October 26, 2007
Chatting too much?
Sometimes I slip into a chat room or a message board of a subject that I'm interested in, thinking I'll just be in there for a little while. But then an hour goes by, an hour! It's amazing how you can get sucked right into the conversation with people you don't know, will never really know and don't care to know. Yet on an airplane, we try not to make eye contact with the person next to us because we don't want to get stuck in a long conversation with someone we'll never see again. Hmmm. Makes you think, doesn't it?
I ask my friends if they go into chat rooms and they all deny it. Isn't that strange. We're probably chatting with each other and we don't even know it because we hide behind silly names.
So what are we replacing when we spend our time typing out our thoughts with strangers? Maybe time with family. I'm too often shoo-ing my family away while I'm in mid-sentence on a message board. Or I don't answer the phone when I'm catching up on a string that has been going on for several days and is really heating up in controversy. I might even be late going to a friend's house because I lose track of time. Don't we all look a little crazy when we're chuckling to ourselves, and then frantically typing?
Posted by Idea Man at 08:06 PM | Comments (0)
October 15, 2007
What's news isn't always news
A lot of mainstream news media are now posting blogs on their sites, sort of like news stories with a bit of opinion and then room for comments. It's taking some getting used to, this immediately interactive experience with the news media. I wonder if they actually read the comments that people read. Sometimes they're just ludicrous.
And then the TV news often takes questions on the air from emails. This is certainly becoming a very interactive electronic news world. But is it too much? Sometimes it's hard to tell fact from opinion, as we mix it all up and spit it out. People are putting their family movies on sites. It's crazy how we find ourselves watching that stuff. Are we lowering our standards?
Posted by Idea Man at 08:01 PM | Comments (0)
October 14, 2007
A hit?
What's a hit really. Different methods prompt different results. I'm looking forward to the days when we know that we are truly tracking our "hits" on sites. Right now, it's impossible to know what webmasters are counting when they brag about their hits. Does that include page views, unique visitors? It can be a mystery.
I read an article on this recently. Some webmasters tried to measure hits with two different methods and came up with the two different results. So say if one retailer is trying to sell ads on their site, they use the hits as a way to set the rates. But another retailer may be using a different tracking mechanism and logging more hits, so they can charge more for their display ads on the site. As I said, it's confusing.
Posted by Idea Man at 08:19 PM | Comments (0)
August 29, 2007
Internet overload
So really, when is the Internet finally full? Never? Amazing. There is stuff on it from years ago, and people add web sites every single day, especially with blogs and Facebook and YouTube. Searches no longer bring up a few dozen or so hits, it's usually in the hundreds or thousands. You know this when you see the pages on the bottom with arrows, that it appears to go for infinity.
Of course, no one really monitors the web, per se. People put everything on it. Maybe I'm just having one of those days. Information overload!
Posted by Idea Man at 02:01 PM | Comments (0)
August 17, 2007
Multimedia is taking over
So I was watching CNN and it was showing a video that was posted on YouTube and that was a strange feeling. Multimedia is everywhere, isn't it? I mean, YouTube, FaceBook, MySpace, blogs, video news. It's crazy. And it seems to have happened so fast.
Those of us over 35 reminisce about the days when we actually had to look for a pay phone. Or carry around one of those HUGE mobile phones. I remember how heavy that battery bag was to lug around. Imagine all of the new ways to communicate since those days!
So now you can log onto a radio station's web site and watch videos and see pictures from an event. You can log onto a tv station's web site and watch the latest news on a video. A newspaper's site has video, audio, slide shows AND a nicely written story.
Is all of this too much? Sometimes...
Posted by Idea Man at 01:52 PM | Comments (0)
July 03, 2007
Health information
As much as I love the easy access to everything on the web, I always caution my friends and family to not search for personal health ailments online. It's too easy to convince yourself that you have some deadly disease just by looking at the symptoms. We have all probably done it at least once.
I have a good friend who was certain that he had Lou Gehrig's disease because his finger and his arm were twitching. He looked up the reams of information, the symptoms, the diagrams, the videos. He was scared, angry, sad. He was practically making arrangements for his wife and children. He finally got an appointment with a specialist. All the tests were negative. It was probably just overworked muscles. (He skips rope for exercise). We can laugh at this now, but if you are the one going through it, the worry alone is debilitating.
When a relative was ill a few years back, the doctors were doing what they do: test and rule out. But after each suggestion of a diagnosis, I was looking up the symptoms, the prognosis, the treatment. Then I would get a call: It's not that, now they are testing for something else. I was becoming an expert in paranoia. I was making myself crazy. (And yes, I matched the "crazy" symptoms too).
I was a the doctor's office last month for a regular check up and he made some comment about whether I checked the Internet for symptoms. I said I had not. He told me that so many patients come in with too much information and have themselves all worried for nothing.
I suppose some middle ground would be good. If you can look up something but limit your research to maybe 2 or 3 hits. Then you will be somewhat informed but perhaps not convinced that you have something. Leave that up to the doctors.
Posted by Idea Man at 03:19 PM | Comments (0)
June 29, 2007
Hobbies and clubs
I know a lot of people who have hobbies like baseball card collecting and scrapbooking. They have found new ways to connect to others who share their interests--online hobby clubs. It's easy because you don't have to try to schedule meetings or host a bunch of people at your house every few months. You just go online, post questions, read articles, share information. These are a lot like support groups.
One friend of mine is really into geneology and she she joined a few online groups that share her interest. She was thrilled to learn that many of them specialize in the same geographic areas that she is interested in. Now, when they take trips to their ancestors' homelands, they post photos of old churches, towns and any landmarks they can find. You can't even put a price on that; it's just all information sharing. This has taken my friend's research forward by leaps and bounds.
A lot of people with hobbies that involve collecting like to find groups that will trade items. This is cost effective and you learn who you can trust fairly quickly.
It's amazing when you find that there are a lot of people out there with the same interests as you. And you don't have to host them at your house.
Posted by Idea Man at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)
June 25, 2007
Something to think about
There are so many blogs and personal pages out there on the Web, it's just amazing. And now the phones that do everything except make dinner (though they do make dinner reservations). Text messaging, emails. The whole world of communication is really exploding. I don't know if it's a good thing though. When is so much communication too much?
You can find so much personal information on someone if you do a Web search. I have found old friends, former classmates, friends of exes and exes of friends. You really have to be careful what you put out there. Even employers do searches now and can easily find that embarrassing picture of you from your college days of fun and frolicking. I read an article recently in which bosses said they have changed their minds about hiring someone after they found a little too much personal information on the Web.
Even thank you notes now seem to come through emails. What happened to the good, old-fashioned personal touch of a letter or card? Granted, sometimes I like the convenience of ordering a gift online, paying extra for it to be wrapped, and shipping it directly to the recipient. How easy is that?? But then I get a thank you note in an email and I feel a little dissed. I guess it's a two-way street.
I did receive a hand-written thank you card the other day and it was so rare that I just had to read it twice because it just seemed so personal. But after it sat on my counter for a few days, I tossed it. So maybe we are saving trees when we use email?
So the irony is, we're putting a lot more about ourselves out there in the Internet world for anyone and everyone to see, but this technology means we're losing the personal touch with the people and family we're closest to. Now there's something to think about.
Posted by Idea Man at 11:02 AM | Comments (0)
June 11, 2007
New Online Degree Options
Not everyone has the grades, time or money to go to a standard four year university. Sometimes, people with financial or time constraints need to look at other options.
A good friend of my has some college credits he picked up over the years but lately he has been getting nowhere. So recently he has decided to get an online degree while still maintaining his full-time job. He neither has the time nor money to do traditional college rout anymore. Still, his company tells him he needs his bachelor’s degree to advance from his current position.
This weekend, I was at his apartment watching the Tiger/Mets game and we got online and started looking for online degree options. We happened to find a great site that has a searchable database of online degree programs available from several different accredited colleges. I was surprised by the choices there now are for getting a bachelors degree online. About 10 years ago, I looked into online degrees and the choices were extremely limited. Now with widespread Internet access, college is becoming more accessible to a wider range of people.
While a four year degree at a top University may look better on a resume, today’s online programs offer an option to get a bachelors or masters degree to those who 10 years ago would have had no opportunity to advance their education. The more people that can further their education the better for our country so I see this trend as another way that the Internet benefits us all.
Posted by Idea Man at 01:27 PM | Comments (2)
June 07, 2007
International Study
Several years ago, I almost spent a summer in England taking part in and extended education program. Money was tight, so I decided to hold off and stay home and work in an auto parts factory in Detroit. To this day, am disappointed that I did not find a way to make this dream come true.
Everyone says we live our lives through our children, so when the time is right, I'll suggest at least a year of overseas study in England to my kids. In today's world economy, an international education is more important then ever to prepare our youth for a successful future.
When considering international study, I always think of the U.K. first because of the country's fine reputation for higher education (not to mention the lack of language barriers), make it a good fit for any U.S based student looking to broaden their horizons.
This past week, I did a bit of research and found a website that offers an excellent U.S. Student Guide with information on everything from England's culture to financial aid. The website also contains information on other facets of life in the U.K. for students spending an extended period in England like car insurance and for those who plan a longer visit mortgages.
The Internet is making the world is becoming a much smaller place, so if the opportunity presents itself, I won't let my kids miss out like I did. Of course, money is always tight so I hope when/if the moment arises things are going well financially in my life to make it happen.
Posted by Idea Man at 08:56 AM | Comments (0)
May 25, 2007
How to Find a Web Design company
Who says you need to go off-shore to get outstanding web design that won’t cost you an arm and a leg? While living in down south, I discovered a great Atlanta web design company that helped me on a few projects I was working on at the time.
Since I have about 10 different websites, I often get asked by friends and family if I can build them a quick website. Sure I can – if all they want is a two page mostly text site or a plug and play blog. :-) When it comes to doing real websites, my secret is that I use outside web development companies to do the heavy lifting.
352 Media Group, who I discovered in Atlanta, started out as a small company doing mostly Jacksonville web design until they grew into one of the larger U.S. base web design firms that specializes in creating virtual “Web Hosts”. Take a look at their website to see how effective a Web Host can be at catching a visitors eye and keeping them at a website.
It may seem obvious, but the best way to find a good design company is to look at the company’s own website. You would be surprised at the bad websites many design firms have created for themselves. In my mind, if a web design company has a bad website, why would I want them to do my website?
Posted by Idea Man at 01:55 PM | Comments (0)
May 14, 2007
Forex Trading
I have been involved with Forex trading – Foreign Exchange Currency Trading – for the past 3 years. As lucrative as new website ideas can be, it’s still nice to have some income diversification. I like to have fun making money so it was only natural that I was attracted to the excitement of Forex Trading (sometime also called fx trading).
When I first started fx trading, my friends had no idea what I was talking about. Now I notice more and more websites devoted to helping newbies interpret forex signals. This type of trading is fairly complex and it took me a long time to learn Forex, however lately I have been having some decent success.
I don’t think I’ll ever reach the expert level of Kumar, but now I am thinking if I continue to have success, why not start my own forex trade signals website and combine my knowledge of the web with my knowledge of forex? We’ll see; I could just be on a lucky streak. :-(
Posted by Idea Man at 04:01 PM | Comments (8)
May 07, 2007
Website Partnerships
In general terms business can be looked at as a sum of relationships. Sellers have products and interact with others to build relationships that will ultimately result in a sale of goods or services. The interaction between sellers and their potential clients is often called networking. Getting out into the business world and meeting others with similar interests.
Well on the internet the exchange of links between websites is often the first stage of the “networking” process. Sometimes it is possible to find websites that are so compatible with our own that an alliance or full partnership may be warranted, and beneficial to both parties. Networking is probably one of the most powerful forms of business marketing ever invented. It is used to get people jobs, make sales, buy specialty items, and even find a spouse!
Every networking opportunity represents a potential alliance or deal in the making. In earlier articles we talked about a reciprocal link campaign. A simple yet effective method of exchanging links between compatible websites. Well it could be said that this would be the first stage to a possible partnership. What would happen if the partnership developed further? Suppose more then one link was exchanged. Suppose content was exchanged like articles, or even prizes. The chance to build an alliance like this is not something that happens every day, but when it does happen it usually happens big time.
One example that I am aware of started when a music site was searching for reciprocal link partners. One of the URL’s that it found to link with turned out to be with a site that did flash program development. It just so happened that this particular webmaster had developed a new concept in music protection. By the time the deal was finished a very complex alliance was formed. The patent rights to the music protection system where purchased and the flash website generated about 5 different links pointing back to the music site.
This music partnership would not have started had it not been for the reciprocal link program. These two sites would never likely have come together and neither party would have benefited. It can be easily said that the sum of the benefits obtained through the partnership were well more then the individual benefits that each of the partners had available to offer.
I am aware of other similar partnerships that have occurred through similar types of situations. Partnering with other websites can be a huge benefit to traffic generation. Links are often obtained from numerous places on the partner sites and traffic will often flow from all those additional links. Always be open minded when assessing possible partnership opportunities. It will always be the one you miss that has the best potential, guaranteed!
Posted by Idea Man at 11:41 AM | Comments (1)
April 29, 2007
Barack Obama 2008
I was searching for some cool souvenirs for the presidential race and came across this site that has some really original t-shirts and other swag for
Barack Obama.
This site offers cups, stickers, ties and more featuring the phrase: "Barack Obama is my Homeboy." The campaigns are already big news these days and we are going to be hearing more and more about them now through the election in 2008. So I don't want to waste any time; I'm stocking up now. It's going to be a very interesting battle for the White House, that's for sure.
Posted by Idea Man at 07:37 PM | Comments (0)
April 27, 2007
What a tangled web I weave
Those that know me know I have been trying to find a good hairstylist that can handle my long hair style since I moved back to Michigan I tried a salon recommended to me, but had no luck. The hair stylist did an “ok cut, but my hair style seemed to disappear after two weeks—it just didn’t grow out well and ended up looking “blah”. So I was on the hunt for a new salon, and a new hair stylist—again. I went to Alex Emilio Salon and had Ixchel as my hairstylist. Ixchel was awesome!
She was so friendly. Ixchel deftly managed my super-thick hair, even with my long hair style. She did a great cut and beautiful highlights. Ixchel turned out to be a great hair stylist and I have gone back to her salon regularly since then. She has never steered me wrong, and my hair style looks great the day I walk out of her salon, and for many, many weeks later. The maintenance of my hairstyle has decreased, which I love, thanks to Ixchel!
Posted by Idea Man at 09:19 AM | Comments (0)
March 25, 2007
Getting the right info when looking for consumer electronics
Buying a new TV or cell phone isn't always as easy as I would like it to be. There is endless choice and on top of that there are new brands and models every day. The time needed to research these product choices could take a long time and then finding it at a location near you or at the right price is another issue.
A friend told me about a new website, called Testfreaks, with high ambitions for the future. Their aim is to help consumers find the best products for them. Unfortunately the site isn't finished yet so it's hard to say what they will truly deliver but I like their ambition.
They will use a lot of aggregated content in forms of reviews from professional sources and thoughts from bloggers and forum posters in order to rank products and give recommendations based on user preferences.
At the moment Testfreaks only has an early beta version up with a few
categories: digital cameras, TVs, mp3 players, cell phones and camcorders. So check out the site now, and then again later.
Posted by Idea Man at 02:40 PM | Comments (0)
March 18, 2007
Talking about losing weight
One of the hardest things about losing weight is trying to stick to it. But if you have someone or somewhere that you can go to talk about issues that you're dealing with, it's really helpful. This weight loss message board is really cool. You can ask others about weight and health issues, and you can respond with your own experiences as well. It's like a support group online.
And, a health and weight loss business marketing forum is a great place for people in the business of weight loss to post and answer questions about topics that they can relate to. Health and weight loss are topics on everyone's minds. I think these sites are really going to take off.
Posted by Idea Man at 06:23 PM | Comments (1)
February 03, 2007
Prehistoric Shark
Dinosaurs and ancient history fascinate me so the sighting and capture of the prehistoric shark off Japan definitely caught my eye. This prehistoric shark is rarely sited and is called prehistoric because it has evolved very little over the past million years - perhaps because of the great depths where it lives has changed very little making evolution unnecessary.
You can view the whole story at this great website, or just watch the youtube video of the prehistoric shark below below. Cool stuff.
Posted by Idea Man at 12:53 AM | Comments (0)
January 19, 2007
Stress Related Illnesses
I have been doing some research on stress related illnesses lately because of the damage they can cause in a persons' life. During this research, I found an interesting mind-body medicine resource that I though I would share.
Like all of us, you probably know someone who's not been well, and just doesn't seem to be able to get better. They've been to their Doctor time and time again but it's really not made the difference. Especially if they've have got a stress related illness that the doc couldn't diagnose easily.
I've found a website that's worth looking at because they offer something a bit different. A woman called Dr. Concorde, has done lots of work in the field of stress and its impact on health. It could be well worth it to take some time out of your stressful life and take a look at Concorde Initiative website.
Posted by Idea Man at 11:18 AM | Comments (1)
January 13, 2007
Stress and Anxiety
In today’s hectic world, stress and anxiety attacks are all too common. Universities, by their very nature, produce about as much stress and anxiety as education. This is reflected in the extremely high drop out rates of students in their freshman year.
In fact, I was sad to hear a friend’s daughter just dropped out of college after barely making it through one semester of college. Unfortunately, the stress was too much for her to handle and she has scaled back her education plans to the community college in her hometown.
Because I know there are other students with similar issues, I thought I would list a few excellent resources on the web that will help you get more information on this important topic:
College Stress
Anxiety Self-Help
Managing Stress and Anxiety
Stress and anxiety are part of life. We all deal with them on a daily basis so if you want to be successful in life, it’s best to learn how to not only cope, but to thrive in stressful situations.
Posted by Idea Man at 01:04 PM | Comments (1)
January 05, 2007
Top Records of 2006
The Rollingstone magazine released their top 50 albums. So I thought I would list my favorite albums of 2006:
Red Hot Chili Peppers - Stadium Arcadium
Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
Sonic Youth - Rather Ripped
Thom Yorke - The Eraser
Richard Butler - Richard Butler
The Arctic Monkeys - Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not
TV on the Radio - Return to Cookie Mountain
Grant Lee Phillips - Nineteeneighties
John Mayer - Continuum
The Raconteurs - Broken Boy Soldiers
Beth Orton - Comfort of Strangers
Neil Young - Living With War
Tom Waits - Orphans: Brawler, Bawlers, & Bastards
I know there are others, what have I missed?
Posted by Idea Man at 06:48 PM | Comments (0)
January 04, 2007
A beach in Dubai sounds good right about now
I'm always on the lookout for new places to get away, relax and enjoy the beach. Who isn't?
A friend of mine told me about this city on the shores of the Arabian Gulf. My family likes to rent houses instead of hotels rooms so that we have a kitchen, living areas and our own space to move around in. I found some furnished apartments in Dubai that are gorgeous. Who wouldn't want to stay there?
So I did more research on this city. There are a lot of nationalities represented there. Dubai has a blend of old and new and has become an ultramodern city. I didn't know much about it, but it is a major hot spot for tourists because of its beautiful white sandy beaches. It also hosts golf tournaments and horse races.
The Web site for furnished Dubai apartments says the city has the tallest hotel in the world at 321 meters high. It's called Burj Al Arab. Definitely bring a camera if you go to this hotspot. And your bathing suit, a good book and an appetite for some world-class restaurants.
Posted by Idea Man at 12:10 PM | Comments (0)
December 27, 2006
Cost of War
As we all know the Iraq war is costing the U.S. lots of money. We feel the war's cost especially hard in Michigan which depends on the auto industry for its economic health. Oh well, maybe when we finally win the war we will have easy access to cheap Iraqi oil so the rest of the U.S. can afford to start buying Detroit gas guzzlers again.
For those keeping tabs, this website tracks the cost of the war to the second.
Posted by Idea Man at 01:25 PM | Comments (0)
December 21, 2006
Peace > War
Posted by Idea Man at 05:54 PM | Comments (1)
December 20, 2006
Norton Antivirus 2007 - is it worth it?
One of my New Years resolutions is to keep my PC virus and spyware free, so I have been researching some of my available options. Last year, I had to delete everything and do a clean install and don’t want to go through that again. Of course the first antivirus program I looked at was Symantec’s Norton AV which I have used in the past but hardly ever updated.
Symantec released their latest version of Norton Antivirus software earlier in September of 2006. With the release of the Norton Antivirus 2007 one has to wonder if the new version is worth the price? Has Symantec finally begun to pay attention to the problems of its previous versions - namely the bloated code of Norton and its slow performance?
Well it seems that Symantec finally listened, as CNET's website review states: "Norton AntiVirus 2007 is faster and lighter on system resources than previous versions." Symantec's Internal Performance Review goes on to discuss their findings on Norton 2007's less memory usage, faster scans, faster boot time, and faster UI response. For instance, Norton 2007 scans a 1 GB file set in 2 minutes and 15 seconds. This is faster than the industry average of 2:49 and nearly 35% faster than the previous version of Norton Internet Security.
Other cool features you can expect from Norton include antispyware, rootkit protection, and a "light" firewall that now comes with Norton Antivirus. Also, Norton Internet Security 2007 now protects up to 3 computers for one low price, a very good deal for those like me with several computers!
The bottom line is, if you are out surfing the web unprotected get some protection fast before your computer goes kaput. I am seriously considering the upgrade to NAV 2007.
Posted by Idea Man at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)
December 17, 2006
Album Cover Art
Sometimes I miss the old albums – the way they sounded, the way they felt, and especially the awesome album art that defined many classic albums. Today’s CDs just don’t give you anything to hang onto.
Classic “Album Art” is pretty much a thing of the past. Somehow "Zeppelin 4", "Dark Side of the Moon", and "Hotel California" covers don’t translate their former power on a tiny CD case. To make matters worse, now with digital music and MP3 players, all you have is ones and zeros.
However, with some album art it is probably just as well that we don’t see it. Check this website which has a page showing some of the worst cover art ever.
Posted by Idea Man at 06:09 PM | Comments (0)
December 01, 2006
Lost In Space Without a Paddle
I always have wondered what would happen to someone that ended up in outer space without protection. I know it wouldn’t be good, but how long could one survive or would the body explode immediately? Things like this keep me up at night…
On the TV show, Battlestar Galactica, criminals are often put to death by being ejected into outer space. The visual is usually of them floating away flapping their arms – yeah right, just TV…
Well I stumbled on this site that has tons of fun fact type information and found a post that explains the whole process. Apparently, a human can live unprotected in outer space for a few minutes and fully recover if brought back in and treated immediately. Don’t believe it? Read about it and other interesting things at the Damn Interesting website.
Posted by Idea Man at 05:43 PM | Comments (0)