If you’re into maps, you may want to check this one out .

This past year my wife and I finally got the solar array we had planned in. The questions I usually get asked are how much it cost, how much does it produce and what level of subsidy is there for it. First, here's what it looks like: The idea was to have something that produced enough power to offset our family's daily energy use. So I'll walk through how this worked out: The house consumes the Solar Array first. Anything left over goes back to DTE in wh...

…but don’t take pride in it. For Tireless Rebutter there is no such thing as a trivial dispute. He regards all challenges as barbarians at the gates. His unflagging tenacity in making his points numbs and eventually wears down the opposition. Confident that his arguments are sound, Tireless Rebutter can't understand why he is universally loathed. Source: http://redwing.hutman.net/~mreed/warriorshtm/tirelessrebutter.htm -- It’s a bad habit that I need to break. One ...

I admit, my guy is pretty boring looking. Level 29, Sith Marauder, Kaas Server on Tatooine. Lords of Hyperion guild.

All this has happened before. All this will happen again.   I first started moderating “online communities”back in the mid 80s. Back then, they were called BBSes and the title “Sub-Op”.  Without moderation, Internet communities ultimately die off for the same reason: They become toxic.  What causes them to become toxic is predictable and preventable. Identify and remove people who are toxic before toxic cliques form. It’s easier said than done because every ...

  In “real life” I’m not particularly political. I don’t donate to candidates or political causes, I don’t put signs on my lawn. I’m interested in the discussion of politics in the same way that other people are interested in the discussion of sports. If you’re come here from a link claiming I’m some sort of political lunatic, a few things to bear in mind: When JoeUser.com started in 2001, I posted intentionally provocative articles. The idea was to get a discussion going. ...

Tom Chick, owner of QuarterToThree.com just finished a controlled clean up of his forums where several prominent users were shown the door. Moderation is a very delicate and thankless art.  A community can easily be taken over by cliques of griefers without careful moderation. I think JoeUser.com users can remember a certain user by the acronym of LW who was a very prolific and interesting poster but yet couldn’t keep herself from griefing those she disliked. Over on Neowin.n...

For those of you who really like video journals, here are some quickie videos I’ve  done this week. Part 1: Around my fledgling Kingdom http://screencast.com/t/Zi0XvYku0pWP more to come.

I’m working a lot of hours right now.  But why?  At some point I think I should do some research on this.  It’s been years since I’ve “needed” to work from a financial perspective.  So what is the motivator?  Heck, I don’t even have a salary anymore but yet I love to work.  Clearly, I’m insane.

I’m getting so smoked on BF3 it’s sad.  I used to be good at this. I used to be a player, man!  What the hell happened?

People have been ragging on the Chevy Volt over some extremely unlikely issues that one could theoretically have with one. Of course, none of the people complaining actually have one. I do.  I love it. It’s the best car I’ve ever owned.

  Over the last decade we’ve presented a bit of a mixed message regarding customer care.  On the one hand, we have broad customer-friendly policies such as very liberal refunds, long-term software support and post-purchase support. We learned the above lesson from OS/2: Treat your customers as gods because customer loyalty really matters.  I’ve written the details of why we do this here . But the short version is that customer loyalty can make the difference betwe...

I must confess, there is something…gratifying about debating with a global warming alarmist (specifically people who are certain mankind is causing global warming and specifically it’s caused by CO2) who gets in my face about their superior belief system and being able to pull out the fact that I drive an electric car that is powered by my 20KW solar array that also powers my house which is also heated via geo thermal.  Match that buddy.

I started my company when I was still a teenager. And I can tell you, looking back, I wish I knew now what I knew then. Starting a company with no capital and no partners is most definitely the hard way to do things. But I had no money and none of my friends were comfortable taking the necessary risks. The result was many years of long hard slogging. Sheer brute force in terms of hours being put in. Capital trumps time. Anyone who says time is money really has no idea what they’re talking a...

The random maps are definitely getting better and better. I’d almost have guessed this was made by a person with the inland quasi-island and such. Here’s another: