To Make Matters Worse.

“You should analyse which cookies are strictly necessary and might not need consent. You might also use this as an opportunity to ‘clean up’ your webpages and stop using any cookies that are unnecessary or which have been superseded as your site has evolved.” [pdf]

Upshot: Strictly necessary cookies don’t require explicit user consent.

Which means, the EU e-Privacy Directive simply reduces the overall number of cookies dropped by websites. Unless there are suddenly teams of EU Auditors inspecting the business logic at every company around the world – it’s hard to imagine less tracking, less remarketing, less of what this was directive trying to minimize, going on.

It’s easy to imagine the tracking problem increasing and the remarketing efforts increasing and code the captures the data getting further buried into the business logic. All while, a smaller number of analytics companies with their ‘strictly necessary’ cookies grow even larger and are able to better profile/target individuals.

Why I Auto-Renew Domain Names

A couple weeks back, I had this idea for a new web app. Like so many of these ideas – I wrote it down. Just to get it out of my head.

This afternoon, I get an email from my sister describing the need for a web app not unlike the one I wrote down earlier.

So, I took a few minutes after dinner and started looking for available domain/code names for the project. Nothing that I’d be proud of. Nothing that would really resonate with me as I built it. Nothing that would continually remind me of the attitude and purpose of the site.

Then, the moment I walked away from the search, I remembered…

I already have the perfect domain. And I just renewed it.

This new project is both a perfect fit for the domain name and easier to prototype.

Smiles.

Turn On, Tune In, Opt Out

For a couple years now, I’ve felt Timothy Leary’s 60’s mantra ‘Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out‘ has gained new relevance.

The first two sections of the triplet seemed quite obvious. We can even re-use Leary’s explanation of them. The third section was more elusive. While Leary preferred to describe it as a commitment on self-reliance – ‘Drop Out’ – implies a complete disengagement.

It wasn’t until clicking through Jeremy Abbett‘s Driven to Distraction deck that I got it.

In this age of ever-more-granular control of our incoming & outgoing communications – wholly and complete disengagement is too primitive a solution. It’s much more beneficial to ruthlessly opt out.

Opt out is setting your Facebook privacy to minimize Facebook’s ability to sell you.
Opt out is the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email campaigns you receive.
Opt out is your spam filter.

Pegging Us Afloat

One of the reasons I love economics is it’s complexity. Sure, in theory the principles are simple – their application across a global scale are awe-inspiring, and frame-shattering.

Take this passage from former Obama economics advisor Christina Romer on the terribly selfish reason China owns so many Treasury bonds:

“For years, China has deliberately accumulated United States Treasury bonds to keep the dollar’s value high in renminbi terms. The United States would export more and grow faster if China allowed the dollar’s price to fall. Congress routinely threatens retaliation if China doesn’t take steps that amount to weakening the dollar.” – Christina D. Romer

So…..China is artificially inflating their currency by pegging it against the USD and buying up Treasury bonds to keep it a float.

Romer argues that this is preventing the US economy from fully recovering – thereby postponing a more fundamental rise in the value of the USD. Thereby making it a less attractive currency – in the short term – to peg another currency against.

OMG$

First Crack #127. A Guitar, Bass, Electric Trumpet, and Bryan Schumann

Bryan Schumann and I talk about composing music, improvising music, and whether the classical guitar pairs better with an upright bass or an electric trumpet.

Bryan Schumann’s links:
Beznau Music Shop
http://www.beznau.com/bddschumann
http://www.myspace.com/bddschumann
DeSchuVoemann

Listen to A Guitar, Bass, Electric Trumpet, and Bryan Schumann. [27 min]

This Beer Tastes Like Corn

For the past week all the commercial beer I’ve tasted has this flat, grey, toffee-textured, corn-like taste. Doesn’t matter if I’m drinking at one of many brew pubs in Wisconsin or a sixer of something imported from the 49th state.

In all cases, this taste is so strong the beer is undrinkable.

Thankfully the first time this happened, I was catching up with a friend with a history of judging beers.

He pulls out his phone and points me to the Home Brewing Wiki’s page on DMS (Dimethyl sulfide).

Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is an organic sulfur compound present above its flavor threshold in most beers. Because of its low flavor threshold, 10 – 150 ppb, it is a primary flavor and aroma compound that makes a significant contribution to beer character, especially in lager beers. It has a characteristic taste and aroma of cooked corn or creamed corn.

Yes, I think as a general rule I’ll be skipping lagers containing 20% corn.

“Laugh at perfection. It’s boring and keeps you from being done.”

  1. There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
  2. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.
  3. There is no editing stage.
  4. Pretending you know what you’re doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you’re doing even if you don’t and do it.
  5. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
  6. The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
  7. Once you’re done you can throw it away.
  8. Laugh at perfection. It’s boring and keeps you from being done.
  9. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
  10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
  11. Destruction is a variant of done.
  12. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
  13. Done is the engine of more.

– The Cult of Done Manifesto – Bre Pettis

Towards Freetail

In the past couple weeks, I’ve been stuck in a queue at the supermarket, IKEA, or other big box with lots of self-service checkouts. Stuck.

Contemplating whether standing the queue actually took longer than finding the items I wanted.

That maybe, just maybe, this entire endeavor could be made more efficient and joyful.

Rather than the punishment for enjoying the selection.

The Pay-What-You-Want Panera feels like a step in the right direction

“The majority of patrons pay retail value or more. Statistics provided by Panera indicate that roughly 60% leave the suggested amount; 20% leave more; and 20% less. One person paid $500 for a meal, the largest single payment.” – Jim Salter, Associated Press