Posted on: March 5, 2008 by Syzlak
Except for a few people from Ask, they aren’t working at all…
Lord, I’m busy. By the next time I post, I’ll have recorded the bulk of my band’s next album, gone to SearchFest ‘08 (tagline: Don’t Hesitate to be Great in 08!!) and worked like a dog in between.
So, shit, what’s been going on lately? Ask is dead? Again? That’s sad to me, I’ve always enjoyed the hope of competition in the search field, and I thought Ask was getting better. I think that it’s too hard today to battle the omnipresent Google. I mean Google is now a verb for fuck’s sake!!! How could Ask ever compete with that?
Other news… (yes, I’m doing a lame editorial recap of the last few weeks in order to make up for the fact that I didn’t do a like-like link post)
SMX West happened last week. Did you go? No? Neither did I. Do you remember how we were forced to hear about all the great parties, cool contacts and fantastic information that we were missing out on? Yeah, me too. It’s a great time to be alive. If you missed out on SMX West, check out this great piece by Streko, it more or less sums up the existence of those of us that have to stay behind in order to keep the company running.
Not at all search related, I’ve added one of my favorite sites to the blogroll, The Strategic Retreat. Good post on there today…
Ok…there’s a meeting happening in my office, so I’ve lost my train of thought. Anyway, if you’re going to be at SearchFest ‘08 come find me. I currently have a Yacht Rock-esque haircut, but I assure you I won’t be dressed the part. I’ll be running around and volunteering, whilst trying to update via Twitter and posting right here on SyzlakSEM. Sadly, I won’t be able to hang with the SEOHack 
as he’ll be at home, sulking, drunk and alone. That is, if you don’t count liquor and guns as friends.
All right, done rambling. See ya in a week or so!
Posted on: October 5, 2007 by Syzlak
Hey Reader! Did you know that SEOHack and I are good friends? It’s true, no fooling! In fact, sometimes we have spirited discussions about current events in the world of SEM. By spirited, I mean filled with dirty language; and by discussions, I mean bickering matches. So, for the first 7 things I learned this week, check here. As for the 8th, I learned the following:
- Picking on Rand gets you a lot of attention. Let’s display this with a chat from earlier
SEOHack: You see Sphinn (Ed: pronounced s-fin – don’t drink the Kool-Aid) has yet another story about SEOmoz and Rand?
Syzlak: No shit?!?!
SEOHack: Yeah
Syzlak: Good! I was hoping to read new trite.
SEOHack: Perfect junk for “what I learned.” Skitzzo is a silly dude. No, I take that back; not silly, just a dude.
Syzlak: Wha?!?!? Why is he teh fuck?
SEOHack: Because he’s like mvandemar but with less balls and trying to wrap himself in some sort of “hey man, I’m not being mean, but these SEOmoz people need to be taken to task!”
Syzlak: I think that his post is all one can do to try to attack Rand though. Disagreeing with rand is like disagreeing with Mr. Belvedere – no one thinks it’s possible, and if it is, they feel uncomfortable about it
SEOHack: heheheh. Mr. Belvedere. You think Skitzzo’s post was more of an attack?
Syzlak: No
SEOHack: I agree with him on Rand outing sites
Syzlak: No one attacks as much as mvandemar
SEOHack: True dat
Syzlak: Here’s my point – this guy attacked in the only way that will make people start thinking about SEOmoz’s actions, and he was totally right about the comment posts. Personally, Rand needs to reign in his employees.
SEOHack: Nah. Fuck that.
Syzlak: That was bush league. Might as well have just said “neener neener”
SEOHack: I guess I appreciate Rebecca’s loyalty to her boss man
Syzlak: meh. Fuck that shit
SEOHack: No way
Syzlak: It’s not loyalty necessarily. It’s petty name calling.
SEOHack: It’s like Lovitz, mvandemar is like fucking Andy Dick.
Syzlak: If she were to do it to his face, bitch him out, bring on the shame, pee on him and then claim him as property…then that’s something, but to sarcastically call him out when you know you won’t have to face up to it…no.
SEOHack: That would be awesome
Syzlak: So, we getting a 7 things I learned this week?
SEOHack: But she did though, it’s not like she’s an SEOHack. People know who she is. Most of the shit going on in Sphinn is inside the walls of a high school and no one on the outside reads it or cares…and yes, I’ll be doing a 7 things.
Syzlak: True – but if I were Rand I’d say post, but let’s not get personal, be above it.
SEOHack: If I were Rand, I’d say something how while I appreciate Rebecca’s comments and agree with them, this might not have been the place to air them especially in light of who is in this forum. I apologize for Rebecca calling mvandemar a ‘douche bag’ and will take this up with her in private.” Then I’d give her a raise.
SEOHack: Then when people say “she didn’t call him a douche bag.” My reply would be “oh, my bad.”
Syzlak: Fair enough. We won’t see eye to eye on that one. Still, although I get the actions being commendable, did you see Rebecca’s comment on Skitzzo’s blog? The attitude didn’t end with mvandemar.
SEOHack: I need to update the page…when I read it, it was only at five comments.
Syzlak: weewar is slow today – I’m gonna get a burrito
Time elapses
SEOHack: Maybe part of my problem with Skittzo is the whole condescending, disappointed father tone of his post and his comments.
Syzlak: http://smackdown.blogsblogsblogs.com/2007/10/05/hey-rand-since-its-not-wrong
SEOHack: Oh for fucks sake! How about one of us Sphinn that with the title “More Rand Is A Lying, Thieving Asshole Fun-ness!”
Syzlak: Do it
SEOHack: yeah? Think I’ll hit first page?
Syzlak: No, but it’d be fun.
SEOHack: You got a vote for that comment!
Syzlak: ‘Tis a good comment
SEOHack: Tis! I especially love the “take search seriously” bit. Brilliant!
Syzlak: I’m so good but no one likes me
SEOHack: You are! As am I!
Syzlak: You’re ok
SEOHack: Yeah, I suppose you’re right. This is gonna die with only three Sphinns as well, isn’t it?
Time elapses
SEOHack: Can you find that submission? I think they scrubbed it. Holy shit they deleted it. I’m done with Sphinn.
SEOHack: Fucking weewar…
As you can see, 1 instance can snowball into grand misunderstandings and arguments the likes of which we may never resolve. I didn’t know it at the time and neither did he, but we were onto something more important that autumn. It seemed like a lifetime had passed since the beginning of summer when Winnie Cooper left for camp. She’d be back soon, and would have no doubt learned how to express herself in new ways. In the end, we all learned something really:
Not to pick on WeeWar – we really love our accounts. Please don’t block us
Posted on: August 24, 2007 by Syzlak
Until the other day, i had never heard of Andrew Keen, and i was happy. Today, i am incensed with rage (exaggerating, but still pissy) at the fact this man exists. In a recent interview with Stephen Colbert, Andy (i refuse to acknowledge him with the simplest of titles “Mr.”), fully admits to being an elitist and that the Nazis were better than the web. Read that one again. He claims that “the internet is trivializing culture” because people like me are allowed to post videos, music, and opinions on the web (c’mon, like i wasn’t going to use this as an opportunity to shill my own wares).
Andy’s stance bothers me for multiple reasons.
- He claims the Nazis didn’t put artists out of work.
- apparently there were no artists in concentration camps
- He also recently questioned whether he was a Nazi.
- He claims the internet is stealing culture/making it harder for artists to earn a living
- this seems entirely backwards. First of all, i do not understand who supposedly owns culture by his definition. i was under the impression that culture comes from a society at large
- Secondly, how does a virtual soapbox make it harder for artists to earn a living? As a musician, i am only assisted by the fact that the internet allows me to broadcast my music, it led my band to a handful of gigs and word of mouth. i would think that this also has assisted painters, poets, etc. by allowing a world-wide venue to distribute (read: sell!!!) their goods that was previously unavailable. Logic can be used to infer that these artists are then able to get into more galleries, readings, etc. because of their internet popularity.
- How is it that he believes the internet is stealing culture? Hell, does that even make any sense? Yes, many of the great works of art have been created for money; however, there have been more done out of expression than anything else. A Hopi rug is considered culture. So is “Barracuda” by Heart (i have no idea why). One was done for money, one was done for warmth, but both are culturally significant of their respective societies.
- He’s an elitist, and claims that amateurs don’t create great culture
- Well shit. He’s got me there. i guess since i didn’t go to culture school, then i’m an amateur.
- He tries (during the interview) to project the fact that Stephen Colbert is not making money online
- My ass. Seriously, at this point Andy just looks a fool. The Colbert Report website has many ads, the Comedy Central Video page has ads. Hell, one could even consider the “stealing” of the Colbert Report and subsequent posting of episode snippets as branding. Was it licensed? No. Did it make me want to watch the Colbert Report? Yes.
- He complains that anonymous bloggers are doing the bidding of foreign governments.
- Here’s a quote from Andy about the internet
It worships the creative amateur: the self-taught filmmaker, the dorm-room musician, the unpublished writer. It suggests that everyone–even the most poorly educated and inarticulate amongst us–can and should use digital media to express and realize themselves. Web 2.0 ‘empowers’ our creativity, it ‘democratizes’ media, it ‘levels the playing field’ between experts and amateurs. The enemy of Web 2.0 is ‘elitist’ traditional media.
- It is dreadful to live in a world of free will isn’t it? Where each one of us can express ourselves in our own ways. Let it be known that i am the first one to cast judgment on those that i feel should keep their opinions to themselves (this article is evidence); however, i do not fault them for trying. Humans are both inherently unique and absurdly uninteresting; it’s life, it’s society, it’s culture.
- i’m pretty sure he’s just upset about the audiocafe.com bust during the dot-com days
- i was going to go for a long winded explanation of just how poorly this worked out for ol’ Andy, but as i was searching for a reference i found a site that had already done this much better than i was going to.
There is one point where i agree with Andy. We need real, qualified journalists to resurface and provide the world with facts. We need writers to expose government actions, provide us with insight on world news, keep us abreast on civil change, commerce, finance and technology.
Good thing there are bloggers out there.
