We can't stop here, this is blog country!

What I've Learned in 15 Years of Online Community Management

Everyone knows the basics. Attract users, keep them engaged, keep them coming back for more. But over the course of my experiences, I've come across so many little things that can help foster community. VIP programs are great, but they're a dime a dozen. People involved in those rarely feel special, they just feel they're being rewarded for helping out the company (for free, I might add). My question in this article, is given the ROI and impact superusers and VIP users have any given community, why not pay them?

I'm not advocating putting them on the payroll - but some form of recogniztion beyond a... mousepad... would go a long way to keep these users coming back. Not online that, the word of mouth they spread is equal to thousands of dollars in good PR.

Something simple would work. Say one community has a superuser with 45,000 posts. Obviously the client cannot simply ignore them, so what should be done about it? Paying them would create all sorts of legal issues - but rewarding them in other ways will not. Say the superuser works for Intel; why not give them a $100 gift certificate to the company? They'll be happy, and will continue to help out in the community. Other superusers will see this, and thus will work even harder in the hope that they, too, will get some for of prize. The ROI for a program like this pays for itself. Employees are much more productive, and with a $100 gift, the company could be seeing thousands in productivity

I've seen this tried at companies before, without much success (due to management), but I think a well-educated program like this would really help increase productivity, and lead to a much more friendly work environment. 

Another thing I've learned is to keep your mouth shut when nobody is really listening. That, and warm fresh coffee.

Online communities and how to gague visible ROI

(taken from Mark Hinkle)

Maggie has a great set of statistics from her ROI of Communities Series. Pardon the total duplication of the stats but I wanted to make sure I didn’t lose these numbers.

• Community users remain customers 50% longer than non-community users. (AT&T, 2002)
• 43% of support forums visits are in lieu of opening up a support case. (Cisco, 2004)
• Community users spend 54% more than non-community users (EBay, 2006)
• In customer support, live interaction costs 87% more per transaction on average than forums and other web self-service options. (ASP, 2002)
• Cost per interaction in customers support averages $12 via the contact center versus $0.25 via self-service options. (Forrester, 2006)
• Community users visit nine times more often than non-community users (McKinsey, 2000)
• Community users have four times as many page views as non-community users (McKinsey, 2000)
• 56% percent of online community members log in once a day or more (Annenberg, 2007)
• Customers report good experiences in forums more than twice as often as they do via calls or mail. (Jupiter, 2006)

As a community manager I myself I am always looking for concrete statistics to help explain why there is value for companies to build online communities.

I also found The Online Community Research Network (OCRN) from Maggie’s comment feed. OCRN is a collaborative effort of online community professionals to better understand the principal challenges of building and managing online communities .
The also offer the following free reports that are helpful

- Online Community Metrics (free download)
- Online Community ROI (free download)

Lots of data to digest but very good stuff.

Confessions of an amateur photographer..

So, I recently got fed-up with my tiny digital handy-cam, and decided it was about time for me to move up in the world. So, I went out and bought a brand new Nikon DSLR camera. I have to say I'm fairly impressed with it so far, but back to the amateur point, I truly suck at editing and touching up the pictures. So I figured I'd start by beginning to post some of my photos on here, and with some luck, perhaps some of my readers could give me a little insight on how to improve them.

Here are some of the first pictures I took - any and all feedback is welcome!

Do away with the CAPTCHA!

I'm sure most of you are wondering what the heck a CAPTCHA is. You know whenever you go to pretty much any website, have to register, and you're asked to look at a graphic and try to decipher a string of characters hidden behind lines and other images. I just now had to figure one out, and it took me four tries. That's a CAPTCHA. (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart - yeah I don't get the acronym either). FOUR TRIES. This is done, of course, to keep out spam bots. Fair enough. But with all the advancements in internet technology over the years, why are we still stuck with these pieces of shit? Surely there is a much easier way to tell humans and robots apart than this.

Why are the innocent folks like you and I being forced to go through all of this unnecessary hassle just because others choose to exploit the system? I think Mozilla or some other respected company should start an open source project on a system to replace the increasingly annoying CAPTCHA. It's gotten to the point now where I won't even bothering to register for a site after I've failed the CAPTCHA test more than once or twice. "Is that a 5 or an S? Oh well, one way to find out....... nope, it was an S. Time to fill everything in all over again." I know there are thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of people out there who feel the same as I do. Yes, spamming is a problem, but there just has to be a better alternative than this. Something like, say, making the user click a couple things in order, or perhaps just doing a simple math problem. Naturally, the spammers will eventually find a way around those. I'm no expert at designing these types of things, but come on, we can do better than this.

This is a normal CAPTCHA: View this photo

My particular favorite alternative: http://www.hotcaptcha.com/

Oh well, maybe some day my dream of a CAPTCHA-free internet will come true. But until then, I'll just continue to damage my retina's by trying to tell the L's and 1's, 5's and S', and B's and 8's apart.

By the power of Greyskull!

Stop worrying. I haven’t gone completely off my rocker as some might have you believe. For some of you, the name of this blog entry will be funny, to many it may not. A while back I promised I would start reviewing movies for this blog. Today, ladies and gentlemen, is officially the first (and hopefully not last) movie review from Ian Casey. I thought long and hard about which movie to review. On one hand, I could have picked up an old one that nobody had ever heard of, or I could go mainstream to the nth degree. I chose the latter. So, the movie I’ll be reviewing tonight is…….. Hot Fuzz!

If you’ve seen Shaun of the Dead, then most of the actors in this film will be familiar to you. Simon Pegg, who played the couch potato in Shaun, now plays the role of police sergeant Nick Angel, who has recently been re-assigned away from London because he was so perfect at his job, he was making the other officers look bad. So he lands in a small village named Sanford.

Comedy ensues. Warnings are issued for cutting somebody’s else’s bushes. Many speeding tickets are handed out. Yes, this is surely the job Nick has been waiting for all his life. On the force with him are a bunch of trainees, regardless of how long they’ve been on the job. And they certainly don’t like taking shit from Nick. Then something strange happens: people start dying. The first few are ruled accidental, and the town buys it, with the exception of Nick and his new trusty sidekick, Danny (Nick Frost a.k.a Ed from “Shaun of the Dead“). Why these deaths happen I will leave for you to discover on your own, after all, I’m simply reviewing a movie, not spoiling it. The last 30 minutes of this movie are worth the price of admission alone. How often do you see a priest beaten up, and an old woman kicked in the face?

While watching the movie, I tried to figure out what type of movie it actually was. Was it a buddy cop movie, in the style of Lethal Weapon? Or was it more of a horror-comedy, as was Shaun of the Dead? Then I started asking myself whether it was a Western, or even a cult movie along the lines of The Davinci Code. After thirty minutes of this I gave up, and continued to enjoy the movie. This movie is like no other you will ever see. The jokes are hilarious, even the ones that require no dialogue at all. That’s the sign of a skilled director, and actors who know what they want to do and just do it. Literally throw themselves into their characters, and this is why we care for them so much. The bond between Nick and Danny is comparable to the relationship between Mel Gibson & Danny Glover. These guys are great friends, and it shows. The emphasis on the friendship between the two takes this movie to an entirely new level. No, nothing homosexual is involved, just a mutual respect and admiration for one another, something that is not seen much these days.

Hot Fuzz, unlike the most recent cop movie (Reno 911), gives us characters we can actually care about, and in some ways relate to. The movie tells an actual story, while making us laugh in the process. This can be attributed to the directors, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. Somehow, these men have created their very own genre of movie. One that makes you laugh, wince, cry, and perhaps most importantly, think. That’s not something your average comedy movie can claim to do.
Ian Casey’s rating:

Rating: B+
Until next time… and if you have suggestions for movies you’d like to see reviewed, post ‘em here.

Until next time…

Stop worrying. I haven’t gone completely off my rocker as some might have you believe. For some of you, the name of this blog entry will be funny, to many it may not. A while back I promised I would start reviewing movies for this blog. Today, ladies and gentlemen, is officially the first (and hopefully not last) movie review from Ian Casey. I thought long and hard about which movie to review. On one hand, I could have picked up an old one that nobody had ever heard of, or I could go mainstream to the nth degree. I chose the latter. So, the movie I’ll be reviewing tonight is…….. Hot Fuzz!

If you’ve seen Shaun of the Dead, then most of the actors in this film will be familiar to you. Simon Pegg, who played the couch potato in Shaun, now plays the role of police sergeant Nick Angel, who has recently been re-assigned away from London because he was so perfect at his job, he was making the other officers look bad. So he lands in a small village named Sanford.

Comedy ensues. Warnings are issued for cutting somebody’s else’s bushes. Many speeding tickets are handed out. Yes, this is surely the job Nick has been waiting for all his life. On the force with him are a bunch of trainees, regardless of how long they’ve been on the job. And they certainly don’t like taking shit from Nick. Then something strange happens: people start dying. The first few are ruled accidental, and the town buys it, with the exception of Nick and his new trusty sidekick, Danny (Nick Frost a.k.a Ed from “Shaun of the Dead“). Why these deaths happen I will leave for you to discover on your own, after all, I’m simply reviewing a movie, not spoiling it. The last 30 minutes of this movie are worth the price of admission alone. How often do you see a priest beaten up, and an old woman kicked in the face?

While watching the movie, I tried to figure out what type of movie it actually was. Was it a buddy cop movie, in the style of Lethal Weapon? Or was it more of a horror-comedy, as was Shaun of the Dead? Then I started asking myself whether it was a Western, or even a cult movie along the lines of The Davinci Code. After thirty minutes of this I gave up, and continued to enjoy the movie. This movie is like no other you will ever see. The jokes are hilarious, even the ones that require no dialogue at all. That’s the sign of a skilled director, and actors who know what they want to do and just do it. Literally throw themselves into their characters, and this is why we care for them so much. The bond between Nick and Danny is comparable to the relationship between Mel Gibson & Danny Glover. These guys are great friends, and it shows. The emphasis on the friendship between the two takes this movie to an entirely new level. No, nothing homosexual is involved, just a mutual respect and admiration for one another, something that is not seen much these days.

Hot Fuzz, unlike the most recent cop movie (Reno 911), gives us characters we can actually care about, and in some ways relate to. The movie tells an actual story, while making us laugh in the process. This can be attributed to the directors, Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. Somehow, these men have created their very own genre of movie. One that makes you laugh, wince, cry, and perhaps most importantly, think. That’s not something your average comedy movie can claim to do.
Ian Casey’s rating:

Rating: B+
Until next time… and if you have suggestions for movies you’d like to see reviewed, post ‘em here.

Until next time…

How desperate is the U.S. Army for recruits?

Not too long ago, I went into a local CVS pharmacy to get a prescription filled. The pharmacy tech said it would be about half an hour, so rather than drive home and come back later I decided to wander around the mall until it was filled. Being this was a very dull mall, I happened upon an Army recruiters office, and decided to stop in and get some information. I wasn't really serious about joining the military, but I figured the info couldn't hurt, and hey, I had 30 minutes to kill. Talking to some Army guys sounded better than walking around women's clothing stores. I was also a little curious to see just how desperate the Army was for new recruits.

I walked in, was greeted warmly, and the recruiter was obviously sizing up whether I was actually interested in joining or whether I was just "window shopping." He gave me some brochures, I asked him about what kinds of tests I'd need to take, the training, etc. Then I explained to him that I had some medical problems that, if disclosed during the physical, might prevent me from being allowed to enlist. This is when he asked me to follow him to his office, where he promptly shut the door. He politely asked me to have a seat, I obliged. Then he asked me a rather odd question: "Do you have a cell phone on you?"   "Yeah," I replied.   "Turn it off, please," he asked.
I took my cell phone out of my pocket, turned it off, and he made sure to verify that my phone was indeed off before he proceeded with what he was going to tell me. "Look," he said, "if you want to join the Army, you can join the Army." I inquired further about whether my health issues would be a problem, and he responded "No, not if you really want to join." He then repeated his earlier statement, this time with emphasis: "If you want to enlist, you can. All you need to do is pass the physical. If you think you can make it in the Army, the doctors don't need to know all the other stuff. The choice is up to you."

"Wow" was the first thought that popped into my head. A US Army recruiter had just told me to lie to the Army doctors so I could enlist. After this I became a tad uncomfortable with the situation, pretended to be relieved, then quickly left. I've now heard recent news that the Army is now allowing convicted criminals to enlist, and basically lowering the IQ requirements. The US military of the future, folks, is going to be comprised of basically anyone who can carry and fire a gun, whether they're capable of handling combat or not. I'm sad to say my encounter didn't really surprise me, in retrospect. I sure hope it surprises the rest of you.

Not too long ago, I went into a local CVS pharmacy to get a prescription filled. The pharmacy tech said it would be about half an hour, so rather than drive home and come back later I decided to wander around the mall until it was filled. Being this was a very dull mall, I happened upon an Army recruiters office, and decided to stop in and get some information. I wasn't really serious about joining the military, but I figured the info couldn't hurt, and hey, I had 30 minutes to kill. Talking to some Army guys sounded better than walking around women's clothing stores. I was also a little curious to see just how desperate the Army was for new recruits.

I walked in, was greeted warmly, and the recruiter was obviously sizing up whether I was actually interested in joining or whether I was just "window shopping." He gave me some brochures, I asked him about what kinds of tests I'd need to take, the training, etc. Then I explained to him that I had some medical problems that, if disclosed during the physical, might prevent me from being allowed to enlist. This is when he asked me to follow him to his office, where he promptly shut the door. He politely asked me to have a seat, I obliged. Then he asked me a rather odd question: "Do you have a cell phone on you?"   "Yeah," I replied.   "Turn it off, please," he asked.
I took my cell phone out of my pocket, turned it off, and he made sure to verify that my phone was indeed off before he proceeded with what he was going to tell me. "Look," he said, "if you want to join the Army, you can join the Army." I inquired further about whether my health issues would be a problem, and he responded "No, not if you really want to join." He then repeated his earlier statement, this time with emphasis: "If you want to enlist, you can. All you need to do is pass the physical. If you think you can make it in the Army, the doctors don't need to know all the other stuff. The choice is up to you."

"Wow" was the first thought that popped into my head. A US Army recruiter had just told me to lie to the Army doctors so I could enlist. After this I became a tad uncomfortable with the situation, pretended to be relieved, then quickly left. I've now heard recent news that the Army is now allowing convicted criminals to enlist, and basically lowering the IQ requirements. The US military of the future, folks, is going to be comprised of basically anyone who can carry and fire a gun, whether they're capable of handling combat or not. I'm sad to say my encounter didn't really surprise me, in retrospect. I sure hope it surprises the rest of you.

One interesting way to judge our society these days is to see what people are looking at on the internet. At the end of each year, the major search engines post a list of the most searched for phrases. Here are this year's:

Yahoo
1. Britney Spears
2. WWE
3. Shakira
4. Jessica Simpson
5. Paris Hilton
6. American Idol
7. Beyonce Knowles
8. Chris Brown
9. Pamela Anderson
10. Lindsay Lohan

 MSN
1. Ronaldinho
2. Shakira
3. Paris Hilton
4. Britney Spears
5. Harry Potter
6. Eminem
7. Pamela Anderson
8. Hilary Duff
9. Rebelde
10. Angelina Jolie

Google
1. Bebo
2. Myspace
3. World Cup
4. Metacafe
5. Radioblog
6. Wikipedia
7. Video
8. Rebelde
9. Mininova
10. Wiki

These are the things the majority of our society is most interested in. Instead of writing a long rant about why these lists are God-awful, or how they represent the decline of modern civilization as we know it, I'm going to write my own list of what should have been the top 10 most searched for terms this year.

1. Darfur
2. War in Iraq
3. Global warming
4. Genocide in Congo
5. Steve Irwin (okay, I have to admit, I really liked the guy)
6. The 2008 election
7. Domestic wiretapping
8. Internet freedom
9. Border security
10. Congressional scandals

One interesting way to judge our society these days is to see what people are looking at on the internet. At the end of each year, the major search engines post a list of the most searched for phrases. Here are this year's:

Yahoo
1. Britney Spears
2. WWE
3. Shakira
4. Jessica Simpson
5. Paris Hilton
6. American Idol
7. Beyonce Knowles
8. Chris Brown
9. Pamela Anderson
10. Lindsay Lohan

 MSN
1. Ronaldinho
2. Shakira
3. Paris Hilton
4. Britney Spears
5. Harry Potter
6. Eminem
7. Pamela Anderson
8. Hilary Duff
9. Rebelde
10. Angelina Jolie

Google
1. Bebo
2. Myspace
3. World Cup
4. Metacafe
5. Radioblog
6. Wikipedia
7. Video
8. Rebelde
9. Mininova
10. Wiki

These are the things the majority of our society is most interested in. Instead of writing a long rant about why these lists are God-awful, or how they represent the decline of modern civilization as we know it, I'm going to write my own list of what should have been the top 10 most searched for terms this year.

1. Darfur
2. War in Iraq
3. Global warming
4. Genocide in Congo
5. Steve Irwin (okay, I have to admit, I really liked the guy)
6. The 2008 election
7. Domestic wiretapping
8. Internet freedom
9. Border security
10. Congressional scandals

Conflicted

Lately I've been noticing more and more how MAXIM magazine is starting to suck. I looked back at an issue from 2000, it had around 180 pages. The January 2009 edition has 120 pages, and costs more, of course, than the 2000 issue cost. I still do enjoy a few parts of the magazine, but as I was flipping through it whilst on the toilet (as I always do), I came across an article by Christopher Hitchens. "Holy shit," I said. I was talking about the Hitchens article, for those of you not reading this very closely. Not only is my favorite magazine getting smaller and smaller, now they're featuring people like Christopher Hitchens, who usually comes off as a right-wing nutjob. However, as I listen to all sides of everything, I read the article. "Holy shit," I said again. I actually agreed with just about everything he wrote. He writes of being carded at a bar in an airport (the man is almost 60) because the bar had been sued by a senior citizen previously, and won. The senior citizen claimed age discrimination, because younger people were being carded and he was not.

Being this is Christopher Hitchens, this could all be a lie, I don't know. He goes on to discuss how our freedoms are being taken away little by little. And I don't mean the PATRIOT Act library card stuff, I'm talking about the ability for us to make our own decisions about what we eat, drink, and smoke. The consideration of banning all trans fats in New York is one example. I see women get all bent out of shape whenever banning abortions is brought up. "We should have control over our own bodies," is the argument. Where's the backlash here? Where are the riots in the streets? Where are all the pro-choice women who are all for us being able to decide on our own what we do with our bodies?

I highly recommend picking up (or, with a nearly $5 cover price, borrowing) January's MAXIM and reading the article. Hithchens isn't even American, and he is standing up for our rights while most Americans are at home sitting on their asses. Say what you want about his politics, but the man has earned my respect.

I'll end with a quote from his article: "This is the only country in the history of the world that stipulates "the pursuit of happiness" as an inalienable human right. I once produced a book about Thomas Jefferson, who wrote those words, and I can tell you that nobody knows whether he meant pursuing happiness, or happiness itself as a pursuit. Whichever meaning he intended, it would clearly include the right to go to hell in your own way, and also the right to tell other people to go do the same."

Damn right.

Lately I've been noticing more and more how MAXIM magazine is starting to suck. I looked back at an issue from 2000, it had around 180 pages. The January 2009 edition has 120 pages, and costs more, of course, than the 2000 issue cost. I still do enjoy a few parts of the magazine, but as I was flipping through it whilst on the toilet (as I always do), I came across an article by Christopher Hitchens. "Holy shit," I said. I was talking about the Hitchens article, for those of you not reading this very closely. Not only is my favorite magazine getting smaller and smaller, now they're featuring people like Christopher Hitchens, who usually comes off as a right-wing nutjob. However, as I listen to all sides of everything, I read the article. "Holy shit," I said again. I actually agreed with just about everything he wrote. He writes of being carded at a bar in an airport (the man is almost 60) because the bar had been sued by a senior citizen previously, and won. The senior citizen claimed age discrimination, because younger people were being carded and he was not.

Being this is Christopher Hitchens, this could all be a lie, I don't know. He goes on to discuss how our freedoms are being taken away little by little. And I don't mean the PATRIOT Act library card stuff, I'm talking about the ability for us to make our own decisions about what we eat, drink, and smoke. The consideration of banning all trans fats in New York is one example. I see women get all bent out of shape whenever banning abortions is brought up. "We should have control over our own bodies," is the argument. Where's the backlash here? Where are the riots in the streets? Where are all the pro-choice women who are all for us being able to decide on our own what we do with our bodies?

I highly recommend picking up (or, with a nearly $5 cover price, borrowing) January's MAXIM and reading the article. Hithchens isn't even American, and he is standing up for our rights while most Americans are at home sitting on their asses. Say what you want about his politics, but the man has earned my respect.

I'll end with a quote from his article: "This is the only country in the history of the world that stipulates "the pursuit of happiness" as an inalienable human right. I once produced a book about Thomas Jefferson, who wrote those words, and I can tell you that nobody knows whether he meant pursuing happiness, or happiness itself as a pursuit. Whichever meaning he intended, it would clearly include the right to go to hell in your own way, and also the right to tell other people to go do the same."

Damn right.

Beating a speeding ticket

I recently got a speeding ticket (72 in a 55), but the speed limit changes every 3-4 miles on this road, so it's really easy to miss the sign, especially at 6am. The cop wrote down on my ticket that I had a 2-door car instead of a 4, and he also quoted me the wrong price. I've spoken to a lot of people who say I should just go to court and fight it, so that's what I'm doing. My court date will be in February sometime.

But seriously. Do cops really have nothing better to do than sit around in the 2 mile stretch of a road where it's 55 instead of 65, trying to catch people that don't slow down fast enough? It just makes me sick. People are starving in this country, people are homeless, and we're spending tax dollars on this bullshit.

If you're ever on FL-301 heading north or south, make sure you go the speed limit, or they'll get you for sure. Especially Starke, Waldo, and Lawtey. Those are speed traps, have been for years. I'm still trying to beat the ticket, though, so if anyone has any tips, I'm all ears. That's all for now, I've been driving since yesterday and I'm exhausted. I'll try and write a little more about my trip tomorrow.

I recently got a speeding ticket (72 in a 55), but the speed limit changes every 3-4 miles on this road, so it's really easy to miss the sign, especially at 6am. The cop wrote down on my ticket that I had a 2-door car instead of a 4, and he also quoted me the wrong price. I've spoken to a lot of people who say I should just go to court and fight it, so that's what I'm doing. My court date will be in February sometime.

But seriously. Do cops really have nothing better to do than sit around in the 2 mile stretch of a road where it's 55 instead of 65, trying to catch people that don't slow down fast enough? It just makes me sick. People are starving in this country, people are homeless, and we're spending tax dollars on this bullshit.

If you're ever on FL-301 heading north or south, make sure you go the speed limit, or they'll get you for sure. Especially Starke, Waldo, and Lawtey. Those are speed traps, have been for years. I'm still trying to beat the ticket, though, so if anyone has any tips, I'm all ears. That's all for now, I've been driving since yesterday and I'm exhausted. I'll try and write a little more about my trip tomorrow.

70 days in office, my thoughts on Obama, Bush, and what's left of America

I'll be honest, I didn't vote for Barack Obama. I didn't know him well enough, some of his friends and policies scared me, and I just didn't think he had the experience to get us out of the horrible, horrible mess Bush dropped us off in and then went home. But, I'm an open-minded guy so I gave him a chance. He got off to a rocky start, as apparently none of his cabinet can figure out how to pay taxes correctly. I mean, I use TurboTax and have no problems, these guys can afford lawyers and REALLY good accountants, how can they fuck up so badly?

But, after the dust cleared over taxgate, I started listening more to what he was sayin than what the pundits were saying about him. Especially during his recent Europe trip. He said some things that actually inspired me. He apologized to France for our arrogant attitude over the past 8 years. But, he also called out Europe on their Anti-Americanism. He got more troops from NATO, and while he didn't get the amount of stimulus he wanted, he still walked out of there with $1,000,000,000,000 in committments from other nations. That's not too shabby, even though the Republicans are using their cliche quote "He failed" or "he's failing," or my favorite "I want him to fail!" Meh.

I honestly don't know why the Republican party is still a party anymore. Seriously. I read somewhere, that if Reagan ran for office today, with the racial makeup of this country, he'd lose by 2%. Which doesn't bode well for Republicans. They are in danger of becoming the permanent minority if they don't get their shit together. But what shit do they have to get together? All they ever talk about is gays, guns, and tax cuts. Sure, tax cuts help sometimes, but they seem to forget Reagan raised taxes quite a few times. You can't just keep cutting taxes over and over and over without seriously hurting the economy. Eventually you'll run out of taxes to cut, America will be bankrupt, and we'll be begging China not to buy California from us.

So what should Obama be doing? Just what he's doing. Rebuilding our stature around the world, forming alliances and allies across Europe, and speaking the truth that Americans and the world have been desperate to hear for 8 years. Now, I know George Bush meant well - I honestly believe that. He tried to get quite a few bold programs launched, but Congress and his own party just lauged at him. The man wanted to go to Mars, but we laughed at him. He wanted to get the hydrogen car on the road, and after that State of The Union address, Chris Matthews practically made fun of him for even considering it. Now these same people, Matthews included, are complaing that Bush never got anything done, that he had no good ideas. Yeah? I think he had quite a few - and while they may not have always worked out - he was trying. He wanted to be a great president, and he could have been had people believed in him, but they didn't, and I suspect this will haunt him for the rest of his life.

The 2008-2009 TV season... finally.

So, every year I usually write my review of the best television shows of the year. This has been difficult the past several years, with the decline of many good shows, and the inability for networks to find decent replacements for the great ones that have left us (FOX, I'm looking at you). However, this year things seem a little different. Shows that were admittedly getting a little tired, like "Lost," have found new life. I find myself looking forward to Wednesday nights, especially, for the "L Shows" - "Lost," "Life," and "Life on Mars." "Lie to Me" also airs that night, and while I'm a huge fan of Tim Roth, how many shows can you really make about detecting micro-patterns in someone's eye wiggle? Come on.

Anyway.. I usually write this in the beginning of the season, mentioning the promising looking shows and the return of my loved ones, but this year I wanted to wait until at least mid-season, so I'd have a better idea of where some of these shows were going. And while I still probably don't know where "Lost" is going to end up - I've enjoyed the ride so far.

The n00bs:
"Life on Mars" - I have this tendency to judge shows before I see them, then once I've missed the first couple of episodes I never watch it at all, since I will have no clue what's going on. With every network show on the internet now, that problem is solved, so if someone tells me I'm missing out, I can see what all the fuss is about. I missed the first episode of "Life on Mars" originally, but I'm glad I caught up. I've heard complaints about ABC airing two "time-travel" shows back to back: "Lost" and "Life..." but I have to admit it's pretty daring. With some of the.. junk on television these days, daring is missing from almost everything, and I'm glad the execs at ABC have stayed with it. They also brought "Scrubs" back from the dead, so they certainly earn my "Network of the Year" award. To try to explain this show is a little like trying to explain "Lost," I can try but odds are I'll be wrong.

The show is about detective Sam Tyler, a typical 2008 New York Cop with a typical cop life, until he gets hit by a car and wakes up in 1973. Or in a coma. Or in hell... you get the point. He takes it pretty well, and ends up solving cases, trying to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each time that his next leap will be the leap home... wait a minute. Wrong show. Different time-traveling Sam. (+1 to whoever gets that reference). The show is definitely entertaining, and the soundtrack is perfect. The cast, with Harvey Keitel, Michael Imperioli, and Gretchen Mol is also the perfect trail mix of crazy and wonderful.

"True Blood" - definitely my favorite new show of the season. Anna Paquin has had some amazing roles in her life, followed by some incredibly boring and meaningless ones, so I'm glad to see she finally is getting the recognition she deserves. Plus, a show with vampires and shape-shifters and god-knows-what-season-2-holds? Brilliant. Since it's on HBO, and only ran 13 episodes, it's been over for a few weeks now, but if you can catch re-runs of it be sure and try!

"Dollhouse" - yeah, I know, I watch a lot of science fiction. But this show rocks, Joss Whedon rocks, and I swear if FOX doesn't give this show more than one season I'm just not going to watch them anymore. I can do without American Idol, and... crap. I can't do without 24.

"24" - Jack is back, and incredibly skinny, and has entered what is, so far, the worst day of his arguably pretty shitty eight days. He is wanted by the US Government for, well, torturing people to save the country, I guess. His life of dedicated service to his country, his close personal relationships with numerous presidents, and his ability to bring down terrorists, rogue agents, and corrupt politicians apparently isn't enough to earn this guy a FULL PRESIDENTIAL PARDON. My money is that he finally gets his pardon this season, and can finally stop running. And as much as I dislike her, maybe he could even settle down with that freckly FBI chick. Okay.. probably won't happen. She isn't all that bright and will probably get killed off, as Bill Buchanan just was tonight. RIP Bill, you rocked on that show, now it's just Jack, Tony, Chloe, and Aaron Pierce to carry on the CTU-era legacy.

"Entourage" - for some reason, whenever I'm in a bad mood, putting this show on seems to cheer me up. That alone should say how great this show is, along with the 30 Emmies for Jeremy Piven, but if you haven't seen this show yet, go get the DVDs. Don't rent them, buy them. I have seen every single show of this series, and I'm re-watching them all now on HBO-On-Demand, just to remember how great the first few seasons were. This season the guys have finally hit rock-bottom, with Vince not getting lead roles, his movie being shut down due to a crazy director, and the usual shennanigans these guys get into. The last episode of the season is fantastic, with Vince and the boys, nothing left, heading back home to New York. However, we haven't seen the last of "Entourage" and we certainly haven't seen the last of Vincent Chase, as the last scene of the season finale shows. Why HBO can't give great shows like this more than a 13 episode season I will never understand, but I'll take what I can get.

And with that, I'm pretty much done. I've had "Heroes" on DVR, on pause, for the last 30 minutes while I've been writing this, and while this show is starting to get a little tired, it's better than 95% of the other crap on television. I didn't get to write much about some other shows I really dig: like "Life," "House," and "The Office." But hopefully I shouldn't need to. Right? Right.