Shipping Container Apartment
Finally completed the container project I had been working on for a bit. The new version of google's sketchup and some friends of mine need to compete inspired me to get back into sketchup. I really like the way it turned out.
This designs application would be a stacked modular one. I was thinking that this could be a free standing application or possibly an alley filler. Some things to notice; the deck w/ lovely charcoal grill, the pantry, stove/exhaust fan, the dining window, the dvd shelve/windows, the glass shower and bathroom.
I began on this project because of the amount of eco-friendly architects now using shipping containers to produce amazing living solutions. Also, shipping containers are readily available around the world.
JazzFest & Keyword Research
Have been really busy lately. Spent 11 days in New Orleans for a project and a really good time at Jazzfest. What an amazing trip that was; great times, delicious southern cookouts, a superlative trip on a swamp boat, good amount of billiards, southern hospitality and really good jazz. My preconceptions of jazz music were completely off base. I imagined a slow tempo with 40-year-olds tapping their toes. But, some of the groups I saw blew my mind with how talented and fast they could play. The crowds were great as well. The trip to Nawlins was one of the best trips I have ever been on. Met some quality people, learned some life lessons from some great role models and had a ball all the while. To be honest, if someone gave me a good enough reason to move down there, I would.
Getting back to providence was a quick kick into reality. Getting the car registered was not an easy ordeal, I wish four days at the dmv on no one. It's quite annoying and peculiar how Rhode Island doesn't tell you when your license is suspended and you're not allowed to register a car. No letter in the mail, just a surprise after standing in line for an hour.
The internship has been alright, being really proactive at work makes the time fly. The problem is that I do a lot of unnecessary work and data collecting that seems to be for my own learning instead of being useful. More direction would be nice but researching how to do something before doing it would also be beneficial. Another problem I'm going to have to overcome is that I like to just jump right into data collecting instead of thinking about how I’m going to organize and categorize my efforts.
On another note, the paper I wrote for my externship seemed to come out well. I hope it's graded accordingly. Trying to make the paper understandable and easy for someone who uses computers to grasp was quite difficult. I may one day put it up on this site. I think it's a pretty good place to start for someone just getting into SEO.
Either way, I’ve been having some fun doing keyword research for product lines. The tools I’ve been using consist mostly of; Google's adwords keyword tool, Google's traffic estimator, Google's search based keyword tool and spyfu. Spyfu is especially good for their kombat mode, you can place your URL vs. someone else's and see what keywords you share or don't using a Venn diagram. They've been really useful especially when exported into excel. I'm quickly realizing how powerful excel can be for data management and collection. Keyword research has actually been quite interesting but I still have trouble deciding how effective a keyword will be. The one factor I always have to keep in mind is whether I’m trying to disqualify or qualify searchers.
Jazzfest & New car
I have been changing up the look and feel often, trying to see what works the best and is easiest to navigate. It’s been on the backburner as it were. Work is consuming, the link campaign is coming out really well in my opinion. One day i’m going to have to write a blog about how my excel workbook is setup, i think it’s a really good example.
The jazzfest trip is really pressing me for time, but it will definetly be worth it. Hopefully member that time will keep me busy down there. The project seems like it will be successful. I would love to have whoismarckroon.com by the time I am down there.
Otherwise, bought a car yesterday. Hopefully it is as reliable as it is cool looking. GC8V bunta style. It's a 2000 Sedona red Subaru Impreza 2.5rs 4 door sedan with 100,000 miles on 'er. I hope the ol' girl can stand up to a little abuse (just a little).
St. Patty’s update
The concept of writing about a niche bores me, to keep myself interested (and hopefully you) I will write about my experiences with the things that interest me. Namely: bicycling, Providence, welding, graphic design, SEO, New Jersey, Cars and anything else I come across (hopefully some good life lessons). However, I have come to find that blogging is quite difficult and I hope that my writing doesn't reflect that.
With that in mind, this will become my personal blog.
First deal of business is happy St. Pattys day, which for all intensive purposes loses all meaning when you have a 9-5 job. Let me rephrase "job", I have a co-op at a medical equipment supplier, where I'm learning SEO from a talented gentleman. Every day is a challenge to keep up and learn new concepts. All the while trying to conform to the corporate world and intense organization practices. Me in a shirt and tie, who woulda thunk it?
Doppleganger
Ever since i bought the domain name, I have been looking into SEO. I've just been looking at basics of it and checking out google analytics. It's pretty interesting what happens when i type things that I think would bring up this site. who is marc kroon, Marc Kroon, Industrial Design Kroon, etc. Returning stats for an American right-handed relief pitcher who formerly played for the mets and later the reds. Who, in 2005, got drafted into Japanese baseball by the Yokohama Bay Stars. Since he has thrown the fastest pitch in Japanese baseball at 161 km/h. Awesomely, his domain is Kroon161.com. Oh and now he plays for the Yomiuri Giants. Does anyone as cool as a Japanese pitcher share your name?
Industrial Design Marc Kroon returned first and second. Feels pretty "neat" to be at the top. Very specific search terms though. My personal favorite Search Result "Provides a mailing address for requesting autographs and sending fan mail to Marc Kroon." I bet our signatures are pretty close.
Shelving Unit
After signing up for welding classes down at The Steel Yard I had to come up with a project to work on for the next 10 weeks. I had been thinking about making a shelf because I needed somewhere to put my books,magazines, dvds and some design/coding books. The two boards would slide through the slots that i cut with a plasma cutter. Then i welded on some extra supports and drilled holes so that the board could be bolted down. The reason i did it this way, was so that, the shelves could be any length i cut the boards to.
I finished it a week ago and brought it home from the steel yard, I ended up having to tote the 30lbs of cold metal steel up from Sims Avenue (good work out). I had to test it when I got back, so as of now, it is propped up with wood I found in the basement that's not the right size and is pretty rough. I'm thinking if i use this wood then it needs a good sanding and staining. [The image was created in sketchup]