Seth Gunderson: February 2007 Archives

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February 24, 2007

A Girl's Best Friend?

Situation: You're out with friends having a good time. After a few drinks, the girls of the group are getting chatty and are starting to chick out. Before too long, you start seeing flashes out of the corner of your eye. Alleviating your fears, you realize it's not a lightning storm. Instead, the repeated blinking flashes are that of a digital camera – the girls are photographing themselves in different poses. You get roped in every once in a while, but you have your own conversation going. And when the night is over there are over 200 pictures of the outing,three of which you're in, the rest are of the girls posing for the camera.

Guys, please tell me that you've been there and have witnessed this increasingly-common phenomenon.

It's odd, yes. But girls aren't the only sex that own/have/use digital cameras. Guys have them, too. We just don't use the digital camera as a “let's take 55 photos of us over the next 10 minutes” device.

I'm a self-professed horrible photo-chronicler, but I love taking photos. When I get the camera out to take a photo, I'm doing so because I want to capture that particular moment and be able to tell a story about it later. I remember growing up and paging through my grandparents' photo albums. I could sit there for hours and listen to stories and watch history unfold. I think it funny if our photo albums (digital versions of) consisted of all those girl-posing photos. Imagine if we still had the need to develop all of our photos. Yikes.

So guys and girls are different when it comes to using digital cameras, among a great many other things. Does that mean that women are embracing new technology more than guys are? My thought would be that guys adopt, and use, technology much more than women. Apparently, that's not the case. According to a study done by the Oxygen Network (the female-owned and operated cable company), women own 6.6 gadgets to men's 6.9.

Another finding in the survey – 75% of the women surveyed would choose a plasma television over a diamond necklace. What happened to the diamond being the girl's best friend? I'm guessing that went out the door when the digital cameras, cell phones, iPods and flat screen televisions became the norm.

Posted by Seth at 04:21 PM | Comments (5)

February 20, 2007

None of the Above

I got an email from a co-worker today that had a link to go vote for Missouri’s new license plate design. I must say that I’m not impressed with ANY of the three choices.

Bluebird
A bluebird? Really? I like the outline of the state, but loathe where the “Show-Me State,” tagline was placed. It appears to have been an afterthought. Like the use of the gradient, but otherwise, not a very strong design.

Ribbon
What exactly is the ribbon for? Is it the Blue Ribbon Coalition? Is it to protect free speech online? Or is it some lame design nugget that looks like water? If it’s supposed to be water, then it needs to be brown, since the Might Mo is a dirty river.

Reflection
When I think of Missouri and the “Show-Me State,” I think of reflections. I often reflect on my own life, my time in Missouri and others. What we need is a license plate to do this. Or not. And what’s up with those colors?

Where’s the option for none of these? They’re so uninspiring. Maybe the goal was to give the other 49 states more reasons to make fun of us. Mission accomplished.

Posted by Seth at 11:32 AM | Comments (8)

February 12, 2007

Flash Designer Wanted/Needed

Ever since my good friend Little D left for Canada late last summer, we’ve been in a pinch for Flash Development over at SHS. We’ve asked around the usual spots in Kansas City and haven’t mustered up much response – apparently, good Flash people are hard to come by. Isn’t that the truth.

To furthur bolster our efforts, we’ve just placed a job posting on TalentZoo.com (here’s a snippet):

Flashers wanted. Keep your pants on.
At SHS, we like a little flash, not in a Liberace, gold lame’ prom dress kind of way, but in a “our microsite can beat up your microsite” kind of way. That’s assuming our microsites are into violence – which they’re not. They’re into being different, odd and standing out from the flock. Which is what we’re all about at SHS, creating the kind of creative that breaks out and gets noticed. So if you’re proficient in Flash, ActionScript, have mad design skills, knowledge of interactive work from concept to build-out, and we sound like a group of kids you’d play nicely with on the playground, then send us your stuff and maybe we’ll get together for a chat. We’ll be wearing pants, and we hope you’ll do the same.

If you’re interested, or know of anyone that might be interested, please let me know.

Posted by Seth at 04:03 PM | Comments (2)

February 10, 2007

Rando-Post

There were a few things that I wanted to talk about today, so I figured I’d just lump them all into one post. Nothing like a rando-post every once in a while.

More Wal-Mart Video Stupidity
I posted my opinion of Wal-Mart’s foray into downloadable video the other day and how lousy it was that the damn site didn’t even work in Firefox. Well, it’s gotten better... and by better I mean crappier. If you now head over to Wal-Mart’s video download page and you’re using a non IE6 (or above browser), you get redirected to their “Unsupported Browser” page. Here’s what it says:

We’re sorry ...
Our website requires the browser Internet Explorer version 6 or higher. It appears that you are using Firefox, Safari, or another browser that Wal-Mart Video Downloads doesn’t currently support. Click here to get Internet Explorer for free from Microsoft.
Thank You

Genius. Guess Wal-Mart doesn’t know that Microsoft stopped making IE for Macs over two years ago. In addition to this nonsense, I found the following FAQs about the service on TUAW:

The “portable format” will use PlayForSure.
The “standard format” will be 640x480 at approximately 1500 kbps and will occupy about a gigabyte of storage.
You can’t transfer the videos between computers.
There’s no Mac support whatsoever.
There’s no iPod support whatsoever.
There’s no Zune support whatsoever.
Playback depends on Windows Media Player 10 or higher.

No Mac, iPod or Zune support. Only Windows Media Player. Man those guys are smart.

16th and Walnut Wreck
I’ve lived in my current place for close to a year now and as I mentioned before, I believe that I’ve uncovered one of Kansas City’s most dangerous intersections.

Today, while watching the latest episode of The Office (with some claaaaaassic uncomfortable moments), I heard three large booms. I looked outside to see if it were something noticeable, but I saw nothing. A while later, I heard several helicopters flying overhead and, shortly thereafter, sirens. I looked out again and made sure I looked South down Walnut. Sure enough, there were three wrecked cars, a tow truck, bystanders everywhere, and cops with a dude cuffed on the ground. I’m unsure what happened, but if there’s a story online somewhere in the next few days, I’ll post it.

41-Day Resolutions Check-Up
Here’s how I stand on my resolutions so far this year:

Set up a meeting with a financial planner. (Priority number one)
Still haven’t done this. Lame, I know.
Limit fried potato intake to once a month. (This includes french fries, fast food hash browns, tater tots, etc.)
I’ve had two orders so far this year, both on the mountain during snowboarding. Wasn’t worth it.
Visit Kansas City’s museums.
This might be something to start tomorrow.
Pay off other credit card.
Close to consolidating card to a cheaper rate.
Walk to work at least twice a week.
I’ve worked five weeks so far, and have walked to work at least twice each week -- except one. That’s easy to make up, though.
Use all of my vacation days.
Five down. Ten to go.
Go through storage items and purge.
I have a plan for some of my crap.
Boycott shopping at Wal-Mart.
Still going strong.
Limit my soda intake to one a month.
Easy peasy.

Posted by Seth at 05:26 PM | Comments (1)

February 08, 2007

"One of them Terrorists"

Yesterday, a pretty exciting/scary/newsworthy thing happened in Kansas City – there was a large explosion at a chemical plant and subsequently a humongous fire. Around 2:20, someone told us to look outside our window(s). Looking to the NorthEast, all we could see was a GIANT plume of black smoke. We have seen smoke from fires before here in KC, but this one was insane. It looked like a tornado.

Quickly enough, the fire department arrived on the scene and evacuated all persons in a one-mile radius. The crazy, but safe, part about the fire, is that they couldn’t fight the fire since the chemical plant is/was so close to the river... if they had, the chemical runoff would get into our water supply.

As if a single snowflake had hit the ground, panic ensued. Almost instantaneously cars were packing the roads. We turned on the TV to hear the latest from the news crews and they had already started to talk to witnesses. I joked with Bruno about how long it would take for someone to blame terrorists.

10 minutes.

While talking to a man that worked in the area, he mentioned that when he heard the explosion and saw the fires/smoke... he “thought it was one of them terrorists.”

Can anyone say paranoia? Terrorists? Here? In Kansas City? Blowing up chemical plants that’s near to nobody? On a day that just happened to have a wind blowing from the Northeast? I’m pretty sure they’d pick a different target... but that’s just me.

While some reporters were picking up the ash from the smoke (and then informing people to NOT do that), some residents were afraid to go home downtown. Why let this paranoia creep in until the news reporters say you need to worry? If you’re concerned about “fallout,” you may need to get out of the city entirely (look at the photo – this smoke stretched far into the metro).

And the latest I’ve read... the air is safe to breathe and it’s safe to go home or back to work.

Posted by Seth at 08:32 AM | Comments (2)

February 06, 2007

Because THIS will work!

As I was waking up this morning and listening to NPR, I heard the interesting news item that Wal-Mart has now entered the arena and is offering/selling movies online (going up against Apple and Netflix). Personally, I’m going to chalk this one up as another upcoming Wal-Mart disaster.

I say disaster because their social site didn’t go over too well. Also, does anyone remember them going up against Netflix and Blockbuster Online? Yeah, I don’t see this working out too well for them.

Are Wal-Mart shoppers really shopping online for movies? My guess is if they’re shopping on Wal-Mart.com, they’re not searching to buy movies online. And if they are, they’re probably already buying movies at Apple or Netflix. The prices they offer are pennies cheaper, so it’s going to take a LOT for someone who currently shops at Apple to switch over.

But here’s the bigger issue...

The videos will not play on any Apple systems, including the iPod.

Are you serious? How do places like Netflix and Wal-Mart not make things work on multiple platforms? First off, you can’t get movies from Netflix if you’re a Mac user. And now, Wal-Mart is doing the same exact thing? What’s worse, their new movie download site doesn’t look so hot on Firefox (click the thumbnail above... Firefox on the left, IE on the right).

It wasn’t as if I disliked Microsoft and Wal-Mart before. Now it seems like they’re really in bed together.

Posted by Seth at 12:53 PM | Comments (1)

February 04, 2007

I Am Loved-ed-ness

It’s official, Helzberg is in love with widgets. Our snow globe widget did so well over the holidays (even beating out a Target widget that was the “widget spotlight”) that when we have an opportunity to create one, we will.

It just so happens that the opportunity has surfaced. Some time in the past year, Helzberg Diamonds purchased the rights to the “I Am Loved” buttons that have been around for 39 years (they used to just be in association with them). Now they own it and it’s the 40th anniversary of the buttons.

Currently, you can get the buttons in 11 different languages (no purchase necessary, just go on down to your local store). But when you think about it, 11 is such an odd number (and prime at that). Why not make it an even twelve? Well, instead of Helzberg just saying what that next language will be, they’ve offered that choice to the general populace. Right now, you can help choose the next I Am Loved language on Helzberg.com... and also register to win a $10,000 shopping spree (that is, if you don’t work for the client, like I do).

In addition to the voting, we’ve created interactive banners and a new widget to help support this movement – the “I Am Loved” Memory Widget. We all love the classic memory game, don’t we? That’s exactly what this widget is. You can also upload your own photos into 10 of the 12 sets of buttons, customizing your game even more. It’s pretty fun.

You can get the widget from several different places:

In other widget news, the Valentine’s Day Countdown we made last year was recently mentioned on TUAW, which is cool.

Sorry this was so work-serving, I just get excited about the stuff we do.

Posted by Seth at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)

February 03, 2007

2007 Snoreboarding Trip Numbers

I’ll tell you what. Snowboarding is a very fun thing to do. Don’t get me wrong, it’s always nice to be back home from a vacation. There’s just something about being up on a mountain, running into trees and having snow/ice freeze to the thing you want to call a beard (but really isn’t, because you can’t successfully grow one, yet), that Kansas City can’t quite give you.

So yes, I’m back. This year’s trip was a bit shorter, only because we can all afford to fly now. Seeing as we’ve been around Colorado the past three years, we decided to embark on Park City, Utah, and hit up The Canyons. Here’s how the trip wound up in numbers:

Basics

...dudes on the trip: 5
...snowboards taken: 6
...atm visits: 0
...PowerBooks taken: 2
...iPods taken: 4
...some other MP3 players taken: 1

The Flight

...bags checked: 7
...layovers in Denver: 2
...hours spent in airports: 6+
...times it took me to find a Hemispheres (nice knock-off on my design, btw) that didn’t have the crossword already completed: 4
...episodes of tv shows watched: 2 (The Dresden Files pilot and The Office: Diversity Day)
...Domino’s personal pan pizzas eaten: 4
...Airborne pills taken: 9

The Condo

...WiFi connections found: 3
...WiFi connections able to use: 1
...beds: 4 (regular bed, fold out couch, roll-out mattress, inflatable mattress)
...times Jones moved from bedroom to living room because of Crick’s snoring: 4
...fires in the fireplace: 5
...logs that flew out of the fireplace: 1
...hot tub visits: 4
...times Jones wussed out from going to the hot tub: 3
...episodes of The Office Season 2 watched: 22 (that’s all of them)
...episodes of Intervention watched: 2 (some people really need help, it’s sad)
...times we laughed because “Flash Gordon” was so horrible: 73

Park City, Utah

...times the public transportation confused us: 7
...times visited the state-owned liquor store: 1
...trips to 7-Eleven for stuff: 6

Meals of Food

...trips to Albertsons: 1 (3 if you count a lime run and a toilet paper run)
...meals cooked at night: 4 (beer-based slow-cooked roast and roasted potatoes/carrots/mushrooms was the favorite)
...people we could have fed with our left-over chili: 7
...times stopped at Burger King: 1
...lunches on the mountain: 4
...chili dogs consumed on mountain: 4

The Canyons (see pdf map)

...days on the mountain: 4 (straight)
...times we rode up the Ninety-Nine 90 lift: 9
...days it took us to find the best run on the mountain (off of the Ninety-Nine 90 lift): 4
...times unbuckling on “roads”: 16
...trips to the top of the mountain: 1 (five-minute hike my ass)
...times we got separated from Crick: 3
...times we cursed the fact that they had snow-making machines pointed at people on the slope on days WHEN IT WAS ALREADY SNOWING: 47
...times we sang “FLASH! ... AA-AAAAH”: 19

Misc.

...stores visited to find stomp pads: 3
...theater movies watched: 0 (by the group, thus breaking a tradition), 1 by Crick on his day off
...“ORDER” was said: 31
...products purchased to prevent Crick’s snoring: 1
...products that worked in preventing Crick’s snoring: 0
...cartoon farts courtesy of Eric: 52

Conclusion

...times I wished I wasn’t there: 0

Posted by Seth at 08:36 AM | Comments (0)