BLADAM - July 2003

DISCLAIMER: This is my personal blog. The blatherings here aren't (necessarily) the views of the current company I work for, companies I've previously blessed with my presence, my loving parents, the Illuminati, or anyone other than me, me, me!

Holy popularity, Batman!

I just checked my access logs, and learned something both cool and strange. I'm suddenly popular.

:: Looking at self in mirror, practicing smile and thank-you-mom-and-dad speech and ... ::

Oh wait a minute. My BLOG is popular. That's not necessarily the same thing. Then again, nowadays, isn't the line a bit blurred amongst us geeks?

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- Blathered by Adam on Sunday, July 27, 2003 at 13:09 Permalink
- Filed under Geekery • Blogging
- Commented on by no one yet. Bummer. Check out the full entry page to leave a comment or trackback!

The benefits (?) of e-voting

Nowadays, I see with increasing frequency stories about e-voting -- voting for regional or national elections via the Internet. The worries about fraud are stated clearly, emphatically, and meaningfully.

But where are the corresponding benefits?

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- Blathered by Adam on Saturday, July 26, 2003 at 16:16 Permalink
- Filed under Society • Politics
- Commented on by one person so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

Yet more music industry incompetence

How would you like to get CDs for just $7.99... "as easy as 1-2-3!"

Sounds tempting, right? It's understandable that folks noting BuyMusic.com's advertising about "79 cent tracks, $7.99 albums" would be excited.

The reality, however, is quite disappointing, even infuriating.

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- Blathered by Adam on Friday, July 25, 2003 at 10:09 Permalink
- Filed under Arts and entertainment
- Commented on by 4 folks so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

Cry me a badly-acted river

So the movie studios have turned up the PR and are trying to persuade Joe Filetrader that downloading movies is wrong and really hurts the 'little guy.'

The first trailer features David Goldstein, a set painter who says that piracy hurts him more than film industry executives. Each ad ends with the tag line, "Movies. They're worth it.''

- MPAA Tries Goodfellas Approach in Wired Online

Somehow I'm not able to muster up much sympathy.

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- Blathered by Adam on Tuesday, July 22, 2003 at 19:58 Permalink
- Filed under Arts and entertainment
- Commented on by 3 folks so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

No bats in my belfry, but…

This was definitely a first! With my apartment window not even open that wide, I was startled to hear a loud combination of banging and fluttering in the living room. Not content to merely "leave their mark" all over my just-washed car, a group of pigeons apparently conspired to send one of their feathered friends on a mission to discover even more exciting poop-worthy options... inside my apartment!

Though my first instinct was to stretch my culinary skills and see if pigeons really DO taste like chicken, I realized that I'd be harming the resource pool of one of my favorite companies if I did so.

Therefore, I merely shooed the interloper out of my living space, but of course not before taking a picture

- Blathered by Adam on Tuesday, July 22, 2003 at 14:56 Permalink
- Filed under Grab bag • Wackiness
- Commented on by 2 folks so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

Letting it all hang out

My friend Jen recently touched upon the issue of the risks and rewards of revealing oneself in one's blog.

I wrote the following comment in response:

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- Blathered by Adam on Tuesday, July 22, 2003 at 13:45 Permalink
- Filed under Geekery • Blogging • Personal
- Commented on by one person so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

Efficiency through trust

Jason Kottke recently wrote about an interesting phenomena -- A Manhattan donut-cart guy who trusts his customers to make their own change.

The result? Twice the throughput, perhaps even twice the business, and undoubtedly more money for the Donut Guy.

While just one tiny example, of course, this nonetheless struck me as interesting from business and societal points of view. And yeah, it's just plain cool!

- Blathered by Adam on Monday, July 21, 2003 at 13:57 Permalink
- Filed under Society • Workplace
- Commented on by one person so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

A “friend"ly misunderstanding

As I've blogged about in the past, I've recently become a member of several social/business networks online in an effort to expand my social circle, learn about new areas, see and be seen, and yeah, get a cool job.

One of the most useful aspects of these sites, especially Ryze, is the "friends" and "friends of friends" features. Specifically, you can delineate which fellow contacts online are your friends, and this designation is disclosed to others viewing your profile.

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- Blathered by Adam on Saturday, July 19, 2003 at 11:04 Permalink
- Filed under Society • People and relationships
- Commented on by 3 folks so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

Form and function interwined

Handwritten and poorly formatted sign inviting applications for a dance instructor position

Why do so many people and organizations fail to realize that what they write is dramatically colored by how it's communicated?

Given the power and mass-affordability of communications tools, I'm amazed at the cluelessness of folks who churn out badly formatted or downright illegible materials.

In the example to the right, I understand that an unprofessional-looking sign is likely not going to deter talented dance teachers from applying. I can't imagine that this sort of lazily-scribbled sign would impress too many prospective students or their paying parents, however.

- Blathered by Adam on Monday, July 14, 2003 at 19:19 Permalink
- Filed under Society
- Commented on by 2 folks so far. Visit the full entry page and join in!

A truly sick policy

Sick for more than seven days per year? At the ironically-named Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, ill employees have a very direct choice: After seven previous absences, come in sick or be fired.

This policy is so transparently stupid, I'm almost embarrassed to blog about it. But kindly allow me to offer a few thoughts anyway.

Read the full entry...

- Blathered by Adam on Monday, July 14, 2003 at 18:22 Permalink
- Filed under Society • Workplace
- Commented on by no one yet. Bummer. Check out the full entry page to leave a comment or trackback!

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The magic number for the moment is 25. Neato.

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