Changes to the Blog!

After two years with Blogger, I do sort of feel like a traitor but I'm finally switching over to Wordpress. Let this be a marketing lesson to you - on the web, brand loyalty doesn't trump functionality!

The new blog is so much prettier (and has better functions). Go see the prettiness here!

If you're reading this over email, I don't think you need to do anything.

If you're reading this in an RSS reader, I don't think you need to do anything.

If you're reading this on the Blogger website, well, you have to do something. But I've made it easy! Just look to the right and click on the link where it says "Bookmark the new site." That's it!

Rising Gasoline Costs

Way cool -- this animation tells a story with just one click. Visualize our rising gas costs by clicking below:


Rising Gasoline Costs | FlowingData

Celebrating every day heroes

This woman is definitely MY hero. Meanwhile, rumor has it that FIOS might finally be coming to DC. I cannot even express to you how that warms my cold, cold heart. Why? Because Comcast just might be the spawn of the devil.

See below, courtesy of DCist and Consumerist:

75-Year-Old Arrested For Smashing Comcast Office

Via Consumerist, allow us to introduce you to the next Great American Hero: Mona Shaw, 75-year-old Manassas resident and fed-up potential Comcast customer. Potomac News has the great story about Shaw, who got a little hot under the collar after trying to change her phone service from Verizon to Comcast's Triple Play back in August. As hard as it might be to imagine, Shaw ran into some difficulty trying to get her Comcast service set up. After several repeated attempts, the Bristow resident headed to the Manassas payment center, where she took a hammer to several items in the office, including a keyboard and a monitor, while shouting, "Have I got your attention now?"

"What the hell, I'm 75," Shaw told reporters after the incident, for which she was arrested for disorderly conduct and later released.

Read the whole story about what Mona "The Hammer" Shaw went through trying to set up her phone service with Comcast, and decide for yourself whether her actions were way out of line. Comcast's response? A statement that included:

"We recognize that there is room for improvement and that even one bad customer experience is one too many. It is our goal to continue bringing customers in Northern Virginia the most advanced products and services we offer ... and to ensure that they have a great experience at every touchpoint."

Our only question is whether Shaw is entitled to a jury of her peers on the disorderly conduct charges. There's just no way they would convict.

How to tell people they sound racist

Intelligent, thoughtful and effective advice from Jay Smooth of Ill Doctrine.

Hat tip to angry asian man.

Sometimes I wish I were a Marxist ...

I decided to take last night off. And it was glorious!

I came home to my roommate and her friend cooking dinner - spinach and artichoke dip and baked stuffed peppers - so, naturally, I joined in to mooch the food, have a brew, and engage in conversation. We talked until 11pm about big things and little things, about faith and ideology and philosophy, about Noam Chomsky, gender identity, that long-ago time when I partied every night in DC, and running for State senate. I almost fell off my chair laughing when our guest admitted, "Sometimes I wish I were a Marxist, but really, I'm a socialist."

And I realized that these are the little, bizarre moments that stay written in the soul for life. I mean, I was so jazzed up yesterday after my day in the office, having totally ROCKED a big presentation, feeling a sense of professional accomplishment and pride ... but twenty years from now, I won't remember this one presentation. I've given a bajillion presentations in my short professional and academic career and I don't know if any distinct details about any single presentation would ever make my Top 50 Best Moments in Life list.

Don't get me wrong - jobs are great! Salaries are great! I'm a believer in working for more than just recognition and money. But always, I am re-learning the lesson that no matter how much I enjoy my job, no matter how much of an emotional or spiritual connection I have with my job, moments in the office will so rarely trump moments in real life.

Wikipedia Domination

Yet another reason why I should be allowed to cite Wikipedia in my MBA classes:

Image taken from the Edelman "Trust Barometer 2008" study.