Music denied -- shoppers overwhelm iTunes

Many iTunes shoppers were denied access or experienced slowdowns on Monday and Tuesday.

SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- Swarms of online shoppers armed with new iPods and iTunes gift cards apparently overwhelmed Apple's iTunes music store over the holiday, prompting error messages and slowdowns of 20 minutes or more for downloads of a single song.

Frazzled users began posting urgent help messages Monday and Tuesday on Apple's technical forum for iTunes, complaining they were either not allowed into the store or were told the system couldn't process their request to download songs and videos.

It was not immediately clear how many people were affected by the slowdowns, and Apple Computer Inc. would not immediately comment Wednesday on what caused the slowdown and whether it had been fixed.

Analysts said the problems likely were the result of too many people with holiday iPods and iTunes gift cards trying to access the site at once.

Traffic indeed was heavy over the holiday, with more than four times as many people visiting the iTunes Web site on Christmas than at the same time last year, online market researcher Hitwise said Wednesday.

Some financial analysts said the interruption could be viewed as a sign that sales dramatically exceeded the Cupertino-based company's own forecasts.

"It's actually created more positive buzz among analysts -- traffic was so great it blew up the site," said Gene Munster, senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray. "If anything it could be a positive -- demand was better than they were expecting."

Apple commands about 75 percent of the market for downloaded music, but could lose as much as 5 percent of that market share in 2007 because of increased competition from rival services, according to Piper Jaffray.

Dan Frakes, a senior editor at Macworld magazine and playlistmag.com, a Web site focused on digital music, said he and some colleagues were unable to access the iTunes store or received error messages when they tried to download songs early this week.

However, others breezed through the process hassle-free, and Frakes successfully downloaded songs again on Wednesday. He said the problem likely was not as widespread as the frustrated discussion group chatter might indicate.

"The store itself was working, there was just too much traffic," he said. "It's a good bet that most people were able to get through."

Analysts said they didn't anticipate a rash of iPod returns because of the delays.

"What you're seeing is the tremendous success of the iPod," said Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director with JupiterResearch. "No doubt it was a very, very popular gift, and no matter how well you plan on the server side of the equation, there are always times when you get caught short."

License plate scanners help find those with unpaid parking tickets

Catching parking scofflaws in San Francisco has become easier with the help of high-tech cameras that scan license plates in search of cars saddled with unpaid citations.

A city parking crew operating the new system can almost instantaneously find cars with at least five outstanding tickets. A two-person team roams city streets with two small cameras mounted atop their unmarked vehicle. The cameras can scan 250 or more plates an hour.

And when a match is made, the crew attaches a yellow metal boot to the front wheel, removing it only after the tickets are paid.

The city's Department of Parking and Traffic is giving the program a 90-day test run set to end in February. If it's successful, the program will be expanded. The system is also used to find stolen vehicles.

In San Francisco, a city notorious for its shortage of on-street parking, officials issue nearly 2 million tickets worth $85 million each year, a meaningful chunk of the city's more than $5 billion budget. About 8,000 drivers have accrued five or more tickets and are pegged as scofflaws.

Michelle McKniff was one of them. She found her car booted last week after eating brunch in San Francisco's Polk Gulch neighborhood.

"I almost cried,'' said the 28-year-old Oakland resident who works in San Francisco. "I just stood there and thought, 'Oh my God.' I couldn't believe it.''

She took a cab to the Department of Parking and Traffic's customer service center at 10th and Howard streets. There, she paid $635 to settle eight tickets for such violations as parking in an area during street-cleaning hours and improperly curbing her wheel. She also had to cover the $75 boot-removal fee. Her payment barely made a dent in the $6.1 million pile of outstanding fines on the city's books.

"I'm not saying I'm not at fault. It's just really hard to find parking in some neighborhoods,'' said McKniff, who sometimes works late at her internship in the Mission District and feels safer driving home than taking public transit after dark.

The city puts metal boots on almost 3,800 vehicles a year. Officials hope to increase that by at least 9 percent if the license plate-scanning program is fully implemented.

On one recent afternoon, parking control officers Bill Self and Robert Louie, both 11-year department veterans who work the scofflaw squad, rolled through the streets in their camera-equipped vehicle. When they scanned the plate of a car with more than five unpaid tickets, an electronic ping sounded and a photo of the license plate appeared on a dashboard computer screen.

A different alert sounds when a stolen car is identified.

Each time the crew got a hit, they called in the license plate number to a dispatcher, who checked city and state records to verify the unpaid tickets or stolen-car status.

"The last thing we want to do is boot a car that shouldn't be,'' said James Lee, assistant director of enforcement for the Department of Parking and Traffic.

On Washington Street in Pacific Heights, three cars were found on the scofflaw list, including a Porsche sports car.

"Seven outstandings, $675,'' the dispatcher confirmed over the radio as the Porsche owner showed up.

"Your car has to be immobilized,'' Self told the man. "You have seven outstanding tickets.''

The man whipped out his wallet and tried unsuccessfully to pay on the spot. He'd have to pay his boot-removal fee in person at the South of Market customer service center.

The boots are supposed to be removed within two hours after the fines are paid. At one point in their shift, Louie and Self removed a boot from a Mazda and turned around and clamped it onto a Mercedes -- 13 citations, $730 in fines -- parked right behind it.

San Francisco isn't the first city to use the license-plate scanning technology. Oakland uses it to find stolen vehicles. San Francisco just added the stolen car data to its system last week.

The system isn't perfect. The cameras don't capture all license plates because some are tilted at the wrong angle or too dirty to read.

The cost of software and equipment for one of the specially outfitted Department of Parking and Traffic vehicles is about $92,000, Lee said.

The company that holds the ticket-processing contract with the city, ACS Inc., is paying for the test phase, according to Maggie Lynch, spokeswoman for the Municipal Transportation Agency, which runs the Department of Parking and Traffic.

When Louie started out as a parking control officer in 1995, he relied on printed handouts -- sometimes 20 pages long -- that listed thousands of vehicles with unpaid tickets. In recent years, the data were stored on the handheld devices parking control officers punch in license plate numbers every time they write a ticket.

"That still takes time,'' Self said. "This new technology will make our jobs a lot easier.''

Picture gets clearer for cellphone camera users

The industry improves photos' quality and makes it easier to move them to a PC or printer.

By James S. Granelli
Times Staff Writer

December 28, 2006

At a recent meeting, Claudia Brent and some acquaintances wanted to see pictures that one of them had snapped of his paintings on exhibit.

So the artist passed his cellphone around the room.

"Five or 10 of us began clicking through the photos on his cellphone," said Brent, a Rochester, N.Y., law office manager.

Camera-equipped cellphones are catching on as an alternative to the standard camera, turning users into citizen journalists or instant historians. Just ask actor Michael Richards, whose highly publicized racial rant during a stand-up comedy routine was caught on a cellphone video camera.

Yet more than half the customers with such cellphones either don't use the camera or don't do much with the photos they take.

Brent, a technophobe, managed to save a picture of her first grandchild as wallpaper on her cellphone. But for her, the camera was simply something that came with the handset.

Likewise, Rosemary Brinker, a senior clerk at Long Beach City College's career center, said the camera was "just there."

"Other people have taken pictures with my cellphone, and the pictures are still in there," said Brinker, who noted that she merely needed a mobile phone.

About 40% of cellphone customers have cameras in their handsets, according to a survey by Forrester Research Inc. But 30% of them never use the camera and 46% say the photos they take have never left their phones.

The chief reasons: The quality of photos taken with a phone isn't close to what a conventional digital camera can do, and the process for moving those pictures to a computer or a printer over the cellphone carrier's network can be cumbersome and costly, say analysts, carriers and manufacturers.

In the last year, though, the industry has stepped up efforts to provide better picture-taking technology and to make it easier to get the photos out of the cellphone and onto computers and websites.

Higher-end cellphones and so-called smart phones entered the market this year with 2- and 3-megapixel sensors and zoom lenses, comparable to digital cameras from a few years ago. And next year, handset maker Nokia Corp. plans to come out with a 5-megapixel, zoom-lens camera cellphone.

"We're just now starting to see image capabilities that capture truly great pictures," said Jon Mulder, product marketing manager for handset maker Sony Ericsson. "With a 3.2-megapixel camera phone, you can get an 8-by-10 printout with a fantastic image."

And people who don't want to use their airtime and don't want to buy data packages may be able to get those pictures to their personal computers or printers in other ways.

More phones are coming with USB cords and removable disks that enable users to bypass their service providers' networks and transfer photos directly to PCs, printers, hand-held organizers and other devices.

Some higher-priced phones also have a technology called Bluetooth that enables data to be moved wirelessly to nearby printers and computers that have the same technology.

A direct transfer is called side-loading, and carriers including Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA are encouraging the practice. Verizon Wireless typically blocks customers' ability to side-load data unless they pay for it, forcing users to use the network — and their airtime — to transfer pictures.

"A curious thing is that even with the unlimited [data] plans Verizon sells, you're still charged airtime for minutes of connectivity," Forrester wireless analyst Charles Golvin said. "I'm not sure how many Verizon customers know that."

Those with newer camera cellphones often are more active photo hounds.

"I take pictures every day," said Nellie McKinley, one of Brinker's co-workers at Long Beach City College. "I have four kids and two granddaughters, and I'm always sending pictures to my kids' phones or their e-mails."

For McKinley, having a camera on the phone she bought last year was essential, and she's planning to upgrade to a newer phone.

Another co-worker, Sida Chau, takes pictures every day with her BlackBerry smart phone, often looking for things that seem surreal to her, from accidents to ordinary events. "I'm really into technology," she said.

Camera cellphones seem to be particularly popular at concerts and sporting events, where "it's insane to watch how many people are sticking their arms out taking pictures," Nokia spokesman Keith Nowak said.

Those who use cellphones for taking pictures are often a different breed of photographer, industry executives say.

"We've gone from the camera as a novelty on the cellphone to a camera enabling social networking," said John Holstrom, director of mobile software applications for handset maker Motorola Inc.

"People are starting to capture daily occurrences — a day in the life of — and sending the photos in real time to family and friends or uploading them to blogs," Holstrom said.

For all the technological wizardry, barriers still exist, said John Clelland, senior vice president of marketing for T-Mobile.

"It's not easy. It's not intuitive," he said. "It's often difficult for people to figure out what to do with the photos."

The first camera cellphones required as many as 20 keystrokes to take, store and send a picture, Clelland said. Now, most of those steps have been eliminated.

Typically, the default option is to send pictures through multimedia messaging, called MMS. But that limits the size of photo and video files to 300 kilobytes, so others see only a thumbnail version.



Users can send larger versions — which offer better resolution — by e-mail, although people with older phones still may have to go through a number of steps.

"The easier we can make it to transfer photos, the more people will use the cameras," Holstrom said.

Cingular Wireless spokesman Art Navarro said the goal was to make cellphones as robust as possible, without making the photo transfer process "so complicated that it turns off the customer."

On some newer phones, customers can set up a default e-mail address or website so that only one or two clicks are needed to send pictures or video. Carriers also offer photo storage websites.

Free software from companies such as ShoZu Inc. can be downloaded to cellphones and set up to send photos or videos — with one push of a button — to a variety of places, such as e-mail addresses, websites, blogs and social networking sites such as MySpace.com.

Although ShoZu is gaining popularity for its simplicity, the easy way to avoid network charges is to use the USB connections that come with many phones, including Sprint's Fusic handset and T-Mobile's Dash.

But even the simplest technology often has a minor twist.

To use the USB cable on the Fusic, for instance, customers have to go to a setting that disables phone calls and enables the connection to their PCs. Once connected, though, it's a simple drag-and-drop from the cellphone's picture folder to the computer.

On the T-Mobile Dash, which also allows unlimited calls and messaging to five people on any network, users must first download a free Microsoft program to their computers before the USB cable will work.

The Dash also has an advantage over nearly all other phones. It can connect to T-Mobile's 30,000 Wi-Fi hot spots worldwide, as well as to free Wi-Fi hot spots, for super-fast Internet connections at no extra cost. At that point, customers are off the carrier's network, so no other data charges apply.

Dash customers send 50% more photo and video messages than other T-Mobile customers, T-Mobile's Clelland said.

Like many services for cellphones — such as ring tones and mobile television — revenue from the use of cellphone cameras lags far behind revenue from voice calls, but it is growing quickly.

"Five years ago, data revenue was closer to 1% to 3% of total revenue for Verizon Wireless," spokesman Ken Muche said. "In the last quarter, it was 13%."

Although handset makers are putting cameras in nearly all cellphones, they aren't putting them in some very low-end models or in certain high-end handsets used by some companies.

Alberto Galvez, for instance, uses a Treo phone from Palm Inc. to take pictures of job sites, which the sales engineering agent later uses in his reports.

But some companies, he said, require him to leave his cellphone in his car because they want to guard against anyone seeing photos of the proprietary processes in their plants.

"It's a hassle sometimes because when I need a phone to call my office, I have to find one of their landlines to use," Galvez said.

Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2006

Where "Check Please" is Your Call

At a new breed of "Robin Hood" restaurants, diners pay what they can afford -- and what they think the meal is worth

Restaurateur Denise Cerreta at her cafe in Salt Lake City, UT, One World Cafe, where customers are invited to barter and pay what they think the meal is worth.

By PETA OWENS-LISTON

Deciding between the spicy peanut stew and the pesto chicken, or the squash soup and the avocado, chicken, lime soup, are not the only decisions tempting patrons at the One World Caf� in Salt Lake City and the SAME (So All Might Eat) Caf� in Denver. They must also decide what the meal is worth.

These pay-as-you-can cafes have missions that are unapologetically altruistic—call it serving up fare Robin Hood style. "Our philosophy is that everyone, regardless of economic status, deserves the chance to eat healthy, organic food while being treated with dignity," explains Brad Birky, who opened SAME with his wife, Libby, in October. Customers who have no money are encouraged to exchange an hour of service — sweep, wash the dishes, weed the organic garden — for a meal. Likewise, guests who have money are encouraged to leave a little extra to offset the meals of those who have less to give. "We're a hand up, not a hand out," says One World owner Denise Cerreta, who prides herself on the fact that everyone can afford a meal at her caf�.

An epiphany scribbled out on a cocktail napkin on a plane ride gave birth to SAME caf� (www.soallmayeat.org). Both Brad and Libby had been searching for a meaningful way to give back while making a living. Admitted volunteer junkies, they had been serving and eating with homeless shelter residents for the past eight years. "We loved the service aspect of giving to the community and attacking the issue of hunger," says Brad. "Plus we both love to cook." When they found out about One World, they flew to Salt Lake City to learn how it was run. Cerreta, in turn, spent a month helping the Birkys prepare for opening. One World has had more than 25 inquiries from others around the country interested in starting a similar caf�. Recently, the caf� formed a nonprofit www.oneworldeverybodyeats.comaimed at helping others replicate such a venture.

The cafes' clientele is as diverse as the from-scratch buffet-style dishes. Attorneys and CEOs, students, seniors and soccer moms, as well as those down on their luck are among the 150-200 customers that dine daily at One World. Sniffling from a cold, Mike Dega, an environmental engineer, came in looking for comfort food. "I feel like I'm getting a whole new set of nutrients here as opposed to processed food—plus all the spices and flavors here are a real turn-on."

The caf�s' business models have won fans among the city's well-to-do residents, many of whom regularly dine there. At One World, patrons have given Cerreta a car, bought new dishes, arranged to professionally clean her carpets, supplied new tile for the restaurant bathrooms, and donated property for an organic garden and funded a new irrigation system for it. Last week, a gentleman left a $50 bill next to an empty bowl of soup at SAME. Since opening, one man has regularly come in and left money on the counter without eating, stating "I was blessed today so I though I'd pass it on." He's homeless.

Because customers decide on their portion sizes and the fact that most of the food is fresh (as opposed to stocked), very little food is wasted. At the end of the day at One World, only one garbage can needs to be emptied. "I can come in here and eat a ton after a (construction) shift for lunch and pay what I can, and then my mom, who eats a lot less, can just get the amount she wants and pay what she feels is fair," says regular Justin Wood, 25, who is sipping coffee and eating dessert with his mother on a Friday afternoon.

Paying the check by honor system has its risks; there are always those who will exploit the opportunity and eat for free — perhaps more so in big cities. At Babu, an Indian restaurant in New York City, the pay-what-you-feel-is-fair method resulted in too many people getting a free meal. One Friday night, a rowdy group of 10 young Indians walked in and took over the restaurant's large central table. Their response to no prices was to leave no money; not even a tip for the wait staff. Babu now states their prices. Birky at SAME has yet to notice anyone not paying. And Cerreta has had to approach only a few people, including one group of diners that paid nothing over several visits. She pointed out that by not paying they were stealing from her. They ended up contributing.

Deciding what to pay can give some diners indigestion. So Birky suggests they consider three things: How much did you eat? How much would you pay for that elsewhere? And what is fair to your own budget?

Once you're satisfied with the prices, the brie, cranberry and chicken pizza will taste even better.

Seeing the green light

HGTV's new reality show features Ed Begley Jr. (environmentally strict), his wife (less so) and information on saving energy.

“Living With Ed’s” Rachelle Carson and Ed Begley Jr., who says, “We don’t want to preach to the converted. We want to reach people who maybe just want to save money.”

By Charlie Amter
Special to The Times

December 27, 2006

Ed Begley Jr.'s wife, Rachelle Carson, was freezing inside the couple's 1,700-square-foot Home last week. "He's like the Marquis de Sade," she said of her energy efficiency-minded husband, who refused to turn on the natural gas despite plunging temperatures inside the Begleys' Studio City house. "What about the warmth that I'm sending you right now, honey?" Begley asked. Carson smirked, and then embraced her husband.

Welcome to life at the Begleys. Next month, HGTV's new reality show "Living With Ed" (sneak preview, Monday at 1 p.m.) will chronicle Begley's often extreme environmental rules, which sometimes impede his actress wife's desire to live more like her Hollywood peers.

In the pilot episode, for example, Begley times Carson with a stopwatch during what he considers a lengthy hot shower, reprimands her over not recycling properly and lectures her on how to save energy.

While the premise sounds gimmicky, the show rarely becomes mired in petty arguments between the two. HGTV executives are hoping Begley's personality, coupled with energy-saving tips on how to have a truly "green" home, will turn into a reality hit next year.

"Ed is so green, and green seems to be an increasing part of the national consciousness," said Andy Singer, vice president of original programming at HGTV.

"Living With Ed" is the Nashville-based cable network's first celebrity-driven project, and subsequently HGTV is pulling out all the promotional stops next month. "What's paramount to HGTV is that viewers learn something from our show," Singer said. " 'Living With Ed' is a docu-soap, but you are getting information on how to live green through watching an entertaining show."

Indeed, the show and its corresponding website offer tips for aspiring eco-friendly homeowners, including simple tricks like using fluorescent lightbulbs and more esoteric ways to save energy.

"This seemed like a good outlet for me because it's entertaining," Begley said of "Living With Ed," which he was initially reluctant to do. "How else are you going to get people's ear and get them to maybe try a solar oven or start up a compost bin?"

Begley said he and Carson have essentially been doing the show for years whenever guests visit their modest home.

"We can't help but do our 'Bickersons' routine when people come over," he said, "but will others find it funny? I don't know."

HGTV apparently found them funny enough to order an initial six episodes of the show, and already is keen on ordering more if "Living With Ed" performs well.

For now, Begley and Carson are excited to have the opportunity to reach viewers with their pro-environment message.

"Everything that I've done since 1970 has been not just good for the environment, but it's also been good for my bottom line," said Begley. "It will be great to reach the environmental crowd, but we don't want to preach to the converted. We want to reach people who maybe just want to save money."

Of course, it's not as easy as it seems for the layman to boast a $600-a-year electricity bill like Begley's — it takes big cash up front to shell out for the expensive solar panels that are hooked up to batteries in his garage. But once he starts talking about solar energy, it's easy to see why stars such as Larry David, Cameron Diaz, Gwyneth Paltrow and Leonardo DiCaprio call him for advice.

"I'd say we're about 90% solar," he began, as he gestured to a cluster of 117 60-watt panels positioned on his roof. "When I was single, my electricity bill was only about $100 a year."

Carson rolled her eyes, no doubt having heard her husband say that many times since they wed in 2000.

Solar power isn't enough for Begley, who can't resist an illustrative power-saving device that makes up a key scene in the pilot episode — people-powered toast.

Begley pedals furiously on his stationary bicycle in the first episode of "Living With Ed," to make his morning toast. The bespectacled thespian is keen to show just how simply his daily workout generates the amps needed to power his toaster.

"All panels lead to the batteries ... the batteries lead to the inverter," he points out.

"The inverter then turns that DC power into AC. Because I have these batteries, I hooked this right up to my stationary bike," he says.

"This puts power into the plug down into the batteries. To make toast takes two minutes. I generate about two amps at 120 volts, so you figure about 15 minutes on the bike to make toast."

Somehow, Begley doesn't come off as holier-than-thou during the reality show — no small feat given his near-perfect energy efficiency that precious few Americans can match.

"I don't curse the darkness, I light the candles," he said. Begley himself never asked for the role of an environmental hero. He said: "I don't know if it's trust, or just that I appeal to common sense. I try not to focus too much on the environmental impact of it. I generally say things like, for example, 'You're going to save money right away with a compact fluorescent bulb and here's why.' "

Carson, who doesn't share the same level of enthusiasm for the environment as Begley does ("I have things to do during the day," she said), offered up a sincere "I haven't heard you say that in that way before, honey — that's good!"

"My God ... praise from my tormentor ... now this is exciting," said Begley.