I kind of got lost with Nine Inch Nails. I remember when Trent Reznor would pretty much just write about himself. Over the years he grew as a musician and branched out on subjects in his songs. This is a short way of saying he went political.

While I admire the development, I'm personally a little sick and tired of musicians and other "artists" who come out and rail against a President (they tend to get a little louder when it's a Republican in office).

Now, I'm willing to give Reznor another shot. He mocked Radiohead for offering their last release for free or "you pick the price" on their website. Why? They only offered it for a limited time then went the regular route of selling it on itunes and so forth.

Nine Inch Nails has done some creative things in the past. Most notable an alternative reality game. Well the music that they left around they now put lyrics too and released...for free on it's website...indefinitely.

They even offer multiple forms of downloads depending on how anal you are about your sound.

Cool? Very. However, one thing occurred to me the other day about Raidohead's last record. No one talked about the music just the distribution method. I hope Nine Inch Nails latest, The Slip, is different.

I saw a blog on wired.com last week talking about the slowdown in broadband expansion in the US. This theory was based off of AT&T's super lackluster numbers when it came to adding broadband customers.

The company added a modest 46,000 broadband subscribers during the quarter, a screaming decline from 491,000 additions in the first-quarter 2008; and down sharply from the 400,000 subscribers added in the second quarter 2007.

The people at AT&T think the numbers will rebound when the real estate market bounces back. I agree with this but one factor keeps getting overlooked: AT&T is DSL.

Why is this important? If I want to use a telecom provider's DSL service, such as AT&T, I have to have a standard phone line first. You cannot call up AT&T and say, "hey I want DSL." They'll reply with "what's your phone number?" When you say "I don't have one I just have a cell phone" they'll immediately transfer you over to the land line folks and make you get a phone line.

Cable doesn't make you do that.

If I want a cable modem from Cox or Comcast and no cable the cable companies can seem to work that out without any problem. How come a phone company can't?

So to answer the question as to why AT&T added so few subscribers I see it this way:

-People can get fast speed's with the local cable company AND phone service if they want.

-People realize that they don't need a land line when they're already paying X dollars a month to a mobile phone company.

-Texting is becoming more popular

-Younger people are growing up and older people are dying. Younger people = mobile phones. Older people=land lines.

This is not all of the reasons but you get my drift. By the way Verizon's earnings were outstanding thanks in large part to their growth in wireless customers and Fios system (fiber optic cable right to your house). I guess AT&T stuck with that name for a reason...there acting as old as they sound.

And now the broadband market isn't slowing down. Video viewing is still on the rise and bandwidth is still increasing.

I've covered this many times but it always gets me fired up

Former US soccer sensation Freddy Adu is being loaned out by his current club S.L. Benfica (Portugal) to...Monaco.

Rough gig huh?

From Portugal to the south of France.

Hopefully this will give Adu more playing time and allow him to develop as a player in the European game. Granted his new club, AS Monaco, is in Ligue 1 the French top flight which is not necessarily the cream of the crop of Europe but hey, would you rather take Newcastle, England in January or Monaco?

No it's not some sort or Nostradamus prophecy except for this: on this day the Technical Director, also known as the TD, in the TV truck will throw his hands up in the air because he will not be able to see the players on the field.

This TD will be in Knoxville, TN as the Oregon Ducks and their lightning yellow uniforms take on the cheese orange uniforms wore by the Tennessee Volunteers.

Meanwhile, the Tennessee mascot Smokey will be attacking the Oregon Duck mascot in a vain attempt to re-create a hunting dream by the bluetick coonhound.

Starbucks announced that they are going to close 600 stores nationwide. Now, the company that people complained about and protested is now seeing campaigns pop up around the country to "save" it's stores.

According to the Wall Street Journal people are calling, writing letters, and even starting petitions to save their local Starbucks.

People! It's frickin' $4.50 coffee!

How Starbucks has become so embedded in our culture so quickly is a testament to them and their founder Howard Schultz whose come back and taken back over the CEO position in an effort to turn the company around.

It's all pretty strange if you ask me. I mean, would people be out there writing and calling the corporate headquarters of McDonalds if they closed a store? A Burger King was closed by my office. I didn't call or write a letter asking The King to "Save my BK!"

Folks let's try to remember that we are a capitalist society. Oil companies, airlines, and coffee proprietors are in it to make money NOT serve the public good.

Granted most of us don't turn into hairy beasts which is probably a good thing but strange things just happen. People become aware of all kinds of things like stop-lights.

I don't know, maybe I'm just nuts. Hell, I just spent the last 4 days promoting a show the wrong way and nobody noticed until today.

It's like sitting on a rocket going to outer space built by the lowest bidder. Makes you feel good doesn't it?!

But in any event, I think full moon's are appropriate for me. I've become a monster and I don't really have a problem with it. I feel no remorse. Pause? Yes. Regret? No.

I yelled at a member of my team today and I said "if you fuck this up I'll kick you're fucking head in." Not appropriate but he did it correctly. He didn't forget. I delegagated and it was executed.

I understand where I stand. I got a pretty good idea of who I am. Not always comfortable with it but I'll be damned if I'm going to lie or bullshit someone who works for me.

What it comes down to is this: There are two types of people in this World. Those who like Bobby Knight and those who don't.

I think he's a genius.

I was going through video on the DVR and came across an episode of Business Nation that aired on CNBC. It was on American Airlines and how they're fighting back against oil. Unfortunately they don't have the whole segment online anywhere that I can find which I think is just stupid but it's neither here nor there.

AA spends $500 million when airplanes are taxiing on the runway. Holy shit! They are finding all kinds of ways to save money by using less gas. One major way is by cutting weight. For example they swapped out those beverage carts with newer models that weigh 17lbs less. They're taking the paint off the plane and replacing it with decals which will also lower the rate.

This got me thinking. I read an article about F1 cars a while back and how light they are and how aerodynamic they and so on. Why doesn't Boeing and Airbus hire some of these folks to come along redesign lighter planes? Also, if they're charging for bags what's to prevent airlines from charging you on how much you weigh?

Think about it...

You way X then you have to pay Y. Is it discriminatory, yes but with the cost of flying rising so rapidly and less routes then that means some people won't be flying at because they can't afford it.

It's something to think about.

oh and by the way people, airlines are in it to make money not for the public good.

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Herb's Labor of LUV


Discussing stepping down as chairman, with Herb Kelleher, Southwest Airlines founder.

I have an event Saturday night which meant that the 4th was weigh in day (I get Monday off instead which is cool because I can get my oil changed). However, I woke up Friday and woke up late. Turned off the alarm, had a bad workout and had to run back to my house to grab my credential. All of this told me that I should have stayed in bed.

On the way back to Mandalay Bay a lady with her two sons asked if I knew where the Shark Reef was. Since it was the same direction I was headed I walked her and her kids over there. Very nice lady who was thankful that I took the time to help her out.

Later I saw this tree of a guy and after a few seconds I recognized him, it was Marcus Luttrell. He was the only Navy SEAL to make it out alive of Operation Redwing. He wrote a book about it called Lone Survivor.

He was very humble, very gracious that I took time out to read it. That was awesome because in the book he talks about why he wrote it and it's not for fame and fortune. He wrote it because he wants us to remember his three other team members who he had to watch die in the mountains of Afghanistan i.e. the ends of the Earth.

So even if my day wasn't all that great I did get to meet two very kind and gracious people. One a hero in her own right and the other a hero for not giving up.