Cool sites

Stumble Upon is a great site that presents you with similar sites to a group of your choosing. It's like the "if you like this" feature at Amazon, etc. Here's the link: http://www.stumbleupon.com/

MetaCritic has been around for awhile but I heard someone talking about it the other day like it was new so I thought I would include it. Includes reviews from every level on current movies, and combines the scores to come up with an average. It also links to previews and schedules. http://www.metacritic.com/film/ This week, All the President's Men got a 36, which is super low. I think I agree, but hey, I only saw a short trailer.

Allmusic.com is celebrating its 15 year anniversary, but now they have added allmovie.com. My favorite is still imdb.com - the first and the best, but the interface at allmovie.com is a bit more interesting. Plus, you gotta love a site that features the work of Michael Gondry, who's Science of Sleep should be playing in Phoenix any minute. He's the one who did the Lego video for the Stripes, and tons of Bjork videos.

And in the "thank god I'm not alone in my obsession with Big Lebowski category" here is a site that hosts Lebowski Fest. If only it weren't so far away. The Dude abides. http://www.lebowskifest.com/

And finally, Happy Birthday to Google, who is 8, and Trevor Ludski, who is 60.

Yay!

Photo of the week

Nightlights, by Carolyn Anne-Ryan English. (Click for a larger view.)

Work work work

Never work just for money or for power. They won't save your soul or help you sleep at night.
Marian Wright Edelman

The best way to appreciate your job is to imagine yourself without one.
Oscar Wilde

Work is the curse of the drinking classes.
Oscar Wilde

In any organization there will always be one person who knows what is going on - This person must be fired.
Conway's Law

Working gets in the way of living.
Omar Sharife

Why is it men are permitted to be obsessed about their work, but women are only permitted to be obsessed about men?
Barbra Streisand

H.I., you're young and you got your health, what you want with a job?
Raising Arizona

The government, she do take a bite, don't she?
Raising Arizona

And I said, I don't care if they lay me off either, because I told, I told Bill that if they move my desk one more time, then, then I'm, I'm quitting, I'm going to quit. And, and I told Don too, because they've moved my desk four times already this year, and I used to be over by the window, and I could see the squirrels, and they were married, but then, they switched from the Swingline to the Boston stapler, but I kept my Swingline stapler because it didn't bind up as much, and I kept the staples for the Swingline stapler and it's not okay because if they take my stapler then I'll set the building on fire...
Milton, Office Space

Peter Gibbons: You're gonna lay off Samir and Michael?
Bob Slydell: Oh yeah, we're bring in some entry-level graduates, farm some work out to Singapore, that's the usual deal.
Bob Porter: Standard operating procedure.
Peter Gibbons: Do they know this yet?
Bob Slydell: No. No, of course not. We find it's always better to fire people on a Friday. Studies have statistically shown that there's less chance of an incident if you do it at the end of the week.
Office Space

Bob Porter: Looks like you've been missing a lot of work lately.
Peter Gibbons: Well, I wouldn't exactly say I've been *missing* it, Bob.
Office Space

Bill Lumbergh: Ahh, I'm going to have to go ahead and ask you to come in on Sunday, too...

Gooooooogle

Have you seen any new technology lately that is so cool it kinda makes your throat dry? No, I didn't think so. We don't all get our panties in a bunch over tech stuff. But I gotta tell you, Google is the coolest thing to hit the internet since, well, the web.

Here are just a couple things they're working on in Google labs.

There's Notes, a program that clips and stores information as you surf, and puts it up in your toolbar. You can make them public and people can add suggestions - say that you are trying to find the perfect pair of shoes to wear to kick some HR person's ass, well, Notes is great for that. No more bookmarking all sorts of pages that you won't even remember the next day.

Also, you can text questions to Google from your phone - like, type in Snakes on a Plane and your zip code, and hit 46645, and you get a response back instantly that looks something like this. Also, there's Google Talk, which is not new technology but it's good to know they have it. Free long distance, any time. These programs came out of Labs, but are now in real time use.

There's also Google Suggest - which fills in keyword searches as it guesses what you're looking for. There's an online spreadsheet program. There's a Set suggester - which is good if you like to make lists of similar items. I'm not exactly sure what that one's for, but it's undoubtedly cool. The best thing about Google labs is that you can play with the prototypes and send your feedback in, and they actually listen and incorporate ideas.

They have learned a lot from Linux, and from Mac. Wonder what it would be like to work there?

Guesthouse progress? Not really

I mentioned I was laid off on August 24, which was two weeks ago tomorrow. I have not had Fred and Martine do any more work until I had the severance check in hand, as I no longer trust anything I hear out of CA's mouth.

That said, it took 4 days, 3 emails, and 2 voicemails to track someone down in HR to find out where my promised severance check was, promised to have arrived last week. Emails were not returned by anyone. However, persistence paid off.

"Oh, I made a mistake in telling you that and should have called you, but then I went on vacation, and then..." HR's voice trailed off. Seriously. Why do people who don't give a rat's ass about people or care enough to think even one thing through get hired to deal with people? So apparently my check will come with the regular pay date. Whatever.

Compared to the rat hole, the new gig is a breath of fresh air. No drama, no gossip, no backstabbing. No fake niceties. No unnecessary poorly organized meetings. Just work. Do it, and get paid for it, and leave it there when you go home at night. It's not rocket science, folks. How come so few people get this?

Hopefully more progress will be made this weekend. All that is left is installing the porto-kitchen and cabinets, and finishing the mosaic. Pics will follow shortly. Pls be patient as I deal with a total lack of energy borne of actually having to use my brain at work.

Favorite flicks in August

The Take
V for Vendetta
Aria
The Take


Really bad:
Ask the Dust

Disappointed in:
Brick
Don't Come Knockin