My life has been consumed with building my WordPress Company in Phoenix, so I apologize if this site has been dormant lately.

This blog started out three years ago as a music/photography site and then morphed into something that resembles more of a rant/opinion site. The honest truth is that I’ve been thinking about taking my personal site a launching version 3.0, but as of now I’m not sure what that looks like.

So, what that in mind, I’ll keep kicking the tires and tossing around different ideas in my head, while I spend some time thinking about it as I strive to build the best WordPress design company around. Knowing me, something will come to mind and I’ll make something happen.

Today, I finished reading Mark Cuban’s new book – How to Win at the Sport of Business: If I Can Do It, You Can Do It. It’s a good, short collection of blog posts assembled into an ebook.

Real quick, I have always been a fan of Mark Cuban and his passion. I don’t know if I agree with everything he does, but I know his actions come from passion — which I like. I met Cuban at a Suns vs. Mavericks game last March, when we sat in a section close to the Mavs bench. We went back and forth with c0mments supporting our respective teams in fun, and shook hands afterwards. We had a quick exchange about it on Twitter the next afternoon.

The new book blew me away. It may have been the best business book I’ve read in a long time — definitely check it out.

As I’ve learned from running a failed digital marketing agency with a partnership that fell apart, a company in the skateboard industry that I was forced out of and now with Marketing Press (a WordPress Design Company) it’s not enough to be good — you have to be different. You need to be different by being better.

Marketing Press needs to be better than anyone else who is competing in the same space. Better service, better product, better product knowledge and treat people better than anyone else. Not only does my company need to be better, everyone and everything that represents Marketing Press needs to be better — I need to be better and be willing to improve.

Marketing Press has come all long way in a short time. We still have places to go. In business there are no finish lines, so we push harder. Pushing, learning, improving — being different by being better. Better at our craft, better as a company, better people all around.

2012 is here. As much as I tried not to write a New Year’s post, I guess I failed because here it is.

2011 was a great year. No need to recap, but I wanted to acknowledge that it was a year of successes, failures, relationships strengthened, relationships ended and of new relationships. I couldn’t have asked for more.

Not really being one for resolutions, I wanted to publish my theme or mantra or whatever for the upcoming year: simplify. I will make 2012 simpler.

What does that mean? A simplified 2012 is one of removing things that add unnecessary stress to my life. People, places, things or whatever — if it complicates my life, I don’t want it. I don’t want it in my life or around me. Period.

I’m really good at complicating the easiest of things and this year I want that to change. Change is good. Change is scary. Change is natural. By changing this one thing in my life, I believe I will be a better friend, a nicer person, more productive and just happier. (Not that I’m not happy, but you can always try to make things better.)

So, the theme of the year: Simplify. Happy New Year everyone!

I support creative commons. There I said it, it’s official — I support creative commons.

Creative commons is a nonprofit organization that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools.

Sound simple enough, right? Here are the different types of Creative Commons licenses that you can use when publishing your creative work on the web.

• Attribution: The creator gets credit for their creation in the way they request.
• NonCommercial: The creation can be used for anything other than commercial gain.
• ShareAlike: The creator gives permission to use and/or modify their creation, as long as the newly created piece is under the same license.
• NoDerivatives: All works can be distributed, but not modified without permission.

I believe that alone, we can only go so far creatively. Without collaboration and other people pushing us to better our crafts, we will eventually get stuck.

Want the proof? (I’ve posted this video a bunch of times on Twitter and Facebook.) See what happens when 36 different videos of amateur musicians are formed into one collaboration. Mind you, each musician has performed the piece in its entirety and posted to YouTube. Then, YouTube user, Ohadi22 creatively mixed them into one video performance.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Without Creative Commons none of this is possible. Share your work under the Creative Commons license and help others elevate your creativity. Help make the world a little more creative.

It’s been almost a month since Steve Jobs passed away. Like other MAC enthusiasts and bloggers alike, I wanted to write a post about how I felt, but decided to let some time pass – until tonight.

There’s nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said. Like others, I never met the man, but I have used the products he’s had a hand in since they were introduced to the market. My earliest Apple memory was playing the basketball videogame – One on One (Dr. J vs. Larry Bird) on an Apple IIe. This post isn’t about that.

After Jobs’ passing, I was reminded of his quotes, quips, speeches and Apple ads. A television ad from 1997 known as “Here’s to the Crazy Ones” has stuck with me and struck a chord.

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

I even bought a limited edition print by Hugh Macleod commemorating these words (as seen above.)

These words inspire me, haunt me daily and honestly scare the shit out of me. My past embodies the spirit of this message. I’ve never fit in with the mainstream corporate world, so I started my own company and surrounded myself with other like-minded people. The status quo is for people who are content with mediocrity. Rules, well – they’re made to be broken and conformity has never been my strong suit.

I’m not trying to out to change the world, or to push the human race forward, but just to change my little part of the world I know as I venture into the unfamiliar.

Thank you, Steve for the reminder and the inspiration.

Sometimes I adopt technology early, sometimes admittedly I am late to the party. When Apple announce their tablet platform – I was all over it. My Apple iPad has been used in my house more than anything device. Kristina and I use it for watching Netflix, Hulu and simple web browsing. At first I thought it was the perfect device for everything.

I really liked reading on the iPad, but I found that the more the device was in demand the less I read, and this was starting to be a problem. The solution was simple: I bought a Amazon Kindle.

The price point was right, the devices are not very duplicative and I’m for anything that promotes me reading more. (I know, I know — tangible books are still an option…)

Best eReader: Kindle or iPad

Here’s a simple list of how I made my eReader decision and selected the Kindle by Amazon over the Apple iPad.

• Price: The iPad is much more than an eReader, but if that what you think you’ll use it for most – The Kindle is a better choice for the price. (Price Ranges from Amazon: Apple iPad – Amazon Kindle)

• Battery: On a full charge the iPad lasts about 10 hours, where the Kindle’s full battery has a life of 30 days. This is largely due to no backlight on most Kindle models.

• Lighting: As mentioned above, the Kindle does not have a backlight which means you’ll either have to buy a cover with a book light or read with light. The iPad is backlit – which after hours of use really hurt my eyes.

• eBook Availability: This wasn’t really a factor because a Kindle app is available for the iPad, but as far as selection the Kindle eBook Store has more titles. I found myself buying Kindle books for my Apple device and using the app more than Apple’s iReader. (As I was warned before I purchased the Kindle – beware of Amazon’s one-click checkout…it adds up quickly.)

From there it was a real simple decision — I bought the Kindle and absolutely love it. The ease on the eyes, the availability of book titles and the low price all factored in my decision. I think I made the right choice, even if I was a late adopter to the Kindle.

What’s your preference for eReaders? Kindle, iPad, Nook…anything else out there not mentioned?

Winding down my last full day in NJ/NYC I wanted to check out the Occupy Wall Street demonstration, protests or assembly (not really sure what the official term is.)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, Occupy Wall Street is an ongoing demonstration in NYC (a has since spread to multiple cities) in Zucotti Park, near Wall St. The participants are mainly protesting social and economic inequality, corporate greed, as well as the power and influence of corporations, particularly from the financial service sector, and lobbyists over government. [taken from Occupy Wall Street Wikipedia entry]

Armed with limited information, since mainstream media coverage has been scarce, I wanted to see what was really going on and experience things first hand and publish some thoughts and observations.

Occupy Wall Street Observations

• Demonstration Message: As I approached the park, I grew confused. People were holding signs and chanting about lobbyists, corporate greed, being the 99% of people who don’t possess the 1% of wealth, police brutality, legalization of marijuana, ethical treatment of animals and racism. I thought corporate greed and jobs were the main point – but other issues are also on the agenda.

• Overall Demeanor of Protesters: I found all the protesters willing to answer questions from the public in a respectful manner. No one I encountered was aggressive, rude or anything of the like. I’ve heard reports of open drug use from the protesters. We did see a number of park inhabitants openly smoking pot in the park. To me, no big deal – that happens in every park, in every city.

• State of Zucotti Park: The park and sidewalks are filled with trash. The NYC Parks Department are unable to maintain their routine sanitation schedule due to people living in the park. Moving forward, this will be a problem.

• NYC Police: There is a heavy presence of NYC police. I did not see police interacting with the crowd at all. The police I saw were all on the other side of the street keeping a watchful eye on the gathering.

• Protesters: The makeup of the Occupy Wall Street protesters is extremely diverse. Drum banging hippies, that reminded me more of a Grateful Dead parking lot than an economical protest to people donning the attire and goods from the big corporations they’re protesting. Everyone seemed very peaceful, and I didn’t get the feeling that any individuals were looking to start trouble – they are looking to be heard.

This movement is sticky and people are organizing similar rallies across the country, but will there be change – I don’t know. I think what’s missing (at least from my experience) is a lack of a unified voice. No one really knows what they want, no one can decipher what’s the agenda and how and protest can make a difference.

(For more photos from our day visit Kevin Eberle’s Occupy Wall Street photos)

I have never been a fan of Arizona Foothills Magazine Best of The Valley popularity contest disguised as Awards, but today Visionyard Studios Photography took things to a new low. They are actually scamming the Arizona Foothills Magazine Best of The Valley  Best Photographer- Weddings category by having a contest that reward the individuals that vote the most with cash. Seriously, if they win this award – Tim Stansell & Visionyard Studios Photography is a scam.

I have no dog in this fight, I’m just pointing out Tim Stansell & Visionyard Photography trying to game the system.

If your work is good, and I’m not saying Visionyard Photography doesn’t produce good work, you’d think you would be confident in winning on your own merits, not by cheating. I can’t believe Arizona Foothills Magazine (a publication I consider credible until today – see note at bottom) hasn’t put a stop to this voting scam.

The funny thing is – I guess this voting scam works. Visionyard Studios Photography has won awards similar awards to Arizona Foothill’s Best of The Valley (or did they pay off voters there also) as it says on their site.

I can see why a company would want to win Arizona Foothills’ Best of The Valley Award for Best Wedding Photographer. It could mean a spike in business with more bookings, more revenue and maybe even a cool little badge on their website, but to go ahead and buy votes seems rather low brow. I’m not sure if this is something I’d want to see out of Best of The Valley  Best Photographer- Weddings award recipient or someone I’d hire.

To Tim Stansell, Visionyard Studios Photography and eveyone associated with this charade – I’m blown by this scam tactic, try winning honestly.

[NOTE: This article was brought to the attention of Arizona Foothills Magazine twice. It was posted on their  Facebook wall along with some discussion about the Best of The Valley pay for votes problem. Arizona Foothills Magazine deleted all comments and the corresponding link, which leads me to believe that Arizona Foothills Magazine endorses the Visionyard Studios Photography voting scam.]

[Note 2: Visionyard Studios Photography has issued a statement through a Facebook status update and withdrew from the Best of The Valley contest. Please read their comment below or view their Facebook page.]

The Great Arizona Haboob

I’ve lived in Arizona for 15 years now. That’s 15 years of heat, amazing winter weather, monsoons and whatever else Mother Nature has blessed our Sonoran Desert with. Occasionally, we even have dust storms, where the wind blows dust hard and covers everything in its path.

So, for 15 years now I’ve experienced the forces of Mother Nature but something happened this year. 2011 is the first year I’ve ever heard dust storms called – Haboobs.

WTF is a Haboob

Who the hell came up with this term? More importantly, why are we just calling dust storms Haboobs now? Hurricanes have always been hurricanes, tornados have always been tornados and monsoons have always been called monsoons – where did this term come from?

So this is what happens now in Arizona: the wind picks up and dust blows and people (the news is especially guilty) start saying here come another Haboob. Huh? Really?

I know Haboob is not a new word. Haboob is an Arabic for strong winds. Haboobs probably date back to when Moses walked through the desert, but why are we just using this term now? I just don’t get it…

Sometimes it's time to take out the trash

I always hated when my mother told me take out the trash. It was always the worst thing in the world to do at the moment. Now, taking out the trash both literally and figuratively can be quite cathartic.

Think about what’s in the trash. Typically, trash consists of either garbage or items you no longer want or need. Trash can also be toxic, and why would you want anything like that around you.

Don’t get me wrong – people, relationships and situations can also be toxic. Just like when you take out the trash, these situations should be dealt with appropriately. Life is too short to be around or with people who don’t bring the best out of you.

Be done, get out – take out the trash, and see how much happier and productive you can be. C’est La Vie…Peace.