I added another province to the License Plate Hunt list (thanks Chris!) and 5 more states.
Archive for the 'Niagara Falls Blog News' Category
We had a great few days away. My cell phone didn’t work… there was on Internet… it was wonderful! However, all good things must come to an end, so I’m back. It’ll take me a few days to get caught on some things, but I should be back to the 5-6 posts a day again…
I will be out of town until late Tuesday night, so I won’t be able to post anything new Monday or Tuesday. However, I will setup a couple of my outstanding posts to post automatically, so there still will be a couple of things posted.
Have a great weekend!
You’ll notice a new page listing at the top of the blog called License Plate Hunt. I explain more on that page, but I’ve decided to record the various license plates I see with the expectation that I’ll be able to see almost all province and state license plates. Who knows… it may be unlikely, but I may see them all. I may even see some foreign ones.
I just started the list, so it is fairly short (but considering that it was only from one day, it’s still a fairly good list). Check out the page and feel free to help…
Almost a month ago I posted about a notice I had received from YouTube telling me the following:
This is to notify you that we have removed or disabled access to the following material as a result of a third-party notification by Entertainment Rights claiming that this material is infringing
This was about a video of Bronto’s Adventure Playland with VeggieTales. Entertainment Rights is the corporation that owns Big Idea. Big Idea is the VeggieTales company. So apparently they saw the word VeggieTales and said it was copyright infringement.
In the email it said that in order to get the video back, I had to send a counter notice. I replied to the email within 10 minutes, and told them it was ridiculous. Obviously no one had looked at the video, and demanded that it be put back up. 24 hours later I still hadn’t received a response yet. Another 24 hours went by and I finally got a response back that said the following:
When we’re notified that a particular video uploaded to our site infringes another’s copyright, we remove the material as the law requires. If you feel a content owner has misidentified your content as infringing, you may file a counter-notification.
So I checked out the counter-notification page, and I would have had to send in a document to Google that might be used in Federal District Court in San Francisco County, California. What?! I have a video of an attraction in Niagara Falls and I need to send a document that would be used in court to prove that it isn’t copyrighted material?!
So, I replied to that message again, and also emailed an info email address at Entertainment Rights, and the customer service email address at Big Idea. I was pretty angry. VeggieTales is supposed to teach good moral values (Sunday morning values, Saturday morning fun), yet they essentially lied to Google about my video. Even though I’m sure it was software that did it automatically, it still reflected bad on them.
Three days later I still hadn’t heard back again from Google/YouTube, Entertainment Rights, or Big Idea, so I emailed Entertainment Rights and Big Idea again. Later that day, I got an email from someone named Tammy that said:
I have passed along your concern to our legal group to review
She then emailed me the next day (without me email in between):
Again, thank you for your patience. Our sincere apologies for the disappointment you have experienced with this incident. Google has been contacted and hope to have resolution very soon.
Then finally, one week later, I received the following from Google/YouTube:
Dear Graham,
Entertainment Rights has retracted its copyright claim with respect to the following video:
Bronto’s Adventure Playland with VeggieTales http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=bMrq5Mmqu2o
This content has been restored and your account will not be penalised.
For technical reasons, it may take a day for the video to be available again.Hope this helps,
Vicky
The YouTube Team
So, it’s now back up. I watched the video, and there isn’t a single shot of anything that says VeggieTales on it. The entire video is of the inside of the place. You don’t even see the sign (which has VeggieTales on it).
Anyway, I’m glad that’s over with. But it sure was frustrating. It seems like there should be some sort of punishment/consequence for companies that file erroneous claims. They have the right to file a claim/notice, and I have no chance to defend myself before they take the video down?!
As a side note, remember that you can see all of my Niagara Falls related YouTube videos right here on my site. Just visit the blog and at the top of every page is a link called Videos
Here’s a strange one…
This morning I received the following email from YouTube:
What?! My home-made video (I used the movie mode of my digital camera) of Bronto’s Adventure Playland violates copyright? Weird. I’ve obviously emailed Google’s copyright office asking them to reinstate the video or to explain what the problem is. Stay tuned…
Well, it’s about time I did a state of the blog address. The best way to determine how a web site is doing, is by looking at the stats. No matter how you look at it, Access Niagara and the Niagara Falls Blog are growing well.
First, here are the stats (as of the end of April 2008):
Traffic
- Jan 2007 - 3,410
- Jan 2008 - 9,595 (up 181%)
- Feb 2007 - 3,359
- Feb 2008 - 11,171 (up 232%)
- Mar 2007 - 3,772
- Mar 2008 - 13,618 (up 261%)
- Apr 2007 - 2,336
- Apr 2008 - 12,638 (up 441%)
- Total traffic (unique visitors) for Jan - Apr 2007 - 12,877
- Total traffic (unique visitors) for Jan - Apr 2008 - 47,022 (up 265%)
Total Posts
- Jan-07 - 37
- Jan-08 – 66
- Feb-07 - 49
- Feb-08 – 80
- Mar-07 - 69
- Mar-08 – 67
- Apr-07 - 58
- Apr-08 – 70
- Total posts for Jan - Apr 2007 - 213
- Total posts for Jan - Apr 2008 - 283
- Month with most postings ever - 87 in August 2007
Comments
- Total comments for Jan - Apr 2007 - 419 Comments
- Total comments for Jan - Apr 2008 - 1,017 Comments
- Total number of comments – 3,602
Top 5 commented posts
- No longer “Marvel”-ous? - 70 comments
- Fight at casino club - 45 comments
- 20 floors and counting at the Hilton - 42 comments
- Niagara Falls Question: What is the biggest eyesore next to the Falls? - 32 comments
- Holiday spirit on trial - 31 comments
Top 3 categories
- Niagara Falls News (849 posts)
- Niagara Falls Attractions (485 posts)
- Niagara Falls Hotels (337 posts)
Niagara Falls Image Gallery
- Total number of pictures in Niagara Falls Image Gallery - 2,320
Link Tracking (link visiting)
- Total number of tracked links (all time) – 1,399
- Total number of click-throughs (all time) – 92,548
Top 5 clicked links
- Another Fight On Clifton Hill Niagara Falls – 1,470 clicks
- Clifton Hill official web site - 878 clicks
- YouTube - Niagara Falls Fireworks for Pizza Pizza’s 40th Anniversary - 870 clicks
- Niagara SkyWheel official web site - 834 clicks
- Great Wolf Lodge Niagara falls - 817 clicks
YouTube Videos
- Total number of YouTube video views - 22 videos, 30,594 views
Top 5 YouTube Videos
- Marineland Canada Topple Tower – 8,466
- Great Wolf Lodge Niagara Falls Bear Track Landing Waterpark – 4,930
- Orca Whale Splash Show at Marineland Canada – 3,541
- Great Wolf Lodge Niagara Falls Bear Track Landing Wave Pool – 2,681
- Jay Cochrane’s Skywalk – 2,300
Now, what does all this mean?
The site is doing great. Obviously the site is drawing in more people than before. The publicity from the Niagara This Week article and the interview on 610 CKTB helped, but not as much as I’d hoped.
I guess I always come back to the question of where do I want this to go? I guess I don’t really know. I supposed ultimately if I could make hundreds of thousands of dollars from the site I’d quit my “day job” and do this full time, but that isn’t going to happen. All I can say is that I want the site to keep growing. I need to keep coming up with good content. I need to keep posting pictures and videos. I certainly need to get moving on the main part of the site (not just the blog).
I have things to do, but you have things to do as well. I need your help! I’m not a marketing guy. I’m having a hard time getting the word about the site. If you know anyone from radio, newspaper, or TV in your area, mention the site and suggest that they feature it. If you have a web site of your own, link to me. If you come to Niagara Falls, let the various operators know that you read about their attraction/hotel/restaurant on Access Niagara or the Niagara Falls Blog. If you’ve been lurking around but haven’t been leaving any comments, please join in! If you have things to say or have found something out, email me and I’ll post what I can.
Thank you all for your help. I look forward to more exciting times ahead!
Last June I linked to an article in the Detroit Free Press about 10 ways to see the Falls. This article was picked up by the wire services and for several days my Google Alerts had links to dozens of reprints of the article. Well, I guess the Miami Herald is a bit behind. They just put it in the other day. So if you missed it, you can check it out:
The first sight of Niagara Falls is unforgettable.
But the second, third or fourth time can be just as memorable.
That’s because there’s more than one way to see water fall.
Most visitors (about 18 million per year) favor the Canadian side for its astounding view of Horseshoe Falls — the big one. But the American side has its charms, too, attracting about 5 to 6 million annually.
How to see the falls in all their glory? Here are 10 ways:
So, yesterday morning I was interviewed on the radio by Tim Denis, the morning show host at 610 CKTB. This is a talk radio station based in St. Catharines, but which has pretty good covereage around much of southern Ontario. I had been called by the producer, Mike Saunders, on Monday. We played phone tag for a bit, but finally were able to confirm the day and time.
I was originally supposed to be on at 7:55 am, but because of the huge snow and ice storm we got, the “storm desk” where they announce all the closures took a long time, so I was on from about 7:57 to 8:00 am. My wife said she heard a promo at about 7:36 am saying that I would be coming up. Also, apparently the interview was replayed at around 9:30 am.
In such a short period of time, I didn’t get into as much as I wanted, but I covered the basics from the Niagara This Week article (although the article was never mentioned by Tim or me). I mentioned going to Maple Leaf Village when I was a teenager, and then now, as I go for my walks, how I just pay attention to what’s going around and post about it. Tim also asked how the people have responded, so I spoke about that for a moment.
Overall, I was very happy with it, and I’ve gotten some good feedback. There has been a small bump in traffic, but similar to the newspaper article, I have to rely on people reading or hearing about the site, and then going to the web and typing in the address.
I recorded the audio so you can listen to it. The MP3 is just under 3 minutes long.
AccessNiagara interview on 610 CKTB
Wow, it looks like my 15 minutes of fame is lasting for 16 minutes…Tomorrow (Wednesday) morning at 7:55 am I will be interviewed by the morning host of 610 CKTB, Tim Denis. I got a call yesterday from the producer, Mike Saunders, and we played phone tag a bit, but I finally confirmed with him this morning. They’ve seen the site and found it interesting. The interview will be for just a few minutes before the 8 o’clock news. The 610 CKTB web site currently says the following (although it changes daily):
At 7:55, we’ll find out about a blog devoted to everything to do with Niagara Falls. St. Catharines resident Graham Wing works in the tourist area of Niagara Falls and has had a life-long fascination with the area. If there is something new or interesting happening, he adds it to his blog, and we’ll find out more in the morning.
You can listen to the radio live online. I’ll see if I can figure out a way to record it so I can post it.
Fun!
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