• 09/28/2008 - My Lovely Wife Lou is Pregnant
• 12/14/2007 - ArtistServer News and a new site: FreeMusicLicensing.com
• 09/18/2007 - AritstServer and ToneThis Serve Up Indie Ringtones
• 09/11/2007 - Running LightTPD and PHP on Windows
• 09/06/2007 - Compete.com -vs- Alexa.com - Comparing Website Rank
• 08/29/2007 - HostMySite.com Limits ColdFusion, Does Not Tell Customers
• 08/14/2007 - New Song: Chocolate Rain - Sonic Remix
• 08/03/2007 - If You Use Open Source, Leave the License and Credit
• 07/31/2007 - Add Links to Profiles on MySpace, Facebook, and More
• 07/23/2007 - SocialNetwork.in API Promotes Cross Site Networking

Create Profile Widgets and More

• The site is once again functional in Internet Explorer (6 and 7), sorry about that!
• We now provide traffic charts from Compete.com on the category and site profile pages.
• Slight design update - the backgrounds for the site ratings, site icons, and number of people rating have all been replaced so they fit the site design more.

• Fixed a CSS issue in the horizontal layout, it's now set to a fixed size.
  
• Updated both the Google and Furl bookmark links.
  
• Fixed a Safari browser issue - the popup/timer needed to be addressed a different way.
  

Not Sure what AddToBookmarks is?

The AddToBookmarks Javascript is easy to use, and it helps get your blog or site on the top social bookmarking sites, by making it easier for people to bookmark your site or page.

How AddToBookmarks Works

User clicks on a link or icon, this passes the link's ID to the script. There, the URL page's TITLE are extracted dynamically by Javascript, then built into the Social Bookmarking site request. Depending on how you set the method,either a popup window will open with the site, or the user will be sent off to the Social Bookmarking site. Once the bookmark is added, the user is sent back to your site. If you used the popup window method, the script would then notice that the popup is displaying your site, then close it, so the user can continue browsing from where they were. If you used the direct method, the user will be sent back to the originating page in the same browser.

AddToBookMarks Supports the Following Social Bookmarking Sites

• Del.icio.us
• Digg.com
• Google.com
• Yahoo.com
• Furl.com
• Simpy.com
• Spurl.com
• Binklist.com

• Multiple Layouts - The AddToBookmarks script currently comes in four layouts, allowing you to select what works best for your use. To set or change the layout, simply alter a variable. See below for more information.
• Add To Methods - While I suggest you use the 'direct' method for linking, you also have the option of using a popup for the social bookmarking sites.
• Single Version - Adding the single version to your site is easy. It's designed to be used where you only need one AddToBookmarks displayed per page. For example, if you want to add this to your Website, the Single Standard Version is what you want to use. See below for more information.
• Multi Version - If you are adding the AddToBookmarks script to your blog, you may want to set it up so you output a version of AddToBookmarks per each blog posting. This would allow visitors to add each post of yours to their Social Bookmarking site. This version will require you to do more work, but if you are considering this version, it should be a snap to setup. All you need to know is how to output the URL and TITLE of your blog posts in the language you use (CFML, PHP, ASP, JSP, etc.).
• Demos - The zip file contains demos so you can get started quickly. Each layout, version, documentation, icons and license included.

http://www.AddToBookmarks.com
 

I've been rewriting core parts of the application that generates ArtistServer, simplifying and optimizing it through object oriented design methods, and shaving 10-1,500ms from pages on the site. While that may seem minimal, when you multiply it by 1,000's of users making requests, those milliseconds add up!

Scaling, is being able to support a growing population of users, data and media, while sustaining an acceptable performance for it's users. Doing this usually requires some initial investment in hardware, so you stay ahead of the curve. Thanks to Amazon Web Services, you and I can now ride the growth curve in real time.

Amazon offers several Web Services which could greatly change your business by saving you money, allowing you to grow on less initial investment, and potentially open your business up to new opportunities. In my case, I'm beginning to see how I'll be able to continue growing my business, minimize the risks, improve quality, and save money while freeing my time up for creating and exploring new ideas.

Amazon Web Services Home

Are you aware of these services?

• Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) - is a web service that provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud. It is designed to make web-scale computing easier for developers.

  Just as Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) enables storage in the cloud, Amazon EC2 enables "compute" in the cloud. Amazon EC2's simple web service interface allows you to obtain and configure capacity with minimal friction. It provides you with complete control of your computing resources and lets you run on Amazon's proven computing environment. Amazon EC2 reduces the time required to obtain and boot new server instances to minutes, allowing you to quickly scale capacity, both up and down, as your computing requirements change. Amazon EC2 changes the economics of computing by allowing you to pay only for capacity that you actually use.

• Mechanical Turk - provides a web services API for computers to integrate Artificial Artificial Intelligence directly into their processing by making requests of humans. Developers use the Amazon Mechanical Turk web services API to submit tasks to the Amazon Mechanical Turk web site, approve completed tasks, and incorporate the answers into their software applications. To the application, the transaction looks very much like any remote procedure call - the application sends the request, and the service returns the results. In reality, a network of humans fuels this Artificial Artificial Intelligence by coming to the web site, searching for and completing tasks, and receiving payment for their work.
  
  
• Simple Storage Service (S3) - S3 is storage for the Internet. It is designed to make web-scale computing easier for developers.

  Amazon S3 provides a simple web services interface that can be used to store and retrieve any amount of data, at any time, from anywhere on the web. It gives any developer access to the same highly scalable, reliable, fast, inexpensive data storage infrastructure that Amazon uses to run its own global network of web sites. The service aims to maximize benefits of scale and to pass those benefits on to developers.

• Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS) - offers a reliable, highly scalable hosted queue for storing messages as they travel between computers. By using Amazon SQS, developers can simply move data between distributed application components performing different tasks, without losing messages or requiring each component to be always available.

  Amazon SQS works by exposing Amazon's web-scale messaging infrastructure as a web service. Any computer on the Internet can add or read messages without any installed software or special firewall configurations. Components of applications using Amazon SQS can run independently, and do not need to be on the same network, developed with the same technologies, or running at the same time.

I'm currently working on an integration with Amazon's S3 service, and once that's complete, I'll most likely look at integrating EC2 and SQS into my application. Below, is a diagram showing how a developer could add Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Solution) to their Web application and gain not only a storage solution that scales, but also data redundancy, allowing you to toggle between local or remote versions of files. The diagram is meant to give you a general idea as to how you could integrate S3, there's definitely room for variations and additional optimization. For example, instead of the using a local page for your queue, you could use Amazon's SQS, or your own queueing server with a 'ticket system' for managing tasks.

The diagram has two sections, the first shows files being uploaded to your site/service. The second section shows the serving of those files. The main idea here, is that files are stored on your server, then copied out to your S3 account. By integrating a variable for tracking the status of the copy out on S3, you can serve either the local or remote copy. Since S3 can scale more than your server, you would use the S3 copy as the primary version, and your local copy as the backup. If for some reason S3 goes offline, you can user an application level variable to force your application to use the local copies. The 'code' you see in the diagram is 'pseudo code' and is only for demonstration purposes.

If image is not displayed, you may access it here: http://photo.artistserver.com/1/8/D94D29F7-10DC-3A80-B070C1CF742F7D63_O.jpg

BTW - If this kind of thing interests you, I suggest that you pick up Cal Henderson's book "Building Scalable Web Sites" published by O'Reilly.

The startup dance is a series of actions and movements whereby you juggle your current means of income with an attempt to execute a more attractive opportunity.

The startup dance is a relationship, where current work supports your startup.
The startup dance is a war, where current work and your startup do battle for the rights to your future.
The startup dance happens everyday for 12-16hrs each day.
The startup dance reveals your weaknesses and sharpens your skills.
The startup dance is about doing more with less.
The startup dance is a competition with all the other startup dancers.
The startup dance is best done with a small team that dances well together.

1. Achieve Dreams - always have a dream, and always work toward it
2. Learn and Grow - you'll fail more often than succeed, and each failure is an opportunity to learn
3. Spread Ideas - ideas can change the world
4. Challenge Yourself - find out who you really are
5. Expose Yourself to More Opportunities - life is about opportunities for experiences and the perspectives you gain along the way

It appears that MyBlogLog allows anyone to claim a site as their own. All you have to do is join, fill out a form, type in a URL - and the site is yours on the MyBlogLog system.

The user does not have to prove the site is theirs. They don't have to download and install a small html page with a unique ID that MyBlogLog could then request and thus prove that the person owns that site. Once they claim the site as theirs - it's locked, and the actual owner can't add the site to their own profile.

This isn't bad planning on MyBlogLog's part... it's terrible.

I found this out today because a user on my site has claimed my company site as his own on MyBlogLog. I'd post the link, but I don't want to cause any troubles w/ the actual artist - it could very well have been a mistake on his part. BUT - this is something MyBlogLog should not allow - just as other sites like Technorati don't provide you a means to claim other peoples sites and blogs as your own.

I just sent him an email asking him to remove it - or rename it, but as you know - the user may not respond, and he may not remove it. I also sent an email to MyBLogLog asking for help.

I find it odd that they are allowing people to claim websites as their own without providing any means to actually prove that it's their site. Many services will give you a piece of code to save onto your site which the service would then request from the site, which then proves that the site is that persons. MyBlogLog isn't asking anyone to prove anything - which sounds to me like they are creating a huge problem down the road as Spammers and traffic hungry bloggers claim sites they don't own nor run. How will they deal with this? Don't they realize it's going to rapidly transform them into a cesspool?

Give it a go - claim every corporation you can think of, load 'em up - they're yours for the taking... actually, no, don't do that. Let's wait and see if they will fix this and add a reliable means for claiming sites - and if they don't - live it up, because as soon as someone starts claiming all the larger corps, Web Startups, etc - larger voices will call out to MyBlogLog demanding a fix. But remember, it's best to try to work any problem out with conversation - so let the conversation begin!

I sure hope MyBlogLog improves their system and makes it more secure - claiming a site/url/blog as your own MUST have proof - don't you think?

And yes - I'm a member: http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/members/gideonmarken/

Here is a screenshot from the MyBlogLog site showing their "Add site" form - displaying that someone else "authors" my company site. Nice! http://www.artistserver.com/m1/8/9/media/21486.jpg