Keep Fingers Crossed

[Lara]

Originally Posted by KamikazeAthena

Well Lara, lets just say I have no intention of ever trying to make another jacket! That was a royal pain in the !!!

Cheers,
Lara

[KamikazeAthena]

Well Capt. What is the latest? All set in stone yet? We are pulling for you!

[CaptainTux]

My apologies. I have been quite busy setting everything up and locking everything down and waiting for the ink to dry. The essence is this. I will be working as an independent consultant with the staff of Linspire in improving and developing their retail exposure. You can already buy pre installed computers running Linspire at Microcenter, Tiger Direct, WalMart , Fry's and many other places. You can even get the boxed editions at Best Buy. The intention is to take it to the next level and that is where I come in. I shared my vision and they like it. I also spent this last week with them at a education and technology expo in Indianapolis Indiana. They are part of Indiana's mission to get a one for one ratio of computers per student in the classroom. I was there in the Linspire booth to announce my services as an authorized Linspire consultant to aid the schools in the learning curve as they migrate. It was exciting to be a part of this and I genuinely feel welcomed as one of them. This is going to be a joint project and one that will be successful. There is discussion of future projects in this partnership. As exciting as they are, I have to deliver on this one with excellence. Can do. Will do.

I will be posting back in the main centers of fandom soon, but I have my hands full in getting this bad boy in the right direction.

[CaptainTux]

Okay, the first project is finally done. They LOVED IT!!!!! The project was what I thought it would be, a test to see if they would trust me on the next project. They needed to see if I could deliver.

I have been given the green light on the second project. THIS is the big one.

Linux distribution maker Linspire has been making headway in working with the Indiana State Board of Education.

Indiana has a new program called the one for one program. One computer for every student in school. Using Linux with Wintergreen computers (a manufacturer based in Elkhart Indiana), they are able to achieve this aggressive mission for less than half what it would cost to use MS or Apple.

Indiana has been looking at Linspire and Novelle's SUSE Linux. They like Linpsire..according to press reports I have read, it is about a 90% in favor of Linspire over SUSE.

Though I am not the only certified Linspire consultant, reseller, builder in the Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin tri state area, I am the most organized and I speak about Linux at computer clubs, colleges, etc. Doing this retail channel training project I just did for them was the proof they needed that I could assist with their next project.

The project? Developing a comprehensive day long training seminar for the IT staff of the state of Indiana to be delivered at strategic locations throughout the state. I will be working with staff of Linspire to develop this program and administer it. Along the way, my company is being positioned as the officially recommended consulting and troubleshooting group to handle off of Indiana's needs regarding the Linux migration.

I will also be one of the speakers at the Desktop Linux Summit in San Diego in April of 2006. I will be speaking about Linux migration and the needs of the SOHO user.

There are some other speaking engagements and writing engagements in the works as well.

My company seems to be going in a direction where selling PC's and Servers is no longer my core competancy so I am working with another builder on a merger possibility on the hardware end. We will be rolling it out in April as our own brand. It will be a niche market. High end, high quality Linspire PC's, but as we work our our development arc, we believe we can move more units than anyone else who has attempted similar enterprises can move.

Thank you all for the support and I will keep you appraised of any other updates to read what I write or see a speaking engagement and heckle me. ;-)

[julix]

Conrats captain! I think it sounds wonderful!

[CaptainTux]

Thx Julix. This is my attempt to make a mark on this world. I will never write a great american novel, I will never compose a hit song, but I can find ways for small businesses and schools and charities to save a few thousand bucks in their IT expenditures and get to write a few columns. Oh yeah, I get to support my daughter in the process. This one income deal is a rush...still getting used to it.

[julix]

Originally Posted by CaptainTux

Thx Julix. This is my attempt to make a mark on this world. I will never write a great american novel, I will never compose a hit song, but I can find ways for small businesses and schools and charities to save a few thousand bucks in their IT expenditures and get to write a few columns. Oh yeah, I get to support my daughter in the process. This one income deal is a rush...still getting used to it.

some people get to make their mark in all kinds of different ways.............but the impact we have on our immediate family, I feel, is the most important and meaningful.

[CaptainTux]

Yeah. I can agree with that. I got a little blond here who thinks I walk on water. The perks of being called daddy rock over anything else in my life. However, if I can have those perks and pay her way into Yale or Juilliard...well, that'll be okay. ;-)