A list of things I don’t like.

Sometimes people say I’m grumpy. I don’t think I am, it’s just that certain things really annoy me. In no particular order then, here are some things that get my goat:

1. People on the subway who don’t have their ticket ready, then stop in front of the barrier to look for it. HELLO? IF YOU DON’T HAVE YOUR TICKET STAND TO THE SIDE SO THE REST OF US CAN GET THROUGH. Thanks.

2. People on the subway who insist on standing by the door instead of moving in, then look annoyed when I barge into them. I reserve my sharpest elbows for these pond dwellers.

3. Taxi drivers who are off duty yet slow down to ask you through the window where you want to go in case it’s on their way home, when of course it never is. I’ve started saying ‘your house’.

4. When we’re at it, the bloody TVs in NYC taxis too.

5. People who spit in the street. Scum.

6. People who don’t clean up after their dogs. Scum.

7. People who take 15 minutes to sort their coffee out at the milk/napkins/sugar area in Starbucks (with apologies to @iansohn).

8. Emails with ‘let me know if you have any questions’ at the end. Oh right, OK. I do have questions, and I would not have asked them if you hadn’t put that. Thanks.

9. The fact that no matter what @dunkindonuts I order from, anywhere in the city, I have to repeat my ‘milk and no sugar’ instruction no less than three times. I’m considering laminating a little card.  This is the most basic of coffee orders: put milk in it, don’t put sugar in it. I shouldn’t have to repeat it over and over.

10. MySpace.*

*Edit: Ok, to clarify: I mean MySpace auto play music.  Hate it hate it hate it.

Today, Adobe did a very smart thing

They bought Omniture, the leading Web analytics solution.

I’ve worked with the guys in Orem, where Omniture is headquartered, a good bit over years: great bunch, with a really smart and switched on leader in Josh, impeccable business ethics and an absolutley kick ass product.  Was always a joy to work with them, and I love the way Josh runs his business.  The fact that their solution was head and shoulders above the competition didn’t hurt either, although the Google product beats them on price (it’s free).

I happened to be there when Omniture announced they were in the black a few years ago, when employees came in to find thousands and thousands of black balloons covering every inch of the office, four  foot deep. It was quite the trip: felt like a little slice of Silicon Valley, in deepest Utah.

Their dedication to their customers and their product has always stood out to me, and they’ve innovated throughout the years and done more for the  analytics arena (and I would argue as a result, strategy) than anyone I can think of. Stoked for the guys out there, stoked for Omniture, and super excited for the possibilities that the Adobe aquisition will bring.  Measurement is the holy grail: understand what your users are doing, and you can give them more of what they want, when they want it.  Being in a position to deliver both the content experience  (ads, flash, video etc) AND detailed info on user behavior within those experiences gives Adobe a real edge.

Congrats guys. Both of you.

Dear Warren Ellis… (or how I got to be blocked on Twitter!)

Tuesday was a landmark day for me: I got my first (known) block on Twitter, meaning that another user clicked the ‘block’ button, preventing me from interacting with them.  Feels kinda weird.  I’m @kaimac on there, in case you were wondering.

How did I come to get blocked, you ask?  Good question.   First, some background….

Some of you may know Warren Ellis, the comic book guy from England who started his career with the legendary Deadline way back when, and has since turned into somewhat of a living legend himself.  He’s written a bunch of super cool stuff, including loads for comic giant, Marvel.

Which brings us to the Disney acquisition of them this week.  They just bought them for $4 billion bucks (gasp!).  Actually a super smart deal from Disney: I have no doubt that they’ll leave well enough alone and just milk the licencing opps rather than trying to change anything creatively.  After all, if it aint broke don’t fix it.

The morning the acquisition was announced, Warren (@Warrenellis) tweeted some pretty funny stuff:

Two of my fave tweets ever, actually, but that’s by the by.  Anyhow, the next day he tweeted this:

which I thought was pretty funny, so feeling a bit sarcastic, replied with:

Not the funniest thing I’ve ever said, but at least a 6/10 I thought. You know, ‘cos he’s talking about severed heads and that’s the last thing Disney would ever want him to talk about, so of course he’s not a sellout, eh?  Haha funny, ya?

To which he replied:

Funny, granted, but also a little over the top.  And then with one cruel click, he blocked me, meaning that I was no long able to follow him on Twitter.  *sniff*. So that’s how I got to be blocked, for the first time ever.  Next time I guess I’ll remember to use the emoticon 😉

Anyhow, @warrenellis: sorry about that. I’m not a loony flamer, was just trying to be funny.  Won’t happen again.  Obviously enough I guess, ‘cos you’ve blocked me. But you get the point. Actually getting blocked has given me an interesting perspective on Twitter’s block feature.  In a nutshell: it’s very broken.  But that’s for another post!

So what do you think…  should I have been blocked?  Fair enough ‘cos I was such an idiot, or an over-reaction?

Update @ 10.30 EST, 4/9:  Ha! Warren just unblocked me. @iansohn is taking the credit.