Brian's Stream of Consciousness

Working with websites is what I do for a living, and there are many elements that go into the creation of a successful website. These include graphical design and content generation. While I've dabbled in the design portion of creating a website, the hardest part, I feel, is content generation, which is where much of my experience lies. Creating good, readable, worthwhile content takes time, effort, research and so on. For example, take a look at our website on cheap health insurance to see what I'm talking about.

As you can see, the site is littered with content, most of which was written by me and other authors, along with some licensed content as well. This content has taken a long time to write, and a lot of effort to write effectively, but honestly, that's what both search engines and users want to see in their website.

So if you're thinking of creating a website or a blog, make sure you put the creation of content front and center in your goals. By creating good, viable content, you'll get people wanting to come back to your website to read more. You'll also have your site seem more valuable in the eyes of search engines, which means your site will get even more traffic the more valuable it becomes. Good content, along with a simple, pleasing design, are key in the creation of a successful website.

This site is being put on hold while I come up with a strategy on what to do with it. I like the idea of what I've done so far, but I need to tweak it. I'm also going to be moving the blog/news portion of this site to a new domain, http://www.gorramit.com, so keep an eye out for that in the coming weeks. Thank you for your patience.

I like to call myself a "social firefly." This is because my love of the show Firefly led me to its fandom, which has made me a great many wonderful friends. I know a lot of people, love a few of them, and consider some to be best friends. I'm in constant touch with people over my cell phone, email, and IM. So since I consider myself quite social...why the hell are social networks like MySpace and Facebook just so dang annoying to me?

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According to this article, Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski is planning on developing a new video game because he percieves the current model of video game production as "broken." According to the article:

"Speaking with The L.A Times, he said: "I've got something in mind that I've had for about a year. I didn't want to jump into gaming from the executive level. I really want to sort of engage on a creative level.""

Interesting stuff, I'm looking forward to seeing what he has planned. Head over to ComputerAndVideoGames.com for the entire article.

The folks on Kotaku have posted a clip from StarCraft II that just premiered in Korea. This clip focuses entirely on the Zerg, and WOW is it impressive. Head over and check it out.

According to Neatorama, March 10th (today) is the birthday of the telephone back in 1876...or at least Alaxander Graham Bell's version of it (the article also discusses the controversy over who actually invented the telephone).

Regardless, happy birthday to a technology that now many of us can't live without (I know I can't leave the house without my cell phone). :)

I think this is a marveouls idea, and makes me want to get a Nintendo DS even more now just to support the idea. Ubisoft will be releasing My Health Coach: Weight Management for the DS this summer. From the article:

"Developed under the guidance of a fitness coach and a nutritionist, My Health Coach is apparently a fun way to help you balance out a twenty-a-day cigarette habit with a spot of jogging, and remind you to occasionally have a celery stick instead of pie and chips at lunchtime."

The article over at ComputerAndVideoGames.com also mentions a game calle Wii Fit which sounds like a lot of fun. I know I'll keep playing Dance Dance Revolution for my exercise, but I'm glad gaming companies are starting to attack the issue of obesity head on.

While any Beatles fan worth their salt ALREADY OWNS the entire Beatles back catalog in one way or another (I know I do), this is one way to get new fans for what is arguably the best rock band ever. From the article:

"Paul McCartney has signed a deal worth $400 million with Apple, which will finally allow the outfit to distribute the entire Beatles' back catalogue on Itunes."

Read the entire thing over at The INQUIRER.

I found this on Neatorama. The BBC has published their list of the best put-downs and insults on TV. Unsurprisingly most of them are British, but they DO have the best lines (why do you think US TV copies them so much? ;). My favorite is this one:

"Arnold Rimmer - Red Dwarf. "Look, we all have something to bring to this discussion. But I think from now on the thing you should bring is silence."

The list also includes Statler and Waldorf, Edmund Blackadder and many more. Head over to the BBC for the full list.

The death last week of D&D Co-Creator Gary Gygax have a lot of us (myself included) realizing just how much we owe him for the modern games we love today. Well, 1Up summed it up nicely...

"It's difficult to overstate just how much videogames owe to Gygax's work: Trying to imagine gaming without D&D is like trying to imagine modern civilization without the wheel or electricity. Sure, it could have happened, but it would have turned out radically different. So please observe a moment of silence as we recount the debt that videogaming owes to 1974's pen-and-paper classic."

It's very true, and a very good read. Head over to 1up for the entire article.