This post is going to serve as my guestbook.  Feel free to say hello and sign.  Please don't advertise anything behind just linking to your site in the field.  I don't appreciate my blog being used as your marketing tool.

Of course, you can feel free to say nice things about me, too.

I just unsubscribed from the Manhattan User's Guide today, which is a shame, because, until today, I found it to be a useful service.  Everyday, I'd get a cool looking e-mail about cool things going on in the city.  Its subject matter, as described on the site, was pretty diverse:

"What kinds of topics do you cover?
Here are just a few of the topics we've covered in the past: The first word on the best new restaurants, shows, and shops. How to get just about anything fixed: lamps, air conditioners, jewelry ­ anything but parking tickets...The city's clockmaster (who knew we had one?)...Where to find baseball memorabilia, Cindy Sherman-designed Limoges porcelain, the best chopped liver, a reliable contractor, or get custom ties made. The best gifts to give new parents, older pets, or your bad old self. If it's interesting, entertaining or useful and it's in New York, we may write about it."

So today, in my e-mail I get a post that implicated that God was displeased with the Pope and sent him to the hospital because the Pope compared abortionists to the Nazis.

Huh?

Well, regardless of whatever side of this issue you stand on, clearly this don't not fit into the "it's in New York" catagory.  I don't find it entertaining either.  I mean, you might disagree with the Pope, which is fine, but to e-mail me a "Manhattan User Guide" message saying "We Know What God Wants" and to say that God sends people to the hospital when he disagree with him?  That's just plan inappropriate.  Plus, I don't personally believe that God is vindictive in that way.  If I wanted MUG's policitical and relgious commentary, they should set up a blog and I'd happily subscribe to it.  I only welcomed them into my inbox because they told me about new restaurants and where to get my jewlery repaired. 

So, I sent them a note, believing that some constructive user feedback might be welcome.  I mean, surely I can't be the only MUG user that felt like maybe, rightly or wrongly, this isn't what they expected when I signed up.

I wrote....

I like this service, but I could do without the political commentary…   I won’t unsubscribe, because I do find the service useful, and its not as if I even disagree with today’s e-mail… (he did write something against Jerry Falwell, too, so I wasn't completely in disagreement with what he wrote)  but I just think its inappropriate for the kind of service that you’re offering.  If you want to write about your personal beliefs, you should start a blog, but please don’t e-mail them to me intermixed with the mostly useful information that you do provide.

And what do I get back?  I was thinking I'd get back "I'll take this under consideration" or "thanks for your feedback, let's see how the other users feel about this."

No, I get...

"nope, sorry, you don’t get to decide what;s appropriate for mug. feel free to unsubscribe.

charlie suisman"

Fine then.  I will.  Perhaps he'll change his mind if three quarters of his users walk out the door.  I'll support services that care about what I think as a consumer, not people that tell me to essentially take it or leave it.   Its not about the politics.  Its about being transparent about what you're offering, which MUG clearly was not (religious/political commentary  is not listed as a catagory on the site, just Arts&Ent, Food & Wine, Info, Lesuire & Sports, Services, and Shopping) and also about listening to your customers.  So, if you feel like you shouldn't get Charlie Suisman's personal political commentary intermixed with info on the latest art exhibit, please let him know.  And, if you support him and want to keep getting messages like that, let him know that as well.  Either way, this guy should be in touch with his customers and care about what they think so he can get a sense of how to serve them best.

Seth writes:

Link: Seth's Blog: Amazon's Time Machine.

The question here is: why don't online stores do stuff like this on purpose? Why don't they slip in ridiculous items or funny descriptions? It's not like they're going to run out of shelf space or have a problem with inventory.

They do, Seth.   Its called woot!

Woot! sells one item (many of that item, but just one type) a day and does a hilarious job with the descriptions, often throwing in stuff like "turns into a mind controlling robot" for blenders.  I don't think I've actually bought anything yet, but it keeps me subscribing for the humor.

You can't make this stuff up...   I snapped this pic with my phone yesterday:

1. One of your coworkers bet someone.  "Hey, I bet you $100 I can jab a huge safety pin in Bob's collar without him noticing."
2. One of your coworkers tried to jab a safety pin in your neck, but missed.  "Hey Bob, your tie is crooked.  Lemme fix it...  DAMMIT."
3. The guys from Myth Busters were debunking the theory that you could kill someone with a homemade giant safety pin launcher.
4. He's one of those old guys that wears his pants too high, and there's another safety pin on his belt that also broke.
5. For all you Matrix fans:   "There is no safety pin."
6. Its a Delicious/AARP joint venture to tag all the old guys.  His tag fell off, though.
7. He's The Fly's dad, and he accidently got into that big teleportation pod with a big safety pin.
8. He's trying to start a trend.  All the cool people are wearing big safety pins in their collar.
9. He's so cool that his collar naturally goes up, and he needs the safety pin to keep it down until after hours.
10. He's always forgetting his briefcase around, so he usually keeps it safety pinned to his collar.

Hi, Dave.

The Shake Shack has a countdown to opening clock that bloggers can post on their blogs.  This is brilliant marketing.  I've pasted mine on my sidebar.

I don't know where this guy needs to go, but here's the ridiculous thing about Brooklyn... about 2 minutes later, someone came and took that open parking space.

I run a mentoring program for college students interested in finance.  We're looking for two more speakers to round out our breakfast program... one for 7/20 and one for 7/27.  If you work for/own your own hedge fund or if you work with futures, options, or derivatives, please contact me right away.  CFA charterholders highly preferred.

I got scammed.  These puppies aren't real...  here's the scoop. 

At least they're cute, though.

A friend of Kerri's just send her a note about some puppies.  If you're interested, or if you know anyone who would like a free Golden Retriever puppy, contact Mrs. Gaëlle Wenger at gaellewenger (at) hotmail.com.  We really don't want to say what will happen to these little guys if no one takes them...  so just take one, give it a good home, and we don't have to worry about that.

Please use the "e-mail this post to a friend" post and help spread the word.

I saw 24 Hours on Craigslist last night and it was pretty damn funny.

I was surprised the theater wasn't packed, given that is the 18th most popular site on the web.  Perhaps if they had put a Craiglist ad up, more people would have showed. 

Basically, they took something like 80 ads from one single day and filmed the stories around them...  everything from crossdressing rockers to moms selling strollers.  Some of the people score really high on the Unintentional Comedy Scale. 

Having met Craig Newmark in person, it was especially hilarious to hear people's comments on whether there even really is a Craig and what he's like. 

The thing is, Craigslist is really a reflection of ourselves in a lot of ways, and so I feel like I learned a few things in this movie:

1. No matter how creepy you are, there's always someone creepier out there.
2. There is a really thin line between hilarious and creepy.
3. There's no fat end of the curve...   In the end, its all long tail.
4. Its unclear whether anonymity breeds more or less honesty.
5. Free is good.  People love free.
6. Homemade cookies are the universal currency.  If someone has 50 pairs of surplus women's army pants, you can trade a bag of homemade cookies for them.
7. Flash mobs are cool... NYC should have some of them.

The next time someone jokes about you...  turn it into a sales pitch.

Way to go, Chuck.

*gives thumbs up*

If you haven't seen the Random Chuck Norris Fact Generator yet, go here.

For those of you not living in a cave that has no broadband, Supr.c.ilio.us has some great web 2.0 related additions:

Link: Supr.c.ilio.us: The Blog � Chuck Norris 2.0.

My favorite:  Chuck Norris doesn’t search Google. He just stares at the screen until Google pops the website he needs.

This blog is hilarious...    There's no reason why it should have half the RSS subs I do.  You should go subscribe to their blog now, or Chuck Norris will roundhouse kick you in the face.

I'm finding myself glued to Indian music videos on Channel 73 this morning.  This isn't the first time I've flipped through and stopped to listen and watch. 

I have no idea what they're singing about and a lot of the dancing looks like its a fight between the Jets and the Sharks from West Side Story.  What's with the dancing in big groups?  There also seems to be a lot of rising overhead shots of guys singing with outstretched arms and shouting towards the sky... sort of like Kirk yelling "Khaaaan!" in Star Trek II. 

But yet, I can't stop from bopping along.  This is great stuff.

Music truly is the international language.  Attractive female Indian dancers don't hurt either, admittedly.

So, if anyone has any recommendations as to some of this stuff I should be listening to, let me know. 

From my buddy Ryan...

There is a Chinese story of a farmer who used an old horse to till his fields. One day, the horse escaped into the hills and when the farmer's neighbors sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?" A week later, the horse returned with a herd of horses from the hills and this time the neighbors congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, "Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?"

Then, when the farmer's son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, "Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?"

Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer's son with his broken leg, they let him off. Now was that good luck or bad luck?

Who knows?

I don't drink coffee, but this is interesting nonetheless.

Link: How is coffee decaffeinated?.

Heather, who went to the Superhero's Ball as a our defense against the forces of evil bunnies, had some thought provoking words on her blog tonight:

"It's easy to love being in love, and when you're fresh out of it, you definitely feel an emptiness where something once was. But I know better than to seek it out from the past. One of the greatest pieces of wisdom a woman can have in dealing with a man is to know that you cannot change him. And you should not. The only harmless woman influence is to help him dress better. And of course if he's a good one, he will learn from you and you will learn from him to both be better. But never ever push against a man's nature. If you don't like him, or your situation with him, as is, don't bother liking him at all. If he'll ever change, let him do on his own time, and out of his own volition."

Link: AOL News - 'Old School' Actor Cranshaw Dies at 86.

Link: USATODAY.com - Marriott timeshare unit says customer data is missing.

ORLANDO (AP) — The timeshare unit of Marriott International is notifying more than 200,000 people that their personal data are missing after backup computer tapes went missing from a Florida office.