*Some Restrictions May Apply » Ponderation http://blog.rileykaminer.com The Official Blog of Riley Kaminer Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:12:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 en hourly 1 Break Goals http://blog.rileykaminer.com/2009/03/14/break-goals/ http://blog.rileykaminer.com/2009/03/14/break-goals/#comments Sat, 14 Mar 2009 14:45:36 +0000 Riley http://blog.rileykaminer.com/?p=102 Our school has Spring Break this year from today, March 14, through the 29th.  In this time, I have decided that I want to get a multitude of things done.  Here is a quick list, for my sake and your interest, in no particular order whatsoever:

  1. Make a successful Flash video. I have made many little stupid ones in the past, but this time I really want to do it.
  2. Code something. Anything, really.  I’m currently thinking up a super startup idea… stay tuned!
  3. Get RWK Visual live.  I have had the contents of my site for my photo company, RWK Visual (short-term site here) for a while, (site designed and coded by Steve Radford), and have been wanting to make it live.
  4. Expand my photo library. I am going to try and find interesting places to photograph, so my flickr peeps don’t always see objects in my room! :)
  5. Podcast. I really want to make a few episodes of my school podcast for stock, so I can release an episode, even when I’m busy.
  6. Recharge. School is stressful.  This is muy importante.

These are many ambitious goals, but goals that are attainable.  I’ll blog at the end of break to tell you how I’ve done.  Wish me luck!

~Riley

]]> http://blog.rileykaminer.com/2009/03/14/break-goals/feed/ 0 Tagging for Search Engine Optimization http://blog.rileykaminer.com/2009/01/18/seo-tagging/ http://blog.rileykaminer.com/2009/01/18/seo-tagging/#comments Sun, 18 Jan 2009 20:06:05 +0000 Riley http://blog.rileykaminer.com/?p=77 For those n00bs out there, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, something that many bloggers and companies do to make sure that their site is on the top of a google (or similar) search of a certain topic.  To do this, some people hire SEO Professionals to make sure that their site is out there and gets the most hits in a category.  Most low-level bloggers just do this by putting an obscene amount of tags on a given post in the hopes that if there are enough, then some random guy will happen to fall upon your site by a very far-fetched tag.  Let me give an example of a “far-fetched” tag.  Someone is writing a post on how to garden effectively.  In a ten page article, they mention some random person, let’s say “James Smith” who, let’s say, is a famous gardening guru for HGTV.  The author would then go in a tagging frenzy of anything to do with how-to television and get way off topic.  This I feel is wrong.

I feel this is wrong but I also still feel the need to tag.  I feel that it is bad if I don’t and that I may be leaving something behind–not doing something I should be doing.  (Why don’t I try to say “feel” one more time?  Feel.  Now back to the post.)  So I try to be a reasonable tagger and if you are a blogger, I think you should too.  Plus, are tags really going to help out SEOptimize your blog unless you get 1,000+ uniques/month?

Just a thought.

]]> http://blog.rileykaminer.com/2009/01/18/seo-tagging/feed/ 0 Tweeting: Bad for the Environment? http://blog.rileykaminer.com/2009/01/11/tweeting-bad-for-the-environment/ http://blog.rileykaminer.com/2009/01/11/tweeting-bad-for-the-environment/#comments Sun, 11 Jan 2009 21:36:05 +0000 Riley http://blog.rileykaminer.com/?p=14

Two fairly large portions of my life are devoted being “green” and tweeting. While going through my RSS reader, I found this article from the Kid Tech Guru about seeing how much Carbon Emissions is caused by my tweets on this site.  I was appalled to see that my both my family’s cars put together give out less C02 Emissions (about 2,000 lbs. less) than I do a year by tweeting.  The number is compiled between how long you individually use your computer to type tweets, and then your follower base.  Now, granted, they estimate that 100% of your followers see every single tweet of yours, very off from how it really is, but still–this is kind of scary.  

I bet that the person who developed this web app anticipated this issue, as it says some helpful tips on how to be more green (i.e. planting trees, save energy, etc…) at the bottom of your results page.  

Another flaw of the calculation is how they decided how much power a computer screen takes, and also what happens if you tweet from a phone exclusively?

Though it is a very rough estimate, the C02 Emissions Calculator scares me.  Back to tweeting!

]]> http://blog.rileykaminer.com/2009/01/11/tweeting-bad-for-the-environment/feed/ 0 iRi (Beta) 6: Mac or PC http://blog.rileykaminer.com/2008/07/01/mac-or-pc/ http://blog.rileykaminer.com/2008/07/01/mac-or-pc/#comments Wed, 02 Jul 2008 00:30:24 +0000 Riley http://www.iriblogcast.com/?p=19 Have we gone too far? I found this YouTube video the other day. For those of you who don’t have 5 minutes to waste watching this, it is a very inspirational rap talking about the endless struggle of Mac versus PC. I refuse to embed it, but it does have some… fresh… lyrics. They are as follows:

“I’m a right-clicka
I’m an iBook flippa
Macs and PCs – no fight gets bigga
Surf Safari or browse in I.E.
Better know what you rep[resent] – a Mac or PC!

USB 1-2.0, son, you don’t know
watch my data flow
From MS-DOS command line prompts
Black backgrounds, no special sauce
Well I’ve only been around since ‘84
But my ease of use has done so much more
From a Plus to a Classic to a II GS
To a PowerPC, my OS is the best
So clickable, design is lickable
My aqua interface makes XP dispicable
Quick I pull the RAM stick out the slot
Then I swap it with generic
cause the port is hot

If you see life through an LCD
Betta know your brand is it a Mac-or-PC?

Take a look at Vista
enjoy the view
I suggest Premium or the ultimate skew
cop a Dell with a graphics card – super fast
turn the arrow on and lick the glass
Tiger’s fast as hell
But Leopard’s got the boom
Time machine is mad mean
you’re absurd – what’s a zune?
Middle name: innovate
All features integrate
Now stay the hell out of my developers’ conferences!
Nonsenses – I’m networking
You’re not working
Stop staring at your built-in webcam
YouTube surfing
Ha! 1,000 views is pretty fresh
ComputerGal36 even says I’m the best

He is the best with his videos
And cuts them all on his Final Cut Pro

Mac, PC, and Me, At Last

When I run IT’S A iPOD!
Talk IT’S AN iPHONE!
Stuff I gotta have no matter what
It’s an iLOAN!
I want an Intel, plus CS3,
but for now I’m streamin keynotes in bed
Listenin to Steve
Uh! Compatibility
Everybody fits with me
All the applications wanna get with my virility
At any time
Yo, it might go off
And you can ride it
Til it’s Micro-Soft
Huh! Pay attention
I got a new invention
Steal your next idea
At the MacWorld Convention
But guess what
You’ll always be behind
Cuz Mac is a state of mind.”

Aah, I love that ending! It even has a website, MacOrPC.org. Wait. Dot org? Never mind. And, if you want, you can buy it on iTunes or see it on MySpace! To top it off, when you go to any of these pages, the song starts blaring! You gotta’ love it! On a more serious note, I have a question for you. This is kind of a general statement, but here it goes. The majority of people in the world want a Mac, yet most have a PC. Which would be the bandwagon? Answer by commenting below or emailing me.

By the way, this is an automated post. I wrote this way back in mid-June, but now, I am [hopefully] having loads of fun at camp until July 5. Expect a post sometime early that week. See you then!

]]> http://blog.rileykaminer.com/2008/07/01/mac-or-pc/feed/ 0 iRi (Beta) 3: Company Images and Logos http://blog.rileykaminer.com/2008/06/07/company-images-and-logos/ http://blog.rileykaminer.com/2008/06/07/company-images-and-logos/#comments Sat, 07 Jun 2008 22:02:43 +0000 Riley http://www.iriblogcast.com/?p=15 AAA! Fudgy the Whale is on my tie!

So the other day while I was creating my lovely iRi Merchandise from CaféPress, I realized just how important a good company logo really is. You see the logo, think of the brand, and buy their stuff. It is almost as simple as that! Some examples:

So it’s the trigger that gets you, but the logo, symbol, is only good for the brand if the consumer has prior exposure to it. This can be from anyone, models, friends, family, television, anything. Take away the exposure, and the brand’s got nothing. Say you were an alien from the planet Vulcan (sorry, I really couldn’t resist quoting Star Trek). The little whale would have no meaning to you; you wouldn’t think: Oh, Vineyard Vines! Here is my equation of the day:

ADVERTISING + COMPANY LOGO = SUCCESS

I really hate to sound like an infomercial, but it is true. While I am on this topic, I have a question: When you wear a Nike T-Shirt with a huge swoosh on it, wouldn’t that be advertising that you pay for? Think about it.

By the way, I have been using the acronym of apparel a lot today, but it can really be anything.

That is really all for today. Thanks for listening to iRi and tell everyone about it!

Disclaimer: I am selling stuff with my logo on it. I am not trying to trick you or anything, I just want money to better iRi for you, the listener. Thank you.

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