It seems like that the time right before a holiday weekends means “busy” for businesses. I’ve talked to plenty of people in the last week that want to either start something or finish something before September 1st. Weird, eh?

uncov – Front Page: “Let’s look at the search space in terms of a seventh grade classroom. Google is the good looking boy with all the self-confidence. All the girls want to be his girlfriend, and he is dating a different one every week. Yahoo is the joker who is actually pretty entertaining if you watch him, but his jokes get annoying when you’re trying to get some work done. In the back of the class is Ask.com, the kid who tortures cats with kebab skewers, acting out to get attention because his father never showed him any affection. Mahalo, therefore, is one of the seat-warmers who adds nothing to the conversation. He gets shot down by Google’s ex-girlfriends, and he cries while he masturbates because he will never be as good looking or as successful as Google.”

Niall Kennedy’s Weblog: “Yesterday Adobe released a beta version of its Flash Player browser plugin capable of decoding H.264 video, AAC audio, and associated rich metadata. Web browsers utilizing Flash 9.0.60.184 or higher will now be able to playback content encoded for digital television, iPods, and high-end mobile phones using international standards.”

Before:

After:

I got my hair cut last night, heading off further emotional despair. Before and after pictures are shown. Opinions?

I’m in conflict. I hate my hair and beard but I love them both too. Here’s some history:

I’m on the right in this photo. This is how I see myself–my mental picture–conservative, clean-cut with a bright smile on my face.

That’s me on my thirty-fifth birthday in 2005 at a backyard party when, even though it was too hot, we had a fire in the new firepit. I’m wearing an apron from that was a gift from Tammy and says “Will cook for sex.”

This one is my thirty-third birthday. Can you belive Tammy (pictured to my left) married a geek like me? This was also the last birthday I had with my parents at their old house on Churchill near Hickory Hills.

My favorite of all. Taken while I worked at [NuVox](http://nuvox.com) in 2004. I was also the product manager for [UserLand Software](http://userland.com) and was having a blast.

Now for the conflict:

This is me in October of 2006, not even a year ago, when I had only been with [DaZZee](http://dazzee.com) a month. My hair was starting to lengthen and the beard was firmly entrenched. Pay no attention to the psycotic look on my face…

This is me today–so far. Stay tuned for a post tomorrow…

The Dilbert Blog: “Scott has another obstacle when focusing his comic on relationships, and this one is bigger than the first: Humor requires a level of truth that is incompatible with staying married. “

Snarling Marmot: “Ever get the feeling you’re being watched?”