I went to a meeting at Poncho’s Grill on Strawberry yesterday. It’s this new-ish place that I wouldn’t have seen at all because I avoid Strawberry to avoid the congestion and construction surrounding the Strawberry @ Pasadena Blvd. intersection.
The place itself is not bad.
The meeting included a buffet-style hors d’eavures. There was a selection of salsas. One container, which held a safe-looking avocado-type salsa, was simply labeled “House.” I made a big mistake and poured generously on my food without tasting it first.
One bite and my mouth was on fire. I couldn’t taste the food, couldn’t drink enough or eat enough chips to make it stop.
So you’ve been warned… beware the green stuff.
General
I have the lowest-end phone you can find. No camera, no playing tunes of any kind, and it barely sends and receives text messages. I know that it will allow me to access the Web, but the phone freezes if you try. It’s a flip phone and blue. Oh, yeah, and it lets me set it on vibrate.
I can make and receive phone calls. I have voice mail. Really, what else do I need?… or at least that’s what I thought.
I want an iPhone, as soon as they become available for conspicuous consumption. If I have the money, I am going to buy myself one when they go on the market. (Money is always a factor)
I’ve been lusting after an iPod for a few years, but haven’t been able to justify the expense to myself. I will never fill it up. In fact, if I have a couple hundred songs to put on it, I’d be shocked. Yes, I do like the idea of buying shows like Battlestar so I can view them at my leisure. And, yes, I do want to take my podcasts with me. But still… I can’t bring myself to make the expense.
And for those of you rolling your eyes, let me tell you that the Houston Chronicle’s Ken Hoffman found out that it’s not so easy to fill up your iPod. There’s real commitment involved in that.
The iPhone is supposed to run OS X, have a full touch-screen, mobile access to the internet and email, and all the neat phone access as well.
I want it.
Sources:
General
Join the Pasadena Hispanic Business Association today Thursday April 26, 2007 for their April Mixer from 6 pm to 8 pm @ at Poncho’s Grill and Restaurant @ 1922 Strawberry Road.
General
Do you twitter? I’m trying to figure out the application this tool can have in business communication and crisis response.
Any thoughts?
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I signed up my RSS feeds for my blogs onto my Twitter account (using rss2twitter). Just testing to see if it workd.
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In a recent post at The Copywriter Underground Tom Chandler gives his list of Seven Writing Tools You Couldn’t Live Without:
- Copywriter
- A Sketchpad
- Sugarless Chewing Gum, because “I’m a grinder. My teeth, that is. In fact, after a couple hours of really being in the groove, my jaws hurt. Gum helps.“
- OpenOffice Writer
- Walking the Dog/Fly Fishing/Backpacking because, “You need to get out more.“
- Blog Editor
- Image Editing with PhotoFiltre
Mine, in no particular order:
- Flickr
- Firefox’s Scribefire
- Firefox
- Notepad
- my Cruzer U3 flash drive
- Open Office
- WordPress
Which are yours?
General
I’m always interested in how companies and people use new technology to communicate and connect with customers (and each other).
Don’t know what Second Life is?
Second Life is a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by a total of 3,031,536 people from around the globe.
- From the moment you enter the World you’ll discover a vast digital continent, teeming with people, entertainment, experiences and opportunity. Once you’ve explored a bit, perhaps you’ll find a perfect parcel of land to build your house or business.
- You’ll also be surrounded by the Creations of your fellow residents. Because residents retain the rights to their digital creations, they can buy, sell and trade with other residents.
- The Marketplace currently supports millions of US dollars in monthly transactions. This commerce is handled with the in-world currency, the Linden dollar, which can be converted to US dollars at several thriving online currency exchanges.
Welcome to Second Life. We look forward to seeing you in-world.
So how are people using Second Life? Harvard Law School has begun the CyberOne: Law in the Court of Public Opinion, a Second Life course that’s unlike anything I’ve heard of:
Throughout the course we will be studying many different media technologies to understand how their inherent characteristics and modes of distribution affect the arguments that are made using them. Students will be immersed in this study through project-based assignments in which they will be using these technologies to make their own arguments. For a good introduction to the class, watch this video of a discussion with Charlie and Rebecca hosted by the Berkman Center.
Shel Holtz reports that Coca-Cola has entered Second Life, taking a different approach:
Coca-Cola has entered Second Life by taking an approach other than buying an island, building an edifice, and hoping residents will stop by for a visit. Working with crayon (yes, I’m part of the team, along with several other crayonistas led by C.C. Chapman), Coca-Cola opted to break into the 3D metaverse by getting out amongst the population.
The effort is a competition, labeled “Virtual Thirst.” The idea is for residents (and, in fact, anybody else) to design a Coca-Cola vending machine that dispenses an experience rather than a can or bottle of Coke.
Sprint Nextel is using Second Life to target the Hispanic community:
Sprint Nextel continues its innovative marketing efforts towards the Hispanic community by opening the virtual doors of the first-ever Sprint Center in the 3D, online digital world of Second Life. Exclusively for Latin music fans, the virtual Sprint Center will stream pre-recorded one-of-a-kind performances from the Sprint-sponsored reality TV series, Concierto Clandestino, broadcast on the Spanish-language programming network, Telemundo. The concert series will include performances from an internationally renowned line-up of Latin artists including Paulina Rubio, Obie Bermudez, Tego Calderon, Fonseca and Belinda.
Related posts:
Also in the discussion:
General
State lawmakers are reportedly “considering a plan to abolish the high-stakes TAKS exams in high school — but standardized tests are not going away.”
That can only be good news… to an extent. Under the proposed legislation, the tradeoff would be that students would actually have to take more tests than they do right now.
Hmmm… does that make sense? I’m not a teacher, but it doesn’t sound right to me.
Source:
News
Carlos Slim recently was recognized as the second richest man in the world, and is reported to be closing in on the richest… Bill Gates.
Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim has quietly overtaken investor Warren Buffett as the world’s second-richest man and is close to wresting the top spot from Bill Gates, Forbes magazine reported Wednesday.
In the two months since Forbes calculated its 2007 wealth rankings, the 67-year-old Slim’s fortune rose $4 billion to $53.1 billion, while Buffett’s holdings slipped to $52.4 billion as of March 29.
In an article on its Web site, Forbes attributed part of Slim’s “amazing run” to a 15 percent increase in the stock price of Carso Global Telecom, part of a larger rally in Mexican stocks. Slim’s America Movil cell phone company also soared on news of a possible acquisition of Telecom Italia.
Source:
News
I haven’t tried it myself, but online dating sites are now an accepted way to meet potential dates. Here are two stories about how online tools have changed the dating scene.
Dating sites are full of smart, kind ‘hopeless romantics’
With online personals, folks don’t buy generic
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
[snip]
Katz is also CEO of E-Cyrano.com, which provides personal-ad makeovers (starting at $49). He sees so many sorry online ads, he can recite a typical one in a single breath: “I’m nice, smart, kind, warm, funny, honest, successful, ambitious and family-oriented. I like hiking, biking, movies, music, travel. I’m looking for my best friend and lover and partner in crime for a lifetime of love and laughter,” Katz said as if he were reading a radio-ad car-lease disclaimer. “There. It’s an online dating profile that anybody could use. And it’s worthless.”
Be unusual, said image consultant Kristen Kaleal, who helps make over local singles and their personal ads. “Let a little quirkiness come out, so that you’re not the same person they see 10 times,” she said.
But truth is, no matter how wonderfully enticing your description, most people won’t even get that far if your picture looks like it belongs on the post office wall.
“If you have either no photo or a crappy photo, your chances of landing a date online are pretty slim,” said Dave Coy, co-founder of LookBetterOnline.com, a site that connects online daters with a network of about 500 photographers who are experts at taking great personal-ad photos. “If you have a good recent photo of yourself, your odds go up enormously, regardless of how attractive you are.”
[snip]
Digging up dirt on your date — made easy
The Internet era means it’s simpler to find more about whom you’re seeing
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
ting used to be largely a matter of spending time with a love interest, discovering the good, the bad and the ugly in a person. If you were lucky, friends helped fill in some of the blanks.
These days, the Internet — and the ability to check people out before meeting up — has forever changed the rules.
For better or worse, “googling” your date has become standard practice.
[snip]
News
