Thinking Cap

Happy 10th Birthday, (Public) Internet

Tue, 18 Jan 2005 16:20:12 -0800

What do you buy a 10-year old these days? You could spoil him or her with a tech toy, like an iPod Shuffle or a Gameboy. Remember though that parents and teachers have bossed them around their whole lives. I bet most kids at that age, with their teens just around the corner, would throw it all away if they could just get a little respect.

Building Google friendly URLs

Thu, 13 Jan 2005 11:50:24 -0800

Much has been written about how blogging and RSS newsfeeds are affecting the dynamics of the search engine world. There are countless articles discussing how you can achieve a top Google ranking, and part of that discussion revolves around URLs (uniform resource locators).

Time for a change

Mon, 10 Jan 2005 22:51:26 -0800

The humour, multimedia and various commentary on the Thinking Cap site had a place here for many years. Now it's time to find a new venue at Michael Klassen's blog.

We are continuing to post at Thinking Cap's business blog, which we describe as "observing life and business shaped by internet."

eBay dropping MS Passport

Thu, 30 Dec 2004 08:43:38 -0800

Interesting news today that eBay is no longer going to be using Microsoft's passport sign-on service.

Not sure whether this news bodes well for Vancouver startup Sxip, a company established by tech entrepreneur Dick Hardt. Sxip is a one-stop secure sign-up service attempting to succeed where Passport failed.

In the months ahead I will be exploring the Sxip service to see whether it is something I will recommend to my clients.

A 'living dictionary' is born

Fri, 17 Dec 2004 20:12:33 -0800

"Internet Time" is an phrase from the mid-90s that described the rapid pace of high tech innovation, especially around web browser development. Every 3 months or so the public pretty much demanded a new software release, and they got it. The ripple effect was new websites and new online business concepts being launched practically every day.

No thanks to these Yellow books

Wed, 08 Dec 2004 12:39:33 -0800

What to do about the Yellow books I get delivered to my door each year. I have not used a phone directory in recent memory. I am inclined to Google (or Google Local now in Canada) when I need to find services. Like a lot of people I rely on referrals from people I know when it comes to hiring help.

Clyde Riders: maximize your Web PR!

Mon, 06 Dec 2004 19:15:47 -0800

Tonight I watched my usual assortment of 6 o'clock news, and saw a great story about a group of BC women who ride Clydesdale horses. They are the lone Canadian representatives at the 2005 Rose Bowl half-time show! The audience for this program is reported to be about $400 million. A little Canadian pride naturally occurs when I see this kind of story.

Phisher Kings

Tue, 30 Nov 2004 21:27:33 -0800

Never fails. The very official sounding Domain Registry of Canada (DROC) keep sending me notices of expiring domains. Now they're even sending them 6 - 8 months before the domain expires! Must be that people are catching on to them.