Searching with pay-per-click

I noted a few days ago about the Cnet article regarding click through rates of Firefox users compared with the general internet population. The interesting thing I have noticed after reading that article is that I am now using pay-per-click ads as a backup to my normal google searching. Rather than worry about what term to use in search of a particular solution to something, I simply input a broad subject and let the marketers who write the ads do the refining for me. The down side of this may be for advertisers because using the advertising in this way means I may not be looking for something to buy when I click on one of the ads.

Forbes.com: Saving for Your Health

It is interesting to see that some of the fear around HSA's is still alive and well after a year.

Still, HSAs do have drawbacks. If you are healthy now but turn critically ill later, you may or may not be able to switch into a traditional health policy with a low deductible. That will depend on enrollment rules at your employer.

I know that in some cases this may be true, but many times the out-of-pocket costs even when paying the larger deductible can be offset with the savings.

New Yahoo Desktop Search

newsobserver.com | Technology While I haven't used much Yahoo in the past few years that fact that this is based on X1 technology is[should be] enough to make everyone try it. Great idea on Yahoo's part to snag X1 and pose a serious threat to Google.

Firefox users ignore online ads, report says | CNET News.com

Normally terrible news.com has an interesting article about online advertising. Firefox users ignore online ads, report says | CNET News.com I can see this in my office as I (Firefox user) am much less likely to click-through than my two co-workers who are IE users. Funny how organically these things segregate.

Ok, so this Flikr thing is amazing. I am so suprised it took this long for someone to come up with this!

Moving out of the college house

Another pic of the old house
Originally uploaded by Freshperspective.

Well, it was good while it lasted but I have moved out of the house. This house has been good to me over the last year and a half. I'll miss the place, although it's nice to be able to type this post in quiet from the new apartment!

Back up and (hopefully) running

Well after an extended break I'm hopping to be back up and running! I have been busy settling into a new gig and making wedding plans for the last few months but I should be posting with more consistency from now on.

I'm done!

On a personal note, I just wanted to mention that I graduated from Seattle Pacific University on Saturday! It feels very strange to be done, like I'm caught between two worlds. At least it will give me more time to pursue FreshPerspective and other opportunities.

Great discussion....

There is a great discussion going on about homeschooling and its effect on a child's manners at Philip Greenspun's Weblog: . Make sure to check it out, especially the comments part. It's good to see that the issue is being discussed, maybe over time more homeschooling discussions can develop that may eventually lead to reduced misunderstanding about the whole issue.

Also, great comment about "family schooling", that is truly the best homeschooling approach in my opinion.

The world may actually come together...

So I'm sitting here at the awesome new Zoka Coffee Shop in the U-district and I'm just thinking about all the sociologists that say that we as a society are becoming more isolated. While I think they may have a point in some areas, I think that some things are actually getting better.

I say this because I am sitting at a small round table with three other people that I have never met before, and we are all sitting here peacefully doing our homework or what not. Two of us are online via the free WiFi, and one is studying some printouts of something. What I am most surprised about is that we all seem perfectly comfortable. Strange thing is, you would never walk into a Starbucks and sit down at a table with someone else. It seems that some of the smaller cafe´s have succeed in creating an atmosphere of community that encourages us to sit closer and relax a little bit.

Who knows, we may even start talking to each other again!

It's about time!

So it looks like Sprint may finally have a Bluetooth cellphone. Both Nokia and Motorola have announced Bluetooth phones for the CDMA network, two plus years late! I have avoided upgrading for two years because all you could get was a crappy picture phone. Sorry, but if I want to take a picture I would like to be able to tell what the picture is. But being able to have my contacts all up to date, now that is something useful. I'm just hoping these phones hit the market before my old phone completely dies.

Graduation

Three weeks to graduation! I have never been so conflicted about a major event like this before. Nothing like achieving a life goal and being scared to death at the same time. Oh well, I better get back to studying, otherwise all this fear will be for nothing.

Simplicity

Great article in the NY Times today about simplicity and why technology needs to be designed around it. The first thing that came to mind when I read this was the current trend to pack everything imaginable into a cell phone. Maybe I'm just crazy but if I'm going to take a picture I'm going to take it on a real digital camera that has 3 megapixels and can sync easily with my computer. I am currently in the market for a new phone but can not find any that fit the bill of simplicity while still taking advantage of useful new technology that really does make life easier (Bluetooth, predictive typing, etc..). But I suppose this whole trend won't stop until we can watch tv on our phone while taking pictures of our friends and listening to the latest pop trash on the built-in mp3 player. Because everyone knows that we don't want devices that make current life more enjoyable, we want devices that don't leave us any time for our current life.

The crisis begins

Well I thought it was going to be close there, but it looks like the oil companies are going to survive. Still, that gas boycott sure showed them!

I would have loved to hear the laughter yesterday at the big oil companies.

Gas Boycotts

The general assumption is that we Americans are pretty silly, even simple minded folk that just want to consume as fast and as much as we can. Well I hate to say that the current reaction over the gas prices, as well as the well publicized "gas boycott", has simply proven this better than anything we could have ever done on purpose. Until people realize that driving an Escalade actually does have an effect at the macro level we will not see wide spread change among american drivers.

So I guess it is ok to drive that Tahoe, just don't forget it when you go preaching to your friends about how this war is really just for oil. And by the way, if you drive a civic twice as much as your neighbor drives his big SUV......well hopefully you see the point.