Time Warner Kills Newsgroups
Posted by Mitch on Jun 29, 2008
How did this one slip under the radar? Time Warner Cable has discontinued its newsgroup services as of June 23rd of this year. They cite it’s because of low subscriber usage, but anyone who believes that needs to buy swampland from me to build their houses on.
I discovered newsgroups pretty much after I got online over 10 years ago. It was the logical follow up to the old bulletin board system, and I liked it a lot. Took me a few years more to learn that I could access music and movie files through the newsgroups, and thus I’ve been able to circumvent the paid subscription services, which I enjoyed, even if I couldn’t specifically ask for content that I might really want.
In my mind, the truth is that the bandwidth that went into downloading these services, thereby bypassing Time Warner, who now offers its own music and movie services, wasn’t worth the cost anymore. That, plus there were some pretty unsavory groups out there that, a couple of weeks ago, many internet service providers agreed to stop allowing usage of, probably made this decision a no-brainer for the Time Warner people.
My only gripe is that they could have given some notice. It didn’t show up in any of their online newsletters, and it didn’t show up in the bills along with all the other junk they usually send. This one didn’t even make the newspapers or online news, and I’m surprised I haven’t read about it on any other blog up to now.
Okay, fine, I’ll take my ball and go play elsewhere; maybe. We’ll see; sniff!
Is It Easy To Comment On Your Blog?
Posted by Mitch on Jun 29, 2008
I just left a post on another blog. The blog required me to register first, then it sent me a password so I could fully register and add any pertinent information I wished to. It’s a Wordpress blog, so I’m familiar with it.
Thing is, the blog has been in existence for almost 18 months, and there’s never been a comment. I would pretty much figure it’s because the blog owner makes one have to register first. I usually don’t register for blogs, but in this case I made an exception. I don’t usually like doing it for three reasons. One, it takes time away from my commenting; when I want to comment, I want to comment now, while I’m thinking about it. Two, it gives the blog owner a feeling that they can start sending me all sorts of email that I don’t want or need; I’ll visit the blog and possibly read or buy stuff when I want to. And three, you can’t unregister; I tried on this one blog and finally just fudged an email address, because the writer was inundating me needlessly with updates, then updates on the updates; enough already.
There are other blogs I’ve left messages on, only to receive an email asking me to click on it to prove that it’s me. It’s easy enough to do, but it leaves me wondering if I want to continue dealing with it long term; I’d rather you just read the comment and determine if you want it on your site or not. A couple of times my entry has never shown up on one of those sites anyway, which left me feeling like I wasted my time. And, if I feel like I’m wasting my time, you’re probably not going to get any love back in the form of links or even being added to the blogroll some day.
I never had it set up that people needed to register for my site (though some do anyway), but I realized fairly early on that I was going to have to add something to stop as much spam as was coming through. I first loaded Botcheck, which took care of a lot of stuff but not nearly enough. I then loaded Bad Behavior, but the same was occurring. Finally I added Askimet, which is supreme, and it catches virtually everything. On my business blog, I added a plugin that makes people put in a randomly generated number. I haven’t had to go that far with this one, as Askimet seems to be doing a great job.
The main idea of your blog is to encourage others to comment; at least that’s usually the intention. You share your ideas, and you hope others will either validate your thoughts or offer something new. If you’re just writing for yourself, then that’s something entirely different; enjoy that. Some folks don’t have comments open at all; their choice. But if you’re going to do it, make it easy.
I Want You Back - Jackson Five
Posted by Mitch on Jun 29, 2008
The day my dad left for Vietnam is 1969 is the same day that the Jackson Five showed up on the Ed Sullivan Show performing I Want You Back. To this day, it’s my favorite song ever. I told my wife that if I ever go into a coma, this is the song, along with the rest of the Jackson Five collection, to play if she ever hopes I wake up.
So, without any further wait, I present the Jackson Five:
My Thoughts On Firefox 3
Posted by Mitch on Jun 28, 2008
I’ve finally downloaded Firefox 3, after saying how much I was looking forward to it. I didn’t make the record breaking download day, and I hadn’t even thought about trying because I was expecting there might be problems, and it turns out I was right, with many people being unable to get through at times throughout the day.
I downloaded it, then loaded it into a different folder than Firefox 2, so I could run both of them if I so choose later on. It immediately told me many of my plugins weren’t compatible with this version, but it found some that were, so I went with it. Then the browser opened, and I could finally take a look at it.
Initially, I didn’t see anything different, except my colorful tabs doesn’t seem to be working; ugh. TwitterFox also isn’t working, but it wasn’t working on Firefox 2 either; lousy update, and if it doesn’t start working I just might have to disable it. The theme I was was updated, but there were a few changes that prompted me to go in and alter some visuals. Some of my other plugins aren’t working all that well either; Greasemonkey is still kind of flighty, as it was with F2 (easier to say now).
However, the two things Firefox was supposed to do that made it an improvement is that, one, it was supposed to be faster, and two, it’s not supposed to use as much of your memory as F2. I’ll talk about “two” first. Thus far, it seems to be using the same amount of resources as F2 was using, at least on my computer. Now, I had turned off pre-fetching, which had made a difference on my computer, so that could explain why it’s comparable, but I was expecting something much better.
But when it comes to speed, well, it’s kind of a winner there. Facebook is the ultimate test for me. Facebook has always kind of dragged for me, and I’ve believed that they needed to probably do something with their servers. Maybe not; Facebook has never loaded faster for me. And going through all the pages,… man, it’s not hanging up anywhere. I then ran the test through many other webpages, and all of them are faster with the excepting of Ning; what is it with that site?
So, it would seem the reality of Firefox 3 thus far isn’t as dynamic as I’d been hoping for, but I like speed, and that’s a success. I know there will be updates coming, so I’ll be patiently waiting for some of this other stuff to work better. But it’s not bad as it is; I just want more.
The Client’s Finished Product
Posted by Mitch on Jun 25, 2008
So, here’s the follow up to my post on having to try to fix a client’s website when he created it from Microsoft Publisher.
I did indeed have the beginnings of a workable template. However, the menu was problematic. MS Publisher had created the menu as an image also, and the client had put both a heading at the top of the menu, then this little picture under that, followed by the menu. He had told me he wasn’t crazy about the menu because he’d wanted this blend of colors, but the menu broke them all out so that everything looked choppy, plus he couldn’t get the same size and effect on every page.
The first thing I tried was just cropping the picture out of there, then typing his heading and adding the picture, then the menu. It looked okay, but all the links suddenly wouldn’t work. That wasn’t going to do, so I decided to eliminate the menu he had and fill each area with a color that was in the middle of all the colors he’d chosen, and then darken the menu headings so that he’d have all his menu items and all would be great with the world once again. That way, I could make everything uniform, which would look smoother, and it’s what he really wanted in the end.
After that, I tried typing in his little heading and adding his image, but for some reason everything wouldn’t stay aligned the way it was before. The image kept wanting to go to the top; that wasn’t going to do. I’d tried to separate the heading and the picture by using the < tr> and < td > tags, but instead I decided to put them in the same tag, and use < br > to drop the picture lower. That worked perfectly; whew!
The final big piece was that he’d created all his pages with generic names; well, he didn’t, Publisher did. So, after the index page it was page2.html, page3.html, etc. I changed all the page titles to what each page was supposed to be about, within reason of course, so that it would at least give me a change to optimize the pages. So, each page has its own wording in the links that comes close to matching the title; that was good stuff, but I have to admit that I thought about it last minute. I was looking to just get done after all the trouble with the first page, then realized that wouldn’t help me any.
After that, I went back to each page, changed the title headings, put in a different description and meta tags, then formatted his bottom menu so it was centered, and decided to make his email address a link that will open up a person’s email client; hey, that’s not a bad way to go. The only minor problem I felt I had was that, since he’d written all the copy and wanted it that way, I found it hard to optimize so that it would help him in the search engines. It’s not a traditional business model, but I did what I could with it. He had already bolded certain phrases, so I went with those.
At this point, the job is done; the only thing left is for him to tell me which hosting package he’s purchased and where I can upload it so that he’ll be good to go. For testing, I uploaded it all onto one of my sites, obviously having to change the link for his index page because I have my own index page on that site, but it was only for testing anyway. If you’re interested in checking out the finished product, click on this link, but remember, after being on this page you can’t click home, otherwise you’ll go to my original site instead of his home page again.
I’m proud of myself for figuring it all out, and keeping it at 10 hours, which was my goal. He’s happy also; whew! There is one page where I didn’t change any of the coding, because he wanted everything in a particular format, and I just wasn’t interested in trying to figure out how to change it all; plus, it was only text, so it was smarter to leave it alone. It’s ugly, but it works just fine.
As a plug, the work was done under one of my other business names, SEO Xcellence; just thought I deserved to give myself a little love. 
CommentLuv; A Must Have PlugIn
Posted by Mitch on Jun 22, 2008
I added a Wordpress plugin called CommentLuv about a month ago, and it’s turning into a wonderful program.
Basically, its purpose is to encourage people to leave comments on your post, and if they put in their blog information it will go into the blogosphere and look for the last post they made, and it will show the link to that post on your blog. This encourages other visitors to look at the link, see what the commenter might have been talking about, and, hopefully, encourages them to visit that blog.
It also gets around some blog versions that automatically have comments set to “nofollow”, which means that a person leaving a comment get no love back to their sites as far as linking is concerned, and since many people leave comments not only to be heard, but hoping for backlinks to their sites, CommentLuv helps them out, and you also, since creating links for your site is part of what it’s all about.
Anyway, you can get the plugin at the link above, and of course you can test it out first by writing a comment on this blog.
Let’s Talk Offline Marketing
Posted by Mitch on Jun 22, 2008
As my friend Kelvin likes to say, sometimes we’re more suited to offer someone else advice than remember how to use it for ourselves. This happened to me recently, though, to be fair to myself, I’ve done the same types of things.
In a Facebook group, a lady was asking for advice on how to better offer her services, because she worked for herself and was struggling to keep her business afloat. Her business is that she owns a dance studio. She had done a few things such as advertising in the newspaper and putting flyers up around town, and she has a website.
I decided to take up the challenge; I’m such a helpful sort. I asked what kind of ads she had run in the newspaper, then asked if she’d ever run any specials for either visiting or discounts for signing up if they mentioned the ad. I asked her if she’d thought about doing the same type of thing from her website. She also writes a newsletter, so I asked her if she’d ever thought about putting something like that in her newsletter, or offer something to her present customers if any of them brought in a new client who signed up for lessons.
I asked more about her flyers, and wondered if she’d ever contacted any of her local production theaters and asked if she could put flyers up there, even those advertising events she might be putting on such as recitals. I offered a suggestion of putting on an exhibition at some of the local malls, as I know many in my own area who are always looking for some kind of entertainment on the weekends, and if kids are involved, she’s got a winner. At those exhibitions, she could have a table set up to sign up people for either dance lessons, her newsletter, or just to get names and numbers to contact later on. I also suggested the possibility of a dance contest that she could sponsor in some fashion, maybe giving away a free year of lessons to the winner, or maybe something else.
I also made the suggestion that she could offer clinics, more speaking than exhibition, in places such as her local library or chamber of commerce, on topics related to dancing or even physical education or exercise, which would help get her name and face out there. She’s extremely attractive, and I believe people would flock to see her and would at least check out her services in some fashion.
When I look at my businesses, after writing what I have above, I can easily say that I’ve done similar things like what I recommended. I’ve offered discounts from time to time on products I’ve created. I’ve offered special things to people who can get others to sign up for one of my newsletters (my main business). I’ve put on presentations and performed a good number of speaking engagements, both around town and in other states. I’ve actually taken out an ad in the past on an online newspaper, advertising local seminars I was putting on.
I’ve sent out letters, flyers, and postcards. I email people from time to time, though I identify and research who I’m going to send email to so that I’m not accused of spamming anyone. I truly believe that I’ve done as much as one could possibly do when it comes to marketing, other than making tons of phone calls; that probably isn’t going to happen, though. Oh yeah; I’m not launching a thousand ships with my picture either.
Marketing is definitely something one has to get used to doing if they hope to be successful in some fashion, especially if you’re going to work for yourself. I know my offline marketing has been much better than my online marketing, which is why I read so many blogs that talk about online marketing. I’ve learned a heck of a lot, enough so that I can at least talk the talk with almost anyone.
Now if I can just get over the edge online, maybe I won’t have to work as hard offline. That wouldn’t depress me one bit.
My Blog Is Worth,…
Posted by Mitch on Jun 21, 2008
Or so says the people above, who run a site called “How Much Is My Blog Worth”. This time, unlike when I posted about being rich, you have to answer 19 questions as honestly as you possibly can so it will give you an estimate of what your blog is worth. I’ll own up to having some difficulty figuring out a couple of things, as I’m not quite tracking everything as well as I probably should be doing right now, but I got through it, and what’s above is what it came up with.
Of course, I’m not in Alvin Phang territory, but it gives me something to shoot for.
Caveman’s Crib; Wild Fun
Posted by Mitch on Jun 20, 2008
Not sure if the Geico commercials are all across the country, but they’re definitely here in New York. I have to admit that I believe the people who came up with the concepts of the gecko and the cavemen weren’t paid nearly enough. I’ve enjoyed the gecko from the first time I saw him, and then when they brought out the cavemen, I’ve watched with rapt attention every step of the way.
However, the cavemen have something the gecko doesn’t; that would be a website geared towards how they live their life amongst the rest of us. And it, also, is one of the most entertaining and creative things I’ve seen in a long time.
When they first started it, they were using it to promote an upcoming party the cavemen were about to have. Now they have about five different scenarios set up, including the latest thing that’s also been in the commercials, the different dances the cavemen can do.
It’s all interactive; you go to the site, Caveman’s Crib, then decide among one of the five choices it gives you below the flash image, though you can also move around the image and find things to click on there. Then you go into their environment, their apartment or other places, and you find things to click on where you can look at their life. You also get to move around their surroundings if you can figure things out. There’s a lot to see, and every once in awhile one of the cavemen will pop up and either give you an update on something, or chastise you for being a bit too personal (being in the bathroom while the caveman is taking a shower was weird; at least he doesn’t come out).
Overall, it’s just a lot of fun. If you’ve heard of them, you’ll enjoy yourself; even if you haven’t heard of them, I think you’ll enjoy yourself also. Check it out.
Update Your Blog Software
Posted by Mitch on Jun 15, 2008
Okay, I’ll own up to this; I’m not always on top of things when it comes to doing updates. I love shiny new stuff, but when I’ve got what I want, I’m not always out there looking for the next better thing until what I have doesn’t seem to work anymore.
So, suffice it to say that it took me awhile to update my other blog to the latest Wordpress platform. This one was pretty new, since it was created earlier this year, but I believe I only had it for a couple of weeks when there was suddenly an update for it. I didn’t want to do it, but I did the update. I actually talked about it a little bit in a previous post on some things I learned about altering the backgrounds.
Wordpress has this one plugin, actually called Wordpress Automatic Upgrade, that will automatically update your blog software if you give it that setting, or you can start it on your own when you’re notified that there is an update, and Wordpress is good at getting that news out. It will also update any other plugings you’re using if you want it to.
The reason for writing this particular post is because, it seems, many Wordpress blogs get hacked because people don’t update them. I learned about this through Chris Jacobson, who linked to another blog called Holy Shmoly that not only talked about blogs getting hacked, but broke it down to explain how.
Frugal is not going out and buying a digital TV because the regulations are about to change in 2009; stupid is not updating your blogging software when you’re warned someone could take it from you. Please, update your software when warned. It will save you a lot of problems later on.
I'm Just Sharing is a blog about sharing my thoughts about internet marketing and other things. Read, enjoy, and buy! :-)
