Lauren wins. Lauren’s a PC who got just what she wanted this week with her new $699 HP Pavilion, but the way she stirred the geek masses makes her Everyman’s Top Link of the Week. I read through several lengthy comment threads, most of which were dominated by the same tired Mac-vs-PC arguments over mouse buttons, viruses and pre-loaded software. Yet it was a momentous happening as writers opined on a new Red-State-Blue-State alignment, the “Apple Tax,” and the dawn of new recessionary marketing sensibilities. I didn’t know what to think until one comment put everything in perspective. “Lauren is HOT!!!” Ahh, okay. Now we can all move forward with a single purpose again.
Twitter Cross Pollination and World Consciousness. Business Week is giving users the option to cross-post comments to its Business Exchange community site to their Twitter feed. Good plan, but I have my doubts. It seems like it should be the other way around, that Tweets should be cross-posted as Business Exchange comments. As for Twitter and World Consciousness, there’s something to this Guardian article subtitle, “Could Twitter really become ‘the consciousness of the planet?’”
I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name. Seth Godin’s “Where’s the baxter?” is important because he reminds us we have to name stuff we think is cool so other people can make the connection. I remember listening to some podcast probably three years ago (I can tell you exactly where I heard it—in the parking lot of Petsmart—but not the Podcast) how Microsoft was doing very cool stuff with Javascript for a while, yet it didn’t catch on until someone outside of Microsoft came up with the term “Ajax.” …and I’m pretty sure I’m right about that.
Suck it up, Ted. It’s Easier Than Childbirth. My new favorite blog, Cake Wrecks, with valuable life truths in this post featuring cakes celebrating vasectomies. And yet some sentences are link-worthy all by themselves, cake or no cake. “Ok, Mr. Smith, I am going to need you to remove all your clothes...but feel free to keep that bitchin' sombrero on."
Browncoats will live on. Interesting news bit on NASA naming a new International Space Station room Serenity, the spaceship from Firefly. Interesting sidebar how the name “Stephen Colbert” actually won, but NASA chose Serenity instead. I am a HUGE Firefly fan, but I think “The Colbert Report” would be a great name for a Space Shuttle.
Listen to the sneezers. Wouldn’t be much of an Everyman Links episode if we couldn’t enjoy a second Seth Godin link. In “Ignore your critics,” Seth says, yes, ignore critics, even ignore fans, since they don’t want you to change. Listen to “sneezers,” the people who thrive on sharing your good works with others. If you delight these people, you grow.
$1.29 is still $0.00 in Zune Town! I saw this news item on how popular iTunes tracks will start costing $1.29 April 7 and smiled because with the Zune Pass all songs in the Zune Marketplace cost the same: $0.00. (Okay, actually $14.99/month with 10 songs free.) I’ve been appreciating lately while doing my freelance .NET developer thing at home how I can listen to the complete work of any artist whenever I want. Sometimes you just can’t get enough of Suzanne Vega, after all. But all might not be sweetness and light in Zune Town. This Technologizer piece reminds us that iPods still outsell Zunes by a 20-to-1 (or more) margin, roughly the same as it was at launch. Something’s gotta give, but until that day comes, you’ll have to pry the Zune from my cold, dead, cuticle-gnarled fingers!
Who talks like that? One of my all-time top five favorite movies is “Real Genius.” Here, loser geek Ken says, “Doctor Hathaway's gonna hear all about this. You'll rue the day!” Super cool geek Chris Knight replies, “’Rue the day?’ Who talks like that?” Scott H Young’s post on building enough savings to support going a year without earning a dime reminded me of that line. Scott actually made several very good points, and I wholeheartedly concur. But Gee-zus, man, come back to the “Real World.” It’s time for you to click that Quicken One-Step Update button for a reality check.
No, not John Dumb Bear, John Dunbar! Or…Not March of the Penguins, the March of Progress! Long intro (sorry) to a good reminder that something other than PCs will rule the world, and probably soon. The only guys banging away at PCs will be us developers writing code for non-PC devices. And speaking of screens, this RedOrbit post reports on a study that US Adults average eight hours a day looking at screens. I don’t know about you, Scarlett, but as God is my witness, someday screens aren’t going to lick me. I'm going to look at a screen for less than eight hours a day, and when it's all over, I'll never feel One Dimensional again. No, nor any of my folk.
Why I Use Twitter. Here’s why I use Twitter. “Hour and fifteen minute wait at new Ihop in #btv, well worth it!” There’s a new iHop at University Mall on Dorsett in South Burlington (a big deal here!), and this is exactly the kind of timely information I need! I’m holding out for the Tweet “only a two minute wait at the new Ihop in #btv, and not too bad!” and I’m there, baby. Me and all of my folk.
Everyman Postscript for 3/30/09. GO HEELS!!!