Amazon Goes Woot Woot!

Posted by ryan as Humor, Interweb

Amazon acquired electronic deal seller Woot.com the other day. It will be interesting how this will change how Woot operates. Sounds like opportunity for us to see some items from the depth of Amazon that didn’t sell so good. Some of the questions from the CEO Matt Rutledge in a letter to the Woot staff were funny as usual when it comes to the Woot sense of humor.

Q: Will the Woot culture change?
A: Amazon is interested in us because they recognize the value of our people, our brand, and our unique style of deep-tissue, toxin-releasing massage. And they don’t want to start changing things now. Amazon’s hoping our nutty Woot steez continues to grow and develop (and perhaps even rubs off on them a little). They’re not looking to have their folks come in and run Woot unless we ask them to, which incidentally you can do by turning off the bathroom lights and saying the word “Kindle” three times; a helpful Amazon employee will appear in the mirror. That said, Amazon clearly knows what they’re doing in a lot of areas, so we’re geeked about the opportunities to tap into that knowledge and those resources, especially on the technology side. This is about making the Woot brand, culture, and business even stronger than it is today, and we expect that any changes will be for the better or we wouldn’t bother with this endless paperwork.

Q: Where can I get one of those vuvuzelas?
A: Are you even paying attention?

Several months ago, when we were all sitting on Jeff Bezos’s bumper drinking orange Mad Dog and trying not to be noticed, we heard a voice in the distance yelling “You kids better not scratch my Mercedes or I’m calling the cops!” We ran. It was later that night when Amazon came by the house and said they liked our style and also wanted to get that money we owed them for messing up the chrome. We like to think that our relationship with Amazon will continue at this level for many, many, many years to come.

Custom Layout Per Post

Posted by ryan as Interweb, Web Devlopment, ryanshull.com

Netuts sent out an e-mail today about Bringing The Magazine To The Web. It was a great article that talked about designing custom layouts for each post that reflected the article’s content. It is a great write up and I agree with many of the sentiments. One of the links within the article was Smashing Magazine’s article The Death Of The Blog Post. It too went into depth about the same issue. One quote made about blogging that made me think about my own site is about failing to meet one’s own expectations and the neglect of a blog. Now I personally don’t neglect my blog out of frustration. I do enough web development to know that change is constant. If something doesn’t work change it so that it does. The reason I neglect my blog is that I am too busy trying to do fine art, photography, and skateboarding. Excuses, excuses I know.  For me its about balance. I need the time away from the web to recharge and grow as an artist.

Bloggers often lack the motivation to keep their blog running. Many of them feel they have to keep it fresh by updating it every day, and failing to meet their own expectations results in both frustration and a neglected blog.
Updating a blog daily isn’t ideal, and more often than not…

seven half-hearted articles a week does not equal one very polished, interesting article.

Twitter for iPhone – A Twittie App Direction

Posted by ryan as Interweb, Technology, Web Devlopment

Twitter aquired Tweetie, a popular iPhone app. With that acquisition comes the creator of Tweetie, Laren Brichter. She is going to be joining their development team with a possible focus on developing more mobile applications.

What Is A Browser?

Posted by ryan as Interweb, Technology, Web Devlopment

It both amazes me on some levels that people don’t know what a browser is, and on the other hand makes perfect sense. It really explains why the education process for my job with clients is so crucial. For the record, this is hosted by Google and they love it when people do not know the difference between a search engine and a browser. What a great opportunity for them to capitalize on the the general public’s’ ignorance and get them using their browser Chrome. Which coincidentally is based off of webkit, the open source browser being developed by many people including Apple who use if for their browser Safari.  In my opinion though the best browser out there and one that supports the latest in web standards and allows for serious customization, Firefox.

Google Leaving The Censorship Business

Posted by ryan as Interweb, News, Serious Nod, Technology, War on the Internet

I’ve recently read that Google has made the decision to no longer censor google.cn. They also plan to leave the country and kill the domain if needed. That is if they can not operate under China’s conditions and laws. I applaud this as helping any government to censor information is ridiculous for any American company. Read about their decision from Google’s blog.

Google Browser Size

Posted by ryan as Interweb, Web Devlopment

Check out Google’s browser size web site that shows the percentage an average viewer sees of a website.

Impromtu Love

Posted by ryan as Fun & Games, Inspiring, Interweb, Music

I absolutely love the Impomptu shows that Current.tv and La Blogotheque are doing together. They follow an artist into a public setting and film a sort of raw music video. The reactions of onlookers are genuine and how awesome would it be to present at one of these live jams.

Andrew Bird

Delta Spirit

Bloc Party

Beirut

How To & Technology Guides

Posted by ryan as Interweb, Technology, Tutorial

Makeuseof.com has some useful how to guides all nicely wrapped up in one site post. With a list of topics below you can bet that you will find something useful for yourself.

1 – Internet Guide for the Movie Addict
2 – Internet Guidebook for An Audiophile
3 – The Incredible Free Manual for Every Mac User
4 – The Underground Guide to the iPhone
5 – Twitter: Best Practices & Tips
6 – The Ultimate Guide to your Windows Mobile Phone
7 – A Computer Geek’s Smart Productivity Guide
8 – Building a Media Center for your Home
9 – The Only Easy Guide To Computer Networks
10 – The Big Book of BitTorrent
11 – A Newbie’s Getting Started Guide to Linux
12 – The Idiot’s Guide To Photoshop
13 – The Big Book of iTunes
14 – The Idiot’s Guide to Building Your Own PC
15 – Laptop Buying Guide for 2009
BONUS) PSP Up- and Downgrading Guide

Free Press Calls Out Astroturf

Posted by ryan as Interweb, Technology, War on the Internet

Free Press is a huge net neutrality organization. Here it is in their own words.

Free Press is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization working to reform the media. Through education, organizing and advocacy, we promote diverse and independent media ownership, strong public media, quality journalism, and universal access to communications.

Free Press was launched in late 2002 by media scholar Robert W. McChesney, journalist John Nichols and Josh Silver, our executive director. Today, Free Press is the largest media reform organization in the United States, with nearly half-a-million activists and members and a full-time staff of more than 30 based in our offices in Washington, D.C., and Florence, Mass.

You can read the rest of the Free Press description and their mission statement on their about us page.

Not Forgotten

Posted by ryan as Advertising, Art, Career, Design, Designer, Interweb, Life Path

So I’ve been neglecting this site recently. I have not forgotten about this site and plan to start posting often again real soon. I have some things in the works and when the time is right I will make it known publicly. Long story short I’ve moved on from my previous employer and opportunity is knocking. Good times people.