Well, That Didn’t Work Out So Great
Ever have “one of those days?” Sure, all of us go through the occasional rough patch, but I swear there are times when I think Allah must really have it in for me. I mean, I know the “Big Guy” is supposed to have a sense of humor, but do I always have to be the punchline?
read more | digg story
Journalist’s release is welcome, but worrying
The piece is an interesting leader in today’s Telegraph. The most interesting thing is the comments below wondering, what many others have thought, that the kidnapping might be more than it seems. There was even a few that think there might be some colussion going in Gaza. And then there is the question of what this does for Hamas’ recognition.
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Tada! The 6th Gen contract-free WiFi-enabled iPod
“What did I discover? I found that your activated iPhone is a lot more flexible and powerful than AT&T and Apple admit. Pop out the SIM or put an inactive SIM and your iPhone works pretty much like a contract-free WiFi-enabled 6th Generation iPod.” Tested without SIM, with invalid SIM, with activated SIM from pay-as-you-go phone. WiFi & sync work
read more | digg story
Davey on Copywrite
David Cameron is trying to show how “with it” he is by backing the extension of copywrite to 70 from 50 years, Music Week is reporting. Of course, being Cameron there is a catch. He wants the music biz to look at what they are releasing.
Music helps encourage truancy, gun crime and misogyny, he suggested – arguing that the music business had a responsibility to help tackle the issue.
He seems to miss the point that the music business will only sell music of this type if people buy it. We all know how fast the music business will drop a genre if its not selling very well. Just ask the glam rockers of the 80s if you want the skinny on this.
I wonder if Davey Boy realises that extending the copywrite to 70 years only helps the big boys in the business and does little to foster new talent. Despite what record companies might say, extending copywrite, is the least of their concerns right now. But at least it makes a break from their constant whingeing about “downloading”.
Postscript: I would be amiss if I did not plug my music biz paper for the Economic Resource Council. The commissioning editor for the piece informed me recently that it was the most linked and downloaded paper they have ever released.
Hat tip: Julian.
Tim has written on the subject. Not surprisingly we agree on this initiative from Cameron. Oh, DK has weighed in on this latest idea from Cameron.
As you may or may not already be aware, members of the Watcher’s Council hold a vote every week on what they consider to be the most link-worthy pieces of writing around… per the Watcher’s instructions, I am submitting one of my own posts for consideration in the upcoming nominations process.
Here is the most recent winning council post, here is the most recent winning non-council post, here is the list of results for the latest vote, and here is the initial posting of all the nominees that were voted on.
Invest in property…
While I was in the US for the wedding and the various other elements round it I had quite a few chats with my British friends about investing and the current state of play. The subject of property came up several times, especially in light of the 2 to 1 strength of the pound versus the dollar. The UK market is at its peak right now and no sensible person should be buying their property at the top of the market. If could be argued that it might be to buy if you are paying rent as its always better to buy that to rent. In London prices will probably not be going down but other parts of the UK will see a fall in house prices as the interest rate rises are starting to bite. The market in the US is rather flat so there are some good deals to be had.
Many of my friends are thinking of buying an investment property in the US, some to stay in on holiday once or twice a year. They seem to prefer the East Coast as its easier to get there from London. Asheville real estate and Charlotte real estate would be an interesting to look for some of my chums. That part of the Eastern US coast is not as cold as New England or as packed as Florida. Friends interested investment would be good to compare mortgages before they get one for their investment in the US. It might interest my US readers to know that UK property programs are looking farther afield than just Florida these days.
UK Will Stand up to Terrorism (by Curbing Freedoms)
In the wake of the recent fumbled British car bombs, some have raised the possibility of resurrecting an old bill that would give UK police the power to detain anyone they like for 90 days without trial. This is the bill that saw Blair’s first-ever parliamentary defeat, and was eventually negotiated down to (only!) 28 days before it passed into law
read more | digg story
Good Thing He Isn’t Teaching Physics
An agriculture professor at the University of Melbourne, Snow Barlow, said the paper showed humans were taking up too much of an important natural resource.“Here we are, just one species on the earth, and we’re grabbing a quarter of the renewable resources—we’re probably being a bit greedy.”
So quit hoggin’ the ‘shine, lardass.
Comments are off for this postBlog marketing…
In my quest to make this blog pay for itself and give me a bit of pocket money I have been doing a great deal of research into internet marketing and how to get my name out there. It has helped quite a bit that this blog has been around for 6 years this December having been started in late 2001 after I did a short stint on Samizdata. I have found the best way to get hits and high page rank is to write interesting stuff and get people to link to you as often as possible.
Those just starting out and wanting to get to high traffic quickly can use tools like email marketing, which I would caution one to use sparingly lest you annoy your email correspondents. Once a week at the most is a good idea. Some people are go as far as to buy text links to maximise their incoming linkage. Frequently, I have companies offering me money for paid links. I don’t actually take any of them as normally they are for sites not appropriate for the readers of this blog. Generally what they offer is a derisory amount anyway.
One thing that can assure you lots of links is frequent participation in the myriad of “carnivals” kicking around the internet. They are a great source of hits and a good way of attracting new readers.
