Negative People

1 min read

Here is something to think about when negative people are doing their best to rain on your parade. Remember this story the next time someone who knows nothing (and cares less) tries to make your life miserable…

A woman was at her hairdresser's getting her hair styled for a trip to Rome with her husband. She mentioned the trip to the hairdresser, who responded:

"Rome ? Why would anyone want to go there? It's crowded and dirty. You're crazy to go to Rome. So, how are you getting there?"

"We're taking Continental," was the reply. "We got a great rate!"

"Continental?" exclaimed the hairdresser. That's a terrible airline. Their planes are old, their flight attendants are ugly, and they're always late. So, where are you staying in Rome ?"

"We'll be at this exclusive little place over on Rome's Tiber River called Teste."

"Don't go any further. I know that place. Everybody thinks it's gonna be something special and exclusive, but it's really a dump.."

"We're going to go to see the Vatican and maybe get to see the Pope."

"That's rich," laughed the hairdresser. You and a million other people trying to see him. He'll look the size of an ant.

Boy, good luck on this lousy trip of yours. You're going to need it."

A month later, the woman again came in for a hairdo. The hairdresser asked her about her trip to Rome .

"It was wonderful," explained the woman, "not only were we on time in one of Continental's brand new planes, but it was overbooked, and they bumped us up to first class. The food and wine were wonderful, and I had a handsome 28-year-old steward who waited on me hand and foot.

And the hotel was great! They'd just finished a $5 million remodeling job, and now it's a jewel, the finest hotel in the city. They, too, were overbooked, so they apologized and gave us their owner's suite at no extra charge!"

"Well," muttered the hairdresser, "that's all well and good, but I know you didn't get to see the Pope."

"Actually, we were quite lucky because as we toured the Vatican, a Swiss Guard tapped me on the shoulder and explained that the Pope likes to meet some of the visitors, and if I'd be so kind as to step into his private room and wait, the Pope would personally greet me.

Sure enough, five minutes later, the Pope walked through the door and shook my hand! I knelt down and he spoke a few words to me."

"Oh, really! What'd he say?"

He said: "Who fucked up your hair?"

Twits du Jour

<1 min read
  • I just made grilled Linguica on the BBQ stuffed in baguette. European hotdog. Yum! #

Twits du Jour

<1 min read
  • Looks like I'm going to have to get a DTA (DC50X), hopefully for free, from Comcast in order to get anything but the basic channels on WMC. #
  • Erik's Tumbles - Odaiba Gundam bit.ly/jtbwD #
  • I use my iPhone with one hand most of the time. I doubt you can do that easily with the Pre. #
  • If any of your social media profile pictures also feature your wife, significant other, etc. You're either lying or cheating. Probably both. #
  • Once again Mozy saved the day, not bad for a free online backup service. Mom must learn not to randomly delete files. bit.ly/MsJnZ #
  • @Moof Sometimes she thinks so. ;-) #
  • Happy B-day, Mom. I just talked to her, briefly, she was on the road. I had her sent the complete Sex and the City DVD collection. #
  • Erik's Tumbles - Smoking Everywhere Electronic Cigarette u.mavrev.com/ahz2 #
  • @gerikson Dude, that totally sucks. #
  • I just switched my home DNS servers from Comcast to OpenDNS. Wow! #

Not Verified by Twitter

<1 min read

I've changed my profile picture on twitter to reflect my discontent with their new elitist Verified Accounts beta program. Apparently you and I are not popular enough to be verified.

Seriously… Why don't they fork the verification process over to a third party (Lord knows there are dozens of them); charge $9.99 to be verified; keep half. There you go, there's a revenue model for you.

Nah, that would actually make sense.

Twits du Jour

1 min read
  • Username set… I was so afraid someone was going to steal it. www.facebook.com/ethauvin #
  • RT @JohnChow: Less than an hour till the Facebook land rush. Hope you're ready! #
  • My iPhone blog layout looks pretty crappy on the G1. Just tried it on someone else's phone. #
  • Looking for a big enclosed trailer / car hauler in the Lake Havasu area? A friend of mine is selling his. is.gd/10cO4 #
  • Erik's Tumbles - Linkin Park - “New Divide” from “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” tinyurl.com/nd8y5w #
  • Good read: Eberhard vs. Musk/Tesla. Can't wait for a response, esp. as it relates to Musk's 'misrepresentations'. is.gd/ZZzG #
  • Facebook gotta be nuts (or maybe just cocky) to release their new 'username' functionality on a weekend. #
  • That Wolfram Alpha is scaring me. I can't help but think of the Wolf and the Ram… is.gd/ZUG4 #
  • @paulyeo They could have an audible clue, hold until your hear the beep. #
  • Another missing iPhone feature; hold the mic button for 2 secs during a call to enable/disable mute. How hard would that be? #
  • Erik's Tumbles - Chickenfoot - “Oh Yeah” Music Video tinyurl.com/n6xygk #
  • RT @rickross: @DZone " The First Few Milliseconds of an HTTPS Connection" dzone.com/uYL #
  • Erik's Tumbles - Trim the bush to make the tree look taller! tinyurl.com/kvqffn #
  • New with the iPhone 3GS, tangling-proof headphones… See, I can make stuff up too. :-) #
  • Having a (Mexican) Coke and a smile. #
  • One of my monitor is completely taken over by twhirl, pidgin/irc and Skype. Kinda pathetic. #
  • RT @vero: If you're designing apps for the iPhone, @mholgate published a useful glossy icons mockup kit on @taptu blog: cli.gs/U5dg2W #
  • Petition: AT&T to offer reasonable iPhone 3GS upgrade prices twitition.com/f96aq @ryanbarr #

Twits du Jour

<1 min read
  • I just upgraded a neighbor's PC to IE8… Default search engine? You guessed it, bing. #bing #
  • Just re-installed DenyHosts on my server, one of the services that fell on the floor after the OS upgrade. ping.fm/pnutm #
  • RT @dalmaer: #Java ME licensing is 55% of revenue…. it will be hard for Oracle to do the right thing :( blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=19537 #

Erik's iBlog

<1 min read

iBlog

I just finished an iPhone-optimized mobile version of my weblog. I've been wondering what it would take for while now.

I used the iUI framework, which made the whole process quite simple. iUI is pretty limited, but it does provide the basics.

I probably spent way too much time on it, but I was experimenting a lot. At least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

I still like the regular mobile version better, as it really matches the look & feel of my blog, but it is not really iPhone friendly.