Yahoo! T-Shirt Culture

Code like a girl., originally uploaded by SpunkyGidget.

In Seattle, buried deep under my bed in boxes long ago forgotten, lives a huge stash of t-shirts from Microsoft. T-shirt that promote teams and products and conferences. Some are so large that I can’t even bother to try to wear them as night shirts. And they are buried under my bed.

Then. Now. Always., originally uploaded by SpunkyGidget.

My first weeks at Yahoo! I was surprised by the pervasive branded t-shirt culture. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what was surprising… I mean, come on, I came from the land of geeks where all they wear are branded (read: free) t-shirts. What was so unique here?

Founded in a trailer in 1994. Visited by half a billion people in 2006., originally uploaded by SpunkyGidget.

The other day it hit me…

One, these t-shirt are well designed.

Two, people wear them because they want to–because they are proud–not because they’re free t-shirts.

Fight Mojibake!, originally uploaded by SpunkyGidget.

I wonder if this reflects how people feel about the teams or products they work on at Yahoo, or if it’s more about them being well designed t-shirts which are actually appealing?

Full Screen Size Images for Contacts on iPhone

I set images for a few of my contacts using MobileMe’s web interface (www.me.com). I was terribly disappointed to see that they showed up as just tiny thumbnails in the top right corner! Where were the full screen sized gorgeous photos like on the commercial?!

A little digging and I figured it out. Find the glamorous photos of each of your friends (from sites like Flickr or your own personal collection) and then follow the instructions below.

How to get Full Screen Size Photos for iPhone Contacts

Full sized images come from assigning a photo to a contact on the iPhone. To do this…

• In iPhoto set up a new album. I named mine “Contacts”. In this album put all the photos you’d like to use for your contacts. I suggest 1200×1600 sized photos because that’s what the iPhone photos are (so you’ll get a consistent experience).
• In iTunes, sync this album to your iPhone.
• On the iPhone, go to Photos, and select a photo and push the button on the bottom left of the screen. Select “Assign to Contact”.

After you’re finished assigning the image to the contact, you can remove (by not syncing the image/album through iTunes) the photo while it still leaves your contact image intact.

…or, if you’d prefer…

Small Thumbnail Photos for Contacts

To have just thumbnails, set up all your images for contacts using your email client on the Mac, or the MobileMe website.

The Dream Mile

I ran a 10k on Sunday with my friend Cap Watkins. It was a charity event called the Dream Mile benefiting Vibha supported projects in India.

I completed the 10k in 0:57:35 minutes. That’s finishing 20th in my division (Women’s 18-35) and 28th over all. This also was a much better pace than my half-marathon at about 9.29 minutes per mile. Hooray for sub-10’s! Check out my NikePlus stats.

San Diego Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon Race Results 2008

San Diego Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon Race Results 2008, originally uploaded by SpunkyGidget.

On June 1st I completed my first half marathon. I trained with Team in Training (Seattle, WA/AK chapter) and had a blast. I learned that running on the highway and on/off ramps is tough. Five of the 13.1 miles were up hill and at a slant. That being said, I’m proud of my finish time of 2 hours and 27 minutes. At 11:15 minutes per mile, that’s much slower than my average pace, but real road conditions are brutal! Check my NikePlus stats!

I’ve posted my photos on Flickr… be sure to check ‘em out!

AT&T Voicemail Not Working?

I used the call forwarding feature on my Windows Mobile 6 SmartPhone when I was about to board a flight and was worried about missing a very important phone call. I successfully had it set up to forward all calls to my friend, but when I landed I found out that my voice mail was screwed up.

When my friends rolled over to voice mail, they would get this message: “Welcome to AT&T voice mail. We need more information to direct your call to the appropriate voice mail box. To leave a message, please dial the 10 digit phone number to the person your trying to call. If you have a mailbox on this system, please press #.”

Have this problem? Don’t despair! There is a code you can dial from your phone which turns off call forwarding, and reconnects you to the tower. Ultimately, it fixed this issue for me.

Dial #002# and “send” or the “call” button. It should come back and say “Succeeded”. Then have a friend test your voice mail.

Still have issues? Call AT&T Customer Service from a different phone than your cell phone at 1-800-331-0500. Have them check to make sure that your voice mail forwarding feature is turned on. (It is a feature you can turn off and on.)

The Cool, Grey City of Love

The winds of the Future wait
At the iron walls of her Gate,
And the western ocean breaks in thunder,
And the western stars go slowly under,
And her gaze is ever West
In the dream of her young unrest.
Her sea is a voice that calls,
And her star a voice above,
And her wind a voice on her walls—
My cool, grey city of love.

—George Sterling (1869–1926)

Seeds of Compassion

Dave and Tim played a benefit show at the Key Arena, Seattle, WA on April 11th for Seeds of Compassion. Before the show Dave interviewed the Dalai Lama. He about his nervousness during the interview, “Everyone told me to be myself, and myself was nervous!” Death Cab for Cutie opened for the pair, a surprise to all in the crowd as they were a last minute addition.

The show was incredibly special… I was just so overwhelmed by “Sister”. With no tapers for the show, I went out immediately to get Dave & Tim Live at Radio City to preserve the magic.

Honestly, I’m sitting here trying to think of how to express the emotion of this experience, to share it. I just can’t. It will live forever, cherished, in my memory. My experience, my own, untouched and unshared.

Set lists (and tweets) below…

Death Cab for Cutie

405 : “405. you keep twisting the truth”

Your Heart Is An Empty Room : “and all u see is what else you could be”

Photobooth : “i remember when you took so long. foolish attempts”

Talking Bird : from new album “Narrow Stairs”

Title and Registration : “of your tail lights fading” (ry knows)

Brothers on a Hotel Bed : “u may tire of me, dec sun”

Soul Meets Body : “sun wrap its arms around me”

Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds

Bartender

Old Dirt Hill

So Damn Lucky : “Oh my God, wait and see What will soon become of me?”

Stay or Leave : “Stay or leave, I warned you not to go, but you did.” … “What day is this besides the day you left me? What to do with rest of the afternoon?”

Save Me

Cry Freedom : “The future is no place to place your better days.”

Gravedigger : “Gravedigger, when you did my grave, could you make it shallow so that I can feel the rain?”

You Are My Sanity (Tim Solo)

The Maker

Sister

Corn Bread : “Makes you want to run around naked because you know it looks good on you…”

Some Devil : “One last kiss… and then I’ll let you go… Some devil, some angel… you said always and forever…”

Everyday : “Honey, honey…”

Where Are You Going : “Where are you going…?”

Eh Hee

Dancing Nancies : “Could I have been…???”

Encore: Lie In Our Graves : “Would you not like to be sittin on top of the world with your legs hanging free?!”

Gimme Sunshine

GimmeSunshine, originally uploaded by SpunkyGidget.

I woke up this morning and was hoping for sunshine.

There wasn’t any.

Then I thought of my friends in San Fran who think the weather there is just about the same as here.

Just in case you were wondering, San Fran has much more sunshine, lower chances of rain and higher temps (even hitting 70 this week!)… at least for the next 10 days or so.

I really, really miss sunshine.

Racing to Save Lives

I have so many friends and feel so very loved that it leaves me feeling like I’ve got to give back. So whether you’re here because I’m your SpunkyGidget, your cutie patootie, your Junior Mint, or better, I hope that you’ll take a moment to consider donating to this cause.

I am training to participate in an endurance event as a member of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training. We are raising funds to help stop leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin lymphoma and myeloma from taking more lives.

I will be competing in my first half-marathon representing The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training at San Diego’s Rock n’ Roll Marathon on June 1st.

My fund raising goal for this event is $4,000. If you can donate, that’s awesome. Every dollar helps! Be sure to check and see if your company does matching for employee gifts to charity… where every dollar can become two! Also feel free to tell your friends and family about my personal goal to run this (half) marathon, and the charity fund raising that I’m supporting in doing so.

Here’s the link to the donation page: http://www.active.com/donate/tntwaak/ABaxley

Thanks for all your support! I’ll be sure to share the photos with you all!

What if…?

I love Glenda’s answer to 20×2 Austin SxSW edition’s question “What if…?”

Check out her inspirational video on YouTube.