Watch Steve Jobs go boom
What can you say? Steve is an explosive guy:
Hilarious.
Credit where credit is due: I saw it on TUAW and Daring Fireball.
Tags: steve jobs, apple, boom, stevenote, john koetsier
Bloggers care enough about Technorati to want it to be better
Update: Technorati CEO Dave Sifry has responded in the comments. Thanks!
Technorati board member and venture capitalist Ryan McIntyre is the only upper echelon person associated with Technorati who has even commented on the quality of service that Technorati has NOT been providing lately.
Kudos. But why aren’t we hearing from Dave Sifry about it?
When I saw McIntyre’s post which mentions the issues, I posted the following comment on his blog:
If you’re on the board, are you able to affect the situation at all?
Technorati’s service has always had great PROMISE, but always been greatly “spotty,” as Liz Dunn quaintly referred to it.
First of all: some major effort to solve the problem with the million$ that Technorati has recently raised should be a number one priority. And secondly, some honesty and openness about the situation would be greatly appreciated.
I mean … the arbiter of the blogosphere has what, 2 posts on its blog all of last month - a horrible month, when it’s been up and down like a yo-yo? This is ridiculous: be upfront, be honest, be real.
(This is something that Dave Sifry should take to heart too … as I’ve tried and tried to bring a few issues to his attention via email, links to his blog, and comments on his blog … all without the least sign of success.)
The issue is not only being up or down, or the notorious, infamous “Technorati is experiencing a high volume of searches right now and could not complete your request,” which I’ve seen on the HOME PAGE.
It’s also data integrity as the service appears to wildly swing between mutually inconsistent datasets. Links appear and disappear with disconcerting frequency.
Some kind of information about what the company plans to do about it would be nice. How about telling bloggers the plans for ensuring that it won’t happen again? A little PR wouldn’t be out of place.
As a member of the blogosphere, I suggest that could start on the Technorati blog.
Why am I doing this? Why am I harping on this?
I care about Technorati’s service. I care about what they do. And I keep getting corroborating comments ever so often, weeks and weeks after writing various articles about Technorati’s woes.
Bloggers care about Technorati. Enough to want Technorati to be better.
Tags: technorati, Ryan McIntyre, sifry, john koetsier
My people do not know
I’m currently reading through Jeremiah, a book in the old testament, in my (mostly) daily devotions.
AdSense funnies
Sometimes context is not enough. Sometimes smart machines are really dumb.
Want proof?
Take a look at the Google AdSense ads on this post. It’s a post about a book by an online acquaintance about project management. And it happens to have the word forest in the title.
Now, Google’s got some of the smartest machines in the world, performing millions of calculations each and every second, figuring out what billions of pages across the web contain, and matching ads to that content.
Clearly, however, some subtleties are beyond Google.
Two cheers for serendipity, however. Now I’ve got to find out why trees are better than stocks (see the screenshot at right, third ad).
Without, of course, clicking on my own ads.
Tags: google, adsense, funny, context, john koetsier
Race through the forest: project management
I have a major apology to make to Timothy Johnson, author of Race Through the Forest: a Project Management Fable.
We’ve linked to each other’s blogs before - he’s got some great management and business insights - and he sent me a copy of his book about a month and a half ago. Unfortunately, I’ve been too embroiled in some major business process changes at work, and significant career choices in general to read it yet.
I will get to it, and I will review it, Timothy. Sorry! In the meantime, I note that it has some really good reviews at Amazon from some top-notch people. Impressive!
. . .
. . .
[ update ]
Checking Timothy’s blog, it looks like this was Very Good Timing. Wow. That’s cool.
Tags: timothy johnson, books, amazon, race through the forest, project management, john koetsier
New look blog
At risk of stating the obvious, bizhack has a whole new look today.
I wanted something simpler, something darker, and something a little more cutting-edge. Voila.
The highlights:
- Web 2.0-ish look
There is/isn’t a web 2.0. Yeah, I know. Web 2.0 has nothing to do with style or image. Yup, MySpace is proof of that. Still. - More economical layout
More words fit on a page, while still being very legible and reader-friendly. Content starts higher up, so more is “above the fold.” The two-column design lends itself to more space for images in posts. And so on. - Google AdSense
It’s ba-ack. I took AdWords off my blog way back when Google made its Dr. Evil moves to get into China. I still think Google did the wrong thing, but at least there are ways to get around it now. And I wanted to start generating some revenue again. - Now with less … of everything
Blogs clutter up over time with Flickr badges, delicious links, and all kinds of extra schtuff that justs makes your page bigger, dependent on more servers being up and fast, and slower. Enough. Every blog needs a spring cleaning from time to time. Even when it’s fall. - More coming
I’m not quite finished with my tweaking yet … more will be coming soon. (Thanks Phil for the tips!)
I’m using the fairly excellent Unsleepable theme built for Wordpress. It’s a little more complicated than most themes, but I think the final result is not too shabby.
Tags: blogs, theme, wordpress, blogging, john koetsier
Xbox: bringing families closer together
I was chatting with our director of sales today when he mentioned that he was playing Xbox with his son last night. Now, he’s on the west coast - Bellingham, WA - and his son is back in Chicago.
This is one of the key activities that brings them together.
They both have Xboxes. They join network games at preset times, playing the game, chatting, even video chatting. This is their new normal - fairly cool, I thought.
But it would be science fiction even a decade ago.
Tags: xbox, video, chat, family, games, john koetsier
War, geography, and Americans
Saw this quote on Guy Kawasaki’s blog today. Too good to pass up.
Ambrose Bierce, in The Devil’s Dictionary:
War is God’s way of teaching Americans geography.
Ouch!
Camcorder Accessory Kit Buy digital video camera accessory kits with cases and lenses for your camcorder brand and model.
5 ways to get positive product reviews from bloggers
You’ve got a new product. How do you get bloggers to review it positively?
- Call it a beta
Even if you think your widget is really, really good, tell bloggers that you’re still in testing, but wanted some early feedback. That way, if they find something that you didn’t know was wrong with it, they aren’t overly surprised or disappointed. - Offer a free production version later
If the demo model you’re giving out now can’t be kept by the blogger you’re sending it to, promise to send a production version later. The blogger will probably still be honest about what he or she finds, but will usually avoid calling you the Son of Sam in hopes of getting free gadgets later on. - Pre-cushion
If your think your product might have a couple of warts, mention them upfront. It’s better to hear about problems than to discover them, and it lets the blogger know you’re not a complete idiot. - Be straightforward
If your product is a really early iteration, and has major problems, present it that way. Tell bloggers that it sucks, and ask for help to make it better. Let them know that you’re not planning to take it to market as is, but are just looking from some good product input. - Don’t. Just don’t.
Be brutally honest with yourself. If it’s really bad, or just stupid, go sell it on the Shopping Channel or local weekly newspapers or some other meatspace MSM outlet. Don’t bring it within a hundred feet of bloggers, or you’ll lose control of your branding, positioning, and marketing almost instantly. (Assuming you have any to begin with.)
Whatever you do, if you’re tempted to give free stuff to bloggers, think twice. Is it good enough? If not, stop. You’re in for a nightmare. Unless you think no PR is bad PR.
If you ask me, I’d rather get positive spin.
Tags: product, reviews, bloggers, blogging, social media, marketing, pr, john koetsier
Geek gadget lust: Helio
All the everlasting Apple iPhone rumors have me in a constant state of unsatiated geek lust. What’s worse is that I need a new phone … and the iPhone isn’t rumored to be arriving until next year.
Maybe this is the next-best thing:
From the website:
- Loaded Camera - 2 megapixel, 4x digital zoom, with built-in flash for night shots
- Video Camera - MPEG 4 video camera for action shots anywhere you and your friends go
- Big Screen - Large 2.2″ QVGA, 262K color TFT-LAC, 240 x 320 resolution Screen
- Mega Memory - 70 MB + up to 1200 friends’ contacts! Get extra memory via memory cards*
- Internet Surfing - Yahoo! Search and one-click access to your favorite websites and MySpace
- Entertainment - Plays the latest 3D games and also supports: MP3, MPEG 4 player, VOD, MMS and TV output
Ummm … and it’s a phone too.
I am still wondering about the K800i, however … which is more oriented toward phone and camera features.
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About
Sparkplug 9 is John Koetsier's blog on life, the universe, and everything,
but mostly the stuff you see big in the tags to the left.
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