Tuesday

Real Life Superheroes

"Real Life Superheroes are a group of people that have risen above normalcy and societal constraints in order to serve the public good while maintaining a unique personality and look."

I think they're brave just for going out in public in their "costumes."

How inspiring though to know that there are people out there taking action: patrolling the streets, picking up litter, cleaning graffiti and aiding residents in however they need.

Here's a definition of a RLSH from the welcome post on the Superheroes Anonymous website:
  • A Real Life Superhero challenges the very meaning of “real life” and provides hope, inspiration and uncertainty to a world that has become too complacent with normalcy and mediocrity. A Real Life Superhero is someone who loves the world to such a degree that they are not content observing but feel compelled to act. And so in that way, they differ from just a “good person” and earn themselves the title “hero.”
A recent news story covering their first meeting in Times Square describes a couple of the superheroes:
  • Street Hero wears a black mask, a black bustier and black knee-high boots. She was a former prostitute who now attempts to protect women who work the streets. She is trained in martial arts.
    "I do it on my own," she said. "Mostly after dark. Around the city."
  • The Super fixes faucets and does electrical work for people in need.
    "I said to myself, if we have to wait around for the city or the mayor to fix everything wrong or dangerous in this city, it'll never get done," said the Super, who wore a red cape, a yellow shirt and a white mask.

Jason Clements has just poked you.

OK, maybe it doesn't have the same affect in a blog as it does on Facebook.

Not being a die hard Facebook user I've never really got the significance of poking someone. To me it was a useless thing with no real purpose.

However, after reading Dave McClure's blog entry on the subject it makes a bit more sense. I'm starting to see that there can be more background read into a specific poke to interpret it. Though to me the sexual connotation is still a bit strong for me to start using it too much.

I think it would make an interesting topic for a social or philosophical paper or discussion to study more.

The Red Sox may just win the World Series (again)

Not being a big sports fan I wouldn't normally mention the World Series in any of my posts.

However, being a bit of a pop culture and TV fan, the fact that Boston won for their league and will now play Colorado for the World Series is a big thing, especially in the World of 'Lost.'

Jack, a lead character in the series (along with his father) would say "when the Red Sox win the World Series" to mean something was very unlikely to happen, along the lines of "when pigs fly" or "when hell freezes over."

And now Boston could win for a second time in four years after their win in 2004.

Not sure the win will shatter the storyline though. I think one of The Others, maybe Ben or Tom, mentioned to Jack that the Red Sox had won the World Series while he's been stranded on the island (though not sure if they were joking or serious).

Can't wait for the season to start up again in the new year.

Monday

Is it Christmas?

The proliferation of Christmas cards and decorations on the store shelves for the majority of the year puts the date in question sometimes.

So, if you ever find yourself unable to keep track of the days and think it might be Christmas, just check out this site and get the answer.




And if you start feeling rejected by seeing 'No' too many times, just watch this countdown to no when you might see a 'Yes.'

Friday

Guess I measure up

According to the findings of the 2007 web design survey completed by A List Apart, I'm pretty typical when it comes to web professionals.

White: check
Male: check
30 something: check
Bachelor degree: check
Blog: check

Close to 33,000 web professionals answered the survey's 37 questions and around 70 per cent of the respondents fit the above bill of a white, 30 something male with a bachelor degree.

Thursday

More research in favour of open source and social media

Many companies do not to have open blogs or wikis where anyone can contribute for fear that malicious or negative feedback will prevail.

And you may think that allowing anonymous contributors would lead to posts of malicious or false information, but according to the study infrequent anonymous contributors to Wikipedia are as reliable as registered users who update constantly.

And if a company is focusing on quality and serving their customers then they shouldn't have to worry. Sure there may be the odd negative or false comment, but I believe there is an altruistic nature of society as a whole and if a person has a good experience with a product or service he or she is going to share that good experience with everyone.

Tuesday

Onslaught and Amy follow Evolution

Dove has two new self esteem ads to follow the success of the viral ad, Evolution:
  1. Onslaught
  2. Amy - this one actually lets you replace the name with that of 50 other common names
“Amy can name 12 things wrong with her appearance. He can’t name one.”