Rob’s Blog and Flog

I’m on a roll here… This week I saw the Restaurant Makeover Season Four episode for the Waterfall Matini bar. Never one to shy away from alcoholic enjoyment (in moderation blah blah blah), I can tell I’m going to enjoy this one. Staff christmas party tomorrow, so I get to show up late…. perhaps tonight will be the night.

So what’s your preference? Gin or Vodka? Classic, or blahblahblahtini? Personally I’m a classic vodka/shaken/with a twist kinda guy.

Guys? I’ll be a little late to work tomorrow!

Surfing around, I found the Restaurant Makeover episode list. Four seasons? That’s a lot more episodes than Gordon Ramsay ever put out…. if I’m ever to visit all the Ontario restaurants that these guys reno’d, it’s going to take me quite a bit of time.

So far, AM and I have been to Le Cafe Vert, Reliable Fish and Chips, Phil’s Original BBQ, and one other which changed its name. I’ll be tracking that one down - unfortunately the FoodTV website doesn’t show any pictures to help my feeble memory.

Just down the street from us is some pizza joint whose name escapes me right now but was reno’d a month or two back. We had to yell “IGOR!!!!” out the cab window one night on our way home. Igor, you da man!

What on earth to do with this lame-ass blog? Well, for months I’ve been ignoring this thing, wondering what to do with it. So, how about hearing about my new hobby - visiting restaurants recently renovated by Restaurant Makeover team? Surely I can think of better ways to pass the time? Nope. Poor you. Now you’re stuck reading ‘em.

I’ve gone back to the Getting Things Done book, and reread a few chapters. Freshly inspired, I’m back to work after a lazy summer.

So, without further ado, here’s August’s Online Efforts Roundup.

Secret Travel Site - back on track.

I’ve updated all the trouble tickets my web developer outlined two months ago, and am back on track to unleash my “secret travel site” on the world in a month or two. Working with an offshore developer has been a bit of a hassle, but the guy is quite good, so we’ll see how it turns out. This guy is in Bulgaria.

Useless Domains - still quite a few, sold off the SmileySign thing a few months back. More must go!

Target for this month: Get rid of the Penny Jar sites, pokerpennyjar.com and casinopennyjar.com

thesexypoll.com - Several months ago, I was going to work with my LA design guy on a poll/test system. This is the same guy that I was working on some other larger ideas with, and this was going to be the “interim, while we get the big one coded” idea. Well, like other projects with this guy (and with myself, I’ll admit) this one never went anywhere. But, I’ve invested big $$$ on this domain name (woo - $8!), and I’m determined to follow through with my ideas. A non-new-years resolution.

I’m going to use this domain as a test for Facebook apps. Everybody loves tests/polls… so this will be my first Facebook project. Don’t worry, I’ll spam you all with it once it’s ready. I’ve put the project up for bid on Guru, and am also giving it to a few other php developers. I found another one, thanks to Jacob, my web design guy. Fingers crossed.

I’m sure there’s more, but for now… peace out

For a few months now, I’ve been listening to podcasts on my weekly trek into the Big City. I never gave podcasts much credit, but after much playing around, I’ve found a few which are quite valuable indeed. Knowledge@Wharton is a big one, but the one I want to grumble about today is the Canadian Small Business Show.

Quite simply, it’s a great podcast for me - I’m in the IT field by day, and its very IT-focused. The guests always seem to be timely, and I’ve found a number of great products that my clients will love as a result.

But, it’s the audio quality, or lack thereof, that is my grumble du jour. I know podcasts are supposed to be lowtech affairs with people laughing in the background, stumbles, and the occasional burp. But come on! This is more painful to listen to than a 6 year old learning to play a violin

It varies from week to week - sometimes the host, Stuart Crawford is 10x louder than his guests - sometimes exactly the opposite. It can go for 10 minutes with the guest doing their presentation, I’m 1/2 way down the 401, and then BAM! Crawford gets back in there and practically blows me into the next lane.

Stuart, you’ve got a good thing going, and I’ll probably continue to listen, but give some kid with AV skills $20 to mix the show for you. You’ll get more listeners, and I’ll save an eardrum or two.