Should be a good movie

I also appreciate that they made the trailer embeddable.

ThermaCare HeatWraps for Staying Warm Outside

This past weekend I spent some time at the Hillside Hunting Club and one of the other hunters let me in on a secret to keep warm while you sit outside waiting for a deer or turkey.

ThermaCare lower back heat wraps. Wrap one or two of them across your torso and they help keep you warm for 8+ hours.

Here's the old fashion way of keeping warm - circa 1955.

Roomba 570 should be perfect for small retail stores

This Saturday I had the opportunity to stop by La Shed Du Fred in Callicoon to look at their custom furniture. They make amazing pieces out of reclaimed barn wood and non-toxic finishes.

Irregardless as we were chatting with the owners it came up that it was difficult to find people to clean the store. I suggested they look into buying a Roomba as they could set it to run in the evening after the store closes.

It would be a simple and easy way for small retail shops to keep their stores clean. Sure you'd still need to dust items, but the floor could be vacuumed every night.

Next time I visit to order our dining room table I'll bug them about getting a Roomba.

If subprime loans weren't enough

Here's a great article in the NY Times highlighting the shortcuts and challenges with the Frankenstein financing of recent mortgages.

Email Is Broken

Since I signed up for Facebook and MySpace and worked on becoming a regular user of both I've come to the conclusion that email innovation stalled, it stalled a long time ago.

Reading Saul Hansell's blog post on "Inbox 2.0" just further confirms a growing feeling in my gut. Email evolution stalled and others filled the gap created.

I liken email to the telephone, except it never really evolved or kept up with the evolution of the Internet.

Did it ever really embrace Web 1.0? Maybe recently with instant messaging being incorporated into the email services.

As Saul points out there hasn't been innovation on helping make the inbox more useful, helping you prioritize, etc.

The telephone has caller id, call waiting, voice mail, call forwarding, universal phone numbers, etc.

I know when I log into Facebook I will only see communications from my friends. There are no pharma spam ads, just the chatter of friends and old acquaintances.

Saul makes a great point that people might not have great expectations with email, but it's a universal communication tool that is not "owned" by a single company. I can join Gmail and email someone on Yahoo. Today that doesn't work between Facebook and MySpace for example.

If the majors want to capture email share they need to evolve the inbox and make it useful again. Most of them have all of the functionality that Facebook or MySpace has but it's spread out among various products. There is minimal integration.

What would happen if all of the functionality was added in and the velvet rope was setup?

Email is a universal communication tool, that needs to evolve. We need an arms race in the inbox to improve the functionality and relevance.

Business still runs on email, most companies have their own email server. I find it hard to imagine that every company would switch to Facebook for communication. Imagine new email tools that weave in social functionality, it's happening with xobni.com top of mind with me.

Apologies for the ads

I feel the need to apologize as I noticed the ads that were running on this blog from a certain ad network after I added their tag. Sure this a small site, but I did not sign-up for having suggestive banner ads. The ad I saw this morning had woman's undergarments and I'll leave it at that.

Tags GONE.

It's 180 degrees from his day job

Interesting video story from the WSJ Online. Personally I find home repair / construction work to be my prospecting.

Another Great HBS Post

"Why is Succesion So Poorly Manage?" is another great HBS post. I might have to pick up the book, The CEO Within.

My Roomba 570 Maiden Voyage

Well our Roomba 570 ran around our co-op today covering two rooms and a hallway. We keep the place clean and I am still amazed at what it picked up.

Below is a picture of the dirt and dust it picked up. It'll be interesting to see what it picks up on Thursday. (Please ignore the leaks)

The Roomba 570 has arrived

Diana and I returned home tonight to find the Roomba box waiting outside our door. Of course I had to set it up immediately and try it out. The manual recommends a deep 16 hour charge to start, but I figured a few minutes running around would be good for it.

The co-op looks clean, but sure enough the collection chamber had a significant amount of dirt in it. I'll write more when it's fully up and running, but I'm impressed so far.

Business Class on Southwest?

I'm a big fan of Southwest Airlines. When I lived in Baltimore is was the preferred carrier for any business trip out of BWI. I would forgo other airlines and direct flights to fly Southwest. They are the easiest to earn a free ticket and I could decide who was sitting next to me. (Click here for my older SWA posts)

Now they launched Business Select, apparently you pay a small premium which entitles you to board with the A group. I guess you don't need to race to print your board pass any longer. There is greater flexibility in changing your ticket as well as getting a full refund. You'll also earn more frequently flier points!

They also launched Business as well which doesn't have preferred boarding.

Smells like enhanced yield management.

Could it be that business travelers are competitive for the A slots and would gladly forgo $$s to skip the line?

Could the business traveler be the only people who earn free tickets normally and would pay the extra charge since it's really their business paying the cost?

Thoughts anyone?

Google Maps coming to a gas pump near you

Google Maps will soon be at gas pumps near you. You'll be able to print out directions while filling up your car with costly gasoline. What's interesting is that the gas retailer will be able to choose the points of interest that show up on the map. They'll be able to generate some revenue off coupons on the points of interest.

Initially it doesn't look like you'll be able to type in an exact address.

What is this world coming to?

A new drug from fermented human waste? - read it here

Buying a Roomba online and watching the remarketing

I broke down and ordered a Roomba today. Next thing I'm seeing are banner ads for the Roomba.

Re-targeting me? YES, but I purchased one.

I purchased one through Google Checkout - my guess is there was no cancellation pixel on the thank you page.

Either way not a big deal, intent has been shown, so show me ads about the Roomba.

When people talk about better targeting for better ads, this is the first step. Much better than seeing an ad about punching a monkey.

Funny iPhone Spoof Commercial