Last night, I was invited over to the Fifth Avenue offices of Future US, where I got to hang out with some friends from Guitar World. We were treated to a night of listening to terrific playing from some of the longtime contributors to the magazine. [...]
I’d like those advertisers who place ads within New York’s free daily papers to devote a minute or two to thinking about how their message is perceived in those vehicles. One of the things I’m struggling with is that in a world where The New York Times and other non-free [...]
The earliest I can remember music and computers beginning to come together was when I was a kid playing with my Commodore 64. I can’t remember the name of the program, but it allowed me to input music scores and edit them, and the computer would play them back in [...]
I know it’s been a while since I posted. Planning season, lots going on with the house…you know the story.
Anyway, there’s been a post rattling around inside my head for a few days now, and I gotta get it out there. It deals with one of my biggest frustrations – [...]
On Friday, the mold abatement contractor unexpectedly kicked me out of the house, saying I couldn’t be inside to breathe the fumes from the chemicals he was using to kill the mold in my basement. So I had to make a bunch of Underscore-related phone calls from the patio and [...]
So we lucked out and got the one weekend day thus far this summer that actually got sun. The party was lots of fun. Some answers to frequently-asked questions:
1) Yes, we hired a Backyardigan to play with the kids. Actually, so we don’t get Cease & Desist [...]
Anybody remember what goofiness was required to display what was on a given floppy disk on a Commodore 64? I spent many hours playing/copying games back in the early 1980s on one of these machines, and I remember how you used to have to load directories from disk and then [...]
It’s Kate’s birthday today! Send her a quick birthday wish at Kate@Hespos.com, if you like.
Her latest exploit is practicing her walking. For weeks now, she’s been able to balance in place. She can also walk along a wall or with Mommy holding her hands. Her record unassisted [...]
Kate’s first birthday is tomorrow, and we’ve been planning her party for the upcoming weekend. Thus, projects are falling into three buckets:
Get done in time for the party Get done as soon as humanly possible, but not necessarily in time for the party Get done wheneverThe lawn fell into category #1. Thirty [...]
Here’s a vid Jimmy took of me flattening the pool in the back yard with a Bobcat
It took us most of the afternoon to squish the pool up into a little ball of aluminum, vinyl and dead leaves, then drag it out of the yard and chuck it in the [...]
There’s a lot of stuff to post here, but a lot of it is at home. I have some great videos of driving a Bobcat through the old pool this weekend, but they’re on my Flip camera back home. There are also some before and after shots of the back [...]
So we hit a major milestone this weekend. The old house is completely empty, clean and ready for new people to move in.
The deal was that if I emptied everything and brought it to the new house, Lauren would clean the old house. Probably 95% of the move was done [...]
I can’t believe that something that was invented in order to streamline online payments has made it MORE difficult to make online payments almost every single time I’ve used it. If it weren’t for eBay and all these little independent merchants who don’t have their own credit card processing, I’d [...]
Lots of things going on, as usual. And because the tasks are piling up, so is my general list of maladies and complaints:
Dear Best Buy, CostCo and all other brick-and-mortar retailers – I bring the product to the register and pay for it. You give me my receipt. Transaction over. [...]Weird stream of consciousness at about 7:30 this morning. I was thinking about how much cooler toys used to seem back when I was in the target market. Big Wheels, Star Wars action figures, slot cars, Stretch Armstrong, etc. – All these things would get me really excited when I [...]
I thought most of the work on the house would have to get done on weekends and Summer Fridays. But thanks to summer daylight hours, I can usually get a few minor things done when I get home from work. I can’t save a major project like spackling and sanding [...]
Since I moved in to my new place last Wednesday, there hasn’t been a day in which I haven’t made at least one trip to a home improvement store. Sometimes, like last night, it’s for $5 worth of bolts and screws. Other times, it’s for much more. (Sometimes, I swear [...]
I promised I’d tell this story in yesterday’s post. So here goes…
We needed a riding lawn mower. Our new property is an acre. Our old property is a third of an acre. I mowed the old property with a non-self-propelled push mower, which was just fine for a small [...]
I’m really excited about moving on Wednesday, but I’m also shuddering at the sheer volume of work that needs to be done. I feel like I just got one house into habitable condition where I feel comfortable that nothing needs immediate attention, maintenance-wise. And now I’m stepping into a new [...]
I got my Kindle 2.0 at the end of February. It’s now the beginning of May. I’ve been reading like a madman. What’s cool is that I’m noticing that my consumption habits with the Kindle are similar to those that took effect when I first got my iPod Touch. That [...]
It occurred to me that eBay would get a larger share of my spending if they were able to address one thing - shipping. It’s better to illustrate what I mean by way of example.
I want a cheap landscaping/utility trailer. There are thousands of them on eBay, and probably hundreds [...]
I spend a lot of time not just giving presentations, but listening to them. There are a lot of presenters who are better at it than I am, and certainly I’ve been guilty of a presentation gaffe or two. (Or five, or thirty-six.) I’m starting to encounter a lot of [...]
So on Friday I received an email from Ultimate Ears telling me my cable shipped. And sure enough, it was in the mail today. I’m really glad this came, because now I have my wonderful-sounding headphones back.
I’m still a bit frustrated that it took so long for a warranty repair, [...]
Hurray! My suspension is over. Hopefully, I’ll manage to keep ahead of the comment spam.
[...]Okay, so every month or so I do this thing at the office that we call “Fun:Tech.” (Yes, I know it is a stupid name. I told the staff we’d change it once someone came up with something better. No one has.) At Fun:Tech, someone (usually me) does a quick [...]
On March 11, I was informed by Google that this site had been removed from its index. Here’s the text of what I received:
From: Google Subject: Removal from Google’s Index Date: March 11, 2009 To: ‹ Previous | 2 of 2 | Next ›Recipient
Dear site owner or webmaster of hespos.com,
While we were indexing your webpages, we [...]
It’s Monday at 5:30 AM in Holtsville. Trash Day.
I am on my way to the train station. It’s dark, but I can see the mounds of trash and junk lining the streets. Plastic garbage bags are piled high on plastic trash cans. The sheer amount of waste should be enough [...]
So I purchase a set of Ultimate Ears triple.fis a while ago. Since they’re a rather expensive set of earbuds, I registered for my warranty, just in case anything ever happened to them.
About a month ago, the cable cracked and shortly thereafter, the headphones stopped working. So I called [...]
I totally agree with the notion that TARP funds and other bailout monies ought not to be used to fund executive bonuses. That totally makes sense. Why should taxpayer funds be abused in this way? Anyone who doesn’t meet a projection of financial success ought not to be rewarded, especially [...]
I just received the news that my friend, Andy Bourland, died this morning. I’m feeling pretty down. We knew this was coming, but there’s just no real way to soften the blow of something like this.
I’m a big believer that when we lose somebody important to us, one of [...]
If there’s a business lesson that I seem to need to continually learn over and over again, it’s that I ought to trust my instincts. The schema your brain creates in order to tune in opportunities and tune out the irrelevant (or worse) is very real and very effective. Listen [...]
The lovely and talented Susan Bratton interviewed me at Ad Tech NY for her unique podcast, DishyMix. The episode is here.
One of the things I love about DishyMix is that it gives you insight into the PEOPLE who are big in the digital business - not just from [...]
It’s not often you spot a bona fide FAIL on your way back from a client meeting. (Click to make bigger.)
So we got our office bar yesterday. Of course, it arrived on a truck and Porres, Donaldson and I had to get our own hand truck and pick it up at the curb. But it’s all set up now, so we can share drinks with clients [...]
I’ve been thinking a bit about some of the weaknesses of capitalism - something I haven’t done very often. I used to be something of a laissez-faire capitalist, but I’m seeing quite a bit of how centralized control of money can make for a very imperfect system. By way of [...]
I’ve been saying for a while that the $700 billion figure for the bailout is nothing more than a conservative stake in the ground and that through assumption of debt and acts other than the direct disbursement of cash, the federal government’s gifts to the ultra-rich will extend into the [...]
Someone isn’t yet four months old, yet someone has a distinct preference for Apple products.
[...]I’ve been less enthusiastic than some of my fellow Obama-ites. Yes, we made history. Yes, we made the right choice. Yes, we’ll eventually turn the country around. Yes, it would have been a disaster if McCain had won. I’m just finding it hard to be enthusiastic about the whole thing, [...]
One drawback to writing an online marketing column is the off-topic pitches. Maybe I should send some of these “square peg in a round hole” specialists to people who really know PR, like Peter Shankman or Mark Naples. I’m guessing that they’re both overwhelmed, though.
Especially lately, I’ve been [...]
So I won’t have to hear “Where are the new photos of Kate?” from grandparents this weekend…
There’s a story up on the section front of Yahoo! Finance from U.S. News entitled “3 Ways the Economic Crisis Is Destroying Baby Boomer Retirement.” Are you kidding me?
How about a story entitled “No One Born After The Baby Boom Will Know What The Word ‘Retirement’ Means” running in [...]
Post your favorite interactive annoyances here. Some of my pet peeves:
iLike e-mails you to tell you that one of the bands you enjoyed listening to in college is playing a Long Island outlet mall.
[...]Sorry I haven’t been posting much. I’m in such a funk over this bailout. It’s like our politicians are trying deliberately to screw up the country before they hand the reins over to the next guy.
Lots of stupid investors buy up pools of crappy mortgage loans and then can’t get [...]
I want to get a picture of this. It’s blurry because on most days, my train whizzes by it at 60 MPH.
One of the things I love about the leg of my commute that runs through Nassau and Queens is that many of the old brick [...]
I’m just so frustrated with the financial mess our country is in. I look to the future and wonder whether retirement will ever be an option for someone like me. And I wonder about my business, how it will be affected and how I’ll continue to provide for my family [...]
Yep. Getting cuter.
I’d be uploading more, and there’s a HUGE rant coming on the financial system meltdown. There’s just no time with Advertising Week, baby duties and 2009 planning all going on at the same time. Stay tuned.
Here’s one of Kate and Gigi just for kicks…
Susan Bratton wants me to appear on DishyMix.
Truth be told, I’ve been bugging Susan to join her in the studio for a while, since I’m a fan. One of her latest tweets indicated she wants me to be on the show, so now I’m all giddy [...]
Some of my latest ad network gripes…
So I was like, “My site is down, dude…” and Hostway was all like “You’re on our Red Hat servers, right?” and then I was all like, “I guess.”
And then they were all like “That’s our OLD operating system, man. We don’t even, like, SUPPORT that anymore.” And I was [...]
Sometimes my daughter makes this face. And it makes her look like Yoda.
I have a confession. There is no Black Sabbath onesie. Actually, I was looking at a Black Sabbath one and a Led Zeppelin one in the shop in Austin, and I put the Black [...]
We took this at Grammy’s house Sunday morning. It might be my new favorite picture of Kate. I had a hi-res version of this one blown up to 8×10″ and it’s just beautiful.
[...]
While you’re enjoying the Kate Photo of the Day, we’d appreciate your lending your opinion on something. Kate owns a Black Sabbath onesie. I picked it up in Austin, TX when I was there for the iMedia Summit. It rocks.
Curiously, I’ve never seen her in this [...]
People ask me why I don’t regularly go to the doctor, and why I seem to be distrustful of those in the medical profession in general. This is why.
Healthcare in the U.S. has become a giant exercise in risk management. Our overly litigious society caused insurance costs to skyrocket, so [...]
Before I was a parent, I promised myself that when I did become a parent, I wouldn’t bore people with pictures of my kids. During my single days, I’d be presented with stacks of kiddie photos and I’d have to fake my way through them, “oohing” [...]
This was the wonderful Carvel cake the team presented me with yesterday at the end of the work day. I’m told a certain team member needed to go out of her way to find a Carvel. I’m also told that another team member bought [...]
So my nieces have been over the past few days, visiting Lauren and Kate. They seem to be fans of Noggin, so we had the TV tuned to that for a while.
Here’s my question - when did kids TV go off the rails? When I was a young tot, it [...]
So here’s your obligatory baby photo of the day - Kate sitting on the couch last night in her favorite pajamas.
I’ve been coming in to the office early and leaving by 5, which is the plan for a while until things settle down. [...]
Two things dominate my thoughts right now:
Since I can’t talk about #2, you’ll be subjected to numerous pictures of my new daughter. Don’t like it, tough noogies. Come back in a couple weeks. Here’s Kate on the purple Boppy pillow last night.
That’s Daddy (me) holding Kate in the operating room.
That’s Kate not long after getting her first bath and sitting under some heat lamp thing for a little while.
Lauren is catching a nap with Kate, so I snuck out for a bit in search of a Starbucks with Wi-Fi. Instead, I found a place called American Roadside, which means I don’t have to drink Starbuck’s crappy coffee and can instead have a burger while I resize photos and [...]
Kathryn Ellen Hespos - Born 7/28/2008 (sharing a birthday with Uncle Rob) at 10:32 AM. 8 lbs. 10 oz. , 21″ long and just beautiful.
I’m worried that, after all Lauren and I have been through today, that if I post more than that, I’ll start to babble. So I’m going [...]
Camping this weekend was fun, but I’m beat up.
1) I have a gash on my big toe, thanks to a glass bottle I encountered while clamming off Cedar Point. I probably should have gone for stitches, but didn’t.
2) I dropped a 200-lb. generator on my ankle. It hurts, but the [...]
I am so swamped it is not even remotely funny. So don’t expect to see much here this week.
[...]
more fail, owned and pwned pics and videos
Head over to FAILblog and vote for Eric Porres’ FAIL. Look for “Parking FAIL” submitted by Tom H (me).
Eric took this picture of really confusing NYC parking signs and posted it to his Facebook account. Unbeknownst [...]
One of the ways ad networks differentiate themselves from one another is by flaunting their position in the ad queue. That is, their sales reps talk the network up with ad buyers by saying their network gets “first look” at an ad impression on a content website.
An ad queue is [...]
Last night, I realized what I’m going to have on my hands this year. At some point, I’m going to have more tomatoes than I know what to do with. Thankfully, family lives close and I’m sure they’ll want to take some off my hands, especially with all the paranoia [...]
Random sampling of 20 tweets…
Brief, semi-original thoughts: 14 tweets (70%)
Link whoring for existing content on tweeter’s blog: 6 tweets (30%)
What’s the signal-to-noise tipping point?
Of course, I’m going to link whore on Twitter right now to drive traffic to this post and get some great comments from people.
Long live AdSense!
[...]
Tomatoes are coming in nicely. This is just one section of tomato plants I grew this year. Many are flowering and getting ready to bear fruit. Another couple weeks and we’ll probably be swimming in tomatoes.
Behind these tomatoes is a lot of squash. As you can [...]
Every morning on the LIRR, I pass this thing. Sorry it’s tough to see. I had to take the picture through the window of the train and power lines got in the way.
Basically, it looks like a cell tower. Next to the cell tower is an [...]
I’m going to miss George Carlin.
I don’t want to launch into a First Amendment rant here and get into why “Seven Dirty Words” was so important. Other bloggers are going to have at that all day.
I’ll just say that I thought he was amazingly funny, even when he was ranting [...]
You know who you are. And just in case you don’t, you meet the definition of “Hyperconnected E-mail Networker” if any of the following is true:
1) You’ve had an argument with someone you know about whether an e-mail you sent them is spam or not.
2) Every e-mail you send begins [...]
I found myself on my ass on my high school’s wrestling mat, which is an odd place to be if you’re not on your high school’s wrestling team. I had just tried to push a guy who was half my size. The following things were evident to me as I [...]
So, a while back I attended something called the Hyperlinked Society Conference at The Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. Lots of heavy-hitters were there - Martin Nisenholtz from the NY Times, Jimmy Wales of Wikipedia, David Weinberger, etc. Basically, the conference was all about understanding [...]
Rob Burke is spreading the news of his environmentally-friendly car wash and quick lube via YouTube.
Part One
Part Two
I like how these videos sum up what Rob has done to try to change minds regarding environmental responsibility, wind turbine technology and saving the planet.
Go to YouTube and offer up [...]
I was having a little problem with Hostway and couldn’t upload any images, so many of you haven’t seen this one yet. Lauren and I picked up our camper on Thursday night. We got it from someone in Mastic who used it three times, so It’s [...]
In her post, “American Idolatry,” Ann Handley talks about how her family’s American Idol experience was ruined when her DVR box jumped ahead to Live TV at a critical moment.
I had a similar experience. Before I rant, some caveats…
1) I hate American Idol. I hate the concept. It’s as [...]
I always like to take a mental inventory of the things I take away from the iMedia Summits after I get back. Here are some of the takeaways from the Agency Summit in Austin:
Buyers and Sellers Are Competing for the Same Strategic Role - It seemed like when we [...]
So the Senate doesn’t like the FCC’s move to dissolve the ban on newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership. It looks as if that ban might stay intact if it passes the house and isn’t vetoed by the president.
Assuming that happens, how does this affect Cablevision’s recent purchase of Newsday? You’ve got [...]
Apple, will you please get your crap together and release a 64GB iPod Touch? I love the iPod Touch and it’s really elegant, but I’m not downgrading a 60GB iPod video to a 32GB Touch. It doesn’t make sense. I’ll have to leave a lot of content off the device.
And [...]
Some of my favorites are here, including Saturday Night Live’s “Happy Fun Ball” and “Bad Idea Jeans.”
[...]If you’re active on XBox 360 and in my social media sphere, what’s your handle? Inquiring minds want to know. Post your gamer handle in comments.
[...]Microsoft backed off. What will Yahoo have to look forward to? Probably shareholder lawsuits.
It must suck when you want to innovate and help shape digital media, and instead have to contend with a bunch of people who probably know little to nothing about the industry, complaining in your [...]
Okay. This is hysterical.
[...]One of the unpopular rules regarding putting bikes on Long Island Rail Road trains is that they can’t be on trains during peak hours. Or on holidays.
It’s bad enough that a permit is needed to bring a bike on a train. It’s worse that there can’t be more than [...]
Things that were on the agenda for this weekend:
Things that actually got done this weekend:
I have a lot of great photos from my vacation in Disney World. One funny one, though, is this shot of the soundboard guy from the Finding Nemo-The Musical show in Epcot. As I was leaving the show, I poked my head over to take a [...]
So I was printing out a photo of Mustard Man on the color printer, so I could hang it on Underscore’s Wall O’ Internet Memes. Looks like printing out all that mustard killed the yellow cartridge…
[...]
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