Today was a cool day. I was quoted in the latest issue of the Central Penn Business Journal. The journalist, Jim Ryan, was inspired to write the article, “Blog can show bussiness’ human side, spark conversation with client,” after he heard about our Corporate Blogging Geek Camp at Cimbrian.

I’m sure it sounds silly, but it’s cool to be in the newspaper (unless you’re in the obituary I guess … or maybe that’s cool ::shrugs::) This article, however, is particularly special to me. It’s the first time I’ve had my professional opinion published.

So … of course … I made a bunch of copies and have been dropping them off to family (I’m a dork). If I wasn’t concerned about being busted for copyright infringement, I’d have it posted here!

So go pick up a Central Penn Business Journal … or stop by and I’ll give you one of my copies.

UPDATE
Click here to read the article online

I’ve been experimenting with SpringWidgets. Below is one I created for Geek Camp. I’m not sure how I feel about it … so help me out.

It kinda looks like an iPhone.

Is this a bad idea? Would you post this on your website?

In my 5+ years experience talking to businesses of varying size, I’ve always been interested in helping them make the Internet a valuable piece of their marketing strategy. The Internet offers a lot of potential and I’m always happy to share my recommendations. It’s actually a flaw (in my opinion). I always have a lot to say.

So sue me. I want to help!

To further my goal of sharing my knowledge, I’ve become one of the pioneers of Geek Camp, a series of seminars hosted at Cimbrian, a marketing and technology firm located in downtown Lancaster. I currently work there full-time as a marketing technology strategist and the “brass” is very progressive and perceptive enough to see that there is great potential in combining traditional marketing with technology. It’s what their business is all about.

Our Geek Camp seminars focus on a number of Internet marketing strategies that include search engine optimization, blogging, pay-per-click, podcasting, viral videos, and others. They are open to the public and 100% FREE. What’s even better is lunch is provided! It’s a great opportunity to get out of the office and learn a little about how the Internet can be a welcome addition to your marketing mix.

If free seminars weren’t enough … we also have an “Ask a Geek” feature. By simply sending us an email at geekcamp@cimbrian.com you can get answers to all of your Internet marketing questions from one professional and knowledgeable source.

Most Internet marketing consultants charge an hourly rate between $85 to over $200 an hour. We’re giving it away for FREE! So take advantage of it!

If you’d like more information about Cimbrian’s Geek Camp, check out our website at http://geekcamp.cimbrian.com. It was just released this Monday, so it’s still in its infancy. But look forward to more activity as the concept grows.

The Category Base Killer Plugin does exactly what it says. It removes the “category/” text from your WordPress URL string.

In other words, it turns your URL string from this:

http://www.myblog.com/category/category_name/post_title.htm

into this:

http://www.myblog.com/category_name/post_title.htm

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Jeff Cornwall, Director of Belmont University, recently made a comment in a blog article, “I’ve Got a Secret” that fits with my philosophy 100%.

“Always keep in mind that success comes from sound execution and implementation much more than the idea itself. Ideas can be a dime a dozen. Even if someone does steal your idea, it doesn’t mean that they can make a successful business out of it.

Ultimately, success comes from the ability to secure needed resources, build the right team and understand the market and your potential customers.”

I guess I’m not the only one who believes, “It is the execution, not the idea, that is original.”

In 2003, while I was working my first web development job at Sharp Innovations, I met someone named Bob McMullen. He taught me several things, mostly PHP/mySQL related, but he also opened my eyes to the S.E.T.I project. That’s when I first learned about distributed computing.

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The “Renderminator” finally arrived! I’ve had it for a little over a week and have got to be honest. I’m a bit underwhelmed. Don’t get me wrong, it’s got zip, but not as much as I thought it would. Instead of a massive boost of performance, like I was expecting, it seems to have improved my ability to multitask instead.

After doing some research, I found out why (and the answer won’t surprise you). The applications I’m running aren’t written to take advantage of my new horsepower. The flip side, is since a single application doesn’t take full advantage of the available hardware, there is plenty of room to run other programs.

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I’ve got to hand it to the makers of “Office Space”. This one movie is a cultural phenomenon that just about everyone knows about.

But why didn’t they make a sequel? Where is Office Space 2? Everyone else who has had a hit movie can’t seem to get the sequel out fast enough.

I’ll tell you why… because the creators of Office Space knew better. They had a great run and didn’t crack under the pressure to make a sequel in a race to make more money. They kept the Office Space concept pure and that is worth my respect.

Just another reason to like Office Space!