someone in the world is complaining about water but thankful he at least receives texts properly

CM: [complaining about how his iPhone doesn't receive text messages when he's in Mexico]

Me: "I think you just need to call the phone company."

CM: "This is a first-world problem.  I shouldn't be complaining.  There are people in the world without running water."

Me: "Those people have phones."

CM: "True. They have better phones than I do."

(Proof: "More People have Cell Phones than Clean Water")

super bowl commercial I've watched 10 times

I love this 2-minute commercial made by personal injury lawyer Jamie Casino.  He lives in Savannah, Georgia.  He personally wrote, directed, and acted in this video as a tribute to his brother, and then bought up the entire local airtime during Super Bowl to air it.  It was only shown to Savannah residents.

One article says:

Though it aired on the small affiliate the video has now been seen by millions as the commercial went viral - a concept Casino admits he doesn't understand. 

"I can't believe it," he said. "I don't know how any of this social media works. My wife does our Facebook page. … I had heard of videos going viral but I thought they paid people to do it."

In another article, he says he spent under $100,000 for creating the video and then buying the Super Bowl airtime.  He started Christmas Eve, filmed for 3 days, and edited for 3 weeks.

I admire that he went over-the-top to create an artistic piece that would satisfy himself. It wasn't done purely as an advertisement (he never mentions the phone number or website of his law firm). It wasn't for fame, since he didn't realize it would be seen by millions. It was a labor of love.

It's hard not to be won over by competently-executed labors of love.

New favorite book: Ready Player One

CM recommended a book to me: "Ready Player One".  After I got halfway through, I told him that it may as well be renamed "Book for Niniane".

This is now the best book I've read.

It is about a post-apocalyptic world where people live in stacks of trailers.  All fossil fuels have been exhausted.  People live in poverty, and spend all their time plugged into a virtual world.  They use visors and haptic gloves to interface with this world.

It has everything I would want in a book.  A virtual world with avatars.  Character development and self-actualization along Maslow's hierarchy.  Having admin abilities in a massive game / simulation used by billions of people.  Playing a perfect game of Ms Pac Man.  Educational games that teach math in an entertaining fashion to schoolchildren.  Fighting off an enemy until the fight makes you re-evaluate your goals and take bold risks which sacrifice your own self-interest.

I talked to CM about the book for an hour.  Other friends kept coming by and saying, "What are you guys talking about so intently?  STILL the same book?"