At Doceus, our Solutions Architects design and deliver solutions for small to midsize businesses, associations, and non-profit organizations. Duties include writing technical specifications and developing web based applications, and maintaining said applications, over their life cycle, for our clients.

Our Solutions Architects are a key part of the Doceus professional services team and are expected to provide an exceptional level of customer service, and assist in strengthening our development and service delivery processes and practices. As a member of Doceus' professional services team Solutions Architects are often required to liaise with clients, so strong written, oral communications and analytical skills are essential.

[ doceus :: accelerate success ]

And we're a telecommuting operation, so you must:

... have access to a broadband connection, have a home telephone and the ability to travel into Washignton DC or Rockville, MD for team meetings. Doceus will consider candidates outside of the Washington DC region if the candidate has access to a major metro airport.

[ Apply Online ]

So if you've been itching to work with me, now's the time...

Victor® Electronic Mouse Trap

Quickly and safely eliminate mice from your home with the Electronic Mouse Trap. Delivers an electrical shock to kill mouse in seconds. Safe to use around children and pets. Built in safety feature.

[ Shop at Victorpest.com ]

And it works. Bought one yesterday and today there is one less mouse in the world. I'm not sure how many mice are plagueing my house, but 4 AA batteries can handle up to 50 mice, so I'll keep putting it out until the evidence of mice is gone.

And, for the record, almond butter seems to work just as well as the peanut butter that the directions say to use.

My quest has come to an end, but a delicious end indeed. There are a few crepe places around town, but finally there is one near me, and they make the honest to goodness real deal.

Crêpes á Go Go
514 Main Street
Gaithersburg MD, 20878

Sure it says Gaithersburg, but for those in the area you'd know it as the Kentlands. Just around the corner from Five Guys.

Noticed a "Mexican" place in Rockville with a weird name and had to check it out. Googled it and found out it wasn't a fancy sit down place, it was fast food and a chain. A burrito joint! Those who know me well, know I have a fondness for burritos, so I had to check it out.

In 1995, Anthony Miller opened the first Qdoba Mexican Grill restaurant in Denver with partner Robert Hauser.

With one-of-a-kind offerings like Qdoba Signature Burritos, Qdoba won over customers and critics alike. Denver's Gabby Gourmet restaurant critic named Qdoba one of the top 15 inexpensive restaurants in Colorado. And both the Denver Post and Westword named Qdoba "Best Burrito."

Obviously, it was an idea whose time had come. Fast, fresh Mexican flavors that were anything but old-fashioned refried beans and Spanish rice, prepared right in front of the patrons with only the freshest ingredients.

In just a few years, we've grown to include over 300 Qdoba Mexican Grills from coast to coast. And plenty more are on the way.

[ Qdoba Mexican Grill :: Fresh Burritos, Tacos, Nachos, and Salads Made to Order ]

The rice is almost exactly like Chipotle rice, so someone is borrowing from someone. Qdoba founded in 1995, when was Chipotle?

"When I created Chipotle in 1993, I had a very simple idea: Offer a simple menu of great food prepared fresh each day, using many of the same cooking techniques as gourmet restaurants. Then serve the food quickly, in a cool atmosphere. It was food that I wanted, and thought others would like too. We've never strayed from that original idea. The critics raved and customers began lining up at my tiny burrito joint. Since then, we've opened a few more."

[ Chipotle ]

Doesn't bode well, but perhaps Qdoba just came up with similar rice, or Chipotle had different rice at the start. Perhaps it doesn't even matter much. What's important is how do they taste? Chipotle is awesome. I love them bunches. However Qdoba may have an edge. They have a mole chicken, their steak is yummier, their hottest sauce is hotter and tastier, their red sauce is smoky. I'm giving the win to Qdoba. Seems like a burrito war is in the works.

In 2003, Qdoba was acquired by Jack in the Box Inc., a publicly traded (NYSE: JBX) restaurant company headquartered in San Diego. In addition to Qdoba, Jack in the Box Inc. operates and franchises more than 1,900 Jack in the Box® restaurants, the nation's first major drive-thru hamburger chain. The company also operates its own proprietary brand of convenience store called Quick Stuff®. Qdoba Mexican Grill operates separately from Jack in the Box restaurants.

[ Qdoba ]

Oh man is a burrito war in the works, lets do the math (roughly in order of my preference):

Qdoba - (Jack in the Box)
Chipotle - (McDonald's)
Moe's Southwest - (Raving Brands)
California Tortilla
Baja Fresh - Wendy's
Taco Bell - (Yum! FKA Pepsico)

Am I missing any other national type chains that just haven't hit the DC area yet? Or I just haven't tried? My list contains all chains with at least 75 outlets, so Burrito Bros and Well Dressed Burrito aren't eligible for the war...

Please note, Nate, that this is for the Taco Bell burrito and not for Taco Bell as king of 4th meal.

Lik-Sang.com, the popular gaming retailer from Hong Kong, has today announced that it is forced to close down due to multiple legal actions brought against it by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Sony claimed that Lik-Sang infringed its trade marks, copyright and registered design rights by selling Sony PSP consoles from Asia to European customers, and have recently obtained a judgment in the High Court of London (England) rendering Lik-Sang's sales of PSP consoles unlawful.

[ Sony Bleeds Lik Sang Clean To Death - Kotaku ]

IE 5.x is ancient history now. If you are still using any IE5.x, even on a Mac, it's time to upgrade. Upgrade to IE7:

Today we released Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP. I encourage everyone to download the final version from http://www.microsoft.com/ie.

[ IEBlog : Internet Explorer 7 for Windows XP Available Now ]

Of course if you aren't on XP yet, then you should be upgrading your OS as well. What have you been waiting for. If you are on a Mac and still using IE, time to get a real browser (unless you are on OS9, then time to toss your Mac and buy a new one). Don't like IE? Cross grade then, but please stop using IE5.x. Prefer IE6? You're crazy.

If, like me, you make the websites for a living, it is time to stop ignoring IE7. People will start using it. If your autosense code doesn't account for IE 7 (like the CVS website didn't until a few weeks ago), please update it. If your CSS layout is all wacked out on IE 7, well they aren't going to change it anymore, just learn the new tweaks, and forget what IE5.x needed and lets all move along.

Dear Word Detective: I am having an argument with my brother. He insists that the phrase "out of pocket" refers to expenditure from one's own resources, with the expectation of later reimbursement. I contend that one is "out of pocket" when one cannot be reached, is outside of the place where one can contact or be contacted...

...the bottom line is that you're both right, although your brother is a bit more likely to be clearly understood when he uses "out of pocket."

[ Previous Columns/Posted 01/20/00 ]

Well, I haven't started arguing yet, but I've noticed that Mikah has been using the phrase a lot, and now it seems Andy has too. I agree with the above guys brother. Out of Pocket means that you have to expense something and get reimbursed later. A second possible meaning is that you have used all of your pocket up and there is no more. How it could mean unreachable, I just don't know.

My wife's country and my motherland are about as far apart in the world as you can get. One never sees news stories involving the Irish in Indonesia, or Indonesians in Ireland. Or do they?

An Irish company is poised to turn Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam's Sabang port into one of Asia's largest and most competitive container ports. Dublin Port is investing in the facility, which is strategically located on Weh Island at the mouth of the Malacca Strait, one of the world's busiest waterways.

[ The Jakarta Post - Dublin Port to turn Sabang into one of Asia's largest ports ]

Well what do you know?

A bit of googling and it seems that Comcast frequently has issues with their DNS servers.

Comcast has ocassionally messed up its DNS servers - last year they had a series of systemwide DNS outages that lasted several days. (My Comcast DNS servers are 68.80.0.12 and 68.80.0.5.) Today Comcast DNS is being slow - but not out. That is good, because it means I can still get to Google and I can still use it to find other DNS servers.

[ davidbau.com: Memorable DNS IPs ]

Based on this guys comment about OpenDNS, I switched to using that. I haven't a clue what OpenDNS is, or why they do it, but I can look into that after my deadline...

The new Weird Al album is out, and I think it may be his best ever. I love his love song to his pancreas:

My spleen just doesn't matter
Don't really care about my bladder
But I don't leave home without
My pancreas

My pancreas is always there for me (ahh oooh ooh)
Secreting those enzymes (bop bop ba-ooh)
Secreting those hormones too
Metabolizing carbohydrates just for me

[ XVR27's "Weird Al" Yankovic Homepage - Lyrics - Pancreas ]

Not to mention a great new holiday song for Weasle Stomping Day, a warning to [Not] Download This Song, and Al mocks those that'd Sue You so easily.

Andrew brought this to my attention because of his seething hate of all things Canadian, and Al's Canadian Idiot anthem. Though the parodies don't stop with Green Day, Al does send ups of Chamillionaire, Usher, Taylor Hicks, and R. Kelly. All genius.