The CaffiNation Podcast

Deadlines Suck!

Sometimes you just don’t have enough time to get your work done. And lets be honest you’re probably more than a little behind due to some time management issues as well. But going over that tired ground won’t help you stay up any later, any safer. Ands frankly you don’t have time to read a long drawn out article to get your jitter and shake free caffeine fix. Productive hours is what your looking for, not strung out on some energy drink crash at 2am a mere two coherent paragraphs away from a brilliant paper.

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Start Mooing!

The world of micro transactions steps a little further into view today. The video game industry has decided that this is not only a lucrative way to take more money away from people, but they can sell it as a value added feature as well. I can’t stand the idea that after I pay hard earned coin for a game that I need to fork over more money for content that is either already on the disk or should have been. Here is what we have.

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Another Earth Day rolls around on the calendar to find that being green is getting easier. Adoption of CFL’s as alternatives to Edisonian Incandescents are taking off. Al Gore has throw down with a new presentation that is getting some notice. And very worth your time to watch. I’ve talked about it before but sometimes things are more than buzzwords. Green carries so much more weight than just its pigment nowadays, and its making it easier and cheaper to do things the right way. Recycling is just the start we need to move beyond blue buckets at the curb and into the houses themselves.

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One of the biggest problems I see people grapple with when trying to print photographs and graphics out on their color inkjet printers is that the finished product doesn’t always come out the way you expect it to. I spend a good deal of my time in my day job helping people fix their wonky documents and get the best possible result when trying to showcase their work in printed form. So Why not spread the love even more and distill the information into a small article for you. I have a couple of short tips and some terminology to help you out. However with a topic as huge and as technical as this its better broken up into usable chunks. (more…)

Thats it Folks, Today is the Adopt a Newb Celebration 2008.

Here is a short primer for what today is supposed to be. Each one of us no matter the level of your technological skill has someone to thank for help along the way. Today is the day I have been pushing and celebrating for the past 3 years as the day to pay it forward. Tax day is traditionally the day were you are called upon to pay your dues to the government. But I wanted to flip this idea upside down, and have everyone concentrate on paying their debt to the tech community at large. Take an extra minute today to explain a concept further or help one less knowledgeable than you take that next step.

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I had a teacher in Middle school Mrs Harper, who tasked me with finding a quiet way to work out my nervous energy when working on a project. “Find or make a ‘fidget‘ ” she said. It has to be small, light, and silent. Now I just use whatever debris is handy. I have her to thank for the best productivity tip I ever received. Do you have a fidget?

I need to have busy hands. When I’m working on a problem or waiting to get something done I make things, i doodle, i draw constantly, not well mind you. The larger the product the more raw materials from the office landscape i seem to use. If I ever work on a huge project i might disassemble something important. For especially big projects keeping my hands busy is just enough of a distraction to clear my head and allow my mind to move forward. Think Lucky Bat from a Few Good Men.

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Most of you might not know this but the anniversary of my birth happens next week, after tax day, so even entering tis world I was just a bit too late to the party to get in on the good stuff. One of the major problems, or conundrums i have is that people in my family ask me what exactly i would like for my birthday.  I frankly and honestly don’t know most of the time. Basically i go through life wanting almost every shiny gadget i see, the problem being most of the are not just prohibitively  expensive for me, but I would feel like a complete heel even asking for any of them.So instead I share the stories with others So I’m not alone in my plight.

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Money is green, and frankly so is everything else lately. But money is also king, if it costs too much then green is bad, and just won’t work. If it being green causes people with lots of money to loose some of it or make less of it then green is still bad and will get crushed. However green, lately, is saving consumers lots of Money. And the court of public opinion has decreed that green is good. So like a casino giving out a gambling hotline number, Big business wants you to be green, through clenched teeth.

In case you hadn’t guessed Green is the new buzzword for everything from clothing to furniture of late. Green living, green cars, green tech. But what does it mean? Does it mean on one hand reducing conspicuous consumption of goods and tech leaving behind a wakes of debris in your path? Does it mean reducing the oft mentioned footprint that each one of us has? Or is it something about recycle buckets, carbon, and hippies? Quite frankly it could be all of them but don’t let buzzwords and stereotypes lead you to believe that this will all wash over, and that none of it really means anything.

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I have a very well documented history of critique for Starbucks. From their predatory expansion to their burnt swill and snarky service people. But this won’t be one of those pieces, instead we aim for constructive criticism. Today 12 EDT, and 9PDT Starbucks will be holding a Taste in of their new flavor Pike Place Roast. Meh long lines, half hour of free taste of a new blend. This blend is supposed to be a response to people who say that Starbucks coffee is burnt. It is a lighter roast supposed to be easier on our delicate untrained coffee drinking pallets.

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In the spirit of the Adopt a Newb Day 2008 celebration which is fast approaching I wanted to answer a frequent question I get asked . And I might ask the same of you. What do you get out of Social Media, and Social Networking sites, and how can they help my (insert podcast, blog, dairy farm)? It is a very valid question for the amount of time I spend on twitter, checking myspace, facebook and anything else where you can friend someone? It is a very valid question, and surprisingly it doesn’t have a simple answer. This article also sprung from a recent article by Chris Penn concerning the value of social networks when compared to choosing a school based on its name.

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