I must be alone. Apparently, the thought level on this subject is so high I can not hope to understand it. Or it is so common as to be unquestionable by anyone. I’m talking about those surveys that are handed out to college students near the end of each semester asking them to rate their professor on a variety of skills. The surveys are supposed to be anonymous, although I’m sure I’m not the first student to be highly suspicious of this administration claim. Considering the time and expense for all involved, I struggle to comprehend how these surveys could be of any use - to anyone. The only sad answer I keep coming back to is that they are a token gesture toward students who don’t think very far beyond their #2 pencil. Maybe I’m wrong.

Techdirt recently wrote about some of the dilemmas facing movie theater owners. I thought I’d give away a few of my secret ideas. The rest stay in my head until some theater owner pays me for them.

I don’t want to give away every idea of mine, but since you are on the subject… here’s what theater owners need to do to fight back — and quit blaming Hollywood.

1. First realize we are in a ADHD society. Movie times like 7:40, 7:55, etc are for the 1960’s, not the year 2010. First theater owner who can GUARANTEE that every movie starts on EVERY top of the hour wins the city. No more calling those ridiculous recordings, looking at tiny invisible newspapers ads (who reads the papers?), and surfing your favorite ticket site (which is sometimes wrong). You just show up at 4:00 and pick a movie. Simple - and no advance planning needed.

I’ve been helping a client setup a Treo 600 to send and receive email and I started getting curious about these devices. I’ve owned two PDA’s over the years, but after I got rid of my last one a few years ago, I vowed to wait until I could better integrate the device with a phone. I just wasn’t going to be one of those guys who carry a PDA, a phone, a laptop, a thumb drive, etc… you know who you are, guys.

So, I jumped online to see what the latest offerings are and I have to say I’m very disappointed in what is available.

I created a small shop at Cafe Press to sell one of my ideas. If it goes okay, I’ll do a full-blown e-commerce site and put all my other ideas on there - ideas that, for the moment, are sealed hermetically in my brain.

As a huge fan of Laura Ingraham, I’ve often told folks that if I could have second wife, she’d be my first pick for sure. If you’ve never listened to Laura, you must stop reading this and find what station she is on in your area and what time. If you’ve read my talk radio post, you understand why I enjoy listening to Laura so much.

Under the “Why didn’t I think of this?” category, I found about this guy, Tom Locke, who decided to use a roll of stamps and mail letters to 100 different companies asking them for free stuff. He has received all sorts of things back, but what I find typical of mis-managed companies is what some of the companies wrote back in their rejection of his request. Amazing. Tom includes all the text of his letters, each individually tailored to each company he wrote to. My favorite letters of Tom’s are the ones he wrote to Energizer (hysterical), Subway, and Industrial Tool & Die. While some cool companies sent him a few coupons or a free product sample, a special few sent him some big time stuff. Fellowes sent him 4 cans of compressed air! What? I pay through the nose for that stuff. It’s like crack to a techie.

I have a friend who once told me that he knew he had finally “made it” because he no longer had a job where he had to wear a name tag to work. For a long time, that defined for me the essence of “making it” as well.

Was talking to a few friends over the weekend about a Florida Today article. We got to talking about newspapers in general… the general decline of their business (due to the net)… their need for new revenue sources… and then the overall blandness of their articles.

In essence, we rarely feel that we are getting the “inside scoop” anymore. In fact, most of our local paper (Florida Today) is filled with AP wire stories. The local stuff is only somewhat interesting.

If any driver thinks that the open road is freedom or that their independence is found in their vehicle, let them rethink the situation. We can not drive without being reminded at every quarter mile by some sign that we are bound by the whims and fancies of rogue puppet dictators: city planners, homeowner associations, and worse, the state department of transportation. Whether we realize it or not, these groups exact a toll upon our driving that we often succumb to without even realizing it. Many of the signs do not make sense. The chief of all nonsensical signs is the “Do Not Pass” sign, which if obeyed, would put an end to most trips real quick. All that is needs to be added is “Do Not Collect $200″. But, the dictators’ attempts to control our driving doesn’t end there.