Such calls are hardly news (or blog) worthy. What is worth a comment was the caller ID description.

Usually such calls display as “Out of Area,” “Unknown,” or something equally undescriptive. The caller ID was more pointed in its description for this call. It announced the call as “Phone Scam.” Perhaps the callers were hoping to disarm natural cynicism regarding unsolicited calls with such brazen honesty.

Notes:

For those interested the alleged source number was 567 248 4400.

I am on (and confirmed my listing) the Do Not Call list.

Perhaps the phone company added the description in the same manner that web browsers and e-mail clients alert you to possible scam/phising attempts.

The Anti-PowerPoint Party (APPP) seeks a national referendum on banning the use of presentation software within Switzerland.

While it looks like a self-promoting gimmick (the party founder has a book to sell), it is likely to raise a smile in many corporate environments.

I was in a supermarket and realized that not only did I recognize the music playing, I liked it. Lest you think this was some hip place that lays food items out in straw and uses artistically hand-drawn signage, I can assure you it was not.
[Indeed such a place would be playing classical music not the classic rock that I recognized.]

This makes me feel almost as old as learning those new CD thingies are thirty years old.

Notes:

Food items in straw, muzak turned to the classical channel, and those artsy signs are probably a good marker that you are overpaying for your groceries. You would not catch Sam Walton merchandising with such foo-foo nonsense.

I can (try to) claim that gray hairs make me look more distinguished, wise, and mature, I can see no such benefit in appreciating supermarket music.

A group of scientists at NASA have come up with a plan to approach that cute girl.
Not entirely work safe satire from The Onion

Who said philosopher geeks are not romantic. Have a happy St Valentines Day.

<3 <3 <3

See it on the YouTube Video (probably work safe – roughly PG rating).

Clippy as hero, almost as unlikely as a heroic nerd.

You are back. OK. Did you watch it all?

So it seems romantic, if a bit cheesy. At least it would be if this were a declaration of love to his current girl. As part of a wedding proposal it would be sort of cool in a dorky kind of way. But this was a “love letter” to a woman that left, without looking back, two (count ‘em) years ago. And she did not leave contact details. She just “disappeared.” Now I am not the coolest guy on the block, but even I can figure this stuff out. If she has gone 404, if she is MLNA (for you snail mail types), it is over. It is dead. The horse ain’t getting up, so stop flogging it.

Can you see John Wayne, Humphrey Bogart, or Sean Connery doing this pansy ass crap? For them it would be:
Q: “Where is Loren?”
A: “Don’t know, the dumb broad walked out on me. Meet Susan my new girlfriend.”

So let’s go over this:
Over eager declaration of love = cheesy
Action filled marriage proposal = cute
Overwrought, whimpering to some chick that walked (maybe ran) out two years ago = creepy.

The first gets you a contented sigh, the second a big expensive day, the last a restraining order.

This seven minutes of hell took nine months to create. It took energy and skill. All that effort could have been spent to do something useful like… um… get a new girlfriend. Hey, it’s just a suggestion.

At least the Numa Numa kid had the grace to be embarrassed.

Notes:

The video itself is well made. Apparently Captain America (see note below) made it single handedly (the zooms, tilts, and pans were created with editing software). He managed to create some good action shots and a fairly professional feel to it. The script is not too bad with the mystery of what is all about building to the reveal at the five-minute mark. A bit long, perhaps, but still better than I (or many others) could create.

Some cynical types believed that this was made to promote the person in it (Ben Ryan Metzger) for the role of Captain America. Someone certainly posted it to many chatrooms. Given that the camera spends seven minutes on Metzger’s muscles and 20 seconds on Loren, I would not rule that out.

Some even more cynical types suggest that Metzger might not be gay.

One of the archetypes mentioned in my article on chick taxonomy was the Femme Fatale. Well it turns out there is a real life version posting on the Internet. Naturally, Typealyzer considers her a party girl.

Have fun nerdy reader, but beware the warnings in my taxonomy article.
The linked blog is probably not work or family safe.

Far worse, from a nerd hero perspective, you would imagine are romance novels. You know those books whose cover features longhaired beauties falling into the arms of buff heroes. If cinema will not feature geeky heroes what hope is there for romance novels?

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that not only is there a romance novel with a nerd hero but an entire series. Yes, an entire series. It is called, surprisingly enough, “The Nerd Series” by Vicki Lewis Thompson. Obviously you would not believe me unless I provided a link.

Of course, reading the small print (if not the novels themselves) reveals that the heroes are not particularly nerdy. In one novel the computer programmer is able to land a pilotless plane because of his flight simulator and gaming experience. As far as representing nerdish/geeky types as heroes, it is start.

But nerdy reader, do not get carried away with fantasies of falling into favor with the babes. One Amazon reviewer had this to say:

…And MAYBE that all might have been acceptable if Charlie had been a much more interesting hero. But it seems like VLT set out to make Charlie as normal and as nerdy as could be. He’s reserved, repressed, only slightly funny, and an overall nice, fairly handsome guy.
link

In other words, he would be a great nerd hero if only he was not such a nerd. I mean he is only slightly funny.

Nerd heroes? As the say, truth is stranger than fiction even heroic nerd fiction.

Auto smilies are one of those biting dogs. Auto smilies appear in e-mail, instant messenger, and web posting software (blogs or bulletin boards). They convert things like :) to .

This is great except that sometimes it happens when you least expect it. It can change

…
6) Sixth point
7) Seventh point
8) Eight point

Into

…
6) Sixth point
7) Seventh point
Eight point

So your neat list of bullet points now has a dorky graphic in it. Your informative list of points now looks like a teenager’s Facebook entry. The entire matter is :redface:. It is enough to make you , , or at least .

Like I said auto smilies are .

The idea of a management dashboard is a useful metaphor.  A dashboard gives you a quick overview of your car’s systems. It alerts you to areas that might need your attention. A management “dashboard” should also give you a quick overview of the enterprise and alert you to areas that might need attention.

This entry from The Dashboard Spy shows that at least one person did not get the memo.

It was the steering wheel that did it for me. I have visions of the CEO making car noises (like a five year-old) as he looks at the screen, begging the senior accountant for “just five more minutes.”  I wonder if they used something like this to monitor all those CDO, CDS, and MBS instruments. It would explain a lot.
[On a previous assignment we called our "dashboard" a "cockpit." Partly because it contained some aircraft style dials, but mostly because it sounded cooler.  We did not include pictures of a joystick or ejector seat.]

In case the linked site is not available, here is a copy of the dashboard image.