I’ve done some work for a number of Trucking companies. It is actually quite remarkable how much we rely on the trucking industry. Even more interesting is the coordination and calculations behind the scenes to get everything where it needs to go, pay the fuel, driver, depreciation on expensive equipment, and keep them all on the road.

So, I’ve decided I need to help out. Using the ExpressLane Data service transportation managers can know where all their trucks are, what they did, and how efficiently they are doing it. This proprietary system automatically grabs data from satellite and GPS position providers and crunches it, analyses it, and returns it to the owner in a simple easily interpreted format.

And . . . now, its all available on your mobile hand held smart phone! That’s right, find where your trucks are, see their progress, and even send them a message from your phone. Bridging the gap between two technologies is a definite win, and I had to use the calculus I never thought  I would. Just try and calculate the distance between to geo points on the globe without using arc tangent.

I love wordpress. Don’t get me wrong, it totally has revolutionized blog sites. But, it does have a couple draw backs that are becoming pet peeves for me.

Pet Peeve #1. What is up with all the Meta Content? You really have to be careful with the plugins you want to use. Most of them (especially the ones you get for free) use the custom fields or place everything in strange meta tags that get entered into the wordpress tables. So, if you want to know how many orders of a certain product there was from your ‘shopping cart’ plugin or who those new customers are, good luck querying that from your database.

Pet Peeve #2. Plugin mash up. Wouldn’t it be nice if the photos for your products actually looked and operated the same way as the main photo gallery on your website? Too many websites are jamming in the plugins they need with little regard for the user, the continuity of their site, and what the actual usefulness of that plugin is. If you are taking the time to create a website for your business (especially if it will make you money) spend as much time and money on the website and making it work as you did on the lawyers and accountants you needed to set up your business.

Work Arounds? Yes there are a few. You can actually create a custom admin interface for your shopping cart and/or photogallery and have that content displayed in your wordpress site. Using the exec-php plugin (http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/exec-php/) you can include actual PHP code, but don’t go crazy cause your executed PHP code will be slow if you put to much right in your page content. Instead put in one simple line – to include your custom php code. Does that actually work? Heck ya!

http://dansloanconcert.com with a custom ticket order form and admin backend for printing a PDF of the ticket purchases.

http://svcautodealer.com with a custom admin backend to add cars for sale (searchable without meta tags) and manage the photo gallery. Notice that the Cars for Sale images and Photo Gallery images work the same.

Happy blogging!

Long time friends and clients Total Outdoor Adventures (http://toaltd.com) were starting the show season and needed to be able to book hunters, have their contracts calculated with the hunts and all the fees, and then be able to fee that information to their website backend for the office staff and sales reps to deal with. The trick . . . the internet is expensive at the shows so they needed to be able to do it offline and then publish the new contract when they had an internet connection.

After scratching my head for a while and pondering how long it would take (and how incredibly expensive) to create a desktop app to do this for them, I started my trusty WAMP server to fix a problem on their website and do some testing before I updated the live site. If you are clever you are already one step ahead.

Yes! I made a copy of the tables they needed, some of the backend pages, and created a contract management website using the exact same table structure they needed for the web. Using a few really nice php FTP commands I set up a publish method that dumped the data that needed to be sent to an sql file, sent it to their server, and then called a page on the server that used some nice MYSQL queries to import and update the data on the server database. I couldn’t stop there. I knew they would need some tweaks so also created a download that would grab an xml list of files to grab from a locaton on the server and overwrite them on the local machines.

Did I also mention that a copy of FPDF prints the contract to PDF while offline?

A quick installation of WAMP, import of the database, copy over the web files and an offline contract generator was born. Way too easy!

So, what to you do? Well, you can spend a lot of money on expensive hardware or software filters that will do a good job. But with a little time you can also filter your entire network for free. If you have kids and they are on the internet at times when you are not there to watch them YOU NEED TO DO THIS.

Step 1. Make sure you can get into your router. Most home networks will have the router available at the IP address 192.168.1.1 (sometimes 192.168.0.1). Type that into your web browser and see if a username and passsword page or your wireless router configuration comes up. If it doesn’t you need to find the IP address and get the username and password to get into your router. If you don’t have a password on the router or your kids actually set it up for you learn how to get into it and change the password. DO NOT PROCEED TILL YOU CAN GET INTO THE ROUTER AND ONLY YOU KNOW THE PASSWORD.

Step 2. OpenDNS offers a great free service for filtering any content before it gets directed to your network. It means questionable content doesn’t get to your router and every device connected to it (computers, laptops, ipods, Wii’s and PS3′s etc) will all be protected. Visit http://opendns.com and sign up for an account. Be sure to note the username and password – you should be the only one that knows it.

Step 3. OpenDNS has instructions for setting up your Network. They have instructions for changing every type of router. Follow thier instructions. You need to adjust the DNS settings of the router so that all address look ups go through the OpenDNS service. Get your router set up and test it on openDNS.

Step 4. In the OpenDNS settings you can set your security level. In the Dashboard > settings area they have preconfigured levels you can select. I did High, which blocks everything including the fun stuff, and then clicked on the customize to open a few categories such as Chat and Blogs. You can also continue to block a category but add a ‘never block’ rule to a specific domain. For example we blog webmail, but allow gmail.com. We also block games and only allow the few and make the kids ask to have a domain unblocked.

Step 5. Be active in monitoring the network. Set up the custom messages, review the Stats and Logs frequently, let your kids know if there is a site they find not working that it’s not a big deal to have it unblocked. If you don’t like the adds and want to keep your history you can pay $9.95 for a whole year. Now try your search again . . .

Drop me a note if you have any problems getting it set up, or you want to know what I have set. It will take some time, but once you know how and have control of what’s coming down the pipe you’ll feel soooooo much better. Enjoy!

Did you watch that movie? It’s actually a great show about a guy who never finishes everything and finally vows to complete a marathon in an attempt to show up his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend and win her back. The problem is he is extremely out of shape! Run Fatboy Run Trailer 

It certainly wasn’t under the same circumstances that I entered and completed a marathon, but the movie title still fits.  I basically entered the marathon cause my friend Lance was also entering and I was doing some running and thought that it would be fun. If I got picked in the lottery and entered into the race I’d have to get in shape and if I don’t get picked this year I’d have another year to train. Well, as luck would have it I got in. Lance did too – but a super hectic life soon made it apparent that he was not going to run it.

So, my running history really only started in 2008. I got a gym membership and started trying to run (walking mostly at first) on a treadmill and doing some weight training to lose wieght. For some reason a 5K race happening in April that year really interested me. In my mind I figured that even if I ran 3 minutes and walked 2 minutes I could still finish the race in a decent time.  I convinced a super competitive, in much better shape, co-worker to run the race and I quickly built up the cardio and stamina to run the entire 5K finishing in 33 min 39 seconds (and yes, she did beat me badly).

In the spring of 2009 I did Moonlight Run in Lethbridge (10K), and Bloomsday in Spokane (12K). Then a busy life caught up to me. At the end of 2009 we moved to Utah, travelled back and forth a few times and during that thanksgiving to Christmas season gained back a bunch of the weight I lost. Thankfully the running scene in Utah is huge! Back on the treadmill and I entered a couple races  (Provo City 5K, Orem 10K). Then I found out I was in the St George Marathon and entered a couple half marathons (Hobbler Half, Provo River Trail Half).

There were weeks during the summer I would run 50 miles - alternating between 6 and 10 miles on weekdays and then doing 13 miles on Saturdays. Once the kids were back in school Football games and picking up the boys took priority to running time and I was only running 3 days per week and no long runs on Saturdays. Still with a couple half marathons completed I figured I would still be okay.

First Marathon day. I wasn’t too nervous – I knew it was going to be hard – just tried to prepare as best I could and keep lots of fluids, calories and ions in me. My diet all that week was eat what ever I wanted. I did a couple of short runs (6 and 5 miles) Monday and Wednesday that week, but just took it easy other wise. Race day I was fueled by snickers (3 of them) a bottle of power-aid, then the Clif shot blocks, and energy beans I ate throughout the race.  I waited at the start line for the huge crowd to clear and began running with a few others who had also waited. 7 am October 2nd 2010 in Central Utah was dark, but already warm out. My pace was good – normal half marathon pace and I was feeling fine. Somewhere around mile 7 all the fluids I had drank had caught up to me and I didn’t want to wait in line at the porta potties – so I found a nice tree close to the road to releave myself – like many guys and girls were doing all along the route. Then the road flowed down into Veyo. You could see the town and the high way rising up on the other side of the valley with a steady stream of runners. My pace slowed on the hill but I continued to run. The highway then reached the top and to a straight strech where again you could see a couple miles of the course ahead of you. By mile 13 I was a little slower than my previous half marathon paces and I knew it would get a lot tougher from there on out.

By mile 15 the lack of long run training became a serious problem (too late now!). My knees began aching and the balls of my feet were getting quite sore. I stopped to pee (available porta potty this time) and took a couple pain killers. It was also getting hot! The aid stations that were still 2 miles appart seemed to be getting harder to get to. I made sure I had a glass of water and gatorade at each station and really slowed down the pace – focusing on just keeping 3 steps going with every inhale and 3 more with every exhale (unless it was an uphill slope then I would shorten it to 2). I got passed by the 4 hour 30 minute Cliff Bar pace group and knew I was now at a much slower pace, but was determined to keep going.

Mile 20 – when I got there I figured if nothing else it would take me less than 2 hours to complete the remaining 6 miles if I walked. I took another 2 pain killers and forged on. I had calcualted that I was at about a 14 minute per mile pace and should be able to finish easily in an hour and 30 minutes (which by then sounded good somehow!).  At mile 23 I was still at that pace and took the time to eat the rest of my beans while I walked for a bit. It was hard to get running again, but I was excited to only have 3 miles left.

Near mile 25 they were giving out popsicles – and by that time it was so hot. They were cool bites of frozen goodness. Right there the 5 hour pace group passed me. They had kept a nice even pace the whole time, so I started to wonder if I had pushed it to hard at the beginning or if it was just my lack of long run stress on my body. At any rate I kept to my slow pace and soon rounded the last corner. I could see the ballons over the finish line, but I had to walk for a bit. Then knowing exactly how far was left I got the legs moving again one last time. 50 yards from the finish my wife and her friend were cheering my name and shouting out ‘hey Canadian’ which finally got my attention so they could take a picture. I made it! 5:01:09

The ice cream treat in the finish area is the best tasting thing I have eaten! I joked with the guy giving me my finisher’s medal that he should just give me a couple cause I don’t know if I would do that again. Thanks to some Body Glide and Aquaphore I didn’t have any major chaffing issues, the tips of my toes were extremely sore, but no bruises or blisters. We had fun making jokes about how bad I smelt and all the salt crystals that had formed from the sweat. It was also one of the nicest showers I can remember . . . and I sported my crocs for the rest of the afternoon. We went and did some shopping and tried to stay busy and on my feet to keep the legs from getting stiff. They were very tight, but never did get too stiff and sore (thanks cliff shot blocks and poweraid).

So, the question everyone wants to know the answer to is: “are you going to run another marathon?”. While I currently have no immediate plans – I will likely run another one. Now that I have done one and know what to expect I can make sure I do get the long runs in and hopefully keep up a better pace for the whole time. Plus I still have a few pounds to loose and the races strangely appeal to me – I enjoy them. Keep on running!

I have had the privilege of working with a very inspiring individual. Michael Hepher of Bluebeetle Creative has been a business associate and is a long time friend. He has amazing creative talent which has resulted in a lot of great looking websites, logos and print designs. He has always had a knack for graphic design. He can literally make the computer do what ever he can imagine, but his creativity does not stop at online or print design. He’s done some work with Paul Reimer of Reimer & Co blacksmith shop that is quite remarkable. The latest . . . a large public art display.

The Reconciliation Sculpture includes people figures sharing the burden of a canoe and a river of turbulent water getting calmer all forged out of steel. The canoe itself weighed more than 700 pounds. The whole thing is quite amazing. The concept is impressive – sharing the carrying of a canoe and a river getting less turbulent – and it does it all using the important symbols of the Ktunaxa people. Then it is all hand forged out of steel! A lot of work was put into making models getting everything right, and then the execution – brilliant – it looks amazing. I am grateful to be associated with such creative genius.

Checkout the sculpture and find the answer to whether or not a 700 pound canoe made of steel will float at Mike and Paul’s collaborative website TerraFurna.com.

A couple of local news reports:

Kootenay News Advertiser
Cranbrook Daily Townsman

TerraFurna.com

First off the simple – yet effective – beat box machine that has a cartoon character create the mix of your choosing.  It’s just well done and fun to play with. Give it a try.

Now for something completely different. Haven’t you always wanted to tell a man dressed in a chicken suit what to do? You need the Subservient Chicken. Burger King launched this ad campaign way back on April 8, 2004. You just type in what you want the chicken to do and he does it. How does Burger King afford to pay some guy to stay in his chicken suit all day and night in his living room and follow your every command? Well . . . they don’t. All the clips are pre-recorded. You can read up on the ad campaign and some of the more than 300 commands the chicken will follow on Wikipedia. Are you ready to make that chicken dance? Give it a try.

The Subservient Chicken did lead to some great applications. One of my favorite has been Coast Capital Savings bank – A Credit Union in British Columbia. You can ask Julie anything. Try ‘Daydream’, ‘insurance’, ‘date me’, ’clap’ or even ‘origami’. She’s actually pretty helpful in directing you to the information you need. Say Hi to Julie.

I might be missing something – but it seems the internet has lost it’s edge for creating an interesting and new user experience. It’s now all about pay per click google ads, social marketing (youtube, twitter, facebook, blogs) or big budget advertising campaigns. Someone do something cool before I lose faith!

Liquid Mountaineering

Can you actually do the impossible? No, not walk on water, I am talking about getting 4 million youtube views in a month! This video really got my mind going. I love a good viral video. So here is the plan:

Step 1:  Select an idea or product that you need to promote. The less controversial the better, something we could sell a million of would be great. Lets say it is a running shoe that repels water.

Step 2: Think of something totally outragous that this idea or product (our running shoe) could help accomplish. If it only partly accomplishes it or can at least show hope that it can be done that is perfect. So, a running shoe that repels water well enough should be able to help you walk on water right?

Step 3: VERY IMPORTANT – you need to create a video showing how some extreme sports cool guys or some cutting edge scientific study is about to make a break through. Do not mention the product at all! Make the video realistic by showing failures and then slight improvement. A few random clips of your product or explaining how the idea started the whole thing and that is it. Add credibility by having believable characters tell how the movement started, where it is now, and the hope for the future.

Step 4: I mean it! Get that product out of there. Show the dedication of the people involved working long hours, travelling long distances working on the totally outragous claim that we now have hope in and believe may be a possibility not even caring about the product or idea you are promoting.

Step 5: Post that video everywhere. Blogs, facebook, youtube, news papers, classifieds, twitter. If you are lucky a TV news station will pick up the video and run it or the right people will repost it and some high traffic web sites will start picking it up. Hopefully within a week it will have all the momentum it needs!

I wish I would have thought of it. There is of course a certain amount of luck and coolness that needs to be attained. But yes, you can totally Walk on Water! No wait, you can’t, but do you know where to find water repellant shoes?

Walk on Water (liquid Mountaineering)

Sorry it is a hoax

liquidmountaineering.org

Some favorites from failblog.org:
Oil Change FAIL
Copier WIN
Clearance FAIL

At the end of the day, if we have not seriously injured ourselves or anyone else, and still have somewhere to call home, we are doing just fine.

Some companies are investing a lot of time and money into Viral Advertising. Whether it pays off or not, its a really cool video. Tropicana Sun

What happens when your customer service sucks? You might become the victim of some online retaliation. In this case United air lines breaking a guitar may have been the best thing for David Carroll’s career. United Breaks Guitars

Kudos to the producers of this video for going ‘all the way’. Great rendition of Stand by me from street performers around the world.

Put some great ideas together with some VW capital and we just might have a healthier, funner planet. Piano Stairs

These guys have been a youtube sensation before. Remember the tread mill video? OK Go – Rube Goldberg Machine Video

Not quite taking the ‘Viral Video’ marketing to the next level, but still a product with some very unique ‘blends’. Will it Blend Iphone?

HOAX! No, your brain is not going to get cooked by your cell phone. Not everything you see on the internet is true. Cell Phone Pop Corn?

WOW! How far can you take a hoax. This video is very well done. Visually an A+, the physics . . . meh, let’s not worry about that, just enjoy. Slip and Slide

Well, College Humor has a lot of great videos. Microsofts weak ‘I am a PC and windows 7 was my idea’ campaign really deserved this. Windows 7 Parody

Yes, I am a PC – still a geek. But oh to be cool like Mac! Mac Ads

Hope you have enjoyed and not wasted too much of your day!