Take a good idea and make it your own.

It’s so great to see people getting passionate and excited (in a positive way) about politics.

6 Cups raw rolled oats3 Cups chopped nuts - preferably cashews and almonds1 Cup bran1 Cup wheat germ1 cup cocoanut1 Cup powdered non-fat milk1/2 Cup sunflower seeds1/2 Cup sesame seedsmix separately and add to dry mixture:1 cup safflower oil1 cup honey1 cup water3 tbsp vanillaSpread into shallow pans and bake in slow oven - 300° for 2 hours, stirring every 1/2 hr.

Kerri just received the contract for her first book deal and spent some time reviewing it. What it boiled down to was that they were going to offer her an insanely small amount of money and strip any and all rights. Now… I think that some of the particularly poor pieces of this contract may be unique to this one publisher, but it sounds as if a lot of it is “industry standard.”When I think about how we treat our clients at work I realize that we truly value these people and want to help them to be successful. The book publishing industry, on the other hand, appears to be an opportunistic group of money-grabbers who care little for the artists they represent, apparently feeling that if one leaves, another one will just come along. In my mind, this is just dead wrong and a very very poor way to run a business. Fairness should always a paramount concern in business - sometimes it’s a hard pill to swallow because you can be on the short end of the deal, but in the end, it’s just the right thing to do.

This is a pretty neat idea. Nigel Godrich is currently producing a music program aimed at recapturing the excitement and creativity of the lost art of music videos. From the Basement has one episode available currently with plans for more. I love that his quote on NPR recently was something to the effect of “nobody’s going to get rich on this” - the artists donate/volunteer time.

12 Months of White Pages - ugh!, originally uploaded by mdconrad.

Only 7 days into it, the first book goes through the washing machine… the carnage!!!

Here’s what Kerri and I did for New Year’s Eve:

So what is the best reaction when a competitor beats you to market with a product or service? I think maybe the best you can do it begin to pull it apart and learn from it - methods of improvement, expanded or constrained functionality, etc. - but the moral hit you take can be tough on the team. On the flip side, I think it can also be great to get the affirmation that an idea is solid when others find enough merit to do it themselves.

I thought this was a good use of providing information in the right context. Show me the hours for today since that’s probably what I’m interested in.