Bragging About Rejected Super Bowl Ads

A week from Sunday the nation will sit mesmerized by muscular men duking it out on TV.. and in between those commercials they will also be watching the Super Bowl.

A few days a go the Business Insider asked Can We Please Put An End To The Fake "Rejected" Super Bowl Ads? Here are a few clips from it:

Ashley Madison doesn't want their ad on the Super Bowl. They deliberately made one that they knew would get turned down so that they could brag to the world that they are "controversial" and "too hot for TV." It's much cheaper that way.
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Companies figured out years ago that the best brand strategy isn't spending all your seed money on a Super Bowl ad. It's manufacturing a non-existent controversy around your Super Bowl ad, so that you get just as many people watching it at a fraction of the price.

(That also happens to be GoDaddy.com's entire business philosophy.)

Yes, it worked. We just wrote a post about Ashley Madison and JesusHatesObama.com, right? But guess what? Women in lingerie and political humor isn't too hot for TV or the Super Bowl. It's also not funny and it sure isn't clever.

Fake "Rejected" Super Bowl Ads? You gotta love this sort of ingenuity. Looking back on these "controversies" I have to admit that it never crossed my mind that it was all a ruse. Color me gullible. How about you? Were you duped?

Violence, Bears, Packers, Steelers and Jets

Like many of you I will be watching the NFC and AFC championships this afternoon. I like NFL style football but I am becoming extremely uncomfortable with the helmet-to-helmet violence that permeates the game these days. Do you think the game has gotten too violent? I do - I cringe every time I hear about these guys getting a concussion.

I am cheering for the Jets today and don't have any strong feelings about the NFC championship. How about you?

Redemptive Bloggings

Just a reminder that I have been blogging daily at my other blog about the words of Jesus. My style has been to take a short sentence or thought and reflect a bit as to what He was trying to communicate. It has been very helpful to my own spiritual walk and has helped bring a renewed sense of clarity to my life.

I spent my first eight days pondering The Beatitudes. Since then I have been contemplating the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. Here are a few of the titles I have posted:

• You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.
• I have not come to abolish the Law
• What God has joined together, let man not separate
• Everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable
• Everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent
• Do not resist the one who is evil.
• Beware of practicing your righteousness ... to be seen

Currently I am blogging every day about Jesus' instructions to us in the Lord's prayer.
I would love for you to follow, and comment on, my postings there.

Casey's Cookies

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Saw this on the news this morning.

The mission of Casey's Cookies is to promote independence and improve the quality of life for developmentally and physically disabled adults through training and employment, and to develop a residential community in the Tampa Bay area where Casey's Cookies employees can live and work in a safe and nurturing environment.

Check them out caseyscookies.org.

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10 Most Technophobic Movies

Got a note from Florine @ the College Crunch site telling me about a post with the same name as this one. Here are a few excerpts from the intro:

"Technophobia" is a pretty easy word to break down: fear of technology, specifically of advanced computers or other devices and a belief that they will lead to humanity's ruin. ... real technophobia deals with tech gone awry, taking over a person or city or world in order to execute its own lethal agenda.

I have never really taken this seriously - although I still wonder if the government will one day mandate that a chip be implanted in our wrists or forehead.. as in the mark of the beast in the book of Revelation. I can see that happening as a reaction to identity theft. Even so I am not fearful about it and have not thought about it lately. Here is their list of most technophobic movies and a few of my comments:

1. The Matrix - loved the imagination.
2. WALL-E - have not seen it.
3. The Terminator - love the idea of time travel.
4. Frankenstein - this one scared me silly when I was young.
5. The Day the Earth Stood Still - saw the recent version.
6. Metropolis - have not seen it.
7. Demon Seed - have not seen it.
8. Jurassic Park - an interesting take on Dinosaur DNA.
9. Avatar - was surprised that the story was pretty good.
10. Star Trek - been a Trekker since the Kirk and Spock.

I recommend that you read the entire post here. They have good insights.

Are you a technophobe? Can you think of other technophobic movies?

Radon :: 50 times deadlier than Carbon Monoxide

Did you know that January is National Radon Action Month? In 2002 I had my home tested for Radon before we bought it.. the results were good and repairs unnecessary. The information below is excerpted from an email message sent by my insurance agent.

Radon escapes naturally from soil as a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas that can seep through the foundation of your home and reach toxic levels. How toxic? Radon contributes to 21,000 lung-cancer deaths annually, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). By comparison, carbon monoxide kills an average of 439 persons each year.

The EPA sets the maximum acceptable radon exposure at 4 picocuries per liter of air (pCi/L). However, because there's no "safe" level, the EPA recommends you take action when the level in your home reaches 2 pCi/L. Outdoor radon levels average about .4 pCi/L. You can test for radon two ways:

• DIY tests. Buy radon test kits at home centers or through National Radon Program Services. Testing takes two days to a year in a closed-up house before you return the test to a laboratory for the results. Radon levels vary daily, so longer tests mean greater accuracy. Retest after making repairs.
• Professional tests. A trained radon professional's electric monitor shows how radon levels fluctuate during the test period. Home buyers may trust professional tests more because they are performed independently of home sellers.

In general, treat radon reduction like any home improvement and obtain multiple bids before hiring a contractor. Fixing most radon problems costs $800 to $2,500, according to the National Radon Safety Board, one of two organizations maintaining lists of radon contractors. The National Environmental Health Association offers a list of questions to ask your radon contractor. The EPA has links to your state's radon control agency.

A good friend died a few months ago from lung cancer. He never smoked. He had worked from home for the past eight years. I know that they are testing his house. I wonder if his house had radon? A good reminder to get your house tested and know for sure.

Has The American Dream Drifted North?

I copied the title of this post from Tina Dupuy's blog article. I found some of what she said to be a bit surprising as she discusses a Canadian TV show named Til Debt Do Us Part that is hosted by Gail Vaz-Oxlade. Here are a few excerpts from it:

Then Gail handed the couple a wad of bills to illustrate they were going to be paying for things in cash from now on. The money? Canadian. These are Canadians. Their budget is manageable for one because they’ve chosen to not buy supplemental insurance and rely on the government to provide all of their health care.

This couple and most of the couples on the show don’t pay for health care out of their family budgets. The average family in America spends around $15,000 a year or around 22% of their income on health care. That amount will apparently pay most of a mortgage on an enviable home in the greater Toronto area.

Most notable, the show doesn’t delve into any sob stories about getting diseases and therefore having debt. There are no staples of the only-in-America saga of losing your health, then your health care and then your house. The debt is all from spending money on things they want. Simply because they want them. Which makes these spendthrift Canadians seem more American than Americans.

I think that Tina has gone a bit overboard to make a point. But she does make a few cogent points about how the expense of American healthcare impacts the economic health of average families. I know that our annual healthcare costs in 2009 were $9,549.. and we have really good insurance.. and there are only two of us in our family. So I tend to think that her figures are probably not too far off.. but I could be off base. Something to think about as congress moves to repeal last year's healthcare legislation.

How much does healthcare cost you? Do you think you Americans are paying to much for it?

PhraseExpress

I downloaded this cool freeware program over three years ago and it has helped me reduce keystrokes in about everything I do on my PC.. especially on the blogging front.. I use it a lot for HTML.

I recommend it to you and give it two thumbs up!

Tuesdays with Morrie | ★★★★★★★★★

I thought that Tuesday might be a good time to talk about this great made for TV movie that Ann and I watched a few weeks ago. It is hard to believe that we had not seen this 1999 flick.

This true story is the heartwarming journey of sportswriter Mitch Albom as he reconnects with his old professor Morrie Schwartz. As it unfolds we see two images of two very different men. Mitch is a thirty something guy who is driven and successful. Morrie is fun-loving academic who seems to have such a zest for life when he begins to experience the initials stages of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease).

Firstly I have to say that the movie reminded me of the amazing acts chops of Jack Lemmon - his portrayal of a dying man so inspired me. And I have to admit that Morrie reminded me of the way that Jill Hollis, another ALS victim, inspired me as she blogged about the challenges of ALS and dying. I was very touched by Morrie's zest for life even in his last days. I also like the way that they showed how difficult it was to deal with ALS.


I thought that it might be helpful to share a bit of Morrie's wisdom.. here are a few nuggets:

When you learn how to die, you learn how to live.

Death ends a life, not a relationship.

The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in.

Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too - even when you're in the dark. Even when you're falling.

We must love one another or die.

Forgive yourself before you die. Then forgive others.

As you grow old, you learn more. If you stayed at twenty-two, you'd always be as ignorant as you were at twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know. It's growth. It's more than the negative that you're going to die, its also the positive that you understand you're going to die, and that you live a better life because of it.

I am sure that most of you have seen this movie. If you have I recommend that you see it again. I highly recommend it and, on a scale of ten, I give it ★★★★★★★★★.

The Home Office Sandbox

Click on the picture to get the rest of the story!

An Extremist for Love, Truth, Justice and Goodness

To celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr I give you this excerpt from a letter that he wrote from Birmingham Jail in April 1963 when he was 34 years old.

Was not Jesus an extremist for love -- "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice -- "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the gospel of Jesus Christ -- "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist -- "Here I stand; I can do none other so help me God." Was not John Bunyan an extremist -- "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." Was not Abraham Lincoln an extremist -- "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." Was not Thomas Jefferson an extremist -- "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." So the question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist will we be. Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice--or will we be extremists for the cause of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill, three men were crucified. We must not forget that all three were crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thusly fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment.

That last phrase grabs and challenges me! In the wake of recent violent acts in Tuscon, Arizona I pray that the people of our country, and those in other lands, would soar on the wings of love and rise above the violence and incivilities of our day. Amen.

Freezin' For A Reason

Saw a piece about this on TV this morning. I am very impressed by the care and compassion that people have for the homeless. Here are a few clips from this article:

"It starts with blankets, hats, warm hats, gloves, hygiene products such as bar soap, shampoo, deodorant, mouthwash, toothpaste and toothbrushes, that type of thing," said organizer Bryan Couch. Participants are only allowed to use discarded items for shelters and stay warm by a fire barrel.

The event is part of Operation Chillout, a year-long event at the church to help homeless people in the metro area. They said the event offers a glimpse at a tiny fraction of the number of area homeless people.

"That's something that a lot of people don't realize, that the average age of a homeless person in Kansas City is nine years old," said Couch. "Everybody thinks of the guy at the exit ramp holding a sign. They don't think about the mom with the two little kids that are trying to find shelter in one of the area shelters or in a hotel room or in their car."

Friday Bacon TV Quote Quiz

I never fancied myself with a tattoo until I saw this one today.. sigh. See if you can match these quotes about bacon to their TV show characters listed after the quotes:

1. “Good Morning sweety. Oh my God, is that bacon?
   I love you, I love you, I love you.”
2. “If you call ham “Canadian bacon”,
   what do you call bacon?”
3. “Why was there BACON IN THE SOAP?”
4. “I like waking up to the smell of bacon, sue me.”
5. “Mmmm… unexplained bacon.”
6. “I’ll have a non-fat, decaf latte, please. Oh, what the hell? Look, make it a full-fat mocha with extra whipped cream. What the hell, put a slice of bacon on it!”
7. “Is it Bacon Day?”

Here are the TV show characters:

A:   Zim - Invader Zim
B:   Homer - The Simpsons
C:   Dr. Frasier Crane - Frasier
D:   Grace – Will and Grace
E:   Dr. Gregory House - House
F:   Michael Scott – The Office
G:   Michael Kelso - That ’70s Show
H:   Detective Adrian Monk - Monk

Warning, two of these quotes were said by one TV character. Also, two characters did not say any of those quotes. I will give the answers in a day or so. Have fun!

Certified Ethical Hacking

In all of my years in the software industry I have never heard of a Certified Ethical Hacker. Today I got an email message inviting me to attend a class and become one. Got me to wondering and googling. Here is what Wikipedia said about it:

The Certified Ethical Hacker (C|EH) is a professional certification provided by the International Council of E-Commerce Consultants (EC-Council.) An Ethical Hacker is one name given to a Penetration Tester. An ethical hacker is usually employed by an organization who trusts him or her to attempt to penetrate networks and/or computer systems, using the same methods as a hacker, for the purpose of finding and fixing computer security vulnerabilities. Illegal hacking (i.e.; gaining unauthorized access to computer systems) is a crime in most countries, but penetration testing done by request of the owner of the targeted system(s) or network(s) is not.

Wonder what kind of deviousness would be required for such a position? It makes sense that large corporations need folks like this but it does surprise me that there are classes and certifications for them. I guess it is like other things in the software world - there is money to be made in training and certification.