weird ad for me

I'm in CCC (Curious Confused Clown) mode right now.

Didn't give them permission to use my name

As I was trolling scrolling through FB the other day, an ad video clip came up that I found funny. I watched it but didn't understand why their algorithm would selected me as a potential buyer. Their ad matching failed with me. I decided I needed to share the ad but not buy the product.

Have you heard of "tactical pants". I have not.

 

Being a senior I don't need tactical pants. Maybe strategical pants. Comfortable pants that could remind me about my daily stuff and prevent falling down. The ad shows many of features of these pants. Hopefully, the ad clip will play here. 

 

No pants will help me kick my leg up. Pants helping put my shoes on quicker would be nice. I don't need to tow a car with my pants. HOWEVER it would offer a great reason to take your pants off if you were offering assistance to stranded lady on the side of the road. (is that tactical or strategical??)

 

How many rings of performers does your circus have now?

 

Clinically proven

Does a product label stating that the "lotion is clinically proven to improve the health of dry skin" make a difference in your purchase decision?

Maybe I should start a nameless clinic.

 

I wonder if these clinical tests are even recorded. The beauty industry is very unregulated. My gripe is not so much the lack of regulation but product labeling trying to deceive.

Elephant skin picture by Filipe Fortes

False claims are nothing new but that doesn't mean we should just accept them. Actually using terms that are vague make it difficult to say they are even claims.

 

I lack funds, expertise, and motivation for testing beauty products. However, I did come up with a name for a testing clinic. Send me money and I will start the Want To Hear (WTH) testing clinic. All our reports would show the skinistical results you want.

Hey, did you notice what I did there?

I created scientific sounding non-scientific term. Skinistical can mean whatever you like. Maybe I should trademark it.

Ok, this is not the elephant in the room but just a minor annoyance. An elephant in a room is noticeable even if we don't want to notice it. Hmm, do elephants prefer essential muds for their skin?

words found

crisp scents mingle on a dewy summer morning

Try to guess where I found those sensory words.

I didn't find those paint-a-picture words strung together in a book or a play. No some marketing/advertising budget probably paid an ad copywriter for them.

I read them a few days ago while taking a shower. I thought the post title of "words from the shower" could be a great title. However, they were not my words and you find them on store shelves so the shower is not needed (except for me). Those words were wasted on a tube of Cucumber Melon scrub. The one-who-exfoliates uses it improve skin quality. I don't care for cucumbers or melons.

More important words lower down on the same label warn about getting the foamy scrub in your eyes. They didn't bother to describe the mingling of scrub foam with your eye fluids. I'm sure it would ruin your dewy summer morning mood.

STOP you'll rust

One last bit of thought (most of my thoughts are in bits) - do many people really enjoy dewy summer mornings? Not me. A dewy morning just tells me it's going to be really humid and sticky during the day. A dew on your garden after a long dry spell is appreciated.

Sweet the rains new fall, sunlit from Heaven

Like the first dew fall on the first grass

Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden

("Morning Has Broken" Songwriters: Eleanor Farjeon / Yusuf Islam)

The MonaLisa twins covered it well:

I often

I often tell myself …

Then before I even get to the real meat of my latest insight, - self replies, “you talking to me again? Go ask someone who cares to listen.”

I start to explain how finding someone willing to listen is so difficult.

Then self starts ranting, “knock it off, you big whiner! Only you can fix your problems.”

So I blog once in awhile.

Nice wagon for nice weather

I typically go with the flow. I’m not a boat rocker unless I’m on an amusement park ride. When the direction of the flow doesn’t match up well with my ideas, I’ll speak up. As I age, I’ve discovered that I resist the flow sometimes just because I don’t want to move.

Flowing on (yeah nobody ever says that) I’m curious what you think about this new space (space as in marketing jargon) called influencer space?

Isn’t it just a new updated name for people hawking products?

This influencer space seems like a social media medicine show without the wagon and horses. There is money in it. This article from 2018 says the Viral Nation (digital marketing and talent agency connecting brands to influencers) company takes in millions in revenue. Forget the old horse drawn wagon, they probably fly via private jet.





Do you follow any influencer?

Other than Lisleman. (Oh that's a joke. The wheels fell off my wagon long ago.)

future thinking

I bet the original blacksmiths of the double edged sword had no idea of how that term would be used centuries later as an imperfect metaphor.

Hopefully you will agree that steel swords can be considered technology for that time. Of course they were designed for war purposes. Eventually, they became a symbolic part of some ceremonies.

do they practice sword fighting?

Many of today's technologies probably have unknown future consequences. Maybe good consequences but since they are unknown how do we make a the right guess? I'm not opposed to exploring new technologies (but I don't want a new mouse trap when they are no mice bothering me). I believe we should be careful and debate potential consequences of technology changes.

a futuristic day

Did you happen to watch the two-part Frontline documentary, "The Facebook Dilemma"? Facebook created a powerful tool that has been misused by groups that want to disrupt societies. In the case of Myanmar, social media Facebook in particular, was a significant factor inciting violence. The platform allowed hate speech and calls for violence against the Rohingya to spread across Myanmar. Facebook had admitted it had been slow to respond to concerns.

I'm an active FB user. I'm not suggesting shutting FB down. In fact other less moderated social sites have been started. One was linked to the recent shooting in Pittsburgh.

Extreme groups can go to the "dark web" and still organize. I don't think they can grow as quickly as they can on popular social sites. Are you old enough to remember when Congress banned cigarette ads on TV and radio? Banning hate/violence type of content would not as simple as ads but an attempt should be tried.

how would Alexa respond?

Do we possess the intelligence to develop and control artificial intelligence, AI?

AI is the basis for voice and face recognition. Automated driving will use it. AI is both useful and dangerous. Some companies are more responsible than others. The pressure to beat the competition to the market is strong. Thinking about unwanted consequences takes time and the will to stop a product release.

I have learned AI grows on data. Google, FB, Twitter and others are huge collectors of data. It's time to start exploring consequences of this data collection and use.

(an older post about a "new mouse trap" that users didn't need or want)

Gluten free bananas and other breakfast thoughts

My bowl started gluten free, just bananas, then I added shredded wheat. Wheat is a prime source of gluten so I guess the bananas had limited benefit.

gluten free romance

That thought had me check out the history of gluten. It goes way way back to 8800 BCE (those dates look so precise as if someone had a FB live event back then, it was probably 8802) when humans started harvesting the grains in wild grasses in the fertile crescent. Oh no, another problem coming from the middle east. (Fake news headline - Terrorist push gluten on westerners)

Really this gluten free thing is a problem for a few people that has been hyped up by marketing. On a whim, (a gluten induced whim) I searched for “gluten free water”. I discovered a company advertising “gluten free water”. I didn’t check the price. Why bother, I’m never buying into this trendy scam.

The company BLK says this about their water:

blk. has zero calories, zero carbs, zero sugars, zero caffeine, and contains no dyes, flavorings or additives. We’re gluten-free, non-GMO, certified kosher, and organic.

Kosher and organic too! BLK is apparently short for black. Why black? The company adds, excuse me, enhances their water with with humic and fulvic acid. The water reacts with the result of a black color and higher price. No thanks, I like my water clear. Now I do enjoy dark beer.

Don’t know if this BLK water will sell much in Boston. Remember they have the river Charles. But I love that dirty water.





I’m a genius!
Well ok, but at least I am very stable.
Geniuses don’t think outside of the box. They make their own boxes.

Thinking of boxes? How about cylindrical talking gadgets for the home - you know those rounded boxes offered by Amazon called Alexa. This headline caught my eye after that gluten high subsided.

Amazon's Alexa randomly laughs at users and nobody knows why

A quote from the article

"[So] my mom & I are just sitting in the living room, neither of us said a word & our Alexa lit up and laughed for no reason. she didn't even say anything, just laughed. we unplugged her."

Wow, I didn’t know that one aunt of mine was Alexa. They sound different but she is known to randomly laugh. I don’t have an Alexa to unplug and I rarely see this one aunt, so I’m ok.

Oh regarding this gluten stuff - Good article at CNN - Basically, everybody with celiac disease needs to be on a gluten-free diet, others maybe not.
But my advice - stay away from that dirty water.

a small start

This first post of the year is not much. Just a quick one.


As I browse the internet I discover odds items that don't always fit into a post but yet I file them away anticipating I'll find a reason to post them later. One such item was this product (see below) that plays off a popular HBO hit show. I've never subscribed to HBO and probably never will. Of course I've heard of the show since it was well covered by the media. 

 good for a thorny garden

Just today I found this on G+. I enjoyed the puzzling words.

what genius ??

In the spirit of moving on (on from what you wonder? check this previous post) I have this for you to ponder today.

An interactive, internet connected, photo taking, music playing, gas pump. Oh it does deliver gas to your tank too. Did anyone EVER ask for this?

has a tablet attached for interaction

I saw a story about this in a Chicago Tribune newsletter recently. It’s a BP (someday no one will remember what the company’s initials stood for) trial. They placed one in a gas station nearby, so I drove over and gave it a try. I find gadgets both interesting and stupid. My initial take on this puts it into the stupid category. However, my track record of opinions on gadgets is not great. I remember saying more than a decade ago, “who needs a camera in a phone?”.

I bought some gas and listened to a little music. Of course this is outside at a gas station so others also listened to my music selection. You are asked to select a music genre. The prompts are all given in a recorded voice. It also offers a trivia game and photo taking. I declined both of those offers.

The music streaming service, Pandora (which I have used for years) is a partner in this. I assume they are the source of the songs played.

Only one pump was equipped with the gadget. I don’t think a gas station could have more than two since the different songs would compete with each other. I’m not sure why BP would want you to spend more time at the pump. During my visit the gas station was not busy. If it was I could imagine drivers waiting to get to the pump being annoyed by this distraction.

One other thought was the songs in their playlist. As I mentioned, you just pick a genre not an individual song.

“Fire” by Jimi Hendrix would be a good one for pumping gas. As his blazing guitar riffs away, he sang:

I have only one burning desire
Let me stand next to your fire

The best song match would be “Classical Gas”.



Do you agree? (oh one more thing - I seriously doubt anyone would care about this gadget pump on a freezing winter day)

typically skeptical

Back in 2010, I wrote about the intense confusion I felt just buying some shampoo (old post). I felt like I was at a fruit stand as I perused the shampoo selection. What is your favorite fruit smelling shampoo?

we need Cheetos shampoo to go with this lip balm

Given about 6000 plus years of cosmetic development, I suppose it should be expected that all types of concoctions are sold to enhance one’s looks. My skeptical side is always waiting to jump into my internal debate on the value of products. Those 6000+ years also provided lessons in refining the con-games.

Have I mentioned I trimmed up my shaggy head the other day? I imagine sheep being sheared when I go to the hair salon. This time I prepared an important question for the stylist: 
Does caffeine in shampoo provide any benefits?
(meaning benefits to the user not the manufacturer)

The background on this question was the recent bottle of shampoo the-one-shops-more-than-me brought home for my use. "... engineered specifically for men's hair. Enriched with caffeine ... gives a kick of active freshness" (what would dormant freshness smell like?)

I could tell the stylist wasn’t expecting my inquiry but I don’t work for 60 Minutes (I was a regular watcher of that show years ago) so I went easy on her. She did say it might have a skin tightening effect and is found in skin products. Her answers left me thinking more research is still needed before I post about it. (not that I promise any level of research for my posts. There are times I spin too much in my office chair and words are thrown onto my laptop.)

shampoo and time travel study

Well golly gee, this caffeine infused shampoo concept might not be flittershitters after all. (two months in a row with flittershitters used in a post - yes!)

Apparently there have been some real studies done on the efficacy of caffeine in shampoo. (just use the word efficacy in a paper and more people will pay attention)

A few words from that study abstract:

“...caffeine in concentrations of 0.001% and 0.005% were found to counteract the suppressive effects of testosterone on hair growth...”

Fortunately baldness has never visited my head so I doubt this caffeine will do anything for me. It might brighten my mind during my shower generating more cosmic questions for future postings. Hopefully, it doesn’t keep my hair up at night.

Oh Jesus

Now I could easily do a post on the pros/cons of cursing but I’ll refrain. (refraining from actual cursing is a bigger issue of mine)

Also, the title doesn’t refer to any Hispanic friends of mine. I do find it interesting that other cultures can easily use a name that is special in a different cultures. Hmm, how would Lord G. Lisleman sound to you?

What’s in a name anyway?

For branding people - quite a bit. Big money and research often can go into brand names.

Yesterday and today I’ve found myself on FB more than usual. One reason for my recent FB activity was attending a high school reunion (might be a future post on that). Believe it or not, I can go days without checking FB.

While on FB I discovered brand Jesus is coming out with a new line of condiments. I’m still looking for their press release (probably takes longer to carve in stone) but I’m sure the Jesus brand will offer 10 condiments.

Here’s the first condiment:

not too spicy

I don’t know, what do you think

I make no claim to be a futurist. Probably tougher to get a following as a futurist than as a blogger. Back in the 70’s I read Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock for a college class. The most shocking take away for me was that someone could make lots of money writing about the future.

they are always watching

If I were to write about the future I would start with:

The future is here but we don’t notice because we are more comfortable with the past.

One line which I could blow up to fill the first page. Then what?

One word - graphene.

(really that might be a big thing soon - remember the Graduate movie and the one word advice - plastics?)

I’ll leave you with that futuristic tip for now. Actually what prompted this post was an article in an old fashion tree sacrificed newspaper about smart billboards. It said that one was placed on a road nearby. I didn’t drive out to see it but I don’t care for the idea. Connected to this digital smart billboard is a camera watching the road. They identify the type of car approaching and customize the sign for the driver of that car. I assume in busy traffic they just pick one car.

Yeah it’s a limited type of surveillance but I wonder where it is headed in the future. The marketing clowns could save, sort and search for trends in the those road pictures. Here’s a clip of a similar one used in Australia.







While researching this I found a few other interactive marketing displays. These were target to shoppers walking near the sign/display. I noticed one important difference, the road billboard didn’t invite me to participate it just watched me. With these other types you can just choose to walk on by and ignore it. The target decides if they want to interact.


Has anyone interacted with displays like this yet?

daredevil wears prada

Was that the movie title? Something like that.

Welcome to another edition of Lisleman’s Meaningful Advice and Thoughts.

ladder risk

don't risk running out of TP

Actually the thought of doing this post came from a recent post over at The Art of Being Conflicted blog. That post covered the selfie trend that has lead to a few trendy selfie takers dying. (here’s the link if interested)

If you want to go beyond the selfie thrill you might think GoPro camera. I’m a bit amazed that GoPro has become the name for self action movies or as many would say viral videos.

“I think we are entering an age where lifestyle in technology is becoming very important.” (from Wired article about GoPro’s IPO)

Back when I was becoming of age (am I now becoming of aged?) lifestyle wasn’t a word I or anyone I knew used much at all. Of course, I didn’t have a very stylish life.

Here’s a thought/question - are there more daredevils taking risks today than in years past? I’m not sure.

There has always been people pushing the limit and their luck to reach a bigger thrill. I remember watching the famous Evil Knievel jump public fountains and canyons with his high powered cycles. If you visit Niagara Falls you’ll find the story of daredevils riding (and dying) in barrels over the falls.

There could be more people pushing their daredevil luck. It could be a trendy thing. One thing is sure, today their stunts are widely and quickly spread via the viral video. The viral video I’ve embedded in this post has over 13 million views.

I discovered this video from an article I read at the National Geographic site. (link) The daredevil, (nows makes a living riding bikes) Danny MacAskill is 30 years old. In the article Danny says: 

“...I trust all of my equipment because I’ve spent thousands of hours working on my bikes. You just make sure your shoelaces are tied…”

If Prada ever gets into the handlebar grips market, this guy would be a great for promos. Oh one more thought, - I consider women wearing some of these extreme high heeled shoes - daredevils a step away from a snapped ankle.

Lisleman’s great advice - don’t forget tying your shoes!

blogger shares secret you won't believe what happened

Did you enjoy that curiosity generating, enticing title?

Just trying my hand at click bait. FB is certainly too filled with click bait. While online today an ad displayed itself on the page side border, offering a how-to get ripped for men. I think the company should add “off” after the word “ripped”. At least, that one was up front about what their were pushing. Much of the click bait just has catchy phrases and strange pictures.

old bot bait

Change of subject (do you as a reader enjoy warnings like this?)

Tonight expect this post to have scattered words and phrases with a slight chance of an interesting picture.

To anyone who would ask and then actually listen (so annoying to be asked a question and then the person doesn't have the time to listen) I've often said that a benefit of a blog is creating your own rules. Lisleman's rule for the day -  

When I find myself in times of trouble, redo an old post.
(this one is from 2012)

2 cards I love with an unknown white rabbit

Interesting ideas can come to you at the oddest times. If you are lucky someone might even consider them creative. 

So I’m cruising along the other day with my CD mix playing loud. A crazy idea crashes on my brain like a refreshing wave. An eye opening idea like a squirt gun shot in the face on a hot day (summer will be here before you know it). 

I could take the lyrics of two of my favorite songs that just played and make a conversation from the combination.  I need a conversation for that fun cartoon clip making system - xtranormal. 

The two songs I used are: 

Instant Karma - John Lennon 

White Rabbit - Grace Slick 

Take a listen.

more art than ad

Sometimes it's ponies and puppy dogs. Other ones employ clever relatable situations. Many can be very funny. I do enjoy good ads. However, I'll mute or change the channel on most ads.

remember the funny ads this toddler did?

Yesterday I found a very moving emotional ad. Actually after doing a bit researching I discover the ad apparently is a "spec" ad that two students hope to sell. Since they focused on a well known global company, Johnnie Walker, I just thought it was developed by a contracted ad agency. Perhaps because it was created by new talent it was so good.

No matter, I've watched it a number of times because each time it reminds of strong family bonds.

I recommend you give it a look and listen.

Cool my demons and walk with me brother until our roads lead us away from each other
And if your heart’s full of sorrow, keep walking
Don’t rest
And promise me from heart to chest to never let your memories die
Never
I will always be alive and by your side in your mind
I’m free.

My searching for the words (poem) used in the ad lead me to this article, brandchannel.  There you'll find that the poem was written by the narrator (John ‘Bang’ Reilly) in collaboration with the ad creators. Also the full text of the poem is included in the article.

where’s the party

Who is going to clean up the blog party? Oh nevermind, this is the virtual world of the internet, no cleanup required.

However it does seem the blog party is winding down. Many bloggers have gone home or maybe just over to the all-night FB and instagram. There’s still beer in the cooler so I’m staying but I’m tired. Haven’t fallen out of the chair yet. (those were the days, I’ve found myself unexpectedly on the floor once or twice)

I have two pictures to share. Every picture tells a story - ask Rod Stewart.

Here’s Chicago’s shiny cool bean in the dark. It’s popular tourist site in Chicago. We walked by there a few nights ago. I snapped the picture just minutes before the sky opened up. I didn’t stick around but a picture with lightning in it would be cool. Now there’s a copycat public art piece in China - WTF? Here’s a link to that story.

This next pic - A week or so ago I ranted on a bit about this ad I saw in our junk mail. Maybe you’ve heard of or shopped at Ulta. I never have step foot in one. Did you know they offer a line of makeup called “Urban Decay”?

I consider this name the dumbest product names any marketing group a few clowns short of a circus could promote. Calling it urban probably turns off most of the rural folks. Why decay? Since when is "decay" a word associated with makeup? Put this crap on your face and look decayed?  Maybe influenced by the zombie fad?

Perhaps some answers can be inferred from their web page description of their Urban Decay Perversion Mascara:

“If you need to apply in public, you'll look good holding Perversion. Urban Decay emblazoned their gorgeous, highly metallized black tube with a big purple "Perversion" and their tagline: "Bigger. Blacker. Badder."”

Yeah buy it for the good looking tube - you big bad ass.

Well here's the pic our daughter who heard my rant took for me a few days later:
 

I guess my rant stuck in our daughter's head because a few days latter she snapped this picture for me. Have you ever skipped over a product because of it’s name? I have. It has me wondering what crazy name stuff will be out there years from now when our little granddaughter starts shopping for makeup (other than the Halloween type).

quick thought

Quick thought, quick opinion?  I don't know, maybe both.  We often jump to conclusions and try to figure out things too quickly.

This quick post is just about the recent McDonalds ad that has stirred up a few people.  Of course, they say all publicity is good.

I watched the ad on youtube.  I thought it was a typical feel-good-about-brand type ad.  Very similar to the Budweiser Clydesdale commercials.  Companies that remind us that they support our troops/first responders/community/causes want us to feel good about the company.

I accept this approach more that companies that attempt to scare you into buying their product (drugs, security service, dating service, whatever).   

While I was watching their ad (called signs on youtube) I found another more interesting one they did.  The following clip is too long for TV but internet is more flexible.  If you can produce an interesting clip it can go longer than 30 seconds.

Now I have not eaten a chicken mcnugget in many many years.  The last time, I told myself they are not good enough to eat.  It appears the story teller in this clip doesn't eat them either.  I found this clip informative and honest.  It doesn't change my mind about eating mcnuggets.






Oh, you might recall me ranting about marketing before on this blog.  Marketing campaigns pushing us and our feelings around can be a problem.  The best approach to stopping it is a backlash against it.  I don't know if McDonalds continued with their freaky Happy Meal character or not.  I still find the character freaky with too much teeth.

Final Notice (they are never final): This is to advise you that, unless otherwise expressly indicated, personal advice contained in this post is not intended to be used.  Also, NO offers of happy meals, fries-with-that, or indigestion were received for this post.  I do own a few shares of McDonalds (MCD).  Their shares pay a good dividend worth a number of large french fry orders.

lets discount this

With the abundance of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and TU Tuesday savings I wonder if anyone will take their enormous savings, quit work and retire. Have you noticed the word “savings” being hijacked by the advertising industry. “Savings.com” is not run by a bank. No it’s actually a place to find coupons.

I’m not saying coupons are bad or worthless. You need to ask yourself, would you have bought the item regardless of the coupon? In other words, do you really want it or is the distorted savings idea playing tricks on you?

Coupons are great when you are going to buy the item anyway. They (the marketing gods a few clowns short of a circus) know that coupons are more than discounts for items. They are game pieces in the ongoing shopping games. Have you ever bragged to your friends about a great coupon you recently got to play in the shopping game?

I’m a victim of a recent coupon.

An ad in the newspaper caught my eye as I drank my morning coffee last week. A good store for computers and electronics, Tiger Direct, offered a coupon for a toy helicopter. Only, $9.99 with the coupon. Limit one per customer. (that limit is another gimmick I suspect).

Yes I knew this offer was meant to draw me away from my coffee and out to their store. While I was there I briefly shared how this offer was tough to pass up with two other older new-toy-helicopter owners. Hey for only $10 the downside of possibly being a lousy toy was reduced. I’ve spent more on a six-pack of beer when I don’t have a coupon.

Before I get to my final thoughts on the product, I want to point out a problem with their ad. It’s common practice, we have seen it but yet we still get tricked by it. The price in the ad was listed as $39.99. A $30 “savings” or discount. When I got to the store, the sale sign was closer to the truth. Without a coupon anyone could buy it for $19.99 ($39.99 was still listed as the original price). Getting it for just $10 off might not of taken me away from my morning coffee.

Just another side/tangent - Why is it when some product is discounted shoppers typically react positively, but when a stock drops (discounted, on sale?) many investors react negatively? Also, it would be nice if I could check a chart of the selling price over time of products like I can easily find the selling history of a stock.

The actual toy - for a helicopter it did not provide a very uplifting experience. Hard to control. It did take a beating of crashes ok. At one point I dropped the controller and one of the joysticks cracked off. No joy in that stick. I probably should have bought some premium craft beer instead.

plethora of fragments

Welcome to the House of Lisle. Watch your virtual step, be careful clicking across the digital floor. I’m a blogger and it’s been many months since I used the word plethora.

Did you visit Mrs. 4444’s blog today?  She offers a fragment feast every Friday.

Did you have a good Halloween?

flippin Frappuccino - 
What Few-Clowns-Short-of-Circus group created the retail term activewear? Does that imply you are more active than just breathing when you wear activewear products?  Really, are we not all active while sprawled on the couch ordering activewear from a smartphone?  Can you find “relaxed-fit” items in the activewear store?  I’m always focused on perfecting my laziness so I would more inclined to visit the inactivewear store. (also, shouldn't it be activeware?)


Don’t worry be happy, I’m not complaining, just puzzled.
 

wearing earthwear

Hmm, I just forgot the fragment I had in mind.  Be on the look-out for a loose fragment.  It could be funny.

Think back to the dawn of digital cameras. The first cameras had low pixel resolution (pixel count) compared to the ones found in smartphones today. It didn't take long before we had a pixel competition between the manufacturers. Competition is good and it provided us better inexpensive cameras. However, there is a downside to this pixel race. The picture files became huge memory suckers.

I noticed this recently when uploading pictures. (a geek moment?) Our past pictures whose files were under 1 megabyte(MB) still look great. Now I was seeing 2 and 3 MB picture files. Yeah, if you are still reading, you might be saying, "I don't give a pixel about bytes." Well maybe you should.

If most of your pictures will be shown online or shared on a smartphone and not printed (I have not printed out pictures in over a year) then you don't need 2 plus MB pictures. According to this chart, 1 MB (1280x960 pixels) produces a very good 5x7 print. Think about those multiple MB's of wasted pixels being stored in your near full memory and using up your wireless data plan. The gadget industry is happy to sell storage and transport for all those unnecessary pixels.

I readjusted the resolution setting on our camera and lowered my picture file size (a pixel diet plan?).


Oh thinking of pictures, check out my trip to pre-school the other day.

from premier to dirt bag

(a revised 2007 post) I just used some frequent flyer miles on United. At one time (actually twice I recall) I had  Premier frequent flyer status. Now - forget it I'm just a dirt bag to them.

Had you ever heard of "mileage runs"?  It's the practice of making special trips just to keep your frequent flyer status at a higher level.  You know those desired seats with the extra space between them (called pitch)? You need to be a "Premier" to select those or pay extra money.

After the company where I worked cut back on travel, I went to dirt bag status on United.

What a difference - there was a time when they sent me free upgrades in the mail - sweet.

Oh this fickle relationship leaves me annoyed.  My dirt bag status became very apparent during a recent mileage transaction. As most travelers I wanted to fly direct. Well I found some good direct flights but when I tried booking at the 25,000 per trip rate - NO those flights were not even offered. I changed some setting and found the direct flights (more than one) were ONLY offered for TWICE the miles = 50,000!  Still economy seating just a direct vs. layover trip.

Reminds me of being dumped once by a cute girlfriend after the summer and our trips to the beach club were over.  I became worth less than a bottle of suntan lotion.

I flew the connecting flight but it sucks to know there were better flights, for the Premiers.

(oh Mr. Spaceman at the top? - he just looks upset like I feel.  Maybe they cut off his fresh air or the helmet is too tight?) 

Lastly, a 2014 update on reward programs.  Things have gotten even worst by comparison.  Back in 2007 baggage fees were not common.  Now there is minimum spending requirements to obtain elite status (vs. just miles flown) and the definition of “frequent flier mile” is no longer tied to distance but rather money spent on the ticket. See this article for more details.


I should probably find some good shoes and practice extending my thumb out.