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The Kindle app is freakin awesome!

September 2, 2010 – 8:54 pm
It isn’t often that something technology based really moves me, but this week that happened. I have been going to Upper Iowa for 5 years now in the evenings to complete my Bachelors Degree in Business Administration. I have a big stack of various text books stored near my computer desk. When it comes to text books I have a number of issues They cost way more then they should (stupid old fashioned monopolies) They are rarely reusable (although I have referenced a few over time) They just take up a lot of space I have used a few ebook solutions such as CourseSmart and VitalSource Bookshelf, but have always hated using them due to craptastic DRM and terrible software user interfaces. This week was different though, when looking for solutions for my Entrepreneurship and Small Business class, I found the book as a Kindle download: Now before I say anything else, I need to ...

Posted in Product Reviews | No Comments »

Foursquare is awesome but…

August 19, 2010 – 5:31 am
The timing of this post is appropriate for a number of reasons. First, in the next 48 hours it is speculated that Facebook will be launching places to directly compete with Foursquare check-ins. Second, (even though I signed up last September) I have been using foursquare consistently for over 9 months now. You can find me on Foursquare at http://www.foursquare.com/jmtenny. Third, Foursquare continues to grow at an amazing pace!! I have to admit, Foursquare has been a lot of fun. For someone competitive like me, it has been a fantastic way to turn various aspects of daily life into a game. Additionally, it has introduced me to some awesome people who were present at the same location I was (shoutout to @Terrenceisdaman & @sunset_escape). Hell it has even allowed my wife Marcia (who is also now using Foursquare as @marcha)and I to save money at the Gap. So I am sure you ...

Posted in Geek Stuff, Product Reviews | 2 Comments »

Understanding Facebook’s Targeted Advertising

February 18, 2010 – 7:00 am
Hey look, I am in marketing and am all for advertising to the right potential customers. Lets face it, advertising can be expensive! Yet, what I really hate is when advertisers target based on demographic profile. I don't know, maybe it's because I don't feel like I really fit the mold as "normal" or "typical" when compared to my demographics group. One of the companies that currently uses a demographics-based ad targeting system is Facebook. I understand Facebook's need to serve ads and am not even opposed to seeing dedicated ad space while using their service, but some of the relevance of their ads really bugs me. Just recently I learned about this great sub-site on Facebook that lets you see (and control) the targeted ads that Facebook shows you. The Facebook targeted ads sub-site address is: http://www.facebook.com/ads/adboard/ This site is great because it allows you to remove the ones you dislike ...

Posted in Geek Stuff | No Comments »

Radiator Replacement

February 15, 2010 – 8:54 am
Have no fear, this may be the only car related post you'll ever see from me, as I am likely the last person you should ever take car advise from. Anyways this weekend I had the pleasure of replacing Marcia's radiator in her 2002 Dodge Grand Caravan. I actually owe the most credit to my friend Aaron who lent his expertise and garage to do the replacement. I am not really all that much of a car guy, so Aaron did most of the actual work. A few weeks ago Marcia had taken her van into the shop for a quick oil change and asked that they take a look at her leaky Radiator while it was in. They told her that it needed to be replaced and quoted her $600. I chatted with Aaron about the replacement and he recommend that we do it ourselves on a Saturday. A ...

Posted in Having Fun | 1 Comment »

Google Buzz is awesome, but

February 11, 2010 – 7:28 am
Google's hot new product is Google Buzz. It is part social network, part social aggregator, part huge privacy hole! That's right, by default Google Buzz exposes the email addresses of everyone who follows you and everyone you follow. Well there is an easy way to protect yourself. Just follow these steps to close the hole: Open your Google Profile (You may need to click the View my Profile button once the page loads). If you look in the top right of your profile you can see how many followers you have and how many are following you. If you click on either of these you'll see their Google Name as well as their email address. To prevent the world from knowing who your contacts are just follow these easy steps: 1. Click Edit profile 2. Uncheck the box Display the list of people I'm following and people following me 3. Scroll to the bottom and click Save ...

Posted in Geek Stuff | 2 Comments »

One of my songs was featured in a YouTube video

February 9, 2010 – 10:28 am
I just received a trackback notice that one of songs was featured in this awesome video! I love the integration of themes between the video and song.

Posted in All About Me | No Comments »

Music is the rhythm of life

February 3, 2010 – 7:20 am
If you have ever checked out my blog in the past you would likely have noticed that music plays a major role in my life. I have so many various music ventures that I thought it would be cool to highlight each one of them in one place. Shamelessly I would recommend you check out all the different varieties of musical offerings I have. First is my solo music stuff. This is published in the my music section of my site. Most of this music is Electronica in nature. Almost all of it was produced using Reason 4 (and Reason 2.5 and 3 before that). Second is my hip hop music. I started a group with my Brother-in-law and some of his family members called The MOB Crew. We also go by the name Midwest Millionaires some times to mix it up. Just ...

Posted in All About Me, Having Fun | No Comments »

Feeling old

January 26, 2010 – 7:09 am
Well I officially have made it to my 32nd birthday. While it may not feel old to some, it feels old to me. I woke up this morning and immediately started wondering if there would ever be a time where I would have enough hours in a day to complete everything I both need to do and want to do? I don't think this early morning revelation was due to today being my actual birthday, as I often have some of my clear thoughts in the morning, but it was timely. Lately I have been wondering a lot about some of the things I really want to do in life. I suppose you could call is a bucket list of sorts. Some of the things are totally irrational, but I have always been interested in doing them. One such example is I have always wanted to make a movie and ...