How to Meet People Where You Live

A friend of mine asked me today how to find a good organization to get involved in. I wrote a long e-mail and then I thought: what if others could use this advice. So here is some information: take it or leave it or (please) comment with your own suggestions!

Dear Friend:
You ask an interesting question. I would suggest this site for finding common interest groups: http://www.meetup.com/.

You might also try taking classes (like cooking, for instance, not classroom classes) and then just make a point of meeting people while there. Many cities have "newcomers to New York" meet and greet. I don't know exactly where you can find that, but I have a friend who attended one, so I could find out if you like.

Also, if knitting or crocheting classes interest you, I would suggest Knit NY. It's a super-cute shop with gorgeous (read: expensive) yarn. They have beginner and intermediate classes. They're a tad expensive, but could be a way to meet people of all ages at least while the class is going on. Then you could join a group more easily too! (I've thought about starting a knitting group, but I haven't figured out if/when/how. I don't want to trek out twice a month to have no one show up.)

You could also volunteer or mentor. Volunteer Match is a great site for finding stuff like that. I volunteer at a hospice, which means I meet elderly people, but there are ways I could volunteer there and meet more people (like go into the office to stuff envelopes or help out with other things), but I just don't do it.

Hmmm... that's what's coming to mind for things to do/ways to meet people. I've provided links where I could. I also am a member of a couple professional groups, but that doesn't help you. : )

Readers (all 0.5 of you): what are your thoughts?

Sponsors Apply Here

Is this true? The New York Times now has sponsors for its article tools (e-mail this, printer-friendly and single page links)? Anyone else slightly disturbed by this? Next thing you know, your umbrella will start flashing ads for peanut butter. Actually, it’d be pretty cool if your umbrella had a screen that flashed the weather report. Then you could check it every day before you leave to see if you need it. Damn, that’s awesome. Yeah! Who wants to develop this with me? Anyone want to underwrite it?

Would you like to take a survey: Do you like beans?

Is it silly of me to wonder about public opinion polls (PDF)? Every Gallup poll is conducted by telephone. This makes sense since in 1997, 95% of households had a telephone. Gallup had actually gone so far as to randomly match an area code with 7 other digits. That means even unlisted numbers can be called.

But the Gallup document I link to above was written in 1997 — before the deluge of cell phone usage. My burning questions remain unanswered and they are as follows:

1. Can cell phones be called for polls or do privacy laws protect that? What about the people who only have cell phones? Is their opinion missed?

2. How do they avoid calling businesses?

3. Part of the Gallup process in 1997 was to estimate how many people could be attributed to specific area codes. Are they taking into account that many cell phone users move (sometimes across country) yet keep their old number, and consequently their old area code.

So, can anyone out there report an instance (or, ideally, two) where their cell phone was called for a poll? I know this is headier than most of my recent posts, but anyone care to comment, even if just to say “This is boring. Go back to tell us about cool T-shirt sites”? P.S. At the very least can someone unearth the reference in this post's title?

Humans Make the Strangest Sounds

Check out this amazing Honda ad in the UK with all humans making the noise of a car driving. It's just ... well, just go see. Click on "Watch."

Drunken Monkey

Zookeepers in Moscow are giving wine to monkeys three times a day during one of the coldest periods in 25 years. Temperatures have reached as low as -31 degrees Celsius and dozens have died. But the monkeys are happy! Hope it's not a grand cru...

This Surprised Me

Supreme Court upholds physician-assisted suicide in Oregon.
Britain to allow 2-women brothels for safety.

Flying Coffins: Poetically Morbid

Africa accounts for only 4% of global air traffic but 27% of all air crashes.

Drag & Drop Shopping

Have fun with this drag & drog shopping cart. Love the poof when you drag something out. Doesn't hurt that the T-shirts are cool, too. I just wish they came in women's sizes...

A la Mode

OK, this made me laugh (quietly but out loud), so I thought I’d share. First, a tiny bit of background. A mode is when you hit the Caps Lock key or the insert key on your computer and start typing in all caps or typing over your text. Modes are not recommended in interface design because people forget they are on, which can lead to frustration.

Here’s the funny part (from Wikipedia if you look up “mode”): Interface guru Jef Raskin, in his book The Humane Interface, came out strongly against modes, writing,

“Modes are a significant source of errors, confusion, unnecessary restrictions, and complexity in interfaces.” Later he notes, “‘It is no accident that swearing is denoted by #&%!#$&,’ writes my colleague, Dr. James Winter; it is ‘what a typewriter used to do when you typed numbers when the Caps Lock was engaged.’”

OK, perhaps just funny to me, but ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Mac users suck ...

... Because you get the coolest apps. Here are a few:
LaunchBar, the god of quickkeys
kGTD, an allegedly cool proj mgmt tool (though I wouldn’t know because: no Mac)

And now a step back for Apple (you knew this was coming):
An anti-Ipod rant. I call it a rant though I agree with parts, particuarly the wheel, which I’ve complained about frequently to the two friends who will listen (and really they’re just nodding off to sleep, not nodding in agreement)

Word choice, people! Word choice!

Somehow I doubt that birth defect advocacy groups are “celebrating” higher rates of birth defects. Word choice — so key, my friends!

Mooooooo!

Cows milk themselves while farmers monitor from afar. Cool.

Something to Ponder

How happy is the blameless vestal's lot!
The world forgetting, by the world forgot.
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind!
Each pray'r accepted, and each wish resign'd;

- Alexander Pope

You mean talking to a computer isn't fun?

Could companies be learning that customer service is still cool? I recently saw a TV ad where one financial services company (forgive me for forgetting which one) tells us that it’s easy to reach a person when you call. “Just press zero” the voiceover intones.

Interestingly, I just came across a Cheat Sheet that reveals how easy or difficult it is to reach a human when calling many customer service lines. One of my favorites is Time Magazine: “0,0,0,0 (ignore “invalid entry” messages).” Or when you call 1-800-MEDICARE: “RE: info for part “D” Medicare Prescription Drug Plans- When recording begins say “Agent” 5+ times.”

Um... yeah... good luck!