Silent Rant

[GEEK ALERT: I'm hijacking my old personal blog as a place to drop some info about a web coding contest I entered]

I know you hear this kind of phrase a lot, but if you haven’t checked out Rapportive yet, go do it.

The built-in Raplets are pretty impressive, but the fact that you can build your own is really cool, at least for web hackers like me. The documentation is really straightforward and it’s a pretty flexible platform.

So after a bit of tinkering, I’m ready to share my first Raplet with the world. If you collect email addresses through a Wufoo form, check it out. I’m hoping this will especially be useful to small businesses that use Wufoo as a mini-CRM or for basic sign-up forms that collect a bit of meaningful info.

Here’s a basic rundown. The example I’m showing here is from a Wufoo form we used for my 15-year high school reunion this summer.

1. The first time the Raplet loads, it’ll ask for your Wufoo login info (it only needs your sudomain if you have multiple accounts)
2. Then you choose one of your forms:

   

3. Then select the fields that you want to display and click “Save”

   

4. Rapportive makes a call when you hover over an email address. If we can find a match in your Wufoo form entries, the fields you checked will be displayed.

   

5. In addition, if there are any comments for that entry, it will display the most recent one.
6. If no entry is found for that email, you can click the “New Entry” link, which will open up your form in a new window with the Email field pre-filled:

   

The URL you’ll need to enter on the Rapportive “custom Raplet installation” screen is https://secure.limechile.com/wufoo/raplet.php

One last note about security: all calls are made over a legitimate SSL certificate, and your Wufoo login credentials are never saved on the server.

Enjoy, and please let me know if you encounter any problems. There’s only so much debugging I can do with my own forms and user accounts!

Editors Note: this post was actually written in Oct. 2009. This week my older brother started a little “political journal” and his first post reminded me a lot of this post. So I’ve added a couple new links and I’m pushing it out there just for fun.

In the last 2 years, I’ve stopped myself many times from posting political rants on this site. Consequently I haven’t posted much at all- apparently I have no other material.

Well I’m giving in just this once. Partly because these rules apply across issues and parties. And partly because I want to look back 5 or 10 years from now and see how my political ideas have changed.

First let me set the context regarding my political leanings. I’m currently non-partisan and mildly progressive.* I’m a strong advocate for Fixing Congress First. I can’t stand cable news pundits on any end of the political spectrum, and will defend NPR to the death as the least-biased source of news.**

And now, here are Jed’s rules for political debate.

1. No “Slippery Slope” Arguments

I’m really tired of this one. Okay, I’m really tired of all these, but this one is frustrating particularly to my progressive self. It’s an attack that’s too easy to make against any change. A small liberal movement swells into a “Tide of Socialism” and a nudge in the conservative direction becomes a catapult that’ll “Return Us to the Nineteenth Century.” Our government is set up such that it’s difficult to make changes quickly,*** and the current party polarization exacerbates this effect. If each side continues to view every proposed change through a telescope that shows only the bottom of the slippery slope, we’ll never make meaningful progress.

2. No Comparisons to Hitler, Nazis, or Commies

It’s been almost 20 years since Godwin’s Law was created as a response to the tendency of internet discussions to go Reductio ad Hitlerum. It’s time for a revival. The last straw on this one was when I tripped across an article a few weeks ago by an otherwise smart and thoughtful author, in which he declared anybody who eats chicken eggs to be just like the Nazis.****

3. No Justifications Based on Similar Actions by the Other Party

Avoiding this one take a lot of restraint. Just tonight I heard an example that I’ve heard several times before: “Republicans are opposed to Obama’s deficit increases, but where have they been for the last 8 years?” Or how about “All these anti-town-hall-protesting Democrats were the same hypocrites that were protesting the Iraq war in much more outspoken ways”. I get it. It’s annoying. It’s frustrating. You want to point it out because of how absurd and obvious it seems. But it’s also completely unproductive. If overspending by the government should be avoided, then let’s push to reduce it rather than justifying it by comparison. If there’s a level of civility required in public debate, let’s uphold that standard everywhere, not just when we want the other side to calm down and listen.

3.b No Justifications Based on Similar Hypothetical Actions by the Other Party

It’s a subtle difference, but one worth noting. “If President Bush would have said something like that…” It’s another easy place for your frustrated mind to wander. But again, it’s totally unproductive. The issue at hand is what it is, and we should address it appropriately, rather than guessing what the “other team” would do if the tables were turned, or projecting something back several years to what a previous President might have done.

4. Give People Room to Change

People grow. Situations change. More information is gathered, or existing information is better understood. When our elected officials seem to flip-flop, I get skeptical; it’s hard to believe somebody who is always changing their mind. A campaign promise that’s blatantly broken within months of election deserves to be called out. However, I don’t agree with reaching back across the decades, digging through obscure interviews to uncover some “gotcha.” I think Ezekial Emanual has some great ideas about healthcare reform.***** I was familiar with his proposed ideas long before Betsy McCaughey began spreading her bizarre interpretations of his previous medical journal publications. Even if they weren’t mis-interpreted or taken out of context (which they were), I care much more about his current suggestions for healthcare reform today. I mean, where were all these people 5 years ago when I pointed out that George W Bush used to be Pro-Choice?******

Footnotes:

* By progressive, I mean the generic definition: “…is a political attitude favoring or advocating changes or reform,” not whatever boogyman Glenn Beck concurs in your mind when he yells about Progressivism. (via Wikipedia, which is always right).

** Unfortunately, listening to facts and unbiased reports doesn’t change our minds.

*** Except when all the congresspeople (other than Ron Paul) panic and approve bazillions of dollars in bailouts in a matter of weeks.

**** link intentionally omitted because it’s too easy to get sucked into the meaningless forum discussion…

***** you’ll probably agree with me. Just listen to him

****** I wish I were a good enough writer, and had enough of a loyal readership, that everybody would catch my intentional irony there. But unfortunately neither is the case, so I have to ruin the effect by pointing it out.

I’m 32 today. Since turning 30 I’ve regained most of that weight, become a bit more cynical, and I’ve picked up my guitar fewer times than I’ve taken business trips. But Friday night I was part of a really special concert, and today I’m feeling less cynical. Tomorrow I’m going to play my guitar.

I’ve mentioned Billy on this site one other time. I’ve been listening to his music for about 6 years now, and revere him as one of the pioneers of the two-handed tapping style of acoustic guitar.

Before I discovered Billy, he was diagnosed with a neuromuscular disorder that made it impossible for him to play his own songs. He dropped off the scene for several years. But now he’s making an incredible comeback:

What I didn’t realize until last week is that Billy is from Minneapolis. By a stroke of Google-based luck, I happened upon a concert Billy was playing at the tiny 318 Cafe in Excelsior, MN. For some reason it wasn’t listed on his site. Chelsey and I already had a sitter lined up that night so we could go celebrate my birthday.

I had high expectations for the evening, and they were exceeded. The place was almost empty before the show, and Chelsey and I took the little table right up front. Billy was joined by mandolinist/violinist Nathan Wilson. When the show started, there were less than 20 people there. I thought Billy would be discouraged or upset, until I heard how sincerely thankful he was to be playing back in his “favorite favorite favorite place, to such a manageable crowd.” You could tell he was really enjoying it.

When they took a break, Billy pulled a chair up to our table. We chatted about music, his condition, Chicago and Utah, his kids and ours. I tried to explain to him what a somewhat-surreal privilege it was to be there. I can tell you that this guy is the real deal; he loves the music, and he loves the connection it gives him to his fans. Being right there, watching him play those songs, and getting to meet him has really sparked my desire to get back to the guitar.

You can follow the links on Billy’s site to download his music, check tour dates, and learn more about focal dystonia.

Given that we’re back in travel mode again, all posts and photos from Chelsey will be via Mexican Radio for the next month or so.

8 years ago I devoted the vast majority of my web surfing time (which was quite a bit) to educating myself on finances, particularly long-term stuff like IRAs. Many thanks to good ol’ Motley Fool.

I was a very early user of a little startup called Upromise. I got really into it for a while. Then the full force of grad school expenses hit us, and I never really got back to it. When I first signed up, I had doubts that the company would really make it.

My interest (okay, obsession) with tax-advantaged long-term investing has really heated back up as of late. Sure, some of it is due to the economy, but not as much as you might think. Rather, we’re just now getting back to a position where it’s more feasible for us to actually save some decent cash. I know I know, there’s never an excuse not to save. Cut us a little slack.

Anyway, after setting up some 529 college savings plans for the girls the other day*, I remembered Upromise. I guessed (correctly) at my old username and password. You can imagine my pleasant surprise when my account popped up as if I logged in yesterday, when in fact it’s been 6 years! And my $13 is still sitting there.

It’s at this point that the reality of drops in a bucket starts to hit me. 1-3% bonus on a few select items and stores here and there just hardly seems worth the trouble. But as I scanned the list of eligible stores, I thought of the hundreds (okay thousands) of dollars we’ve given those retailers over the past 6 years. eBay. Best Buy. Target.com. JC Penny. Bed Bath & Beyond. Travelocity. Hotwire. Expedia. Apple (okay fine, it’s more like tens of thousands).

And then my subconscious reminded me of all those blue U stickers I see at the grocery store that I’ve been visually tuning out.

Well, no sense in lamenting the missed opportunity. With a good 16 years before our oldest heads out for higher education, there’s still plenty of time to let those drops accumulate!

*p.s. if you’re interested in busting open a 529 for your kids or anybody in your extended family, drop me a line and I’ll send you a referral code that gives you a $25 bonus for opening the account. Unlike many investing accounts, most 529s have no setup fees, very low minimums (like $25) and very low investment costs. Best of all, you can set one up online with no paperwork. Woohoo!

Now that you’ve decided which presidential candidate to vote for, give yourself a 2-minute break from watching/listening to the pundits and make your voice heard to the FCC about another important Nov. 4 vote. The same folks that tried to stop everything from cable TV to TiVO are attempting to block the use of “white space” slots which open up all kinds of possibilities for advancing broadband in this country. More via Google’s Blog.

Recently I’ve been thinking a lot about my late (paternal) grandpa Earl. Maybe it was my sister-in-law’s recent post about her grandpas.

Like most people that live long full lives, Earl had plenty of wisdom and experience. Here are 3 gems that come to mind:

On Business:

When two people are business partners or own something together (i.e. farm equipment), and one person wants out, here’s what you do: The person that wants out proposes a price. The other person decides whether they want to buy or sell. This pretty much ensures that the proposed price will be fair.

On Life:

Experience is the best teacher, but it’s also the hardest; it gives the test first, and the lesson after.

On Politics:

When election season came around, Earl’s voting strategy was simple: go in and vote against every one of those damned incumbents.

Needless to say this went much better than the first attempt. Note the advice that Zoe offers regarding having more babies.

Just over a year ago I wrote the following:

I don’t know where we’ll be living a year from now. I’m not exactly sure what I’ll be doing for work. I dont know if my grandma will still be with us. I don’t know if my parents will be somewhere in Mongolia or Venezuela or North Dakota serving a mission. I don’t know if we’ll be expecting another child.

Grandma passed away, and I think I’ve covered the rest!

I know I know- everybody had a crazy busy summer. But go with me here for a minute.

This past spring we moved out of state (again). The burbs continue to treat us well. But moving is still moving, and it’s a huge time suck no matter how or when you do it.

Then we spent a month in Utah- a trip that was extended a bit my fathers serious motorcycle accident. And I decided to have a hernia repair surgery while we were out there. That was fun.

Oh, and did I mention my wife had another debilitating pregnancy? Thank goodness that’s finally over. A friend asked me today if having the 2nd kid was easier than the first. I told him that for now it feels like it, because now there are 2 people to take care of 4, instead of 1 of us taking care of 3

In case you didn’t get included in my mass email, here is the first round of photos, and a funny little video of Zoe’s first crack at being a big sister.

(Zoe says “It’s a baby. Please take her. TAKE HER! TAKE HER!)

Oh, and for all the ladies out there that care about this kind of thing:

Lucy Rose Wood
Sept. 16, 7:54 pm
5 lbs 13 oz
19 inches

Dear person that broke into my apartment-

I won’t miss the TV much, but I don’t think you understand the demons you have unleashed by hauling off my 24-inch iMac (that thing you probably thought was a huge iPod) and the external hard drive (to which you forgot the power cord).

I’ll make you a deal: bring me back that hard drive and we’ll call it even, okay? There are thousands of photos and hours of video footage from the first two years of my daughter’s life on there. They won’t mean anything to you, but they mean everything to my wife.

Regards,
-Jed
p.s. thanks for at least leaving my guitar.

Thank you Bandwagon. Thank you Flickr (I wish we used you more). And a future thank you to Undercover.

If you love music (especially this kind), and are looking for a good “I’m not in the mood for anything too deep or original but don’t feel like a silly comedy,” rent this movie. I put the harsh movie critique away for the evening. Instead I let my loneliness for my wife and daughter join forces with my dreams of someday devoting my life to music, and really enjoyed the show.

If you’re a real techy hipster you can rent the HD version via iTunes without leaving your couch. But for the rest of us (yes, that includes me!) it can currently be had at your local RedBox for a buck.

The trailer below probably shows too much of the movie, so you might just want to skip it, trust me, and go rent it.

This morning my canine teeth thought it’d be funny if they sunk themselves into the inside of my lip really hard while I was enjoying a piece of string cheese. It’s been over 4 years since Josh declared himself an evolutionary failure under similar circumstances. I commented on his site at the time in commiseration. But since then I’ve successfully reproduced, and this terrible trait has potentially been passed on…

I love going to lunch. It’s a less expensive, less crowded, and less formal way to catch up with friends and business colleagues. Not to mention I just love good food, and let’s not forget that I live in Chicago.

But this week I’ve looked forward to it even more. My wife and daughter are out of town, and my business partner has been out sick. As luck would have it, I’ve been lunched* four times in one week. In every case, The Man was to blame: he somehow always has a way of throwing last-minute crap onto peoples’ schedule.

The result has been even less crowded, less expensive, and less formal meals, consisting of leftovers or my usual Tasty Bites and me sitting at an empty table for a 7-minute break.

I know, sad isn’t it?

But don’t feel too bad for me; tomorrow is cheat day, my friends. Last cheat day I think I set a personal record for amount of terrible sugary fatty foods consumed in one day. I might just try to beat it. And I don’t need anybody keeping me company to enjoy that.

*lunched is a term we used on my mission to refer to a canceled appointment. In my brother’s mission it was “bonked.” Every mission has its own term. If you’re looking for a great way to waste The Man’s time and you served a mission, drop a note in the comments and share your lingo.

I read a blurb somewhere about how the current generation of young adults often don’t know what common acronyms stand for– entities like the FBI are referred to almost exclusively by their abbreviated form.

The other day I received a request via email that seemed fairly urgent. I asked if it needed to be handled ASAP. The response:

It won’t be an issue to get it ASAP, but as soon as possible would be ideal.

To all my friends, and even to you anonymous strangers who end up on this site by pure accident (or because you’re searching for a cure to your Merpes)– I say this only because I love you:

Please don’t apologize for your lack of recent blog entries.

I’ve held this opinion for a some time now, but as more of my friends and acquaintances join the blogosphere, I see it more and more. Just tonight I read it twice in a row from two friends that don’t know each other at all.

Sheesh…I’m a bad blogger. Bad, bad, bad blogger. We’ve been busy around here…

Yes I have been a bad blogger this week! It seems like we have been really busy lately…

For those that need some convincing, I offer the following thoughts:

Generally, apologies are expected when you have done something hurtful, disappointing, or have broken a prior commitment. Unless you made some deal with the devil about blogging in ’08, you don’t owe anybody anything.

You don’t need one more thing to make you feel unnecessarily guilty. The two above quotes both come from new first-time moms. During our first year with Zoe, I was just happy that we all managed to stay alive and free from bodily harm.

So next time you feel obligated to “get back to blogging,” think twice about why you feel that way and if you really want to. And then when you do sit down to cast your life out into the vast interweb, just do it without regrets.

Please?

I returned the voice message again this morning, just because I like to get the day off to a frustrating start.

This time I was told that if I have new service already connected (the DSL line I just activated) then I can disregard the calls and messages.

But I get them every day- they don’t stop. And the number is private, so I can’t tell that it’s your automated message or something more important.

Well there’s nothing I can do to stop the calls- it’s automatic

(the classic Matrix excuse; the machines control us all)

Can I please speak to your manager?

They won’t be able to help you- the calls are automatic

Please just transfer me to your manager

After a few moments of hold music, I was disconnected.

I’m giving them until the end of the week to stop with the messages. If they don’t stop, I’ll call one more time. If that doesn’t stop it I’ll cancel my service.

I really miss Speakeasy.

I’ve received a few more voicemails asking me to call re: my ATT account. This morning I followed-up on one and was surprised to hear “Thank you for calling ATT.”

But by now I’m too skeptical. After dialing through the usual menu options and waiting a few minutes on hold, the person on the other end asks how she can help. I explain the mysterious voice message.

Her response:

What is your social security number?

She had not yet asked for my name, my phone number, my account number– nothing.

Ummm, why do you need that?

Because that’s how we look up your account

Can you at least tell me what this might be regarding?

Could be a bunch of different things, but I need your social security number to find out.

Yeah, I think about that and get back to you

click.

Now in reality that probably was ATT, and I’m not usually one to guard my personal data so fiercely; the truth is that all of us have our social security numbers sitting out there on a slew of servers, and no doubt scribbled here and there by various phone receptionists. But I at least like to know the purpose before I surrender it to a stranger on the phone.

Oh, and on another ATT note. This is what their support website is giving me this morning. And by this morning, I mean a Monday at 10:30 Eastern time. Not usually the prime time for doing site maintenance.

I miss Cingular.

I just received a voicemail on my cell phone. It said:

This is an important message regarding your recent service request with AT&T. This is not a sales call. Please call 1-800-xxx-xxxx at your earliest convenience.

So I called. All I got was a recorded messaged encouraging me to call yet a different 800 number and “indulge myself in the hottest conversations.” Hmmm, thanks but I’ll pass.

What I can’t figure out is whether it was complete coincidence that I did in fact call just yesterday and request new AT&T DSL service. I think not, but I guess it’s possible. What seems more likely (at least to the conspiracy theorist in me) is that the phone rep- or somebody along the chain from him down to the guy that actually installs my service- sold me out somehow.

Weird.

My only consolation is knowing that there’s a very special place in hell for spammers.

sponsored link:
Get your own toll free 800 number and forward calls to your existing phone.

I really get annoyed with the whole concept of celebrity. It just bothers me that people want to see and be seen with somebody simply because other people know them. Wanting to meet an accomplished musician is one thing, but following the daily happenings of somebody like Paris Hilton? I just don’t get it.

That’s why I have a firm policy of proper interaction when I encounter somebody famous. Unless I actually am familiar with and admire the work that’s made them a star, I refuse to pretend they’re any more special than me. No photo taking, no “can I shake your hand?” garbage.

But in the Puerto Vallarta airport I threw all that out the window, without knowing it.

This guy just looked so familiar. Had he been staying in the same town as us? Did I meet him in one of the church congregations? Or maybe it was more than that- maybe he was in a college class with me? So I finally asked. I knew by the look on his face, when I told him that he looked familiar, that this was a common interaction for him.

His reply was quiet and unassuming:

I play a small role in a TV show called The Office…

I apologized for interrupting his lunch (citing our lack of television for the past 2 months as an excuse), told him it was nice to meet him, and walked away shaking my head and laughing. Paul Lieberstein doesn’t just play Toby Flenderson; he’s also the show’s co-executive producer.