With SOPA & PIPA behind us, the next potential threat to the internet we know and love is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). ACTA may go much further than SOPA or PIPA ever could have. These agreements have been negotiated in secret between many countries including the United States, Japan, Canada, the European Union and more. Combined efforts to halt invasive legislation that harms all internet users succeeded once and they can succeed again. When you are done enjoying this blog post visit these sites to learn more about ACTA and decide for yourself whether or not opposition is needed:

-          http://www.stopacta.info/

-          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement

-          https://www.eff.org/issues/acta

-          http://www.ustr.gov/acta

To honor those who stood up and joined the fight on January 18^th 2012 we thought it would be fun to document the different anti-SOPA/PIPA blackout web pages that we could find. The events of January 18th, 2012 go to show that when people band together a difference truly can be made. What an incredible world we could create if the online community stood together to make a change in other important matters.

Without further ado…

941mediaproject.com

This was my favorite by far.  I think it speaks for itself.

 

theoatmeal.com

This one made me laugh. Here’s a very creative set of images that I hope will make you laugh too.

Click to laugh - http://theoatmeal.com/sopa

 

wikipedia.org

 

wordpress.org

Find a list of all anti-SOPA related Wordpress plugins that were available at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/tags/sopa.

 

wordpress.com

Joining its sister site, wordpress.com provided a nice mock-up of what the internet could have looked like under the proposed SOPA / PIPA legislation.

 

wired.com

 

 

imgur.com

 

minecraft.net

Minecraft had one of the brighter and more distinct designs of the day.

 

icanhascheezburger.com

All sites in the cheezburger network had theez light boxes displaying their distaste for SOPA & PIPA.

 

mashable.com

 

reddit.com

 

boingboing.net

The near blacked out screen of boingboing’s homepage was symbolic of the blacked out internet resulting from the SOPA & PIPA legislation if it had passed.

 

urbanspoon.com

Our favorite restaurant finder had a tasty little morsel of anti SOPA propaganda for us on their sidebar.

 

mozilla.org

Mozilla went a bit further than most and gave us some tidbits of info on the who, what, where, when & why of the SOPA & PIPA legislation.

 

moveon.org

 

craigslist.org

 

sopastrike.com

The nice people over at sopastrike.com also created this template for anyone to use.

 

vimeo.com

 

This great design was created by Zach Johnson and was shown on his website zachstronaut.com where it could be downloaded by all. A few of the bigger names to use this template were postsecret.com, michaelmoore.com and greenpeace.org. Check out the cool shadow & light effect!

 

digibase.ca

The good people at Digibase Operations, a non-profit technology research and development organization, took it ACTA as well as SOPA and PIPA.

 

 

vladgorenshteyn.tumblr.com

Vlad Gorenshteyn had the most adorable anti-SOPA / PIPA website. Just look at the eyes of that future little social networker. Stop SOPA for the children! It’s for the children!! 

 

 

rawstory.com

 

www.ccianet.org

The Computer & Communications Industry Association got in on the blackout.

 

gamepolitics.com

 

eff.org

 

nvca.org

 

namecheap.com

 

dotsub.com

 

moveon.org

 

vanillaforums.org

 

red5studios.com

 

torproject.org

 

webhostingbuzz.com

 

ragemaker.net

 

destructoid.com

Another great image from Destructiod...

 

asofterworld.com

 

identi.ca

 

majorleaguegaming.com

 

crypto.cat

 

colossalmind.com

 

bitbucket.org

 

infospace.ischool.syr.edu

The only school I found taking part (although there were probably others) was the Syracuse University School of Informational Studies.

 

nomacs.org

 

computerhope.com

 

spursofthemoment.com

 

shorttraveltips.com

 

freeinternetpress.com

 

youn00b.com

 

popculturemadness.com

 

celebritymagnet.com

 

americancensorship.org

Check out this site if you want to learn more about who was behind all the fuss on 1/18/2012.

 

occupybirmingham.co.uk

All the way from the good ol’ UK. Thanks for your support!

 

turkreno.com

This page was both informative and fun to read.

 

thetaoofpooh.com

The Tao of Pooh website had the ultimate minimalist anti-SOPA page.

 

jameswadeweaver.com

 

sopablackout.org

 

rockandwater.net

Nothing here? Look in the top left corner.

 

elderscrolls.wikia.com

This Elder Scrolls wiki had the most official looking design. This could have been what your favorite website looked like if SOPA and PIPA were passed.

 

rockkit.com

 

ronbercume.com

 

jazzsequence.com

 

plaguemusic.com

 

theskaterrack.com

 

whitehouse.gov1.info

This fake White House website got in on the protest.

 

memphisghost.com

 

thegeekychic.wordpress.com

 

Bluefirestudios.com, mgtrepair.net and many others displayed this template created and shared with mutual dislike of the proposed regulations.

 

travelswithdavid.wordpress.com

Travels with David had a welcoming personalized message for all of his readers informing them why his site was blacked out due to the protest of the Stop Internet Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA).

 

stormchaser1.net

 

twitpic.com

 

cdt.org

The Center for Democracy & Technology had a cool slideshow which we have gracefully captured just for your pure viewing enjoyment. I don’t have a cool slideshow for you but I do have screenshots of a slideshow...

 

And last but not least… Google

Not that you really need a link Google but I just out of principle I can’t give you one because nearly 1/5 of all the keywords in my analytics are (not provided). No love from you = no love from me. L

 

Here is an article on how Google slowed down spiders to avoid penalizing blacked out sites (this still doesn’t make up for all the (not provided)’s in my Google Analytics). - http://techland.time.com/2012/01/18/google-slows-down-spiders-to-avoid-penalizing-blacked-out-sites/

Click here for a cool infographic from the big G - https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

Hello everyone!

First off, hope you had a fantastic holiday and start to the new year. Also, a HUUUGE thanks to everyone that made it out to our party on December 16th -- it was such a blast! We hope you had fun as well. To those that couldn't make it: you really missed out, but you were there in spirit. Thank you all for the love and support you've given us. Bonsai wouldn't be where we are today without it. We're hoping for even bigger and better prospects, clients, contracts, and consequently, parties in 2012 =D

Does it ever seem like I'm the only that posts in here, by the way? I guess we're the only department at BMG to do anything noteworthy... Or maybe I just like tooting our own horn. Regardless, another site has been designed by our awesome Creative team and developed in Umbraco by the development team. 

We've worked with Seattle Nutritionist Michelle Babb for a while on SEO, but to really push her rankings and conversions to the next level, she had to get a new website. Below is a screencap of the before- and after-shot of her website.

 

BEFORE

 

AFTER

 

We modernized the look and feel of the website with more color and interactivity. Plus, with the website in the Umbraco, Michelle can update the content at will. This website should last her for the next three to five years. So, if you are looking to upgrade the design of your website OR want to convert it into a content management system, contact us or give us a call -- we'd be happy to help in any way. If we can't meet your needs, there are lots of people in our network we know and trust that can help. Thanks and to a great 2012!

 

 

Seattle area online marketing and SEO firm, Bonsai Media Group will be rolling out their new brand image and website redesign Friday December 16^th, 2011 at Nijo Sushi located in downtown Seattle near the ferry terminal.  The party is being held to celebrate a brand refresh for the Seattle start-up.                               

The focus of the celebration is the introduction of Bonsai Media Group’s new website.  Jason LaBaw, Bonsai co-founder and CEO commented, “The website will be a unique experience typically found on Flash.”  The new website will feature the latest web design technologies available – HTML5, CSS3, and jQuery.  LaBaw further noted the benefit of these standards allow websites to be used to their full functionality on all web browsers and mobile devices, including iPhones and iPads.  The website will be on display at Nijo Sushi throughout the party.  Bonsai web developer, Phil Ng noted that, “Parallax scrolling and Umbraco content management are some technologies we are implementing.”  Bonsai Media Group co-founder and web designer, Elliott Omlin commented about the innovative website redesign, “with the new site we really wanted to put our best foot forward, to utilize a lot of the current technologies out there, and put together a site that represents what's possible with Bonsai at the helm.”  He continued, “The concept behind it is very unique and the way we're putting it together hasn't really been done yet in this way.”  Bonsai president, Jason LaBaw gave a teaser that there “may be a 3D version of the site!”  Partygoers will get a firsthand look at the incredible new site on December 16^th.  

Those interested in attending the event will need to RSVP on the party’s Facebook Event Page . Directions and details of the event can be found here as well. Guests will enjoy light appetizers, drinks, dancing, and music.  It will also be a great opportunity to network with other business people from the Seattle area. 

 

About Bonsai Media Group 

Founded in April 2009, the Seattle online marketing firm has been working successfully with local and national clients. The firm got its start in April 2009 with one happy client and has served thirty clients from a variety of industries. Bonsai Media Group’s core philosophy is to challenge its clients to think outside the box in how they market themselves online.  That innovative approach has enabled Bonsai to help clients gain growth rates up to 542% in online traffic and increase 87% in online sales.  What does the future hold for the up-and-coming SEO agency?  LaBaw sees the company working closely with partners and clients that “want to push what’s possible” by creating cross-platform, engaging content.  

 

 

Hello all

Ever since we got certified back in June, we've only been developing sites in Umbraco. This is news of another one! Lo and behold, Kelley Ross! Thanks to our awesome design team for flexing their creative brains in making an amazing design.

 

Part of the power of Umbraco is that multiple websites can be managed through one backend, so we developed Kelley Ross' two other sites.

 

 

I had an idea to also include a screenshot of the Umbraco backend so you guys can get a look

 

So as we've mentioned, any non-technical person can go in and change the content of their website.

Anyway, we've been pretty busy around here. The rebrand party where we unveil our new website is next week. Plus we're starting to build our reputation and getting to work with bigger and bigger companies. Kelley Ross had been our largest contract at the time of signing, but we recently signed some other big names. Again, stay tuned because Bonsai is definitely going places, and that place is up! Have a great rest of the weekend!

We designed and developed another awesome website in Umbraco: http://www.seattle-homecare.com! Screenshots below. Check it out yo!