I just saw the trailer for the new tv show, “Once Upon A Time” by the writers of LOST. Unfortunately, because the writers and producers of LOST totally misled us, I cannot bear to get involved in a series by the same people.

The ending of LOST was totally predictable, but because the producers lied to us, we continued watching. All of those amazing story lines were a complete sham. None of it mattered. Because of that, I won’t be watching Once Upon A Time, and you shouldn’t either.

End rant…

There was a tornado in Greensburg, PA, but we also had some hail in Pittsburgh.

Here’s a video from our house in West View, PA. (minutes outside of Pittsburgh)

>>>Click here for the full video<<<
(it was garbage day…please excuse the garbage cans)

Everyone from Team ServiceLink finished the climb to the top of the Gulf Tower for the American Lung Association! (38 floors, 722 steps!)

Thank you to everyone that made a donation!

We raised $1,180, plus $2,500 donated by ServiceLink, for a total of: $3,680!
Details: http://action.lungusa.org/site/TR?company_id=9710&fr_id=2980&pg=company

ServiceLink Team Results:
Richard Suhon, 7:51
David Schorr, 8:51
Jason Green, 9:12
Jillene Scott, 10:06
Amanda Cooke, 11:05

Fastest Time:
Team: Pittsburgh Stairlers
Mark Trahanovsky, 52, Yorba Linda, CA 4:43

Link to full results: http://www.runhigh.com/2011RESULTS/R031911DD.HTML

The “Skyline” pics below are from the roof of the Gulf Tower.
(click the pictures to see them at full-size)

Thanks again to everyone who donated!

Next week, I’m headed to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to represent ServiceLink at the MBA’s National Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference & Expo 2011.

I expect to attend some great sessions about using technology in the mortgage industry. While there, I’ll also be adding updates to this blog, as well as sending shorter updates via twitter. <<

Unfortunately, even though this is a “tech” conference, I don’t see any social media love on the MBA’s website. So, I’ll be using the #mba and #tech11 hashtags to keep my tweets organized. Please comment if you have other suggestions.

See you there!

Well, my stint as a java developer didn’t last as long as expected. I have decided to return to my previous role as a Product Development Manager. However, my new title is Product Strategy Manager at ServiceLink.

I’m excited to be back on the business side of things and believe that I will have a much greater impact in this role.

On Monday, December 13th, I’ll be taking the next step in my career and will become a Java Developer / Business Analyst for the SmartConnexion team here at ServiceLink. I’ve enjoyed nearly 3 years here as a Product Development Manager, but the time has come for me to get my hands dirty again.

In my past 10 or so years of development experience, I’ve mostly focused on Microsoft .NET programming, but working with Java will be a great learning experience. If you have any great Java resources that might help me get up to speed quickly, please leave a comment.

There might have been some confusion recently with President Barack Obama’s selection for Deputy Associate Counsel to the President.

I am not that Jason Green. I’m Jason T. Green and he’s Jason G. Green. He holds a much more prestigious role in our country and I wish him the best of luck.

Before you finish your shopping this Christmas, here are a few sites to check out:

1. Salehoo – If you are interested in buying wholesale products, Salehoo has a directory of over 8,000 suppliers. There’s a fee to join, but if you make any amount of purchases, you’ll easily save that amount. Here are the details of the Salehoo December Special where you can also score some free webinars.

2. Meritline – They have an extensive selection of cell phone and office accessories. Before you spend $50 for an HDMI or USB cable from Best Buy or Verizon, please check out the prices at Meritline. For cell phone cases / cables and accessories, plus free shipping on most products, with no minimum, Meritline is a great site.

Also make sure to check Amazon.com. Between their great selection and prices, and the selection of gently used products, this is another great place to shop for the holidays.

I’ll add more sites as I discover them, but please enjoy this list! Merry Christmas!

I got my droid X on wednesday and I have to say it is 1 of the best phones I’ve ever had.

Between all the app’s and awesome games like angry birds it is quickly taking on many of the tasks I used to need a laptop for.

I’m very excited about this phone and will continue to post information about it here.
- Written on my Droid X.

I recently found an old edition of the Pittsburgh Press, from Friday, August 6th, 1976 so I thought I’d share…

The Almanac

Today is Friday, Aug. 6, the 219th day of 1976 with 147 to follow.

• The moon is approaching its full phase.
• The morning stars are Jupiter and Saturn.
• The evening stars are Mercury, Mars and Venus.
• Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo.
• Actor Robert Mitchum was born on Aug. 6, 1917.

On this date in history:

• 50 years ago (1926), Gertrude Ederle of New York became the first American to swim the English Channel.
• 36 years ago (1940), the Battle of Africa started in World War II as Italy invaded in British Somaliland.
• 31 years ago (1945), President Harry Truman startled the world by announcing that an atomic bomb had been dropped on Hiroshima. Japan surrendered eight days later and World War II came to an end.
• Eight years ago (1968), President Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered his sixth heart attack. He died March 28, 1969.

Thought for the day: “Patience makes women beautiful in middle age” – American writer Elliott Paul


Press Bookshelf

Entebbe Story Remarkable As Raid

By: Joe Bennett


The July 4 Israeli commando raid which rescued 194 sky-jacking victims from Uganda’s Entebbe Airport was one of the most audacious operations in military history.
JUST AS REMARKABLE, though, is the achievement of William Stevenson who, with the help of Bantam Books, has got “90 Minutes at Entebbe” ($1.95), a full-length account of the raid, onto the stands less than a month after the fact.
Stevenson, author of the hardcover best-seller “A Man Called Intrepid,” learned about the mission in advance, and while the commandos were still in the air en-route to Entebbe, he contacted Bantam and sold the book. Then all he had to do was write it, which he did over a period of 11 days in Israel drawing heavily on his extensive contacts in the Middle East.
With a first printing of 330,000 copies and the movie rights already sold to Paramount, Stevenson has scooped the world for the second time. He pulled off a similar coup following the six-day Arab-Israeli war in 1967.
SURPRISINGLY, “90 MINUTES AT ENTEBBE” does not read lie a hurry-up project. While it is journalism rather than history, it is nicely organized, fast paced and typographically clean.
Stevenson also has come up with some exclusive information including his claim that, despite Israeli denials, three of the 10 terrorists who hijacked Air France Flight 137 were taken alive by the commandos. The book contains 16 pages of photos, most of them unremarkable.

Alcohol A Possible Fuel, But Not Now, Oil Men Say

[JG: I bet they do. Remember, this was written in 1976]
WASHINGTON(UPI) – Alcohol may some day help solve U.S. energy problems, but production costs must first be greatly reduced, the oil industry said today.
A new report by an American Petroleum Institute(API) task force said the best use of alcohol as a future replacement for conventional fuel might be in powering stationary gas turbines. Alcohol might also be used as a substitute for gasoline in cars, it said.

The report was issued one day after Federal Energy Administrator Frank Zarb said in a semi-annual update on the U.S. energy situation that Americans are burning record amounts of foreign oil and imports will grow until Alaskan oil starts to flow in late 1977.

Although the API report appeared to soften industry resistance to the idea of using such types of alcohol as ethanol and methanol as supplementary fuels, it offered little hope alcohol can supply much energy in the near future.
“Pronouncements that alcohols can currently be used as a significant supplement to domestic oil and gas supplies are unrealistic, since alcohols are considerably more expensive to produce than petroleum fuels,” said J.H. Freeman of Sun Oil Co., head of the task force.
“As a result, even if (alcohol fuel were now) available, consumers would reject alcohols as an alternative to oil and natural gas on a cost basis alone.”
Freeman said, however, the API supports continuing efforts to develop all sources of energy including alcohol because domestic oil and natural gas supplies are insufficient to meet U.S. needs.
Freeman’s task force said alcohol produced from coal offers the most promise. It said alcohols made from wastes or agricultural products would be prohibitively expensive and could not be produces in sufficient amounts to make more than a local impact.

Alcohol made from grain already is beiny mixed with gasoline in some parts of the Midwest to form “gasahol.” But the API task force said such alcohol-gas mixtures appear unsatisfactory because of technical problems including extra high vapor pressures that produce vapor lock.

The use of straight alcohols in appropriately modified auto engines would be preferable, the report said.
Should alcohol become a competitive fuel, the report said, the best initial use probably would be in stationary gas turbine engines where it can greatly increase power and reduce emissions.
The report said electric utilities use gas turbines to produce power for peak load periods and by 1990 might require some 800,000 barrels of oil a day – or 5 per cent of the present U.S. petroleum consumption level – for that purpose. Alcohol, it said, would be a good replacement for that oil.
In his statement yesterday, Zarb said the increase in oil imports resulted from a combination of U.S. economic recovery and declining domestic production.