During my time at b5 I wrote on up to seven sites concurrently and was regularly pumping out dozens of posts a week and wearing my keyboard out late into the wee hours of the morning.

Eventually things started to change, people moved on and I knew then that the days were numbered. I kept my head down and just kept writing on my sites. Finally that final day came where I and everyone else had their contracts terminated as writers on the network.

Although we’re no longer writing for the network, all of us regularly stay in touch with members of our “family” from all of those great years. It would be very interesting to somehow diagram the b5 network as it existed with all of the sites we wrote for and then link all of those authors with the sites and web properties they’re working on now.

Why this look back and shout-out to all my b5media peeps? Because b5media was recently purchased by Alloy Digital.

Here are some b5 related posts from a few us that share some of the history, good times and bad.

• My interview with b5media – Brian Layman
• Update on Me, b5media, Future Plans - Aaron Brazell
• The Worst Kept Secret: b5media – Jeremy Wright
• Why b5media Doesn’t Have “Big Blogs” (or: playing to niches, giving readers choice) - Jeremy Wright
• Handing Over the Reins at b5media (Or: A Year of Transition) - Jeremy Wright
• The b5ranch at SXSW ’08 in Austin – Jason Bean
• A Busy Blogging Month for Me – Jason Bean
• The End of My b5media Days – Jason Bean

My general rule of thumb for most of my computer activity related to email and attachments I receive is to not trust ANY email from anyone at first glance. This has generally kept me fairly safe for over the last decade as I haven’t experienced any kind of debilitating computer virus on my system in that period of time.

I received this email the other day and it caught my attention initially because I do have some accounts with Chase Bank and do most of my banking online. However, on closer inspection, I saw that this was a phishing scam by some nefarious types.

The first thing I actually noticed was that the email was sent to “undisclosed recipients”. I kind of doubt Chase, if this was a serious email, would be sending it to a list of recipients. Their systems would probably be automated and send a single email to each recipient individually.

Anytime there’s a link in an email like the one in the image (#1), don’t click on it, just hover your mouse over the link. When you do, down in the status bar of your browser you should be able to see where the link is about to send you (#2).

As you can tell from this URL, it’s probably got nothing to do with Chase Bank, and is probably just an attempt to collect you personal information, perhaps bank account number and password. I didn’t click on the link, but I’m sure if I did, the page I would be directed to would look VERY official and “Chase-like”. It’s all a ruse!

So, be alert, yes, even distrusting when it comes to your email. You’ll probably be safer if you do. If you have any questions about the validity of an email that’s related to a company or service you actually use, just pick up the phone and call them directly to verify any questions they may have about your account or information.

Hope that helps.

What I’d like to try and figure out, and have had no success with thus far, is how to customize what appears and is available on this tab.

Does anyone know how?

I’ve looked for bookmark links, I’ve tried to create “application shortcuts” hoping they would start to appear, but nothing. I even tried to create the application shortcut on my desktop and then drag it onto the Apps launcher tab window. Alas, for naught.

I’ve looked in the various configuration settings under the Chrome wrench as well. Still nothing.

Is it possible to customize this display? If it’s not I just want to know, if it is, I just want to know how!

Today is my 13th wedding anniversary. Apparently, the 13 year mark should be commemorated with something in lace. Not sure about that, but there will at least be a dinner on the agenda. I figured since I’ve taken down my old website, it would be time to re-post the story of how my wife and I met. I’ve shared this a number of times with people, so now I can start pointing them back to my website for all the details.

Well, here it is. I’m sure all of you have been waiting for me to add this page since I said it would be here in our Christmas cards we sent out.  So if you’re interested. Here’s the whole story of how we met:

Sunday morning, July 5, my mom called and said they were going to be in Nashville for International Laymen’s Conference, and asked if I wanted to meet her, dad, a friend of the family’s and some other extended family members for lunch. I said “Sure” and told them I’d meet them at the Rivergate Cooker after church.

When I got to the Cooker, Rose, the friend of the family, said she tried to get Tiffanyto eat lunch with us but she had other plans. I told her she would have to work a little harder the next time.  Shortly after that a couple was walking towards the front doors and Rose said, “There’s the Cables. Hey! They’ve got a 24 year old single daughter that’s the youth pastor at Southwest”. I told Rose she needed to settle down and stop trying so hard to fix me up.  When the Cables walked in the door the first thing out of Rose’s mouth wasn’t “Hello” or “Hey there, what are you all doing here”, it was “Do you have a picture of Kim to show Jason?”   They both looked in their wallets and neither of them had a picture, her mom, Theresa, finally said “Well just imagine me but younger”.

Through the rest of the afternoon I found out that NCRA, the company Theresa worked for, has a lot of travel needs and that I could possibly help her out with things in the future since I’m a corporate travel agent. Although I was interested in meeting Kim, I didn’t think much about it because there was no way I was going to call her up and say, “Yeah, our parent’s met and I met your parents and they all think we should get together sometime”.  That just seemed like too ignorant of a way to meet someone. I just thought the next time I was in Indianapolis, maybe I’d try to meet her then. I was more interested in the possibility of making some extra money by helping her mom with future business travel plans.  Kim’s dad, Marvin, had given me Kim’s email address. I later found out that he’s never done this with anyone and that Kim got pretty upset with him for giving her email address out to a total stranger.

Just like with a phone call, I didn’t plan on emailing her and trying to set up a date.

Later that week I was talking to my supervisor at work about trying to have Theresa’s company as one of our outstide accounts. She told me to get her to send us information about her company and we’d send her information about our services.  I lost Kim’s mom’s phone numbers and email address, so Thursday night, July 9, I emailed Kim and lightly touched on the whole story. I told her I needed her mom’s contact information, not realizing that Kim was her mom’s assistant at NCRA. In telling Kim the story through email I tried to shorten it by saying things like “to make a long story short <snip>………so anyway”. She thought that was cute and a little after 11:00pm on Saturday, July 11 Kim called me in Nashville.  A definite plus in my book.

To make a long story short …<snip>… Kim and I talked all night that night, a little bit the next night, all night Monday night, a little Tuesday night, and all night Wednesday night.  Now when I say “all night”, I don’t mean till 2:30-3:00am. I mean till we both had to hang-up and get ready for work.  That Thursday at work I decided I was going to try and leave early Friday and drive to Indy to see Kim. At 6:00pm, Friday, July 17, I headed to Indianapolis to meet her.

I pulled into her driveway at approximately 10:30pm. She was the only one home. Her parents and two younger sisters, Brittany and Kendra, had left for Bob Evans for a late meal. I rang the doorbell and was met by a beautiful lady. Kim invited me in to sit on the couch until we left. I remember not believing how many times the phone rang or someone knocked on the door. I later found out that the reason for this was many were told of my ETA of 10:30pm and were calling to see if I had gotten there yet.

To shorten this story a little more … <snip> … over the next several weeks Kim and I talked on the phone more and I drove up every weekend I could. From that first trip, until I moved to Indy in October I put close to 8500 miles on my little ’86 Prelude. About 3-4 weeks after we first talked I surprised Kim one night by showing up at her apartment. Although she’ll jokingly not admit to it now, we told each other later, that that was the night we both had the feeling that “this might be the one”. Through this whole time my weekly schedule was pretty much leave work on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday nights (depending on my work schedule) and drive to Indy. Then on Sunday or Monday night, reluctantly drive back to Nashville. Also during that time there was one weekend that I went on vacation with her and her family to Arkansas, but that’s a whole other long story.

To the delight of my mother, I began looking for a job in Indianapolis before I moved up there. During one of my weekends I interviewed with BTI America’s (now BCD Travel), a travel management company. Their sole account is Eli Lilly and Company, the “cash cow” employer of Indianapolis and Indiana I was told.  I wrapped up my last week of employment in Nashville Friday, October 9th. I drove to Indianapolis that weekend and began my new job Monday, October 12th.  I’m living with my oldest brother and she’s moved back in with her family to save money for the wedding on March 27th, 1999. So that’s the story. I hope you’ve enjoyed it, more importantly, I hope I can point people to this site now when they ask how we met.

There it is! The story of how we met. To recap the last 13 years:

• July 5, 1998 – Heard the name Kimberly Cable
• July 17, 1998 – Met her in person for the first time
• 31 days later – asked her parents if I could marry her (they both laughed)
• October 9th, 1998 – moved to Indianapolis
• October 31st, 1998 – proposed and engaged
• March 27th, 1999 – married
• March 28th, 1999 – around 2am conceived our 1st child. Yep! Honeymoon baby!
• December 1st, 1999 – birth of Ethan
• May 20th, 2002 – birth of Abby

Lots of fun, great memories and tough times between all of those events and now, but they’ve all been worth it!

I can say that after almost 6 months on the job, these labels are still holding up strong. Many times my experience with labels in the past is that the adhesive starts to release and the ends of the labels start curling up. Once that starts happening, it doesn’t take too long for them to completely come off. A label that’s not stuck to what it’s supposed to be stuck on is kind of a useless label don’t you think?

The Brother P-Touch labels are still flat on their surfaces and sticking strong.

We’ve even started putting them on other items as well. We’ve got two identical Macbooks in the house, so there’s a label on one of them that reads “MOM’S”. I’ve used the labeler on some computer peripherals that I use for work and get taken with me to client locations throughout the week. Even with the repeatedly handling and travel, all of them are still holding up strong.

I think my next task is going to be to start sticking them to some storage containers in the pantry for all the different types of flours and baking ingredients my wife has for the variety of fresh-baked, gluten free breads she makes for our daughter.

I can also see us tackling some storage and cleaning options in the kid’s room as well. My son has all kinds of shelves and drawers and boxes he keeps stuff in. The problem is you can never really tell what’s in each box since there never seems to be any sort of rhyme or reason as to what items actually get put in each location.

The true test may also be labeling some of our camping equipment and storage totes. We’ll have to wait and see how things stack up against getting slid and shoved in and out of the van for trips. Then there’s also the question of outdoor weather for heat, cold and humidity on the camp site.

From my experience so far though, I can’t help but think that the Brother P-touch labeler will hang-in hang-on there just fine as well!

Note: I wrote this review while participating in a campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Brother P-Touch and received a product and gift card to facilitate my review and a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Have you visited the Android Market recently? If so, then you’re aware Google has made a little change to how they’ve organized their content for your mobile device.

There’s now a website called Google Play that brings together movies, music, books as well as apps & games in one place. It’s a nice and clean interface. Whenever I need to do a bunch of app management for my phone I always try to remember to get it done through the online portal to my Android phone.

It makes it very easy to delete, search for and install new apps right to my phone with the advantage of getting to use my laptop screen, keyboard and mouse.

Here’s a story my mom just shared with me about the potential power behind how you decide to treat or not treat people you come across on a daily basis. I’m not sure who deserves credit for this story, so if you do, please let me know in the comments.

The Cab Ride

I arrived at the address and honked the horn.  After waiting a few minutes, I walked to the door and knocked.  ‘Just a minute,’ answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90′s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940′s movie.  By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets. There were no clocks on the walls, no knick-knacks or utensils on the counters.  In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

‘Would you carry my bag out to the car?’ she said.  I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.  She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.  She kept thanking me for my kindness. ‘It’s nothing’, I told her… ‘I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother to be treated.’

‘Oh, you’re such a good boy, she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address and then asked, ‘Could you drive through downtown?’

‘It’s not the shortest way,’ I answered quickly.

‘Oh, I don’t mind,’ she said. ‘I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice.

I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. ‘I don’t have any family left,’ she continued in a soft voice.  ‘The doctor says I don’t have very long.’ I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.  ‘What route would you like me to take?’ I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.  We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she’d ask me to slow down in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.  As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, ‘I’m tired. Let’s go now’.

We drove in silence to the address she had given me. It was a low building, like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico. Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.  I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.  ‘How much do I owe you?’ she asked, reaching into her purse.’
‘Nothing,’ I said.

‘You have to make a living,’ she answered.

‘There are other passengers,’ I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.

‘You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,’ she said, ‘thank you.’

I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light.  Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.

I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly, lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk.  What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift?  What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life.  We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments. But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

The next time you get cut-off in traffic, receive less than stellar service or something similar. Before you bite back, think about what that person may be going through in their own lives that day, at that very minute. They might beg to swap places with you, where the worse thing that happened to you so far that day was to get cut-off in traffic or you didn’t get a refill on your iced tea quite as quickly as you think you deserved.

People may not remember exactly what you did or what you said, but they will always remember how you made them feel.

My friends Pete and Chris were talking about this website and video on Twitter this morning so I went and checked it out.

I’m not interested in Dollar Shave Club because I’m a hairy beast. Shoot! I couldn’t grow a beard if I used Miracle-Gro after-shave. I’m a shaving cheapskate; one because it takes me about a week to grow some stubble and, two because I’ve been using the same razor blade in my Gillette Sensor for the past 6 months at least.

I was just interested in the video because it was funny. It did make me think about doing their cheap $1/mnth razor option though!

Doesn’t matter though, this marketing video actually made me LOL. Didn’t really appreciate the non-verbalized expletive in the beginning, but I’ve got to ignore stuff like that on a regular basis anyway.

Let me know what you think about the video. Have you used the service?

Now, I’ve got to figure out why I’ve been using a Gillette product all these years when their name is on the stadium for the arch-enemy of my Indianapolis Colts!

Click here to just skip all this and go straight to the solution

This time my habit is paying off for a friend. I picked up a nice Toshiba laptop that had been stepped on by a family’s giant St. Bernard and crushed the LCD screen. Reason #321 to not have a dog. The laptop works fine if you plug in an external monitor and basically use the laptop as a desktop machine.

A friend of mine’s computer went out and now they need a replacement, but just don’t have the money to buy a replacement at this point. They have the monitor, keyboard and mouse from their desktop computer that they can plug into this laptop and have everything they need.

So, I’ve been doing a clean install and update of everything for them, but ran into issues on some reboots where the laptop just would not boot-up and push the default display to the external monitor so I could see what was going on.

The Solution

I finally found the solution online at this website.

With the external monitor connected, boot into safe mode, then disable the display adapter (in device manager). Reboot (with the external monitor STILL connected), and allow Windows to boot normally. Hopefully, you should now have a display on the external monitor.

You see the other tips just had you use the default function keys to cycle through the display options and push the display to the external monitor. Since I was in the middle of loading drivers and other OS updates, the function keys or other methods of using the keyboard to change the settings blindly were of no use.

The solution above worked like a charm and now I’m back in and downloading the second round of over 100+ updates to the operating system.

Wish me luck.

The TV dance and talent shows should bring this guy on to perform just as inspiration for everyone to enjoy!

Hattip to Jon Bausman for sharing this on his wall in Facebook so I could see it.