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Links for 2010-09-01 [del.icio.us]

2010-09-02T00:00:00-07:00

Watching Hulu (and much more) on Your Apple TV | Ted Landau's User Friendly View | The Mac Observer

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2010-08-20T00:00:00-07:00

Free Barcode Image Creator on-line by IDAutomation

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2010-08-19T00:00:00-07:00

Better Book Titles: Archive

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2010-08-17T00:00:00-07:00

Testing on Mobile Devices using Emulators « klauskomenda.com

Beauregard is lifeblogging

2010-08-07T17:03:00.000-04:00

I set up Puppy Tweets for Beau Boy today and already he's tweeting pithy comments:

photo by Rich Burton

Beauregard:Being a dog would be a better gig if we all got paid in bacon.

I ordered the Puppy Tweets item from Amazon on April 21, then received an ominous "your approval required" message asking if I still wanted the item; the last time that happened with me was for George Martin's A Dance With Dragons as the release data keeps moving out. I approved the order again with reluctance, wondering how many times the product availability date would be pushed out. But I need not have worried; the product shipped soon and I received it today.

Setup of Puppy Tweets took about 5 minutes, not counting the search for a screwdriver to remove the battery cover. I think set up would have taken even less time had the packaging complied with Amazon's Frustration-Free Packaging; I had to slice through 5 plastic closures to get the box open.

So far, the tweets are humorous but it wasn't immediately apparent how Beau's activity was related to them. Also, I'm hoping over time the available tweets will get to be more customizable. For example, one of Beau's early tweets was about wanting the TV on; but we're an anti-tv household, so it didn't make much sense. Then again, if anyone is really looking for good sense in a dog tweeting automation toy there's a bigger problem here.

Huffington Post has a dry review and Engadget ("Yep, a real product.") has a snarky review too.

Links for 2010-08-06 [del.icio.us]

2010-08-07T00:00:00-07:00

Adam Miller's Game Mods for Neverwinter Nights and Dragon Age

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2010-08-05T00:00:00-07:00

Spiders On Drugs

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2010-07-27T00:00:00-07:00

Foursquare Day!

2010-04-16T11:51:00.000-04:00

I'm in NYC today coincidentally on Foursquare day, and what a lucky serendipity that is. I get to unleash my inner geo-caching geek and play in an old school four square day tourney today too. (OMG do they mean with a real live red rubber playground ball? Eeek.) Of course back at the office all the boys were agog with envy when I told them my plans. At least, I think it was envy. It might have been a concerned, confused kind of envy. They look at the servers the same way when they're humming along properly and suspected of going down in flames at any minute.

So what's so hot about foursquare? I'm on the hook to provide a write up for Biznology soon, but at risk of stealing my own thunder I'll share a tease here. First off, foursquare provides a mutually-beneficial ecosystem for relationships to flourish between customers and businesses. An example: a twitter pal of mine, Scott @Brewhouse in Indy, is using foursquare to make very targeted offers to customers in his restaurant - the customers get some bucks back on their orders and he gets word-of-mouth marketing.

From a user perspective, I use foursquare when I'm in a new place and suddenly its as if there's a huge red "YOU ARE HERE" arrow hanging over my head on a map with everything labeled. I can see what's nearby, who's nearby from my network, and make more informed choices about where to go. (Kudos also to Waze and Yelp for working this mojo too.) Right now, I'm getting input from other users. But more and more, I'm seeing businesses such as Scott's out there speaking up to influence my choices.

Finally, Foursquare is developing an ecosystem. Wheredoyougo.net shows a heatmap with your checkins. I can use my foursquare data to find deals in New York City or fight zombies. This reminds me of the early days of twitter; at the same moment that loads of people are declaiming "what's the point!!" the eager inspired techies are out building out the system, regardless of whether there's a point or not. Following the twitter trajectory wouldn't be bad at all. And f you think about it, it is pretty obvious that humans had dice games way before they had game theory or probability analysis. Foursquare is a game, but it is clear that from games very complex systems can arise.

Signing off from Starbucks, in a place where they list the calories on the muffins.

I'll be the judge of that

2010-03-13T15:24:00.000-05:00

Image by cobalt123 via Flickr

After the laff-a-thon fundraising this year with INDYPROV for Indy Pit Crew, I was asked to judge a photo contest with Troy from ComedySportz. Here's the deets:

Win a free Mutt Strut registration by entering our photo contest! Eva from IndyProv and Troy from Comedy Sportz Indianapolis will choose the winner, and 5 runners up who will receive Mutt Strut Swag. Contest deadline is March 19 at midnight. Email your photo to facebook-at-indypitcrew-dot-org.

Check out the entries so far in the flickr slideshow. Awww. These pups are all so adorable!

Project management lessons in snowmaggedon

2010-02-10T21:40:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, we had such a large amount of snow dumped on us - it was quite beautiful. Nowhere near as much as we used to get in Northern Illinois near the Wisconsin border, but a lot.

The husband and I went out to shovel, and I recruited the kids to help. The repetitive, heavy labor of shoveling gave me time to think about some project management lessons.

Image by dianecordell via Flickr

First, what were our goals? "Clearing the driveway" was my first answer. But when I thought about it, actually the goal was to be able to get the cars out of the garage and the people out of the house safely. So I changed my work plan to focus on removing enough snow to make driving safe (recognizing that we wouldn't be going at high speeds down the drive) and to sweep and salt the walk. Since we're all able bodied and everyone has boots, having dry and completely clear pavement wasn't required to meet our objective. Don't over-engineer your deliverable. (Six sigma practitioners refer to this as Muda a.k.a. over-processing - activity that is wasteful because it doesn't add value.

Were there any secondary goals? Yes, I'd like the kids to develop their work ethic. This meant accepting a certain amount of snowball-throwing, fort-building, and jumping-into-snow-piles as the work was progressing. The actual contribution to the work effort from the kids was non-trivial, but not as substantial as it could have been. (But yes, boys - I thank you!) So two lessons here: first, adding resources to a project does not necessarily reduce the time line (especially if the resources are unskilled). Also: helping or managing new resources on a project reduces the efficiency of the other resources. So consider all the factors carefully when looking for new resources for a project.

Finally, what happens to a project with two objectives? In my case, the objectives were safe travel from home and developing a work ethic in the kids. Most project managers know this intuitively - adding objectives reduces the speed with which those objectives are achieved. Probably I could have done two projects separately and gotten them done sooner. But, cumulatively they may have taken more time. So consider the need for speed carefully before adding objectives to your project.

For those still digging out, I wish you luck!

Google grammar tricks

2010-02-08T07:31:00.003-05:00

I recently read an article and saw a delightful gem of a comment thread between two responders.

"@Commenter: " . . . miss a typo after pouring over a document . . . " I'm not sure if your use of 'pouring' here is an intentional demonstration of the point, or not - but note that it should be 'poring' instead. "

Image by the_munificent_sasquatch via Flickr

I think having good grammar and writing well is a really essential skill, but sometimes the nuances of a language can be tricky to master. (Especially for non-native speakers; you have my sympathy.) This example above is a good case in point: which is right? Poring over, or pouring over?

One simple way to check is to use google. Open a search, and type "pouring over" and note how many results you get - today for me was 398,000. Then type "poring over" and compare the results - 624,000. (Mind those quotes, they're important for search.) Based on these numbers, I can see that "poring over" is correct.

Not everything is amenable to a simple popularity contest. Check out a book or two for a more thorough understanding of grammar. I think grammar generally is adequately judged by common usage, because grammar arises from conventions. But be warned: acting as the grammar enforcer at work or around your friends won't win any popularity contests. Another good resource to check and see if an expression you're using in writing is a problem is Wikipedia's page on common misspellings/grammar and Misc.

Foursquare generates an ecosystem

2010-01-21T05:56:00.000-05:00

Twitter has an open API that is making the service more relevant to users by spawning a whole ecosystem supporting its use and making the experience richer for all participants. By one estimate, there are now 50,000 twitter apps and there is 20 times the volume of requests to the twitter API as there is to the web server. Similarly, the facebook API is distributing facebook data on the web and throwing off its own ecosystem - sometimes interlinked with twitter, sometimes not.

Are any other services similarly spawning partner apps to enliven the core experience? One social networking app I've been using recently is Foursquare, and I just found Wheredoyougo.net which can generate a heatmap of your activity using the Google App Engine for its mashup. Seems like I'm basically a Northsider.

The appearance of Wheredoyougo.net is a strong indicator to me that Foursquare is going to have a strong set of partner apps in 2010, justifying some of the hype going around that foursquare is the next darling of the internet cognoscenti. And this differentiates foursquare from services like Gowalla, which seem to lack that developing series of partner apps.

Rascal's Fun Zone

2010-01-20T07:19:00.000-05:00

I took a friend recently out to Rascal's Fun Zone in Whiteland and realized that although I've been chatting the place up to friends for years, I've never posted a review on them anywhere. So, I wrote up one and listed the review on Google and a review on Yelp. And here it is too -

Each of my kids has had a birthday party at Rascal's and the staff makes a great fuss over them - not just a half-hearted bit of singing over cake, but the whole time they're playing the staff makes them feel special by letting the birthday kid have the pick of go-karts, first pick at ice-cream, etc. I've also seen the staff work with a reluctant kid to get him started racing and he had a blast once he got over his initial fear. Finally they don't nickel and dime you - if there isn't a line they run the races longer, and will let a kid bowl an extra game. Note also that they are very safety conscious - if the kid is not tall enough he will not ride the rides, they make sure you are buckled in properly on every ride and if someone on track is reckless or aggressive they will get prohibited from the track. However - they have separate tracks for kids 45" tall to slow race and for adults & kids 60" tall for fast racing. Don't hassle the staff about this, because their safety-mindedness really does make it a better time for all. Finally, the staff hustles - if someone's stuck on track, they run out to resolve the issue. Check their website for coupons too.

Wikipedia and Reputation Management

2010-01-19T05:53:00.002-05:00

Go on, search for your company. I dare you not to find a wikipedia entry in the first page of results, if you're a company of a certain size or significance. Now be honest - are you engaged at all in that wikipedia article? Or, when you are googling your paid search terms and your organization name, is the wikipedia article on the topic one that your eyes carelessly slide past? What are you thinking?

Wikipedia entries consistently rank in the top 10 results for any query (see: A Survival Guide to SEO & Wikipedia). In comparisons with traditional shelved references, wikipedia is generally found to be more inclusive and no less reliable (see Wikipedia as accurate as Britannica and Errors in the Encyclopædia Britannica that have been corrected in Wikipedia). I'm not saying Wikipedia is perfectly reliable, as it absolutely isn't. But neither are the traditional reference books. Caveat lector.

If you decide to include wikipedia in your web strategy, proceed carefully. Here's some points to consider:

First, understand the editorial policies of wikipedia. Especially review the Wikipedia: Conflict of Interest Policies and make sure you can operate within these guidelines.
Understand that you are giving away your writing when you write for wikipedia. Note the text shown below any article's edit box: "You irrevocably agree to release your contributions under the CC-BY-SA 3.0 License and the GFDL. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license. See the Terms of Use for details."
Be aware that your contributions may be flagged for potential bias as well. The following text may be appended to your articles: "A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view." This is good. This means that you're not trying to obscure your connection to the topic, and the wikipedia community favors honest disclosure.
There is no undo. Once you submit the article, it is public content. It can be edited, reduced, refined, expanded, but it is there. So don't go publishing your quarterly earnings on wikipedia ahead of the release to the street.
There is no "done" with a wikipedia article. Articles evolve and change. Make monitoring and occasional review of your wikipedia article part of your ongoing social media strategy.

How to get started? First, before you write the articles that you care deeply about, familiarize yourself with the process:

Read the Community Portal for Wikipedia, and edit a few articles that are calling out for it. (The Typo team is a great place to start.)
Make a wikipedia profile, and make note of any potential sources of bias.
Review existing articles on topics that are similar to any you are seeking to create.
Before editing any article, read the talk page to understand any existing edit-wars. You don't want to walk into a fight without doing some reconnaissance.
"Please do not bite the newcomers" is a real wikipedia policy. Understand that you might be barked at, but participation is intended to occur civilly and recourse is available if it isn't.
If a wikipedia article is defaming something you care about, has factual errors, or is offending you - first, fix it. If this is a recurring problem then dispute resolution help is available.

Following these steps should assure you of a fairly decent first article on Wikipedia. But they're hardly sufficient. A Wikipedia article will need care and feeding over time, so plan to revisit the article occasionally. A good option for reminders is to set up a watchlist, and subscribe to the RSS feed of that watchlist.

I wish I could tell you to sit back and relax once the article is done but, sadly, resting on your laurels is not an option. But when is it ever an option nowadays? Remember: updating Wikipedia is not a one-and-done exercise. You'll need to plan for some time to stay engaged with the pages you create going forward. To keep yourself motivated, check your analytic tool afterward--when done properly, you'll likely see some high-quality, lengthy visits showing up on your sites from Wikipedia. And that can be motivation enough to stay connected to the Wikipedia process, and can provide a significant ROI for the time spent on the article.

deBlob

2010-01-13T05:49:00.000-05:00

My sons are really into shoot-em games lately, and I'm struggling to find games that are as fun and interesting but don't involve violence. My 9 year old picked deBlob out and is really delighted with it, and my 7 year old loves it too. The basic game interaction is to collect colors from roaming color wells and then use the color to restore the city from black and white inflicted upon it by the invading Inky Army. The storyline of the game provides for a heroic and satisfying defeat of the army once the game is played through, and yet playing through doesn't make it stale - the kids still like the other game elements. My kids get really physical and active jumping around and playing the game, and they like the artistic component about it. Are we creating a future generation of Banksy style artists who think graffiti should not be a crime? Only time will tell.

Hey IMA – I Wanna Blog

2010-01-12T19:29:00.000-05:00

Taking a risk and putting myself out there as a self-nominated blogger for the IMA. Why? Well, let me tell you... the IMA asked: Tell us a story. We want to know how good your yarn-spinning skills are, so give your best anecdote involving an experience you've had at the museum. And my response:

I went on a date once to see a temporary exhibit of La Fornarina by Raphael, and coincidentally that day there was a meeting of the Red Hat Society at the IMA. I felt somewhat rushed trying to keep up with my date as we headed to the exhibit - he was hopeful to beat the millinery crowd to the scene. We got there too late, and waited for the gaggle of grannies to thin out so we could get a clear view. But it seemed they had staked out that room as a gathering spot; eventually we moved on to see some John Wesley Hardrick paintings I'm fond of. Again, the red-hatted ladies beat us there, purple dresses swirling. I thought it was somewhat cheerful to see friends together but my date didn't appreciate it. We next went to see the Seurat that I like (I spent hours as a kid staring at La Grande Jatte at the Art Institute in Chicago, so seeing it is like meeting an old friend for me). Keeping up with my date's long stride was getting to be ridiculous. And the red hats surrounded us again. I suggested that if he wanted to walk for exercise, maybe we could go to the outdoor paths?

Out we went and again, the walking resumed with my date setting a fast pace. Everywhere we went, there were families out, red-hatted ladies, and other couples. The US Grand Prix race had brought in a lot of people and I'd never seen the museum so busy before. Finally I called for a halt on the forced march, claimed a surprisingly empty bench and tried to recover from gallivanting about. And then he brought out a small box, and asked me to be his wife. I was happy to accept, and years later we stop by that bench sometimes with the kids. But never since have I had to try and keep up with a nervous man's pace.

Quasi-feral cat

2010-01-10T22:02:00.000-05:00

Where I work, there's been a shaggy orange cat hanging around the docks - he's called Dock Cat or "D. C." (see photo below). He's a mellow and friendly cat, fairly nondescript and he looks pretty much like any cat. Things got pretty cold recently, and his 6 month existence at the docks seemed to be in peril.

In generosity, the folks who I work with gathered some money and supplies for him and I contacted Indy Feral to see what might be done. I was able to arrange for the cat to be seen at the low-cast spay and neuter clinic in Noblesville. They have a feral cat package, and for $20 they offered a flea and worm treatment and surgical sterilization. They do an amazing amount of surgeries there so I assume with such practice they are good at it and certainly the cost is far less than usual.

The poor cat had tapeworms and fleas (no surprise) but he also had a burst abscess that had infected. So for an additional $31, I had the wound cleaned (and his side shaved to do so) and got some antibiotics to help him recover. They were kind enough to keep him for a few days post-recovery (also to make sure the worms and fleas were gone). Now he's hanging out in the laundry room at my house, mellow and quiet and hopefully, a survivor. The beagles are not happy with the arrangement; so he's just a temporary resident here. When he's recovered I'll see about returning him to his existence at the docks. He's a good mouser (and chipmunk-er). I thought about trying to keep him as an outdoor cat at my house, but I fear the local fox wouldn't be any friendlier to him than are my beagles. So the plan at this point is to try and give him the best shot we can at living at the docks where he was previously making his home. He's getting food and water from my co-workers, and has a little dog house (or, cat house, more accurately) with a heating pad. And while he recovers from surgery, he's hanging out at Chez Beagle. If you have or know someone who might want to give him a home inside, I'm sure he'd be happy to find one.

A friend of mine has this quote in her sig line:

You never lose by loving. You always lose by holding back. (Barbara De Angelis)

And my corollary is: no good deed goes unpunished. For now I've got to thoroughly clean that laundry room to make sure the parasites are dead and gone. I suppose it needed cleaning anyway. For such a rough existence, I'm impressed that this cat is so calm. He takes his meds like a champ (though clearly he finds them yucky) and although he's got fierce looking nails I have nary a scratch. We suspect that the cat was dumped off at the property last summer. Whomever you are, I wish you an equal number of cold, lonely nights to what you've given this blameless cat.

No such thing as free

2009-12-21T20:48:00.001-05:00

I'm not supposed to be blogging right now, I'm supposed to be sitting in a preview of Sherlock Holmes. I got 2 free passes to get in. But when I arrived at the theatre, I (along with a group of others) were not allowed to go in because the theatre was full. Kudos to the manager at United Artists Galaxy Theatre in Indianapolis for offering me admittance to any other movie, but the schedules and other options weren't what I was there for. So I don't blame the theatre at all.

I won't bore you with details, but suffice it instead to say that the monetary opportunity costs were north of zero for me to get an evening out. Plus, I got the tickets from someone else who would have liked to have them used I'm sure; I feel bad that I didn't use them. So I don't blame her at all.

Am I to blame? I thought about what I could have done to make sure I got in - but it really doesn't matter. The fact is that they gave out too many passes, and if it wasn't me being turned away it would have been someone else.

I blame instead the site that provided the tickets: gofobo.com. If they respond to my issue I predict they'll point to the fine print that mentions they overbook events. But I'm not looking to find some legal loophole to inflict a civil suit on them anyway; if I wanted to make a frivolous suit I'm sure I could find a better reason. I just want to be a satisfied customer seeing a movie and escape from holiday-induced stress for 90 minutes. A business model can't succeed long-term by counting on shafting people, even if it has some hand-waving justification in 8 point font. There's a cost to using even a free ticket, and I paid it, and now I feel ripped off that I didn't get in.

Shame on you gofobo for issuing tickets that you never intend will be honored.

My friends will make fun of sappiness

2009-12-12T12:31:00.003-05:00

I first heard about the lovelist project from Kristin at HalfwaytoNormal.com and was quite bemused. The concept is a simple one, intuitive and obvious enough to be easy to grasp and implement and yet I was somewhat off-put. My interpretation: the idea is that you list the things you love - publicly - and then you make changes and commitments to include those loves in your life - and report back on that.

Can I really admit in public that I like to sleep really, decadently late on weekends? Will my boss appreciate seeing my plans to include more epicurian lapses into morning slumber? Will me husband react to my Saturday morning coma with his usual stoicism if he knows that I'm planning to shirk Saturday breakfast duty? I'm not sure yet that I can be so public as that. Yet, there is one somewhat private activity I can share - something I find I really love, and really want to have more time for, so I'm committing to that now.

I'm fortunate to be endowed with a wonderfully gracious and intelligent group of friends who, despite my failings, count me as a friend amongst them. They're a group with whom I laugh, I share my aspirations, I plot. We gripe together, we offer sympathy for life's petty wrongs, we have flashes of insight that make troubles easily resolve. And sometimes, we grieve.

I met them online back in the dark ages of the world wide web, back when meeting someone in person who you'd only ever emailed or gotten to know online was considered risqué, and very unlikely as we were located in every corner of the country, in the lower 48 and Canada and occasionally in Hawaii or Belgrade too, depending on deployments. Nowadays, with all the pairings through match.com and eharmony.com, you'd think that the internet was actually a better place to meet people than is one's own local community. But back then, it wasn't. We took the risk anyway and started meeting up. We even included the one we thought was the token guy pretending to be a girl, and were surprised to find she wasn't pretending.

It has been 10 years since we first met, give or take a few for some of us. I recently travelled to the other side of the continent for business and was fortunate enough to end up in a place where there were 3 others from my group of friends; I made time in my schedule to see them. I loved seeing them, and I love the way it seems like we haven't been apart long at all when we're together. Leaving my family for business travel is a grind, and business travel is never glamorous; but I went because it is part of the job, and part of my career that I like. But seeing my friends - making time for them - I did that for me.

And I've seen this before with others in the group - we extend ourselves, make time when there isn't any, and reach out and stay out to be there for each other. We head out to airports to help visiting friends navigate the foreign lands that are our homes, we send care packages, we head out in the rain in Boston and to piercing parlors in NYC, through the subways of Chicago, the mountains of Colorado, under the Arch in St. Louis, at the Lincoln Memorial in DC or at a church in New Jersey. Through bone scans and driver's permits and weight loss and remarriage and childbirth and tattoos and military service, we're going through it together - daily online, and semi-annually in person.

Each year, we meet up in person - actually make a point to do that, once we realized that without such an effort we might only meet at funerals. And I've been unable to go the past two years, through a variety of factors, but I would have loved to be there. This year - thanks to the lovelist project - I'm doubly committed to being there. Because it is the people I love, the people who love me. Being with them renews me in some way to face all those who aren't such dear friends, and still leaves open the possibility that anyone could be - even someone you only first knew as a funny-sounding user name on the internet.

Black Crowes at the Moscone Center November 18

2009-11-22T14:57:00.000-05:00

I saw the Black Crowes at the Moscone Center in San Francisco as a guest of Salesforce at the Dreamforce conference gala. I was really keen on seeing them; often the bands that play at corporate events aren't suited to my musical tastes so it was a treat to be treated to the Crowes.

I was worried however when I first got to the stage; the Crowes seemed to be acting as their own warm up band, and performed lackadaisically at best for the first 3 pieces. They finally hit their stride, though, around song 4 and started really rocking out. Their performances of crowd favorites Jealous Again and She Talks to Angels inspired dancing and sing-backs even among the most staid corporate types. The harmonica/drum duet mid-set was a beaut, and being so close to the guitarists on stage allowed a close following of their techniques and fingering.

Thanks Salesforce for bringing in such a hard-rocking, authentic rock band.

Vlad the illustrator

2009-11-18T11:11:00.005-05:00

I love the wallpapers and images by Vlad at Vladstudio. I even use his tree of books image with his permission on my book blog. Thanks Vlad!

Lately I've been contemplating some new imaging and really favor this floating tree. So, should I start swapping out Vlad's tree of books for this tree of floats

The Elms: Convicted and forgiven in an instant

2009-11-14T10:49:00.002-05:00

The Elms rocked the house last night at the Vogue in Indianapolis. I convict them of excellence; but they have such fun in what they do I forgive them too.

I had the chance to talk briefly with Owen Thomas before the show; be wary if you get the chance to do the same because the man is intense. Even running on a sleep deficit he was up for a detailed discussion of the creative process. I got to share my gratitude - the Elms is the first band whose music my kid likes (I was despairing that the kid might never develop musical taste until he found them). Owen spoke of the mental process a performer goes through to be ready to be in the moment on stage and how he struggles to set aside James-Brown style perfectionism to be happy in the moment of a performance. As much as I was swept away with the band's frolicing performance last night, I couldn't help but see how that intensity from Owen was playing out as well. He's balancing there during the performance, between neurosis and joy, pushing his bandmates to step up and play better and stronger, and they push right back. That's serious fun they're having in their rambunctious, melodic act.

The Elms' set started with "The Strut," headed strong over to "Unless God Appears First," and of course included the popular treat "Back in Indiana" from the Elm's discography. The boys from Seymour also picked up the most joyful version I'd ever heard of the hymn "I'll Fly Away." My personal favorite of their collection, "Nothing to Do with Love," finally came up after I'd been anticipating it through the whole set. A version of Jimi Hendrix's "Fire" closed it out.

During a pause between songs, the audience began to clap out a rhythm; the Elms drummer Chris Thomas picked up the crowdsourced rhythm, built it into something more, was joined by Thom Daugherty then Nathan Bennett with Owen Thomas providing kinetic counterpoint all the while. The riff lasted less than a few minutes, and was astonishingly intense and authentic - and the ability of the players to gel together around what the crowd was giving and make it so much more was impressive.

My date had alerted me to keep an eye on the drummer's antics during the show, and he did not disappoint - while maintaining a certain reticence that is not unusual for a musician who's role is to hang out backstage, Chris Thomas pulled off many a visual prank for the audience's amusement. At least twice, I heard the crowd shouting out "CHRIIIIIISSSS!" which is probably the first time a drummer has been cheered with such enthusiasm during a performance. Second time if you count Florida A&M's marching band.

Front man Owen Thomas made a heartfelt plea to the crowd to be good to one another before launching into "This is How the World will end." (An acoustic recording from the Elms is available from Africa Water is Life.)

Thom Daugherty was first and last onstage; he came out to play a solo from a cover of Tom Petty's Free Falling with Green River Ordinance. I had the sense that he was so keen to play he had to get out there and do it (and notably Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers is cited by the Elms as a major influence). At the end of the night, his chords were still ringing in my ears.

Most of the songs played were from their latest album, "The Great American Midrange." Opening for the Elms were Green River Ordinance and Henry French & The Shameless. GRO, kudos for your final acoustic play, it was solid - and HF&tS, thanks for your fun set. Note to the guitarist from GRO: my father in law called, and he wants his hat back.

Doing some things wrong beats doing nothing.

2009-11-02T04:43:00.000-05:00

Image by spud murphy via Flickr

From a recent article of mine published at Mike Moran's Biznology:

And then the very next day, Facebook tweaks its feeds (and its members), once again outraging the commenting public and causing a re-surge in interest in commentary on the last time Facebook horked its users, and spurred the creation of a lot of Facebook activity in reaction. Of course, all this new activity and focus is happening on Facebook, so I don't really suppose the Facebook upper echelons are sweating it right now. I suspect instead that they might be limbering up their apology muscles, since it seems every few months they apologize for some change to Facebook.Eva Lyford, Biznology Blog by Mike Moran, Oct 2009

Check out the whole article.

reBlog from EvaLyford: Biznology Blog by Mike Moran

2009-10-22T11:20:00.001-04:00

Image by Denis Collette...!!! via Flickr

Are you considering pulling up a chair and getting comfortable with your business using social media? I recently blogged about Groundswell, and it offers solid insight in participating in the Web 2.0. Here's part of the article I wrote:

"While it is true that there are dangers in engaging with the groundswell, don't forget that the groundswell also reveals your smarts--check out just how many people brag about great service on Twitter, make fan sites or sign up to "be a fan" on Facebook. Furthermore, I still maintain that it isn't a valid choice for a company to ignore what's going on online--the groundswell is happening, with or without your participation. And it is happening with people just like you and me, who just need to be willing to risk participation--and strive for the rewards."Eva Lyford, Biznology Blog by Mike Moran, Oct 2009

Check out the whole article, Are you capable of Groundswell thinking?

reBlog from EvaLyford: Biznology Blog by Mike Moran

2009-10-08T10:24:00.001-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

I have a new article published at the Biznology blog today, here's an exerpt:

Second, some people expect the FTC to start policing the blogosphere, although I don't. It is much more likely that the FTC would look for patterns of undisclosed endorsements and target the companies paying for such. So if you're not motivated already to make sure your compensation for recommendations is disclosed, perhaps the threat of a fine will provide some motivation. Note that the terms of the fine are per incident—so a single company paying for 10 bloggers to promote their product in an undisclosed fashion could easily be facing a six-figure fine.Eva Lyford, Biznology Blog, Oct 2009

Check out the entire article at Biznology.

Lost Dog now found

2009-09-30T21:48:00.002-04:00

Update: Beau returned home on his own. Yes, he is now grounded. He's got some nicks and scratches but is otherwise hale and hearty. Thanks so much to everyone who helped with the search, and if you see a wandering dog don't assume it is an unwanted stray - someone may be looking for that dog very urgently and losing sleep over their disappearance.

Flickr Slideshowgreat free widgetsWidgetboxMore info

Beauregard (with help from a ghostwriter) is a blogger on Indypaws too and we are grateful for the help from the Indypaws community in finding Beauregard. Beau has been reported missing to the Humane Society of Indianapolis, the Hamilton County Humane Society, the Carmel police department, 24PetWatch (they track his microchip number and any reports of it being scanned), Petfinder.com, Fidofinder.com and Craigslist. There are flyers posted in the neighborhood, along the main street, and at the kids' school.

If you can think of any other suggestions please post in the comments. Wishing Beau a safe and speedy return is much appreciated also.

reBlog from EvaLyford: Biznology Blog by Mike Moran

2009-09-23T16:47:00.001-04:00

I found this fascinating quote today:

It sounds like Telkom SA just missed a big opportunity to partner with Unlimited IT and address a systemic issue that plagues them both. It is time to step up your game. Let's imagine for a moment an alternate universe, where Telkom SA's response looks like this...Eva Lyford, Biznology Blog by Mike Moran, Sep 2009

read the rest of the article, Opportunity Costs in Social Media, at Biznology.

Image via Wikipedia

The Elms Great American Midrange is a genuine 100% listenable album

2009-09-17T06:51:00.001-04:00

I was delighted to listen to "The Great American Midrange" yesterday and realize not once had I been compelled to skip a track or two - how long has it been since *you* had an album worth listening to straight through? The songs are each carefully constructed, passionate, and easy to get immersed into. There's a lot of variety from track to track and even within a song, while not sacrificing a coherent narrative. A Midwesterner like me hears the themes of local life as I know it and that authenticity is moving.

The lyrics are poetic and clever. The songs range from the powerful ("Thunderhead" and "Strut"), the race-worthy "Back to Indiana" and the soul baring "The Little Ways." The coming-of-age story behind "Unless God Appears First," addresses regret and repentance in the tradition of the blues but with a modern, neo-apathetic twist. An untitled bonus track is a sweet and savory ending to the album.

reBlog from EvaLyford: Biznology Blog by Mike Moran

2009-09-16T16:33:00.001-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

I have a new blog post up regarding an endorsement of a book as a good case study for social marketing:

Stephen Fry might not be well-known in the US, but he's almost a national treasure in England. He's a rarity, in that he is both a celebrity and an intellectual. Fry's entertaining QI show and wide-ranging intellectual interests have devoted followings. He is a Man Who Knows Of What He Speaks when it comes to an intellectual's fare. So an endorsement, however flip, has the weight of authority behind it.EvaLyford, Biznology Blog by Mike Moran, Sep 2009

You should read the whole article.

How to dry a shirt in the microwave in 5 minutes in less than 10 steps

2009-09-11T09:23:00.001-04:00

when it is that special shirt which you promised would be clean for school photo day but isn't.

This one is for all the working moms.

Your mileage may vary, no warranty implied, not recommended for anyone ever, and no I'm not liable if you follow instructions posted on the internet what kind of crazy person are you? You probably diagnose yourself based on the Mayo Clinic site so I suppose you know what you're doing.

Start with one wet, clean, fire-resistant shirt with no metal fashion or plastic elements. Do not try this with a dirty shirt or your whole kitchen will stink like dirty shirt. Wring the shirt out to within an inch of its life.
Put the shirt in a covered bowl, so that if it catches on fire, you only have to replace a bowl, a cover, and a shirt, and not an entire microwave. Who says I can't plan ahead?
Stop now and attempt to renegotiate with the child. Surely you can find another shirt in the closet? Can stop at the store and get one? Can skip the photo day? If no, proceed with caution.
Microwave the shirt for 10 seconds on 50% power.
Remove with potholders, it will be hot. Seriously. Waft the shirt around until it cools.
The rigorousness of your wafting will be the greatest contribution you can make to shortened drying time. So work those triceps.
Is it mostly dry? If not, repeat steps 3, 4 and 5. Continued dampness of the shirt may allow for additional persuasion per step 3 with any but the most stubborn client consenting.
Once the shirt is mostly dry, put it on the client and explain that body heat will complete the drying cycle. Provide an sweater to augment the body heat drying cycle.

Prepare yourself mentally to get back school photos of the kid in the sweater because it slipped his mind to take off the sweater and be photographed in the special shirt.

reBlog from EvaLyford: Biznology Blog by Mike Moran

2009-09-09T10:42:00.002-04:00

There's plenty of products out there that looked like dross until the community was found for them and the context provided. Who here was using a computer in the 1980s? Screen savers were trivial oddities then. By end of the decade they became personal expressions of humor, or even astute ways to guard a personal investment from dreaded Burn In, and something people shelled out cash for even though it was by definition unproductive and repetitive software. The community of home users was where screen savers went wild. Context was provided through comparison to the dreadful CRTs we abused our eyes with at work; we much preferred flying toasters to green pictures drawn with letters and numbers.EvaLyford, Biznology Blog by Mike Moran, Sep 2009

You should read the whole article.