Archive for November, 2008
Sunday, November 16th, 2008
You know, I have been looking for an industry magazine for about a century now. It’s amazing how difficult my search has been.
One would think there would be hundreds of magazines out there geared towards people who work on the web. I mean, jeez, Google figured out how to target the “webmaster” community about 10 years ago and I think they hit the nail on the head.
For the uninitiated, the webmaster community is the group of people who have a lot to do with what goes on the web. If we didn’t have these folks, we would have a bunch of sales guys and a bunch of programming geeks getting a whole bunch of nowhere. The webmasters are those “middle of the road” folks who have some social ability as well as some technical ability and are able to speak to both the business side and the technical side. It’s a huge market and the population is growing every day.
For years, Google has had the good sense to target these individuals with all sorts of web tools and products. I can go on forever about who does well and who does not so well on the web, but my point here is that if Google has done it, where the heck is everyone else?
As a web guy, I get advertised to for a few things. Mainly hosting companies, domain names, software, etc…It’s most likely a heck of a lot more than I realize.
One thing I have been trying to do for the past few years is to really get involved with reading about the industry. I have been looking for a magazine. I mean, they have magazines that target butterfly catchers in Brazil. I thought a magazine for people who work on the web would be a no brainer.
A few years back, I almost got lucky. I found “Revenue Magazine.” This has been a pretty good magazine, but mainly targets the affiliate side of things on the web. It’s almost there and they do include many areas that I am interested in, but they are also lacking in many. I think they come out with a paper magazine about once per quarter, so there certainly is some downtime in between.
I recently discovered “Website Magazine.” Now, this is much more up my alley. Website Magazine is for the web guy or gal. If you like to get your hands dirty, this might be a good fit. I get emails about once per week with some pretty good articles and I just received my first paper magazine yesterday.
Website Magazine
I must warn you, this is a fairly new magazine. The pages are quite thick, so you think there is more packed inside. I flipped through a few pages and soon realized that I was about half way through the whole thing. I am sure that more content is forthcoming though. I am patient.
In the meantime, I am at least satisfied that someone with a brain out there decided it was time to actually give a very hungry market what they are looking for.
Now, if I could just get someone to start delivering wood pellets…
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Saturday, November 15th, 2008
I thought I would write a quick post about something I experienced yesterday. Actually, I have experienced this quite a bit, but never had any sort of motivation to write about it.
A friend of mine has been getting some video work done for one of his websites. He is having a few videos produced for an attempt at some viral marketing (which, by the way is my new forte). This is a new for most, but not so new for many, area of marketing for pretty much anything. I guess you could say that Barack Obama had some success with it. For those unfamiliar with viral marketing, it’s easily described as “word of mouth” or “buzz.”
Whatever. This post isn’t about viral marketing. It’s about a company I contacted to have some video work done for some of my sites.
I have an idea for some video. It’s basically the same idea my friend had. Since I don’t do video in house, I decided to do a little research and contact a few people to feel out the scene. The first organization I contacted hasn’t written back yet. Okay, forget them. The second company did write back, and this is where it gets annoying.
ME: Hi, I would like to discuss some video production for a few of my websites. One of them can be seen here – ****. Please contact me so we can discuss further. Thank you. Jay
THEM: Hi Jay. Please let me know what you were looking for so I can tell you if we can do it. Also, what’s your budget?
There are a few issues here.
What do you mean, “If we can do it?” Your website had about 30 sample videos on it. I know there are many different roads one can travel down in the video arena, but as far as business goes, don’t you think it would be a wise idea to hear a potential customer’s ideas before showing your lack of confidence?
Actually, that’s not even the part that bothered me. That part happened to creep up on me as I was writing.
The part the bugged me was this line – “What’s your budget?”
That ticks me off. Now, if you know me, you know that I don’t get ticked off easily (haha). Also, I am really sorry for venting on this poor fool about this whole topic, because I have brewed about this many times in the past.
Let’s look at a pro and a con of the question, “What’s your budget?”
The pro is that the business providing the service can immediately identify an individual without the resources for the project. If someone wrote back, “My budget is $25,” then the company knows to cut off all communication, or at the very least, write back something along the lines of their services costing a wee bit more than that.
Here is the con. If we translate the question and look at its actual meaning, we can see that the company is actually asking, “How much do you have to spend?” Some companies seriously are screening out the people with no money. Others are simply trying to squeeze you. No one I know would actually tell a service provider how much they are looking to spend…well, besides me. I’m that guy who low balls and looks for a fight.
“Umm, yes, sure, my name is Jay and I have allocated $300,000 for our video production endeavor.” This makes for an interesting email exchange. I am sure the guy is thinking something like, “Gee Jay, we only charge $100 per video, but for you, I would say $50,000 per.”
Why on earth would I throw a random number at a company before even knowing a cost range for their services?
I know, I am beating a dead horse here.
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Saturday, November 15th, 2008
Dumb Eco-Questions You Were Afraid To Ask
New Scientist offers the definitive guide to everything you wanted to know about being green but were too embarrassed to ask.
How Fast Can Obama Fix US Environment Policy?
For eight years the US has been seen as a global outlier on climate issues. Now, with just 12 months to go until the world decides on a new Kyoto protocol, it is catch-up time for president-elect Barack Obama. What can he reasonably achieve in that time?
Unhappy People Watch TV, Happy People Read/Socialize
A new study by sociologists at the University of Maryland concludes that unhappy people watch more TV, while people who describe themselves as very happy spend more time reading and socializing. The study appears in the December issue of the journal Social Indicators Research.
20 Great Online Image Editors
The online image editing space has grown rapidly in the past year, providing great free and subscription-based options for users of all levels. These well-rounded services let you import images from your social networks, touch up photos, promote your work, and more.
Consumer Confidence is Plummeting
This is the dilemma that 30 years of Reaganomics (the real Reaganomics — keeping the economy overstimulated with huge deficits and irresponsible consumer borrowing — not the fantasy Reaganomics of government run like a family and tax cuts that pay for themselves) has left us with. So what do we do?
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Thursday, November 13th, 2008
I have been getting more and more agitated lately about two news pieces that keep popping up. I know how globally popular my blog is and how much pull it has with the media, so I have decided to make a small request here. “Main stream media,” please stop reporting on the following two issues.
What are they?
1. Governor Palin. There is a reason we didn’t vote her into office. It’s because we don’t want to hear her speak anymore. Please leave now.
2. The pregnant man. If you were really a man, you wouldn’t be pregnant. It is impossible for a man to become pregnant. Even you were a pregnant man, I think the media covering your first birth was enough for America to hear.
Thank you. I said it and now I feel better.
PS – I’m serious about the Palin thing.
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Thursday, November 13th, 2008
Why is it that whenever we get a new phone number, we get one that was previously owned by a person who owes many creditors? I know, I know, a person can’t actually “own” a phone number. They belong to the phone company. We learned that when someone tried to sell “867-5309.”
Ok, when we first moved here, we quickly discovered that our brand spankin’ new phone number was previously used by a person named Ronald. Boy, would I like to meet Ronald. Apparently, Ronald never paid any of his bills. Ronald had a little problem with buying lots of stuff, but not paying for it.
Let me offer a short history.
In the beginning, I used to just mess with the telemarketers who called. We were getting pounded and it was fun to get them to go through the whole sales process. Right when it was time to sign, I would finally spring it on them that I was either a 13 year old kid or I was just released from some psychiatric ward or something like that. They would get so mad at me. It really made me feel good inside. Almost as good as stuffing newspaper in the return mail envelopes I get from junk mail and sending them back. Now, that feels good.
After I put this number on the “Do Not Call List,” the telemarketing calls simmered down a bit. To this day, they still come, but not nearly as much as they used to. These days are left to the almighty debt collection calls. They are all looking for that big spender, Ronald.
A few days ago, I received a nice phone call from a woman looking for Ronald. She asked for him and I politely informed her that this is no longer Ronald’s phone number. She said, “Ok” and hung up. Yesterday, I received another call, this time from a gentleman, asking for Ronald. I told him that this is no longer Ronald’s phone number. We both hung up. About a minute later, the phone rang again. The caller ID told me it was the same person. I kind of hastily picked the phone up and said, “Hello.” The same guy asked if I knew where Ronald was. I told the guy that I have no idea who Ronald even is and that we just got this number. He gave a little chuckle and apologized.
Well folks, I am quite sure that I have been identified as Ronald.
Let me go through the process of what happened after that nice debt collection guy hung up with me after our last chat. He said to himself, “Yeah, sure buddy. You don’t know Ronald. Uh huh. All I know is that I heard a male voice over the phone, in a house, mid-day, during the work week and you are going to tell me that you aren’t Ronald and that you never even met him? BINGO BABY!!! Gotcha Ronald.”
Just a few minutes ago, the phone rang. Since the telephone ringing is like crack to a crackhead, I just had to pick it up. They didn’t even say hello. I’m not sure it was even a real person. The thing on the other end said something like this, “You must call us by noon tomorrow or we will be forced to make decisions without your input. Call 1-800-blah-blah.” At first, I thought it was some old lady who smoked. I can always tell a smoker. I tried to cut her off. The first time I said something, I heard a slight pause. I kept trying to say something, but she wouldn’t stop talking. I was like, “HELLO, WHO IS THIS??? STOP TALKING!!!” When she got to the phone number part, I started yelling, “ONE, TWO, THREE…” and so on. I was trying to confuse her by yelling out numbers. Mind you, while all this was going on, Laura was sitting downstairs listening, with her hand shaped as a gun pointing to her head. Oh, the patience one must have with me.
The lady never stopped talking and didn’t even give me any indication that she was human. If she wasn’t, I am a little embarrassed. It’s not cool to yell at robots.
I know how these companies work. I think we are at step 8 of the 9 step program. In some computer somewhere, there is a little check mark next to the name, Ronald. The file says, “Yes, he is alive and well. We are on his tail and he will be caught soon. I can predict that we will get our money. Ronald, if you were here to read this, you would know that YOU ARE GOING DOWN!!!
I keep thinking that I want to find the phone number to let these people know that I have no affiliation with Ronald. After I think that, I stop and think that I want it to keep going on. Almost as if something is pushing me along. It’s like trying to give yourself a haircut. You know you just took a chunk off and it looks pretty good. You should probably stop there. Oh no. You ask yourelf, “Wouldn’t it look better if another chunk were taken off?” After a few minutes, you are standing there, staring in the mirror looking like one of those Barbie Dolls that you tried to give a haircut to when you were a kid. Well, not me…I didn’t have Barbie Dolls.
And to think, when I woke up this morning, I had absolutely nothing to write about.
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Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
5 Weather Events Worth Chatting About
Usually, the weather is a subject for polite, uneventful conversation with people you don’t know very well. But sometimes the weather is weird, or even downright scary. Here are a few examples of weather events that gave neighbors more than enough to awkwardly discuss.
Greenpeace Activists Detain Palm Oil Tanker
Where Do Readers Stand on Direct Action? Yesterday, Greenpeace announced that, in order to highlight the ongoing deforestation occurring in Indonesia due to expanding oil palm cultivation, it had stopped a palm oil shipments from leaving port in Dumai, Indonesia. The activists locked themselves to the ship’s anchor chain to prevent its departure.
Princeton Scientists Discover Proteins to Control Evolution
Evolutionary changes are supposed to take place gradually and randomly, under pressure from natural selection. But a team of Princeton scientists investigating a group of proteins that help cells burn energy stumbled across evidence that this is not how evolution works.
Utilities Testing Solar Thermal At Traditional Power Plants
The Electric Power Research Institute announced yesterday that two utility companies (Dynasty Inc and NV Energy) will test out the addition of solar thermal energy to natural gas plants in Arizona and Nevada. The EPRI is conducting the project to determine if using solar thermal at fossil fuel plants will reduce fuel costs and plant emissions.
7 Environmental Executive Orders President Obama Should Sign
The Center for Progressive Reform passed on their suggestions for 7 Executive Orders for the President’s First 100 Days, and here they are for you to debate, discuss and otherwise armchair analyze.
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Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
My buddy called me up yesterday morning and wouldn’t take no for an answer when he asked if I wanted to play tennis last night. I tried to explain to him that tennis was part of my morning routine, but as hard as I tried to speak, there was this little nagging urge to smack a tennis ball as hard as I could across the court. It truly is an addiction, as well as this sort of aggressive release.
A few days ago, I began hitting with a full Western grip. I know, that seems to be the grip that high school kids use to get more spin on the ball. Perhaps that’s why it feels so good for me…I used it years ago when I used to play. The Western grip puts a large amount of topspin on the ball and makes you feel really good when you hit the perfect shot. It also speeds up the gameplay and gives the rally kind of a resulting rush. There is a small problem with using that grip though…broken strings.
Synthetic gut tennis strings
The day I started using this new grip, I broke my strings. Good thing I have a backup racquet. They are both made by Prince, so they feel quite similar. The biggest difference between them is the price.
The reason many people break their tennis racquet strings by using the full Western grip is because the strings act as little “saws” against one another. When the racquet is strung with less tension, the strings are more free to do as they please. The tension of the strings lets them slide more easily.
Needless to say, I had to get the racquet restrung. As soon as I broke the strings, I ran up to the front desk and handed the racquet to the desk person. There is a fellow who comes by every morning to do racquet stringing. It’s not like me running up to the front desk made any difference…the guy comes by every morning, and I had already missed that day’s pickup. I ran because I had to get my backup racquet out of the car and I was in the middle of a lesson.
When I showed up for last night’s match, I had a little surprise waiting for me. It was my racquet all repaired and ready to go. This time, I had it strung at 63lbs, instead of 58lbs. Lower string tension offer slightly more power and less stress on the arm. Higher string tensions offer significantly more control and slightly better spin. I like control, so I went with the latter.
Back to the match…I have to say, my buddy and I are improving tremendously. He has such motivation and I just love the game. It’s like golf…it’s one of those sports that you will never be great at, and that’s what keeps you going.
We had a great match and are getting much closer with scoring. I would say that out of the 18 games we played, about half of them ended up at deuce, which made winning them even more exciting for the both of us.
It was a great night and we both had a lot of fun playing.
I think I am going to stick to my morning playing from now on. It’s really fun getting out there at night, but that’s when I work a lot and it’s hard to tear myself away from what I get myself into at times.
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Friday, November 7th, 2008
The World’s Largest Concentrated Solar Project
Earlier today, concentrated solar company SolFocus announced that it has signed a deal to install over 10 MW of its systems in Spain for EMPE Solar. Upon its completion in 2010, the $103 million, multi-site project will be the largest concentrated solar deployment in the world. Provides energy for 40,000 homes.
New Coating= Solar Panels Harvest 96% of Available Sunshine
A new type of reflective coating can make solar panels far more efficient, soaking up nearly all available sunlight from nearly any angle. Current solar panels — which convert energy from the sun into electricity — absorb only about two-thirds of available sunlight.
Solar Cells Set New Performance Mark
Researchers are reporting the highest efficiency ever for one type of solar cells in a breakthrough that could lead to more widespread use of solar energy.
Trees Are Nature’s Climate Air Conditioners, Study Finds
If you’re reading this, I probably don’t need to waste my time trying to convince you that trees are great. They absorb carbon dioxide, they can be used to power small remote sensors and they’re pretty darn nice to look at too. Now a new study by a team of scientists from Germany and the UK has discovered another beneficial property…
Millennial Youth to Take Over America’s Environment?
Generation We is new to me. Have you heard of it? It’s the Millennial Generation of Americans born between the years 1978 and 2000. They are being hailed as the next “greatest generation.†I take just a liitle offense to that statement, being GenX myself.
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Friday, November 7th, 2008
The desk portion of my new office furniture arrived this afternoon. I have to tell you, I am loving Pottery Barn furniture.
About a week and a half ago, I received the console table I ordered. I was very pleased with the quality. Today’s desk is going to make me go back for more. It’s the kind of furniture that you look at and say, “Wow.”
Pottery Barn Aris Desk
The desk is the Pottery Barn Aris large desk. It said something about being framed in some hardwood, but all I know is that it looks really cool.
This is a big change for me. I am used to sitting at a pretty high desk on a chair that is the height of a stool. This is the traditional 30 inches, so things are a bit lower, but actually more comfortable. I now have drawers too.
There are a few more things that I need. We are going to take a trip back to the store next week sometime to pick up two small tables, a garbage can and a floor lamp. I should be set for a while for this office. Now, for the other office, that’s another story.
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Friday, November 7th, 2008
Do you remember that time I wrote about the Brooklyn Brewery Black Chocolate Stout?
Yeah, I have been hunting for this beer for a long time. I enjoyed it so much back in January, but I haven’t been able to find it since. I thought something was wrong.
Apparently, Brooklyn Brewery only brews the black chocolate stout once a year. Hey, that’s fine with me, I just wish I knew that before picking through the beer cooler every time I go to a store.
Brooklyn Brewery beer cap
As I was shopping up at Whole Foods last night, a passed by this gem. I brought the 6-pack home and cracked open a cold one. About half way through the beer, I started feeling drunk. I was saying stupider (yes, that’s a word) things than normal. That’s when I remembered that this is the beer that is really strong. By the time I was finished, I had sent out a few emails. Whoops.
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TYSM I read this one and decided to try it out on my ACER (See, its not always HP with the problems)...