Blog
Everyone has a blog these days, I just want to fit in. You never know, one of these days one of my posts will be linked by loads of web-famous people and I'll get tons if hits. That'll be sweet blog validation.
Posts in the "Internet" Category
Someone much smarter than myself
Merlin Mann is the type of guy I'd like to be when I grow up. He's in the same club (in my mind) as Dan Kennedy, Jon Stewart and other painfully smart and witty people with their heads on straight. I'll stop gushing about my man-crushes and get to the point. Merlin wrote something this month that really smacked me in the face. I've been feeling this hopeless malaise with everything internet related and he wrote about this much better than I could have. This paragraph in particular made me want to stand up and belt out a 'hell yeah!'
"What worries me are the consequences of a diet comprised mostly of fake-connectedness, makebelieve insight, and unedited first drafts of everything. I think it’s making us small. I know that whenever I become aware of it, I realize how small it can make me. So, I’ve come to despise it." – Merlin Mann
So, in lieu of an actual 'blog post,' I'd like you to read the rest of Merlin's post. Just imagine me nodding my head and shouting the occasional "AMEN" while you read it.
New Devotchka Website
Between the banner ads, email layouts, site updates and endless revisions, sometimes I get to be a part of a really cool project. That was the case on the new Devotchka website. I did the content management and administration back-end for this Flash site. This marks the first time I've created an administration tool for a Flash site using the AWESOME Symphony content management system.
I thought I'd go over some of the how and why of the back-end for this site. So read on and join the XML/XSLT THRILL RIDE!
Twitter: Bigger than Jesus.
Everyone on the interweb is talking about Twitter. Now look at me, I've been sucked into the Twitter-related-post vortex. I'm drinking the kool-aid, feeding the beast, jumping on the bandwagon, et cetera.
One thing you'll hear people say about Twitter is, "It doesn't make a lot of sense until you just sign up and try it." I'll buy that, I guess. I signed up last December and I've found it to be another interesting internet diversion. But I really don't get all the hype about it being THE NEXT BIG THING.
I mean, let's be realistic, it's no Zombo.com. So, without further ado, here's another post about Twitter that the internet can add to it's collection. In the great Twitter tradition of keeping everything under 140 characters, here are my thoughts on Twitter in 140 characters or less.
Facebook Report
In the last few weeks, I've delved headfirst into the world of Facebook-as-marketing-tool. Last fall, Facebook introduced "Facebook Pages" which has essentially become a venue for everything that's not a person to have a presence on Facebook. Products, TV shows, political candidates, etc.
I'm really glad that Myspace is on the downswing and Facebook is on its way up. As far as functionality and usability goes, Facebook spanks Myspace's animated-gif-riddled butt. I'm thrilled that "social networking" has grown up in the last few years, but I still think we have a way to go.
So here's my Facebook Book Report. I hope it's better than the book report I did for "A Separate Peace" in eighth grade.
Obsessed With Stats II: The Reckoning
A few months ago I wrote an entry about how I have OCD when it comes to checking my site stats. I'm happy to report that I still open up Google Analytics and AWStats every single day and see how my little web children are doing. I can stop any time I want, seriously, I'm fine.
My favorite type of stats for the816.com are the search keywords. I thought they couldn't get weirder than the list I posted in the last entry, but I was wrong. So here are some of my new favorite search terms that landed people on my site. I've also added my theory as to the circumstances of each particular search.
But seriously, folks…
That last post was fun but now it's time to put on my serious hat and my matching serious pants and do some serious writing. Disclaimer: This post is equal parts rant and prosthelization.
Let's Bring Back Website Jingles
For those of you as old as I am (Nearly 30 now, sheesh.) You may remember that a site called newstoday.com used to have a jingle that played each and every time that you went to the site. Unfortunately they no longer have this awesome jingle. I was thinking that in 2008, we should bring back this fantastic practice of imposing audio on unsuspecting viewers. I've created a few jingles for humble submission to a few of my favorite websites.
Kansas City (Where it's at)
Since I enjoy making websites, getting attention and making things that are funny, I made a little joke site. The joke was inspired by this thread on a KC message board. It's 34 pages long, so I won't blame you at all if you don't read it. Long story short, people from Kansas City proper can get irritated when they encounter people who assume they live in Kansas. Herein lies the comedy gold.
An Embarrassment of Riches
I finally took the time to adjust the truss rod on my ancient 6-string acoustic guitar. The poor thing is as old as I am and it's coming apart. I managed to stretch it into playable shape and it got me in the mood to play some old school R.E.M. and Son Volt. Driver 8, So. Central Rain, Windfall, Tear Stained Eye, etc. I've been trying so hard lately to force myself to be creative and actually make stuff, but I completely forgot how nice it is to crank up the stereo and just play someone else's songs.
Obsessed With Stats
I have both AWStats and Google Analytics monitoring the traffic on my site. I'm a little obsessive-compulsive about checking them both. It's a serious, diagnosed disorder that affects thousands of web developers worldwide. I might as well turn my crippling disorder into a blog post, so I thought I'd share some interesting stat-related findings I've noticed. Parental Advisory: The term "free live porno" is used in this post.
New Site!
The thing about portfolio sites is that they're one of the most important sites you'll create and at the same time, they can get ignored very easily. Until this site revision launched, I hadn't updated my portfolio in years. My excuse was that it was just too much of a pain to update since it was built with all static HTML files. That all changed when I discovered the incredible Symphony content management system.