This is not news, @nbcnews

I feel bad for the injured people and the families of those killed and I'm embarrassed for NBC News. (I was also not on this flight.)

Also sad - search for it on YouTube and you'll see video people shot as well as ads above and below it for Disney/Pixar's Planes. Might want to adjust your ads, Disney.

Worth Repeating: Arunachalam Muruganantham

Video:


How I Started a Sanitary Napkin Revolution: When he realized his wife had to choose between buying family meals and buying her monthly "supplies," Arunachalam Muruganantham vowed to help her solve the problem of the sanitary pad. His research got very very personal -- and led him to a powerful business model. More on TED.com...

Why I'm Posting: He was struck with inspiration and he stuck with him. It cost him quite a bit personally but the world is better off as a result.

Feed Sift

Here's five interesting things I've come across lately in my blog feeds.

-1-

Burke Gilman Trail Concept - a glossy brochure from a design firm for an overhaul of the Burke Gilman trail on the UW campus. I love this kinda stuff. (PDF)

-2-

50 Small Things to Help Improve Your Customer Service - a slideshare of quick hits. And remember, it's all customer service because you are someone's customer or someone is your customer. I don't mean that in a jaded or negative way.

-3-

Even 5 over makes a difference - two cars, one traveling the speed limit, one going five miles faster - both collide with the same object at the same time in this video. A reminder to slow down.

Project Haven

When things seem out of control, I naturally try to find ways to regain control of some element of my life. But with limits on finances and food due to a semi-failing diet, buying a new TV (or even lots of bags of mulch) are out of the question, as is drowning my frustration in a container of ice cream. In the past, this attempt to reassert control has even manifested itself as unfriending binges on Facebook. But since I instituted decided to cap my friends list at precisely 200, that sort of self-inflicted damage is also off the table. There's also just diving back in to the To Do list and trying to get some satisfaction there. But this week I couldn't bring myself to even that.

So, what's left is serious decluttering. This is an area where chaos reigns supreme and try as we might, it's something we've never fully been able to get a handle on. We're a busy family with, arguably, too much stuff. And probably insufficient, inadequate or inappropriate storage options. 

After this latest round of feeling out-of-control (the heat, this week's trip to the ER, the subsequent trip to A&W), I was again feeling the need to do something. I'm just grateful I have grown past the age of wanting to throw a tantrum, whine, say bad words or break stuff. I don't want to call it maturity, but maybe plain or boring practicality of knowing that won't solve anything. Or perhaps just realizing that I'm just too tired.

Yesterday morning I woke up before work with time to do a bunch of chores before leaving for work, but I couldn't bring myself to do them. Instead, I found myself on Thesaurus.com looking up the word "sanctuary." I was looking up the word because that's what a bedroom should be, in some sense of the word, and due to clutter, I've always thought ours failed us in that regard. And let me tell you, there are some great synonyms, like: asylum, retreat, refuge, base, harbor, haven, hideaway, safety, shelter, nest, enclave, shelter, burrow, cave, snuggery, cozy, escape, stronghold, seclusion, solitude.

The Journey vs. The Destination

As a concrete-sequential, the idea of focusing on the journey rather than the destination has always bugged me.

As an impatient driver who allows himself to easily become bored, the idea of focusing on journey rather than the destination has always bugged me.

As the father of two children who don't travel well, the idea of, well, you know.

As someone who believes in God and Jesus and heaven, this is a confusing one.

"Eye on the prize" and all that, right?

An inbox is to be emptied, Feedly to be cleared out, TED Talks to be watched and deleted. Projects to be scoped, assigned and completed. It's always about done, done, done.

Destination, right?

So for whatever reason, that concept had been flitting around in my brain the last few weeks, annoying me anew each time it stopped for a moment and let me ponder it.

And then it finally struck me. Like so many pithy things, that idea is flawed. I guess I should avoid pithy things and either/or things.

"Change in plans..."

In this post, I use the word "interruption" in its truest sense - something that causes a stop (potentially temporarily) to something else. This word can, at times, be loaded, but I do not intend that here.

I recently wrote about how someone gives me a glimpse and I'm off and running, mentally imagining when it ultimately becomes reality, impatient for it to just happen already. Good or bad, you tell me it will be and it will have already happened in the future. In some cases, then, dread until done. In other cases, impatience. Perhaps that's why I'm drawn to the idea of time travel, it opens those possibilities back up - and has the potential to correct past mistakes. Or at least what I think are mistakes.

Ironically I had to stop after the first paragraph and close the laptop lid because someone came and demanded my attention in person (this was written on Monday while staying home because Lori wasn't feeling well). Demanded, however, is the wrong word. They came into the room I was in to talk to me. It was the right thing to close the laptop and focus on them, easier so because I was writing this post. What I need to work on now is the face I apparently make when I'm interrupted.

I've tried to figure out why these types of interruptions are so difficult. I think there are three (the second closing of the laptop, here, was a little more difficult, but it was quicker and I worked harder at it. Of course, now the laptop itself may end up being a clue to those who encounter this situation) anyhow, I think there are three reasons this is a challenge.

#EEC13: Personalization: You Can Do This (A Work-Related Post)

The latest in my very-delayed updates from #EEC13. At this rate I'll be posting one of the last updates *from* #EEC14.

Presenters:

• Phil Davis (Twitter, LinkedIn)
  CEO, Rapleaf
• Erik Severinghaus (Twitter, LinkedIn)
  CEO, SimpleRelevance
• John Kavaliauskas (LinkedIn)
  Senior Manager, Email & Data-Driven Marketing, TBC Corp
• Amanda Stewart (LinkedIn)
  Senior Manager, Marketing, Entertainment Benefits Group

This panel was presented by RapLeaf (a poorly named data aggregator) and SimpleRelevance.

RapLeaf's (www.rapleaf.com) selling point is real-time data across a number of demographic points for 80% of U.S. email addresses. Load up a file (or use their API) and get back additional data points for the email address and become a more informed marketer.

SimpleRelevance (www.simplerelevance.com) makes e-commerce relevancy predictions by using publicly available data for an email address combined with the exhibited behaviors of email addresses that show similar traits, again, all with the information people share publicly online.

Why Relevancy?

We have a responsibility to uphold the brand promise we made when they opted-in.

"Groupon was fun at first, but now it's all mani-pedi- it's not fun because it's not relevant." Or, to put it another way… You see this happen at a Superbowl Party: Guy goes up to Phil's wife and asks "Who are you hoping will win?" She says "I don't know who's playing and I don't really care all that much, I'm just here to enjoy the party." Guy starts talking teams and stats and after a few minutes, she's glancing over at Phil imploring him to help her opt-out of the conversation. Don't be like Guy.

Big Data or Big Headache?

Segment = assumption. Personalization is better. Don't confuse noise and signals.

Big data = non-structured unfiltered data like a twitter comment "I just test drove a Volvo" and translating that into "in market for car / values safety / has money / might be female"

Is that good enough? Can you use that to provide relevancy?

Forget "Big Data" and think "Small Data"