The Redwood Technology Consortium is planning a Technology Conference for March, 2009. Plans are still under way, but we’re looking for speakers now. To learn more details about the event and to become a presenter at the conference, visit the RTC site. I see this as a more focused version of the old Tech Expo the RTC used to put on. It will be a one day event and will emphasize innovation and practical solutions and practices.

OK, since my birthday is one week after New Year’s I tend to conflate the two in terms of resolutions and starting anew. As each year passes I also get older, nearer the end (that is unless you subscribe to Ray Kurzweil’s theories). This makes resolutions more meaningful and pointless at the same time. So, here they are.  Check back to see how I do:

1. Quit procrastinating (oops, missed that one)

2. Make more lists of things to do so I can cross them off

3. Tell the people that I love that I love them

4. Exercise more (I’m becoming a fanatic)

5. Write more (not just blog posts)

6. Share what I write

7. Make at least 2 web sites this year that are not for clients

8. Remember what’s important (see #3)

9. Travel more

10. Be more generous

Redwood Technology Consortium board member Daria Topousis did a great job summarizing the achievements, transitions and goals of the organization in today’s Tech Beat.  She mentions that one of the highlights that the RTC community is the networking opportunities. I am excited about the new formats we will be trying this year with the luncheons and a tech conference. People may remember the RTC Tech Fairs we put on for several years. The conference will be a more focused one day event with the emphasis on sharing knowledge and experience.

One of the networking features that the RTC community continues to praise is the mailing list where tech news, information and support is shared (you don’t have to be a paid RTC member to join the list). I have a personal goal this coming year to try and use the RTC web site to offer more networking possibilities. Since this is a Drupal site there are many tools available that could be developed to make the site much more interactive. Our first step will be to do a version upgrade and some basic enhancements. But then I’d like to see us use more of the potential of the Drupal platform to help make RTC an even more vibrant community.

Technorati Tags: drupal networking, Redwood Technology Consortium

Man, it’s been a busy time at Morse Media and I haven’t had a moment to finish a full blog post. Lots of tweets, though. I hope to change that soon. Lots of backlogged draft posts and ideas. In the meantime I want to wish everyone how happens across this old blog the Merriest of Christmases and a blessed New Year.

Technorati Tags: christmas, morse media, new year, twitter

I have started using Twitter a bit more earnestly in the last couple weeks. I had put it off for along time, not really seeing the value. But now I am hooked and learning from it. I am working on a longer post about Twitter. But in the meantime here is a cool service that links you to Congresspeoples’s Twitter accounts. And this page is a list of California Senators and Representatives who don’t yet use Twitter. Come on Mike Thompson. Get yer Tweet on! Nancy Pelosi, I’m following you…

Technorati Tags: congress, mike thompson, nancy pelosi, twitter

Once again we have found ourselves working to save some web sites abandoned by their developer. What’s going on out there? Bad code, bad business practices, bad choices, really bad communication. Is it time to turn web development in to a real profession with standards and certification like doctors and lawyers and contractors? I don’t know. I certainly don’t know what the mechanisms are for creating such a system. And I certainly don’t mind helping people clean up after the mess they made (clients are always somewhat at fault in these fiascos one way or another).

But maybe there’s a market out there for salvaging sinking web projects after all. I half facetiously mentioned this in an earlier post. One commenter suggested that there is no guarantee the fixer would do nothing more than make matters worse. Of course, that’s true of any profession.

Sometimes these salvage projects have more to do with hosting services than development so that stretches into another service that may need some regulation or certification. How do you know if a company is trustworthy until things start to go really wrong? And most site owners do not have enough technical understanding to  discern a quality service at a good value from one that is not.

On a whim I registered webemts.com (for web emergency medical technicians) and stuck Drupal on there. No content yet. But it’s a whim. I’d love to hear what anyone else thinks of this idea.

Technorati Tags: fixing bad sites, web development, web hosting

Eureka Highs EAST Lab is seeking donatons of old computers for a project where they donate PCs to low income students. Here are the specifics in from the Times-Standard. Be sure you wipe your hard drives clean before dumping them anywhere.

Ars Technica churns out tech news articles faster than any service I know. And I follow ther outpout on Twitter. But sometimes they seem to just throw stuff out there without really giving much thought. Thus this article that points to a new Apple article that seems to indicate everyone should start using virus protection software (in spite of all their marketing hype that the Mac OS is invulnerable to virus attacks).The comments on the Ars Technica article are far more informative than the article itself. So, thank goodness for commentors.

Update: Looks like Apple took down the page because of the confusion it stirred up. I suppose it will replace it with a better written one.

The truth is no system is invulnerable. Some are just more so (various versions of Windows, for example). But the Mac OS has its own vulnerabilities. It’s main source of protection is still its lack of market share. No fun making a virus that attacks only 3% of the world’s computers. But as the Mac OS market share continues to grow, expect the attention by bad people to grow along with it. 8.9% market share isn’t bad

If you are looking for a free anti-virus program for Mac OS X check out ClamAVX.

Technorati Tags: anti-virus, ars technica, clamavx, mac os, market share, virus

We have a lot of troubles in this world, in this country, in this county. But I feel fortunate and am very thankful for all that I have: A home, good work, a wonderful family. I live in a beautiful area. I am healthy. I have fun friends. Man, the list goes on.

I am thankful I am not a turkey.

We like building new sites with organizations that have a vision for how to use the Internet as a full-featured communication tool. But lately we seem to also be working on many sites that have been screwed up or abandoned by other web developers. I think there might be a market out there just specializing on fixing ailing sites: The Web Doctors!

OK, it never really went away. Jan Kraepelien has been bringing his to the RTC meetings for quite a while. But the opportunity to buy one for a child, or buy 2 (one for a child and one for yourself) has returned via a promotion on Amazon. Or buy 4 and get 2 and have them talk to each other!

What a great Christmas present for the world.

Technorati Tags: Amazon, buy one, get one, OLPC, XO

Last week I took a class in mushroom identification. We hiked the Skunk Cabbage Trail in Redwood National Park. I shot a little bit of video with my new Canon HF 100. After I finally figured out how to import clips in to IMovie ‘08, I put together this little video. My wife is the videographer. But since she’s pretty much dropped that profession, I’m trying to learn a few things. So, this is my first video all on my own.

Technorati Tags: mushrooms, video

Back in the 70’s I spent a week at the Mt. Calvary  Benedictine Monastery in the hills above Santa Barbara. The Monastery stay was a wonderful, peaceful retreat during a tumultuos time in my life. No one spoke. The silence was a solace. This week the silence of the Monastery was broken by the roar of the fire and it was destroyed.

Photo credit: Sacramento Bee