Thor's Archive
Thanks to Karen, I now have my very own Squidoo page! Karen has been following the Next Internet Millionaire competition and volunteered to help me promote myself in the public voting. Who am I to turn down free help!
What I didn't realize was how much work Karen was going to put into this page. She did an awesome job. Karen, what are your skill sets? Please post them here. I might have some work for you in the future if you are interested!
There is no audio of me on KLIN this morning because... I didn't appear on KLIN! On the way to the station, I witnessed a single car accident on Interstate 80 in a construction zone by the Platte River bridge.
The driver was not injured, but she was hysterical and flailing around in the cabin of the vehicle, so I stopped to make sure she was ok, and to move the parts of her Honda off the interstate.
I was about 15 minutes late to the studio - a cardinal sin in radio - and they did not have the time to put me on. However, Jack and Ashlee generously mentioned my audition and found a minute or two to ask their listeners to vote it a '10'.
Thanks KLIN and Jack, John, and Ashlee for the opportunity. I appreciate your support!
This morning at 8:40 AM I will be appearing on 1400 KLIN's morning show with Jack and Ashlee to talk about the Next Internet Millionaire competition.
Be sure to tune in to get a behind the scenes look at everything that is involved in the final days of this competition. There are some interesting sub plots going on!
Of course, if you have not voted for my new audition video, please take a moment to vote my video a '10'! There were two rounds and many of you voted for me in round one and I need your help again in round 2.
If I make it on to the show, I will have the opportunity to win $25,000 for local charities in and around Lincoln, NE. Thanks for your support!
Technorati top 100 blogger Shoemoney asked his readers to vote me a '10' in the Next Internet Millionaire competition.
Shoe is one of the industry's best, and his endorsement means a lot to me personally and professionally. Some of you may know that I adopted my son Jacob and that we found his birth mother through a website my wife and I put up on the Internet.
What you may not know, is that Jeremy - through his posts on forums and his AWESOME blog- taught me the skills I needed to get my website ranked and in front of the one right person that happened to do a Google search that day.
I already owed Shoe a debt of gratitude, and now I guess I owe him an oil change for his H2 also! 10W30 or 10W40 - What will be Shoe?
Thank you to the guys over at BetShopBoys for asking their readers to vote my Next Internet Millionaire video a 10. Tomorrow is the last day to vote, so don't put it off! If you have not voted my video a '10', please do so now and help me win $25,000 for local charities!
The latest installment of Compute This has been posted on the Schrock Innovations Radio Page for your listening pleasure. Of course, we talked about Next Internet Millionaire, but in addition we also launched the Modular Schrock Innovations complete computer system with a monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers for only $599! The system comes with a 64-bit processor, a GB of memory, a 17" display and your choice of Windows XP or Vista!
During the show a caller asked how to change her associations so that her jpg images would always open with a particular program. I started to walk her though the process, but it soon because apparent that we were having difficulty getting things figured out.
At that moment I decided that I would connect to her computer live on the radio, and make the adjustment for her. It took about 2 minutes, (and it wasn't the most exciting radio ever recorded) but our Schrock Desk remote access software allowed us to connect, take control of her computer and get things straightened out.
Schrock Desk will soon be available by subscription to Schrock Innovations customers. Schrock Desk is not a technical support service - we won't be fixing corrupted Windows problems or setting troubleshooting email accounts with it. It's a help desk service to help users with every day productivity issues like mail merging, photo printing, system tweaking, and the like.
Our latest spyware removal tutorial is getting some decent use over the past few days. Our remove SpyCrush tutorial was used by more that 400 unique visitors to the Schrock Innovations website yesterday alone.
SpyCrush is a rouge spyware infection that displays fake security alerts telling you that you are infected with spyware and that you need to purchase their SpyCrush software to make your computer safe again.
In reality, SpyCrush is the infection that needs to be removed, and victims should not pay them anything. If you find yourself infected with SpyCrush, check out our free remove SpyCrush tutorial and let me know if you need any additional help.
I just received a note that the readers on The Unprotected Blog were asked by Benedict Harold to vote my newest Next Internet Millionaire audition video '10'.
Thank you guys so much for the writeup and support! I will definately let all of you know how things go for me next week!
Special thanks goes out to the Me and My Drum blog for the writeup they did asking their readers to vote my Next Internet Millionaire audition video a '10'.
They took a great screen capture from my video and just did an all around nice job with it. I added them to my Technorati favorites and will soon add them to my blogroll too. Thank you for a great job!
I will be making my last "beg for votes" effort on 104.1 The Blaze FM tomorrow morning at 8:30. Be sure to listen to their web feed as I will be pumping some of the other contestants I like and dumping on some that don't like me :-)
If you have not voted for MY NEW audition video, please take a moment to vote it a '10'.
If I am able to win the show, I will be donating the $25,000 to local charities like the Lincoln Crisis Pregnancy Center, Lincoln's Lighthouse After school Program, and The Neil Schultz Gift of Hope Fund.
It only takes three mouse clicks to vote, and you would be helping out some great charities in the process. Please vote the video a '10' now!
The surge of support for me in the blogosphere continues to grow as Dougas Karr asked his blog readers to vote my audition video a '10' today.
I have leaned a TON from Doug and his blog and there is not a doubt in my mind that my blog is a better place because of the lessons he has taught me over the past year.
Check out Douglas Karr's blog if you want to pick up a few blogging tips that will take you to the next level. He has already climbed to the Technorati top 2,000 and with his help you could be next!
I want to send a special thanks to Jean Costa for posting in a popular gaming forum on my behalf. He got a lot of his first rounds votes from the forum, but in a bit of controversy did not make it into the semifinals.
I really appreciate your support Jean! Thanks again!
Brown Thoughts, a fellow technology blogger, asked his readers on his blog to vote my Next Internet millionaire audition video a '10'.
I have to admit that the outpouring of support I have received over the past few days from the blogosphere has left me humbled (and heavily in debt to a LOT of bloggers!)
Thanks for the awesome post Ariel!
As some of you may or may not know, one of the other Next Internet Millionaire contestants was upset because he felt my second audition video looked like his.
We have been trading "friendly" (ok, he was not so friendly) comments back and forth, and now it is a matter of pride! Even if I do not get on the show, I want to beat Jeremy Estes!
So after Estes finished off with me, he started to go after another contestant, Wes Wyatt. Wes is a friend of mine and Jeremy has called him everything from fat to crazy looking.
Its one thing to compete hard and work your tail off to best the other contestants. Its another thing all together to personally insult the people you are competing against.
Wes stood up for me in the forums and I would love to see him beat Estes as well. While you are voting my audition video a '10', please also vote Wes Wyatt a '10' as well.
And if you believe in karma, vote Jeremy Estes with whatever score you see fit ;-)
I received a note a few hours ago that Garry Conn, a marketing blogger who I respect greatly, took the time to write up a blog post asking his readers to vote my video a '10' in the competition.
Not only did he ask his readers to vote, but he also posted a cool banner at the top of his blog AND offered free backlinks to anyone who agreed to vote for me!
If you want a FREE PR4 backlink, read his post and follow the instructions. Thank you for your support Garry!
Hypnotist Matt Adams and former pro basketball player Jason Henderson interviewed me a couple days ago for their Big Action podcast. Both Matt and Jason are contestants in the Next Internet Millionaire competition and are very experienced online entrepreneurs.
The interview was primarily about my Next Internet Millionaire audition and the 'Estes Incident' that has ruffled a few feathers with another contestant in the competition who believes I copied the concept of his audition video for my own use.
There are a lot of people in the Next Internet Millionaire competition who say they are nice guys and team players, when in fact they are self centered and willing to do whatever it takes to get on the show. Matt and Jason are the REAL DEAL and are deserving of your vote.
When you are voting for me, feel free to vote for these guys as well. They deserve it!
I thought I would post here this morning and give all of my Compute This listeners a heads up that we will be launching a new computer sale today on the show.
Every summer we try to put together a system that will meet the needs of the average home user at a reasonable price. This year it was a bit of a challenge because I told blaze we had to include Vista AND we had to include 1 GB of memory (otherwise Vista runs ROUGH).
Blaze came through with a great Modular design that will pack a performance punch with a price tag of only $599!
This computer includes:
- 1 GB of DDR2 RAM Memory
- An Athlon X2 3000+
Dual CoreProcessor - An 80 GB SATA Hard Drive
- A 17" LCD Monitor
- Windows Vista Home Basic
- Open Office Word Processing Suite
- Keyboard, Mouse and Speakers
- Front USB Ports
- A 1 Year Parts and Labor Warranty
- Schrock Innovations Award Winning Service
Obviously I would recommend you upgrade to 2 GB of RAM and upgrade Vista Home Premium, but we did have to cut SOMETHING down to get the price so unbelievably low on this Modular system!
You can download detailed specification sheets and upgrade packets on our Computer Sale website, or call our Lincoln Service Center at 423-9595.
There are only five days left to vote my new audition video a '10' in the Next Internet Millionaire competition. I am trying to win a seat on the web's first reality TV show and raise $25,000 for local charities in and around Lincoln, NE.
If you haven't voted in round 2 of the competition, please take a moment to do so now! I submitted a new audition video for the second round that might make you chuckle a bit.
You can vote one time per Internet connection, so please be sure to vote from home, vote from work, and even from your web-enabled phones! I need to be one of the top 6 guys to have a shot at a seat on the show.
Right now, I am ranked 12th overall and I am the 6th guy. Your votes can give me the breathing room I need to make it through!
I just received a heads up from Windstream about a new promotion that is in effect for high speed internet.
It read:
Effective June 15th, 2007, Windstream is discounting all tiers of broadband an additional $5 for 12 months and no contract is required. The highlights of the new promotion are:
- Additional $5 monthly credit for 12 months - a $60 Annual Value!
- No term commitment required. No early termination fees.
- The FREE modem (after $50 mail-in rebate) is still available. A 12-month term agreement is not required when modem is ordered with this special promo.
- This is a short-term offer. It will run for approximately 30 days.
The following specifications apply to the promotional offer:
- The Broadband $5 OFF Special Promotion is available only to Residential customers.
- The residential customer must be ordering NEW broadband service. Existing broadband customers who are renewing or upgrading service are not eligible for the promotion.
- This promotion is valid with all speeds of service in both competitive and non-competitive markets.
- The promotion is in addition to any other broadband promotional discount.
- The promotion is available to Windstream Dial-Up customers who are migrating to broadband.
- Business customers are not eligible for the $5 OFF Special Promotion.
- The promotion is not available for Broadband with Static IP tiers of service, even if the customer is residential.
- Loop Only orders (e.g. the ISP is not Windstream) are not eligible for this promotion.
- The 12-month requirement for a FREE modem is waived for the duration of this promotion. Customers should still be charged the $50 fee for the modem which can be offset by a mail-in rebate. The $9.95 shipping and handling fee for the modem is still applicable.
If yore not a Windstream customer in Lincoln, NE and you want to take advantage of these offers, contact our Lincoln Service Center at 423-9595 and we can take care of the paperwork and get the ball rolling for you!
I just received a not that there was a new post on the Great Plague blog asking its readers to vote my Next Internet Millionaire video a '10'.
It is very humbling to have so many great people coming out to support me in this competition. The voting ends tonight at midnight and I should know if I made the top 12 by the 29th at the latest.
As soon as I hear anything I will post it here. I will do my best to notify each blogger who supported me as well, but there are getting to be a lot of them!
Last Saturday's Compute This show is posted on the Compute This page and is available for your listening pleasure! Special thanks to Petro for providing this week's audio recording.
This week was another caller extravaganza. We gave away a surge protector and a thorschrock.com padfolio and answered questions about what to do when the memory card slots on your HP printer stop working.
I teased that next week's show would have an important sale announcement regarding new computers (time for the Summer Sale anyone?) and a caller pried information out of me about the newly proposed Schrock Desk online virtual help desk.
Of course, we aired the audio from my second Next Internet Millionaire audition video (please vote me a 10 if you haven't already)
Drew Williams of Omaha, NE will be busier this summer than he can possibly imagine. Drew has accepted Schrock Innovation's annual summer internship position.
Drew will be assisting with various tasks around the shop that include taking out the garbage, fetching lunch, and making sure Thor's truck stays polished....
In all seriousness, Drew is going to get an intense 12 week crash course in award-winning customer service, computer repair, search engine optimization, website design, sales and marketing, and goal-oriented workflow processes.
At the conclusion of the internship, Drew will be able to create and manage his own website, maintain his own blog, write quality content, and monetize that content as a source of income.
Its going to be a FAST 12 weeks Drew, and we are happy to have you on board!
I received word that the namesake of one of the charities I selected to benefit should I win the Next Internet Millionaire reality show passed away on Wednesday night.
Neil Shultz suffered from ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease) for just over a year and a half. He and his family founded the Neil Schultz Gift of Hope Fund to help other people suffering from ALS afford the expensive care and equipment that allows them to lead as normal of a life as possible.
While I have never personally met Neil, everyone I talked to as I evaluated his charity for inclusion commented on what a remarkable young man he was. Despite his health challenges, he was determined to live life.
Neil worked in the Bryan LGH information technology department keeping people’s computer systems running properly in the hospital. When he found out that I was including his charity in my list, he and his family recruited thousands of votes for my first audition video, catapulting it to #3 in the overall rankings – above more than 300 other videos.
Everyone wonders what kind of a mark they will leave on the world when their time here is done. While Neil left us much too soon, he managed to touch the hearts and lives of so many people around him.
And because his charity lives on, he will continue to touch the lives of people in the future as his fund helps support those who will be faced with similar challenges.
These are the moments I find myself wondering what kind of mark I am leaving on the world and those around me. It’s an interesting thing to think about.
People like Neil are an inspiration to me and I can only hope that one day when my time comes I will leave a legacy of hope and inspiration behind, just like Neil.
I was a guest on the Blaze morning show (104.1 FM in Lincoln, NE) this morning. We talked about my advancement into the top 50 of the Next Internet Millionaire competition, and they graciously played the audio track from my second round audition video.
You can listen to the nearly nine minutes of audio here. I talk about the competition, making the top 50, and the unexpected controversy that has erupted on the first day of voting over my video.
Last weekend I finished producing my second audition video, and I think it is a bit better than my first. I only used 1:01 of my allotted 2:00 audition time, but I think most people only watch the first 10-15 seconds anyway.
This time I decided to parody the Budweiser "Real Men of Genius" commercial series. Chris Goforth helped me out BIG TIME with the voice talent and Omaha Wedding Video pitched in with some AWESOME camera work. There are 50 contestants remaining, and I need your help to ensure I am one of the 12 left standing at the end of the month.
I am competing to win $25,000 for local charities in and around Lincoln, NE. There are three specific things you can do to help get me on the web's first reality show and put me in position to win.
1) >View My New Audition Video and Vote me a 10
Public voting counts for 35% of the judges decision in this round. This time voting is limited to one vote per IP address, so please vote me a '10' from your home and work computer.
2) Post a Comment about my Video on YouTube
Visit my YouTube channel, log in (or create a YouTube account if you don't have one) and rate my video 5 stars and post a comment. The judges use YouTube information in their decision making process.
3) Post a Comment Here on My Blog and Spread the Word
Help me build the buzz around my video by posting a comment here on my blog. Tell me what you like about it (or not). Send a link to my video on the Next Internet Millionaire website (http://www.nextinternetmillionaire.com/show.php?id=1249) to your friends and family so they can vote for me as well. Be sure to ask them to vote me a '10', because a high average is extremely important.
Thank you all for your support up to this point, and with your help I am hopeful that I can earn a place on the program and bring some money home to Lincoln for some great causes.
I have been promising these for a week now, and I finally got a few minutes yesterday to get them edited together and on YouTube. These are the moments that were unscripted blunders that did not make it into my audition video for the Next Internet Millionaire reality show.
Some people have told me I should have posted the out takes instead of the actual audition video. The last 10 seconds are absolutely priceless!
We have mentioned a few times on Compute This that if you have high speed Internet, you must also have a firewall or you are putting the safety and security of your information at risk.
I received an email from Symantec last week that reinforces that point. Symantec is the maker of Norton Internet Security - the product you should have if you have high speed Internet (as opposed to Norton Antivirus). The email stated that in the last 6 months of 2006, Symantec detected nearly 70,000 infected computers EACH DAY that were part of bot networks.
Bot networks are groups of computers around the world that are infected with small viruses that can circumvent antivirus software by exploiting little-know or recently exposed security vulnerabilities.
Once your computer has been exploited, the virus may do noting for quite sometime. You never notice the problem, so you never do anything about it. Then, when the virus writer is ready, with a few keystrokes he can activate thousands of infected computers at one time to attack other companies, websites, or send mass email from your computer.
Last week, Internet Nebraska, a local Lincoln ISP, was the victim of one such attack. One of their customers was attacked by a bot network so powerful that it took the entire ISP and all of its customers offline for an entire afternoon.
Was your computer part of this attack? You would know it wasn't if you have a firewall installed on your PC. Windows comes with a free firewall that is better than nothing, but we have found that Norton's firewall is easier to use, more dynamic, and as consequence, more effective. If you don't have a firewall protecting each computer hooked up to your high speed, you would just never know.
I discussed this and other topics on my weekly radio show yesterday. You can listen to the archived show here.
As you may or may not have read on my previous post, I am working to earn a chance to compete for $25,000 on the web's first reality show, the Next Internet Millionaire.
If I am able to win the competition, I plan on donating the $25,000 to various charities. However if I win, I will also be setting aside some of that money to give to families who are trying to adopt children from within the United States.
My wife and I adopted our son Jacob last August, and he instantly became the light of our lives. We suffered through the adoption process and the emotional roller coaster that comes with it. I know first hand the challenges - both personal and financial - that come with adoption. I also know that it is TOTALLY worth it when you finally take your bundle of joy home.
There are tons of adoption scams out there (isn't that sad?) so rather than launching a new website to do this, I thought it would be best to do it here, in a place that is open and accountable for all to see.
I would like to hear from families who are seeking to adopt. Post your adoption story as a comment below. Please fill out the email field with your correct email address (I am the only one who sees it). If you have an adoption website, feel free to post your URL in the provided space so others can look at your website too.
You can be as detailed or as vague as you would like. I will be reading the stories if and when I win the competition and I will decide which families get the grant money based on the story they tell on this blog.
So there it is - you have nothing to lose, and you might get some free money to help handle your pending adoption just for posting a story here that you can probably tell in your sleep.
You can help me make it on the show and boost my chances of winning by voting for my audition video. I will be posting a link here as soon as the video is produced and uploaded.
Its been killing me to keep this quiet, but Thursday at about 8:00 PM CST I learned that I my audition video was one of the top 50 auditions among the hundreds that were submitted from around the world.
Thank you all so much for voting for my video and taking the time to tell your friends and family about my participation in the competition.
Over 10,000 people voted for my audition video in just over a week. On top of that, my video was voted an 8.27 out of a possible high score of 10 - third overall among all submitted auditions.
What Happens Next?
Now I have until June 12th to film, produce, and upload a second audition video. This video needs to be an improvement on the first one, stressing my communication ability, professionalism, and creativity while at the same time showcasing my skill sets and displaying myself as a viable character for the show. That's a tall order for any 2-minute video.
What is at Stake?
If I am able to earn a seat on the show and actually win the competition I will be donating the $25,000 cash prize to charities right here in Lincoln, NE. I am working to raise money for The Lincoln Crisis Pregnancy Center, Lincoln's Lighthouse, and the Bryan LGH Foundation. In addition, I will be setting some of the prize money aside for families seeking to adopt children from within the United States.
How Can I Help?
Once again I will need your votes to help ensure I earn one of the 12 seats on the actual show which will be filmed in July in Colorado. As soon as I have it available, I will be posting a link to my audition video so you can vote.
Thank you all so much for helping me get this far. If I make it on the show, I will do my best to let the world know that entrepreneurs from Lincoln Nebraska can hang with the best in the world.
This past week I spent some time in the field working with our customers to solve their computer problems. I LOVE going onsite because it reminds me of the good 'ol days when I wasn't burdened by all of the administrative garbage involved with running a business.
This past week I networked a Mac with a PC-based network for printer and file sharing, removed a ton of spyware from some Windows XP systems, installed a TON of memory, and just spent lots of time getting to know individual customers.
One of my customers this week told me about how his neighbor Charlie McBride handled the first Husker football season after Callahan took over the team. Another customer told me about how he joined his Masonic lodge while on a 5-day leave before being shipped out to the Korean War.
I've had a taste of the freedom of onsite computer repair, and I think I may just get my homework done early for next week so I can head out in the field a bit more. If you are having a problem with your computer and would like me to come take a look at it, give us a call in Lincoln at 423-9595 or Omaha at 934-9423.