A Golf Blog

Blogging Hiatus

Vacation starts tomorrow - Mandy and I are taking some time off to re-charge. I suspect that blogging will, at best, be very sproadic until after 3/10. Update - Like in March 10th, this year.

Opportunity or Nightmare

Doc Searls on corporate blogging.

New Google Operator

Just in time for the Oscars! Google debuts an operator for movies. Want to see their listing for good chick flicks? Try movie: good chick flicks

From the Google Blog

Robert Scoble - A Lightening Rod

I feel like I’m about to burst – and I’m not even the one in the line of fire.

For the past ten or eleven months, there have been several bloggers that I’ve paid close attention to – in my opinion, bloggers who are widely read and respected. I’ve learned so much in that time and it’s has been my hope to leverage what I’ve learned into a compelling case for Sabre to begin corporate blogging. As a matter of fact, I’ll be meeting with our CEO after I return from vacation to talk about just that.

So, what’s with me bursting? What started out as information overload has turned into precisely what I needed to demonstrate how compelling blogs and bloggers can be. All wrapped into a nice package of blog posts and it is mine to screw up.

Robert Scoble did a piece this past weekend about his frustration with a Microsoft marketing site that did not have an RSS feed. Seems they wanted him to link to it to drive traffic and Robert declined for all the right reasons.

Then yesterday, Eric Peterson, at Jupiter Research ripped Scoble for advocating firing people with marketing sites that don’t support RSS feeds. From the comments posted to Roberts’s original diatribe, Eric was not alone. Robert followed up with a post today; all the while he’s supposed to be on a blogging hiatus. Yeah, right.

So, hat tip to Robert – thanks for being passionate. Also, hat tip to Nancy White for her notes on the Northern Voice conference – lots of nuggets from some of the best.

Kottke Working Without a Net

Yesterday, Jason Kottke announced he’d quit his web design job so he could blog full time.

Angie McKaig see it as self-aggrandizement with little focus and no business model.

Lost Baggage Update

Recall that I had a problem with lost luggage. Also, recall that the airline found it and delivered it the same day.

Well, today the Associated Press reports that world airlines spend as much as $1.6 billion annually on lost luggage. The estimated cost per lost bag - $87.50 and there is a 0.7 percent chance that a bag will be mishandled.

That’s well over 18 million lost bags annually. No wonder people have resorted to cramming the overheads with mini steamer trunks. But, on the other hand, it is a great opportunity for cost reduction initiatives.

Springtime in Denton

Well, not exactly but this daffodil can’t tell. I captured this photo this morning because we are headed for a two week vacation starting this weekend and Mandy’s bummed about missing the spring bloom.

Lately, I seem to be crisp, clear picture challenged. I’m going to blame it on the camera.

Attitude Check

There’s a company in Purchase NY called Sirota Consulting that specializes in attitude research. A study of 800,000 employees at 61 companies worldwide debunked the myth that the most satisfied employees are the ones with least to do.

Topping the list were those that had just the right amount of work – coming in second were those that had way too much work.

I guess Meredith Wilson was right – “the idle brain is the devils playground”.

Public Service Announcement

According to the Department of Transportation, you do have some rights when you are involuntarily bumped from a flight.

If the airline can get you to your domestic destination within one hour of your originally scheduled arrival, they’re off the hook.

If they can get you there more than an hour past your original arrival time but less than two hours past it, you’re entitled to a refund equal to the price of your one way fare not to exceed $200.

If it takes them more than two hours, your refund entitlement is double the price of the fare you paid on your domestic ticket up to $400.

If it is an international flight, you get double the fare you paid only if the carrier can not get you to your destination within 4 hours of the original scheduled arrival.

If it is a charter or an airplane that seats less than 61 passengers, the rules don’t apply – consequently, no refund.

Update - Adding a Link to DOT's Consumer Guide to Air Travel

Found Bag

What was once lost is now found - delivered at 8:34pm. Cost - $32.00; with today's margins, ouch!