Amendment 4 is better known as “Hometown Democracy” and might be the fight of the year. Placed on the ballot by petition, it says voters should have final say over amendments to city and county “comprehensive plans,” which control growth. - St. Pete Times

This should NOT be named “Hometown Democracy”. It should be named the “The Political Consultant Relief Act of 2010.”

Let’s set aside the fact that this proposed amendment is awful public policy.

If it were to pass, political consultants like Ozean will rejoice in the streets.  You haven’t been witness to the sheer joy sure to come.  You see, these do-gooders are providing the political consulting industry a bail-out package that will make the auto industry green with envy.  Each proposed comp plan amendment must be taken to the voters?  REALLY?  AWESOME!

Political consultants will be forced to take hundreds of hours of testimony on congruency, traffic counts, proportionate fair-share, density levels, zoning classifications, and other EXCITING topics and boil them down to :30 second television commercials, direct mail pieces, website, and occasional radio spots.  Political Consultants will be hired to help convince a public, that often can’t bring themselves to the polls, to vote for or against a proposed change in the comp plan.  THAT WILL BE FUN……and expensive.

You love political ads?   Then PLEASE, vote for the Political Consultant Relief Act of 2010.  PLEASE vote for our bail out.  My children will thank you.

I do think that the people of Florida are starting to realize how bad this amendment is for Florida, and will vote it down.  However, if amendment 4 does pass, Ozean Consulting is poised for rapid expansion!

P.S.  the ironic nature of this situation : the potential opportunity of tons of business being provided by do-gooders is not lost on us.

For some reason, I remembered this today, and I thought I would share.

So, I am reading my coffee this morning, and BANG - I read this article.  All becomes clear in the world this morning.   The article - “Creativity, Schizophrenia Share Similarities in the Brain.” - the clarity?  Ozean’s creative web site designers are CRAZY!  NUTS!

ceative web site takes slightly crazy people....it is PROVEN.

Excerpt:  ”What do creative people and people diagnosed with schizophrenia have in common? According to new research out of Sweden, both share similar dopamine systems in the brain.”

Yeah - we have a TON of dopamine around this place.

Another excerpt: “Creative people, therefore, might benefit from having fewer D2 receptors because a reduced amount of filtering….”

Ladies and Gentelmen, that is a good way to describe Ozean - “a reduce amount of filterning….”

So what are you waiting for?  Give our crazy, dopamine jacked-up, low filter creatives a call.  I promise you, it will be an adventure.  352-376-0505.

Ozean Interactive Media announces the launch of another quality web design and web development project www.Remzey2010.com

www.remzey2010.com screenshot

Republican House Candidate candidate Remzey Samarrai, running in Florida House District 22, wanted a website designed and developed that was different from most politicians’ websites. He wanted it to be visually different, wanted it to include detailed position papers on issues (most politician are afraid to tell you where they stand on the issues, aren’t they?), and wanted it to be simple to maintain.

Mission accomplished - designed differently - check, include issue papers - check, and easy to maintain - check (Ozean placed them in our easy to use, web-based, content management system so that the campaign staff can easily amend and add to the website.)  This project was also designed and developed very quickly. Once the design was approved by the client, the site was developed and launched in approximately 3 days.

Just on a side note, Ozean Consulting is a division of Ozean and is performing the role of general consultant on Remzey Samarrai’s campaign; therefore, in a precautionary move, we will include the Florida required disclaimer: “Paid Political Advertisement, Paid for and approved by Remzey Samarrai, Republican for Florida State House, District 22.”

One of my favorite Twitter accounts to follow is @smashingmagazine. LOVE their stuff.

They had a great tweet this morning regarding the mess that is Internet Explorer v6. We have stopped our support of the browser, but you can never quite get away from it.

The article is a comprehensive overview of the challenges of IE6 and should be read by every designer, sales person, and client.

North Carolina

Ozean’s gone fishing!!!!!!  (or at least the boss has).  He left Gainesville for North Carolina, and we hope he returns in a great mood.

In the meantime. we are in the mood to show him that we don’t need him to sign new clients.  Call us today for your website design or website development project!!!!  We are evening running a special on video production for the web.

Look forward to hearing from you.   Call Lauren 352-376-0505 x 103!

I am not one for sharing sappy stuff; however, this column hit me at just the right time.

This was written by Regina Brett, columnist for the Plain Dealer, Cleveland, OH. She said, “To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 50 lessons life taught me. It is the most-requested column I’ve ever written.”
1) Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.
2) When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3) Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4) Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5) Pay off your credit cards every month.
6) You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7) Cry with someone. It is more healing than crying alone.
8 ) It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9) Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10) When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11) Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
12) It’s OK to let your children see you cry.
13) Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14) If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
15) Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God doesn’t blink.
16) Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17) You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18) A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19) It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20) When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21) Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.
22) Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23) Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24) The most important sex organ is the brain.
25) No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26) Frame every so-called disaster with these words: “In five years, will this matter?”
27) Always choose life.
28) Forgive everyone everything.
29) What other people think of you is none of your business.
30) Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31) However good or bad the situation, it will change.
32) Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will.
33) Believe in miracles.
34) God loves you for who God is, not because of anything you did or did not do.
35) Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
36) Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.
37) Your children only get one childhood. Make it memorable.
38) Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39) Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40) If we threw our problems into a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
41) Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42) Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful, or joyful.
43) All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44) Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45) The best is yet to come.
46) No matter how you feel, get up, get dressed, and show up.
47) Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48) If you don’t ask, you don’t get.
49) Yield.
50) Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

http://bit.ly/bOuRWN Great article on the future of video on the web. HTML5 v. Flash.

Top ten easiest SEO Techniques

The World Wide Web is constantly growing and changing. With thousands of new websites launched daily, search engine optimization is a necessity in the process of differentiating your site from competitors. The following is a list of the top ten most effective SEO techniques:

• Provide Good Content
  Be sure the content that you are implementing is relevant and useful. Not only are search engines more likely to rank your page higher for relevant searches, but informative, valuable content also encourages other sites to link to your site.
• Provide Unique Content
  Filling your website with content that other competitors do not offer will increase visitor and crawler traffic to your site, ultimately increasing your search engine rank.
• Use Keyword-Rich Text
  Make sure to use relevant keywords, search terms and queries in your content. Try to use words and phrases that your target audience would likely type into a search engine, but are not overly used by competitors. These keywords should be placed prominently on the web page, preferably above the fold.
• Frequently Update Your Website
  Frequently updating your site can prove to be extremely beneficial in terms of search engine optimization. The more frequently you update your site, the more frequently search engines will visit, increasing traffic and crawler activity, ultimately giving you the opportunity to achieve higher rankings. It is also better to update little bits of content regularly versus updating big chunks of content every so often.
• Ensure your website structure is conducive to Search Engines
  Structure your site so that it is favorable to SEO. Make sure your site map is current and your robot.txt file is correct. Always use title and meta-descriptions, as well as keywords and clean code. And most importantly, make sure visitors and search engine crawlers are able to easily access all pages of your website.
• Establish a Link Building Program
  Establish connections and alliances with other websites. While it is extremely beneficial for other websites to provide a link to your website, embedding links to other websites within your own webpage proves to be an insufficient SEO strategy. Your site will rank higher if you are linked to a few well-respected sites versus many unknown, insignificant sites.
• Include Meta-Tags
  By including meta-tags within your webpage, you have the ability to control how your website is described by search engines. Often, meta-tags are used to communicate information that human visitors are not concerned with. This information helps search engines categorize your website so that your page is easily found when your specific product or service is searched.
• Track your Performance
  First, you must establish a benchmark ranking for your website. Continue to track your improvements using programs such as Google Analytics, Google Webmaster Tools and Yahoo! Site Explorer. Look specifically at your SERP (Search Engine Ranking Position), your traffic statistics, and the amount of crawler activity. If you notice an increase in crawler activity, search engines are taking notice in your site and the quality of your content.
• Avoid Black Hat Techniques
  Be sure to use ethical search engine optimization strategies. Techniques such as keyword stuffing and cloaking, or presenting different pages to human visitors and search engines, will eventually get you penalized by search engines. Search engines will not only drop your rankings, but they can also ban your website from the index list.
• Stay up-to-date on the latest SEO strategies
  EO strategies are constantly changing. Be sure to know what techniques are effective or ineffective and you are sure to steadily optimize your site!

If SEO is to be done correctly and effectively, it must be continuous, deliberate effort. It can be quite a time-consuming process. If you don’t have the time, give us a call!

Gainesville, FL -  Ozean Interactive in collaboration with the Stephen C. O’Connell Society is proud to announce the launch of a new website design and website development project.

screen shot of www.oconnellsociety.org

The Stephen C. O’Connell Society is building on the legacy of Stephen C. O’Connell and the tradition of excellence demonstrated by Florida Blue Key since its inception in 1923.  The O’Connell Society is established and managed by Florida Blue Key Alumni to profoundly support and guide tomorrow’s leaders by perpetually endowing current and future leadership and service initiatives entrusted to and executed by the Florida Blue Key active chapter.

Alex Patton, Ozean’s CEO, is a proud alumni of Florida Blue Key, and his company is extremly honored to be selected to design and develop the Stephen C. O’Connell Society website.

CREDITS:

Designer:  Patrick Prugh

Developer:  Chris Lane

Asst. Developer:  Alex Patton

Project Manager:  Alex Patton