I do use a variety of statistical data to review the websites I administer — and while I will monitor and review the others very often, I review FredPosner.com about twice a year… and with that long winded introduction, I present… 2011: The Year That Was at FredPosner.com.

The Top 3 Most Viewed Pages of 2011

1. No, You Cannot Scan My ID (aka the Target rant)
2. The Ben Franklin Effect
3. Meet Cartoon Fred (an oldie, yet apparently popular topic)

The Top 3 Key Words/Phrases of 2011

1. benjamin franklin
2. what is a hero
3. fred posner

The Top 3 Referring Sites of 2011

1. google
2. facebook
3. qxork.com

The Top 3 Web Browsers Visiting during 2011

1. Firefox
2. Internet Explorer
3. Chrome

Thank You!

In 2011, over 10,000 unique visitors from 114 different countries checked out FredPosner.com. For a personal site, this is an amazing honor. Compared to the traffic we get at Dream Day Cakes®, the traffic here is nothing… but again, this site has pictures of bears holding hands, my annual Thanksgiving message, rants about Target, Rubio, Politics, and occasional photos of my odometer.

Trivial for you… my favorite post last year was the What is a Hero? rant. Yeni’s was (you guessed it)… the two bears holding hands.

Thank you again!

More info: Dream Day Cakes Fall Classes

Benjamin Franklin

Benjamin Franklin remains my favorite founding father.

… God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty…. And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.

Google, Facebook, and You

Benjamin Franklin

We all know my love of Benjamin Franklin— which means I am completely biased.

Let’s face it… he’s one of the founders of our country (assuming you’re in the United States). His quotes from hundreds of years ago still carry relevance in our daily lives. From electricity to mail, freedom to libraries, this man probably touches your life on a daily basis.

That being said, today’s lesson of greatness revolves around The Benjamin Franklin Effect. Don’t worry, we’ll cover the what, why, and how… starting right now.

What is the Ben Franklin Effect?

He that has once done you a Kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged

The effect, nothing more than a physiological phenomena really, simply holds that we like people more for whom we do favors. Conversely, if you harm someone, you’re more likely to harm them again (or care less about them).

Wait… what?

Simply put… if you do someone a favor, you will most likely think better of that person. It gets even better… if someone does a favor for you, they are more likely to do another favor for you than if you had done a favor for them.

There’s been studies on it… and yes, people can talk more about cognitive dissonance at their own will. Be as it may, the truth remains that the Ben Franklin effect is very real, and very powerful.

Why Ben Franklin?

In his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin mentions a story of a “rival” in the legislature that started to impact his life. Ol’ Ben needed to deal with the rival and rather than going to the mattresses he asked him for a favor.

Ben’s love of books was well known, and his rival had a very rare book in his personal library. Ben sent him a respectful note asking to borrow the book for a few days. After a week, Mr. Franklin returned the book along with a personal note expressing “strongly” his gratitude for the favor.

The effect was immediate. The next time the two happened to be in the same location the rival came to Ben Franklin and spoke to him— something that he had never done previously. The rival became someone always willing to lend a hand and the two ended up developing a good friendship.

How does this Ben Franklin effect affect me?

Got a problem with someone? Ask them for a favor. Don’t return it immediately… and be respectful and appreciative of the favor.

Did someone ask you for a favor? Be cognizant that your opinion of them may improve.

Love your Enemies, for they tell you your Faults.

I disagreed with Stearns’ amendment. I disagree with what the TSA/Department of Homeland Security has done to our rights. I thought Stearn’s amendment insulted those who helped without question, treated heros as criminals, and all-in-all was just an asshole move. I wrote him a letter explaining my thoughts and indicated that I’m an active voter.

Well, months after my letter, I received a response:

Click for full size

His reply was a classic “fuck you” non-response. His laziness allows him to be satisfied that a constituent receive a “…” in lieu of summary. His laziness allows him to be satisfied and take pride that he responded to a letter from a voter. He’ll even use this as a positive.

He’ll do it without my vote. This response only proved to me one thing.

Cliff Stearns is an asshole.

Since George Carlin left, there’s just something missing.

Dean Martin's Burger Recipe

(you can click on the image for the full size recipe)

From The Celebrity Cookbook (by Dinah Shore), Dean Martin proves that he’s not just a great singer– he’s the ultimate manly cook. Something tells me that to properly make this recipe you should have a cigarette dangling from your mouth and another 2oz of Bourbon in hand.

100k miles, again.

I’ve owned a few Ford trucks. For a long time, I was very brand loyal to Ford– but that’s another story. This story is about my ass sitting behind the wheel for 100,000 miles, again. It may be the first time that this truck hit the 100k mark… but it’s not mine.

The first car I took past 100k was my 86′ Toyota Celica. Got that car used in 1990 (30k miles) and drove it until the axle disintegrated around 150k. I bought my Ford Ranger new off the lot in ’96. At 150k, I traded her in towards the Expedition I’m driving now. Bubba was a good ride… protected me when I got hit by a Greyhound bus, and Forrest just loved sticking his head out the rear window.

And now, for the third time, I’ve passed the 100k mark. I got this truck in late ’03, and even though I swore I’d never buy a new car again, Ford’s 0% financing was too hard to turn down (it was cheaper to finance new at 0% than buy used). This trucks been through 2 Michigan winters, a couple of hurricanes, and the brutal Florida summers. It’s the most comfortable vehicle I’ve ever driven… I’ve made the trip from Florida to Michigan more times than I can remember… and the truck probably knows how to drive there on it’s own.

At 100k, she’s still doing ok. She’s got a Bearkery logo on the back, and has been delivering some beautiful cakes weekly.

So, the scary part is thinking about sitting behind the wheel for 100k miles…

• If I drove 100k miles at an average speed of 55 MPH for 12 hours a day… it would take more than 6 months.
• If I averaged a fantastic 14.7 miles per gallon, like above, I would need a little more than 6800 gallons of gas. At $3/gallon, that’s a nice $20,000.
• This is my third time driving my personal vehicle more than 100k miles. At 55 MPH, driving non-stop, that would be more than 9 months.

It’s great to have a vehicle completely paid off… and I certainly hope this one becomes the first truck I take past the 200k mark. =)

Forrest loved that truck.

For my family, Thanksgiving provides us the perfect opportunity for a homecoming. In my childhood, the majority of us lived in just one state– generally at most a few hundred miles from each other. In today’s world, we find ourselves spread over the many continents. Each November, we gather in Fort Lauderdale with no plans whatsoever. There’s no agenda, no itinerary, no master plan. In fact, only a Thursday dinner remains certain.

We come together because we’re family. We call those who could not make the trip and remember those who are no longer with us. We laugh, argue, share stories, catch up, smile, and eat. Actually, we eat too much, but we eat and we eat well. Oh do we eat.

Most importantly, we never forget why we travel. We never forget why we’ve gathered. We never forget the reason for the trek that brings us together. After all, this day we come together to give thanks.

Some of us struggle to keep food on the table, to pay the rent, to keep on the lights, to keep hope for the future. Some of us struggle to keep clean, to keep away from temptation, to keep the family together, to keep sane. Some of us struggle to keep afloat, to stay above water, stay positive, stay focused. Others enjoy the fruits of our labor, the riches of our success, the results of hard work.

Whatever our station in life, we remain alive. Family reminds us that life is not lived in the breaths we take, but instead by the moments and memories we make.

This year, I’m thankful for a safe move, a great start to our new business, the shoulders of my family, and the love of my wife. I’m thankful for my health, a roof over my head, food on my table, and a phone that rings. Of course, as I say every year, what I’m most thankful for is you– my family. My family provides me the strength I need when times are tough and the applause I need when a job is done. My family provides me memories to make my life complete. For this, I remain, as always thankful.

Once again, I thank you for being a member of my family– and I can’t wait to do it all again next year.

If I were to lean one way or another, I’d most likely say my beliefs are somewhat libertarian. I believe that government is necessary, but must be severely limited. I want government out of my house, away from my body, and focused on protecting our nation from those that would cause us harm.

With that statement, you’d almost expect me to say that I would support the existence of the TSA. I do not. My political hero remains Mr. Benjamin Franklin. I’ve quoted this many times, and I’ll quote it again:

They that can give up essential liberty
to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety.
— Benjamin Franklin

Sometimes I think, Once a cop, always a cop. Sure, I’m different than I was back then. First of all, I’m fatter — much fatter, and let’s not discuss the lack of hair. Those “changes” aside, I still keep my gun hand free… know my exits… don’t like sitting with my back to the door… and I scan; constantly scan.

Cops are not lawyers… and of course lawyers are the first ones to say that. Without being lawyers, cops do end up being experts in procedural criminal law. It’s kind of a requirement in law enforcement after all. First thing we learn with law? The Fourth Amendment. It’s short and to the point:

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Short. Simple. To the point. Of course, there’s that word “reasonable.” A strip search, or groping of my body, to get on to a plane is not reasonable. It’s not reasonable most of the time. Hell, if you’re arrested for a misdemeanor and brought to jail, you’re not strip searched. Let’s say that again…

If you get arrested for a misdemeanor and brought to jail, you do not automatically get a strip search.

So why must free travelers, not suspected of any crime (let alone arrested for one), expose themselves to a humiliating search or government touching of their sexually private areas? To me, this is completely un-American.

If you think that this is the sacrifice we must make for safety? Well… I’d agree with Ben. If you think that way, you don’t deserve freedom or safety.

This country stood once for Freedom. Volunteers from across this nation sacrifice their freedom to protect ours. Often, these heroes sacrifice not only their freedom, but also their lives, so that we as Americans, can have our lives, our liberty, and pursue happiness.

So let me ask you… does giving up your freedom make you happy? Is exposing yourself to government employees, when you have committed no crime, an exercise of liberty?

To honor those who would sacrifice their freedom for ours, the LEAST we could do is openly protest the attempted extermination of our freedom by our own government.

There are several movements calling for an opt-out of the scanner during Thanksgiving travel. I support this, but only partially. I support the full outright protest of any full body scan and “resistance” pat down offered by the US government prior to travel.

Bottom Line: Don’t expect me to be subjecting myself to be x-rayed or be patted down until “resistance.” As a civilian, I don’t give up my rights, ever. Especially not by purchasing an airline ticket.

Suggested readings:

• ‘Stop touching me!’ Fury as airport security staff are caught on camera searching a crying three-year-old girl (article about a TSA search in Tennessee)
• Florida airport to opt out of TSA screening (article about Orlando’s Sanford airport)
• TSA to investigate body scan resister (about not tuching his junk)
• We Won’t Fly (protest site)

xkcd.com Shibboleth

There are many things in this world that I like. If you’ve talked with me for any amount of time, the fact that I like eggs surely came up in conversation. Back in 2000, I really (and I mean REALLY) liked The West Wing. (I cannot believe 2000 was ten years ago)

My good friend Patrick and I most likely bonded over our enjoyment of The West Wing, and how the early episodes were written so fantastically that it made us want to (each) be full time writers. We’ve talked about this endlessly on VoIP Tech Chat, but I digress.

In 2000, The West Wing aired a Thanksgiving episode named Shibboleth. I don’t know enough about Aaron Sorkin to know if this was when he was on drugs or not, but his writing during this time fucking rocked. No other way to describe it. The writing fucking rocked.

C.J.
[approaches] They sent me two turkeys. The most photo-friendly of the two gets a
Presidential pardon and a full life at a children’s zoo. The runner-up gets eaten.

BARTLET
If the Oscars were like that, I’d watch.

C.J.
Yes, we will. On the following days, we will be meeting with Reverend Al Caldwell, members of Beijing’s Embassy and INS agents. The president has asked Josh Lyman and Sam Seaborn to run these meetings so it’s entirely possible that by week’s end we’ll have alienated Christians, China and our own government.

As usual, I digress yet again. Shibboleth refers to any distinguishing practice that is indicative of one’s social or regional origin. Almost a password or secret phrase indicating your membership into the organization. But, Sorkin says it best:

JOSH
Mr. President?

BARTLET
How’s it going?

JOSH
Sir, we’ve taken a couple dozen meetings in the last two days.

BARTLET
You met with Chinese embassy officials?

JOSH
Last night. They say…

BARTLET
Christians aren’t persecuted in China. Since they aren’t oppressed, they don’t qualify for refugee status.

JOSH
Under U.S. or U.N. Conditions here.

SAM
They also make the point that they broke Chinese law when the left the country illegally, and should be sent back to the country of origin.

BARTLET
It’s a fair point.

JOSH
The INS agents also feel it’s not uncommon in this situation for refugees to… How do I put it… Feign faith.

BARTLET
Yeah. They’ll be coached.

JOSH
So how do you tell the difference between…?

BARTLET
Do you guys know what a “shibboleth” is?

SAM
It’s a catch phrase isn’t it?

JOSH
A cliché.

BARTLET
It’s from the Bible. “Then said now unto him, say now “shibboleth” and he said “sibboleth” for he could not frame to pronounce it right.” It was a password, the way the army used to distinguish true Israelites from impostors sent across the river Jordan by the enemy.

JOSH
Sir…

BARTLET
I’m having one of the Chinese refugees flown here. I’ll meet with him tonight.

C.J.
[rushes into the room] Mr. President, I can’t, you know, indefinitely, with the turkey.

BARTLET
Yep.

JOSH
Excuse me, Mr. President, what are you going to ask the Chinese refugee?

Bartlet puts on his coat with C.J.’s assistance.

BARTLET
I’m going to ask him to say “Shibboleth.”

Anyway, the XKCD.com comic above made me remember a time when TV had more to offer than idiots making bigger idiots of themselves. I certainly hope that one day my younger cousins don’t think back and think that “Snooki” or some Teen Mom had said anything worth quoting. But that’s just my opinion.

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

We don’t know. Right after the explosion, we were told that 42,000 gallons per day were leaking into the Gulf. Shortly after that, the number was corrected to 210,000 gallons daily. On Thursday, May 27th, that number was increased to more than 500,000 gallons a day (with some estimates at more than 1 million gallons daily).

Now, here’s the kicker. The spill at this time, with whatever semantics we want to call it, is under the control of BP. Right now, it is what it is. It’s BP’s mess and they’re the ones that have been told to fix it. Now, when you have the same person in charge of reporting about and cleaning up the problem they created, I would think that a reasonable person would expect the problem to be under-reported.

Why wouldn’t it be? I mean, let’s think look at the Tennessee coal ash disaster of 2008. Remember it? It was described as the biggest natural disaster in US history and was originally estimated at 1.7 million cubic yards. It was actually 3 times that — 5.4 million.

But, any idiot with a problem knows that sometimes, you may not be the most qualified person to clean your own mess. If you cause a small fire in the kitchen, you might be able to handle it with the fire extinguisher. Hopefully, you’re smart enough to realize when it’s time to call the Fire Department. If you’re not, chances are any one of your neighbors will do it for you.

Of course, we don’t have an Oil Department. Oh wait, we kind of do. You know the one that approved the permits (while watching porn and accepting gifts and jobs from the oil companies). We also have a coast guard, a military, an Environmental Protection Agency, and countless other governmental entities paid by our tax dollars. Are we saying that our government, the United States Government that put humans on the moon, doesn’t have any capabilities of stopping this leak? Is the only entity with the technology and resources to stop this issue British Petroleum?

If this is true, then we’re fucked. Stick a fork in me. Throw in the towel, and get Aretha Franklin a microphone (if it’s time for a fat lady to sing, it might as well be good).

Is there a reason that while we were sitting, watching BP try this “top kill” that we didn’t tell them to star to drilling relief wells just in case? Is there a reason our government cannot start drilling one or two wells themselves? I mean even Bruce Willis knows that you don’t just send one team to drill (and he was right, because Ben Affleck saved his ass… well not his ass, but the world’s ass. Yes. Armageddon. And, yes. I liked that movie.)

BP is effectively in charge of the entire Gulf cleanup and I see us doing nothing. We have a live feed from their cameras. Their cameras. Their feed. I’m thinking step one should have been sending our own crew down there and installing our own monitoring, but that’s just me.

Of course, BP would never limit access to the media or the government, right?

Oh wait… there was that CBS team that was threatened with arrest if they didn’t leave a beach. And that photographer who wasn’t allowed to fly above the Gulf at lower than 3,000 feet. And that 500 foot zone around any BP vessel, and…

Obama promised to “…establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.” It hasn’t happened yet, and he’s not doing shit about it. Not doing jack shit.

Of course, I’m not looking at Obama to waive a magic wand and make this better. Although I am not looking to him to make this worse, either.

So what do I want him to do?

At this point, anything. Just DO something. Don’t talk about what you’re going to do. Don’t tell me what you’re planning. Just shut up and do something. Whatever credibility the government had, is eroding at the rate of a Grecian dollar. I value talk from government in bullshit. More talk, is more bullshit. Unless this bullshit can be used to plug the leak, I respectfully ask that the bullshit stop. Dig some wells. Get a sub down there and monitor it. Do something and then tell us what you’re actually doing.

The government didn’t make this crisis. But they surely helped make it more catastrophic.

More reading:

• ‘Top Kill’ Fails to Stop Flow of Oil From Gulf Leak (The Wall Street Journal)
• Oil Spill May Be Still Bigger (The Wall Street Journal)
• Gulf oil leak rate much higher than reported, professor says (Los Angeles Times)
• Flow Rate Group Provides Preliminary Best Estimate Of Oil Flowing from BP Oil Well (US Dept. Of Interior)
• Limits on access to oiled waters, coast frustrates journalists (nola.com)
• Oil spill taking toll on BP’s credibility — and the government’s (Miami Herald)

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.

What a difference a few (a few, plus) years will do to one’s outlook. Today, I absolutely HATE flying. There’s is simply not a single thing about the experience I enjoy. From sitting in seats where I simply cannot sit comfortably, to dealing with flight attendant attitude; the plane ride is less enjoyable than a ride on the city bus. And, just before anyone comments… it’s not my width that makes the seat uncomfortable. I’m only 6 foot, and I simply cannot fit in the seats. My knees constantly get hit by the seat infront of me, and should that person recline– well, my seat transports my ass to the 4th level of hell. And that’s just the plane! Between the TSA and whatever Airport Authority controls the local airport, the pre-flight experience is even worse.

Anyway… these new fees from Spirit Airlines sound like the perfect plan to make me continue to drive or ride whenever possible. I wonder how long it will take for the other airlines to follow Spirit’s example.

Spirit Airlines New Fees

]]> http://www.fredposner.com/miscellaneous/758/yet-another-reason-to-hate-airlines/feed/ 4 http://www.fredposner.com/miscellaneous/738/google-search-scares-me/ http://www.fredposner.com/miscellaneous/738/google-search-scares-me/#comments Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:06:25 +0000 Fred Posner http://www.fredposner.com/?p=738 Continue reading →]]> 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:

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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:  

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Also check out: http://mashable.com/2009/08/11/funniest-google-suggest-results/

]]> http://www.fredposner.com/miscellaneous/738/google-search-scares-me/feed/ 1 http://www.fredposner.com/miscellaneous/736/ok-starting-to-freak-out-a-little/ http://www.fredposner.com/miscellaneous/736/ok-starting-to-freak-out-a-little/#comments Tue, 23 Feb 2010 14:10:48 +0000 Fred Posner http://www.fredposner.com/?p=736 Continue reading →]]> 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…

• 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.