High-speed camera shot of a lighter

For all you other people out there having a slow day at work:

Returning a generous gift

My wife got me a 16 gig iPod Touch - a generous gift to be certain. However, Macworld is in two weeks and I'm willing to bet there's going to be some kind of announcement about iPods and/or the iPhone.

So what did I do this morning? I called Apple and returned the Touch. I'm going to sit on the cash until Macworld and see what happens. If there isn't an update, I'll take the cash and repurchase the Touch. If there is an update then I've succeeded in not making the generous Christmas present from my wife obsolete in less than three weeks.

Chance of asteroid hitting Mars increases to 4%

This is headline-worthy? Mars?? 4%?? Do people not have better things to do with their time? Based on the following quote from Don Yeomans, a space man at NASA, no.

"I think it'll be cool," said Don. "Usually when an asteroid is headed toward Earth, I'm not rooting for an impact."

Usually? So, sometimes you do hope for asteroids to collide with Earth? As long as it hits your house and not mine.

Those of you long-time readers are familiar with how I feel about NASA in general (hint: it's a pointless waste of money and I don't like it) so I literally laughed out loud when I read this quote:

"Should a collision occur, it would likely blast a half-mile-wide crater north of where the rover Opportunity has been exploring since 2004."

They've got to be kidding. What are the odds? We send a rover to a distant planet to do what, I'm not sure (look for life? There's plenty of life here we haven't discovered that's being systematically destroyed by the systematic slashing and burning of the rain forests) and now that little rover, that's probably no bigger than a car, worth tens of millions of dollars, is sitting on a planet and an asteroid could land on it. The irony cracks me up. Seriously, I'm laughing right now. I would LOVE it if an asteroid the size of a football field landed on the Mars Rover. I'm envisioning it happening over and over again in my mind and I can't stop laughing.

Original article from USA Today.
Photo courtesy of here.

Thoughts on Christmas decor

I realize it's after the fact, but I'm convinced people who have inflatables in their yards have different kinds of inflatables in their closets and they all scream the same two things: tacky and lonely.


Photo via TackyChristmasYards.com.

New look. Whoopee.

Yeah. Got bored. I was trying for something a little less "Blogger-like". I don't know if I succeeded since, you know, I used one of their templates.

Southwest Airlines: go ahead and change your baby on the toilet lid

Normally I'm a pretty big fan of the Southwest Airlines. They have funny flight attendants and the prices generally can't be beat. I've flown them countless times over the last five or so years. This Christmas was no different.

Last night as my wife and son flew back from Oregon my son did something very characteristic of himself: he pooped. While this isn't a good thing, it's a normal thing. We dealt with it on the way over (or, I should say, my wife did). However, on the return flight it was my turn. My wife informed me that there was a changing table in the "forward lavatory". So I picked up my very cute, but reeking son and made my way to the front.

When I peeked into the lavatory there wasn't a changing table. I asked the flight attendant who was dutifully doing whatever it is flight attendants do when they aren't distributing beverages and crackers, if the changing table was in the rear lavatory.

"No."

A bit surprised, I asked where I should change him, thinking I might be able to do it on the floor in front of the door we boarded through - inconvenient, but roomy. She told me to do it on the toilet lid.

Now, I'm 6'4" and moving around in those little bathrooms is fairly uncomfortable. But when you're trying to balance a 28-inch wiggling baby boy on a dirty toilet in a moving aircraft...well...you can imagine.

I must have given her a "look" because she said, "I can give you a garbage bag to put down if you want."

You're too kind.

I took her little garbage bag and made my way into the lavatory. The short version is that Jake was screaming, his legs hanging off one end of the toilet and his head and hands touching the disgusting backdrop behind the toilet. I wish I'd been able to take a picture because I'm pretty sure it hadn't been cleaned recently as it appeared there was something (I'm trying not to think about) that had splashed up behind the toilet and run down the backdrop.

The backdrop my seven month-old son's head and hands were touching.

Needless to say, I'm quite disappointed with Southwest's lack of consideration for parents and I feel much worse for those who have kids older (and taller) than my son who need to change diapers on their flight.

Photo courtesy of here.

Merry Christmas from Oregon

Merry Christmas from a damp, green, beautiful Oregon! I hope it's a wonderful one for you and yours.

For lack of anything else to write, what was the best gift given or received in your family? For example, did your mom give your dad something particularly thoughtful? Did your family do something for a less fortunate family? Let me know in the comments.

Need a an invite to NBC's Hulu.com private beta? Tech Crunch has a few thousand

As was mentioned here, NBC pulled their content from iTunes and started their own web-based streaming video service. It's called Hulu and at the moment it's in private beta which means you need an invite to check out your favorite shows from The Office to Arrested Development to 30 Rock.

Well TechCrunch got an allotment of about 2,500 invites for their readers. As of this posting there are over 2,000 left, so jump on over and get yours by clicking here.

Need some last-minute Christmas gift ideas?

Brain freeze? Can't figure out what to get the last few people on your list? Jump over to LivSimpl for 11 non-lame, last-minute Christmas gifts generic enough for anyone, for under $30.

And tell your friends.

Merry Christmas!

Prisoners escape by covering hole in wall with girlie posters; warden says he's been meaning to watch Shawshank Redemption

See CNN article here. It looks as if two men, one in the slammer for manslaughter and the other for robbery and weapons offenses, "...removed cement blocks from two walls, squeezed through the openings, jumped to a rooftop below and then made it over a 25-foot-high fence."

That sounds vaguely familiar. Oh yeah! I remember where I've heard of this happening before! It's in every prison movie that's ever been made!

What's worse is, "The section they escaped from was supposed to be the most secure area of the facility."

Bad form Warden Gentles!

"The men helped cover up the break by placing dummies under their bed blankets, and hiding the wall holes with magazine photos of women in bikinis, authorities said."

Your tax dollars at work.

Fuzzy britches courtesy of here, Warden Gentles pic from here.

The fan mail keeps rolling in

Recently I've received a lot of fan mail (not really) from people of all walks of life thanking me for my contributions to the Internet and society as a whole (also not true). I thought I'd share just three examples with you.

E-MAIL ONE

Dear Dave,

I'm a huge fan of your site! Really, it's amazing. You're amazing. I'm a model and I know you're married and everything but I gotta tell you that you're really good looking. Not quite sure what you were thinking with that whole shaved head fiasco, but still, you're so hot you could pull off anything.

XOXOXO,

Christy



E-MAIL TWO

David,

The Other Drummer changed my life. I used to be a crack addict until I found your site. My cravings for The Blow completely disappeared once I subscribed to, and regularly read, your RSS feed.

Subsequently I became an upstanding citizen, eventually earning a six-figure salary. But somehow, I still felt unfulfilled. Then I started reading your other site, LivSimpl and it changed me. I felt so pure. So alive. Like swimming in the ocean with dolphins. Naked.

I promptly gave away everything I owned, spent months in solitude mastering myself through Zen techniques and then moved to West Africa. Here, I currently live amongst indigenous tribes distributing vaccines, helping dig wells and teaching agricultural principles to ensure entire cultures don't become extinct.

And it's all because of you.

With a debt of gratitude I'll never be able to repay,

- Mark

P.S. It just occurred to me that I could have given all my fortune and extravagant worldly possessions to you. Sorry I didn't think of that sooner.

P.P.S. I ran into Bono out here in the bush. He says hi.



And finally, in a slightly different vein, E-MAIL THREE

Dear Mr. The Other Drummer (if that's even your real name, which I really don't think it is),

You wrote about me recently. I sat across from you on the train and I you described me as a woman-ogling psycho who drinks his own blood and doesn't blink. I found your post about me, and this site in general, to be completely offensive and inappropriate.

How do you sleep at night?

As a French-Canadian living in the great state of Alabama I feel the need to point out that you are mean-spirited and completely wrong about everything you write about. Have you ever heard of journalistic standards and research? I think not.

Oh, and I do blink, just not very often.

I hope the Internet police shut you down. And quickly. You probably don't even have the guts to publish this. You are a coward.

- Felix (not my real name)


That last one's my favorite.

Yes folks, its messages like these that get me out of bed in the morning and motivate me to press on. Keep the love comin', and I'll keep changing the world.

If you could make a million dollars a year doing anything, what would it be?

The only stipulation is that it has to be considered a real job. For example, my ideal job would be to get paid $10 each time I kiss my wife. However, that's not a real job.

Which is a shame because I'd be filthy rich.

My ideal job would be to get paid to blog/write - mainly about tech news and products. Sort of as a quasi-journalist/columnist.


What would you do? Leave word in the comments.


Picture courtesy of this fishy site.

Scott Baio, Backstreet Boy get married

Congratulations to the happy couple. I had no idea Scott Baio was gay.


Via CNN's homepage.

Crazed fans line up for new Apple Store opening in New York

It was freezing cold and snow was starting to come down, but at 2:30 p.m. EST there were already several hundred people waiting in line at the new Apple Store on West 14th St. in Manhattan's Meatpacking District, which which opens at 6 p.m. One estimate put the crowd at about 600 people with several hours still to go. - CNET

For Pete's sake people! What's the point?? Are you planning on making a purchase? Order it online or go to one of the other TWO Apple Stores in the city. Do you want to see the store? Go tomorrow when the crowds have thinned out.

Also from CNET: "So why wait? Well, Apple's given some incentives. 'Come celebrate with us this Friday as we'll be giving away thousands of limited-edition posters and commemorative T-shirts,' the store's Web site invited tantalizingly."

Commemorative T-shirts? Heck! Why didn't you say so?!

*sigh*

Now, in the interest of full disclosure I will admit that I went to the grand opening of the Salt Lake Apple Store. HOWEVER...

1. I'd never been to an Apple Store before and the nearest one was several hundred miles away.
2. I showed up about a half hour before it opened.
3. I was looking at it from an integrated marketing perspective just as much as I was looking at it from a (then) Apple Fanboy perspective.
4. Yes, I got a t-shirt. No, I don't know where it is.

That being said, these guys are nuts. 15 hours in the bitter New York cold to walk through a store and look at products you already own.

Dare to break the rules

That's right Mr. Bird. Stick it to The Man.

Photo courtesy of here via Digg.

Hanukkah Ham

Waaaaaaaait a second...


Original story/photo here.

Ed Zander, Motorola's CEO is stepping down. Here's why.

It's the RAZR - Motorola's One-Trick Pony.

It's official: Google's going to bid on the 700 mhz spectrum. Here's why you should care.

It's not like there was really any doubt that they would, but today the G-men made it official: they're going to try to buy up the highly coveted 700 mhz spectrum the FCC is putting on the auction block come January.

For those of you wondering why the crap you've even read this far, bear with me a little longer and I'll try to break down the (potential) significance of this.


Background
In 2009 every analog TV in the US will cease to work because broadcasters will be required to shift from an analog signal (on the 700 mhz spectrum) to a digital signal. This leaves said spectrum open for the FCC to auction off.


So what?
Without getting into the technical details (mainly because I'm not smart enough to know them myself), this particular frequency has the ability to travel long, long distances (much further than cell phone towers) and can penetrate walls with little problem, as we know from decades of watching TV using rabbit ears.

Think wireless, high-speed Internet everywhere.

This makes wireless/cell phone carriers salivate at the possibilities. They're already charging people an extra 20-50% extra to access the Internet/e-mail from their phones on a slow, crippled network (ever tried to browse the web on a phone, other than the iPhone?) and an extra $60/mo to use the Internet wirelessly from a laptop. Think of what they could offer, and charge for, having ubiquitous wireless broadband coverage!


The catch
The FCC ruled (thanks to much lobbying from Google and others) that whoever owns the spectrum must support "(1) open applications, the right of consumers to download and utilize any software applications or content they desire; and (2) open devices, the right of consumers to utilize their handheld communications device with whatever wireless network they prefer."

Consumers - 1, Big, Bad Wireless Provider - 0


Still not sure why I should care
Google is now going to be bidding on the spectrum (which has a $4.6 billion entrance fee). This is, essentially, making the wireless providers wet themselves because Google appears to be all about giving people the choice to do whatever they want, with whatever equipment they want. Think of this as not having to buy a new phone every time you switched cell phone carriers - any phone would work with any carrier.

And that one phone can run any kind of software you want. You won't be restricted to "T-Zones" from T-Mobile to browse the web, or "V-Cast" from Verizon to watch your TV shows (and the subsequent fees from those carriers).


The real kicker
And what if Google made all that wireless spectrum free to access? Many speculate Google will provide free wi-fi for everyone. You can use any phone or mobile device on it. You can access it, and use as much of it as you want (no 5MB/month limits, for example) without cost.

So if you can use any software on any device with better coverage than your cell phone, can you think of any reason to sign a two-year contract and pay $100 a month to a wireless carrier?

Or how about shelling out $60 a month for DSL or cable Internet?

That's why the big Telcom companies are a bit worried.


But what's Google's motivation?
Google has billions in its coffers because it has become a very effective advertising medium. (I've written about this before.) By offering free WiFi, and providing an easier way to use your phone and search from it, Google will be opening up an entirely new, highly lucrative revenue stream.

Not only are you able to target ads by specific location, but theoretically the number of searches would skyrocket if the Internet is available, for free, everywhere.

What restaurant owner, for example, wouldn't pay for an ad to come up when anybody searches for "restaurant" on their phone, within 10 miles of his business between the hours of 3 and 9pm?

You can't get much more targeted than that.

Thoughts? Am I off my rocker? Did I miss something? Leave word in the comments.


For more reading, see a CNET article here.
Thanks to Engadget for the pic.

Maybe you know a guy

I have this friend/Internet acquaintance I met through my other blog who runs a very popular site and is in search of some advertisers.

And when I say "very popular" I mean to the tune of over a million page views a month and ranked in Technorati's top 60 most popular pages. It really is a great site. I'd recommend checking it out. (And if you're going to check out his site, check out my site, LivSimpl.) :)

His readership consists of people "trying to improve their lives by becoming more productive, more organized, healthier, fitter, calmer, saner, better off financially, and happier with their families."

People who need to be saner, calmer and healthier. Sounds familiar.

I figured I'd put the word out and see if you knew a guy or had a friend of a friend or some relative who's looking to reach such people. The rates are more than reasonable and ads can be purchased in one-month chunks with discounts for multi-month purchases. And he said he'd give me a commission if I found anyone. :)

Let me know if you have someone in mind or, if you prefer to contact him directly, just let him know that I sent you.

For more details, click here.

Yet another new Gmail login screen - more evidence of a new UI

Gotta give credit to my hot, intelligent, loving, caring, tech-savvy wife for snagging this screenshot of a NEVER BEFORE SEEN GMAIL LOGIN SCREEN!!

I totally would have put some starbursts and violator in here if I knew how.

As you can see, said screen is touting the benefits of Google Docs, Google Calendar as well as a host of other Google products. All this the day after rumors started flying again regarding Gdrive and Google's desire to store ALL your information.

A stretch? Perhaps. But you gotta figure that if people at Google are sitting around designing/testing new login screens, there's gotta be something just around the corner.

Ta-da

I don't know if it's as short as everyone thought it was going to be, but my wife certainly thinks it's short enough. :)

So there it is. Or there I am. Whatever.

Sorry about the cheesy pose. I must have knocked myself on the chin at some point today because I have some weird mark/spot on there now. The pose is my vain attempt at covering it up.

The people have spoken

It would appear that 65% of citizens of the world wanted me to shave my head. I had my doubts. But then people took to the streets (see above photo, taken in the streets of the Holy Land). You may not be able to read that sign in the background, but it says, "Dave shave! Dave shave!"

I have heard you my loyal followers. I have heard, and I have acted.

My head is shaved/buzzed/whatever. Pics coming soon.

Thanks to my peaceful followers for the picture.

Turkey bikini - the only way to be thankful

I didn't know Pilgrims even had bikinis. Shows how much I know.

I'm guessing some light-hearted pilgrim probably laid this turkey out on the table but not for the First Thanksgiving - that would have been tacky. Definitely for the second though.

So he's just placed the bird on the table and he has some stupid grin on his face that basically says, "Get it? Get it? It looks like the turkey went tanning with a bikini on? Get it? Funny, huh?" and he's looking around, waiting for the laughter to erupt but everyone just sits there looking at him like, "Frigtard. You just screwed up Thanksgiving. Again." (The previous year, this same individual thought it would be funny to welcome his Native bretheren with the first ever "arrow through the head" gag.)

Speaking of shooting people with arrows, I wonder how the Natives would have reacted. Maybe on the Third Thanksgiving they would have taken it a step further by only putting a bikini bottom on the bird, thus effectively presenting a topless turkey to the conservative pilgrims (by this time the original prankster would have long since been ostracized for something involving his mother's wedding dress, the mayor's best horse and an ear of corn. See picture right. Minus the dress and horse).

Anyhoo, I'd be willing to bet the Pilgrims were pretty ticked off because they thought they'd put an end to all this immoral turkey business with the ostracising and now the Natives thought this new culture the white man* brought was freakin' hilarious and how every Thanksgiving from that time forth (until they got fed up and stuck the Natives on reservations) would involve scantily-clad turkeys.

Great. So the early, violent history of our country was all because some wise-@$% pilgrim decided to bake a bikini on the second-ever Thanksgiving turkey.

If you want to have an authentic, Second Thanksgiving Turkey, you can prevent it from cooking in strategic places by putting aluminum foil on said places. If anyone would care to experiment with their bird today, e-mail me a pic so we can share with all the other kiddies.

Happy Thanksgiving.

*I use the term "white man" loosely. Who's to say there weren't some mult-racial pilgrims coming from Puritan England during the 1700's? It's best to equally represent all people in this day and age. Happy Kwanzaa.

Bikini turkey courtesy of here.
Arrow through the head courtesy of here.
Pilgrim picture courtesy of here.

The Napkin Notebook

All great ideas are originally scribbled down on a napkin, right? Might as well carry some around with you just in case inspiration hits.

Their website is pretty good too. You can see what others have scribbled down on virtual napkins or jot your own thoughts and pictures down as well.

It's a fun concept. Kinda pointless, and not really related to this blog, but a good concept just the same.

Three days left to vote in the "Should I Shave My Head Poll"!

See the upper-right column of this blog. And if you don't mind, please leave a comment on this post as to why you voted the way you did.

And here's a slight spin on the whole idea: if you were me, would you shave your head?

Ponder. Discuss.


Pic courtesy of whatever this site is.

Saw Beowulf. Wish I hadn't.

A possible change in careers

So I think I want to become a bouncer. I really think I could pull it off. I have the "x-factor" - that intimidating demeanor that makes people inherently fear me. And while my arms aren't quite as big as that guy's, a few trips to the gym, some "special sauce" and I'd totally take care of that.

Bouncers don't have to take drug tests do they? I don't think they do. Does anybody know for sure?

I'd stand outside popular venues like churches (see above photo). If I didn't like the way someone smelled, or the cut of their jib, I'd pick them up by their trousers and toss them to the gutter.

At non-religious locations I'd only let people in who slipped me $20 bills.

And all I have to do is wear all black, sun glasses and look menacing. I'd probably crack my knuckles a lot and flex my pecks. If someone appeared to be bothersome I might even growl.

To really polish off the the look I'd have to shave my head. Ever since my dream about playing poker with Martha Stewart I've been tossing the idea around anyway, so it wouldn't be that big a deal.

Speaking of, I put a poll about shaving my head in the upper-right corner: vote, and leave your print on my head.

In addition to being physically domineering, I have some ideas that I think could really reinvent the bouncing industry.

For example, instead of just being mean to people who try to sneak in, why don't we (and by "we" I mean bouncers everywhere) hand out small stuffed animals to people who are patiently waiting in line. A little positive reinforcement never hurt anyone.

Also, since we (and by "we", I mean bouncers everywhere) have a captive audience with everyone waiting in line why not sell advertising? Every five minutes I'd read a 10 second blurb about a product or service, kind of like you hear before a traffic report on the radio:

"When you feel like crap tomorrow morning after a night of partying, remember to take Tylenol. Extra Strength Tylenol, on sale now at Walgreens."

It's like printing money my friends. Like printing money.

Well?? What do you think of my idea of switching careers from advertising to bouncer...ing?


Cute stuffed animal pic courtesy of Katie's Kreations. For security reasons I can't tell you where I got the picture of my new colleagues, the bouncers.

I think I'd feel overqualified

The Physical Demands requirements for a job listing:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to sit. The employee is frequently required to use hands to finger, handle, or feel and talk or hear. The employee is occasionally required to reach with hands and arms.

To sum up:

1. The demands of the job are what it's going to take for someone to be able to do the job. Thank you for that apt description of what a "demand" is.

2. You must sit and, on occasion, reach. Maybe talk a little too.

The sad thing is that this job paid almost 40% more than what I'm making now.

New Gmail login screen

Checked your Gmail account lately? Noticed the new login screen? See?? I wasn't making it up.

Unfortunately, no obvious UI changes other than the contacts which I'd mentioned earlier. But I'm guessing they aren't done yet.

Just an observation

A different kind of people ride the train during the day than during rush hour.

Preach on Elder Holland! Preach on!

This morning I decided to listen to what was probably my favorite talk from this last General Conference, Elder Holland's "The Only True God and Jesus Christ Whom He Hath Sent" (video link here).

Talk about the epitome of "bold but not overbearing". Elder Holland does a wonderful job of explaining in no uncertain terms our views of Jesus Christ. What a testimony to the divinity of Jesus Christ and His Church!

And I'd just like to say *sniff, sniff* that I am so blessed to have the roommates I do, and I read Baptists at Our Barbecue and now I totally know the church is true.

Amen.

Did AT&T give the NSA unristricted access to the entire Internet?

According to this article in the Seattle Times, a former AT&T tech named Mark Klein is going to go before Congress and testify that the NSA came to AT&T and worked out some kind of arrangement where they'd have access to all web and phone traffic.

ALL of it.

Without warrants.

Carte blanche access to everything.

EVERYTHING.

"In an interview this week, he alleged that the NSA set up a system that vacuumed up Internet and phone-call data from ordinary Americans with the help of AT&T and without obtaining a court order."

Apparently they built some secret rooms in various AT&T facilities with some pretty advanced equipment:

"...Glass prisms that split signals from each network into two identical copies. One copy fed into the secret room. The other proceeded to its destination, he said.

"This splitter was sweeping up everything, vacuum-cleaner-style," he said. "The NSA is getting everything. These are major pipes that carry not just AT&T's customers but everybody's."

Check out the rest of the article. It's a very serious accusation, and if it turns out to be true, it's a huge, huge deal.

The Patriot Act is started our country down a slippery slope that has, allegedly, resulted in this. I can't help but wonder if the inherent conflicts between privacy and "national security" will result in "the Constitution hanging by a thread."


Photo courtesy of Gizmodo

Umbrella squirt gun - make others wet while you stay dry

There's a funnel at the top that feeds directly to the squirt gun handle. I'm seriously kicking myself for not coming up with this on my own. Brilliant.

Photo from here

Lazy, French @#$%

Via Despair.com

Microsoft is scary

Yes, this banner ad for Microsoft could be taken a number of different ways.

A quote on advertising from Winnie the Pooh

"When you...think of Things, you find sometimes that a Thing which seemed very Thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it."

Very wise Pooh, very wise.






Photo via here.

GooPhone announced - not really

So, Google didn't announce a GooPhone today, but they announced that they're part of a partnership to create an open source platform for phones which is pretty much what everyone has been saying for quite a while. OK. Great.

T-Mobile and Sprint are definitely in and part of the "Open Handset Alliance" (which is probably why Sprint recently announced they'd be unlocking their phones). The platform will be called Android and the first handsets will be available sometime next year.

Details are a bit scarce, but you can check out the Official Google Blog and Engadget's liveblog of the announcement for more info.

Money quote from Eric Schmidt, Google CEO:

"Google announces products when they're ready..."

Is that why Gmail, Google Docs and Google Calendar are all still in beta?

A family update

I'm determined not to turn this blog into a mushy, "Oh, my kid did the cutest thing today!" blog. That being said, my kid is really cute. He's setting the curve by being in the 99+ percentile for both weight and height (at his four month checkup he was 20 lbs 9 oz). He's now a little over five months old and we have him in 12 month clothing.

We've recently started feeding him rice cereal which he's been pretty good about eating, but I think it's because he likes sucking on the spoon, not because he likes the cereal.

Anyhoo, if there's anything else you want to know shoot me an e-mail or leave word in the comments.

There are some additional pictures of him here.

Surrounded by sewage

Sorry I haven't written for a while. Thursday and Friday of last week were spent shooting a TV campaign which meant I was out of the office and getting home late. Apologies.

For anyone who doesn't know what it's like to be on set when filming something, allow me to enlighten you: it's boring.

Sure, there's lots of food and depending on where you're shooting, the location can be refreshing. Such was the case Thursday evening as we were shooting in a beautiful park. The Fall colors, cool, crisp air and the setting sun were all wonderful. It sure is good to get out of the office every once in a while.


Cut to the next morning. I'm sitting two stories underground in a sewage treatment facility surrounded by warm pipes that read "circulating sludge". To be fair, the room we were in really was quite clean. It was more the psychological affect of siting amongst huge pipes carrying my poop from yesterday that made me a bit uneasy. If there were ever a time when I didn't want an earthquake to hit, that would have been it.

We were asked to be on location at 9:00 am. Not problem. Remember how I said it was boring? We didn't start shooting anything until 11:15.

I did get a lot done in that amount of time though. I sorted through over a thousand pictures on my lappy and divided them into events. Then I went through my Address Book and added photos to the contacts who didn't have them yet. I also read a few articles in the latest issue of Wired. All in all, not a bad morning.

There's no place like my office. There's no place like my office. There's no place...

I've always liked my office. I have a door and two windows, one being very high that lets in beautiful natural light. I enjoy carpeting, a nice sized desk and an Intel iMac on which to work.

But after seeing this guy's workspace, I have a whole new appreciation for how good I have it:


Plus he has to wear a collared shirt and slacks to work. Ouch.

Want to feel better about where you work? Check out the winners of Wired's Saddest Cubicle Contest.

Do you have something that could have made the list?

Sometimes I don't believe in freedom of speech

It's not my thing, but maybe you'll like it.

The link will launch iTunes and will highlight what you need to listen to. All you gotta do is hit play, baby.

Just promise you'll listen to the whole thing, mkay?

Maybe Walmart employees are already getting paid what they're worth

We had a "going away" party yesterday for a lady at our Little Rock claim office. One of the supervisors called a Wal-Mart and ordered the cake. He told them to write:

"Best Wishes Suzanne" and underneath that write "We will miss you".



I think if I got that cake I'd proudly display it at a party. It's hilarious.

Really, there are so many things that could be said about Walmart and its employees at this point (there's gotta be some joke about always getting low prices), but I think I'd rather hear your thoughts. Sound off in the comments.

More Gmail changes on their way!

Check out the new Contacts Interface:



Notice in the upper right corner (circled in red) it says "Older Version". When I first logged into Gmail it said, "Newer Version". I clicked it and nothing noticeable happened except I noticed the URL changed from this:



To this:


So far the only change I've noticed is in the Contacts and it appears that it's being rolled out gradually as it's only in one of my accounts and none of the people I've chatted with have it yet.

I wrote the Google Person inquiring about it. Google Person wrote back promptly (MAN! They work some crazy hours!) and referred me to the Official Gmail Blog. While it doesn't mention a new UI specifically, it looks like they're going to be gradually releasing new changes. Keep your eyes peeled!

Digg this story here.

President Hinckley's face carved into a pumpkin

My friend Hunter and his wife spent five hours carving this for their ward Halloween party.

"We wanted to win the pumpkin carving contest," Hunter said.

Overachievers.


P.S. They don't know if they won. Check back Wednesday and I'll post the results.

UPDATE: Unsurprisingly, and to the disappointment of Primary kids everywhere, Hunter and his wife swept the pumpkin carving contest.


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Again, thanks for stopping by!

IMAP on Gmail: I had a hunch - someone at Google told me...

Seriously.

Yesterday I got a cryptic e-mail from a mysterious person at Google asking if we could have a confidential conversation regarding my blog post.

YES.

Anyhoo, it turns out I got lucky. According to The Google Person I was one of four people over the last several months who caught onto their IMAP testing efforts and as a nice gesture, tipped me off to the fact that IMAP was just around the corner.

Boo-ya! Thanks Google Person!

I'm still not clear on a few things, namely how in the world Google Person discovered The Other Drummer and that I'd stumbled across that particular screen shot. Also, I'm still suspicious that other changes may be coming along soon: there weren't any visual/UI enhancements with the IMAP roll-out, despite the shiny new icons/layout of said login screen.

Something to keep an eye out for.


(It should be noted that now that it's released Google Person said I could go ahead and blog about it after it launched.)

Dreams do come true: Gmail's got IMAP

Gmail is sportin' some fancy new IMAP moves. It's active on three of my Gmail accounts. Waiting for two more before things get really crazy in Mail.

Wow. I'm such a geek.

Autopsy performed on live man who wakes up during the procedure

Seriously. That's the guy (who is obviously alive) holding the orders for his own autopsy. Creepy. Check out the scar on his face. That's where they started cutting. Then he woke up.

Apparently the Venezuelan authorities declared him dead after a car accident. He wasn't.

Oops.


Story courtesy of Reuters

Wow. Now France does something right.

What the crap is going on here? First AT&T does something impressive and now the French are following suit? Something freakish is afoot...like that half naked chick who just killed all those people and is now walking over their lifeless bodies.

So France is getting the iPhone. Whoop-de-doo. The notable thing is the bit about French law which says phones can only be exclusive to a carrier for up to six months.

Yes. They get unhacked, unlocked iPhones. Wow. The French actually have something I want.

Never thought I'd say that.

2757.272164 - refresh your Gmail login and watch the capacity counter

I noticed today as I refreshed the Gmail login screen that the capacity counter (which is currently at around 3,631 MB) that it flashes briefly as 2757.272164 MB before showing the running counter at 3+ gigs.

Why is this? Hugh thinks, "2757.272164 is coded into the page and they must use a javascript to change it to the correct counter."

Any other ideas?

A good article on Google and privacy concerns

It's a quick read. Take a peek here.

AT&T does something right: prorated cancellation fees

AT&T just scored a few points in my book. According to this article they are prorating cancellation fees based on how long you've been under contract.

I would assume it's based on how many months you have left, so a $175 cancellation fee spread out over 24 months leaves you paying about $7.30 per month left on your contract if bailed prematurely. Not too shabby considering before you'd get dinged with the full $175 if you ported your number out even a day early.

Maybe two year contracts aren't such a bad idea after all.

They're also no longer extending contracts when you switch rate plans, a practice which has screwed over numerous people and seems completely unethical.

Of course, all this is in the face of a law that will most likely pass, forcing them to do it anyway. But hey, way to kinda step up and sorta look out for your customers!

I heart Zappos

Customer service bringing a tear to your eye (but in a good way).

See the article here.

New Gmail coming: the evidence

There have been some mounting rumors about a revamped Gmail in the chutes. As a huge Gmail fan, I'm particularly excited about this and would probably be willing to sacrifice some kind of small animal in exchange for IMAP support.

That being said, I've noticed a few things of late that seem a little unusual.

First of all, I've been randomly directed to a new login screen. Typically, the login screen looks like this:


Twice now I've come across this one:



New UI coming? Google Docs-ish? That's the rumor anyway and this redesigned login seems to give a nod to the shiny new Google Docs interface.

As far as non-UI features go, Google has a page where you can suggest features (go there and check IMAP!!). Normally they have the changes they've already implemented on the right, just above a list of popular requests for features. (Sorry, I don't have a screen grab.)

Notice in the following screen shot that the list of popular requests is missing:


I'm hoping it's because they're removing a few items from the list *cough* IMAP *cough*. Then again, if that were the case they'd probably remove the "suggestions we've implemented" too. Hmmmm.

O, Gmail users, what new features would you like to see in a new and improved Gmail?




P.S. Not that I need it, but I'm diggin' this accelerated increase in storage Gmail's got goin' on. I've dropped 4% in the last three days without deleting a thing! (Sounds like a weight loss ad.)