Karl Bitz

AT&T should give away the Microcell

1 Aug 10

Even if you think you deserve a Microcell for free or reduced price to compensate for AT&T's awful coverage, it would make sense for AT&T to do just that to relieve strain on its barely functioning and increasingly awful cellular network. Why not give away the Microcell in NYC, San Francisco, and other areas with good coverage but high network strain. If everyone in these cities was pushing their cellular connection over existing broadband, AT&T could further delay infrastructure investment. They could then reserve the network for people on the go, and spare it from people who are using it at home.

By the way, while I hate to give AT&T any more money, I did buy a Microcell because I have no reception in my apartment right outside of D.C. It works, but the fact that I have to pay extra for something they promised to provide me in the first place is frustrating.

-----

Follow me on Twitter.

∞

Google's Search Results De-listing Frustration

29 Jun 10

I recently built a web site of which a primary goal was to appear in the Google search results for a very specific set of keywords, "baldwinsville guitar lessons" (link is to the site I built).  Before building the site, the results were basically filled with spammy type directory sites with almost no helpful information. I figured the site I was going to build would be simple, informative and relevant to anyone performing a search with those key words.  Sure enough, within two days of launching the site, it ranked #4.

Two days later, it disappeared.  The site no longer showed up in any Google searches unless the specific title of the site was searched.  Obviously, Google provided no explanation.  After reading various forums and blog posts, I added the site to my Google Webmaster Tools account and hoped that it was a crawl error that could be fixed. Additionally, I put in a reconsideration request.  I did not modify the site at all, there was nothing wrong with it even according to Google's standards. Without any explanation, I had no idea what the problem was.

A few days later, the site started showing back up again.  Webmaster Tools has still not collected any data, however the reconsideration requests were both acknowledged.  Once again, there was no explanation and I have no idea if these requests are what led to the site showing up in search results again.

A lot of sites depend on Google's search results for there business.  I know that search is a free service, and Google is by no means obligated to provide data on search rankings and such.  However, its incredibly frustrating to have a site removed for no apparent reason, and no obvious way to fix a problem.

This could be solved with some kind of reporting process integrated with Webmaster Tools.  For example, once I verified the domain in the Webmaster Tools, Google should have sent me some kind of automated message with the reasoning of the search listing removal, and what needed to be done to rectify the situation.  I don't think this would take much.  Surely Google records this information anyways, and I don't see many downsides to providing this information to website owners.  I can understand the lack of transparency regarding how Google ranks sites, but I don't see why it should hide why it removes them completely from search results.

-----

Follow me on Twitter.

∞

Website Idea: Community Site for Children's Sport Coaches

4 Jun 10

I've recently been helping coach a couple U12 girls soccer teams, and despite playing soccer most of my life, could use some coaching tips.  For a first time coach, which is also the case for many parents who volunteer to coach their child's team, it would be useful to have a forum to talk to others who have found things that work and don't work for different age groups.  I understand soccer, but I'm not sure what 11 yr olds are supposed to know and what might be beyond them.  I don't know tricks for making young girls more aggressive and competitive, or drills that are both fun and allow kids to learn without threatening them with laps if they don't behave.  Basically I wing it, and keep track of what works and what doesn't.  For example, kids love playing World Cup, but it results in half the team sitting for most of the drill, so its pointless.  Some kind of stack exchange type site could be effective.  Users could choose the sport and age group and find drills and tips that have been discussed and upvoted the most.  Maybe something like this already exists, but if not, I'm sure it could help thousands of parent-coaches.

-----

Follow me on Twitter.

∞

On Facebook

12 May 10

I've decided like many others that Facebook is *evil*. I won't go as far as deleting my account, which by the way, is nearly impossible to figure out how to do without reading a tutorial on another site. Strike one against FB.

Do I feel slightly guilty for trusting Google with a lot of my data, personal and otherwise, by using Gmail, Google Apps for Domains, GCal, GReader, etc.?  Yes, but I have a strong semblance of privacy and security there, and as of right now, Google has given no indication that they will abuse their immense collection of data other than to serve targeted ads.  I don't mind this.

Facebook has made every indication that they *will* sell your personal data to the highest bidder, be it the government or a corporation. Furthermore, they set as much information to open as possible, without notification, including information I have previously indicated I would like to be 'friends only' or whatever. Additionally, they track every click you make on their site, but most people don't know this.  Think of all the random profiles and pictures you have looked at, how long you looked at them, etc. Think you've deleted a photo?  Think again, FB keeps them forever.  In fact, if you upload them to the site, FB *owns* them. Facebook has all of this data, and they have no qualms about selling it to third parties. Don't believe it? Ask yourself, how does FB make money to pay for the servers and bandwidth of the most visited site in the world?

Sadly, I do like Facebook for keeping up with friends, something I'm traditionally terrible at, and it is useful for planning events and getting in touch with groups of people.  I will not delete my account, but I have sanitized it as much as possible (even though all the information I've ever put there in the first place is somewhere on FB's servers), until a more privacy focused alternative emerges. Facebook won't be king forever.

All of this was prompted by a good essay on FB by Jason Calacanis.  My favorite part:

People are creating fan pages on Facebook and then paying Facebook to send them traffic. Let me explain this one more time: You’re PAYING Mark Zuckerberg money to send traffic to HIS SITE. Think about it.

-----

Follow me on Twitter.

∞

Website Idea: TOS Reviews

16 Apr 10

Inspired by the April Fool's joke where an online store claimed that by agreeing to their "Terms of Service" you were granting them unfettered permissions to your eternal soul.

There should be a site that reviews popular TOS agreements and basically says whether or not you should agree to them, or at least outlines any significant issues.  You could then have a browser extension that said OK in a form with a good TOS and BAD if the TOS was evil or had some issues.  It could be a community driven site, or something that aggregates reviews from around the web.  Just a thought.

-----

Follow me on Twitter.

∞

Marketplace for News

14 Apr 10

Where is the iTunes for news articles?  I hate subscriptions, and often find myself wanting to read an article from the WSJ but cannot because I don't have a subscription.  Why can't I buy that one article for $.25?  Why can't I have one, centralized area, where I can buy articles from a variety of news sources that I don't have full subscriptions to, or don't want to buy the whole issue of?  It just makes too much sense to keep credit card info stored in one account, and then when you see an article behind a paywall you want to read, BOOM - click the "Buy with iNews for $.25" button and its yours.  I think this is the best model for online news that could ever exist.  It would likely have to be some sort of joint venture or coop between many media companies to succeed, however a private company could do it if there was a way to resell subscription news content.  Why isn't anyone working on this?

-----

Follow me on Twitter.

∞

Ward Bitz Redesign

31 Mar 10

Last week I took some time and redesigned Ward Bitz from the ground up.  It's not a very complicated site, but I wanted to give it some polish and make it appear more professional.  I took inspiration from a number of sites, and I think it all turned out pretty cool.  My biggest constraint is lack of awesome content, one of the best things about sites like 37Signals, HappyCog, Coudal and others.  I'm working on that currently with some projects on the pipeline, but those guys have been doing it for years and are the best  (speaking of pipeline, check out 'The Pipeline', and awesome podcast if you're into web stuff).

Also of note - while I would love to use HF&J fonts, they're way too expensive, and I think the free and open source fonts I used look OK (Museo Sans 500 and League Gothic).

-----

Follow me on Twitter.

∞

Pinboard.in Bookmarklet Link for iPhone

6 Mar 10

I will inaugurate this "blog" with this post so I can add the Pinboard.in bookmarklet to my iPhone bookmarks, since I can't seem to find it anywhere else.

Copy the the text from this page: http://www.karlbitz.com/pinboard.php, and paste into the bookmark address to get your Pinboard bookmarklet on the iPhone.

-----

Follow me on Twitter.

∞