tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-68071522008-12-22T14:44:10.942-05:00Ghost Sites of the WebWeb 1.0 history, forgotten web celebrities, old web sites, commentary, and news by Steve Baldwin. Published erratically since 1996.steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comBlogger397125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-51692196468102819422008-12-22T14:41:00.002-05:002008-12-22T14:44:10.952-05:00New Mediapost Article: Small Business to PPC Search: Drop Dead<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=97115"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 185px;" src="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/images/triangle.gif" border="0" alt="New Mediapost Article: Ten (Highly Cynical) Predictions for 2009" /></a>I've written <a href="http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=97115">a new MediaPost article</a> discussing a new Microsoft study showing that the majority of small business owners want nothing to do with PPC search. Frankly, there are some very good reasons for their caution: PPC search can be one of the fastest guaranteed ways to lose money.steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-21862084752071207422008-12-08T11:58:00.001-05:002008-12-08T12:00:28.736-05:00New Mediapost Article: Ten (Highly Cynical) Predictions for 2009<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=96193"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 185px;" src="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/images/triangle.gif" border="0" alt="New Mediapost Article: Ten (Highly Cynical) Predictions for 2009" /></a>Putting on my clairvoyant tinfoil Pundit Hat, <a href="http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=96193">I predict ten major developments in Search Marketing</a> for the coming year.steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-25008492609131885052008-12-05T15:00:00.002-05:002008-12-05T15:01:25.494-05:00Let's Put the Automotive Age Behind Us<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklynparrots/2237987576/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2278/2237987576_41c71c6762_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklynparrots/2237987576/">Train of the Future</a> <br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/brooklynparrots/">brooklynparrot</a></span><br clear="all" /><p>I am sickened by the idea that U.S. taxpayers will soon bail out the auto industry, which -- along with collaborators in the rubber and petroleum industries -- has done more damage to rational transportation in the U.S. than almost any other factor. <br /><br />Railroads are far more efficient, leave a smaller carbon footprint, take up very little space relative to highways, and deserve -- finally -- to be given their chance to compete. Let's build the true costs of transportation and ecological destruction into cars and see how they compete.</p>steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-45644328878012939652008-11-24T12:38:00.001-05:002008-11-24T12:46:29.266-05:00New Mediapost Article: Reality Bites Hard<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.mediapost.com/blogs/search_insider/?p=924"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 185px;" src="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/images/triangle.gif" border="0" alt="New Mediapost Article: Reality Bites Hard" /></a>There's something rotten in the Internet Economy, and I'm mad as hell that more people aren't even talking about it. <a href="http://www.mediapost.com/blogs/search_insider/?p=924">My latest, angst-ridden rant from MediaPost</a>.steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-33829656536326143662008-11-20T10:42:00.001-05:002008-11-20T10:43:59.933-05:00New Mediapost Article: Pennies From Heaven<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.mediapost.com/blogs/search_insider/?p=919"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 185px;" src="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/images/triangle.gif" border="0" alt="New Mediapost Article: Pennies From Heaven" /></a>The U.S. economy is in shambles, our collective future is in doubt, and many of us lucky enough to be employed in tech may soon be looking for jobs. I've survived a few recessions (barely): <a href="http://www.mediapost.com/blogs/search_insider/?p=919">here's some advice</a> for surviving what may be the worst time in your professional life.steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-42481871474089816692008-11-17T11:14:00.003-05:002008-11-17T11:16:35.062-05:00Remember When TV Commercials Were Brilliant?I don't own a television, because I so detest watching today's crummy commercials. But at one point in time -- some forty years ago -- commercials were brilliant, arguably more fun to watch than the shows in which they were interspersed. Check out this Alka Seltzer spot, which is just as funny today as the date in aired back in 1969. The agency was Doyle Dane Bernbach, whose creative director, Roy Grace (1937-2003), conceived it and other classic spots of the era. <br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ErgdUhZteqw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ErgdUhZteqw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-4434411811145307082008-11-17T10:50:00.000-05:002008-11-17T10:51:10.354-05:00I Will Miss ValleyWag.com<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.valleywag.com"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 185px;" src="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/images/triangle.gif" border="0" alt="I Will Miss ValleyWag.com" /></a>In its heyday, <a href="http://www.valleywag.com">ValleyWag.com</a> was the must-visit site for those benighted souls deeply interested in the flawed brilliance of Silicon Valley's enterepreneur class. From nothing, it built a dedicated viewership of some 1 million unique visitors per month, but that was not enough to sustain it, especially since it paid its writers a bounty for high-traffic posts that went viral. ValleyWag.com won't actually close down: it will be folded into Gawker.com but it will certainly lose much of its spice in the process. It's always a sad day when the Web loses an original voice.steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-62807106735817999252008-11-04T18:14:00.002-05:002008-11-04T18:15:07.097-05:00DEMOCRACY IN ACTION<object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://widgets.clearspring.com/o/48ff995c49a30ff2/4910d7096f072a97/490532f277debe70/fc3affdf/-cpid/ffbd76980a525a" id="W48ff995c49a30ff24910d7096f072a97" width="400" height="545"><param name="movie" value="http://widgets.clearspring.com/o/48ff995c49a30ff2/4910d7096f072a97/490532f277debe70/fc3affdf/-cpid/ffbd76980a525a" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent" /><param name="allowNetworking" value="all" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /></object>steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-47661125499561076722008-10-29T12:22:00.000-04:002008-10-28T22:03:17.189-04:00Exploring the Ruins of Lehman.com<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.lehman.com/"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 185px;" src="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/images/triangle.gif" alt="Exploring the Ruins of Lehman.com" border="0" /></a>Lehman Brothers, at the domain <a href="http://www.lehman.com/">lehman.com</a>, is of course the giant investment bank that was allowed to fail, tipping the global financial system into chaos and collapse. The company is now in a state of bankruptcy, but its sprawling website appears much as it was before the end came.<br /><br />Check out Lehman.com's <a href="http://www.lehman.com/who/index.htm">History Timeline</a>: it carefully records every detail of Lehman's existence but only through 2007. The site's <a href="http://www.lehman.com/who/awards/">Awards and Recognition page</a> is another eerie area. Right up to the end of its existence, the firm appears to have been such accolades as "Best Credit Derivative House." Perhaps the ghostliest area of Lehman.com is its <a href="http://www.lehman.com/careers/workatlehman/index.htm">Careers page</a>, where an invitation to "Begin Your Journey" and "Engage Your Passion" rotates undeterred by events. Similarly, the firm's <a href="http://www.lehman.com/who/intellectual_capital/">Intellectual Capital</a> section is months out of date.<br /><br />Lehman.com has become unstuck in time, and while it's perhaps disingenous to expect that a lowly HTML coder would have been retained merely to update these sections, but the lack of closure is stunning.steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-42292967124892339882008-10-28T16:39:00.001-04:002008-10-28T16:39:43.244-04:00Best. Commercial. Ever.<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Qq8Uc5BFogE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Qq8Uc5BFogE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-86183419683511400032008-10-13T14:13:00.000-04:002008-10-13T14:14:24.281-04:00New Mediapost Article: Stressed Out at SMX<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.mediapost.com/blogs/search_insider/?p=894"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 185px;" src="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/images/triangle.gif" border="0" alt="New Mediapost Article: Stressed Out at SMX" /></a><a href="http://www.mediapost.com/blogs/search_insider/?p=894">My latest MediaPost rant</a> bewails the fact that SEM trade shows do a great job of educating newbies about basic search tactics, but do a very poor job of providing anything but 101-level info, which means that exhibitors looking for a meaningful conversation with advanced-level prospects are left holding a very expensive bag.steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-15327789805240724992008-10-03T22:09:00.004-04:002008-10-03T22:14:43.180-04:00Sarah Palin: The Fargo Interview<embed src="http://www.veoh.com/veohplayer.swf?permalinkId=v16129750ckDcybgA&id=anonymous&player=videodetailsembedded&videoAutoPlay=0" allowFullScreen="true" width="410" height="341" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed><br/><font size="1">Watch <a href="http://www.veoh.com/videos/v16129750ckDcybgA">Sarah Palin meets Fargo</a> in <a href="http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos.html?category=category_comedy">Funny Videos</a> | View More <a href="http://www.veoh.com/">Free Videos Online at Veoh.com</a></font><br /><br />Linguistic soul mates Sarah Palin and Marge Gunderson finally meet in one of the best video mash-ups ever made. Who the heck is the genius who made this? Step forward and claim your just award. Another good find courtesy of <a href="http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/">Andrew Sullivan's Blog</a>.steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-53984403809154918052008-10-03T10:44:00.002-04:002008-10-03T10:46:39.960-04:00End of the American Dream?<embed class='castfire_player' id='cf_5f02a' name='cf_5f02a' width='400' height='247' src='http://p.castfire.com/fcieq/video/26078/26078_2008-09-25-215549.flv' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' allowFullScreen='true'></embed><br />A frighteningly surreal video report about people living along "Foreclosure Alley" in California who are losing their homes. Shown are "trashout" crews that ferry valuable belongings to the dump instead of selling them, guys who paint brown lawns green to increase abandoned homes' marketability, and swimming pool drainers fighting West Nile virus. Props to <a href="http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/">Andrew Sullivan</a> for finding and posting this initially.steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-87801130632853976432008-09-29T11:05:00.006-04:002008-09-29T11:09:28.369-04:00New Mediapost Article: Crisis of Confidence Threatens Everyone in SEM<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.mediapost.com/blogs/search_insider/?p=879"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 185px;" src="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/images/triangle.gif" border="0" alt="New Mediapost Article: Crisis of Confidence Threatens Everyone in SEM" /></a><a href="http://www.mediapost.com/blogs/search_insider/?p=879">My latest Mediapost rant</a> discusses why (Search Engine Marketing) will self-destruct unless the industry somehow manages to reform itself. Frankly, I think that it may be too late to save it, because there are too many people making money from incompetence, waste, and greed (kinda like Wall Street before its big fall).steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-69921826521283935052008-09-27T15:03:00.001-04:002008-09-30T19:40:37.023-04:00In Praise of Paul NewmanUpdate 9/26/2008: <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/28/movies/28newman.html">Paul Newman has died</a> at his home in Connecticut. <br /><br />(original article, posted 8/13/2008)<br /><br />IN PRAISE OF PAUL NEWMAN<br /><br />I'm certainly not alone in being troubled by news that Paul Newman is gravely ill. Paul Newman is a great actor and more importantly, a great human being, who's given almost a quarter of a billion dollars to charity and has touched many lives with his kindness. To celebrate his life, I've been watching a lot of Paul Newman movies recently. Without further ado, here are my picks for the Top 10 Best Paul Newman Movies of all time. I've linked title text to Amazon in case you want to check out any of these works yourself and add them to your DVD library.<br /><br />1. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000O77SPO?ie=UTF8&tag=netslaves-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000O77SPO">The Hustler </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=netslaves-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000O77SPO" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> (1962) This classic, atmospheric film has much more than electrifying performances from Newman, Piper Laurie, Jackie Gleason, and George C. Scott. It's a no holds-barred look at what it takes to succeed in America, and the supreme costs one must pay for doing so. If you only watch one Paul Newman film, this is the one to see. <br /><br />2. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000AUHQU?ie=UTF8&tag=netslaves-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0000AUHQU">Hud</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=netslaves-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0000AUHQU" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> (1963) Newman's Hud is the unforgettable Texan anti-hero, an unprincipled man of absolute self-centered nastiness. This beautifully filmed (by James Wong Howe) tragic drama features unforgettable performances by Melvyn Douglas, Patricia Neal, and Brandon De Wilde.<br /><br />3. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000SW16IK?ie=UTF8&tag=netslaves-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000SW16IK">The Verdict</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=netslaves-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000SW16IK" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> (1982) Paul Newman's breathtaking performance as a 50-ish, washed-up alcoholic lawyer who realizes that his one path left open for redemption is through a trial by fire. Screenplay by David Mamet, direction by Sydney Lumet, with a stellar supporting performance by Jack Warden. This film is flawless and if The Hustler and Hud weren't such brilliant works, The Verdict would be #1 on this list.<br /><br />4. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00005V0XF?ie=UTF8&tag=netslaves-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B00005V0XF">Slap Shot</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=netslaves-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B00005V0XF" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> (1977) Quite possibly the best, most hilariously endearing movie about sports ever made, with Newman, as coach Reggie Dunlop, attempting to coax one more championship from a doomed New York state hockey team filled with miscreants and misfits. A true classic that was way ahead of its time and still packs belly-laughs today.<br /><br />5. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HWZ4D4?ie=UTF8&tag=netslaves-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000HWZ4D4">Harper</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=netslaves-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000HWZ4D4" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> (1966) A New Age noir sleeper based on Ross Macdonald's "The Moving Target," Harper has it all: dysfunctional LA families, a shady mystic guru, fast fists, fillies, gunplay, and treachery. This film's score by Johnny Mandel is one of the best of the 1960s. An excellent cast is rounded out by Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris, Robert Wagner, and Strother Martin.<br /><br />6. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EXDS5M?ie=UTF8&tag=netslaves-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000EXDS5M">Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=netslaves-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000EXDS5M" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> (1969) The quintessential Western buddy film that was a monster hit when it was released and still charms.<br /><br />7. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0019UGYK0?ie=UTF8&tag=netslaves-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0019UGYK0">Cool Hand Luke </a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=netslaves-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B0019UGYK0" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> (1967) I suppose that Cool Hand Luke will be the film that Paul Newman will ultimately be remembered for, because the character of Luke so completely expresses the alienation and rebellion of the 1960s. Even though Luke isn't exactly a brainiac, Newman's intelligence shines through the part of the doomed work camp convict. <br /><br />8. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000035Z5G?ie=UTF8&tag=netslaves-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000035Z5G">The Color of Money</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=netslaves-20&l=as2&o=1&a=B000035Z5G" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> (1986) A sequel to The Hustler directed by Martin Scorcese, this film captures Fast Eddie Felton twenty years into his career, a sadder, wiser, but no less formidable man. I'm not a big Tom Cruise fan but Tom is great as a young pool hustler that Fast Eddie takes under his wing. If you've got the middle-age blues The Color of Money will cure ya!<br /><br />9. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0767804325?ie=UTF8&tag=netslaves-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0767804325">Absence of Malice</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=netslaves-20&l=as2&o=1&a=0767804325" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> (1981) A terrific "message picture" that probes big questions about the responsibility of the media, and yet doesn't fail to thoroughly entertain. Another Sydney Pollack classic with a stellar cast, including Sally Field as an overzealous newspaper reporter.<br /><br />10. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/6300270335?ie=UTF8&tag=netslaves-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=6300270335">The Drowning Pool</a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=netslaves-20&l=as2&o=1&a=6300270335" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /> (1975) A stylish, dark sequel to Harper, The Drowning Pool takes Lew Harper to Los Angeles, where he meets a qualitatively different sort of degradation and despair. Few sequels match the originals in quality: the Drowning Pool manages to be just as good as Harper. Joanne Woodward is excellent as Harper's doomed paramour.<br /><br />Yeah, I know: I had to leave a bunch of great Paul Newman movies off this list, including Winning (the film that got Paul into car racing), The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (a romp directed by John Huston), The Long Hot Summer (plenty of fireworks between Newman and Woodward), The Sting (a classic scam twister), Road to Perdition (Paul's last film), and lots of others that I haven't seen yet or seen recently enough to evaluate. Maybe a "top 10" list for Paul Newman doesn't do his work justice at all!<br /><br />While I dearly hope that all the rumors about Paul's health are false, we're all mortals, and Paul has left us so much in his films and in his life that he'll be with us for a long long time: as long, anyway, as there are intelligent people willing to create, as well as watch, intelligent movies.steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-51212684513283102008-09-10T15:07:00.003-04:002008-09-10T15:10:30.028-04:00New Mediapost Article: Is The Ad World Finally Taking SEM Seriously?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.mediapost.com/blogs/search_insider/?p=869"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 185px;" src="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/images/triangle.gif" border="0" alt="New Mediapost Article: Is The Ad World Finally Taking SEM Seriously? " /></a>Advertising Week is an annual ritual in New York that often brims with self-congratulatory silliness, and I tend to avoid it like the plague. Advertising -- at least in my mind -- is largely based on lies, spin, the creation of false needs and false consciousness. Frankly, if we as a nation spent less on advertising and more on improving products, we'd all have a better world. Still, <a href="http://www.mediapost.com/blogs/search_insider/?p=869">as I write in this week's MediaPost</a>, there's a bit of good news: this year's Advertising Week appears to be paying more attention to SEM (Search Engine Marketing), a far less wasteful, less obnoxious, and more profitable form of marketing that deserves its day in the sun.steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-36712842749415591162008-09-09T16:48:00.001-04:002008-09-09T16:48:56.316-04:00C&O 4-8-4 614 Gets Underway<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklynparrots/1779364917/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2356/1779364917_e35b70da42_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklynparrots/1779364917/">C&O 4-8-4 614 Gets Underway</a> <br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/brooklynparrots/">brooklynparrot</a></span><br clear="all" /><p>As Web 1.0 churns its way into history, it's good to keep all of this technology in perspective. Great machines -- the Googles, AOLs and Yahoos of this world -- are human institutions. They cannot survive forever, although we might not want them to. Keep this in mind as you surf the Web today, and consider C&0 614, a magnificent machine crafted in the shops of Lima in the year of 1948, as she rounds a bend with a limited in tow.</p>steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-19593880229171097932008-08-22T14:53:00.005-04:002008-08-22T14:59:49.871-04:00All I Can Say About Jerry Seinfeld and Microsoft Is...<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=6807152&postID=8549425620640232364"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 185px;" src="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/images/triangle.gif" alt="All I Can Say About Jerry Seinfeld and Microsoft Is..." border="0" /></a>Nobody's asked for my comments on <a href="http://blogs.computerworld.com/ten_reasons_why_the_seinfeld_microsoft_partnership_doesnt_work">Jerry Seinfeld now shilling for Microsoft</a>, but here they are anyway:<br /><br />1. It's a better choice than Flooz.com made when it hired Whoopie Goldberg to represent it back in the 1990s.<br /><br />2. It's a great short-term deal for Jerry, who's career has proven increasingly irrelevant in recent years, but it may wipe out whatever affection people still have for him.<br /><br />3. It uncomfortably suggests that Vista -- despite the hundreds of millions of marketing dollars spent to promote it -- is "an operating system about nothing."steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-85494256206402323642008-08-17T16:01:00.001-04:002008-08-17T16:03:28.049-04:00The End of Cyber-History (My Small Part Of It, Anyway)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href=""><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 185px;" src="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/images/triangle.gif" border="0" alt="The End of Cyber-History (My Small Part Of It, Anyway)" /></a>I've been publishing Ghost Sites of the Web since the Summer of 1996, and it's been a great ride. But as live forces its changes upon us, we must adapt. This year, I've gone through two tragedies that have completely altered my life. Both my beloved mother and sister committed suicide earlier this year. I will probably spend the rest of my life trying to understand how this could happen, faulting myself for failing to prevent it. One can only try to move through such an experience on a day by day basis, and try to keep moving, because depression, it's said, "has a hard time hitting a moving target."<br /><br />As I survey the range of my current online activities, and weigh the costs of carrying them forward against the benefits they have granted me, I have realized that I do not have the resources required to responsibly maintain all the various content areas of Ghost Sites, so I am moving the Museum of Interactive Failure, the Pathfinder Museum, and the Netslaves Archive off line to a ruggedized 1 Terabyte disk. I have made plans for these files to be donated to a historical institution sometime after my own death, which I hope is still many years away. <br /><br />I will keep updating Ghost Sites, because I enjoy having a Blog wherein I can comment on contemporary developments on the Internet with an eye to their historical context, and I've met some good people here. Among the best of them is Morbus, whose unique talents have created the sprawling zone of "content for the discontented" that constitutes Disobey.com.<br /><br />One in a blue moon, some of the historical data I've gathered might even make it back on the online. But I think it is time that I retire some of the old material, which will give me more time and mental space to stay in touch with joyful living in the real world, and less time facing the solemn issue of death in the virtual world, which I hope I've covered to the Internet's satisfaction for the past dozen years. If <a href="http://www.brooklynparrots.com">you'd like to check up on my current activities, please check out my other site, BrooklynParrots.com</a>. I don't know how much you know about wild Quaker Parrots, but I've found that watching them is a sure fire cure for sadness, and I plan on spending as much of my free time with them as possible for the foreseeable future.<br /><br />Of course, cleaning up the vast museum of historical cyber-flotsam I've compiled will take a bit of time, and this process might be messy. Please forgive any 404 "File Not Found" and/or broken image errors you might encounter here in the next few weeks.They will disappear soon enough, making this site a "clean, well lit place" again.<br /><br />Who was it that said that "the only thing constant is change?" He or she was certainly correct. Thank you for your support for these many years. I hope to have informed you about the Web's early years, and hope these efforts have enhanced your own appreciation of this extraordinary medium.<br /><br />Keep on Fetchin'! (for you youngsters who may not understand this statement, "fetchin'" was a popular synomym for FTP'ing back in the early 1990s).<br /><br />Best,<br />Steve Baldwin<br />Editor, Ghost Sites of the Websteve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-61471180327061881722008-08-16T16:06:00.004-04:002008-08-16T13:03:15.835-04:00In Memory of Cal Chamberlain, AKA "Judge Cal," a Bona Fide Internet Video Pioneer<span style="font-style: italic;">Updated 8/16/2008: We were very sad to read of the death of Judge Cal, AKA Cal Chamberlain, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/16/nyregion/16chamberlain.html?em">in today's New York Times</a>. <br /><br />Judge Cal only lived to age 40, but he led a full life and he left much behind in cyberspace by which he will be remembered. You can get a taste of his sensibilities by browsing <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/judgecal/tags/judgecal/">his still active Flickr area</a>, but the best way to experience what he brought to the Net is to watch his pre-Youtube videos made under contract to Pseudo.com. These videos were long offline, but have migrated to Youtube and can be enjoyed there.<br /><br />Tonight there will be a gathering to remember Cal, a bona fide Internet pioneer, at the Theater for the New City.<br /></span><br />(Original Article, posted to Ghost Sites on 7/26/2007):<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">=JUDGECAL'S= "High Weirdness" Returns to CyberSpace<br /></span><br /><br /><object height="330" width="400"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aqbIk7oMguk"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/aqbIk7oMguk" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="330" width="400"></embed></object><br /><br />Back in 2001, Netslaves' Bill Lessard wrote an article called "<a href="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/netslaves/comments/988902078.shtml">More Vintage Stupidity: =JUDGECAL'S= "High Weirdness</a>" which discussed one of Pseudo.com's more infamous video series, calling it "a program that could be best described as Wayne's World meets the early 90s East Village on the way to having holes drilled in your skull."<br /><br />While the links embedded in <a href="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/netslaves/comments/988902078.shtml">Bill's old article</a> have drifted with time, I am pleased to note that several demo reels of =JUDGECAL'S= "High Weirdness" have made their way to YouTube. These are reels intended to sell this Pseudo.com property to the major networks. Unfortunately, the networks passed on the series, setting back Josh Harris' master plan of becoming "bigger than CBS" by at least a hundred years.<br /><br />These ancient videos, recorded in 1999 are instructive documents for all who seek to understand Web 1.0. Taped in Pseudo.com's multi-floor loft at the corner of West Broadway and Houston Street, they more accurately capture the zeitgeist of mid-1990's Silicon Valley than any scholarly documentary created by any university New Media Studies Department, providing primary source material for all who seek to understand New York's New Media Industry in its heyday (1995-2000).<br /><br />Additionally, these important documents provide future historians with an indelible portrait of the sensibilities, morays, modes of speech and style preferences of that group of Americans known to demographers as "Generation X" as it bravely faced the New Millennium.steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-12783603843696477322008-08-13T10:18:00.003-04:002008-08-13T10:21:43.129-04:00New Mediapost Article: Social Media: Its More Than Facebook<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.mediapost.com/blogs/search_insider/?p=850"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 185px;" src="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/images/triangle.gif" border="0" alt="Social Media: Its More Than Facebook" /></a>I've written <a href="http://www.mediapost.com/blogs/search_insider/?p=850">a new article on Social Media for Mediapost</a>; please check it out. My thesis is that far too many marketers get hung up on trying to reach people in Facebook, Myspace, etc., when they should be focusing on reaching people where the real action is: on product-focused bulletin boards and forum areas.steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-1082526988500273562008-08-09T01:54:00.000-04:002008-08-10T22:31:46.670-04:00Raiders of the Lost Kozmo.com Files (Updated)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/uploaded_images/kozmo_is_currently_experien-793895.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/uploaded_images/kozmo_is_currently_experien-793869.jpg" border="0" alt="Raiders of the Lost Kozmo.com Files (Updated)" /></a>(Update 8/4/2008: the links to these rare Kozmo.com artifacts have drifted over the years, so I've updated them so that the assets remain visible). <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">No history of Silicon Alley is complete without discussing Kozmo.com</span>. On November 11, 2003, our skeleton crew of researchers, while digging through another midden heap of cybergarbage, discovered a rare and extraordinary find of images, sounds, and movie files developed to promote Kozmo.com - a star-crossed Internet project that was well known to New Yorkers and San Franciscans in the late 1990s. This find, we believe, significantly expands the supply of first-generation digital artifacts associated with Kozmo.com.<br /><br />Before discussing the gems found within the 11/11/03 Find, let's look at the Kozmo.com digital artifacts that are known to exist today, and the gaps in the historical collection. First, it should be noted that the Internet Archive does appear to contain a fair collection of Kozmo.com, a list of which can be viewed by going to <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.kozmo.com" target="_blank">http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.kozmo.com</a>.<br /><br />Unfortunately, much of Kozmo.com did not survive the WayBack Machine's data collection process. None of the examples from 1998 appears to have been preserved intact, and only one recorded example from 1999 survives - the one archived on October 13. The reasons for this seem to be associated with the CGI scripting that Kozmo.com used in this period, which seems to have thrwarted Archive.org's Web-whacking efforts.<br /><br />Of the 33 efforts the WayBack Machine made to archive the site in 2000 and early 2001, the results are slightly better. One can clearly make out the Kozmo logo and some of its product offerings. Unfortunately, only the home page was preserved in these passes - what was once inside Kozmo is invisible. The last image that survives of Kozmo.com in its pre-failure mode is from March 31, 2000. Ghost Sites made <a href="http://www.blogger.com/mef/kozmo.jpg">its sole screen grab</a> shortly after this time. So Kozmo isn't very well preserved, which is sad for those who grew to love this service.<br /><br />Here is where the Ghost Sites Find of 11/11/03 serves to fill some of these gaps, so let's take a quick tour. All of these artifacts were recovered from the Web site of DiMassino, the ad agency that sought to make Kozmo.com a household word in the late 1990's.<br /><br />On the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/design/kozmo.html" target="_blank">agency's main Kozmo page</a>, you'll see a quick overview of <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/design/img/kozmo1.gif" target="_blank">some extremely strange Kozmo offline branding objects</a>, including a Kozmo Metrocard, a Kozmo business card, the uniform of one of its messengers, and one of its phone booth ads. It's interesting to note that Kozmo.com actually went so far as to trademark the phrase <b>"We'll Be Right Over"</b> (which means that you might want to refrain from ever saying or writing these words unless you're prepared to be sued by whichever liquidator wound up owning the Kozmo.com corporate assets!).<br /><br />Unfortunately, you can't see much more by clicking anywhere on this page - the really interesting stuff is buried deep within unlinked areas of the agency site that our skeleton crew had to find by resorting to a set of sneaky and stealthy means passed directly to us by Indiana Jones.<br /><br />So without further ado, here is a list of precious, historically significant digital matter that very few people outside of DiMassimo's tight circle of brand identity experts have likely ever seen:<br /><br /><ul><br /><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work1.html" target="_blank">http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work1.html</a><br />A close-up of the Kozmo "Dirk Diggler and Fresh Samantha" phone booth ad.</li><br /><br /><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work2.html" target="_blank">http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work2.html</a><br />A high resolution image of a different phone booth campaign ("12 Monkeys and 1 Banana Smoothie")</li><br /><br /><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work3.html" target="_blank">http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work3.html</a><br />A rare 640 x 60 Web banner ad - "Dirk Diggler and Fresh Samantha"</li><br /><br /><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work4.html" target="_blank">http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work4.html</a><br />An even rarer photo of a bus ad - "Dr. Evil and Dr. Pepper"</li><br /><br /><li><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work5.html" target="_blank">http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work5.html</a><br />A Kozmo print ad - "He Got Game. Sony Dreamcast"<br /></li><br /></ul><br />Now here is where the real fun begins - the next two pages are embedded with Quicktime movies - the first, the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work6.html" target="_blank">"Kozmo Challenge"</a> starring Lee Majors - the famous "6 million dollar man". The second, more obscure TV spot, in black and white, plays on the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work7.html" target="_blank">Lucy and Rickie theme</a>. Unfortunately, there appears to be no way to save these two movies - the Javascript forbids their capture.<br /><br />The next two pages present examples of Kozmo's attitudinally-driven rest-room advertising (a method also used by Half.com, which placed its ads at the bottom of urinals in the well-trafficked mens room at New York's Grand Central Terminal).<br /><br />One such ad is <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work8.html" target="_blank">"He's Such a Loser - Why Don't You Go Home and Rent a Movie"</a>, and a similar one from the male point of view - "<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work9.html" target="_blank">That Girl's a Bitch - Why Don't You Go Home and Rent a Movie</a>". Each speaks far more eloquently about American sexual attitudes in the late 1990's than you'd ever find in a skidload of sociological texts borrowed from your local university library.<br /><br /><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work11.html" target="_blank">http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work11.html</a> and <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work12.html" target="_blank">http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work12.html</a> contain Kozmo.com screenshots that neither Archive.org nor Ghostsites.com was able to capture. They are perhaps less interesting than the other examples here, but do serve to illustrate what the site actually looked like during its brief sojourn on the Web.<br /><br />The next two pages in the Lost Kozmo.com Archive contain fascinating radio spots, the first of which is <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work12.html" target="_blank">a fake testimonial from one of Kozmo's messengers</a>; the next a curiously <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20031209132744/www.dimassimo.com/site/work/kozmo/kozmo_work13.html" target="_blank">homoerotic interview between a customer and a video store owner</a> that was targeted for use in San Francisco.<br /><br />The Ghost Sites Find of 11/11/03 presents an extraordinary look at the life - both internal and external - of a legendary dotcom that time and memory have not been kind to. Unfortunately, this view - one of the greatest surprises to Web historians since the discovery of the Lost Pathfinder Archive - may not last for very long. Although the GIFs and JPEGs can be saved by historians, neither the Quicktime movies nor the radio spots - the richest data forms in this collection, can be captured for posterity, and DeMassino may have have wanted it this way. In the flick of a switch, we will lose these few remaining pieces of Kozmo's history and it could happen tonight or tomorrow.<br /><br />The pages on DeMassino's servers provide a rare look into the past that illustrate much more about our time than even its brand identity gurus could have ever intended. One might hope that DeMassino donates some of this material to one or another of the Internet's many data depositories, but this is unlikely. Commercials, in radio, TV, print, or hypermedia, rarely survive more than a few years before they are destroyed completely, and I doubt that Kozmo will provide any exception to this immutable rule.<br /><br /><i>Note: on November 16, I heard from someone who states that the Kozmo .MOV and audio files that I said "could not be saved" can in fact be saved, and that he has saved them. This is very good news and I hope to have more information about this soon.</i><br /><br />For more on Kozmo.com, <a href="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/labels/Kozmo.com.html">follow this link</a>).steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-65157682131476217422008-08-08T13:53:00.002-04:002008-08-13T10:22:56.009-04:00Does Anybody Remember the Following Doomed NY Tech Companies?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://usv.jot.com/WikiHome/USV%20Wiki/The%20New%20York%20Internet%20Industry%20Speech%20Brainstorm"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 185px;" src="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/images/triangle.gif" alt="Does Anybody Remember the Following NY Tech Companies?" /></a>Over the past week or so, I've been contributing articles for Fred Wilson's <a href="http://usv.jot.com/WikiHome/USV%20Wiki/The%20New%20York%20Internet%20Industry%20Speech%20Brainstorm">timeline of Silicon Alley</a> project. I don't know Fred personally but I'm glad that somebody is working on a project to immortalize the glory and disaster of New York's tech economy. Anyway, I've been coming across a bunch of companies that glowed like diamonds when they launched but are barely remembered today.<br /><br />Most of us who were active in the industry at the time remember the big NY-based disasters (Pseudo.com, Pathfinder.com, IGuide, Kozmo.com, Flooz.com, Beenz.com, SiliconAlleyReporter.com, etc.). But there were plenty of smaller failures that few remember: here are some of them that might jog some ancient brain cells.<br /><br /><span style="">ToggleThis: A games developer that briefly worked on animating Bugs Bunny for Warner Brothers, thus validating the notion that "Silicon Alley" had arrived). Unfortunately, one dancing bunny doth not an industry make.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">MethodFive</span>: Talk about a forgotten interactive service agency! I don't know a soul who remembers MethodFive, but it was once the talk of the town.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">IFusion.com:</span> One of an ugly gaggle of push technology vendors that (very briefly) seemed poise to ban Web surfing forever.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Comet Systems:</span> Does anybody out there remember the infamous and incredibly annoying Comet Cursor? Well, it was born in Manhattan.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">N2K.com: </span>Truly a forgotten dotcom. But at one point it seemed to be ready to take on Amazon.com.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">iTurf.com:</span> Another blast from the past. When it did its IPO in April of 1999, some claimed that this 25-person teen portal was worth more than $1 billion!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Interworld:</span> Another huge NY-based player (e-commerce) that few remember today.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Big Star Entertainment:</span> Lots of press, lots of money, but not even a memory today.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Snickleways:</span> Snickleways? Incredible that an otherwise serious e-commerce company would have had such a silly name. Another project that people are probably too embarassed to remember.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">eYada.com:</span> the Web site that was going to kill Talk Radio is completely forgotten today</span>steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-74560278141934098242008-08-07T11:35:00.004-04:002008-08-07T11:43:13.581-04:00Pioneering Silicon Alley Games Developer Hyperspace Cowgirls Site Lies in Ruins<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/uploaded_images/hyperspace_cowgirls-725043.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/uploaded_images/hyperspace_cowgirls-724912.JPG" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />Before there were Web developers, there were CD-ROM developers, and New York's Silicon Alley was host to plenty of them, perhaps the most important being Voyager, which failed way back in 1997. Hyperspace Cowgirls (whose name was hatched in a dream experienced by its founder, Susan Shaw) was a project that had more success, but it foundered in the wake of the near complete destruction of New York's technology industry in 2000-01, and ceased operations in 2002. <br /><br />The Hyperspace Cowgirls site (<a href="http://www.hygirls.com">hygirls.com</a>) is interesting to poke around in especially in its unlinked <a href="http://www.hygirls.com/site/news/news.html">News area</a>, which provides valuable insight into the star-crossed history of New York's Silicon Alley. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/images/4ghosties.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 196px;" src="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/images/4ghosties.gif" alt="Ghostie Award: Site is Dead, Shows Advanced Decay" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Four Ghosties (Site is Dead, shows Advanced Decay)</span> Very few sites lying in a state of advanced decay ever come back. "Advanced Decay" usually indicates a lot of broken links, possibly some broken applications, and a "Last Updated" sign from many months ago.steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6807152.post-24279727033309116152008-08-01T12:12:00.006-04:002008-08-01T21:26:02.174-04:00WWWAC.org is Dead (Does Anybody in NY Still Care?)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/uploaded_images/wwwac-799432.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/uploaded_images/wwwac-799423.JPG" border="0" alt="WWWAC.org is Dead (Does Anybody in NY Still Care?)" /></a><br />It's impossible to tell the story of Silicon Alley without mentioning WWWAC (the World Wide Web Artists' Consortium), whose most influential instantiation was its popular mailing list. Back in the 1990's, it seemed everybody who could hack an HTML page belonged to the WWWAC list. Spectacular flame wars were started there, jobs were offered and gotten, technologies and individuals were hyped beyond belief, and misery was shared when New York's nascent technology industry melted down into wax after the boom busted in 2000. WWWAC also did its part to create a "scene" through its many CyberSuds parties in the same way <a href="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/2005_06_02_archive.html#111775375934165048">Courtney Pulitzer sought to</a>. <br /><br />Today, New York is in the midst of a modest technology industry comeback. Google and Yahoo both have offices in Manhattan from which are hatched plans to capture media spend from the old line advertising agencies. Employment has withstood the worst of today's cutbacks, which have fallen heavier on the financial industry than tech. <br /><br />Unfortunately, the WWWAC site doesn't reflect New York's revived tech economy. It lingers like a sullen ghost, with its Online Jobs Board empty, and its most recent "upcoming event" listing dating from more than a year ago. You can almost see the tumbleweeds blowing through the other ruined areas of this site, all of which are in advanced states of bitrot.<br /><br />Are you interested in the history of Silicon Alley? <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Wilson_(financier)">Fred Wilson</a> was influential in Manhattan's tech industry evolution. He has spokeon the subject candidly in the past, and in September must deliver a 25 minute speech summing up key events in the evolution of New York's high-tech industry that spans the early experimental years, the bust, and the future. Fred's Wiki (<a href="http://usv.jot.com/WikiHome/USV%20Wiki/The%20New%20York%20Internet%20Industry%20Speech%20Brainstorm">The New York Internet Industry Brainstorm WIKI</a>) is open to all who have stories to add.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/images/4ghosties.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 196px;" src="http://www.disobey.com/ghostsites/images/4ghosties.gif" alt="Ghostie Award: Site is Dead, Shows Advanced Decay" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Four Ghosties (Site is Dead, shows Advanced Decay)</span> Very few sites lying in a state of advanced decay ever come back. "Advanced Decay" usually indicates a lot of broken links, possibly some broken applications, and a "Last Updated" sign from many months ago.steve baldwinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02184831373341257794noreply@blogger.com