Successful Blog

Net Neutrality 8-9-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

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

Reader Comment on Net Neutrality (and My Rebuttal)

Reader Richard Bennett, whose own blog often articulates the telco point of view on Internet Neutrality more coherently than most telcos, posted a challenging comment to my post announcing that I’m speaking at the Berkman Center tomorrow. . . .

“* Do you believe that all applications have the same requirements from the network?”

. . . The reason we need an Internet which is network agnostic is because only an application-unaware network allows the kind of incredible innovation which has occurred on the Internet. David Isenberg (who Richard [Bennett] mislabels on his blog as a marketing person – David’s background is Bell Labs) explains why this is so brilliantly in The Rise of The Stupid Network).

My simplistic explanation is that a network which is built to be aware of specific applications may work well for those applications that the network designers had in mind but will inhibit if not absolutely prevent applications the network designers didn’t think of as well as the evolution of existing applications. The traditional phone network is a great example of that. Handsets on that network don’t even have the capability of cell phones because the network is optimized for voice and voice alone. I posted more on this here. . . .

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

The Mic Is on at the Neighborhood Hangout

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It’s Like Open Mic Only Different

Here’s how it works.

open mike night

It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME.

The rules are simple — be nice.

Tonight we’re hanging out!

Saloon Opening Day

We might also talk about

  • The people we meet
  • The places we where we used to hang out
  • The weirdest hangouts
  • The crazy people in them

AND THE EVER POPULAR,

Basil the code-writing donkey.

–Me “Liz” Strauss

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The Mic is on and We’re in OZ!

Open Mic 7pm Chicago Time — at the Neighborhood Hangout

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Every Neighborhood Worth Its Salt Has One

Personal Branding logo

YES, the mic will be open again tonight. So start collecting your thoughts. Remember, you get to bring what you want to talk about.

The rules are simple — be nice.

There are always first timers and new things to talk about.

Tonight we’re hanging out!

We might also talk about

  • The people we meet
  • The places we used to hang out
  • The weirdest hangouts
  • The crazy people in them

AND THE EVER POPULAR,

Basil the code-writing donkey.

It’s like any rambling conversation. Don’t try to read it all. Jump in whenever you get here. Just go to the end and start talking. EVERYONE is WELCOME.

And we’ll be in your favorite neighborhood hangout — drinks are optional.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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The Mic is on and We’re in OZ!

Net Neutrality 8-8-2006

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Net Neutrality Links

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

Even Giants Like Siemens Worry

Why would Siemens worry about net neutrality’s effects on smaller companies? Its customers aren’t necessarily big. “We sell to small and medium companies that are built on a low-cost structure and are net-dependent,” said [Ralph] Riley {Siemens senior executive] in Ann Arbor, Mich.

While the debate over net neutrality continues, users remain the forgotten stakeholders. Click here to read more.

He already sees potential for danger for his company’s markets and customers. “This would probably restrict much of the drive toward mobility that’s growing in American business,” Riley said. He said that with greater regulation, it could become impossible for users to roam freely from one carrier to another as they do now.

“What it would do is suppress much of the opportunity businesses have in expanding mobility,” he said. “How would you go anywhere without being charged too much or not getting access?”

But Riley said he also worries that too much regulation would be just as bad. . . .

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related
NET NEUTRALITY PAGE

7.4: Cat’s Advice and Her Favs

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Whew! Cat’s a Busy Designer!

Cat Morley

I’m not going to list all of the places we’ve been with Cat. From OZ to design for the Queen is enough said. Tonight questions are a little closer to home.

Cat, What do you do when you’re not sharing your great links and ideas at Successful Blog?

I still have clients in the wings (the last ones before taking off into
unemployment), I keep Designers who Blog running. I’m project manager for NO!SPEC which means I deal with design orgs when spec competitions come up, I send out letters of protest and galvanize people to send out letters, etc. As project manager for Creative Latitude I confer with my team before we update, deal with new authors, come up with angles, etc. As the president of Proscodi I put together committees to deal with each element of setting up a design org, I meet other heads of design orgs, go to meetings, etc.

What advice do you have for new bloggers and young designers?

Bloggers – it always takes more time than you planned so be sure to write about something you love. And be prepared to walk away if it’s taking up too much of your life.

Designers – there is not enough room here for all the advice I’d give to a young designer, so the top priority would have to be:

    – Get a degree. The best one you can afford. And then some.
    – Learn about business, accounting, dealing with clients,
    communicating, public speaking, hiring, etc.
    – Learn to write. The majority of the designers I know have appalling
    grammar. Myself included.
    – Latch onto a mentor.
    – Never stop learning.
    – Get a life. Preferably your own.

What design work online do you point to as well done?

Illustrator: (Von created the icons for Creative Latitude) –
http://www.vonglitschka.com/
Web designer: (Nigel designed the Creative Latitude website) –
http://www.commonsensedesign.net/
Blog designer: http://www.pearsonified.com/

One more part to go. Cat tells her BIG IDEA.

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Related article
Interview 7.1: Meet Cat Morley, World Designer
7.2 Interview: Cat Morley Becomes a Blogger
7.3: Cat, the Toothpaste, the Queen and Everyone

10 Reasons Readers Don’t Leave Comments

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My Secret

My name is Liz and I have a secret. I read your blog almost every day, but you you wouldn’t know that. That’s because I hardly ever leave a comment.

I know the value of a well-placed comment. I’m pretty good at writing down what I think. Yet, when it comes time to writing a response to what you wrote, some days I can’t quite get my fingers to the keyboard. I start to write something . . . then I leave without posting it.

There are more readers like me than ones who are not. I know. I’ve talked to them. I’ve been talking to them about why they don’t comment. It seems that we have the same secret reasons for not leaving our calling card. We want to leave our thoughts, but things get between us and that comment box.

It’s time we came clean and let you know what they are.

10 Reasons Readers Don’t Leave Comments

I don’t suppose this is all of the reasons folks choose not to comment. This is only a list of 10 +1 of them that I’ve heard over and over again.

  1. What you write is so complete, that I don’t know what to say except good job. I feel silly writing that, so I read and move on.
  2. You’ve taught me something I didn’t know, and I need to think about it before I even have a question. Much like number 1, I don’t want to embarrass myself. I’m better off moving on.
  3. I get ready to type a comment, but I notice you only respond to a few friends who mostly share inside jokes. I won’t take the risk of being overlooked in public.
  4. The folks who comment on your posts like to argue and I don’t. I’m not sure I’m brave enough to fight my way into the crowd.
  5. You rarely respond to comments. So, there’s no point in writing one.
  6. Your blog has geeky attitude and I’m not geeky enough to keep up.
  7. I really like your blog and your post, but I’m too tired, busy, or any one of a number things that you can’t control. I’ll comment the next I come back to read.
  8. You end your posts with a giant general question like “What do you think of the Big Bang Theory?” That question is such a big one. I don’t have time to answer it. I feel strange answering with a lesser comment.
  9. You put up a fence by making me login to comment. I have too many passwords already and I don’t know you well enough to add one to my list.
  10. Your content wasn’t fresh and exciting, and I couldn’t find anything YOU inside it. It seemed the same post that I’ve read on 10 other blogs. If I commented, I would have to tell you that.
  11. PLUS ONE: Your post was negative. Negative is scary. Most folks don’t like negative stuff, because they know they could be next to be the recipient. I don’t comment, because I don’t want to be part of it.

Sometimes I don’t comment because I’m self-conscious about new groups and fitting in. I suppose most people feel that way now and then. I’m working on that.

Yet when the content is rich and compelling, I lose all self-consciousness. My fingers can’t wait to share what you’ve started me thinking. My hands literally jump to the keyboard and start typing out the words. Other readers have said that is true for them too.

Compelling content causes comments.

Did I miss the reasons that keep you from commenting?

–ME “Liz” Strauss

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