GSA Competitions and Prizes Industry Day
I attended the GSA's Competitions and Prizes Industry Day yesterday, an event designed to facilitate President Obama's mandate for using contests and prizes to spur innovation, transparency and collaboration within government. Contests represent an exciting application space, and I was pleased to be able to talk to folks about our Votridea Contest Platform.

IE7 Glitches
Just had an opportunity to test some recent site layout changes using Internet Explorer 7. Found a couple of CSS glitches impacting my (few) PC-based readers. So, I'll be fixing that over the weekend. If Microsoft can't do a decent web browser then they should remove it from the market.

KeenerTech on Facebook
KeenerTech.com now has a Facebook presence. Follow us on Facebook now.

Speaking at SunnyConf
I just received word today that I was accepted as a speaker for SunnyConf, Arizona's first Ruby conference, which will be held September 25, 2010. I'll be giving a talk on "Leveraging Rails to Build Facebook Applications." This is version 2.0 of the talk, incorporating major changes that were announced by Facebook at their F8 conference in April.

Earthquake Hits DC Area
I felt my first earthquake this morning — like a freight train rumbling past my house just outside. It was a minor quake, just 3.6 on the Richter scale.

KeenerTech.com Hits a New High
Site traffic for this blog hit a new high in June with more than 11,000 page views. I'm very pleased with the steady growth in traffic.

KeenerTech Changes
Inspired by RailsConf 2010, I've updated the site to support comments on all of the articles. I've also added a modest little Gallery page and a bunch of tweaks and minor re-factors.

Votridea.com Launches!
My team's been working for months now on the Votridea Online Video Contest Platform, and it just soft-launched today. The platform can do video and photo contests, is cloud-based, fully-scalable and robust since it's based on the real-world experiences we got running international contests for the Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

New Toy: Final Cut EXpress
My new toy just arrived, compliments of Amazon.com: Final Cut Express. So, I'm now armed and dangerous when it comes to video editing. OK, ok, so it's not Final Cut Pro, but it's got a solid subset of features for video editing (and it was MUCH cheaper), and I'm working with two other editors who have Final Cut Pro (so they can do the extra heavy lifting if needed). Onwards to the editing of RubyNation conference content!

KeenerTech Crosses Milestone
KeenerTech.com just recently crossed an important milestone. I implemented Google's AdSense program in December 2009. The site is getting enough traffic now, and has Google ads sufficiently integrated into the site, that KeenerTech.com is now self-sustaining. That is, the site earns at least enough through advertising to pay for its hosting costs. As a by-product, it also covers the hosting costs of the other sites that I host for various people.

KeenerTech.com Upgraded!
KeenerTech.com has been upgraded from Rails 2.2.2 to Rails 2.3.5. Even better, the site is now hosted using Phusion Passenger and Nginx, for faster performance than ever before. As a bonus, we've even upgraded to the latest version of the ActiveScaffold plugin.

Yes, My Yahoo Account Got Hacked
My Yahoo account got hacked. Joy. I've used Yahoo for about 10 years now to manage my various email accounts, and was not pleased at this development. Yes, I'm also aware that all my contacts got spammed.

Article View Counts
I just added view counts for all of the articles on the web site, and this count is now displayed for all articles that have over a 100 page views (which is most of them generally, except the newest ones). The hardest part was collating the data (which goes back to 2005 and comes from several different sources) and getting it ported into the database. So this is how I occupy myself during the Blizzard of '09.

AWStats Now Working
Finally got AWStats working for this blog site. I've already got SiteMeter (the free version), which provides one view of the site's traffic, but it will be interesting to contrast this with the more detailed view provided by AWStats.

Atom Feed Now Available
I've just added an Atom feed to the KeenerTech.com web site. The feed makes articles easily accessible to users with any feed reader. It also makes it easier to leverage the content on other sites, e.g. - article entries are now visible on LinkedIn.

New Specktrum Release 
A new release of Specktrum.net went live today. As part of the release, the web site has been moved from Windows hosting to Linux (CentOS) hosting using the Apache web server. Specktrum is an accounting firm.

Skillset In a Day
David Keener has been invited by Code Sherpas to create a course for their "Skillset In a Day" educational program. The Skillset in a Day series consists of one-day courses that delve deeply into a single technical subject. They are designed to give technical professionals a jump-start in the target subject in a minimum amount of time.

All Articles Now Online Again
All KeenerTech.com articles are now online again. Some of the older articles, from 2006 and early 2007, required extra work to get them moved into the new content management system. So, now you know how Dave Keener spent a good part of his July 4th holiday weekend.

Missing Content Online Soon
There are still a few issues being worked out since the launch of the new KeenerTech.com on Sunday, June 21. The largest is that some of the oldest articles on the site, including a couple of Dave's most popular articles, are not online yet. That will be fixed by the end of this upcoming weekend. Those articles actually pre-date any use of a content management system for the site and are thus in HTML form. They'll be online as soon as they can be entered into the site's CMS and be suitably edited and verified.

Hosting With WebFaction
Based on recommendations from several of my fellow web professionals, including Naveen Vemula and Allan Bunch, I've chosen WebFaction.com for my Rails web hosting needs. I have 4 web sites that will be moved to Rails over the next few months, including KeenerTech.com.

Recent Partial Web Site Outage
My apologies to everyone for the recent problems with the web site. My hosting company, AccuWebHosting.com, made a sweeping security policy change on the Windows host where my site resides which broke major portions of my web site. Basically, they broke the site's capability to show the full text of articles and also broke most of the administrative features of the site ... right before I went on vacation to Scotland for 10 days. Needless to say, I exchanged some progressively more aggressive emails with them until the problem was resolved today.

Specktrum.net Goes Live 
I just completed a new web site, Specktrum.net, for a small accounting firm owned and operated by Mark Speck. The site officially went live today.

Speaking at the ICAA June Meeting
I just got confirmation that I''ll be speaking on Rails at the June 2009 meeting of the ICCA, the Independent Computer Consultants Association. The meeting will be June 9th ay 6:30 PM at the Olive Garden in Tysons Corner. Socializing begins at 6:30, dinner at 7:00 and the presentation at 8:00. The meeting is open to the public.

Location: Olive Garden Restaurant, 8133 Leesburg Pike, Vienna VA 22182

KeenerTech Version 3
A new version of the KeenerTech.com web site, designated as Version 3, is in the works. Version 1 was a Java/JSP intranet (on my home network); Version 2 is the current ASP.NET site. Version 3 is a full Rails 2.2.2 site, with admin functionality implemented using the ActiveScaffold plugin, a wider page content area and numerous other features. This should explain why there's been fewer blog entries on the site lately (plus the workload at Grab Networks, of course).

WorldCon 66
Dave Keener attended the 66th World Science Fiction Convention in Denver, Colorado, from August 7 to 11. As per usual, there were lots of great events, good food and many, many SF books. The convention center was also nice, with an interesting statue, as shown below:

Portland Trip
I just got back from a business trip to Portland, Oregon, where I got to spend four virtually uninterrupted days designing RESTful web services with some excellent developers. Staying in downtown Portland was a treat; the city was gorgeous, the weather was delightfully mild and walking through the city was a lot of fun. I also got to try out a bunch of really nice restaurants at company expense. I even managed to catch a glimpse of the majestic Mount Hood from my hotel room.

Scotland Trip 2008
David and Sally Keener toured Scotland, Sally's homeland, from May 14th to May 27th. Highlights included a highland journey to scenic Loch Lomond, a guided tour of the Cruacha Power Station (a water-based electrical generating plant tunneled into a granite mountain), shopping in Glasgow and many pubs. The top restaurant for this trip was the River House, situated next to a small loch and literally within view of Stirling Castle.

Shenandoah Speaking Engagement
I have been asked by the Shenandoah Ruby Users Group to give my OpenID/Rails presentation to their membership. I'm scheduled for June 24, 2008 at their regular meeting locale, which is the headquarters of Rosetta Stone in Harrisonburg, VA.

Traffic Diary
My brand-new Traffic Diary blog provides a detailed look at the types of low-cost tactics that can be used to promote web sites. Using KeenerTech.com as an example, this blog provides statistics and analysis regarding the effectiveness of various guerilla promotional techniques. Note: (12/28/09) — This has become a series of interlinked articles.

Scotland Trip
The Keeners went to Scotland for vacation from May 10 to May 21. Highlights included visits with Sally's relatives, various pubs, shopping, Dave pulling a muscle, various pubs and limping around places like Glasgow.

Skiing in Utah
Due to the extreme lack of snow on the East Coast, the regularly scheduled Killington ski trip to Vermont morphed into a last minute excursion to Salt Lake City, Utah, from December 30 to January 1, 2007. See Dave at the Alta ski resort, accompanied by friends Ian Watson and Lucia Capuano from Scotland.

Vacation in Scotland
David and Sally Keener visited Scotland for vacation from November 18 - 28, where they got to enjoy seven days of rain (out of ten days). Hey, this is what happens when you visit Scotland during the rainy season.

Belle Terra Phase 2 
Phase 2 of the Belle Terra web site launched today. This release seamlessly augments the site by integrating a full-featured content management system into it. New features include user authentication, permission-based access to features, banner advertising and rotating reminders.

Parade of Homes
Dave and Sally Keener attended the Northern Virginia Parade of Homes, which was sponsored by B.F. Saul Mortgage. The promotional event allows custom home builders to showcase some of the best homes in the area.

DC Ruby on Rails User Group
Dave volunteers to design the web site, including the look-and-feel, for the newly formed Washington DC Ruby on Rails User Group. Ruby on Rails is one of the hot, new technologies for producing highly functional web sites in minimal timeframes.

New KeenerTech Look
David Keener unveils a sleek, new look for the KeenerTech web site, replacing the original look-and-feel that the site launched with in 2004.

WorldCon 64 
David Keener attended the 64th World Science Fiction Convention in Anaheim, CA, from August 23 to August 27. One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. Dave also supported the convention by working as a volunteer.

MilitaryByOwner.com 
David Keener becomes a monthly columnist for MilitaryByOwner.com, a web site that publicizes homes for sale or rental by military personnel. Leveraging his extensive property management experience, Dave will be regularly covering topics related to managing rental properties.

Scotland Vacation
The Keeners go to Scotland for vacation from April 16 to April 25. Highlights included visits with Sally's relatives, shopping, various pubs and indoor skiing at the new XScape center adjacent to the Braehead Mall.

Lake Anna Holiday 
The Keeners are invited to visit overnight at the Lake Anna cabin of Andrea and Roger Monaghan. The cabin is advertised on the web as Lake Cabin Retreat, and is a splendid rental.

Belle Terra Web Site Launches 
The initial version of the Belle Terra web site launches. The site includes key HOA documents, as well as extensive information about the Belle Terra community.

Belle Terra Web Site Demonstrated to Board
An early version of the Belle Terra community web site was demonstrated to the Board of Directors. Attendees included Michael Lowman, Tim Holmes, John Johnson, Al Wilhelm and Caryn Moran, plus hosts David and Sally Keener. The demonstration was well received; only minor text changes were requested by the board.

Muddawg.com Web Site Launches 
The web site for the MudDawg professional motorcycle racing team went live today. The web site embodies a stark, minimalistic design that conveys speed to viewers.

WorldCon 63 
David Keener attended Interaction, the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention in Glasgow, Scotland, from August 4 to August 8. The convention coincidentally took place during David and Sally Keener's regular vacation to Scotland.