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Talk Like a Pirate Day is one of my favorite holidays. It’s also a a good chance to show off 12seconds.tv, a microblogging website that lets users record and post very short videos, kind of like a video Twitter. The service is still undergoing some testing, hence my 5-second video.

They want some pirate-themed content to celebrate (Talk Like A Pirate Day on 12seconds - Friday Sept. 19).

Talk Like a Pirate Day on 12seconds.tv

Every once in a while, I do a vanity check and run my name and URLs through Google. I don’t aspire to any level of Social Media Stardom, but it’s nice when someone reads my rants.

This Google gadget by Chris Anderson automates the process, and uses Google’s PageRank system to provide some metrics. I found the gadget in a Wired article called Internet Famous.

When I ran “Bill Sodeman” through that Vanity Validator gadget, I got a score of 54%.

Not bad, considering the scores I obtained for some very well-known bloggers:

• 67%: Julia Allison
• 61%: Dave Winer
• 59%: Ze Frank
• 59%: Robert Scoble
• 57%: Chris Pirillo
• 54%: Gina Trapani
• 54%: Bill Sodeman
• 47%: Cory Doctorow

But there’s room for improvement.

It’s that special time of year when students start assembling their presentations for class. Comedian Don McMillan has some very good tips for PowerPoint users in this funny bit of stand-up.

I enjoy reading June Watanabe’s Kukua Line column in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Sometimes she runs an auwe section where anonymous readers point out shameful behavior they have witnessed.

Wednesday’s column featured a Honolulu firefighter from the Nimitz station who was seen raising the US and state flags while he was out of uniform. HFD personnel are supposed to wear an HFD shirt, along with pants and shoes. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, but he was wearing rubber slippers. Auwe!

The firefighters from the Beretania station are always properly dressed to raise and lower the flags at Fort Street Mall by my office.

Thursday’s column was a two-for-one deal with an initial item about vulgar vanity license plates that slipped past the state’s application process. Auwe!
There was another story about a man who parked his car at a stoplight by Central Middle School to buy a plate lunch. He parked in the center lane of the Pali Highway. That’s a big auwe!

The Web has spawned a legion of sites devoted to reporting rude behavior. Some Craigslist users post their auwes on the rant and rave board for their city. There are sites devoted to rude drivers, restaurant patrons, employees, and other topics.

I’m knee deep in paper grading right now, but here’s a quick post with some April Foolishness.

Patrick Altoft has a live blog of April Fools pages and pranks here.

Planning to take over the world? Read the Evil Genius Guide to Business. I’m talking to you, Hank Scorpio!

ThinkGeek and Amazon are selling a book on silly Internet RFCs. A Request for Comments is a document that describes proposed Internet standards and technologies, and there is a long tradition of joke RFCs.

Google continues its annual tradition of gags, as reported on Cnet. This year’s crop includes Gmail Custom Time, a feature that lets Gmail users send thir email messages into the past.

There are almost a dozen Google hoaxes this year, including Google Australia’s gDay, a search engine that travels 24 hours ahead in time.

Google also announced Virgle, a joint venture with Virgin to develop an open-source expedition to Mars. Google’s co-founders describe the project in this YouTube video.