While funny it does make me sad. See The Daily Show’s take on George Bush’s take on Russia invading Georgia (the country)
PS- why does my hosting provide have a blog config that still prevents me from using embeds? This + my inability to influence NS and layouts may actually drive me away from this hosting provider.
I was going to write a longer post about this commercial I just saw for this 9/11 commemorative but a quick Google and here is a nice summary. I guess I’m just curious how things like this are legal to market the way they do. If you have to advertise that you’re “currency” isn’t associated with the mint or the government then maybe you’re crossing a line.
A couple things I do want to point out:
The BBB doesn’t have any confirmed details on National Collector’s Mint, the company selling the commemorative, but you can read what they do have in this BBB report.
I feel like asking Adam Nash to give me his opinion on this stuff… I bet he either would have a ton to say or that he would just say, “Don’t be stupid” and leave it at that.
I should send a shout out to J Scot Steinhorn and Carol Dombrowski who were married yesterday in Atlanta. I hope you guys are having a ball and look forward to when you move back to CA! 
We’ll do a little toast for you guys this Wednesday and maybe we’ll have a pink theme or something to match Carol’s colors.
Yes… yes… yesterday afternoon I went out after lunch and got a hair cut. I’m not back to the high and tight of pre-wedding Bill but I am sporting hair that just goes to the shoulders. I prob lost 5+ inches of hair and I think it came out pretty well. I prefer it pulled back today but it is nicer looking now that it has been cleaned up a bit.
2 people at the office commented on it- one who had previously complimented my longer look and one that liked the shorter look from the facebook profile. Funny the things people notice. I understand that I looked a bit bushy and out of control but being that I never look at myself (which my friend Yuval attributes to an odd form of self esteem) I can’t tell if it looks different to other folks.
So- Alice has to ask me to enable the Tivo preferences so she can record the Olympics. Huh? So I log in and apparently I have to change my privacy options to enable this. Apparently this is part of the “guru guide” tools.
On one hand I can see this from the business side… smart to use such a stunt event to encourage use of this feature. On the other I hate having to give up personal usage stats (even though I understand it allows for better targeting / recommendations). But ultimately I assume Tivo is logging everything and my privacy is a myth anyway.
Yesterday and most of this week were excellent examples of suckness but also plenty of good stuff happened and that the suckness was a good reminder that I have nothing but first world problems.
Case in point… yesterday was full of stress over an impending release and a bunch of dropped balls. Still… I was able to work from home, attended several conf calls, and still managed to squeeze in Korean BBQ for lunch where I burned myself on the pot while watching an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on my shiny new iPhone. Rough life, right?
So, at one point I was looking for a little humor and a sense that I’m not alone in this big world of Product Management pain. What did I do? Why, I googled “day in the life of a product manager” and came across more than a few gems. Check out this post from “The Cranky Product Manager” and you’ll see the kind of mood I was in.
The nice thing was how the day ended. Release issues (the most important ones anyway) are nearly resolved with a light at the end of the tunnel and I was able to go to Gary Dillabough’s going away party at eBay and see many of my favorite old time eBay folks.
Note for Hima and Ramya- I think I’m actually a hugger after all. Never fear- your protected status is still in place.
It was quite comforting in a way I really really needed yesterday to see good folks and wish Gary well. Two notes to Gary…
I know many folks has already talked about this and a friend (who controls his online footprint so I’ll leave it at that) at work keeps asking me when I’ll watch. For me… things like this are for the weekend but just in case any of you haven’t seen it, here is the email my friend sent me:
In case you never heard about the “last lecture” project- it was a series of lecture about what would you talk about if you had only one last lecture to do.
Many interesting lectures came out of it but Randy Pausch’s lecture became a must hear for everyone out there.“On September 18, 2007, computer science professor Randy Pausch stepped in front of an audience of 400 people at Carnegie Mellon University to deliver a last lecture called “Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.” With slides of his CT scans beaming out to the audience, Randy told his audience about the cancer that is devouring his pancreas and that will claim his life in a matter of months. On the stage that day, Randy was youthful, energetic, handsome, often cheerfully, darkly funny. He seemed invincible. But this was a brief moment, as he himself acknowledged.”
Randy’s lecture has become a phenomenon, celebrating the dreams we all strive to make realities. And now, in his book based on the now-famous lecture, Randy goes even deeper to inspire us all.
http://www.thelastlecture.com/
http://www.cmu.edu/uls/journeys/randy-pausch/index.htmlWatch the lecture:
Short version (11min) : http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8577255250907450469
Full lecture (1:16 hr): http://youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
Randy just passed away after a long fight with cancer. We wish his family the best in this tough time and hope they can take some comfort in how he lived and inspired people.
Looking for a little inspiration in the middle of the weekend so I’m watching Jerry Maguire on the Roku.
Oy… just heard the line where Dorothy (Renee Zellweger in Jerry Maguire) talks about being the oldest 26 year old in America. 26? I can’t believe I’m this far on the other side of 26.
So many people have written much longer and better posts than I have the will to do. Suffice it to say that I love the iPhone with the exception of the battery life and the keyboard being worse than what I had on the Blackberry.
This post idea was suggested by a friend…
So, a few years ago I went to a career management seminar sponsored by eBay. This was one of their “make sure all the resources know we care” initiatives. At one point the facilitator asked, “What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?” So I raised my hand and said, “I’m not sure this is actually good advice but I’ve been told that the best way to be is to keep my head down, work hard, and everything will take care of itself.”
The facilitator shook his head and said, “No, that might actually be the worst advice ever. I hope you didn’t listen to that advice.”