Is that email true?

Every few days I receive an email that someone has forwarded to me about a missing child, business opportunity, or some other event that they feel I should be notified about. Often times, these emails are not true (hoaxes) and they should not be passed on. For example, today I received an email about a missing girl named Ashley Flores who had been missing for two weeks. It had been forwarded to me by someone who wanted to help, which I admire.

However, I quickly went to TruthOrFiction.com and searched for her name. Within seconds, I was able to verify that this person was NOT missing and the email was fiction. Had it been true, I would have graciously forwarded the email onto all my family and friends. But forwarding something that is not true, would have only done an injustice to the thousands who really are missing.

So, the next time you receive an email claiming that Bill Gates wants to send you money, save yourself the embarrassment and check TruthOrFiction.com before forwarding it on.

Student Loan Consolidation - Rates Going Up!

If you're like many Americans dealing with the outrageous expense of college, you still owe on your student loans. If you haven't heard, your monthly payments will be going up if you don't consolidate and lock in a fixed rate. I just finalized doing this for myself, and thought I should pass it on. I completed the process directly through the Federal Government and the process was quick and easy. After a few minutes on the phone, they mailed me a promissary note to sign and return. That was it.

Of course, I wouldn't expect you to take my word for it, so here's an article from CNN Money that describes in detail why you should do this. It does a great job of explaining the situation and your options.

In short, you have until June 30th to consolidate and lock in a 5.38% rate. If you do nothing, your student loan will adjust on July 1st to 7.25%. You don't want to let that happen as you'll just be paying more (in interest) for the same thing. Hmmm, that almost sounds exactly like my weekly experience at the gas pump.

Remember, Respond, Recover- wallofamericans.com

On this Memorial Day, I took a brief moment to reflect on a website we created on September, 12, 2001. It was the day after our lives changed forever from the first terrorist attacks on American soil. The night of September 11th, 2001, I could not stop thinking that I had to do something to honor all those who had died. "We have to create some sort of online "memorial" to all the people who had died", I thought. If nothing else, we have to help unite the survivors against this terrible act and all that they stand for. We knew we could do it, and we knew we could do it quickly. The next morning, I brought the idea up to the CWS design team and we got started at 8am.

Within 24 hours, we developed and launched www.wallofamericans.com. It was the only way we knew how to cope as a bunch of "20 something" guys in Rochester, MN. It was all we could do to try to help in some sort of small way. The site was a huge success and thousands of people began posting messages and personal stories about the loved ones they lost. People even volunteered to help input and verify the data of those missing. We were so excited that our "contribution" had helped in some sort of way.

Our 10 seconds of fame came on September 11, 2002, when the site was featured in a New York Times article. The article discussed several different websites that existed such as ours, and how they had memorialized the victims of 9/11. It was truly an honor to be interviewed and recognized for what we had done. It was also the first time CWS had received any sort of national press... and the New York Times is as big as it gets!

Today, the site still exists exactly as it did in 2001. As you can image, the traffic has reduced significantly as most Americans are quickly distracted to other items of interest. The site is full of personal messages left by mothers, fathers, husbands, wives and children of people who lost their lives that day. It also includes a guestbook of posts from thousands of people all over the world. On this Memorial Day, take a brief moment out of your life to learn more about one of the victims: www.wallofamericans.com

GroupLoop Sneak Peak

We've been very busy here at CWS with the development of our next web based application: GroupLoop.com. The public website will be launched very soon, in the meantime... here's a teaser.


We will be launching a limited test period very soon. We believe in co-development with our customers. This means that you will have the opportunity to suggest further direction and additional features. If you want to get in on the action, you have to signup here.

METRO Bar hosts Singles Night

Todd Fitzgibbons at the METRO bar (a ClubRochester.com partner) sent this to me the other day. I thought I would pass it on for our membership.

Shhh. I'm on vacation.

You may have noticed that this blog has been a bit quiet as of late. The truth is, I'm on vacation in Arizona this week and the rest of the crew is busy picking up the slack. I've heard it's been cold and rainy in good 'ol Rochester...did I mention it's been 100+ and sunny every day this week? :) Here's a sample of my activities.

Alan at the rim of a meteor crater.

Enjoying the views of the Grand Canyon.

A cactus along-side the road.

Amazing views near Sedona, AZ.

Don't let the clouds fool you, it never rains here.

CVB selects CWS for web site design

The Rochester Convention and Visitors Bureau has selected Corporate Web Services as its preferred vendor for two new web design projects. "Considering the competition for projects of this magnitude, we're honored to be selected," said Alan De Keyrel.

The new projects include a redesign of the existing CVB Website and a new golf website to be launched later this summer. The deal also includes maintenance of their existing hospitality infastructure as their previous vendor, Post Bulletin Internet Services, dissolved last month.

MLT Group Film Festival Tonight

The Rochester Independent Short Film Festival is a short film and video contest with public showings of independent works, and a chance for the community of Rochester to come together to celebrate the art of creative video production.

The film festival will be held at the Hill Theatre (851 30th Ave SE . Rochester, MN ) located at RCTC on Friday May 5th 6pm-9:30pm, and Saturday May 6th 1pm-4:30pm and 6-9:30pm, winners to be be announced during Saturday evening performance.

Here is a list of films by title and rating:

Dreams (G)
Instant Black Belt (G)
M&M Dreams (G)
Common Crux (PG)
Death of a Dream (PG)
Veil of Thorns (PG)
Bananas (PG-13)
Sasquatches (PG-13)

If you're looking for something fun to do this weekend, check it out!

Getting Married?

Someone sent this to me today via email and I just couldn't resist.