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Thursday, January 18 03:50 PM |
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Hookt and Platform Join Forces. Employees Take Losses.
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Hookt recently had another round of layoffs from the original staff as the merger with Platform was completed. After having dismal Christmas sales and low traffic across most of their properties, Peter and Chas are set to have Tina Imn and Ben White take over their web properties in a last ditch attempt to survive. They seek to bring the Platform's patronizing banal look at urban culture that has uninspired college kids for the last four years.
Platform: a raised flooring or stage for speakers, performers, or workers.
Platform's merger with Hookt is a good indication that they are in trouble. Earlier this year Platform, still flush with Sony cash, was seeking to be acquired by everyone from 360hiphop to Urban Box Office. They were good at developing content and developing their web presence without incurring a lot of expenses. They were not good at developing 3rd party relationships or selling a damn thing. E-commerce consists of offbeat t-shirts, iron-on patches and skateboard wheels. The merger makes for a combined revenue stream of $200,000 in e-commerce sales annually. That's just enough to pay for a tab at Dillon's. Platform's ad inventory is filled by non-profit anti-drug messages that flash at you as you sign in to your smokinweed.com email account. Platform has branded its presence over the last few years by sponsoring flyers for events, stickers and a television commercial that appeared on local cable in New York between ads for Lenny's Clam Bar and Dr. Zizmor.
He Say , She Say
Sayshe, Hookt's entry into capturing the lucrative urban female market, has experienced rapid growth in the last couple of months to exceed expectations with 33,541unique visitors after five months. Struggling to find a voice and an audience has been difficult for the ineffectively named property. The writing on the site amounts to 3 paragraph picture captions. To complicate matters, Lynne McDaniel's fledging cosmetics line Urban Luxe is in limbo. Approximately $150,000 worth of cosmetics is sitting on the 4th floor gathering dust. There is nothing quite like eye shadow with maggots in it. Homegirl magazine, which was supposed to begin life as an insert in Vibe magazine and promote Sayshe has yet to materialize. Even with co-branding with Homegirl magazine from Vibe, traffic has not been brisk.
Bald Head Lie
Hookt recently had all hands meeting where Peter and Chas cried tears and screamed for their employee's respect. They asked people to leave if they didn't believe in what they were doing. Someone promptly got up and left during the middle of their impassioned speech. Peter and Chas then asked everyone who is below the executive level to take a pay cut or hit the road. Some people were asked to take up to a $20,000 pay cut to remain employed. They also replaced their existing fashion staff with Cathy Thornton from instyle.com in the hopes she knows what she is doing.
There are some benefits included in the merger. There is a nice loft space in Brooklyn where Hookt can hide unsold merchandise from the board. They also get an in-house web development team to fix the problems they inherited from the ailing Oven Digital. This in-house web development team will be sure to continue the trend of tiny fonts on a black background for college students to ruin their eyes on. Hookt has lately been betting on Puffy Daddy's trial getting them out of the $4 million owed to Puffy. That amount should just about cover Puff's legal expenses.
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i created the internet in '76 biach. oh, and i hate platform. peace. |
For some odd and unknown reason, my name is on the list of staff members of Platform.net. But I don't work there. I never have. I wrote a couple news stories for them, but who didn't?
So, no, I don't work at Platform.net, just to reiterate.
I really liked the old format (pre-hookt) of Platform.net - it looked nice. I don't want to say what it looks like now. Each day they have a new catch-phrase on the front page - today's says "bigger than hip hop".
Hmmm. That's pretty damn big, bigger than hip hop.
I haven't 'lanced for them since the merger, but I will say that although the Platform.net checks were never particularly large, they did arrive in the mailbox on time and in full, and they never bounced.
Anyways, y'all have a nice day.
- miranda |
Speaking of taking a loss..
I know many people here are "in the industry" so I'm looking for some concrete specific advice. I've just found out that my advertiser wants to slash the inventory of ads they sell by half or more, which leaves me in the precarious position when it comes to paying webhosting fees. I've been socking away money in a savings account for a year now, but it was supposed to be for my fiancee and I on our honeymoon. Imagine the look on her face when I say I have to dip into it just to keep the sites online..
Now we all know that AKA.com is essentially worthless; but other than that who can I go to for advertising sales? I've already contacted DoubleClick and AdForce and I'm waiting for a response. I don't know if it's really good for me to come off this desperate, but I'm not gonna front like I'm a big shot like some of the people from BET who post here. I'm a small-time player who is looking at only having about 3 months worth of money for operating expenses and only 3 months more in checks coming in. That means I need to line up a good advertiser now and switch over all my ads on Monday (when the cuts take effect) so that by the time those run out I'm getting paid by someone else and don't have to shut down my websites.
So please, help somebody out who is not a baller or a shot-caller, but just needs some good advice on who to call for an ad sales solution. I don't want to get bought out by Robert Johnson or Russell Simmons - I just want to stay in the black and keep the sites up. |
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Yo dude, fuck that...no online venture is worth you dipping into your personal cash box...
Sounds like you need a quick solution and the only thing I know of is the affiliate ads...
You can do pay for performance ads using affiliate programs managed by linkshare.com and reporting.net - there are some well know brands that have affiliate programs you can use and even track performance
I would also suggest long term that you look seriously at your revenue model. Can you charge for access to exclusive content? Can you use "paypal" to do transactions and collect funds instantly?
Feel free to hit me up if you have to..best of luck
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NotSlimShady: If you're crazy-desperate for a banner advertising solution, you can try the Datacom Ad Network (www.datais.com). They aren't Big Willies like DoubleClick or AdForce, so they may be able to get an account set up for you quick-fast; especially if you're site is doing respectable traffic. If you're ads HAVE to be tailored towards the online urban market (i.e., record labels, clothing lines, movies, etc.) then you'll probabay be out of luck with these guys. But at least they can get you set up with an account fast and have something in the form of banners for you to use while you search for a better solution.
That's about all the advice I can pass along based on my own experience.
Good luck. |
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hmmmmmm interesting |
hook-ed
h o o k - e d
h o o k -e d
No matter how I say it, I just can seem to find that "t"
They would have been better off spending that $70 domain fee on a few cases of Heiniken..Hinekin..ah hell! Budweiser
Waaaazzzuuuuppp! |
NotSlimShady-
Dude, ads are not the answer. How come you don't sell the albums you review. You can do the affiliate thing as Dunn suggested or even better ( since you are dealing with some smaller indies) take the order and send it to them for fullfillment. You can make some $ selling the albums at a discount to your readers. Just an idea.
I clicked on some banners for you, dude. Good Luck.
And Jessie was framed. |
I don't know why so many people say UE is negative and full of haters - so far I've gotten a lot of useful information and positive responses. Thanks to one and all!
For a litlte more background on my dilemma, please note that the site in my "Company" URL is not my main site. It's a side project I launched when business days were better, and it's doing well enough on it's own I'm going to keep it up. However I am slashing two of four sites I helped design and run because of the financial crunch. The main site has 8 to 10 million ad impressions a month - which is why the inventory being slashed is a serious blow to recouping my webhosting expenses. The one in my "Company" is only $30 a month and for the traffic it does a bargain.
I actually was with Datacom for a while a few years ago with my main site. I made anywhere from $150 to $600 a month before I joined 24/7 Media (and subsequently left, which now seems to be a mistake). I might try going back to 24/7 since they still send me affiliate statements but if they're not interested I'll look into Datacom again. $600 a month would at least pay for the webhosting, though I'd have to go back to doing a data entry job instead of being a webmaster full time.
Well, if this isn't a full scale sign of a technological recession, I don't know what is. It's not just the Big Willies taking the hit anymore - the Lil Willies are getting crunched too.
Again, thanks to everyone here for the advice. |
PS: The reason RapReviews.com hasn't been selling the albums we review to date is because I was trying to avoid the hint of impropriety certain review sites have of propping up weak albums to increase their sales profit margin; sort of like The Source giving the cover and 5 mics to anybody who buys 20 pages of ads a month. |
NotSlimShady,
I would recommend against Doubleclick. If you ain't bumpin' 20MM PVs/month or better, they won't pay any real attention to you (and even then they're wack), and their tagging system is antiquated.
Just my .02.
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this story is a pitiful stab to distract all from the big story you missed...the source laid off all its intrnet workers last week!!! dont you peeple keep up? |
I'm damn glad I saw this site. This is great info on what not to do here in Japan. When I first started my small network here I was impressed by all of these larger sites in the urban market.
Now since they are all going out of business or broke I feel comfortable partnering with smaller portals.
In meetings here, my partner wants to create something very high tech but all of those sites like Platform and Hookt are just too much I think. I give respect to the smaller urban site like Black Web Portal who kept it simple and managable.
This is the best site I found for us Urban webmasters. I'm one of the few out here in Tokyo (Black American by the way), who want to do anything urban. UE clowns on those sites slipping and I think you guys keep us on point... much love.. |
UE is also a good example of how to build a successful urban entity over time without going broke. You don't have make your site massive in order to stay online and move towards bigger and better things. UE is dope, not because of the way it looks or because of its size, but because its a great idea that's simple and original. They're giving their audience something that they can't get anywhere else, and that's key to prolonged success in this game. |
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<<
hook-ed
h o o k - e d
h o o k -e d
No matter how I say it, I just can seem to find that "t"
They would have been better off spending that $70 domain fee on a few cases of Heiniken..Hinekin..ah hell! Budweiser
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i never got that either. i guess that's the type of shit that prodigy calls "dunn language".
when you have dumb ass names like that you have to put more money into branding than you need to.
at least when the west coast cats come up with those names that sound like they come straight from dr. seuss, they aren't too confusing spelling wise.
anyway y'all just have to download these 2 clips. star ripped tigga a new asshole. they are too funny.
http://www.real-hiphop.com/prodigy.rm
http://www.real-hiphop.com/tigga.rm
and flash i replied to your e-mail just now. |
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i never got that either. i guess that's the type of shit that prodigy calls "dunn language".
when you have dumb ass names like that you have to put more money into branding than you need to.
>>.
You really passing piss poor info&knowledge there.....do some research before pulling stupid shit like this out your ass. Run a web site or several for a change before talking about marketing and branding on the web. You only know half my story and I don't know yours to even talk about you like that.
If you did some research like I have you would already known these sites flopped in 1999:
-Garden.com
-MotherNature.com
-Furniture.com
-Eve.com
-Pop.com
-Living.com
-Hardware.com
-Petstore.com
-Pets.com
-BBQ.com
You would also realized they didn't do well in traffic either and most of them advertised during the SuperBowl! So what is your proper spelling argument based upon other than what you personally think?
Most people with Internet marketing or branding experience (I go to these conferences - do you?) would always recommend an unique name since it be cultivated into a brand faster and easier than a common generic name people have different associations with. That's why Amazon, Ebay and Yahoo is where they are today....
What really matters on the web is that it is short and unique, not the spelling. Because traffic, branding and marketing is an viral and internetworked process, not the traditional marketing you learned offline....
I disagree with you again this time but oh well...
Announced today: Nortel Cuts Nearly 1,000 Jobs
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And on the Internet people truly gives a fuck about the service, not the name.... |
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Jessie was not framed - it was all a matter of timing. Don't think he wasn't monitored by the FBI or the VRWC..I won't be surprise if they knew this story 20 months ago and got videotapes...
He should have been smarter than that knowing how MLK was hounded....
I would not forgive Jesse if he let this shit fold him in..... |
Hookt.com kind sucks. The demand is there for some hot shit , but a ton of carbon copy sites is just as lame as carbon copy television shows. Where are the cats bold enough to do something different like Urban Expose did? |
Yo, the real problem with these wacked sites is they are a bunch of techies or writers or promoters trying to be retailers. Finally, the real players like Dr. Jay's are stepping up to get things done. I used to live in Bronx and shop at Jays and VIM and it's great that DRJAYS.COM is up now. Check these dudes out. Ecommerce done by the cats that actually run stores, now there's an idea! |
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OK so no one has anything to say about dotcom scoop having a click through on UE? I think this is a shitty way for Crispus to add
a) content,
b) credibility through co-branding,
and one hell of a way to undermine the "mission" of UE, unless they are figuring a buyout is in the near future.
Is UE losing its edge? Just as sure as dayscar is a front for bootleg Fight Club merchandise, the answer is a resounding yes. The top 100 fiasco seems to have left the gang a bit toothless.
holla |
I hope they got Cepeda up there praying her ass off to Oshun to keep that shit open. She got a kid to feed and now that Erykah has Common on lock, Cepeda's "liner notes" gig's probly finished. |
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falxwon,
UE gave this exact same story to dotcom scoop weeks ago while they were sittin on the 100 no buzz article |
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Ed,
So the UE users are supposed to happy with recycled info, huh? Tsk Tsk UE. |
I find it hard to take the term "co-branding" seriously when it's used to describe a link between UE and Dotcom Scoop.
That's like saying that back in the day the bodega on St. Johns and Nostrand had a co-branding deal with the dreads who supplied them with that killa skunk. |
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Miranda,
I disagree with you on Platform's new look. I think it's heads above the old look. The old site was poorly organized and confusing. You never knew were to go or more importantly, how to get back. The new design is alot more polished and a hellva lot easier to navigate. But hookt really sucks.
Craig Nine,
<<I give respect to the smaller urban site like Black Web Portal who kept it simple and managable.
This is the best site I found for us Urban webmasters. >>
I think Ed can give you a lesson on Black Web Portal.... |
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Shit, I give respect to Craig Nine - I'm not sleep on this guy site - and the next time I go to Toyko, I'll make sure to hit em up
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falxwon,
I would love to find some bootleg FIGHT CLUB stuff. |
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Ed,
Don't talk shit to me cause you don't even know what I'm about. You come on here babbling about your iblaq and you're fooky like they're soooo special. Man you better go ahead with that foolishness.
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Most people with Internet marketing or branding experience (I go to these conferences - do you?) would always recommend an unique name since it be cultivated into a brand faster and easier than a common generic name people have different associations with. That's why Amazon, ebay and Yahoo is where they are today....
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NO SHIT Sherlock. But can they be confused with another site? Did Amazon, ebay and Yahoo have to emphasize the spelling of their names during a radio or TV spot? When hookt starts advertising on radio and TV they will have to and a lot of people will still go to hooked.com because that's what they heard. I did it a few times (I also tried hook-ed) when I first saw the magazine ad -- then I had to go back and find that page to get the correct spelling.
There was also an "urban" clothing site a short time back name hipo.com (based in Atlanta too). For what it's worth I bought from them once and I still don't know how to pronounce their site's name. Is it hippo? or hip--O? They are out of business as well. Unique and short didn't do them any good.
Notice amazon didn't select amazaun (that's also short and unique) -- amazaun is to amazon, what hookt is to hooked.
and I don't care how many conferences you attend. I pay for the services of those who know and do their job VERY well -- like Rob Frankel. I go to conferences that are directly associated with what I want to accomplish.
Put more energy into worrying about your site (before you end up on the list you just made) instead of talking about what you think I know and don't know. and you call that research? man stop trying to inflate your ego even more than it is already. fuckedcompany has a list, business 2.0 had a list, ecompany now had a list. You're not special just because you can type how eve and mothernature failed in '99. damn near everyone on (and some off) the internet knows they failed.
and if you don't think spelling matters on the internet something is wrong with you. spelling matters 10x more online than it does offline. someone doesn't need to know the exact spelling to go to the mall and buy a fubu shirt. all they have to do is ask the salesperson to take them to the "fooobooo" section. go tell mysimon to find you a foooboo shirt (this is assuming that hypothetically it was a new internet brand).
oh and "dunn language" is a reference to Mobb Deep (mainly Prodigy). Are you in anyway associated with hookt? So why would I give a rats ass about mentioning you when I'm talking about how silly their name is? Unless of course you think your site's name is silly? Do you? |
Why are people that pathetic that they are STILL riding straps? All this overanalysis from the sidelines is pretty sad, from some most likely outed individuals.....HA, HA. |
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DRJAYS.COM is up now. Check these dudes out. Ecommerce done by the cats that actually run stores, now there's an idea!
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Their whole ecommerce operation is handled by styleclick. I don't trust any company that doesn't store my info themselves. Why should I order from them when they don't even own their own SSL certificate? They can't afford their own VeriSign cert? WTF? They aren't any better than those cats that sell clothes from their yahoo stores -- at least I trust yahoo. Who the hell is styleclick?
I'm only bitching because a week or so ago I wasted 30 minutes on that site putting shit in my cart and come to find out they're redirecting me somewhere else come checkout time. |
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tokachu,
I still haven't figure out if you are a male or female bitch so go pop your e-thug shit and piss poor analysis and knowledge elsewhere.
What the fuck you got beside the 357 clout from Crispus for anyone to give a rat ass what the fuck you think?
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It's way too many straight up sideline bitches on this board for me to even sweat shit like this seriously.
I never diss anybody else stuff on this board and if anything tried to help out. I'm in the minority.
But then you got motherfuckers who has a sugar high on UE clout points, probably never created a web site or work a serious position in the dotcom sector in their life but have "analysis and knowledge" on other people shit
To all you real people out there doing your own thing and struggling, I give you much props and say best of luck. To all you sideline bitches, keep bitchin from the stadium seats because we all realize the difference between a viewer and a player....
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Ed, tokachu,
I thought you guys were pals. What gives? |
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what the hell gave you that idea? |
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What gives?
Most people on this board know I started my own sites. I notice how haters who hate to see that I even mention the fact I created them. As if I suppose to be like their sorry sideline ass providing shithouse commentary. Then they argue I'm plugging their two-bit ass when I got plenty of established traffic with my previous ventures. Talk about the love!
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I gotta side with tokachu on this one, ed. you jumped the gun. after you got pissed I went back and read his first message a few more times to try and figure out what set you off so bad. the only thing i could figure was that you have iblaq listed as your site, but i didn't feel he was ripping that -- at least not directly. then when i read his response about "dunn" language i got it. (call me slow, but i just didn't associate the phrase with you, just prodigy. peace to all yall doing your thing. And for the record, iblaq doesn't bother me, but i never understood hookt. don't get so defensive. you make a lot of good points and arguments. peace. |
so the source.com fired everybody? good. that redesign is wack. and the news sucks with all that mainstream shit thrown in. give me hip-hop, that's all the source is good for. hell, they ain't even too good at that anymore. |
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Yeah, they suck too. I remember the early days of the Source where they had a column called "demo 101" or something to that effect. That's the kind of stuff people could really use instead of some of the shit they have now. |
LOL.
I side with tokachu .
First online and offline branding is different.
You do need to know the spelling to get to a site. That was lesson 101 of chosing an online URL, anybody can make the mistake of spelling the Hookt brand "hooked."
Also, "hookt" is not memorable. It closely resembles a normal word "hooked," and to the best of my knowledge is pronounced as "hooked."
Ebay and Yahoo are where they are today because they were on the net first, not because they have a memorable name. Yahoo benefit from being on every academic campus long before it was popular to be commercial on the net. And YES folks did NOT know how to spell "yahoo." Remember how many porn sites and redirects yahoo sued to get their typo domains ?
(unfair litigation too I might add)
Bottom line: If you say "hookt" I am going to think H O O K E D.
If you say "yahoo" I think damn how the hell do you spell that? Do you know how to get to yahoo?
You did not bring up another bellweather, News.com from CNET? Hmm. They get a hell of a lot of type-in traffic and the are profitable. They also recently purchased auctions.com, so I take it CNET subscribes heavily to the making it easy for the customer to remember your online brand.
That is not to say that you will be successful just because you have a recognizable URL, but it sure helps.
To assert anything else is ridiculous.
The SAME is true of 1-800 numbers.
1-800-call-att ring a bell?
This isn't unique to dotcoms.
Ed--everyone knows you started your own sites. That is wonderful.
However, that doesn't make you the be all when it comes to online strategy. Their are plenty of people with their own sites online now, and more in development.
You can't substantiate your own opinions or per theories through personal attacks.
You must
SITE EVIDENCE.
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I don't know the deal behing dotcomscoop, but I noticed they've only been around since December. Any chance they're urban expose going legit? establishing a network of UE-like sites? anyone got the scoop on them? |
the lack of on-topic commentary is probably the most meaningful response to this "news" story.
still, i gotta speak about one line in particular...
"uninspired college kids?" wtf?
The most consistent praise I ever heard of the site has come from college kids. If anything Platform had more trouble connecting with the average hip-hop fan, but so have most other sites with built-in brand recognition.
patronizing?
well that's a stickier issue, one that i wish had generated at least a little discussion from the users here who have had so much to say about the content in hip-hop related pub's and sites.
in fairness my feelings about the site are biased my freelance association with site and friendships with its staff, but I will say that I was a Platform user before I ever took a check from them and will be as long as it's around.
No site is perfect and the pre-Hookt Platform had its flaws, but it granted its audience a certain amount of depth & complexity that may not be possible in a strictly "hip-hop" site. Most people I know -white black Latino and Asian - love hip-hop to death and still care about other shit. i for one am glad that somebody on the web tried to speak that truth.
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AOL Time Warner Thursday (1/18) said it plans to buy back up to $5 billion worth of its shares over the next two years.
The move is an obvious reaction to the company's belief that its stock is currently being undervalued. AOL Time Warner will begin the buyback period in February.
In addition, the company said it expects to sell up to $10 billion in debt and equity securities shortly.
AOL Time Warner plans to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission within the next several days, informing them of its intention to sell off debt and equity securities under a shelf registration stipulation. The provision says a company may sell securities in one or more offerings, with the terms to be determined at the time of sale.
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I've been checking out UE for a few days, not a bad place to gather intelligience data. |
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Strange as it seem I'm going to side with hookt. Who cares how you pronounced it? Why I say that - BECAUSE YOU TYPE IT!
domain names fist and foremost are unique identifiers. People type in domain names, they don't sit around and pronounce it. And how do most people visit web sites? they either type in the domain name (probably reading directly from a mag or tv ad) or they click on an existing link. And when they get there, they bookmark it so they don't have to remember it again.
I don't know how to pronounce hookt.com but I do know the url, which matters....
I was suggesting the main criteria is the number of characters - the shorter the characters the more likely a person can remember the address.
I can understand your arguemtn for example if a radio station say the domain name in a commercial but that is not effective anyway. And if I'm in a social and someone mention a web site, they usually write it down for me.
Yahoo can make their name mean free email, finance quotes, personals, clubs, etc. Amazon can start selling cars and cell phones. What if they has chose a name like webdirectory.com or booksonline.com when they started their business?
I haven't discussed the international aspect or globalization factor where common english names can mean something else which is also why you want to have a unique name regardless of spelling...
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OR hookt.com could have bought some similar domain names (like hooked or hooker) and just stuck in a redirect. |
www.HipHopFanClub.com
again! |
rapexpose.com
february 19, 2001!
thanks. |
Tokachu-
That Star/Tigga shit had me on the floor....
Star totally snapped---
"bellhop negro...phone thug...pillow fighter...half a homo?"
Damn.
I this shit real or just on some Howard Stern tip? |
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Okay, I have a totally unrelated beef. Why does Sohh have the tagline "The Best Overall Hip Hop Site - Rolling Stone"????? Since when has Rolling Stone become such an authority on hip hop? Who gives a fuck what Rolling Stone thinks about hip hop. Had this been SOHH during it's UBO days, I could understand something the need for some type of credibility wherever they could find it. But now that's it's reverted back to the original owners, you'd think they'd know better. You;d don't see polka artists touting "Nominated best album - Source Magazine". But if they took out a shit load of full page adds, I'm sure that wouldn't be much of a stretch. Anyway, come I wanna read about what happened at the Source.com. Does anyone have any links to the story???? |
Dilema: Rolling Stone is an internationally recognized barometer of what's going on in American popular culture. It's good press for SOHH. Time Magazine isn't very "hip hop" either, but if they recognized this site, or yours for that matter, as one of the chief sources of online hip hop subject matter, you'd be boasting that acknowledgement up, down and inside out. That is, as long as you were in your right mind. Good for SOHH. They deserve the increased traffic that ranking will bring. |
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I totally understand that. Recognition as well as increased hits is great. And I would probably have a seperate press page acknowledging that. It's like purchasing a Jay Z tape that says "Winner of 4 Grammys" on the cover. It's nice to win the Grammy for sure, but the Grammy's aren't really a representation of what's going on in hip hop in the same vien that Rolling Stone is not.As I stated before; recognition is nice, but Sohh dosen't need Rolling Stone to add "validity" to the fact that they run a great website. |
As far as marketing goes it is true if you are first to do it right, it has meaning and a lasting impression sometimes.
I personally view the American market as being pretty much sowed up right now as far as the net goes. My site is only internationally recognized because I had the first portal in Japan for blacks. Brothers coming over here really appreciated it. The market here lacks many aspects of what is on the net in English but could be modified for Japanese.
And like a lot of you on the board my site is a lot bigger than I am. I respect all the webmasters who put something up because most sites go no further than a URL or an e-mail. Since I been in this game I received over 10 different emails from urban start ups who wanted me to invest in their idea.
First, I'm not rich in no way or fashion.
Second these sites never went up at all. One went to at least a splash page.
Say Ed if you roll to Tokyo, hit me up, every one else does. |
Dilema, the BlackWebPortal is about providing information about web sites, businesses, and events. We have an audience because we stayed true to them and built a loyal following. Its still hard work, and the site by far IS NOT PERFECT, but it does provide a portal to black cyberspace. |
dLo2 waits for the IBIS v. BlackWebPortal beef to begin.
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You won't get any battle from me. I firmly believe that anyone can say what they want to say. TheBWP.com is just an attempt to create a portal, it could make it, or it could not. I have always thought that IBIS was a fairly well designed site and often gave it compliments, and I still do, even though it was replaced by fooky.com. I'm here to learn more about the urban game.
I'm just a developer that is slowly becoming an entrepreneur. From what I've read about this site, it's a good place to share what we know. |
yo, anyone know what's up with the rumored source.com layoffs? who got let go? tell it if you know it, 'cause inquiring minds want to know. |
Raquel Cepeda, regardless of what some of you scrubs say, is a genius. Website or no website, she'll prosper. & for you crabs bringing up raquel's b-i, & other females in this industry, i feel for you. All of you. Leave and be left alone. |
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hmmmm - after reading the replies here I will now spend a day or two pondering if polka artists actually have magazines - and if so... do they actually review and critique their accordian skillz.... and I shall also wallow in the sadness that their are hip hop journalists who don't know what dunn means... and I shall wish the hookt/platform crew all the best.
After a couple days I'll go back to awaiting a new episode of Oz or something.... |
Back to the article, since the merger has taken place what happens to the Platform network sites? Does any one know? Some one in connection with my site was contacted from Platform to do an association. At the time I didn't actually know about them and my site is not a hip hop site.
I thought the sites in the network were already developed sites that were put together to increase traffic for both parties. Will they be cut loose? Where those sites fully bought out by Platform?
I'm just curious my site at the time was too small in my eyes to do a big association with anyone.
Also to Rob Rucker(BWP)
I love your search engine man. I hate it personally when I go to a search engine in a Black web site and it takes me to Excite or About. I could have went to them in the first place. |
"It's like purchasing a Jay Z tape that says "Winner of 4 Grammys" on the cover. It's nice to win the Grammy for sure, but the Grammy's aren't really a representation of what's going on in hip hop in the same vien that Rolling Stone is not.As I stated before; recognition is nice, but Sohh dosen't need Rolling Stone to add "validity" to the fact that they run a great website."
Absolutely, dilema. Fuck Rolling Stone and MTV.
By the way, I had no idea that "Eazy-er Said Than Dunn" was all about Ed.
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EVERY BODY was let to go at source com, cept that screemin wack Tracy Mcgregr an whoever got to leve before this...so wheres the UE storyUE should be up on the news for urban markets CAUSE i herd this story days ago. |
Ed Dun you're the e-thug giving piss poor analysis and knowledge. No one wants to hear your shit. Get a life and stop posting your garbage you beeotch. Youre trying to keep this sinking online ship afloat because without it you wont have a job, you big e-thug dork. Stop picking on Tokachu. |
Not Registered: When a record company decides to put a sticker on the cover of a, in this case, Jay-Z CD stating, "Winner of four Grammys", the label isn't trying to reach out for more sales from you or me or anyone else who follows hip hop closely. We judge whether the shit is bangin' based on whether we're feelin' what we hear or not. By putting a sticker like that on the cover, they're trying to reach out to those who aren't in the know about hip hop in order to expand their marketing reach beyond the hip hop community in order to grab more money. I mean, you can fight to survive by just dealing in terms that only your immediate community can relate to, or, you can try to blow up your sales (or in the case of SOHH, your traffic) even larger by advertising that praise from a entity or source of information that another culture is more familiar with and trusts in a place where everyone who walks by (or clicks by) can see it. It's those extra sales (or page views) which will either keep you in business that much longer or increase your sales (or lifespan) beyond what your community might be willing or unwilling to support. That might be the hip hop "politically incorrect" thing to do, but it is good business to look for as many sales as possible from as many different sects of society as you can appeal to. Make no mistake that SOHH, Def Jam or any other media entity which caters towards the hip hop market is a business first before it's hip hop. If an entity considers itself hip hop before it considers itself a business, trying to get its revenue stream as far in the black as possible, then what it should be operating as is a non-profit organization (such as the Zulu Nation, Rock Steady Crew, H.E.A.L., Temple of Hip Hop, etc.).
Dilema: That's cool if you want to collect all your press blurbs in a section called "Press" or whatever, but what if 70% of your traffic doesn't go near that section? What if the U.R.L. that was posted in Rolling Stone (or Spin or Details or any other non-hip hop magazine) wasn't for your home page, but a page within your site's info hierarchy?
Take me for example. Now I don't need Rolling Stone to tell me SOHH is a great source of hip hop news and information, but I only really go there anymore for their daily news. Once I read the headlines, I'm out. Sometimes I click on a related link to a story I'm reading, but not that often. If I’m some twelve year old kid from Nabraska who just found out who Wyclef was and I like him and he was on the cover of Details (which my older brother picked up because he gets that magazine all the time because he's into the stuff that Details promotes) and Details printed a U.R.L. deep within the SOHH Web site about something that relates to his history with the Fugees, if I go and see that Rolling Stone blurb, I might say to myself "Hey, my older brother also reads Rolling Stone, and Rolling Stone says that this site is...blah, blah, blah. I think I've proven my point.
That was only one very possible scenario out of millions of possible scenarios throughout America (and the world for that matter), but if you don't consider how important sales (or impressions) which come from outside the community you market most frequently to are to your survival as a business, then you better get out of business or at least rethink your marketing strategy sometime in the near future. The survival of the venture you invested all of your precious time and financial resources in order to make work depends on it. |
To everyone wondering where the thesource.com layoffs article is at:
Here are two possibilitys as to why the article has yet to materialize on this site (I definitely don't have any inside information; the following is strictly speculation):
1.) thesource.com is produced out of Chicago instead of New York, and from what I've noticed about UE, they tend to report excluseively on New York online urban content ventures (which is fortunate for them due to the fact that most are HQ'ed out of NYC), probably due to geography constraints and/or lack of reliable contacts within that industry in the windy city. They may be having a hard time getting in contact with anyone who wanted to speak.
2.) thesource.com (or RollingStone.com or whatever the name is of the company that owned thesource.com, I had a friend who used to work for them but I unfortunately can't remember their name, but it's not David Mays) may have offered a tiny severance package to those who were let go under the condition that they wouldn't speak or tell their stories to anyone in the press, including and especially UE. (This is probably not likely, but you never know.)
C.) The previously alluded to media company (who's name I can't remember) may have purchased UE. This would be a wise move to any urban media entity who could afford it. That way, you report on all the inside dirt of what goes on at your competition's sites, create lots of headaches and get their staff all riled up, but yours never gets reported on due to the fact you control the content. This may actually be a big clue as to where Crispus' loyalties lie.
But, as I said previously, this is all speculation on my part. |
Okay, okay, before I get heat for my last posting, here's proof I can count to three...
1.
2.
C.
Fuck! I never should'a skipped that day in nursery school! |
bozack youre informations as worthless as youre speculation......the media company in Chicago split with source com a yearago as evry body knows so it isnt rollingstone.com.which owns it it was dave mays who owns and paying for it without no one else UE can do this story by takin a walk arond the block because its abot the owners of source not havin no moeny not abot the site bein bougt.....the onlything yore right about is that you obviosly don't have inside information. |
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Ed Dun you're the e-thug giving piss poor analysis and knowledge. No one wants to hear your shit. Get a life and stop posting your garbage you beeotch. Youre trying to keep this sinking online ship afloat because without it you wont have a job, you big e-thug dork. Stop picking on Tokachu. >>
I'm pretty sure you know how funny and pathetic this sound since you decided to hide behind some bitch-ass alias like your tokachu friend.
Regarding personal attacks towards me, you wasn't the first and definately won't be the last. I personally feel validated by your comments - thank you. You come a dime a dozen and I accepted that type of adversity a long time ago.
But let's not be naive, you got two types of people on this board - those who come on with their real name providing commentary they can be held accountable for and rodents like you who squeak behind the walls and come out only at night looking for leftovers and post droppings....
But with respect for Cripus and his venture, I won't tango with you punk-ass bitches anymore on his territory. I already noticed from the last threads that a few established and real players are now participating on this board and I welcome them and their posts. Punks like you are slowly being phased out here and I admit you was good for the initial shock value. But now with real players coming aboard, from me to you : just leave UBO off your resume, get over it and start over at StarBucks or the Wall Street Deli. |
Jonny K.
The only way Cepeda is a genius is in that she went from being a dickriding freelancer with a chango fetish to a dickriding "editor" of a bullshit site noone can even log onto. |
I heard Raquel Cepeda is editing the next One World Magazine.
nuff said. |
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hey Fukk Ed Dunn, he's not picking on me. I said my piece and more people agreed with my take so I don't feel like he was "picking" on me. I can defend myself.
anyway moving on....
Where are these so called "real" people? Just because someone throws a site together with FrontPage or any other WYSIWYG editor doesn't make them a web development expert. Likewise, just because you have a URL in the Company field doesn't make your posts correct or more credible. The substance of your posts should be able to stand on its own. Not the other way around -- well I must be right because I threw a site together. That's ridiculous. A fair amount of people on this board have websites (I know because they e-mail me -- both posters and non-posters). |
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y'all should check this shit out, it's pretty funny:
http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52767-2000Dec26.html |
SEE- The only good thing Cepeda has done lately is for HERSELF. Namely, moved herslef out of the ranks of strugglin' freelancers and now into "management". I have yet to see her contribute anything interesting as either a writer OR editor. The "creative visoin" she was popping yang about before SayShe was barely an idea on a piece of paper never manifested itself in any way at all.
Is it true that one World is trying to crawl out of the grave yet again? |
These postings always get so off topic that they are worthless. Doesn't ANYONE have some worthwhile news or additions to the Hookt/Platform article? The article doesn't paint a pretty picture for Hookt or Platform. Come on, somebody must have some inside scoop........? How many employees work for the combined company? What's their burn rate? Anyone? |
For everyone asking about the source, it looks like it's going to be the next subject.
Hey UE, what about a daily ramblings section, where people who don't want to comment on the chosen topic can get their opinions off? |
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Um, to Mr. Bozack: no one has bought Urban Expose.
To the rest who constantly complain about the timeliness of stories (and I readily admit I am sometimes guilty of the same), did it ever occur to you that Crispus may not live and die by this site? That his goal in life is not to rattle off new stuff for the masses day in and day out? I visit the site b/c it's interesting, and even if the stories--the UE92 in particular--aren't stellar, the conversations that follow usually provide plenty of entertainment. Maybe there's no story on the source.com layoffs b/c a brother wanted to watch some tv instead. I'm saying, Oz is back on and I can't live without Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Maybe Crispus can't either. Dag. |
----------OFF TOPIC POST--------------
Mr. ART OF WAR--
Why the hell are you so pissed about what I do? The reason I bring up Fight Club is because I think it was a very good, misunderstood movie. I could quote black movies, books, or songs but that seems a bit passe on an Urban Site. Everyone tries to show how DOWN they are. Quoting Fight Club makes MFers like you pay attention. Do you run the www.blackstarvideo.com site? If so you can promote it better than sending out angry emails. And also try to make the site look less cheesy. It looks like it was made in the 80's. It loads too slow (try to get it down to 8 secs on a 56k modem. It took 32 secs to get to the pick a movie section on my DSL connection). The thing people like about sites is good info and quick download time.
Anyway, make a million bucks ands suck my big black dick.
Peace and Love,
Chris
p.s. You are Tyler's secret bitch.
Hey, but thanks for the email. It made me laugh.
----- Original Message -----
From: The Art of War
To: prince@dayscar.com
Sent: Monday, January 22, 2001 2:11 PM
Subject: bootleg fight club stuff
you are such an asshole.
why must you continously dickride fight club?
I can see if you are a poser ass white boy on UE faking his ethnicity, but if not.... WTF?
are you gay and into Brad Pitt or sumthin?
the movie was ok at best, buddy. however, if you are looking for a hook to hang your black middle class rage--it is certainly not to be hung on the likes of fight club.
have you ever seen (or better yet, read) the spook who sat by the door? show some integrity and pride in your color (like you poorly tried to do around xmas time) and qoute some shit from a BLACK FILM. here I'll even help you out.... www.blackstarvideo.com
stay up, read, grow a set of balls. you'll thank me later.
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It's not hard to get your site mentioned in magazines. All you have to do is have a semi-useful resource a lot of people visit. SOHH comes off as desperate to brag and boast though, to build up their credibility among people coming to the site for the first time. They'd build up more credibility to me if they actually let new users sign up to use their message boards. Ever since I lost my account and pw before the 1999 awards, I've never been able to get back in. That almost two years they haven't had new members. |
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http://www.sohh.com/forums/member.php?action=signup |
Hip Hop Palace.com is an interesting new site. It is an online demo website for the urban community. Check out the following editorial on The State of Hip Hop:
Hip Hop is life, power, and expression. Hip Hop transcends race, class and cultures. It has been the voice for those who have been marginalized and oppressed. It has also been a vehicle for economic self-sufficiency and collective survival
.
Today, Hip Hop is a multi-billion dollar industry. However, over the years it has lost its freshness and originality. The art form used to embody beauty, pride and self-respect. Artists like KRS-ONE, PUBLIC ENEMY, TUPAC, RAKIM, AND RUN DMC have enriched the lives of many people.
Presently, the Hip Hop culture is in a state of artistic and spiritual paralysis. Rap music has become shallow and superficial and it resonates with greed, hubris, vanity and violence. The genre is now a shadow of its former self. In Spike Lee's film "Bamboozled," the rappers of today are depicted as being modern day minstrels. In many ways, Mr. Lee is correct. Many rappers have sacrificed their moral and artistic integrity inorder to chase the illusion known as "The American Dream." As a result, the Hip Hop culture has become a rebel against its own existence by allowing itself to be controlled and defined by corporate powers, which profit enormously at the expense of the destruction of the Black male image. The corporate stanglehold on Hip Hop is slowly causing its demise.
Sadly, quite a few Hip Hop artists have sold out their souls and their culture in exchange for uncertain riches. In fact, so called "gangsta rap" continues to promote and glorify the most negative and hienous aspects of the ghetto without any positive balances. The images of gangsta rap feed into the racist propaganda notion that Black males have the propensity to commit crime. In 1915, a movie entitled "Birth of a Nation," by D.W. Griffith depicted the Black male as being an ignorant, lazy, over-sexed, buffoonish thug. Unfortunately, Hip Hop has internalized the many negative generalizations which America has created about Blacks. The internalization of these negative stereotypes manifests itself in the forms of self hatred and Black on Black violence. This self hatred can be heard and witnessed in the hedonistic, materialistic, misogynistic, and violent rap lyrics of today.
Currently, many rap songs and videos are punctuated with hyperbolic expressions of excessiveness. Moreover, the relentless images of thugs, gangstas, playas, bitches, and ho's are programming the youth to self distruct. What rappers need to understand is that their words are powerful instruments. Words have been the catalysts for revolutions. LIFE AND DEATH ARE IN THE POWER OF THE TONGUE! Hip Hop artists are in the unique position to influence others with their words. They should use their lyrics to elevate, inform and inspire the youth, instead of constantly focusing on the demoralizing aspects of human nature. Hip Hop must get back to its essence and its roots, while maintaining its cutting edge.----
By Jesse Atkinson. CEO of Hip Hop Palace.com
http://www.hiphoppalace.com
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Wassup!!!
I read the article about you in today's post and knew I had to hit you up.
Damn, u folks are merciless. And here I am at my fast paced boring assed day job worried that I have to much to do. In any case, if any of the recently unemployed are looking for a software (web and legacy) testing job at a white bread marketing firm hit me up at dls711@aol.com. |
HaHa
That shit was funny, Is that why Dunn was gettin his panties all bunched up cause he thought toke was disparaging his name and shit!!!!!!LOL i was wondering what that was about--yeah Dunn Language" Mobb DEEp!!!!
haha ha
oh p.s. get that iblaq online if you put it out there as a legitmate dotcom...
peace
and don't hate on me that misunderstanding was really funny!!!! |
Taking a paycut to remain at a Dotcon! Anyone dumb enough to go for that should have born out of their Mama's ass! |
Taking a paycut to remain at a Dotcon! Anyone dumb enough to go for that should have been born out of their Mama's ass!
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All this talk about hosting fees and not being able to keep your site up is really scary. I've been working on a mid-size project on my spare time and was wondering how one can estimate hosting costs. I've seen a lot of low budget hosting. Can they be trusted? |
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32457-2001Jan22.html
crispy tryna come out. |
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im just playing crispy don't worry. |
UrbanExpose.com and Crispus. Great article in the Washington Post. Damn it was long! Trust me, folks. 20 to 30 inches of copy in ANY newspaper, much less the Post, is impressive.
Congrats to the folks at UrbanEra.com! Site looks nice, I love the airy look. In newspaper and magazine, we call that excellent use of white space.
I read the fitness and I saw you refer to yourselves as "UE." I know that may not be trademarked, but when someone uses UE these days they typically are referring to Urban Expose. I would be curious to know if UrbanEra.com is part of the UrbanExpose.com family. Some things look similar.
I'll keep watching as you keep evolving.
Note: Can someone please tell me what the purpose, mission and focus of Volume.com is? I've gone to that site on any number of occasions and I don't know what in the hell I'm supposed to be looking at.
I do know one thing, that cartoon with the references to smoking weed is pathetic and an affront to my sensibilities.
How in the hell did they get $60 million for that site? What ticks me off is HBO/Time Warner would shell out that kind of money for a ridiculous site like that, and not be interested in other sites that are a heckuva lot more interesting.
Also, any word on what's happening with the following:
GlobalMecca.com. The Atlanta-based site started with a lot of fanfare about online mentoring and stuff (I ran a number of their promotionals in the newspaper in Houston) but not a peep in six or nine months. A source told me he inquired of them awhile back and they had just gotten $500,000 and the CEO was "quite arrogant." No word on if that arrogance has worn off.
UrbanMagic.com. BET foolishly did a story on Magic Johnson and his site before it was even up. All of these black folks in cyberspace making it happen and they go the celebrity route and pump up his site. Ain't nothing happened since. Anyone heard anything?
Blackseek.com. They've been doing their thing, but why haven't they made some kind of alliance? Don't hear a peep out of them and they have no buzz. Folks, if you want to stay around and be useful, let's hear and do something.
Black-owned.com. They say the account has been disabled. I thought it was a great site to search for black businesses. But I guess it has been flushed down the toilet.
Blackvue.com. They used to post news there, mostly from press releases and re-writes. I sent the folkls there an e-mail on content and some other stuff and never got a response. Now they've ditched that and are doing the "Million Black Website." Hey folks, Everythingblack.com started that in 1994. Still, good place to search sites.
3blackchicks.com. How in the world somebody hasn't snapped these sisters up? They've got some funny as hell reviews and clearly, with the right marketing, could be worthwhile to a print publication/television or magazine or an online alliance.
Okay, that's it for me.
Last question: We have so many "black" and urban sites that have some good stuff and interesting, but no one is paying any attention. Any idea why we have not seen more consolidation in this space? |
UE can mean a lot of things. There's also a hip hop site called UrbanEarth.com. However, UE typically means Urban Expose right now, because everyone is checking for this site.
emjay |
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i like the layout for that urbanera site. looks very nice.
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All this talk about hosting fees and not being able to keep your site up is really scary. I've been working on a mid-size project on my spare time and was wondering how one can estimate hosting costs. I've seen a lot of low budget hosting. Can they be trusted?
>>
You should be able get by with a $19.95 hosting account. You usually get about 10GB of data transfer per month with those accounts. Don't believe the companies that say unmetered or unlimited bandwidth, this is never the case because they don't get it for free. Personally, I only use dedicated servers and my costs are a lot more than $19.95 a month ($900 + additional bandwidth costs for 2 servers).
When you have a shared hosting account ($19.95, etc.) you are sharing that server's resources (RAM, hard drive, processor, etc.) with other web sites. If you only have static pages and low traffic, a shared hosting account would suffice. If you have a dynamic site and high traffic, you will need more powerful hardware and bandwidth. You'll know when you outgrow a shared hosting account.
The amount of bandwidth you need is fairly simple to calculate.
Hypothetically, lets say you have a one page web site. The size of the HTML doc is 20Kb and you have 10 graphics, with an average size of 10Kb. If that page was viewed a million times a month -- you would be responsible for transferring 120MB of data across your host's pipes. Now if you had 10 pages with those characteristics it would be 1.2GB of data transfer, and so forth. If your host gave you 10GB of data transfer per month in both cases you would be under the allotted amount. If you go over, they might charge you for that -- it's called overages. So pay attention to that as well (it should be posted on their site, if not e-mail them before signing up).
Hardware is a little bit more difficult as that is dependent on what you want to do with your server and the kind of software you need installed.
I don't know your situation, but I seriously doubt you will need anything more than a shared hosting solution right now. The large majority of web sites use a shared hosting account.
Reviews of Web Hosts are here: http://epinions.com/inet-Web_Hosting-All
From personal experience I can tell you not to fuck with CIHost and Dellhost. Both are very shitty. |
Roland writes:
>>Last question: We have so many "black" and urban sites that have some good stuff and interesting, but no one is paying any attention. Any idea why we have not seen more consolidation in this space? <<
Roland,
as i was holding my remote control in one hand and flipping thru my stack of magazines. something struck me. when did a black/urban consumer stand up and say "hey, i need more media content." if bz is about supplying NEEDS, and there is very little NEED for online media content than why in the hell are these sites in bz. the only content ideas that make sense are those that are used as backup for offline publication. these sites will not last because they are not only competing with themselves but are also competing with offline mags and cable. GOOD LUCK! |
>>All this talk about hosting fees and not being able to keep your site up is really scary. I've been working on a mid-size project on my spare time and was wondering how one can estimate hosting costs. I've seen a lot of low budget hosting. Can they be trusted?
I would recommend using Iserver a division of Verios. You can pay about $99 a month and the service is great plus you can put in multiple domains. It is hard as hell to understand at first. I came from a no telnet background but they have the best documentaion.
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Intermedia.net is not bad either. Plenty of ASP & CF tools along with access to SQL Server 7 enterprise manager. Cost range $50 - $200 depending on the mix and match of virtual hosting services you want. usvi |
This is a personal question but...
Any other international brothas up in here????? The info Crispus and the rest of you are providing is priceless I want to see how the info affects other Urban sites outside the States
(For the record yes, I am a Black American.) |
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Hey Chris Pelate,
New word: taunt (go look it up, that's what I did to you)
ROFL, I knew you would post my email! You are mad predictable, right down to the FC quote and all.
How do you look running back to the board postin' that! What, you think somebody's gonna have your back?
You my friend, are fuck'n hilarious.
Nah, I don't run that site either buddy, take that beef up with them. I am aware of black businesses, that's all. That was your freebee, I hope you feel vindicated, LOL...
Like I said dude,
Stay up, read, grow a set of balls. You'll thank me later.
ps-
you are tyler's aborted intellect.
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I just want to give Crispus props before the "visitors" who appeared after the last mainstream media coverage of UE show up again to rant and spam the boards.
Converting your 'hobby' to a viable b-plan, major media pub and a way to meet women, all without 'exposing' your own identity. . .
Now that's gangsta.
BTW, anybody else notice that a once Major UE Participant (300+ points) mysteriously disappeared after suggestions that said Participant write articles for UE?
Just wondering after the Post article mentioned that UE writers can't post on the boards.
Hmmmm . . .
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Just don't take any suggestions from Ed Dunn. This guy is the most destructive person on the board. He hates other people and their successes. When I came on board about a month and a half ago he was raggin' me because I was a newbie! Yeah, I'm still a newbie and if ya got a $1,000,000 bucks I'll shut up. But ya don't.
Plus the sites you have up suck big time. The AfroAmerican web ring kicks your butt big time.
My suggestion Mr. Done-it-All is that you mind your own business and leave everyone else alone.
You tried to be a player and got your ass kicked! Everyone on the board is always telling you so? So take a hint from BT - Try something else like driving a BUS or something, it suits you better |
Hosting:
I can only tell you who not to f-ck with from personal experience:
Dellhost
Cihost
Other things to keep in mind:
There is no such thing as "unlimited" bandwidth plans.
Figure out what development tools, dbms, and access level (ie. cron, root) you need on your server.
Then go interview hosts.
Send them e-mail and see how fast support and sales can respond.
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Yesterday goes down in history as “Black Tuesday” at New Line Home Video. The company was handing out pink slips for most of the day, letting go 100 of its 600 staffers. All division of the company were affected and it was not a move to rid the studio of selected departments.
The move is said to be a result of the AOL – Time Warner merger – New Line is owned by Time Warner – and is most likely a restructuring of assets and slimming down costs in order to make a good impression on Wall Street. All rumors that New Line will be entirely disintegrated are highly exaggerated and immediate effects on the studio's DVD activities are not expected.
Interestingly however, Warner Home Video was apparently spared, and no layoffs are planned. As a matter of fact, Warner Home Video added more than a dozen staffers in late December, mostly in the marketing, finance and DVD production departments. |
http://www.thecompost.com/wishlist/index.cfm |
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Sega Corp. is reportedly planning to stop the production of its Dreamcast game console by the end of March, focusing its efforts on developing and supplying its home software games to such rival companies as Sony Computer Entertainment and Nintendo Co. Sega will no longer accept new orders for Dreamcast, instead only assembling units from parts in inventory, according to a story in Tokyo-based The Nihon Keizai Shimbun's Wednesday edition. Sega of America issued a statement late Tuesday, saying the company does not comment on rumors. Industry analysts, however, said such moves would make sense, though and could help reverse the fortunes of the company, which has been struggling with sluggish sales for the past several years. The Tokyo-based Sega, which trails behind Sony Corp. and Nintendo in U.S. market share for consoles, was expected to benefit from Sony's well-publicized shortages of PlayStation 2, introduced in the U.S. last October, and Sega Dreamcast's new online connection.
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Shameless plug time...
I've totally redesigned the Rap Sheet website at www.rapsheet.com
Still have a few things to work out but.... |
rapsheet looks alright to me...except the top looks shifted to the right. what kind of staff are you working with? i noticed some sections were "powered" by other sites? |
whatever happened to steve gillard and shaan james on UE? Ed looks like he's out for a while, too. agree or disagrree, we need cats like that on UE. |
as long as i'm running up my clout while i can't seem to put all my thoughts together at once...what's up with the source story?! |
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No staff, Impala. Just me. Right now the Rap Sheet is set up to move in magazine time, and as you know that once a month won't cut it on the web so we've partnered with some quality sites to bring it all together. The whole thing right now is to show that you can run a site effectively without spending tons of money!!! I'll look into the right shift you mentioned. |
About the Sega thing:
It gets no buzz here in Japan right now. Sony Playstation and Nintendo 64 commercials run the TV. I know I recently did a commercial here for a handheld game called Wonder Swan from Bandai (I think it's only sold in Japan and Hong Kong). We only have 5 channels in Tokyo (without cable) that play commercials. Every 15 minutes on at least 2 channels a Sony playstation commercial comes on. I had to receive a video from my agency to peep it.
If you email me yes I can send you the URL of my commercials. A young black actor, acting in Japanese.
sorry y'all for the personal stuff. |
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looks real nice -- a lot better than the old layout. i have the same problem with the alignment of the top table, it needs to be set to "left". you have it centered.
also, on your contact us page your poll and mailing list tables are bulging out. |
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Crispus, congrats on the Wash Post piece. I think you actually might be described as devilishly handsome, but tall and broad-shouldered wasn't too bad a description. LOL For real, though, as someone (I think Roland) noted, it's not often a brother gets that kind of coverage (I heard you made the front page of a section?) Can't wait to hear about your next move. You sound mad funny (sh*t, I'd go out with you). And I believe know there's one guy running the show. BTW could someone tell me who the hell is "net champion" something Bellows? I readily admit I'm not in the urban or internet space (I'm at a publishing company), but I'd love to know who he is to warrant the title net champion (I heard a rumor he used to be website host for vibe.com or something but that was a while back?)
On another note, it's time for another article, the natives are getting restless. And I'm also wondering what's up with Shaan James? I look forward to hearing his takes on the latest scandals.
Sorry, one other thing--I think there is a need for another room for people to rant to their hearts' content and not take away from posters giving feedback on a particular story. But I know your style is strictly minimalist so I don't know if you're down to build more of UE.
That's it for me. I gotta get some sleep.Crispus, keep doing your thing, boy :-D |
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Pardon my typos (but I'm sure you guys know what I meant) I think there's just one crispus (why would there be more than one?). And I think the anonymity stuff you've maintained is admirable. |
I feel obligated to say something about Urban Expose, because, as the Talmud says, "Silence is akin to assent." To get immediately to the point, Urban Expose says it's going to harvest what others have sown one day. Good old Urban Expose. It just loves to open its mouth and let all kinds of things come out without listening to how socially inept they sound. Urban Expose is always prating about how cultural tradition has never contributed a single thing to the advancement of knowledge or understanding. (It used to say that its decisions are based on reason, but the evidence is too contrary, so it's given up on that score.) Urban Expose has been known to say that children should get into cars with strangers who wave lots of yummy candy at them. That notion is so revolting, I hardly know where to begin refuting it. Please don't misunderstand me; I'm not saying that merit is adequately measured by Urban Expose's methods and qualifications. In fact, there is no place in this country where we are safe from its worshippers, no place where we are not targeted for hatred and attack.
I indubitably can't stress this enough, but I am not trying to save the world -- I gave up that pursuit a long time ago. But I am trying to take personal action and bring Urban Expose to justice. Urban Expose spouts a lot of numbers whenever it wants to make a point. It then subjectively interprets those numbers to support its views while ignoring the fact that if it had even a shred of intellectual integrity, it'd admit that now is the time to redefine the rhetoric and make room for meaningful discussion. So let it call me intrusive. I call it hotheaded. Urban Expose's helpers are often caught trying to present a false image to the world by hiding unpleasant but vitally important realities about Urban Expose's publicity stunts. Of course, they deny this, but we all know full well that it's unequivocally astounding that Urban Expose has somehow found a way to work the words "spinulosodenticulate" and "antiprestidigitation" into its politics. However, you may find it even more astounding that its forces all look like it, think like it, act like it, and infringe upon our most important constitutional rights, just like Urban Expose does. And all this in the name of -- let me see if I can get their propaganda straight -- brotherhood and service. Ha!
I find that I am embarrassed. Embarrassed that some people just don't realize that if one could get a Ph.D. in Propagandism, Urban Expose would be the first in line to have one. Take, for example, antisocial meatheads. Now look at Urban Expose. If you don't believe there's a similarity, then consider that it is not just stupid. It is unbelievably, astronomically stupid. One argument Urban Expose makes is that black is white and night is day. That's just plain nonsense. The truth is that many people who follow its press releases have come to the erroneous conclusion that the sky is falling. The stark truth of the matter is that if Urban Expose isn't mumpish, I don't know who is. What I had wanted for this letter was to write an analysis of Urban Expose's memoirs. Not a exhortation or a shrill denunciation, but an analysis. I hope I have succeeded at that.
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Hookt.com is dead....nothing left but the ecommerce piece.
Dearly beloved... we are gathered here to say...another one bites the dust! |
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