Fungi are bacteria.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Thursday, December 13, 2007
A Real Life Chat Excerpt
Dan: I worked out today for the first time in awhile
Me: nice
Me: how'd that feel?
Dan: um it felt well. I think I pulled my groin at some point.... it is always sore when I run
Dan: not a sharp pain, but a throbbing one
Me: nice
Me: how'd that feel?
Dan: um it felt well. I think I pulled my groin at some point.... it is always sore when I run
Dan: not a sharp pain, but a throbbing one
RIGHT NOW
At the table in front of me, there is an old grandma. I can see over her shoulder. She is watching South Park on her laptop.
What does the Statue of Liberty wear on her feet?
There is a broken chain at the Statue of Liberty's feet. But why is this one of the most searched queries of Dec. 13?
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
How the Most Ultimate Marketing Campaign Can Kill Your Brand
Marketing is about selling benefits, not features: "don't sell the post-hole digger, sell the post-hole".
I am a philosopher, aspiring to become a Philosopher. Like others esteeming the Analytic tradition, I am after the most ultimate statements ever. My tendency when putting together marketing campaigns is to start with the most ultimate desires a human could have, and work backwards, demonstrating why these can be obtained by X's, which can be obtained by Y's, which can be obtained by the product I am selling.
The problem with ultimate marketing campaigns is that they drown people and ultimately fail to communicate their originally intended messages. The reality is that benefits are 100% relative. Or, more specifically, perceived benefits (which are what people really buy) are literally 100% relative, like all perceptions (by definition).
There is no need to sell a computer geek on the idea that he needs a computer in order to make his life more efficient, and he needs your new efficiency-cultivating software in order to extend that goal. He already has or wants a computer, so meet him where he's at. Don't make your marketing campaign ultimate: make it contexual.
I am a philosopher, aspiring to become a Philosopher. Like others esteeming the Analytic tradition, I am after the most ultimate statements ever. My tendency when putting together marketing campaigns is to start with the most ultimate desires a human could have, and work backwards, demonstrating why these can be obtained by X's, which can be obtained by Y's, which can be obtained by the product I am selling.
The problem with ultimate marketing campaigns is that they drown people and ultimately fail to communicate their originally intended messages. The reality is that benefits are 100% relative. Or, more specifically, perceived benefits (which are what people really buy) are literally 100% relative, like all perceptions (by definition).
There is no need to sell a computer geek on the idea that he needs a computer in order to make his life more efficient, and he needs your new efficiency-cultivating software in order to extend that goal. He already has or wants a computer, so meet him where he's at. Don't make your marketing campaign ultimate: make it contexual.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
How to Create HTML Definition Lists
To create a list of definitions in HTML, begin with the <dl>
tag, and list each term inside of <dt>these tags</dt>. Then list each definition inside of <dd>these tags</dd>. When you are finished, close your definition list with the </dl> tag.
These tags will turn this:
<dl>
<dt>SEM</dt>
<dd>Search Engine Marketing</dd>
<dt>SEO</dt>
<dd>Search Engine Optimization</dd>
</dl>
into this:
tag, and list each term inside of <dt>these tags</dt>. Then list each definition inside of <dd>these tags</dd>. When you are finished, close your definition list with the </dl> tag.
These tags will turn this:
<dl>
<dt>SEM</dt>
<dd>Search Engine Marketing</dd>
<dt>SEO</dt>
<dd>Search Engine Optimization</dd>
</dl>
into this:
- SEM
- Search Engine Marketing
- SEO
- Search Engine Optimization
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
How to Disable Google Personalized Search
Did you know that every search you perform in Google produces results biased based on your personal search history? You can disable this bias by typing "&pws=0" to the very end of the URL for a given query.
For example, if you go to Google and type in "types of logical evidence" (incidentally, the query for which my short post overviewing types of logical evidence, is served as the #1 result at the moment), the URL for the page containing your search results (SERPS) will be something like: http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=types+of+logical+evidence&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8. There is a possibility that aside from collecting information about your browser, location, and your unicode format, Google is also biasing your results based on such information. At any rate, I like to keep things clean, so I delete all the unnecessary junk, and make my search URLs like the following: http://www.google.com/search?q=types+of+logical+evidence. But these results are definitely biased based on my personal search history - Google just doesn't tell me in the URL. To make sure that this biasing is turned off, I add "&pws=0" to the end of the URL, making it: http://www.google.com/search?q=types+of+logical+evidence&pws=0.
This would be the URL I would email or link to, if I were to link to the SERPS for such a query. That way I know that the results will look the same, even for someone with a different search history than me, who might otherwise be served with results totally different than the ones I want him, or her, to see.
For example, if you go to Google and type in "types of logical evidence" (incidentally, the query for which my short post overviewing types of logical evidence, is served as the #1 result at the moment), the URL for the page containing your search results (SERPS) will be something like: http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=types+of+logical+evidence&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8. There is a possibility that aside from collecting information about your browser, location, and your unicode format, Google is also biasing your results based on such information. At any rate, I like to keep things clean, so I delete all the unnecessary junk, and make my search URLs like the following: http://www.google.com/search?q=types+of+logical+evidence. But these results are definitely biased based on my personal search history - Google just doesn't tell me in the URL. To make sure that this biasing is turned off, I add "&pws=0" to the end of the URL, making it: http://www.google.com/search?q=types+of+logical+evidence&pws=0.
This would be the URL I would email or link to, if I were to link to the SERPS for such a query. That way I know that the results will look the same, even for someone with a different search history than me, who might otherwise be served with results totally different than the ones I want him, or her, to see.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Christianity does islam better than Islam does islam.
"Islam" means "to submit to God", and a "Muslim" is "one who submits to God". As a follower of Isa-Masih (or "Jesus the Messiah", in English), I fully embrace the practice of islam - of submitting to God, and I consider myself a Muslim in the most literal sense of the word. I just happen to think that Allah is a lot different than what religious Muslims think He is like. And I happen to think that Isa is a lot different than what religious Muslims think He is like. Consequently, I think that submitting to Allah looks differently than practicing formal, traditional, religious Islam.
True islam is fulfilled by true Christianity.
But I commend genuine Islamic humility, and the intense desire to submit to God that I see in my Muslim friends in America and overseas. If only our friends would research the truth about the prophet Isa al Masih!
True islam is fulfilled by true Christianity.
But I commend genuine Islamic humility, and the intense desire to submit to God that I see in my Muslim friends in America and overseas. If only our friends would research the truth about the prophet Isa al Masih!
Speed Up Your Mac: Two Easy, Free, Fast Ways
I use Monolingual from time to time to rid myself of OS and Application localizations (the foreign language elements that come with software, that you don't really need) and recover that tiny bit of speed and hard drive space. A word to the wise: be careful not to delete the localizations of certain Applications (like Adobe's), because some freak out and stop working. I am not responsible for how you use this or what happens.
I just found out about Service Scrubber, a free (donation suggested) little App that lets you easily customize your Service menu (Finder > Services). I just ran this thing, and it is a true gem. I never used to use my Service menu, because it was crowded with junk I don't need or want. I mean honestly "Chinese Text Converter"? Like I am going to use that on a daily basis!
I just found out about Service Scrubber, a free (donation suggested) little App that lets you easily customize your Service menu (Finder > Services). I just ran this thing, and it is a true gem. I never used to use my Service menu, because it was crowded with junk I don't need or want. I mean honestly "Chinese Text Converter"? Like I am going to use that on a daily basis!
Monday, December 3, 2007
Every Artist's Dream Mac (and it's not made by Apple - wait, what?), and the New Gadget That Will Make Post-Modern Readers Sell Their Entire Libraries
Some people just made an award-winning new Tablet Mac! What? Some people? That's right - not Apple. But how? I don't have all the answers right now, Frodo. But it's true: "Axiotron" modifies MacBooks, making them into some sweet-looking pen-stroke recognizing, every-application-working-under-the-pen, hand-writing-into-text masterpieces. This is weird, but hey, Macworld gave these "ModBooks" the Best in Show award, so they can't have screwed the beauty that is the MacBook up too bad. Click here to check these babies out.
Amazon, the general store of the future, and the future is now, and Tomorrow Land is... today - because the 60's - nevermind. I don't want to spoil the surprise. Look, Amazon.com just came out with a handheld electronic book reader. "Big whoop", you might say, like I did. But the catch is that it is lightweight (like a book), about the size of a book (like a book), does NOT heat up (like a laptop), reflects light like paper (like a book - somehow), is always connected to the internet (unlike a book - a feature that Amazon pays for so you don't have to mess with fees), etc. It actually looks pretty cool - you are always connected so that as soon as you realize that you need to read Beowulf, you can click two buttons and in 10 minutes your time waiting in line for the People Mover can become scholarly, you Anglo-Saxon philologist, you. Anyway, don't take my word for it, check out Kindle.
Amazon, the general store of the future, and the future is now, and Tomorrow Land is... today - because the 60's - nevermind. I don't want to spoil the surprise. Look, Amazon.com just came out with a handheld electronic book reader. "Big whoop", you might say, like I did. But the catch is that it is lightweight (like a book), about the size of a book (like a book), does NOT heat up (like a laptop), reflects light like paper (like a book - somehow), is always connected to the internet (unlike a book - a feature that Amazon pays for so you don't have to mess with fees), etc. It actually looks pretty cool - you are always connected so that as soon as you realize that you need to read Beowulf, you can click two buttons and in 10 minutes your time waiting in line for the People Mover can become scholarly, you Anglo-Saxon philologist, you. Anyway, don't take my word for it, check out Kindle.
In the mail today,
I got my Mac | Life magazine, as well as my copy of the year-end Philosophia Christi, a peer-reviewed journal for the "scholarly discussion of philosophy and philosophical issues in the fields of apologetics, ethics, theology, and religion."
Do I read every word of every MacLife I get? You bet.
Do I read every word of every Phil Christi I get? Not even close.
Does this suggest something about my intellect? I dunno.
Does this suggest something about my heart? Probably.
Do I read every word of every MacLife I get? You bet.
Do I read every word of every Phil Christi I get? Not even close.
Does this suggest something about my intellect? I dunno.
Does this suggest something about my heart? Probably.
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