Words of wisdom from the sage of marketing:

But what if you're selling it in the wrong place?
Or with the wrong tone of voice?

I think context is underrated. Especially online.

[ Seth's Blog: Would you buy life insurance at a rock concert? ]

This is exactly what bugs me about people calling me to sell me stuff. I didn't ask you to waste my time trying to sell me on things that I don't need, or even do need. What on earth made you think that my phone is an acceptable place for you to make your pitch?

What you need to do is be in that right place at the right time when I am thinking about needing services or products like yours. Sure it's harder to determine that place, but I can guarantee it is never, ever, ever, ever on my phone.

And perhaps what I should have done in the first place. I've just downloaded the new FreeTextBox and recompiled my site.

FreeTextBox 3.0 is a free ASP.NET server control written in C# for use in ASP.NET applications. You can use FreeTextBox in any product with no obligation for payment.

[ FreeTextBox Forums ]

Though the RSS Enclosures, ability to edit dates or blog a different day than it is, upload images directly, and who knows what else, are all nice things to have too.

Which is always a bit of a pain, due to my hacking of the system.

dasBlog Community Edition is an ASP.NET weblogging application. It runs on ASP.NET 1.1 and is developed in C#. dasBlog, an evolution of the BlogX weblog engine, adds lots of additional features like Trackback, Pingback, Mail notifications, full Blogger/M

[ SourceForge.net: Project Info - newtelligence dasBlog Community Edition ]

And, it appears, that I took so long a few minor upgrades were made as well. Originally I did this because my IE 7 at work isn't sensed correctly by the FreeTextBox control, and I'm not even sure this upgrade fixes it. The "Add Image" functionality returns, so I won't have to use the crappy image library screen, which is probably worth the price of admission. RSS enclosures have been added as well, so I guess I can do a podcast, but I really don't get them, so I won't...

The wisdom of fools is usually to be avoided, but the Motley Fools tend to know what they speak of. In this case not even a gamer, but suprisingly upbeat about Nintendo's future.

I'm not much of a video gamer, but I'm a huge fan of companies that succeed through creativity, and I'm glad to see Nintendo winning praise for trying something different. Its bizarre brainstorms might just be the company's ticket back to the heights of video-game royalty. True, the Revolution will need a solid lineup of games to match the promise of its nifty new controller and lure third-party game developers back to its system. But this is a company that made a plumber, an ape, and a little elf guy into worldwide superstars. I'm willing to give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt on this.

[ Nintendo's Revolutionary Controller - Yahoo! News ]

I think his assumptions about what must compliement Nintendo's Revolution are true, and quite evident to Nintendo. And I think this is a very good sign. And, I hope, one more step to a future where children may say, "Sony used to make video games?".

After literally 3 minutes of extensive searching, I found this:

Anonymous (2001) is a TrueType version of Anonymous 9, a freeware Macintosh bitmap font developed in the mid-90s by Susan Lesch and David Lamkins. It was designed as a more legible alternative to Monaco, the mono-spaced Macintosh system font.

[ Anonymous(tm) ]

And with that? I'll stop looking...

Shiver me timbers, it's international Talk Like a Pirate Day!

Happy Talk Like A Pirate Day!

[ Talk Like A Pirate Day - September 19 ]

Props to Sajous

It seems like there is too much to read on the Internet, but I'll keep trying anyway. This looks interesting, so I'll blog about it, and hope to return and read it in depth.

The Initiative for Open Authentication (OATH) is a collaborative effort of IT industry leaders aimed at providing a reference architecture for universal strong authentication across all users and all devices over all networks. Using open standards, OATH will offer more hardware choices, and lower cost of ownership, and allow customers to replace existing disparate and proprietary security systems whose complexity often leads to higher costs.

[ OATH | benefits ]

Props to my Pops

Me want just one big button, and me want to play game like TV with no use dumb brain.

Nintendo breaks with more than 20 years of video game history by abandoning the traditional controller held with two hands and introducing an all-new freehand-style unit held with one hand.

[ News : Article ]

Seriously, once you get past the fact that this no longer looks like a game, and just looks like a Swedish TV remote, or the controller for your toilet, I think it has some merit. I'm assuming that if Nintendo is banking the company on this, they've done quite a bit of play testing and know what fun feels like. I remember before using my beloved Microsoft Natural Keyboard, I thought it was stupid too.

Nate points out that the design of the "thumb stick dongle" seems a bit weak, and I'd have to agree. My assumption is that if that was wireless as well (perhaps bluetooth) you'd never know who's is which unless your controllers were all different colors (like in the above photo). Plus that extra bit has to be solely for backward compatibility, and won't be used on the majority of games.

Update: Hot, hot, hot. No doubt, this is a must by.

And they have all of my favorites!

Our variety of Asian foods includes Japanese, Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, and other select Asian foods, as well as an open Sushi bar

[ Singapore Bistro Washington DC Sushi and Asian Cuisine and Bar ]

Bakso too!

Game on!

Washington Capitals individual game tickets will go on sale to the public Thursday, Sept. 15 at 10 a.m. Tickets may be purchased online through the Capitals website, WashingtonCaps.com, or through local Ticketmaster outlets, including the box office at MCI Center.

[ The Official Web Site of theWashington Capitals ]

Though Ticketmaster sucks, so buy them straight from the team...

The full schedule:

== October ==
Wed. Oct. 5  Columbus,             7 p.m.
Fri. Oct. 7  Atlanta,              7 p.m.
Sat. Oct. 8  at Atlanta,           7 p.m.
Mon. Oct. 10 N.Y. Rangers,         1 p.m.
Wed. Oct. 12 at Carolina,          7 p.m.
Thu. Oct. 13 N.Y. Islanders,       7 p.m.
Sun. Oct. 16 Tampa Bay,            6 p.m.
Thu. Oct. 20 at Florida,           7 p.m.
Sat. Oct. 22 Carolina,             7 p.m.
Wed. Oct. 26 at Buffalo,           7 p.m.
Fri. Oct. 28 at Tampa Bay,         7:30 p.m.
Sat. Oct. 29 at Florida,           7:30 p.m.
== November ==
Thu. Nov. 3  at Philadelphia,      7 p.m.
Fri. Nov. 4  Atlanta,              7 p.m.
Sun. Nov. 6  Toronto,              5 p.m.
Tue. Nov. 8  at Toronto,           7:30 p.m.
Fri. Nov. 11 New Jersey,           1 p.m.
Sat. Nov. 12 at New Jersey,        1 p.m.
Tue. Nov. 15 Tampa Bay,            7 p.m.
Thu. Nov. 17 at Buffalo,           7 p.m.
Sat. Nov. 19 at Montreal,          7 p.m.
Tue. Nov. 22 at Pittsburgh,        7:30 p.m.
Wed. Nov. 23 Tampa Bay,            7 p.m.
Sat. Nov. 26 at N.Y. Rangers,      7 p.m.
Sun. Nov. 27 Buffalo,              3 p.m.
== December ==
Sat. Dec. 3  N.Y. Rangers,         7 p.m.
Wed. Dec. 7  Nashville,            7 p.m.
Fri. Dec. 9  Detroit,              7 p.m.
Wed. Dec. 14 at Los Angeles,       10:30 p.m.
Fri. Dec. 16 at San Jose,          10:30 p.m.
Sun. Dec. 18 Florida,              6 p.m.
Thu. Dec. 22 at Atlanta,           7 p.m.
Fri. Dec. 23 Montreal,             7 p.m.
Tue. Dec. 27 Boston,               7 p.m.
Wed. Dec. 28 at New Jersey,        7:30 p.m.
Sat. Dec. 31 Philadelphia,         1 p.m.
== January ==
Sun. Jan. 1  Atlanta,              3 p.m.
Wed. Jan. 4  Ottawa,               7 p.m.
Fri. Jan. 6  Philadelphia,         7 p.m.
Sun. Jan. 8  Florida,              3 p.m.
Tue. Jan. 10 Chicago,              7 p.m.
Thu. Jan. 12 at Dallas,            8:30 p.m.
Fri. Jan. 13 at Anaheim,           10:30 p.m.
Mon. Jan. 16 at Phoenix,           4 p.m.
Thu. Jan. 19 St. Louis,            7 p.m.
Sat. Jan. 21 Carolina,             7:30 p.m.
Mon. Jan. 23 Boston,               7 p.m.
Wed. Jan. 25 at Pittsburgh,        7:30 p.m.
Thu. Jan. 26 at Boston,            7 p.m.
Sun. Jan. 29 Tampa Bay,            3 p.m.
Tue. Jan. 31 at N.Y. Islanders,    7 p.m.
== February ==
Fri. Feb. 3  Toronto,              7 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 4  at Tampa Bay,         7:30 p.m.
Tue. Feb. 7  Florida,              7 p.m.
Fri. Feb. 10 at Philadelphia,      7 p.m.
Sat. Feb. 11 Pittsburgh,           7 p.m.
Tue. Feb. 28 at Toronto,           7:30 p.m.
== March ==
Thu. Mar. 2  at Ottawa,            7:30 p.m.
Sat. Mar. 4  at Atlanta,           7 p.m.
Mon. Mar. 6  N.Y. Islanders,       7 p.m.
Wed. Mar. 8  Pittsburgh,           7 p.m.
Fri. Mar. 10 New Jersey,           7 p.m.
Sun. Mar. 12 Ottawa,               3 p.m.
Tue. Mar. 14 Buffalo,              7 p.m.
Thu. Mar. 16 at N.Y. Rangers,      7 p.m.
Sat. Mar. 18 Florida,              7 p.m.
Mon. Mar. 20 Montreal,             7 p.m.
Wed. Mar. 22 at Florida,           7 p.m.
Thu. Mar. 23 at Tampa Bay,         7:30 p.m.
Sat. Mar. 25 at Carolina,          7 p.m.
Wed. Mar. 29 at Carolina,          7 p.m.
Thu. Mar. 30 at Montreal,          7:30 p.m.
== April ==
Sat. Apr. 1  at Ottawa,            7 p.m.
Mon. Apr. 3  at Carolina,          7 p.m.
Wed. Apr. 5  Carolina,             7 p.m.
Fri. Apr. 7  Carolina,             7 p.m.
Sat. Apr. 8  at N.Y. Islanders,    7 p.m.
Mon. Apr. 10 at Boston,            7 p.m.
Thu. Apr. 13 at Atlanta,           7 p.m.
Sat. Apr. 15 at Florida,           7:30 p.m.
Mon. Apr. 17 Atlanta,              7 p.m.
Tue. Apr. 18 at Tampa Bay,         7:30 p.m.

We've begun to analyze non-Microsoft database solutions, and (surprise) a little application called MySQL has risen to the top of the heap:

The MySQL database has become the world's most popular open source database because of its consistent fast performance, high reliability and ease of use. It's used in more than 6 million installations ranging from large corporations to specialized embedded applications on every continent in the world.

[ MySQL AB :: Why MySQL? ]

I know that my readers are super-nerdy, and I'm sure dozens of them have MySQL success or horror stories. Why not share them?

It always seems that way to me.

An employee of Samsung Electronics shows the world's highest density 16-gigabit NAND flash memory device using 50-nanometer technology during a news conference in Seoul, Monday, Sept. 12, 2005

[ Yahoo! News Photo ]

If Korea doesn't shoot right past Japan any day now, I'll be surprised. Though they do have that addiction to MMORPGs thing to get over...

Props to Big G

Cosplay just grows and grows:

Cosplay Lab features tens of thousands of anime, manga, video game, J-Rock, sci-fi and fantasy costumes created by people just like you from all over the world. It's your one-stop shop for maintaining your entire costume collection, organize cosplay skits and photoshoots, meet other cosplayers, get info on upcoming anime conventions, and way more! Join for FREE and elevate your cosplay.

[ Cosplay Lab ]

What surprises me is the unique set of skills and interests that would seem to be required for a hobby like this. I guess 2 or 3 folks might have those, but enough to make a slick community website like this? Next thing you know people will be paying $5 for a cup of coffee just to experience a certain life style...

Some country singer girl wants you to know:

Free Vintage T-Shirt from Hershey

[ HERSHEY'S Vintage ]

I'm partial to the Reese's T-Shirt. Wonder if it wears better when frozen...

But you can. What a great line up planned for this weekend:

2nd Annual Silver Spring Jazz Fest
Starring Wynton Marsalis
September 10, 2005, 2:00 to 10:30 p.m. - FREE!
At Fenton Street and Ellsworth Drive in Downtown Silver Spring.

[ Silver Sprung ]

Silver Spring, Jazz, Good Times, how can you go wrong? Kojo says he's going, why not you?

Nate was inquiring to my "work homepage". It uses this "jobby" to create some thumbnails of my most frequently used "homepage" like sites:

url2bmp is a Windows freeware converting an URL to an image

[ url2bmp ]

Google Talk has pushed me back over the edge. Too many programs, and they all do the same thing. I'll try Trillian again.

Trillian is a fully featured, stand-alone, skinnable chat client that supports AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo Messenger, and IRC. It provides capabilities not possible with original network clients, while supporting standard features such as audio chat, file transfers, group chats, chat rooms, buddy icons, multiple simultaneous connections to the same network, server-side contact importing, typing notification, direct connection (AIM), proxy support, encrypted messaging (AIM/ICQ), SMS support, and privacy settings.

[ Cerulean Studios -> Learn about Trillian ]

In 2 weeks it will expire. We'll see then if I pony up the $25 for Trillian Pro (the only way to get Google Talk) or go back to my wicked ways.