saint-rebel

Here is a silly idea I came up with: play a massive game of Scrabble on Twitter.

Everyone picks 1 of the 26 letters as an avatar.. whomevers’ list of followers on their profile spells out the highest scoring/longest word wins.. scoring could be based on scrabble rules.. like the use of X or Q in a word is worth more points etc..

Maybe it can be an ongoing game by taking screenshots and submiting to flickr using the same tag for game/points tracking…

Here is a quick mock-up.. where COUCH is the winning word.

Okay, the idea is out in the wild, have fun with it…

UPDATE:  It has been pointed out to me that a few day earlier this dude spawned the idea. I did not know about it.. so I came to the same idea as he did.. just a few days later.  Great minds think alike…

Popularity: 12% [?]

My uncle passed away yesterday.  He was a 20+ year veteran of law enforcement in Utah.. and what killed him was apparently a heart attack… at 48,  he was in great shape.

I don’t think anyone saw that coming. Entropy, Chaos theory, random fluctuation of the universe.. what have you.  Just does not make much sense, I guess death never does.

Scott was my “cool” uncle. I always felt like I could relate to him better then the rest of my extended family on that side which leans very conservative. I dont know if it was because of his job, but he seemed to be much more relaxed about things (mainly the antics of myself and my other blacksheep siblings).

Our family is pretty big about holidays… also is just big (My Grandparents have 6 kids.. 30+ grandkids?.. and now 6+ great grandkids?.. I lost count) Whenever we would get together for holidays, I always enjoyed listening to Scott tell stories about his work.. or about his own childhood antics, He was one of those story tellers that would keep you engaged and wanting more. He was also a car guy.. as of course I am.

Go to work one morning and just not come back..  just like that, his families’ life just did a hard 90 degree turn.

Scott survived 20+ years of driving hundreds of miles a day (highway patrolman) and chasing down bad guys.. and a heart attack does him in on sunny Thursday morning… wtf universe?, wtf?

Scott and his Wife, Suzy. Christmas ‘06.

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This is so effin depressing i could barely finish the read… I ask you, what can we do about this? Tell me and I will do it. How do we get the money out of politics?
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Both would-be presidents have already sold us out. They’ve taken the money and run — completing the cyclical transformation of the American political narrative from one of monopolistic Republican iniquity to an even more depressing tale about the overweening power of corporate money and the essentially fictitious nature of our two-party system.

read more | digg story

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Last year I shared the stage with a unicorn…  This means it is time to vote for sxsw panels again. Here are some noteworthy panels (noteworthy is a subjective term.. basically it means the title was clever or I may know the speaker). I did look at all 1000+ titles…  aside; i think the intersection of politics and interwebs is slowing making a positive difference.  

• You and Your LOLcat’s Mom Sucks
• Collaborative Discovery: Doing it in Groups is More Fun 
• Don’t Be a Dick: Creating Sustainable Work Environments
• Appfrica: How Web Applications Are Helping Emerging Markets Grow
• Scale or Die: 10 Lessons About Scaling and Security
• Online Social Systems Calling for Governmental Change
• Growing Up as An Internet Oversharer
• Killing Us Softly: The Failure of Technology in Health Care 
• How to Talk to Programmers
• How the Internet is Transforming Governance
• Climbing the Corporate Ladder in a Mini Skirt <– Awesome!
• Express Web Apps - What Can You Build in One Week?
• F*cking with Human Backed Web Services
• Collaborative Development Environments

These 2 are mine:

• Fake It ‘Til You Make It
• FAIL As If Your Life Depends On It

But wait, theres more. 

• and peep the Girl power over here
• Shaler made list of PHX peeps with panel submissions 

Popularity: 23% [?]

I think I will dress up as GW Bush this year, and scare all the adults.  Kids may just laugh at me, but the adults.. they will run away screaming…  No for serious though, Here are some sweet ideas for halloween party games, mostly for kids.

Halloween is an awesome holiday.  Free candy and a finally a day you can wear your Elvis Storm trooper outfit outside your moms basement and not be laughed at.

Popularity: 25% [?]

If you want to maximize the revenue of your service you need to maximize completion rates of your web forms. Unless you have some revolutionary ideas to impress your visitors at first glance, it is not enough to simply enable users to sign up on your site.

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$720 Million a day is being spent on the war in Iraq. I think that money could be used in a lot better ways.

 read more | digg story

Popularity: 49% [?]