Fred Posner dot com

Back in the 90’s, one of my favorite commercials used the tagline, “At BASF, we don’t make a lot of the products you buy; we make a lot of the products you buy better.” Well my friends, when thinking about our government’s response to the continued pouring of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, I can only think that our government didn’t make the crisis in the Gulf; they made the crisis in the Gulf more catastrophic.

First, let’s ask the most simple question. How much oil is leaking into the Gulf of Mexico?

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Spirit Airlines drank some Kool Aid and decided to charge passengers for carry-on bags that do not fit under the seat. The fee will only apply to bags placed in the overhead bin. “Bring less; pay less. It’s simple,” Spirit’s Chief Operating Officer Ken McKenzie said in a statement. (Which by the way beats their first attempt at the slogan: Bring less, pay less, fuck you.)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, although this time I’ll say it differently. When I was a kid, I absolutely loved everything about flying. After taking someone to the airport, my family would walk to the window and we’d watch (from the gate) as our loved one’s plane taxied out to the runway and would stay until we saw that plane leave the ground and take off into the sky. When I’d actually get to fly, I looked forward to it. I’d pick out a good magazine, try to get a pillow, and look forward to some pretzels and a nice drink. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m sure you’ve googled. Who hasn’t. Well, based of course on the popularity of what others across our great world are searching, Google often “suggests” what you might want to search for; based on what you’ve typed in that google search box. Well… what others are searching for doesn’t just scare me, it scares the bejesus out of me. But now I understand exactly where we may be heading.

Today I made the mistake of typing why does in the google search… and well, I was presented with:

Click for Full Size

Don’t get me wrong. I love poop questions as much as the next guy… but really? So then I started to see what others were looking for and well, here’s a few examples:   Read the rest of this entry »

The movers were supposed to call and let us know what time they’d be here… hasn’t happened. We called the moving company yesterday and they were certain we’d get the call last night. Never happened. So far, no truck.

Not getting a warm and fuzzy feeling here…

I thought this was a very neat idea and well done.

Cleaned up the styles a little bit… check out:

• YeniFred.com
• Team Forrest’s Blog
• Fat Freddy Says
• VoIP Tech Chat

Yes, they’re very similar (other than YeniFred). But I’m in a “clean” mode right now.

Mint.com’s blog had a pretty interesting graphic posted on Charitable givings…

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Did you know that the FTC believes they should police bloggers?

It’s true… and well, long story short… here’s my FTC disclosure.

Fred Posner @ Astricon 2009

It’s October and that means I’m going to Phoenix!

Astricon, the meet-up of Asterisk users / developers / fans / etc, starts October 13th, and this year I received the honor of presenting. My talk, Asterisk Applications: Unexpected Hurdles, showcases the Ann Arbor Parking “Smackdown” earlier this year.

As an added benefit… my Wife will be joining me

So, a new year, a new cartoon Fred… which one do you like better?

2008 Fred

2009 Fred

On my way to Orange County, California (via Phoenix). It’s been a while since I had to fly and I am really hopeful my airport experience will be more positive than usual.

Yeni and I have had this one Bob Marley song stuck in our heads recently, so I leave you with:

Don’t worry about a thing,
’cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Don’t worry about a thing,
cause every little thing gonna be all right!

Rise up this morning,
Smiled with the rising sun,
Three little birds
Pitch by my doorstep
Singing sweet songs
Of melodies pure and true,
Saying this is my message to you.

Singing: don’t worry bout a thing,
’cause every little thing gonna be all right.
Singing: don’t worry about a thing,
’cause every little thing gonna be all right!

Don’t worry… =)

I attended Ann Arbor’s Cloud Camp yesterday at Google (in… Ann Arbor). Was a great “un-conference” about cloud computing and such. Took a few pictures and enjoyed the afternoon.

Ann Arbor DDA, you massively fail. If you were a ship, you’d be the titanic…

Can you believe in today’s world that a government agency would conspire and discuss the control of public information? What if that information was a top secret as… parking space availability?

I’ve posted an article on VoIP Tech Chat detailing the Ann Arbor DDA doing just that. My response to them is at the end… Please enjoy.

Read the article on VoIP Tech Chat

Newest article (related to parking) is from The Michigan Daily.

Also, on Saturday, Ed and I will be guests on a local radio program.

Some of the local papers / sites picked up the Parking Space story… check it out:

• Ann Arbor Chronicle
• HD Teeter Talk
• Ann Arbor News
• Arbor Update