Monthly Archives: July 2012

Travel

San Diego Zoo – The Top 5 Attractions for Families

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San Diego Zoo Entrance
Recently, my family and I were in California for a niece’s wedding. Since all of my siblings and their families were also there, we decided to visit the San Diego Zoo in an attempt to occupy the adults, 20-somethings, teenagers, and young children all at the same time.

  1. The Pandas – OK, this is probably really boring for the younger children because you have to wait in line, and then when you finally get close enough to see them, they’re most likely lying there taking a snooze; nevertheless, you can’t go the San Diego zoo and not visit the pandas.
  2. The Double Decker Bus Ride –  Taking the guided tour of the zoo on the double decker bus is a good way to start your day at the zoo in order to orient yourself to its layout.  It’s also a good way to take a quick survey of the animals and note the ones you want to see more of later.  Later in the afternoon when the younger members of your party are cranky or too tired to walk,  take an “express” bus to get from point A to point B with minimum fuss.
  3. The Swimmers – The “Polar Bear Plunge” and the Otter exhibits both feature under water views.  This is always a winner for both adults and kids.  The otters are always entertaining and graceful the way they dive, twist and turn, and glide around in the water.  If you can catch a glimpse of the polar bears in their swim tank, you will be shocked by their massive size and how close you can get to them when they swim up to the glass viewing pane.
  4. The Gorillas – The Gorillas put on quite a show for us.  One of the young gorillas kept teasing the matriarch of the group.  The matriarch would eventually get fed up with this and suddenly begin chasing the young upstart.  This led to great romps through the enclosure, followed by banging into the glass viewing panes, and eventually wrestling matches on the ground, as well as your typical gorilla grunting sounds.
  5. Chinese Acrobats –  In the afternoon, we went into one of the amphitheaters and watched the Chinese acrobats perform.  One performer rode a unicycle, placed multiple bowls on one leg and then flipped them up all at once, and caught them on his head in a stack.  Then, with the bowls still on his head and again using his feet, he flipped smaller cups into the bowls on his head.  Finally, he put a spoon on his foot and flipped it into the cups.  Children and adults alike were thrilled by this show.

Overall, the San Diego zoo did a great job entertaining all ages in our group.  Be sure to take in these top 5 attractions, the next time you’re there!

Blogging

Blog Naming for Beginners

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Decisions
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Choosing the name for a blog involves a series of tradeoffs.  An existing business may want a blog name to match their business name; however, the domain name or blog name may already be taken by another business.  Choosing a new, more creative name for a blog may make it difficult for customers to remember or associate with the business; consequently, it’s important to spend some time considering the tradeoffs.  Let’s look at three examples:

 1. A small bakery named “Bill’s”, located in Syracuse, NY, which features cupcakes.

Cupcakes
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A first obvious choice that pops into one’s mind is “BillsBakery”; however, the primary domain name (BillsBakery.com) is already taken even though no active website exists for it.  In spite of the many domain suffixes now available, as a business, the .com suffix would still be first preference for most businesses because that is the first place netizens would tend to look.  Since the business specializes in cupcakes, it may be to our benefit to “advertise” this via our blog name.  A blog named “BillsCupcakes” with a domain name of BillsCupcakes.com would be an obvious choice that would not only advertise their specialty,  but also be easy for people to remember and associate with the existing business.  A slightly more creative choice which also might work well would be “CupcakesByBill” (CupcakesByBill.com is also available as a domain name); however, this name sounds somewhat affected and may not be the image that the business wants to project.  Since Bills is in Syracuse, I’m going to assume that the customer base is more working to middle class range and recommend going with BillsCupcakes.com because the name is relatively short, easy to associate with the business, and the .com domain name is available.

2. Fang Films, a movie studio that focuses on horror films, most of which are released directly to DVD. 

Haunted House
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

In this case the obvious first choice would be to use the company name as the Blog and Domain Name; however, again the .com domain name is already taken (FangFilms.com) although currently unused.  Being in the creative business, a more creative name might work well.  As a blog site, I’m guessing that the intent would be to discuss horror films in general, not necessarily only the ones developed by Fang Films or ones released on DVD.  Consequently, I’m going to recommend a relatively generic name, FilmsWithFangs.  The name is similar to the company’s name and retains the connotation of horror films.  I feel that the preposition “with” helps drive home the concept of the horror film genre and works well as a creative expression; consequently, I’m willing to risk the extra characters it requires.  Fortunately, the name is also available as a domain name (FilmsWithFangs.com) which seals the deal for me.

3. Happy Pup Doggy Day Care, a new dog daycase business in Syracuse

Lab_Retriever_puppy_in_swing
Image: WikiMedia Commons Author: Bobjgalindo

My first reaction is to suggest changing the name of the business, but assuming the owner is set on this name, I will search for something less wordy for the blog name.   A good general theme of the blog would taking care of your dog/puppy.  Using the first two and the last words of the business name creates a shortened blog name which still retains the flavor of the business name (i.e. HappyPupCare) and gives the general flavor of what the blog topics will be.  Fortunately, the .com domain name is available (HappyPupCare.com).

For each of these choices, we see the tradeoffs required between trying to establish a unique and catchy blog name versus retaining a close association with the business name.  We also face a tradeoff between keeping the name short and making it meaningful enough to associate with the business and/or indicate what topics will be discussed in the blog.  Finally we are restricted to what domain names are available and how flexible we want to be with the domain name suffix.

Blogging

Blogging Platform Recommendations for Three Scenarios

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Blog Key

There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all blogging platform.  Different scenarios call for different solutions; consequently, it is important for the aspiring blogger to carefully consider his or her options.  To illustrate, let’s look at three different potential bloggers and which solution(s) would be a good fit for them:

1. A giant coffee retailer looking to connect with customers.

Ice Coffee
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A large corporation values and is willing to pay for a more customized and professional looking blogging platform as well as enhanced technical support.  If there are money, resource, and/or time contraints, I would recommend that they choose a commercial blogging hosting site such as Expression Engine or Compendium Blogware.  Both platforms offer standard and custom blogging features beyond what WordPress, Blogger, or Tumblr  offer. 

Alternatively, as a large corporation with presumably vast resources and fewer money, resource, or time constraints than an individual blogger, they could purchase their own blogging software (most likely as part of a larger “Social Software” package) and host it themselves.  This would give them complete control over the hosting platform as well as the blogging site. 

Here are some highlighted features which might lead you to chose one platform/package over another:

2. A photographer interested in making their work go viral.

Man photographing sunset
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A photographer should look first to Tumblr to see if it meets their needs.  Tumblr caters to “creative types”, and is easy to use.  It also uses its homepage to broadcast the latest works created by its members and offers some categorization of content by category type.

If the photographer specializes in video, he/she would probably want to post the video to YouTube and link to it from his/her blog in order to increase its visibility and maximize the chance that it will go viral.

3. A Syracuse Crunch hockey blogger looking to write daily updates.

Hockey Player
Image: Wikimedia Commons Author: Jshecket

A minor league hockey player wishing to write daily updates would probably be best served by selecting WorkPress or Blogger as their blogging platform.  The cost and technical skills required to create and post to the blog are minimal.  Search engine optimization is done automatically by the hosting platforms and mobile applications are available to make it easy to post while “on the road”.   WordPress would be my first choice due to its greater popularity in the blog world.  However, if integration with other Google services (e.g. Google docs) was an important concern, Blogger would be the better choice.

Blogging

WordPress vs. Tumbler Blog Platform Comparison

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WordPress or Tumblr
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net       

WordPress and Tumblr both seem to offer beginning bloggers an easy entrypoint  into the blogsphere; however, upon deeper reflection, one can see that there are more differences than similarities.

  • WordPress seems to attract people who like the written word.  Photos and videos are supported and used by WordPress bloggers, but one gets the impression that these are supplements to the written blog.  Some blogs even seem to eschew  pictures and video, offering word only posts. Tumblr on the other hand, seems to attract people who want to communicate primarily through photos and videos.  Often, the images posted are followed by only short, twitter-like explanations of the posting.
  • Tumblr focuses on attracting visual creative types.    With it’s tagline, “follow the world’s creators”, its target audience is narrower and more clearly delinated than WordPress.  Just showing up at its homepage plunges the visitor into a plethora of overwhelming visual stimulation which one does not find on the “plain Jane” WordPress homepage.
  • WordPress allows for more customization.  Tumblr’s simplicity, while good for beginning bloggers, does not necessarily lend itself well to the complex editing and features that more advanced users may desire.  By paying for the stand alone version of WordPress you can upgrade, create your own URL, and even add eCommerce functionality if you want avoid “starving artist” status. 

In summary, Tumblr is a better platform for visual, creative types who are just beginning to blog or who favor a simple, easy-to-use interface to exhibit their creative works.  WordPress is a better platform for those focused on written expression or for those who want to exert more technical control over their blog.  Upgrading to the stand alone version of WorkPress, allows additional control and provides a growth path for those who have outgrown the free versions of WordPress and Tumblr.