Syzlak’s SEM

And you thought (insert social site here) was getting overrun…

Posted on: August 3, 2007 by Syzlak Comments

News from the front!  There’s a (relatively) new social site out there, and Syzlak just got hit up for his hard earned advertising money.  Foolishly, i joined the site after getting off the phone with a man that after correctly spelling Joshua, uttered this phrase

Awesome, I’m on it today.

Really?

No, really? Joshua? It’s not as hard to spell as your name (Douchebag Johnson), and i think it’s been around longer.  The site, PerfSpot, appears to be a typical social website akin to MySpace, Facebook, or Virb; however, PerfSpot has a slight edge on the competition by combining aspects of Twitter, Digg, YouTube, Blogger and LastNightsParty.  All in all, it’s really a great idea…except that it took a sales guy to inform me that they existed, and they run you through about 30 opt-out ads and 3 pages of opt-out forms. Oh, that, and after i signed up i noticed that just like Digg, Twitter, and MySpace – it’s overrun with sex and juvenility.

So, now i pose the question:

Are we, as an online society, more prone to deviance and childish tendencies, or is this just a tactic employed by social hounds in order to further their personal gains, thus leading us to a world filled with horrid content on social networks?

My Faceballs are Growing

Posted on: August 2, 2007 by Syzlak Comments

Check it out, the Overland Faceball League is getting some attention. So far, over 400 visitors and 3 fans from StumbleUpon, as well as a write-up in This Sales Man’s Life.

Tribune gets new layout

Posted on: August 2, 2007 by Syzlak Comments

The Chicago Tribune recently updated their online layout, and i am extremely happy that they did. As a lover of the Windy City, i’ve kept in touch with the area’s news for a long time (i’m an avid Chicago sports fan) and i’ve never been a fan of their site. So, as the day wound down here at the office, i decided to check in on the Trib. i was pleased to find that they’d finally come around with their design, to a more web friendly site.

Now, it is a far cry from a more proper newspaper design, but it’s a step up from the past. i’d like to see better titles for some of the sections (read: ‘homes,’ ‘chicago homes’ or ‘illinois homes’ instead of ‘real estate’), but all in all i’m just glad to see a newspaper realize that change was needed.