Thanks to my favorite web hosting personality and friend, Mitch Keeler of Mitchelaneous.com and the Web Hosting Show for asking me some really interesting questions in this interview. This is my first interview ever and I enjoyed it so much that I’m thinking of asking some of you for interviews. That’s what blogging is all about, isn’t it? People. Here’s a sample, but I suggest spending some time exploring Mitch’s sites to get the full impact of who he is as well.
How did you get your start on the Web?
Emory: My path into the web began in the mid 1990’s. I was a fairly uninspired surfer and email user until I discovered online multiplayer gaming. Meeting others and competing with them in a virtual world fascinated me. I spent a lot of time gaming back then when I should have been reserving domains like games.com. Looking back, I guess you could say that playing multiplayer games was my first online social networking experience. But, instead of the polite introductions we have with today’s social networking sites, you broke the ice by joining a game and chasing people around, taunting and blowing each other up.
There are many hundreds of Half-Life 2 servers to choose from on any given night. This night, I joined WebViper’s Skul’Shock South server. Like a lot of PC gamers, WebViper creates his own custom maps. He even has his own mod of Half-Life 2 running on his server. A custom map maker creates his own environment, placing weapons, determining respawn points and inserting his own props to maximize gameplay. Custom map making can consume a great deal of time. I know because I made a few maps for Duke Nukem 3D a long, long time ago when I should have been doing things like, oh, say reserving domains such as business.com. But, that was a different stage of my life. In-game advertising just might be a sweet way that mappers and modders can get paid for all their hard work and creativity.
Unlike other servers, we don’t beg for money. It’s 100% free!
So, I join the game and begin fragging my opponents and what do I see on the billboard in front of me? Someone wants me to know that a company called GH1.com offers web hosting services. I took some of the screen shots below to share with you. In fact, I risked my virtual life to grab these images as several times I found myself respawning after curiously staring at these web hosting ads which would have been ignored had I seen them on an actual Web page. There is not much leisure time for sight seeing in Half-Life 2, if you know what I mean.
GH1 web hosting site — the website image in the bottom left corner does not appear in the actual game, I just superimposed it over the screen shot here so you can see what GH1.com looks like in a browser should you visit the site. Read more of this post »
What is this, you ask? I’ve been having some much needed fun over the holidays with the late night bread and circuses of online pc gaming now that I have a respectable machine. There is a phenomenon in the Half-Life 2 PC Game known as “spray logos” that allows HL-2 players to create their own custom graffiti images to spray around the map locations. The purpose? To taunt or humiliate opponents or aggrandize ones own image during gameplay. Spray logos can also be just for fun or a way to mark your territory.
Enter my arch gaming nemesis and occasional Clickfire blog commenter and sarcastic cousin, “Clapper.” There is much to say about my opponent and his annoying gaming tactics but now is not the time. Be assured that I will say more about my nemesis at a time of my choosing.
So, I enter our usual Half-Life server for a night cap or two and what do I see? A spray logo defiling our very own Clickfire 10 year anniversary cake with the mocking words ”Viewpoints, Tools and Content for Hombre Respawnmasters.” You can see the Clapper war face has been Photoshopped over the image of Duke Nukem. I have to admit it threw me off balance for a while. If you have any suggestions for countering this, please comment.
Half-Life 2 was supposed to have been released in September of 2003. Hackers broke in and stole the source code, delaying the release until November, 2004. Nearly 3 years later, I am finding myself still loving Half-Life 2’s multiplayer gameplay, physics and yes, even graphics. To elaborate, I’ll mention that a few days ago, I picked up a copy of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars, which I had been looking forward to, especially after seeing some pretty sweet looking in-game screen shots. I was disappointed. Admittedly, I not using a DirectX 10 graphics card in my PC yet, but I keep asking myself how a big 2007 title can have inferior graphics to the much older Half-Life 2. The only answer I can come up with is it’s just that good. So for now, I’ll continue to frag with the one who brung me until the spectacular graphics of Half-Life 2 Orange Box/Team Fortress 2 and Crysis arrive.
Some Half-Life 2 images - a crowbar salute to Gabe Newell and Valve Software:
We rustled up some free website templates to give away as part of the Clickfire ten year anniversary countdown that climaxes this December. This month’s theme is gaming, a subject very dear to my heart and an intergral part of my Internet life. Customize, enjoy, save time and build out something cool. Post comments on the free gaming website template below.
Ever have one of those arrghhh… I wish I had thought of that moments? This is a case of I wish I had thought of that and it is so cool that I still want to do it.
This is may be the best example of link baiting that I have ever seen. Judging by the buzz I’ve been seeing today, the bait is being taken. The game is a simple Flash game and not very entertaining, but that matters not. What matters is that it’s about SEO and that someone has taken the time to develop a funny game around what search marketers do every day. The object of the game is to punch out the various search engine guideline violating characters until the referee, Matt Cutts (who else), gives you a thumbs up.
Here’s an excerpt from the GSINC press release about the SEO game:
UK company GSINC Ltd today launched an online game dedicated to webmaster guidelines.
Covering the basics of search engine guidelines laid down to help webmasters, the SEO game is the latest educational experience by the Birmingham based firm GSINC who have previously produced a range of tutorial videos to help webmasters.
The latest game takes a light hearted look at the somewhat controversial debate of black hat versus white hat website marketing strategies in the form on an online game. The player has to fight their way through a number of search engine enemies. Some of the characters include a hidden text kid, duplicate content girl and there is even a Spam lord to do battle with.
This character, Keyword Stuffer, reminds me of the boss in Doom.
Ever pull up your Web site’s rankings and get this?
All webmastering and no play makes Jack a dull boy
Do you participate in multiplayer online pc games after finishing your webmaster tasks? It’s not unusual for me to spend 12 - 14 hours during the day in front of a pc–that includes working a full time job and coming home to attack my webmaster and search marketing tasks. I’ve found pc gaming, especially the online variety, to be an important stress reliever in the evenings after the electrical activity in my brain starts to wan. First person shooters, 3D strategy and combat simulation are the genres that interest me most. My pc gets vigorous use for both business and pleasure.
Five years have passed since my last pc purchase. In graphics card years, that’s a very long time. I was getting tired of things looking dull and moving slow, so I did a little research and made the leap to a new pc that can handle business tasks and pack a punch on the gaming servers. It’s kind of like buying a new pair of glasses.
Just one rule… don’t ask how much it costs!
This is not a top-of-the-line gaming pc. If any of my online multiplayer competitors out there are reading this, know that I fully plan on upgrading to an overclockable processor and DirectX 10 graphics card at a time of my choosing.
I purchased this machine from Vision Computers. I had never done any business with this company but had heard good things about them. So far, I am more than happy with their service and would recommend them. When a glitch was discovered with the graphics card, they actually repaired and delivered it to my home on a Saturday afternoon! Feast your eyes upon these specs:
the life of a webmaster, his site and the Internet
Hi, my name is Emory Rowland. After nearly a decade of publishing viewpoints, tools and content at Clickfire, I decided to begin blogging in order to interact with Clickfire visitors about the topics we webmasters love to discuss. I hope you benefit from this blog. Most of all, I am excited about getting to know you!
Do you participate in multiplayer online pc games after finishing your webmaster tasks? It’s not unusual for me to spend 12 - 14 hours during the day in front of a pc–that includes working a full time job and coming home to attack my webmaster and search marketing tasks. I’ve found pc gaming, especially the online variety, to be an important stress reliever in the evenings after the electrical activity in my brain starts to wan. First person shooters, 3D strategy and combat simulation are the genres that interest me most. My pc gets vigorous use for both business and pleasure.
