I joined a very cool website last night: Stock.xchng (that’s not actually the URL of the site, but rather its title – URL is sxc.hu). Joining gives you access to millions of stock photos that people have uploaded and made free for the public to use. As someone who builds websites, this thing is a gold mine. I used to have membership to a clip-art site which charged anywhere from $14.95 a week to $159 a year, depending on how long I remained a member. Now that I’ve found stock.xchng, I doubt I’ll ever have to pay for photos again. If you build websites, or if you’re in the advertising, PR, or marketing biz, this is worth bookmarking. You have to register with the site to access the photos, but it’s worth it.
Didn’t go out last night… I was too exhausted to socialize, but not too exhausted to finish work on my next website. I’ll wait ’til Monday to announce this one, because it strikes me as the kind of site people will shop when they get bored at work. If you can’t wait ’til then, snoop around a little and you’ll find it.
I also did plenty of web surfing last night. One of my favorite bloggers is a guy named Chris Guillebeau, who writes a blog called The Art of Nonconformity (just the title alone says why I like it). He’s a world traveler, and yesterday he released a product called The Unconventional Guide to Discount Airfare. It’s an e-book you can buy and have delivered immediately via download. I don’t fly much so it’s not for me, but if you like to travel, this book can probably save you a lot of money. The advantage of it being an e-book is that he’s offering free updates for life, a good thing since their airlines are constantly changing the way they do business.
The MBJ reports that a new restaurant is going into the old Conte’s Italian Restaurant space on Madison just east of Second. It will be called Smitty’s Place and will serve mainly Southern food, but there will be burgers and healthy items such as salads as well. It will be open Mon-Fri 11-2 for lunch and also Fri-Sat nights for dinner. There will be live entertainment Fri-Sat nights, with a format yet to be determined.
I also did some Facebook surfing last night. I think I previously mentioned that Big Foot Lodge has a group members can join. This is a great way for businesses to stay in touch with their biggest fans. On the group, Shawn poses the question, “Where should Big Foot Lodge #2 be?” and asks for feedback. That’s Web 2.0 for you, being able to ask advice from the people who know you best – your loyal customers. You can’t buy that kind of expertise if you pay a consultant with an MBA ten grand a week. To answer the question: It kills me to say it, but I think a second BFL would totally work on Germantown Parkway. The place has one of the best dessert menus in town. Kids would be SCREAMING for their parents to load them into the SUV and take them to get those cookies a la mode, the 18-scoop Yeti sundae, the peach cobbler. Also, the 34 oz. Coors Lights would be a huge hit out there. Coors Light is the champagne of East Bumblefuck.
While on Facebook, I noticed that RSVP Magazine had a fan group as well… and wouldn’t you know it, one of the first people to join was fellow blogger East Bumblefuck Kat. I guess three weeks from now, I’ll be watching her and her Ptolemy Krewe friends chase the RSVP photographers around at Art on Tap. Wow, Kat hasn’t posted since July 20… I guess “last night I sat on the porch of my cookie-cutter house in Cordova and watched the grass grow” doesn’t make for a very exciting update, so she hasn’t bothered lately.
No, I didn’t join the RSVP fan group, in case there was any doubt.
I’m surprised this hasn’t happened here yet… in Pittsburgh, there was a report that a homeless man was stabbed after an argument with another homeless man. The reason? They were arguing over who was the better panhandler. Man… you know you’ve reached rock bottom when “I’m a better bum than you” is all you have to brag about.
All right… time to get the day started. Tonight I am going out, although I have no idea where.