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Mixtape Nirvana: Art, Community, Marketing.
A mixtape is the highest form of expression for someone, like me, that has no innate musical abilities. Life’s little soundtracks. If I can match a mix to a moment then I have accomplished a great task. I have created a mix based around the song “The New Pollution” by Beck, an old favourite that I [...]
Featured Post
I was inspired by a post about Twitter English (via richtextformat), which pondered the mechanics of being concise when composing a tweet. The author pulled some tweets from his feed and analysed them for economy and clarity. Editing for clarity or writing with a haiku mindset helps to put a social media speed bump in place. [...]
Recent Posts
Last week, I was furious. My letting agency did not return a streak of five phone calls over five days. There was an essential maintenance issue that needed to be addressed that I figured would warrant a quick response. After the fifth day, I showed up at the agency to discuss the matter and was [...]
Categories: Blogging , Social Media • Tags: Online Ethics, Online Offline
A package arrived in my letterbox this week: a 25th anniversary special edition CD by one of the most successful bands of the latter half of the 1980s. Inside the jewel case was something special: liner notes that I contributed to the release. This band sold 15 million records worldwide. How did I get involved considering the [...]
Categories: Blogging , SEO & Analytics • Tags: Music, Online Offline
This week, the UK rolled out a website providing free online access to government-collected information. Queryable access. The site is creatively named data.gov.uk and incorporates some sporty features: an open crowdsource wiki, a blog that actually contains some posts, and an RSS feed for updates. I was surprised at how good-looking the website is- it [...]
Categories: Datasphere • Tags: Crowdsourcing, Headlines, Semantic Web
I never thought this would happen to me. I was trapped for an eternity in the world’s largest e-tailer’s shopping cart. Me- a perfectly capable, upwardly mobile, man about cybertown. All I wanted to do was add one more item to my cart, a gesture I in which I am sure Amazon would applaud. It was [...]
Categories: Web Design • Tags: Amazon, Online Offline, Shopping
Today is the official roll-out for Almost Punk. Juggling the holidays and CSS hacks with the focus needed to get a stable set of content together often felt like a big lump of coal. However, I am pleased with this website that I am birthing into this world. For many decisions, there is a proverbial [...]
Categories: Almost News • Tags: Site Updates
Welcome to Almost Punk.
Observations and commentary from the evolving world of blogging, social media, and digital marketing. Occasional SEO number-crunching. Almost Punk is here to politely provoke. As for me, I am just a guy that cares. Dispatched from Brighton, UK.
Almost Tweets
- I am off for a looong weekend in London and Manchester. This is a perfect opportunity to try out some new iPhone apps. One night will be spent at a Dave Matthews concert, so I will try his app. I also have Urban Spoon for dining recommendations, I am preregistered to use Shoot It! for an instant postcard, AroundMe and Yelp for general recommendations, and the London Tube app for finding the nearest station, which is often easier said than done. #Link#
- Few of the moms that I know look as radiant as the ladies on the Mom Bloggers Club's banner. Apparently, the mom blogger segment is made up of elegant women that bedazzle with crisp white shirts and smiles. By definition, a website for mothers means that babies are involved. So where are the tears, eye baggage (from lack of sleep), and the stains on those white shirts (which often act as impromptu bibs). Bottom line: there is a time and place for sanitised stock-y photos. This isn't one of them. #Link#
- The Readbility Test Tool calculates a blog's readbility. Analysing Almost Punk indicates that it is written to the level of a 6th grader. While this may sound insulting, I am actually pleased to know that pre-teens can come around for some fun. Some other stats: 10% of my words are complex and my sentences average 8 words. Comparison: The New York Times is at a 6th grade level while Mashable grabs the 7th graders. Would love to find a website written at 12th grade, anyone? #Link#
- It's hard enough being ergonomic and now the bar is being raised to be aesthetic, too? WDL trolled flickr and the web for some of the best looking workstations out there and I thought I would quickly post my favourite one. Of course, this nicely contrasts with my own workstation which is built upon a drop-leaf table and mismatched wooden chairs from a prime location in central Brighton. Please note the offee mug, empty wine bottle, convenient touch-lamp, mousepad (Web Analytics by Kaushik), and the pink dog toy on the floor. #Link#
- I have loads of blog posts half-written: Wordpress blogging guides, segmenting and measuring blogs, analyses of keyword densities for my favourite records (example: most common keywords for U2's Achtung Baby are love, baby, ready, world, know, and secret). At what point do I let go of these withering posts and accept their tragic demise? Answer: Now. #Link#
