Justin Germino Ramblings

My wife and I will be hitting the Salty Senorita for dinner tonight in Old Town Scottsdale to see a good friend of ours named Dave Henzerling play in his cover band Trailer Park.  Dave Henzerling we have known for nearly two years and is about one of the nicest rock stars in the business.  Really humble, soft spoken and a great guitarist he is one of the guys we love to support in the local music community around the valley.

Celebrating Cinco De Mayo at a Mexican restaurant listening to southern rock and roll sounds like a plan and a good time to me.

Hope I don’t stay out too late, I have to drive into the office the next morning.

-Justin Germino

Many people have chided or otherwise poked fun at Arizona and the residents who are living here after the Governor passed legislation that is borderline illegal and will no doubt cost the state millions of dollars in class action lawsuites and legal fees as people start challenging it and claiming racism and discrimination.  I do think we have an illegal immigration problem, but this solution penalizes everyone who “appears” foreign by forcing them to have documentation with them at all times that proves that they are legal.  Let’s face it, people were saying that “Paul McCartney himself or Canadians would have the same risk of interrogation” but this is a farce, in Arizona this potentially gives open ground to law enforcement to question anyone who has dark skin and appears to be hispanic.

I have many friends whose teenage children are up in arms about this issue in schools, residents.  The system is too left open to interpretation and this is why it will be abused.  They should be focusing more on the coyotes and people who traffic human beings into this country illegally more than the people who are desperate to get here and make lives for themselves.  Sure they got here illegally, but the ones who have been living here peacefully for decades or have had children born here shouldn’t be penalized for wanting a better life.

This country was founded on immigration and continues to be founded on immigration, there is something that needs to be done but it does need to be at the federal level and California, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and every other state should have the same set of rules instead of each state making up their own laws.  This will only shift the residential and point of entries to other states, instead of solving the problem as a whole.  An easier path to citizenship and legality should also be provided.

There is truth that illegal immigration and illegal residents in Arizona drive up costs of everything from health care to taxes, because of the lack of income the state gets and the fact that many go to state and city medical treatment facilities since they can’t have health insurance.  You don’t make things right by driving people to being afraid and this type of tactic.  This combined with the fact that Arizona just made carrying a concealed handgun legal and no permit is required anymore is only proving how far backwards the state is going.

Not cool to be an Arizona resident right now, and the sooner this legislation is overturned the better.  I just hope it doesn’t bankrupt the state trying to defend it in court.

-Justin Germino

I have been on the fence as to what to get my wife for Mothers Day this year. She is such a caring and good mom, and our boys couldn’t be luckier to have a mom as devoted as she is.

So I give some serious thought to what to give to a woman that deserves so much. I have given everything from jewelry to a day at the spa before. We also usually take her and her mom out to dinner and do a dual Mothers Day dinner with the whole family.

Whatever I decide, I hope it will be well received and convey the meaning and thoughts behind it.

-Justin Germino

Ran across a fantastic article over on Finding The Money a site that posts some really good articles for bloggers about blogging. This article titled 100 ways to write a better blog post literally lists 100 points and idea’s on how you can improve your blog writing style.

I particularly like bullets #3 (Write what you need to say) and #4 (Find out what people are asking).

This is among one of the most comprehensive tips for bloggers I have ever seen compiled in a single article and I would encourage all bloggers both new and veterans a like to read the list and see if they can garner a few extra idea’s that help them become better bloggers. At the very least you can get some idea’s for blog topics out of it.

-Justin Germino

I tend to believe that people should always present themselves respectfully. It doesn’t matter if its public conversations, social media, blog commenting or anything else. When you publicly are disrespectful it can be damaging to your reputation and character. Unless you are responding to an attack there is no reason not to take the high road and always present yourself clearly, effectively and professionally.

Recently, I have noticed a general uptick in the amount of disrespect or rude conversations on my radar. I see these on Facebook, Twitter and in blog comments. Don’t people realize that current and future employers will eventually do a search on you and your public reputation and behavior can create a negative representation of yourself. Unless it is your shtick you should always be respectful when visiting someones blog. You can disagree and refute someones articles or statements, but do it tactfully and with class. The only one who loses when being tacky is the person being disrespectful even if they were trying to make a valid point or statement.

It doesn’t matter if you converse with people in person, over the phone or via Social Media, be courteous and show respect.

-Justin Germino

Read an article in Web Site Magazine last week about a Norton report released in March 2010 about the top 10 riskiest online cities in America. These cities were deemed to be the most susceptible to cyber crime and cyber crime is estimated to cost more than $560 million dollars in 2009 alone.

Here is the top 10 list of riskiest online cities in America according to Norton’s report in March 2010

1. Seattle, WA

2. Boston, MA

3. Washington, D.C.

4. San Francisco, CA

5. Raleigh, NC

6. Atlanta, GA

7. Minneapolis, MN

8. Denver, CO

9. Austin, TX

10. Portland, OR

-Justin Germino

My wife runs  music production company called Rock Along Productions, and she often has to have booking agreements drafted and signed with bands to play at venues and clubs.  In looking for a way to make this more efficient she found a website which allows you to send out agreements and contracts and collects digital signatures.  The best thing is this site does it all for free.

The site is called Signature Confirm and after testing it, it not only records the persons name and their confirmation, but records the exact date, time and IP address the person digitally signed the document from.

In addition the program emails all parties in the agreement with a password to view and print the signed agreement, keeping the online contract confidential.

I thought of all the benefits this could have for working with people online when you want to collaborate on something, and clearly spell out responsibilities and duties for each party.  This is just one more tool to help keep things professional and legitimate.

The signature looks like this:

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Confirmation Details

Signed by: Justin Germino
Signed on: 2010-04-18 18:11:05 CST
Statement: I agree to these terms and conditions
Signed from IP: 70.176.162.149
SignatureConfirm.com is © Danifer Web Services

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If you have a need to collaborate and keep people bound to a contract, SignatureConfirm.com is a site worth checking out.

By the way, this is not a sponsored post in any way, just sharing some information on a site that my wife found and looks to be very beneficial to her.

-Justin Germino

One of the things I enjoy doing with my children is shutting all TV’s off in the house and just getting down and playing with them “Old School”. No technology, no computers, Nintendo Wii, or other game console. Good old fashioned toys, my kids love various Trio blocks, and the PlayMobil action figures and we would setup armies and build castles and forts and have giant toy battles that would span dozens of action figures and leave the play room looking like an earthquake just hit my house when we were done.

Granted my kids are only six and three years old and toys are still very much of interest to them, but I would shift this to doing other non-tech related activities. I already introduced my kids to board game versions of Dungeons and Dragons and would take this to more depth as they progress in age and are able to read more and understand more complicated role playing tactics and rules. We also aren’t limited to indoor activities either, we sometimes just go out into the backyard with just swimming trunks and take turns playing with the hose and just shooting each other down with water.

I am sure that when my kids get older I am gonna miss the simpler things that we are doing right now and that they enjoy so much.

My word of advice, turn off the technology while the kids are younger and take advantage of playing with them with some real “one on one” time. Get involved and use as much creativity and imagination as possible, really cherish the little things because all too soon these types of activities will be outgrown.

-Justin Germino

So the Boston Terrier Picnic at Chaparrel Park was fun yesterday, I spent 2 hours Friday night helping my wife make Boston Terrier shaped cookies. I manually rolled all of the tough and hand cut all the head shapes while my wife decorated the heads with the chocolate and white frosting and added the black dots for eyes and noses.

Meanwhile, the Picnic itself was great, our dog was able to run around and socialize with so many other Boston Terriers, it was a hoot.

Here are the pics of the cookies and the picnic itself, check out all those Boston Terriers:

There was even a Heron which came to visit.

-Justin Germino

Tonight Rock Along Productions puts on a different kind of show combining fifties era music with the Marilyn Monroe film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The event is called “Diamonds are a Girls Best Friend” and it features the music of One Kitty Gone. The event is being held at the Madcap Theater in Tempe and will have vendors and merchants from around the valley with items from jewelery to wines on display and for sale.

So people will be able to come and enjoy some smooth music and old style rock while watching a film, the event starts at $7:30 PM and I will be there to great everyone and help run the Rock Along Productions booth. (I have to wear my suit, which is rare).

-Justin Germino