Profilin'

Boilerplate Kelly Thul profile:

Serial Dabbler. Hippie anarchist. 92% evil.

Commentary here is my own and does not represent my employer's positions, strategies, or opinions.

On occasion, I get the chance to speak to groups. I was a last minute sub recently and the organizer must of Googled me. He responded back to the person I was subbing for asking: "Is he the 92% evil guy?? If he is, hope we get the other 8%!"

So, figured it might be good to explain this a bit...

1. Serial dabbler - I am. To my core. I learn best via experience and be it Geocities, Amiga game development, Digg, generation zero stream-powered MP3 players, Xtranormal, Sea Monkeys... whatever - I try it out to attempt to gain a better understanding.
   
   
2. Hippie Anarchist - A coworker, and shockingly human-like lawyer, gave me this tag. It comes from a LA Times article quote from Thomas Nolle, "The problem is that it (the Internet) was devised by a bunch of hippie anarchists...". She viewed the folks mentioned in the quote and I as kindred spirits. She was pretty much right.
   
   
3. 92% evil - This was the score I received after completing a Facebook "How evil are you?" quiz. We are all aware of the rigorous scientific method Facebook insists upon for a quiz like this - so the results are not to be questioned. Most of the people I work with think the score is low BTW.
   
   
4. Commentary here is my own and does not represent my employer's positions, strategies, or opinions - Back to the serial dabbler/experiential learner thing. Social create this huge band of blur between professional and private musings. I want to understand it better, so here I sit blogging, tweeting, etc... to learn.
   
   I am a huge fan of the organization I work for and I am transparent as I can be when I talk about it. When I am not talking about it, I hope the language above helps create the appropriate distinction. While I think (hope) my company considers me an OK guy, I am certain my content (a mix of Alice Cooper/Star Wars/geekdom/zombies/White Sox/Nancy Grace hatred) is not reflected in company brand/communication objectives.
   
   Which is fine - for both of us :)

BTW, I am going to blog sometime on my favorite Twitter profiles later, but had to share my all time favorite one.

From @TakeSumE ...

I killed a lot of hitchhikers once.

Hashtaggery

I really enjoy Twitter. It speaks to me because...

1. Any insight I have usually runs out of gas in 140 characters or less
   
   
2. It is a fantastic instant news source. I am SO on top of where earthquakes hit now - instantly
   
   
3. It is a match.com for kindred spirits for any topic or idea. Examples include: Alice Cooper, Star Wars, social media, White Sox, the fake rock group Joplin, lobsters becoming our overloads, etc..
   
   
4. Unlike my e-mail inbox, no harm/no foul if I miss something
   
   
5. The warm glow of retweeting and being retweeted
   
   
6. Hash tag fun

Let's dwell on number 6 for a moment.

How fun is it to participate or start a dialogue in Twitter framed by a hashtag?? #realfun!

I love trying to come up with #badstarwarsnames, joining the shared experience of watching #sharktopus together, or asserting something #thatwouldbeawesome.

With hashtags you can start the dialogie, or simply join in. The one I like to advance is #improvedbyaddingzombies. Now, it has been pointed out, that zombies are awesome and nearly EVERYTHING is improved by their addition, but it is still fun to identify things that become the most enhanced (for example: Swan Lake is clearly #improvedbyaddingzombies)

So join in the hashtag fun, and be sure to share your zombie thoughts.

BTW, if I select the "Babe Ruths" of hashtaggery... nationally, I'd have to go with @paulandstorm, and locally @Doc_Shiv.

An Open Blog Post to Google

Dear Google,

I submitted my request for access to "App Inventor" several weeks ago and have yet to hear back. I am not sure you fully comprehend the opportunity loss you are facilitating by not granting me access. I am teeming (in a good way) with clever ideas to publish to the Android Market. Ideas that may sway owners of the "other" phone to switch - simply to gain access to "Kelly's Thuls"

Editor's note: My last name is pronounced "tool", making "Kelly's Thuls" pretty darn clever. Oh, and by the way, "Kelly" is not a girl's name. It means "warrior". Quite manly if you ask me.

To dispel any doubt on the magnitude of the relative coolocity of my app ideas, allow me to frame just one up:

DrunkTweeter

Typing is hard when you are drunk. If you are REAL drunk, Android's awesome voice entry also becomes of limited value. DrunkTweeter provides large, easy to hit buttons so you can send one of several likely tweets. These include:

• Heeey, your cuuute :)
• I'll be home soon
• I never liked you
• Are you mad at me? You seem mad at me.
• More shots!!!
• Heeeey buddddy - whatz uuuuuuuuuuuuuup????

There. So now your mistake should be clear. No apology necessary, just grant me access soon.

If you really feel compelled to make amends, I am open to you chatting with Motorola to assist in securing me the R2D2 Droid 2. It seems like a small, but fitting gesture.

Round 2.1 of Android Favorites...

Just want to tack on two "must have" games...

1. Angry Birds (still in beta for Android)
2. Alchemy

That is all

Round two of Android Favorites...

While I still stand by my first list of my favorite Android apps, I decided to add a few more. I am still cheap and all of these are still free.

1. Multicon - Strictly speaking, this is a widget, not an app - but it is awesome. Will change your life. OK, maybe not, but it is sweet. Multicon lets you place icons for four (yes FOUR) apps in the space usually occupied by one.
   
   Great way to get your most used items on your main screen. I am not the most dexterous person, and I still have no problem starting the right apps via Multicon.
   
   
2. Folders - Keeping with the "not actually listing apps in my list of favorite apps" theme, let me plug folders next. When Multicon doesn't work for you to load up a page of apps, use a folder.
   
   
3. TripIt - Book a trip. Send the confirmation email to an email address provided by this app. Stand back in amazement as it builds a handy itinerary for you. I have been able to send it work and personal travel info and it handles it all like a champ.
   
   
4. Dolphin Browser - The default browser is MUCH better with Android 2.2, but I still prefer Dolphin. I really like tabbed browsing - and Dolphin does this quite well.
   
   
5. Touiteur - Nice Twitter app. I still mostly use Seesmic, but Toutieur's fast and attractive interface, coupled with the ability to see activity from multiple accounts on one page, makes it worth considering.
   
   
6. SCVNGR - I am on the pathetic path to check-in using 34 diferent geo-location apps when I am out and about - and SCVNGR isn't helping. Foursquare remains my main app, I use Gowalla to easily select which check-ins I want to post to Facebook and/or Twitter (plus it is PURTY), and SCVNGR lurks out there as another choice.
   
   What is special about SCVNGR is the numerous options it offers to interact more -- bump phones with fellow visitors, add a location specific challenge, etc...
   
   
7. Pocket Agent - Full disclosure here. This app is from my employer. But if you have State Farm insurance and/or bank products AND an Android - you ought to grab this.
   
   A text "auto response" widget call "On the Move" was recently added. Pretty cool if you want to tell folks "can't reply to text right now... driving (or sleeping, or in class, or anti-social)"
   

Alice Cooper and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

I found a new toy and I LIKE it :) Go to www.xtranomal.com and you likely will too!

Favorite Android Apps

Had more Droid for a couple months now and LOVE it. Thought I'd list off my favorite apps/features. Everything below is free. Sounds like us Droid users favor that pricing model anyway....

1. Car home - without a doubt the GPS, navigation features alone make the Droid an awesome device. "Navigate to pizza" always provides me a list of local options immediately - me likey.
   
   
2. Seesmic - I enjoy Twitter and this is the best client I have found on Android.
   
   
3. Advanced Task Killer - Knocks off programs running in the background to save battery life. Sarah found this one for me. Thanks Sarah, for now I like you more than your sister.
   
   
4. Voice Search - Even with my lousy enunciation, this works great. I find myself talking to my iTouch to search now. That doesn't work as well.
   
   
5. Foursquare - As Mayor of La-z-boy, I declare this am awesome app. You can get Gowalla too, just not from the Market currently. Gowalla is purtier than Foursquare, but not working super on Android yet.
   
   
6. FxCamera - cool effects for your camera.
   
   
7. Meebo - since the Facebook app is lame and does not offer chat, kinda need this. Includes access to GTalk, MSN, AOL, etc...
   
   
8. DroidLight - LED flashlight. I actually use this more than you think.
   
   
9. ShopSavvy - GREAT UPC scan and price check (stores, online)
   
   
10. AP Mobile - handy news app.
    
    
11. Pandora - streaming music.
    
    
12. Photoshop on mobile - just starting to learn how great this app is to edit/crop mobile photos.
    
    
13. Oh, there is an icon that lets me use the Droid as a PHONE too. Pretty cool

More to come....

Retweet vs email forward

Awhile ago, Anil Dash (http://twitter.com/anildash) tweeted..

"It's an interesting accident of history that we consider sharing tweets "retweeting" instead of "forwarding", like in email. RT = FWD?"

This annoyed me on two levels:

• It made me think
• I disagreed, but couldn't pin down why

Upon further reflection (to the degree I can execute that) I still do not think they are the same thing. Why? Well, best I can come up with so far is:

• There is a stronger validation with a retweet than a forward
• My email address book and Twitter follower lists are not identical, and there is a reason for that
• The act of retweeting is more public - those beyond my lists (followers or email) can be exposed to the content I resurface
  

25 Redesigned Logos of 2009

I had no idea 2009 was such a busy year for logos. Check out 25 Redesigned Logos of 2009. I think Chicken Now traded up the most. But kinda a low bar to start with.

35 Smart Logos With Second Thought To Make You look Twice | Graphic and Web Design Blog -Resources And Tutorials

Some pretty clever logos here...

35 Smart Logos With Second Thought To Make You look Twice | Graphic and Web Design Blog -Resources And Tutorials

Blue Oyster Cult: The Siege & Investiture of Baron Von Frankenstein's Castle at Weisseria

The Siege & Investiture of Baron Von Frankenstein's Castle at Weisseria - a song worthy of the title

Shared via AddThis

Access

I have tended to view my desktop as the only option for my blog updates. Since 80% of my web access now occurs via wifi/iTouch, updates fall in the "not so much" category. So, testing out an iTouch update today. Keyboard form factor is not great, no spelling help, but at least I now have cut and paste for links and such.

Could work, but now I need to actually have something useful to say. Will hope to address that next post.

Cheating on my blog with Twitter

I have resolved to get back to posting to a couple of blogs that I have neglected lately.

Trying to understand how I got there.

Was I lazy? Sure, always a bit, but that is not it.

Did I run out of things to say? Unlikely.

I blame Twitter.

Now, I am no 7x24 mad tweeter, but I have had several people mention lately... "Are you on Twitter ALL the time???"

I am not, but I also NEVER had a similar question asked of me regarding blogs.

So, why? Here are some initial thoughts...

• Twitter is easy and quick. I love easy and quick
• Twitter is short. I find most of my insight can indeed be executed in 140 characters
• Twitter seems to connect me to others better - I have more regular tweet readers than blog readers
  

That being said, this was kinda nice. Got to use multiple sentences... spell check... even bullets!!

Worthwhile considering this in a business context. You want people with good thoughts in them to share them. They might be willing to do that, but will want the easiest path. It is probably not and either/or thing, but matching the right person to the right tool could help you succeed.

Kelly
(@kthul on Twitter)

Twitter - FollowFriday

I remain, at best, a Twitter minor leaguer, but thought I would share a few things I learn along the way.

I have not found Twitter's help particularly insightful, so I thought I'd take a shot once in awhile. For many of you it will appear to be the basics, but for the few it is not - hope this helps some.

So, for today, it is FollowFriday. The hash tag #followfriday (maybe more on hash tags later) is basically a way for you to recommend people you like to follow to people following you.

This article recaps the history, growing abuses, and intended use quite well.

So, I'll shut up and let you read ;)

Razorfunfish update

So, the razorfunfish thing is catching on - more info on razorfunfish

Razorfunfish - is it word

Of course it is not, but there is an experiment to see how quickly a word, in this case razorfunfish, can climb in search engine rankings - and what moves it there.

So, I ask my legions of blog readers (all 5 of you) to repost, retweet, and otherwise spread the word (literally).

Oh, sometime tonight would be best :)

Spontaneous order

Been trying to align Twitter to some economic theory. I a dug around, I came across "Spontaneous order".

First of all - WAY cool concept...

"Spontaneous order is the spontaneous emergence of order out of seeming chaos; the emergence of various kinds of social order from a combination of self-interested individuals who are not intentionally trying to create order." (Wikipedia)

Second, seems to have roots in the Scottish Enlightenment, my FAVORITE enlightenment of all time.

Third, seems to be a good match to what happens in Twitter, but I need to mull it over more.

Need 4 more Fantasy Baseball teams to join league

Well, MLB totally messed up the league features this year and I can't simply convert my private league to a public one to fill the last 4 spots of a 12 team league.

So this presents me with a chance to do a little test and see what tool works better to fill these last four spots... Twitter, my blog, Facebook, or the MLB message board.

Here is how to join:
http://tinyurl.com/c6o2ga
League ID: 16833
League Password: need4more.

15 most disturbing movies

With the noticeable absence of the High School Musical series, this list does pretty much capture a strong list of contenders for the 15 most disturbing movies ever.

Audition... yikes.

Skittles

Ok, so Skittles has had their website based on Twitter, Facebook, and Wikipedia in rapid succession. I have to wonder - what is the point? To add insult to injury, they bundled these with some of the most annoying (and persistant) pop ups I have ever seen.

Each version has augered into the ground. Just showing you are aware of these tools and and turn them on is meaningless to me.

There Twitter-base version rapidly pointed out what happens when you stride in with self-serving intentions and a desire to be "cool" - and then let anyone respond.

And respond they did.

Pun 2.0

I guess puns are considered the dregs of humor because, in the end, the wit required to execute one is minimal. I wonder if the same is true for quirky uses of social media for grins. There have been many early adopter humorists out there for each new "hot" technology....

Blogs spawned... Vader's blog

Facebook spawned... a Civil war page

Twitter offers.. history, Batman, and a mime.

I have to admit, each of these made me smile when I first saw them, but wonder how they will age. Vader's blog holds up the best for me right now, but that is one part clever writing by the author and one part I am a hopeless geek.

Email data points

After getting to update data on 79 of the 312 homes in our subdivision (I am the homeowners' association's web/email/newsletter/database guy), thought I would share some insights on our small slice of the world...

- 86% of the homeowners provided an email address
- 50% wrote them so I could read them
- Gmail and Yahoo are the most popular web mail addresses. Live & msn are barely present
- AOL is the Jason of email. Several still out there and they just don't die

And for the gang trumpeting the death of blogs (hope not) and email (I wish); while Twitter is cool and along with Facebook gets first attention from me when I am online - pretty darn sure I am going to need to count on emails verses tweets to engage the gang online for some time.

Parable 1: Scarcity

Cow's in the barn
Eating all the hay
Hay's all gone
The cow run away

credit: Erik Messamore

BTW, he and I did a killer rendition of this in song with dueling acoustic guitars

Stimulus package

So, it is probably a good thing that we can get deeper insight into what makes up the stimulus package, but much like I have avoided meat processing facilities to maintain my love of hamburgers... sometimes knowing more is unpleasant.

NASA $600 million
Digital TV coupons $605 million
Broadband 6 billion

(House version)

Think I need a trip to Mickey Ds.

Matrix runs on Windows

Operating System humor. One level below puns, but I liked it....

Bubba Nosferatu

Oh, I so hope this is true... Bubba Nosferatu in 2011!!! Thanks for Amy for sharing.

Kosmix search

Be playing a little with the Kosmix search tool. Pretty cool, and anything declared "beta-ish" is totally deserving of a little time.

A little Hulu, Twitter, blogs, Yahoo, etc... all in the mix. If you have not played with it - I recommend a look see.

My Amiga was MUCH easier to work with

Finally spent some time trying to better connect my Twitter account, blog, Facebook, cellphone, iTouch, YouTube, blender, spare socks.....

Some progress, and deeper understanding that these are not things I am gifted in managing.

However, if you are in need of some low resolution animations in Deluxe Paint 2 - I am SO a candidate :)

Very cool social networking tool

Thanks to Janice for sharing this gem...

http://www.usernamecheck.com/

Great way to seen were your user name, or your company's name is registered. I have only come across a few "false positives".

Also not a bad tool to gauge your depth of involvement in social computing as well as flagging a few site worth looking into.

Happiness is hacking Twitter

If you use a simple password on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc... might want to read this cautionary tale of a Twitter admin who clearly had a positive attitude at least.

For you iGoogle users out there...

...I highly recommend the "Fractals" theme. Very cool.

IE, Firefox, or Chrome

So IE still has over 65% of the browser market share, but Google appears to want to change that. This article deserves sharing simple due to the use of the term "microsoft-esque".

For me at home it is still Firefox and the use of their IE tab when needed. From some reason I think I would be cooler (low bar) if I used Chrome, but just not clicking for me yet.

Fembots and the geeks who love them

Regarding the subject line of this post - just following one of the tips in this pithy little recap on growing blog traffic via fairly legit methods. Some good insights to start out 2009

Disney - day 2

In finally at 12;30pm. Made to Magic Kingdom by 9ish. Around 70 degrees warmer than home. 20 minute lines or less. I'll take it.

Disney day 1 - the travel

Ice storm the night before.

Flight canceled at 10am

3 hour drive to new airport.

Waiting to see if we actually leave from here.

Pierced gothic kittens

No, not a 80s band... actual pierced gothic kittens. Only on the internet.

12 Living Fossils

OK, I am going to get off this list thing sometime soon, but a certain network's "countdown to the 12 days of Christmas" (that's right, a countdown TO a countdown) has inspired me.

So, here are 12 living fossils (no, Keith Richards is NOT featured). Worth a peek just to see the purple frog.... geez.

The 10 Most Disturbing Puppets Ever Shown on TV

Another top ten list. Most disturbing puppets.

No arguments here :)

10 Worst Holiday Albums

These are 10 stinkers featuring the likes of Carey. Twitty, and Bolton.

I had totally forgot about the Twister Sister one. Actually I had forgotten about Twisted Sister entirely. Kinda sad that is no longer the case.

In their defense, they did shoot a mildly creepy video with Alice.

Recounting ballots

Check out this article that provides examples of contested Senate ballots in Minnesota. I found it to be depressing on 3 levels...

1. Voters needed to fill out an oval by the name of the candidate they wanted to vote for. The ballots provide evidence that this process proved to be a steep "brain" teaser for some. Apparently Minnesota is Canada's Florida.

2. Each candidate pulled ballots that they feel show the "intent" to vote for them. Each candidate shows a remarkably broad definition of intent.

3. You can vote to say which way the ballot should be counted (for fun only... I hope). I tried to be 100% objective. Either I need to go back to intent school, or many of the other online voters are letting where they want the vote to go color their selection.

Adobe working to get Flash to work across multiple platforms

Please, please, please make one of those platforms iPhone/iTouch

SPAM

Bad news in the economy is apparently good news for Spam.

Product placement

OK, live TV viewing is dropping. TiVo and DVRs certainly put commericals at risk in the "watch when I want" world. I get that.

But is product placement the answer? Have you been compelled to try a soda just because Batman is drinking it -- hand twisted to fully reveal the logo?

I think a company's people are the best product placement in the social computing world. Make sure they know what your company is about, encourage them to play nice, and get back to the DVR.

Web 2.0 start ups

Here are a few web 2.0 start ups that are doing pretty well in a tough economic times. Most were new to me and nearly all had something interesting to offer.

TroopTube

I quasi-whined about the military shutting down some web 2.0 tools like YouTube awhile back. Well, now in an intriguing step forward - they introduce TroopTube.

It also seems to be driven by a sincere desire to connect those serving our country with friends and family. Good for them. They consider it a "retention tool". Corporations might want to take note.

On the geeky side, TroopTube uses Delve to make the magic happen. Seems like Delve introduces some interesting improvements to search across videos. Video has tended to be an opaque medium to search across - maybe this solution will make some inroads.

Semantic web and the market

Twine is an interesting approach to address parts of the whole web 3.o / semantic web thing. To me, the race is between people (web 2.0) or data/metadata (web 3.0) as the best method to survive the explosion of content and services.

Everyone is a content producer now, more can now be a developer as well. As the pile of all of this grows and grows we have to find better ways to store and search it. A hint for me that this is real - I have to go get a 500 gig hard drive to better support my back-up needs now. 500. Gig.

At a high level web 2.0 is people-centric, web 3.0 is data-centric. In economic(ish) terms, web 3.0 implies more authoritative involvement in the information marketplace. I remain a free market kinda guy and I am buying the hard drive to prove it.

Squidoo

I don't totally get it. I don't update my one lens very much because the interface is so painfully slow... but here is my Alice Cooper Squidoo Lens.

Election map

This is one cool map. I am talking about the interface -- will leave the assessment of what it resulted in to you.

I highly recommend the "bubble" view and the comparisons to past results. Great way to understand the data and trends.

I am cursed

So, fantasy football starts up and I score Tom Brady. I figure this dumb luck will make me look like a genius as the points roll in. Then Tom goes down week one and I lose to what will become a last place team.

I eventually pick up Kyle Orton. Surprisingly enough, Bears QBs are ALWAYS there to be picked up. Started him before the first Lions game, and again, dumb luck makes me look smart... for awhile.

This week I was worried the score keeping system might not keep up with my "Kyle points" as the Lions and Bears met once again. Then Kyle went down and I lost to a last last team again.

As the ancient Chinese proverb so aptly puts it..."Life is sad when Jeff Garica is your best option".

Handy websites

50 of 'em. Some more useful than others, but I found a nice free font source at least and a couple of decent graphics tools.

Now why I need more fonts??? Hmmmm, didn't think of that.

Unrelated, McCain was actually pretty good on SNL last night - where has that version of him been for the general election?

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.

3-D camera

Fujifilm is offering a 3-D camera. I assume the glasses will run extra.

VP debate online tool kit

Some options to blend in some online action during the debates. Given the track records of both participants, might be a lot to chatter about during the VP debate... the Gaffer vs. the Rambler.

20 Dumbest TV Shows

While I am shocked at the omission of anything Tyra Banks touches, these are 20 dumb TV shows. How did I miss "Hole in the Wall"? That one seemed to out dumb the rest.

Size of the planets

A picture (OK, web video) is worth a thousand words... the relative size of the planets.

How ya feeling now, Zaphod?

Web history

OK, this is old (covering 1995-2005), but I just came across it and it is a spiffy visual way to hit on the highs and lows of 10 years of Internet history.

Oh gee, since we are back in 2005, might as well share this as well.

White Sox magic number

I need some diversion after two brutal Bear games.

6 recommendations for measuring blogs

Often times success is in the eye of the beholder regarding blogs. Nice post here on some reasonable techniques to determine how well your blog is working.

Thanks to Jeff for pointing this out to me.

History of the Joker

Batman's Joker has been portrayed by quite the range of performers... Cesar Romero, Larry Storch, Mark Hamill... oh and those Jack and Heath guys....

White Sox and Cubs trivia

Some fun facts on the good guys (White Sox) and bad guys (Cubs). Thanks to Rod for sharing this with me

Test your tech knowledge

Pretty good quiz to find out how (1) geeky (2) plugged in (3) all knowing (4) probably geeky you are.

Palin for President

The other Palin. Not a political statement, just a nice use of Python clips.

Chrome

Have you tried Google's new browser Chrome? It is different, but I think I like it - plus, FINALLY, training that speaks to me. Worth spending some time with.

Old school video game commericals

12 of them. Fun.

Upgraders beware

Here are five insane computer upgrades you should avoid. At least according to this source. Sad part is, I have done or contemplated several of these over time.

Election map

Sure feels like we will have yet another late night to see how the Presidential election goes this year. This online election map looks promising,. You can drill down to the state, and then county level. Might be worth bookmarking is you are inclined to watch results flow in.

Surprised to see Chicago had not already voted... twice :)

7 lamest super heros

Black Condor, the Whizzer, the Red Bee.... who is the worst super hero ever? Here is a point of view.

ALice Cooper shakes the world

OK, only California shook, and Alice was not responsible, but he did catch it on video.

Pluto revisited

Pluto may get a second chance to be considered a planet once more. I hope the other planets aren't just trying to get his hopes up.

In Wii We Trust

Interesting study that seems to indicate that practicing with a Wiimote actually improved surgeons' preformance.

I used to think the Wiimote was the hands down (no pun intended) winner in redefining human/machine interaction.

Then Surface comes along, and cool games on the iTouch/iPhone like Dizzy Bee. Game on :)

REVIEW: Along Came a Spider - Alice Cooper

I am a complete Alice Cooper mark and would be hard pressed not to like anything he does. With that out of the way, my review of his latest work... "Along Came a Spider"....

At the end of the day, I really like this album. Probably Alice's best constructed concept work. There are hints of humor, but by and large this is pretty dark stuff. Every song is from the point of view of "Spider"... a serial killer... a pretty unpleasant one at that (not that there are exactly LIKABLE ones of course).

I could have used a break by means of a song sung from some other point a view - a victim, passerby, family member, Mayor McCheese, etc... 11 tracks of quality time with Spider can be somewhat of a bleak journey.

Alice has gone dark before (Brutal Planet, Dragontown), but always allowed us to come up for air by providing some comic relief ("Its the little things" on the former, "Disgraceland" on the latter).

Most of the first half of the album features a healthy dose of the snarling guitars and/or snarling Alice we have all come to know and love. Then things get quirky and some strange broadway/Lennon-esque/stadium anthem hybrids emerge.

Bottom line -- this album rocks, features Alice's WAY underrated wordplay, and is interesting.

We don't get that a lot anymore. Buy it. Help get Alice back on the charts. He deserves it.

Song comments....

1. "Prologue / I Know Where You Live" - 4:21
   
   I remember a review of the Who's "Its Hard" in Rolling Stone that said when fans first hear the "Just a girl, just a girl, just a girl" in Athena, they will be in Who Heaven. Well, when Alices kicks this song off with "I like to watch from my car"... Alice Heaven - totally.
   
   
2. "Vengeance Is Mine" - 4:26
   
   Slash appears on this song with the expected killer guitar results
   
   
3. "Wake The Dead" - 3:53
   
   "Send me a redhead, send me a brunette, send a blond to me. When I unwind, I'm colorblind, they're all the same to me".
   
   Ozzy Osbourne co-wrote and play harmonic on this track. Probably my favorite track.
   
   
4. "Catch Me If You Can" - 3:15
   
   Meh
   
   
5. "(In Touch With) Your Feminine Side" - 3:16
   
   "Its your world, but its my street".... sweet :)
   
   
6. "Wrapped In Silk" - 4:17
   
   The creepy apex of the story arc. The song seems to fight off a dual possession by AC/DC and Whitesnake during the chorus. Successfully. Eventually.
   
   
7. "Killed By Love" - 3:34
   
   Ballad. 'nuff said. OK actually.
   
   
8. "I'm Hungry" - 3:58
   
   I love 88% of this song. Problem is, I can't get past hearing Spinal Tap's "Hell Hole" each time the "I'm Hungry!!" chorus rolls by.
   
   
9. "The One That Got Away" - 3:21
   
   Only Alice would kick off a love song with "You look like you'd fit in the trunk of my car". That is why he is a national treasure.
   
   
10. "Salvation" - 4:36
    
    Complex. Good. Not real Alice-y though -- it has moments that sound like the wrap up of an Andrew Lloyd Webber project. And Webber is the anti-Alice. Somewhat.
    
    
11. "I Am The Spider / Epilogue" - 5:21
    
    Welcome back Steven. We have missed you.
    

AT&T get cloudy

AT&T enters the hyped up world of cloud computing. Several options out there now, no silver bullet.

As cloud computing joins the world of over-used and ill-defined terms (web 2.0, social networking, mash-ups, Beatlemania, etc.), I did come across this helpful tidbit in the article

RedMonk analyst James Governor asserted that services without features such as an API, or that require installing software, are not clouds.

Complete privacy does not exist

At least according to Google. This article provides some interesting food for thought on privacy and whether it does, or does not, extend to the range of your camera from a public (or not so public) street.

The Smoking Gun is not a source I cite often, but they had the goods on this topic. Plus you can check out our nation's finest in mugshot form if so inclined.

Liquid Nitrogen Into A Swimming Pool

Looks pretty fun :)

Space suits over the years

Of little value, but interesting... check out the evolution of spaceware over the years.

Mesh is free

Microsoft's cloud-ish document sharing environment, Mesh, is now free (assuming you have a Live id). Probably need to try it out.

If fonts were people

Very funny video of fonts as people.

Sad that I find this humorous upon further reflection.

Legos

Never had much of a need to understand the inner workings of a Lego factory, but ended up being an interesting view.

Civil War Facebook page uncovered

Who knew waybackmachine went, well waaaaaay back. Just entered checked our Facebook circa 1860s and look at what I found.

OK, I lied, but a cute page none the less.

Defining social media marketing

One of my biggest frustrations (outside of the White Sox not being able to open up a larger lead in the AL Central) is the variety of ways social networking, social computing, web 2.0, etc. are defined.

Good post here offering several cuts at a definition of "social media marketing", a link to an article with more opinion, and a request for readers to offer their defitiions.

Camp Closure seems so far away :)

YouTube ordered to turn over data

While anonymity is assured - there is interest in all YouTube viewership data. Seems to me like that will be a bit of a job to review.

Alie Coopers new album - July 29!!

Looks like it will be well worth the wait!!

States I hate

OK, I don't hate them, but they sure don't like me :(

I was reviewing my blog traffic. Now, I am at peace with the fact that I am not exactly a high traffic destination, but I notice several states were providing NO monthly traffic. I looked deeper and I am sad to say the following states have opted out for THE WHOLE YEAR:

Nevada, Idaho, BOTH Dakotas, Mississippi, and West Virgina

At least I am winning the big states... NY, Texas, California, and Illinois all have been pretty kind to me.

BTW - love Google analytics :)

Word art

Not the cheesy work art in a major word processor... but real word art can be found here:

www.wordle.net

Fun stuff. Here is one way a very cool Capt. Beefheart song turns out.

Thanks to Jeff for sharing.

Enterprise success with Web 2.0

Short, decent write-up on Best Buy's success with social computing.

Yahoo, Google, IBM, Microsoft, Best Buy all seem to be making progress in actually using web 2.0 capabilities. Others you would point out?

Wall-e

Disney did a pretty nice job with the site to support their last movie release. Simple fun, but fun none the less...

Wall-e

Creative business cards

Great post showing 42 clever business card designs, with links to other posted in the past. Some creative thinking here!

One year of iPhone

Not for me personally unfortunately, but one year on the market. I did score an iTouch awhile back, and I love the wifi. But here is a nice read reflecting back on the iPhone itself.

Lists on Blender

While I often disagree with the rankings/selections, there are few better time wasters than the music-related lists on blender.com.

I really enjoyed the Dastardly Villains list, including the Jabba-esque Lou Pearlman.

Social Networking fatigue

Downright funny look at social networking. Friendster seems to get the IE treatment. Surprised it didn't end with a link to FirstLife.

Thanks to Joe for sharing.

YouTube Warp

Just when I thought YouTube could not grow into a larger time gobbler for me, I stumbled on to this crafty Flash-based interface... Warp. Even spiffier than OS/2 Warp.

Productive time, I will miss ye.

A cautionary tale

I have continued to warn to the idea of my data being stored in the cloud. Gone would be the days of backup and hard drive upgrades. Then stories like this come along and I begin to re-ponder.

Tornado

Same caveat as last time, but this was pretty amazing....