NaBloPoMo means it isn’t going to be slow.

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 10/30/07 at 01:10:17 pm

National Blog Posting Month or NaBloPoMo is a competition, challenge, and community that I was referred to today.

It’s fairly simple - The challenge is that you have to blog at least once a day, every day, in the month of November. Blogging every day may not be such a big deal for some, however I want to use this as a personal writing exercise. I really want to start blogging more often and I think a challenge like this could help.

The competition part comes in throughout November as various sponsors and NaBloPoMo members will have random drawings for various prizes. NaBloPoMo is also a part of Ning so the website consists of an entire community of people that are going to do this challenge. The website also features the ability to start blogging right within your profile if you don’t already have a blog.

Registration is completely free, check it out for yourself.

All Hail The Sammich Artist

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 10/28/07 at 07:10:25 pm

It was that time again, an hour before lunch and I’m left with an important decision, quite possibly the most important decision of the day – Where am I going for lunch? One hour of freedom, to dine where I please but what kind of delicious freedom do I crave?

There are actually a few places for me to choose from, all along the same road too. The BK? Taco Bell? Or perhaps White Castle? Nope, today I made a visit to the little sandwich shop in the middle of them all. Nay, the Sammich shop where the Sammich Artist busily works away at making the delicious, nutritional sub sandwiches I have grown to love and enjoy. Subway.

Subway is great, they advertise how fresh and healthy they’re ingredients are and the advertisements are clever too. The key is they don’t disappoint, a giant fully customizable sandwich that is put together with fresh ingredients by an artist, an artist! How can you go wrong?

When I arrived I patiently waited in line. I knew just what I wanted, my usual, which just so happens to be on the Fresh Fit menu – 6″ Subway Club on Italian herb & cheese bread. Provolone cheese, lettuce, pickles, banana peppers, jalapeños, and green peppers. Not melted or toasted, a true cold club sandwich with just a little mayo and spicy mustard topped off with a dash of salt, pepper, and parmesan. My perfect Subway Sammich put together in a way that only a Sammich Artist could pull off.

When I was done picking up my delicious Subway lunch, I wasn’t quite finished with my journey. I wanted to stop by the competition across the street; we will call them “The King Burger”. My goal was simple, I wanted to order an average meal and see what I’m really missing out on by choosing Subway. I purchased an burger and fries, the food was slapped together in an instant and thrown into a brown paper bag. Bon Appetite.

With my 2 bags of food I returned to my cubical and red swivel chair. It was time for the debate to begin. What am I missing out on, what could I have had today?

The burger joint’s food was simple enough, over 1000 calories of lukewarm, flash cooked goodness. The burger was complete with simple toppings such as onion and tomato, slathered in a good old American medley of mayo, ketchup, mustard and grease. Nothing special to be seen here, no fancy ingredients and certainly no art to be found.

I tossed the Man Boobs and Thunder Thighs back into the bag as there wasn’t much of a debate to be had. I knew I was making the right decision.

There it was, my Subway Club. Twice the size, fully customized, and just under half the calories than the competition. What about fat? I did the math and my Fresh Fit meal comes in at about 8g. King Burger? About 59g, now that’s scary.

I knew right away who the winner would be. Subway clearly comes out on top with its seemingly limitless options and ingredients for creating the perfect sammich. The innovative sides such as the new Low Fat All Natural Dannon Yogurt, Raisins, Apple Slices, or my personal favorite Original Baked Lays Potato Crisps make it easy to eat healthy.

Help Save Internet Radio

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 10/27/07 at 10:10:50 am
SaveNetRadio.org

On March 2, 2007 the United States Copyright Royalty Board (or CRB) announced it’s plan to enforce new royalty rates for internet radio broadcasters. Essentially, the broadcaster must pay these new rates to the owners of production copyrights to license the music they play for the years 2006 to 2010. The owners of these production copyrights are in the vast majority of cases the record labels themselves. Most successful internet radio broadcasters can build loyal audiences that usually cover the royalty costs of the music they play. However, the new rates are so high that they have the potential and most likely will destroy the internet radio industry.

Internet radio is enjoyed by countless Americans every day. It also provides exclusive promotional opportunities to independent labels and artists that may not be available to them with terrestrial or satellite radio. In just the last year internet radio listening has jumped exponentially to tens of millions of listeners every month. Internet radio has become very popular and it offers a huge benefit to thousands of artists who are now able to find new fans every day.

We have to take action to stop this new ruling from jepordizing the future of internet radio that so many people including myself enjoy and depend on every day. The SaveNetRadio Coalition has been formed to represent all of the broadcasters, all of the internet radio listeners, and all of the artists who enjoy the benefits of this medium.

You can help fight for the preservation of internet radio by contacting your local representatives so they will co-sponsor the internet radio equality act. More information can be found on the SaveNetRadio website.

Thorian’s Blog: CelticSavage.com

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 10/26/07 at 11:10:29 am

So, a couple weeks back when I removed the “Asides” from my website a few of my short posts were lost. A lot of them were links to other blogs and things that I regularly read and one of them was my link to my friend and fellow administrator, Thorian, and his blog at CelticSavage.com. Carl has everything from fire fighting stories to smashing computers, farming tips to blacksmithing (is that a word? Blacksmithing?) and everything in between. I wanted to throw a new permanent link on here because he really does have some good content going and he keeps it all updated too.

Check it out for yourself, hilariousness ensures.

Do the San Diego fires have an effect on your company?

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 10/24/07 at 10:10:50 am

Over the past couple days we have been unable to send out initializations for digital cable boxes, cable cards, DVRs etc. This problem has a direct effect on our subscribers and more importantly the installations of new subscribers. This means it’s a high priority and it’s my responsibility to find out what’s going on and fix it.

The issue turned out to be something fairly simple, a blocked port on a firewall in a place that’s called the Motorola DAC which just so happens to be located in Southern California. The problem is that all of these businesses and office buildings located in and around San Diego have been either closed or evacuated.

I received this email this morning –

You wouldn’t imagine that a few forest fires over 2,000 miles away could have such an impact on everyday business. It almost makes me feel bad that I haven’t been paying more attention what has been going on down there, and what those people are going through.

Identity Thieves, meet your kryptonite.

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 10/23/07 at 03:10:35 pm

There are a few things in this world that thieves need to keep in mind in order to run a successful criminal operation. For example, don’t take the cash you just stole from one bank to another bank down the street to have it deposited into your account. Don’t steal someone’s MacBook and take it to the Apple Store Genius Bar the next day to get help with OS X. And finally, don’t steal a drivers’ license printer from the DMV, only to call up the manufacturer the next day looking for drivers.

Check out the rest of the article on Ars Technica, hilarity ensures.

Movie Review: 30 Days of Night

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 10/21/07 at 04:10:10 pm

Halloween is coming up and what better way to start off a spooky weekend than watching a scary movie? This weekend I had seen 30 Days of Night, a movie which apparently is based off series of graphic novels written by Steve Niles. Friday was opening night for this film and I’ve been looking forward to seeing it, I knew it was going to be pretty good and I’m surprised the cinema wasn’t more busy with such a hyped release.

I haven’t read the books so I can’t compare the accuracy of the story or brag about how the book was better etc. Be that as it may, I like the idea of how the story is set in a small town in Northern Alaska. The cold and isolation felt in this movie really gives it that definition that you wouldn’t get with your typical vampire film. The setting gives it a whole new level of scary, like it could happen just because you wouldn’t know about it if it did.


The weird part is that the movie expresses this without having the characters talk about it, I mean I guess they do towards the end, about how no one would know about what’s going on… I don’t want to give it all away but the movie explains a lot without having to spend time explaining it if you know what I mean. At the same time the story leaves a lot unexplained, you learn very little about the creatures that are taking over the town by force and where they came from. I guess there really is only one thing that you need to know… These are real vampires and they are very well dressed. Normally I’m a stickler with not having enough background information going in a movie; I know I’ve mentioned it many times before. 30 Days of Night is different though, I think the whole point is to freak out the viewer and ditch the details as they shouldn’t be important. The story is about survival, getting through the 30 days of darkness.

I’ve noticed that a lot of the “scary” movies coming out these days are nothing more than gore flicks where there isn’t any real element of physiological terror or mystery, just blood and body parts. While 30 Days of Night is no exception I think it’s the first movie in a LONG time to offer a good balance of both gore and that freaky element that I personally seek in a good horror movie.

30 Days of Night is just under 2 hours long at 113 minutes but it feels short, I say this because it keeps you going to the end with plenty of good action/horror scenes. It’s great. There is some good acting too with Josh Hartnett playing the lead role as Sheriff Eben Oleson. All of the characters are definitely believable which is what makes this movie good. The ending was somewhat unexpected, it left it open for a sequel. I think it would be perfect if they left it just the way it is as this movie could easily become a classic.

So in a nutshell; the story, effects, action, and acting were all very well put together and if you’re looking for something new and original that will keep you biting your nails and sinking into your seat this Halloween or if you are a fan of the genre - 30 Days of Night just might be the movie worth seeing on the big screen.

Here’s what I’ve been up to.

Posted by Markus Langenfeld - 10/18/07 at 03:10:06 pm

I’ve been (finally) putting some real time into the brand new company website. I’m really excited about this because I believe the company could not just use but NEEDS a modern web presence with a solid ground for expandability. The company has been exponentially taking on new projects and goals. We are launching a lot of new services and we need a website that can express the new developments.

I normally don’t blog about work but I wanted to write about my plans behind this project. It’s not just the design that is being overhauled; it’s the way the content is put together and the ease of updating everything.

I’m going to run the entire website off of WordPress but I want it to be completely transparent. The design isn’t going to look or feel like a blog when I’m done with it. WordPress will only act as the backbone, the CMS behind the scenes. All of the content will be movable and changeable with just a few clicks of the mouse. Ideally I’d like it to be so easy to edit that any of the staff would be able to update the content and I think despite me using it outside of its primary purpose, WordPress will easily deliver.

I put the screenshot up there but I really don’t have much to show off just yet. I’d like to make this into a small series of posts and actually jot down some real project notes with the various hacks and plug-ins that will be used to pull this off. We’ll see what happens.

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