Is this Patent Application behind Yahoo's Video Search?

Hard to tell at this point, but this may be part of the method used to help rank results in Yahoo!'s video search. Or maybe an enhancement of Yahoo!'s Image Search.

The inventor of the method described in the patent is John Thrall. The head of media search engineering at Yahoo Search is John Thrall.

Click-through re-ranking of images and other data.

Here's a snippet from the patent application:

The present invention overcomes the deficiencies and limitations of conventional search engines by using feedback obtained by user clicks and the position of the clicked images to determine user preferences for the search results that best satisfy particular queries. While the embodiments described relate to image data, the present invention can also be used for other types of data such as shopping, video, music, and text searches. For example, the present invention can be used with any type of search where a summary of search results provides detailed and representative information on the content that the user will receive when clicking on the result. User click information is tracked to determine which images users click on for particular queries. This information is used to update and improve future query results.

It's difficult to tell, but if I were Yahoo!, the person I would want as the head of media search engineering would write patent applications like this one.

A Cheap Sales Trick; Or Tommorrow's AI Wonder

You go into a store to purchase something. A salesperson comes over and asks you if you need help.

This person seems fairly agreeable. There's something, you're not quite sure what, about them that you like.

Unknown to you, they are imitating your head movements, your gestures, and some of the other body language you display. It's a studied phenomena, often referred to as the Chameleon effect.

Can it help three dimensional and computer generated beings become more successful salesmen? That's what they've been trying to find out at Stanford.

Learning from the Past: Fillmore Posters as Promotion

I wonder if there are any clubs out there doing the type of posters that Bill Graham did for San Francisco's Fillmore back in the sixties.

I'm in awe of the great galleries of Fillmore Posters from 1966 through 1969 that were given out to people to remind them to come to shows at the theatre.

Credibility and the Words You Use

I remember losing a debate because of a head shake.

It was an oral argument in law school, and I had just finished giving a presentation when my opponent started speaking. I found myself pleased that I had anticipated a number of the arguments that my opponent was making, and without even thinking about it, was smiling and shaking my head when she made the points she did. Not because I thought she was right, but rather because I believed that I had addressed those issues.

I thought I had made the stronger argument. Surprisingly, the judge of the event told me that I had lost points and credibility when he saw me shaking my head at the statements my opposition was making, as if I was agreeing with her.

Credibilty can be defined as a mixture of expertise and trustworthiness. The words you use, whether in conversation or in writing, can send a message that you aren't aware of. So can your nonverbal language.

I enjoyed this quick list of words that could also influence whether or not people believe you, and trusted what you are saying during a presentation, or negotiation, or confrontation, or even an interview: 52 Words and Phrases That Weaken Your Credibility

If you find yourself in that type of situation, where you have an audience tryng to determine what message you are sending, keep in mind that your expression, your motions, and your words are all the clues they have about what you are presenting. Even when you aren't the one talking. Credibility doesn't just rely upon what you say, and how you say it, but also how people perceive your message, your demeanor, your appearance, and even the way your head shakes.

Serious Batteries Keep Going and Going

Batteries should last for decades.

They may soon. See: New 'BetaBatteries' May Provide Power for Decades

Yahoo Looks At Trends in New Patent Application

After logging into your "my Yahoo" portal, you decide to look for sites about music.

You perform a search for "popular music" in the Yahoo! search engine. If you're under 21, the search engine might return results about Avril Lavgne. If you're over 35, you might see results about Celine Dion instead.

That's one of the potential applications that may come to Yahoo! as a result of the technology described in Systems and methods for search query processing using trend analysis.

A few other recent Yahoo! patent application included the use of concepts gleaned from user queries to help build responses to future queries. This patent application adds an additional element, looking at trends involving

Time - including the times of day that things may be searched for, the changes in searches on weekdays as opposed to weekends, seasonal searches, and more.

Geography - Will people searching for the same terms in different locations expect different results? It's quite possible.

User demographics - Information about users of such services as "My Yahoo" may tell the search engine something about what users of different demographic groups might look for, and what they expect to see.

User history or context (referred to here as a "vertical" dimension) - Information from past searches might influence future results,
etc.

And yes, the Avril Lavgne and Celine Dion examples are part of the patent application.

Overcoming the Typing Paradigm

Once upon a time, a friend of mine was telling me what he was looking for in a secretary he had decided to hire for his office. The secretary would be his first employee. One of the requirements he wanted to fill was that this secretary could type as quickly as him. Since he was up to 80 words a minute, that might rule some good candidates out. I told him that he might be making a mistake, and that he might be falling for the Typing Paradigm.


Why I have no love for the typewriter

I remember the good old days, before email was common place in the office, and when you were lucky if you were the one in the office with a computer that had a word processor (fortunately, I was).

I recall having to help replace typewriter ribbons, because they were such a pain to thread into typewriters.

I recollect the temptation to use correction tape on an official document because making a mistake at the end of a typewritten page meant having to type the whole thing over again.

Memories, painful memories of the days of typewriters.

I first learned how to use a wordprocessing program when I had a long paper due in school, and needed to get it done. I installed myself in the school computer lab on a Friday morning, and, except for a few short sleep breaks, spent most of the next few days sitting in front of a terminal, learning how to handle the templates of Word Perfect 5.1. After I had finished 80 pages, and 118 footnotes, my paper was done. And I was just beginning to overcome the typing paradigm.

With a copy of the paper printed out, I also had a copy of the paper on a floppy, so that I could easily add, amend, update, and delete as I saw fit, without having to start over again.

Unknown to me, and even better, my use of Word Perfect's "reveal codes" function was getting me ready for my early days of learning html, where I could separate the content of a page from the look of that page.

The more I learned about how to use different programs, the more I learned that a computer was capable of so much more. And, it made me capable of so much more.

The typewriter took away my potential, and my productivity.


Overcoming the Typewriter Paradigm


After computers became a little more common in my office, and everyone had one that could use Excel, and Word, and Access, I was asked to help format some labels in an old Dbase III program. The labels were going to be attached to a memo asking around 500 contractors if they wanted to use their social security number, or their firm's EIN number on the the 1099 form they would be getting for performing services as a contractor. The form would be printed, photocopied 500 or so times, and the labels would be stuck on to personalize them.

The letters would then be placed in envelopes, with addresses typed on them, and mailed out to those folks. My coworkers were having a hard time getting the old Dbase III program to format the labels correctly. So, they asked for my help. After calculating that their method might take someone a week or so to prepare some ugly looking documents, I asked them if I could take over and do it my way. Unsurprisingly, I received no opposition.

I took the Dbase III database of names, addresses, firm names, social security numbers and EIN numbers, and imported it into Excel (about four minutes). I typed out a template of the original memo in word (about ten minutes). I checked to make sure that we had enough window envelopes (another four minutes). And then I used a mail merge, and printed out 500 or so sharp and stylish looking and professionally drafted, individually personalized letters (a very leisurely hour-and-a-half in which the printer did most of the work).

I noticed a few jaws drop when I came back in about two hours with a stack of documents ready to be folded, put in envelopes, and mailed out.

As you may guess, once a year, it was my job for the next five years to prepare those documents. I tried to teach some of the others during their spare time to use mail merge. They never had any spare time. Somehow, I often did. When I handed in a two week notice, there were some people lined up for crash courses in how to do a mail merge.

A post from Jim Horton, of Online Public Relations, takes a humorous look at Bitter Lessons learned in the ways a mail merge can go wrong. I've been there, Jim. But, I'd rather face those problems that have to type out all of those letters.


Sometimes the World View Changes Easy

I began this post, more than a couple words ago, with a story about a friend who was hiring a secretary. When I started to explain to him that he was making a mistake when he told me he wanted a secretary who was a fast typist, he wanted to know why.

I asked him how many words a minute I was typing when I exported 100 records from Quickbooks into an Excel spreadsheet, merged them with a mail merge into 100 invoices, and printed them out in about twenty minutes. His answer:

"Ok, I want a secretary smart enough not to have to type 80 words a minute."

What are the Top Ten Things People Need to Get Out of Your Web Site?

An interesting question in a page from the University of Texas at Austin on Developing Usability Test Documents:

What are the top ten things that visitors need to get from your web site?

That's a good question. I'm going to ramble about what I think those are. I've come up with four general areas where those top ten could come from, after reading that question. I think they are a good start, but I'm going to have to think about this more.

1. Contact Information

I would have to place contact information on that list. I'm not sure I would call it number one, but if the site is an ecommerce site, I like having at least four different types of contact information on a page: email, phone, fax, and mailing address.

Even if people don't use them, just having them there makes people feel confident that there is a real organization behind the pages.

2. A Unique Identity

Chances are that your site isn't the only one that occupies the niche it is in. What makes it different from the others? What do you tell people about yourself, and your business? Why are you different from all of the others?

Seems to me that some of the things that make up a unique identity could fill up a "top ten" list.

3. Promises

There are a lot of promises you make when your run a web site.

You may not even be aware that you are making them, but you are. If someone orders something, you promise to ship them what they've ordered in a reasonable amount of time. If they trust you with personally identifiable information, you may be making a promise in a privacy policy that you will be responsible with that information.

Many of the promises a merchant makes are about things that both the merchant and the purchaser take for granted. For instance, your butcher doesn't have to tell you that the meat he or she is selling to you is fresh. The news reporter promises to follow some set of ethical and editorial guidelines. Those promises are taken for granted, that is, until they are broken.

How would you articulate the promises you make to your customers, and how important are they?

4. The Ability to Make an Informed Decision

Most people are going to be making comparisons between sites, and looking at what they can get offline. If you are going to offer services online, or offer products, give people the information that they need to know that they are making a good choice. Your best customers can often be your present customers.

Let people know they are making an informed decision. Make them feel comfortable and confident, and welcome. And when they come back, welcome them back.

What is the most important information a potential customer should know about what goods or services you have to offer, and how are you telling them about it?


How would you describe the top ten things people need to get from your web site?

When you Need an Extra Hand: Consider Internships

There are a lot of positive things to be said for finding ways to automate processes around your office, and streamlining some of the more mundane tasks that you face. But, those can take time and energy to set up. And there are tasks that just need to be done by hand. Jobs that aren't necessarily complex, and don't need a considerable amount of experience or knowledge to do.

Sometimes, taking the time to make sure that these tasks are done, and are done right can take you away from the work that you enjoy doing, and that helps bring the money in.

Where would you find someone who might be able to lend a hand for a few hours a week, and tackle some of these tasks with energy and vigor?

Living, and working in a college town, it's difficult to miss all of the college students around. It was for us. If you are fortunate to have a University, or a business school near where you work, you may have an answer to the problem of needing an extra hand for a few hours a week. It was a solution that we found not only helpful, but filled with some benefits that surprised us a little.

Interns come in many shapes and sizes, and with different levels of experience and expertise. And students who would be willing to take a position as an intern are usually thankful for the opportunity. It's a chance for them to get some experience, put something on their resume, and earn a few dollars in a position that may just be flexible enough to fit around their class schedule.

What would you do to find some of these potential interns? Many schools and universities have placement offices for their students. Some of these are even online. Make a list of the Schools near you, and open up your phonebook, or even your browser, and see if you can locate the placement offices for those schools. Chances are, you should be able to.

If you are really fortunate, one or more of those schools will have a database that you can use to post about an internship opportunity online. Treat finding an intern like you would hiring any employee. Ask for a resume, schedule interviews, ask questions, and be selective. Chances are that you will get a number of responses to an ad if you offer flexible hours, decent pay, and a pleasant working environment, filled with tasks that might make a student's resume look better to potential employers when they graduate.

Some of the benefits that you might get from hiring an intern include the chance to work with people with skills that may surprise you a little. A computer science student might just be able to help you automate some tasks around the office that you don't have the time to do yourself. An english major may be able to skillfully proofread important documents, and even help write some manuals and process documents that make your office more productive. A business or marketing student may bring some ideas to your business that you hadn't considered before.

Another possibility is that today's intern may be the best full time employee your office has after they graduate. And, if you have a very small office, the chance to work with an intern may give you some experience managing and supervising people that you didn't have before.

Tags: business interns

A Lot of Beef about a Lot of Beef

A fifteen pound hamburger.

Has to be a publicity stunt. I saw this on TV not too long ago. They showed one of these whoppers (am I allowed to refer to it with that word?) being cooked. It's a lot of beef.

MSNBC couldn't resist the bait: Burger war grows with new 15 pounder.

For some reason, the thought of a fifteen pound hamburger has me considering a diet.

Jeeves Disconnects Advertising Partner: Will Overture Follow Suit?

Bambi Francisco has filed an update on Adware and Spyware, and the potential fallout of a suit filed by New York State's Attorney General.

She received some interesting comments, and some interesting news, and writes about it in Net Sense: Intermix is just the start

I wrote about the lawsuit and Ben Edelman's Research on Spyware, and his second in a series which showed an application from an Ask Jeeves property installing software on a computer without the computer owner's knowledge or consent. It seems like the Ask Jeeve's folks hadn't seen it, at least until Bambi Francisco showed it to them.

After she played one of Ben Edelman's video clips for a spokesperson from Ask Jeeves, action appears to have been taken quickly:

Staples came back and said that Ask Jeeves did in fact find fault with this particular distribution partner. "We just turned off that partner," she said, adding, "I don't think this is a widespread issue because of the preventive steps we've taken." That said, "this is an imperfect industry... We need to rely on consumer feedback to identify these outlying issues."

There may be some other issues that Jeeves wants to take a closer look at, according to Bambi Francisco's article. She also quotes a New York Deputy Attorney who mentions that Overture was involved in some of the advertising that defendant Intermix is under attack for.

"We're not ruling out in the future going after advertisers, or Overture," said Brookman. Yahoo's Overture accounted for some 10% of Intermix's revenue, said Brookman.

There is quite a lot of money involved in these types of ads, and quite a few folks involved in using this type of advertising. But, if it were to go away tomorrow, there would still be a need to advertise, and there would still be people seeking to advertise. Fine and good. If they can stop having software installed on people's computers without their knowledge and consent, it's a step in the right direction.

Tags: Jeeves spyware

Abandoned Products Pages

Why do people abandon ecommerce sites?

That's one of the questions posed in a thread a Cre8asite Forums in the "Measuring Your Success" forum, where I'm an administrator.

The thread, Scary Exit Rates! starts to address those issues. Here's part of a post I made over there:

When someone walks into a grocery store, chances are good that most of the times they will walk out after having purchased something. The same is true with a convenience store.

Conversion rates for online stores tend to be lower, because of a number of factors:

• It's much easier to go somewhere else.


• You can bookmark the page, and look elsewhere to make comparisons.


• You can gather information about a product and buy offline.


• You need more information before you purchase.


• The site doesn't show a privacy policy, shipping policy, or feel secure.


• The design of the site puts you off.


• You have a hard time comparing similar products on the site.


• The ordering process is confusing.


• The site just isn't persuasive or engaging.


• The pictures displayed aren't showing the product off well, or from enough angles.


• The right information isn't on the right part of the page.


• It's difficult to find the products you want because the site search doesn't work well.


• It's difficult to find what you want because the site navigation doesn't instill confidence in you that you will find exactly what you want.


• You may prefer to call and place an order.


• You could be making comparisons between different options for your money, considering different possible ways to spend it, and are just window shopping.


• Many other reasons.

Why would you leave an online store before finishing a purchase? For more of the discussion, or to participate, visit the forums.

Spyware: Lawsuits, Falling Stock Prices, and a Taxonomy of Spyware Installation Methods

I've been asked by a lot of people to help them fix their computers.

The things just don't run like they used to when they were new. Popup advertisements just appear out of nowhere. Sometimes so many popups that people can't even use their computers. The hours that I've wasted clearing away some of this garbage I'll never see a dollar for. I don't mind helping friend's who can't get rid of this stuff themselves. They didn't ask for this stuff to appear on their computers, and were tricked into installing it in most cases.

But there are other people who did know that my friends wouldn't want those advertisements, and that software. And when it comes to those CEOs and Presidents and Vice Presidents of companies, and marketing directors and other decision makers, I'm not upset about the potential hit that their companies might take on their stock prices if there is successful lawsuit against them for the placement of unwanted software on people's computers in less than transparent ways.

Searchviews has an article on the State of New York suit against Intermix Media, SearchViews: The Ripple Effect of the Eliot Spitzer Suit, and some of the potential collaterial impact upon a successful legal action. In addition to their thoughtful post, they point out a post on The Internet Stock Blog which considers how that case may impact other internet stocks - The Internet Danger List: stocks at risk from Spitzer's attack on Adware.

The attack on the illegal disemination of spyware and adware may not end with Eliot Spitzer's suit against Intermix Media (ticker: MIX). This report outlines why and provides a tentative list of other Internet stocks at risk.

According to that report, companies that could be impacted include Ask Jeeves, Findwhat, Yahoo!, Valueclick, Expedia, Netflix, Travelocity, and more.

Though I do want to clarify something. The risk isn't from Eliot Spitzer's lawsuit. The risk is from engaging in a means of advertising that is questionable to begin with, is unwanted by most of its recipients, and is potentially the target of litigation from anyone. When the business decision was made to manufacture or distribute software that people probably wouldn't install on their computers if they knew what it did, that's where the risk attached. A company that uses this type of advertising has to already know that they are also potentially a target.

Ben Edelman, who has been involved as an expert witness on the subject of spyware in a few legal cases, has started a series on his site about Spyware Installation Methods. Typical of his research on a number of other subjects, so far what he has produced is extremely thorough and thought provoking. His taxonomy of installation methods brings back some memories of the frustration I've faced at trying to clean up people's computers.

It's great to see someone with his knowledge and ability bringing some sunlight to the shady practices that these companies are employing.

Kudos to him, and to Eliot Spitzer.

Justice Doing Research on the Intarweb: An Impeachable Offense?

I'm trying to figure out if Tom Delay thinks that he is right, and the hero of his own little universe, or just terribly misguided: DeLay Slams Supreme Court Justice

Absolutely. We've got Justice Kennedy writing decisions based upon international law, not the Constitution of the United States? That's just outrageous," DeLay told Fox News Radio. "And not only that, but he said in session that he does his own research on the Internet? That is just incredibly outrageous.

Yep. Outrageous. I'll skip the international law versus constitutional law debate right now, but it's worth getting into. I really only have time for the other statement at this moment.

There are quite a few tools on the web that enable one to do research there fast and easily, including Lexis/Nexis. Frankly, I would be dismayed to find that a Supreme Court Justice didn't do research online.

And a little more upset over a Senator who appears to not understand the value that the web brings us.

The USA are Online Losers

An eye-opening article from Thomas Bleha at Foreign Affairs, Down to the Wire, tells of the steps that countries like Japan and South Korea have taken to bring high speed internet access to the citizens of their countries, and the missteps that the USA has taken.

Thanks to the government's competitive framework, the speed of the DSL service offered also rose dramatically, from 8 megabits per second in 2001 to 12, 26, and 40 megabits today. (The typical U.S. broadband connection, whether DSL or cable, is still only 1.5 megabits per second or slower.) Meanwhile, the price of monthly subscriptions remained stable, even for 26-megabit access speeds, at about $22 per month -- by far the lowest price in the world.

You might want to send a link for this article to your congressman. I want to send one to mine.

News Online is News Developing a Business Model?

I used to watch the news on TV when I was little.

I used to read two newspapers a day when I was in high school, and even into college.

I tried to make time for at least one newspaper a day after college, and mostly succeeeded.

I get a lot more of my news on the web these days, and I read papers from around the world. I'm better informed, and I read local papers that aren't local to me, instead of papers that are written for national or international consumption.

The Associated Press announced a couple of days ago that they are going to start charging news sources for their online content starting January 1st of next year.

Most of the 15,000 news outlets that buy AP's news, sports, business and entertainment coverage have been allowed to "re-purpose" the same material online at no extra cost since 1995. At that time, graphical Web browsers were just beginning to transform the Internet from an esoteric computer network to a mass medium.

It's difficult to tell what impact that may have on the cost of news online. Will news sites change the way they operate based upon this development? One thing I do know is that I don't see a lot of advertising directed at me when I visit Cincinnati papers to follow Reds stories.

As a long time fan, and East Coast dweller, I feel the chance to read those is wonderful. If they tried to sell me Reds hats or jerseys, I'd probably buy some. Yet I suspect that type of targeted advertising probably won't be the solution they attempt to adopt.

Will more and more newspapers shift to subscription based models? I hope not. If that's the answer they come up with, they may be missing out on some great opportunities.

A rocket in your garage

There's always some wise guy, who in a conversation about the future, refuses to admit that it will live up to expectations until we all have flying cars.

That will be the day.

Imagine the mess trying to keep track of all the traffic. Where would you take off from? Where would you land? Whose house would you damage if you made a mistake with all of those complicated navigational devices?

Picture flying along, and all of a sudden, you have a mechanical failure. You can't just pull over to the side. Chances are you are going to fall like a comet.

Or will you? Maybe the future isn't so far away. Maybe that wise guy was right.

CBS is reporting on a new technology that would make it much safer for people to navigate the airways in their own personal flying machines. Called Highways in the Sky, it would simplify cockpits tremendously, and make the navigational decisions for flyers. Possibly millions of flyers. Imagine being able to go 400 miles an hour, straight as the, er, car, flies.

A Case Against Standards: Take a Pill

Standard Ways of Design?

At work the other day, someone I work with complained about a web site where every external link created a new browser window. She wanted to know why.

My answer was that the site owner lacked confidence, and was afraid that once people clicked on a link to go to a new site, they wouldn't come back.

Someone else in the office stated that doing that was a design standard, and a lot of sites did it.

Am I wrong? Is that just the way things are done? Are am I right, and that's just the way things are done?

I remember putting together a couple of sites where I had all of the links on the site leading outside of the site launching new browser windows. My concern was that people would indeed leave and not be able to find their way back.

The more I thought about it, and the more I added content to the sites, to make them the types of places that people might come back to, the more it bothered me that those links might mean someone wouldn't return if I changed them so that they didn't open in new windows.

Taking a Risk

But I decided to go for it anyway. I also didn't like doing something that might get people upset - taking control of their browser.

There were a couple of links that opened to new pages where a refresh effectively broke the back button, so that people couldn't return. I wrote next to those links "opens in new window" and had those continue to open new browser windows.

The others, I changed. And then I started watching stats. I tried to get an idea of how many people stayed, and how many people left.

Seems I was worried over nothing. People did return to those pages. There was no drop off in visits, and people seemed to stick around.

Standards outside the Web

I do see a lot of discussions on standards around the web. Mostly those are aimed at getting web browsers and html editing programs using valid html and Cascading Style Sheets.

I mostly agree with the discussions I see there, though I do wonder that if browser manufacturers and the makers of those editing programs also don't try some new things out, that we might be stuck with some limited functionality in web design.

After all, the horse and buggy was once the standard for transportation. Automobiles have increased the distance people can travel, and have opened up opportunities that would never have come along if we were limited to only going so far as to not exhaust our horses. (Ok, I'm stretching things a little with that example.)

Take a Pill

All my ranting in this post is leading somewhere. There are other things in our everyday lives that have remained the same for years and years. And, on the surface, they seem to fill the purpose they hold very well.

Yet this article, from the New York Metro takes a close look at a redesign of the prescription pill bottle: The Perfect Prescription
How the pill bottle was remade: sensibly and beautifully. It includes a lot of good ideas. And the great part is that pills will be rolling out in these new bottles.

I am all for standards. That is, until something better comes along.

UK Catalog Sales Overtaken by Internet Orders

A study in the UK is reporting that more people are now ordering online than through mail order catalogs.

I sort of see that as good news, though it's not as optimistic for businesses as it might appear. While there has been growth on the web, there's been a larger dropoff of purchases from mail order.

Home shopping retailers must admit that the days of the big book are over and that the great hope of the home shopping industry is, or should be, the internet. The trouble with the mail order industry at the moment is that it tends to see the internet as a threat, where it should be seen as an opportunity.

There is something nice about having one of those big books of products in hand, and being able to leaf through the pages, and look at the different products. I used to love to do that with the old Edmonds Scientific catalogs, especially. The Whole Earth Review was a quirky, and interesting way to see offerings from a number of people.

Seems to me that there's room for both, and that using them together is a good approach for many businesses that are enjoying sales online.

Due Diligence for Small Business

Nice article from the Delaware Business Blog: Keep your Small Business Healthy by Improving Due Diligence.

Small businesses need to pay attention to all of the potential legal pitfalls that may face their businesses. The devil is in the details, and the details can be many. Especially make sure that you keep careful track of compliance with all of the small things that come up on a regular basis, such as quarterly estimated taxes, having a business license, etc.

If possible, define processes ahead of time to make these things easy to do. Talk to an accountant whom can help you plan ahead to make what could be chaotic into a matter of just following some simple steps and guidelines.

It's good to see the launch of the Delaware Business Blog. Welcome to the world of Business Blogging, Russell.

Microsoft Reinvents the Teddy Bear

Microsoft unveiled a new tool to aid in the parenting process - a Teddy bear that you can spy upon your toddler with.

Somewhere in a corporate boardroom, someone thought this was a good idea.

I'm going to assume that the people bringing this invention into the world, which allows for remote monitoring via a camera, and the sending and receiving of messages via microphones and speakers and a network connection, thought that this could help parents be in two places at the same time.

The bear was shown at a two day technology conference, as an attempt to show off the creativity of the corporate giant.

What Would Your Home Page Say?

Kim Krause asks the question, "what would your home page say if it could talk," and she gets an answer -- User Experience Web Design and Search Engines

Dear web site visitor.

I can't tell you how glad I am that you found my website. You have no idea the great lengths we?ve gone to get you here, let alone what we're about to do to keep you here...

A word of warning to web site owners, you might see a little of your web page in the answer.

Who is Your Audience: Using Personas to Focus Your Writing

I spent last week in New York City at a convention for internet marketers. It was an interesting experience, and I brought a lot of ideas away from it.

One of them involved the use of personas in developing the concept of a site. I've looked at these hypothetical audience members and what they might mean to the development of a site before. But, during a discussion on "Converting Visitors to Buyers," it struck me that personas could be just as useful for people who write sites that are purely informational in nature.

And that they might be useful for people who contribute to blogs.

So I poked around the web a little earlier tonight, and came across an excellent article on using personas to help writers of sites that focus upon providing news and stories and data and opinions to people. This one, Personas: Setting the Stage for Building Usable Information Sites, from Alison J. Head (with Kim Goodwin) described something close to what I was looking for.

On the drive home tonight, through purely unscientific means, I decided that four personas would probably be a good match for this site.

One would be fresh out of high school, possibly male, filled with the uncertain future of trying to face fending for himself, and possibly trying to start his own business - someday.

A second would be in the last year of college, looking at internships, graduate school, or other possibilities available to her, while at the same time trying to figure out how to pay back student loans.

A third would be a stay-at-home mother, trying to start an internet based business, learning about all of the things that one needs to know along the way, while caring for children, and being somewhat limited in what she can or can't do.

The fourth would be someone who had a successful career, and for one reason or another, left it and is trying to make it as a contractor or consultant. He's been divorced a couple of times, and also has some interests outside of work competing for his time and ability to focus solely upon his new chosen profession.

I'm going to attempt to flesh out these personas over the next few days and weeks, and link to them from the sidebar.

Once I've completed that task, I will attempt to focus my writings here to those four, and see if those fictional characters can benefit from what I write.

It might help knowing who it is that I'm writing for, when I publish these posts. Will it make a difference not focusing upon a general audience, but rather specific people with their own personalities and interests? It's worth trying.

Start Playing and Start Learning

What role will game playing have in the future of our education?

Possibly a large one.

That's a conclusion raised in Games that make leaders: top researchers on the rise of play in business and education, from the Wisconsin Technology Network.

A friend was talking about how the Army had distributed a game, for free, that seemed to be catching on with a lot of young users. So, this quote from the article wasn't that much of a surprise:

One of the biggest users of games as training tools is the U.S. Army, which released the free tactical game America's Army to boost its recruitment and has worked with commercial game companies on a variety of other titles.

One of the words I've been seeing lately in education and usability is "engageability." It is easier to teach someone when they are interested and actively engaged.

Seems that classrooms may have something to learn from a gaming industry that earns ore in sales these days than box office sales from Hollywood.

Have Passion in What You Do

I've been enjoying the posts over at Creating Passionate Users

For instance, a story about Creating Passionate Fans was a great illustration of the power of treating every moment as unique and interesting, and every chance to interact with someone an opportunity to make a lasting impression.

The right attitude can make all the difference.

A World of Music

Could the record industry in the US learn something about electronic distribution of music from the success that it seems to be bringing to singers and songs from other countries?

Interesting article here: Downloading Opens Doors to World Music

Songs that might never had a chance to have been heard on radio years ago, are finding listeners in the United States. Audiences are finding performers who wouldn't mind expanding their fan base.

And I, for one, am happy to hear it.

His Blog Cost Him His Job; His Blog Found Him a New One

Your blog can cost you your job.

OK, you've probably heard some stories about a blogger who was let go from a place of emploment, for things said or shown on their blogs.

Joe Gordon, the author of the The Woolamaloo Gazette experienced that first hand.

There has been more than one tale circulating across the internet of how someone has been fired, harassed, or reprimanded for blogging about work. boing boing came up with a list about a month ago of companies who "fired, threatened, disciplined, fined or not hired people because of their blog."

Here are some of the blogs that cost people their jobs, and posts that talk about the experience.:

Diary of a Flight Attendant: Queen of Sky Story Summary

eclecticism: Fifteen Minutes of Fame

Ninetininezeros: the official story, straight from the source

Dooce: Collecting Unemployment

The Sarcastic Journalist: Freedom of Speech

Troutgirl: Shitcanned

I just came across a list, which includes many of those bloggers above, and others who where fired for their blogs: Update 1: List of Fired Bloggers

In Joe Gordon's case, the experience seems to have had a Happy ending. Comic book chain Forbidden Planet has hired him. Because of his blog...

Yahoo! Talks Spelling

An amusing look at the troubles with building a spell check feature into a search engine: Yahoo! Search blog: How's Your Speling?

Better Banking Means More than Orange: It Means Better Relationships and Better Communities

Katherine Stone shares some excellent ideas about The Banking Experience at Decent Marketing.

Her thoughts concerning ING's approach to retail banking are also thoughtful and interesting.

A commentor pointed to a Fast Company article on ING, and I found myself smiling. Would You Like a Mortgage With Your Mocha? describes the corporate headquarters of ING pretty well.

Instead of building its own office tower, it has chosen to invest in reinvigorating the area around Wilmington's run-down train station. This summer, part of the company will move into a renovated Pennsylvania Railroad building wedged between the train station and the Christina River. ING Direct has been working with the city to connect its new building to the station by closing a street and erecting a glass atrium full of shops, restaurants, and an ING Direct Café. The company is also advocating a redo of the train station itself.

The article is from a couple of years ago, and the headquarters has been built.

I used to walk past their buildings at least once a week or so, to get to a riverfront produce market (and lunch area), before I left Wilmington a month ago. I'm not an ING customer, but I love this company for what they've done to make this small section of town a bright vibrant place.

Take an area that's run down, and needs a little tender-loving-care and personal attention. Build on the strengths of that area, and find the human side of the relationship and strive to make it better. Show the bright and optimistic side of things.

That's what they did to the section of Wilmington, Delaware, that they entered. And it sounds like that's what they are trying to do to banking, too.

What Do You Do on An Elevator?

I really enjoyed Dirk Knemeyer's post on The Elevator Experience.

I recently left a job where I did have to ride on elevators everyday, where I had to sit in rush hour traffic, and where I paid for parking.

Now I work in a small town which is busier on weekends than it is during the working week. I'm not sure if there are any buildings in town that have an elevator. parking is free, and there seems to always be a spot to park in near work.

I've been hit with a bit of culture shock over the change. But I'm enjoying it. The little differences are magnified as I'm getting used to the change.

I suspect that I'm not alone. It's getting easier to work with others located around the globe without having to do it from a metropolis.

Don't miss those elevator rides, either.

Google May Appeal French Trademark Decision: Trademarks and Online Advertising

Where does trademark law fit in the age of the internet, and online advertising?

That's a question being asked in courts not only in the United States, but also in places like France and Germany.

While Google prevailed in a trademark case in Germany, they haven't been as successful in French courts.

A recent loss in France over the use of trademarks in Google advertising has the search company considering appealing the trademark decision.

I'm not sure how successful such an appeal would be, but it seems like something that the search engine giant needs to pursue.

The high court in central Paris awarded the damages in a decision late Friday and ordered Google to stop displaying advertisements for Vuitton's rivals whenever Internet users typed Vuitton's name or other trademarks into the search engine.

So, what is the status of the use of trademarks in targeted advertising through a program like Google's? I know that it's almost impossible to police the web for all trademarks registered on a mix of international, federal, and state levels. It has to be even more difficult to know which words might be trademarks by the exercise of common law, without registration anywhere.

Should it make a difference if a company possessing a trademark contacts a Search Engine that has been enabling someone to bid on that company's trademark, and asks them to stop?

Is the bidding on competitor's trademarks the type of thing that can cause consumer confusion, or dilute the trademark, or both?

Interestingly, the French ruling seems to have been followed on all of the Google sites, not just the French version. Searches on the main Google page no longer show advertisments for the trademark that had been targeted by advertisers of Google's ad program.

For other French cases that have been brought against Google's adwords program on trademark grounds, see:

Le Google France Blames the Americans

AXA Challenges Google's Business Model

Google loses trademark dispute in France

In American Courts, there are also at least a couple of pending cases against Google by trademark holders who don't want their trademarks used as targeted terms for advertising by the search engine. There was a recent ruling in a case brought by the insurance company Geico, which Google seems to have one.

But, that ruling was in one district court in the United States, and it's possible that a judge in another district could come up with a different ruling. I haven't heard much about the litigation between Google and American Blind, but that doesn't mean that the parties involved aren't watching the legal actions in France carefully.

One of the points raised in the latest French case, by the judge ruling over the matter was interesting. The court stressed that since Google's keyword suggestion tool was what offered the trademarked term to the advertisers, Google may have to revamp its suggestion tool.

Here's one of the items raised in another litigant's case, from the complaint in rescuecom's trademark suit against Google:

The so-called "Sponsored Links" do not always clearly identify themselves as advertisements, and Google's layout of the ads does not conspicuously identify them as such. This is particularly true of the Sponsored Links which appear at the top of the Search Results. These ads at the top of the Search Results are designed by Google to look like part of the "non-sponsored" Search Results, and by virtue of the fact that they appear at the top of the list of Search Results, Internet Users may infer that they are the most relevant websites on the Search Results page.

Is this the type of thing that makes a difference?

Maybe even more importantly, the rescuecom complaint also raises an issue involving Google's suggestion tool, and its suggestion that the trademarked name be used as a target of advertising:

Upon information and belief, defendant Google has used an online program called a "Keyword Suggestion Tool" to suggest to one or more of Rescuecom Corporation's competitors that they should use the Rescuecom trademark as a Keyword for their advertising. Google's suggestion is designed to make such competitors' advertising more successful, and therefore more profitable for Google, by intercepting and diverting customers and potential customers of Rescuecom Corporation to others.

I'm not sure that was an issue that was raised in the Google versus Geico matter. This seems to have made a difference to a French judge. Will it have the same impact upon an American one?

Now that the Butler has a Blog...

I'm going to have to make a list of all of the official search engine and directory blogs.

It's just too important in this age of Internet search and marketing to keep in touch with what the search engines are doing not to keep on eye on what they share in their blogs.

The newest is the Ask Jeeves Blog.

Welcome to the blogosphere, Jeeves.

Elusive Creativity

Dave Shea describes his methods for Getting Unstuck. The one about throwing a whole bunch of ideas upon a canvas is one I find works really well for me.

Speaking of creativity, there's a nice article on Asterisk titled Thinking Differently About Site Mapping and Navigation. As noted there, often a web site's home page isn't the first page that most visitors to a site experience. Usually, a search engine will deposit them in the middle of a site.

Having given more than a couple of powerpoint presentations, it's nice to learn that I've been missing out on one feature that can make using the program much more enjoyable. Michale Hyatt recently had a post on how he discovered the use of powerpoint's PowerPoint's Presenter's View. After reading it, I have an overwhelming desire to create a powerpoint presentation.

Cutting Through's Ten Ways to Use Blogs for Managing Projects pulls together some great ways to use a blog as a business tool. I'll agree that it is a pretty useful tool for teams. Blogger started as a project management tool for Pyra Lab's back in the early pre-Google days. Funny how their project management blogging tool ended up being their crowning achievement. I think there's a message regarding creativity in there somewhere.

Kathy Sierra is probably right. Sometimes being creative is only a matter of knowing when to articulate a difficult problem to a Rubber Duck. Being forced to explain a diffucult problem in simple words, outloud, can bring a solution with it. Seems a teddy bear might work just as well.

Someone at Metafilter recently pointed to a technical manual from NASA published in 1964, Clarity in Technical Writing (pdf), as a source of some good common sense writing about writing. There's some nice writing in those pages, and some very good ideas. I don't remember being so pleasantly surprised by a government document since I came across the SEC's A Plain English Handbook: How to Create Clear SEC Disclosure Documents. Like the NASA document, there are lots of common sense suggestions in those pages that have value beyond the writing of a disclosure statement.

Short Bits

Some good tips from the Christian Science Monitor: Seven steps to financial fitness. Common sense steps, yes, but a little common sense never hurt anyone.

An area that the web hasn't quite gotten to yet, but it's good to see someone thinking about it, is Web Design for All the Senses. Lots of other interesting ideas from Dirk Knemeyer here.

One thing I would like to see more of in 2005, is site owners getting a firmer grasp on how they can more tightly integrate User and Business Goals

I recently tested Microsoft's Beta Spyware program, and uninstalled it after a couple of days. A nice writeup of some of the reasons why can be found here: Free Microsoft Program To Battle Spyware Has Some Serious Flaws

I'm going to have to sit down over the next couple of days and try to figure out if I want to add Technorati Tags to this blog. They are another neat-looking feature that probably won't get incorporated into blogger. I'd be happy with trackback and categories. If anyone has the ear of someone at Google, please pass it along.

Speaking of Google, there's an article from Peter Norvig at Always On, titled Semantic Web Ontologies: What Works and What Doesn't. Peter Norvig is the Director of Search Quality at Google.

Growth Where There Shouldn't Be: Revel in the Unexpected

I really enjoyed Kirsten Osolind's post about an observation she made while visiting some clients, and noticing that some decorated branches left over from their Christmas celebrations had begun to bud, and show new life.

See: RE: Forcing Branches

If's funny that we can find such inspiration in such unlikely places, but we can. And the moments where we might feel drained of creativity, and uninspired, are times when creativity sometimes finds us - at least if we keep our eyes open.

Never shop on an Empty Stomach

I don't like going to the grocery store when it's crowded.

I discovered, during my college days, the joy of strolling through the supermarket in the later evening hours, and it's a habit that I'm not sure I want to break.

Sure, there's no one manning the Deli counter. And the salad bar has long been put out to rest for the day. If you catch it just right, there's a nice mist in the vegetable center, and the only dodging you have to do is around pallets used to restock shelves. Some of the necessities have been stripped clean from the shelves, and the baked goods are traveling on the downside from their morning freshness.

Usually, finding a parking place near the front doors isn't a challenge, but locating more than one cashier might be. It's a little easier to see the business behind the business when you walk through the tinned goods at night. When you skip an aisle because it's just been washed and waxed, you're reminded that a lot of people trample down those lanes everyday, and those footpaths get pretty messy.

Maybe it's the mess that I like. When I read an article like They have ways of making you spend, I'm reminded of the rough-hewn nature of my grocery at night, and the magic of the market doesn't seem as enchanting.

Though I do try to eat a snack before I drive to the store.

(via the BusinessPundit)

What changes would you make for 2005?

I purposefully didn't list a set of resolutions for 2005.

I think this year, I'm going to follow Jennifer Rice's suggestion in her blog post from a couple of days (and a year) ago, in her post, Let's be the change we want to see:

It's important to take a look at the relationships in your life, and to see how you can strengthen them. Make more time for family and friends if you haven't. Look up some people you haven't talked to in a while, and say hello. See if there's some way that you can reach out to your local community, and make a difference by being interested and involved. As Jennifer wrote:

If each of us chooses to take ownership of our small section of the vast social fabric that ties us all together -- to tighten it up and halt the unravelling, not just with technology but with our own authentic goodness -- our society can be irrevocably changed for the better.

That's a change that I think I'd like to see a lot of people adopt.

Selling Your Boss

Ever had one of those eureka moments, where all of the planets align, you can tell north from south absolutely without a compass, the stock market and racing track and health insurance forms all make complete sense, and Einstein's General theory of Relativity falls into place?

Or at least a new business idea makes such perfect sense to you that you wonder why you haven't been doing it all along. But you then face having to sell your company, or at least your boss on the idea.

I've been there, and it can be a tricky business.

Michael Hyatt, at Working Smart has a great set of guidelines on how to try to do just that. It's nice to see a well defined strategy for communicating new ideas like the one put together under the title: How to Sell Your Boss.

On the troubles with pricing

I recently had to get a certified copy of my birth certificate.

I was talking with my sister on the phone last night, and found out that she also needed to get a copy of her birth certificate, a couple of weeks back.

She drove an hour away, spent 2 hours waiting, and returned home with proof that she was born when and where she claimed. I spent fifteen minutes downloading a form, filling it out, and faxing it to the same office. Then fifteen minutes driving to the local Fed Ex office to pick my copy up the next night. I paid about $20.00 more. It was worth it.

It had me thinking a little about what we are willing to spend for goods and services, and what we consider value for our money and time.

An excellent post over at Joel on Software also considers those topics, but in the area of pricing software. See Camels and Rubber Duckies for an amusing way to look at how one might price software.

Take my advice, offered about 20 pages back: charge $0.05 for your software. Unless it does bug tracking, in which case the correct price is $30,000,000. Thank you for your time, and I apologize for leaving you even less able to price software than you were when you started reading this.

I'm not sure I agree with his conclusion, which I've quoted above. His essay is a thoughtful exploration of factors that one might consider in setting a price.

Not so Nasty Businesses

I really liked the list of companies that Johnnie Moore put together recently.

They are Brands... with a conscience?

Nice to see that there are companies which strive to set a good example, and act as responsible social entities.

I'm going to have to look for some more Not so Nasty Businesses in 2005. It sort of gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling to see some.

How do you measure success?

An article in the New Yorker about doctors, and the treatment of Cystic fibrosis is one of the best essays I've read in quite a while.

The Bell Curve looks at how doctors from two different hospitals treat the disease, and how they interact with their patients.

It also looks at how they learn from their efforts, and how they apply what they have learned.

(via Design Observer)

Welcome to the working blog

There's possibly some good to blogging about your work, and there's potentially some bad to it also: Looming pitfalls of work blogs

The companion BBC article involves a police office and an emergency medical technician, who explain why they blog about their jobs.

Business Blogs Interview

For 2005, I'm going to predict that many more businesses will adopt blogs in an effort to start conversations with their customers.

A lot of design firms, and online marketers have made that move, as have software manufacturers and search engines.

John S. Rhodes has a nice interview with Matthew Oliphant on the subject at Oristus: Blogs, Business and Some Usability.

Here are some reasons why I think that blogging might spread to more mainstream businesses:

• Content management tools that bloggers are using make publishing to the web much easier than having to create the html for new pages.


• People who have been testing the waters with personal sites may see the benefit of using blogs in their businesses


• Blogs allow businesses to bring timely news to their customers, and to share their views and reactions to changes in an industry

Is the world ready for more business blogs?

Reputation Management in Froogle's New Shopping Lists and Ratings

Google has added the ability to make and share a Froogle shopping list, and to rate sites found through Froogle.

It sounds a little like the ability to comment upon, and rate books, at Amazon.com. But the scope appears much larger - the commercial web as a whole. Or at least the commercial web as seen through Froogle.

It's an interesting approach for Google, which is branching out from its roots as a way to search the web.

Though, looking closely at those roots may show something else.

At a Presentation by Google's Larry Page last February, he had this to say about the intentions behind building Google:

"It wasn't that we intended to build a search engine. We built a ranking system to deal with annotations. We wanted to annotate the web--build a system so that after you'd viewed a page you could click and see what smart comments other people had about it. But how do you decide who gets to annotate Yahoo? We needed to figure out how to choose which annotations people should look at, which meant that we needed to figure out which other sites contained comments we should classify as authoritative. Hence PageRank.

"Only later did we realize that PageRank was much more useful for search than for annotation..."

Annotating the web. It's something that people blogging do. When Google purchased Blogger, a lot of people with blogs started pointing at how the acquisition would help Google to track and follow what bloggers felt was important on the web.

Maybe Google is using that information, and maybe they aren't. But the Froogle effort appears a lot more transparent, and seems like an approach to not only see what people think of a site, but also make it easy for others to share those comments. Is this reputation managment?

It's kind of interesting to slip back 6 years, and look at an old Jakob Nielsen article on Reputation Management. I don't know if we will ever arrive at the type of reputation management that he writes about, but I sort of feel that we might be a little closer if the Froogle rating system catches on:

The simplest reputation manager would compute the average rating for each information source, but more advanced services would use ideas from collaborative filtering and compute different ratings for different users. Basically, the reputation manager would find other users whose tastes are very similar to your own and give added weight to these users' ratings. Since the Web will have half a billion users in five years, it will always be possible to find other users who match your interests, no matter how obscure they are. Thus, the reputation manager can deal differently with people who love the Spice Girls and people who don't.

How popular will Froogle's rating system become? It's difficult to tell at this point, but if the popularity of Amazon's system is any sign, it might catch on in a big way.

If you have a commercial web site that sells products, you might want to spend a little time on Froogle's page for Froogle Merchants - Frequently Asked Questions, and spend the time to put together a Froogle Feed.

Academic Business Literature Search

As a fan of academic research, the Google Scholar program was great news.

There are lots of other search engines online for educational resources. For instance, SMEALSearch, which yielded some excellent results for a couple of searches I performed.

(Via searchenginewatch)

Google for Scholars

Information junkie that I am, the new Google Scholar is a dangerous thing.

Cite Seer has been keeping me up to my eyebrows in whitepapers. Adding the Google service on top of it will likely bury me in information.

Though, the first interesting looking paper that I located through Google Scholar was on Cite Seer. :)

Slogging Through Process Management

I've spent quite a lot of time over the past month looking through an extensive system of process managment and software certification developed by the Software Engineering Institute (SEI), a program hosted By Carnegie Mellon University, and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Defense.

Their Capability Maturity Model® Integration (CMMI) came up at a presentation I attended, and I wanted to find out more. I didn't suspect that there was so much, that I would fall into it, and almost completely disappear.

After trying to read a few thousand pages on the subject carefully, I'm to the point where I'm asking myself if I've learned anything. I probably have, but I think that it's going to take a while to digest. As least as long as I've taken so far. One aspect that I found pretty interesting was their application of their methodology to Commercial Off the Shelf software systems.

I'm also trying to understand how this type of process management could be useful to small and medium sized businesses, and businesses that aren't necessarily involved in the development of software. Many of the basic concepts are, such as reviewing processes, building upon them, and getting feedback from people not directly involved in projects.

A brief introduction (pdf) to the CMMI system gives a good overview, and this statement:

Studies have shown that companies that invest 5% to 10% of their operating costs into process improvement typically experience a return on investment of 100% the first year and upwards of 400% after 3 to 5 years. These returns on investments are based on reductions in the number of defects, faster time to market, improvements in estimation capabilities and better project control resulting in fewer schedule and cost overruns.

An article about the adoption of CMMI in India also provides some insight into its perceived value.

A presentation from the SEI back in March on the application of the CMMI system to small businesses gives some of the arguments for the adoption of the system by small to medium sized businesses, which they roughly define to be between 25 and 250 employees. It appears that they are looking into the feasibility of defining more of their processes in a manner in which these smaller businesses can take advantage of this type of process management.

I don't know if CMMI can be of benefit to organizations smaller than that. But some of the underlying ideas can be.

Fun with Logos

Enjoyed this quite a lot: The Man Behind the FedEx Logo

I like the look of the Kmart and Sears logos, which are prominently displayed at the top of a Wharton article on a merger between the two companies. I'm not sure I can see them combining together into a strong brand - a little like the difficulty of pulling the companies together. (Yes, logos aren't brands. But it makes a nice metaphor in this instance.)

The Tivo Logo is fun. Tivo users may see lots of logos, as a new way of getting viewers to watch ads is revealed.

An article on Pantone, the color people, reveals how important color may be to a brand.

A Wiki in the Office

A comment from Wilson Ng of Reflections of a Business-Driven Life, about using a PDA to save ideas for blog posts, had me considering how other tools could be used around the office.

The word "Wiki" came up in a discussion today, and the thought of using a Wiki to share ideas across the office got some positive responses. If you aren't familiar with the word, and with the tool, then you've missed an interesting looking application.

The online Wikipedia has been in the news recently, citing as a useful tool for research. It's also been receiving some criticism as a questionable source of information.

It's not the tool itself that is at the heart of the controversy, but rather the open nature of its use in that wiki-based encyclopedia. Anyone can come along and edit an entry - and even bad information can make its way into the site.

An LLRX.com article from this past summer highlights some of the potential uses of the application. See: Enter the World of the "Wiki"

A wiki is fairly easy to use, and could allow people in a small or medium sized office to share information in a meaningful manner. I think it could effectively provide an opportunity to reduce interoffice emails, memos, and meetings to share knowledge.

I visited a site that allows folks to try out demo versions of different open source software (opensourceCMS.com), and tried out a wiki. The one I tested tonight was Media Wiki. There are a few others there, and I'm going to try those out, too.

Once I find a wiki that I like, I think that an inter-office blog might be the next step.

Thank you, Wilson. Your suggestion provided a catalyst, pulling together some other ideas in my mind for how to better manage some office communications.

Inspirational Writing about Writing

It's not always easy for me to write something here everyday. I had a nice post for last night most of the way written - in my head. Getting it on a page is another matter.

I should try harder. Sometimes life interrupts.

Regular updates are one of the things that Mark Bernstein points to in the excellent 10 Tips on Writing the Living Web. He notes that even fifteen minutes a day can add up to quite a few words over the course of a year.

His article has been around for a couple of years now, and I've seen it fuel more than one argument. Some of the points made seem to rub some people the wrong way.

But, I find it inspirational. The same is true of Rebecca Blood's essay weblogs: a history and perspective. Rebecca's words were one of the forces that started me blogging.

So I'm going to try to add some shorter posts on a daily basis, to go with some of the longer ones that I seem to be fond of lately.


And I'm going to try to write something everyday, even if I only have 15 minutes to do it.

The Misunderstood Lure of Page Rank

Google PageRank is one of the very classic credibility and authority indicators on the Web and also one of the most trusted and reliable ones.

Robin Good, from PACmeter - Popularity, Authority, Credibility Online: How To Measure Them

There are some very nice links in Robin Good's article, but he makes a mistake when he starts attributing credibility to page rank. I understand how people would possibly misunderstand, but I want to seriously caution anyone who thinks that they should use the measure of page rank on a Google toolbar as a measure of expertise or trustworthiness.


Page Rank, named after its inventor, Larry Page, is a method of calculating a value based upon the number of links to a URL, and the "popularity" of the pages linked from. It's a mathematical formula, and a patented method used to help the search engine determine which pages to return when someone performs a search for a site.

Here's how Google describes Page Rank:

PageRank relies on the uniquely democratic nature of the web by using its vast link structure as an indicator of an individual page's value. In essence, Google interprets a link from page A to page B as a vote, by page A, for page B. But, Google looks at more than the sheer volume of votes, or links a page receives; it also analyzes the page that casts the vote. Votes cast by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages "important."

Rage Rank is one of around 100 or so different attributes that Google uses when it determines the order of listings that it returns when someone tries to find information using the search engines.

It is based upon the number of links to a site, but the intentions behind the links aren't considered. Those links could be purchased text advertisements. They could be from comment spam in blogs, and guest books, and wikis. They could be criticism, and their popularity is actually infamy.

Unfortunately, one of the failings of page rank is that the best page on a specific subject may exist on the web with few or no links to it, and because of that, the page won't come up on Google's search results for that subject.

A recent and excellent paper that looks at this problem with page rank is worth reading: Filthy Linking Rich And Getting Richer!, by Mike Grehan. The problem with page rank, according to Mike Grehan:

But this is also the creator of a very worrisome problem which affects new web pages with low linkage data, regardless of the quality of those pages. Quality and relevance are sometimes at odds with each other. And the ecology of the web may be suffering because of the way search engines are biased towards a page's popularity more than its quality. In short, "currently popular" pages are repeatedly being returned at the top of the results at the major search engines.

Page rank is a measure of popularity, and the amount of page rank that shows on the Google toolbar is an indication of that popularity. But it's not a measure of credibility, and never has been. And sites with lower page ranks may be of better quality, and of higher credibility than pages with higher page ranks.

To use page rank as a substitute for much better ways of determining credibility is a mistake. It's alluring to think that such a shortcut exists, but it doesn't.

Robin Good also points towards the Alexa toolbar as another measure of credibility. Again, it's a questionable assumption. The Alexa results are like an unscientific poll where the people being polled select themselves. The numbers Alexa uses are supposed to indicate the amount of traffic to web sites based upon the travels of people with Alexa toolbars installed on their browsers. I understand that a number of web sites in South Korea are pretty popular according to Alexa. I also understand that a lot of people in South Korea use the Alexa toolbar.

I think that my analogy of Alexa being like an internet poll where the participants aren't selected by the polling body is accurate. There's a nice set of questions, from the National Council on Public Polls, that you should ask and that a journalist should be aware of before trusting the credibility of a poll. These are 20 Questions A Journalist Should Ask About Poll Results. Here's a snippet from the analysis under the question that asks, "How were these people chosen":

The key reason that some polls reflect public opinion accurately and other polls are unscientific junk is how people were chosen to be interviewed. In scientific polls, the pollster uses a specific statistical method for picking respondents. In unscientific polls, the person picks himself to participate.

It's tempting to try to find a shortcut to determine the credibility of a web site. A toolbar is no substitute for an intelligent and informed decision.

Attitude in the Making

When I was in Boston a few weeks back, I couldn't resist the temptation to stop in at least one used books store.

I entered into Commonwealth Books on Boylston Street, which overlooks Boston Commons. They had a tremendous selection of dusty old volumes. If you're a book lover, it's a great place to stop.

I ended up getting a rather new book - Abstracting Craft; The Practiced Digital Hand - about the transformation of computers from tools to help create artwork to a medium for art itself. What I found fascinating about it was the concepts it describes on how people interact with computers.

My reading list is shrinking, and it's moving its way towards the top. So, I can't provide any type of review of the book right now. But, I wanted to share the introductory quote from the book, which I thought was a good one:

The true workman must put his individualized intelligence and enthusiasm into the goods which he fashions. He must have a natural attitude for his work so strong that no education can force him away from his special bent. He must be allowed to think of what he is doing, and to vary his work as the circumstances of it vary, and his own moods. He must forever be stirring to make the piece at which he is at work better than the last. He must refuse at anybody's bidding to turn out -- I won't say a bad -- but even an indifferent piece of work, whatever the public wants, or thinks it wants.

-- William Morris

A friend, on writing advice to another, on the difficulties of starting out in business noted that attitude was one of the most important elements of success. The type of attitude that Morris writes about above. A confidence, a faith in yourself that no matter what obstacles, or what shortcomings may face you, that you continue to move forward.

When I wrote about the value of mistakes a couple of days ago, one of the things I took for granted in the writing was that most people get up from a fall, brush themselves off, and begin again. But a lot of people don't.

The attitude to fashion something better than you've made before is related to the attitude to rise above problems, and your own mistakes.

How do you develop that attitude? Like most things. One step at a time.

The Value of Making Mistakes

Chances are, as a business owner, you're going to make a mistake or two.

It happens, and you may not even know that you've committed some type of blunder. But, upon reflection, you may realize that you could have done something differently.

It pays to review upon your business activities on a regular basis - to set aside some time to refine processes, or consider how you interact with clients. Learning from your mistakes, and learning how to not make the same mistake again is part of a successful business strategy.

I was looking through some old books at a neighborhood antique shop and found an old volume on Benjamin Franklin. I've been working on putting together some pages on my personal site about Dr. Franklin, so I purchased it. As I was leafing through the book, I came across a story by the good doctor that I thought might be worth sharing here. It's a story that he wrote for his nephew, titled The Whistle

When I was a child of seven years old, my friends, on a holiday, filled my pocket with coppers. I went directly to a shop where they sold toys for children; and being charmed with the sound of a whistle, that I met by the way in the hands of another boy, I voluntarily offered and gave all my money for one.

I then came home, and went whistling all over the house, much pleased with my whistle, but disturbing all the family. My brothers, and sisters, and cousins, understanding the bargain I had made, told me I had given four times as much for it as it was worth; put me in mind what good things I might have bought with the rest of the money; and laughed at me so much for my folly, that I cried with vexation; and the reflection gave me more chagrin than the whistle gave me pleasure.

This, however, was afterwards of use to me, the impression continuing on my mind; so that often, when I was tempted to buy some unnecessary thing, I said to myself, Don't give too much for the whistle; and I saved my money.

As I grew up, came into the world, and observed the actions of men, I thought I met with many, very many, who gave too much for the whistle.

When I saw any one too ambitious of court favor, sacrificing his time in attendance on levees, his repose, his liberty, his virtue, and perhaps his friends, to attain it, I have said to myself, This man gives too much for his whistle.

When I saw another fond of popularity, constantly employing himself in political bustles, neglecting his own affairs, and ruining them by that neglect, He pays, indeed, said I, too much for his whistle.

If I knew a miser, who gave up every kind of comfortable living, all the pleasure of doing good to others, all the esteem of his fellow-citizens, and the joys of benevolent friendship, for the sake of accumulating wealth, Poor man, said I, you do indeed pay too much for your whistle.

When I met with a man of pleasure, sacrificing every laudable improvement of the mind, or of his fortune, to mere corporeal sensations, and ruining his health in their pursuit, Mistaken man, said I, you are providing pain for yourself, instead of pleasure; you give too much for your whistle.

If I see one fond of of fine clothes, fine furniture, fine equipages, all above his fortune, for which he contracts debts, and ends his career in a prison, Alas! says I, he has paid dear, very dear, for his whistle.

When I see a beautiful sweet-tempered girl married to an illnatured brute of a husband, What a pity it is, say I, that she should pay so much for a whistle!

In short, I conceive that great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by the false estimates they have made of the value of things, and by their giving too much for their whistles.

The cost of that whistle was much higher than it should have been, but the value in understanding the mistake made was priceless.

I'm also a believer that it's possible to learn from the mistakes of others, and I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the words of Benjamin Franklin. His words to his nephew provide a lesson to all of us if we want to take it.

There is value in understanding when you make a mistake, or in considering the mistakes of others, when you learn from them, and can take steps to avoid them.

How do you do that?

• Understand that the potential exists for making a mistake, and consider setting up processes in your undertakings that help you avoid mistakes.



• Take notes when you make business decisions, explaining the reasons for those decisions, and review them on a regular basis.



• Write those notes in a manner that is easy for you to do, and in a way that is easy to review.



• Make sure that your communications with your customers includes noting whatever criticisms they might have, and solicit their feedback to see what they liked and disliked about your services or products.



• When you finish a project, make a list of lessons learned - understand the reasons for your successes and your failures, and figure out how to build upon the successes, and how to avoid the failures.



• If you work as part of a team, work together to come up with that list of reasons for success or failure, and enable each other to build a future of more effective cooperation.

The value of making a mistake is in what you do after you realize you've made one, and in learning to take proactive steps to avoid making more.

Of Search Engines and Usability

Friend, mentor, co-conspirator Kim Krause has a new article out on web site usability that describes the impact of designing a site with your visitors in mind.

It's called Do Not Drop Your Web Site Off the Search Engine Cliff. If you own a commercial web site, it's a good introduction on how to look through a usability perspective to help your efforts to get your site noticed.

How Much Information Should You Provide to Your Web Site's Customers?

When someone arrives at your web site, how much information do they see about your business, your industry, and your services?

If you provide marketing or consulting services, how much do you share of the "why to do something" instead of just the "how?"

One of the topics covered in the interview I recently participated in involved the topics of expertise and trustworthiness.

I'm of the opinion that sharing information can not only help customers make reasonable decisions based upon being fully informed, but also allows enables them to gauge how trustworthy you are, and how much expertise you possess.

My friend and Co-moderator at Cre8asite Forums, Barry Welford, has a post in response to the interview, and to the notion of sharing information on a services based web site.

I especially agree with him on this point:

If an Internet marketing consultant is good, he or she will tell you the tough stuff that your own employees may not have the guts to comment on.

Of course, when they are faced with a similar situation in the future, they aren't going to need your services to help them solve it. They now understand how and why they should on their own. But when something new comes along, there's a good chance that your phone number or email address is the first one they will pick out when deciding that they need help.

If you enable your clients to make informed decisions, they will come back to you when they need to make more.

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I also want to add a shoutout and thanks to the folks at Cre8site Forums who gave me such a positive response to the interview. Thank you all.

Questions and Answers with Lip-Sticking's Yvonne Divita

I recently had the honor and pleasure of being interviewed by Yvonne Divita as part of her Smart Man Online series. The exchange was published today.

She asked some pretty insightful questions, and made me work hard to come up with some answers that would live up to the standards of her daily posts. The topics included online credibility, usability, blogging tools, online shopping, taglines, and privacy policies.

I really enjoy the perspective she brings to topics, and spending some time at her Lip Sticking makes me think about business, and marketing, in ways that I otherwise might not have.

As Yvonne often says at the end of her posts, "What's not to like about that?"

The Blog in the China Shop?

Somehow I missed the long, four part paper Blogging the Market, published last January on Internet Changes Everything.

I've only had a chance to skim through the four pages of the article, but it seemed filled with some interesting ideas, and worth sharing. And so I have.

Here's a small peek at the abstract that kicks the whole thing off:

Within the boundaries of the firm though, the implementation of weblogs takes a whole new dimension to realising that weblogs are more than the sum of its parts: more than vibrant public forums and frequently updated streams-of-consciousness, alternative forms of publishing and online outbursts of gonzo journalism, and personal diaries. They are the embodiment of online self-organising social systems, are essentially characterised by management decentralisation and ultimately threaten to destabilise current organisational structures and re-invent the scope of management.

It's long. I saw pieces of prose that I think I agree with, and parts of arguments that I wasn't so sure about. But it looks like it might be worth scribbing some notes on as I work through. Maybe more on this one when I have a couple of hours to spend on it.