But the thing is, they know how to make normal, if not good commercials like:

So why the terrible video for the launch party? Because they are stupid like foxes. I know they are. That’s my thought. I really think Microsoft is preparing for a very serious sneak attack. Can they pull it off? I have no idea. Here’s a couple reasons why I think Microsoft has a lot of very interesting things up their sleeves:

Microsoft Stores:
1st you may be thinking, well, how are they going to open a store for things they don’t even make themselves. Well, 1, I’m sure they’ll still figure that out, but 2nd, they are making a bunch of microsoft stuff. Details below. But more amusing is that they are just trying to hire away current apple store managers and any good employees that they can pull with them. Haa. Definitely disruptive. Even more so if Microsoft is successful with the stores. So now onto Microsoft making their own devices.

Project Pink:
For a while I’ve been saying that if you were microsoft, you wouldn’t just buy Danger and do nothing with it. My wife has a sidekick phone so it is top of mind every time I see her holding it. Well, take a look at these things:

Courier:

Check out the link to see a video of what they plan to have the experience be like:

Courier User Interface from Gizmodo on Vimeo.

Natal:
Games without controller? I know PS2 had the eyetoy but it just didn’t catch on and sure wasn’t as smooth as this looks. The Xbox 360 is already doing awesome and Project Natal makes Wii look very dated in comparison.

Here’s the test if you want to take it too:
Personality Patterns Test

Here’s a picture of my graph.

Passionate

You are in touch with your emotions, and sometimes you react before you think. The good news: you don’t tamp down your feelings. The bad news: you sometimes say or do things that you later wish you could take back.

You do not live your life on an even keel; you do not go for long periods without experiencing some mood swings.
Innovative

You come up with a lot of ideas; if one doesn’t work out, there’s always another waiting in the wings. You often have interesting solutions to difficult problems. You’re practically a one-person brainstorming session.

You are less interested changing the world than in dealing with things as they are. Unlike those who spend all their time trying to solve problems, you prefer to zero in on things that work and stick with them.
Creative

You are good at solving problems, coming up with original ideas, and seeing connections between things, connections that most other people miss. People with a high score on the “creative” trait often are employed in such fields as finance and scientific research, and enjoy avant garde and classical music as well as literary fiction and scholarly non-fiction.

You do not shun abstractions and concepts in favor of the concrete and tangible.
Intellectual

You are thoughtful, rational, and comfortable in the world of ideas. People find you interesting to talk to. You’re the living embodiment of the saying “You learn something new every day.” In general, those with a high score on the “intellectual” trait are employed in such fields as teaching and research, and are enthusiastic about reading, foreign films, and classical music.

You do not avoid abstract conversation, experimenting with new ideas, or studying new things. It bores you to stick to the straight and narrow of what you already know.
Accessible

You’re comfortable expressing yourself in words and actions, with no self-censorship. You believe that if someone doesn’t like what they see it’s not your problem, but theirs. A high score on the “accessible” trait suggests that you have a lot of friends, socialize often, and enjoy rap/hip-hop music.

You don’t see the need to keep your thoughts to yourself, or to have a zone of privacy that encompasses only yourself and a small circle of friends and relatives.
Warm

You have a genuine interest in other people. You’re a natural host, and are always thinking about how you can increase the happiness of those around you. When friends have problems or are in trouble, you’re usually the first person they turn to for aid and comfort. Scoring high on the “warm” trait suggests that you are among those who enjoy domestic activities — doing things around the house — and are enthusiastic about charitable work, helping others, and making the world a better place.

You don’t always say exactly what you’re thinking; you don’t like the idea of causing anyone pain because of your criticism.
Understanding

You are willing to take the time to find out what’s going on with other people, especially if they’re in distress. You’re a good listener, you don’t criticize, and you offer unbiased, respectful, honest advice when it’s requested. With a high score on the “understanding” trait, it is likely that you are enthusiastic about charitable work, helping others, and making the world a better place.

You don’t feel the need to impose your standards on others or say things that, even though true, cause pain.
Competent

You strive to master everything you undertake. You tend to learn quickly and do not shy away from challenges.

You are not a “que sera sera” type of person, nor do you go easy on yourself when attempting to master a new skill or get a job done.
Astute

You are a quick study. You generally don’t need to have things explained to you more than once. When presented with a problem, you will often have an instant understanding of where to look for the solution.

You do not take your sweet time when presented with a new task to complete or problem to solve. You don’t avoid assignments that require you to learn new skills.
Original

You are constantly coming up with new ideas. For you, the world as it exists is just a jumping-off place; what’s going on inside your mind is often more interesting than what’s going on outside.

You don’t feel that the road to success is to be a realist and stick to the program; you never stop yourself from coming up with new ideas or telling the world what you’re thinking about.

Did you take it? What were your results? Any other interesting tests you’ve found worth taking? Let me know.

“I hate needles, but it didn’t really hurt and was totally worth it.”

How I did it: I went down to a blood center because they said they needed my blood type.  After some tests and questions, I hopped in the chair and they strapped the bag to me.

Lessons & tips: I think if blood centers want more blood they should make it like a game, like if there was a meter that was connected to the bag, and a meter would show as rising as you gave more blood, and then when you get to a pint, you’d hear a clapping track, and a blinking sign that says, “you are a winner” or what they kept saying ” you are a hero”.  I might not give more blood but I’d think more positively about the experience in the future

Resources: any type of squishy ball or thing to roll in your hand helps.  they always provide something to let you roll or squeeze to get the blood moving faster.

It took me 1 day.

It made me Happy

Here is my suggestion for a starting set of accounts that you should have as a foundation and why. You will want to open three separated accounts. Here is my set up.

------------------   ---------------    -----------------
|    Checking    |   |   savings   |    |   emergency   |
------------------   ---------------    -----------------

I changed my checking to something more local because I found that sending checks to deposit got a little annoying.  Also, my wife already was using Bank of America, and then I got a job in the same building as a Bank of America, so it just seemed like it was time to make the move.  Here’s the current setup:

------------------   ---------------    -----------------
|    Checking    |   |   savings   |    |   emergency   |
|    B of A      |   |    Schwab   |    |      ING      |
|    0.00% APY   |   |  1.00% APY  |    |    2.20% APY  |

------------------   ---------------    -----------------

I don’t know what Bank of America has for rates right now, and don’t even care considering how dismal all rates are right about now.  This is very sad actually to see how things have changed.  The rates on everything have gone down A LOT as you can see below:

------------------   ---------------    -----------------
|    Checking    |   |   savings   |    |   emergency   |
|    Schwab      |   |     ING     |    |     E*Trade   |
|    4.00% APY   |   |  4.10% APY  |    |    5.05% APY  |

------------------   ---------------    -----------------

I haven’t followed up on this enough so there may be better accounts, but that’s what I’m using right now.  Feel free to comment and let me know if you have thoughts on this or would like to let me know about other accounts that might be better than my suggestions.

If you haven’t read the previous post then you can check it out here

*update* looks like it doesn’t format correctly. bummer. Hmm, the search continues . . .

Animal, Vegetable, or Minister? By Charles Seife.

Note: x^2 means x to the second power or “squared”.
Let a and b each be equal to 1. Since a and b are equal,

b^2 = ab (eq. 1)

Since a equals itself, it is obvious that

a^2 = a^2 (eq. 2)

Subtract equation 1 from equation 2. This yields

a^2 – b^2 = a^2 – ab (eq. 3)

We can factor both sides of the equation; a^2 – ab equals a(a – b). Likewise, a^2 – b^2 equals (a + b)(a – b). Substituting into equation 3 we get

(a + b)(a – b) = a(a – b) (eq. 4)

So far, so good. Now divide both sides of the equation by (a – b) and we get

a + b = a (eq. 5)

Subtract a from both sides and we get

b = 0 (eq. 6)

But we set b to 1 at the very beginning of this proof, so this means that

1 = 0 (eq. 7)

Going further, we know that Winston Churchill has one head. But one equals zero by equation 7, so that means that Winston has no head. Likewise, Churchill has zero leafy tops, therefore he has one leafy top. Multiplying both sides of equation 7 by 2, we see that

2 = 0 (eq.

Churchill has two legs, therefore he has no legs. Churchill has two arms, therefore he has no arms. Now multiply equation 7 by Churchill’s waist size in inches. This mans that

(Winston’s waist size) = 0 (eq. 9)

This means that Winston Churchill tapers to a point. Now what color is Winston Churchill? Take any beam of light that comes from him and select a photon. Multiply equation 7 by the wavelength, and we see that

(Winston’s photon’s wavelength) = 0 (eq. 10)

But multiplying equation 7 by 640 nanometers, we see that

640 = 0 (eq. 11)

Combining equations 10 and 11, we see that

(Winston’s photon’s wavelength) = 640 nanometers

This means that this photon – or any other photon that comes from Mr. Churchill – is orange. Therefore Winston Churchill is a bright shade of orange.

Growing up, my parents often did spank me, for very serious things, but most things were worth correcting but weren’t serious enough for a spanking. There is a place for strong verbal reprimand, but I was raised through reason, so I think that drips through to who I am and how I lead today.

I remember as a kid, there was a time when I really wanted to get an earring. My Dad thought that was a ridiculous idea. He could have yelled at me and told me that was the dumbest thing I ever heard. He could have made sure I was never able to physically get to the mall to do it. Or he could have done what he did, and just talked me through it. He asked, “so why do you want one?” and the conversation went like this:

Dad: So why do you want one?
me age 9: because its cool. Sean has one and look at how cool he looks. Vanilla ice has one too, and he’s super cool.
Dad: ok, I can see why you think they are cool. Well, so you think computers are cool right?
me: yeah, I love them. obviously. you know that.
Dad: yeah. well, are you going to get a job someday working with computers?
me: yeah, that would be awesome.
Dad: Do you think they will like your earing at the interview?
me: hmm. I can take it off.
Dad: Can you take away the hole that it is going to make in your ear too?
me: hmmm. no.
Dad: Well, if you don’t want that earring then, why should you want it now? Once you do this, you can’t go back to not having a hole in your ear.
me: ok Dad. I see what you mean.

It’s funny for me to think back to that. I currently still don’t have an earing in either ear. I can’t believe I thought vanilla ice was that cool. My dad chose to believe that I was smart enough to figure it out. I’ve tried to live that way too, believing that with some talking through things, most people that we work with in our lives are smart enough to see things for what we believe they are, and if they aren’t that way, perhaps we will learn from them on how things really are.

Am I against really coming down on something if it warrants it? No, I do believe there are times when being extremely stern, especially if we are talking about safety issues, may be necessary. But I think what my father has taught me about leadership is that we need to take care to teach without breaking the person. Just like Steven Covey talks about the story of the Goose with the Golden Eggs, we need to treat people that we work with carefully, and find ways to keep things working without killing them off to try to get more out of them. I try to make it a rule of mine to talk to someone about an issue in private at least once, and normally after things have cooled down, before ever having to confront them publicly. Life has a lot of lessons to learn. Good leaders and good friends should be there to help us learn them. At least that’s what I think my Dad has always tried to instill in me. Here’s a few things from proverbs that came to mind when I was thinking about all of this.

Proverbs 15:31 – The ear that heareth the reproof of life abideth among the wise.

Proverbs 15:5 – A fool despiseth his father’s instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.

Proverbs 17:10 – A reproof entereth more into a wise man than an hundred stripes into a fool.