Watching the Internet Work

Add the Blogger Play Gadget to your iGoogle home page.Last week I came across a new TWS* that is pretty cool. The folks at Google had played with this little gadget internally for months when someone had the bright idea to make it available to the public. It’s called Blogger Play and it’s a window on the world. Or at least the world of people that have sites on Google’s free blog service, Blogger.

What it “plays” is a slide show of photographs that people have added to their blogs. As a new image is added to any one of the millions of blogs powered by Blogger, they show up in this random shuffle. The eclectic mix of images is a mesmerizing procession of snapshots and images from people all over the world. I was fascinated at the wide variety— family photos, technical drawings, corporate logos, you name it.

The viewer allows you to modify the speed at which the images change, and pause or stop when you see something interesting. If you care to learn more about that image a link and information about the blogger who uploaded the image is also provided. Click the picture and you’re taken to the blog where the image originates. Well, it’s virtual origin at least.

Play quickly became so popular that Google whipped up one of their “gadgets” so users could add a miniature player to their iGoogle starting page. Have a look and see what you think of this unusual window on the world.

Blogger Play

* TWS = Time Wasting Site

Hot Fuel is a Hot Topic


Early this July I attended the National Conference on Weights and Measures, held at the Snowbird Ski Resort outside Salt Lake City, Utah.

The big issue was what to do about the “hot fuel” issue. These are my observations of those proceedings.

July 31, 2007—Television coverage from KTUL in Tulsa.
Since September 2006 the issue of “hot fuel” has gained increasing attention in the media, among consumer groups and even in Congress. The debate over this problem, or whether there even is a problem, has been spurred by record-high gasoline prices and focused attention on the topic of automatic temperature compensation, or ATC.

The “hot fuel” debate originates from the arbitrary 60°F standard used for almost a century and some basic physics. Heat expands liquids and cooler temperatures contract them. Gasoline changes volume about 1% for every 15°F of temperature change. So if you take 100 gallons of 60°F gasoline and warm it to 75°F, you’ll have 101 gallons. Conversely, cool it to 45°F and you’ve only got 99 gallons. Consumers who purchase warm gasoline, proponents argue, are paying for more than they are really getting.

Temperature compensation is simply a method of calculating the expansion or contraction rate as the fuel is metered. This can be done automatically, if you have a way to measure the temperature of the fuel, or the calculation can be “hard wired” into the meter and assume a given temperature. The mechanics of pumping your gas do not change– only the gallons displayed on the pump are different.

This idea of automatic temperature compensation is not new; it was widely discussed in the late Seventies, another era of rising fuel prices. At that time it was deemed technically unfeasible and an unnecessary expense. Most of America’s retail gasoline inventory was found to be pretty close to that 60°F temperature. But today some things have changed, and the idea of ATC is gaining traction.

Back in the Seventies most gasoline was stored in a single-wall steel tank buried underground. Today the fiberglass tank is more common, and almost all tanks are double-wall, regardless of composition. The dead space between those tank walls is an insulator, and makes a modern underground storage tank act like a giant travel mug. While fuel in older tanks typically maintained a temperature close to the surrounding soil temperature, today’s storage tank insulates the fuel and it takes much longer for the temperature to normalize. Add to this the increased number of aboveground storage tanks and warmer refiner-direct deliveries, and you have the case for the argument that America’s fuel today is warmer than it was in the Seventies.

As media attention increased and Congressional investigations began, there was more attention paid to the regulations and laws governing the retail sale of vehicle fuel in America. Enter the National Conference on Weights and Measures. Each July this group, with delegates from each State, meet to discuss the finer points of measuring, labeling and packaging just about anything and everything. This little-known body is a powerful voice in this arena because many states adopt regulations from their Handbook 44 as law. As the July date for their 92nd annual meeting approached this usually unremarkable conference was receiving national media attention. It was amid this flurry of political and media attention I packed my bags and prepared to head off to Salt Lake City to see for myself.

Upon arrival it was immediately clear this meeting was being held under increased scrutiny. The attendees’ registration packets included three letters supporting the temperature compensation proposal. One from a consortium of consumer advocacy groups and two from members of Congress. As the technical presentations and open hearing began it was obvious this “hot topic” was controversial. This was partly due to the language of the proposal, or lack thereof.

The specifics of the amendment being considered set forth guidelines for jurisdictions implementing temperature compensation. The guidelines were not mandatory and offered no dates or deadlines. Likewise, they provided no direction on precisely how the compensation would be calculated, beyond the 60°F baseline and a distinction between gasoline and diesel. Basically all it stated was if temperature compensation was used it had to be calculated automatically, all receipts must state the sale was compensated for temperature and it must be used year-round. But the brevity of the amendment did not work to its advantage.

The floor was opened for comments and the hailstorm began. Critics complained the issue had been politicized and any affirmation regarding temperature compensation would lead to widespread adoption of ATC and higher costs to the consumer. Regulators cited the lack of specifics and pleaded with the committee to abort the vote altogether. Some argued not making ATC mandatory would only increase consumer irritation at the pump. Several state delegates also pointed out their statutes require retail motor fuel be sold by the gross gallon, thus precluding them from even considering any such proposal. By the end of the hearing it looked like “hot fuel” was a hot potato without any chance of approval.

When it came time for the vote it was readily apparent no consensus had been reached. After almost an hour of comments, that were essentially a repeat of the previous day’s testimony, a motion was made to postpone the vote until the 2008 conference. Before the chairman could even rule if that was valid another motion was made to appeal the previous one. Eventually four votes on motions, amendments and recounts were made before the original proposal was finally considered. As each vote transpired it appeared that support for the amendment was increasing, quite the opposite effect intended by the delegate who issued the first motion.

In the end a majority of the participants chose to support the proposal. However, the bylaws of the NCWM require 27 votes for approval (regardless of the number of states actually in attendance). Falling short by only three votes, the amendment went back to its committee– presumably to reappear at the 93rd annual NCWM meeting. Only time will tell if Congress or state legislators will wait that long for their decision, or make it for them.

Hepful Tools for Email Newsletters

No matter what you market, you probably send out emails. You might also publish a magazine, and you probably have a website, but everyone reads email.

It doesn’t take very long to realize the most common tools available are not the ideal solution for managing and sending emails to a large audience. Outlook is notorious for sending messages that are not standards-compliant. As anti-spam tactics get more and more stringent, it’s become risky to send large mailings from your personal computer for fear of being put on the dreaded “blacklist.”

Continue reading Hepful Tools for Email Newsletters

So you think you need a forum?

I’ve worked on several projects over the years that involved setting up online forums. These electronic bulletin boards can be a beneficial addition to your web site, and a helpful feature for your visitors. Unfortunately, they can also be a total waste of time and/or a royal pain in the ass. Like so many other things, preparation is the key. Before jumping to add a forum to your web site take this simple test and see if it’s right for you.

  • Is your site currently ranked and receiving traffic from search engines?
  • Are your visitors looking for specific information or answers to a question?
  • Can your site visitors, or yourself, supply the answer they need?

If the answer to all three is yes you have a very good chance of deploying a successful forum! If you answered no to any of the above, well… you may want to consider why your site needs a forum. Let me explain why.

Traffic
Many people make the mistake of setting up a forum to generate traffic and bring people to their web site. This is rarely effective. If you don’t get much traffic from Google right now, a forum will most likely not increase it much. In fact, there are cases where forums actually hurt a site’s search engine ranking.

Bottom line: concentrate on your site’s content first. Once search engines like your site they will tolerate the addition of a forum.

Seek
What are your visitors seeking? This is important to know because you’ve spent a lot of time creating a web site about… oh, let’s say Britney Spears’ collection of sunglasses. You need to know if your site is attracting people because they are interested in that specific topic or just because it’s in the general vicinity.

Are your visitors arriving at your virtual doorstep because they want to see all those sunglasses? Are they seeking out information on the latest Armani shades? If so, that’s good. People are seeking and, chances are, finding what the want on your site. On the other hand, if they’re just hitting your site because they’re trolling for candid images of Britney it’s not so good. If your visitors are looking for the specific content you provide, then a forum is probably a great addition to your site.

Find
Finally, who can answer the questions your visitors are asking? Can you, or other visitors to your site, provide people the information they are looking for?

Some information is only available from a manufacturer or directly from one single person. Forums work best when people are looking for something that other forum users can provide. If nobody else has any answers it just becomes a cyber bitch session that your visitors will eventually find tiresome.

Hopefully these guidelines can help you decide whether a forum is a worthwhile addition to your web site. Either way you decide to go– be sure to do your homework first!


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The (Next Best) Greatest Generation

So when did we all lose the ability figure stuff out?

I mean just simple stuff like righty-tighty-lefty-loosy, shit runs downhill, etc. Basic physics are seemingly beyond the grasp of most of our younger generation. And it’s not just physics– math is another black art. When’s the last time someone counted you back change? Saddly, if you’re under thirty the answer is most likely: never. Our nation’s approach to science and physics is slowly becoming more and more like that scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail where Sir Bedevere deduces a woman must be a witch because she weighs more than a duck.

At the risk of sounding like a crumudgeon, what the hell’s wrong with kids these days?!?

As the off-shoring of America marches onward, past manufacturing and into the service sector, I can’t help but wonder if it’s a bad thing. Why should we make stuff anyway? We no longer know how.

The net effect of our Industrial Devolution seems to be a generation who can barely manage to pump their own gas. Is it a lack of mechanical prowess? Maybe. I think it’s a basic lack of curiosity. Today the most basic principles of physics are now considered befuddling by a huge portion of Americans. My generation pondered the mysteries of science– but the collective response from our puzzled masses seems to be a collective, “Huh?”

Maybe I’m looking in the wrong places to find the tinkerers and gearheads of the 21st Century.