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.