The Blog of Burgher Jon

The Pirates play the Chicago White Sox tonight.  It’s not the most exciting match-up ever.  I should say it wasn’t the most exciting matchup ever until it was announced that Pedro Alvarez would be starting at third base.  I don’t have time to cover this in detail, but I thought it was worth reposting the image above on this occasion.  Here’s how I explained the interpretation of the image from the original post….

What’s really exciting is just how far he can hit the ball though, we’re talking Stargel far here. Rumor has it that he hit batting practice OVER the pond outside field 1 at Pirate City. I was curious, so I grabbed a google shot of Pirate City and another one from PNC Park. I made a line that represented a homerun right down the line, over the pond. I then made a hash mark at first base (click the picture to blow it up, look close). Copied the line, pasted it on to PNC Park and resized it so the hash mark touches first base. By this (admittedly crude) estimation I have him knocking the ball not just in to the Allegheny, but in to the DEEP waters, over the kayakers for sure.

While I use sauerkraut as a way to describe my Sunday hodge-podge posts, I don’t actually like to eat the stuff.  I do however, LOVE to eat kielbasa.  In fact, I just had some great kielbasa yesterday, over Mrs. T’s Pirogies.  Anyways, on to the good stuff.

As I go through the week, I use twitter to send out little updates and links.  I realize that I do this quite a bit and that not all of you have Twitter, so with that in mind I’d like to take Sunday to do sort of a week in review.  I’ve selected the most useful of my tweets from the last week and placed them in to the categories that I use in this blog.

Business

• Interesting stuff from @FredWilson Nature vs Nurture for Entrepreneurs. http://tinyurl.com/yhqyas2

Local Politics

• Great Idea by PUMP to host a forum on running for committee. Too much neglect here. http://tinyurl.com/ykejtyy
• #whereisluke he should be allowed to take a vacation he’s mayor not president. Though being a dick shouldn’t be excused.
• Join Pittsburgh Technology Council’s efforts against the Computer Services Tax http://tinyurl.com/y8lfvst
• Why was Jason Altmire so Hostile When asked to Comment on Buchanan’s Decision to Run? http://tinyurl.com/ycgzsqx

Personal Technology

• Gowalla to release Android App! http://tinyurl.com/yj4xjph
• Ha! PMSBuddy.com tracks (for men) when the women in their life will be… http://tinyurl.com/ykwvfnr

Pittsburgh

• Urban Back Country Skiing in Downtown Pittsburgh via @janepitthttp://tinyurl.com/yhkhvdz
• I wonder why Nakama got $2M in stimulus backed loans? Did they expand? http://tinyurl.com/y86lfbn
• Haha, Microsoft Maps, never tore down 3 Rivers, so it appears IN PNC Park on their map. http://tinyurl.com/ylzrpub

Sports

• You have to watch the colbert interview to the end. Or skip to it.http://tinyurl.com/yfjeusq
• Hanrahan to miss first part of season! Seriously?http://tinyurl.com/ykhj9nc
• Today = Pitchers, Catchers and BASEBALL!
• This just in: America Kicks Ass http://tinyurl.com/yzmf2s3
• The only native Pittsburgher in the olympics, Ryan Malone, scores in the first game! http://tinyurl.com/ylmpppe

Startups

• RT @Fin4Founders: “The venture world is the R&D for the United States, it’s not a good idea to shrink it.” #FoF

Tech News

• RT @msuster “Cloud Computing made sense for our desktop applications it’s … going to make sense for [mobile]  http://tinyurl.com/ykfpj9c
• Twitter just passed 140 employees. Any future employees will have to be shrunk by bit.ly. http://tinyurl.com/s7jff
• Brian Solis – Social Media Optimization is the new SEO  http://tinyurl.com/yckvypb
• Where will profits come from in Geotagging. @cdixon takes a shot.  http://tinyurl.com/s7jff

Picture from Farm to Philly's instructions on freezing Sauerkraut

You know what makes a great ice pack when you’ve just run 18 miles?  Frozen Sauerkraut.  Unfortunately, I don’t have any frozen sauerkraut.  So this episode of your Sunday Twitter Tweets comes with frozen peas on both knees.

As I go through the week, I use twitter to send out little updates and links.  I realize that I do this quite a bit and that not all of you have Twitter, so with that in mind I’d like to take Sunday to do sort of a week in review.  I’ve selected the most useful of my tweets from the last week and placed them in to the categories that I use in this blog.

Business

• Its a game of incentives. RT @cdixon: There is basically only one way to make alternative energies economically viable: massive tax on gas.

Local Politics

• It’s not the mayor’s role to answer the 311 line, it’s his role to plan for next time. http://tinyurl.com/yeqadvq

Me

• http://yfrog.com/32ce2ij Snowmagedon II the southern showdown. 2 inches of snow against zero plows.

National Politics

• I don’t think Tim Tebow should have an abortion.http://tinyurl.com/yg4te8y

Pittsburgh

• Another great @chrisbriem post, how much does a snow day cost Pittsburgh? http://tinyurl.com/yh3zlzb

Sports

• Replay of the men’s 1500. Ohno wins silver on a ridiculous last minute “same team” wreck.  http://tinyurl.com/y8p6usn
• RT @JanePitt: Ski jumping looks easy. I think I could do this.#famouslastwords #olympics
• Video of the Luge Crash (a little graphic). Why the hell was that wall not padded? http://tinyurl.com/ygw38zb
• Pretty cool that the Pirates ran a Super Bowl Commercial in the Burgh. http://tinyurl.com/yf4we4j

Startups

• Spread the Word, TechBurgher is KILLING it with GREAT updates on the Burgh’s Tech Scene. http://tinyurl.com/ykeh8sy

Tech News

• @fredwilson succinctly explains the problem with Buzz assuming who my friends are. http://tinyurl.com/yzbjbtw

Other

• RT @jesus: Having a dinner party tonight. I’ve got a can of tuna and a loaf of wonder bread….Hmm.

I had to wait until after the Super Bowl to get this post in.  Turns out people like to tweet about Football (and commercials).  Anyway, without further adieu, your Sunday Kraut:

As I go through the week, I use twitter to send out little updates and links.  I realize that I do this quite a bit and that not all of you have Twitter, so with that in mind I’d like to take Sunday to do sort of a week in review.  I’ve selected the most useful of my tweets from the last week and placed them in to the categories that I use in this blog.

Business

• Couldn’t agree more with @sethgodin , the less dead jobs walking we save, the sooner we can create new ones.http://tinyurl.com/ykk5e6f

Me

• I had chicken wings and macaroni and cheese for dinner. I’d feel bad if I hadn’t ROCKed the long run today. I love training.
• I earned the Movie Buff(50) sticker on @GetGlue!  http://bit.ly/bv4cXo
• I just unlocked the “Gym Rat” badge on @foursquare!  http://4sq.com/9WX4Op

National News

• Stupid Groundhog. Oh, and where do I get a tophat like that?http://tinyurl.com/yjz27q8

Pittsburgh

• Harold Miller makes the case for Pittsburgh getting out of the recession through entrepreneurship. http://tinyurl.com/yhw7yye
• RT @JMWander: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of snow I will fear no accumulation. Thy plow and thy salt truck…
• Google Pittsburgh is Hiring Software Engineers! If you’re an SE, check it out. http://tinyurl.com/q3wxbw
• CMU lands three interesting grants from Google.http://tinyurl.com/yb2lb8j
• Mike on Metblogs discovers that Chicago can’t come up with their own sandwich. http://tinyurl.com/ylnzdod

Sports

• RT @jesus: Come on Saints, don’t let me down, again.
• In a witty reversal, the latest How I Met Your Mother uses sex as an analogy for sports. Home Run!

Tech News

• The first post on Twitter’s Engineering Blog is a mesmerizing code history video. Breath taking. http://tinyurl.com/ykq934a

Other

• http://twitpic.com/11j706 – Data on the clipboard is damaged? Really?
• Congratulations to Dick LeBeau and Russ Grimm on making the Hall. http://tinyurl.com/yl2jrgj
• What is it that drives Championships? The Cardinals were hoping to find out. The Steelers already Knew! http://tinyurl.com/yb48nk6
• I can’t decide whether people who can do aerobics at 6am impress me or scare me,

I bet I know what you’re going to be doing on Sunday.  It’s Super Sunday and two high-powered offenses with star QBs are going to be playing in the biggest pro football game of the year.  You’ll be watching it with a cold beer and your buddies or over fondue and a dinner party.  I won’t be.  If the NFL wants me to watch the Super Bowl, they had better put the Steelers in it.  However, even I can’t bury my head in the sand far enough not to hear about the commercials.  A few thoughts about the technology commercials (or lack thereof) and the whole Tim Tebow thing:

• I looked at the speculated list of advertisers in this year’s Super Bowl and noticed a few things.  Only one advertiser (Cars.com) is a dotcom, though GoDaddy, Monster and e-Trade should probably still count.
• The only one that looks interesting from a social-media perspective is one for Motorola’s Motoblur.  It’s interesting that a phenomena that’s as pervasive as social media will only show up once.
• (Warning: About to get on my soap box)  There is much debate over the fact that Tim Tebow will be appearing in a 30 second anti-abortion spot.  I don’t believe CBS should censor commercials either (as long as they’re ok with the FCC).  The Christian Right’s money is just as green as anyone else’s.  However, I do find two things sad about it.  The first is that the Christian organization (Focus on the Family) that is sponsoring the commercial can’t find anything better to spend their $2.6 Million on.  The second is that Focus on the Family is a legal 503(c) organization, which means donations are tax deductible.  If we assume the national average tax rate is 20% (I have no idea what it actually is), then $520,000 of that Super Bowl commercial that 50% or so of America doesn’t want to see came out of the US Government’s pocket.
• As I mentioned, I don’t believe that CBS should be censoring commercials.  With that in mind, I find it disturbing that they won’t allow a gay dating site to advertise during the Super Bowl.  Are we saying that a pure issue-based commercial on a sensitive subject is more acceptable then a for-profit commercial on a sensitive subject?  It should be illegal to turn down $2.6 Million based on the content of the commercial (unless of course it is banned by the FCC).

Bonus:

• The folks at SI took a look at the best Super Bowles ever.  The Steelers’ wins come in at XLIII (#8), XIII (#4, which includes a great picture of a ticked off Tom Landry), and XIV (#2).  I provided direct links to the Steelers wins so that you don’t have to see those of our arch enemies.