New Charge for Posting Comments

Elliot Silver
-
35

After careful consideration, I’ve decided to implement a small charge for posting comments on my blog. Each comment you post will cost $.05 USD. If you post more than 25 comments per month, the cost will be lowered to $.04 USD/each, and people who post 100 or more comments a month will only be charged $.025 USD/comment. You may also pre-purchase 1,000 comments for just $0.01 USD/each.

In addition, comments that are mean spirited, that question the validity of my article, or those that insult others will be charged double. Similarly, comments that are positive, ass-kissing, or otherwise complementary will be half price. I am the sole judge on the categorization of said comments.

It takes quite a bit of my time to approve and moderate comments, and this is the most fair way to address the situation. The comment charges will be kept accurate via IP address, and payment can be submitted at the end of the month via Paypal. Charge disputes may be addressed directly with me.

Finally, if you haven’t guessed already, I am just kidding around. Hope you’re having a good summer so far. Happy Friday.

Stat Tracking & Traffic Analytics

Elliot Silver
-
11

It’s critical for any commercial website owner to track the site’s traffic and analytics to see how many people visit the site and how people interact with the website. There are number of stat tracking and traffic analytics companies that can help web developers, but I use just two of them for my websites, including this blog. I want to let you know what I use and why I use each.

Google Analytics is used by many websites of all sizes. One of the best things about Google Analytics is the fact that the website can coordinate with the other products in the Google business suite. It’s simple to install across a website, and it provides a ton of useful information. Website owners can see exactly how people got to a website, how the visitor navigated, length of time on a website/page, and a significant amount of other info. It’s one of the more comprehensive analytics trackers out there. The best part of course is that it’s free.

StatCounter.com allows website owners to track their stats in real time. I particularly like the fact that I can see exactly where the most recent visitors came from in chronological order. This is helpful when someone links to my website, and I can see this traffic immediately. I am able to label IP addresses so I can see who is visiting if I choose to do so, and I can also see what companies are visiting and where visitors are located. I use the upgraded option which tracks the last 10,000 visits and it only costs $49 every three months. It’s not as comprehensive as Google Analytics, but it provides accurate real time information of my website’s visitors.

On my blog where accurate stats is critical due to the advertising revenue, I use both Google Analytics and StatCounter.com. I can cross-check stats, and they are generally very close to each other, giving me a level of comfort to report accurate stats. StatCounter.com loads results very quickly and is simple to navigate. I prefer using it for my stats, and the analytics from GA supplements these numbers.

If you use different tools, which ones to you use and why?

Help Us Support Ronald McDonald House!

Elliot Silver
-
3

On May 2, 2010, my wife and I will be members of Team Ronald in the TD Bank Five Boro Bike Tour, helping to raise funds for the Ronald McDonald House of New York. If you aren’t familiar with this great non-profit organization, the Ronald McDonald House provides support and care for families who have children battling cancer. The people at Ronald McDonald House help make the lives of child cancer patients and their families better (and easier) when they need it most – as they fight cancer.

According to the RMDH website, the organization’s mission is to “support each family and coordinate emotional and physical services, psychological care, ministry support, wellness programs, tutors, music, art, transportation, activities for siblings, holiday and birthday parties and camaraderie for parents struggling with their child’s cancer diagnosis.”

My wife and I will be riding in the 42 mile 5 Boro Bike Tour in about a month, and we need to raise $2,500 from our family, friends, and colleagues who want to help support the Ronald McDonald House, too. Writing a check is easy, but asking our social network is more difficult, and we hope to raise a lot of money and bring more awareness to this great organization.

If you would be willing to support Ronald McDonald House on our behalf, Karen and I would greatly appreciate it.   I have never done anything like this before, and I hope we can count on you for any help you can give. You can easily donate online via the Ronald McDonald House website to help us reach our goal. You can also follow our fundraising progress, too.

THANKS!

=========

Please help me raise funds for the Ronald McDonald House

Blocking Farmville on Facebook

Elliot Silver
-
3

I recently posted a comment on my Facebook wall about blocking those annoying Farmville posts that seem to frequently appear on my wall, and judging by the messages sent by friends on and off Facebook, I thought I would share how I did it in case you don’t know.

When someone posts something (whether it’s Farmville, a Facebook game, comment, or other Facebook app), if you hover over the upper right side of their post, a “hide” button appears. When you click the hide button, it gives the option to hide the person or the app they used. When I clicked the comment related to Farmville, it allowed me to block all Farmville comments from anyone that uses it.

Another friend pointed out that if you want to unhide a friend that you hid previously, go to the bottom of your wall feed and click on the edit options button.

I know this isn’t related to domain names, but I am sure there are plenty of people who would like this information. I am glad I learned how to do this, otherwise the next step would be to block these people.

Help Save the Life of a Friend’s Wife

Elliot Silver
-
6

Jen AustinOne of the people I admired most while in corporate America was a guy I worked for named Shawn Austin, who was (and still is) one of the best strategic thinkers and who is liked by everyone. Sadly, I recently learned that Shawn’s wife, Jennifer is battling leukemia, a cancer of the blood or bone marrow.

Shawn and Jennifer have two young children, and Jennifer is in need an immediate bone marrow transplant.   To be a donor, you need to be a 100% match, so a number of donor drives have taken place and are set up in the hopes of finding a perfect match for Jen. To test if you are a match, all that is needed is a bit of blood or a swab of cells from inside your match.

I hate giving blood and hate needles in general, but I am going to go to the drive on Saturday to see if I happen to be a match. I will be at the drive at the Berkeley Carroll School in Park Slope, Brooklyn at 10am. The first and only time I’ve been to Park Slope was when I sold ParkSlope.com a couple of weeks ago, so maybe that’s a sign.

If you have ever thought about getting tested or joining the Be the Match Marrow Registry (Marrow.org), why not check it out? You can learn more about Jennifer Austin and upcoming marrow donation events on SaveJen.com. There is a list of marrow drives being held around the country on the website as well.

Happy Snow Day from New York City

Elliot Silver
-
9

I love the snow! I think we got around 8-10″ in the City. Nothing like playing in fresh snow in Cental Park on a relaxing Sunday morning. Here’s wishing you and your family happy Sunday.

1...303132...48Page 31 of 48