Matt Stempeck

Blog

  • Weekend Update

    Shut up, crickets.

    This weekend Red Sox take on the Yankees, as does this ever-mutating meme:

    torre.jpg

    LolYankees

    Uploading pics from my phone to here may be working now / soon!

    Last weekend I went home to Boston for a solid 4 days full of great times and great food (how often these go together) – Pics

    Justin got major knee surgery and graduated from Northeastern Law in the same week.

    Went to WBOS EarthFest and saw Guster and John Butler Trio:

    Also fun:

    Passive Aggressive Notes from roommates, neighbors, coworkers and strangers

  • Encyclopedia of Life

    Ultimately, the Encyclopedia will serve as an online reference source and database for every one of the 1.8 million species that are named and known on this planet, as well as all those later discovered and described.

    The Encyclopedia of Life was inspired by E.O. Wilson, and specifically, his TED Prize acceptance speech where he pleas with us to pool our limited knowledge about life on Earth even as we destroy it.

    On a technical note, the project’s pages include an intuitive slider that allows the user to instantly adjust their preferred knowledge level, and with it, the depth of information on the page. I know quite a few sites that could use an easily adjustable navigation like this.

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    I can’t locate the working example I played with earlier, but you can see what I’m talking about on the Example page.

  • Just in time for Summer: the Ocean

    Forget the iPhone.

    The Ocean’s better. And available now. And ONE THIRD the price.

    I haven’t been this excited for a consumer electronics, nay, any purchase, since I ordered the Nomad Jukebox back in 2002 (the iPod wasn’t working on PCs yet).

    The Helio Ocean is at long last available for purchase, after driving me nuts with a vague “Spring 2007” release date. Click here for its features.

    I’ve just scored a major victory in the battle for free time. The sooner I can do all of my email reading, blogging, Facebook-pruning, and other daily computer stuff while I’m bored on the bus and not in the precious free time at night, the better. I like to think that in the future, sitting in front of a desktop computer is going to be pretty old-fashioned.

    And to add to my excitement, the Ocean is arriving via free two-day FedEx.

    Even with all of the hype (and corresponding share price), Google continues to amaze me. A quick search for “Helio Ocean promo code” found:

    The discount is as follows:
    $75 off the device
    $30 activation fee waived
    $25 off your invoice for the first 4 months,
    plus 1 month free of TV service.

    A total value of $211

    Via

    Promo Code: B2BYMOD ($220 after discount)

    If you order one and want to say thanks for the discount, put my phone number in the referral box on the order page and I’ll get a free month of service.

    Bangarang!

    ocean.png

  • Disney Princess Highlight Reel

    from: Richissin

  • e-cards are back!

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    Extremely NSFW e-cards to send your coworkers.

    http://www.someecards.com/, “for when you care enough to hit send.”

  • The Day Fun Died

    A special guest post by Matthew T. Richissin, commemorating the loss of yet another youth recreation destination in the Boston metropolitan area. I went to Fun Land once, and it rained. That’s just the kind of place Fun Land was. All I can say is GOD SAVE CANOBIE LAKE.

    My name is Matthew T. Richissin, I am a 23 year old college student. Though I’m not a religious man, I do believe in heaven; as it is a place that I have already frequented. Dictionary.com defines “heaven” as “An eternal state of communion with God; everlasting bliss” and that is just what Fun Land was. Eternal Bliss.

    For those who are unfamiliar with Fun Land, let me summarize it for you. Fun Land would be the amusement park you would’ve created at the age of 7 if you had a limited budget and had to build it in Tewksbury, MA. Go Karts that could accommodate a person of any age (provided said person was under 90 pounds), batting cages with pitching machines that weren’t afraid to brush you off the plate, and a mini golf course with obstacles featuring all of your favorite childhood plush toys, such as the Ninja Turtle hole.

    Inside, an arcade with all your favorite videogames: NBA Jam, Aerosmith: Revolution and Cruisin’ USA (note: If you were hoping it had San Fransisco Rush, do yourself a favor and throw yourself off the highest building you can find). This was all surrounded by a chain fence topped off with barbed wire. The owners made their point clear, “If you don’t want to have fun, stay the fuck out.”

    This is why the news of May 7th came as such a shock to me, as it is a day that will always be known as “The Day Fun Died.” In my opinion, when it is all said and done, the closing of Fun Land will be known as the single greatest national tragedy of the new millennium. I, nor any other great writer, could possibly describe all of the emotions I felt upon hearing the news. I can, however, provide you with images of what I believe this world will look without Fun Land:

    I leave you now with the powerful words of the female vocalist Avril Lavigne (you can also watch a video of this fine gent singing it)

    So Far Away, Wish You Were Here
    Before its too late this could all disappear
    Before the doors close and it comes to an end
    With you by my side I’ll fight and defend.
    I’ll fight and defend
    Keep Holding On, cuz I’ll make it through, make it through.
    Just Stay Strong, cuz u know I’m here for you, here for you.
    There’s nothing you can say.
    There’s nothing you can do.
    There’s no other way when it comes to the truth
    Keep Holding on.

  • Interview Tips for MBAs

    It’s May and people are graduating, which means sacrificing the first of many summers to an air conditioned office. That is, if you have a job lined up. If you aren’t, you could benefit from these interview tips.

    In case you thought group projects and the inevitable videos died in middle school high school college, my brother Brian is here with classmates (colleagues?) from the Kenan-Flager Business School at UNC Chapel Hill.

    Some humorous parts in here. Skip to the 6 minute mark for Brian, or, like all good videos, skip to the very end for a montage.

    For more fun, check out Brian’s former attempts at becoming an online video celebrity.

  • Deep Creek

    In the spirit of sucking life dry, I’m heading to Deep Creek Lake for the weekend. I didn’t even have to unpack my suit!

    For some reason, one of the first things I knew about the state of Maryland was that it has no natural lakes. As Katie points out, it has puddles, creeks, rivers, bays, ocean…just no natural lakes. Can’t trust a state without a lake, can you?

    Deep Creek Lake was created by an electricity company many years ago and purchased by the state of Maryland in 2000. They list a number of outdoor recreational activities but I think my priority is going to be SCUBA diving and trying to find some sunken electrical equipment.

  • Reese’s Releases

    reeses.jpgReese’s needs to learn to love itself for the way it is.

    I understand that capitalism pretty much dictates that companies must endlessly increase sales, and this translates to continuously messing with classic products. This is why when you go to buy toothpaste it takes 45 minutes and two copies of Consumer Reports to decide. See, for example, Oreos. Now, granted, innovation has led to undeniably remarkable new products: Double Stuff, Halloween, and mini Oreos being good examples. But look also at the dilution of the brand: The Clorox-colored Spring collection, the bland peanut butter variety (and I’m normally a big fan of all things peanut butter), and congealed Oreo cheesecake.

    But no brand has engaged in as many pointless variations of its base than Reese’s. They realized long ago, probably in the years following ET, that little more could be done with Reese’s Pieces (although the M&M forays into other fillings should serve as inspiration), so they turned to bastardizations of what can best be described as peanut butter Kit Kats. As I drove past a billboard for a Reese’s peanut butter cappuccino a couple of weeks ago, I had to wonder, does this relentless product roll-out really work?

    HERSHEY WILL RELY ON RAMPED-UP consumer marketing spending to bring it out of a slump this year. The nation’s largest candy maker yesterday reported a dismal fourth quarter due largely to aggressive trade promotion to clear out unsold merchandise

    -MediaPost

  • Green Mountains, Boys

    I’m in Burlington, Vermont for the next couple of days. Despite growing up a few hours away, I’ve never been to Vermont. In 7th grade I had to plan a week vacation in the state for social studies class and all I could come up with was a tour of the Ben & Jerry’s Factory followed by helicopter tours of the landscape.

    For some reason, packing for the trip and flying here made me feel like I was going to another country. Maybe it’s because Vermont was the last to join of the original 13 colonies and still talks of seceding. Either way, I’m really looking forward to exploring Burlington and meeting with some amazing people along the way.

    This completely pointless post brought to you by the wonderful folks at Burlington Airport who believe in free WiFi.

    Read about the Green Mountain Boys.

     

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  • Spring in Columbia Heights

    Given recent murders on my street, I decided to go for a walk and refresh my opinion of my neighborhood. Here are some of the colors I found on a beautiful spring day.

    I’ve never been to the UN Headquarters, but this is kind of how I picture it

  • What Subway Considers a Vegetarian Sub

    • 1 tomato slice
    • 1/2 slice cheese
    • 1 cucumber slice
    • shredded iceberg
    • 5 black olive slices
    • 2 pickle slices
    • 1 banana pepper

    I’m not even vegetarian, but for a chain that obsessively promotes how healthy it is, you’d think they’d have more interesting vegetarian options than the ‘everything bagel’ approach.

    Of course, this is the same company that is trying to get people to switch from potato chips to raisins.