and the fire and brimstone screamed out of his mouth on Sunday mornings, made me even more afraid of the holy dark side of Father McCracken. This was as much a servant of the Devil himself as of any God: threatening, scaring, moralizing, judging, promising eternity in Hell’s darker chambers for those boys who did not show up on any given Sunday. 

[Excerpted from Kevin Mc's new book, THE MOLECULES, which is currently available on the EU website, and also out on Kindle in the very near future.]

Self-publishing: a new Renaissance that rejects the printing press which established the old?!

In an announcement that would have seemed almost unthinkable even five years ago, but seems to make perfect sense today, Amazon (UK) has stated that sales of e-books on the Kindle platform are now exceeding those of the printed word. It's only been two years or so since the release of the Kindle device and yet e-book sales now surpass the sales of paperbacks and hardcover books combined, which naturally has changed the face of publishing forever. 

In fact, things have changed so much and so fast in the traditional publishing industry that I am not sure anyone can safely predict what the outcome of all of this is going to be. I am not an extremist, per se, and so as is often the case, I think that some kind of compromise between the two segments will be inevitable. Neither will be truly sustainable without the other, even if traditional publishers have the resources to survive for longer. 

Certainly, traditional publishers got one severe kick up the rear end, via independent writers and the public (what a concept!) now being the new gatekeepers of "good taste" and dictating what is in and what is not. The arrogance and self-serving attitudes of the classic literary agent have been thankfully sidelined, and we wish them all well in their search for new careers, their claws scratching the wood floors in the scramble off the sinking ship. In a certain fashion, the entire e-publishing movement has become the new gatekeeper: one dictated to by the public (and not ivory tower pseudo-intellectual) voice and power, by choosing to elevate a certain book above the rest. Any smart publisher today should see this advantage, not least in the zero cost to them in initial development of a new writer and promotion of their book. 

On the other side, we have the apparently flourishing e-book business, full of promise, hope and potential  fame and riches for all. Of course, for every success we hear of, such as E.L. James and Fifty Shades of [Insert your own preferred four- or five-letter word!], there are countless hordes who are not even breaking even for their efforts. Some of this quite naturally results from people who would never get published in any other fashion than by self-publishing, but for sure there are always going to be talented writers who go nowhere due to a simple lack of promotion and that good old-fashioned dirty word, marketing. 

In many ways, I kind of like the new breakdown of responsibilities. Leave it to the self-publishing industry to be the new "agents" of public good taste, and discover new, exciting raw talent. The traditional industry no doubt is already scanning for such talent, and when they identify it, they can offer to put their experienced marketing departments and prowess to work on it. Thus ensuring exposure and increased sales volume for those already sanctioned by the public as good writers. This is already the case, and self-publishing stars such as Amanda Hocking and John Locke have been signed up by major labels, freeing them from the chores of self-promotion.  

The problem with the scenario is two-fold. Firstly, it is way too easy and even cheaper for the big publishers to just sit back and do nothing, and only step in when a new author sells say, 50,000+, on their own. As I have said on our website, how brilliant is it to then step in and offer your marketing prowess to get the book into the 5 million sales category by exposing it to the world? It's good business, yes, but hardly inspirational or artistically interesting. Secondly, if all of the e-books that are selling well are picked up by bigger publishers (which seems to be an inevitability), then this could quickly herald the end for self-publishing, as it just becomes the zero-investment testing ground for traditional publishing houses. All of the talent is picked off, and the rest just disappear, more or less. 

Why should a self-published author who is finally making some money, with perhaps almost zero overhead and 100% cut of the profits, automatically sign with a major in order to achieve more sales, in return for typically 10-15% of the royalties? Especially given that they have done everything themselves to date, using new marketing techniques which the old guard is either woeful in, at worst, or barely functional in, at best?! If one can manage 10-50,000 sales on one's own, using social media and inbound marketing tools, then if one got really serious at it, or even engaged an entity on a purely consultative basis to do so for one, then what is to prevent it from being raised up to the next level? 

One must do the math also. Is selling five million copies of a book that one receives 10% royalties on, better than selling half a million copies of a book on which you get everything? Writers can become equally as wealthy by going it alone, staying independent, and truly carrying the self-publishing industry forward in a massive way. I would like to see one or two self-publishing stars value their freedom sufficiently to say "no thanks" to the traditional industry and beat them at their own game by staying fiercely independent. No deadlines, no contracts, no book tours, and no boss. Ever.

Having said all of that, there is still one stigma that has not yet been overcome: as much as self-publishing has been a necessary and groundbreaking storm of change in a stuffy outdated industry, we all still love to walk into a bookstore and see our own book(s) on the shelf, and love to think of them sitting in a massive bookcase in someone's home. For anyone who grew up before the digital age, we still like to see our books and our music on our shelves, and be able to make them part of our very identity and home. Somehow, having thousands of books and CDs on relatively tiny devices just doesn't have the same impact, either emotionally or physically! 

So for now, there remains a clear need for the old guard and their old-fashioned ways, but by the next generation we might get to a point where digital output will be the totally normal way to buy and store books and music, and printed materials will seem so quaint by comparison. Bookstores and music stores will dwindle in number, and the brave new world will truly be a totally digital one, with the beloved printing press coming to the very end of its useful life.

Hmm, as much as I am all for progress and self-determination, I am forced to admit that I am sort of glad that we are not quite there yet and we get to be a part of the early revolution, which is where all the fun is going to be. EU is very much of today, and is undoubtedly a modernist partnership, but at the same time, we retain a definite fondness for some of the old-fashioned aspects of this wonderful life, even if that includes Gutenberg's beloved printing press and traditional publishing. We are happy being the minnows of today, just as long as we can become the sardines of tomorrow! ;) - Kevin Mc

A little bit of EU summer stocktaking!

Well, here we are in August already, yet it feels like it was mid-June only yesterday! This is the way summer tends to go it seems: it starts out slowly and lazily, and we feel we have such a long hot season ahead of us, and then bingo, we are in August! There's so much more to do in summer, we get to live outside for a change, and we have had both the Euro 2012 and the London Olympics as welcome distractions this year, so the time just flew by. 

Thinking back on where the time went, we rewound the tape of the last six months or so, and smiled at the realization that this whole adventure known as Evergreen Umbrella (EU) has been an intensely productive one. Even by early February of this year, EU did not formally exist and we had no website. We began via several animated discussions over what we would be called, and thus came up with a name that truly represented who we were. This was solidified by designing our very own branding logo which would become associated with all things EU, and would be our online signature. Then the whirlwind blew into town, and almost overnight (it seemed) we had our first online presence via our website, followed by our EU on Facebook page, Cristina then appeared on Twitter, which was then further accompanied by the launch of our own blog, authored by the one and only Kevin Mc! 

All of these media have garnered considerable interest not only locally but also globally: our Facebook fans exceeded the 10,000 mark a while back, and those fans reside in some 20 countries around the world; the blog is currently being read in 15 countries on a regular basis, with a few others such as newcomers Latvia and Croatia popping up on an occasional basis; Cristina is currently being followed by around 6,000 Twitter users from all over the place. We are very grateful for such interest, it's much appreciated, and we hope to keep on growing the EU brand over time as word of EU spreads farther afield. 

On top of all of this, one mustn't forget the raison d'etre of EU: books! As busy as Kevin Mc was in playing a major role in set-up of all of our media and online presences, it is evident that he never lost his focus, even for a second. His first novel, A QUIET RESIGNATION, was released in Spring of 2012 and after the expected slow start, with its subsequent release on Kindle, it has been building nicely and we expect it to really take off before year's end. 


Somewhat ahead of schedule, Kevin Mc announced to us in mid-May that he was going to submit his second book, entitled THE MOLECULES by July, 2012. As much as we had trouble believing that we would see it, we should never have doubted him because he is a stickler for (his own) deadlines! Sure enough, it is now history, and indeed THE MOLECULES is now available on our website and will be out on Kindle shortly. We are proud of both of these books, especially as they are each so diverse from the other: two very unique, original stories of entirely different natures, but with the unmistakable voice of Kevin Mc tying them together. 

All in all, February through July, 2012 has been a time of tremendous creativity and productivity,   intertwined with typically unwavering commitment to quality content/output, for both Kevin Mc and EU. It has been a spectacular ride so far, and we can only imagine what's coming next, but the one thing we do want to see is a growing appreciation of the talents of our Kevin Mc! He's our very own best-kept secret, today, but we want to let the secret out, and share it with the world. As much as part of us could happily hold onto it/him, it's the right thing to do!

So here we are in early August, with all of the above under our belts. Maybe we can afford to take a little breather to enjoy our accomplishments, and make the very most of every single day that August has to offer?! Perhaps even dozing off on a sunny afternoon before heading out to relax on a terrace for drinks and dinner in the evening?! This all sounds well and good, but our biggest problem is going to be the usual one: how to get Kevin Mc to slow down even for a few minutes and take some time off! ;)  - EU

Sour grapes over champagne moments?

The subject matter of today's blog is probably not too much of a shocker given that the whole world is talking about it: of course, it is the astounding achievement of a certain Mike Phelps. Let me choose my words carefully before I get into another discussion entirely, thus I am referring to Phelps becoming "the most decorated" Olympian in history. 

Phelps grabbed the medal that equaled the old record of 18 medals by Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina by taking the silver medal spot in the 200 meter butterfly. This race is a signature event for Phelps, and while he was expected to take the gold, in an ironic twist, he was out-touched at the finish in a fashion similar to how he won the same race in Beijing in 2008. In that race, he remarkably out-touched Cavic of Serbia to win by an almost incomprehensible 1/100th of a second; in this race he was out-touched by le Clos of South Africa and lost by a mere 5/100th of a second. These minutest of differences are evidence of how it can be the tiniest of "errors" that separate gold from silver (and even bronze) at this level of competition. It also shows how remarkable it is to win gold in every single race, as Phelps did in 2008. 

The medal that broke the record was quite fittingly another gold, in the 4 x 200 meter relay which was led off by rival teammate Ryan Lochte, who along with the others handed over a comfortable lead to Phelps, who just had to dive in and bring it on home for Team USA. The touch of Phelp's fingers against the tiles was one with both an enormous impact and an historic, global reach as he brought his total medal count to a staggering 19: 15 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze. He also now holds the all-time record of the most gold medals ever one by an athlete, and the most golds for individual events (nine). 

Which brings us nicely to the burning question: is Mike Phelps the greatest Olympian ever? Quite why we are forced to ask such questions, amidst all the debate that goes on around them, is a bit superfluous to me in many ways, but it's non-stop. Our need to classify and label and pigeonhole is endless it seems. Given that the games are hosted in London, it was left to Olympics 2012 chief Sebastian Coe, a former UK Olympic champion himself, to offer an opinion on the subject. 

"I think you can say it is self-evident that he is the most successful. I am not sure he is the greatest. It's a pretty good haul, but who is the greatest? In my opinion he is probably not."

A pretty good haul? Ya think? What?! I think it is pretty bloody evident that the likes of Seb Coe have no business judging the ultimate greatness of Phelps's achievement! It just comes across as laughably British "stiff-upper-lip" with its head shoved up its you-know-what. How ridiculous that someone with four medals in total feels that they are in any position to publicly comment to the media on the fact that Phelps is not the greatest? How dare he!

I am British myself (as well as Irish!), and as much we don't like to continuously hear how great the USA is, by Americans, at the same time, there is a time to zip it, or admit it. To somehow pathetically attempt to undermine a freshly- and extremely hard-won Olympic record is to undermine the games themselves, and it is not right that it comes from the UK games chief. Let it go, he's way beyond the athlete you ever were, so just swallow it and say something a lot more flattering that what you just did.  

Let the fullness of time answer the question, and/or the opinions of many who will offer their verdict on it. Whether Coe likes it or not, the entire world judges teams and nations on the total number of medals won. We do not discriminate because it may be seen as "easier" to win more medals in this sport or that one: that's not how it works! What Phelps has done is almost unthinkable, and the fierceness of competition at this level as displayed in the swims at these games just underlines what it takes and how staggering it was to win 8 golds in Beijing, alone. Never mind the other 11 medals he currently has, with the prospect of more to follow in the coming days.

As far as I am concerned, for today, for 2012, Mike Phelps IS the greatest Olympian that ever lived, irrespective of people's needs to try to compare apples to oranges. We must give him his due, on an historical record-breaking success that he sacrificed much to achieve, and one that will write his name big in the flickering flames of Olympic lore for a very, very long time to come. If not forever. Bravo, hero!

Now that I am suitably inspired, I suppose I have to go put on my running shorts, and face the mountain here in Montreal, for a little jaunt that Phelps would laugh at but which feels like my very own Olympic climb?! It would be easy to use the heat and humidity as my excuse, but we all know that Phelps (and others) didn't or wouldn't so I will go do it. Isn't that how Olympians are supposed to make us feel? Inspired to live stronger! - Kevin Mc


PS - That reminds me, Miss Crissy C of EU is lying beside a pool right now. Perfect! Time to hit the water, in your EU-branded bikini, Missy, and give us all 10-20 lengths. Let's go! Chop chop! ;)