If you usually read automaticable through an RSS reader and have wondered why we’ve been so quiet lately…well, we haven’t really! Wordpress recently upgraded their software which broke our RSS feed. To be specific, the Wordpress 2.5.1 update broke all of the links pointing to our RSS feed don’t work, except /feed. Unfortunately, we’d been forwarding this to FeedBurner and Pheedo for all sorts of RSS magic. For now we’ve just disabled the FeedSmith plugin, which seems to fix it.
In layman’s terms– we’re back! If you are wondering what you missed, the list is below.
So spend some time catching up. You know we missed you as much as you missed us!
A few weeks ago I wrote a post outlining predictions for the season 4 finale of The Office. After last night’s AMAZING hour long show, I wanted to revisit those predictions to see how I did, what I missed, and maybe make a few predictions for season 5. I don’t want to spoil the season finale for anyone who hasn’t had a chance to watch it yet, so I’ll put the rest of this post behind a break. For those of you who didn’t catch the hour long episode, you can still watch it online, legal and free, at both Hulu and NBC.
Continue reading “The Office Season 4 Finale: How’d I Do?”
Before I get started with this review, I want to apologize for releasing it a day late. I’ve been a little unmotivated to write this review, and I think that sentiment stems from the type of album Death Cab For Cutie has released. I was asked to describe the album in 4 words or less, and the only response I could come up with that seemed fitting was “Good, but not great.” It is definitely more complicated than that because I actually do like the album, so make sure to read on for a full analysis of Death Cab for Cutie’s “Narrow Stairs.”
Continue reading “Review: Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs”
Alternative title: Summer is here.
As you may have noticed, I haven’t posted in over a week, because I’ve been so busy with other things. But summer is finally here, so now I’ll (maybe) have some more time. But a quick recap of the last week, in bullet-list form:
- Finals are over. They were way-stressful, but I think they went well. In fact, I know at least one went very well.
- Today was my first full day of work. It’s nice to have a whole day to really sit down and concentrate on something. Bonus points for being interesting too.
- It was also the first day of summer workout. 20 minute run, and I didn’t die.
- Most of my roommates moved out yesterday. It’ll be quiet and lonely here for a while–come visit me!
- I’m starting a new project. Joe and Kyle are going to help me with it, so I’m excited. More to come later.
- I have a long list of other projects I need to do. But it’s ok, because most of them are things like reading outside, going fishing, barbecuing, and the such.
- I’m am in a wonderful mood. For no other reason than because summer is here.
A few weeks ago I posted about how I had a couple of exciting announcements to make. Since then, 1 of the deals has fallen through the cracks. I was sad at first, but it has actually turned out to be a good thing for me in the end. The second announcement, though, is still going strong and I am ready to talk about it more publicly.
When I made the announcement I had just learned of a new SEO technique that sounded very promising. It is something that has very little risk, but presents a huge reward if implemented correctly. I am being vague here for a reason; if I gave away too many specifics on top of a link to the new site I am running, someone could come in and take away my competitive advantage. I’m sure any of you SEO gurus could probably figure out the gist of what I am doing by studying the site for a while, but the technique is fairly intricate and focused, so it wont be immediately apparent.
So what is this site? Well, it is a blog (well, not really…) called Review: Gibson Guitars. It fuses my interest in music and guitars with my experience with SEO, and is starting to look promising. I only have a handful of posts up there right now and I am working on getting a few more up soon. My goal is to make the site a great destination for people interested in Gibson guitars and guitar buying in general. So if you are interested in what I’ve been working on lately, or want to learn about guitars in general, go check out my new site about Gibson guitars!
With Finals just around the corner, I look back at my college career thus far and I see all the good decisions that I’ve made. I switched from Medical Science with a hopes for Orthotics and Prosthesis to Recreation Management and I couldn’t be happier. I came back home from SIU to finish up my general education classes and receive my AA from College of DuPage and I love every minute of being home. I’ve switched around from a couple jobs and finally found something that I enjoy doing and that gives me hope for a brighter future. The relationship aspect of my life couldn’t be better. I have a steady girlfriend of over two years now, and we’re always talking about what the future brings, planning little trips with each other, and we can never stop smiling when we’re with each other.
With the weather turning nice I’m becoming more and more optimistic and becoming less stressed. Finals should be pretty much a breeze this year due to the classes and the requirements that they have for me. I gave two huge project presentations yesterday that I worked for 6 hours straight on over the weekend, and I found out immediately afterwards that I had aced both of them. I feel a sense of accomplishment this semester through all the trouble and stress that my classes brought me. I feel I did the best I could in all my classes and I’m not afraid of anything that future classes throw at me.
I used to sit in my room with the blinds closed to keep the heat in my room so it doesn’t get too cold, but I came home the other day and my mom had opened them, and I realized how beautiful of a view out my window I have. There’s a beautiful backyard with trees lining the perimeter of the half acre backyard, thick green grass, a flower island in the middle of the yard, and horseshoe pits in the back. I could probably sit and look out my window all day and watch the birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and the neighbors cats run through our yard all day and be content.
Basically what I’m getting at here is that through all the stress and hard work that have been hitting me this entire semester, I’m glad that it’s finally over and I have a bright, relaxing summer to look forward to. The warm afternoons, the stormy nights, the bonfires, the hookah parties, or just relaxing on the screen porch, falling asleep in the chase lounge are all things that I have to look forward to. So all you college students out there fretting over finals and worrying about grades and their futures, take a step back and look at all the good things you’ve done so far and all the great things in the future that lie ahead of you. Realize that ultimately they’re just grades and a beige piece of paper, and that what you should be worrying about is how many times your going to ride Superman at Six Flags this summer.
I love seeing films on opening night, and with a movie as good as Iron Man it was a great experience. The audience was really excited, cheering and clapping whenever something amazing happened. Normally I am not into the whole audience interaction thing in movie theaters, but I think Iron Man was the perfect film to play along with.
So what made the movie so good? For a film based on a comic book, Iron Man took itself very seriously. There were no emo dance scenes a la Spiderman, anyway. Serious does not mean boring or dry though. Iron Man was funny; actually, it was hilarious at times. Robert Downey Jr. was the perfect match for this military mogul: smart, confident, and drunk. Speaking of smart, I don’t think there has been another comic hero movie where the main character’s super power was his smarts. At least not like Downey’s character, Tony Stark. Stark is an engineer capable of building amazing power sources the size of tennis balls out of scraps in a cave. He is an expert with computers, soldering, metalworking…pretty much everything needed to make the most powerful suit in the world. Convenient for him, huh?
I highly recommend this movie. It is action packed, but doesn’t focus on the explosions or fight scenes. As I mentioned earlier, it is also really smart and funny as well. I think those are the three elements that make for a great action flick. In the end Iron Man is about the struggle we as Americans go through having the most powerful military in the world. The best defense is a good offense, but what happens when our offense falls into the hands of our enemies?
I’m not sure how I feel about this, but I’ve taken the plunge and created an account on Twitter. I honestly do not see the value in constant reminders about what all of my contacts are doing, but so many people (especially bloggers) have been talking about it lately that I feel I will be left behind if I don’t at least check it out. Is this anything more than another type of away message or facebook status? I guess I’ll see soon enough.
So automaticable, do you Twitter? If so, find me! My screen name is: kwegner. I know, pretty original, huh? Anyway, I need some automaticable readers to become my Twitter tweeters, otherwise it is a fairly useless service. So come and find me, or leave your name in the comments!
*edit* I guess it would make more sense to just send you directly to my profile. Here you go: kwegner.
I just ran across this deeply disturbing page on Clusterflock. It links to a story about a journalist who posed as a 10 year old boy, Billy, who sent letters to serial killers such as Charles Manson and Richard Ramirez asking them if he should drop out of school. These letters were all sent in 1998-1999. Now, 10 years later, “Billy” has sent responses back, thanking these insane men for their advice and how it has helped him get into law school. One particularly disturbing response from Richard Ramirez:
Bill,
Greetings. Received your letter. Glad to hear my letter to you in ‘99 made a difference. When do you graduate? Yeah, get me a subscription to Radar Magazine. What is it about? Know any Asian girls willing to correspond? Send pictures. You can photocopy 5 on 1 page or send ‘em singular. Nothing scenic though. Send some of girls in bikinis. Do you go clubbing? Seen any good movies? Saw 3:10 to Yuma the other day. It was an OK Western. Didn’t do too good at the box office though. Do you have family? I’m youngest of five. That’s all for now. Take it E/Z write when you get a chance.
Your friend,
Richard
Ramirez, or the NightStalker, is focused more on getting pictures of girls in bikinis than how he has helped Billy succeed. Other responses are equally disturbing, as they ask more about Billy’s personal life than anything else.
Check out the entire story. It is absolutely enthralling. As an added bonus, there are also letters to other famous people such as Arnold Schwarzenegger and Alan Greenspan, asking them all fairly humorous questions. Too bad most of their responses are canned and lifeless.
For the whole story, check out Radar Online.
Working on SEO projects can be difficult and time consuming, but with the right tools you can cut your research time down significantly. Firefox has made the job of the SEO expert not only easier, but more efficient at the same time. So without further ado, here is my list of the top 12 SEO Firefox extensions. Continue reading “The Top 12 SEO Firefox Extensions”
If you usually read automaticable through an RSS reader and have wondered why we’ve been so quiet lately…well, we haven’t really! Wordpress recently upgraded their software which broke our RSS feed. To be specific, the Wordpress 2.5.1 update broke all of the links pointing to our RSS feed don’t work, except /feed. Unfortunately, we’d been forwarding this to FeedBurner and Pheedo for all sorts of RSS magic. For now we’ve just disabled the FeedSmith plugin, which seems to fix it.
