Portrait of a doomed business model

No offense to my friends in journalism, but it's pretty clear why newspapers are dying: they think it's still the 1980s.

A friend who runs a local business ran a help wanted ad on Craigslist. The ad was free. He got hundreds of responses, 50 in the first few hours. He eliminated a bunch of the candidates by checking out their Facebook profiles, and ultimately he ended up with a couple of good candidates. Did I mention that all of that was free?

Meanwhile, the same online ad via the Charlotte Observer would have cost $420, and $570 to appear in the print version of the paper. And both packages came with a time limit. Check out their rates for yourself.

It used to be that if you wanted to reach interested people, your local newspaper was the only game in town. It's sad that they still think that's the case.

10 Dumbest Digg Submissions Ever

If you know anything about Digg.com, you know that you have to submit a page that doesn't change. People are going to be following these links for days, months and probably years, so it's important that they see exactly what you submitted.

For your consideration, I offer a collection of Digg submissions that make no sense. OK, fine, it's the 12 dumbest submissions ever. Sue me.

12. Digg user wextec submitted the homepage for Blogger.com to promote his pal Ron Paul (digg.com/2008_us_elections/Ron_Paul_needs_our_help_2)

11. Fellow Ron Paul fan tinko submitted the NYTimes.com homepage to express outrage about coverage of his candidate (digg.com/2008_us_elections/Ron_Paul_Omitted_from_NY_Times_Super_Tuesday_Front_Page)

10. (tie) Brentinkc went to bat for Barack Obama by submitting his website, while kisscucumber did the same for Hillary with her homepage. (digg.com/2008_us_elections/Barack_Obama_The_Policies and digg.com/politics/Hilary_Clinton_WINS)

9. DailyKos.com was submitted by iridesce to complain about George Bush's policy on telecom immunity (digg.com/politics/Has_Bush_already_indemnified_the_telecoms)

8. User Birdly got so excited about Barack Obama that they submitted Salon.com's homepage to announce it (digg.com/politics/Obama_takes_the_lead_2)

7. Patriots fan supasurg submitted NFL.com to announce their excitement about the 2008 Super Bowl teams (digg.com/football/Patriots_are_going_to_the_SuperBowl_2)

6. And Giants fan Oxygen retaliated by submitting ESPN.com to announce the actual Super Bowl results (digg.com/football/GIANTS_STILL_STANDING)

5. Prince Harry's involvement in Afghanistan prompted Chattygirl1 to send in the CNN.com homepage (digg.com/world_news/Britain_s_Prince_Harry_has_been_serving_on_the_front_line_in)

4. Poor-spelling Apple fan PhilMcKraken got so excited when the Apple.com site went down that they submitted that link as a prediction of new MacBooks on the way (digg.com/apple/Apple_Store_down_Agaain_New_MscBook_Pros_Finally)

3. Opponent of Scientology censorship Gneimer linked to the Ebay.com homepage to protest both. (digg.com/politics/Scientologists_want_to_censor_eBay_Join_my_protest)

2. imac327 wanted the world to know that "Bush is Just Reading" and linked to Whitehouse.gov to prove it. (digg.com/political_opinion/Bush_is_just_reading)

1. Wikipedia.org's main page was submitted by Robotosaurus to make an even less useful announcement (digg.com/programming/Wikipedia_has_a_bunch_of_stuff)

And finally, one link that make it worth slogging through all these mis-submissions...

Lowmax found a great joke that can only start on the Google.com homepage. And, yes, it involves Chuck Norris. (digg.com/odd_stuff/Find_Chuck_Norris_2)

Under Construction

Thankfully, we don't see this yellow digger icon on sites much anymore, because that had just gotten old.

But the truth is that this blog really is under construction, and I ask that you bear with us. Our old host Uplinkearth got hit by not one, not two -- THREE hack attacks that infected sites with downloadable viruses. As a result, they've blocked access to the blog software that I use, and I can't reach them on the phone to get an update. (They were apparently as unprepared for the support onslaught as was for the attack itself.)

So, we're off and running with a new host, and I'm trying to get the infrastructure of the site ported over. In the meantime, all we have is the blog. But that's OK, because with the news that's coming, the blog is really all we need.

Freewheeling on Freecycle

What do you get when you post an online ad for 34 free concrete pavers? A ton of emails, a lot of respect, some bad grammar and a just smidgen of psychodrama.

I would love to be considered for this. Can pick up tomorrow evening. Thank you

Lori

Hello,

If these pavers are still available, as to whom you will choose, we would be very grateful for your consideration. We have a truck & would be happy to pick up tomorrow or anytime at your convenience. It must be difficult to choose from so many responses. Thank you for offering!

Kelli

I would really love to get these...............We're fixing up our back yard for a Summer Wedding & these would be perfect. my husband can pick up whenever you need

Thanks

Crystal

I would be very interested in these if they are still available. I can pick them up tomorrow if that is good for you. So you will know I am serious and will not be a no-show, my phone number is 704 821-5788

toodles
Neesie

SEE THE LARGE,OLDER WOMAN WAVING FRANTICALLY IN THE AIR AT YOU!!! THAT'S ME....................I CAN COME TOMORROW MORNING WITH HEARTY TEENAGERS (GRANDSONS) TO TAKE THESE OFF YOUR HANDS. THAT WAY I CAN MAKE A PATH THROUGH THIS WONDERFUL N. C. CLAY...........TO MY TRUCK! I'M NEW FROM FLORIDA AND USED TO sand ................ IF YOU HAVE NOT CHOSEN ANYONE YET, PLEASE CONSIDER ME.

I MAY BE OLD, BUT I'M STILL PUTTERING ALONG JUST FINE!

Jane

MY COMPUTER BURPED JUST ABOUT THE SAME TIME I WAS SENDING YOU A REQUEST FOR THE PAVERS..... DID YOU GET THE FIRST REQUEST FROM THE LARGE OLD WOMAN WAVING AT YOU????

sorry i was just a bit excited at the time

I imagine you have had a lot of replies for these. I am one of many who are doing a landscaping project and could use them. I can pick up most any evening if chosen, thanks for considering us, the Ellisons.

It is a very generous and rarely seen Freecycle item. Best of luck and happy freecycling. Toodles

I would be interested in these pavers as we need to put in a patio in the back. I am in Concord. Please let me know If i have been choosen to recieve them. Thanks

Hi, I would love to have the pavers if they are still available. I planned to do a sidewalk but haven't been able to so these would be great. Thanks, Darin

Our athletic association could use them at a make shift office we have.

My husband would love the pavers! He could pick up today too! We'll be outside doing yardwork, so just call his cell. Thanks! Lisa and Jimmy

I would love to have the pavers and would put them to good use. I've been wanting a path to a garden area in my backyard. This would be perfect! My schedule is very flexible... could pick them up any time in our truck. Thanks for considering...

Joan

If you still have these pavers I would love to recieve them from you. I have a van and could come pick them up whenever it is convenient for you. We are trying to convert some front yard space off the porch into seating area. Thank you so much for your consideration. You can feel free to call me. Again thank you. Terry

hi. if these are still available, it would be a real blessing to have these. we just bought our house in april and are talking about putting in a patio this spring for cookouts. we could pick up at your convenience. thank you.

michelle

I could really use these for my back deck/padio project. Thank you for your concideration.

Thanks,
Shawn

l could sure use your pavers as l have a cracked drive and sick husband who can not fix it. l think these would work or use in my back patio. Thank you. I can pick up on Monday if you choose me to have them.

I am extremely afraid of dogs. Will your dog be out and about if we come over in the morning tomorrow? I can handle my daughters dog but no others. I watched a child get mauled by the family pet. Both were raised together. Ever since I have major trouble with dogs.

Love Without Boundaries Ain't Nothing to F With

Almost two months ago, Lisa got involved with an online fundraising challenge that ended today. And no matter what happens in the Super Bowl on Sunday, it won't be as remotely exciting as this contest.

The rules of the 50-day-long challenge were this: Whatever nonprofit has the most unique donors (not the most in donations) at the end of each day wins $1,000. And at the end of the 50 days, the one with the most total donors wins $50,000. Plus, the groups all keep their donations.

Oh, and all the donations have to come via Facebook.

Lisa and I supported Love Without Boundaries, a nonprofit that provides surgeries for Chinese orphans. And after giving our two donations, we didn't do much for a while. Then the final week rolled around and LWB was trading first place with a Free Tibet group, and we suddenly found ourselves rounding up every Facebook user we knew to give. And then we went to those we didn't know. Then we started harassing people we know to join Facebook and give.

In the end, we probably pestered 35 people to give, some of them in the closing minutes. And even though the West-Coast-based Tibet group started the final day 170 donors in the lead, LWB won by 42.

Not that Tibetan Freedom Movement was hurting. They ended the challenge with $130,000 between donations, daily prizes and their $25,000 second-place prize. LWB finished up an amazing $155,000.



If only all charity work were this much fun.

Earth to Netflix

It looks like Netflix's algorithm still needs some work...



The craziest part is that I'd already said I have zero interest in "Pootie Tang." I know exactly one person who liked that movie, and his taste is pretty much worthless.

Lolsophie

RSS me, baby

Just in case you can't reach me on email, Gtalk, Microsoft IM, cell phone or anything else, the web has been kind enough to put out streams of constantly updated info about me.

So fire up your favorite reader and follow along with: my blog, my Netflix reviews, Picasa photo albums, Facebook, my Facebook friends, favorite Digg stories, submitted Digg stories, Amazon.com, and let's not forget my long and distinguished history of published research.

The spam top 10

My friend Pete sorted through the 874 emails in his junk box and arranged them by subject line.

10. Are you the next man in the world to get super sized in the pants?
9. No medicine can satisfy your penis needs as ours
8. Gigantic, heavyweight, king sized. Thats how my dick is now described
7. Your new penis is waiting for you
6. Very-very magic stick
5. You must gain over 3 inches in 5 mo
4. For you want the shoes
3. Bigger penis won't be on TV but in your shorts!
2. Holy shit! Can you even piss out of that thing?

And, finally...

1. We are here for your penis! You'll like it!

The Illustrated Digg Effect

On July 23, I put the Star Wars entry on this blog. On July 24, it made the Digg.com homepage.

Welcome to the start of a new Internet meme

Cats that look like Hitler + lolcats = lolkitlers

Digg, I'm starting to get ya

Six months ago, I wrote about my frustrations with Digg.com, the news aggregation site where people vote stories up or down. I had just landed my first front-page submission, at the time a fairly unusual event for me. See, you sign up with Digg thinking that all you have to do is find an original item online and the inherent democracy of the site will make that story popular.

That's not how it works, though, and six months later I feel like I understand the process a lot better. For one thing, Digg isn't a story-based meritocracy; it's a user-based meritocracy. You may have found and submitted the perfect story, but if you haven't made friends and built a virtual support group, no one's going to be around to support your submission.

Luckily, anyone can build a support group as long as they're patient. You start by adding other users as your friends, and eventually a few of them start adding you back. You submit stories until one or two of them take off, and then more people want to be your friend by virtue of the fact you make the front page. And you start to learn a few patterns, such as don't submit to the World News section on a Monday morning (basically the same impact as spitting into a black hole). Before you know it, you're getting a couple of successful stories a week. Then you get a couple in a row.

As I type this, I have 7 stories submitted with a chance of making the front page. My overall success rate is 12% of submitted stories, so in theory one of these should go. If it does, I'll sit back and watch the ripple effect, from the comments other Diggers post to the failure rate of the hosting site. But mostly I'm just glad that I understand something that once seemed incomprehensible.

Oh, and did I mention that out of a million registered users, I was the 20th "most powerful" last month? Because I was. Just saying.

Monday update: Two of the stories I submitted Sunday morning did in fact make the front page overnight. The system works!