Throughout my mile-long walk through the neighborhood, I was never in a spot with less than four wi-fi signals. That’s a lot of wi-fi spilling into the streets. My first thoughts were about how many people used personal information in the name of their network, including people’s names. Just walking by I could tell that Mary and Anthony were the names of a couple of my neighbors.

Most of the wi-fi throughout the neighborhood was secured networks that you would need a password to get on to. But what surprised me was at least 10 different wi-fi signals were totally open, unprotected from anybody like me stealing their bandwidth. One person (Anthony, mentioned above) had two very strong network signals. One that was secure named “Anthony-secure” and another totally unprotected signal named “Anthony-guests”. What the heck is the point of having a secure wi-fi signal if you have another insecure signal on the same network? That’s like having a lock on your back door but having the front door wide open.

So in Charlotte they are currently painting the World’s Largest QR Code on the top of a warehouse. I’ve seen businesses like Lowe’s Home Improvement paint their logo on their roof before, either to be seen while flying overhead or more likely when viewing the satellite view in Google Maps. So it only makes sense to take it to the next step with a QR code.

I think this is a great idea, although I do think it’s ironic that you can’t capture the code on your smart phone while flying overhead, since all electronic devices must be turned off during takeoffs and landings. (Note: The NoDa neighborhood (where this QR code was created) is not on any flight lines anyway.)

A year ago I created The Usual Susspects for the purpose of separating all of my professional work from my personal ramblings. I moved all my personal ramblings here to this site with the goal of transforming my original domain into my professional portfolio website. It’s still not 100% done, but it was close enough for me to launch the new website publicly a few weeks ago. Check it out.

MikeSussman.com

1. Silent Monks Singing Halleluia (all the singing signs in the background)
2. The leg lamp from the movie “A Christmas Story” is in the background.
3. Office Chair Rowing
4. Where The Hell Is Matt (which repeats over and over again)
5. From the poster for the movie Office Space, but How To Pick Up Girls With Post It Notes*could fit too.
6. (I have no idea what that little gray character in the corner is.  It looks like a silver version of a minion from Despicable Me.)
7. Ask A Ninja
8. Will It Blend
9. Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt *
10. Old Spice | The Man Your Man Could Smell Like
11. Zombie Kid Likes Turtles
12. Evolution of Dance
13. (I have no idea what the Melbourne 9 is supposed to be.)
14. Average Homeboy *
15. lolcats
16. (something was on the screen behind the lolcat girl but I don’t know what it is)
17. Scary Maze prank
18. Where The Hell Is Matt again
19. Giant Lego man found in Dutch sea *
20. The Great Office War
21. (I have no idea what the guy with the headphones is supposed to be.)
22. Leave Britney Alone!
23. Chocolate Rain
24. Diet Coke + Mentos
25. Trapped In An Elevator for 41 Hours
26. The fax machine scene from the movie Office Space
27. Boom Goes The Dynamite *
28. All Your Base Are Belong To Us
29. Rick Roll
30. (I’m not sure but possibly Pop Moonwalks in Wal Mart *)
31. Tron Guy
32. Terry Tate, Office Linebacker
33. Nunchucks Pro
34. (I have no idea what the muscle/doctor is supposed to be.)
35. I think this is supposed to be Mahir Çağrı (aka The real Borat) I now know this is Cigar Guy
36. JK Wedding Entrance Dance (one of the all-time best memes)
37. (I have no idea what Where’s Waldo is supposed to be, other than an old childrens’ book.)
38. (I have no idea what the piano singing to Asian girls thing is supposed to be.)
39. John West Salmon “Bear Fight” commercial
40. Free Hugs campaign (I knew about this one but never saw the actual video before)
41. It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time! (one of the stupidest memes ever)
42. Brawndo commercials * (which was the inspiration for this fake Farmville commercial)
43. (I have no idea what the guy with the moose glass is supposed to be.)
44. Double Rainbow!
45. Strongbad from Homestar Runner
46. I’m assuming this represents any one of many night-vision celebrity sex tapes
47. Office Worker Goes Absolutely Insane
48. (I have no idea what the hoola hoop girl is supposed to be.)
49. Crazy Old “DJ” *
50. Miss South Carolina
51. (I have no idea what the two stomping girls in yellow shirts is supposed to be.)
52. Chuck Norris Facts (this link may not be the original source)
53. Where The Hell Is Matt again
54. Reference to Festivus, from the TV show Seinfeld
55. O RLY
56. (I have no idea what the weapon fighting is supposed to be.)
57. **** In A Box from Saturday Night Live
58. Star Wars Kid (although the many remakes were even better than the original)
59. Where The Hell Is Matt again
60. And finally Flash Mobs, as everybody appears for the final scene then quietly disperses

Without giving too much away, you start off by entering an address that Google Maps has StreetView for.  They suggest the address where you grew up but it really doesn’t matter.  The website then showcases a music video that is customized with both aerial and street level views of the location you entered.  But that’s not the impressive part.  What’s really impressive is the choreographed display of multiple windows that open and close and actually interact with each other in sync.  There are also some pretty cool effects with animated overlays (especially one part near the end).  If you have Google Chrome installed, go check it out!

Tip:  When you first visit the home page, you can interact with he birds using your mouse.

h/t Kristen

According to their About page,  “Smashing Magazine delivers useful and innovative information to Web designers and developers. Our aim is to inform our readers about the latest trends and techniques in Web development. We try to convince you not with the quantity but with the quality of the information we present.”  Their self-description is very accurate.  They post on average just 1.5 times per day (compared to 19.2 times per day for Lifehacker) but their articles are in depth and of very high quality.

2. Rock Your Firefox

A blog that highlights new and innovative plug-ins for the Mozilla Firefox browser, from the Mozilla team.  I honestly ignore 9 out of 10 posts but every once in a while they highlights something truly useful, making it worth while to have subscribed to their feed.

3. Hello My Name Is James

This blog starts a string of three blogs from people I know personally. I used to work with James Stover when we both used to produce local television commercials in Plattsburgh, NY in the mid-90s.  James now works in Public Relations and Marketing Communications in Las Vegas, NV.  His blog is updated very infrequently but when he does post, it’s usually honest, in-depth, and well-pondered insights into the world of Public Relations.

4. Marketing World

This is the professional blog of Kristen Bostedo-Conway, a Charlotte area Marketing Executive.  She specializes in brand management and social media for businesses.  Not surprisingly, her blog discusses tips and advice on the best practices in corporate branding and marketing strategies.

5. Off the Top of My Head

Sticking with the recent string of blogs from friends, this is the blog of fellow SUNY Plattsburgh and PSTV alumnus Chris Rooney.  He’s the only person I know personally who’s blogged more than me.   Unlike the last two sites I mentioned, this is a personal blog so it has a decidedly niche audience.  Just like my blog, Chris’ post are a combination of family news and interesting tid bits found around the internet (but with much more Star Wars references).

Look at the map for Mecklenburg County in North Carolina (Charlotte) and you see much more black than red.  People are migrating to Mecklenburg, mainly from the northeast, Great Lakes, and Florida

But if you look at the map for Suffolk County in New York (Long Island) it’s almost entirely red.  People are deserting Long Island en masse for pretty much anywhere.

Very interesting.