Coupon site

Here's a site you can use to save a little green this holiday season.

Civics test

A friend passed this one along. He said that US officials scored 44%. I scored better than them, but I'm still not as smart as a fifth grader. :-(

We should all know and care about how our country works, and why it works that way. Some of this may seem like trivia, but in the end, it's what makes America... America

How do you score? Find out by taking the Civics Test.

Don't save the planet!

There! Got your attention. :-)

I was watching a low-budget film on the Sci-Fi channel the other day. It was about some scientist who's attempts to save the world from global warming had led to the creation of an invention that had gone astray. Typical sci-fi disaster film (but without the 300 foot monster).

In the midst of this terror, many people had been trapped in a lab with the scientist and only he had the code to let them out. In his despair over not being able to save the planet because of the device failure, he was putting the rest of the occupants of the building at risk as the lab collapsed around them. One of the scientists pleaded with him to "wake up" and help them escape. In trying to convince him to help, she
commented a fatal flaw in his pursuit -- that he thought he was trying to save the planet. The planet doesn't need to be saved. It will be here millions of years after we all die. What he was really trying to do was save the people (or "inhabitants" to rightfully include the "flora and fauna" as well). Thus, he could still save people of the Earth by helping them escape the building was her logic.

That got me thinking about all of the other "green" initiatives that are so prevalent in the media now days. They all talk about "saving the planet." The planet is a big rock floating through space. Hundreds, if not thousands of others just like it exist in the universe (plus or minus intelligent life). Why should we care about this one. Um... 'cuz we live here!

How much more personal, and effective, would those campaigns be if they asked for assistance in saving someone's life -- your mother, father, sister, brother, son, daughter, grandson, grand daughter, great-grandkids, etc...

I wonder...

Analog Google

OK, we all know that Google is a dominant player in all things digital. I've talked about Goog-411 (800-466-4411) before as an essential number to have on your cell phone, but I was surprised to see it on an analog phone the other day while shopping. Clearly this was the phone manufacturer's attempt to up-play it's otherwise lack-luster run of the mill cheapo phone. "Capitalize on Google's name, sell more product." It appeared to be an official logo (not sure if they paid for it's use or whether it's legal or not). Called out right underneath the LCD display was a button with a Goog-411 logo on it. The obligatory "burst sticker" image was on the outside of the box proclaiming it's compatibility with Goog-411 as well. Well, duh. Can't ANY phone make a toll-free call?

Brother, can you spare a dime?

Most Americans are seeing a little (or a lot) less green in their pockets these days. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their jobs, and even their houses in the last few years. Thankfully, I've lost neither yet. Times are definitely tight, though. Well, unless you're the CEO of a major company.

Corporate excess has been around for a long time. Corporate greed has been around for even longer. People who have it, like to flaunt it. That's most of the fun in having it for them. I understand that. When a company is doing good, and rolling in dough (though legitimate means), I have no problem with that. It's a fact of life. But… When your company is bleeding red ink, and jobs just as fast, you need to have a bit of humility and compassion.

The banking industry is the first recent example. Million dollar golden parachutes, millions in bonuses, even as they are seeking (and got) $700 Billion, that's Billion with a capital 'B', from the Government. No wait, the government is handing it out, but it's us taxpayers who they're actually getting the money from… After receiving the bailout, the big-wigs went on an executive retreat costing more than a few bucks. Can you say "rub salt in the wounds?"

Then, after everyone swallowed that reality came the Automotive industry looking for $25B in governmental assistance. Whether it's a loan or a bailout is still a toss-up. But they still live in the public eye as wealthy barons. The automotive CEOs took a lot of heat on Capitol Hill yesterday. I caught one quote last night that really seemed to sum up the complaints. To paraphrase, "you guys rolled in here in Rolls Royces with a tin can held out looking for assistance." I can picture that in my head. And that's the same image I had ahead of time, too.

When one Senator (?) proposed that each of the CEOs take a pay cut from the millions they are currently paid to a more reasonable $1 given the current situation, two of the three said "No thanks." COME ON! You think that they would seriously be impacted, I mean down to the level that the rest of us peons are surviving on, if they gave up their salaries for a year or two?! Their interest on investments alone make more in a day than most of us make in a year! Heaven forbid they might actually not be able to eat $250 dinners EVERY night any more. They might have to cut back a little.

Once they get that silver spoon in their mouth, they just don't wanna let go. I understand, but that says a lot about their character. 'Nuf said.

As for the bailout, I'm still on the fence. I'm mad as hell about the bank bailouts, and the possibility of the Auto bailout. Toss that 700 BILLION over to us that need it a little more and we'll jump start the economy! The banks will get a lot of it anyway as we pay off our growing credit card debt, our mortgages that are bigger than our house valuations. The retail and service outlets will see their share as well as we repair/replace all the things that are falling apart that we've not been able to afford for several years. Even the retail food industry will benefit as people actually have the money to "splurge" and eat out again as a release from the stresses of debt.

I'm not an economist, and I have never played one on TV. I'm not a psychologist, but I've listed to many people complain about their situation. I know very little about high finance, investments and how the "world really operates," but I can tell you this – I'm not alone in my thoughts that the arrogance of people with money does nothing to endure them to us at lower end of the economy. Their day will come. I just hope that our day will come too – soon…

Short Term Memory Checker

I've hooked quite a few people on the eye test in the past several days. That's a good thing (unless you're getting eye-strain and can't see straight anymore!)

Here's the next site to keep you on your toes. This one is the Short Term Memory Checker.

How many lower case letters are in the alphabet?

WRONG! That's what I thought too! But, NOPE!

It's report card time and my wife received them when the kids brought them home the other day. She had already had a chance to digest them before I got home. I asked how they were and she said that they were really good, but...

Then she asked me how many lowercase letters are in the alphabet. I thought this was a trick question. We've both joked about falling behind my 5th grader already and having trouble helping her with homework, but surely I knew the answer to this one... I replied 26 with a bit of trepidation.

Apparently... There are 28. The "a" and "g" get special cousins included now as well. And I was just getting used to the idea of "New math" -- though I still don't know what it means.

The "a" can be made as a circle with a line down the right side (that's one), and it's cousin is drawn with a hat on top (that counts as a second). The normal "g" was a circle on top and a curved line down the right side with a tail off to teh left. Its cousin (now apparently an official part of the Letter family tree) looks like a circle on top with a slightly squished and offset circle underneath.

I've given up playing "Are you smarter than a Fifth Grader?" I already know the answer, but GEEZ. Now even kindergartners have one up on me? That's not right! :-(

If Dilbert's funny... it's time to find a new job

Cross eyed

Eye test game: http://woodgears.ca/eyeball/

Trophy Kids

The Wall Street Journal had an interesting article the other day entitled "The Trophy Kids Go to Work." It talked about what they're terming the "Millennials", those born between 1980 and 2001, entering the workforce and how they feel entitled to a lot of things in the workplace that others may not agree with. I've heard this theme for quite a while now in business magazines and books. For those born in the boom years, when money was a lot more free flowing, it seemed like all they had to do was ask for something and they got it. Need new clothes -- here you go. Want a job that provides free meals -- plenty to choose from. Want to work from home 3 days a week -- take this company laptop with you and let us pay for your Internet connection too.

Those days are gone, for most of us at least, if we ever got to see them in the first place. But the entitlement mentality of the working class coming up behind us has not caught up with reality.

I'm all for paying your dues and earning perks, but it seems that the next generation seems to think along the lines of "pay me a lot and give me a bunch of perks and I'll show you that I deserve them." The real world says, "Show me what you're worth and I'll reward your efforts." I guess that doesn't apply to CEO bennies though :-( Have fun with that bailout money guys!

No problem!

I was reading a James Patterson book the other day when something that one of the characters noticed caught my attention. He made an observation that when he had thanked someone for a particular task, the reply was, "No problem" as opposed to "You're welcome." That might seem a little insignificant, but I have noticed that myself in the past several weeks at work as well. Not just others responding that way (usually in an instant message session), but myself as well.

In reality, it wasn't a problem, but it still seems like one of those things that you use to cover up something. Kinda like the "favorable" letter of recommendation -- "We would be happy to see Johnny work for your company..." when what they really mean is "get this guy outta here he's crumbling our company!" No problem almost makes it seem like you meant to say, "you inconvenienced me, but I did it for you anyway." You're welcome sounds more like you are almost honored to be helping someone else. That's the way it should be. Helping others should make us feel good. I love to share information with people at work, or do something quickly that I (and they) know would take them much longer. It's a lot easier, when I've got the time, to just write a quick query, or create a pivot table, or send them a URL I already have, than for them to mess around, dig for an answer and get frustrated. We both benefit. I get a sense of being useful and they get to move on to be more productive.

The people I work with are all pretty technical -- in their own realm -- and sometimes I feel a little "beneath" them in a jealous way. They seem so smart, spouting things with such confidence and knowledge, about things that I just don't understand. It's not a belittling act on their part at all, it's just that I don't "live in their world." So when they come to me for something that they know I know a lot about (MS Office, SQL, the data in, and structure of, our database), it makes me feel worthwhile.

Although it's not as quick of a finger combination for me yet, I've actually started using "yw" as a shorthand closing in my instant messaging conversations as opposed to "np." It makes me feel different some how. As an added bonus, when I have to explain what "yw" means to someone, I think it makes them stop and appreciate the assistance more as well. Sometimes it is the small things that really make you stop and think...

Snapshots of History

Earlier this week, Barack Obama made history when he was elected President of the United States. Regardless of who you voted for, it was a significant achievement for America.

If you want to see how the rest of the world is viewing this presidential selection, jump on over to Newseum's collection of front page newspaper covers for the day after the election.

"Star Wars" - an a capella tribute to John Williams

Playing catchup

Been a while since I've had to time post anything, so I've built up quite a few draft articles I'll try to pump out tonight. Sorry for the dry spell. Thanks for reading!

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The Smithsonian reports:

"The International Radiotelegraphic Convention adopts three dots, three dashes and three dots - SOS in Morse code - as the standard wireless distress signal, on November 3rd, 1906. Chosen because it is easy to send and hard to misinterpret, the signal, which doesn't actually stand for anything - not even Save Our Ship - can't save the Titanic, which sends out SOSs in 1912. In 1999 a global satellite system replaces SOS on all large ships"