We Anticipate Accelerate
Oh yes it’s that time of year again…in this business, the spring season is all about the NetVU! Well, I guess after the conference’s name change it’s “all about Accelerate,” but by whatever name the 3-day event kicking off May 21 represents one of the year’s biggest conferences.
This year the festivities come to Cincinnati, and although I don’t know much about “The Queen City”–including if anyone actually calls it that–I’m looking forward to meeting all my friends from Vertafore as well as putting faces to names I’ve heard and read so many times in the course of everyday communiques.
Actually, speaking of the folks over at Vertafore, I just remembered I did a little video for them after being named one of their 50 All-Stars in recognition of their 50th anniversary…always nice to do something a little special for my fans.
Okay fine, I’ll stop, but in any event you know whenever Team Archway hits the scene of a big conference we always do so with surprises in tow, and this time is no different. We’re giving away some pretty sweet tech gifts to celebrate another year being featured at the event, and if you want to get your hands on one all you have to do is enter at this link.
You don’t even have to attend the event itself to win one of these special prizes, although it would be great to catch you there…if you will find yourself in Cincinnati later this month, here’s where our booth will be located.
Love Your Local Library
Practically everyone could stand to read a little more, but if you’re thinking about buying that book, maybe don’t. This essential extension for studious Chrome users will automatically identify nearby libraries that stock the book you’re interested in, which is important because I feel libraries should remain relevant in the world of today…after all, they are one of the few public spaces where people can gather for fun without buying anything.
The Suite Life
Traveling with family is a way to get to know more about the people you’ve been close to your entire life…some topics come up on a visit to Berlin or Bangkok that just don’t pop up when you’re hanging around the house. If you’re planning a family vacation this summer, be sure to check out Suiteness, which catalogs and displays connecting rooms in hotels so you can be close in your travels without being too close in your travels.
Layover Logic
While we’re on the topic of travel, I want to share one of my secrets to getting the best rates on airfare: Skiplagged. Skiplagged is a clever little tool that not only shows the flight information the airlines put on their websites, but every stop in between so you can take advantage of the cheapest routes in ways they really don’t want you to.
Say you’re traveling from Chicago to Denver, which is a pretty popular route so the airlines can charge premium rates. What Skiplagged does is show you other options for reaching your destination, like taking advantage of a cheaper flight plan going from Chicago to Denver to Sacramento then just getting off the plane one airport early.
It’s perfectly legal, but the airlines hate it because they want to charge you what they want to charge you so there. In fact, they’re currently being sued by United Airlines, which is one of my least favorite carriers so they have to be doing something right.
Kicking Ads on Chrome
It seems like ads are getting more prevalent with Chrome…not only is it annoying to arrive on a website and be greeted by an autoplay video, but they’ve really gotten bad about sucking up your computer’s processing resources. A buddy of mine suggested this adblocker and it’s worked wonders…my browsing speed is way up AND I don’t have to sit through 5-7 seconds of a Japanese shampoo commercial.
The Last Word
All right, that should just about do it for this week in geek! Thanks as always for not sending me to the spam folder, and because you’ve been such a great sport about me having your email address if you have any suggestions on future topics or just want to shoot the breeze a bit, my good inbox is open to you as well.