I have a friend who repairs/restores cars for fun. He has several of them stashed in various places all over town at any given time (barns, garages, carports, parking lots). I helped him work on a car one time, and I thought it was a lot of fun. He bought an engine on eBay, which came on a pallet, and looked like a big mess. … Read more
I helped my Dad buy an iMac today. That means he has now officially joined the club. I dropped it off, and he asked me “Great, so how do I set it up? …wait, you’re probably going to tell me all I have to do is turn it on, right? And that’s it? It’s that easy? No user manuals? Complicated software installs? Virus scans?” I … Read more
I like TV commercials. I especially like a TV commercial that inspires me to actually want to buy a product. When I see a good ad, I cheer. When I see a bad one, I tweet about it, or show it to a bunch of friends so we can laugh at how awful it is. This commercial, however, for Fig Newtons (a product that I … Read more
Last week, I did what I’ve wanted to do for years: I closed my Wells Fargo account. It felt good. Wells Fargo is an extremely convenient place to bank at, because they have branches and ATMs all over the place, but to them, I was just a number. Probably a number in the tens of millions, if I had to guess. So I was #10,000,001 … Read more
Does your company have a website? If so, you have a domain of some sort. Whether it ends in .com, .net, .us, or dot anything else, somebody at some point registered your domain. Here’s a list of five things you can (and should) do right now to make sure you’re taking care of your website’s domain. Who is your domain registrar? Do you know? Common … Read more
I don’t watch Stephen Colbert. I don’t think he’s funny. Even more than that, I have no patience for senseless political banter. But in some strange way, in this clip, Colbert pulls off the best interview of Eric Schmidt I’ve ever seen. Most interviews with Schmidt are boring, take far too long, and venture off into ethereal technological discussions that aren’t interesting or relevant to … Read more
(Shh… don’t tell anyone.) When I was growing up, while my parents were gone and we were home alone, I would find LPs from the Swedish disco band ABBA in the cabinet in the living room and put them on their Hi-Fi record player, and push play. I remember it like it was yesterday—the needle crackling as the turntable starts spinning up… here come the … Read more
For those of you who aren’t exactly sure what a webmaster does all day long, I created a small time-lapse video of me at work. Until recently, I’d have several cans of Mountain Dew and a box of triscuits on the desk with me, or at least a few mugs of coffee, but I’m really trying to cut back on the stimulating drinks. So here … Read more
I love my iPad. I also hate my iPad. Here’s why. When I need some quiet time to think, or relax, I’ll often go to my home away from home (Starbucks), pull out my iPad, turn off my phone, and start reading a new eBook I’ve just bought on web design, marketing, or something similar. Every few minutes or so, a random stranger will walk … Read more
I was talking to a client a while ago who happens to be my dad’s age. I told him that he needed to get an iPhone or Palm Pilot or some other electronic daily planner. I’d been egging him to “go electronic” for months, and that once he did, he would wonder why he hadn’t sooner. He was constantly misplacing his Franklin Covey planner, so … Read more