Link-O-Mania: Ten Smile-Inducing YouTube Videos of the Week

Posted in: Website Links

We’ve discussed some pretty serious things here lately. Online forms, confusing Click-Here! buttons, problems caused by endless paragraphs of website text, etc.

So let’s take a moment today to enjoy the (much) lighter side of the web. Let’s sit back, relax, and have a few laughs and smiles over some beloved YouTube videos.

  1. http://tinyurl.com/2d7efd6 - You go, Granny. You SHOW that rude driver what’s up. Because we know you’ll cross the street when you’re damn well ready.
  2. http://tinyurl.com/2dalru - “The shiny guy always worries.” AKA… “A thorough, thought-provoking summary of Star Wars.” AKA… “Star Wars according to a 3 year old.”
  3. http://tinyurl.com/25896zm - Clever editing, the right music, and use of the standard movie-trailer formula combine to create a new trailer for “The Shining.” A trailer that successfully presents the classic movie as…a romantic comedy.
  4. http://tinyurl.com/4y6mkj - This one isn’t a laugh-inducer. It’s just a little something for all the animal lovers out there looking for their daily I’m-a-little-fluffy-puppy-hanging-out-and-being-adorable video.
  5. http://tinyurl.com/3xgsl6 - The truth becomes known to many. Zombies do like turtles.
  6. http://tinyurl.com/csb2g9 - Fire…. truck. You know. Because at one point we all did our best to pronounce certain sounds.
  7. http://tinyurl.com/2tscr4 - Any discussion touching upon the roots of hip hop isn’t complete without mention of Denny and the sweet demo tape he sent in to MTV back in the 90s.
  8. http://tinyurl.com/64z4cm - Love it. I mean, how can you not like Bert and Ernie rapping about the streets of Brooklyn, money, women, and Cristal?? This video is a never-fail pick-me-up of mine.
  9. http://tinyurl.com/ysv7q9 - Yes, Tillman is a better skateboarder than you. And yes, I know that revelation stings because he’s a dog.
  10. http://tinyurl.com/258oja - Kids are getting tougher these days. This three year old girl is already talking smack about kicking ass. Yes, it’s a monster’s ass, but still – you can already see the violence brimming from within her.

If most of these videos were new to you, it’s quite possible you may not even be familiar with some of the most well-known YouTube classics of all time. (Yes. All time.) May I suggest you use your lunch break to catch up? Head over to YouTube.com and search for: David after the dentist, Boom goes the dynamite, Charlie bit my finger, Blood–it’s not funny, sleep running dog, Sneezing Panda, dramatic look, evolution of dance, and Star Wars Kid (and Star Wars Kid remix, of course).

Hope something here makes you smile. :)

PART 2: The Conclusion and Finale of the “Sit Down. It’s Time We Had a Talk” Conversation

Posted in: Tips for Business Websites

This blog post has been moved to the timeforcake (CO Web Design Company) blog.

Read the full post here:

http://www.timeforcake.com/site/blog/post/sit-down-darling.-its-time-we-had-a-talk.-about-your-website/

Sit Down. It’s Time We Had a Talk.

Posted in: Tips for Business Websites

This blog post has been moved to the timeforcake (CO Web Design Company) blog.

Read the full post here:

http://www.timeforcake.com/site/blog/post/sit-down-darling.-its-time-we-had-a-talk.-about-your-website/

Grab Bag: Your Five Links of the Week

Posted in: Website Links

1. http://tinyurl.com/3×7rax9 - A school in the U.K. is planning to begin fingerprinting children as young as 4. Why? To allow them to check out library books. Oh, the magic of technology.

2. http://tinyurl.com/2cmmteb - I’m totally loving this Best Illusion of the Year. Very cool.

3. http://tinyurl.com/2y2xbs - Something else I’m currently loving: The Primitive Book Project. I mean, who knew that arranging books on your bookshelves could be so entertaining and, oftentimes, hilarious??

4. http://tinyurl.com/24g23lw - Let’s talk about someone looking for a job. Let’s talk about someone being truly creative. Let’s talk about someone using Google in a very clever manner. Let’s stop talking and just watch a man’s one minute video story called The Google Job Experiment.

5. http://tinyurl.com/279n4a9 - U.S. newspaper companies continue to drive increasing numbers of people to their websites. A new record was set in the first quarter of 2010, beating the previous record set in the fourth quarter of 2009. Newspaper publishers continue to experiment with “aggressive new business models.” No big surprises here.

Update of the Week: Yellow Pages United & Their Fake Invoices. Remember Them?

Posted in: Web Info, Tips & Tricks

Remember United Yellow Pages and those fake Yellow Pages United invoices they sent out to millions of business owners? Remember how, though those invoices were designed to look authentic, they contained a line of print reading “This is not an invoice”? Or perhaps you, like me, even received some of these fake invoices and remember them clearly.

Apparently the company made over $425 million from 2004 – 2008 from these fake invoices and was charged with fraud in July, despite the arguments of their defense lawyers that the wording contained in those documents denied any connection to telephone companies.

What United Yellow Pages did was admittedly quite low, but the question remains: is it truly fraud if the company included “This is not an invoice” in not-so-fine-print on their not-so-real invoices?  Is it okay for businesses to make money from their efforts of blatantly tricking consumers? Or do people have the responsibility in being thorough when it comes to reading fine print?

View the story covering the fraud charges here: http://tinyurl.com/2fwqxjk or view a more detailed story including the defense attorney’s explanation of why mail fraud was not committed here: http://tinyurl.com/36kj3w9.  For the stories of business owners who lost their money to Yellow Pages United, simply Google something along the lines of “Yellow Pages United” scam (note the quotation marks around Yellow Pages United).

Marketing Link of the Week: Understanding How Twitter Has Actually Helped Businesses

Posted in: Website Links

Yes, you’ve heard that Twitter can be a valuable business tool.

Yet to you, Twitter still seems like a place on the web where people discuss mundane topics and share what they ate for lunch. That’s fine. But take a second and check this link out, won’t you? http://tinyurl.com/yddtrw2.

This link will take you to a blog post that reviews five real-life case studies of how businesses have strategically and successfully used Twitter to their advantage.

And if you like what you read here, look closely at the bottom of the article (right above the comments) and you’ll see a link to five additional real-life business case studies.