Acro.net – Technology Rants & Raves by Acroplex®

There’s a reason why the US Navy recruiting office’s motto is “Let the journey begin”. The seemingly vague and non-restrictive phrase was meant to match that of the US Army’s apparently restrictive line – “Be all you can be“.

But was “Be all you can be” – the motto of the US Army recruiting office for over twenty years – truly restrictive or simply an ingenious statement, assisting young men and women find their true calling in life?

My buddy Justin is a talented video editor, living his creative and personal dream in the Big Apple. He’s successful through the elements that define his personality: he’s detail-oriented, educated, persistent, focused. He’s a pro, simply because he has defined his job’s structure and is taking it to its maximum capacity.

In essence, he’s being all that he can be.

The domaining industry  is currently witnessing an apparent anarchy, a disarray that would never occur in a structured, well-defined industry that beholds its goals and targets as the driving force to excellence. Instead, the domaining industry resembles the seemingly endless supply of an “all you can eat” buffet; the sign at the door welcomes everybody to engorge in the cornucopia of options available.

Once in, the domainers face a feeding frenzy where there is no direction, no education, no focus. Instead, there is an abundance of rumors, fairy tales, fake claims and a complete disregard of structure and common sense. The “journey of domaining” is like that of a ship in the open seas, full sails engaging the winds from all directions, with no compass. Once at the wheel, the domainer struggles to guide themselves to the hidden treasure islands; often crashing onto shores unknown, that did exist however on the very map they could not read.

OK, enough with the imagery of intentional analogies.

The idea is simple: find a niche and stick to it. Develop your skills so that you maximize your capacity and ability to perform at your best, instead of shooting in all directions hoping to catch some wild game along with the random fatalities. And most particularly, avoid the multi-purpose, all-wrapped in one, thousand-island-dressing role that people lacking focus choose to engage in.

Don’t let the journey begin taking you to the land of Failure. Instead, plan your life’s trip, carve your professional path by excelling in what you do best.

Be all you can be.

Can you feel the electricity in the air?

There’s a revolution brewing. It’s the lingering smell of ozone, right before a powerful storm erupts.

It’s about time to bring the end-users to the domain conferences.

It’s about time to change the rules of the game by altering the long-standing paradigm. Domainers sipping margaritas with other domainers at domainer conferences is not what takes this industry to the next level. It actually puts it into a deep sleep.

The domaining industry needs its own aggressive marketing campaign, its very own technocrats that don’t rest forever on their laurels of past engagements. Instead, these individuals would forge new marketing paths by hammering into shape alliances beyond the domaining realm, past the sleepy “circle of trust” that has been regurgitating the same old fairy tales for years now.

It’s time for a change.

Eighty percent of the general public that uses the Internet has no clue about the value, specifics, functions and mechanisms of the domain industry. They are ripe ground for seeding with education. They are waiting, money in their wallets to learn how they can best invest it.

So put down the margaritas and assorted shrimp-on-a-toothpick and seek the right connections that will open up the coveted gates of the general public – directly to the entrance of your own business.

It’s really a shame seeing AEIOU.com pull out of the minisite business, simply because it appeared that the company – led by Rick Latona – had a streamlined process in place and many satisfied customers.

The truth is, Rick’s statement that “there is no money in web design” is incorrect. The domaining market with its small returns for PPC and non-development is not ripe yet to follow closely the high standards and expectations of web development for general, non-domainer clients; and that’s where the money really is.

Therefore, there is no money in web design for domainers that aren’t willing to understand a few basic principles:

1. You get what you pay for
2. Design requires time
3. Monetization is an extra step to tackle

In other words, anyone offering any type of serious “minisite” or full-fledged web design is doing so on the basis that the clients are willing to be aware of these steps and that are willing to invest time and money into development.

Anyone who promises “push button” web development with instant results and revenue is simply after your money. So use professional services, instead of someone that has no qualifications, no portfolio and no willingness to work using proper methods and standards in web design.

Tia Wood already has a development system in place, catering to domainers who are eager to develop their web sites with dynamic content – for more info visit her web site – a great sample of the system is at Candy.ca

Personally, at Acroplex LLC I offer full-fledged web & graphics development, logo & identity design, print design and consultation on how to best proceed with your existing or future projects.

There’s a new gaming application for the iPhone called Canabalt. The great news is, that you can download it from the Apple store for just $2.99 – or play the online version for free on the web at Canabalt.com

The game features multi-level parallax scrolling action, miniature but detailed graphic sprites and intense action that only requires one finger: tap the screen to jump or tap and hold it to prolong it (gravity takes its toll).

The music is reminiscent of the Bourne Ultimatum soundtrack and adds to the atmospheric gameplay, which consists of jumping on collapsing rooftops, avoiding obstacles, robots and walls. That sounds like the kind of challenge Rick Schwartz might introduce at TRAFFIC New York 2009.

Whoah!

The image was too hard to comprehend; there was a dead man in my pool and he was floating, half-naked, face down, along with thousands of dollar bills scattered in the water.

So I stood half-frozen in the middle of a warm, yet indifferent Florida night that felt confusingly surreal; the domain conference cocktail party had ended a few hours earlier.

In my bloodstream ran an unknown amount of alcohol, having consumed it like everyone else did – men and women, domain celebrities and domain wannabes, traffic and SEO gurus, portfolio peddlers and minisite developers – the creme de la creme of the domaining industry, all of them conveniently gathered in one place.

Among them, some very attractive camgirl entertainers – what a euphemism for “prostitutes” – eager to drop their clothes to advertise the premium generic names of rich, balding domainers, whose dot coms were painted across their naked torsos that bulged with multiple silicone enhancements.

I took a few slow steps towards the edge of the serene pool, lit up from the inside by warm, round lights that mirrored the full moon from above. Keeping my eyes closed, I reached for my smokes and lit a cigarette mechanically, taking a deep breath that I held in – then let go slowly, opening my eyes in anticipation of a change in the imagery; if only that could happen at the mere thought of a wish.

The body was still there, almost asleep-looking, surrendered. Dead.

Kneeling down, I felt the adrenaline inside my veins battling ferociously against the milligrams of nicotine I had just inhaled; the urge was there, to turn the vision around and run away from this fateful scene. And yet, having won the battle of the neuron commands, my arms did the opposite thing; reaching down into the warm pool water, I turned the dead body first to its side and then on its back.

Slowly, it came to face me – reality, that is – my worst fear mocking me from the depths of my mind, the hippocampus materializing ether into vision, into flesh. Dead flesh.

A dead domainer at a domain conference, but why him? He looked Asian, mixed with Caucasian; short, dark hair and half open eyes that still spoke of a night of hope and wonderment, having experienced the presence of other domain professionals – all while lost in a sea of alcohol and tasty hors d’oeuvres.

Around his neck, wrapped like a medal declaring an Olympian’s accomplishments was a lanyard with the conference’s logo, bearing his name tag. Soaked in the water, ink running but clearly etched underneath the cheap plastic cover, was the name “Guy Wakasaki” – and below it the words “Typo Domain Specialist“.

And then, like an ancient Greek tragedy at its peak moment awaiting the final catharsis, these words delivered the equivalent of a Deus ex machina arrival; the divine intervention that fully absorbs the agony accumulated inside the protagonist’s psyche.

I let go of the tag, let it back into the pool water, floating by the side of the man’s colorful shirt; like a “Diver Down” flag in the tropical waters of the Florida Keys.

Poor bastard, I thought, bringing myself up from the edge of the pool and back towards the bar which was now closed, but still echoed the laughter of the night’s social activities.

Pouring myself a drink from a near-empty bottle, I took a last look at the dead man, a typo-squatter all the way to the bitter end; unworthy of a true Guy Kawasaki fate, but still, genuinely happy among his peers, in a pool full of warm, chlorinated water and typo-traffic money.

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Copyright 2009 Acroplex – As originally published at DomainGang.com