Dirkmonster

Pluto back to being just a cartoon dog

According to a CNN breaking news bulletin this morning:

Leading astronomers declared Thursday that Pluto is no longer a planet under historic new guidelines that downsize the solar system from nine planets to eight.

I'm not sure how this affects my life. Maybe someone out there can explain.  I did chuckle at another portion of the CNN story that read (my emphasis added):

Pluto is no stranger to controversy. In fact, it's been dogged by disputes ever since its discovery.  (Watch why some think planet size doesn't matter -- 3:39)

Wow. A pun and a mixed metaphor in one sentence.

Stay tuned for details.  Maybe another astronomer will call "bullshit" and we can get back to the universe we've all come to know and love.

Get to the Wilson County Fair

The Wilson County Fair runs through this weekend and it's well worth roasting away a day there. Yeah, it's hot as fire out there.

Our two kids, Ross (3) and Jenna Claire (17 months) both had a wonderful time.

• Get the ride bracelet because then you don't have to argue when the boy wants to ride the bumper cars again.
• Stop by the building with the commerical booths like Dell and the Watertown Chamber.  You'll get a free popcicle on the way in.
• One of the best drink prices I found was the Wilson County HS Cheerleaders stand at the main stage pavillion.  $1.50.
• I liked the grilled Italian Sausage on the hoagie roll but it's not for everyone.  I still have a big glob of dried mustard on my left sneaker.
• Remember sunscreen.
• Go early if you can. Get there right at noon and you can park steps away from the Orange gate. That's the one by all the tractors.
• The farm animals are a hit with everyone.  We got to see a sheep sheared.
• Harold Ford Jr. might be a good senator if he can get to the votes on time.
• The main ferris wheel is well worth it. You can see all the way past the city square.  Lebanon is flat!

The thing that really made it a great time for us is how friendly everyone from the fair staff and exhibitors to the food vendors and ride workers are.  It really is remarkable.

Geeked out at Breakfast!

I had the awesome privilege this morning of having breakfast at Noshville with Rex Hammock along with my boss Jay Graves.  Jay has business connections going back aways with Rex and I got inspired after seeing Rex and others talk about blogging for business early this year.

We spent well over an hour talking about dot-com history and web 2.0 future. Mainly, all of us are interested in how web 2.0 applications will impact business and marketing in the not too distant future tomorrow.

Rex tipped me off to some interesting ways in which he's managing e-mail traffic at his office.  Why not use a Wiki application to post "water-cooler worthy" content rather than have it filling up your in-box (unless you want it to!)?  And I found that if you know Google and your name is Hammock, you might consider an additional line of business.

After seeing Rex, Brittney and Nick Bradbury at an NTC event in January I really got interested in blogging. That led me to wikis, RSS, frappr, flickr, feedburner, Typepad, MySpace, LinkedIn, Nashvilleistalking, Micropersuasion, Naked Conversations, iTunes and YouTube...and I could go on and on.  I'm authoring a blog for my business, on my church, and for the 24 page views per day that my personal life draws.  I'm bought in - and excited finally to be (almost) on the front end of an unstoppable business movement.

Thanks to Jay and Rex for getting my Friday off to a fascinating start.

Massive Dell notebook battery recall

Blog readers have seen this coming for months, but today Dell finally issued a recall of 2.7 million notebook battery packs sold in the U.S. (along with notebook computers or separately).

I'm posting this using a notebook but I've got it plugged in so this shouldn't happen to me:
View this photo

I wonder if Dell notebooks using these batteries will have to be banned from commercial flights due to now federally documented fire hazard.  The TSA should collect all the batteries that have to be discarded at checkpoints, get their replacement from Dell, and re-sell them on eBay.

Hopefully tonight the healing begins

Saturday night's 5:30pm worship service at Bellevue Community Church will be the first since the previous weekend's painful chaos.  I'm expecting God to show up big time.
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You know you've been blogging too much when...

My 39th birthday was this past Tuesday, August 1.  This year Lyn had some fun with the cake.  I guess the message is that I've been a little passionate about a certain web application I discovered this past January.
Click the image for a closer look.

Dr. Foster asks for unity, not protest

Dr. Foster published an open letter today on www.fosteringhope.com in which he calls for his supporters to come in peace to this weekend's services at BCC:

With all my heart, I am asking that at all four weekend services there be a coming together to begin the healing process and start the next chapter of BCC's life. I do not want nor do I support a vote of any kind and I plead with everyone that there be no protests, petitions, signs, or contentious displays by anyone for any reason. While we may differ on this decision, it has been made by good men who, at great distress to themselves have stepped up to do what they honestly in their hearts feel is the right thing for BCC. My task is done and it is time to move onto the next chapter of my life too. READ THE COMPLETE LETTER

That's a classy move and hopefully lessens some of the tension that was building around this weekend.  At the elders meeting with the BCC community Wednesday night, Randy Holland promised BCC would play from its strength in an unforgettable worship experience featuring Lionel Cartwright.