Happy Halloween

Geeky costumes for your viewing pleasure. Have to admit the iPod and Facebook ones were fairly clever.

Tweeting towards terror

Interesting article on terrorists using Twitter. I think it is a grim reality that each new capability we get that "shrinks the world" can be used as much for evil as good.

I was also struck by an specific section in the article....

"Twitter has also become a social activism tool for socialists, human rights groups, communists, vegetarians, anarchists, religious communities, atheists, political enthusiasts, hacktivists and others to communicate with each other and to send messages to broader audiences,"

First - "hacktivists" - first time I have crossed paths with that term.

Second - first time I have seen vegetarians lumped in with socialists, communists, and anarchists. Kinda speaks to me :)

Vista and Office

Office is growing at 20%, Vista at 2%. Odd.

XP shook off a bad rep. No such luck for Vista.

Alice Cooper - Samsung ad

Alice Cooper Samsung ad... pretty cool. He even bites a puppy :)

Five simple things to do to stay sane

Here is one view on five simple things to do to stay sane. Worth a shot. I noticed "Listen to Alice Cooper" and watch "Army of Darkness" were not on the list, but perhaps those are just givens.

Buckypaper

While I am still a tad fuzzy on all the implications, the buckypaper thing looks like it will be something of significance down the road.

Still, "buckypaper"? Just not the type of name that a possible replacement for steel should have.

"He had nerves of buckypaper"

"Here are your Pittsburgh Buckypaperers!!!"

"You are a magnet and I am buckypaper"

An open letter to the Chicago Cubs

As a life long, Ralph Garr was under-rated, the shorts were not THAT bad White Sox fan, I usually take great delight in the failings and soul crushing results annually produced by the Chicago Cubs.

I was perplexed this year, when after a particularly spectacular collapse, the amount of joy I felt was remarkably lower. I almost felt empathy.

Let's not get crazy... I did say ALMOST.

A friend (well "friend" might be a tad strong - she is Cubs fan) of mine sent me her thoughts on this year. I found it to be a great read, and with her permission, I now share....

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE CHICAGO CUBS

Dear Sweet Lou and the team ~

You brought your 2008 season to a humiliating end on Saturday, being swept by the much-inferior Dodgers you brought up as another one of the kick-in-the-gut experiences to which yours fans have become accustomed … 1984, 1989, 1998, 2003, 2007 … and that's just in my lifetime. As a lifelong Cubs fan, I am forlorn. Heartbroken. Depressed. What's more, I'm mad ... and I've decided I want a refund.

I was at opening day this year, and I was at the NLDS Game 2 ~ so I opened and closed the season with the Cubs. I went to at least nine games, bought at least 30 beers, ordered new gear, used lots of gas getting to Wrigley … worse yet, I lost hours and hours of my life to this season, not just in person at games, but watching on TV, listening to the radio, reading websites ~ not to mention the 3 of my measly 10 vacation days last week alone for the NLDS … Finally, I invested my heart and a significant portion of my liver in hopeful love for this winning 2008 team … and what did I get as a return on my investment? An ulcer and another year of taunts from St. Louis fans. So I want it back. I WANT IT ALL BACK!

Let me know how you're going to make this right. I'll be sitting here nursing my wounds, making plans for all those days I'd blocked out to watch the NLCS and (just maybe) the World Series, and secretly counting down the days until opening day 2009. 182 … 181 …

Sincerely,

Jenny

Searching

Ask.com has recently upgraded their search features. Since along with Google, the have opted for the "tons-o-white space and a search box" interface, the differences reside in the quality of results and little interface goodies each works in.

I really have never had Ask.com in the mix for my personal searching. My model is usually Google, then Clusty, then Yahoo.

Tried out their new stuff - was interesting.