Category: Information Technology

I have an Associate in Technical Arts in Web Application Development degree, as well as certificates in:

  • Business Systems Analysis
  • Requirements Analysis
  • Database Theory and Design
  • Cisco Networking
  • And I’m one class away from a Desktop Support Certificate

I have a deep knowledge of technical systems and have solved a variety of problems.

WordPress vs. Blogger, Porting Between Platforms and Other Fun Thoughts

Carl Setzer

I’ve been exploring WordPress over the last few months (see my blog NotJustSeattle.com). I really, really like the platform and have found so many benefits over Blogger. Plus, watching the demise of Google Reader a few months back makes me wonder about the long-term status of this. With Google+ garnering the lion’s share of Google attention and public focus, I wonder how long they’ll continue to support the platform. Blogger seems like a neglected stepchild.

With all this, I commenced planning out my migration. It’s not appearing as clean as I’d hoped, but the research is pretty early on. It seems my URL might be the biggest challenge. Plus, I need to decide if I will just move this to a site hosted by WordPress.com, or pony up for something hosted by BlueHost or GoDaddy (or….).

So, taking a thoughtful and well planned approach on this. It’ll be interesting to see where it leads.

Any ideas, hints or tips? Just leave me a comment. I’d be quite happy for advice.

Webrings and the History of the Web

Carl Setzer

My random web thought of the day: remembering the webring. For it’s time, a very powerful tool for finding related content. I spent many an hour perusing sites under a variety of topics: fantasy literature, science, science fiction, politics….the possibilities were extensive. Seems they still exist, but connecting to them a lot less critical. Seems few people drift through webrings now. Rather, they move through Google search results. I wonder, though, if webrings provide any SEO benefit? That would be my expectation, at least.

So, the point? Tastes change, behaviors follow, culture modulates and we both find ourselves reacting, as well as leading.

Thoughts on Omidyar & Greenwald’s New Journalism Venture

Carl Setzer

Just read “Why Pierre Omidyar decided to join forces with Glenn Greenwald for a new venture in news” over at Jay Rosen’s PressThink. So much of this makes me near giddy. The potential: amazing! Combining key stakeholders within both the online business sector (Pierre Omidyar founded eBay, for you who don’t know. And I’d like to think any reader here would know Glenn’s work. If not, here’s his Wikipedia article. These are the higher profile collaborators. Read the article for a more in-depth list).

Not many details released yet, I expect that these are getting hashed out as we speak. their motivations, though, and the backgrounds of the collaborators are what give me the most excitement. This combination of talent presents an amazing opportunity to deeply innovate this space. Both from a financial side (let’s face it, modern news has struggled with finding a sustainable financial model) as well as deeply utilizing elements of the modern web culture, and, lastly, bringing a renewed focus on the core of journalism’s power: investigation. Watching the watchers, pushing deep and holding our society’s leadership accountable (note: not just government) is critical, but a weakened force right now.

Anyway, these are the thoughts that roll off my keyboard this morning. I look forward to learning more as this gels.

Typeset and Font Alignment Thing Of Hatred

Carl Setzer

Am I the only one who hates justified text? I find the cleanliness of the aligned ends to be more than offset by the weird spacing. I’m sure it can be made to work with forethought and focus. That brings back memories of fiddling with typeset, adding up all the characters and spaces, figuring out how to word the thing in order to best utilize the space.

Anyway, just being a little snarky in response to an e-flyer I received today. Perhaps just being a bit too cranky and perfectionist. Maybe I just need another cup of coffee.

#Facebook Business Page Fun – Anybody Else Dealt With This?

Carl Setzer

I’ve come up against a unique problem. One of the other admins for a business page I manage is unable to invite her friends to “like” it. When she clicks on “invite friends”, her whole list is grayed out. One of the challenges I’m facing with diagnosing the problem is that we’re ~30 miles apart, so I’m relying on voice to communicate the visual issues. I’ve found a few others with this issue, but no conclusive answer.

My basic research shows that the main culprit for these issues is that they’ve already been invited (like this page mentions).  However, in this instance, there are people who haven’t been invited that are appearing grayed out. These appear to be unrelated issues.

A few additional details: 1) my view is fine. I can invite everyone in my network except those who have been invited. In other words, the way it’s supposed to look. 2) We have verified that she is logged in as herself, not as the business page.

I’m leaning towards a few possible answers. Perhaps she inadvertently invited everyone at one point. Hard to imagine, but I guess it’s possible. Another is that all her friends have a privacy setting enabled that blocks these invites. Again, statistically unlikely, but, hey, I’m grasping here.

Have any of you seen this? What solution did you find?

Great #Tech Events In #Seattle

Carl Setzer

I’m a bit sad that I was unable to cram this year’s GeekWire Summit into my overdone calendar. That is in no way meant to devalue the event. Using Franklin-Covey parlance, I couldn’t move some Quadrant I items to fit this Quadrant II.

Seattle has a great tech community, and many ways for connection within. The next one that I’m aware of is the September Seattle Tech Meetup on September 17. This is one that I should be able to make.

And then there’s the Seattle Interactive Conference. This is a grand one, and one that my current budget just can’t absorb. However, I hear great things and would recommend attending based on them.

I’m sure I’m missing good ones. Let me know if you have suggestions that I should add. Heck, maybe I’ll start a more definitive list.

Annoying Video Ads

Carl Setzer
The first thing I do when one of those obnoxious, over-loud video ads launches on a website I just opened starts playing is to close the whole page. I have to be pretty committed to reading the article for me to stick around through that, or to try and locate the “off” or “mute” button for the bloody thing. 
So, for those of you promoting advertising on your website, you now have something to consider. Of course, I should look at running Ad-Blocker or something like that and move this nuisance into historical reference. 

Email Culls & Other Fun

Carl Setzer

I’ve been wading thru massive amounts of email for far too long. Time for action! Now, as a geek with several domains, it was easy to create a special email for all my news and newsletters. As I’m going through and porting them all over, I’m seeing how many of these aren’t relevant any more. I’m an information junkie. But is really time to draw back. I’m digging thru tons of news searching for stuff I need to attend to. Silly.

Xbox One : Tech Thoughts

Carl Setzer

Just read a few of the stories about the Xbox. I’m pretty jazzed at what the ‘Soft is up to. I’m wondering about a few things:

1) Will any of these features be part of the current Xbox ecosystem? Or just limited to the new machine? 
2) Will there be changes to the current pricing setup?
There were a few other random thoughts that have fluttered away. I’ll update as more floats back.