One Man’s Blog links to YouTube videos of 10 of the worst drivers caught on video. I really liked #3, especially the Speed Racer theme.

If you’re running the new Windows Vista with User Account Control turned on, you’ll understand this Apple ad all too well. Luckily, it’s easily turned off. Bill Gates can’t stand these ads.

You take some pink plastic molded to look like an oven. You slap a 100 watt bulb to it and call it an oven for kids. Wow, what could go wrong with this scenario? Well, apparently, a lot because a number of kids ages 3-5 were burned as a result of attempting to work this crazy contraption which resulted today in nearly a million Easy-Bake Ovens being recalled.

I’m waiting for Hasbro to release the new Easy Turkey Fryer for the kids.

A few of us took an early lunch and walked around the block to Bakeman’s Restaurant near Pioneer Square. Calling itself a ‘restaurant’ is a misnomer and part of the joke for those who eat here often. Unless someone were to recommend this place, you’d probably walk right by it. You enter through one of two sets of stairs that lead to a single large room. Walls are white. Chairs and tables are white. It about as fancy as a school lunch in the gym but without the milk in a plastic bag.

We arrived to find the line about 25 people deep. Two women were barking out orders to customers who approach the order counter. The menu is as simple as they come: sandwiches, soups, and a half dozen salads. I was surprised at how quickly the line moved mostly due to these two women forcing customers to make quick decisions or risk getting a tongue lashing. Don’t step up to the counter unless you’ve made a decision which shouldn’t be hard since you’ll have a few minutes to do so while in line.

I stepped up to the counter and ordered a turkey sandwich. The lady didn’t even look at me as she grabbed two huge handfuls of turkey just like you’d do yourself the day after Thanksgiving. She put lettuce and mayo on as well and then squished the sandwich together to keep it from falling apart. She then wrapped it fittingly in white paper. They don’t go out of their way to make the prettiest of sandwiches. I continued to the counter to pay where another guy who was yelling at the women in front of me because she grabbed too many napkins from what I could gather. He rang up my sandwich which came to $3.75. You’ve got to be kidding? It’s hard to find anything under ten bucks in this area of town.

So the sandwich was cheap but tasted as good as any I’ve had. And this place was absolutely packed. We were lucky to grab a table for three people. We enjoyed our sandwiches and then headed back to the office. For the next hour or so we talked about this place. The attitude, the price, but mostly about the food which was fabulous. We told everyone back at the office how they should try this place.

This got me thinking about our own products. Is there anything about them that’s so noteworthy that our customers will seek them out? Do they tell their friends about it? What are we doing to make our service and products so unique that people can’t stop talking about them?

Although I don’t have a lot of faith, my coworker said he’s going to post his top 10 songs tonight as well. Here’s hoping he comes through. My list of favorite songs changes all the time but I have a pretty good idea which belong in the Top 10 since they don’t change very often.

1. Mother/Pink Floyd – This has been my favorite song for over 20 years and probably will be in twenty more. Is there such thing as the perfect song? The whole song is awesome but the voice and the guitar starting around 3:24 is just sublime. And the ending, “Mother did it need to be so…..high”. Perfect. See it played here in 1980 concert.

2. Running to Stand Still/U2 – One of the few songs that can give me chills. From the haunting guitar at the beginning to the amazing harmonica near the end. The concert footage from Rattle & Hum is as good as studio version. “Run from the darkness in the night”

3. Here’s Where the Story Ends/The Sundays – When I ran a Hotline server years ago, somebody uploaded this song and mentioned I may like it. It immediately moved to my playlist. Harriet Wheeler has one of my favorite female voices. This song is so upbeat and fun I can’t feel down when this song is played. Watch the video on YouTube. “People I see, weary of me….”

4. I Remember Dying/Sean Kelly – I’m a sucker for guitar. His voice layered over that simple yet cool guitar is awesome. That simple strum at 1:27 I can never tire of. If I could play the guitar I’d want to learn this song first. “I’ll tell you what’s forever”

5. Going to California/Led Zeppelin – Page is simply amazing. It’s hard to not list more Zep on the list but this one is my favorite. Listen closely at :02 and you can hear Plant *sigh*. Just checkout that finger work on this video. “Someone told me there’s a girl out there, with love in her eyes and flowers in her hair”

6. Train in Vain/The Clash – These guys were so influential it’s hard to imagine rock and roll without them. I once heard a music critic on MTV say that the Clash were the group that U2 wishes they had become. Watch the video here. “I see all my dreams come tumbling down”

7. Champagne Supernova/Oasis – I know it’s over the top. But I loved it the first time I heard it on MTV. It’s so big, so arrogant that it embodies everything I liked about Oasis during the mid 90’s. The mellow cords lead to some great rock. “The world’s still spinning around we don’t know why”

8. Can’t You Hear Me Knocking/The Rolling Stones – Seven minutes of hard pounding rock and roll. And when the sax kicks in it’s just brilliant. They don’t make music like this anymore. I can’t listen to this song without cranking it so loud my ears hurt. Video is up on YouTube. “Yeah, you got satin shoes”
[audio:knocking.mp3]

9. The Wind/Cat Stevens – One of my favorite movie scenes is the one in Almost Famous where Penny Lane dances around to this song. Watch him play it in concert here. “I let my music take me where my heart wants to go”

10. I’m Your Captain-Closer to Home/Grand Funk Railroad – I can’t believe this song clocks in at just over ten minutes. It’s just such a great classic rock tune. The drumming is just killer. The last few minutes when the symphony kicks in is breathtaking. Right at 8:32 someone in the background yells what sounds to be like, “Somewhere…somewhere” although I’m not certain that’s what he says. But I love it nonetheless. Watch some old video here. “Can you hear me, can you hear me”

When I bought a DVD player a number of years ago, the first DVD I purchased was the “Hell Freezes Over” from the Eagles. The DTS version is just amazing.

Hotel California makes the list of the 20 Greatest Guitar Solos from CityRag.

Our family has used the MyFamily website going on eight years. We pay $109 a year for their service and enjoy it a lot. I was invited to test out an updated beta version of their service. They only way I could figure out how to contact them was through email which I did on January 2, 2007. They got around to sending me a reply today.

It it too much to ask for a prompt response for a product I’m paying to use? Here’s the email. I love the “Dear member” greeting! This isn’t the first time I’ve waited over a month for a response. I wonder how many people send email to MyFamily and forget what they asked by the time they respond? I don’t think I’ll email them anymore questions when it takes over a month for them to respond.

Dear member,

We appreciate your message.

Currently, as the site is still in beta form, we do not have way move content from one site to the other. Any content would have to be manually moved from one to the other.

If there is anything else with which we might assist you, please let us know.

BreAnn
Member Solutions
MyFamily.com

“Connecting and Strengthening Families through the World Wide Web”

MyFamily.com Technical Support:
http://www.myfamily.com/

—–Original Message—–
From: brett@nordquist.org
Date: 2 Jan 2007 21:33:47 -0700
To: mf2suggestions@myfamilyinc.com
Subject: MyFamily 2.0 Feedback – suggestions

We’ve been MyFamily users since 1999. How can I move the content from my existing site over to the beta version?

I’ve wanted to upgrade our Canon point and shoot camera for quite some time but never felt the time was right. I started looking at DSLR cameras a few weeks ago and did a lot of research online. I spoke to my brother-in-law who is a fantastic photographer and asked for his opinion. I spoke with co-workers and visited several stores to hold a number of models in my hand to see how they felt. It’s not hard to find side-by-side comparisons of the various models but it’s a whole other experience to hold the camera in your hand. Some cameras felt awkward while some felt made for my hands.

My brother-in-law gave me the best advice when he said, “Pick a camera that feels good. What matters most is that you have fun with it”. I tried to remember that I tested a few models. I looked at the Canon XT and XTi as well as the Nikon D40 and D80 models. I narrowed it down to the D40 and the D80.

I usually prefer to purchase most things online, especially electronics. But I’m not sure why I didn’t feel that was the right decision when it came to the camera. Maybe it’s because I don’t know much about them. Sure, I knew a lot of the specs but didn’t know what many of them meant in practice. I also appreciated how helpful the people were who worked at Kits Camera. I was shocked when the young man didn’t try to upsell me on more expensive models. I explained to him how I planned to use the camera and he obviously was able to tell I was a novice based on my questions. He didn’t make me feel stupid for asking, and he took the time to show me the differences in the various models.

I went into the store feeling I should get the D80 but I ended up purchasing the D40 after spending some time with the salesperson. I can’t think of the last time someone has tried to “down sell” me anything. Well, I got the camera home tonight and couldn’t be happier. I love the responsiveness of the DSLR. The D40 feels made for my hand too. So far I’m very pleased with the camera and was pleasantly surprised at how helpful the photography community has been. Are photographers really this helpful all the time?

I have a lot to learn about photography and even the D40 is probably more camera than I can use. But I plan to take some classes and learn how to use it as well as pickup basic techniques. I’m really excited to get started.

Here’s the first picture I took with the new camera. This is our youngest daughter, Anna Lynn, who dressed up in her brothers Superman costume and terrorized the house tonight.

I thought so. TotalIdea has released a free version of their venerable tweaking tool made especially for Windows Vista called Tweak IV. This slick utility gives you access to dozen of hidden areas to tweak and customize. The free (basic) version comes loaded with 13 free plug-ins. Others can be added through a subscription service. But I’ve found the basic version covers a lot of ground and is worth the download.

Two of my favorite tweaks are the change “system default folders” and a one click Firefox optimization. There are a number of handy Outlook tweaks as well. Highly recommended for those who aren’t content with the default, lowest common denominator settings from Microsoft.

–Download link

On the train home this week I heard the following conversation take place between two men, probably both in their mid 30’s:

Man #1: Did you hear Windows Vista is out today?

Man #2: Yes, I saw the article in the Times.

Man #1: Are you going to upgrade?

Man #2: I don’t see the need. Windows XP works fine. What will Vista do for me?

Man #1: Hmmmm……..I’m not sure. I think it just looks newer.

I don’t think these two guys are very far from the norm. Windows XP is good enough for a lot people and they won’t go Vista until they buy a new machine and have no choice. I work in the computer/software business and am around technology all day. I read probably 30+ magazine and even I am hard pressed to tell people what they gain by upgrading to Vista. That the backup options have been beefed up substantially is important to me but many people won’t care. Updated icons, Sidebar, thumbnail preview are minor updates.

I remember the excitement surrounding the Windows 95 and XP launch. The reasons to upgrade were easy to understand. One main reason to upgrade was to stop your computer from crashing. I don’t think that’s a reason to upgrade to Vista now that XP is so stable for most people. Will you upgrade to Vista or stick with XP?