October 31, 2005
Halloween: A Recent Obsession
So deeply ingrained is our culture's infatuation with Halloween, you'd think that Americans had been observing it since colonial times. That's why I was surprised to learn this morning that the first recorded observance of Halloween in the U.S. didn't occur until 1921 (in Anoka, Minnesota)(where we almost bought a house once but chose not to because the city billed itself as the Halloween capital of the world. True story.).
Today, the "holiday" is second only to Christmas in the amount of money Americans spend observing it.
October 23, 2005
DFW: a.k.a. "Island of Pollen"
Those of us who suffer mightily from seasonal ragweed allergies are today (10.23.2005) taunted by this map of the United States showing pollen levels in the air...
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This is just wrong. In a universe run by Me, the red blobs would be centered on San Francisco, Berkley and Malibu, California; Madison, Wisconson; and Michael Moore's house.
October 18, 2005
Halloween Costumes for Your IPod
Yes, you read that right. Halloween costumes for your IPod. Get 'em here.
The end is near.
October 17, 2005
Double Take
After a recent visit to our friends at MarriageToday in Amarillo, I was sitting on the airplane as we began to taxi for takeoff from Amarillo Airport. As we rolled down the tarmac, I looked out the window and saw.... this!">
The only markings on the entire aircraft was the NASA logo on the tail section. (Turns out, this is a Super Guppy which NASA uses to fly big space station parts around the country.)
October 13, 2005
A New Kind of Movie?`
Steven Spielberg says he has come up with a new immersive technology that will revolutionize the movie watching experience. I guess once it becomes available... when a movie is really cheesy, it will totally surround you in cheese.
(Can you imagine being immersed, 360, in "Shanghai Surprise" or "Battlefield Earth?")
The horror. The horror.
October 12, 2005
Stupid keyboard
I am becoming more and more aware of my growing love affair with my cordless mouse. It is wonderful how many things I can do and never have to touch the keyboard. With website favorites, pull down menus for usernames and remembered passwords I can do a myriad of things without ever employing the "home row" technique. I think I just don't like to type. That isn't to say that I can't type. In high school I was purring along at 72 wpm. I am still a very efficient typist, but it has just become annoying. Recently we launched a new e-commerce site and the admin login doesn't remember my username or password. Ugh! I have to enter it every single time (which is usually several times each day). I know there are voice activated programs out there, but do they really work? I haven't heard any glowing reveiws and I certainly don't know anybody who uses any of them. Besides, it would probably be even more irritating to launch a voice recognition program just to enter a couple of fields of text. Gripe, gripe, gripe. I know, I know. I'm just waiting until we have neural implants. But that seems to be my answer for everything.
The Art & Science of Premiums
To offer a premium or not to offer a premium. That is often the question--when it comes to direct mail fundraising.
I have some time-tested rules of thumb and preferences where premiums are concerned in media ministry fundraising. But this article presents a very informative overview of premium considerations for non-profits in general. Have a look!
October 11, 2005
Those &*#%@ Security Suites
As someone very fresh and ouchy from a recent (and still ongoing) battle against some malware/adware that somehow got through three or four layers of internet security (all of which I paid extra for)--I found this takedown of the current crop of Intenet security suites by the Washington Post especially cathartic.
It's annoying enough just to have to pay for a firewall, antivirus, antispyware and antiadware software. Then to have them not even work... (mutter, mutter...)