I’ve just completed ‘my’ first Podcast. Before I say more about that, allow me a moment to rail against the word “Podcast.” In doing so, I open a can of worms (nearly a pun, in this context). After all, language isn’t as logical as many would like to believe, being the most human of practices. I know: A crow can describe the type of gun a hunter carries. Still, a million monkeys would not come up with “Podcast.” (God bless them.)

Some will see in my resentment of “Podcast” roots in my OS orientation. Indeed, a problem with Podcast is that it stems from iPods, the viral product that revivified Apple, which used to be a computer company. My hat is off to iPple for making the recording and distribution of audio and video accessible to the masses. While Podcasts are to blogs what TV is to literature, it is all part of liberating and empowering us to reach each other.

But “Podcast”? pLease! My recent experience didn’t involve an iPod at any stage — how is it a Podcast? Talk about branding. If only Apple could get us to write it as “Pod©cast,” or some such variant.^* It’s as if we all started calling handkerchiefs “Kleenex.” Good for a corporation; bad for a culture.

Understand, the main reason Apple has such a small niche of the computer market is that Apple products are expensive. They remain expensive because Apple has an iron grip on its products. Every CEO and petty dictator wishes for Steve Jobs’ power, especially over the masses. Whereas Microsoft is largely a software company that also sells hardware, Apple is a hardware company that also sells software. iPhone and iTouch are simply the latest examples.

I get the pun: broadcast –> Podcast. He-he. I have no problem with awkward language, like the word awkward itself or “blogosphere.” But “blog” is not a product like “Pod.” That capital “P” represents what disappoints me most about consumers. We are sheep. We are dim-witted animals slopping at the corporate troughs, squealing our delight at any swill thrown our way. Don’t like my analogy? Corporations clearly see us that way — just examine advertising.

It is the most Orwellian development that Apple, the subversive company bringing power to the people in the face of the Evil Empire (Microsoft), is really just Sharper Image. Mind you, I don’t object to the mass-production of expensive toys for the rich and wannabee rich. But people shopping at Sharper Image don’t think it brings “power to the people!” Apple customers have morphed from “cool” to “tool” without even noticing. Moreover, by convincing people that consistently buying one brand sets them apart — that Apple is cool, not corporate — puts Apple right there with Starbucks, Nike and the Republican Party. Now, go put on your iBlinders and jack back into the Matrix — Apple needs you. mjh

PS: Peace and love to all my Mac friends. I know you’re cool with a little bear-baiting. You joined the revolution in the garage days. (Apple II, anyone?) Only the newbies are tatooing corporate logos on their souls, right? It’s our corporate overlords I’d like to irritate. Don’t be their shills in the comments section.

PPS: Oh, yeah, that ‘Internet-based audio interview’ was with Benson Hendrix at UNM. The 37 minute file can be found at https://www4.unm.edu/unmlive/?p=34. There is hardly any corporation- or consumer-bashing in it (dude, I’ve got books to sell) and we didn’t have time to discuss Geek Culture.

^*My buddy, cko sent me this link to a letter in which an Apple attorney renounces any claim on “podcast” and uses the lowercase form. OK — I retract the assertion that Apples wants podcast capitalized. Then why would anyone capitalize it? Respect? Deference? Slavish devotion? I don’t know. I dislike the word “podcast” almost as much as “Podcast,” but maybe I’ve been unfair to Apple. (Aw, look at that cute little corporation!) Perhaps iPple does “Think Different.” (That error is another entry.)

It’s very cool to see abqjournal highlight Merri’s efforts as Bernalillo County Probate Judge. In her years in office, she and her staff have taken on twice as many cases as in prior years. The court serves the general public and attorneys more effectively than ever. Never one to stop, Merri has more plans for the court in the years she has left in office.

Term limits will do what no opponent dared: boot her out of office in 2010. She’ll leave behind a great staff and model court. mjh

PS: Merri writes about probate matters every other week for abqjournal. (For a pittance, especially considering the effort and craft.) She recently wrote very movingly about her friend and mentor in Remembering Justice Pamela Minzner

ABQjournal Opinion: Probate a Little Easier

A death in the family is always painful, and any effort to ease the survivors’ burden is welcome. The Bernalillo County Probate Court is making just such an effort, with a new electronic system that makes it easier for family members to follow the progress of an estate through probate.

Instead of trekking up to the sixth floor of the county office building on Civic Plaza to check documents, or making repeated telephone calls to the court for information, members of the public can now make online searches at www.bernco.gov/probate.

Probate Judge Merri Rudd and her staff are to be commended for making a difficult process just a little easier for folks.

ABQjournal Metro: Old Probate Files Go Online
By Scott Sandlin, Journal Staff Writer

Say you are a beneficiary of your late uncle’s estate, and so is your brother— the one you’re not talking to.

You want to find out if the probate case has been filed.

Help is just a few mouse-clicks away, at a new online search feature of the Bernalillo County Probate Court, www.bernco.gov/probate.

The electronic case lookup is an innovation of Probate Judge Merri Rudd and her staff, allowing the public access to docket information on all cases filed between 1978 and now.

Bernalillo County is the only probate court in the state to offer online dockets— fittingly, because the biggest caseload is in the Albuquerque metropolitan area. The court handles more than 400 cases a year, almost double the number since 2000.

Rudd said people now can type in a name to find out if a case has been filed for a particular person— known as a decedent— or conduct more general searches on which cases were filed in a given month.

The latter function may be especially useful for creditors who need to file a claim against an estate.

Family members will be able to track the progress of a case already filed, or see if it has been filed at all. Rudd says she has dozens of calls daily from individuals wondering if a case has been filed.

Genealogists also will be able to research family histories.

Copies of the actual document still must be obtained in person at the Probate Court, on the sixth floor of the county office building on Civic Plaza downtown. They’re 50 cents a page.

Rudd, one of the few probate judges statewide who is also an attorney, has been active in reaching out to the public to explain the probate process. Her office has published free brochures on topics related to probate, including a court overview, duties of the personal representative, making claims against a probate estate, what constitutes an heir and what is real property in the probate context. She also writes a column for the Albuquerque Journal business section, helped devise do-it-yourself forms for probate filings, hosts a television show on GOV-TV, Channel 16 and has spoken to hundreds of groups about probate.

She also performs weddings.

The essence of probate is this: A dead person can’t transfer title to property. That means if someone dies and has title to property in his or her sole name, a personal representative must be appointed to represent the estate and handle the property.

The actual size of the estate doesn’t determine whether a case is filed in Probate Court or District Court, which also has jurisdiction over probate matters. Contested cases and other formal proceedings always go to District Court. Probate Court is for informal, uncontested cases.

Bernalillo County funded the case lookup system out of general funds for roughly $10,000 total, and ICON created the software. Now the office is turning to the task of making filings back to 1950 available.

Rudd, who by statute is a part-time elected official, oversees a historic domain. Among documents in the Probate Court files are documents in the flowing, lyrical hand script— and early typed documents— dating back to the late 19th century.

The oldest document in the probate file dates to Aug. 20, 1860. It is a handwritten household inventory, listing bees, chickens, rabbits, tame horses, oxen, burros and saddle blankets.

The owner also lists a house, worth $150, and land worth $13.

All politics is local (so said Tip O’Neill). New Mexico’s local politics are attracting national interest. I recommend Chris Cillizza’s The Fix (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/) as daily reading for all political junkies. I’ve highlighted two recent snippets below. mjh

The Fix Archive: Senate, By Chris Cillizza

N.M. Senate: Pearce’s Entry Sets up GOP Primary Clash

Rep. Steve Pearce (R) will run for the New Mexico Senate seat being vacated by Pete Domenici (R) and will announce his intentions in an letter to supporters tomorrow, according to sources close to the congressman. Pearce joins Rep. Heather…

By Chris Cillizza | October 16, 2007; 02:59 PM ET | Comments (3)

N.M. Senate: Another Democratic Opportunity

Sen. Pete Domenici’s (R-N.M.) retirement creates another major pickup opportunity for Democrats in 2008 as the state has been trending toward their party of late and the bench of candidates is deep. Democrats could barely contain their joy at the…

By Chris Cillizza | October 4, 2007; 02:14 PM ET | Comments (57)

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/senate/

The Fix Archive: House, By Chris Cillizza

New Mexico’s 1st District: Wilson’s Gone, Democrats Line Up

The dominos are starting to fall in New Mexico following Sen. Pete Domenici’s (R) retirement announcement late last week. The first major domino was Rep. Heather Wilson (R) who announced last Friday she would leave the 1st district seat she…
By Chris Cillizza | October 9, 2007; 09:45 AM ET | Comments (23)

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/house/

I don’t listen to the radio much any more, other than NPR. Consequently, I don’t discover new music as easily as I once did. I remember, as recently as 10 years ago, listening to a tune on the truck radio, desparate for the DJ to tell me its name. (So passe in the age of XM, etc.) About that same time, I had a flush of new music when a music video channel appeared on regular broadcast for a few months (The Box). Coincidentally, I saw a lot of Christian music videos then. Now, you gotta pay for JC.TV — word! More recently, there was Caliente, then Pepsi Música.

The Web has been most valuable to me in looking for music *after* I’ve discovered it elsewhere. That’s how I found Julietta Venegas after hearing her perform at the end of Escándalo. They didn’t have to introduce such a famous star, except for the benefit of yet-another ignorant American. I searched through a lot of Web pages for “que lástima” — an understandably common phrase — which was all I could recall from that haunting tune (“Me Voy”).

With this almost random process, it is unusual that I’ve been hooked in rapid succession by two very different tunes of late, both thanks to TV. (Thank you, TV, friend and secret lover.) First, is the tune played behind a commercial you’ve probably seen. The tune is “Stuttering” by Ben’s Brother of the UK. I was HOOKED by the first few seconds of that song. (I also like the animation of the commercial.) I tracked it down at www.myspace.com/bensbrothermusic .

Last night, flipping the channels, I was arrested by the very cool look of Aleks Syntek on Univision. I know, soul patches ain’t what they used to be, but that’s just part of his special amalgam. The tune was “Historias de Danzón y de Arrabal.” www.myspace.com/alekssyntek . mjh

PS: If you’re looking for new music similar to other music you already like, I recommend www.pandora.com. (My selections: http://www.pandora.com/people/info6955 )

PPS: I must be the only person on the planet who spent almost 15 years deeply into HTML and Web design *before* setting up a MySpace page. But, I’ve arrived: http://www.myspace.com/techeditor . (Don’t look for frequent updates, except as I run across other MySpace pages I like.)