More iGoogle tabs

I just noticed that we're no longer confined to the 6 (?) tabs we were limited to on iGoogle. I've been able to add more than 20 tabs! Thanks for listening Google! (I'm sure it wasn't just me, but I did submit this as a request to Google shortly after they added the tabbed functionality). Then again... Google knows all about me... :-)

As long as you're listening, how about putting the most obvious (or utilized) word at the top of the replace list in Blogger's spell checker... Seems like it's always number 2 or 3 on the list.

What's Justin up to now?

This guy's living his life on-line - in the raw for everyone to see. He's broadcasting his life real time on the Net. Remember The Truman Show? In that movie, Jim Carey played someone whose life was broadcast 24x7 to the world. Everyone was in on it but him. This time the tables are turned - Justin is in on it! And he wants you in on it too! It's all Justin, all the time!

Got Kids?

If you've got kids, then you've got to get Radio Disney. Listen on-line or on the AM dial on your radio. Stations in many states.

Big Spy

Digg is a site that allows members to post links to interesting articles for others to vote on. If someone likes an article, they "Digg" it and vote it more popular. The articles that get the most Diggs end up on the front page of the site. The site is mostly geared toward technology articles (and those that are of interest to techno-geeks).

One of the other things that's neat about the site is it's recent addition of visualization tools. The tools (Stack, Swarm, Big Spy and Arc) are fun to watch. As each transaction occurs on the Digg site, a graphical representation is displayed on the visualization screen. With Big Spy, each article title gets inserted into the top of a falling tower as someone Diggs it, moving the other titles down in the stack. Much like Tag Clouds (see the one on the right side of my site) that change the font size of the tags depending on their frequency of use, Big Spy changes the font size based on the relative number of Diggs each article has received. More popular articles are in a much larger font that newer, or less popular titles.

It's a good way to stay on top of some techno-news, or just watch the visualization.

Looking for something?

Don't forget that you can use the labels on the right side of this site to see groups of related posts. Click on Sites to see blog entries that mention specific sites. Click on game to see the entries that talk about games.

You can also use the tag cloud for the same purpose.

You can also peruse the blog archive by date.

Don't forget to subscribe to the RSS feeds so you don't miss anything! :-)

Interesting word association game

Here's a little word association game called Human Brain Cloud. Basically, it throws a word at you and you tell it the first thing that comes to mind. Over time, it will build a network of interconnected words and phrases that you can view. Not sure that it has a real use other than scientific analysis (or a fun way to pass the time), but be forewarned - it can be addictive. As can Google's Image Labeler.

Way cool geeky graphics demo

Microsoft's Photosynth Technology

Sites Sites Sites

Www.servicetycoon.com - A service industry-type modern day Lemonade stand

http://www.blinkx.com/ - Search video, interesting interface

http://www.dafont.com/ - free fonts

http://www.lifehacker.com/ - all kinds of ways to hack your life to make it better

http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/index.php?sort=ratings&w=1280&h=1024 - Gorgeous wallpapers for your boring desktop

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/index.php - Cool Tools

http://www.incidentlog.com/lookup.pl - Crime

http://www.housingmaps.com/ - One of the original Google Maps Mashups - powered by Craigslist, this site helps you find housing, displayed on a Google Map

ZIPs

I admit that I'm a little bit of a trivia buff. (have you played the AWorldDiscovered Trivia quiz today?) One thing that always catches my eye is when I see websites, etc that lowercase ZIP code (or don't allow international Postal Codes for that matter). Most people have no idea that ZIP is really an acronym (so I guess it should be Z.I.P. code technically) for Zoning Improvement Plan. It was an attempt to optimize the mail delivery in the US. It essentially broke the US into sectors that could be coded into a 5 digit code. That code can be easily decoded as well. This zipdecode site shows a cool way to present the ever decreasing size of the ZIP codes. Type in the first digit of the ZIP code and it'll show you the area of the US that code covers. Add the second digit and you see the sub-section of the first are, etc all the way down to the specific city that the code covers. There are other sites that will show you what area a ZIP code covers, but this is the most visually appealing.

The Internet is back up

Sorry for any inconveniences.

Where'd the unicorns go?

One of the horses that my daughter fell in love with while we were at the Kentucky Horse Park recently was a miniature white horse (no, not a pony). I made the comment after seeing the horse that it looked like they had sawed off his unicorn horn. He had an abrasion on his forehead right where the horn would've been. The mystique of the miniature horse and its loving nature and white color (I dunno, for some reason I always picture unicorns as white) just fed into this fantasy. My daughter (and even both sons) were quick to point out that "Unicorns aren't real, Daddy." But just because you've never seen one, doesn't mean they don't exist...

While relating this story at my dad's the other day, my uncle pulled from the back recesses of his mind a long-ago song about what happened to all of the unicorns. Written by famous children's author of Where the Sidewalk Ends, Shel Silverstein, and made popular by the Irish Rovers in the 1960's, The Unicorn Song tells of the fate of the unicorns - they were too busy playing to get on the Ark!

The Internet is down...

Here's the latest update.

Not feeling like myself today

Ever have one of those days that you really just don't feel right? You don't really want to talk to anyone. Or maybe you just wish you were someone else for a day...

Now, through the power of soundbites, you can! Someone (many someones probably) have created a HUGE collection of celebrity sound clips that you can use for whatever purpose you decide. With well over 100 collections, you can be a different person each day! Pick a character - maybe Sylvester Stalone one morning followed by a little Al Pacino in the afternoon, topped off by some Futurama before dinner, finally winding down with a little classic Looney Tunes and Saturday Night Live before bed.

Of course if you want someone else to do all the work, you could listen to the prank calls section which uses these soundboards to make prank calls.

Enjoy!

Presumed guilty until proven innocent

I'm sure that I'm not alone in this tale. On the way to work this morning I was driving along minding my own business when, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a police car sitting ready to exit a parking lot. First things first - I slowed down. Never mind that I was already going the speed limit. Next I checked to see whether he pulled out behind me or was still looking for someone. Naturally he pulled out right behind me. I checked my speed again. This was a two lane road I was on, so when he entered the road in the other lane, I figured I was safe.

Then he pulled over into my lane.

He continued to follow me for 2-3 miles. Each turn I made, he made. Finally I pulled into the center turn lane to enter my work parking lot. I checked my rear view again. As he slid on by me, I felt a wave or relief flow over me. I pulled into the parking lot and went on my way.

I had not done anything wrong (and don't have any warrants that I know about), but still I slowed down and thought I might be pulled over. How frustrating it is that we have such fear of police, or being caught at something that we pull back from whatever we're doing for no reason. How many times have you closed your browser when your boss walked up behind you?

Not So Easy

Ok, so things are not easy as they seemed... Still no redirect. I used Google/GoDaddy for my domain purchase/Registry and set the redirect via GoDaddy to the existing site, but things still get pointed to the Google (partner) Start page. Gonna need to research things a little more I guess. I've waited long enough for things to propagate, but still nothing... I've searched the help forums and tried the suggestions, but there is something still not right. I might have to break down and contact support...

Brave New World

A long time ago, I put up a small web page for my mother-in-law to promote her rental log cabin in North Carolina. It was really just something to point people to who wanted to see the house, give some contact information and a few other things. Pretty basic HTML, hosted on her ISP site with a .../~name address. Pretty cumbersome if you had to type in the full URL, but most people were going to be coming to the site via links from Chamber of Commerce sites, local community sites, etc and she didn't want to really invest in things until she saw how things moved along.

Well, it's been 6 or 7 years without more than a few changes to the site -- more comments to her guestbook, a couple of price increases and links to other local attractions is about it.

Tonight I took the plunge. I registered a domain for her. A true www.com domain. I've still got to play a bunch to get that part all set up, but then the next step is to redo her page as well. I'm going to try to do this all in the background and surprise her (she has already said that she doesn't have the time to read this blog, so I'm safe there). I'm not changing the old site and in fact right now I'm forwarding the new domain to her old site so even that's transparent (as soon as it propagates). Not sure how things will come together, but at the very least it will give me something else to stuff my brain with and maybe an easier domain for her to hand out. Once the other domain "got out there" she didn't want to have to reprint business cards, change web referral sites, etc. This way it'll be gradual. She can take advantage of the benefits when she wants and not worry -- at least that's the intent.

We'll see where this goes...

Branding

No, not on cows and horses. I'm talking about the brands that companies spend billions upon billions of dollars a year to develop, market, keep, and monetize. It's an important thing...you'd think.

I the last several days, I've been witness to some severe brand erosion. By erosion, I mean the most important thing of all to those companies -- brand loyalty. Loyalty means business and companies are in business to make money (though some actually have other motives, good, or bad, as well).

On our vacation, I had the occasion to stay with my family at a hotel who's current marketing tag like is "Look again" according to their website. We've stayed at this chain of hotels on many occasions in the past with pleasant experiences. When we travel, we like to just stop when we're ready and find a hotel at that exit. We're not particularly loyal to one brand all the time, but there are certain brands that come to mind and are on our short list to check for room availability when we stop. This was one of those.

Through their share of the billions and billions of dollars spent, and through past experiences, we have a certain set of expectations for our stay at this hotel chain. Suffice it to say, we were more than a little let down this time.

I just finished sending off a three page letter to the General Manager and the corporate offices detailing my displeasure. Yes, I gave them a chance to address the issues while on-site, and yes, they comp'd my stay, and no, I don't expect anything more from them. Except one thing -- that they take my complaints and suggestions to heart and do something about them. If I have a bad customer service experience and I don't tell someone about it, that's my fault. If no one tells them, they don't know and so they can't do anything about it. If, on the other hand, I tall them and they don't do anything about it, then it's their fault for losing me, and others as a customer.

Just last night, at an "arch" restaurant around the corner, we had some pretty bad service -- long lines, slow service, expired food, employees smoking at the customer entrance, dirty floor, etc. I took the time to mention my concerns to the manager, who, while she listened intently, gave no indication that she was really interested in what I had to say or that she would do anything about it. Unfortunately, their customer service hot line has the same attitude, and I just haven't' gotten around to looking up their District Manager, or someone else to take my complaints to.

There are a handful of companies that will never see another dime of my money if I can help it, and I spread my stories to others who will listen.

On the other hand, we were very pleasantly surprised by another choice of hotels that we stopped at. Drury Inns and Suites in Columbus, OH was incredible. Clean, new, friendly (not just professional), great value for the price (we paid more for a heck of a lot less during our trip), safe, nice pool... Everything we needed to erase our memory of the other hotel. Drury doesn't spend a lot on advertising (at least not that I've seen), but I'll be doing some word-of-mouth advertising for them free of charge. That's what people do when they experience good customer service. I've told no less than 5 people since we've been back -- plus all 3 of you that read my blog :-)

In a time with high unemployment, you'd think that people would want to work hard to keep their jobs. In a time with so much competition for everything, companies should want to do what they can to keep current customers and gain new ones. I just haven't seen that happening enough recently. It's a shame. Did I mention what a great experience we had at the Drury Inn and Suites in Columbus, Ohio?

How much would it take?

Who to believe

I'm not much into using professional movie reviewers to pick my movies. I'm must more tempted by the trailers (that usually give away half the film) and by the actors or what my friends and family say. A lot of people though swear by the critics. That's why they're still writing columns, blogs, books, etc. I decided to check out this movie reviewer site that pairs your interests with a number of known movie critics to help find a critic with similar tastes as yours. The more you rank, the better the match accuracy. In my case, I think I'll stick to my friends (I'd only seen a few of the movies it asked me to rate), but maybe you'll have better luck.

Not bad...

I could drive for miles and miles without paying any attention to red Saturn SL1 models on the road. Then as soon as I bought one, they were all over the place. Same thing with my next car. I consider myself much more of a follower than a leader with most things, so I know that it's not me setting the trend (the world would be a much scarier place if I was the trendsetter). I'm not sure the name of this phenomenon, but it happens to me all the time. If I'm looking to buy something that I can't seem to find anywhere, and yet, somehow finally do...the next week, it shows up in every store I enter...

Having written that, I don't remember how it ties in to my real story, but... :-)

Every parent thinks that their children are special. They're smarter than everyone else's child. They much cuter than everyone else's children. They're much more polite than everyone else's child. Oh, yeah. That was the point I was going to make. That phenomenon doesn't always happen...

During our two week vacation, we went to a lot of places where there were throngs of children -- parks, hotels, restaurants, malls... We were able to see (and interact with ) children from many states, walks of life, religions, ages, and race. These observations, melded with those I've made over the years since having our children, have just served to reinforce my belief that my wife and I have done a pretty darn good job raising our kids. Sure they have their moments (that may last a few more moments than we'd like), and sure they act like the other kids once in a while, but on the whole, I think that they're pretty good. I know that all (or most anyway)parents say that, but someone's gotta be average, and I say that our kids are above. I've had a lot of other people that my kids interact with say the same things -- how well behaved they are, how polite they are, etc, etc.

I try to remember this during their "moments," but sometimes it slips. The moments pass and are quickly replaced by uproarious laughter, giggles, etc (do you know how hard it is to discipline a child that makes you laugh milk out your nose?!). For as often as the kids seem to really dislike each other (or us) at times, they are also quick to point out how bored they are when one of them is not around. I guess that's what siblings are all about.

A final note of public thanks to my wonderful wife, who has taken on the bulk of the burden and deserves the bulk of the credit for shaping our kids into the wonderful kids that they really are. And when they read this - a special thanks to them for being those wonderful kids.

Don't forget to remember the good moments with your kids...

Great Things

Every truly great accomplishment is at first impossible. - unknown

Round and Round

The other tour stop we made on the way home Friday was at Carousel Magic in Mansfield, OH. One of only two factories in the world that will build or reconstruct a carousel from the ground up (the other is in Mansfield as well, but doesn't do tours), this tour talked about the history of carousels (originally used as training for jousters), the style changes (from small horses only, to larger more ornate equines, to the free-for-all styles of today), the construction (hollow casket style saves a lot of weight), and the intricate quality assurance steps that they take (look for shadows). My daughter even got to try her hand at chiseling a little. Like the lessons learned at the Whistle stop, I think that we all have a new appreciation for the beauty of the manufacturing process...

Note to self: remember to always take twice as much cash as you think that you'll need. We had to change our route home to avoid the tollways because we didn't even have enough cash on us for that...

Whistle while they work

Friday was tour day. I'd been prepping the kids with episodes of How's it Made on Discovery Science Channel while we were in Atlanta. Using the FactoryToursUSA site I mentioned awhile ago, we found a couple of places to stop on the way home that conducted tours of manufacturing companies. First on the list was the American Whistle Corporation in Columbus, OH. They are the only manufacturer of metal whistles in the US.

The owner gave a very informative presentation in the factory about how they make whistles. He made a comment at one point about how a lot of people, especially the young people these tours were for, think that there is a giant machine that you pump raw materials into one end and it spits out the finished product from the other end. He dispelled that belief pretty well as he showed us the different stations and tasks that need to happen to turn a sheet of metal into a finished whistle. He talked about everything from the importance of recycling the scraps from the die press machines, to the importance of having a whistle handy while outdoors, to the fact that they sell 30,000 whistles a year to the NY Police department. This factory (incredibly smaller than I'd imagined) was/will be featured on John Ratzenberger's Made in America.

I think it went over pretty well. And the kids each got a whistle of their own at the end of the tour. Shhh...I might have to accidentally lose them later. :-p

Cincinnati Zoo

Today's agenda included a visit to yet another zoo. We hit the Cincinnati zoo. The draw for this zoo was my wife's desire to see the new two-month-old Sumatran rhino. This little guy marked his entry into the world by breaking a record. Harapan's mom Emi became the first Sumatran rhino in history to produce three calves in captivity, breaking her very own record. One of the claims to fame of the Sumatran rhino is a very hairy body. It was quite a site to actually see the little guy running around all over the enclosure -- full of energy!

The rest of the zoo was very well laid out, again not a lot of extra walking. Thank goodness! This was another 90+ day with high humidity! A baby gorilla, a wonderful "wings of wonder" presentation, a pretty cool manatee, and a three-toed sloth that was less than a foot away from us made this yet another enjoyable zoo visit.

We listened to the trainers at the elephant exhibit for quite a while. It amazed my wife how non-chalant they were with the three female elephants that were in the pen with them. These ladies were well behaved and quite fun to see interact with the handlers. The male will be in his own little hide-away. Apparently he has a little too much testosterone to be around the other elephants (or humans)...

Oh, yeah. My daughter and 3 year old got to handle live snakes as well! My middle boy bowed out of that experience for some reason. He's all into bugs, and frogs, bodily functions/noises and other things boys, but not live snakes. Go figure!

Flash! Boom!

After we finished up at the Kentucky Horse Park today, we barely made it back into our hotel before the storms hit. Wave after wave of very intense storms passed over during the next several hours. It was mostly cloudy, though, so most of the flashes just illuminated the clouds in the sky as opposed to showing themselves as streaks raining down from the heavens.

After we got the kids down, I took a few moments to sit on the front porch and watch the storms move over. Watching storms, particularly those with heavy lightening content has been a relaxation activity for me for quite a while. As long as we didn't have to be driving in it, I really enjoyed them this trip. While the big show was happening high in the sky, this being the 4th and all, a smaller variety was taking shape a little closer to the ground. Between godly flashes of bright white, red, orange, purple, blue, yellow and others punctuated the sky. At times, the brightness of the colors competed with Mother Nature; the rapport of the fireworks echoed the boom of the thunder.

After a while, I retreated to my room to catch some shut-eye. As I searched for something on TV to help, another wave of flashes pulsed outside the window. Another hour of fireworks -- some man-made, others not -- kept me awake and amused before I finally drifted off to sleep.

I saw some new fireworks that I had not seen before and I loved the finale, but those kind of fireworks come along only once a year. Mother nature keeps me company several times a month. That's what friends are for.

Kentucky Horse Park

We decided that on this trip, we would do a special attraction for each kid. The Ripley Aquarium was for the older boy, the zoo for the younger boy, and this one was for the girl. We expected to see a well planned, well maintained attraction that she would enjoy. We were wrong -- she was FLOORED! The whole park was incredible. She enjoyed everything -- from the miniature horses (both mare and foal, and no they were not ponies), to the champion race horses here to retire (Da Hoss, Cigar ($185 shy of a $10M career!),Western Dreamer, John Henry) to the statues, paintings, competitions, and the Parade of Breeds. It was a really well done presentation and a very enjoyable, though HOT, visit.

Atlanta Zoo

After our week in NC, we headed to Atlanta to visit a friend of my wife. She has kids the same age as ours and the two of them have been Internet friends since they became pregnant with their first.

One hot spot in the Atlanta area is the Zoo Atlanta. Our family loves zoos. My wife's husband commented, "Well, that will take you a half-hour," when he heard about our outing. We spent six hours there!

The zoo is laid out well, with minimal, non-productive walking (where you don't get to see new animals along the way). Although most zoos in the US have pretty much the same collection of animals, each has their own claim to fame (read: "marketing plug"). Zoo Atlanta's happens to be a newborn panda cub. One of only four born in captivity in Zoos in the US if I recall correctly. The crowds are so great for this attraction, the zoo rations out tour slots like Disney World except for the last couple of hours of the day. They also have a Panda Cam that you can use to watch the wee one (though apparently only zoo hours -- poor marketing in my opinion).

Though the temperature was a rather hot 93 degrees and the humidity high as well, all in all, it was a very cool visit (especially after a trip to Hank's Ice Cream Parlor across the street).

Privacy

One thing that has taken a little getting used to is the assumption of privacy when you live out in the woods. At the cabin, the nearest neighbor is about a mile away and there were no blinds on the windows. No need, right? Surrounded by trees and no external lights save the moon. When there is no light of the moon, there is no light period. For city dwellers, this assumption is still a little disconcerting. My mother-in-law did cave and add blinds for us city folk in the rental unit, but her living quarters are still open to the world. I guess that's why she moved there in the first place, though. Wouldn't make sense to move 11 hours away from home to be in the mountains that you love and then block them out for 1/3 of her life.

Nature Calls

My youngest got to experience (and contribute to) nature in a whole new way this trip. He's been potty trained for quite a while, but at his age, when you gotta go, you gotta go. I'd say his bladder must not be very big, but I know differently. We try to remember to have him use the facilities before we leave anywhere so that he's not stuck somewhere when he has to go, but after a construction slowdown the other day, we found ourselves no where near anyplace for him to go. Being a boy... :-)

His first experience was at the side of the road somewhere on I-75 southbound (have you seen the layers of rocks (shale?) they have carved out there?). Then natured called again way down at the bottom of my mother-in-law's mountain -- way too far to quickly hike back up.

He still get the biggest kick out of these events. Now we just need to make sure that this is not an acceptable alternative as he grows up (in public anyway)...

Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies

Another stop on our trip this year was Gatlinburg, TN, home of among MANY other things, Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies. It boasts the longest underwater aquarium tunnel in the United States. In addition to the tunnel, they have a HUGE variety of water life, exhibits, etc. I had always equated Ripley's with the strange and unusual, and I guess this is not your ordinary aquarium, but if differs in its scale and ability to showcase so many different creatures, not a Believe It or Not atmosphere.

The Flats

Remember my comments about all of the S-curves in the mountains? It's apparently kind of a joke to the locals as well. So much so that they named the 1.5 mile section of straight road between a couple of mountains by the cabin "The Flats." Those of us that live outside of the mountains need something just a little bit longer to qualify... :-)