2006 October

If I have the right to vote, then I also have the right to tell politicians how they can earn my vote. I’m politically independent, and will remain that way until the day I die. What do I ask for? Nothing unreasonable.

Read more on To Vote or Not to Vote…

Teresa Valdez Klein (of TeresaCentric) sent out the gin recepes we tasted at a Blog Business Summit dinner last week. “The first recorded dry martini recipe, in 1896, called for Plymouth Gin, dry vermouth and orange bitters, which add delicacy and fragrance to the cocktail.”

Read more on Sippin’ on Gin…

We didn’t move this weekend. We were going to move, but didn’t – and I can’t tell you why we didn’t move until I know more. We thought we were moving, had prepared for the move, but didn’t actually move because of a major (read: pivotal) snag. Our house was prepared for the move, too. This was the second last minute change in plans – with the first last minute change shifting our track and direction just as dramatically. We have effectively, as movers, moved moving again. Would someone please stop this merry-go-round?

Read more on Movers Move Moving…

Okay, so… let me see if I can help the rumor mill along:

1. We’re moving this weekend
2. Our new residence is NOT in the Bay Area
3. It’s definitely not Web 2.0 related

Read more on Twenty Questions…

Josh from TinyScreenfuls just posted TinyScreenfuls.com“>a mouthful:

I want to start some conversation. I’m not officially authorized to speak for Intel on any matter (see my “Caveat Lector� disclaimer over there in the sidebar), but there are a ton of things that I can talk about. I’m just a guy, a blogger, who works at a very large company that makes the most complex things ever made by humans. It’s a fascinating place, and I know there are lots of you that would like to know more about Intel. Or maybe you have something you’d like to vent. Or perhaps you just want to say how much you love something Intel has done (wouldn’t that be nice?).

Read more on Intel Has an (un)Official Blogger…

I never, ever respond to link requests. However, I think I’m making my first exception with Mike Layden. “I’ve been linking to your site for maybe two years now… any chance you could return the favor someday?” Mike, I’m only doing this because (a) you have a creative domain name, and (b) your site disclaimer cracked me up. For posterity:

Read more on Disclaimer…

Brandon says:

Vista’s Photo Import tool, in my opinion, (aside from Tag support) is a complete step backward from what we’ve got in Windows XP. In XP, I can pick and choose which photos I want to import at a specific time. With Vista, I get no choice what-so-ever. It just imports all photos and creates a directory for me. Vista’s Photo Import tool does give me some neat options on auto-naming folders when do imports but that doesn’t go far enough – its still far too constricting.

Read more on Windows Vista Digital Photo Import…

Busy week. Going crazy. Can’t say why yet. Writing sentence fragments. Ignoring style. Washing clothes. Running errands. Not drinking Peet’s coffee because Ponzi took off in my car and didn’t leave her alarm fob behind even though it probably doesn’t work anyway I really don’t care to wake up the neighborhood if it’s still set properly. Wow. That was a long sentence fragment. That was not a sentence fragment. Neither was that. Must do a million things before this weekend. Still not sure how I’m going to survive. Must get measured for tuxedo. Must decide where going on honeymoon. Must talk less like caveman. Worried about piles of paper multiplying. Worried about making the right decisions. Worried about making the wrong decisions. Worried about the baggage retreival system they’ve got at Heathrow. Worried that many people simply don’t understand my obscure Monty Python references. Have great news to share. Can’t share great news yet. Going crazy. Buzy week.

Read more on I’m So Worried…

Do you remember the first JibJab cartoon you ever saw? They’re crazy.

JibJab has been making people laugh for the past seven years with quirky comedy shorts and clever political cartoons. During the last Presidential election, they made headlines with a cartoon duo of John Kerry and George Bush taking political shots at each other to the tune of This Land is Your Land. A trip to The Tonight Show and several great political comedies later, the founding brothers Gregg and Evan Spiridellis and their team of JibJabbers in Santa Monica concocted a plan to introduce unknown comedy writing talent to one of the funniest directors in Hollywood, John Landis. The Great Sketch Experiment puts John Landis directing 6 talented teams in 6 police themed shorts. Viewers get to vote on their favorite, with the winning short getting an endowment from JibJab to do a bigger project (as if working with John Landis isn’t enough). Here Chris speaks with Gregg Spiridellis about the history of JibJab, being funny on the Internet and gets the lowdown on the six short films that in The Great Sketch Experiment.

Read more on Gregg Spiridellis of JibJab on The Great Sketch Experiment…

Subject line: Mail server report.
Attachment: Update-KB####-x86 (EXE or ZIP)

Mail server report.

Our firewall determined the e-mails containing worm copies are being sent from your computer.

Nowadays it happens from many computers, because this is a new virus type (Network Worms).

Read more on New Email Virus?…

Three times in the past week, I’ve unwillingly opened the door to young solicitors. Actually, the number is closer to five (but I only responded to three, with tonight’s salesman mistaken for the pizza guy). Some are peddling magazines, while others are selling books – doesn’t matter (they’re all annoying). Each and every time, as soon as I push back the dogs and fling open the front door, they ask:

Read more on Spam Traps…

We received an email this morning from Brooke Tessman, Director of Advertising Sales for StumbleUpon.com. At first, I thought it was a “normal” sales call. Then, I started to think about what she was saying:

Read more on StumbleUpon: Real or Fake?…

Are you getting paid what you’re worth? Most of us would probably answer that question ‘No’ even if we spend our days running out the clock surfing YouTube. Seattle-based company PayScale is attempting to help answer the question of whether you’re getting paid what you’re worth, along with a number of other important questions you should be asking anytime you are actively seeking a new job. While most companies frown on sharing what you’re getting paid with the guy in the next cube, it’s natural to be curious if your efforts are being compensated in line with what other people get for performing similar functions. PayScale is taking a fairly unique approach to this problem by collecting data from both employers and employees (published as part of an anonymous whole) to get a better sense of the overall market across many job categories. By signing up for their service, you can keep track of movements in pay in your field and get useful data for negotiating your next pay raise. Employers get better access to data about what positions are worth in the global marketplace, which theoretically drives expectations to something of a market price in a large enough pool of data. Here Chris talks with Joe Giordano, founder of PayScale, about how the service works, how it benefits both employees and employers, and why a service like PayScale provides better information about the job market than previous methodologies.

Read more on Joe Giordano of PayScale on Employee Compensation…

In a matter of hours, DNS should be resolving for UndoTV.com. Before you rush the site (as I’m sure you will), please note that we’re only letting vetted talent in at first. Submit your email address to be added to the queue for invitation codes – which will start going out mid-November. You’ll see our temporary “about” page soon enough, but here’s what Leo and I have written:

Read more on An UndoTV Update…