Is this real?

Ok. If you are one in a million people who happened to come across this site, you may be wondering - Is this real?

The answer is no. Not a straight up no, but a no nonetheless. Yes this is real as in it exists. No as in this is a blog that was created for a school project in which we have to keep an active blog for a period of time.

By telling you this I am giving away my freebie. See, in creating a blog and having to update it three times a week, I realize how difficult such a task is. I have gained respect for those who are able to run a consistent blog and have been doing so for years.

It was upon hearing the details of this project where I met first obstacle. What can I make a blog about? Ideas raced through my mind but like a magnet trying to attract another magnet the ideas I had evaded my grasp. I could have taken the easy way out - write an anonymous journal. Document your daily life, make things up if you don't have anything interesting to write, exaggerate the norm, what could be easier? But it's not in my nature to take the easy way out. I like a challenge.

So next I turned to the other option. The option that have made most blogs popular today. That option would be to share my expertise in a particular subject with the world via a blog.

Problem.

At this point in my life I do not have enough expertise in any one subject to blog about for more than a day let alone the three weeks required for this project.
So I turn to random opinions on random topics hoping that this will give me enough freedom to allow effortless blog posts.

As you see today though, this is not the case.

And my freebie is now gone. :(

The End of Religion?

It was a recent conversation that sparked me to speak a little bit about my thoughts on religion. Now this is not to be confused with God. Believing in God is one thing, believing in religion is another.

I firmly believe that religion was created my man. Before disagreeing or disregarding this statement, consider this: There are plenty of religions that are practiced by thousands of people. Can they all be right or the correct religion? No. There is either one correct religion or there are no correct religions.

So where do all these extra religions come from? Long ago, they were created by man. There is a natural driving curiosity of man to know about himself: where he came from, how he came to be, etc. In the effort to satisfy such burning questions, man or rather men, created religion. People liked the idea of having simple answers to big questions of life and accepted the idea of religion.

Some may argue that now religion is too complex, too wise, too anything to have been written my any mere mortal. Too hold such a view would be to not acknowledge the years of revision and addition that spawned books of religion. Like some believe how life formed, religion came to be through an evolutionary process.

From my personal experience, an overwhelmingly high percentage of the people I have had this discussion with agree with me. This is to say that these people are of my generation. I have not done sufficient research to support any of my claims. I am only writing one man's opinion which I am entitled to.

From my experience, I can only conclude that the evolution of religion is a continuing process. And that process may be leading to its extinction.

Flight of the Conchords

I was just poking around on YouTube, like I sometimes do, when I came across some videos I haven't seen in awhile. Some of you may be familiar with Flight of the Conchords.

Who are they? What are they?

It's easier to answer who they are. There are two members to their group, Bret Mckenzie and Jemaine Clement. Both are from New Zealand where they formed the FOTC.

They are not your typical type of comedians. They combine playing music ranging from rap to funk with witty conversation creating a most enjoyable show.

They originally performed live (still do) and now have their own television show.

I'm just going to show you a clip from one of their live performances. Give it up for these masters of their craft:

Get To Know Halloween

I know it may be a little early to post about Halloween, but to me right now feels like an appropriate time.

I've been seeing fully decorated houses since September. I've seen posters for Halloween parties and contests. I've seen billboards for costume stores. I've heard heated debates on what costumes people should where. All seen or heard way in advance of October 31.

There is something about the holiday that everyone just loves but what's it all about?

"Halloween's origins date back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). They celebrated their new year on November 1. This day marked the end of summer and the harvest and the beginning of the dark, cold winter, a time of year that was often associated with human death.

On the night of October 31, they celebrated Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth. The Celts thought that the presence of the otherworldly spirits made it easier for the Celtic priests, to make predictions about the future.

To commemorate the event, the priests built huge sacred bonfires, where the people gathered to burn crops and animals as sacrifices to the Celtic deities.
During the celebration, the Celts wore costumes, typically consisting of animal heads and skins, and attempted to tell each other's fortunes.

By the 800s, the influence of Christianity had spread into Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 All Saints' Day, a time to honor saints and martyrs. The celebration was also called All-hallows or All-hallowmas (from Middle English Alholowmesse meaning All Saints' Day) and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween."

So what's not to love about dressing up in a costume, putting up scary decorations, pulling pranks, and candy?

Happy Halloween

Top Five Most Difficult Questions

Where do people get asked the most difficult questions? Nope, not on a date. Not in court.

At the dreaded job interview.

Today I'm gonna look at my top five most difficult questions. These questions are most likely to be asked in a job interview.

So brace yourself, here they are:

Number 5
What do you look for when you hire people?

This one is a classic example of role-reversal. Put yourself in your interviewers shoes. Not an easy one. Best to mention that you are looking for people who are capable of moving up in the company.

Number 4
Why should we hire you?

Straight to the point. Here's your chance. Don't blow it. Best to elaborate on your abilities, energy, motivation, and experience.

Number 3
Why do you want to work for us?

This question is not easy because your answer has got to be specific to the company's goals. Don't say "Because I like people" or "Because I like computers". You have to speak in terms of the company's needs.

Number 2
What do you know about our company?

Here it gets tricky. You're answer has to be positive. You have to have done research and be able to discuss current as well as past. But you don't want to seem like you know everything about the place, you want to make it look like you want to learn more but not know too little already.

Number 1
Tell me about yourself.

It's open ended questions like these that can really confound you in an interview. Be prepared for this one. You don't want to go on and on. Limit yourself to a one to two minute summary of yourself. Talk about your background; education, work history. Then, put emphasis on recent work that you've done. Last tip: Don't waste your best on this question.

A Word on MMD and Guerrilla Advertising

Hey all - I have to admit, my last post was even boring to myself. Looking back it, I would like to apologize for waisting the time of all who have read it.

Make My Day is still a newborn blog that is just learning to crawl. Hopefully soon we will be walking but until then it is my guess that the mission of MMD will have to be continuously refined over the next two or three weeks. So bear with us! As of now, MMD will be one man's thoughts and contemplations on various aspects of life.

Too general?

Okay. Since nowadays people spend an increasingly amount of time on the internet, (or maybe that's just me) , I will narrow my focus to internet related aspects of life.

Yes, the internet for many is now as much a part of life as is eating and sleeping.

For example, today I was just surfing the web when I came across some pictures of guerrilla advertising. For those of you who don't know, this is a way of marketing that involves spending as little as possible on advertising while maximizing profit. It also involves a tremendous amount of creativity that never fails to blow my mind.

Here are some instances of guerrilla advertisements:

This campaign lasted through winter where steam from a city sewer was most visible. I've passed by plenty of steaming sewers in my day and would never have had the creative insight to think this one up. And the cost for such an eye-catching ad? Next to nothing.

Let's look at another one of my favorites.

If you can't see it, the slogan on this ad is "Life's too short for the wrong job!" - depicting people working inside a vending machine and an ATM. Again with the creative genius. Folks, this is guerrilla advertising at its best.

Last example of an ad costing next to nothing yet more effective then ads costing up to ten times as much:

Yep, none other than Mr. Clean himself. This is the definition of guerrilla advertising right here.

Well that concludes today's post and today's example of thoughts on an aspect of the something found on the internet.

Stay tuned for more.

Elusive Illusions

Most of us have seen an optical illusion before. We know that through our sense of sight they trick our brains into seeing what may or may not be real. But how do they work?

There are a number of factors that contribute to a given illusion. One of the simplest to understand is the ambiguous illusion. This type is a picture or object that simply creates a perceptual switch between two alternative interpretations. A simple well know example of this is the Rubin vase.

The next type of illusion is the distorting illusion which distorts size, length or curvature. Our brain learns to make very efficient interpretations of 3D scenes which is why when some goes away from us, we do not see them as getting shorter. Or when we stretch one arm and look at the two hands we do not see one hand smaller than the other. Below, the seemingly imperfect circle is an example of this.
Another type of illusion is the sometimes frustrating paradox illusion which is generated by objects that are paradoxical or impossible. Because of this, our brain has a hard time of interpreting these illusions such as the flow of the water below.

Sometimes it can be a little disconcerting to know how easily the mind can be tricked...

Not Short Enough

As of Recent, Saturday Night Live Digital Shorts such as Andy Popping Into Frame and People Getting Punched Before Eating are lacking the comedic edge often lost when hidden camera scenes are scripted.

Specifically, the most recent short, PGPBE, scripts what is not scripted in the more humorous Neg's Urban Sports: digital shorts which appear regularly on the British comedy series Balls of Steel. See example below.




Out of the many hours that Americans watch TV a week, most have sat through an episode of Saturday Night Live. What was once a staple for good all-around comedy - a show that has been graced by the presence of some of the most popular comedians of this era - now struggles to get more than a smile out of its declining audience. Though not the first filmed shorts presented on SNL, Digital Shorts are a series of shorts specified by their digital creation. For those who aren't familiar, the SNL Digital Short, produced by The Lonely Island crew, rapidly gained popularity in 2005 with the short 'Lazy Sunday’, which viewed more than five million times before it was removed due to copyright infringement.

SNL is one of the longest running network entertainment programs in American Television history but maybe it's time for the show to cut its losses.

While it is not for me to pass judgment on what is funny and what is not, I can point out poor quality and lack of originality when I see it.

Tell me what you think. Leave a comment.