Ideas Worth Spreading

Amazing design blog sums up the best TED speakers. My mind is absolutely blown away...

http://proxonicvisuals.com/blog/2008/02/24/top-10-ted-videos/

The organization's Web site for "Ideas worth spreading"

http://www.ted.com/

September Project

As September winds down here is an amazing project. For all those who have Sept. birthdays and for those who know someone with one here is an interesting link:

Here is the offical link for Charity: Water

http://www.charitywater.org/

My sister helped out with the Peace Corp. helping well water as an environmental engineer.

West Coast vs East Coast

Regional differences between coasts- East Coast “You do you, I’ll Do me”: Look out for number one, Do what ever it takes. Midwest- “Do it yourself”: self preserve (stock up some close family/ friends) work hard to get what you need. West: “Let’s do lunch”: screw over enough people to succeed (not just do whatever it take for yourself, do it by whatever means it takes to bring the others down).

The best example (based off of my real life personal experiences). Imagine you have a job interview in each area-

Upper East- You’re lost and visibly confused, New Yorker: “get out of my way, what you cant understand a simple map or something. I can read people really well and you’re lost. Here, I’ll take the map… where you headed, I don’t have all day. Go down Broadway to lower Manhattan, take a right on 5th walk five blocks… are you fucking listening to me, right? Walk five blocks to Hampton Street, take a left. I wouldn’t move here to New York if I were you, this place is already too crowed, too many *insert random racial slur or stereotype*. You’ll get there in 20mins if you start walkin and get out of my way.” Perfect directions, you make it there in exactly 20 mins.
Attitude: Meanly nice.
Culture: High strung, blunt, doing not asking, short tempered
Money: rent…
If they were a flavor of ice-cream: rocky road

Central Midwest: If you look lost, nobody will help you, you will need to ask, keep an exaggerated personal bubble of space. When you ask, they will give you basic directions and general friendly demeanor (not so much if you are 'unique'). “yup… lets see… the best way to get there… well…. I would… keep takin’ the 80 North until the 6 turn at the large brick building. Good luck with the interview sir, you have a nice day now.” Tip the hat and slowly walk away, no further conversation unless you make it. The person will leave with a ‘good day’ smile on their face. No extra directions (like right or left or info), you have what you will need, find it yourself (if not you can always ask again). They are very individualistic in the sense that they think of the 'individual' as made of your family and friends and that who you look out for.
Attitude: Indifferent nice
Culture: plain
Money: sufficient
Ice cream: vanilla
Lower West: You will have to ask and say you are lost once again to make it to your interview, probably after somebody walks by and wishes you a good day. They will smile and talk nicely, “ok sure, welcome to the area. You want to continue down the road, make a right merge on to the interstate, stay on for 3 miles, exit to Crenshaw, Compton or *some other ghetto*”[Warning: LA they will only talk to you or be nice if you have something they want]. After giving you the wrong directions with a gleaming smile and passive attitude, they will take the address, go to the interview themselves, talk about how perseverant they are (they were going to stay all day but as luck would have it the scheduled interviewee, you, never showed). And then they would proceed to talk about how unprofessional you must have been for missing the interview. When they happen to run into you again… they will be mad at you because you didn’t give them enough time to change into a more professional ensemble, and perhaps threaten to frivolously sue you over it.
Attitude: Nicely mean.
Culture: pretentious, self-centered, careless, passive and disingenuous
Money: its all debt- cells, sunglasses, glossy cars
The most delicious ice cream dessert filled with broken glass… glass that blames you for how uncomfortable digestion is.

This has been something that I have noticed a lot; West coast peeps can really screw someone over AND THEN get pissed at them. The west coast mentality operates something like this: you throw your red drink on to somebody’s white dress and then come back later and ask nicely for that person to reimburse for your drink.

Look, I will take someone being meanly nice over somebody stabbing me with an over-bleached smile any day.

Presidential Muse: top Obama/McCain Vids:

The best Presidential campaign YouTube viral videos, some scary and informative, or light and funny- enjoy!

1) OBAMA'S PLAN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONM7148cTyc&eurl=http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/samgrahamfelsen/gGg42R

2) JUST FOR FUN: MCCAIN GETS BARACK ROLLED AT THE RNC (see wikipedia if you don't know about rickrolling: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rick_rolling)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TiQCJXpbKg

3) OBAMA'S SWING STATE STRATEGY:

https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/strategy1?match_campaign_id=15&source=20080917_DP_ND_X

4) MCCAIN'S ECONOMY:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/2674794426747944

5) THE PALIN DOCTRINE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z75QSExE0jU

6) THE MCCAIN GAMBLE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHazb4FAREE&eurl=http://mclobbyist.com/

7) FOREIGN POLICY EXPERIENCE?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYYiw_y2qDI

8) LIES, LIES, LIES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH0xzsogzAk

9) EVEN KARL ROVE THINKS MCCAIN HAS GONE TOO FAR:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/14/karl-rove-mccains-ads-hav_n_126280.html

10) WHAT DOES THE VP DO EVERYDAY?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4gkPXSDtGQ

* And an extra one for kicks*

TINA FEY AS SARAH PALIN

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/

Tech News: Ogle Over New Google Phone

Affectionately known as GPhone/Android, the G1 is about to drop, if you go online to YouTube you can search personal video of the unveiling of the prototype at a conference (with duck tape masking logos and the makers names. Google and T-Mobile's G1 phone is ready for its mega debut (iPhone looks like you were just a flash in the pan).

It will have:

• Touch screen
• Customizable home screen
• Phone flips open for a full QWERTY keyboard
• Three megapixel camera
• Google Maps Street View—this is where my jaw dropped. You can pan in the Street View photos by just moving the phone in the direction you want the image to turn. (!)
• One-touch Google search

Google’s blog released a number of bold predictions of what the future might hold for phones as they see it:

· Smart Alerts: Your phone will let you know if something has happened that impacts you or needs your attention.

· Augmented Reality: Your phone will tell you information about your location, desires or needs before you are even aware of them.

· Instant Crowd Sourcing: You’ll be able to use your phone to review the most recent uploads of images, music, text, Tweets and blog posts by persons in your vicinity and you can go interact with them (after receiving directions from your phone).

· Sensory Perception: Weather updates, traffic reports, news events - these will all be at your fingertips the instant they are available.

· Business Tool: Your phone as your meal ticket, allowing you to work remotely, track your investments, keep up with clients, build your business and increase your communication ability.

· Intelligent Phones: Web 2.0 comes to mobile, where you can create apps on the fly, add content to your site and your phone will automatically download the latest updates to your favorite apps based on your preferences. Your phone *learns* based on your activity and makes it easier for you to use over time.

As Google prepares to take over the world, (now through telecommunications, aerospace satellites and its own personal navy) these two quote seem ominous:

“Sensors everywhere: Your phone knows a lot about the world around you. If you take that intelligence and combine it in the cloud with that of every other phone, we have an incredible snapshot of what is going on in the world right now.”

“Safer software through trust and verification: Your phone will provide tools and information to empower you to decide what to download, what to see, and what to share.”

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/future-of-mobile.html

Watch Out Film: Upcoming Screenings

I have friends in these areas:
Starting:
Sep 27 2008
7:00P
WATCH OUT -- Coney Island Film Festival
Brooklyn New York33
Oct 4 2008
9:00P
WATCH OUT -- Raindance Film Festival (Best International Festure nominee)
London
Oct 13 2008
7:00P
WATCH OUT -- Liberty Hall
Lawrence Kansas17
Oct 17 2008
11:30P
WATCH OUT -- Reel Affirmations Film Festival
Washington DC Washington DC9
Oct 21 2008
9:45P
WATCH OUT -- Seattle Lesbian/Gay Film Festival
Seattle Washington48
Nov 5 2008
8:00P
WATCH OUT -- The Oriental Theater
Denver Colorado6
Nov 5 2008
9:30P
WATCH OUT -- The Oriental Theater
Denver Colorado6
Nov 19 2008
9:30P
WATCH OUT -- El Cid
Los Angeles, California5

Palin Threat to National Security

Palin's yahoo mail password is 'popcorn'



In a blog posted today, Palin’s “popcorn” Password is a National Security Problem discusses her understanding of current technology, basic internt privacy and overall understanding of the modern world

http://officeofstrategicinfluence.com/blog2/174

Ouch, That Hurts

Benefits for Pets, Not Partners

"When trustees of Palm Beach Community College reached a tie vote in August on a proposal to offer health insurance for the domestic partners of employees, the measure failed and advocates for gay professors and other employees were disappointed. Because the college only pays for employees’ benefits, the proposal wouldn’t have cost the college a penny, but would have opened up quality insurance at a lower cost for the partners of gay and lesbian employees.
Now — in a move that is seen as adding salt to those wounds — the college has added a new health insurance benefit for some (unmarried) household members of employees: pet health insurance. All employees were told that they would get a 5 percent discount and group rates on a health insurance plans for their pets. A range of plans are offered, covering wellness care, vaccinations, X-rays, surgery and hospitalization (although pre-existing conditions may not be covered)."

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/11/26/benefits

In your spare time

here are two message boards i love (or if you have been there a reminder to revisit)...

http://postsecret.blogspot.com/

http://www.onesentence.org/

Also I would highly recommend http://www.stubleUpn.com to entertain and enlighten the slowest of days. With such an wealth of mind-attracting resources I would also suggest stating a del.icio.us account as to not clutter up your important bookmark folder. Ahh, Stumble and Delicious the perfect marriage for an entertained mind. Well, i am stacked with work at the office, so i better get back to reality.

Hollywood on Palin... Is this a good thing

Wow. Hollywood on politics is usually a vile, ignorant, stupic, egocentric, distasteful, bias or combustible cocktail. I never care who Julia Roberts is voting for. So when I see the title, Hollywood on Palin, I get worried. But here is a surprisingly coherent political response by Matt Damon, of all people,…. Take that Angelina Jolie! Its not perfect he still uses one unsubstantiated rumor (tho saying he didnt know if it was true or false, later supporting his main point) BUT his idea as a whole is right on target and thought out and up-to-date. He makes sense and came to a correct conclusion.


Here is what I am used to…


So, who is more like Britney/Paris again?

To Remember

Today is the anniversary of 9/11, one of the most monumental moments of my generation and an unforgettable era for generations to come. I remember where i was when i first heard the news begin to unfold (like a true millennial i was connected to these happenings with in seconds listening to the broadcast in first period). where were you? I would like for everyone to take the time to reflect on this day the events that took place around the country and the lives lost and to be lost.

Here is an interesting viral video that is both entertaining and still reverent.



In my humble opinion this is a day to remember, certainly, but not a day to eternally be relived.

Yea, Google is trying to rule the world...

...if it doesn't already.

Here were the top stories in my inbox today:

NBC, Google hook up in ad deal

Google So Excited About Satellites, It's Launching 16 More

Top Lawyer Is Selected As U.S. Mulls Google Suit
Google, Google Everywhere – Even In The Air?

I subsrice to a few tech newsletters and try to keep up with the world. Today, out of the 10 stories in my inbox google occpied 6 of them. *ahem* the internet is big how is one entity maintaining over half of the online buzz...

On another, but still very relevent, note Google, in the midst of creating an ad empire with Yahoo!, will be launching chrome- a new web browser, similar to safari. This will inevitably spell the end for Mozilla Fire Fox as word the Internet Explorer will be discontinued. Here is section 11 of Google's Chrome contractual terms of service giving Google

“a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to reproduce, adapt, modify, translate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute any Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services.”

That seems pretty extreme for a browser, doesn’t it?

Update: after a big fuss on the internet the terms have changed to: 11.1 You retain copyright and any other rights you already hold in Content which you submit, post or display on or through, the Services. 

Why Young People Should Vote:

This is a great example of how relevant anti-trust laws and monopoly/company regulations are important to you and your personal life or social day-to-day activities. Personally, this really does matter to me as i try to stay on top of rent, gas, student loans and bills (including mobile prices).

Congress questions high cost of texting

The price of text messaging has doubled industry-wide in the last three years, and Congress wants to know why.

Sen Herb Kohl, chair of the Antitrust Subcommittee in the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a letter Tuesday to the four major wireless carriers--AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile--asking them to explain the dramatic price increases for text messaging services....

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10037221-38.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0

On another not here is an intersting read, we should have seen this coming 8 years ago, as Chaney used to work under the Nixon Admin. (an executive branch plagued with 'leaks' which lead to Nixon's resignation).

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/09/08/historians-records/