Carmichael's Position

Touching...

Go here: http://obsidianwings.blogs.com/obsidian_wings/2008/01/andy-olmsted.html

Read ALL of it! 

My Departure from NewsGator

As many of you now know tomorrow (11/9/07) marks my final day at NewsGator.  And it is with mixed emotion I greet this milestone.

My tenure at NewsGator began three and a half years ago when, at my weekly pool league, Greg Reinacker innocently enough asked me if I would be willing to work with him as his new idea for bringing RSS Feeds directly into MS Outlook was beginning to catch on.

"What's RSS?" I asked... and after a Sears Tower sized elevator pitch on the concept of NewsGator I said, uh... "Let me think about it..." 

"And... What the hell is a NewsGator?"

Obviously I agreed at some point to take Greg up on his offer.  I reported to work in April of '04 at the lavish 2nd floor office/loft of Greg's house... 

"Hey John, maybe we ought to look into getting you a desk or something to work at huh?... don't worry I have a desk chair you can use..."  Famous words to numb your butt by!

Anyway, NewsGator had begun.  Initially we envisioned an entirely different path than what has resulted now some 3+ years later... "No plan ever survives first contact" and all...  and NEVER survives VC advice! Right, Wrong or Indifferent!  We initially focused on providing a delivery mechanism for Premium "High Quality" full article content from known (and not so well known) publishers and writers.  Yeah that panned out!  Looked good on paper, but having to explain the dynamics of RSS and Feed Subscribing to, well... EVERYONE!... really took some time and creativity.

But for those with vision, the structural part of NewsGator and concept of information organization and access within Outlook as well as a web-based interface was intriguing.  And it was in June of '04 Greg decided to accept VC funding from Brad Feld and the folks at Mobius VC.  Wow!  Funding!

"Hey Greg, can I get another chair?" 

- "Yeah, go ahead and take one from the dining room table"

We then set our sites on expanding our employee count!  Cuz Greg was now having to hob-knob more and program less... We brought Lane into the office/ dining room suite at Casa de Reinacker... Let me tell you, Lane is awesome!  I have met no one better at rapidly sizing up a situation, formulating his assessment, compiling a cogent sentence to describe it, then deliver with properly cadenced inflection, dripping with sarcasm resulting in all around him on the floor with laughter!  We needed it then (and still do today). 

Lane's view of Greg's kitchen, and the "Old Growth Forest that used to be pizza in the refrigerator" was not one to be envied!  I was glad to have the loft, and Greg was happy I had taken to nailing his various '80's posters to his wall, instead of lying on the floor.  I still bet to this day that loft is the only room in his house to have anything hanging from the walls!

"Hey Lane, by the way, would you like an Office Chair instead of the Dining Room chair your in?"  Lane opted against "Iron Butt."  Smart man that Lane!

Over the years we continued to grow and continued to try to identify what we wanted to be when we grew up!  We eventually focused our efforts on an Enterprise Platform utilizing a centralized database of feeds, content, and community relevance data.  And those efforts continue to this day, albeit in much better digs than Greg's house!  And with many more employees!  3 office spaces later and employees numbering close to 70, NewsGator has indeed grown to become an influential player in the "Web 2.0" sandbox! 

As would be expected as employee #1 at a start-up, I have transitioned in roles at NewsGator from, Premium Content Solicitor, to Marketing Evangelist, to Cold Calling Outlook Sales Ferrengi, to Inside Sales Lacky, to Enterprise Sales Exec (securing our first 4 enterprise sales), to Director Client Services taking care of our 70+ Enterprise Customers and 20+(at the time) Private Label Media companies in their pursuit of Web 2.0 (always hated that moniker- lacks panache) initiatives.

Much fun has been had over these years and I am proud to say I was part of this fine team of people.  There is a phenomenal brain trust here and it will be tough to leave these fine folks.  But alas, I must move on my ADD has once again reared its head. 

I bid farewell to "Uncle NewsGator" and set sail for seas unknown, at a new company with familiar faces, in a new industry with boundless opportunity... and I hope a comfortable office chair!

Thanks Greg... it was one hell of a ride!

By the way... I still feel the Logo should have been something like this...

Bloggers of the World Unite!... Are you kidding me?

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!

Let's Unionize for the sake of Unionizing!  It appears that the bloggers on the left are so significantly insecure that they cannot view themselves as legitimate until they have a Union to join!  Seriously... coming out of the KOS Convention (a gathering of "Left Leaning" bloggers) is the following:

AP
Bloggers Consider Forming Labor Union
Monday August 6, 9:24 am ET
By Ashley M. Heher, AP Business Writer

Left-Leaning Bloggers Debate Forming Labor Union

"Left Leaning"... heheh, hell if this collection leaned any more left they'd be inverted! 

...a loosely formed coalition of left-leaning bloggers are trying to band together to form a labor union they hope will help them receive health insurance, conduct collective bargaining or even set professional standards.

Huh?...  Seriously folks... If you are a "Blogger" you are generally a Hobbyist, or maybe even one of the few "A" list bloggers that have managed to woo enough readers by providing entertaining or useful content to make some money at the venture.  Great!  But if you think for a moment that being a "Blogger" deserves "Representation" by a Guild or Union I think you are suffering delusions of Yosemite-like Grandeur!

But that's not how Kirsten Burgard sees it.

Sitting at a panel titled "A Union for Bloggers: It's Time to Organize" at this week's YearlyKos Convention for bloggers in Chicago, Burgard said she'd welcome a chance to join a unionized blogging community.

"I sure would like to have that union bug on my Web site," said Burgard, a blogger who uses the moniker Bendy Girl.

Madrak hopes that regardless the form, the labor movement ultimately will help bloggers pay for medical bills. It's important, she said, because some bloggers can spend hours a day tethered to computers as they update their Web sites.

"Blogging is very intense -- physically, mentally," she said. "You're constantly scanning for news. You're constantly trying to come up with information that you think will mobilize your readers. In the meantime, you're sitting at a computer and your ass is getting wider and your arm and neck and shoulder are wearing out because you're constantly using a mouse."

Ah... It's a perspective thing... notice the choice of "Loaded Language" in the previous.  Blogging is torturous!!!  God knows I certainly relate my Blogging necessities(?) to the sweatshop atmosphere found in the 30's!!!

"...some bloggers can spend hours a day tethered to computers as they update their Web sites."

"TETHERED!" Yep... that's me...  I'm a victim of the blogosphere!  There I was innocently minding my own business, cooking my freshly killed impala over an open fire in West Africa when, this TypePad Executive threw a net over me, slapped me in irons and dragged me off to a Sailing Ship--Transporting me to a foreign tragic land, where I was TETHERED like a... well...  Tether-ball... to a computer and forced to write mildly entertaining,  factually insignificant, blather on a semi-daily basis... oh the horror!

Uh... you ever heard of... "Choice?"  You get to "Choose" how you spend your time, nimrod! 

So in reality what we probably have is a mediocre writer who could not quite cut the mustard and land a Mainstream Media position writing for the "East Coon Rapids Intelligencer's" socialite section... but somehow feels that now that she has "Her own" outlet for her literary and journalistic excellence, she is owed... Medical Benefits and Press Passes!    

The blogosphere is truly the open market for content, if you write well and gain an audience, you can sell ad space on your site, if you are really entertaining and can gain a significant daily readership you get to charge more and maybe even pay for your own medical care. Else...

GET A REAL FRIGG'N DAY JOB!  WHINER!!!

Hmmm... What Will My Mom Think?

I'll be damned...  "Carmichael's Position" has been rated "R" . 

What I find extremely humorous is the "Why?"  Evidently it is because I have mentioned the following terms:

This rating was determined based on the presence of the following words:

• breast (12x)
• stab (2x)
• death (1x)

Heheheh! 

• Breast?  I don't recall using this term at all, much less 12 times I probably have referenced BOOB!  But maybe the algorithm they use can figure out that I was referring to John F'n Kerry and thus the term was appropriate... just say'n. 
• Stab -- As in HOROZONTAL STABILIZER an aircraft control surface... Morons!
• Death -- Well hell!  What ever you do do not talk about death, this way no one will know its coming. We want happy idiots no need to scare folks by mentioning the word death.

Dangerous Directive Issued to Army Bloggers!

This is very disturbing...  From Blackfive, one of the best voices representing today's military interests in not just the blogosphere but the mass market.

The END of Military Blogging

5/2/2007 8:51:01 AM [blackfive@gmail.com (Pundit Review Radio)] 

The most excellent Noah Shachtman of Wired's Danger Room has a great article with lots of milblogger reaction to the new OPSEC regulations that will end military blogging as we know it.  Yes, that's right - the end of soldier blogging from the war zones. 

Army Squeezes Soldier Blogs, Maybe to Death
Noah Shachtman Email 05.02.07 | 2:00 AM 

The U.S. Army has ordered soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages, without first clearing the content with a superior officer, Wired News has learned. The directive, issued April 19, is the sharpest restriction on troops' online activities since the start of the Iraq war. And it could mean the end of military blogs, observers say. 

Military officials have been wrestling for years with how to handle troops who publish blogs. Officers have weighed the need for wartime discretion against the opportunities for the public to personally connect with some of the most effective advocates for the operations in Afghanistan and Iraq -- the troops themselves. The secret-keepers have generally won the argument, and the once-permissive atmosphere has slowly grown more tightly regulated. Soldier-bloggers have dropped offline as a result... 

Read the whole piece.

What makes this OPSEC especially disturbing is that, good, factual first hand accounts are coming out of Iraq not via the Mainstream Media, rather from grunts in the field.  Their perspective is not sensationalistic bovine scatology, it is sincere commentary of the events they see happening all around them, put in the perspective not of some ideologue with an argument to make, but of a person who volunteered to serve our country in its best interest.  Often times it is made clear by these "milbloggers" that life is indeed difficult in theater.  Enforced more often than not by an air of sincere emotional editorial about the loss of... not a KIA statistic... but of a friend, a brother in arms, a poker buddy, the unit comedian.  Is this death leveraged for political purpose? No.  The loss is personal and conveys more power in its integrity than a New York Times embed could ever even fathom. 

This first person accounting of the War in Iraq and Afghanistan is not simply serving to titillate readers.  Not in the least.  It serves a much greater purpose, it informs the electorate in this Republic of information we need to make informed decisions, often times without the political axe to grind.   

I have said time and time again that I will more trust the unfettered words of a boot on the ground who may barely know the difference between a noun and a verb, but is willing to put his thoughts and observations out there for all of us to see through his eyes; the horrors, the glories, the humor, the sadness, and the compassion of war... Yep, I'll trust that perspective much more than a paid "J-school" trained "Journalist." God help us if we have to solely depend on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, the NYT, Reuters, AP or yes even Fox as our eyes and ears on the ground in these conflicts. 

So yes, the new OPSEC regulations are misguided, and dangerous to the United States Mission in Iraq and Afghanistan.  And I fully concur with the prophetic thoughts expressed by Matt of Blackfive at last year's MilBlog conference (video captured here and WELL WORTH THE VIEW!) 

"If the Army restricts bloggers, all you will have are pissed-off dissident bloggers who are willing to take a risk...every Article-15  schlep will be blogging and all of the guys in this room who are trying to get the stories out, will not.  That'll be the end."

A Few Modifications Today on Carmichael's Position

I have made a few Modifications today to the Carmichael's Position Web Site.  I have removed the Weather and Clock features in the right column, along with access to my Typepad Photo Albums.  I have replaced them with access to my Smugmug photo albums.

If you click the title text "Galleries" at the top you will be taken to my main Smugmug page where you will see all of my available galleries.  As for the photos below, these are from selected galleries (if you hover your mouse over any of the images you'll see which one). The photos here are randomized so if you refresh the page you'll see a different one for that gallery.  If you click on the photo you will be taken to the gallery on Smugmug where that image is contained.

Once in smugmug, one of the easiest ways to view the photos in the gallery is click (once) the large image then use your Left or Right arrow keys to advance or return through the images.  To get back to the main gallery simply click the photo again.  BTW if you would like to zoom in on the image click the "o" at the top, this will show the "Original" size image-- Warning--- Some are BIG images--- not for the slow connections or faint of processor computers.

Please feel free to use any of my images for Websites or Blogs, but I request accreditation in some fashion.  If you are using an image for revenue purposes, I would like to be consulted before you do so, just e-mail me a request.

Otherwise, please enjoy.

Been Working on a Project

Haven't been blogging much the past few days.  Work has been SUPER busy with a number of ongoing projects that I'm trying to keep on top of. 

And, I've been working on a bit of a "Skunk Works" project.  My trip to San Diego last week wasn't entirely for just pleasure, although every time I return to my "declared" home I enjoy the serenity it brings me (something I haven't had much of lately!)  I went to San Diego to give a briefing to the Executive Director of the Tailhook Association on an idea I had on how to better deliver the message we try so hard to share.

Originally I pitched the idea of creating a Tailhook Blog to our local Chapter Organizer, Hans Schmoldt.  He in turn nudged it up the ladder to the "Boss"  Capt. JR Davis.  Next thing I knew I was invited out to Tailhook Headquarters in San Diego to present my ideas.  What an honor. 

Our presentation went very well, and Capt. Davis was quite receptive to the concept and very willing to let me run with the idea.  So that's exactly what I've been doing, running with the idea.  I've created the initial draft of what we are calling "The Tailhook Association Daily Briefing" I still have some layout and style work to do but it is now up and running.

We,in the Tailhook Association, are looking to share the realm of Naval Aviation to all who are interested in learning the culture and professionalism of those who serve by wearing the wings of gold.   All in a more conversational way.  If you're interested or know someone who is, please by all means head over the "The Daily Briefing "  and let us know what you would like to see from a site like that.  We'll be happy to accommodate.  Again, as I noted earlier I am still working on the layout so all suggestions are welcomed.

So please bear with me as I try to create a pleasant community experience over at the "Daily Briefing," continue to take care of my clients at work, take care of my pool team, play in my racquetball league, go to the gym, eat and sleep.  My posts here my be a bit sparse for the next coupla.

Touching Tribute

Kathy, AKA Swampwitch, whom you may have seen various comments from on Carmichael's Position in recent weeks, heads up the local chapter (Ready Room) of the Tailhook Association of which I am a proud member.

I have been reading her blog for the past few weeks, and obviously she has been reading mine and commenting thusly.  It is one of the nice things about the Blogosphere, that regardless of distance you can actually begin to know a person through their commentary on life etc...

Kathy's blog, Anecdotes, Antidotes, and Anodes - Moldy Musings of a Mom...is what many folks' blogs are, simple commentary about their everyday lives.  Kathy's focuses on her travels, her family, the odd things Hans does, and of course their dogs.  Which brings me to today's posting.

I read a lot of blogs in a day (100+), it comes with the job.  But today, while processing through my "New Posts" I ran across Kathy's latest post and it stopped me cold!

I'm not a very emotional person, animated yes... emotional eh... but in the middle of reading Kathy's post I found myself choking back a tear, and praying that no one walked into my office needing anything.  Her story of having to say Goodnight to a longtime friend and companion struck a nerve of love an compassion that many of us share in our hearts about our "other family members," our pets. Her story is accompanied by a few very touching photos, well... I just had to take a break.

Please, if you would like to read a very touching story today I highly recommend a visit to Kathy's Blog, but fair warning... Have a box of Kleenex nearby, and do not have a meeting scheduled for at least 5 minutes from when you read it.

Good Night Friend

Well stated Kathy, and my heart goes out to you and Hans, Bubba and June Bug.

The 5 Things Most People Do Not Know About Me

I'd say I'll get Greg for this... but this is probably Greg's revenge for the number of times he's been the butt of my jokes, my work oriented grumblings, or the photoshopped subject in the company White Elephant Gift exchange! (at least I'm in good company with Karyn, Glen, Brian, and Anita)

But alas, it looks like I've been trapped in a "Challenge  Meme" sort of a "Chain Letter" for Bloggers if you will, begun in our world by this rock star developer!   This one's topic is obviously stated in the title, which I plan on leveraging a few Bill Clinton-esque nuances.  Specifically since I am pretty much an open book, and I am pretty forthright about my opinions in the blog, it is difficult for me to ascertain what it is that people do not know about me... what you see is what you get.

So the title should read with emphasis in italics:

The 5 things MOST people do not know about me.  With the word MOST applying to the 5 Billion or so "others" who do not subscribe to my blog or are not regularly bored by my creative orations at pool league or various (adult beverage available) social gatherings.

Well,

• I've climbed Mt. Evere... oh wait... nope that's not me...
• I've dived the Great Barr... uh... Damn, not me either!
• Ah! I've sailed solo around the worl... crap!
• I've Single Handedly Fended Off the Invasion of Earth by Hottentots from the Planet Playtex!!! ... Oh... Wait... no, that was Opus and the rest from Bloom County.

Damn, ... what have I done in my life?  Again this is why I choose not to perform a "life inventory..." for fear I may find I've been shoplifted!

Alright, lets see what I can come up with to satisfy young gentle reader's curiosity.

5.  Cool things I've done:  I've piloted the Good Year Blimp for an hour up the coast of California, very cool different kind of flying!  First time I've ever flown backwards while not in a stall condition!...  Other extremely large vessels I've had the fortune of piloting" (thanks to a certain family member of mine), are the aircraft carriers USS Midway (CV-41), the USS Constellation (CV-64) and the Oiler, USS Ponchatoula (AO-148)... The term looking ahead at where you're going takes on a whole new meaning when that equates to over 2 miles!

4.  I've lived at 38 different addresses in my life, went to 4 different elementary schools, 2 different middle schools and 3 different high schools, in places like:

• Jacksonville Florida
• Whidbey Island Washington
• Virginia Beach, West Springfield, Annandale, Alexandria, Virginia
• San Diego, Ventura, Coronado, Point Loma, Camarillo, Manhattan Beach, Rancho Bernardo, Rancho Penasquitos California
• Pearl Harbor Hawaii
• Yokosuka Japan
• Denver Colorado

3.  I read books that do not require a 64 box of crayons!  I actually enjoy studying philosophy, the likes of: Epictetus, Søren Kierkegaard, K'ung Fu-zi (Confucius), Plato, Ayn Rand, and Socrates to name but a few. 

2.  The science of Quantum Physics intrigues the hell of out me!  One of my favorite courses at San Diego State was Cosmology and Gravitational Collapse!  I actually crashed the course by cracking a Heisenberg Joke (not too many Speech Communication Majors could pull that one off!)

1.  One of the best Leadership learning experiences I had was when I was earning my way through college as the Night Crew Manager at San Diego Janitorial Supply (Waxie).  With a crew of 8-10 guys, it was our job every night to load 10-12 trucks for the next day's local delivery.  I learned there what it is to lead people in the collective process of achieving a goal, how to protect my employees, how to mentor them, and more important... how to learn from them.  I learned first hand how to utilize people's strengths based on their experiences and how to grow as a team.  I learned how to balance personalities, and actually encourage professionalism through esprit de corps, broom ball and toilet paper fights!

Ok, enough.  But far be it from me to let this stall here:  I pass this questionable favor on to a few more Bloggers, if for no other reason to get them to place fingers on keys and publish a post!  So I am tagging: Jeff Hathcote, Tom Walker, Stu Sweet, Sandy Hamilton, and the long shot...one of my favorite bloggers,  Neptunus Lex!

New Feature on The Blog

For those of you who visit Carmichael's Position by going directly to the website (ie not using an aggregator to read the posts-- of course like NewsGator, Feeddemon, or Net News Wire which just so  happen to running a $10.00 off special though the month of December) you will notice a new addition to the left column.

"Photo of the Moment" which will present a new photo each time you refresh the page.  These are all photo's I've taken over the years.  Currently there is not a click-through capability to see a larger image, but with a little programming I should have that enabled shortly.  The plan is to have the viewer driven to the Smugmug gallery where the photo is contained.

I want to thank one of my co-workers, Jeff, for providing me the Java-script and some guidance on how to best enable this.

If you see a photo you like and would like to have a larger image for your personal use, please drop me a line (or comment on a post) and I'll provide you a larger file.  If you are planning on using any of my images in publication, print, electronic or any other method, I will be glad to provide permission to do so, but please consult with me prior to establish my conditions.  I have been flattered to have some of my images used in advertising of Airshows (they didn't seek my permission btw.... Had they, I could have provided them a higher resolution image), for military association gatherings and even in a textbook.

I hope you enjoy them...

NewsGator in the Schools

Many of my readers (all three of you...) know I work for Newsgator Technologies as the Director of Client Services, but I usually refrain from publishing too much "Work Related" stuff here for a variety of reasons.  The biggest one is that I do not want to even begin to go down a path where  readers remotely think that my personal views have thing one to do with the views of this Company, this company's board, this company's executives, any of the employees, any of the employees family members, their pets or house plants etc...!  Heheh... Very far from it usually!

The opinions expressed on Carmichael's Position are mine and my commenter's alone!  Ok, now that that is out of the way...

Today, I am compelled to write about something specifically relating to our company.

As a preface,  I am regularly asked what we do.  Great question.  Generally there is not an "Elevator Pitch" to be had in response to that question.  We do a lot!  Here's my stab at it.

NewsGator provides to individuals and enterprise users, synchronized access to published content (RSS enabled feeds) from literally tens of millions of sources, delivered when they want it, where they want it; be it on a desktop application (Outlook, Feeddemon, Net News Wire) via the web (Newsgator Online), on a mobile device, or even from a mainstream media branded web application (USA Today, SF Gate and Newsweek) or any combination thereof.

That's the basics.  We do much more than that even... and one of the cool things we've enabled is the following:

Newsgator provides a "Private Label" capability for Media Companies, Associations, and other organizations like schools to provide their customers, members, or parents/students access to proprietary, customizable, dynamic information web pages. (An aggregator in the skin of the organization providing it.) All powered by Newsgator's Platform.

Detailed:

• Branded Readers: Add a branded Web or desktop reader in weeks. Add our mobile RSS reader to your site in just a few hours.
• Syndication Solutions: Buzz (popular feeds), NewsCast (blogs, news and podcasts), Headlines ( from specific feeds) to augment existing content
• Community Publisher: Let your users generate content from blogs, photos and wikis and publish them on your site

One of the coolest implementations of this technology outside the mainstream media comes from a partner company of ours, Directory Xpress and their "MyInfo Page" service they are leveraging in schools across the country. 

As expressed in selected quotes from an article posted in today's Jacksonville Business Journal:

The MyInfoPage service, a product of local [Jacksonville FL] online communication company Directory Xpress Inc., of which [Paul] Kasinski is CEO, is a Web page for each school that can be divided into personalized pages for each teacher and faculty member to communicate with parents and students. Employees of the school can use their personalized pages to post homework assignments, upcoming events or weekly news from the school and receive comments from families, like an interactive, online newsletter.

...At Holy Family [school], about 88 percent of families are logged into the service...

...Plus, the use of NewsGator Technologies Inc.'s Really Simple Syndication Private Label Platform program allows users to gather news from many areas, not just the school's site.

..."It's not necessarily about the technology anymore," said Walker Fenton, general manager at Denver-based NewsGator. "People just want the ability to consume content, personalize and interact with the content, and those are the tools we bring to the table."

...Increased communication with parents has helped teachers go more in depth with subjects and information studied in the classroom, said Riska, a fifth-grade teacher at Hendricks Avenue Elementary. Through MyInfoPage, they can communicate to the Hendricks parents specific focuses and future plans.

I highly recommend reading the entire article and/or visiting the NewsGator and Directory Xpress websites for more information (or you are welcomed to drop me a note, I might know a little about the company ;-)).

These projects were some of our original implementations of our Private Label /Hosted Solution outside of Mainstream Media, and I am thrilled that our service can be leveraged in such a way as to empower a better learning environment for our children, our teachers, and our community as a whole.

As a side note I want to publicly commend Paul Kazinski, CEO of Directory Xpress for his vision and determination in seeing this to fruition.  Job well done Paul!

And as well, I want to recognize:

Dan, Doug, Brian, Ria, Andy, Walker and the rest of the NewsGator Development and Management team for a job well done.  Congratulations!

The Rush Limbaugh Eleven Blogs He Reads

Rush Limbaugh yesterday in his show listed some eleven conservative bloggers he regularly reads in his RSS Aggregator (Unfortunately he didn't mention the aggregator by name, I'd like to think it's one of ours... NewsGator, Feeddemon or NetNewsWire... but, alas I know not.)

Having Rush Limbaugh mention your name on the air in a positive light is a major coup for anyone, product or service.  The bloggers mentioned yesterday must be loving today's statistics. 

I got to thinking about it... and thought "Wouldn't it be a useful service to provide a list of these feeds here with an easy way to subscribe to them?"  So I've done a few things.  And as a disclaimer, I work for NewsGator Technologies so all of the short cuts and advice are provided for NewsGator use.  Sorry... My Blog... My Choice...  (but the URLs are there and the OPML file and Headline Feed should work in any aggregator you'll just have to do a bit more work.)

I have Provided all of his mentioned Blogs with a simple one click "Subscribe in NewsGator" button.  Not a NewsGator user?  Not to worry, simply click the button anyway, you will be taken to the newsgator home page, where you can sign up for a free NewsGator Online account, once through the sign-up process, the feed you clicked on to get there in the first place will be added to your list of feeds.  Leave you NewsGator page open, come back to this page and then click the button of any of the other feeds you would like to have.  They'll be added as well to your NewsGator account.

• American Spectator
• Captain's Quarters.
• Debbie Schlussel
• Hugh Hewitt
• Little Green Footballs
• Michelle Malkin
• Power Line.
• Red State
• American Thinker,
• National Review Online
• Strata-Sphere

For you more advanced users that already use an aggregator, I've provided the OPML for all of these feeds.  Use the url to import all of the feeds in the import feature of your aggregator, in Newsgator's case just import it by (in your Newsgator interface) selecting the "Add a Feed" link, followed by the "URL & Import" link, then clicking the "Import" link.

• The Limbaugh Eleven OPML File [ http://services.newsgator.com/ngws/svc/opml.aspx?uid=392025&mid=5 ]

And finally I am providing (using the "headline" tool in NewsGator) a feed of all of these feeds, an amalgam if you will.  This feed will provide the most recent 30 posts from all eleven of these feeds, in an excerpted fashion for quick digestion.  (Note:  The Feed Name will apear in your reader as "Headlines for Limbaugh11")

• Headlines for Limbaugh 11

Enjoy...

Liberals over at Wonkette will Stoop Won't they?

I was doing my usual perusal of the Internet Bloggers this evening and ran across one of those blogs that just make me cringe.  As a blogger I try to convey my opinion based on facts.  And if something is questionable I usually keep my mouth shut or disclaim it with vigor!

In light of the recent Mike Foley scandal that has hit Republicans liberals should have plenty of ammunition to criticize the Right.  However!  It is really difficult for they, wanting to throw the first stones to stand on the moral high ground when deceit seems to be their method of the day!

Wonkette used to be regarded as a challenging Left-side of the debate site... but it has obviously slipped into the same Moonbat, Hate mongering, name calling low class blog that is barely worthy of a High School Political Club!

Here's what I am talking about...  Wonkette decided to take on Michelle Malkin, a very well known right wing blogger, pointing the finger of Hypocrisy at Michelle about being critical about our apparent lack of moral standards in a recent post of hers.  Wanting to so badly "Out" Michelle, Wonkette published a photo on their site claiming...

Malkin doesn’t like these young sluts flashing their skin like the basic Whore of Babylon.

And yet … there appears to be a picture of Malkin doing the “Girls Gone Wild” semi-boob flash, while cavorting about in a string bikini like a common hussy, from 1992!

The photo in Question? Is posted here... with a comparison to the actual photo used in the photo-shopping on the right! Sorry Image loses resolution when I try to enlarge it... Click the link!)

by princessnina56

I was tipped off on the photo by reading the comments on the Wonkette Post!  Then one in the Flickr Gallery where someone named yeowoman1970 posted the image.  It was promptly responded to by the apparently actual photographer (See Below)

bl90ze says:

This picture is fake. This person is stealing MY photos and I don't appreciate it. The photos aren't even recent, they are from 2 years ago when I was a freshman at OSU. Please stop stealing my pictures and get your own camera and life. good-times.webshots.com/photo/1307394767061914650odbeHA

I would really appreciate it if this yeowoman1970 would stop stealing my photos. I find it especially disturbing that this person had the time to research not only my own photos, but my friend's webshot albums to steal photos. This picture did not even come from my personal collection, but from my friend Nina's, who went on that spring break trip with me.

Meredith Chan
Posted 21 hours ago. ( permalink )

You'd think that with all of the fodder Mike Foley provided the left that they would not feel compelled to fabricate something this blatant...  Ahhh Ethics... Where have you gone?
 

 

Another Reason to Use Newsgator Online... Comments!

Huge Disclaimer Here!   YES, I WORK FOR THE COMPANY! But I'm not prone to claim something is cool if it's not!  This is pretty cool!

We've had a number of cool, big announcements as of late including:

9/20/2006	NewsGator Releases RSS Aggregator for Windows Mobile Devices
9/12/2006	NBC, NewsGator Announce Video Partnership
8/23/2006	Introducing NewsGator Enterprise Server 1.4.1

But one smaller recent addition to NewsGator Online has gone somewhat unnoticed, yet is also another really cool feature.  Comments! 

You:  Comments in the blogosphere have been around for a while Dumb-ass!

Me: Yep, they indeed have!  But these are contained within the NewsGator Community!

You:  Huh?

Me:  Meaning it doesn't matter if your RSS feed (or Blog) has comments enabled or not (ie news-feeds etc...) you and any NewsGator Online user has the ability to add a comment to a post in any feed to which you've subscribed.  And all NewsGator Online users have the ability to read the comments others have published to the post!

Lookie Here! At the bottom of every post in the "read pane" you will now see a "comments" icon.  Since this is just the beginning, many of these will have a (0) next to them meaning no one has commented on this post.  We expect this to change rapidly!  But why not be one of the first to leverage this feature and get your feedback out there.  Simply Click the comments link on any post...

Then once clicked on, you will see the following screen where you are able to read other's comments and post your own.

These comments are also not reflected back to the original publisher's site, so if you want to see what a NewsGator user is saying about your post you might want to open yourself a FREE Newsgator online account, subscribe to your Blog and see what folks are saying!

It could be important!  or not...  But you won't know if you don't use Newsgator!

Trying out Microsoft's Window's Live Writer

I saw today in a Computer World Article that Microsoft released a Blogging tool that is supposedly compatible with my Typepad account.  I've had some complaints in the past relating to the "ease of Blogging" as it relates to "Offline Creation and Composition" as well as ability to accurately monitor exactly how the page is going to render on the blog post itself. 

Window's Live Writer claims to facilitate a better writing experience for bloggers.  Some of the features include:

True WYSIWYG blog authoring. You can now author your post and know exactly what it will look like before you publish it. Writer knows the styles of your blog such as headings, fonts, colors, background images, paragraph spacing, margins and block quotes and enables you to edit your post using these styles. 

Photos, you can insert a photo into your post by browsing image thumbnails through the “Insert Picture” dialog or by copying and pasting from a web page.

Once you’ve inserted the picture, Writer provides contextual editing tools to modify size, text wrapping, borders, and apply graphic effects. Writer also allows you specify a smaller thumbnail to that will link to a larger image for detailed viewing.

Compatibility: Writer compatible with (of course) "Windows Live Spaces but also works with other weblogs including Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, WordPress (and many others).

Writer also supports RSD (Really Simple Discoverability), the Metaweblog API, and the Movable Type API.

So, they have my interest...  I have decided to download the application and begin to test it.  So far so good... It appears to have a pretty intuitive interface with operations where you would expect them.   And already, I like the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) nature of printing in the exact space I have allocated on "Carmichael's Position" for my posts.  That is... My print area is imported directly from my blog so I know exactly how the layout is going to appear... Very Cool!

They also provide a Photo insert capability that I truly hope works out as advertised.  I have inserted a JPEG of what the interface looks like above.  I simply clicked the "Insert Picture" link in the right column and it opened a browse window (as experienced in most all windows applications) again, now I know what to do with it because I have done this operation 1,000's of times in every other Office application.  I am curious to see how the image renders if clicked on in my published post.

And finally on this cursory look at Live Writer they include the ability to import your Category Tags from your blog (a growing in importance feature) allowing you to properly tag your post for better discoverability.

Well that's about all I have for now... Back to the day job, but I will continue to publish using Live Writer for my posts to accurately assess the pros and cons. 

Robert Scoble to Leave Microsoft...

Wow!  Now there's a headline out of the expected...

I've had the privilege of meeting Robert a couple of times at a couple of Blog/RSS related conferences.  He's a pretty down to earth guy, who has definitely put blogging and the power of bloggers on the map.  He has also been known to speak his mind (which is what you should do on your blog) about all of what he views as good, bad, and ugly about the Goliath he worked for Microsoft.

The beauty of it all is that Robert probably did more for Microsoft PR than Waggener Edstrom ever has.  Hell, according to my Newsgator Subscription to Robert's blog he has over 20,841 subscribers! And that's just Newsgator users!  Those are interested parties getting a daily dose of behind the scenes views of Microsoft, and the unfettered opinion of a pretty bright and articulate voice.

What I really have to smile at is the Headline on USA Today (heheh I'm sure Robert never thought he'd have an article written about him in a National Paper when he first started Scobleizer)...

  "Irreverent blogger to leave Microsoft..."

Normally, I would consider this headline Redundant!  "Irreverent Blogger..."  uh... Duh!  But in Scoble's case I would not necessarily consider him to be Irreverent, rather... Pertinent?  Observant? Useful?

Anyway... I add my best wishes to Robert to a long list of other well wishers, for a long and successful career at PodTech.net.  I look forward to keeping up with his escapades on Scobleizer...

Assuming his presence there doesn't wipe out their servers again! How's this for the first press release in the neo-Scoble era? 

"Scoble-Effect and Blog-Effect Bring Down PodTech for One Hour"

Back from Philly and the AIIM Show

Wow what a week!  This was one of those weeks I just knew was going to be long!  Starting last Sunday Afternoon when I had to board a flight to Philadelphia to present and exhibit at the AIIM show.

Plane left on time... didn't land on time!  Thunder Storms!

Midnight arrival at hotel... "Uh, you say your reservation is today??? We don't have you checking until tomorrow."

Two solutions to this! One, I provide Check-in-Counter-Jockey Jerome with the faxed confirmation of my adjusted reservation stating clearly that my date of check-in had been advanced one day; two, casually mention to take a look at the clock... "It is tomorrow, consider this an early arrival."

Option one worked... Note to readers, NEVER leave on a business trip without the paper confirmation of your hotel, air and car reservations!  Being able to present these papers on demand has saved my butt in numerous, otherwise awkward situations!

Next morning, woke up early... (what the hell am I doing awake at 6:30am?  I flew EAST!)  Must be the extra oxygen! BOOM! Then again it could be the thunder from this morning's thunderstorm! Wow, now that's rain... uh nope... Hail!  I think I'll wait to walk to the convention center...

8:00 the clouds ease up...  I head to the Convention Center to set up the new version of the NewsGator Booth... "Should be a piece of cake, I've done this numerous times." 

"I'm sorry, who might you be?"

"Mr. Murphy, and you say you're here to enforce some laws?" -- "Oh I see... YOUR laws"

Note to Readers:  On new artwork for your trade show booth... Highly recommended that you dry fit your panels prior to having them delivered to the show floor!  Or as was our case... give yourself enough time to order the panels so they can be delivered early enough to perform this task.  This would allow one to identify if... Hypothetically speaking of course... the art actually aligned, or say the panels were... say 4 inches too long?  Good things to check on.  On the bright side our printers are replacing the panels at no charge to us... a couple weeks from now.

Meetings the rest of the day with clients, One good.. One moderately good... well productive.  Met up with my co-workers for dinner and a cocktail.  Went to a place called "Irish Pub!"  My kind of place.  Guinness and dinner... well actually Guinness and uh... Bait?!  I ordered "Crab Stuffed Flounder"...  I found "Nemo!"  Seriously!  The mouse you are using to click on these pages is bigger than was my fillet of guppy!  I had a french fry on my plate that was bigger!

Next day all squared away at the conference, conducting demos, discussing use cases with interested parties, generally good stuff.  Then I have to present to an audience of around 25-30 folks the benefits of using RSS in an Enterprise environment.  "Piece of Cake!  Done this Numerous Times!"

"Oh... Nice to see you again Mr. Murphy!"

It would appear that Wireless Internet connection is quite the option at the AIIM show, which coincidentally is part of the OnDemand show as well... Ironic... that's a cool word.  Try and try again, but no luck on wireless!  No hard line at the podium either.  Now there's planning!

I rapidly capture about 10 images from our Enterprise Server while connected at our booth to present in a PowerPoint presentation at the speech.  This ought to go smoothly!... Odds?  Bets Please... Any takers?... Bets are closed...

I actually pulled it off for the most part.  A little choppier than my desired and practiced presentation, but I was trained to overcome and improvise!

Next day actually went smooth, decent booth action, great lunch with a client, and a departure to home! Flight routing through Chicago...

Plane left on time... didn't land on time!  Thunder Storms! 

Burned nine, 10 minute ovals somewhere over Cleveland... you do the math!

Side Bitch Here:  On United, one of the reasons I fly them (outside of they're just about the only choice out of Denver!) is because they offer up Air Traffic Control Communications on their audio system, Channel 9!  But this offering is strictly, in aviation parlance, "PD" or "Pilot's Discretion."  Meaning if a pilot is concerned about all of the "Armchair wannabe and actual pilots" sitting behind him in steerage kibitzing his coms, he can choose not to offer it, replacing channel 9 with a tribute to Rupert Holmes greatest hits!  My pilot on this day opted for the latter... so instead of hearing first hand what was happening, we had to burn a few laps before being briefed on the circumstances.

Long story short I arrive in Denver about 2 hours past my planned time, only to be faced with an unreported traffic jam on I-225, and a closed ramp that I needed to take. 

At least I still had Thursday and Friday to look forward to!  Yeah!

Yep I sure love traveling on business!  I won't begin to go into how far behind I am at the office!

Damn I Didn't Win a Webby Award!

Man was I ticked to learn that I didn't win one of this year's Webby Awards!  But then I realized who I would be up against in the category "Political Blogs," the only one I could really qualify for... Because the "Middle-Aged-Eclectic-Pseudo-Political-Military-RSS-Narcissistic-Cathartic-Commentary Blogs" category was strangely missing this year... well I knew then my chances were doomed.

The nominees for "Blog - Political" were...

• BagNewsNotes
• CJR Daily
• The Huffington Post

Ooooooooh!  Now there's a deep intellectual pool! Can you believe the number of really good, really insightful, and dare I say intellectually honest political blogs that were not even nominated... Where were the likes of:

• Instapundit
• Daily Kos
• Captain's Quarters
• Powerline
• Little Green Footballs
• Progressive Thoughts
• The Neal Boortz Show
• Wonkette
• Cox & Forkum
• Michelle Malkin

And the Winner is...

The Huffington Post! 

No... Really... I'm not kidding!... Seriously... No Joke.... No, really, Stop Laughing!...  This is Serious!....

Oh and did I mention that the People's Choice Winner was....

The Huffington Post! 

No, now stop!  Get off the floor! Stop that... You're making me laugh now!  Stop! My cheeks hurt!

Man was I lost...  Now, I know I lean right, but I do read and actually like a few left leaning blogs (very few albeit)... But damn something isn't right here.  So I did what I always do when I smell something fishy.  I look in the bottom of the trash can for the culprit. 

And wouldn't you know it, I didn't have to look far.  On the Main Page of the Webby Awards it's laid out in plain English:

The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence in web design, creativity, usability and functionality. Established in 1996 during the web's infancy, the Webbys are presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 500-member body of leading web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries and creative celebrities.

The Academy is an intellectually diverse organization that includes members such as musicians Beck and David Bowie, Internet inventor Vint Cerf, political columnist Arianna Huffington, Real Networks CEO Rob Glaser... [Sniff...Sniff... you smell that? Is that Mackerel????]

Members also include writers and editors from publications such as The New York Times, Wired, Details, Fast Company, Elle, The Los Angeles Times, Vibe, and WallPaper.

Personally!  I think CJR got robbed!  I would demand a recount!  Voter Fraud! Voter Intimidation! 

Ahhh but alas, who am I kidding?  This is the same "Diverse Organization" who blessed Al Gore with a "Lifetime Achievement Award for for three decades of contributions to the Internet..."

Well... Maybe next year... Come along Sancho....

What's a SmugMug

Thanks to Greg Reinacker, I've been offered a SmugMug account to post some of my photos.  What's a Smugmug?

Well, directly from their webpage...  It is a personalized photo sharing site where the "Standard" plan offers:

• Shoot the world: it's unlimited!
• Add photos with a click
• Share with a click
• Say goodbye to ads & spam
• Personalize with themes
• Organize at light speed
• Buy professional prints & gifts
• Sleep well with backup DVDs
• Retrieve your high-res photos
• Post photos in blogs & forums
• Upload from camera phones
• Create your own URL
• Track traffic to your photos
• Be notified of comments
• Crop the bad parts
• Enhance the good parts
• Password-protect albums
• Create private ShareGroups
• Create or join communities
• See photos on Google Maps
• Make life easy with Web 2.0: Tags, RSS feeds, APIs, and Ajax
• Find popular photos fast
• Network with friends and family
• View by timeline
• Just $39.95/year

I've recently begun playing with a complimentary account offered up by Greg, who has been seriously bitten by the Photography Bug.  Check out his Smugmug account to see what I mean... And actually he posted a great review of smugmug on his blog.

If you would like to check out my albums for yourself, please feel free.  Just go here.  Feel free to rate them and save the images that you like, I only ask that if you use one of my images that I receive a photo credit.

I'm still working on figuring out all of the bells and whistles so I'm sure you'll begin to see various looks and features added on a fairly regular basis. 

Some of the things I like already are the ease of uploading photos to my galleries, and the fact that viewers of my photos can see and even download the full size images.  They can also be rated and commented on.  Now I just need to figure out how to create an RSS feed for some of my aggregator friends.

Anyway enjoy...  Oh and by the way, if you want to try an account of your own, you can receive a $5.00 discount by and I receive $10.00 credit to my account by clicking here... Link