This for me is much easier then blogging. Take a look at what I’m reading and commenting on. Thanks to the new feature of google reader. Do you use google reader? if so make sure we connect so we can share items.
http://www.google.com/reader/shared/18349662314372973908

Pi Day is tomorrow…technically it’s at 1:59 P.M. because pi is roughly 3.14159. So how do you celebrate Pi Day? How about A slice of Pi or maybe an entire meal with round things? I’m pretty sure Pi Day is popular for math teachers. Maybe even a good day to read life of Pi.

Read more about Pi Day from “The official web site for Pi Day” and on Wikipedia. Random Pi Facts can be found here.

We all have companies we like and some of those companies do things that piss us off.

Take Blockbuster for example.

Who doesn’t love movies? I sure do, but when rent a movie it sometimes with a group, so it doesn’t always go on my card. Therefore, I may not rent a movie every 90 days. And apparently after 90 days Blockbuster takes away your membership.

Sure it’s easy to sign up for another one but I went to their site hoping to find that they have a blogger who maybe has posted about this policy or I could email her to encourage her to post about it.

To my surprise they had no blogger.

To me this seems like a no brainer.

Blockbuster is going through a lot of change. They have for the first time in a long time competition (Netflix) in the video rental world. This has forced the company to try new things some of them great things (Blockbuster Total Access). And what could be a better way to promote these offerings then on their own blog.

The reaction most people give me is why would I want to read a blog about a corporation on a regular basis? First off if your company is good enough people will want to know more (Apple). But not everyone can be apple. Therefore you have to be the expert on your area.

Blockbuster should be posting not only about their products and attempting to get feedback but also reporting on the trends in the movie rental business. They already do some of this in a press release form, but only when they see it benefiting their sales. But what more could Blockbuster want than to establish themselves to movie lovers as the place to turn to for news.

Think about it what’s the one advantage Blockbuster has over Netflick’s? The guy behind the counter who recommends a movie to them. Well put that guy behind the keyboard and start blogging.

If you work for a business and they aren’t blogging ask yourself why. And then go and write a blog post about it.

What corporations would you want a blog from?

All my friends know I am very interested in Unity08. The standpoint is that all the candidates are the same and most americans wont identify with any of them. (OK I so really over simplified the Unity08 movement, if you want to know more go to Unity08’s website.) I completely agree with the Unity08 movement. To prove my point, take the political compass quiz results for the 08 candidates.

Some info from the site about this:

When examining the chart it is important to note that although most of the candidates seem quite different, in substance they occupy a relatively restricted area within the universal political spectrum. Democracies with a system of proportional representation give expression to a wider range of political views. While Dennis Kucinich and Mike Gravel are depicted on the extreme left in an American context, they would simply be mainstream social democrats within the wider political landscape of Europe. Similarly, Hillary Clinton is popularly perceived as a leftist in the United States while in any other western democracy her record is that of a moderate conservative.

All but two are in the same quadrant. Oh and none are anywhere near me. Do any of our candidates represent the feelings of american citizens? You can take the quiz yourself at politicalcompass.org. And for those that want, you can put the quiz on your facebook profile.

I’m here. In the opening session … Great to see so many dorks like myself… Twittering, blogging, facebooking, and video blogging. I’m also excited to see orlando sentinel reporter Etan Horrowitz video taping for his story … He evwn tells me he’s going to edut it himself :-). Trying to figure out how to get photos up from my iPhone. Any suggestions?

The other day I grabbed a Pop-tart from our snack box at work. (Yes I put in my 50 cents.) As I was eating it we somehow got on to the discussion about the way in which you eat a Pop-tart.

I for example eat the outer crust first saving the inside, the best part, for last. Others did the reverse incase the got filled up they wouldn’t be leaving the good part behind.

This got us thinking about other food items and how you eat them. (My responses in parentheses)

Corn - Horizontal or vertical? (horizontal)
Cupcakes - Do you pull the bottom off and eat that first? Or maybe put the bottom on the top making a sandwhich? (bottom first…save the best for last)
Apples - Do you eat all the way around with one bit and then go back around for the second layer? (one layer at a time…it’s cleaner)
Muffin - See cupcake
Oreo’s - Insides first? (depends on the day)

I’m sure there are many more.

So what are the strange or not so strange ways you eat normal foods?

The strangest I’ve seen. Applying Darwinism to M&M’s.

I truly hate being left out any new fad.

In elementary school I had more pogs then the kid next to me. In middle school I insisted on owning a pair of JNCO, the brand that made them so myself and the kid next to me could fit in them. And of course now, I own an iPhone.

Recently I’ve become alarmed that I am being left out of the latest fad, going green.

I mean these day’s everyone seems to be going green from large corporations and politicians to schools and soccer moms.

But what was I doing? Sure I turn my lights off when I leave my house but that’s so 1990’s.

Yesterday I caved in.

I bought a Green Bag.

Yes literally a bag that is green.

You see a couple of weeks ago my friend Joey alerted me to these little discussed eco-friendly contraptions. He informed me that when he goes grocery shopping, he uses the green bags as not to waste plastic.

I coughed it up at the time and made fun of him.

Yesterday I got curious.

I was standing in the checkout line at Publix and there it was in front of me was the Green Bag. There was no price tag and I really wasn’t very familiar with the Green Bag program.

I was too bashful to ask for the details of the program, but I had some hunches.

I thought maybe the bag is free or only a quarter. They just want you to use it to help the environment. Perhaps every time you use the bag you get discount. Maybe the discount is only good on organic products. Or some other shameless promotion.

You see I was terribly wrong and disappointed when I purchased the $1.50 bag only to discover a nice note about me helping the environment.

Now don’t get me wrong I am more than happy to help the environment and I will use my Green Bag proudly (it is trendy after all) but I think that they should provide an incentive to help.

I know what you are thinking, “Why do you need an incentive to help the environment?”
Because it provides that little nudge to get a lot of people to act. Our government offers incentives to corporations for “being green” it would be nice for a corporation to do the same.

I do applaud Publix for taking a stand and providing the bag at a fairly low cost.

Another company that started a “bag the plastic bag” initiative is IKEA.

They charge customers five cents for every plastic bag and sell their big blue reusable bag for 59 cents. (Maybe I should have held out for the IKEA bag…it is more trendy).

Somehow I’m disappointed with the “going green” fad, but maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. After all having pogs got old quickly (especially when the banned them from school) and JNKO didn’t last long, more of a hassle than they were worth (again banned from school), so why would I expect to be satisfied with the “going green” fad? (no word on if schools are banning it).

At the very least someday I can tell my kids “When I was their age I was a part of the “going green” revolution.

Because of the recent the news at UCF, I am urging the student body to push for a change of its mascot.

My reasoning, there is only one animal that can truly survive in the new UCF stadium: a camel. The UCF Camels. It has a ring to it. 

At this past weekend’s home opener, UCF fans quickly learned that the new Bright House Networks Stadium contains no drinking fountains.

Apparently it wasn’t required by code at the time the stadium was built.

What a great idea UCF; only do what is required, not what is needed. (Keep in mind they are teaching our future leaders.)

I’ve heard some possible explanations as to why water fountains were not put in.

Personally I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they just overlooked the water fountains. But let’s be honest, what architect and building planner wouldn’t notice or inquire about the lack of drinking fountains.

Some suggest the lack of drinkable water was done to increase sales of bottled water. For some reason I don’t see them doing that. I mean how much money can you make on a 20 ounce bottle of water?

What’s that? They charge $3 for a bottle of water? Hmm.

The problem is UCF now is  in a tricky situation. I’m no lawyer but folks who I work with (who aren’t lawyers either … just journalists, and that’s close enough) suggested that in the future anyone who suffers heat exhaustion could have a possible lawsuit against UCF, because now the problem has been brought to their attention.

Did I mention that dozens of people were treated and about 18 taken to the hospital for heat related illnesses at the last game.

But have no fear the UCF lawyers wont let that happen. At the next game all fans can receive a free bottle of water at the game when they trade in their ticket.

Even with the free bottle of water, I don’t see any knight being able to survive the entire game. But a camel, that’s another story.

My hope is the mascot switch is only temporary. Once UCF gets around to installing drinking fountains in the stadium we can go back to the Knights.

But don’t expect that to happen anytime soon.

After all, “We won’t make a snap decision,” Al Harms, UCF’s VP for strategic planning and game day operations coordinator, told the Orlando Sentinel.

You see, putting in water fountains at UCF requires approval by multiple committees. What’s that saying? Oh yeah a camel is a horse designed by committee.

When I first heard about the show iCAUGHT I thought it was network’s weak attempt at trying to ride the YouTube wave. The name and graphics just screamed that they were trying to hard. Tonight I watched the last part of it by chance. It was great.

The last package was the most moving. It was called Your 3 Words or y3w (see what I mean by trying to hard). It actually made me tear up. The premise is simple. People send in a video of their week summed up in three words. I thought I was nuts so I sent it to my friend Jenna and she cried too. What’s most amazing is that you know nothing about these people yet with three words you can feel their pain and in some cases relate to them.

The first story that I saw was on these two guys who do special effects. Was pretty neat but not really my cup of tea. The next package was on Second Life. I’m not a huge fan of Second Life (granted I’ve never tried to play it) but this was the first story that made me realize how people can become so attached to it. John Berman et. al. did a great job showcasing various people who really treat Second Life as well a second life. Click here to watch that story.

A job very well done. Just change the name of the show and the graphics it feels too much like Extra or Access Hollywood.

A couple of folks have asked where they can see my interviews from the shuttle launch. The first is with CNN’s Miles O’Brien and the second is with Orlando Sentinel Photographer Red Huber.

Based on the feedback I got from that day and other interviews, we are getting ready to launch a new video franchisee called “Inside the News.” More on that to come later. I’ll post some more clips soon.