MIXX IT UP

In the news: Social media start-up Mixx sets self apart via "ultra-personalization" - Network World.

I have created a profile page on Mixx. If you have a smart filtering system, you could end up with a great source of personalized bits and pieces in one place.





Related: My post, IGOOGLE.

WWJD WITH A GPS

"Trettodag jul" ("thirteen days after Xmas" in Swedish) is on January 6. In Sweden you celebrate Xmas on December 24, so that is why you say thirteen days, instead of Twelve Days of Christmas. It is time for Jesus to jump in his car and show up for his manifestation. [Editor's comment: I wonder if YHWH, a.k.a God has installed the car with a GPS... What would Jesus do?]

First read Brendan Miniter's article, What Would Jesus Drive? What kind of silly question is that? and then read Onkar Ghate's piece, "What Would Jesus Drive?" Campaign Shows Greens' True Mystical Colors.

It is Thor's day (Thursday) of thunder, so here comes a great excerpt from Edward Cline's hard hitting post, Hoary Old Chestnuts.

I rarely bother to beat dead horses. God is a dead horse, although religion is not quite as dead as most atheists believe, because it is alive and snorting and being harnessed to contemporary American politics. That is religion’s special danger; churches of all stripes and sects are enlisting their congregations in the army for various welfare state, environmentalist, and collectivist crusades. Their primary object is to resurrect the country’s alleged “Christian” values and rid that “Holy Land” of the infidel, the atheist, and incidentally clean up the earth, stop global warming, and herd everyone into a welfare state corral. It is God’s will, they say, to take care of the lame, halt and poor by impoverishing the healthy, the independent, and the industrious. (Rule of Reason, January 3, 2008.)

I have added The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever and Sparrowhawk Companion to my wishlist.



Robert Tracinski is endorsing Rudy Giuliani in the latest issue (Vote for Rudy. Support the Defense of Freedom over Religious Politics.) of The Intellectual Activist Daily newsletter.

With the opening of the primary season—tonight's Iowa caucus isn't a real primary, but it is the first test of candidates' support among grass-roots activists, and thus it will have an impact on the primaries to come—now is the time to give TIA's official endorsement for the Republican primary.

I say that this is my official endorsement, because it has been clear where I've been leaning, unofficially, for most of the past year: I support Rudy Giuliani as by far the best candidate for the Republican nomination. He is the only candidate who will promote the influence of what I call the "secular right": support for free markets, a strong national defense, and strict separation of church and state. (TIA Daily, January 3, 2008.)

[Editor's note: Please vote in the Pajamas Media Presidential Straw Poll. Scroll down the right column and look under the section EGO poll.]

[Editor's comment: Have you heard about Betty Bowers & her "invisible running mate"? ;)]

Related: My post, CHOOSE OR LOSE 2006.

UPDATE 01/04/08:

Men of Hope by Mike Allen of Politico.com.



From Ari Armstrong's post, God Wins in Iowa.

The big winner in the Iowan caucuses is Jesus Christ. Mike Huckabee and Barack Obama are the two most religious -- politically religious -- candidates of their parties. I'm surprised that those candidates came in first. However, I don't believe that they'll win the nominations (though I think it likely that Obama joins somebody else's ticket). Indeed, I would be stunned if either candidate made it to the general election. If both make it, that will demonstrate that this country is in worse shape than I thought, and that we are likely headed toward more expansive religious-based politics. (Ari Armstrong, January 4, 2008.)

UPDATE 01/06/08:


God's Candidate by John Cox.

In the news: Onward superstitious soldiers! Is Huckabee God's choice tomorrow in Iowa? - "Deadline USA" - The Guardian Blog.

ADDICTED TO BLOGGING

I am 87% addicted to blogging... [Via Gus Van Horn.]

87%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Related: My posts, WHAT KIND OF BLOGGER ARE YOU? and FUTURE BLOGGING.

PAY PER PLAY MEDIA

Would you listen to an audio commercial on this blog? [Editor's note: I have signed up for Pay Per Play Media, but I will not promote it actively until I have researched it a bit more. Have you heard anything about the affiliate program?]

Read Paul Rushing's post, PayPerPlay: The Next Generation of Intrusive Internet Marketing.

Related: My post, TEXT LINK ADS.

English posts that contain "PAY PER PLAY" per day for the last 30 days.

Get your own chart!

EGO BANNER

From my post, MISCELLANEOUS STUFF:

I have updated the EGO template with some new features. [Editor's note: A nice upgrade of the layout will occur during next year. It will be a top of the line thing and the perfect "icing on the cake". For a "mysterious" clue, read my post, WARCRAFT...]

Drumroll...

From John Cox's post, Banner Rough:

Martin Lindeskog hired me to do his blog banner for his site, http://egoist.blogspot.com/. I thought it might be interesting to show the steps in its production.

This is the sketch I came up with after having read his suggestions. (John Cox Art, January 1, 2008.)

EGO Banner Rough

Related: My posts, EGO ONLINE STORE and INTERVIEW WITH JOHN COX & ALLEN FORKUM.

UPDATE 01/02/08: Step 2: Blog Banner in Progress.

I establish where the black tones (cityscape and other details) are in relation to the "finished" color pencil outline of the figures. (John Cox Art, January 2, 2008.)

UPDATE 01/06/08: STEP 3: PRESTO!

Done. Added Martin Lindeskog's blog name for a touch of pizzaz. Me likey. (John Cox Art, January 5, 2008.)

MATAMOROS

Allen Forkum is informing that John Cox's comic book is available.



From the post, About Matamoros:

Part political thriller, part war story, and part “classic” action comic book, Matamoros follows one of America’s heroes in the “Long War” - an ordinary guy who discovers that only extraordinary situations exist when the enemy is a protean entity which refuses to adhere to the laws of war or the laws of civilized nations.

Written by Sleet and Darius LaMonica, and illustrated by John Cox of the Cox & Forkum political cartoon team, Matamoros is the first comic book focusing on the U.S. military’s fight against radical Islamists. (Matamoros Comic, December 11, 2007.)

From the book:

LAST DAY FOR BUSH

Bush's last day in office is on January 20, 2009. Please vote in the EGO poll (scroll down the right column).



[Editor's note: I don't endorse this "backward" site...]



Check out the carnival "This is not my country, but it is 2008" at Hell's Handmaiden.

EVAN WILLIAMS

I put back the Twitter application on the blog after I had read the article, The accidental innovator. Here is an excerpt from the article.

The irony of trying to plan accidents, and orchestrate their frequent occurrence, is not lost on Mr Williams. So he tries mental tricks. One is to ask “what can we take away to create something new?” A decade ago, you could have started with Yahoo! and taken away all the clutter around the search box to get Google. When he took Blogger and took away everything except one 140-character line, he had Twitter. Radical constraints, he believes, can lead to breakthroughs in simplicity and entirely new things. (The Economist, December 19, 2007.)

The article gave me inspiration for my future work with creating a physical "mash-up" of the third place for small business owners and members of a new type of online community. [Editor's note: I am interested in getting in touch with fellow entrepreneurs in order to discuss my future business plans for Blue Chip Club members.]

English posts that contain Twitter per day for the last 30 days.

Get your own chart!

WORLD TIME SERVER

I have added a couple of features by World Time Server on my blog. Go to the Resources category and get the current time for a country or a city. I have added the local time for Gothenburg, Sweden, under the Globalization! section.

Link: International Atomic Time.

GOOD LIFE

Starting the new year with a fresh good life post. Here is a recipe for tapénade from Food & Wine magazine.



I have to test a different way of consuming Guinness... Read My Second-Favorite Way of Consuming Guinness by Salma Abdelnour at Mouthing Off blog. [Editor's note to Gus Van Horn: Have you tested it?]

Related: My post, GOOD LIFE WEEKEND 16.