Toluu

Awaken Your Superhero with Christopher S. Penn

Public service message: ScheduleAPickup.comSeptember 1

Yesterday, I was walking along the streets of Boston, and noticed the biannual dumping of perfectly good stuff by college students on the sidewalks and streets. Mind you, this isn’t just the dorm room poster collection or something – we’re talking furniture in like new condition, clothing, lights, etc. – things that people with less money could use in their homes.

The problem is, most students don’t want to go to the trouble of hauling stuff like this to a charity. I can understand that, having been a student – the last thing on your mind as you’re moving out or in is moving yet MORE stuff somewhere else.

I’d like your help in spreading a simple message to every college student, to everyone and anyone who has stuff in still usable condition. There’s a charity I support called the Vietnam Veterans of America that has a charity donation system that kicks ass. Here’s how it works: you visit ScheduleaPickup.com and pick what you’re giving away, and most importantly

WHEN A TRUCK FROM THE CHARITY CAN COME TO YOUR PLACE AND PICK IT UP

That’s right: no hauling. No moving. No schlepping. A truck magically appears on Wednesdays and takes your still perfectly good stuff away

Corrupting wordsAugust 31

Once upon a time, the word gourmet conjured up sumptuous, rich foods of the highest quality:

It was something we desired, something we sought after, something we aspired to.

Then someone’s marketing department got a hold of the word and corrupted it beyond recognition into this sad joke:

Once upon a time, there were a few select companies that were actually industry-leading. Now the marketing departments of the world have deemed everyone industry-leading:

As Syndrome says in The Incredibles, once everyone is special, then no one is special. Everyone is industry-leading to the point where it’s a meaningless term. Every food is gourmet, every wine is vintage, every company believes its customer service is the best, every consumer good is luxury, every event is exclusive, every customer status is elite, every product is innovative.

What’s the competent marketer to do when the incompetent marketers around him or her are corrupting words faster than he or she can use them meaningfully? At a certain point, the thesaurus runs out.

No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free fromAugust 29

Lend your voices only to sounds of freedom
No longer lend your strength to that which you wish to be free from
Fill your lives with love and bravery
And you shall lead a life uncommon

- Jewel, A Life Uncommon

Tell me what you struggle against and I will know that it is powerful, because you spend energy, time, resources, money, and strength struggling against it. Sometimes, it’s a worthy opponent. Rape. Murder. Child slavery. Genocide. These are powerful dark forces that need the armies of light to be marshaled against them ceaselessly. These are enemies worthy of any crusader’s judgement and merciless verdict.

Sometimes, however, you admit your own fears and inadequacies when you only stand for what you fight against, rather than what you fight for. You grant your enemy, whatever it is, legitimacy in your struggle against them. Every time you rail against Barack Obama or Rush Limbaugh, you prove that they’re potent forces to be reckoned with, otherwise you’d not spend time and energy on them. Your battle validates them. Every time you protest a Muslim mosque’s construction or lack of a minority in technology, you reinforce your own position as one so lacking power that you cannot solve your problems any other way than by tearing someone else down.

Why you’re probably wrong about lighter fluidAugust 28

One claim I’ve heard repeatedly about lighter fluid and grilling is that it imparts a flavor to your food. Sorry folks, I’ve got to call Bravo Sierra on this. Let’s hit the science!

Most lighter fluid is an aliphatic petroleum distillate of some kind, similar if not identical to naphtha. While individual manufacturers don’t disclose the exact ingredients of their lighter fluids, it just takes a quick Google for the MSDS (material safety data sheets) for just about any consumer product to at least get an idea of what’s inside, if not exact composition.

So let’s look at some of the properties of this class of chemicals:

• Most boil in vapor below 200 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Most ignite below 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Most charcoal grills cook at temperatures from 500 – 800 degrees Fahrenheit.

Basic chemistry says that even if you dump an entire bottle of lighter fluid onto your grill, unless the food is on there while you’re pouring on the fluid (which is stupid for different reasons), there will be no trace of it left by the time you’re actually ready to cook. I can’t think of a single part of a charcoal grill interior that would be less than 200 degrees Fahrenheit, which is when these fluids would boil away.

The basic truth is this: lighter

Are you hiring a social media strategist?August 27

Are you looking to hire a social media strategist? Take your social media strategist job description and replace the words social media with military.

Think about that for a second.

How silly would it look for the US Army to advertise for the position of Field Commander by saying:

Wanted: someone who can talk a lot, tweet, monitor the battlefield and comment about it, blog some, and help boost our overall reputation in the trenches.

Is it more likely that the US Army, if it advertised for a Field Commander, would have a job description that reads like:

Must be able to win battles with overwhelming force and create decisive victories.

What if you’re not sure what victory is in social media? You might be in trouble. A lot of trouble. Consider clarifying that before you hire someone.

Is social media strategy as clear cut as military strategy? It’d better be if you want to win anything.

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