Blog Posts of Category Geek

WebCon 2021 Launching Your Website Slides

Here are the slides for my presentation today at WebCon 2021.

Contact me online if you have any questions or comments we did not get to during the session.

Minnebar Launching Your Site Presentation

Below are my slides for the "3...2...1... Launching Your Site" at Minnebar 12 on March 25, 2017.

Thanks to all who attended and get back to me if you have any questions, comments or feedback. I'd love to hear it.

Come to MinneBar 11!

The Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul) technology community is a vibrant place to be. One of my favorite events of the year is coming up in three weeks, the 11th annual MinneBar un-conference. If you are at all a member of the technology community, sign up for a free ticket and join us for a day of learning, sharing ideas and networking. Did I mention there's free food and beer?

Why You Should Watch "Person of Interest"

Note: The following article contains mild spoilers about the television show "Person of Interest". The spoilers only reveal much of what is fleshed out in the pilot and the first few episodes as well as the general direction the show goes over it's run so far. If you are averse to spoilers, then suffice it to say that I think you should at least watch the first half of the first season to get a good feel for the show.

Photo of Reese and Finch at a bank of computer screens

Introduction to Web Accessibility Slides

In an hour or so I will be giving this presentation at Twin Cities DrupalCamp 2015. I am no expert at Web Accessibility, at least not yet, but I wanted to share what I have learned.

2 + 2 = 5 Shirt

The return of the T-shirt posts! This is a shirt I've had for a year or two and, like some of the other geeky, math-related shirts I have, they get lots of response. Sadly, most comment that the shirt is wrong because they do not understand the match concept, but a small minority of knowledgeable folks know the details and quietly and calmly say they like the shirt. Here's a bad photo of it:

2 + 2 = 5 Shirt

Building SEO-Friendly Sites with Drupal Slides

Today I gave a session at Twin Cities DrupalCamp 2014 called Building SEO-Friendly Sites with Drupal. Attached here is a PDF of the project slides. Thanks to all who came out to the session.

The iPad & the Birth of Digital Publishing

First, a personal note about the iPad. For me, as I explained in my post about why I don't want an iPad, the new, thinner, lighter iPad mini is probably the only iPad I am interested in buying. This is because it is lighter, thinner, and, as Apple is quick to point out, easier to hold in one hand and easier to hold up without getting your arm tired.

The Olympics Broadcast: Is It An #NBCfail?

It's been over two years since the last Olympic Games, and four years since the last Summer Olympics. Broadcasting the Summer Olympics exclusively since 1988 and the Winter Olympics since 2002, U.S. broadcaster NBC has cemented itself as the Olympics network. (Incidentally, NBC has already secured broadcast rights of every upcoming Olympics through 2020.) During the games, for years, they have pre-empted nearly all of their network programming to bring at least 12 hours per day of coverage over broadcast.

A Basic Drupal Module

My co-worker, Joe Tower, is a designer/developer who is just getting into coding his own Drupal modules. Over at his blog, earlier this weekend, he created a basic module. I thought it needed a couple more things, so I'm gonna pick up where he left off. You might learn a bit or two about how the innards of Drupal work if you keep reading.

How NBC and Warner Killed "Chuck"

A couple years ago, I watched the Pilot of "Chuck", a TV show where a common computer geek gets a supercomputer installed in his brain. It's got geek references, real spies, and lots of fun. It's equal parts drama, comedy, and action, sometimes even a couple of those in the same scene. I haven't seen a tone of television in my years, but it's easily my favorite show currently on television. But that won't last for long, because the show's finale is just over a week away.

Vote Zaphod T-Shirt

Vote Zaphod Beeblebrox 2012 T-Shirt Design

In these trying times for America, they need a charismatic President that knows what's going on. Zaphod Beeblebrox, a two-headed humanoid from the vicinity of Betelgeuse, is probably not that man. But he has been the President of the Galaxy. But, oh wait, in that version of history, the Earth has been destroyed to make room for a hyperspace bypass.

Netflix's Big Gamble

This morning, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings took what may possibly be the biggest gamble of his life. Netflix has been a successful company for over a decade, starting as a DVD-rental-by-mail service since 1998. Ten years later, they started offering streaming of movies and TV shows over the Internet, no longer requiring the DVD-by-mail. In the last six months or so, some Internet statistics companies (which are a bit spurious) claimed that as much as 40% of prime-time Internet traffic was Netflix Instant traffic.

The App Store Problem

Starting with the iPhone and it's brethren the iPod touch and the iPad, Apple only allows you to download and purchase apps via their App Store, which requires approval from Apple to sell them. In the last year, Apple has also made it an option to buy apps for Mac OS X through their sanctioned App Store as well. This has some inherent benefits, most notably a level of security and a trust party to collect payment as well as an easy way to get updates to apps. But, in the end, there's still many shortcomings in the App Store model.

Why I Don't Want An iPad 2

Yes, the iPad 2 is not for me. The iPad may be the future of mainstream computing, but at this time, it's not for me. More on that in a minute, though. First, here's the skinny on the new iPad 2, announced by Apple yesterday in San Francisco by Steve Jobs and his snappy presentation crew.

Apple's iPod Refresh & iTunes Ping

As usual, every fall Apple debuts a new line of iPods to wow the kids and parents into getting new iPods. And, of course, this year was no exception. On Wednesday, September 1st, Steve Jobs and many from the Apple crew showed the press their latest products at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in downtown San Francisco, CA. And as expected, the iPods were updated with cooler, newer features and a couple other new products were announced as well.

Hulu Plus: The Networks Still Don't Get It

Earlier today, Hulu.com announced Hulu Plus.  For those who don't know what Hulu is, it is a company that allows users to stream TV shows to their computer over the Internet the day after a show is broadcast.  The TV programs are only on Hulu for a couple of weeks on average.  The company was started jointly by NBC Universal and Fox TV, although ABC and other companies now have a stake in it as well.  The networks have made it clear in the past that they did not want Hulu content on your TV; it was meant only for watching at your desk on your computer.

So, Apple iPhone 4...

OK, so it seems that this blog is all about Apple these days.  Hopefully one of these days I'll get some other subjects.  But hey, I know some of you like to hear my thoughts.

Thoughts on iPad and iPhone

This past week has been a big one for Apple, everyone's favorite/love-to-hate electronics/computer company.  Two weeks ago, iPad apps and reviews started showing up, then Saturday brought the iPad to thousands of Americans (for a $500+ fee).  Then, last Thursday, Steve Jobs and other Apple executives gave developers and press a peek at the fancy new features coming to iPhones and

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