NobleSword

    This is a Test of a Schema Plugin

    Posted on 2014.11.20 by SayfSharif
    spider-med

    Schema isn’t exactly the new hotness, but it’s still an extremely under-leveraged aspect of Search optimization. This is just a quick post which I am using to test a schema plugin to see how easy it is to add to a website.

    The other cool thing I’m looking at is not only using Schema to improve your search rankings, but to use that information in your Google Analytics data by grabbing it via Google Tag Manager from the pages it’s on.

    Huzzah!

    Posted in Analytics Usability & Conversion |

    Thought Experiment: Target

    Posted on 2014.04.21 by SayfSharif
    First Cable Television

    I want to perform a small thought experiment, so follow me…

    What if instead of letting you purchase individual items at Target, you were forced to buy a level of membership for a certain amount of money per month, and with that you got a certain specific set of items.

    For instance, the basic membership say was $50 a month, and with that you could get 4 gallons of milk, a 4 pack of toilet paper, 4 shirts any size, 1 pair of pants any size, a set of dumbbells, a book, fishing line, a bag of charcoal, etc.

    For a larger membership of $70 you also would get a few pieces of sporting equipment, a soccer ball, a yoga video, etc.

    And of course some premium options for $10 each like electronics that let you get a Bluray and a Playstation Game..

    Perhaps you really want the Bluray movies, and want to occasionally buy sporting equipment, so you end up paying $80 a month to target. But you don’t drink milk, or fish, and you have a gas grill. Every month though you’re paying for milk, and tackle, and charcoal whether you want it or not.

    (and for the purposes of this experiment you can’t just take the charcoal and resell it, you’d have to use what you buy yourself, no reselling)

    How many people would walk into Target and sign up for an $80 membership if this were the case? How many people would leave and go somewhere they could just buy what they want?

    Now what if people said, “Hey Target, can’t we just buy what we want?” and Target replied, “No, see the only way we can provide such a wide variety of items to choose from is by making these deals with manufacturers. For instance, if we want to buy T-shirts from GloboIndustrial they won’t sell them to us unless we also carry their pants, their fishing tackle, and their plastic storage containers. So either we don’t have T-shirts we can sell, or we have to find a way to pay for all these other products that most people don’t want. Oh sure some people want fishing tackle, just not enough to pay for itself. GloboIndustrial doesn’t care though, they just want their products in as many stores as possible.”

    Maybe you’d even have a modicum of compassion for Target, as they’re in a position where they have a hard time delivering the products people want, without being forced into weird business models like this subscription pricing structure.

    I think a couple things should be obvious at this point. First, this is just not very good use of the free market. People want one product, but they’re forced to purchase 9 ones they don’t want for every one they do.  Second, I’m not talking about Target, I’m talking about cable television providers.

    The difference now, is that more and more people are abandoning cable television at an ever increasing rate.

    http://www.worldtvpc.com/blog/cord-cutter-numbers-rise-44-in-last-3-years-says-report/

    If you wanted to buy milk, and now you could, without being forced to buy 9 other products you didn’t want, why would you still hold onto that Target membership? With a few exceptions (live local sports for instance) most people now are capable of watching their shows, and paying for them legally, through various means. Whether through free online streaming services like Hulu, or paid services like Hulu Plus, Netflix, or buying the episodes outright through Apple iTunes.

    What will this eventually mean? I’m not sure. I’m willing to bet that the cable companies won’t take this lying down, but how will they ultimately react is hard to say. Comcast seems to be moving towards their own content production. One thing the companies don’t want to be is a “dumb pipe” utility. And now with Net Neutrality becoming more and more a thing of the past, what will that mean for other services? If you’re on Cable Company X will you be forced to use their streaming services which you are locked into paying even more money for?

    My gut says it’s going to get worse before it gets better, even if you’ve already “cut the cord”.

    Posted in Film and Television, Trending Topics | Tags: featured |

    Zombie Venn Diagram

    Posted on 2013.03.30 by SayfSharif
    Zombie Venn Diagram

    BRAAAINNNSSS

    Continue reading →

    Posted in Trending Topics |

    Do You Own Your Social Presence? If It’s Free YOU are For Sale

    Posted on 2012.12.18 by SayfSharif

    instagram iconI’ve started blogging more on my website again, partly because I want to have more personal control and ownership of my content. I don’t like many of the terms and conditions written into Facebook particularly, but I also don’t want to abandon the platform entirely because so many of my friends and family use it fairly exclusively. Facebook often reminds me of the adage “If it’s free, you are what’s for sale.” but they really do it smarmier than makes me comfortable.

    Unfortunately it looks like they’ve gotten their smarmy hands into the Instagram Terms of Service.

    Continue reading →

    Posted in Technology, Trending Topics |

    Conceptions, Preconceptions, Hindsight, and Interracial Kissing

    Posted on 2012.12.16 by SayfSharif
    Uhura_and_Kirk_kiss

    I was just watching an old Star Trek episode called “Plato’s Stepchildren” which I recalled halfway through, was the first scripted episode of television in the U.S. that had an interracial kiss in it. Watching the show itself, it was quite humorous. I hadn’t watched the episode in years, at least over 10 years, quite possibly double that, not since it was in syndication when I was younger and I watched it religiously after school. It’s funny how you remember things.

    I didn’t remember the episode, but I remembered the image that often gets bandied about.

    First interracial kiss. Groundbreaking. What most people who aren’t trekkies remember is that the kiss was forced on them by sadistic mind controlling aliens who also made Kirk self flagellate (ie slap himself silly) not 10 minutes prior. Continue reading →

    Posted in Analytics Usability & Conversion, Film and Television | Tags: featured, preconceptions, racism, star trek |

    Hilarious “Google Analytics In Real Life” Videos

    Posted on 2012.12.13 by SayfSharif
    Google Analytics in Real Life Videos

    Google Analytics in Real Life Videos

    I attended the Google Analytics Summit this year in Mountain View and they showed a couple of fun videos of what some online experiences were like, but in real life terms. The point of them was to show how someone can use Google Analytics to learn about their users and not to do the dumb stuff that happens in the videos. Continue reading →

    Posted in Analytics Usability & Conversion | Tags: linkpost, twitter |

    Best Spam Comment Ever

    Posted on 2012.05.04 by SayfSharif

    I got the following spam comment on the blog yesterday:

    {Hi|Hello} there, {I found|I discovered} your {website|web site|site} {by means of|via|by the use of|by way of} {Google|Bing} {whilst|while} {searching for|looking for} a {similar|comparable|related} {topic|matter|subject}, your {site|web site|website} came up. {I have|I’ve} added it to my bookmarks. Thanks for the {share|post)!

    Awesome work on that one. I nearly fell for it. 😛

    Posted in Site News and Notes | Tags: spam comments |

    Why I Won’t Encourage My Children To Play Contact Sports

    Posted on 2012.05.03 by SayfSharif
    Junior Seau

    Junior SeauThe news today that Junior Seau killed himself has rocked his fans. He was a really great football player. But some are taking it as an opportunity to talk about the overall damage that football does to people. Now, there isn’t any evidence this was the case with Junior Seau. He could have just been a depressed person, or had other issues. We don’t know now, yet, or may never.

    But it does sort of bring that aspect of sports back into my mind, and makes me think about my kids. You can’t prevent all injuries in sports, and at least with me I got pretty wrecked early on, but I don’t regret it, much. I wish I could still ski, but other than that I can live with it.

    But that’s because I don’t have brain damage. Continue reading →

    Posted in Trending Topics | Tags: brain injuries, children, concussions, football, hockey, junior seau, parenting |

    Archives

    • November 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2013
    • December 2012
    • May 2012

    Search NobleSword

    CyberChimps WordPress Themes

    © NobleSword