The last couple of weeks have been very busy.

 

Thursday I went to California on an office visit. The work was very good, but to save exactly $4 I had to stay 3 extra hours sitting on an airport seat. Company policy. It is hard to feel loved like that...

 

 

I was very impressed by this speech, delivered by senator Obama. He gave it as a concession speech and it is very powerful.

 

The original speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe751kMBwms

A very touching edited version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHEO_fG3mm4

 

If you have little time, start with the edited version.

 

If I asked you how many search engines you use, odds are you'll either ask what a search engine is or say one. A much smaller group would say many.

 

People that don't really know what a search engine is tend to use whatever defaults their computers have. Those are set by computer manufacturers through deals with companies like Yahoo! or Google or set by the operating system manufacturer (Microsoft or Apple for most). As you visit certain web pages or install new software they may setup new defaults. That is because software companies are more and more cutting deals with search providers.

 

People that say "one" frequently mean "Google" without thinking much. You actually use half dozen search engines, you just don't think about them as such. Sites like Amazon, Expedia or Newegg are mostly search engines with more sophisticated business intelligence. Having a dominant web search engine scares the heck out of sites like Amazon because they steal away the front store experience, but I diverge.

 

Somewhat unrelated, but I found a pretty cool/scary website. Crime Reports (http://crimereports.com) map police reports from various parts of the USA into, well, a map. So you can see what is going on your neighborhood.  

 

I quite often let a joke out when I should shut up. That is the way I deal with pressure and, if you know me for long enough, you know that is an upgrade from the original programming. I had a cringe moment just thinking about my gaffes right now. But it is pretty rare to let a joke out with a mean spirit. That does not prevent me from enjoying mean comedians.

 

Here are a couple of mean spirited ones that I find really funny:

1. Instead of delivering the test results, a teacher hands out a banana. The student looks puzzled and the teacher says: 

- If you can open it... you win.

 

2. The doctor hands out a very ugly and hairy baby to mom:

- Take him home. If he doesn't bark in three days, it is yours.

 

And the impossible to resist quip at the Microsoft, Yahoo! deal. I hope they don't call the new company "Micro-hoo?". Ta-da-bum!