Results tagged “bestof” from KPAO

My personal domain davecortright.com was up for renewal recently on NameCheap.com. Since I'm using Nombray as my personal domain hosting service, I wanted to transfer it over to them. I logged into NameCheap and kicked off the process of transferring. I got the auth code and gave it to Chris Lunt over at Nombray, and he set everything up. And then NameCheap informed me that it failed. I found out several days after the domain expired. So I no longer owned my domain, and it was now pointing at a stupid parked page.

Of course this isn't a domain that's in high demand. But NameCheap did "thoughtfully" hold onto the registration. (They were the one hosting the parked page.) So if I wanted it back, I'd have to re-register with them. I did. I wasn't too happy about it, but everything worked out ok. I got my domain back, and only had to pay the $10 renewal fee.

Contrast this with GoDaddy. I stupidly didn't renew my rated-best domain before going on an extended vacation. I came back to a similar situation. The domain had expired, but WhoIs showed that GoDaddy still owned the domain. This seems to be standard operating procedure in the domain world. I log into GoDaddy, but I go to renew it they want a $20 "backorder fee". WTF?! But I do want the domain, so I pay the extortion fee thinking it will work like NameCheap.

And I wait for the domain to show up in my account. It doesn't. After a week I contact support. Turns out they already sold the domain to someone else. But they'd be glad to broker a deal where I can buy it back. For a fee. These guys make NameCheap look like heroes.

While I have built up a bit of traffic and inertia behind the old rated-best domain, it's not enough for me to spend any more money trying to get it back. I simply went out and registered rated-best.info. Sure, I need to build up SEO again for the new domain, but it's pretty straightforward to do so. Besides, the old domain only had a Google PageRank of 2.

The funny thing is, the guy who ended up pouncing on my domain also scraped the content and is continuing to host it from his own servers. With all of my Amazon affiliate codes in the links. So I lost the domain, but I continue to get affiliate fees. Cool.

Here is my unabashed promotion of the new domain to help get me some Google juice. Rated Best: the single best product or service in each category.

I can't say that I've heard most of the albums released this year, but I have sampled at least a song or two off of many. But Narrow Stairs by Death Cab for Cutie stands in a class by itself. It is so good, I even included it on my list of best albums of  all-time.

The funny thing is, the song they picked for their radio single, I Will Posses Your Heart, is the weakest song on the album. The second single, Cath..., is one of the better ones. For me, the best song on the album is Your New Twin-Sized Bed, followed by Grapevine Fires.

But seriously, talking about music in much depth is pretty pointless when you could be listening. Listen to it for free over on Lala. If you like it, then buy it. It's only $5 at Amazon right now. Great album, great price. Buy it now.

A recent news release from The CalorieLab ranks the US states by obesity levels. And California is 41st with a declining relative rate! Of course the actual rate is going up, but we're getting fatter at a slower rate than the rest of the country. Yay.

The graph reminded me a bit of the 2004 US presidential election results (you can draw your own conclusions from that), and that motivated me too seek other correlations and sources of nice data and graphs. What I found way exceeded my expectations: StateMaster. This site is is a treasure chest of data and graphs and correlations. Looking for a chart of oral health as measured by loss of natural teeth by state? They have it. Want to compare that rate's correlation versus energy consumption as a percentage of GDP? No problem (and just what the heck is going on in West Virginia anyway?).

Besides feeding stereotypes, StateMaster is an great (and perhaps educational) way to spend 30 minutes. But remember correlations does not imply causation (except maybe in Louisiana).

(Since Dave gets to have his own blog offering wisdom on the best products, I'll just have to post my usual drivel here.)

A while back I mentioned that the New York Times was now reasonably readable without registration, and that the newspaper is making a good run at being relevant in the web world. Now the Washington Post seems to be doing much the same thing, with results that are sometimes better and sometimes worse.

The Post appears to be pretty much completely readable for me without registering (though I do browse with cookies off by default). They have a very good editorial department, solid US and decent foreign coverage, with most of the writing seemingly done by their own staff. The latter point is especially telling to me, as I'm guessing it lets the Post set their own editorial standards. Even better, by writing most of their own content the Post guarantees that their web site (and newspaper) will have original, hopefully interesting new works. Contrast that with the San Jose Mercury News, which is pretty much just a jumble of syndicated content that I've read the day before.

The Post also has built an active community around their Talk, Global and especially On Faith sections. Their coverage of religion is especially interesting and in-depth, though some weeks their questions for discussion are a bit forced.

The biggest problem with the Washington Post's online experience is that the site is radioactive without a good ad-blocker turned on, and even then the main page is filled with "partner links," "sponsored blogs," "travel deals," "featured advertiser links" and on and on. I know that ads pay the bills, but there has to be a better way of presenting sponsored content.

If you can get past the tacky mesothelioma links, the Post is worth a daily visit.

This Life of Mine by Jason Falkner is another one of these deceptively simple songs that hooks you with it's cloyingly sweet chord progression. It uses the same bass root for nearly all of the song (much like Evaporated by Ben Fold Five) with a couple of brief phrases that break the model. Also, the lyrics "this life of mine, makes me smile sometimes." have a nice rhythm, alliteration and near-rhyme.

A (C# on top)   E/A             D/A     A       D/A     B/A

A                      E/A              
   I have been waiting for this,

D/A         A     D/A            B/A
    all the time,     it's on my mind.

A (C# on top)   E/A             D/A     A       D/A     B/A

A                              E/A              
   'cause you've been alone for so long now,

D/A            A      D/A            B/A
    it's in your eyes,    behind those eyes. and I

D/A     A     D/A     A   
want    to    love    you,   but I 

D/A             A        B/A
  don't know if I   know how,

        D              E         D                 E
'cause when I have to go away I lose all sense of yesterday

when I ask you to stay for a while,
the look in your eyes always comes as a surprise.
you see caution lives far from my mind,
and this life of mine, makes me smile sometimes.

and I want to love you, but I don't know if I know how,
'cause you look at me as if to say,
you haven't changed in any way.

bah dah bop, bah dah, bah, bah wah ahh
ooo some say it's ignorance, that turns love into self defense.
can turn to a silent rage is any glimpse of common sense.
it makes me smile sometimes.
bah dah bop, bah dah, bah, bah wah ahh
it makes me smile sometimes.

Another great song by Fountains of Wayne, it has a pretty simple chord progression, but the addition of the minor chord breaks adds a depth to this song that is missing in your typical I IV V pop dreck. The lyrics help too, "crumbs in his beard from the seafood special". Nice visualization.

G                      C
Seems the further from town I go
    D      C         G
The more I hate this place
G                    C
He's got leather and big tattoos
D                  Em
Scars all over his face
      C
And I wonder if he ever has cried
         Cm
Cause he couldn't get a date for the prom

G            Em         C           G
He's got his arm around every man's dream
    G             Em             C       D
And crumbs in his beard from the seafood special
   G                G7       C        Cm 
Oh can't you see my world is falling apart
     G                D               
Baby please leave the biker 
          C               G
leave the biker break his heart
     G                D        
Baby please leave the biker
          C               G
leave the biker break his heart

I explored an idea at work for a site I called The Best One that would have a single product recommendation in each category. You want a car? Get a Honda Civic. MP3 player? iPod Nano. Video game system? Nintendo Wii. And so on.

The inspiration was basically taking the concepts of review sites to the extreme. They already filter through all the options and provide a few to choose from. Why not go all the way and distill it down to the top pick? If the site establishes a reputation of trust, then it's a very powerful thing.

You can get around the fact that some people value attributes differently by having narrower categories. So you actually want an SUV? Get a RAV4. Family sedan? Honda Accord. Sports car? Corvette.

Turns out, there's really not much business opportunity in such a play, so we tabled it. But in the process of doing research, I found a site that is 80% there. It's called ConsumerSearch. It's basically a meta-review site, where they survey popular and respected reviews and compile them into a single list of recommendations, much like MetaCritic or RottenTomatoes.

I just used it today when I decided I needed a Bluetooth headset for my cell phone now that the hands-free law is coming up really soon now in CA. Went on the site, found they recommend the Jawbone. Saw that Jawbone just came out with v2 of their headset. Bought one. Total time invested, about 20 minutes (mostly spent trying to find an online seller and seeing if I could get a discount).

Other interesting sites to check out in the recommendation space are Cool Tools and Uncle Mark.

OK, it's a pretty cheesy song, but it's also infectious. It doesn't have a chorus like most pop songs; just a 4 bar intro and a 20-bar verse that is repeated twice. The last 8 bars of the verse have an interesting chord progression twist, switching over to the key of F and then hitting the climax of the progression on a novel chord--Fm6/Ab--before resolving nicely back into C via your standard lead in of F, and G. For those following along at home:

          C                                      F                    C
There's a small town in the mountains, where the streets are wide and still;

          F                             C           F C  
There are children making angels in the snow.

    F                 Gsus4            C       Em/B     Am     C/G
The sunset paints the sky at night; An old man works by candle light;

  Dm     /E F6                   G
A tiny baby smiles and waves hello.

       F         C/E      Dm7      Dm7/G C      Cmaj7/B
In the cold gray light of dawn, an eagle flies;

        Bb            F                G
And the men are happy wearing matching ties.

          Bb       F           Fm6/Ab          C
A pair of poodles;    A broken finger will not bend.

          Bb       F           C
Soup with noodles;    A female Klingon's drunk boyfriend.

        Bb   F               Fm6/Ab         C
A sexy lady;    This party's better than it seems.

       Bb           F              G               C
Warren Beatty; Dear sleeping giant panda: pleasant dreams.

If you want the MP3 for this song (one thing that really annoys me about YouTube is the decidedly low-fi mono audio tracks), you can get it directly from jonathancoulton.com here.

Toad the Wet Sprocket is one of my favorite bands of all time, and this is one of their best songs. It's about a unique topic that you don't often see in pop songs--trees. It also is brief at less than 3 minutes, and doesn't waste any time in repetitive themes. It gets right to business, walking through a long, novel chord progression before ending back up on the minor root. Subsequent phrases have slight variations to make things more interesting. There's also nice use of harmonic background vocals. And the vocal line is very nicely dissonant with the chords, adding more sonic complexity you rarely find outside of classical or jazz. This is pretty damn close to rock song perfection, IMHO.

Update (5/7/08): here is the chord progression which I figured over the last weekend. Enjoy.

F#m              D      /E
     Are you the plane?

F#m       E          D      /E  
     that shapes the board?

F#m       E/G#  A  D        /E
     part of    a  history,

F#m       E            D
          smoothed and worn. And

Bm   C    C#m      D              F#m/D#   D 
ohhh...        the windy weather,

F#m/D#       D      F#m/D#     E5
         dry spell,         brush fire.

A couple of months ago I bought two licenses of BusySync from BusyMac. This product works perfectly and invisibly -- which is just how it should. It makes me happy. Let me explain a bit -- My wife and I each have a Mac at home, and each have our own busy schedules. There are many appointments that we need to share (especially related to the kids). We each use Mac OS X iSync to synchronize our calendars to our phones (both Nokia S60). At work, I use Linux.

Cirque du Soleil music tends to be atmospheric, with heavy use of synthesizers mixed with more traditional instruments, very much like Broadway musicals from the 80s such as Les Misérables and Cats. I picked up a best-of compilation CD used and it's turned out to be a great buy. All of the music is good, and there are a few standouts.

Alegría has great instrumentation, with a beautiful fretless bass part. It's got a nice, non-standard chord progression too, switching between minor and major effortlessly. And the gravelly edge to the singer's voice gives it a more impassioned feel.

   Dm
Alegría
        F             C
I see a spark of life shining
   Dm
Alegría
         F              C
I hear a young minstrel sing
   Dm
Alegría
          F       C                Dm        
Beautiful roaring scream of joy and sorrow
 Bb  Gm
so   extreme
          F            C
there's a love in your raging
   Dm
Alegría
         F       C       Dm
a joyous magical feeling

Music discovery is always a tricky thing. There's a lot of crap out there. Hence, I plan on sharing some of my all-time favorite songs occasionally on this blog. And since most of them tend to be a bit off the standard pop music, hopefully I'll introduce a few of you to some new favorite songs or artists.

First up is Duncan Sheik, who had a minor hit with Barely Breathing back in 1996 on his debut album. It's a great song in its own right, but the one I'm featuring here is On a High from Daylight (2002). It's an upbeat number that always puts me in a good mood; a great tune to crank up when driving down the road on a warm sunny day.

or Gray Lady 2.0

I quote from and link to the New York Times a fair amount in my postings. I am not a subscriber of the newspaper, but I spend at least an hour or so a day reading their website.

The Times have done an amazing job revamping their online product from the days of posting a few of their print articles, to the "TimesSelect" subscription experiment, to the current, completely free-with-registration, ad supported offering. But in dropping their pay-wall, they have gone way beyond just going back to "online is a free version of print". The NY Times online is now a much richer experience -- filled with blogs from interesting people, reader contributed conversations, videos and slide shows, and of course the huge archive (the last 25-ish or so years of which are free).

Instead of the website feeling like a minor echo of the printed newspaper, it's just the opposite. The printed newspaper -- when I actually see it -- feels like it's missing something. Both have their place I suppose.

In contrast, I do subscribe to the printed edition of the San Jose Mercury News, but I can't imagine that continuing much longer. The SJ Mercury content I find interesting is the local news and a couple of columns. The New York Times represents a brand I trust and can count on to provide well written, interesting articles. The SJ Mercury News to me stands for nothing but wire reports, one local article about San Jose (I live on the Peninsula -- their coverage of that area has dropped considerably), and not much else. I get all that from the free Palo Alto Weekly, Palo Alto Daily News and Topix.

To me, brand is very important in the news business. I don't live in New York, but with it's national and global focus, the Times is emerging as one of a handful of sources that I generally (though never completely) trust and regularly consume.

I have a big music collection on my home computer, but ironically when I most want to listen to it is when I'm at work. Enter JukeFly. You install a small daemon on your home computer and configure it via the jukefly site. Then when you go to the site from another computer and sign in, you can play your songs via the browser player. The fidelity is great, and the UI's not bad either. There's a bit of lag switching songs sometimes, but otherwise it works pretty darn well.

I am not a graphic designer. But as an interaction designer, it is extremely valuable if I can at least envision a visual direction for my designs and rough them out so the whole design holds together cohesively in the final product. Plus at my new job as the solo designer, we don't always have the time or resources to hire a graphic designer.

So I started to read up on graphic design, teaching myself the principles. I checked out a lot of books from the library, and bought others. And the best overall book: The Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams. There are 4 basic principles: Contrast, Alignment, Repetition and Proximity. Learn theses basics and apply them to your designs, and you'll do at least as well as me :-)

Here's an example of a web application I designed entirely by myself; it's a Facebook app called Where I Hang. What do you think? Leave me a comment!

Everytime I read Best of Craigslist, I literally laugh out loud. Some classic lines from recent entries:

• On chili-flavored beer: “most girly Smirnoff Ice-drinking teenagers would cry after one sip of this.”
  
  
• On Christmas gifts I don’t need: “Wow, $10 to Barney’s New York! Now if I can just scrape together another 10 out of my own pocket, they’ll let me lie on the floor while the night janitor urinates on my chest and face.”
  
  
• On giving away a fridge: “I am not a fridge pimp. I don't have any more fridges at that price.No i don't have one in a different color to match your other appliances, No, I don't know where you can get another fridge just like this one for your friend.”

And every once in a while, a touching story that restores your faith in humanity:

Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her…

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, 'To Meredith' in an unfamiliar hand. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies.' Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:

Dear Meredith,

Abbey arrived safely in heaven. Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away. Abbey isn't sick anymore.

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/tus/487665904.html