Smilin’ Bob’s Cafe of Thought

"I can't reach the trees. This hurts me"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIULIJxVr7A

h/t shippedout via SDA

and thanks to tnoyf.com

 

UPDATE: well, the embed didn't work... how about a link instead...

Comments [0]

I am getting better at failing faster

I was reminded by a friend of the beautiful thing that is the Opera web browser.

It is blazing fast, it has a great e-mail function with the world's most awesome e-mail search function and it is free.  What more could you ask for...

I am glad you asked.  There are two things I would ask for:

1) The ability to send and handle read receipts on e-mails.  It is not a deal killer for me, I just would like to be able to choose how to handle them and not ignore them by default.
2) Flash compatibility that works.  The incompatibility between Opera and most of the sites I visit frequently has been nearly eliminated in version 9.5.  However, there is the odd secure site (banks for instance) that refuse to play nice with Opera.

There is one other issue, but that has to do with downloading my massive inbox into Opera's IMAP mailboxes.  Nobody has figured out how to play nice with gmail or Google Apps' IMAP configuration.  Hopefully the much rumored Google Gears e-mail client is really just around the corner.  (Thanks to ReadWriteWeb for the information.  The article is short and informative even with the broken links)

After several hours of playing with settings (download headers, download messages, do not download All Mail) to no positive effect, I guess it is Thunderbird and Firefox for the foreseeable future.  It's not that I don't love Mozilla, I just think they could do better.

P.S.  I know what you are thinking: Why don't you just use the web interface?  Speed is the primary reason.  Searching my mail via the gmail interface is slow and the goat rope required to tag emails is absolutely painful compared to Thunderbird's Nostalgy extension.

 

P.P.S.  About the failing... It only took me 24 hours to load Opera, tweek it and realize that as much as I like it there is no way it will work for what I want.  I failed to make it work...  but it only took one day...  I wish all of my failures were as quick.

Comments [0]

Kicking myself for missing an opportunity to make my company better

One of our competitors has gone through some difficult times lately. One of their most senior people has a stellar reputation in our business.

Having been through similar circumstances, I gave some thought in June to opening up a line of communication with him to let him know that if the corporate politics got to be too much, we might have a home for him at our company. You know what they say, always higher smarter people than you.

I got word late today that another of our competitors has hired him. My inattentiveness to executing a strategy to at least have been in the hunt has cost us an opportunity to improve our already strong competitive position.

The good news is that the company he went to may or may not be able to keep him happy. I hope that in six months I will have the opportunity to right my wrong.

The ongoing question in my mind is how appropriate is it to contact a high level member of a competitor company directly? Is there an easy way to get the word to him through a third party or is that old school?
What should I do differently next time?

Comments [0]

Why we should vote for a Democrat this November

That is probably not the headline my friends would expect to see here, but Bob@OilfieldTrash offers some interesting insights into why he is voting Democrat this election season.  He almost has me convinced. 

Thanks Bob, for opening my eyes.

Comments [0]

Another video I can't watch without laughing

What a great way to see the world! Get a gum company to pay for it.


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo.

Comments [0]

I haven't a clue...

...about what all of this social networking is about.  I have Twitter, I have FriendFeed, I have Facebook, I have MySpace, I have... well, I must have something else.  And this is how I use them:

• MySpace: Haven't been on it in months.  Too much crap, not enough meat.
• Facebook: I get on occasionally, but it has mostly served as an opportunity for others that I have lost touch with to find me and vice versa.  That is worth something. I update my Facebook status via...
• Twitter: I still don't get Twitter, but I do like bragging about eating a club sandwich
• FriendFeed: I don't much get this either.  I like having all of this information collated in one place, but what good does it do?  Although I do keep track of all of my shared RSS feeds from Google Reader.  Also, please ignore my FriendFeed picture... It was taken when I was playing with the camera built into my MacBook.

Here is the next great step in web technology (Web 3.0 perhaps?).  If you want to get rich on the web, figure out a way to teach people like me how to use all of these services and get something out of them.  I want to understand, really, I do.

If you can help me out, drop me a line.  Somewhere on these social networks there has to be a way to get in touch with me... leaving a comment here would work also.

P.S.  I am also on LinkedIn... I knew there had to be one more!

Comments [0]

The end of $4 gasoline

The end of US$4/gallon was near when Dodge started paying all gasoline costs in excess of $2.99/gallon with the purchase of a new car.  I know the U.S. auto makers are not always the smartest bunch on the block, but nobody is going to make a bet like that without either a huge hedge (ala Southwest Airlines) or a pretty good feel that the dollar has to strengthen and the price of oil (in dollar terms) has to go down in order for the economy to recover.

Of course, maybe they are not actually paying the difference... maybe they have found a way to hedge.

No matter how they went about it, somebody has figured out a way to make money from reducing the cost of fuel.  Pretty cool.

Comments [0]

TP is on the cover of NBA Live 09

Tony Parker has taken on his wife's role as a cover model.  Here's hoping next season is more like DWade and not like T-Mac. 

Go Spurs Go!

Comments [0]

State of the Art in Green Technology

This is an economizer.

It will find it's final home in the boiler plant of a large chemical company on the Gulf Coast of Texas. It will reduce their fuel consumption by approximately $3,000,000 per year. They will combust less fuel and release fewer emissions into the atmosphere while allowing the rest of us to enjoy the conveniences we have come to know and love.

Almost brings a tear to one's eye, doesn't it?

Comments [2]

A "Me Too" post - Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

This just cracks me up...  even if they do randomly break out in song

 

Comments [0]