Harbor Day

The New Yorker Culture Desk runs a weekly online Twitter contest each Friday. If you have never participated, I highly recommend it. Past challenges have included:

• Recap Star Wars in one tweet 
• Suggest inappropriate products to market based on a literary work 
• Propose a psychological, economic, or political effect - name it, bring it to life via Twitter

All you need to participate is 1) the ability to be a tad strange and 2) being capable of appending the hash tag #tnyquestion to your tweet.

Just the kind of low bar that speaks to me.

The most recent contest was to invent a new national holiday.  In a highly unexpected, nearly inconceivable stroke of luck, my offering was declared the winner.  My suggested holiday was:

Harbor Day - Dedicated to holding on to bad feelings about others and passive-aggressively hinting at them. See Thanksgiving.


Through an editorial fiat, which has my full support, The New Yorker has established December 1 as the official date for Harbor Day.  This was an excellent choice blending the forces of post-Thanksgiving family dinner trauma with the increasing intensity of the shopping water torture of Christmas gift list items bouncing off your forehead.

And, of course, consistent with my personal brand, I didn't think this through.  I did create Google+ (for the 6 of us active there) and Facebook invites for Harbor Day. Please share these invites with your friends.  I'd like 1 million people to accept these invites across platforms (hear me 999,994 Facebook people?!?!?).

But, we can't enjoy our first Harbor Day without the accompanying traditions and rituals. Which, well... are kind of TBD.

I thought I would jump start the thinking here.  My hope is this prompts others far more clever than I to offer improvements for me to steal incorporate in the Harbor Day canon.  We are off to a good start with Susana Martins, the embodiment of Harbor Day, accepting a co-chair role in planning and Lori Chase penning the perfect e-vite text for our holiday:

We can provide food and drinks, but if you feel like bringing something for once, we'd like it.

Note: Harbor Day was basically in a virtual tie with Lori's more intellectually nuanced "Take a Friend or Relative to Therapy Day (“Getting someone to see a shrink by any other name would smell just as sweet”).  


Some thought starters for Harbor Day rituals:

1. I am pretty sure this is a card-based holiday.  Nothing says "I am absolutely limiting my financial and intellectual investment in you" like a card does.  E-cards - even better
2. Traditional foods are likely lemon or tart grape based
3. Drinking would seem to be a must
4. Trying to figure out how to work "...and then I send $1 to Kelly" into this.  Stay tuned

Would love to hear other ideas... via blog comment, email, tweet, Facebook... whatever.

Not exactly sure we want to roll 100% this way, but the following concept from Tim Thomas was so good I had to share:

I remember celebrating Harbor Day as a child with the grandparents. We ate roast turkey and dressed in costumes begging neighbors for eggs. Then when the homeless guy came out from our crawlspace and saw his shadow the fireworks began. God bless us everyone!

Much more to come (sorry!) and while I still have never gotten over my recap of Star Wars ("Never underestimate the importance of exhaust port protection") being ignored in an earlier contest - I'll address that more December 1.

Dear Facebook...

I'd like to thank you for your tireless focus on my well-being.  I have no idea what I was thinking when I indicated my Gmail account was my preferred e-mail account.  We both know that account is in shambles - only rivaled by my work e-mail inbox.  Sometimes, "tough love" is the only answer and I only now fully appreciate the change you made.

I am simply not qualified to indicate what e-mail address I want people to use to contact me.  Something had to be done.  Thank you for stepping up.

Sure, some folks might view changes to content they provided as a tad intrusive, but most those are the crazies using other platforms like Twitter or Google+.  If they lack the judgement to use the one true platform, and only the one true platform, screw 'em.  They'll fall in line once you buy those.  If they miss the old platforms, you can always tell them to "take an Instagram - it will last longer."

I realize you have been nice enough to let me poach on your ad distribution network with my inane status updates and the occasional photo.  I appreciate it.

Not that you are interested, or would ever ask, but I do have some questions...

1. Are you OK with where I live?  I could use a heads up if I need to move
    
2. I am not the greatest looking guy... would welcome the opportunity for you to "trade up" my profile pic
    
3. Maybe you can change the ads so that, unless I say no, I buy whatever you feel is best targeted for me

Hugs and Kisses

Kel

Five ways to manage e-mail and fail

I will be the first to admit my management of my work and personal e-mail is not worthy of praise.  In my defense, it is not for lack of effort.  I am pretty sure whatever gene helps you do well at this skipped me... along with its buddy genes that:

• stop Achilles tendons from rupturing
• make you pleasant
• empower you to execute a strongly tied shoelace 
• enable you to recall names or faces of people

I'd thought I share a few techniques that have failed me in managing the e-mail beast...

By Date, Bottom Up (Attrition is Your Friend)

Start at the bottom of the list.  Many people there have probably given up, died, or failed to pass on the request they made to me to their offspring.

By Date, Top Down (Prove You are Alive and of Some Use)

One by one, read, then understand, then respond.  Move on. Unfortunately this is hard and requires thinking.  I wind easily.

Sort By Name, Work it by Person (Who Do I Want to Hate Me Less?)

This showed some promise, but it would worked a heck of a lot better if NEW people just stopped fricking e-mailing me.

Focus on the Critical/Flagged E-mail (Yeah I See Your Stupid Red Exclamation Point)

Kinda worked, but so many of my old e-mails reappear wrapped in urgent clothing.  They join the first generation urgents.  The numbers grow.  I lose heart.

Sort by Subject (What the Hell, Worth a Shot)

Very interesting method providing limited results.



So it is clear I can't help myself.

There are some strategies others have tried with some success (honest!):

• Use "Hey Stupid" in the subject line.  I offered this up as a tactic.  Some folks REALLY took a liking to it.  Like Tanning Mom to skin cancer liking it.
• It has been said e-mails taking the time to insult me have a higher response rate.  My whole "Hey Stupid" framework seems to support that.  
• Tweet me.  This seems to work.  I like Twitter.  Twitter doesn't judge you.  DMs aside, Twitter lacks an inbox.  I loathe inboxes.

Stupid out.

My 30,000th tweet is looming

So here I sit at 29,386 tweets (29,387 after I tweet a link to this post).

I wonder what number 30,000 will be.  My track record at knowing where I am at on my tweet count is dismal, so it definitely will not be anything planned.

Anyone care to make a prediction?  I have some familiarity with the posting patterns of @kellythul, so I can offer up some likely candidates - with odds no less...

1. A SyFy movie livetweet (3:1)
2. A hashtag game tweet (4:1)
3. Star Wars mention (5:1)
4. Saying something strange (5:1)
5. Declaring someone ENEMY OF THE STATE! (7:1)
6. Retweeting @anniecolbert (8:1)
7. Saying something mean (8:1)
8. Retweet in general (9:1)
9. Zombie mention (10:1)
10. Alice Cooper mention (10:1)
11. Saying something nice (92:1)

Feel free to toss your prediction in the comments section if you are so inclined.

My review of Undercover Boss: Darth Vader

Note: Everything after the first paragraph is made up.

I have grown to like Undercover Boss quite a bit.  I am sure the actual events are enhanced or edited to tidy up the story, but I'll watch the "nice hard working person just trying to get by catches a well earned break" story anytime.

That is why the Darth Vader episode threw me so much.  I am pretty sure this was the first Sith CEO  (well... maybe the DirectTV guy) they featured.  They really should have known better.  Here are some of my observations about this episode...

PRE-UNDERCOVER PREP

Did the actually think just taping photos on the front of Vader's mask would full ANYONE?  Basically all this accomplished was to amplify his breathing.  Yeah, I know he tried the "I have allergies" line, but seriously.   And the cape???  He kept the cape??

UNDERCOVER

I have to admit, he looked hilarious in the Jawa outfit on his first assignment on the Sandcrawler.  It basically looked like a dickey.  We did see to softer side of Vader though.  I counted at least three Jawas he was sure to stop force choking before they died.

The Kamino segment was painful to watch.  EVERY moment he was left alone in the clone factory he kept going "No, I am your Father".  Funny the first time.  And ONLY the first time.

The last one was the riskiest of course.  The Dark Lord of the Sith trying to manage the weapon firing controls on yet another Death Star under construction???  I am pretty sure some of the Stormtroopers knew what was up, but they played along.  He did seem to learn that targeting planets was trickier than he thought.  Unfortunately so did Bespin, Hoth, and Upatu.

THE WRAP UP

So, all the people he worked with showed up Sith HQ (in Delaware I think) to discover who they actually had worked with.  This totally did not goes as planned I expect.  It featured and unending string of force chokes, Sarlacc tosses, "You have failed me for the last time", "You are as clumsy as you are stupid", and so on.

Of course the Death Star Training Officer that brought up "Take you child to work Day" had it coming.

The Walking Dead Rankings - Revised

As we all wait for October and the start of season 3 of The Walking Dead, I decided to update my earlier rankings.  I included any positive of negative movement in the list below.

(Graphic novel character development still omitted from these ratings)

1. Daryl Dixon (-)  Still cool and the most practical member of the group.  Plus, he put Dale down.
    
2. Glenn (-)  Shortround grows on ya.  Handy.  Honest.  A little goofy.
    
3. Maggie Greene (+2)  She seems normal.  Kind of makes her unique in the group.
    
4. Rick Grimes (-1)  Want to give Carl a gun?  Fine. Give him Daryl's gun?? You drop spot.
    
5. Otis (-1)  Kind of hard to move up being dead the second half of the season.
    
6. Hershel Greene (+4)  The man has a shotgun with unlimited ammo.
    
7. Andrea (+8)  She is a mixed bag, but is hanging with Michonne now.
    
8. Dale Horvath (+1)  Props for suggesting people behave humanely.  Tip: Night cornfield strolls = bad idea.
    
9. Carol Peletier (-)  At least you support Daryl.
    
10. Sophia Peletier (+2)  Since you had been bitten by a zombie, I forgive you dragging out the first half of the season.
     
11. Well walker (-)  Dude, don't go to pieces with your ranking.
     
12. Shane Walsh (+4)  Our head rubbing whack job had his moments.
     
13. Merle Dixon (-)  A bad guy, but his bout with the clap proved useful.
     
14. Theodore "T-Dog" Douglas (-8)  Almost forgot to list him.  There is a reason for that.
     
15. Carl Grimes (-7)  The kid is an idiot and his parents dress him funny.  AND he stole Daryl's gun.  AND he got Dale killed.
     
16. Lori Grimes (-2)  Car crashing, Carl losing, manipulative and basically useless hosebag.

Pinteresting, very Pinteresting (part 1)

OK, fairly recently joined the herd and decided to check Pinterest out.  An extremely bright colleague convinced me to do this.  She has a deep understanding of nearly all of the social platforms, but had never become a super-heavy user of any of them.  That all changed with Pinterest.  She LOVES Pinterest.

So I signed up.  I am a bit fuzzy on it, but pretty sure I chose to connect via my Twitter account.

Tangent 1: My Twitter followers run roughly 60% female, 39.99% male, and .01% male with a white iPhone.  Conventional wisdom seems to have grossly underestimated the percentage of females interested in zombies, Star Wars, general snarkiness, ducks, and live tweeting god-awful SyFy Original Movies.

Tangent 1.1: I am influential on ducks.  Klout says so.  I have a duck board on Pinterest.

So, for those unfamiliar with Pinterest, you use it to share pictures or videos you find online or upload.  You organized them on "boards".  They give you a default set of boards that you can change.  Which I did.  Right away.  Few will be surprised that mine now include Star Wars, Alice Cooper, Graphics, Photography, Zombies, and (of course) Ducks.  Remember, I am influential about ducks.

You then start following people and your experience is defined by what they add to Pinterest - called "Pinning".  If you like one, you can re-share it, sort of an image re-tweet, and people following you see it - called "Repinning". I can only assume Pinterest initially populated my "following" list from Twitter.  I am also assuming EVERY female follower I have on Twitter has a Pinterest account.

This resulted in me swimming in a sea of wool skirts, clever kitchen designs, and brooding shirtless male models (most of which resided in boards called "Hotties" or "Future Husbands" or "Yum").

Tangent 2: My only beef with Pinterest so far is my female friends can have a "Hotties" board and are actually celebrated in the community.  If I fire up a "Hottie" board, it would not enhance my online brand.  That is OK though, I am influential on ducks, not hotties.  Clearly.

You can refine your experience by following someone, but dropping any of their boards, oh say like "Hotties", and still see much of what they pin.  Much like my colleague, I now LOVE Pinterest.  I have connected with people with similar interests, am awash in cool Star Wars pics, and can continue to share the duck gospel I am so well noted for.

Will probably explore this further in a future post.  So don't say I didn't warn you :)

Rock and Roll Faux of Fame (ver 1.2) #RnRFoF

Additions to my first post on the topic of awesome band names.  Still working on the proper form factor.  Open to guidance.  I think I my try something via Pinterest.

(UPDATE: I am trying Pinterest for this: http://pinterest.com/kthul/great-band-names/)

While this is a stong list, the editor's pick is Surplus Marco Scutaro Jerseys by @whitesoxski


Hat Quest - pretty sure this was @ohalchemygirl

Mutant Gonorrhea - @anniecolbert

Phantom Limb Tollbooth - @TinyNietzsche

Surplus Marco Scutaro Jerseys - @whitesoxski

Volcanic Ash Flow - @kellythul, inspired by "2012 Ice Age"

Even good spam is bad

Wanted to share some recent spam I got via e-mail. I was actually impressed by their manipulative effort and felt it merited some play by play. My inner monologue in in bold italics below.... (fancy, I know)

EMAIL OPENED......

Hello!

Seems a happy sort. Cheerful.

I just want to thank you for your wonderful blog commecon.blogspot.com.

Gee, I already feel warm and fuzzy. Someone LIKES it!!
 
I read the post "Top Ten Twitter Bios"

My most recent post at the time. Maybe this is real...

and then I spent another hour on your blog by reading your posts with pleasure :)

Big smile. Wait a sec. Even I wouldn't send an hour reading it. Maybe this is is a spammer.

Every article is interesting and easy to read.

Well, I DO fancy my writing is a like that, at least a bit. Would be nice if someone agreed. Hard not to really.

I really like the "Rock and Roll Faux of Fame (ver 1.1) #RnRFoF".

Hmmm. The EXACT title another recent post. An awkward title. Almost like it was captured via automation. Maybe my super-smart new friend is a spammer after all. That would be sad. He is saying such nice things. Maybe not. I can hope.

I work for Jooble company, we aggregate job adverts around the world.

Dammit.

My job is to persuade bloggers to link to our site.

Dammit. Dammit.

I really love my job! We have a friendly team and good management, but unfortunately I have no idea how to convince a blogger to link to us,

Wistful, faint flicker of hope he is real. So happy he like where he works. Poor fella, not sure what to do. If he is real, maybe old Kel can help him out... 'cuz I am like smart and stuff.

I'm afraid I might lose my job because of it :(

Oh the guilt. My new fan is at risk! Wait.. my new fan is a spammer. Trying to guilt me. Sigh.

And that is why, instead of sending letters to thousands of different blogs, I am reading yours.

But he DID pick me. Crap, I wish this was real.

Honestly, I am not really sure if the link to our website in United States - (spam site URL), will be appropriate for your blog, but if you believe it will and you can add it, I would be really grateful to you! Our site is really cool, it can greatly help hundreds of people to find jobs.

Now grumbling through the rest of the spam. Crestfallen and irritated.

I wish you to have a good day and excellent mood! Thanks again for your nice blog. Write more! Thanks!

Yeah, yeah.

P.S. I am a Aries by zodiac sign too :)

Oh, now you are just being a dick. Expecting me to buy his is real by grabbing my month of birth from my profile to "personalize". You think I am dumb or something? I caught on SENTENCES ago.

Oh, and "by zodiac sign"? REALLY?? You already mentioned how clear and interesting I write and expect THAT not to jump out at me? Oh wait, there was no real evaluation of my prose. Dammit.

Best regards,

xxxxxxxx
Account Manager

Sad panda. Off to play Zombie Lane.

Top Ten Twitter Bios

Pretty self explanatory.  If you have suggestions on the rankings or new ones to add, please tweet/comment/e-mail me. 

The decisions of Thul are final.

(yes, the decisions of the "tool" are final... hardy har har)


TOP TEN TWITTER BIOS

1. I killed a lot of hitchhikers once. - @TakeSumE
    
2. I type words on my home computer and then, using an internet connection, I post those words to the world wide web. In my spare time I teach first grade. - @cheeseboy22
    
3. I come over here when I've pissed the Facebook people off. - @JuliAnaB
    
4. I can control your mind, then I will probably eat you. - @psychicrocodile
    
5. I squeeze my toothpaste from the middle. - @kimberleebic
    
6. I'm a comedian. I also like taking pictures in my underwear to fill the hole in my ego where parental love should be. - @aprilmacie
    
7. No idea what I'm doing here, peer pressure is a horrible thing. - @YeungJeans
    
8. I'm the only bee in your bonnet - @abitterfiglet
    
9. Made it from child actor to adult actor without a single trip to rehab.... - @kaceybarnfield
    
10. blah blah blah - @spicyasian

Rock and Roll Faux of Fame (ver 1.1) #RnRFoF

I figure SOMEONE needs to be in charge in cataloguing the huge number of completely awesome band names that emerge in Twitter. 

I'll gladly assume that responsibility. 

Here is a small starter list, please comment/e-mail/tweet me with others.

ROCK AND ROLL FAUX OF FAME (#RnRFoF) Ver 1.1
 
Selfish Porcupine, Bionic Turtle - @anniecolbert
 
Cake Zombies - @YeungJeans 

God Particle -  @natekelly

Arboretum Pathway - @TakeSumE    http://twitpic.com/7w4xl2

Biopsychosocial Context - @garwboy

Tattered Libido - @orzelc

 

Massive Thatchers - @megpickard
 

Fountains of Methane - @lastcurfew
 

Joplin - @LisaMarieBowman
 
Social Butterflies - @sarahvargo

I am not including my "Rhymes With Bunt", because that is not the kind of band name you share with polite company.

Many, many, more to come...

ver 1.1: added @anniecolbert names. I am ashamed I missed them initially

Just STOP

If you are adding new material to your EXISTING blog, do not say "I am adding a new blog tonight".

You are adding a post.

This completes my new post to my blog.

(Un)dead math

Given my fixation on things zombie, @mattress2448 posed the following question to me:

If a vampire bites a zombie, will it turn into a zombie or will the zombie turn into a vampire?

My initial response was that the vampire would get zombified.  This assessment was challenged by several folks, so let's get all scientifical about it.

Since (shockingly I might add) there are few zombie or vampire related operands in math, I had to introduce the following:

vv = vampire bite
\\\ = zombie scratch
mm = zombie bite

Now, I believe the following are not contested

Zombie (Z1) mm Human (H) = Zombie (Z2)
Zombie (Z1) /// Human (H) = /// Human (H)
Vampire (V1) vv Human (H) = Vampire (V2)

Since the second equation about does not yield an outcome relevant to the question - we discard it.  But we did get to use the way cool /// symbol.  Now, solving for human...

mm H = Z2-Z1
vv H = V2-V1

Divide by vampire bite

(mm H) / vv = (Z2-Z1) / vv
H = (V2/V1) / vv

Substitute for H

mm (V2/V1 / vv) / vv = (Z2-Z1) / vv

Cross multiply

mm (V2/V1 / vv) / (Z2-Z1).....

Well...  OK, lemme work on this some more....

I need a life...

The Walking Dead Rankings

As we approach halftime in season 2 of The Walking Dead, I felt it was time to share my mid-season rankings on the characters' favor-ability in my eyes.

(Graphic novel character development omitted from this ratings)

1. Daryl Dixon 
2. Glenn
3. Rick Grimes
4. Otis  
5. Maggie Greene
6. Theodore "T-Dog" Douglas 
7. Carol Peletier 
8. Carl Grimes
9. Dale Horvath
10. Hershel Greene  
11. Well walker
12. Sophia Peletier (JUST SHOW UP DAMMIT)
13. Merle Dixon 
14. Lori Grimes
15. Andrea
16. Shane Walsh

Zombie on the hot seat

While I am truly enjoying the second season of Walking Dead, I have noticed the walkers have seemed much faster this season.  Suspiciously faster.  Could they be juicing?  I sat down with one of them and asked the hard questions...

INTERVIEW WITH A WALKER

KT: Good afternoon

W: argh hhmt zaaa
(I want to bite you)

KT: We'll see about that.  So, enjoying the second season of Walking Dead?

W: eerd cess toggo tommieees
(Outside of a crossbow bolt in my thigh and having some bad Chinese one night, a Mr. Chu I believe, can't complain)

KT: You seem to be much quicker this season.  Larger too.  I am also noticing some acne between your wounds.  How can you explain that?

W: toogh mantnaaa..gaaarrr... umgongga
(Well, I got a new trainer and try and to focus on small meals more often... jockeys and such)

KT: I have your CDC tests here.  You have tested positive for performance enhancing drugs SIX times this season.  No action was taken because you have tended to eat the lab staff.

W: yraaaa... leeee strr
(Yum... lab staff...)

KT: What about those results?

W: rugurt grammen fof fofft noginess cuuuverttta joog joog
(Hey, I can't control what the people I eat take, it is not like they wear labels... unless it is a jersey with Bonds on the back... heh heh)

KT: The test levels were far too high for second hand consumption, the reflect that YOU consumed the drugs

W: dovaaas cusssooun ratiii aaaagg uuun
(Well, my trainer DID give me something, but he said it was flaxseed oil.  It tasted a little funny, so I ate his elbow.)

KT:  Flaxseed oil?  Really?  Your hat size would have increase 3 sizes if you still had all your head left!

W: eeeerg
(This interview is OVER)

KT: Fine.  Ah, Mr. Dixon?  Would you be so kind as to help our guest leave?

Mr. Dixon: (cocking crossbow) Damn happy to.

Review: Welcome 2 My Nightmare by Alice Cooper

Well, after the long wait for its release, and after many listens... here is my review of Alice Cooper's "Welcome 2 My Nightmare" (W2MN).   Alway dangerous to do a sequel to one of your best works, but this is a great album in its own quirky way.

"I Am Made of You"  (Alice Cooper, Bob Ezrin, Desmond Child)

Doesn't quite live up to Alice's list of killer first songs in past albums ("Hello, Hooray", "Sideshow", "Schools Out", "Brutal Planet", etc.), but a pretty strong start none the less.  Still trying to wrap my head around Alice using autotune.  We get to hear the piano part from "Steven" in the intro.... pretty sweet.

"Caffeine" (Cooper, Ezrin, Tommy Henriksen, Keith Nelson)

As a coffee addict, this speaks to me.  Great chorus and a rocking number.

Because I realize / If I close my eyes / I'm gonna wake up dead.

"The Nightmare Returns" (Cooper, Ezrin)

Ahhh, here's the Alice sing-song voice we need in a nightmare album.  "Years Ago" is still the best of these, but enjoyed this one as well.

"A Runaway Train" (Cooper, Ezrin, Dennis Dunaway)

First song on W2MN co-written with an original Alice Cooper band member - Dennis Dunaway.  There are three of these on the album - and all the surviving original band members play on these tracks.  Straight ahead rock with plenty of musical elements echoing a train running out of control.

"Last Man on Earth" (Cooper, Ezrin, Piggy D, David Spreng)

Alice as Tom Waits??

Just like "Some Folks" on Welcome to My Nightmare, Alice works in a vaudeville-esque ditty.  Heavily features a tuba.  Yes, a tuba.

"The Congregation" (Cooper, Ezrin, Henriksen)

Alice as the Beatles?

If Alice had been a member of the Beatles, pretty sure this is what is would have sounded like.  Also, Rob Zombie appears on this track.  Any song that indicates hell is mostly populated with Wall Street types, defrocked priests, telemarketers, lawyers, pimps, and mimes is OK by me.

"I'll Bite Your Face Off" (Cooper, Ezrin, Henriksen, Neal Smith)

Alice as the Rolling Stones?

Alice has proven he can execute the Stones sound dead to rights with "Sunset Babies (All Have Rabies)" off the Dirty Diamonds album.  Eagerly awaiting the opportunity to sing "I'll bite your face off!!" along with Alice  next live show I see.  Quite catchy.  Neal Smith from the original group co-wrote.

She put the whip in the cream

"Disco Bloodbath Boogie Fever" (Cooper, Ezrin, Henriksen)

Alice as a techno/rap guy singing about disco??

Pretty much a comedy/rock song.  It is funny.  The background singers do sound quite a bit the the Winkies for Wizard of Oz.  Not sure how I feel about that.  Still, the title (and chorus) of this song make it a keeper.

"Ghouls Gone Wild" (Cooper, Ezrin, Henriksen)

Alice as Dick Dale?

Not sure it was wise to put the two most heavily comedy/rock songs back to back.  Fun song, VERY reminiscent of "Summertime Blue" in parts.  Mark Volman (of the Turtles) turns in some awesome backgroud vocals.

"Something to Remember Me By" (Cooper, Dick Wagner)

I usually like Alice's ballads, but this one is kind of just "meh" for me.

"When Hell Comes Home" (Cooper, Ezrin, Michael Bruce)

OK, no comedy here.  Alcoholic father.  Abused mother.  Dead alcoholic father.  Michael Bruce from the original group co-wrote. A dark, bluesy rock number.  Listen close at the end, when the abusive father gets his comeuppance, he faintly yells out "Steven!".  You KNEW we would hear from the main character from the original Nightmare.

"What Baby Wants" (Cooper, Ezrin, Henriksen, Ke$ha)

I figured I'd hate this song since it is a duet of sorts with Ke$ha.  I didn't hate it, but don't love it either.  At least Alice didn't go with Justin Bieber as the devil.  I can buy Ke$ha as the princess of darkness.

"I Gotta Get Outta Here" (Cooper, Ezrin, Patterson Hood)

Alice as Dwight Yokam?

Tinges of country creep into the closing number.  Alice recaps the stories from the previous songs, then a choir of voices responds with an operatic "What part of dead don't you get?" Alice starts to protest to no avail.

"The Underture" (Cooper, Ezrin, Henriksen, Child, Wagner, Jeremy Rubolino, Kelly Jay Fordham)

Instrumental track featuring songs from both Nightmares.  Love it.

Bonus Track:

"Under the Bed"

There are several packages of this album with different extras.  Mine had this song.  It is a perfect Nightmare song, not sure why it didn't make the actual album.

My cat went under the bed and disappeared
All we found was a tail and a paw, and an ear

Who Stole my Death Star?

After multiple viewings of various episodes during my beloved SpikeTV Labor Day Star Wars Marathon (in honor of the Death Star construction workers, AT AT line workers, and the Oompa Loopma warthogs manning the furnace conveyor on Bespin I guess), I have determined Palpatine is an outstanding business role model.

Think about it...

1. He rapidly rose from a lowly senator representing the most annoying planet in the Republic to Emperor
2. He secured a spiffy cadre of guards AND color coded them 
3. EVERYONE took his calls 
4. Plus the whole lightening from the fingers thing. Frick'n awesome. 

Now, I am not pointing this out just because many (rightly) have determined Palpatine and I likely have exact matching results on Pace Color Palette testing.

Honest.
 

Sometime during my third viewing of Return of the Jedi, I determined I could have rocketed up the old corporate turbo-lift had I limited my comments to the following gems he offered in the movie:

• Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL (PowerPoint, white paper, business model, etc.) 
• I wonder if your feelings on this matter are clear 
• Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen 
• You will find that it is you who are mistaken, about a great many things 
• Only now, at the end, do you understand... 
• Now, you will pay the price for your lack of vision! 

It's never too late. I'll put these into action from here on out. 

Not sure if I'll sport the robe as well, but it is tempting.

Rabid Wombat - Analogy 1

I think it is safe to stipulate that the rabid wombat has been underutilized as structural device in analogies.  I plan to work to correct that.  So...

THE BUSINESS CHALLENGE

You can explain the risks of certain situations, but full understanding of those risks is often not achieved until they are experienced directly.

THE ANALOGY

There is a room.  In the room is a rabid wombat and a baby.  You are preparing someone to go in with the following guidance:

Objective: We get the baby out of there.  I mean geez, there is a rabid wombat in the room with that baby.  That is bad.

For purposes of this analogy, let's call our baby retriever "Gus".

Background/Risks/Considerations provided to Gus (probably via PowerPoint)

• Rabid wombats are mean
• Rabid wombats snarl and menace
• Babies are squirmy
• Do not expect the baby to significantly assist in logistics 
• The wombat probably won't want the baby to leave at will indicate this to you  

What happens

Gus indicates he understand the situation/risks and outlines his plan... a plan best summarized as "I move fast, ignore the wombat, grab the baby, and get out of there".

The first execution of this plan actually runs along the lines of "Gus enters the room, the wombat menaces, Gus rapidly exits"

You debrief on the first attempt.  

Gus shares "That wombat looked REALLY mean and menacing.  The baby gave ZERO indication he would effectively partner with me on this project.  Gus does acknowledge none of this should have been a surprise to him since it had been shared in advance, but his experience has deepened his understanding of the terms "mean", "menace", and "squirmy" and their relation to the risk profile of the whole baby/wombat thing.

Armed with a true understanding of the situation, Gus returns to the room and is able to now execute the plan.

THE LESSON

Risks often sound more manageable when explained verses actually experienced.  Hopefully the lessons learned via this analogy can:

• Reduce the number of times people rush to say "I understand and accept the risks"
• Prompt activity to gain actual experience in managed ways to round out the true risk understanding
• Reduce modifications to risk mitigation plans once things "go live"

Facebook, Twitter, Google+ breakdown

Just felt like sharing some trends I have noticed in using Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ simultaneously 

                                                                FACEBOOK        TWITTER           GOOGLE+

How much I care if there are
more people following/friending me              Not at all                  Tons                  Not at all
than I follow/friend

Percent of posts related to Google+          
(which I mainly do now to annoy                 15%                         20%                      60%
Matt Cava)  

Percent of connections that pretty               85%                          30%                      15%
much hate me    

Where do I post the most                            3                               1                           2

Where do people respond to my                  2                               3                           1
posts the most?

Average percent evil I operate at                80%                           75%                      30%
(Note: 92% is my upper limit)

Where do I make new connections             3                                 2                           1

Places where my posts are                        1                                 1                            1
superior to Christy Berka's

What do I check first?                               3                                 1                            2

Connections                                             430                            1,257                     148

Will probably add to this later on.

Here is why the universe is a safer place since I stopped coding

DO UNTIL (you figure out where to post)

  IF (you live for Farmville) THEN
      USE [facebook]
  ELSE
      IF (interested-based relationships are your thing) THEN
          IF (you are long-winded) THEN
             USE [google+]
          ELSE
             USE [twitter]
          END IF
     ELSE
         IF (personal-based relationships are your thing) THEN
             IF (you actually have personal relationships in good standing) THEN
                  USE [facebook]
             ELSE
                  USE [craigslist]
             END IF
         ELSE
              USE [angry birds]
         END IF
    END IF

END UNTIL

Google+

So, I have been playing with Google+ (gplus.to/kellythul) and here are some early observations:

• Location check-in is super crazy easy
   
• Appears to be plan to fold in Blogger to some degree.  If that is deep integration, it is going to confuse me.  I have viewed this blog and my Twitter and Facebook activity as connected, but different
   
• Circles look to be an effective way to organize feeds to work, home, industry, etc. -- IF you approach them thoughtfully and have some level of organizational skill.  So, I'm doomed pretty much
   
• The "sparks" feature is an awesome way to catch posts on your interests (and yes, the first one I set up was for Alice Cooper).  Sparks will be wasting much of my remaining existence
  
• As you would expect, works quite well on my Droid.  Not sure how the mobile integration will happen for iPhone users - but it clearly has to somehow/sometime.  Not that I associate with iPhone users of course
    
• Today was the first day where for a fleeting moment I wondered if my Facebook page will end up like my I-think-I-have-one-but-not-completely-sure MySpace page.  It was fleeting, but it crossed my mind
   
• Still seeing big differences in my use of Google+ and Twitter.  Google+ does not appear to be a particularly nurturing environment for hashtag games... and I GOTS to have my hashtag games

More to come... someday.

Bog Panda vs. Sewer Shark

For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you know that I love live tweeting SyFy original movies with the gang on Saturday nights.  Oh, and sorry for the whole flooding your time line thing.

Live tweeting the broadcast has resulted in basically a crowd sourced "Mystery Science Theater 3000" show.  Even better, the cast of these cinematic gems are starting to show up and join in the fun on Twitter.

It is kind of cool to get Robert Davi tweeting you about your "Swamp Shark" GetGlue check-in -- or to have the actor playing "Almighty Thor" correct you and explain he is not the "sissy" son, he is the "inexperienced" son of Odin (an Odin played by Kevin Nash in all his Outsiders glory).

I'd like to take the crowd sourcing to the next level and work together to develop the ultimate B-movie screenplay.  Everything is in play... casting, tag lines, story arc, etc.. 

I have just started to play with this concept a little bit and have set up the BOG PANDA VS. SEWER SHARK wiki to house our masterpiece.  Matt Johnson came up with the Sewer Shark concept, but Bog Panda is all mine :)

If you want in, email me at kelly.thul@gmail.com and I'll set you up with edit access to this wiki. To grant access, I'll need to use either your email address or wikispaces ID.

I'll likely be fiddling with this as a solo effort if there are no takers, but would love some partners in crime. 

The Unbearable Niceness of Being

The evening of June 8, I tweeted/wall posted the following:

 

@kellythul I plan to be pleasant and supportive in person and in social media tomorrow. Just to confuse people. 

This resulted in some interesting observations during the longest June 9th of my life (that STILL isn't over as I write this).  These observations included:

 

1. I like to pick on people - I really do.  I started to twitch when a nemesis posted the morning downpour made her look like a "wet dog", and all I could say was "Sorry to hear!".  I had several more interesting thoughts I could have offered related to the "wet dog" that was served to me on a silver doggie bowl.
    
2. People expect me to be unpleasant - Greeting people with a simple "Hello" or "Nice to see you" left both of us standing there confused... waiting for the next comment to undo the initial pleasantries.  The number of "OK, now you are starting to creep me out" also grew as I remained true to only uttering pleasant/supportive comments throughout the day.
    
3. People like to pick on me - Easy target to be sure.  I am shoe lace challenged, unfettered by focus, and just a tad goofy.  But it is less fun to point that out if I just reply nicely.
    
4. The further away you are from me, the more you like me (keeping in mind everything is relative) - In aggregate, my Facebook connections are more local, while my Twitter gang is far more distributed.  Barely a ripple occurred in Twitter when I posted my ill-advised "niceness day" plan, but Facebook lit up with a VERY heavy skepticism that I could pull it off. 

So, all in all, it was an interesting experiment I have little desire to repeat again any time soon. 

 

So, I'll hang on until midnight tonight with the whole "nice" thing, but look forward to a June 10th dedicated to catching up with a few people.

 

#EOTS

I expect many of the readers of this blog are like me.  Kind.  Friendly.  Always willing to offer words of support.  Basically a walking human hug.

One would think that a person with these characteristics would attract Twitter followers and/or Facebook friends sharing a similar temperament. 

Sadly, I have been beset with Twitter/Facebook connections that attack my age, musical tastes, general intellect, sports team alignment, shoelace status... just to name a few of the topics they smack talk me on.   Always unprovoked.  Always undeserved.

While the only road I have a map for is the high road, I was finally left with no choice but to establish "Enemy of the State" lists in both Facebook and Twitter.  Since the Twitter one is more accessible, here it is:

http://twitter.com/#!/kellythul/enemies-of-the-state

The basic workflow is as follows:

1. You wrong me (consistently unjustified)
2. I add you to the appropriate "Enemy of the State" list
3. I virtually point at you and in a loud and commanding voice declare you an ENEMY OF THE STATE! (and hashtag you with #EOTS in my Twitter declaration of your enemyness)
4. I feel better

Just hoping there are high limits for how many people I can add to these lists

Facts are facts

If you were not aware, one of the greatest injustices of all time was addressed with Alice Cooper's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year.

What resulted in them finally comprehending their oversight? Well, this is the FIRST induction after the distribution of this video:

While I don't want to claim credit for Alice getting in, I really have little choice.

Snow is just God's way of trying to kill you

Well, here I sit in Bloomington Illinois, waiting for 12, 24, or 30 inches of snow over the next few days.

Bloomington is noted for it's large strip mall and chain restaurant population, Beer Nuts, Lincoln stretched his legs here once... and a surprising large and active Twitter community.

Often, the somewhat unfortunate hashtag #blono is used for our area. We (blo) are part of a twin city thing with city of Normal (no). Yup, we are not Normal, just near it.

So, given the potential dire problems that could emerge with the storm, the #blono Twitter community has sprung it action.

We are trying to pick the right hashtag for the storm.

Options include..

#bilizzkrieg
#BloSno
#BlonoBlizathon
#blonosnowpocalypse
#snowkrieg
#Snowmageddon11
#snowpocalypse
#snoprah
#SnotoriousBIG

#snoprah is mine and is best followed by bellowing "IT'S HUGE", but I have to cast my vote for #SnotoriousBIG by @christyberka. This pains me, because I hate @christyberka. But it is a heck of a name.

Just wanted to provide an update and close by quoting a heartfelt tweet from yours truly...

@Kellythul: I am afraid this storm is so bad we have simply no choice and must burn Justin Bieber as fuel.

Free Lauren!

Here is a video shared by a friend* capturing his highly intellectual** daughter's reaction to the Bears loss the the Evil Cheese Empire in the NFC title game.

* well, as close to a friend as I can be to a Packers fan
** props to mom's side of the family




This has gone somewhat viral since it features a sweet young lady and her heartless cheese curd on legs father.

"Go Pack Go"?? Really??? In this frail state???

Consistent with the long standing deep community commitment demonstrated by thulbox studios, they have proudly released a commemorative "Free Lauren" t-shirt.

Available for order immediately via:

http://www.cafepress.com/thulboxstudios

FREE LAUREN!

In defense of Jay Cutler

I have been a Bear fan for a looong time. "Quarterback poor" would be a generous assessment of Chicago Bear fandom in the post-Luckman years/decades. The bright spots for me...

• Bobby Douglas - ran for 1,000 yards, passed for significantly less, and actually spent some time in the White Sox farm system
  
  
• Bouncing Bob Avellini - A lumbering mass of a QB, drop back challenged, and half of the Avellini-Latta combo that terrorized defensive secondaries (about 3 times)
  
  
• Jim McMahon - played hard / partied hard, smartass, and a wannabe offensive lineman. Jim actually made the Pro Bowl. A Bear's QB in the PRO BOWL! My head almost exploded. Best I can tell, he showed up drunk to that game
  

And then came Jay Cutler. The savior from Denver. The man that would wash the visions of Henry Burris away FOREVER.

Wellll... that has not quite happened yet. Turns out Jay is not "Mr. Instant Offense" or "Mr. Personality" either.

It is not Jay's fault that his default facial expression is best described as "laconic mopery". It is his fault that he won't even cast a glance at fans trying to high five him from the end zone seats after he runs it in for a TD at home.

And then came the NFC championship game.

He didn't spark the offense. He painted the sidelines with his grimstorm of body english. Then he left EARLY for the locker room after another hope crushing INT. THEN according to Twitter, he quit.

In fact, one wiseguy fan trotted out this little tweet-o-venom...

Rodney Dangerfield's "oh my arm, oh my arm" in Caddyshack was more believable than Cutler's knee injury #bears

Yes, that was me, @kellythul on Twitter (follow me for more treasures like the item above)

We all had a story line and refined it real time via Twitter. Twitter, our friend, our enemy. Twitter, where speed and rush to judgment can too easily trump gathering actual facts.

Best I can tell, leveraging these pesky "fact" things, it appears Jay actually WAS injured in the 1st half. Stayed in the game and tried. In pain. Came out the second half and tried. In pain.

I didn't tweet about that. Didn't lend itself to 140 characters of snarky.

So, I apologize to Jay (knowing full well he would be indifferent). I hold out hope that he will emerge as a leader and the kind of QB you are so glad you have when your team is down 7 with 1:40 to go in the game. A QB that gives you hope.

All that being said, props to Caleb Hanie for making a painful game interesting for a bit. But seriously... if your name is "Caleb Hanie", how is sporting a trailer park mustache a good idea?

Guess it is better than Kyle Orton's neck beard.

Phonies

Android and iPhone have created the mobile version of the Mac v. PC debate.

I love, love, love my Droid, but had I not been in the wireless lobster trap that is Verizon, I totally would have gotten an iPhone some time ago. Fortunately for me, the Droid finally broke Verizon's string of remarkably unsmart phones running on a solid wireless infrastructure. Now Twitter plays the price for my ready access to the social grid.

There is a nice chart that provides a fairly nonpartisan look at mobile phone users' opinions of each other. Some truth in it for sure. It even includes Blackberry.

I enjoy the good natured fun/trash talk between rival phone owners (my boilerplate comment: "A 3 year old can use an iPhone, and their current user base validates that intellectual requirement"), but I start to shy away when it becomes a more serious argument of right and wrong.

There is not right or wrong. Get the phone that works for you. Try it out. If you like it, buy it. Don't worry what your friends have, it is YOUR phone. Get one you like.

Unfortunately, some folks seem to think a mobile phone selection somehow serves as a validation of their intelligence and your selection (if different) is the scarlet letter of mopery.

Well, I have news for "those" people - not true (na na na na boo boo). Last I checked, there is no IQ test required to buy a phone. You pay, you get. They will sell them to ANYONE. If lower level life forms like bacteria, sea slugs, or Nancy Grace strolled into a mobile phone store (online or in person) - they are leaving with a new mobile device, if they were wielding a valid credit card.

So get the mobile phone you like already!

Oh, and iPhone users, you probably can't read this due to poor reception and coverage, so I will print it out for you.

(to clarify: Last line was a JOKE)

Lightsabermetrics

I think there is a fair chance this post will validate the theory that I might spend a tad too much time pondering Star Wars.

Concept

1. Sabermetrics is the analysis of baseball through objective evidence, especially baseball statistics that measure in-game activity.
   
   
2. Lightsabermetrics is the analysis of Jedi/Sith confrontations through objective evidence, especially statistics that measure in-movie activity.
   

Since item 2 above has been under served, I took a shot.

Caveats

• Rankings only reflect "league games" - meaning Jedi v. Jedi or Jedi v. Sith. Younglings don't count. That would be like NFL teams counting wins against the Bills.
  
  
• For at least this first version, weighted 2 verses 1 battles the same as 1 on 1 smackdowns.
  

Insights

• It's good to be the Sith. They own 4 of the 5 top spots.
  
• Was surprised to see that, statistically speaking, Yoda and Qui-Gon Jinn kinda sucked.
• Darth Maul only fought Jedi with hyphenated names.
• Agen Kolar (killed immediately by Palpatine in episode III) Worst. Jedi. Ever.
  

Rankings/Record (episode number listed for each)

1. Mace Windu 1-0
   wins: Palpatine - III
   
   
2. Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader 13-3
   wins: Dooku - III, est. 10 unnamed Jedi in the Temple - III, Obi-Wan - IV, Luke - V
   losses: Dooku - II, Obi-Wan - III, Luke - VI
   
   
3. Palpatine/Darth Sideous 5-1
   wins: Agen Kolar - III, Saesee Tiin - III, Kit Fisto - III, Yoda - III, Luke - VI
   losses: Windu - III
   
   
4. Count Dooku 2-1-1
   wins: Obi-Wan - II, Anakin - II
   losses: Anakin III
   draws: Yoda - II
   
   
5. Darth Maul 1-1-1
   wins: Qui-Gon - I
   losses: Obi-Wan - I
   draws: Qui-Gon - I
   
   
6. Obi-Wan Kenobi 2-3
   wins: Darth Maul - I, Darth Vader-III
   losses: Dooku - II, Dooku - III, Darth Vader - IV
   
   
7. Luke Skywalker 1-2
   wins: Darth Vader - VI
   losses: Darth Vader - II, Palpatine - VI
   
   
8. Yoda 0-1-1
   losses: Palpatine - III
   draws: Dooku - II
   
   
9. Qui-Gon Jinn 0-1-1
   losses: Darth Maul - I
   draws: Darth Maul - I
   
   
10. Kit Fisto 0-1
    loss: Palpatine - III
    
    
11. Saesee Tiin 0-1
    loss: Palpatine - III
    
    
12. Agen Kolar 0-1
    loss: Palpatine - III
    

Scoring notes

• I gave Mace the win over Palpatine in III, but did not give anything to either Vader or Palpatine for the whole post-fight arm chop/force lightening action.
  
  
• I did count Luke's Episode V loss to Darth Vader even though he probably wasn't officially a Jedi yet. Seemed close enough for me.
  
  
• Again, Agen Kolar. Wow, just wow. You suck.
  

Very open to insights/observations/corrections on the scoring and ranking above.

Politely please :)

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 :)