FORUMS
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WHAT'S UP?
This website began as an intranet install of Simple Machines Forum to serve as a virtual personal and business notepad, which later evolved into a client communications hub and now serves a number of other purposes, including a point of contact for my professional media marketing services that extend beyond but are not limited to my career-long involvement in the automotive and powersports industries. And in the event the domain name is not an instant giveaway, the crux of my career has lived a lively tale amid the dirt, as in I am into off-road.Sure, I have had a life beyond the dirt, as a writer, photographer and editor for newspapers and magazines as a staffer and a freelancer. I have done some professional video shooting and editing. And perhaps to top that of, I have even had my stint as a broadcast radio reporter. I played soccer at what was considered a semi-pro level and even earned top slot for my age as a non-sponsored skateboarder in the California Amateur Skateboard League.
Anyhow, this website is dedicated to my business, the business of writers, photographers, editorial e-commerce website developers, graphic designers, videographers, advertisers, publishers, marketing professionals, dealers, retailers, manufacturers and all other media moguls operating within the automotive, off-road, powersports, action sports and overall motosports industries. I am Fidel Gonzales.
GRABBED BY THE GUT?
Need to get a hold of me? Give me a call or send off a text SMS or MMS via 760-617-1217. Instant message via all major services at DIRTFORGE. Want email? DIRTFORGE at GMAIL isn't a bad option. Got Tweets? Hit me up on Twitter @DIRTFORGE. Or if you're feeling particularly adventorous, catch up in the dirt seeking the refuge of extreme action behind lens of a Nikon camera, the wheel of a 2002 Ford Super Duty Powerstroke Diesel 4X4, the wheel of a 1989 Jeep Cherokee XJ 4X4 or the handlebars of a dual sport Honda XR650R.OFFROAD EVENTS
March 05, 2010
April 09, 2010
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Social Media Mercenary Armed With Google Gmail Meets Gman Armed With Baseball Bat And YouTube Trip Wire Looking To Hold Your Client Hostage
Looking to log into one of my personal business YouTube accounts, I was presented with a problem I had yet to fully address. Before I get into the semantics of what transpired to give me such tribulations, I would prefer to get straight to the business of outright warning you. When you are creating an account with any Google service, particularly with YouTube, you best be darn certain you are logged into the Google accounts, specifically the Google Gmail account, you want associated with the YouTube account, and be absolutely certain you are logged out of every fathomable Google service you don't want associated with the account. I would even go so far as to completely remove you browsers cookies,…
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BRO 4 LIFE: Tailoring The Mass Social Media Communications Portal To The Target And Its Personalities
Taking a gander at social media and the immediacy of the project at hand, there comes a time when too much is simply too much and not enough is simply not enough. And attempting to explain it to those who may have interest but neither have the time nor multifaceted media skills to deploy the complete package is quite futile. If there is any hope of achieving tangible results from the marketing game plan, it's merely time to take charge and charge onward toward the objective.
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Slam Dancing The Docs And Riding The Wave Backup After Crash
Last week, on the crux of moving forward on several projects and completing critical phases of others I had a hard drive failure. Fortunately, I run my primary machine with multiple hard drives for real-time backup and likewise back them up via remote backup applications such as Carbonite. Now, in updating Google Docs for several real-time client collaboration folders, I figured it a good idea to further collaborate via Google Wave, and in doing so, I began to realize a powerful platform for every facet of my life in media. From managing editorial, business, ecommerce, advertising, marketing, publishing, planning and conceptualizing, Google Wave is a very interesting and highly extensible platform that ought to be considered for its potential power…
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Snake Oil Marketing Mavens Often Miss The Mark Of An Off-Road Industry Lifestyle Made Of Rugged Individualists
Today’s navigation throughout the web fringe takes me back to web advertising as well as overall off-road industry marketing. But let's at least stick to the web perspective for the time being. Now, from the publisher’s perspective, I have great disdain for a reliance upon ad networks, especially when it comes to fashioning a business model based solely upon advertising for its revenue stream. I have fought this venture with entrepreneurs greater than I but fought it nevertheless, basing my reasoning upon tangible principalities and subsequent results. Inevitably, the few whom I am speaking of have lost on such entrepreneurial web efforts time and again. Now let's get it straight. I have yet to make my own fortune but have…
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Jalopnik News Aggregators And The Most Amazing Adventure Motorcycle Rider Photography Of All Time
I am hereby breaking into the business of making news of someone else's hard work. I toss a quick quip and a sensational array of edgy words. It's artistry and engaging. I don't dictate onto the masses. I embrace them. I call it news aggregation. It's nothing more than a modified blog of slightly more important subject matter. Yet it's news. I am a news aggregator. It's word of mouth marketing. I merely regurgitate what I refer to as news and do unto it like a cow chews cud. The normal method of consumption is chew, swallow, stomach and dump. So goes the old ways of the news world. The newspaper is virtually dead. Now, we mouth off a bit,…
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Crash, Burn And Belly Up To A Weight Training & Calisthenic Workout Regiment That'll Have You Three Reps From A Heart Attack
This morning began quite early. After an excruciatingly long day with a scant amount of sleep the evening previous, I slipped down down into a deep slumber by the time 2000 hours rolled around. It was a good day's work with formidable advances. I was convinced my body and mind was well deserving of the rest. After engaging in a dirt bike crash a few years back, which grenaded a Nikon D2X upon impact into my hip, it has proven quite difficult to work my way back into shape for the two- to five-mile runs I once performed on a regular basis. Even during that period of time, the calisthenics were difficult to maintain, as the hip was having nothing…
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From Standing Alone Upon Way Easy Wordpress To Extreme Integration With A Less Mature JoomlaWorks K2
Recently the DIRT FORGE Blog performed a migration from a Wordpress blog on a sub-domain to a JoomlaWorks K2 blog wrapped within the Joomla CMS framework installed upon the root domain. While Wordpress remains one of easiest all-around web development platforms, especially for websites that require the capabilities of a blog or content management system (CMS), it has its limitations, particularly for projects that require or may require a relatively high level of integration with more mission specific software applications, such as e-commerce, photo gallery, file download repository and forum software. This is where the Joomla CMS framework excels.
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TheFind: Auto Import E-Commerce Copyright Infringement By Way Of A Firefox Glitch?
Since the days of Google's now renamed Froogle product search platform, which is now simply referred to as Google Products, I have made habit of dutifully exporting product data to product search websites through the use of CSV, RSS or through an API. This method of extending the e-commerce shopping cart's reach and the retail business brand has proven quite profitable. And to think that other than the cost of manual export or syndication configuration, such product syndication services are predominantly free or charge. But what about the your copyright? This morning, I was performing some Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for an e-commerce shopping cart and began drifting down the inbound link list. Further down the list of links, I landed…
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Desert Off-Road Race Promoter Calls Upon Twitter Social Media Application To Produce Real-Time Results Timing Via Twitterizer
When it comes to technology and even social media, the Off-Road Industry (OFFROAD NATION) remains in a stooper, in part due to the archaic-minded mavens at the helm and likewise due to the snake oil salesmen who have delivered these the industry a sour taste of used car salesmanship. This remains true from aftermarket parts manufacturers to race promoters. I have my array of email accounts and keyword search tools that scan the web and more specifically the more prominent aspects of social media, scanning for anything pertaining to marketing, social media, public relations and e-commerce. Many of these search queries are focused intensely upon the overall #OFFROAD industry but delve into the #POWERSPORTS, #AUTOMOTIVE, #ACTIONSPORTS, #4X4 and related realms. Though,…
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Zappos Shop Feed Target Search And Destroy Via Covert Off-Road Racing Operations
I generated my first Twitter account back in 2007. Shortly thereafter, I performed a few contextual posts to Twitter (Tweets) and audio posts to Utterz (now called Utterli). This included posts generated from remote location at local races such as Mojave Desert Racing (MDR) and Mojave Offroad Racing Enthusiasts (MORE) but also SCORE Primm 300 and SCORE Baja 1000 races. During that time, all formidable websites offering coverage for these races, specifically the Baja 1000, were weak efforts. The only exception would be the Race-Dezert.com Weatherman Race Radio Live Audio Feed. But even that is rather limited in its redeeming value, which is an entirely different conversation. It wasn’t until mid-2008 that I began consistently using a Twitter account. My…
