Mobasoft
Home of the Social Cowboy
Subscribe to RSS FeedMichael Bailey became interested in Social Media in the Summer of 2005 and has devoted thousands of hours towards the development of the MobaTalk Conversation Studio. He believes that the Context of Conversational data is quickly lost on the web using the currently available tools.
Growing greener while getting older
The older I get, the more that I think about what I’ll be leaving behind. I’ve been becoming more energy conscious, and have done a few things around the house, such as switching to energy conserving compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL’s).
I’ve also taken more notice of the number of lawn care service trucks around town, with their large, stand-behind mowers and a half-dozen weed-wackers strapped to the sides. Like an army loaded for war, they show up, fire it all up, cut the grass, and move on. Not only do they leave behind a manicured lawn, they also dumped out more pollution than I’d do with a years worth of driving.
As I was mowing my father’s lawn today, my mind was wondering, as it typically does. I’d really like to start an eco-friendly lawn care service.
My initial thoughts where that Ford could sponsor it, toss in a loaner hybrid vehicle, and spring for the costs of some electric mowers, rechargeable trimmers, a few deep-cycle batteries, inverters, and solar panels.
Well, until that dream comes true, I thought I’d pass along the eco-friendly lawn care tips which I found on the web.
- Lawn Mower Blades - Keep lawn mower blades sharp because dull blades will make your lawn mower work twice as hard and use more fuel. Also, dull blades tear your grass, making it look brown and vulnerable to disease.
- FREE Mulch - Leave grass clippings on your lawn, it makes for great mulch and it won’t cost you a cent. Not to mention less work, no racking or bagging!
- Tall Grass - Raiser your mower’s blades 3-4 inches. Taller grass needs less water, competes better with weeds and prevents soil from washing away.
- Aerating the Lawn - Instead of using a machine, get yourself some spiked sandals and take a walk around the yard.
- Lawn Mower - Use the old fashioned push mower. Not only will you be green but you’ll save money on gas, it is less dangerous around children, and you can mow early in the morning and not wake the neighbors!
- FREE Water - Invest in a rain barrel, or make one yourself, to collect rain water from your gutters. This will give you an inexpensive way to water your plants.
- Lawn Moister Meter - Buy a lawn moister meter to make sure you’re not over watering you lawn. You’ll not only conserve water, but you’ll cut down on your water bill in the summer.
- Leaf Blower - You’ll get more exercise and use less gas if you use an old fashion rake, or invest in an electric leaf blower.
- Chemicals - Go for fertilizers and pest control products that are non-toxic. They decrease the amount of toxins that run-off into our waterways and tend to be safer to use around your pets and children.
Tags: eco-friendly, green, lawns, life
Post-Cinco, how you doin?
I recorded this over on MobaTalk CS, in the #twitter channel and then used the Embed code feature to copy the video code and posted it here on my blog.
MobaTalk CS is launched!
MobaTalk CS
MobaTalk, the conversation studio has been launched. If you have a Twitter account, you can sign in using OAuth and begin using it immediately.
It’s real easy to use, just choose a hashtag from the Tag Cloud, or create one of your own, then enter the text for your comment, up to 500 characters, and optionally attach photos, embed media, record audio or video comments, add web site links.
Your comment is then posted to MobaTalk and Tweeted over to Twitter so that all of your followers can simply click the link and join in on the conversation.
Check it out at http://mobatalk.com and if you don’t already have a Twitter account, get one here http://twitter.com
Tags: conversation, mobatalk, multimedia, twitter
Twercy
3rd party app developers find themselves at the mercy of Twitter (aka twercy).
I’m sure it will be resolved in time, however, it sure puts a damper on trying to develop against the platform.
UPDATE: 2:42PM CST - A security hole was found in the OAuth system and is being “patched” now. Its actually something that can be done through “social engineering” tricks, so it’s not actually the code’s fault, just a few guillable people and now it needs to be patched. More here http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-10225103-36.html
Tags: twitter
In 2012 I’m going to a ton of parties
Well, no doubt there’s not much that we could do about this - so, let’s be nice to each other until Dec. 22nd, 2012 at least. Oh yeah, and party like it’s 1999. ;^)
Missouri Governor, Jay Nixon
After reading that Missouri has collected $1.2 million from telemarketers who violated the No Call law, I was wondering why that money didn’t go to the people who were called.
I went to the Missouri Governors website (http://governor.mo.gov/) to find the phone number. Well, it wasn’t toll-free, so I decided to use their online form instead . While I was there, I extended my opinion to include things that were on my mind.
What follows below is the exact text from the online form I just submitted to them.
“I just read that the State of Missouri has collected some $1.2 million in fines from telemarketers who have violated the No Call law.
Where’s the money? It should go to the people who got called, shouldn’t it?
How was the Missouri Government effected by the violation? They weren’t at all - instead of spending OUR money, put the citizens first.
Thanks.
By the way, where’s MY bailout?
I have a wife and kids, I was laid-off last June (2008) and haven’t found anything since. I have a wife and two children to feed.
My wife has a job with the Independence School District, and now we see that with her salary we qualify for the FREE lunch program for our kids. (pretty sad when you don’t even pay the education system employees enough to NOT qualify for a hand-out.
I owned my own business from 2001 to 2008 and I am still digging out from the debt that it left me with. Every morning I am sadded to read about corporate bailouts taking place, while their CEO’s and others are still making millions for being in charge of a company with failing business practices.
By the way, how much does the Governor make? How about paying him $14/hour and expect him to work 50 hours a week while we get things sorted out here?
Yeah, as you can tell, I’m pissed - do I think that you will do anything about it?
Nope.”
UPDATE: Within a few minutes of posting the form on their website, I received this canned response.
“Thank you for contacting my office. It is an honor and a privilege for me to serve as your Governor, and I appreciate hearing from you.
Because your ideas and concerns are very important to me, your correspondence is being reviewed by my constituent services staff to ensure that your issue is addressed and that you receive the assistance you need.
Again, thank you for your correspondence. I look forward to serving as your Governor and working for all Missourians.
Jeremiah W. (Jay) Nixon
Governor of Missouri“
Creating Graphs with PHP
I don’t recall where I grabbed this snippet of code, but it’s a very straight forward way to create a vertical bar chart using PHP.
Here’s the code:
<?php
// create an array of values for the chart. These values
// could come from anywhere, POST, GET, database etc.
$values = array(23,32,35,57,12,3,36,23,32,35,57,12,3,36,54,32,15,43,24,30);
// now we get the number of values in the array. this will
// tell us how many columns to plot
$columns = count($values);
// set the height and width of the graph image
$width = 500;
$height = 200;
// Set the amount of space between each column
$padding = 5;
// Get the width of 1 column
$column_width = $width / $columns ;
// set the graph color variables
$im = imagecreate($width,$height);
$gray = imagecolorallocate ($im,0xcc,0xcc,0xcc);
$gray_lite = imagecolorallocate ($im,0xee,0xee,0xee);
$gray_dark = imagecolorallocate ($im,0×7f,0×7f,0×7f);
$white = imagecolorallocate ($im,0xff,0xff,0xff);
// set the background color of the graph
imagefilledrectangle($im,0,0,$width,$height,$white);
// Calculate the maximum value we are going to plot
$max_value = max($values);
// loop over the array of columns
for($i=0;$i<$columns;$i++)
{
// set the column hieght for each value
$column_height = ($height / 100) * (( $values[$i] / $max_value) *100);
// now the coords
$x1 = $i*$column_width;
$y1 = $height-$column_height;
$x2 = (($i+1)*$column_width)-$padding;
$y2 = $height;
// write the columns over the background
imagefilledrectangle($im,$x1,$y1,$x2,$y2,$gray);
// This gives the columns a little 3d effect
imageline($im,$x1,$y1,$x1,$y2,$gray_lite);
imageline($im,$x1,$y2,$x2,$y2,$gray_lite);
imageline($im,$x2,$y1,$x2,$y2,$gray_dark);
}
// set the correct png headers
header (”Content-type: image/png”);
// spit the image out the other end
imagepng($im);
?>
For Sale 1995 Chevrolet Blazer LT (SOLD)
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| For sale: 1995 Chevrolet Blazer LT 4WD. SOLD 4.3L Vortec V6 engine. 111,648 Original Miles as of January 17th, 2009 Starts and runs fine. Full disclaimer: The ABS unit went out last August and I never checked in to how much that would cost to get fixed. The transmission shifts fine for normal driving, but the reverse gear is having some issues. I’ve been told that was a common problem for this vehicle.The transmission repair might cost around $800 or so. The latch on the rear glass, which is normally glued to it, has come undone and I have tried using Gorilla Glue but it didn’t hold. You might know what it takes to fix it, or you could replace the whole rear glass for about $300. It has a new set of tires, upper and lower u-joints are new, tie-rod ends are new, steering tension bar is new, radiator is new. All of those part replacements were made because of normal wear. With a little money put into it, you’d have a really clean and reliable vehicle for many miles to come. We’ve just acquired another vehicle and are no longer needing this one. Asking Price: $2,100 cash Vehicle is in Independence, Missouri 64055 UPDATE: This vehicle has been sold. Thanks! |