My cousin Shane is running for Mayor of Gresham Oregon. Gresham is a suburb of Portland and Oregon’s 4th largest city. I agreed to contribute to the campaign by designing and building/publishing his campaign website: shanebemisformayor.com.

If you are a resident of Gresham, or interested in following the campaign for the November 7 election, please take a moment to visit the site.

Thanks for your support!

The new Goomzee service, LeadsByCell, will be launching sooner than expected. We have been approved by 5 of the top 10 US wireless carriers already and only await the remaining 5 before fully testing our short code and system. Furthermore, we worked out some issues with our billing system and will be leveraging the same for both services (hosted e-commerce stores and leadsbycell subscriptions).

When we launch, we’ll support text messaging with the following carriers:

• Cingular (orange)
• Cingular (blue)
• Verizon
• Sprint
• Alltel
• T-Mobile
• Virgin Mobile
• US Cellular
• Boost Mobile
• Nextel
• Dobson

I was a little concerned that smaller towns that dont have these carriers would not be able to benefit from our services but have ran tests with some rural providers and it looks like they leverage the national providers’ networks. When we launch, we should have true nationwide reach .

To learn more, feel free to visit our site as we continue to develop the design, content and integrate all our systems in preparation for launch. Feedback is always welcome.

Well tonight I’ll be meeting up with my “mates” for a last evening on the town. We have made leaps and bounds this week and made a lot of key decisions to progress things on the right path. Perhaps I’ll have some photos of some of the chaps from this evening to post, and then get a little sleep so I have time to do a little more shopping and fly out on Saturday. I’ll be back to Montana very late Saturday night and back online Sunday-Monday.

Myself, Mohammed (a.k.a. ‘The Count’), Dan and his co-workers out on the town.

Walking around the city at night, I thought this building was worth capturing a photo of. I like the mix of old and new throughout.

A sign while walking back to my hotel from Old Street Station. Mind the shakiness but I though it actually applied with this photo. This makes you wonder where Old Street got its name doesn’t it?

This evening I attended the play, Mama Mia, in London’s Prince of Wales theater. It was a remarkable show and I was amazed at how simple the set, yet how functional it was merely by piviting a couple walls or raising a section of floor could be. Furthermore, the intertwining of ABBA songs into the actual story was amazing on how applicable they were.

I would highly recommend taking in this show as it’s great entertainment and a great story. You’ll laugh and find yourself singing and clapping along and the finale is very energetic. I think when I return to the states, Jamie and I will have to attend a Mama Mia show either in New York or if possible, San Francisco. It would fun to see the differences “across the pond”.

View from my seat at Prince of Wales Theater in London. We couldn’t take photos during the production so I snapped a quick photo of the stage. It was a great show.

If I find time amongst my hectic schedule, I’ll try to also attend Chicago. I saw on the marquis that Ashlee Simpson is starring in the production here in London and that would be a treat to see - keep y’all posted if I make time for that before returning to the states this weekend.

My friend Josh Wagner, network admin for CTG and famed author of the Periphery Stowe series, recently inquired about RSS feeds. I thought I would take a moment to publish an article on RSS and how to create your own. In my example, I wrote the syntax in PHP but you could easily translate this logic to any programming or scripting language.

RSS feeds are rather simple and standardized format for listing articles.

CREATING YOUR OWN RSS FEED:

(more…)

Well thank goodness I’m not in Italy right now, or my flight may not be able to return to the United States. If you haven’t heard, the temporary passenger information sharing between the US and EU has expired and EU nations are hesitant to renew or agree for longer terms. UK has issued a temporary waiver to airlines on legal privacy suit claims as things are worked out so I’m sure I’ll have no problem flying back.

I arrived yesterday (Saturday) and of course connected first, purchased a phone and prepaid minutes and loaded all my local contacts. I took a nap for a spell and then forced myself to stay awake to get used to UK hours. My old stomping ground was in the Westminster Borough (both north and south of Thames) so I learned the local bus routes to get me to Tottingham Court Road, walking distance to SOHO and Leceister Square. Here are a couple photos I took last night while wandering around, eating kebab and stopping for a pint of Guiness at my favorite Irish pub, Waxy O’ Conner.

Where I’m staying in relation to the city:

Where I’m staying. Cheesy but actually I’m posting this so when I don’t have Internet access, I can get my bearings. Thanks Google for the great map service. google.co.uk here.

Small single room at Thistle City Barbicon. The hotel I usually stay at was booked but rooms are much smaller in most European and Asian hotels. I’m still gaining my bearing on where I’m at for efficient travel, walking and taking bus to SOHO last night, then walking and taking “the tube” (London Underground) back.

Waxy O’ Conner is famous for its many rooms and levels, plus the tree in the middle. My first night ever in London (2002) I met with a colleague who took me here. It’s been my staple venue each visit and whenever showing people around.

There are always “hen parties” and “stag parties” (bachelor/bachelorette) on the weekends so you see people in crazy dress. Darin claims it boasts one of the best pints of Guiness he’s had (saying a lot when you hear how much he brags up Sean Kelly’s in Missoula).

Leiceister Square is a tourist trap and boasts theaters on every corner. It is very central to venture off to SOHO, Picadilly Circus and museums and Trafalgar Square (next pic). The Empire theater (on the left) is often where movie premiers occur in London. Back when I lived here it was not uncommon to see the red carpet rolled out and movie stars signing autographs for crazed fans.

Trafalgar Square London by night. I also walked along the Thames and saw my old flat near the London Eye. I jumped on Embankment tube station, connected at Monument and took the Northern Line to Old Street which was a few minutes’ walk from my hotel. I went in about every wrong direction upon exiting the station but finally figured out which direction I was heading.

I’m off to do some shopping today (Sunday) and get a little Goomzee and LeadsByCell work finished and prepare for my work tomorrow. I’ll be working at Audrey House on Ely Place:

Where I will be working this week while in London. I also have meetings in the area and of course, some dinner/drinks and spreading Montana cheer throughout England.