This week’s Startup Junkie comes to you a little late, courtesy of a much-needed long weekend. I used the time to reflect on all the help that’s readily available to bootstrappers (and business geeks of all flavors) these days. Today, I’d like to bring you, Lifehacker-style, some tools to help your indie startup along. If you’re comfortable in a corporate environment, don’t quit reading; some of these can boost your existing career trajectory as well. All of them are either free or offer a basic level of service for free.

Read the rest of this entry »

Columbia’s getting a new baseball team that really blows (I’m so clever). Team officials announced that the new Coastal Plain Expansion franchise will be the Columbia Blowfish. And yes, the team was purposely named after Hootie and the Blowfish, the oh-so-awesome band that Darius Rucker and company started at the University of South Carolina. So, to summarize, Columbia’s latest sports team has been named after a band that rocked America’s socks off back in the mid-90’s. I hope they’re better than Santa Barbara’s Wet Sprockets, named after that city’s hometown band, Toad the Wet Sprocket.

Columbia’s own Baumer is headlining at New Brookland Tavern this Wednesday, November 30th, doors at 8:00pm. Tickets are $5 over 21 and $7 under 21. You’ll not want to miss this show.

Ben Walker Radio and The Explorer’s Club will be warming up NBT’s stage for Baumer, and you’re sure to see a Colaspot crew member or two if you look carefully.

Don’t expect many posts Thursday or Friday, as the Colaspotters will be celebrating Thanksgiving with loved ones. Black Friday might be one of the biggest shopping days of the year, but don’t expect to see us fighting among the crowds for the hottest holiday toys (well, yours truly might be spotted punching a child to grab his Xbox 360, only to remember his lack of funds at the checkout). Instead, we’ll be in trytophan comas, dreaming of the previous day’s food. All of us at Colaspot wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving! See you back here next week after a hopefully restful holiday.

A few months ago, I came up with the idea of turning vacation days into miniature retreats. I thought I’d redux the short article here as a kickoff to the long weekend.

It is my belief that the socially accepted pattern of 5 days of ‘work’ and 2 days of ‘weekend’ bears down on humans more than we’re meant to withstand. Many of us, too tired to complete household chores after work, end up turning weekends into work days just to try and catch up with the rest of our lives.

It’ll never happen at this rate.

Read the rest of this entry »

Even though I don’t have a lot to say about it, I felt I had to mention the Xbox 360 hit stores today. I suppose I don’t have much to say about it because I’m bummed I couldn’t get one. But hey, I’ve got Mario Kart DS, a brilliant game that speaks to my old-school soul. It also makes me curse like a sailor. Whenever I’m in first place only to be taken out by a turtle shell at the finish line, I shout phrases that would make sailors blush. And don’t get me started on being struck by a lightning bolt while being in midair after hitting a ramp. That act makes me put together a string of profanity the likes of which you’ve never heard. I’m only kidding, of course. Profanity is bad. However, I’m dead serious about wanting a 360. Fortunately, I don’t want one as bad as this guy or these losers.

This is a tough post for me to write. Last Saturday, Clemson beat Carolina 13-9. In general, that is not a positive outcome for USC fans, but we can take something from it. USC didn’t lose the game, Clemson won it. And congratulations to them for that. They played a better game than we did. USC won five straight games playing the same way they did against Clemson; i.e., losing the stats battle. The difference Saturday was that Clemson was able to stop USC in the red zone, and USC was not able to stop Clemson on third down.

Most Gamecock fans would probably not openly admit it, but Clemson has better talent on their team this year, so all they had to do was play to their potential to win. Coach Spurrier has said all week that the Gamecocks would have to play their best game of the year to win, and we just didn’t do that.

The expectations for the Gamecocks were somewhat elevated this year due to the hiring of Steve Spurrier, but few people expected them to excel the way that they have. After the game, Coach Spurrier made a statement to his players that fans can also take to heart:

“It’s been a wonderful year. I told the guys to be proud of the year. To finish 7-4 is a wonderful year. Be proud of it.”

Congratulations to Clemson for winning Saturday, and to the Gamecocks for a great season. Now, let’s go win a bowl game.

Oh how they laughed when you first came into the world! They laughed and said your concept was too weird, too gimmicky. Sony laughed the loudest. “Look at the freakazoid handheld that can’t play movies or music! N64 graphics? We’re somewhere between a PS1 and PS2! What a simpleton!” Yet here we are a year later. Do you hear Sony saying anything now? Sure, you might hear some muffled coughing. That’s to be expected when your competition chokes on their own words.

Read the rest of this entry »

This week’s column is brought to you by the letter Q and the number 4.

That combination is one to strike fear in any Startup Junkie’s heart. Anyone who’s been around business a while knows that nothing gets done between Halloween and New Year’s. While BigCo employees are planning their holiday vacation time, companies that live paycheck-to-paycheck are either a) sitting on their hands and sweating or b) working their butts off. Neither alternative is good.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Outlander isn’t out of town this week, but he’s lucky not to be in traction.

Matthew IMed in sick this morning. “A teenage girl plowed into the front of my car in the apartment complex parking lot. She said she didn’t know she had to stop because she had never been here before, which makes the fact that she was going 30 miles per hour a little odd.”

Don’t worry, Matthew, your weekly column just wrote itself.