Disqus - Latest Comments for Martin

Re: What an awesome ad

Martin — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 19:53:09 -0000

Lovely find. Thanks for sharing.

Re: Not All Switzerland Speaks German, Dammit!

Martin — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 16:38:20 -0000

As someone born & raised in Germany, I can only confirm that Swiss-German is hard to understand. While living in England, I had a Swiss friend. Whenever I visited him, and heard his family talk Schweizerdütsch, I had the weird feeling, that I really ought to understand them, but I plainly didn't. (The same sort of thing happened to me in Holland.)

Re: Few Questions and Answers

Martin — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 16:25:11 -0000

I once read a smart paragraph by Berthold Brecht. it went something like this:

The question is not whether God exists or not, but whether you would change your behaviour. If you would, then you know that you need a god.

Ver smart, indeed.

Re: The Best Unknown Mac Apps - 2

Martin — Sat, 05 May 2007 05:29:56 -0000

Wow - I've never heard of Celtx before

Re: The Best Unknown Mac Apps - 3

Martin — Sat, 05 May 2007 05:33:31 -0000

Any plans for part 4 in this awesome series?

Re: Bounce Email Right within Apple Mail

Martin — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 19:21:58 -0000

I am not so sure if this helps against spam, as most sender-addresses seem to be fake these days.
As the bounce-function is only a fake, spammers could (at least in theory) find out that you really do exists, and that your e-mail not only works, but that you take the time to read spam mails. This makes your e-mail ever so more valuable to our friendly spammers.

For the time being I would jujst recommend using Mails anti-spam filter, checking occasionally that there are no false positives in there, and deleting the remaining spam mails with a quick push of the Delete button.

Re: Exclusive: iPhone Europe & Google Phone Non-Existent?

Martin — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:35:01 -0000

...Seems like T-mobile is winning?

Re: My blog is better than 99.86% of all other blogs!

Martin — Sun, 03 Sep 2006 17:02:50 -0000

...make that 68 links :o)

It is always difficult to quantitize success. Is "Jurassic Park" a better film than, say, "Syriana"?

Re: Why the movie industry is failing, the sequel

Martin — Mon, 04 Sep 2006 09:34:36 -0000

Do you know how Hollywood defines an Art Movie?

If it doesÂ´t make money, it is an Art Movie.

Seriously.

That said, I have to confess that, when my wife and I had a chance to see a movie together, we did indeed see the Pirates. And thourougly enjoyed it.

For me, Pirates is a fun, andventure film. It doesnÂ´t claim to be more. And as such a film I find it brilliant.

Re: Make your Web 2.0 Logo

Martin — Thu, 07 Sep 2006 18:04:33 -0000

That is one cool & funny page. They also have - in a similar design - a webclock. Beats any of the others I've seen (though I have never understood why anyone would post a clock on their website...)

Re: Cartoonists on the Web

Martin — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 17:07:37 -0000

(http://www.corporatecartooning.com/)

I am not sure as to what is sadder:

a) Someone thinking that people want cartoons like that

b) Someone actually using their services?

(They've been in business since 2005...)

Re: 5 Reasons to NOT upload your Music or Videos to a Third Party

Martin — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 14:23:35 -0000

Very good post, Doug.
Especially taking into account that even rich media hosting does no longer cost an arm and a leg... (Here I can recommend MediaTemple to which I switched after having been faithful to my original server supplier for about 5 years. They have very high customer satisfaction, and I was amazed at the speed at which they reply to non-geeky customer e-mails. (And no, I am not employed by them...)

Another reason for not hosting you own content on a 3rd party is, you never know how they change their policies in the future - well, or you never know how you change yours... (Imagine that you make a cool video/song that you put online, and some marketing institution wants to buy it off you - you cannot actually sell it once you agreed to the terms that Doug has laid out...)
So: host yourself. Be happy. Be creative.

And as a plug, here are some videos that I shot.

Re: Compendium

Martin — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:04:54 -0000

It's a bit too colourful for my taste, plus the graphic remind me more of a DNA string, rather than social media...
The link on "information" goes straight to your blog; but I guess that this link is just a place holder...
I must say that I love the old Mac OS9 logo - great combination of human touch, computer, and friendlyness/interaction. Maybe something like that?
That said, this is only one opinion.
Symbols.com is a source of inspiration.

Re: Updated Reading Page

Martin — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:14:34 -0000

Thanks for that list, there are some I will definately take a look at.
(As a sidenote, I had to laugh when amazon suggested that those interested in the "purple cow" marketing book, might also be interested in "Dairy Farming and Cow Care Today â€“ Learn how modern dairy farmers care for their cows and the environment. "
I sort of doubt that...

Re: Can I blog about bread?

Martin — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:24:09 -0000

...hmm, have you ever tried fresh, hand-baked bread from a small bakery in southern Germany?
Or a fresh, warm baguette in a tiny french village?
You would never touch a plastic-wrapped, industrialized bread again.

Re: Because it looks like you are trying!

Martin — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 15:58:18 -0000

Also agree. I used to be proud of never, ever wearing a suit (being about the only one on graduation day, to name just an example). But since having started my own company, and having had a number of client meetings, I have learned (and not just accepted) that it does make sense to dress up. It is a way of saying that you are serious about what you are doing. That you respect your client. That you think about what you are doing.
At later meetings (or, in your friend's case), you can always dress down. But never more casual that you client!

Re: Work Continues on I Choose Indy!

Martin — Mon, 25 Sep 2006 16:17:15 -0000

Nice logo! A bit high-tech, 3D look. Congrats.

Re: Wal-Mart Social Networking Website fails. $50 to the best joke!

Martin — Wed, 04 Oct 2006 18:16:45 -0000

3. Because.

Re: Wal-Mart Social Networking Website fails. $50 to the best joke!

Martin — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 12:10:13 -0000

Oops, my feedback got truncated. (Honey, they shrunk my blog).

3. Because a company that makes its money by destroying communities, cannot really expect making money from building communities.

Re: iElegance? The first week of my migration to a MacBook Pro

Martin — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 04:42:45 -0000

Welcome to the wonderful world of Mac :)

I've had my first Mac exposure in the early 80s, when I saw a demo that stressed the fact that Macs were friendly (as in "Please insert the disk" as opposed to "insert disk"). When I spent a year in the US in 1986, the shool had only Macs. They were so easy to network, and what a charm to do graphics (today, one would call that "graphics"). For some years I worked with PCs, mainly for the reason that as a student one couldn't afford a Mac at the time. Then again I had a beautiful Mac (5200), which was a predecessor, albeit not-so-sucessful, of the iMac. Then again, when Windows XP came out, I was tempted to buy a Sony Laptop. Not only did the tech support suck, at that point I started making money with video, and having to re-boot your PC every hour with the client sitting next to you, was not a good experience. So we jumped onto the Final Cut bandwaggon, already with 1.25 version. Haven't regretted it once. Today we are 2 in the office, and have 5 Macs; everything from a tiny Mac mini, an oldish G4 tower (can you imagine a 7 year old PC that still looks good, and is still workable?) up to a G5 with 4 processors.
Bottom line: Macs may cost more in the initial phase, but they save so much in productivity costs, are fun to work with, safe from viruses. They just work.

Re: Upgrade WordPress to 2.05 without messing up your site!

Martin — Mon, 30 Oct 2006 18:26:37 -0000

Thanks Doug.
Just completed the update, worked w/o any troubles. Thanks!

Re: When did Old Spice become cool?

Martin — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 14:52:28 -0000

One of the things that I love about technology - it gives the tools for creative work to "ordinary" people. In this case, anyone can edit a film. This experience makes anyone more appreciative of what an editor does. (And fun, too).

As far as Old Spice goes, I never liked it - but in those days it came in a dark brown packaging. Booring and ever so uncool. (Then again, the teenagers around here now run around, proudly showing the make of their underwear. Times do change. Life is fun.)

Re: Relaunch!

Martin — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 09:15:10 -0000

Nice colours - very energetic. But I must confess that I do miss the little Douglas on top of the page - it gave such a nice personal touch.

Re: PersonalDNA – Personality Profile

Martin — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 19:08:34 -0000

I did some personality tests, and some of them give amazingly accurate results with only a few questions asked. I think that they can be a great guideline for setting up teams. But they cannot be the sole tool for doing that.

Re: Reviews and Predictions

Martin — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 15:40:07 -0000

Fun to see that the iPod is replaced by Zunes, just as Windows XP is shifted out by Mac OSX.
Can't really see the first thing happening (and at any rate not so quickly), but certainly hope for the second one to become true.

(Hey, that would mean that all PC owners with an iPod would now get a IntelMac and sync it with some Microsoft software? Hm...)

Re: WordPress: The #1 Plugin every site MUST have

Martin — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 13:22:52 -0000

Hi Doug

And a happy new year. Congrats to making the top 100.000!

And thanks for reminding me about the Bad Behaviour. I thought I had it installed and was getting a bit overwhelmed by the amount of spam comments that I have gotten the last few days. Also, looking at my (much humbler than yours) statistics, I noticed that a great deal of my blog traffic came from non-confoment browser; Spam bots in other words.
Askimet has been blocking about 70 comment attempts per day over the last few days.
Anyway, after reading your article, I double checked by blog settings, and - typical late night error - saw that I had forgotten to activate the plug-in as well. Now it is running and I am curious as to how the statistics will go.

Re: Own Your Domain!

Martin — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 08:59:45 -0000

I totally agree, Douglas. Why hand over the control of the content you created to someone else?
I remember when I had to pay $72 for my first domain, but these days cost isn't really a reason for not getting your own domain. And there are still a lot of creative names available. (And those stem just from my one-afternoon-research...).

On a totally different note, since you mention a business model for the blogging platform providers; I have always wondered: how does WordPress make money? Is it just donations, and does that actually work?

I am amazed by the fact that the owner of wikipedia refuses to have banner ads on their site. Respect!

Re: Direct Mail that Works!

Martin — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 09:29:47 -0000

Definately. We want the human touch - isn't that also one of the reasons why blogs have become so big?

---

Our grand parents used to communicate by handwritten love letters. Today it is a quick SMS. Not quite the same, eh?

Re: Apple Launches… a Phone. Is anyone else yawning?

Martin — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 06:38:31 -0000

I think the thing that make the iPhone stand out will be its simplicity. I am now a not-so-proud owner of a phone that supposedly does it all. But you have to push so many buttons (and there are many of them), that it just puts me off. Crashes all the time. No simple synching (hey, as of today I can't even synch it with OSX). Buggy.
So, yes, each single feature might not be that special by itself, but the fact that they are combined by Apple makes me hope that there might be a PDA phone that actually can be used.
Simplicity is the word for me.

Am surprized that you experience crashes on OSX. I run very demanding video jobs on my macs, and get very rare crashes. Maybe one per week - and even then I don't need a restart. Do you use a lot of third party plug-ins?

Disclaimer: I am a very happy owner of about 5 Macs :)

Re: Apple Launches… a Phone. Is anyone else yawning?

Martin — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 09:17:00 -0000

:) Yeah - us Applefans are always on the defense ;)

Apple are just very good at their hype. When watching the keynote, I am always tempted to push a "Buy now" button. 'Luckily' though, the products come later to Europe (and even later to Norway) than the US, so I always can read some real life experiences from "normal" users.

"Revolutionary" in AppleTalk means "It works". Sadly, that is not the industry standard...

Re: Is Your Site, Blog, or Feed Geotagged?

Martin — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 09:20:15 -0000

Tried it with my address in Norway, and only got a "Sorry" message. For fun I tried entering simply "Norway". I had to laugh when I got the result :)

Thanks! (and no sarcasm there!)

Re: Apple Launches… a Phone. Is anyone else yawning?

Martin — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 19:44:26 -0000

Me again, hope I am not turning into a blog stalker ;)
Just saw the keynote presentation for the iPhone, and it seems that the phone will make web browsing not only possible (as most phones now do), but actually pleasant. Same goes for most of it's features.
What also hit me afterward was that, hey, this thing is running OSX and will have Desktop power - but there wasn't a single app to show that during the presentation. In other words: the months up to the shipping will not be void of new hype ;) Apple is good at this.
I remember when the iPod first came, many geeks were critical about it. I remember one saying "well, it's a portable harddisk, so what?". And today they own the market.
In the phone market they are a late entry, but they are strong on usabilty, and they will have a very good distribution network in the US. So, 1% marketshare in 2008 should not be out of reach.
Exciting times :)

Here's an interesting link on what this could mean for publishing in general and by extension also blogging: http://www.buzzwordcompliant.net/index.php/2007...

And you might have noticed that Yvonne is back amongst the living.

Re: The Long Tail of Commenting: Never Blog Alone

Martin — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 14:58:11 -0000

Hey, I made the top 50% :)

Seriously though, Doug, thanks for all you insight, and willigness to share and help - both in blogsphere and e-mailsphere.

Re: The Long Tail of Commenting: Never Blog Alone

Martin — Fri, 12 Jan 2007 15:06:59 -0000

Just saw that my companie`s website-in-progress (littmagi.com) is represented with 34 links. And that site isn`t even launched. And no single comment.
Weird... The mystics of the internet ;)

Re: The Business of Boobs

Martin — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 13:51:02 -0000

As with any advertising; you can make the best campaign, but if the product sucks, it will fail. (Hey, let's see how Vista is going to do.)

But that said, if you would put the 2 banners - the boobs from GoDaddy and the dotster globe pointer. Be honest: which one would you click on first? :)

Re: Simply too funny NOT to Share!

Martin — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 14:43:35 -0000

Thanks for sharing this one. You might also like this one here.

Have a good week end!

Re: What’s rel=”nofollow”?

Martin — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 14:42:41 -0000

Thanks for the tip; I just installed the plug-in (totally painless procedure.)

In an interview a comment spammer said:

"Will the initiative by Google, Yahoo and MSN, to honour "don't follow" links defeat Sam and his ilk? "I don't think it'll have much effect in the short, medium or long term."

The full interview is here:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/31/link_sp...

Re: WordPress: The #1 Plugin every site MUST have

Martin — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 14:50:19 -0000

Heard that some A bloggers had some trouble with the plug-in, slowing down their system, causing extra workload on the server.

Here is a programmer that is working on an alternative anti-spam plug in:

http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/expe...

Re: Make your Web 2.0 Logo

Martin — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 17:48:04 -0000

the service seems to be down for the moment, but here is a funny Web 2.0 bullshit generator:

http://emptybottle.org/bullshit/

And did you notice that Eric (not just any Eric, but _the_ MyBlogLog Eric has been to your site? You are getting famous!)

Re: Light Criticism

Martin — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 13:59:44 -0000

Great find,

Thanks. I love actionized criticizm, that does not destroy things.

Re: Curling with Laptops… and other Alternatives

Martin — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 10:56:27 -0000

Thanks!

(And good to see that we are not the only place covered in snow )

Re: WordPress: How to Build a Tag Cloud Page

Martin — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 11:14:31 -0000

I have to second Doug's reasoning here.

When writing a comment, one joins/starts a discussion. Thus I think it is natural, that one would want to be notified.

Re: Make your Web 2.0 Logo

Martin — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 10:01:53 -0000

Things have gotten worse, now there's only a 404 error. Bugger, just as I had a really good idea where I could have used that effect.
Well, the Internet is a fluid thing.
Thanks for all the inspiration - smart to have the myBlog community load only on the front page.

Re: links for 2007-02-24

Martin — Sun, 25 Feb 2007 10:09:01 -0000

...that page for webmasters is truly, truly, truly the most, ehem, not-designed page I have come accross since all laptops came with colour screens. Hey, I dare say my very fist homepage in 1997 looked better than that ;)

Re: What happened on your Birthday?

Martin — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 15:46:12 -0000

Cool - I share my birthday with no lesser than Cameron Diaz :)

(And, yes, IE is terrible. I worked almost a week on a very cool blog layout, only to find out that, even though it was XML compliant, it just did not render correctly in IE.)

Re: links for 2007-02-26

Martin — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 15:50:14 -0000

This post is hard to beat. 3 links and what a range they cover. Each one in itself is worth a post!

Thanks!

Re: WordPress: Check if User is Logged In

Martin — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 11:37:14 -0000

Cool idea!

Though I would I would revise the link it points to - now it asks you for your log-on details. Not the kind of page I wanted to be greeted with, if I were a prospective advertiser ;)

Re: They’re doing what?!

Martin — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 11:40:51 -0000

And this advice holds true for most other industries as well.

(We've just completed a documentary featuring a former prime minister. Today a prospective buyer pointed out, that nowhere had we mentioned the fact that he was indeed a former prime minister. We were just soooo used to the fact that he was, that we totally forgot that most people wouldn't know.)

Life is about constant learning. And amazement.

Re: This is NOT Made in Japan

Martin — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 03:27:15 -0000

What a cool piece of self-made technology. Love it.

Going to his site, http://www.duke.edu/~jwc13/beerlauncher.html, there are many more pictures. He also asks to not watch the film via YouTube, but use Metacafe instead.

And if enough people are interested, he might even get them made in a machine shop. $1500 a pop, with up to 20 cans.

But here in Europe we prefer Beer out of Bottles /- or best: a proper draft.

Re: This is NOT Made in Japan

Martin — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 03:28:17 -0000

Oh, and here`s the link to the offical video:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/445498/robotic_be...

Re: This is NOT Made in Japan

Martin — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 21:25:53 -0000

This being sold in the US, I wonder when the first lawsuit comes from someone who got hit by a beer can...

Re: The Blogging Triangle: 3 Elements of Success

Martin — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 11:00:31 -0000

I love Google Ad-words. On your thought-through triangle, it suggests:

Paris Hilton > Pics, Wallpaper, Video Gossip, Blogs, Fanfare

Interesting... (i.e.: lol)

Re: What a difference a Smile makes!

Martin — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 20:46:59 -0000

Doug,

Congrats on the new design. Very nice, and clean.

(And now the advertising link goes to a simple text page that says it will redirect me to the right page. Instead it just keeps re-loading itself. Is that a Mac problem?)

Re: Corporate Blogging Strategies

Martin — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 02:57:54 -0000

Think about putting together a blog committee that [...] approves blogs for the company.

So basically a corporate blog would be a daily/weekly collection of marketing talk? As you yourself say:

Marketing and Press Release resources are [...] looked down upon [...] because of [...] pre-approved content.

I think unless you are prepared to be open and don't just simply delete negative comments, a company might as well stick to your old web strategy. Just as a strategy to improve search ranking will be uncovered as simply such.

Re: Corporate Blogging Strategies

Martin — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 03:06:31 -0000

On second reading my last comment seemed quite negative. That was not the intention. Great post you wrote, Douglas.

I was just pointing out that a company should see a blog as more than just another marketing instrument. It is a direct channel to the customer, but only if used a) openly and b) as a two-way communication tool.

Re: Is this the End of Hillary Clinton?

Martin — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 21:37:05 -0000

I absolutely understood and respected her husband’s talent as a great orator

Sometimes things are funny, even when not intended. I hope you are aware of the double meaning that any sentence gets that includes the words "Clinton" and "oral" :)

Re: What a difference a Smile makes!

Martin — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 17:50:58 -0000

Yep. Now it works. You probably want to add a "not" into your re-direct page :)

If the page does load after 5 seconds, click here.

Re: Reader Acquisition Strategies for New Bloggers

Martin — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 04:25:25 -0000

Great Post, Doug.

Leaving good comments is definately a good way to get readership - you were the first to comment on my blog, and I have been a steady reader of your blog ever since. ;)

Once more advice I might share is that of giving you blog a distinctive look and feel - don't make it too complicated, it is dangerous to use too many plug-ins that add cool features. Many of those features are first helpful when you've gotten a sizable amount of posts.

As Doug has previously mentioned, have some sort of incentive that keeps readers on your blog; many come via a search engine, and might read only one specific entry. If you, however, show some related posts at the end of your posts, they might stay a bit longer, and return, too!

Re: links for 2007-03-31

Martin — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 14:35:07 -0000

Interesting to read about the ruling on online gambling. Here in Norway they are discussing ways of controlling internet gambling, as all gambling is supposed to go through one single provider. One suggested way is to make it illegal for banks to transfer funds to gambling websites.

I wonder if this ruling in effect means that a state cannot legislate online gambling?

Re: Sometimes Macs Aren’t That Smart

Martin — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 19:43:45 -0000

.aiff is a format that does not compress the audio. Which is great if you work professionally with sound (as quite a few mac users do; after graphics and video, sound-editing is the 3rd most used app for Macs).

That said, I am too surprized that QT doesn't convert to MP3.

If you need to convert sound files on a regular basis, I can recommend the $10 app Sound Converter.

When searching for Mac software, I would recommend Mac Update over Google.

Re: Sometimes Macs Aren’t That Smart

Martin — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 19:48:00 -0000

...and when Googling, using the smart quotes can be helpful:

"aiff to mp3" osx

Gives better results.

Happy April's fools day :)

Re: Technorati Relaunches Tools Page… with some Cool Tools!

Martin — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 05:16:49 -0000

Hi Doug,

Congratulations on breaking into the top 3000 in Technorati:

Rank: 2,987 (1,465 links from 732 blogs)

Well deserved, my blogofriend

Re: links for 2007-04-03

Martin — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 19:39:45 -0000

Thanks for the HandBrake link - this was exactly what I was looking for (and even for legal activities). For an upcoming project I need to convert a number of DVDs that I burned from a DVDrecorder into a more web friendly format. Looks like HandBrake is saving me from a couple of extra steps. Cool find, thanks.

And Great link about the Marines - I had just found out about Iraqis blogging from their point of view.

Re: Technorati Rank WordPress Plugin Version 2 Released!

Martin — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 04:59:08 -0000

Just want to chime in with having the same error. Site runs php5, and the button displays.
I tried commenting out lines 121-123, and the plug works fine. Can I put it live, or will the lack of those lines cause trouble in the longer run?

Re: I Canceled My Basecamp Account Today

Martin — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 08:30:42 -0000

On 24, being a show for the whole family, they are not allowed to curse. The only allowable expression of frustration is "Damn it" - which propted some college students to start a game of drinking a shot each time Agent Bauer uses that phrase.
When the writers found out about this, they started feeding lines that were "damnit damnit damnit" just to see those kids emptying 3 shots in a row.

Just to bring some humour back into this discussion.

Re: No Words For Don Imus

Martin — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 08:34:09 -0000

Good to have some humour return to your blog - can't be fun being in the middle of a flame war...

Re: I Canceled My Basecamp Account Today

Martin — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 15:03:56 -0000

...well, I guess that the eloquency of this reply speaks for itself.

As a long time reader of Doug's blog I have to chip in to say that he has never come across as goofy.

Jeez, I've never been into 37signals, but from the aggressive way they are defended, I am not exactly drawn into a desire to find out more...

Re: Watching My Computer

Martin — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 16:39:56 -0000

I just got invited by Joost, but it turns out that their software does not support the Power PC. Bugger!

Re: No Words For Don Imus

Martin — Fri, 13 Apr 2007 04:33:38 -0000

Hmm... I just got an e-mail starting with:

Dear Martin,
The controversy over Don Imus' racist remarks goes far beyond one bigoted commentator. But getting rid of Imus won't fix the media problem.

a) The previous comment was the only time I ever wrote anything about this Don Imus guy (I've never heard of him before, i guess that he must be an US phenomenom)
b) This must sort of mean that they must have gotten my e-mail address from my previous comment.
c) How did they manage that - did they really go through all the trouble of going to my blog, and then checking the registry database? That sounds like non-automated work, in which case they should have realized that I didn't even comment on the Imus guy. [Or is there a security flaw in Wordpress that allows outsiders mining e-mail addresses?]
d) Did anyone else get that e-mail, or have your heard of the Free Press (www dot freepress dot com)?
e) Before I couldn't care less about the Imus guy, but this campaign of spam mail certainly tips me in the direction that the campaign didn't want to. Spam does not work to influence people.

Re: 25 Signs You Might have a Problem Blogging

Martin — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 03:00:32 -0000

Lolwhmotratm*

9 out of 25 for me... there must still be hope.

And

You find yourself wanting an iPhone even though you’ve never owned a Mac in your life.

That is less about being a blogoman and more about having been bitten by the fabulous Applemarketingbug. (Basically, everytime Steve Jobs makes a presentation, you just have to have it. For editors: today Apple will reveal the new Final Cut Pro. :)

#27 you check your blog for comments more often than your cell phone

#28 you know which version of Word Press is the most current one. And if you are running your blog on an older version, you can argue for minutes as to why...

Have a good sunday, my virtual friend :)

*Laughing out loud, wondering how many of these rules apply to myself

Re: 25 Signs You Might have a Problem Blogging

Martin — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 03:07:02 -0000

#29 you appear as one of the top commenters on multiple blogs.

http://adcl.biz/papillion/?p=24

Re: 25 Signs You Might have a Problem Blogging

Martin — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 03:20:45 -0000

#30 too many posts or comments come at a time that starts with 0

#31 You are still subscribed to the RSS feed after 3 months of inactivity. :)

Re: links for 2007-04-16

Martin — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 17:27:48 -0000

Thanks especially for the great links on Code Snippets and Designfruit.

Now I only need some time ;)

Re: No Better Birthday Present! 500 Feed Readers!

Martin — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 03:58:04 -0000

Congrats, and all the best for your 29th birthday ;)

...and a big birthdaycake, health, and soon-top-2500 in Technorati.

Re: links for 2007-04-22

Martin — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 15:07:09 -0000

"Microsoft WPF vs. Adobe Apollo, part 329 « Scobleizer - Tech Geek Blogger". Hmm... call me a spoil-spot, but I sort of felt like "so what" after seeing the presentiation. Reminded me very much of what Keynote does, just with a less intuitive UI. They even used common Steve Jobs phrases such as "boom" and "cool"

Re: What is RSS? A Video

Martin — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 05:38:48 -0000

One of the things of my long to-do-list was to ask Douglas to write a little explanation of what RSS actually is.

Thanks for that pre-emptive strike, Doug. (and inspiration for a new section in my blog, too ;) )

Re: A List Apart Web Design Survey

Martin — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 06:26:47 -0000

I finished about 80% of the survey, when a client came in. After the meeting I wanted to finish the survey, but it returned to question #1.

Duh!

Re: MacBookPro in a Freezer

Martin — Wed, 02 May 2007 13:18:34 -0000

...I guess you know that you can start your Mac in firewire mode by holding down the T key during boot. Easy transfer of files...

Re: MacBookPro in a Freezer

Martin — Thu, 03 May 2007 03:35:35 -0000

That sounds almost like there is a hard-disk problem on your Mac book.

Have you tried running DiskWarrior? Good programme to have if you have a Mac (I often have wondered why they haven't been bought by Apple yet...)

But wait - have you run AppleJack yet - that can save the day, and is freeware.

Good Luck - may the force be with you.

Re: 97 Countries, 97 Welcomes, 97 Thanks!

Martin — Sat, 05 May 2007 12:23:08 -0000

Let's see...

# Germany: Empfang! Vielen Dank für Besuchen!

Nope - That feels very automated. I'd suggest

Wilkommen! Vielen Dank für Ihren Besuch
or informal
Wilkommen! Vielen Dank für Deinen Besuch
or to stay on the safe side
Wilkommen! Vielen Dank für den Besuch

# Norway: Mottakelse ! Takker-De for å besøke !

Velkommen! Takk for besøket.

# New Zealand:

Last time I checked, they were speaking english ;)

# Austria:

Same as Germany

# Europe:

Now that is not a country - though there are some politicians who would love that idea.

# U.S. Virgin Islands:

English?

# Switzerland:

They have 3 languages, German (actuall, swiss-German, which I, as a German, have trouble understanding), French and Italian. Safest bet would be to use all three languages; I have the impression they are particular about that.

# United Kingdom: Welcome! And Thank-You for visiting!
Too add some local flavour, you could do
Welcome! And cheers for visiting.

It can have its advantages to be 3-lingual :)

Re: The Medieval Helpdesk

Martin — Sat, 05 May 2007 14:20:08 -0000

…one thing I didn't expect to see on your blog was a Norwegian sketch.

Lol & have a good weekend!

Re: The Break Up

Martin — Sat, 19 May 2007 02:54:29 -0000

Phantastic, innovative campaign. From MICROSOFT!

And very interesting to see a new format - internet only, which means you can tell longer stories without a penalty in cost.

Love it.

Microsoft has just become a tad less evil ;)

Re: Marketing Strategies for Rapists

Martin — Tue, 22 May 2007 12:39:20 -0000

…for extra credit (and total confidence that the DVD is gone for good) put it into a microwave oven - preferable one that you have no plans of using for food again.

Re: My Greatest Masterpieces

Martin — Wed, 23 May 2007 04:45:30 -0000

It's just amazing how fast kids grow up.

And as the quote of the day: "Heredity is what parents of smart children believe in."

And, hey, wasn't it you who blogged about hosting one's own content? Yet the last two videos where both youTubeGoogled…

Re: links for 2007-05-31

Martin — Thu, 31 May 2007 15:56:22 -0000

Doug - could you elaborate on how you got scammed out of a couple of hundred dollars via eBay? I thought they offered a protection. Does that mean that this protection isn't worth the ink it isn't even printed in?

Anyway, you might enjoy this video for some relief…

Re: Does Keeping Up Mean Staying Home?

Martin — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 17:43:16 -0000

Blogosphere's answer:

25 Free Health Tips for Computer Nerds".

Have a <STRIKE>good</STRIKE> healthy week-end!

Re: Marketing Strategies for Rapists

Martin — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 18:46:54 -0000

I remember when I first read your post, I reacted strongly; but I couldn't pin-point it. First I thought it was about that I do not believe that it is a god-given right to have access to cheap gasoline. But I knew that wasn't it.

Today, while driving, it dawned on me. One of the many good things about your blog is the careful use of language (remember the Basecamp post). In your post you are using the word "rape" as an analogy for paying unreasonable prices. While I understand the point you are making, I think we all have to be careful about comparisons. Yes, it does paint a strong picture to compare a person to, say, Hitler. But at the same time, this makes Hitler appear less evil. In your post, this would translate to: rape isn't really such a terrible experience, just a nuisance.

I'm in no way implying that that's how you think, or even meant it to sound.

Re: links for 2007-06-03

Martin — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 14:29:21 -0000

Thanks for the Shuffle link - just the perfect game after a rather frustrating day.

Re: Does Keeping Up Mean Staying Home?

Martin — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 17:54:25 -0000

And here's a healthy substitute for phone conferences>/A>.

Re: Does Keeping Up Mean Staying Home?

Martin — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 06:23:12 -0000

And yet another link:

Visual guide to healthy snacks :)

Re: Does Keeping Up Mean Staying Home?

Martin — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 08:45:02 -0000

Behold, my friend. There is an answer to ye quest.

Re: Please Tell Me Why I Suck!

Martin — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 18:58:13 -0000

And keep in mind that all the time new blogs are added to the list. Though even though your total ranking might decline a bit, in total numbers you are still the top x %

And then you have to take into consideration who your target audience is. A blog that features less specialized content will naturally have a better chance of gaining a large audience. In other words, it really counts where your rating stands compared to other blogs and sites about marketing and technology.

As a last reserve, you can always use headlines containing references to female body parts;)

Keep up the good work and keep the smile.

Re: iPhone on Flickr: Over 15,000 photos and rising

Martin — Sun, 01 Jul 2007 17:10:43 -0000

…and the weird thing (which still surprizes me after manymany years with computers) is that the iPhone has more processing power than the G3. (Talking of which, how did you get your hands on a G3 two years ago?)

I would also like to chip in that Apple is more than "cool". Yes, they make cool gear, but the core for me is "it works". They are not as compatible as PCs are, but in turn you get something that works out of the box. You won't get many parameters that you can tweak. Maybe one can say: Microsoft believes in letting the user have many options. Apple believes that most users know less about the inner life of computers, and thus Apple engineers make the choices for you.

For certain jobs a Mac is better, for others it's a PC. Fortunately, the lines have become more blurred of late.

Both a KIA and a Mercedes get you from A to B. It's just a bit more comfortable on the other one...

Re: iPhone on Flickr: Over 15,000 photos and rising

Martin — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 07:52:56 -0000

…which again depends on your line of work ;)

(I guess that is exactly what the Apple campaign is playing at...)

Re: Blog Tipping Follow-Up: My Blog Coach by Shonnie Lavender

Martin — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 20:15:39 -0000

That is indeed quite an improvement. Now I would also change the typeface to something more serene, simple.

Re: links for 2007-07-20

Martin — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 20:17:40 -0000

Great link about the hard-disks, and what an eye-opener. If I were running an IT department I would be very surprized by reading that there is no difference in reliability between expensive and "normal" HDDs.
Good read. Thanks.

Re: links for 2007-07-22

Martin — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 17:45:48 -0000

"Microsoft confirms ‘Windows 7′ due in 3 years" > Are you sure that this shouldn't have read "Windows 3 due in 7 years"?

(And the personality test sure made me feel good:

You scored higher than 99% on Extraversion
You scored higher than 99% on Intuition
You scored higher than 99% on Thinking
You scored higher than 99% on Judging

Re: Video: Bad Powerpoint

Martin — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 13:32:43 -0000

Scary, how many valid points there are. A while ago I helped some office people to improve their presentations. Amazing how many think that every spoken word should indeed be on the screen?
Only graphs with lots of information are good graphs?
One should always show how many typefaces there are on the computer?
Colours should be used extensively?
Backgrounds should be as distractive as possible?
And so on...

Re: Too Bad Cavemen didn’t have Patents!

Martin — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 15:49:17 -0000

Pity that the video is no longer available.

Yeah, yeah. Copyright.

Re: 5 Wishes for Browsers… er Opera

Martin — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 05:12:44 -0000

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

I totally agree that Opera has to fiind a different approach than "simply" pleasing the users. That way they get the (maybe) best browsers, but only 5% are actually using it. They need a different approach, and since they don't have a Microsoft leverage, they have to make up with creativity.
I like your idea about making developers feel welcomed. Very good point.

Re: 5 Wishes for Browsers… er Opera

Martin — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 04:25:41 -0000

...maybe it is because he is using Opera? :)

Btw, the trackback does not seem to be working - on my "5 wishes" from yours... Could this be related (I guess I just outed myself as a non-programmer?)

Re: Killing Me (Blog) Softly

Martin — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 18:50:11 -0000

Have you heard about Quantcast, a service that gets the hit statistics from across a spectrum. You are not faring badly at all, with a good third of regulars, and 1 in 50 visitors is classified as "addict":

http://ak.quantcast.com/douglaskarr.com

Re: No Words For Don Imus

Martin — Sun, 19 Aug 2007 08:14:53 -0000

"I don't care what you write about me, as long you spell my name right" - that's the same line of thought, isn't it...

Re: I’m done Union Federal Bank… Sky Bank… now Huntington Bank

Martin — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 19:02:27 -0000

I just had a similar experience when looking for accounting software. I wrote a message to one provider using their form. There I got the error message "you have to enter a valid e-mail address in the phone number field". No kidding. (And I even had entered correct details.)

In the end I just gave up.

I wish they would use some money on testing their forms. Not only do they miss a chance (after all if someone goes to the trouble of filling out a form, they are a hot lead), but they turn an interested potential customer into an annoyed customer.

(If then you are doing your best at hiding your e-mail address and saying that one should use the on-line form, you are not helping things, either.)

Re: My Rank is fading quickly, almost as quickly as Technorati itself

Martin — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 05:31:24 -0000

Slightly off-topic, but I've noticed that WordPress does not show that there is a new version of your plug-in available (I'm on 2.03 and there is no notice that I could update to a newer one.)

Re: The Dirty Secret of Email Marketing and Internet Service Providers

Martin — Sun, 11 Nov 2007 05:43:29 -0000

Good post, though I think your point #4 leads down a slippery road. If ISPS would become liable for what their customers send, they would become way more conservative as to their clientèle.

Or, in other words, you cannot blame the Postal Service for mail bombs. Would you like Dell to be jailed when a hacker uses their laptop to break into a bank account? Should AT&T be held responsible for a crime organized by cell phone? Shurely not. The carrier should not be responsible for what is carried. The sender is.

----

Imagine if businesses could bill known spammers for lost productivity. With the right, powerful (and: enforced) laws, Spam should be a thing of the past.

Re: Should Web 2.0 Design be Scrapped?

Martin — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 20:58:22 -0000

Elliot has the best, most thought-through WordPress theme that I have come across. Amazing and Inspiring.

Re: Should Web 2.0 Design be Scrapped?

Martin — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 21:02:18 -0000

One of the great things aobut Wordpress (ok. about CSS) is that it seperates design and content. Which means that you can download a beautifully designed theme and not worry about design too much afterwards.

I for one am currently trying to go the minimalistic way, and am playing around with a type-centered theme.

Re: Video Live on Yahoo!

Martin — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 20:39:21 -0000

Isn't it weird that I can see you writing your blog, on your blog?

Personally, I would feel uncomfortable opening up my home like that, i.e. allowing people to see me without knowing who they are. Also, are you always aware of the possibility of being watched?

Hmmm... maybe I am just getting old.

Re: Add Y! Live to your Sidebar!

Martin — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 06:43:12 -0000

Nice work. Did you let Yahoo know? If you keep up this pace, soon Microsoft will buy you as well ;)

Will be an interesting experiment to see; what will overweight: the gain in communication or diminished productivity? Isn't there a fair chance that you get interrupted more easily while at work?

but that said, this is exciting technology, for now I think best suited for the home market.

Re: Microsoft Live Search Submission Broke

Martin — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 06:46:01 -0000

…so there actually are people using msn.

I keep learning new things ;)

Re: Video >= Images + Stories

Martin — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 04:29:20 -0000

Great post, Doug. My reply became so long, that I made it a post, rather than a comment:

Powerful video = great story + great execution

Re: links for 2008-02-11

Martin — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 12:28:15 -0000

Great Tip about VectorMagic. I've been using Corel Draw´s solution for so long, but this - online!, free! - solution yields better results. I've never seen so good photo conversion before. I hope that Stanford finds a good way of putting this to work.

Re: Video Live on Yahoo!

Martin — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 12:31:32 -0000

…and maybe even weirder that there are 10 people watching you work...

Reminds me of the days when I worked on film-sets, and dozens of people would stop watching us work during their lunch break.

But at least I could see them ;)

Re: Add Y! Live to your Sidebar!

Martin — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 06:03:21 -0000

Doug,

have you tried this link:

http://developer.yahoo.com/register/

Re: Is the next President of the United States running Linux?

Martin — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:31:18 -0000

Hi Doug,

I found a related article on Jeremy Zawodny's blog,

comparing page loads of the remaining candidates.

Re: Bringing the Super Bowl to Indianapolis in 2012

Martin — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:19:52 -0000

Congrats, Doug!

Wow, I love it when people think big.

If I may, some observations about the video: very well done, indeed. But after like 45 seconds, it just keeps hammering the same message: Indianapolis is capable of hosting major sport & music events. We see a lot of performers. But huge events are really about the crowds. Why not show a bit about their enthusiasm. What are the locals like, what do you have to offer for the crowd?
And some shots showing the amenities for media and VIP people probably wouldn't hurt either.

Make the viewer feel like not only that Indianapolis is capable of hosting this event, but deserves to do so. And that the Superbowl would gain from it, too.

Re: Bringing the Super Bowl to Indianapolis in 2012

Martin — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:21:17 -0000

(and these are the modern times, when the son finds out what his father is up to by reading his blog) ;)

Re: Bringing the Super Bowl to Indianapolis in 2012

Martin — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:24:15 -0000

Sorry for the many posts, but just had a look at the website. Nice layout, but how about actually showing some football graphics in the header?

Re: Something Wicked This Way Comes…

Martin — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:36:30 -0000

A couple of years ago, I stopped having trouble with Windows XP. It only took a simple fix; removing the power plug and hiding the ugly grey box in a corner. A dark, dark corner.
Just before x-mas I really wanted to try a program that only worked on Window. After about 8 hours of bug-fixing, trying to re-install WinXP, I was greeted with such an unintuitive program interface, that I abandoned the whole project together, and paid happily a much larger sum for a Mac program that actually works.

http://modifoo.com/2007/11/12/why-apple-will-ne...

Re: Something Wicked This Way Comes…

Martin — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 21:44:22 -0000

Oops, wrong link. Here is the one I meant to send:

http://modifoo.com/2007/03/09/you-can-run-vista...

Re: Part II: Something Wicked Came…

Martin — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 06:43:25 -0000

Me neither :)

Re: Web 2.0 for Business Presentation

Martin — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 07:03:11 -0000

Hi Doug,

As so often, I will only comment on the form, not the content.

On the first slide I would add a Web 2.0 effect, such as reflecting words, and the "for business" as a shining star.

The other slides have way too much text. KISS. You want your audience to listen to you, not read from the slides a repetition of you. Simplicity is the key words.

Like on the "History" slide, have just a plain image representing Web 1.0, and then a new slide representing Web 2.0. You explain all the details by word, not by slide.

Re: Techpoint Presents Patronpath

Martin — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:07:57 -0000

Hi Doug,

The video starts playing automatically, which can be a bit distracting.

Looks like it was shot with a small camera, and I guess 2 man crew?

May I ask what you paid for the video?

Re: links for 2007-09-20

Martin — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:35:08 -0000

Talking of Vimeo, they have quite a off-putting Terms & conditons:

http://modifoo.com/2008/08/07/the-downside-of-h...

Re: WordPress and MySQL: What’s Your Wordcount?

Martin — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 14:21:09 -0000

As a result, anything after that is simply a waste of words.

Well, only as long as you write for Google, and not your readers... ;)

Re: Why Don’t you have a Favicon?

Martin — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 08:46:37 -0000

Great tip, Doug. Had to instantly add a bit of magic to our website ;)

http://abitofmagic.no/english - now with animated favicon.