General » foyleman

subs down

Apr 242008

I noticed today that the subscriptions on MODSonline.com are on the decline. They held steady for a year but not any longer. It concerns me that we have to rely more on advertising to pay the bills as I always thing that the advertising could just pull out one day and leave us hanging there.

So, what do we do to increase the membership on the site? Do we run a special contest for subscribing members only? Do I program new features for the site that only the members can access? hmmm… I need suggestions.

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personal survey

General No Responses »

Apr 222008

So, I have a question to ask but I don’t know if it’s safe to ask it.

I’ve had this online service idea rattling around in my head for a few years now. I’ve written some notes and prepped the scene on getting it going, but now I’ve come to a point that I might need help. I either have to learn a new programming language or I have to hire someone else to do it. Since my time is short due to other projects, I decided to persue the latter.

Today I got a quote for the work to be done and it’s twice what I can afford. I am left asking myself, is it worth the money to have it done and get this project off the ground or should I revisit the programming language? Honestly, I don’t think I have the time to do the work myself. But geez… twice the price? I’m afraid it will never pay for itself.

That leads me to the topic of this post. I want to know who thinks this idea could sell? The trick is I kinda need to know the answer within the next week or less to give this guy an answer. hmmm.

Follow-up: I posted a poll over on MODSonline to see what the members think of the idea. I can’t keep dancing around the topic and worry that the idea might be picked up by someone else. I have to know now.

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too long

General 2 Responses »

Apr 122008

I know. It’s been a while since I last posted here. For those who don’t know, I have a part-time job as a personal accountant. In the US, that means I have to work ~~like a crazy fool~~ a lot between mid February and April 15th. I’m sitting here at my desk between ~~outbursts of profanity~~ phone calls taking a short break. Yup, typing here is what I would rather be doing, so it’s a break from the insane work schedule.

This job as an accountant wouldn’t be so bad if was my only job.. or even if it was my second job. However this one fits in as my second or third or maybe forth. What other jobs do I have?

First we have Tres Media Group Inc. There I handle the web department, handling clients and programming websites. While we actually do a lot more than just websites, that’s my primary focus. Like this past week I had to figure out why the state courts confused my company with another company of the same name registered in a different state. It took a lot of ~~yelling over the phone~~ convincing that there could be another Tres Inc residing in NJ but registered in NY. Thus, the new company name mentioned at the start of this bullet.
Next on the list is MODSonline.com. While it’s not technically a job because of the pay (which is $0), it is a job in that it is a registered business (MODSonline LLC) and that I regularly manage its business. The community helps to manage the forums, news and other areas which makes it all worth the salary.
Accounting fits on the list here. The job is really only 3 months of the year, but it’s a full-time job. This puts my work week at over 80 hours per week. That’s why I am ~~going frickin’ nuts~~ stressing a bit at this time.
Not exactly a real job just yet, I am also a partner in a new business. A game development company called Mission Critical Studios. We are working on our first game. Once this tax thing is over, I will be putting quite a bit more time into this game’s actual development. Up until now, it’s all been meetings, planning and script writing.

Of course, I am not really complaining that I have too many jobs. I like to work. I feel like its a good exercise of the mind and makes me feel like a productive member of society. Otherwise what I would I do? Oh right, I would stress less. hehe.

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sit me down

General 2 Responses »

Feb 032008

Almost all of the work I do is behind a desk which requires me to sit. It makes sense to want a chair that feels good after 8 10 14 hours of work. I did some research and found some posts that mentioned the chair of choice by the programmers at Microsoft is the Herman Miller Aeron. You know those guys are slaves to their desk; they work for MS. So, you guessed it… I bought one.

I’m sitting in it now for the third day and I can say it’s pretty comfortable. It fits your posture nicely and nothing falls asleep. But the big question.. is it worth the high price? It isn’t a cheap chair (don’t ask me to price it out here, I don’t want to admit what I paid for it).

At this point I would say.. find a really comfortable chair at the local office depot type store. And replace it every 1.5 years. I think that might be cheaper than purchasing this chair and still, you get a comfortable chair. Do I regret the purchase? No, I refuse to do that. lol.

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cod4 tools = work

General No Responses »

Jan 202008

It’s funny I guess… I have absolutely no affiliation with Infinity Ward or Activision. However, when they release modding tools for the Call of Duty series, I pretty much get all the traffic. Hey, I’m not complaining but rather making on observation.

So yeah, the modding tools for CoD4 are out. They came out last Friday evening. That means it’s time for me to make the beginner video tutorial. I created one that night and worked late trying to compile it into something to distribute. That usually takes a couple hours for each try so I headed off to bed. 5 am I wake up and decide it’s time to start over (I wasn’t pleased with the first take). I padded the office with blankets so as not to wake the wife.

In the end, the video turned out well. The only problem is that I should remember not to also record the keystroke sound with my screen captures. It was really quite annoying this time around.

Part two… the server. I really thought the server could handle the load this time around. When CoD2 tools were released, the site received so much traffic that it shut down for 2 days while I upgrades all the hardware. This time? hehe. The hardware was fine. There was just that much traffic that the OS couldn’t keep up (according to the server company when I asked them for help). The site ran fine except for about 2 hours last night (Saturday). At that time there were so many simultaneous connections that the site shut down.

Let’s see what the rest of the week brings us. lol.

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do i play too much

General No Responses »

Dec 302007

I looked up my stats in Battlefield 2142. Seems that I’ve done quite well for myself. I am currently #9 in the USA and #36 in the world according to 2142-stats.com. For confirmation, I’ve attached a couple of screenshots.

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xmas ankle trick

General No Responses »

Dec 242007

Hey, Christmas time is here. It’s a nice time of year. I get to take some time off of work without feeling guilty about it. Sadly, this year I have to take a lot of work home with me since I have a deadline to meet at the start of the new year. But still… I can rest at home.

Works out even better that I am home this week because I screwed up my ankle. I was out back running with the dogs when my ankle went sideways. I don’t know if it was a stick, a mount of dirt or just clumsiness, but I twisted my ankle good. At first I thought I might have broken it since I heard a horrible snap. Luckily that wasn’t the case. I’ve been hobbling on crutches for almost two days to let it heal. Then with company coming tonight, I’ll loosen it up and try walking on it. Should be a good show.

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robots to rule

General 3 Responses »

Dec 072007

If you haven’t yet seen, Toyota has been showing off their new line of robots. These robots were built to ~~eventually take over the world~~ help you around the house and at the mall. There’s a segway-like version that you can sit and ride in. Then there’s the version with legs that can walk about, play violin~~, hold you hostage in the house~~ and hopefully help with the chores.

There is a video available and it really shows you how creepy these things are. I want one… no doubt. But they are just creepy in some strange way.

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pay attention man

General 2 Responses »

Nov 152007

I must be preoccupied or tired or ~~turning dumb~~ something as of late. I’ve ~~screwed up~~ missed two important things recently and hopefully it isn’t more than that.

Last month, I posted that one of the prizes for a MODSonair contest would be an 8800 GT video card. It was supposed to be an 8600 GT card. Thee is a big difference between the two cards… about 100 differences ($).

Also last month, I agreed to a MODSonline advertising campaign that supposedly is open ended. Some how I missed the mention that the advertising would remain on the page not for one month, but rather “as long as the page stays”. How in the world did I miss that statement? I don’t know.

So, the solution that I see is that the page will have to change. I could go as simple as renaming pages. That’s a 2 second deal (ok, not 2 seconds, but you get the idea). But I figure this is a great time to redesign the pages a little bit. It’s been a long time coming.

*edit*
There was one other option that chose to go with. I refunded the advertising money and turned it off. I am just too nice of a guy.

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damn kids

General 3 Responses »

Oct 212007

So, last night I was watching a movie when there are 3 loud bangs on the door. I jumped up and looked out the door window and saw no one there. Must be some ~~stupid asses~~ playful kids from the neighborhood.

I could have caught the whole event on camera… if only I had the cameras running. I figured a couple months ago that I didn’t need to keep the security cameras running when I was at home. That would save the computer, electric, noise, etc. Now I have an answer to that question why the cameras should be running.

What did I do to make sure it didn’t happen again last night? I ~~hid in the shadows~~ hung out in the front near the street for a while. A local kid rode his bicycle near me when I asked, “Have you seen any other kids hanging around the street tonight.” This nearly made him piss his pants of course. He wasn’t expecting me there. He said he would tell me if he saw anything going on and then rode off.

I suspect he went and told his friends who were walking further down the road. A few houses down from me, they were having a family gathering. The kids were hanging out in the street and I think they were involved.

I decided to take a walk and let them know I was watching. As I walked by I commented, “evenin’.” I figured such a comment would let them know I was around and freak them out enough to head indoors. I was right.

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