Author Archives: Michael

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About:Web Design – Two In a Row

I’m not usually a fan of the About.com sites. None of them, for a variety of reasons.

However, I do still subscribe to “About Web Design,” and sometimes I actually look at one of the posts. To my pleasant surprise, she recently wrote two in a row that are worth reading:

1. “Why Do Web Developers Ignore Their Own Sites?”:http://webdesign.about.com/od/jobs/a/aa053104.htm

Ouch. This one hits home, in terms of working on websites for others, and neglecting my own.

bq. It’s funny to me how some of the most boring and ugly sites on the Internet are for Web designers.

By the way, just ignore this part: “My Criteria for Judging a High Quality Site”

2. “Web Design Businesses – Start with a Business Plan”:http://webdesign.about.com/od/jobs/a/aa052404.htm

Some good points from the post:

* If you treat your business seriously, so will your clients.
* What is a Business Plan
* Why You Need a Business Plan
* Sit Down and Do It Now

Amen!

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Church Marketing Sucks

An interesting item from “*Church Marketing Sucks*”:http://www.churchmarketingsucks.com/ on November 11:

“National Outreach Convention 2005”:http://www.churchmarketingsucks.com/archives/2005/11/national_outrea.html by Greg Atkinson.

He mentioned a speaker at the convention that caught my attention:

“*They Like Jesus, Not the Church*” by Dan Kimball (Founding Pastor of Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, California)
The concept is that people are open, but it is organized religion is what turns people off.

Best quote:

bq. “We must become listeners of people and watchers of culture.”

I would’ve enjoyed seeing that one.

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Government Decides Patent Law Is For Others

Someone in the federal government has apparently decided to opt out of the U.S. Patent laws:

“U.S. Weighs In on Patent Case
To Keep Its BlackBerrys Running”:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113173063040994941.html?mod=home_whats_news_us

As the Roman cynic Juvenal said, “Who Will Watch the Watchers?”

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WSJ Editorial: I cancelled AOL

The weekend edition of the “Wall Street Journal”:http://wsj.com/ had an amusing editorial entitled “The Wrong Address” by Lionel Shriver. The site requires a subscription, but a free trial may be available. To find it, just do an article search for “hate AOL.”

Best quotes:

* “I did it! I cancelled AOL.”
* “For years I’d kept this dinosaur ISP….”
* “…you gotta admire any software that spews such a tropical array of error messages.”
* “Humiliating nursery-school graphics.”
* “Constant updates of a program whose ballooning size is in inverse proportion to its functionality.”

Ouch.

I was an AOL member back in the day, when they were new, hip and fun. Only a handful of years later, they seem old and clingy.

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