Sometimes silence is golden. Click the image above to start. (Quicktime, 7.6 MB) I enjoy watching TV with the sound muted. It gives inane programming new meaning. Media moguls take note: it often improves my television watching experience. Programs I would never watch become MUST SEE TV. Take this bit I recently Tivo'ed. When I turned on the TV the volume had been turned off. I just stared at these boys with no context for their visual cues. And without it I was mesmerized. In fact, I kept replaying this clip without any sound. To this day I have not...

Separated at birth: the real thing with his dopplegänger. At the conclusion of my two day meeting in NYC I shed my business attire and re-entered my normal world. Donning my casual uniform, jeans and my red baseball cap (the G on its front stood for Gates not The Gap of course), I checked out of my hotel and grabbed a cab to Penn Station. While I generally ride coach, I like to wait for my train in first class style. Usually I can sneak into the Acela's premiere lounge for a nice seat while my train advances to the...

resume \'rĭ-zōōm'\ v. tr. 1 : To begin or take up again after interruption: resumed our dinner. 2 : To assume, take, or occupy again: The dog resumed its post by the door. 3 : To take on or take back again: resumed my original name. résumé \'rĕ-zōō-mā'\ n. 1 : A brief account of one's professional or work experience and qualifications, often submitted with an employment application. 2 : A summary: a résumé of the facts of the case. There aren't too many things that drive me up a wall. Yes, there is the occasional fingernail on the blackboard or the...

We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur. Former Vice President Dan Quayle Boing Boing links to Jeff's Sprint Mashup Last week, as I was talking to Cultural Tourism DC, a group of small Washington cultural organizations about the genesis of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's blog Eye Level, I was asked "How do you measure success? What do you hope to get out of this project?" An appropriate question. Blogging is a new way of disseminating information for organizations; traditional benchmarks of success don't always apply, especially if you're interested in more than just a revenue stream....

Stealing Bandwidth: when someone links directly to internet files from another Web site without the owner's permission. ISPs (Internet Service Providers) often limit the amount of monthly "traffic" to or from your Web site. So, often victims of bandwidth stealing are charged whenever other people use their files in this manner. Every morning I do a quick check of my referral log to see who is linking to what on my Web site. Last week I noticed that one blog had linked to an image I had posted here on Life Outtacontext a couple years ago on the occasion of my...

Trouble, oh we got trouble, Right here in River City! With a capital "T" That rhymes with "P" And that stands for Pool, That stands for pool. We've surely got trouble! Right here in River City, Right here! Gotta figger out a way To keep the young ones moral after school! Trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble...

In today's Washington Post it was revealed that Micah Ian Wright, who last summer published the wickedly creative book of repurposed war posters called You Back the Attack! We'll Bomb Who We Want! lied about his own war record.

Former Army Ranger turned antiwar comic book artist Wright had what he calls a moment of clarity after participating in the U.S.'s 1989 invasion of Panama.

Publisher's Weekly

Wright lied about his war record. He never served in the Rangers or the military and is now apologetic that his minor lie became a major mistake. That, by itself, is hard enough to swallow. It's difficult to see someone who speaks with such clarity be caught in such deceit. So unnecessary. Yet, what really caught my eye in the Post article was this gem:

Wright's book of satirically "remixed" World War II propaganda posters was a minor success, selling more than 20,000 copies [emphasis mine].

A minor success. That's an interesting oxymoron.

I never expect to learn anything new at conferences. Not that I know everything. But going in, I’ve learned to keep my expectations near rock bottom. It seems the problems I’m trying to solve are the problems everyone is grappling with. And no one seems to have The Answer. If nothing else, whenever I attend gatherings of this order I leave feeling like I’m not alone. So it was with this expectation that I signed up for the GEL conference this past Friday in NYC. Organized by Mark Hurst from Creative Good, GEL (Good Experience Live) was billed as a...