Headlines don't matter anymore!

With the adoption of RSS readers picking up steam, titles no longer matter. When you are a webmaster running a newspaper website, your job is to capture as many eyeballs as possible, so you need catchy headlines, and lots of them. With RSS, the people that want to read your stuff have subscribed to your feed, there is no longer a need to draw these people in, now your job is to provide the service(content) that the reader originally subscribed for. That means you need to display the whole article in your feed! We use RSS readers to minimize the number of websites we visit, if I wanted to recieve your headlines I'd sign up for your email newsletter. If you have to insert advertising into the feed to make some money, so be it, just don't try and lure me to your website when I subscribed to your feed so that I wouldn't have to visit your site as often!

Some things don't need any snide comments...

...click the photo to see why.

Back from Lake Chelan

We're back from Lake Chelan and our retreat at Wapato Point. What a great time, it felt so good to reconnect with old (and get to know new) friends. The weather was amazing and I can't think of a better place to spend a weekend.

This is the view from the beach near the house we rented, check out that water!

Weekend in Lake Chelan

I'm off for our annual retreat, this year to Lake Chelan rather than Port Townsend. It's supposed to be almost 80 on Saturday so I'm not to upset about the change in locale. As you can see from the webcam, things are looking ok!

Wedding Update

We are working hard on the "two month stuff" that should've been done a while ago. We got the proof of our wedding invitations yesterday. The printing is being done by a great printer down in Oregon, Dominick's Quick Print. They sent us some great proof's as well as a strip with some variations on the colors we picked, which was great as we ended up choosing a slightly different color tone for the green background. Below is a screenshot of our invites.




You can also check out our wedding site for some more info. I'm working on getting some more info up there today so check back often.

New Business Cards!

Well, Thanks to the recommendation of many friends Insurance Resource Group now has some great new business cards! Overnightprints.com did a great job, these people shipped our order the same day we uploaded the design!

Access to the wireless network

To "leonotebook" all you need to do is ask, maybe we'll let you on the wireless network. But stealing signal is really not cool!

Touching base with the family...

I just realized that I haven't done a great job of using this blog for what I originally started it for...a way to keep family & friends up-to-date with my current experiences. So here is a start: Tascha and I are still working hard on the wedding. Things are coming along great, we spent most of last Saturday getting our wedding bands ordered. Mine is a really great Titanium ring that we think will be the right mix of "trendiness and classic style" and Tascha's we are having custom made from a good friend's dad who owns a jewelery design business in Bellevue. We were a little worried about the cost and complexety of having her ring custom made but David was great and really took care to explain the process and cost as well as time restrictions in order to make us feel better. We left feeling great about the whole process (except for the part with Tascha having to leave her ring there, we trust them not to loose it but Tascha misses it on her finger!).

Tascha has been substitute teaching dance classes for some of her friends who are busy preparing for CDT this week. It's been good for her to get some hours as the Nanny thing has been a little slow lately. My work has been going well, as most of you know I closed a fairly substantial case last month and things are looking good for a couple more this month.

I hope everyone is having a great week!

Bubble 2.0?

Fred Wilson is talking about the bubble, not the last one...this one. Doing employee benefits for startups I can say this is something you just learn to live with. Many of the companies I am working with currently will be growing like crazy over the next couple of years. I think there is at least more scrutiny of the companies that are getting started. Read his post and let me know what you think.


Source: A VC: Bubble 2.0

This is sick

This from the party that says we should have less government interference in our lives (or deaths). I hate this crap.

Taking the leap

I have always dreamt of taking a year off to be a bike messenger, I don't know if it's the riding or the sex appeal of it that draws me but I would love to do it sometime. This person did just that, he quit a job as a code jockey in order to pursue being a curier. I am truly inspired!

A Coder in Courierland

How to strike back at junk mailers

I love stuff like this!

David Brooks does it again...

While politically we may not see eye-to-eye, his social commentary is spot on. Read this piece and pick up one of his books.

Online sources in research papers

There is a great post over on Fred Wilson's blog about his daughter running into some problems with using online sources for her papers. I love this part:

So The Gotham Gal told the school principal that she thought the "no Internet only bibliographies policy" was wrong. He came back with a very thoughtful response. He said the "instant gratification" (my words not his) of internet research was leading to "cut and paste" (again my words not his) reports and the reason he wants kids to use offline resources is that it forces them to take time and think and construct real reports.

Now that's a great point. He's right about that. I see it in Jessica's work to be honest. It's good, but it does feel a little manufactured.

I even saw that in some of my own work as using online sources became more acceptable at Seattle Pacific. I had to make a conscious effort to use offline materials in order to shore up the quality.


A VC: Internet Only Bibliography?

3%

So how come when Apple sells iPods to 3% of the population they change the landscape of popular culture and usher in a new era of music, but when a Gallup poll finds that only 3% of the population reads blogs it's used as evidence that the blogosphere is being "overhyped"?


Yahoo! News - Gallup Probes Blogs, Finds Most Americans Have Never Heard of Them

Sites about [not] spending money...

I stumbled across the above mentioned post this evening, and decided I would look into them and give everyone a quick link or two.

The first is FrugalGirl.

I like the conversational tone of the site, it really makes you feel like you're listening to a friendly discussion on spending, not the over the top "this is how to do it" approach.

Second is MyMoneyBlog.

This site is more oriented towards someone with a certain level of financial success (not one that is still stumbling out of school debt) that is looking to really make the commitment to take their saving and investing to the next level. In fact just looking over the first few posts I recognize many of the tips from my future (3 months and 7 days) mother-in-law.

Last we have Spending Wisely.

This seems to be the most philosophical of the group, with both some reflection and some tips. What struck a nerve with me is the post on the conflict between living simply and watching television. I think this is a great article that should be read by anyone who has a TV, it may seem like common sense but I encourage everyone to attempt all the tips listed at the bottom of the post.


I'm off to add the sites to my Bloglines account.

BusinessWeek about how much PC customer service sucks

This quick blurb on the BuinessWeek Tech Beat Blog talks about how messed up all the automated support is for PC companies.

I have been saying this to my clients (both insurance and tech) for awhile now and some of them are starting to figure it out. While I use a PC at work I really struggle to understand why more people don't use Apple products at home for their simplicity and ease of use. That said I think there is room in the marketplace for a PC company to use an Apple service approach. Gateway only failed because the service in their stores was as bad as calling their customer support line.

Tech Beat: Technology Blog on BusinessWeek Online

Paul Andrews: "Shortsighted Amazon blind to problems"

Paul Andrews has a pretty interesting article in the Seattle Times today about some concern over Amazon's customer service as well as the entire e-retail industry's service level. While I haven't used Amazon much I have never had a problem. Anyone out there want to share their stories, good or bad?

The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Shortsighted Amazon blind to problems

Press release about survey

Chris Busch: City Approves $10,000 for Frog Branding

From my area of the world comes this news: "Agency OKs up to $10,000 for frog branding". Growing up near Milton-Freewater (MF) I am amazed by the progress this city has made in the last 10 years. While Chris is correct that you should concentrate on the underlying experience before you spend on the branding, MF has done so over the last few years and it's time they raise awareness of the changes that have taken place.

NY Times discovers Podcasting

Watch out, the Times has discovered Podcasting, and of course assumes no one has ever heard of it before. I suppose it works well to introduce it to the masses.