From DreamHost to MediaTemple // October 26th, 2006

I finally moved away from DreamHost problems and over to MediaTemple. And like Mark Wiens, I too am on The Grid.

Moving was simple with WordPress Database Backup, I just downloaded a backup of my blog/site and then uploaded it into PHPMyAdmin and everything was set (with the exception of updating my .htaccess file).

Even though DreamHost offers a lot more than MediaTemple in terms of storage and bandwidth, I am certain I am never going to come close to reaching the max so those extras become irrelevant. What is relevant to me is reliability and trustworthiness and DreamHost lacks both.

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  • I just resolved an issue that was preventing WordPress from accepting comments. Internet Explorer users were seeing their comment appear even though it was not posted to the database and others were receiving a blank wp-comments-post.php page. It appears the issue was with removing the 'www' from my domain name and not changing the settings in WordPress to update the .htaccess file structure. (0 Comments)

Best Local Blog? // August 17th, 2006

David over at Willow Glen Extra blogged about Metro’s annual Best of Silicon Valley 2006 Reader’s Survey. I took a look at the survey to see what some of the categories are and was somewhat surprised to see “best local blog” but more surprised that San Jose, the supposed capital of Silicon Valley, has so few blogs. Here is a list of local blogs (greater San Jose area, essentially Santa Clara County) and bloggers that I know of. If you would like to add yours or one you read, feel free to leave a comment.

update: I am now aware that this category was an option last year, but their winner and 3rd place site are not blogs at all - #3 was Craigslist for God’s sake. That is just stupid - both that those sites were #1 and #3 and that Metro accepted those sites at all. Let’s vote for a real blog, please

Update (8-17-06): My nominations woud be, in no particular order:

Update (9-25-06): Results are in:

  1. The non-blog, Unrulyrus.com comes in first again. Probably due to ballot-box stuffing
  2. “Silicon Valley’s Tech Gossip Rag”, Valleywag, is the first runner up
  3. San Jose Inside comes in third

Lame.

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RocketBoom Changes & A Bet with Jeremiah // July 6th, 2006

RocketBoom, the daily videolog, lost their on screen talent when Amanda Congdon left to pursue her career in Los Angeles. This has been discussed a lot across blogs, so I decided to make a bet with Jeremiah about RocketBoom… The bet is that in six months time RocketBoom will be better off than they were with Amanda. And by that we mean they will have and maintain an increase in traffic.

A lot of people think this will be the downfall of RocketBoom, I beg to differ. See… most people say they probably won’t continue to watch with Congdon leaving. Let’s look at why they watched in the first place. The reason, even though many people wish to deny, is because she appeared to be an attractive girl dishing out geeky news. That is it. RocketBoom was successful because an attractive female was doing the talking. It is as simple as that. Would it have been as popular if someone like this were hosting the show? Of course not.

I hate to be the one to say this, even though this is not personal but a skill critique, but Amanda didn’t really exude any remarkable talent, acting or comedic. It would not be difficult for RocketBoom to find another pretty face, with a more natural, less exaggerated on-screen persona. Amanda on the other hand heads to Los Angeles where very attractive women with more talent are a dime a dozen.

This split showcases to other would-be Congdons that they too could be a sensation as well, and now in less time. This gives RocketBoom a larger pool of candidates and the best to come out of that pool will be something worth watching. And that is why RocketBoom will be doing better in six-months.

UPDATE (7-12-06): The new RocketBoom has finally launched. Already the new host displays more talent and a more “real” on-screen persona. Jeremiah should probably just pay up now.

UPDATE (7-13-06): Oh nevermind with this RocketBoom crap, The Show with Zefrank is better (subscribed).

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Chitika Audit Reporting // December 2nd, 2005

There is a lot of discussion about Chitika’s auditing of click-thru reporting for a lot of people. Jensense points to this thread on Digital Point and Pro Blogger and Performancing have discussions going on as well. A lot of people are upset that their revenue dropped significantly after the audit. Some people claim up to 70%. Even though I mentioned I was rethinking Chitika in a previous post, I have to say that I saw no reduction in my audit for the month of October. Of course if I had the traffic some other people have, I might see a reduction from the audit. I’ll have to wait and see after (if?) I can build up traffic. In the meantime, I am trying to better target my ads like Darren does.

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Rethinking Chitika // November 27th, 2005

Chitika, the company I signed up with to display advertisements on my websites, recently changed the way they serve their banners. This is in an effort to minimize what they call curiosity clicks, or click-thru�s that do not lead to sale conversions on the merchant�s side.

Because of this change, I am rethinking if I should continue to use their service. There are several reasons for this; first is the mere fact Chitika modified their ads because the merchants were not happy with the results they were receiving. I do not see why I have to see a decrease in my clickthrough rate because the merchant�s website fails to convert the sale. What a reader does on that site is out of my control, but I did send them to the merchant�s site, so I should be compensated accordingly.
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More on New Blog Efforts // November 14th, 2005

This whole idea to attempt to blog full-time, honestly, came out of nowhere about two weeks ago. I was designing a new interface for this site wondering what exactly I was going to focus my efforts on. Nothing really came to mind. Then it hit me while reading several sites about blogging full-time, examining my visitor statistics, and Chitika revenue reports.
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A New Blog Direction // November 10th, 2005

With this new blog layout I should finally announce that I will begin take a new direction with my weblog. In the days, weeks, and months to come, I will be blogging about my efforts and experiments to increase not only my blog ranking but blog income as well. The primary reason I am doing this is, quite simply, because I want to make money for myself from blogging and to let others truly know what methods do and do not work so they can do the same.

It is about time I admit that I have no dream job. I never have. I merely have a dream situation. And that situation has always been the same, it is one where the working part of my life solely pays the bills and expenses so that I can do the things I want in life, so I can enjoy my life more, like we all should. Minimize the stress and maximize the enjoyment in life.

By using blogs and blogging to bring in supplemental income and enjoyment/satisfaction through interaction and informing will, hopefully, allow me more time and energy, to enjoy my life like I have always wanted.

I do have to say, for better or worse, that my ultimate goal of this new directions is to able to blog full-time and never work again for someone else. I assure you, I am not fooling myself by any means, I do not expect that this one (read: hint) blog will make me enough money to live off of. I should say that I am surprised that one would even think I would consider that as a plan. You will have to stick around to see what I mean.

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