Bend, Stretch, Reach for the Stars!

"Bend, Stretch, Reach for the Stars"

Some of you may recognize the line - if I remember correctly it's from Romper Room. Yah, you'd need to be old enough to remember the kids morning show that was popular in the 50's and 60's in the Rhode Island and Southern, MA area. But that isn't the point. What I get out of it, more than a simple little stretching exercise for the kiddies, is a great way to attack every day of your life. Strategic and tactical actions for great living!

Bend

Be flexible. Physically because you don't want to get as achy. Mentally because life changes minute to minute. Yes, have goals, but be willing to bend and take new avenues of opportunity as they come along. Flex when heavy winds (adversity of any kind from you blowhard boss to a call saying you didn't get a new job, contract or whatever) blow your way.

Stretch

Exapand! Lengthen! Physically because it promotes blood flow and flexibility. Mentally? Don't stay inside your current boundaries! Move outside what you currently deal with, work on , read of. Get outside of your head, get into other people's points of view, learn more, dream more, go BIG!

Reach for the Stars

Aim high! Physically it lengthens you. Really! Well, not like you're going to grow, but it's still good. Mentally: Sure, you're not working in NASA on the space program but reaching for the stars is something that starts mentally and moves physically! Aim high, set big goals. If you shoot for the stars and miss you still end up in the sky. If you aim low and miss, you end up in the ant hills.

So, for this Monday and any day. Bend, Stretch, Reach for the stars! You'll be surprised what happens when you do!

It's not Social Media - it's SPAM.

@JPTrenn and @ckieff have been having this great discussion about flogging and astroturfing. According to a focus group (of one) the decision was reached that we shouldn't be upset because it's just advertising or marketing (depending on if you choose JP's or Chris' side of the argument).

From there Chris arrived at the conclusion that because we - the digerati - are purists about our social media - we get offended at these marketers and advertisers but really we need to just get acclimated and learn how to recognize them. All (including the first part of the argument) to which I say

BOLDERDASH!

What a steaming pile of spare parts that is! (of course, I don't mean that in a *bad* way*) And to think, they almost had me taken in too. HA!

So, why are they wrong? What is the fatal premise? Simple. It's the premise that these floggers are advertisements. They are not, they are SPAM.

I know, you may be saying that I'm a purist so I don't want these marketing and advertising type people on. WRONG. I know a LOT of people on twitter that are on there *AS* their brand. I'm grateful for it, I appreciate their contribution. Yes, everything they say comes through a filter - which is OK because in reality we have a filter on everything that everyone says to us anyway.

BUT these floggers, these so called advertisers are not those things. They are simply SPAM. I've already decoded which accounts these people have. There are several tells that give it away. And for those lucky people that make the mistake of following me - I block them. I know - I'm a cold hearted SOB ain't I? I mean, I'm blocking these people even though they're just trying to make a living right? They're just trying to drive traffic to their site in hope of getting sales, or ad-clicks or whatever. You can't blame them, they're just trying to make a digital buck!

WRONG people. WRONG! They're spammers! And in fact they are such annoying damn spammers that I think they have as a group done something that Seth Godin never anticipated - they abused his permission marketing platform so thoroughly they've have permanently associated his Squiddo brand with SPAM in my mind. Way to go!

Wait though. I've made an assertion and I've ranted about it, but I haven't provided the reason *why* I think these people are spammers. And the answer is... Because they are NOT permission marketing, because they certainly are not part of the social media discussion. What they are is a bunch of accounts that do nothing but follow thousands of people in the hope that the people who follow the link back to their page to see who they are will click on their sole tweet to whatever their product is. Sure, some people create a feed to their twitter page that tweet every link they put up on their sites creating a mini link-farm. Again, they follow thousands of people (with next to no followers) and they only thing they're doing by following you is hoping that you'll click on their link.

THAT boys and girls is spam. Mass quantities of unwilling participants being hit with a message that they do NOT want. Bingo! We have Bingo!

So, with respect to my friends JP and Chris, it's not advertising or marketing. I *don't* need to get used to it. I need to block as many of these annoying twits (and I don't mean that in a twitter sense) as possible, not give them access to have my content draw people to their streams, and hopefully have them shrivel up and die as soon as possible (was that harsh?).

Hey, I may be The Most Enthusiastic Person on Earth (tm) but that doesn't mean that I have to allow these booger-heads to waste my time with their spam. I am however looking forward with great enthusiasm and delight to the solution of being rid of them while other people with brand integrity continue to tweet, blog, ping, plurk, pownce and friendfeed about their services and create the village square of the internet.

Seven Spectacular Ways to Make Monday ROCK!

Hey tweeps, phritters, phriends and all others :-) Here are seven *spectacular* ways to make your Monday rock - and I bet they get you off to such a great start the whole week will rock too!

1. Take time to set your mind. A little time in prayer, meditation or just reflecting on all the amazing blessings you have does *marvelous* things for setting your mind and spirit in a great state to start the week.

2. Stretch! Stretching does *great* stuff for body. It promotes blood flow, it works out kinks and aches and it makes you feel more flexible. And really, when we're more flexible and we feel good our minds are more flexible too!

3. Do a bit of exercise. You bet. Strong bodies help build strong minds. Get those endorphins flowing, build muscle, feel buff.

4. Picture your week. Create the image of the week that you're starting - and see it all going GREAT! See it just the way it should be. Don't worry, even if things come up, you'd be amazed at how easily you can adapt those surprises in and help make them part of how great the week is!

5. Make today's to do list. If you haven't already done it the night before, do one now. Don't make it exhaustive and don't make it for the rest of the month. Today's list is fine. Then find one thing you can get done straight away and get your first check mark!

6. Smile and say hello to everyone (yes, even "them") that you work with on the way into your desk/office/cube/work station. You'd be surprised at how much starting with a smile will make both their week and yours better!

7. Be *positive*! For realz. This is pithy, but true. Look at things with a glass half full - heck - even go 3/4 full! - mentality. Sure, stuff happens, but look at it as an opportunity! Yes, I hear some of you thinking that you're a "realist" or " too pragmatic" for that. Well, guess what! The most pragmatic thing you can do is to change the reality by going after those opportunities by unleashing your creative mind with a positive outlook for creative solutions with enthusiasm!

There you go, seven spectacular, sure fire ways to make your Mondays (and your week) ROCK. Have more? Let me know in the comments!

I can't take it anymore! Now it's my turn.

The kids singing at children's day

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Four Things About Me - A Different Twist

I'd love to start having this go around. The only change to the instructions? Make sure every person that you ping - and responds with an email, blog post, YouTube video or whatever - pings me too!

FOUR THINGS ABOUT ME!!!!!
Well, it starts with me, but I really want to know about YOU!

This one is a bit different from others we've seen go around. Four things about me that you may or may not have known in no particular order.

Four jobs I have had in my life:

1. Making shakes at McDonalds
2. Pushing carriages /cashier/ front-end supervisor in a grocery store
3. Program Director/DJ at the college radio station
4. Domino's delivery


Four movies I've watched more than once:
1. A Knight's Tale
2. Pride and Prejudice
3. When Harry Met Sally
4. All Six Star Wars movies

Honorable mention: Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (only because it's so new. Only 3 times so far)
I FORGOT! Legally Blonde (had to add it for full disclosure)


Four places I have lived:
1. Coventry, RI
2. Atlanta, GA (really Buckhead and Dunwoody - but they're both part of Atlanta now)
3. Fall River, MA
4. East Taunton, MA


Four T. V. Shows that I watch:
1. American Idol
2. House Hunters International
3. Chuck
4. BSG


Four places I have been:
1. Haiti
2. Hawaii
3. Cali
4. Virginia


People who e-mail me
1. Shanna
2. Halle
3. Kevin
4. BACN! (it's a meme - look it up ;-)


Four of my favorite foods:
1. My father's lasagna
2. My mother's meatballs
3. My wife's Chicken Scampi (with the salt amount adjusted)
4. Bang Bang Chicken & Shrimp @ The Cheesecake Factory


Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Cali
2. Florida
3. London
4. France
(I know - France? What kind of an Italian/American am I?)


Four friends I think will respond:
1. Ed
2. Karina
3. B
4. Annie


Things I am looking forward to this year:
1. Explosive spiritual growth
2. Impacting people - one person at a time
3. Missions trip
4. Vacation - in a van - with four little girls.

ORIGINAL INSTRUCTIONS
Hit forward, delete my answers and type in Your answers. Then send this to some people you know INCLUDING the person who sent it to you. The Theory is that you will learn a lot of little known facts about those who know you. Remember to send it back to the person who sent it to you.


My Addendums
- send me a link to your blog post, YouTube/Viddler/Seesmic video, etc.
- have anyone that answers you via email include me on the distribution
- feel free to answer in the comments

YOU ROCK. Never forget it.

Frustrations of a Tire Changer

Thanks Dodge/Chrysler. May I just take this opportunity to say that your engineers really need to rethink how the spare is stored on your minivans? Because while this experience has been enlightening, and possibly humorous, fun it hasn't been!

So, the short story, I get a call from the beloved wife last night at 11:00 saying "I have a flat tire". Thank the good Lord that she heard something happen to the tire shortly before getting to the development we live in. So, she had come to a stop off the main road and only a 1/4 mile away from the house. I padded out to the car in my bare feet (not a wise decision as I was to find out) and zipped up the road. Of course, it was drizzling and it was dark and I couldn't see a damn thing. She had already driven a good mile or so since the noise (but the tire took a little while to go flat) so looking at it there in the 11th hour darkness - and not knowing where any of the requisite tools were to get the job done I just declared the tire hosed and I drove it the 1/4 mile through the development to the house.

This morning I go out to the van in full regalia - all prepped for crawling on the ground and handling nasty tire kinda stuff (come on - did you think I was going to get dirty? PHULEASE). I knew where the jack was. Figure out where that went pretty easily. Score one for the designers. But the spare, where the heck was that? So, I started looking around - and under. That's where I spotted it. The sucker is underneath the back of the van. So I crawl underneath looking for some bolt or something... nothing. There's some kind of plastic piece holding the tire on. I start thinking, lefty loosey? Is that it? So I try to move it. No easy task. And I'm still thinking - how the heck do they expect people to be able to do this? Well, really, they don't. I cranked around a few times by various methods (like hammer for instance). Nothing. Finally (hey, I never said I was quick, you know?) I resort to the manual and find out the tire is held up by an ingenious winch mechanism that releases from a nut inside the van. So, I find the nut, crank it around assiduously and BINGO! The cable loosens and drops to the ground. The tire on the other hand does not. Seems the piece holding it is locked - rusted - right to the anchor. That baby ain't goin' NOWHERE. Of course, I find this out after wasting a good 45 minutes of my time on a Sunday morning! Which of course is important because I was trying to get the spare on so we could all go to church. BEAUTIFUL.

So thanks Dodge. I appreciate the opportunity for forbearance, patience and all those other great attributes that only show up in trial. In this case; however, I would have preferred a tire change.

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Having fun working on different projects. The IA for each is completely different.

Good night y'all, time for some sleep (again) big meeting in the morning!

Productivity Comes to OUTLOOK! How do I know? Check it ou!

Hey peeps and tweeps!

So, for the new job I've got to use some Windoze PC stuff, mainly because the folks at the office (a) have PCs, (b) use Visio as their wireframing tool, and (c) Omnigraffle Pro 5 translates the Visio stuff fine, but doesn't put it into a decent format going the other way.

Being that I was stuck in the environment with Outlook I got frustrated because Outlook as many of you know has NO threading or anything of the like. Being an avid GMail and Apple Mail user for several years now, I couldn't imagine life without it.

Anyway... thankfully while I was whining about my situation, one of my new work buddies told me about this FANTASTIC new Outlook plugin!



Xobni is still in private beta, but you can request an invite just by using the badge above. Dude - you will SO love it! Check it out now, and by requesting to be in the beta using the badge above, you help me get in the beta too! (I've been drooling all day so get me in before there's a big puddle, could you?)

Thanks peeps. Really, this thing is HOT!

If you have a kid in school, you want to read this

A great video done at a university about education. If you have a child in school at any age, it applies.

q-bits, photons, Cooper pairs, radio frequency. Shnikies.

Just got a call from someone I didn't know. They told me they just hit my wife's van. Nice.

1. I love my job. 2. I'm DAMN good at it, which makes the fact that I love it even better!

Can I say two things without sounding too obnoxious?

Working on inbox 200. Yes, it is that bad.

Catching up on my following back everyone, sending email to my 93 yo mom and WORK.

Shnikies watching a video in the virtual machine beat the CRAP out of my processor. MacBook sounded like a jet!

So weird. Using Digsby and clicking on links keeps me in Windoze - now I need to be careful AND have antivirus running.

Damn @Digsby I want a Mac version. Faster! PLEASE!

I think I'm going to switch to windows just so I can use Digsby all the time.

Done making @ShanZan's special dessert and coffee. Now time to sit down and watch Idol Extra :) Bye Kristy Lee!

Time for this PhillyMac to hit the sack! Night tweeps, phritters, pownceites and bookies! Peace.

Great news! He's doing the podiobook of the next book in the series - The Two Travelers. It ROCKS.

Listening to JC Hutchins interview Mark Jeffrey author of Pocket & the Pendant

I've now "read" four of the Jane Austen books. P&P, Emma, Persuasion and NA

Favorites in order. Pride & Prejudice, Persuasion, Emma. Northanger Abby SUCKED. Sorry Jane.

OK. It's 65 in Cleveland and 43 in Boston. What's wrong with that.

Just watched the Devil Wears Prada on my iPhone. OK, well on the trip home. iPhone battery did pretty well.

First message frpm iPhone with ping.fm

Scoping out Ping.fm... It's not Digsby but hmmmm, lots of ways to hit many places at once!

PhillyMac talking with Victor from Typical Mac User

PhillyMac talking with Victor from Typical Mac User, originally uploaded by PhillyMac.

Doing the podcast interview with Victor Cajiao for the MacNation. Listening this time.

PS According to my 12 year old - I look a little rough in this picture. Thanks sweetie.

Who's the King? NAJA King!

DUDE!

OK. So, Have to tell you about this new product I just got called the NAJA King. (see picture)

The Naja King (part of the NAJA line from thoughtout.biz) is a killer cool device that is a killer cool iPhone/iPod touch holder or stand that you can configure all kinds of ways. In fact, I used it this morning with my iPhone so that I could play the video of my warm up exercises.

How? Easy. This thing is TOTALLY flexible, so I created a nice wide base because I was putting it on my ironing board in the bedroom. Needed stability. BUT, because it's so configurable I also was able to make a nice long neck on it too, so I got the hight up there pretty well too.

I was excited when I saw this device because I already have the PED3 (sitting right here on my desk next to me) and I love the wide base and the rotating head where you put the iPhone/iPod Touch. The NAJA King I think is even cooler though because you can configure it for almost anywhere, adjust height. I mean, it's REALLY cool. I haven't tried this yet, but you can even loop it around you neck and prop it on your chest so you can watch your iPhone/iPod Touch on the train without having to hold it up the whole time. Damn - come to think of it, I could do that in bed too. SWEET!

OK. So that's it. Check it out here: thoughtout.biz. I'm telling you, you're gonna want one!

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Logo Decision

I've had a logo for my company for about 5 years now. And usually with logos I like to stick with what I've got. In this case though, there are several reasons why I want to change it - and why I can't just start a new company. So, I've got to come up with a new logo.

Here's the old one, which worked when it was first created. GlobalSync did software for the Palm and was really into the "sync" thing.



However, now the company is going to be going more SaSS. It's not so much syncing (though as I mentioned I need to keep the name). So, at the moment I have this logo.



It's got a bit of a different vibe, but I like it's movement. I'm not saying it's the last in the line of iterations, but it's a direction.

Your thoughts?

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Why Hillary Can't Win

The deal is done. Hilly's race is run. It's over. It's been fun. By Hillary.

By why so soon you ask? What makes you call the race so early? What about Texas? Ohio? It makes no difference. Put a fork in her, Hillary is done.

Still you persist... don't count her out! They counted her out in New Hampshire! Yes they did, and that was the only thing that saved her campaign. It won't happen again.

You think I'm unreasonable perhaps? You think I haven't taken into consideration Hillary's record? (No, not the imaginary 35 years of experience but the 6 she actually spent in legislature). Sure I took that into my evaluation.

Oh wait. I know. You're thinking that I've counted out the Clinton machine. No, no. I haven't done that either. I know it's there.

"Ah ha!" you say. "You've forgotten Hillary's charm!" OK, I know, you never said that but it was kind of funny to think of someone saying it ;-)

But, still, with all of the above said, Hillary still can't win. At this point, it no longer has to do with Hillary. Sure, up until a couple of weeks ago she was actually part of the equation. But now, Hillary is a bystander just as sure as John Edwards and every other Democrat. It has nothing to do with her abilities or inabilities any more. So, what is it?

HISTORY

It's that simple. History. Hillary is history, because history is now being made. People know that. They can feel it. Some people call it momentum, and that has shifted. But it's shifted because of history. It hasn't shifted because Obama is really a better candidate that is offering anything that any Democratic candidate (including Hillary) for the past 15 years has offered. Really, look at his record and his platform. But that's not why Hillary can't win. Hillary can't win because of history. And right now, Barack Obama is ready to make history. People can feel it. People want to be a part of it.

Of course, it makes no difference if his platform is light. Hope doesn't need reason. It makes no difference if his experience is shallow. Enthusiasm, vision and charisma have created a legion of followers that look at Obama as the next MLK, Jr. and JFK combined. And now, especially since Super Tuesday, people know that history can be made.

The campaign is no longer about policy, it's about being a part of history. Being able to remember back in a fond glow of the heady days of this campaign leading to the Democratic nomination. Hillary has nothing to combat that. Bye Hillary.

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PhillyMac Get's Out the Vote!

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Geared up - on Thursday!

Geared up - on Thursday!, originally uploaded by PhillyMac.

And you people thought I was a fanatic?

Cute even when sick

Cute even when sick, originally uploaded by PhillyMac.

So, we were at the doctors office and I thought I'd kill time taking a picture. This kid is cute even when she's sick! God love her.

BMW after the Car Wash

BMW after the Car Wash, originally uploaded by PhillyMac.

This is a similar angle to the picture I saw of the car when I looked at it and said "that's mine". I love the color. Oh yah, it drives real nice too!

She was up early

She was up early, originally uploaded by PhillyMac.

Chloe was up early, so it's not surprising she's grabbing a little nap. I was up early to, but I'm not getting a nap.

The Difference between Islam and Christianity

Just read this article first

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22728491/

OK. Now that you're back, let me state simply a 2 things:

1. Christians don't cut their head with razor blades and flagellate themselves to celebrate saints. And even the celebration of saints days is limited to the Roman Catholic church.

2. The God of the New Testament is a God of Love. His command is love. Love him, love others as yourself.

Just sayin' is all

A Bit Unlikely

Yah, I can't figure it out. I'm #4. How the heck did that happen?

- I don't have as many followers
- I haven't done that many tweets today
- I've only had a handful of @s (maybe 10 or so) for the day

Yet my reputation is higher than ever and I had a gain of +38.

I didn't really contribute a lot in encouragement, I didn't really link. I did help anyone to have a great day. I didn't say anything brilliant or funny.

Ah, what the heck. I'll take it and run :-p

Sparkliing shrubs

Sparkliing shrubs, originally uploaded by PhillyMac.

OK. It looked better in the camera while I had my glasses on and it was fuzzy because they were the wrong glasses ;)

Looking out the front door

Looking out the front door, originally uploaded by PhillyMac.

If you can look past the sticky kid finger smudges you can see into our little cul-de-sac. That's the BMW mobile studio out there. The way our property is, or yard goes out to the left of and past the three shrubs.

The shed with frosty trees

The shed with frosty trees, originally uploaded by PhillyMac.

Looking out the window over the sink on the back of the house.

Swingset dawning

Swingset dawning, originally uploaded by PhillyMac.

PhillyMac: My Head - Gashed!

PhillyMac: My Head - Gashed!, originally uploaded by PhillyMac.

This is what my head looked like while my wife was tweeting about it ;-) thanks @shanzan. Thankfully, I'm recovering.

PhillyMac in da house!

PhillyMac in da house!
Originally uploaded by PhillyMac

Sporting the new Red Sox cap I picked up at the mall last night. It's my cool old guy in the hood look ;-) Nice cap, part of my Christmas present from wifey :D

@megfowler thinks everyone is a sexy geek. hrmmm.

So I thought about it (above is the thoughtful pose). Geesh, even looking like that, am I still sexy? Am I "hawt"?

Damn straight!

Sexy isn't really something that someone anoints you, it flows from who you are. It's part confidence, part personality, part look. So, if you think you're sexy, then you've gone a long way along the road to being sexy. (note: if you're a gross, un-hygienic, ignorant pig however I can assure you that more than likely few people will find you sexy. So, shape up!)

Additionally, virtually everyone can find completely different attributes sexy! So, between you feeling sexy and others finding different attributes sexy, chances are (exceptions noted above) you're sexy! w00t!

Now, is sexy always classically pretty? Not always. But who cares? I mean heck, one of my buddies and I had a long running debate on which of Charlie's Angels (Jaclyn, Cheryl Ladd and Kate whatever her name was) was the prettiest. Obviously they were all attractive and there are some people that can almost universally be considered attractive. But does that mean that to be sexy you've got to *be* one of those people?

Hell NO!

So, whoever you are, wherever you are, ROCK who you are and daggumit you're all sexy!