Archive for February 2003

The Bandwidth Report is a newly launched monthly publication with a roundup of connectivity trends in the US. As of January 2003, 67.5% of US home users connected to the Internet at 56Kbps or less. Broadband enetration passed 30% for the first time in December 2002. Extrapolating the Nielsen//Netratings data, broadband penetration in the US should exceed 50% by July of 2004.

The Dallas area has been hit by an ice storm and won’t see temperatures above 30 degrees until tomorrow afternoon. Translation – I ain’t going anywhere.

So, I took advantage of the day off from work to transfer my redesign. I’ve got a lot of it in place. The hard part is transferring the blog. Well, MT decided to die on me while I was editing a template. Now, MT won’t work at all. Yeah, I’m mad. I’m working to get help to fix it. Thanks for letting me vent.

Whoo hoo! The MT problem was embarrassing. I had reloaded Internet Explorer to no avail. Well, I should have SHUT DOWN IE before whining. Anyway, all the notes entries have moved to the new server. I still have a few kinks to iron including getting all the links right, archive templates, comment template, heading images, and so on. But, I’m ready to switch over to the new server as soon as I get the domain name moved.

You can take a peak at the home, notes, baby blog, resume, services, and writings in the new design. I can’t take anymore changes, although I do want to indent the paragraphs in the blog. Odd, margins weren’t working. Been working too closely to this for too long.

When I researched banks for a possible case study and reviewed them for potential awards, I found they had something in common: they were not easy to use. They’re a category of their own for obvious reasons. Not saying all bank Web sites are bad, just they take a lot of work in becoming usable for customers. The folks at 37signals.com created 37Betterbank, which is what they believe would make a, for lack of better phrase, better bank.

It’s not a surprise to see a rise in mobile blogging tools and users. The story: Now Bloggers Can Hit the Road.

In the eNewsletter Journal, we do rants and raves of newsletters and we’re looking for newsletters to review. Our audience consists mainly of people in B2B, so B2B newsletters are preferred. But, we’ll be open to others. Submit Your Favorite or Least Favorite Newsletter and we might “Siskelize” it. The topic doesn’t matter — we’ll be looking at the value it offers its audience for its topic.

Been buried in work deeper than the snow in the Northeast plus I am doing most of the blog-style writing in the Lockergnome Windows Daily Report this week while Chris takes a breather. Just quick tidbit: Browser gadflies turn over a new leaf. WaSP has a new lease on life.

I had never heard of TCPA until I did a review of Against TCPA for Lockergnome and we all need to be aware of this. Online privacy is not my area of expertise, but I listen to the likes of Lawrence Lessig and Cory Doctorow to keep on top of it. The link takes you directly to the thorough and clearly written FAQ. I won’t even begin to paraphrase it because it’s too easy to send the wrong message. Intel, Microsoft, and Disney are supporters.

In this month’s eNewsletter Journal, readers offer advice on what to do if you accidentally Spam your mailing list. When I became editor of eNJ, I was asked to submit names of people I knew to receive a copy. I wasn’t too hot on this fearing my friends and network buddies would see it as Spam. Only a couple unsubbed and one sent a harsh note… however, it was no surprise from this one person who goes overboard on everything.

Curious about the difference between email and print newsletters? No? How about answering a question from a reader on whether to rent or grow an email list? Share your expertise and you could win a digital camera.

Nick Usborne delves into the questions we should be asking when trying to determine the length of online copy in Long or Short Copy? The standard rule of thumb of keeping everything short on the Internet is bull. I’ve read feedback where customers benefitted from more information rather than less. The rule of thumb is there isn’t one for copy length. Ask the questions that Nick proposes and you should get your answer.

Less than a month away till SXSW interactive time again. I’ll be moderating the 2002 Web Awards Winners’ Showcase panel on Sunday, March 9 at 10:00 AM. The winners of last year’s SXSW Web site competition will talk about their online creations and how they reflect their invidual views of the Internet. They’ll also share their outlook for the future of this medium.

Will provide the names and URLs of the speakers shortly.