Annoying on Michael Doornbos

Digging out after vacation is wrong

Tue, 03 Jan 2017 08:46:57 +0000

“I just got back from vacation, I need a little time to dig out of the hole I’m in now” <-- I really hate this phrase. Is it really vacation if your return to work means twice as much work for the same amount of time you were gone? A sound strategy would include proper delegation and trust in your fellow employees. Then lean on your mindfulness practice when you feel like everyone is pouncing on you the first morning. Be well rested and mentally prepared to just make some lists. Just write things down. That’s your job the first morning. Then resisting the temptation to work twice the hours to “catch up”. Most of this work in the product development or sysadmin worlds is just a need for feedback and a request for your expertise. It’s a sign that your unique gifts are valuable. But remember when everyone is trowing stuff over the fence at you to put a note on it with your feedback and toss it right back.

Seriously CNN?

Fri, 20 Dec 2013 14:49:06 +0000

The CNN Breaking news email just now starts with: “Wow! The U.S. economy suddenly looks a lot perkier in the third quarter”. Seriously CNN? Breaking news should not contain the following words or phrases: WOW, Awesome, Super Rad, party on, hipster, selfie, twerking, bofu, wicked, bust a moby, deck, life is like a box of chocolates, game over man, bust your conk, comes on like gangbusters, fraughty issue, yarddog, gnarly, like totally, no duh, take a chill pill, gag me with spoon, Psych!, grody to the max…

CNN's Breaking News must be broken

Mon, 18 Jun 2012 15:34:40 +0000

CNN Alert just now:

President Obama, Russian President Putin agreed at G-20 summit to need for “cessation of the violence” in Syria.

WHAT? This is breaking news? We agreed that violence is bad.

Thank God we got THAT cleared up.

George continues to infuriate me

Sun, 27 May 2012 17:13:37 +0000

I can’t watch the new and “improved” versions of the original 3 Star Wars movies without wanting to throw something. Why George Lucas? why?

Did you just not get what made these movies great? What were you thinking when you decided to add crappy CGI all over the place?

Arg!

Archived Comments

Mike Fabio (2012-05-27 21:21:00):

I just bought the blu-ray set, and I concur. I really didn’t think I would be so bothered by the updates, but there is something so incredibly jarring about seeing CGI’ed versions of the classic animatronics (or worse: seeing both juxtaposed).

I want to use G+ but

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:18:34 +0000

I can’t. I need to use an external tool like Tweetdeck to keep my life sane and I need to write once and post multiple locations. Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook make this easy, so my stuff gets posted there. Google+ makes this almost impossible so they don’t get my posts. So stupid Google. I’m TRYING to love G+ and you’re in my way.

The problem with Netflix streaming

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:43:32 +0000

I’ve been a Netflix customer for 12 years, and I STILL have the DVD service in addition to the streaming. Streaming is a great idea, but the movies people want to watch still aren’t available. Netflix runs a top 100 list of their most popular titles. On that list today, 5 of the movies are available to watch online.

FIVE

You don’t get to one until number 39

It’s not really the fault of Netflix. The owners of the content want to keep making money from you by getting you to buy DVDs.

Suffered a minor casualty at NewSpace 2011 last week :-(

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 16:13:34 +0000

Just 2 feet from the floor, my poor phone wasn’t strong enough to withstand the impact. Our dog Brandy spent some time reflecting on the short life of this phone (plus she’ll pose for a picture when there’s a treat in her future)

I'm not good enough is not good enough

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:28:28 +0000

I’m hearing this stuff WAY too much lately:

I’m not smart enough for that
I’m not ready for that yet
I want to but this is outside of my area of my expertise
I want to, but I can’t because of my job
When I get this degree/certification then I’ll be ready for that dream (this one is my biggest pet peeve)

These phrases are tiring to me.

If they start coming out of your mouth, just stop.

Why is Evernote asking to be paid bad?

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 10:07:17 +0000

One of my most used programs is Evernote. I use it all day, every day. From my Mac, my Ubuntu boxes, my Blackberry and my iPod touch. I’m a premium user which costs me $45/year. A reasonable price to me. Last night, they updated the Mac client to include a small ad box in the lower left hand corner that serves some ads (and a bunch of really awesome features). It’s a small box and as a premium user I have a preferences option to disable it (which I did). There has been a minor uproar this morning about privacy issues and some people using the words “Evernote is adware”.

So long Comcast, can't say we'll miss you

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 16:11:37 +0000

We canceled the last of our Comcast services this afternoon at my home. Our Verizon FIOS is so good I tell everyone about it, so we switched to their TV service as well. Here’s the conversation as I cancelled the service: Comcast Rep: Good afternoon, how can I help you today?

Me: I’d like to cancel my TV service.

Comcast Rep: Can I ask why?

Me: I’m switching to a competitor.

Microsoft commercials, good riddance Seinfeld

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:22:50 +0000

Microsoft finally came to their senses and dropped those stupid Seinfeld/Gates ads that left everyone scratching their heads. The new ones are a direct dig on Apple’s Mac/PC ads (finally) and have some interesting tidbits like “I’m a human being, not a human doing, not a human thinking. A human being”.

A least these are interesting. Microsoft still looks like they want to be the cool kids but know that Apple actually is, but at least these are direct and don’t involve shoe stores or and underwear adjustment by Gates.

Thump it, thump it good

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:52:45 +0000

I’ve had a Cannon ZR200 digital camcorder for a couple of years now. It’s worked great.A few weeks ago it started rejecting tapes with a loud beeping sound. I tried a few things, nothing worked. We went on vacation without it where I got oil inside my Cannon point and shoot and water in my son’s Nintendo DS (both ruined).

I just sat down to look at this ZR200 again and googled the problem. More than 10 forums reported the same problem with this camera. The solution: » Turn camera on side - thump on side opposite the screen. «

If you're stupid, watch this video

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 09:44:22 +0000

I just got the above message when signing up for a trial license for a software program. I’m not going to buy this because they cut corners on the registration process and then were stupid about it. Get a clue guys, make it easier for people to try and buy your stuff.

This just in: Being the current industry leader doesn't mean you'll stay there

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:38:17 +0000

I had the strangest conversation this morning with some people at a large subscription based software company. They were astounded that a longtime customer found a cheaper solution that did what they needed.“But we’re the 900 pound gorilla” they seemed to say. “Why would anyone want anything but us?”

The customer left because the “900 pound gorilla” was offering the same product and service as they were 2 years ago and several competitors are coming up with innovative solutions to the same problem for 25% of the cost.

Customer service nightmares

Fri, 07 Mar 2008 11:39:16 +0000

I spent several hours on the phone separately with both Vonage and Sprint this morning. Both calls should have taken less than 10 minutes and each took almost 90 minutes. Both calls required multiple unnecessary department transfers and either broken english speaking reps, or reps who spoke english well who were rude. Really rude. Unnecessarily rude. Both companies made me give the account number no less than 10 times. 10 times!