I just received an email from Chapters. Here’s what I saw:

Wow. They are going to save me 99 cents! Generous!

Usually the savings are in the range of 25-30%. I’ve gotten used to that I guess. So when I see a 9% discount (that amounts to less than $1.00!!), I think it’s pathetic, and I’m sort of irked that I bothered to open their email. I wonder if I’ll be quick to open subsequent emails from Chapters…..

I love this. Our Power - essentially localized buying clubs for residential solar energy systems. It’s so smart and simple and *important*. As a fund raiser, a complilation album has been released that includes Canadian musicians Gord Downie, Ron Sexsmith, and Steven Page alongside indie rock heros like Mike O’Neill, Jill Barber and The Violet Archers. Very cool.

Now I just have to figure out the government rules and requirements and grid-tie options for Western Quebec and get organizing.

Don’t even ask. Oh god don’t ask.

I found myself at pamelaanderson.com a moment ago. There are so so so many hilarious things at this site - from the illustrations to the content - that it’s actually worth a visit. Go, take a minute and visit the site. Go.

One of the funniest things about the site is the first line of her “Bio” page that reads: “Pneumatic blonde Pamela Anderson is an American icon, born and raised in a small town in Canada…”

Pneumatic? What? She is filled with “or pertaining to air, gases, or wind” (Dictionary.com)?? (At least now the ‘mystery’ of those enormous bazookas has been solved!)

This is the definitive case study of “When you create a website, you really should hire a writer. A real writer. Not a pneumatic writer.”

UPDATE: While I don’t take any of this back, or agree with the usage, according to the Urban Dictionary, “in the novel “Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley, the word ‘pneumatic’ was used to describe the sensation of sex with the main female character Lenina. In this context it means well rounded, or bouncy, in reference to her breasts and her body.”

Bouncy. Not really a surprise, I guess. But I feel like I am learning (or plagued to visualize) more about Ms. Anderson’s horizontal life than I bargained for when I made my innocent trip to her site. But then again, I guess that’s the goal, the visualizations, of most of her website visitors…… I am so not her target audience.

I found myself at Moo.com today, directed there by Flickr to get some free mini-cards.  Aside from the fact that the end product looks very cool, and I can’t wait to get my 10 free cards, the interface is completely amazing.  Quite simply, it simply works.  Perfectly. Go try it yourself and you’ll see what I mean.  It’s ultra intuitive, smart and a little sexy too.  And I’ve been looking around for some non-business business cards so the timing of their launch is near perfect too.

Bravo Moo.com.

It’s been a while since I’ve updated this site. Lots and lots has happened, some awful things and some wonderful things. I guess life is like that. I’m back at work now, and I’m taking on some cool projects.

Thanks and love to those who have supported me over the past 5 months and a ‘damn you’ to those who have provided more heartache and stress than I care to recall.

Onwards and upwards from here!

Really. The CEO at Home Depot believes that you, the customer, is the enemy, needing to be conquered.

From Business Week:

“In the military, we win battles and conquer the enemy,” says Ray. At Home Depot, “we do that with customers.”

There are so many shocking things in this article that it’s difficult to know where to start. I’m foaming at the mouth with disgust. Happily there’s both a Rona Depot and a Home Hardware in our village so I will never have to don fatigues and cross enemy lines in order to partake in home improvement projects. I’ve always thought that Home Depot was slightly creepy but I’ve never figured out why I felt that. It’s crystal clear to me now.

From this Reuters report:

A parental advice Internet site has sued Google Inc., charging it unfairly deprived the company of customers by downgrading its search-result ranking without reason or warning…….

….. KinderStart charges that Google without warning in March 2005 penalized the site in its search rankings, sparking a “cataclysmic” 70 percent fall in its audience — and a resulting 80 percent decline in revenue.

“Kinderstart - Because kids don’t come with instructions.” This site should be called: “Lawyers - Because we never learned to play well with others.”

This company (kinderstart.com — no link because they don’t deserve it — you’ll have to cut and paste) so clearly doesn’t understand the web. This lack of understanding always surprises me. I am not surprised that there’s a lawyer wanting to get some fame by fighting the case but I am surprised that the company behind Kinderstart is prepared to go head to head with Google.

Kinderstart, from first glance, appears to want to be a child / parent-related search engine itself. (Though it’s hardly sophisticated, or world-class, or innovative, or even well done. I am a parent, and I’d never use this site. Why would I?) Given that they’d like to be an engine of some sort, themselves, I’d bet there’s another motive behind this law suit other than the site’s decline in revenue. I am not even sure I understand this site’s revenue model….. the irony is that it seems that this sites may get its primary source of revenue from Google Adwords.

I don’t imagine that Google is shaking in their boots.

To anyone following the tale of ‘Micah the dog, the Vomit and the Dog Food Company’, I’ve posted an update. In summary, Micah is still fine, we’ve received some money but was it the best case study in excellent public relations? Hardly.