Jeffrey Donenfeld

Author: Jeffrey Donenfeld

  • Should you have a company profile page on Wikipedia?

    Should you have a company profile page on Wikipedia?

    Wikipeda LogoA friend of mine recently asked me about whether or not she should make a Wikipedia page for her company. Here’s my response…

    Choose carefully. Having a corporate wikipedia page can be a mixed blessing. On one hand, its great to have public info out there descibing all the wonderful services your company offers, interesting history about the beginnings, etc etc. However, since wikipedia is community-editable by design and principle, anyone who knows anything (true) about your company can add to it. This includes both positive and negative items. So, by having a “your company” wiki page, you’re opening yourself for “public outing”, etc. Additionally, it’s somewhat against the ethos of Wikipedia to make a page for yourself.

    Wikipedia is not meant to be a venue for self promotion, so they shun making articles about yourself or your own commercial ventures. While Wikipedia articles themselves are traditionally very SEO-visible, links within the articles are not. So if you’re trying to boost YourCompany.com’s page rank by having a link from wikipedia, it’s not going to work. Wikipedia links carry a “nofollow” tag, so search crawlers don’t click.

    Remember Jed Yachman from Yelp.com we all heard speak at the eTail conference? He had an interesting perspective on Yelp.com’s very own review listing on Yelp.com – embrace the good and bad, be transparent to the community, and they will embrace you. That’s one way to go about it, but not the only way. (check Yelp’s writeup here… https://lburl.com/dlca8 )

    I’m NOT saying don’t do it at all. I’m just saying that you should consider all angles and implications before you go for it. Also, check out this article about what to do when your company’s Wikipedia article goes bad. I’d be happy to discuss further anytime.

    Cheers

    -Jeffrey

    Update** Just stumbled upon this faq page on Wikipedia, addressing this exact concern.

  • Pop17 Launches

    I just read over on TechCrunch that “micro celebrity” videoblogger Sarah Meyers just launched here latest project. Pop17, as its called, is a videoblog looking directly at the age of the internet micro celebrity. Her first official interview is with Jamie Wilkinson, who teaches a class called “Internet Famous” over at Parsons New School for Design. The interesting bent on his class is that his students actually get graded on how “internet famous” they can make themselves. Pretty cool.

    Check out Sarah’s first Pop17 interview!

    One interesting not about this current age of the “internet micro celebrity”, is that the online an offline worlds of celebrity are slowly but surely merging. It was just a few years back that you could be a huge star on the internet.. but yet have pretty much no recognition walking down the street. Now, I think we’ve entered a stage where internet micro-celebrities are fast becoming internet-macro celebrities, and at the same time becoming “on the street”.

    Example? Sure. How about Jessica Rose’s “Lonelygirl15“? She started off with regular supposedly non-fictional video blog posts detailing unfolding drama of “Brie”, a 16 year old videoblogger who frequently gave shout-outs to her online friends. Beginning with those shout-outs, as well as compelling content, “Brie” quickly gained a following. And when the jig was up and people realized it was all fiction, her star power, instead of being stripped, skyrocketed. And now, you’ve got Carmen Electra spoofing her, and Jessica Rose appearing in the ABC Family Network TV show “Greek“. Posting grainy video clips to a then-fledgling site network all the way to syndication on a major TV broadcast network.

    Update Update*** Sarah Meyers had a talk with Steve Chen, who confirmed that yes, there will be LIVE VIDEO on YouTube this year. ReadWriteWeb has it too. Now you can become “Internet Famous” in real-time.

  • It’s….. The Dozens!

    The Dozens, the band that I do marketing for/help out with is playing a gig this Friday, February 29th at Connolly’s, in NYC.  Come on out this Friday for “A gig so awesome, it could only happen once every four years”.. or so they say.

    Check out their myspace page and flyer for the show on Friday. LISTEN!

     Here’s the “blurb”…
    Imagine putting the last 40 years of high-grade, head-nodding rock music into a blender, hitting spin, and pouring the mixture into a New York City four-piece. The Dozens set “standard” rock formulas on their ears, with melodies and chords that sound both utterly unique and familiar. While daring to forge new musical turf, they haven’t forgotten the value of an old-fashioned guitar hook, sing-along chorus, and well-pounded beat.Led by songwriter Eli Musser, The Dozens will be releasing their debut record – pleasing both head and heart – in 2008. However, their raucous live shows truly define this band’s exciting, contagious energy. The Dozens are quickly capturing the attention of music fans in the New York City area, and working hard to spread their message: Real rock is back.  

    Event Details:
    Who: The Dozens
    Where: Connolly’s, 121 W 45th Street, NewYork ,NY
    When: Friday, February 29th, show @ 10pm

    The Dozens at Connolly’s

  • YouTube really went down

    Ah, those minutes troubleshooting video on the blog today were for nothing.. turns out that YouTube really did go down for a while this afternoon, when Pakistan Telecom apparently hijacked YouTube’s IP Range. Amazing something like this can happen.. and reminds me of the story a while back about some farmers using a high bandwidth fiber optic cable for target practice…  

    Upon further reading.. looks like BBC is reporting this story too, but there’s a difference between the TechCrunch Article and the BBC Article – TechCrunch is discussing how Pakistan Telecom took down YouTube for the WHOLE WORLD, whereas BBC completely glossed over that fact, and even made it seem like YouTube access was only cutoff in Pakistan. YouTube is probably gone more permanently from Pakistan, but I think it defenitely would have been worth noting the worldwide effect  of Pakistan Telecom’s actions. What’s going on here?  

    Some more clarification from ZD Net 

  • Optimus Maximus Lives!

    Optimus Maximus Lives!

    Great new Engadget video of Art Lebedev’s Optimus Maximus OLED Keyboard…   It looks great, even though it’s still using beta software and firmware. I was going to say that I’d like to see this kind of keyboard on laptops (my Macbook Pro, for example).. but now I think that the self-lit OLED displays on each key would be a huge drain on the battery. However.. eInk displays, like what’s used on the Amazon Kindle would be great for a laptop keys… eInk only uses power to refresh, so it would have power requirements. Something to think about.. it would cool, if it were pulled off correctly – both the feel and aesthetic of my MBP’s aluminum, concave, backlit keys are pretty spot-on right now.

  • Design Situation – Apt in Box & Bungies Shelves

    Apartment In A Box - Photo from JustJared.comApartment in a Box

    A whole (small) apartment’s worth of furniture – crammed into a box transportable by two people. Sounds perfect for NYC. The box includes desk, bookshelves, chairs, even a full sized bed, all packed in there. I think the designers, Marcel Krings and Sebastian Mühlhäuser from Casulo have definitely one-upped and destroyed the “Ikea Flat Pack” with this one. Check it out over at treehuger, or go direct to the video.

    Elastico Bookshelf

    Pretty nifty – Designer Arianna Vivenzio took two fat metal pegs and a fat rubber band, strung them up on the wall, and created an awesome, minimalist bookshelf. You can put stuff on top of it, or part the two sides of the rubber band and sandwich stuff in between.. perfect for holding a book and some other stuff. I wonder how much it holds before it starts sagging?

    Elastico Bookshelves

  • More shakeups at Yahoo! – yHaus Axed

    yHausThings seem to be seriously shaking up over at Yahoo! lately. In addition to a 45 Billion hostile takeover bid from Microsoft, I just heard via Portfolio.com that Yahoo!’s entire design innovation team was fired, en masse. The whole team that focused on next-gen design is gone. It seems like Yahoo!, amidst increased operation costs etc is trying to scale back its operation to just its core competencies… probably a good move from a financial standpoint, however also a move that will basically guarantee a takeover soon. If a portal as large as Yahoo! can’t keep its operation rolling enough to stay on the very cutting edge of innovation, it’s doomed to be rolled into a company who can. In today’s super fierce market place, its innovate or die. So, no “design innovation team” = no future for Yahoo. That is unless they get bought, seriously turn themselves around, or re-invent themselves (which would be kind of a cop-out…).On a lighter note, I’m still glad to hear that Yahoo! is supporting OpenID... although this is more of a help for the OpenID project than it is for Yahoo!. In any case, good going on (at least) that one. Update 2/23/08… More woes for Yahoo, as they get sued for rejecting the Msft takeover..  (Read on AOL News)

  • The Acid Lounge 2004-09-08

    The Acid Lounge 2004-09-08

    Jeffzilla.com’s first podcast! This is an old episode of my college radio show The Acid Lounge, from 9/8/2004. I originally mixed and broadcast it on Radio1190 KVCU-Boulder from 9pm – 11pm.  For more info on The Acid Lounge, and to see all of my older playlists, surf over to The Acid Lounge Blog.

    Enjoy!

    The Acid Lounge 9-8-2004

  • Greatest thing I’ve seen today: Snoop on Larry King

    Last Friday Snoop Dogg appeared on Larry King. This surely must be the most amazing thing I’ve seen all day. I’m always interested to see how Larry handles his various guests. He kept things rolling well with Snoop (video-talking politics), even though he ended up “rolling out” in the middle of the meal. Also, during Larry’s talk with Bill Maher last night, he expertly managed to keep the ball in his court, and deflect attempts by Bill to turn the interview around and ask Larry questions.

    Snoop even takes Larry on a little field trip over to the venerable Roscoe’s Chicken ‘n Waffles. Check the video, and some priceless quotes over at Hypeful.

  • Iowa has more cell phones than landlines

    Cell phone towerQuick blurb I read over at The Raw Feed…. Iowa now has more cell phones than landlines. They are the first US state to reach this landmark, and I’m proud of them! I personally haven’t had a landline in.. lets see… 8 years.. since I started college and got my first cell phone. And I’m really never going back. I think that nowadays, considering the widespread cellular coverage, half-decent rates (debatable), and all the extra kinds of communication you can do with a cell phone, there’s no need for land lines. And I like having only one number – it’s just more simple. There are some things that land lines are good for… disasters, call quality (cell phones are quickly catching up, though), and last-choice internet connectivity. But given my needs, the cell is the way to go.

    Bravo Iowa, bravo.

  • >Moving…

    >I’ve moved blogs! This blog is no longer updated.. check out my current blog, over at Jeffzilla.com

    Thanks!

  • Yahoo soaring on $45 BILLION MSFT bid!

    Real quick.. what’s been going on with Yahoo! lately?! This is insane!

    Quick wrapup of the last few days for Yahoo!….

    Totally amazing. And look at Yahoo!’s stock price.. soaring. This deals a huge blow to the likes of AOL, and even Google…if this acquisition goes through, it would be a major consolidation of key tech and net superpowers…

  • Yahoo adopts OpenID, critical mass may have been reached.

    OpenIDNo matter how cool or innovative a particular new technology is, without the critical big business adoption process, it’s usually doomed. We’re in the midst of seeing this with Joost, as they can’t sign the big content deals with major providers. We’re NOT, however, seeing this doom with OpenID – it seems to be doing great!!

    In a great stroke of luck for Janrain’s OpenID unified user account sign-in technology, Yahoo has just adopted the standard, and is now offering OpenID authentication to all users (read on TechCrunch). It’s a simple and free upgrade to your account, and is available immediately. After upgrading your Yahoo! account, you’ll be able to enter me.yahoo.com/username as your OpenID on supported websites, and have to remember only one password to surf the web. Awesome! (For the record, I currently use MyOpenID.com for my OpenID server)

    Given that I currently have approximately elenventy billion user accounts strewn about the web, widespread adoption of OpenID would be great for me. One password to logon to all my web services. And plus, with portable identities, even signing up for new sites is easy.

    Finally, somebody today asked me about security.. is having one logon for everything safe? First of all, OpenID is engineered for security, and as of late, has started to support some advanced security protocols, such as Microsoft Cardspace, Passwords, and Client Certificates. And also, if your OpenID is compromised the system is logged, and it’s easy to change your password throughout the whole system. I do think that there should be an ultra-secure protocol for changing a password… so if somebody does get your current password and hack into your base OpenID account, it won’t be so simple for them to change the password and lock you out completely…perhaps multi-factor authentication, etc.

    Still confused about what OpenID is? Check out some quick and simple intro videos and guides:

    OpenID According to Dave, on YouTube

    Simon Willison’s slightly stuffier OpenID screencast

    Straight from the horse’s mouth: OpenID primer from Janrain

  • No aliens yet for SETI…

    Darn, not this time. Just when I thought we were making some progress with the SETI@home project, it comes out that the whole story of SETI finding a valuable signal was just twisted around by some reporter.

    Here’s how it went down: Dan Wertheimer, an astronomer, told a reporter from KTVU that he may have heard a pulse from space. Not that he did, but that he may have. The reporter then took that tidbit, and a bunch of other loosely related information and spun it way out, ultimately publishing a story (now corrected) that made it seem like we had found and alien civilization.

    Unfortunaely we didn’t, but it did renew my interest and hopes of the SETI@home project. I’ve been an active member of SETI@home since before college, and have given as much of my processing power over to the project as possible. Although I, (or anyone else) haven’t found anything yet, its still really cool to be a part of this project. Cool to be part of a mission that may be mankind’s only chance of salvation.

    Anyway, I’ll keep my computer crunching radio recordings from space, and hopefully someday I’ll be able to write a much more exciting blog post…

  • Joost doomed?

    Joost doomed?

    JoostThis is just the story I need to hear to convince myself that Joost is doomed. Apparently Joost’s former CTO Dirk-Willem van Gulik was fired and then hired by BBC on the same day. Sounds like there’s some unrest within the Joost office, that would cause them to fire a guy who the BBC things is a prime for the job. This just reinforces my position that although Joost is a cool application/technology/delivery network, it is doomed in it current state. They haventsigned the critical big-hitter partnerships that are needed to get it the must-see content it needs. The player is full-screen only, hogs bandwidth, and isn’t as flexible or familiar as other sites. I’ve been using Hulu a lot lately, and I like it because it A. has decent content (although Hulu’s doomed too, for other reasons..), and it has a familiar web-video interface, with some nifty extended features to make it more conducive to watching full tv episodes, tv style – full screen, dim the rest of the screen, playlisting, etc.

    Content is kind. And if Joost could manage to sign a few big content deals, they might have a fighting chance. That, however, seems unlikely. NBC might be re-hasing their deal with iTunes, (which is why I think Hulu is going away) and Fox is offering their content both on itunes and on their own “Fox on Demand” site.

    Joost, you were cool while you lasted, and your interface/bit-torrent-y technology is cool, but step up the content, or else you’re toast.

  • Facebook apps on any website! RIP OpenSocial?

    Facebook apps on any website! RIP OpenSocial?

    Facebook PlatformQuick update.. I just learned via Tech Crunch that facebook has opened up a brand new client library, that makes it possible to embed ajax-nifty facebook applications on any website! Plus, there’s no local server-side code needed, so users can simply paste embed code into their site – much like embedding a simple YouTube Video. No other setup required.
    So, will this hamper the adoption of Google’s OpenSocial? Why would I want to use an Open Social app with (currently) limited reach, when I can simply embed on my myspace profile an app from facebook that all of my friends already use?

    Finally, as Adam pointed out last week, social networking on mobile devices is just heating up. In lieu of full-on facebook on my phone, what if I could custom create one-off widgets for my mobile phone (eyeing the iPhone here) out of Facebook applications? (Read on Tech Crunch)

  • The war is over, Blu-ray wins!

    I’m officially calling the format war finished. Blu-ray has emerged as the clear winner, thanks to two deciding influences – the studios and the porn industry. Blu-Ray wins

    The major windfall for Blu-ray from the studios was Warner Brothers’ decision to go blu-ray exclusive.. just the thing that the industry needed to help sway the tide. Before Warner’s decision, it was almost evenly split, and besides the technical factors, the big differences were content and pricing. I think that blu-ray has always had better content, but hd-dvd was still hanging in there because they were able to sell their players cheaper. Now, despite the still less expensive hd-dvd players, blu-ray has over 90% of the movie studios support, which will ensure a win on the format. And regarding pricing? Blu-ray hardware will continue to become less expensive, especially as they introduce new, cheaper player components.

    Next up, the porn industry…

    (more…)

  • Squishy Pig Lokulokus invade America!

    Squishy Pig Lokulokus invade America!

    It’s finally arrived, shipped fresh from the Tai Po Post Office, Hong Kong. The squishy pig “Lokulokus”. I read about these and saw a youtube video of them a few weeks ago on a japanese blog, at the time they weren’t available in the states. Now, thanks to our buddies over at Deal Extreme, they’re available for order, and are shipped direct from Hong Kong.

    These jelly, squishy, diesel fuel smelling pigs squish almost completely flat when you hurl them at the floor, and then slowly rise back up.

    Check the squishy pig video, shot by Kristen with Adams nifty Flip Video Camcorder.

    Update*****DO NOT throw your squishy pig up on the ceiling. He will stay.

    A gold squishy pig on the ceiling.
    A gold squishy pig on the ceiling.

  • Macbook Air – Why it rocks

    Macbook Air – Why it rocks

    Macbook Air Movie RentalsYes, I’ve heard all the nay-sayers out there, ripping on the new, glorious Macbook Air. You’re saying that it has no user replacable battery, no firewire, no optical drive, is too flimsy, yadda yadda.

    Yeah well, that’s not the purpose of the Macbook Air. You want to do intense mobile HD video editing? Ok, that’s exactly what the Macbook Pro is great at! Do-everything-ok basic work computer? That’s the Macbook. The Macbook Air is sleek, thin, lightweight, and powerful. It cut’s out all unnecessary bulk, to offer a platform you can easily travel around with to perform basic work tasks. I ask myself, how often, when I travel, do I REALLY need a dvd burner, firewire 800 ports, etc? Not often. Yes, I understand some people work in industries where they need that – Go get a Pro. The bulk of my work is surfing the web, working with MS Office, chatting, video conferencing, and listening to music. The Air seems perfect for this.

    Regarding the non user replacable battery. Meh… I only have one battery for my 15″ Macbook Pro, and I’ve rarely been in a situation where I’ve needed to go for more than 4.5 hours using my computer, away from a plug. Charge up in the airport, hack out some work on the flight, re-charge when you get to your hotel room that night. Perfect.

    And what about movies/music etc? No optical drive? I haven’t watched a movie directly off a dvd in years! Pretty much all of my on-laptop computer watching comes in the form of watching mpeg movie file backups of the dvd’s I own. No messing with shuffling disks around, and when I want to watch a movie, I just load it up instantly from my external HDD. And if I’m going on a trip, I’ll just move a few movies over the the internal HDD before the trip. Also, with the iTunes store now offering both movie purchases and rentals, in HD nonetheless, who needs to lug around an optical media drive everywhere? (yes, I know optical media is not dead, and I’m a huge supporter of the Blu-ray camp, but that’s another discussion…)

    For networking, the Air supports 802.11 A, B, G, and N. N wireless is fast. In fact, I believe its speed definitely faster than any internet connection I will ever be on, and most likely faster than most LAN’s i’ll be on. No, it’s not gigabit ethernet, but really, when am I using all that speed? Especially on a portable. For streaming video off of my wirelessly connected Time Capsule, it’s perfect.

    Finally, no, it’s not going to be flimsy. Full disclosure, I haven’t handled one myself, yet. However knowing Apple’s historically excellent and solid build quality, I’m sure this thing will be solid. From the pictures, it looks like it has a solid edge bevel, akin to the iPod Touch’s edge… and a metal casing similar to the iPod classic. The hinge will be rock solid, and just like my apple keyboard, although it’s extremely thin, I don’t think you’ll be able to bend it easily.

    So, there’s my take on it. It will be a great computer for road warriors, commuters, or trendsters who want a powerful, capable, but minimal computer for home/lifestyle.. perfect to sit on the couch with at night and check email and chat, perfect to catch up on the latest new music on Beatport, or tv shows on Hulu.Time will only tell how well it’s picked up, but I’ll surely be down at the apple store asap, to give it a quick handle.

  • Macworld Keynote Speech – Initial Impressions

    His Steveness just got done delivering the long awaited Macworld San Fransisco Keynote speech…Check out the liveblog of the speech over at Engadget, Gizmodo, and Macrumors. (yes, all at the same time)

    Apple Macbook Air

    Some impressions:

    • Time Capsule – I really didn’t expect this, but am glad they did.. sounds like a great integration of storage and wireless access. I’ve had my own mega super ultra backup/hard drive issues before, including frantic service calls to Drivesavers for physical recovery etc. Now that I’m on leopard with my Macbook Pro, I’m more or less backed up all the time.. but its still a pain having to plug in my hard drives ever time. I have a 1tb backup drive, and then two other 300gb and 500gb storage drives. So i have time machine configured to backup my mac’s hard drive, and both my 300gb and 500gb drives, all to the 1tb backup drive. So having this 1tb wirelessly accessible sounds perfect. My one hope is that, like the “old” airport extreme, this new “Time Capsule” still comes with an available USB port, so I can plug in an additional hard drive (most likely my 500gb music drive).. That way I’ll be able to work away from my desk, and still have access to both my music storage hdd, and my time machine hdd. Finally, psyched to upgrade to the N wireless… I’m currently using a Linksys WRT54G, which is good with dd-wrt on it, but having the faster N access, especially for wireless backup, is key.
    • iPhone upgrades – The webclips will be handy for getting to custom apps such as Google Reader etc, and it’s great to hear multiple recipient SMS is now available… but it doesnt matter! I don’t have an iPhone! I’m still going to hold out on getting one until they release the 3G iPhone… the improved network speed, and most likely larger storage and other upgrades will add significantly. In any case, the initial version, and all subsequent versions and software upgrades of the iPhone are worlds better than my crappy Blackberry Curve 8300.. the hardware on it is good, but the software is absolutely worthless. But that’s for another rant…
    • Movie Rentals – Especially since they are offering them in HD, and for direct download to the Apple TV.. this is great to hear. My only big hope is that you’ll be able to sync movies you downloaded direct to your Apple TV back to your mac. Also, what about time machine running on your Apple TV, syncing back to your Time Capsule? Sounds fun to me…
    • Macbook Air – This is long awaited for a ton of people. This product will help capture yet another segment of the market for Apple, and help pull in the “mobile professional” crowd. I think that the combination of the Macbook Air, along with Microsoft Office 2008 will really make Apple a more viable contender in the corporate world. Holy shit! Its thin! Only .76 inches thick.. and it looks like it has the same kind of edge styling as the iPod Touch.. amazing. Sounds perfect, wish I had the budget/need for one. Also, they are finally offering SSD drives, as an option… this technology is super cool, and allows for faster drives, better reliability, and power savings.. my next laptop will def have an SSD. Finally, it’s a smart move to offer the external optical drive for $99, but the best part is the software for sharing an optical drive across a network. Good thinking, as that will be a great counterpoint for retail employees when people say “but it doesn’t have an optical drive! wahh!!”
    • Overall– Good products, and I’m especially psyched about the time capsule..I might actually get that one. However there were a few big holes here, which I’m still waiting to be filled. First, no 3G iPhone.. but that wasn’t really expected yet. Second, only 64gb ssd for the Macbook Air. Yes, I know they are expensive, even at 64gb, but it would be good to have the option of a bigger drive. We’re all sitting around in my office fixed on the live-blogging, and as soon as Steve announced the 64gb ssd, one of my office mates said “what? that’s way too small! If I get one of these, it needs much bigger… at least 128!” Anyway, hopefully as prices drop on ssd’s, they’ll start offering larger ones.

    There you have it, Macworld’s Keynote 2008. Some amazing products, some mysteriously left out. But you know I’ll be the first one to rush out to the apple store as soon as these things are on display.. And let’s hope these new products drive Apple’s (AAPL) stock price back up…

  • Open Networks, Open Standards – the critical next step

    Google WirelessBroitman, I think you’re right on with giving Google the openness award. Your importance of being open article is spot on, but I just wanted to step back a bit to how they got to this new openness.

    Google has to free up technologies that can have the most impact in an open environment. Technologies like cellular networks and broad-area wireless coverage, such as the 700mhz networks they helped to free, are the pathway to the future. Additionally, I agree that the opening up of the social networking standards, cell phone platforms, music formats, etc, is all the way of the future. In fact, the very industries that built up these technologies will die without openness.

    However, we didn’t get to this point easily, and we definitely could not have gotten here without initially constructing closed, proprietary systems. In fact, I’m all for closed systems and technology, at least for the beginning stages of growth and adoption. When a company develops a new technology and keeps it closed, it encourages that company to pour as much as it can into the tech, building it up to make it the biggest and best. Additionally, fundamental values, operating procedures, and quality control are concentrated. If, for example, the wireless 700mhz spectrum were always a freely available chunk of spectrum, I think that its effectiveness would become diluted. Way too many people would be making half-assed efforts to use it, and it would never be able to concentrate that critical mass of userbase, tech base, and monetary support.

    Going forward, I’m eager to see where we go in developing new applications based on formerly closed, now opened technologies. If the industry can break out of the molds already made by the industry, we could begin to see some really killer technologies. Google’s Android and Open Social are just the beginning.

    The one potential step back that i see the industry trying to take is Net Neutrality. I’m all for it, and think that the reason the internet is great, and will continue to be great is that its neutral – bandwidth is bandwidth. So let’s keep it open too, ok?

  • Designing a blog: What’s it take?

    The Jeffzilla blog is new. Yes, I’ve had this domain for a number of years, and yes, its been used for other projects, etc (and it still is), but this is the first real time there’s been a blog on it. Designing and implementing a new blog can either be quick and simple, or a fairly involved process. For this one, I started off simple, using just the wordpress default template, but have (and still am) modified it quite a bit.

    So, here’s a few of the elements/resources that have gone into the Jeffzilla blog, so far….

    Initial Setup: Since I use Dreamhost for both my web hosting and domain registration (is that too much info to put out on the web? security?), the installation of wordpress was easy.. it’s one of Dreamhost’s “one click installs”. Additionally, keeping upgraded to the latest version of wordpress should be easy enough in the future, as dreamhost simply has an “upgrade WP version” button next to my installation info in my Dreamhost account. My only concern is upgrades breaking my template in the future.
    After the very easy initial setup was complete, Toby helped me set up the template and related files for editing in Dreamweaver (I’m on CS3). I’ve tinkered around with Dreamweaver before, but never really seriously…. This is my first real run at it, and I’m learning new things every day.

    Figuring out the design: This is the phase I’m in now. Getting my look is taking a good amount of research and tinkering around. I surfed a whole bunch of blogs, looking at their template, what colors they use, etc etc, getting little ideas here and there. I’m going for a simple, usable, clear design. Some of the blogs I’m taking design cue and just think look cool are:

    • Robjn.co.uk – Robjn is a graphic designer and mixtape genius. Her blog/site is minimal and nice, packing a ton of content into a simple, easy design. Light on your bandwidth, too. By the way, Robjn recently put out an amazing ambient mixtape, available for download here.
    • Other blogs yadda yadda try to act cool.

    Now I’m in the phase of figuring out how to make all my design changes/optimizations etc. I’m fairly new to php/css programming, so there’s a lot of learning involved.

    Optimizing it: “SEO’ing” the site has been a big concern of mine as well. Since I work as and SEO specialist, I think it would be good for my personal site to reflect all the advice and “best practices” I usually preach. So, I’m going through, making sure I have good title tags, accessable RSS, etc etc etc. One final element of code optimization that I hope to incorporate into the site is compatability with a wide range or browsers/readers. The blog must look good on normal web browsers (Firefox, Opera, Safari etc), however I also want it to be optimized for viewing on cell phones, mobile platforms, bandwidth restricted platforms, etc etc etc.

    I’m going to try to track hits on the site using both Google Analytics and Quantcast. I’m experienced using analytics, and know that it delivers good, in depth information. Of note, when I signed up this blog on my analytics account, I was prompted to install a “new” analytics tag.. no more urchin. Apparently it enables some more advanced features… we’ll see how that goes. Quantcast is just taking hold, but hopefully it will catch on.

    Posting to it: The most important part! What’s a blog without content?!?! So, to keep myself posting, I have to make it easy. I’m using three methods to post, which will hopefully give me ultimate flexibility and accessibility. First is directly in the wordpress interface, online. This is my preferred method, since I have the most control over the formatting, and can directly upload graphics etc etc. Second is Qumana, which is a blog editor program for Mac. It allows me to compose blog entries “offline”, and post them later. Good for plane flights, etc. Finally, I’ve set up a “post via email” system, whereby I can send an email to a special address, and whatever I send will get automatically posted up on my blog. This is the last ditch effort, but is great for accessibility. If I’m at a locked-down internet terminal and can’t get to the wordpress admin, but have email, I can still post. I can compose messages on my cell phone, so can post from there. And in bandwidth-restricted places/computers, sending a simple text-only email is often the most efficient way to get information out.

    So, there you have it, my blog progerss as it stands. Check back soon, as you’ll likely see little changes happeneing as I get stuff setup.

  • Protect your macbook from destruction? Sure!

    Protect your macbook from destruction? Sure!

    A colleague of mine recently got a shiny new white Macbook, and came to me for advice on how to protect it.. here’s what I told her:

    Ok, protecting your Macbook.. here are some cool products i know of to keep i

    t nice and shiny…

    Speck See Thru Hardshell Case

    First of all, if you want ultra minimal, but arty and cool scratch protection, Gelaskins makes some cool giant decals for your stuff.. pick out a cool design, and its just a big, removable decal to put on the case of your computer… will keep it from getting scratches, but thats about it.

    Moving up, Speck makes these hard plastic snap on cases for the Macbook.. will offer you wrap around scratch protection for the Macbook, and minimal impact protection too.. and it stays on your computer. Doesn’t protect ports etc from dust, etc, though, so you will need another case if you want to throw it in your bag.

    Now, onto what I personally use now…. for tossing my computer into my messenger bag for the day, I have this ultra minimal and suedey soft Tucano Second Skin.. its jus

    t a sleeve, and is fairly thin, but def protects from bumps, scratches, and dust.

    For when I want to just carry the laptop and not inside another bag, I use an Incase Nylon Sleeve.. its about as minimal as you can get for a full featured case with handles, shoulder strap, and accessory pockets.. it even has a little detachable key cord.

    So, thats what i use.. I also have AppleCare, which is key….

    -Jeffrey

  • The Jeffzilla blog…. it’s here!

    Finally! This is it! Stay tuned…