June 24, 2008

Gmail spammier?

I have always been a HUGE fan of gmail for two reasons, 1 - I can search all of my old emails (this absolutely ROCKS) and 2 - it does a great job of eliminating spam before it hits your inbox.

So whats up? I have been noticing a boatload of new spam recently. I mean, gmail is also catching more than ever before, but things are starting to get through in pretty large numbers. Are these bums all creating gmail accounts? Is there a new way they are gaming the system? Or maybe - the sheer volume of spammers has just increased perhaps?

Just wondering - have you other gmail users seen a rise in the incidence of spams making it all the way to your inbox?

Posted by CDogg at 07:44 AM | Comments (3)

June 05, 2008

Another social networking site implodes

Yes, I got a few invites to Plurk and finally signed up for it today. One of the first questions I had was, "Can we link it to Twitter or Friendfeed or something like that?" No answers yet.

The next question I had was "I wonder how long until it crashes under its own popularity?" Well, as Twitter's downtime proves, sometimes viral is a bad thing.

The answer came just a few minutes ago.

Oh yeah, you can follow my Plurk feed here:
http://www.plurk.com/user/ChrisDoelle.xml

Posted by CDogg at 08:53 PM | Comments (0)

May 07, 2008

If this is how they run a business - we're safe

By now, most of you know that I run and am part owner of Newstreamz.com in San Marcos. I mentioned earlier in the blog about having to take care of some distasteful business by letting someone go that simply wasn't producing. First came the petty name calling, then that person went into business in direct competition with our venture. No problem... he never had the drive to do it consistently before, no reason to believe he would start now.

His site has been going in fits and starts, a spurt of four stories one day, a recovery day or two, and then a couple more etc.

His latest volley is even more humorous... he has pulled out Alexa. The internet savvy know that Alexa is a joke. Rather than recreate the wheel in explaining it all to you, how about letting Slashdot make the argument for me?

"Its sampling methodology is flawed and the numbers it produces are meaningless"

The fact that Alexa won't use their own ranking system should tell you everything.

The other completely laughable part of this whole thing is that when you actually look up his site on Alexa, the page ranking reads: -------.com has a traffic rank of: No Data

Nice - not only does he quote a site proven to be statistically worthless, but his site doesn't even rank on it.

Fun stuff.

Posted by CDogg at 08:41 AM | Comments (0)

April 24, 2008

Forget LOLcats

LOLcats drive me crazy - but this is cool.

Posted by CDogg at 02:48 PM | Comments (0)

March 02, 2008

Scary - Police Office fired because IQ was TOO HIGH!

I have nothing but respect for the people who work to protect and serve (when they are not abusing power) but this report doesn't bode well for the prospects of getting the best and brightest.

http://blog.t1production.com/police-reject-candidate-for-being-too-intelligent

Posted by CDogg at 08:01 PM | Comments (0)

January 22, 2008

First Swaptree trade

I have been a member of Swaptree.com for quite some time and found it interesting but never really found what I would consider to be a good swap. The problem really wasn't the shortage of products available, it was the shortage of stuff for me to trade away. I have always just sold things on Ebay or given them away on freecycle.org when I no longer wanted them.

About a week and a half ago I was sent an email requesting a trade and although I know my item was worth more, I wasn't playing it and probably never would again so I figured what the heck. The item I traded for is something I will install and play with a couple hours and likely put aside also (I just don't have time for much of any gaming any more) but for the grand total of $2 in postage, I got rid of something taking up space and have a few hours of fun in store.

The trade went very smooth despite being a three-party exchange. I sent my game last week and received the new one today. Easy cheesy!

If you have a lot of games, software, books etc. lying around - it is a really good way to parlay that into something else you might want. As I remember, Random from Sturgeon's Law also had a good experience with Swaptree.

Posted by CDogg at 04:38 PM | Comments (2)

January 07, 2008

Web 2.0 Dodo birds

I got a notice from Frappr that I had a new comment this morning and had to struggle for a few minutes to remember what the heck Frappr was. Was it that one that tracked your travels? No, that was Groovr. Was it the one that tracked your friend's travels? No, that was Dopplr. I knew it wasn't the one that handled your photos - I use flickr way to much to forget that. After clicking on the link, it all came back to me. It was the one that tracked where all your friends are from.

It was then I realized that I was looking at my first Web 2.0 extinction. Sure, some people still use it, but for me Frappr had become extinct somewhere around last June. In the world of Web 2.0 social directories, it went the way of the Dodo bird.

Which Web 2.0 flashes-in-the-pan are you done with now? Which bright eyed uber-cool startup has lost it's lustre?

Posted by CDogg at 09:10 AM | Comments (0)

December 18, 2007

First time for everything

For the first time in my blogging history, I have removed an entry. I have posted follow-up entries to further explain posts. I have edited posts to correct misspellings. I have even edited posts when new information has come to light (even then, I noted which section was original and what was added later.) What I have never done before is completely deleted a post. The funny thing is that I am not sure it is even a big enough deal to warrant this post.

My previous entry was one of those fun internet memes that gets passed around, laughed at, and completely forgotten. You know the ones - which superhero are you? Which character in Lost! are you? This one was "How many five year olds you could beat up." It wasn't the context - I love the thought of fighting 29 grade schoolers - funny stuff.

What I didn't like was the text link that was being included along with it. It was an ad for payday loans. I just find the entire payday loan industry predatory and well... wrong. Maybe I was just in a contrary mood when I noticed it, maybe it isn't that big of a deal... all I know is that I didn't want to provide them any link love.

For that reason, you will forever have to take my word for it that I indeed could knock the snot out of 29 five year olds at once!

Posted by CDogg at 09:28 AM | Comments (0)

December 16, 2007

More internet time wasters

This entry has been removed.

Posted by CDogg at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)

November 11, 2007

Twitter usage dropping

I wonder if the lifecycle of my Twitter usage is typical? When I first got into it at SXSW in Austin last year, I used it sparingly. I really wasn't sure what I wanted to say so I just noted when I was headed to something related to the conference.

As the summer went on my usage morphed into updating several times a day about my actions, noting when I posted something of interest, noting when I read something of interest, reporting breaking news, and even asking questions. From there Twitter took on a weird little micro-chat life of its own and I was right there with it.

As Fall has found me busier than either the proverbial one-armed paper hanger or the one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest, I find I am using Twitter much less. I now drop in every couple days and read what has been going on. Sometimes I respond to things of interest and sometimes I even drop a tweet just to let everyone know I'm alive.

So I ask you - is the coolness factor of Twitter wearing off or will it pick up again when I don't have as many irons in the fire? What is your usage and how has it changed?

Posted by CDogg at 09:03 AM | Comments (4)

November 09, 2007

Sk*rt gets ripped - TipDish gets nod.

According to a post today on Domain Name Wire, Houston startups are both good and bad when it comes to choosing a URL.

The grand prize winner for bad domain names was Sk*rt's www.sk-rt.com, while one of the better ones was TipDish's www.tipdish.com.

So what do you think? I do agree that the dash makes www.sk-rt.com a bit confusing, but think its a great site run by a great person. When that happens, it doesn't matter what the URL is... people will come.

Posted by CDogg at 11:33 AM | Comments (1)

October 01, 2007

Webb adds marketing tweak

It is a subtle difference but one that certainly shows that someone in charge of the production and marketing of Webb Alert is figuring this whole new media thing out. The Description field of her video podcast changed recently from showing just the date to showing an actual show description. Even the back episodes were modified.

A description that previously read:
September 27, 2007
now says:
Halo 3 sales numbers, Feeling bad for Vonage, the coolest lawnmower ever.

She may not have been the first to use informational descriptions to interest viewers, or even the first video podcaster, but there is nothing old school about her ability to learn and adapt to new media. Kudos!

FYI - Morgan, the best look for you is when your hair isn't tucked behind your ears... much hotter. :)

Posted by CDogg at 09:28 PM | Comments (0)

September 30, 2007

Startup Weekend Houston - the feed

I have been getting a lot of emails asking things like "Where can I see what's going on?" "Is there a live audio or video feed?" Actually, there is an intermittent UStream feed here.

The feed comes as goes depending on whose computer needs to be used or needs to go with them when they leave the building. Expect it to stay up most of the day today as well. If it is off the air when you check, try again in an hour and it will likely be pumping out all the genius from the weekend once again.

Posted by CDogg at 06:24 AM | Comments (0)

September 11, 2007

Most definitely a gag

Kudos to Mike McGuff for pointing this out over at his blog. When I read it, I thought it was a typo. I clicked on the link and now I'm sure its a gag.

Apparently at MarryOurDaughter.com you can bid on your future wife... and I mean "future," because some of these daughters are like 13 and 14 years old. Surely, this can't really be happening in modern day America? For anywhere from around $5,000 to upwards of $100,000 you can marry a daughter of well-meaning parents intent on keeping them from getting into premarital trouble.

The testimonials are the funniest part of this whole parody. This one from happy sales-parent, Jack M.

"At first we were worried that Janine was too young to get married, but then her new husband bought her a house and a car and jewelry and the money we got let us buy a house for ourselves. Getting out of the trailer park at our age was the best thing that ever happened to us, and it’s all thanks to Marry Our Daughter!"

Come to think of it - whatever happened to the dowry? Shouldn't these little Midwestern trollops be coming with a dozen goats and a milk cow or something? It's probably all just a setup for the next Dateline NBC show - To Catch a Parent Selling Their Kid and the sequel To Catch an Old Dude Buying One. I love the Internet - haha.

Posted by CDogg at 06:30 PM | Comments (0)

September 07, 2007

Tweeting for cash

Well, the big hubbub over all the twitter outages has died down, but a new line of complaining is sure to begin soon. The folks at twitter are including more and more seemingly paid or pure commercial twitterings. In their latest "Exploring Twitter" email blast there is a slew of commercial users coming on board.

71Miles is using Twitter to send exclusive, limited discounts to classy resorts and spas in California: http://twitter.com/71miles

There's a geeky new show premiering later this month on NBC and the character Twitters: http://twitter.com/chuckbartowski

Also coming on board is MTV's Video Music Awards, tshirts by Reactee and others.

I have no problem with them pursuing opportunities to make money, I just think that those companies jumping in to tweet with the rest of us might want to think about interacting. The folks at NBC's Chuck have 178 people reading this fictional character's fictional tweets, but they are following nobody. It seems that they are missing a golden opportunity even larger than the benefit of being seen as a cool, cutting-edge company. They could get soooooo much more play by interacting with the people on Twitter, identifying the movers and shakers of this world and interacting with them... that would grow their exposure exponentially.

Hey, if you are a big name traditional company wanting to know how to make an impact in the strange world of 2.0 - drop me an email, I'll point you in the right direction.

Posted by CDogg at 09:53 AM | Comments (0)

September 01, 2007

Quechup catches most of the web

I am proud to say that I am the only person I know who didn't fall for the Quechup nonsense. (No, I will not link to it nor was I ever tempted to join.) As soon as I got the first of now 19 invites I immediately twittered that it was worthless.

Posted by CDogg at 08:12 AM | Comments (0)

August 31, 2007

Growing pains or just a pain?

I am really getting annoyed with Twitter. I don't use it all the time. I tend to go in spurts where I will post a dozen in a day and then nothing for a couple days, but it seems that a large percentage of the time, the darn thing is broken in some way. Sometimes I don't see tweets from my friends, sometimes it randomly drops them, sometimes nobody gets through, and then sometimes - like today - none of my tweets are getting through.

Early on, I would chalk it up to growing pains as the service has exploded in usage and certainly servers need to be upgraded etc. The frequency of twitter outages has also increased. They don't last long, but I am really getting tired of seeing this stupid little bird.

I really thought I hated the previous image of a cat with a screwdriver working on a computer... but the bird is much more aggravating.

So will I stop using Twitter? Heck, I still don't even know WHY I use twitter... I'll probably stick to it - but that doesn't mean I won't criticize. I just won't be able to actually criticize USING twitter because it don't work so well. :)

Posted by CDogg at 10:29 AM | Comments (0)

August 24, 2007

Nerdvana??

I will be at BarCamp Houston II tomorrow for a good chunk of the day. If you have an interest in the world of tech, you could do worse than meeting with this group of nerds.

For information on the event - check out my entry on Metroblogging Houston.

Posted by CDogg at 06:00 PM | Comments (0)

August 10, 2007

Overload maybe?

Why is it I felt the need to inform my TWITTER followers, my Facebook friends, and my Houston MetBlogs coauthors that I am going to be out of town? Why do I feel a responsibility to keep them all "in the loop?" In the past, I would have simply blogged about it here - quite possibly not even until I was either in the middle of, or back from, the trip.

Well, if you aren't in one of the lists I've already notified, I am going to Lake Charles, Louisiana for the weekend. I will be sure to take pictures.

Posted by CDogg at 08:30 AM | Comments (1)

August 02, 2007

Another TechTV alum makes good

Morgan Webb of TechTV and G4TV fame has launched an online daily tech news show called WebbAlert. She does a really good job and it's good to see her without Adam Sessler by her side.

I think this is going to be her "big thing." Fanboys all over the world already lust after her, she's much more talented than some of the other "pretty girl talking about tech" hosts out there, and the production values appear to be pretty good.

While it does give the viewer the ability to embed a specific show or the latest episode on their own website, I can't find a way to subscribe to it. Hey Webb - did you not hear about this whole RSS thing that happened... well, it's kinda like TiVo for online content... pretty cool stuff. Heck, just give me a call and I'll explain it to you.

UPDATE: Thanks to several readers, I have the feed to subscribe to WebbAlert http://feeds.feedburner.com/webbalert It seems that should be something they put on the website - but what do I know? I'm just your friendly neighborhood new media titan, changing the world in a positive way! :)

Posted by CDogg at 11:21 AM | Comments (5)

July 31, 2007

No thanks Diddy

It seems that Sean Puffy Diddy PWhatsit Combs is looking for a personal assistant. He has tapped the power of YouTube in hopes of attracting the next DiddyAssistant. I don't know man, I would have to say no to Puff. Sure, it may be a lot of money, but just not my cup of tea.

I have a better offer:

Posted by CDogg at 02:25 PM | Comments (0)

July 05, 2007

Google continues to amaze

Wow... this is too cool. The one and only problem I have ever had with Google Maps is that it sometimes chose a route different that I would when planning a trip. There are times on a road trip when I want to stop by and see that giant ball of twine or take in a scenic overlook. When this happened, I would use Google Maps mainly as a rough estimate of the time and distance because putting in each stop along the way was a bit tedious. No more!

You can now grab any point on a Google Map route and drag it to different locations on the map. It is waaaay cooler than it sounds, but trust me, once you play around with it, you'll see how extremely cool it is.

Here is a map for a drive from Houston to Victoria done the "old way."

But let's say I wanted to swing by Lolita, Tx to see my friend Mike Wright on the way? I simply grab the blue route on the map and drag it to my midway location. Google does the rest, including marking all the new turns and roads in the turn-by-turn directions.

Think about the value of this on a family vacation that includes points of interest etc., or a cross-country podcasting trip that includes stops to see podcasters along the way? Kudos Google.

Posted by CDogg at 12:43 PM | Comments (1)

June 30, 2007

Google docs just stepped it up a notch

I have dug the idea of Google Docs since I first heard about it. Once it rolled out and I had a chance to start using the stuff... I liked it even more. I think the first doc I ever shared was a spreadsheet for several high school football sports writers in Texas as we all made our predictions for the state playoffs last year. (although I led the first three rounds, I finished third among the sportswriters) The ability to share a spreadsheet was phenomenal.

Well, Google Docs has just gotten better.

The biggest change was the layout of your doc collection. Before it was one long list and it "back-burnered" files that hadn't been used in 30 days. The new structure still has the frequently used files feature, but it shows the entire collection of files in more of a traditional directory. While this may not seem like much, the instant I saw it I knew it was a heck of a lot quicker and more useful.

The exodus may be in full force at Google (as the early brains are vesting in their stock and jumping ship) but someone there is still turning out good stuff. Hey Microsoft... take note - if you build it 'useful' - they will come.

Posted by CDogg at 01:33 AM | Comments (0)

June 29, 2007

Kudos to Facebook for getting it right

Although a late convert to the world of Facebook, I instantly liked a lot of the features. The customization and the third-party applications made the site unique and aside from a few silly options, pretty useful at times. Then the spam started increasing - spam in the form of invites to use every application under the sun. At first I added a couple, but it quickly became overwhelming. When the redundant add-ons starting showing up, I was done. I mean, why did I need SuperWall when I had the Wall application? Why did I need SuperPoke or last.FM Plus? It just got silly.

The net result for me was to totally cut back to just useful apps and ignore all the add requests for more. That meant telling a lot of my Facebook friends "no" on an almost daily basis. Not very conducive to having happy friends.

Facebook apparently has seen the wisdom of cutting down on this spam and started limiting the number of friends you can "invite" (spam) to use applications at a time. The number fell from 500 friends to an application per day, to just 10... much better.

I still get a boatload of invites to join every crazy new application, but the idea that Facebook is continuing to look at ways to maintain a useful user experience says good things about them.

Posted by CDogg at 07:18 AM | Comments (1)

June 19, 2007

Conspiracy unveiled or just good podcast marketing?

I got this recently sent to my Facebook account.

"I'm deleting my Facebook account because I've discovered it's a part of data mining and possibly the US government. (Listen to the Documentally podcast #28.) I thought I'd let you know since I'll be disappearing! Well, not really . . . .

Visit the Civilianism forum one of these days.. Tell us what you're doing!"

It worked on me! I subscribed to the podcast. I thought about editing out the name of the podcast in case it was just marketing by them, but figured - what the heck... they deserve the pimping even if this is just a stunt.

So is it a stunt? Not sure... like I said, I subscribed - I just haven't had the time to listen to the episode yet. I'll get back to you.

EDIT: I have now listened to the episode and have to say it is not only a good show, but I absolutely dig conspiracy stuff. Will I stop using facebook? ...eventually, as it gets more and more spammy. For now, I am giving in to the dark side.

Posted by CDogg at 09:25 PM | Comments (1)

June 07, 2007

MySpace officially = useless now

I think it is safe to say that MySpace has "jumped the shark." Most all of the comments now are spam pushing "See who is viewing your MySpace," or "Get FREE MySpace layouts." Most of the emails are now, "Hey, check out my blah, blah, blah." Forget about the bulletions, they have been ad-central since day one. And now, most all of the new friend requests are some hot chick with 3 friends and a nearly blank page with a bio that reads, "I don know if I shud show these pics here," or "Here are my nude pics. (I lost a bet) I'll get you back, Mike." Of course the links are directly to some porn or picture site. Way to ruin what, at best, was only ever a decent thing.

This entry is meant as a parody and thus if the Constitution still applies, should be protected under the First Amendment. :)

Posted by CDogg at 08:32 AM | Comments (1)

Podshow Sports

This actually sounds like a pretty big deal.

Posted by CDogg at 07:39 AM | Comments (0)

May 25, 2007

Dvorak adds serious credibility to Podshow

If you haven't heard yet, John C. Dvorak has joined the staff at Podshow and I have to say it is probably their smartest hire to date. His acerbic wit has made him both loved and hated in the tech world - often by the same reader in the same article. Dvorak's hiring marks the first big mainstream content creator in a stable filled with indie shows and startups.

Dvorak will be charged with creating both daily content as well as managing a "channel" populated with tech shows. I have to congratulate Ron Bloom and Adam Curry for landing Dvorak. This was probably some of the best use of their venture capital to date.

Posted by CDogg at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2007

Sitting in Podcamp SA

Just a quick check-in post to let you know that despite the long night of fun (see previous post,) we were indeed ready to go at 7:30 this morning.

I have some good audio content from last night and if I get a chance, I will do another podcast later today.

Posted by CDogg at 09:37 AM | Comments (0)

May 01, 2007

Pirate's Holy Grail?

Got this entry idea from a Twitter by Dwight Silverman

09-F9-11-02-9D-74-E3-5B-D8-41-56-C5-63-56-??-??

Just a bunch of numbers right? Not if you are a hacker. Apparently, this series of hex numbers is the "Holy Grail" of hackerdome. They allow HD-DVDs to be hacked.

Digg.com has been abuzz with the news and I am sure that lawsuits will follow. While hacking HD-DVDs holds no interest for me, I do find the whole debate over the illegality of publishing numbers interesting.

EDIT: Hmmm.... did I just break the law by reporting this? I better modify the last two digits.

Posted by CDogg at 07:46 PM | Comments (1)

March 26, 2007

I may be cured

That's right... I think I may have kicked the Twitter bug. If you don't know what Twitter is, I suggest hitting the link as this post is not about that. Be warned though... it can getcha!

I think part of my cure was the fact that the Twitter site has been so incredibly slow over the past week, but part of it is because the "cool" wore off. Maybe its because I tend to go overboard with things and going overboard with Twitter can use up HUGE amounts of time. Regardless of why, I haven't posted more than one or two items a day for the past several.

There are a few other things that made it not very useful. The postings ranged from silly, inane, comments that have nothing to do with the intent of the service to over-the-top detail about lives that I really didn't want to know that well. Also, I am NOT a SMS user (phone text messages.) I am slow, the phone screws me up by trying to help me, and it seems ridiculous to text someone when I can call them on the same device that we are using to text. If someone was going to text me "CU at the pub on 8th ltr," I would much rather have that person call me so we can talk... I prefer real interaction with inflection and tone.

I have to admit one of the appeals of Twitter is the "star gazing." It is cool at times to watch the stellar bodies of geekdom as they go about their days. I am left with a few thoughts though... it seems like Leo Laporte's tweets often switch into "I gotta look cool" mode. Robert Scoble's entries, although entirely too numerous to think that they are caused by anything other than a deep-seated psychological issue, are informative and interesting to read. Jason Calacanis seems to be a little of both - when he's good he's real good... etc.

Heck, what do I know? After all, its just meta- or micro-blogging... they aren't doing anything in 140 characters that I don't do here every day. I think I'll go tweet about this entry.

Posted by CDogg at 07:42 AM | Comments (3)

March 11, 2007

SXSW Session Report

I am sitting at the back of the jam-packed session titled "Create a Campaign in an Hour." The premise of the meeting is to show how to create an online marketing campaign. The sample company Banana Guard was chosen because it was offbeat, hard to market, and frankly because it was ripe (pun intended) for a whole slew of sophomoric jokes.

If this is the "cutting edge" of interactivity, then we are in pretty lame shape. I left after about 30 minutes at which time the only thing that had been accomplished was a "bunch" of "my big banana" jokes.

Posted by CDogg at 04:09 PM | Comments (0)

March 08, 2007

I'm not promising I'll keep it up

Okay, everyone is all a-twitter about Twitter, so I figured I better check it out. The idea is that everyone on the service logs everything they are doing... then the reality-tv-voyeuristic crowd can watch what you really do each day. Sure, its a little weird, but most of the things we take for granted now started off as something a little weird.

For the record, I doubt I will be very good at keeping it updated as I prefer to do a full blog entry... hmmm, unless it can publish to my blog as well. (I'll check on that later.) I also can't see myself watching intently to see what my friends are doing each minute of the day.

Oh, and a side note, I thought it was weird that immediately when I finished the registration, I already had three "friends." I know them so I guess that means you can place someone on your watch list even before they sign up... a little creepy. :)

So there you have it - if you haven't seen enough of my ramblings and want to see how my time is managed, feel free to add me to your watch list.

Posted by CDogg at 01:08 PM | Comments (2)

March 06, 2007

AT&T introduces me to Panera Bread

How do you like my new office?

With iPod in one ear and cell phone in the other, I sat at Panera Bread a good chunk of the day doing my work because my AT&T DSL was down again. It was down yesterday morning from about 3AM to noon, and once again today from 3AM to 4PM. These are "open outtages" whatever the heck that means. From what I could gather, they are working on something in my area.

Despite my ever-growing frustration with AT&T, there were a couple of good things that came from the outtage... 1- I complained enough to get a $50 credit on my DSL bill... and 2- I ventured into a Panera Bread for the first time. I had assumed that I wouldn't like PB because I figured they were just another high-priced coffee (and bread) place that was more interested in selling the "coolness" aspect (ala Starbucks) and less concerned about customer value. I can admit when I am wrong... and I was.

This is no Starbucks. Sure, the quaint seating smacks of hip and trendy. Sure, they offer a wide variety of drinks, including the bean. Sure, they offer pastries etc. The big difference is in the value. The prices at Panera are great compared to SB's - I had a monster muffin for like a dollar! The internet is fast and reliable. The staff is friendly. The seating is comfortable. What's not to like?

I was so pleased that Panera Bread had not only allowed me to continue to work, but provided me with free drink refills and a bargain breakfast snack, that I tipped my waitress $10 on a $2 ticket.

Posted by CDogg at 06:13 PM | Comments (0)

February 06, 2007

Help a brother out.

Houstonian Laurence Simon is in FINALS of Pickle Tales story competition.

Please register for the forums at Podcast Pickle and vote for the best story (Blazing Pickles) in this thread.

Hey, he is not only a good guy, but the only other person I know of with a cat named Nardo!

Posted by CDogg at 06:28 PM | Comments (0)

January 06, 2007

More Internet coolness

While reading some comments people made about my recent Vegas trip photos, I discovered something very cool at Flickr - a group called Transparent Screens. There is no photo editing allowed in this group, it is all about taking photos, setting them as background on your computer and taking another photo. The trick is in getting things lined up just right.

Of course, I had to try one myself.

Not bad for a first attempt. I see a few minor errors, but overall I am pleased with this first effort.

Posted by CDogg at 03:50 PM | Comments (0)

November 23, 2006

Haha - I love it

This comic is great on several levels. Kudos to Bill Amend for being cool enough to create a strip involving podcasting.

©2006 Bill Amend

I have been told that this strip either cracks you up completely or illicits a blank stare. What does it do for you? What does that tell you?

Posted by CDogg at 03:42 PM | Comments (0)

November 05, 2006

This will make the nerds smile

While working on a router today, I was told by the client that "I don't have an ecstatic IP, I have the other one." I guess that means she has the sad kind. Haha

Okay, it may not be funny to everyone, but you techies out there are laughing right now. :)

Posted by CDogg at 03:23 PM | Comments (0)

October 16, 2006

MySpace drops hpd_has_problems page

After a blogging furor over a recent incident involving a HPD officer responding to a noise complaint, a MySpace page was created to chronicle one side of the story. On the page were photos and video shot live during the scuffle. Now, when you head to http://www.myspace.com/hpd_has_problems you are told that the page is no longer available:

The video can still be found on Houston Metblogs and is definitely worth watching.

Whether you come down on the side of the officer trying to keep a room full of rowdies in order, or the concert goers trying to avoid a rabid power-tripping badge, I think it absolutely ROCKS that our citizenry is armed in the digital age with video and still cameras.

I guess it was just a bit too controversial for MySpace.

Posted by CDogg at 04:50 PM | Comments (0)

September 21, 2006

More Internet coolness

I always dig stuff like this. The album art for Adam Curry's latest Daily Source Code podcast was a seal that he created using the Says-It.com Official Seal Generator. Of course, I had to drop what I was doing, rush right over, and create one for my buddy, Lou.

Very cool. I have a feeling, I am going to be wasting some time on this one later tonight.

Posted by CDogg at 09:50 AM | Comments (2)

September 18, 2006

Yaarr, I have a pirate name!

Thanks to my nephew, as I found this test on his MySpace page.

My pirate name is:

Dread Pirate Cash
Like the famous Dread Pirate Roberts, you have a keen head for how to make a profit. You're musical, and you've got a certain style if not flair. You'll do just fine. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.

This is perfect timing since tomorrow is Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Posted by CDogg at 09:59 PM | Comments (0)

September 13, 2006

Come on CNN, don't be afraid

CNN "broke" the story today "Mystery solved: Lonelygirl15 wasn't alone." Great journalism there guys. Lonelygirl15, otherwise known as Bree, is the star of a series of short video confessions found on YouTube and MySpace.

I haven't seen the videos, but apparently there was a great deal of buzz about them as people were wondering whether they were real or part of some ad campaign. It turns out they are the result of a collaboration of indie filmmakers trying out a new format for storytelling. Very cool.

What is NOT cool is that nowhere in the CNN article is there a link to the videos. Is it that they do not want to send eyeballs to Murdoch's MySpace or risk losing an online viewer to YouTube? Geez, guys come on. You are supposed to be journalists... remember Journalism 101? (Who, What, When, WHERE, How)

I guess I shouldn't be so hard on just CNN, it is an AP story... that means it will be on all the news sites and I am sure that none of them put a link. Nice job, guys.

I am already accustomed to the media totally missing the important stories. Heck, I have even resigned myself to the fact that there is no investigation left in investigative journalism... but at least give a link when referencing an Internet story.

Don't worry though... I will

Lonelygirl15's MySpace page
Lonelygirl15's YouTube page

Posted by CDogg at 08:06 AM | Comments (0)

August 15, 2006

Daily chuckle

Posted by CDogg at 08:17 AM | Comments (0)

August 10, 2006

Daily chuckle

Dog people will love this.

Posted by CDogg at 08:13 AM | Comments (0)

July 20, 2006

Here's a fun game

I have been blowing numerous hours playing with Google Earth ever since I discovered that there was a geocaching overlay. After looking at my house several times to make out who was home in my neighborhood, it dawned on me to check my old office.

What do you know? My former car is sitting in front of the office. Next to it is one of our former company trucks (Isuzu pickup.)

So... can you find your vehicle on Google Earth. I am not sure what the date(s) are for the photos... that would probably help. Shoot me an email if you know any of the photo dates or can find your vehicle.

While you are on the Google Earth site, check out all the other coolness, such as the sightseeing overlays, oddities overlays... you name it.

Posted by CDogg at 07:40 AM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2006

Second Life - second chance to get it wrong

The podcasting world is abuzz with the whole Second Life phenomenon and when you stop to think, it is downright funny. I won't even go into my reservations about the motives behind the hype... listen to my last podcast for that. I want to talk about the game itself.

I would say that the majority of the participants in SL see it entirely as a game... which it is. (At its most basic, SL is about cybersex and purchasing in your fake life what you cannot afford in your real life) There is a small percentage that see their SL as a business only, with no interest in the gaming aspect, just as a way to generate real $US... which it is. Now in the big middle are a bunch of folks who are actually playing the game AND trying their hands at a cyber business... that works too. The smallest (and perhaps most delusional) people on SL see it as a way to change the world.

WHOA Nelly! Back the cart up! Change the world? Come on! They purport that SL is the future of online communication... no longer will we use chat programs and email... it will all be done via avatars... wow - what the heck are they smoking?

It will NEVER be more convenient for me to log into some bandwidth sucking game, load tons of the most guady looking buildings, rooms, landscapes and yes... avatars - just so I can send you a message. It will NEVER happen. The future is going to contain a lot more faceless communication (ie. email, skype, cell phone, chat.) Sure, you will get the person's picture on the screen when a call or chat comes in - but it will not be in real time.

The problem with the plan IS real time. I don't know about you, but I only have 24 of those precious hours in a day. I can shoot off 50 emails and numerous chats in the time it takes to have one real time conversation. Real time conversation is a time drain - just as Second Life is a time drain.

At the end of the day - TIME will tell... and TIME will show these folks that as the "future of communication," SL remains a pretty fun game... emphasis on game.

Read on to see my predictions for SL

Predictions for Second Life

-*- Podcasters will continue to go to SL in droves in an attempt to be in the "cool crowd," and of course to increase their listening audience.

-*- Some podcaster who are savvy marketers and understand SL will actually do well.

-*- The public hype will peak shortly after podcasters stop talking about it.

-*- A LOT of people will spend a lot of money trying to make money in SL and get cleaned out. (Land has no value as they can create more anytime they want and locations mean nothing as you can teleport anywhere you want. The currency (Linden dollars*) will continue its hyperinflation because it is not a true market. As more people join, the value of the $L goes in the toilet. Simply owning money in the game COSTS you real money each day.)

-*- Linden Labs will make a lot of money for the original team and they will cash out HUGE when they pitch it as the latest buzzword - a social network. It will be sold to someone who doesn't understand it and doesn't want to get left behind. (ala Rupert Murdoch and myspace)

-*- The world will NOT be changed in any significant way

-*- The next big thing will hit

-*- Second Life will evolve or die

* - my friend Tony pointed out this brilliant marketing scheme. Everything in the game is about purchasing... what better way to market your company than by naming the currency the same. I bet the Google hits for Linden is going through the roof. Oops, I just contributed to it again - haha.

Posted by CDogg at 09:52 AM | Comments (4)

April 02, 2006

How do you know when you've "arrived?"

That's right, not only does Riding with the window down... have at least one superfan willing to spring for a season of LOST on iTunes, but the PMC Top10 has hit a milestone.

I was sent my first ever boob-gram... well, that is what I am calling it. A fan of the PMC Top10 took off her shirt, and snapped a pic with her holding up a sign saying that she loved the PMC Top10.

Caution: The link is R-rated.

Any other female fans that want to give great feedback like this, please do :)

Seriously, this is some sort of a spam that they are sending out to a lot of podcasters. It comes complete with a link to a porn site and a URL on the picture. (I cropped the URL out of the pic so as to not give them any more advertising.) For a split second I was flattered, but when I looked at the writing, I recognized the font as a "handwriting font."

Posted by CDogg at 06:08 PM | Comments (3)

March 29, 2006

Big Giant Mistake on My Part

First off I have to apologize to the folks over at the Big Giant Button for my erroneous post. I assumed that the button had not changed in the past few days because Adam Curry mentioned on his show that curry.com would be linked on the 27th. As the BGB was linked to curry.com on the 29th, I assumed that it hadn't changed.

For the record, I LOVE the idea of the Big Giant Button and frankly was disappointed when I thought it wasn't updated. Knowing that it is indeed being updated, I am definitely going to check it out frequently.

Posted by CDogg at 11:38 PM | Comments (1)

Big Giant Bust

Well, the Big Giant Button launched on the 27th with the idea that...

"Every day we link the Big Giant Button to a different site on the web. Press it each day and see what happens!"

Well, I'll tell you what happens? Three days into the "launch," it is still pointing to the same damn site - Curry.com. (Yes, Adam Curry's website.) The folks behind the BGB publicized the launch by sending an audio comment into Curry's podcast. Fine, link to his site - but come on... the ONE thing this button is supposed to do... IT DOES NOT DO!!

They say they are going to link us to a new piece of internet coolness each day and all we get is ONE SITE!!

I am sure that in the next day or two, someone over there will figure out how to edit html enough to change the link, but come on - is this any way to conduct a launch?

Posted by CDogg at 08:43 AM | Comments (1)

March 14, 2006

Post-it

Posted by CDogg at 10:03 PM | Comments (0)

March 06, 2006

Chuck Norris runs with scissors.

Posted by CDogg at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2006

Mild-mannered podcaster by day...

Your results:
You are Superman

Superman 100% The Flash 80% Iron Man 80% Spider-Man 70% Supergirl 70% Robin 70% Green Lantern 55% Batman 50% Wonder Woman 50% Hulk 50% Catwoman 15%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

Posted by CDogg at 06:55 PM | Comments (1)

December 15, 2005

Wiki rules

CNN reported today that the Wikipedia is indeed every bit as accurate as Encyclopedia Britannica. Wikipedia is a HUGE online collaborative encyclopedia which allows anyone to make changes/additions etc. One would think that this is a recipe for chaos, but there are some very strong checks in place to ensure that it remains factual. In fact, even inclusion in the Wiki requires an entry to be "historically significant."

Oh yeah - and the PMC Top10 has a Wiki entry - one of only 46 podcasts listed - how cool is that? And there are now over 20,000 podcasts in existence.

See, we are not just a bunch of nuts sitting around with a microphone and a bag of Cheetos... we are making history... changing the face of media. I get more excited about podcasting every single day!

Posted by CDogg at 11:05 AM | Comments (0)

October 10, 2005

Digg it for me please!

I need a favor - I need everyone to click on the link and hit "digg it" on this story... I am trying to get it generating some buzz

http://www.digg.com/search?search=make+history+with+brother

Posted by CDogg at 09:28 AM | Comments (0)

September 26, 2005

Three years of sim sports comes to an end

Its over. After three years of running the BigDog Basketball League, I am shutting it down. Yes, three years of running a sim nearly every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday! It was a lot of fun, but the addition of podcasting to my hobbies list (four shows and counting) has really eaten into my free time. As the podcasts continue to develop, it will mean even less time available for the sim.

My sim sports dynasty began with the BigDog Basketball League (BBL) and grew to include the BigDog Football League (BFL), BigDog League Baseball (BLB), NCAA College Football and NCAA College Basketball. It included a coordinated timeline that allowed sim fans to play sports year round and not get burned out on one game.

Due to the huge amount of time required to run the baseball league, it died after two seasons. The pro football league also met an end midway through its third season for the same reason. College football was dropped because it only existed to feed rookies into the pro game. In the end, the BBL (pro basketball) lasted for ten full seasons and both it and the college basketball sim were closed down today.

I have put a call out to the GMs of the league offering all the saved files in the event that someone wants to continue the league(s).

Posted by CDogg at 11:12 AM | Comments (1)

August 16, 2005

Is videoblogging the future?

That question was posed on a recent forum entry at Podcast Alley and I thought I would share it with those of you who are not podcasting nuts and therefor do not hang out in podcasting forums.

Here is my take on videocasting or videoblogging.

It will eventually be the future, but we are talking a long way down the road. The barrier to entry is still way too high. Storage of video files makes podcast audio storage look insignificant. Also, the tools are just not as user friendly as with audio.

I do video production for a living and short of those little video diary segments you see in all the reality shows, it takes quite a bit to turn out a quality video project. When we film a corporate seminar or speech, the editing is usually a four to one ratio of footage shot. (I.e. when we shoot an hour, it takes four hours to edit it into a broadcast quality output.)

I do think it will eventually happen, just not real soon.

Posted by CDogg at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2005

Hey, what about the victims?

I found this at Dwight Silverman's Tech Blog:

Tuesday, Microsoft announced it was receiving $7 million in a settlement with a spammer. Today, America Online saw their good fortune and raised it, saying it was distributing $13 million in spammers' assets via a contest for its subscribers:

From Wednesday until Aug. 19, people can sign up online for a chance at winning the goods. A winner will be announced shortly after the enrollment period ends.

AOL sued the New Hampshire resident in March 2004 after several months of investigation, saying the spammer made a career of dispatching millions of messages offering "ephedra, male enhancement pills and other dubious products." The company also said the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria issued a $13 million judgment against other members of the New Hampshire resident's gang.

Where is the consumer in all this? Microsoft and AOL get $20 million because they created mail systems so full of holes that any spammer under the sun can get through... but who are they getting through to? You and I. It is the end-user, the consumer that is the victim here - not the computer companies. At least AOL is distributing assets somewhat... but come on, a contest? A contest which requires you to enter on a daily basis and enter in all your contact info once again. I wonder who they'll sell this mailing list to? You can bet they won't destroy the information they gather after they distribute the prizes.

Where are the Attorney's General of our states or country? Why is this battle not being fought by those entities we pay to look out for us? Why do we have to give away more information to get any recompense? How did spam hurt AOL or Microsoft? This case should have been a federal or state case from the start and the awards should have gone back to the people.

Posted by CDogg at 09:34 AM | Comments (3)

August 05, 2005

Wow - check this out!

I stole this from Bob Gentry and promptly wasted about an hour on it. You can grab her with your mouse and drag her free if she gets stuck... crazy.

They should have made it a robot or a clown or something, there is something unsettling about tossing around a scantily-clad woman.

Posted by CDogg at 11:11 PM | Comments (1)

August 03, 2005

030 - Clean podcasts baby - rant continued - rockin tunes!

WOW! This podcasting thing is getting exciting. I just had to throw a show down because all this stuff was rattling around in my brain. This show features some great songs, talks about CLEAN podcasting, reprises an earlier rant and just has a good time!

(Time: 20:52)
MENTIONED IN THE SHOW
PMC Top10 Countdown
K9Cast
Jawbone
Lone Star Gridiron
Greater Houston Podcasting Association
Houston Chronicle Tech Blog
Bitz of Brin

TUNES
Sick of Chicks - Brother Love (get ya some!)
Lose Control - De La Vega (get ya some!)

Intro and outtro music is I'm on Board by The Ride Theory.

HEY HELP OUT!!
Please take a moment to vote for this podcast at Podcast Alley.

Posted by CDogg at 04:56 PM | Comments (0)

June 24, 2005

Doing my part to advance science

Thanks to a link I found on Laanba's blog, I took asurvey being conducted by MIT.

Posted by CDogg at 09:04 PM | Comments (2)

May 19, 2005

I'm a blogebrity!!!

That's right folks - your not-so-humble host has cracked the B-List at Blogebrity.com!!

Song parody sung to the tune of "Celebrity" by Brad Paisley

Blogebrity - Chris Doelle

Someday I'm gonna be famous... do I have talent well, no
These days you don't really need it thanks to our blogs and podshows
Can't wait to rank on the A-List at Blogebrity
Can't wait to reach "higher being" on TTLB

[1st Chorus]
'Cause when you're a blogebrity
It's adios reality
You can write just like a fool
People think you're cool
Just 'cause of your ranking
I can throw a major fit
When my layout isn't just how I like it
When they say I've gone insane
I'll blame it on the fame
And the pressures that go with
Being a blogebrity

I'll get to cry to my readers when things don't go my way
Won't get community service why my entry's not great
I'll make the supermarket tabloids, look like they write good stuff
But the more they read my blog now the more my fame goes up

[2nd Chorus]
'Cause when you're a blogebrity
It's adios reality
No matter what you do
People think you're cool
Just 'cause of your ranking
I can fall in and out of love
With topics that barely last a month
When they go down the drain
I'll blame it on the fame
And say it's just so tough
Being a blogebrity

[Bridge]
So let's crank up the editors and write it down
For the fans or for the fun.
We'll be real-world authors, jackass pundits,
Hey hey, A-List, here we come!

[3rd Chorus]
'Cause when you're a blogebrity
It's adios reality
No matter what you do
People think you're cool
Just 'cause of your ranking
Being a blogebrity
Yeah blogebrity

song parody copyright 2005 All rights reserved - Chris Doelle

Posted by CDogg at 07:39 AM | Comments (3)

February 17, 2005

New Character in South Park

I made them with a whole range of facial expressions and intend to use them on the blog. The expression will give some clue as to how I feel about the subject mentioned.

Posted by CDogg at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2005

Remember this site?

I was reading another person's blog when I came across a link to Hot or Not. It was several years ago when I first ran into this site. I remember that once discovered it seemed like everyone in our office was addicted to clicking the little rating scale for each picture listed. Being the entirely vain person I am, I posted a picture to see how I stacked up. I seemed to remember that I was coming in a strong 7 or so. After being reminded of the site in this morning's reading, I decided to look to see if my picture was still in the rotation - sure enough.

And the cool thing is that my rating is even higher now!

Give me a good rating, please!

Posted by CDogg at 02:36 PM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2005

Free iPod!

A friend of mine from the blogging world got a FREE iPod by following a few simple steps...

1. Click on this link
2. Fill out the information
3. Go through a bunch of offers (you can turn them all down)
4. When you get to the final screen, you have to do one of the final offers.

(I signed up for the FREE trial of Blockbuster Online - you can cancel before you are charged and it works just like NetFlix)

That's it! This is not some scam - she showed me the iPod... it has freeipods.com engraved on the back, but other than that, it is a perfectly good, brand new iPod!

That's pretty darn easy for a brand new iPod!

Posted by CDogg at 10:53 PM | Comments (0)

December 03, 2004

Wanna see a cool site?

Check out the RCGroups.com Aerial Photography discussion group. They mount digital cameras on radio controlled airplanes and snap away. Talk about some great shots. There are a ton of cool ones like this...

For information on how it is done, there are some other excellent threads that show the planes and camera mounts... cool stuff.

Posted by CDogg at 08:22 PM | Comments (0)

October 12, 2004

I don't have enough brain...

Posted by CDogg at 11:08 PM | Comments (0)

Want more silliness?

I found a site that will rate your site in terms of good and evil depending on the choice of words throughout the page. Here is my rating as of right now... I assume it will change over time as the words change...

I guess that means I am not that bad...

ADDENDUM: I ran the Germatriculator immediately after this post and the number changed slighty to 38% and 62% (I guess that means this was a good post) :)

Posted by CDogg at 11:06 PM | Comments (0)

October 04, 2004

A brilliant waste of time...

Hey, looking for a waste of time? I have found the best 'waste of time website' since... well, it's just a big waste of time. It is called "Whatever Happened to...?" Want to know the whereabouts of Joe Millionaire, M.C. Hammer or even Baby Jessica? (the one that fell down the well) You can spend countless minutes surfing for those whose 15 minutes of fame has passed before you get bored and decide to get back to work.

Want another waste of time... how about the Country Quiz? You click on the most appropriate answer from a series of questions and it tells you what Country you are...

Here is the result of my test:

You're Texas!
You aren't really much of your own person, but everyone around you wishes you'd go away, so you might as well be independent. You're sort of loud-mouthed and abrasive, but you do have a fair amount of power. You like big trucks, big cattle, and big oil rigs. And sometimes you really smell. But it's not all bad, you're big enough to have some soft spots somewhere in all that redneck madness.

Take the Country Quiz at the Blue Pyramid

They also have one called The Book Quiz... I won't tell you which one I am... haha.

Posted by CDogg at 11:17 PM | Comments (0)

July 31, 2004

Mindless Diversion

Stare at the image below and move your head forward while concentrating on the center dot.

Posted by CDogg at 08:18 PM | Comments (0)