http://blogs.ocmodshop.com/alan Ramblings of a dot-com mogul Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:12:05 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Ok, so September is International Talk LIke a Pirate Day.  Here's some freakin' pirate jokes! Have you heard about the new pirate movie? It?s rated AARRRRGGH! What's a pirate's favorite mode of transportation? A cAARRRR! What's a pirate's favorite letter of the alphabet? arrrr What's a pirate's favorite kind of socks? arrrrgyle What is a pirates favorite study subject? arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt. What's ... http://blogs.ocmodshop.com/alan/index.php/2008/09/jokes-for-talk-like-a-pirate-day/ I know I've been talking about it for a while, but I finally moved the OCModShop servers over to fiber. I've been getting prepared for this day for months by purchasing new hardware, server racks, firewalls, and getting the installation done, but had been taking my sweet time because I wanted ... http://blogs.ocmodshop.com/alan/index.php/2008/09/ocms-servers-moved-over/ It has been a very long time since my last post, but I've had a ton of stuff going on.  The major thing that has affected my life is the new diagnosis of my daughter, Erin.  She has been diagnosed with Fibrodisplasia Ossificans Progressiva, or FOP.  The short story is that ... http://blogs.ocmodshop.com/alan/index.php/2008/08/returning-from-hiatus/ Who uses a Real Simple Syndication (RSS) feed? Maybe the better question is how many are not using RSS feeds? Before we go any further let’s talk just briefly about what RSS is and why it’s important. Real Simple Syndication is a process that allows individuals to subscribe to content distribution. ... http://blogs.ocmodshop.com/alan/index.php/2008/07/who-uses-an-rss-feed/ The beginning of OCModShop was a hobby, and it certainly LOOKED like a hobby site.  We had some cutting-edge quality content, but the site design was severely lacking, and everyone took product photos with digital cameras that can be bested by the average 6-year-old. People will pretty much take you at ... http://blogs.ocmodshop.com/alan/index.php/2008/07/the-importance-of-quality-product-photos/ I can get excited about online marketing because I know that when used properly it can help change lives. Everyday I hear of dreams people have for business. In some cases these individuals want a magical five-step plan to get them going, but it simply doesn’t exist. If you have a dream ... http://blogs.ocmodshop.com/alan/index.php/2008/07/the-road-to-success-%e2%80%93-a-pep-talk/ Today has been all about cleaning up hard drives and organizing stuff, trying to prepare for the emminent FIOS installation.  As I'm uncluttering both my virtual and physical spaces, I'm finding lots of stuff that needs to be consolidated. I have serveral computers that are no longer in use (partly due ... http://blogs.ocmodshop.com/alan/index.php/2008/07/cleaning-up-drives/ I've been tempted on more than one occassion to host my websites at home, but up until recently there wasn't a fast enough connection to make it feasible. Cable is fine for home use, but even their business packages max out at 2Mbit upstream.  I ordered a FIOS package with 20Mbit ... http://blogs.ocmodshop.com/alan/index.php/2008/07/ordered-fios/ I had a weird task manager problem while copying files to my NAS.  When I open Task Manager to look at my network utilization, the little Taskman load bar appears in the bottom right, as expected.  But, it flickers like a bat out of hell.  Clicking and right-clicking on it ... http://blogs.ocmodshop.com/alan/index.php/2008/07/weird-task-manager-problem/ I've been working with Home Theater Computers for over 10 years.  Back in the day, a HTPC was the only way to get a progressive-scan DVD player.  There were lots of caveats, and there were no fancy 10' interfaces like there are today... it had the same usability as a ... http://blogs.ocmodshop.com/alan/index.php/2008/07/im-over-media-center/ Ad tweaking is one of those things that every dot-com mogul must do from time to time.  I spent alot of time this weekend compiling reports and running metrics on my ads to see which are effective, and which are not. I'm always trying to find a good balance between having ... http://blogs.ocmodshop.com/alan/index.php/2008/06/ad-tweaking-hot-weather/ I've been using ergonomic keyboards ever since they came out... I just can't have my hands all scrunched up on a "normal" keyboard... it's stoopid... and some of the best gaming keyboards are NOT ergonomic at all. I've been using the latest Microsoft ergonomic keyboard... it's quiet and comfortable, but there ... http://blogs.ocmodshop.com/alan/index.php/2008/06/broke-my-effing-keyboard/ We've been getting so many product review requests lately, that I frankly can't keep up with it... which is why I've brought on several new staff members to help out. There's always more high-profile stuff we would like to get our hands on (and that's becoming easier and easier), but we're ... http://blogs.ocmodshop.com/alan/index.php/2008/06/vendors-are-funny-sometimes/ This blog has been a long time coming.  Over a year ago I tried to do a blog on my main website, alanmccloskey.com... but I just never kept up with it. The idea of this blog is to give you a behind-the-scenes peek at what goes on at OCModShop.com.  In addition to ... http://blogs.ocmodshop.com/alan/index.php/2008/06/behind-the-scenes/