Making Images Accessible - Snapixel Stock Photography
One of the challenges with using stock photography (besides the fact that others can use it too) is that the cost is nearly out of reach for many Web professionals and designers. Creative Commons, while helpful, does not really provide the deep creative library one would hope. New photography site Snapixel hopes to correct all that by combining elements of the photo sharing site Flickr and the popular stock photography site Istockphoto. The service's recently announced Openstock offering...
A shout out for AudioBoo
Walking through Audioboo from Mark Rock on Vimeo. IN January I spent an entertaining evening down in London discussing different methods and techniques independent publishers could use to make a success of locally driven websites. One of the tools featured...
Walking through Audioboo from Mark Rock on Vimeo.
IN January I spent an entertaining evening down in London discussing different methods and techniques independent publishers could use to make a success of locally driven websites.
One of the tools featured was AudioBoo, which at the time was very close to being launched and offers an audio publishing service on an iPhone.
The developers of the services, Best Before Media, recently made it publicly available for iPhone users to install for free on their phones.
AudioBoo is designed as a very simple way to record conversations and then publish them to the AudioBoo website, but it is also possible to embed the recording into your own site as well as notify Facebook and Twitter of new recordings, or Boos.
As you can see from the video above it is possible to tag a Boo with descriptive words, assign a photograph and it also uses the geolocation facility in the iPhone to plot a point where the recording was made on a Google map.
The potential for journalists to use this was highlighted this weekend by James Hatts of the LondonSE1 website, who reported from a fire on New Kent Road.
The ease with which this service could be used during sport matches, local events and festivals, as well as interviews really opens up an opportunity for local journalists to feed stories back into their websites, as well as other corners of the web.
Audioboo: Can it be used for news reporting? Some case studies - Journalism.co.uk
Web Hosting in a Recession
Web hosting companies are all but slashing their prices to attract new customers and retain existing ones. This presents an excellent opportunity to save a few dollars a year on your web hosting needs - whether you need Linux hosting or Windows hosting. Case in point, Web hosting provider WebhostGIANT has extended an offer to provide Internet professionals with a 50% discount on its services. Choose between Linux hosting at only $2.79/mo or Windows Hosting plans available at...
Captcha Innovation - Captcha The Dog
CAPTCHA's (Completely Automated Public Turing Test to Tell Computers and Humans Apart) are problematic, as they are often difficult for humans to read and relatively simple (with a little soft-hacking) for spammers to gain control. Fortunately, there is some innovation occuring in the CAPTCHA market, the latest of which is Captcha The Dog, a program that uses a random sequence of nine images (not letters or numbers) to foil spambots. “Essentially it’s a game of ‘which...
Click-fraud Declines in Q1 2009
Click Forensics released PPC fraud figures from the first quarter 2009 last week. There is good news for PPC advertisers. The overall industry average click fraud rate was 13.8 percent for Q1 2009. That’s down from 17.1 percent reported for Q4 2008 and from the 16.3 percent rate reported for Q1 2008. In Q1 2009, the greatest percentage of click fraud originating from countries outside the U.S. came from Canada, United Kingdom and Germany. Tom Cuthbert, president of ClickForensics,...
Key Takeaways from ad:tech (part one)
Attending tradeshows is always an enlightening and often motivating experience. Those that were fortunate enough to attend ad:tech in San Francisco this week saw a lot of activity in, and excitement about the state of the search marketing and Internet advertising industries. Here are a few first-hand takeaways on what impressed Website Magazine as well as some interesting companies to watch starting today. Read WM's Key Takeaways from ad:tech San Francisco now (part one of a three part...
Watch out here come the Yelpers
HERE is a quick look at some of the websites and articles I have sent through Twitter (@craigmcginty) today, as I've realised the service is becoming my personal link blog. One way I keep track of what I've been sending...
HERE is a quick look at some of the websites and articles I have sent through Twitter (@craigmcginty) today, as I've realised the service is becoming my personal link blog.
One way I keep track of what I've been sending around, and what others have said to me, is to subscribe to the Twitter RSS feed for my account and to set up keyword searches within Twitter, and again subscribe to the RSS feed, but anyway on to the articles.
Remember over the weekend the Sunday Times said that undertaking two searches on Google takes as much energy as boiling the kettle for a cup of tea.
They quoted physicist Alex Wissner-Gross and there was much criticism of Google especially as they are strong on all thing green.
However, it would appear that Alex Wissner-Gross wasn't exactly quoted correctly, he says himself he would have used coffee as an example instead of tea, and really his study was into the impact of computing in general not the search engine giant.
And newspapers still wonder why their sales are tumbling and advertisers are deserting them...
Last week saw the arrival of the US-based local business review site, Yelp, in the UK.
It is a simple idea, users write reviews of shops, restaurants and bars they visit, business owners can also be involved, and so fingers-crossed customers get a better service because owners have read what has been written.
For PR people with clients in the leisure and retail trade it is another destination to keep an eye on for 'brand management' purposes, and if you wonder just how influential Yelpers are take a look over Chrissy's reviews of places in Manchester and the connections she has made.
Chrissy actually lives in Philadelphia, but was originally from Manchester and you can be pretty sure should her friends on Yelp ever head this was they will be checking her out for pointers.
And I wonder how long it will be before we see out first court case brought by a business against a Yelp review?
One news piece on my list of 'must do' is an interview with Chris Anderson, he of The Long Tail, who speaks about his latest book Free: The Future of a Radical Price to BBC Radio 4.
With free in mind, it is interesting to see a piece about the improvements in micro-payments paid for via mobile phone, while elsewhere the idea of making payments via an iTunes type service has been chewed over, and rejected, by Jeff Jarvis.
Some still wonder if payments can be charged for news, I still doubt it because on a national/international level it would require all news producers to come to an agreement.
While on a local level, the costs of production are practically zero, especially if a one or two person operation is willing to cover a post code area for free and gain income from elsewhere.
Also many companies are heavily involved with online advertising through affiliate marketing and they will always need pages to appear on, so whether you could generate enough payment out of a small geographical patch to beat advertising and affiliate revenue is open to question.
And before I go here are ten things every journalist should know in 2009.
WordTracker Tool (New & Beta)
WordTracker announced the release of a new beta version of their popular keyword tool, and the company is asking for feedback from its members. New dashboard features allow members to manage keyword projects and provide a quick summary of the number of lists, keywords and the total number of searches in each project. Most notable in the announcement, however, is that Wordtracker has increased the pool of raw searches from which the data is drawn - from 288 million to more than 700 million...
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Nestoria Interview - Lance Johnson - Nokia Interactive Advertising
For our April Nestoria interview we have the pleasure of interviewing Lance Johnson, Global Head of Sales for Nokia Interactive Advertising. Nokia Interactive Advertising allows brands to create more valuable relationships with the world’s four billions mobile consumers. A regular speaker at industry events, Lance worked as a consultant for numerous startups before joining Nokia. [...]
For our April Nestoria interview we have the pleasure of interviewing Lance Johnson, Global Head of Sales for Nokia Interactive Advertising. Nokia Interactive Advertising allows brands to create more valuable relationships with the world’s four billions mobile consumers.
A regular speaker at industry events, Lance worked as a consultant for numerous startups before joining Nokia. Before that he was GM of Mobile Media for Yahoo!, rising through the ranks there from his original role in Yahoo!’s Munich office where he was responsible for various media products. Orignially from Colorado in the US, Lance was a Fulbright Scholar studying economics in Freiburg, Germany. Lance, thanks for speaking with us. A few questions: 1. The one area the economic downturn doesn’t seem to have dented is innovation in the mobile space. The last few years have seen an amazing amount of new development, from the traditional heavyweights like Nokia but also new entrants like Apple and Google. For those of us not in the industry, can you briefly summarise the current state of affairs in the mobile world? Services are really what’s driving innovation in mobile at the moment, with the top end devices but also with low and mid range devices. Nokia has a 37% market share globally and we’re really looking to create sticky services and content that consumers love as it helps us to strengthen our connection to the consumer. This is the reason we’ve launched Ovi, which includes services such as Nokia Maps that come bundled on device. If services are what’s driving innovation, then advertising is what’s going to drive revenues. Increasingly consumers want something for nothing (or not much), and they have high expectations. By linking up with brands, we’re ensuring quality content for consumers through a sustainable business model, and matching up brands with consumers that are likely to be interested in their products. What I think is interesting for mobile advertising and for digital advertising in general is that the lines between advertising and good service are blurring. When an ad campaign is executed well, it can be indistinguishable from direct customer communication. 2. Mobile advertising has long been heralded as “the next big thing”. How will the current economic climate effect that? What are some of the innovations you’re seeing (or even developing). The advertising industry is undoubtedly having a difficult year. Most analysts see advertising spend shrinking by 15-25% this year. The fact that mobile and likely interactive are predicted to grow (if only slightly) is testament to their effectiveness, and to the growing importance of the mobile device to the consumer. Technology that ensures relevance of marketing is key, not only for better brand returns, but also for the future of advertising. We’ve lived in a world where the amount of noise from different media channels has continued to grow. Digital mediums can reverse this trend and put the consumer back in control. If you’re a brand and you want to engage a target demographic you need to meet consumers on their turf. Mobile advertising that uses location data is going to be a really interesting play. 3. Here at Nestoria we love all things geo. Nokia recently dove headfirst into the mapping game with the acquisition of major geo datasource and technology firm NAVTEQ. Likewise we’ve seen the big online players maneuver into the location space, be it Googe’s Latitude or Yahoo!’s FireEagle (to name just a few of many). Why’s everyone so hot on location? Despite the many advances we’ve made at Nokia and as an industry, we firmly believe that the mobile phone can still be far more useful. By leveraging data based on your past behaviour, what your friends like, where you are and where you’ve been, the mobile device will become even more useful at pre-empting your needs, and providing useful services, and sometimes brand messages to help you on your way. The better the targeting and results, the higher premiums advertisers will be willing to pay. Location will be our emphasis in the 2H of 2009 and we will work every more closely with our subsidiary business NAVTEQ. 4. What chances does the mobile space hold for vertical search engines like Nestoria? I think it’s an opportunity to differentiate your offering and innovate. In regions like North America and Europe, convergence matters. Both PC and Mobile penetration rates are extremely high. Consumers are using services on their mobiles and on their PCs that should offer useful ways to connect the two. Whether it’s researching a property online on a PC and then going mobile or capturing information while on the go and then making that information useful, there are lots of use cases. These ideas are no longer on the drawing board. Convergence is coming and the successful verticals will make use of mobile’s unique characteristics. Thanks Lance! Interesting times ahead. For those interested in keeping up with Lance and the bleeding edge of mobile innovation he’s @lancej on twitter. past Nestoria interviews: Peter Le Masurier, Henry Yates, Andy Allan.Same Same is Bad Bad
Fellow Nestorlinians, As is our habit, from time to time we like to update you on our efforts to improve the quality of the property search experience on Nestoria. We put a great deal of effort into addressing all aspect of a high quality search experience, not least being relevance. I’m thus please to reveal [...]
Fellow Nestorlinians,
As is our habit, from time to time we like to update you on our efforts to improve the quality of the property search experience on Nestoria. We put a great deal of effort into addressing all aspect of a high quality search experience, not least being relevance. I’m thus please to reveal that this week we went live with a significant improvement to the algorithms we use for detecting duplicate listings. Because we aggregate from many sources, it often happens that we have the same property from mutiple partners. This is clearly not an optimal user experience. Techncially detecting duplicates isn’t always trivial as the information available to us from different sources can be, well, different.
Nestoria at nonick09
Fellow Nestorpheliakis, This week some members of the Nestoria team will be returning to terrain that we know well. We are glad to announce that we will be attending nonick09 in Bilbao on April 24th and 25th. We expect it will be as enjoyable (and much warmer) than past Nestoria outings to the Basque country. Nonick09 is [...]
Fellow Nestorpheliakis,
This week some members of the Nestoria team will be returning to terrain that we know well. We are glad to announce that we will be attending nonick09 in Bilbao on April 24th and 25th. We expect it will be as enjoyable (and much warmer) than past Nestoria outings to the Basque country. Nonick09 is an international conference, held in English and with a focus on TV and web. It is the natural evolution of Blogak 2.0, held in Bilbao the past two years. In very little time, Blogak (which means blog in Basque) attracted major speakers such as Rob Malda (Mashable guru), Bernardo Hernandez (global head of geomarketing at Google) and Loic Le Meur (seesmic and LeWeb3). The structure of nonick09 will be split amongst panels (with senior speakers of YouTube, DailyMotion, Nielsen), two competitions (Startup 2.0 and EuroBlogAwards), a new edition of the successful Facebook Developer Garage and some workshops inspired by the ones organized at DLD or SeedCamp. In short, there will be plenty of interesting thing to discuss, and no doubt the discussions with other attendees will be as fruitful as the set agenda. If you are there please say hello (or “Hola” or “Kaixo”). A big thanks to the organisers, we look forward to seeing you all at nonick09!What’s all this about then?
It's all about Nestoria.co.uk - a UK property search engine (there's also German, Italian and Spanish sites - links on the right). This blog therefore has posts that cover everything from really technical posts for developers and discussions on our technologies, right through to pictures of our ugly mugs playing frisbee golf (more dangerous than it sounds). You're also in the right place if you want to read about all the latest perl and geo meetups. Oh yeah, this is also the best place to get updates on the cool new products we cook up at Lokku Labs.
Welcome back Nestorlites!
For those who are regular readers of this blog, please feel free to read on to remind yourself what we’re all about, or to skip over the details and look at the pretty picture (thanks, Wordle).
For the newcomers, welcome. Every now and then, we like to do a post to summarise what this blog is all about, and sketch over some recent goings on.
It’s all about Nestoria.co.uk - a UK property search engine (there’s also German, Italian and Spanish sites - links on the right). This blog therefore has posts that cover everything from technical posts on our API for developers and discussions on our technologies, right through to pictures of our ugly mugs playing frisbee golf (more dangerous than it sounds). You’re also in the right place if you want to read about all the latest perl and geo meetups.
Oh yeah, this is also the best place to get updates on the cool new products we cook up at Lokku Labs.
So essentially, you should continue reading or subscribe if you’re interested in Nestoria, property, search engines, Google Maps, mapping in general or just like to have a massive list of subscribed RSS feeds.
If there’s anything you would like to see covered in a future post, please just drop us a note.
Thanks, and we hope you enjoy your stay.
Nestoria Interview - Peter Le Masurier - Juicy Red Apple
This month we have the pleasure of chatting with Peter Le Masurier, the man behind UK property social network Juicy Red Apple. He is a serial entrepreneur, has just joined forces with regional property portal (and Nestoria partner) Southern Property Finder and looks after property software provider Property Owl. Peter, thanks for speaking with us. 1. The [...]
This month we have the pleasure of chatting with Peter Le Masurier, the man behind UK property social network Juicy Red Apple. He is a serial entrepreneur, has just joined forces with regional property portal (and Nestoria partner) Southern Property Finder and looks after property software provider Property Owl.
Peter, thanks for speaking with us. 1. The intersection of technology and the property industry isn’t always as smooth as everyone might like. What’s your opinion of the current state of play? How has the downturn affected things?When I ventured into this industry I thought it was crying out for technological change. One of my first published articles was titled ‘the online revolution’. That was 18 months ago and sadly it has not moved on as much as I anticipated.
I recently sat on an advisory panel for technology in real estate and we discussed a number of issues, concluding with two overriding themes, namely, acceptance and education. Agents need to first accept that they need technology, websites, online marketing and then they need to be educated in what best suits their practice. With reference to acceptance, I believe the continuing downturn is forcing agents to begin to accept that they need to consider the ‘technology’ issue. The herculean task will be once they have accepted it, how best to educate them. I have come to realise that perhaps technology has moved too quickly for agents who were not required to understand it in the good old days when property sold itself. The landscape has now changed dramatically and exposed technology to agents and they simply don’t understand half of it. We all talk about measuring statistics, but a huge proportion of agents don’t understand the basic fundamentals of a website. So here we are with technology that is arguably too advanced for agents at the moment and too much of it. 2. Explain your recently launched projected JRA. What role do you envision it playing in the industry, and how are things going?I set up JRA to be an online community where like minded industry professionals could come and interact. I have long been an admirer of Active Rain in the USA and its powerhouse of circa 140,000 members. I see JRA as a similar tool, an essential conduit that every industry professional will have access to and where all can interact and communicate with one another. As Active Rain say ‘… our goal is to “Empower the real estate professional‘ and as an extension empower the consumer…” which I tend to agree with.
It is going very well. JRA has a solid membership, but needs more agents to start to embrace the concept. I heard from one agent recently who said he wouldn’t want to talk to his competitor down the road. This attitude still exists in this space and will be a challenge (not just for an online community), but for every such agent there are more willing to give it a go and get involved. The bottom line is that it works, advice is being sought, discussions are being had and business is being conducted. Given my earlier comments I am not expecting a stampede. The innovators are on JRA, the early adopters are coming and I believe over this year we will see the early majority take it on. My ambition for JRA is to see it as part of agents stable diet of online resources in the future and in every educators handbook of what an agent should be doing when embracing this space. Indeed, I believe eventually it will be a ‘necessity’ to be involved in this space. 3. Given your role at Southern Property Finder, how do you see regional portals competing with the large national (or even international) brands?I have for a long time moaned that there are too many portals so it may seem somewhat hypocritical to become involved in yet another portal. That said, Southern Property Finder has been around for a while and had built up a decent following of local agents (South Coast). It was this local following that attracted me. Indeed, I had just written an article on niche portals which indicated that perhaps a more locally focused portal could offer an additional service to agents and users alike.
I was involved in the online travel industry a while back and saw how niche products developed in that space and also saw how ‘local’ search developed. If we can get the SEO right then a local portal ought to be able to offer its agents the attractive proposition of good quality, relevant leads at a reasonable price. Can it compete with the large national portals? I see it as complementing them and offering the agent a reasonably priced marketing channel that the larger portals sometimes struggle to fill, i.e. local. The Brand is strong and can grow stronger and will offer local agents more of an opportunity to promote their local area. With reference to my responses to your first question, I would like to point out that the technology aspect of the continuing development has been a headache and dealing with near on 300 agents all using different software providers continues to be a royal pain. I do take from this a small positive however in that agents are at least now more focussed on where/how their property is being displayed online. 4. As a regular and often very entertaining blogger, what is your advice to estate agents contemplating making the plunge and embracing the online dialog?Thanks Ed, I am still deeply humbled that anyone reads my stuff.
My first advice would be start a blog. Commit yourself and a few people to write anything they like, but make sure you get at least three posts up a week. Research the many good blogs that are out there and just start writing. Commitment is key and as much as I enjoy writing there are times where I have to force myself to write. There are many sites in this space that report on the daily news in the property industry. Pick one story and give your opinion, simple as that. You don’t have to disagree with it. People often ask me what makes a good blog? To be honest I have no idea, I have written blogs I thought were good and no one has read them and then the one I wrote at midnight because I had to gets rave reviews. It is probably easier to say what not to do. Do not write for search engines, stuffing your content with keywords will not read well. The relevant keywords will be in there if you just write as it is. Do not self promote, you are not there to say how your product will change the world. Always give credit to other authors and link to sources, references. Perhaps in this industry the one piece of useful advice I would say take heed of is: Be Honest!! The industry suffers enough in the opinion polls and agents embracing this space should bear that in mind! Your readers are a clever bunch and will spot a blagger a mile off. Second, open a twitter account - yes it is the darling of the moment and may not be as popular in 12 months time, but 6 months is a long time in this space and you are already 6 months behind your competitors who are on there. It is hugely popular at the moment and will continue to be so for a while. So what you don’t get it, get on there and play. Half the people on there don’t get it and this is part of the fun. You will learn what works, what doesn’t, but simply interacting in this space will increase your brand awareness. It now has SEO value as well. I will of course say join JRA, not only will this increase your knowledge and open up endless possibilities but it will help give you ideas of what to write for your blog. Anyway, many agents now have time on their hands and blogging is an excellent way to inform potential customers what is happening in the local area, additional content, and therefore additional opportunity to be found through organic search. But this leads back to my first point, they have to accept they need this and then be educated as many have no idea of the real benefit of a website and what organic search may be. Thanks Ed Thanks very much Peter for the insightful and comprehensive response, and for your ground breaking work as a pioneer in moving the industry forward. You can keep up to date on Peter’s many projects by joining Juicy Red Apple, subscribing to the PropertyOwl blog, or following @propertyowl on twitter. past Nestoria interviews: Henry Yates, Andy Allan, and Stephan Uhrenbacher.Sponsoring State of the Map 2009
Fellow Nestorographers, I’m delighted to announce to you that Nestoria will be a Bronze sponsor of this year’s State of the Map conference to be held from July 10th-12th in Amsterdam. SOTM is the annual OpenStreetMap gathering, and I’m very proud to say this will be the third year in a row we’ll be able to [...]
Fellow Nestorographers,
I’m delighted to announce to you that Nestoria will be a Bronze sponsor of this year’s State of the Map conference to be held from July 10th-12th in Amsterdam. SOTM is the annual OpenStreetMap gathering, and I’m very proud to say this will be the third year in a row we’ll be able to sponsor this great event. If you have even a passing interest in online cartography I recommend you attend and witness firsthand the passion and innovation of the global community behind OpenStreetMap.
Mike drops some box knowledge
Fellow Nestorinaks, a few weeks ago we had the pleasure of sponsoring an east London gathering of #geomob and minibar. Our CTO Mike seized the opportunity to take the stage and thrill the crowd with his thoughts about “The Tyranny of the Box”. For those that couldn’t make it, we’re pleased to offer a recording here: [...]
Fellow Nestorinaks,
a few weeks ago we had the pleasure of sponsoring an east London gathering of #geomob and minibar. Our CTO Mike seized the opportunity to take the stage and thrill the crowd with his thoughts about “The Tyranny of the Box”. For those that couldn’t make it, we’re pleased to offer a recording here:Zoopla! listings now on Nestoria
Fellow Nestormaters, good news - our quest for total comprehensiveness continues with the addition of hundreds of thousands of listings from innovative new online property player Zoopla! to the Nestoria database. Like some other recent market entrants, Zoopla offer estate agents a simple performance based pricing model. We extend a warm welcome to our new partner, and [...]
Fellow Nestormaters,
good news - our quest for total comprehensiveness continues with the addition of hundreds of thousands of listings from innovative new online property player Zoopla! to the Nestoria database.
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Mustang: Project 1
Mustang: Project 1 This project has been blessed by the contribution of 4 key people, dayzed50 (owner), Brand (Dayed50’s brother), David (owner of Sunset Body Works) and Toby Barnett (friend). The goal has been to produce a movie on a budget and simeltanously creating a marketing piece that could be used for the benifit of the [...]
Client Interviews
The other day I was interviewed for our Marysville real estate company as the SEO/marketer from Advanced Access, April 2007 Featured Client. It is quite an honor to be a featured company and just recently my personal blog was featured from MSN Spaces. This potential marketing leverage is huge for any company that takes the time [...]
Linking Strategies Explored
Over the past year there has been many changes across the internet regarding linking strategies and how effective they will over the long haul. To me there are three predominate with a few subset strategies being used and it is my goal to hash personal thoughts out as well as analyze some others to determine [...]
Commodity goods on the web
I have been doing some thinking regarding commodity goods and the vast number of websites selling similar goods. The number has to be astounding and getting a website marketed to effectively generate revenue is probably becoming increasingly more difficult. As I surfed the net looking at websites I found one that caught my attention JJ [...]
Employers search YOU as a job applicant
This morning I was scanning through the presets on the radio when the word “social networking” jumped out at me. Adam Corolla and his guests where discussing how a person’s Facebook and MySpace profiles could negatively affect a job applicants interview. This is not the first time I have heard and/or discussed this very topic. [...]
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Connecting People-Beyond Sorority and University
Connecting People-Beyond Sorority and University
by Michelle C. Carr-Crowe
If I'm honest with myself, when I first considered matriculating at San Jose State University, it was only because it was convenient, affordable-and had a kick-butt dance team. I didn't think of it as a college filled with an illustrious history or famous figures. With the exception of the Tower, most buildings were 1950's semiconductor chic-about as appealing as the ones I'd just left behind at Willow Glen High School.
When I pledged Delta Zeta Sorority, it was due to my fellow dancers on the SJSU Spartan Spectrums Dance Team-those who were already members, along with my new buddies. I chose Delta Zeta because the ladies were different - enthusiastic, go-getters who'd networked together and sacrificed time, energy and sleep to build a new chapter from the ground up in one semester. (I seem to recall they had to get phenomenal numbers to even qualify - 50 founding chapter members and there were about 30 of us in the Alpha pledge class.)
I just thought they were the most interesting, cool and fun group of people I'd ever met. Again, I didn't choose them because of their social status, (we were actually "low man" on the Greek totem pole being the new sorority on campus), connections, or future career help.
Yet in the past week, almost every day, I've been made aware that through my relationships at SJSU, I'm connected to some fabulous, and even famous, world-changing people.
Take Earth Day, for example. Earth Day's founder, Gaylord Nelson (what a name, you can't ever forget it) graduated from San Jose State. (Thanks to the SJSU group on LinkedIn for alerting me.)
As I began doing some spring cleaning, I finally stopped to read my sorority's magazine, The Lamp of Delta Zeta. In it I learned DZ's 2008 Woman of the Year was Hala Gaines Moddelmog, who's president and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. As my mother passed away of breast cancer in 2005, my heart warmed to know that one of my sorority sisters (although she graduated at Southern Georgia University) is leading the way to increase breast cancer research as well as connect various cancer organizations. Especially as one of my DZ sisters is persevering through the cancer journey right now - Go Carol Kreig Walter!
Tracy Langley, another Delta Zeta sister from a different college, and a teacher here in San Jose, has written the first in a new series of children's learning and adventure books entitled Dimitri Discovers England. Maggie Rose Bartz Crane published Amazing Grays-A Woman's Guide to Making the Next 50 the BEST 50 (Regardless of your hair color!).
The Soloist, a new movie out this week, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx,
also has an SJSU alumni connection. Journalist Steve Lopez cut his teeth at the Spartan Daily News while a student there, later working at the San Jose Mercury News before moving on to the Los Angeles Times. The story of the L.A. Times columnist and street musician Nathaniel Ayers is a powerful one-again, echoing with the same theme of connection.
I truly believe nothing happens by chance. With some luck, prayers and good choices at San Jose State University and Delta Zeta Sorority, this week I'm privileged to re-discover I'm connected to some amazing people-energetic, go-getters putting their education and efforts into make the world a better, more connected place for all of us.
Michelle C. Carr-Crowe leads the Get RE$ult$ Team of real estate consultants at Altas Realy. A licensee for over 20 years, she is a Multi-Million Dollar Producer, as well as an internationally-published freelance writer with over 1,100 articles to date in publications such as the San Jose Mercury News, the San Jose Business Journal, San Jose Magazine, Cupertino Courier, the San Mateo Weekly Times and Inman Real Estate News Service. She has just completed testing as a Certified Distressed Property Expert (CDPE)*, to help clients dealing with foreclosures and pre-foreclosures, short sales, bank-owned homes and loan modifications. Visit her online at www.michellejudycarr.com. She attended San Jose State University and belongs to the Gamma Lambda chapter of Delta Zeta Sorority.
3 Bed, 2 Bath Home in Colorado Springs, CO
| 5264 Lady Slipper Ct Colorado Springs, CO | |
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7th grade April 2, 2009
Here are two really good sites on protists. They may help you with additional information on protists. Download Protis Online Lesson Download Mr_ Carl's e-Class on Protists
Here are two really good sites on protists. They may help you with additional information on protists.
Download Mr_ Carl's e-Class on Protists
Rent of a Multiple Units Home
| 31** Starlight Circle Colorado Springs, CO | |
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| All units are 2 bedrooms & 2 baths. Easy access in South part of town! Main level living with washer & dryer in most units! Multiple units owned so call for showing & unit information! See all our rentals at www.ExitPM.com and be sure to ask about move - in specials! | ||||
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2 Bed, 1 Bath for Rent at Super Affordable Rate
| 1055 Chiricahua Loop Colorado Springs, CO | |
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| Nicely remodeled condos in a 4-plex near Peterson & Galley! One unit up and one down both have new windows. one new carpet & both super clean & updated! Super affordable at $500 per month!! Move-In Specials!! For all available properties, visit www.ExitPM.com!! | ||||
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Unofficial Show Notes for the Social Media Edge on BlogTalkRadio.com (Show Date - 04/21/2009)
Social Media Show Notes
Show Notes provided as a courtesy of Ryan Shaughnessy at PREA Signature Realty - Your Real Estate Partner in Lafayette Square (St. Louis, Missouri). All errors contained herein are mine. Not affiliated with the JCKC Show (but certainly a fan).
- Show Date: 4/21/2009 11:00 AM
- Show Title: Social Media Edge with Guest Sarah Evans
- Hosts: Jason Crouch - (@JasonCrouch) & Ken Cook - (@TheKenCook)
- Regular Guest: Mike Mueller (@MikeMueller)
- Guest: Sarah Evans (@PRSarahEvans) (cancelled)
- Site: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/jckc
Official Show Notes
This week's guest Sarah Evans @PRSarahEvans of #journchat and http://prsarahevans.com Join my co-host @jasoncrouch and me @thekencook along with regular tech tip expert @mikemueller for what is sure to be educafun - er funucational. Whatever - you get the point! Mike will be talking about Facebook pages and Jason and I each have new tools or tool tips to share. This week it's all us and possibly a call in from @ines if she can join us. We are all small business owners and use social media as a very important component of our individual success. You can watch @thekencook on http://ustream.tv/reibroker - sometimes he actually shows things important to the show but not essential.
Unofficial Show Notes, Topics, Links and More
Opening Announcements -
- Show Guest - Cancelled. To Be Rescheduled.
- Ken Cook - Local organizer for tea parties. For more information, click on: MeetUp - GAReform.
- Jason Cook - Church Plant in Georgetown - working on since July-August, 2008 - New Church is: Georgetown Texas PCA Church.
- Second Show Coming Soon - Faith, Religion and Political Topics.
Show Changes -
- Fanfare - New contest segment. Use hashtag #jckc and include topic that you want to discuss. Winner receives JCKC logo-ed tote bag. This week's winner: KateMonster.
- New Show Name - Social Media Edge. The reason for change was that name was too limiting and the show talks about all social media.
Social Media in the News
- Facebook - Cat reunited with owner using Facebook ad. For story, click on: CBS News.
- Mojitos - Miami Realtor Ines Hegedus-Garcia generated social media attention by using Google keywords and YouTube. Using Google keywords, she identified that "Mojito" was the #1 search term on Google. She then created a Mojito recipe and filmed how to make a Mojito posting it to YouTube. Great conversation starter. For more information, click on Miami New Times Blog.
Social Media Tips
- Flickr - General discussion on the networking aspects of Flickr. Not just a place for photos or photo sharing application. Miami Realtor Ines Hegedus-Garcia created a Miami photo group - Miamism. Took off with the contribution of some great Miami photos. Warning - Flickr has a non-commercial policy. No warning - just delete. Read TOS. Tip - Use link to blog article, not commercial website.
- Other ideas: Photo MeetUps - where group of photographers take photographs of particular area of the city or region.
- Twitter Karma - When using Twitter develop a follow strategy. Often, it will be a you follow me-I'll follow you approach. However, the focus should be on quality over quantity. For example, do you really want a porn star among your followers? Twitter Karma allows you to individually or in bulk decide who to follow (if they are following you) and who to block (if they are following you and you don't want them to have access to your followers).
Mike Mueller - Tech Tip of the Week
- Tech Tips of the Week: Facebook Pages
- Related Article: Why You Need to Make a Facebook Fan Page for Your Website Now (not mentioned on show)
- Example of a Fan Page: KCJC Fan Page Easy Creation for Simple Page
- Facebook Instructions: How to Set Up Fan Page
- Other: Custom Code Facebook Page - Just Ask Mike
Things Only Heard on the JCKC Radio Show (Fun & Informative)
... I married up... married a retarded redneck... whole pan of cinnamon rolls... want me to save you one... we reward spammers...
Official Sponsor of JCKC Radio Show - Twitter Tuesday
- Clint Miller- Real Estate Client Referrals
- Qualified Lead Generation Service
- Twitter Address: @RECR
- Website: realestateclientreferrals.com
- Telephone: 800-977-7058
A Perfect Home for Sale
| Colorado Springs, CO | |
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| This four bedroom three and one half bath home is the perfect home in an established neihborhood that will give a young family room to grow. It has a five piece master bedroom with a oval soaking tub and great view of pikes peak. two seperate family room areas with a wet bar area in the basement family room. It has a wood burning fireplace, vaulted ceilings, deck in rear and sprinkler system for yard. Located on a quiet cul de sac across the street from a District twenty elementary school, and park with great trails for outdoor activities. | ||||
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6th grade April 15, 2009
What a great week studying the solar system We have done a distance line of the planets and a great poster of all the planets with facts All students have a pink packet on the planets due on Monday All...
What a great week studying the solar system
We have done a distance line of the planets and a great poster of all the planets with facts
All students have a pink packet on the planets due on Monday
All students have a green packet on the inner planets, outer planets, and the smaller bodies such as comets, meteors, and asteroids This is also due on Monday
Our test Monday will be on the topics above
The page numbers are on the green sheets
Study for this test
6th grade April 22, 2009
Happy Earth Day and CRCT week Test next week on the planets (Wed. April 30th) Videos this week on energy resources to begin to introduce our study of energy Keep on studying and learning for our next test. Ms s
Happy Earth Day and CRCT week
Test next week on the planets (Wed. April 30th)
Videos this week on energy resources to begin to introduce our study of energy
Keep on studying and learning for our next test. Ms s
Sale of 3 Bed, 3 Bath Home
| 380 Winter Park Ln Colorado Springs, CO | |
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| Ready to Move. | ||||
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2:48 AM | |
BRILLIANT BUSINESS-BUILDING BRAND IDEAS
The Anya Hindmarch "I am not a plastic bag". Part design brilliance, part simple rules of supply (limited) and demand (healthily stoked by celebrities and great PR), it is a cracking example of a brand-marketing idea that has built a...
The Anya Hindmarch "I am not a plastic bag". Part design brilliance, part simple rules of supply (limited) and demand (healthily stoked by celebrities and great PR), it is a cracking example of a brand-marketing idea that has built a great business proposition. Read more in the Guardian's analysis.
WE ARE LOVING THE WORK ... GAMBLING SITE
2:48 AM | |
Sawmill Analytics Adds Support for Adobe Flash Media and Microsoft Streaming Media Log File Formats
The Sawmill Limited has announced a further expansion into the streaming media analysis market with the addition of two important media server platforms: Adobe Flash Media Server and Microsoft Media Server. This announcement brings the total number of formats supported (analyzed) by Sawmill to 13, consolidating its position as the #1 analysis tool for streaming media server log files.
Sawmill supports over 750 different log file formats providing accurate data for web, security, and IT professionals worldwide. Support for Streaming Media Servers is a key application area for Sawmill with support for 13 different log file formats, and more on the way. "No other analysis tool approaches Sawmill as the universal analysis solution for providers of streamed content" commented Les Ferrington CEO of The Sawmill Limited. "Content providers can now gain access to key performance statistics and provide usage and service level reports to their customers across all the most popular streaming server platforms."
Currently supported Streaming Media Server log files:
Adobe Flash Media Server Log Format
Microsoft Media Server Log Format
Quicktime/Darwin Streaming Server Log Format
Quicktime Streaming Error Log Format
Helix Universal Server (Style 5) Log Format
SHOUTcast W3C Log Format
Blue Coat RealMedia Log Format
Blue Coat Windows Media Log Format
Helix Universal Server Log Format
IceCast Alternate Log Format
IceCast Log Format
RealProxy Log Format
RealServer Log Format
New formats implemented on request
Steve Mack founder and CEO of LuxMedia (www.luxmedia.com) in a recent article for Streaming Media magazine had the following to say about Sawmill and the tools available to analyze streaming media log files (the full article can be viewed at http://www.streamingmedia.com/article.asp?id=9604&page=1
"Sawmill is a fully featured log-processing solution available in three different versions: Lite, Professional, and Enterprise. The Lite version is limited both by the number of profiles you can have (more on this below) and the amount of customization you can do. The Professional and Enterprise versions are the flagship products, with nearly identical functionality, except the Enterprise version includes external database support, multi-processor support, plus extensive customization of the user interface.
Sawmill includes rich documentation that explains how to install, operate, and customize the software. Sawmill can run either as a CGI program, or as its own standalone web server if you don't have a web server with CGI access. Sawmill runs on practically every OS and has a simple install process. After you install the software, you create profiles to process your log files.
Sawmill is very, very slick. From the install process through profile creation and report generation, it's rare that you need to consult the documentation -- it just works. For example, creating a profile couldn't be simpler. From the Administrative interface, you click the Create New Profile link at the top of the page. This causes a small window to pop up, which then walks you through the process. First you tell Sawmill where to find the log files you want to process. If the log files are on the same machine, you can browse to the directory using the Browse button. If they're on another machine you can tell Sawmill to retrieve them using FTP or HTTP."
Steve Mack, Luxmedia (www.luxmedia.com)
About Sawmill Profiles
Sawmill pricing depends on the number of profiles you need. Each streaming format requires a separate profile. Additionally, if you want to supply separate reports to clients, each client will require their own profile. So if you support Windows Media, RealMedia, Flash, and QuickTime, and have 10 customers for each then you will need 40 profiles to provide individual reports to each client on each format.
Sawmill Licensing & Pricing
Sawmill Lite starts at $99 for a single profile license, Sawmill Professional starts at $249 for a single profile license, and Sawmill Enterprise starts at $695 for a single profile license. Licenses are available in profile sizes as follows: 1, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100, 500, and unlimited. Upgrading profiles and upgrading the product are very simple and straightforward operations, with no loss of previous investment. Sawmill licenses may be purchased online in all three currencies (US$, UK£, Euros) at www.sawmill.co.uk or by contacting the sales desk at e-mail protected from spam bots or by telephone to +44 (0) 870 741 8787.
About The Sawmill Limited
The Sawmill Limited is the publisher of Sawmill software and provides commercial and technical support via distributors and resellers world-wide. Every copy of Sawmill includes email support and free access to minor releases. Support upgrades to Premium Care are available providing telephone assistance and free access to all updates, minor and major. Premium Care costs an additional 25% of the license fee.
2:38 AM | |
10 Tips for Effective Listening
Image by Orange_Beard via Flickr Whether it’s our spouse, our children, or with a sales prospect or our boss, one of life’s great challenges is to listen well. Often, we are tempted to think about our response rather than listen. Or, we believe we already know what the other person is going to say, so we [...]
- Image by Orange_Beard via Flickr
Whether it’s our spouse, our children, or with a sales prospect or our boss, one of life’s great challenges is to listen well. Often, we are tempted to think about our response rather than listen. Or, we believe we already know what the other person is going to say, so we simply interrupt or wait impatiently for our turn. Listening, really listening, with our whole being, is a skill and one of the most important compliments we can give another human being. The following 10 “rules” can help.
1. Stop Talking! It is difficult to listen and speak at the same time.
2. Put the other person at ease. Give them space and time and “permission” to speak their peace. How we look at them, how we stand or sit, makes a huge difference. Relax, and let them relax as well.
3. Show the other person that you want to hear them. Look at them. Nod when you can agree, ask them to explain further if you don’t understand. Listen to understand them and their words, rather than just for your turn.
4. Remove distractions. Good listening means being willing to turn off the TV, close a door, or stop reading your mail. Give the speaker your full attention, and let them know they are getting your full attention.
5. Empathize with the other person. Especially if they are telling you something personal or painful, or something you intensely disagree with, take a moment to stand in their shoes, to look at the situation from their point of view.
6. Be patient. Some people take longer to find the right word, to make a point or clarify an issue. Give the speaker time to get it all out before you jump in with your reply.
7. Watch your own emotions. If what they are saying creates an emotional response in you, be extra careful to listen carefully, with attention to the intent and full meaning of their words. When we are angry, frightened or upset, we often miss critical parts of what is being said to us.
8. Be very slow to disagree, criticize or argue. Even if you disagree, let them have their point of view. If you respond in a way that makes the other person defensive, even if you “win” the argument, you may lose something far more valuable!
9. Ask lots of questions. Ask the speaker to clarify, to say more, give an example, or explain further. It will help them speak more precisely and it will help you hear and understand them more accurately.
10. STOP TALKING! This is both the first and the last point, because all other tools depend on it. Nature gave us two ears and only one tongue, which is a gentle hint that we should listen twice as much as we talk.
By Dr Philip E. Humbert, author, speaker and personal success coach. Dr Humbert has hundreds of tips, tools and articles on his website that you can use for your own success! It’s a great resource! Visit him on the web at: www.philiphumbert.com And, be sure to sign up for his great newsletter.
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- 7 ways to build strong relationships (ismckenzie.com)
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Be Careful What You Wish For, The NAR And The DOJ.
The NAR's settlement with the DOJ, effectively brought the NAR, kicking and screaming, into the Twenty-First Century. Since then, there have been a number of articles and comments about what the NAR won in the settlement. Won? One aspect of...
The NAR's settlement with the DOJ, effectively brought the NAR, kicking and screaming, into the Twenty-First Century. Since then, there have been a number of articles and comments about what the NAR won in the settlement. Won?
One aspect of the decision was that the NAR and its MLSs could prohibit a company, not actively engaged in the sale of real estate, from accessing MLS data, and re-publishing it.
But there is the Law of Unintended Consequences. And you must, as always, be careful what you wish for.
When Zillow started in 2/06, there was much Realtor paranoia (Zillo-noia) that Zillow would start to sell homes and become a Real Estate Broker. Despite Zillow's statements that they were a media company, selling ads not homes, there was much concern when Zillow became a California Broker to get access to California listing data.
There's still fear that Zillow, with their 5-10 second Zestimates, or CMA-Lites, and their $87 MM in VC cash, will become a Real Estate Broker. Will a media company, selling ads like your local newspaper's classifieds, become a broker, selling homes? Will a company wanting to become the Google of Real Estate suddenly want to become the next RE/MAX, Redfin or Zip Realty? RE/MAX or Google? Choice?
Do we make the big Search Engines in Real Estate: Google, Yahoo and MSN and the Real Estate Verticals like Zillow and Trulia become Real Estate Brokers to get our information? That scares me much more than cooperating with the search engines, using their free advertising to sell our listings, and benefiting our clients, by getting their homes listed on as many search engines as possible.
I still haven't heard a good argument for prohibiting search engines from posting our listings. It's part of our fiduciary responsibility and our obligations under our "Exclusive Right To Sell" contract, that we get our owner's home listed on as many search engines as we can. To block a free potential-search-engine listing should be a violation of our fiduciary duties.
The NAR has fought for years to keep the banks from selling Real Estate. Now we could force Google, Yahoo, MSN, Zillow and Trulia to be our competitors, join the NAR and sell Real Estate? What if these search engines used their great computer knowledge, dominant Internet power, and vast VC millions, to become MLS-only Brokers or Mega-Discount Brokers? They'd become Redfin and/or Zip Realty on steroids.
Our dreams of data control will become our nightmares of sales competition.
There has been some comment that Realtors own their listing data. Under Copyright law, you don't own the data, just the presentation of that data. You could argue that you do own your home photos. But do you really want to make that argument? What's in the best interest of our clients?
If we do our best, sell houses, and let the search engines do their best, sell ads, we can all get along. And do very nicely at that.
Happy Searching.
Posted by: Cliff Jacobson
Adapt Or Die!
WebHomeUSAblog: The Blog of Online Real Estate Marketing
Trulia Takes Zillow-Like Heat
Well, it happened at last. Trulia is finally taking some Zillow-Like heat from the Real Estate Community. So much for the welcoming and warm embrace tauted by the NAR and the Real Estate community to the DOJ (Department of Justice)...
Well, it happened at last. Trulia is finally taking some Zillow-Like heat from the Real Estate Community. So much for the welcoming and warm embrace tauted by the NAR and the Real Estate community to the DOJ (Department of Justice) for all the new Real Estate models.
The NAR, Move, Realtor.com and all the Broker Websites just got caught with their Google Page Placements down.
Now Zillow isn't the only spear catcher for the ad-sale-model of Real Estate Websites. Trulia has never sold a house and offers agents and brokers free advertising and exposure, but they must be doing something wrong. Realtors provide Web-pages for homes. So Trulia can't.
The NAR ePro designation, the CRS course on "Driving Buyers To Your Website" and many articles in NAR publications taut SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Trulia works SEO into their virtual DNA and now the NAR is all over their case. Be careful what you wish for. Mike Ferry must have a script for it. (I've called Pete Flint of Trulia, "The CEO of SEO".)
You mean the Broker and Agent Websites aren't as good as Real Estate Agents say they are? And there's an easy way to check, on Google, where I do all my other searches? You mean Google agrees with Trulia about its Result Page Position vs yours.
Trulia has embraced SEO for the street address. The address is right there in the domain name(Trulia.com/123MainStAnywhereNY11000). This means Trulia is not only optimized for the whole address (Google the street address of any home-for-sale address on Trulia), but also for the Zip Code and the City or Town. With Trulia's Top Ten Traffic for Real Estate, no wonder they're so high upon every address search for directions.
Realtor.com has just started adding parts of the street address to their domains/Web-pages for their listings. They're late to the game, but with the most traffic in all of Real Estatedom, anything can happen.
Trulia hasn't done anything illegal or unethical. Trulia has just tapped into the ad sale revenue which NAR, Move, Realtor.com and all the Agent and Broker Websites have left on the table.
Be careful Mr. Flint. The NAR, Move and Realtor.com don't always play fair.
Keep your SEO powder dry.
Happy Searching.
Posted by: Cliff Jacobson
Adapt Or Die!
WebHomeUSAblog: The Blog of Online Real Estate Marketing
Lessons In Assessment Challenge From Rochester's Re-valuation
Rochester, NY just finished its 2008 (every 4 years) City-wide tax reassessment. "All Real Estate is Local", and that goes for Real Estate Assessments too. Your local tax assessment process may be different. Even so, there are many lessons to...
Rochester, NY just finished its 2008 (every 4 years) City-wide tax reassessment. "All Real Estate is Local", and that goes for Real Estate Assessments too. Your local tax assessment process may be different. Even so, there are many lessons to learn about challenging your assessment from Rochester's 2008 Re-valuation.
The Rochester Process:
- December 2007, Rochester property owners received notice of the change in their home valuations.
- Owners had until 3/18/08 to either request an informal review or file a formal challenge with Rochester's Assessor's Office.
- Formal challenges are heard by the 12 member Board of Assessment Review (made up of City residents with Real Estate experience).
- Formal challengers can negotiate privately before the matter is presented to the Board.
- 5/1/08 was the deadline for the City to finalize the assessment role.
- After the Board Decision, dissatisfied challengers can still take their case to court.
The Rochester Numbers:
- 66,700+ properties in the City of Rochester
- 11.5% increase in valuation since 4 years ago
- 41% with an increase and 59% with either a decrease or no change
- 4,200 (16%) property challenges
- 66% of property assessments successfully challenged
- 6.9% average reduction in assessment. (When I helped my future Mother-In-Law challenge her assessment, her reduction went from $118K to $110K, or 6.8%)
- 550 (13%) of challengers made formal appeals to the Assessment Board.
Percent challenges varied by area from just above 0 to just over 20%. The highest areas of challenge were in the areas where the valuations went up the most. The lowest areas for challenges were where the valuations went down.
One local condominium group challenged their reassessments. Through their Owners Associations they hired a property appraiser and filed their challenges. The group of 97 owners had their assessments reduced by 7%, from 20% to 13%.
Take Home Points:
- To challenge, or not to challenge? Is the challenge worth your time, money and aggravation? Your home's market value and its assessed value should be the same.
- Be Prepared: Know your local system and find Comparables (Zillow.com, RealEstateABC.com, a Real Estate Agent, an Appraiser)
- Document: Photos, Comparables, estimates and copies for the appraisal officer
- Pick Your Battle: 1) Home features 2) Comparables 3) Condition
- Be professional: Take 5 minutes to make your bullet points, be polite and respectful.
- Resolve Informally: Try to resolve your challenge informally
With a 2/3s success rate for property challenges, Rochester is a good place to challenge your assessment. 87% of challenges were resolved without going before the Board.
In today's often down Real Estate Market, if you purchase a home below assessment, you can immediately challenge your assessment. Your home's assessed value should equal its market value.
The 3 most important things in Real Estate may still be "Location, Location, Location". But the 3 most important things in challenging a Real Estate Assessment are: "Document, Document, Document".
Happy Searching.
Posted by: Cliff Jacobson
Adapt Or Die!
WebHomeUSAblog: The Blog of Online Real Estate Marketing
A Realtor's Nightmare
With the economy in the dumps, the sub-prime mess screwing over most of my buyers, and the gasoline price taking a bigger chunk out of my budget, I was heartened by all of the NAR's victories in our settlement with...
With the economy in the dumps, the sub-prime mess screwing over most of my buyers, and the gasoline price taking a bigger chunk out of my budget, I was heartened by all of the NAR's victories in our settlement with the DOJ.
You can fight City Hall. You can fight City Hall. You can fight City Hall. And win. And win. And win.
"We're from the Government, and we're here to help you." My sleep was great. Why count sheep, when you can count victories?
At first, the night like any other night. I was still basking in the glory of all the NAR's victories in our settlement with the DOJ.
I was particularly happy, the NAR could now keep those pesky Search Engines away from our listing data. I didn't like the way those companies like Zillow.com and RealEstateABC.com come up with a virtual CMA in about 10 seconds. It often takes me hours. Just because their computers were bigger than mine, doesn't mean I'm irrelevant. Size doesn't matter. Right? I won't have to go back to selling used cars, will I? I'll just go over my "But Zillow says..." objection handler script a couple more times.
But, before I woke up, my NAR dream settlement had turned into a Realtor's nightmare:
It was announced today that Google, after winning "Internet Map Wars" by buying Pictometry, was going to focus on Real Estate.
I vaguely remembered back in the early 2000's, when the NAR was in negotiations with Google to provide the NAR's Real Estate Search. But the NAR's demands to conceal their data, on the Hidden Web, conflicted with Google's stated vision to: "organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful".
But now Google, with the NAR's victory settlement over the DOJ, had to join every local Association of Realtors with an MLS to get all the listings on Realtor.com. Google said, "The $500,000 we paid to join all 900 US MLSs cost a lot less than the $1.65 Billion we paid for YouTube. "Pocket change", said Sergei Brin and Larry Page. "Hardly a rounding error".
"In the past, to avoid copyright infringement claims, we had waited for Brokers to push their listing data out to Google Base. Why wait? We're brokers now. The NAR says we have to be. We don't even need traditional agents."
"A Google Computer can do the work of a thousand agents. The money we save by doing our CMAs in 5 seconds, we can pass on to home buyers. Our Google Computer Agents (GCAs) don't need as much gas as the traditional agent, either. Our budget for E + O insurance is less for computer agents too."
"We only wanted to be a Real Estate Search Engine working with Brokers, providing them with free exposure of their properties and free advertising. The NAR's victory forced us to become a Real Estate Broker in all 900 MLSs, and to actively sell Real Estate. We didn't want this. We really didn't want to do this, but the NAR made us do it", said a spokesman from Google on the condition of anonymity.
Move.com, Realtor.com and the NAR.org were not available for comment.
Although Google would not comment, sources close to the matter said Google would first use their great computer, search and Internet dominance to start an MLS-Only listing service called GMLS. Google next planned to get into discount brokering with, Google Discount Broker (GDB), referred to as "Redfin-On-Steroids".
"Google Real Estate (GRE): Great Real Estate always starts with GRE."
"Googled Your Home Lately?"
No! No! No! Not Google. Not Google. Anybody but Google.
I'm glad it was just a nightmare. It wasn't Google. It was never Google.
It was Zillow!
Happy Searching.
Posted by: Cliff Jacobson
Adapt Or Die!
WebHomeUSAblog: The Blog of Online Real Estate Marketing
The Target Market Efficiency Rating: Visitors/Homes For Sale/Month, For Online Real Estate
Does Real Estate need a new online metric? My local real estate search Website, needs to stand out. I don't have the huge traffic numbers of Trulia and the other national Websites, or the legacy and reputation of the large...
Does Real Estate need a new online metric? My local real estate search Website, needs to stand out. I don't have the huge traffic numbers of Trulia and the other national Websites, or the legacy and reputation of the large local Websites. If I can't be #1 in a metric, then I need a new metric. I need an efficiency rating.
For my Website and Blog, I track my traffic, page views and other numbers with my Web-master's analytics and Google Analytics. To any one familiar with different analytic programs, you'd be surprised at the difference between the results for the same metrics.
There are 3 national companies tracking Website traffic for many business sectors including Real Estate: comScore, Neilsen Online and Hitwise (an Experian Company). Google hopes to enter the online traffic watch market soon with their own Website tracking system based at the server level. ComScore, Neilsen and Hitwise are all paid services. Google's new program will be free.
In my weekly reports from both my Web Analytics and from Google Analytics, I primarily track: Total Traffic, Unique Visitors, Page Views, Page Views/Visit and Time on Site. (Google Analytics can provide a neat feature which rates your metrics against Industry Website averages. Very Interesting.)
Based on business models, there are 2 types of Real Estate Websites:
- Media or Ad Revenue Model Websites (Zillow, Trulia, Google Base, Yahoo Real Estate and MSN Real Estate). National Media Real Estate Websites, sell ads like Google and Network TV and Network Radio.
- Retail or Home Sale Revenue Model Websites (Realtor.com, RE/MAX, Coldwell Banker, etc. and Local Real Estate Broker and Agent Websites). Retail Websites sell houses and generally have little or no outside advertising.
The metrics that are important to these Websites differ as well. Retail/Home Sale Websites are interested in people who need to buy or sell a home in the next 30 to 90 days. They generally are in the service of the 7% of agents who sell 93% of the homes. (The 93/7 Rule for Real Estate is the new play on the old 80/20 rule.) Prime metrics for Real Estate Retail sites are unique visitors; not total traffic, page views or time on site, since the greater majority of visitors will buy or sell only one home at a time.
Media/Ad Sale Websites are concerned with different metrics, the ones that are important to their advertisers. The ones that they sell to their advertisers. The majority of ad revenue to Media sites comes from Pay-Per-Click (PPC), as well PPV (Pay-Per-View) or PPM (Pay-Per-[M]Thousand). The same person can go to a Website many times, view many pages, stay for a long time, and click on a number of ads. So the metrics of total traffic (vs unique visitors), page views, time on site and click-through-rate (CTR) are most important.
But what if you have a Website that's a combination of the two? My start-up, WebHomeUSA.com, is a Local Real Estate Website with an ad revenue model, not a home sale model. So my traffic numbers don't compare with the 3-4 million monthly visitors of Zillow or Trulia, or the relatively high visitor and page view stats of the local brokers. What's a Realtor to do?
The 2 established Real Estate Websites in the 11 County Greater Rochester, NY are:
- HomeSteadNet.com: The Greater Rochester Association's (GRAR) site
- Nothnagle Realtor's Nothnagle.com.
HomeSteadNet gets about 6,000 visitors/day (180K/M) and Nothnagle gets about 13,000 visitors/day (390K/M). At WebHomeUSA.com we attracted over 2,000 visitors/day (60K/M) during May, 2008.
To bridge the gaps of comparing my numbers to both national media Websites and local broker and association Websites, I thought of comparing our sites based on the target of number of homes for sale in our market.
The Target Market Efficiency Rating = Visitors/HomesForSale/Month
In any month, if Zillow and Trulia get 4MM visitors for the 7MM homes for sale in the US, and Nothnagle gets 390K visitors, HomeSteadnet gets 6K visitors, and WebHomeUSA gets 2K visitors for 8K homes for sale in Greater Rochester, then:
- Nothnagle's Visitors/HomesForSale/Month = 48.8
- HomeSteadNet's Visitors/HomesForSale/Month = 22.5
- WebHomeUSA's Visitors/HomesForSale/Month = 7.5
- Zillow's and Trulia's Visitors/HomesForSale/Month = 0.57
What's your Website's Target Market Efficiency Rating(TMER)?
As they say in Real Estate, "If you can't be Number 1 in your niche, find a new niche."
Posted by: Cliff Jacobson
Adapt Or Die!
WebHomeUSAblog: The Blog of Online Real Estate Marketing
Productivity Links - April 18 2009
How to Revise an Email So That People Will Read It. I have been guilty of all ten items on David’s list. I still like to finish and click send before reviewing. However, I force myself to double-check (and sometimes triple and quadruple) any e-mail before sending. Print the checklist, post it somewhere accessible and [...]
- How to Revise an Email So That People Will Read It. I have been guilty of all ten items on David’s list. I still like to finish and click send before reviewing. However, I force myself to double-check (and sometimes triple and quadruple) any e-mail before sending. Print the checklist, post it somewhere accessible and use it.
- Time Management Statistics. Key Organization Systems support the need for their products with a host of statistics from a variety of sources. Add to the list: amount of time wasted reading statistics, 38%.
- Productivity? Are you SERIOUS? Matt tries his hand at time management humour.
- Smart People Magazine debuts. “Smart People Magazine turns corporate knowledge management inside out, brings the power of knowledge work to the mainstream and applies it to living, learning, choosing, creating and working. The power has always been there, and the Web has multiplied your knowledge a million times through the search, communication and social network capabilities of the Internet.” The first issue is available as a free download.
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- Time Management Tips And Tricks (frugalwahmstalkradio.com)
Recommended: The Zen Habits Handbook for Life!
How to Organize Your Digital Photographs
The best thing about digital cameras: it’s easy to take thousands of pictures. The worst thing about digital cameras: it’s easy to take thousands of pictures. After you’ve used your camera for a few months, you’ll have thousands of files and you won’t be able to find that great picture you took a couple of [...]
The best thing about digital cameras: it’s easy to take thousands of pictures. The worst thing about digital cameras: it’s easy to take thousands of pictures. After you’ve used your camera for a few months, you’ll have thousands of files and you won’t be able to find that great picture you took a couple of months ago, if those files aren’t well organized.
What should you do to organize and catalogue your photos? Here are some tips to help you clean up the clutter, and enjoy your digital memories:
- Download a free image organizer. Picasa from Google is an easy-to-use photo management tool.
- Organize in folders. Folders are the best way to organize groups of pictures. In your My Pictures folder, create a sub-folder for each year: 2009, 2010, 2011, and so on. This might seem a lot for the first year you own your camera, but after five years, you’ll be glad you did. You can go back to your 2009 folder and find a picture from the vacation you took that year. When you transfer your photos from your camera to your computer, immediately put them into a folder on your hard drive — not just My Pictures, but create a subfolder by date (use reverse date format e.g. 2007-06-26 which is listed better by computers ordering files by name), event name or both.
- Tag your photos. With your pictures imported into Picasa, you can begin the tagging process. What is a tag? Tagging is a concept found in many types of data-management tools. You attach descriptive text called tags (e.g. ‘Uncle Joe’, ‘Robert’s Birthday’, ‘School Play’), to each photo in your collection. When you do this, you no longer need to worry about remembering a picture’s filename, folder or date. All the need is the tag that you used.
- Regularly back up your photos. Within Picasa, there is a function to backup your photo catalogue. All database information (in particular, tag information) will be backed up as well. Use a CD or DVD burner or an external hard drive to store the backup. Put your CD or DVD into a box, holder, or album so you know where it is and have easy access.
Organizing your pictures logically is a good practice that pays off later when you need to find a particulary picture. Follow these tips, and you’ll have a computer full of easy-to-find pictures.
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- [Google Picasa 101] - View, Folders, Toolbars (makeuseof.com)
Recommended: The Mind Mapping Manifesto A Practical Cure for Information Overload
2:37 AM | |
Buying Rutland VT Real Estate: Factors Deciding Credit Score
If you are buying Rutland VT real estate, you will want to know what your credit score is. Lenders look at your credit history, debt-to-income ratio and your credit score when qualifying you for a home loan. Credit scores range between 200 and 800, with scores above 620 considered desirable for obtaining a mortgage. The following factors affect yourscore:
1. Your payment history. Did you pay your credit card obligations on time? If they were late, then how late? Bankruptcy filing, liens, and collection activity also impact your history.
2. How much you owe. If you owe a great deal of money on numerous accounts, it can indicate that you are overextended. However, it's a good thing if you have a good proportion of balances to total credit limits.
3. The length of your credit history. In general, the longer you have had accounts opened, the better. The average consumer's oldest obligation is 14 years old, indicating that he or she has been managing credit for some time, according to Fair Isaac Corp., and only one in 20 consumers have credit histories shorter than 2 years.
4. How much new credit you have. New credit, either installment payments or new credit cards, are considered more risky, even if you pay them promptly.
5. The types of credit you use. Generally, it's desirable to have more than one type of credit - installment loans, credit cards, and a mortgage, for example.
For more on evaluating and understanding your credit score, visit www.myfico.com.
Are you thinking of buying Rutland VT real estate. Learn about the home buying process at ISellVermontRealEstate.com or give me a call for more personal service, 800-659-1819.
Search all Rutland VT real estate and homes for sale.
Reprinted from Realtor Magazine with permission of the National Association of Realtors.
IHA loan inspection
I have a sale pending in which the buyers are seeking an IHA loan. Here are some of the requirements for the inspection.
• If the property is served by an individual water supply system, the local health authority or state certified laboratory must perform a water quality analysis.
• If the property is served by an individual septic system, the septic system must be free of observable evidence of system failure. A FHA roster appraiser, a government health authority, a licensed septic system professional, or a qualified home inspector may perform the septic system evaluation. The separation distances between a well and septic tank, the drain field, and the property line should comply with HUD guidelines or state well codes.
• For any property in which the lender or FHA roster appraiser is in doubt about the operation of septic systems for the dwelling or in the neighborhood (e.g. if the property isvacant), the local health authority or a septic system professional has determined the viability of the system.
• Any repairs necessary for the dwelling to be structurally sound, functionally adequate, and in good repair must have been completed prior close of escrow. Paint must be complete, and crack free. Floor coverings in all rooms, windows in good repair, baseboards and trim complete.
Manitou Springs Colorado
Manitou Springs Colorado, an amazing clash of culture and geography. Located at the base of Pikes Peak and at the opening of Colorado Springs, Manitou is its own little niche. The art community here is very strong and diverse. A short walk around the town center will delight. Real Estate has always been in demand here even through some of Colorado’s roughest times.
Search for Properties 
Search for Properties Is a Landlord Required to Provide Appliances?
As a landlord, you are not required to provide any appliances, though most landlords do and for good reason. For one, providing appliances makes your rental property more appealing. If your prospective tenants do not have to provide their own refrigerator, oven and range, or washer and dryer your rental unit will be much more attractive than one that does. Few renters would prefer to go through the expense and hassle of providing their own appliances.
The other reason it's smart for a landlord to provide appliances is that by doing so, you avoid the damage that your unit could possibly incur by the frequent moving and installing of appliances. Appliances are big, bulky and often difficult to handle. They can ding walls, scratch floors, and cause other minor and major damages during the installation or removal process.
Just be sure to include the list of provided appliances on the lease agreement, so there is no question when the agreement is terminated that they stay with the unit. Also remember that you will be responsible for the normal wear-and-tear repair and maintenance as well, making sure all appliances remain in good working order.
2:54 AM | |
Dig on windows
very helpful! http://members.shaw.ca/nicholas.fong/dig/
very helpful!
http://members.shaw.ca/nicholas.fong/dig/
I’ve made the Whopper Sacrifice :(
I think I’m a friendly guy - but when it comes to free whoppers, no holds are barred! Here’s the list of friends I had to sacrifice for my Whopper. Tish Das: You’re a crazy straight-teethed chick magnet - you enjoy the view from the top of your Manhattan condo - I’m having a whopper! (oh [...]
I think I’m a friendly guy - but when it comes to free whoppers, no holds are barred! Here’s the list of friends I had to sacrifice for my Whopper.
- Tish Das: You’re a crazy straight-teethed chick magnet - you enjoy the view from the top of your Manhattan condo - I’m having a whopper! (oh BTW, you’re still cool with me crashing at your crib on the 27th right? awesome!)
- Sunman Returns: Best all-round designer on EARTH - I never thought it would end this way
- Brett Eigel: What’s up couz? You know what they say - food before family!
- Cathy: What can I say… tough times
- Chris Cornutt: The most obsessive PHP blogger ever! I appreciate the years of work you’ve put into PHPDeveloper.org. Maybe we can go out for a burger sometime!
- Clare Parker: I am sure you understand the lengths that one must go to for an extraordinary deal!!! I was thinking - I might take the day off on Monday the 16th of FEB… do you have anything planned for that long weekend??? Sorry, I would have sent you a fb message, but well… you’re not my friend anymore
- Davey: Best programmer ever! I don’t need you as a fb friend - your awesomeness transcends social networks! Wouldn’t it be crazy if this meme killed facebook???
- Dawn Alba: Craziest West Palm Beach Party animal ever… you eat the tomatoes you just got from the green market. I’m going for a whopper!!!
- Scott Sigler: Now that Contagious is a New York Times best seller - you have no need for your OJs… (and I’m almost done with that site)
- Stella: Now, that I’ve done it I have realized how short-sighted it was to sacrifice my wife, who cleans up after me, takes care of the kids, not to mention being my best friend and … OMG! the gravity of what I have done is just sinking in … I’ve un-friended the person cooks delicious meals for me every single day for 1 lowly whopper. You’re not going to take this personally? I’m really really sorry!!! We can still be friends right? Can I make up to you by adding you right back??? We can split the Whopper
I’ll go on that diet we were talking about yesterday (right after I eat my whopper!) OK?? Good - that was close
Now you too can make the Whopper Sacrifice!
2:54 AM | |
Get a Vanity URL for your Google Profile Now
Learn how to claim Vanity URLs for your Google Profile so that you have an easy-to-remember web address and people can easily discover you in search engines.
You may read the full article later but first, head over to this page and claim a vanity URL for your Google Profile before someone else snatches your favorite user name. This is available to all Google Accounts that don’t use a Gmail address.
The current Google Profile URLs look something like google.com/profiles/1082338 but you can now replace that cryptic number with your own unique and easy-to-remeber user name as google.com/profiles/amit.labnol - the new URL is not just easy to remember but may also help improve the visibility of your Google profile in search engines.
There’s an important point here - once you’ve selected a unique name for your Google Profile URL, you won’t be able to change it later or delete it so think before deciding a name.
If you use Gmail, your email username will be your new vanity URL though you still need to activate it from your Google Profile settings. If you don’t use Gmail, you can select any available username to be part of your profile URL. If later on you sign up for Gmail, you can choose this username as your Gmail username.
Update: Your old Google Profile URLs will still work as visitors will automatically get redirected to your new vanity URL. However, if you have linked to the old URLs from any of your web pages, make sure you replace those links with the new URLs because Google is currently doing a 302 temporary redirect that passes only human visitors but not any link juice.
Get a Vanity URL for your Google Profile Now - Published at Digital Inspiration (RSS)
Free Money Software Now - Free Resell Rights
2:56 AM | |
Success Quote - Christopher Morley
"There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way." -Christopher Morley (1890 - 1957) So true. No matter how much money you have, no matter how famous you are. If you cant live life on your own terms, If you cant have the lifestyle of your dreams, then you [...]
"There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way."
-Christopher Morley (1890 - 1957)
So true. No matter how much money you have, no matter how famous you are. If you cant live life on your own terms, If you cant have the lifestyle of your dreams, then you are being robbed of your own success.
In recent years the idea of "lifestyle engineering" is becoming more and more popular. Steering away from becoming wildly rich but actually plan your DREAM lifestyle and spend your life executing that plan.
Personally, this idea is what drove me to pursue Internet Marketing.
Partner to Your Success,
-Socrates Socratous
P.S. I hope your enjoy this great quote.
Post your comments below
What are the 2 but Very Different Types of Website Traffic?
Did you know that there are 2 types of website traffic? The information I am about to share with in today’s issue is VERY POWERFUL and something not very many "experts" talk about. When you understand the distinction between the two you will be able to grow your online profit multifold. The First type of traffic is what [...]
Did you know that there are 2 types of website traffic?
The information I am about to share with in today’s issue is VERY POWERFUL and something not very many "experts" talk about.
When you understand the distinction between the two you will be able to grow your online profit multifold.
The First type of traffic is what I call "NEW" traffic.
This "New" traffic is the kind you get when a visitor lands on your website the FIRST time. In other words they have NEVER seen your offer before.
For example:
Lets say you do pay per click (PPC) advertising where you get 500 fresh visitors a DAY to your website.
These people see your page for the FIRST time.
This is *NEW Traffic* .
The other kind of traffic is REPEAT (or RETURN) traffic.
This kind of traffic consists of the SAME people.
Why this is VERY Important?
Most people miss this point so pay attention…
With NEW TRAFFIC, If you have ONE good offer that consistently converts 3% of your visitors into sales, it will CONTINUE to convert 3% every day because NEW people see the offer every day. (for as long as the page remains UNCHANGED). With NEW traffic, all you need is ONE sales letter and you can keep tweaking it to perfect it over time.
However, when you send REPEAT traffic to that salespage, the conversion will go down every day until it reaches 0% (even though your stats may show that you get 500 visitors to your site every day)
Huh?
This occurs because REPEAT traffic, consists of the SAME people seeing the SAME offer over and over and over again. After the interested people buy this product, that’s it.
In addition to be constantly looking for new quality products to promote, you need to create new powerful emails that convert well, which can take a lot of time if you are serious about making profit.
I take every chance to "swipe" good email copy (with permission of course) and use it in my campaigns because I know it has been tested and it works.
When I found out that a great copywriter whom I respect did all the research, found 20 high quality products on clickbank and created a collection of 60 pre-written hypnotic emails that convert, I JUMPED into the opportunity and I bought them all.
I loaded these messages into my autoresponder system so now my REPEAT traffic will be getting ONLY 3 emails promoting one product and then promote the NEXT one.
All on autopilot.
When I purchased this package, I also got the PLR rights to it. Which means I can also make it available to YOU.
There are only a few left here:
http://mydigitaldispatch.com/recommends/affiliate-profits
* You can load these messages up into your autoresponder
* You can post them on your blog one at a time.
* You can use them as templates to write your own promos
* You can sell the package as you also get PLR with this
* You can sell the package on eBay as well
Heck, if you send/post one message a week, you ve got enough for over a year.
==> http://mydigitaldispatch.com/recommends/affiliate-profits
These are already written, and TESTED emails guaranteed to make you maximum commissions.
Till next time,
Partner to Your Success,
-Socrates Socratous.
He was upset but I didnt say anything
I got a short story for you today Last Wednesday I stopped at a coffee shop to have some coffee and relax a bit. So I was sitting outside at the patio watching all these people in "work attire" rushing in and out the door to grab a quick coffee on their way to work This guy from the next table over [...]
I got a short story for you today
Last Wednesday I stopped at a coffee shop
to have some coffee and relax a bit.
So I was sitting outside at the patio watching
all these people in "work attire" rushing in and
out the door to grab a quick coffee on their
way to work
This guy from the next table over was complaining
to someone on his cellphone that "due to the economy"
canceled his internet connection at home and had to
come to the coffee shop to check his email every day.
I have nothing against cutting something you
dont need anymore, but why cut something you
need, or enjoy when you can have it for free.
That’s right.
a $30/month internet connection can be easily
covered with selling 1 (JUST ONE) $30 product
every month online.
a $25 water bill can be eliminated with a simple
website that makes 0.84cents a day.
Even though I did not say anythng to that man, he
made a good enough point to write this letter to you
hoping that you will see how valuable even a small
producing website can be to your lifestyle.
For step-by-step videos on how to create cash
producing websites that would cover your bills
one-by-one, go to the following page:
http://mydigitaldispatch.com/recommends/more-website-profit
Moral of the story.
Dont be scarcity minded. Stop listening to the negative
news about how the world is failing around you and begin
building your OWN future. Live your life on your terms
Make sure to take action on this today
http://mydigitaldispatch.com/recommends/more-website-profit
Partner to your Success,
-Socrates Socratous
Make MORE Money with PLR & Resell Rights Products
I sent the following email to my list some time ago and it received GREAT reviews from many subscribers so I posting it here for you. Here it goes: "Wanna know one of the most effective yet simple strategies of making MORE profit with resell right and private label rights products?" See most people that buy products to resell, are lazy. In fact, based [...]
I sent the following email to my list some time ago and
it received GREAT reviews from many subscribers so I posting
it here for you.
Here it goes:
"Wanna know one of the most effective yet
simple strategies of making MORE profit with
resell right and private label rights products?"
See most people that buy products to
resell, are lazy.
In fact, based on my research, most are
TOO lazy to even do ANYTHING at all.
(yet they complain they cant succeed)
From the few people that actually put
up a site or an auction listing, only
an even SMALLER group makes SIGNIFICANTLY
better profit.
What does this small group of people
do differently?
what separates them from their competition?
What separates them from you?
It is called…
DIFFERENTIATION
Big word isn’t it?
What they do is simply take a some time
changing the sales pages that come with
their resell right packages.
They add a bonus or two.
They work on the layout of the sales
page to make it different than the one
it came with.
The result?
Their sales page and Offer looks UNIQUE
it looks DIFFERENT than all the other reseller
pages (the lazy ones)
this way, when a visitor gets to their site
they don’t think…
"Oh, I ve seen this before.." and close the page
It looks NEW to them so they read the page,
buy the product and the seller’s bank accnt
gets loaded.
Why are most people LAZY to do this simple
thing?
Because doing it MANUALLY takes time.
It takes HOURS for each product.
Unless…
They use Sales Letter Factory
See, I created sales letter factory because
I was lazy BUT I still wanted to take advantage
of this powerful strategy.
With sales letter factory I can take ANY
resell right or PLR package and re-format it,
add bonuses, change graphics, etc
ALL in LESS than 20 minutes
Now YOU have no excuse for not making
your sales pages UNIQUE
Till midnight tonight (Sunday April 12th)
you can get Sales Letter Factory for half off
through this subscriber special page:
http://salesletterfactory.com/thank_you.php
This awesome product sells like crazy every day
at full price for a few more hours you can "steal"
it for half here:
http://salesletterfactory.com/thank_you.php
The page comes down midnight April 12 (PST)
Till next time,
Partner to Your Success,
-Socrates Socratous
P.S. this is NOT a "skinny" version of Sales Letter
Factory. You get the FULL latest version including
ALL bonuses at a "skinny" price here:
http://salesletterfactory.com/thank_you.php
New Free Video - Flipping PLR Products
I just finished making a video showing how to download, open, edit and repackage Private Label Right Products for reselling. Feel free to share and social bookmark (dont hotlink the videos, if you want to share, please send people to this post or directly to the video page) There are 2 versions of this video. If you want [...]
I just finished making a video showing how to download, open, edit and repackage Private Label Right Products for reselling.
Feel free to share and social bookmark (dont hotlink the videos, if you want to share, please send people to this post or directly to the video page)
There are 2 versions of this video.
If you want detailed, step by step basic instructions (great for newbies) watch the following video:
http://socratesblog.com/videos/plr_flipping.html
If you want the fast walkthrough with less detail, watch this one:
http://socratesblog.com/videos/plr_flipping_quick.html
Enjoy
Partner to Your Success,
-Socrates
P.S. Post your thoughts and comments below
How to Find Profitable Affiliate Products to Promote
I just created a new free video that many subscribers have been asking for. Go watch it here: http://SocratesBlog.com/videos/affiliate-success.html It’s about: -finding profitable affiliate products to promote on clickbank (not what you think) - Building a large, laser targeted keyword list to promote the affiliate products you discover - How to spy on the competition to find exactly what they are doing profitably and copy them Tell me what [...]
I just created a new free video that many
subscribers have been asking for.
Go watch it here:
It’s about:
-finding profitable affiliate
products to promote on clickbank
(not what you think)
- Building a large, laser targeted
keyword list to promote the affiliate
products you discover
- How to spy on the competition to
find exactly what they are doing
profitably and copy them
Tell me what you think
7 Things You MUST Have on Your Sales Page
It’s 11 am thursday morning and I am actually sitting at a coffee shop enjoying a nice cup of coffee with a friend. We just finished playing a 2 hour tennis game and we are getting ready to go have some more fun at the shooting range. My friend is on the phone so I decided to write an email and [...]
It’s 11 am thursday morning and I am actually
sitting at a coffee shop enjoying a nice cup
of coffee with a friend. We just finished playing
a 2 hour tennis game and we are getting ready
to go have some more fun at the shooting range.
My friend is on the phone so I decided to write
an email and share some quick tips that will help
you make more sales.
"7 things you MUST have on your Sales Page
that significantly increase sales"
1. A compelling Headline
Having a headline that states your BIGGEST
benefit and builds curiosity that leads your
reader to read further down your sales page
is a MUST.
MOST of your visitors will leave your page
BEFORE reading anything more than your headline
so the better the headline, the better the
chance to read more and close the sale
2. Listing your benefits
You should have a list of your benefits each
with an explanation on how this applies to
your reader (i.e. what is it going to do for them)
3. Testimonials
Do not underestimate the power of testimonials
Feedback from happy customers is one of the best
forms of "social proof".
If you are just starting out and have no
customers, there are a couple of things you
can do:
- ask friends and family to review your product
- Send review copies on forums to a few people
in return for a testimonial
- run a small PPC campaign before launching and
give free copies in return for feedback
4. An image that represents your product.
an ebook cover, a software box, a DVD box image
a report paperback cover image etc are some of the
ways you can represent a digital product.
The image is extremely powerful. A picture is
processed a LOT faster in people’s minds than
blocks of text describing what the picture showcases.
5. a Professionally looking design
If your website is NOT professionally looking,
then your potential customer will think that
is how sloppy your product is as well and NOT
buy from you.
A long form sales letter is Not the exception.
there are many things you can do to make it look
nicer. Here are a few:
- Put your letter in a 750 pixel table and center it
- Put your text on white background
- Use a border around your text
- Layout the elements of your sales letter using
"balanced" design principles
- Use spacing and white space to enhance reability
- etc etc
6. a PROMINANT order button/link
A light yellow box with a dotted border that
restates the main benefits and call to action
has proven to be a winner.
It is Extremely bad when your visitor is ready
to order and cannot find your order button
(it happened to me a few times.)
7. a Guarantee
You MUST have a quarantee. At least 60 days.
It always increases conversions.
But if you dont agree with me,
think about it this way:
Your customers can contact their banks and
do a chargeback which NOT only gives them
a refund, but also hurt you (you end up paying
on top of that). So why not offer the refund
since you gonna end up giving it anyway.
Just do it and you will see what I mean by
judging your results.
8. (bonus tip)
Your Bonuses.
Including relevant bonuses with your product
almost always increases conversions. It increases
your offer’s perceived value dramatically. Some
people will even buy your product JUST for the
bonuses. Make sure you give quality bonuses that
complement your product.
Ok, my friend has been off the phone for 5 min now
and he is pestering me to get going so I have to close.
(sorry if there are mistakes, no time to review)
BEFORE I go,
I want to remind you of the subscriber-only special
I am running on Sales Letter Factory until sunday.
Sales letter factory will put ALL of the above
FOR YOU on your sales letter (and a lot more)
It will guide you step-by-step, kinda forcing you
do create a GREAT, converting sales letter
Get all the details here:
== http://salesletterfactory.com/thank_you.php
Stay tuned for more tips soon
till next time,
Partner to Your Success,
-Socrates Socratous
P.S. Don’t take these tips lightly. USE THEM
you WILL have a much better Sales letter.
Notice:
Sales Letter Factory Subscriber-Only Special:
http://salesletterfactory.com/thank_you.php
Mottivational Quote - Plato
"Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow" -Plato Let me dear add something to this great quote: "Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow" …even if that someone is Yourself I love this quote. Making progress no matter how slow means one thing only. That you get Closer to your Goal. When it [...]
"Never discourage anyone who continually
makes progress, no matter how slow"
-Plato
Let me dear add something to this great quote:
"Never discourage anyone who continually
makes progress, no matter how slow"
…even if that someone is Yourself
I love this quote. Making progress no matter how slow means one thing only.
That you get Closer to your Goal.
When it comes to ourself, especially, we should be able to recognize and identify our progress and continue pushing forward. I find that a lot of people disregard small progress, view them as failures and give up on goals too early. Progress and results can be leveraged, but ONLY when you do not get discouraged and give up
Partner to Your Success,
-Socrates Socratous
P.S. Share your thoughts inthe comments section below.
2:56 AM | |
eilidh's memorial ride
This piece of film is a video done by IMG of a memorial bike ride that took place recently for a girl who worked there called Eilidh Cairns. She was killed in an accident with a lorry when cycling to...
This piece of film is a video done by IMG of a memorial bike ride that took place recently for a girl who worked there called Eilidh Cairns. She was killed in an accident with a lorry when cycling to work through Notting Hill earlier this year.
Eilidh was very good friend of one of our account directors, Helen, who asked us to post this piece of film both as a tribute to her friend but also as a reminder to everyone who cycles into work to take care.
Hundreds of people took part in the ride from Kentish Town (where Eilidh lived) to Notting Hill (where she died) and was organised by the guys at Fixed Gear.
It was an incredibly special day as you can see from the film.
We know this isn't traditional blog fare but it is supposed to be an uplifting tribute to Eilidh rather than a sad one. Now the days are getting sunnier and more and more people are cycling; it's just a reminder to stay safe when you're out there enjoying the cycle to and from work.
Eilidh's Memorial Ride from Giles Carlin on Vimeo.
we love boxie
Last week our friend Moxie, the girl behind the amazing iloveboxie.com tee shirt company came in and chatted to us about what she’s up to. Her story is shambolic, and eye opening. Maybe it's because of this that she makes...
Last week our friend Moxie, the girl behind the amazing iloveboxie.com tee shirt company came in and chatted to us about what she’s up to. Her story is shambolic, and eye opening. Maybe it's because of this that she makes such great tee shirts. Unlike anything else we’ve ever seen really. Worth a look, and a read if you have 5 minutes.
What's the strangest story someone has told you for a tee shirt?
Everything about I Love Boxie is strange. Nobody ever gets in touch and says 'I went to the park today and had a great day with my family, can I have a T shirt about that?' People write in and call with stories about the moments that don't hang in picture frames - broken love affairs, people they shouldn't have slept with, things they're furious about, things that started to happen and stopped too soon and grief. That makes us sound like a self help group. We are sometimes. But mostly, Boxie is a die hard, upbeat advocacy of existence - bruises and all. Our best selling tee is 'hey you and I are going to have a big love affair and it won't work but somewhere in the middle, my god, we tried.' Boxie is about the part where you tried. Our clients always talk to us late at night. There's no small talk and the heart of the story is got to in frank detail. The same with those who write to us. Our client then pays for his/her T Spoke but they have no idea what the line is until they open the tee a few days later in the mail so there's a huge suspense/surprise factor. Basically, strange is not strange here.
What would a great 2009 look like for boxie?
Getting to America. We're set up in London now, with helpers that can watch the shop so it feels like it's time to go on the road again. Suddenly America has the same lure to it like it did in the late 80s/early 90s - somewhere where something is going on and you want to be in on it or at least just there to make the T shirts. The plan is to journey across, stopping a stranger for a tale every few miles and re-telling the story of America on T spokes. When we reach California, we'll look back at a mad sprawl of a story which has to be worth something.
What inspired you to do what you¹re doing?
Some years ago, I went out with a T shirt maker. When we broke up I gave him 237 pages I'd written to say goodbye. He gave me a T shirt saying the same. The T shirt was better. At the same time, I was stuck at writing and my day job. I'd always been fixed on big end goals - by the time I was 30, I wanted to have written and made a movie, by the time I was 31, a novel. I got perfection-obsessed, would spend two days taking a comma out of a sentence and soon my words stopped making sense and were packaging for a heart that wasn't there. Then last summer, I stopped. I decided that I was never going to write a book, I was never going to make the movie, I was just going to make 3 or 4 good T shirts in my life and that would be OK. Everything changed. It's not about distillation - but finding the truth. The truth is always just a line.
How busy are you?
In November we were in some magazines and T spokes kicked off. On top of that we sell a lot of our regular line tees. The process of getting the T spoke is pretty quick. An ad hoc rule is if you don't get the line in the first 5 minutes of hearing the story then you won't get it. But there are some that can take longer. A girl wrote in and said her parents had pushed her to be an Olympic horse-rider from an early age. She developed all sorts of eating disorders so she'd sit lighter on the horse, then one night, she walked through town and got attacked. That pushed everything over the edge and she had to give up riding. Now, she was finally OK, and at the age of 15, she wanted to put all this behind her with a T spoke that wouldn't be at all specific. We couldn't get the line and nearly gave her a refund. Then we got- 'I lost it all on the horses, now I'm back on track.' She was thrilled. That takes a lot of time, but I have an imaginary assistant called Christopher and an email address for him. He gets cc'ed on emails whenever anything goes wrong, thereby implying it's Christopher's fault.
Where do you get your energy from?!
This is such a good time to be alive. There's something momentous and connected going on especially if you have creative aspirations. The old way is crumbling - the people who put creativity in a locked box and said you had to pay for a peek, and taking with them the ideas that you need X amount of cash to make something or more production values. Suddenly that stuff seems so old fashioned now. Sharing, openness, generosity of information, immediacy - everything the web's taught us is bleeding back into life. The people I meet are so free with their ideas and helping you or hooking you up with someone who can - it's real hippy stuff and it feels like what's going on is the beginnings of an awesome creative movement focussed on the process and not the end and making stuff, no matter how small. And I get energy from thinking about the possibilities of T shirts. How more than a vote or a roof over their head most people in the world seem to own a T shirt.
孬民横行网络，“孬民村”日益壮大
孬民横行网络，“孬民村”日益壮大
说到孬民，很多人第一反应就是“网络暴民”，但是这里的“孬民”和“暴民”是两个完全不同的概念。孬民随着流行网络搞笑视频节目《小孬的故事》的风行而出现，孬民就是故事中主角小孬的粉丝的意思。
《小孬的故事》由厦门大学几个学生业余创作，上线三周，网络点击突破200万，创造了网络视频收拾的奇迹。在 2008年6月26日由《海峡导报》对该视频及其创作团队进行报道之后，目前该视频的网络收视进一步火爆，孬民QQ群由原来的3个增长到8个，孬民集散中心孬民论坛www.xiaonao.tv的注册用户也在与日俱增。
随着《小孬的故事》的流行，孬民正在网络横行，孬民村的规模也在日益强大。孬民村的生活也越来越丰富，大家用“孬而不坏”的视角解读社会转型期的烦恼，在“成长的烦恼”中寻找生活的乐趣和社会的闪光点。
Finland and philosophy
A philosophical trip to Finland for a few of us last week. We were lucky enough to spend a couple of days north of Helsinki with preeminent Finnish Philosopher and occasional celebrity Esa Saarinen , who spoke eloquently about everything...
A philosophical trip to Finland for a few of us last week. We were lucky enough to spend a couple of days north of Helsinki with preeminent Finnish Philosopher and occasional celebrity Esa Saarinen , who spoke eloquently about everything from Mohammad Ali to the Three Tenors. It was brilliant stuff, and several hugs, even a few tears later, we left changed. And a bit hungover.
Richard, Esa and Graeme.
Feh and Liana.
words of advice for young people
Sophie, Ben and Lucy have compiled a list of 11 tips that they think could be useful for student or junior creatives who are compiling portfolios and looking for placements/jobs. We get inundated with requests to see junior books and...
Sophie, Ben and Lucy have compiled a list of 11 tips that they think could be useful for student or junior creatives who are compiling portfolios and looking for placements/jobs.
We get inundated with requests to see junior books and unfortunately there aren’t enough spare hours in the day to see all these folks.
But this way we can direct them easily to a bit of help.
The tips are below.
Creative placements
We do hire junior creative teams on a short term placement basis; usually a four week stint. We usually do about ten placements a year so there’s often a bit of a waiting list. We like to see teams and their books at least a couple of times before we invite them to stay.
We do these so that teams get to experience life in an ad agency.
If you’re interested in a creative work placement then please contact Ben Everitt or Sophie Bodoh via e-mail on ben.everitt@wk.com or sophie.bodoh@wk.com.
Ben and Sophie’s top 11 book tips.
We decided to write a list of things we’ve learned along the way. This is just what we think, somebody else’s tips might be completely different.
1. Keep it quick. Creatives looking at your book have limited time so make the most of the opportunity. Keep storyboards and radio short and sweet.
2. A balanced book tends to have between 7-9 ad campaigns and a few other creative ideas.
3. Get to the bottom of a brand. Try to find out what makes them different to everyone else and what’s at the heart of their product and their company.
4. Demonstrate different tones of voice. How does this brand talk to people? What’s their personality?
5. Find different ways of talking to people. You don’t always need to conform to the conventional. Logos don’t have to sit in corners. Photos don’t have to be funny. And long copy is not scary.
6. Do more than just press ads. There are many other interesting ways of exploring an idea. What are the appropriate media for your idea? What medium is right for your audience? What will draw people in and surprise them? (TV, press, radio, online, viral, ambient, talking dogs…)
8. Expand at least one of your ideas into a big campaign and prove it’s not just a one off poster or TV ad.
9. We like to find out about you as well as seeing your book. Show us your matchbox collection, the short film that you’re making on the side or your greatest baking success. We see tons of ads, but sometimes it’s these little funny things that sums up who you are.
7. Listen and take notes too. You’d be surprised how many people don’t! Which is annoying to creatives who’ve given up their time to see you.
10. The advertising world is small so don’t piss people off or others might get to hear about it.
11. If you like a particular team, try to go back to them again with more work. Try to build a relationship. This will help you make more contacts, they may recommend you to their advertising friends and colleagues.
There you go.
Our Doors Are Now Open
Welcome to Myblog.com.my. Your new blogging experience for malaysian... The idea of creating myBlog are driven by the fact that Malaysian has yet to see a Made in Malaysia Blog portal . Here we provide you with a platform for you to share your thoughts — whatever it may be about... your life, current ...
Welcome to Myblog.com.my. Your new blogging experience for malaysian…
The idea of creating myBlog are driven by the fact that Malaysian has yet to see a Made in Malaysia Blog portal . Here we provide you with a platform for you to share your thoughts — whatever it may be about… your life, current events or anything else that you like to discuss — with the world.
We’ve currently developing an extensive a host of features to make your experience in blogging as simple and effective as possible. We welcome you to sign in to start blogging even during our development .
Made in Malaysia.
新浪魔方 能否成功？
�� 新浪魔方是新浪继百度推出百度hi后，网络世界的又一枚im类重量级导弹。
�� 官方解释新浪魔方是一个WEB应用桌面化的工具,此产品由通讯工具、具娱乐实用性组件组,是新浪用户与新浪平台、用户与用户之间的信,息交互工具为用户提供便捷的信息交流。�那么新浪此次出招，到底能否振臂一呼，应者云集呢？
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新浪魔方撬动网络世界的支撑点�
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样子简直酷毙了
��� 普通产品讲究包装，良好的包装是产品成功的第一步，它给人的是第一感观，也就是心理学常说的“首音效应”，俗话说的第一印象，一见钟情，都是由于形象包装的打动，因此网络产品无疑也不能逃脱这个宿命。
��� 魔方，将世界上最成功的iphone设计精华搞了个“拿来主义”，copy了一下，直接网络产品化，真的是让人眼前一亮。iphone和苹果产品对这类经典的设计风格早就做足了前提的诠释工作，所以魔方整个的设计风格，让人第一次看上去，就自然显的很经典、时尚、高雅。
�� 一句话，很酷，很强大！
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超级强大的用户群
��� 新浪作为中国的超级门户级的网站，特别是新浪新闻的品牌知名度，以及网站各个频道、新闻、博客、播客、还有先前uc积累起来的人气和用户，都为魔方的诞生做足了功夫，为魔方奠定了强大的用户群基础，相信这个人群技术是除了qq用户，再也没有别人站出来可以匹敌了。
��� 毛主席宣扬的人多力量大，在如今的网络时代终成现实，巨大的网站人气和流量必然会为网站新产品和新的附加服务带来绝佳的机遇。�别人暂且不提，就是单单凭借他的这些明星博客的巨大号召力和草根博客的巨大辐射力的，就足以让魔方横行天下了。���
新浪魔方就是个web2.0万花筒
���某位it名人曾经戏称腾讯是it界的包工头，说网络上该有的东西，基本腾讯都有了。而且更为可恨的是腾讯的每次出击都会把竞争对手打得溃不成军，腾讯推出网络游戏平台，联众就俯首称臣；腾讯推出滔滔，王兴同学的饭否就没有饭吃了；腾讯推出个拍拍，没有花一分钱的宣传费用，就让马云着实留了把汗。
�� 很显然，魔方的出世，预示了另外一个包工头的哇哇落地，魔方就是一个新浪结合几乎自己所有产品的（主要是web2.0产品）的一个万花筒，魔法的推出，无疑是吹响了产品彻底桌面化的号角，它融合了新浪诸多的产品功能，大大简化了进入各个产品频道的步骤和速度，提高了用户的访问效率。
�� 从另一个方面将，魔法也是wedget（微聚特）的一个良好运用，不但得到了wedget（微聚特）一切产品应用桌面化的文化精髓，而且也开发了相关的实际运用组件，比方说星座运势、时钟功能、天气预报、股票走势等等的组件，为将来组件的扩展打下了良好的基础。
新浪魔方的创新小功能
�� 魔方的消息窗口会不断更新你的好友消息，无论是发表新的博客、新的视频、新的图片，还是回复了新的消息、加入了哪个圈子，只要是好友愿意公开的消息，消息窗口都会实时显示这些好友的最新消息，简直就是一个桌面上的微博客。
�� 当然你也可以使用先进的rss订阅功能，只要你在“订阅管理”栏目里输入你想关注的博客地址，就可以随时看到订阅博客的动态消息了，方便实用，再也不用整天挨个去圈子里找这些博主的链接了。
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新浪魔方瑕可能掩玉之处
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博客的入口太复杂
��想要进入自己的博客，有两种途径：一个是通过新浪模仿窗口的“博客”栏目，点击最下方的“我的博客”；一个是先进入空间，再访问博客。
��这两个方式都要经过两个步骤，绕个圈子，才可以进入目的地，都有点画蛇添足，不够简洁。作为经常写博客的博主来说，如果可以开通个一票直达，节约时间。
没有清晰的盈利模式
�� qq之所以成功，就是因为他依托强大的用户群体，合理的开发了无数的增值服务，鑚的才盆满钵满。
�� 但是新浪到目前为止，虽然也是依托博客，有了超高的人气和流量，但是盈利模式依然是云里雾里，摸不着头脑。
�� 当然，最近新浪也要推出一个广告共享计划，但是也只能是不断的试探，不断的求索，其盈利漫漫之路，其修远兮啊。
�� 如果可以借鉴一下qq的模式，不妨增加网络购物频道、在线游戏频道、企业博客定制规划服务等等附加值服务，也不失为一个良好的选择。
推广之道
�� 产品的成功只是未来成功的基础和保证，也是未来万里长征的第一步。新浪魔方目前处于试运行状态，正式运营后，应该首先从新浪博客的首页推荐使用，然后邀请新浪长期积累下的各行各业有影响力的明星博主写使用感想文章，让博主自己来推广、推荐，实行病毒营销。
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�� 新浪魔方的方向选择无疑是正确无误的，而且通过近几天的试用，笔者也确实感受到了她的魔力所在，只要推广的当，前途必将是很好，很强大！
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顶级域名的新时代
���� “.com”时代是否要结束了？上周在巴黎举行的会议上，监管者们表决允许企业购买自己的“顶级域名”(TLD)。顶级域名指的是互联网域名的最后一段，如“FT.com”中的“com”。目前，企业必须按所属组织类型和所在地选择网址的后缀。但以后就不是这样了。网站很快就可以选择自己的顶级域名了，这是正确的。
��� 很多这类新网址是可以预料到的，如drink.pepsi（饮料.百事）、eat.mcdonalds（吃.麦当劳）或hillary.clinton2012（希拉里.克林顿2012）、小孬的故事（gushi.xiaonao）。界限就是天底下[当然，除非你买的域名是.outerspace（.外太空）]。企业可以随心所欲地设立域名。第一个以俳句作为网址的，应该给它颁个奖。
���� 然而，这一变化并非没有坏处。它可能对国际发展产生不利影响。图瓦卢目前每年从发放其国家域名“.tv”的使用许可上获得400万美元收入。密克罗尼西亚联邦(“.fm”)、吉布提(“.dj”)和汤加(“.to”)等也可能受影响。
���� 还有人担心，我们将给后代留下一个怎样的世界？域名监管机构一名可能因没有得到首选电邮地址而受到心理创伤的董事发表了颇具启示性的言论：“我当然不想让子孙后代回过头来鄙视我们没有管理好有限的顶级域名资源。”
��� 其实，天佬认为，域名就是一个代号而已，世界本来就是多元的，丰富的，精彩的，什么是创新？什么是进步?不拘泥于形式，程式，就是！
抵制赵半狄之抵制《功夫熊猫》狭隘行为
�狂晕事件回放：
���� 前天上午，“艺术家”赵半狄来到国家广电总局 电影 局，呼吁抵制好莱坞电影 《功夫熊猫》 在中国的上映，他给出的理由只有：
1、好莱坞在莎朗·斯通发表对中国地震的言论后，又跑到劫后余生的中国“捞金”不合适。
2、《功夫熊猫》“盗窃”中国的国宝和功夫。
��对于赵半狄的呼吁，电影局有关领导给予接待，表示理解群众的情绪。
而且，赵半狄就和朋友们竟然举着“不容许好莱坞在劫后余生的中国捞金”的横幅横行到广电总局。声明中赵半狄称“好莱坞，它的气质和价值观会产生大量莎朗·斯通这样的人物。这样的好莱坞，还要在劫后余生的中国捞金。”
另外，赵半狄他们还认为，《功夫熊猫》“盗窃”中国的国宝和功夫，编织着美式“励志”故事，虎视眈眈的还是中国人的钱包。
但赵半狄同时表示，自己并未看过《功夫熊猫》。
80后广告人天佬观点：
首先，“艺术家”赵半狄确实为国宝熊猫做出了点贡献，我们不能完全否定他个人；
其次，他的这个抵制，有点此地无银三百两之意，目的不纯，炒作意图太过明显；
再次，你都没看过《功夫熊猫》，单凭一个影片题目，空穴来风，随意职责，你凭什么就抵制《功夫熊猫》？此类行为太不负责了，这部明显的没吃到葡萄呢，就瞎喊葡萄酸了。
毛主席都教导了：没有调查就没有发言权，此类搞笑行为已经构成严重诬陷。
第四，“好莱坞在莎朗·斯通发表对中国地震的言论后，又跑到劫后余生的中国“捞金”不合适。”，这个莎朗·斯通跟这个《功夫熊猫》有啥屁关系啊？八竿子都舞不着，硬往一块扯，那莎朗·斯通没人性，就不要再给他造知名度了，还有好莱坞有很多演员还是不错的，不能因为这只老鼠就坏了一锅粥，不能把人家好莱坞全给灭了，都民主时代了，还搞株连九族！还有，谁家的电影拍出来不都是卖钱的，有种你别以艺术的名义鑚钱啊？《功夫熊猫》开拍之前，是没有预料到地震嘀，这个灾难对于我们是个噩耗，但是我们不能因为灾难而倒下去啊，而反对国宝啊？没道理嘛。
不过，这点《功夫熊猫》倒是可以把票房的一部份捐献给灾区，四川灾区。
第五、“功夫熊猫》“盗窃”中国的国宝和功夫”更是把某人的狭隘的思想表现的一览无余，都nnd 21世界了，你知道啥是全球化吗？啥是民族的才是世界的吗？人家给你宣传，你还说人家是婊子，太过分了。让人心寒啊。李小龙、成龙、李连杰这些好莱坞的华人巨星，哪一个不是靠着中国功夫走俏的？你难道说他们也是“窃取”？无理取闹。
最后，声明本人跟《功夫熊猫》无任何关系，纯属是路见不平，不得不拔刀相助！赵半狄老师啊，不要再这么幼稚了，都21世纪了，别再闭关锁国了，行吗？
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2:39 AM | |
Neal Gillis on 'Holman Building Loses its Skin'
I saw them removing these panels this morning whilst waiting on the bus. I was also thinking that it was such a shame that they covered that brick up in the first place.
idiots101 on 'Good Map of Europe'
WHERES THE MAP U TARDS?????????????
sam on 'Tim Hortons Cup Sizes: Canada vs. USA'
It is the same with the fast food restaurants. For example a small fries( At MacDonald's) in The US is a medium in Canada. I guess our neighbors like to supersize everything
Paul Lopes on 'Casa Mia Daily Specials Pilot'
I'd like to volunteer to be a taste tester on future lunch specials. Great job on the video editing btw. Very pro.
RITA on 'WVOM'
Bruce Williams, the financial wizard, could be of help to a number of individuals during these tough economic times! (I assume that he is physically well and still working as a radio host).
Mitsy on 'MSN Messenger on my Cell Phone'
Whats up this sounds fun hope it is
Shae on 'Lessons I've Learned from my Gallbladder'
WOW I am so blessed to have stumbled accross this site... like many people have said it feels like im looking into a mirror reflecting my story too! I am 24, F, australia and though I was having a heart attack in october 08. I had been out to dinner, eating Indian food then topped it off with a chocolate fountain. So I woke up that night in the worst pain i had ever experienced and after 7 hours of pain, and my chest becomming tighter and tighter I went to hospital. They said it was probably gallbladder related but not to worry and come back if it happens again. I then went to the USA over christmas and the attacks came back - but this time not as bad as my first but lasted any where from 40mins to 9 hours. Once I landed back in Australia I booked in to see the doctor and yes I have a large amount of gallstone (too many to count) but they are really small like little grains of sand (maybe slightly bigger)so I then went on a fat free diet and have lost 10pounds and have seen the surgeon. They are ready to pperate when Im ready but i have been on a low fat diet since januiary and recently NOT so low fat and I have had NO attacks.... so im very encouraged by peoples stories of quick recovery after surgery and those of you who are sticking with the low fat diet.... hopefully the diet will be enough for me!
Thanks for all the posts - SO comforting!
Don on 'LibraryThing'
Hi Peter: How successful was the iSight at capturing the barcodes? Books for MacOSX [ http://books.aetherial.net/wordpress/ ], an open-source book cataloging application, allows you to use your iSight to capture barcodes, but it hasn't worked for me yet.
2:39 AM | |
1. Introduction to Healthy Aging
Archives of Internal Medicine, Circulation, Hypertension, Stroke, Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Annals of Medicine, Neurology, Diabetes Care, Diabetes, Geriatrics, Cancer, etc: Other sources are provided by some of our partners, who have
Archives of Internal Medicine, Circulation, Hypertension, Stroke, Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Annals of Medicine, Neurology, Diabetes Care, Diabetes, Geriatrics, Cancer, etc: Other sources are provided by some of our partners, who have more
Happy Anniversary! This Blog Has Been Nuked!
It was one year ago today I started this blog. Now this: This blog is now over. No more posts. No updates. Nothing. You got what you didn’t pay for, now you’re not getting it any longer. And that is that. I reserve the right to totally delete this blog at some point of my own imperious and absolutely mercurial choosing. [...]
It was one year ago today I started this blog.
Now this:
This blog is now over.
No more posts.
No updates.
Nothing.
You got what you didn’t pay for, now you’re not getting it any longer.
And that is that.
I reserve the right to totally delete this blog at some point of my own imperious and absolutely mercurial choosing.
Ignore messy rooms, hair dye - experts
Parents need to promote healthy nutrition and exercise. Ensure there is always healthy nutrition in the family and that you promote good eating and exercise habits yourself." Signs of potential eating problems are a marked increase or decrease in
Parents need to promote healthy nutrition and exercise. Ensure there is always healthy nutrition in the family and that you promote good eating and exercise habits yourself." Signs of potential eating problems are a marked increase or decrease in see more
Special options are available to registered members.
Speakers will present general diabetes information, meal planning/nutrition, medical management of diabetes, and resources available in the community. The Diabetes Expo is offered in partnership with South Central District Health, St. Benedicts Family
Speakers will present general diabetes information, meal planning/nutrition, medical management of diabetes, and resources available in the community. The Diabetes Expo is offered in partnership with South Central District Health, St. Benedicts Family more
Transcript: Interview with Carlos Slim
Nutrition, education and health. That is the most important part of human capital, above all if we bear in mind that we live in a civilisation in which knowledge is fundamental. Technology has developed to such an extent that productivity is enormous
Nutrition, education and health. That is the most important part of human capital, above all if we bear in mind that we live in a civilisation in which knowledge is fundamental. Technology has developed to such an extent that productivity is enormous see more
E-mail this story
Monies were used for a variety of projects throughout the year including offering a comprehensive nutrition, wellness and fitness program free of charge to any county resident. Additional grant monies were also earmarked for a one-mile extension of
Monies were used for a variety of projects throughout the year including offering a comprehensive nutrition, wellness and fitness program free of charge to any county resident. Additional grant monies were also earmarked for a one-mile extension of read more
SAVING NADIA
Piccoli, director of the liver center and chief of the division of gastroenterology and nutrition at CHOP. But, he said, the prognosis was not as bright as it would be if Nadia were younger and her liver not as severely damaged. In medicine
Piccoli, director of the liver center and chief of the division of gastroenterology and nutrition at CHOP. But, he said, the prognosis was not as bright as it would be if Nadia were younger and her liver not as severely damaged. In medicine read more
2:45 AM | |
4 alternatives to the traditional face-lift
GOOD NUTRITION, VITAMIN THERAPY The theory: Healthy skin comes from the inside. The lowdown: You can get a face-lift or a shot of Botox, but what's that really doing to your skin? Nothing, said Dr. Howard Murad, author of "The Wrinkle Cure" and
GOOD NUTRITION, VITAMIN THERAPY The theory: Healthy skin comes from the inside. The lowdown: You can get a face-lift or a shot of Botox, but what's that really doing to your skin? Nothing, said Dr. Howard Murad, author of "The Wrinkle Cure" and more
Make healthy, nutritious food fun for your children
With the news that 30 percent of America’s children are either overweight or “at risk” of becoming overweight, parents are scrambling for mealtime solutions that balance good taste with good-for-you nutrition. And that is certainly an important
With the news that 30 percent of America’s children are either overweight or “at risk” of becoming overweight, parents are scrambling for mealtime solutions that balance good taste with good-for-you nutrition. And that is certainly an important link
Increased Demand For Health Protection Officers
In response, the University's Institute for Food, Nutrition and Human Health has launched a new programme in human health and the environment on its Wellington campus. Study can be in a mixed mode, with a combination of extramural and internally
In response, the University's Institute for Food, Nutrition and Human Health has launched a new programme in human health and the environment on its Wellington campus. Study can be in a mixed mode, with a combination of extramural and internally more
Cancer retreat planned for November
At the retreat, people learn about cancer and its treatment, the role of nutrition and complimentary therapy; stress reduction; mind and body connection; medication and principles of mindfulness. The retreat allows people to relax their bodies, calm
At the retreat, people learn about cancer and its treatment, the role of nutrition and complimentary therapy; stress reduction; mind and body connection; medication and principles of mindfulness. The retreat allows people to relax their bodies, calm link
Finding, using quality child care essential
facilities are evaluated on several criteria, including: quality of relationships between the caregivers, the children and their families; activities and curriculum offered; staff training; physical environment; health and safety; nutrition; and
Facilities are evaluated on several criteria, including: quality of relationships between the caregivers, the children and their families; activities and curriculum offered; staff training; physical environment; health and safety; nutrition; and more
David McMillian: Focusing on revenge has negative impact on the …
Gould says "food is more than nutrition," and points out that "kids get treats when they're good or when they scrape their knee. It's an expression of nurturance." I grew up with "hot at 4 o'clock" doughnuts that seemed, to me, to be just about the
Gould says "food is more than nutrition," and points out that "kids get treats when they're good or when they scrape their knee. It's an expression of nurturance." I grew up with "hot at 4 o'clock" doughnuts that seemed, to me, to be just about the link
2:54 AM | |
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2:54 AM | |
More Support for Comprehensive Immigration Reform
Many law enforcement officials support comprehensive immigration reform that addresses the issue in a realistic and rational, rather than emotional, manner
You don’t need me to tell you that undocumented immigration is one of the most controversial and emotional issues in American society today. It is an issue that cuts across and divides members within a particular racial, ethnic, or cultural group. In fact, some of the most heated arguments that I’ve had about undocumented immigration has been with other Asian Americans.
Many critics of undocumented immigrants argue that the only realistic or effective solution is mass deportation of the estimated 12 million undocumented immigrants currently in the country. Scholars call this approach the “enforcement only” approach. On the other hand, others believe that in order to “cure the disease” rather than simply treating the symptoms is through the “comprehensive reform” approach.
Such proposals include securing points of entry at the border and criminal punishment for the most dangerous undocumented immigrants but just as important, emphasizes ways to deal with the undeniable need for immigrant labor within the U.S. economy, settling the status of the undocumented immigrants already in the country in a fair and humane way, working with sending countries on policies that reduce the push their citizens feel to come to the U.S.
Many Americans might assume that law enforcement officials around the country, particularly in the border states of California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, are more likely to support the “enforcement only” proposals. But as Seth Hoy at the Immigration Policy Center writes in their blog Immigration Impacts, many in the law enforcement community are pleading for comprehensive reform:
In a recent Washington Post editorial, Phoenix Police Chief Jack Harris asserts that focusing his attention on real criminals rather than economic migrants has not only lowered the city’s crime rate, it has also enabled police to maintain a closer relationship with the communities they serve. For Harris, who likened border enforcement to bailing an ocean with a thimble, “the answer is not in Phoenix. The answer is in Washington.”
Don’t give me 50 more officers to deal with the symptoms. Rather, give me comprehensive immigration reform that controls the borders, provides for whatever seasonal immigration the nation wants, and one way or another settles the status of the 12 million who are here illegally — 55 percent of whom have been here at least eight years. For those whose profession it is, law enforcement sometimes seems like bailing an ocean with a thimble.No one disagrees that violence, drug cartels and human smuggling on the border are real problems that warrant real and sensible solutions, but conflating drug smugglers with economic migrants is not effective or helpful. Effective border enforcement needs to be carried out in consultation with border communities—communities whose resources are currently being diverted from arresting actual violent criminals to “chasing bus boys around the desert.”
Most state and local police departments will tell you that in order to do their jobs effectively, they rely on community policing policies which encourage immigrants to step out of the shadows, report crimes and access police protection. According to the Major Cities Chiefs Association, a committee made up of police chiefs from across the country, cooperation from the immigrant community keeps crime rates lower.
Without assurances that contact with the police would not result in purely civil immigration enforcement action, the hard won trust, communication and cooperation from the immigrant community would disappear…Such a divide between the local police and immigrant groups would result in increased crime against immigrants and in the broader community, create a class of silent victims and eliminate the potential for assistance from immigrants in solving crimes or preventing future terroristic acts.
Certainly, the debate about the best way to address the undocumented immigration issue will continue. Nonetheless, I think the opinions of law enforcement officials on how they would like to see our government best address the issue carries a lot of weight.
On a lighter and not-quite-related note, Jon Stewart from The Daily Show recently had a brief video segment on patrolling the border, embedded below.
Trying to Understand the Binghampton Tragedy
Understanding the Binghampton shootings from a sociological point of view, and how such a tragedy can help bring Americans closer together.
I’m sure you have heard by now about the tragedy in Binghampton, New York this past week, when Jiverly Wong (a Vietnamese American of Chinese ancestry) shot and killed 14 people at the American Civic Association immigrant assistance center, then shot himself. I join others in offering my sincere condolences to the family of those killed and to all affected by these shocking events.
In trying to understand this tragedy from a sociological point of view, I am reminded of just how similar this latest incident of violence is to the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, when troubled Korean American student Seung-Hui Cho killed 33 students and professors before killing himself. Both cases involved a lone gunman who was personally very troubled and perhaps even mentally ill, who felt ridiculed and demeaned by others around him, and who had trouble fitting into mainstream American society.
And of course, both the killers were Asian American.
Inevitably, there will be those who will generalize these and other incidents that involved violence and murder committed by other Americans of Asian descent that have made the news in recent years, and conclude that Asian Americans are inherently socially awkward, emotionally and mentally unstable or inferior, and/or prone to violence. In fact, I felt the same kind of dread that I felt back in 2007 when I heard that the shooter in the Binghampton murders was identified as being of Asian descent.
Let’s put that unfortunate and misguided generalization to rest right now — as the official FBI statistics show, in 2007, in cases where the race/ethnicity of murder offenders is known, those classified as “Other” (the category that includes Asian Americans) represent only 2% of all murder offenders (keeping in mind that Asian Americans comprise 5% of the total U.S. population). More generally, research consistently shows that immigrants actually have lower crime rates than their U.S.-born counterparts (see Reid et al., (2005), “The Immigration-Crime Relationship.” Social Science Research 34:757-780).
Back to more realistic issues, from a sociological point of view, the most interesting difference between the Virginia Tech and Binghampton shootings is the race/ethnicity of the victims. At Virginia Tech, almost all of the victims were White and U.S.-born, whereas here in the Binghampton case, almost all of the victims were non-White and immigrants. Does this mean anything — is this difference significant?
Immigration (both undocumented and legal) is still a very hotly-debated and controversial issue in our society these days, and I’m sure there are some Americans who — consciously or unconsciously — downplay the significance of these Binghampton murder victims by rationalizing that as immigrants, they weren’t “real” or “legitimate” Americans anyway and that therefore, their lives are somehow devalued.
But I hypothesize that the overwhelming majority of Americans do not distinguish between the racial/ethnic identities of the murder victims and that as victims of a senseless tragedy, there is no distinction based on any status.
Ultimately, I actually think that it is this kind of unity of compassion regarding the victims of such tragedies that can serve to bring all Americans closer together. That is, as Americans and as human beings, we can hopefully all share in sympathizing with the families of these senseless shootings. Further, again as Americans, we probably also share the same worries about how the current economic recession will affect our lives and our future, a factor that, along with his apparent mental issues, may have contributed to pushing Jiverly Wong over the edge when he lost his job a few months ago.
In other words, even though we don’t contemplate shooting people after losing our jobs, many of us share the same worries when it comes to how we will pay our bills and save for our children’s future in these tough financial times. Through these kinds of difficulties, a few may unfortunately snap like Wong did, but many more will remember the humanity in us all and the need to help and support others like us so that we can all come out better in the end, like these examples below show us.
Questioning the ‘American’ in Asian American
Examining three recent events in which Asian Americans were questioned and challenged on whether they were really "American."
I previously wrote about the evolution of the American identity and how in the context of American society becoming more diverse and globalized, we as Asian Americans now have the opportunity to use our transnational cultural ties and networks to make meaningful contributions to moving American society and its economy forward into the 21st century. In other words, our “foreignness” may finally be seen as an asset, rather than a liability.
Having said that, I also recognize that there are still “traditional” beliefs about what it means to be an American that we need to overcome and persistent stereotypes about our Asian identity and loyalty to the U.S. that we still need to dispel once and for all. This week, we saw three examples on this kind of “traditional” assumptions about our community and questions about the validity of the “American” part of our identity as Asian Americans.
The first example involves Lori Phanachone, a Laotian American high school student in Des Moines Iowa, who refused to take an English fluency test, arguing that as an Honors student for several years and one who speaks perfect English, the test is insulting, demeaning, and discriminatory. She was initially suspended by her school district and her National Honor Society membership was revoked. Earlier this week, after a lawsuit threat by the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), the Iowa school district finally relented, reclassified Lori as an English proficient student, will waive the test requirement, and reinstate her National Honor Society membership:
Lori Phanachone, a senior who ranks seventh in her class of about 119 and has a 3.9 grade point average, refused to take the English Language Development Assessment several times last month, saying the test was demeaning and racist. Previously, the school district’s curriculum coordinator, Lori Porsche, said taking the test was mandatory for Phanachone because she indicated on her school registration that English was not the first language spoken in her home.
Her parents are Laotian and still speak little English. Phanachone, who was born in California and lived in upstate New York before moving to Storm Lake with her family in 2006, said she has never been enrolled in any English Language Learning or English as a Second Language program.
In the second example in which Asian Americans were questioned on their American identity, as the Houston Chronicle reports, Texas state Republican representative Betty Brown recently urged Asian Americans to change their names to “simpler,” more Americanized names that would be “easier for Americans to deal with”:
A North Texas legislator during House testimony on voter identification legislation said Asian-descent voters should adopt names that are “easier for Americans to deal with.” The comments caused the Texas Democratic Party on Wednesday to demand an apology from state Rep. Betty Brown, R-Terrell. But a spokesman for Brown said her comments were only an attempt to overcome problems with identifying Asian names for voting purposes. . . .
“Rather than everyone here having to learn Chinese — I understand it’s a rather difficult language — do you think that it would behoove you and your citizens to adopt a name that we could deal with more readily here?” Brown said. Brown later told [Organization of Chinese Americans representative Ramsey] Ko: “Can’t you see that this is something that would make it a lot easier for you and the people who are poll workers if you could adopt a name just for identification purposes that’s easier for Americans to deal with?”
Finally, the third example involved an incident that unfortunately, too many Asian Americans (especially students) are familiar with. As described in a newly-created Facebook group, this particular example occurred at Tufts University in Boston:
There was a bias incident involving members of the Korean Students Association (KSA) that took place in the early morning hours on Thursday, April 9, in Lewis Hall Lounge, while the club members were practicing for their culture show.
At approximately 1:45AM, a white freshman male living in Lewis Hall approached five male members who were practicing their dance. He had been drinking at a bar prior to arriving at Lewis Hall. He insisted several times that the KSA members teach him the moves to their dance and was repeatedly asked to stop. Despite this request, he continued to molest the dancers, imitating the dance moves and declaring, “This is the gayest shit I’ve ever done.”
The KSA members then asked him to leave, to which he responded, “Fuck you. Fuck you, I could take all of you. I’ll kill you all.” He then threatened to get his fraternity brothers to help him retaliate. At this point, he began to physically harass the dancers, spitting at one member and shoving another one of the guys. An altercation ensued during which the freshman ripped two shirts and inflicted minor cuts to a member’s forehead. In order to restrain him, the KSA members pinned him to the floor and put him into a headlock, at which point the freshman mentioned that he could not breathe and the person holding him down immediately let go.
At this moment, the freshman’s friend and his girlfriend, who watched from the side, stepped in to take him away. When he got up, he started cursing “Fuck you, fuck you” and spitting at the dancers again. As he was being dragged away, he shouted, “Fuck you all, you fucking chinks, go back to China! Go back to your fucking country, you don’t belong in this country.”
His friends took him to the bathroom, where he could be heard repeatedly shouting, “If I see them again, I will fuck them all.” The fight was reported to an RA, who wrote and sent in a bias incident report. According to the RA, submitted within the report was testimony from his girlfriend supporting the fact that her boyfriend initiated the altercation.
In all three incidents, the assumption is pretty clear — that because we may happen to speak a language other than English at home (even though we are still completely fluent in English), or because we don’t have Anglicized “American” names like Smith or Jones, or because we don’t want to indulge the whims of a drunken frat guy, that we as Asian Americans are not real or legitimate Americans. Instead, we’re considered foreigners, outsiders, and troublemakers who make unreasonable demands.
Beyond the sheer ignorance and ethnocentric beliefs fundamentally embedded in these assumptions, what the Iowa school district, Rep. Brown, and the drunken frat guy all fail to see is that contrary to the stereotype that we are intent from being separate from mainstream society, our history and experiences consistently show that we’ve been trying to integrate into mainstream American society all along. In these three cases, it involved using our bilingual skills to help ease our parents into American culture, trying to make sure voting records are correct so that we can participate in the American democratic process, and putting on a performance that bridges Asia and America.
But as with previous incidents and examples over the past 150 years or so since the first Asians immigrated to the U.S. in large numbers, even as we attempt to become Americans and integrate into mainstream American society, we are questioned, challenged, and prevented from doing so time and time again by those who consciously or unconsciously believe that only one group qualifies to be a “real” American — Whites.
Unfortunately, as these three recent incidents demonstrate, this kind of ignorant, narrow-minded, and short-sighted thinking is still with us today and still confronts us as Americans of Asian descent.
The Tata Nano: India’s People Car is Here
Analyzing the economic, political, and cultural skepticism and criticism of Tata Motors' Nano car from India.
For those who follow the automotive industry, you may have heard about Tata Motors — India’s biggest automaker. Corresponding with the political and economic rise of India in general in the past decade or so, Tata Motors is also emerging as a major international automaker. As one example, in 2008, it purchased the Jaguar and Land Rover luxury car businesses from Ford Motor Company.
Another reason Tata Motors has been making the news is that last year, it created a sensation when it announced that it would mass-produce a car for emerging countries called the Nano that would sell for about US$2,000, making it the cheapest new car available in the world. Speculation was rampant that it was technically and financially impossible, or that the final product would be nothing more than a rickshaw with bumpers.
Well, Tata’s Nano is finally here and as Edmunds Motor News reports, it is a real, legitimate car that in many ways, is a technical marvel:
The 2009 Tata Nano has the hopes and dreams of all India riding upon its tiny fenders. With a starting price of only $2,000, the Nano has been built to provide affordable all-weather transportation to those who might have never before been able to afford a car. . . .
When you see the 2009 Tata Nano in person, the first shock — other than its incredibly low price — is that the car looks, well, exactly like a car! . . . Media reports have run rampant with rumors that the Nano’s body is plastic, the chassis is glued together, or that the motor is powered by a hamster in a wheel. None of these are true. In fact, the Nano is remarkably simple in terms of how it’s built.
The body and chassis are constructed of steel; only the bumpers are plastic. Traditional spot-welding is used to fabricate the car. Computer-aided design has helped the engineers trim weight from the body and chassis. . . . The Nano has obviously been built to a price. But . . . Tata Motors didn’t skimp when it came to adding a little style. . . .
During a mix of city and highway driving, the Nano will average around 47 mpg. . . . Surprisingly, the engine emits only 101 g/km of CO2 emissions on the European driving cycle, which puts the Nano among the cleanest cars on sale anywhere. . . . The Nano’s cabin is remarkably quiet considering the car’s cost constraints. At top speed, the hum from the engine is never excessive or annoying. . . .
So the Nano is pretty clever in the way it saves costs. You expect this. But you might not expect how fun the Nano is to drive.
From an environmental point of view, many have questioned the wisdom of adding millions of Nanos onto India’s already-crowded streets and the pollution it’s bound to cause. As someone who is trying to consciously reduce my carbon impact on my environment, I would say that’s a fair question to ask. At this point, I only point out that in terms of pollution levels and resource consumption in proportion to its population, India is still significantly behind the U.S. and other industrialized nations, who pollute and consume many times more than India per capita.
Other people would probably also point out that at this point and in its current form, the Nano is not suitable for the American market. True, but we need to remember that it was never intended for the U.S. Instead, it was designed to provide reliable, inexpensive, all-weather transportation for average families in developing nations. And that’s where I detect the first hints of ethnocentrism regarding the criticisms about the Nano.
That is, much of this initial skepticism and criticism reminded me of when Tata Motors was in the process of purchasing the Jaguar and Land Rover brands from Ford. Back then, and similar to what people said regarding the Nano, many people in the automotive establishment and elsewhere questioned the ability and even appropriateness of Tata to buy and properly maintain such prestigious brands.
As I wrote back then, it seemed to me that much of controversy revolved around the fact that Tata Motors was owned by Indians, not Americans, Europeans, or Whites. As such, I hypothesized that many did not think it was “right” for prestigious British car brands like Jaguar and Land Rover and their overwhelming White workers to be owned and controlled by non-Whites from a developing country. As it turns out, Jaguar and Land Rover are doing just fine these days (or at least as well as most brands in this recession).
Similarly, much of the skepticism and criticism about the Nano also strikes me as a little ethnocentric, premised on the idea and stereotype of India and Indian companies as backward, undeveloped, and inferior. Certainly, not everything is perfect in India and it still faces many political and economic difficulties as it continues to modernize, just like China does and “developed” countries like the U.S. did when they were at this stage in their history.
But make no mistake about it, India’s emergence as a major global economic power is real as is the emergence of the Indian American community in the U.S. In fact, already-developed countries such as Japan are looking to India as a model to help them improve their educational institutions.
The point is, India’s technological and industrial potential is for real and it would be a mistake to underestimate what India and Indian companies are capable of doing.
Miscellaneous Links #9
Miscellaneous links about supporting a commemorative stamp for Japanese American veterans and a petition supporting Asian workers in Saudi Arabia.
Here are some more links out that have come my way relating to Asians or Asian Americans. As always, links to other sites are provided for informational purposes and do not necessarily imply an endorsement of their contents:
- JACL Asks Support for Veterans Commemorative Stamp:
The Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), the nation’s oldest and largest Asian American civil and human rights organization, is asking its members and friends to write letters of support for the Japanese American (Nisei) WWII Veterans Commemorative Stamp proposed to the United States Postal Service.
The Postal Service has announced that its stamp committee will review letters of support for the Japanese American (Nisei) World War II Veterans Commemorative Stamp at its next meeting on April 23-24. Though the proposal will apparently not be officially reconsidered for issuance at the meeting, the Postal Service has acknowledged that they would review recent letters of support for the proposal.
The campaign is hoping to sway the Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC), which oversees stamp selection for Postmaster General John Potter, to change its stance on the internal, non-public guideline that prohibits stamps that honor sub-branches, units or divisions of the military. Previously, the Postal Service had said that the proposal would not be looked at until the July meeting.
Should you, your organization, or a group of supporters wish to send a letter of support that might be reviewed at the April meeting, please send it as soon as possible. The Committee must be convinced that the proposal is worthy of consideration and that there is widespread public support. Letters of support can be sent to CSAC Chairperson Jean Picker Firstenberg (address below). If you or your organization have already sent a previous correspondence to the Postal Service asking for issuance of the stamp, a follow-up letter may also be sent. Personal letters are best, and a past 2007 sample letter can be found at the campaign’s website, www.niseistamp.org .
Send letters to:
Chairperson Jean Picker Firstenberg
Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee
c/o Stamp Development
U.S. Postal Service
1735 North Lynn Street, Suite 5013
Arlington, VA 22209-6432The JACL thanks you for your support.
- Online Petition to Support Asian Workers in Saudi Arabia:
Dear Sir,
I need your support on the campaigning signature drive on the eploitation of Asian migrant workers in Saudi Arabia and to stop at once the modern day slavery by their employers who bar their rights and welfare.
For more background information, please visit http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2008/01/exploitation-of-asian-workers-in-saudi.html.
To sign the petition, please go to http://gopetition.com/petitions/stop-exploitation-of-asian-migrant-workers.html
Prabal Rai
paulrai2004@yahoo.com
The Language of Obama and Black Politics
Exploring Barack Obama's verbal and non-verbal style of expression that reflects his connections with Black culture and the diversity of American society in general
It doesn’t take a Ph.D. to recognize that Barack Obama is not like most of his predecessors. This can be applied not just to the obvious fact that he’s our nation’s first African American President, but also in regard to his “style” or more specifically, the way he expresses himself, verbally and non-verbally.
Politico.com recently had an interesting article that explores Barack Obama’s sense of demeanor, presentation, and language, how it has different effects on Whites and Blacks, and how it compares to George W. Bush’s style of expression:
On his pre-inaugural visit to Ben’s Chili Bowl, a landmark for Washington’s African-American community, President Barack Obama was asked by a cashier if he wanted his change back. “Nah, we straight,” Obama replied. The phrase was so subtle some listeners missed it. The reporter on pool duty quoted Obama as saying, “No, we’re straight.”
But many other listeners did not miss it. A video of the exchange became an Internet hit, and there was a clear moment of recognition among many blacks, who got a kick out of their Harvard-educated president sounding, as one commenter wrote on a hip-hop site, “mad cool.”
On matters of racial identity, many observers in the African-American community say he benefits from what’s known as “dog-whistle politics.” His language, mannerisms and symbols resonate deeply with his black supporters, even as the references largely sail over the heads of white audiences. . . .
“The code words matter, how you dress matters, how you speak matters; it’s all subliminal messaging, and all politicians use it,” said Michael Fauntroy, professor at George Mason University. “Ronald Reagan used to talk about making America the shining city on a hill, which is about America as divinely inspired, and it has a deep vein in the evangelical conservative movement.” . . .
[George W.] Bush used phrases lifted from church hymns and the Bible to signal an affinity for like-minded Christians. The phrase “culture of life,” became part of the political lexicon when Bush used it weeks before the 2000 election — it was a less political, more evangelical version of “pro-life.” . . .
Beyond speech, blacks have picked up certain of Obama’s mannerisms, particularly his walk, that signal authenticity. Bush had his cowboy strut, and Obama has a swagger — a rhythmic lope that says cool and confident and undeniably black.
The article basically notes that virtually all Presidents have their own unique “style” of verbal and non-verbal expression and they use subtle words, phrases, or mannerisms that reflect and appeal to a particular group of constituents to let them know that he’s “one of them,” but without making it so obvious that it turns off more mainstream Americans.
What makes Barack Obama’s style different of course, is that it’s a “Black” style, something Americans have never seen before from our President (Bill Clinton came as close as any previous President could, but obviously he had his limitations).
So what should we make of Obama’s unique style, or should it even matter? As a fervent fan and supporter, I personally love his style and find it to be a welcome change and a breath of fresh air for Washington DC and our country as a whole. But does it risk alienating White Americans who aren’t used to it?
That’s a hard question to answer. On the one hand, we’ve already seen and I’ve written before about the ways in which some Whites are reacting negatively to his victory and the growing racial, ethnic, and cultural diversification of American society in general. So it’s possible that these particular White Americans will use such examples of Obama’s “blackness” to reinforce their extremist and racist views of him and non-Whites like him.
But on the other hand, I’m confident that most others will recognize that different doesn’t have to mean bad or inferior. That is, I hope that the vast majority of Whites in this country will understand that America is inevitably changing — politically, economically, and culturally. With that in mind, there is now more room for different forms of an American identity to emerge, one that expands on the “traditional” image of American as being White, middle class, and Protestant.
Rather than denying or resisting such an evolution of American society and our national identity, my hope is that we can embrace them and use them as a source of strength and unity to create an inclusive collective identity as Americans in the 21st century. Sure, we’ll still have our differences, but my point is that such differences are good for America and will make our society stronger, not weaker.
Interactive Immigrant Settlement Map
The New York Times' interactive infographic Immigration Explorer tracks geographic settlement patterns of major racial/ethnic immigrant groups throughout the U.S. from 1880 to 2000
I just came across a nifty interactive infographic from the New York Times that tracks geographic settlement patterns of major racial/ethnic immigrant groups throughout the United States by decade, from 1880 to 2000: the Immigration Explorer.
For every group included in the graphic, you will notice that as the decades pass, their settlement patterns become more dispersed throughout the country. In other words, in the past, immigrants would concentrate in the traditional major metropolitan areas of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Chicago.
But these days, immigrants have spread out and are settling into new “gateway” areas — areas that aren’t used to having large immigrant populations. And unfortunately, these demographic shifts can and have led to some tensions between old-time residents and the new arrivals. For more research on the new settlement patterns of contemporary immigrants, I recommend books such as:
- Dufoix, Stephane. 2008. Diasporas. Berkeley: University of California Press.
- Gozdziak, Elzbieta M. and Susan F. Martin (Eds.). 2005. Beyond the Gateway: Immigrants in a Changing America. Lanham: Lexington Books.
- Shinagawa, Larry H. and Michael Jang. 1998. Atlas of American Diversity. Walnut Creek: AltaMira Press.
- Singer, Audrey, Susan Wiley Hardwick, and Caroline Brettell (Eds.). 2008. Twenty-First Century Gateways: Immigrant Incorporation in Suburban America. New York: Brookings Institution Press.
- Vo, Linda Trinh and Rick Bonus. (Eds.). 2002. Contemporary Asian American Communities: Intersections and Divergences. Philadelphia: Temple Univesity Press.
Creating an Arab and Middle Eastern Racial Category
How creating a new racial category for Arab and Middle Eastern Americans will not weaken, but strengthen America's identity and influence
Next month is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and inevitably, many people wonder exactly who or which ethnic groups are included in the category of “Asian Pacific American.” Specifically, several have asked me whether Arab and Middle Eastern Americans should be included. This is a complicated question to be sure and the short answer is technically (i.e., from the Census Bureau and federal government’s definition), they are considered White, not Asian.
However, as the Los Angeles Times reports, several in the Arab and Middle Eastern American community don’t consider themselves White (and certainly aren’t always treated as if they’re White) nor Asian. Instead, they are tying to create a new racial definition that more accurately represents their history, characteristics, and experiences:
Nicole Salame, 19, was filling out an application to UCLA last year when she got to the question about race and ethnicity. She thought a mistake had been made. . . . Her Lebanese-born mother told her Arabs are considered white, but Salame didn’t believe her. Her high school counselor told her the same thing. . . . For years the federal government has classified Arab Americans and Middle Easterners as white. But confusion and disagreement have led some students to check “Asian” or “African,” depending on what part of the Middle East they came from. Some, like Salame, simply marked “Other.”
Now several UCLA student groups — including Arabs, Iranians, Afghanis and Armenians — have launched a campaign to add a Middle Eastern category, with various subgroups, to the University of California admissions application. They hope to emulate the Asian Pacific Coalition’s “Count Me In” campaign, which a few years ago successfully lobbied for the inclusion of 23 ethnic categories on the UC application, including Hmong, Pakistani, Native Hawaiian and Samoan.
The UCLA students said having their own ethnic designation goes beyond self-identity and has real implications for the larger Arab and Middle Eastern communities.
The article points out that in past decades, those of Arab and Middle Eastern descent fought to be legally and officially designated as White, which was formalized by the Census in 1970. However, in the context of recent demographic, political, and cultural trends, Arab and Middle Eastern Americans now are more inclined to identify as a separate racial/ethnic group, one that better reflects the uniqueness of their community:
UCLA junior Shawn Gabrill said he has more in common with other children of immigrants than with those whose parents were born in this country.
“I feel like when I put down ‘white’ on an application, they assume my parents finished high school, went to college and that English was my first language,” the 20-year-old English major said. “And none of these things describe me.”
Gabrill, the son of Jordanian and Egyptian parents, said he had difficulties with the college application but, because he was seen as white, he wasn’t identified as someone who needed extra help from high school counselors.
“So it’s kind of like we’re in between. We’re not white, but we’re not as disadvantaged as the other groups so we don’t get any of that aid,” he said. “So we’re kind of invisible in that way.”
Of course, the usual criticism from more “traditional” Americans is that such an effort to create a new racial category will only divide our country further and would make it harder to unite everyone under a universal “American” identity. The problem with that argument is that first, based on our country’s history and still embedded in most of our social institutions, a universal “American” identity has usually meant being White. Therefore, in denying Arab and Middle Eastern Americans their own identity amounts to another misguided “colorblind” approach that ignores the historical legacies and contemporary realities of American racial history.
The second problem with this colorblind argument is that it flies in the face of real and significant demographic changes taking place all around us, and the political and cultural shifts that result from such changes. As I’ve consistently written about, being “American” in the 21st century is more than just a sense of patriotic loyalty. That’s part of it, but it also includes making real contributions to America’s political, economic, and cultural future in the face of globalization, financial crises, and the changing political landscape around the world.
With that in mind, just like Asian Americans, Arab and Middle Eastern Americans are poised to use their transnational cultural ties to bridge the gaps that currently divide the U.S. from other religions and countries. If the U.S. is to retain its “superpower” status and level of influence around the world, trying to impose American ideals and models of government or economy will not work any longer and in fact, will only hasten our country’s decline.
Instead, as the Obama administration has recognized, we need to embrace these global trends and build more mutually-respectful connections, relationships, and networks with countries and religions around the world, particular in Asia and the Middle East. Although it’s too late to be officially implemented in the 2010 census, one step in that process is to support the efforts of Arab and Middle Eastern Americans to create their own racial category that reflects their unique history, experiences, and resources that they can contribute in helping us forge a new American identity here in the U.S. and around the world.
2:57 AM | |
Snakes on Warner Brothers?
Sad news from the entertainment world today — New Line Cinema, producer of Snakes on a Plane, is no more. The company has been folded into Warner Brothers and Bob Shaye, brother of Snakes on a Plane star Lin Shaye, has stepped down as co-Chairman. New Line will maintain its own identity and will continue to produce, [...]
Sad news from the entertainment world today — New Line Cinema, producer of Snakes on a Plane, is no more.
The company has been folded into Warner Brothers and Bob Shaye, brother of Snakes on a Plane star Lin Shaye, has stepped down as co-Chairman.
New Line will maintain its own identity and will continue to produce, market, and distribute movies. But New Line will now do so as part of Warner Bros. and will probably be a much smaller operation than in the past. Time Warner hopes that operating New Line as a unit of Warner Bros. will allow New Line to focus on the creative side of movie-making, while reducing costs and taking advantage of Warner Bros.’ distribution system.
This is a sad day both on a personal level, and on an industry level. Personally I have gotten to know a number of people at New Line who have been tremendously enthusiastic and supportive and who I’d like to see weather this storm. I have no idea what’s in any of their futures, but I wish them all well.
Throughout the Snakes on a Plane process, I always asserted that New Line Cinema, as a corporation, was handling themselves very well. I thanked them frequently for being more progressive on new media issues than Paramount, Universal or Fox. On one notable occasion I came to them when a fan felt that New Line had appropriated one of the fan’s merchandising ideas and, within hours, the issue was resolved with the fan being fully compensated. New Line understood the value of their fans and the importance of taking care of them. The movie industry as a whole could learn a lot from how New Line carried itself with respect to fan relations. I just hope that this merger with Warner Brothers doesn’t crush their fan-friendly, independent spirit.
I can only wonder what impact this might have on the future of Snakes on a Plane. Warner Brothers, any ideas?
Good luck New Line and New Line people, I wish you well.
Snakes on a 30 Second Bunny Recreation
Angry Alien does Snakes on a Plane in 30 Seconds (with bunnies, of course). I saw this first On Demand through Comcast (ironically), but it was apparently done originally for Starz.
Angry Alien does Snakes on a Plane in 30 Seconds (with bunnies, of course). I saw this first On Demand through Comcast (ironically), but it was apparently done originally for Starz.
Snakes in a Motel
From the Washington Post: Sure, the movie “Snakes on a Plane” was scary. But how about this sequel: “Snakes in a Cheap Motel Room”?
From the Washington Post:
Sure, the movie “Snakes on a Plane” was scary. But how about this sequel: “Snakes in a Cheap Motel Room”?
Snakes on a Submarine?
B Movie News reports that Fred Olen Ray is directing Recoil which will feature snakes on a submarine. It’s not a sequel, just another movie riffing on the same underlying concept, but maybe it can help show the value of the genre: One of my first thoughts after watching it was “I wonder what that [...]
B Movie News reports that Fred Olen Ray is directing Recoil which will feature snakes on a submarine. It’s not a sequel, just another movie riffing on the same underlying concept, but maybe it can help show the value of the genre:
One of my first thoughts after watching it was “I wonder what that would have been like if Fred Olen Ray had directed it”. Well I guess I’m going find out. But instead of a plane it will be on a submarine and instead of Samuel L Jackson it will have Luke Perry. Shooting started this morning. It will feature Luke Perry, Cynthia Gibb, Bill Stevens, Sam Scarpa and Louis Mandylor.
I’m still rooting for Bears on a Submarine or maybe Wolves on a Submarine, but I’ll take what I can get.
Snakes in a Toilet
This is terrifying.
This is terrifying.
2:57 AM | |
What are the 2 but Very Different Types of Website Traffic?
Did you know that there are 2 types of website traffic? The information I am about to share with in today’s issue is VERY POWERFUL and something not very many "experts" talk about. When you understand the distinction between the two you will be able to grow your online profit multifold. The First type of traffic is what [...]
Did you know that there are 2 types of website traffic?
The information I am about to share with in today’s issue is VERY POWERFUL and something not very many "experts" talk about.
When you understand the distinction between the two you will be able to grow your online profit multifold.
The First type of traffic is what I call "NEW" traffic.
This "New" traffic is the kind you get when a visitor lands on your website the FIRST time. In other words they have NEVER seen your offer before.
For example:
Lets say you do pay per click (PPC) advertising where you get 500 fresh visitors a DAY to your website.
These people see your page for the FIRST time.
This is *NEW Traffic* .
The other kind of traffic is REPEAT (or RETURN) traffic.
This kind of traffic consists of the SAME people.
Why this is VERY Important?
Most people miss this point so pay attention…
With NEW TRAFFIC, If you have ONE good offer that consistently converts 3% of your visitors into sales, it will CONTINUE to convert 3% every day because NEW people see the offer every day. (for as long as the page remains UNCHANGED). With NEW traffic, all you need is ONE sales letter and you can keep tweaking it to perfect it over time.
However, when you send REPEAT traffic to that salespage, the conversion will go down every day until it reaches 0% (even though your stats may show that you get 500 visitors to your site every day)
Huh?
This occurs because REPEAT traffic, consists of the SAME people seeing the SAME offer over and over and over again. After the interested people buy this product, that’s it.
In addition to be constantly looking for new quality products to promote, you need to create new powerful emails that convert well, which can take a lot of time if you are serious about making profit.
I take every chance to "swipe" good email copy (with permission of course) and use it in my campaigns because I know it has been tested and it works.
When I found out that a great copywriter whom I respect did all the research, found 20 high quality products on clickbank and created a collection of 60 pre-written hypnotic emails that convert, I JUMPED into the opportunity and I bought them all.
I loaded these messages into my autoresponder system so now my REPEAT traffic will be getting ONLY 3 emails promoting one product and then promote the NEXT one.
All on autopilot.
When I purchased this package, I also got the PLR rights to it. Which means I can also make it available to YOU.
There are only a few left here:
http://mydigitaldispatch.com/recommends/affiliate-profits
* You can load these messages up into your autoresponder
* You can post them on your blog one at a time.
* You can use them as templates to write your own promos
* You can sell the package as you also get PLR with this
* You can sell the package on eBay as well
Heck, if you send/post one message a week, you ve got enough for over a year.
==> http://mydigitaldispatch.com/recommends/affiliate-profits
These are already written, and TESTED emails guaranteed to make you maximum commissions.
Till next time,
Partner to Your Success,
-Socrates Socratous.
4 Proven Strategies to Profit from your List
You hear everyone and their brother saying over and over again "the money is in the list" Yeah, it’s true… It’s also true that "the gold is in the river" but if you dont know how to *mine it*, it’s worth nothing to you It takes a special skill to mine gold It also takes a special skill to "mine gold" from your [...]
You hear everyone and their brother saying
over and over again "the money is in the list"
Yeah, it’s true…
It’s also true that "the gold is in the river"
but if you dont know how to *mine it*, it’s worth
nothing to you
It takes a special skill to mine gold
It also takes a special skill to "mine gold"
from your list.
Whether you have a list or thinking of starting one,
you owe it to yourself to read this email…
Today I am going to share 4 Rock SOLID, proven
strategies to profit substantially more from your list
The sooner you implement the 4 strategies below
the sooner you will see a big increase in your
bottom line:
———————————————
Strategy #1 - Creating an autoresponder
———————————————
Add a series of "autoresponder messages" to
be delivered at time intervals after someone
subscribes to your list. (the more, the merrier)
Why?
When you do this, someone who opts in to
your list will receive an email immediately,
then another one tomorrow, then next day,
then 3 days later and so forth. Each of these
emails is an ADDITIONAL opportunity to make
extra sales.
and best thing, its all automated.
You have to do this step immediately. it
works for all the NEW people that opt in.
in this case, whether you have 0 or 10000
people on your list, it doesnt matter.
"Get 60 professionally written, ready to
use emails to fill up your autoresponder:
==> http://mydigitaldispatch.com/recommends/list4profits
———————————————
Strategy #2 - How many emails to send?
———————————————
Make sure to promote 1 product at LEAST 3
times before moving on to another one or
you will be leaving money on the table.
Why? People need to see the same message
multiple times before they respond.
When you find a great product, dont give up
after the first email, send more.
Don’t be surpriced if your second or third
email makes more sales than the first.
Studies show that it takes up to 8 follow ups
per product, before response starts to wind down.
if you have a list where people REQUESTED
information about a particular product, then
do 8 follow-ups.
But when it comes to your subscriber list, 8 is
too much. 3 seems to be the magic number.
"Get 60 professionally written emails that
promote 20 high quality clickbank products
You get 3 emails promoting each product:
==> http://mydigitaldispatch.com/recommends/list4profits
———————————————
Strategy #3 - Which product to promote?
———————————————
Promote PROVEN quality products. This means
you should promote products that are good
proven SELLERS.
Each email you send is very important.
an email promoting product A could profit $100
another email to the same people promoting B
could make $1000. You better promote more of
the latter kind of products.
Finding good products to promote takes time
and an experienced eye to single them out.
On the page below you will find a list of 20
good selling products, along with 3 pre-written
emails to promote each one of them:
==> http://mydigitaldispatch.com/recommends/list4profits
———————————————
Strategy #4 - Choice of words
———————————————
Study and learn as much as you can about
copywriting. Similar to #3. A Poorly writen
email could make a few bucks, where a well
written one could pull in thousands from the
same list. It’s *THAT* important.
Writing hypnotic emails that put your audience
into a buying trance takes a lot of skill.
If there is *ONE* thing you need to learn is
copywriting. So start learning
It costs thousands to hire experienced proven
copywriters to write copy for you.
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———————————————
Conclusion
———————————————
I get a lot of emails from subscribers telling me
that they dont have a list.
You know what, it was a time when I had NO list.
Fast forward a couple of short years later,
I was able to add over 250,000 subscribers to my lists.
You want to know HOW?
Here comes the Big SECRET…
…Ready?
…Sitting down?
Here is HOW I was able to add over 250,000 subscribers
to my lists:
*ONE Subscriber AT A TIME*
Yep. one at a time.
and the longer you put this off, the longer it will
take you. Simple as that.
so get started building a list today and incorporate
all of the above strategies.
Stay tuned for more list building secrets soon
Meanwhile, get this:
==> http://mydigitaldispatch.com/recommends/list4profits
Till later,
Partner to Your Success,
-Socrates Socratous
P.S. The best time to start building your list
and making sales is NOW. The longer you wait,
the longer it will take for your profits to start
rolling in.
Don’t spend endless hours writing your own autoresponder
emails right now. Focus on getting subscribers and use
the pre-written emails from here:
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7 Things You MUST Have on Your Sales Page
It’s 11 am thursday morning and I am actually sitting at a coffee shop enjoying a nice cup of coffee with a friend. We just finished playing a 2 hour tennis game and we are getting ready to go have some more fun at the shooting range. My friend is on the phone so I decided to write an email and [...]
It’s 11 am thursday morning and I am actually
sitting at a coffee shop enjoying a nice cup
of coffee with a friend. We just finished playing
a 2 hour tennis game and we are getting ready
to go have some more fun at the shooting range.
My friend is on the phone so I decided to write
an email and share some quick tips that will help
you make more sales.
"7 things you MUST have on your Sales Page
that significantly increase sales"
1. A compelling Headline
Having a headline that states your BIGGEST
benefit and builds curiosity that leads your
reader to read further down your sales page
is a MUST.
MOST of your visitors will leave your page
BEFORE reading anything more than your headline
so the better the headline, the better the
chance to read more and close the sale
2. Listing your benefits
You should have a list of your benefits each
with an explanation on how this applies to
your reader (i.e. what is it going to do for them)
3. Testimonials
Do not underestimate the power of testimonials
Feedback from happy customers is one of the best
forms of "social proof".
If you are just starting out and have no
customers, there are a couple of things you
can do:
- ask friends and family to review your product
- Send review copies on forums to a few people
in return for a testimonial
- run a small PPC campaign before launching and
give free copies in return for feedback
4. An image that represents your product.
an ebook cover, a software box, a DVD box image
a report paperback cover image etc are some of the
ways you can represent a digital product.
The image is extremely powerful. A picture is
processed a LOT faster in people’s minds than
blocks of text describing what the picture showcases.
5. a Professionally looking design
If your website is NOT professionally looking,
then your potential customer will think that
is how sloppy your product is as well and NOT
buy from you.
A long form sales letter is Not the exception.
there are many things you can do to make it look
nicer. Here are a few:
- Put your letter in a 750 pixel table and center it
- Put your text on white background
- Use a border around your text
- Layout the elements of your sales letter using
"balanced" design principles
- Use spacing and white space to enhance reability
- etc etc
6. a PROMINANT order button/link
A light yellow box with a dotted border that
restates the main benefits and call to action
has proven to be a winner.
It is Extremely bad when your visitor is ready
to order and cannot find your order button
(it happened to me a few times.)
7. a Guarantee
You MUST have a quarantee. At least 60 days.
It always increases conversions.
But if you dont agree with me,
think about it this way:
Your customers can contact their banks and
do a chargeback which NOT only gives them
a refund, but also hurt you (you end up paying
on top of that). So why not offer the refund
since you gonna end up giving it anyway.
Just do it and you will see what I mean by
judging your results.
8. (bonus tip)
Your Bonuses.
Including relevant bonuses with your product
almost always increases conversions. It increases
your offer’s perceived value dramatically. Some
people will even buy your product JUST for the
bonuses. Make sure you give quality bonuses that
complement your product.
Ok, my friend has been off the phone for 5 min now
and he is pestering me to get going so I have to close.
(sorry if there are mistakes, no time to review)
BEFORE I go,
I want to remind you of the subscriber-only special
I am running on Sales Letter Factory until sunday.
Sales letter factory will put ALL of the above
FOR YOU on your sales letter (and a lot more)
It will guide you step-by-step, kinda forcing you
do create a GREAT, converting sales letter
Get all the details here:
== http://salesletterfactory.com/thank_you.php
Stay tuned for more tips soon
till next time,
Partner to Your Success,
-Socrates Socratous
P.S. Don’t take these tips lightly. USE THEM
you WILL have a much better Sales letter.
Notice:
Sales Letter Factory Subscriber-Only Special:
http://salesletterfactory.com/thank_you.php
Mottivational Quote - Plato
"Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow" -Plato Let me dear add something to this great quote: "Never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow" …even if that someone is Yourself I love this quote. Making progress no matter how slow means one thing only. That you get Closer to your Goal. When it [...]
"Never discourage anyone who continually
makes progress, no matter how slow"
-Plato
Let me dear add something to this great quote:
"Never discourage anyone who continually
makes progress, no matter how slow"
…even if that someone is Yourself
I love this quote. Making progress no matter how slow means one thing only.
That you get Closer to your Goal.
When it comes to ourself, especially, we should be able to recognize and identify our progress and continue pushing forward. I find that a lot of people disregard small progress, view them as failures and give up on goals too early. Progress and results can be leveraged, but ONLY when you do not get discouraged and give up
Partner to Your Success,
-Socrates Socratous
P.S. Share your thoughts inthe comments section below.
Make MORE Money with PLR & Resell Rights Products
I sent the following email to my list some time ago and it received GREAT reviews from many subscribers so I posting it here for you. Here it goes: "Wanna know one of the most effective yet simple strategies of making MORE profit with resell right and private label rights products?" See most people that buy products to resell, are lazy. In fact, based [...]
I sent the following email to my list some time ago and
it received GREAT reviews from many subscribers so I posting
it here for you.
Here it goes:
"Wanna know one of the most effective yet
simple strategies of making MORE profit with
resell right and private label rights products?"
See most people that buy products to
resell, are lazy.
In fact, based on my research, most are
TOO lazy to even do ANYTHING at all.
(yet they complain they cant succeed)
From the few people that actually put
up a site or an auction listing, only
an even SMALLER group makes SIGNIFICANTLY
better profit.
What does this small group of people
do differently?
what separates them from their competition?
What separates them from you?
It is called…
DIFFERENTIATION
Big word isn’t it?
What they do is simply take a some time
changing the sales pages that come with
their resell right packages.
They add a bonus or two.
They work on the layout of the sales
page to make it different than the one
it came with.
The result?
Their sales page and Offer looks UNIQUE
it looks DIFFERENT than all the other reseller
pages (the lazy ones)
this way, when a visitor gets to their site
they don’t think…
"Oh, I ve seen this before.." and close the page
It looks NEW to them so they read the page,
buy the product and the seller’s bank accnt
gets loaded.
Why are most people LAZY to do this simple
thing?
Because doing it MANUALLY takes time.
It takes HOURS for each product.
Unless…
They use Sales Letter Factory
See, I created sales letter factory because
I was lazy BUT I still wanted to take advantage
of this powerful strategy.
With sales letter factory I can take ANY
resell right or PLR package and re-format it,
add bonuses, change graphics, etc
ALL in LESS than 20 minutes
Now YOU have no excuse for not making
your sales pages UNIQUE
Till midnight tonight (Sunday April 12th)
you can get Sales Letter Factory for half off
through this subscriber special page:
http://salesletterfactory.com/thank_you.php
This awesome product sells like crazy every day
at full price for a few more hours you can "steal"
it for half here:
http://salesletterfactory.com/thank_you.php
The page comes down midnight April 12 (PST)
Till next time,
Partner to Your Success,
-Socrates Socratous
P.S. this is NOT a "skinny" version of Sales Letter
Factory. You get the FULL latest version including
ALL bonuses at a "skinny" price here:
http://salesletterfactory.com/thank_you.php
How to Find Profitable Affiliate Products to Promote
I just created a new free video that many subscribers have been asking for. Go watch it here: http://SocratesBlog.com/videos/affiliate-success.html It’s about: -finding profitable affiliate products to promote on clickbank (not what you think) - Building a large, laser targeted keyword list to promote the affiliate products you discover - How to spy on the competition to find exactly what they are doing profitably and copy them Tell me what [...]
I just created a new free video that many
subscribers have been asking for.
Go watch it here:
It’s about:
-finding profitable affiliate
products to promote on clickbank
(not what you think)
- Building a large, laser targeted
keyword list to promote the affiliate
products you discover
- How to spy on the competition to
find exactly what they are doing
profitably and copy them
Tell me what you think
He was upset but I didnt say anything
I got a short story for you today Last Wednesday I stopped at a coffee shop to have some coffee and relax a bit. So I was sitting outside at the patio watching all these people in "work attire" rushing in and out the door to grab a quick coffee on their way to work This guy from the next table over [...]
I got a short story for you today
Last Wednesday I stopped at a coffee shop
to have some coffee and relax a bit.
So I was sitting outside at the patio watching
all these people in "work attire" rushing in and
out the door to grab a quick coffee on their
way to work
This guy from the next table over was complaining
to someone on his cellphone that "due to the economy"
canceled his internet connection at home and had to
come to the coffee shop to check his email every day.
I have nothing against cutting something you
dont need anymore, but why cut something you
need, or enjoy when you can have it for free.
That’s right.
a $30/month internet connection can be easily
covered with selling 1 (JUST ONE) $30 product
every month online.
a $25 water bill can be eliminated with a simple
website that makes 0.84cents a day.
Even though I did not say anythng to that man, he
made a good enough point to write this letter to you
hoping that you will see how valuable even a small
producing website can be to your lifestyle.
For step-by-step videos on how to create cash
producing websites that would cover your bills
one-by-one, go to the following page:
http://mydigitaldispatch.com/recommends/more-website-profit
Moral of the story.
Dont be scarcity minded. Stop listening to the negative
news about how the world is failing around you and begin
building your OWN future. Live your life on your terms
Make sure to take action on this today
http://mydigitaldispatch.com/recommends/more-website-profit
Partner to your Success,
-Socrates Socratous
New Free Video - Flipping PLR Products
I just finished making a video showing how to download, open, edit and repackage Private Label Right Products for reselling. Feel free to share and social bookmark (dont hotlink the videos, if you want to share, please send people to this post or directly to the video page) There are 2 versions of this video. If you want [...]
I just finished making a video showing how to download, open, edit and repackage Private Label Right Products for reselling.
Feel free to share and social bookmark (dont hotlink the videos, if you want to share, please send people to this post or directly to the video page)
There are 2 versions of this video.
If you want detailed, step by step basic instructions (great for newbies) watch the following video:
http://socratesblog.com/videos/plr_flipping.html
If you want the fast walkthrough with less detail, watch this one:
http://socratesblog.com/videos/plr_flipping_quick.html
Enjoy
Partner to Your Success,
-Socrates
P.S. Post your thoughts and comments below
Success Quote - Christopher Morley
"There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way." -Christopher Morley (1890 - 1957) So true. No matter how much money you have, no matter how famous you are. If you cant live life on your own terms, If you cant have the lifestyle of your dreams, then you [...]
"There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way."
-Christopher Morley (1890 - 1957)
So true. No matter how much money you have, no matter how famous you are. If you cant live life on your own terms, If you cant have the lifestyle of your dreams, then you are being robbed of your own success.
In recent years the idea of "lifestyle engineering" is becoming more and more popular. Steering away from becoming wildly rich but actually plan your DREAM lifestyle and spend your life executing that plan.
Personally, this idea is what drove me to pursue Internet Marketing.
Partner to Your Success,
-Socrates Socratous
P.S. I hope your enjoy this great quote.
Post your comments below
3:01 AM | |
GDC Gaming — Post Mortem
Despite my best intentions, I only managed to get in one gaming session during GDC and that was on Monday evening in the CA (conference associate) Lounge after dinner. I had two goals in running this session. The first, overt, goal was to get some feedback about my new interaction mechanic and Life Wheel character [...]
Despite my best intentions, I only managed to get in one gaming session during GDC and that was on Monday evening in the CA (conference associate) Lounge after dinner. I had two goals in running this session. The first, overt, goal was to get some feedback about my new interaction mechanic and Life Wheel character sheets. The second, covert, goal was to begin the development and testing of radial plot structure tools (click the thumbnail for a larger view of the first draft of the plot structure I used for this session).
As I plan on introducing the Life Wheels through a series of short Flash animations, please bear with this post’s lack of details on the first goal. Suffice to say for the moment that the feedback I got on the Life Wheels was positive and encouraging. One of the players even commented (without my prompting) on how the kinaesthetic nature of them added to their ability to connect to their character. Another observer of the session later told me, “I’ve been designing board games and RPGs since the seventies and what you’ve got here is new.”
Needless to say that’s pretty exciting feedback to hear.
The entire structure of the session, however, was geared specifically towards testing the early radial plot tools. Well, that and challenging my ability to quickly build a storyworld and make a simple plot compelling and enjoyable. I quickly sketched out a simple generic plot line (which I further simplified on the fly when the session began) and planned on “skinning” this plot by collecting world details from my players.
To this end, I cast the players as Drachurae–giant “space lizards” with the ability to craft worlds. These particular Drachurae were a special military force, tasked with destroying the illegal worlds that spring up on the borders of known space. These illegal worlds are completely self contained spheres of influence–bubbles of reality that often contain a single small planet. They are built without safety protocols and are potentially lethal to the Drachurae that enter them. Unlike the large world where my stories normally take place, the “life” on these border worlds is considered to be illusory as each seemingly intelligent being within is accounted for by the world’s initial design. The insertion team must incarnate within these worlds, taking on contextual identities within the world’s reality. Sometime they retain awareness of their Drachurae selves, other times they do not. Most often these worlds are structured to provide a linear passive experience to the Drachurae who enter them, and in order to destroy them the team must figure out the world, their role in it, and take steps to alter the balance, or resolve the primary puzzle that the world presents.
Obviously, this entire structure is a metaphor for the gaming experience itself.
At the start of the session I asked each of the three players to independently provide me with a single piece of information about the world they were going to enter. They wrote this detail down and handed them to me so that their choices did not influence the other player’s. The first player was tasked with providing the era and culture. The second was asked to provide the genre. The third player was asked to provide a single all-encompassing detail about the world, whether that be economic, political, ecological, technological, religious, or biological.
The three components I was given for this session were:
- Ancient Egypt
- political romance (as in Romeo & Juliet)
- Information has become so well integrated into everyday life that it is impossible to lie
That last was handed to me with the comment, “If this is too hard, let me know and I’ll give you something easier.”
I stitched these details together into a storyworld in which the God Emperor of Egypt had discovered an alien nano-technology that allowed him to know should anyone lie. He used this technology, along with severe penalties for being caught lying, to establish himself as a deity. Of course his palace staff knows he’s just a man, so he’s cut out their tongues to keep them from telling the truth. He’s also fallen in love with a young girl and, because he was a twisted and evil man, decided that she represented a threat to his power and ordered her killed. This abuse of his position was too much for many citizens and a small rebellion spring up around the girl.
The plot structure I ended up using was a simple two-outcome plot. They could ultimately side with the protagonist, or the antagonist. I rolled a die to determine where they’d fit into the story and the players found themselves in the roles of agents working for the God Emperor. One of the players is a spy from the northern “barbarian” tribes and therefore uninfected by the truth. Another was a general and capable of drawing upon the emperor’s vast resources. The third was a scribe and able to interpret the subtleties of the culture around them.
Midway through their first conversation with the God Emperor, I changed things quite a bit. The general was caught in a simple lie and forced to reinfect himself with the Truth. The players’ interpretation of the lie, while not at all what I imagined, was interesting and clearly in keeping with their play style, so I decided to make them double agents who were also working with the girl (who had turned freedom fighter when the God Emperor put a bounty on her head).
The two outcomes were–remove the girl as a threat to the emperor or destroy The Truth. There were steps along the way to either outcome that, given the lateness of the hour and the limited time available, were pretty low barrier steps. So the players found themselves in a basement room with the girl, armed with the explosive needed to destroy the Truth. The boys had joked about seducing the girl and making her an unacceptable match for the God Emperor, but weren’t comfortable following through with this–partly because we were in a mixed gender space and partly, I suspect, because they weren’t sure how far I’d make them take that particular role playing branch.
So they’re standing in the basement and I can tell they’re all a little tired, so we stop to review their situation. There are two exits from this story… The player in the role of the general suddenly perks up, “I strangle her,” he says. The other two players react quite strongly to this and a quick discussion ensues. Ultimately, the story is resolved with the girl’s intestines decorating the floor.
This led us to talk about identity and the choices you make with a game. The player who decided to kill the girl, pointed to his overall mission–unmake this illegal world that is populated by simulacrum. He felt that his actions in-game were not a reflection of who he was as a person, or a player. The other two players, one of whom it turns out didn’t have a lot of role playing experience, weren’t so detached about their experience and were clearly still uncomfortable with the outcome.
And this type of conversation is exactly why I structure the game as I do. Representing the player’s relationship to their character by having a similar relationship between the Drachurae and the incarnated character leads to an interesting, and potentially deeper, appreciation for the experience of taking on a role within the game.
So, I’d have to say that the session was an overall success. I was able to identify several issues with the plot tools that will need to be addressed in order to help storytellers adapt to unexpected player choice. I also learned that my system does not scale terribly well on the low end–not quite hitting its stride until the character is 18 years old or so. This is fine, as I don’t usually start out characters any younger than 12.
I’ve also decided that I really like this campaign structure as it allows for quick stories across a variety of worlds, with the players challenging me each time to stitch disparate elements into a cohesive whole. So in addition to the Hopefuls campaign, which is based on the Buffyverse, and the Three Ladies campaign, which is based on Agatha Christie’s novels, I’m building a third campaign setting.
Not only will this setting allow for a wide variety of stories, but it will have the players spending more time as their Drachurae (usually the Drachurae layer of the story is very abstracted from the core gameplay), hunting down illegal border worlds and the outlaws who craft them.
This is my first public post mortem of a gaming session and it’s very after-the-fact. I’m sure I’ll get better at them as I go, as I’m planning on continuing this trend–sharing details about my approach to participatory storytelling, and the systems I’m creating to help others do the same. Next weekend I’m gaming with the Hopefuls and the following weekend will see a Three Ladies campaign. These are two very different types of stories, with very different approaches so hopefully it’ll be interesting to see how those difference come through. If you have any questions or feedback about this gaming session and post mortem, it’d be a great help!
March ‘09 Round Table - Updated 04-01
Although February’s Round Table was a bit slower than January, there were plenty of excellent posts that are well worth a read. This month’s Round Table topic is the third and final topic in our literary series. March ‘09 About the Author: This month’s topic turns the literary focus from the medium, to the author. If you [...]
Although February’s Round Table was a bit slower than January, there were plenty of excellent posts that are well worth a read. This month’s Round Table topic is the third and final topic in our literary series.
March ‘09
About the Author: This month’s topic turns the literary focus from the medium, to the author. If you submitted a post to either the January or February topics, feel free to write about the process you underwent in converting literary themes into gameplay. Did you struggle with anything in particular? Are you satisfied that your game design(s) communicated what you intended? Have subsequent comments or idea made you wish you could go back and start he process over? And how much does your design say about you and your own interpretation of the themes of the source material?Alternately feel free to turn your focus to another game designer, or to game designers in general. In literature we frequently “hear” the author’s voice in their work. Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, Tom Robbins–these are excellent examples of authors whose voices are quite recognizable. Through reading their works, we feel we come to feel we know them, to understand their philosophies. There are a handful of games where the “author” can clearly be heard through the work. How closely tied is this to the thematic content of the games and how exactly did they communicate these themes to their audience? And should they have, or should video game designer try to remain out of their work, allowing the player to establish their own themes through gameplay?
If you would like to link to this month’s Round Table, please do not link to this post! Instead, please link to this month’s entry on the Round Table page at: http://corvus.zakelro.com/round-table/#0309.
As always, check out the FAQ to find out how to submit your post to the Round Table and if you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. Please don’t submit your posts in the comments, but email links to me (if you already have my address) or use the contact form linked above.
If you would like to be alerted to new Round Table entries without revisiting the site, feel free to follow me on Twitter, my shared feeds on Google Reader, or the new Delicious Round Table tag. If you’re a Round Table contributor and Facebook user, I encourage you to add your blog to the NetworkedBlogs application. While you’re there, be sure to become a fan of Man Bytes Blog, friend me, and invite me to become a fan of your blog too.
- Mar. 4 - The Select Button: About the Author. Brian opens the Round Table with a look at autership and Metal Gear Solid.
- Mar. 5 - Living Epic: About (the lack of) Author. Roger, with his gaze firmly on the audience, discusses the (lack of) importance authorship ultimately has.
- Mar. 5 - Wall Street Journal (honorary entry): Game Designers Gain Notoriety. Jamin provides some food for thought with this article on the fading anonymity of game designers.
- Mar. 7 - Mind’s Eye: The mad scribbles of a game designer. Josh takes a look at his own process when designing a Jekyll & Hyde game and draws upon that experience to talk about issues of authorship in video games.
- Mar. 8 - Write the Game: About the Author. Kiera ponders whether Sid Meier’s politics really show through his games.
- Mar. 10 - Deirdra Kiai Productions: A Message from the Author. Deirdra discusses the importance of the author and expresses just a bit of envy.
- Mar. 18 - nongames.com: Game Design and Authorship. Chico discussed the balance of control between auteur and audience.
- Mar. 19 - TTNN: January Introspection. David takes a look at his own process of translating Junji Ito’s manga, Uzumaki, into a board game.
- Mar 19 - Show & Tell: Omelas, Post Mortem. Alex discusses the inspiration and thought process behind his January BoRT entry.
- Mar. 21 - Groping the Elephant: Shattered Glass. Justin takes a look at a former studio with a strong authorial voice.
- Mar. 24 - The Autumnal City: Translating Identity. Travis turns his critical eye on authorship and identity.
- Mar. 25 - Worldmaker.net: The Role of the Auter in Games. Max pursues a broader definition of auteur.
- Mar. 25 - The Game Critique: Fumito Ueda. Eric stands in the shadow of a colossus, Fumito Ueda.
- Mar. 28 - Gamer Quest: About the Author. Angelo explores the work of Uruguayan game developer, Gonzalo Frasca.
- Mar. 31 - Philosophy of Interactive Technology & Media: About the Author. 22 Temple students join this month’s BoRT as part of their mid-terms.
- Mar. 31 - Cult of the Turtle: The Role of the Author. Joe muses about authors, directors, and control.
- Mar. 31 - Man Bytes Blog: About the Ego. I (what else?) get my rant on about publishers and teamwork.
- Mar. 31 - Elements of Meaning: Translation, Ambiguity, and Restrictive Definitions of Genre and Medium. Erik covers the slippery nature of authorship as it relates to video games.
- Mar. 31 - Peanut Butter and Bacon: [Insert Confused Cartoon Face Here]. Jonathan discusses his thought processes as he designed a game about autism.
April ‘09 Round Table - UPDATED 04-13
March brought our literary series to a close and I’d like to take a moment to thank everyone who made the first three topics of 2009 such a success. I have another three month topic planned, but when I suggested it to the BoRT Council, they requested we take a one-month break to focus on [...]
March brought our literary series to a close and I’d like to take a moment to thank everyone who made the first three topics of 2009 such a success. I have another three month topic planned, but when I suggested it to the BoRT Council, they requested we take a one-month break to focus on something a bit more topical. So without further ado, I present to you a real design challenge for the month of April:
April ‘09
Taking Games Seriously, Making Game Seriously: This month’s Round Table challenges you to design a game that deals with a social issue that personally troubles you. The recent months have seen controversy sweep through the video game industry. Whether people are objecting to the use of imagery widely considered to evoke racial stereotypes, or to the gameplay based on violent sexual crimes, or to the fact that anyone would complain about either topic–the discussion has been fierce. This month, contributors to the Round Table are invited to design a game that focuses on racism, rape, domestic violence, cruelty to animals, genocide, or any other serious, and potentially hot-button, topic.IMPORTANT: Because I expect many of these posts will be difficult and/or disturbing for portions of the audience to read, I ask that you consider using a high level of language to describe the contents of your design. I also ask that you both rate your posts and include rating descriptors as laid out by the ESRB (http://www.esrb.org/ratings/ratings_guide.jsp).
If you would like to link to this month’s Round Table, please do not link to this post! Instead, please link to this month’s entry on the Round Table page at: http://corvus.zakelro.com/round-table/#0409.
As always, check out the FAQ to find out how to submit your post to the Round Table and if you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact me. Please don’t submit your posts in the comments, but email links to me (if you already have my address) or use the contact form linked above.
If you would like to be alerted to new Round Table entries without revisiting the site, feel free to follow me on Twitter, my shared feeds on Google Reader, or the Delicious Round Table tag. If you’re a Round Table contributor and Facebook user, I encourage you to add your blog to the NetworkedBlogs application. While you’re there, be sure to become a fan of Man Bytes Blog, friend me, and invite me to become a fan of your blog too.
- Apr. 04 - Mind’s Eye: A love letter to Jack Thompson. Josh goes meta and introduces a game meant to address the question whether video games can train us to kill.
- Apr. 06 - Man Bytes Blog: Cycle of Abuse. Corvus draws upon his own experiences with child abuse in this abstract game where the rules that aren’t clearly explained to the player.
- Apr. 06 - Deirdra Kiai Productions: Privilege, Racism, and One Person’s Story. Deirdra grapples with privilege and explores how the games she’s already designed deal with her own experiences with racism.
- Apr. 09 - Anyway Games: Faces. Aaron provides us with a simple game mechanic with no further explanation. See what you make of it.
- Apr. 11 - The Autumnal City: The Guitar in the CornerTravis explores schizoprenia through a game designed to evoke a deep emotional response.
- Apr. 12 - And thus Spoke Pi: I gotta game for you… Adam explores politics and betrayal in his usual inflammatory style.
Assert.AreEqual failed
I saw this today whilst analysing automation failures, and it made me laugh. Assert.AreEqual failed. Expected:<10904.73>, Actual:<10904.73>. So this is what happens when you compare two different types of double precision numbers …
I saw this today whilst analysing automation failures, and it made me laugh.
Assert.AreEqual failed. Expected:<10904.73>, Actual:<10904.73>.
So this is what happens when you compare two different types of double precision numbers …
To Play with Pale Fire - Post 00
I’ve been playing with a game design based on Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov since January’s BoRT. Initially I thought it would be much too difficult to convert, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it was almost the perfect novel for such an effort–not only in structure, but in content [...]
I’ve been playing with a game design based on Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov since January’s BoRT. Initially I thought it would be much too difficult to convert, but the more I thought about it the more I realized it was almost the perfect novel for such an effort–not only in structure, but in content as well.
As the weeks passed, I got more and more ideas about how I’d make it work and the universe has conveniently put people and ideas in my path to nudge me closer and closer to realizing my design. GDC provided two big pushes. The first was Blow’s Experimental Game Sessions–one of the most consistently inspirational sessions I attend at GDC. The second was the Education Summit Keynote by Frank Lantz, who cited the book as inspiration for the studio area/code.
So, thanks to these nudges (pushes? shoves?), I’ve moved the creation of a Pale Fire game to the very top of my project queue, with the express goal of having something ready to submit to IGF 10, and next year’s Experimental Gameplay sessions. Along the way, I’ll be posting updates about the game’s design–from the actual gameplay to visual design to audio design.
This week I started marking up my copy of the novel, highlighting the thematic elements and metaphors that will make an appearance within the game. I’ve also stepped up my ActionScript 3 learning process, specifically with an eye toward how to set up and manage a larger project.
Next week I’ll post my thoughts on the novel’s unique structure and themes and why it lends itself so well to a game. I’ll also briefly talk a bit about the core mechanic(s) I’ll be using to express those themes. I plan on paper prototyping the game before writing any actual code, so I’ll be blogging about that exploration as well in the following weeks.
This is a pretty huge move for me. It’s a larger, and potentially riskier, first project than the RPG tools I was originally planning on approaching first. Not only will Pale Fire be a more accessible stand-alone project, but it will serve as both a proof-of-concept for my assertion that game mechanics communicate meaning, and a real trial by fire of my ability to design an accessible and engaging game experience that isn’t necessarily trying to put FUN first. Although I personally find Pale Fire to be a really fun novel, a lot of people find it inaccessible. I expect that the (textless) game version will provoke a similar response among many people.
As has almost always been the case with me approach to thing–you can expect a lot of transparency during this project, with regular updates about my triumphs and failures. Hopefully it’ll be as entertaining and informative a process for you as I anticipate it will be for me.
A brilliant ad … from microsoft
This is just brilliant … check out this ad for Microsoft Office for mac.
This is just brilliant … check out this ad for Microsoft Office for mac.
3:01 AM | |
I Love It, I Hate it: The Story of My Kindle
When it comes to technology, my husband is definitely the majority decision maker in this house. In this world of online words, he is a much sought after “guru” of technology knowledge and critique’. Go check his YouTube statistics (over 2 million channel views) if you don’t believe me! See, I’m not just bragging [...]
When it comes to technology, my husband is definitely the majority decision maker in this house. In this world of online words, he is a much sought after “guru” of technology knowledge and critique’. Go check his YouTube statistics (over 2 million channel views) if you don’t believe me! See, I’m not just bragging because I’m married to him, it’s a fact. That being said, in my world he is still my husband (tech-guru smuru) and sometimes I don’t do what he tells me to do or follow all his tech reviews… or advice. That being said, I should also mention I have learned to revisit my thoughts and opinions on products from him. He’s great at being fair and transparent with his views. I’m now on the road to reviewing more items myself, hence the story of my beloved Kindle.
Things you should know about me before I go into my reasons for buying the Kindle:
1.) I own over 500 physical books (maybe more, I haven’t counted lately).
2.) I read several books at the same time (I tend to have at least three going at once, based on subject matter).
3.) I don’t always finish the books I buy — This one drives hubby mad.
4.) I have a serious affection for words on wood pulp — high gloss magazines are my mind candy and I’m a confessed indulgent!
5.) When we moved from California, I thought about how much I paid for each of my books and the tally runs high; purchase cost, move cost by weight, shelf cost, room cost, heating and cooling my library, time lost looking for the right book within said library. I digress - the list is really long.
Pros
1.) Less bulk and weight. I always agonize on which book to take. Bag real estate is a premium for anyone who frequents TSA lines and sprawling airports.
2.) Less upkeep. No need to find space on my bulging books shelves for e-books, no need to even pay for their “delivery” as Amazon pays for the Sprint charges.
3.) Privacy and ease of use. I can read Jean-Paul Sartre AND Stephanie Meyer without my fellow middle seat passenger striking up conversation about either. Turn on, click title and I’m reading.
4.) Lots of books at a discounted cost. Most of the e-books are cheaper than their paper counterparts and offer a “sample” to try before buying.
5.) No more guilt over dog earring pages,”breaking” spines, or killing trees for my enjoyment.
Cons
1.) Husband will kill me, scratch that - husband will write and tell the world how I was defiant against his better judgement. :)
2.) What if I don’t use it?
3.) It could die if I don’t charge it and there are the take off and landing times of “please turn off all electronic devices”
4.) The Kindle’s expensive! $350.00
5.) It’s possible the books I want to read aren’t offered by Amazon in e-book form.
These lists are short but I could go on and on about why I decided to buy it and why I almost didn’t. What you really want to know is how it turned out, right?
Honestly, I love the Kindle. I use it almost daily while in the bath or before bed. I’ve read three books on it thus far and I’m in the process of reading several others. For my style of reading, it works out well. I like variety and I need it light and compact. Battery life is really good, if you turn the Wi fi off, it’s even better. I’ll admit I haven’t used all the functions, and I’m sure I’ll like it even more as I learn them. I like it for the book reading, the ease of use, that it’s light and stores tons of options for my reading pleasure. If I want to surf the ‘net, I usually use the iPhone (Chris is right there) but everyone KNOWS you wouldn’t want to read an e-book on the iPhone — talk about battery kill! I like the dictionary feature, most of all I like the look of the E-ink and the ease of purchase and download via whispernet. I also adore not having pages falling open or closed; that is a pet peeve of mine, cured!
So there you have it, I’m not a geek, I’m not a guru - just some gal who likes to read and this is my little story of the Kindle. We’ll need to revisit this subject matter in six months. I will reevaluate and see if I’m still happy about the purchase or if I’ve changed my mind.
Tech Talk: Free Golf Lessons! (For Ten Minutes) [del.icio.us]
3:01 AM | |
The Daily Loper - April 10, 2009
Consider That My Apology Edition Today’s links of interest: True/Slant Tests Web Journalism ModelAOL gets into the online journalism game with new venture. Interesting model that might work. News publishers’ misdirected online angerAs newspaper folks rise up in anger against the evil Google and other news aggregators, people note that it’s easy enough to close the spigot, [...]
Consider That My Apology Edition
Today’s links of interest:
- True/Slant Tests Web Journalism Model
AOL gets into the online journalism game with new venture. Interesting model that might work. - News publishers’ misdirected online anger
As newspaper folks rise up in anger against the evil Google and other news aggregators, people note that it’s easy enough to close the spigot, but, of course, that won’t happen. They want cake and all that. - Facebook’s ad pitch: Meet the ‘active network’
As buzzwords go, the Active Network couldn’t sound any more like something from Microsoft. And it’s only a matter of time before the Active Network devolves into SPAM. Especially when it’s being marketed to advertisers. - Twitter / Felicia Day: Man, day getting worse and …
Surprising absolutely noone, but Fox seems to be canceling Dollhouse. At the very least, they aren’t going to air at least one of the episodes. And just when it had gotten really good, too. - Microsoft’s ‘Apple Tax’ Needs a Refund
Good lord, have we gone back to the mid-1990s? The Microsoft/Apple wars are stirring again, maybe to make up for the fact that Bill G has gone and Steve J might be on his way out, as well? - The ‘Dollhouse’ situation and what Whedon should do next
Maureen Ryan is right. No matter what the fate of Dollhouse, Joss Whedon should get the frak away from the broadcast networks. Also: after 20 years of this shit, when we end up liking a show on FOX, we halfway expect Rupert Murdoch himself to show up at our doorstep and forcibly stop us from watching it. - The Alternate History of Kurt Cobain
Sigh. Still. But less than it used to be. - Awkwardness: Billy Bob Looks To Joaquin Phoenix For Inspiration
From the file under dickwad department. Instantly infamous, of course. My favorite was his willful ignorance in stating that nobody has been doing what they’re doing for the past 30 years. - Survey: 100% of Teens Want an iPod; 0% of Teens Want Any Other Player - iPod
To be fair, they didn’t include the Prism DuroSport on the list of competing media players. - Social networking a potential trap for prospects
What’s hilarious is that a young athlete really doesn’t to be trapped into misbehaving, you know? - Time Warner tries again, fails to justify caps and charges
Sigh. Why anybody would willingly use this company for anything, if they had even the tiniest choice, continues to escape us. - The Beatles Remasters: Are They Really That Big A Deal In The Post-CD Era?
It’s a good question. Even five years ago, fully remastered, great-sounding versions of albums like Revolver or The Beatles or Abbey Road, would have been absolute must-haves. Now? Maybe. If you’ve purchased those albums a couple of times, you might just wait for someone else’s rip.
✓ Talk at Wordcamp India 2009
I gave a talk at Wordcamp India ‘09 today, and thought about sharing the presentation with people who showed interest in it, or couldn’t make it. SlideShare was being a pain, but I finally managed to upload the presentation in the native Keynote format. Hope you find it useful. Personal Presence using Wordpress and AIR EDIT: Here’s [...]
I gave a talk at Wordcamp India ‘09 today, and thought about sharing the presentation with people who showed interest in it, or couldn’t make it. SlideShare was being a pain, but I finally managed to upload the presentation in the native Keynote format. Hope you find it useful.
Personal Presence using Wordpress and AIR
EDIT: Here’s a PDF version of the same for download: Talk at Wordcamp India ‘09
✓ Bonny Lass
A friend. I’m actually pretty proud of this one.
A friend. I’m actually pretty proud of this one.
Doomed But Loved: Chuck
Save Chuck! If you’ve been floating around the blogosphere or twittersphere or any other kind of onlineosphere in the past couple of weeks, you’ve probably run across a post or a tweet or a status update containing those two words. To the cynical eye, it might seem that after Battlestar Galactica went [...]
Save Chuck!
If you’ve been floating around the blogosphere or twittersphere or any other kind of onlineosphere in the past couple of weeks, you’ve probably run across a post or a tweet or a status update containing those two words.
To the cynical eye, it might seem that after Battlestar Galactica went off into the great good night — or great good morning, as the case may be — the geekosphere cast about for another TV show to glom onto, and still not entirely trusting LOST after that second season, fixated on Chuck.
Not true. Wealllllllll, not exactly true. LOST has momentum, an audience, and and an end date. The fate of Chuck is still very much up in the air. And the fact that NBC gave over five hours a week of prime-time programming to Jay Frakking Leno does NOT bode well for it.
And I think what worries the tvsnobosphere is an unspoken fear that if Chuck dies, that might just be the end of an era for Network television.
Which era? The era where a smart, well-crafted TV show can sit down and just, you know, entertain you for an hour with a combo of comedy, light drama, and characters who change of the course of the series. You know, that era.
Chuck isn’t a grand drama about life in modern-day America, like Friday Night Lights, or a show that likes to address deep philosophical questions, like LOST, or even a show that proclaims how awesome it is — even when it isn’t — like Heroes.
Nope. Chuck just wants to entertain you. And you. And you. Even you. It’s pure classic mainstream American television.
Now, that might sound like damming with faint praise, but I swear to gods that it isn’t, because part of the beauty of television has always been the smart, well-made mainstream TV show that didn’t have any aspirations other than to entertain the shit out of you without being condescending.
Week in and week out, Chuck is the most fun you can possibly have watching TV. This is a show that has something for everyone: spy missions; wacky sidekicks; hot chicks; quippy action guys, family drama and an evil organization with designs — admittedly fuzzy at this point — on the world.
And at the center, Zachary Levi’s low-key comic performance as Chuck, an underachieving Stanford grad who has just enough of a retail job to not totally hate himself. Somehow Chuck got implanted with the most powerful spy database in the world, and the central mysteries that drive the show week revolve around why he got implanted in the first place, and whether or not he can ever lead a normal life again.
See, at the core, it’s a mystery! You people like mysteries, don’t you?
And what drives the Chuckosphere crazy is that we don’t know anybody who has ever seen Chuck and didn’t like it. That’s what drives us crazy. There is no reason that a show that is this consistently smart, funny and this entertaining isn’t a bigger hit in the mainstreamosphere Like Moonlighting was. Like The Rockford Files was.
That’s the frightening thing. Maybe, in the Long Tail era, there really isn’t even enough of a general audience to keep anything but the most mindless, lowest-common-denominator shows — singing! dancing! humiliation! — afloat on the networks. Maybe the audience that demands more from their entertainment has fled to cable and the internets, and that’s that.
Maybe. All I know is that I’ve come to look forward to watching Chuck as much as anything out there right now, and I really think that you like TV, and you watch Chuck, you’ll like it. End of story.
And whaddya know? It’s on tonight. Try Chuck. Save Chuck.
- Chuck Campaign: Watch/Buy/Share
- Can Twittersphere Save ‘Chuck’?
- Help save Chuck!
- Chuck vs. The Network Pick Up…Inside the Intersect
- Doomed But Loved: Friday Night Lights
Hey, did you know that you can follow me on Twitter?
Motorola Cuts Maybe Bad News for Microsoft
That might not be the only bad news. If the iPhone and Pre are hints of things to come, companies will no longer license the OS from other software companies, but make them on their own so that they can control and improve like they deem fit. That’s not good news for Microsoft, which has [...]
That might not be the only bad news. If the iPhone and Pre are hints of things to come, companies will no longer license the OS from other software companies, but make them on their own so that they can control and improve like they deem fit. That’s not good news for Microsoft, which has recently decided not to make the Zune phone, but do the same for cell phones like they did with PCs – make the OS and then license it. We’ll have to wait and see what Windows Mobile 7.0 is like, but it better offer something truly compelling for it to be of any relevance.
Is News Dead or Is the News Business Model Dead?
A lot of the time, it feels like I’m driving in a coma. That’s not to say that I’m unaware of what’s going on around me — I am, I swear! — but my mental processes are preoccupied with my own issues, leaving the radio (and it is radio because I haven’t gotten around to [...]
A lot of the time, it feels like I’m driving in a coma. That’s not to say that I’m unaware of what’s going on around me — I am, I swear! — but my mental processes are preoccupied with my own issues, leaving the radio (and it is radio because I haven’t gotten around to getting a decent CD changer or MP3 player for my car) as white noise. I joke that I absorb news and information by osmosis, but given how many current events I am conversant about, maybe learning-by-osmosis isn’t so far-fetched after all.
This is a long way of explaining how I spent over a week listening the KPCC (89.3, Pasadena, California) pledge drive. And at first, said drive was so much white noise, but then…osmosis did its thing. I realized that people were giving money, lots of it, to the radio station. While this is the desire outcome of a pledge drive, it struck me rather forcefully that listeners local and distant were willing paying money to become members of the station.
For the first time ever, I actually listened to the pledge drive. Guess what? In an era where (presumably) we expect information to be free and where (presumably) news can’t make money, KPCC was raking in some serious cash. The KPCC website doesn’t say whether or not this year’s goal was achieved, but I do know that quite a few challenges — where someone offers a plum contribution if certain events, a set number of new members or dollars, happen in a specific time period — were met. I spend a lot of time in the car, so this is practically a scientific study.
So what’s going on here? The way the contributors explained it, they believe in the station, in the people, and in the organization. KPCC has gone from sleepy NPR station to robust local news machine (with bureaus in Sacramento and Washington D.C.) in the years I’ve been listening. At a time when the Los Angeles Times is eliminating local and state coverage, KPCC is beefing it up. And — whoa! — people want to help support that.
As I listened throughout the week, I heard many stories from listeners who were moved to contribute to KPCC (we, ahem, did our traditional year-end donation, so I was guilt-free). Regular contributors, new contributors who realized the value, recently laid-off contributors who believe the station and its work is worth dipping into limited funds. The common thread was that this service which is available for free, across many platforms is worth going to a website or picking up a phone to help fund news gathering.
We hear a lot of doom and gloom about news, about the future of newspapers, the fact that people presumably won’t pay for the cow when they can get the milk for free. I’m not convinced this is true. Yes, some people see free as some sort of divine right (up to the moment when they are on the losing side of free), but most people get the concept of paying for goods and services.
While KPCC relies upon that oldest of public radio tricks, the fund drive, it also makes it a point to remain current on the technological front. Put another way, KPCC serves its community even as that community evolves. Like other news businesses, there is squeeze coming from outside organizations, such as NPR, which is looking for evermore cash, but the indicators are clear.
As long as KPCC offers the service its community desires, that community will continue to support the station. Now I’m not one to draw the obvious line (ha!), but it seems some struggling news organizations can learn valuable lessons from the story of KPCC…
✓ Focus
I. Personal Freedom When I was a freelancer, developing and creating things was pretty grand. I would get the required specifications from clients, sit down to work and complete that project knowing that it was something the client wanted and would use. If there was something the client didn’t like, they would tell me what exactly it [...]
I.
Personal Freedom
When I was a freelancer, developing and creating things was pretty grand. I would get the required specifications from clients, sit down to work and complete that project knowing that it was something the client wanted and would use. If there was something the client didn’t like, they would tell me what exactly it was, and based on further discussion, I would fix/change things. I don’t believe in the age old salesman motto of “the customer is always right”, and this system played very nicely into it. The customer was only right as long they were paying. You want X amount of work above what was quoted initially — you pay accordingly. You can’t — you don’t get your extra work. No hard feelings.
Unfortunately, that is not the case when one sets out to build something that is aimed at a general demographic. There are lots of considerations — features, usability, accessibility, and just the plain old “is it worth it?”-ability. Every new service wants the most number of users it can get, so even if it has a clear goal in mind, there are chances that the field will make the developers compromise, justify and bend their goals around a little to encompass things that they probably wouldn’t have thought about when they started off.
Apple Inc. is the only company (in my recollection) who have stuck to their ideals with such fervour that they fundamentally remain unchanged after nearly 30 years of existence. They haven’t given in to users, competition — even stock holders’ pressure. If there is one aspect of Apple that I want to imbibe in my personality, is their management’s (and by that, I of course mean Steve Jobs) ability to remain cool, calm and focussed — while the rest of the world drowns and falters in the rapid. I understand that Apple has built a reputation, a certain level of loyalty to be able to confidently carry on its plan, but something has to be said about their confidence in their ability to execute. Taking the current situation, hear the every day screams for a netbook. Apple already said it won’t do one, because they don’t know how to do one. I think the iPhone is their answer to the netbook — but you will not see a dedicated netbook from Apple — even if it may mean an untapped, potential pot-of-gold market.
Companies may say that adding features to rope in more users is just good business sense, that it doesn’t matter as long as the users are coming in — because at the end of the day, a business in a business. It’s nothing without revenue. On the web, there are many services which are surviving on venture capital alone, and have yet to (publicly) reveal a revenue model1. The best bet in a lot of these cases is to just bring in tons of users, and then put ads on every page. There are pitfalls of that too, especially since there is a huge barrier to actually executing that plan — the users. And that’s where the main problem lies.
II.
AT GUNPOINT
I’ll try to define the different categories I put people into. People for me are either users or developers. Users are the ones who may or may not have a technical know how of things, but use whatever you have to offer to improve their way of working. They might be loyal users, or users who just look around once and dump things if they don’t like what they see, but they don’t contribute anything to you or your product — except maybe spread the word a little.
Developers are ones who actually contribute to your case. They use your APIs, your platform to create something new. They’re the good guys, who’re looking to improve your offering, as well as improve their own way of working. They give you feedback, constructive advice, and tips to make your product better.
Developers work to build a platform or service, and during that time, they are accountable to a lot of people (the first ones being the management) of why they do certain things in certain ways. When the service begins to get popular, the developers become accountable to users as well, who hold the service at ransom for not getting features. This might be the definition of a fair-game competition, where alternatives are always trying to out-do each other to look attractive to the user. The threat of losing users if you don’t listen to them — no matter however ridiculous they sound — is too great to the management, so the developers have to find a way to listen to everybody.
I am a user, as well as a developer. I hold a certain respect for each and every software/service I use — and not for the usability of the app, but the effort of the developer. And I can’t help but think, that everybody is accountable for something. Everyone, but the user. What is there to stop a user from giving a completely unfair, uncalled for negative review of your app/service — all under the shroud of anonymity if they choose so? Who does a user answer to, when they make tall requests, that take developers weeks to implement — and then promptly leave the service? If developers try to lock in users by holding to ransom their data or any other such thing, there are hundreds and thousands who call out the unfairness or anti-competitiveness.
All this makes it sound like developers are sitting ducks to getting really exploited, but truth of the matter is, everyone needs to take a stand. As long as they’re clear in their minds about what they’re trying to achieve, such things will not come up. Remember what they say about trying to make everyone happy. There is a certain level of truth in that, and when you’re dealing with the most diverse demographic — the entire web — that saying takes a whole new meaning. “If you don’t stand up for something, you’ll fall for anything”.
The Daily Loper - April 8, 2009
There Were Just Too Many Kids Edition Today’s links of interest: Beer sales banned for Tigers-Blue Jays gameOnly in Canada. The Zero-Gravity Toilet Of Adobe DRMed ePubAs Mike Cane notes, Really, it turns out it’s easier to take a shit in space than to deal with Adobe DRMed ePub eBooks! Electricity Grid in U.S. Penetrated By SpiesI really hope [...]
There Were Just Too Many Kids Edition
Today’s links of interest:
- Beer sales banned for Tigers-Blue Jays game
Only in Canada. - The Zero-Gravity Toilet Of Adobe DRMed ePub
As Mike Cane notes, Really, it turns out it’s easier to take a shit in space than to deal with Adobe DRMed ePub eBooks! - Electricity Grid in U.S. Penetrated By Spies
I really hope the part they’re leaving out of this story is that the US is doing the same thing to Russia and China. - Facebook Hits 200 Million Users
And 199,999,999 really don’t like the new UI. - Pushing Daisies final episodes resurrected
A tiny bit of good news for fans of a show that never quite overcame its quirk to become as great as it could have been. That said, it was weird and fun enough to absolutely be a future cult classic. - Amazon and others follow iTunes’ lead in hiking MP3 prices
Thanks iTunes! Really appreciate that. We love how the record companies positioned DRM as a good thing for the consumer, but decide to hike the price of the DRM-free mp3z. Do these people not realize that US$0.99 is a psychological breaking point, and they’re going to lose more money with the higher max prices? Sigh. Of course not. Even the smart things they do are always tinged with idiocy. - ‘The Unusuals’ ‘Southland’ review
Because what we need now? MORE COP SHOWS!!! In a way, it doesn’t matter that NBC just replaced a hospital drama with another cop show, because they’re ceding 10:00pm to — zzzzzz — Leno, but it still kills us that truly original fare like Kings and the almighty, awesome Chuck are on the chopping block. - Vermont becomes 4th state to allow gay marriage
Four down, forty-six to go. When those numbers are reversed, people are going to wonder why anybody was so hysterical, because the institution of marriage will be as strong as it always was. If not stronger. - Uggla lifts Marlins to sweep of Nats
Any MLB series that consists of only two games should not trigger the word sweep when describing the fact that one of the teams happened to win two games in a row. In fact, any MLB series that only consists of two games shouldn’t really exist in the first place. - The race to a million Twitter followers is on
This is exactly the meaningless, BS thing that we think that Stephen Colbert should game. Right now. - Make it Blockbuster’s last night
Good riddance to bad rubbish, we say. At the height of its power, Blockbuster was a self-made defacto censor, ruling over which movies were acceptable (and which weren’t) viewing for the towns from which it drove the mom-and-pop stores.
3:01 AM | |
Off until Monday
I’ll be away from the blog until Monday morning. My littlest sister is getting married up in Santa Barbara this weekend, and we’ll be gathering together in and around that city of my birth for the next few days. Heloise Cerys is two months old today, and we leave this afternoon for her [...]
I’ll be away from the blog until Monday morning. My littlest sister is getting married up in Santa Barbara this weekend, and we’ll be gathering together in and around that city of my birth for the next few days. Heloise Cerys is two months old today, and we leave this afternoon for her first “road trip.” Ingmar the Volvo is packed to the gills, the hotel has already confirmed a crib in the bedroom, and we’re ready to embark with joy and a tiny degree of trepidation on another “first.”
Comments may languish in moderation longer than usual as a result. Your famous forbearance, my readers, is appreciated.
Away until the 15th
I’ll be traveling for the next week for the various holidays, returning to regular blogging on Wednesday, April 15. A very happy Pesach and a joyous Easter to all!
I’ll be traveling for the next week for the various holidays, returning to regular blogging on Wednesday, April 15.
A very happy Pesach and a joyous Easter to all!
Rights and Sacrifice: more in response to Maggie Gallagher
I want to return to the same Maggie Gallagher piece I wrote about yesterday. Gallagher, in making the case for what she calls a “marriage culture” (which she defines, oddly, as a culture which seeks to limit rather than expand the marriage franchise) suggests that what she calls “sacrifice” is at the very heart [...]
I want to return to the same Maggie Gallagher piece I wrote about yesterday. Gallagher, in making the case for what she calls a “marriage culture” (which she defines, oddly, as a culture which seeks to limit rather than expand the marriage franchise) suggests that what she calls “sacrifice” is at the very heart of what marriage is. And as it turns out, I think she’s right — at least, if we understand the real meaning of the word.
Gallagher writes:
These decisions are being made every day: Sacrifice or immediate gratification? The audacity of hope or the audacity of fidelity? Grownups have to choose. A marriage culture consists of offering a provisional answer to grownups about how they should choose. Marriage as an individual right offers no cultural basis for helping people answer the questions that matter most.
She’s a bit muddled there, but her last line makes good sense to me, though I stand on the opposite side. Rights don’t exist in order to provide a cultural basis for helping people grow; rights exist so that people may live their lives with the maximum degree of freedom possible without impinging too grossly on the rights of others. Marriage can be a vehicle for personal growth and transformation for some, but it is not the only such catalyst for individual change and happiness. When marriage is defined as a right rather than an expectation, and when that right is granted regardless of the reproductive potential of the persons involved, then we are all liberated. And while Gallagher thinks that all we’re liberated from by altering the definition of marriage is the duty to do hard things, I think we’re liberated from a very particular kind of idolatry.
Marriage advocates like Gallagher fantastically overestimate the power of this one particular institution to glue society together. Like a moonstruck teenager who thinks that life will be perfect when she finds true love, Gallagher thinks that the sooner we’re all in sacrificial heterosexual marriages, the more robust and joyful our common life will be. And the danger is that her very own enthusiasm for the institution undermines the long-term viability of traditional marriage. Raise young people with a reverence for marriage, combine that reverence with a denunciation of divorce as invariably selfish, and wham — you get falling marriage rates. You make an icon out of marriage, and you leave a generation of young people concluding that it either isn’t worth all of that “sacrifice”, or that they had better wait until they’re damn good and ready before dipping a toe into the nuptial pond.
Gallagher makes marriage sound like the Marines: “we’re looking for a few good straight couples”. Some young folks love the idea of joining the Marines — but most aren’t interested. We’re already seeing the signs that Gallagher’s efforts are paying off: the divorce rate, according to most sociologists, has begun to decline slightly. But it is only declining because fewer people are getting married in the first place. And contrary to what Gallagher might think, the increased accessibility of divorce and the drive for gay marriage is not the reason why so many young folks are delaying marriage (or giving up on the idea altogether.) It’s that the vision of marriage as a unique vehicle for human happiness seems more like a quaint romantic fantasy — and that the hard labor of commitment doesn’t seem very appealing. This doesn’t mean young people are lazy or afraid; it simply means that modern marriage doesn’t stand up particularly well to a cost-benefit analysis. (This is why, of course, so many social conservatives are desperate to preach abstinence — the more they can create the sense that orgasms are only licit after marriage, the greater the appeal of getting hitched.) (more…)
Of Abraham and Isaac, Peter and his lambs, the Amish and Heloise: how becoming a father has made me rethink my pacifism
Added to the list of things that have shifted since becoming a father: I’m ready to say I’ve left my doctrinaire pacifism behind. In October 2006, some thirty months ago, I wrote this post in the aftermath of the awful Amish school shooting. Here are two paragraphs from a childless man, excerpted from that post: The [...]
Added to the list of things that have shifted since becoming a father: I’m ready to say I’ve left my doctrinaire pacifism behind.
In October 2006, some thirty months ago, I wrote this post in the aftermath of the awful Amish school shooting. Here are two paragraphs from a childless man, excerpted from that post:
The third lie about pacifism is that it is hopelessly idealistic and has no efficacy. Once we convince our opponents that we aren’t cowards (after all, Christian pacifists are dying in places like Colombia and Iraq all the time), we usually get dismissed as “fanatics.” I mentioned in my post on Monday that I hoped that if it came to it, I would be willing to take a bullet for “my kids.” But I would not be willing to fire a bullet, even to protect the lives of my students or youth groupers. That always strikes folks as irresponsible and prideful; I seem to be putting my theological convictions ahead of my obligation to protect the lambs.
But as a Christian, I know that there is more to our story than our life on this earth. I love life, I love this planet, I love God’s incredible creation. But my story — our story — doesn’t end here. This is not my final home. I am a “resident alien” in a beautiful, violent, scary, wonderful place. I know that while death is overwhelming and terrifying, it is not the end. Not only do I have an even truer home elsewhere, so too do those lambs I am called to feed. They are Christ’s lambs, not mine. Their lives are precious, but so too are their eternal souls. Crazed gunmen can kill the bodies of the young and the innocent; crazed gunmen can break the hearts of a community. But crazed gunmen don’t get to write the final chapter of the story. After the tears, there will be rejoicing, no matter what, no matter what, no matter what.
I still stand by everything — save, of course, for the line that has been struck through. I don’t know if I would kill to protect my own life; I might not even kill to protect my wife or other family members. But I would kill without hesitation to protect the life of my daughter. Clichéd as it sounds, everything shifted the moment she was born. My first thought: “I have finally done something I can’t back out of.” My next few thoughts were of awe and love for her and for my wife. And then, later, gently but firmly, the realization that yes, I would kill to protect the life of this child.
Nearly forty years ago, the Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder pointed out in What Would You Do? that there is almost always a third option between passive acquiescence and violence. In almost no other area of theological debate does the false dichotomy come up more often; the truth is, as Yoder points out in wonderful and reasonable and convincing detail, is that the choice between “killing or being killed” is far rarer than we imagine. Peace-making (from pax facere, the root of pacifism) is about the aggressive search for third options of the sort that maximize survival, maximize justice, and minimize bloodshed. I still think he’s right, but I know — as he knew — that there are still times and circumstances when there is no other third choice. And my preferred answer, for many years, is that I would trust God and place my faith in Him over my atavistic desire to kill in order to preserve my life or the life of another. (more…)
Narcotics and Narcissism: Head-to-Toe in the Latest bebe Styles
Rarely do I dress in one brand from head-to-toe. I've avoided it and I may have even advocated against it, but lately, I've been dressing from head-to-toe in bebe--and absolutely loving it! bebe has always been a favorite brand of...
Rarely do I dress in one brand from head-to-toe. I've avoided it and I may have even advocated against it, but lately, I've been dressing from head-to-toe in bebe--and absolutely loving it!
bebe has always been a favorite brand of mine (something I conceded to last fall). I have tried to convince myself that I had outgrown the brand, but I've come back to bebe in force this fall.
I don't just love bebe. I adore bebe.
I am, and will forever, consider myself to be the quintessential 'bebe girl.'
Why?
Because I strive for the ultra-feminine, ultra-made up look. I love super-sexy, super-flattering clothes. Wearing bebe clothes makes me feel great about myself.
Isn't that reason enough?
And, the proof is in the compliments.
I have received numerous compliments from both women and men. Even the ladies at bebe have looked at my legs, and with admiration, have complimented how great they are (ladies, please take note, lifting weights is essential. There is only so much that you can accomplish with cardio)
In the past few weeks, I have had guys literally roll up on me in their cars and stop. Quite recently, a guy on my streeet passed by me in his tricked out Lexus complete with tinted black windows and gigantic chrome rims. He literally opened his driver door so he could get a good look at me.
Some women might have been freaked out by this, but I had to admit, it only contributed to my vanity and my fed into my narcissistic view of myself: I look f***ing fantastic. I have to admit that even I like looking at myself in the mirror. How many women will openly admit to that?!
If the domain name had not already been taken, I would have named my blog not Limo Heels, but Narcissism.
Take for example my outfit from Thursday, November 13, 2008:
bebe 'Ali' Snakeskin platform pumps in burgundy, fall 2008
(see the matching skirt in photo of Pintuck blazer below)
Skirt and Matching Jacket:
bebe Skirt:
bebe Pressed Pintuck (short--mid thigh) Pencil Skirt, fall 2008
& Pressed Pintuck Vested Blazer, fall 2008
Top:
bebe Paisley Ruffled Shirt in bombshell, fall 2008
Camisole:
bebe Shirred Seamless Cami in bombshell, fall 2008
(no photo)
Coat:
bebe double-breasted Sexy Satin Trench in dark purple, fall 2008
Handbag:
bebe Leather Logo Tote in Black, fall 2008
Wallet:
bebe Logo Leather Wallet in Gunmetal (not available online), fall 2008
(no photo)
Watch:
bebe Sunburst Swarovski bangle watch in silver, fall 2008
Necklace:
bebe Pave Heart Charm Necklace in silver, fall 2008
Sunglasses:
bebe Sabrina shield sunglasses in smoke gray, fall 2008
(no photo)
BEBE SPORT water bottle, fall 2008
bebe clear cosmetics case, from many seasons past
For me, bebe is like a narcotic: bebe clothes make me feel great about myself no differently as methamphetamines provides a high to drug addicts. The medium may be different, but the stimulus to the brain is identical.
People laugh at me when I tell them that I have an addiction to shopping and to bebe. People say there is nothing wrong with it as everyone does it. That's precisely the problem: it's socially acceptable as Americans live beyond their means.
Case in point: Yesterday, after work, I went to bebe to try to take advantage of the bebe 25% off everything sale. I tried to buy something. What happened: Nada. Nothing. Zip. Credit card declined. Why? no money. Maxed out.
Just like an addict, I'll have to find another source of revenue to feed my addiction. I have tunnel vision. No different from how alcoholism has been described to me. In January, I plan to join a debtor's anonymous group.
I'll have to be like Michael C. Hall as the character Dexter in the Showtime series of the same name (I've been watching Season 2 on Netfllix). I have to join a twelve step group, find a sponsor and be in recovery so I can avoid my urges to spend money...to spend money at bebe (much to the dismay of bebe managers and sales staff who read my blog. Much to the dismay of Julie Frederickson and company who want to promote the fantasy of fashion industry and media that follows and support it rather than publicizing the dark side of fashion: over consumption. conspicious consumption. etc. I know I'm not the only one. I just might be among the few to actually admit and to admit it online. I won't be at all surprised if I have to separate from Coutorture and blog it alone.).
By the way, I have yet to wear my new $800 Christian Louboutin black patent Rolando's. I'm saving them for my date to the opera in which I'm treating my friend. Read my prior blog post to see my other new fall clothes that I've purchased this season.
2:48 AM | |
Inspiration Friday: Jacek Utko on Can Design Save The Newspaper
View this video from TED Talks, with Jacek Utko as he discusses whether or not Design Can Save The Newspaper. Jacek is Polish newspaper designer whose redesigns for newspapers in Eastern Europe have won awards and increased circulation by up to 100%. Absolutely beautiful... makes me want to go to Poland just to pick up the paper! Jacek's talk here will not only inspire designers but publishers, photographers, journalists... anyone who has a passion for what they do.
View this video from TED Talks, with Jacek Utko as he discusses whether or not Design Can Save The Newspaper. Jacek is Polish newspaper designer whose redesigns for newspapers in Eastern Europe have won awards and increased circulation by up to 100%. Absolutely beautiful... makes me want to go to Poland just to pick up the paper!
Jacek's talk here will not only inspire designers but publishers, photographers, journalists... anyone who has a passion for what they do.
Taxtime for Freelancers
10 Tax Deductions Freelancers Can Make. Thursday Bram at Freelance Switch points out some ways to save you bucks! (found via CreativePro) Lots of good articles at both Freelance Switch and Creative Pro. Check them out.
10 Tax Deductions Freelancers Can Make. Thursday Bram at Freelance Switch points out some ways to save you bucks! (found via CreativePro)
Lots of good articles at both Freelance Switch and Creative Pro. Check them out.
Guest of Cindy Sherman - Film opening March 27, 2009
I was pleased to be offered a pre-screening of Guest of Cindy Sherman, a new documentary opening tomorrow, March 27, in NYC at the Cinema Village and the Santa Fe Film Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Director Paul H-O, formerly of public access GalleryBeat, takes us again behind the scenes of the New York art world and brings us into the artist studio for exclusive interviews with none other than Cindy Sherman. During his stint at GalleryBeat, Paul attended many gallery openings and won many fans. One of those fans being Cindy Sherman. The press shy and elusive Sherman invites Paul into her studio for a series of exclusive interviews where Paul gains insight into the artist's private world and her artistic process. A romantic relationship develops between the two. Guest of Cindy Sherman, documents those interviews with the...
I was pleased to be offered a pre-screening of Guest of Cindy Sherman, a new documentary opening tomorrow, March 27, in NYC at the Cinema Village and the Santa Fe Film Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Director Paul H-O, formerly of public access GalleryBeat, takes us again behind the scenes of the New York art world and brings us into the artist studio for exclusive interviews with none other than Cindy Sherman.
During his stint at GalleryBeat, Paul attended many gallery openings and won many fans. One of those fans being Cindy Sherman. The press shy and elusive Sherman invites Paul into her studio for a series of exclusive interviews where Paul gains insight into the artist's private world and her artistic process. A romantic relationship develops between the two.
Guest of Cindy Sherman, documents those interviews with the artist as well as interviews with Ingrid Sischy, John Waters, Robert Longo, Carol Kane, David Furnish, Danny DeVito and Molly Ringwald. The film "paints a vivid picture of the New York art scene that is also a witty, illuminating look at celebrity, male anxiety, and art."
Male anxiety, you say? One of the more interesting aspects of the film is in the story of identity. The relationship between Cindy (who wears many identities in her work) and Paul H-O begins to falter when Paul finds his own personality greatly overshadowed by Cindy's. The breaking point culminates as Paul finds himself in the role of "Guest of Cindy Sherman" at the openings and dinners which Cindy regularly attends. The notion of contrasting identities is compelling and the interviews are art world gossip at their best.
The film is directed by Paul H-O and Tom Donahue, producer Anura Idupuganti. After its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, the film has played in over 30 film festivals around the world. Visit the website at www.guestofcindysherman.com. Tickets are available online.
INK Publications Now Online
I'm happy to share the news with you that INK Publications has rolled out their new website. INK, Connecticut's culture and lifestyle magazine, now offers complete monthly issues as a PDF download. Get all the articles, news, and fabulous profiles of Connecticut's most highly skilled and talented artists, designers, photographers, businesses and eateries in one place. Rarely does one go treasure hunting without a map... Make INK yours. Check out this months issue with a feature article on photographer Jody Dole written by yours truly. Download INK April 2009.
I'm happy to share the news with you that INK Publications has rolled out their new website. INK, Connecticut's culture and lifestyle magazine, now offers complete monthly issues as a PDF download. Get all the articles, news, and fabulous profiles of Connecticut's most highly skilled and talented artists, designers, photographers, businesses and eateries in one place.
Rarely does one go treasure hunting without a map... Make INK yours.
Check out this months issue with a feature article on photographer Jody Dole written by yours truly. Download INK April 2009.
Cats and Their Designers at Design Observer
Ok CatFans... A fun slideshow over at Design Observer of the long awaited Cats and Their Designers. Check out the designers and their office felines... including a photo of yours truly and Oreo. DogFans, you have not been forgotten... Check out Dogs and Their Designers.
Ok CatFans... A fun slideshow over at Design Observer of the long awaited Cats and Their Designers. Check out the designers and their office felines... including a photo of yours truly and Oreo.
DogFans, you have not been forgotten... Check out Dogs and Their Designers.
Forbes calls designers snooty and promotes spec work in one sided article
Call me snooty, arrogant, hoity toity and egocentric. I really don't care. But when a well known and influential business publication validates and promotes the business of spec work and then insults the entire design industry... it grinds my gears! And when that same well known publication prints the article in question with flagrant disregard for both sides of the story... it is unprofessional and unseemly. I don't even know where to start with this. I'm pretty sure that if I begin writing about it I might not stop until 2010. I am not here to pontificate on the nature of naming calling. I do however want to add my voice to those who found Steiner's reporting skills offensive, to point out the pit falls of spec-work, and to support the designers who choose to defend and promote their industry....
Call me snooty, arrogant, hoity toity and egocentric. I really don't care. But when a well known and influential business publication validates and promotes the business of spec work and then insults the entire design industry... it grinds my gears! And when that same well known publication prints the article in question with flagrant disregard for both sides of the story... it is unprofessional and unseemly.
I don't even know where to start with this. I'm pretty sure that if I begin writing about it I might not stop until 2010. I am not here to pontificate on the nature of naming calling. I do however want to add my voice to those who found Steiner's reporting skills offensive, to point out the pit falls of spec-work, and to support the designers who choose to defend and promote their industry. Additionally, this post is not necessarily directed to the designers who visit this blog (I believe designers know the value of their work and therefore this post is probably preaching to the choir), but instead it is my hope that in some way the info and links provided here may help to inform the uninformed (the students, emerging designers, photographers, writers, artists, clients etc) about this topic.
It all began in January 2009 when Catherine Wentworth of No-Spec received an email from Christopher Steiner, senior reporter with Forbes Magazine. The subject line of the email read... FORBES MAGAZINE QUERY!!! After some discussion with Steiner, No-Spec went ahead and set up interviews for Steiner with some top designers in the industry. An interview was scheduled with Debbie Millman of Sterling Brands, and Design Matters, author of several design books and board member of the National AIGA.
Also lined up for an interview was logo designer and author Jeff Fisher, member of the HOW Magazine Editorial Advisory Board, UCDA Designer Magazine Editorial Advisory Board, and HOW Design Conference Advisory Council.
Steiner dissed all the interviewees without a letter of apology or explanation. And then... the bombshell headline appears in Forbes: CrowdSpring Aims to Slash the Cost of Graphic Design Work and Democratize a Snooty Business.
CrowdSpring is website which solicits design contests whereby anyone can submit a logo and perhaps win a prize. Sounds ok, right? Competition is good. If your grandmother submits a design and it is favored over mine... well that's the way it goes, right? Yeah, except for the fact that it isn't necessarily the company who hosts the contest that decides the winner, there are no professional guarantees and the other 100 or so designers who have taken the hours and energy to create designs receive no compensation. I don't know...call me snooty, but I believe that anyone who works should be paid for the job.
Proponents of crowd-sourcing will say that the "client" benefits in having the luxury to choose from MANY samples of work at low cost. Some may say that if an individual chooses to enter such a contest it is at their discretion and at their own risk. However, crowd-sourcing can be a very slippery slope and to me it represents the bottom feeders of business. Organizations such as No-Spec and AIGA have chosen to inform and educate designers and clients about the risks of crowd-sourcing. I encourage you to read what No-Spec and AIGA have to say about these matters.
Let's take a look at CrowdSpring's own terms of service. According to David Airey's post on this same subject, CrowdSpring provides the following caveat within its user agreement:
We have no control over and do not guarantee the quality, safety or legality of Creative Services, the truth or accuracy of project listings or member information, the qualifications, background, or abilities of members, the ability of creatives to deliver Creative Services, or that members will complete a transaction.
Yes, I can imagine how well this would go over with one of my clients... "Sure I'll design a logo for you for $200 but I won't guarantee the quality, safety or legality of my product."
Work as a graphic designer is not just about making pretty pictures. Professional work (of any kind) entails far more than winning on the cheap. Effective graphic design is about finding visual solutions to a clients problem or needs. Much energy, work, and thought is expended on the part of the professional designer to provide this service. Additionally, designers often work as consultants for their clients. Professionals, you will find, will support their customers. The outrage that has ensued from the design community in response to the Forbes article is (from what I can see) on several levels:
1. Ok... they are not real happy at being called snooty by a magazine for investment bankers.
2. Designers are passionate and dedicated people who wish to preserve and protect their profession. Not everyone who has a copy of photoshop can call themselves a designer. I'm sure the college students and designers who have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a design education would agree.
3. The one sidedness of the article is poor journalism and is absolutely stunning coming from a publication such as Forbes.
The discussion at David Airey's blog has been extensive. The controversy has turned into a real shit storm with opinions ranging from support for the design industry to utter opposition. I also want to note that while no comments (to my knowledge) have been issued by Forbes or Steiner regarding the one sidedness of the article or the dissing of Millman and Fisher, CrowdSpring Co-founder, Ross Kimbarovsky, did enter the fray to offer several comments. I applaud his bravery.
Debbie Millman has recently been asked by AIGA to ‘chair a task force in an effort to understand the various sentiments about this practice in both the design community and the broader creative community, and report back to the National Board our findings and potential recommendations at the National Board retreat in April, and to share these findings at the Leadership Retreat in June.’ Should you wish to contact Debbie with your opinion on spec-work, please follow this link.
Peter Good: 20/20
AIGA CT is sponsoring an event at Wilde Auditorium, University of Hartford on Monday, March 30, 2009 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm for the amazing graphic designer Peter Good, principal of Cummings & Good in Chester Connecticut. Peter Good 20/20 Twenty Years / Twenty Posters. Peter Good looks back on a gratifying relationship between a client, a classical string quartet and a designer. Peter Good is a graphic designer and illustrator who is well-known in Connecticut for the powerful images he has created for countless corporations, museums and art organizations. This work has consistently received awards from all the major graphic design institutions in the United States, and is published in design periodicals throughout the world. With his wife, Janet Cummings, he is a principal in the graphic design studio, Cummings&Good, based in Chester. Graphic Design: American Two, a 1997...
AIGA CT is sponsoring an event at Wilde Auditorium, University of Hartford on Monday, March 30, 2009 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm for the amazing graphic designer Peter Good, principal of Cummings & Good in Chester Connecticut.
Peter Good 20/20
Twenty Years / Twenty Posters. Peter Good looks back on a gratifying relationship between a client, a classical string quartet and a designer.
Peter Good is a graphic designer and illustrator who is well-known in Connecticut for the powerful images he has created for countless corporations, museums and art organizations. This work has consistently received awards from all the major graphic design institutions in the United States, and is published in design periodicals throughout the world. With his wife, Janet Cummings, he is a principal in the graphic design studio, Cummings&Good, based in Chester. Graphic Design: American Two, a 1997 survey of the "best and brightest talent in the USA today," contains a section on the Cummings&Good studio.
Since 1984, Peter's posters have been included in each of the Warsaw Poster Biennial Exhibitions, in every Lahti Poster Biennial Exhibition in Finland and in all of the International Poster Triennials in Toyama, Japan.
Monday, March 30, 2009, 6:30–9:00pm
Wilde Auditorium, University of Hartford
200 Bloomfield Avenue, West Hartford CT
AIGA Members: $15
Non-members: $20
Students with ID: FREE
Cash or check accepted at the door
Visit AIGA CT for more info on this exciting event.
2:48 AM | |
Saturday Ramble: Localism and local newspapers
A view frequently expressed by internet entrepreneurs and commentators is: “Local is good”. To put it bluntly, it means that there’s more money to be made by serving a local community with advertising than by offering global coverage. Three years ago that was not true. Even when the dollar was low and the pound high, [...]
A view frequently expressed by internet entrepreneurs and commentators is: “Local is good”. To put it bluntly, it means that there’s more money to be made by serving a local community with advertising than by offering global coverage.
Three years ago that was not true. Even when the dollar was low and the pound high, a British website could make more from U.S. ads than British ones. I know, I tried both.
Here I’m more concerned with very local conditions: individual towns and counties. And, in particular, that “river of gold”, classified advertising.
Small Ads, as most people call them, are deserting local newspapers in a mad stampede and migrating online. Big ticket categories like cars, properties and jobs are piling into specialized websites where you can upload pictures and text, then sit back and wait for the response.
Local papers are losing out across the board in these areas. Many are closing down, most are currently up for sale. A month ago the Daily Mail group sold the prestigious London Evening Standard for £1 to a Russian oligarch who was once a KGB spy. The original Northcliffe must be spinning in his tomb.
The economics are stark: the costs of printing and distributing a newspaper or magazine, to the standards we have grown used to, are now prohibitive. Big websites may not yet be yielding a profit, but their smaller, nippier competitors are, or are about to do just that.
The question of where we will get our local news from is a pertinent one, especially as many councils are using badly-drafted anti-terror legislation to spy on people’s habits and activities. Not only do we get a KGB spymaster owning a major local newspaper, but KGB methodology too.
Clearly we need to be informed in our local patch. While 24-hour news concentrates on mainstream concerns at a national and international level, big TV is generally retreating from small stories in small towns. It’s not at all obvious whether small stations can fill the gap, while radio is blind and full of pop music.
It’s also true that big broadcasting and big print occasionally miss the point big time. The Daniel Hannan moment where a politician’s denunciation of Gordon Brown bypassed the mainstream media completely, but became a worldwide hit on YouTube, is a typical case. The story subsequently reflected back into MSM as an internet phenomenon rather than a political one.
Local information needs a light and deft touch, often absent from the big battalions.
As local newspapers fade away, they will be replaced by cheaply run local websites — a cut above blogs but using the same kind of technology and methods.
Here at Syntagma we are setting up a separate company to move into this space. We will start with a Devon and Cornwall site in May, followed by Somerset, and other counties down the line.
It’s an exciting time to be online in the content business. Costs are low, opportunities wide. But above all, with a whole tier of local news disappearing, including ITV’s variable contributions, it’s all to play for.
Local is not only good, it may well be best.
John Evans
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DIARY: Wishful spending, He has bottom, Brown’s fall, Combustion stinks, One World
Foreign Secretary David Miliband was on the Andrew Marr programme this morning and in subdued mood. The only memorable thing I recall is: “We have to inject demand into the economy.” Does he know what “demand” actually is? And can it be injected? The Keynesian left often uses mechanical words and phrases to describe nebulous processes. [...]
Foreign Secretary David Miliband was on the Andrew Marr programme this morning and in subdued mood. The only memorable thing I recall is: “We have to inject demand into the economy.”
Does he know what “demand” actually is? And can it be injected?
The Keynesian left often uses mechanical words and phrases to describe nebulous processes. The aim in this case is to increase spending in the real economy to boost employment and lower social security payouts. There are many ways of doing this, mostly they don’t work.
For example, if civil servants went to a typical High Street to hand out briefcases full of banknotes, what would happen?
Two years ago most recipients might head for the nearest celebrity chef restaurant and drink the menu. On the way home they might pop into a jewellery shop to buy a bauble for the missus. That would push money into the real economy and boost employment. But it wasn’t needed two years ago.
Today, by contrast, a hollow-cheeked citizen would probably open the case and exclaim, “Now I can pay off the mortgage arrears, pay down the credit card, and put the rest into a savings account.”
Since all that money will end up back in financial institutions, it’s not going to affect unemployment at all. And since banks are hoarding cash while asset prices are falling, it’s not going to improve credit either.
Typically, Keynesians call this “priming the pump”. When was the last time you used a pump?
Demand is not a mechanism that can be turned on and off, it’s a psychological idea and depends on many unknown unknowns. Even then, is it actually “demand” we’re discussing here?
Do we walk into a supermarket and say, “I demand you sell me these eggs!” Or a car dealer’s forecourt: “I demand to own that car”. Of course not, demand is not involved at all, unless we’re robbing the place.
Our “needs” will generally be met in a downturn because we can tailor them to our resources, and we don’t actually need very much.
In a modern economy, it’s our “wants” that add the froth and pump up economic activity. By engaging in “demand management”, the government is really making us spend on inconsequentials, fripperies and other luxuries we can well do without. It’s trying to create “disposable income” which we can dispose of without a qualm.
Moreover, our wants are viewed from a different perspective when times are hard. The puritan side of our nature re-emerges and we scorn our previous spendthrift activities. We become rational again.
Odd, isn’t it, that our elected representatives prefer us to be irrational, and use our own money to bribe us into exuberant expenditure. How are they different from the pushy credit card companies at the height of the boom?
But it’s still not Demand, is it? Wrong word. Let’s use Wishful Spending instead.
I know it’s not as impressive or managerial as Demand, but at least it means what it says, and we would know what the authorities were trying to make us do.
Wishful spending management: the infantilization of the population completed. Mission accomplished!
Politicians have their own terminology of praise, faint or otherwise. One favourite is: “He has bottom”. Strange, it’s never used about a woman.
Does Gordon have bottom?
Well, you could do worse than glance at Gerald Scarfe’s wicked cartoon in today’s Sunday Times. Brown is depicted as demonstrating quantitative easing to members of the G20.
I’ll leave you to imagine the scenario … or pay the £2 price of the paper.
The roasting of Gordon Brown proceeds apace this weekend.
Yesterday it was Matthew Parris’s turn to take aim and fire. In The Times (London) he eviscerated, excoriated, then practically excommunicated the man from all polite society west of Margate and south of Dunfermline.
Today, Matthew d’Ancona of the Telegraph squeezed him dry till the pips squeaked: “The spandex-clad superhero has lost his aura of power. Mervyn King has cancelled his credit card.”
Peter Oborne also weighed in on Saturday with more thudding blows to an already bruised body. Following Daniel Hannan’s surprise rapier attack on European soil, the commentariat is piling in for the kill.
It’s not surprising. The world is expecting its Saviour-in-Chief to pull a giant rabbit from a small hat on Thursday. The G20 has been massively over-promised, thanks to Brown.
The decline is over, only the fall is left. Will he walk away now from the defeat that’s coming? Or will he limit the pain by calling a June General Election?
He’s no William Wallace.
The enigma at the heart of the hysterical response to supposed man-made global warming, is that paradoxically, its goals are so limited.
If carbon is indeed the problem, why keep trimming away at the edges? Why not ditch carbon completely?
At present, every human activity results in the production of carbon. Every morsel of energy we use, for light, heat, propulsion, manufacturing and servicing, somewhere down the line involves the burning of long dead trees.
It’s an astonishingly primitive process for a so-called advanced technological society. If we explained to a Stone Age caveman where our abundance of energy comes from, he’d remark drily, “We do that too. You’re not so clever after all.”
Where is the new motive power source for a truly innovative age that doesn’t depend on combustion of some sort? Wind and solar power require large areas of land to serve a small population, land that will be needed to grow food on in the future.
Greens want to chip away at the usage of carbon burning sources while the human population is doubling every century or so. It doesn’t add up.
All effort and investment should be directed at eliminating the combustion phase in the production of energy, not spending vast sums shoring up defences against future events which may never happen. If all the resources devoted to “green” alternatives were switched to that one objective, do you suppose it would fail?
Why pauperize whole economies in a futile attempt to empty the sea with a bucket?
Niall Ferguson’s thoughtful lecture to the Centre for Policy Studies (Get pdf here) on the trilemma of modern politics, prompts a lot of questions. Here’s one of them:
What halted the Doha international trade agreement was India’s veto. They were worried about the possibility of mass suicides among Indian farmers helpless against huge surges of imports into their country. Once again it was a clash between local sensibilities and a theoretical set of principles set out by the world’s power brokers. Local versus global.
The notion of “one world” is valid only on a spiritual level. As a philosophical Idealist, I certainly hold that view. However, on a practical level, it’s not true at all. Go and talk to those Indian farmers to find out why.
C.G. Jung’s description of a Collective Unconscious tells a complicated story. Many of the “archetypes” found there deal with self-preservation and can be terrifying to behold. He warned Westerners in particular not to lose themselves in this psychic realm because, as rationalists, they have no defence against the symbolic nature of it.
The nearest we have to a world mind is the internet. Jung would have been fascinated by it. However, his warnings ring true when some people get so caught up in the web of social media sites that they become unhinged and separated from reality. All those teenage suicides in the small town of Bridgend gives us an inkling.
People need feet of clay to be contented in this world. A satisfactory local environment is needed for mental harmony. It’s not speculative. It has actuality.
Our minds are not constructed to deal with planetary affair