March 2009 Archives

I love the current Apple-Microsoft ad wars. And Microsoft has finally pulled out a big gun: PRICE. You can watch the commercial below, but I paraphrased it (with a couple editorial changes) if you'd rather save some time:

The television told me today that some of the people inside of it are angry because Obama laughed during a 60 Minutes interview. I just watched the clip, and I'm not surprised that it agitated the easily irkable, since it involved our current financial quagmire. This was such a human moment, though. I honestly don't think we're too comfortable with our commanders in chief acting like real live humans. The most candid of candidates usually get filtered out one way or another.

Here's what I think was going on. There's this spot that exists somewhere between a rock and a hard place. We all know about it. Everyone's been there but no one ever wants to stay. Some like to spend their visits in a quiet fetal position, rocking slowly back and forth. Others may use the time for exercise, running around in circles, occasionally clawing at the walls. A few might spend their time on the phone yelling at their travel agent for allowing them to end up there. Then there are those who reluctantly accept the reality, throw up their arms, chuckle a cocktail of irony and desperation, and try to figure out how to get out with as few bruises as possible.

I dunno. I'd say the best thing for our national well-being right now is for us to try to filter ambiguous outbursts of humanity through a positive lens, keep our wits about us, and let the summation of actions do the talking. Ask questions and be critical, but look for potential, focus on the big picture, and allow humans to occasionally be human. Pessimistic filters rarely lead anywhere good -- and as it's been mused in the book of Proverbs, A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

I've seen a lot of optical illusions in my day. By now, I more or less respond to them with a hearty "meh." But there is one never fails to mess with my mind. As much as I try, I simply cannot trick my eyes into seeing those squares as the same color. Can you? In case you don't believe that "A" and "B" are the same, hover your mouse over the image and you'll get a little help.

Crazy, huh?

Of course, I'd be a dirty liar if I said that self-Googling isn't a hobby of mine as well. As I've previously made known, I'm well aware of many of the other Tim Dowlings who walk this planet. I wonder: how many of them feel like they know me via this blog? How many have followed my trials and tribulations and months and months of non-posting over the years? How many times has my existence been cursed during the drafting of a column or chapter? Just as I'd like to think that I'm big in Britain, I would also like to think that this eponymous domain is the bane of other Tim Dowlings' existences. I'm sure you all would agree that inadvertently being the bane of someone's existence is quite a validation of one's significance in the world.

You know, I would love to start some sort of business with a couple of other people who have the same name as me. It would be so novel and confusing. What I'm not sure about yet is whether it would be more amusing if we all looked hilariously similar or hilariously different.

Is this weird? I'm starting to think that this is weird. I think I need to step away from the Internet for a little while.