Ken Cauley.com

Kombo.com Promotional Strategy Underway

Posted on August 19th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: Business.

As a follow up to my Do or Die post concerning Kombo.com, we have been knee deep in promotional marketing strategies to increase the unique and page views web traffic. We had a slow start with our brainstorming but today things really took off! So much so that we ended up putting together a four page document of ideas and strategies that we’ll be implementing. Ideas that will strengthen our existing features and services as well as introduce some exciting new stuff.

Best of all, most every idea we put together will require little to no cost or increase in overhead spending. I’m confident that with-in four months, we’ll come close to doubling our daily unique traffic and more than double our daily page views per user. Let the good times roll.

Introducing SportsJoystick.com (Beta)

Posted on August 19th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: Business.

On behalf of the Advanced Media Network and in partnership with Kombo.com, I would like to introduce the Beta launch of Sports Joystick. Sports Joystick is a sports-gamer’s dream come true. As a fully focused informational portal that gives sports fans and gamers in-depth news, previews, reviews daily, SportsJoystick.com’s unique perspective on coverage allows our specific audience to fully appreciate their needs and anticipations at the same time.

Unlike similar gaming sites, Sports Joystick employs some of the most talented sports writers in the business with an unprecedented knack for games. They may be gamers like you, but our staff is filled with former athletes and rabid journalists with an tremendous knowledge of all of the happenings in both sports and benchmarked sports video-games. Whether it be Football, Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Golf, Boxing, Horse-Racing, Rugby or Curling, Sports Joystick can still offer so much more.

With offices centered in the San Francisco Bay Area, with one of the most populated sports fanbases in the United States, Sports Joystick will also bring you direct coverage from some of the hottest gaming events and their impact on the sports and head-to-head competition, including Madden Challenge Tournaments, the X Games, Maddenpalooza, NBA Live Challenge, Major League Gaming, World Series of Videogames, and NVISION 08 just to name a few.

Always looking for the grand slam, Sports Joystick’s mission is to go beyond what is needed to enhance the gamer lifestyle for the hardcore sports fan. Want to find out how good Gilbert Arenas is in Halo? Does John Madden actually play his own video-games? What is Jonathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel up to? The answers to all of these questions will only be found right here on Sports Joystick.

We work hard and we play hard. So slide on into your home base over at Sports Joystick.com and let us know what you think! There’s much more coming. It’s time to step up to the plate.

Control your inner-athlete; Sports Joystick has arrived.

Ray Almeda – Editor in Chief

Ben Stein’s Confession

Posted on August 19th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: Personal.

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning:

My confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees.. I don’t feel threatened. I don’t feel discriminated against. That’s what they are: Christmas trees.

It doesn’t bother me a bit when people say, ‘Merry Christmas’ to me. I don’t think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrati ng this happy time of year. It doesn’t bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it’s just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don’t like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don’t think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can’t find it in the Constitution and I don’t like it being shoved down my throat.

Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren’t allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that’s a sign that I’m getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it’s not funny, it’s intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham’s daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her ‘How could God let something like this happen?’ (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, ‘I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we’ve been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?’

In light of recent events… terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O’Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn’t want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn’t spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock’s son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he’s talking about. And we said OK.

Now we’re asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don’t know right from wrong, and why it doesn’t bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with ‘WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.’

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world’s going to hell Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send ‘jokes’ through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Are you laughing yet?

Tropic Thunder is Much Better Than I Anticipated

Posted on August 19th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: Personal.

Geez, my headlines are getting worse. Blame it on it being 2am. Anyways, I seen Tropic Thunder today and I must say it is much better than I thought it would be. More so, there are A LOT of cameo’s / celeb appearances that I didn’t expect. An all around great comedy. Probably the last great movie of the summer.

Have some free time… go see Tropic Thunder:

TAX STAT - Misrepresenting the Facts?

Posted on August 18th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: News.

Just in case you hear another politician stating they will increase taxes on the wealthy because they do not pay enough. That type of class warfare attempts to create conflict for political gain. They are attempting to be divisive by misrepresenting the facts; lookout for the political propaganda, “Under the current administration, the wealthiest received the biggest tax reductions.” They are dishonest in hopes citizens do not check the facts. Most important, the lack of success in Federal social programs is not for lack of money being spent over the many decades, rather it is the lack of accountability the programs receiving the taxpayers’ dollars have to the taxpayers. Washington DC is too far from the program providers to create accountability; it just redistributes the taxpayers’ money irresponsibly and without themselves being held accountable.

Let’s see how many voters toss out their Federal representatives this election when the approval rating of Congress is at 14%. Heck, the current President’s approval rating, 33%, is more than twice Congress’ and he would likely not be voted back into his office if he could run. I predict, the voters will continue on with, “My representative does a good job of bringing Federal tax dollars back to our state; it is the other representatives that are wasteful.” Would it not be better if our tax $$ did not to go to Washington DC in the first place for social programs???? Let’s cut Washington off the political gravy train and demand that our tax dollars–thank goodness it is smaller now compared to previous administrations tax rates—stay in our control. We need to reduce the ineffective government handouts in the first place. People are much more capable of solving their problems and taking care of themselves; it is an insult when they are told they are victims and need politicians to take care of them.

TAX STAT - The top 1% of US taxpayers is responsible for the payment of 40% of all federal income tax. Ten years ago (1998), the top 1% of taxpayers paid 35% of all federal income tax. Twenty years ago (1988), the top 1% of taxpayers paid 28% of all federal income tax (source: Tax Foundation, IRS).

Propane Explosion in Toronto

Posted on August 13th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: News.

One of my employee’s informed me of this explosion in Toronto… which happens to be about two miles from his house. I looked up a video of the explosion on YouTube… check it out.

J&K’s Scandalous Lingerie Party ‘08 Brief Summary

Posted on August 11th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: Personal.

This past Friday (the 8th) was the Lingerie Party that me and my friend Jeremy hosted. In brief, it ended up being a party for me and my close friends. Most everybody I personally invited showed up, but there were not a lot of ‘extras’ or randoms that came. I was expecting somewhere around 250-300 people at any given time, but by the end of the night, only 150 people had made an appearance. On average, there were about 50 people at the party at any given point in time.

But even at that, about 40 of my good friends were there and had stayed and partied the night away. It was a great time and while it started off slow — after a few drinks everybody was feeling good and rocking out in lingerie.

USA & the 2008 Olympics — GO USA!

Posted on August 11th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: Personal.

I am a pretty big patriot. I love the USA and I support the country, its strengths and (sometimes) the flaws. A lot of things happening in this country at the moment that make me want to pull my hair out. Things that test my faith and love for this country. While my American pride always comes out on top, it is events like the Olympics that get me really pumped up and as patriotic as ever.

Sports competition at the global level. The end all country bragging rights, specific to sports, that comes once every four years. I keep a close eye to online news and the television for the latest updates and standings. I have a couple informal friends/acquaintances performing in the Olympics and doing very well! But far more important than that is cheering on our best American athletes as they face off against the rest of the world.

This is my plea to you to tune into the 2008 Olympics and cheer on your country! Go USA!

Pineapple Express … 1 and 1/2 thumbs up!

Posted on August 8th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: Personal.

Much like the earlier released ‘Step Brothers’, Pineapple Express is yet another R-rated comedy that brings slapstick / stupid humor to the table and does it well. Much more of a niche movie than Step Brothers, Pineapple Express is stuck somewhere between a stoner only flick and that of mainstream appeal. Meaning, my Mother or Grandma, or most any older female (or male), would probably enjoy Step Brothers more than Pineapple Express.

If you’re of younger generation (30-ish) an younger, I would highly suggest seeing Pineapple Express. If you’re a pothead… you may want to consider going while under the influence. Same goes for alcohol…

Question of the Day: Shoot for the stars no matter what… or play it safe?

Posted on August 8th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: Question of the Day.

I think I can start this off by asking whether or not SAFE means SMART. Always… sometimes?

Possibly, it is smart to shoot for the stars, but with measured risk. Even at that, you can miss out on great opportunities by staying in the slow lane. Driving in the fast lane can yield great results, but just as easily cause an accident. Chances are, if you play it safe and smart, you’ll make it just fine in life. But at the same time, chances are you’ll never make it far past mediocracy. There are millions of people who would be are just satisfied with that. Millions of people wish they could accomplish this sort of stability. Millions who wish for something more. Very few who take the risk.

Of the very few who take the risk, a VERY small percentage of those people gain great success. If you’re entrepreneur and start your own business, you immediately fall into a small percentage (5%) of American’s. When you break down that 5%, the percentage of people who are actually wealthy make up about 1%. Those who are extremely wealthy make up such a small percentage of the same 5%… it is astonishing.

With those kinds of odds and the risk involved with reaching for the stars… is that the smart choice? Some people can’t help but strive for this. It’s built into their DNA. But this still doesn’t answer the question. Is it possible to shoot for the stars but make educated/safe/smart decisions along the way? Decisions that may not take you to the stars, but still bring you great success. I suppose at the end of the day, it is up to the individual to make that decision and live with the decisions that they make. There is no clear answer…

J&K’s Scandalous Lingerie Party ‘08

Posted on August 8th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: Personal.

I’m hosting a lingerie party tomorrow. If any of you reading this reside in Michigan or just curious, check out the flyer below.

Welcome to attend!

BREAKING - Detroit Mayor Kilpatrick ordered jailed

Posted on August 7th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: News.

A Wayne County judge today ordered Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick to jail for violating the terms of his bond by traveling to Canada on July 23.

“If was not Kwame Kilaptrick sitting in that seat, if it was John Six Pack sitting in the seat, what would I do?” said Robert Giles, judge of 36th District Court. “That answers something. I go back to my original keep it simple.”

He revoked his bond and ordered Kilpatrick to jail.

For those of you who do not now, I live in Michigan. The news was playing in the background when it caught my attention. BAM! The decision was made and he is sentenced to jail. Now, he has the right to appeal the decision, but it isn’t looking good.

If any of this strikes an interest, feel free to read up on everything.

NASA @ Mars: ‘We Have Water!’

Posted on July 31st, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: News.

TUCSON, Ariz. — Laboratory tests aboard NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander have identified water in a soil sample. The lander’s robotic arm delivered the sample Wednesday to an instrument that identifies vapors produced by the heating of samples.

“We have water,” said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA. “We’ve seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted.”

With enticing results so far and the spacecraft in good shape, NASA also announced operational funding for the mission will extend through Sept. 30. The original prime mission of three months ends in late August. The mission extension adds five weeks to the 90 days of the prime mission. — Full Story

Apparently people actually read this blog…Woot!

Posted on July 29th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: Personal.

… That’s pretty cool

Thanks to all who are reading! Why don’t you all start commenting to my stories and contributing in some form? I could use your feedback! But on the flip side, I wasn’t really writing my updates in a way where I was expecting readers. Especially readers whom are directly involved in my personal or professional life. But hey, all the more better

But with that said, I was fairly vague with my wording. Some of my employee’s read my previous blog update titled, ‘Time to do or die’ and got, in some form, worried. I suppose I can’t blame them. But the reality is that there is nothing to be worried about and everything is going great. This is a personal blog so I definitely made it more ‘emotional’ in tone and delivery that could have come across as negative. When the actuality of our change is positive. In my post, I left out all the business details of the change and simply wrote as if I were talking to myself.

From a business end, our change is to reinforce the positive things that are going on with-in Kombo. To allow us to continue to grow, expand and improve ourselves as a business… all while being more comfortable. Since everything is already underway, the small relief already mentioned has made a big impact and we’re already running on all cylinders, full steam ahead.

All aboard!

Time to Do or Die…

Posted on July 28th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: Business.

With-in my company, our North American video game site (Kombo.com) is bleeding money. It costs more to manage than what it makes. This, from most any business perspective, is a bad thing. But hey, that’s business. If everything went 100% smoothly 100% of the time, we would all be instant millionaires and there would be no failure and ultimately nothing to learn. How can you learn if you don’t make mistakes?

Besides money, the problem is that Kombo is doing very well from a content perspective. The team has hit their stride and they’re confident of growth given more time. In the literal sense, we have expanded too quickly. Making investments to the site’s future faster than we can keep up with. Not a bad thing from one angle, but still results in needed change. As a result, I had a very long meeting with my core guys involved in Kombo. We’ve come up with an agreement for the company to buy (literally) more time. But to come up with a more aggressive promotion strategy and corporate face-lift. Change across the board to allow Kombo to stay the way it is (keep the content delivery the same) and allow time for growth. I have faith in myself and my team… so we’ll build this strategy and execute. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll form a new strategy to meet any needed changes and run with that. Just another day in the life of a growing business.

I’ll keep you all updated!

Step Brothers … Stupid as Sh!t, but Funny As Hell!

Posted on July 27th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: Personal.

I had a couple beers before the movie started so I’m sure that helped the off-beat and slapstick humor seem even funnier… but Step Brothers deserves two thumbs up. The movie certainly isn’t for everybody… for example, those with out a sense of humor should avoid this movie.

Besides drinking, to enjoy this movie to its fullest, make sure you turn off your brain and go in with no expectations. Turn on the laughter and appreciate the movie for what it is … an empty comedy with sole purpose of making to laugh.

I highly recommend this movie.

Integrity Struggles

Posted on July 26th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: Personal.

Integrity - adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.

Is there a difference between integrity towards yourself and integrity towards others? Is integrity universal? Is it perfect? Flawed? Are there exceptions? Is integrity open to interpretation?

I’ve attempted to live my day to day life with integrity. I think I’ve done a good job thus far, but I can’t help but feel it isn’t good enough. Sometimes I seems like the better the individual I try to be and be, the more internal and external struggles I’m faced with. And then when those struggles bring about cause and effect, I’m presented with even more internal and external struggles. Why is it easier to do the wrong thing and often harder to take the right path? These may possibly be questions with no clear answer. Even so, I can’t help but think and feel that those, including myself, who consistently practice integrity in their lives will come out on top at the end of the day. And if not at the end of the day … hopefully by the end of our lives.

Experience is What You Get When You Don’t Get What You Want

Posted on July 26th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: Personal.

I know I said I would start writing regularly (daily) again. I apologize for not keeping my word. I have been going through quite a few bumps in my life lately. Ironing them out has proven to be a much bigger task than I hoped for. But as the saying goes, nothing work while happens overnight. And equally so, experience is what you get when you don’t get what you want.

Question of the Day: Can I Get My Life Back on Track?

Posted on July 6th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: Question of the Day.

As earlier mentioned, the past 1 1/2 years have been a lot of personal growth as well as destruction. Prior to this time frame, I think I was more in control of my day to day life. I was more focused and on track for personal and business goals. At that time, my life was less balanced between personal and business. I would invest nearly every waking hour on the computer performing some sort of business task.

The transition started when I got a girlfriend. She demanded more of my time and, quite frankly, I was more than willing to give it to her. Once we got more settled into our relationship, she would be upset with me if I was investing too much time with work and not with her. As the months rolled by, my job started to evolve into a 9am-6pm job. Even at that, I would often push the limits which would result in making her upset with me more often than I would like. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not ripping on her… I simply wasn’t delivering to her the time that she needed. Basically, over the months I was reducing my hours invested in work and my old life. It was a good time though. I really enjoyed that personal experience and getting really close to somebody and sharing my life with somebody. I wouldn’t trade any of those days/months for anything. But it didn’t come without consequence.

Once I became single again, I felt lost and out of place. Besides the extreme sorrow, loneliness, and mild depression, I didn’t know how to spend my time in the same way that I used to before a relationship. I told myself that I would get through the days by simply burying myself in my work and forget about everything else. But I couldn’t do it. I would wake up late and find myself cutting my work day short. Rarely did I put in more than 6-8 hours a day. Even at that, I would find distractions during that time. Eat, clean, run errands, gym, zone out and other forms of procrastination. Sometimes I would stop working simply because I was so overtaken by the negative emotions listed above.

I am who I want to be

I’ve spent a fair amount of time (and still do to some extent) just having internal conversations with myself to get past my struggles and concerns. Getting back in control of my life and emotions. Though, of course, applying lessons and values that I’ve learned through a strong relationship. I’m not there yet but I’m finally making progress. So, can I remember who I am? Do I want to go back to being who I was or evolve to somebody completely different? I want to invest more time into my work and keep a stronger focus at goals and benchmarks. Yet if I find somebody new, it is unlikely that they will want to end up with a workaholic. Do I want to become a workaholic or just a hard worker? Either way, I finally feel that I’m STARTING to get my life back on track but there is still much work to do.

Get Back in Touch With An Old Friend…

Posted on July 6th, 2008 by kencauley.
Categories: Personal.

This is an amazing story … too good to not share with all of you.

The video tells the story itself, so no need for an introduction nor closing comments. Just watch.