I’m excited to announce that I’ve moved the business website for Danenberg Consulting LLC to 100% solar powered web hosting! I’ve also become a reseller and joined their affiliate program. I’m a huge fan of solar power, by the way.

As a reseller, I interface directly with my clients to handle their support needs. It helps keep their management overhead down to one simple point of contact. I’m not looking to become some big web hosting company. The profit margins are very low, and support takes more time than it’s worth unless you have full control of your costs and are willing to devote ALL of your time to it. But for clients that I am developing custom applications for, it only makes sense to extend hosting services. It simplifies application development by having a known hosting provider. Subtle server differences can waste development time debugging configuration issues. It’s simpler management on my end dealing with fewer providers, and it can’t hurt to be a valued client who brings in a lot of business to one provider.

As an affiliate, I get a teeny commission whenever anyone signs up for service with my affiliate link. I don’t have to deal with support or anything. I don’t even have to know them. Not expecting much from this. Maybe I’ll put the proceeds toward my reed fund?

I’ve got my energy consulting client on board with this move. Currently, helping them move their site over. We’ve got future development in the works that will be hosted on solar-powered application servers. Very cool.

Here’s my business blog entry about the move to solar. I’ve also set up a page describing my web hosting services as a reseller.

I’m hoping to set up a Virtual Dedicated Server in the future so that I can move all my other sites over to solar power.

When I learned about endangered species and extinction in elementary school, lessons focused on fairly exotic extinct creatures like the Dodo bird and the Tasmanian Tiger. We talked about the once-common Passenger Pigeon, or how the American Bison was nearly hunted to extinction.

Like many kids, I was a dinosaur fanatic. I pored through my favorite dinosaur book Life Before Man (pictured top center) for hours, despite it having toxic-smelling paper fumes that made me feel nauseous. From that book, I learned about how the Moa survived on an island until the 1500’s, when it was hunted to extinction. It seemed like such a shame that a 12-foot-tall prehistoric bird nearly survived long enough, in relative terms, for us to actually see it live.

Still, the threat of extinction seemed rather limited to a small set of creatures when I was a child. I wanted to protect them all myself, but I thought surely people were taking care of the situation. I was just a kid, but people had written all these books. Perhaps it was too late to see the skies blackened by passenger pigeons, but no one would let elephants or gorillas go extinct, knowing what we know now, right?

Well, thirty years later, the list of critically endangered species is alarmingly extensive. Every day, creatures are added to the list that I never would have dreamed would be threatened when I was a kid. Species that I could have seen, including the Chinese River Dolphin (Baiji) and the Wester Black Rhinoceros have gone extinct due to direct human activity.

Not long ago, I found the website for the Lost Ladybug Project. Quoting from their home page, "Over the past twenty years several native ladybugs that were once very common have become extremely rare." The last twenty years! Not far away exotic creatures, but insects I grew up with in my own back yard! When you’re a kid, about two-and-a-half feet tall, you are acutely aware of the critters running around in your yard. Lady bugs, aphids on leaves, praying mantises, millipedes… I’ve spent time in recent years in my parent’s back yard in Connecticut, getting down on the ground, wondering if things these days are a lot different ecologically than when I was a kid. I’ve felt that things ARE so very different. I used to catch toads on a daily basis where I now see none. The dreaded White-faced Hornet of my childhood is a rare site these days. Summer choruses of Katydids seem never in session.

The Lost Ladybug Project struck me as proof of my observations.  I feel there is very little I can do to personally intervene, but this site seems like a good start. They are asking our help to collect and identify lady bugs. Their Kid’s Page is under construction, but it seems perfect to get children interested in conservation. When I was a kid, it seemed like something up to other people to do. Now, it’s more apparent than ever that every one of us must play a part, starting with the very insects in your back yard.  Will future generations have only a few oddballs like me who care about things like this, or will everybody care?

It’s kickoff time for Duke Baxter’s fifty-state project Interstate Soul! Our first "state gig" is in Vermont this weekend.

I’ve been playing with the Duke Baxter Band since 2004, and I can tell you this is a great band with a fun act composed of solid musicians and excellent people. I’ll also say that you’d be hard pressed to match the energy and excitement of a live eight-piece soul band with a three-piece horn section at a wedding reception. Sorry, DJ’s!

We cooked up this fifty-state idea last winter, and it’s such a great idea we’ve been rolling with it ever since. We’re looking to line up 10 gigs or so in 2010, probably focusing on the northeast, so if you know anyone who’s getting married… We plan on publishing a book and producing a documentary film. Follow our progress on the Interstate Soul blog.

Star Trek Meets Monty Python! I love it. Well done!

Star Trek A-Team. This is just a seque…

…into Han Solo, P.I.! Here is the side-by-side comparison. It’s fun to see how the shots line up with the original. Links to the separate versions are in the video description.

I’m glad I don’t have the time to do stuff like this. It looks very time consuming.

I walked 6.91 miles yesterday to purchase a copy of David Allen’s Getting Things Done.  Not the best way to get things done, but when you do as many things as I do, sometimes you have to treat yourself to a nice long walk.  This book was highly recommended to me by my former boss Andy.  I’ve been developing a lot of techniques on my own the last few years to better time manage and organize, even to the point last winter where I was actually *gasp*…scheduling my time each day…!  But I’ve been even busier this summer, and my system has been buckling at the seams (or more accurately, been conveniently forgotten).  I figured it was finally time to absorb the GTD book myself.  Read the first two chapters today.  So far so good, but I’ll let you know at a later date how the lessons benefit my organizational skills.

As for the 6.91 miles…the ruler feature of Google Earth is very useful!  I use it for plotting my running routes.  Yesterday, I used it to retrace my zig-zag walk through lower manhattan.  My longest afternoon jaunt was a 12.25 mile roundabout route from Boerum Hill to Columbus Circle, stopping at Kinko’s to make copies.  Iguanas and ice sculptures along the way.  Walking is definitely the best way to see the city.  Also, the scenic way to buy a book!

When I saw this photo of Twins right fielder Michael Cuddyer, this is the first thing I thought of:

Furthermore, I cannot wait til this movie comes out!

A while back, Russ sent me this video (audio really) of Chris Potter playing All the Things You Are at a master class. It is mind blowing, and I’ve recently come back to it to work out what I can on my tenor:

Today, Stef sent me a link to Ben Doherty’s transcription posted by David Valdez:

Potter’s solo version of All the Things You Are

If you click ‘download’ below the viewer, you’ll get a link to the PDF file. Better for printing.

This material is worthy of serious study, and probably will induce serious frustration! Thanks to all, and most importantly, Chris Potter for musical inspiration.

Just a couple links I happened upon today that I thought went well together…

Howard Dean responding to Sarah Palin’s latest work in fiction:

The Media’s Treatment of Palin’s Outrageous "Death Panel" Claims

William Shatner immortalizing Sarah Palin’s latest work in poetry:

The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien – Shatner Does Palin (07/27/09)

I was at Roberto’s Woodwinds today to pick up some V16 soprano reeds.  An employee told me they no longer carry Vandoren reeds.  The reason given was that they were "expensive and inconsistent".

Correct me if I’m wrong, but haven’t reeds always been expensive and inconsistent!?

I suspect there’s more to the story than that.  But it doesn’t matter.  I can buy Vandoren elsewhere.

I use V16 on soprano and alto.  I like the extra bite I get in my sound with them.  Of course, these are secondary voices for me, so I’m not as particular about quality issues.  I pretty much play through every reed in the box.

On tenor, however, I’m neurotically fussy.  Rigotti Gold reeds have been the only brand that performs to my liking for several years now.  Roberto’s is the sole distributor for those.

So for now, I have to make two stops to pick up my reeds, not just one.

Reasons twofold: to assist Terry Jinn with inspiration for his Daily Beverage, and to contribute in my own personal and uncompensated way toward the longevity of my favorite drinks.

Honest Tea Peach Oo-La-Long (My very favorite, of course!)

Maine Root Ginger Brew

GUS Dry Cola

Fentiman’s Ginger Beer

Boylan Pure Seltzer

San Pellegrino Aranciata*

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* Official site has no discernible product links, but consider your water tasting technique flawed unless you absorb their tutorial.