Each year Oprah does a “favorite things” show where she shares with the audience some of her favorite things of the year. It’s the loudest, most insane crowd Oprah gets each year. I’m looking for that same reaction here

These are some of my favorite things of 2007. Keep in mind I have an 18 month old so I don’t get out much. And yes I live a simple life (some may say pathetic) but good coffee and a burger are things I really do enjoy…

So, without further adieu:

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We at Search-This have always tried to be upfront with our readers. So I feel that it’s appropriate to tell you that over the next month or two we will be ‘experimenting‘ with monetizing Search-This.

Nothing is for sure at this point. We will try a few different techniques: Google AdSense, TLA or even may try to come up with our own way. Or we may decide not to monetize at all. It’s all just kind of an experiment at this point. So please do weigh in and tell us your thoughts. If you have suggestions, please share, if you hate it, tell us that too. One thing is for sure, we will not let any ads get in the way or detract from the content.

Once again, this is more of an experiment and nothing is known at this point. Please share your thoughts.

Thanks,
Mark (Golgotha)

I can ‘t count the number of times I have seen job-seekers post in webmaster forums asking for advice on getting a web development/design job. We all know you are a l33t geek with mad coding skills, but getting a job takes more than technical skills. This post will assume you meet the qualifications for the job and give you some tips to help you stand out from the crowd and get you that job! I’ve been on both the applying and more recently the hiring side of things so these tips will be related to what has worked for me.

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It’s that time of the year! Yep, this week is Black Friday. Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving in the United States and it marks the kick off to the Christmas shopping season.

So we’ve put together a list of toys that any geek would be sure to enjoy. Have a look and feel free to make suggestions to things that you think would be great geek toys or what you would like for Christmas.

…It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

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Here’s some fun facts for Friday from Stuart Flexner’s I Hear America Talking book.

According to Flexner, there are an estimated 600,000 words in our English language — but the average American only understands around 2 to 3 percent of them and actually uses only half that amount. Flexner says, “Just 10 basic words account for over 25% of all speech and 50 simple words for almost 60%, with between 1,500 and 2,000 words accounting for 99% of everything we say.” The most commonly used word is I, followed by you, the and a. Of our written language, Flexner says, “is only a little more varied than our spoken one, 70 words making up 50% of it.”

Running a community site can be absolute murder sometimes. Keeping the balance between a happy operator and happy users is a deadly dance. Being the owner/operator of a now comatose niche community site has given me the supernatural power to see into the future and warn you about the baleful consequences of ignoring the blood-thirsty mob. Here are five grisly mistakes you can make when running a community site, be it a blog, social network, or message board:

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Can we get some standards people?

The Web Standards Project (WaSP) fights for standards within the web industry. They lobby on behalf of all web developers to have browser companies adhere to community developed standards. Whether the browser companies actually listen to them is another story, but at least there is an organization that works for the people. It seems to me we need MORE of these types of organizations because things are getting out of hand.

Here are just a few areas that come to mind that could greatly benefit from some standards:

Memory Cards

The most common types of flash memory cards for digital cameras are: CompactFlash (CF), Secure Digital (SD), Memory Stick and xD-Picture Card. The type of memory card you’ll need is determined by which digital camera you use.

Can we not just have one format please? I bought a new Cannon camera and now all my old memory cards from my old camera, a Kodak, don’t work. Thanks people.

Also, as long as we’re talking about digital cameras and standardizations - how bout you standardize on batteries too? Are you in the battery business or the camera business?

Printer Ink Cartridges

This is all #()%#@ up. Not only does every printer company use its own proprietary ink cartridges, but there are actually different cartridges WITHIN the same company! Why?

Let’s face it, there isn’t a lot of technology involved in the actual cartridge — they’re just little holders of ink. Why can’t they all just standardize and place their focus on making a better printer?

Motherboards

Why so many different motherboard variations? The use of different chipsets for each motherboard really limits you from upgrading your computer. And should you decide to upgrade, you have to take your entire computer apart. It would be really nice to see some standardizations here.

HD DVD

High definition movies are barely out of the gate and that horse is down. Nothing has hurt this more than the lack of standards. Blu-ray or HD DVD? Neither! I’ll wait to see who wins first.

What areas do you see that could benefit from some standards?