Jeff the Great

• Jeff the Great Witnesses the Death of the Newspaper

  I was at my favorite locally owned coffee shop today and something interesting happened. The was a small stack of Oregonian newspapers at the cash register counter. I paid for a copy because I wanted to see one of my projects mentioned on [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 7:32pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great Writes Letter to the Editor

  
  I recently read an article in Fortune Magazine about Sequoia Capital, one of the worlds top 3 great venture firms (in my opinion at least). The story was mostly on Sequoia's bumpy entry in asset management but the author also profiled their core' [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 5:25pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great Demands your Philanthropy

  This is a post specifically for my friends and readers in Eugene, OR. My sister and brother-in-law live in Eugene and are volunteers through a great organization called the Eugene Active 20-30 Club (the local affiliate of an international organization).
  
  The club is dedicated to [...]
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  Posted: July 22, 2009, 9:48pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great Declares: "I'll be Back"

  No, the title has nothing to do with my blogging. This is my review of the new movie Terminator Salvation. It has been out for a month now so I guess it's not all that new, but I just went to see it today. For' [...]
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  Posted: June 08, 2009, 9:52pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great Names State Run Media

  Jeremiah and I have launched our latest project....its called ThePortlander. The idea is to be a news web site for Portland, by Portlanders. We don't claim to be journalists or professionals, and that's the point. Just simple accounts of the news you care about. No Masters degree's, no' [...]
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  Posted: June 08, 2009, 9:03pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great Cuts Your Pay

  I know the economy is bad and unemployment is higher than its been in decades. Is it so bad though that companies think they can pay half of what people are worth? I mean, don't you still have to pay to get and retain talent?
  [...]
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  Posted: May 27, 2009, 10:25pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great says "Good Riddance" to Newspapers

  As you have probably heard, today was the last day for a print edition of the Seattle P.I. newspaper. Less than a month ago, the Denver Rocky Mountain News shut down for good. With Seattle and Denver being major US cities, I'd say we' [...]
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  Posted: March 18, 2009, 9:51pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great Not Impressed by Cinetopia

  The Portland metro area has a new movie theater concept that offers what they call a luxury movie experience. The place is called Cinetopia and I've been wanting to check it out since it opened a few years ago. Finally last week, my wife and' [...]
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  Posted: March 15, 2009, 8:20pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great Petitions Amazon.com

  
  I was pretty excited to read Amazon.com's announcement the other day that they are soon releasing the Kindle2, the second version of their popular e-book reader. I do not own the original Kindle but have been a big fan of the device since' [...]
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  Posted: February 11, 2009, 9:30pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great's Frustration with Starbucks Continues

  Its no surprise that I have a love/hate relationship with Starbucks. I love most of their drip coffee but hate what has become of their customer service. Not to mention I hate the new "Pikes Place" blend, its worse than truck stop coffee!
  
  This morning [...]
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  Posted: February 08, 2009, 10:41pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great Does the GPIE, Again!

  If you follow my blog you'll remember that I am participating in the Great Portland Interview Experiment, brought to PDX by Chris O'Rourke. The idea is that someone interviews me, post it on their blog, and I interview someone else, post it on my blog, rinse, repeat. I [...]
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  Posted: January 24, 2009, 12:16pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great Needs Computer Support

  I am turning the the billions of people on the web for computer help, for the first time. My Dell Dimension 4600 (running XP, P4 processor, 1gig memory) is in critical condition and because its just a box I use a few hours a week when I am not on [...]
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  Posted: January 24, 2009, 11:34am EST
  

• Jeff the Great Rounds Up CitySpeek

  Things have been crazy good for CitySpeek the last few days. I wanted to share some of the great write-ups and features about us from around the web:
  
  Girl in Your Shirt: [girl.inyourshirt.tv]
  
  KillerStartups.com: http://www.killerstartups.com/Blogging-Widgets/cityspeek-com-move-over-twitter
  
  Silicon Florist: [siliconflorist.com]
  
  [...]
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  Posted: January 23, 2009, 10:50pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great Gets More Famous

  I received a pleasant surprise yesterday when someone emailed to notify me that I was quoted in something they wrote.
  
  North Venture Partners out of the Bay Area wrote a white paper about early stage venture capital and published it online this week. I've embedded it below...I am' [...]
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  Posted: January 23, 2009, 9:34pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great In Your Shirt

  My web site, CitySpeek.com, was featured on the new internet tv channel called Girl In Your Shirt. The creator wears the t-shirt of a new web startup each days and records a video telling her thousands of fans about the site. Check it out below:
  
  
  
  [...]
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  Posted: January 15, 2009, 11:44pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great's Updated Reading List

  I've finished up a few books recently and just started another. In addition to the below, I've also updated my reading list over here: http://twurl.cc/byl
  
  Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (my favorite author but this isn't his best work).
  [...]
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  Posted: January 11, 2009, 5:12pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great Wonders about Amazon.com

  I absolutely love Amazon.com, I try to buy as much from them as possible. I buy books, music, electronics and so much more.
  
  One of the things that Amazon.com is known for is their recommendation engine. They look at your past purchases, items you've recently browsed, items you've [...]
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  Posted: January 02, 2009, 9:12pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great Spies CitySpeek in the Wild!

  
  Jeremiah and I both had a great day today, mostly because a tech blog we love covered CitySpeek.com, just 2 weeks after launch!
  
  TechVibes.com had some great things to say about CitySpeek that really encouraged us and gave us some extra motivation. In [...]
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  Posted: December 24, 2008, 2:04am EST
  

• Jeff the Great is High on Speed

  A good friend of mine posted some impressive internet speeds over at his blog so I thought I'd do the same. Both of our speeds make most internet users in the US incredibly jealous.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  [...]
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  Posted: December 21, 2008, 5:28pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great Participates in GPIE

  I recently signed up to participate in the Great Portland Interview Experiment which was brought to the Rose city and is being managed by Chris O'Rourke. I was interviewed by one of my new best online friends, Ramona White. She asked me some fun questions and then [...]
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  Posted: December 19, 2008, 8:40pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great Launches CitySpeek.com

  If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you've probably heard me mention a "super seekrit" project that I was working on. Well, today I am proud to announce that the project is now live on the web, ready for you to check out! Since' [...]
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  Posted: December 14, 2008, 11:56pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great not 'Made in Oregon'

  
  I took the rare step today of picking up the Oregonian newspaper (I typically read the WSJ and NYTimes) and read an opinion column from an Oregonian staffer that just enraged me. Here is my response.
  
  If you are from the [...]
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  Posted: December 10, 2008, 8:25pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great Bans Toy Drives

  
  Most would agree that the Holiday's are the season of giving. We give presents to friends and family, some give money to the mailman, I even give a gift to my doctor (its the key to good health).
  
  This year, when you are inundated' [...]
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  Posted: December 09, 2008, 6:49pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great votes 'Yes' on 60

  If you are an Oregonian you should know that there is a ballot measure in this years election that proposes the end of seniority based pay in favor of performance based pay for teachers in the Oregon public school system. It's called ballot measure 60.[...]
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  Posted: October 29, 2008, 8:46pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great: "Stupid is as Stupid Does"

  
  Not sure why but I seem to come across stupid people, saying and doing stupid things, just about every day. Maybe its me, I mean common sense might be too much to ask for.
  
  This morning I went to Starbucks for my usual venti [...]
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  Posted: September 28, 2008, 11:25am EDT
  

• Been quiet lately

  Sorry, very little time to blog lately. I have however put up 2 posts over at my other blog, PDXCompanies. Make if you or anyone you know is looking for a job in the Portland, Oregon area...make sure to check it out.
  
  Talk soon,
  
  Jeff the Great[...]
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  Posted: September 08, 2008, 9:47pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great Condems Obama Basher's

  
  This blog post is a call to action. A challenge to get off the sidelines and stand up for your country and your integrity. What I am about to tell you is a threat to our way of life, a statment that I hope does [...]
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  Posted: July 12, 2008, 10:33am EDT
  

• Jeff the Great joins PDXTech

  I am a big fan of LinkedIn, I think it is one of the most useful 'social networks' on the web (though I hate that term and don't think it applies well to LinkedIn). I recently joined the Nike Global Alumni Network on LinkedIn' [...]
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  Posted: June 24, 2008, 11:23pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great calls "Alllll Aaaboard!"

  
  I have been meaning to sit down and write a blog post on Amtrak and the state of rail travel in our nation ever since I took the train from Portland to Spokane back in the summer of 2007. Little did I know that as [...]
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  Posted: June 15, 2008, 4:18pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great is Alll a Twitter

  
  The Oregonian has a great story in today's (Sunday) paper about twitter and its Portland area users. Steve Woodward, Oregonian writer also known as @oregoniansteve on Twitter, followed Portland's own Rick Turoczy (@turoczy) for a few hours to see how he used [...]
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  Posted: June 01, 2008, 4:46pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great Discovers Nike Alunni Network!

  
  If you are one of the tens of thousands thave have worked for Nike, Inc in the past and you are on LinkedIn....there is now a LinkedIn Group for Global Nike Alumni.
  

  If you have Nike listed as a past job in your LinkedIn profile, [...]

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  Posted: May 15, 2008, 10:54pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great Raises Money for Cancer Research!

  
  I've written in the past about my brother-in-law, his family and his fight against cancer. On December 20th, 2007 he passed away at the age of 23. Later this month I will team up with the family and friends of Klinton Boylan to particpate in' [...]
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  Posted: May 14, 2008, 9:36pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great Saves You Money at the Pump!

  
  Pop Quiz: which is more expensive to produce?
  
  1. One hundred units each of 17 different types of MP3 players
  
  or
  
  2. Seventeen hundred of 1 type of MP3 player
  
  Answer: Generally speaking, option #2....just 1 type of MP3 player.
  
  [...]
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  Posted: May 03, 2008, 9:44am EDT
  

• Jeff the Great Gets Some Sugar!

  
  I've been working hard as a consultant for a local hair care product line from the Hickox Studio. Today we received some great validation for all our hard work when one of the web's hottest beauty blogs featured the products.
  
  BellaSugar.com had [...]
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  Posted: April 22, 2008, 8:39pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great Puts Out a Call to Action

  
  If you are in or around the Oregon area and love technology, you have probably read my favorite blog: Silicon Florist. A few weeks ago Rick, the author of Silicon Florist, wrote a story about how Oregon students get a "D" in technology [...]
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  Posted: April 13, 2008, 4:16pm EDT
  

• Costco is Brainwashing You

  
  Have you ever spent any time thinking about Costco and the rituals we go through when shopping there? Specifically, the idea of stopping as you exit and showing your receipt to a Costco employee so they can put a pink mark on it?
  
  Why [...]
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  Posted: April 06, 2008, 4:15pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great Updates His Reading List

  
  I've completed a few books and have another I am about to start. Figured I'd share and get your suggestions on what to read next!
  
  
  Completed: Charlie Wilson's War
  
  I started this book because I thought the story would make a [...]
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  Posted: March 23, 2008, 1:16pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great Raises $1 Billion for Nike!

  
  If you didn't pay very close attention to the business news this week, you may have missed a substantial story.
  
  Nike has filed papers that outline their plan to raise approximately $1 billion in cash....very soon.
  
  What makes this really interesting is [...]
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  Posted: March 17, 2008, 9:12pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great Calls Out Teachers, Again!

  Have you read my posts in the last couple months about teachers? Here is just another reason why I really dislike the current state of our education system.
  
  On Monday Feb 18th the Oregonian ran a story about how abusive (often sexually) teachers are allowed to conceal their conduct [...]
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  Posted: February 24, 2008, 4:38pm EST
  

• BAC/CFC Update

  I wrote back in January to give my opinion on the Bank of America/Countrywide buyout. Actually, I didn't give much of an opinion but rather my analysis and conclusion that the deal may not go through.
  
  Bank of America offered BAC stock to shareholders of CFC. [...]
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  Posted: February 24, 2008, 3:36pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great gives Teachers a Raise!

  I received a *cute* little email forward from my sister, about how teachers are apparently underpaid and worth say, 8 times more than they get paid. I thought I'd share the forward with you, and then my response. It's worth the read:
  
  

  SICK OF THOSE HIGH PAID TEACHERS

  [...]
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  Posted: February 05, 2008, 10:50pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great Says "NO" to BofA/Countrywide!

  
  I've been thinking a lot about the proposed $4.1B purchase of Countrywide Financial Corp by Bank of America Corp and came to a simple but important conclusion today: the market is against it.
  
  Here is my analysis, for what it is worth.
  [...]
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  Posted: January 21, 2008, 5:53pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great says "Get a Job!"

  
  While reading the blog MoHDI I came across the coolest job application ever! No surprise, it is from Portland's famous Wieden+Kennedy advertising agency.
  
  The creativity with what is normally a mundane process should alone garner thousands of submissions. Will you be one?
  [...]
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  Posted: December 31, 2007, 12:01pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great wags the finger at Oregon Teachers

  
  South Florida's Herald Tribune newspaper made headlines a few weeks ago when they got their hands on a list of 'trouble' teachers from around the country. Of course I use the world 'trouble' loosely as the offenses these teachers have committed can range all [...]
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  Posted: December 27, 2007, 6:01pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great Does a Book Report

  
  I read a great book last week and it is worth a mention. It is called "90 Minutes in Heaven" by Don Piper.
  
  Here's the deal...this isn't just another near death experience. In fact, the book is more about life than it is [...]
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  Posted: December 18, 2007, 9:36pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great Gets His FiOS TV

  
  My FiOS TV was installed on Friday and I am happy to report that I love it! Installation took a few hours so be prepared (and my installation was considered easy since I already had FiOS internet plus CAT5 and coax in every room). [...]
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  Posted: December 17, 2007, 9:20pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great Welcomes You to Dr Roberts Office

  
  Have you ever arrived at the doctors office, 40 minutes late for a scheduled appointment, and had the staff tell you "it's okay, we have nothing better to do. In fact, it's our fault you are late. We are so sorry, come on in and [...]
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  Posted: December 13, 2007, 10:45pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great Introduces FiOS TV

  
  I am pleased to be the first to announce that FiOS TV from Verizon is now available in the Portland Area.
  
  My contacts at a Verizon re-seller said they are now able to sign customers up. A check of my address in their system [...]
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  Posted: December 04, 2007, 10:10pm EST
  

• Have we gone too far?

  
  I came across this when posting a comment on another local blog. It is called a CAPTCHA which stands for "Completely Automated Public Turning test to tell Computers and Humans Apart." Gotta love the acronyms that geeks come up with!
  
  I [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2007, 8:45pm EST
  

• Attack of the Fake Bloggers

  It all started with the Fake Steve Jobs blog. Now, us Oregonians have our own 'Fake' CEO blog to follow.
  
  http://fakephilknight.blogspot.com
  
  Wait, isn't he the Chairman...not CEO? Anyway, enjoy.
  
  -Jeff the Great [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2007, 11:31pm EST
  

• Jeff the Great Assigns Required Reading

  A few years back, The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown was the hottest book on the market. In addition to being a great and best selling book, it was also stirring a lot of controversy both in the US and overseas.
  
  So I [...]
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  Posted: October 15, 2007, 10:41pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great Buys GPS for Emergency Services!

  I recently witnessed two different incidences that made me start to wonder if my local emergency service providers (fire, police, etc) have GPS in their vehicles.
  
  I am not going to call out the specific city that these emergency responders come from because I have [...]
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  Posted: October 10, 2007, 5:59pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great says Goboz.com is So Goboz!

  So Goboz.com updated it's homepage the other day in an attempt to make it easier to find businesses. The old layout is pictured to the left. The idea of the new layout is to always show both the top businesses in each category as well [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2007, 1:25am EDT
  

• Jeff the Great Agrees with Ahmadinejad?

  
  Gimme one second before you freak out about my post title. Ahmadinejad is, in my opinion, one of the worst people currently alive on our planet. He is a delusional dictator blinded by his mis-interpretation of his religion.
  
  In his speech today at the [...]
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  Posted: September 26, 2007, 9:25pm EDT
  

• New RSS for Jeff the Great

  Just a quick heads up that I have switched the RSS feed on this blog over to Feedburner. As I recently started using RSS feeds to keep track of all the blogs I follow, I discovered that Feedburner is the most simple and effective [...]
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  Posted: September 23, 2007, 1:50am EDT
  

• Jeff the Great is So Goboz!

  
  I wrote recently about a cool new gadget for your iGoogle homepage, brought to you by Goboz.com. On Thursday the 6th, Goboz.com launched in the Portland Metro Area.
  
  Goboz.com is basically 2 things: first it is a local business search site, [...]
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  Posted: September 09, 2007, 5:42pm EDT
  

• Jeff the Great says LivePDX is DeadPDX!

  If you have watched much TV in Portland lately, you've probably seen ad's for LivePDX.com. The site is like citysearch, you use it to find restaurants, shopping, etc. So I've done some research, checked out their site a bit, thought I'd post my thoughts [...]
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  Posted: September 01, 2007, 10:56pm EDT