I’d been hoping to bring this up in Gday World this week, but I never got the chance, because I’ve always seen the Microsoft Vista Laptop Bloggers scandal for what it is, aside from a marketing ploy, but a marketing ploy that had a focus..on hardware. The reason Microsoft sent out those laptops wasn’t alone to get publicity for Vista, but get get publicity for Vista based on the premium hardware requirements the OS demands for optimimum use…other wise they would have just sent out DVD’s with the OS on it for people to review. And now Dave Taylor agrees.
Archives For General
It wouldn’t be a proper new year for me without a new coat of paint on a blog I owned somewhere, and this year duncanriley.com gets the treatment.
Long since though has my drive and skill levels allowed me to be able to design something from scratch. I probably still could if I pushed myself, but my patience is such matters continues to decrease as I step ever so closer to a grave.
But alas, in the days of many, many fine WordPress templates being freely available, this year I’ve cheated.
After an exhaustive process of at least 1 hour, I settled upon Derek Punsalan’s October Special. It’s not perfect, but to Derek’s credit it’s well written code.
I looked at a number of other alternatives, but in the end it came down to this and Chris Pearsons’ Cutline. Cutline has a lot going for it, but vice versa I’m not the only person to know this as well, because Cutline is found on far, far too many blogs for me to consider using it, even as a code base for my final design.
There are still some bugs here as I write this post, a number of which I intend on tackling in the coming days. My only real dislike of the template is the divided bottom portion for comments and archived posts. The first thing I changed on the main page was the provision that only the latest post show in full. My problem here is that to make such a 1 post provision work, one requires to regularly post posts of a reasonable length, and unfortunately that’s not my style. However, the division of the sidebar into two portions then provides a split flow effect that is then dependent again on the length of the given post. It’s why as I write this there is far less in my sidebar than has previously been. I’d think the coding to correct this isn’t overly hard, but I’ll give a day to consider changing it.
Naturally, it wouldn’t be a blog with my name on it without some type of header. Implementation of the code to include it on the template wasn’t overly hard, although for a beginner it wouldn’t be the easiest of processes. Of course having a header meant creating a design, and that in itself can often be a long and drawn out process, indeed I spent hours in Google Images trying to think of something that might look good. After typing in Western Australia, I stumbled upon an old map of the State, dating from probably the 1920’s. The map itself didn’t catch my eye as much as the colours. The worn, some what washed look is something you don’t often see on blogs, nor the web for that matter, so what better choice that to use a portion of where I now live. Font choice was different again, because although I’d planned to keep the font choices of the previous layout, they didn’t work with the background, so eventually I found something that sort of fitted the 1920’s theme, not quiet art-deco in an artistic sense, but a font that none the less would perhaps be more suited to the period.
Hopefully though, I hope the new layout is more clean and reader friendly that my past efforts. Clutter is something that is a regular attribute of many blogs, but it doesn’t add anything to the readers experience. Feel free to lambaste the makeover should you feel the need, feedback is the root of future success.
Robert Scoble reports on his son’s issues with his MacBook. Without sounding condescending to Scoble, issues with Mac products are hardly new, indeed his mate Dave Winer has been highlighting similar issues for months.
If I were Apple I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢d take care of these problems better. You?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢re pissing off your best customers (and, up to yesterday, your most loyal)…Not a single email from an Apple employee. Is anyone from Apple listening? Does anyone care?
Well obviously no, at least those that count. And appealing to the MSM to cover the issues when many of the tech journalists are leading Mac users and advocates is a lost cause. Apple has always broken all the rules in what is does, particularly as history knows in its innovation and introduction of new product, but it’s always broken the rules on customer service and care as well. The bigger they get, the more dodgy their product becomes, and indeed point of production quality screening in their Chinese factories (which aren’t sweat shops apparently) has well and truly gone down the gurgler. Since “tipping point” has become a well used phrase amongst the A-List lately (Google, Blogs and others to name a few), the question then becomes is when is Apple’s Tipping Point? How many dodgy products and angry customers do they need to have until they either start fixing their problems or alternatively are justifiably crucified by the press? If these problems were repeated by any other company the press would be all over this, and the blogosphere as well, as indeed it was only fairly recently with Jeff Jarvis and Dell.
Did I just hear a whinning noise from a nearby iPod Nano Gen 2? Every dog has its day. Lets hope Apple will soon as well.
Maybe it’s just the new year/ silly season spike (comment spammers normally ramp up spam at this time of year because it’s less likely to get picked up as people are away) but it would appear more than ever that comment spam is getting even more out of control. I cleared approx 15,000 comment spam out of duncanriley.com yesterday, although I can’t remember the previous time I’d done so. Tonight there was 1700 new pieces of comment spam, thankfully caught by Akismet, but none the less had still managed to lodge themselves on my server, using both disk space and resources (memory and CPU). 1700 + in 24 hours, and this blog is by no means a major blog in terms of traffic nor presence. I respect and understand why people comment spam, but at some stage or another the marginal cost of comment spam has got to get to a point where some one, some where will try to take action against it. CanSpam extended to comment spam would be a start.
More good news on the games front for Nintendo. To quote:
There is no possible way to say this enough times: great graphics don’t make great games. Perfect Dark Zero looked like a Titian, but it was a snooze. Wii Sports?¢‚Ǩ‚Äùa mini-sports anthology that includes golf, boxing, tennis, baseball and bowling?¢‚Ǩ‚Äùlooks like Colecovision. The little guys on the screen don’t even have arms. But it’s hilarious, and it shows off the power of the motion-sensitive Wii controller to put you right in the game, sweating and yelling and trying crazy spins and lunges and angles. The tennis game alone is worth the price of admission. Which is nothing, since it comes free with the Wii.
Alas, as 2006 ends and 2007 begins this is my first time in making predictions for the year ahead which aren’t at The Blog Herald in 5 years. Whether next years predictions will be here or at another blog of higher note is yet to be decided.
In making my annual predictions for the year ahead, I do so with a note of melancholy, for indeed in the last two weeks the art of futurism has been reduced to a competition for profit at another site. I don’t disparage those who entered the competition, as I don’t (legally) disparage the person who held the competition, but for me predicting the year ahead has never been a glib post of the moment for potential profit exercise, but one that entails some reasonable research, notes over several months, and some serious thought. But in leading on such a note, the competition itself is actually reflective of the blogosphere ahead. You see, Gartner got it partially right. They were of course wrong in relation to applying their findings to the entire world, but they were right in terms of the English Speaking nations, and most likely Europe as well. Blogging in these countries has hit its peak. The year ahead sees a new marketplace.
The Mature Market
Students of marketing will immediately recognise that there are very different dynamics in a rapidly expanding marketplace, and one that is mature. The blogosphere in 2007, in Europe and the English Speaking Nations has hit that point. We have anecdotal evidence already. SixApart is pitching Vox at users who may have grown tired of blogging, both lapsed and existing bloggers on other services. AOL is said to be launching Blogsmith in an already saturated market. I of course use the phrase blogosphere collectively, but naturally amongst some of it’s more niche areas, video blogging, and perhaps podcasting to some extent, I still see growth to be had, but at several hundred million blogs there is little room now to further grow the blogging marketplace. I’d prefer not to use the word cut throat, because it’s a term more indicative of a pre Web 2.0 era, but expect to see more strident competition amongst blog providers, and blog networks as well.
Innovation
Apologies to those who have commented in the last couple of hours with no luck, the WP db bug has struck again, it might have been the 15,000 odd spam comments sitting on the install causing an issue, which have since been deleted. I received a number of notifications of comments that were simply blank, so it may have been you. Apologies again, and I’m watching closely.
It soon will be. Ask anyone who has ever owned a Falcon in Australia, including the BA, they’ll explain. I learnt after the EA, thankfully. 🙂
Back at the grindstone again after 2 weeks in Melbourne, during of which Melbourne, some would argue not surprisingly, experienced it’s coldest ever Christmas Day, some 15 degrees (celcius) and snow in the high country down to 900m (I’d note when I say 15 the wind chill factor was significantly colder again). Indeed for most of my time there (well at least it feels that way) it was cold. Silly me of course, leaving mid 30 degree days (it’s 36 outside as I write this at home) and no rain, I didn’t pack for it, so Christmas Eve consisted of a trip to Chadstone to purchase a jumper. There are of course many positives in Melbourne, if you are able to look past the weather. Shopping naturally is brilliant, although dare I say as someone who lives in Western Australia that anywhere outside of this state could be classed as brilliant, but it is indeed, public transport, world class food and entertainment, even if seating at Carols by Candlelight at the Myer Music Bowl at the remarkable sum of $100 per seat still caused me to be rained upon, and a brilliant road system. Certainly it’s not New York, although Chadstone on Boxing Day did remind me of the worlds greatest city.
Which takes me to an interesting observation, none the least inspired by my nearly half read holiday reading of Andrew Roberts’ A History of the English Speaking Peoples Since 1900. So far I’ve enjoyed every minute of the book as Roberts’, unlike many contemporary and since departed historians of the past 100 years does not subscribe to the defeatist, negative view of the rise of the English Speaking Peoples that is so often found amongst school teachers and academics, a view that often poisons generation after generation of student in relation to our past. But I digress, because I intend to provide a thorough review upon finishing the book. The observation made, in visiting Melbourne, New York, Sydney, The Gold Coast, Augusta, Perth or any of the other places I have visited in the last twelve months, is haven’t we really, really done well. Cast aside the prejudices of academia or the negatives that exist, and cast ones eyes over the great English speaking nations of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United States, the United Kingdom. Although often facing adversity, we are amongst the fortunate few, who have never seen dictatorship, mass murder, the loss of the rule of law. We have adopted and thrived, as many of the great empires, and their collective wills and ways have failed. I’ve often thought myself fortunate to be born in Australia, but I know that the same basis of laws, democracy and freedom comes from a common thread, one for which the English speaking world shares together. It’s not uncommon in Australia to here anti-Americanism, as no doubt that it is common in Canada, New Zealand and the UK, but alas we have far more in common than the do have in difference. Indeed, as history shows, it will only be in our division will our time and current strength on this planet wane and/or fade. Say what you will, but we have done well.
Food for thought.
I was all ready to give a glowing valedictory to 2006, until I read Skeletor’s summation of the year that was over at The Spin Starts Here. For those of you not inclined to click on the link, here are a couple of highlights:
The acquisition of YouTube by Google and News Ltd’s belated discovery of the internet made for the sort of heady days for the Nasdaq not seen since before the Techwreck. The real action, however, was the development of Web 2.0, the new form of highly interactive, personalised media and communications platform. But the Netiscenti were already discussing Web 3.0 and Web 4.0, with some speculating beyond that to Web 5.0 and higher; the whole thing reached an absurd climax in September when a Silicon Valley blogger posted his ideas on Web infinity.0, earning the criticisms “dickcheese”, “innumerate tard” and “this blog totally blows” from his regular commenters….
In July, Russian President Vladimir Putin committed his country to spend 1% of its GDP on outlandish assassination methods for dissidents and opponents of his increasingly authoritarian regime. ?¢‚Ǩ?ìThe West will not outdo our great nation in impractical and absurdly complicated ways of silencing enemies,?¢‚Ǩ¬ù Putin vowed. ?¢‚Ǩ?ìThey will all feel the sting of slow radioactive poisoning, the stench of the poison gas cell phone, the fury of the satellite-guided robot probe, the torture of the carefully-staged gardening accident.?¢‚Ǩ¬ù Russian sources say that officials will be consulting the collected works of Ian Fleming, the CIA?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s plots against Fidel Castro and old episodes of The Avengers for guidance….
Australians in the eastern half of the continent pulled out the winter woollies as temperatures plunged in four states in July. The Australian hailed the falling temperatures as clear proof that climate change was an enviro-nazi myth. Japanese diners, meanwhile, continued to conduct their in-depth scientific research into whales, focussing on the key issue of which sauces best accompanied whale meat, and the development of a new strain of “wagyu whale”.
Credit of course to The Spin Starts Here. Maybe this year we will unmask Caz 😉
