Bryce Harper is Primed for a Huge Season

The puppy has finally grown into his big ass paws.

Usually on this blog, we’re delivering some type of newsworthy post with a touch of humor. This is an opinion post. A strong opinion.

Bryce Harper is going to have one of those special years in 2017. He announced his presence (and most importantly, health) with a mammoth home run in his first Spring Training at-bat today. It just seemed like that was his message to the league: I’m going to torture you, and I’m gonna torture you good. I’m gonna make you suffer.

Yes, this is going to be one of those years on the back of his baseball cards that shines. A year like 2015 when he won the MVP, when he hit 42 home runs and amassed a .330 average with a 1.1o9 OPS. It’s going to be one of those type of years.

We’ve watched Harper morph from just a kid to now a grown ass man – look at that photo – he means business. He’s got an edge to him. He’s married now. He’s going to be 24. He’s playing for that huge contract the Yankees are going to give to him after 2018, and it’s a foregone conclusion.

It’s also a foregone conclusion that he’s going to be in the thick of the National league MVP race. He’s going to show that the Nationals are not Trea Turner’s Nationals, they’re not Max Scherzer’s Nationals. They’re not anyone’s but Harper’s and Bryce Harper’s alone.

We’re happy to know it. It’s more than just a hunch. Harper is a hard-working kid who loves the game. Sure, he could stand to be less of a billboard for companies and products. Yes, it royally sucks that he wants a contract that will price him out of the team’s uniform who drafted him, jumping ship to baseball’s evil empire. But it’s probably good for the sport that he’s about to reclaim it in 2017.

Sure as the sun rises, it’s going to happen.

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Your Saturday Baseball Post

It is a Saturday, and this is not just any other Saturday in the life.

As I put my kids down for their nap – there is real, live Spring Training baseball on my television. That’s right, I’m watching Tyler Thornburg get lit by the Twins at that nice little spring park in Fort Myers, Florida. This is kind of great. And soon enough it will just feel like scrimmages. But for today, it’s holding my interest and it’s baseball season again baby!

This is actually not an 80’s hit, but damn it should be. It’s from 1990. And it sure sounds like an 80’s song. Listen to that damn synth. It’s ‘One More Try’ by Timmy T. It should be played on a ballpark loudspeaker nearest you on ballads night or some great promotional night like that.

So enjoy your Saturday. It’s the best day of the week, and baseball is the best sport on earth. Thank you for your continued support of Diamond Hoggers.

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Here is the cover of the Dodgers 2017 Yearbook

I saw this on twitter yesterday. Yesterday was Dodgers team photo day at Camelback Ranch. So this type of propaganda is going to start making it’s way out.

The Dodgers here have positioned two guys we really love as the cover fellows. We love Dave Roberts – his mis-management of a bullpen we cannot hold against him. And of course our love for Corey Seager has been well-chronicled.

This had to go on the blog somewhere.

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House of the Week: A 233-Year-Old Home With a Vintage Facelift

Before Bob Stamps bought this 18th-century home in New Hampshire, it had an outdated kitchen and a mourning room. They both had to go.

Although the home was mostly preserved to match its colonial vintage, its kitchen was from the disco era. Stamps decided to “take what looked like the 1970s and turn it into the 1770s.”

He updated the room’s bones and overlayed that structure with period-looking pieces. For example, the oven is ensconced in an island that appears to be an antique cabinet, and the Sub-Zero refrigerator is similarly camouflaged.

The mourning room, which Stamps said was originally used for people who were either sick or who died in the winter and could not be buried until the ground thawed, was “not very useful.” So he bashed out one of its walls to expand the adjoining tiny bathroom.

Photos courtesy of Ruedig Realty

The result of that renovation, which included replacing grungy old wallpaper with new wall coverings that suit the home’s vintage, is a luxury estate with 5 bedrooms, 6 fireplaces, and more than 140 acres. It’s on the market for $1 million with Barbara Ruedig of Ruedig Realty.

New Hampshire judge and legislator Robert Wallace, who built the 4,240-square-foot home in 1784, would be proud. He was the son of a local legend, “Ocean-Born Mary,” who received her name when pirates who had boarded a ship carrying immigrants from Scotland heard a baby crying below decks.

The pirate captain agreed not to loot and sink the ship if the parents named the baby after his own mother, Mary. The ship continued on to New England, and Mary was credited with having saved it. Robert named his house the “Ocean-Born Mary House” after her.

The home’s beautifully preserved tavern room, ample closets and beehive ovens would surely make her proud.

Related:

• A 108-Year-Old Mansion With Bay Views
• A Touch of Provence in Southern California
• An Architect’s Storybook Home

 

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Which is the best example to follow?

By Paulo Coelho Dov Beer of Mezeritch was asked: ‘Which is the best example to follow? That of the pious man who dedicates his life to God without ever asking why, or that of the erudite man, who tries to understand the will of the Almighty?’ ‘The best example to follow is that of the […]

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Make Your Customers Super Happy with UserEngage

As any owner of a website whose task is to sell goods to people, I'm always in search of tools that will make my e-store a better place for both constant and casual users.

And it is not only a matter of withstanding the tough competition that I suppose everyone in the World of e-commerce is facing these days; it is a matter of making my online audience happier and satisfied by providing them with a place where they not only are able to please themselves by buying some amazing products but also relax and enjoy their pastime while surfing through all sorts of goods that are in stock.

In today's reality, everything comes down to taking user experience far and beyond and making it more personal and less artificial. It is a rule of thumb: happy clients always buy more than those that are disappointed: the latter as a rule try to get away from this local “agora” as soon as possible and stay out of it no matter what.

Customers First

As the saying goes, make your customers happy and they will certainly return and bring you their friends and colleagues. Sounds like an easy task to do; though as is always a case, it is not. When it comes to faceless Internet, the main problem always lies in the absence of the real interaction with your potential customers.

In the store you can easily predict the next move of the customer: you can compensate some oversights or inadvertencies with your broad smile and a bonus card; push the client by offering him/her a cup of coffee and a “family” discount or just provide them with great personal service that will always win the people.

On the Internet you are deprived of this exclusive and absolutely vital privilege of observing your users and instantly reacting to his/her behavior. Or not?

For a long time, it was quite like that. We almost blindly sell goods relying only on the quality of our products, eye-pleasing interface and such perks as quick or free shipping.

Today the situation has changed dramatically. Under any bright customer's smile lies in-depth and systematic analysis of the situation and marketing tricks played on time.

A Magical Tool for Customers Engagement

We have finally got tools for tracking and monitoring our audience in the virtual world. As I have earlier said I'm always in pursuit of some useful and beneficial tools, and today I want to share with you one of my precious findings - that is “UserEngage”.

The team behind this spectacular online service definitely knows its stuff. With such a keen and bold slogan, which indicates that happy customers are a top priority here, they are certainly on the route of achieving great results without all the hustle and bustle that is inherent to complex and intricate platforms. Without much talking and delays, they get straight to the point, hitting the bullseye.

The platform embraces only the vital aspects of the successful marketing automation offering an elegant way of conducting different campaigns, collecting data, or even chatting with the targeted audience. It is an ideal partner if you are an owner of WordPress+Woocommerce, Magento, Shopify, Drupal e-commerce, PrestaShop, OpenCart and other popular and not-so-popular frameworks.

If CMS is not your case, then it can be easily integrated into any website by means of a ready-made script: there is a comprehensive step-by-step guide that enables you to do it yourself.

Another great thing is that it also works with other team collaboration tools. For example, you do not need to abandon Slack or FullContact, UserEngage is quite friendly with both of them. Also, if you use Mailchimp for organizing and managing your email lists as I do, you can quickly import data from your account and get a huge head start.

First things first. As a small retailer, I need tools for better understanding my visitors. I require such crucial information as what products do my users view, what pages do they revisit and what actions do they take, etc. These factors lie at the heart of my strategy.

UserEngage gives me a handy interface to analyze these determinants, gathering everything under the same roof. Being based on a drag-and-drop technique my workplace looks like a simple playground where I just add or delete modules like triggers, conditions, and actions that are designed to generate leads, onboard customers or automate engagement processes.

You can create Facebook campaigns for your followers; send SMS after registration, etc. just "with a wave of the hand".

Another key point of my strategy is getting the most out of email marketing. With UserEngage creating personalized campaigns is easy peasy. Its module recognizes all the clients and allows me to work with my subscription list that was carefully built with the help of MailChimp.

So I do not waste my time in moving everyone to one place and logging users to chat. I just get straight down to business, using everything I already have and saving my time and resources.

As for other functionality, one of the benefits is a way of building and adding dynamic forms. There is a whole slew of predefined forms that can be quickly edited, customized and adjusted to targeted users.

You can manipulate with different fields and even set the language for a specific group of users. Show forms only to those who need them: for example, display a welcoming modal window to newcomers or demonstrate a modal window with a special discount for returning visitors.

This tiny yet powerful option enhances the user experience of your e-shop by saving visitors from unnecessary and irrelevant pop-ups and preventing the interface from feeling cluttered.

Last but not least, the thing that plays a fundamental role in achieving success is of course – analysis. My campaign and strategy can be outstanding, well-thought-out and polished; nevertheless, it should be scrupulously observed and examined in order to identify the gaps that may occur.

The sky is the limit; and analytics tools provided by UserEngage assist me in shooting for the stars. With an advanced filtering and all my clients at hand, I quickly target users based on their behavior. Browsing through each profile I have an opportunity to gather data on every person: familiarizing myself with his or her page views, events, location, social media accounts and more.

All these allow me to improve my strategy and, as a result, achieve the required level of the individual approach that helps to transform my retail website into a comfortable and enjoyable place as well as make my clients happier.

Conclusion

As an owner of a small e-shop, my strategy may look not as impressive and overwhelming as others – it just bets on a constant analysis of my clients, improvement of the personal user experience and making my customers happy, but it works for me.

Together with an ecommerce platform that does all the heavy lifting concerning the display of products, processing orders, taking payments, etc, UserEngage is a solid rock to build my shop online and move forward on my path to success.

I have used UserEngage on one of our eCommerce sites and am writing this from personal user experience. Feel free to share with me your thoughts if you are using UserEngage too or if not why not, give it a free trial now!

from Onextrapixel – Web Design and Development Online Magazine http://ift.tt/2l7kXrk

How Cronitor Made My Developer Life Easier

‘Time is money,’ as the old saying goes. In our fast-moving world, it underlies the majority of successful stories. The favorable outcome of any business mainly depends on how good you can master this parameter. You should always be on top of your things.

Not only have you to meet all the deadlines but you also ought to provide quick reactions to various situations starting from the minor errors that occur on a website and ending with failures of scripts and programs. Truth be told, there are so many things that need to stay under the radar, it is nearly impossible to handle all this stuff manually.

Though if you are willing to spend your precious time in front of a desktop with a bunch of opened browser tabs and windows, monitoring all the parameters all day long then, of course, this is not about you. Nevertheless, for the majority of us, this plan of action is utterly unacceptable.

So, is there any way to avoid hand-operated actions and enjoy all the benefits of the technologies that first and foremost imply automation?

As it turned, yes there is. The users of Unix-like operating systems are familiar with this solution that is a standard command in their beloved OS. Its primary task is to schedule directives to run at specific intervals and dates.

Taking this utility as a basis, the talented team from the Berkeley was succeeded in creating a cron job monitoring online service called Cronitor and making it available to the masses.

It is a lifesaver for all those who are accustomed to deal with numerous threads of tasks. In a nutshell, it will help to prevent unwanted surprises, stay within your budget, get some extra time and instill confidence that everything is under control.

What is Cronitor?

The Cronitor is an intelligent assistant that was created specifically to monitor cron jobs, workers, services, APIs and other stuff. It is a reliable tool that saves you from unexpected outcomes thereby keeping you away from the extra expenditure.

With its real-time dashboard that provides visibility on backend systems, it is easy to keep an eye on scheduled tasks and stay responsive all the time.

If something goes wrong, it will generate the alert and send it to you and your team, guaranteeing that everyone is on the same page.

In my personal experience, it is an indispensable tool. As an owner of a regular website, I trust it to do lots of stuff. For example, Cronitor ensures that all my DB backups are done on time, the cache is emptied regularly, posts are published, broken links are deleted, or host is working.

Its potential is enormous since you can “ask” it to supervise anything that can make or receive HTTP requests. For example, if you have an e-store that does regular parsing, it can help to run the script at a predetermined time and notify you about a failure.

Made with micro service monitoring in mind it also enables you to deal with some non-trivial tasks. Here you will find tools for

• multi-region downtime verification that can be sent from Europe, America, and Asia;
• global healthcheck coverage;
• intermittent downtime detection;
• developer APIs;
• creating rich assertions;
• defining custom cookies, headers and some more.

Not all of the listed above functions are useful to me. I need only those (for example, intermittent downtime detection) that let me regularly monitor server and API health to catch situations when my server is down, or API works incorrectly.

However, all the extra features can come in handy in the future. I’m constantly working on introducing various improvements in order to enhance a work of website from different angles so that defining custom cookies or headers might be valuable in prospect.

Another significant advantage of Cronitor lies in its native integration with other popular services like Slack, Hipchat, PageDuty and Custom Webhooks. As you can see, the list is small; nevertheless, it includes the cloud-based team collaboration tool that I believe everyone employs these days – Slack. Together they make sure that other members get all the critical alerts and notifications in time, making our teamwork efficient and productive.

Last but not least, support. While this factor may seem to be not so vital at first sight, but trust me on this, even the most advanced and polished online services can suffer a setback, experiencing difficulties; so that without a friendly, responsive and thoughtful support team you just can’t do. Cronitor is excellent at this. Just email the team, and they will do their best to sort out the issue.

Conclusion

Although the Cronitor is not one of a kind, yet it focuses only on monitoring cron jobs and does not spread itself too thin. It has lots of valuable features, handy dashboard, and great support – everything you may need to keep watch over the situation, avoid unexpected surprises and save your money.

from Onextrapixel – Web Design and Development Online Magazine http://ift.tt/2lDdfY1