Ok, if the sound starts to bug you, just click on Knock It Off in the header.

It looks like TheCounter isn't as accurate as I would like. Consistently, I have found the counter not loading on the page, and I believe the count is way off due to this. If anyone knows of a better webcounter service, please let me know.
A new set of words I've heard bantied about is 'viral marketing'. I believe that it implies a product that has the tools necessary for recommending itself built right into the product. So that users of the product can easily forward it on to friends and family without having to go outside of the product to do so. I think it's just another 'hype term' myself, and think that marketing folks should just concentrate on the basics instead of trying to find the 'Holy Grail' of marketing. Word of mouth advertising has always been a valuable tool, and viral marketing doesn't seem to be much different than 'word-of-mouth' except that its fast becoming an annoying phrase. It bugs me about as much as the word 'switch', when the darn thing is just a 'multi-port bridge'. And 'level 3 switch', when the old term was 'brouter'. Inventing new words is just a way for someone to sell you something you already know about it, and the Internet is just great for repackaging and selling old product. Just look at the rebirth of so many scams on the Internet. Scams you wouldn't fall for over the phone or in person. But that's another topic. I guess I'm just sick of buzzwords.
Another thought hit me tonight. I have a lot of technical capability and I often wonder if I might be able to apply it to doing some good for the world. It might be nice to start up a non-profit organization to do some good, while still being able to support myself. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know what you think. I'd love to hear input either about ideas or pitfalls.

By the way, you may have noticed a few things changing in the out of band section. One, I added a link to SpyOnIt, with a bot that can automatically notify you when this page changes, and the other link is to a free webcounter provided by The Counter. This one uses JavaScript to look at your current screen size, color depth and OS, and keep track of them for me. The # in the counter is all hits that are NOT me, and that successfully contact TheCounter when it loads.

Oh boy. Busy week indeed. I've called three moving companies in my local area to come out and give me moving quotes (suggested by The HomeStore website). I used their website to locate the movers too. It was helpful, so thanks Jon!
Let's see, I've set up a birthday party for my son and have to send out invites this week....laser tag at the nearest LaserQuest center. Two 20 minute games should wear the brats out enough....or enough to wear me out. Fun game, LaserQuest.
At work, I have servers to order, people to interview, stuff to make sure is happening right. Someone else is going on vacation and I'm going to be doing some of his duties as well for the next 2 weeks...and I still have all this moving stuff to think about. I'm going to need a few weeks vacation myself just to relax. Too bad I don't have that much left....ARRRRGH!
We watched a movie last night....Brazil, a Terry Gilliam movie. A few problems with this one. First off, we received Disk 3 of the set (which has a cut down version of the movie on it.) This is a problem of renting from Netflix. Their shipping methods only allow them to ship you one DVD. When a release is multiple disks, you only get the one they've picked out. And without understanding Terry Gilliam, they've chosen the wrong bloody DVD. I'll complain about it, but Netflix is still a good deal. I think we've seen 10 movies this month, and for $16.00, that's $1.60 per rental, which inludes shipping both ways. Well, anyways...the sound on this cut was terrible. I couldn't hear the dialogue well enough, and the oddity of the movie made it even harder to watch. So, don't waste your time.
We've seen some really good flicks this past week, though, including The Green Mile and The Negotiator. The Green Mile was a fantastic drama, and a superb performance by everyone involved. Tom Hanks shone as the star, and the supporting actors were all fantastic. The Negotiator was a good action flick, with a semi-surprise ending. Everyone we thought 'did it' ended up not being who actually 'did it'. The action, plot and story flow were good, and it's well worth seeing. Another movie, The Rock , was a good movie except for one thing...too much cursing. While I can understand the type of language that people use under stress, this may have been just a tad overdone. The rest of the movie was good though, and well worth watching.
Well, that's it for now. I've got paperwork to do, and a server to research.

Well, I haven't posted all weekend. I have house guests and I haven't been on the computer all weekend except to pick up the odd mail message. I've also been busy getting ready to move into the new house. We've got a closing date at the end of September and I'm ready to rock and roll. Except that there is about a million things to do before we're done moving in. One of them (giving notice) has already been done, and I've called my insurance company to get a homeowner policy already. Combination rates are great... when you have home and auto insurance both through the same company. I still have to coordinate a heap of things, like movers, utilities, paperwork, money, etc..whew! Now if I could just win $1,000,000 or so, I'd be all set.
Sorry I don't have much 'thinking-man' content today...been too busy.