I consult on communication issues for Neustar, an Internet infrastructure company. Neustar works behind the scenes to ensure the smooth operation of many critical systems like DNS, the .us and .biz domain extensions, local number portability and digital rights management. One of the cool things about working for them is the chance to attend the […]
Recently I caught up with my old friend Stephanie. Too much time had gone by, and we shared belated New Year wishes. What made the conversation even more enjoyable was how psyched she was at her new job. Her passion has always been change management, and she practiced it first at Accenture and then at […]
This Saturday I got some simple upkeep done on my 2001 BMW 530. The oil filter needed changing, and I needed to fix the corner of the passenger side headlight assembly, which somehow got pushed slightly out of position. The oil filter change is very straight-forward, but of course you need the right tools. In […]
One of the many great things about holiday season is drinking wine no matter the day or time. Weeknight, middle of the day — hey, it’s the holidays! Alas, all good things must end and it’s back to the normal weekly routine. But Gabriele and I took full advantage of the season to make some […]
Last week one of my clients decided to follow Guy Kawasaki’s Twitter feed. Kawasaki is a former Apple Fellow and current venture capitalist and technology rock star, with over 300,000 Twitter followers. However, my client almost immediately unsubscribed, because he got a flood of commercial messages that didn’t sound like they were from Guy: @MarkPilip […]
Here’s a rare Wheels post that doesn’t talk BMWs. This past weekend my wife Gabriele and I purchased a brand new 2011 Toyota Highlander. Readers of this blog will know I’m no believer in buying new cars. My view is let someone else take the new car depreciation hit. But as I explain below, the […]
Happy 2011 everyone! Hope all had a nice holiday break. The folks at WordPress have been busy — see below for a nicely done “good job in 2010” email I received Sunday. (The image they chose below is the ABS unit in my 2001 BMW 530 – my biggest DIY money saver to date.) I […]
I have so much to be thankful for this year, including items in the three categories of this blog. So on Christmas Eve, here are some Work, Wine and Wheels highlights from 2010. In the work realm, 2010 was a great year. A lot of what Strategic Communications Group accomplishes for clients doesn’t become public […]
As readers know, we’ve been exploring Chapoutier wines since being impressed with his entry level Belleruche Cotes du Rhone. After being disappointed by the first 100% Syrah wine of his we tried, we recently had a Les Granits 2007 from Saint Joseph. Here’s my take.
Last weekend Gabriele and I had a very nice experience at Tempo, on Duke Street in Alexandria. It’s easy to miss if you’re not looking, set back from the street a bit and next to an Enterprise Rent a Car as you drive out of Old Town. The cuisine is old-school French/Italian served in a […]
BMW M — that’s a term that means a lot to auto enthusiasts. It’s a term that connotes a car that is the epitome of its class, the absolute sporting pinnacle of that particular style of car. Ever since BMW put the twin turbo, 300HP N54 engine in it’s 1 Series car, there was speculation […]
With every new day the WikiLeaks saga seems to reveal another story line. As the expression goes, “you can’t make this stuff up.” In the process, it’s highlighting rapidly changing — and often unstable — elements in Internet-based communication. First let’s take the emerging model of cyber attacks. People no longer just get angry at […]