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June 30, 2005

How to Stay Awake at Seminars and Business Meetings

My friend, Tom, sent me this and I just had to share it.

1. Before (or during) your next meeting, seminar or conference call,
prepare yourself by drawing a square. Most find that 5"x5" is a good size.
Divide the card into columns, five across and five down. That will give you
25 one-inch blocks.


2. Write one of the following words/phrases in each block:

  • result-driven
  • at the end of the day
  • out of the loop
  • 24/7
  • infrastructure
  • core competencies
  • revisit
  • bottom line
  • best practice
  • strategic fit
  • fast track
  • think outside the box
  • win-win
  • proactive
  • value-added
  • benchmark
  • 110%
  • client focus(ed)
  • paradigm
  • game plan
  • leverage
  • moving forward
  • bling
  • on-task
  • off-line

3. Check off the appropriate block when you hear one of those words/phrases.

4. When you get five blocks horizontally, vertically or diagonally, stand up and shout, "BULLSHIT!"

Testimonials from satisfied "Bullshit Bingo" players:

"I had been in the meeting for only five minutes when I won." -Paul D., Seattle

"My attention span at meetings has improved dramatically." -David D., Portland

"The atmosphere was tense in the last process meeting as 14 of us waited for the fifth box." -Ben G., Salem

"The speaker was stunned as eight of us screamed 'BULLSHIT!' for the third time in two hours." - Alice G., Chicago

June 29, 2005

Think AJAX is a Fad?

I had a phone interview today and they asked if I knew AJAX. Guess what kind of shop it was? LAMP? Nope. Maybe classic ASP? Nope. This was a full-blown .NET shop. And part of a large financial corporation. They're trying to make their application more responsive. I never thought I'd find a reason to learn much Javascript, but AJAX might change my mind.

June 2, 2005

Nikon NEF Support in Longhorn

With the ubiquity of digital cameras these days, Microsoft is finally getting serious about making it easier for users to browse and manipulate their digital images. Digital Photography Review has posted the press release announcing support for raw NEF images from Nikon digital cameras in the next version of Windows.