About two years or so ago, I used a word in one of my posts that I had seen on line in only one other location. At the time, I thought that would make a great name for a .com domain — the stumbling block being the content (of course). I never pursued getting the domain, it was available every time I thought of the doman and checked, so I kept that nugget in the back of my head, thinking eventually I would grab it, and that I had time.
Last week, I revisited that idea, only to discover, to my horror, that someone else had registered the domain on November 6, 2008. UGH!!
A name that I had thought of two years ago, but had never followed through on, was stolen away from me a week earlier?? You can only imagine how disappointing that was to me. 
Combine that reality with the fact that after having Google Adsense on my site for nearly two years, I am just, this month, getting my first check from them, and you will understand my absence around here over the next few days.
I have a new project, and I intend to make money.
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Domain names are wierd. Take for example zillow.com — I don't associate the word 'Zillow' with anything. It's just a made up word, that rhymes with willow. It's kind of like Google — except that Google actually meant something to the Google boys. My point is, that domain names can be almost anything to begin with (I think), it's the subsequent branding that makes or break their success. Google and zillow have both succeeded in that regard.
Something else Google amd Zillow share? Both are six letter words that contain repeating letters (oo and ll, respectively).
I purchased a similar domain last week, a six letter .com, that has repeating letters, and it fits a niche site perfectly.
I will be documenting my progress with it, here.
One of the first things, I needed to consider was what to use to run the site — being most familiar with WordPress, that seemed to be the likely candidate. The trouble with that idea is that I have a distrust of all things that are WP 2.6.x. That is to say, that I am unsure of it's security, and quite honestly, I don't care for the administrative area. At all. Since security would be my primary concern, and the admin area would be where I would spending most of my time on the site — obviously, that was out of the question.
So, I chose to go with WP 2.7
WP 2.7 is a correction to the admin usability issues that were introduced with the leap away from WP 1.5 — I don't remember exactly what version fucked it up totally, just that it began with 2.0. Needless to say, 2.7 is a dream compared to what 2.6.x looks like. One problem solved.
The other issue, the security issue, is far simpler for me to handle: Obfuscating the admin directory completely, and allowing registrations while preventing users from being redirected to the dashboard. All of which is just a code rewrite for me.
With those two issues resolved, I installed WP 2.7 on this new site and went to work.
The next few days, or weeks, I will be tweaking the content, and the design, to capture the search engine niche I'm looking for.
More on that, later.
November 16th, 2008 · tech-talk · whoo · Comments (3)
It's kinda funny how the 'psuedo-political' posts I make go uncommented, but the 'hey look how dumb this newb is' posts get lots — trust me, I've noticed. You would think I could learn from that, right? You really don't expect, want, or need me to be another Huffington Post, even if I would write nearly as well as 1/2 the people that write over there. The thing is, I can't help but recognize just how fucking self-serving and stupid some people are.
Here's the latest hullabaloo: the national Republicans are all in a fit, waiting for the votes to come in on the last few Senatorial elections, most notably, one right here in my home state, and one in, of course, Alaska. The Franken/Coleman fight here in Minnesota is less of a big deal locally than it is nationally. The Alaska fight, on the other hand, which involves Ted Stevens' seat, the Republican incumbent running for reelection, who is now a convicted criminal, is more of a story.
Why? Because it's being suggested that should Stevens win, his seat will be vacated, and Alaska Gov. Palin will may end up with the seat.
(I might be a little off on the details on how stuff is done in cases like Stevens', but I do know, that the end goal is to have any Republican in the that seat. Furthermore, Palin and the Republican party, are looking for ways to get her a seat in Washington, in order to maintain her national visibility.)
I say, fine.
There's only one hitch with the grand ole Party's plan: their candidate isn't winning right now. Over the last couple days, the Democratic challenger, Mark Begich, has taken the lead in the recount count.
Setting aside, all the normal "isn't is funny how Dems always win recounts' crap which we know from 2000 isn't the truth (can anyone say Florida??), and, more importantly, that what is going on in Alaska is not a recount, but a continuation of the first count, I am aghast that given the 2 choices, Republicans would be more comfortable having a convicted criminal in office, if even for a short time, and that they expected/wanted/prodded their base to vote for that fuckall, Stevens, in the first place.
Apparently not. It's all about 60 seats in Congress, not about voters of any ilk taking out a guy who doesn't deserve to hold an office in my bathroom, much less in the U.S. Senate.
I'll say it again, politics isn't a football game, and I'm quite tired of this shit.
November 13th, 2008 · things · whoo · Comments (1)
So, 10 months ago, I found this nifty little site that allowed me to send an e-mail to myself, to be delivered some time in the future. I was bored when I found it, and submitted the following, to be delivered yesterday:
it has been one year since mom died.
I am wondering, do you still want to die?
Are you still at the same job? Still in the same city?
Hang in there if its still shitty, theres always next year
The e-mail arrived, as planned.
I don't, most days. I am, and I am.
I thought about all the different ways that I could observe yesterday, but it seems I am just like my mom, in that she never 'set out' to observe a day. I remember the day my grandmother died, and I remember the year anniversary, and it passed quietly, a lot like any other day. If my mom wept that day, I never saw it.
November 12th, 2008 · herstory · whoo · Comments (1)
