February 6, 2008 at 12:26 am · Filed under allsux, blogging, google, web 20
A lot of people use longer keyword-saturated domains. Some of these are carry-overs from an earlier generation of web thought which suggested that search traffic was king. In todays world of branding, name recognition and new media, though, these keyword-rich domains simply don’t cut it anymore. Buy why?
For one thing, they are long, cumbersome, awkward and hard to remember at times. They also tell any web-savvy visitor that you are doing whatever you can to come up on searches – that your goal is traffic and that you’re ‘working the system’ to get it. To people like me at least that is a warning light, a red flag that you might have poor content you are simply trying to dress up with targetted Google-friendly keywords.
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February 4, 2008 at 1:31 pm · Filed under Links, stumbleupon, web 20
StumbleUpon is arguably the ultimate social media network. It is easy to use: jumping from page to interesting page takes just a click of a button. It is diverse: unlike Digg and Reddit, StumbleUpon isn’t dominated by a few niche interest groups or a limited demographic. It is incredibly friendly: there is very little trash-talk on SU as compared to other social media sites. However, StumbleUpon does have one major shortcoming: it is somewhat difficult to move from the status of ‘casual Stumbler’ to ‘StumbleUpon expert’ because SU has hidden complexity beyond the Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down and Stumble buttons we know and love.
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February 3, 2008 at 4:27 am · Filed under allsux, funny, Links, politics
Planning a trip? Here are some awesome resources for free travel.
Have you ever wanted to own your own Flintstone’s car?
Here are 100 great Photoshop tutorials.
It’s only been a month and already 2008 seems to be the Year of the Strange Animals
The answer to life, the universe, everything and why not to like George W Bush is of course fourty two.
February 2, 2008 at 3:10 am · Filed under censored, digg, kevin rose, scandal, web 20
There has been a lot of discussion recently about changes to Digg’s algorithm. While these changes have been subtle and complex, one noticable difference is the difficulty veteran users are having getting stories to the front page. Now, when I was new to Digg I was frustrated to see how many submissions by the so-called ‘top Digg users’ made the front page while newer users had to struggle to get enough votes. I’ve since become a more experienced Digg user and changed my mind about a number of things related to the site.
Still, today, I see the bigger picture and the algorithmic changes aren’t going to do what Digg wants – they aren’t going to give the newer or less frequent Digg users more of a chance, and here are some of the reasons why:
1) Veteran users get a lot of stories to the front page with good reason: they are trusted by others to submit top content from around the internet on a variety of subjects. This trust is built up over time. It is only natural that users who submit and participate more will have higher quality submissions worthy of the front page.
2) Spammers can easily fill the void when veteran Digger submissions can no longer rise to the top. In fact, they can do so with much less effort since their submissions require fewer votes to succeed.
3) With blocks to top Diggers they are forced to result to the same tactics spammers use: mass shouting, begging for Diggs, submitting only the craziest and most offbeat content. This simultaneously lowers the bar on quality content while also forcing quality users to work harder and arguably less ethically to get good content to the front page of Digg.
At the end of the day, we have seen the introduction of shouts and algorithm changes that have resulted in more and more poor content reaching the front page of Digg. Worse yet, quality submitters like CosmikDebris (who specializes in scientific and space-related links) suffer from low frontpage ratios because their content – while very interesting, newsworthy and educational simply isn’t sensational enough to compete with shout-spammers who focus primarily on offbeat news. This isn’t about top Diggers having their egos bruised, it is about people who invest time and effort to bring good content to all Digg users having their hands tied and about the mainstream everyday Digg reader seeing worse and worse stories on the front page.
There are of course other issues at hand right now and many of them are longstanding. The infamous autobury list remains in full effect and Digg’s creators remain in full denial despite the overwhelming evidence (it kind of reminds me of creationists denying fossils). Top users still remain banned for unknown reasons. Many other users have simply left Digg because of all of the uproar. Digg’s Alexa stats are suffering and frankly if they don’t work out a serious overhaul soon they will be vulnerable when the Next Big Thing comes along.
February 1, 2008 at 1:27 am · Filed under blogging, domains, marketing, web 20
So what makes or breaks a domain for a website or blog? The days of strung together sequences of keywords is pretty much over, particularly of the hyphenated variety. There are still exceptions but they are almost all holdovers from the previous generation of blogging and website development.
But how do you come up with a branded domain? Well, you could take the approach of this site and simply go for something short, random and fairly spellable that doesn’t tie you to any particular niche. Another good strategy is to think of main keywords in your niche and change endings/beginnings, spelling or add suffixes and prefixes like this one and many others.
Things to keep in mind each time you search:
(1) Vary the suffixes/prefixes, maybe add something on both ends
(2) Change the spelling, replacing, removing or adding letters
(3) Think outside the box for uncommon but still niche-related terms
(4) Keep spellability in mind but remember it isn’t everything (e.g. Flickr)
(5) Memorability and brevity are key: keep it interesting and short
Personally, if I have a particular one in mind I just jump to GoDaddy and do a search to see if my idea is taken. Let’s say, though, that your first choice (e.g. AllSucks.com) is taken. Avoid going to the .net or .org options unless they fit the site (e.g. an internet-related site might do well on a .net or an environmental or non-profit site could work as a .org). Instead, look for other variants in the spelling and so on. If you’re on a roll, use a bulk domain search tool instead.
Of course, you often won’t be the first one trying to do this. You want to make a movie review site, let’s say, and aren’t sure where to start. You might try things like Movified, Cineviews, or other combinations that speak immediately to the subject matter only to find they are all taken. Don’t get frustrated and give yourself a break then try again later – if it hasn’t already been taken that perfect match is probably going to survive a few more days! Also, don’t forget, you can ultimately brand anything, but some things are easier than others.
February 1, 2008 at 12:54 am · Filed under funny, Links, news, scandal
The Pirate Bay team is facing a variety of charges, but vows to keep the site alive no matter what.
So what is it really like to have a canned cheeseburger?
You kind of have to wonder if Osama isn’t winning this war, since his goal was (in case you forgot) to bankrupt the United States.
What kind of world do we live in where the city sues you for being environmentally friendly.
The Soviet Union may be gone, but many amazing ruins remain.
January 26, 2008 at 4:56 pm · Filed under allsux, writing
It’s strange how a critical mass of change is sometimes needed to put one’s life in perspective. I think I’ve been running on autopilot for a long time and hadn’t even realized it. Comfortability breeds complacency and, at least in my case, led to a lack of reflection on (or coherent direction) in my life.
Does this mean I haven’t reflected on things? Have I been truly asleep for the last weeks, months or even years? Made decisions with forethought? Not really, no. Still, hindsight is (as they say) 20-20 and it’s amazing how clearly I now see what I have been doing and perhaps as importantly what I haven’t been doing.
Change isn’t always easy and it certainly isn’t always fun but I have to say that, at least on a good day, I believe it is usually for the best. At each critical juncture of my life a massive change led ultimately to growth, cheesy as it sounds. The philosopher Immanuel Kant credited his fellow philosopher David Hume with awakening him from his “dogmatic slumber” and I would credit recent events in my life with the same.
Now, Kant ended up far from Hume in any philosophical sense. In extremely simplified terms: he believed in the power of reason to ascertain truths about reality while Hume believed in what he could see, test and prove repeatedly. In short, Kant thought the mind was the answer to understanding reality while Hume thought experience was.
So what is the point? The point is this: whatever it takes to awaken you after a period of inaction or insufficient relfection may not be relevant to your subsequent realizations. In fact, I think it may often take you in a completely new direction you hadn’t anticipated and perhaps can’t fully grasp right away. For me, I’m reacting to changes and picking a new direction to a large extent not directly forced by these changes. Where will it lead? Who knows, but probably not where I expect.
January 24, 2008 at 1:44 am · Filed under allsux, writing
For those of you lame enough to admit it, you’ll recognize the above as a lyrical reversal from the Counting Crows. My sleep schedule has been going wacko recently with all the random stuff going on in my life. I decided that when you’re getting to bed at 8 AM you’re just a wee bit too far off the beaten path of society and are doing yourself more harm than good.
At the same time, though, how to fix the cycle? There’s no way I’m reasonably going to get up at 3 PM and go back to sleep again 9 hours later. Instead, I’m going to push all the way through and make a day-and-a-half out of it. The plus side: lots of time and peace and quiet to work on things tonight and I’m (hopefully) sure to get a good night’s rest tomorrow.
I suppose this kind of sleep cycle can’t really go on forever … can’t let things get pushed back indefinitely over and over again. Still, even without a typical 9-to-5 day job I’m thinking it should be possible to at least roughly align myself with the daily drudgers. And if I still end up on a 2-to-10 sleeping schedule? Well, then I figure I’m on the right track to act like a ‘normal’ person and can still rub in the fact I get to sleep in late!
January 15, 2008 at 6:04 pm · Filed under allsux, blogging
Due to other changes in my life completely unrelated to a happenstance of our invented Western calander, I’m planning some changes around here. For starters, as you may have noticed, I’ve been flip-flopping on a new design/layout for the site. Also plan to post some halfway decent content again for the first time in a while. Trying to organize myself in general due to some changes in my personal life and it seemed like as good a time as any to start making this site something worth (maybe) reading again, despite the ever-ominous URL.
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