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Sitting in front of a computer all day (not to be confused with Otis Redding's "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay") isn't that glamorous. In fact, it's pretty easy to relax, lose focus on what you are typing slightly, hIT teh wrogn keys, and ... er, what was I saying?
Oh yes, the issue of people falling asleep at their cubes. Wouldn't it be nice to have nap time? At least in New Jersey, bosses aren't enamored with the notion of providing beds for employees.
Microsoft Office 2007 is missing one minor annoyance, er, ingredient that everyone commonly refers to as "Clippy." Yes folks, I'm talking about the talking paper clip, which ranks up there with file folders and the cubicle as the greatest workplace inventions in the history of ... um ... the workplace.
George W. Bush is trying - yet again - to slash funding for NPR and PBS. This week, Bush proposed a new budget with devastating cuts to public broadcasting. "Sesame Street" and other ad-free kids' shows are under the knife. So is the independent journalism our country needs.
Enough is enough. We've fought this fight before and won - but we can't afford the risk anymore. With the new Congress, we can make sure this never happens again. We need Congress to insulate NPR and PBS from the political winds.
In the latest IM tellin', Sean and I debate the rules that really should govern ninjas, among other things.
Sean: vampires, by nature, are essentially smooth criminals
Sean: if you think about it
Ben: that is a good point ... almost like ninjas
Sean: ninjas are not smooth criminals
Sean: because you cannot by any means measure a ninja to be smooth or not
Sean: because....who is going to see them?
I received a fair share of emails regarding my recent story about the RIAA and the price of CDs. I thought maybe it was spam, until I found out that the story was posted on Digg.
Not only that, but I received a handful of emails about my article. I'm glad my writing spurned conversation ... I wonder where that will leave the RIAA?
Many people are familiar with the movie "Catch Me If You Can," which describes the early life of Frank Abagnale and his ability to change identities at a moment's notice. Some know this was based on a true story, and even fewer people know that Abagnale worked with the FBI for 32 years to thwart identity theft.
There are a lot of things the World Wide Web can do for you, but healing you is not one of them.
As you may or may not know, I'm in the process of writing a book. It was fun, but I'd like to finish it, get it published, sign some books and start working on the next one.
In the meantime, I'm going to provide you a few excerpts so you can see what I'm working on.
To set the stage for the first one, one of the book's main characters is meeting a blind date who happens to closely resemble her favorite celebrity.
If you're AT&T, and you want to convince the American public that you can be responsible for handling the bulk of broadbrand traffic, cutting out parts of live music might not be your best idea.
But that's exactly what happened during the recent Pearl Jam's "Blue Room" Live Lollapalooza Webcast. The event monitor muted anti-George Bush lyrics, which left fans no option but to listen to a censored version of the concert.
Sitting in front of screen all day is not healthy. Well, if it were a screen door, that might not be too bad, but we're talking about a computer screen. In fact, just sitting all day isn't healthy, either. Let's face it: Do you think the colonies would have won the American Revolution by lounging and playing World of Warcraft all day?