They don’t pay me anything, and so I don’t participate. How much do they pay you?

I’m willing to accept discussions of how much value you get from LinkedIn, if that is what you prefer. I have little expectation that anyone can highlight much real value, although I am sure there will be a handful of “I made a connection that turned out to be worth millions to me” lottery stories and get-rich-quick dreams. in my cirlces (even extended circles), anyone I have ever asked has said pretty much the same thing - “I never saw any value from it“. Of course these days there are some who try and explain it as “it’s social media… you participate and then people know you and you get to be a guest blogger or interviewed on blogs, and your name becomes known… and well you’re part of the conversation… and well maybe you just don’t get social media eh?” I’d rather not go there but if I am forced to I stop when I get to the part about LinkedIn making a fortune and Social Media people working hard for other people for a living. I suppose there are some parallels to that awkward moment when your boss offers you a title instead of a raise. Anyway…

With LinkedIn now partnering with the New York Times, LinkedIn becomes a bigger competitor to search, and LinkedIn members become a more valuable commodity to be pimped by LinkedIn to advertisers and influence-peddlers like the NYT. Ka-ching.
When I am offered a cut, I’ll reconsider participating. In the mean time, if you want to know who my friends and associates are, who my vendors and clients are, what I studied in what school when, where I used to work and what I like to read, well, you’ll have to pony up for drinks, bribe my b.f.f., or hire a private dick, just like old skool.

I don’t have time for this, but I have time to blog it in case anyone else is noticing the same thing… it sure seems to me the new Starbucks WiFi from ATT/SBC is throttling usage at the gateway router. Open Firefox and right-click yourself a bunch of new tabs off your favorite news aggregation page, Techmeme, or your Feedreader, and watch as the connection chokes your throughput. Do it enough and you’ll have to log in again.

It was bad enough when Starbucks took the bait and switched to this new ATT/SBC service, probably drinking the we-can-do-better Kool Aide from the people who allegedly brought us illegal wiretapping. the same people who created a need for the Net Neutrality Movement.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I’m a paid subscriber. I pay Starbucks every month for unlimited use.

Starbucks shows promise for turning itself around, but I’m afraid the WiFi is really a deal breaker for the mobile consumers like me. I switched to wireless broadband but the groups I meet with still rely on working, accessible WiFi and that includes clients, realtors, and even (gasp) a health professional I met with recently regarding some SEO development work.

Loyalty aside, if the WiFi no-worky, nothing else matters much. If more local municipalities start requiring Starbucks to list the calories in their Banana Javachip Smoothies next to the prices, they’re going to wish they had done more to keep their caffeine-guzzling regulars in the corners. Maybe they can still save the day if they act aggressively and continue to document how much the ATT WiFi sucks, as I am doing here.

Related:
www.dslreports.com/shownews/ATT-Hints-That-UsageBased-Billing-Is-Coming-96276 , ww.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/07/07/tech-crtc.html

In an age when most major media outlets are providing outrage-of-the-hour content, one should not be surprised that the community built around that is also comprised of illogical, emotionally charged drivel flavored with a smattering of generally useless regurgitated trivia posing as genuine information.

Reminds me of a few online communities I know and used to like.

Attribution note: That was a comment posted by “Bunny” (no web address) in a discussion of the importance of community for media. Too bad the hosting website didn’t allow back links for commenters, because if they did I could credit the source. Since the comments belong to the commenter (and not the site), I see no need to link to the site that hosted the comment, and since they don’t allow out links, I choose not to offer one back. The article wasn’t that good anyway… this comment was the best part.

I’m always thinking about web and Internet from a competitive perspective, because that’s really what we are doing when we optimize, seek search traffic, buy links, and forge alliances with like-minded website network operators: competitive webmastering. But that concept is not always palatable to people. There are plenty of pie-in-the-sky web publishers (and SEOs and marketers…) out there dreaming of an open, free world where “information wants to be free” and “the Internet belongs to everyone“.

Truth is, even if most of us try and make that true, a few will take advantage of the resulting “opportunity” to cash in while we don’t. That starts the cycle… and soon it’s all me-too bandwagoning. If that sounds too cynical, well, that’s because it is cynical. So what.

If you want to know who the future abusers will be, look at who the abusers are now, and who have played the role of abusers in the past. A big secret of human behavior is
“past performance is indicative of future behavior”. That part is not cynical — it’s factual.

I don’t give way specifics in an obvious fashion on my blog, because, well, I compete with almost everyone reading this blog. We are all competing for attention. No sense handing your competition the ammunition it needs to take away your opportunity. However, I am happy to allude and hint. And here’s one for those working the web the way I am working the web. The newspapers (past and current abusers) are priming their pumps even as everyone says they are a dying concern. No, not the obvious. Newspapers are never about the obvious.

Take a look at this quote form a newspaper site producer, who pulls photos from the news wires and republishes them as the primary content, attractive to readers:

Q: Were there any issues in getting permission to publish images that large from the wire photo services? The photos on the Big Picture must be twice the size of any other news site.

A: We looked at the contracts pretty well and couldn’t identify anything that prevented this sort of thing. The general rule appears to be (my understanding of it) that the images should not be easily reproduced in print. Big Picture images max out at 990 pixels wide at 72dpi. If you scale that up to print resolution of 300dpi, you get an image that’s only about 2 inches wide, so we’d appear to be within that limit.

Those who know me personally, or who have had time one on one to discuss things in depth, know my passion for certain visual arts, and my belief in a certain specific future related to some of those arts. It’s coming sooner than expected. Things will be a changing, and acts like these will force that change. The only safe harbor for the competitive publisher is competing, which means acting now. The abusers will continue to react to change by attempting new abuses, and continue to reveal their intentions due to their need to manage risk. Sadly, they will also continue to lobby politicos and misrepresent the truth, which means we still have to a lot more than simply good or hard work, but we have to start with the honest smart/hard work part. And remain vocal, where it has influence.

You really need to watch this past the first minute, to the part where the Verizon customer service representatives quote the Verizon rates. To think that this is how we consumers are forced to “do business” in this country… while nobody in our government has any better ideas of how things might be.

Thanks to Rhea for compiling the 5 Most Hated Companies Online presentation.

TAM Airlines (TAM) is the largest airline in Brazil, and has been expanding operations. They used to compete with Varig in Brazil, which owns Varig.com as well as Varig.com.br, the Brazilian equivalent, and GOL. Airline web sites are notoriously badly configured for SEO, and these are not exceptions, but TAM airlines doesn’t even own TAM.com. For a major airlines, this is very unusual.

American Airlines naturally owns AA.com. British Airways secured BA.com. Japan Airlines, known as JAL, naturally owns JAL.com. They also own the necessary variants of their names, such as AmericanAirlines.com, and BritishAirways.com.

Looking further, Dutch airline KLM of course secured KLM.com, their natural domain. Northwest Airlines can be found at NWA.com. Even South American airline Lan Airline has secured lan.com for itself, which must have been difficult given the generic value of LAN in the computer field (local area network — the domain surely had very high value). Truth is, if you are competing in the global travel space, you simply MUST secure your brand as the customer perceives it. Most airlines know that.

The Polish airline LOT Polish Airlines owns LOT.com, another strong generic domain that had high value to others. LOT knows the value of that domain as a brand. Delta Airlines is found at Delta.com, despite hundreds of non-airline businesses operating under strong Delta trademarks. Continental Airlines owns Continental.com, even though there are very major companies in other industries also operating with the name “Continental”. Why do you think Continental Airlines owns it? If you are a serious airline, you simply must own your name, no? If you visit a page of the Airline Blog that covers Brazil, you will see numerous contextual ads from travel agents and travel companies putting the TAM brand right in front of the consumers. Do they know the value of the TAM brand more than TAM airlines?

So TAM Airlines doesn’t know this? Or maybe doesn’t care. I would find it very hard to believe that the IT systems company near “Mount Tam” in California, the current registrant of TAM.com, would hold out for a higher price than a major International Airline could afford for an exact-match, 3 letter dot com. I don’t know the owner of TAM.com so I can’t be sure, but seriously… if Pizza.com went for just over 2 million, how could a 3 letter exact match for a significant International airline be too expensive to buy out from a small IT company? The online Pizza business last year was billion$ strong, and expected to double in the near term. Anyone could launch into that revenue stream immediately with a 2+ million dollar purchase of THE generic domain in that market. That’s less than the cost of producing a SuperBowl ad, and there was no trademark at risk. For TAM Airlines, with TAM.com an exact trademark match as well as a consumer brand match across languages, it must be worth buying, no?

United Airlines owns United.com, as we would expect although honestly I would not be surprised to learn someone else owned United.com since it is so generic and such a common trade moniker. Yet, United Airlines owns it. Smart move, or simply an essential necessity? Southwest Airlines owns Southwest.com. Swiss International Airlines owns Swiss.com. Spain’s Iberia Airlines owns Iberia.com. I personally know 2 restaurants in high-tech neighborhoods with that name. There’s no way the name wasn’t an early target for many companies. The United Arab Emirates airline “Emirates” is, of course, at Emirates.com. Australia’s Qantas Airways owns Qantas.com, of course, right? They were also smart enough to get Quantas.com, which is how I know them because my language doesn’t like Q’s without associated U’s.

Like I said I don’t know the TAM Airlines people nor the TAM.com registrant, but I think this expose of TAM airline’s sloppiness is a good reminder that companies should research their brand situations today, rather than tomorrow. I’m betting a handful of domain investors will call the current owner of TAM.com now, looking to bet that it has unrealized potential.

We have a joke here in our offices about domain name valuation. When a client says “We don’t have our brand as a domain name, but we want to try to acquire it. How much is it worth?” the only answer we can give is “We can’t say for sure, but it’s worth more today than it was yesterday“.

Remember those debates about whether or not gas would reach $5 per gallon this summer? No? Well, surely you remember when they suggested it might reach $4 this summer? Well, it’s not summer yet, and where I live regular gas has reached $4.59 per gallon already. Check Google News to see all the reports of problems related to the unusual run up in gas prices… you won’t see much.

Oh sure we up here in the Upper Left Corner of the US are long drive away from refineries on the Gulf coast… transport from those refineries would add significantly to the cost of gas, especially if gas were increasingly expensive. And that’s why we have our own refineries just 5 miles away. Did you notice the picture above is a Conoco station? Yup.. they own the nearby refinery. Remember that thing called the Alaskan Pipeline? Ever wonder where that ends.. where the terminals are for all that American oil? yup.. relatively close to us, since we are the closest mainland terminus for the shipping routes. So why is gas so expensive? I bet it’s not yet $4.59 per gallon near you. I also bet it will be soon.

At $4.59 for regular, things are already starting to break.

Think Tank is happening and I am now looking forward to it. I can personally vouch for the quality of Dave Klein (DK), who has put this together. He ran a charity poker tournament last fall that was nothing short of great, and several off us encouraged him to follow his instincts after he suggested he would like to host a quality gathering of movers and shakers in this Internet industry. I have full confidence, and I just signed up without hesitation. Those who know me know that is a rare thing.

Serious domainers looking at developing their empires should consider this meeting. I expect it to be on a par with T.R.A.F.F.I.C. Miami last year in terms of the quality of the invitation-only participants, with a focus on empire building using this Internet thing, as opposed to any specific aspect of that (such as SEO or domaining). I can think of a dozen of you who would both contribute and benefit from this meeting, as it is planned. It’s in a quality location, run by a quality host, who is the real deal when it comes to no b.s. this-stuff-matters. No sessions, no speakers, and a non-disclosure requirement. Good stuff.

If you didn’t get invited just follow these steps and tell DK why you belong. Be specific and don’t hold back - if you move millions of eyeballs per day let him know. If you own or monetize premium domains let him know… something like “I’m an entrepreneur and I have a thousand domains” will not get you past the cut, so don’t be shy and tell Dave just why you expect yourself to be considered valuable to the other attendees. If you know me personally and think it will help, tell him how you know me and then continue to make your case. Rest assured that simply knowing me will not be enough!

I think I share a vision that we’re all in this to meet up, listen and share ideas to make good things happen. DK has planned this as NOT an elitist event, but one that is indeed limited to the people who will make it an effective, productive, and inspiring experience for all of us who attend. As an attendee I myself want it to be inclusive of the brightest minds, the freshest thinkers, and the people who don’t just talk the talk but have and continue to make things happen on the web. As far as I know this is a full-boat, invitation-only event which means nobody’s sponsored and nobody’s participating to hawk their wares or write gossip columns..and DK has declared no audio or video at the event (too bad it had to be said, but I’m glad it was).

Most of the smartest people I know in this Internet entrepreneuring space are not in the SEO/Internet marketing industry, which is why I wrote this post. You know who you are. This event is billed as by and for Internet entrepreneurs, not just SEOs and marketers, so please consider hitting Dave early with an email, according to his request, to get an invitation. He’s a great guy and worthy of your consideration. I hope to see you there!

In case you haven’t had enough yet, iphone apple job iphone hype iphone Apple store video apple jobs hype iphone apple job iphone hype iphone video apple jobs hype iphone apple job iphone hype iphone Apple store video apple jobs hype iphone apple job iphone hype iphone video apple jobs hype iphone apple job iphone hype iphone Apple store video apple jobs hype iphone apple job iphone hype iphone video apple jobs hype iphone apple job iphone hype iphone Apple store video apple jobs hype iphone apple job iphone hype iphone video apple jobs hype iphone apple job iphone hype iphone Apple store video apple jobs hype iphone apple job iphone hype iphone video apple jobs hype iphone apple job iphone hype iphone Apple store video apple jobs hype iphone apple job iphone hype iphone video apple jobs hype iphone apple job iphone hype iphone Apple store video apple jobs hype iphone apple job iphone hype iphone video apple jobs hype.

This is a good day to take a break from the web, unless you want to keep reading about iphone apple job iphone hype iphone Apple store video apple jobs hype iphone apple job iphone hype iphone video apple jobs hype.

Still wondering how much Jobs paid for the iphone.com domain….

This is a temporary post that was not deleted. Please delete this manually. (24a7168d-9c24-47ed-ab3a-3d****9fa07 - 3b***01a-32de-4114-a6b4-400*****0f6d7)

Editor’s Note: This is the kind of garbage left behind by Microsoft’s products… in this case Live Writer. It prompted for permission to create a temporary post, which it promised it would promptly delete, in order to test the blog’s theme. I said yes, and apparently it isn’t as mighty as it thinks it is because it left this behind.  How can this big company continue to be so crappy in the face of what, at least 5 free open source remote blog writing interfaces out there, all of which work well, and don’t do this sort of stuff?