WOOHOO!!!!

I got the idea for this post from Bob’s post on the same topic. I really enjoyed reading his post and looking at his past workstations and how they has evolved over the years. Call me nosy if you wish!

So here we are, doing my version of the same post. I got my first computer way back in 1998 as a Christmas gift. At that time, I barely even knew how to turn it on, but I knew I loved technology and wanted to learn as much about computers as I could. Within a year or two, I was already working on websites so I needed a workstation. Below are the photos I was able to find of my workstation then, now and everything between!

This is the earliest photo I have of my workstation, dated sometime in 2001. This was the first computer desk I ever purchased and it worked pretty well for my needs at that time. Needless to say, that audio system could pump out some bass! This was when I still lived at home with my parents.

Here we have my “workstation” in college… sorta. You can see some of my main system in the background, but the majority of my time my freshman year was spent in my girlfriend’s dorm room, so I did all of my website work on this laptop.

This is the next workstation in my photo collection. This photo was from when I lived at Stephanie’s house during the summer of 2004 between spring and fall semesters. Kim and I didn’t have a place to stay that summer so Steph offered to let us stay with her.

This was my first setup after I got married and was living in the married student housing on campus. There is a futon on the right where you could lay and watch TV when you weren’t on the computer.

I ended up moving the futon out of the computer room so I could add another table and have my own workstation again. There simply wasn’t enough space at the other desk. I also made the switch from CRT to LCD monitors, which saved a ton of space. This particular photo shots my external watercooling case that I constructed from a Silverstone SFF chassis.

This was my workstation at my old apartment in Oxford. As you can see, there is plenty of desk space, which allowed me to get a lot done. I think my days at that apartment were the most productive… of course, that could be because I was no longer in school.

And finally, my current workstation. I got this desk from Keith when I moved - my first real “computer” desk since 2001. I had been using folding tables since that first desk because they were easy to transport and offered a ton of real estate.

And there you have it. Feel free to post links to your workstations, as I love to check out other people’s setups

The University of Mississippi will play host to the first Presidential Debate this Friday at 8:00 p.m. I am not the least bit into politics, but I will be tuning in to watch the debate, since it is being held in Oxford at Ole Miss, a place I called home for over four years.

The debate will be held at the Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts, a six story facility with floor space of 88,000 square feet. The building is being modified this week to fit the debate stage, which required workers to remove several rows of seats at the front of the auditorium.

The local news media has been talking about the event for the past few weeks, and rightfully so. This is an absolutely huge event for the university, a once-in-a-lifetime event that I am sure they have spent countless hours planning for. Security around the Ford Center has been tight from what I have heard, with Secret Service members already on campus.

Will any of you be watching the debate?

Many of us focus 100% of our marketing efforts in the online venue, but it is equally as important to build your brand and get your name known offline as well. Whether you realize it or not, there are a ton of offline promotional ideas out there. Some can be a bit more expensive than others, like t-shirts for example. But, you can still find some excellent promotional items for next to nothing - enter BICPromoPens.com.

The team over at BICPromoPens.com specialize in one thing - yep, you guessed it: BIC promotional pens! Promotional pens are a very cost-efficient way to advertise nearly anything - your business (both online and offline), blogs, or just about any other service or product that you can think of. Unlike a business card, a flyer or an ad in the yellow pages, useful items like pens and t-shirts won’t be tossed in the garbage and will be used frequently… each time, reminding the user of your business / product!

BICPromoPens.com sent over 20 of the BIC Tri Stic Promotional Pens you see above. Like all of their pens, you can customize it by specifying the trim and barrel color, as well as adding up to four lines of text. This style of pen can be had for as little as $.54 each!

Next up is the Brite Liner Grip Highlighter, again, fully customizable with four lines for your message and of course, your choice of ink color. These highlighters start at $94.each, with bulk orders receiving a nice discount!

If you have a bit of a bigger budget or want to really impress and showcase yourself as a professional, the BIC Executive Carbon Fiber Pen is what you are looking for. This is an extremely high-quality pen and it writes just as elegantly as it looks! This will certainly be replacing my current pen for use at my desk.

BICPromoPens.com even included this nice Polo style shirt! Talk about a complete package - I won’t need to purchase another pen for a very long time… well, that is until I order some for my tech site and this blog.

Founded in 1945, BIC has stood the test of time and are the most well know pen manufacturers in the world, so you know they offer a quality product. If you are in need of some offline marketing material and are on a budget, I would certainly recommend you check out BICPromoPens.com. They have literally hundreds of different models and styles of pens to choose from!

The only question that remains… is, what am I going to do with all of these pens?

= Kill Yourself!!!

This has got to be the dumbest show ever imagined. Josh and I watched this show last weekend and I couldn’t help but make fun of it from start to finished. I mean, seriously, have the television producers of America simply run out of ideas and are taking suggestions from Kindergarten students? How can anyone seriously watch this show and find it remotely interesting? It’s just F*ing stupid!!! I’d rather sit in Time-Out with my nose on the chalk board!

“OMGGG!!!1one, will he make it through THE HOLE??!!!!1 I’m on the edge of my seat to see if the fat American can fit through THE HOLE IN THE WALL!!! ”

Seriously, the only thing to lure viewers (short of taking this show off the air) would be putting the host on air naked!

Dumbest show ever and it makes me embarrassed to be an American citizen.

I booked my hotel room for the 2009 Consumer Electronics Show way back in May. At that point, everything seemed to be on track for another eventful week in Las Vegas come January. But now, I am not so sure we will be making the annual trip. Here’s why.

Since being on the Dave Ramsey plan, I have come to realize how valuable money really is. In 2007, I put the entire price of our hotel on a credit card. I didn’t think twice about it then but looking back, yeah, not a good idea. And now that I refuse to use credit cards anymore, that is no longer an option. BTW, keep in mind that Vegas hotels jack the price of rooms by as much as 4x the normal rates during CES week, so it gets very expensive.

Besides that, I checked airline prices last week and discovered prices had increased over $300 from last year! I also need to budget for food which is pretty spendy as well, especially if you don’t want to eat fast food every day. Can you tell this is already getting extremely expensive?

Next I have to factor in my current situation here at home. Since I moved back in July, living expenses have increased a bit - a fair trade-off most certainly, but that means more money going out each month.

So really, it all comes down to money and trying to justify spending that much money to make it happen. Our first year was certainly well worth the money spent, as it really got my foot into the door and I met a bunch of really great people, etc. Last year, I really don’t think I accomplished too much in terms of making new contacts, meeting potential sponsors, etc. My plan for this year, however, is (was?) to connect with companies we currently do not work with yet, thus making the whole trip worthwhile in the long run.

But, all hope is not lost. I have pretty much ruled out doing the hotel thing, but it may be possible that we could stay with our friend Joe again, like we did in 2007. Joe lives about 20-30 minutes from the Vegas strip, which means we would be limited with how much time we can spend out each day covering the show and more importantly, attending press events and late-night parties. The benefit here, of course, is there are no overpriced hotel fees, which then puts the trip back into the do-able column in terms of money.

So right now, I’m unsure what I am going to do but I plan to make a decision before the end of the month.

I’ve been meaning to post up the latest addition to the Show Us Your OCIA.net Shirt for a few weeks now but I kept forgetting because I originally saved these photos on my laptop - oops!

I sent over a shirt to Monica from Monica Durazo dot com and she was nice enough to model them for me. Monica, a self-proclaimed MILF, got her start online as the host of Top Affiliate Challenge, a web-based reality show focused on affiliate marketing. During the show, she paired up with John Chow and started her own blog. Monica has since kept up with her blog and I would suggest checking it out - good stuffs

Don’t forget, I am still running my t-shirt promotion! If you purchase a shirt, take a picture of yourself wearing it and post it on your blog, I will give you a FREE link back and also send you $5 via Paypal to help cover the expenses (shirts are only $12.99 each)! So, you get a cool t-shirt and a free link back all for just $7.99 !

One of the biggest issues with working for yourself is staying focused. Since you make your own schedule and work at your own pace, it is extremely easy to veer off course and before you know it, things aren’t getting accomplished.

Before I moved back close to my home town, I had no problem getting things done. All of my friends lived an hour away or more, so it was very easy to find time to accomplish things since there were no distractions during the day. I even found myself taking on more work than usual simply to occupy time.

Now that I am back in town and closer to everyone, I am finding that I have less free time to get work done. This is not a bad thing on the surface, as I love hanging out with everyone and catching up on time missed, since I was away for about five years total. But on the business end, it can be more difficult.

There are a few things, however, to help combat this that I have been doing. Here are just a few:

- Make a schedule, set goals and stick to them. Roughly planning out your entire day is a great start and something that most everyone should do. Plan for big events and know that you will be away from the office at those times. Tell yourself that you want to work X number of hours per day and actually do it!

- Work at night. If you are a night owl like myself, you will have no problem with this one. Things usually settle down at night and friends are either asleep or at work, so there is plenty of free time to concentrate on work.

- Turn the TV off! It’s almost impossible to get anything done with the TV on in the background, because odds are, you will find something interesting on and stop working all together. Using a DVR is a great way to record shows that you do want to watch and set them aside to watch during your designated leisure time.

- If you can’t find much time at night or are too tired, do a little work here and there during the day. Take a laptop or note pad with you and get some writing done here and there, check and reply to emails or make blog posts.

- Just say no! Sometimes, work is just more important and you will have to take a rain check on hanging out, going out to a movie or to dinner with friends, etc. It’s ok - your friends won’t hate you!

Like I said, these are just a few things to help keep you on track. Remember, at the end of the day, time equals money and success… so if you aren’t where you want to be or well on your way, perhaps you need to be more focused and invest some more time to get there

Houston Nutt, that is. The new Ole Miss football coach kicked things off in style Saturday night against the local rival Memphis Tigers. I have been looking forward to the start of college football season… oh, about 8-9 months now! 2008 looks to be the year that Ole Miss turns things around with a new head coach, a new quarterback in Texas transfer Jevan Sneed as well as a fine supporting cast on both the offense and defense.

Josh and I took the hour-long trip to Oxford to check out the season opener. As anticipated, Nutt’s Ole Miss team put a hurting on the lowly Tigers, resulting in a 41-24 win for the Rebs. Below are a few photos and videos from the game.

Memphis trying to execute a trick play.

The new 6 million dollar video screen, the largest true HD screen in the SEC.

Looks even better at night!

For reference, the old screen. Talk about a major improvement!

An HDR photo I took of the stadium.

Keith, Matt and I went out to the Memphis Motorsports Park last night. Since Matt’s visit back in March, he has added a few more upgrades and we were all curious to see how his car was going to run.

His first two runs were all-motor, with a best of 12.33 @ 111.19 MPH. On his last run, he sprayed a baby 65 shot of nitrous which made a huge difference. See the video below…