The merge is half complete.
All Recommendedwebtools.com blog post have been moved to this website.
Next up, moving page content.
The recommendedwebtools.com domain is soon to be up for sale. I will post when the final details are complete.
Archive | General RSS feed for this section
RWT is now on Facebook
Long, long resisted doing this. But finally found a way to do this that I am comfortable with. So without further ado, RWT is now on Facebook!
Flyer Computer Resources is now on Facebook
After much consternation dealing with Facebook setup procedures (basically integrating this blog with Facebook, eventually used the WPBook plugin), Flyer Computer Resources is now on Facebook!
Like me please!
Website Redesign Using Pagelines PlatformPro
In an effort to energize this site for 2011, I have updated the design using Pagelines PlatformPro.
Please bear with me as I adjust things throughout the week, but all content should be viewable. I will be talking about PlatformPro more in the weeks to come. Thank you to everyone who visits RWT!
Why Choose Flyer Computer Resources
If you are an individual blogger, small website owner, small business owner, or run a small non-profit, Flyer Computer Resources offers services catered to your size of business. We understand that employing a marketing firm to develop your website could cost you tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is completely out of the reach of small website owners. We hope to fill the gap by providing reasonable website services that enable you to make your website soar!
Core principles:
- Listen – You are the customer. Whether it is a new website, seo analysis or developing a web analytics program, we make sure to listen to your needs first.
- Respect – We will respect you and your website. We know that you site is important to you. Our goal is to help you make your site soar!
- Commitment – Once on a project, we are committed to the task. Given the scope and requirements of each project, we will ensure we see it through to the end
For website development we work exclusively with WordPress. By using WordPress we can save time and thus save our clients money.
If you hire us for SEO Analysis we understand it is one thing to develop a website and quite another to optimize it for your business. Our analysis will help you make better optimization decisions.
Most businesses do absolutely nothing with their web analytics data. We can help you develop a web analytics plan that will enable you to make sense of all those numbers.
Two Cool Online Shopping Sites that pay you back!
Via the ever helpful frugal tips website Frugalouis!
Here are two very helpful online shopping sites that pay you cash back!
I often shy away from these kinds of sites. I find them too gimicky or too “what the heck am I getting myself into now” or “what will I have to sacrifice my left arm for” or “what are they REALLY trying to sell me”. However, I find these two websites rather straight forward and based on Frugalouis’ post above, she actually DID get money back! Woohoo!
The two sites: Ebates and ShopatHome
The concept for both is simple: use their website as the initial entry into any of their featured partners and do your shopping online as normal. Partners typically offer excellent coupons as well (best I have seen in ages actually). One site I found was offering 15% off, plus free shipping, plus 5% cash back to my ShopAtHome account. Pretty cool!
I know this post has absolutely nothing to do with web development. But hey, everyone needs a good deal every now and then and I thought these were worth mentioning!
Facebook, Strippers, Voyeurs and Privacy
I have never personally nor professionally had an account on Facebook. But to further clarify, I do participate in other kinds of social networks. There are two aspects of Facebook (or any social network) that disturb me. The first is people’s behavior and the second is privacy.
When I am asked “why?” by my colleagues and friends, I respond with a simple metaphor: “I am neither a stripper nor a voyeur.” To which, people either laugh or give me a look. So I explain.
Strippers are those individuals who bare their all on Facebook. They share the who, what and where of their daily lives and personal identity in detail. They are willing to share it with most people; essentially whomever is willing to read their profile.
Voyeurs are those who actually digest all the stripper has to offer. They consume the date without any real personal interaction. They like to read, watch and remain anonymous even though they are technically “a friend”.
Let me give an example to illustrate. About a year and a half ago, my wife ran into an acquaintance of hers at a local store. I will call the acquaintance, Ann. In the midst of their discussion, which included the typical “how are you’s” and “what’s new”, the conversation turned to a mutual acquaintance named Shirley. Shirley lived about a block or two away from us, around the corner. We were not close to her family but would occasionally interact. Ann went on to describe some of the difficulties Shirley was having during her pregnancy. On top of which, Shirley’s house sold a month before she was due and actually, they moved the very week she gave birth. Ann went on and on about the stress of that week, everything Ann’s husband had to do and organize (which also included caring for two other children!). Quite the story! Most of which my wife was not aware of.
My wife asked Ann when she had talked with Shirley. To which Ann replied that she had not actually talked to Shirley but had just read her Facebook page.
In this example, Shirley is the stripper and Ann is the voyeur.
Now, I am not going to blame Facebook for the behavior of strippers and voyeurs. But it is fascinating that people have let themselves fulfill these roles. My concern for the strippers and voyeurs is two-fold. First, that the sharing of intimate life details has become non-intimate. Second, I questioned whether these two individuals were really and truly “friends”.
So all along I have had a concern with how people tend to behave on social networks, which is why they have never appealed to me. But again this is not really Facebook’s fault.
However, when I think about the story above and consider how Facebook has changed their privacy policy over the years, the details Shirley intended for friends could now easily be shared to a larger community. Unless Shirley was on the top of her game, her life would have been unwittingly shared with many.
Fast Company posted a fascinating infographic the other day: Privacy on Facebook is Vanishing. The author’s commentary on the infographic: “But it does show that Facebook has transformed itself in the last five years from a service were privacy was an opt-out feature, to one where privacy is opt-in. As any behavioral economist will tell you, that single difference can massively affect the choices people make. Facebook might easily claim, “Hey! You can change things as you wish!” But in fact, they’ve created a massive shift in the privacy settings of Facebook as a whole. ”
A Fast Company post today displays how complicated privacy settings have become on Facebook.
I will stop short of telling people to get off of Facebook. Rather, I encourage them to 1) be careful and 2) to investigate alternatives that are privacy minded and allow total personal control. (Simple email comes to mind here).
Updated Domain Name Tool Recommendations
I have updated my section on recommended domain name tools.
I still have a little clean up to do but everything is up to date and current.
I will be working on a series of posts concerning domain name coming soon.
Is your domain name registrar a licensed registrar?
When choosing a domain name registrar you want to make sure they are a legitimate business and authorized to register domain names.
ICANN publishes a list of all their accredited domain name registrars. ICANN accredits these registrars to register names with the following Top Level Domains: .aero, .biz, .cat, .com, .coop, .info, .jobs, .mobi, .museum, .name, .net, .org, .pro, .travel.
If you have never heard of a domain name registrar before, it pays to visit this list to make sure they are accredited. If they are not, then do not register your name with them. Non-accredited companies are either a scam or are naively thinking they are registering domains when they cannot.
A lot of domain name registrars typically have DBA (Doing Business As) names. If you can’t find your registrar on the list under there common name, try to find out the name of their parent company. Typically it is the name of this parent company that is listed.
Who Controls Domain Names
There are several layers involved in the control and ownership of domain names.
The topmost level is ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.
From their own site:
ICANN is responsible for the global coordination of the Internet’s system of unique identifiers. These include domain names (like .org, .museum and country codes like .UK), as well as the addresses used in a variety of Internet protocols. Computers use these identifiers to reach each other over the Internet. Careful management of these resources is vital to the Internet’s operation, so ICANN’s global stakeholders meet regularly to develop policies that ensure the Internet’s ongoing security and stability.
ICANN is essentially responsible for the DNS (Domain Name System). The Domain Name System’s job is to resolve domain names to IP addresses. For more information how the DNS works visit How the DNS Runs.
While they do not have any control over domain name registration, the ISOC (Internet Society) is the organization that oversees the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). This task force oversees Internet standards. Any work in the future to further develop the Internet and its protocols will have an affect on domain names as well. So if you want to really pay attention to efforts in this area, you should pay attention to all three organizations.
For more information on the practicalities of choosing, registering and managing domain names, download my Domain Name Handbook.
What’s the next social media?
As I think about Web 2.0 and the social organization surrounding key websites, I am wondering what will become the next social media.
We have social bookmarking, social photos, social music, social books, social video and social news. What could be next?
What about television?
Some may point to YouTube to answer this question. YouTube is amateur submitted video. I am talking about interactive Television.
With gaming consoles becoming mini-super computers, it isn’t too far-fetched to imagine keyboards hooked up to those consoles. Those consoles would not only allow users to play games but interact with their favorite TV programs. Yes, users can interact ABOUT their favorite TV programs online on the Net, but they either have to be using a computer either after the program is finished or be using a laptop while viewing their TV. I am talking about a console, a TV and a keyboard. No personal computer.
Most modern gaming consoles already are Internet capable. All TV networks need to do is hook into that capability. Blog about your favorite TV program right from your console without needing to power up the PC. Interact with other users as your favorite drama’s unfold. Or eventually, a Choose You Own Adventure TV program where you input what will happen next. Imagine Amazon Reader Comments but for Television programs.
And forget about Nielsen ratings. Interactive TV would provide instant polling data. No need to have users login to a website or fill out a flyer to be mailed.
Users could provide tons of metadata about their favorite programs on the fly. Sorta like Flickr where you can outline a portion of an image and leave a comment. Can you imagine doing this with movies? Immediately highlight flaws or oddities and have them immediately posted on that movie’s own website.
I am not crazy about television in general. I could just as well do without it. However, it seems odd to me that TV has not been on the cutting edge of this social media phenomenon. They really seem to be the last one’s to this party.
UPDATE 1-17-2007: While it doesn’t use a gaming console, Joost provides TV on the Internet with social interaction. Rate and comment on your favorite TV shows. Television is now on the social media map.
Time Magazines Person of the Year is You
I finally got the chance to read Time Magazine’s Person of the Year issue. If you are lucky, you can still find a paper copy on newsstands.
Essentially, the magazine covers social media on the web. The articles are definitely worth reading especially if you are new to the concepts of social media. For MSM coverage it is not bad, though I wished for a less Googlecentric/YouTube approach. A better history of social media can definitely be written.
Below are links to the Time articles with a short sentence describing each.
- Introduction – Overview of Web 2.0 and what makes it about YOU.
- Power to the People – Profiles of social media users.
- Your Web, Your Way – Graph depicting some of the major players in Web 2.0. Unfortunately, the graphic itself did not make it online, it is only available in the print edition.
- A Beast with a Billion Eyes – The role of video in our modern and internetfied age.
- The YouTube Gurus – Article about the founders of YouTube
- Web Boom 2.0 – How this Internet bubble is different from the bubble of the late 90′s early 2000′s/.
- My So-called Second Life – Extraneous article on virtual worlds. If anything, many will find it eye opening.
- Enough About You – Reflections on YOU by Brian Williams, anchor of NBC Nightly News
- Its All About Us – The role of the amateur
If you view the material online, there are several other articles that are not included in the print magazine.
Several of the blog posts that follow include my own commentary on the issues raised within these articles.
Zeldman’s Web 2.0 Thinking Game
Ok…I’ll Play!!!
Web 1.0: Content is King
Web 2.0: Content is King
Follow Us!