Monthly Archives: April 2003

B2Links Version 1.2

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Hey, guess what! There’s a new version of B2Links. You can find the announcement on the b2 forum. Download from the B2Links home page.
Changes are: A new name, and some minor bug fixes already posted on the forum.

By the way, If you have a link to my B2Links home page with the words “B2 Link Manager” could I ask you to change it to read “B2Links”, please. There are some new Powered By buttons on the B2Links home page too.

Gibson Kicks the Blogging Habit

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It was good while it lasted, Wired has this story Gibson Kicks the Blogging Habit

“DUBLIN, Ireland — Writer William Gibson will wind up his hugely popular weblog within a few weeks, out of fears that it might stifle his creative thinking about his next novel.
“I think it’s in its last couple of weeks,” he said. “I do know from doing it that it’s not something I can do when I’m actually working. Somehow the ecology of writing novels wouldn’t be able to exist if I’m in daily contact. The watched pot never boils,” he added with a laugh. “

I must admit I didn’t read it as regularly as I would have liked, but it was always interesting.

Cease And Desist

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Today I received an email from Joel Lesser at Creative NetVentures, Inc, containing a Cease and Desist Notice from LinksManager.com, referring to my B2 Link Manager. The email says

“it has come to our attention that your unauthorized use of the trademarked name LINK MANAGER on your site (http://zed1.com/b2links/) is too similar to our trademarked name LINKSMANAGER”

The email provides a link to the US Patent and Trademark Office Trademark Applications and Registrations Retrieval service. Wherein you can find details of their registered trademark which is LINKSMANAGER. A search on the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) turns up Asyst Technologies, Inc. who own the trademarked name LINK MANAGER, described as “Computer hardware, namely, serial communications port multiplexes”.
Now my little B2 add-on describes itself as “B2 Link Manager” six times on the B2 Link Manager page which Joel references. There are also eight buttons on the page which very specifically describe it as “B2 Link Manager”, and in the provided HTML I use both Title and Alt tags with the text “B2 Link Manager”.
The email also says

“Because your product manages data in a similar way to how LinksManager manages data”

Well lets just look at that for a minute: From their home page we get:

LinksManager Features
 * No software to download or install
 * Fast, easy setup, or get a free setup from LinksManager support
 * Import your current links pages - no retyping or recoding necessary
 * Full cosmetic control to seamlessly blend your links pages with
   the rest of your website
 * Quickly add, edit, and delete links from your website - no coding or
   FTP necessary
 * Pages can live on our server, or your server
 * Automated Top Link Lists showcase your most popular links 
 * Automated email notifications for every step in the link exchange
   process
 * Reciprocal link checker searches the net to verify that your link
   or banner exists on all websites listed on your links pages
 * Dead link checker identifies and flags dead links listed on your
   links pages
 * Auto link rotator rotates your links nightly to insure equal coverage
   for all of the links on your site
 * Highlight new links with special graphic identifiers
 * Special automation features use LinkPartners.com to find link swap
   partners fast and easy
 * And much more!  Click here for a full feature list

None of these apply to B2 Link Manager!
If we look at their code of ethics page which describes the “Linksmanager concept” thus:

LinksManager was designed to automate the following tasks:  
 * Manage link categories, including add, modify, and delete
 * Manage links, including add, modify, and delete
 * Rotate links pages alphabetically
 * Check for dead links
 * Check for link reciprocation on other websites
 * Send courtesy emails between webmasters swapping links
 * Search links
 * Import links site name, URL, and description only (LinksManager
   does not import email addresses)
 * Upload links pages automatically the account owner's server
 * Perform visual cosmetic changes to the account owner's links pages
 * Create Top Links Lists to display the most popular links

Now, B2 Link Manager can do the first two; but none of the others. So I’m a little puzzled as to how “your product manages data in a similar way to how LinksManager manages data”.
Maybe Joel has mistaken me for one of these people.

The Stone Monkey

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I’ve just finished The Stone Monkey by Jeffery Deaver. Another great Lincoln Rhyme book. I found the feel of this one to be considerably less ‘dark’ than the earlier ones. Somehow, despite the villain being as bad or worse than earlier villains, the book just didn’t seem as scary.
Having said that though, it was a good read.
I love the attention to detail you get in this type of story (essentially a forensic science detective novel in the tradition of many other from Sherlock Holmes onwards), although some of the brilliant insights/leaps of logic were presented in the ‘wrong’ order: Lincoln studies evidence, Lincoln says “Oh! Wait a minute…”, cut to Amelia about to walk into danger, there’s a phone call or another detective turns up to save the day, followed by explanation of how Lincoln figured it out. This happened at least three times in this book, and to me it came across as it bit too formula.
Not as good as the earlier books, but still recommended.

J K Rowling richer than the Queen

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Just spotted this story: J K Rowling richer than Queen.

“Boy wizard Harry Potter has made author J K Rowling richer than the Queen, according to The Sunday Times Rich List.
The 37-year-old has more than quadrupled her personal fortune in the past two years.
Her £280m makes her the wealthiest woman in showbusiness and Britain’s 122nd richest person – 11 places higher than the Queen. “

That’s an awful lot of money!