Cap’n Ken’s Homespun Wisdom

I’ve been tinkering around with things on my new Wordpress install, and one of the tweaks I just rolled out was changing the default behavior of the “link” button in my post editor to add ‘target=”new”‘ to the end of URLs I’m linking to. Simple enough tweak (look for quicktags.js in your wp-includes/js directory, kids), but the lack of this as a configuration option hints at the disdain for “target=new” among the Lords of the Internet.

If you don’t know, “target=new” in a link makes that link open in a new browser window, rather than in the window you’re currently looking at. And for many minds absorbed with Internet propriety, that’s just wrong. It’s not quite on the level of “breaking the Internet” (I cherish my freedom …), but it’s widely viewed as “bad user experience”.

But I challenge that notion when it comes to pages referenced in content. Navigational links; links to original sources at the end of an article, blogrolls, etc. - sure, the good user experience is sending folks along and away from your site. It’s been perceived that “bad actors” use “target=new” or “target=_blank” to keep their site alive in your browser even after you’re done with it. And that’s probably the case a lot of times.

Within the context of an article, however, that logic often falls apart. I’ll reference this Wired blog post about Google & ComScore as an example if you’d like to follow along.

Wired links to five outside sources in this rather short article, with each link providing some background or context to the topic at hand. It’s good context and just linking over to previous Wired pieces or outside data or opinion provides quick and easy reference without having to dump a lot of background information, quotes, etc. into the article.

Presumably, the reader has come to the article to read the article. Reference links invite the reader to leave the article and visit the linked content. Having links open in the same window requires the reader to use the “back button” functionality to return to the article they were reading. Using the “target=new” attribute requires the reader to switch back to the original tab or window to return to the article. Neither is an ideal experience, but I would argue that keeping the original page open is a preferable flow. In any case, I don’t think “target=new” is the evil monster some would make it out to be, and in the world of connected content I’d like to see it embraced a bit more.

Ideally, the reference links would appear in such a way as to not disrupt the reader’s flow in the current article. Perhaps something akin to the rather annoying and generally useless Snap Shots functionality some sites such as TechCrunch are in love with is a model, but it’s difficult to display much more than images in a way that makes sense in less than a full-window view.

Not long ago, online content was a series of silos. Newspaper articles republished online would rarely include in-content links, and there was so little original web content out there that linking between pieces wasn’t an issue. That’s changed, of course, so I think more thought is needed on how to best flow users through interconnected content.

My buddy and former EarthLink underling Dave Coustan (brilliantly known as Extraface out in the world) scored himself a hell of a find at a thrift store this weekend.

The Yahoo Web Speak game no doubt made many a girl LOL around the turn of the century, and I hear Microsoft and Yahoo executives are actually communicating through the game’s IM cards during merger negotiations.

Somewhere around here, I still have my new-in-box Monopoly - The Dot Com Edition, but Yahoo Web Speak blows that away in terms of awesome Pre-Bubble 1.0 board games. And for those who think we’re again in an Internet Bubble - you’re wrong! I just checked around, and neither Scene It? - The YouTube Edition or Mad Libs - The Twitter Edition are in production - yet.

Just to spare everybody the inevitable flood of lame online April Fools pranks, the Internet should just be powered off for the day.

So this ad shows up on Craigslist from a website called IBuyStrays.com. The Craigslist posting and the site are pretty straight-forward: earn cash by selling stray dogs and cats you happen to come across. Seriously? There”s not much out in the world about IBuyStrays.com, and the site is just recently created, so I have a couple of theories.

1) This is somebody opposed to animal research / cruelty, etc. and has set IBuyStrays.com up as a satirical “business” to point out the cruel fates suffered by animals taken away for research.

2) This is somebody looking to make a buck (via the Google ads placed all over IBuyStrays.com), and creating a completely reprehensible site and getting publicity via posting at Craigslist - and having people get outraged and pass on the link to others - is his way of generating visits, pageviews and ad clicks.

The second theory is an interesting one. As somebody who looks to generate visits, pageviews and Google ad clicks, I”ve hit upon a few winners tinkering around with strategies. Search is a good one, but “viral” visits can also be good. I seed things at message boards when appropriate (try posting a picture of Nick Saban”s Mercedes with an LSU sticker on it at a Bama fan site sometime …), and that can be good for business.

But the fake-site outrage angle would be interesting. I”ll be watching out to see if the IBuyStrays outrage grows (hardly anything on Google at the moment), and I”d be curious to see what kind of traffic and revenue is being generated from just a little Craigslist post.

Outside of Louisiana (because nobody who lives there seems to know about this), the phrase “LSU fans smell like corndogs” appears to be gaining some traction. Apparently this was started by an Auburn fan visiting Baton Rouge a few years back, and I guess it”s supposed to be the Auburn equivalent of UGA fans saying “Florida fans wear jean shorts.” I find it funny that an Auburn fan would take the aroma of LSU tailgating as being that of corndogs. I guess that”s the height of fried food at Auburn games - the cuisine their fans associate with the fried-food smell. LSU fans absolutely end up smelling “fried” after a long day of tailgating, but that comes from boudin balls, fried turkey, things like the amazing etouffee-stuffed fried bread I had Saturday and - last weekend, especially - fried alligator. No self-respecting LSU tailgater would serve corndogs.

And if “you smell like corndogs” is the insult the rest of the SEC wants to lay on LSU, have at it. Auburn fans smell like people who watched South Florida and Mississippi State beat them.

Leslie”s Balls - As somebody who”s never been much of a Les Miles fan, I had to ask myself how his determination to keep the ball against Florida and LSU”s amazing success - seriously, who ever goes 5-for-5 on fourth downs? - in doing so changes my perception. Right after the game, my thought was that Leslie displayed a ton of guts, but I wasn”t sure if the calls necessarily showed him to be a great coach.

Later I learned that keeping the ball away from Tebow was a key strategy going into the game, and it was a good one. The Gators had the ball for a total of 2 minutes, 27 seconds in the fourth quarter, which left little room for Timmy to do his magic. It was a great gameplan, and Leslie showed the balls to stick to it when the decision to do so got really tough. He left the execution to his coordinators and his players, but the strategy and decision-making was his. That”s what a head coach should do, and Leslie did an outstanding job with the Florida game.

Today I am officially changing my stance on Leslie from “questionable” to “favorable”. I wanted the coach to prove me wrong this year, and so far he”s doing that.

Miles and Michigan - Les Miles is a Michigan Man; there”s no way around that. If the job comes open this year, next year or ten years from now (if he keeps winning), Miles will be a candidate, and he will think hard about taking it. I can”t fault him for that. Unlike Nick Saban, who nobody believed would stay in Baton Rouge forever, I could see Miles making LSU his long-term gig. But Michigan is a big-time job, and a Michigan Man rightfully would kill for the chance to lead that team. LSU fans realize this, and would wish Leslie well if he decided to go.

Now, if he left to coach in the NFL and re-appeared at Ole Miss a few years later, that would be another story. So, Leslie, if Michigan offers you the job and you want to take it, I”m cool with that.

Bo Pelini”s prospects - There”s a really good write-up on Bo Pelini at Yahoo Sports this week, with the crux being Bo should already be a head coach and no doubt will be soon. There”s no doubt about that. Pelini is a defensive genius and demonstrates the kind of leadership, drive and personality that would make him a successful head coach. He seems to be cut very much from the Nick Saban mold.

And he”ll get a head coach job, maybe this off-season. I just hope the timing works out so that if Leslie leaves for Michigan, LSU can elevate Pelini to head coach and keep that talent in Baton Rouge. If there”s anybody left at LSU from the Mike Archer days, that might be a scary thought, but Pelini is a keeper.

LSU tailgating from the Gator perspective - The generally excellent college football blog Every Day Should Be Saturday took a roadtrip to Baton Rouge for the Florida game and ended up with an astoundingly accurate depiction of LSU tailgating from the visitor”s perspective. The most significant observation is the unique LSU fan behavior of lobbing crude insults at the opposing team”s fans then turning around and offering them a drink and some awesome food. That”s the LSU way - we hate you, but we love a party even more … so come on in!

The blog hints at the other thing LSU is becoming known for - there are a lot more people tailgating than will actually go into the game. LSU estimated that between 160,000 and 170,000 people were on campus Saturday, and only 93,000 of them got into the stadium. I was among those who spent all day eating, drinking and socializing before settling in to the best TV experience I”ve ever had:

Tiger tailgating lends itself to not necessarily caring about getting into the game. It starts early, finishes late and the food, drink and fun as a standalone event beats just about anything else you could be doing on a fall Saturday.

I think LSU supports the idea of huge crowds coming out for Tiger game days, so I”d like to offer a suggestion. The university should set up a low-power UHF transmitter and broadcast the games across campus. The Florida game was perfect because it was at night and on CBS, but that”s a rarity. When ESPN has the game, the only way to watch is with a portable satellite rig, and those are still not quite common. Give every tailgate the chance to watch the game with a 13-inch Sylvania and a pair of rabbit ears, and you”ll get 250,000 people out to the games.

As loyal readers of The Wisdom know, I”m a big fan of Alton Brown and Good Eats (although the current season is kind of disappointing. Whole fish? No thanks. Didn”t even watch that episode). And I enjoyed the heck out of the first season of Feasting on Asphalt, Alton”s motorcycle tour / eating show.

But the first episode of Feasting II left me puzzled and hugely disappointed in Alton and the gang. Feasting II is a culinary motorcycle trip up the Mississippi River (on land, of course), which should yield a bounty of food and culture, at least until they reach Memphis. Episode 1 took the crew from the mouth of the Mississippi to just north of New Orleans, a slam dunk for a food show if there ever was one.

They blew it. Completely.

First of all, except for post-production voice-overs, Alton goes out of his way to not call Katrina by name. What”s that about? Driving from Venice to New Orleans, they show shots of land-bound shrimp boats and wrecked buildings, but only talk about the storm in vague phrases like “a very nasty lady” and “a little storm they had here a few years ago.” Strange, but whatever.

So the team rolls into New Orleans at dinnertime, and their restaurant of choice? Mulate”s. That”s right, Alton picked a tourist Cajun restaurant as his showcase of New Orleans cuisine. On the show, they”re surprised to find that the place is packed with tourists and decide they need a new plan. Alton announces that he has “the name of a place” that”s supposed to be “real” but it”s “not listed”. Unfortunately, they can”t find it and end up eating tourist Cajun food in the street.

How the hell do you plan a food show trip to New Orleans and end up at Mulate”s (which Alton couldn”t even pronounce - it”s MU-lots, not Moo-la-tays)? We”re talking about America”s great culinary city here. As hard as it can be to figure out what”s open when in the post-Katrina world, this is a professional production by a supposed student of culture and cuisine. Inexcusably lame.

Alton also doesn”t seem to understand that Louisiana isn”t sweet tea country. It”s not the South, Alton, it”s Louisiana.

The other place Alton visits in New Orleans is Big Fisherman on Magazine Street. OK, it”s a local place, but it”s also Cajun. And not that the Atchafalaya wouldn”t make for a darn fine road trip, but this is New Orleans. Go to Central Grocery and show the world a real muffaletta, head over to Franky & Johnny”s for some “yat lunch or, hell, head over to Cooter Brown”s. Anything would have been better than following the trip to the Cajun tourist trap with another Cajun place … and then splitting town.

Alton gave the nuanced and complex New Orleanian food experience the shaft, and he should know better.

The rest of the episode was pretty good, as they got out of New Orleans and found some good … Cajun food in Vacherie and … Cajun andouille sausage and hog”s head cheese in LaPlace.

Episode 2 premieres tomorrow night, and they”re headed toward Baton Rouge. Maybe they”ll find some Cajun food there.