iSawToday – The Coolest Thing I Saw Today on the Web

Since the first time my parents let me watch Temple of Doom I’ve wanted to be Indiana Jones.  At the age of 8 that meant jumping from couch to La-Z-Boy, at 10 it meant fixing a ridiculous frayed rope to the ceiling of the basement, and at 29 it meant going on adventurous trips to Africa, Cambodia, and elsewhere.

Was this all because instead of monsters in my closet I saw Nazi’s, poised to divulge my secrets of the Holy Grail?   Although, I did dream of Nazi’s in the closet (thanks Mom&Dad), I think Indy embodies the things that many people will never do but sit around and wish they could/would.  So if that’s you -time to take action. Head over to WIRED and read this awesome article on how to grab things with a bullwhip Indiana Jones-style.

Grag things with a bullwhip Indiana Jones style

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The morning news informed me that Wisconsin is to be the recipient of $810 million dollars in federal grant money for the construction of a high-speed rail line between Milwaukee and Madison, WI.

Now I love trains, in fact my parents attic is piled high with HO scale model railroad gear form my younger days.   Trains that I plan to recover and enjoy with my children some day but I can’t help wonder why we would put in a high-speed train without asking the people first?  Even the Simpson called a town hall meeting  and held a vote. If Doyle is any sort of governor he should be able to sing and dance us into submission in no time!

Why not hold a contest in which engineering firms and designers from WI propose ways to spend the money? Thereby encouraging innovation and creating blue-collar jobs.  The Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 used that approach and out of it came the Ferris Wheel, Moving Walkways, and numerous other innovations.

Oh and if you wonder how the Simpson’s monorail story goes, hop on over to Shelbyville and ask.

Cheers!

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The 2010 Winter Olympics are just over a month away and I can’t help wonder what role online video will play in this years broadcast.  I did a quick scan hoping to find mention of NBC’s digital plan but came up with very little.  So I’d like to take the liberty of recommending NBC give CBS and IBM a call and ask them to make the olympics as amazing to watch online as the 2009 U.S. Open Tennis Tournament was.

For those of you that aren’t tennis fans or didn’t make it to the U.S. Open website this year.  Every match that wasn’t on network TV was accessible LIVE via online streaming -with  your computer plugged into a TV you could watch matches, quickly switch between courts, pull up live statistics via overlay, and view live picture in picture.

Far and away the most amazing live video experience I’ve had to date.  How awesome would it be to have full live access to the 2010 olympics with those features? Imagine traveling around a map of Vancouver to the various event destinations, being able to watch full coverage of any event.

I’d work from home the entire two weeks if I could have bobsled and luge on 12/14!  Has anyone gotten word of what NBC’s planning?

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The holiday season is full of opportunities to network and meet/greet people so I decided to throw together a list of my top 5 small talk tactics:

1. Show up early – I did this by accident several weeks ago and had nothing to do but talk to the event organizers and help them rearrange the tables.  In return these two ladies made introductions for me throughout the evening.
2. Use an exciting opening phrase – Rather than the traditional “How are you?” greeting, incorporate a phrase such as “What are you working on that’s new and exciting?”  or “What’s new and exciting?”  I’ve used this at tradeshows for several years now and it’s a great way of getting other people to open up.
3. Give descriptive answers – Rather than answer the inevitable question “What do you do?” with “work for a software company”.   Try giving a more specific answer such as “I  sell and market data mining software to insurance companies.” Even though my example is tech-y I’ve given given my bogey the option of connecting on several fronts: software, sales & marketing,  and insurance.
4. Prepare – Formulate interesting answers to common questions that you know you will be asked. (apply #3)
5. Recommend & Refer – As you begin to meet people throughout the evening make recommendations and introductions between your new acquaintances.

What’s your favorite small talk tactic?

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A recent conversation has led to a revisited appreciation for the ORIGINAL ending credits from Return of the Jedi, -you know the “Yub-Yub” Ewoks song.

Give this clip a listen and then write George Lucas a letter and tell him to stop screwing with his already great movies.

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If you’re looking for a way to get video from the Internet; Hulu, Amazon, Netflix, or torrent downloads to your TV.  There’s a HUGE crop of inexpensive devices popping up to help you out.

I’ve owned one of the earliest versions of what is now called a ‘media player device’ for 3 years now and still use it almost everyday to play mp3’s and movies through my home theater system.

I was doing a bit of research today on where these devices are today and found this awesome site that does a month-month review of all of the media players in the market.  The winner for Nov. The Western Digital TV Live (or WDTV Live for short) has be about ready to visit Best Buy after work to commence the upgrade.

Check it out!

iboum.com : Future Entertainment Technology : Home.

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*Shameless Plug Warning*

2 weeks ago I was asked to speak to 30 small business owners as part of an alumni event at the local college. Although everyone thought they were coming to hear about social media I felt some reality would be more beneficial than the typical SM hype so often pitched these days. I reviewed each attendees online presence and decided to give them a GTD approach for things they could do to bolster their online presence.   Here is my presentation:

If you’re interested in learning more or would like to have me present to your group?  I always require a minimum fore-knowledge of the attendees so that I can adjust the GTD to-do’s appropriately for the group.

Feel free to email me via linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/theimer

Testimonial:

“We invited Andy Theimer to speak at our Business to Business Networking Night on the topic of social media marketing, and we could not have been more pleased with his presentation.  Andy presented to a group of about 30 alumni on the topic, “Getting Things Done with Social Media,” and it was clear from his presentation that he had done research into the attendees, their websites and their businesses and incorporated an attentiveness to their specific situations into his presentation.  His presentation was energetic, clear and well-organized, and not only were attendees taking notes during the presentation, but they also asked lots of questions afterwards and kept Andy answering questions well past his presentation, and even the end time of the event! Thank you for recommending him to us.”

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I know it’s not quite morning yet but this great comic gives you some coffee pot fodder for Thursday morning.  Your friends will be amazed when you tell them that coffee makes goats frisky!

Check it out!

15 Things Worth Knowing About Coffee – The Oatmeal

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If you’ve ever struggled to think of a clever way to meet that professional woman sitting next to you at Starbucks I may have stumbled upon a solution for you, offer her free WIFI.

A new application from Connectify allows anyone with a Windows 7 computer to share their internet connection with the people around them.  That’s right if you’re connected to a network you can hook your friends (and potentially new friends) up with no cost internet.

Here’s 4 quick steps to make it happen:

• Be running Windows 7, if you don’t have it already, go get it -it’s awesome!
• Have the Connectify application installed
• Be connected to Starbuck’s wireless network.
• Let the pretty girl two tables back know that she can connect to the Internet with the following details:
• Connect to network:<your name>
• Password: <you phone number>

Let me know how it works!

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I was discussing Neil Patrick Harris this morning and the topic of his Dr. Horrible Musical came up.  I got to thinking that I never added this to Isawtoday and felt it deserved even a latent inclusion.

The link

Has anyone done a mini-musical like this before?  This is fantastic!

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