Maybe it’s just me, but lately I’m noticing a lot of laziness around me. Laziness and, if I’m honest, half-assed work. Details going unnoticed, pieces missing and work not complete.
This might not be making any sense to you, so here are some pretty pictures that might help. Taken from the roof of a very swank hotel in a very swank city in Arizona. Look at the first pic closely and I’ll continue to tell you what I’m on about.
Nice right? Colors match, the fire gives that feeling of warmth and comfort and the flowers help to soften the hard edges. At first glance it looks amazing. Until you notice the details.
The yellow circles show off some very not-blending-in chrome table legs that look like they came from a desk chair about the same time this particular hotel was built. Top left is a cable that is coming from the fire pit, presumably to light it, running someplace. We’ll ignore that one for now since it’s not as glaring as shiny chrome.
I’ve been told not to sweat the details in the past, but I always ignored it. I’m going to tell you why.
The details make a difference.
You see in our example above, if the table cloths were bright red, or if the fireplace wasn’t lit, then seeing the table legs would probably be perfectly a-ok. It would appear, however, that a great deal of work went into the planning and decoration of this particular space for this event. Allowing the table legs, at least to me, while a minor detail, is one that takes this otherwise great looking scene down a notch or 5.
It’s just half-assed.
If you are going to do something half-assed, don’t be half-assed about it. Be consistent. Rip a table cloth, break some glass, forget to sweep. Consistency is key.
If you are going to spend the time, effort and money on making something truly kick ass, then make sure it is, in fact, truly kick ass. Mind the details. Cover those crappy looking table legs. Give the glass a final polish to make sure there aren’t any spots. Sweep the floor.
When the details are missed is usually when it is the most noticeable. Go for perfection or go for half-assed, just don’t do them both at the same time. It makes you look bad.
Yet another WordPress site to add to my list of WordPress sites that I have built. This time, for the A MINI Vacation in Vegas group. It might look a little familiar since it’s based on the theme for the Sin City MINI Club site, but this one has a few extra features.
First up, it has full Twitter integration. I have also connected their Twitter to the corresponding Facebook. The contact forms on this site also have the ability to capture the form data to be used later for mailing items or extracting email addresses.
I’m going to be taking this on more as an ongoing project basis as well. I think that with a little more tweaking and a bit more promotion, the combination of WordPress, Twitter and Facebook will be a great tool for keeping the attendees up-to-date while the event is happening. Stay tuned for details.
And, if you are looking for some cool WordPress goodness, let me know. The Arizona offices are wide open and ready for business!
I don’t like paper. So much so that when I opened my current account at Bank of America, I didn’t even bother to order checks. I just opened a new account at Chase and got a little confirmation on my decision to keep my money digital.
Back in 1995 I started my transition from analog to digital when I purchased my first DVD player. All of my music was already on the go for the move too. A few years passed and my hatred for printers continued to grow until I got to the point where I didn’t print at all and never wrote a check. Cash or plastic. And this has served me well for the past 7-8 years.
Then, at a local branch of Chase this week to open a new account and it turns out that my guy completely agreed with me. However, his agreement didn’t come because he also bore hatred toward paper and all paper generating devices like myself. He agreed because of security.
Duh. Why didn’t I get that?
Take a look at your check. It has your name. It also has your address, maybe a phone number. If you are older than I am, maybe your driver’s license number. Look lower. Account number and routing number are right there at the bottom of the check as well. That means that, really, anyone could get ahold of one of those, fill it out and take it to the nearest check cashing store or bank and trade it for cash. Then, they will drive to your house and steal your Macs and HD televisions and iPods.
Not good.
Versus the debt card that you probably also carry. Associated with that are 16 digits + 4 digits + your 4-8 digit pin. That’s practically 256bit encryption right there friends. Not only that, but you can easily track transactions quicker than you can with checks. And, the only bit of personal information on it is your name.
I’m going to continue my paper-free existence. Saving trees and increased security is how I roll. Paper is so 20th Century, maybe you should think about it too.
Comments are open.
Verizon Wireless has announced that they will be selling the iPad starting October 28th.
Verizon Wireless will offer three bundles, all featuring an iPad Wi-Fi model and a Verizon MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot, for a suggested retail price of $629.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 16GB + MiFi, $729.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 32GB + MiFi and $829.99 for iPad Wi-Fi 64GB + MiFi. Verizon Wireless is offering a monthly access plan to iPad customers of up to 1GB of data for just $20 a month. In addition, Verizon Wireless will also offer all three iPad Wi-Fi models on a stand-alone basis.
That is to say that you will be able to walk into your local Verizon Wireless store and purchase an iPad. You can get a standalone unit just like you can at the Apple Store, BestBuy, Target or wherever, or you can purchase it with a Verizon MiFi. Apple is not producing a CDMA iPad (CDMA is the technology VZW uses), but allowing VZW to sell it bundled with a MiFi.
If you check the pricing, you will see that they have priced the iPad + MiFi the same as the GSM iPad. It means that VZW is selling you the MiFi off contract for 50% off the regular price and will also sell you internet access in 1GB chunks for $20 per month. In comparison, the AT&T service gives you 2gb of access for $25 per month.
With the VZW Plan, you do get a device that you can use to tether up to 5 devices to for internet access. You can’t do that with the AT&T 3G iPad. Of course, if you have an Android phone running 2.2 with hotspot capabilities, you can do this already.
I’ve dealt with pay-as-you-go internet access with VZW and it was easy to do and never had any trouble with over billing or stopping the service, and that was before there was an app to do it automatically.
Anyone planning on taking advantage of this? Anyone think this means, for sure, that Verizon will be getting the iPhone in January?. Comments are open, let us know what you think.
Update Turns out you will need to sign a service contract but can still go month-to-month without any termination fees. And the data pricing only applies if you buy the bundle.
As I slowly sneak up to the 100th Sunday Post, It’s time for me to lay out my plan for world domination. Or, at the very least, my plan to get back in the groove.
You all know that I have opposable thumbs. You all also know that being equipped in such a way is also 50% of the solution when working towards world domination. I am here today to empirically deny the fact that I am trying to take over the world, which isn’t entirely true. I am going to take over the world. Just my little chunk of it.
Back in 2008 things changed. For the first time pretty much ever I became unemployed. And I stayed mostly umemployed for the next almost 3 years. For all but the last 18 months, I was able to continue to write, do stupid video blogs and amuse everyone on Twitter. Self promotion aside, I think I really started getting pretty good at it.
Then things changed. I ended up living with my folks and getting work fixing computers. It was a mediocre gig at best and combined with my living situation I lost track and focus. I stopped writing for the most part. Stopped the silly videos. My toots got snarky. And I wasn’t motivated.
Time to change all of that. My new job will require that I use all of those skills I honed over the past almost 10 years and have let a nice layer of rust form over them. I will have to write, shoot and tweet on a regular basis. And do it in such a way that it is entertaining, have promotional value and drive traffic.
Just like I’ve always done.
To that end I have made some very positive changes that will allow me to get back on track. A new job in a new state with a brand new living arrangement that is all, so far, suiting me just fine thankyouverymuch.
Watch for regular stuff coming out of me again. More words here and at Wind(the)frog(dot)net (which is where my more personal posts will go). Video blogs more often than once a quarter. More photos as I explore my new surroundings. Hell, even more MINI stuff as I break in a new dealer and try to get involved with the local enthusiast scene.
So, stay subscribed. I think you are all in for a real treat!
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