When I was in high school, I came to the depressing realization that my body was immune to deodorant.  I would put it on in the morning after I took a shower, but by the middle of the day, I stunk like dog.  I figured it was my lot in life, so I'd better just accept it and walk around with my arms pressed tightly to my sides. 

But then in college, I received one of those Freshman Survival Kits which had deodorant among other stupidly nonessential essentials.  I quickly noticed that this deodorant actually worked, so it became part of my daily routine.  Oddly enough, this is around the time people started talking to me and becoming my friends.  I'm not sure if there's any correlation between armpit stink and friends. 

After a few months, the effect of the new deodorant wore off.  To test a theory, I went to the store and bought a completely new kind that I had never tried before.  And it worked great.  That's how I reached my conclusion:  The human body (or at least my human body) develops an immunity to a specific deodorant after a certain period of regular use.  And once this immunity is developed, it can't be overcome.  In high school, I used regular old Speed Stick (the green kind).  It smelled good before it touched my skin, but as soon as it was on me, it smelled weird.  And then after about 3 or 4 hours, it went from weird to bad.  And this is still true.  I've tried this "flavor" again recently and had the same results.  I also tried the kind from the Freshman Survival Kit again, and it had the same non-effect. 

However, there's a way around this:  Always rotate between 2 or 3 different kinds of deodorant.  For whatever reason, this seems to trick the body into not developing an immunity. #health

When I enter a store, I have a tendency to go straight to the clearance rack.  I know I'm not alone in this.  I don't put much effort or resources into buying nice clothes or taking showers (kidding), so I try my best to buy inexpensive clothes.  Oh yeah, and I'm incredibly cheap. 

But there's another reason I like clearance racks:  It brings a sort of gratification to know I paid less than other people.  If I buy something for $50 and find out somebody got it for $40, I'm mortified.  I consider taking it back to the store just so I can save that extra $10.  But if I'm the one that got it for less, I feel like I'm successfully exploiting capitalism to meet my needs.  It's like I'm taking advantage of someone while at the same time celebrating America's financial system. 

However, there are some things on the clearance rack I won't even look at.  The most prevalent example is North Face.  Their clothes are painfully expensive to begin with.  But when they wind up on the clearance rack, they're still not within my price range.  Pay $250 for a jacket on clearance?  Unless it's equipped with a jet pack, count me out. #business

As the husband of a very social person, I'm often given the task of transferring greetings secondhand.  For example, if Wendy's out of town and I go to a Bible study, she'll often say, "Tell everyone I said hi."  More often than not, certain people at the Bible study will ask about her and say, "Tell her I said hi." 

The thing that most people don't realize is that I have the memory of a goldfish (no offense to goldfish).  I'm quite good at forgetting important things.  That's why I write them down.  If you tell me something and I don't write it down, there's a 95-99% chance I'll forget it even if my life depends on it, and even if the salvation of all mankind depends on it.  It's not that I don't care, it's just that my brain has a tricky filter:  "Does this fact get me closer to taking over the world?  If yes, write down.  If no, discard." 

But at the same time, I always question the purpose of a secondhand greeting.  By telling everyone Wendy said hi, am I really serving a worthwhile purpose?  Do certain people's days get ruined by the failure to receive a secondhand greeting?  Does anybody really get satisfaction from knowing that a person who couldn't be around went to the trouble of sending along a greeting through a third-party bi-ped?  I guess I'm just always under the impression that whether the absent person sends along their greetings or not, life will go on as normal.  And for the people who send their greetings back to Wendy through me, will they be offended if I forget?  I usually try to make it a point to remember this part of my function, because it sounds mean (and therefore funny) when I say, "Welcome home Wendy.  Donna said hi.  Steve didn't." #psychology

If you share a computer with someone else, it can get a little annoying sometimes to coexist peacefully.  I've been sharing a computer for a while now with Wendy, and it wasn't a big deal until about two weeks ago.  I'm a Google nerd, so I'm always logged into their websites for mail and search.  Wendy was always a Yahoo person, so we never really crossed paths.  Worlds collided though when I started up Firefox one day to find that Wendy was logged into Google.  This meant I had to log her out and log myself in so that I could check my Gmail.  This was a major turning point in my life, so I had to do something about it. 

Windows has the option of setting up different profiles, and that seemed to be the solution.  I set up a separate profile for Wendy, but she quickly objected when all the settings and desktop contents were different.  I agree that it was actually more annoying to have to choose a profile to log into when the computer started up.  I previously had it set up to just log into the default profile when it started up.  This added step wasn't too cool. 

The real solution is to set up two different Firefox profiles.  Lifehacker has a guide on how to do this, and it really covers all the bases.  In a nutshell, you have to start Firefox's profile manager, which you can do by going to Start -> Run and typing "firefox -profilemanager".  You have to shut down the current instance of Firefox in order to do this.  From there, you can set up a new profile (I called the new one "Wendy").  Check the box that says "Don't ask at startup".  The key is to make these two profiles easily accessible, so you just need to create a link to each profile.  On the desktop, I made a new link called "Wendy's Firefox" whose target is ["C:Program FilesMozilla Firefoxfirefox.exe" -p Wendy] (without brackets).  The target is case sensitive, so adding a "-p wendy" won't work.  I'm not sure if this is necessary, but to make sure the previously existing Firefox link opens with the default profile, I added "-p default" to the target. 

And voila, Wendy's stuff stays separate from my stuff.  Separate but equal. #technology

Google Maps came out with a new feature last week called My Maps.  It essentially lets you add placemarks and draw lines and shapes on maps, and it's useful for things like keeping track of vacations and travel and things like that.  It's actually a feature I had been in search of for a little while now.  Google Earth, the downloadable version of Google Maps, does this and has a bunch of other features, so I used that for a while.  But incorporating this into the online version of Google Maps was a great idea.  Plus, there's an option to export a map as a KML file, which is a portable plain text version of your map markers.  Another awesome feature that has basically nothing to do with My Maps is the little blue arrow on the lefthand sidebar, which allows you to show or hide the sidebar.  I always wondered why Maps didn't come with this feature to begin with.  Sometimes you want to hide all the dumb search results and just look at the map.  Now you can.  The final feature I noticed was a right-click menu when your mouse is over a map.  It just has a few functions for marking and manipulating the map. #technology

AutoHotkey is a program all the cool kids have been using for a while, but I just got into it today.  After 5 minutes of using it, I can already draw the conclusion that it's awesome.  It's essentially a program launcher based on hotkeys; you assign a certain keyboard combination to a certain program and that program is launched when you press that combination of keyboard keys.  I used to use an old Windows 98 program called WinKey to do this for me.  The problem with this program was that the settings weren't easily transferrable from one machine to another, so I had to manually set it up every time I started using a different computer.  HoeKey solved this problem by using simple syntax in plain text files, but it's a little buggy when you try to edit the configuration file while you're using the program.  AutoHotkey is similar to HoeKey except that it's easy to edit while in use, and it's talked about on more websites.  The folks at Lifehacker, for example, talk about the program regularly, and I've been meaning to try it out for a while now.  One of the coolest things I noticed in the first 5 minutes of use is that each configuration file (.ahk) can be compiled into an executable (.exe), which means it's incredibly easy to port settings from one computer to another.  And if you don't feel like installing AutoHotkey on that other computer (if you were just using it for a limited time, like at an internet cafe), the compiled executable solves that exact problem.  All in all, this is a really cool program, and there's tons of information about it on the internet, so it's infinitely extensible. #technology

I think I've decided that I'm officially done with PayPerPost.  I started using their service last October to make a few extra bucks here and there.  In that respect, it's an excellent website, and it's the only money-making scheme that's actually worked for me.  And from what I've heard, it's really the only way for small-time bloggers to make money on the internet, seeing that contextual ads and affiliate marketing generate little to no revenue for websites that get little to no traffic.  Though the paid blogging system as a whole generates tons of criticism, it's actually a fairly harmless system, making money for a small-time blogger while increasing Page Rank for a certain website. 

There are two reasons why I'm done with PayPerPost.  First, their system is clogged with freaks.  I was one of those freaks.  By freaks, I mean people who have an abundance of time to sit around and wait for posting opportunities to show up, then take those opportunities as quickly as possible, thereby blocking other people from taking them.  It's like throwing raw meat to a pack of hungry wolves.  The PayPerPost owners love this, and for good reason.  The more people that sign up to use their service, the more money they make.  And the more people that take opportunities, the more money they make.  They don't have to agree with the legitimacy of the whole idea or the negative effect is has on the blogosphere.  They're just the go-between for advertisers and publishers.  And for that, I have to give them credit.  They're running a business, and they're doing well.  How can I criticize that?  It's just that the whole system is a little annoying, writing about things I'm not really interested in just to make a few bucks.  Granted, these "few bucks" added up to quite a bit over a few months.  Not quite a bit like quit-my-job quite a bit, but quite a bit like partially-fund-vacation quite a bit.  And that's cool by me.  But the amount of time and energy I was spending trying to make a few bucks just really wasn't worth it.  (And by the way, the reason I haven't written about PayPerPost recently on this site is because I actually went out and developed a whole new website just for PayPerPost stuff.  Yes this is within the rules, and yes this worked.) 

The other reason is that I can finally see it from the detractors' point of view.  Everyone keeps talking about disclosure and how it's kind of devious for people to get paid to write about things without saying they're being paid.  PayPerPost's mandatory disclosure policy basically fixed this situation, but the detractors weren't happy.  And here's why:  Even if I say I'm being paid to write something, it overlooks the fact that I wouldn't be writing about it in the first place if I wasn't getting paid.  Sure, there were a few posting opportunities that provided a means to write about something I would've written about anyway.  But the overwhelming vast majority of opportunities are for things I have no interest in:  Things like coupon codes, real estate, lawyers, loans, and online games.  I wouldn't normally write about these things, so by accepting money to write about them, I'm essentially transforming myself and my website into a commercial.  And to be honest, I find that a little off-putting.  When I read a person's website, I don't want to have to be interrupted by commercials for things they wouldn't personally recommend.  This isn't TV.  This is the internet, where personal publishing is king.  Unless a person can personally recommend something, I'm not interested. 

Maybe I'm only taking this position because I made some money and can verify the system's worth.  But there's nothing stopping me from starting it back up again.  The system works, and it's not all that difficult.  For that reason, I feel like my opinion on it is slightly less biased.  If I was kicked out, that would be another story.  But I reached a point where I just got sick of it, so I'm stopping (actually I stopped over a month ago).  Thanks for all your cold hard cash, PayPerPost.  Buh-bye. #technology

Picasa is Google-owned photo-editing software.  It was actually created by someone else and bought by Google, but that's a different story.  I've known about it for a while now, but I always sort of dismissed it as "grandma software", i.e. software that's created for computer illiterate people like grandmas (no offense).  But a few months ago, Wendy was looking for some simple yet powerful photo editing software, so I recommended it (no offense to Wendy).  It turns out it's pretty powerful, and it has some awesome features that are easy to learn and use.  Wendy used it to do a sort of color focus effect on a few pictures I had taken.  Basically, it makes the whole picture black and white except for a select object or area.  It's a cool effect that makes the one colored object in the picture really stand out. 

And then just last week, I decided to get sick of my method of organizing pictures.  Ever since I got a digital camera in 2002, I've had a system of renaming pictures based on their date and event (e.g. "04-11 - Event.jpg").  The renaming process wasn't that big of a deal, especially after my discovery of Windows' built-in renaming capabilities.  The problem was that I would let several months worth of pictures accumulate on my camera before I transferred them to the computer, which meant I had to spend time renaming lots and lots of files.  Plus, the renaming system seemed a bit futile because the names didn't add much to the actual picture.  I know what a cat looks like.  I don't need to name my picture "04-11 - Cat.jpg". 

That's when I remembered Picasa has some good organizing capabilities.  It has the ability to add tags and descriptions that don't affect the filename.  In fact, it doesn't even display the filename; it displays the pictures in date order, which is exactly what my renaming system was doing anyway.  It seems to make picture organizing at least a little faster.  Plus, it displays and plays videos right along with pictures, which matches up quite nicely with my newfound love of videography. #entertainment

Yesterday, I decided it would be a good day to move away from Bloglines and start using Google Reader.  This move was entirely superficial, and wasn't prompted by any sort of problem I was having with Bloglines.  I'm just a big Google nerd, and I wanted to start using their feed reader instead of somebody else's.  Google Reader didn't score too well in my ratings from long ago, but the Google people have been improving their product steadily over time, and none of the initial problems I had with it are still evident.  It's slightly different from Bloglines, so it takes a little getting used to, but I think I'm making the move permanent.  One added benefit is that Google Reader mobile is infinitely better than Bloglines mobile.  It uses keyboard shortcuts and just seems to be a simpler product.  Bloglines mobile tries to fit all the features of regular Bloglines into a mobile product, and it just makes things bulky and slow.  That's hardly a reason to switch, but it's worth mentioning. #technology

Mailing list abuse is rampant at work.  Around 90% of the emails I get aren't actually sent to me, they're sent to a list I'm involuntarily forced to be on.  But a recent development has caught my attention, not because it's an improvement over the current system, but because it seems to be an extremely poorly implemented version of an otherwise excellent idea. 

One of the mailing lists contains literally every person at work.  There's no opt-in or opt-out.  You work here, you're on the list.  What used to happen is that anybody could send messages to this list, so there were all kinds of daily emails about retirement parties and lights on in the parking lot.  Somebody important must have complained about it, because there was a sudden change in the process.  People could no longer use the address to send things out to everyone; they had to send things to a certain person to get approval first, and this person would send out a single consolidated email that had each day's "important" news.  But then a few weeks ago, there was another change.  Instead of getting a daily email full of important news, I started getting a daily email with a link to a website that stored all the important news.  Nothing really changed.  I still get the daily email.  But instead of having any useful information, I'm told to click on a link to view said important information.  The reason this is funny is because I can imagine how the meeting went where this was determined: 

Important guy:  I'm sick of getting all these stupid emails everyday.  Do something about it!
Less important guy:  You heard the boss, no more stupid emails. 
Mid-level manager:  According to my Six Sigma training, that would mean a lower percentage of important content in current email communication, thereby producing a higher confidence level in the current dataset. 
Low-level manager:  He said he wants less stupidity in his emails. 
IT peon:  Yes, sir.  Do your work, Bob. 
Bob from India:  Thank you for calling customer support, my name is Bob.  I'd be happy to take care of your problem today.  So you want the same amount of emails, but without all the content?  Done. 

And today, we all received the best email to date.  Somebody probably realized how stupid this system is, so they decided to include the following correspondence to encourage everyone to click the link: 

If you are not reading the bulletin, you are missing information about events and other information regarding retirements, deaths of current and former community and family members. 

Ah, the stripped down honest truth.  I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. #technology