One of the most of many wonderful things about Flickr is when you come across a photo that simply stops the world for a few seconds while you look in amazement at the beauty people can create with their cameras.
I don’t know anyone connected with this photo, but it is one of the most beautiful photos I have ever seen. The photo, the color, the title. Wow. Just wow.
Claire Goes Swimming
More of Ed Fladung’s photos here.
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digital photography
We had a good discussion a few months ago on getting heard- the reasons, challenges and benefits of attracting readers to your blog. I have thought about that some over the past few months and wanted to post my current thinking.
There are three primary kinds of readers of a web site, including a blog:
1) People who find the site because they know you or because you tell them about it. These folks don’t rely on external links and often are pretty sticky (meaning they generally spend a little time on the site and usually bookmark it and return to read new content). This is the “living Christmas card” concept that I’ve talked about before. This is a perfectly appropriate use of and purpose for a blog. In fact, I believe it is one of the most effective community building tools- tools that help a site gain critical mass by keeping readers connected and interested. It’s easy to get this sort of traffic, but the pool of potential readers is limited to people you (a) know and (b) tell about your blog.
2) People who find your site through web searches such as Google or Technorati. Newsome.Org has been on the web for 10 years, has a lot of links from (and to) other sites, and is highly ranked on most of the search engines under the logical key words (newsome, songwriting, music, ACC sports, etc.). As the site has transformed into more of a “tech for grownups” thing, the search engine placement has had to catch up, but over time it will. Search engine placement is good for traffic, but the readers who come via this path are generally not very sticky (they wander through and keep going, only to return the same way they came- via a web search for a key word, etc.).
3) People who find you via a link on another topic-compatible blog. People who read blogs have learned to appreciate the new distribution of information model that blogs allow. I was very late to the game, originally thinking that blogs were merely online diaries (most of my over 30 friends still think that). I am a convert now, and get most of my tech and entertainment news from blogs. A link from another blog is the highest and best way to attract readers who want regular content in blog form. The problem is that these links are, by far, the hardest to come by. The so called A-List bloggers (meaning those with lots of traffic) tend to link mostly to each other, enjoying a virtual watercooler where they discuss a series of topics. There’s nothing wrong with regularly linking to a group of blogs, as that produces the sort of distributed conversations that make blogs so interesting. But after a while it seems like only some people are talking. Those who aren’t involved in the conversation eventually get frustrated or bored and stop listening. Not only is that bad the person who wants to talk, it’s also bad for the person doing the talking. If no new perspectives are introduced, the conversation around the water cooler can become stale and repetitive- leading to a loss of readers. I’m not criticizing the A-List bloggers (I read many of them daily). I am simply expressing the frustration felt by those of us who would like to join the conversation but have not yet been able to effectively do so.
Robert Scoble, one of my favorite bloggers and the A-List guy that seems to me to be the most open to new participants, has a post today about Memorandum. He mentions another post by Nick Davis in which Nick says he’s over Memorandum, seemingly in part because it always features posts from the same group of blogs (mainly the aforementioned A-List). Scoble’s advice is to “write a more interesting post.” That’s great advice, but it only gets you so far. You can write like Carl Hiaasen, but if no one links to you, few people will ever find your interesting post and you will most assuredly never show up on Memorandum.
I don’t know what the answer is, but I can tell you that getting a place at the virtual watercooler is a lot harder than I thought it would be.
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blogging, blog promotion
Over the past couple of years, I have become very impressed with Tablet PCs– not only the hardware, but also Windows XP Tablet PC Edition. The tablets are smaller, very easy to use on airplanes and in hotel rooms and generally better suited for travelling than my office laptop and all of the required cables and accessories that I have to lug around with it.
The one problem is that I have been using a Fujitsu Stylistic tablet which has no keyboard. This tablet is fantastic for reading emails and viewing web pages, but it is hard to tap or write out long emails. I intend to keep and use the Fujitsu for web surfing and email checking around the house, but I needed something else to take on business trips.
So I bought an IBM ThinkPad X41 tablet PC. These tablets are new and much heralded by laptop and tablet enthusiasts, so I figured I would have to wait a bit to get mine.
Here’s the story so far. Once my tablet arrives, I’ll post photos and a detailed review.
I knew that IBM’s computer division had been purchased by Lenovo, a Chinese PC manufacturer, but I’ve read enough about the deal and the transition that I felt comfortable buying a Thinkpad- long considered one of the best lines of laptop computers.
I went to the Thinkpad web site and placed an order a couple of weeks ago. There aren’t many customization options, so I picked the X-41 with a 60 GB hard drive and an extra battery and submitted my order. The first minor problem was that, contrary to the message you get during checkout, I never received any email confirmation of my order. No big deal. I wrote Lenovo on 9/24/05 and inquired about my order. On 9/26/05 I received an email reply giving me my order number and telling me that my computer was on backorder with an estimated ship date of 3-4 weeks. That was about what I expected, so no problem. The tag line on the email, We are the new. We are the future. We are Lenovo. Think Lenovo!, was a little too “all your base are belong to us,” but no biggie. Make me a great computer and you can say anything you want in your email.
When I went back to the Thinkpad web site to track my order online, two odd things happened. First, the page wouldn’t display (at least in Firefox) for several refresh attempts and then, once it did, I was asked for my customer number in addition to my order number if I wanted to track my order status online. So I wrote another email a week ago asking for my customer number. On Friday, I received a response with my customer number. I can now check my order online. It says 2-4 weeks, with a link for “more information.” That link leads to a pop-up suggesting that you call Lenovo for further information. That’s not much in the way of order tracking. Lenovo should take a look at the way Dell does online tracking.
So far this has been a slightly bumpy road, but nothing I can’t handle. The story will be told both figuratively and here over the next few weeks.
This is the fifth part in my series of favorite records.
I still remember the first time I heard a Bill Morrissey song. It was Handsome Molly on KPFT in Houston. The songwriting was incredible and his voice was unique. I bought Standing Eight, the album that song was on, the first chance I got. I quickly discovered one of my favorite songwriters.
Bill writes songs that sound like a chapter from a dark, narrative novel- sort of like Cormac McCarthy set to music. In fact, Bill later wrote a very good novel called Edson, which I also recommend.
In addition to Handsome Molly, there are 13 other songs on this record and each of them tells a story of love won or lost, without a hint of melodrama. I had a friend once who could tell a story about folding laundry and make it an edge of your seat experience- Bill Morrissey writes songs like that. Songs about life experiences that everyone shares. He is the best I’ve ever heard at turning a musical phrase.
All of the songs on this record are excellent, so it’s hard to pick out highlights, but I’d have to single out Up on the C.P Line and These Cold Fingers (one of the saddest songs ever) as my favorites, along with Handsome Molly.
If you want to hear new folk music done the right way, this is the album to start with.
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top 50 albums, new music
One of the primary purposes of Newsome.Org is to introduce and explain computer-related programs and features to other in-betweeners like me- people who are the parents of the youngsters to whom computers and the internet are as integral as the telephone and the children of our parents who have no intention of ever embracing computers.
Everyone, no matter what age, has a DVD player and watches DVDs. Many people record TV shows and/or home videos onto DVDs. One problem with recording DVDs is that, because of conflicting and sometimes incompatible formats (DVD-R, DVD+R, etc.), DVDs recorded by one player won’t play in certain other DVD players. Fortunately, many newer players can play most, if not all, of the current DVD formats (older and very low end players still cannot). But the problem is about to get worse.
Like about every other emerging tecnnology where there is money to be made, various companies are pushing incompatible new DVD formats for new, higher capacity (i.e., can hold more video) DVDs. C|Net has posted an article that tells you everything you need to know about the HD DVD vs. Blu ray compatibility war. If you use DVDs and especially if you record onto them, you need to understand this issue and how it may affect you and your videos.
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DVD
You know the drill. Open up your jukebox of choice, point the shuffle feature to your entire library of songs and list, without exception, the first 10 or so songs that play. Each week, I add a little commentary about some of the artists, songs, albums, etc.
Truck Driving Woman – Norma Jean (The Best of) (1)
Sail on Sailor – The Beach Boys (30 Years Box Set) (2)
I Thought You Loved Me – Tractor Kings (Sunday Night) (3)
Serengetti – Grateful Dead (Shakedown Street) (4)
Ringling, Ringling – Jimmy Buffett (Living and Dying in 3/4 Time) (5)
Brady’s Leap – Moonshine Willy (Bold Displays of Imperfection) (6)
Do You Fancy Me – Tarnation (Gentle Creatures) (7)
Snowblind Friend – Steppenwolf (Steppenwolf 7) (8)
King of Birds – REM (Document) (9)
The Moon is Down – John Prine (Fair & Square) (10)
(1) Porter Wagoner’s early duet partner never got the credit she deserved, but she made a lot of good, traditional country records. This is a good, old fashioned country song.
(2) Everyone has at least a few Beach Boys records. They made some amazing music. This is a mighty fine song.
(3) Good alt-country, neo-psychedelia song off of their first record.
(4) I shouldn’t admit this since I had two brief stints as a drummer, but I’m just not all that crazy about drum solos- sorry. But as they go, this is a good one. I really like this album.
(5) One of the best songs on his great 1974 record. Come Monday gets all the run, but there are 7 or so better songs on this record, including my all-time favorite- Spider John (a great cover of a Willis Alan Ramsey song).
(6) Alt. Country with a bit of a punk/bluegrass vibe. I like the band OK. This is not one of the better songs on the record.
(7) Paula Frazier has one of the best voices I have ever heard. Period. This is a great song (the strings really add to the sad vibe) on a great album.
(8) I have been a Steppenwolf fan since the first time I heard them. Unlike many of its comtemporaries, the cuts on Steppenwolf albums are almost always universally strong. This is about as country as Steppenwolf gets.
(9) REM is a great band and this song is one of my favorite REM songs. I have no idea what it is about, but like many REM songs I hear messages in it every time I listen to it. A 10+ on anyone’s scale.
(10) I like this new record a lot- it’s classic John Prine, plugged in a little. This is a classic, wistful, grey Prine song.
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music reviews
This is the third in a series.
(1) My sister graduated from High School. She was the goody two-shoes of the family and I would later be asked by many of our mutual teachers why I couldn’t behave as well as she did. I got in more trouble, but bet I had a lot more fun!
(2) I went with my dad to see my sister at college. She was a freshman at Randolph Macon Women’s College in Lynchburg, Virginia. When dad and I were walking down a dormitory hall, we had to keep yelling “Man in the hall!” so naked co-eds wouldn’t accidently appear. Fortunately I was too young to think about what might happen if I forgot to yell that.
(3) I used to spend some afternoons at my dad’s Ford Dealership. The salesmen liked to advise me how to negotiate for a bigger allowance (in hindsight almost certainly to annoy my dad). I recall successfully negotiating for 55 cents a week (up from 50 cents) and thinking I had hit it big.
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3 things project
I belive this statement released by TIVO’s soon to be former CFO might be the best example I’ve ever seen of a one sentence, over the top spin job:
“In light of the company’s recent accelerated achievement of its profitability target, its very strong financial position, and the successful transition in CEO leadership, I feel that this is the right time for me to turn my attention to new and different pursuits.”
David H. Courtney, who became TIVO’s CFO in 1999, is resigning from his management roles at the company in early 2006.
I don’t know anything about this guy. What I do know is that TIVO is fighting for its life right now, and major executive turnover probably isn’t good news.
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tivo
If, like me, you are getting sick and tired of the media’s obsession with fear and devastation, the Good News Blog is for you.
Here’s what the “About” page has to say:
GoodNewsBlog.com is about real news, about positive news. Its about people helping people, lucky escapes, miraculous rescues, great scientific breakthroughs. It’s about the majority of people going about their daily lives without making that bad big impact that gets them that negative headline. Its about you and me just living our daily life.
There is a definite, though not in-your-face, Christian slant to this blog. That’s a good thing (both the slant and the not in-your-face part) as far as I’m concerned, but I thought I’d point it out for those who feel differently.
After all the bad news we’ve seen, heard and read lately, the Good News Blog is a much appreciated breath of fresh air.
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favorite links
Newsome.Org 