The Onion Boxed Set Winners
Thank you, Three Rivers Press!
Slappa HardBody CD Case Grand Prize Winner
Slappa Runner-up Prize Winners
Your rugged, velvet-lined CD cases are on their way!
The Weblogs, Inc. Network (WIN) is built to let me roll out a new weblog in minutes. Adding a new blogger takes even less time (but getting the time to give them a tour of the system and pick their brains about their editorial plans and hidden talents takes me weeks).
Adding an entirely new set of sites with a different root domain name, a different page structure and a bunch of other new features doesn’t happen overnight either. Actually, it does happen overnight — several overnights in a row in fact.
I’m happy to say that Peter Rojas and his Engadget family of Web sites are the latest addition to our weblog network. He’s a fantastic blogger and I’m looking forward to working with him.
On one of my other Web sites, they’re trying out a new project and communications management system for small teams called Basecamp. Built by the 37 Signals team, Basecamp claims to be “simple, elegant, powerful, fast, and usable” and it is.
Some of the things Basecamp does already exists in a similar form in my Weblogs, Inc. intranet: a staff-only Weblog, contact management and a to do list. Okay, so pretty much all of Basecamp’s major features are in Weblogs, Inc., but you can’t subscribe to Weblogs, Inc. and the finishing touches and details are where Basecamp really shines.
I met Jason Fried from 37 Signals the other day and when he was asked how the data is kept anonymous his response was that they use several different domain names (like clientsection.com) and you can brand the system with your own logo so your clients never have to know that you’re using a 37 Signals service for your extranet. But that wasn’t what the question was getting at.
If 37 Signals’ largest paying client is FedEx and I sign up with Basecamp to manage my huge UPS.com redesign, how does 37 Signals resist the urge to peek over the fence?
Jason assured us that they won’t peek. They also address the possibility of installing a local version of Basecamp on other companies’ servers in their Q&A:
Custom licensed copies of Basecamp will be available shortly for remote installation. Pricing is based on your specific needs, support requirements, and the number of people who will be using Basecamp. If you start using the hosted version, and then want to move to an installed version, we can move your data over no problem.
From what I’ve seen so far, the service is great for small teams collaborating on any kind of project. 37 Signals makes really simple, easy-to-use sites for other companies, so it makes sense that their own Web-based service would be instantly usable without needing a tutorial.
I recently had an idea for an international murder mystery in which a noted cryptographer and a famed symbologist untangle dozens of clues that had been hidden in old ’80s songs and I couldn’t decide between my two favorite titles: “The Depeche Code” and “The Bon Jovi Code.”
As I did more research on Depeche Mode and Bon Jovi I discovered that there really were hidden messages in Bon Jovi songs. I talked to several ’80s historians including a guy who used to work out with Mr. T and two people who had friends who used to work at MTV and I found out that it is widely believed that Bon Jovi was working for a secret society — one that was created to thwart Catholic Church plots in the New York/New Jersey area.
Need proof?
Well I always thought that this was one of the worst lines in the history of music:
Remember when we lost the keys and you lost more than that in my back seat
But it turns out that it was a hidden message to his fellow secret society members. Rearranging the letters, you’ll find:
The Pope’s minions will strike in downtown Trenton at midnight on July first
Now I get it! I mean, no one could write something that bad and sing it so sincerely, right?
Speaking with me only on a condition of total anonymity, one of these ’80s historians said he believes that the Catholic Church began to suspect that Bon Jovi had been working against them. That explains why Jon entered the entertainment world’s version of the witness protection program: taking a role on Ally McBeal and starring in movies like U-571.
Jack is one year old today.
Once I was crazy and my ace in the hole
was that I knew that I was crazy
so I never lost my self-control.
I just walked in the middle of the road.
I’d sleep in the middle of the bed.
I’d stop in the middle of a sentence
when the voice in the middle of my head said,
“Hey junior, where you been so long?
Don’t you know me? I’m your ace in the hole.”
One of my big fears is that he’ll get to school and people will ask his name and he’ll say, “My name is Jack Caleb Alvey dot com.”
Last night was the deadline for entering to win The Onion Platinum Prestige Encore Gold Premium Collector’s Collection. Tonight is the end of the Slappa HardBody Blogstakes. Winners will be chosen for both contests next week.
Stopdesign’s Doug Bowman posted a glowing review of Blogstakes and promises to let everyone know if a free year of BrowserCam is as life-altering as it sounds.
Over on the Web’s equivalent of The Sundance Channel (or would that be Bravo?), Jason is Blogging Sundance. While he posts interviews with all of the directors and movie stars he runs into, I’m building the publishing system that makes his journey blogable — and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I once came across a Weblog that had a single entry. It went something like this: “I am posting this entry to my new Weblog as a reminder to myself to post something new every day and keep this Weblog fresh.”
Ironically, the blog had not been updated in months. That was the only entry ever!
I’ve spent a decade building electronic publishing systems and newsletter delivery tools so hundreds of people could effortlessly broadcast their thoughts and opinions to millions of other people. All that time I’ve been promising myself that when I had built the perfect system I would use it to make my own site — one that covered the topics I was interested in. That fantasy content management system has had many names and incarnations, but it was never a fit for what I planned on doing.
Now it finally exists. It’s called Weblogs, Inc. and you’re soaking in it.
Okay, it almost exists. I’m still adding new features every day, but I’m finally at the point where I can switch to the driver’s seat and take it for a spin along the coast before I put it back up on the hoist to try and figure out where that grinding sound is coming from.
After contacting and confirming all of the winners of our first two contests, we received a note from the Free Year of BrowserCam grand prize winner which contained the following:
I really appreciate this award and would like to make the most of it. However, I’m in the Army National Guard and my unit has been activated in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The orders are for 2 years, which would take me beyond Jan 1, 2005. If you could save the account, I’d really appreciate, if not, pass it on to someone who can make the most of it.
Wow.
They’re holding your unlimited usage account for you as long as you need.
Come home safely!
I’ve got a great new Blogstakes contest: Win The Onion Platinum Prestige Encore Gold Premium Collector’s Collection. It’s three hot books from The Onion for the price of none.
Seriously, blog this one. Then enter from your own blog so you can win two copies and give one to a friend. (There’s nothing in the rules that says you can’t do that!)
Brian Alvey