Gongol.com > Radio > Show Notes > January 23, 2010

The WHO Radio Wise Guys
Brian Gongol



We introduced some schwag (you know, promotional stuff you get) this week with the help of CafePress and their production-on-demand service.

On the subject of logos, Logo Tournament offers designers and opportunity to make some money online responding to design requests from businesses, organizations, and, perhaps, individuals. People who want to make money online but who don't have design skills might take a look at our list of ways to make money online.

A caller wanted to know how to get free tools for things like antivirus and anti-spyware. We've been building a list of free programs, including open-source programs like Firefox and free tools like AVG Anti-Virus and Spybot Search and Destroy, since 2004.

The earthquake in Haiti is a reminder that everyone needs some kind of online footprint that they can use to tell their friends and family that they're OK in case of emergency. Whether you have a Facebook page or a Twitter account or something else, it's important to have some way to tell the world that you're OK.

If you're making choices about where to donate money to charities (like the relief effort for Haiti), take a look at Charity Navigator, which ranks the financial efficiency of charitable organizations. (By the way, see for yourself that a tropical depression once hit Iowa).


[Dan Adams] Wait, wait, wait, wait, before you get into that,

[Brian Gongol] Yes.

[Dan Adams] Introduce our...

[Daryl Becicka] Thank you.

[Dan Adams] our other guest co-host over here.

[Brian Gongol] Other? What? What? Guest? Dan, I've been on this show for six years. That's not a guest. I'm the host, too. You and I are hosts. That's how it works.

[Dan Adams] You, you, you literally interpret everything I say.

[Laughs]

[Dan Adams] That's your problem.

[Brian Gongol] Well, you said our other guest co-host. Dan, we've been doing this show together for six years. That's how this works. [Laughs]

[Dan Adams] God, don't remind me how long it's been.

[Laughs]

[Dan Adams] OK, let me introduce our guest co-host today.

[Brian Gongol] There you go. That's right.

[Dan Adams] Thank you. Mr. DarylBetchika.

[Daryl Becicka] And I will be the acting diplomat in between you two today.

[Dan Adams] You know, you should have a referee shirt on today.

[Daryl Becicka] Exactly.

[Dan Adams] I don't know.

[Daryl Becicka] I feel like it's started already. You're a little off this morning.

[Dan Adams] I am a little off, but Brian completely screwed me up, because he actually walked in here before the intro started playing. And that never happens.

[Brian Gongol] Well, you know, I...

[Dan Adams] And I'm not picking on you, but that just, admit it, it never happens.

[Brian Gongol] I was able to do some things early today, so I could get in a little earlier. Get my show prep done, and things like that, so I was able to get in early. So that's where I am.

[Daryl Becicka] It's a new decade.

[Dan Adams] And you wearing this shirt that's just I am weirding me out.

[Brian Gongol] I am rocking the new shirt, baby. That's right.

[Laughs]

[Dan Adams] It's weirding me out.

[Brian Gongol] OK, here's the deal. For a long time we've had listeners suggesting that we need some schwags, so I said, well, you know, we'll see about it.

[Dan Adams] Where does this word “schwag� come from?

[Brian Gongol] It's a wonderful word.

[Daryl Becicka] It's very trendy.

[Brian Gongol] Everybody uses that word.

[Dan Adams] Nobody says schwag.

[Daryl Becicka] It's pretty hip for you.

[Dan Adams] This is Des Moines, c'mon.

[Brian Gongol] When you go to a conference or a convention, what do you call the freebie stuff that you get when you go to the conference or convention?

[Dan Adams] Crap.

[Brian Gongol] No, that's not it. You don't call it that.

[Dan Adams] Junk.

[Brian Gongol] Schwag. It's schwag.

[Daryl Becicka] It's schwag. I understand it.

[Dan Adams] People trying. You know what? I'll bet you anything. I've been to more conventions and conferences and stuff than you have.

[Brian Gongol] Hmm-hmm.

[Dan Adams] And I've never heard that stuff called schwag.

[Brian Gongol] I go to at least five a year, and I've been going to five a year at least regularly for the last eight years. So I've been to 40 of them in the last eight years. So I don't know if you want to put numbers up against that.

[Dan Adams] Yeah, I could put numbers up against that.

[Brian Gongol] Right. The bottom line is...

[Dan Adams] But that's not the point.

[Brian Gongol] some people say that it comes from S-W-A-G, "stuff we all get". That's the polite way to say that one.

[Dan Adams] See now, that I like.

[Brian Gongol] Stuff we all get, Swag.

[Dan Adams] OK, that I like.

[Brian Gongol] But I like, I insist on putting a little, you know, shish into that, because I thing schwag sounds cooler than swag. Schwag, you know, it just sounds like stuff you should be getting. So...

[Dan Adams] OK, but still, I've never heard it called that.

[Brian Gongol] Well, anyway, there have been some listeners who are on our case...

[Daryl Becicka] You need to get out a little more.

[Brian Gongol] Well, thank you.

[Daryl Becicka] I've got to back you up on this one, Brian.

[Brian Gongol] I appreciate it.

[Dan Adams] I've got to say, I don't get out a whole lot anymore.

[Brian Gongol] Well, the bottom. Well, yeah, you're telling me you go to more conventions than I do. So I think you're off just a bit about this.

[Dan Adams] Well, Brian, I've been to... I was in the computer business for, you know, many, many years.

[Brian Gongol] I understand, but...

[Dan Adams] I went to a lot of stuff.

[Brian Gongol] In the last decade, I bet I've outnumbered you for conventions.

[Daryl Becicka] Well, I would, I'd give you that.

[Brian Gongol] Yeah. So I'm just saying, they give out stuff, and stuff with logos and things on it. Well,

[Daryl Becicka] Schwag.

[Brian Gongol] It's schwag. Exactly.

[Dan Adams] Schwag, schwag.

[Brian Gongol] The listeners have been on our case about getting some Wise Guy schwags, so I thought well...

[Dan Adams] Who has?

[Brian Gongol] Let's try it out. Well, I've gotten emails. Apparently you haven't.

[Dan Adams] Well, let them pay for it.

[Brian Gongol] Well, I'm not giving it away.

[Dan Adams] OK.

[Brian Gongol] I'm not giving this stuff away, but I did figure, well, we could make some stuff. I mean it's not that hard anymore. Online you can do it by putting a logo there and they'll make the stuff...

[Dan Adams] OK.

[Brian Gongol] for you, on demand.

[Dan Adams] Well, the only thing I was commenting about was the logo that you have on there.

[Brian Gongol] Yes?

[Dan Adams] Once you explained it, I've kind of warmed up to it a little bit.

[Daryl Becicka] Hold on. I've got to see it.

[Brian Gongol] Yeah.

[Dan Adams] But I still don't like it.

[Brian Gongol] OK. I'll put a copy of the logo at WHORadio.com, on the Wise Guys' page.

[Dan Adams] I think we should. Let's give our listeners a chance to maybe submit their ideas for a logo for us.

[Brian Gongol] I don't want the listeners' logos. I've already. I've used this logo for over a year now.

[Daryl Becicka] What? You're going to try democracy?

[Brian Gongol] Well no, forget that. No way.

[Laughs]

[Dan Adams] Wow! No, the two Republicans in the room are not going to try democracy.

[Laughs]

[Daryl Becicka] I always thought this was an authoritarian dictatorship, anyway, so.

[Brian Gongol] Oh, no. Here's the deal. The logo is quite simple, and it's actually, it will take me a second to put it on WHORadio.com.

[Dan Adams] It's not up there yet?

[Brian Gongol] But it's been on my personal page now for over a year and a half because...

[Dan Adams] Well, you've got to admit that you're biased toward it, because you came up with it.

[Brian Gongol] And well, of course I am, but that's how it goes.

[Laughs]

[Brian Gongol] I also have used it. If you download our podcast at WHORadio.com, there's a little button there that's the logo that we've been using now for an eternity, whether or not Dan pays attention.

[Dan Adams] It is better than the last logo that we had.

[Brian Gongol] We've had a logo in the past?

[Dan Adams] Oh, many, many years before you came along, we had a logo of, I forget who did it, but it was two guys in trench coats with hats and sunglasses on.

[Brian Gongol] Yeah, it's not happening. That's not happening.

[Dan Adams] Say yeah, that wasn't good.

[Laughs]

[Brian Gongol] The description of this logo, this logo's very simple.

[Daryl Becicka] Columbine kind of put an end to that one, didn't it?

[Dan Adams] Yeah. Pretty much. Yeah.

[Brian Gongol] The...

[Dan Adams] Actually, yeah.

[Brian Gongol] The logo's very simple. It's when you type in a web address, you don't say it anymore. People just say www dot, and sometimes they just skip that and just say WHORadio.com.

[Dan Adams] You mean nobody says http colon slash slash?

[Brian Gongol] That's right.

[Daryl Becicka] www

[Brian Gongol] We used to.

[Dan Adams] I remember that.

[Dan Adams] I know someone who stills does that.

[Daryl Becicka] Remember those days? Those were the good old days.

[Brian Gongol] No, those were horrible days.

[Laughs]

[Brian Gongol] Those were awful, awful days, and it's good that they're gone. But at the time...

[Dan Adams] Well, that is true.

[Brian Gongol] It still appears in the address bar of your browser. So there's still the http colon slash slash. And its not back slash. And it's just slash. Colon slash slash. Well what I did was I took the colon slash slash

[Dan Adams] Yeah, forward slash, actually.

[Brian Gongol] Yeah, but you don't say that because it's inferred that it is forward. And it's just the slash is forward.

[Dan Adams] Yes.

[Brian Gongol] And the backslash is back. Well, I just took the colon and the slash slash, and then I took, basically, the back slash, the reverse of it, faded it, and set it on top of it, so that it forms a W of sorts.

[Dan Adams] You did this, at home, on your own time.

[Brian Gongol] Yes.

[Dan Adams] Probably late at night, one night.

[Brian Gongol] And nobody paid me for it.

[Dan Adams] And

[Brian Gongol] And I just did it because I take pride in my show.

[Dan Adams] This goes to prove that you have no life, and you need to get out more.

[Brian Gongol] No, Dan. I enjoy recreationally creating logos.

[Dan Adams] You do not.

[Brian Gongol] I do so. In fact, I just registered at LogoTournament.com, to start creating logos for money.

[Dan Adams] Are you going to submit the Wise Guys logo for an award or something?

[Brian Gongol] Well no, because the client is us. I made it for my own show. LogoTournament is if you want to create a logo for someone who's going to pay you to do it...

[Dan Adams] Oh.

[Brian Gongol] ...for their company. A minimum of $250, if there are any designers out there who like to design logos. It's a $250 minimum payout...

[Dan Adams] I didn't know.

[Brian Gongol] ...if you design the winning logo.

[Dan Adams] I didn't know you had such a creative background, that you felt confident enough to put your, hang your shingle out to, you know, design logos.

[Brian Gongol] I have to exercise the right brain and left brain. I'm not saying anybody's ever going to pay me for a logo, but I need to exercise both right and left brains. And this is a way to exercise the right brain, through the creative logo process.

[Dan Adams] I do that with alcohol, stimulants.

[Brian Gongol] That's not a way to stimulate a right brain.

[Dan Adams] I'm just kidding.

[Brian Gongol] It's just a way I guess.

[Dan Adams] Stimulates my brain.

[Daryl Becicka] Going for the cheap jokes.

[Brian Gongol] Go on. Dan usually does. But that's kind of how this show rolls, I think.

[Laughs]

[Dan Adams] But the irony is, the irony is that I'm really not joking.

[Laughs]

[Brian Gongol] Well, for what it's worth,

[Dan Adams] I'm not joking.

[Laughs]

[Daryl Becicka] That's the sad part.

[Brian Gongol] I did create the logo. We've used it for whether or not Dan's been paying any attention whatsoever. If you download our podcast at WHOradio.com,

[Dan Adams] So. So have you got it online yet?

[Brian Gongol] ...you'll see the logo. And I'm getting it online as we speak, but Dan, I can only type and talk at the same time to such an extent. I mean, I'm limited. Unfortunately I am not as capable.

[Daryl Becicka] Really.

[Brian Gongol] ...Of all things, at all times, as I would like to you know, believe of myself.

[Dan Adams] As you led us to believe in the past?

[Brian Gongol] I probably have, Dan. I'm sorry to have misled you in the past.

[Laughs]

[Brian Gongol] I hope that we can recover from this.

[Dan Adams] Maybe you're right. Maybe I am just in a surly mood today.

[Brian Gongol] You kind of are. You're kind of just...

[Dan Adams] I know what my ideal is.

[Brian Gongol] You're throwing the jabs, and I'm trying to dodge them, but it's just not working so well.

[Dan Adams] I still love you. I'm sorry.

[Brian Gongol] Well, I appreciate that, Dan.

[Daryl Becicka] I feel a lot of love in this room right now.

[Laughs]

[Brian Gongol] I'm not going to break into that song from "The Lion King" or whatever.

[Laughs]

[Dan Adams] I think it, can you figure out some way to put a G in that logo?

[Brian Gongol] That would clutter the logo. That would make it too much.

[Dan Adams] Well.

[Brian Gongol] It really would.

[Dan Adams] The background or something?

[Brian Gongol] You can feel free to try, and if you come up with something brilliant, I would be willing to...

[Dan Adams] No, that's not coming from me.

[Brian Gongol] Well, see.

[Dan Adams] I'm not the creative person.

[Brian Gongol] Well, then what are we down to? We're down to me designing the logo, and that's just how it's got to go. I guess. Sorry, my friend.

[Dan Adams] But yes. All right. Brian Gongol: The creative force behind the Wise Guys.

[Brian Gongol] I'm doing my best, folks. I'm doing my best.

[Daryl Becicka] He does it all. He's an artist.

[Brian Gongol] Well, not much of one, but you know.

[Both laugh]

[Daryl Becicka] Renaissance Man.

[Brian Gongol] It's good enough for my purposes.

[Dan Adams]

[Laughs] Renaissance Man.

[Brian Gongol] Now if somebody comes up with something that's just brilliant, and that I couldn't live without, well, then fine. Then I'll take a look at those things, too. But I don't want to get into soliciting logos.

[Dan Adams] We're open to ideas.

[Brian Gongol] We always are.

[Dan Adams] We make no promises, but we're open to ideas.

[Brian Gongol] An improvement is always a good thing.

[Dan Adams] Yes.

[Brian Gongol] And speaking of improvement, we've got to talk about how Firefox is upgraded. Firefox, or you know, Mozilla has upgraded Firefox.

[Dan Adams] Yes.

[Brian Gongol] Supposedly 20% better than ever before. I know, I didn't say it. I understand.

[Dan Adams] I mean, how do they measure that?

[Brian Gongol] Well, they say it's in terms of speed. They're claiming it's 20% faster. We'll explain that in a moment.

[Dan Adams] We'll do all that. First...

[Brian Gongol] Make your browsing experience better.

[Dan Adams] OK. First we've got to talk a break, and go talk to our good friends, Van and Bonnie, out of the West DesMoines HyVee on EP True and Grand.

[Van Harden] But I'll tell you. I'm with Brian on that. I love making logos. I just sit around and make logos just to do it.

[Laughs]

[Bonnie Lucas] Do you really?

[Van Harden] I made one that's out there all the time. That KXnO logo. I did that one.

[Brian Gongol] That was you?

[Bonnie Lucas] You did, hmm-hmm.

[Van Harden] Yeah, that was me.

[Dan Adams] See now, that's a good looking logo, Van.

[Van Harden] Well, it kind of describes what you're looking at. I mean, it's got the Xs and the Os and the chalkboard lines, and all of that stuff.

[Brian Gongol] Yeah. Exactly.

[Dan Adams] Yep.

*****

[Brian Gongol] 12:25 here on Newsradio 1040 WHO. We're the WHO Radio Wise Guys. I'm Brian Gongol. You want to introduce yourself.

[Dan Adams] I'm Dan Adams.

[Brian Gongol] OK.

[Daryl Becicka] I'm Daryl Becicka.

[Dan Adams] We just call him Daryl because we can't pronounce his last name.

[Daryl Becicka] Yeah, Daryl B.

[Brian Gongol] I don't know, whatever you want. Whatever is...

[Dan Adams] Daryl is our guest co-host today.

[Brian Gongol] There you go.

[Dan Adams] But not another guest co-host.

[Brian Gongol] There you go.

[Dan Adams] A guest co-host.

[Brian Gongol] But that's right. That's exactly right, Dan.

[Dan Adams] Yeah, God help me if I misspeak again.

[Brian Gongol] Well, it's just, I feel hurt that you frequently will refer to me in a subordinate sort of way. And I'm like, Dan, Dude.

[Dan Adams] I don't. That's not my intention.

[Brian Gongol] I understand, that's why I thought I'd correct it, so that we, kind of, you know, speak as equals. Because that's really what this is all about.

[Dan Adams] Well, let me consider it a Freudian thing.

[Brian Gongol] I, it may or may not be.

[Laughs]

[Brian Gongol] I don't really want to get into your psychology at all because I think I would end up running for the hills.

[Dan Adams] Trust me. You don't want to get into my psychology.

[Brian Gongol] No, you're probably right about that.

[Dan Adams] I don't even want to get into my psychology.

[Daryl Becicka] I need like the referee whistle.

[Dan Adams] You do.

[Daryl Becicka] Because there will be a few personal fouls today, I'm sure.

[Brian Gongol] No, because I'm going to have to duck out to go to the caucuses and then come back, so, as you know.

[Dan Adams] Because you're running for office.

[Brian Gongol] I'm not running for office.

[Daryl Becicka] Now is this a caucus before the caucus?

[Brian Gongol] No, actually this is the...

[Dan Adams] Yeah, explain this to us, Brian.

[Daryl Becicka] That's what I don't understand. I thought the caucuses like, come up later on.

[Dan Adams] Yeah, January.

[Brian Gongol] Well, there are. There are caucuses.

[Dan Adams] Wait. This is January.

[Brian Gongol] There are caucuses every two years. The on-year caucuses, the presidential year caucuses, are the big ones that everybody shows up for. OK? Those are the ones that everybody goes to.

[Dan Adams] These are, what do they call them? Off-year or?

[Brian Gongol] These are off-year caucuses.

[Dan Adams] That nobody shows up for.

[Brian Gongol] Well, these are gubernatorial year caucuses. I don't want to say nobody shows up for them, but in the past, in my precinct, I have at times been one of two people in the room, and that's because I brought the other person along with me.

[Laughs]

[Brian Gongol] So,

[Daryl Becicka] So is this both parties? Both parties, Republicans and Democrats?

[Brian Gongol] Both parties are having caucuses, Republicans and Democrats alike, are having caucuses today.

[Dan Adams] Is there food there?

[Brian Gongol] Not unless somebody brings some. Now, some of these caucuses will be held in people's homes, and they may have cookies. I mean it's possible.

[Dan Adams] Really? Cookies.

[Brian Gongol] If I decide to bring cookies or something to one of these, there might be food. But there's not likely to be food.

[Dan Adams] Could we have a caucus here in the studio during the show?

[Brian Gongol] No, because then you'd get into neutrality issues, and things like that.

[Dan Adams] This is a different precinct.

[Daryl Becicka] I got an Obama cookie at the last caucus.

[Brian Gongol] Well, see. Then they were probably trying to convince you to come on out and choose.

[Daryl Becicka] They were very nice.

[Brian Gongol] See, that's what happens. You got cookies.

[Dan Adams] So this is like a big party, or?

[Brian Gongol] Well, here's the deal. What you're doing this year, is you're determining what your party platform is going to be, and who your delegates to your state convention are.

[Dan Adams] I wasn't referring to politics.

[Brian Gongol] What?

[Dan Adams] I asked if this was like a big party. I wasn't, politics was not my reference.

[Brian Gongol] Well, no. It's not. Well, it may be, depending on who's running it.

[Dan Adams] OK.

[Brian Gongol] In general, don't expect much. You're going to be deciding who's going to be your, you know, what's your platform going to be. And who's going first to your county convention, and then to your district convention, after you go to the county convention. And after that, who goes to the state one.

[Dan Adams] Are you going to do that stuff?

[Brian Gongol] Well, the people that go to the caucus decide who their delegates will be to their county convention. So...

[Dan Adams] OK.

[Brian Gongol] Because these are your precinct caucuses. So these should be your neighbors. These should be people you are likely to know or have met, or least bump into at the grocery store or trust.

[Daryl Becicka] It's always interesting to meet people and say, "Oh, you live there?" "Yeah, I live here." "Oh, we're neighbors. Oh, nice to meet you."

[Brian Gongol] "Oh, you live across the street, I'll be darned." Yeah, so that's what this is all about. So then you decide who goes to the county convention, usually in March. And what you're trying to decide at this moment is...

[Dan Adams] I volunteer for that.

[Brian Gongol] See?

[Dan Adams] At the last one.

[Brian Gongol] Excellent. So you have been...

[Dan Adams] But I couldn't make it, though.

[Brian Gongol] in a precinct caucus. Oh, you volunteered and didn't show.

[Dan Adams] Yeah, I had a Scout thing that day, and opted to do the Scout thing.

[Daryl Becicka] Hmm.

[Brian Gongol] Well, that's why you elect delegates and alternate delegates.

[Dan Adams] Yes.

[Brian Gongol] So that there are back-ups who can go, too. Now you also, most likely, will be selecting people who will be sitting on your county central committee. So, this is a good opportunity to go show up, and kind of figure out, OK, do you want to have an influence on politics? And here's what I would say.

[Dan Adams] It helps to learn the political process.

[Brian Gongol] Absolutely.

[Dan Adams] I would assume. Because, you know...

[Brian Gongol] Because at this level, everybody's going to make some mistakes. It's no big deal, and nobody gets hurt.

[Dan Adams] Honestly, I never went to a caucus until the last presidential election.

[Brian Gongol] There you go, see now?

[Dan Adams] And I found it very interesting.

[Brian Gongol] And if you want a practice run, go to this.

[Dan Adams] Yeah.

[Brian Gongol] Because you don't have to get caught up in the mess of selecting, you know, who your presidential candidates are going to be. There's no straw poll for the Republicans. There's no people gathering in the corners of the room for the Democrats. Because the Republicans and the Democrats do their presidential caucus differently, too.

[Daryl Becicka] Yeah. They're very different.

[Dan Adams] Will this be considered, Brian, would this be considered like grassroots?

[Brian Gongol] This is the ultimate in grassroots politics.

[Dan Adams] Yeah, that's kind of what I was thinking.

[Brian Gongol] Yeah. And here's the deal. Here's what I would say. This is my, just my little plug, non-partisan plug for this issue. But, in the last week, I've talked to a couple people who have complained, to know end, about how awful it is that they think the political system is, and how "Neither party listens to me, and that's why I'm an Independent."

[Laughs]

[Brian Gongol] I say to those people, OK.

[Dan Adams] We don't listen to you because you're all whack-o.

[Brian Gongol] Well, no. The reason that you don't get listened to is because you don't show up.

[Laughs]

[Dan Adams] Oh, that's true, too.

[Laughs]

[Brian Gongol] If you don't show up, you...

[Dan Adams] Yeah, the people that say stuff like that rarely show up, do they?

[Brian Gongol] That's real. And the thing is, especially if they're...

[Dan Adams] Sorry, I didn't mean to point at you.

[Brian Gongol] No, no that's true. But if they're registered Independent, and they're not showing up to a party caucus, then the party caucus is going to decide what the future of that party is.

[Dan Adams] That's right.

[Brian Gongol] And so, if you think that the party's not responsible, you have to show up now, to make it be responsive.

[Dan Adams] That's right.

[Brian Gongol] And I'm serious. You may be one of three people in the room.

[Dan Adams] It goes back to that saying that if you don't vote, you can't really complain.

[Brian Gongol] Right, and that, this is the thing. People who then think, well, I'm going, I'm going to protest by being an Independent, well, the deal is... If you, the party system is here to stay. It's not going anywhere. I mean, it's just not going to switch.

[Dan Adams] Yeah.

[Brian Gongol] And it's going to be a two-party system. If Ross Perot couldn't come up with a third party, and make it fly.

[Laughs]

[Brian Gongol] I mean that guy had oodles of money.

[Laughs]

[Brian Gongol] It's not going to happen.

[Dan Adams] It takes two snakes to cross a puddle.

[Daryl Becicka] I remember saying that.

[Laughs]

[Daryl Becicka] Let me get out my voodoo stick.

[Dan Adams] That guy will whack them all.

[Brian Gongol] So the bottom line is, the bottom line is, that if you can't do that with millions and millions of dollars, what you've got to do is, you got to do things inside the parties. So show up. You can register same day to be in one of these parties. It's kind of interesting to be in the party at that level. It really is kind of interesting in...I think it...

[Daryl Becicka] Yeah, you do have to pick a party today.

[Brian Gongol] You have to do it. Just show up. Do it for today.

[Dan Adams] Well, people, this is what gets me.

[Brian Gongol] I mean keep listening to us while you're going to and from.

[Daryl Becicka] Oh, of course.

[Dan Adams] Absolutely.

[Daryl Becicka] Exactly.

[Dan Adams] People complain about our political system.

[Brian Gongol] Right.

[Dan Adams] And like we just said a few minutes ago, most of the people that complain about the political system, don't participate...

[Brian Gongol] Right.

[Dan Adams] in the political system. They just sit around, and you know, they're like armchair quarterbacks.

[Daryl Becicka] Oh, yeah.

[Dan Adams] They just want to complain.

[Daryl Becicka] They're all out there, aren't they?

[Brian Gongol] Sure.

[Dan Adams] Yeah.

[Daryl Becicka] And they always seem to be the most people that get wound up about politics.

[Dan Adams] Yeah, oh yeah. Absolutely. I had a couple of relatives that were like that, too. They would do nothing but complain, and they never even voted.

[Brian Gongol] So this is your opportunity to do something. You know, it'll maybe take 15 or 20 minutes. I mean if it takes longer than that, I'll be surprised.

[Dan Adams] There may or may not be cookies involved.

[Brian Gongol] I would not promise cookies. It's possible in some off cases that somebody might have some, but I wouldn't guarantee it. I'm just saying...

[Dan Adams] Beer? Is there beer involved?

[Brian Gongol] No, there's really not likely to be beer. Mine, for instance, is going to be at a church. Many of these will be at schools, and town halls, and things like that.

[Laughs]

[Brian Gongol] I would not count on beer. It'll be quick. It'll be easy.

[Daryl Becicka] Well, just be there anyway. Cookies and beer.

[Dan Adams] Cookies and beer.

[Brian Gongol] Hey, I have a cookies and beer party every year, so, you know.

[Daryl Becicka] Nice.

[Brian Gongol] Beer and cookies parties.

[Dan Adams] Oh, yeah. I love that party.

[Brian Gongol] Yeah.

[Dan Adams] Oh, wait. I've never been invited.

[Laughs]

[Brian Gongol] Yeah, because you get on my case. You'd come in and start complaining about how I set out the cookies.

[Laughs]

[Dan Adams] I would not.

[Brian Gongol] Just like my logo.

[Dan Adams] I would not.

[Brian Gongol] You would so.

[Dan Adams] I would not look a gift horse in the mouth.

[Laughs]

[Brian Gongol] Yeah, you do. I could have brought in a shirt for you with this logo on it. You would have started criticizing. You would have said, "Uh, I don't like that logo."

[Laughs]

[Brian Gongol] "I don't think I want to wear that anymore, uh."

[Daryl Becicka] Actually, I like your Dan Adams impression, by the way. It does sound a lot like him.

[Dan Adams] Actually, the...

[Brian Gongol] It was gravelly, but...

[Dan Adams] I don't like the white shirt part of it.

[Brian Gongol] Well, there's no choice. They only gave me a white shirt choice. But there are some other options. There are some, like T-shirts and things you could get.

[Dan Adams] Well, you got now. Shall we tell where you can get this at?

[Brian Gongol] Well, I just got it through Cafe Press. I mean, I guess I could, I could put a link to it.

[Dan Adams] Yeah. And explain what Cafe Press is.

[Daryl Becicka] Yeah.

[Brian Gongol] It's a great source for printing stuff on demand. Now, if you want. Because the thing is, it's great if you like want one off numbers of things. So I wanted to test and see if the logo would work on a shirt.

[Dan Adams] Yeah, if you just want one of something.

[Brian Gongol] If you want just one, order it that way. That's great. If you want to order like bulk items, you know, 500 at a time of something, there are great, great promotional places around here that'll print, you know...

[Dan Adams] Bulk.

[Brian Gongol] large numbers of things.

[Dan Adams] And you can get a good price on that stuff.

[Brian Gongol] And they'll do it for a great price.

[Dan Adams] Yeah.

[Brian Gongol] Yeah, way better prices than you will through Cafe Press. But if you just want one or two of something, most of the time you probably can just go through them.

[Dan Adams] Oh, yeah.

[Brian Gongol] You upload your logo, your picture, or whatever, and they'll print it for you.

[Dan Adams] Yeah.

[Daryl Becicka] I have a refrigerator magnets that came from there.

[Dan Adams] Do you?

[Brian Gongol] There you go. Coffee cups, refrigerator magnets. You can do mouse pads. You can do signs.

[Daryl Becicka] So if you come up with a catch phrase, Dan, you can have your own refrigerator magnet, with that catch phrase, to look at every day.

[Dan Adams] I actually purchased a couple hundred refrigerator magnets last year.

[Brian Gongol] Did you?

[Dan Adams] Not from Cafe Press, but from an online place.

[Brian Gongol] Well, right. Well, I would...

[Dan Adams] For my car show. You know, I was in charge of this large charitable car show out in West Des Moines last year, at West Glenn Tennis Center.

[Brian Gongol] Right. If you're buying stuff in bulk, you know, by all means you want to set it up with somebody who'll get you a deal.

[Dan Adams] Actually, the job that brought me to Des Moines, Iowa, was, I'm not going to mention the company, but a company that hired me. Well, they hired me under false pretenses.

[Brian Gongol] Oops. [Laughs]

[Dan Adams] Well, honestly, they lied to me. They told me I was going to be doing one job, and when I got there, I spent three weeks of my time looking prices of advertising specialties up in catalogs.

[Brian Gongol] Ooh.

[Dan Adams] They were advertising specialty company.

[Brian Gongol] OK.

[Dan Adams] And they do a tremendous amount of business. And I actually, in the short amount of time I was there, learned a lot about that type of business.

[Brian Gongol] OK. I imagine you would.

[Dan Adams] So, you know. So that's why I'm in Des Moines. You can blame them guys for bringing me here.

[Laughs]

[Daryl Becicka] Now we know.

[Brian Gongol] You're never taking that away from me.

[Dan Adams] So.

[Brian Gongol] We haven't talked yet about the Firefox thing. And now I'm going to have to run to the caucus.

[Dan Adams] Well, we'll do that later. We've got lots of stuff to talk about today.

[Brian Gongol] But it's important though, because they say it's 20% faster than the latest version, than the previous version of Firefox.

[Dan Adams] Have you tried it yet?

[Brian Gongol] I've tried it. I'm not yet convinced that it's 20% faster.

[Dan Adams] Oh I hope it is.

[Brian Gongol] But it's really hard to tell when stuff downloads.

[Daryl Becicka] Where those stats come from, who knows?

[Brian Gongol] Well, I'm sure they have good benchmarks they can test it by, but it's really hard for me to tell whether a page downloads in 1 second or .8 seconds. You know, is 20% faster, I can't really tell.

[Dan Adams] Yeah, and you know what? Honestly, anymore a 20% speed bump is negligible.

[Brian Gongol] Well, you know. It may be.

[Dan Adams] It used to be a big deal, but anymore it's not.

[Brian Gongol] Though I would say, if you're running a slower computer, or if you are, for instance, if you are running on like a dial-up connection, or something like that, you would want the fastest rendering browser you could find.

*****

[Dan Adams] ...But originally it was only supposed to air on MTV and VH1 but it, you know, it just started growing, you know. Its like a snowball effect...

[Daryl Becicka] Correct.

[Dan Adams] ...and all the networks said, "Now we want a part of this," and they all simulcast the thing and they all broadcast it.

[Daryl Becicka] Oh. Kinda just like after 9/11...

[Dan Adams] Yeah.

[Daryl Becicka] ...when they had that telethon.

[Dan Adams] It was on all the major networks and so of course they want people to give money so we can go down there and help them, which is, which is good. We do need to do that.

[Daryl Becicka] I'm glad we finally have money to give.

[Dan Adams] This country...

[Daryl Becicka] We're in recovery.

[Dan Adams] OK, first of all. And I...really nothing against the people of Haiti. But I look at the way this country has been for a long, long time and I think to myself, "Why would anybody want to go there?"

[Daryl Becicka] To Haiti?

[Dan Adams] To Haiti! Why would you want to go there? I mean there's...it's...

[Daryl Becicka] It's not a big vacation spot. No.

[Dan Adams] No, it's not on the top of my list.

[Daryl Becicka] It's no Cancun.

[Dan Adams] Well, and its just so poverty stricken, and I mean its...just...they need a lot of help down there.

[Daryl Becicka] That's why they need help.

[Dan Adams] Well, they do. They do. But if you want to donate...I mean there's all kinds of websites and, I have a story here that is talking about how many people that are giving money to the Haiti relief funds are doing it online...which is a good thing. I mean.I think that shows that we are much more trusting of, you know, putting our information on the internet and. you know giving money, donating money, spending money. That kind of thing. Can you agree Mr. Gongol?

[Brian Gongol] There was a huge amount of that...

[Daryl Becicka] Woah!

[Brian Gongol] ...and a huge number of people who've contributed via text message as well. That's been a huge thing as well.

[Dan Adams] Oh yeah.

[Brian Gongol] I mean 10 dollars at a crack really adds up quickly when people make an instantaneous decision. And that's been...

[Dan Adams] And that's the cool thing about it is you don't have to write a check, you don't have to fill out an envelope. You know, write on an envelope. You just get online and *dun* *dun* and in less than five minutes you're done.

[Brian Gongol] Right.

[Dan Adams] Put your credit card in and say you want to give money. My wife did that. She got online and donated...I don't know how much money, but her bank matches all donations that she gives.

[Brian Gongol] Oh wow!

[Dan Adams] So whatever money she gives...

[Brian Gongol] Was doubled...

[Dan Adams] Her bank matches that. And yeah, so that's more money.

[Brian Gongol] And see that's...I'm a...I've been trying to look into which one or which place is best to give to and over time, historically, I've always given money to a group called Catholic Relief Services [be]cause they are...they do this kind of stuff for disaster relief world wide and I...

[Dan Adams] I've actually heard of that. That's a very good organization.

[Brian Gongol] and I...that's the thing. I give them money consistently anyways. They are very highly rated on a website I'm going to recommend called Charity Navigator. Which actually helps you determine which ones are efficient with the money you give, and I mean that's great because there is so much transparency possible now that you can follow it up on the internet.

[Dan Adams] Yes, that is absolutely true. A lot of money...you know they say a lot of non-profits...you give a dollar to them and...the percentage varies...but some of these non-profits...it use to be where you gave them a...for every dollar you gave, 70% may go to administration expenses...

[Brian Gongol] Right. Exactly.

[Dan Adams] Overhead. That kind of thing.

[Daryl Becicka] Which is...

[Dan Adams] Which is ridiculous.

[Daryl Becicka] Which is...

[Dan Adams] That's not what you give your money for.

[Daryl Becicka] No. You want it to go directly to them...

[Dan Adams] Yeah...yeah...I've another...

[Daryl Becicka] ...as much as possible.

[Dan Adams] ...story here too about the Haiti thing. Right after the earthquake a couple of gentlemen set up a website called haitianquake.com. Within 24 hours they had this website up and going which anyone can post information and update about people on there so you can track the...track people on this website.

[Daryl Becicka] Oh yeah. Oh and find people?

[Dan Adams] You can find people or people can go on there and post an update like if they were in Haiti in Port-au-Prince they can say, "Hey. I'm OK". That kind of thing.

[Brian Gongol] You know this does point out the importance of making sure that one way or another that you have your own personal online footprint. I mean, heaven forbid something awful happened here. We're not likely to get hit by a huge earthquake, or tsunami, or anything like that here in Iowa, or a hurricane, but we do get tornadoes, we do get floods. We get other natural disasters.

[Dan Adams] A hurricane here would be cool right now.

[Brian Gongol] Iowa has been hit by one before...

[Daryl Becicka] We get ice storms.

[Dan Adams] We get ice storms.

[Brian Gongol] Yeah. We get ice storms.

[Dan Adams] When have we been hit by a hurricane?

[Brian Gongol] I will look it up for you and I will post it on whoradio.com but Iowa has been hit by a category one hurricane. [Editor's note: It turns out that it was a 1900 hurricane that had actually been downgraded to a tropical depression by the time that it reached Iowa.]

(laughter)

[Brian Gongol] I'm not kidding you.

[Dan Adams] It was probably this winter when I was at sleep at night cause everything else has happened this winter, so why not a hurricane?

[Daryl Becicka] That's information you just shouldn't have in your head Brian, and I'm always impressed by that.

[Brian Gongol] I pay attention to these things.

[Dan Adams] See...see this is really the great thing about Brian Gongol because he'll go look this up, and we will have this information on our website

[Brian Gongol] Oh yeah. No, I will have it for you...possibly before the end of the show but what my point is here is that, overall, it is important to make sure you know you have at least some footprint online where people will know where to find you. So, whether its having a Facebook account where you can post "I'm OK"...

[Dan Adams] It use to be that everybody had their own website.

[Brian Gongol] ...a Twitter account where you can say "I'm OK". Yeah, MySpace. Whatever. Make sure you have something that exists so that if there is an emergency...

[Dan Adams] Wait, is MySpace still around?

[Brian Gongol] There is still a thing called Myspace. Oddly enough, their is still a thing called Myspace.

[Dan Adams] Does anyone use that? Daryl, do you use MySpace?

[Daryl Becicka] Ah no, that's way too much...

[Dan Adams] Who uses MySpace anymore?

[Brian Gongol] Very few people. And...But that's...the bottom line is though you need to have something just in case because its not likely that you are going to get hit...you know...by a disaster here but...

[Dan Adams] Well, You know you look at Facebook. I mean, the very minimum you can have a Facebook page and its free.

[Brian Gongol] Absolutely.

[Dan Adams] Its absolutely free. Did you know that Facebook has over 350 million subscribers?

[Brian Gongol] Isn't that amazing?

[Dan Adams] That's more than the population of this country.

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Gongol.com -- posted 2010-01-23