Jeff Wilder's Blog

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2

redsox brawl
2008-06-06 08:11:00
makes me want to kick some devil ray ass.
More About: Brawl

cool honda commercial
2008-05-31 19:05:00
Honda Live Advert Sky Dive Difficult is worth doing by unitedgoals I guess this was shown live somewhere in europe. Pretty cool.
More About: Commercial , Honda , Cool

Into Voyeurism?
2008-05-22 12:13:00
Kinky. Check this place out http://www.policymap.com/map You can find out tons of info on your neighbors or neighborhoods. Great for someone looking to buy a home even better for data nerds.

Inspiration
2008-05-14 17:52:00
Sometimes you lose site of your goals. Sometimes you think something is too hard. Sometimes you think something is too big. Sometimes life gets in the way and you think your goals will never happen. Sometimes you give up. Then sometimes you see something that inspires to say F* that. Surfing through the web archive I found this google homepage from back in Jan. 1999. Nine years who would have thought that they would be as big as they are now...some of the candidates that applied for the job openings they have listed are probably retired now. I guess the moral of the story is that I am fired up about this place again and have something else brewing...
More About: Inspiration

Is Now The Time To Buy?
2008-05-06 17:54:00
A question that is often asked but does anyone ever have a good answer for it? If you ask your real estate agent I guarantee the answer is yes. If you watch/read the news the last few months they might have changed the tune a bit but yes they are still pumping things up. They are owned by rich people - so they have a vested interest (rich people most of the time have a decent amount of real estate investment). Here is a video from Mr. Mortgage that gives you a bit more insight into what is going on: Most likely I am waiting. The median home price is so high that no "real" people can buy a "real" home. I do a lot of reading and the market changes a lot so I could change my tune on this in the next day or so but I doubt it.
More About: Time , The Time

Video that explains a bit about what is going on with real estate
2008-04-22 18:16:00
I don't see an end in the near future.
More About: Video , Estate , Real Estate , Real

Ghost Town USA
2008-04-11 12:25:00
What happens if everyone does what these guys did... Tess Vigeland: Drive south from Sacramento where I met the Goslins and you're in what's often referred to as America's salad bowl -- mile after mile of verdant green farmland. It's also the epicenter of the housing mess. Stockton, California has the highest default rate in the nation. Keep heading down I-5 and you'll hit the town of Patterson, population 20,000. But despite its rural setting, it boasts the same kind of subdivisions you see in major metropolitan areas and as of a couple of years ago, the same kind of prices. Dan Sinclair: Hey Esme, you comin'? Vigeland: That's Dan Sinclair. He's a 43-year-old systems analyst who lives in Patterson with his wife Esmeralda and their three small children. We were heading out on a walk around his neighborhood. Dan wanted to show me just how many homes were for sale or simply abandoned. Sinclair: All right, so here's a house you can see...
More About: Ghost , Town

The Mortgage Meltdown
2008-04-03 08:37:00
We want to buy a house. Over the last few months Tasha and I have been saving money, paying off any debt and basically doing anything we can to get better credit for a lower interest rate on a mortgage. The current state of the housing market is starting to mean that a hard working couple can actually afford to purchase a home. With this big purchase on the horizon I have been doing a ton of research on how the whole process works. I've read a lot of horror stories about the people who have lost homes because of resetting interest rates and realtors and home builders who have no work to do. It's all tragic and I feel for them but at the same time I know I would never let myself get in that situation. When you are doing the finances on buying a home the first thing people look at is the monthly payment. When you see that number do you say to yourself that is the most I can afford and maybe have enough left over to buy food and pay for electricity? If so you probably shoul...
More About: Mortgage

RFID Enabled Credit Cards - Hacked!
2008-03-27 07:18:00
If you've got the paypass or one of those RFID enabled credit cards time to ditch them. Check out this video showing how easy it is to get your card info off of the them. The data is encrypted but the decrypter is in the POS device (every store) not in a central location. If it was in a central location you could keep it safe but being at every store makes it easy to break that encryption....time for the tinfoil wrap around your entire body!
More About: Credit Cards , Credit , Hacked , Cards

iPhone SDK Released
2008-03-12 20:26:00
Last week while I was on vacation apple was nice enough to release it's SDK.   Today it came out that so far 100,000 developers have downloaded it.  I have to admit that that is a very high percentage of people interested in this space.  So much potential is sceen that a venture capital company is investing tons in the space.   All I can compare it to is when OSX Widgets came out.  It was this great platform to have a small piece of web based content (mostly web based) on your desktop at all times.  Years later they have 3,497 dashboard widgets available for download.  That really isn't that many.   For me I used them a couple of times but mostly they just sat around and didn't get used.  I used the standard ones that apple provided.  Calculator, calander and weather are what I use. On the iPhone it's the same thing.  My iPhone is hacked so I have had the abilty to install applications on my phone...
More About: Iphone , Released

mongolian shoe bbq
2008-02-13 16:00:00
we launched the new gallery today. check out my shoe!! F'n hot right?
More About: Shoe

Fitzy's Superbowl Preview
2008-02-02 13:20:00
I can't wait for the talking to stop and the game to begin. Fitzy's funny but a little NSFW. Check it out
More About: Preview , Superbowl

Firefox Beta 3 under OSX
2008-01-29 00:21:00
As a proud Mac owner I (thankfully) don't have to suffer through using Internet Explorer. Unless I am testing websites that is :( I've switched to a mac about a year ago. One huge problem I have had is the Firefox implementation under OSX. You might know it was a memory hog, but its performance under OSX is awful! But for developing web sites its great. It might be how I use it but I see the spinning wheel of death every time I change tabs. At one point I found some tweaks that helped (not checking for safe sites, limiting your browsing history) but I always felt it was some small bug that caused the performance problem I was seeing. Enter Mozilla's latest deployment of firefox. Firefox 3 Beta 2. It runs unreal. I guess I don't need to purchase that shinny new skinny mini machine apple just came out with. It's been very stable so far and I have only seen a few minor issues with sites. Biggest problem is javascript problems. Yahoo mail doesn't work and porti...

jumper movie promo commercial
2008-01-14 20:35:00
Is this a ad for Jumper , Microsoft , Nike , Serena Williams or HP ? Talk about a conflict of interests. I've seen this a couple of times now and am so confused. And a movie that has that many cross promotions probably sucks! Otherwise they would pay for the marketing all themseleves.
More About: Movie , Commercial , Promo

hyperlocal e-commerce
2007-12-31 13:17:00
Anyone that really knows me knows that I can't handle waiting for things.  At the same time I am a total techno weenie and love to research things online to know I am getting the best deals.  Most of the time those deals are online only deals.  Meaning you have to pay shipping and then wait the 7-10 business days for it.  My impatience usually outweighs the deal I could be getting - unless the deal is superb.  I would rather drive to pick something up and have it right away then wait to save $5 bucks in price. The combination of the web/instore world is huge for me.  Some retailers are doing it well, Bestbuy , Walmart and Target are a few.  You browse those sites and have the option to add-to-cart (online) or find instore (local).  Some even let you buy online then pick up instore which is awesome.   This is a huge opportunity, even for the businesses that don't make sense to sell online (are there any?).  You g...
More About: Commerce , E-Commerce , Hyperlocal , Loca

jetblue doesn't suck
2007-12-08 11:38:00
after our last exerience with jetblue I was a little worried flying them again. We just arrived in Florida. Great flight and even more importantly our bags arrived when we did. Wearing the pair of jeans I flew down in in Jamaica was what I was thinking would happen. The leg room and the ability to watch live tv are awesome. Half the jetblue trip is over let's hope the second leg is just as good. We are killing time waiting to board the boat. In a couple of hours the vacation really starts!
More About: Suck , Jetblue

that's comcastic
2007-11-27 19:47:00
this is beyond frustrating. the celtics are playing right now. They are shown on comcast sportsnet here in new england. Not some mom and pop tv station - the company that I drop an assload of money on every month for television service runs this channel. and lots has been made about comcast not covering road games in HD. Tonight's NBATV game of the night is showing on 881 and guess what it is boston versus clevelend. Great news. I watched the pregame with stupid ass talking heads hyping up the game then at 7PM when the game is supposed to start the screen freezes. I can change the channel then go back to it and no matter what the screen freezes when I put it to 881. The NBATV game is obviously beeing blacked out. Lets start a petition for A) comcast spend a little money and get the games in HD or B) the celtics sell the broadcasting rights to NESN . I mean NESN gets every bruins game in HD - and nobody cares about them! I'm paying for HD tv programming, wa...

writers strike
2007-11-26 20:17:00
getting paid is the name of the game.... I wonder how this will end? How long before the writers start relizing they can monitize the content they are producing themselves....oh wait sites being up for less then a week and gettting over 60,000 hits is a good start... i miss my shows.
More About: Writers , Strike

MA Parking Laws
2007-10-24 17:47:00
I wanted to look up how much space you are given to park in boston around certain obsticles...it's really hard to find detailed information at least I couldn't find much. It looks mostly like it is grey area like no chance in hell do people give 10 feet around fire hydrants. It must all be up to the mood of the friendly parking attendant. We'll see tomorrow when I come out to my mini next which is parked next to a ramp, not covering the ramp but the sidewalk has started to slope. Here are the laws I found: Parking regulations are generally determined by state law but are enforced by local cities and towns. If you are parking in a business or residential district, you must position your vehicle within 12 inches of the curb, except where angled parking is allowed. Parking spaces on roadway edges are often marked by white road lines. You must park your vehicle between these lines, not straddling two spaces. In Massachusetts, you may not park your vehicle in certain pl...
More About: Laws

Microsoft, who are they?
2007-10-18 17:51:00
Microsoft is showing its age yet again. Today microsoft demoed its latest creation "popfly". It's a web mashup tool for the laymen. That's all great and all but you've already got people in this space. You've got more efficient companies doing everything microsoft is trying to start in these days.  Microsoft you can talk all the talk you want but you are becoming more and more irrelevant. Even better Steve Ballmer went on to discuss how google wasn't as good as they seemed and how great other companies that have grown up are. Sounds to me like that old IT guy who has been at a company too long telling me how I can't change things to make them more efficient because the status quo is how they do things. Silverlight - a new plugin that hits home for me won't fail (Man I hope it does fail) because it isn't solid technology but because it got to the game so late. I'm sure they will shove it down peoples throat with an updat...
More About: Microsoft

my iphone
2007-09-24 10:25:00
This is a little late but I got the iphone last weekend.  I unlocked it for t-mobile using iFuntastic and following these steps .  It took me about an hour total and that was mostly in researching the different ways to do it. After a week of use I would say it is worth every penny.  And worth the risk of not being able to use it after apples next upgrade. My only regret is only getting the 4GB.  My guess is they are coming out with a 16GB version soon anyways.
More About: Iphone

This week in Apple
2007-09-08 09:42:00
I've been trying to decide if I want to join the tons of others out in the iweb commenting on apple's news this week.  I guess I will because I have comments on most of the news items... Selfishly: Now I can get the iPhone equivelent minus the phone without giving out my first born to AT&T.  I'm still not sure which one I am going to get but I am sure it won't be the weird looking nano or the soon to be extinct classic . Businesswise: The most exciting thing about this for me as a web guy is how many more hands we can get a qualified mobile browser into.  Anyone who has every tried or investigated building something for the mobile platform has been overwhelmed by the different requirements of each phone.  Now with Safari you can take your knowledge of programming on the web and apply it to a mobile platform.  Trust me it will be huge. An article has come out saying " Apple is the new Microsoft " than that same publica...
More About: Week

Internet Commenter Business Meeting
2007-08-30 08:59:00
So funny. I should add this as a how to guide to commenting on blogs.
More About: Business , Internet , Meeting , Sine

Unlocked iPhone
2007-08-27 15:39:00
Last friday great news came out of engadget that very soon we would have an unlocked iphone .  Now it looks like because of AT&T's lawyers it isn't going to happen.  At least not for a while. Here's hoping they at least release the unlock on bittorrent or something.   Although I am sure apple could be forced to release some software update that re-locks the phone. Ah lawyers.   AT&T you suck.
More About: Iphone , Unlocked

john from cincinnati
2007-08-15 21:07:00
Did anyone watch this show?  HBO cancelled it after the first season.  I watched all 10 episodes of the show and am utterly confused as to what the hell was going on.  It was like trying to read shakespeare.   Nothing they said made any sense.  The worst part because it was cancelled we will never know what happens!   The last episode when Luke Perry is sitting talking with John and he asks "Just give it to me straight" all I could think is hallejuiah!   I watched all the episodes but that was with the thought that at some point it would all make sense. The funny thing check out the comment in this link .  The people are actually saying they got it and we are all just stupid people who didn't get it.  OK then.  Please explain to me why the hell Mitchy was floating.   Jesus christ.  Jesus christ.  Jesus christ!  Oh and most of the actors were horrible.  That didn't help.&nb...
More About: John from Cincinnati , Cincinnati

jet blue sucks
2007-08-12 17:49:00
I've been thinking about this post for a bit (seething)....Why does jet blue suck? Let's start with the booking process. Now this one could be expedia's fault but somehow I doubt it.  I booked the trip on expedia.com.  When booking I looked at about 100 different combinations of airtravel to get us in vegas for the longest time.  We only went for a bit but I wanted to maximize our time in the city.  Most flights didn't arrive in vegas until 10-11PM this jetblue flight went via JFK and arrived at 4PM.   Plus it left late on wednesday so we would have all day to party.  Not to mention the most leg room in coach and direct TV.  So far it sounds great right? Flight is booked on expedia confirmation from Jet blue never received. So I spend a few days back and forth with Jet Blue and Expedia getting the flights booked.  I'm summarizing things here because the rest of the story is so much more ridiculous.    First we...
More About: Sucks

The DeLorean is making a come-back!
2007-07-30 08:55:00
Forget a Porsche.  I want one of these.  The pop-culture icon from the 1980's is making a come-back. The gullwing doors really sell it for me.  Why can't you get a honda with gullwing doors?    
More About: Back , The D , Makin

The Simpson Movie
2007-07-27 11:41:00
Unless you have living under a rock lately you will know about the simpsons movie opening today. From a movie preview in Sprinfield, Vermont. Webistes devoted to the movie. Airtime on the news (Fox 25 in boston at least). To tons of commercials during primetime. And everything in-between. Not just recently have they been advertising. For months now I have seen trailers running in basically every movie I go to. My question is why? With all of the simpsons fans around the world would you even need to advertise. The show has been running for what feels like forever. Most people I know were fans at some point in their life - if they aren't still. And if you are a fan of the show you are at least aware of the movie being out and if you don't already plan on seeing it in the theaters you will at least pick up a DVD. I guess its one of those things you can't really A/B test to see if it works without the advertising. I think the reason for all the coverage isn&#...
More About: Movie , Simpson

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows book leaked
2007-07-18 08:30:00
The latest Harry Potter book seems to have been leaked via the bittorrent network . It seems that someone got their hands on a copy (American edition) and photographed each page and posted it up. Despite the price tag of 10 Million pounds the book has been released before its due date. The funny thing is the people that posted the torrent won't make any money off of this (most likely). My biggest problem with this isn't the piracy of people downloading it without paying for it. I really don't think many people will be downloading this and not buying the real thing. Trying to read a book online is nearly impossible even when it is in e-book format. This is screen shots of each page. Your eyes would need a break every five minutes from trying to focus on that. No my problem is how did these people get a hold of the book before I could buy it? Why are they so special that they get a copy before everyone else? The story here will be about how the publishi...
More About: Book , Deathly

MA Blue Laws
2007-07-16 11:40:00
Here's a funny article on boston.com. It's a good thing they don't enforce these...If I couldn't get beer when I am at the hospital I don't know what I would do.
More About: Laws , Blue