23 September 2007
Desktop Free View
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
Having skilfully avoided taggings and memes for many months, I was seduced by Linda (metaphorically, you understand, )and I have joined the Desktop Free View party. So here it is, Ed's desktop!
This is an illuminating shot of the Plaza in Salamanca when Don Quijote appeared at an open air theatre extravaganza a couple of years ago. That is the demented knight on the left, tilting at windmills, 30 feet up. It seems to reflect the task of bloggers today trying to hit the big time!.
As per the rules of this blog tag, I haven't tidied up the icons, so this is a 100% Mac desktop in all its disarray. I use the computer too much to be artsy anal about a spotless desktop. At the end of the week, though, it should be a little more organised!
Viola, reveal your desktop if your name is Larry Hnetka and you go Hmmm, or Mike and you go aah at your Celebrity photos, or Matt and you invite bloggers to Blog about your blog, or Jeremy and you Tech It Easy, or Tyler Cruz and you are loaded.
Post a screenshot of your desktop in your blog. You can also explain why you preferred such a look or why is it full of icons. Things like that.
Tag five of your friends and ask them to give you a Free View of their desktop as well.
Add your name to this list of Free Viewers with a link pointing directly to your Desktop Free View post to promote it to succeeding participants.
List of those who participated in the tag:
iRonnie
skippyheart
thesserie
domlawrenceosb
sasha-says
maiylah’s snippets
My Memoirs
Asara
Coffee 2 go
Are We There Yet??
The Pisstakers
This is an illuminating shot of the Plaza in Salamanca when Don Quijote appeared at an open air theatre extravaganza a couple of years ago. That is the demented knight on the left, tilting at windmills, 30 feet up. It seems to reflect the task of bloggers today trying to hit the big time!.
As per the rules of this blog tag, I haven't tidied up the icons, so this is a 100% Mac desktop in all its disarray. I use the computer too much to be artsy anal about a spotless desktop. At the end of the week, though, it should be a little more organised!
To continue the desktop freeview orgy
Viola, reveal your desktop if your name is Larry Hnetka and you go Hmmm, or Mike and you go aah at your Celebrity photos, or Matt and you invite bloggers to Blog about your blog, or Jeremy and you Tech It Easy, or Tyler Cruz and you are loaded.
Wot u guys should do
Post a screenshot of your desktop in your blog. You can also explain why you preferred such a look or why is it full of icons. Things like that.
Tag five of your friends and ask them to give you a Free View of their desktop as well.
Add your name to this list of Free Viewers with a link pointing directly to your Desktop Free View post to promote it to succeeding participants.
List of those who participated in the tag:
iRonnie
skippyheart
thesserie
domlawrenceosb
sasha-says
maiylah’s snippets
My Memoirs
Asara
Coffee 2 go
Are We There Yet??
The Pisstakers
 |  |  |
| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
.
... 
.
.
...
.
. How to stand out from the crowd
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
I remember years ago, being shouted at by a punk rocker with green mohawk spikes and rings through his nose. What the hell are you lookin' at?
Er, you?! It seemed such a dumb question on his part. Why dress outrageously if you don't want to be stared at?
On another occasion I was at the bus station after school and was caught staring at a girl. When she called me on it, on that occasion, I wasn't sharp enough to reply coherently and missed my chance to impress her with my wit and humor. I blushed to my pubescent roots and prayed silently for the earth to open up and swallow me whole. (I saw her years later and thanked my lucky stars I had been a klutz that time. In her case, time hadn't been kind to her. She looked like she had swallowed a few too many young bucks whole and then been hit in the face by a bus. Ouch.)
And finally, if you want to grab attention, David Beckham style, why not try a subtle and sophisticated Chinese tattoo? Stares and gasps can be yours if you try one of these cool Chinese tattoo designs for size! Go on, you know you want to be gawped at.
I will now don a sober gray suit and crawl back into my private hidey hole to avoid the embarrassing stares and glare of publicity.
Er, you?! It seemed such a dumb question on his part. Why dress outrageously if you don't want to be stared at?
On another occasion I was at the bus station after school and was caught staring at a girl. When she called me on it, on that occasion, I wasn't sharp enough to reply coherently and missed my chance to impress her with my wit and humor. I blushed to my pubescent roots and prayed silently for the earth to open up and swallow me whole. (I saw her years later and thanked my lucky stars I had been a klutz that time. In her case, time hadn't been kind to her. She looked like she had swallowed a few too many young bucks whole and then been hit in the face by a bus. Ouch.)
And finally, if you want to grab attention, David Beckham style, why not try a subtle and sophisticated Chinese tattoo? Stares and gasps can be yours if you try one of these cool Chinese tattoo designs for size! Go on, you know you want to be gawped at.
I will now don a sober gray suit and crawl back into my private hidey hole to avoid the embarrassing stares and glare of publicity.
 |  |  |
| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Oversize business opportunities
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
Ed the Editor's personal blog corner
Is there no downside to over-consumption? Luckily for corporations, no! Consumption is soaring on a global scale, and the more over-indulging the better. Needless to say, companies servicing the US are best placed to take advantage of new trends. To massacre a slogan from Orange, the future is bright, the future is fat.
XXL
Until recently, the only businesses properly leveraging the growing over-sized community were fashion houses. Maternity dresses, sails and tarpaulins were tastefully adapted to suit the XXL frames waddling around the place. It was a win-win situation. The relatively niche target audience were happy to pay premium prices for comfy designer clothes tailored specifically to their rolls. For their part, the fashion houses were happy to slap designer labels in a prominent location for all to see. The consumers and producers were happy.
Needless to say, an epidemic in over-consumption soon overtook the nation and the former scraps of business from pioneer obese consumers have become big meaty joints. The minority fat market has expanded to a point where a 65% overweight / 38% obese American population (and growing) has plenty of cash to spend, and millions of needy folk are looking for products and services to suit their enlarged frames, swollen needs and insatiable desires. In the tradition of a perfect market economy, US businesses are adapting fast, in order to take advantage of the demand for all things big.
Supersize services
A couple of years ago, I laughingly suggested to a business person that they study the US trends and build a chain of hotels catering to over-size customers. I think I was on to something, because now, businesses that deal with Americans are homing in on all things XXL.
In Caribbean / Mexican resorts patronised by US visitors, some hotels have toilet seats capable of withstanding 1200lbs; scales are callibrated to 1000lbs, and California king size beds come as standard. And those are the obvious ways to cater for larger folk. How about extra -wide re-inforced beach loungers, and towels that wrap easily around a 70" waist?
When it comes to entertainment, entrepreneurs have had to think outside the box. How about the horse-trekking company that is now using Percherons and Clydesdales to take 300lb-ers out on the trails! These mighty beasts can manage the loads fine without breaking into a sweat - they just need to be extra pateint while their riders are winched aboard. The whinnies you now hear from the stables are sighs of relief from the poor old quarter horses that once tried and failed to take the blubber heads into the wilderness!
And if the trail riding proves too much and emergency medical assistance is still required, the nursing staff have syringes with extra long needles to reach hearts with that life-saving shot of adrenalin. And if the resuscitation fails, don't worry, there are undertakers now with coffins 28" wider than the norm. Congratulations on thinking inside the box.
Conconclusion
I don't know where it will end, but if anyone wants to finance a Supersize chain of hotels in Europe, go right ahead. The future is very bright, and your business will grow fat on the back of late adopters. Don't forget, fat cats, you heard it here on The Pisstakers!
 |  |  |
| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Stats suck even more than ever
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
Last week I did a tech post on the mind numbingly dull topic of 301 redirects. The message was loud and clear. If you make sure that all links from http://yourdomain.com are redirected to http://www.yourdomain.com, you could seriously improve your chances of being found by those pesky search engines.
After mucking about with redirects, lo and behold, one week later thepisstakers have meteored from the 72% "quartile" to the top 82% slot in the internet heirarchy. Woo hoo. In other words, of the 100 million blogs online, there are only 18 million pulling more traffic, generating more backlinks and spreading better material than me!
Well, interestingly, this rise in "authority" coincides with a slight drop in traffic and a stagnating Technorati rank! Go figure.
Not saying that stats aren't interesting, encouraging and entertaining, but really, what are they worth in the real world? When I started about a year ago, I thought it was best to assume that the internet stats scene isn't the real world, and stats are a gamers' paradise where up is down and good is bad. Unfortunately, many advertisers and opportunist money makers have promoted the internet until it has become its own real world organic eco-system of 0's and 1's, and online stats are very important and highly reflective of the true state of websites published on the web. So people like me need to get over it already and play the game.
I guess I just need to re-jig my brain to "virtual" mode and live by the numbers rather than judge the true entertainment value of the content before my eyes. I need to realise that lists are good, and 7 How To do things lists are stellar; copied and pasted lists are gold, and saying Hi, thanks for the add is a basic building block to fame and fortune in the top 10.
With those simple concepts fixed in my mind I can blog in peace, and maybe one day, I will even understand what all the stats mean and learn how to interpret them and even profit from them.
Have a good day. (In internet terms, I think that really means you will have a bad day at work, but when you get home, you will discover a hot new link train on a I had a bad day at work type of blog?)
Where do you rank according to the Website grader?
 |  |  |
| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
Hyper rich inflation
Filed in: Ed's blog spot
Ed the Editor's personal blog corner
At a time when the average Joe is struggling to pay the electric bill, rich fat cats are sweating it over soaring private jet prices and the cost of private catering. All together now, "Aaaaah."
It is hard to sympathise with any millionaire who complains that their cost of living is rising at twice the rate of us poor plebs', especially when we know that the top earners pay less tax than us and spend more than our mortgage on fine dining.
Personally, when I hear that some loaded Chinaman can afford over $200k for a handbag and an ugly New Yorker has just dished out $17000 for a face lift, it makes me want to go stroke a few private assets with the toe of my size 10 boot.
I once worked for a very wealthy guy who had a swimming pool built. He had someone work out the time it would take to fill it from a hose pipe the first time, and he went into a tizzy fit. "I'm not waiting 72 hours for a swim!" The next thing we know, we are standing watching a fleet of water trucks unloading their tanks into his pool. 4 hours later he was swimming like a beached whale, happy as larry with yet another story of over-indulgence to relate to his friends.
Each to their own, and I would love to be wealthy, but I would also like to think I had the sense to pull my head out my ass and use my money for the good of more than just a handful of handbag makers or surgeons. Meanwhile I will get back to budgeting for the next round of utility bills and Armani iron-on labels.
 |  |  |
| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
MyBlogLog Sunday 26 is coming Sunday
Filed in: MBL sunday
Anyone with a MyBloglog account who calls by this site tomorrow morning may be captured in the screenshot of my sidebar. By sundown they will then suffer a few wise words from sharp shooter, Ed.
Don't be fooled by the spin. This is all a thinly disguised attempt to garner some link love for you guys out there. The Pisstakers is a PR5 site and that means some Technorati and Google kudos for most of the blogs I review. So, join the Sunday phenomenon that is about as big as a Welsh village church congregation. You can even add to its weight with some mention or other of MBL Sunday on your own blog. Take a leaf out of Principled Discovery's book. They gave us a few moments of praise, it felt good!
Last week, to celebrate 25 issues, I did offer some gummi bears and an unidentified electrical appliance for the best review of MyBlogLog Sunday, but the response has been underwhelming. Therefore, i will have to dream up a more inspiring way to give away some goodies! Hasta tomorrow.
 |  |  |
| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
MyBlogLog Sunday week 25
Filed in: MBL sunday
For the 25th time in recent history the 10 most recent bloggers to visit this site have been snapped and will get a mini review later on today. In the Ed style of things, these blogs will be summed up in a few choice words which include a juicy PR5 backlink and a link to their MyBlogLog community. If the bloggers leave a link to their own fave post of the week, I will stumble that post too.
Prize day
If you care to write a killer post about MyBlogLog Sunday, send me the link. I will post all the links next week and we can have a little community vote and the winner will get some goodies, including Gummi Bears and an electrical appliance.
A brief history of MyBlogLog Sunday
When I was thinking of new ways to be a good community-minded blogger, I did think about sending free articles, $25 gift vouchers, and a partridge in a pear tree to every visitor to my site. On reflection (and a quick financial appraisal) MyBlogLog Sunday mini reviews seemed to be a more practical way to provide link love whilst adding content worth tuppence to the internet. And so, I launched the format and apart from a mid-summer glitch, every Sunday has been the same here!
Judging by the stats, though, I think that I was a bit idealistic about the aims of MyBlogLog Sunday. It seems that if I had simply added bloggers' names to a link train or some such list, they (and me) would rapidly have a Technorati ranking to die for without needing to suffer 250 mini reviews!
Despite the evidence, though, I prefer to remain idealistic and will continue to mini review MyBlogLog members until the unlikely event that MyBlogLog fizzles out and/or Technorati rankings trail off into statistical irrelevance. Enjoy.
Permalink is permanent
All mini reviews from today will stay on the homepage (PR5) all week and are instantly added to the archives for a permanent back link to your mini review
MyBlogLog Sunday info links
All hot mini reviews on MyBloglog Sunday!
Internet buzz on MyBloglog Sunday!
How to participate in MyBloglog Sunday!
Weekly round-up of MyBloglog Sunday!
Internet buzz on MyBloglog Sunday!
How to participate in MyBloglog Sunday!
Weekly round-up of MyBloglog Sunday!
Be back later.
PS As well as being the birthday of MyBlogLog Sunday and Lord Likely fan, Andy Fanton, it is my first wedding anniversary, so I have a feeling that the reviews will arrive quite late in the day!
 |  |  |
| "Your name" is a Kiva lender | "Your site's screenshot" SmartLink Widget | Funny HQ humor store |
