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Archive for October, 2005

Randy Charles Morin on Linkage & Credits – Blogiarism Series

30 Oct 2005

Together with Jason Schramm from Shiwej, I’ve decided to start a guestblogging series which will run on both our blogs at about the same time.
Today (October 30th, 2005) is the second installment of the series and it’s all about Randy Charles Morin of KbCafe, who will explain how he treats people who blogiarize, how he lists his sources, and why he is trustworthy.

1. How did you get into blogging?

I first got into blogging in 2002 while working for Opencola. I opened a Userland Radio (paid) blog primarily as a means of figuring out what RSS and blogging were all about. I immediate got excited about the opportunities in this space. I founded a blogging company called Dude, Check This Out! on an idea I had about using associative relevance to determine what you didn’t know you didn’t know.

2. What is your blog’s name, what is it about?

I have two personal blogs; iBLOGthere4iM – [rss] and RVDad – [rss]. I post things on the iBLOGthere4iM blog that I think are cool! Very little on this blog is personal. RVDad is my blog where I talk about personal things, like my motorhome, my family, my adventures and my life.

3. Are there any policies you follow when reporting on an issue?

I really don’t have many policies. That said, there are some blog authors who blogiarize (plagiarize blogs, steal ideas and content) or are generally not nice people who I avoid linking to. I avoid linking to any IDG Website as I caught them re-publishing one of my articles on their Website without asking permission or paying me. I emailed the authors listed on their Website and found a dozen more that were never contacted or paid. When I approached them, they told me I was privileged to get one of my articles on their Website. They ignored most of my emails and thru lawyers at me the rest of the time. They refused to compensate me and basically put me in a position where I would have to take legal action to get any compensation for myself or the other authors. I personally wasn’t interested in a lawsuit and abandoned the issue. But, I avoid giving them any Google juice.

4. What guidelines do you follow when linking to an outside source?

I usually link to the author and the source when blogging. If you look at almost any blog entry I write, I will link to the original content author within the body of the post, but I will also add a source link in the footer of the post that links to the blog entry that got me started down the path to this great content. Quite often, their might be several sources between my source and the original content author and you can usually click thru to find that path. That said, these are not guidelines, it’s just something I do. It’s not that I’m trying to be righteous either. I’m linking because linking encourages accidental discovery of my own blog. Yes, I’m doing it for selfish reasons.

5. Do you think you are trustworthy? Why do your readers trust you?

I’m trustworthy, that is, if you are playing fair. When you are not playing fair, then you can be assured that I’ll come down on you. I think my readers generally trust me, because I tend to play on both sides of the fence. There are bloggers out there who think Microsoft (substitute any company name) can do no right and will bash them for donating money to orphans. Myself, I’ll bash Microsoft with the rest of them, but I’ll compliment them on their orphan donations too!

6. Do you think bloggers should be treated as journalists and be privy to the rights and protections that journalists enjoy?

Why not? Just because somebody pays you to write crap don’t mean your crap is any more valuable than Joe-blogger’s.

linkingstartshere

Initiated together with Jason Schramm, this guest blogging series will continue to make people aware of the power of linking and the need to give credit to the people who earn it.
Together, we’re improving the Blogosphere,you can help if you start linking here !
And be sure to check out Jason’s post here.

Note :

Jason and I are not related but have a common field. Jason writes for the BlogNewsChannel, and takes care of Apple Watch, very surprisingly the Apple section of Nathan’s network.
I sometimes write on Inside Google & Inside Microsoft.

 

American Dad Has Landed in Europe

30 Oct 2005

Last week, the 22nd, American Dad made its debut on BBC 2. I totally missed it because I’m not so much of a tv viewer, but yesterday I happened to have control of the zapper whilst chilling in my crib – normally the tv is ‘taken’ but my parents took off for a weekend so I finally got to use this side-feature of cable that comes with the internet and people call tv :) – and I came across BBC2 right in time to tune in for the second episode. This wicked cartoon spawned from the same deranged soul that fabricated Family Guy. If you think Family Guy was on the edge, you just wait til you see this. It’s ab-so-lutely incredible. So rude, yet so tasteful. I love it!

Here’s a fly-through of the cast :

Stan works for the CIA in Langley, Virginia, and is always on the alert for terrorist activity. Stan will go to extremes to protect his beloved America from harm as evidenced by the terror-alert color code on his fridge, and his frequent knee-jerk reaction of shooting holes in the toaster whenever the toast pops up. –>
  Stan Smith
Francine Smith   <-- Stan's wife, the sweet, Edith Bunker-esque Francine, has carefully hidden her party-girl personality for the sake of the conservative man she loves. But make no mistake, Francine's doting persona has its limits, and she's not afraid to put her man in his place.
18-year-old Hayley is the ultra-liberal daughter of the Smith household. Stan insists on putting her through an airport-style security search every time she enters the house (sure, he loves his little girl, but he doesn’t necessarily trust her). –>   Hayley Smith
Steve Smith   <-- At the age of 13, the geeky and hapless Steve, seems to be on the verge of puberty, but can't quite make it. Steve is unhappy with his low social status and sometimes takes drastic action to change it; like the time he and Stan rigged the student-body election to make Steve president.
Roger is the sarcastic space alien Stan rescued from Area 51 who deeply resents the fact that he’s not allowed to leave the house.
–>
  Roger
Klaus   <-- Klaus is a lascivious, German-speaking goldfish - the result of a CIA experiment gone seriously wrong - who has an unhealthy crush on Francine.

Together they are : American Dad

The Smith Family

For The ‘American Dad’ Fans :

American Dad on Fox *** Planet American Dad *** Episodes Walk-Throughs

American Dad on Wikipedia *** On IMDB *** Authentic Script Samples

 
1 Comment

Posted in General, Humor

 

Philipp Lenssen on Linkage & Credits – Blogiarism Series

28 Oct 2005

Together with Jason Schramm from Shiwej, I’ve decided to start a guestblogging series which will run on both our blogs at about the same time.
Today (October 28th, 2005) it’s all about Philipp Lenssen, who’ll explain how he treats his sources, how he credits people and helps them build their virtual image through a decent linking policy.

1. How did you get into blogging?

I’ve started blogging because my news articles became more frequent, and it was a nuisance to upload them. Also, I wanted to create the kind of blog I wanted to read myself, but couldn’t find at that time.

2. What is your blog’s name, what is it about?

Google Blogoscoped – [rss], about Google and “20% everything else”. It’s mostly tech stuff, with a focus on interactiveness, fun, and art.

3. Are there any policies you follow when reporting on an issue?

First, I try to get to the most relevant “source” link. So instead of linking to someone who links to someone that links to something that is the core of the story, I try to link directly to the core. However, the original blog post or news story where I found the link will be credited too at the end of the post. This helps people track the spreading of a meme; it gives credit where credit is due; people can find more relevant information by following the link; and the author I got the news from can see I linked to him in certain backlinks aggregators.

4. What guidelines do you follow when linking to an outside source?

I always include a “via X” in the post when I found something via someone else. When someone sent it to me, I credit this with “thanks X” to differentiate between pull (when I found it myself) and push (when someone alerted me to it). I do not credit the sender if he alerted me to his own site I’m then linking to (as it wouldn’t be necessary). I do not credit the “via” if I found it on a search engine or a generic news aggregator (like Google News).

5. Do you think you are trustworthy? Why do your readers trust you?

Yes, I think I am trustworthy. I follow several principles to be trustworthy:

  • I publish my full name, home address, ungarbled email, and photo on my blog
  • Every post has a permanent link with a full date and my name below the post
  • All posts can be commented on for corrections or feedback
  • If I change a post (and it’s more than a simple corrected typo) I will make it clear what has been changed either by using the HTML elements [del] / [ins] which were made for that cause, or by posting an update at the end of a post(which is flagged as such), or by making sure the comments contain the information on the change.
    This way, I won’t report on X, have people link to it saying I reported X, and then change my post to Y, as that would hurt the blogspace discussion.
  • I don’t report rumors as facts, and I always state who said what (e.g. by naming the full name — I prefer linking to people who write using their full name — or by linking to the source). I avoid “Some say…” or “Some people argue…” when I don’t have a link ready to accompany this. When I report on a rumor I clearly mark it as such and end the post’s title with a question mark (like “New Google Service XYZ?”)
    and I mention the word “rumor” or similar in the post.
  • I come up in official news aggregators such as Google News and am mentioned in other blogs and mainstream news sources.
  • I am always available to be contacted and discuss a story, and also, I publish arguments which are against my posts so the other side gets their point of view be seen as well.
  • I keep on posting on a daily basis and there is a trustworthy community building around the blog.
  • When I did make an error in a post, I clear it up by posting an update. I don’t try to hide this error but make clear that I did it.
    When the post is very fresh and I find out it covers a hoax (even when I warned it might be a hoax or rumor), I rarely remove the post completely; if I do so, I post the full text of the original post in the blog’s forum as reference that it was online.

6. Do you think bloggers should be treated as journalists and be privy to the rights and protections that journalists enjoy?

Absolutely. I’m not sure if everybody who registered a Blogspot sub domain yesterday should be given those rights. Maybe there should be a filter critera to separate which blogger gets the “extended rights.” Maybe it could be the blog’s PageRank, or its Technorati, or Blogpulse rank, or its appearance in Google News, or a mixture of these.

linkingstartshere

Initiated together with Jason Schramm, this guest blogging series will continue to make people aware of the power of linking and the need to give credit to the people who earn it.
Together, we’re improving the Blogosphere,you can help if you start linking here !
And be sure to check out Jason’s post here.

Note :

Jason and I are not related but have a common field. Jason writes for the BlogNewsChannel, and takes care of Apple Watch, very surprisingly the Apple section of Nathan’s network.
I sometimes write on Inside Google & Inside Microsoft.

 

Simply Hired – Simply Fired

27 Oct 2005

Simply Hired is a job-search engine that is currently searching 4,424,752 jobs to match you up with the job you’re looking for. (US only, so it seems). You can have some help from the engine with a customized search, but that only works if you’ve tried looking for some jobs already, so they have something to match with, as the ‘error’ message says “Abracadabra! Darn, that didn’t work… Sorry, first we need you to rate a few jobs, then we can do our magic & suggest a few you might like. ”

Simply Hired is a vertical search engine company based in Silicon Valley, and we’re building the largest online database of jobs on the planet. Our goal is to make finding your next job a simple yet effective, enjoyable journey. We can’t always promise you’ll discover your dream job, but we’ll give you the best chance possible to get a bigger paycheck, a more considerate boss, or a shorter commute.”

simply hired

To promote Simply Hired , they came up with Simply Fired – a contest where all of us can send in movies about getting fired to then be awarded for it. If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry…

“It can really suck to get fired or laid off. But now here’s a chance to turn someone’s pain into your ticket to fortune & fired fame! If you’ve got a great idea for a short video (under 60 seconds) about getting fired, we’d love to see it. Send us your funniest, saddest, most outrageous video clip related to getting fired, and you could win a new Apple multimedia system, an Apple Video iPod, or a SimplyFired t-shirt (sure to be a collector’s item). The contest opens on November 1st 2005, and runs through the end of the year.”

The contest is starting in 5 (five) days ! But they’re already at movie #23 and it’s a hilarious one. Go check it out, or subscribe to the ‘new movies’ rss feed. – via [iBLOGthere4iM]

 
No Comments

Posted in Humor, Search

 

Link O Rama

27 Oct 2005

Okay. I’ve been helping out Nathan again on the BlogNewsChannel, because he was off for two days. A lot of stuff happened in search land, so check out the 17 posts I did there. (and some on the Inside Microsoft blog too, but only 4 posts)

Other funky stuff I saw lately :

A new speaker dubbed the Vibrato is designed to help the deaf ‘feel’ music, by providing a series of finger pads that allow the user to get as physically close as possible to the vibrations created by the music. – More on [Engadget]

The first phase of the deployment of an RFID system at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas has been completed with three airlines fully participating in the process of placing RFID tags on checked baggage. – More on [TheWirelessWeblog]

ProSiebenSat.1 launched high-definition television in Germany on Wednesday, becoming Europe’s first major broadcaster to transmit using the high-resolution format that is considered TV’s future. – More on [Reuters]

Silicon Valley start-up Kaboodle Inc. will offer a novel way for Web surfers facing information overload to keep a running record of useful sites and extract key details for personal use or to share with like-minded users.

Interactive Ikea – What if ?

Interactive Performance, enabled by mobile devices — SimpleTEXT is a collaborative audio/visual public performance that relies on audience participation through input from mobile devices such as phones, PDAs or laptops. SimpleTEXT focuses on dynamic input from participants as essential to the overall output. The performance creates a dialogue between participants who submit messages which control the audiovisual output of the installation. These messages are first parsed according to a code that dictates how the music is created, and then rhythmically drive a speech synthesizer and a picture synthesizer in order to create a compelling, collaborative audiovisual performance.

The VideoEgg Publisher is a small browser plug-in that makes it truly simple to capture, edit, encode, and post video online. VideoEgg and Six Apart have partnered to make it easy to post video to your TypePad blog. – via [Blogologie]

 

Your Spy Outfit is Biometrical & Bullet-Proof

25 Oct 2005

Here’s a computer mouse with software that provides the highest level of security for your computer and the data contained within it. The software provided with this system replaces insecure passwords with a complex mathematical algorithm derived from your fingerprint, making your finger the key to accessing your PC and any protected data. This is not only more convenient but also offers a much higher level of security than conventional passwords. Simply place your finger on the reader and you can be verified in less than one second.

biometrical mouse

You can even choose to combine both fingerprint
and a password to provide the very highest level of protection.
Workgroup sharing possible. [Check the Mouse]

BodyWear :

First we need a vest that offers ballistic protection up to .357 magnum. Without doubt we need the lightest and most flexible vest around.  The tighter weave means less material is needed therefore reducing weight whilst also offering some knife protection.  Ideal for hot climates and lengthy periods of wear.

Then there is a regular Levis Strauss type denim jacket with a level IIIA bullet-proof lining cleverly sewn into the inside. Perfect for casual wear, this jacket offers all round protection against all rounds up to, and including, .44 magnum.

bullet proof denim jacket
A bullet proof denim jacket. I wonder if it is
stab-proof too? – via [Engadget]

Unfortunately no protective bullet proof pants are available. I wonder why that is.

Also Funky :

A 3 in one pen/laser/PDA stylus which features a super-bright 635nm beam at one end which will project up to 650 metres. The other end is a fine ballpoint pen. When you twist the end the ballpoint disappears and is replaced by a stylus for operating a PDA. Supplied in matt silver and in a nicely presented slim tin box this is both a useful, and fun, item.

 

Roman Kriheli’s Nano Phone

24 Oct 2005

It is a concept of a mobile phone developed by Roman Kriheli, based on the most modern technologies. The entire face surface of this phone is a colour sensor display 4.2 in. in diagonal (a TFT-matrix of 700/266 px) protected with a 2-mm transparent plastic shield. Buttons appearing on the display are 13 mm in diameter.

  • virtual control & metal joystick
  • phonemode = vertical, videomode = horizontal view
  • metal on/off buttons
  • supports multiple GSM networks (900, 1800, 1900)
  • supports 3G
  • carries Bluetooth 2
  • pc synchronization friendly
  • fuel cell-based battery
  • wireless charging-pad (!) (SplashPower)
NanoPhone

Check out the [Russian Design Innovation Awards] and
discover a lot of remarkable entries. – via [Textually]

 

Branded Desktop Applications : Stewie Griffin Communicator

23 Oct 2005

Fox Home Video and AdTools have released a screenmate communicator to promote the release of “Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story”. This branded desktop application (BDA) has some goodies for the fans. Here’s a roundup:

  • 3 songs from some episodes. ( Sailor Song, Intercourse Song & Big Ole Baby)
  • 27 sound clips that allow you to ‘drag & create’ a 6-snippet long audio e-card with funky background, which you can send to your friends.
  • A Trivia Quiz test with Chris, Peter & Lois as lifelines. (Hilarious)
  • 4 Videoclips with unique footage, promoting the new DVD .
  • An interactive Stewie, when clicked walks around on your taskbar, saying things. :)
  • A desktop Wallpaper and (AOL) Buddy Icon.
main console
In the trivia test, Chris is always way off topic,
Peter is being Peter and Lois helps you out .
You just got to click them all, starting with Chris :) Really.

soundboard
Managing the soundboard is very easy. :) Sending around the intellectual
funny quotes from Stewie is going to be my next thing to encourage people.
This will definitely help solve issues I have, because some things need to
be said, and who better than Stewie to personify my thoughts? Ba-zing !

Don’t get fooled by the ‘Upcoming Releases’ link. It just ends up at a total irrelevant page in the Fox Store. You can skip that. The DVD is on my wishlist. I’m pro-Stewie. – via [AdLand]

Visit [FamilyGuy.com] or see [an example of an e-card]