As most of you own one or more domains do you consider them to be your property?

That very question is one of the questions the Internet Commerce Association (ICA) is trying to answer. A poll on the ICA site shows that it’s pretty much split between visitors. Some believe it is property where others believe it is renewable contract rights.

I believe domains are renewable contract rights because you have to renew them. There is no option to own it for life which is my main reason for having that stand point. What do you think and why?

Another cartoon created by creative genius  Matthew Schmoll. 
If you have an idea for a future comic or would like to submit your own BlueFur cartoon let us know in a comment.

Welcome to another edition of In The Sphere, where we sift through all the wonderful content available on the web, and grind it all down to five or six links that we thought were useful, insightful, or interesting this week.

Stunt actor and film professional Leo Chiang goes on the set of Battlestar Galactica as they film the final two seasons of the very popular sci-fi TV series. A couple of my friends are really into this show, and while I –admittedly– was a Trekkie at one point in my life, I never really got in on the Battlestar phenomenon. Maybe I’m missing out.

Dot com mogul Bob Buskirk looks into ways that you can get more comments on your blog. In this age of Web 2.0 (I know, it’s already starting to sound cliche), interactivity is absolutely key to the success of any online business, even if it is “just a blog.” By encouraging more comments from your readers, you keep the discussion going, you receive valuable feedback, and more fun is enjoyed by all. I’ve personally employed all of Bob’s strategies at some point in my (short) blogging career.

Jane May of Career Ramblings has always been helpful with getting you prepared for a new job, dressing up that interview, and helping you succeed in a variety of industries. This week, she talked about avoiding office hysteria. Wherever you work, you will inevitably run into some co-workers who don’t rub you quite the right way, but you still should aim to enjoy yourself (as much as possible) while on the job. Myself, considering that I work in an office of one, the only hysteria I have to avoid is my own. Oh, it gets crazy around here.

Derek Semmler is known to talk about a little bit of everything on his blog, but this topic sort of came out of left field. He has come up with the single best way to improve public bathrooms. Public washrooms can be pretty disgusting sometimes, giving you an icky feeling all over. What do you do when you see someone use the facilities and not wash their hands? How do you proceed to open the door to get out of there? Derek tackles this question with a remarkably simple and ingenious answer.

And finally, we have Lake County, California goofball Dylan Duarte finally coming out of blogging retirement to provide us with his quirky sense of humor. His hand-drawn comics are sometimes good, sometimes bad, but always eerily entertaining. One of his most recent describes his reaction to the series finale of The Sopranos. He calls Tony Soprano a fat stack.

If you just blend in with the crowd, it’s very difficult to attract your customers’ attention. A big key to the success of your business is to differentiate yourself from the competition. This could be with a fun logo (like the BlueFur blue monster), exceptionally good pricing, top notch customer service, or any variety of other aspects. Where differentiation really comes into play is in the world of advertising.

Take Nike for example. The company has done a fantastic job of creating a huge sense of brand recognition. Everyone is all too familiar with the swoosh logo, and whenever you hear the phrase, “Just Do It”, you know that it’s all about Nike. Reebok, on the other hand, has had more trouble creating an unmistakable brand. Their most recent effort is squarely targeted against Nike, which happens to be their largest competitor.

The new Reebok campaign encourages you to Run Easy. This is in stark contrast to “just doing it”, because it’s not about pushing yourself beyond your limits. It’s about having a good time: “There’s no point in doing it if you don’t enjoy it. Run Easy. Stay fit how you see fit.” They’re encouraging people to feel comfortable with themselves and while the jury is still out on whether this ad campaign will work, I’d say it does a great job in saying that they are different (and hopefully, for them, in a good way).

Show us some love and you can win a 22″ Widescreen LCD Monitor.

The voting is open for the Bloggers Choice Awards and we would like to rank well in the best blogging host section. So here is how to be entered:

1. Go to Bloggers Choice Awards and register.
2. Click on the vote for our blog here.
3. Comment in this post what your username was.

We will draw for the prize on November 10th when the voting ends.

Bonus – Those that blog about the contest, link back to this post and vote will receive 3 entries into the draw.

Update - We will ship the monitor anywhere that the winner is, regardless of location.

We have received our ninth Tshirt submission in our Tshirt contest. What do you think?

 

 Remember there is a cash prize for winning so submit your entry today.