Fair warning: this is one of those tech type posts. Recently, I updated my system from Ubuntu 12.04 LTS to Ubuntu 14.04 LTS. The upgrade was flawless, with one exception: I was unable to print to my Canon printer using Ubuntu. Printing worked perfectly from the 12.04 systems (that weren’t upgraded to 14.04)… and with my 14.04 system I received the following error: ... Idle - src = libcanon_pdlwrapper.c, line = 514 ....

It’s a crazy concept… I feel that liberty allows us to communicate free from government interference. Whether this be business, personal, religious, or any other type of communication… our freedom of speech entitles us to freedom from monitoring our speech as well. With information from Edward Snowden (and now William Binney), we should be very concerned over the level of interference, eavesdropping, and surveillance conducted against all society. William Binney recently stated that the ultimate goal of the NSA was total population control. This should concern you an you’ve been warned about this before. ...

I subscribe to Seth Godin’s email where each day my inbox receives his latest blog post. The man writes often. Every day. So each day, by noon, I’ve read one of his posts. Some I quickly skim. Others I read, think about how it may apply to me… and digest it. Others just click. Take for example three marketing lessons from Broadway. … activating people who already like you is far more productive and profitable than it is to spend time and money yelling at people who are ignoring you....

Went to WDW yesterday with the Mrs… we’re annual pass holders which allows us to go when convenient. Normally, we’ll pass on the heavy season (to avoid the crowds), but we also take an opportunity when it presents itself. Long story longer… ...

You may not have known… I love watches. Since I was a little kid, I’ve loved having different watches and have amassed quite the collection. Now, this isn’t a collector’s collection — this is a collection of watches that Fred wanted. Sure, I have some nice ones here and there (my parents brought me back a Cartier from a trip once) but most are important because of their story. I have a great blue-faced Citizen watch I bought when Peter got married… I have the watch my Aunts had given to Uncle Harry… and recently I bought the watch I’ve always wanted. ...

Recently, a call taker from Walgreens called Yeni a bitch. You can hear the call and read the story here. For two weeks, I attempted to get Walgreens to apologize… and failed. At this point, I don’t know who failed… was it Walgreens for not caring, or was it me in thinking a big company would care enough to apologize to a customer they insulted. After two weeks, I decided to post the call online and share it with the world. (I was hoping that they would issue a sincere apology and we would just move on). I then posted the blog on twitter and google plus. Walgreens, through twitter, said they would reach out to us ASAP. They lied. ...

To make an incredibly long story short… let me ask you this: What would you do if a call taker called your wife/mother/daughter/etc a bitch? While you think about that, here’s a clip of Yeni talking to Valentin from Walgreens: No audio? No problem… here’s a quick transcript: WALGREENS: Before I connect you, is there anything else I can assist you with? YENI: No. Thank you. WALGREENS: Yeah… bitch. ...

Let me start off my saying this: I despise the word stupid. Despise may not even be strong enough to describe the loathing I have for the word stupid. I feel calling a person stupid remains one of the worst insults one can use. It’s a word that I rarely use. That being said, I reserve the use of “stupid” for extreme acts that amaze me with their unique sense of illogical function. Take for example American Express. ...

I read a great blog post from Jeff Archibald called Stop Networking. It’s a great read (and it’s linked… so please read it) and something I related to personally. I’ve been in many “networking groups” throughout the years. From the Chamber of Commerce to BNI, lunch groups (like A2B3) to social groups, my experiences with ANY networking group is mirrored in Jeff’s article. Stop Networking & Start Helping Stop thinking of your local business events as “networking opportunities” and start thinking of them as opportunities to help people....

Yeni and I love going to DisneyWorld — our one big spend each year is annual passes. We go as often as we can… not as often as we’d like… but we get there 20+ times a year. We each have our favorite places. Yeni loves the Magic Kingdom… I love Epcot. The castle is her house… I can sit on the People Mover for hours. We both love Main Street, England, the Land, and Chefs de France....