This talk was given by a guy who used to be the "Director of Digital" for the Onion, and the first half of the talk was a lot about how things worked at the Onion, delivered with the usual humor you'd expect from that organization. I'll let the abstract speak for itself:

[Speaker: Baratunde Thurston] Comedian, former Onion digital director and best-selling author Baratunde Thurston takes the audience on a personal journey through his “coming of blackness” identity in the post-Civil Rights era. The How To Be Black experience features photos, videos, and satirical guides plus a behind-the-scenes look at the interactive creative process and promotion behind the book. The result is a humorous, intelligent, and audacious talk that challenges and satirizes the so-called experts, purists, and racists who purport to speak for all black people. With honest storytelling and biting wit, Baratunde plots a path not just to blackness, but in a digital age defined by self-expression, a path open to anyone interested in simply how to be.

Video link on research.microsoft.com (Silverlight player with slides, WMV/MP4 video and WMA/MP3 downloadable links on page)

Tags: talks

It seems to be all the rage lately, in that I think at least three people I read have posted life updates, so let me get on the bandwagon.

Work: The office politics situation is always fluid, but I still really like my job, and get to do cool stuff. And get paid for it! Can't complain here. Annual reviews are coming up, with all the hilarity that entails.

Gym: Somewhat touch and go. Lately I seem to be managing every other day. I was doing more than that for awhile, but every other day isn't so bad. Still focusing on fat loss mostly, trying to get rid of some of the extra padding, and I have some evidence that's even happening! This of course gets more difficult as one gets leaner, however. But, still, generally good.

Socializing: Monday nights I still have my regular Halo: Reach game on XBOX Live, Thursdays I'm still taking Japanese at the community college, and Fridays I have my regular board/card gaming group I go to. Weekends are weekendish, and I do as much as possible to keep them pretty relaxed, and frequently see the significant other. Other evenings sometimes have things happening, or I just take the opportunity to relax at home.

Miz Kira: Peepers gonna peep. She's been getting a bit braver, and not quite so skittish, but she's still plenty skittish. She's started getting curious about Outside, which is disturbing. But when I come in, sometimes she'll come over and peer out through the door, and if I leave it open, will very cautiously wander out onto the front porch. Still, we have our routine, and usually I spend a bit of time waking up and giving her luv. She's also developed a bit of a taste for my hair, which is disquieting. Sometimes when I'm settling in for the night or just getting up, she'll come over, sniff at my hair and then.. *nomnomnom*. She even woke me up in the middle of the night a couple times doing this, unsettlingly. I keep expecting to wake up and find she's gnawed off a finger, next.

Wow. I guess that's about it! Thanks for reading. I'm still here, reading the things you all post, too.

The fifth anniversary of my employment at Microsoft was in January. Usually my group marks these things at our bi-weekly staff meeting near the date, but because my boss have managed to not be both at a staff meeting so far this year, pretty much, this wasn't able to happen. (Except for once, it's all been him being away on travel.) Today was the first staff meeting we were both at, although during the meeting itself, he didn't bring it up.

There was a celebration on the calendar for today, though, ostensibly to celebrate the birthday of a coworker whose birthday was on Tuesday (when the boss was again out of town). I had an inkling that it was really to celebrate my anniversary, but I was unprepared for the lengths they went to.
( Click for pics and details. )
But this is one of the big reasons I love working here — the people are awesome.

I bet I have a few introverts out there reading this. Here's a talk on this topic some of you may find interesting:

Abstract: [Speaker: Susan Cain] At least one-third of the people we know are introverts. They are the ones who prefer listening to speaking, reading to partying; who innovate and create but dislike self-promotion; who favor working independently over brainstorming in teams. Although they are often labeled "quiet," it is to introverts that we owe many of the great contributions to society--from van Gogh’s sunflowers to the invention of the personal computer. The dominant values of American business culture, where forced collaboration can stand in the way of innovation, and where the leadership potential of introverts is often overlooked. Quiet shows how dramatically we undervalue introverts, and how much we lose in doing so.

Video link to research.microsoft.com (Silverlight player on page, as well as links to audio and video files)

Tags: talks

19 January 2012: Snow The view from my front door.

A brief story from FC 2012 I've already bored everyone here with:

toob and jakebe took myself, sudonym and others out to Single Barrel, a speakeasy-style bar in San Jose. They have an interesting gimmick: the first time you're there (and any other time you want to), rather than ordering a drink, you describe to the bartender what you like, and after a little back and forth, the bartender selects a drink for you.

sudonym went first, described what he liked, and after that the verdict was: a pink lady. And it was pink. I was surprised, since his rule is usually that blue makes it all better.

I was up next, and I said I was basically the same way except for a couple of details. I remember she asked me if I liked orange flavors, which I do. So her verdict for me?

A Red Lion.

toob swears he didn't put the bartender up to this. But I wasn't wearing anything with lions featured, so there was no prompting.

What are the odds?

After the last time with people unwilling to pass a rent-a-cop, another stupidity happened tonight, but I leave it for you all to decide if this one is more or less of a stupidity.

Same highway, same approximate time (so it's dark), same situation with the speed limit increasing from 50 to 60. This time, cars are actually going 60mph (or even more!) when we get across the bridge.

But this time, as we pass a bus stop, there's a taxi stopped in the bus stop on the side of the road, but you can see the brake lights on. For what it's worth, as soon as I saw it, I knew it was a taxi. It's a bus stop, so there are lights, so I could see the taxi sign on the roof. But, taxis are often the same or similar model of car to police cruisers. So, the cars in front of me slowed way down, to less than 50mph. Again, speed limit is 60mph.

Discuss!

I've railed against the drivers in the Seattle area for awhile, and I submit a new example for your consideration.

While on my way home last night, I'm driving on a freeway that goes from Seattle, across the bridge on Lake Washington, to the east side where I live. (WA 520, for you locals.) Going across the bridge, the speed limit is 50mph. The traffic in front of me is hanging a little below that -- between 45 and 50. This is a little unusual, as generally people go a little above the speed limit, but not a big deal.

Once on the other side of the bridge on the east side, the speed limit goes up to 60mph. Sometimes people don't notice, and the vehicles in front of me continue not to accelerate. Worse, they're even slowing down on inclines closer to 40mph. This is happening in both lanes, so there's not even any way for me to get around the traffic. I'm in the left lane (because I'm a speed demon, of course). Eventually a minivan in front of me moves over to the right, and I come up behind the car which is at the front of the column, not going any faster. We're all now going at least 10mph below the speed limit.

I flash my high-beams once, twice, three times. I always understood this as a signal to either a) speed up or b) move out of the way. This driver does neither, and again, there is another vehicle going the same speed in the right lane so I can't go around. It's maddening how lock-step the two vehicles are going, and blocking everybody behind them.

I eventually see the cause. Up ahead in the right lane, in front of the vehicle going lock-step with the one in front of me, is a sedan with a light bar on the roof.

A yellow/orange light bar. I can see this even though it's dark.

Eventually when the road expands into more lanes, I can finally get around and see the sedan with the light bar, which is still going 50mph. On its side: the logo for Northwest Protective Services: a private security company.

That's right. The drivers in both lanes were too paranoid to even approach the speed limit and pass a rent-a-cop, who also didn't realize the speed limit had increased to 60mph.

Attention Seattle drivers: Even if I cut you some slack for not realizing it was a private security company car and not an actual police cruiser, it is legal to pass any vehicle on the left when you are not exceeding the speed limit.

Another talk I think will be of interest to folks out there.

Abstract: [Speaker: Robert Trivers] Although our senses have evolved to give us a detailed perception of the outside world, as soon as that information hits our brain it becomes biased and distorted, usually without conscious effort. Whether it’s a romantic relationship or the planning of an offensive war, there are many opportunities to lie and self-deceive—but deceit and self-deception alienate us from reality and can lead to disaster. Why does deception play such a prominent role in our everyday existence?

Link to research.microsoft.com (As always, Silverlight player on-page, links to WMV, MP4, WMA, and MP3 files there)

Tags: talks

I think Matt Taibbi (from Rolling Stone) is getting it. Here's a link to his latest column, but I wanted to call out this paragraph in particular:

If you think of it this way, Occupy Wall Street takes on another meaning. There's no better symbol of the gloom and psychological repression of modern America than the banking system, a huge heartless machine that attaches itself to you at an early age, and from which there is no escape. You fail to receive a few past-due notices about a $19 payment you missed on that TV you bought at Circuit City, and next thing you know a collector has filed a judgment against you for $3,000 in fees and interest. Or maybe you wake up one morning and your car is gone, legally repossessed by Vulture Inc., the debt-buying firm that bought your loan on the Internet from Chase for two cents on the dollar. This is why people hate Wall Street. They hate it because the banks have made life for ordinary people a vicious tightrope act; you slip anywhere along the way, it's 10,000 feet down into a vat of razor blades that you can never climb out of.

Tags: issues