I have a friend that recently dated an ex-firefighter and was explaining the concept of ICE to me. Basically, should you be critically ill, firefighters, EMTs, and other emergency personnel are trained to look for a contact in your cellphone named ICE, short for In Case of Emergency. I just put an ICE in my address book and advised my wife to do the same (FYI, you can put in ICE1, ICE2, etc. for multiple emergency contacts).

It’s a brilliant idea, and it’s a shame that the word hasn’t gotten out further or faster (based on the ICE Contact USA site, I’m 2 years out of the loop). from the reading I’ve done online it seems that it’s possibly been embraced more in other countries than here in the U.S.

Hopefully, not everyone needs a best friend that dated a firefighter to learn about this

Well, I got my annual Christmas card from the Steelers. Now, if we could just get a championship . . .

I was at a bar the other day where someone shared with me the opportunity to purchase Trappist Westvleteren 12. If you’re wondering what that is, it’s a rather elusive Belgian ale that has sat atop of Beer Advocate’s Top Beers on Planet Earth for a few years now. It’s not technically available in the U.S. (See this USA Today article on Westvleteren for background), but this offer made it available for a mere $110 per six pack, or $600 per case (don’t ask me why the pricing doesn’t make sense).

Now, I have a limit on how much I’d be willing to spend on a food and beverage, and this definitely exceeds that limit (and if it didn’t, you better bet it would exceed my wife’s!).

Overall, it got me thinking about just what is the price of happiness, and if I’d truly be happy if I ended up loving the beer and not being able to try (or afford) it again. Regardless, I caught this pretty cool TED video that does a good job of summing the topic up:

Courtesy of Frank Borges

Yesterday certainly was a chilly day for an interview.

I was outside yesterday morning for an interview with ABC 27 regarding the recent Beyond Second collaboration on the GraphTech holiday calendar. The desk calendars feature the work of 10 Beyond Second photographers and 2,500 copies will be distributed for free in the Harrisburg area (locations will be announced soon). The interview is should be airing on tonight’s news.

UPDATE: A list of locations to pick up a free copy of the calendar are listed on WHTM 27′s site.

UPDATE 2: Here’s the Beyond Second interview on WHTM 27

I was just thinking about a friend’s Twitter comment on insomnia when I realized what shirt I’m wearing. The irony.

My friend Andy insisted on buying me this shirt while we were at Aroma Roasters. Contrary to popular belief, I love sleep, I just wish it didn’t take so long

After interfacing with a number of enthusiastic people regarding this event, I’m beginning to think I may be the only signup thus far that’s actually been to a BarCamp before. In some ways, that’s pretty cool, and I’m glad we’re finally bringing such an event to Harrisburg. On the other hand, I’ve heard from a few concerned people (including some reluctant to sign up) regarding mandatory presentation, and I wanted to make a clarification.

Now, according to the rules of BarCamp, every attendee should present. Personally, though, I hope BarCampHarrisburg reaches around 100 attendees, and if you break down the schedule and rooms (roughly 10 thirty-minute sessions in 3 rooms) it brings us to roughly 30 sessions. By that rationale, it’s impossible for everyone to present (the current signup list just exceeds it ).

In my BarCamp experience, I’ve been to one hour sessions structured as learning workshops, other sessions where the speakers clearly planned their presentation in advance, and some sessions where it’s not so much presenting as it is simply holding a discussion on a topic of interest (it’s these ones that tend to be the most fun to me).

The bottom line:

Attendee participation is the nature of the event, and hopefully everyone comes with that spirit in mind, but presenting won’t be forced upon anyone.

If you’re thinking about attending or have an interest even in just networking, please sign up and show up. The best part about BarCamp is, if it’s not for you, you can just leave. It’s not like you paid to attend!