Is Autotune (aka Auto-Tune) merely a helpful tool for those who can’t sing, or might it be a cause of pestilence and halitosis? I suppose it’s not quite that bad. I even enjoy it sometimes when it’s set high enough that it becomes a tone color, a particular fun futuristic bizarro tone. And let’s not forget my favorite Autotune use, setting irritating celebrities’ public statements to music.
But like any special effect, it’s only effective if used judiciously, and that means actually stopping once in awhile. So the basic problem you see is profligate use.
Continue reading “Autotune: a Harmless Trend, or Totally Lame?”
Posted in Music
I shouldn’t even have to write about this, but the problem still hasn’t gone away. When you set up your website, part of the process is choosing the web address of your site, such as YourGreatStore.com and so on. This is also known as the site’s domain name. It’s fairly easy to register and purchase the domain name online.
But many newbies were unwitting victims of a subtle trick: the web developer they hired registered the domain name himself before building the site. The site is running, it looks fine, everything’s fine, right? Just one little problem – the original client does not own the domain of their site, the web developer does. Why does this matter? I know of a case where a fellow wanted to update his website using a new designer. He went back to his old web developer and told him of his new site plans. Guess what? The developer said, sure, you can have access to your domain: I’ll sell it to you for $600. Otherwise, get lost.
Continue reading “Be Sure You Own the Domain Name of Your Website”
Posted in Web Development
If you’re planning to build a website for your business, picking a good domain name (or names) is helpful. You’ll make it easier on your potential visitors if you have something that reflects your business (or you), is spellable, and can be typed fairly easily. If you manage to have a good search engine keyword in there, that’s a bonus. To illustrate, it’s often helpful to see the wrong way. Some examples that I see frequently:
Gratuitous Hyphenation
This one comes from good intentions. Let’s say you’re thinking of using the phrase “West Philly Cheese Steaks”, which is your company name. People are sitting in a meeting and somebody writes “westphillycheesesteaks.com” on a board. Someone says that “westphillycheesesteaks” is really long and doesn’t look like a word. Spaces in a URL don’t work, so they try “west-philly-cheese-steaks.com” instead. More readable! Just one little problem – if someone is trying to type that name, they will tend to have trouble.
Continue reading “Choosing Your Domain Name – Some Common Mistakes”
Posted in Web Development