sup

Dear The Paranoid – yes, you are completely exposed.

A leaked document called Microsoft’s Global Criminal Compliance Handbook clearly states that law enforcement and investigative agencies are welcome to access anything MS ever knew about you. Yes, anyone who actually still uses Hotmail, this means you. And for email over 180 days old, they don’t even need a subpoena. Now THAT’s naked.

To be fair, this is not much more than what the law in America requires. So everybody does it. The mantra still holds true – if you want something kept secret – really secret – don’t tell anyone, not even your keyboard.

But MS goes so far as to include hotline numbers for out-of-business-hours requests. That seems a little more eager to please than I’m comfortable with. Like wearing a t-shirt with “cheerful informant” emblazoned across the chest.

All that said, the worst secret most of us are likely to commit to email is how we really feel about our boss. So maybe it’s no big deal, right?

Right?

Maybe it will help if I say that this has always been the case. Anything you commit to print, directly or by someone else on your behalf, in any medium, can one day come back to haunt you. Letters, receipts, invoices, email, IM conversations, text messages, Facebook updates and profile pics… anything. Maybe you’ve heard of Nixon’s Watergate scandal.

So, I reckon if you were going to take anything away from this, it would be this: don’t put it in print unless you’re willing to pay for it. Unlike yesterday’s corporate shredder parties, nothing on the web (or a computer) ever goes away. I’m talking to you, drunk photo uploader. And your sudden exposure might not happen because you are suspected of a terrorist act. Mistakes happen all the time. ALL the time. And your prospective boss uses Google too.

Dear The Paranoid – yes, you are completely exposed. Read More »

strange (and wonderful) days

Somehow it’s been enough to update the FB status every once in a while. The blog is feeling a little stagnant. Even the epic photolog of our trip to the Dominican ended up on FB rather than here. I should remedy that at some point. That said, I daresay (and have the logs to prove it) that far more people tune in to Adrian’s world on FB than here at AdrianTaverner.com. Hardly surprising. FB is awfully convenient.

Nevertheless, I’ve had a blog for seven years, so I may as well make some attempt to keep up appearances.

Things are great!

There. How was that? Feel in the loop?

No?

Dammit.

Well, let’s see… My writing partnership with Matt & Lee has spawned an extremely healthy super secret forum, so that the next time a producer asks us (yes, it happened) if we have any ideas ready to go, we will have five ideas that could go to pre-production tomorrow, and easily a dozen others that have wicked potential. It’s a real high working in this team. We’re ruthless with the material, and unapologetic taking risks. And we’re producing really exciting stuff. One day last week I was vividly recalling a scene from a show I had watched on TV recently, but couldn’t recall what it was. I just remembered really enjoying it. And then it struck me that I was remembering a scene we wrote. I figure that’s a pretty strong sign.

So that’s going very well. We’ve done a ton of development toward an actual pilot, which we’re hoping to get into this year. Yeah, we can do that. My plan is to gear everything toward a web release, because, in my opinion, that’s the fastest way to clear a path to the guys who actually decide what goes on TV, if you don’t currently know anyone who knows those guys. It’s only going to be this hard once, so we’re kind of enjoying it. A web release is only one way to go, though, so there’s still a lot of discussion to be had on this. We don’t want to devalue a commodity (read: blow our load too soon). It’s not a perfect fit, because we have a very exciting and magical idea for this TV series that doesn’t translate to the web so easily. You’ll just have to trust me there. It’s… a game changer.

Meanwhile, we continue to build our talent pool here in New York. We’re working at capacity for Redken and various other outfits, so this is the year we expand the ranks. Joe & Joel have themselves a genuine New York address, Jonathan is very interested in continuing to work with us, and Steve is eager to increase his involvement. Matt is still exiled in Bangladesh, but we’re building a habit of getting the three of us online at least once a week to squeeze some brain. So far, it’s working. His plan is to stay over there for another year, put some honest money in the bank, and land somewhere in the Atlantic side of Canada, so we can get all three of us inside the same four walls a lot more often than once every six months. It’s a good plan, but just Phase Two. The three of us that make up the creative force of Chaos Complex need to live in the same city, and that’s that. At least The Plan is Real and In Motion.

Speaking of the same city, things with Marjorie are going awe-inspiringly well. I could go on for pages. It was unexpected for both of us, and we really took our time getting here, but now it seems about as unstoppable as the tide.

The massive downside, to bring us back to the segue, is that she’s Vancouver People, and I’m New York People. There’s some historical irony there. Shut up. You know this is different. We’ve been fantastically lucky over the past few months, managing to see a lot of each other, first in New York, then the Dominican (I took her as my Xmas present), and then in Vancouver. And she’ll be here bright & early Friday morning (which makes me giddy as a schoolgirl– there, I’ve said it). We video chat every night, and there’s always a couple emails during the day. We’re ridiculous. Orbiting around each other. Neither of us particularly cares to think much about facing a month apart (or more), so while she’s here we’re going to talk to the lawyer who paved the way for my case and see what our options are. I want her here. So does she. We’re going to see if we can make that happen with a quickness. On the beach in the DR I told her we’re a done deal, and she smiled and we kissed and it was a nice little moment, but she’s since figured out I meant it.

So life is pretty fantastic. Fuel is flourishing as a company, Chaos Complex has an undeniable stride, I’m happier than I’ve been in years, and my girl is everything I’ve ever wanted and then some. Really. And if I say fantastic again that will be three times in one post. And that’s saying something.

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