nerds | Croncast - From Cool to Cul De Sac

hella nerds silent like a school of fish

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:19:29 -0500

i walked by this sea of nerd humanity.

what caught my attention? the silence of the entire group. there is a thesis in there some place about strangers, computer operators and 'social media'.

Tags: thesis group silence strangers computer

Off to the New Jerz

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 05:01:40 -0500

It's about 5 am cst and I'm waiting on the car.

I'll be working with the BlogTalkRadio east coast contingent for the next three days. Looking forward to meeting them in person. Maybe all that stuff that Betsy says about nerds online is true!

Anyway, today's show will be up in a few. Cheers.

Tags: nerds betsy person meeting online

Montenegro wants to help .me

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 14:44:40 -0500

This news has been out for a few months and I missed it but what an awesome bit of news it is . . . for nerds.

What is so awesome? The .me Top Level Domain (TLD) will go on sale this year. For english speaking countries this is great because of the pluthora of phrases that we use that end in me and the ability with a consonant followed by a vowel for work making. As for phrases and words I'll leave that up to you.

The .me domain extension should go on sale in early spring or summer.Hopefully, after the corps and resellers finish buying up names there will be so.me left for us.

Tags: .ME TLD Go Daddy Montenegro domains ICAAN

people people never seen so many nerds

Sat, 08 Mar 2008 18:23:04 -0600

nerds of all strips are here and there.

meeting john haven's fort a dinner with a potential client. I hope they like smelly nerds cuz I am ripe.

Tags: nerds client hope smelly ripe

TC Boulder we've arrived

Thu, 06 Mar 2008 20:27:45 -0600

more nerds than you can shake an algorithm at.

Tags: shake algorithm than nerds boulder

Betsy and her husband Kris Dec 10, 2007

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 09:08:08 -0600

Croncast - 2007-12-10.mp3
Show: #444
Length: 30:08
Size: 20.7mb
Format: mp3

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Betsy laughing during intro
James Brown sang "It's a Man's World"
But that's all wrong
I've seen enough previews from Showtime to know
It's a lipstick lesbians world
No, Kris, I've watched enough Lifetime TV
Betsy has 'dranken' a little much wine
My portion size is off drinking it out of a milk glass
I am not drinking wine because it is grape juice with alcohol
What?
That is like saying that I don't like Boone's Farm Wild Island
So I went to buy some wine at Costco
You can't take kids in there
You can take them in there
No way, Costco is way to shishi
They have to stand outside and scream
Man, when I was a kid my mom took us to Walgreens with her to buy booze
No way!
Yeah, she would go to get prescriptions filled
We would walk into the liquor department buy booze
Then go back to pick up the prescriptions
You need something to wash the pills down with
My grape juice didn't have pulp, Betsy
Listen to me retardo montoban
Wine and grape juice are parallel in my brain
You again agree with me
After last week's shows . . .
I won't apologize for shows anymore
But they didn't have the full funny
Elliot went on a trip with Betsy
What would Grandma want for Christmas Elliot?
Something for her 'Pitties'
What?
Those things that you ladies have that grow out of your armpits
Do you mean breasts Elliot?
Ummmmm . . . I don't know
You guys got those weird undees things that go over your 'Pitties'
Do you mean a bra?
You can't buy your Grandma a bra for Christmas
One day you start itching
Then your Pitties come out
Grandma bras on eBay
Our kids won't be having kids
Sure, Betsy
Can Kris leave the house without returning with a story?
Nope
Did you leave the house this weekend?
Yeah, I left last night
Two nerds sitting in a bar next to one another
Loud music, and communicate through twitter
I saw my friends this morning at the Goodwill opening
My video tape buyer shows up
He is great
He would be in a Thrift Score
I mentioned that I was doing some new stuff
He walked away from me
I wasn't trying to hang
I was trying to over do it
The best time to sell 9 1/2 Weeks
They will raid him and he is creepy
His wife thinks he's crazy
What are you doing wrong?
We are soul mates, Kris
Betsy's jealousy comes out
We had a hard week last week
Interviews are going great
More this week and some follow ups

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Tags: Wine Boone's Farm Wild Island Pitties James Brown Thrift Score

Why use the .rss extension?

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 09:30:56 -0600

Why not? Last night I put up a post about how to add the .rss extension to RSS feeds instead of having other extensions. I resurrected my full post after Josh followed up with this comment:

Serious question - why? What benefit (besides looking cool) do you get from this, when there's no standard extension for feeds (.xml, .rdf, .atom, etc.) and lots of FeedBurner feeds with no extension at all?

Still a cool hack, though, Kris. :-)

My theory for doing this revolves around user acceptance of RSS and that the message we give as publishers (see; nerds) about RSS being so awesome isn't a very coherent one. We need a better message and a shiny new package. To me, .rss explains exactly what I am going to get when I use it. Simple.

Packaging feed formats of all types under the extension is a way for users to know exactly what they are getting - syndicated content, a.k.a., "your stuff". There is no need for all the baffling mumbojumbo we throw at site visitors about what RSS is or how it works. I contend they don't care that, "RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is an XML-based format for sharing and distributing Web content" (via CNN). Blah.

Check this Wired explanation for further mumbojumbo:

Based on the XML data format, RSS is the simplest way to add Wired News headlines to your site.

Even the part of the sentence after the comma from Wired is confusing, "add Wired News headlines to your site." What if I just want to read it and not put it into my site? For most people, would they know how to put those headlines in their site? Do they have sites?

What I am trying to say is that we need to get our act together and stop being nerds about syndication formats. The nice orange RSS icon is ubiqitous and is used to link to .xml, .rdf, .atom and the like without the end user needing to know what they are. Our messaging should be as simple as the RSS icon and I think the .rss extension helps to clarify what is being delivered.

Think about how easy it is to describe what a telephone is and how to use it. Did you for a second even think about the technology that makes your phone work? Nope. Pick it up, dial and talk. Simple.

The orange RSS icon is the syndication telephone and .rss is the keypad.

Tags: RSS RSS icon .rss extension

Betsy and her husband Kris Nov 26, 2007

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 08:16:14 -0600

Croncast - 2007-11-26.mp3
Show: #438
Length: 32:06
Size: 22.0mb
Format: mp3

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Your dad sent an email from India
He wants to know what a 'post' is
Any content that is in the site
Kris commenting on Besty's cooking and sharing it with the world
I want to talk about the convalescent home that you knocked over
Where do you get clothes like that?
Betsy's Thanksgiving redemption with turkey dinner number two
Betsy role plays the judge at our divorce proceeding
We didn't share that
At Costco, because it is the only place I can shop
What are we here for?
I was in charge
How about we do another turkey?
Getting right back on the horse
Betsy avoids conversation
Somebody's gotta keep a cap on that stuff
All berries are the same
Not my Barry he's special
I cannot stand watching love scenes on TV
They all creep me out
It's even worse when they are elderly
Referencing the list
Betsy is wound up
Behold, this is what our listeners want, Kris
Made by hand by Goodwill Industries employees
Everyone could use them
And we get to pick the scent
How are the commuters going to hand that on the train?
On the antanae of their Treo
The nice thing about the air freshener is it keeps on giving
Very interesting, I'll take it back to the committee
Dino from improv university
He can get them cheaper
Brought to you by the people who brought you Aquadots
I did a photo essay, live blog or our Goodwill date
Photos start here
Watching you was like watching a manic woman
It was an experience
No one needs hot food
It should all be warm
I will own a restaurant someday called "Warm"
We were being followed
He was working downtown Naperville
The guys was a thief
Sure, Kris, he was just shopping
Not so close behind me
Maniacally stirring your hot chocolate to cool it down
Sure, when Whole Foods opens
More like Boulder every day
The man was up to something
He was undercover officer, Kris
He was picking out people who didn't fit . . . and it was you
Does his fleece say "North Face or REI?", no captain
Follow that man
Book nerds are the original nerds
The Bolingbrook thing is ooking me out
Yes, that Bolingbrook with Drew Peterson
The missing Stacey Peterson
In the last week I have gone by 3 groups of people looking for her in the woods
It is strange, simple strange
How your first memory impacts your entire life
What is your first memory Betsy?
Hitting strangers with a broom while they sat in circle
You are crazy
I poked my cousin in the head with a shovel once
You played basketball in gravel

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Tags: North Face Aquadots air fresheners hot chocolate Bolingbrook Petersons

Betsy and her husband Kris Nov 16, 2007

Fri, 16 Nov 2007 11:10:06 -0600

Croncast - 2007-11-16.mp3
Show: #434
Length: 27:43
Size: 19.0mb
Format: mp3

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Short intro
Why can't you do the intro, Betsy?
I don't remember it
To my reply, I've said it a lot
Once you start going I know it
The Family Ties thing would come on and i wouldn't know it
Because you were too busy holding the bunny ears
Maybe that is why you have premature balding
I don't have premature balding, it happened at the right time
When is the right time to bald, Kris?
When you want to make the jump to senior management?
Premature balding is in high school
Kris, anytime to premature for ladies
If you go bald postmortem it is too soon
You could have comb over talk
Golf becomes more interesting when you lose you hair
No
More and more forehead
He looked like Tyra Banks?
No
My friends
You were too exhausted from partying all night
I have to scream at people because my voice is low
That is why the intro was short
Now you are thinking like me
I was at TechCocktail 6 in Chicago
Not much business talk
Lots of nerds just drinking booze
Hanging with friends was best part
So shout out to Evan, Brian and Greg
Tech in Chicago - I work at a oil refinery, I'm a tech recruiter for C++
Exciting technology
Does it get more exciting than Microsoft?
Tech status quo is what it is
Only the nerds get your joke, Kris
Get my correspondence Masters Degree
People got to be telling people about the show
He said we are quality like Schmodcast
We need a better name
I asked you to bring it
Three years now
You need to bring it
How about Bcast
How about BetsyCast
You been bringing the funny lately Mr. B
The improv thing didn't work out well
Let's talk about it
You're unemployed, wanna arm wrestle
All my fears about not getting the improv thing came true
You auditioned for my love
I won because I was only one in the room
Toughest part was not having stage experience
Yeah, I am funny but I don't have the range for accents and characters
Maybe you need to be doing stand up
I can sell shoes anywhere
I've had some great conversations with people
My people see my resume and say, looks solid, awesome
Not quite sure what HR people think
Evidently not a whole lot
I have more conversations today
You got ins Mr. B
No, not "ins" I got leads
I have thought about not recording
This is part of the story that isn't that much fun to share
They should hire you to Twitter from Goodwill
There were ladies at TechCocktail
There need to be more women in tech
Serial killers get the three name treatment
You know he's trying to figure out how to fit you into a taco
People, you have to fill the gaps . . . and laughter works!

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Tags: Family Ties TechCocktail 6 Evan Brown Greg Cnagialosi Brian Beatty

Betsy and her husband Kris Nov 07, 2007

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 07:56:51 -0600

Croncast - 2007-11-07.mp3
Show: #430
Length: 31:18
Size: 21.0mb
Format: mp3

Betsy and her husband Kris Nov 07, 2007

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Kris nerds out about comment spam
Not all the comments are on
I gotta shut those people down with their Ultra Canadian Pharmacy
What is wrong with you?
No one wants to hear that
It's just creative advertising, Kris
This is getting super interesting
You've dropped a lot of your nerdisms
You aren't weird around girls anymore
Just because people are turned in your general direction
Well, it doesn't mean that they are listening
Betsy breaks down her improv auditions
Betsy is freaking out
I told you how this would go
Did you bring your headshot and resume?
Right, my resume that says CEO of internet startup TheSmithMall on eBay
See, you didn't think that this was real work
No shit, it is competitive
It was valuable
I crossed it off with a china marking pen
It was pretty much like the Wheel of Fortune Chicago auditions
My sister told me not to wear my generic broken Crocs
I looked down and that's what I was wearing with no socks
That is prepared Betsy style
At that moment I didn't feel that together
A guy show up in a Simpsons t-shirt and a trench coat
I see that guy and hit the floor
Nobody move, nobody get hurt
Another chick came in frazzled with watered down eyeliner
A totally Deep Fried Blonde (DFB)
That's their problem not mine
What age range can you play?
I just put 32
You're supposed to put what ages
Every time I fill out an app - White Hen, Hardees, Ben Franklin
I could have used you as a wing man
I have talked about Mike from Second City
You just prefaced it with that
Teaching there, holy shit
The fourteen stages of improv
It's all part of the shtick
Then they go through what we are going to do
I just want to go home and watch Desperate Housewives on dvr
What was your first car?
Chevy
What kind?
Silver
And they all started laughing
I wasn't trying to be funny
Now I gotta do these setups with strangers
It went well
You are in improv boot camp at The Comedy Shrine
Naperville is holding it down
I know Mr B . . . people across the country they have working toasters
The person in the chair is the mall information booth
I am always thinking of disposable goods
Where do they sell RID at the mall?
Betsy gets cut off
The person in front of me is the Deep Fried Blonde
Her teacher didn't come from Second City
She starts a god damn conversation with me
She wants to shine
All she was supposed to say was aisle three
I started behind the door
They said don't do that
"DFB," one word would be fine
Betsy, do someone foreign
You have to get creative
Foreign to Naperville is what I brought
I was way better on the way home
You are obsessing about this
I helped build you up
You are the most competitive person that I know
Betsy, you just have to stick with it
That is the key for you
I would think after 11 years of marriage you would know when to shut up
I am just wondering why to do this
The audition freaked me out
I knew I would be with professionals
While you are doing your audition I took the man to his doctors appointment
The nurse was treating him like he's managing his health care
Sure, like he set it up
He's lost weight and not grown
We've taught him some better eating habits
Here's a fruit party platter
She's leaving and asks him if their is anything else
He's talking non-stop
This is a lot less
"Elliot is there anything else you want to share," goes the nurse
"There is something else," Elliot
He looks right at me and says, "My mom says things to my dad that makes him really angry"
"She says really mean stuff," Elliot
Buddy, it might be a good idea to refrain
On the show, but he doesn't listen
Picking up probably on the hairy situation here in the house
Sure we all have stress and tension
Your mom and I are best friends
One of those moments
Then the kid asks, "Why am I in a foster home?"
Tomorrow, is the 3 YEAR CRONCAST ANNIVERSARY

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Tags: Second City The Comedy Shrine Deep Fried Blonde Hardees Croncast

Betsy and her husband Kris Oct 31, 2007

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 08:53:52 -0500

Croncast - 2007-10-31.mp3
Show: #427
Length: 31:53
Size: 21.9mb
Format: mp3

Betsy and her husband Kris Oct 31, 2007

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It's Halloween here in the states
Betsy points out my illness of the past few days
It feels like something is eating my guts
Pop upstairs and see Betsy is watching PBS HD
That's ok to watch tears on PBS in HD, at least she is watching HD
The grieving process and death
How much more depressing can it get?
Dead babies?
Betsy how can you feel good after that?
Let me transition Kris
This was a transition you just didn't let me get there
Gotta bring it back for the people
The email for it was vague
What are we exactly going for
Not you, not you, not you
It's at the Rosemont Theater
Right by airport with turbine exhaust blowing in our faces
Downwind of O'hare
I put up some of the photos
Those are like Twitter questions
What did you put?
Podcaster
And it filled the whole thing
The people, Bears, the people
None of them were excited to be there
What do you do?
Nothing
Who can't come up with something
Prepare!!!
Don't stand there it's not your mark
Turns out that at this, audition
There was no Pat or Vanna
Plumber pipe fitter
I like to do karaoke
That's perfect, queue the music, YMCA comes on
Merv says, 'no'
Energy drops right out of room
You gotta flow with it
I can see the pipe fitters doing the YMCA karaoke in towels at the lodge
Pipe fitters singing YMCA
I got nothing for it
If you get on stage you get a bobble head Pat or Vanna
That's another Croncast t-shirt
She's just a Wheel junkie
PBS nerds look just like me
No they thought I was the baseball player, Youka-something
They were like, "I didn't know you could hit with moobs"
I did a couple interviews with Tony Kahn and Gary Mott for Morning Stories
Hopefully it will get on
Thanks to Tony and Gary for hanging out and putting up with my podcasting talk
I'm feeling the venom here
Now I have nothing left on my life list but riding a llama
Llamenade serverd at 98.6 degrees

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Tags: Wheel of Fortune PBS WGBH Tony Kahn Gary Mott Morning Stories

Naperville nerd posse member gets more ink

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 10:08:59 -0500

Fellow Naperville nerd and flafoo.com halfsie, Mike Marusin, will be getting some ink very soon. The online version of an article that he appears, "Is it time to move to the suburbs?," by David Hochman, is up already but it'll be hitting the stores and mailboxes soon on the pages of Details magazine.

Nerds are real men too.

I had no idea House of Pain drove Mike and Liz to the suburbs but I can see how that is likely with the confluence of rap addicted white kids from the suburbs that migrate to the city . . . to be cool.

Maybe this is the new circle of life? I can't wait for the National Geographic video on this.

Tags: Mike Marusin David Hochman Details magazine Naperville flafoo

Betsy and her husband Kris Sep 12, 2007

Wed, 12 Sep 2007 08:43:37 -0500

Croncast - 2007-09-12.mp3
Show: #409
Length: 28:50
Size: 19.8mb
Format: mp3

Betsy and her husband Kris Sep 12, 2007

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I burned the taste buds off my tongue
You can't tell people that, Kris!
There is no excuse
The TSA travel restrictions . . .
You need to buy travel size
I have to always go through with electronic gear
How do you know?
You ever travel with toothpaste
I buy it at the hotel
They only had toothpaste at the hotel
She taught me how to catch knives with my thumbs
Nerds get no respect . . . I can fuck with this guy
I have no need to respect this man
Laughing at me as I look like a fat penguin
Please go ahead of me, I will be here for a while
They always say something about the gear
Yes, you know what I won't even go into and save people time
Hey wait, aren't those condenser mics?
Why yes they are?
Did you say that you used to have a Neumann?
I did not
If you spent our last $7000 on implants . . . no I would not be pissed
I would wish you no ill will
He starts leaning over all suave
Slowly leaning
He goes,"I'm a producer"
I started laughing inside
Aren't we all kid
I felt like an old man
I bet you said it in your creepy voice man
No I didn't
I haven't busted out the creepy voice in a long time
You used to use the creepy all the time
Do the creepy voice
No
I don't know what to say
You think it is suave
It is not creepy
Say, "Ain't we all kid"
Somebody strip search that man
The voice isn't scary or creepy
I did up Boulder
Then came Philadelphia
Many observations from the city of brotherly love
They might have been your siblings, Betsy, not mine
At the first part we ended up at a house part
I didn't eat the beef jerky on the plane
I can follow your advice
Making other people's lives better one flight at a time
I am sure they don't even sell jerky in Boulder
All natural it would be
I go to the house party with Aaron Brazell and his wife Nicole
Imagine how pissed they would be to shake you down for no cash
They are used to living in the city
I am now soft and weak
That is so suburban
Yes, Bears you can't do that
I am an old man now, I can't pull this stuff off
On the porch is a hype causing nothing but trouble
They keeps it super real with gun inside the house
Now that is what I call a house party for a guy who never leaves his man pit
Hey, I'm at a party
Betsy starts making shit up
I hung up and was like
Kris is at work at a house party in the hood
The party was pretty good
Next day headed off to Podcamp Philly
The after party Saturday night . . . unisex, co-ed bathrooms . . . WTF
"It's trendy"
It is not trendy to have to dump out in front of the opposite sex
No one likes to do it
Betsy goes off about the cleaning people
Baby, no one . . . no one, likes to clean
You can't have male cleaners
Men can't clean
It is totally genetic
You can't keep anything clean baby
I know you will try but it is all full of junk
That's called inventory

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Tags: Philadelphia Swanky Bubbles Aaron Brazell Nicole Brazell Podcamp Philly 2007 cleaners