My new home media center

I’ve now gone 100% digital with all of my music, movies and photos - here’s how:

Step 1: I purchased a new Samsung 52″ HD LCD flat screen from Best Buy (they have outstanding offers right now due to the economic situation, and in some cases are offering up to 36 months free financing) I had the option of going with a plasma or the new LED (a combination of LCD and plasma), however LCD was the best option for me because it displays the most accurate picture from a computer, and there’s less worry about burning and ghosting. The exact model is LN52A650, and you can read more here.

It connects directly to the internet and has various widgets, such as weather and news feeds as well.

Step 2: I purchased the new Apple Mac Mini, and loaded it up with 4GB of RAM. I got the smallest hard drive offered because my plan was to use external hard drives to store all my media so that I could easily switch computers down the road, and stay flexible enough to switch from mac to linux or windows if need be as well.

I also got the wireless keyboard and mouse - well worth the extra investment and allows me to use the macmini’s browser on a 52″ display - pretty cool. It’s connected via HDMI to my TV for HD quality video too.

Step 3: Two 1 Terabyte external hard disks to store all of my media. I went with the LaCie 1 TB drives. I’m using 1 drive to store everything, and the other drive mirrors the primary to ensure I have a daily backup. Intego Backup is a great (free) application for doing this. I then configured my photo library and iTunes music to load from the external drive. Movies are also stored on the external drive. If my computer were to die, or I needed to upgrade my system, I simply swap out my computer for a new one and all of my media is ready to go.

Step 4: Misc other stuff: I installed Boxee (which I have been testing for about 6 months now). There are still quite a few glitches, but it’s really good for streaming internet TV. I prefer iTunes to browse my music library (using the gmote on my G1 to remotely control) Boxee is good for watching Hulu or NetFlix movies over the web, and that’s about all I use it for. For DVD’s that I’ve ripped I use VLC player - it’s great and plays videos that Boxee and other apps have trouble with.

I would ultimately like to drop my cable TV subscription for free internet video (and my NetFlix fee), however we’re still several years away from that being a reality. By that time my prediction is we’ll have to pay for internet video anyways…and it will be no different that the cable model we’re familiar with today.

Posted in Life | No Comments »

I love to fish

Memorial Day weekend was so relaxing…….and a much needed break. Pulling this catfish in was probably the highlight of my weekend, aside from the great time spent with friends and family.

I really love to fish!

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Tragic tail of free gone wrong - newspaper wars

My Danish friend Morten Lund is referenced in this excellent summary of the recent “free newspaper wars” in Denmark. It’s a great read but a sad ending for most involved, including Morten.

Read the article here.

Link courtesy of Chris Anderson advocate of the “free model” and creator of the the long tail niche business strategy.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Generate new business on twitter

After receiving several replies and direct messages on twitter in response to specific things that I “tweeted,” I began to see the value in tracking specific keywords for the purpose of creating a dialogue. I wanted to start using twitter as a prospecting tool, allowing me to instantly engage with people who are researching or implementing a mobile marketing/CRM solution.

My problem, I have a personal twitter account that I use as a micro blogging tool to post short thoughts, and I didn’t want to turn that into a never ending dialogue of mobile marketing thoughts and conversations. So I decided that I will continue to use my personal account as a micro blogging tool, and create a new account that will focus specifically on engaging people in conversation on mobile marketing/CRM. I created a new account and my second identity is MobileCRM.

I will use MobileCRM to reach out to people on twitter who are discussing mobile marketing and CRM solutions. Not only will I have a better understanding of customer expectations in this space,  I’m also likely to see new business as a result.

So, that’s my twitter experiment and so far it’s working quite well. Within 48 hours of creating the MobileCRM account and starting to talk with people about mobile marketing, I’ve had numerous direct inquiries, a few skype conversations, and even a phone call. We’ll see how things progress…..

Lastly, after tracking twitter with various widgets and using feeds,  I found the best way to monitor the “twittersphere” is via an application called TweetDeck. You can keep track of various streams based on keyword searches, and you can instantly reply to someone or send a direct message.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Obama speaks to Iran

Here is the video if you haven’t seen it.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Why you should be using gmail

I have been blown away at what google has done with gmail over the past several months. It is by far the BEST email application in my book, and here’s why.

I’m not going to go through a feature list…boring, but I will highlight some of the features that have made my life easier. First, gmail can pull email from all of your existing accounts, and centralize your messages into one location forever. The benefit - a single interface to manage EVERY email account that you own, the ability to use the amazing google search technology to find anything, and you can save every message forever. You know, those messages that you really need to find a few years down the road…yea you can find them.

Secondly, You can customize the interface to show multiple inboxes, or create your own “inboxes” using the filtering and label tools. This means you can label  messages based on criteria you set, and  have them appear on your main page using the multiple inbox feature in gmail labs.

The list goes on and on, but other cool things include the ability to “unsend” a sent message (within a 5 sec window), use keyboard shortcuts to navtigate quickly through messages and labels, and a really cool third pary add-on for firefox that searches attachments in gmail for you, called Xoopit. I have been using this and love it. It works, and oh yea it also integrates with facebook.

There are some limitations, especially for using gmail in the business world. With multiple accounts gmail only fetches mail after you’ve manually checked it a few times. It’s based on an algorithm, so if you don’t manually fetch the mail for a period of time it will only check once per hour. Also, it’s currently impossible to have multiple signatures, and outlook recipients will see that you are sending a message from gmail. For some businesses that may be a problem.

The good far outweighs the bad, and I suggest that you drop your microsoft outlook client, or even some of the other ok web based mail programs. Gmail is simply unmatched. It also has a task manager - which I have been using for some time, and love it because it’s integrated with messages, so you can easily add and link to do’s to emails.

Anyways, if you’re not on gmail you are making your life harder than it needs to be.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Phony Mortgage Plan

Reposting from Dick Morris:

President Obama and his big spenders are moving quickly, to the relief of those who are facing foreclosure on their mortgages. But the program they are offering will do nothing for those most in need.

In the fine print, Obama’s plan provides no relief for any homeowner whose mortgage exceeds the total value of his home. But these folks are the ones who have been conned into taking sub-prime mortgages so loaded with brokerage commissions, interest rate subsidies, bank fees and lawyer and title-company charges that the amount of the mortgage has ballooned. These high mortgage amounts, coupled with declining property values, have turned about 20 percent of American mortgages upside down, so that the debt exceeds the value of the property.

So, here is truth. If you are current on your mortage (i.e. you paid the bank on time every month!) you do not quality for the loan remodication. The second option is that if you are current, you can refinance without costs even though you owe more than your house is worth due to the steep decline in prices. BUT, your loan must be securitized by Fannie or Feddie. Darn! I struck out twice. I continue to make my payments and my loan it is not backed by Fannie or Freedie.

What it boils down to is those who don’t/can’t make their payments and are behind, or those backed by Fannie or Freddie get rewarded. All of the others lick our wounds and tough it out! It pays to be responsible…I think ? ??

Posted in Life | 1 Comment »

Mint.com - worth your time

I signed up for Mint when the site first launched - several months ago. It lets you manage your personal finances online, by connecting with all of your banks, investments, credit cards etc.. and giving you an all encompassing view of your finances. I never got much value out of it before, only because I was using it 25%. If you take a few minutes and register your bank accounts and credit cards, it’s a great a way to manage everything from one location.

Here are some of the highlights I find valuable:

It’s worth your time.

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Incredible Concept

I think it speaks for itself. The downside - it’s only a concept

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Virgin is doing it right

I have to love Richard Branson. Though I’ve never flown on Virgin Atlantic I really want to. Isn’t this inviting? Flying Virgin Atlantic (on the longer routes) now includes Satellite TV and WiFi - great!

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

What are people saying about…. ? ?

If you ever wonder what people are saying or thinking, about any event anywhere in the world, just go to www.summize.com and search. It’s an instant feedback loop of what the world is thinking, via twitter. (summize is owned by twitter). I have used summize a few times in the past, but will probably use it more often going forward.

I was watching the Grammy Awards, and thought that Whitney Houston looked completely drunk or under the influence of something…she could hardly finish her lines. I jumped over to summize and did a search on “Whitney Houston” as she was speaking, and several people were already saying the same thing. “Whitney Houston looks hammered… she’s drunk, Whitney had an Anna Nicole moment. etc”

Whitney Houston isn’t the best example, but do a search on anything happening high profile enough and you’ll get a response from the world. Real-Time and unfiltered. Pretty cool.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Can Technology Save Us - Again?

I’m not a politician or an economist, but I think a lot and here’s a thought. I don’t see a technology on the radar that will pull us out of this recession. In the 70’s microchips were king, and helped boost our economy. Intel started this whole wave which led to Billions in revenue and tons of jobs. I’m an Intel shareholder BTW.

In the 80’s, the PC came at us full force and every business, and eventually consumer, NEEDED one. Tons of jobs and loads of $$$$$ generated for our economy.

In the 90’s - Welcome to the Internet era. Cash everywhere and more money and jobs to go around.

The bubble burst in 2000, life got hard, but even companies like Google were born (2001) Yes, Google was born during the big internet bust.

So, technology played a big role in boosting our economy over the past several decades. But what about now? What technology is priming the pump? I can’t point to one myself. I don’t think it’s social media, at least not in the near term.  I don’t believe Facebook is going to generate the kind of cash and opportunity we saw with semiconductors, PC’s, and Google in the next few yrs. I don’t think it’s online media either, like Hulu for example. Users will only shift their spending from cable companies to online products if it makes sense, and the jobs will shift according to demand as well. It’s not an incremental service. The same goes with the advertising industry, where spending is just shifting from print to online and mobile.

I think the answer has to be altertative energy/Green. Companies like GreenBox might have a shot, where people can intelligently manage the amount of energy they consume. This is radical change that can really have impact. Maybe it will be the auto industry, but big change there feels +10yrs away. I think this time around it will be the energy industry that will bring America back, not high-tech.

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Do written agreements mean nothing when times are hard?

It’s amazing to me that people can say one thing to your face, then turn around and do the complete opposite behind your back. Why can’t people keep their word? I do! It’s not hard to be real, and I suggest more people try it.

Below is a letter from my tenants, who terminated the lease early and now want their deposit back, though it clearly states in the lease that the deposit and last month rent are forfeited for early termination.

34. All parties agree that termination of this Agreement prior to termination date will
constitute breach of the tenancy and all Security Deposits and one full month’s rent shall
be forfeited in favor of Landlord as liquidated damages. Tenant will be charged the cost
of restoring the property to rental condition and also advertising and rent loss incurred
until the new resident moves in. Your liability for rent loss is limited to thirty (30) days
after restoration is complete.

Reads pretty clearly to me. I am just AMAZED  that people (in personal life and business) can sign agreements saying “YES, I AGREE TO THESE TERMS,” yet when it is not in their favor they  say “NO, THAT’s NOT FAIR!!!”

Hard lessons learned by me, TAKE NOTES, always always cover your ass And sadly, don’t trust people

LETTER:

We had someone review the lease while we were dealing with the purchase of our new home. Its their opinion that we would stand a better than average chance, should we press the issue, of recovering our last months rent and security deposit given some poorly written and inconsistent language in our lease agreement as well as Ohio law that protects renters in these situations.

George, we entered our agreement amicably and hope to leave amicably as well. So I would propose to you that we would not press forward in exchange for you refunding our security deposit (less any reasonable expenses related to damage of which we believe there is none) plus half of our last months rent.

Please let me know your thoughts as its our desire to end things on a positive note.

Warren

Posted in Life | 2 Comments »

I am a rooster

Chinese New Yr is around the corner - I am a rooster.

The Rooster is a flamboyant personality, feisty and obstinate. He is quite the extrovert who loves to strut his stuff and is proud of who he is. Outwardly confident, the Rooster is also a trustworthy, hardworking individual. He’ll tell it like it is with no qualms or reservations.
Not sure if that is accurate description of me… hmmm

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Is the future of SEO in trouble?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) basically means optimizing your site so that it appears on the first page of major search engines such as Google & Yahoo, when someone searches for your content.

It’s a big business, with SEO firms making several thousand per month per site to optimize them by making sure the right keywords are in place, content, links etc.. all the tricks of the trade to get your site #1 on google search.

That’s all great, but how does this work when Google now allows users to rank search results according to personal preferences? When logged into Google, which I am everyday, if you do a search you can rate up or down the results and it is stored for future searches. My prediction is this will become a common theme on all search sites, and that this is just the baby steps to personalized search results every time. There are also new products such as surf canyon which has decent reviews for personalized search.

So, my question to the SEO folks is how in the world can you guarantee high rankings when results become personalized? This is  going to hurt some of the sites that simply have good SEO but poor content, and help those sites with little or no SEO and good content.

At the end of the day it’s good for the users which is most important. I do think though that SEO firms are going to have to battle with some clients seeing less traffic and “poorer” results because of the human filter

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »