Random thoughts and observations from a guy with a lot on his mind…
Oh great, the “If You See Something, Say Something” (IYSSSS) campaign is launching PSA’s to get the public even more worked up…
I started seeing the IYSSSS billboards around Indianapolis prior to this year’s Super Bowl. The funny thing is, at least to me, the toll-free number they give is not using an acronym or anything so the chances of someone actually remembering it is slim. It’s OK, that’s what 911 is for!
I’m about 1-hour into this nearly 2-hour movie and I have yet to get hooked. How in the world can such stars like Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford get involved with something like this?
I’m committed now to watch the rest of the movie just to see how it ends. Probably going to wish I got those 2-hours back… I’ll let you know how it goes…
From CNET News:
Oregon judge rules bloggers aren’t journalists – A U.S. District Court judge in Portland, Ore., ruled that a blogger who wrote about an investment firm that subsequently accused her of defamation must pay the company $2.5 million because she’s a blogger who doesn’t legally qualify as a journalist.[MORE]
Lots of issues with this case, especially with her acting as her own attorney. This is not the first time Blogging has been linked to Journalism. There are some correlations but most serious (i.e. professional) journalists probably don’t blog. Why would they? They get paid to write for a living so why do it for free?
So does getting paid to write make you a journalist and afford you the protections that come with professional journalism? It could but I think it has a lot to do with WHO is paying you. I can put ads on this Blog and technically “get paid” but I’m not specifically being paid to Blog…
I can even make up a fake “Press Pass” online. This does not make me a photo-journalist. Although… It might be useful though to gain (lawful) access to restricted areas and events (kidding)…
I’ve been posting a lot of reviews on IndyScan.com and I realized I had never taken the time to explain why I’m doing it. First of all, I only review things I like. I don’t waste my time complaining about things I don’t like (there are lots those too)
If you see a review on IndyScan.com it’s going to be about something I like and I want to share it with others. It might be a product, restaurant, video, etc. It’s on this site because I want you to know about it.
Now I do have a Rant category and I use it for just that. I guess you could call it a negative review but hey, it’s my site and I get to choose (ha).
I’ve noticed cars and trucks lately that have “In Loving Memory of [insert deceased here]” written in large letters on back windows. I’m also often seeing stickers that say “RIP” and “In Memoriam” and include a date, picture, etc. of the deceased.
I don’t understand this phenomenon? When has it become customary to make your car a rolling obituary? What message are these people trying to send and to whom? I just find it odd.
A lot of these people are really bad drivers so there has to be a tie-in there somewhere. I also think their money would have been better spent fixing the broken tail light vs. blocking half of their rear window with a giant vinyl sticker.
You don’t see memorials to pets that often and you definitely don’t see any tributes to that 10-point Buck you bagged last fall.. What’s next?
Hopefully, by now, most of you know what a Podcast is. Believe it or not I was part of the Man Fights Back podcast a while back. We ended up recording 44 episodes before putting things on pause for a while. Hopefully we’ll get to a point where we can start recording again.
Publishing a podcast is a lot of work. Coming up with material, time to record, time to edit, time to produce and, most importantly, building your audience. Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak at the No Agenda Show podcast have figured all of this out and find time to publish 2 episodes a week totaling 5+ hours of content. They give the show away and only ask for donations to keep the show going. As of January 15, 2012 they’ve recorded 374 shows, along with a few special episodes.
Donations of $50 or more get their name or organization mentioned in the show. The top two donations for each episode get Executive Producer and Associate Executive Producer credits. It’s all turned out to be a pretty cool concept. Individuals who accumulate $1000 (or more) worth of donations (or donate it all at once) get a special “Knighthood” designation and customized ‘hit them in the mouth’ ring complete with old-fashioned envelope sealing wax that you can make an impression in with the ring.
The No Agenda Show is hard to describe but it covers a lot of current events and things you don’t hear about in the mainstream media. The discussions are lively and often times very humorous especially with all of the musical jingles and memes. The show notes are a treasure trove of links and media clips that allow you to dig deeper into the topics you find interesting. I’ve gotten a lot of ideas for the IndyScan.com blog posts from this podcast.
I’ve been planning on donating to the show for a while now but thought it might be kind of neat to pool together some donations from IndyScan.com readers and submit them on the behalf of IndyScan.com and its followers. The goal is to add a little more money to what I was going to donate ($100) and get some press for the blog.
Starting today I’m going to place a special donation button on the IndyScan.com site and will take contributions (via PayPal) until February 29, 2011. Every penny contributed will be added to my donation and submitted to the no Agenda Show for inclusion in one of the early March shows.
I hope you have a chance to check out the No Agenda Show and find it something you want to listen to and make a donations towards.
You can also donate from this blog entry:
I like Facebook & I like Twitter. What I’m not so excited about is Google+.
I setup a Google+ account when it first became available and I added several people to my “Circle” but I’m just not seeing the participation that I see on other social networks.
Are you a Google+ user? Do you like it? Have you abandoned Facebook for Google+?
A lot of questions, I know. I’m just trying to get the draw/popularity of Google+. As reported in the Huffington Post Google+ To Reach 400 Million Users Within A Year. This was predicted by a “Statistician” who we all know can make numbers mean many different things depending on how they spin it. I’m not so sure about these numbers.
So… I’m asking all of my blog visitors who actually use Google+ to help me understand what it is & if it’s a replacement for Facebook/Twitter or just another option for Social Networking.
It’s kind of like the perfect storm… The Internet has exploded in growth and its ubiquity directly corresponds to the Commoditization of “Connected Devices”. It started with devices such as the iPhone and Blackberry and it’s spiked again with the introduction of the iPad.
Gartner announced this week: Without Proper Planning, Enterprises Deploying iPads Will Need 300% More Wi-Fi. This is pretty serious if you’re the one responsible for making sure these enterprise systems work reliably.
I’ve been in the IT industry for a while now and I can tell you from experience the adoption of new technology has ALWAYS been a hard sell to upper management. Then the iPad hits the market and the drive for adoption starts coming from the TOP of the orginization. The “Cool Factor” of the device made it the “thing” to have in the board room.
The fact that the iPad is NOT a laptop replacement is lost on the CEO, CFO, COO, etc.. I’ve seen people who once had to have perfection in their “productivity tools” all of a sudden accept the major limitations of their new toy. These limitations are not only limited to the iPad, all the tablets being wedged into the corporate world have limited features and poor security.
To be fair, I’ve tested the iPad & it was a fun toy. If you just want to surf the web and check your email it will do that just fine. If you want to use your accounting applications, ERP system, or edit complicated spreadsheets it’s going to have its challenges. I’m now testing the Blackberry Playbook which has similar limitations and a lot less available applications.
The only “Tablet” that I’ve ever used that, in my opinion, was worth anything was a Tablet PC where the screen could be rotated and reversed allowing you to use its 14″ touch screen. This, to me, is the best of both worlds. Full featured, powerful, and completely compatible with your existing workflow and environment. Is it a little bigger than the iPad? Sure it is but that difference is 100% worth it to me.
Do you have an iPad (or other tablet)? Does it do everything you expect?
If you’re a Big Mac fan, this is for you… 50% off & 26,000+already purchased!
It’s all about the margins I guess… Hard to believe Ronald went to a discount site for its latest promotion. What’s next? 15 Dave’s Hot and Tasty’s from Wendy’s for $20? I’m not linking to the deal above, I just can’t do it…
