Blog of Leonid Mamchenkov

Web Worker Daily is asking an interesting question:

which sites and services on the new web (defined however you like) are important enough that you’d pay for them? And how much? Or are you dedicated to always finding ways to do things online for free, no matter what the entrepreneurs might like to hear?

I try to find things that I need for free. But sometimes I don’t. Or things that I really like give me an option to pay for them. And then I do. Currently, I only pay for my Flickr account and Linux Weekly News subscription. I also donate frequently to sites and tools that I like, but that, I guess, doesn’t count.

If I had to pay for the tools I’m using today for free, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Reader, Goolge Docs, Google Analytics, Twitter, and del.icio.us would be on my list. I’d also had no problem at all paying for software: WordPress,  Firefox, Vim, Pidgin, Fedora Linux. And I would subscribe to TechCrunch, Web Worker Daily, and Slashdot. This probably sounds like a lot, but I really can’t imagine how I could keep up with the world without using all of these.

What about you?

What do you spend more more on: your Internet connection bills or your car’s fuel?  Use monthly periods. How does that change if you consider all extras for your Internet connection (web hosting and other web services, extra services from your ISP, extra bandwidth utilization charges, etc) and extras for your car maintenance (oil, service, car wash, etc)?

(I came up with these questions while reviewing my spending statistics at Wesabe, which is an excellent service.  The basis for comparison of fuel to Internet connection lies in both of these being vital for many modern citizens, while they are currently mutually exclusive - you don’t use Internet while driving and you don’t use your car while using the Internet.  Not just yet.) 

I agree with this part of the article:

While amidst recent market turmoil its stock is down 16% from its recent high of $747 to about $629 as of Thursday, I suspect that just means now is a good time to buy.

I disagree with the rest of it though…  For example, this here is some complete non-sense:

Google has a Microsoft-like lock-in

I had to visit the bank today.  Since I was on my way to the park (with Maxim), I decided to take him in.  While we were standing in the queue, one of the clerks stopped by to say hi.  She played a bit with Maxim and suggested that we open an account for him.  I thought she was kidding, so I replied in a Fargo-ish way “Oh, yeah.  Right”. Surprisingly, she looked at me very seriously and said that she wasn’t joking one bit.

Needless to say I got interested.  She said that all I had to do was to bring Maxim’s birth certificate, and based on this document she can open a bank account on his name.  Maxim will only be able to use this account when he is 18.  But until than, both I and Olga can transfer small amounts of money to that account - 10 or 20 pounds a month.

As a result, if we’d do that, Maxim will have a good sum of money to start the adult life.  (Calculations for the lazy ones: 10 pounds per month x 12 month per year = 120 pounds per year.  Maxim is now 1 year old.  That means that he has another 17 years to go before he can use the account.  120 pounds per year x 17 years = 2040 pounds + bank percentage.  4080 + percentage you’re willing to make it 20 pounds per month).

I understand that for many parents saying this outloud is like repeating that the planet Earth is round, but for me it was a completely new unconsidered idea.  I’ll be rushing back to the bank with Maxim’s birth certificates one of these days.

I’m sure by now everybody knows about One Million Pixels project. Interesting idea that earned the guy even more than a million dollars and that will make you go “Oh, Jez, why didn’t I think of it first?”.

The idea was so simple and effective that several projects spinned off of it. Some are simple copies. Others try to apply the same idea to something other than pixels.

One of these new projects got my attention - One Million Blogs. Instead of pixels it tries to sell one million spaces for blog links. If you have a blog, you can pay $1 and get linked to from that site. You will even get a 30×30 pixel square for your logo, or whatever else you want to place in there. Saying that they want to see one million blog links together, and not only one million dollars, adds a nice touch to the project.

In fact, I liked it so much, that I immediately sent them my $1 USD (via PayPal). Within a few hours I’ve got a reply confirming my transaction. I emailed my ugly face downsized to 30×30 pixels and this blog’s URL and got linked. I even received two personalized buttons - my number is 52 - that I can use anywhere to link back to One Million Blogs. Since I am not using buttons on my site, I’ll save them in this entry.

Check it out. While you still can find me in there…