Reaper-X » Web Links

Links Dump 24 Feb 2007

Reaper-X — Sat, 24 Feb 2007 04:03:53 +0000

Interesting story found from all over the web on 24 February 2007 :

To those who want a PR7 Link from Google, you can pay Google to get listed on their Google Enterprise Page for $10.000 – via ConversionRater
MyBlogLog tracks your visitors Ad Clicks even if you’re not using their pro features – via Shoemoney
European version of Sony PS3 will play fewer old games – via Reuters
Security Scanner can see through clothes (wow this is a cool stuff) :P – via Wired
10 New ways to Make Money Online – via Webworkerdaily
New Mozilla Firefox 2.0.0.2 and 1.5.0.10 released to fix several security issues – via MozillaZine

That’s all about it

0x87485B96 | Tags : Blogging, General Blogging, Internet, Web Links

Category Pages Changed

Reaper-X — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 09:16:58 +0000

I just changed the looks on this site category page (you can also say it’s an archive page but not like the archives page at the top menu of this site) .. and actually this idea is come after i visited the famous Matt Mullenweg site :-D

When i saw Matt category page (choose one of his site category and you’ll get the idea), i think it’s a good idea to create it here also. Beside

At first i want to show my categories pages as paged with the previous and next button after displaying a specific number of posts on the categories page (i think it’s not a good idea to show all posts from each category especially if you’re going to create a lot of posts in that category in the future which might cause performance loss)

Unfortunately because i don’t know how to do it .. i think i’ll keep it like this for now ( I know most of you doesn’t even care about this .. but i think i’ll post it anyway :-P )

0x87485B96 | Tags : Journal, Personal, Web Links, Website

Wikipedia Founder wants to rival Google

Reaper-X — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 16:19:47 +0000

James Wales, the Wikipedia Founder plans to rival Google by creating a new search engine called Wikiasari (a combination of wiki, the Hawaiian word for quick, and asari, which is Japanese for rummaging search) which is still based on community just like wikipedia site.

He said that although Google is very good at many types of search, but in many instances it produces nothing but spam and useless crap. Try searching for the term ‘Tampa hotels’, for example, and you will not get any useful results. And i find it interesting on how he’s going to create a really accurate result, especially if it’s going to be a community site just like Digg, because like most of you already knew that even Digg is not that accurate

And as a side note, Amazon has nothing to do with this project unlike other stories that says Amazon is behind the Wikiasari project. Although they are a valued investor in Wikia, but people are really speculating beyond the facts. This has nothing to do with A9, Amazon, etc .. just as he said on the wikia site

Well .. i guess i’ll be looking forward to its launch .. to see how well this new search engine performing ;-)

0x87485B96 | Tags : Internet, Internet Tools, SEO, Web Links, Website

Plugim a Digg like site for Internet Marketer

Reaper-X — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 23:28:10 +0000

Actually i know about PlugIM since a few days ago (or several days ago) because one of my post here got submitted by someone. And although it’s a little bit late on posting this, but i think it’s still better than not posting it ;-)

My first impression about PlugIm since i saw it at the first time is, well .. i think .. overall is good from the website layout and usability (almost like a digg website but with different layout), but i don’t really care about layout and usability to much as long as its not like Amazon or Godaddy which is really hard to navigate (at least for me)

Basically Plugim website is just the same like Digg website (it’s built using Pligg CMS), with the exception most digg stories are related to technology stuff while Plugim is more suitable for internet marketer. And not to mention that you can put your adsense id on their website because of the adsense revenue sharing program (read their blog for more info about this).

Unfortunately there is one thing that i don’t really like on PlugIm, and that is the social bookmarking button that is placed below all the user submitted stories

Why did i say that ? well … to be honest .. this is my own opinion about that social bookmarking button :-)

Like most of you already knew that Digg is just a collection of user submitted stories from all over the web, and of course its just a link to the original article. So if you’re going to create a link it should be directed towards the original article not Plugim site. And here’s an example taken from the latest post at the time i wrote this (hover the example text to see it)

Well although it’s up to the webmaster, personally i think it’d be better for them to remove it because :

You’ll lose your website credibility because if you truly want to promote your own website, then do it without promoting your competitor website first (lets say what are digg users are going to say if they see the same button on digg website) :-P
The social bookmarking button should be linked to the original article source not the social bookmarking website itself (in this case it was Plugim)

As for a reference, here’s some article that might give you an idea about social bookmarking button, and the main reason why social bookmarking button is useless :-)

Social Bookmarking Button Madness by Chris Pirillo
It’s the content not the icons by 37Signals

As for my own opinion about this, well .. i’ve already wrote about it .. but that’s just my own opinion ;-) .. but i’m actually amazed on how those guys can actually promote their site and made their site popular within 2 months !!

0x87485B96 | Tags : Internet, Opinion, Personal, Web Links, Website

AllofMp3 Sued for $1.65 Trillion by RIAA

Reaper-X — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 08:46:00 +0000

Quoted from Cybernetnews :

I haven’t been able to find information on the largest lawsuit in history but I’m sure this one is right up at the top. The RIAA (yes, I was just as shocked as you) is suing the website AllofMP3.com on behalf of EMI, Sony BMG, Universal Music, and Warner Music in the amount of $150,000 for each of the 11 million songs that were downloaded from June to October of 2006. That comes to a lawsuit totaling $1.65 trillion!

And here’s what Paul Stamatiou said about this based on his personal opinion and his friend experience regarding the same copyright problem his friend had before :

Personally I think the $1.65 trillion is just a number to scare AllofMP3 and the case will likely be settled out of court for much less. Consider typical RIAA cases against pirates. A friend of mine was sued by the RIAA for 3 songs at ~$3,500 each and he ended up settling for something less than $4000 total.

And the conclusion is, it’d be best for you to stay away from making mp3 download site (if you don’t want to end up being sued by RIAA), because any four digit US Dollars means a lot for some people (including me)

0x87485B96 | Tags : Internet, Web Links, Website

Problogger Group Writing Project Winners

Reaper-X — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 07:02:03 +0000

It seems i’m a little bit late on posting this, but let’s forget about it shall we ?

Anyway here’s the winners for the Problogger Group Writing Project :

Terry wins the 30GB iPod Video for their post Top 10 Ugliest Sneakers of 2006. This was donated by Poker on a Mac.
Daniel wins $100 and a book from Dave from Ask Dave Taylor Tech Support and The Intuitive Life Business Blog for his post 101 Blog Tips I learned in 2006.
Nic wins a web hosting package worth $240 for the post Top 10 “Crzy” Tech Gifts. This was donated by Thrive Web Marketing.
Rob wins a $100 Amazon voucher from DeveloperCube for his post Looking Ahead in Homebrewing.
Greg wins two free passes (worth $349 each) to eMoms at Home coaching course in January for his post Ooh, baby, baby it’s a wired world — but what is going to change in residential real estate in the next 12 months? Almost nothing . . .
Todd wins the Nintendo Wii for his post Top 8 YouTube Videos of 2006. This was kindly donated by 451 Press.
Sarina wins $100 cash or $500 in advertising credit from bloglinkr for her post Six Moments that Changed My Foodie Life in 2006.
Tiago wins $100 cash from The Blogging Times for their post A Blogosfera Brasileira de 2006.
Roberta wins a $100 gift card from giftcertificates.com for her post Why We’ll Fork Over $15.00 to Hear Britney’s New CD in 2007. This was donated by Rob Schaumer.
Nancy wins $100 cash for her post Baby Name Stock Market: My Picks for 2006. This was donated by Information for Her Australia for Australian Women.

And congratulations to the winners, it was fun to see various interesting topic from this Group Writing Project :-) … especially to the person that win a Nintendo Wii .. :-P

0x87485B96 | Tags : Blog, Blogging, General Blogging, Internet, Web Links

No Uptime Web Hosting

Reaper-X — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 13:32:09 +0000

Believe it or not there’s an incredible web hosting company out there that provides you a Guaranteed Server Downtime for your hosting plan ! :P

Unlike many other host that is always said the same thing about 99.99% Uptime Guarantee, this webhosting offer you really realistic plan simply because everyone can create the same services like this :D

Here’s what their testimonial looks like :

Jacob Huttler writes:
No Uptime used my credit card to buy porn magazines. This service is a sham!

John Geron writes:
No Uptime helped me save my marriage. I don’t know where I’d be without them.

And here’s the top reason on why you should choose them :

AJAX Email
Our Web 2.0 Email Interface is open to all our clients and visitors. In the true spirit of Web 2.0, everyone is invited to read and edit your emails for the good of the general public.

Linux Powered
Our Linux Free BSD systems are at the forefront of modern technology. By merging several distributions of Linux into one, we were able to create an operating system so complicated we don’t even know how to use it ourselves.

Uploading Files
Don’t like uploading your files via FTP? No problem! Send us your files on a floppy and we’ll upload it for you. It’s one of the many ways we do our best to accommodate your needs. Just remember, our floppy system does not accept Windows, Linux, or Mac floppies.

For more info about this, you should visit their website ;) .. by the way don’t take it seriously :D

0x87485B96 | Tags : Internet, Web Hosting, Web Links, Web Servers, Website

Building a community site

Reaper-X — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 10:32:39 +0000

Well i just read a very interesting information (based on his experience) written by one of the moderator from the webmasterworld forum about building a community site online, but in this case it was a forum :) .. and here’s what his post looks like :

Quoted from Martinibuster post from Webmasterworld :

An interesting phenomenom
My top forum member accepted a new job that limited his ability to post on my forum. Our top forum member, who expertly answered so many questions was now gone, which was a huge loss for the community, as so many members looked up to him because of his deep knowledge.

Now here’s the funny part: The average count of daily posts began to rise shortly after he left. So what happened? Other very competent members stepped out of the shadows to fill the space formerly occupied by my star member.

Too many askers
Although the forum was growing month over month, many of the members were coming to ask questions and lurking thereafter. So while my unique visitor metrics were growing, the number of enthusiastic active members was not. Too many askers.

Should a Forum Avoid Giving Out Answers?
Apparently, his style of posting comprehensive answers had been inhibiting others from posting their own answers. Is there something wrong with answers? I think so.

Some members had expressed timidity about posting answers, so my way of circumventing this timidity was to instruct my moderators to stop answering questions, and begin engaging in dialogue.

Encouraging Lurkers to Post
My instructions to the moderators was to draw the lurkers out of lurk-mode by consciously making posts that encouraged members to offer opinions and answers. No more answers. Only discussions.

This community is overwhelmingly made up of lurkers. This is common to many forums, but I think there is an opportunity to cultivate more active members by taking a look at posting styles and de-emphasizing answers, and emphasizing discussion.

About lurkers and drawing lurkers into the open
So why do people lurk? Fear of being ridiculed is probably one of the major reasons. The other may be a lack of confidence in their knowledge, and perhaps the most important, nobody’s ever engaged them for their opinion.

Making eye contact online
On that last point, some of my favorite personalities both on and off the boards share a quality that when they speak, they seem to embrace the whole room with eye contact, a nod, a little encouragement for your feedback. I think it is precisely this quality that is missing from many board discussions, the encouragement for feedback. A simple question such as, “What do you think?” Or, “I think that’s right, but I’m sure others have good opinions of other ways of doing it. I’m interested in hearing yours.”

Drag those lurkers out into a discussion… :)

The rest of it consists of creating an atmosphere where shy or unconfident people will feel comfortable. This is where your mods come in:

Make it clear that opinions are not only welcomed, but encouraged.
Ensure that any member who expresses a wrong opinion is treated gently. No ridiculing. No flaming.

What led me down this road to engaging more members was the loss of my most active community member, which in itself caused a growth in member participation.

Other than that, Kathy Sierra also write a really good information on how to build a user community.

0x87485B96 | Tags : Guide, Internet, Journal, Tutorials, Web Links, Website

Playstation 3 for one dollar

Reaper-X — Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:18:41 +0000

Interested on getting the new next-gen console but you don’t have enough money to buy it or thinking that is just ridiculous to buy a $600 console ? Well … maybe it’s your lucky day (if you’re the choosen one) .. to get a new playstation 3 console for only one dollar !

And if you ask why did he gave his playstation 3 console for such price, here’s his answer :

Now why – you ask – am I doing this? I am a nice guy and I want to make someone’s Christmas a little brighter this year.

Maybe this auction will make history and, in the process, maybe I will appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and other television talk shows. I was initially going to list this PS3 for $1 million, with 90 percent going to charity, but found others had already gone that route. I wanted to be unique and, quite possibly, give a PS3 to someone who might not be able to afford it otherwise.

You never know – if you’re watching my auction at just the right time – you could be the lucky bidder who gets one of the year’s hottest gaming systems for $1.

Although at first i think that this was a scam, but after reading it for a while .. you can be sure this person is serious on giving you a $600 Console for as cheap as $1 .. by the way here’s what his offer looks like if you win this auction from ebay :

60 gigabyte PS3 console
Two games

Resistance: Fall of Man
Marvel Ultimate Alliance)

Extra wireless controller

Well .. i guess that’s already explain it all .. interested on getting it ? then you can visit his homepage for more info regarding this

0x87485B96 | Tags : Internet, PlayStation, Video Games, Web Links

Sony Fake Blog … hm ..

Reaper-X — Mon, 18 Dec 2006 16:31:19 +0000

I just read an interesting news about Sony that created a fake blog just to promote their own playstation portable product which turns out to be their biggest mistake i’ve ever read so far

Quoted from BlogHerald :

You can file this under “Can Sony do anything right these days?” (A video download service? NOW?). As you may or may not have heard, last week Sony and their marketing firm Zapatoni were outed in creating a fake blog to promote their portable gaming device, the PSP at the slickly named site “AllIWantForXmasIsaPsp.com”. With its overly hipster talk and the fact the domain is registered by a Marketing firm, it didn’t take long for the gaming community to find that Sony was behind the blogging deception.

To read the full story, head over to this post

0x87485B96 | Tags : Blogging, General Blogging, Internet, PlayStation, Video Games, Web Links