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Author: Mark Cahill

How to be a New Englander

How to be a New Englander

It’s that time of year. When New Englander’s come into their own, and the cursed southern interlopers are forced to suffer.  Indeed, it’s winter in New England. To help you get in touch with your inner New Englander, a list: Don’t complain about the snow.  You’re not a New Yorker, for God’s sake. If the storm drops less than 6″ of snow, make sure everyone knows “it’s not worth  shoveling, let alone plowing.” Whenever someone complains about the snow, grunt,…

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How to Buy a Domain Name for Your Business

How to Buy a Domain Name for Your Business

<Disclosure: I work for Namemedia, as Senior Engineer for Afternic.com, the premier marketplace for the secondary domain name market in the world.  As such, I tend to recommend Afternic and other Namemedia services.> The Business Owners Lament: “All the good domain names are already registered.” Yes, indeed, the initial land grab in the domain name market has been over for some time.  Most of the really good names are, indeed, already registered.  That doesn’t mean that they aren’t available, though. …

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Thoughts on Joining the World of Android

Thoughts on Joining the World of Android

Over the weekend I made the switch to the HTC Evo 4g on the Sprint network.  I still have the iPhone, but will be using it as a glorified iPod Touch after a serious run in with AT&T’s much Byzantine labyrinth of customer support. The good: Both front and back facing cameras It seems like a more serious piece of technology The screen is better than the iPhone The camera is 8 megapixels, with built in flash Turn by turn…

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A New Year

A New Year

I’m back to the grindstone after a week off for the holidays. Things to expect here in the coming year: More tech/development blogging More frequent updates A netcast or two when the situation warrants More cute and cuddly weasels Enjoy…

Twitter Just Became Relevant

Twitter Just Became Relevant

I’ve got a long and storied history with Twitter.  At first, hated it.  Then loved it…and recently have been somewhat ambivalent. Personally I think the short form blog, which is what Twitter is, appeals to some of the very things that are wrong with modern society.  It’s designed for the ADHD generation, feeds the growing cults of personality, and in general, is a prime expediter of the dumbing down process.  The whole thing was designed to be scanned, not read,…

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The Reinfather Trilogy

The Reinfather Trilogy

<This post has become our annual xmas season special.  Enjoy…and may yoose keep ya’s noses clean, be good earners and stay in the good graces of the Reinfather for another year.> Last night was the annual broadcast of the classic Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer animation, which no doubt many of the parents in the audience had to sit through.  So today, I share the classic MadTV “The Reinfather Trilogy” with you… Warning: Extreme violence, incredibly vulgar langauge, blasphemy, poor…

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How’s It Working for You?

How’s It Working for You?

I don’t write about politics often, but the situation in Massachusetts just begs discussion. Since the election a scant month ago, Massachusetts has been rocked once again by scandal, evidence of blatant corruption and put us in a circle that seems it will land our 4th House Speaker in a row in jail.  The #3 guy in the House has already had to resign his position. Here’s the stone cold truth: right now there is a veritable avalanche of evidence…

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The Smurfs Would Like To Harvest Cabbage

The Smurfs Would Like To Harvest Cabbage

As I sat in a meeting this morning, scanning email on my iPad, up popped this message: “The Smurfs would like to harvest cabbage.” The darned push messages…it seems every application on the iPad now wants permission to send a push message.  NYTimes.com breaking news?  Maybe…  Twitter?  Probably not…  My Monster Ranch, Empire Story, Virtual Villagers?  Definitely not… My kids have come to love the iPad.  They really enjoy the games, and quite honestly, like most kids, they aren’t to…

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BK & Seattle’s Best – a Lesson for Marketers

BK & Seattle’s Best – a Lesson for Marketers

“We’re #2, we try harder” is a marketing strategy that has served Avis well for years.  This morning I saw a corollary to that strategy, “we’re #16, we don’t even bother to try.” In the past couple weeks, Burger King, who has done an excellent job marketing recently with “The King”, has spent a lot of money advertising  for Seattle’s Best Coffee.  The big push is for “Free on Friday,” a take on the old, try it once and you’re ours strategy…

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Welcome to the Future – Virtual Time Share

Welcome to the Future – Virtual Time Share

Tomorrow, many are predicting that Apple will announce iTunes is moving to the cloud.  Like everything else. Welcome to the joys of virtual ownership.  This is the place were we never really buy anything.  We rent it.  All the bits of our lives, the things we rely on day in and day out become mere sand slipping through our fingers. Alvin Toffler predicted in “Futureshock” that we would eventually move past the service economy.  I think we’re seeing that now. …

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