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Posts from August 2010

So sue me

So sue me published on No Comments on So sue me

If you own a big tech firm, aren’t Microsoft, and weren’t named in the patent lawsuit filed this week by Paul Allen’s Interval Licensing, well… you’re probably looking deep into your soul today and asking where it all went wrong.

If you aren’t a defendant – a category that includes AOL, Apple, eBay, Facebook, Google and Yahoo! – why not? After all, the technology in dispute is, according to Interval, “fundamental to the ways that leading e-commerce and search companies operate today.” Dammit, you say to yourself. Maybe you aren’t one of those leading e-commerce and search companies.

Wait: most of your work is with open-source software. Like Java! Maybe that’s why you aren’t being sued by anyone.

Aw, dammit.

Ah, well. Maybe it’s for the best. Not everyone can be on the A-list or in land of corporate jets, gargantuan mergers and stratospheric lawsuits. Hell, if it weren’t for those of us on the B-list (or, in my case, somewhere way down in the YYs), there wouldn’t be an A-list.

So chin up. With a little more work, a few game-changing innovations and – yes – a bit of luck, someday you, too, could be on the receiving end of a lawsuit big enough to alter global currency markets. Good luck with that!

Panel 1: Manager says to job applicant, "Your resumé says you're a social media guru. What does that entail?" Panel 2: He says, "I retweet other social media gurus." Panel 3: She says, "Wow! That's the kind of skill we just can't get enough of! You're hired!" He says "Really?!" Panel 4: She says "No, of course not."

Guru

Guru published on 6 Comments on Guru

Here’s a cartoon drawn on Translink’s #4 Powell bus. I challenged myself to see what I could get done between the south end of the Granville Bridge and Dunsmuir; the answer is, more than I thought. (And that’s with the unblinking stare of my seatmate, who was watching me work on my iPad with something that may have been interest, derision or clinical detachment. It’s hard to tell with hipsters.)

Gifted

Gifted published on 1 Comment on Gifted

With such a narrow finish, I couldn’t just leave the other caption in the closet, never to see the light of day again. (Especially if it might be useful for someone’s blog post or PowerPoint presentation.) So here’s the alternate version; it also happens to be the one I was thinking of when I first drew the cartoon.

Bet she’ll be the only “Replica Rolex” in her class

Bet she’ll be the only “Replica Rolex” in her class published on No Comments on Bet she’ll be the only “Replica Rolex” in her class

Torn between two captions,
feeling like a fool…

The people of the Internet have spoken, and by the absolute narrowest of margins – 43 votes to 42 – you’ve chosen this caption for the cartoon. (Should this caption be unable for any reason to fulfill its duties, the other caption will serve in its place.)

This cartoon ran on ReadWriteWeb on the weekend, where I wrote this:

There seem to be two poles of opinion in the SEO world around content. At one pole, you optimize everything you do within an inch of its life: writing headlines and structuring copy to engage search engine algorithms rather than human imaginations. You frame your content and choose your topics with a view to linkbait instead of what really charges your passions, and you track metrics and prune away less productive activity ruthlessly.

On the other pole, you may be no less attuned to metrics than your counterparts at the other end of the spectrum, but you direct your focus to creating great, engaging content and building a community around it. Here, you’re counting less on talking directly to search engines and more on creating the kind of traffic and organic linking activity that will drive up your rankings.

And then, of course, there are points in between where you do some of each. But there’s no question that there’s a tension between writing for search engines and creating a distinctive, authentic voice of your own.

Now, I can find advice anywhere along that spectrum with no difficulty. (It’s no surprise that people who do SEO for a living don’t find it hard to make their content visible.) And I can find vocal, often heated arguments and very strong opinions.

What I can’t find is hard data on which approach works better, and where the sweet spot lies. I imagine apples-to-apples comparisons would be hard to do, but that information would be pretty valuable. I have my preferences – I like a Web of communities and genuine voices, and I’d find pushing the ruthless-linkbait-and-keyword approach soul-destroying – and my instincts about what I’d like to believe works better, but that’s just me.

Anyone out there find anything tangible?

Help me choose a caption

Help me choose a caption published on No Comments on Help me choose a caption

Okay, folks, I need a quick bit of help.

The cartoon that ran yesterday on ReadWriteWeb actually originally had a different caption. And while I’m pretty pleased with the one it ran with, I can’t shake the question of which one is better.

I put this question to the Twitters, and the suggestion came back, “Crowdsource it!” Sounds like fun, thought I, and so here we all are.

Mind helping me out? Here are the nice people from SurveyMonkey to ask you to vote for your favourite.

Custody battle

Custody battle published on No Comments on Custody battle

I originally posted this on the BlogWorld Expo blog. And while that’s usually something I italicize at the top of the post, today – my first day back from holidays, hurrah! – I’m going to encourage you to give them a look-see.

Not only is it a great-looking conference (for which I am their official cartoon-blogger – and if I had a “.full-disclosure” CSS class, I’d be tagging that phrase), but the blog has some great advice on blogging including case studies, primers and discussions of the issues, challenges and rewards faced by bloggers.

Bumping uglies

Bumping uglies published on 1 Comment on Bumping uglies

(I originally posted this on ReadWriteWeb.)

No big writeup this weekend, folks, as I’m on holiday in France, a country probably best-known as the one-time home of Seesmic founder Loic Le Meur. And maybe as the setting for some of “Julie and Julia.”

But the news that PayPal will now allow you to transfer money to someone just by bumping your iPhone or Android device with theirs – that’s pretty cool.

Makes you wonder what else you could swap. Maybe DNA?

Mayor-iage

Mayor-iage published on 3 Comments on Mayor-iage

(I originally posted this on ReadWriteWeb.)

I’d like to think that becoming a Foursquare mayor means something. And something more than just the achievement itself (which is, let’s face it, a grade based 100% on attendance).

Let’s give the Foursquare mayors real power. Not mamby-pampby discounts or free bellinis, but something meaty, like – I don’t know – say, search and seizure. Or union certification.

(By the way, I drew this at a branch of my local coffee chain, Blenz. And unlike some coffee chains that think a $1 discount on the cost of a Frappuccino is worthy compensation for their mayors, Blenz has the decency to award a $15 gift card to one mayor every week. Which is only fair: If you’re going to have mayors, you’d better pony up respectable bribes.)

So what powers would you grant to the office of Foursquare mayor? Pulling their own espresso shots? Free hits of nitrous at any participating dentist’s office?

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