A few interesting links

Happy Black Friday to all! I hope Thanksgiving went well and that your Black Friday goes smoothly–the only thing I bought was purchased online

Over the past couple weeks I have found some interesting links; hopefully you agree.

As I move closer to graduation, the job hunt is on my mind. Here’s 13 ways that social media can help: http://davefleet.com/2008/11/13-ways-social-media-can-improve-your-career/

Wonderful post on how to write effective email: http://thinksimplenow.com/productivity/15-tips-for-writing-effective-email/

I’ve maximized the viewable space in Firefox to my choosing. Here’s the extreme case and how to truly maximize the viewing area: http://www.ghacks.net/2008/11/19/setup-firefox-to-use-minimal-screen-estate/

Do bloggers do any real work? Read and find out: http://www.avc.com/a_vc/2008/11/do-you-ever-do.html

2008 has been an expensive year so I’m planning to choose gifts from the heart rather than the wallet. This link had a few inexpensive gift ideas (I like the reusable water bottles in particular): http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SmartSpending/FindDealsOnline/great-gifts-that-arent-gift-cards.aspx

Lively is shutting down. I am sad because I believe virtual worlds are a valuable tool; if Google can’t do it right, who can? http://www.lively.com/html/landing.html

More managers need to read this one. Guy Kawasaki’s amazingly humane, common-sense tips on how to lay people off: http://blogs.openforum.com/2008/11/18/the-art-of-laying-people-off/

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all! Take time this fine day to enjoy your friends and family–I definitely will.

Happy Birthday Jason and Otto!

I can’t be around to celebrate with Jason or Otto, so I decided to give them the best virtual present I can, my well-wishes: happy birthday! I hope you guys got everything you wanted

On a side note, what’s up with me having friends with the same birthday? Off the top of my head I can think of six friends who share a birthday!

Use gift cards before companies go out of business

In these tough economic times we’ve heard about companies laying off employees and closing. The news has been so frequent that I’m already somewhat desensitized; however, there are some angles that I had not considered. Case in point, gift cards to companies going out of business are now use-it-or-lose-it. Andrea and I got several gift cards for the wedding and I generally get gift cards for Xmas and birthday, so I have a few saved up. Here’s a list of companies that are in trouble, so look to spend those certificates!

The Gap
Kmart
Sears
Office Depot
Circuit City
Dillard’s
Starbucks
Hallmark
Wilson’s Leather
Linens ‘n Things
BJ’s
Victoria’s Secret
Mervyn’s
RadioShack
Albertsons
Old Navy
The Bon Ton
Boscov’s
The Children’s Place
Ross
JCPenny
Blockbuster
Things Remembered
Rite Aid
Pep Boys
Staples
Michaels
Pier 1
Rack Room Shoes
Nine West
Jo-Ann Stores
Borders

Source: (original email that did not copy cleanly, so I found it online here) http://www.giftcardblogger.com/gift-card-alert-linens-n-things-going-out-of-business/

A smile is free

Remember that a smile is free. It is universally recognized as a good-natured, feel-good expression that can be performed by people of all ages. Smile more; the world needs it

Ouch and wow all in one!

Here’s another hilarious internet video that makes you feel bad for laughing. A poor chap blocks a fierce throw-in with his face while the crowd simultaneously winces. Moral of the story: do not put your face in front of a fast-moving soccer ball.

Since videos from Today’s Big Thing aren’t embedding into Reader, here’s a similar clip from YouTube.

I did not recognize the move (which isn’t saying much) so I googled some and discovered the flip throw-in. Here’s a how-to if you’re interested.

Has anyone ever seen this done in real life? It just seems over-the-top like a rainbow kick…

World of Warcraft customer service sucks

I play World of Warcraft (WoW). I have played off and on since the game was released four years ago. Now the folks at Blizzard have released a second expansion, Wrath of the Lich King (WotLK). Prior to WotLK’s release, Blizzard started a promotion called Recruit a Friend (RaF). RaF allows a veter to recruit a friend and play together with a number of benefits. The key benefit, in my opinion, was the ability for the friend to grant levels to the veteran essentially keeping both characters at the same level so they can continue to adventure together.

The deal hit after I had quit, so a friend of mine referred me and we played. You can see that I created the account on August 5th.

The official site shows the account was created August 5

On November 3, the last night of our account link (which ran through 11-4-08 as seen below), I had several levels to grant to Jason.

The official site shows accounts are linked until Nov 4

We met up and found that we were no longer linked. We both opened a help request in game. After four hours a game master (GM) showed up to Jason and was pretty professional. I got a sassy son of a bitch who closed the help ticket while I was talking to him. Eventually Jason was told to contact billing because there was nothing more the GM could do for him.

The next day Jason called billing and found out that our accounts were linked for exactly 90 days and the time displayed on the website was only an estimate.

To add insult to injury, the ultimate resolution was three free days of play-time. No level grants, no honoring the contract, just three days play-time and a lot of disingenuous apologetic hogwash. Bah!

I want a Mac! Hackintosh to the rescue

A lot of people I know use Macs. And a lot of people who don’t use Macs want to. The Apple ads are brilliant! No, I don’t think they’re entertaining or funny, but they are effective in converting PC users to Apple fanboys. Looking past the ads and into the hardware, we see a fairly standard machine. The software is what really sets Macs apart–OS X is pretty and easy to use. It is truly amazing that Macs can simultaneously support technogeeks (for example with a powerful command line) and the computer-illiterate. As they say about Macs, “they just work.” So well in fact that even musicians can use them

So why don’t I have a Mac? Because they’re extremely expensive. As I said, the hardware is nothing special, in fact, they now use standard Intel parts! That means the operating system adds an additional $1000 to the computer, and you can’t get the OS without buying a Mac. Until now!

As soons as Mac started using Intel hardware, people started hacking the hardware/software to allow generic machines to run OS X. These PCs-gone-Mac are cleverly titled Hackintosh. Hackintosh machines have come a long way! As more and more people try it out, the product will evolve and improve to where anyone can have their own Mac on the cheap.

I’m not sure what Apple’s strategy is, but I’d like to find out what the real back room talk is. It seems that selling the OS separately is worthwhile, especially when people are already distributing it.

What’s it worth to you? $800 for a hackintosh or $1400+ for a MacBook?

Will Muschamp will take the place of Mack Brown

Because college football is big business, it is big news that UT Defensive Coordinator Will Muschamp is next in line for head coach at UT. This is good news because it shows that Texas football will promote high achieving individuals, and Muschamp is a talented spitfire.

I predict that Mack Brown and Colt McCoy will stick around until next year when UT wins the national championship and Colt wins Heisman. Mack will then step down and Muschamp will take over the championship team.

Awesome use of space! Build a bike rack inside.

I was thrilled to see this simple but elegant indoor bike rack. It’s made from inexpensive parts but does not look cheap. As a person with less than enough room, an unobtrusive, cheap way to store my bikes is exciting. I am very impressed by the ingenuity. God bless Ikea hackers!