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  • You have 3.5 hours for a chance at one of 24 prizes

    Problogger has announced its next round of prizes. Before Noon (EST), write a blog entry with a "blogging" "tip" then post the link to your entry in the Problogger comments with a note on which prize you would prefer. Only one entry per person and it has to be new material.

    As a reminder, once you win a prize in the $54,000 giveaway, you cannot win again. Make sure the 24 prizes are appealing to you!

  • Twitter’s OLDER link will return

    Twitter suffered a Denial of Service attack and had to temporarily remove the link to preserve performance on the site. Reported on the Twitter blog. You can follow the mundane details of my day on Twitter.

  • What am I doing to my brain?

    The mental exercise of jumping from one project to another at a rapid pace with breakneck deadlines is like making a bootleggers turn at interstate speeds particularly when the environment of each project changes slightly or even drastically such as CF with MS SQL to CF with MySQL to ASP with MS Access. I’m sure this either good for me or the seed for a tumor.

  • Problogger’s 4th giveaway is listed

    Problogger‘s Birthday Bash has announced its fourth prize. You could win TWO 20-inch FlatronWide L206WU USB-based monitors provided by DisplayLink by creating a post and linking back to the kickoff post then going to the DisplayLink post and adding a comment with your link and the word DisplayLink below it (case is important!).

    http://realityme.net/2007/10/03/probloggers-4th-giveaway-is-listed/
    DisplayLink

    Remember, once you win a prize, you cannot win any others so make sure you are entering for prizes you want.

    These monitors are USB monitors and some people have expressed concern that lag due to limitations of USB speed could make these monitors less than adequate for gaming. This video by ndíyo shows some great potential for these monitors. I found it very exciting! Of course, Engadget has some words.

  • IMPORTANT! You can only win once!

    Problogger has announced their 3rd giveaway! The first 25 people to send an email receive a tube of Mederma scar treatment. What is important is the eligibility note on the post!

    In answer to some questions I received about who can enter and further rules about eligibility: Please keep in mind that the winners of today’s first and third prizes will not be eligible for any other prizes during the duration of the giveaway, and it’s going to be like that for the entire event, so if you’re not really interested in a particular prize, it’s probably best not to enter for it. The reason we do this is to give the greatest number of individuals a chance to win something. By all means, if you’re interested in more than one prize, enter for more than one, but know that if you win anything, that will be the only item you win.

    So, think before you jump! Make sure the prize is one you want.

    Update: Darren Rowse has a full list of prizes and sponsors.

  • Problogger’s 2nd giveaway is up

    Darren Rowse is giving away $54,000 in prizes. The 2nd giveaway has been posted.

    The first 500 people to go to SeekZap at this special ProBlogger submission link will receive a free premium directory listing ($50 value) for their site/blog! [Source]

  • Wait for it!

    “Why does a dog wag its tail? Because a dog is smarter than its tail. If the tail was smarter, the tail would wag the dog.”

  • Get a piece of $54,000 this week!

    Darren Rowse of Prologger fame is giving away USD$54,000 in celebration of Prologger’s birthday. Subscribe to the feed to be informed. The first giveaway was posted an hour ago. It is 12 copies (to 12 people) of Aaron Wall’s SEO Book ($79 value). Simply comment "I love SEO!""I LOVE SEO!" on Lara Kulpa‘s post The First Giveaway Begins within the next 6 hours.

    UPDATE: Laura points out that case is important. Pay attention to the details and follow instructions to a T bloggers!

  • Why I could never work in an office again #6243

    I am most productive when burning some Sandlewood.

  • Consultants – Warranties

    Every now and then you get a phone call that goes something like this "That code you wrote for us a year (or more) ago doesn’t work anymore. We were thinking of doing more work with you but if we can’t get this fixed we may have to go with someone else." The proper answer is "No problem. That will be $x per hour to troubleshoot since we do not currently have a contract." The real answer is usually "ok. I’ll look into that real quick." because a) you know darn well the real answer will send them packing b) you are a nice guy and like them and c) you haven’t yet reached a level of financial stability to be blowing off customers (note: you’ll fix c if you use the real answer more often).

    When your code doesn’t change and after a length of time it suddenly doesn’t work, the problem is almost always with the web host or the client. Sometimes they have discovered a very well hidden bug but rarely. In my case, the permissions on the directory which the application used to upload files had changed to not allow for uploading. How do permissions magically change? They don’t.

  • HOAX Your next battery might last 30 years!

    The US Air Force Research Laboratory has invented an environmentally sound battery that can last 30 years and it could be available in the next 2-3 years.

    The breakthrough betavoltaic power cells are constructed from semiconductors and use radioisotopes as the energy source. … Although betavoltaic batteries sound Nuclear they’re not, they’re neither use fission/fusion or chemical processes to produce energy and so (do not produce any radioactive or hazardous waste). … The best part about these cells are when they eventually run out of power they are totally inert and non-toxic, so environmentalists need not fear these high tech scientific wonder batteries. If all goes well plans are for these cells to reach store shelves in about 2 to 3 years. [Source]

    Ooops. Remember, even if you are busy, check your sources! BoingBoing Gadgets explains. Until I can find something more redeemable than this, I’ll assume that Next Energy News is a farce.

  • Today’s Computer Utility Recommendation

    Have you ever unexpectedly been unable to move, delete or rename a file because of a "file sharing violation?" Perhaps you have been frustrated by one of these messages:

    Cannot delete file: Access is denied
    There has been a sharing violation.
    The source or destination file may be in use.
    The file is in use by another program or user.
    Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.

    Cedrick ‘Nitch’ Collomb has written a fantastic program to deal with these annoying situations without even having to reboot the computer! It is called Unlocker 1.8.5 and I highly recommend adding this to your toolkit! I also encourage giving Cedrick Collomb a paypal donation. It’s worth it!

  • My poor daughter

    Dad needs to hang out with a hairdresser for a couple of days.

  • Of Grasshoppers

    Student: Am I nothing but good intentions?
    Master: You are nothing if you do not communicate your good intentions.