Scott Adcox

Doing More With Less Since 1972

Month: August 2011

Get Off The Sidelines, Google + Button Update Coming, and Netflix for Kids

August 30, 2011 / / 0 Comments

These link dumps every few days make it nice for me to keep some fresh content coming, even when I don’t have a ton to say. Of course, if you follow @sadcox on Twitter, you get this stuff almost-real-time…for FREE!

You Can’t Become a Man From The Sidelines – Join your local rugby club this season. Or learn to play an instrument. Or grow and kill your own food. Build a house. Paint a self-portrait. Anything is better than just watching other people live their lives.

Van hits, kills bicycle rider near DeLand – This is Sara McLarty’s father. Be careful out there.

Google+ Share to Specific Circles – Big news for publishers…you’ll be able to decide what images and descriptions are shared with Snippets.

Twitter Based Hedge Fund – Has someone finally found a way to tap the emotions of the market? I’ll stick with logic.

Tenured Professors: Get Out While You Can – This doesn’t seem outside the realm of possibility to me. “Get out while you can” may be a little strong, but contingency plans are never a bad idea.

90’s 411: Music, Fashion, Timelines, Movies, TV and More – I’ve perused this site to see if I can find the phrase, “Congratulations Possums on your 1998 Midwest Championship…” Nothing’s turned up yet.

New Swype Keyboard Makes Tweeting And Mapping A Breeze – Best text input method for Android gets better!

Netflix, Now For Kids – Out Netflix is already set up “just for kids”. All of the suggestions are for kids’ shows, because that’s pretty much all that gets watched. Seriously, this is a cool feature!

Hurricane Preparedness – Irene

August 23, 2011 / / 0 Comments

It looks like Hurricane Irene is going to miss us for the most part, although I’m sure we’ll get plenty of rain and some good surf out of it; more surf than I could handle anyway.

Unfortunately, the rest of the east coast may not be as lucky as we were this time around.

We did the usual things to prepare over the weekend when it looked like we were going to be hit, at least the things a newb like me could think of. Power outage is the biggest concern since we don’t have underground utilities in our neighborhood:

  • Remove possible projectiles from the yard
  • Stock up on water, beans and rice, charcoal, flashlights and batteries
  • Plenty of gas for the car and chainsaw
Next up are a couple of things I’m doing to get ready for a bunch of rain:
  • Sprinklers off for a few days…I think we’ve got plenty of water coming
  • Empty the pool down a little…more water
  • Hex the dead tree in the neighbors’ yard to fall into their yard and not ours
Hopefully I’ll be posting mostly surfing photos and not many damage/clean up photos over the weekend.
August 18, 2011 / / 0 Comments

I promise I’m not going to have a daily Ron Paul post like I may have possibly been guilty of during the last election cycle. But here’s a way Ron Paul could could have put his organization and fund raising abilities to substantial use…

Switch parties and force Barack Obama to primary against him.

Just an idea.

**UPDATE**

I realize that’s not possible at this point, but it would’ve been an interesting turn of events.

An Interesting Question, An Interesting Answer

August 18, 2011 / / 2 Comments

From @MatthewHurtt

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/matthewhurtt/statuses/104211751242964992″]

If someone comes up with an App that lets kids remotely control a robot arm that picks up rocks and launches them or throws punches at defenseless passersby, we may be in some danger.

But rocks are heavy. And punching sounds a lot like exercise to me.

From what I’ve seen, that sounds like more effort than many of them would be willing to engage in. Plus, it would be hard to hit your target while simultaneously texting your friends that you are tormenting innocent strangers.

And some innocent strangers punch back.

August 17, 2011 / / 0 Comments

This is so unfair to the rest of us.

“We are deeply concerned that Mr. Sorrentino’s association with our brand could cause significant damage to our image.”

This almost encourages these ignoranuses and the wannabes waiting in the wings to amp up their behavior even higher. Why not take the money from AF and invest in some higher end clothing, hoping those guys will pay you even more to not wear their clothes? Sounds both reasonable and logical to me.

Now, I hope I’ve never taken my obnoxiousness to The Situation’s level, but I think I could have given him a run for his money on the occasional Saturday night at the turn of the century.

I’m old and have gray hair…not at all the image they want to portray for their brand. If I had any kind of platform at all, I’d go out and dress from head to toe in AF stuff. I’d make sure I was mic’d every time I grunted when transitioning from standing to sitting, and I’d make sure their logo was prominently displayed every time I bent over to pick something up and grab my lower back to aid me in standing upright again.

Cha-ching!

I’m not sure what AF expected when they targeted this market.

Warren Buffet is not Your Grandpa and More Link Dump

August 16, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Warren Buffett, Robber Baron? – Nah….he could never have anything but pure motives.

Mother of 13-year-old who smashed up shop blames government – “His mother described him as a ‘good lad’…” Right. Right.

Putting Your Chores on Auto-Pilot – Skimmed this…didn’t see anything about containing young tornadoes that undo your work faster than you can do it.

7 Facebook Features Google Plus Still Lacks – Uh…well, it DOES have photo tagging, and I’d assume search is coming and will blow away anything FB could imagine. This is Google after all. The big missing piece I think is the API. The rest of the garbage listed here (especially “birthdays”) are just more reasons why I like it better than FB. I’m sure games are coming though. All the other crap too.

Chrissie Wellington – The Importance of R&R – Maybe, just maybe, @ChrissieSmiles knows what she’s talking about. I can think of worse people to take advice from…like everybody.

CS man first in Texas to swim across Lake Tahoe – @zentriathlon did it! Awesome job Brett!

Start-Up Chile – Entrepreneurs Welcome! – Cool idea. Some cities in the U.S. should take note. Chile is on my “to-visit” list.

Side note: Thanks to Michael Silence for his continued support!

How The Ames Debate Could Have Been Won

August 12, 2011 / / 4 Comments

If you watched the GOP debate last night, you are probably worried. I heard one analyst mention that there’s a political void right now in politics (on “both” sides). I know these candidates all have consultants who are highly paid and know more about politics than me, but let me tell you what would have struck a chord last night–focus on the economy.

When I say focus, I mean that someone up there should have answered every single question in relation to the economy.

Immigration? “I think _____, but if we can’t develop a sustainable economic policy, no one will be immigrating here anyway.”

Afghanistan? “I think _____, but if we can’t develop get a sustainable economic policy, we’ll have to bring the troops back very soon or leave them stranded there.”

Guantanamo Bay? “I think _____, but if we can’t develop a sustainable economic policy, those prisoners may as well be hostages that someone’s going to ransom.”

Energy? “I think _____, but if we can’t develop a sustainable economic policy, there won’t be any jobs to drive to and folks won’t be able to buy power to heat and cool their homes at any price.”

While I have my own opinions about what that policy should be, I’m not pushing those here. I’m saying someone on that stage should have been smart enough to relate every issue brought up in last night’s questions to the number one issue on everyone’s mind. That’s the economy, stupid.

It worries me that the “best and brightest” can’t figure out that the economy is all most people are concerned about right now. Once unemployment and the national debt are both down, we can once again enjoy the luxury of worrying about what other people do with their private parts behind closed doors.

Investing for Triathletes

August 9, 2011 / / 0 Comments

During yesterday’s market tumble, I saw this tweet from @lokibeat…

[blackbirdpie url=”http://twitter.com/#!/lokibeat/statuses/100660260204843008″]

It made me chuckle, but it also made me think of a couple of things triathletes and runners can hopefully relate to. First of all, the practical…

I prefer to think of dips in the market the same way I do water stops. At first glance, water stops cost me time in races because I walk them. But the truth is, water stops gain me time because I walk them. Walking the water stops gives me a chance to take in a lot more fluid than I could if I tried to run through them. That fluid is an investment in my total race. So I think of dips in the market as a chance to buy more of the same thing I was buying a couple of weeks ago at a discount. We’re talking about investing, not trading, right? It’s a ironman/marathon, and I’m not selling next week whether the market is up or down.

Secondly, @lokibeat is right…it is more about the trip than it is the destination. I think a lot of us enjoy the day-in-day-out training more than we do crossing the finish line at a race. Even on race day, when we say we “had fun”, we’re talking about the entire race…not just the finish line.

So chill out, walk the water stops, and take in as much fluid as you can while someone’s there to hand it to you.

And you might as well go ahead and make friends with the pain for now. You’ll feel better in a few miles.

UT’s Rugby Coach Retiring

August 8, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Thanks to the KNS for covering Butch Robertson’s retirement and 750+ career wins.

Rugby was just one of the many things he taught. I learned countless lessons from him from 1993-1996, not the least of which was that the way to make a real impact is by showing up every day ready to do work for decades.

The guy never got a dime for his efforts either. In fact, it probably cost him quite a bit of money to come out in bad weather twice a week for all those years and deal with the jetsam of high school soccer, football, and wrestling.

Thanks Butch, for all you’ve done for so many young men!

Blogging Like Mike Jones

August 5, 2011 / / 0 Comments

I’m Mike Jones (who?) Mike Jones

The one and only, you cain’t clone me

Got a lotta haters and a lotta homies

Some friends, some phony

Let’s break down the example Mike Jones gives us here and how it applies to blogging. We’ll take it line by line.

I’m Mike Jones (who?) Mike Jones

Unlike other rappers, Mike Jones uses his real name and isn’t afraid to put it out there. He’s not “Mike Ice” or “MC Jones”. He’s Mike Jones. What? Didn’t get that? Not sure who he is? Just ask him…he’ll tell you…over and over. He’s Mike Jones.

Don’t be afraid to stand behind who you really are.

The one and only, you cain’t clone me

Mike Jones is himself, and there is no other Mike Jones.

If you are blogging from your unique perspective, no one else can adequately imitate your style.

Got a lotta haters and a lotta homies

Not everyone appreciates Mike Jones’s style, but that’s ok with him. A lot of other people do.

Everyone doesn’t have to love your blogging style.

Some are real, some are phony

Mike Jones is aware that all of the people who love him aren’t genuine in their love; they just want something from him. That’s ok with Mike Jones because the phonies still add to his mystique. They still buy albums and say his name…Mike Jones.

Traffic is traffic.

Now, just pretend you read this five years ago. Back then…

Mike Jones – Still Tippin’

 

August 2, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Saw this quote posted by @Zen_Moments and thought it was perfect for triathlon training, rugby training, living on a budget, learning something new, developing a work ethic, and about 1,000,000 other things.

The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war. ~ Hyman G. Rickover

© 2026 Scott Adcox

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑