Ryan Thomas Goodenough

My Tuesday night class, which finished this week, causes me to continually ponder the efforts that can be done try to close the “digital divide”–the technology gap that separates the developed from the developing nations. As a tribute to my last day of that class, I’m going to propose five things that can be done to close the digital divide.

1. Focus on the content, not the technology - The number of Internet users isn’t going to make the divide any smaller. If people aren’t getting the best content from websites, then the Internet has little to no value.
2. Increase government transparency - Allow citizens to track the money that their government is using. Let people understand how the money is being spent and why it is being spent. Any money that goes unaccounted for should be a signal for corruption concerns.
3. Train people - Setting someone down in front of a computer and telling them that they can now use the Internet is not enough. Teach them how to use computers, especially older individuals.
4. Encourage independent enterprise - The advent of the “brick and click” retailers allows for people all over the world to sell their locally-made goods and crafts on the global market. Encouraging people to get their products into this market will allow them to thrive on the things they have always done well without having to sacrifice natural resources or national ideals.
5. The Internet is not English - Explain to young people who have a desire to create websites that they own a piece of the Internet–everyone does. The Internet is not American or European or Japanese. Websites should be created to appeal to the audience their creators want to reach, not the audience that they think they should be trying to reach.

As reported by TUAW and MacRumors.com, AT&T is offering free Wi-Fi to iPhone owners at Barnes and Noble, Starbucks and “71,000 other locations.”  When you connect to the network, you’ll encounter a nicely designed portal where you type in your mobile number and then *poof!* you have Internet access.  This is a nice solution to know about when you really need hi-speed Internet instead of the Edge network.*

*There are rumors floating that iPhone 2.0 will be a 3G capable phone (trans: fast connection).  We’ll have to wait and see if this is true.

After having completed the focus groups for AIER with Zone 5 on Wednesday and Thursday, I must say that I have newfound respect for the process. Although I administered them and learned some of the finer techniques while at Newhouse, I was impressed by Paul Fahey’s handling of the groups. He has certainly mastered the art of getting people to become actively engaged with the topic at hand while guiding the discussion towards areas that interest the client. Paul and company came up with the great idea of using Google screenshots as a method of asking people what search terms they would use to research a specific topic. Given my recent fascination with search engine optimization (SEO), it makes it easier to optimize a site for specific terms when you know what those terms actually are. They also managed to squeeze in questions about our direct mail campaign, website, and books without actually having to say “What do you guys think about AIER’s [fill in the blank]?”

Needless to say, I now better understand the true value of focus groups.

What follows is the piece I wrote today for AIER’s research commentaries:

Our recent commentary on financial fraud shed some light on what is becoming a bigger and bigger problem:

With more than 468,000 reported incidents of financial fraud in 2006 and another 246,000 reported incidents of identity theft in the United States, according to Consumer Sentinel, an online complaint database, Americans need to redouble their efforts to protect their finances and financial reputations.

One way that some Americans think that they will protect their finances is by not “going online.” Their theory is that creating a username and password opens the door to all sorts of trouble. Now, if you are the type of person that leaves your username and password on a Post-It note pasted on your computer monitor then, yes, this might be a serious concern. However, most of your financial information is already online.

Don’t believe me? Pay attention to the teller the next time you are making a deposit at your local bank. They are logged into a computer, accessing your account by entering your account number, and transferring funds over the Internet. Creating a username and password simply allows you to have access to similar tools.

Here are some tips for entering the world of online finances:

• Practice self-surveillance after going online. Monitor your financial accounts on a daily or weekly basis. Look at charges and make sure you know what they are. Many online accounts allow you to setup email or phone alerts if a suspicious charge is posted. In fact, by going online you will be doing a better job of protecting yourself from financial fraud than if you had made the decision not to.
• Make sure to create a unique username and password for each and every one of your financial accounts and change them at least every six months. While it might be easier to have a single username and password, the modest cost of creating and recording several different combinations pales in comparison to the large benefit of keeping your identity secure.

One of the SEO (search engine optimization) practices that I’m currently working on at AIER is looking through search results for terms on which I know we should be ranking high. For example, we wrote a piece on the Tyranny of the Fed that is quite good, especially given its title. However, one of the things I’ve found is that when you do a Google search for “Tyranny of the Fed,” while it is often at the top of the results page, it lists the following as the detailed text information:

AIER is a nonprofit, nonpolitical economic research organization that conducts educational programs and provides useful and informative economic information…

Why does this appear? Joomla!, the open-source software we’re using to power our site, had an option to fill out a meta description of the site. Joomla! then inserts this information at the top of every page. While this is useful for our main page, it isn’t great for pages within the site. Looking at this example, it would be better if Google showed a preview of the article with some of the keywords in bold. With the meta description dominating the description, it doesn’t create the best user experience.

Needless to say, we’re working on fixing this, but this is why it’s important to look at your search results for terms for which you know you should have a high ranking.

Does it scare anyone else that Freddie (my car) is in this picture? This is right outside my apartment–I hope he wasn’t too scared of the creepy person taking the photo.

You know I love technology (trans: dork), but there is obviously a line between what you can do and what you should do.  Personally, I’m fine with this, but I do think we are beginning to tread too closely to a major security risk (I could care less about privacy–the only place where I believe I have a reasonable expectation of privacy is in my windowless, tiny bathroom).

This past Wednesday and Thursday, I had the pleasure of attending Matt Bailey’s seminar on Web Marketing hosted by the Direct Marketing Association in New York City (see Times Square on the right). As a proud member of the DMA, I must say that I thought Matt’s presentation hit on a lot of important issues when it comes to web design and maintenance. Namely easy navigation, simplistic (but not overly simplistic) design, and some good search engine optimization tips. For example, he explained to us how important it is that we not use “click here” or “more” hyperlinks. 1) These won’t carry the same weight with search engines and 2) They are simply not user friendly (unless, of course, your user is completely unfamiliar with the idea that a word highlighted in blue and underlined is a hyperlink–if that’s the case, I’m not sure what you do). Overall, it was an excellent seminar and I’m glad that AIER let me attend.

This is in direct response to Preston Gralla’s ridiculous article.

1) Macs run less software

One of the reasons why I love working on Macs is the incredibly dedicated user communities. You don’t have to sift through hundreds of different versions of software to discover the one that will do what you need. Instead, on Macs, you have to look through 3 or 4 alternatives and find the best one possible. In all my time, I’ve never run across a problem to which I couldn’t find the solution. The 3 or 4 pieces of software have been worked on by a large number of users and designers to create the best product as possible with the best user forums and help guides out there. Most of the software is free, although I always end up paying because I’m always impressed.

2) Macs are safer

Less spyware apps, viruses, and worms. Yes, they exist on Macs, but face it: there are less Mac users and, therefore, less problems.

3) Macs are a great value for your dollar

Look at the iMac. 1 GB memory, 250 GB hard drive, 2.0 GhZ Intel Core Duo, 8x DVD/CD burner all packed into a beautiful 20-inch screen for just $1199. Plus, you get the Mighty Mouse and the world’s absolute best keyboard.

4) The Mac is closed

Fewer variations in computer parts, configurations, and everything else means that it’s easier for Apple to offer support. I can bring my iMac into my Sentra, hop on over to Crossgates Mall in Albany, and get my computer fixed. Even better, good ole Software update provides all the help I need for software and hardware. No more searching websites with loads of porn ads to find that one driver that I really need.

5) Steve Jobs

Brilliant marketer and visionary. Gralla’s argument completely falls apart by this moment (it was already in a state of despair), so I won’t even respond to his moronic comments.

Go ahead and play. I only got a 70%.

Apple is working on a 3D display that can be viewed from any position and at any angle.

Now that’s really cool stuff!