This was a lot of fun! It’s my first use of split screen! Cooool!

I’m pretty sure you need to watch this on YouTube in order for the embedded links to work.

It’s Work From Home Friday! And, “Oh Fudge!” I’m asking for trouble in this one. At least I don’t have to wash my mouth out with Lifebuoy!

Clicky clicky to view on YouTube.

Merry Christmas from the Ladd Ginger Bread Village!!

(If you’re reading this via Facebook, click here to see the actual post on my blog, where the video below actually works!)

As traditions go, Christmas is the “coop duh grassy” (stupid French). Christmas lights, trees, stockings, caroling, the gifts, the food, the poorly animated TV specials from the 60’s… the list never ends.

And even in my little family of two, we have a wealth of traditions and it seems to grow a little each year. Such as…

– Putting up the tree while drinking egg nog and listening to Christmas music.
– Getting a new themed Christmas ornament to commemorate some event for the year. (This year’s is a yellow ATV.)
– Going to the drive-through light show at Joe Pool Lake.
– Watching “A Christmas Story”, “Elf”, and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (Boris Karloff and Jim Carey).
– On Christmas morning, we deliver miniature stockings with candy to the people who have to work (Starbucks, Waffle House, etc.).

Please share some of your favorite (or least favorite) Christmas family traditions in the comments.

And now, here, my faithful SYNS readers, is this years traditional Christmas music video, “Oh Holy Crap!”

This is the first trail Tammy and I have ridden above tree-line: Pomeroy Lakes. It’s only a few miles round trip, but it is a real butt-kicker. Check out the video to see why. (Clicky Part 1!Clicky Part 2!)

It’s Work From Home Friday! Join me in my daily struggle: What t-shirt to wear?! (Clicky clicky!)

It’s Work From Home Friday! Time for a WFHF short! (Clicky clicky!)

I stayed up late last night and finished the first video from our Colorado trip: 717 Divide Trail Ride.

Welcome to the 21st century.

Google has now digitized and cataloged millions of books from as far back as the 16th century. Take that, and mix in some university researchers desperate for a thesis, and you get Google’s N-Gram tool.

Essentially, you can type in any series of words or phrases, separated by commas, and Google will graph the frequency with which those words appeared in literature over the ages.

For instance, I wondered about “sneaked” and “snuck.” Which is correct? When did the wrong one appear and how popular is it? Well, easy enough: Click to see the results! Turns out, “sneaked” is correct, but “snuck” has been gradually sneaking up on it since the 1920’s. As a side note, “sneaked” shows a huge spike during and after WWII. Seems we got all interested in sneaking during the war.

Here are some more search ideas:
Who is more popular? Frodo, or Harry Potter?
When did the desktop start to lose out to the laptop?
When did “crap” become more popular than “poop”? (Try adding that other 4-letter scatological, word for a real surprise.)

If you’re interested and have 15 minutes to burn, here’s the video of the researchers describing their project at TED. (Clicky clicky)

As a follow up to my rant on Netflix, Scott McKain, blogger at The Ultimate Customer Experience, posted a brilliant article dissecting the EPIC FAIL that is Netflix’s planned split. Here are some juicy bits to entice your clickage:

The problem is, Netflix’s letter — while well written — clearly displays a mistake of epic proportions.
…
Netflix isn’t a DVD-by-mail company, in the eyes of its customers. It’s not even a streaming-movies-on-your-computer-or-TV company. Netflix is where we go to get a movie.
…
Is there a difference between the business YOU think you are in — and what business your CUSTOMERS say you’re in? If there is…choose what THEY think! THEY are the reason YOU are still in business!

Now, go read the whole thing! DO IT!! (Clicky clicky.)