July 13th, 2010 by Scott Rowe
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It seems like everyday I see another site with the Facebook Like button implemented in it. While I think it is a brilliant move on the part of Facebook and a good idea for content creators to add, there are times when things just don’t work out right.
Today I was browsing the web and ran across an article on the passing of George Steinbrenner. It is of course sad to hear of anyones passing especially someone who has affected so many people. What I found a bit disturbing however was the Facebook Like button. “3,423 people like this. Be the first of your friends.” Now this wording is fine if the article is about a cool new mobile device or ice cream special but not about someone dying. Perhaps Facebook needs to develop an algorithm that can determine if the article is of a positive or negative nature and adjust the copy accordingly.
July 11th, 2010 by Scott Rowe
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I have created a salsa recipe that has become a favorite of mine and requested regularly by my family and friends. In order to allow everyone to enjoy it as much as I have, I have decided to share it with everyone. It is simple to make yet absolutely delicious.
Ingredients
- 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can of diced tomatoes
- 1 (12 1/2 ounce) can of Ro*tel tomatoes and green chilies
- 1/2 yellow onion
- 1 sprig of fresh cilantro (adjust to your liking)
- 4 TSP diced jalapenos
- 1/2 TSP garlic powder
- 1/2 TSP cumin
- 1/4 TSP sugar
Directions
- Put yellow onion in food processor and run until diced
- Add remaining ingredients and run until desired consistency
- Refrigerate a few hours to allow the flavors to blend together
You can of course serve this with any kind of corn chip but my favorite brand is Xochitl. If you try my recipe please let me know what you think.
June 2nd, 2010 by Scott Rowe
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Over the past few months I have been thinking about getting back into exercising regularly. I used to workout 6 days a week and eat 6 meals a day. I was in the best shape of my life in my early thirties. Then my son was born and I have had a huge problem getting back in the groove.
One of the reasons is that I have become bored with my old workout routines and just didn’t feel motivated. I ran a lot last year and even ran in the Market to Market Relay. The race was quite honestly the hardest physical challenge I have ever done in my life but was exhilarating. Surprisingly I have had a hard time getting motivated to run again so I have been thinking of alternatives that would get me back outside where I would rather be. Looking at the basement walls gets a bit boring.
Almost on a whim I decided to go shopping for bikes to see what was available for a beginner. Sure I rode bikes a lot as a child but it has been about 14 years since I had ridden a bicycle regularly. I stopped by The Bike Rack to see what they had available. I was surprised to see that they were selling 2009 Trek 820s for a very reasonable rate. They were only slightly more expensive than Schwinn bikes at being sold at Target. I decided to make the leap and buy the bike along with a helmet. This is a pretty odd thing for me. I usually do a large amount of research before making a purchase of a few hundred dollars.
Since I brought the bike home I have had some great rides. It feels great to get out on the road and feel the wind in your face. Most of us spend so much time indoors either at work or at home that we almost forget just how beautiful and refreshing the outdoors truly are. Although rides can be tough, I look forward to each one knowing I can go where I choose and go farther than I would running.
I’m going to cross my fingers and hope my passion for riding continues and that my new Trek 820 helps me to meet my fitness goals yet in 2010. Wish me luck!
May 24th, 2010 by Scott Rowe
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Yesterday we got back from Breckenridge, CO and we had a great time. It was odd going in the off off season since a lot of the restaurants and shops were closed. But on the plus side the town was really quiet and relaxing. We stayed in a beautiful condo located in Trail’s End. The owners had recently remodeled the unit and the granite countertops and HDTV were nice even though we watched very little TV. Why would we? Our condo balcony looked right at the side of the mountain. You just don’t get that kind of view in Omaha, NE.
Unfortunately it was the wet season so we were advised to stay clear of the trails. We did however go over the continental divide via Loveland Pass. The wind was incredible and we could feel the car rocking while sitting still. We also stopped to take a short hike and see an amazing view of lake Dillon.
Since we were on vacation we of course ate out a lot. Here is a list of places we visited while in Breckenridge.
Downstairs at Eric’s
They had a really cool motif and friendly staff. The garlic crust was awesome!
Euro Deli
The woman running the restaurant was friendly but you could tell that one person running an entire place was pretty tough. There was a bit of a wait but the bread made it all worth while.
Fiesta Jalisco
As far as Mexican food in Colorado goes it wasn’t bad. The salsa was pretty authentic although the food had little spice. The Tecate with lime made everything go down nice and smooth.
Breckenridge Brewery
I was really looking forward to eating here. I absolutely love a good brew pub and more importantly fresh beer. The food was good and the ale was excellent.
All in all I have nothing but positive things to say about our time in Breckenridge. I was quite honestly sad to leave. The free spirit you feel while there makes you long to return. We are already considering setting up a trip for this winter so we can hit the slopes. After all it’s only been about 14 years since I’ve skied there.
Photo taken with my iPhone and edited with TiltShiftGen
May 20th, 2010 by Scott Rowe
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This is perhaps the best meeting reminder I have ever received. See you all in a few days.
May 18th, 2010 by Scott Rowe
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In a couple of days I will be leaving town for a short vacation. I normally take two cameras on a trip so I can get stills and video for later editing and publishing. Since I bought my Canon 790 IS, my poor Digital Rebel and Sony Camcorder have found themselves left out. I absolutely love my SLR but for shear portability nothing can beat a point and shoot camera. And since my Canon 790 IS can also shoot video it is a one-stop shop for simple photography. Obviously my Digital Rebel takes superior photographs and who doesn’t love controlling the depth of field. But the 790 actually takes pretty good video when compared to my Sony mini dv camcorder. So I just pack up a set of 4GB SD cards and go.
All of this got me thinking about a single device for everything. I absolutely love my iPhone and don’t go anywhere without it. I use it for email, photos, social networking, gaming, news browsing, music streaming, instant messaging, etc, etc, etc. It is amazing just how many things the device can do.
While photography and video aren’t exactly the devices strong points it, it got me thinking about whether or not I could just document my entire trip using the device while on my trip. Unless my wife gets really annoyed with me during the trip here are the apps I am planning on using to take photos, video, and blog about my vacation while on the road.
- Camera (Shooting Photos)
- TiltShiftGen (Photo Manipulation)
- CameraFD (Photo Enhancement)
- Flickr
- Quik Video Pro (Shooting Videos)
- WordPress (Posting to this blog)
- foursquare (Checking into places we visit)
- HootSuite (Posting to Twitter and Facebook)
Of course I may just give up after the first day but I am truly intrigued to see how well I can document everything while on the go. Wish me luck!
May 17th, 2010 by Scott Rowe
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To be truly successful you must be who you are at heart. Whether it is a personal or professional brand you can’t fake the truth. If your passion is not what you are doing everyday then you will not the best you can be. This is so vitally important when determining how to achieve happiness. We can go through our lives looking for that next little high, whether it be that HDTV purchase or that next bottle of wine, these glimpses of joy are just fleeting moments that will never help us to achieve long term happiness. If you strive to just be who you are and engage your passions, by making them what you do, then you might be able to find some long-term happiness.
As a family man and business professional I am on the constant search for happiness. Why do I say search? Because I have yet to attain long-term happiness. I have moments of euphoria with my wife and son that I wouldn’t trade for the world and have days of great pleasure at work; I still have lots of bad days. I think part of it is that I have a bad case of digital ADD. I suppose most people that work in tech do. There are such an enormous number of topics to learn that you always feel behind. The other reason I often falter in my happiness as I fret and spend large amounts of energy on things that aren’t my passion. I may enjoy creating and solving problems; I certainly don’t enjoy billing and wasting time in unproductive meetings. Not to say I don’t really enjoy personal conversations. There are times I learn more from them then I do from business related matters. After all, the greatest way to study the human condition is to be part of it.
If I can find ways to spend more of my energy being who I am and doing the things that are my passion my journey will be successful. I think deep down in our core we all simply want to be happy. And unless we follow or own hearts and march to the beat of our internal drums we will never achieve it.
May 16th, 2010 by Scott Rowe
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About a year ago my Blog was hacked and I lost everything. I didn’t have a backup of anything so I found myself at a fork in the road. Instead of starting Greenlad.com over again I decided to focus on my digital marketing blog AdSoak.com. I enjoy writing for that blog when I have time but for me something has been missing. I have missed sharing my personal thoughts, ideas and experiences outside of marketing.
After attending the Big Omaha conference this past Friday and Saturday I am reinvigorated. It is time to get my personal blog up and running again. It is time to share more of myself. It is time to work on my personal brand. I hope those of you who find you way here will get a small piece of joy from it. I plan on using this as a venue to help me achieve my own dream of true personal happiness.
Scott
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