internet

I can’t tell if Mike’s Terms of Use are supposed to be serious or if they’re parody. That worries me.

Brilliant: Easily Mispronounced Domain Names
Go Tahoe!

A map of online communities and related points of interest

Funny: If ancient Rome had the Internet…

Today I attended a panel at SXSW titled “The New Startup Cultures“.

It was moderated by (MOD) Lane Becker Director of New Ventures, Adaptive Path.

The panelists were:
(BB) Ben Brown: Internet Rockstar, Consumating.com
(TC) Tony Conrad: CEO/Founder, Sphere
(TS) Tony Schneider: Automattic Inc
(AW) Anita Wilhelm: Co-Founder, Caterpillar Mobile

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I get a lot of spam. A lot. No, really. I get a lot of spam.

I am directly or indirectly connected to the whois / registration of dozens and dozens of sites. I get a.lot.of.spam.

So. Tonight I happen to notice a piece of spam directed towards a URL that I own that nobody should know I own. It’s interesting because it actually includes my full name (along with the URL) in the body of the message. How the spammers got this is beyond me. (I intend to learn, though.)

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“Google is beginning to have a subtle, but noticeable effect on research. More and more scholarly publications are putting up their issues in PDF format, which Google indexes as though they were traditional Web pages. But almost no one is publishing entire books online in PDF form. So, when you’re doing research online, Google is implicitly pushing you toward information stored in articles and away from information stored in books. Assuming this practice continues, and assuming that Google continues to grow in influence, we may find ourselves in a world where, if you want to get an idea into circulation, you’re better off publishing a PDF file on the Web than landing a book deal.

from Digging for Googleholes

10 things Google has found to be true

1. Focus on the user and all else will follow.
2. It’s best to do one thing really, really well.
3. Fast is better than slow.
4. Democracy on the web works.
5. You don’t need to be at your desk to need an answer.
6. You can make money without doing evil.
7. There’s always more information out there.
8. The need for information crosses all borders.
9. You can be serious without a suit.
10. Great just isn’t good enough.

When I want to register a domain name, I go to Dotster.com. It might cost a few dollars more - and I’m talkin’ like, $2 more - than some of the bargain basement registrars, but you cannot beat their customer service, administration, and control panel options. I’ve used them for years and highly recommend their company. I mention them today because I just discovered that they have a thing going now called the Dotster Sunday Mystery Special. Every Sunday they have a new little schtick. Today it’s a deal on .info domain names. Check ‘em out.

Dot Com: The Musical!

For some reason I cannot FTP or SMTP to davidgagne.net from my office. I know you’re asking, “David, what does that mean?” It means I can’t upload anything to my site from work (no new songs!), I can’t send eMail through my davidgagne.net account from work, and I can’t modify any of the files at davidgagne.net from work.

I think, for some reason, my company is blocking ports 21 and 25 from my desktop. It doesn’t really make much sense, from a security point of view. I can kinda understand why they would kill my FTP access, but why stop me from sending SMTP but not from receiving POP? Are they worried that I’m going to send a virus from work, but not that I might receive one here? Who knows?

Yesterday I thought the problem might be with Dreamhost, but they told me that there is nothing wrong with my eMail or FTP. Then I realized that I could still FTP through Blogger and greyMatter, and that I can eMail and FTP from home. So the culprit must be something done by the administrators of my office network connection in Kentucky.

You don’t even care, do you?

Grrr … and, even though I can access GreyMatter to post, for some reason the folks at AT&T have determined that davidgagne.net is a porn site or something. The Public Phone 2000i won’t let me view my own page. So. I guess I’ll go read Rolling Stone. The paper, handheld, old-fashioned version. In a chair. At the airport. Bah.

It drives me nuts that you need to enter the www to get to the University of Florida Home Page. Just typing ufl.edu won’t get you there.