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What’s new at NationBuilder? [Podcast]

August 1, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Nation Builder Episode GraphicOn July 30th I caught up with chief organizer at NationBuilder Adriel Hampton to learn more about their new features and the overall status of the company.

Listen

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Summary

NationBuilder has gone quickly from a virtual team to a briskly growing technology company that is bringing advanced community organizing tools to organizers of all types and sizes. Looking for a job? They are also hiring.

This episode was live on Blog Talk Radio on 7/30/2012.

Browser or RSS Reader doesn’t support flash? Download/Listen to this episode 

You can also signup to be notified when I have new Podcasts scheduled by clicking the “follow” button for my show on Blog Talk Radio.

Filed Under: Business, Interviews, New Media, Podcasts, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Should I dump the Link Within Widget?

June 11, 2012 By 10 Comments

Friday I received a very interesting Email from Jordan Bass of nRelate. His Email was a pitch on why I should use nRelate instead of Link Within to offer readers related content when they read articles on my blog. At first I was a little taken back by the approach but the very first thing he mentioned was something I didn’t know:

I noticed you are running Linkwithin on your site and many publishers do not know that on each click, Linkwithin  first sends readers through their own site and then back to your site, which negatively affects your SEO, making your site more difficult for readers to find on Google (article on this below).

So I decided to check to see if this claim was true though I didn’t use my history as his Email went on to suggest, I just right clicked the link and pasted it into notepad. While the URL renders properly when you hover over one of the links, when it is copied you get a different output and it turns out Jordan is correct.

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but when I right click the URL that is highlighted in the picture and paste the actual link into notepad, this is where it really goes:

Redirected Link Output

Now I understand that Jordan wants me to use nRelate because I might allow adds that they (and I) would get paid for (sorry Jordan, I have zero plans to put ads on my blog). But what about LinkWithin, why would they want to hurt my SEO? How are they cashing in on that traffic? Turns out they aren’t the only way I can tell that they benefit is by the back links which I suppose places them in a strong position when/if they roll out a advertising product (I would love to hear a more official SEO analysis of this effect beyond the obvious). According to the LinkWithin site they plan to add revenue sharing features in the future, but they will be optional:

Link Within FAQ

There are two real alternatives to Linkwithin that I could find. Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP) and nRelate. I’ve used YARPP before and I am not warm and fuzzy about nRelate based on a number of people in the very blog post that Jordan referred me to have commented that it doesn’t always render the thumbnails, etc. I don’t actually mind a plugin publisher getting some benefit out of me using their free plugin, but I want it to be reasonable and above board. I am not strongly convinced either way that this is quite as big of a deal as Jordan would like me to think it is.

Mind Helping me Out?

What would you do if you were me? Do you even use the related posts options? Do you think anyone is actually clicking those links? Hard core SEO types, what is your take? Is this being blown out of proportion by their competitor?

Filed Under: Blogging, New Media, SEO, Technology, Tools, Wordpress Tagged With: , , , ,

Email Marketing Done Right

June 4, 2012 By 1 Comment

It’s no secret that most of us are not fans of receiving newsletters and Email marketing content unless key criteria are met. A lot has to do with the fact that so few companies actually get it right. It might seem trivial but I know in my case personally you can really damage your brand by disrespecting my time with Email marketing done wrong. As I result many of us have become serial un-subscribers and in some cases abuse reporters, I am certainly both of those things today. Imagine to my surprise when something arrives in my inbox from a company that I officially asked for and officially rocks resulting in me liking that company that much more. It happened today and I couldn’t be happier to see people who get it. For that reason I am giving a shout out to the folks over at private Cloud software company Nimbula. I watched a presentation by one of their guys at the #lspe meetup a couple of months ago where they raised eyebrows with their private cloud product that can be used freely (up to a limit) on off the shelf hardware.

What was so great about it?

Click to see full sizeFor the easily distracted, the message really got to the point. Their was a clear purpose:

  • What they are offering
  • What it will do for me
  • How to get it
  • How to learn more

For a product I can use for free, I know there is a new version of their director and with an hour more of my time I can learn how to “Stand Up” my own Cloud. Not only are they playing on their strengths, they also know their audience and they have a very direct and easy to understand call to action. I was also impressed in another way and that was by the easy integration of social sharing. I actually did follow the link and author a tweet to share with people the news.

For the people with a little more thirst for information, there was plenty of it, but only if you wanted to scroll down and consume more. The structure of the content was very easy to follow the most current event was at the top of the list and it went on from there. On the right column you get some additional key points including some core business philosophies of the company and piles of other data to consume if you should be so inclined.
Click to see full size.

There was additional information beyond that (you can see it all here) but the bottom line was also a pleasant and welcome site, a very simple unsubscribe link. Hallelujah.

Business is personal for me, I want to work with people that will execute at a very high level and bring nothing less myself. Nimbula’s approach exudes confidence, savvy and quality. I signed up for both of their Webinars next month, tweeted about them and wrote a blog post because I love to have the opportunity to recognize things being done right.

Filed Under: Business, Productivity, Technology Tagged With: , , ,

2 Things Everyone Needs to Know about the WPS Vulnerability

January 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I Promise Not to Own your WifiYou may have heard recently that there is a vulnerability affecting many wireless access points. It has to do with Wi-Fi Protected Setup (WPS) which is supposed to make it easier to configure devices to use your wireless network. The problem is the WPS system is vulnerable to a brute force attack that will allow a malicious attempt within range of your wireless signal to access and change settings on your device. Once the foot is in the door there are many other things that can be done, especially if you have un-protected devices on your network.

The two things you should know if you own or are responsible for any wireless access points are:

  1. There is no practical universal solution to the problem.
  2. You may have to use the hacking tools themselves to be 100% certain you are not vulnerable.

If you feel you have anything someone might want to steal, the smartest thing might be to just disconnect the wireless access point or turn it off. Then live without it until the manufacturer has clear information on your make and model of wireless device. Of course if your wireless access point is also your Internet Router this could be problematic.

There are more questions than answers right now and while you can’t tell with certainty if you are not vulnerable a list is being compiled of devices that have been confirmed to be vulnerable. You can access the WPS Vulnerability Testing Document to find devices that have been confirmed.

Known and potential solutions

Solutions to this issue will be updated here as they become available

Belkin (Does not note if this fully disables WPS!)

Netgear (Home Routers)

Additional Resources

Vulnerability Note VU#723755 (US-Cert)

Special thanks to @Shonali for sharing the Bart Simpson Chalkboard Generator.

This article originally appeared on my business blog on 1/6/2012.

Filed Under: Business, News, Productivity, Technology Tagged With: , , ,

Finding Airline Flights with Google Flight Search [Video]

December 13, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Google Flight SearchGoogle has so many properties, most of us will never try them all. I stumbled onto an interesting tool last week that you may find useful for researching airline flights. The Google Flight Search application lets you do what most fare search sites let you do and a couple of things they don’t:

  • See at a glance based on where you are now what it would cost to fly to different locations.
  • Check alternative source and destination routes.
  • Filter down by pricing and flight time.
Like many Google tools Flight Search has that simple look and feel you’ve become familiar with over time. Check out the video for more insight and a demonstration of the features.

Don’t see the video or browser doesn’t support Flash? Watch the video here.

Filed Under: Productivity, Technology, Tools, Video Tagged With: , ,

Interview Irene Koehler of Almost Savvy [Podcast]

December 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Irene Koehler Interview GraphicOn this weeks podcast I caught up with the San Francisco Bay Area’s own “Almost Savvy” Irene Koehler. Irene has a knack for educating and empowering people to get started using Social Media.

Listen

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Summary

Our discussion while somewhat broad overall was generally focused on:

  • Google+
  • Facebook
  • the bay area tech scene

This episode was live on Blog Talk Radio on 12/7/2011.

Browser or RSS Reader doesn’t support flash? Download/Listen to this episode 

Want to see a full list of past episodes? Check out my Podcast page. You can also signup to be notified when I have new Podcasts scheduled by clicking the “follow” button for my show on Blog Talk Radio.

Filed Under: Blogging, Business, Google +, Interviews, Podcasts, Social Media Strategy, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Glass brings a Community Layer to the Internet [Video]

November 18, 2011 By 11 Comments
Glass Conversation with Danny Brown

A Glass Conversation

Earlier this week I received an invite from Danny Brown to join him on Glass. Being perpetually curious about tech and web applications I headed over and signed up. The last few days the application has really piqued my interest because it creates a new community layer over the internet unlike anything that has been available previously. It achieves this by combining side-wiki like features with a virtual social network. It also allows comments and conversations to occur on any website but privately with the connections of your choice or publicly with any Glass users. It caps all that off with a community streaming function bringing your Glass, Facebook and Twitter content that contain links into one place.

Reasons Glass is usefull

  • Transcends the boundaries of social networks and websites
  • Allows private or public conversations about any site or page
  • Creates a community stream of your Glass, Facebook and Twitter
  • Potential to integrate any social network, blog comment systems
  • Enables you to share any website or page via Twitter, Facebook and Email

How about a video?

This video that takes a tour of the features and describes in more detail what you can do with Glass and why it may be a helpful tool for you.

Don’t see the video? Try this link instead.

Filed Under: Facebook, Social Media Strategy, Technology, Tools, Twitter, Video, YouTube Tagged With: , , , ,

Social Media and Search with Sean McGinnis [Podcast]

November 10, 2011 By 1 Comment

Social Media and Search
On this weeks podcast I had the distinct pleasure of discussing the world of SEO, Search and Social Media with Sean McGinnis of 312 Digital Media. Sean brings together a very unique background to his 10 year+ career in marketing.

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Summary

Sean brought technical knowledge and a practical approach to being found and marketing your brand, website or content while making it easier to be found by the search engines. You can anticipate to learn:

  • basic background on the evolution of SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
  • how some concepts in the legal industry play a role in how Search Engines rank content.
  • what the link economy and link rings are.
  • an introduction to the concept of Author Rank.
  • the value of quality content above all other factors.

Quotable

“A search engine cares about bringing to the user the best possible answer as quickly as possible.” – Sean McGinnis

This episode was live on Blog Talk Radio on 11/9/2011.

Browser or RSS Reader doesn’t support flash? Download/Listen to this episode 

You can also signup to be notified when I have new Podcasts scheduled by clicking the “follow” button for my show on Blog Talk Radio.

Filed Under: Blogging, Business, Interviews, Podcasts, SEO, Social Media Strategy, Technology Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Twenty Dollar Glasses got me Blogging

October 23, 2011 By 6 Comments

While scanning my National Geographic Magazine back in 2009 I came across a very fascinating article about adaptive eyeglasses for the developing world. This article was the inspiration for me to launch my first blog (it was on WordPress.com). What really inspired me about this particular invention is that it appeals to several very important interests of mine:

  • Science
  • Humanities
  • Innovation

Imagine if you will, you are a poor nearly blind individual in Sub-Saharan Africa. For $19 someone has figured out how to provide you with crisp vision without having to go see a non-existent specialist. How would that change your life? It is hard to fathom for me, but I salute the not just reasonable but incredibly beneficial technology developed by Joshua Silver a Oxford University Physics professor.

Filed Under: Inspiration, Technology, Video Tagged With: , ,

Expand your content sharing with Print Friendly and PDF

October 21, 2011 By 8 Comments

As bloggers we’re always looking for ways to make our content more friendly, encourage conversation and encouraging distribution of the content to amplify our voice. I recall seeing the Print Friendly plugin for the first time over at Waxing Unlyrical. I thought it was interesting but didn’t connect the dots until yesterday that is.

Why some of your readers will love this plugin

Think for a moment about your less tech savvy readers, the ones who may not even have a Twitter account or won’t bother to click the LinkedIn share because they rarely log in. Or think about the friends and connections of your tech savvy readers that won’t want content delivered anywhere but the old tried and true – Email. This is where the true power of Print Friendly lies. In this video I demonstrate how the plugin works and describe in more detail why I think it is great for the web 1.0/Email crowd.

Video not showing up? Try this direct link.

Filed Under: Productivity, Technology, Video, Wordpress, YouTube Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
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