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Next stop ... New York City

This weekend (June 2-3), I will be attending Book Expo America, dubbed the "premier event serving the U.S. book publishing industry." My primary reason for attending is that I'm currently working on a new workplace humor memoir, and I'm looking to meet agents and publishers to pitch my book. I am also interested in networking with others and compiling a list for reciprocal web links. At the minimum, I'll be visiting a new city, so I'm pretty hyped about that.

Oh, and of course, I'll be pitching "The Developers" and my newest project, "Polos to Ties," as I go.

Joke-telling not always easy on IM

IM tellin' takes a look at a bad joke gone .. er .. bad. It's important to note, however, that one great thing about chatting online is that you do have the capability to make up your own sound effects.

Ben: knock knock

Sean: I HAVE A DOORBELL

Ben: damnit

Ben: DING!

Sean: THAT SOUNDED MORE LIKE A MICROWAVE TIMER

Ben: damnit!!!!!!

Ben: DIIIIIING .... donnnnnng

Sean: haha

Spam worries being curtailed

Spam has arrived, so much so that it is now more widely ignored than ever before. People in general, according to a recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life project, receive more spam but don't seem to care too much about it.

A recent PC World article shows that the main reasons people don't see spam as a threat is because the volume of messages has decreased, along with the fact that people are becoming more knowledgeable regarding spam.

Hello bot, meet bot

Chatting with bots can be fun ... sort of strange, but fun. But what about bots chatting with each other? Can they determine that each other is not human?

Well, that's a tossup, but Discover Magazine tried to determine this particular item. ALICE and Jabberwacky have been chatting with people for quite some time now. And finally, they have been introduced.

Research help

As many of you are aware, I'm in the process of writing my second novel. This novel is closely based on my experience in the business world, so I'm currently rifling through various books on that topic.

From the Archive

Dress codes for avatars

I'm sitting in my cube right now, wearing shorts, a T-shirt and tennis shoes. On the other side of the sensibility coin, analyst firm Gartner is predicting that avatars will have business dress codes by 2013. How do people come up with this stuff?

Just get the computer to feed your cat

From the Why on Earth Department, Chris McAvoy of the Linux Journal has written a Unix computer program to feed his cats.

Yes, you read that right. The computer feeds the cats. I do like to kid around a lot, but this time, I'm not kidding. Here's the article to prove it.

New technique, same old story?

Question: Considering the work of Ellul complete the following:

Write about/describe an example of a technique in today's society. Tell its story and the need for the creation/adoption of this technique and the new techniques that resulted from it? Could we have controlled for this technique? Is there or was there an alternative?

Here comes Spuds McDarth

I am big fan of toys, and "Star Wars," and "Star Wars" toys, but it appears Hasbro has stepped over the boundary with the release of Darth Tater. The toy is a Mr. Potato Head that somewhat resembles the evil villain Darth Vader. See for yourself on Hasbro's website.

The Disney World Experience, Part 4 - Accommodations

When we booked our Disney trip, we didn’t consider too many hotel options. Once we made the decision to stay onsite, we looked at the cheapest Value resorts - All-Star Music, All-Star Movies and All-Star Sports. We had all but settled on All-Star Music when I found the Summer Quick Service Meal Offer. At the time we were booking, this deal was available only at Pop Century, a Value resort that is priced slightly higher than others.

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