It Would Help If Our Politicians Knew What Teh Intarnets Were

U.S. loses top spot in global tech study.

Not just the top spot but we are now seventh. Singapore and Denmark, Sweden and Finland and Switzerland and the Netherlands are all beating us at information exploitation and communications tech.

But Thierry Geiger, one of the Forum's economists responsible for the 361-page report, said the U.S. market environment remains the best in the world in terms of how easy it is to set up a business, get loans and have access to market capital.

So that's nice. But.

The index...cited the United States' low rate of mobile telephone usage, a lack of government leadership in information technology and the low quality of math and science education.

The lack of government leadership in info tech is understandable given our politicians shocking "understanding" of what the internet is and what it represents. The low quality of math and science education in the country is also understandable given the faith-based agenda that has dominated almost every aspect of Bush's administration.

Also, I bet Arkansas is bringing down the national average.

Get Ready for Some Checkbook Justice!

Prosecutors: Revoke Hilton's Probation because they have clear proof that she's driving on a suspended license after her DUI a while ago.

Does anyone really think Paris Hilton is going to do jail time for this? It'll cost a whole bunch but checkbook justice will prevail.

Besides, if she blasts her Ferrari into a tree while shitfaced then it really wouldn't be much of a loss and she'd be immortalized.

But the Anna Nicole stuff needs to die down first. Scheduling is everything, ya know?

Anyway, I like the idea of Paris Hilton in prison. I'm sure Fox would turn it into a HEEE-LARIOUS reality show.

Today's Lesson from a Baby

Something I read the other day has stuck with me and I'm trying to apply it to more aspects of my life.

Listen. Listen to everyone you can. Really listen.You don’t learn by talking about yourself and your own experience. You learn by listening to the ideas and experiences of others. By listening to the ideas of those around you, you can pick up whatever’s useful. Even the things you reject have taught you something—if only what to avoid. Everyone you talk with can bring you learning opportunities you might otherwise have missed. Never be snobbish either. The best lessons come in unexpected packages.

In addition to listening, I'm watching as well.

And today's lesson from a baby is that whatever a baby gets interested in also stands a pretty good chance of having a decent photo opportunity in it as well.

I learned this while showering with Sully this morning and seeing how amazed he was at water splashing into a box he was holding.And that is today's lesson from a baby.

FireFox + Blogger = WTF?

I'm not sure what's changed but I can't publish to Blogger from FireFox anymore. Whenever I hit Publish or even Save As Draft, the text box is wiped clean before it does anything. Which is more than a wee bit frustrating.

The only change has been the addition of the ability to type Hindi fonts. Which I repeat is not something I need now nor do I ever plan on needing. And it appears that its addition is a potential cause of the new problems I am having with FireFox.

Oh well, I've got other stuff to do anyway. Still, Blogger (i.e. Google) is causing me annoyance but at least it appears to be working normally in Safari.

Member Night at the Aquarium

Monday evening was a member night at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, a special event for members and guests where the facility is almost deserted. They also unveiled a new exhibit, new otters!

We've been members for a couple of years and it has really been a great deal for us. Monterey is close enough to buzz down for a few hours and then come back home.

The thing is, Grady got charged up and never ran out his charge. He ran from tank to tank to exhibit to splash zone and back. He must have run several miles inside the place. He had that crazed look of a kid having a ball, a goofy smile and the forward leaning body of a toddler in motion.

I thought he'd run himself out after an hour but he was still going strong when the aquarium closed at 9. He did crash out on the drive home and we expected him to sleep well but it was not to be. At 3:30, my wife woke up and heard the tv on. Grady'd gotten out of bed, come downstairs, turned on the tv and then made a big ol' mess (he found a jar of pennies).

Which has resulted in a new procedure being added to out nighttime prep. Before I go to bed, the gate is moved from their bedroom door to the stairs. Which means, Grady can only come join us in our bed. One less opportunity to cause chaos. And one less is the direction to be headed in with our adorable little Dennis the Menace in training.

Blogger Ate My Post

Blogger has just implemented a new "feature" that lets me write my blog posts in Hindi, which is really going to be spectacularly useful to me.

The only problem with this "feature" is that it has decided to default itself on which makes posting posts to the blog a little more difficult. I had a nice post write up about going to the aquarium last night and Blogger ate it.

Annoying. But a good reminder to copy your post before hitting publish.

Soaking in Family Time

One benefit to not working in an office full time is that I get to see my family an awful lot more than I normally would be able to. Which means that I'm more likely to be around when Graydon does something incredibly sweet and totally unprompted. Like, say, feeding his little brother applesauce? Yeah, that'll work.

Or the way he kept giving his mom a big hug, walking away and then running back to give her another big hug.

Parenting has its moments that are little tiny gems, they sparkle with the special new-ness that children bring to them.

I have never been as completely happy as I've been when I play with my children. Graydon loves to flop around on our bed, Sully likes to try and chase him. They both end up laughing like little maniacs and I do too.

Yesterday I put Grady's tent on our bed and, at one point, we had Grady, Sully, Momma and Poppa all in the tent at once. I look forward to and dread Sully getting his walking papers and starting to really motor around. Hopefully Grady will have started to listen a little better by then.

A Parental No-Brainer

Vote on `.xxx' Internet address nears.

Putting all pornographic content behind .xxx domains makes total sense to me. There really isn't any argument that could be made to change my mind that this is a good idea.

Domains worried about losing their registration would get assurances that they would automatically get their domains. The .com domains would automatically forward would-be surfers to a lead-in page where age was verified and notification of the change to the .xxx domain would be made.

This would be easy to filter out of computers that kids have access to. It would be easy to disallow surfing to porn sites while at the public library and it would also allow the searching and surfing of sites dedicated to breast cancer because they wouldn't fall into the pron .xxx domain scheme.

I can't see how anyone would be against the creation of a real virtual red light district. There's always been one, this just puts it on the map and makes it easier to find or avoid, as the desire may be. No extra fees as in previous attempts to do this, just straight costs

My Latest Time Hole

In between everything else, I've been playing a fair (or unfair, depending on your point of view) amount of Skyrates (pronounced sky-rats,like pirates but in the sky). Its a free game that's coming to the end of its beta. Basically what you do is you start out as a pilot with a lame little plane. You fly from island to island, buying and selling goods to get enough cash to upgrade or replace your plane with a nicer, better one. And there are all kinds to choose from with different capabilities and upgradability.

You can also engage in dogfights with pirate planes. They run the gamut from fast single cannon ships to enormous blimps with dangerous firing arcs.

It's hard to describe so you should just give it a try. Part of the premise for the game is that you don't have to play it all the time, you play it, set it up and let it play for itself for a number of hours and then come back and play when you want. It has some slick GUI too, you can see a map of the entire game and then have all the other player planes displayed as well.

It doesn't hurt that I've been on the leaderboard for daily kills and now the weekly kill leaderboard too. Your name in lights, always a good draw.

My current plane is called a Lancaster and its been upgraded to do an excellent job of shredding other planes. It also carries a bunch in its hold so you can transport a pretty good amount of stuff.

If you can get past the slow beginning and upgrade your plane intelligently, you can have a lot of fun pretty soon. My pilot name there is Fizzo D'Anger, I fly for the red faction.

Self Discovery

In the process of my meeting with a career counselor, I'm learning some important and useful things about myself and how to present what I offer to a prospective employer or contractor.

Among them is that research and investigatory work is a key element of my skills and motivations. I like looking for answers, I like digging through data to discover new truths and I like presenting information previously unknown.

I'm not so good on the clerical side. I.e., put me in charge of a research division but make sure I have an assistant to help me stay on top of paperwork. A close second to research and investigations is techie or someone who likes to work with their hands. Which makes sense to me.

Enterprising also scored rather high above the other categories so that indicates I've got some of the stuff it takes to initiate and run my own business. One key element that I've been getting from the counseling that I didn't have before is the realization and reinforcement of the fact that I don't have to do everything. There are plenty of aspects of a self-run business that do not have to be taken care of by me. That's what sub-contractors are for, that's what accounting firms are for, that's what temp agencies and sales organizations are for.

There's no reason to get bogged down in the details and the things you hate to do. Focus on what you love to do and delegate what you don't like to others who will do it for you.

I also have a base hourly rate to charge and a better understanding of the value proposition that I offer to companies and agencies. Don't focus on what you can do, focus on what you love to do. It seems so simple and yet is so hard to put into practice.

Watching Tony Snow is Bad for Reality

I was just watching Tony Snow take questions from the press about the "generous offer" by the President to allow Meirs and Rove to be interviewed while not under oath to tell the truth.

Aside from doing nothing but dodging, ducking, weaving and volleying and not actually answering any questions to any semblance of satisfaction, he makes me want to physically smack him in the face. Scotty Mac didn't really do that, he evoked sympathy, Tony Snow evokes outright dislike and leanings towards outright smackdowns.

But that would be thuggish.

Of What Value is "Testifying" Without Swearing to Tell the Truth?

President Bush thinks you are a drooling fool. He thinks you should be happy and satisfied with his assurances and the testimony of Karl Rove and Harriet Miers without having them swear to tell the truth.

Which is, effectively, having them swear to lie.

Without the oath any testimony is garbage. Without the oath they might as well be singing showtunes.

The Bush White House fired 8 federal prosecutors not for poor job performance but for poor Bush-sucking-up performances. They were told to target Democrats for investigations more than Republicans, they refused to play ball with the partisan wankery and got canned.

And that is wholly and irredeemably politically-based.

But Mr. Bush thinks we should all be happy little sheep and just accept whatever terms and conditions he wants to lay on any discussion or investigation into this latest scandal.

Mr. Bush, respectively, go fuck yourself. You are without a moral, ethical bone in your body and you have done little but lie to the American people for the last six years. The noose is closing around your administration and you will be lucky to avoid its grip.

Alberto Gonzales should be cleaning out his office by now, he's done. Karl Rove should be thinking about his next job, he's done too. Bush? He won't be impeached because that would leave us with Big Dick and nobody, not even the Republicans, wants to see that sick, mean bastard in power.

Testifying without an oath to tell the truth is a joke. I'm glad the Democrats aren't willing to accept these ridiculous terms and will force them to either give up their info or go to jail and they will probably end up doing both. Which is fine.

I'm Not Dead Yet

I've been busy, have you missed me?

We went to a birthday for a three year old on Sunday, had two boys with croup on Monday and finally got some peace and quiet today thanks to the humidifiers and the menthol strip heater upper thingie.

Even so, I went to bed at 9 last night. I never got to bed at 9. I got woken up at 4 and didn't get back to bed until 5 or so.

But I have been working on my resume and my resume skills. Found a few jobs I'm applying for that would work for my current schedule, freelance mostly. We'll see if anything comes of the initial attempts to make contact.

But I haven't really felt like blogging all that much for the last few days. Too much other stuff going on that takes priority. But I'll be back as I can. Promise.

Fantasy Baseball League Needs You!

Hey You! Yeah you reading this. You play baseball? You play fantasy baseball?

Do you want to play some fantasy baseball?

I've got a small league that needs two more teams to become viable. Why don't you come on down and show us what you got?

Leave a comment or drop me an email (erik at intellectualpoison dot com) and join up? It is free, it is fun and the live draft is next Wednesday evening.

The Pattern of Arrogance from the Bush Administration Is Being Broken

or, Accountability Ain't Just a Word Anymore, Mr. Bush!

Power shift puts Bush team on defense amid scandals about the conditions at Walter Reed and the political firings of 8 federal prosecutors (who had been pressured to investigate Democrats specifically by the GOP leadership).

This is why this country needs it's checks and balances. If the Republicans had retained their strangehold on the reins of power then none of this would be happening. Alberto Gonzales would not be fighting for his job (which he will lose within the next two weeks). Karl Rove would not be being forced to testify. Ol' Rummy wouldn't have been fired. More and more skeletons and scandals are going to surface and ShrubCo doesn't have the juice to shush them away with lame lies and smarmy charm anymore.

Our country needs the checks and balances of a two party system. And now, now the rats are scurrying away from the sinking HMS Bush like the filthy rats they are. Everyone wants to distance themselves as far as possible from these craven, partisan wankers who have steered our nation into very dangerous waters.

Bring on the indictments, bring on the trials, bring on the prison sentences. Hold these crooks responsible and accountable for their crimes against our country and against the world.

I dare George Bush to pardon Scooter Libby. I double dare him. The flameout will be all the more spectacular that way.

Why yes, yes I am pleased that accountability has been re-introduced into Washington. It is about fucking time!

Trouble Over Here, Trouble Over There

Are you curious about that chemical spill in Minnesota? Or how about the bio hazard situation in Honduras? The Havaria Information Systems AlertMap is updated in (near) real-time and the wealth of bad news is fairly astonishing. Plus they've got RSS feeds for whatever bad (or locationally relevant) news you want delivered. There are USA only maps, Europe only maps and Hungary too (slow day, just a fire).

I Wouldn't Be Smiling Even If I Did Have Irish Eyes

I've rarely felt as deeply frustrated as I've been for the last couple of days. If it isn't one kid than its the other, if its not one of the kids then its the dog, if its not the dog then its my wife, if its not my wife then its an inanimate thing that's decided right then is the right time to break.

Case in point, my keyboard has decided to ignore some presses of the space bar and then to double up on others. Which means I spend alot of time deleting and retyping stuff.

I know what I need, I just don't have the time or money to take care of it right now. Mostly the time really which is stupid because I don't have a job right now. But no job means I am always available to take care of the kids. Which means I can't be looking for a job which means I might as well be pounding on sand.

Not sleeping well isn't helping either and really, some days, I just want to get in the car and drive away and not ever come back. I know that's a bad thing to write or think and I wouldn't ever do it but its how I feel right now and that is that.

As soon as my wife is home from the shop, I think I am going to grab my bike and go for a ride. I know that's part of the solution, not just for me but for everyone in the family. Only none of them are invited today. I need some time for me, I need some time for me to spend with me and not being concerned with making sure everyone else has everything they need all the time.

One of the most recent additions to my task list is to write down the things I need to be happier. Part of the process of working with my career counselor is to identify those things that motivate me as opposed to those things that I am capable of doing. The latter is a very, very wide pool of possibilities and the former is much more restricted. It is very important to align activities and work with those things that you are passionate about because motivation always trumps capability.

And, because I try to be optimistic at heart, one positive before this rolls up. I came across a truly ideal job posting this week. I wrote an entirely new resume for it based on some professional examples I found while researching. The new resume is a substantial improvement over the previous one and I have additional ammo to create more impact and to nail the cover letters as well.

I don't hate work, I hate working for bad people. And there is no earthly reason why I shouldn't be making my living doing something I wholeheartedly enjoy. I like PR and am good at it but there were certain aspects of it that I loathed but had to do anyway which cuts deeply into job satisfaction.

Too Much Rachel Ray Today

I thought I should note here that I have, officially, reached my saturation point on the ubiquitous Rachel Ray.

Her media saturation is running at about a 9.75 and I think the world would be better served if she were down in the high 6's or possibly the low 7's.

That is all. Oh yeah, Giada whatshername kind of creeps me out. Could her mouth be any larger? Eeek.

Because The World Needs MORE Bond Gear!

New tire with retractable studs will be available next year.

Just like every other kid, I had this idea a long time ago. I just lacked the manufacturing capabilities to put it into production. Basically an air bladder pushes the studs out when you need them (which sounds like bad dialog from bad pron) and they retract when unneeded.

How flipping awesomely cool is that? Yeah, pretty flipping awesomely cool!

Skip the Trial and Go Straight to the Shredder

Dad Charged in Ind. Baby Stabbing

What in the fucking name of humanity is wrong with this scumbag that he would try to murder his own baby boy?

Actually, I don't really care what's wrong with him. That someone would willingly cause such greivous harm to their child and then dump him out a window on to the pavement is a pretty strong indication that he's not fit for society or existence.

I would be shocked if I weren't so goddamn pissed off at this disgusting excuse for a human being. Skip the trial and drop him straight into the shredder.

A Man Deeply in Need of a Cock Punch

Simon Cowell, the farkin' asshole judge on American Idol, will declare in an interview for "60 Minutes" to air this Sunday that he's bigger than Bruce Springsteen.

Yes. Because Bruce Springsteen's only recorded a whole crapload of songs that are part of the American fabric and Simon "Farkin'" Cowell has sat in disgusted and rude judgment over idiots who think they can sing.

That's right, Simon Cowell is bigger and more important than The Boss, who wrote and sang "Born in the USA".

Why? Because Simon "My Farts Smell Like Cotton Candy" Cowell has MADE STARS! He has judged, found far, far too many wanting but, through the power of his own superduper powers, he molds losers into superstars. Sure, he can't sing or dance or actually DO anything but he's bigger, better and more awesomer than Bruce Springsteen.

Would someone please just drop him down a well so all his rejects can gather up and sing him a tribute album, "Sending Our Bile Down a Well" or something tasteful.

I hated American Idol before, due in large part to the simpering asshatery that is Simon Cowell, and these ridiculous proclamations of greatness from a fucking JUDGE on a crap fake reality show certainly won't help. Something pretty seriously wrong with a broker (which is what he really is) putting himself ahead of the artists he's supposed to be supporting. But then, he's a walking ego that gets off on knocking other people down, what would you expect?

He's quoted as saying he sells more records than Bruce Springsteen. I'm sorry, where's the Simon Cowell Croons Shitty Covers of Bad Pop Songs album? Oh yeah, it doesn't exist.

And yes, American Idol is among the worst pap on tv. The only reason to watch it now is to enjoy the freakouts, from the idiots who can't sing to Paula Abdul's medicated interviews. Oh yeah, and to imagine Ryan Seacrest doing gay porn because it just seems to fit him so well.

Bad Advertisers Will Always Miss The Point

TechDirt has a posting about TrimSpa's latest "Tivo-Proof" ads that highlights a problem with advertising in general. If you need to force eyeballs to look at your ad then you've already failed as an advertiser.

The attempt to force people to look at your ad is self-defeating. If you force me to look at your ad, I will, but only so I can memorize your brand so as to NEVER BUY YOUR PRODUCT. Using force or highly manipulative techniques to get my eyes on your schlock is 100% guaranteed to fail to win me as a customer.

You will not force me into buying your product, the real end goal of your advertising. You can trick me into watching your ad with humor, shock or really hot chicks. But trick me in other ways, such as the pizza ad during Survivor that looked like the lead-in back into the show so I stopped fast-forwarding on Tivo, that ad "worked" but still failed as I won't be buying their pizza, ever. And yes, I know who's pizza it was, I'm just not giving them any more attention that they don't deserve.

Just like GoDaddy, a company run by assholes, uses shock and pornstars for its ads. They have to because their company has a piss poor reputation and has, without any verification, shut down sites registered with them based on a single, anonymous complaint.

Also, TrimSpa's the company that hired Anna Nicole Smith to be their spokesmodel, that should tell you tons about their target demographic and marketing tactics.

Number Game

So I checked the California Lottery site this morning to see if I still needed a job (alas, I do) and, since I had Grady sitting on my lap, I was typing one handed. I screwed up the URL and "accidentally" typed calootery.com instead. Which isn't so far off but didn't provide the winning numbers I wanted to check. But it didn't get me where I needed to go.

And, upon finally reaching the correct site, I found out that we had not matched a single number. Bummer, that means I've gotta keep looking for a job.

Fabulous Day at the Beach

We had a blast out on the beach the other day. We have been working through a wicked heat spell right now which makes the beach a real possibility even though that water splashing over Graydon is really, really cold!

He had his best time ever at the beach. He would chase the waves back and forth, would scream in delight when a wave would bash over him and he loved it when I'd rocket him up above a breaking wave.

And, oh yeah, he slept like a rock!

And I got a whole bunch of fun photos too. Man, I really need a full sized DSLR to start to really leverage the photo opportunities. Hard to justify dropping a big chunk of change right now though.

Happy Five Year Blogging Anniversary to Me!

A good headline gives away the story that follows. A great headline obviates the need for reading the story that follows, unless you're on of those "detail-oriented" types and you need to know the what and where and who and how and why and all that hooha.

It was on March 13th, 2002 that the first tentative bleatings of Intellectual Poison were made. In the beginning, Intellectual Poison wasn't called Intellectual Poison but something really stupid and lame, like Rant-o-Rama or somesuch.

I began blogging after becoming a regular reader to a blog that eventually got outed as a total sham. I won't mention it here because, yes, I'm still peeved at the lengths of deception the man went to in order to sustain his lies.

But history has a way of doing for itself, I can warp my recollections of it but I can't change the fundamental realities of history. Not yet, at least.

Anyway, lets indulge my not-so-inner numbers geek and break it down a bit, eh?

Five years equals 1826 days unless two of those years were leap years but I'm calling it 1826.
Total published posts in that span equals 3707 which works out to just over two posts per day.
In that time I've had 424,832 visitors to the site (not including myself since SiteMeter lets me filter out my own IP address) which averages to 232.65 per day.
I currently write to 14 Blogger blogs, I have one forlorn Vox blog and one WordPress blog that also needs some love soon or it will shrivel up and die. Several of those Blogger blogs are on life support as well, one is private, the rest are niche blogs.
My far and away most popular blog is Wal-Mart is Pure Evil. It accounts for 40-50% of my daily hits.
My all-time most popular story was back when Kobe Bryant had "consensual" sex with that 18 year old in Colorado. I believe I hit 16,000 visitors in a single day on that one. Second to that is the video footage of Randy Johnson destroying a bird with his fastball, I am always amazed when I watch this video. It gets popular around the time baseball season starts to kick up to speed. I'll repost it in the main blog soon to make it a little easier to find.

What else has happened in the last five years?
I've quit one long-held job in protest, returned to a previous company that had laid me off before, worked there for six months and got laid off again. Currently meeting with a career counselor to find a better way to work.
I've gotten married, bought a house, got a dog and had two amazing children.

One of which is demanding my attention right now. Also, please note that I have, until this last line, avoided the use of the word, blogversary, it makes my head hurt.

By the way, I forgot to note that it was Amy's post about forgetting her six year anniversary that made me remember mine.

Be Careful What You Wish For

I realize that this post will generate zero sympathy and maybe even some outright irritation from readers in the colder climates.

You may be coping with sub-zero weather, snow, icy roads, black ice hidden in corners and Jack Frost and but we are dealing with an entirely different reality. It is absolutely sweltering out here today. So much so that all the windows are wide open to try and draw a cool breeze across the house. It is so hot that we've got the door to the garage open to try and draw some cool air that way as well.

It's so hot that all the dogs in the neighborhood are sitting in the shade panting loudly. But I'm much happier out of an office than I would be stuck inside looking out. And, on that note, I'm headed to the post office and the fruit stand.

Today's Lesson: Dead Fish Don't Help Fish Tank Pumps Run Better

I bit the bullet yesterday afternoon after both the boys had crashed out for their long afternoon naps. I rolled up my sleeves and dove into the project known as cleaning the fish tank. I knew it involved fish guts, fish poop, fish slime and, quite possibly, fish bodies. I was not "disappointed" at all, lots of everything!

It also involves the further escalation of my war against this nasty horse-hair algae that makes the tank look like an extra from Stephen King's Creepshow (you know the episode in the movie where King touches a meteorite and turns into a plant?). The stuff is incredibly aggressive, grows very, very quickly and pretty well just pisses me off.

But its been reduced to a mere shell of its former glory and those remaining shell fragments are slated for eradication later this morning once the boys are at daycare.

Anyway, here's a little hint that I'm sure nobody needs to know about. Dead fish do not, in theory or in fact, make for a better running fish tank filtration system. Not one fish body and definitely not two fish bodies. And most definitely not when they've been there long enough to start to rot. Lovely.

I also reworked the filter system so that it works better and makes more sense too, always a plus. I never really understood the reasoning behind the original set up, it just seemed stupid and helped a good proportion of the water water bypass the charcoal filtration altogether. Anyway, now it rips along, won't get clogged as easily and the water passes through a foam filter, charcoal filter, bio filters and then a last foam filter before going back into the tank, should help keep the works clean, for now.

I pulled the rocks and driftwood from the tank to clean as well, that'll be fun. I'd originally thought I'd boil the rocks to get rid of the algae but we don't have a pot big enough for that. So, instead, I'm soaking them in a bleach/water solution that should kill off the algae, eventually. I'll let each rock sit for a couple of days and then dry in the sun and then soak in clean water for a few days. With some luck, we'll put the nasty horsehair infestation behind us.

And, because I've lost a few fish here and there over the last couple of months, I think it might be time to get some new fish for the tank. And some new plants too.

Now Returning to Regular Programming

What's life without a little excitement? And by excitement I mean a message on your home page saying your domain's expired and you should have probably renewed it. Oops.

Let this be a lesson to you all. Make sure you keep your email contact up to date. The disconnect in this case came from the contact info they had for an old Yahoo email account that was viciously taken away when I stopped paying the exorbitant $10 a month Yahoo wanted me to pay. Anyway.

The other complication was the addition of privacy to keep my identity a secret. I re-upped the domain two years ago so it made more sense to keep myself shielded from discovery by my then boss.

But there's really not much point anymore.

Anyway, I'm just happy and hoping this brings IP back to life.

Some Cell Shots from Target

Here are some shots from a recent foray into the land of the concentric circle also known as Tar-shay or just plain ol' Target.

The Sonic Blade just made me laugh, its a wireless electric knife, that's comedy gold. And the Monkey See shirt was in the kid's section, it was a pretty cute shirt. The last shirt was in the big boy's section and I expect that I'd see a couple on St. Pat's day if I were heading out for a tipple.

The camera in my cellphone has become alot more usable now that I've finally figured out how to sync the phone with my computer via Bluetooth. But I can't get the phone to work with my Clie for some reason which is kind of a bummer. Nor can I get my wireless Bluetooth headphones to work with the Clie or the cell. I had thought that Bluetooth was a pretty standard standard but I keep getting told that the device doesn't have the services to sync. Oh well. I'm still all "Bond" when I sync wirelessly.

Freakish Bi-Coastal Camera Soul Swap

In what may just be an odd coincidence, my mother's digital camera died recently and my old "dead" Canon S400 came back to life.

My mother's camera became afflicted with the dreaded and too-well-known E18 error, much more info about the E18 at E18Error.com. Basically, the cameras have a defect in them that "bricks" a camera. A bricked camera, for those not up on geek vernacular, is when a previously usable bit of technology expires and turns into an expensive brick, useful for just about nothing.

I would be seriously bummed if my SD450 were to brick itself but then I'd just go up to Staples with my 3 year extended warranty and select a shiny new model so it wouldn't be too bad. Extended warranties are, by and large, scams but I've had excellent results in having them on my digi-cams. I've replaced several cameras that developed "issues" during use, from a gasket coming lose, to a hairline crack in the center of the lens to accidentally sitting on the camera and fracturing the LCD screen. And, for $50, I get a new camera and a new warranty. It is a great deal!

I Feel Pithy, Oh So Pithy

Has anyone out there watched The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency "reality" show on Oxygen? You know, the one with the ex-model with the awful and badly enhanced lips and a potty mouth?

She was probably once pretty gorgeous but those days ended at least a decade ago and now she's trying to buy (via plastic surgery) some fraction of what looks she once had. She also reminds me of my old boss, an attractive lady who's looks are fading and her mean streak just gets wider and wider until it absorbs her whole personality.

Anyone, there was an episode where her little agency landed an international contract and the guy came in and said that she had a reputation as a bitch, which she is. She asked him to rephrase his statement and he basically said "No". So she goes back to her team of pretty boy models and proceeds to insult the hell out of the guy. F-bombs, s-bombs, you name it and she spewed it.

Only problem is that she was within microphone range of the cameras and he caught wind of it, confronted her and then fired her, her agency and all her models in front of them.

That made me smile. She's a mean, vengeful, vindictive bitch who looks in her mirror and sees a goddess diva and behaves as such. People like that piss the hell out of me. Nice to see her get a little public come-uppance.

Also, The Bad Girls Club, the "reality" show about bad girls (translation: mostly just mean bitch girls) forced to live together, the show would improve substantially by getting rid of Aimee "The Schnoze". Another diva-wannabe with a huge chip on her shoulder, probably because she's far and away the least attractive one on the show. But the rest of the girls on the show are pretty damned fine. I liked it when the girl got really drunk and then started assaulting the others, that was good television.

I know, I know, I shouldn't watch a crap channel like Oxygen but its right next to FSN and Spike so I pass by it all the time and sometimes get sucked in.

Today Was a Good Day

We Have Liftoff!

Anyday where you can go to the beach, play with your dog, snap some pics and catch a great shot like this can't be a bad day.

It was chilly out but warm enough for a tank top and shorts. We walked up and down the almost deserted beach for a while, I threw scoops of sand for Nande and she had a ball running after it.

That and I found a neat little spinning top with a frog in it on the beach, which I'm sure Grady will love.

I'm trying to take advantage of my time out of work as best I can. Today was either a beach day or we were going trail riding. Maybe that'll happen tomorrow!

First Step on the Road to Somewhere New and (Hopefully) Better

I just got back from my first meeting with a career counselor. It was interesting, informative and formative. It also feels good to be making positive steps to realign my career goals with things that I am passionate about.

Not that I didn't enjoy high-tech PR, I do and did. But it's not quite the perfect fit. There are several things about the job that I disagree with as being counter productive. But it wasn't up to me to decide the how things got done.

I really liked the counselor's approach and demeanor and expect that this work we are doing together will result in my being better armed to create a better working situation for me and my family.

The next step will be some testing to determine where my passions and strengths are to better map out the route to attain a good job that I really love and can be totally excited about.

If any of you readers have had any experience with career counseling, I'd love to hear some stories and advice.

Coulter Loses Advertising

Just a short note to a longer post on IP Politik about Ann Coulter losing advertisers on her site because of her most recent hate-speech about John Edwards' sexuality.

It won't change her in anyway but that's alright. It feels good to know that others in the world find her as thoroughly reprehensible as I do.

I Am the Anti-Beck

'Cause I ain't no Loser.

Last post and then I'm off to bed. Two late nights in a row, someone must be unemployed.

Anyway, the reason I'm up late tonight is because I played in a Poker tournament online tonight. Not so unusual. I play two or three times a week.

Only tonight, I got down early and then came back to win! Hell yeah! I outlasted 89 other players to take my first tournament.

Shame it doesn't pay real money but that's what this part of the process is all about, honing the game. 'Course, getting pocket aces twice and scoring big didn't hurt a bit!

Readability

I read somewhere recently that the human eye wanders away if type goes all the way across the page. Intellectual Poison does this and I'm wondering what folks think, would it aid the readability of the site to narrow down the main column some?

I've been toying with the idea of going to a triple column design again but with the main column on the left and the two supplemental columns on the right, that way I could get more info "above the fold".

I'd be interested in hearing what folks think.

And yes, this was predicated by the Biz 2.0 post below.

Biz 2.0's 25 Startups to Watch

Business 2.0's 25 startups to watch via CNN.

So let's see what the 25's got to offer. Figure on lots of advertising and lots of play towards the mobile industry (i.e. portable cash cow industry). Also, be sure to keep track of how many of the 25 are dependent on advertising for revenue. The trifecta is the user-generated, ad-supported, spin-off of an already established company. One thing it does make me think about is that the web could use yet another social networking site like it could use a giant sucking chest wound. The suckers are everywhere, like cockroaches too. I bet for every one I see, there are at least a dozen hidden that I miss.

1. Stumbleupon - stumbling upon websites that might match your interests, I thought search engines were for finding stuff you were interested in seeing?
2. Slide - easy to make slideshows for MySpace pages, I'm giddy.
3. Bebo - private but public social networking, sorry but big 'effin' deal.
4. Meebo - IM in a webpage. Woopity-fucking-do.
5. Wikia - making Wikipedia a social site and bam, Wikia. Maybe I should check it out but I don't see a draw here. Also, Jimmy Wales has got some 'splaining to do. Bad, bad mojo to try and laugh off an inner circle Wikipedian lying about his credentials. Very, very bad. [Update: Canned his lying ass to save his own face. Nice reversal, Jimmy!]
6. Joost - another YouTube with twists and revenue sharing. If they can provide a real viewable product (unlike YouTube which, I'm sorry, blows very, very badly) then maybe they have a chance.
7. Dabble - video playlists that can be shared. I really must be one of the few that finds watching videos online to be mildly tedious.
8. Metacafe - take one part YouTube, add one part Digg, sprinkle with a dash of Google AdSense and you get MetaCafe. Winning videographers can make some dough.
9. Revision3 - Production studio for online geek shows selling sponsorships to be hefe corporations. Have I mentioned that most video content online is unwatchable crap?
10. Blip TV - more online tv, this time serialized. And distributable. Oooooh.
11. Fon - wireless for the people. This might be the only company among the bunch that I actually like.
12. Loopt - mobile friend tracking. To what point, I have absolutely no idea, nor do I care. If I wanted to keep tabs on people, I'd hire a goddamned detective and do it properly. The only use I can see for this is for spouses to bust their cheatin' hubbies or ho's with.
13. Mobio - Oh boy, more ads! Oh boy, can I watch ads on my phone before finding something useful out? Wow! Thanks Mobio, or better yet, keep your fucking meathooks off my phone.
14. Tiny - flickr on phones. With comments. Because people really take quality photos with their cellphones. Or not.
15. SoonR - access your PC from your phone. Why? I really don't know. Have you ever seen a spreadsheet displayed on a 1 1/2 by 1 inch screen?
16. Turn - more nit-picky, fine grained targeted advertising. This time the advertiser can pay for sales or click throughs or leads or whatever they are willing to pay for. Gosh, I wish they could figure out a way to beam ads into my dreams so I don't miss out on any great deals.
17. Adify - sorry I'm just going to fucking absolutely hate your business model no matter what you do with a name like Adify.
18. AdMob - the place to buy ads for delivery to cell phones. Which is exactly what the whole world has been dying for, ads on their fucking cell phones.
19. SpotRunner - semi-personalized, pre-made ad clearing house. Oh boy! Budget ads on a budget and localized too!
20. VITrue - get users to make content featuring sponsor products for big money. Its like YouTubing for Dollars. In fact, that's pretty much exactly what it is. Shilling for pennies a day.
21. SuccessFactors - employee management system with optimization and automation. Actually, this also seems like a reasonably decent idea for a company. And they don't make their money by advertising, they sell subscriptions.
22. JanRain - password management. Yeah, thanks but I'm pretty sure there are easier, better and less exposive (that's intended to be exposive - the act of exposing).
23. Logoworks - automated logo design. Because I redesign my logos at least four or five times a week.
24. Rearden Commerce - or Big Brother's SuperPDA/Nanny. I like the concept of Rearden, convergence to integrate travel with meetings and other events. But the photo with the profile makes me distinctly uneasy, like some spook is going to be laughing about my ass waxing appointments.
25. Simulscribe - voicemail transcribed to email or text messages. I guess it would be nice for people who spend all day every day stuck in meetings and they still need to get messages but why not just send an email or voicemail in the first place? By the way, someone (possibly a PR flack) might want to let CEO James Siminoff that he shouldn't smirk for his headshot. It makes most people want to slap him. Hard.

Alrighty then. There's the 25 startups to watch. Of the 25, I see maybe four succeeding. I see a few being acquired and I see a few floundering until the VC money runs out and then they dry up and fade away.

DirecTV's Nonsense Ad

Have you seen DIRECTV's latest ad?

The one with Christopher Lloyd as Dr. Emmit Brown from the Back to the Future movies?

Yeah, the one where he "forgets" to tell Martyabout DirecTV's expanding HD line up. The commercial endswith him saying "Impossible? That's what they said about my flux capacitor."

Which I take to mean that yes, it is impossible because the flux capacitor doesn't exist, it was a fucking movie prop.

Nicely done, DirecTV. Make bold claims backed up by utter falsehoods that most people won't recognize as false. Quality spin.

Turn It On, Turn It Up and Get Off

Can Sound Induce Orgasm?

The Brown Note may not exist but what about the Pink Note?

Anyone have any experience with orgasmic events and certain music? I could make arguments for the possibility of the existence of the pink note both ways.

Tanks for Nuttin', Giants

San Francisco Giants tickets went on sale yesterday. We've got a good crew of guys looking forward to heading up to San Francisco on Opening Day. However there is a catch. To get a ticket to Opening Day, we've got to become Season Ticket Holders, the cheapest of which (which also happens to be in the Upper Nosebleed section where occurrences of altitude sickness are not uncommon) is $840.

Yes folks, to go to Opening Day at AT&T Park, you have to buy a whole crapload of tickets.

Which means that I'll be watching the Opening Day celebration and Barry's March to 756 at home. Which is fine, the beers are alot cheaper, the hecklers are mellower and parking is free.

Still, I cannot understand the mentality behind this move. Seems destined for the Stupid Hall of Fame.

But maybe they did have some tickets available yesterday. But I had both kids all day yesterday so there really wasn't any time to break off and get online to get the tickets then. So maybe it's kind of my fault, unless they never had any other tickets for sale, in which case, the Giants are shooting themselves in the foot with this marketing scheme.

Chinless Joe Takes the Easy Moral High Ground

Chinless Joe says the US must spend more on military medical care. Which makes alot of sense really since they can only barely spend less.

But still, isn't this "statement" like declaring that you're against rape or that you are against kitty squishing?

Funny, I haven't heard him complaining about Ann Coulter's "faggot" remark about John Edwards.

The 80% Compliant Dog

That might be too generous really.

We have a dog. She's a rather good sized hound with a big personality and a dominant streak in her. She believes that she's the alpha with pretty much everyone she's around. With me being the partial exception.

As she's grown up over the last couple of years, she's developed a strong spirit that makes her less than wholly compliant with all commands. She takes her time sitting, she takes her time turning around and coming back, she is a willful and headstrong creature.

Sometimes it gets her, meaning me, into trouble. The other day, the mailman was several houses down the street and still out of sight. I was outside talking with my neighbor, Nande was playing around with her two dogs. And then, bam, like a bolt, she takes off toward the mailman. She means no harm, she's just excited to see someone new. The fact that she's 90 pounds of teeth and dog coming at someone who may or may not even like dogs doesn't really play into her choice of actions.

She's also changed when we go for walks at the dog park with the two boys. She treats the double stroller (fighter style, not that side by side stuff) like home turf and will keep other dogs from getting too close. And, from reports from my wife, she's less controlled and controllable when I'm not out with them.

Part of this lay off time is being spent working with her to reinforce her training again. Reinforce to her that she really isn't in control and has never been the one in control. But she remains pretty skeptical.

With another nice day like today, we'll be hitting the beach tomorrow and that should be a really good time. Its been a little while.

Playdates, Skipped Naps and Sleeping in Funny Positions

One superb benefit of being out of work presently is that I get to see my family alot more. And I adore my family.

Graydon is the current star these days but that's because he's so active and engaged in everything. He's a sweet and funny little boy who loves to dance, doesn't share as well as he could yet and occasionally behaves like a really, really annoying little kid. But that's to be expected since he IS, after all, a two and a half year old.

Yesterday we had a playdate over for most of the day. One of Grady's first pals and they played and played and played and played some more for good measure. They did bubbles, trains (a couple of times), play dough, played with Nande and the dogs from next door, did some crafty stuff and really just had a great time playing. And neither of the boys took naps.

So, by the end of the day, Grady was one tired pup. While we ate a little dinner and fed Sully, he curled up in the rocking chair and promptly fell asleep. At a little after 6! He barely put up a fuss when I did carry him up to bed. The norm is at least a few attempts to stay up. We put a child gate across the doorway and he'll come to it and make noises until one of us goes to check on him. Sometimes he pretends he needs to poop or that his toe hurts. Or that he's missing his taggy, his Hanes only taggy. Nothing else will do.

Smart parents keep an eye on those taggies as bedtime approaches because he'll sometimes hide them on purpose to stay up longer to "look" for them. Clever little kid. I do like it when he starts running laps in the living room to keep from getting a diaper change and his pajamas put on.

Sully, on the other hand, is the incredible wiggling kid. He is almost impossible to dress because he just squirms and wiggles and never, ever, ever stops moving. Oh yeah, he's also a demon on the stairs now. He can scramble up them pretty fast, so the gate gets deployed everywhere these days.

The 24/7 Anna Nicole Smith's Body Channel

Did you know that there are probably three stations in your cable lineup this moment that are discussing the details of what to do with Anna Nicole Smith's body?

Normally the media circus goes away when a person like Anna Nicole dies but not now, now there's a two headed circus of ever-increasing lunacy. On the one hand is the fight to bury her body in Texas or in the Bahamas. Texas is favored by her mother whom she detested and had excommunicated from her life. On the other hand is the paternity of the baby.

Really, it is a much bigger story than Tyra looking chubby in her swimsuit. MUCH bigger. In spite of much screeching to the contrary from Ms. Crazyeyes herself.

Years from now people will talk about the OJ trial and the Anna Nicole's body trial in the same breath.

This sordid and slow motion freak show has served only one good interest so far, write a will. Write one out and then keep it updated.

I shouldn't care about the squabbling over her body but its just so grotesque that it is all but impossible to not pay a little bit of attention to it.

Relentless Pursuit of the Sale

This is an exercise is how many annoying emails a company can send out after not even having completed the one single order I did make with them back on Valentine's Day.

I'm writing about, of course, ProFlowers. I got a bouquet of flowers for my wife for Valentine's Day, it came with a vase and chocolates but they didn't ship the chocolates with the flowers. And the chocolates were supposed to arrive last week, they did not.

And in the interim, I've gotten at least three emails from ProFlowers exhorting me to buy, buy, BUY more freakin' flowers. Or take their customer satisfaction survey (no, they do not allow negative scores).

ProFlowers does a good job on follow ups, they just did a pretty pisspoor job on the original order, which they've yet to complete now, nearly two weeks later.

Oh yeah, add on to this that ProFlowers sold my marketing information, without my consent, to one of their "trusted" partners.

Yeah, I'll be making sure that ProFlowers never sees another penny of mine.