GeoTagged, [N44.96951, E93.44148]
Just testing an iPhone app for posting. And this is a picture of a salamander I found in my parking garage, with like 6 more nearby. Apparently they hibernate there.
Archive for October, 2008
I finally decided to bite the bullet and make the change from using Blogger as my CMS to Wordpress.
Previously my reasons for using Blogger:
- Universal search integration within Google
- Preferred search placement within Google (Short-term pagerank inflation for new pages – [see: Google Operating System][and: New York Times] with apparently preferential treatment to their blogs)
- Cross-platform posting – Just about any internet-connected computer, via e-mail, texting, etc.
- Security – Wordpress is vulnerable from time to time
- Flexibility – Blog can be moved from Blogger’s servers to my servers by changing settings and re-publishing.
Drawbacks:
- Lack of quality plug-ins
- Lack of Web 2.0 functionality – tags, categories, etc
- Data ownership – I’m comfortable with much of my data existing in “The Cloud” but I want to own and control my content.
So, why the change? I wanted to host all of my content on my website, seamlessly integrating my professional and personal content, without losing anything in usability. I wanted to add things like tag clouds, keywords, topics, etc. I wanted some of the plug-ins I’ve run into on other blogs – like automatic e-mail replys for messages from first-timers, etc. I wanted a better theme system. And I wanted to use some of the new iPhone apps for blogging on the go.
So far so good. The ‘famous 5-minute install’ took less than that, and I had the bulk of the work done in under an hour. I’ve now got a slightly customized publicly available theme, and I moved most of my important posts from my old blog to this one. Next steps: integrate my professional portfolio, personal photography and other content.
MazdaGear is one of my long-term projects that I am most proud of. Last month we migrated the store onto a new platform, and revamped the design. I wanted to take this opportunity to write about its history.
MazdaGear Conceptual Splash Page
Back in the Fall of 2005 I was given a domain name, a splash page, a vision, and told to make it happen. The domain was MazdaGear.com, and here is the splash page: (click any image to see the full-size version)
The vision was to build a store that will grow to sell $30-40,000 in accessories per month. I started by looking at our competition’s e-commerce sites, expanding to other industry e-comm sites, and finally looking outside our industry at websites that I frequently shopped at for inspiration. When I really had a feel for what I felt would be successful I worked through the process of selecting an e-comm solution for our new site.
Michael Jordan @ Bentley Minneapolis
An event that consumed much of my time and life over the last few weeks has finally come and gone. We (Bentley Minneapolis) sponsored the 2008 Trent Tucker Foundation’s fund-raiser weekend, and added a new VIP reception event between the poker and golf tournaments. Our goal was to get between 150 – 200 people to attend a benefit party at our dealership and to raise at least $100,000 for the Trent Tucker foundation.
I don’t think it could have gone any better.. The donations haven’t been fully tallied but I’m confident we surpassed the six figure mark. We had over 300 people in attendance, including Michael Jordan(!).
I was way too busy to take any photos myself, but thankfully some press has already started appearing: http://www.mspmag.com/socialdatebook/partypics/113412.asp
I ran across this show on the Internet Archive a few months ago, and wanted to take a minute to share the love. If you’re a fan of Death Cab for Cutie or The Postal Service you should definitely check this out. It’s a solo acoustic show by Ben Gibbard recorded in May of 2007, and it’s available for free (legally!) on the Internet Archive in Flac, OGG, and MP3 formats.
www.archive.org/details/bengibbard2007-05-09.flac16
They’ve got a lot more shows on the Live Music Archive section of the archives, mostly of smaller acts, but they do include some of my favs, including Soul Coughing. Some of the recordings are audience mics, some are straight from the soundboard. Each recording has information about the source and lineage, plus reviews so you know what you’re downloading.