This was my horoscope today.

Your fate may be in the hands of others now, for events seem to take their own course of action no matter what you do. But don't give up; you can impact your future by developing a healthy sense of detachment. Making too much out of nothing can set you up for unneeded disappointment. Don't worry if you aren't seeing the results you desire yet. Give yourself time.

I read this during my morning pot of coffee and thought "wow, it's uncanny how close this is to what's happening in my life right now." Then I caught myself; what is so unique about this to my particular situation? Couldn't someone else with a completely different birthday read this and find the same relevance in their lives?

The folks over at Be Hands On came up with an interesting concept for getting people motivated: help volunteers measure the impact they have on the community.

They developed a process for recording and calculating the impact and letting volunteers share that with other people. The entire concept is organized around a social networking site where people can find issues and projects to volunteer for that have real significance to them.

And so Be Hands On was born. My role in the project was to help theme the design given to the developers over-top the Drupal content management system.

Warden Security Systems is a new client of mine. I’m really satisfied with the work. This site is designed to help him take his company through its next stage of growth, which includes hiring staff, launching a customer self-care portion of the site, and doing email newsletters and some e-commerce for renewals and up-selling.

I just finished reading this post on Entrepreneur, and I think there’s something in here for almost everyone.

In the Niagara Region, what do you think are the most important points to take away from this article? Is there anything specific to our little corner of the world?

Feel free to post a comment below.

100 Ways to Be a Better Entrepreneur

Well I’m starting the podcast. I mean, I’ve actually started recording the podcast. I decided that I have left the idea sitting on the shelf long enough. So production has started, but it will still be a few weeks left while I sort out the remaining technology quirks and get some content written up.

Hungarian Wellness Mud is exported direct from the world renowned medicinal spas in Hungary. It’s used to help relieve a variety of chronic pain conditions, including arthritis, gout and has even had some success with fibromyalgia.

I had a 96 hour deadline to develop this site. I finished in 72 hours.

Visit Hungarian Wellness Mud

Cashkeepers.ca is a site for people to share tips and strategies for saving money. Taking advantage of coupons, rebates, sales and special offers, the members of cashkeepers are internet-savvy, dedicated, and frugal.

UPDATE: The domain name for this has changed, and can be found at www.cashkeeperscanada.com.

I had a nasty run-in with RegisterFly.com which ended up costing me the loss of this domain. Never EVER EVER give your credit card number to these frauds. I’ve had three cards compromised within a three week period.

The Voluntary Gateway is a portal that makes it easier to locate information and resources, as well as facilitate collaboration to strengthen communities and social enterprise. The portal is a high profile hub that enables connections – to people, programs, organizations and new ideas. It is a platform from which users may share assets, dialogue and research – a tool for improved communication.

I served as technical director for this project and oversaw hardware, talent, and software selection and deployment. Our team brought this $1.7m project in on time and under budget. The remaining budget was given to the host organization in Newfoundland to assist with startup costs.

The Niagara College Centre for Community Leadership supports the voluntary sector by providing capacity-building support and services in the following areas:

• information dissemination
• training
• consulting
• technology support
• celebrating and profiling the sector

I planned and deployed this content management system for CCL to help them manage their own web site content quickly and easily. Now non-technical people can post information to the site which helps keep costs down.

This content is paired with a Constituent Relationship Management program that helps them manage all their relationships with local non-profits.

This is me with

• Heather, my wife and source of all my strength.
• Daniel, affectionately known as ‘mini-me’ and an aspiring artist and adventurer.
• Erin the Fearless, who has her mother’s sense of curiosity.