Re-Organizing the Swalrus Network

Projects, websites

I made a blog for Wade the other day (that i’m pretty sure he’ll never use) and I needed a website for Laurel’s movie so I made another one for her. This got me thinking about the reasons I have so many domains…

Cue flashback.

It all originally started way back in 2002 with MarkSchumaker.com which after about 2 years I forgot to reapply for and it was snatched by a domain squatter. (Fuck you Kenyatech) So I needed a new domain, another Schumaker (Kevin Schumacher, no relation) already owned Schubox.com so because I couldn’t come up with anything better I thought theSchubox.com seemed reasonable. In hindsight I probably shouldn’t have registered a name so similar to someone who kind of does the exact same thing as I do… probably confusing… So after about a year the domain squatter realized that he should have taken my offer of $35 for the domain and gave it up. So I promptly bought it back, because any respectable nerd should own his own name. A few months later I wanted to switch hosts to one that offered more services. Dreamhost.com was having a $9.99 sale for one year of hosting and a free domain. Not wanting to waste the chance to own another piece of the web, I decided to register Swalrus.org. So now I have 3 domains… I decide that MarkSchumaker.com will be my professional site, TheSchubox.com will be my art portfolio, and Swalrus.org will be anything else. Which all made sense for about 3 months until I realized that I was putting the same keywords in all three sites and therefore they would all come up if you searched for my name on google.

So it’s not a prefect system.

Now that I’m looking at it swalrus.org is kind of useless, I could have all these domains under theschubox, but I guess it’ll be nice to have a seperate domain if the network idea ever takes off. Basically I’m paying $10 extra per year to be able to tell people that I own Swalrus.org! On the plus side it is such a weird word that I’m now the top result on Google for it. This all worked for hulu, google, boingboing, most other web2.0 sites so I guess I’m in good company.

So now, because of all this… I’ve found the old original version of the Swalrus Conservation site and put it back under the top level domain. I think it makes more sense to have to top domain point to all the sub domains… and it’s still funny. Now it will act as a distribution point for the Swalrus Network.

Which as of now officially contains…

Thoughts.swalrus.org – This blog
Mark5four0.swalrus.org – My art dump
WadeChi.swalrus.org – Wade Chi Photography
USAFuels.swalrus.org – Laurel’s Documentary
TheTable.swalrus.org – Site for the Beerpong Table
CRS.swalrus.org – The Charlitron

If I ever get more people to join up I’ll probably remove the last two because they kind of suck.

People who I may or may not look like.

Life, Randomness

Apparently I’m pretty bad about judging what celebrities my friends look like. I still think that in a certain light Laurel looks like Katherine Heigl(Who, judging by her google search, is the cover model for ‘Holding Your Own Boobs Magazine’) But I get it all the time, “you know who you look like?”. Well it’s time to put them to the test. Here are the comparisons that I’ve heard… good or bad

Thomas Jane20071011_00174.jpgThomas Jane – I think Crystal was the one who thought I looked like this guy. I think it’s a pretty good comparison, butt-chin (check), big nose (check). Plus he’s played Mickey Mantle and The Punisher, so you can’t go wrong there.

Carey Elwes20071011_00175.jpgCarey Elwes – There was a bartender at Carlos O’Kelley’s that always told me I looked like Wesley from ‘The Princess Bride’. I kind of see it, especially in this photo. Not a bad life being the Dread Pirate Roberts, if you can get it.

Kid Rock20071011_00176.jpgKid Rock – Some girl at the Vienna Starbucks told me I looked like Kid Rock. It was early on a Saturday Morning and I hadn’t had a haircut in about 5 months… and I was wearing a hat. I guess? But Laurel seems to think I should have taken it as an insult. What-ev

Will Ferrell20071011_00177.jpgWill Ferrell – I forget who the person that told me this one was? But I don’t really see it. I actually think he looks more like my friend Peter? But I did grow a mustache a few years ago because I liked ‘Anchor Man’ so much.

Zack Braff20071011_00178.jpgZack Braff – Laurel thinks this one is a lock. I think maybe if you leave out his nose. Much of my power comes from my big nose. It’s a proven fact. I can’t really find many other faults in this one. Maybe I do look like him.

Ben Roethlisburger20071011_00179.jpgBen Roethlisberger – source-Little old lady at the 7-11. plus somebody else that I’ve forgotten. I do have the same stats as Big Ben, 6’5″ 135lbs, I’m sure he’s a little bit more in shape than I am… and I can’t throw a football to save my life.

This is Me…

Life, Randomness

20071026_00199.jpg Hi, this is me. Mark Schumaker. I am and live in Oakton Virginia for the time being. right now I am a Software Developer (JAVA) for a government contractor in Washington, DC. It’s really boring work there and I probably won’t talk much about it… ever. But being a code monkey allows me to have money, which allows me to live the life I have become accustomed to.
I like things, I tend to buy them. I like to watch horrible sci-fi movies and almost every movie made in the 1980’s. I really don’t have favorite movies, when I’m asked to come up with a list the only one that ever comes up is Star Wars. But that is the default Geek answer. Now since I don’t like being the default anything I have a hard time with that answer. I would say something horrible like “Hudson Hawk” or “Meet the Feebles”. But either A. nobody’s going to know what those are. or B. You are going to be lumped into that “emo, too cool for school, I only play old school NES… myspace” category that I really don’t want to be involved in. So pretty much my favorite movie is whatever one I just finished watching. Because if it’s good enough for me to sit through I probably liked it.
I also have a strange affection for limited edtion things, mostly candy and soft drinks. You can see some examples under Life>>Random. I think that comes from being A. a consumer whore. B. an art major who loves well designed ad campaigns. and C. Easily influenced by advertising. But since I really don’t care I’m fine with it.
So what makes me cool is that I take things from all the groups that I’ve been associated with and mix them all together. I like old school hip-hop, 80’s hair bands, Kelly Clarkson, Punkish Electronica Goth stuff (MSI), Female Metal (Kittie), Christian Rap and I like most of the people who listen to each of those types of music.
I’m just trying to say that I’m unique… just like everybody else.