Bryan Gruhlke

The following is just a quick review of some interesting articles, photos, videos…heck, whatever…that I came across during the past week. Do what you want with it

xkcd – A Webcomic

The words billion and million have been used a lot recently. It takes a sharp ear and a keen mind to always hear the difference. Xkcd, an online comic, has put up their feelings on the issue or clarity. Click to enlarge.

View Online: http://xkcd.com/558/

Migrating Websites (like WordPress!)

I just recently completed the migration of several websites to my new web server (Fedora Core running Apache/MySQL for those who will inevitably ask) and after much trial and error I believe I have a solid “manual” for completing the task. I’ll try to get it written up and posted, but until then feel free to shoot me a message or leave a comment if you need help!

Style by Jacquie – Visual Shopping

Stumbled across an interesting shopping website this week. Style by Jacquie provides an unique experience allowing customers to visually browse a huge selection of clothing and accessories. Its an interesting idea and may yet work, but I wonder about the SEO (search engine optimization) capabilities of such a site. I feel they’ll be needing someone like me in the near future to drive traffic. But once they get the traffic I have a feeling they’ll have a higher than average conversion rate.

Visit Online: http://www.stylebyjacquie.com/

The past week has seen a huge surge of anger directed toward the AIG leadership over the retention bonuses they paid out to some of their employees (in a few cases, ex-employees). Yes, it is horrid that AIG, a public company that has taken billions in Federal assistance (meaning I, as an American tax payer, now own part of AIG myself) paid huge and gross bonuses to the very employees that lead the company to the brink, it is worse the deception being played out in Washington.

This very issue was questioned months ago by Congress, but at the behest of President Obama and the Democratic leadership an exemption was placed on these very bonuses that everyone is now so worked up over. If the Democrats were truthful and forthcoming we would have all had the opportunity to enter our opinions – instead the debate was behind closed doors where there is no accountability. Senator Chris Dodd lied directly to the public regarding his responsibility for the exemptions saying he had nothing to do with the ammendment that opened the way for the AIG bonuses. On Wednesday he completely reversed that statement and announced he was the man you enter the ammendment and made the changes. Dodd, as we all know, is a leader of Democrats in the Senate and campaigned for president just last year.

More importantly than Dodd’s bold-faced lies, however, are Obama’s weakness over the whole “scandal.” Dodd stated the Obama administration “asked for modifications.” And now Obama is spouting his own innocence saying he knew nothing about the bonuses until last week despite the fact the Treasury Department has known about them for months. Isn’t Obama the President, and the Treasury works for him? Either he is lying or he has chosen poor leaders for his department.

It is time to stop giving the Democrats so much slack. They have been making blunder after blunder and passing the blame on to others. They must be held accountable for their actions and deeds. Unfortuantely, their actions prove them to be inept, power-mongering individuals who are not in Washington to serve their country.

More about Chris Dodd’s duplicity: CNN.com

Just took a peak at one of the recent Penny Arcade strips. It explains perfectly the silliness of the obsession over Amazon.com’s Kindle.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/3/9/progress/

If you haven’t heard of Penny Arcade I highly suggest taking a gander at their huge archive of web comics. They focus on gaming and technology, but hit other topics frequently as well. And Tycho’s commentary is always a joy to read (vocabulary, anyone?).

External Link: Penny Arcade