Some disruption to service for the past few hours (time now 8:56:11 pm ) and there'll be some more tomorrow. I'm upgrading the server and adding more services.
I'll be taking it down tomorrow as well for a couple of hours. I need to compact the databases and get rid of the bloat.

333 Also posted to: Home page . At: 8:58:00 PM  . .
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theswedishchef: See YA Later!: "Thanks for the blogs Steve, A world changing invention, for me.... " True, once you've blogged, you're lost for all time.
Dont get the tip though. Does he mean the old way? http://astonVilla.blogFootball.com/theswedishchef/admin/flipHomePage

329 Also posted to: Home page . At: 11:44:54 AM  . .
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This is a rough draft of the letter I'll be sending out. I think I'll add in the blog item below too, just to stir the pot a little. Watch out it's an 800k file, the big one.

328 Also posted to: Home page . At: 1:29:50 AM  . .
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CNET: Gateway shifts retail strategy: Gateway said last month that it was testing stocking three of its most popular desktop models at about 40 percent of its stores.
They're getting desperate, well, creative anyway? Could these guys be ready to give blogs away with 'puters. Quick edit this page demo on their machine in the store... Or tell them the address on the phone or send them to their new site, once they've bought on line.
Their site contains all the details about their new machine, ads for new bits see below.
Like fellow PC manufacturer Dell Computer, Gateway more typically sells computers directly to customers, either online or over the telephone. But now the company plans to carry computers in the stores on a permanent basis
Joe Punter, the ordinary man in the street, just like Villa bloggers.
The move is a risky one, warn analysts, who caution Gateway could increase its cost structure by selling PCs through the retail outlets. Offering select models in stores, where salespeople have more incentive to move stock on hand, could sap other systems. The PC manufacturer also must absorb the cost of moving and maintaining stock and the financial risks of carrying inventory.
Risky? Would giving blogs to store sales people also be risky? Staff could be bloggers of blogs, knitting the community together. The subgroups could be about machines, geographic areas, applications. Of course, people (staff/customers) would be blogging about personal stuff too
Drawing store traffic and with it sales, is something Gateway dperately needs right now. The company has been in turnaround mode since CEO Ted Waitt returned in January 2001 to run the company he founded. Waitt's return sent seven of 14 top executives packing and set off a series of strategic initiatives that have yet to right a company listing from stormy PC sales and a pounding by Dell.
Strategic initiatives? A cluetrainy blogging colony where Gateway become context providers, would certainly be strategic -- fuck me! They could dominate the whole 'puter gig.
Turner also sees another opportunity to further sell services, software and other extras along with PCs bought and carried out the same day.
Their blog could remind them of the bits they didn't buy. People go to their own site, they don't go back to Gateways's.
"They're also going to be focusing more on peripheral products," Duboise said. "We're talking digital cameras, camcorders, games and all of that."
All of those high-margin add-ons could benefit Gateway's gross margins and eventually operation margins.
Perfect!

327 Also posted to: Home page . At: 12:47:24 AM  . .
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