As I curate the last few weeks I am wondering what the big deal is about a one Alabama police officer who looks like one actor / former wrestler, especially as I share the look of about a quarter of the people who attend a pro football game on any given Sunday.

Simply Wrong – My last post on the previous 2-week period showed up a week late thanks to my selecting the wrong date. As I was on a road trip with the family, I wasn’t planning on blogging during our trip, so I scheduled the post to go live ahead of time. I guess it’s ok I made the mistake as I slipped into vacation mode?

Somethin’ Honey – On our trip we stopped at a friend’s farm where they have beehives and process and sell honey. It was amazing to hear how it is done, and I learned that you can eat a honeycomb – honey and the wax comb. Who knew? Though it’s ok to spit out the wax instead. It is also said that eating local honey from near where you live can help in fending off seasonal allergies.

A Better Place Than Pie – Pineapple margaritas go great with fresh Atlantic Ocean raw oysters. This is a much better use of the fruit than the sacrilege of putting it on a pizza.

Brand Flashback – When grabbing a bottle of milk for coffee one morning on our trip and, though not yet functionally caffeinated, I made a double-take at the brand on the bottle – Sealtest. I haven’t seen this brand in years, as I have fond memories of Sealtest Maple Walnut ice cream half gallons (when they actually 64 ounces of the dairy treat) in my home freezer as a kid. It turns out the brand is now used in the US only for milk and is bottled in Asheville, North Carolina, and no longer used for ice cream.

Video Flashback – In talking with a colleague about Web promotional videos for products, I recalled this video I produced to promote its internal employee database mobile app for a former employer. Though I don’t look back at my time at that firm with much fondness, this was one of the highlights of my time there.

Gaming The Ads Too – Being in remote areas of the US along our vacation shed light that ads in mobile apps didn’t display when I had no service. Apparently the ads are downloaded over the Internet in real-time, and the lack of service in spots made playing the games a better experience. Putting your mobile device into Airplane Mode will give the same, positive results.

Degoogle Yourself From Maps – One day for some reason I brought up a friend’s address in Google Maps, and I noticed the street view of his house was all blurred out. I made a mental note to ask him about this but forgot to. Then I ran across this article about how to remove your house from the various online map services. If you don’t want your house or license plates on the cars in your driveway to be for all to see – well, at least for those looking to go to your house – then you may want to look into doing this.

New Great Name, Same Great Intent – Congrats to the organizers of the Wisconsin UX (for user experience) Meetup group for rebranding it as Intent + Craft. I love the new name, as it speaks to the thought and work going into a great user experience. I can’t wait for them to resume in-person gatherings, but catch as many of their virtual events as possible.

Do You Signal? – A friend was persuasive in getting me to try Signal, an encrypted alternative to open text messaging. If you know my mobile phone number, you can find me there – go ahead and send me a message!

Ciao Italia – Italian airline Alitalia announced it is shutting down in October. Though I have never flown Alitalia, the brand has been a source of Italian pride and was the airline Popes would fly on. It will be “replaced” by a new airline, ITA, who is buying many of Alitalia’s planes, gates and hiring much of its staff. My guess is they are buying a lot of white paint to cover over a few letters in Alitalia’s logo in the interim.

I Was Working But You Didn’t Know That – When I got back from my vacation this week, I said I was going to be back to work on Thursday. However I was actually “in” on Wednesday, as I took the day as an “incognito day” – I was working, had my out of office messages still active on my email and voicemail, and used the day to catch-up on 2 weeks of emails and activity without anyone bothering me. The only person who knew about this was my director, and I had his blessing. I will do this again, as it made my official return much more orderly and stress-free.

Honest Is The Best Hotel Policy – As I checked into the Hampton Inn in Louisville Kentucky late at night for an overnight stop on my road trip, I noticed this sign at the front desk. At first sight I was expecting something like the legendary Riot House back in the day, it was a nice hotel and perfect for our family to recharge before continuing our trek. But rock stars roaming the hallways would have made for an interesting first stop on the trip.

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This is from The Hot Iron, a journal on business and technology by Mike Maddaloni.

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