We've Moved

I took all the posts with me, over to http://www.daniellemorrill.com

That's where you can find me, as well as on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/DanielleMorrill

Updates about the DMo Blog

If you've followed my blog in the past, you probably know that I work for Pelago (the company that makes Whrrl) and that I often blog about exciting things happening with Whrrl. I'm now officially blogging for the Whrrl product blog so you won't see any more of that here.

If you're interested in following along with Whrrl you can also follow me on Twitter, where I am @DanielleMorrill, or friend me on Whrrl by sending an invite to danielleoclark(at)hotmail

Another update - This blog wasn't really intended to be permanently parked at this Blogger URL, since I own daniellemorrill.com, I've just gotten so busy with Whrrl work that I've been lazy about doing that. I'm committing to getting everything moved over to daniellemorrill.com and using Wordpress.

Sunny Mornings on the East Side

This morning I did something I've been needing to do for over a week now, I spent a solid two hours with my dog. Spending time with Rafe (who is four months old now) consists of cleaning up after him, scolding him for gnawing on my hands and arms, coaxing him to walk on a leash, protecting my coffee and face from slobbery kisses, and wrestling with him in the grass over a toy. I woke up to one of those rare mornings in the Pacific Northwest where the early morning sunshine is coming through the window in delicious golden beams, just beckoning me to get outdoors.

Spending time with my dog reminds me to slow down the pace of life sometimes, even on a weekday morning, and put my life and things that generate stress for me into perspective. It used to amaze me that much of a dog's life is spent anticipating the return of its master, but as I steal peeks at Rafe when he doesn't see me watching I actually noticed that he isn't waiting for me - he's doing dog things all by himself like sniffing, playing, and peeing. Ah, the life of a dog.

LiveBlog: Whrrl Tech Talk Tonight [Seattle]

I'll be live blogging the Whrrl tech talk tonight here and on Twitter from BluWater Bistro at Lake Union, starting around 5:30pm. There will be demos of the mobile applications on the iPhone, Blackberry, and others - as well as a demo of the website. There will also be a 20 minute talk from Jeff Holden, CEO of Pelago, on the future of the company and Whrrl.

Not familiar with Whrrl, check out this interview from the SummerMash party from Saturday, which was hosted by Mashable.

*Disclaimer - I work for Pelago, makers of Whrrl - and I'm biased. However, this is not the official company or product blog, and any opinions here are my own. *

Whrrl - DMo Interviews at SummerMash about Whrrl

Check out my interview with Mashable at SummerMash last Friday at Showbox Sodo, talking about Whrrl and our newly released iPhone application. Rate it up - and let me know what you think!

* Disclaimer: This is not the official Whrrl blog. That blog can be found here. *

Are you on Whrrl yet?

What an exciting day it has been for us here at Pelago, as the Apple app store launches on iTunes and people begin to discover Whrrl on their iPhones. I am personally excited because, as some of you already know, I have been without a phone for a couple of months and I will be ditching Verizon tonight and getting myself a brand-spanking-new iPhone 2.0

Come check out Whrrl and friend me! Even if you don't have an iPhone there are lots of other ways to take advantage of Whrrl. Whrrl supports a lot of phones, and if you navigate to m.whrrl.com in your mobile browser you can find out which version to download for yours (it will detect what kind of phone you have). Another option, if you're into texting, is to use SMS with Whrrl. And then there's the "old skool" approach, to use the website.

One reason I love the website (over the mobile and iPhone app) is that it really takes advantage of the screen real estate a larger monitor presents, and gives you a gorgeous map loaded with icons that are relevant to you.

For all the different ways to use Whrrl, I think the filter is just so powerful. The filter I like most is the ability to say "only show me places that are open in 1 hour" so I can make sure a place is still going to be open by the time I get there if I leave shortly, but I don't have to set a certain range of hours. I work on content acquisition so I'm damn proud of the fact that our ability to collect accurate business hours and happy hours is being exposed through this feature. The data team rocks! (just sayin')

And about privacy, because of course people have been talking about stalkers. There is a combination of rational concern about privacy, but also a fair amount of fear mongering and anti-technology talk out there that I have a hard time understanding. In response to the rational concerns, there are robust privacy features that work. Period. To the other people, I don't know what to tell them; I think a good first step is to take a good look at the Whrrl privacy policy and the security settings, because a lot of thought has gone into them. You will find that you completely control who sees your location in Whrrl.

The way I use the privacy settings in Whrrl is pretty simple: I only show my location to people I'd be willing to invite over to my house, and for my "internet friends" I just don't share. It's nice because it basically shows my friends all my other activities (reviews, meetups, notes and stuff) but it just leaves my checkins off their Whrrld feed. As I get to know people better, I can add them to the list of people who can see my location - and my goal is to get more and more people on that list because that means I'm making more and more real world friends. And, for me anyway, that's what this is ultimately about - reconnecting with the real world with the help of technology. That integration between being tech savvy and also having a social life, that seems so elusive sometimes.





* Lil Disclaimer: This isn't the official Whrrl blog or Pelago blog, this is just Danielle Morrill and all the opinions expressed herein are my own. I work for Pelago, the company bringing Whrrl to people everywhere, so I am biased. *

Before You Toss That Out...

I was thinking about some lifehacks yesterday, as I was about to throw out an old disposable electric tooth brush. Here are some ideas about what you should use an otherwise garbage-can-bound item for, before you toss it out.

Disposable Electric Toothbrush - scrub out the sinks, especially detailing around the drains. You'll never have this thing touch your teeth again, but it sure beats scrubbing mildew and grout with the manual type of toothbrush.

Sponges - cut them up into small strips, microwave them (to kill any bacteria) and use them to clean inside of wine glasses, where a normal sponge is just too big.

Cardboard Boxes - flatten them, and create a mat underneath your car to capture any liquids that might drip, including rainwater (which is usually loaded with oil and road grime), and will stain the floor of your garage or driveway.

Cardboard Tube Inside Paper Towel Roll - make your dog's day, give it to him as a toy but make sure to take it away before he decides to eat the mushy goodness. Skip this last step at your own peril.


Have more ideas about how to get just a little more functionality out of everything? Tell me!

What Independence Days Means To Me

One of the dangers of calling today's holiday simply "July Fourth" is that we drop the meaning, often with the result that children (and some adults) forget what is being celebrated. The name "Independence Day" captures the meaning; the day when our country became an independent sovereign nation. There is more to this holiday than parades, barbecues, sunburn, and fireworks.

The principle at stake during the battle for our independence as a nation was independence on the whole, individual independence and rights that make this the most free and greatest country on Earth. In the past few years, it has become frowned upon to be so proud of this fact - and some will try to tell you we are not actually as free as we claim - but in comparison to the rest of the countries in the world, we are the most free. Our freedoms have been infringed upon recently, both by outside attackers and by our own government. While I won't go into that here, I'm not unaware of it.

Washington and Jefferson fought a battle for a principle, and considering how apt people are to rail against principle on principle (how ironic and hypocritical), they fought more than just a battle of might and force - they fought a battle of the mind, for a philosophical principle so crucial to human life that it requires the live-or-death stakes of full out war to defend. These great men fought for our right to live as we see fit, and in turn enforced as the law the moral code requiring that we not infringe on this right in the lives of others. This is so crucial to how we live today in this country, as well as how we influence the countries and individuals in the rest of the world. Understanding independence, and how it makes the United States of America unique, is crucial to understanding the thinking and actions of other nations and individuals.

I'm preaching to the choir, I hope.

So today, I'm celebrating my right to do what I want. I'm drinking white wine, hanging out with my dog, I'm spending money on entertaining and other non-essentials, I'm being anti-social when I want to, and overtly social when I want to. I'm writing about history and philosophy, but I'm also sending vapid status updates into the void via Twitter. I'm working, playing, living and loving in our beautiful house with my beloved husband. There are places in the world today when one or more this simple things is forbidden, and I celebrate the fact that I am not living in one of those places.

I wish all the good people in the world could either live here, or could fight to have their home countries allow them the freedoms that I enjoy. There are a multitude of excellent private charities that support efforts to pursue freedom and justice around the world - but often they fail to correctly evaluate the premises of the culture in these countries, and so money goes to waste because it can't make it past corrupt hands or other barriers. For me, this is one of the most aggravating things of all. Here are in America, with our wealth and awareness of the problems in the world, we often we can't get our dollar to have nearly the impact we would expect it to. I'm always searching for skilled charities, if you know of them please recommend them.

Movie Night Tonight - come network and eat!

If you're thinking you don't have much going on tonight, and you want to meet some new people, come play with us tonight at the Cristalla condo building, in Belltown. We'll be cooking some BBQ, drinking, playing pool, socializing and watching a movie or two. There is also a nice patio so we can enjoy the good weather, and a hot tub for later on. If you're reading this then you probably are the kind of person we'd love to meet. The building is secured, so you will need to email me at morrilldanielle (at) gmail (dot) com to get on the concierge's list.

You Attract What You Are

"You attract what you are." - Warren Buffet

The first time I heard this quote was a couple years ago, in a lecture about Warren Buffet. It struck me as salient and I contemplated it, and since then it has come back to me over and over again in different forms, and has come to make much more sense to me than it originally did. There are many things I can say about it, but today's reflection has to do with relationships.

I think the people you love (date, marry, family, friends) are mirrors to your own soul, to the extent that you are close to them. They help you see yourself clearly, as a kind of sanity check to your own introspection, because they are close enough to you and your daily life to see you fully for who you truly are. If they are selfish (which most people are, at least to some extent) then it is in their own interest to see you objectively, and to help you to achieve the character you wish to possess. To the extent that they are selfish, and wish to be with someone they can admire, they will be more and more objective, and through (kind) feedback can help you shape your life and self to your design.

To some, this probably sounds really strange. You might not realize it, but you are shaping yourself every day. Why are self-help books so popular? Why do we read beauty magazines, or take classes, or exercise, or solicit feedback from coaches, mentors, and peers? We want to become something, someone, and we aren't there yet. In fact, we probably never "get there" - the people I know are always looking to improve their lives in some way. This aspiration to become more is a huge motivating factor in our lives. Sometimes I wonder if it is possible to go on living, or at least remain sane, without it.

What this all boils down to is that the purpose of our relationships is to find people who we admire, who help us to see ourselves clearly, and love what they see in us. My husband, immediate family, and closest friends do this for me - and I think it is the most powerful outside influence on my personal growth and ongoing endeavor to become more ME.

Generating Seed Content for Blogging

I've found a neat little trick for always having something to write about when I want to update my blog. Whenever I think of a new topic, but don't have time to write a full blown post and copy-edit it, I can just write up a quick draft and save it to use later as the starting point for a post. I have started to use the tagging feature along with this trick to accumulate a lot of topics I want to eventually post on but need to do research or more thinking on. Just a little thing, but I think over the long time it will lead to higher quality entries in my blog and hopefully more interesting topics as well.

Book Recommendation: Marley & Me

The author of the book Marley and Me, John Grogan, is definitely a kindred spirit. I started reading this book last night while winding down from hosting a BBQ at our house and before I knew it I was 160 pages in. I am a lover of dogs, and grew up with a succession of crazy labs, one bipolar sharpei, and blind and insane hound/mutt. Although the subtitle of the book is "Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog" it is clearly said with affection. Grogan and his wife, Jenny, start out very much like Kevin and I - newly married and ready to take on their first dependent. After reading about their adventures I feel less worried that we might accidentally kill off our "son" - they went through all sorts of nightmarish situations with their dog, many related to his fear of thunderstorms (which doesn't work out well in Florida).

Our dog, Rafe, is doing well. We have to exhaust him daily with long walks, wrestling, kicking around the soccer ball, and fetching at least a dozen different toys. Yesterday he met a bunch of other dogs in the neighborhood and also my nephew, Matthew, who is almost two years old.

To see more of my book recommendations, friend me at GoodReads

How to Be a Great Landlord

I have been renting out our condo for almost a year now on short term leases, with great success. I feel like there are a few things that I do that make my job much easier and make my tenants very happy as well. There is nothing like word-of-mouth to bring in the next tenant, and I genuinely care about give good "customer service" as a landlord. Here are some things that I do that I think have been part of my success:

Getting the Place Rented Out

• Don't just rent to the first person who contacts you. You don't have to honor first-come, first-served, pick the tenant who you think you will like working with since you might end up seeing them a lot.
• Use a standard contract for your state on Google Docs to collaborate with your tenant on the lease agreement. Each tenant will add more new stipulations, but you don't have to agree to them - just point out it is a standard contract and that you aren't interested in hangling over legalese.
• Create a binder with all the information you went over in the walk through, down to the most detailed thing. Include the homeowner's association rules, any contact info, and a list of all amenities and how to they can take advantage of them. Include the building's emergency plan. Show this to all potential tenants.
• If you have furniture in your place and you're moving out, consider renting furnished. Furnished places rent fast, and odds are good that your current furniture will not look as good in your new place.
  

Signing the Lease

• Opt for people who are willing to pay both first and last month's rent up front, you know they can afford rent if they can part with this much money at one time.
• Make the security deposit fully refundable. People always feel like deposits are a scam. If you want to make more money build it into the rent price, not the deposit.

Move In Day

• Meet your tenant in person and do another walk through, especially if it has been more than a week since they signed the lease and took the tour.
• Introduce your tenant to the concierge and any other staff and help them get set up with any orientation they might need, and arrange for the freight elevator on their behalf.
• Leave the binder, a bottle of wine, extra keys and a handwritten note thanking them for being your tenant in the rental unit the night before they move in.
• One week later send them $50 in fresh groceries using a delivery service like Safeway.com or Amazon Fresh.

Maintaining the Relationship

• Always respond to their calls, messages, and emails within 4 hours and never make them wait 24 hours for you to take care of the problem.
• Stop worrying about your place, it will be fine and if it isn't homeowner's insurance and will covere the damage and their deposit will cover your deductible.
• Leave them in peace and quiet, to enjoy the space.

Life Without a Mobile Phone

For the past six weeks I have been living without a mobile phone, as I await my purchase of the 3G iPhone. When I tell people this, they react like I've been sleeping under a bridge - they can't believe I've lived without a device to keep me in touch with the world. The most common question I hear is, "Aren't you missing out on doing fun things with friends?" and the truth is that my social life has been excellent this entire time. Thanks to Gmail, Twitter, and Facebook it's still easy to coordinate.

I work for a company that builds software for mobile phones, so it really is a bit strange that I don't have one. Pelago released the new version of the mobile application Whrrl on Tuesday, and I can't wait to have it with me 24/7. At the same time, I am relishing these last few weeks before I go back to 24/7 connectivity. When I return to having a phone it will be vastly different than before, a huge upgrade from a Chocolate phone with Verizon... to basically a computer in my pocket all the time.

Even when I do have the phone I am not going to spend much money on a voice plan, all I really care about is data. I hate to answer my phone and I hate even more processing voicemail.

Contemplating BarCamp Seattle

I am seriously considering attending BarCamp and I imagine I could get away with going and not presenting, but I kind of want to. I want to put that pressure on myself to actual talk to people about the things I'm passionate about. It's a bit intimidating though, since I don't feel like I'm an expert in these things - but the website says I don't have to be, so I'm going to go with that.

Some ideas:

Things That Shape Us: Why Enterprise Software Matters

The New "Blue Collar" Worker - Defining the Future of Customer Service

Creative Uses for Call Centers & Outsourced Operations

Info Addicts: Share How You Get Your Info (blogs, news sources, forums, etc)

Personas: Who Uses My Stuff Anyway?

Hmmm, I could find a way to weave in location aware mobile tech... I'll have to think on that.

Puppy Has Consumed Life-Sleep-Sanity

As you might have noticed, since I blogged that the dog was coming home, over a week ago, there hasn't been another peep out of me. That's because this little ball of chocolaty goodness is a total time suck! I was expecting that, but I've got to drag myself kicking and screaming (well, not quite) back to the adult (and human) world. In this pic he's running around in our back yard with one of his many toys, keeping us very busy with his high-energy demands for pretty much constant play time.

I'm looking forward to eating at Branzino tonight, a new restaurant opening Belltown. Maybe in addition to scoring the first review on Whrrl, I'll get the first on Y*lp. We'll see.

Puppy Coming Home Saturday

I am so excited, because I am finally getting a puppy. He is 8 weeks old and I will be bringing him home on Saturday. He is a chocolate lab, and I'm naming him Rafe. Kevin has been out of town, which has left we with plenty of time to shop for pet supplies without him complaining. I am actually surprised by how stressed out I am about whether I will be a good Mom to this tiny little dog. I'm sure it will be fine, and I mainly just can't wait to get him and snuggle with him and pet him for hours on end. That's probably what I'll do all weekend, while I work with my Dad on building the gates in the backyard.

In other news, I just signed up for the Six Hour Startup Conference on May 31st. I'm looking forward to it on multiple levels. I haven't really gone to any kind of networking anything since I started working at Pelago, mostly because I've been so busy and when so much was under wraps it wasn't much fun not being able to talk to people about what we're doing. This conference will undoubtedly be more fun than the stuffy talks I attended for the Transportation Alliance, Port Authority, Seattle Chamber of Commerce, etc in previous work experiences. The speakers including Tony Wright, co-founder of RescueTime - who I have blogged about here, and whose product I still use daily. Most importantly, I am looking forward to meeting new people. I don't have a business idea to pitch, I am really more in information gathering and learning mode, so it will be interesting to soak as much in as possible and look to make meaningful contact with people that might be resources in the learning process or just interesting to befriend in general.

I promise, puppy pictures soon.

I Love My House

Its so important to like where you live, whenever possible. Here's where I live.

We moved here on Halloween last year. Kevin even went to Costco and got some king size candy bars (to match the size of the chimney?) but the kids never came by and we still have the candy bars somewhere.

I worked from home today, and it got me to reflect on how much I love my house and how happy I am to finally be living somewhere that is just so... me.

Mint.com - How Refreshing

Last night I finally got all of our household accounts updating in my Mint.com account and it was so easy!

I had been procrastinating really getting myself set up with Mint.com because, in my past experiences with Quicken and MS Money, the process could literally take days. Time spent digging up statements and account numbers and old balances, all in an effort to get everything organized enough to actually pull useful data. Then even more time spent categorizing all my transactions so that my trending and budgets would work.

There are many features that make Mint a joy to use, such as the ability to load multiple accounts at the same time. It is very accurate with the categorization of my expenses so I don't have to do much fixing, unless the credit card company or the vendor have something strange on my statement. My one complaint is the navigation of the site. When I deep dive into the details of a transaction from the trending graphs I can't use the back button to go back to the graph I was using before, which is usually a drill-down pie chart into one of the main categories. I have to go back through the "Trends" tab and drill down again. I find this to be time consuming and wasted clicks for me.

I got an email today from Mint.com offering me an RSVP for a private beta they will be doing soon that includes 401k, IRA, and other investment and savings accounts that they don't include right now. I'm looking forward to that. I also hope they will soon have more trending tools for the income side of the equation and not just the expenses. I'd like to be able to look at how our household income is trending over time.

Gift Cards Are The Way To Go

Today is mother's day and we gave my mom-in-law gift cards - and, as usual, she was thrilled! She has a very interesting gift-giving policy, which it has taken me about three years to finally begin to appreciate. Today I saw the light.

For every holiday, my mom-in-law tells all of us exactly what she wants as a gift. Not just an idea or a suggestion; no, she is expecting to get exactly the gift she has asked for no more, no less. If she doesn't get it, she isn't even that nice about it, and I've come to realize that this policy has existed in my husband's family for a long time and is seen as a rule. At first, I disliked it because I felt like it took everything that was personal and heartfelt out of selecting and giving gifts, not to mention fun. I mean, how many different ways are there to dress up an envelope containing a few pieces of symbolic plastic? Now, as I begin to accumulate well-intended clutter, I am beginning to see things from the other side more clearly.

Take Easter for example, where people often give cute bunny rabbit stuffed animals. Easter comes every year, without fail, and if someone gives me a stuffed bunny every year and I'm on of those insane people who feels like they can't throw anything away (read: my mom-in-law) then I am going to end up storing a lot of bunnies in my guest bedroom closet.

We've come into a culture of choice - where people like me can afford to buy their own luxury items and would prefer to do so. The best gifts I can think of are ones that are perishable like flowers, chocolates, food, and drink. Another great gift is experiences (movie/concert tickets, bed and breakfast gift certificates). These are the things that I don't tend to splurge on as much as I should with my hectic schedule.

So what does this mean? Why have we changed so much?