Michael Doornbos

This is easily worth 2 minutes of your time today:

I’ll have to work on that. The economy seems to have everyone freaked out right now and sifting through the BS is difficult.  There are still a ton of opportunities out there, you just need to look for them.  More to follow on that thought, let’s digress…

Here’s the short version of what I’m thinking about/working on:

• Bonfirejobs will be partnering with WTOP in Washington DC starting the first week in January. I’m rewriting it from the ground up.
• Working several Rails projects at once for $$.  They are all interesting, different and challenging.
• Thinking about resurrecting the Screencast training idea we put on hold over the summer (sorry about that Alan)
• Diligently learning Japanese, one day at a time. (I apologize in advance for when I start posting in Japanese with poor grammar).
• Working on a creative marketing/ad system.  It’s back of a napkin right now, but is looking cool.
• Thinking a lot about Open Source ideas that have or are making certain businesses a commodity.  I think internet filtering may be next.

I’m currently reading:

• Anathem
• Ender in Exile
• The Post-American World

And listening to:

• Beware of Safety

Apparently, it’s like a vagina, or alcohol, or a Chinese road. Yep one of those.

Doc Searls has the skinny.

I think the internet doesn’t really exist, but what do I know.

People are wierd.

We canceled the last of our Comcast services this afternoon at my home.  Our Verizon FIOS is so good I tell everyone about it, so we switched to their TV service as well.  Here’s the conversation as I cancelled the service:

Comcast Rep: Good afternoon, how can I help you today?

Me: I’d like to cancel my TV service.

Comcast Rep: Can I ask why?

Me: I’m switching to a competitor.

Comcast Rep: <hahahaha> So you can get less service for more money and a yearly contract?

(yes, she laughed out loud and notice I didn’t mention who I was switching to, but she knew didn’t she?)

Me: Actually, it’s 1/2 the cost, they have the same channel line up almost line for line with some additions my kids are interested in that you don’t offer.  Oh, and up to 3 DVR’s are free for 12 months.

Comcast Rep: Well what if I work something out so your service is cheaper?

Me: Maybe you should have done that BEFORE I had the other guy installed.

Comcast Rep: <clicks away at her keyboard> Well, I can get you Internet/Phone/TV for what you are paying now.

Me: That’s still more expensive than what I’ve got.

Comcast Rep: <hahaha>Well, that Verizon internet isn’t nearly as good as ours.

(yep, there’s that laugh again, and I still haven’t told her it’s FIOS TV)

Me: I’ve been a  customer with this competitor for 15 months, it’s so good I tell my friends about it.  Does laughing at people calling to cancel ever work?

Comcast Rep (ignoring my question): Well, I had FIOS at MY house and it wasn’t very good at all.

(I could have ripped into her for getting FIOS as an employee of Comcast, but clearly she was full of crap, so I didn’t go there)

Me: There’s nothing you can do at this point to keep me.  I’d rather listen to AM radio than keep paying Comcast after this call.

She then proceeded to cancel my account.

PATHETIC.

1. Take a picture of yourself right now.
2. Don’t change your clothes, don’t fix your hair…just take a picture.
3. Post that picture with NO editing.
4. Post these instructions with your picture.

Your thinking is strange to me.

Let’s explore this from another angle:

So you’re a straight A student in High School.  You’ve worked hard to get these grades.  You didn’t cheat, and although some do, most good students don’t.  Maybe you’re smarter than the other students not getting good grades. Maybe you work harder.  Maybe it’s a little of both.

Your friend Terry is a good person, but doesn’t do her homework.

Your friend John is a good person and although he isn’t terribly bright, he works hard.

Your friend Linda is a cheater.  She breaks into the school’s computer system and changes her grades.  She gets caught often.

One day, your principal calls all of the 4.0 GPA students into his office.  Out of the 1000 students in your school, there are only 35 of you in this category.  She explains that the other 965 students in the school are in need of some assistance, so the school is going to start skimming .5 of your GPA and giving it to the other students.

After all, the other students really need it, and you have GPA to spare, so it doesn’t really hurt you much.

Terry, John and Linda need your help right?  You’re the smart one, why don’t you pitch in?

It doesn’t seem very fair in this case does it?

And no, it’s not different with money, so come up with a different argument there. This is a point about fairness, not survival.  Very few Americans are fighting to SURVIVE anyway.  Let’s be honest, most who are “struggling” are trying to keep the 200 channel cable instead of the 30 channel cable and to pay off those credit cards they ran up to buy all of that crap they didn’t really need.

If you’re fighting to SURVIVE, I’m happy to help (I don’t happen to be rich at the present time, but I’m SURVIVING just fine).  If you’re fighting to keep AT+T from turning off your cell phone, well, sorry.  It’s just a damn cell phone.  I love my cell phone, but I don’t NEED it, and neither do you.

Microsoft finally came to their senses and dropped those stupid Seinfeld/Gates ads that left everyone scratching their heads.

The new ones are a direct dig on Apple’s Mac/PC ads (finally) and have some interesting tidbits like “I’m a human being, not a human doing, not a human thinking. A human being”.

A least these are interesting. Microsoft still looks like they want to be the cool kids but know that Apple actually is, but at least these are direct and don’t involve shoe stores or and underwear adjustment by Gates.

I’m about to drop some particle physics in the club…

I like that they call the first moon missions Moon 1.0.