Opinion
Happy 10th Anniversary WordPress! #WP10
Happy 10th Anniversary WordPress!
Having witnessed much of your evolution, I have to say that your first ten years have been very productive. Kudos on your success!
Here is to the next ten!
Grey area ethics
I’ve seen a number of application developers promote their software with what I will call “grey area ethics.”
In essence, they will temporarily lower the price of the application (sometimes even offering a license for free) or they will give away in-app purchases. They ask for a five-star (or extremely positive) review in exchange. In essence, they are bribing people to write positive reviews.
Book publishers do the same thing. They offer their new book for free (or for the cost of postage and handling), with the request of a highly rated review on Amazon. Or, if you purchase ten copies of their book on the day of release, they offer you hundreds of dollars in services (consulting calls, seminars, etc.) as a reward. This is a attempt to push the sales ranking up on Amazon.
For me, this is a grey area of ethics. They aren’t buying positive reviews outright, but they are gaming (or hacking/taking advantage of) the review system. Every time that I see a bunch of hastily written five star reviews, I suspect that the review system was gamed at some point.
Is this a horrible crime against humanity? No. Is it a great thing for publishers to do? No. It is a grey area of questionable ethics.
I hope that people will take the time to honestly review products and not let the bribe influence their review. Put some depth and substance into your review. Don’t just write, “It’s great!” Say why it is. And if you don’t like something about it, say it. Write the review as if you paid the full price for it. Give your honest assessment. Or, at the very least, disclose that you received the product for free or at a significant discount. Ok?
An unexpected post
The first novel I read was the Hobbit. Bilbo’s journey was wonderful to experience.
Later in life, I made the journey to Marquette University to be in the presence of Tolkien’s holograph renderings (manuscripts written in the hand of the author) of the Hobbit.
Tonight, the journey continues on film. Many thanks to John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, and now, Peter Jackson and company for bringing this grand tale to life.
Connect
Make a moment to connect with friends, be they old, current or new. Share your thoughts, emotions and love. This alone, will make your world a better place.
Graham Chapman, the most prolific corpse since Elvis!
Graham Chapman (of Monty Python fame) is posthumously appearing in his own autobiographical movie!
Graham wrote his autobiography, A Liar’s Autobiography and recorded himself reading it before his death in 1989. That audio has been set to brand new animation illustrating Graham’s adventures. The remaining Pythons have added their creative genius to the film, which will be out in early 2013.
Take a look at the unique trailer:
Really small puzzle pieces
As a child, I enjoyed taking things apart. Occasionally, I would put them back together in a different way. Once you reduce an item into pieces, the enjoyable part of the puzzle is to create new ideas, art or tools.
Imagine if we could take organs or skin or bones and reduce them down to the point of having puzzle pieces that could replace a broken arm, failing eye or damaged liver.
I wonder if starship doctors ever used the replicator in this manner?
Thank you WordPress
I’ve been working with WordPress blogs for a while now. The user interface is clear and intuitive. Updates are handled smoothly and the mobile versions communicate with the website very well.
Posting is easy for content creators, and the plugin architecture offers a variety of additional features. It will help you get your content to your customers on schedule.
Let me know your thoughts on WordPress in the comments below.
Played a few StarCraft II games tonight....
…and I am out of practice. I need to put in some quality time in order to freshen up my skills.
Why so negative?
Do you know why some people take a negative view of any topic? I don’t have an answer. Just the question.
Taking a positive view seems so much better. It feels easier to do. And it has a beneficial effect on your mood and the mood of those around you.
Like the proverbial glass of water, do you want to enjoy what is missing, or what is there?
I prefer to enjoy every drop that is there.
You?
Need more slack in your life?
Then you should be listening to the SubGenius Hour of Slack.
It is a barrage of media, sliced and diced into brain vitamins that fit neatly into your ear canal.
As a ordained minister in the Church of the SubGenuis, I can pray that Bob graces you with slack.
Praise Bob!
Sensophy.com
I had a call with Jacob Sakol of Sensophy.com — quite a cool guy. Take a look at his videos if you are interested in life coaching.
Proud to power my prose with WordPress
[quote style=“1”]Right now WordPress powers 48 of the top 100 blogs online. More than that, WordPress actually powers 19% of the web as a whole.
—From ProBlogger[/quote]This is amazing to me. And well deserved. I’ve seen WordPress grow and improve over time. The current iteration has convinced me that it is the best system to blog with.
The passion and care that goes into WordPress inspires me to blog. In the same way that Apple products inspire creativity in me, WordPress is encouraging words to flow from the web of my mind into the web of the internet.
Thank you WordPress!