2003 July

I just found a great news aggregator for Outlook Express users, too: Genecast. After getting together with Greg last night (over a nice plate of sashimi), I feel confident that NewsGator is going to get more people to upgrade to Microsoft Outlook 2003. He showed me how to change folder views en masse (View | Current View | Define Views), and we talked about “hidden features” in 1.3. Take note: this new version will not only allow you to pull in NNTP-driven newsgroups, but enable you to define your own style sheet for all NewsGator posts! By the way, if you're using NG, you might wanna replace the default icons with the Phoenity ones I made; get 'em here. Oh, and I think I've convinced Mr. Reinacker to let people design and share their own NewsPages and style sheets with other users.

Read more on Aggretweaking…

If you blinked, you missed it. This blog is now sitting on a new (faster) server. In the process, one post was killed – but I resurrected and extended it in yesterday's report.

Read more on Milk Carton…

Since the untimely death of BlogToaster, I've been without an “updated site” IM buddy. Enter Blog Change Bot. Oh, and I'm quoted in August's issue of Inc. magazine: Caught in the Crossfire. “E-mail is a polluted medium,” Pirillo says. “It's dead.” Grab yourself a copy before I change the nature of this entry yet again.

Read more on IM Getting Inc'ed…

We're setting up an official “Gnomedex 3.0 Feedback Form,” so I won't ask you for opinions (or photos) right now. However, I wanted to show everybody what the penthouse looked like, as well as the “Lockergnome Day Proclamation.” If you had a chance to see my RSS / Death of E-mail Marketing presentation, I'd be interested in knowing what you thought about it (or links / trackbacks to your blog entries); I'm trying to assemble valid testimonials.

Read more on Lockergnome Day!…

Hey! Life is about to return to “normal” – but not before I catch up on 1,500 messages in my Inbox. Quips and titles will return to the photoblog, regular entries will ensue, and my thoughts about this year's convention will pop up now and again as I remember all the cool things about it. By the way, we're doing Gnomedex again in 2004 – and our possible partner is already targeting a weekend in late September. Mark your calendars!

Read more on Home Again…

As you can very well imagine, I've been knee-deep in geeks for the past couple of days – and everybody seems to be having a blast at Gnomedex. Any snags have been minor, and I'm extremely thrilled to report that today is my birthday. And ya know what? I can't think of a better group of people I'd rather spend it with.

Read more on One Day Older…

I'm meeting so many people here, and they're starting to share their experiences with the rest of the world.

By this time tomorrow, I'm going to be completely surrounded by friends – and that's a great feeling to have. All of this hard work is going to pay off for the third year in a row. It's become quite a family event, too – with my parents, Gretchen's mom, and Lori's clan volunteering their time and energy. Hell, even our local sponsors have gone well out of their way to keep things running smoothly with the operation; Jason and Tomax (not his evil twin, Xamot) have helped us happily without asking for much in return. Soon, I'm gonna sit back and let the Gnomedexers do the talkin' – with a live, collective blog (driven by Feedster) and a live photo album (driven by TextAmerica). This is gonna be the most blogged conference… ever.

Read more on What Friends R4…

Tom says that the reason y'all aren't commenting on my recent posts is because I'm mentioning his name. I bet him lunch that it isn't true.

Alarm. Coffee machine. Water. Peet's. Cream. No frickin' filters! We found our way to the Heartland Inn across town last night, as it's exponentially closer to my “live appearances” than Altoona was. While we're only staying here until Thursday morning, at least we'll have free Wi-Fi in our room. Again, this service comes courtesy of I-Spot. Since Gretchen took Lori's car to our old house to RoundUp some weeds, I've had to hire a chauffeur for the day. His name is Tom Pohl, and he brought with him paper cups and filters for the brew. Too bad the water's skunky! We're foregoing the downtown bank and bopping straight to Rock Bottom to meet Jason for lunch. I'm not sure what's on the slate for this afternoon, but I have a feeling it will be filled with much geeking. Tonight, I'm speaking at the local CompUSA to the Des Moines Mac User Group.

Read more on Breakfast Blend…

Tom's tasted the world's best filet, served by the world-famous 801 Steak and Chop House here in downtown Des Moines. He's never been there before, so I was happy to share the experience with him. I'm actually a little disappointed; I was hoping he wouldn't like it – so that I could offer to finish it for him. No such luck. I may have to hit it again, although he brought up the idea of heading west of town and hitting Rube's (where you can cook your own cut).

Read more on He Bleu Cheese…

Looks as though someone left a Linksys wide open for me to use over here on 22nd (at a Friedrich's coffee house). The AP could be next door? Regardless, I'm online with a two-bar signal! I was just writing tonight's report – which happens to be on the state of tech businesses, and the financial institutions that keep many of them from reaching their full potential. Governments and banks would be smart to pay a small (independent) panel of technologists to help them make decisions, instead of fumbling towards half-assed decisions on their own. Will they ever do it? Doubtful – and the world will continue to suffer from their lack of understanding.

Read more on Vote for Geeks…

I'm at the Computer Renaissance here in West Des Moines; this place has changed since last I walked in (thanks to new management). They've got free Wi-Fi, so I'll be here for quite a while. I may close the place – who knows?

Read more on True Geekery…

Expect to hear a lot about RSS at Gnomedex. Not only is Scott Johnson coming, but Dan Gillmor plans on spending a considerable amount of time presenting arguments for how RSS is the gateway to the next set of killer apps (thank you, Dave Winer). Oh, and Nick Bradbury will also be in the crowd. You already know how I feel about this stuff. I received an e-mail earlier this afternoon from one Jeff Hardison: “I handle media relations for Amazon.com's Web Services initiative. I stumbled upon your AWS-based RSS feeds (and now subscribe to your music one). I'm writing to see if we could use your innovative use of AWS as a case study, should a reporter need one.” Here's a chance to get all your RSS questions answered – once and for all.

Read more on The Next Killer App…

Want to come with me on a free Wi-Fi tour? On Saturday (the 19th), I'll be in downtown Des Moines at the WHO Radio tent doing a show with the Wise Guys from noon to 2PM. There won't be any Internet access there, but immediately after that, I'm flailing over to the Computer Renaissance (1821 22nd Street, West Des Moines) and will be there until ~5PM to promote Gnomedex. They've got a hotspot!

Read more on Wired on Wireless…