Category: Uncategorized

“It’s all about likes,” the young teen said, so I decided to try it.  Well, kind of.  It was a go at Amazon Seller Central “support forums.”

I don’t even want to dig up the link because I never want to go back there again.  That’s what it is, social media.  No it isn’t videos of skateboarding kids, but it certainly isn’t business service.  It isn’t anything service.

My first question always is why do these people want to do this?  I can see why someone would go there if they have a real problem.  But everything else is social.  Why would someone be there, for hours a day, for any good, help, chat, complaining, or any other not in need reason?  The best reasons I can think of are boredom, loneliness, or an egotistical desire to prove their expertise.  At one point I even asked, “Why are you trying to defend Amazon when this is clearly an issue?”

I think the answer is they have become Amazon’s pawns.  They are so dependent on Amazon that they’re just intertwined.  On the forum they’re connected in this bizarre otherworld known as social media.

I would call the Amazon seller forum antisocial, or dysfunctional and pathetic, media.

Then the ubiquitous question is are the answers worth anything?  Again, I’d say the answer is social, or more precisely “sociability.”  If I wanted to be nice and believe them–this seemed like a real familiar clique–I would think their input was credible, but if I wanted to be neither nice nor accepting…  Well, they dragged me into it.  “You didn’t answer my question, did you really think Amazon would lose money?”  That discussion wasn’t exactly why I was there.

Amazon is a weird company.  I would characterize them as providing an almost-minimum product and service where nothing at all is expected.  I remember the time I was really perturbed about something and I actually got a hold of Bezos and said “You just don’t do anything that is not copyable by others.”[ref]Of course what I didn’t realize at the time was that Amazon had virtually no relationship to the products, suppliers, or manufacturers it sold (now they seem to have more proprietary products).  Interesting product concept, ‘let’s brand an idea’…  So when I complained about anything Amazon’s response was just a tad over uninvolved.[/ref]  For THINK Amazon doesn’t really provide anything more than a website and shopping cart (again, not unique); I suppose they provide a customer interface, but does the customer even realize the relationship between Amazon and the vendors on the marketplace?  With size and growth they’ve built up all kinds systems and procedures and rules and growth and that maybe does add something.  Okay, there’s the website…  So far it has produced close to nada on the sales and traffic front; for THINK, perhaps given its niche, it probably works better elsewhere and shopping carts and payment takers are…  you guessed it, available elsewhere.  Finally, building an Amazon-controlled customer review database isn’t something I covet; THINK is closer to customers–mostly dealers–and independently-capable of managing its overall positioning.

The lesson for THINK and I suppose me when I’m on the forum[ref]Boy how discussion forums have grown and changed.  Near instant responses and actual discussions even at odd hours and you see how it can become heated.  The Amazon seller forum is probably one on a scale to ten–it is a different mode of communication if not a whole new human personality. [/ref] as an Amazon seller is that there’s no business to be conducted there.  It is not useful information and it does not contribute to networking or sales.  But there is that product trial/panel thing…  I want THINK to not just be a subsistence Amazon seller; I want it to be a real company with outstanding products, employees, growth, dealers, etc.  Future accomplishments perhaps…  But the point is, don’t let Amazon dictate THINK direction!

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At 12:30 Trooper Lewis of the CSP called (returned my call).  Sgt. Baker was also on the line.  Per Mr. Baker the “we’re under contract” thing ( communicated to me by Cpl. Joe Hurt and “Trp White) was bogus.  The conversation was productive but one thing in particular is very bothersome:  Sgt. Baker indicated it is the responsibility of the EPRD (special district/county state oversight) to report crime on “their” property.  I will have more on this in another post.

Over the past several days it has been cold and has snowed.  I have noticed continued—the same—car activity in the parking lots.  There has been no enforcement by the EPRD or Jefferson County Sheriff’s department.  This problem has been reported numerous times by me and others.

At 11:00 I noticed the same dog, off leash, running around throughout the park, that I have seen dozens of times.  There was law enforcement response.  I have pictures.  This person seems to do this virtually every day around 10:30 to 11:00.

At 1:25 I saw a different man with two dogs running all over the little league field.  I took pictures.  Again, there was no enforcement.

At 1:28 the same person (the first time, above) was at it again.  I did not take pictures this time.

At 4:45 I noticed three cars, with lights on, doing all kinds of skidding and figure-eights in the closed Albertson’s parking lot (Hwy 74 and Stagecoach Road).  This too happens frequently and has been reported before.  There were no patrols or intervention by law enforcement.  At 5:20 I reported it to the sheriff’s department (as well as the dogs and park traffic violations/danger/defacement); the dispatch operator argued with me and said all animals are the domain of animal control (not accurate per statutes/ordinances).  There was no response by the sheriff’s department.  At 5:30 I reported the parking lot incident to the CSP and asked that it be brought to the attention of Sgt. Baker.  I did not see a response by them either.

It is necessary to note that this was a cold day and, per the CSP dispatch employee, there were a number of accidents when I called.  But this has been ongoing for years.  There needs to be a permanent solution.  I would further add that it is a waste of resources to continually report and respond.  Why not take action and attempt to stop it?  This is a small community and these are the same/repeat offenders.  Punitive action will likely have a huge impact.

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From ScribFire.  This is a test to see if ScribeFire will wrap text.  Don’t know why but text wrapping is very important to me.  It has to look just right.  Strange that the picture keeps moving….

So now, to continue wrapping.  Maybe this will work, simply putting the image on the right and typing.  Why didn’t I think of that?

This is an old one, the beast at my window.  Beast!

http://ihnatko.com/2008/03/31/first-flight-scribefire/

A rating of a bunch of blog editors:

http://mashable.com/2007/10/22/10-desktop-blog-editors/

Here’s another top blog editor list.   I like Windows Live Writer a lot but it doesn’t have many features.

CONCLUSION:  Windows Live Writer is the best.  Across the web, people really like it.  Great image capabilities.

Now, to try left.  That was easy too, except for the spacing or padding.  Nope!  Got that right too.

And it is Jessminda!

http://jeansgarden.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/taming-images-with-windows-live-writer/

Website templates.  Mailchimp.

Will this be her only legacy? After seeing Bend It Like Beckham I took an interest in Parminder. I really like that movie. Coming of age stories and movies are my favorite and this is one of the best.  And Parminder’s performance makes it.

So I looked around.  I wanted more Parminder.  The network dramas don’t particularly interest me, neither do the all-Indian fares.

Online I found her Twitter page, which is awfully fun.  She seems real.  And she acts human.  She also seems a little obsessive or tied to her iPod.  Oh well.   I will miss it when it isn’t there.

*          *          *

Parminder Nagra was born and raised in central England (the “East Midlands”), in the Belgrave district of Leicester.  She is the eldest of four siblings and, although it was unusual for Sikh marriages, her parents divorced when she was young.  Her parents were married in arranged fashion in their native India (Punjab) and both worked at a local factory.  According to Ms. Nagra, hers was a happy childhood, with “aunties and uncles always in and out of our house” and two loving, albeit separate, parents.

She attended the Northfield House Primary School and the Soar Valley College in Leicester. (At the time education was compulsory in England until age sixteen; now it is 17, and beginning in 2015 it will be eighteen.)  It was at the latter school that she became part of the youth orchestra and also appeared in her first stageplays.  In 1991, at age sixteen, Ms. Nagra became an usher at the Leicester Haymarket Theatre, where she studied and learned from the performers; apparently she was also still in school, in a university-preparation mode, as she did take her A-levels.

Her first acting break came in 1994 when she became a part of Hathi Productions, a Leicester-based British-Asian theatre company. Initially she was cast as a chorus member in the musical Nimai (1994) presented at the Leicester Haymarket. However, she soon replaced the lead actress of the musical.

“When I was 18, my mother gave me a photo of a man and said I’d marry him. I told her then I was never going to have an arranged marriage. No one has ever forced me to do anything against my will.”

“They might have joked about that nice Indian boy down the street but it wasn’t serious.”

http://www.thefilmjournal.com/issue5/beckham.html

At the age of eighteen Nagra moved to London…

Her big break came of course in Bend It Like Beckham, but it wasn’t smooth or easy.  The film’s director, Gurinder Chadha, first met Ms. Nagra in 1998 after a stageplay and suggested the role; the film wasn’t made until some three years later.  By this time Ms. Nagra was twenty-six years old, some ten years older than her co-star Keira Knightly.  The project had a tough time with financing and getting off the ground.  Further it wasn’t released until 2002 in the U.K. and 2003 in the U.S.  All the while Ms. Nagra stuck with the project.

The film was a big hit in India and Ms. Nagra made her first trip there to participate in the publicity efforts.  Similarly, she traveled to the United States in 2003 to promote the film.  It was there, in Los Angeles, that she interviewed for, and was offered a role on, E.R.

(Replaces “A Quality and in the U.S.)

 

Parminder Nagra is one of the most gorgeous creatures ever captured on screen. LINK

That may be a bit much, but she sure is likeable in Bend It Like Beckham.  I can’t believe how good this movie is.

Like most people I had heard of it, but until very recently I had not seen it.  I knew it was British, starred Keira Knightley (and was a springboard for her), and was about soccer.  Perhaps I was turned-off by the saris, soccer, or Indian family content, I don’t remember.  They’re all things unfamiliar to me–not exactly in my comfort zone–and in fact there were U.S. marketing concerns.  I assumed it was like a lot of other teen sports movies with family conflict, coaches, music and dancing, new friends and romances, and a wedding.  It does include these things but I had no idea it would be so much more.  The backstory about the clash between Indian and British cultures, especially in such an energetic, teen, coming-of-age way, is an absolute treat.  Another theme is family love and yet another is the worldwide emergence of women’s soccer.

The biggest treat in the movie is Parminder Nagra.  She won widespread acclaim for her performance, including a FIFA award, and deservedly so.  The whole thing just wouldn’t work without her.  She is cute, gorgeous, troubled, crying,  running, kicking, talking to herself (or rather, Beckham), and Indian.  Even though she plays a teenager she was in her mid-twenties when the film was made and that is probably a benefit in terms of her range of emotions.  She is just great.  And the film catapulted her to stardom, unfortunately in Hollywood network dramas…  But I suppose, in a way that had to be.  One teen in a ponytail coming-of-age movie is all we get.  Oh what a treat it would be be to see “Mindi” in broader American movie roles.

The other star of the film is director Gurinder Chadha.  She is not your typical blockbuster movie producer.  Just watching her interviews explains where the film gets its energy and upbeat feeling (although she does come off as pretty domineering and egotistic, but hey, someone has to be in charge).  The story is great.  So many of the supporting characters are as well–Joe the coach, all four parents, Tony the friend…  She didn’t have Hollywood studio backing or a $100 million budget.  It is just pretty darn impressive for a handful of people to create, from nothing, a worldwide phenomenon like Bend It Like Beckham.

From NY Times:

1. Why was The Star Ledger able to get to the bottom of this in the past month, but Chris Christie wasn’t?
2. Why did Bridget Kelly take it upon herself to close lanes on the GW Bridge on August 13th?
3. Why did David Wildstein understand her vague email and why did he go along with it?
4. Why did they wait almost a month to shut down the lanes?
5. If Christie says he doesn’t know the mayor of Fort Lee and the mayor of Fort Lee says he was never asked to support Chris Christie, who were Kelly and Wildstein trying to punish?
6. Why are emails about traffic being redacted? There is no national security being protected so why?

I don’t believe Chris Christie.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/watch/an-alternate-theory-of-the-bridgegate-scandal-111611971764

Star Ledger apparently broke it months ago.

Chris Chritie’s staff was caught intentionally creating severe public disruptions (traffic jams).  There will be much written and much analyzed about the situation.  Christie is purported to be a Republican presidential candidate.

However, the situation is not complicated.  Whether he knew or not–it is highly unlikely he did know, given the seriousness and visibility of his offense–he should have known because his staff is demonstrably guilty.  He is either a bad manager or a liar or both.

How can you not know what is going on right under your nose by the people you hired and you supervise?  Remember Nixon?  People in these positions must know how to lie.  Mr. Christie, you are probably adding insult to injury by saying you didn’t know.