My week has been nothing but me running around, but somewhere in the middle of it, I've gotten a fair amount of work done.
My Dad gets married tomorrow. It sort of sounds weird saying that. My parents split up a couple years ago and personally, I didn't think he was going to get re-married. As it turns out, I was wrong. A lot of this week has been wedding related in that aspect. As I mentioned earlier, I started the process of opening up an investment account, and I spent a lot of time setting up new business with my stable of clients this week as well.
On top of all that, I've also been working on programming this ... thing. I'm not sure what to call it. I think its going to be a unified management system for my entire life, or at least that's what it's looking like. I've been putting off automating a lot of the day-to-day tasks of running the OblongBox network and ModernOpinion.
In creating the system I'm working on, I'm accomplishing a couple things at once. I'm creating some portable modules I can use for other projects (things like profile and user management) as well as creating some tools that can make my life simpler. As I'm working on the various components of the system (which I'm taking special care to make as compartmentalized and scalable as possible), my mind is reeling as to what it's eventually going to encompass. The amorphous blob of a plan that's in my mind currently is some sort of answer to the Google/Yahoo account - something that does everything. I'm thinking image, podcast, and blog management, profile creation, money management... things like this.
The modules I'm putting in currently mostly have to do with aspects of blog management. I'm throwing in a few things that are monetization tools for bloggers and a profile management system. I'm trying to think of a community-ish way that's different from the norm to tie it all together.
Another thing that I'm thinking I'm going to tie into the system is this monstrosity that I built this week sitting next to my workstation.
I've been complaining for weeks that the way I gather my daily news and information has been sorely lacking. I hate the bias of MSM, but I enjoy the presentation. I like the perspective of New Media, but the tools for viewing and enjoying said media are a little lacking.
So I built this two computer - three monitor setup, that will eventually connect up to a server component I'm building, too. Essentially, one monitor is going to display a video feed that will be coming down from a Shoutcast video server. The content of the video server will be a combination of video podcasts that I have set up on the server as well as recorded TV shows from my home PVR that will get uploaded on an automated basis.
The second monitor will be headlines and images displayed in that Matrix style I've talked about a several times. I'm going to rig up either a button or a touch screen setup that will display the full articles on the monitor next to it for in depth reading.
It's not something I could easily package up and sell, but it will be a neat little info-pr0n showpiece for my office. I'll try to get some pictures up soon.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Everyone: Give Me Money Now
Okay, so I made a huge mistake today. I went and visited an investment banker today at Edward Jones to try to get a grip on what I can do to invest some large sums of money I should be coming into in the next few days and weeks. While I was there, the lady I spoke to pulled up one of those Edward Jones (c) Education Calculators (tm), or as I now like to call it: the "Make You Feel Despondent and Hopeless About the Future Device."
For my stepson to head to a good private college after school, I need to start putting away RIGHT NOW about $2,500 a month into a HIGH YIELD investment account to fully pay for his college tuition. The reason is that adjusted for inflation, an education at, say, Austin College (a little known private liberal arts college in Sherman, Texas) will cost around $350,000 for all four years!
I've also got another child on the way. If I start putting money away right now, I can invest $300 a month for the next 20 YEARS to pay for his or her college tuition.
Higher education. What a friggin' scam. I need to start a university or something. This is absolutely ridiculous!
/rizzn
For my stepson to head to a good private college after school, I need to start putting away RIGHT NOW about $2,500 a month into a HIGH YIELD investment account to fully pay for his college tuition. The reason is that adjusted for inflation, an education at, say, Austin College (a little known private liberal arts college in Sherman, Texas) will cost around $350,000 for all four years!
I've also got another child on the way. If I start putting money away right now, I can invest $300 a month for the next 20 YEARS to pay for his or her college tuition.
Higher education. What a friggin' scam. I need to start a university or something. This is absolutely ridiculous!
/rizzn
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Nominally Interesting Day
I've had a nominally interesting day today.
This morning was eventful. Instead of rolling out of bed at my usual 10:00 or so, I was awoken by a phone call from the adoption agency down the street. Its an organisation called BirthWay, and they offer free pregnancy tests, and it's mostly the pro-life answer in our city to Planned Parenthood.
My wife and I had gone down there a few weeks ago to get a pregnancy test as the insurance company we had applied to didn't believe she was pregnant - something about needing empirical evidence or some such nonsense.
While we were there a few weeks ago, the lady who runs the place got our number because Iris had pitched in and helped translate some of the Spanish-speaking people applying for the birth tests to the non-Spanish speaking folks who worked there. They asked if she'd want to come back and help, and she said yes.
Which was why I was woken up at 8:00 AM this morning.
So she went and worked there this afternoon, and said she really enjoyed herself. I went to my meeting at UT only to discover it had been cancelled since my contact was out at a doctor's appointment.
I stopped by 5Tribe earlier today to report my findings on the research they had me doing, and it may eventually lead to my re-hire there on a more permanent basis (to revive the polling project, something that in my absence has devolved into obscurity).
Back at the ranch, I've been working the last couple days on building some tools for creating communities, mostly user management and profile management tools - things that I can compartmentalize and resell or re-use in other projects.
So, all in all, only a nominally interesting day. I warned you with the title, though.
/rizzn
This morning was eventful. Instead of rolling out of bed at my usual 10:00 or so, I was awoken by a phone call from the adoption agency down the street. Its an organisation called BirthWay, and they offer free pregnancy tests, and it's mostly the pro-life answer in our city to Planned Parenthood.
My wife and I had gone down there a few weeks ago to get a pregnancy test as the insurance company we had applied to didn't believe she was pregnant - something about needing empirical evidence or some such nonsense.
While we were there a few weeks ago, the lady who runs the place got our number because Iris had pitched in and helped translate some of the Spanish-speaking people applying for the birth tests to the non-Spanish speaking folks who worked there. They asked if she'd want to come back and help, and she said yes.
Which was why I was woken up at 8:00 AM this morning.
So she went and worked there this afternoon, and said she really enjoyed herself. I went to my meeting at UT only to discover it had been cancelled since my contact was out at a doctor's appointment.
I stopped by 5Tribe earlier today to report my findings on the research they had me doing, and it may eventually lead to my re-hire there on a more permanent basis (to revive the polling project, something that in my absence has devolved into obscurity).
Back at the ranch, I've been working the last couple days on building some tools for creating communities, mostly user management and profile management tools - things that I can compartmentalize and resell or re-use in other projects.
So, all in all, only a nominally interesting day. I warned you with the title, though.
/rizzn
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
A Better Ending than its Beginning
Today ended a lot better than it began.
I spent the bulk of the day in meetings. I started out at 5Tribe, giving them advice on a number of fronts, ranging from ad copy, to internet marketing tips, from our potential PoddedMeat revival to reviving the polling system I created for them last year. I came away with a few promising bits of business I might snap up if I stay on my toes and do what I know I'm able to do assuming I keep my own feet to the fire.
I came back, updated the N-Ventive crew on what's going on with the new PoddedMeat project, checked my email, set an appointment with my new investment advisor, and hit the road again.
This time I ran out to UT, to try to finalize the new content management project, and consult with them on some new business. After we get the content management up and running this week, I'll be presenting them with two new proposals - one to take their campus bi-annual magazine online, and the other to create a student-life blogsite and community for them.
UT is turning out to be a cash-cow for me, and if I achieve my New Year's Resolution of finding at least two more clients of their caliber and time commitment, I'm going to be living the dream - working 15 hours a week and living large.
In the mean time, I've been experimenting with a number of new advertising techniques. I'm very pleased with what I've found, and I'm looking at ways to apply these into some publishable case studies very soon, for my work with 3Degree and for myself.
In the Interesting News Department:
I read an article that was a bit ambiguous this morning, but definitely sounds good. According to Reuters (via Yahoo!):
At any rate, I'm off to home with the wife and son. Deuce!
/rizzn
I spent the bulk of the day in meetings. I started out at 5Tribe, giving them advice on a number of fronts, ranging from ad copy, to internet marketing tips, from our potential PoddedMeat revival to reviving the polling system I created for them last year. I came away with a few promising bits of business I might snap up if I stay on my toes and do what I know I'm able to do assuming I keep my own feet to the fire.
I came back, updated the N-Ventive crew on what's going on with the new PoddedMeat project, checked my email, set an appointment with my new investment advisor, and hit the road again.
This time I ran out to UT, to try to finalize the new content management project, and consult with them on some new business. After we get the content management up and running this week, I'll be presenting them with two new proposals - one to take their campus bi-annual magazine online, and the other to create a student-life blogsite and community for them.
UT is turning out to be a cash-cow for me, and if I achieve my New Year's Resolution of finding at least two more clients of their caliber and time commitment, I'm going to be living the dream - working 15 hours a week and living large.
In the mean time, I've been experimenting with a number of new advertising techniques. I'm very pleased with what I've found, and I'm looking at ways to apply these into some publishable case studies very soon, for my work with 3Degree and for myself.
In the Interesting News Department:
I read an article that was a bit ambiguous this morning, but definitely sounds good. According to Reuters (via Yahoo!):
A potential shortage of coins in the United States could mean all those pennies in your piggy bank could be worth five times their current value soon, says an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. Francois Velde, senior economist at the Chicago Fed, argued in a recent research note that prohibitions by the Mint would unlikely deter serious speculators who already have piled up the coinage.It's an interesting proposition, and could mean that it's time to take all your liquid assets and invest in pennies. Perhaps? Not sure. Someone read the article and tell me if that's the proper way to read that, because the wording is ambiguously written, and I'm not sure if that's what it's saying or not.The best solution, Velde said, would be to "rebase" the penny by making it worth five cents rather than one cent. Doing so would increase the amount of five-cent coins in circulation and do away with the almost worthless one cent coin.
"History shows that when coins are worth melting, they disappear," Velde wrote.
"Rebasing the penny would ... debase the five-cent piece and put it safely away from its melting point," he added.
At any rate, I'm off to home with the wife and son. Deuce!
/rizzn
Customer Blacklist
I had an interesting idea.
It was spawned by an idiot customer I had yesterday and today by the name of Carol Whisenhunt. First off, I'd like to take this spot I have on the net and turn it into a megaphone. Carol Whisenhunt of Tyler, Texas is a stupid, silly little girl who is lucky she is friends with one of my good friends.
She bought a perfectly good computer from me yesterday - the same type of computer I've been selling for months now: a one GHz machine with a few extras thrown in - a free monitor and a free CD-RW. I even spent two hours customizing the machine for them and giving them free phone technical support.
She shows up at my office two hours later than she said she would to drop off the machine for me to re-install the OS on it, and instead demands her money back. I had talked to my friend who had referred her earlier, so I knew this was coming, but I still tried to save the deal. I offered to fix the problem. I offered to switch out the computer with a new one. No dice. Wanted her cash back.
So I gave her the cash back, and I told her to thank our mutual friend, otherwise they'd be out on their ass for coming to me with such a stupid request.
After they left is when I had my idea.
The world needs a Customer Blacklist - a public list we can create and add to people who are basically "problem clients." Idiots who are always trying to scam small businesses or ask for returns when none are warranted or is always calling support or customer service over stupid things.
Customer Blacklist. Think about it.
Also, Carol Whisenhunt is a big stupid jerkwad.
/rizzn
It was spawned by an idiot customer I had yesterday and today by the name of Carol Whisenhunt. First off, I'd like to take this spot I have on the net and turn it into a megaphone. Carol Whisenhunt of Tyler, Texas is a stupid, silly little girl who is lucky she is friends with one of my good friends.
She bought a perfectly good computer from me yesterday - the same type of computer I've been selling for months now: a one GHz machine with a few extras thrown in - a free monitor and a free CD-RW. I even spent two hours customizing the machine for them and giving them free phone technical support.
She shows up at my office two hours later than she said she would to drop off the machine for me to re-install the OS on it, and instead demands her money back. I had talked to my friend who had referred her earlier, so I knew this was coming, but I still tried to save the deal. I offered to fix the problem. I offered to switch out the computer with a new one. No dice. Wanted her cash back.
So I gave her the cash back, and I told her to thank our mutual friend, otherwise they'd be out on their ass for coming to me with such a stupid request.
After they left is when I had my idea.
The world needs a Customer Blacklist - a public list we can create and add to people who are basically "problem clients." Idiots who are always trying to scam small businesses or ask for returns when none are warranted or is always calling support or customer service over stupid things.
Customer Blacklist. Think about it.
Also, Carol Whisenhunt is a big stupid jerkwad.
/rizzn
Monday, January 22, 2007
Earthshell Files for Bankruptcy
Awww... poor millionaires and billionaires. Their cashcow Earthshell is finally over.
Earthshell filed for bankruptcy today, according to the Houston Chronicle:
Earthshell filed for bankruptcy today, according to the Houston Chronicle:
EarthShell Corp., which makes fast-food packaging from biodegradable materials like limestone and food starch, has filed for Chapter 11 protection from creditors.Now that Earthshell is bankrupt, and is probably going to disappear soon, how will we track the sordid goings on of Essam Khasshoggi and Simon Hodson? I'm not sure, but knowing those two wacky rich-guys, they'll be showing up soon with some new scam to perpetrate upon the public.The Lutherville, Md.-based company listed assets of $16,176 and debt of $11.9 million in its bankruptcy petition, filed Friday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del.
EarthShell didn't say in its bare-bones filing why it was seeking bankruptcy protection.
However, EarthShell said in a regulatory filing earlier this month that it had defaulted on a $5 million financing pact from Cornell Capital Partners LP.
Among the company's largest unsecured creditors is a firm controlled by founder Essam Khashoggi, who is owed $1.9 million. Khashoggi _ brother of Saudi Arabian arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi _ owns about 32 percent of the company, according to the firm's most recent annual report.
EarthShell also owes bondholder SF Capital Partners $2.4 million.
EarthShell, which has lost money for years, posted a $6.2 million net loss in 2005, the last full year for which results are available, compared with a $7.3 million loss in 2004.
The company funded its operations with a combination of loans and debt. EarthShell shares, which trade over the counter, closed Friday at 21 cents each.
Founded in 1992, EarthShell's clients include McDonald's Corp., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and food service providers Aramark Corp. and Sodexho Inc.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Oh Night Divine!
Okay folks... I know it's not Christmas any more, but I recently started chatting with my old online friend Uncle Bob again, and I was looking through his last few blog entries and came across this:
(or download an mp3.)
The backstory:
I received a copy of that song at least 2, maybe 3 Christmas seasons ago after hearing it at our youth group meeting.My friend Chris said that he received the song from the good folks at CIY (Christ In Youth). CIY is an organization that puts on huge youth conferences on college campuses, usually over the summer.
Chris is on one of their leadership committees and the story goes that that recording was circulated amongst the committee after it had been submitted as an audition tape. CIY typically has singing or talent night (at least I remember they used to) and this recording is a serious audition tape. No joke. It's serious.
I play that song every year for my high school students to lighten them up before they take their Fall semester exams. I have heard that mp3 circulate from time to time, most notably hearing it on NPR's Annoying Music Minute a couple of years ago. Now it is truly famous, thanks Steve.
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