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After 21 Years, The End Finally Arrived

 Articles, News, Random Ramblings  No Responses »
Jan 072012
 

Introduction

Starting during my Junior year of High School, a television series that struck a cord with me aired on TV. A series like no other. One that understands the timeless struggles of youth and one that embedded itself in my consciousness for so long. With hormones racing, emotions random and ever changing, adolescence is anything but easy.

My Drama

After a full 21 years, I finally finish my comedy/drama series I started watching my Junior year in High School: The Wonder Years. Even though it is set in the late 60′s and early 70′s, it features events and moments in life that are experienced by all. A diary of love, hate, confusion and misinformation that lives in all of us. Episodes that chronicle the love of the girl next door, ones that involve the craziness of a sister, reaching out to validate her opinion of life, and time slots that outline the joy of the first car, the fear of change and the thrill of adventure of breaking out of the foothold life bestows on us. 6 seasons of fun and at the time… taking 6 years to absorb.

The Delay

In 1990, a lot of things happened in my life. After only 2 seasons of my beloved picture box theater presentation, I graduated from High School. I moved out of my parents dwelling on my own and due to the income I was receiving at the time… I could not afford cable. After joining the military and spending a wonderful spell in Southern CA as a contractor, one thing was always in the back of my mind: What eventually happened with Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper in The Wonder Years?

Enlightenment

One fine day, my wife casually mentioned that Netflix had The Wonder Years available for streaming. After 114 episodes displayed on various devices (one that actually broke at the end of one episode and is no longer even working) in the last several months, I finally witnessed how it all turned out. I watched from the couch at home, streaming via the PS3 console. I watched in various airports, viewing the episodes on my phone. I watched with my laptop with video out directed to the hotels TV. Tonight, the end arrived. Several tears were shed. A closing moment passed. An epic adventure fulfilled. The end arrived. A time that makes me saddened. A time that makes me happy it is over. A time… I will never forget.

In Closing

Goodbye Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper… You have inspired my youth as well as my middle age. Just a few days shy of the ripe age of 40, you have made one man happy for your efforts in conveying a story all of us can relate.

Thanks for a good time.

Starting Today: Discover What City Black Viper Is In On Twitter: BlackViperCom

 Articles, News, Random Ramblings, Web Site Updates  No Responses »
Jan 022012
 

Introduction

TLDNR: Follow me on Facebook (Tweets are connected) or Twitter to get rapid location updates.

Starting today, I will be Tweeting my current location. This will not be flooded with “at grocery store” or “stuck at red light”, though, so if you are looking for that kind of pointless information… ya will have to wander somewhere else.

Due to my current employment, I am in a different city almost ever week (and sometimes several cities). This is also not mentioning the fact that I travel through many airports on my way to the final destination.

One City, Two City, Three City More!

In 2011, I successfully flew on 90+ airplanes, gained 52,000+ flight miles (ignoring my current Award Mile Count) and was in major cities like (this is only a small list off of the top of my head in no particular order):

Major Airports

This should go without saying that I have spent a big chunk of my time in 2011 at several airports scattered around the US, to include: MFR, SFO, RNO, DEN, LAX, SLC, IAH and ORD.

So, Why Now?

Why have I not mentioned this before today? Well, in all honesty, I have always taken the position of “separating my career with my internet self”. This basically means that I do not talk about work on my website. However, in recent history, I have had pretty boring jobs. :) Now, with myself hopping on 2 to 6 planes a week, I have something to talk about. Fortunately, (or unfortunately, however you wish to look at it), I will still be refraining from “Ranting” about my job or what I am doing at a particular moment.

So What Will You Tweet?

Actually, I have not figured out the details, yet. I pretty much decided that I was going to give this a trial run a couple days ago as something to write about on the domain. Needless to say, I have not determined what I will say, however, I may not have “exact” location (like eating here or walking there), but for now, will identify what city and airport I currently am located in.

The following hashtag will now be used #BlackViperCom for Tweeted Locations and Website Updates.

What Can I Do?

Lots! I am not the adventurous type, so you can reply to my location tweet and let me know what cool places I should visit, must see locations, etc! Nothing like having a person living in the area give recommendations on places to visit rather then just randomly searching for something on Google Maps and hope it is good.

How Can I Get Involved?

Easy: Follow me on Facebook (Tweets are connected) or Twitter and get rapid location updates.

Happy Holidays and a Request of My Dedicated Readers

 Articles, Black Viper Racing, News, Random Ramblings, Web Site Updates  No Responses »
Dec 262011
 

Don’t like ads?

Me neither. If you are a registered member and logged into this section of my domain (not the unconverted content), you will not see ads. If you use this feature and I have helped you, consider a donation. With that said, my income from ad placements have been cut in half since offering this feature to my users. Even $5 helps a lot and if 20 visitors donated in a month, my hosting providers fees would be reduced or non-existent. $5, $10, or whatever you can afford are acceptable. Free content costs me money and lots of time and for this holiday season, I request your support. Thank you, kind reader, for listening.
From my family to yours: Have a save and Happy Holiday Season.

Donation not your thing?

You can help me financially bringing a car up to speeed for the 2012 racing season: Here is what you can do to help:

I am offering three ways that you can become a sponsor of Black Viper Racing and “The Racing Tech”:

Update 01MAY2012: I have removed the option to sponsor Black Viper Racing via PayPal as my current work schedule does not provide a method to reliably be on the track. As such, I wish to thank my current sponsors for their support and their money has been refunded. If you wish to sponsor my efforts, you may consider a general donation.

Individuals:

Sponsor Stickers

Sponsor Stickers will appear like this on the 2012 season car

You may purchase a bumper sticker sized personal name plate for only $20 which is good for the entire 2012 season. This option is for individuals that desire to sponsor my efforts, but do not have a business they would like to promote. I will personally email you via the account on file with PayPal and thank you as well as ask what name, if any, you would like to have on your personalized name plate to be placed on my current race car.

For Companies:

Sponsor Stickers

Sponsor Stickers will appear like this on the 2012 season car

For companies, I offer the option to purchase two bumper sticker sized name plate for only $50 which is good for the entire 2012 season. This option is for businesses that desire to sponsor my efforts and have a company they would like to promote as well as a website. I will personally email you via the account on file with PayPal and thank you as well as ask what name and website, if any, you would like to have on your personalized name plate to be placed on my current race car. The bumper sticker sized plate will be the name of your business and your companies website (domain) address. Businesses will also have a spot on my sponsorship page with a short description of their company’s product offerings as well as a link to their website.

Roll your own amount:

If the official sponsorship amounts are too low or too high, you may “roll your own” amount with the button above. Based upon donation amount, I will send a personal note of thanks, place your name on my sponsors page and/or include your name on my car!

Which ever method you choose, you will be supporting me in my efforts to get a geek on the dirt track. I thank you in advance for your support!

Server Configuration Change: Add XCache

 News, Web Site Updates, Windows Services  3 Responses »
Oct 302011
 

I have been monitoring the server performance for the last several weeks (and experiencing it myself while surfing my own site) and it was not up to my standards. I previously attempted to enable APC to speed performance up and failed numerous times for various reasons, becoming frustrated in the process. Today, however, I thought I would give XCache a try with great success. It looks as though CPU usage dropped by around 50% while page rendering and crawl time also dropped by 50%. I am pretty happy with the results.

Now, I can get back to converting my Wiki content over to WordPress so users can experience no ads while logged in and comment directly on Service pages.

An example of converted content is here. It is still a bit rough around the edges, but optimization will come in time.

Facebook…

 Articles, News, Random Ramblings  No Responses »
Oct 222011
 

Black Viper’s Facebook Experience:

  • Facebook: You have one new friend request awaiting approval.
  • User: Confirm!
  • Facebook: One friend added.
  • User Wall Post: I am bored.
    • Friend #1 Comment: Yeah, I care.
    • User Post Comment: Great! I have been Walling to myself for the last 6 years.
    • Friend #1 Comment: …
  • Facebook: You have no friends. Would you like to search for one?

 

Google Plus Invitations Available

 Articles, News, Random Ramblings, Software, Web Site Updates  No Responses »
Aug 112011
 

Update – September 20, 2011: Google+ is now open to everyone – http://plus.google.com/

I am offering all of my website readers an invite to Google+. Includes Video Chat, sharing of photos/video, etc. Just like Facebook without all the BS. I have 150 available to exclusively send out (first come, first served). The only thing you have to do is Email me with your email address in the text message and I will send an invite to that location.

After signing up with Google+. You can add your own friends! It comes with 150 invites by default to get a chunk or so of your friends migrated over. Come join the fun!

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