Like Free Stuff?

I have talked about Strands before and was even the Pick of the Day awhile back. In case you still don’t know what Strands is, it’s a life stream social networking site that way sweeter than FreindFeed and looks better too. Basically it takes all your web accounts (Twitter, last.fm, Facebook, YouTube, flickr, etc, etc) and puts them all in one convenient place. The people behind Strands are great and the content that is delivered there is always interesting.

If it sounds like I’m attempting to sell the site, it’s because I am. Right now they’re running a nice little membership drive. Since it’s still in closed beta, you have to be invited to join. And this month, everyone that joins is eligible to win a sweet price for them and a friend. Prizes include a MacBook Air, iPod Touch, and a Flip camera. Peek your interest yet? If you want down on this sweet Strands action, I’ve still got a handful of invites left and it’s yours if you want it. Leave a comment below or hit me up on the contact form and I’ll get send one your way. Once you join, make sure you follow me!

(Full details and rules can be found here.)

Digital Political

A week or so ago I decided to prepare for the political debate season by doing a bit of research. I have no idea who I’m going to vote for in this year’s election so I’ve been waiting for the debates to make up my mind. While I was reading through Obama’s tax plan I was intrigued, but had a question. A fairly simple question in the grand scheme of things, but a question that wasn’t answered on the website. So I did what any person would do (well, maybe not any person but people like me) and clicked “Contact Us.” The question I asked was similar to this:

The tax plan you are putting out is very interesting. Cutting taxes for people with income under $200,000 is certainly a good thing. However, how does this effect sub-chapter S corporations which file business taxes with their income taxes? If their business makes more than the $200,000 cut off, their taxes will increase. If their taxes increase it will be more difficult to employ people and continue running the business. I’m curious how this factors in.

-An Undecided Registered Independent from the State of Florida

Yeah, I laid it on pretty thick with the closing in the hopes that someone would actually read it.

Shortly after clicking send on the email form I received a canned response email, much like you would see from any corporation saying something similar to this:

Thank you for your interest into Barack Obama. Due to the very high volume of email we regret that we cannot reply to your message. We encourage you to read Barack Obama’s plan for our nation by visiting… blah blah blah.

Basically thanks but we don’t do email. Which I found very odd considering Obama being considered the more technologically advanced candidate. Either way I felt like my question would go unanswered. A few people suggested I contact the local campaign office but I figured they wouldn’t be able to tell me anything other than what was on their talking points. I basically forgot about it.

What did happen, which I wasn’t exactly happy with, was that I got automatically subscribed to Obama’s various email lists. I got an email from him thanking me for my support — which I thought was tacky considering I asked a question trying to make a decision and instead got added to a list. I also got an email from his wife encouraging me to get involved in some for of campaigning, again, tacky. On Twitter I called this a “courtesy fail.” Needless to say I unsubscribed pretty quickly.

With the idea of fairness I sent John McCain an email asking a question about something in his economic policy just to see what happened. Even stranger than the Obama response, I got nothing. Not a canned “thanks for your interest” email, not a “we don’t respond to email” email, nothing. Basically I figured despite being 2008, neither campaign had figured out how to directly interact with email questions. So I forgot about the whole thing.

Then just before noon on Friday, the day of the debate, I got a response to my Obama email — sort of. What I got was a five paragraph email response detailing a bit more of Obama’s tax plan with links to a few fact sheets hosted on the Obama website. The email was addressed Dear Friend and was signed Sincerely Barack Obama. Now chances are this was not written by Barack Obama, but the fact that I got a somewhat thought out response at all is somewhat impressive considering the first response basically said they don’t do responses.

Did the email answer my question. Not specifically, no. The fact sheets that were linked to talked more about specific cuts that would actually benefit sub-chapter S corporations, but did not address the issue of the $200,000 income tax cut off. It’s not a perfect answer but I guess it’s an answer.

So what does all this mean? I don’t really know. I still haven’t made up my mind. I’m not exactly keen on either candidate right now. There are things I like about both of them and things that I have issues with for both of them. What I do like, is that despite saying they don’t respond to email, someone actually took a few minutes to — at the very least — compile a few pre-written paragraphs and send it out. If I ever get a response from McCain’s people, I’ll be sure to update this post.

One Spam Comment to Rule Them All

Being a blog on the internet with open commenting I get a fair amount of spam comments. The various WordPress features and plugins I have generally do a good job of keeping out about 99.9% of these spam comments, but there is the occasional one that gets through. One such comment made it through earlier today and cracked me up enough that I had to share it.

Lie down on a car accident and char do everything gigantic boobs else would take five.

That’s it. Obviously some random word generator went haywire and created a sentience to get past spam catchers. I don’t really have anything else to say about it. It just cracked me up.

What’s the funniest spam comment you’ve ever seen?

Did the Writers Strike Make Writers Worse?

The WGA writers strike seems like so long ago but it seems we might still be feeling it’s effects. Since the new television season has started, it seems the quality of the writing has diminished after taking a half season off. I’ve watched three shows so far this season and all of them have had writing “issues” so far.

The first show is Saturday Night Live. To say SNL has writing issues is an understatement. The show has downright problems. In the two episodes that have aired so far there has been one sketch that was actually funny: the Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton season opener.

After watching the rest of the episode, and a majority of the one aired this past Saturday, it seems as if Tina Fey herself might have written this one. The SNL writing has been in trouble for a very long time and this season it just seems worse. It begs the question, will NBC grow a pair and clean out the write staff or *gasp* cancel the show?

The next show that makes me wonder what the writing team is thinking is Fringe. I’ve talked about Fringe before, it’s a great show that is part LOST and part X-Files. One of the main characters is a former mad scientist who has been locked up in a mental institution for the past 17 years. While most of the writing revolving this character is done well, there seems to be one “out” the team is using.

In the first episode Bishop, the character in question, wanted to use his lab from 17 years ago. Good thing it still exists! Harvard just decided to use it as storage. And by storage they meant cover the equipment with a tarp and put a few boxes in there. Convenient. In the second episode Bishop needed a file he left in his car. Well guess what? His car is in the same pad-locked garage it was 17 years ago! Again, how convenient? Finally, last night, Bishop needed a piece of equipment he hid in the wall of his former home. Well guess what. It was still there. But it wasn’t in a wall, it was in a dumbwaiter merely covered by a bookshelf. Do the writers really expect us to believe that the key to all of Bishop’s experiments are littered all over Boston and somehow completely untouched and right where they were left 17 years ago? Come on?

The final show I’ve watched so far this season has been Heroes. Cut to only 11 episodes last year because of the strike, it’s been a long time since Heroes has been on the air. But watching the two hour premiere on Monday, a few things struck me about one of the main characters, Peter.

Peter can absorb every power that he comes in contact with making him pretty much the most powerful “hero” of them all. Yet, somehow, Peter manages to constantly make poor decisions and, as a result, the world ends four to five years later. This season, future “Dark Peter” has come back from the future to prevent bad things from happening. But here’s what I don’t get: Dark Peter has a giant scar across his face. Lest we forget Peter has the ability to heal himself. Curious? Even more curious is that two of the powers Peter has absorbed involve being able to see the future. Given this, you would think Peter would know that his horrible choices have an effect down the road. Either that or the writers just assume we don’t remember these things.

None of these writing slips will cause me to stop watching the shows, well except maybe for SNL. But after waiting so long for good TV to come back on, I’d like to think the writers would be willing to not treat the audience like children and actually write the show without the sloppy “outs” they have been given themselves. Maybe it’s just been so long that I forgot this is the small screen norm and am being overly critical. If Toby shows up on The Office on Thursday I’ll know sloppy writing abounds.

What do you think? Have you noticed other instances of sloppy writing on TV so far this year? Leave it in the comments.

Windows Tries Again

It wasn’t too long ago that I mentioned Microsoft was launching a new ad campaign with Jerry Seinfeld. Yesterday they announced they were moving into “phase two” of the campaign. It was all media spin trying to hide the fact that the $300 million marketing blitz failed horribly because no one really knew what Microsoft was trying to do. The first of the new ads started showing up online today. While it is better than the Seinfeld ads, it’s still not really all that great. As Gruber puts it:

Pathetic. So sad. This campaign (which is utterly unconnected to the Seinfeld spots) might as well be titled “Please stop making fun of Windows, Apple.”

What do you think? Is this one better than the last set? Drop one in the comments.

Update: This link is too funny not to share. AppleInsider reports that Microsoft can’t even use their own software to create their ad campaign. I guess they’re not only out of touch with their customers but their product as well. Oh well.

DeVron: The Untold Story

It all started a little less than a year ago in a small garage in Los Angeles. Legendary and militant solo artist Smash decided to put together a band. Many people auditioned, but only three were accepted. On that fateful night, Lord Pantsville, Esq. was born.

Lord Pantsville, Esq. on stage.

At the time DeVron was just another member of the undead roaming the earth, wondering what was to come next. A talented bassest, DeVron decided to audition for Smash’s band. It was a move that would change his unlife forever. DeVron joined flamboyant vocalist McGillicuttie and bikini-clad drummer Foible XL^2 as the chosen three in Smash’s newly formed Lord Pantsville, Esq.

The band rose to astronomical popularity worldwide in unfathomable time. Lord Pantsville, Esq was playing extended sets to sold out crowds in towns as close as Seattle and as far away as DeVron’s own hometown of Stockholm. The band had so many fans their manager told them they were no longer capable of gaining any more, the height of popularity had officially been achieved. This was the beginning of the end for Lord Pantsville, Esq.

Foible XL^2 was told to put on a shirt one too many times and decided to lay down her sticks once and for all. McGuillicuttie moved back to San Francisco to see what opportunities were waiting for him there. Smash went off to live in the mountains and is rumored to have started a militant cult. DeVron wandered back to Stockholm to return to the world of the undead. Lord Pantsville, Esq. was officially disbanded. There are currently rumors that the epic group may reunite for one endless set in Moscow sometime later this year, but at the time of publication no date has been booked.

DeVron, the worlds best undead bassist.

This, however, is not where the story ends. After returning to Stockholm, DeVron decided to return to the underground undead scene and played pickup gigs at a local zombie club. The club DeVron frequented was also very popular with American tourists — thanks to Lord Pantsville, Esq., there has been an increase in interest in the Stockholm zombie scene. One such tourist, Sandy Starfleet, sang in the club one night and again changed DeVron’s unlife. DeVron could see his new goal, create a band of his own and return to the stages of the world. He gave the hipster product of hippie parents the lead spot in his new band and decided to let her name it. Thus, DeVron and Sandy Starfleet formed Requiem for a Dweeb.

Sandy Starfleet

A little known fact is that DeVron originally wanted to call the band DeVron Comes Alive. Sandy thought this was particularly funny considering DeVron is, in fact, an undead zombie not capable of actually being alive. Sandy started to call DeVron a dweeb and then settled on the band’s actual name.

DeVron and Sandy Starfleet spent the next few days recruiting the final two members of Requiem for a Dweeb. The first was Lead Pipe Palin, a little known son of the Vice Presidential nominee, Sarah, who had been living out of a van prior to joining the band. The final member, Annyong, was the basis for a character on Arrested Development. Though, according to her (yes, her), Ron Howard didn’t really do her character justice.

DeVron and company have been playing to sold out shows across Stockholm and are preparing to tour the rest of eastern Europe. They even played a recent benefit show to promote equal rights for the undead everywhere.

Requiem for a Dweeb’s future isn’t certain. DeVron is hoping to return to the glory he once had while Sandy Starfleet is hoping to make a crap-ton of money and cash out before DeVron eats her. Will they rise to legendary heights and follow in the steps of Lord Pantsville, Esq. or will Requiem for a Dweeb fail out of one too many mystery sets and fade into musical obscurity? Only time will tell.

Evidently the New Facebook Sucks

About a month ago I explained why the new Facebook sucks. Well a few days ago Facebook decided to make the “new Facebook the only Facebook” and went ahead making a lot of people very, very angry. Based on the comments received on the original article, people seem to agree that there is no real usability improvement nor any additional ease of functionality gained from the new design.

What I find pretty funny is the search terms people use to find the article. On the right is a snippet from the site stats here showing 18 recent search engine results that lead to articles on this site. Out of the 18 search terms shown, 14 involve the words “new Facebook sucks.” I guess people are searching this exact phrase looking for people to agree with, or maybe they’re looking for reasons why people think this way. One thing I know for a fact is that no one in the Facebook office searched these terms to find out exactly what people are thinking.

Since the new design has gone fully live I’ve noticed a few other things that bother me. The first is the implementation of Applications. When the design switched over I noticed that there were two applications on my profile that I didn’t know I still had installed. So, I pulled up the Applications page to remove them. Before, there was a simple “remove” link to click. Now, the Applications page has numerous tabs with labels that don’t really make sense. Clicking “remove” on one tab doesn’t remove the application from the other tabs. In order to remove the application in question I had to click half a dozen times to get through all the options and actually remove the app. What a joke. This is probably the single worst effect of the new “design.”

Another thing, that I found more funny than anything, is the updated “People You May Know” box on the front page. I like that they’ve added a line to tell you why you might know the person, but what gets me is how broad the qualifier is. For example:

First of all, I don’t know anyone named Armando but the qualifier here is that we both live in Orlando. According to 2007 statistics, Orlando has over 277,000 people. Evidently because we both live here Armando and I should know each other. This new feature has potential, if Facebook can narrow the qualifier down to something like graduating class. However, based on Facebook’s lack of attention to input from the first go around, I’m not going to hold my breath.

All in all I’ve found myself visiting Facebook less over the last few days and opting more for the iPhone version, which now makes more sense then the web version. Are you visiting Facebook less? What is it that still irks you about the new design? Let me know in the comments.

On the Fringe

Fox’s new show Fringe premiered last Tuesday. I knew two things about it: JJ Abrams created it and the pilot cost $10 million to make. These two things alone would make the pilot worth watching so I set the DVR. I finally got around to watching the episode yesterday and, well, it was good.

Like I said, I knew nothing going in which was probably a good thing. It turns out that Fringe is basically JJ Abrams does the X-Files, underground FBI division and all. Basically someone/thing has been running pseudo-science (fringe science) experiments on people across the world over the last year. Things like teleportation, regeneration, etc. The FBI is investigating and, of course, there is an evil corporation that seems to be behind it all.

There is an ensemble cast featuring Joshua Jackson of Dawson’s Creek fame, a guy from Band of Brothers, the guy who plays Abaddon on LOST, and a cow named Gene.

The pilot episode was really good ($10 million for TV makes that possible). It’ll be interesting to see where the show goes from here with normal episode budgets. It will also be interesting to see if Fringe actually answers questions or follows JJ’s other project and instead of providing answers somehow always seems to provide more questions. Either way, I’ve set the DVR to record Fringe weekly so I’ll ride the wave for awhile.

Did you watch Fringe? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.

How Genius is Genius?

Today Apple made some waves and refreshed all of their iPods and dropped iTunes 8 onto the intertubes. Considering none of the “announcements” were surprises due to Apple’s new lack of leak plugs, I was ready to try out the Genius feature before I knew that I could. Did you follow that? I hope so because I’m not going to try and re-write it. Anyway, the Genius feature is pretty good, pretty intuitive and puts together a nice playlist based on the selected song. It couldn’t, though, put together a playlist based on the Dr. Horrible soundtrack. Oh well.

But this isn’t going to be a review of iTunes 8 and the Genius feature. It’s a look at the name itself. I’ve got a huge problem with it. Other sites around the web are arguing over Apple’s use of the word “funnest” in their new iPod marketing, but I think the use of Genius is a much bigger mistake on Apple’s part.

Anyone who has ever walked into an Apple Store knows that the word Genius is not new to Apple. Apple uses the word to describe it’s tech support people. Computer broke? iPod showing the sad face? Go see a Genius at your local Genius Bar. Makes sense considering a genius should know what to do. Apple has effectively branded the word genius to demote support for your Mac. Now, with the launch of iTunes 8, they are telling us that it also means something that can pick songs for you. I mean, it’d be stupid to walk into the closest Apple Store, wait in line, and then ask a Genius to recommend some music for you. But maybe that’s what Apple want’s us all to do.

I might be looking too much into this, but I think Apple is making a mistake here. The iTunes feature could have easily been called something else leaving the Genius moniker for the support folks at the local store. What do you think? Did Apple make a mistake using the word Genius or am I just overreacting? Let me know in the comments.

Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld… why?

Ok, so I don’t even know what to do with this. Jerry Seinfeld was tipped to be the new spokesperson for Microsoft. I guess they wanted to combat the very clever Mac vs. PC ads that Apple has been running for a few years now. I like Jerry Seinfeld, I even liked the HP commercial he did last summer, but this… well, let’s just say I don’t have a clue what the point is nor how it’s supposed to sell Windows. In fact, I don’t really know what to say about it. I’m kind of dumbfounded that such a large, and at times brilliant, company could think this made sense:

Maybe I’m not seeing this right. Maybe my Apple love has blinded me. Maybe. What do you think? Does this commercial make a bit of sense to you? Let me know in the comments.

Via MacUser.