How to Apologize

I have grown cynical about some things.  We've all seen it happen - someone famous or newsworthy says something, people react, demands for apology are made, and days later the person says something like, "I'm sorry if anything I said hurt anyone."  And here's the thing, it could be genuine, but generally you wonder if that's really code for, can we please move on and start talking about other things.
I confess I had entirely missed that there was hubbub to be had about comments made about cricket (I know, bad pop culture junkie).  But, The NPR Monkey See blog alerted me to this excellent response from Jason Alexander in which he not only apologized but explained the reasons why he thought the remark was originally a little bit funny, how he analyzed the remark after being alerted that some of his fans were offended, and how he came to realize the underlying issue that made the remark part of a larger problem.  Now yes, I am a fan of analysis (some might say over analysis) but I think what's impressive is that he has a- taken ownership for offending, and b-explained why so someone else saying hey dude, I thought it was funny can say, ah yes, I see how that might be a problem. (Or not, but all the info is there.) 

Metro Myths

One of the persistent DC area myths is the one about how Georgetown would have had a metro except the residents didn't want the crime or the poor people (depending on the version you hear). Now first, as the lovely folks over at We Love DC have carefully documented, that is not the reason.  (Short version geography.  Long version, click the link.) 
But, it is a common assertion that public transportation leads to crime increase.  I'm not entirely sure why.  I mean surely criminals could steal cars, assuming they did not have access to them already.  So, some folks decided to study this and guess what they found.  It doesn't.  In fact property crime actually decreased in the areas near new stations, possibly as a result of the increase in foot traffic to the area. 

More Readers

People get nostalgic.  (When I was a kid you couldn't just order any old thing on the internet, you had to find it in a store near you!) And often they feel certain that things have gotten worse (more people die nowadays than say that other time period*) or harder or more terrible except for those time they are getting nostalgic about how today's kids are lazy and don't know how good they have it. 
But, as this post over at The Atlantic points out, reading has actually gone up in the last few decades, rather than the reverse.  So, while I still worry sometimes about those 53% of people who didn't read at all last year (surely they can't all be babies), this progress is impressive. 

*This is a totally untrue fact.

Could I Borrow Your Company?

It is one of those funny facts in life that to make money it really helps to have money.  Even the coolest ideas lead to contracts and offices and phones and things.  There are home offices, but you hate to invite the head widget distributor over to sit on your couch next to your cat.  There are coffee shops, but that grinding noise can interfere with the conference calls.  My dad who went through several small business launches, sometimes made use of office sharing deals where for a fee you could set up a phone line, have access to a conference room even share a receptionist who would answer and forward calls.  But of course, that still costs money.  And that's not even taking into account things like rent.
One of the amazing things about moving from the life of a college student to a working professional was how many things there were that cost money. I knew about food and utilities and gas and car insurance.  But then you add on cable and the fact that daily commuting uses more gas than you thought and then you still want to go to movies or out to dinner and sometimes people want to do those things on the first of the month even though that's also the day 90 percent of your bills are due and wow, that money disappears fast.  As with anything you adjust.  Or get a different job or a cheaper place to live or something.
But what if you didn't have to.  What if you had a great idea for a company.  And what if you could hang out somewhere where there was furniture, food, phones, internet and it was all free.  Or, you know free to you at least.  And no, I don't mean moving back home.  What if you just moved into an office where they had computers, a gym and food.  You know, like AOL for example. One guy did for about two months before being caught.  Now he's gathered enough money for his startup to get a place to live. 

7 Things That Make Me Cranky About Websites

1. The 5W's. Didn't we all learn this in elementary school or something?  (Apparently not.)  So, I want to know who you are.  This should be listed under something obvious like who or about or what have you.  If you are a widget maker and I followed this link thinking you were a famous author I should be able to tell the difference.  Quickly.  Without hunting.
2. So, okay fine.  What basically is covered for most websites in the who.  But if you are a thing that is not entirely obvious, say you are called Widget Makers, but really that's only part of your mission, tell me the rest.  Somewhere.  Please.
3. When.  If you have events, I want to know when they are.  If you make me call you or sign up for your newsletter or do some other gymnastics, nine times out of ten, I will assume your event cannot really be that cool and I will click away. 
4.  When (again) are you open?  Are there exceptions to this like certain federal holidays?  There is nothing more sad than showing up somewhere to discover that despite the website saying they were open, they are not.
5. Where.  Where are you?  This should ideally be on the very first page, so that if I am googling for you on my mobile device I do not have to figure out what cleverness you his this info under.  (Directions might be nice too.)
6. Why, fine, why we can skip.  (See four W's.  Even easier.) But let's look at things like what to expect.  So, if I head to your event or show up to buy a widget, what's that like.  (If the answer is come in, grab widget, buy widget, leave, then fine, I probably don't need to know that.)  Should I bring something(s) with me?  What forms of payment do you accept? 
7. And if you don't actually sell the widgets that you make, where (again) can I buy them?  (Don't you dare tell me fine stores everywhere.  Give me specifics.)