Archive for July, 2006
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Posted by Bloggeries in Reviews, Spotlight
Little did the MPAA know about Shawn Hogan or what happened with Winn and Simms, when they demanded $2,500.00, then went down to $500.00 for him allegedly downloading a copy of “Meet the Fockers” illegally. Shawn declined saying that he didn’t do it, even owns the movie on DVD, isn’t willing to settle, and now they’re going to court. He is ready to spend well over $100k on his defence. Wired Magazine picked up the story and now it’s on its way to make national headlines as it is making international headlines already.
His entry about the article already caused 124 people to comment and many of them are offering to donate to his defense fund. He instead suggests to give money to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).
Shawn Hogan has been the Founder and CEO of Digital Point Solutions since age 19 (he is now 30) and is also running one of the best webmaster forums out there.
His blog has never really lived up to its potential. There was a lot of good info, some random entertainment … a lot of everything and anything. But never anything like this.
I would have given it a 4 a week ago, but in light of the recent events that woke up the sleeping giant, I’m giving it a definite 5. A “must bookmark”! Should for any reason he not be allowed to publically disclose any info regarding the case, you can read the highlights on my blog under legal stuff or visit this thread on his forum.
As I have commented on his blog, all of the usage of the word hero (a word Shawn doesn’t feel fits), makes me think about the movie “Hero” starring “Meet the Fockers” Dustin Hoffman, a small time thief inconvenienced by a plane crashing right in front of him, and while bickering and complaining still decides to rescue everyone before it blows up. Andy Garcia’s character takes credit for it, achieves international fame, and journalist Geena Davis becomes his girlfriend. At the end, she finds out the truth and asks him:
“If everyone thinks of you as a hero, Mr. Bubber, how do you see yourself?”
to which he replies:
“I think we’re all heroes, if you catch us at the right moment.”
I totally believe in that line. And I’m very happy to see Shawn getting a challenge that he seems so well prepared to take. The amount of support he gets is amazing and justified as well. With a name like Hogan and considering the situation, good luck getting away from the “hero” label. Those who know him, are not surprised that he’s taking the stand that he is taking. Others will get to know him and what he stands for. What can you do? If you know of someone who has been wronged by the MPAA, you should contact him or his lawyers. If you want to donate or show your appreciation, do so to the EFF or Shawn’s server fundraiser (it’s for his forum which has helped countless webmasters including me).
Blog about it, talk about it … you can show your support in many ways. Support the alleged hero until your own time comes to be or show the hero that is in you and waiting for his own personal challenge and calling in life!
Mike Dammann
Posted by Bloggeries in Reviews
So I was looking for something totally silly, and silly I got. Asking on Digital Point, ViciousSummer has pointed out Daily Dancer as one of the funny blogs worth checking out. I don’t know why, he somehow reminds me of Napoleon Dynamite, you know? The cool dancing scene when he campaigned for “Pedro for President”.
As silly as it seems, this dude has a passion for what he’s doing. Maybe he just wants attention, but either way: it works. He also talks about other things in his life, like softball. As a part of his Circus Music Rocks bloggery. His “Donate for Dance Classes” button is a joke in itself. Ummm, no … I won’t, but if anyone will, bless their heart. I give the blog a 4. For passion. Using blogger, he is limiting himself, but like many bloggers who are not professional webmasters, he is most likely not aware of that, so I’ll cut him some slack. You can also enter your email to get notified whenever he posts. I did. Let’s see where he is going with all of this. 
- Mike Dammann
Blog Reviews
Posted by Bloggeries in Spotlight
Since Tyler has reviewed a couple of non-webmaster blogs, I believe that it’s ok for me to do another seo blog, and no one should get bored.
And boring is exactly what many of them are. It’s kind of sad how so many webmasters don’t really get blogging and don’t appear to have fun with it. Not like the average web surfer who has just discovered this great way of expressing himself online without the need of major design and programming knowledge.
There are however a few exceptions to this rule as well, and one of those is definitely SEO Pedia.
I love how Christian Mezei, one of the most skilled search engine optimizers in the world, just has a neck for which stories to pick. He frequents many webmaster boards as well as search engine news related sites (e.g. Search Engine Watch) and manages to pick the topics of interest to most webmasters trying to increase their rankings in the search engines. Gaining inbound links can’t hurt right ? Wrong for example is an excellent topic which has been discussed a lot on various forums. A lot of webmasters have the tendency to believe they figured out Google, and then they are surprised when suddenly their rankings drop and they have no clue what has happened.
Bloglines rocks is one of those entries where he shares his own experience in what works for him. There is no better way to learn, than watching those who are successful and follow their guidelines without having to waste time trying the many programs and sites which don’t provide the results that they promise. And with entries such as Business.com removes the nofollow from links he makes sure that readers stay updated on some of the best resources to help them advertise, build links and stay on top of their competition.
I highly recommend bookmarking seo pedia to every webmaster and blogger out there. Especially if you don’t have time to research on your own. Christian will do it for you and share the subjects which are of interest, without going into detail about meaningless discussions which happen far too much amongst the techies.
I give it a 5. The highest mark possible. Great info, no hype and all the info that you need.
- Mike Dammann
Search Feature
Posted by Bloggeries in Reviews
Since I’m in the travel blog state of mind, I decided I would go ahead and do a review that had been requested by DarrenC at V7N. According to the title of his blog, Darren is a self-proclaimed travel addict. After taking a look at his personal page, I have to say I agree with him. Although Darren is only thirty-three, he has done a lot of traveling.
Upon visiting the homepage, I was met with an attractive WordPress blog. I have to admit that I’m especially fond of the header animation. The man holding the phone and looking like he is about to snap reminds me of a few all too familiar situations in various airports. As far as the layout of the blog, it is very organized and free of ad clutter (I only noticed a few, unobtrusive ads throughout the site). At the top of the page is a navigation bar, which provides links to various pages, along with a travel forum. Although the forum is relatively small, it still has over two hundred and fifty members, along with a lot of good information. The only downside I see to the forum is the lack of comments on the blog (this goes back to Mike’s review of the Mark Joyner blog, however, Darren’s blog does not pressure visitors to go to the forum).
I didn’t take the time to find out exactly how old the blog was (there was no monthly or yearly archive link), but it does contain over one hundred and fifty posts. It seems like Darren does a very good job of posting fresh content on a regular basis. Although there is a link that allows visitors to submit travel articles, it looks like Darren does the majority (if not all) of the writing and posting.
I have decided to give this blog a four because of the nice template and extensive content. Although I wasn’t overall interested in the content (mainly because my travel opportunities at this point are slim), Darren has created a very useful blog for travellers (especially international). The posts and categories range from advice to news, and everything in between. This was the aspect of the blog that I liked most. Although the blog relates to travel, Darren varies his post by addressing many different areas of travel. On the homepage alone, his posts vary from “Wine Tours in New Zealand” to “Be Healthy During the Heatwave.”
As long as Darren continues to post regularly (and maybe even step up the pace a little bit), I see nothing but good things in the future for his blog.
-Tyler Banfield
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