Mr. Besilly's Blog

You Might Be Saying Way Too Much

I love text messaging on my iPhone. Having to type every word letter by tedious letter makes me cut to the essentials only. No fluff or filler words, it's all about economy.

"You wannt to eaf ouf toniife?" does not require a financial review. "Runnimg late" needs no long explanation. "Can I burrow somme money?" is easier to ask when you text it. There's no arguing with the kids over curfew when you can just text, "Gert home now!!", then ignore their response when they start pushing back. LOL!

If you're not using text messaging you're either too old or too lazy to learn. :) Possibly both. (hehe!)  The real truth is, if you're not texting you might be saying way too much.

Miley Cyrus Plays Pretend Pin-Up Girl

Why in the world would the beloved Disney teen idol Miley Cyrus (Hannah Montana) agree to do a photo shoot for Vanity Fair wearing a sheet? Even her TV show Dad would not have approved of Hannah Montana becoming a Disney Pin-up girl. Or would he? Who on earth thought that a partially nude Miley Cyrus was a good idea besides photographer Annie Leibovitz and the rest of the hangers on that enjoy watching the good die young?

"The magazine defended the pictures, saying the singer, her parents and her handlers approved of the images during the shoot." Of course they did! She's young, she needs the money. Source: AM NY

Kitty Wigs Is Open For Biznazz

   

If you thought that a Seth Godin Action Figure was too unbelievable to be true, then I can't wait until you get an eyeful of Kitty Wigs. The perfect accessory for the feline fanatic that has everything but is still lusting after so much more.

Seth Godin Has An Action Figure?

It sounds too fantastic to be true, but Archie McPhee has released the official "Seth Godin Marketing Guru Action Figure". Now you too can have access to priceless marketing inspiration for just $8.95. The Seth Godin action figure comes complete with a "Little Book of Marketing Secrets" and a Free Prize! Inside. The authentic action figure even features Godin's trademark mismatched socks for added flare. Rub Seth's shiny dome to generate instant marketing genius.

Now you can spend endless hours reading Godin's popular marketing blog with your mini Seth Godin action figure by your side, providing the kind of relevant connection that makes great marketing so much fun. It's inevitable that Guy Kawasaki will want his own movable play toy after news of Seth Godin's action figure sends his Technorati ranking through the roof.

Why wait! Get yours today! (link)   Seth Godin's Bog (link)

Perfect Time for a Picnik

I sampled Picnik for the first time yesterday and fell in love with this online photo editing site. The best part for me was the ease of connecting to my Flickr photos. I also uploaded a photo from my desktop, worked out some dramatic effects and then blammo! I was able to export that photo directly over to my Flickr account in seconds. The Picnik team is located in downtown Seattle, headed up by road tested entrepreneur Jonathan Sposato as their CEO. Prior to Picnik, Jonathan was the founder and CEO of Phatbits, which he sold to Google in 2005.

Though I am a committed Apple fanatic and love iPhoto, I found Picnik to be a useful on line tool. Picnik is a great way to quickly edit and perfect digital photos from one location. Create simple but stunning effects and save them to Flickr, Facebook, Picasa, your desktop or even email your photo. It's that simple. Picnik also supports multiple languages for those with an international flair. Which I think is a really smart idea.

I enjoyed my Picnik experience so much that I decided to bring along a bottle of wine on my next visit. Spread out that checkerboard table cloth photo fanatics, I'm convinced it's a perfect time for a Picnik.

View Samples of My Picnic Photos    View More

Mr. Besilly was not paid any fee for this post

iPhone Home: Ready, Set, Launched!

We have lift-off! If you missed the huge launch of the iPhone recently, check your pulse, you may already be dead. I am a committed Apple user, I own more than ten Apple products. That qualifies me as a certified fanatic. With iPhone I chose to take a back seat. I learned after owning the original Bondi iMac, the original iPod, the original Nano and the second addition iBook, that Apple makes upgrades, fixes and product changes very quickly. Sexy changes that I find impossible to resist. It's the cult of Apple! I am anticipating the same path with the iPhone, making version two and three far superior.

Microsoft Pulls The Table Out of Portable

In a time when portable devices are redefining the way we live life on-the-go, Microsoft is choosing to reverse that trend by releasing "Microsoft Surface", a touch screen coffee table computer featuring a 30 inch display. We've reached the brave new world of computing for a stationary generation. Forget Zune, ignore the launch of Vista and focus on this innovative new coffee table technology expanding the meaning of user-friendly furniture. It's super-sized touch screen computing designed for greater digital pleasure.

If you can't beat 'em, build a coffee table. If you build a coffee table computer they will come. Surface will re-imagine the future of coffee table books by being the the book. Be the first to have your coffee table book published on Surface (wait... that's actually a cool idea). Remember that you heard it here.

Wannabe Winemakers Come Out of the Closet

Much like the passionate wine lovers over at Wannabe Wino, I've closeted a longtime fantasy of owning a vineyard and producing my own mouthwatering vintage. Realizing the immense costs involved in this fantasy, I chose to set it aside until recently when I discovered Crushpad, a San Francisco winery that allows it's members to be the winemaker. I have often romanticized the notion of serving up my own custom brand of wine more than I've desired to operate a vineyard. Crushpad offers wannabe winemakers like myself the chance to explore the art of wine making direct from the cozy glow of my computer screen.

Paris Hilton Gets All Crabby Over Gossip Fueled Art

The real story are the brilliant original paintings by San Francisco based artist "14" as she chooses to go by. Her blog "Gallery of The Absurd" is a fantastic site fueled by paintings featuring celebrity caricatures inspired by popular tabloids. The back story is that "14" created a recent parody of The Simple Life Goes To Camp featuring Paris Hilton in a boat with fresh water crabs hanging off the side. The crabs have since been removed "so to speak" at the request of Hilton's attorney. Life is back to abnormal again with Ms. Hilton while bloggers are still sounding off.

You can find 44 juicy celebrity categories listed at The Gallery of The Absurd including; Brangelina, Farah, Tom Cruise and the extended Paris Hilton section. I found the Alec Baldwin  post to be particularly hilarious. A must see gallery for all you A-listers that want to be part of that infinite loop of art imitating life that imitates art.

Read "Paris Hilton vs. Gallery of the Absurd?"   Read More

To Be Perfectly Honest

“Integrity is telling myself the truth. And honesty is telling the truth to other people." Spencer Johnson

To be perfectly honest, I find it difficult to give a candid answer without a preface that conveys my next statement will be totally honest and truthful. I took pause today in an attempt to understand why it has become part of our modern culture to use phrases like; "to be perfectly honest with you" or "to tell you the truth" before we answer a question. Have we become so used to hedging the truth and being disingenuous in our communication that when it's time to be honest we need to set it up so our authenticity is not missed? Is total honesty something that we are truly after in our communication? Here is what I came up with for my part in this communication somersault.