Categories
Weather

Heat continues

The heat advisory has been extended to the weekend. By the middle of the week, the real temperature is supposed to approach 100 degrees. This, combined with the humidity, will probably result in heat indexes of 110.

You go outside only if you have to. Early morning, late at night, doesn’t matter. When the sun is up, it bakes. When it’s down, the heat radiates from the cement. I’ll wait until dark to make a quick trip to the store, and I have fans in all of the rooms upstairs to help circulate the effects of the air conditioning.

Luckily I’m so busy this week with editing, I would have to stay home anyway. I am beginning to feel the effects of cabin fever, though. A bit cranky, a bit antsy. However, when I start to feel too pissy and moany about it, I remember that I have air conditioning and how would like the alternative of not having a nice, cooled, modern day cave in which to hold out against the worst of the heat?

No, didn’t work. I still feel pissy and moany.

Categories
Web

How to rollout a Web 2.0 product

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Here are the steps to take when rolling out a new Web 2.0 product.

First, drop the last ‘e’ in your name.

Second, insinuate either directly or indirectly that your competitors are afraid of you because they don’t provide a direct pipeline into their customer data for your use.

Also mention how un-Web 2.0 like it is that your competitors are violating the spirit of the open web. Get your buddies to make a cryptic side reference to this at a talk on core values on the web.

When you have infrastructure problems, no need to hire an experienced tech when you can hire an evangelist instead.

Make a lot out of the application’s cool features. Much coolr than a certain othr company. Even more of how young the lead developer is. Make a _really_ big deal at how young the developr is. This is important–make sure that everyone knows that how this product will kick butt because of the youth of the developer (as compared to the old farts over at …. well, you know).

(Also make sure to mention how the application was coded in only three months. That makes it even cooler.)

Spend a lot of time with Om Malik because, well, um, because he’s Om?

Plan a big rollout party at the exact same time you plan on turning on the all new technology. At the exact same time as you’re rolling out the major application change. Free beer!

Leak rumors that your company might be aquired for millions just before the launch.

Give exactly 24 hours notice to your clients that you’re closing down the site for over a day to roll out the new features.

Come back later and say the rollout is ’slightly’ delayed because of a DOS attack.

Site will be down a little longer. Nasty bullies. But gamely appear at party anyway.

(Show photo of buzz producing human holding Stormhoek wine poster. Damn, my heart stopped a moment from that blast.)

Day 2: *silence* (Must be one hell of a DOS attack.)

Day 3: *silence* (But that’s OK, because the site has ‘beta’ on it. Everyone knows that ‘beta’ means, well, broken. But still cool.)

Categories
Weblogging

The Chocolate Wars

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Robert Scoble wrote on addressing executives at Nestlè about weblogging. Frank Paynter responded with post listing out several concerns about Nestlè’s corporate behavior. An executive from the company responded in Frank’s comments–not about the concerns Frank raised, but what a nice guy he is, and how he’s only responding in the interests of supporting his ‘new friend’ Robert Scoble.

Scoble then writes how this is all good stuff: how a Nestlè executive is talking with a anti-Nestlè weblogger. All they, Nestlè, need do now is to start a blog.

They don’t need to actually follow through on their commitment to ensuring decent labor practices in regards to the cocoa they buy. A commitment the company made for July, 2005, and one which, once the initial uproar about these practices subsided in 2002, was somehow ‘forgotten’.

No, all they really need to do, is start a weblog and engage us, people to people.

Frank posted a follow up post responding to the executive; additional discussion arose that also focused on the importance of being ‘civil’ in these discussions, and how Frank should have been flattered this important executive actually wrote a comment in his post. Scoble asserted that Frank and I didn’t get it.

I will have more to say on this, over at the Bb Gun, as soon as I finish the book edits and can do justice to the topics introduced. I hope what I write will be thoughtful. I can’t promise, though, that it will be civil. In the meantime, I wanted to point you to the ongoing discussion.

update: Head Lemur: Think about the Shareholders, they Cry.

Perhaps we can get them into Cute Overload. You know, We b-a-a-d, b-a-a-d bunnies.

Categories
Just Shelley

On Seeing

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Editing is going well with the book, other than I have a very tight window. I lucked out with this book and had the best editors–main, tech, and content. Between all of us, I have a high degree of confidence that the final book is going to be something of which to be proud.

I had a break today to go down and pick up new glasses. I finally replaced my 10 year old sunglasses when I realized I could no longer see through them. I also ordered new all around glasses, because I had a prescription change in both the far and near vision. Rather drastically in the near vision, which adds an interesting element in managing vision that goes across near and far spectrums.

I wear progressive lens, which are the modern version of bi-focals. I’ve needed them since my 30’s. The first time I tried progressive lens, I hated them. There’s a spot of vision, which is your far vision and you have to make sure your head is just so to get the effect. Then there’s another spot of vision for your close up viewing. After a while you get used to the glasses, and you don’t have to twist your head about as much trying to line up your viewing ‘target’ in the sweet spot. At first, though, the effect is awful.

Now I’m comfortable with progressive lenses, though it is a bit unnerving when you switch the spot and the target and try to look up close with your far viewing spot and vice versa. Normally, it’s pretty minor…until your eyesight gets to about where mine is.

The only thing I can see without glasses is something held 14 inches in front of me. Book reading distance in bed. Without glasses, I could be married to you and not recognize you ten feet away. As for my computer and car dashboard and reading at arm’s length, I couldn’t see anything more than edge and color.

This prescription was exceptionally precise this time, and the far and near vision are wonderful. The only issue I have is that the difference between the two is rather extreme. I stood up and went to pick up my bag on the floor. Nothing. Well, blobbly color and that black thing must be my purse, but that’s it. Look up from the computer outside at the tree, with head slightly titled back, and near blindness until I hastily tiltled my head back down. I’ll adjust but may hold off on driving until I do.

They also made a mistake on my sunglasses and put in that awful amber glass instead of the gray I requested. They’ve ordered replacement lenses and in the meantime I’ll make do with everything having a yellow cast. Why anyone would pick dark yellow sunglasses has always puzzled me — the sky looks green.

When I was having my eyes examined, I asked the optometrist how business was with all the lasik eye surgery. She said that it has cut into business somewhat, but there are still many people for whom surgery is not a good option. For instance, in my case, there is no way to correct the vision of someone who has presbyopia.

(I just broke away for a moment to see if I could find a site on presbyopia and found this site selling contact lenses. I noticed some of the words had a faint greenish tint on them and became rather alarmed for a moment, thinking something in my glasses was causing a color shift. A moment’s clear thinking and moving my mouse over the words revealed they’re links. Do we need to repeat how important it is to make your links vary enough from the regular text to make them easily viewable? Especially when you’re selling visual aids to sight impaired people? )

If someone like myself wanted to have lasik surgery the approach used is called monovision. We have a dominant eye, which is the ’sighting’ eye .With monovision, they correct this eye for far distance viewing, and then correct the non-dominant eye for close up viewing. The same approach is used with contact lenses (which they recommend people try before having the surgery).

Unfortunately, you lose your binocular vision if you opt for monovision correction with either contact lenses or surgery. Frankly, I’d much rather have my glasses.

Speaking of which, my new glasses are charming. I didn’t notice until I got home that they have a little round diamond in the corners. Not the cat’s eye flair, just a little round diamond. I didn’t get them for the diamond. I mainly picked these frames because they’re the semi-visible kind with a slight metal frame on top, and no frame below. The metal also had a pretty coppery tone instead of the usual silver or gold.

I like the little diamonds, though. I probably wouldn’t have bought the frames if I’d seen the little diamonds, but I like the diamonds. I feel like I’m wearing a pillbox hat and a Channel suit, but without the hat and suit. Chic. That’s how I feel. Chic. You can’t get that when you have your eyes zapped by a laser.

eyeglasses

Categories
Just Shelley

On Seeing

Recovered from the Wayback Machine.

Editing is going well with the book, other than I have a very tight window. I lucked out with this book and had the best editors–main, tech, and content. Between all of us, I have a high degree of confidence that the final book is going to be something of which to be proud.

I had a break today to go down and pick up new glasses. I finally replaced my 10 year old sunglasses when I realized I could no longer see through them. I also ordered new all around glasses, because I had a prescription change in both the far and near vision. Rather drastically in the near vision, which adds an interesting element in managing vision that goes across near and far spectrums.

I wear progressive lens, which are the modern version of bi-focals. I’ve needed them since my 30’s. The first time I tried progressive lens, I hated them. There’s a spot of vision, which is your far vision and you have to make sure your head is just so to get the effect. Then there’s another spot of vision for your close up viewing. After a while you get used to the glasses, and you don’t have to twist your head about as much trying to line up your viewing ‘target’ in the sweet spot. At first, though, the effect is awful.

Now I’m comfortable with progressive lenses, though it is a bit unnerving when you switch the spot and the target and try to look up close with your far viewing spot and vice versa. Normally, it’s pretty minor…until your eyesight gets to about where mine is.

The only thing I can see without glasses is something held 14 inches in front of me. Book reading distance in bed. Without glasses, I could be married to you and not recognize you ten feet away. As for my computer and car dashboard and reading at arm’s length, I couldn’t see anything more than edge and color.

This prescription was exceptionally precise this time, and the far and near vision are wonderful. The only issue I have is that the difference between the two is rather extreme. I stood up and went to pick up my bag on the floor. Nothing. Well, blobbly color and that black thing must be my purse, but that’s it. Look up from the computer outside at the tree, with head slightly titled back, and near blindness until I hastily tiltled my head back down. I’ll adjust but may hold off on driving until I do.

They also made a mistake on my sunglasses and put in that awful amber glass instead of the gray I requested. They’ve ordered replacement lenses and in the meantime I’ll make do with everything having a yellow cast. Why anyone would pick dark yellow sunglasses has always puzzled me — the sky looks green.

When I was having my eyes examined, I asked the optometrist how business was with all the lasik eye surgery. She said that it has cut into business somewhat, but there are still many people for whom surgery is not a good option. For instance, in my case, there is no way to correct the vision of someone who has presbyopia.

(I just broke away for a moment to see if I could find a site on presbyopia and found this site selling contact lenses. I noticed some of the words had a faint greenish tint on them and became rather alarmed for a moment, thinking something in my glasses was causing a color shift. A moment’s clear thinking and moving my mouse over the words revealed they’re links. Do we need to repeat how important it is to make your links vary enough from the regular text to make them easily viewable? Especially when you’re selling visual aids to sight impaired people? )

If someone like myself wanted to have lasik surgery the approach used is called monovision. We have a dominant eye, which is the ’sighting’ eye .With monovision, they correct this eye for far distance viewing, and then correct the non-dominant eye for close up viewing. The same approach is used with contact lenses (which they recommend people try before having the surgery).

Unfortunately, you lose your binocular vision if you opt for monovision correction with either contact lenses or surgery. Frankly, I’d much rather have my glasses.

Speaking of which, my new glasses are charming. I didn’t notice until I got home that they have a little round diamond in the corners. Not the cat’s eye flair, just a little round diamond. I didn’t get them for the diamond. I mainly picked these frames because they’re the semi-visible kind with a slight metal frame on top, and no frame below. The metal also had a pretty coppery tone instead of the usual silver or gold.

I like the little diamonds, though. I probably wouldn’t have bought the frames if I’d seen the little diamonds, but I like the diamonds. I feel like I’m wearing a pillbox hat and a Channel suit, but without the hat and suit. Chic. That’s how I feel. Chic. You can’t get that when you have your eyes zapped by a lazer.

eyeglasses