BrackWho

2012 NFL Replacement Officials Responsib...

2012-09-17T14:03:00.001-04:00

When the number of missed calls becomes higher than the number of missed assignments, true penalties and bad coaching calls...then let's get out the torches and pitch forks. Leave these guys alone and let them do their best.

Favorite quotes from "Answer to Conformity"

2012-08-16T15:27:00.001-04:00

I typically don't follow a train of topics when it comes to reading books. My reading list the last 2 years has consisted of finding a books at a yard sale or antique mall. I'll usually start reading them on a vacation and finish them a month later. My recent read is no exception, as I had found it at an antique mall in Colorado. It was called "Answer to Conformity", written by Perry Epler Gresham.

I won't do a review of all my comments, but I wanted to share the medley of quotes that I found interesting.

Pg 30 - "As nations attempt to play God in the lives of people by offering the security of welfare and asking the absolute devotion of their constituent peoples, they are going beyond the bounds of appropriate functions."

Pg 35 - "When a person has unused abilities, he accumulates unlived life."

Pg 59 - "A genuine appetite for righteousness is the basis for managing guilt."

Pg 60 - "The divine resource of the Father in heaven who loves sinners and forgives their sins is the ultimate security of everyman."

Pg 62 - "It is good to possess as much of the world's goods as one can if his sense of responsibility matches his holdings."

Pg 72 - "...the person who takes the initiative tends to develop the stronger emotion."

Pg 101 - "Plain living and high thinking are the scholarly ideals available alike to prince and pauper."

Pg 104 - "The present tendency to take the responsibility for management of economic security away from the individual and the family and give it to the state has a tendency to rob persons of the very qualities of self-reliance that give them the human dignity which ennobles man."

Pg 110 - "The attitude with which one approaches sleep is very important. A clear conscience is just as essential as a comfortable mattress; spiritual trust is as necessary as physical weariness."

Pg 111 - "Henry Ward Beecher gave his preaching a practical turn when he said, 'There are many troubles you cannot cure by the Bible and hymn book, but you can cure by a good perspiration and a breath of fresh air.'"

Pg 118 - "Enough energy to tackle any situation should be the common lot, but the average person lacks the will or power to translate his knowledge into redeeming action."

Pg 124 - "A hobby is anything we go goofy about to keep from going nuts about things in general." Unknown Author

Pg 137 - "Singleness of purpose, giving emphasis to a major goal which subordinates all minor goals, is the path to inner peace and outer integrity."

Pg 141 - "To overestimate one's power and position brings on Promethean tragedy. To underrate oneself limits achievement and prevents self-realization."

Pg 143 - "Until a person begins to organize his activities toward a projected goal, he merely daydreams in the midst of his several personalities."

Pg 149 - "The parent who can love without coddling, nurture without domination, guide without coercing, develop without forcing, inpsire, encourage and set a good example is rare. Yet everyone who has a child must face up to this tremendous demand."

Pg 156 - "Lavish love is vastly more important than the lavish gift."

Pg 159 - "Church families much less frequently run aground on the rocks of divorce."
I saved this quote only for its pure falsehood today.

Pg 171 - "Unfortunately many potential radiant personalities are blighted by preoccupation with their shortcomings and feelings of inferiority until the possible person is never actualized."

Pg 182 - "The person who has honestly faced the possibility is somewhat better prepared to meet the eventuality."

When helping someone isn't compassion or sacrifice.

2012-08-13T17:05:00.000-04:00

When you help someone else...that's compassion and sacrifice. Why? Because you gave your own time, money or talents.

When your charity or church helps someone else...it is less personal, but that's still compassion and sacrifice. Why? Because you gave your time, money or talents to your charity or church.

When your government helps someone else...that is NOT compassion or sacrifice. Why? Because the government can only sacrifice the time, money and talents of their constituents through taxation.

One system will fix many of our country's woes, the other will bankrupt us.

Assume a good client, end up with a bad client.

2011-09-28T17:01:00.001-04:00

The adage goes that when you assume, you make an "ass" of "u" and "me." But I'm here to confess that when I assume, I only make an "ass" of, or "uuuuu" "me"...hillbilly inflection implied.

I recently learned how flawed my assumptions are from someone I met at church.

After befriending a gentleman at a regular men's meeting, we discussed the prospects of me redoing his website. I learned about his love of music, his successes in the industry and his desires for the website. After further discussions, this gentleman and I came to a verbal agreement that I would rehaul it for $500, which covered roughly 10 hours worth of work. I didn't require this gentleman to sign any form of contract because he's generally a nice guy, relatively well known and I met him at church. But making assumptions based on those things were a huge mistake on my part.

Here's why.

I began the work by taking photographs of him, creating mp3s of his music, writing code, integrating the site with Paypal, creating graphics, and of course emailing him the progress as often as necessary. His role during this time was to contact his current web administrator and provide me with access to his domain.

I completed 90% of the work required by October of 2010 and waited on him to fulfill his part to complete the rest. Then, for the next 11 months, there's nothing but silence or hem-hawing. I send emails, and questions, and invoices...still nothing. We finally met after all this time and again he said he'd get me the information, but the last 3 weeks have been exactly like the previous 11 months...nothing.

After agreeing to a $500 redo of his website, after 40 hours of work(not 10 as I first assessed), after 11 months of hem-hawing, after many emails, after still offering to finish this site....this gentleman continues to take advantage of my time and doesn't fulfill his promises. Only now do I get this.

So, what have I learned? What do I want others to learn from my experiences?

1. First and most importantly, don't assume you'll be treated fairly by a person you meet in church. Enough said.

2. Value your own time and protect yourself against time lost. This means protecting yourself against those who don't value your time. One way of weeding out clients like these is to ask for money up front...not all of the money, ask for part of it. By asking for any of their money, you're asking for sacrifice on their part and sacrifice is hard. If you need to issue a contract to your clients, make sure you specify a payment schedule as well. "This amount of work is done" and "then this will be charged."

3. If you allow a situation like this, business or otherwise, to go on for months...don't expect things to change.

So that's what I've learned. Let me know your experiences and how you were able to weed out good clients from bad. Share your comments here or on my facebook post.

Stop licking your fingers and then the fruit.

2011-08-03T13:49:00.013-04:00

Okay, so this one is a little silly, but the idea has merit after hearing stories of E.coli on shopping carts and grocery bags and produce.

Now, most everyone knows that E.coli comes from unsanitary circumstances including babies in diapers and "old enoughs" not washing their hands like we've all been told.

Here's the setup. So, you're beeboppping through the produce section and you spot some red delicious apples you're ready to pick. What do you do? You grab one of those plastic bags off the role, you lick your fingers, you open the bag, you sort through 8 or so and then you pick your produce. STOP RIGHT THERE...HOLD UP. Did you read what I said? "You lick your fingers...you sort through 8 or so." Now imagine the hapless father with the dirty diaper kid doing the same thing, or the old lady who smells like her 87 cats doing the same thing...sorting through after licking their fingers. YUUUCCCKKK! Time for a hand-sanitizing and tongue scrub break. Meet back here in 2 minutes.

Okay, good, you're back. Here's a really simple idea that could save supermarkets money by not having to purchase those "moist wells", save shoppers from having to lick and touch, and save us all the medical expenses associated with bad supermarket hygiene.

After pulling the plastic bag off the role, or off the rack if you're a bagger, simply touch one of the hundreds of grocery items that are already moist, and then open your bag. Fruits, vegetables, milk, frozen anything will all be moist.

Now you can't make the hapless father or cat lady follow this same rule, and there's no guarantee you won't still be carrying small amounts of their germs, but at least you won't be carrying it on your tongue.

Announcing the release of SignThe, an online signature generator.

2011-07-12T17:03:00.001-04:00

I'm a simple guy. When I see something I like, I pursue it. When I see something I don't like, I pursue improving it. The same goes for how I approach any new project that I work on.

Recently I began developing an online application that allows users to create their own email signatures. What's different about this signature generator? It's simple to use, and creates a very simple email signature.

Here's a sample of what you can create.

Announcing the release of Hoglatin.com

2011-07-11T16:49:00.004-04:00

nnouncingAog hetog eleaserog foog oglatin.com,Hog hetog utercog ndaog martersog ustomcog anguagelog enerator.gog

...or another way to put it...

nnouncingAay hetay eleaseray foay oglatin.com,Hay hetay utercay ndaay martersay ustomcay anguagelay enerator.gay

...or for those completely lost...

Announcing the release of Hoglatin.com, the cuter and smarter custom language generator.

www.hoglatin.com

ENDORSEMENT from Bill Wenning, Candidate for Mayor, City of Greensburg, Indiana

2011-01-22T13:40:00.000-05:00

"Brack has put together my Campaign Website for the Political position of Mayor of Greensburg, Indiana. Not only did he put it together in a very timely fashion, he sought my vision on what I wanted my website to look and be like...and he delivered. I would recommend him to anyone that needs a firm presence on the web and I look forward to utilizing his services in the future."

Bill Wenning

Candidate for Mayor - Greensburg, Indiana

Current City Councilman - Greensburg, Indiana
http://www.billwenning.com/

Time to revisit an old website idea. Everysecond.Info

2011-01-07T16:58:00.001-05:00

In August of 2007, I began working on a concept website that broke statistics down to seconds. There were many websites out there at the time who gathered statistics, but none of them were fashioning them down to a recognizable time frame like the second. The first installation of the concept was called "in1second.com". I had gathered statistics on a few items ranging from amount of money spent by the federal government..in 1 second, to how much money was spent on porn...in 1 second. That second one raised a few eyebrows.

I had put the project aside to work on some other things, but always kept the concept in my head. I picked it back up again, and renamed it http://www.everysecond.info. I hired someone to help do research, adding several more statistics, updated the graphics, etc. Then it got shelved again because I couldn't focus so much time on a website that wasn't making an income for me and my family. But I always kept the concept in my head.

Doing a little google searching this afternoon, I discovered that maybe the idea is catching on. Here is a list of few of the citations http://www.everysecond.info has received...

A turkish( I think ) newspaper used everysecond.info in January 2010
http://www.yesilgiresun.com.tr/...

Everysecond.info was used in a poverty publication in August 2010.
http://news.makepovertyhistory.com.au/...

Most recently a gentleman from The Plain Dealer in Cleveland has used these statistics in one of his articles.
http://www.cleveland.com/...

So maybe its time to pick the idea back up. I need to find some more help. Got to go.

ENDORSEMENT from Dr. Charles Lake, Executive Director of Growth Ministries.

2010-12-14T11:19:00.000-05:00

"Working with Brack on the creation of a website has been a most positive and pleasant experience. His patience and willingness to work with us has been remarkable. His rates are most reasonable and his promptness in progressing the work has been most commendable. We are very happy with his creativity, his knowledge of possibilities and most of all, the finished product."

Dr. Charles Lake, Executive Director

Growth Ministries

http://www.growthministries.com/

JOB POSTING: Seeking individuals for best, worst-paying, positions.

2010-10-15T17:42:00.000-04:00

Seeking individual or group of individuals for the best, worst-paying, positions ever. Available slots include; Graphic Designer, Programmer, Advertising Sales Manager and CEO.

Creative environment, flexible hours, talking, surfing, facebooking and tweeting during work hours a must. If your graphic, marketing or sales ability is as good as mine...please DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS...otherwise, contact me and we can talk about how much money you won't make this next year.

If You're Going to Run a Rewards Program, Here's a NO-NO

2010-09-28T14:28:00.000-04:00

Almost two years ago, I went to get copies made of a poster at our local Staples. When I took the poster in, I asked the lady to make me one large color copy of the poster. She, of course, asked if I needed anything else. I said, "no" and she asked if I wanted to join the Staples Rewards Program. I said, "no thankyou, I don't need another account to keep track of". She politely accepted my answer and I thought that was the end of it.

Shortly after my experience, I received an email...

Thank you for enrolling in Staples Rewards - where you can earn 10% back in rewards on ink and toner, case and ream paper, Copy & Print Center Purchases and more.

Your Rewards customer number is #######

What? How could that be? I told the lady, "no thank you." Surely she understood what "no, thank you" meant. Wait, maybe its just a spam email. No, it was sent from "StaplesRewardsConfirmation@Staples.com" and it was coming to my business email at the time. But, wait a second. I never gave the lady my email address. How could she get it?

And then it clicked with me...I had put my email address at the bottom of the poster I had her print. So she signed me up using the email address I had on my poster, not one I had given her freely.

Why am I ranting about this almost 2 years later? I just received a "10% OFF" thank you card with my Staples Rewards account number. So I'm taking this opportunity to tell Staples, if you're going to run a Rewards program, please have white-out ready at your printing centers for those who don't want to sign up for your program.

New domain name picked up - www.bmovd.com

2010-09-11T11:53:00.001-04:00

I've been considering a redo of my DailyBlueberry website. As with all of my other projects, it has a true lack of good marketing. I think its a good concept, with a potential audience that is unlimited.

I really like the name DailyBlueberry.Com. It has a feel of a modern paper, has an air of lightheartedness, but also speaks to the health of an individual.

Anyway, along with the consideration of a redo, I went searching for potential new names for the DailyBlueberry. I'm not certain of the change, but I try to cover my bases. One name I found was "www.bmovd.com".

There are a couple of influences this name has going for it. Its short, 5 letters are becoming increasingly rare. Its a ".com", which is still the most desired extension. It can easily be remembered...."be moved." It also has the potential for resale.

If anyone has interest in this name let me know.

The importance of proper metatagging.

2010-08-31T12:08:00.000-04:00

I was asked to help an advertising and billboard company in northern kentucky improve their search engine rankings. I wanted to simply report on the success of of those rankings because it illustrates how adding 3 lines of code to your webpages can dramatically improve your search rank...and ultimately, the number of people that can find your site.

We used 15 specific keyword phrases for which this company had no rankings to our knowledge. After injecting those phrases and after 3 weeks of allowing them to run thru Google, I can now report that his site is found on page 1 of the Google search results for 4 of those keyword phrases. One of the keyword phrases is found on page 4. I simply didn't check any further down the pages for the rest of those phrases.

If you're interested in understanding more about how this process works, or if your business needs a little help being found further up the search results, please leave me a comment or email me.

ps...I wish Mylor Inc the best of luck in being found and increasing business!

Spectics was a great name, but it belongs to another.

2010-06-18T22:51:00.000-04:00

I am currently in the process of selling my first domain name and I am super excited about it. I bought "spectics(dot)com" as a potential name for a sunglass company, but I was contacted by a guy in the Netherlands about purchasing it. He's got a story and looks to be super motivated to pursue it, so I let it go for a great value.

If you're looking for a great domain name, or an idea for a great domain name, have a look at the others I have or contact me for some ideas.

Looking to sell domains to end users.

2010-05-27T12:03:00.001-04:00

I'm looking to sell a few of my domains to "end users". I'm certainly willing to accept offers from lowballers out there, but be mindful...I'm willing to sit on a few of these names because I know there is potential in them. None of these sites have any traffic, all you'd be getting is the name and the potential behind them.

Honestly, I'm also looking to build relationships with a good domain name broker who is willing to give honest constructive advice as to the value behind the names I own.

For those who follow this blog, but don't know what end users are..."end users" are the folks who will purchase these domain names or website names and actually do something constructive with them. I am currently just sitting on them, with ideas on how to develop them, but no time to invest.

Good end users are folks who have an idea for a business, but maybe not the best brandable name. Good end users are the ones who know how to make money off the brandability of a website name.

Also, for those not interested in purchasing, I'd also like to hear some suggestions on what these names could be used for. Like "Spectics.Com" I've always thought would make a good sunglass company website.

Here's my list...

www.inlinebank.com
www.thenewtruck.com
www.excongress.com
www.spectics.com
www.getshoved.com
www.getnudged.com
www.myindyads.com
www.netgoodbye.com

What are your suggestions for each of these domains?

The best home security system ever.

2010-05-05T08:01:00.001-04:00

Want to know how to prevent nincompoops from breaking into your house and stealing anything? Leave your kids noisy little toys all over the floor. At first step into your home these boneheads will be met with "Lalalala lalalala Elmo's World," or "Woo uuu woo uuu", or any asortment of noisy little terrors. If that doesn't stop them, tripping and falling will. Good luck robbers.

Break Number 1

2010-04-16T06:48:00.000-04:00

I want to apologize to the 3 of you out there reading this. I've had to let this creative outlet sit for a while and continue to pursue my other efforts. I will get back to BrackWho shortly. If you would like to be emailed when I get back up and running, please send me your email or click "subscribe by email" above and follow the instructions.

Rethink how you replate your meals.

2010-03-29T11:13:00.001-04:00

Think about the routine you go thru to prepare, cook and eat a meal and its affect on how many dishes you use.

1. Cook meal. - uses 3 pans and 3 utensils.
2. Put meal onto serving dishes. - uses 4 dishes
3. Put the meal on plates. - uses 4 plates, 4 forks and 4 cups.
4. Put leftovers in storage containers. - uses 2 containers and 2 lids.
5. Put leftovers onto plates. - uses 2 plates, 2 forks and 2 cups.
6. Wash pots, wash plates, wash storage containers. - 32 different dishes.

That's 32 different dishes for one prepared meal and one leftover meal. If you repeat this process 200 times in a year, that's over 6400 dishes you will have to wash and rinse. At 10 seconds a rinse that over a 1000 minutes a year rinsing. At 20 seconds a wash that's over 2100 minutes a year.

Here are two ideas for saving yourself time and water over the course of the next year.

1. Serve your meal directly from the pots and pans you cooked them in. By doing this you save yourself 800 washes and rinses, which equals about 400 minutes a year.

2. Eat your leftovers directly from the storage containers. By doing this you will save yourself 800 washes and rinses, which equals about 400 minutes a year.

Not only do you save time by not having to wash and rinse as much, you also save time by not having to replate as often. The savings will also be found in the amount of water you use a year.

This isn't a monumental life changing idea, but I'm sure there are a large population of folks out there who repeat this process everyday. Best of luck.

Comedian Scott Gregory made Saturday Night funny.

2010-03-22T06:34:00.001-04:00

Ever heard of Scott Gregory? No? What about Scott Gregory, the comedian? Still nothing? What about Scott Gregory, the christian comedian? Come on, still? What about Scott Gregory, the Christian comedian that makes you laugh about hockey players holding hands and squeezing toothpaste from the bottom? Okay, okay, okay, so you haven't heard of him. I hadn't either until Saturday night, when Scott came to MDL Coffee on the south side of the square.

Scott's original brand of comedy gave the intimate crowd of 25 a great show. He mixed into his routine stories about family life, a little marketing and a twist of potty humor, and every bit of it was funny. He was very quiet at times during the show, but there were moments he delivered his message like we were all sitting on the other side of the square...which made it even more fun.

In the past, Scott has opened for acts like Jeff Foxworthy, Tim Allen and Paula Poundstone...but if you ask him what he most appreciates out of that time in his life, I'd bet their names wouldn't come a close second. During a personal moment in his act, Scott shared about the struggles and temptations of the comedy life and how it left him...well, I tell you what...this part you should ask him about. Here's his website http://www.scottgregorycomedy.com/.

I love this city, but everyone knows that the sidewalks get "pulled up" after 6pm. Last night, though, was a clear exception to this description. I left MDL last night very pleased that I'd had a good cup of coffee and an evening of laughter. It was one of those nights that surprised me!

If I could make a trade with God, #1

2010-03-19T04:44:00.001-04:00

...I would ask him to take away my ability to be nauseated and puke ever again. I hate puking, vomiting, up-chucking...whatever you want to call it. To me, nearly getting my thumb cut off in high school, was less painful to endure than hurling. So, along those lines, I would ask to trade my left pinky finger. He could cut it off, make it go limp, I don't care...I just don't want to have to puke ever again.

There I said it.

Tough garbage meets tough dog food bags.

2010-03-18T05:00:00.007-04:00

Ever so often, my family and I undertake a small project in our home that requires the tearing out of the old lathe and plaster. Lathe and plaster was used before drywall became the norm. It consisted of wooden slats run horizontally across stud walls and plaster puddied between and over the slats. If you've ever dealt with lathe and plaster, you know the perils of old nails and the heaviness of the plaster. To rid yourself of that mess, you cannot just pick some everyday hefty bag to dispose of the refuse. The nails will tear the bag and the weight will stretch it. For these kinds of disposals, you need a strong bag or a box.

The best solution to this refuse problem, I think, are old dog food bags. You know, the plastic ones that have a little weaving, built in, to give the bag its strength...typically the ones that hold 30lbs of food or more. You can shove lathe with nails sticking out and plaster by the pounds in these bags, and typically you're still good to go. I don't think the paper based ones would work as well, but I haven't tried those.

Good luck and happy reusing.

Switch hands to un-tangle a coiled cord.

2010-03-17T05:03:00.008-04:00

Ever had trouble with chords becoming tangled? Maybe it the hair dryer, maybe its the electric razor or maybe its phone charger. You know what happens, you try to unwind it and it immediately coils up like a snake. My nemisis is my beard trimmer. After wopping off a 3 day stubble, I wind the chord up so that the appliance fits nicely back into the plastic box. After a while the coils create a mess inside the box. This coiling affect also happens often with extension cords.

Here's a simple solution to aleviating that coiling affect that I happened upon partly by chance. It does require a little patience.

Take the cord and make a conscious effort to understand how you normally wind it up. Now uncoil it and switch hands. The hand you normally wind the cord up with becomes the holder, and the hand you normally hold with becomes the winder. Now wind it up.

The next time you go to unwind the cord, you'll notice some of the coiling has left. Why? Because you wound it in the opposite direction, loosening the effect of only coiling in one direction. Do this several times and you'll notice it starts to coil the other way!

Boosting kid's imaginations, one room at a time.

2010-03-16T05:15:00.008-04:00

I've always wanted to experience my enviroment from a different vantage point. I remember as a kid always turning my bedroom into some sort of fort or maze. I used boxes and bedsheets to create, what I thought, were new rooms and spaces. I wish I had a few pictures of those forts, but really I know the pictures would never do justice to what I imagined them to be. Anyway, this has led me to another business idea.

I've always wondered if creating custom kids' bedrooms could be shaped into a profitable business. I'm not talking about extravagant museum quality kids spaces, but maybe a lofted bed, or a perch, maybe a slide, possibly a lofted creative painting space. How about a porthole to get into the bedroom?

Cost would be the most obvious hindrance to this type of business. I'd bet, though, if we add up all the money that we spend on toys each year, a custom kid's room would probably not be too far from that price range.

All kids are different obviously, and so are their rooms. So the customization would be endless if you found the right clients.

I wouldn't want to jump in front of the kid's imaginations by creating a fully detailed space, but I think by adding a few "new experiences" in a room, it could spark an already wonderful imagination. I don't know, what do you think?

Blogger or Blogspot post links into Twitter

2010-03-15T06:55:00.008-04:00

Want to be able to quickly add your Blogger Post Links to your Twitter status? Want your visitors to have the ability to quickly add your Blogger Post Links to their Twitter status? Its surprisingly simple.

Click on LAYOUT > EDIT HTML > EXPAND WIDGET TEMPLATES

Find the line that says...
<a expr:href='data:post.emailPostUrl' expr:title='data:top.emailPostMsg'>

Add this just after it...
<a expr:href='"http://twitter.com/home?status=" + data:post.url' target='_blank'>Change this link text</a>

Click SAVE TEMPLATE. That's all there it to it.

Click "Twit It" below to test it out.

The only caveat to keeping this functionality simple is to make sure you're logged into Twitter first.