“The Mission of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Albany is to inspire and enable all young people, especially those from disadvantaged circumstances, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens.”
- Boy & Girls Club of Albany Mission Statement

The Club is a place for boys and girls to grow and learn with the aid of adult professionals. Focusing on those that may be in disadvantaged situations, these professionals provide support to give these kids opportunity and hope while making it a fun experience.

The Boys and Girls Club’s strategy focuses on a set of senses that they want to give the children they work with. Through their program they want to instill the following senses in their kids:

• **
• A sense of competence- acquisition of new skills, pride and confidence in those new skills and achievements
• A sense of usefulness- through helping others, the club, and the community
• A sense of belonging- feeling welcome, accepted, and secure at the club
• A sense of power and influence- knowing that their opinions are heard and valued

**(source: http://www.bgcalbany.com/about/)

The Boys & Girls Club provides a safe, positive and fun place for kids to grow up with positive self esteem to enhance their lives. Help out the Boys & Girls Club of Albany or find out how you can help your local Boys & Girls Club.

Michael Jackson that is and I just want to say a few words.

On July 25, 2009 an icon so big has passed away that we probably won’t see another of the likes of this every again. Hands down the most iconic person that ever lived.  There is no match when it comes to worldwide fame.  Even after death he controls the airways worldwide and this story will be around for a while.

The King of Pop changed the world in so many ways with his music, dance, humanitarian efforts and so much more. His global reach is almost unfathomable and his influences will continue to live on through many musicians and dancers.

Upon news of his possible death in the age Internet, MJ crippled internet giants Twitter and Facebook.  Some even say the Michael literally slowed down the Internet (not really).

Even through tough personal tribulations in the last decade or so, he was beloved by so many around the world. I can remember the how cool I thought the Beat It and Thriller videos were back in the day and they still rock.

I’ve been privileged enough to have witnessed the era of an icon that was larger than life.  May the King of Pop rest in peace.

I downloaded ScoreMobile app for BlackBerry’s today and it’s one of the best BlackBerry apps that I’ve downloaded.  From TheScore.com this BlackBerry is a very complete sports scores and stats app.

Features:

• up-to-the-minute scores
• fantasy player stats
• game lines
• odds
• game previews & recaps
• standings

This is app is simple to use and it covers MLB, NHL, NBA, PGA and more to come.  Now I can easily get scoreson the go with lots more.  Best of all this BlackBerry App is FREE.

It’s always monumental when  you have the biggest day ever in sales and yesterday was the biggest by far.   We ran a huge 25% off sale at DetailedImage.com and it was successful beyond what I thought it would be.

Unfortunately we had some site problems when Adam was away but we were able to handle the situation and figure out what the problem was without anything catastrophic happening.

I was in contact with our server company all day and I have to compliment LiquidWeb for the fantastic service they provided. LiquidWeb’s support was first class and I couldn’t ask for anything more.  They monitored the issue throughout the day and figured out what was causing the problem.

It’s freaking awesome to see all the work we’ve put in is paying off.  This is an exciting time as we enter this growth phase and we’re only going to getting better from here, this is just the beginning.

The new prototype of the CrunchPad from TechCrunch is out.  Today was the first time I read about this web tablet and it’s almost exactly what I’m looking for.  I’ve been waiting for an internet tablet device similar to the iPod Touch but bigger and this may be the answer to that, but the rumors of a Apple netbook is still very intriquing to me.

Specifically made for the internet it just runs a browser with associated apps.  All I want is to be able to do is check email, use Google Reader, watch YouTube and Hulu and listen to Rhapsody in portable device as shift my focus to having everything available on the internet.   The CrunchPad could be the device I’m looking for.

Price seems to be reasonable starting at $300, I can’t wait to hear more about the CrunchPad.

In observance of Memorial Day I have selected the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Charitable Service Trust as my charity this month. I would like to honor and thank all our veterans for their service to our country. The DAV is dedicated to providing services that disable Veterans in need.

“The DAV Charitable Service Trust supports physical and psychological rehabilitation programs, meets the special needs of veterans with specific disabilities – such as amputation and blindness – and aids and shelters homeless veterans.” - Disabled American Veterans Charitable Service Trust - About Us

Donations to the DAV Charitable Service Trust is put to work in programs that includes a transportation network for veterans to and from VA medical centers, food and shelter for the homeless and needy veterans, rehab for physical and psychological disabilities and much more.

The DAV continues to progress and stay innovative to provide better lives for disabled veterans. The services that the DAV provides will continue to be very important as veterans age and new veterans return from the wars that we fight today.

Support the brave people that have fought for our great country.

Happy Memorial Day

I see all these iPod commercials and I have no idea what song they are featuring in them. They should spell it out in the commercials to promote the artists. Anyways a quick search and all my questions were answered when I found the following list on Wikipedia of all the iPod commercials and the songs that were featured.

See the complete Wikipedia article here.

That’s an impressive list of artist. I had no idea they had that many iPod commercials. No more wondering what songs are in those iPod commercials, mission complete.

The Redesign

• New shortened banner to bring all content up
  
• Crisp detailed graphics
• Improved homepage that hits you up with everything important that we offer
  
• New rotating banners system
• Visually enhanced and easy to recognize category and brand headings
  
  
• New tips banner
• Random backgrounds
• Bulleted product descriptions
• More photos

Improve Cart Technology

• Add to cart without leaving the page
• 3 product browsing views
  
• Auto-Suggest search box
  
• Easy use product drill downs
• Improved product recommendations
• More quantity discounts
• Easy to select product sizes
• Improved review system
• Instant form validation
• Seamless checkout experience

Other New Features

• New expanded detailing guide with pictures
  

Everything came together wonderfully with the launch of the new Detailed Image. A round of applause to Adam, George, and Greg, job well done.

This is only the beginning of what’s to come from the new Detailed Image and Pure Adapt, Inc. Try the new cart yourself today and enjoy 15% off with coupon code DIMLI expires 6/30/2009.

I couldn’t get over that someone would really be selling a “Ear Wax Candle”, that’s just plain disgusting and you’d need a lot of ear wax were my first thoughts.  Upon further investigation after I took the screen shot of the ad, they are selling “Ear Candles”.  I’m assuming it’s an ear candle made from wax and not candles made from ear wax.

This example shows the importance of reading your ads in different ways or getting a different set of eyes to read it.  It all makes sense to me now but at first it just didn’t set right with me that someone would be selling something like that.  Also, I could be wrong and Ear-Candle.net may have done this on purpose to get peoples attention.

Anyways this ad caught my attention and it’s something to think about when you’re writing ads.

“NBA Cares is the league’s social responsibility initiative that builds on the NBA’s long tradition of addressing important social issues in the United States and around the world. Through this umbrella program, the NBA, its teams and players have committed to donating $100 million to charity, providing a million hours of hands on service to the community and creating 250 places where kids and families can live, learn or play.” - The NBA Cares Commitment

The NBA Cares initiative has logged close to 1 million hours of hands on service and raised millions of dollars  for communities and families. The NBA’s social responsibilities  initiative  focuses their efforts on issues related to education, youth and family development, and health-related causes.

They have provided learning centers, preached health and wellness, promoted the importance reading and much more to kids and their communities.  Recently the Dallas Mavericks dedicated their 7th Reading and Learning Center to the Dallas community. Another example of what NBA Cares is doing for their communities is the Toyota Rebounds Project. Teaming up with Toyota they are currently working on 15 community projects to refurbish courts and build learning centers.

NBA players and organizations through its’ popularity bring a lot to the table when dealing with social issues and simple enough they make a difference to communities around the world.  Find out what else NBA Cares at www.NBA.com/nba_cares/.