Match your views with the candidates

How will you vote?

Do you know who you should support?

Here's one site that might be able to help....


Obama wins big in South Carolina... will it continue?

Back to Microsoft (sort of)

9 days ago I wrote about creating a virtual office with all kinds of freeware. One of my recommendations was Open Office as a replacement for Microsoft office. I've been using it all month and have recently come up with both a problem and a solution.


Problem.... my office uses Microsoft Office including Word, Excel and Powerpoint. The documents that I created in Open Office, my co-workers could not open with Microsoft Office. The software my co-workers are using is Microsoft Office 2003.

Solution.... Install Microsoft Office 2003, (which I already had a couple of genuine copies of), on my new Laptop which is loaded with the Vista Operating System. I double checked to see if this would create any compatibility problems since their is now an Office 2007 suite that Microsoft is pushing (and they included trial versions of on my laptop). Then, in order to get Microsoft Office 2003 to become the default program, I uninstalled both the trial version of Microsoft Office 2007 and Open Office. I do like Open Office, it's just that I needed the compatibility with co-workers.

I did NOT install Microsoft Outlook, I'm staying with Thunderbird.

Talking to a web developer friend of mine yesterday... he mentioned that Office 2007 uses different file extensions than Office 2003 and some of his friends were having compatibility issues with Office 2007.

So, in order to create and share documents with co-workers, I still am able to do it without spending any more money, due to already having the Office 2003 software that I could install, at zero additional cost.

Compatibility is one of the biggest issues involving technology. Sony's Beta version of the Video Tape Recorder was superior to the VHS format, but they created a monopoly and that in effect killed the format. A similar battle is going on now in the DVD market with Blu-ray taking on HD DVD.

Almost like a real person......

Boston Legal continues to be one of my favorite TV shows and last night they aired a new episode. One of the court cases being argued was about human contact and hugging students and ... well, you had to be there.

Anyway, today I stumbled accross a search engine called MsDewey.com which is almost like asking a real live person . Remember I said Almost.

Who needs friends like this?

http://view.break.com/435791 - Watch more free videos

Life BEFORE the Internet

Let's see, there was radio and TV which were mostly 1 way communication, newspapers and magazines too (except for the hand selected letters to the editors.)

Here in Fort Wayne, there was also a semi-regular fax sent to the media outlets by a guy who goes by the name Rich Reynolds. His publication moved over to the internet and he still posts items to his website and various blogs. This self proclaimed media critic has perhaps lost some of his punch due to the growth of bloggers and the fact that anyone with a little time can publish (or post) their thoughts on nearly any matter they carry about.

But, here's a salute to Rich and his current incarnation of Fort Wayne Mediawatch...

Dogs vs. cats

In my email today was this list:

2007 Most Popular Dogs in the U.S.

1 Labrador Retriever

2 Yorkshire Terrier

3 German Shepherd Dog

4 Golden Retriever

5 Beagle

6 Boxer

7 Dachshund

8 Poodle

9 Shih Tzu

10 Bulldog

Source: American Kennel Club

I used to own a number 7, and I can't say #9 in church.

And now I prefer cats as personal pets.

Excerpts from a Dog's diary:

8:00 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!

9:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!

9:40 am - OH BOY! A WALK! MY FAVORITE!

10:30 am - OH BOY! A CAR RIDE! MY FAVORITE!

11:30 am - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!

12:00 noon - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!

1:00 PM - OH BOY! THE YARD! MY FAVORITE!

1:30 PM - ooooooo. bath. bummer.

4:00 PM - OH BOY! THE KIDS! MY FAVORITE!

5:00 PM - OH BOY! DOG FOOD! MY FAVORITE!

5:30 PM - OH BOY! MOM! MY FAVORITE!

Excerpts from a Cat's diary

DAY 752 - My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre
little dangling objects. They dine lavishly on fresh
meat, while I am forced to eat dry cereal. The only
thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape, and
the mild satisfaction I get from ruining the
occasional piece of furniture. Tomorrow I may eat
another house plant.

DAY 761 - Today my attempt to kill my captors by
weaving around their feet while they were walking
almost succeeded, must try this at the top of the
stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these
vile oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit
on their favorite chair...must try this on their bed.

DAY 765 - Decapitated a mouse and brought them the
headless body, in attempt to make them aware of what I
am capable of, and to try to strike fear into their
hearts. They only cooed and condescended about what a
good little cat I was...Hmmm. Not working according to
plan.

DAY 768 - I am finally aware of how sadistic they are.
For no good reason I was chosen for the water torture.
This time however it included a burning foamy chemical
called "shampoo." What sick minds could invent such a
liquid? My only consolation is the piece of thumb
still stuck between my teeth.

DAY 771 - There was some sort of gathering of their
accomplices. I was placed in solitary throughout the
event. However, I could hear the noise. More
importantly I overheard that my confinement was due to
MY power of "allergies." Must learn what this is and
how to use it to my advantage.

DAY 774 - I am convinced the other captives are
flunkies and maybe snitches. The dog is routinely
released and seems more than happy to return. He is
obviously a half-wit. The bird on the other hand has
got to be an informant, and speaks with them
regularly. I am certain he reports my every move. Due
to his current placement in the metal room his safety
is assured. But I can wait; it is only a matter of
time......

Passion in your Life & making money

Mike King posted a comment on what I wrote yesterday about work & passion. (Please understand that what is in purple, Seth Godin wrote on his blog.)

I was blessed to have parents that encouraged me to explore and pursue what I was passionate about. I took music lessons, dance lessons, acted in the local Youth Theater, was a cub scout, and went all the way as a Boy Scout to achieve the Eagle award. I had stilts, bought a unicycle, had a guitar, trumpet, trombone, and skateboard at various times in my life, mostly bought and paid for by.....me!

I learned a work ethic from my parents and delivered newspapers, painted house numbers on curbs, and even mowed lawns to earn $.

So where does passion come from? For me, it was the excitement that came about when I found something that interested me, and I pursued it. One of those first passions occurred in High School with the start of a 10 watt High School radio station, that sparked a passion that led me to a successful career on the air at various radio stations.

That passion evolved into advertising, which evolved into the bigger picture of marketing, but has an underlying, guiding principle in my work life, "To help businesses make wise marketing decisions".

As my kids have had to learn, sometimes you have to take a job that is just a paycheck, to be able to support yourself as you pursue your passions, or as you explore and discover what you are passionate about.

I worked at a couple restaurants in high school, which I hated, but I used that as a motivation to get a job I loved. And for others, maybe you will never earn a living by following your passions, and you have an "okay job" that helps you afford to follow your dreams, enjoy life and all there is out there.

A friend of the family is in France as an English teacher and was home over Christmas break and sharing with us the culture in France. He was telling us that the French do not change careers. Once a teacher, always a teacher, or baker, or bus driver, or whatever. I would hate to be put in that type of restrictive environment. I have enjoyed the changes in my life as I continue to evolve.

I have taken a few breaks from radio and marketing. 8 years ago I was a successful thermo-former operator, with a career track that I could have followed for 25 years complete with promotions and everything. But it was not my passion. So when the time was right, I went back to my passion in my work life and have been blessed to do very well.

How about you? Are you going to just "settle" in this life and exist? Or will you continue to grow, learn and discover what you are passionate about?

Peek into the Google future

How far are you willing to go on the internet?

Anyone can play with fancy graphic layouts on MySpace.......

But how about playing in the Google Lab?

Marriage, Relationships and Peace....Please!

Another Blog has begun, from the friendly confines of (no, not Wrigley field) my home, as my wife Kathy has entered the blogosphere with her own blog entitled, Marriage, Relationships, and Peace, Please!

Check it out!

Work and Passion

I've been reading Seth Godin's book The Purple Cow recently and recommending it to others. Seth also has a blog that I get updates in my email. Here's one posting to get you thinking:

A workaholic lives on fear. It's fear that drives him to show up all the time. The best defense, apparently, is a good attendance record.

A new class of jobs (and workers) is creating a different sort of worker, though. This is the person who works out of passion and curiosity, not fear.

The passionate worker doesn't show up because she's afraid of getting in trouble, she shows up because it's a hobby that pays. The passionate worker is busy blogging on vacation... because posting that thought and seeing the feedback it generates is actually more fun than sitting on the beach for another hour. The passionate worker tweaks a site design after dinner because, hey, it's a lot more fun than watching TV.

It was hard to imagine someone being passionate about mining coal or scrubbing dishes. But the new face of work, at least for some people, opens up the possibility that work is the thing (much of the time) that you'd most like to do. Designing jobs like that is obviously smart. Finding one is brilliant.

A whole bunch of links all organized by category

I stumbled upon this page this morning. It's like an Internet Menu. It's like a a clickable Table of Contents, it's.... something