Ringer/rg - rants, raves, rhetorical blog

Balsamic Glazed Chicken Sandwich w/ Goat Cheese, Roasted Red Peppers and Fresh Basil - Yum!

XXX Sunday night at our house is either survivor night or Chinese Take-Out.

Tonight was survivor night. I looked in the fridge and saw some chicken I had taken out to thaw Saturday. Not much else.

A look in the pantry - close to empty, too, since it’s time for a major grocery shopping trip. I spotted some roasted red peppers tucked in the corner.

I went to webcam chicas Google and typed in roasted red peppers and chicken. #3 was this link to Closet Cooking

Ran up to the local Kroger and picked up the goat cheese and some fresh bread - $5
On the way back in the house picked some fresh basil out of the herb garden in the front yard.

10 minutes later I was very happy - and I have a new favorite sandwich.

Simple SEO Tip #1: Give your art files a good name

We manage a lot of websites for clients which include links to other websites. To dress up the links we like to include an image or logo file.

I can’t believe how many times we go to a corresponding website and find logo files named “image.jpg” or “uploadimage.jpg” or “logo.gif”

Best file name practices for search engine optimization:

full company, business or group name - example: ringerrglogo.jpg
use hyphens not underscores - example: ringer-rg-logo.jpg
do not keyword stuff the title - example: ringer-rg-marketing-communications-logo.jpg

Just a few simple things giving you an SEO edge.

SEO Tip #2: Another one for images - title tag

Ever wonder why when you mouse over some images on a web page an image description pops up? Well, the programmer smartly added a title tag to the image.

Code example (removed carrots so code would display properly):

img src=”venue_images/thecolemancollection.jpg”
alt=”Winter Wonderland: The Coleman Collection on display at the Courthouse Galleries in Portsmouth, VA”
title=”Winter Wonderland: The Coleman Collection, Portsmouth, Virginia”

See the coding in action: http://portsvaevents.com/december_09.html
Mouse over the Coleman Collection image at the top.

Best thing about adding a title tag - Google likes it, too.

Tag, you’re it.

So I’m a marionette a.k.a. fake if I like Starbucks. So says Caribou Coffee’s new TV spots. I got some string for them…

It’s no secret I love me some Starbucks coffee. Well, all except for their Pikes Peak crap, but I’ll save that for another rant.

Caribou Coffee has decided to poke some fun at Starbucks drinkers using some “Thunderbird” look-alikes sitting on a mall bench.

Call me captain obvious but, how does a TV spot that claims they use real chocolate in their chocolate drinks – insinuating others don’t – convince me, a real coffee drinker, they have better coffee than Starbucks? Are they also insinuating Starbucks uses fake coffee beans, too?

I can’t tell you the last time I bought coffee in a mall. But I guess they’re just going along with the holiday season. You know, all those fake people out there spending their fake money on snarky gifts just to make themselves feel good when their fake friends and family open them…

Honesty, an exhibition of work celebrating this fleeting virtue: http://www.factoriadesantos.com/index.php/blog/detalle/5.php

From two guys who’ve been accused of being brutally honest with clients - more than a few times. Well, almost all the time.

What can we say, we abide by Cowboy Ethics.

Information about the exhibit from the Factoria de Santos website:

Contemporary Mexican visual arts has been fixated with notions of violence and corruption for some time now. It is with welcome relief and great excitement that EyeLevel BQE presents, “HONESTY”. Centrally curated around the fictional saint “San Honesto” created by Factoria de Santos, this show is a retort against the universal corruption that fundamentally frames life in modern day Mexico.

“HONESTY” Features art by Dan Funderburgh, Vena2, Ciler, Bang Buro, Dr. Morbito, Monica Ruzansky, Tomas Tisch, Gabriela Alva, Tom Smith, Gabriela Artigas and Luisa Gloria. To create a new yet authentically Mexican visual culture focused on honesty all artists applied the spirit of the mirror faced saint to their respective mediums, resulting in a fascinating range of 2D and 3D work reaching for a more pure sense of self.

The opening reception will take place on Friday December 11th from 6pm to 9pm at Eyelevel Gallery, located at 364 Leonard Street Brooklyn, New York.

I LOVE the Internet/email or how the Internet saved me thousands of dollars fixing my Heat Pump. Wife & kids no longer a pale shade of blue.

I live in a 30+ year-old house meaning major appliances, such as the heating/AC system, are also 30+ years old. The government says I have to replace not fix the HVAC system. Yes, I know it will save money in the long run but I’m not interested in adding a monthly payment to the family budget right now.

Burnt up HVAC Switching Relay

I’m fairly mechanically inclined and observant plus, I have a few tools. I knew where the problem might be so I did some poking around, replaced a few parts I could name – fan motor, capacitor - I thought were the problem.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t that simple.

I poked around some more and found a few wires that were fried in a control box. The fried wires were plugged into a small part - I had no idea what it was called – which was also quite crispy.

I always tell my business partner I can find ANYTHING on the Internet. So, off to the computer I went.

Through a search that started with “GE Air Handler replacement parts” and guesses as to what part I needed to replace – knew it controlled the fan; saw that it had a coil with tiny writing/specs – I stumbled across a company called Americas Air Supply who seemed to have lots of hard to find replacement parts.

I went straight to the contact page, found an email address.

In my email I included a few photos - photos I took to help me remember which wires went where when once I was able to get the replacement part - the model and serial number and HELP ME, PLEASE at the bottom.

This was at 8:26 PM EST.

Within a couple of hours I received a reply with a part name, Switching Relay, and a link to order from their online catalog.

I know love is a strong word, but this Internet thing is amazing.

What has it helped you with lately?