Dealing with phone companies, insurance companies, banks, etc has caused most of us to become so accustomed to terrible customer service that when someone actually does it well it feels like a tremendous breath of fresh air…something worth shouting about, even. So, that’s exactly what I’m doing.

I just had one of the best customer service experiences of my life with Dreamhost, the service that hosts this very blog. I’d been having some weird technical issues, and not only were they friendly, human and fast in their responses, they went way above and beyond the call of duty to get everything straightened out for me. So, if you’re ever in need of a hosting service for your site, definitely check these guys out. They’re great.

Like they say, customer service is the new marketing. I don’t think that’s necessarily a ‘new’ development, but otherwise this blog post is definitely proving that point.

Anyone who spends more than about 10 minutes around me these days knows that I’m totally obsessed with the Wire. If it’s not the greatest TV show ever, it’s certainly on a very short list. So, pardon the diversion from Mozilla-related topics for a minute…

My wife and I recently finished watching the Wire’s final season, and during the letdown period that inevitably follows the end of anything really good, it struck me that what the world really needs is a way of determining who is the toughest and most bad-ass of all the characters on that show. After all, there was a lot of ‘muscle’ on the Wire, but if they battled it out, who would win?

Purely for my own amusement, I’ve concocted a March Madness-style bracket of the Elite Eight of the Wire’s tough guys. After a highly unscientific seeding process, here’s how the first round matchups break down:

1. Omar Little
8. Michael Lee

2. Chris Partlow
7. Snoop Pearson

3. Wee-Bey Brice
6. Slim Charles

4. Brother Mouzone
5. Sergei Malatov

Any thoughts on how things play out from here? Let me know in the comments section…

I was Googling around yesterday in search of inspiration for an upcoming project and discovered this amazing site: Dark Roasted Blend.

Believe it or not, the awesome image below isn’t even in the top 10 coolest things featured there. Highly recommended!

A few totally random links from around the Web (having nothing to do with Mozilla, btw):

* If you assumed that 1,500 Filipino prison inmates do not perform perfectly synchronized mass dance re-enactments of the “Thriller” video, you assumed wrong.
* Dude, this article will totally blow your mind.
* Shining the spotlight on corporate wikipedia tomfoolery.
* Shining the spotlight on corporate donations to U.S. politicians.
* And on a much lighter note, I present to you Miss Teen USA South Carolina speaking extemporaneously.

This is totally unrelated to Mozilla, but I wanted to spread the word that I’ve started another blog (because apparently I don’t have enough to do already). My friend Stephen Ursery and I are both longtime Arkansas Razorbacks fans, so we decided to channel our fan/nerd energies in a new direction. Since we’ve both lived out of the state for many years now, we’re using the expatriate thing as our angle.

I’m not expecting a huge overlap in interest between Mozilla and the Razorbacks, but if you’re a fan of college sports, check it out:

RazorbackExpats.com

Ok, I promised myself I would put up a few more Mozilla posts before I started sidetracking, but I need to give a quick shout-out to how insanely good Arcade Fire is. I was fortunate enough to see them last Saturday at the Greek Theater in Berkeley and it was pretty sensational. If these guys roll through your town, definitely don’t miss ‘em.

Here’s a sample clip (not from my show) to whet your appetite:
Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)

More Mozilla stuff coming soon…

Greetings, and welcome to Into the Fuzz!

First, a bit about myself. I’m the Creative Director at Mozilla, which basically means that I’m the least technically skilled person in the entire company. I joined Mozilla in March to help guide the evolution of the brand and work on a wide variety of design-type projects. Stay tuned for plenty of details on those…

Among other things, I’d like this blog to be an ongoing dialogue with you guys out in the community about what Mozilla is (in an abstract sense). I’ll also be posting a lot of examples of creative works-in-progress and inviting your comments. My goal is to make this blog a fun & easy read with lots of interesting stuff to look at.

On a personal note, I live in Oakland with my wife, two-year old son and two cats. Prior to Mozilla, I worked for many years at Ofoto, starting as the copywriter and then managing the creative department there. I grew up in Little Rock, Arkansas but have lived in the Bay Area since 1996. When not doing Mozilla stuff, I mainly like to hang out with my family, but also find time to play bass guitar and work on my ping pong game.

So, that’s it for now…stay tuned for lots more, and thanks for reading!