Well, I’m assuming that by now just about everyone who reads my blog also checks out GeekBrief.TV at least occasionally. Neal and Cali produce that show, and they just covered a very cool looking application for Windows called BumpTop.

BumpTop is a desktop replacement application which allows you to have a 3D environment instead of your boring flat desktop. This will let you pin things on virtual walls, have news delivered while you work, automate the sharing of photos with Flickr, and just a bunch of other things.
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Folks, I’ve been working on a top secret (not that secret actually) project with Cali Lewis and Neal Campbell for about a month or two called Wealth Nation Radio.

Wealth Nation is a show about making the most of your personal and professional life, with a particular focus on business and financial issues. It’s not all about money though, it’s about achieving that balance in life which truly makes you feel “wealthy”.

Ultimately, what I believe we’re going to do is record the podcasts on a certain fixed day and time of the week (give or take an hour or so) and stream them live so that people who want to watch the unedited, raw, and blooper filled show on video can do so. But for the rest of you, we’re going to have the audio only podcast available for subscription on iTunes.
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Ok folks, rarely do I ask you guys for favors (in fact, I don’t think I ever have… have I?) but I’m asking you now!

Cali Lewis put in an application for a contest going on to win an all expenses paid 6 month vacation to Australia, where she would be traveling around the island and blogging from the beaches (can anyone say bikini?). Well, the competition is heating up and Cali needs everyone’s vote to make it happen!

So please take like 5 minutes out of your day to stop by and give her your support. Vote Cali Lewis! (PS – You can vote once per day, per e-mail address. So load up the votes!)
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Ok folks, the good people over at AMC Movie Theaters invited me to join in the festivities of the Best Picture Showcase at the Dallas AMC cinema at Northpark mall for an all day back to back screening of the 5 movies that have been nominated for Best Picture. And guess what? One of you gets to join Cali, Neal and I for free! (Cali already gave her free ticket away…)

That’s right, I’ve got one extra ticket, so if you are in Dallas, or going to be in Dallas, on this coming Saturday, Feb. 21, then all you need to do is drop a comment below and let me know that you’d like to join us. But here is the deal… since there is only ONE ticket… we’re going to run a little contest. Read on to find out what.
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Ok. This post is going to get me in big trouble with Greg Lewis. I still owe him a piece of art from like 2 years ago. Yet Cali Lewis (no relation to Greg) asks me if I could cut the GeekBrief logo out on the PlasmaCAM for her and I do it in like 48 hours. Well Greg, I only have one thing to say… when you’re as hot as Cali, I’ll finish your art in 48 hours too!

All kidding aside though, Cali and Neal have been waiting patiently for months since they first saw my machine sitting in the garage, and I finally got off my lazy butt and decided to cut the GeekBrief.TV logo out in celebration of their 500th show! So, if any of you would like to watch a little video about cutting things out of steel with a giant robot, here you go.
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Oh, my. Cali Lewis, everyone’s favorite video podcaster, stopped by Layered Tech to learn about our top secret project (code named Astro) a couple of weeks ago – even though we made her keep it under wraps until yesterday!

Anyway, Cali interviewed LT’s Director of Software Development, Josh Bosquez, in part one and learned all about whats been under development for like a year. In part two I give a mini-tour of the data center and you get to learn a few things about it. The data center tour was more extensive, but some of the video had to be taken out for security reasons. Still, it’s pretty cool!
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Here is a special treat for you guys. Last week I got the opportunity to take Cali and Neal from GeekBrief.TV to visit the old Federal Reserve Bank in downtown Dallas, they brought their cameras so everyone could tag along. Why were we there, you may ask? Well, the Layered Tech datacenter in Dallas is located in the very building that was the old Federal Reserve Bank, which is now designated as a City of Dallas historic landmark.

The seven-story building was originally completed in 1921 to house the United States Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. The Beaux Arts-style limestone building established Dallas as a center for economic development in the Southwest prior to World War I. The Bank significantly expanded and modernized the property in 1959. Its distinctive architectural style and detailing led the city of Dallas to designate the building a historic landmark in 1979.
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This little post goes out to Neal and Cali, the biggest bacon fans I know. Yes Greg, even bigger than you.

So, you’re sitting around one Saturday afternoon, when suddenly your stomach begins rumbling. But you know that it’s no ordinary rumble. It’s the kind that can only be cured with a massive bacon fix! Not a problem.

Here is what you’re gonna do. First, you’re gonna get a muffin pan and turn it upside down and line it with aluminum foil. Or for those of you in the UK, you can use al-u-MIN-ium foil.

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Last Sunday Elie, Jad, my wife and I joined Cali Lewis, Neal Campbell, Dave and Kat Curlee, and a bunch of other folks at the State Fair of Texas for a GeekBrief.TV filled day of goofing off.

The weather was very nice, with a nice breeze and a perfectly blue sky (even though it rained the very next day). In addition to munching down on every sort of State Fair food you can imagine, we also watched concerts, checked out the auto show, saw a home technology exhibit at the Women’s pavilion and much, much more.

It was fun making some new friends, and hanging out with the gang for a nice day of absolutely no responsibility (I don’t get those very often right now). So here are about a hundred photos I took during the day. Enjoy!
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This is pretty cool. I’ve really got no idea who or what this site is, but there was an article published called “NxE’s Fifty Most Influential ‘Female’ Bloggers” and three of my friends, Cali Lewis, Liz Strauss and Lorelle VanFossen, were included.

I’m proud of all of them, and would encourage everyone to pay close attention to these ladies – each of which clearly matter far more than me, so what the heck are you doing still reading this?
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For those of you who were unable to watch the live show when Cali interviewed me at the John P. Hacienda, here you go! Cali was able to get the recording up, and even though I’m boring as hell, Cali is definitely worth watching!!!

If there is any problem with the embedded version you can also see it on Cali Live.

Hey gang, slight modification. We’ll be doing this live interview on Saturday at 2pm Texas time instead of the 3pm time I previously reported in error. Sorry about that!

So, if you want to join us, either click on Cali’s gorgeous picture above, or go here for all the details! Gee, that’s a hard choice huh…