Archive for August, 2007

Many users are exiting websites without even glancing at the content. Why? Too much junk: ads without close buttons (or ads where the close button is really a link to the site being advertised), keyword popover ads, and extensive use of flash instead of content.

So, why do websites do it. Guess. Money.

Well, those advertisers aren’t getting my money. Like telemarketing, it’s just another form of spam.

http://www.ryanblock.com/2007/08/an-open-letter-to-friends-and-colleagues-on-keyword-popovers/

“Last Saturday 826 people listened to the same Mp3 at the same time on the
waterfront at Lower Manhattan. Check out our report for tons of photos
and videos:

http://www.improveverywhere.com/2007/08/22/the-mp3-experiment-four/ “

Ok, so I hate poor mobile phone etiquette as much as the next person. I stay away from those who yell entire conversations into their phones in public places. I also strive not to be that person. After all, it’s a mobile phone, not two cans connected by a string.

All that being said, when I’m in a situation where I have to wait a lot–like today’s doctor/lab/pharmacy run–I’m going to take advantage of the free time. I warn the person on the phone. I’m polite. And, I put the staff at my physical location at the top of the priority.

Here’s my method: “Hey, I got your message. I’m waiting for and can talk for a bit, but I might have to hang up all of a sudden.”

(The friend I was talking to today was about to leave town. It was probably our only chance to talk about something important before she left for vacation.) Then, I monitored the comings and goings of other patients at the lab so I could predict when I’d be next. Then, when it was my turn, I said, “gotta go” and hung up on my friend. As soon as I was done, I called her back so we could finish the conversation.

At the pharmacy, we were still talking (remember, it was important), but for the two times the pharmacist had a quick question, I asked if she could hold on for a second. I answered his very quick question, and then returned to the conversation.

At the first of these exchanges with the pharmacist, some old guy using a cart like a walker said in an as-loud-as-an-old-guy-can-get voice, “I’ll have to call you back. I’m talking with my pharmacist…” and gave me a dirty look. Now, he was not using a phone, didn’t have a headset, and wasn’t at the actually pharmacy counter. He clearly directed this at me.

So, I explained to my friend how I seemed to have offended someone else at Walgreen’s because I dared to make use of the wait time while they filled my prescription. gasp! the horror! I don’t know if I can ever show my face at that Walgreen’s again!

When Emil & I left he was still puttering up and down every aisle of the store with his empty make-shift walker, so I guess Walgreen’s is his social gathering place. I guess I could have walked up to him and explained the benefits of technology and how I asked my friend to hold so I could answer the pharmacist’s question, and how it was just as rude of him to eavesdrop and interfere..
..but then he might have thought that was rude!

-Lori

Some of you have heard us talk about the “commune” we’ve developed. It is our attempt to eat healthier, save money, and spend quality time with friends.

Here is our plan:

• Lori menu plans
• Jessica shops
• Cady cooks
• Emil cleans

We each chip in $5 per person per meal. Any extra money left over is used to purchase staples for use at future meals (frozen veggies, canned goods, mixes and sauce packets, spices, etc.). We hope to eat together 3-4 times a week, with Sunday evenings being an easy/quick meal that we all assemble like a one-skillet meal or a quick casserole.
We run the whole thing via Google Calendar and Google Docs, so that everyone’s preferences are considered and so that we can mesh calendars, easily.

So far, it’s working great. We are about to start Week 2 and have made some tweaks to the plan (like everyone helping cook on Sunday). We all hope to see a better effect on our waist lines and our bottom lines.

and now, in honor/memory of Larry Dean Salter, Mother Nature presents Hurricane Dean

In honor of our neice Erin Doyle and our friend Erin Witte

Technorati Profile

“Paralysis by over-analysis”