38 Hours
2010-07-31 09:08

38 hours after trying to re-embrace Twitter, I checked back and nothing interesting had happened. Same old blah, blah, blah. Count me out. I'd rather watch cable news. No, I wouldn't. But almost.

A couple of months ago I gave a talk to the chamber of commerce and said that social media marketing was a waste of time for most small businesses. Better to spend your time on the basics. There are exceptions, of course, but for the room in general, go do something more productive. Dust the display case. SEO your website. Go to a Rotary Club luncheon. Some people (the moderator, for instance) positively hated that message. I haven't changed my mind.

[Footnote: The moderator hated not just my conclusion but everything about my speech, and made that plain. I already had the chamber on my "why do I do this?" list, and that was enough to put them in the same bucket as Twitter.]

[Another footnote: I may be done with speaking in general. I've been doing it a few times a year for books and such, and I've grown tired of spending eight or ten hours to put together 45 minutes that immediately vaporize with no apparent consequence. Speaking as a geezer, how much time to I want to spend entertaining rooms full of geezers? I frankly don't care whether it sells ten books, and to the extent that it delivers a message, I would much rather deliver it to someone without a lot of nostril hair.]

Deer
2010-07-31 08:38

This is a white-tail year. They've been scarce for a couple of years, but this summer the Axis have disappeared and a small group of white-tails have moved in. They stand around in the back yard and stare at you. This morning I opened a door to the barn and one made a move like he was going to follow.

Buzzy's not much help. Often as not, she'll ignore them. When she does decide to do something, she'll woof and take off, but she's working with five-inch legs. No chance. They'll move twenty or thirty yards, then stop and stare. I had to shoo a doe away this morning to keep her from agitating The Buzz.

It beats listening to Houston freeway traffic.

Censorship
2010-07-31 08:34

My Internet Explorer browser has stopped displaying embedded videos, including those below. They display fine in Firefox and Chrome, but a couple of days ago IE decided to put the kabosh on Web videos. No idea why. Checked all the security settings. My theory is that since Google bought YouTube, Microsoft has declared war.

[Epilogue: Uninstalled Flash, reinstalled Flash. Good to go. Which do I hate more—Microsoft or Adobe?]

Again?
2010-07-31 08:25

These two give White Trash a bad name: http://bit.ly/dzf8u8

There are no words to express...
2010-07-29 21:34

Good Lord. Watch at least until the parrot. Try to hang on until the duct tape.

Lucky find
2010-07-29 21:11

Lucky find:

www.tikifarm.com

Eeeek
2010-07-29 21:01

Alton Brown just said, "Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana."

Tweet
2010-07-29 19:01

I just spent ten minutes re-embracing Twitter. Mixed emotions. I like it for friends and family. I'm totally over comedians, celebrities, politicians, people who don't know me, people who call me "turd bucket," etc.

Water
2010-07-29 18:24

Why are there advertisements for flood insurance on TV? That insurance encourages people to build in flood-prone areas, and the cost of the policies is government-subsidized, meaning that you pay part of the premiums and losses. You're also paying all the cost of those commercials. Why are you doing that?

The insurance program should remain in place for existing properties, but (1) there should be no coverage for new construction; (2) any property suffering cumulative covered losses over the years of more than X% (100%?) of its value should not be eligible for future coverage; and (3) there should be a (thirty-year?) sunset period after which no government flood insurance will be available. We'll pay to re-build your stupid underwater house once, no more. We won't help build new stupid underwater houses. We won't spend money buying commercials to encourage you to build or buy a stupid underwater house.

We'll provide some sort of safety net, but yes, you might end up without enough coverage for the next flood. You might end up with a house less than you paid for it. But why did you buy your stupid underwater house in the first place? Did you notice the freaking river?

How hard is that to understand?

Sounds about right
2010-07-29 09:31

Wired.com reports: "According to a new study the psychological profile of iPad owners can be summed up as 'selfish elites.'” http://bit.ly/a1B0aM