Cloudy Thinking

Letter Project Update

Ron K. Jeffries — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:51:05 +0000

Steve Rubel writes about the virtues of correspondence. His post includes a picture of the machine Thomas Jefferson designed which copied his hand written letters as he wrote. Who knew. My own Letter Project (here and here) has been interesting. I’ve sent photocopies of typewritten letters to people who requested a letter. The odd thing is [...]

New word (for me): Daypart (re: food service industry)

Ron K. Jeffries — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:41:58 +0000

This item about ongoing declines in the food service industry is mildly interesting. Is the Great Recession really over? What caught my eye was a new (to me) term: Daypart. Here’s some context (emphasis added): According to CREST®, traffic declined across all restaurant segments and dayparts.This summer visits to quick service/fast food restaurants (QSR) declined by [...]

Texting During Mass. Is that so wrong?

Ron K. Jeffries — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:15:45 +0000

I recently shared this funny item from Network World with a friend, who responded thusly: I am guilty of texting (but not yet tweeting) in church. There, I feel better. Now that my Mom lives with us, I take her to Catholic services on most weekends. Of course that increases the likelihood of running into [...]

Letter Project: update 23 September 2009

Ron K. Jeffries — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:31:25 +0000

My offer to write letters “Remember when people wrote letters?” has started to bear fruit. Not a LOT of fruit, mind you. I’ve written and mailed two letters so far, with five more names on my “letters to write” list. In this experiment, a letter is not personal, it is not written to the person. [...]

Remember when people wrote letters, on paper?

Ron K. Jeffries — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 23:05:56 +0000

Remember when people wrote letters, on paper, instead of sending email, instant messages or Tweets? As an experiment, I will write a letter to anyone who asks. You will receive a letter composed for you, by me, about something or other that is not illegal or rude. It will be typed on a typewriter (Underwood [...]

Blogging: Is the pen mightier than the computer?

Ron K. Jeffries — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 15:27:58 +0000

Graham Jones writes Use your pen for your blog, not the keyboard. However, speed of production was not the real finding in this study. What is important is the creative aspect. Writing with a pen led to more words, more quickly. In other words, the children were able to convert what was in their head to [...]

Cory Doctorow on Cheap Facts and the Plausible Premise

Ron K. Jeffries — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 18:22:50 +0000

From an essay by Cory Doctorow: “…the market for facts has crashed. The Web has reduced the marginal cost of discovering a fact to $0.00. And that means that the two literatures how-to and fiction have effectively merged into one master story, the “plausible premise.” This line caught my attention: “Invention is [...]

VirtualBox on Core Duo 2 Vista 64 Host, Ubuntu Guest: Very good performance.

Ron K. Jeffries — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 21:36:09 +0000

This surprised me: My laptop is an HP DV4, with 4 GB of RAM. I am watching a DVD (Foyle’s War: The German Woman”) playing on Windows Media Player, running on Vista 64. At the same time VirtualBox 3 is running, and on VBox Ubunto 9.04 is running. What got my attention is that I [...]

Video Progress Report

Ron K. Jeffries — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 23:39:50 +0000

My $75 (used, on Craigslist) video camera works. I’ve shot a few (lame!) minutes of video, and have sucesffuly imported it into a computer via Firewire. That process was easy peasy. So far I’ve learned that Best Buy charges $33 for a simple Firewire 4-pin cable. But thanks to Amazon I bought a cable that works [...]

Learning Videography

Ron K. Jeffries — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 03:21:04 +0000

Last week I bought a JVC GR-DVM90 video camera. When it was introduced in 2001, the list price was $1,600. Thanks to the passing of time and the abundance of new and oh so shiny objects, I paid $75 for the complete kit. Thank you, Craigslist. This is a digital video camera which records on standard [...]

Tom Chikoore likes (!) TouchTerm for iPhone

Ron K. Jeffries — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 18:04:25 +0000

Tom Chikoore, co-founder and CTO of Filtrbox. likes (!) TouchTerm for iPhone. I’ve been experimenting with Filterbox, which monitors millions (they say) of sources so you don’t get caught with your pants around your ankles. It has potential. If you don’t wear pants (and close to 50 percent of you do not), I think you still [...]

Claus Valca: How to “Posterize” a printout (fast and free)

Ron K. Jeffries — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 03:38:28 +0000

Claus Valca explains how to “posterize” or print a BIG drawing (way bigger than your printer can natively handle) on multiple sheets of paper you then tape together. Step by step, using free tools. It’s all good. Semi-unrelated note: I’ve been experimenting with posting on Twitter and Identi.ca, the free and open alternative to Twitter. You [...]

Skype on Blackberry with 3G Data

Ron K. Jeffries — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 22:58:31 +0000

Peter Macaulay writes: “Skype just announced Skype for the Blackberry over 3G data packets (not just WiFi) in 10 countries. This move by RIM is in stark contrast to AT&T, which only allows Skype over WiFi. Macaulay continues: The Blackberry GSM provider in Canada is Rogers. I tried to search for the new SKYPE client and the Rogers [...]

Links for 2009-04-01 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Links for 2009-03-31 [del.icio.us]

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Carol Wilson: Telecom trade press struggling

Ron K. Jeffries — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 16:50:48 +0000

Carol, Wilson writes in Telephony magazine End of an era: Telecom trade press struggling. Telephony is considering charging for the printed magazine to avoid going web-only. [snip] Within the past few weeks, two of our print competitors in the telecom trade press have ceased all print operations, and one such operation — RCR Wireless — has closed [...]

Links for 2009-03-29 [del.icio.us]

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Sony DSR-PDX10 Camcorder Review by Ignacio Rodríguez de Rementería

Links for 2009-03-28 [del.icio.us]

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Links for 2009-03-27 [del.icio.us]

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 00:00:00 PDT

ViBook Turns Your USB Ports into Display Ports | GadgetyTech

Links for 2009-03-26 [del.icio.us]

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Links for 2009-03-25 [del.icio.us]

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 00:00:00 PDT

Roger Crona (a.k.a Jason von Straussenburg) Rest in Peace

Ron K. Jeffries — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 01:52:45 +0000

Radio personality Paul Harvey died recently. Harvey’s signature line — “That’s the rest of the story” — applies perfectly to this follow-up about the recent death of Jason von Straussenbrg. UC Santa Barbara student paper The Daily Nexus reports details of Jason’s life which was more colorful than we thought. [snip] One of Michigan’s most wanted fugitives, [...]

Jason VON STRAUSSENBURG, Rest in Peace

Ron K. Jeffries — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:38:27 +0000

A Santa Barbara friend sent me this obituary notice which deserves a wider audience. VON STRAUSSENBURG, Jason March 15, 2009 9:15 AM 1948 - 2009 The most free spirited, unique, imaginative, creative and loving person many of us have ever known has moved forward to his next adventure. Jason was liked by anyone who met him, even his friends! There [...]

Chris Kelly’s Grand Plan 2.0

Ron K. Jeffries — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 22:34:55 +0000

Chris Kelly writes about his original Grand Plan, now trashed by our current aweful economic situation. Please read his post. Chris Kelly’s Grand Plan 2.0 * Do things I like every day — because I may be doing them for a long time. * Make time for the important things. (full stop) * There is no prize. There [...]

“You can’t spend confidence” — James Quinn

Ron K. Jeffries — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 23:38:43 +0000

Below are excerpts from the article STAIRWAY TO RETAIL HEAVEN by James Quinn, March 3, 2009. [via Paul Kedrosky's Infectious Greed] This is not happy talk. I wish I could do better. (emphasis added) [snip] The Consumer Confidence Index in February was 25, the lowest since the index inception in 1967. During the Dot.com bubble it reached [...]

A friend says: “I don’t Facebook”

Ron K. Jeffries — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 17:56:20 +0000

I ran across very funny (if slightly not safe for work) video today on Facebook. So, as is my nature, I emailed the link to a very tech savvy friend who I pretty much knew would appreciate the link. But no. He wrote back: “I don’t FaceBook.” (Well, he actually wrote “I don’t fb.”) So there [...]

Some Final Words — Billy Collins

Ron K. Jeffries — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 17:58:07 +0000

Some Final Words Billy Collins I cannot leave you without saying this: the past is nothing., a nonmemory, a phantom, a soundproof closet in which Johann Strauss is composing another waltz no one can hear. It is a fabrication, best forgotten, a wellspring of sorrow that waters a field of bitter vegetation. Leave it behind. Take your head out of your hands and arise from the couch [...]

John Battelle says Twitter = YouTube

Ron K. Jeffries — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:52:13 +0000

Interesting article by John Battelle, who says Twitter = YouTube. If he’s right, Google needs to own Twitter since real time search is quickly becoming a VERY big deal. And oh by the way, Twitter dominates real time search (at least for now), Google does not.

Semlor (Swedish Lenten Loaves) and so much more

Ron K. Jeffries — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 23:34:06 +0000

I discovered Semlor today on the (excellent) Grain Doe food blog. Thanks to Wikipedia, I also learned the funny (but sad) details of the death of Sweden’s King Adolf Frederick. King Adolf Frederick of Sweden died of digestion problems on February 12, 1771 after consuming a meal consisting of lobster, caviar, sauerkraut, smoked herring and champagne, [...]

The ma.gnolia story (video)

Ron K. Jeffries — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 05:52:47 +0000

Fascinating interview with Larry Halff, the guy behind the ma.gnolia bookmarking service. I recovered what I think are most of bookmarks, so teh system failure was not a big deal to me. As you’ll see, Larry Halff seems like a decent guy, someone who simply screwed up. Who among us… For me, bookmarking is largely “write [...]

Lawrence Ferlinghetti interpreted by Amanda Mooney

Ron K. Jeffries — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 05:13:29 +0000

As Lawrence Ferlinghetti said, “Think long thoughts in short sentences.” A slideshow by Amanda Mooney that may inspire you.

My Letter to CNBC’s Power Lunch

Ron K. Jeffries — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 05:11:21 +0000

CNBC blew it today in their crude handling of Nouriel Roubini and Nassim Taleb, two interesting and important economists. This was so bad it was almost tabloid journalism. Here’s my letter to Power Lunch: Dear CNBC Power Lunch team, The interaction on your show today between the Power Lunch team and Nouriel Roubini and Nassim Taleb was [...]

Dynamic Infrastructure & the Coming Network Revolution

Ron K. Jeffries — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 00:20:35 +0000

Greg Ness writes Three Horsemen of the Coming Network Revolution. These three horsemen (virtualization, netbooks and cloud computing) promise unprecedented new demands on the network because they introduce new levels of traffic, reliance, complexity and dynamism. They will force a necessary evolution which some are calling Infrastructure 2.0 or dynamic infrastructure.

3.6 million (9 percent) of Facebook users older than 35

Ron K. Jeffries — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:53:44 +0000

SiliconValley.com says: “A new Stanford class called “Facebook for Parents” aims to give grown-ups a grounding in the social network. Adults older than 35 accounted for 3.6 million — or 9 percent — of Facebook’s 2007 demographics, and are the fast-growing segment of users.”

The Dark Side of CNBC

Ron K. Jeffries — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:36:16 +0000

Interesting article by Tracy Alloway in Financial Times about “Boycott CNBC Day.” They certainly do act like buffons far too often. Not sure why I allow my TV to display the CNBC channel part of most trading days. Me bad.

90 Tools & Tips for Google Mail

Ron K. Jeffries — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:25:35 +0000

An annotated list of tools and tips for Gmail. [via Martin at Ghacks]

George Bernard Shaw on Cynisim

Ron K. Jeffries — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 19:05:33 +0000

The power of accurate observation is often called cynicism by those who have not got it. — George Bernard Shaw [via @terrybean]

John Mauldin “We just built too much stuff, launched too many stores & created too much capacity.

Ron K. Jeffries — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 18:59:01 +0000

From John Mauldin’s Weekly E-Letter (it’s excellent and free, you should subscribe): “What I told them is that for those businesses which are dependent on the US consumer, their world is going to be smaller for a long time. We are in a period where the economy is going through what economists call rationalization. We are [...]

Felix Salmon on Cacophonous CNBC

Ron K. Jeffries — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 04:38:05 +0000

Felix Salmon writes about Cacophonous CNBC. I have CNBC on for much of the business day. The yelling and screaming is obviously orchestrated, and tedious. CNBC is home to some of the brightest financial journalists around. I just wish they’d include an hour or so of calm, well-reasoned discussion during the day. But they have to sell [...]

Paul Potts, mobile phone salesman, sings opera. (Must watch video)

Ron K. Jeffries — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:55:26 +0000

Paul Potts is a mobile phone salesman who sings opera like a pro. [via Perry Belcher]

Facebook stats are astonishing

Ron K. Jeffries — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 03:45:38 +0000

Facebook stats show: * More than 150 million active users * The fastest growing demographic is those 30 years old and older * Average user has 120 friends on the site * More than 3 billion minutes are spent on Facebook each [...]

Nick O’Neill: 10 Privacy Settings every Facebook user should know

Ron K. Jeffries — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 17:28:39 +0000

Nick O’Neill writes about 10 Privacy Settings every Facebook user should know. Solid advice.

Thank God and Twitter

Ron K. Jeffries — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 04:14:18 +0000

Twitter profile: Name thankgod Location Heaven Bio Find out what Twitterers are thanking God for A Twitter robot (”bot”) which scans post on Twitter, and republishes those which include the phrase “Thank God.” Not to be confused with HolyGod, also on Twitter. Twitter profile: Name HolyGod Location Everywhere Bio Creator of the world.

Adding liquidity to insolvent banks: like filling gas tank of a wrecked car

Ron K. Jeffries — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 04:25:35 +0000

Yves Smith reprinted this Most Excellent quote: “We believe that the stimulus is too backend loaded and unimaginative to affect anything sooner [than late 2009 or early 2010]. “Adding liquidity to the banks is as useful as filling the tank of a car wrapped around a telephone pole. Who are the banks going to lend [...]

Is God REALLY on Twitter?

Ron K. Jeffries — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 22:20:44 +0000

You decide: Is God now using Twitter to keep in touch with us? Do you consider this to be profane, or harmless fun? While we are on the subject, does He use cable or DSL? Is He runnling Linux, Vista or OSX? What kind of webphone — iPhone, Blackberry, or Android?

My current Amazon Web Service Statement

Ron K. Jeffries — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 22:00:22 +0000

I store a few files on the Amazon S3 disk farm in the sky. The cost is, well, MODEST. Greetings from Amazon Web Services, This e-mail confirms that your latest billing statement is available on the AWS web site. Your account will be charged the following: Total: $0.03 Please see the Account Activity area of the AWS web site [...]

Flatworld — open textbook publishing (a startup)

Ron K. Jeffries — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 20:19:31 +0000

Flatworld a startup open textbook publishing company. I like this idea a LOT.

Brian Carroll: How to use social media for lead generation

Ron K. Jeffries — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 18:38:43 +0000

Brian Carroll writes How to use social media for lead generation. Maybe there is some tangible benefit from using social media. [smile]

Twitter Ecosystem: Why Twitter?

Ron K. Jeffries — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:59:21 +0000

Ann Handley writes Why Do People Use Twitter? It’s well worth your time to read. [snip] (emphasis added) But I hear less about the “why”: Why use Twitter at all, when there are already so many other distractions to your workday, or your home life? Why bother talking to people you won’t ever meet, when you have [...]

Twitter Ecosystem: 15 Directories of people and Twitter apps

Ron K. Jeffries — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:41:35 +0000

Jennifer Van Grove compares 15 Twitter directories. The Twitter ecosystem continues to amaze me. Are any of these Twitter add-ons making money? Wait. Twitter is not making money, other than raising gazillions in VC money, so why would one expect the fleas on Twitter to make money? I am confused.

Recession Indicator: Santa Barbara Writers Confererence on hiatus

Ron K. Jeffries — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 16:34:27 +0000

After a run of 35 years, the famous Santa Barbara Writers Conference is taking a one-year hiatus. The reason: Not enough writers signed up for the event, even though 450 people attended last year. Registration for the conference was $675 this year, or $875 after March. In Santa Barbara, Lodging and food for six days [...]

Seth Grimes on Open Source Text Analytics

Ron K. Jeffries — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 01:03:00 +0000

Seth Grimes writes about open source text analytics, focusing on four tools: Gate, NLTK, R and RapidMiner. If you’re working with text analysis, I’d love to hear about your project. I’m on Twitter, or you can email me: rjeffries [at] gmail [dot] com. [via Shawn Rogers]

Brett Glass on Ensuring Effective Broadband Stimulus

Ron K. Jeffries — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:46:49 +0000

Brett Glass has written Ensuring Effective Broadband Stimulus, An analysis of the broadband-related provisions of the American Recovery and Investment Act of 2009. The PDF is here. Brett makes some good points about shortcomings of the bill for rural telcos. Since I used to work at supplier of equipment to the rural telcos, this [...]

Twitter used for PR for Gov. Rod Blagojevich (Drew Peterson too)

Ron K. Jeffries — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:35:38 +0000

Who can claim that social media does not improve the quality of our lives? Click here if you are hungry for news via Twitter about Governor of Illinois Rod R. Blagojevich who allegedly tried to sell a US Senate seat. Or maybe you wish to follow the activities of Drew Peterson, accused of murdering a [...]

The Book of Common Prayer has a Facebook page.

Ron K. Jeffries — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 01:16:49 +0000

The Book of Common Prayer has a Facebook page with 1,824 fans (as of January 6, 2009). This is an unusual, innovative way to use social networking. [via Fr. Warren Hicks]

Deflation in action, or the PC I did not buy from Dell

Ron K. Jeffries — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:26:29 +0000

Dell sends me special offers via email maybe once a week. Today for only $419 I configured a sweet desktop PC. It was pretty cool: Core 2 system with lots of memory, fast front side bus, 250 GB 7200 rpm hard disk and best of all included a 22 inch LCD monitor. I even [...]

Briefing Obama on Day One

Ron K. Jeffries — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 07:45:11 +0000

Gregory F. Treverton writes in Foreign Policy about The Secret Briefing Obama Needs on Day One. Good stuff. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/story/cms.php?story_id=4638