Filed under: blogging, Business, Media, Reviews, Technology | Tags: Aston Kutcher, blog, list, top 10, twitter
I have 1000 new friends, and 500 new stalkers. I’m no Aston Kutcher in terms of audience, but I’ve learned a few things during my six months on Twitter:
- It’s less important to talk about what I had for breakfast, and better to respond to people about what they had.
- People respond. In my travels, I have called out for help and had people give me directions, make restaurant suggestions, and even proposition me.
- Businesses benefit from the direct exposure to clients, but I still see no way that Twitter can a real business plan.
- Shaquille O’Neal (@The_Real_Shaq) is by far and away, the funniest, most authentic person on Twitter. I almost forgive him for all those victories against the Kings. He deserves all 1M of his followers and is the model for how to use this site.
- Never trust a profile whose picture is a supermodel.
- If you want to drive traffic to your blog, Twitter is the best tool to do so. I would have no audience beyond friends and family without it.
- It’s less likely that you will get a personal response from anyone who has over 10,000 followers. Are you really that busy, @Obama, that you can’t DM me?
- You’d be amazed at how many people have social media as a career.
- The best days Twitter are when my sports contacts talk politics, my beer guys chat about music, and my friends connect through me (it took me a while to figure out #followfriday).
- It’s not for everyone. Some people will give up on it after a week, but they will come back. Others will simply never get it, and that’s ok.
I know there is much more I can learn, but so far I’ve had fun.
Click here to follow me on Twitter.
Filed under: Editorial, Entertainment, Predictions | Tags: Adam Lambert, American Idol, Danny Gokey, Kris Allen, Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell, Susan Boyle
The Top 3 performed last night, and as one would expect at this point in the competition, the singers all did well It is hard to identify the favorite, though the judges clearly have their favorite in Adam.
I predict that Adam will NOT win. There is no way that middle America will vote for this guy. The judges may be ready for painted nails and ambiguous sexuality, but I don’t see how this guy would appeal to the 12 year old ‘tweens who do most of the voting. OK, 12 year old girls and 30 year old men. [That's normal, right?]
I swear to gawd that my cat became scared when Adam started his whaling. Hell, it scares me. Maybe I am still better because the guy butchered Johnny Cash, but guy-liner will only get you so far.
I hope Danny Gokey wins, but I think the Kris Allen may shock the world with the upset.
P.S. I still think that Susan Boyle would eat these guys for breakfast.
Filed under: Editorial, Predictions, Sports | Tags: Alex Ovechkin, Carolina Hurricanes, Eric Staal, hockey, NHL, playoffs, Sidney Crosby, Stanley Cup
The NHL playoffs have been great so far, with the exception of my Sharks losing in the first round. Like most fans, casual or devoted, I am particularly enjoying the Capitals-Penguins series, starring the inarguable best players in the league, Sidney Crosby and Alexander Ovechkin. They have rightly earned the attention and are fitting subjects for the debate over who is the best in the NHL.
With most of the attention on that series, many of us are missing one of the NHL’s great stories. The Carolina Hurricanes have been quietly rolling through the Eastern Conference playoffs. They upset the New Jersey Devils in dramatic fashion and are on the verge of knocking off top-seeded Boston. Remember that it was only 3 years ago that Carolina won the Cup in a similar fashion.
A lot of credit should go to Eric Staal, and I think he is overlooked as a top player in the league. Sure, he has some accolades, but he is never mentioned in the sentence as Ovechkin, Crosby, or Malkin. When his efforts to save Carolina and beat New Jersey happened, all the attention was put on Martin Brodeur losing.
Seeing as how Eric Staal has already led his team to win the Cup, is leading the league in playoff goals this year, and is doing so on a team that is not as good as other East teams, the guy deserves more credit than he receives.
Filed under: Business, Editorial, Politics, Rant, Society | Tags: court, economy, jury, legal, trial, unemployment
I recently received a jury summons, and a thought crossed my mind. I am actually very interested in serving, but this particular instance comes at a somewhat inconvenient time, seeing as how I am balancing full time work and part-time grad school. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate is over 10% (as high as 12%, I have heard in the Bay Area). Many (if not most of these people) are currently receiving unemployment wages from the government. Why not force them to serve? I don’t mean that in a demeaning way. I understand their hardships, but if they are receiving a substantial amount from the government, they might as well as give back some time in civil service.
I know a couple of people who have lost their jobs and the unemployment check actually seems to deter their job searching efforts. If the government were to mandate jury service for those receiving unemployment funds, they would actually see some ROI.
Filed under: Conspiracy, Editorial, Media, Politics, Rant, Society | Tags: disease, epidemic, pandemic, swine flu
Remember SARS? And the Chinese Bird Flu? Those are a couple of recent examples of so-called pandemics that amounted to nothing significant. The swine flu has become the next media-hyped story that is likely to disappear soon. But please, people, do not stop living your lives. I have read stories today advocating the prohibition of hand shakes and the two-week postponement of high school sports activities.
I understand this is a real disease and people are getting sick and dying. My sympathy does go out to those who are affected. It’s a sad reality that 36,000 Americans die every year to the flu [Source: Center for Disease Control]. Did you lock your kids up then? My point is that this disease is not the apocalyptic world-crusher that has dominated the headlines. When someone in your office coughs, please do not quarantine them.
If we let the media control our life because they simply give a disease a silly name, we would never leave our homes. If you can’t avoid being scared of something, be afraid of something much more likely to affect you, like heart disease or diabetes. This is Y2K all over again. Live your life, people, and enjoy your bacon.
P.S. Have you noticed that we the media likes to blame animals for our diseases? Birds, pigs, monkeys… all innocent victims.
Filed under: Predictions, Rant, Sports | Tags: Anaheim Ducks, hockey, Joe Thorton, NHL, playoffs, Predictions, San Jose Sharks
The President Trophy winning San Jose Sharks have been ousted from the playoffs (there goes my prediction) and now I am left to wonder, what can we do next season?
Does the team rebuild one of the best teams in the league? The team’s best players rose improved and new stars emerged. Thorton and Marleau were dominant throughout the regular season and Nabokov was his usual steady self. Dan Boyle and Rob Blake anchored an improved defense. Setoguchi overachieved in his sophomore year. They did everything right, but were simply outplayed by a more focussed opponent.
Personally, I think the Sharks’ tragic flaw is that they were so focussed on the Stanley Cup finals this year, that they ignored the later rounds. I noticed during the regular season that the Sharks would struggle against poor teams, but look their best against the top teams. A case of playing down or up to their opponent?
Does a change of leadership make sense? We brought in a new coach and the Sharks had their best season ever.
Was it just bad luck? Anaheim had the best second half of the season and was able to sneak into the playoffs as a tough 8-seed. They rode a hot goaltender, who deserves a lot of praise. I don’t argue that Anaheim’s top line outplayed the Sharks’ top line, but it’s tough to argue for making drastic changes.
Still, as a perpetually disappointed fan, I think there should be a shakeup. I advocate trading Cheechoo (his stock may still be high, even though he has fallen from his Rocket Richard trophy year), or even some young stars like Michalek, Pavelski, or Ehrhoff. Crazy as that may sound, I still think the Sharks are deep enough to be competitive, but the fact of the matter is, we cannot win in the playoffs with this group. I have a lot of confidence in GM Doug Wilson and the front office to continue to find good, young talent in the draft, so maybe it’s time we look farther ahead.
It’s going to be a tough off-season wondering what went wrong. See you on the golf course, Sharkies.
Filed under: Business, Editorial, education, Rant | Tags: education, MBA, Silicon Valley
I am currently sitting in class for a one-unit course in my MBA program. We have an accomplished Silicon Valley businesswoman as a speaker, and her stories are interesting. Usually these accounts are a nice complement to a lecture, but in this case, there is no lecture. It’s pure narcissism.
The class activity was to write down a question to ask the speaker and hand it in. I haven’t done that since the fourth grade.
To make matters worse, it’s a Friday evening and I am sitting in this class listening to these over addicts ramble on about their exploits in M&As.
The painful class aside, let me explain a worrisome bigger problem with this program. During today’s class, the professor got locked out of the computer that is in the class. She tried to type her password, but that would not work. She asked the class for assistance. Not a bad idea, considering she has an audience of 40+ Silicon Valley types (probably 50% of which are engineers). A few people chimed in and essentially were trying to hack into the machine.
I am not an engineer, but the solution is so much simpler and obvious. Unplug the computer and start over.
Elementary.
Filed under: Entertainment, Predictions, Reviews, Society | Tags: Adam Lambert, American Idol, Britian's Got Talent, David Gokey, music, Simon Cowell, Susan Boyle, YouTube
If she hasn’t done so already, Susan Boyle’s voice will make you pause and smile. As much as I enjoy this story, I have to admit the first time I saw the now famous YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q-KSEDBFXY), I thought it was a joke! I’ve accepted that it is real, and I hope Ms. Boyle enjoys her journey toward stardom.
As a fan of American Idol, I wonder how well she would do on our show across the pond. Certainly she has the superior talent, but she lacks the star image and stage presence that our US fans vote for. We know she has impressed judge Simon Cowell, but is it enough to steal votes from ‘tweens who vote for the likes of Adam Lambert and David Gokey?
Although I am a fan of Susan’s, I don’t want her to succeed. I know that sounds awful, but let me explain: I think her charm is that she is not a star and has such a seemingly simple life. I think if recording studios or Broadway got a hold of her, they would reshape her into something she is not.
What do you all think? Should she stick to her YouTube fame, or should she take on a bigger career?
Filed under: Business, Editorial, Politics, Rant, Society | Tags: free market, Maersk-Alabama, navy, Obama, pirates, Richard Phillips, somalia
I was delighted to read that the US Navy was able to rescue Captain Richard Phillips from a band of Somali pirates. I am amazed at the level of skill that it took to take down three pirates. Reports say that a team of Navy SEALs parachuted into the area and were picked up by a US destroyer. From the fantails of the destroyer, three SEALs each took a single shot and took down the three pirates simultaneously. Think of how difficult that is:
- they are in the open sea–not exactly steady, plus who knows what wind and weather conditions existed
- the shots were fired at night time
- the distance is unknown, but we can be sure it was not your standard “10 paces”
- The targets were on a lifeboat, which was probably rocking at the time
- No second shots were needed
I applaud President Obama for his approval of this course of action. It is not an enviable position to judge whether or not a criminal should be executed in this way. However, I agree with the military leaders who determined that Richard Phillips was in “imminent danger”, thus justifying this action.
Some critics say this action was excessive and/or does not deter piracy. Other pirates are clamoring for revenge and vowing more violent tactics. Our military (along with other countries who support free market economies) should maintain a military presence in this troubled area and protect our interests. Other critics call for reforms to be made on land in Somalia to deter piracy. I agree, especially when there are ports who harbor these thieves. While we do not have jurisdiction on those areas, we can control the seas with other countries who work an
I am pleased to know that our country is taking action to fight the scourge of piracy. The situation also reminds me of one of the toughest jobs in the world is being a marine merchant. Tough journeys, long stays from home, and unpleasant conditions. What’s worse is that international laws prevent merchant ships from being armed, so you can see why these pathetic pirates can easily take hostages.
Good to know the military has their back!
