The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Jason McIntosh:

I just linked to this thread from my own little consulting company's blog. (This is me hoping that semi-pluggy links are cool, so long as they're circular...)

This thread resonates strongly with me. I went independent in part to escape from all the phenomena mentioned here, and I'm now carefully pushing my company into a phase where it's partnering with other independent consultants while remaining free of shared physical office space. It's possible specifically because of advances in communication technology and even methodology, all of which are available on the consumer market, and half of which are free (or nearly-free) services.

I doubt that this is a work-style appropriate to any kind of business, but I'm fascinated at how it's lately becoming more and more feasible. I embrace it cautiously but hopefully.

Teresa @ OP: Hooray! You are welcome.

I too was impressed that the chewing-gum folks apparently sponsored his project in exchange for a simple shout-out at the end, as opposed to to making him wear a giant gum costume or something.

Thanks for the XKCD-explaining sidelight, Patrick. Not knowing the source material, my first reaction to the comic was "Well, yes, I suppose Munroe's allowed to do a clip show, at this point."

People who enjoyed the Discovery Channel ad will also appreciate Where the Hell is Matt?, which charmed its way through my personal blogocircle last week. I have watched it a dozen times and still mist up a little over it.

Oof, his expression of personal regret at a childhood spent in the
basement watchin' stoopid TV really resonated with me, too. The memory
of my four-year-old self is rather jealous of the mouse-hunting
four-year-olds of today.

Sometimes I think that my entire career path now seems based around
making up for lost time. But, it's better than watching TV. :)

Andy Looney (of game company Looney Labs) calls these kinds of transcendental merchandise "gobstoppers", after the Willy Wonka candy that's been sold as such in the real world since the 1970s.

I'd like to note that this post got referenced (and attributed and linked to) by the most recent (November 10, 2007) episode of Pseudocertainty, a podcast about UFOlogy and other strangeness hosted by a friend of mine.

#28: I seem to recall the "sultry recorded attention-getting voice belonging to a grandmother" meme showing up in the film version of The Andromeda Strain.

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