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These guys are hilarious.
may 08, 2011 04:32pm
A podcast about horrible movies. Like an audio version of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Bad Movie Podcast.
If you like their podcast give them a 5 star rating on itunes.
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Green Man High School
march 20, 2011 12:13am
Sometimes you get a customer who send you an email, and you just know why you do what you do.
"I just wanted to say how pleased I am with the suit I ordered from you. It was a big hit last Halloween.
I attached a picture that would look great in your gallery... my grad photo with a green spin.
Matt"
Why People Be Hatin' on Google
february 05, 2011 05:43pm
Not sure if you've heard, but Google has problems.
Once viewed as the premiere technology employer, Google has lost its luster. The brightest minds in tech now view Facebook as a more exciting company where they can really change the world. Google's policy of "20% time", wherein employees can spend 20% of their working hours just making their own projects without supervision, has become a source of acrimony. Employees complain that their pet projects never get approval and never become publicly available.
To be blunt, this is garbage. Google is the most forward thinking, progressive, ethical company in the world.
Even if all you do is examine their products, they stand head and shoulders above the rest. We all know that Google has irrevocably changed the world's access to information, but it goes a lot further than that. They have also revolutionized the quartet of advertising, the world map, productivity, and mobile. You might ask, who cares? Well, these four products are forever changing the business world, and empowering startups and local businesses. They have taken tools that traditionally belonged only to mid and large-scale companies, and given them to everyone. Let me put it this way: without Google, there is no RootSuit.
Oh yeah, and all of their stuff is free. This is a startling strategy that raises the bar for the entire tech industry. If Google puts out a free photo editing program, for example, then all other photo editors had better be damn good and fairly priced, or they're toast. If you want to make a mobile OS that is closed off (like Apple), then your ecosystem has to be incredibly well-maintained and attractive, because Android is right there, waiting for you to slip up and fall. Now, don't get me wrong. This isn't altruism; it's strategy. When all software is free, there is only one king, and his name is Google AdWords. So yes, Google be making that cheddar. But that doesn't change the following facts. Who wins from this strategy? Consumers. Who loses. Traditional businesses like Microsoft.
Right now, Steve Ballmer is talking to the Microsoft Board of directors, saying "No one's buying Windows Phone 7! What the hell happened!" I'll tell you what happened, buddy. You're charging handset makers $8-$15 for every copy of Windows Phone 7, which is the difference between a fast processor and a mid-range processor, or a badass high-res screen, and an OK screen. Result, your phones aren't good enough. We've got Android handsets now, we know how sweet it can be.
Facebook doesn't do anything near as important as this. I have no problem with Facebook, and it helps me keep in touch with my friends from all over the world, but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter. I still keep in touch with friends that canceled their Facebook accounts. I don't NEED to check people's status updates. All the "innovation" that FB creates is ultimately just a nicer way to waste time and poke people. FB is a hobby. Google is busy changing the world.
In addition, Google is an ethical company.
I used to hate Google's slogan: "don't be evil". It always struck me as a very adolescent attitude, that industry and enterprise are inherently bad and have a corrupting influence. Coming from a family of workers, I immediately distrust anyone who spouts such nonsense. I figured that Google, like any other big company, just wanted to make money, and if you bought into their corporate image you were a sucker.
But, as it turns out, I was wrong. Google's slogan really does describe their actions. A more accurate slogan would be "don't be an asshole". And Google, though they compete fiercely, never act like total assholes. While other companies prosecute hackers and people who creatively use their IP (like videogame modders), Google embraces those people. Other companies steal technology and deny it; Google gets falsely accused of stealing IP. Other companies spend more money advertising their charitable acts then they spend on actual charity. Google, meanwhile, invests in startups and in tech that can improve the world.
Even Google's largest controversy, filtering search results in China, occurred after months of negotiation and they still try to circumvent censorship by redirecting to their Hong Kong website. Meanwhile Microsoft and Yahoo, who have entirely avoided any public scrutiny, happily comply with the Chinese censorship order.
And now, Google has had a earth-shattering shakeup of management. Their founder, Larry Page, just supplanted CEO Eric Schmidt, who was demoted to executive chairman, in what seemed to be a bloodless coup. The consensus on Wall Street is that Google is desperate. Google is all played out. Their crazy growth oriented spirit that made them so compelling in the beginning is gone. This is a classic example of perception versus reality. Even Wall Street analysts are, at base, a bunch of rubes. They watch an Alan Sorkin movie and suddenly they think "holy hell, Facebook is exciting, it's the futue!" Actually, Google has never been in a better position to innovate. Their business model is proven and their monopoly on search is basically uncontested. Google Docs is still in its infancy. They have tons of cash on hand with which they can invest in whatever new field they wish. They recently bought the New York Port Authority Building to have a strategic hold on a wide swath of American internet traffic. And the mobile OS wars are just becoming interesting, which Google, by the way, is winning.
American Idol RootSuit
january 27, 2011 11:30pm
Well this is awesome. Apparently someone got on American Idol wearing one of our suits. So now we need to get the word out and make sure the internet knows what the hell that suit is called. So permit me 2 or three sentences to work on that.
We got our full body spandex suits on American Idol! That is the only time you'll see a spandex bodysuit on American Idol! Something about Lady Gaga! Blah blah blah!
Sorry about that. Trust me, it was necessary.
Hey, if any of you denizens of the internet can somehow get that video and post it on YouTube with the word "RootSuit" all over it, we will pay you $200. Obviously you can't put the name of any of our competitors either, that's cheating.
Bookman
december 27, 2010 08:00pm
One of the owners of RootSuit (me) runs another business called Bookman Books. What we do is we go buy textbooks from kids at college campuses around the country. I started paying my employees a "RootSuit bonus" ie they earn it by wearing RootSuits and advertising our sheeyat. Here are the pics they sent. Kinda cool.
Hey if any of you guys go to college and you want to get a totally sweet temp job during exam period, email me! I'm hampton@bookmanbooks.com. I pay $12/hr + bonuses and the work is easy as a mofo.
PS the guy in the gold suit is Stew. He had fraternity connections so he was an absolute monster. He bought $8000 in books and earned $1346 for himself in about 5 days, working maybe 6 hours a day.
