End of the year dash!

December 19, 2007 By Brad Leave a Comment

By StrangeWork.com: Well it’s almost a new year and I’m in my usual dash to the finish line. I’m always real busy this time of year.

Me, My Dad, and Da Raiders!I just returned from my Oakland trip with my Dad. We went to the Raiders vs. Colts game on Sunday and witnessed magic! The Raiders held their own! Course we all know Real Mean Wear Black right?

I recently passed my one year of blogging mark. My first post was on Dec 5, 2006 about my innovator goal. Still working on it.

An Interactive Hotties Network Facebook app has begun development. It’s about half-way there.

I won’t be posting as frequently until after the new year, but I’ll be right back in the thick of it for 2008!

Be sure to show support for Susan Reynolds. Amazing show of support from Twitter and Flickr.

Filed Under: Personal Tagged With: Frozenpeafund.com, Personal, Raiders

If you’re going to San Francisco, what should you do?

December 12, 2007 By Brad Leave a Comment

By StrangeWork.com: besides wearing flowers in your hair? Ok that was a bad Scott McKenzie reference. I’m leaving tomorrow morning for sunny Oakland/San Francisco for a mini-vacation with my Dad. The main reason for our trip is to watch the Oakland Raiders smash the Indianapolis Colts. Of course by “smash” I mean “get slaughtered by”, but being able to watch the Raiders play at HOME will be an amazing experience regardless of the game outcome.

Oakland Raiders LogoI’ve been a Raiders fan since I was 12 years old watching Bo Jackson shred defenses, but have never witnessed the Raiders play at home. I was always the fan rooting for the Raiders when they played the Colts in Indianapolis. Well no longer!

So back to my original question. What should I do in Oakland, San Francisco, or Palo Alto? Are there any spots I have to visit? As a web 2.0 junkie this is a pretty significant trip. Some of the top websites call Palo Alto home and I would hate to miss some of the top spots simply because I don’t know of them.

So let’s hear it. Where should I go? What should I do? Any top restaurants? Comment away!

Filed Under: Personal Tagged With: Colts, Palo Alto, Personal, Raiders, San Francisco, Vacation

IT Indianapolis Peer Group Meeting Live Streaming Tonight!

December 11, 2007 By Brad 1 Comment

By StrangeWork.com: Tonight I will be attending the second meeting of the IT Indianapolis Peer Group! Pat O’Day, the CTO of BlueLock, will be presenting his VM World conference presentation for us.

VM World Presentation Information “As one of the only 100% Virtualized Service Providers in the country, BlueLock has a unique and detailed perspective on many of the myths and realities of running virtual environments. Pat O’Day is BlueLock’s Chief Technology Officer and the architect responsible for the environments running in BlueLock’s facility today.”

Should be a great presentation. I’m looking forward to learning more about virtualization, more specifically virtualizing database servers and any performance issues that might come of it. Be sure to tune in tonight at 5:30pm EST for the live stream via Ustream.tv.

Ustream.TV link: http://ustream.tv/channel/it-indianapolis-peer-group


Filed Under: Personal, Web 2.0 Tagged With: Indianapolis, itipg, Personal, Ustream.tv, Web-2.0

BarCamp Indianapolis Tech Conference

December 2, 2007 By Brad 1 Comment

By StrangeWork.com: I’ve challenged myself with a new mission. I want to help bring technology to Indianapolis. Sure we have technology companies here, but no conferences, no meet-ups, no events period. So I began my search and guess what I found?

Scott Wilder is working on organizing the first ever BarCamp in Indianapolis. What is BarCamp? In their own words:
BarCamp Indianapolis Logo
BarCamp is an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from participants.

Basically BarCamp is an “unconference” where all attendees must also contribute.

This is exactly the type of event I wanted to help get organized. I’m going to lend myself to helping out in anyway I can.

If your interested in attending BarCamp Indianapolis be sure to join the site and show your support.

Filed Under: Personal, Web 2.0 Tagged With: BarCamp Indianapolis, conference, Indiana, Indianapolis, Personal, Web-2.0

The Power of the Blog – Travelocity Listened

November 29, 2007 By Brad 6 Comments

By StrangeWork.com: Some of you may remember my recent rant about Travelocity. Well I’m happy to report that today my girlfriend received an email from the Travelocity.com complaint department stating they would issue her a full refund AND give her a free one night stay at a hotel of equal value. Wow!

I’m quick to rant on a company that has shady practices, but I’m also just as quick to write about a company righting a wrong. Travelocity did the right thing and refunded the full amount for the hotel room that we didn’t stay in. Was it because of my blog post? I’d like to think my rant played a part in their change of heart. After all I did send them the link.

It’s customer service like this that can help companies survive. I vowed never to use them again, but after the way they handled my complaint I will be using Travelocity for my future travel plans.

You won me back Travelocity. Good play!

Filed Under: Personal Tagged With: Personal, Travelocity

Eat Me! I’m a Turkey!

November 20, 2007 By Brad Leave a Comment

By StrangeWork.com: Well it seems like just yesterday was the 4th of July and BAAAM here’s Thanksgiving!
Gobble Gobble
I do love the Holidays. It helps to take a step back every now and then and take your mind off of everything.

I was able to find a Zune80 yesterday at Wal-mart. I couldn’t have found this Zune at a better time as I’m heading to North Carolina for Thanksgiving. It’s all loaded up with 1,500 mp3s and about 100 various Podcast episodes. I’ll be sure to write a full Zune review when I return.

I’ve also been working on a new secret project on SitePoint and hope to make the official announcement soon so stay tuned! Have a great holiday!

Filed Under: Personal Tagged With: Personal, Thanksgiving

No Zune for You, Microsoft drops the ball!

November 14, 2007 By Brad 4 Comments

By StrangeWork.com: Well ZDay has come and gone and I’m sitting here writing this post without a Zune in my hand. If you read my previous post 10 Reasons why I’m buying a 2nd Generation Zune over any Apple iPod then you know how much I was looking forward to the launch of the new Zune.

I talked to 6 Circuit Citys, 2 Best Buys, 3 Game Stops, Frys Electronics, and a Wal-mart, all of who had NO Zune 80s in stock. In fact the only stores that actually received any Zune 80s was Circuit City and Wal-mart, both of which had a very small supply. Microsoft isn’t even selling Zune 80s on their online store!

I’m extremely disappointed at how Microsoft has dropped the ball on the Zune release. How does Microsoft plan to be a major iPod competitor when they can’t even handle a major product release? One compliment I can say regarding Apple is at least they know how to launch a new product. They make sure to have enough stock ready for the launch. Obviously Microsoft can’t figure this out and they wonder why Apple dominates the market.

Get a clue Microsoft. You just really pissed off a major supporter of your Zunes.

Filed Under: Personal Tagged With: Microsoft, Personal, Zune

Zune Originals: Microsofts big secret for ZDay

November 11, 2007 By Brad 3 Comments

By StrangeWork.com: Well just when we all thought ZDay (Zune Day) would come and go with no surprises, ZuneScene.com has leaked some new information.
Zune Logo
Rumor has it that Microsoft will be announcing Zune Originals on Tuesday. People who order their Zune from Zune.net, will have the added bonus of being able to customize their zune. Customization options include color, up to five lines of custom text, and the choice of 25 preset logos that they can have etched into their Zune prior to delivery. There will be no added cost, but it is only available through Zune.Net.

Is it true? No one knows for sure but apparently Microsoft does own ZuneOriginals.com and ZuneOriginals.net which currently only displays a Zune logo. This throws my Zune buying plans for a loop as I’ll now have to wait and see if the rumors are true. If so it looks like I’ll be ordering my Zune from Zune.net.

Filed Under: Personal Tagged With: Microsoft, Personal, Zune, ZuneOriginals

The PHP Anthology Book from SitePoint

November 8, 2007 By Brad Leave a Comment

By StrangeWork.com: SitePoint.com is at it again. Fresh off the press and in my hands is the new SitePoint book The PHP Anthology: 101 Essential Tips, Tricks & Hacks, 2nd Edition.
PHP Anthology Book
As most of you know I primarily use Microsoft technologies for developing, but as this blog shows I also like to dabble in the dark arts known as PHP. I’m no PHP expert, so this book will make for great reference material when I’m hacking up plugins or modifying scripts.

As always SitePoint has done an amazing job at making a technical book easy to read, understand, and actually enjoy! I recommend this book for PHP enthusiasts and experts alike!

Filed Under: Personal Tagged With: book, Personal, PHP, Sitepoint

Know how I know this country is gay?

November 6, 2007 By Brad 5 Comments

By StrangeWork.com: Know how I know this country is gay? It’s 2007 and we still can’t vote online! Actually it’s 2007 and we can’t even register to vote online! What is wrong with this country?

Go Vote!We spend millions upon millions of dollars for voting machines that are untrustworthy, rather than invest that money in technology that would allow anyone to vote from the privacy of their own home. Sure there are security risks involved, but there are security risks involved with banking and shopping online too. If we start investing in the technology today it would be ready in the next few years.

Want to get more young adults to vote? Let them vote for the next president on MySpace. Guaranteed to double voter turnout.

Filed Under: Personal, Rants Tagged With: election, Personal, Rants, vote
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