My Name is Kate

links for 2009-06-30

2009-06-30T11:30:16-07:00

Geek Feminism Wiki

Discovered this today ... I've blogged a number of times about the issue of having more women speakers at conferences as well as concerns about women attendees of conferences. This wiki pulls a lot of resources and great thought pieces together.

(tags: feminism geek wiki gender technology Women)

links for 2009-06-29

2009-06-29T11:30:21-07:00

OPMLBuilder: Create OPML file (online OPML Builder)

You know ... in case you ever need to build an OPML file.

(tags: OPML rss generator tools)

links for 2009-06-27

2009-06-27T11:30:11-07:00

Understand Mac OS X processes

Really helpful details about all the processes that are running on your Mac.

(tags: mac list osx process reference activitymonitor)

links for 2009-06-23

2009-06-23T11:30:14-07:00

Guide to Getting Started with Social Media for Artists and Arts Organizations

New ebook on social media specifically targeted to artists and arts organizations. Written by theatre publicist, Rebecca Coleman. Good stuff!

(tags: ebook socialmedia arts finearts)
How to Turn Affiliate Marketing Disclosure Into a Selling Point | Copyblogger

I'm with Brian - I think the FTC requirement for disclosure is AWESOME! Though I'm sure the already relatively honest bloggers will comply while the folks who create splogs, link farms and run other online scams will continue to get away with it. Seems that regulations like this never really solve the problem they are intended to.

(tags: bloggers blogging ftc affiliate disclosure onedegree)
The 5 People Who Secretly Control Your Life | Work Life Balance | Time Management Tips | Wake Up Early

Eye-opening, thought-provoking article on who the biggest influencers in our lives are - and whether or not we realise it - and what happens when we don't.

(tags: lifehacks lifecoaching thoughtful)

links for 2009-06-22

2009-06-22T11:30:14-07:00

10 Quick & Dirty Tricks for Easy Custom Web Backgrounds | Graphic Design | Tutorial Blog

Been doing more backgrounds lately: Twitter, YouTube, etc. This helps - so ideas/tools to build on.

(tags: WebDesign Patterns resources Photoshop tutorials howto)
50 Social Sites That Every Business Needs a Presence On

Good list and descriptions of social bookmarking and social networking sites.

(tags: socialmedia business social web2.0 marketing socialbookmarking)

Two Delightful Things - CupCakeCamp and SeekingSimone

2009-06-21T12:49:49-07:00

Every once in a while I still miss Toronto and all its *happenings*. Vancouver is delightful, but smaller, so we generally don't have the variety of activities here as there. In particular, I was recently very jealous of Toronto's CupCakeCamp. Sure .. BarCamp is great and DemoCamp .. also good. But CupCakeCamp?!?! Who wouldn't want to attend CupCakeCamp?

Well now, thanks to enterprising cupcake-lovers Stephanie and Victoria, CupCakeCamp YVR is happening! Friday, July 10, 2009. Tickets just went up "for sale" (they're free, but a donation is encouraged). You can also follow CupCakeCampYVR on Twitter.

Speaking of cupcakes ... my wife, Rosemary, and her friend Renee (and then a bunch of their friends) have launched a new web series called Seeking Simone.

Seeking Simone is a new lesbian web series about online dating. Follow the adventures of Simone Selkin as she dates her way through gay Toronto!
"What's so great about meeting 'in real life' first anyway? That's how Ava Braun met Hitler and look how that turned out."
Simone Selkin is single and in no way ready to mingle. Her excuses? Well, she's new to Toronto, she's trying to make the most of her big break on CSIS:ForensicSWAT and, if she's honest, she's still getting over her ex, Rebecca, who was a total skank. But back in Vancouver, Simone's best friend Audrey has a plan to get Simone back on the horse. And that plan is "online dating".
Don't fret, hets - Seeking Simone is not just for homos. It's a comedy for anyone who's ever dared to date - and lived to cringe forever over the tale.

Episodes 1 and 2 are ready and watch-able. And I hear their editor is working furiously on the third. Below is the trailer, to give you a taste of the show. I, of course, think it is charming and funny. But I acknowledge I'm biased. Still, give it a view - I'll bet you like it too!

Are trackbacks now the sole dominion of spammers?

2009-06-13T13:39:19-07:00

I just spent 37 minutes turning off trackbacks on all my blog posts (if Typepad's post management tools were a little better, it would have taken me 37 seconds). Lately I've been getting 2 or 3 trackbacks a day for various drugs - all of which have nothing to do with me or my blog posts.

I looked back over my 6 year blog history and counted my trackbacks: for 925 posts I have only 81 legitimate trackbacks - the most recent from mid-December of 2008. Compare that to the 8,083 spam trackbacks trapped in my spam filter.

Ridiculous.

Seems that no one if really using them anymore - is that true? I've decided to turn them off if for no other reason than to save myself the 2 mintes every other day to delete them.

Is it time to migrate towards a less proprietary and more social system of "trackbacks"? Something like CommentLuv? I know WordPress has some nice plugins.

Or, with the advent of Twitter and the slow coming-of-age of Friendfeed, do we even need the trackback-esque mechanism anymore? Seems like the conversations have migrated to other places.

Photo Credit: PrudenceBrown121

links for 2009-06-12

2009-06-12T11:30:16-07:00

74% of Canadians unaware of Twitter: online survey

This is so not surprising.

(tags: onedegree twitter canadian blissfulignorance)

Homestead House Paint Offers a Great Example of Hyperlocal Guerrilla Marketing

2009-06-11T13:17:21-07:00

A few weeks ago when I was in Toronto, I was browsing through a local bookstore spending a few pleasant minutes before the start of a movie at an adjacent theatre. I spent some time in the "eco" section, looking for some content ideas for a client, and I came across Adria Vasil's Ecoholic.

Sweet.

As I picked up Ecoholic to flip through it, it fell open at the "Home Improvement" section of the book. On the PAINT page. The page was marked with postcard from Homestead House Paint Company, a Toronto company that specializes in eco-friendly paints, stains and finishes. The other side of the postcard advertises Cycling Painters, another Toronto-based company that will apply your eco-friendly paint for you - and cycles to your location, for the good of the environment.

I thought this was pretty clever. It reaches a targeted, local, niche audience when and where they are looking for a specific product or service that the advertisers have to offer. And it's portable, so the potential customer could event take this piece of marketing with them without buying the book.

One reason this works, of course, is that everyone ISN'T doing it. I certainly don't want to have my book browsing time turned into a hybrid of Times Square billboards and "Subscribe!" magazine notices. But I thought that this was a good, highly-targeted low-cost example of what a local business can do to get the word out.

Plus, I now have a handy bookmark.

links for 2009-06-11

2009-06-11T11:30:16-07:00

The Complete Google Analytics Power User Guide - VKI Studios Blog

Nice, chunked-out guide to using Google Analytics.

(tags: analytics google guide howto reference tutorial onedegree)
Promoting your product or service with banner ads - is it worth it? - Blog - Campaign Monitor

Excellent analysis of a banner ad campaign - complete with different creative, landing pages and conversion results. Good stuff. Very instructive. Via @kenschafer

(tags: advertising marketing campaign tutorial howto analysis onedegree banners)
A Map Of Social (Network) Dominance

Great visualization of social networks across the globe.

(tags: socialnetworking map visualization statistics socialmedia onedegree)

links for 2009-06-02

2009-06-02T11:30:18-07:00

Tips for conference bloggers - Lunch over IP

A guide written by some of the live bloggers from TED on live blogging. Includes links to advice from other folks as well.

(tags: blogging conference howto tips ted)
The League of Moveable Type

Collection of open source fonts.

(tags: typography fonts opensource design resources)
Has Google Maps Switched From PageRank to “BizRank”?

Interesting article on Google PageRank and how it may (or may not) affect businesses listed in Google Maps. This is an area of search I don't know a lot about. Very informative.

(tags: google marketing search SEO googlemaps pagerank)

links for 2009-05-31

2009-05-31T11:30:27-07:00

Engagement planning worksheets to engage your users and move them to action | Social Signal

Couple of great tools from the super-smart folks over at Social Signal.

(tags: marketing strategy engagement socialmedia onedegree)
17 Places to Find PodSafe Music « The BlogTalkRadio Blog

Great list of places to find podsafe and royalty-free music.

(tags: content music podcasting podsafe)

links for 2009-05-28

2009-05-28T11:30:14-07:00

Concept Maps

Discovered via @chelpixie on Twitter. Amazing visualizations of concepts like "play" and "innovation" as well as processes like "heart attack" and "how to play baseball". Cool.

(tags: visualization design inspiration infographics ia conceptmapping)

links for 2009-05-27

2009-05-27T11:30:17-07:00

Smart Girls At The Party | ON Networks

Just discovered this super-cute web series by Amy Poehler, Meredith Walker and Amy Miles. They talk to young girls and celebrate their accomplishments. Awesome! Though sadly the iTunes subscription isn't available in Canada (though you can still watch on the site).

(tags: Women feminism video girls media inspiration)

links for 2009-05-25

2009-05-25T11:30:12-07:00

Digital Socialism - Kevin Kelly

Excerpt from an essay by Kevin Kelly in the upcoming Wired, called the New Socialism, that describes an emerging embrace of socialism-lite or digital socialism in the online realm.

(tags: marketplace digitallife socialism theory freemium)