Since last year my friend has been raving over Redbox, $1 DVD rentals, in our local Albertsons grocery stores. Given I usually buy all my DVDs (avid collector), I didn’t try the service. Tonight I tried for the first time. You can either choose from the onscreen menu on the machine or order online in advance. I chose the latter. It was very cool because I ordered two movies, showed up at Albertsons, swiped my credit card and out popped my 2 DVDs within less than a minute.

I’d recommend Redbox.  No subscriptions, no waiting for the mail, $1 rentals, no lines and no hassles.

My friend, Garren Du, recently launched a new sports site in time for Super Bowl Madness.  Football Squares and Fan Site

Why use Rival Central for your Super Bowl Squares league?

• Create as many leagues as you want online and manage them from a single account.
• Invite league members to sign up and join your league by providing them with a League ID and League Password.
• Get your squares filled quickly, all through the internet.
• League members can log in, select and view all of their squares immediately and online.
• League Commissioners can lock the squares, assign squares to players that may not have internet access, and kick out deadbeat players.
• And the best part is - IT’S COMPLETELY FREE!

Rival Central will be your premier online sports gaming management tool. Expect player leagues to be ready in time for NCAA March Madness. More sports-related competitions will follow for popular college and professional sports. Rival Central is a competition oriented community Website. Services provided by Rival Central are for private amusement and entertainment purposes only.

Rival Central Online Sports Gaming Management

I just received this update from TWICE (This Week in Consumer Electronics) and thought I’d share - thankfully I don’t have any iPod accessories but sorry for those that may face this issue:

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At long last, my “wish list” of things I wanted in our company website have been delivered. The beauty is in its simplicity. The snapshot below shows our new Flash demo movie, illustrating how Goomzee Text Marketing For Real Estate works. We also launched an affiliate program. Approved applicants can earn commission for every visitor they refer to Goomzee.com who places an order. Check it out!

After seeing recent Pepsi Max commercials, my colleagues and I opened up that age-old discussion on why people yawn, and why is it contagious. I saw this news special and thought I’d share. Supposedly yawning cools our brain and can be prevented w/ a cold compress or by breathing through our nose which is a natural brain coolant.

Why People Yawn

Next time your friend is yawning, consider it a compliment that you really have their brain working and they need to cool it off.

Recently there has been a string of Greeting Card emails from GreetingCards.com or BlueMountain.com and they are fake.  If you click a link in the email, which looks real, it will direct you to a blank white page that states they are trying out a new browser feature and if it doesn’t appear to click the link.  It tries to run an executable file (.exe) which is a malicious virus.

For safety’s sake, you may want to delete any greeting card emails you receive right now unless you know who it’s coming from (it should say their name and not ‘a family member’ or ‘a friend’).  Safe surfing!

Sunday, 24 June is Jamie and my one year anniversary ( wedding last year ).  I may post a cool pic taken in South Beach standing atop the balcony of our hotel.  More to come…

If you haven’t yet heard all the buzz, a new play on social networking giving idea credits to sites like HotOrNot, Digg and others launched this month called Truemors.com - it is a post-anything online rumor mill that boasts features like call, text or email in your “rumors” and people can comment on, rate and share them with friends.

I personally like the “Crap” category (that had to be his idea) and in typical Guy fashion, this site is definitely turning heads. Check it out at: http://www.truemors.com

Jamie turns a quarter century (25)!  In the previous post you can see my jet and below you see my Ferrari; man I’m lucky! 

My wife Jamie on her 25th birthday “sporting” the Ferrari shirt - what a hottie! 

First I’d like to send a birthday “shout out” to my buddy Jamy Frost. He just turned the big 3-0 today so let’s all cheer! My day is coming in exactly 2 months (March 21) so I cannot tease him too much longer. Brandon is next though (Feb 15).

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The answer is likely both, but I see Verisign as a larger threat in the commerce space. For a while now, I’ve been noticing some of the aquisitions Verisign has been making and I think they are slipping in “under the radar” while so much focus is on Google. I think EBay should pay close attention to Verisign who has a very deadly set of tools and the money to go after the commerce and marketplace space. They are emerging as a leader in security, commerce, mobile and RFID which will be huge players in commerce in the future.

Notable Assets:

• Network Solutions (domain registrar and web hosting)
• Payflow Pro (payment processing and connectivity to banks)
• Verisign Security Services (SSL certs and more - trusted, secure brand)
• MonsterCommerce (hosted online storefronts w/ over 6000 stores)
• MQube (SMS aggregator and solution provider - mobile solutions)
• Jamster (mobile marketing solutions)

See the following recent press releases:

• Verisign enables mobile purchase of Coca Cola
• Verisign Mobile Services Launches College Sports Updates Via Mobile
• Verisign Aquires inCode Wireless
• Verisign’s Jamster Provides Mobile Content For Walt Disney North America
• … 2006 Press Release Archive

How can EBay compete?

I think larger companies like EBay and Yahoo! should be looking for small alliance partners (hint-hint) who can sidestep the beauracracies they have become to allow a more nimble and targeted response to competition. The M&A strategy simply adds more complexity and yet even more hoops to go through but if they co-fund R&D with smaller firms and share in service royalties, leverage their strength (brand, money and huge customer base) and the smaller firm’s strength (speed and a strong pulse on ‘happenings’), I think they would have a deadly combination.

http://www.goomzee.com

Although we are still ramping up for our local pilot before mass marketing, after only 1 week of publishing our new website, we are already #1 in Google’s natural search for

Real Estate Text Message Marketing

I was amazed at the rapid climb up the search engine “ladder” but given we’ve been in business for over 3 years and ranking high in search engines already, it further proves that when our e-commerce (stores) customers choose Goomzee, just by our linking to their site gives them a better chance of being found online.

Click the Google link above and be sure to click Goomzee’s link and learn about this exciting new service that will be available nationwide after the holidays.

Check out this virtual world.  Millions are flocking to this 3D world where you can really own land, build things and engage in commerce and education.

Second Life Virtual World

Enjoy what quite possibly will become the next YouTube phenomenon. 

http://www.goomzee.com has enhanced it’s online presence in preparation for our new product launch. More content and exciting announcements will appear both here and on the site real soon.

While living in London, I always enjoyed the comedic antics of Sacha Baron Cohen who is best known for his Ali G character.  I must admit, in the past couple months when I saw ads for the movie, Borat, I didn’t realize that it was actually him at first.  I plan to watch the movie this weekend so I can report back.

About Sacha Baron Cohen - Wikipedia

You can read more by clicking the link above and reading the Wikipedia article about him.  Enjoy!

For over 2 years, the dream of “bringing the light of wireless broadband to shadowed communities” has loomed over my buddy’s head. Well I’m proud to announce that EcliptixNet Broadband received a little light itself in the form of a $529,340.00 check. I’ve been assisting Jeff as time allows (alongside growing Goomzee) to try and help realize his dream, a wireless (wi-fi/wi-max) broadband Internet Service Provider (WISP) that offers connectivity to rural communities from Eastern Washington to Western Montana. Jeff was relentless in his pursuit, at times almost sick to his stomach knowing the opportunity but running into roadblocks along the way. I can relate.

Well as you see from the photo above, the federal grant that provides seed capital to “light up” Springdale Washington is a great first step towards realizing the dream. Jeff is a native Montanan, born and raised in Alberton Montana (30 miles west of Missoula) so he knows very well the challenges many smaller communities face, especially in this technology-driven era. Congratulations Jeff and you see persistance and true passion does come with rewards in due time.

“Good news on the MS front as well (it’s officially “public”): Both Microsoft Office System 2007 and Windows Vista have Released to Manufacturing (bits are locked and provided to reproduction facility to begin cranking out hard collateral). Huge milestone in the product lifecycle, and a catalyst for the upcoming WAVE of activity you’ll see around these two revolutionary versions of these products!! More to come - stay tuned for some MASSIVE marketing to land over the coming months. The buzz/excitement on campus is contagious. A historic moment in MS history…”

I received word today, direct from Microsoft’s campus, that the two long-awaited products, Microsoft Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 are ready. Earlier this year I received demo videos of the Office System and it’s really cool. I have actually enjoyed capabilities of both given I’m using Microsoft 2004 for Mac OSX and of course, Apple’s OSX operating system. As Goomzee’s offices run Windows, we’ll likely be upgrading to the new versions in 2007 as part of our expansion and purchase of new workstations (we’ll see).

Gresham Outlook Announcement of Shane’s Victory

It was quite the celebration as my cousin, Shane Bemis, won his mayoral campaign in Gresham Oregon. Unlike here in Montana with our senatorial campaign, his did not include the attack ads and bashing which was a breath of fresh air for “the people” and likely further secured his victory. Congrats Shane!

On the note of “attack ads” and “smear campaigns”, I’d like to take a moment and share this link: Gresham Outlook Letters to Editor - scroll down to the last post. I believe that reader’s comments sum up the voters’ point-of-view with the type of campaigning we’ve seen here in Montana with our senatorial race.

In discussing with a friend yesterday, we agreed that the race might not be so close had Jon Tester not lowered himself to Conrad Burns’ level and simply kept quiet about his opponent and focused on what he plans to do for Montana. You’ll read in that last letter that Shane did exactly that and “the people” have spoken. Great campaign! Great guy! Great leader! I’m sure the “great website” was the deciding factor, of course (ha ha) but glad I could help.

I attended the SEMA show with my friends/client, Clutch Masters, this year and it was a lot of fun. SEMA stands for Specialty Equipment Market Association (e.g. aftermarket products for automotive industry). I learned a lot more about the industry and met a lot of talented folks in the automotive industry including racers, publishers, manufacturers and marketers. Below are a couple highlight photos from the show:

E-Bay Motors had a booth set up, just like they did at CES Show for buying/selling except this one was dedicated to Autos. I also saw similar for Yahoo! - both these companies are very active at the tradeshows which is good to learn, especially for Internet technology companies that you wouldn’t expect.

Live editing booth for Speed Vision broadcasting.

Snapshot of one small section of the Central Hall

Another Central Hall snapshot.

As we were visiting Steve Oaks, Sr. of Oaks Racing, we managed to talk his model into posing in front of the Clutch Masters stickers on one of his race cars. Dozens of folks were snapping shots possibly for various magazines so likely some free press for Clutch Masters.

Michelin had a cool exhibit in the South Hall with the world’s fastest street legal cars including this one, the Bugati. Most cars were over $1 million each and a show stopper was also the McLaren F1 - a beautiful car that was suprisingly a 3-seater. The driver sits in the middle with the steering wheel and to the left and right, passengers can come along, slightly offset behind the driver - very cool!

McLaren F1 - Beautiful car and I loved the center cockpit with side passengers - I’ve never seen anything like that before.

What would a trip to Vegas be if I didn’t rub elbows with a few stars? Here I am with rapper/actor Ice-T. The second CD I ever owned (back in 1991) was actually one of his; pretty cool. Actually we ran into a lot and I even met the guys from Good Charlotte during a private party for C16 at Tao (see below) we were invited to.

Mopar booth in South Hall as we headed up escalators to the offroad section

C16 after party on Wednesday night at Tao Nightclub at the Venetian - we were invited to this private party with Good Charlotte guest dj-ing for the latter part of the night. The club had a lounge level, then dining level and the upper level where we were boasted a couple bars and massage room plus main dance area.

The main dance area had raised platforms with gogo dancers and a section that separated some VIP booths and 2 dance floors with a bathtub and throughout the night they had barely-dressed girls dancing in the tub.

On the main club level, you can go into the main dance area (prior picture) or to the massage room or back bar. This is the back bar, complete with statuettes filling the entire wall.

Ice sculpture in the back bar with the C16 logo.

Overlooking the front of Venetian and Strip. From the club, they have a balcony where you can go out (primarily for smokers I think) but we went out for some fresh air and couldn’t resist snapping a couple cool photos.

Good Charlotte was at the party and I met a couple guys. I have an autograph on the back of one of my business cards I may scan in and add to the post - we’ll see.

All-in-all, this was a very fun time and I learned a lot and got to meet with a lot of Clutch Masters’ top customers plus their race team.

Hello race fans… Just a quick note announcing that our Short Code is ready for testing/certifications with all carriers except Cingular. They should be ready later this week or early next week. Assuming our certification goes well, we’re on track to offer the service as early as mid-November but likely after the 3rd week. Stay tuned!