Commentary by blog and social media consultant Josh Hallett on the use of blogs for public relations, media, marketing, communication & branding and from time-to-time the unsolicited opinion.
They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but I think people that say that haven't had their work ripped off. Recently my friends at cnp_studio found an agency that completely ripped off a web project they did. Sean writes about how BMW Marketing Consultants stole everything, images, HTML, CSS from a project.
They've contacted the offending party and they feel what they've done is perfectly fine. Nice. What would you do in a situation like this?
This morning after a meeting I visited the Apple Store in Orlando (Millenia) to check out the MacBook Air.....perhaps to make a nice impulse buy. I had not yet seen the machine up close, but I knew that it might be the deciding factor. The other major issue is whether my EVDO modem would work. I went to the store carrying my Sierra Wireless 595U to specifically check the fit.
Arriving in the store, all the Air's have a small USB security dongle. (Shown below) I pulled out my modem and the woman working at the front asked, "What's that?" I respond, "It's my EVDO modem, I need to see if it fits" Her response, "Sorry, you can't do that." Somewhat shocked I said, "Well, whether this fits or not determines if I buy one of these, can we temporarily remove this?" The response, "Sorry I can't do that." Somewhat amazed, I said, "Well then you just lost a sale." No response back.
No Air for me, and I was somewhat disappointed with the poor customer service and attitude of the Apple Store staffer.......it was a 180 to the typical experience.
Image by Tyler Howarth, used under CC
Download Zip File: Hyku-Gallery.zip (V 1.0)
Sample Gallery: Photos by Josh Hallett
While this blog runs on MovableType, I've had a few people ask if my Photography section was a blog and if the theme was available.
The photography section is run with MovableType, and the template is not that easy to export. With that I created a simple WordPress theme based upon it. It's a unique horizontal scrolling blog used to feature photos. In my case I have a Flickr account, but I wanted to draw attention to just a few of my photos, hence the sub-blog.
The theme is very basic, it doesn't offer comments or many other blog functions...it's mostly meant to use WordPress as a simple CMS to manage the display of some photos.
The easiest thing I've found to do is copy/paste the Flickr embed code for the image in the body of the post. The width of each picture element is designed for the medium size photo (usually 500 pixels wide).
Since you can't run multiple blogs off a single WordPress install you'll need to create a separate directory/install for a photo gallery. Of course you're free to hack around with this, edit the styles, etc. Enjoy!
How about a quick usability review? I'm trying to find out how much a single business phone line costs with Verizon. Watch this screencast to see how things turn out:
Maybe I'll just head over to Vonage....they list pricing right on the home page.
My friend Chris Gent hosted a Super Bowl party...big deal huh? Well when you construct a large screen outside your home and invite the neighbors over it's a bit different.
Brother's Brick reminds me that LEGO turns 50 today! I don't recall when I received my first LEGO set, but I think it's safe to assume that I've been playing with them for over 25 years. Thanks for the memories!
Recently the Vancouver Olympics debuted the three mascots for the Winter Games in 2010. The mascots are nods to the heritage of the region (no they're not Bob and Doug McKenzie). Of the three mascots I really like Quatchi the sasquatch.
The mascot selections are always controversial. Doug Haslam doesn't like them (along with many of the other previous mascots). While I agree with Doug that many of the previous mascots have been, how shall we say, unique. However, I like Quatchi.
Ah yes, the fun of searching for a Wii. Charlene Li recently posted her tips, but I have some observations:
Grandparents Always Win:
In my searches I have often found the 'opposition' to be grandparents, they have some significant advantages over the regular Wii-searcher
1.They're retired so they have plenty of free time to wait and search and wait.
2. If you watch Wal-Mart commercials, most of them work there, so they have the inside scoop on the next shipment.
3. Waiting is what they normally do at the doctor's office, so waiting for a Wii is 'fun'.
4. They're kinda cute and remind you of your grandparents, so you can't get mean with them.
5. They may be old, but they're crafty, remember they won WWII.
Where are Logistics and RFID?
The retail world is supposed to be digitized/automated/controlled/tracked, etc. Major retail chains brag about how efficient their systems are and the inventory control they command. Yeah right.
Call any store and they have no idea when any Wii's are arriving. "We get them when we get them." Really? That's the inventory control that made you one of the largest and most profitable retailers in the world?
Ask them how many 195/85 15H tires they have and they'll have an exact count though.
Find One?
Seriously did you find one? Buy it for me :-) Nevermind, I got one!
This post has been simmering for a while, but I just can't take it anymore. I was driven over the edge by a few things:
1. Todd's post of the state of 'practices' by some firms.
2. David's follow-up to that
3. Recent conference statements/events
Rant start//
Many times recently I've been sitting in conferences listening to 'experts' talk about various subjects. I've always said my definition of expert, especially when it comes to social media, is loosely defined as 'a few years ahead of you on the learning curve'. It's funny though that these experts were asking 'what is social media?' just a short time ago.
I sit in these conference session and I try not to be a Dave Winer and call out all the bullshit and look like an ass, but it has to stop. Some of us have been using Twitter to make our snarky comments, but the rest of the audience just sits and soaks up this knowledge. They don't know any better.
The other day at Executing Social Media conference in Atlanta, Paull Young reports that a speaker advocated that corporations edit their Wikipedia entries and insert links. Nice.
At the same conference a speaker used most of their time to pitch their product and subscriptions to their newsletter. Classy.
I've joked about making up simple little 'Bullshit' signs that we can hold up as a silent protest. Perhaps the speakers would see these and change course.
What to do? Ask your next social media 'expert' for some recent client projects they've developed. They don't have any? They've just been 'consulting' Nice.
Yes, you can still provide clients with a baseline of education without having much of a project base to draw from, but until you've actually run a social media campaign/project you just don't know it all. I'm not saying I know it all, it's a relative scale. If I say something you think is BS in a speech, call me on it, question it. Let's talk about it.
In the end the level of 'expert' and 'conference speaker/keynote' needs to be examined.
Rant over//
So what do we do? Start to publicly name the folks spewing BS and blatantly pitching audiences under the veil of an 'expert speaking'?
Ah yes, the SEO thing again. If you remember I was a bit critical of firms that start blogs for SEO purposes. Then Scott Baradell recently wrote a SEO-fueled post. Today I read this Web Worker Daily post about keyword optimizing your resume.
How far do things go? It seems the logical end would be to keyword optimize the names of our children. After all how will they ever stand out in the future job market?
If you name your child Steve or Karen you're condemning them to a lifetime of low page rank. My next child will be named Britney Guitar Hero Facebook or perhaps Google Mortgage Cheat Codes.
The trick is predicting what keywords will be hot in two decades. How about you, what's your child's keyword optimized name?
When you travel quite a bit things like luggage become really important. Especially if you never check bags. Serious travelers know that you never check bags. Not checking a bag has saved me a number of times.
I've been using my trusty Briggs & Riley carry-on for the past few years, but I'm really lusting after the new T-3 Ducati series from Tumi.
Nice. Anybody is free to buy this for me and send it my way :-) I'll let you know my address. I ended up buying it for myself right before Christmas :-)
I'm a big Oakely fan. I remember my first pair of Factory Pilot Eyeshades back in the 80's. I had yellow ones to match Greg Lemond's. Then there were the Frogskins, Razor Blades, the Iridium phase....ah those were the days. One of my all-time favorites were the original Sub-Zeros.
Today you'll find quite few Oakleys in my collection: 00, Why 3.0, Gascan S, M Frame, Zeros and Minutes. Also somewhat contrary to the often said line "If I bought expensive sunglasses, I'd lose them or sit on them," I've never lost a pair and when one pair did break I received a free warranty replacement pair from Oakley.
Checking out the Oakley site today I noticed a new 'Asian Fit' feature. I thought, "What is that?" Sure enough Oakley has a link that says, "What is Asian fit?"
Here is their explanation:
Getting the right fit is essential for comfort, protection, and even optical performance. You may have heard industry terms like “European Fit” and “Asian Fit”. If sunglasses tend to sit too low on your face or slide down your nose, touch at your temples or cheeks, or feel narrow at the sides of your head, try our Asian Fit. The tabs below show all the technology we put into making these frames fit with perfection.
At first glance the term 'Asian Fit' seemed a bit direct for me? What do you think?
Please accept this as my formal apology. Over the weekend our DSL modem from Verizon died. I asked my wife to call Verizon and see about getting it replaced. Once again I apologize.
I think the ordeal took most of her afternoon today, and it's still not resolved. To set the stage, the DSL modem does not power up. I swapped out power supplies and switched outlets, no luck. It's dead. We were also one of the first in our area to get DSL, something like 6 years ago.
She calls and talks to one person, then another, then another. I'm overhearing bits and pieces of the conversation. Here are some highlights:
- At one point the tech says, here is the issue, you might not have DSL service since you're not paying for it. My wife responds, "Looking at my bill, we're being charged $35 for 'Advanced Data Services'...." Oh yeah, that's it, never-mind.
- The tech asks, "Have you tried the other phone lines in the house?"....Hello, the modem is dead, changing phone lines isn't going to make a difference.
- Verizon says they need to test the circuit, can we plug the modem in. If you remember the modem is dead, not sure how plugging it in will help you test it.
- It turns out our DSL circuit is so old they actually need to upgrade it to get us a new modem. That's 1-2 days.
More updates as this story develops.
Walking around the toy store at Downtown Disney I ran into an old friend, Beaker, from the Muppets. Many old memories from the childhood :-)
Beaker was one of my favorite Muppets, along with Animal. Who is your favorite Muppet?
Update: The attack is over. E-mail is working now.
If you've tried to e-mail me the past few days you would notice that it's bouncing. My mail server has been under a DDOS attack since last week. At one point it was receiving about 4 million bogus connections per hour. Fun stuff. Luckily my host is very cool and has been helping out with things.
The question though is why me? There are some thoughts that it's a deliberate attack, or it could be that I was randomly selected. Not sure. Anyway it will soon be a week.
While I wonder how much e-mail I have missed, most of the people I deal with on a daily basis know how to reach me, i.e. jrhallett@mac.com or jrhallett@gmail.com.
My mail server is under a massive DDOS attack so it's somewhat difficult to e-mail me right now. If you need to reach me you can use jrhallett(at)mac(dot)com. Of course not having e-mail is also a refreshing break :-)
I'm a bit late on this since I said I would pick the winner on July 31st. Sorry about that, I've been on a half-vacation/half-work trip. On to the important stuff though....
First off, thanks to everybody that entered and shared their desire for the Helio Ocean. It's tough because no matter who I pick I'll end up upsetting somebody else. Looking over all the entries there were a mixture of appeals. Some folks expressed their desire for the device, other talked about what they would do with the device. Some were funny, others were sad.
In the end though one entry appealed to me and to a few other people. What I mean by this is a few friends e-mailed me to vote for one of the entries. Alan Gutierrez has a plan for what he wants to use the Ocean for and it's a good cause. Congrats to Alan and thanks again to everybody else that entered. If I had a few more devices I'd send them your way, but all I had was one.
I'll be contacting Alan to arrange for shipping.
Perhaps some friends could help out with some service :-)
Just about a week into my Helio Ocean giveaway, there are a total of three entries/links:
- Can a Brotha Get That Helio Ocean
- Putting Josh Hallett's Helio Ocean to Work in Hollygrove
- Consider this Poor PR Practioner
For a quick recap, I'm giving away the Helio Ocean I used for less than a month. You can get all the details here.
Also if you didn't read it, the Ocean now has MS Exchange support.
I've been debating about getting an EVDO card for some time now. A few weeks ago I bit the bullet and bought a modem and signed up for unlimited service with Sprint for $59.99/month. My quick review: Why didn't I do this months ago?
One of the things holding me up was form factor, specifically PC Card or Express Card. I worried that I'd buy a PC Card modem which is what my PowerBook G4 would need, then later I'd need to switch out to an Express Card if I ever upgraded to a MacBook Pro. A little while back I asked for some opinions on which EVDO service to try, Verizon or Sprint. One of the folks that commented was a Sprint EVDO engineer. He and I exchanged some e-mails and he provided me with a ton of good information. His suggestion was to go with the Sierra Wireless 595U USB modem, that way it would work with any machine.
While the modem does stick out a bit, when you think about it being one big antennae, it's better than a card that inserts in a card slot.
I've always been a Sierra Wireless fan. Way back in the day, 1999 that is, I had a HP Jornada 680 with a Sierra Wireless CDPD modem. With that little Jornada keyboard and a wireless modem I was a true nomad. I loved that device combo...but I digress. Looking over the cards offered by Sprint I was always going to go with Sierra Wireless over a Pantech or other device.
Installation on the Mac was easy, I just had to download the Watcher application from Sierra's web site. Some things never change. The watcher app had the same little card with wings like it did back in '99 when I used it on Windows CE.
So far the speed has been great and in some cases it's faster than my DSL at home...that's sad. Last week I used the card extensively at BlogPhiladelphia when the wifi was overloaded. I used EVDO to upload the majority of my photos from the event without any issue.
One of the cost justifications for EVDO is that you never have to buy internet or wifi in a hotel or airport again. In the past week I have found this to be true. I stayed at a Westin and a Raddison and in both cases I used only the EVDO (saving $20). I have also been to Houston and Atlanta airports and didn't need to pay for wifi (saving $16.95). Give me a few more days and I've paid for this month's worth of service.
Another factor is my virtual office status. I tend to work at coffee shops and other locations that offer wifi. This of course limited my choices since some of my favorite lunch spots don't offer wifi. I don't need to worry about this anymore.
Why didn't I do this months ago?
It's been a few weeks since my 8GB iPhone was activated after a bit of an issue. (I should note that AT&T contacted me regarding my activation issues and has credited my account) I've put the phone thru its paces and compared it to my two previous devices: a Blackberry Pearl and a Helio Ocean. I've been using the phone as a single-source device, i.e. it's replaced my existing Blackberry Pearl, 30 GB Video iPod and my iPod Shuffle on long trips.
Here are my thoughts arranged in a number of subcategories:
Form Factor
The phone is a bit larger than the Blackberry Pearl that I'd been using for the past 6 months. If you remember I debated about buying the Pearl since I knew that as soon as I did Apple would announce the iPhone...and they did. Previous to the Pearl I used a Blackberry 7290 so I was used to carrying a larger device. Going from the svelte Pearl to the iPhone was a change. However, even though the iPhone is larger than the Helio Ocean I used, it feels smaller. I chalk this up to Apple's industrial design. The phone just feels good in your hands. (Compare the three devices below)
My one fear is dropping the thing. After all, you are carrying around a $600 device. While my Pearl has survived a number of drops I don't look forward to testing this out with the iPhone. To offer some level of protection I purchased the snug-fitting Incase in dashing red. Some folks have said that the case is scratching their device but I have not seen this yet. Like any case though, it causes the dust and other 'stuff' to pile up. Be sure to take your case off often to clean it up.
Update We have a winner.
I have a almost brand-new Helio Ocean that I'm going to give away. I bought the Ocean to test out the device and Helio's service. I used the unit for almost 30 days and then cancelled the service. I loved the Ocean and if I didn't have a contract with Cingular/AT&T I probably would have stuck with it. The built-in GPS with Google Maps and IM clients are the real killer apps.
How can you 'win' this Ocean? Easy:
1. Write a blog post about why you deserve/want/need/covet the phone.
2. Link your post to this post.
3. I'll find your post via my Technorati watchlist.
4. I'll pick a winner
I plan to pick a winner on July 31st and ship the phone out a few days later. The 'quality' of the winning entry will be judged solely by me. Who knows what will win, a sob-story, a tale of geek-lust, we'll see.
If you want to compare the size of the Ocean to the iPhone and Blackberry Pearl you can check out this picture.
While hanging out with my son the other day:
Daddy, does IHOP have a drive-thru......why not, I'd love to get some pancakes to go.
If policemen are supposed to help us make good choices, why is that one smoking?
If that's where we recycle the aluminum, where do we recycle titanium?
I went to see Erasure in concert last night in Orlando. They're one of the core group of British bands I've been fans of since high school. The group includes Erasure, Depeche Mode, New Order and the Pet Shop Boys. However this was the first time I've seen Erasure live. Live footage from previous concerts shows that Andy Bell sounds as good on stage as he does on a CD. Standard cameraphone pic below. (Thiscubs4u has better shots from the Miami show)
I left the concert though with mixed emotions. It was a great experience to see them 'live' and Andy still has it vocally. To say that Andy is a bit flamboyant and plays to the gay fan-base would be a bit of an understatement. However, Andy is getting older and a little bit heavier.
I often found myself wondering what it would have been like to see them years ago, in full-form. In the early 90's I had the opportunity to go see them as part of the Wild tour. I didn't and I regret it to this day.
Related to my previous post on the Boeing 787 rollout....when I need 787 news I turn to Flightblogger. It's one of the best resources for news on the new Boeing plane.
Earlier this week Jon Ostrower posted that he had been granted media credentials to the rollout by Boeing. One problem though, getting there, as in cost. He needed to raise $900 in less than a day. Jon posted a donation link and asked his readers to help out.
As it turns out the readers of his blog did it. They raised the funds. As Jon writes:
I am sitting here with my jaw on the floor.I donated my $20 and am glad that things worked out for Jon. I look forward to his coverage.I owe you all a debt of gratitude. From those who gave a dollar or some who cleverly gave $7.87 and to those who gave larger contributions, I am eternally grateful for your support. I am awed at your generosity and your words of encouragement.
I have raised the money to be present with Boeing this weekend in Seattle to cover the roll out of the Boeing 787.
A quick reminder that the Boeing 787 aka Dreamliner will be rolled out this weekend, July 8th. If you can't be there, you can watch on DirecTV.
The adventure is over. After waiting close to 3 hours on hold for the 'Activation Support Line' I talked to somebody that could actually do something.
The rep said, "That should do it, your phone should activate in a minute or two....is there anything else I can do for you?" I replied, "If you don't mind I'd like you to stay on the phone till that actually happens." Sure enough the notification popped up, and it was done!
Now it's time to figure out what photos, songs and videos to fill this thing up with.
It's Monday morning and still no activation for my iPhone. I called shortly before 9 a.m. and stepped through everything again. This time the rep said it should be no more than 1-2 hours. If nothing happens I should call the Activation Support Line at 877-800-3701.
I just called the line and the current estimated wait time is 60 minutes. Good thing I have speaker phone :-)
For those doing the math it's been 64 hours since I started this process.
Over 48 hours after purchasing my iPhone I still do not have service. The most frustrating thing is the lack of clear information from AT&T. Here's a quick rundown of my situation:
- Friday 6:30 PM: Purchase iPhone and go home. Before I attempted activation I had a few errands to run. Big mistake. Many of the folks in line were talking about rushing right home and activating to avoid any of the problems that would surely overwhelm AT&T later that evening.
- Friday Evening: I plug in my iPhone and start the process via iTunes. Halfway thru I am told my account will not work, I need to call AT&T. I have been an AT&T/Cingular customer for almost 10 years. Even though we've had a family share plan for the past 4 years, one of the numbers on the account was originally a corporate number. That needs to be cleared. AT&T rep takes my number and says somebody would call me back that night. No call.
- Saturday Morning: I call AT&T and wait for over 90 minutes, eventually I hang up because it's Saturday and I have other things to do. I venture down to the AT&T store and ask them about this 'corporate' flag. The rep looks up my account and says that there is a note in the system that the flag is going to be removed, but it can take as long as 24 hours.
- Saturday Afternoon: I attempt to run the activation again on iTunes, it goes further this time. I eventually get the famous "Your Activation Requires Additional Time to Complete...." message. Things are looking up, or so they seem.
- Saturday Night: I call AT&T and check on the activation. The rep says they are running anywhere from 24-48 hours behind, everything else looks good though. Keep checking.
- Sunday Morning: I call AT&T and inquire again, the rep says everything on my account is provisioned correctly, it will still be 24-48 hours.
- Sunday Evening: Reading Rex Hammocks' note, I call the 'special' number he used. Turns out my account is not provisioned correctly, so WTF were the two previous reps looking at when they said "everything is provisioned correctly?" I spend almost 30 minutes on the phone with this rep rebuilding my order since the iPhone data plan and the SMS plan weren't on the previous order. Once again WTF?
At some point I am supposed to receive an order number, then I can call back in to check on things again. When will that be? The rep didn't want to give me a range since they didn't know. Estimate would be with 24-48 hours. (Gotta love those numbers now!)
So what will AT&T be giving me and the thousands of others to make up for this massive cluster F? Similar to what TypePad did last year, I'd like to see an e-mail from Randall Stephenson saying, "Hey we screwed up, what can we do to make it up to you? Would you like a free ( ) week, ( ) month of service?"
24 hours after my last update, I still don't have a working iPhone. I called AT&T and they said everything is provisioned correctly and that I just need to wait for the phone to activate.
However, I was told that activations are running anywhere between 24 and 48 hours behind. Great.
It's almost 10 a.m. and I am back on the phone with AT&T. I was told that it might take 24 hours for my phone to be activated. :-(
One benefit to living in Polk County, FL is that when something like the iPhone launch happens you can be sure to find 'smaller' lines here, compared to Orlando or Tampa. Across the US there were HUGE lines at Apple Stores, but for the most part AT&T Wireless stores fared a bit better. In my case, the Winter Haven AT&T store was the perfect location.
I arrived around 3:30 to find myself 13th in line. The first person in line arrived at 7 p.m. on Thursday, the second person said he showed up around 3 a.m. The one question on everybody's mind was, "How many phones do they have?" The other folks said that earlier in the day the manager had come out and said he couldn't tell them how many phones they had, but that everybody in line (at that time) would be getting one.
As scheduled the AT&T store closed at 4:30 for staff to prep. The manager came out again and reviewed the sales process and answered some basic questions about the phone. Once again he surveyed the line and said that everyone would be getting a phone.
The line slowly grew up until shortly before 5 p.m. That's when more people began to arrive. The store manager came out and handed out numbers to the first 30 people in line and said they would be allowing 10 people in at a time to purchase the phone.
By the time 6 p.m. rolled around the line was probably 40 people deep. With a slight amount of applause the store opened and the first 10 shoppers entered. As number 13 I was forced to wait outside for the next 15 minutes. During the time the manager manned the front door and fielded question from shoppers. He finally confessed that the store had a total of 60 phones. Of those, 40 were the 8GB model and 20 were the 4GB model.
I was let in the store around 6:20 and the played with the demo units while I waited for my number to be called. One thing to note is that the demo units are connected to the internet via wifi so they're very fast. Obviously the 'cellular' connection won't be as fast.
The selection of cases wasn't that impressive so I held off on purchasing one. Soon my number was called and I purchased my 8 GB unit and was on my way. As I walked out I showed the packaging to the rest of the folks in line.
Arriving home is when the fun began. I attempted to use the online registration system but received and error and was told to call AT&T. I called, waited 30 minutes and then was told they'd call me. Great. It's not 9:45 p.m. and still no call from AT&T.
I'll post an update when anything new happens.
In other coverage, Kyle Kennedy has a recap of some action in Lakeland, David checks in from Atlanta and Rex bailed in Nashville.
Dan Blank has a humorous look at the lifecycle of an iPhone owner.
Day 1: Total TranscendenceYou really need to see the illustrations though. It kinda reminds me of when I bought my Newton 100.
Day 2: Cognitive Dissonance
Day 30: Panic
Day 90: Buyers Remorse
Day 365: The Cycle Begins Again
I've been debating about getting EVDO service for some time now, but which one? While I am a Cingular/AT&T customer, their data network is sloooow. The obvious choice seems to be between Verizon and Sprint.
I asked some folks a while back and one of the main considerations was coverage. Well, in my area they are equal. Verizon and Sprint both have the major areas of Florida covered pretty well. I am a Mac user so that factors slightly into which card I might purchase, but I'm mostly concerned about speed and general ease of use.
Which one then, Sprint or Verizon?
I've been debating on whether I should sign-up for NetFlix or Blockbuster Total Access. I'm torn.
I was one of the original NetFlix customers from many years ago, back when they only had one distribution center and those of use on the right side of the country had to wait days for DVDs. Today, NetFlix has a distribution center in Lakeland, FL, less than 25 miles from my home.
However, Blockbuster has the in-store drop-off/pick-up thing which can help with impulse rentals. But then again I have never liked Blockbuster as a company :-)
Who do you use for your online DVD rental? Have any of you tried both services? Have an opinion you'd like to share?
Paul Stamatiou has posted his review of the Sprint UpStage phone. I have the same phone as part of the Sprint Ambassador program, and I agree with just about everything Paul has to say, with a few exceptions.
Here are my quick thoughts:
- It is super-thin and feels great in the hands. The rubber-ized covering reminds me of a ThinkPad X-series.
- The touchpad area is a real pain. It's constantly jumping around and canceling items I'm trying to view.
- While others say they have been able to get the UpStage working as a modem for a Mac, I have not had much luck.
- Paul doesn't think there is a market for the TV function, but don't tell that to my son. He loves Discovery Channel and Animal Planet. Both of those channels are on the 'Live' TV list and they are live.
- The flip gets annoying. The constant flipping back and forth to enter text makes me not want to use the phone.
On that last point, I think you really need to decide what you want a phone for (other than being a phone). If you want something with MP3 capabilities that perhaps can compare with the iPod then this is your phone. If you want something for texting and other 'business' communication then this is not the phone for you.
Looking at the stats the other day I see an inbound search for 'how to write a statement to the press' from Google. The number one result? My post on useless language in corporate press releases.
I wonder if the person doing the search took my post seriously as a genuine 'How-To' and wrote an honest release?
Am I the only one that looks at this LEGO Ludo set and thinks, Village People?
Perhaps it's the goatee on the first guy and the combo of stubble and tilted hat on the third. Add in the cop and you're almost there. The only one that doesn't fit is the race car driver.
It seems like I just wrote this headline, oh yeah, I did :-) Congrats to UF for winning the NCAA Basketball Championship, again, last night.
I did my time at UF from 1990-1995 and while I am not a ravenous fan, I do feel sorry for all those folks out there who have to work/live with the super-fans. You'll be hearing about this for the next month, year...or even decade.
Sprint has cranked up their Ambassador program again. This time they're sending out the new UpStage phone aka the Samsung M620. I received mine this morning (Saturday FedEx delivery!). A quick run-through confirms some of the stuff I've read: It's a slick package, but there are definitely some usability issues. Specifically, you find yourself constantly flipping the phone over to enter text/URLs and then flipping back to use it. I plan to play a bit more and post some other thoughts later.
A quick photoset of the un-boxing is here. As with the previous Sprint Ambassador program, users are given a phone and 6 months of service to evaluate the product/service.
This afternoon I stole away a few hours from working to attend the last Spring Training game of the season in Winter Haven, FL. The Cleveland Indians were playing the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays won, 6-2. The complete photoset can be found on Flickr.
It seems that every time I turn around Helio is launching a new phone. Dave has the details of the new 'Ocean' model. Not only is Helio launching some cool handsets, they're building in some great features and functionality. Looking at the phone it sort of reminds me of the SONY Mylo.
For some reason I was under the assumption that all inbound text-messages on Cingular were free, it was only outbound that cost...hmm. As a heavy Twitter user I was 'surprised' to see a nice 'addition' to my cellphone bill this past month :-)
For future reference, almost 800 messages costs a little over $80.00.
You should know by now I am a big fan of Plazes. But have you ever wondered what a plaze actually looks like? Well, here is a photo of an actual plaze from their Flickr photostream:
It seems like the trendy thing to do this year is 'Go Green'. After all, there was the big announcement on the Oscars last night that they're green. In order to jump on the bandwagon I will make every effort this year to 'go green' with my lawn. Currently my lawn is mostly green with a little bit of brown. I think with proper watering and some other attention it can be all green.
Wish me luck.
I've been looking at getting a small external drive for my PowerBook to store some photos. Are those self-powered USB drives any good? I've been debating between one of SmartDisk's tiny, Firewire-powered drives or one of the USB 2.0 models. Anybody have any suggestions?
GigaOm reports that Plazes has received $3.5 million in funding from Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures. I've been a user of Plazes for quite a while now.
Some people say, "aren't you afraid of people stalking you?" Not really, but you can always turn if off :-)
Valleywag has a post casting the movie: Pirates of Silicon Valley II. I wonder where they got that idea :-)
All kidding aside, it was nice to see somebody post a link in the comments to my Casting Blog the Movie post from 2005. I stole the idea from Entertainment Weekly magazine.
What's funny about the Valleywag post is that I have been working on a sequel...here is what I had so far:
Chris Messina - Andy Dick
Jeff Clavier - Gerard Depardieu
Nick Douglas - Chris Owen
Chris Pirillo - John Cryer
Link Love, it's a term you hear quite a bit in the blogging world. Your friend sends you an e-mail, "Hey man, give me some link love'. For the most part link love is a positive experience, after all you're giving somebody a link and that's a good thing right? But are there others kinds of links?
Andrea Weckerle and I have come up with some other variations:
Link-Let's-Just-Be-Friends - Somebody you know asks you for a link, you read the post and realize it's not that great so you don't link it.
Link-It's-Over - When you write a critical piece about another person then link their name back to their blog, guaranteeing that they'll find the post you wrote. This also involves dropping that person from your blogroll and RSS reader. Also known as a Link-Dear-John.
Link-Flirtation - When you link to another blogger in hopes that they'll link back to you. So, you blog here often?
Unrequited-Link - When the Link-Flirtation doesn't work and you're left all alone.
Link-Stalker - When you link a whole series of unique words in a sentence to a variety of different posts by the same author. Kind of like this. Serious Link-Stalkers will also link to other media, i.e. Flickr photos, videos, etc.
Link-I'm-Serious-It's-Over - When somebody feebly responds to your Link-It's-Over post you construct a detailed post with numerous links showing off how stupid they are. Also known as Fisking.
Link-Twitter - Rather than linking via your blog, you link in a twitter message, hitting a smaller, but perhaps more targeted audience.
Link-One-Night-Stand - When you get a bizarre link from a blog that doesn't really pertain to your blog, but it generates quite a bit of traffic for you. You often wake the next morning, check your Technorati links and stats and say, ''whoa, what the hell happened last night?"
Link-You-Don't-Call-Anymore - When you link to somebody that you haven't received any link-love from in a while. Sometimes you'll get a link/e-mail back saying, "Hey, I was just thinking about you."
Cheap-Link - When you link to somebody but don't really mean it and don't mention their name.
Dead-Link - Yes, this is a known term, but it still should be included on this list. It's when the item you link to is removed from the web and the link dies.
Link-Whore/Link-Stud - Somebody that constantly develops blog lists and daily link-blogs to generate traffic. Much like life there is a double-standard. Some people that do it are called 'whores' and are chastised while others are 'studs' and get rewarded.
Link-Prostitution - Getting paid to write blog posts with links in them.
Feel free to add your ideas in the comments
Updates:
Link-It's-Not-You-It's-Me - You finally get around to linking to something for a friend and apologize for 'not getting to this'.
Ralph, one of the whale sharks at the Georgia Aquarium died yesterday.
We were just at the Georgia Aquarium a few weeks ago (photoset here) and saw Ralph and the rest of the whale sharks.
Yes there has been plenty of iPhone talk today. I just wanted to point out to interesting things.
1. TIME has an article about the development of the iPhone. The article contains this choice quote:
Apple's new iPhone could do to the cell phone market what the iPod did to the portable music player market: crush it pitilessly beneath the weight of its own superiority. This is unfortunate for anybody else who makes cell phones, but it's good news for those of us who use them.2. Ethan Kaplan lists his Ten Unanswered Questions about the iPhone.
3. Stephen O'Grady gives his thoughts, which are...well thought out.
Figures, I waited and waited, then decided to buy the Blackberry Pearl, now Apple announces the iPhone.
What's that sound coming from June 2007? It's a few million Apple fans throwing away their Blackberrys and Treos. All kidding aside, I'll be one of the million people lined up to buy one of them. I know that David and Brian will probably be buying one as well.
Gotta start saving!
Update: Niall Kennedy has a photoset up of the iPhone at Macworld
Just to be clear, I have no plans to sell the domain, but it's an interesting topic.
To set the stage.....back in July of last year at a BBQ in Seattle an un-named Microsoft employee was talking about the domain acquisition market. One of the big factors is if the word is a 'dictionary word' or can it be found in the dictionary. According to this person a five-letter dictionary word might fetch six or seven figures. A friend of mine at the BBQ said I need to get the word 'hyku' in the dictionary and cash out :-)
I have had a few people comment on the fact that I have a four-letter .com domain name. The question remains, what is a unique, non-dictonary, simple four-letter .com domain worth?
Forget Sprout or Noggin, my 5-year-old son loves HGTV.
Over the break he was watching a show while we were getting ready to go out to dinner. I said, "We're ready to go, let's turn of the TV and go...."
His response? "Daddy, wait, I want to see how this bathroom turns out."
Last Friday I spent most of the day in Atlanta shopping for Christmas presents. During my shopping adventures I heard a few interesting lines:
Wife: This would be a great gift for the house.
Husband: Baby, the house doesn't need Christmas gifts.
Man to Woman: Honey, we're here to buy presents for other people, not just things for yourself!
I've been attending a number conferences recently and it never ceases to amaze me how many people have no idea how their laptop works. Specifically, I'm talking about how to connect a projector to your laptop.
If you're speaking and need to project something, spend some time and educate yourself on how to connect and mirror your laptop screen. You can try to feign confusion/ignorance, but if you're speaking at a tech conference it's hard to pull that off.
It's like showing up to speak with no pants on and trying to claim, "I don't know what happened, I just can't figure out my zipper, it worked fine at the office...."
Over the Thanksgiving break I saw the new James Bond film Casino Royale with Daniel Craig as the new Bond. I really liked the film and Craig's version of Bond. The emphasis on acting and not on gadgets or over-the-top action 24/7 was a great change from the past few Bond films.
Driving that last point home, Die Another Day was on TV this past Sunday. Watching that thin-plot/invisible car travesty made me really appreciate the new Bond.
I have been wanting to get a new cell phone for some time now. My trusty Blackberry 7290 from Cingular is just about dead. Unfortunately it's the standard 'new device just around the corner' waiting that's been holding me up.
For the last few months it's been the Blackberry Pearl. The Pearl was released initially on T-Mobile which does me no good as a Cingular customer. The T-Mobile exclusivity on the Pearl ends shortly so Cingular should have it soon, hurray!
It looks like i am going to wait a bit longer though. The rumors of the Apple iPhone are growing stronger and stronger. Will Steve announce the long-awaited phone at MacWorld in Jan '07? I certainly hope so, but we'll see. Of course the phone might be announced in Jan 07, but then it might not be available for another few months.
I guess to guarantee the release of the iPhone I should go out and buy the Blackberry Pearl when Cingular sells it.
Over the holidays I would briefly look at feeds and mostly 'save that one for later'. Here are a few of them:
- I always wondered what Thomas carried in his bag. Now I know.
- I guess I take good sign pr0n.
- Jeremiah thinks out loud about information architecture. I used to spend quite a bit of my time focused on IA work, but it was, how shall we say....boring. Like Jeremiah I also like to see more user-driven organization of content, but there is still a role for IA.
I set up my 5-year-old son with my old 12" iBook today. While giving him a quick overview of the Mac he asked, "Does this have a DVD player in it?" I replied, "No, it doesn't". He seemed to lose interest at that point.
For as long as I can remember I have never participated in any Black Friday shopping-spree. I would typically try to avoid anything commerce related on that day, even going out to lunch is a chore. For some reason though, this year I decided to try it out. Perhaps it was a morbid sense of curiosity. Now that my morning of shopping is over, I can say that it will be some time again before I venture out for another post-Thanksgiving sale.
The 2GB SD memory card for $30 at Best Buy looked like a good deal, and it was free of those annoying rebates. Almost three hours later, I think I should have stayed in bed.
I woke at 4 a.m. and then arrived at Best Buy at 4:45, huge line. The store opened at 5 a.m., I didn't actually enter the store till 5:30 a.m., the line was that long. I picked up my item, (luckily it wasn't one of the coveted cheap laptops or HDTV's) and then waited another 40 minutes to check out. Money saved, time lost.
The sad thing is, the same item will probably be available for less money and less wait closer to Christmas.
One thing I consistently heard from students on my college tour this week: I want a Mac! I must have had at least two dozen students say things like:
"Is that a Mac you're using, I want one of those"Walking around campus I observed students using Mac laptops everywhere (thanks to some great wifi). I remember back at UF in 1992 I was one of a few with my PowerBook 145. The Apple machine of choice seems to be the MacBook. It's the least expensive Mac laptop but still has tons of functionality. My step-sister wants one for Christmas...we'll see what happens there."I asked my parents for a MacBook for Christmas"
"I am saving my money for a Mac"
"I told my dad to buy me a Mac, but he bought me a PC, it sucks"
For students today, their lives are digital; so apps like iTunes, iPhoto and iMovie make all the difference in the world. Sure you can get iTunes on a PC, but iPhoto and iMovie are Mac only.
So if my recent experiences are any indication, it's time to buy some Apple stock.
I understand that businesses need to advertise/market themselves, but littering my neighborhood with signs (including one in my yard) is not the best way to win over customers. In fact, NY Pizza Baby just lost my business. I would normally rotate my pizza consumption around a few local stores, but NY Pizza Baby just got dropped from that list. Now I'll spend most my money at Pasquales or Dimagio's (both in Winter Haven) or Palace Pizza when I'm in Lakeland.
We've all seen these types of signs along the roadway. Typically they're advertising 'Cash for Houses' or some other fly-by-night operation. I guess that's what NY Pizza Baby wants to compare themselves to. Maybe that's why the owner is trying to sell it.
Update: The owner of NY Pizza Baby contacted me to say that the location that is for sale in Lake Wales is for a franchise only.
I've decided to start photographing (and posting) pictures of people wearing bluetooth headsets in stupid locations. A friend and I have had many a conversation about this. His standard line?
It's a phone, not an earring...take the damn thing off!The last straw for me was standing in the men's room washing my hands, guy comes out of a stall still wearing his bluetooth headset.
Golf anyone? I have a few extra weekly passes to the FUNAI Classic PGA golf tournament at Walt Disney World in Orlando, FL. The event is October 19-22nd. The badges are also good for the practice rounds earlier in the week.
If you're interested, leave a comment or e-mail me.
I received my Nikon D80 a few weeks ago and have been thrilled with it so far. This past Sunday was the first time I had the opportunity to really go out and play with it though. I posted a Flickr photoset from my play time. It's a variety of different shots including the standard flower shot.
I had heard horror stories about how Nikon would announce a product and then it would take weeks or months for suitable stock to hit the stores. Luckily this was not the case with the D80. I ordered mine in late August and had it by Sept 8th. It seems that most of the stores received their stock in the first week of September.
Up until a few days ago all I had was the basic 17-55mm kit lens that came with the camera. Yesterday I picked up a 70-300mm zoom, while I still wait on backorder for the 18-200mm VR lens that everybody raves/loves. The next purchase will be a straight 50mm 1.4.
I have also learned that megapixels aren't everything (which I had read just about everywhere when researching the purchase). I have yet to shoot anything on the highest quality settings.
I'm looking forward to playing more with the camera and then taking for a real spin at the Tour de Georgia and US Grand Prix in 2007. I might need to get this 80-400mm VR lens before the USGP though :-)
Update: As of Monday morning I am still not able to order anything. I called Amazon (well they called me via their callback system) and they also saw the error and are "Working on it".
Update 2: I gave up on Amazon and ordered from another site.
I've been trying to order something on Amazon.com since 10:00 AM this morning. Each time I 'Proceed to Checkout' from my cart I receive the standard error message.
What does it say about me (and our society) that I am frustrated about this. The stuff won't ship till Tuesday so it's not going to make a difference if the order is placed now or tomorrow.
Back in July of this year I relayed my story of attempting to be removed from Cypress Garden's e-mail list. Repeated e-mails and even a phone call to the park spokesperson Lynn Wright never solved the problem.
What's the lastest? I'm still getting the e-mails. The most recent one arrived yesterday.
I went ahead and ordered the Nikon D80 the other day. Indications is that it will ship sometime in September.
My dream set-up is the D80 paired with the Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens. All the reviews say the 18-200mm is a dream and a great single lens solution. But the lens is pricey. So I need to wait on that a little bit. With that I ordered the D80 with a basic kit lens (18-55mm) with hopes of buying the bigger lens as soon as possible.
Of course I'll be posting when the new gear arrives.
Update: Turns out that Ritz Camera has the D80 in stock now, I just ordered one and I am supposed to receive it on Wednesday (9/6). I still haven't canceled my Amazon order, but they still say their expected delivery date is Nov 13.
It's about time for a new phone. I was automatically going to just upgrade my Blackberry from the 7290 that I have to the new 8700c from Cingular. Then I started to think about dropping the Blackberry altogether and going back to a regular phone. Can it be done? I'm not talking about from a technical standpoint, I mean from the 'been-addicted-to-email-all-the-time' standpoint. Part of me wants to break that habit, but then part of me wonders if I even can.
This is just a small part of the lifestyle changes I talked about the other day.
Driving home last night I heard one of the new Match.com radio commercials. Just one problem with the commercial: Fuzzy Math.
The voice-over states, "There are now over 15 million reasons for you to join Match.com" or something like that. It goes on to say that by joining you'll be able to choose from these 15 million Match.com members for your next date. Wrong.
Let's assume that the gender breakdown of Match.com members is 50/50. Wouldn't most people only be able to choose from 7.5 million members? Even if you were gay/lesbian you'd theoretically still only have 7.5 million members to choose from. I guess Match.com assumes that we're all bisexual.
Stefan Kellner with Plazes sent me an e-mail the other day to let me know that they had updated the plazes badge that you can put on your site. It was nice to see the Plazes team reach out to the users of their product in a direct and personal way. I have updated the badge on my site and have included a version below. (It's a Flash embed so it won't work in most RSS readers)
Jeff Jarvis also loves Panera Bread. Over a year ago I wrote about why I choose Panera over other local restaurants. Wifi.
I live in a town called Winter Haven, FL - or Weiner Haven if you visit a local hot dog restaurant downtown:
Just a few random snarky things from the past few days:
How Not to Start a Conversation (from BlogHer)
Me -"Hi, what's your name"
Him - "I'm X, I'm soon to be famous from the book I wrote...."
You've Done This Before?
When a web development firm tells you they 'have blog software' and it's not one of the major platforms ask to see some examples of previous installs before they build anything.
Corporate Blogging?
Blogger is not a corporate blogging solution (unless you're Google).
Message to corporations with fancy phone systems that say, "To reach a specific person just spell their last name....." There is one big problem with this. Blackberry and Treo users don't have the standard letters on their tiny keypads. Some of the 7100-series Blackberrys do have the letters on the number keys, but none of the 8700, 7200 or 7700 series do.
I've used gadgets for a while, but I can't remember that #6 corresponds to M, N & O. Anybody else run into this problem?
Earlier this week I posted my camera dilemma. I was attempting to choose between the Canon Rebel XT and the Nikon D70s. Just when I was about to make decision, a friend said, "You know the D80 comes out in a week or two." Sure enough poking around on Engadget turned up some photos and a few specs.
Looks great, but the problem is I was going to buy something this week to photograph and event I am going to the following week. The release date for the D80 is Aug 9th, too late for my event. Ugh.
Update: The Nikon D80 has entered the equation
For quite a while now I have been contemplating buying a better camera, specifically a digital SLR. I don't have a Laughing Squid (Canon 5D) budget, but I want to get something good. For the longest time I was debating between the Canon Rebel XT and the Nikon D70s.
There are factors such as cost in the equation, but I don't have any existing glass so I can go either way. Seeking the advice of others in the past few weeks has elicited such tips as:
- What do you currently have? (answer: Nikon coolpix) Well then go with Nikon because many of the menus are the same
- What do your friends have? (answer: Canon dSLR) Well then go with Canon because you can share tips/tricks and perhaps lenses
Testing both cameras I am always discouraged by the overly plastic feel of the Rebel XT and that has swung me towards the D70s. Photographer friends say I should stick with Canon...but I don't like the XT's plastic feel...that now brings the Canon 30D into the mix. Yes it is more expensive than the two models I have been contemplating, but it is an investment of sorts.
Brian has the D70, Chris has the Rebel XT and Doc has the 30D? Any thoughts guys? Anybody else want to weigh in?
As a parent of a 4-year-old you end up watching your fair share of Noggin, Playhouse Disney and Sprout. In the past the majority of the commercials were kids-stuff, i.e. toys, cereals, fun-yogurt-type-things, etc. Recently though a number of 'adult-themed' commercials are in the mix. By adult, I mean commercials for debt consolidation services and stay-at-home business offers (read: pyramid schemes).
While watching one of the stay-at-home business commercials last week my son said to me, "Daddy, we need to visit that web site so I can buy a pool."
Obviously the firms are targeting parents who often watch these shows with their kids, but explaining debt consolidation to your 4-year old is like explaining a Cialis commercial.
Or perhaps there are thousands of toddlers deep in credit card debt that need our help.
While I was in Atlanta yesterday my PowerBook 17" started acting up and it officially died today when I got back to Orlando. It has been sent to Apple for repairs and I hope to have it back by Monday/Tuesday.
For now I'm working on the old iBook :-)
Walking by this store in Cocoa Village (caution: bad web site) I thought that Toby Bloomberg had branched out :-)
Jealous of Brian's constant blogging about schwag-goodness, I decided to sign up for Valleyschwag yesterday. I await my first bundle of convention floor giveaways.
Yesterday, as part of an ongoing practical joke war, a friend sent me an invoice via PayPal. He then e-mailed me and said that if I didn't pay, he would, "turn on the juice, 2 1/2 points per day".
That got me thinking about a great new revenue source for PayPal, loan sharks. They could invoice their 'clients' and then automatically charge interest (or juice as we call it on the streets). Of course PayPal would take their standard percentage off the top.
Here is a mock-up of the promo offer you'd see when you visited your PayPal account.
Then again, maybe loan sharks don't want too much documentation of their business dealings :-)
Look at what just popped up on eBay! It's a one-of-a-kind PepperRubel T-shirt signed by Steve Rubel and Jeremy Pepper.
From the description:
This is an amazing, one-of-a-kind item: it's the only t-shirt in the world that has been personally autographed by PepperRubel PR co-founders, Jeremy Pepper and Steve Rubel. This rare piece of apparel, with its 50-thread count and comfort contour cut, bears the beautiful PepperRubel insignia on the chest which is adorned on both sides with the co-founders’ loving signatures. On the back, running shoulder-length, reads the company’s popular slogan “We put the PR back in PR.” This is truly a collectors item, suitable for a range of PR industry professionals, like the aspiring blogger, the big agency sell-out or the disaffected vet. All the proceeds from this auction will go toward improving the alcoholic wellness of PepperRubel supporters around the world.
Bidding starts at $20, so get over there and start bidding.
Checking in to the PRSA Counselors Academy I received the standard 'bag of goodies'. One of the items caught my attention though, a can of Wolfgang Puck Coffee. You know the hi-tech self-heating can? The same one that has been recalled because they explode?
Joe said he'll make sure not to put it in his luggage when he flies back to Canada.
Steven Schwartz from Reuters is on stage at Syndicate. He's giving a good overview of what Reuters is doing with content/syndicataion but he keeps using the term value proposition. I know the business relevance of the concept, but as a customer/consumer/person that phrase means nothing to me.
What is version 2.0 of being dooced?
Step 1. Scott Adams of Dilbert fame uses your story about your boss/co-worker in his comic.
Step 2. A few million people read and laugh about your boss/co-worker in the Sunday paper.
Step 3. Bloggers everywhere search for the original source, just because it's something they like to do.
Step 4. Within two hours your identity is discovered and blogs everywhere say "X from Company X mocks boss/co-workers in Dilbert!"
Step 5. Five minutes into your Monday morning you're fired.
Step 6. Next Sunday's Dilbert mocks you for getting fired. (how meta)
If you are at a coffee shop/cafe using their wifi and find yourself sitting alone at a table for four during lunch rush, move somewhere else. Chances are you can find a two-top or a couch or a lounge chair to work at/in for a little while.
Thanks - The Management.
Over at China Law Blog, Dan Harris writes that China's state-owned telecom will soon launch a Redberry to complete with Blackberry. Dan notes:
I use my "crackberry" in China and it works beautifully. I also pay about $60 a month for international service. Press reports on "Redberry" have it costing around $1 (yes, one!) per month. Can one get international service on Redberry and use it in the United States?Wow, service for $1/month...that might just be worth having the Chinese government reading all my e-mail :-)
Sitting in Panera Bread I hear this sound....that sounds like nail clippers...it is nail clippers!!!!
Some guy is clipping his nails right next to me! Clippings flying around, some on the table, some on the floor. I had to get a quick photo of this. I give the guy 'the look' and it doesn't even phase him. I guess when you clip you nails in a Panera Bread not much will bother you.
Of course somebody vomiting takes the cake, but other than that what could be more disgusting than clipping your nails in a restaurant?
Reading over Paul Stamatiou's list of You Know You Go to a Tech School When... makes me wish I was back in school. We didn't have all that cool stuff when I was in school. Of course the world-wide-web did come along and change my life while I was in college. A few highlights from the list:
- You can see 47 wireless networks in your dorm when students are forbidden to have their own access points.When I look over Paul's list again I might be glad that I'm not in school now, because it would be hard for me to get anything done.- Class is always sidetracked when someone comments on the latest game and the professor actually has something to say about it, as he is a gamer too.
- When the professor does something crazy, like wear a weird hat from Mardi Gras, 10 kids whip out their camera phones to snap a pic. The photos can be found on flickr minutes later.
- Your professor and TA let you talk to them on AIM and give out their screen names in the course syllabus.
In the car yesterday my 4 year-old son was talking about becoming an astronaut. He asked, "what do I have to do, to become an astronaut?" My response was, "First you'll have to learn to fly a plane." His response:
"I don't want to have to go learn anything, I just want to go do it."
Is that good or bad? Good in the sense that he likes to learn by doing, so rather than tell him how to do something, he just wants to start playing. It's the built-in curiosity in him. Bad in the sense that it seems like the American way...why should we work for it, when we can just go do it?
I've slowly been adding stickers to my PowerBook lid as I collect them. This has caused my wife to say it looks like a VW bus. You'll notice one of them is a hyku sticker. I just had them printed up last week. As Ross says, stickers are the new business card. The 'hyku' is already showing up on some laptops. If you'd like a sticker just e-mail me and I'll send it out.
I have created a new desktop based upon a photo I took during my recent trip to the University of Florida. The photo is of the sculpture 'Alachua' by artist John Henry. Situated by the Marston Science Library the work is more well known by UF students as 'French Fries'.
The desktop is available in the following sizes: 1024x768, 1280x800, 1440x900, 1680x1050,1920x1200, 2040x1280
I wish I was vain enough to walk around all day in public with my bluetooth headset on. I think I'll buy an old clunky headset and write 'bluetooth' on it and wear that instead. It would look something like this:
Inspired by the four people wearing headsets that I saw in the security line at MCO this morning.
Throwback jerseys from designers like Mitchell & Ness have been all the rage with the sports set (or the wannabe sports set) for some time now, but how about some gear for geeks?
Nothing says 'I was hip before the web was' like a throwback URL t-shirt. The first shirt I'd come out with would be: http://akebono.stanford.edu/:
For those of you that don't know, that was the original address for Yahoo. I can remember it so clearly, using my Telnet account and Lynx to visit the pre .com version of yahoo.
Like all other throwback gear we'll do a limited run and jack the price way up....say $120 per t-shirt. The question for you is what are some other throwback URLs? Remember altavista.digital.com?
I love my Timbuk2 Commute XL bag that I use to carry my 17" PowerBook. It's got a clean black look with a splash of yellow on the interior. But, if only this bag could carry the 'big aluminum' though...
Black is good for conservative business, but I just love all of Timbuk2's new spring stuff....might need to pick up a wallet or a small messenger bag.
It seems that the auto insurance business is a zero-sum-game. Every ad on TV/radio from: Geico, Allstate, State Farm, Esurance and Progressive, all state that 'millions of people switch to them every year'. I guess those 'million' people coming to one firm had to leave another.
You never hear one firm saying, "250,000 people left us this month."
Just the standard e-mail over the weekend:
- 4 Notices about my eBay account being suspended
- 5 Notices that my PayPal account had been compromised
- 3 Winning lottery notifications
- 6 Business proposals from 'Most Honorable' foreign nationals
Then of course my favorite:
josh@hyku.comSome of our clients complained about the spam (negative e-mail content) outgoing from your e-mail account. Probably, you have been infected by a proxy-relay trojan server. In order to keep your computer safe, follow the instructions.
Further details can be obtained from attached file.
Sincerely,
The Hyku.com team
Of course the attached file is something you don't really want to open on a Windows machine. Considering that I run my own web server and I am the Hyku.com team, that e-mail always makes me laugh. I get one of those per week it seems.
How can you spot a computer novice? They're the ones at Starbucks or Panera Bread using a Dell or HP laptop that still has all the promotional stickers on the palmrests.
This is one of those things you can only find on the web. A discussion about the economics of movie popcorn over at Kottke. There are currently 92 comments discussing the pricing structure and profit involved with movie popcorn.
Jason set the discussion:
This "Super Combo" costs a lot less than ordering a L popcorn and a L soda separately from the menu but often it will actually cost you less than a L popcorn/M soda, M popcorn/L soda, or even a M popcorn/M soda (?!??). Why such a steep discount when the theaters make so much of their money on concessions? I've developed a few theories over the years but would like to hear your thoughts before sharing them.
I have a similar retail pricing/sales story to share about convincing people to spend more for the same product. I just might do it as a podcast.
The small size of the iPod Shuffle is a pro and a con. This morning was a con. While getting ready to throw my jeans in the washing machine I did one final 'pocket-check', which I usually don't do. Glad I did. My Shuffle was in one of the pockets. Since it's plastic it doesn't make a rattle like change or keys.
It would have been interesting to see how it would have survived the wash cycle, but I'll let somebody else test that out.
Living in Florida we have the benefit of a smoking ban in restaurants. When I travel, I am quickly reminded that not all areas have the same ban. Dave Winer has posted a few notes along these lines in his trip up the coast.
It's amazing when you haven't been around smokers how sensitive you become. Last year I was in Louisville for a weekend and everywhere smelled like smoke.
In our area, Cypress Gardens Adventure Park does not have designated smoking areas (like Disney). When I visit the park all I can notice is the smokers walking around. I am told they are working on this.
This is one of those things you read and say, "that's a great idea."
They've got these gift cards that hold money on 'em, but why not also include the person's favorite drink(s), too?
A funny post about the 11 types of clients you should fire. What's funny about reading the list is the past clients you remember that fit one of the classifications.
Remember Curious George's owner/handler the 'Man with the Yellow Hat'? What ever happened to him?
I saw the following photo yesterday and the first thing I thought of was, "boy the Man with the Yellow Hat has let himself go." Then I imagined a VH1 Where Are They Now special...'Life After Curious George'
Continue reading "VH1: Where Are They Now? Curious George's Man with the Yellow Hat" »
During the 6 o'clock hour while waiting in Buckhead traffic on Peachtree I saw a total of six women jogging. Every single one of them had an iPod.
InternetNews says that Flickr is set to launch a photo printing service. The article states that only photo books will be available for printing and not individual photos. I would hope that individual photo prints would soon be available but perhaps the economics of small print jobs like that aren't that great.
Interesting stat from the article:
According to Jupiter Research, 47 percent of consumers don't print their (digital) photos at all. Although printing is moving from the store to the home, Jupiter says that 10 percent of consumers with computers don't even have a printer. Sixteen percent of the consumers Jupiter surveyed prefer to share photos via e-mail or the Internet.
I rarely ever print digital photos anymore. I used Ofoto all the time a few years ago, but all the picture-receiving-relatives now have computers.
Driving from one meeting to another in Atlanta today I went right by the new IKEA. The Atlanta store is scheduled to open on June 29th.
I uploaded a photoset to Flickr with a few shots of the 'Big Blue Building'.
Saab has recently been promoting their new SUV, the 97x. The tagline for the TV commericals and other ads has been, "Distinctively Designed". I have to laugh at that. What is so 'distinctive' about taking the standard GM mid-size SUV chasis and throwing a different grill on it?
Other 'distinctive' models include: Chevy Equinox, Buick Rainier, GMC Envoy, Pontiac Montana and the Oldsmobile Bravada.
I used to be a big Saab fan back in the late 80's and early 90's. One of the stupidest things I ever did was sell my 1986 Saab 900s. That thing was a workhorse. I sold it with 185,000 miles on it in 1996. I still see it driving around today.
Of course Saab was never the same once it became part of GM.
Unpacking my new PowerBook 17" got me thinking about my Macintosh history. It has spanned 18 years and seen 12 different machines starting with a Macintosh Plus in 1987 and continuing today with a new G4 PowerBook 17".
Let's take a look back, shall we.
Continue reading "My Macintosh History: 18 Years - From the Macintosh Plus to G4 PowerBook 17"" »
The PowerBook came in today....busy transferring files from the old iBook.
A longtime friend's son is embarking on a Short Bus Road Trip for the next month. They have set up a web site to track their progress: www.shortbusroadtrip.com
The web site includes a BusBlog and pictures from the trek. Here is how they describe their journey:
This is the story of two college students and their beloved short bus. Like most, they talked about traveling but never got the chance. Well, both Pete and Dave graduated and, after many applications and interviews, neither one had a job...The time ripe for adventure, they gathered up their graduation money, found a short bus on eBay, and made a rough sketch of what would become a month-long trip across desert and mountain. The ultimate road trip in a vehicle fit for the task.
This should be interesting to follow.
I've been tracking the shipment of my 17" PowerBook via UPS for the past few days and it appears the unit is stuck in Anchorage, Alaska.
The machine shipped from Shanghai, China on the evening of May 31st but arrived in Anchorage at 2:10 P.M. local time on the same day (remember the flight-path goes back over the International Date Line). Nothing since then. It's now been over 24 hours without any change.
I have these visions of the final scene of Raiders of the Lost Ark where the man wheels the crate containing the Ark into the huge warehouse.
Received an e-mail today stating that the Keith Haring Pop Shop would be closing at the end of August 2005. I have been a fan of Keith Haring for over 15 years and have ordered a ton or merchandise from the Pop Shop. A number of years ago I had the pleasure of visiting the actual store on 292 Lafayette Street, New York, NY.
From the e-mail:
Following nearly 20 years in business, the Keith Haring Foundation will mark the closing of the Pop Shop at the end of August 2005.
The Pop Shop and the Keith Haring Foundation would like to express our deepest gratitude to all past and present customers of the Pop Shop. It has been a great pleasure to servce the many friends and fans of Keith Haring. We will continue our web exposire as an educational resource for Haring's life and work at www.Haringkids.com and www.Haring.com
Finally orderd my 17" PowerBook today. The new big-unit should be here one day next week. Changes all-around. Going from a 12" iBook with a 500Mhz G3 to a 17" PowerBook with 1.67Ghz G4. That should be a bit of a switch.
Earlier I had asked for opinions on the 15" vs. 17" debate. All the comments pointed to a 15" but I am going with my first instinct and getting the bigger model.
What's going to happen to the iBook? This. I will post photos once I am finished.
Does anybody want to buy me the Timbuk2 17" PowerBook Commute Bag?
A quick follow-up on my post earlier today about another Blackberry 7290 problem and my trip to Cingular for a replacement unit. Looks like it might have been a software problem.
I was running version 3.8.0.139 of the Blackberry OS. The rep said there were known issues with call quality on that version. I needed to update my OS to 4.0. They gave me instructions on how to do the update.
When I got home I went to cingularbb.webhop.net which redirects to Blackberry's site to download the OS update. The upgrade went in without a problem.
I have made a few calls with no drops, but we'll see how things work over the next few days before I gain back my confidence in the device.
This afternoon I will be heading to Cingular Wireless to replace my Blackberry 7290. If you read my blog regularly you will know this is a regular thing. BBHub shared my pain the last time it happened.
Just like the first unit I had, the voice drops out quickly on just about every call. I can hear the caller, but they cannot hear me. It happens in all signal conditions. I have done some searching to find out if this is a common issue with the 7290 because I never had this problem with the 7280.
I'll post about my experience at Cingular later today.
Update: The problem might be fixed
I went to see Revenge of the Sith yesterday afternoon. As many have said the movie is dark. The scene with the younglings was especially disturbing.
Like Kottke, I also felt some sadness at the end of the movie and wanted the outcome to be different. We all know what happens (sort of like the ending of Titanic...who knew that thing would sink). You were still wanting to see something good happen.
There was also a general sadness because this was the last Star Wars movie. Yes, some have speculated that the last three episodes will eventually be made, but I don't see that happening soon.
This past Sunday the San Jose Mercury News had an article about Silicon Valley cafeterias (Slashdot post and comments). Google has the cafeteria that everybody envies.
What's the Google food like? Brett Lider has posted some photos of his recent lunches at Google. There is also an earlier photoset on Flickr of his Google lunches.
Many triathlons try to capture the aura of Ironman by using the word 'man' in their names. The end result is that many of them sound stupid.
My friend Fred Sommer has compiled a list of 68 races with 'man' in the title. There are some real gems in there:
4. Atomicman
5. Boilerman
10. Chickenwingman
11. Concreteman
12. Cornman
13. Crawfishman
To name just a few. Read the whole list.
I am struggling to decide which Apple PowerBook to buy. Shoud I go with the 15 inch model or the 17 inch model?
The current favorite is the 17". That screen is just so big! As for size? Well I am currently using a 12" iBook so either one of the models I am looking at will be bigger.
Size is the only drawback. I travel quite a bit, but when I am on a plane I am usually reading or listening to podcasts so the issue of not being able to crank that 17" screen open in coach is not a huge drawback.
For the longest time it was either going to be a 12" or a 17" but then the middle ground of the 15" looked sensible. Budget is not an issue since the difference in the 15" and 17" configurations I am looking at is $200.
Has anyone else faced this same decision?
What happens when we lose all the tech gear we normally rely upon? Chris Rhodes over at the JoinCrossBlog is learning just that since he dropped his Apple PowerBook and lost his cellphone in the past few days.
In my case, one is a back-up of the other. If I lose or get another Blackberry I can always sync my phone and my laptop. But what happens when you lose the back-up of the back-up?
Ross Mayfield has posted some quick rants. Some are geography specific, but many are not. One that cuaght my eye:
Tivo and Netflix Need Each Other: Why don't they know what movies I have rented or watched? If it's in my rental queue and I saw it for free on cable, spare us both the hassle
If you travel quite a bit then you have used a restroom in an airport. The majority of airport bathrooms I have seen all now have the automatic flush systems. The auto-flush units are not just in airports, many large public facilities and office buildings have them as well. (Sorry to the female readers of my blog since this might be a male restroom thing only since I usually don't go in the ladies restroom)
My problem is I have grown accustomed to the auto-flush. Now when I use a restroom that does not have them, I find myself just walking away. As I approach the sink to wash my hands it finally registers, 'I didn't hear a flush.' I then have to walk back and manually flush.
Does this ever happen to you?
UN Crisis? Election Fraud? No, Glenn Reynolds gives us an update on his lawn mower. In a bit of a retro moment, Glenn bought a manual push reel mower. I would pay good money to see a picture of Glenn mowing the lawn with his push mower.
When properly aligned and with a good lawn, reel mowers offer a superior cut to a single blade mower. Go check out any golf course, the greens, tees, fairways and on some courses the rough are all cut by reel based mowers. (Just about every major league ballpark also uses reel mowers as well) Back when I was in high school I worked on a golf course and drove a Toro Greensmaster mower.
That reminds me, I need to blog the lawn this afternoon.
My second BlackBerry 7290 in less than 4 months has died.
Right after the first of the year I ditched my BlackBerry 7280 with AT&T Wireless and moved to a 7290 on Cingular. After 32 days my first unit stopped sending any voice. I could hear everybody, but they could not hear me. Cingular swapped out my device for a new one.
Now the latest unit will not send or receive any data. I spent an hour on the phone with tech support today, trying every possible soft reset, hard reset and 'shock' to no avail. Tech support verdict: you need a new device.
So it is off to the Cingular store tomorrow to get a new one! Third time lucky!
Blogumentary has posted a video clip of the Daily Show segment on Jeff Gannon and blogs. The commentary by Stephen Colbert is the best part.
See also: Previous entry about the segment
Very off-topic, but a very funny item. Improv Everywhere Mission: McDonald's Bathroom Attendant
Go read the whole thing. Then check our some of their other missions.
I had downloaded and registered for Skype a few months ago, but never did anything with it. Until today. I wasn't sure if my older iBook would have the horsepower to handle it, but it worked fine.
I made a quick call to Neville Hobson in Amsterdam. I didn't have a proper microphone (I used the internal mic), but otherwise the quality was great.
I have a few leftover Gmail invites (4 to be exact). If you want one, let me know. First come, first serve. Once they're gone I will remove this post.
I think Apple will have another huge hit with the iPod Shuffle. I want one! Love the form factor and the simplicity of the device.
I think Apple will find that many of the sales will be to people who already have an iPod (like me) but just want the Shuffle as a second, small device. The ability to use it as a USB drive is a great added bonus.
Saw/heard two interesting things in the past two days. Both show in a unique way, how technology is impacting society, and how it can be utilized.
1. In our community there are a few homeless/transient individuals. I don't know their exact status, i.e. homeless or perhaps just jobless. There are two that I know of, that have been walking the streets for at least 10 years. Recently a new library was built and it has a number of computers for the public to browse the internet. Yesterday morning while I was in the library I saw one of the homeless men sitting at a machine reading the New York Times online. When I walked by him he was specifically reading about the election controversy in the Ukraine. Kinda makes you think for a moment.
2. On the radio today I heard a commercial for TGI Friday's Front Row in Orlando. It's a sports bar to the extreme. Among the many amenities listed in the ad was "Free Wifi to keep up with all your Fantasy Football teams." What a hook! If I was a fantasy league freak I would definitely choose a sports bar with free Wifi.
Patrick Smith of Salon's Ask The Pilot has posted his latest column which contains his review of LOST from a pilot's perspective.
As usual Patrick draws on his vast aviation knowledge. One tid-bit, the airline 'Oceanic' is often used in TV and movies. Although LOST's Oceanic plane is a L-1011, here is an Oceanic 747 from Executive Decision. Remind me not to fly Oceanic.
I have switched all my syndication feeds to Feedburner. So if you syndicate this site I would appreciate it if you point your newsreaders/blogrolls/you name it to: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Hyku
Thanx!
Lost is becoming the big hit of the new TV season. Of course the big question is what's the answer to the mystery. Otherwise known as the 'Lost Theory'. I posted my idea a few weeks ago. USA Today ran an article yesterday about the internet buzz on various theories.
That mystery and the eventual outcome provide the underlying tension I have with the show. The mystery is like the will they/won't they sexual tension seen in just about any drama/comedy featuring a male and female character. But once that answer is provided what will be the hook?
According to DepecheMode.com: The band will be collectively gathering in Santa Barbara in early December, along with with Daniel Miller, Jonathan Kessler and producer Ben Hillier. In January 2005, after a holiday break, the band will start work on their new album.
No word on an expected release date.
Earlier this week I talked about eBay's powerful new commercial.. The video of the spot has been added to the The Power of All of Us web site.
Go watch it, if you have not seen it already.
I saw a new eBay new commercial during Lost this evening on ABC. It had a very powerful emotional hook. It's been a while since I have seen a commercial and at the end said "Wow!"
Update: A quick feedster search finds this blog entry perhaps from the agency that created the spot..
The ad is titled 'Toy Boat' and is part of eBay's The Power of All of Us campaign. There are a total of four commercials listed as part of the campaign. The 'Toy Boat' video is not online yet though.
I will try to do my best to recap...
Continue reading "eBay's Powerful New Commercial - Toy Boat" »
As I mentioned before I will be working as a Voter Information Specialist in a local precinct. I have to be there before 6 am and then leave once all the votes have been cast. The polls officially close at 7 pm, but if you are in line at that time you may still vote. Hopefully we will not have a situation like 2000 where the governor ordered the polls to stay open till 9 pm. I am not sure if we are going to have any poll watchers at our precinct. The Ledger has an article about the poll watchers in our county.
I will post a report about my day sometime tomorrow evening.
Today was the first day of advance sales for Cypress Gardens Adventure Park annual passes. I swung by with the family to pick up a few. Demand was high! At one point the line was estimated to be almost 2 hours long.
Alyson Gernert, Public Relations Manager, said new park owner Kent Buescher was excited about the turnout. Alyson added that advance sales of the Annual Passes, priced at $64.95, would continue on Monday thru Friday from 10 am till 5 pm at the Gardens.
Winter Haven Area Chamber of Commerce executive director Bob Gernert estimated that over 5000 people had come by 12:30 pm. Advance sales started at 10 am this morning. Gernert noted that the chamber had sold 550 passes from Wednesday thru Friday at the chamber, so he knew demand would be high.
Soft opening of the new Cypress Gardens will take place on November 19. The grand reopening will take place on December 9.
I have become a big fan of the show Lost on ABC. Beside's the Apprentice and Rescue Me, it's the only television I make an effort to watch.
So what's the secret to Lost? E! has an article proposing some theories about what's going on.
My favorite is the first theory. It's all in their head, otherwise known as heightened conciousness. Ever read An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce? You'll get the picture.
In the split second before death, the all-powerful mind will distort your perception of reality to delay the inevitable.
Update: My most recent Lost thoughts
Came across this New Yorker article about Ketchup titled "The Ketchup Conundrum - Mustard now comes in dozens of varieties. Why has ketchup stayed the same?"
It's a very interesting read.
I've been a fan of Joy Division since the late 80's, so this video of a topographic translation of the music video "Shadowplay" is cool.
I will be working as an official poll worker for the Polk County Supervisor of Elections this general election. Specifically, I'll be at precinct 409. I'll post details of the training and the actual election day in the coming week and a half.
Ever see somebody or a situation and wonder what the backstory is? Perhaps something like Robert Altman's Short Cuts or Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia where a series of strangers' lives intersect at various points.
I am in Atlanta for the weekend and was driving to Buckhead earlier today. Just as I pass Oglethorpe University on Peachtree Industrial, I see somebody waiting at the bus stop. It was an older handicapped gentleman in a high-tech wheelchair and he was carrying two large birdcages. Each cage had a large bird in it. Couldn't tell what type of birds though.
So there he was waiting for the bus. I thought of Short Cuts and Magnolia. I wondered what his morning was like, and how he ended up with two large birds waiting to get on a bus, and where he was going.
Do you think that if I bought one of these new Navistar CXT trucks and a Toyota Prius that my Environmental Karma would balance out?
e-mail: josh@hyku.com
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