Successful Blog

Congratulations b5media on the New Website!

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Would You Look at That!

b5media 2006

The old b5media digs was getting a little tight. We’re 150 blogs strong with 14 channels and 2 million unique visitors every month. That many people, that many places meant it was time to get roomier — so that folks wouldn’t bump into each other and fall down.

Open the door to the next level — many rooms, plenty of spaces and new places to get folks where they’re going with the latest architecture. . . . simply elegant, well executed, and well, just excellent and just right!

The new b5media home page and the new blog — click to see them larger.

b5media.com home page b5media.com new blog

Congratulations to b5media — to the founders: Jeremy, Darren, Duncan, and Shai. Kudos and wow to Ben Bleikamp, the man who designed the classy website and to Aaron Brazell, the technology architect who brought it life.

Go on over. Do some exploring. Be sure to check out the elegant comment box Ben designed just for you. While you’re there, leave a word for Ben and Aaron — a toast or congratulations. Here’s a link to get you to the new b5media website.

I’ll wait here. I’m still nervous about getting lost in space again.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related article,
Two Blogs in One: A Good Hack Gone Bad

Net Neutrality 11-05-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

Mudwrestling At The Goldberg’s

. . . The issue seems pretty simple. Videotron wants to preserve the gatekeeper status they enjoy as a cable television provider. That’s why they oppose net neutrality. In a world where many competitive alternatives exist, that might be tolerable. In our world — the world where your choices are cable or the incumbent telco — it shouldn’t even be on the table.

Do we, as consumers and producers of content, want a return to the end-to-end integrated model of the entertainment networks, or do we want choice? There’s enough crap on the tube. Let’s vote for choice and see what happens.

Want to know what you can do?
MA Bell Monopoly Versus the Free Internet — Tell the FCC Net Neutrality Is Not Negotiable

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

Two Blogs in One: A Good Hack Gone Bad

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Two Blogs in One

On Tuesday Open Comment Nights while the comments are flying at one or more per second, Joe says Successful-Blog has a time warp. Come and see for yourself. He seems to be onto something. Yesterday I thought Is there a space warp too? It sure felt that way.

The problem started Thursday night — folks could see their own comments, but couldn’t see mine. Had I fallen out of my blog into a black hole? No, a server move met my way of finding unique problems to solve.

Not everyone could say they had two, two, two blogs in one.

Thank you, Jeremy for telling me what was going on. I didn’t know you were moving house, yet you stopped to find out, so I would know.

Thank you, HART for the screen shot of what you saw — it helped solve the problem with fewer words.

What I Saw What You Saw that HART Sent

A Good Hack Gone Bad

The smartest technology architect from b5media, who had plenty to do, Aaron Brazell saw that I was still on the old server blog. He found a forgotten hack in my computer. It was made months back to fix an issue I hardly remember.

Helpful hacks can be problems waiting to happen. This was a case of a good hack gone bad.

We deleted that hack. Suddenly, I was back on the blog inside your computer.
Thank you, thank you, Aaron. I so appreciate every minute you spent.

Gosh it’s great to be back. Yeah I know, most folks say I’m lost in space anyway. So what’s new?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

PS. Please don’t ask why I never thought to check one of the other 8 million computers in our house. I was lost in space. I didn’t know where I was.

Of course, when I finally told my husband what was up, that was the first thing he did. Go figure.

Thanks to Week 54 SOBs

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muddy teal strip A

Successful and Outstanding Bloggers

Let me introduce the bloggers
who have earned this official badge of achievement,

and the right to call themselves
Successful Blog SOBs.

I invite them to take a badge home to display on their blogs.

muddy teal strip A

99 shades of grey

amrithallan

BLOG

Fractals of Change

Marketing Pilgrim

purple wren communications

solostream webstudio

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

They take the conversation to their readers,
contribute great ideas, challenge us, make us better, and make our businesses stronger.

I thank all of our SOBs for thinking what we say is worth passing on.
Good conversation shared can only improve the blogging community.

Should anyone question this badge’s validity, send him or her directly to me. This award comes with a full “Liz said so” guarantee. It is endorsed by Kings of the Hemispheres, Martin and Michael, and backed by my brothers, Angelo and Pasquale.

deep purple strip

Want to become an SOB?

If you’re an SO-Wanna-B, you can see the whole list of SOBs and learn how to be one by visiting the SOB Hall of Fame. Click the link or visit the What IS an SOB?! page in the sidebar.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

When Did AT&T Become Not For Profit? Was I Absent that Day?

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Net Neutrality Links

I’m adding this link to the Net Neutrality Page.

Tom Evslin at Fractals of Change has been following Mr. Whitacre of AT&T more closely than I have. Tom’s detailed account of the merger with BellSouth is quite clearly focused. I’ve only pulled highlights. Read his analysis at at&t Blames Commercial Entities for FCC Delay.

Mr. Evslin’s report begins with the fact that the FCC has again delayed voting on AT&T’s merger/acquisition with/of BellSouth. He includes these lines from the NY Times in which AT&T is quoted as saying:

“While we regret that the merger has been delayed by the self-interest of commercial entities and their litany of unreasonable demands, we look forward to the F.C.C.’s approval so that we can get about the business of providing the overwhelming benefits the merger represents to consumers, to the economy and to the public interest.”

. . . we regret self-interest of commercial entities?

Excuse me? Are you implying you’re not part of that group? When did AT&T become not for profit? Was I absent that day? If you’re going to imply something untrue to me, please have the decency to be convincing.

Dear Mr. Whitacre, CEO of AT&T, first you said you will charge me and my destination to use “your pipes.” Now your company says that commercial entities are in the way of your “overwhelming benefits to the public interest.”

Tom Evslin says,

It’s the hypocrisy that’s annoying. Much more important is that this acquisition is significantly anti-competitive and is NOT in the public interest, far from it.

I have to agree with him.

Refusing emergency wireless voicemail access is only one in the list of things NOT “in the public interest” AT&T and BellSouth have done to date. MA Bell is back. Do read on. I missed most of this until Tom Evslin put it in one place.
[Read more…]

SOB Business Cafe 11-03-06

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SB Cafe

Welcome to the SOB Cafe

We offer the best in thinking–articles on the business of blogging written by the Successful and Outstanding Bloggers of Successful Blog. Click on the title shots to enjoy each selection.

The Specials this Week are

Brightmeadow explains the fine art of writing instruments and why quality counts.

Essential Keystrokes demonstrates how search engines are interconnected in complicated ways.

Simplenomics educates us on the art and history of the compliment and how it applies in our business lives.

Fool for Five knows we can learn something from a Prison Break.

Trevor Hampel gives some thought about our audience, knowing full well that “for whom” is just stuffy talk.

Related ala carte selections include

Converstations lets us know that the frequencies are changing with the times.

Purple Wren reminds us to keep track of what’s going on around us.

Sit back. Enjoy your read. Nachos and drinks will be right over. Stay as long as you like.
No tips required. Comments appreciated.

Have a great weekend!

–ME “Liz” Strauss