hippo, birdie, two ewes...

... to the lovely and talented kayshapero!! Have a great one!!

Doggerel Day

Because by telynor's decree
Today is Doggerel Day
I'll set a couple quatrains down
Before I wend my way

To Post Office and thence to work
With strange new projects filled
And I will strive with file and hash
A data-store to build

And though these lines of doggerel may
Be doggier than a setter
Here's hoping that they make your day
Go on from verse to better.

And you thought motorcycles were dangerous...

Definition Of Awesome: 'Segway of the Sky' Tops My Christmas Wish List

Yes, the Segway is lame. But then, the Segway can't fly. If it could, I wouldn't judge its owners so harshly. Say hello to the VertiPod, which is basically just that. You stand on it and steer it around, and by leaning in one direction or another it'll point you in that direction. It all sounds terribly dangerous, and I want one.

Google: some analysts understand it, and some don't

Techdirt: Google's Real Innovation: Recognizing The Power Of Complementary Goods

Of business pundits these days, I think the one I enjoy reading the most is Nicholas Carr -- and it's not because I agree with him, but because he's the most challenging to understand when I think he's wrong. Carr is amazingly smart, often sifting through a lot of hype to pull out some really key and important insights and making them clear and easy to understand. What's amazing, however, is that all too often, he takes all of those really great insights and jumps to a totally ridiculous and unsupported conclusion. As I've pointed out before, as you read what he says, you agree with all those really smart insights, and if you're not careful, you can accidentally agree with the conclusion he draws -- even if it's not supported by all those insights. His latest is an article where he argues that Google is not a company worth emulating when it comes to innovation because it has a unique business model that is really based on providing complementary goods (basically almost any use of the internet) to encourage more sales for its key good (ads). The fact that Google uses complementary goods to help make its core business bigger is a key insight that too few people have expressed clearly, so it's great to see Carr call that out.

There's a lot of good analysis on Techdirt.

Google again: which part of saving money didn't you understand?

Google: Analysts Don't Get Yesterday's Google Coal-Free Announcements

Yesterday, Google announced that it plans to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in sources of renewable energy to help them power their vast server farms. The money, which will go to people like engineers and researchers looking into new forms of solar, geothermal and wind power, will both help the Googe save money in the long run as well as help the environment from damage due to Google's energy usage. Analysts didn't seem to get the first part of that statement, however,...

Walkies: from bad to verse

I set out for to take my walk
At Noon on Doggerel Day
The route the same as yesterday;
So there's not much to say

The weather cool, my pace quite slow
Not much to my report
Except that when my muscles cramped
I nearly cut it short

And since anything in ballad meter can be done as a talking blues, I can take advantage of that to include my stats: time: 1:01; avg: 112; max: 141. But at least I'm walking.

(Cross-posted to healthy_fen and mdlbear)