I got tagged by David Dalka on a topic that has been going around the blog world – to post 8 random things about myself. So here goes:

1. I used to collect business cards. I passed along most of them to other collectors, but I still have cards from Bill Gates and Steve Case.

2. I was once in the studio watching a live broadcast of NFL Sunday Countdown at the ESPN Studios in Bristol, CT.

3. I was the general manager of my college radio station, WNEK-FM, which is why I still have records.

4. I used to own a Penny-Farthing bicycle – I won it in a raffle. As I could never ride the thing, I sold it to a bike shop that had the old-style English cycle as its logo.

5. I am 100% Italian-American.

6. I have been a New England Patriots season ticket holder since 1993.

7. I still own the TRS-80 Model 4 computer I owned in high school.

8. I have been to 12 countries.

Now to return the favor, I am tagging the following 8 people:

Mark Ashley
Mike Carruth
Justin Chen
Jason Jacobsohn
Clay Parker Jones
Matt Maldre
Drew Myler
Wendy Piersall

Of course there is no obligation to post, but it's more for fun and to share a little about ourselves. And so it continues.

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Wouldn’t it be nice to find out what people are saying about you right now? Or your business or competitors? Using Serph along with other services like Google Alerts can help you keep track of who is saying what and where.

I was recently clued into Serph by Justin at Menuism. You can create a free account to manage your searches, or simply enter a search query and see what is being mentioned about that search phrase on blogs and social bookmark sites. You can also get an RSS feed of that search phrase, and Serph will deliver any new entries to your feed reader as they are found.

Like any of these services, they won’t find everything about every phrase. If you are a new business or new to publishing online, you may not get results right away. As I have been publishing The Hot Iron and promoting Dunkirk Systems for a while, I get frequent hits of their mentions in blogs and on other Web sites.

This post alone should send me alerts, as well as to Justin.

Business • Technology • (1) Comments • Permalink

With the day-to-day grind of life and business, it’s good to take a break, even if for just a few hours. Sometimes it’s reading a book in my secret location or a walk along Lake Michigan. Every couple of weeks though, it is to relax and get cleaned up in the process, and for that I take a stroll over to The 316 Club.

The 316 Club, located next to the Board of Trade Building in Chicago, is a men’s spa, “designed to provide an oasis with premium grooming services.” You can get haircut – or in my case a head shave – face shave, face, hand or foot treatment – even waxing. The environment is done well with dark wood and stone, a lounge with a fireplace, pool table and a full bar. They have WiFi, but the last thing I want to do is bring my notebook and do work there!

If you do get a shave, it is a real straight-razor shave by Carmelo, a second-generation Italian-American barber. This is the extreme opposite of using a Bic disposable razor with Barbasol shaving cream! He uses The Art of Shaving products, which I personally have used for several years, which gives me the best shave I have ever had. If you have never had a straight-razor shave, I highly recommend you try it.

As it is called The 316 “Club,” it is a membership club. They offer 2 types of memberships both including unlimited use of one of their package of services – all including a shoe shine – and discounts on other services or products. They also host events throughout the year especially for members.

You don’t have to join to visit the Club, but after a couple of visits you probably will. Do the math for what you are paying now and it will make sense... add in the extras of the experience and it will more than pay for itself. Needless to say I am a member!

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A new law signed on August 1 in New York State will surely lead to much confusion, and much profiting by the attorneys who have to spend their clients’ money to understand and see if this law holds up.

Note that I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on YouTube. Please read the text of the law on the State Of New York’s Web site and search on bill S3814-B. More information is available from the Web site of New York State Senator Betty Little who sponsored the legislation, and the news report the bill is now law.

As I have talked about before, there is a process for registering and disputing the ownership of domain names. There is cybersquatting, where a person registers a domain name of a person, business or entity with the intent to profit from it. Then there are people who buy domain names comprised of generic terms that are descriptive of a product or service, and could apply to an entire industry segment. As a domain name has value and if a registrant decides to sell it, who is to say they cannot?

The New York law appears to offer an avenue around the ICANN process for disputing domain name ownership. This also imposes cash penalties of $1,000.00 a day! But where the law is confusing is in its opening language:

“Relates to cyber piracy protections and the unlawful registration of domain names; prohibits the registration of a domain name that consists of the name of another living person, or a name substantially and confusingly similar thereto, without that person's consent, with the specific intent to profit from such name by selling the domain name for financial gain to that person or any third party; provides for injunctive relief and other civil remedies.”

What defines intent to profit? What if I hold a domain name and do not sell it, or develop a Web site around it or simply park it – who is to determine intent?

Here’s a potential example – say I buy every possible domain name around my name, including misspellings. I may decide to sell some of them, perhaps some of the less desirable top-level domains like .ws. If there is another person with the same name as myself, can they then sue me under this law? And can they sue for the .com name and not the .ws I want to sell? Yes, there are other people out there named Mike Maddaloni, and I am sure Betty Little as well.

It is also murky as to jurisdiction of this law. What if the registrant and domain name registrar are not based in New York? Needless to say, I have warned my clients and colleagues in New York State about the potential issues with this law.

Again, I am not a lawyer, and with all legal matters you should consult one. If you don’t have one – get one. Especially if you are worried about New Yorkers suing you within a few months.

Business • Domain Names • (1) Comments • Permalink

Tim Courtney has emailed me and invited myself and all of you to attend the very first Silicon Prairie Social, to be held on Thursday, September 20 at Mullen’s Bar and Grill in Lisle, IL. This is being billed as a suburban tech networking event, as Lisle is about 30 minutes west of Chicago. That is, 30 minutes without the occasional traffic tie-ups on the Chicagoland roads.

And to answer your next question, yes, there will be free drinks. They have an impressive list of sponsors on their Web site already. I am glad to hear about and share information on such events. At events in Chicago proper, many people come in from the ‘burbs to attend, and I hope some folks from the city venture west. You may want to head out earlier and do some shopping, as the tax is less outside of the city!

Business • Technology • (2) Comments • Permalink