Katie Über Alles

Feedburner = the awesome

I've had google analytics enabled on my blog for quite some time.  A little over a year ago, google bought out feedburner and then made many of their services free.  So, I've been sprucing up the old blog and set up a feedburner account...and I can't rave about it enough.  If you have a blog and you are interested in more than just posting your latest diatribes, you might want to check it out.

Grandpa table flop?

Been playing around with some tracking stuff on my blog.  I know I've been getting a lot of traffic from some random places and I wanted to get a better handle on where it was coming from. 

Although I have had the equivalent of a blog on my website since before anyone knew what a blog was (seriously, I had a journal back on my website in the Spring of 1997), I wasn't really tuned into the blogosphere until one of my projects at work between 2004-2005 was to be the primary contributor to a blog about re-entry to society from prison for one of our clients.  Yes, I used to get paid to blog.  Rock.

Ever since then I have hearted typepad, but due in part to the fact that it lets you specialize so much it can be confusing.  Anyways, I just figured out how to get Google and typepad to talk to each other in a way that enables me to track a lot more than using just typepad alone.  One of the things I can now see a hell of a lot more clearly is searches that brought people to my site.  And the most common search bringing people to my blog right now is:

"Grandpa table flop"

What the heck?

On the merits of going mobile...

I've been thinking about getting a 3g iphone when it comes out this summer.  I almost certainly will.

Which raises the question: should I get rid of my land line?

Pros:
1) It's cheaper (though only by like $40 or so per month)
2) The only people who ever call my house anymore are telemarketers, people I have a business relationship with, and on occasion, my parents.  I can talk to my parents on my cell or online.
3) Cell or land line, I don't spend all that much time actually talking on the phone anyways.  I'm more likely to communicate by text, AIM, or e-mail.  The only people that I spend any serious time on the phone with are my parents.
4) I never answer my home phone anymore (which led me to realize that I must change my answering machine message more than 5 months after Jeff moved out) because it is always a telemarketer or some collection agency calling for Sharon someone who must have used this phone number at some point.

Cons:
1) What am I going to do with all those nice phones I have?
2) Previously mentioned business calls...it's gonna be a pain to have to make sure everyone important has my cell number, and I like the fact that I don't get telemarketing calls on my cell right now.  I don't have to screen my cell calls; I know everyone calling me.
3) There are a few areas of my house that get not so great reception on my cell. 

So what say those of you who actually have done this and have no land line?  Is it a good move or a bad one?

Endless entertainment: Google AdSense

If you have gmail or use other google products, you might have noticed that there are ads at the top of the page that are supposed to be relevant to things you are looking at and therefore, supposedly interested in.

But sometimes adsense goes horribly wrong.  Exempla gratia: I just opened an email from Borders telling me about a cd sale they were having.  I think they used the passe word "jams" to describe the music you could buy at a discount.

Next thing I know, this link is at the top of gmail.  Uh, no thanks.

Happy not to be the only one with foot-in-mouth disease...

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/news/2007/12/YE_foot_mouth

My Birthday Present

So my parents got me a new digital camera for my birthday.  I've been needing one for awhile since my old one was bulky and rather outdated.  They got me the Canon Powershot SD1000 Digital Elph and I'm in love with it.  Great pictures, great features and it's TINY.

Here are some pics I took playing around with it.

My dad eating giblets (gross).

View from the deck.

the house...

Sarah being obnoxious (status quo, LOL).

The table all set for Tgiving dinner.

The spread...

I Love Apple

Just saw a new commercial for the ipod Touch.  While I plan to hold out for the iphone to be picked up by carriers other than Cingular, I still loved this commercial.  Apple always picks the best songs for their ads.  Just downloaded the song from the ad: Music is My Hot, Hot Sex by CSS.

From all the drugs the one i like more is music
From all the junks the one i need more is music
From all the boys the one I take home is music
From all the ladies, the one I kiss is music
Music is my boyfriend
Music is my girlfriend
Music is my dead end
Music’s my imaginary friend
Music is my brother
Music is my great grand daughter
Music is my sister
Music is my favorite mistress

From all the shit the one I gotta buy is music
From all the jobs the one I choose is music
From all the drinks I get drunk of music
From all the bitches the one I wanna be is music
Music is my beach house
Music is my hometown
Music is my king size bed
Music’s where I meet my friends
Music is my hot hot bath
Music is my hot hot sex
Music is my backrub
My music is where I’d like you to touch

"Comfort me with apples for I am sick with love."

A few days ago I saw something that surprised me. Paul McCartney in an ipod commercial.  For those of you not up on your Apple (Computer) or Apple (Corps/Records) history, way back in the day when Apple Computers first started getting big, Apple Records, the Beatles' music company, sued them because they had the same name.  The dispute was settled with the compromise stipulating that Apple Computers would never be involved in anything music-related (Apple (computer) fans probably already know that the sound sosumi came out of this dispute).  Years passed and Steve Jobs came up with the ipod which promptly caused the two Apples to go to court yet again.  In 2006, a court ruled in favor of Apple Computer and in 2007 the two Apples reached a settlement (yet again).  Hope sprang eternal among Beatles fans everywhere that the Beatles catalog would appear on itunes.  The more skeptical among us wondered if there would ever really be an Apple/Apple partnership given the years of bad blood.  The ad with McCartney is a good sign that there is hope, I guess.

(This also might be the first and last time you see a post from me entitled with a quote from the Bible.  A shiny nickel to whomever knows that verse without googling it.)

Google has a good sense of humor

A friend told me about this, so now I'm passing it on.  Those crazy people over at google.  Check out Step 23 of these googlemaps directions (click for a bigger image):

Have Some Time To Waste?

Check this out:

Ten Best Flickr Mashups from Webmonkey