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Maul of America has moved! The new address is http://maulofamerica.com.
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Smartsourcing - Event Management Software

The term “outsourcing” has taken on a negative connotation which often evokes images of domestic jobs being shipped to other countries.  BUT, this is can be a misplaced pejorative if used as a broad brush to painting across a wide spectrum of business activities.  In fact, it often makes sense for companies to outsource some initiatives when that company is not set up to effectively and efficiently handle them.

One such example is the use of event planning to drive business.  Not all organizations are equipped to handle the logistics necessary to ensure a proper return on investment for this expensive undertaking.

Event Ready is a full service provider of event management software. Rather than a "one-size-fits-all" approach, they tailor their solutions, such as online registration processes, to each individual customer's needs. This ensures that clients get the best bang for their event planning buck.
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SEO Toronto: The Face of Change

On 9th Sphere's blog (SEO Toronto), there’s an interesting posting by Lorne Fade about Facebook's much discussed (and debated) "Timeline" format.  Since the day news of the new format was announced, I've heard a variety of emotions expressed by the Facebook user community.  Many users jumped at the chance to update the “look” of their profile.  Others took time to update their status proudly proclaiming (with unintended irony) how much they couldn't be bothered.  Fair enough.  Not everyone likes change.

Facebook Chart

The focus of Fade’s post is Facebook extending the Timeline format for actual pages (as opposed to just user profiles).  Taking an internet marketers view, he discusses how the new format also allows businesses to measure the effectiveness of their branding efforts in the Facebook environment with analytic tools designed to report on the “virality” (I love that word) of shared content.  One such tool is an automatically generated chart showing “Weekly Total Reach.”  

Fade concludes:

"I feel like the new Timeline  is a great thing for Facebook as brands will have a chance to show off their creativity and uniqueness, while at the same time measuring performance to ensure their marketing efforts are having a positive effect."

This is great food for thought for those companies who think that their internet marketing efforts are complete once they simply create a social media account.
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A Swing and a Miss

Once again, I struck out in The New Yorker's 298th "Cartoon Caption Contest."

But I still like mine best: 

"François, we're going to need another one of your fabulous sacrifice bundts."

The finalists:

• "O.K., we learned a lot this game, including you can't rush a soufflé." - I don't really see the baseball connection
  
  
• "First base wants to know if you have anything gluten-free." - Meh.
  
  
• "I trust you know what to do when you get to the plate." - A forced baseball reference at best.

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Drinking Problem

An Open Letter to the Production Staff at Red Eye:

Hey Greg (and Friends),

I have no doubt that the bean counters at Fox News bean are reluctant to spend a lot on your excellent show because it's broadcast at 3:00 a.m. So, it's understandable (even admirable) that the RedEye production staff takes it upon themselves to purchase set props, such as the plastic water cups, at local retailers like Bed, Bath and Beyond.

However, I must point out that during the June 30th "Halftime Report," a label of some sort (price tag/barcode) was clearly visible on the bottom of Greg's drinking cup. I've attached a screen shot. Just food for thought.

Andy rules. Bill sucks.

Cheers,
Matt Maul

P.S.
Greg, you magnificent bastard -- I READ YOUR BOOK!
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You Can't Please Everyone

Wow.  I received a scathing comment from a guy named Benjamin in Florida (according to the New Yorker website) to something I posted OVER A YEAR AGO who must be suffering from membrana (that's Latin for "thin skin")!

A finalist for the 192nd New Yorker "Cartoon Caption" contest from May 2009 (YES, fucking May 2009), Benjamin took issue with the fact that I didn't  LOVE his entry (original post copied below).

Benjamin (as "anonymous") writes:

Hi. The caption you entered for this cartoon is awful. Sad and pathetic is the understatement of the century. Not even the slightest bit funny. You lack any sense of humor or literary prowess. To say that a caption "sucks," when it outperformed yours, and is in every way shape or form better than yours, is a pathetic example of poor sportsmanship. You obviously can't write, so quit it with the whole blog thing. No one's reading buddy. Sincerely, the guy that submitted that caption.

My response (bold added):

Dude, you sound so angry (anonymously yet).

I'm not sure how I was being a poor sport? I acknowledged that my entry was poor. Seems to me that you've got your panties in a bunch just because I didn't LOVE your caption as much as the New Yorker did. Hey, savor their positive feedback.

Also, the only way you could have found my obscure post is that you Googled your New Yorker cartoon caption "finalist" status from a YEAR AGO? How fucking sad is that?

As far as my writing goes, to each his own. 

=================
Original Post:

As usual, the winners of the 192nd New Yorker "Cartoon Contest" did nothing for me.

My entry was sad and pathetic:

When my agent told me that I was booked on a "local talkshow," I didn't know he meant in Detroit.

Sigh (so sad).

BUT, the finalists weren't that great either:

• Both the movie and I will be released this summer. - in the valley of the blind, the one-eyed man is king
  
  
• This is fancy role-playing for a conjugal visit. - sucks!
  
  
• It's my first time on 'Celebrity Parole Hearing.' - you've got to be kidding

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The Politics of Chotsky

Almost predictably, whenever news of major import breaks, ancillary stories about entrepreneurs cashing in with t-shirts seems to follow close behind.  Such was the case of Maurice Harary, a 23 year old business student out of New York, who reportedly sold 120 thousand dollars (or more) worth of "Osama is dead" themed apparel (at Osamadeadtees.com).  He struck while the Internet iron was still hot and cashed in big time.

From The Village Voice:

As of yesterday, he'd reportedly sold 25,000 t-shirts at $12 per shirt. The disturbing frat-boy nature of the "Osama is Dead" t-shirts notwithstanding, it's pretty impressive that Harary acted so quickly and successfully, so props to him for that.

But wait!  The would-be Donald Trump has had a change of heart.

Now, though, he's giving all the money back? Seriously: he told CBS, "I will now be refunding all orders on Osama dead tees. Celebrating over the death of someone, whoever it is, is evil in my eyes."

Closer scrutiny indicates an element of bullshit could be in play here.

Based upon the t-shirt images from his website, Harary used other "schwag" fulfillment sites such as Zazzle and CafePress which actually render such products and sells them for their "merchants" one item at a time.  As the cheapest shirts on Zazzle and CafePress are more than $12 each, it seems unlikely that Harary could sell his shirts for that and make money UNLESS he had gotten a quantity discount by pre-ordering a stock of inventory. The start-up cost of this would be very, very expensive for a college student (prohibitively so).

Instead of the "moral issues" cited, it might be that Osamadeadtees.com actually closed up shop because Harary realized too late that his small-sized operation wasn't equipped to fill 10,000 orders and still be profitable.

So, instead of politics, it might really be a matter of simple math.
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It Depends On What Your Definition of "Is" Is

Fun with Google Autocomplete.  Typing in "is" generated this roster of eclectic choices.

 

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Tense Situation

In case anyone is curious about what the people in the now famous Situation Room photo were REALLY thinking:

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First Impressions: 1,001 Online Dates

As someone who hasn’t been on a “first date” in over a quarter of a century, I’m well out of the loop in understanding how people currently engage in this age-old social ritual. So, my excessive display of surprise when recently told by an old high school friend that he met his wife through a web dating service was borne out of honest ignorance. In fact, Online Dating Magazine estimates that 20 million people a month visit Internet dating sites such as eHarmony, Match.com or Zoosk.

This actually shouldn’t be all that surprising as a simple glance at the news reveals a plethora of events where the Internet plays a pivotal role ranging in importance from Rebecca Black’s rise as a pop culture star (sorta) to regime change in Egypt and Libya (maybe).

With that in mind, the writing/producing/directing team Mark L. Feinsod and Evan Leed use the popularity for this form of hooking up as the premise for 1,001 Online Dates. The independently-produced series is, appropriately enough, accessible online at: http://www.1001onlinedates.com/

Read the Full Post at The House Next Door...
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Special Easter Movie Review: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

I've always had a genuine interest in ostensibly "non-religious" films that evoke Christian imagery and yet tell a conventional story. Often, these are more insightful and less melodramatic than movies specifically about Jesus.

One of the most obvious examples is The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). Klautu, the alien visitor with an important message for humanity, takes on the name of "Carpenter" while on earth. After being killed by soldiers, he is literally brought back to life amidst a flash of light. Both Hombre (1967) and Cool Hand Luke (1967) feature Christ-like anti-establishment title characters. Likewise, the grandfather (Alan Arkin) in 2006's Little Miss Sunshine is a sort of savior. Sure, he's a heroin-dealing, cocaine-using, porn fan. But his life and death function to guide the main characters out of their nihilistic Hell. After the events surrounding the cathartically chaotic beauty contest, the family returns to their van and ponders an empty linen bed sheet (shroud) which had formerly covered Arkin's corpse.

Films like those listed above perform a tricky balancing act that incorporates, to varying degrees, symbolic elements from the New Testament, such as the Resurrection (a tricky thing in real life too), while retaining a story that stands on its own.

Sergio Leone's The Good, The Bad and the Ugly (1966) is an another example of such a film. Loaded with Christian imagery, it still holds up as a traditional Western.

...Full Post at Basket of Kisses.
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Cold Calling: A Single Man

2009's A Single Man depicts the pivotal events that take place in the life of the title character on November 30, 1962.  Colin Firth is excellent as an English professor, George Falconer, who is going through a severe depression after the death of his partner, Jim (Matthew Goode), eight months previously.

Through Falconer, the film explores the depths of emotions faced by individuals who are forced to deal with loss.  While other attempts to present same-sex subject matter in television and movies are often self-conscious and veer into melodrama, director Tom Ford takes a matter-of-fact approach to the relationship at center of the story. This allows the audience to empathize more with its universal themes.

...Full Post at Basket of Kisses.
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Brick, Click and Mortar

Casey Chan at Gizmodo describes a curious practice in New York that manages to infuse viral networking with the nervous anticipation of glory holes. ("glory hubs?")

Why Is There a USB Drive Sticking Out of This Wall?

Across New York, there are USB drives embedded in walls, buildings and curbs. The idea is to create an anonymous, offline file-sharing network in public space. The drives are completely public and anyone can plug in to drop and download files.

...It'd also be interesting to see what people would anonymously share on the public drive, well, until some jackass decides to upload a virus to screw up everybody's computer.

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Peace Rally?

Question: Which Washington, D.C. rally featured a religious extremist who once advocated the murder of an author and acts of violence against women?

a) Glenn Beck's "Rally to Restore America"
b) Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert's "Rally to Restore Sanity and/ or Fear"

Answer: b. Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens) supported the fatwa against Salmon Rusdie and defended the practice of stoning women for adultry.

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Shark Jumping

In a Sept. 3 Los Angeles Times article, Fred Fox Jr., the writer of the infamous Happy Days episode where Fonzie jumps over a netted section of ocean containing a shark and inspired the "jump the shark" meme, addresses his dubious claim to fame in pop culture history.

Was the "Hollywood 3" episode of Happy Days deserving of its fate?

No, it wasn't. All successful shows eventually start to decline, but this was not Happy Days time. Consider: It was the 91st episode and the fifth season. If this was really the beginning of a downward spiral, why did the show stay on the air for six more seasons and shoot an additional 164 episodes? Why did we rank among the Top 25 in five of those six seasons?

I suppose that if you've heard of Wikipedia (or meme), you don't need anyone to explain what "jumping the shark" means, but according to Wikipedia:

[JTS] has become a colloquialism used by U.S. TV critics and fans to denote the point at which the characters or plot of a TV series veer into a ridiculous, out-of-the-ordinary storyline. Such a show is typically deemed to have passed its peak. Once a show has "jumped the shark" fans sense a noticeable decline in quality or feel the show has undergone too many changes to retain its original charm...

Interestingly, Wikipedia also describes a 1963 episode of Bonanza, "Hoss and the Leprechauns," in which Hoss meets a leprechaun. That episode coined the term "seeing the leprechaun" as a precursor to the "jumping the shark" phenomenon.

This led me to wonder if, perhaps out of sympathy for Mr. Fox, a new term to explain the dynamic could be adopted.

Full Post at Edward Copeland On Film...

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Vox Pop

Interesting polling analysis from James Pethokouk at Reuters.

It's certainly fair game to argue about which economic and tax policy approaches work best. But those who would characterize the people currently disenchanted with the president and Congress as simply angry and self-deluded seem, to me, mostly angry and self-deluded.

A "few observations" from Pethokouk:

1. Americans don’t blame Obama for the economy, but blame him for not fixing it — which is what he was hired to do. Mission Not Accomplished.
   
   
2. The Obama agenda is unpopular, and Americans see it as a distraction from dealing with unemployment.
   
   
3. Americans are worried about spending and deficits, but have not made the mental leap to restricting entitlements.
   
   
4. Americans may not think government is necessarily the problem, but they are pretty sure it’s not the solution.

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Natural Selection (Mad Men 413)

A scene about half-way through "Tommorrowland," Mad Men's Season 4 finale, pointedly shows Bobby and Sally, on their California trip, having a heated "debate" in a restaurant about evolution. As with most spats between young siblings, things get heated and Sally knocks over her milkshake. At that moment, observing her calm response to the strawberry mess, Don seems to cement his choice of Megan over Faye. This illustrates a naturalistic (almost Darwinistic) motif that is developed throughout the episode.

...Full Post at Basket of Kisses
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A New Way For Apps to Crash

Oh yeah, this is a great idea. In fact, they should just project the driver's Facebook page RIGHT on their windsheild.

From The Detroit News:

GM moves on with in-car Facebook app

Feds slam driving distraction, but firms say technology is legal, safe

General Motors Co. still plans to roll out its new OnStar feature that allows drivers to listen to Facebook messages and update their status, despite pointed criticism from Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood.

OnStar President Chris Preuss said the company is confident in the safety of the feature after conducting driving tests and has no plans to drop it. The application can also be extended to other social networking sites like Twitter.

"Not only is it safe — all things relative in the vehicle — it's actually a benign activity," Preuss said.

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New Brand FAIL

The "Screenshot of the Week" is of Kieth Olbermann leaning backward in one of MSNBC's "Lean Forward" ads. The perennial cable news ratings loser calls their new re-branding effort the "biggest campaign in network history". (h/t Jon Stewart @The Daily Show)
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Potpourri (Mad Men 412)

I had planned to post about the plethora of numbers which were thrown into "Blowing Smoke." But as that's already been discussed in the comments for Deb's post from yesterday, I decided to change directions a bit. The result is this collection of eclectic observations.

Full Post at Basket of Kisses...
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