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Author: Mark Cahill

Simple Search and Why CSS Design

Simple Search and Why CSS Design

Despite all the discussion, search engines are simple things.  They read web pages, decide what they are about, then categorize and rank them. As business owners, we need to ensure that we’re getting good results from search.  The problem is, if we aren’t, we’re probably never going to know the opportunities we’re missing out on. Take a few minutes to examine how your site is found by Google and MSN, the two primary search engines.  Here’s how you do it:…

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2% “Answer People” in Social Media

2% “Answer People” in Social Media

In a paper entitled “Visualizing the Signatures of Social Roles in Online Discussion Groups” published in the Journal of Social Structure, the authors, Howard T. Welser of Cornell University, Eric Gleave of University of Washington and Microsoft Research, and Danyel Fisher and Marc Smith of Microsoft Research assert that 2% of the online forum or usenet culture consists of “answer” people who spend a disproportionate amount of time answering questions for the online public at large. We identify a structural…

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Friday Music Video: Edie Brickell & New Bohemians

Friday Music Video: Edie Brickell & New Bohemians

I can’t get enough of this song.  Originally released on Shooting Rubberbands at Stars in 1988, this is from the Fillmore, San Francisco, October 17, 2007. Dig deeper! Select Live Archive Mp3 Download: 10/25/06 Martyr’s, Chicago, IL, the last show of their tour.  Available for free in streaming and full download.  This is an audience recording, so there is crowd noise, but it’s good for an aud. Artist Homepage: http://www.newbohemians.com/ Wikipedia Entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edie_Brickell_%26_New_Bohemians

The Curse of the Splogs

The Curse of the Splogs

Like veritable plaques visited on the house of Blogdom, Splogs are fast making blog search irrelevant. For those unfamiliar with the term, the definition from Wikipedia: Spam blogs, sometimes referred to by the neologism splogs, are artificially created weblog sites which the author uses to promote affiliated websites or to increase the search engine rankings of associated sites. The purpose of a splog can be to increase the PageRank or backlink portfolio of affiliate websites, to artificially inflate paid ad…

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The New Age of Shoddy

The New Age of Shoddy

Rob O’Regan posts today that the Iphone’s success will largely hinge on the cell phone provider ATT Wireless (formerly Cingular, the carrier I use).  Wireless carriers in general have shown a remarkable ability to not care about their customers, opting to put far more effort into acquiring new ones than retaining existing subscribers. When you get a dropped signal while making a call or surfing the Web from your phone, you blame the network provider, not the handset maker. But with…

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The “Not Buy” Decision

The “Not Buy” Decision

I was talking with Scott Bradley yesterday and we got onto the subject of online selling and how it’s not always appropriate for every website.  If you’re one of those businesses, you might be led to think that would devalue the need for a website.  Nothing could be further from the truth. How do your customers find you today? Yellow page ads are fast becoming a thing of the past.  They’re still important for some businesses, most notably service businesses,…

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Is Technorati Down For the Count?

Is Technorati Down For the Count?

Technorati has for years provided blog search and blog authority ratings.   They’ve traditionally been known for having technical glitches, from their site tending to be slow, or completely down.  But for the most part, bloggers adopted them as the de facto measurement tool for how well read blogs are. Since their recent update, in which they revamped how they rank blogs, as well putting a shiny new look on their site, things appear to have headed down hill. First off,…

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Web 2.0, Social Networking and Retail Websites

Web 2.0, Social Networking and Retail Websites

I was talking with a business owner the other day who seemed like they really got the concept of creating a consumer community rather than simply “fishing for customers.  They were doing events in their store aimed at educating their customers on their products, and have always taken a proactive customer service approach.  He mentioned they were redoing their website and said “I’ve got a student working on it.”  I bit my tongue and continued to talk with him. So…

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Friday Music Video – Larry Coryell and The Eleventh House

Friday Music Video – Larry Coryell and The Eleventh House

Larry Coryell – The Eleventh House, 1973, with Randy Brecker trumpet, Mike Mandel keyboards, Danny Trifan bass and Alphonse Mouzon on drums.  A seminal, power fusion group that I don’t think ever truly got it’s due. Dig deeper: Wikipedia – Larry Coryell Wikipedia – The Eleventh House LarryCoryell.net For some other tasty Larry Coryell, check you tube for some of his work with John McLaughlin and Al Dimeola.