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August 21, 2010 - August 21 is National Spumoni Day. Did you know that? I seriously doubt it. But who cares? It's an entire day to celebrate Spumoni! If you don't know what Spumoni is, check out the Wikipedia page. Better yet, let me explain why you should care about Spumoni in the first place. Today marks the grand opening of sorts for Spumoni Press, a book publishing/web development/technology company in Baltimore. Right now, it's a couple of guys who share the same ideas about books, websites and, most importantly, ice cream. OK, true, one of the guys is lactose intolerant, but deep down, he loves ice cream, I'm certain. Anyway, back to the important stuff. We're having a contest here. The winner receives a $50 Discover gift card. Entering this contest is about as simple as turning on your computer.

August 18, 2010 - I know I've said this before, but I am getting closer to publishing my new book, "Corporate Ties." There was a bit of foundation work that I needed to construct, edit, tear apart, rebuild, pulverize, stack up, decimate and recompile. Well, the good news is that I'm getting closer to the end. How do I know this? There seems to be a light at the end of each paragraph now.

  In the meantime, I've rebuilt the website and hope to give more updates as we progress toward the actual publication date. Also, there is going to be a BIG announcement on August 21, so stay tuned for it. Let's just say that you are in for a cold treat ...

August 10, 2010 - Google recently made a mildly surprising announcement (at least, to me) that the company is shutting down its online collaboration tool, Wave. Google does a lot of cool, neat and worthy stuff obviously, and I think Wave fits into this category. It's just that the actual marketing of it was rather peculiar.

  First, I've seen a number of stories that claim that Google claimed Wave was supposed to be Facebook, Twitter, email, the Internet and Elton John all wrapped into one. With the exception of "Crocodile Rock" being a decent but annoying Wave theme song, Wave should have never been positioned like that.

July 09, 2010 - The definition of "friend" has been watered down a bit with the advent of online social networking. It seems that now, your friend might be someone with whom you've never met, even someone with whom you've never communicated, with the exception of a simple button click on a website. This can be a good way to meet people, but it's a bit weird to call a person a friend when it's quite possible the individual on the other side could be an enemy, a fish or a hat.

June 01, 2010 - By now, I'm sure that everyone and his or her dog (assuming said dog is on DogBook) has heard the hubbub relating to new Facebook privacy policies. I have to be honest: I haven't read every single story about it, primarily because I don't intentionally publish stuff online that should be private. In general, people rarely read terms and conditions before signing up for something online, but hopefully now, people will check out Facebook's privacy terms and decide whether or not they want to keep their account.

  But what if Facebook, or another entity that allowed you to share info with friends, family and strangers, wasn't so helpful and didn't allow you to opt-out of things you don't want?

May 26, 2010 - As you have probably noticed, I haven't been writing as much on here lately. There is a reason for that: There are a few exciting things in the works over here, but I cannot divulge all of the information yet. Let's just say that besides a new book coming out, there's an entire foundation behind it, meaning a real publishing company (with books from people other than me!). We're still working out all of details, so I'll keep you posted!

April 28, 2010 - While the United States Post Office seems to be losing money each month, at least one Baltimore branch has decided to take matters in its own hands - by charging extra postage at random intervals.

The Waverly branch of the Baltimore United States Post Office charges an additional 17-44 cents for an article of mail that can be sent from the USPS Hampden branch for just 44 cents. It's pretty shocking that one would receive a different rate from various post office branches. Before compiling this story, I had to check with my own eyes to make certain this was accurate.

April 07, 2010 - The governor of Kentucky has decided to take on the online gambling industry himself. He has decided to sue the owners of the Full Tilt Poker website to recover losses incurred by Kentuckians.

March 22, 2010 - Twitter may have seemed like a new idea when it was launched a couple of years ago, but it wasn't. Check out this Robot Messenger that was used in 1935 at public places in London. For a fee, users could write a message on the "notificator," which would be visible for at least two hours. At least with Twitter now, your friends aren't lost after two hours!

March 11, 2010 - For no reason whatsoever, I've decided to over "The Developers" for a buck on the Kindle this month. I tried to offer it free, but the lowest I could go was a dollar. Anyway, if you have a Kindle, check it out!

February 14, 2010 - For those of you who have been following my literary agent list, you know that I've contacted a boatload of agents. Although some of given "Corporate Ties" favorable responses, I have not obtained an agent.

  Well, it's now time to move ahead without one.

February 02, 2010 - OK, technically speaking, I am a human being. But my friend, co-worker and "Corporate Ties" cover designer, Sean O'Connor, has constructed a robot in my likeness.

  All right, I guess "constructed" isn't the right word, as he hasn't built the robot (at least, not yet), but he has created a fair number of robot friends at the appropriately named site, my robot friends. Most of the mechanical inventions are based on O'Connor's friends, but he occasionally throws in a Santa Claus, Abraham Lincoln and so forth.

January 19, 2010 - When entire countries decide that your browser is a security risk, that's probably not good news for your company. That's the case with Microsoft and Internet Explorer, as French and German governments are recommending their people to use safer alternatives to IE.

January 17, 2010 - In the current state of the U.S. economy, it's pretty difficult to avoid being laid off, fired or, for whatever reason, not having a job for a certain period of time. True, sometimes the employee is entirely to blame for his/her predicament, but more often than that, a company is trying to consolidate, move offices or, in general, save money against the bottom line. Many times, those doing the actual firing and layoffs have to make decisions they would prefer to ignore, yet they have no choice.

  Enter Chester Burger's book "Creative Firing: Why Management Firings Happen - and How to Reduce Them." This book runs through the gamut of upper management decisions and how to maintain some control and honor throughout the endeavor. I've read many a business book, and even though this book was published in 1972, nearly every principle still applies.

January 16, 2010 - As I attempt to find an agency to pitch my new book, I thought it might be a good idea to list some of the agents I have contacted. At this stage, I've run into issues where companies have listed communication methods, but they don't seem to follow through. I hope that my list will save the time of others who are attempting to find representation.

January 07, 2010 - During the past couple of days, I've been taking mini-breaks to read Basketbawful, a blog about the worst of the worst in the NBA. If you know me, you're probably wondering why I would be reading this, considering that I follow college basketball exclusively, not the NBA, the NBA development league, European leagues, Upward basketball, etc. If you don't know me, I'm not sure how you ended up on this site, but feel free to look around and DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING.

  The site author has a running story called "Livin' Large," which, for all intensive purposes, is a coming-of-age story set a few dorm rooms down from where my college experience began. It's a great story, and I will admit that maybe I think it's so great because it's easy for me to relate. Nevertheless, I'd recommend that you check it out.

December 19, 2009 - As a writer, I am usually sitting on a few mildly interesting ideas for books, articles, etc. Last year, I wanted to create a children's book about the winter holidays, but I wanted to avoid writing about Christmas or any specific religious holiday. It occurred to me that I should write about animals, especially since my current pets do not seem to worship anything other than food. I'm considering publishing "The Animal Holiday Party" at some point, but for now, I thought I'd offer it in PDF format for anyone interested in reading. Also, the cover art was designed by online comic legend Brad Samuelson. You may know him from his comic strip AsTheGrassGrows.

December 17, 2009 - In the past, we've seen an octopus blend in with rocks, run on the ocean floor and solve a maze. That's not all they can do. Apparently, some octopuses pick up coconut shells and hide in them, the first evidence of an invertebrate using tools.

December 07, 2009 - Wow, I just realized how far behind I was in posting tidbits about good local writers. I met author Mohamed Mughal last year at a writers' conference, and we shared opinions and the like on our writings. He is a self-proclaimed literary cubist, and he's in the process of finishing his second novel, "Christmas in Mecca:  A Cubist Novel in the Existential, Absurdist Tradition of Canonical Literature, Squeezed from the Eternal Consciousness of Adam Hueghlomm." Anyway, HarfordNeighbors.net recently interviewed Mughal, so find out more about his writings on that website.

December 03, 2009 - Microsoft continues its march toward competing with Google by launching Bing Maps. I took it for a quick test run, and in general, it's pretty comparable to Google Maps. There's hardly a discernible difference between the two, honestly. You can change routes pretty easily, look for local businesses and email links to friends. Probably the strangest thing I noticed, however, is that the base URL turns into bing.com/maps, instead of remaining maps.bing.com. I'm not really sure why they wouldn't just use the subdomain for the entire maps site. I didn't notice any features that really distinguished Bing from Google, so unless a reason to switch arises, I'll stick with Google Maps.

November 25, 2009 - Sitting in front of screen all day is not healthy. Well, if it were a screen door, that might not be too bad, but we're talking about a computer screen. In fact, just sitting all day isn't healthy, either. Let's face it: Do you think the colonies would have won the American Revolution by lounging and playing World of Warcraft all day?

November 18, 2009 - Aren't you curious about this quirky lady, and the parrot that rides on the top of her hat?

That's Maurice, and his antics cause a few problems in the story. Mrs. Annathena Gilly Gully from Puddle Rumple Tilly Willy by Chellis Jensen, talks about teasing and name calling, and how two generations finally come together. It is written for children 7- to 9-year-olds, and has already been approved enthusiastically by hundreds of children, their teachers and parents. The story is available in both book and CD, plus a song “We Might Even Get To Be Friends”.

November 05, 2009 - If you are currently transmitting secret operations to take over the world via email, think again! A federal judge in Oregon ruled recently that the government can take a look at your email without any notice.

November 02, 2009 - I'm still experiencing a bit of a holdup on releasing my new book, Corporate Ties," for a number of reasons. The biggest, though, is that I want the book to be super awesome and not cause too many issues, which of course, is causing a delay. In the meantime, I've picked up a bit with the marketing side. I've enlisted two graphic designers to assist me with artwork for the book.

Designer Brad Samuelson, who is also the creator of the online comic "As the Grass Grows," has begun creating icons for the beginning of each chapter. I've included a few below. Also, I'm working with designer Sean O'Connor, creator of my robot friends, to create a new cover for the book. It should be a fun couple of months preparing the book, but I'm ready to put it on the shelves ASAP!

October 30, 2009 - As a writer of workplace novels, I try to stay up on the latest and greatest new business books that are out there. There is generally a clear distinction between self-help and narratives, but I do not think it always has to be like that. Enter author Lisa Robyn, who has recently released her newest title, "The Corporate Dominatrix: Six Roles to Play to Get Your Way at Work." From the website, the book "shows women how to role-play their way to success by employing the tactics of the six mistress archetypes of The Corporate Dominatrix: Goddess, Queen, Amazon, Governess, Nurse, and Schoolgirl."

October 09, 2009 - I'm sitting in my cube right now, wearing shorts, a T-shirt and tennis shoes. On the other side of the sensibility coin, analyst firm Gartner is predicting that avatars will have business dress codes by 2013. How do people come up with this stuff?

October 04, 2009 - The Library of Congress is up to its old tricks again. Chronicling America has a number of scanned newspapers from 1880 to 1922 from various American states. The site, which is sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities as part of the National Digital Newspaper Program, allows users to search based on topics and zoom in to read papers from the more than 100 years ago.

October 04, 2009 - A co-worker recently sent me a link to Life's list of 30 Dumb Inventions. I'd say there are probably more than 30, but this list is pretty good. I will admit, though, that I'm a big fan of the flying platform. I could use one of these as a substitute for city driving!

September 25, 2009 - I plan to attend the 2009 edition of the Baltimore Book Festival ... as a customer, though, not as a vendor. But I still feel as if I should be more a part of the action. So, for the rest of September, I decided to give away a few copies of my workplace humor novel, "The Developers," in conjunction with raising money for Southwest Baltimore Charter School. The school is currently selling ChicoBags, which are reusable shopping bags (and for what it's worth, we're selling the purple version). The bags cost $5, and with each purchase, I'm throwing in a copy of my book. Anyway, if you are out of town and interested, I'll just add $2 for shipping. Send me your address, and I'll send you bag+book.

September 20, 2009 - As a knockoff of my literary agent list, I have decided to supply you with the short list of publishers I have contacted for my latest book venture. After querying agencies for a few months, I started contacting more mid-range publishers with the hopes of avoiding agencies altogether. This is not to say that bypassing an agent is beneficial to everyone; I think it's worthwhile in my case for a few reasons.