On my google home page, I have the google widget for http://www.tarot.com/astrology/.

Today this caught my eye:

Later I was working on our websites and while at the Lucky Honu, I just casually entered the following question to test that it was working properly:

I asked the I Ching Oracle:
What are the prospects for my business?

(present) 15. Chien - Humility, Modesty
Keep your goals modest and realistic; attempting too much at once will cause failure. The Universe helps the modest prosper, but brings down the
            arrogant.

(future) 48. Ching - The Well
Life is like a well. Poorly kept wells bring sickness. Maintain it properly and you will have satisfying water.

What does the Oracle hold for you?
http://luckyhonu.com/iching/oracle

So, see ya later! I'm off to work on some of my realistic, in the moment goals. :)

Marketing 101: You can guide & mentor publicity, but you can't control it.

I got a message from a friend over at http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com saying:

"I was hoping I could get your help in boosting GGE's popularity a bit. I posted a link on Digg if you could go there and 'Digg it' that would be very neighborly of you."

Then over on another site, he was mentioning it again & one of GGE's creator's left a comment saying, "We kind of don't want it Dugg yet. Once it becomes totally open, then it would be cool to get it to the front page. Everybody Digg it on March 3, 2007!"

Wouldn't it have been better if he had thanked his fan for his efforts? And think of how he could have taken advantage of the publicity by blowing open a few of the sites' pages for public browsing? Now when some people see it on March 3rd, they will say, "Oh hey, there's that site that won't let see anything unless you are member." And they will go elsewhere.

summary: Don't fight free publicity, embrace it!

I got my own surprise yesterday! When I asked someone to look at luckyhonu.com, he did, but then he helpfully did some of his own promotion, including calling us Lucky Ho Nu. Honu is the hawaiian turtle, but apparently this fella thought it was 2 separate words. According to the Alta Vista Translator, Ho Nu doesn't translate into anything in any of those languages. Phew. I'd hate to be running a website that meant lucky baby seal killer or something!

Teens using IM-lingo in essays at school. Wonder if English teacher, toiyabe gets any of this? - http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/02/09/chat.lingo.ap/index.html?eref=rss_latest

[thanks Whims for the graphic]

nezroy has been making nifty new graphics for luckyhonu.com.

He got the exact watercolor look I wanted! Go nez!

Since the I Ching Oracle Coin Caster has gone live, I've learned... a lot! A few examples

• Having critics outside the development team is ESSENTIAL!  I totally missed that it wasn't intuitive to toss the coins 6 times to make the lines of the hexagram!  Sorry if you thought it was broken!
• Learned we want features not offered by the current webhost provider, so eventually it will need to be migrated to another host.
•  Learned that when I'm absorbed in this stuff, I can tune out noise & started a flaming mass of microwave popcorn.
•  Learned that the smell of burnt popcorn does not leave the house easily.
• Learned that the nastiest trolls on IRC can transform into kind teddybears when given the opportunity to teach & mentor.

The project now has a long list of things for the next version, so it may be a while before you see an update. Meanwhile, I'm just thrilled to make something people can enjoy!

I asked the I Ching Oracle: What can I do to improve the Luckyhonu I Ching Oracle site?
	(current) 23. Po - Decay, Fragmentation Like a landslide, things may come crashing down. The wise path is to submit to the slide. Save your fight for another day.
	(future) 2. Kun - Mother Earth The path may take a little longer, but it is worth the wait. Show the largeness of your heart and your success will benefit more than just yourself.
What does the Oracle hold for you? http://luckyhonu.com/iching/oracle