March 2013
2 posts
This book was powerful even before I began reading...
I opened my book to begin reading on my way to work and was surprised to find written on the first page was my and my wife Julie’s names and a date, 6/21/09.
The date was the date the book had been given as a gift. The names were those who had given the book. The handwriting was that of my father — whom we lost last year on the 10th of July. There have been many days I have missed my dad,...
What does Google Glass say about who we are?
As I read about Google Glass recently, and what it does, I felt my heart sink. I thought; “Ugh, have we reached the point where constantly having screens in our hands is not enough? We have to have them in front of our eyes?”
Then… I saw the YouTube video, http://tinyurl.com/a4ucl95 and I was flat out amazed. It was fascinating and I could not believe that I was seeing...
December 2012
1 post
Musing and research on the Fiscal Cliff
Go back a year in time and put yourself in Congress.
You’re a Senator or a Congressperson. And you’re in a meeting where you realize that while you are close to some agreement on the 2012 budget, you fear that next year — (an election year with a lame duck congress) — you may not be able to reach a similar budget agreement. So you need to build in a safety mechanism if you will. Something designed...
May 2012
1 post
California Primary? More like California Tertiary.
An open question for the people of California. If you’re voting in the upcoming primary on June 5, do you really feel like you have a say in the matter?
Imagine being from the most populous state in the union and the rest of the country has decided for you already who will be your choice for President. Because that is exactly what has happened. California is not alone, but I use them as an...
January 2012
1 post
United or Untied States?
A thought or two after the State of the Union Speech and the ensuing rebuttal. If you switch two letters around “United” becomes “Untied.” I began to wonder if that‘s what we have become, The Untied States of America.
Seems like one of the biggest problems we are having as a government and as people is that we are wishing ill on the opposing party as soon as they begin. If we have a Republican...
October 2011
2 posts
Here is a thought while waiting for the economy to...
Today’s New York Times (October 27) has an article on the rather sluggish growth of the U.S. economy. http://tinyurl.com/6ynbgw6 Yes, believe it or not, we are growing. But it is slow.
A small snippet reads like this: “The stock market has rallied but consumer confidence has plummeted to levels last seen in 2008. That sentiment helped push pending sales of existing U.S. homes down for a third...
I have the greatest respect for those who clean...
I think cleaning corporate or public toilets must be one of the toughest jobs on earth to handle emotionally. So I always make it a point to say hello to the people who clean up and be more than respectful.
But I feel particularly bad when the following moment happens, as it does more than a few times a year in our office; The janitor has just come out of the bathroom and the place has been...
August 2011
1 post
Marketing and technology jump the shark
Okay, it has happened. The combination of technology and marketing has done what Fonzi did when Happy Days was a television show groping for ideas.
In a recent media blitz, Domino’s Pizza, Jess the store manager, and tecnology in all it’s wonder have pulled a Fonzi in 2011. If you haven’t seen these commercials, (and I don’t know how you could miss them, they’re everywhere) here is a link you...
July 2011
1 post
Thousands of years of civilization has brought us...
June 2011
1 post
What do people think when they see nuts on your...
So I am on my way to work this morning, sitting in solid traffic on Rt. 93 with nothing better to do than stare at the vehicle in front of me. And what do I see hanging from the trailer hitch as a decoration? A ball bag. Yep, brass testicles. Dangling in all their finery right from the back. This is not the first time I have seen these outdoor specials, but this morning I had time to to wonder how...
May 2011
1 post
What’s in your wallet?
Have you seen or heard Jerry Stiller in the currently running Capital One commercials? Of course you have. How could you avoid him? He is everywhere and he is trumpeting the value of new-school banking. You know, “If you’re not banking with Capital One you‘re banking old-school.” And Capital One is “New-School banking.” And all the communications end with the now familiar tagline “What’s in your...
March 2011
2 posts
I see you have a red exclamation point next to...
I’m not saying you don’t have something important to say, I am sure you do. But you shouldn’t feel the need to put a screaming red icon next to the “subject” line in your email. In fact, it’s actually the subject of your email, and who you are in the pecking order of the business world that denotes the importance of your communication, not the punctuation.
Allow me to explain: If your email...
Commentary on the fine art of toilet paper...
You’re out there, and we know you’re out there. I am talking about those who create seat covers out of toilet paper. And how do we know you’re out there? Well, to be honest, you’re leaving your design work behind. Whether you’re a one-sheet-at-a-timer, or you like to try to bend three or four straight sheets at once into a an oval to match the delicately curved seats of the commode, you are out...
February 2011
2 posts
I’ve been thinking. And so has Watson.
So Watson has beaten humans at thinking. And on the heels of that defeat comes news that medical professionals will be among the first to investigate the usefulness of Watson technology in helping physicians. http://tinyurl.com/6zn4qml
I must first say that I’m sure this will have some great benefit to hospitals, doctors, patients, and of course IBM. But the Watson development does leave me...
Working from home? When we say so.
Privately I was hoping for another monster snowdrop today so I could just work from home and spend the day with my family. But it wasn’t to be. I shoveled out the 4-5 inches and threw it on top of the 6-foot piles beside my driveway. And although it clearly wasn’t bad enough to stay home, it did get me thinking about past blizzards as they relate to work and snow policy.
If your company is like...
January 2011
1 post
My how things change
When my generation was growing up, a common occurrence households across the country was parents coming home to find their kids laying on the couch watching television. The familiar refrain from our parents was; “What are you doing watching the boob tube? Why don’t you go outside and get some exercise?” Well, the answer was simple; we weren’t outside playing because we HAD television, our parents...
December 2010
2 posts
A news reporters guide to snow.
Every year in New England we have this thing called snow. It mostly happens in winter, and usually we get a lot of it. We mostly look forward to it. But also every year, the local news stations bring us the news as if we are all seeing it for the first time. So, I bring you nine rules to reporting snow — every time it snows — as seen here in New England.
Rule 1. If you are a news anchor, put on a...
Santa Claus as a pitchman...
What if every company who used Santa Claus to pitch their product or service paid the equivalent of a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) talent fee to a charity of their choice? Wouldn’t that be better. Honestly Santa is arguably one of the most famous pitchmen in the world, their getting him for the cost of a costume rental and a low-rent, overweight actor. And he is supposed to stand for good. So when a...
November 2010
2 posts
I notice your calendar is open from 12-1.
If you work in Corporate America, you’re already smiling at this one. And you probably don’t even need to read it.
It’s the new way to be more efficient. Here comes the meeting maker subject: ”I see you‘re open from 12-1.” One of your co-workers has scheduled a meeting and surprise, the only time everyone is available is from 12-1, so that’s when the meeting is.
I have news for you. The reason...
When Black Friday comes...
As Black Friday approaches and I read that Walmart will open its doors at midnight, I immediately felt for the poor bastards who would wake up on Thanksgiving morning and think to themselves; “Crap, I have to go to work tonight.”
When I was growing up there was a certain sanctity to holidays. Particularly Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Years Day. These were the days where the entire country had...
October 2010
3 posts
6,543,829th commercial of the political season
Was thinking this morning (as I watched my 6,543,829th commercial of the political season) that politics is a God-awful display of human behavior. What makes this country great is freedom of speech, without it we would be nothing. But what makes politicians terrible is that exact same freedom.
During election season, every opportunity politico’s get to open their mouths, they open their asses...
Follow this line of thinking?
Wondering aloud about the whole “follower” thing and what it could be doing to the inside of some people’s heads.
In a completely unscientific study, I have begun to feel there are people out in the digital sphere whose lives have become defined by the ascending and descending numbers of their followers.
In decades past you could guess that you were becoming more or less relevant by the number...
881 degrees above normal for the year.
As of October 1, in Boston we stand at 881 degrees above normal for the calendar year. That is 3.18 degrees per day above normal. And all you hear in the news are crickets chirping.
“Nothing to worry about here folks. You can all go on back to your homes. Oh and turn on your AC.”
September 2010
1 post
The wisdom of crowds?
I was thinking this morning on this idea we hear a lot in my business these days. It’s called “The Wisdom of Crowds.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wisdom_of_Crowds
There are those who have come to believe that by soliciting input from the masses in the digital world that direction and solution can be divined. And in some ways it can be true. Like in surveys, such as “What don‘t you like about...
August 2010
2 posts
On books 110001 10 1001 and otherwise.
I just finished an article from the New york Times on the closing of an iconic Barnes and Noble in Manhattan. http://tinyurl.com/35dxp8x
Books and their electronic replacements are a constant topic in my house. My daughter Abby is an avid book reader. She could read five syllable words on her own before she was three years old. At fifteen, her trips to Barnes and Noble during summer break...
A technological leap in shaving.
Having born witness to the razor wars of the last 30 years, and by that I mean the evolution from single bladed razors to 5-bladed monsters (each one claiming to shave better than its predecessor) I became obsessed with making the leap and beating the other manufacturers to the next great thing.
Minutes of deliberate thinking have led myself and our team to be successful at bringing men and...
July 2010
4 posts
I already have something that tells me when...
Okay, is everyone tired of this Coors Light can that tells you when beer is cold thing? You know the commercial, (just one of the many) where the man comes home and there is are rose petals on the floor, candles lit in a trail to the bedroom, and his wife standing against the wall in something she just got from Victoria’s Secret? And rather than running to her, he runs to the fridge, and...
A brief history of 20th and early 21st century...
or… on the cusp of the next big thing.
First there was the phone. The ability to talk live person-to-person from different locations. Then there was the rotary dial. Then the push button dial. Then the cellular phone, which gave us the ability to talk remotely and untethered. And then — the Holy Grail — texting.
Teens were first to totally adopt the ability to speak to each other through...
The Big Dust Bunny Theory
Have you ever thought about the Big Bang theory? I mean really thought about it?
Gravity can be explained. And wind can be explained. But I have yet to have anyone convince me that our universe, filled with billions and billions of stars, (which is still expanding apparently) all began as a tiny tiny tiny tiny dot in the middle of nothing. I repeat — a tiny tiny tiny tiny dot in the middle of...
It's hot. But is it normal?
It’s not only hot, it’s not normal.
Today, July 6, in Boston, we stand at 614 degrees above the mean temperature for the year 2010.
The YTD average temperature for New England should be 46.5 degrees Fahrenheit. We stand at 49.6 degrees Fahrenheit for the year. Therefore we are running 3.1 average degrees above normal.
I believe if you poll people across New England, they would say we are having...
June 2010
2 posts
What is happening to us? →
Here’s a guy who thinks watching television is no longer enough. And he believes that being connected all the time is the only way to stay alive. So much so, that he is afraid to be disconnected. And based on the new product he is pushing, he has company. Sounds to me like he already is disconnected. Disconnected to life. Count me out. Click below to read about our future where we live with the...
Seats and the NFL
In an effort to get fans excited about the LIVE in-stadium experience in the NFL and out from in front of their HD TV’s, the league has decided to put… you guessed it more TV in stadium. Yep. Now you get to leave your couch, drive to the stadium, and watch highlights from the game you came to see live, and other NFL games on bigger TV’s. And in between, if you look down…...
May 2010
2 posts
God wants me to do what?
I have to say I have had difficulty understanding this “blow-yourself-up in the name of God” thing.
As a person who attends a place of worship on at least a bi-monthly basis, I get the God-thing. But I don’t get the God-thing in the sense that any man or woman of the cloth would ask me to do something beyond the pale in the name of God.
I imagine the conversation would go something like...
April 2010
3 posts
So you want less government?
Okay. I get it. It’s your money. You earned it. You want it. That’s a natural inclination. With the proliferation of the Tea Party movement, and Sarah Palin and her band of merry followers I thought I would offer up these thoughts.
For those who want less government, consider the following:
You lose your job. Will you refuse unemployment? Because if you want less government we can start there.
...
memory and time
I’ve begun to think a lot about time recently. Maybe because my oldest is not far from college, and my father is not well, and will not improve. Or maybe because I lost one of my dearest friends last year. She was 45. But here’s what I think. Are you ready for this?
Comprehending age is a difficult thing. One day you wake up and you’re forty years old. And you say “Holy crap. How did I get here?”...
Really? your own barcode?
So there is a new media vehicle out there today, It’s called stickybits. The idea is to create your own barcode and attach it to things. When someone comes along they can scan it and see what you’ve left for them in the digital world. Like a video, or a picture. Really? Yes. Really. My question is why? Do we really need this? According to the stickybits website you can stick your...
March 2010
3 posts
Time and speed
I can remember being about 8-10 years old, standing outside in our driveway near my dad’s car, and me telling him that the day sure went by fast. And he said to me, “You think time goes by fast now, wait until you’re my age.”
Now, I can tell you that I was at least old enough to understand the concept of time, and that the day was the same 24 hours for him as it was for me. And I had no...
Proliferation of media
Wondering if the proliferation of pages, media, apps, and manners of messaging have turned us into a whole school of “Dory’s” from Finding Nemo. Can we concentrate on anything anymore? Try ignoring your cell phone ring, or the sound of a text coming in. How long can you wait? Does the voice in your head ever stop reminding you that you that you need to check your phone, your email, your texts,...
when?
When did the country become a far left and a far right? The truth is, the vast majority of us are of the middle. The left and the right fight for our votes, and fight each other, but fighting is the last thing we need. When did the voice of the middle get cut out? Will the government ever… ever work together again? Ever?
