JeffreyMarx.com

• @AmyVernon wow, you had better jump on that in reply to AmyVernon #

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• I'm at Crabby Dan's. http://4sq.com/cpPFht #
• @DIRECTV after all this time, you still haven't been able to fix the "rain" issues? I should get a refund every time i get the 771 error. in reply to DIRECTV #
• @LushLettuce Hey tot, are you playing kickball in the fall? in reply to LushLettuce #
• @PourMtKisco White Plains in reply to PourMtKisco #
• @aboutfoursquare Thanks for the love. We have a lot of tips to add but we are excited to have our brand page up! in reply to aboutfoursquare #
• Unnamed editor: "Watch out waitresses, Tiger's coming to town" #overheardinthenewsroom #
• I'm at The Brazen Fox (175 Mamaroneck Ave, E Post Road, White Plains) w/ 2 others. http://4sq.com/5NCs3Z #
• I'm at Jamesport Vineyards (Main Road, Route 25, Jamesport). http://4sq.com/cIkuUN #

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• I'm at The Farm on Adderley (1108 Cortelyou Road, Brooklyn). http://4sq.com/7ApbQx #
• @aishpat wordcamp is a big networking event for us computer programming geeks :=) in reply to aishpat #
• @boonebgorges hey boone, on your plugin do you know what causes this error: No forum id – skipping . Something missing from the json file? #
• @boonebgorges Do you think that could come from a corrupted json file? Or Is that just s common issue with ning-buddypress? in reply to boonebgorges #
• @boonebgorges I cut my json file down to two entries but im getting the foreach() error. Is there a format for just uploading 2 entries? in reply to boonebgorges #
• is so sick of waiting for other people to do their job, so I can do mine! #
• @ChrisSerico What time is it? in reply to ChrisSerico #
• @ChrisSerico I have never been able to get that song out of my head since it came out. in reply to ChrisSerico #
• @ChrisSerico Ask him what actually happens at 4:30 in reply to ChrisSerico #
• I'm at porter house (169 Mamaroneck Ave, White Plain). http://4sq.com/6ix0ib #
• I'm at Hudson Terrace (621 W 46th St, btw 11th & 12th Ave, New York). http://4sq.com/6azPm6 #

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• @CJSPILLER Hoping that last tweet means you are close to signing a deal. in reply to CJSPILLER #
• @AdamSchein Must be nice to be back in CNY! in reply to AdamSchein #
• I'm at Black Bear Saloon White Plains. http://4sq.com/9VWuxt #
• I'm at Haiku – White Plains (146 Mamaroneck Ave, Post Rd, White Plains). http://4sq.com/4mR13O #
• random FFs @larryvollmer @dens @dianacostello @aishpat @andrea_r @prunderground @wpmuguru #
• @andrea_r :=) in reply to andrea_r #
• @hugeinc No in reply to hugeinc #
• @hungrytravels erewans has great thai food http://www.erawan-inc.com/ in reply to hungrytravels #
• RT @wordcampnyc This year's WordCampNYC is being planned for weekend of October 16th. We're still finalizing venue details #fb #
• The bills offense looked pretty good on that first drive #buffalobills #fb #
• @thurmanthomas It still looked pretty good. I'd like to see Trent throw a pass longer than 5 yards though in reply to thurmanthomas #
• @thurmanthomas I know I know .. but he just has that reputation from years past. I know he is capable. in reply to thurmanthomas #
• Terrible interception by Trent Edwards but @cjspiller is really fast! #buffalobills #fb #

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• I'm at Stew Leonard's (1 Stew Leonard Dr, Yonkers) w/ 2 others. http://4sq.com/4MLZGm #
• @FacebookMedia Hi, my newspaper @lohud uses @facebook's activity widget. It's causing fake stats in omniture. Can someone please help? #
• @FacebookMedia Thanks for responding! my email address is jmarx at lohud.com I can't respond to ur DM, cause you aren't following me. #
• @bennybas They are saying that he was a key to getting stoudamire there, and he is still a good talent evaluator. But im with you. lunacy in reply to bennybas #
• I'm at Ron Blacks w/ @lvollmer. http://4sq.com/5s70VD #
• @OmnitureCare Yeah, the facebook activity widget keeps showing up as our #1 hit. Facebook got back to me and said they are looking into it. in reply to OmnitureCare #

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• I'm at The Avalon w/ @djtonyz. http://4sq.com/cXOv4D #
• @wpmuguru I love that shirt. I wear it whenever I have an excuse to do so. It is so comfortable! in reply to wpmuguru #
• I'm at The Journal News (1 Gannett Drive, White Plains). http://4sq.com/bSPZuU #
• Nice work! RT @myasmine Our @123LinkIt plugin has already captured 1.1% of the plugin market during Alpha? Sweet! http://bit.ly/doZKH5 #
• @facebook hey can anyone help us? our site @lohud is using your activity widget, but it is causing fake traffic numbers with omniture. #
• @facebook I have tried emailing about the aforementioned issue, but have received no response. Thanks. #
• @lvollmer wow it's definitely time to throw back a few cold ones. I'll give you a text later. in reply to lvollmer #
• Perhaps! I barely know what im doing tomorrow let alone october RT @myasmine @jeffreymarx Thanks Jeff! P.S. See you at @WordCampPhilly? #
• I'm at Melt Sandwich Shop w/ @lvollmer. http://4sq.com/ahhbAL #
• Excellent meetup with @prunderground @jacq_devito (@ Hudson Valley Wordpress Meetup w/ @prunderground) http://4sq.com/bv2PKI #
• @facebook how about just answering the question I tweeted to you? in reply to facebook #
• I'm at Wicked Wolf Bar. http://4sq.com/ayxAEK #
• I'm at Montego Bay Grill & Bar (2 Pettit Pl, Island Park) w/ 2 others. http://4sq.com/cvzCFX #

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As the internet tornado storms through media companies, leaving fallen businesses and declining profits in its wake(newspapers in particular), cable tv and satellite companies look to be next in line. I have been saying this to friends for a while now, but I finally have some numbers to back my theory. TechCrunch is reporting that nearly 800,000 Households have abandoned TVs for web services such as netflix and hulu.

I believe this to be only the tip of the iceburg. The article mentioned how the number of people who have made this decision makes up less than 1% of people who subscribe to satellite and cable. I remember when newspaper executives were throwing out similar numbers back in the late 90’s. Which was about as reassuring as Kevin Bacon’s character in Animal House saying “Remain Calm, All is well!”.

Despite all the handwriting on the wall over the past couple years, Cable TV executives seem content to just let their companies get hit by the storm, rather than adjusting their business models. One thing is for sure. What they are doing now will not work for much longer. You may have noticed a lot of disputes coming up lately between tv networks and service providers. The most prominent of which, is when ABC 7 New York actually shut their channel down on Cablevision over a contract dispute, a night before the Oscars. A deal was settled right after the Oscars started. But the point is that tv networks are realizing that they have many other ways to reach their customers now.

The obvious difference between newspaper and TV is that it’s much easier to replicate words on the internet than video. Not to mention that intellectual property restrictions are much tighter on multimedia content than they are on newspaper copy. But eventually technology always catches up. And now it is doing so at a rate which should make TV service providers nervous. Hulu, Netflix, Itunes, Youtube, can all be broadcast on ipads now. Networks are allowing users to download their popular shows directly off their web sites. And people are finding ways to hook their devices into TVs, so they don’t even need to watch it on small screens anymore.

As these trends continue, Cable TV companies will be getting squeezed and their years of contentment (and perhaps the worst customer service practices of just about any industry) will come back to haunt them. People accustomed to waiting hours for a cable guy to keep an appointment, will have no problem give their tv service providers the finger in favor of something over which they have more control.

If there is a smart way for cable/satellite companies to embrace the internet, then it would certainly be up to people smarter than myself to decide that. I would guess that Service providers may start offering more on-demand options for movies and shows and to improve their very clunky DVR systems. But most importantly, they need to start repairing their severely damaged relationships they have with their customers. They’ll need to consider lowering their rates and offering their customers more flexibility. How about letting people customize their own cable channel lineup? They’ll need to give customers more reasons to stay loyal in the face of having many other options. As the web gives customers more control than they have every had, overly bloated media companies are losing their once powerful monopolies. We have started to see some modest turnarounds for newspapers, and that is because they own content/intellectual property that still has some value. Cable/Satellite companies really provide  no original content and don’t have much to fall back on when the hammer strikes down on them. And that hammer will come down. It is only a matter of time.

I’ll be following this story closely.

• I'm at Bellagio Hotel and Casino (3600 Las Vegas Blvd S, at W Flamingo Rd, Las Vegas) w/ 5 others. http://4sq.com/8T6I5C #
• @unclejuicyjoe On my mobile I use Tweetie or Tweetdeck. On my laptop I just use twitter.com. And I won on black a couple times in reply to unclejuicyjoe #
• @unclejuicyjoe Thanks joe, hope all is well for you too. tell stacy i said hi. The check is in the mail. it'll be there any day now :=) in reply to unclejuicyjoe #
• @Cubs I Hope so, but Fukodome has gotten off to good starts before. Let's discuss this in July. in reply to Cubs #
• Pretty much the only place in the NYC area with sabres playoff game. GO BUFFALO! (@ Black Finn) http://4sq.com/4zGzz4 #
• I'm at The Journal News (1 Gannett Drive, White Plains). http://4sq.com/bSPZuU #
• I'm at Ron Blacks (181 Mamaroneck Ave, White Plains). http://4sq.com/5s70VD #
• I'm at Brooks & Porter Steakhouse (16 Merrick Avenue, Sunrise Highway, Merrick). http://4sq.com/8Yrr5y #

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• I'm at Reka's Thai Restaurant (2 Westchester Ave, Main St & N. Broadway, White Plains). http://4sq.com/7Y2Lal #
• I'm at Caesars Palace Hotel and Casino (3570 Las Vegas Blvd S, at Dunes Rd, Las Vegas). http://4sq.com/1wrifO #
• I'm at Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino (129 E Fremont St, S Casino Center Blvd, Las Vegas). http://4sq.com/8dCvWk #

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Try saying that headline five times fast! Spammers are becoming more aware of the steps us bloggers and developers are taking to keep them of off our blogs and articles.

if you are on Wordpress, then you should be using akismet which is a software made by Automattic (the creators of wordpress). That is the best wordpress plugin you can have to stop spam. other plugins and software include: Bad Behavior (use at your own risk, can be very buggy) and Spam Karma, and of course captchas. But these spammers are trying to make a living too, and they are figuring out new ways to get around our defenses. One of the latest trends I have seen are spam messages that seem complimentary to your blog, but actually contain links spam sites that could put malicious spyware in your readers’ computer. They stroke your ego to try and make sure you don’t delete their comments. So keep an eye out for comments that are a little too nice. Here are a couple examples;
“so impressive and beautiful thank you for preparing a site admin.”
“I wish to continue your success permanent”

Mouse over the the author’s name and you’ll most like see a shady-looking url that probably sells Viagara.
Be sure to mark them as ’spam’ so that your akismet spam filter will recognize these types of messages more quickly in the future.

Not all complementary posts are going to be malicious, but if you have a wordpress blog, this is definitely something you need to watch out for.