Linked-in, Facebook for dorks

I have always thought the social/business networking site Linked-in was like Facebook for dorks. Facebook is more like going out with friends; but friends you don't really want to go out with for more than ten minutes. I don't know of anyone that has really gotten a business connection or a job through a contact of theirs on Linked-in. I am willing to bet more people have actually gotten jobs through Facebook. Linked-in is like the awkward networking event where you don't really talk to anyone but you pretend to know everyone in your profession. The one thing that is cool about Linked-in though (albeit not that cool since Facebook does the same thing) is that it gives you your own personal 6-degrees of yourself, just like the 6-degrees of Kevin Bacon. It lets you know that someone is a 2nd degree connection if they are friends of a friend. If Linked-in could make a goofy app so that you could play six degrees of yourself and post it on your friends page it could make serious money. And who is using Linked-in Mobile? Why are you telling me you are on a business trip?

Happy Holidays

I am pretty good about being politically correct when I should be, and saying "happy holidays" instead of Merry Christmas. But I found myself in an awkward position yesterday. I was in a store and it was only me and the woman that worked at the store. She was really personable and helped me find what I was looking for. Then after she rung me up (is it rung me up or rang me up?) anyway, after she did that, I felt compelled to wish her a Merry Christmas. You know, personalize it a little. But I was going to err to the Happy Holidays greeting only because she looked kind of Jewish. But then I thought it might be a little offensive since the Jewish holidays were over and it was basically the day of one of the two remaining holidays left (Christmas and new years). Well, I ended up saying "have a great holiday" and thought that was a pretty good compromise. But damn, not all brown haired people are Jewish. I am just surprised she didn't tell me to have a great Hanukkah.

Santa as a young man

You've never really seen what Santa Claus was like as a young man. There aren't any friends of his that have come forward with revealing photos of him on facebook. Maybe Mr. Claus has paid them off not to reveal any harmful pictures of him in return for always being on the "good" list. Santa doesn't want to become the next Tiger Woods and lose his lucrative endorsements from Coca-Cola and I don't blame him. But I would imagine he looked kinda like this guy.

moths

I was thinking recently about how you never hear about moths eating clothes anymore and it got me wondering if moths still actually eat clothes. It feels like moths only eat old peoples clothes or old peoples clothes that live in old houses. You don't hear too much about a moth eating a 28 year olds clothes. Nobody really smells like moth balls anymore either, and no one is building cedar closets anymore to keep the moths away. And has anyone actually ever seen a moth eating clothes? I don't think anyone has ever caught a moth in the act and if they have I want some proof!

developer speak

Along the same lines as the last post, developer speak drives me crazy. It's like 33% more free, except that maybe we really are getting 33% more free whereas developer speak is all make believe. Developer speak just doesn't make any sense period. I've been noticing a lot more developer advertisements for condos since my job mostly revolves around developer work. For example, I see developers write "oversize windows" all the time. To me, that doesn't sound good. Oversize? Are the windows too big? Here are some other good ones. "Spacious walk-in closets with built-in vinyl coated wire closet shelving systems." No way! vinyl coated wire closets! Just like they sell at Home Depot! Amazing! "Maintenance-free, energy-efficient insulated fully operational custom casement windows." Fully operational windows! You mean not those half assed broken ones? "Category 5 telephone wiring with broadband coaxial cable and Internet ready receptacles throughout each residence" seriously? When people are considering buying a condo are they really debating between the really nice one with the great location that's affordable, or are they saying "well, I don't know about that one honey, I mean this one has Category 5 Coax... can't really overlook the wiring." More often than not, I am unfortunately starting to believe that people really are only considering if their condo has granite countertops and is close to a Starbucks... They could care less about anything else. Except maybe some good coax cables.

33% more free!

For some time now, I have been noticing that all kinds of products are offering a lot more for free. Cereal boxes, toothpaste, bags of chips; they are all offering more free. I assume they are offering 30 percent more than last months package. Or some say they are 30 percent less fat... Less fat than their previous container? I have seen this going on for years. You'd think that the containers offering 30 percent more would be huge by now. At least 250 times what they offered three years ago. It should increase exponentially shouldn't it? And if we keep getting less and less fat per serving, it should have no taste by now. We should be in the negative fat category. Looks like the boxes are staying a pretty similar size to me. Or the Crest with the extra whitening...Do I really need "extra" whitening? I think sufficient whitening would be enough.

artemide window design competition

In keeping with my previous new years resolution of participating in design competitions, I've signed myself up for another one. This time the competition is sponsored by the local Philadelphia Artemide store. For those of you not familiar with Artemide, it's a high-end lighting store. You'll see a lot of their lamps and fixtures in most of the expensive buildings you have ever been in. So anyway, the task was to design a display for their window on 2nd Street using their lamps. The theme was to create a light as stimulus. Naturally the best stimulus I know of is alcohol, so my submission plays on that fact. It's tougher than you think designing around thousand dollar fixtures. So here it is... comment away. Judging takes place December 18th. I'll keep you posted.