Tech consultant for Olympia, Lacey, And Tumwater
Tuesday, August 24th, 2010
by Mark Carras
Here is my interview with Matt Inman of The Oatmeal. Please spread this video to as many places as you can. Feel free to embed it into your site and post a link in the comments.
The interview was conducted at Gnomedex 2010.
For info on the cancer benefit please CLICK HERE
Sunday, August 22nd, 2010
by Mark Carras
Seattle Marriott Waterfront Hotel review
Marriott Chef delivering bun
So another weekend of Gnomedex and another weekend at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront Hotel. This may have been the last year of Gnomedex but another tech conference had it’s first year at the exact same conference center. For some reason they thought PII was a good name despite everyone already pronouncing it like Pee. So even though I won’t be going up for Gnomedex next year, I do hope to go up for Seattle Geek week and Pee…er, I mean Pii. So I figured why not review this years stay at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront Hotel?
The staff as always was great. I’ve never seen a group of people work so hard to make little ol’ me feel as comfortable as possible. It was nice to see Nicole (I’m starting to learn names, how sad is that?) at the front desk again. She has a pleasant laugh and a relaxing smile. Even though I know she is paid to have that laugh and smile she does it so well I am led to believe there is some sincerity to it. I’m as cynical as it gets, but she seems to actually give a crap and have fun with her job.
The chef made me laugh this year though. Last year Ciabatta buns were all the rage, so I understood why they had one of those nasty things on the burger I ordered. This year however it was a freakin’ pancake! No joke. I was told it was some sort of flat bread, but if it looked like a pancake, smelled like a pancake, and sure as heck tasted like a pancake, I think it is safe to say that was a damn pancake! It reminded me of those images of a rabbit with a pancake on it’s head. “I have no idea what you are saying so here’s a bunny with a pancake on it’s head.” So I felt like the chef was telling me, “I have no idea what you are saying, so here’s a burger with a pancake on it’s head.” To be clear, the burger tasted great otherwise. It would have been better with a real (traditional) bun, but the pancake made me laugh more than anything. It was more goofy and silly than anything that would have ruined the meal. The omelet I had on Sunday morning was way better than the one I had on the Sunday morning last year. Not sure why. Maybe it was cooked more thoroughly? Maybe I ordered different ingredients? Maybe they changed cooks, methods, recipes, equipment, or something else. All I know is that It was pretty packed with awesome.
The maid service was great of course. I think the maids got used to me leaving at 8 am for the conference. So when I slept in until about ten and was still getting stuff ready for check out at 11:00 a very polite and apologetic lady came in to change the bed sheets. If I was forced to find one complaint it would be that they kept moving the program schedule and remote to the tv. Who needs it there? I need it on the nightstand! But if that is the biggest complaint I can think of, that is some awesome work! Let me also say the guys out in front are always jumping on any excuse they can to serve you. It kind of threw a guy like me for a loop to be honest. I’m just not used to that sort of thing. I heard that the hotel was packed all weekend, but yet it just didn’t seem like it. Everything was nice and quiet. Sure there was people, but it still maintained a very relaxing vibe to me. I have heard about hotels that are about half the price just a block or two up the street, but the staff at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront Hotel treat me so well that I am afraid to try anywhere else next year. Now everyone, let me hear you scream, “Pee, Pee, Pee, Pee, Pee!” Oh, right. It’s Pii. Sorry, I keep forgetting.
Thursday, August 12th, 2010
by Mark Carras
Verizon Droid 2 Unboxing
Well I now have my Droid 2 in my fat little fingers. Keep watching this site for more videos as I learn all that can be done with the Droid 2. Yes, i am a Droid noob! I have had a “dumb phone” for the past two years because last time I bought a phone I was extremely disappointed in what phones were out there. So I have owned smartphones before, but this is my frist Droid phone.
Tons of Droid tutorial videos will be posted on this site, so make sure and subscribe. Feel free to ask me questions and i will do my best to answer them as best as I can. Questions will only be answered on the show though. You have to watch my videos to see your answer. So subscribe, subscribe, subscribe!
Happy Droid 2 day everyone!
Thursday, August 12th, 2010
by Mark Carras
Top Ten Reasons I Block Everyone From Posting On My Facebook Wall
10. Posting REALLY old internet jokes
Yes I know about Rick Rolling and no you are not funny. You are several years behind in fact. Get with the times.
9. Bored People With Nothing To Say
Oh these types are the worst. They have nothing to say but yet they keep typing. Why? Because they don’t want to admit that their lives about about as pleasant as a chainsaw enema. It’s like taking some bimbo home who wants to talk afterwards, but blabber on and on about crap you couldn’t even pretend to care about. Please save me the trouble and just go play Farmville with the other idiots. You can’t handle a real conversation anyways.
8. Posting Things I Hate Because You Think It Is Funny
This is the same as posting a Rick Roll and thinking you are cutting edge. If one of my friends does this funny thing a day, is it still funny? No. You didn’t “Get me real good that time.” I’m just irritated at your lack of imagination. When I had my wall open I would get people pulling that same prank everyday. Sometimes several times a day. Somehow each one of them thought they were funny and original. They weren’t.
7. Invites To Farmville
So I ignore your invite my email, but you think I will fall in love with that waste of braincells game if you post it on my wall? I’m not on Facebook for brainless games. I’m on Facebook for conversation. When I want to unplug I will go in the bedroom and watch tv.
6. What About My Friends Who Just Want To Catch Up?
Sometimes I want to catch up with an old friend. So I go to their wall to read up on what is happening in their lives. What I end up reading is endless lists of crap from other people. When you go to my wall you will only see what I am up to. Makes it easier for everyone.
5. Posting Videos Of Bands I Hate
No I really don’t care about the latest whiny little bitch emo band. I also don’t care about the latest flat monotone metalcore band. If the band didn’t come out between 1985 – 1995 I think they suck. I’m old and cranky. Deal with it. You are blocked for trying to make my wall look like I’m some trendy loser who still lives in his mothers basement. Get a real job!
4. People who post a reply to a thread by starting another thread on my freaking wall.
You really think you are THAT special? Why can’t you post the reply within the thread of the conversation along with everyone else? You give arrogant Bastard a bad name. I’d rather drink the beer.
3. Things that are better put in the Facebook email system
If you want to ask me a question send me an email. No one else needs to read about your computer problems (or whatever other lame thing you are asking about).
2. Spammers
Ok, this isn’t too common as Facebook has a pretty easy way to block unwanted people, but with what I do online I can only be so picky. A spammer does get in from time to time and I don’t want gay pron sitting on my wall for 8 – 16 hours before I notice it.
1. No Reason For It Really
Ok, now I run three fan pages for three different websites. I totally understand why someone would want to posting something on those walls. It would be stupid to block fans from posting on the wall of a band. If I do an interview with a band that band should want me to post a link on their fan page. Their fans probably want to see that. But a personal wall? No reason. When I posting something, reply within THAT thread. Don’t start a new one. If you want me to check something out, use the email system. If I like it I will hit that share button. There is no reason for you to post on my wall. There is no reason for anyone to post on anyone’s personal wall. There are better alternatives. Use them.
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010
by Mark Carras
Why Foursquare Will Be Dead One Year From Now
Foursquare
My Life Sucks Too Much For Foursquare
So Foursquare keeps growing and growing eh? Fine, but I don’t think it can ever be as big as Twitter or Facebook. The reason is that most of us are boring. I include myself in this category. I used go from home to work and then a few hours latter I go from work to home. Well, I’m not going to announce where I live so the only thing I would ever post is my workplace. Sure there is a rare time that I go out to a restaurant with my wife. A few times a year we go to the movies. About 5 times a years I go to a concert. Other than that I might go to a friends house, but I’m not going to post that. Ok, I also go to the store. So let’s say 20 times a year I go to a restaurant, 5 times a year I go to the movies, and 5 times a year I go to a concert. That’s not exciting at all! Is that worth posting?
Most Peoples Lives Suck Too Much For Foursquare
With 30 postable locations a year other than my workplace, this is less exciting than if I posted what I’m eating for dinner every night. Sure I post a photo of a really awesome meal every once in awhile, but for the most part I make fun of people that post boring crap like that. Sure people in Silicon Valley go to all kinds of exciting places all the time. Of course people with a really good job can go out to all kinds of interesting places every weekend, but most of America is poor as hell!
Foursquare Will Be Friendster In A Year
Can Forsquare really survive on people posting updates of work, Wal-Mart, home, work, Wal-Mart, home? That is most of America with very little diversity. The amount of people that can afford to go beyond that are a small percentage of the country. According to most internet ranking sites Foursquare ranks inside the top 1,000 websites on the internet. I think this is about as far as it is going to get. Yes, it will get a little higher for a short blip of time. They will make some deals to get those home, work, Wal-mart, home level users. But those users will get bored of the site really quick since they don’t have the exciting updates that the top users post. It will only remind them that their life sucks and is boring. People don’t like that and they will stop posting updates. Once this final spike of the site is done even the cool kids will leave and the site will be the latest Friendster.
Mark my words… At this time next year Foursquare will be looked back on as a failure.
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010
by Mark Carras
Top Ten Rules Of A Good Domain
Domain
Most bands don’t start off as serious. But many bands start off as a joke to do on the weekends (or just something to do in college), but end up having enough chemistry to become a hundred times bigger than ever planned. So even if this is “just for fun” you should keep in min that it may end up being a curse that follows you for life. Most of the legendary bands were started as “just for fun”.
1. Dot com is best
If you can get the website with the dot com that is best. Net is good if a squatter steals the com. The squatter site will not rank as high because it is a squatter site. If you can spell your band’s (or company’s) name by including the domain sufix, that can be good as well. As in Carr.as because someone else (not connected to me) already has Carras.com. That is known as a domain hack.
2. The shorter the better
The shorter the domain name the better. So if you can’t get Slayer.com don’t use MySlayerWebsiteOnline.com instead. Find another band name.
3. No dashes
If your band name is Stupid Twats, don’t get the domain name Stupid-Twats.com. Stick with stupidtwats.com instead. If that is taken try stupidtwatsofficial.com or stupidtwatsonline.com instead. The dash is very bad.
4. Make it easy to spell
I once had the domain name AbrasiveRock.com I love the domain, but so many people were constantly asking how to spell it. Some of them highly educated. So I changed the site to RockMyMonkey.com just because it was easier to spell. I haven’t had a problem since.
5. Stay Away From Numbers
If your band name is Priority One you will have some issues. Is the domain priorityone.com or priority1.com? Also stay away from words that can be spelled in several different ways. It causes the same issues.
6. Is It Marketable?
If you passed a billboard with this name on it, how quickly would you remember it after you drive by?
7. Search Engine friendly?
When Raymond and Christian (both ex-Fear Factory) wanted to start another band they wanted a name that would show up on Google really well. So they made up a word. Almost instantly when they launched their website it got top ranking fo that search term. So try to stay away from words were there is tough competition for those Google search terms. You want top ranking when people are searching for you.
8. Make Your Band Name Your Website!
Ok, not everyone will be able to do this. Nevermore will never get Nevermore.com I doubt that Overkill will ever get Overkill.com, but if you can get your band name as the website address do your best to do that. If not, try to get as close to that as you can.
9. Stay Clear Of Copyright Issues
Don’t try to be too cleaver by using a known brand within your website or band name. This can cause legal issues later. Plus lame jokes like this get really old if the band takes off. Ask the band The Devil Wears Prada about this self inflicted curse.
10. Don’t be “Inside Baseball”
Do not use inside jokes. Do not reference things that the majority of people will understand. Many bands may claim when they are young that they don’t want to be some big sell out band. Well you can say you want to stay in the small dirty clubs all you want, but the truth is that bands that stay at that level too long don’t stay around as long. Your family (you will have one someday) will need to eat and they need a roof over their heads when you are on the road. So don’t pick a website name that will hold back the mainstream crowd from your band or website.
Wednesday, August 11th, 2010
by Mark Carras
Events On Social Networks Are Useless
Facebook Events
Are You Training People To Reject Your Invite?
I follow a ton of people from all over the world on most social networks. So I get invites to things all over the world. The problem is that I loose money on my music industry related activities already. So there is no way I am taking a private jet to your local club show. I know, what’s the harm when all I have to do is take a few seconds to click ignore on the event that was mass blasted to everyone on that persons list? Well, it’s kind of like when the “Are you sure you want to delete that” pop ups that our computers give us before hitting delete. Does anyone even pay any attention to them at all? I am so used to hitting that ok button that even if a part of my brain is questioning the deletion, my hand has already deleted the item before I can even save it. The same thing happens with your events. When I see that question of “Will you attend this event”, I hit no before I even stop to check the location. I click that no button before I even look to see what that event is.
Why Did You Promote The Event On Facebook?
Because everyone just blasts everything to everyone, everyone is jaded to the event invites. So no one really pays any attention to them at all. Sure your best friend will click yes. Your girlfriend will click yes. Your bandmates will mostly click yes (sorry but your drummer is dumber than a rock and doesn’t get it), but will this improve attendance? Not one bit. You will be lucky to get one person to attend that would not have attended otherwise. Wasn’t that the point? To get more people to show up than who would have otherwise? Then stop blasting it to everyone because you are training people to reject your events without even thinking about it. It is a knee jerk reaction because of the constant blasts we all get from every band from all over the world.
Have You Ever Even Mentioned The State Or City?
Most band’s don’t even mention the state or city. So I have rejected events and found out later it was a local show at a club I had never heard of before. At least list the state and city or your event post failed right out of the gate.
It’s Not All Bad News
So is this nothing but bad news? No. You can stop it. We all need to do our part to stop people from blasting everyone for an event that only 10% of their followers are even capable of attending. Most of the social networks have a way of selecting only the people from your area. Can we start a campaign to not just click no, but to say why in the comments. When an online friend invites you to an event in another state or country, link to this article. Or you can just type “Stop inviting people from out of state, it hurts us non-spamming bands jerkface!” Ok, make up your own line if you want. I just think it would be funny if EVERYONE started using that one. If they don’t list the city and state post that you have no idea what part of the world the event is at and that is why you will not attend. It will take more of an effort than most will be able to muster, but if enough of us do this we can change the pattern and maybe a few habits. Or maybe this is just a way for your band to rise above the rest?
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
by Mark Carras
Sponsor My Droid 2 Hunt And Unboxing!
Droid 2
So Thursday morning I will be at my local Verizon store banging on the door demanding my brand spanking Droid 2. I will be posting videos of the hunt, the unboxing, and the initial playing of this new product. This will be an all day event with between 5 to ten videos being posted within that first 24 hours. I need something to plug! If you know me, you know I have no problem to sucking up to the sponsors of the things I do. So sponsor me already! Anyone who is willing to spread this to a potential sponsor it would be very much appreciated. Don’t worry about asking for permission to give out the email for this auction. It’s all over this website and will be killed off on Friday.
How Do We Bid?
I’m doing this by email simply because the auction sites out there both suck and blow. I will be posting through my Twitter account only what the bids are up to whenever an update is needed. I will monitor this as often as I can over the next 24 hours. The names of who bid what will be kept secret though. How do you bid? Real easy send an email to Droid2@MarkCarras.com Don’t bother sending this email around to spammers or storing it in your lists. It will be killed after the auction. If I don’t get back to you it means that you lost the auction. Watch my Twitter if you want a chance to re-bid. Bid as often as you feel you need to. It takes me one second to hit delete if you’re too low.
Who Can Bid?
It’s pretty open. No porn. Nothing racist. It has to be an actual product of some kind. Website, food, drink, band, cd, dvd, movie, service, etc. So pretty much anything. If you have a website for me to plug you will get more out of it, but that is your choice. I’m here to promote your thing. Email me a bid and let’s do this thing!
How Much Of A Deal Will You Make?
Well I am getting the phone to prepare for my trip to Gnomedex next week. Gnomedex is part of Seattle Geek Week. So once I get it, I will be trying to figure out what I can do with it, how to use the tools it has, figuring out which apps I need, and figuring out how to use those apps. This will be the subject of most of the videos I will be promoting my sponsor…who ever that is.
Again, email your bid to Droid2@MarkCarras.com and watch my Twitter feed for the results.
My Twitter Feed is at http://twitter.com/MarkCarras
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
by Mark Carras
R2-D2 Droid: Verizon Why Must You Torture Me!
Droid 2
So more official news is finally coming out about the Droid 2. Anyone who has been paying any attention at all to my social networks is probably sick of me talking about it. I know my wife is. She’s told me as much. So now it is pretty much official that the Droid 2 may be ordered online on Wednesday and may be ordered in store on Thursday of this week. So not only is my waiting over, but I will now be able to have a new phone in time for Gnomedex. So I’m happy right? Oh hell no!
At the same time as they announce that I can get my Droid 2 in time for Gnomedex, they also announce that if I wait just a few weeks more I can get an R2-D2 version of the phone. With me being a major Star Wars nerd from way back before most of you were born, this is pure torture! There is no way I can wait any longer for a new phone, so I am going to get the regular Droid 2. However, I may have to put up with insane amounts of flack from my wife for switching up to the R2D2 version when it comes out just a few weeks later. Would I pay an extra couple hundred dollars to have a Star Wars version of a phone I purchased just weeks prior? Yes, I am THAT pathetic!
Now of course Verizon has a 30 day return policy, but I’m willing to bet they will release the R2D2 Droid 2 just over one month after the regular Droid 2. So either those poor clerks will have to deal with a flood of excited nerds exchanging their phones or they will deal with really pissed off nerds wanting to exchange their phones, but not being able to. Of course one could just wait an extra couple weeks before buying the regular Droid 2, so they fit into that return policy window, but I’m an American and so I’m more impatient than an Apple fanboy waiting for a chance to sniff Steve Jobs boxers.
No worries people. I hear that there will be a Verizon representative at Gnomedex, so I will do my best to get an interview with them. Maybe I can find out a way to get upgraded to the R2D2 phone from the regular Droid 2 without paying a few extra hundred dollars? So to my fellow nerds please keep watching this page for updates next weekend for further updates on this insanity. Before then I should be blogging daily about my adventures trying to get a Droid 2 phone on Thursday morning. Anyone want to go hunting with me?
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
by Mark Carras
Why Do You Share On Facebook?
For most of the time I have been on Facebook, I have been bothered by some of the posting behavior of my fellow users. Recently it has started bothering me less and less. Why, because I have started to accept that everyone looks to Facebook for different reasons. These reasons are starting to intrigue me.
The Reasons I post
When I ost something it is to share some form of information that I think others may have a want or need for. This could be a music video, article, or perception of thinking. However, I try my best to not share things that others have seen a million times before. No matter how much I love a song, why post a video most have seen already? Wouldn’t it be better to post something new? I have always heard that social networking is all about content. The better the content the more people will not only follow you, but also pay attention. If I post some Nickelback video, to me it is a bigger mistake that people have seen it before than the mistake of posting something so many so passionately hate. I find no issue with posting a video people despise. I do however have a major problem with people posting a video that people have seen a million times before.
Sorry I was offended by your offensive behavior
There was once a person I followed on Facebook that would post the same mainstream videos everyday. There was about ten of them. I have wondered if it was some posting bot on a loop because there was never much variation to it. I majorly offended the person when I asked if that was the case. I was honestly just trying to find out why one would post the same thing over and over again everyday. It made no sense to me.
Who Pays For My Therapy?
Here I was thinking that it was silly to post something most have seen and this person goes and posts the same thing over and over again everyday. How many people on her list of friends had not seen that video by the tenth time she posted it? I am willing to bet that most of them had seen it before she posted it once. It was pretty mainstream. It would be like teaching a child that humans never eat hot dogs ever and to eat one would be wrong. Then that child goes to a hot dog eating contest where someone eats packages after packages of lips and bung holes. That child might need some therapy. This wasn’t just someone breaking the rules that I held sacred. That I could deal with. This was pissing on the bible in front of the Pope and and setting the book on fire!
I’m better now, really
Now I see people posting mundane things all the time and it still makes me twitch a little. I still see people trying to pull off Rickrolling like it’s a new thing! But now I see that even though Facebook and Twitter are for posting content of some sort that most have not seen, for others that is not the case. For that person that posted that Nickleback video everyday, Facebook might be the place where you are letting others know what you are listening to. So you can post a video because you think others should see it, or just because you want others to know what you are currently listening to. So before you go off on someone for breaking some sacred rule of conduct in social networking, know that for some it’s not about the actual networking. Hell, sometimes they just want to unplug their brains and play Farmville…(*shudder*).