I had an uncle that during the 1980s worked on a US Navy Submarine. He tells a story of a young officer who was looking through a periscope trying to identify "enemy ships" during a training exercise. The young officer spotted a ship, but they were too close to read the name of the ship, so he had to call out the name to a senior enlisted person in parts to then look up. The young officer calls out the first part "NOS", then finds and calls out the second part "MO". When he can read the … [Read more...]
posted on September 4, 2007 by
Are you over reacting on your website
Let's talk college football (American style) briefly. Michigan recently lost to an unranked team by two points. The going into the game they were ranked 5th in the nation, after the game, they were scored to be out of the top 25. This is something that hasn't happened before, (falling so far so fast), which led me to ask some questions. Basically I came up with two scenarios. Michigan should have never have been ranked #5 to begin with and was just riding their past history, or Their … [Read more...]
posted on August 29, 2007 by
What does your website do!?
OK - so ask yourself this question: "What is it that your website does for you?" Not "What do you want it to do?", but what does it do! Notice the distinction. Bloggers who blog for other bloggers ask this question all of the time, although in sometimes slightly a different manner.They ask questions like "What is your Blog's Mission Statement"or "If your blog disappeared, who would miss it?" You need to be asking yourself the same question about your website! Often people will go … [Read more...]
posted on August 27, 2007 by
Writing for everyone is harder than it appears
Writing posts that is. I've been working on several series of topics, such as the How the Web is like High School, and others. It has taken longer than expected to write what would seem like a simple post, the type of post that shouldn't require a PhD from MIT to understand. Yet writing about something semi-technical to a non-technical person is not always the easiest thing to do. While it seems obvious to me, because I am technical, it won't be to most people. Yet people fail to keep … [Read more...]
posted on August 20, 2007 by
Becoming Popular on the Web
This is our final article in how, especially when related to popularity and search, the web is like High School. Previously we have looked at the popular kids, the new kid who was popular at his last school, and the rebels. As we finish this little alliteration, we have to look at the “late bloomer”. Granted, in our case you don’t have to necessarily be a “late bloomer.” You can be ready to bloom now. This is geared toward the people who realize that they can improve their standing, and … [Read more...]
posted on August 16, 2007 by
The (Web/High School) Rebel
I’ve talked about how the web is kind of like High School. The popular kids (websites) stay popular, and the uncool kids stay, well, uncool. Even if you were popular at one school, and moved to another school, it was still possible to become popular – because you knew what to do. So let’s continue the analogy. It is always possible to lose your cool, or finally find it. There are many ways to do this, and we will explore the right and wrong way. Let’s look at The Rebel and how he can be … [Read more...]
posted on August 13, 2007 by
Two New Kids at School
If you haven’t had a chance to read the previous article about how the web is like high school, you might want to take a quick glance. Two New Kids at School A new kid can become popular. If they were popular at their last school, it was always easier. If you ever watched this type of new kid, you could always tell. They walked the right way. They had the right look. They knew they had the right stuff; they just had to prove it. And from the moment they walked off the bus (if they dared … [Read more...]
posted on August 12, 2007 by
New Web Site Denny’s Upgrades
Growing up in Orlando, FL I always got to visit places like Disney World, and Universal Studios Florida. When I was younger, I there were even more, albeit smaller, theme parks around. One of the joys of these parks are the skill games you can play. These were often against a group of people, or in rarer cases individual games. At the end of the game, you received either points or a prize (those stuffed animals you see people carrying around). Unfortunately, some of the companies who … [Read more...]
posted on August 9, 2007 by
How the Web is like High School
Photo by: Sektordua Remember High School? Do you remember the Homecoming Dance, Class President, and Prom? Who won those events? If your school was like mine, it was the most popular boy and girl wearing the crowns/winning the office. In many ways, the web is like High School! Similar rules apply. The ok at how. This realization came to me while I was working with a local company to assist them in their Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts. In their industry, there are thousands of … [Read more...]
posted on July 29, 2007 by
Why Ajax doesn’t need Dreamweaver
There have been several discussions recently on if Ajax developers need Dreamweaver or not. Dreamweaver is a good tool, but it is just a tool not a solution. The more I use Dreamweaver, the more I can see both its strengths and weaknesses. Let’s look from both points of view to determine if Ajax really needs Dreamweaver. As someone who doesn’t work for Adobe, but has used Dreamweaver for over six (6) years, I am a little bit more objective than some of the voices that have spoken. … [Read more...]