Pangea Day: seel life through someone else's eyes

What would it be like to see life through someone else's eyes?

TED's released a gripping little trailer to Pangea Day that gives us a sample from the not-too-distant past:

The trailer's a play on the man-stops-tank scene from Tianamen Square almost 20 years ago. While the still shot of the scene of that lone man stopping the line of tanks on their way to Tianamen Square is burned brightly in my memory, the motion picture adds a new level of enormity to this brave act.

Take the sixty seconds to watch the trailer, then go to the web site: Pangea Day to see how you can participate on launch day, May 10, 2008.

tweets o' the day

• 10:11 See you at Swell Season #
• 11:19 trying to take Google Sites for a spin, but am watching the "please wait" icon spin instead #
• 12:58 it's too beautiful, sunny and warm to not eat lunch outside #
• 19:11 getting ready to play week 2 of the scvda spring dart season #
• 22:15 GWB bs: "$4/gal gas? I haven't heard of those forecasts" out of touch? or simply stupid? #
• 22:59 rough night at the ockey. getting schooled by the best team in the league #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

Great example of leveraging a somewhat inaccurate story

Throughout my career, I've seen comm folks react to published stories with a grumble-grumble about how they were "misunderstood by the author" and "taken out of context" and other such complaints. These reactions spark up the moment the finished piece is published (and therefore out of reach to "sculpt") and are usually accompanied by exasperated hand-wringing and a "no! No! NO!" chorus as each new paragraph is consumed. Energies are then funneled into picking out everything that was "gotten wrong" in the story and crafted into a one-on-one message delivered straight back to the writer. As if anyone's going to read the retraction or errata in the next issue.

The point is: no one ever knows of the correction but the writer and the story subject.

Quick: what's the last time you read a correction in the newspaper and changed your opinion of the original piece (assuming you remembered the original piece the next day)?

So, I'm not surprised to see the folks at 37signals do a bang-up job in "setting the record straight" on their blog coincident with the just-published story about them in WIRED magazine's March 2008 issue.

In the post, Jason Fried clearly and concisely gives his side of the observations made by author Andrew Park that Jason refers to as "myths," complete with the blurb by Park that captures the myth:

• Myth: Whoever spends the most wins
  
• Myth: 37 signals customers are unhappy
  
• Myth: We don't care about our customers
  
• Myth: Complexity is a necessary byproduct of the modern age
  
• Myth: we refuse to change
  

Of course, Jason ends the whole thing giving props to Park's effort and product overall.

And that, ladies and gentleman, is a great way to get your message out in this world o' blogs.

Waiting on Mt Whitney Lottery results

At the beginning of February, I entered the lottery to climb Mt Whitney again this summer (see last year's successful climb pictures here and the video here).

Per instructions, I submitted an application via snail mail at the beginning of February. I'm hoping to lead a group of eight to do an overnight hike (just like last time) on one of the close-to-full-moon Thursday nights in July or August as my first choices, but will be happy just to get the permit for any of the nine nights I listed on the app.

Someone's crunched the data to show how many unused Whitney permits there were last year (see the spike at the end of September that coincided with the snow storm and explains why so few folks were on the trail with us September 29). Given the data, I think our odds are good in that I've asked for non-weekend days that aren't near any typical holidays.

And now I'm stuck in a holding pattern waiting for the permit lottery process to play out. My paper-based application is in a big tumbler with all the others and will be drawn out randomly to get my date assigned (and my check cashed).

So all I can do now is check the mailbox each day to see if I'm a winner. The suspense is killing me!

walking the talk on 2.0 tools

Great to see the lead article in the latest newsletter from CIO Insight is all about urging CIOs (and their ilk) to use Web 2.0 tools.

Edward Cone writes:

Understanding Web 2.0 applications is important to your business, and you need to spend some quality time using them to really get what they’re all about. The power of user-driven tools lies in the using. Just reading about them, or spending an hour or two playing with them, doesn’t do them justice; you’ve got to go hands-on to appreciate their power.

Yet, according to studies conducted by CIO Insight Research, many CIOs have limited experience with these tools. Fewer than half the CIOs participating in our 2007 Emerging Technologies Survey said they personally make use of blogs, and just over one-third use any form of social networking software; more than one in 10 respondents said they don’t participate in any Web 2.0 activities.

It's really easy to spot the tech person who's done limited time on 2.0 tools. It's far harder to understand whether they've decided to ignore 2.0 tools out of laziness or ignorance or both.

our phone number has been hijacked, so we've had to change it

Some time in the last six months or so, a person going by the name of Terry Barnes decided it'd be a good idea to put down a phone number that wasn't his on any and all forms he filled out that asked for one.

I know he's done this because we've been receiving an increasing volume of calls from businesses seeking to speak with Terry Barnes at our unlisted home land-line number.

We've only given out our unlisted land line to a select few friends and family because, until Terry threw his pursuers into our lives, we've known that when the home phone rings, it's someone we want to talk to.

It doesn't matter that we insist there's no Terry Barnes at this number, we still get called again and again as Terry defrauds more and more businesses. Collection agencies, attorneys, private investigators... evidently the "there's no one here by that name" no longer means anything to these folks: they're all on the trail of Terry and he keeps giving them our number as his own.

In seeking help with the situation from AT&T, we were informed that the only solution was to change our own unlisted number and go about informing our limited "unlisted" network that we've had to move. Evidently this particular brand of identity theft happens a lot more than you'd think. The stakes aren't as high as when they take your social security number or credit card number, but there's still a big inconvenience factor.

Aside from my bank, PayPal and Google AdSense, I can't think of anyone that's ever verified my phone number. So of course, falsifying phone numbers is piece of cake when filling out apps at Blockbuster or the library or any other place that doesn't do an extensive credit check.

Here's an idea: smart vendors should start verifying phone numbers by requiring cell numbers and making a call to said cell phone on the spot to make sure it rings.

Oh, and if you happen to get any kind of application from Terry, cut to the chase and call the cops straight away. I'm sure all those collection agents would appreciate the tip.

testing recipes for America's Test Kitchen: it's over

I love to cook, and I also enjoy testing recipes and giving feedback and helping improve the ultimate product so others can create a fantastic dish (see my post on helping create the Good Home Cookbook). Volunteer recipe testing is a fun way I can collaborate with cooks across the country/world without actually sharing the same kitchen.


Along those same lines, for the last year or so I've been participating as a volunteer recipe tester for America's Test Kitchen (ATK). I'm a huge fan of the ATK shows, and I've got copies of their last five annual recipe books. I'm also a subscriber to Cook's Illustrated, the magazine produced every other month by the same staff. I find the ATK/Cook's Illustrated approach to teaching about food and cooking is a great combination of science, technique and, ultimately, delicious food.

Through the program, I've had the opportunity to test 23 different recipes
over the course of fifteen months, ranging from pear crisp to thin and crispy oatmeal cookies to rack of lamb. Along the way I discovered a fabulous scone recipe,
one for chilaquiles (tortilla casserole) and another simple yet
delicious one for sautéed spinach with lemon and garlic.

As an ATK recipe tester, I'd get a recipe in my email every few weeks or so asking me to test it and submit feedback on both the instructions and the results. There was never any pressure to submit results, but there was
always a time window in which they needed to hear back (typically: ten
days from receipt). Of the twenty-three recipes offered, I think I gave feedback on eight of them, and 0.347 is a good batting average in baseball, right?

In the last couple months, the recipes they've sent for testing were decidedly not in keeping with my weight-loss-and-exercise program getting ready for my first triathlon in April. So I haven't submitted feedback on recipes since, gulp, September.

So, I was a little wary this morning when I found an email from ATK titled "Friends of Cook's Program" instead of the usual "New Cooks Illustrated Recipe to Test." When I opened the email, my fears were confirmed, as this is what they had to say:

Dear Friend,

Thank you for the contributions you have made as a recipe tester for America’s Test Kitchen. The information we receive through the recipe testing surveys is an invaluable asset in the development of recipes and the improvement of our publications. In an effort to continue to expand our understanding of the landscape our readers face while preparing recipes, we will be refreshing our list of testers and looking for input from new cooks.

As we update our lists, our veteran recipe testers will no longer receive new requests, as a way to allow newer members a chance to participate.

We appreciate your ongoing dedication to helping our publication's continued success.

Happy Cooking!

The Editors of Cook’s Illustrated

Perfectly in line with all the other experiences I've had with the folks at ATK/Cook's Illustrated, even this Dear John letter was classy. And I can now call myself a "veteran recipe tester."

If you're interested in becoming a recipe tester yourself, follow the link at the bottom of the ATK home page and sign up. If you've got even the slightest joy in cooking, it's a great experience (heck, I may just sign up again under a nom de cuisine).

seeing my dots on the Dopplr map

If you haven't yet signed up on Dopplr, you simply must go there immediately after reading this post to register and start using it. The Dopplr gang have created a great service that allows you to share your travel plans with friends and associates and find out when you'll be in the same city as they are be it at one another's home base or half way around the world.

And, over on the DopplrBlog, they've got a cool post on the roundup of Dopplr user statistics in 2007. The Dopplr gang refer to it as the Dopplr Raumzeitgeist or "Space Time Spirit" (that's the right translation, Dani?).

You'll have to read the post to get at all the numbers, but I found the map (minimized above, click through to see the bigger version) to be the most intriguing part of the report.

Why? Because I can make out the dots I contributed last year by while being a Dopplr user: San Francisco, Boston, Stockholm, Amsterdam, New York, Santa Fe, Seattle, Berlin, Kuala Lumpur. They're all there.

geeking out on the run: Nike+ iPod Sport Kit

I can't stress enough just how great I think the Nike+ iPod Sport Kit is in helping me to while away the miles I spend jogging.

Judging by the number of referrals from this blog over to my triathlon training blog, many of you are already following along as I prepare to run my first triathlon in April. So you're no stranger to the praise for this handy little tool that helps motivate you to run farther, faster and having more fun. For those of you who haven't visited the other blog, I think this gadget warrants a write-up here on hvy TK - Tech & Trends.

The Nike+ iPod Sport Kit works like this:

• install the transponder that fits inside your shoe (if you shell out for the special Nike shoes) or attached to your shoe via a pouch on your laces
  
• attach the receiver to your iPod Nano (it only works with the nano)
  
• follow the directions found on the new Nike+iPod menu on your iPod to track your run either by time or distance
  
• after the run, connect your iPod Nano to your iTunes and you'll be invited to automagically submit your stats to the NikePlus web site (say yes!)
  
• the NikePlus site now charts your runs (distance v pace), tracks your mileage and calories and time and pace, and allows you to set goals for yourself or challenge others to a virtual "race" where your stats are compared.
  

I've coupled my iPod Sport kit with the great steady-beat podcast mixes over at DJ Steveboy's Podrunner blog and have seen my running skills improve from barely-run-a-mile to finishing a 7.1 mile run with a smile.

Heck, if I can make this transformation with a little technology assist, anybody can do it. Give it a try!

Winter Update details for DirecTV HR20 HD DVR

It's been a week now since the winter update was downloaded to our HR20 and we were greeted with the following heads-up descriptions from our friends at DirecTV (in italics) and my commentary on each:

Menu Changes: with the larger text size and new order of things, the menu is now easier to read and get around

Um, I can't really tell if the text size is indeed larger (I'll take their word for it), and the new order of things seems to be referring to the fact that setup is now the fifth item in the list, and "manage recordings" is on the top level (was it always there?)

Screen Options: in the Guide, My Playlist or while watching TV, you can use the YELLOW color key to view available options.

This is actually a pretty cool update: pressing the YELLOW color key in the various environs results in the following menus:

• Guide: Sort programs by category, jump to a date and time, change favorites list
• My Playlist: Mark programs to delete, sort programs by category, change order of Playlist, open/close all
• Watching TV: View previous channels, Closed Captioning, Change favorites list, audio options
  

Closed Captioning: We've added a quick on/off switch to TV options. To give it a try, press YELLOW while watching TV.

I'm pretty impressed with the CC function so far, especially with two young kids who LOVE to scream and yell just when I'm trying to listen to crucial dialog.

So, they're making incremental improvements to the experience.

I'd still trade all the above to get a better signal on our local FSN-HD channel so I can see hockey in high-def. As it is, the signal's not strong enough so we suffer through pixelated pucks all the time. sigh

RSS demystified by Howard Rheingold

Last week, I gave an informal brown bag session at work on how to use Google Reader to track information flows. I'm trying to convert folks here into leveraging RSS feeds to keep on top of things instead of our old-school ways of browsing sites checking to see if things have been updated.

I started off the session with Lee LeFever's CommonCraft show on RSS in Plain Text. And then I went on to demo Google Reader and how it worked and the advantages of sharing feeds and collaborative filtering, etc.

In hindsight, I didn't do a very good job of it. Sure, they learned a little, but not all I'd hoped.

And my assessment of my effectiveness was driven home yet again when I watched Howard Rheingold's recent vlog post: Introduction to RSS. He's a great teacher, and I can learn a lot from paying attention to the little things he does so well.

For one, Howard's setup of the problem is great:

Information is abundant.
Access to information is infinitely easy
Way-finding requires skill

Finding the information that matters and knowing why it matters in the unordered flow is probably the most important task and skill in my life.

Howard starts the hunting and gathering part of in his day by reading blogs (many, many blogs) as the first level of his filtering the "unordered flow." And how he keeps up with 100s of blogs for this first level of filtering? via RSS.

Then Howard delivers the solution with a comprehensive walk through of how he uses Bloglines to track his RSS feeds.

Go watch Howard's vlog on RSS now. Your investing seven and a half minutes watching it now will be repaid handsomely as you cut down your time spent browsing and instead let the info flow to you.

Lost a Netflix DVD? Replace it cheaply via Amazon

I lost one of our Netflix DVDs (don't know where or how) and I was shocked! to find out that Netflix was going to charge me $20 to replace it.

Here's how to replace a missing Netflix movie MUCH cheaper than their quoted $20:

1. Go to Amazon.com
2. Search for the missing movie title in question
3. Follow the "new and used from $price" link (DO NOT BUY THE MOVIE NEW!)
4. Select the item in "Used - Like New" condition from the seller with the most positive feedback. Depending on the title, you'll be paying anywhere from $0.98 to $4.98 for the disc
5. Get it shipped to you as economically as possible (therefore is the cheapest method)
6. Once it arrives, remove the DVD from the packaging, put a post-it note with your name and email address on the label side of the DVD
7. Slip the post-it noted DVD into the same postage-paid mailer as your next returned DVD. If you're on the one-at-a-time plan, mail the DVD to Netflix, PO Box 49021, San Jose, CA 95161
   
8. Voila! you've saved yourself at least a month's worth of Netflix fees

FWIW, I think the folks at Netflix will forgive the first missing DVD if you tell them it was lost in the mail. Not sure how many folks actually successfully pull this "dog ate my homework" story off a single time. Needless to say, this isn't the first time a Netflix DVD has gone missing in our house.

RIP Sir Edmund Hillary

How very strange that just eight days after posting my observation that I was seeing a mountaineering theme in many things, I learn that Sir Edmund Hillary has just passed away at 88 years old.

From the AP obit, there's much to admire of Sir Ed, as New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark relates:

The gangling New Zealander devoted much of his life to aiding the
mountain people of Nepal and took his fame in stride, preferring to be
called "Ed" and considering himself just an ordinary beekeeper.

"Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest
abilities. In reality, he was a colossus. He was an heroic figure who
not only 'knocked off' Everest but lived a life of determination,
humility, and generosity," Clark said in a statement.

"The legendary mountaineer, adventurer, and philanthropist is the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived," she said.

I'm still only half-way through the account of Hillary's first summit of Everest yet I know finishing it will be an odd experience now that I know its author and protagonist has passed. He was always careful to make sure that no matter the risk, he remained in control so that no one ever died on any of his expeditions.

Granted, the stakes weren't even remotely as high when we climbed Mt Whitney last Fall. But still, our ascent left a lot to be desired in terms of coordination and caring for the entire group. Sure, half of us made it, but I still can't quite let go of the guilt of leaving the others behind to stumble their way back to the cars unattended.

As I look at the 2008 Mt Whitney Lottery Application taped to the wall of my pod, I'm more determined to return to the top this time, and to make sure the whole climbing party makes it with me. This year I hope to be the kind of climbing group leader that Hillary would be proud of.

wow, more pressure to get hi-def DVD

Thanks to kottke.org, I found this direct comparison of HD v DVD images of select scenes in Fellowship of the Rings (LeftCoastMom would approve).

You'll need to mouse over each of the ten images to see what the HD version details over and above the DVD shot.

And here I thought I could avoid the high def DVD bug (Blu-Ray looks to be the right choice?)

Tulley's dangerous things you should let your kids do

Gever Tulley is the founder of the Tinkering School and in this talk he shows how these things (really, there are six of them) will make your kids stronger and smarter and actually safer.

For those on a tight schedule, Tullye's list includes:

1. Play with fire
2. Use a pocketknife
3. Throw a spear
4. Deconstruct appliances
5. Break the DMCA
6. Drive a Car (bonus item)

He details the WHY behind the each item on the list in this TED video (embedded below), or your you can visit the TED site to see it there.

i heart radiohead all over again - scotch mist video

Thanks to @tempo on the Twitter, I found this YouTube-hosted film of Radiohead shortly after 590,000 folks had viewed it. (I'm always in the second half-million, it seems)

The film was made for New Year's Eve 2007 and features the band in the studio and elsewhere playing every song on the new In Rainbows album with some pretty bizarre interstitials. Par for the course for Radiohead fans, I guess.



If the above embed doesn't work for you, see it on the YouTube - Radiohead - Scotch Mist page.

Oh, and true to my word in my post about downloading In Rainbows for free, I've purchased the physical CD of In Rainbows, and it's on its way from Amazon.

inspirations from a soldier's "in the event of my death" post

Maj Andrew Olmsted (a prolific blogger who blogged as Andrew in Iraq for the Rocky Mountain News) was killed in Iraq on Jan 3, 2008 when his team was ambushed (and became, possibly, the first American casualties of the year).

"I am leaving this message for you because it appears I must leave sooner than I intended. I would have preferred to say this in person, but since I cannot, let me say it here."

At his request, on the event of his death, blogger hilzoy has published a post authored by Maj Olmstead to the Obsidian Wings blog.

What I don't want this to be is a chance for me, or anyone else, to be maudlin. I'm dead. That sucks, at least for me and my family and friends. But all the tears in the world aren't going to bring me back, so I would prefer that people remember the good things about me rather than mourning my loss. (If it turns out a specific number of tears will, in fact, bring me back to life, then by all means, break out the onions.)

Honoring Maj Olmstead's request, I won't speak to the politics of his passing. I can, however, speak to the emotions of the posting. It's a heartbreaking read. I can only imagine how tough it was to write (he'd last revised the post in July 2007), yet I wonder

I don't even know how to start a similar "on the event of my death" letter, but I think I should try. At the very least, it'll show me where and on whom I need focus my energies.

Oh, and let me know when it's time to break out the onions.

POST-PUBLISH UPDATE: On a second reading of this (and an anonymous tip), I think I need to clarify why I feel the need to write my own "on the event of my death" letter. Maj Olmstead closed his letter admitting he "wasn't the greatest husband." God help me if I get to the end my letter saying I wish I'd been a better husband, a better father, a better son. If I do get close to writing something like that down, it's a sure sign my current priorities are way out of whack, and I'd better change them in a hurry. There's no excuse not to. When else will I get the chance?

blood donation gone wrong: no good deed goes unpunished

One of my resolutions this year is to be a more regular blood donor. I've got O positive, so my blood's always in demand, and the only thing preventing me from donating six times a year (the maximum) is laziness. With this resolution in mind, I reacted immediately when I got my email request from Stanford requesting I come in to donate soon. I picked up the phone this afternoon at 2pm, and picking an empty spot in the blood center schedule, snagged a same-day 6:15pm appointment for a whole blood donation.

I figured I'd be able to donate and get home in time to eat dinner before the San Jose Sharks game started at 7:30. Silly me.

Instead, I got a lesson in seeing the "get out the donor" efforts employed by the Blood Banks might be focusing on the wrong part of the equation: Stop spending your resources trying to get rewards for donors (free ice cream, free movie tix, free tshirts) and instead spend your resources making the donation experience efficient and rewarding in itself.

Let's fast forward through the highlights of my blood donation experience tonight:

• I arrived for my appointment at 6:05pm (a good ten minutes early) to find the waiting area packed with others waiting to be processed
  
• I filled out my usual paperwork and started waiting for my health screen at 6:10pm
• Called for my health screen at 6:50pm, cleared by Tech A by 7pm
  
• Waited in an empty donation room for 10 minutes before Tech B finally came in to stick me
  
• Tech B botches the stick and states he has to do the other arm and must get new needle/bag kit.
• Tech B disappears
  
• I wait with no update for 15 minutes while two other techs (Tech A and Tech C) tend to other later-arriving donors
  
• At 7:30pm (75 minutes after my appointment time), Tech B finishes with the other donor and comes over to stick me in my (only) good arm
  
• I finish bloodletting in my usual 5 minutes and am cleaned up and bandaged shortly thereafter
  
• After 15 minutes resting in the canteen, I'm on the road home at 7:50pm, an hour later than I'd planned when setting the appointment, trying to figure out why I've resolved to do this to myself five more times this year
  

Looking back on tonight's experience, I see ample opportunity for process improvement here:

1. Treat your regular donors like repeat customers: thank them for the business and see if there's anything that'll ensure they come back again. I have to imagine it's harder to get a first-time donor in the door than it is to get someone to repeat
2. Appointment-holding donors should be given preference over walk-in donors, period
3. If you're running behind, respect the donors waiting by acknowledging the delay and giving your best guess as to how far behind you're running
4. Don't leave a volunteer donor alone in a room waiting to be stuck by a tech, ever
   
5. Don't pass a donor from one staffer to another without informing the donor. The donor should be the FIRST one informed of a transfer and why its happening
   

Not sure why I'm so compelled to give blood, but I know I'll be back once I'm eligible again (Feb 28). This donation was by far my least pleasant experience, ever.

It's not the fact that I had to be stuck twice. It's the fact I felt so taken-for-granted throughout the entire experience. Ample room for improvement. I'll let you know how they do come March.

NYTimes Year in Pictures: good pix, novel UI

The NYTimes has posted its 2007: The Year in Pictures collection, and of all the pix collections I've seen so far, this one is getting closest to a true navigate-as-you-wish interface.

GOOD:

• The collection is divided into nine groups with thumbnails for each on the main page
• Each group of photos can be thumbnailed and scanned (although this isn't the default setting)
• Captions for each photo (toggle on/off)
  
• For those that care, there's a soundtrack for each group (toggle on/off)
  

NOT-SO-GOOD:

• No way to see the entire collection as a set of thumbnails
• Default presentation forces the slideshow into full-screen mode
• "Drag photos to scan thumbnails" interface is nonstandard and feels weird
• Where are the links to the accompanying stories?

Overall, however, I'm impressed with the work of the crew listed in the credits: Josh  Haner, Lisa Iaboni, Tom Jackson, Sarah Kramer and Meaghan Looram

Maybe the IHT photo folks can learn from the NYT team?

Another shining example of DirecTV's ineptitude serving customers

So, after spending 15 minutes on the phone with DIrecTV's technical support the other day trying to find missing HD channels, I find the following email in my inbox:

YOUR RECENT CALL TO DIRECTV
DIRECTV Account Number: REDACTED
January 1, 2008

Thomas K, thank you for your recent call to DIRECTV. Did you know that you can access your account information 24 hours a day by simply logging in at directv.com?

When you register your account online, you will be able to:

• Pay your DIRECTV bill or sign up for Auto Bill Pay
• Upgrade your programming or hardware
• Order Pay Per View movies and events
• Update your email subscriptions

Visit directv.com and take advantage of 24-hour online access.

You are receiving this email as a result of your recent phone call with a DIRECTV customer service representative. DIRECTV reserves the right to contact you via email regarding business transactions.

Before deleting the email, I replied:

YOUR RECENT EMAIL TO ME
DIRECTV Account Number: REDACTED
January 2, 2008

DirecTV, thank you for your recent email. Did you know you can check your very own account lists to find out I've already registered my account online?

Please take a look at your call files to see why, exactly, I spoke with your customer service representative (it was for technical support with the HD DVR) before emailing non-germaine information again.

Respectfully yours,
Thomas

We'll see if I get anything but the standard bounce-back. Harrumph.