Latest News:
Nov 03, 2009: New Race Car. Continuing workout. Home remodeling.
Gina and I bought a Spec Racer Ford on Sunday. It's chassis #051 and was originally a Renault-powered car. Mechanically, it's a sound car. We'll be updating the front lower control arms, belts, and 5th gear before next season as well as doing a little frame painting and cleanup (the fiberglass is in great shape, though). I'm excited to start racing with a more competitive car and to see if my driving skill is strong enough to keep me running with the pack, finally.[Pics Here]
Gina and I are in week 2 of phase 2 of the P90X plan. We've had to skip a day of workouts last week and this week due to illness and schedule, but have otherwise stayed true to the diet and exercise plan. Phase 2 is more intense and the workouts seem even longer, but we've both noticed feeling better since beginning the workout. The end of this week marks the 1/2 way point.
We've been trying to complete our home updates, but our race season, Gina's work travels, and our workout plan have severely limited the amount of time we can spend on our projects. Christian's new company (Degen Development) is keeping him pretty busy, but we're trying to book him before the end of the year. On the list are crown moldings for the den fireplace, new basement doorwall, and continued work on our basement finishing/theater.
- duane
Oct 26, 2009: Media center "upgraded" to Windows 7. Race car plans.
Over the weekend I "upgraded" my media center/server to Windows 7. As noted in a previous post, I'm using an ATI Digital Tuner for TV recording. However, it still uses very heavy DRM to lock down recorded content. As a result, everything I've recorded with the digital tuner is unavailable for playback form Windows 7 and my extenders because I chose a clean install instead of an upgrade. When are Microsoft and the cable companies going to realize that this is exactly why people are using non-proprietary system and downloading TV shows from Bittorrent? Very frustrating. In any event, only a few episodes were still unwatched since the installation of my digital tuner, so not much will have to be replaced with the methods previously mentioned.
I've been thinking about my options relative to my current race car. It's never been built up beyond my initial prep for Spec Neon apart from a header minor top end cleanup before my first season of 100% ITA. The engine is tired, I have no limited slip diff, I need a real suspension setup, and bigger diameter/wider tires and wheels. The cost of everything combined is close to the cost of a complete, competitive race car. Though I considered staying in ITA, it's a class where you have to keep up with the Jones'. I don't have the funds to keep tweaking my car. My other option was to switch to a spec class, such as Spec Miata. But, that has become a very expensive class over the years. I've decided to switch to Spec Racer Ford and race alongside my father-in-law. I'm working on getting a new car now and will have more updates soon.
- duane
Latest Changes:
Jun 17, 2009Since I've upgraded my desktop to a new iMac, my old Dual G5 Power Mac is now the primary server for Leinninger.com, Brat-Patrol.com, and other hosted sites. There may be some oddities for a little while as I complete the migration, but so far, it was fairly painless.
- duane
Blogging is not a marketing strategy. Twitter is not a way to spread the word about your product or site. Facebook and MySpace pages about companies are as useful as a nipple on one's backside. Sure it's there, but nobody wants to go near it. If you're trying to exploit the social media and networking features of the internet, you're an idiot and it will only hurt you in the long run.
Marketing with blogs and twitter is contrary
to the nature of these systems.
You can't game the system. Period. This is a world where people filter out crap and decide what's actually useful. Are you wondering why you only have a few followers on Twitter? Perhaps it's because you provide no useful information at all! In fact, I would guess that the only followers you have are your employees and their parents. The same goes for your blog. If you write about how great your company is and how useful your products are, people will figure out that you're trying to sell them something. There are a lot of stupid people out there, but even the lowliest mouth-breather out there knows when they're getting sold something. We're not buying it and you're only hurting your reputation.
People write blogs about real things: what their passions are, how they spent their vacation, how the economy is affecting them, and what their family is doing. They vent (like I am now), they explain, they share. It's real. Blogging about your benefit package or how great your corporate cafeteria's food tastes doesn't really matter, especially if you're not hiring anyone!
I follow people who twitter about things that interest me, that I benefit from by either sharing information or consuming information. I don't want to hear about what you're working on today (especially if it's the same 2 or 3 things every day), I don't want to see you invite one of your tweets to lunch (that's what instant messenger is for, you twit... it's different if you're sending an open invitation that you want to broadcast!), and I don't want to know what new and exciting product your company is launching tomorrow... usually...
The only exception that comes to mind is when your company has a livestyle brand: something that I'm passionate about or invested in: Apple, Woot, Subaru, and Maker's Mark might be a few examples. They are companies that make products that integrate with my life. I don't want to hear from my insurance company, bank, mortgage company, or utilities. Period.
Just because Google has a blog that talks about what they're working on... and it's immensely popular... doesn't mean that first global bank's blog will be the same. Google is buzzworthy. They are an industry changer: the stuff they broadcast has wide-reaching implications and most of all, it's freakin' interesting!
Here's a suggestion: do something better than everyone else. You've just created an instant audience. Then, write stuff that your audience cares about. They'll read it, I promise.
