You did make the switch, right?

Just a friendly reminder that I've decided to experiment with switching blogging platforms so if you're reading this, you didn't get the memo.

You're currently looking at rathofbuns.blogspot.com. From now on, go here: www.theotherdrummer.com and bookmark that site. That URL will never lead you astray.

Also, you can subscribe to The Other Drummer and get all my brilliance, wit and insight delivered straight to your favorite RSS reader by clicking here.

Questions? Email me at dave at theotherdrummer dot com.

Don't get left behind - please read carefully

It's been a while since I've fiddled with this blog. And I've got the itch once again.

I'm going to experiment with switching blogging platforms from Blogger to Posterous. In order to make sure you don't get left behind in the transition, here are some quick-n-easy things you can do to make the transition with me. (For many of you, it won't require you to do anything.)


Dear readers, here's all you need to do:

1. Make sure you have bookmarked TheOtherDrummer.com NOT rathofbuns.blogspot.com.
2. If you have subscribed via RSS (which you should) make sure you're subscribed to feeds.feedburner.com/theotherdrummer.

That's it. If you've done those two things it should be a seamless transition for you. Sometime in the next few days when you go to TheOtherDrummer.com it will look different and that's it. All my posts and tags will be switched over.

The only major downside (at this point) is that comments on all the posts will be staying here for the time being. I've been in touch with one of the founders of Posterous and he said the ability to import comments from Blogger is coming, but it will be a while. I'll be sure and import comments when the option becomes available. In the meantime, rathofbuns.blogspot.com will still be here should you get nostalgic and want to look back over the good times we've had.

The upside is that I think using the new platform will enable me to post (perhaps) shorter posts a bit more frequently - hopefully once a day. Also, it's a much cleaner design.

And, hey, if it doesn't work I can always switch back to Blogger and, as long as you've followed the two steps above, no harm done.

So... who's ready for me to make the jump? Let me know in the comments if you've done the two steps above. Any questions? Email me.

Thanks and see you on the flip side.

Yet another brilliant news headline

Because, as of right now, the Web isn't a massive network.

Aunt Clara's Pink Bunny Pajamas

These would go very nicely with my brother in-law's leg lamp.

You can by them here starting at $109. (Ouch.) Or if you're really feeling flush you could opt for the pair that comes with an Official Red Ryder Carbine Action Lightning Loader 650 Shot Range Model Air Rifle for just $60 more.

Please note I have created a new label for this blog called AWESOMENESS.

Via SwissMiss.

Scene from Star Wars?

Nope. It's a dust storm in Australia. This is a picture of the Sydney Harbour (or, "Harbor" in real English) Bridge. Crazy, huh?

Via boston.com. (Because, really, don't you get all your pictures of Australia from Boston.com?)

Portland montage

Makes me a bit homesick.

So. Awesome.

More at the FAIL Blog.

U.S. Condemned For Pre-Emptive Use of Hillary Clinton Against Pakistan

U.S. Condemned For Pre-Emptive Use Of Hillary Clinton Against Pakistan

Whole Foods is being boycotted over this??

I've seen rumblings lately online of social media channels being used to organize a boycott of Whole Foods (so far over 33,000 people organized on Facebook to boycott). Deciding I'd better see what all the fuss was about, I decided to read the Wall Street Journal article written by Whole Foods co-founder and CEO John Mackey which started the controversy.

I won't quote the whole thing here for a number of reasons (1. It's too long 2. the WSJ should get traffic for the article they posted and 3. I won't want Rupert Murdoch suing me - heaven forbid I promote his content) but I will pull a couple of key quotes:

While we clearly need health-care reform, the last thing our country needs is a massive new health-care entitlement that will create hundreds of billions of dollars of new unfunded deficits and move us much closer to a government takeover of our health-care system. Instead, we should be trying to achieve reforms by moving in the opposite direction—toward less government control and more individual empowerment.

And...

Health care is a service that we all need, but just like food and shelter it is best provided through voluntary and mutually beneficial market exchanges.

And...

Rather than increase government spending and control, we need to address the root causes of poor health. This begins with the realization that every American adult is responsible for his or her own health.

And...

Health-care reform is very important. Whatever reforms are enacted it is essential that they be financially responsible, and that we have the freedom to choose doctors and the health-care services that best suit our own unique set of lifestyle choices. We are all responsible for our own lives and our own health. We should take that responsibility very seriously and use our freedom to make wise lifestyle choices that will protect our health. Doing so will enrich our lives and will help create a vibrant and sustainable American society.

UNBELIEVABLE. People are boycotting over this? After reading the article I actually want to go buy overpriced soy nuts just to support this man. While I'm not in 100% agreement with him (be sure and read the article - he suggest eight points of reform) I think he's definitely on the right track: people should accept responsibility, retain power instead of handing it over to the government, and be financially responsible.

I know it's a touchy subject but I love a good debate/conversation - mainly because it helps me look at things from different points of view. Not being all that bright in general (but particularly about politics and economics), I look forward to finding some insight in your comments.

So hit the comments and let's get discussin'.

My iPhone is for sale

My original iPhone is for sale. I have the chance to upgrade to a 3GS - if I can sell this one.

My phone is unlocked and in near-perfect condition except for two things:

1. The WiFi is a bit wonky - won't keep a connection. Apple has a troubleshooting list on their site but I haven't gone through it because I've been fine using my data plan.

2. There's a small scratch on one corner.

Other than that, it's pristine - you know how much I care about/baby my gadgets. It's had an Invisible Shield on it (professionally installed so it looks nice) since I got it (a $35 value) and the only scratch it has on it is the one on the corner.

Here are the perks to this phone:

• It's unlocked and will work on either T-Mobile or AT&T (no Verizon nor Sprint, sorry). 
• You won't have to extend your contract or pay an activation fee - just pop in your SIM card and it will start working on your account. 
• You can use the phone without an expensive data plan if you want.
  
• The iPhone works just as it does on AT&T (with the exception of visual voicemail) - you can download songs and applications to it perfectly.
• I'll tell you how to get unlimited data on it for $6/month instead of $25/month. :)

I'm asking $200 (or best offer). I know the WiFi is wonky so it's cheap - comparable phones on KSL are going for $250-300.

I'd like to sell it by Friday. So restore a sense of childlike wonder in your life and buy an iPhone. Leave word in the comments if you're interested (or know someone who is) or email me at theotherdrummer @gmail dot com.

Please spread the word.

Photo courtesy of here.

My son is like an insurance company

Generally, all he says is, "no" and "more."


Of course, another way of saying it is that insurance companies behave like two year-olds.

Fore.

Played golf here Saturday. It was a beautiful day. I shot a 77.5...on the back nine.

I did have one really good drive - 200 yards in the fairway. I also got to drive a golf cart. It doesn't matter that I've been driving for over a decade...I still get a kick out of driving a golf cart.

Politicans forget who they serve

And, yes, we do tell you how to run your congressional office. You represent us, remember?

Via Saric...and Counting.

Are you happy?

Via the Coterie Blog.

Yet another brilliant news headline

Gee...ya think?

Politics we can all agree on

Wish I could give proper credit for this. All I know is that a friend of mine sent it to me on Facebook.

Apple claims jailbroken iPhones could prove catastrophic, good for drug dealers

  Image courtesy of here.

It's old news by now but if you hadn't heard, Apple is trying to make jailbreaking iPhones illegal because, "In short, taking control of the BBP software would be much the equivalent of getting inside the firewall of a corporate computer – to potentially catastrophic result."

As reported by Wired, they imply that jailbreaking iPhones could be a threat to national security. They also say it would be ideal for drug dealers since you can change phone identification to avoid tracking.

The iPhone: threat to world peace, weapon of mass destruction and tool of drug dealers everywhere...

...except that it can't do picture messaging.

The arguments to Apple's "points" about unlocking the iPhone are too obvious to go into here, so I'll let you do so in the comments. I must say, this makes me particularly excited to see what the iTablet is capable of.

A sawed-off shotgun, a stray cat and an awesome fu manchu

If you heard a news story about a drunk guy who tried to shoot a stray cat in his yard with a sawed-off shotgun because the cat was chasing away the birds in his yard, what do you think this person would look like?

You're absolutely right. He'd look like this:

At first glance it seemed startling that a person with a patch over his eye was shooting a gun. (You know - the whole depth perception thing.) Then it occurred to me that you close one eye when aiming down the barrel of a gun so, in reality, it might actually be easier for this guy to aim a gun than the rest of us.

The lesson from all this? Don't judge people just because they have an eye patch.

That, and have a good weekend.

 The full story, and image can be found at KSL.

This label cannot lie

As the meat ages, ammonia is released which changes the label. After a certain time (the expiration date) the bar code becomes unscannable at the register so it can't be sold.

Via swissmiss.

Ninja Parade

Love The Onion.

Via That's So Sweet!

Backpack for the iMac (it's not what you think)

Why not use the space behind your iMac to stash your external hard drive? Great idea from here via SwissMiss.

Some people are Oregonians; the rest are not

Image courtesy of ahp_ibanez

Check out this hilarious customer service story about a tourist in Portland asking if they'll get a refund if it rains. HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!

*Wiping a tear*

The bird that caught a ride to work

Animals are just getting plain lazy.

I was sitting under the overpass to get on I-80 on my way to work when a bird landed on the back of my car (you can see the bird's tail in the above picture). I looked in my rearview mirror and made eye contact with the driver behind me who was smiling. I shrugged. She shrugged. The light turned green and off I went, assuming my feathered friend would fly off the car.

He didn't.

As I accelerated up the on-ramp the bird held tight. By the time I was starting to merge onto I-80 I was doing about 45 mph.

50 mph.

55 mph.

The bird was flapping and flailing in the wind but wouldn't (or couldn't) let go.

60 mph.

65 mph.

Impressed at the strength of the bird's talons, I snapped the picture.

70 mph.

It finally fell off.

I heard it and watched it in my mirrors. The poor guy rolled down the back of the car, off to the shoulder of the road (thankfully), tumbled a couple times and, if I wasn't mistaken, stood up.

Fortunately, it looked like the pigeon may have been OK despite the fact that it was traveling at speeds no pigeon ever traveled before (Rob, correct me if I'm wrong here).

Unfortunately, it didn't make it all the way to downtown, which I can only assume was its final destination since it landed on my car and that's where I was going.

Really unfortunately, the stupid bird scratched up my car.

Insurance papers

Image courtesy of unk's dump truck.

I spent part of today on the phone with my wife trying to figure out everything that needed to be included on a large stack of insurance forms. Since we had a baby this year, and we have to itemize each doctor's visit, prescriptions and medications for each person it was rather time consuming and frustrating - a royal pain in the butt.

That made me wonder...

Do I have to list said pain in the butt on the insurance forms as a preexisting condition?

Freaking awesome apartment with a big clock

Awesome "loft" in Brooklyn. If you consider a 6,500 square foot apartment a "loft," this one can be yours for just $25 million.
Bonus: you'll never have to wonder what time it is.

Really, this is just cool.

It's definitely worth clicking here for more pictures via Apartment Therapy.

That's one profane Gmail iPhone app

Never thought I'd need to show ID to buy an email application.

Here's to the crazy ones

Anyone else think Apple has strayed much from this standard?

Twitter goes down, nobody can tell anyone

Twitter and Facebook went down today at approximately 6:00 am Pacific Time. A DDOS (denial of service) attack was suspected, although nobody knew about the outage because Twitter was down.

David Hoskins, a 25 year-old social media expert and part-time waiter at TGI Fridays, was shocked to find out about the outage.

"Twitter and Facebook were down?" he asked incredulously. "How was I supposed to know? Why hasn't someone tweeted about this? Does anyone know what the hashtag is?"

Hoskins appeared confused and disoriented when his iPhone Twitter application wouldn't publish his Tweet, notifying his 2,744 followers that the popular service was down.

"But how will they know?" he asked as panic began to set in.

Throughout the rest of the morning Hoskins was seen repeatedly responding to the question, "What are you doing?" by furiously typing, "Trying to tell the world that Twitter is down!"

At the time of publication, Hoskins had resorted to calling people he actually knew to talk to them directly. In many instances his calls went to voicemail. It's suspected that those he called didn't know what to do when their phones made a distinct ringing sound and wasn't followed by a text notification.

More as this story develops.

Doesn't this smilie face look devious?

Every time I see one of this particular smilie face at the end of a sentence it recasts the statement it proceeds in some kind of devious light, as if the author was up to no good.

Since emoticons can be used to convey tone and meaning in an online conversation I think it's important to point this out. It's hard enough to convey emotion and meaning when writing online and having split-personality emoticons doesn't help.

Let's look at the emotions evoked from two similar emoticons:

To me, this says,  "I have a chainsaw and a butcher knife (in case the chainsaw runs out of gas) and I'm hiding in your closet. I already cut the phone lines. You are going to die."

Emotions evoked = fear, deviousness, psychopathedness.



Now take a look at this emoticon which follows the exact same statement:

To me, this one is a bit more... hopeful. You know, the kind of emoticon you'd want to see if you were hanging off a cliff by a tree limb and had just sent a message asking for help. Or the kind you'd want to receive if you were on a bad date and had sent an SOS SMS to a friend.

Emotions evoked = hope, friendliness, not death.

Am I nuts or do you feel the same way? Leave your emotional reactions to these emoticons in the comments.

Posterous, Tumblr, Twitter... which do you use?

I just signed up for Posterous. Their whole focus is that you can very easily post through email. That's fine and all, but Blogger and Tumblr (and maybe even WordPress) all offer that, too.

Anyway, I'm checking it out and wondering what you use for your publishing endeavors: Blogger? WordPress? Tumblr? Twitter? Posterous? I know there are more, dozens more. I'm sure I've signed up for a few that I've forgotten about.

Vote on which ones you use in the poll (upper right corner) and then leave word in the comments about which is your favorite and why.

My own experience on the Main Street Plaza

Image courtesy of Flickr.

"Two men say they were singled out and treated unfairly by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because they're gay. Salt Lake City police arrested the two for trespassing when they were asked to leave the Church's Main Street Plaza but refused to do so," reported KSL earlier this month.

A lot has been said about it. The first I heard of it, it went something like this: "All they did was kiss each other on the cheek and they got arrested!" I was doubtful that was really the case. Regardless, that's what was being circulated around the 'nets. I patiently waited to hear both sides of the story.

Not too long after, the Church released a statement saying the two men "engaged in passionate kissing, groping, profane and lewd language, and had obviously been using alcohol." Well there ya go. However, the misinformation had already been spread, nationwide protests have been scheduled, and bad things are still being said about my church and my faith.

I believe the Church was, and is, completely within their rights to enforce the rules they have on their private property which, by the way, are very strict. Allow me to share a personal experience I had on the Main Street Plaza.

One night I was there as part of an LDS youth group. It wasn't a huge group, maybe a dozen of us total, including leaders. While we were there, a security guard came out to talk to us because apparently we were getting too "rowdy" (I use that term loosely because I personally wouldn't have considered our behavior as disruptive). He was polite, but firm. Of course we toned it down a couple of notches, no harm done. But keep in mind - we were there as part of an LDS church activity... with our Bishop and they came out and told us to behave.

This experience illustrates two things:

1. They're strict.
2. They're strict with everyone.

I'm absolutely confident if a heterosexual couple was engaged in "passionate kissing, groping, profane and lewd language, and had obviously been using alcohol" the actions taken would have been the same as what happened to these two gay guys. So please stop making hateful, angry comments about my faith (or anybody else's for that matter).

I feel like this sometimes

If needed, click the image for a larger view. Via xkcd.

Baseball hat FAIL

I don't think the FAIL should be attributed to the hat, but rather the person wearing it.

Via the FAIL Blog.

Architects never cease to amaze me

Check the awesome stair/kitchen counter integration here.

Upon further reflection on the concept, I can see how it might be problematic if you have pets and/or small children. Still cool though.

What do you think? Would you like this in your home? Leave word in the comments.

From here via swissmiss.

Why I paid $20 for a water bottle

I don't drink enough water. This morning I had four plastic, disposable water bottles in various places around my office. I save them from meetings with the goal of refilling them and being better about hydration (that's important you know). They're usually forgotten; my goal remains unaccomplished and my office looks even more cluttered.

On Saturday I bought a $20 water bottle.

I buy little 3x5 Moleskine notebooks and carry one with me everywhere I go. It costs $11.

Why does someone pay $20 for a hollow piece of metal with a lid or pay $11 for what essentially amounts to a stack of paper and a rubber band?

People pay a premium for brands for a number of reasons, but one of the main reasons is because they can drive people to act on their purchases. Allow me to explain.

I could jot down random thoughts and ideas on just about anything. Why pay $11 for a Moleskine notebook? It doesn't make me a better writer - but the brand and story behind the notebooks makes me want to write.

I had plenty of water bottles sitting in my office that would have served the purpose of providing me with water that I never filled. Now that I have a nice, stainless steel water bottle I drain the thing probably three or four times a day.

Which is worth more: A spiral notebook that costs a dollar that I never write in, or an expensive notebook that I love filling with thoughts, notes, goals and lists? As a consumer, I'm willing to pay more for products/brands that inspire or engage me in some way or another.

If someone gets a pair of running shoes they're excited about, they're more likely to go running.
If someone gets the nicer paintbrushes, they may spend more time working at their painting.
If someone is excited about their water bottle, maybe they'll drink more water.

The challenge for companies is to create brands and products that engage and inspire so people are willing to pay more.

What brands/products do you get excited about? Are there any that inspire you? Let me know in the comments.

Moleskine photo courtesy of Flickr.

Estimation

This hilarity is brought to you by xkcd.

Awesome: an example of augmented reality (on the iPhone)

Awesome stuff. It's nice to see this kind of thing becoming available mainstream.

What kind of augmented reality app would you like to see on your phone? Leave word in the comments.

Via Zach Holmquist.

Music video done entirely with webcams

Talk about an editing nightmare. Not to mention directing all that. However, I think it was well worth it. The overall effect is refreshingly original.

Wow. It actually happened. Google announces they're developing an operating system: Chrome OS

The gauntlet? Thrown down. The line in the sand? Drawn. The end? Is near. True to numerous rumors over the last few years, Google announced today that it is developing an operating system, meaning it will join Windows, OS X and Ubuntu in the OS wars. It will be called Google OS Chrome (borrowing the name from Google's browser).

"...The operating systems that browsers run on were designed in an era where there was no web," said Sundar Pichai, VP Product Management at Google. Hmmm... think he's talking about Windows?

If Microsoft felt threatened about how much time people were spending in online apps versus their expensive (and bloated) desktop apps, they should be peeing themselves about now.

"We're designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the web in a few seconds. ...Most of the user experience takes place on the web. ...Users [w]on't have to deal with viruses, malware and security updates. It should just work."

Think about it: what do you do on a computer?

• Search for things (browser, obviously)
• Email (browser)
• Social networking (browser)
• Listen to music (more and more it's the browser, thanks to sites like Pandora and Last.fm)
• Look at friends' pictures (browser)
• Word processing (possible in the browser via Google Docs and others, although not very popular...yet)
• Spreadsheets (see above)
• Cropping/editing photos (browser - have you checked out Photoshop.com?)
• Chat (available in the browser through Gmail or sites like Meebo.com)

So if we're spending all this time doing things online (for free), why pay Microsoft $500 to upgrade Windows and Office, hmmmmmmmm?

That's exactly the question Google hopes you'll ask yourself.

This also has the potential to (eventually) have an adverse affect on the hardware market. As more and more of what you do involves being online, how much do you care if Intel releases their new Core i7 processor Extreme Edition? Unless you're a gamer or doing processor-intensive work (video editing, AutoCAD which, really, could be done from a server somewhere if we had the bandwidth most of Europe enjoys) a lot of what you do on your desktop can be executed on a server in the middle of North Dakota.

Your computer can just be a browser. Period.

Of course, this is the idea behind netbooks which have proven quite popular (Sprint is even offering a netbook for 99 cents) and is where Google OS Chrome will first launch...just in time to make people wonder if they should pay for Windows 7.

UPDATE: In the words of Michael Arrington: 

Don’t worry about those desktop apps you think you need. Office? Meh. You’ve got Zoho and Google Apps. You won’t miss office. Chrome plus Gears plus Google Wave plus HTML 5 and web platforms like Flash and Silverlight all combine into a single wonderful computing device. The Internet Is Everything. All the OS has to do is boot the damn computer, get me to a browser as fast as possible and then stay the hell out of the way.

URGENT: Dream come true or hellish nightmare?

The assimilation has begun. Starting April 17, 2010 our frozen, furry adversaries to the north are selecting people at random and will make them Canadian citizens - even if they don't live in Canadia. Seriously. I'm not joking. I would never joke about something like this:



Does this scare the $#%! out of anyone else?

Sure, they dress it all up as if we're going to be happy about it, dancing around our bedrooms while hockey players and mounties make sure we drink ourselves into a maple syrup-induced stupor. Pure propaganda. Do you know who else used such propaganda to make people feel good about trying to take over the world while he trimmed his little, square mustache and greasy comb-over? Exactly.

Sadly, my conspiracy "theory" was right. I always thought the idea of hoarding guns and ammo in a fortified basement-turned-bunker was for nut jobs and wackos but you'd better believe I'm hitting West Valley tonight and not coming home until I have a trunkload of questionably-legal automatic firearms. With scopes.

How long until France does something similar?

Perhaps I'm overreacting. Maybe they won't try to take us by force (at first). In which case I actually hope they pick me and make a big deal about it and bring a bunch of news crews and cameras and reporters to my house because it would be one of the only times I'm my life where I would justify the blatant use of profanity and respond with, "#@$@#$$%^&*&$#@ no!"

What do you think? Am I overreacting or do you want me to save you room in our basement-bunker? Leave word in the comments and be quick about it - who knows how long it will be before they shut sites like this down. 

VIVA LA RESISTANCE!

Google it with Bing

Via CollegeHumor.

Carnivores FTW!

In case you can't read it, the sign on the right says:

Carnivores don't need some wimpy support group. Keep being AWESOME!

This gem is courtesy of the FAIL Blog.

Two weeks. Honestly?

Yeah, it's been a while. Whatever. I've been busy. What have I been busy with? Poop. That's what.

I forgot how much newborns poop. Want to venture a guess as to how often they poop?

Six times an hour. That's how often.

Want to venture a guess as to when they poop?

Usually around 3 am.*

Want to know when they fall asleep?

About 1 am.

Yeah. Anyhoo. Aside from being sleepy and all that I've been checking out the following cool things which I would highly recommend taking a look at:

• Google Wave - This could be a game-changer. This is the full demo. Watch the first 15 minutes then, if you want, jump here for the highlights.
  
• The new iPhone 3.0 software (unlocked and lovin' every minute of it!)
• Fake Steve Jobs is back with his iLiver 2.0. Brilliant.
• TweetDeck now (supposedly) syncs your followers and groups across multiple computers. Nice, but I still wish it was web-based.
  
• An awesome article in Wired about what the Big Three automakers need to do to survive (hint: On the Road to Recovery, Let the Little Guys Drive). A must-read.
  

So yeah. Check that stuff out and let me know what you think and I'll see if I can be a bit better about posting.

*My wife just pointed out that it's been a while since I was up at 3 am changing diapers. True. But I did do it, even if it was a while ago. The fact that I'm still exhausted by that singular event means you should feel sorry for me all the more.

Still a classic: Don't Buy Stuff You Cannot Afford

To what, exactly, are you referring?

The Ultimate Father's Day gift is a chick in a sports bra? A tattoo? Or a canteen you carry around in a man-purse? I'm confused.

Related: KSL banner ad featuring a dead fly.

Our girl arrived

Hey world. I'm here. It's been a week now since our little girl was born (everyone is healthy an well - things went about as smoothly as one could hope).

Needless to say (although I'll say it anyway), life has been turned upside down as we try and figure out sleeping schedules, keep a two year-old happy and wonder if it's normal for a newborn to go through six diapers an hour.

Then there's the projectile poop.

Thank heavens for supportive friends and family.

It's still a bit weird to hear myself say, "The kids" when for the last couple of years it's been, "The kid." Our little girl has some very similar features to our little boy, but she's definitely going to have her own look to her which we're excited about. She has very long, beautiful fingers.

Is this rambling? Incoherent? I'm running on very little sleep here (see third paragraph).

We are doing well. We're keeping a low-profile as we get adjusted to our new family member. But life is good. I'm blessed with a happy, healthy family, a job that provides for us (which I enjoy), the gospel and a beautiful wife of whom I am completely unworthy.

Time to wake the two year-old.

 Let the fun begin.

P.S. We went with Sara.

Tinker.com completely misses the point

Advertising Age recently posted a a quick article and video introducing Glam Media's Tinker, a tool for managing what is being said about your brand on Twitter. (Sadly, Ad Age is a little behind the times and doesn't allow their videos to be embedded so you'll have to click the link - the video is only three minutes long).

The idea behind Tinker is that you can 1. follow events instead of people and 2. aggregate everything being said about your brand on Twitter and display it on your company's site 3. after it passes through some powerful filters.

First of all, I like the idea of following events instead of people. Cool. But isn't that as simple as using hashtags?

Second, I already know how to embed a Twitter stream onto my blog. Thanks though.

Third, Tinker is plugging its filters as a way to filter out profanity (good) and censor content (bad). Here's how Glam Media's Joe Lagani explained it at the ANA's Brand Innovation Conference last week (chopped up quite a bit in order to be concise):

"Tinker allows for brand-safe marketing tools... There are all kinds of filtering. You can filter out competitive brands... 

"You have to ask yourself now, 'If this were your brand and you were able to assemble this ongoing positive conversation about your brand... how could you get that in front of your consumer?' This is the reason we developed Tinker."

Yep. Sounds like it was developed by marketers.

And that's where Tinker drops the ball: The whole concept of filtering out criticisms about your brand and only showing people an edited version of what's being said is deceptive at best and clearly misses the point of social media. It's trying to control the conversation instead of participate in it.

Sadly, I can see a lot of companies jumping on this, thinking it's their savior from the evil masses that are their customers.

Thoughts? Dissenting opinions? Sound off in the comments.

Fake intimacy

Courtesy of here, via here.

The Quote Board

For whatever reason I couldn't link to the Quote Board so I decided to republish it here. There's quite a bit of new stuff so if you haven't checked it lately take a moment to peruse the hilarity.

"Ooo! Bring me back a cookie! They're cheaper if you buy more." - Amy

"Jesus was a fisherman. What do you think it smelled like when he taught?" - Doug

Amy asks me, in front of her parents and brother while we're playing cards, "What's that game we like to play? Dominatrix?"

Me impersonating Doug's response to the recall notice on Brad's car:
"Something about a fire under the hood, blah, blah, blah, final notice, yadda, yadda, yadda."

Doug: "Do you know what a rhetorical question is?"
Me: "Did you want me to answer that?"  

"I know I may not look it, but I have a dreidel." - Alysia's friend.

"Do you know how much money we could make if we were Italian and in the mob?" - Brad

"Why does it make our husbands uncomfortable when we flirt?" - RaeLynn

"Can we clone you and kill the others?" - Gary

"I can't relate. I'd never do anything that stupid." - Teri

"Careful Jake - you're still soft on top." - David

"If I were a dinosaur I'd eat that tree." - Heidi

"Next time I get a prostate exam I'm going to a taller doctor." - Doug

"Three in a row? Dang. Looks like someone else needs to start talking." - Amy

"I'd be really good at yoga if I didn't have any arms or legs." - Amy

"That was a brilliant use of profanity!" - Amy

"Thanks to you and your amazing sperm." - Amy

Heidi: I think my arms are getting fat.
Amy: You know, I think I'd be OK if I didn't have any girls.

"It's a good thing she's wearing pants." - Becky

"If I was really, really tall I'd find a really, really tall girl to breed with." - Brad

Amy - "Apparently I'm not as smart as I think I am."
Me - "That's OK. I couldn't figure out how to set up my Far Side calendar."

RaeLynn - "What if you go metro in the next couple of years?"
Scott - "I can't because I'm fat."

"If you want to be in my will, you'd better put me on your quote board you little punk." - My Father In-Law

"Dear, the ceiling fan is the best parent in the world." - David

"I don't get it. How can people not believe in global warming? It's so hot!" - Melinda

"Dear, we need a little person to make cookies." - Amy

"Can I just say that high heels can really be annoying?" - Ryan

"Seriously. I poke myself in the eye on a daily basis." - Melinda

"Nobody can make you laugh but yourself." - Heidi

"Hopefully that's why my check engine light has been on for so long." - Curtis

"No one likes a leper." - Amy

Matt: Do you know where, "Wax on, wax off" comes from?
Whittney: Seinfeld?

"You're never too old to go to space camp dude." - Dave, Stranger Than Fiction

"I raise mini-cattle under my bed." - Amy, sort of

"Sometimes I think I interact with the TV more than I'm supposed to." - Amy

"Wait. There aren't 71 states." - Hunter

"Did that bird miss a connecting flight South or what?" - Amy

"You can be wise and happy or stupid and miserable. The choice is yours." - President Hinckley, Dec. 31, 2006

"I can't imagine what it would be like to have your government overthrown...is there anything good on TV tonight?" - Amy

"If you were a super model, I wouldn't love you less, just in a different way than I do now." - Jeremy O., to me.

"I don't hang out with you anymore and look how cool I am!" - Rob

"David, you need to grow your monkeys." - Whittney

"I'm a genius too! Wait. I think I just spit a bran flake." - Amy

"Need I remind you it powered a time machine?" - Amy

"Dear, how come we never get to watch Desperate Housewives when the kids are around?" - Doug

"I'm so hot, I'll never have to pay for anything ever! Look at me spin! Look at me twirl! " - Ryan, referencing the Jazz cheerleaders

"Well, obviously my underwear is unraveling." - Doug

"I hate getting out of the car. It's like going to the bathroom." - Amy

Heidi: "Grandma, are you a racist?"
Grandma: "No. I'm a bigot."

"Tastes just like real french toast!" - David

"I'm writing 'eat me' on pork" - Amy

"Girls rule! We have homemaking skills AND physical endurance skills" - Heidi

"He may be shallow, but he dates hot chicks" - David about Brad

"Dang! No wonder people like having money." - Amy

"Dad, I don't think you've made the peacock noises since we left Colorado" - Amy

"Is she going to wear a hair net, or am I going to have to worry about that all night?" - Doug

"The conduit for all knowledge in the universe is located in our apartment. Specifically, the shower." - Rob

"Adam had it easy. Eve HAD to love him!" - Josh

"If the social life of the world would be best benefited by my hooking up with an ugly girl, then I'm sorry - it's not happening." - Ryan

"Woo-hoo! I have dents in my head!" - Neil

"Hello, is this whore removal?" - Dave

"My brain is numb. There's been cheese on it all night." - Ryan

"I used to be a body builder..." - Dave

"Hey! Don't make fun of the dumb kid." - Alysia

"I've been told my hair feels like rabbit fur." - Neil

"I hate not eating out. 'Cause, well, first of all it sucks..." - Ryan

Dave: "What's a lime-o?"
Rob: "That would be 'limo' Dave."

"Ya know, some people just look better from far away." - Definitely Ryan

"Women don't want a knight, they want the whole dang Round Table!" - Rob

Eden: "You know, in Russian, 'Rob' means 'slave'".
Ryan: "Well, in English 'Rob' means 'to steal'".

"Sometimes I almost feel guilty for BS-ing my homework. Then I think, 'Wait, no I don't.'" -Dave

"Is she the tall girl with the loud mouth?" - Ryan

"You're a very positive person, but I think you're an idiot." - Rob

"Nothing hurts more than seeing two beautiful girls going into a bridal store." - Dave

Dave: "I always buy biscuits, but never make them."
Rob: "Then don't get any."
Dave: "But I might this time."
Rob: "The triumph of hope over experience."

"You're not hopeless Dave, all you need is a good woman." - Rob

"If there were no girls, we'd never be tempted. It'd be like scout camp." - Josh

"Well, that's a bridge under troubled waters. Wait..." - Rob

"Hyrum's wife died, and HE got married like a week later." - Ryan

"I'm just the ultimate compliment." - Ryan

Dave: "With hair like this, it's amazing that I don't have a girlfriend."
Josh: "Maybe it's your personality."

I killed a bunny tonight

I was on the way back from Grandma's tonight when I hit a jack rabbit on I-80. I tried to swerve a bit to give it a chance but soon realized the little fella was doomed.

I say swerved a bit because I was going 75 mph.

Remember back when your parents or church leaders told you to decide right then and there how you were going to handle certain situations if they came up. For example, decide right now that you aren't going to ever drink alcohol and if you're feeling pressured to do so, how are you going to respond? It's good to have your mind already made up about things to which you're committed.

This situation was  a lot like that. A long time ago I decided that if it came down to me hitting an animal in the road, or me swerving to try and miss it at the risk of getting in an accident and injuring my family, the animal was going to get it.

He got it. Sorry bunny.

Perhaps if there had been a sign like the one above posted near the road this tragedy wouldn't have taken place. I say we blame the government.

Image courtesy of here.

Bourne v. Bond

Someone on Twitter posed the question:

If Jason Bourne and James Bond (as played by Daniel Craig = no gadgets) were to get in a fight, who would win?

There's a poll in the upper right corner of the site. Vote there and then tell me why you voted that way in the comments.

Image courtesy of here.

Hulu, you're doing it wrong

Dear Alec, Eliza, Seth, Dennis and everyone else at Hulu,

Hulu, you're now the third most popular video site on the Internet and for that I congratulate you. I have to admit that when I heard you were coming I had my doubts - a video site built by the networks? Ha! It would suck, to be certain. I was wrong. I'm sorry.

That being said, I think you haven't quite reached your potential.

Let me begin with the assumption that TV networks want us to watch their shows. They do this so they can sell advertising to put in their shows. The more people that watch, the more the networks can charge businesses to advertise.

So the networks want as many people to watch their shows as possible. Then why, Hulu, are only the last five episodes of current TV shows posted? As was recently the case with Chuck, I wanted everyone to start watching it so it wouldn't be canceled. "It's on Hulu," I'd say. But that wasn't enough.

Very few people are going to jump into a series half way through a season, let alone tune in to watch the season finale of a show they've never seen before. Why watch the most recent five episodes if you don't know what's happened in the previous 15 that lead to that point?

You need to have the entire season posted for, well, the entire season.

Sure, you can watch any episode of the Cosby Show or Night Court and be fine. You know, cheesy TV with a laugh track. Everything else needs background and context. And if it's available, more people will start watching your shows part way through the season and catch up.

Heck, leave them up for the summer when nothing else is on and maybe you'll recruit new fans for the new season in the Fall. Worried about cannibalizing DVD sales? Pull the season from Hulu as soon as the DVDs are out.

So there you have it Hulu. There's nothing to lose by posting entire seasons and quite  bit to gain. So, yeah. Get on that, will you?

P.S. "An evil plot to take over the world. Enjoy." - One of the best taglines I've heard in a while.

Note: I do realize it's probably the networks who are the ones who are holding back, but Hulu's the frontman for everything so I directed my comments at them.

Minute Maid commercial

This wouldn't be nearly as funny without the last thing the guy says.

A family update

Someone pointed out that I haven't given a family update on here recently. Time to remedy that.

We have about, oh, three weeks before our little girl makes her grand appearance. We're still leaning toward Sara(h) but haven't decided on the "h" or a middle name. Suggestions are still welcome.

Work is good, although a bit of a downer: Yesterday one of my friends got laid off and everyone took a pay cut. While that certainly sucks, I'm grateful to still have a job and insurance - especially with the baby coming later this month.

Yeah. I think that's about it. Not much to report - just plugging away. Life is good.

(If you'd like me to be more specific about something, leave word in the comments.)

Eat at Subway today to help save Chuck!

 Since Subway advertises on Chuck, there's a grassroots movement to show support for the show by supporting a sponsor. So eat at Subway sometime today (the season finale is tonight) an let them know you're doing it because you want to save Chuck.

Speaking of, #savechuck is a trending topic on Twitter right now. Go geeks!

50,000

Sometime yesterday The Other Drummer had its 50,000th visitor (according to Site Meter).

Thanks to all my readers. I find it hard to believe you have each visited 10,000 times. You guys really rock.

P.S. Apple, I apologize for overshadowing your "A billion downloads from the App Store news."

New Twitter features in the sidebar?

As you can see from this screenshot of my oft neglected @livsimpl Twitter account, it looks like Twitter may be testing/rolling out a search box and Trending Topics in the sidebar.

Has anyone else seen this in their account? Or did I sign up for some service I forgot about that provides those things in the sidebar? :) Let me know in the comments.

This messes with your head

In a CNN article about whether or not Gov. Ahnold would be in the upcoming Terminator: Salvation movie, he said no unless they could CG him in. That's all well and good except the article describes the fourth installment in the Terminator series as "a prequel."

It's the fourth movie.

The events in the movie take place before the events in the first movie.

But it takes place in the future.

So is it really a prequel?

Discuss in the comments.

Help save Chuck from being cancelled

Word on the Interwebs is that Chuck may be on the chopping block. From what I read it's finishing fourth in its time slot. Granted, it's only in its second season and is going up against shows like Dancing with the Stars and House but that doesn't mean it isn't a great show. It's one of my favorite shows on right now and, in fact, of all the shows on TV it would be the one I miss the most.

"Blasphemy!" some of you my cry. I know what you're thinking: what about The Office and 30 Rock?

The Office is... I don't know what The Office is anymore. Jumped the shark? I don't know. But what I do know is that I don't care about it like I did a couple of years ago.

30 Rock... Yes, it's well-written and funny. But it ends there. There's more emotion involved with the characters in Chuck (in addition to being laugh-out-loud funny) which is lacking in other shows. (If you haven't seen Chuck yet, think Jim and Pam during season two of The Office - kind of like that.)

Click the image below to get the details on how to best save Chuck:

Proof that Twitter is now mainstream

Sure, Oprah's on Twitter. But so is Darth Vader.

Love Story (Taylor Swift) meets Viva La Vida (Coldplay) on the piano

Jon's got some mad skills. They really kick in around 3:25 so don't stop watching until at least 4:00.

Oh, yeah. If you like it, spread the word by posting it on your own blog or Facebook page. It's all about the social media love, right?

Shaq schools Oprah on web etiquette