A Quick Rant on Geek Lemmings

There's one personality trait with geeks that really drives me nuts, and that is their horrible lemming tendencies. I think it comes from generally not being very social creatures. They want to feel part of a larger group. I can somewhat accept it when it comes to tech issues, because they/we feel we know it all. Vista is a great example. See Jim Louderback's post for more on that.

But today the Haterade is being poured by the bucket onto Jim Cramer, and I've had about as much as I can take. You see, there are two deities in the Geek crowd to which they will never disagree, and follow with near religious fervor: Steve Jobs and John Stewart. The Daily Show, a comedy/variety news spoof program, has become the Geek Generation's CBS Evening News, and Stewart is their Dan Rather. If he says it, it must be true.

In reality the comparison is fairly justified. Like Rather, Stewart has an obvious political angle and fabricates news to push his agenda. In reality it's just to get ratings and be humorous. He can take any guest and turn an interview into a Friar's Club Roast in 10 seconds flat. This is what he did to Jim Cramer Thursday night.

Now, Cramer brought it on himself. Taking good-natured jabs at The Daily Show will get this response, and honestly the publicity (of which there's no bad kind) has been good for both of them. Regardless, there is now a multi-million-strong group of young investors out there who will never take anything Cramer does seriously, and will be worse off for it.

There are three people who really know what's happening in the market: Cramer, Trump, and Buffet. All three called the crash in 2007, and warned everyone. Very few listened to them. Fortunately I did, and moved everything in my 401k accounts that I could into cash/Money Market/Stable Value accounts. As a result I lost almost nothing in this crash, and am now poised to jump on the recovery and likely double these accounts. Most of the Cramer haters are just bitter because half their retirement savings are gone now.

But don't take my word for it. Financial Site Mint.com has a great tool to graph your investment performance and compare it to the S&P 500. So, if you disagree with me or Cramer, I have one thing to say: I'll show you mine - will you show me yours?

From Public

WANT: Geneva 2009: Clever EDAG "Light Car Open-Source" is like safety television for tailgaters

WANT: Geneva 2009: Clever EDAG "Light Car Open-Source" is like safety television for tailgaters

There's really nothing more I can say - it speaks for itself!

Apple refreshes Mac mini lineup with GeForce 9400M graphics

Apple refreshes Mac mini lineup with GeForce 9400M graphics...and no HDMI. I really have no idea what they're thinking. I would have this as my #1 choice for a home theater PC if it had HDMI (with audio). But for the cost I could build a far superior PC. Sorry Apple, for a brief fleeting moment you had a chance to get a convert, but you blew it.

GreenWheel Turns Pedal Bike Into Electric Hog: Discovery News

GreenWheel Turns Pedal Bike Into Electric Hog: Discovery News

This is something I've both worked on designs of myself and lusted after other commercial versions of. All I can say is that the folks at MIT need to hurry up and get it production-ready!

Star Wars Lightsaber Build on this week's Systm!

If you consider yourself even a mild fan of Star Wars, then you owe it to yourself to watch this episode of Systm on Revision3. You'll learn more about how the props for the original movie were made than you ever wanted to know, and it's probably the funniest episode they've ever done on top of it. ;)



Star, Wars, starwars — Lightsaber Build: Exact Star Wars Replicas, Totally Custom, And A Duel! — Systm — Revision3

Marvell's SheevaPlug Linux PC fits in its power adapter - Engadget

Marvell's SheevaPlug Linux PC fits in its power adapter - Engadget

There are so many possible uses for this I don't know where to begin. It should at least give you a taste for the future of things to come! I really want one of these!

Rebirth after a Year-Long Hiatus

After a year of disuse, I'm coming back to this project. I lost my focus because something was missing. I didn't understand my direction. I knew what I wanted it to be, but didn't know how to put it in words.

Well, this morning I read a phenomenal blog post from Jim Louderback (CEO of Revision3) discussing how he believes Microsoft Really Murdered Vista. You should go read that before continuing - it'll open in a new window.

He gave the perfect term for what I've been all these years, and what I wanted this blog to be for: I'm a Brand Ambassador. I've also heard it called a Tech Evangelist, and I guess that fits too. I'm very passionate about the products I like, and very critical of the ones I don't. People seem to be drawn to me to ask my opinions of things, tech or otherwise. I always wanted this blog to be a home for those opinions.

So this is a rebirth, a starting over. If it goes well, maybe I'll start back on that podcast I was working on too. ;)

I also realize that I'm not going to be able to succeed on my own. If you are a Brand Ambassador in your daily life, please contact me - I'd love to have others contributing articles.