briansage's Xanga

Uber Restaurant List

Tue, 17 Feb 2009 21:04:48 GMT

Behold, the latest of my work: The GoPickle Business Directory.

Officially, we're in beta, so there's a lot that remains unreleased today. However, the basic premise works. We have business yellow page listings in 940 regions, and we allow any business in a given region to upgrade their listing to a usable mini-website. Think: Merchant Circle without all the spam and myspaceified social networking garbage.

Abuelos in Rogers, AR:

I'm in the process of decking-out a few example listings, for example, Abuelo's, because it's one of my favorite restaurants in Rogers. We've essentially set the site up so a user can access a business through a handful of paths... You could click Fayetteville > Restaurants > Rogers, AR Restaurants > Abuelo's. Or you could just search by typing the URL into the browser: fayetteville-ar.gopickle.com/search/abuelos

OK, fayetteville-ar isn't real inteuitive, but it's because we're a smaller area. It gets easier when looking through bigger areas... austin.gopickle.com/search/abuelos or, if you're awesome, dfw.gopickle.com/search/medieval+times

So that's it. The tip of the iceberg went public about two weeks ago, but there's still a ton coming. Updates to follow. Please click around and give me your coveted feedback, if you have the time.

1337:Part 1

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:14:52 GMT

Supersize me.

Death and Taxes

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 02:35:12 GMT

Better Off Not Listening to the News

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:49:11 GMT

I listened to the news today. Lord knows why. Left column is what I heard. Right column is what also could have been said by the anchors in the same breath, but wasn't.

Actual Headline	Brian's Suggested Optional Headline
DOW Posts Conservative Gain	DOW Back Up 2% in Mid-Day Trading Rally
Job Losses Soar, Jobless Rate at 14-Year High	US 6.5% Unemployment Resembles Clinton-Era, Exceeds Germany, France, China
Ford Posts $3 Billion Loss, Burning Cash Fast	Dinosaur Ford Performs According to Analysts' Predictions From Over One Year Ago; Google and Other Innovators Predict Steady Profits Until The End of the World

I'm not saying there isn't a recession, but I swear our economy would be much better off if people would just stop listening to media fear mongers.

BRAWNDO WILL MAKE YOU WIN AT!!

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:33:11 GMT

MORE BRAWNDO!

J.P. Brown's LEGO cube solver.

Wed, 15 Oct 2008 14:29:59 GMT

Fantastic Contraption, for Reals. This is seriously cool.

http://jpbrown.i8.com/cubesolver.html

Three. Hours. Wasted.

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:42:19 GMT

...but I have this to show for it.

The Way News Shapes the World

Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:17:14 GMT

From TED

What We Call the News

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 18:57:47 GMT

"What We Call the News" From JibJab

Barak Obama proposing 10,000 more troops in Afghanistan

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:27:51 GMT

Brian's blogging, so it can only mean one of two things: either I've found a new hobby, or politicians are offending me again. Well, both of which are true--I'll try to do my best to actually post updates on my personal life; however, politics are more inflammatory, more goading, so I'm first getting this off my chest...

Barak Obama is proposing that the United States deploy about 10,000 more troops to battle resurgent forces in Afghanistan.

Does this man have the slightest idea of what he's talking about?

At one point in the interview, he even looks away from the guy he's talking to. How can anyone expect this guy to lead us in his beliefs when he can't state one plan of action to a reporter in a comfortable arm chair.

If he wants to give the US hope, he should do it as a motivational speaker, as a pastor, as... oh, I don't know... as a US senator... who votes. That this man could get this far in a presidential race offends me as a citizen.

Among my peers, my family, my friends, I've heard the one thing he has going for him again and again: "He'll bring the troops home." Well, aparantly not. He'll just get them out of Iraq, where they've been doing a lot of good, and move them to Afghanistan.

Printed source: New York Times Article

To keep this in perspective, the "fiscally irresponsible troop surge" of 2008 (which is working, btw) called for 21,500 more troops. Barak has already fantasy deployed half that number into an allied country before his campaign has ended.