Tag Archives: Social Media

Where I drive I Chevy Volt… And Like It

Posted on April 24, 2012 | 1 Comment

So I got to borrow a Chevy Volt for a few days last week thanks to Klout and Chevy. I’m supposed to disclose things like this is it was a free loan for 4 days.

Ok that said, I’m not an American car guy. in fact I’ve never

owned, been inclined to own, or liked anything made in America. Sure there’s some nice whips coming out of Detroit, but none made me want to walk away from my beloved Austrian Engineering.

While I’m not about to sell my paid off A4 to get a Volt, if my situation was different, the Volt would be a contender.

But the Volt is a nice looking ride. Externally it’s a sporty little hatchback, with clean lines and some definite aggressiveness. The headlights (usually my first impression is based on them) are nice and angular. They were your basic Halogen, which felt cheap to me.

Before I go inside, my only complaints on the exterior are: the mirrors are a bit big and stick out like Alfalfa’s ears, and at least on the model I drove, weren’t automatic when parking, etc. And the front end sticks a bit out from the wheels. Even with just me in the car, pulling out of the alley I park in caused some scraping. My A4 with sport suspension has no issues. Big nose.

Ok interior stuff.

The inside is pretty nice. A good amount of brushed alum, which always adds class :)

The console is all touch button goodness,  with very few actual moving buttons. I found the interior quite nice, which is usually what I hate the most about american cars. Chrome does not make something that sucks, better on it’s own.

My unit came with Navigation, it was ass.  One of the worst UX’s I’ve ever seen. The screen was way too busy, the touch screen (oh yeah, the center screen is a touch screen!) buttons were confusing, and overall it wasn’t fun to use. Worse yet, if you were moving you couldn’t use it. On the move and need to change your destination? Too bad. Find yourself lost, too bad. I understand it’s a safety feature, my car displays a disclaimer that the passenger should be the one to use the nav while in motion. The Volt straight up locks the user out of the Nav until you come to a stop.

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Posted in Around the Home/Office, Business, Denver, I am a Consumer, Random, reviews, Technology

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Tips for Travelers. To Make MY Travels easier

Posted on October 25, 2011 | 3 Comments

This isn’t a ‘help others’ post, so much as it’s a ‘help me’ post. By that I mean if I can get your in and out of the airport faster and more efficiently, well that helps me!  Travel season is rapidly approaching, and in fact I’m traveling soon. I thought I’d share some tips for making travel out of DIA easier. For you, and not very indirectly and more importantly, for me. You see, your not knowing what to do  and how to do it, messes with me and my travels.

Travel sucks, it really does. The TSA has made it absolutely miserable to go between two places in our country. BUT you can try to make it as painless as possible.

So here we go, a few helpful tidbits to help you (and me) get through security and on your way.

  • Nothing has changed in the last few years with regards to shoes. Take your shoes off. Flip flops, sneakers, sexy boots, they all gotta come off and go on the belt, just do it. I actually have travel shoes i wear sometimes. They’re slip on deals, not really pretty and when not traveling their house shoes. Not slippers, they’ve functional shoes, I’m just not a slip on guy. BUT at the airport, shoes that go on and off fast are a big deal. I can’t say how often i’ve seen someone in fancy shoes (LADIES!) struggling to balance and take them off, then put them back on.
  • If you don’t know if your laptop needs to be out of your laptop, it does. Err on the side of not slowing down the process. There’s like 2 bags that laptops can stay inside of and maybe 3 laptops that don’t need to be removed. Unless you know for sure you’ve got one of those, take it out. It always makes me wonder who those people are that in 2011 that don’t know laptops have to come out of bags.
  • Is your phone in your pocket? OMG really? Pockets EMPTY! 
  • Got kids, maybe do some drills at home? Nothing messes up the line more than the freaking out mom, annoyed dad, and kid with toys in his pockets, shoes on, who’s picking up on mom and dad’s mood and starting to freak out too.
  • Prep your kid, we all benefit! I’ve seen pro families, and I’ve seen families I’ve wanted to murder. Preperation is key and you can tell the families that travel a lot or prepped ahead of time. It makes a ton of difference. I don’t have kids, so I can’t offer prep tips, but I’m pretty sure candy and rehearsals would be perfect! Or worse case, robitussin. But seriously, beready to go through security with your kid
  • Don’t be a dick in line. Here’s a true story. I suck at time zones, and one trip I showed up at the airport and the gal at the counter remarks, “oh you’re in luck, they’re just boarding now” I was like, don’t I have an hour. No I didn’t. My phone was still in denver time, or the appt reminder was, something, I was an hour late. But my plane was late. She checks me in, walks me to security and cuts the line apologizing but letting folks know I was late and my plane was boarding (honestly i coulda waited the line was 10 people long and the plane still didn’t board for 15 minutes) The guy who was next that I cut starts causing a scene “who’s he? Why does he get to cut? we’re all in a hurry.” I politely tell him, it’s my fault, she’s helping me make the last flight, and the one I shoulda been on time for but messed up my reminder calendar entry. I apologize profusely. As I’m waiting to go through the metal detector, TSA guy leans over and says “I really hate assholes” and then shouts “Bag check” on the bag behind mine. The rude guy’s bag.
    • Airports tend to bring out the worst in us, but keep in check. Karma is a bitch. I thanked the gal from the front desk, apologized again to the line behind me, and dashed off to my gate.

    OK that’s all I’ve got for ya, it should at least help you get through security and out of my way as efficiently as possible. I hope ;)

    See you at DIA.

     

    This blog post has been sponsored by CLEAR, the service that speeds you through airport security. CLEAR members save so much time at the airport, it’s like having Daylight Savings every time you travel! CLEAR, the (self-proclaimed) Official Sponsor of Daylight Saving Time, is celebrating the extra hour we get on Nov 6th with a series of travel and time-savings posts on their blog - and here, on my blog too.

    To help you see what CLEAR is all about, they are offering my readers a special 3-month FREE trial! Don’t settle for just one extra hour this Daylight Savings. No need to deal with unpredictable security lines, the stress of rushing to your gate, or the time you waste getting to DEN extra early. Click here to get your pass and try CLEAR’s enhanced travel experience for yourself. Just enter my code (CMNDST12) in the promo code field on the payment page.

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    Posted in Random, Social Media, Travel, Work

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    We’re all busy, stop saying it and do something

    Posted on May 9, 2011 | 2 Comments

    I see this on twitter, and in real life face-to-face conversations a lot, “blah blah, working on something awesome, super super busy” or some other fairly douchey version of that sentence. Typically said by the same people over and over, as if saying something like that makes you cool, as if repeating it somehow makes you cooler. Maybe being busier than the rest of us makes you feel better? Hate to break it to you but you’re not busier than us.

    I have something to share with you ‘busy’ people. We’re all busy, just some of us are busy doing shit instead of just saying it. Shut your pie hole, and get shit done!

    I’m sure it’s a ‘for lack of more interesting things to say’ type of problem, but really if you’ve got time in your startup or whatever to tweet about being busy… you’re doing it wrong. Run your damn business, stop telling us about it.

    I have no respect for people who say (or tweet) that type of thing. As if running 360|Conferences, Cocoa Magazine, and everything else I do, didn’t keep me busy, you don’t see me telling anyone who’ll listen how many hours a day I put in, what time I get up or go to bed, etc.

    It’s simple, when you think to yourself, “Oh I should tweet some cryptic tweet about how awesome I am because I’m really busy, and that will make people think i’m even cooler…. STOP don’t do it, take 30 seconds… breathe, then get back to work.

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    Posted in 360Conferences, community, Conferences, I am a Creator, Random, Social Media, Work

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    Reminder! National Comic Sans Day is Friday 10/1

    Posted on September 29, 2010 | 3 Comments

    Last year several folks updated the CSS for their blogs to participate in National Comic Sans Day. I’m hoping more will do it this year!

    Why? You ask. That easy, we take ourselves too seriously. If folks directed their Anti Comic Sans energy into something productive, we’d probably have cures for Cancer and the Common Cold. And really it’s just a font. And it’s just one day.

    We need to lighten up, laugh at ourselves, and take a day to have some fun at our own expense.

    Do it, you know you want to! It’s simple, just create a second style sheet  of all comic sans and drop it in on Friday. Take it out Saturday morning.

    Be bold!

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    Posted in community, I am a Creator, Social Media

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