dave (no thomas)

Custom WordPress Design?

To do custom WordPress or to not do custom WordPress?

That is the question…

If you Google “Knoxville” + “WordPress” you won’t come up with much.  Not too many people specialize in it unless it’s a design house throwing in a free blog or a cheap template.

With Dave and Thomas firmly nestled into WordPress [since last summer] and now on new servers [thank God!] it’s hard to believe that it has been almost 3.5 years of the Timekillers. Crazy!

The ebb and flow of the site have been extreme but I would not trade them in for much anything.

So I thought I’d share some of the ins and outs on Dave and Thomas.  Essentially, the site has taken off to a point that I had to get the blog onto better servers and that was not fun.  The old host basically held my domain hostage for a week before releasing it which meant that the domain name was offline completely for a week.

Douchebags.

Now it’s back up and picking up steam already.  So here’s a bit of the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of D&T.

• The first Dave and Thomas post was on 3/17/06 about “V for Vendetta”
• Dave and Thomas started out on Blogger
• This year: 66% of the traffic is from the U.S. followed by Canada [8%] , U.K. [5 ]
• Dave and Thomas [this year] have seen visitors from 197 countries including one from the Vatican.  Yup.  Seriously.

I Now Have A (Google) Voice

The Google Voice invitation has finally arrived and I’m a little excited.  That’s just the geek in my I guess.  But the potential of Google Voice sounds great.  Although I’m not too big of a fan of letting Google control everything in my life I must admit that I have come to love my Gmail.

If Voice can be as useful than I’ll be happy.

The best part was picking my new number.  You are able to search by area code, certain number, or even words. While I couldn’t get my name I did have the choice between ninja and taco.  Tough decision.

It took me about 8 days to get my invite.

Going Covert: Metal Detecting Sandals

Proud of your metal detector but embarassed when all the hot girls in bikinis laugh at you while you wave your metal wand around the beach?

Fear no more.  Hammacher Schlemmer has created the Metal Detecting Sandals to help you continue finding bottle caps and scraps of metal for your collection.  A wire coil in the right sandal can detect metal two feet below the sand and notify you with a  gentle vibration to the black box on your calf.

Plus, it’s a great ice-breaker trying to explain why it looks like you are wearing a house arrest anklet outside of the home.

Five Rejected 'Bing' Search Engine Names

Microsoft wants you to forget their doomed “Live Search” as well as the giant “Google” to find game cheats and celebrity hotties with ….”Bing?”

Bing (previously code-named Kumo) is Microsoft’s expensive attempt to replace “Live” and slice a big piece of Google’s search engine domination pie for themselves. And they’re betting somewhere between $80-100 million to get your attention.  They also spent a lot of money on advertising Vista but let’s try to forget that for a second.

There’s no doubt Bing is a goofy name.  It conjures up an image of an ad man with a creative block falling asleep to a “Friends” marathon the night before the deadline.

Here’s a look at some of the rejected Bing names.

5. Joey
A baby kangaroo carried by a strong parent in a pouch or Chandler Bing’s BFF?  A double meaning that might work plus it might have help out Matt LeBlanc.  He could of used the work.

4. Cuil
Bing may be a stupid name but Cuil is stupid and pretentious.  Rumors say someone once tried the name but no one remembers it…

3. Compuprodigyscape 5.0
Not sure why they didn’t go with that one…

Seems like a proven winner.

2. Lisa
The Search Engine for everyone!

1. Windows Vista Search
Even Microsoft is trying to distance themselves from this expensive debacle.  Vista search would have required a browser upgrade and would not be compatible with most of the links you found.

Study Shows Computers Are Dangerous

“It’s just a flesh wound, Dave…”

No one wants their obit to read about what a great person you were if it were not for those pesky computer cables that you tripped on and killed yourself.

The first report to count computer-related emergency room injuries shows that each year more and more Americans are tripping over cords, dropping monitors, banging heads and snagging limbs.

I’m sure a few of those ER visits are laptops wedged into the side of guys heads after being tossed around by angry girlfriends after finding out the guy was checking out his ex-girlfriend on Facebook.

Apple stuns WWDC with pulsating App Store hyperwall

The spirit of Steve Jobs was alive and well at this year’s WWDC in San Francisco.  Apple Computers showcased 20,000 of the most popular iPhone apps on a massive hyperwall built out of Cinema Displays — one that pulses in sync with each and every App Store download.

The dynamic nerdgasm was one of the most impressive displays by Apple at the conference.  With over 3,000 apps being downloaded a minute the Company needed a visual representation to highlight the popularity of the App Store.

Having a cash register ring loudly with every sale proved too brazen.

Several men became lightheaded over the excitement of the fluctuating wall but quick acting EMT’s standing nearby quickly revived them by fanning a copy of “Wired” in front of their face.

Vanity Facebook URLs Coming

For years finding your lost high school buddy on Facebook meant flipping through endless searches and hoping a name and picture matched up to your memory.

It would seem logical that a social network would work your socially recognizable name into it’s system instead of the prison ID number style they have going on currently. Starting this weekend, Facebook usernames will be available in basic text forms instead of the awkward “profile.php?id=647351063.” Users may only choose a single username for their profiles and for each of the pages they administer.

Finding Bob, that guy from high school who could down a case of Natural Ice and light his farts on fire, is now a heck of a lot easier.

The down side is that the names are available on a first-come, first-serve basis and you better be quick to grab your name. Facebook’s 200-plus million members will no doubt be racing to secure theirs when the gates open Saturday, June 13th.

B/W Hobo Reflects

It’s a proven fact that printing any image in B&W makes it more artistic.  [source]

Comedy and Clam Chowder: Sketch Comedy Actors (Knoxville)

Comedy and Clam Chowder

Recently I posted this little diddy onto Craig’s List in Knoxville to find some funny people to help out with some comedy shorts:

We’re looking for a few good natured, reliable and funny people to round out an ensemble cast for some web-based sketch comedy videos. We are a group of 4 film-makers/web designers looking for individuals with a good sense of comedy writing or acting.

We will be shooting various short comedy sketches during the summer in Knoxville and we are looking for talent who are bold and confident in their opinions and will not pull any punches. If this is you, please respond to this ad with the name of your favorite soup.

Those who like Manhattan Clam Chowder over New England Clam Chowder please do not respond.

Essentially because our site has taken off we have recognized the need for original content.  That and none of us are fans of Manhattan Clam Chowder.  Seriously….tomatoes in Clam Chowder…?  Why not just heat up some Clamato?

Anyway, we got a lot of response to the post. Much more than I thought but that’s a good thing. So hopefully this post will help flush out some of the details more.

So here’s the deal.  We are a small group of goofy web designers and film people who would like to use our free time more productively and make some great comedy.  The ideal outlet is a series of shorts that can be packaged and delivered on the web as original content with the possiblity of entering some items in short film festivals.

We have the cameras, sound systems, lights and even a green screen so we are pretty good on equipment. Some sources of inspiration for us all are the talents of groups like Monty Python, Kids in the Hall, The State, Whitest Kids U Know, Magic Hugs, College Humor, It’s Always Sunny in Philly, Funny or Die and similar insanities.  If you have ever watched a show like Saturday Night Live and made the comment “I could do better than that” here’s your chance to prove it.

So if you are interested in helping start an ensemble comedy group in Knoxville please give me a holler at daveandthomas@gmail.com with some samples or details on how you can help out.

Thanks,

Dave

Location: Knoxville

Hours: Weekends mainly.  We all work 9-5’s.

Compensation: Pizza and beer.

Equipment: Just you and your sense of humor.  We should have all the rest.

Requirements: Be comfortable in writing and possibly performing comedy routines.  Must be able to work well with others and above all else, have a good time.

EDIT [05-19-09]  We’ve already met with a few potential members and the response has been great. In fact, we’ve already scheduled a few shorts to start filming in the next week so if you have hopped over here looking for info on the group you can still help out.  Give me a hollar at daveandthomas@gmail.com for more information.

Thanks,

Dave

Wow! Best Animated GIF I've Seen