Last week I signed up at AlwaysOn, "The Insiders Network," a super-blog created by one of the founders of Red Herring. It's too early for me to judge whether the content of this site is going to worthwhile, so instead I'll pick on some of the more superficial ways in which they are annoying me.

First, it is supposed to be an 'insider's network' but they let anyone join. I'm not an insider, yet I have joined.

Next, I get an email this morning from the founder announcing his take on the demise of Red Herring. Fine. How about including a URL in the email? Oh, I'm supposed to remember that the site's URL is www.alwayson-network.com? Luckily I had my bookmarks handy.

When I get to the site they hit me with a "join now" pop-up, even though I've already joined. It's called a cookie guys, learn to use it. The pop-up is wrong in many ways, mostly because it re-appears after every click on the site. Only by logging-in or clicking the incredibly small "Not Today, Thank You" link can I make it go away.

Finally I note their backhanded threat/offer to "Join Today, While It's Still Free." How about this for a business model - if I pay for a subscription you give me a URL I can actually remember.