Hey gang,

People that have read these emails in the past know that I use an outlandish number of ()s within my writing.   Often times I use these ()s as asides or for the sake of sarcasm.  My friends that know me best may say that’s because even when I’m the only one in a room, I’m busy interrupting.  That’s why in an effort to stay on message this month, I will not be providing any illuminating sarcastic ()s or counterpoint ()s. Instead I’ll just tell you like it is the first time out the gate.  Please note that next month’s email will be back to normal and thus use a wildly inappropriate number of ()s.

A while back I watched a documentary about laughing. John Cleese, the famed Monty Python troupe member, narrated it and also interviewed folks. He said that as a child he laughed constantly but as an adult, he and most people don’t laugh at nearly as many things.  He found this to be a shame and I agree. I often think back on that documentary when I see something funny yet don’t laugh.  So much of our modern writing includes devices used to signal things we find funny – LOL, ?, LMAO, etc. but the frequency that people use these glyphs and the number of times they actually laugh isn’t even closely correlated.

That’s why I suggest we create a new, true laugh acronym or emoji that can only be added automatically to texts, Tweets, and emails by software if a device’s microphone actually picks up a real guffaw. With this software, we can all be sure the laugh our friends or enemies reported via online text was actually legitimate. Who’s ready to fund this million dollar idea I call ©RealLaugh?  I’m looking for partners.  Other than the software itself, we need to come up with a ©RealLaugh approved Written Laugh Indicator that will showcase that a true laugh has occurred. I await your ideas. I’ve already figured out our motto, ‘Fake laughing is nothing to laugh about’.

The Work

Early last year, I spoke at a conference about Google Analytics and met an awesome company that makes robotics for the plastic mold injection industry.  That Rhode Island-based company,Yushin America, selected us to do their entirely new website which as of last week has now launched.  This company machines are simply amazing and the folks we were able to work with made the project all the more enjoyable.  Check them out!

Other Stuff

With the groundhog seeing no shadow, we are only weeks away from the end of winter, right?  While that may not be a fact, here are some facts about groundhogs – they live 3-6 years on average in the wild, are the largest member of the squirrel family and groundhogs were responsible for archaeologists discovering a historic village in central Ohio.

As always, thanks for reading,

Cody