Daniel Dessinger

Month: July 2007

  • Book Review: The Lumby Lines

    a novel by Gail FraserThe book is The Lumby Lines, by Gail Fraser. Fraser manages to appeal to both Baby Boomers and Gen Y simultaneously. The first novel of the series is crafted to be hip enough to engage the young and cultured enough to engage the old.

    My one and only complaint revolves around the opening of the book. The first sentence made me wish I was reading something else. It wasn't until the last sentence of the paragraph that I rested easier knowing that someone in the story used the Internet. My chief concern was that this might be some sort of Little House on the Praire or Anne of Green Gables knock off, where the plot is so sterile and "wholesome" that you can't help but feel toxic from all the unrealistic purity. 

    That was not a problem here, though The Lumby Lines is definitely a family friendly tale. Focus on the Family types would give Lumby kudos for creating an engaging story without relying on the sensationalism of most contemporary mass market paperbacks. But unlike most "family friendly" novels, Lumby is full of believable (though somewhat odd) characters.

    You know how they say that the difference between crazy and eccentric is a million dollars? Well, in this instance, it is humor that forges the distance. Lumby is a comfortable blend of bizarre and small town. The citizens of Lumby are just normal enough to make their oddities pass as quirks. You don't always see the characters' quirkiness in their day to day interactions. But each printing of the local newspaper, The Lumby Lines, provides the Sheriff's Complaints – a daily list of bizarre calls, accidents, complaints, and incidents dealt with by the local Sheriff. 

    Lumby is a town where the news consists of the most irregular accidents and teenage vandalism. The artificial pink flamingo, Hank, is one of the town's most popular celebrities. Animals are forever causing havoc and traffic accidents and such. Someone is painting the town's mailboxes lime green in the night hours. The mayor is a dog. Goats are locked up in the bank vault. Very little about this town would be deemed "normal". 

    When outsiders Mark and Pam decide to turn Montis Abbey into Montis Inn, they cause an uproar among the townsfolk as everyone takes sides over whether the new neighbors are a good thing or bad. What ensues is a relaxing, entertaining tale of growth and discovery. 

    It remains to be seen how Fraser will expand character development throughout the series. Part of the charm of The Lumby Lines is found in the discovery of such a quaint and quirky little town. In order to keep up a loyal fan base, each novel to come must build on the characters and story lines begun here without the aid of that first impression. 

    Overall, The Lumby Lines was a refreshing read. Unlike most books I have read since college, I felt more in tune with nature, culture, and the human condition for reading it. Without becoming overly serious, Fraser reminds the reader that the world is full of much more wonder and simple pleasures than can be contained in this concrete jungle we call "city life." If I were to summarize the book in one phrase, it would be "simple pleasures." While the story has many admirable traits, the most beneficial to me is the focus placed on simple, natural pleasures like ancient architecture, scenic landscapes, a good wine, and close friends.   

  • Papaya Clothing Website Is Live!

    After more than a year of waiting, the Papaya Clothing Store website has finally launched! No more complaining or visiting CultureFeast to post 200+ comments about how much you want to shop at Papaya Online.

    Go there today at PapayaClothing.com and take advantage of their Really Big Sale where you can get up to 30% off Papaya clothes online. The wait is over! Shop ’til you drop!

    And feel free to keep visiting me here at CultureFeast. You don’t have to forget me, just because Papaya’s around.

    ***UPDATE***


    As of Friday evening, the Papaya website is apparently down again. I don’t consider this to be a false site launch because I’m not seeing the placeholder that was there before. The server simply cannot be found, which may mean that the company’s server was overloaded with traffic upon opening. All types of technical problems are possible. I wouldn’t worry about it. Either they launched the site and changed their minds (which makes no sense) or they’re servers can’t handle the traffic and they’ll need to upgrade.

    Check back here and I’ll update this page as I hear news.

    *** UPDATE 2***

    I just checked the Papaya site (July 31, 2007 11am CST) and it’s back up and running. Go check it out.

  • Kameron and Jaimie Are Voted Off

    I am astonished. The results are in, and the two dancers leaving us this week on So You Think You Can Dance are Kameron and Jaimie. The voters were not consistent in this vote. Jaimie is obviously among the top 2 female dancers remaining. Only Lacey can compete with her style and ability. Sadly, votes are not always based on ability.

    Jaimie's one downfall has been a lack of stage presence – more specifically, she lacked depth of expressed emotion. She always emoting the same expression. So I can't say anything except I am sad to see her go. She deserved to stay several rounds later. At the same time, I was relieved that the other girl with the fewest votes stayed (Lauren), although she does not possess the same skill level as Jaimie. Lauren has the stage presence Jaimie lacks. Put them together and they are the total package. 

    This is exactly why Lacey will be the last girl standing. She has the skill and the stage presence. She has enough attitude for two dancers (often a little too far to the skanky side). The girl I believe most deserving of disqualification was Sara, who until Wednesday's performance had not proved to be more than a mid-level dancer.

    On to the boys. My top 2, Danny and Neil are safe as they should be. They have the greatest technical abilities of the remaining guys. I expected to see Pasha and Dominic in the bottom four, based on the combination of skill and attitude. Pasha is one of the remaining dancers who is obviously limited without the benefit of a partner (I completely sympathize – I can't play one-on-one basketball to save my life although I'm not bad on a team).  Dominic has the heart but lacks the size and skill to be America's top choice.

    Surprisingly, Pasha was voted safe and Kameron was on the chopping block. Since Sara was voted to stay, I assumed that image was more important than skill, but not so. Kameron is one of the top 3 best looking guys left with a cool hair style, but it wasn't enough. America didn't find him worthy, so he's done.

    Prediction for next week:

    Assuming the world doesn't turn upside down, I vote Pasha and Dominic into the bottom 4. Of the girls, Sara is definitely in the bottom, and either Lauren or Sabre is the other. Of the remaining girls, Lacey is the only lock. Sabre might make it to the Final Four, though her tiny size makes a victory next to impossible. She's also too nice of a person with not enough skank in her to combat the overwhelming skankiness of Lacey. I'm not completely against Lacey because her brother was awesome last year, but she definitely will not win the most sincere award.

    My elimination picks for next week are Dominic and Sara. I love Lauren's attitude, but she might be there instead.  

  • What Does Your Car Say About You?

    My wife started this chain of thought in motion for me several years ago when we discussed our first car purchase as a married couple. We were fairly certain at the time that we wanted a Honda Accord, though a Toyota Camry or older Lexus were fair game as well. 

    Then came the color debate. I was all about silver or black. I think silver is classy. Black is obviously classic. But my wife hates silver cars. She's all about earth tones, so she was more into the champagne / beige look. But it was her explanation for her preferences that planted this little thoughtlet into the deep recesses of my brain.  

    Heather-ology goes a little something like this: Your car, your home, and your fashion are all means of self-expression. Not only are they opportunities to express one's self, they should be thematic. Example: earth-toned house is complemented by earth-toned car. Which means, no silver car for Daniel. 

    That conversation two years ago somehow transformed to a daily curiosity on my part. What does it mean to see a businessman driving down the streets of Las Colinas in a Jeep Wrangler? What about a suit in a pickup truck? Do different types of people actually drive cars that express their personalities?

    What kind of person drives a Cadillac? Or the mystery of all mysteries… what freakish type of person drives a Pontiac? Are these real people? Do they realize they're paying someone to rob them blind?

    What about Honda and Toyota owners? Are they merely the most practical people on earth, or do they actually possess some dimension of style? And while we're discussing Toyota, are Scion owners the coolest people on the planet?

    Then there's German engineering. Is the Mercedes the new soccer mom brand? What types prefer BMW? Back to the Japanese, can you really take anyone seriously who drives a Mitsubishi?

    Then there are the less interesting questions: What's the difference between a Ford and a Chevy owner? Are Lincoln drivers the only classy people who own American?

    The questions get much more specific as I go. For example, what's the difference between a Jeep Wrangler owner and a Nissan Xterra owner? Is one more rugged than the other? What about Hummers versus Land Rovers? Does anyone seriously like Land Rovers, or do they just want the status symbol?

    What does your car say about you? Does it say wealthy, practical, adrenaline junkie, slut, outdoor fanatic, sophisticated, boring, ignorant, poor, artistic, hi-tech, gullible, or intelligent?

  • The Bloated Web Won’t Last Forever

    I'm amazed by how many web 2.0 startups have appeared within the past two years. It seems that everyone smelled success with MySpace, Digg, YouTube, and Del.icio.us, and the race was on. Hundreds of 2.0 ideas have launched in the past year, making for an increasingly crowded space. 

    Though there are millions of users to compete for, 30 versions of MySpace can't all be successful (Virb, Facebook, Friendster, Hyves, Hi5, etc). Every successful venture has 15-20 copy cat competitors crop up within a year of publicity. Everyone smells blood and rushes in to get a piece of the action. It's fair to say that billions of VC dollars are being spent right now on startups that will fall flat within five years. Some will take less time than that.

    The Web is getting bloated. The variety is great, though difficult to keep up with. Keeping up with 2.0 startups is like drinking water from a fire hydrant. Too much is going on.

    Expect two things to happen within the next 16 months: First, VC money for new web 2.0 businesses will dry up after several hundred current ideas flop. Second, we as users will have the opportunity to see which startups are actual improvements. Some companies will provide improved features, style, and usability. Some will be exact copies of other ideas. In all, the users will have the chance to choose which ideas are best. 

    Some billionaires are in the making here. But many more ideas are headed toward the abyss.  

  • Internal Linking Strategies For Blogs

    Okay, half of my friends and family already checked out because the title involves search engine optimization. That's okay. Those of you willing and brave enough to continue, let's get on with it. 

    As a search marketer, one of the key strategies I employ in on-site optimization includes internal linking strategy. Here's a quick summary of how it works, from the beginning: 

    Step 1: Keyword Research

    Step 2: META Tag Optimization

    Step 3: Content and Header Tag Revisions

    Step 4: Internal Linking 

    Step 5: External Linking 

    If you want an explanation of these basic concepts, visit any one of a hundred SEO blogs and search for these terms. Or, you can wait for a few weeks and I will begin recovering all the SEO basics on another blog which I will announce soon. For now, I'm only covering Step #4 as it applies to a blog. 

    The thought occurred to me months ago after I had written a blog post about how my wife loves the affordable women's clothing at Papaya Clothing Store in the Grapevine Mills Mall. Actually, it was also after my most popular post was written on the Papaya Clothing website. That second post, written in April 2007 (only three months ago), received more than 1,000 visitors the first month simply by ranking at the bottom of the first page on Google for "Papaya Clothing". After I saw that jump in my analytics, I decided to test something out. I wrote two more blog posts referencing Papaya and linked back to that second post from each of them. My ranking jumped from #8 or #9 to #2 within a couple weeks.

    Granted, many phrases are more competitive and getting solid results take much more work. But the results I saw were phenomenal. I now receive more than 13k visitors per month just reading my few posts about Papaya Clothing. It's ridiculous. Of course, it really helps that the company has taken more than a year to build a website and has only an unlaunched tester site to show for the time and money lost. 

    My point is that I'd never paid much attention to internal linking within my own blogs. I'm all over the map with my blogging, and it just never occurred to me until then that it could be very useful to use some of the same principles for a blog that I use on static websites. It's the visual blog style that probably kept me from thinking about it. I mean, even when I look at my own home page, I only see the most recent 10 posts or so. Everything prior to that is filed in Archives and fades from view.

    Blog categories are an excellent way to keep tabs on what you've written before. Of course, you can always do a site search if you've incorporated search functionality. So here's the easiest way to go about building internal links on your site:

    Rule #1 – When writing a new post, search your own blog for references to the same subject or keywords. Copy those specific post URLs and use them in hyperlinks on the new post.

    Rule #2 – As an alternative, determine which category your new post falls under and search that category's archives for pages to link to in your new post.  

    There you have it. Basic. Simple. Link to your own posts. I'll give more specific advice on internal blog linking in the new blog which will be announced soon.  

  • So You Think You Can Dance – Top Ten

    You now have your Top Ten dancers, America. Tonight's losers were no surprise. Anya was little more than a stripper in her solo dances. Her choice of attire was always atrocious and she basically shook her ass the entire time. Regardless of what style you might call it, I call it hooker-ish and not worthy of the Top Ten. 

    Hok was everyone's favorite personality, but he simply couldn't dance formally to save his life. On his own, he bounces off the ground like he's made of rubber, and he's got sick skills. Hok will definitely make it in the bigs.

    Here are your Top Ten dancers:

    Guys: Danny, Dominic, Kameron, Neil, and Pasha

    Girls: Jaimie, Lacey, Lauren, Sabra, and Sara

    Predictions

    I have a Final Four list already. The last two girls will be much more difficult to determine than the last two guys. For the Final Four, I have selected Danny, Neil, Jaimie, and Lacey. Sabra and Lauren both have a chance at the Final Four. Sara is the only one I expect to see bounce quickly. Of course, she's the female hip hop dancer, so perhaps she has enough tricks up her sleeve to last a little while longer. 

    Pasha is a crowd favorite, but his partner-only training will be a weakness in the weeks to come when solos become the sole determining factor.  

    Conclusion 

    This year's cast on So You Think You Can Dance has been very talented, but we're missing the connection to dancers like Benji, Heidi, and Travis. Travis was my favorite dancer last year, and I feel robbed that he didn't win. But to be fair, Benji had the attitude that just wouldn't quit. 

    Biggest Mistake of the Season

    Without a doubt, the biggest mistake of the season occurred when the judges voted Jessi off the show. She had health problems and missed one dance routine with Pasha. Pasha danced with the instructor and did an excellent job. Jessi came back the following day and danced the same routine with Pasha for the audience, and they blew everyone away.

    But because of her absent day, or because the judges felt like she was too unpredictable, they voted her off. Jessi could have made it to the Final Four. BIG MISTAKE! Biggest one of the season. Take that, Nigel. Stick that in your Twitter.  

  • The Need for Reputation Management Increases Across the Web

    As I mentioned previously in ReputationAdvisor.com, the "web 2.0" space (sorry Nathan – I know how much you love that term) has grown and matured to the point that the what is written or posted on the Internet can make or break a company's profitability. Reputation was a priceless commodity back in 1950s small town America. Then cities expanded and companies branched out and a bad rep here or there still allowed for success in other towns or regions.

    The consumer had no way to expose a fraud or a bad deal to the masses. Newspapers, books, and radio were the primary methods of communicating to the public. Television obviously took over as the most popular mass media communications method, but the stations were run by the rich minority, leaving the public with little more than gossip and petitions to spread the word of malpractice. 

    The Internet levels the playing field once and for all. Even the most average person can create a blog or join a forum and post their experiences and opinions of the various businesses they've encountered. We live in an unprecedented age of consumer power. A timely message delivered in the right place online by a single consumer can literally cost a business millions of dollars in sales and reputation repair. 

    The Internet also allows for corporations to flood the space with positive messages and claims to good intentions and benevolent deeds. Any business willing to dedicate some time and money can seriously spin their online image in any way they see fit.

    The Web is the battlefield, and some corporations are just waking up to the realization that cyber slander can destroy their profits. I'm thinking of one small to mid-sized oil and gas company in particular. A disgruntled ex-salesperson posted a slanderous accusation against the company on a very influential investor forum. This forum was already crooked to begin with, since the forum owner propagated false accusations against similar oil and gas companies in order to win the confidence of the seeking investor. The owner would then direct the disillusioned investor toward an "honest" organization which he coincidentally benefited from. 

    This is a black hat marketing method which earns no respect from me. This forum abuses the power of its influence to slander others in order to keep the spoils. But this oil and gas company now finds itself in a dilemma: what do we do about these horrible things which our ex-employees and competitors are saying about us?

    That is the million dollar question (or multi-million dollar, as I've seen businesses drop like flies). Bad online reputation may not end your business, but it can undo years of costly progress.

    If you and your business have already suffered loss from bad online reputation, there is no time to wait. Contact a reputation management professional immediately. 

    If your business is expanding on the Web, now is the time to put a campaign into place that will protect your reputation in the future. Unsatisfied customers are inevitable. You can't please everyone all the time. But you can proactively protect your business from bad press that could cripple your business. 

    For more information about protecting your good name on the Web, contact me at [email protected].  

  • Las Colinas Grows Toward Potential

    The region of Las Colinas (technically in Irving, Texas) is growing again. I hadn't heard any news regarding the surge until I began working in Las Colinas in April. Since the last time I had seen downtown Las Colinas before then, six upscale loft / condominium complexes have been built near Lake Carolyn, with plans for more housing and retail in the near future. 

    As I mentioned in a work blog post, the Las Colinas tram will connect to the DartRail from downtown Dallas in 2011. Dart plans to connect Las Colinas to DFW International Airport as well.

    With the current growth and coming public transit, look for Las Colinas to be THE place to be by 2011 or 2012. Dart buses already flow through the area. As more upscale residential buildings are built and filled to capacity with successful business professionals, expect Las Colinas to become a hub for high end restaurants, shopping, and amenities. 

    Despite the feared green canal water, Las Colinas is where it's at in the DFW metroplex.  

  • Gen Y Sets New Standards for Career Ambitions

    Penelope Trunk wrote a blog post referencing a report written by Stan Smith. She quotes Smith concerning Gen X and Gen Y: "The real revolution is a decrease in career ambition in favor of family time, less travel, and less personal pressure."

    While Baby Boomers still set the standard for most corporations, that reality is already changing and will soon change completely. One of the most frustrating realities is the "Reality is set by the majority" principle. If 198 out of 200 people in a company believe that working overtime to meet a deadline is more important than family time, then that is the truth at that company. The remaining two people who believe that family time should never be compromised under any circumstances fit into the irresponsible /not-a-team-player category because they do not share the overarching value of the company.

    Put those same two people with 198 similar people, and their beliefs are suddenly the moral majority. Those previous overtime workers? They are suddenly workaholics, a despised and unhealthy minority who constantly work as they avoid home life like the plague.

    So corporate values are set and enforced by the majority. This is why it excites me to be "officially" part of Generation Y. I will accept that label more so now than ever because of the attitude Gen Y brings to the workplace. We are the product of workaholic parents. Our parents never lived the "good life" because they got themselves into so much debt that they never found a way out. We, like our parents before us, are reactionary. We might produce workaholic children (who knows?), but we are determined to balance the life our parents couldn't.

    Which is why the quote above is so important. Decreased ambition in favor of family time. Less personal pressure. In a phrase: Quality of life. That is our pursuit. We may or may not know how to actually attain said higher quality of life, but we are dead set on pursuing it.

    Which really only begs the question: what is it that you see as the answer for Quality of Life? Is it life on an island? In the mountains? Urban loft? Small town community? Farm life? Ministry? Culture? Vacations? Writing at your own pace? 

    We all have different paths, but the same goal. What path are you on?