April 30th, 2008
And that’s another reason why I love the Kids in the Hall…
Here’s a great online video story: a couple of months ago, I created my own YouTube channel to host the video clips I occasionally post here. Within 24 to 48 hours after I put the first few clips up, I was contacted by the YouTube copyright police, notifying me that two of my clips (they were of The Daily Show) had been taken down due to complaints of copyright infringement.
In addition to personal videos, I managed to slip a Kids in the Hall sketch through the system. Amazingly, I received a message from the KITH today via YouTube and I was afraid I was going to have another copyright complaint in my hands. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised by the following message:
Hey Hey,
Thanks for posting one of our videos on YouTube. We love it! Wanted to tell you about our new sketch "Car Bangers," available only online. If you like it, please subscribe to our page as well. And we are on tour- check out dates on our MySpace page http://www.myspace.com/kithtour08.
Peace!
KITH
Based on the comments posted on the KITH YouTube channel, it looks like many other fans got similar messages thanking them for posting video clips online. It’s one of the few times I’ve ever heard of artists (or rather the people that own the copyright allowing the artists) to support fans putting some of their works online. It gives the concept of viral video a fair chance! This is a particularly interesting idea for artists like KITH– it’s been years since they were on the air, but with fans posting videos online, they can reach a whole new fan base, a fan base who can buy their DVDs, buy tickets to their live shows, and more. It’s a great marketing opportunity and I’m glad somebody sees it so clearly and simply and acts on it. No muddying the waters with threats of lawsuits and content hoarding.
So, aside from loving their sketches, that’s another reason why I love the Kids in the Hall. Check out their latest video: Car Bangers.
April 28th, 2008
April 28th, 2008
Another Amusing Google Search: “How to Get into Stanford”
Once again, I’ve made it to the top of an interesting Google search: if you search for “getting into Stanford,” one of the top list of results is my 2005 post on How to Get into Stanford. Makes sense, given the handful emails I’ve gotten from prospective students asking for tips, especially from an alumna. I always point people to the Undergraduate Admissions website and especially to the very helpful FAQ, but I hope my post gives people some helpful advice.
(And of course, I’m still one of the top hits for “ragtotes.” w00t!)
April 25th, 2008
Crooked Lettaz
David Banner before he was David Banner together with Kamikaze. Some of the best rap to come out of the Deep South. This track from their Grey Skies album is my favorite:
April 24th, 2008
Job Spam
I get a lot of job spam– unsolicited emails asking me to submit my resume and/or apply for jobs. Most of these emails are from recruiting or head hunting firms and almost always, they concern positions that I’m not interested in at all (and usually have little to do with my professional experience and career history). They usually say something like “We came across your resume and based on your background and experience, we have some job opportunities you may be interested in.” They then describe some of the available positions (usually at one or more corporate clients of the recruiting/hiring firm) and immediately follow that up with “Please submit your resume” or “Apply online at [insert some website].” I assume that these recruiting firms are sending these emails to thousands of people (basically, anybody who might be in any minuscule way a good fit). Although seemingly inefficient, they only need a small fraction of these people to respond so that they can sift through applications and provide their clients with a manageable pool of applicants to review. This is basically the same principal as regular spam as well as telemarketing and even political pooling– contact thousands, millions of people and even if you only get one or two percent return, that’s a sizable number of respondents and potential new customers.
Yet, the thing that actually annoys me about these emails is that they contacted me, but their emails come off as if it was the other way around, telling me how to pursue them. “Send us your resume.” “Apply here.” They are interested in me based on my background, experience and qualifications, but then I’m supposed to go to the trouble of applying or submitting my resume (which they already have since that’s how they found me in the first place). It’s like going up to someone and saying, “I really think you’re attractive and interesting. I think you’d be interested in going out with me. Here’s my number– please call me and I’ll consider a date.” I’m not saying that they should automatically make me a job offer or even guarantee me an interview, but they contacted me– a better approach would be, “We came across your resume and think you would be a good fit for some job opportunities at [insert company]. We would like to talk to you further if you are interested,” etc. From my experience, only a handful of recruiters do this and they’re usually internal recruiters from the company. In the end, I may not be interested, a good fit, or even qualified, but if they’re reaching out to random people on job websites and the web in general, they’re looking for more and/or better candidates than those contacting them and even the semblance of trying to “woo” the applicant wouldn’t hurt.
However, an interesting thing happened today, which is why I’m bothering to write about it at all. I received another one of these unsolicited recruiting emails today, but after receiving the message, it was quickly followed by another email from the same company (but different recruiter) and even with the same subject line that started with the following sentence:
While conducting an online search we came across your resume. It appears that you are over qualified for our positions.
Ha! They go on to mention executive positions posted by their clients that may be more applicable. They still end up telling me to submit my resume (“for free”), but it’s a start!
April 22nd, 2008
April 19th, 2008
For Your Convenience: Bathroom Stall Ashtray
Bathroom stall ashtray
Originally uploaded by sindy
Still in Seattle. Stopped in a casino for the buffet and when visiting the bathroom, found this convenient ashtray next to the toilet.
So, is this to discourage people from dropping their cigarettes in the toilet (and therefore, preventing clogs) or is it so people don’t have to stop smoking just because they’re going to the bathroom?
I would say each answer has an equal shot of being the right one. Who knows, maybe it’s both. No matter what, one thing I know is that it sure is convenient.
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