Robert Accettura's
Fun With Wordage

Bush has taken his political policies to the web. He’s blocking non-american IP addresses now. Once again telling every non-American to go to hell. An interesting note is that he might by trying to keep Americans overseas from reading his website before deciding who to vote for. Vote blind rather than see how anti-world his agenda may be. Many are saying these foreign based Americans may be key to the election. Not letting them see his foreign policy may provide him with an advantage.

A curious note on Jay Allen’s Blog:

If you run a non-profit multi-author blog (or any type that requires payment) you should contact 6A to get better (read: perhaps $0) licensing terms. They’ve asked people to do that because they aren’t in the business of milking those who are doing good and interesting things but can’t pay.

[Source: MT-Blacklist/Comment Spam Clearinghouse @ 10/26/2004 10:40 AM EST ]

I know many are upset over the new licensing. Perhaps this will convince people that SixApart isn’t the next evil empire.

I briefly flashed the idea on #spreadfirefox, but I thought I’d elaborate on it here:

First Impressions are everything

We’ve said that before, and most agree. Psychologists have spent considerable time on this. People make very quick decisions on if they like something or not. They either like it, or they don’t. Impressions happen quickly. Firefox needs to make a good one. I think we can improve it by creating a Flash, JavaScript, or SVG based tutorial on first run. Something flashy, yet professional, and artistically done. Clean simple UI. Perhaps a few options on the main page:

• Firefox Features
• What’s new in this release - 1.1
• Why Firefox
• IE –> Firefox Tips and Tricks
• Help Firefox

Each would bring you to some information, such as why you should use Firefox (including an animated demo of how ‘Tabbed browsing works’, ‘Livemarks’, etc. Minimal Text, maximum efficiency. In 5 minutes, the user should be able to see why Firefox is better by example, not by reading. How to use features etc. Simple, quick, easy to follow. Sexy animations show how it works. People are hesitant to read text.

What’s new, would be a great way to show users what changed since the last version. Remember: Firefox got this far by word of mouth. Letting current users see how much better each version got, makes them more inclined to tell some friends about it. Show off the new improvements in a way users are inclined to see them.

Help Firefox would perhaps discuss ways to help Firefox (obvious right). Spreadfirefox.com, report broken websites, report bugs, donate, buy Mozilla gear, etc.

Such a feature would popup on the first load of a new profile. At that point they could disable it from showing again. Next release it comes back with new features. Only once by default, unless the user decides otherwise.

What we accomplish

• Show users what to look for when deciding if Firefox is right for them.
• Show users the new features if they are upgrading.
• Show users how to adjust to Firefox if they are a habitual IE user.
• Show users how they can help Firefox.

I think we can all agree we want that.

Casual users don’t like reading. They don’t have the patience. It needs to be displayed for them. Illustrated for them. That is what will get more people to use Firefox. Remember: downloads are great, but we ultimately need users. That’s the goal here.

It costs as little as $10 to do, and can really help promote Firefox. It’s a great way to help promote the Fox. Not to mention the extra cash helps out the Mozilla Foundation. They make some great software.

Think about it:

How many other products are useful, innovative, stable, and low cost? Not many. With a few bucks you can help ensure Firefox gets some great exposure and more users. If only a small percentage donate some cash, that results in more fuel to continue development. The results are cyclical. You can start the positive cycle.

It takes as little as $10, and only a minute or two of your time. Spread the fox:

Donate Today

(as usual, I’d appreciate anyone who uses my link, so I get some referral credit).

FreeiPods.com actually delivered.

Today it happened. FedEx dropped off my free iPod. It’s a 20GB 4th Generation Apple iPod. I was just about to leave, so I took a few pics with my Camera Phone and left. I’m to busy to open and play for at least a few days. I’m pretty sure it’s not an empty box (because I know someone will suggest that), since it came directly from Apple’s Shanghai manufacturing contractor/facility.

Of course I posted those pictures for you to see. Go ahead, look, enjoy. They are low quality, from a camera phone, but they should be compatible with most human eyes version 1.0+.

Bottom Line
Freeipods.com/Gratis Internet at least appears legitimate. I did get my offer. They “sent to vendor” 9/15, and I got it today, 10/25. Reportedly shipping has picked up to being about a week or two. Though some Sept people are still waiting for their iPods. I got my iPod for trying a silly offer, and getting a few others to do so. Some sound like good offers, so you may want to seriously consider it. Others are just downright rediculus (like these magic pills). So pick with caution, and read the offer. Some are only free if you cancel within the trial period. Some never bill unless you use the service. Some like eBay don’t require billing.

Spam Report
I am still getting about 3 spam emails a day that originate through this offer (I used a unique address, so only Gratis has used it. This is despite unsubscribing from all mailing through their website 2 weeks ago.

So is it a scam/multi-level-marketing/pyramid scheme
That’s hard to say. If you say it is, then technically any health club providing free membership to those who recommend friends would be too. There was no signup fee, I didn’t pay Gratis a penny. So it’s not really a Pyramid scheme (since those you normally pay to join, then get others to pay you). I’d really consider it to be on the level of how banks used to give out things like Clock Radio’s when you opened an account with them. Or a used car dealer throws in a toaster if you buy a car. With Gratis the condition is you have to refer a friend prior.

Should you do it
If you have time, patience, and think you can find a few friends to help you out… go for it. Otherwise, don’t even bother wasting your time.

Lesson Learned
Don’t fall for anything until you see some evidence. In my case, Wired.com provided that, as well as an interview on TechTV. There are some hoax impostor sites trying to cash in on Gratis’s reputation. Be very careful.

Will I try another
I do have a freeflatscreens.com account. Feel free to signup and help me. We’ll see if Gratis strikes twice with a shipment.

This is part of a multi-part story: First Post

As I mentioned here, Google desktop isn’t bad, but doesn’t support Firefox and Thunderbird as well as their Microsoft counterparts. Apparently that might change. Great news indeed.

Nuff said…

… for now