Ringlight's New Blog

SO, Brandon Wiley set up a news blog on ringlight.us. I'm excited about it, so I thought maybe you would be too. I love having updates on the emergence of cool things!

SXSW Podcasts, Rich Media Optimization

One of the panels I missed at SXSWi, that I really wanted to attend was on the topic of optimizing rich media content - like Flash videos, podcasts, and the like. I searched through a list of podcasts from the conference, but did not find that one (though I haven't finished looking)... and here is the link to those podcasts if anyone's interested: SXSWi 2008 Podcasts

I suppose there are already a few ways I can think of that would help in the optimization process of rich media content, including submission to rich media search engines like hype machine, Google Video, and similar directories/ search sites. Of course tagging your content and adding a relevant description blurb in YouTube, and other video submission sites could also help associate that content with specifically targeted keywords.

I'm very interested in any other methods... so I'll probably write more about this after I've done some research.

Technology/ Web meetups and groups in Austin, Texas

Here's a list of technology/ web design/ development and related meetups and associations I found in Austin, Texas.

• Austin Designer Meetup (meetup.com)
• The Austin Web Design & Developer Meetup Group (meetup.com)
• The Austin Flash Meetup Group (meetup.com)
• Austin PHP Meetup (meetup.com)
• The Austin Internet Marketing Meetup - SEO/SEM/SMO/PPC (meetup.com)
• The Austin E-Business Brunch Meetup (meetup.com)
• Association for Women in Technology, Austin
• Association for Women in Communications, Austin
• Austin Technology Council
• Austin Free-Net
• Austin Community of the Society for Technical Communication
• Austin Java Users Group
• Austin Local Internet Society
• American Institute of Graphic Arts, Austin Chapter

Feel free to tack on any more links in the comments. Thanks!

Who doesn't love free lectures on new media?

I mentioned before that I attended a New Media Lecture Series hosted by the ACTLab of University of Texas. For anyone interested in learning about new media today, I'd recommend checking out the lectures online. For those who think they already know all about new media today, perhaps this will inspire you to put together your own series of lectures :)

Here is a link to the lectures online: New Media Series Lectures - University of Texas, April 2008

Who are the SEO experts?

I was recently asked what kind of certification I had in the field of SEO. This question piqued my curiosity into what kind of certification there could be for SEO... and a few minutes later I discovered a list of sites claiming to provide SEO certification.

But, to me, these sites just felt seedy and strange. I kept asking "who are these people?" wondering who had the authority to decide what were correct/ incorrect SEO strategies, and whether anyone cared about these certifications in the industry itself.

Then, I found this article on SEO Certification and it seemed to answer my question. Basically, I gleaned from the article that reliable SEO Certification is a myth - and that sites claiming to provide it have more chance of being a pyramid sales scheme than a genuine authority on SEO training.

How, then, can we prove we have SEO chops, if we in fact do? In the past I've always let search engine results pages speak for me... if a site you worked on is ranked in the top ten on SERPs - doesn't that prove your SEO expertise? Then again, I can see how maybe it wouldn't...

Only2Clicks Wins

OK, I love this site: http://www.only2clicks.com

It is my new home page. Why? Because, first, it allows you to create an Opera-like start page with clickable thumbnails to all your most frequently-visited websites. And secondly, it allows you to upload your own CSS skin. Which, as a web developer/designer... is way fab.

Another plus is the fact that you don't have to continually log in over and over again, which is the reason why I never found convenience in iGoogle or My Yahoo. Why have a customizable home page that you have to log in to see? Isn't the whole point of having a customized home page the convenience of not having to type? Or am I just lazy?

Green is the new Blackle

I've got sustainable living on the brain because tomorrow is Earth Day, and also because I spent part of my weekend helping my sister construct a crank-powered flashlight that can be charged by a child using a sit-and-spin for school. Nice. So, here's a hodge-podge list of all things green on the web right now. (See an earlier post for more enviro-friendly sites.)

• Yahoo! Green: Yahoo's information portal on all things relating to an environmentally-conscious lifestyle. Includes environmental news headlines, blogs, and online tools to calculate your carbon footprint and help you improve the environmental impact of your everyday life.


• Instructables: Instructables is an online forum for sharing unique, and oftentimes outlandish, DIY projects. Described as a "show-and-tell" of DIY projects, it allows people to view, learn how to build, and collaborate on their own and other people's mix-media projects. The reason I include this site on this green list, is because of the way it allows us to explore new uses for old materials - bringing recycling and re-use to a new level of imagination and interactivity.


• Lighter Footstep: This site is a web-based magazine showcasing articles and forums on sustainable living. Also check out ecoTumble, sister site to Living Footstep, that serves as an online "scrapbook" of links, trvia, and tidbits to do with living green.


• Energy Star: Energy Star is a government program sponsored by the US departments of Energy and Environmental Protection to add incentive for US consumers to buy energy-efficient products. Their home on the web is a wealth of information on energy efficiency ratings for consumer products, plans on how to build an energy-efficient home, and a list of rebates and incentives on environmentally-friendly consumer products that you can cash in on.