August 2007 Archives

This past weekend I decided to dink around with Jifty to create an app for listing my current and older development projects. In the process, I'm starting to build what I think will become my new blogs. We'll see, but so far things are looking good. Anyway, if you're interested in some of the projects I'm currently working on and what I've got so far in the development for my future web site, see:

//projects.contentment.org/

I've heard this mistake before, but the local talk radio station has at least one current offending commercial running that I heard the other day right after hearing a local leader talk to a reporter and make the same mistake. Both state something to the effect of, "Come visit our web site at Blah-Dot-Com-BACKSLASH-Yadda." For those of you that are non-techy, there is a significant difference between a forward slash (generally just called the "slash") and a backslash. Here's the difference:

The slash is used in web site addresses, typed fractions (like 3/4), in abbreviations (such as "w/" and "w/o"), and indicating that two ideas stand side by side (such as "and/or" or "meet me tomorrow/Sunday"). The other is generally not used for anything unless you run CMD.EXE on Windows or are a programmer needing to write out escape codes or break up lines.

The slash is commonly enough used that it is beneath your right pinky on a standard QWERTY keyboard. The backslash, on the other hand, has no standard placement on a QWERTY keyboard. It usually appears above the ENTER key with another rarely needed character, the vertical pipe ("|"), but it also appears next to the space bar and near the escape key among other places depending on your keyboard.

So, when you give out your web address, don't be tempted to sound fancy or use an extra syllable. Rather, just keep it simple and say "slash." In fact, most folks can erase the term "backslash" from their mind and just ban it from their vocabulary altogether.

Cheers.

One of my coworkers, Doug
, passed me a link to an article by Jakob Nielsen titled "Write Article's, Not Blogs
." The basic suggestion of the article is summarized as "To demonstrate world-class expertise, avoid quickly written, shallow postings. Instead, invest your time in thorough, value-added content that attracts paying customers." On the face of it, this does seem like good advice, but it makes a basic assumption that is false: blogs and articles fill the same role in business.

Now, to be fair, Nielsen does point out that blogs have value in business and we may not be that far apart in our opinions. However, I still must disagree on his statement that a serious business person should "not [spend] the effort to post numerous short comments on ongoing blogosphere discussions." He suggests that such time would be better spent writing serious and well-researched articles rather than short blog-style posts on topics. He suggests that this will result in more revenue for the serious business person because it avoids "commodity status."

The main disagreement I have is that this sort of statement is like saying that newspapers shouldn't have editorials, but only serious articles. Newscasts should only provide commentary, and skip general reporting. Football quarterbacks should focus on passing and give up running plays. Limiting yourself to a single dimension in your writing can also tell your audience that you don't care about what anyone else is saying, that you are the expert unto yourself. I find myself unimpressed with the sort of expert that can't find value in or contrast himself with the opinions of someone else. The kind of expert that is only capable of writing articles and not able to make concise and witty remarks without the aid of research.

Therefore, I say write blogs when you that's the appropriate medium for the message you have to deliver. If you read an interesting article and want to commend or disagree with the author, this is a blog. If you have an interesting discussion with a client that reveals something about your company's core values, write a blog. If you want to talk about something you see on the horizon as becoming a serious topic of discussion in the next year or two, write an article. There's nothing lost in short blog posts when applied to the right content. However, I do agree with Nielsen that far, serious writing requires a good and well-researched article.

Cheers.