Outside of the problems that we've outlined in previous posts regarding consulting and performance contracts, there's another pitfall of Macintosh Consulting. One, we might add, is pretty specific to just Los Angeles and the "Hollywood" mentality. How do you deal with a previously good client that just mysteriously stiffs you for work performed?
Case in point. Al Seckel is/was an upright guy that we performed a fair amount of work for. During this period, Al fell upon "hard times" - legal problems that involved his taste in women (and we'll leave it at that). At the time, a large chunk of his income was being derived from book sales and online activity - so it was critical that he have stable access to internet resources. Seeing as how our relationship was good up to that point, we agreed to "float" the work we did (about $900) until he had things straightened out in his life and all things financial were back on track. During that time period (about a year or so) we actually agreed to testify on his behalf to help resolve his legal problems.
So, when all is said and done, we're a little amazed that once Al had his life back and things were rolling along, that he'd pay his bill. But you know what? He never did. He did continue living in that nice Malibu home and he still is able to come up with the $$$ to attend TED 2007. That's Hollywood for you. You'll run into people that have this sense of entitlement that seems to make them ask -why should I have to pay this? And they don't. We suppose that it's just the cost of doing business in Los Angeles. Sometimes you get burned.
12/04 - MadCowmySQL error with query SELECT c.citem as itemid, c.cnumber as commentid, c.cbody as body, c.cuser as user, c.cmail as userid, c.cemail as email, c.cmember as memberid, c.ctime, c.chost as host, c.cip as ip, c.cblog as blogid FROM nucleus_comment as c WHERE c.citem=61 ORDER BY c.ctime: Unknown column 'c.cemail' in 'field list' Warning: mysql_num_rows(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /home/madcowst/public_html/news/nucleus/libs/COMMENTS.php on line 86
Metal Business Cards:
Want your prospects and customers not only to keep your business cards, but also be impressed by them? Then try metal business cards, they stand out, get noticed, and do not get thrown away. We can create an engraved version of your current business card or you can design a special business card that takes advantage of the unique look and properties of metal.
I have a couple of these cards in my stack, trust me, they get noticed. Apparently, you can get just about any shape and layout done - that includes raised, etched, cut-outs and others. They also aren't cheap, coming in at $1.80 for 100 cards + a $100 one time setup for photo etch film. But they are so cool.
Oh, and they'll love you at the Airport with these, too.
02/04 - MadCowmySQL error with query SELECT c.citem as itemid, c.cnumber as commentid, c.cbody as body, c.cuser as user, c.cmail as userid, c.cemail as email, c.cmember as memberid, c.ctime, c.chost as host, c.cip as ip, c.cblog as blogid FROM nucleus_comment as c WHERE c.citem=60 ORDER BY c.ctime: Unknown column 'c.cemail' in 'field list' Warning: mysql_num_rows(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /home/madcowst/public_html/news/nucleus/libs/COMMENTS.php on line 86
Sometimes you just have to laugh. Of course the PC FanBoys are going nutz with this.
15/02 - MadCowmySQL error with query SELECT c.citem as itemid, c.cnumber as commentid, c.cbody as body, c.cuser as user, c.cmail as userid, c.cemail as email, c.cmember as memberid, c.ctime, c.chost as host, c.cip as ip, c.cblog as blogid FROM nucleus_comment as c WHERE c.citem=51 ORDER BY c.ctime: Unknown column 'c.cemail' in 'field list' Warning: mysql_num_rows(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /home/madcowst/public_html/news/nucleus/libs/COMMENTS.php on line 86
Internal emails are surfacing from Microsoft that indicate that the Vista Development team was sweating back in 2004 when Apple began rolling out OS X 10.4 Tiger features at the WWDC.
Allchin acknowledged that the company may not be able to match the performance of Apple's Spotlight desktop performance: "I don't believe we will have search this fast," he said in an emailed reply in late June. Apple developer conference was held just weeks prior.
Other Microsoft employees also realized that Apple's operating system was setting the bar against which Microsoft would be compared. Microsoft evangelist Vic Gundotra, who also attended the Mac OS X Tiger demo, was also impressed by other components of Apple's operating system, including video conferencing, Apple's desktop Dashboard with Web-based Widgets as well as other aspects of user interface rendering.
Now put this in perspective. Microsoft just shipped Vista, and that was compared to Tiger - that shipped 2 years ago. Apple is now prepping final stages on their next OS Leopard. Are kicking some Redmond butt or what?
10/02 - MadCowmySQL error with query SELECT c.citem as itemid, c.cnumber as commentid, c.cbody as body, c.cuser as user, c.cmail as userid, c.cemail as email, c.cmember as memberid, c.ctime, c.chost as host, c.cip as ip, c.cblog as blogid FROM nucleus_comment as c WHERE c.citem=49 ORDER BY c.ctime: Unknown column 'c.cemail' in 'field list' Warning: mysql_num_rows(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /home/madcowst/public_html/news/nucleus/libs/COMMENTS.php on line 86
Have to shout out some crazy assed props to Share and Bam at Rock and Roll TV. They produce a mad crazy Podcast that covers the Rock & Roll scene. Bam goes way back in the music industry (drums drums drums) and his delightful wife Share (original bass guitarist for the 80's babe metal band Vixen).
Check out their podcast and check out their band site, "Bubble".
Of course they use Macs! Up the Irons!
08/02 - MadCowmySQL error with query SELECT c.citem as itemid, c.cnumber as commentid, c.cbody as body, c.cuser as user, c.cmail as userid, c.cemail as email, c.cmember as memberid, c.ctime, c.chost as host, c.cip as ip, c.cblog as blogid FROM nucleus_comment as c WHERE c.citem=46 ORDER BY c.ctime: Unknown column 'c.cemail' in 'field list' Warning: mysql_num_rows(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /home/madcowst/public_html/news/nucleus/libs/COMMENTS.php on line 86
LIVEdigitally » ZyXEL AG225H review:
The ZxXEL AG225H is designed to be able to do three related functions. First, and foremost, it can detect WiFi networks. Second, it can be used as a WiFi adaptor with a USB interface. Third, it can work as a wireless access point. To the best of my knowledge, there is nothing on the market that combines these three capabilities into one device.
$99 is a bit steep, but it's an amazing device for the money. And did we mention, OS X is supported, too!
16/11 - MadCowmySQL error with query SELECT c.citem as itemid, c.cnumber as commentid, c.cbody as body, c.cuser as user, c.cmail as userid, c.cemail as email, c.cmember as memberid, c.ctime, c.chost as host, c.cip as ip, c.cblog as blogid FROM nucleus_comment as c WHERE c.citem=24 ORDER BY c.ctime: Unknown column 'c.cemail' in 'field list' Warning: mysql_num_rows(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /home/madcowst/public_html/news/nucleus/libs/COMMENTS.php on line 86
There's times that not having a Window machine really makes me a happy camper. However, don't think for a minute that "they" aren't looking for ways of making this work on OS X, too. Read on...
Mark's Sysinternals Blog:
I entered the company name into my Internet browser’s address bar and went to http://www.first4internet.com/. I searched for both the product name and Aries.sys, but came up empty. However, the fact that the company sells a technology called XCP made me think that maybe the files I’d found were part of some content protection scheme. I Googled the company name and came across this article, confirming the fact that they have deals with several record companies, including Sony, to implement Digital Rights Management (DRM) software for CDs.The DRM reference made me recall having purchased a CD recently that can only be played using the media player that ships on the CD itself and that limits you to at most 3 copies. I scrounged through my CD’s and found it, Sony BMG’s Get Right with the Man (the name is ironic under the circumstances) CD by the Van Zant brothers. I hadn’t noticed when I purchased the CD from Amazon.com that it’s protected with DRM software, but if I had looked more closely at the text on the Amazon.com web page I would have known:
31/10 - MadCowmySQL error with query SELECT c.citem as itemid, c.cnumber as commentid, c.cbody as body, c.cuser as user, c.cmail as userid, c.cemail as email, c.cmember as memberid, c.ctime, c.chost as host, c.cip as ip, c.cblog as blogid FROM nucleus_comment as c WHERE c.citem=21 ORDER BY c.ctime: Unknown column 'c.cemail' in 'field list' Warning: mysql_num_rows(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /home/madcowst/public_html/news/nucleus/libs/COMMENTS.php on line 86
We've been huge fans of Kismac for finding those hard to locate free wifi spots while on the road and in the field. It's steady progression of growth has matured it into a very useful tool for both road warriors and security professionals alike. Kismac is the brainchild of Michael Rossberg.
What is Kismac?
KisMAC is a free stumbler application for MacOS X, that puts your card into the monitor mode. Unlike most other applications for OS X it has the ability to run completely invisible and send no probe requests.
KisMAC supports several third party PCMCIA/PCCards cards with Orinoco and PrismII chipsets, as well as Cisco Aironet cards. Original Airport Cards are supported too.
Please note: This program is not intended for novices, but for professional users. Take this as a warning
17/10 - MadCowmySQL error with query SELECT c.citem as itemid, c.cnumber as commentid, c.cbody as body, c.cuser as user, c.cmail as userid, c.cemail as email, c.cmember as memberid, c.ctime, c.chost as host, c.cip as ip, c.cblog as blogid FROM nucleus_comment as c WHERE c.citem=19 ORDER BY c.ctime: Unknown column 'c.cemail' in 'field list' Warning: mysql_num_rows(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /home/madcowst/public_html/news/nucleus/libs/COMMENTS.php on line 86
- Add comment
A simple, easy to use blogging system has been our holy grail now for about 2 years.
The Blog WYSIWYG editor that rocks is Frequency from Brad Rhine. This, used in conjunction with Radio from Userland Software, makes for a pretty easy to use system. It does allow you to configure the page to match your site. Technically, it's not something that a "normal" user will want to get into. It's not that fun to setup, though the day to day use is very easy.
Recently, we discovered Nucleus, an open source Blogging system that is so robust that we're thinking of eventually converting the whole site over to Nucleus. However, for now, the news section is under Nucleus. The software is fairly easy to install, the documentation is easy to follow and the user community is nice and friendly. We hired a user from the forums to "skin" my page. Deborah Lau did an excellent job for a very reasonable fee. If you're good with PHP, you'll have no problems. For the WYSIWYG editor, Ecto does a great job. It allows you to simply type and post with a word processor type functionality. Picture posting is as simple as drag and drop. It rocks.
06/10 - MadCowmySQL error with query SELECT c.citem as itemid, c.cnumber as commentid, c.cbody as body, c.cuser as user, c.cmail as userid, c.cemail as email, c.cmember as memberid, c.ctime, c.chost as host, c.cip as ip, c.cblog as blogid FROM nucleus_comment as c WHERE c.citem=11 ORDER BY c.ctime: Unknown column 'c.cemail' in 'field list' Warning: mysql_num_rows(): supplied argument is not a valid MySQL result resource in /home/madcowst/public_html/news/nucleus/libs/COMMENTS.php on line 86
