If you're reading this, then please update your links. The new home is http://www.ideoplex.com/blog/ with a new rss feed.

PS I could use some google juice at the new site.

The lights are On

The lights are on at my new digs. Unfortunately, I don't know how to implement http redirects from the Userland Radio Community Server. Please update your links to the new location.

Going Dark

Take the First Step will be dormant for a few days. I'm in the process of moving to my own domain and will be posting infrequently until the process is complete.

I'd buy Radio Userland Again

Mark Beaty also asks whether Radio Userland is worth $39.95 – I think so. The primary contenders for hosted weblogs are Userland, TypePad and Blogger. The lowest cost TypePad option is $49.50 per year, the free Blogger weblog doesn't provide RSS, and Blogger Pro is no longer available. At $39.95 per year (for continued support and hosting), Radio Userland has an attractive feature/cost ratio.

The real question is whether you prefer smart client/dumb server or dumb client/smart server? I like having a lightweight desktop CMS, so I like Radio Userland – your mileage may vary. Both Userland and TypePad offer a free 30-day trial. My advice is to try them out before making a decision.

In fact, I'm willing to pay Userland more. I'd pay for my own domain name. And I'd also pay to be on a faster server – especially for referrer statistics. Since I don't have that option, I plan to move to my own hosted space in the near future.

In my comments, Mark Beaty suggests that Tyler Hamilton will be the successor to Lance Armstrong. I don't think so – cyclists peak in their late 20's and their early 30's are a fight against the inevitable decay. Tyler will be 33 during the next Tour de France and the clock is running fast. I just don't think that he has time to become Lance's successor.

It started like any other day

I had afternoon meetings at the World Trade Center, so I got a one day fun pass at the Broadway and 86th subway station. Started on a 1/9, switched to a B/D and got off at Rockefeller Center. Grabbed a cup of decaf and a toasted bagel with egg and bacon, then cruised up to the office.

I was slogging through the morning e-mail when my brother called from Colorado to tell me that a plane crashed into the WTC. I somehow assumed that it was a small private plane and went to my email. It wasn't until my brother called back about the second plane that I realized that it was jet airliners.

I tried to get some work done. But it basically amounted to moving paper from pile A to pile B and back to pile A while waiting for CNN to load. My co-workers from New Jersey and Brooklyn were figuring out how to get home. But I didn't have broadband or TV at my apartment, so I planned to stay plugged in at the office. Looking out the windows to the south, I could see the smoke over downtown.

I decided to head home around 3. Madison Avenue, usually so full of people and traffic, was deserted. I caught a north-bound bus up to 86th. No cross town buses, so I started walking across Central Park. Once I was across, there was no point in going to my apartment. So I went into a local bar, got a beer, and settled in to watch the news.

At some point, I tired of watching the news. It was only raising questions for which there were no answers. A recent transplant from Northern CA, I had already become accustomed to the energy and vibrancy of NYC. But today, the city was deflated.

In the following days, I learned that everyone I knew was safe. Not many New Yorkers could say that. But I hadn't been there long enough to know many people outside of work.

Sam Stevens, tab extraordinaire, checking out the New York Times — in support of Charles Miller's Cat Pictures Day.

Where the Rubber meets the Road

Long time readers may have noticed that I spend a lot of time thinking about marketing for a technical guy. If your company has a direct sales force, then they'll insist that they are where the rubber meets the road. If you have a installation/consulting arm, then they'll insist that it's them. And ditto for customer support. But for my money, marketing is where the action is.

Yes, they all spend more time working with customers then anyone in marketing. But where everyone else is focused on just a few customers at a time, marketing is wrestling with concepts that cut across the entire customer base. So I'd like to send out a belated welcome to the blog roll to Thomas Warfield, who's living the Shareware Life.

Tom may have the Greatest Job in the World, but he's also out there by himself. The decisions are his own, as are the consequences. So I'm glad that he's decided to blog about them.