I do all the fun reputation management stuff for my personal name and company brands - also for a few clients. But what about in foreign languages?

With SphinnCon Sold Out and a ton of Israeli press coming, might be smart to try to stay on top of my name in hebrew?

So maybe a Google Alert for בארי שוורץ? Of course, blog search results and news results. Also, for Sphinncon Israel searches and maybe RustyBrick but in hebrew?

Some notes for me for later... Need to subscribe to these things in an organized fashion...

Posted at 9:31 AM | Permalink | Category: SEO Tips | Comments (2) (0)

A RustyBricker sent this to me, Browsershots. It basically asks you for a web address and then it will capture screen captures of your site in dozens and dozens of browsers with dozens of operating systems and dozens of other variables like screen resolutions.

The Search Engine Roundtable doesn't look too bad in Epiphany 2.20 / Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon) or Iceweasel 2.0.0.10 / Debian 4.0 (Etch).

I think the CSS needs some help in MSIE 5.5 / Windows 2000, don't you?

Very neat and useful tool to leave you with before my flight.

Posted at 8:59 AM | Permalink | Category: Web Development | Comments (0) (0)

Something I didn't know until now. But now, I go... Oh, I hear the Israeli accent a bit....

This MacBook Air commercial:

Has a song by an Israeli artist named Yael Naim:

Now, do you hear the Israeli accent? A little?

Posted at 3:46 PM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs , Music | Comments (12) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Google's 404 page is lousy. Does duplicating your ads headline work? Yahoo forgot to renew their certificate. Canadian AdSense publishers are getting two payments. Use Link Diagnosis to analysis your competitors. adCenter advertisers, be prepared for spike in content ads traffic. Google does bar codes on print ads. Yahoo's earnings announcement was off. SEMPO, SEOmoz and SEMMYS ask for help.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Should Google Spice Up Their "404 Not Found" Pages?
2. Duplicate AdWords Headline in Description: Does It Work?
3. Yahoo Forgets to Renew Security Certificate for Publisher Network
4. Canadian Google AdSense Publishers Reporting Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Issues
5. Examine Your Competition with Link Diagnosis
6. Microsoft adCenter Advertisers: Prepare For Spike in Content Ads Traffic
7. Google Takes Advertising to TV and Print with Bar Codes
8. Yahoo's Stock is Going Down

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. SEMPO State Of SEM Survey, SEOmoz Industry Survey & SEMMYS Need Your Help

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 30th issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 30th, 2008:

• A Position 6 Penalty?, WebProNews
• Google Says EDU Links Are No Smarter Than Others, Sphinn
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 29, 2008, Search Engine Land
• .edu Links Has No Advantage Over .com or .net, SEO Hong Kong
• Getting Started in Search Engine Optimization, Eric Lander
• Herramientas SEO para profesionales, adseok
• Mobile Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Services Mobiles
• New Tagline at SEO Book..., SEO Book
• Penalizacin -6 un bug de Google?, BitSignals
• Tips on Managing In-House Paid Search, SEO Hong Kong

Posted at 3:16 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) (0) | Speak

Tomorrow I am off to Israel. It is a vacation, family-thing, and business trip for RustyBrick and SEO thing. What work will I be doing while on this vacation?

• SphinnCon Israel
• Meet one or two RustyBrick clients
• Invoicing clients this Friday
• Daily email
• Forum research and threads for the Search Engine Roundtable
• RSS search research for Search Engine Land
• And I am sure misc items

Will this upset the wife? Probably but I will do my best to wake up earlier to get this stuff out of the way during sleep hours.

I just take my responsibilities incredibly serious - so I can't leave RustyBrick, clients, Tamar or Danny and team, and the SEM community hanging...

Posted at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Category: Travels | Comments (5) (0)

Yesterday, we sold out our attendance at 15 above our 150 cap, to 165, for SphinnCon Israel. I was comfortable going with 15 above the 150 cap we set, because about 6 or so of those 15 extra seats will be sitting on the panel and I am sure ten or more will be late or not showing up.

I was also told we can fit a nice amount of people in folding chairs in the back.

Now that we are sold out, there are people asking me to register them. Some claim technical issues when trying to register early. Some I am told were suppose to be registered earlier but something was miscommunicated.

So now I am in a pickle. I don't want to turn people away, but I have been doing so since yesterday. Some people I have no choice but to add. Plus the university hosting the event wants some of their students to access the event. I am told by the university that they can hook up a display and speakers in the lobby for those that show up late, and people can listen in the lobby. So I think we should be okay, but I am a bit worried about it.

On one hand it is good to be sold out but on the other hand, I don't want people to feel like they are packed in like sardines. Overall, for $50, to be packed in like sardines and get the quality of speakers and panelists they are getting - it is well worth it. So maybe I shouldn't worry?

Posted at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Category: SEO Tips | Comments (0) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

SphinnCon Israel is now sold out! Google confirmed the position six penalty and is reversing it. Google says EDU links are not better. Yahoo's update is completing. Are you a search spammer. Rumors spread of Google paid reviews. Google does Q and A on PubCon. Red flags for link building. SEMPO nominates board. Google helps in another murder. Microsoft partners with the Wall Street Journal.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Confirmed: Google Position 6 Penalty Being Reversed
2. Google Says EDU Links Are Not Better Links
3. Yahoo Search January '08 Update Complete
4. Google AdSense to be Running a Paid Reviews Program?
5. Are You a Search Spammer?
6. Jonathan Simon of Google Answers Questions from Pubcon 2007
7. Learning from Google's Red Flags in Link Building
8. SphinnCon Israel Sold Out

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Google's Position Six Penalty (Or Bug) A Reality
2. The Nominees Are In For SEMPO's 2008 Board Of Directors
3. Once Again, A Google Murder Case
4. Microsoft adCenter To Power Ads On Wall Street Journal Digital Network

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 29th issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 29th, 2008:

• Google Celebrates 50 Years of Lego!!, Diamond Vues
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 28, 2008, Search Engine Land
• links for 2008-01-29, oggin.net
• Google dice que los links .edu no son mejores, SEO Femenino
• Google Position 6 Smack-Down: Filter, Penalty, or Bunk?, Atlanta SEO
• Google removes the #6 penalty/filter/glitch, sebastians-pamphlets.com
• Google's Position Six Penalty A Reality, Search Engine Land
• La penalizacin posicin 6 un error del buscador de Google?, Dr. Max Glaser
• Question 5: What will keep people coming back to my web site?, EduCyber
• SEO Weekend Update, BruceClay.com

Posted at 3:18 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (1) (0) | Speak

Part of my international geek travel guide is to rent a mobile phone that works in Israel. Last year, I went with Travel Cell and I was very happy. This year, I am going with Amigo.

Why Amigo? Well, this year, unlike last year, I am going with a bunch of family. The Amigo phones have this annoying "Push to Talk" feature (like the Nextel Walkie Talkie feature). So we can easily talk for free to each other via the PTT feature, instead of using minutes. We all got the Amigo phones so that we can do this. We all picked up the phones last night from an authorized dealer.

Last night, I began programming in the phone numbers of our other family members so that I have quick access to the PTT information when needed. I soon realized the phone is in Hebrew. I am sure I could switch it to English, but why not leave it in Hebrew.

I then added my wife, ישע, then my name to her phone, ברי which is pronounced Barry, as opposed to ברוך, my Hebrew Jewish name. Then my mom, אמא and dad, אבא. Then my sister, גק', and brother-in-law דו. I am sure I spelled the English versions of their name wrong. Well, for my mother, no way am I going to try to spell אדרין or for my dad, ליון. Of course, I could of used their Jewish Hebrew names, but this was a bit more fun.

I am without a phone that checks email over a cell connection when in Israel. I will have my iPhone which will connect to wifi networks and I have my laptop which does that as well. My hotel will have Internet, it will be slow. The blackberry like services in Israel, I hear, are a fortune.

Posted at 10:45 AM | Permalink | Category: Travels , iPhone | Comments (0) (0)

I told you I ordered Office 2008, well - yesterday afternoon I installed it. After the install, Safari, my browser, starting displaying weird fonts and characters. So I rebooted and everything seemed fine.

Well, not everything...

The fonts for the post titles at Search Engine Land seemed to have become more of a rounded font from what I remember seeing. I just wish I had a picture of how the fonts looked at Search Engine Land before installing Office 2008. But I don't.

Here is what it looks like now:

Much more rounded then I remember.

Outside of that. Microsoft Word and PowerPoint were both tested and seem to work fine. Excel does also.

Posted at 9:12 AM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs | Comments (0) (0)

I already wrote about Geeks & Airline Security, so this is going to be my international version. Yes, there are new things I need when traveling international.

Here is a list of geek items I need for the trip:

• plug converters
• monitor cables
• ear phones
• iphone earphone adapter
• batteries
• extra laptop battery
• airline computer plug
• apple remote
• extra power cord
• wireless travel modem
• ethernet cable
• airline ear phones
• electronic tickets
• digital form of hotel vouchers
• passport
• confirm kosher food on flight
• rent mobile phone
• send out emails to family/friends/co-workers/clients with ways to be reached

That is my list so far...

What is up with the lego plane? More on that over here.

Posted at 3:50 PM | Permalink | Category: Computers , Travels , iPhone | Comments (3) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

LEGO turns fifty! Google likes ten local results. Google's geographic target feature takes about two months. Google fixed the referral payout issue. Hacked, we got some advice. Google Analytics Advisor starts posting at WebmasterWorld. Is Google's reinclusion process scalable? Does Google theme? Eric Schdmit is all about mobile. Google experimental gets whacky!

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Google Celebrates 50 Years of Lego with Lego Logo
2. Google Tells Us, We Need More Local Results
3. Google Picks Up Geographic Target Setting Within Two Months
4. Google Fixes Referrals Commission Issue
5. Site Got Hacked? Google Offers Advice on Next Steps
6. Google AnalyticsAdvisor Starts Posting in WebmasterWorld Forum
7. A Suggestion for a More Scalable Reinclusion Request Procedure
8. Does Google Use Theming to Group Together Similar Sites?
9. Google CEO Eric Schmidt Proposes "Mobile Revolution"

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Google Lego Logo: Google Offers Lego 50th Birthday Wishes
2. Google Experimental Search Adds Info View & Map View

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 28th issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 28th, 2008:

• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 25, 2008, Search Engine Land
• Blended Search Is The Toy In Your Happy Meal, BruceClay.com
• Friday Recap, BruceClay.com
• Google SEO Experts, Who are they, Who's Who, The Fresh Guy
• Today's Finds - Feisty Friday, Cre8PC
• Whats your favorite part of Google, Live and Yahoo, DaveN
• Will We See Delicious 2.0 This Week? (Michael Arrington/TechCrunch), Techmeme
• Googler lser text i bilder, Blogg om SEO
• מחפשים בע"מ, Globes.co.il
• Pay Per Click Advertising | Roundup for Jan. 19 through Jan. 25, 2008, Apollo SEM
• Quais as ferramentas que os gurus do SEO usam?, Bloga-se
• 50 years of the lego brick, National Museums Liverpool Blog
• Agora o Wordpress bloqueia motores de busca?, Bloga-se
• Facebook Ads & Applications: Critical SEM Learning Curve, Search Engine Watch Blog
• Google Lego Logo: Google Offers Lego 50th Birthday Wishes (Barry Schwartz/Search Engine Land), Techmeme
• LIS637: Assignment 1, lis637s08.blogspot.com
• Logga i Lego fr femtioringen, Resultatblogg

Posted at 3:28 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) (0) | Speak

Ah, the front door. I rarely ever use my front door, rarely. But yet it is there. There for people to knock on, leave packages at, show people out, and to peak through the peephole.

Why am I writing about a front door? Besides for being extremely tired, I am 100% not bored. I had to work up a blog post that brought in some event from my weekend. We had my sister-in-laws, brother-in-law and two nieces over for Shabbos. My brother-in-law said I need to blog about one particular event from the Shabbos. Thing is, I can't get too personal with these posts, so I decided to talk about a front door.

Front door? What does a front door have to do with family? Good question!

Walking back from evening prayers Friday night, I began to walk through the garage door, which has a "shabbos lock." My brother-in-law asked, why don't I use the front door. I said, this way I don't have to bother anyone to answer the door. I just walk in through the garage. So, to make him happy, we went through the front door that time. But I rarely ever use that door.

I know a lot of people that don't use their front doors. I also know a lot of people that do. What type of person are you? Are you a front door type or not?

Posted at 9:31 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (6) (0)

Noa Prag, נועה פרג, of The Globes, גלובס, an Israeli Hebrew paper interviewed me the other week for the SphinnCon Israel event. נועה is one of גלובס's technology writers. Earlier last week, she was reporting on the DLD Conference in Germany.

We chatted for about 30 minutes and posted the interview at גלובס. The write up is named מחפשים בע"מ and the first paragraph reads:

בארי שוורץ, נשיא ראסטי-בריק, הוא אחד שיודע איך לדחוף קדימה אתר מסוים באינטרנט, ולא רק בגוגל. בשפה המקצועית קוראים לזה SEO, וזה לא תמיד מסתדר עם תחום ה-SMO, החיפוש ברשתות חברתיות. על אופטימיזציה של מנועי חיפוש, על טרנד המובייל, וגם על מקומה של ישראל בשוק האינטרנט העולמי. ריאיון

בארי שוורץ is my name, Barry Schwartz. נשיא means president. ראסטי-בריק is RustyBrick. It basically says I know stuff about Google and other search engines, including SEO, SMO and we are doing a conference on it in Israel. She then posted the details of the interview.

There are several comments on the article, which I am clueless to as what they mean. I can barely understand the write up - my Hebrew is pretty bad. I can read it, understand some, but not most of it. So if anyone wants to translate the comments, please do so - I am very curious...

In any event, we are a few seats to being sold out and I am so excited for the event. I am told no one wears suits in Israel and that I should come dressed very casual - so I will listen and dress casual. See you there and thanks Noa at the Globes - see you there also!

Posted at 9:14 AM | Permalink | Category: SEO Tips | Comments (2) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Google sent me a letter, so I am a partner. Google Health is coming soon, would you dare? Google Domain Park gets stricter. Yahoo Search Marketing has keyword limits. SEMMYS are out. Usability over SEO? Google, don't hurt me for footer links. Email marketing edges out search marketing. Politicians have to play nice on AdWords. Watch Google Maps edits in real-time. Search in pictures is out.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. SEO Company Using Generic Letter from Google to Attract New Clients
2. Google Wants Your Medical Records : Google Health
3. Google May Improve Domain Park Ads With "Ad Grace Period"
4. Yahoo Search Marketing Max Keyword Limits
5. The SEMMYs Finalists are In: Vote Now
6. Some Sites Need Usability Makeovers, Not SEO
7. Does Google Penalize Too Many Footer Links?

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Google Domain Park To Cease Ads On Domain Tasting Sites
2. Survey Says: Search Right Behind Email Marketing In Best-Performing Category
3. Google AdWords Won't Allow Personal Attacks On Politicians
4. New: Real-Time Google Maps Edits In New Edits Viewer
5. Search in Pictures: Google Cake, Banana Room, Kate Nash @ Yahoo

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 25th issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 25th, 2008:

• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 24, 2008, Search Engine Land
• links for 2008-01-25, oggin.net
• Avoiding the well known #4 SERP-hero-penalty..., sebastians-pamphlets.com
• Google Domain Park To Cease Ads On Domain Tasting Sites, Search Engine Land
• Google Position 6 Smack-Down: Filter, Penalty, or Bunk?, Search Engine Watch Blog
• Jake SEO nastroje pouzivaji odbornici?, Interval.cz
• New Job Site Pays You to Interview - Notchup.com, Justin Davy
• Podivna umasta - Adsense, Webtrh
• Wordpress Blocking Search Engines?, The YouMonitor.Us Blog
• Would You Pay $1 For A Feed?, CenterNetworks

Posted at 2:09 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) (0) | Speak

Is it rude to blog while in an in person meeting?

Anyway, I just invited like a 100 people to NotchUp, a new beta job site. The difference? Well, you get paid by companies who are interested in you. They pay you, just to interview you. No strings attached...

Want an invite? Comment below with your email, name, etc.

Posted at 11:51 AM | Permalink | Category: Shopping | Comments (25) (0)

Talk about a busy morning, before the morning begins...

Starting at about 6:30 and finishing with this post at about 9:30 am.

(1) Set up new advertiser on blog.
(2) Handled some SMX Israel stuff, not much.
(3) Sorted through dozens of emails.
(4) Scanned over 300 new items in my RSS reader.
(5) Researched several forums for content on the Search Engine Roundtable
(6) Posted four items at the Search Engine Roundtable
(7) Organized 50 topics for Search Engine Land within RustyBudget.
(8) Blogged 4 items that are now live at Search Engine Land and blogged one item scheduled to go live at 12 at Search Engine Land.
(9) Reviewed one of the four stories Tamar has written at Search Engine Roundtable.
(10) And wrote this post.

I had misc phone calls and more emails during those ten items, just not sure at what steps.

I am running into a long long meeting in less then 30 minutes, so I had to get this all done prior. I doubt I'll have time to do the video recap today, so I might be holding off on that for the next few weeks until after I come back from Israel.

I love the rush of speed blogging. Oh, that picture is of me blogging while in car to NYC.

Posted at 9:29 AM | Permalink | Category: Blogging | Comments (4) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

ShoeMoney challenges Danny Sullivan. Google's traffic estimator tool is not working for international keywords. Google relaunches demographic bidding. Ask let's you customize the home page. Google News goes offline. Double up your links. Get top search placement now! You can now vote on the SEMMYS. YouTube improves the mobile version.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. ShoeMoney Vs. SEOs & Danny Sullivan Podcast Available
2. International Google Traffic Estimator Tool Data Off
3. Google AdWords Relaunches Demographic Bidding
4. Customize Your Ask.com Home Page
5. Google News Searches Stop Working Temporarily
6. Duplicate Links: Better to be Safe Than Sorry?
7. Guarantee Top Search Placement Masked Through PPC Ads

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Google Gets Demographic Targeting, But Didn't They Already Have That?
2. The 2008 SEMMYS Awards Are Open
3. YouTube Improves YouTube Mobile Version

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 24th issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 24th, 2008:

• Danny Sullivan - kratki intervju samo za nas, SEO.hr blog
• Position Six Penalty at Google, SEO Hong Kong
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 23, 2008, Search Engine Land
• SEO Guru Tools, The SEO Bible
• What SEO Tools do Gurus Use?, Sphinn
• What You Will Find In Our SEO Toolbox, SearchRank Blog
• Give Me Some Skin: Ask Gets More Personal (The Ask.com Blog), Techmeme
• Google AdWords cold callers, WebProWorld
• Google Gets Demographic Targeted, But Didn't They Already Have That?, Search Engine Land
• Google Testing Click To Call Again?, Search Engine Land
• Links Subject to Copyright Concerns?, Sphinn
• SEOize your iPhone, SEO Wrench

Posted at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) (0) | Speak

It has been a while since I really cleaned my office. I tend to be a very clean and organized individual. I can blame my mother for that. In any event, I threw away so much stuff just 30 minutes ago. I organized some of my books, files, documents, CDs, etc.

Here is a video of my new clean office:

Trust me, before it was very clean also. But now this is extremely clean. I even used disinfecting wipes!

Posted at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Category: RustyBrick | Comments (7) (0)

I recently ordered Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac. I should be getting it early next week. I will be using two of the five applications on there. And I will be using only one of those applications daily.

I use Word every day for proofing some things and reading Word attachments. Word is still a really powerful application. Of course, nothing comes close to Excel - so that is a must have. I hear 2008 has no issue with those .docx files, so that is a good thing.

I no longer use Entourage, the email program that comes with 2008. I also recently stopped using PowerPoint, and I am now using Apple Keynote for my presentations. It exports to everything, but when you export to certain formats, it loses some of the special effects. So for my Israel presentation, if I have problems connecting my Mac to the system at the university, I will have a fully functional QuickTime version as a backup. The QuickTime version runs perfectly and should run on 90% of PCs.

In any event, I should be getting Office 2008 on Monday. Looking forward to testing it out. Leopard compatible, so it should speed up Word and Excel. I hope!

Posted at 9:10 AM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs | Comments (0) (0)

An Ask.com feature I have been craving for a while is finally done. Here it is:

You too can customize your Ask.com home page, more on how over here.

Posted at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Category: Blogging | Comments (0) (0)

Hey, Google Fiance, I want to be able to embed Google Finance charts on my blog or web site. I want the option to copy a snippet of code and paste it on my blog for others to view. Yes, I know - you will need to give an option for dynamic updates to those charts or keep the chart as is on a specific time/date. But you can do it, and it would be used.

For me to show the drop in price of Google and Apple relative to the NASDAQ, I need to steal a picture of your chart, throw it on Flickr and embed it that way here.

Give me an option, like you have with Google Maps, to embed it!

You already give us a link to address, so I know the embed feature is easy. And it will save me so much time...

Posted at 3:52 PM | Permalink | Category: Blogging | Comments (7) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Don't you just love those vanity search ads? The number 6 penalty lingers. AdSense goes down. Don't float those AdSense ads. Ask UK hires Googler. AdCenter forces higher bids. Check out our SEO tools list. Baidu launches in Japan. Google Maps causes war between North and South Korea. Google is the best place to work, period!

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Companies Spending Too Much on Vanity Search Ads?
2. Google Reverses Number 6 Penalty?
3. Google AdSense Goes Down For Couple Hours
4. Google Says No to Floating AdSense Ads
5. Ask.com UK Hires Former Google Exec
6. Microsoft adCenter Requiring Advertisers To Increase Bid Prices
7. What SEO Tools do Gurus Use?

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Baidu Relaunches In Japan
2. South Korea To Google: Return Our Cities From North Korea
3. Google's Mysterious Position Six Penalty
4. Google Best Place To Work; Says Fortune Magazine

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 23rd issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 23rd, 2008:

• Linky Goodness, January 22, Marketing Pilgrim
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 22, 2008, Search Engine Land
• links for 2008-01-23, oggin.net
• 10 Ways To Increase Pages Indexed, WebProNews
• Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day: the Search Engine Style, Logo Design Blog
• Google's Mysterious Position Six Penalty, Search Engine Land
• Google's Remove URLs Feature Removes For 90 Days Only, Sphinn
• Google, Give Us a Way to Turn Off Google Universal Search Results, Sphinn
• La eliminacin de pginas de Google solo dura tres meses, adseok
• Os links ficam velhos e expiram quando ficam velhos?, fabioricotta
• SMX West 2008 - Search Marketing Expo Santa Clara CA, Online Marketing Blog
• SMX West Coming Up Fast, WebProNews

Posted at 3:48 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) (0) | Speak

SphinnCon Israel is just under two weeks away and it is amazing how much work is involved in setting one of these things up. Keep in mind, this is just a half day event, not one of these multiple day events, with lunches, hotels, exhibit halls and so on - all we had to worry about was a half day event.

But things are going very well. We have about 10 tickets remaining before we sell out. I am very happy about that. I wanted to reach out personally and thank those who have helped out both in terms of their time and money.

Contributors: There are a handful of people who have helped make this networking event possible in such a short time span. I cannot list everyone, because I received several dozen emails from advice, requests, support and guidance. But I wanted to name a handful who have been active on a day-to-day basis with the planning of the event.

• Michael Barnett from RankAbove has been extremely active is helping organize the speakers, the hand out and much more. Thank you Michael!
• Eli Feldblum the CEO of RankAbove for helping with the initial set up, daily emails and having three members of his company devoted to this event. Thanks Eli.
• Roi Hildesheimer from Tens Web Marketing for doing a lot of the behind the scenes things!
• Gilad Sasson (algoholic) from nekuda.co.il. Gilad helped around and gave advice from the perspective of a veteran Israeli SEO.
• Mayer Reich RankAbovefor helping coordinate the speakers and panelists and much more.
• Branko Rihtman of Tens Web Marketing (aka neyne) has been helping all over the board, from sponsors to the venue to speakers - Branko has been instrumental in setting this up.

Sponsors: These are the guys who are handing over the cash so that we can pay for printing the handout, banners, and name badges. The also help pay for the food and drinks in the after hours events. Sponsoring the venue and hardware and internet for the presentations. Without their financial contributions, it would be hard to pull off the event, with just the $50 per attendee.

• Play65, an online backgammon site (backgammon is huge in Israel, I think). They have agreed to sponsor the first ever SphinnCon Israel. Thank you so much and make sure to give backgammon a shot, it rocks!

  



• K.co.il, a Hebrew Internet Marketing site and portal. K has a thriving Hebrew SEO forum tons of members and tons of posts and threads. Thank you K!

  



• Compucall, yes, they have an English version. Compucall is a Web marketing company that does SEO, PPC, web analytics, email marketing and much more. The company is lead by Ophir Cohen (his blog), who started the company in 1999 and has been in the SEO industry forever. Thank you!

  

• The Jerusalem College of Technology's Department of Technological Management and Marketing. They have been gracious to host the event for us at their campus, for free. They are giving us a huge lobby and huge class room that will fit 150 people comfortably. Thank you JCT!

  

Panelists & Speakers: And of course, a huge thank you to the speakers and panelists who have been confirmed. Those not mentioned above include Sam Michelson CEO of Five Blocks, Avi Wilensky CEO of Promedia Corp, Itai Levitan the Managing Partner at EasyNet, Alon Sheafer the Founder of Kenshoo, Tal Cohen the Finance and Technology Industry Manager at Google Israel, Michael G. Samet, Ph.D. the CEO, Referral Technology, Inc., Tzvika Avnery aPartner at Tagadam, Roi Carthy of TechCrunch and Lior Hene of Yedda.

Thank you all for making this possible and helping bring SMX to Israel!

Posted at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Category: SEO Tips | Comments (1) (0)

I sign a lot of papers, I hate papers, but I sign them anyway. Checks, IRS forms, contracts, and so on.

Today, I was asked to email a copy of my signature to be used on the SphinnCon Israel handout. So I sent over one that I use on my proposal emails and I then scanned in a few others.

My signature really stinks! At least I think so. Typically, I will just sign my last name or part of my last name, cause I am in a rush. When trying to sign my whole name, it takes too long and I feel it comes out weird.

I am not artist, but is there a way to teach oneself to have a pretty looking signature that takes little time to sign?

Posted at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Category: Daily Grind | Comments (2) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Make sure you install WordPress properly or you might block spiders. Google's remove URL is 90 days long. Can you hide text and links from users? I want to be able to turn off Google Universal Results. Can you link to anyone? Google forgives IncrediMail. Yahoo is to layout workers. Chinese kissers caught on YouTube. Get the Google, I mean Oogle Sari. Google fails press response test. Yahoo announces the search update, finally.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Wordpress Installation Now Blocking Search Engines?
2. Google's Remove URLs Feature Removes For 90 Days Only
3. Can You Hide Text & Links From Your Users, If Search Engines Won't See?
4. Give Me My Classic Google Back! Turn Off Google Universal Search Results
5. Are Links Themselves Subject to Copyright Concerns?
6. Google and IncrediMail Collaborate Once Again
7. Yahoo to Lay Off Hundreds of Workers

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Chinese Kissing Couple Sues Subway Operator For Uploading Video to YouTube
2. Google Walks Down Fashion Avenue: The Oogle Sari
3. After A Month, Google Fails The One Hour Guaranteed Press Response Test
4. Yahoo Search Update: First Update Of 2008

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 22nd issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 22nd, 2008:

• Google Webmaster Team Releases Guide for Newbies, Sphinn
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 21, 2008, Search Engine Land
• 2008 prediction number 1, Half-Geek
• Creating Killer Web Personas in Under 30 Minutes, Real Estate Marketing Blog
• Fragen & Antworten bei Elch-Salami und chinesischem Bier, SEPfm
• Google starts new domain !!, open topix
• Once a day SEO: Google URL Removal Feature Works for 90 Days, onceadayseo.blogspot.com
• The Google Money Grab: Serving Ads from Capped Budgets , The SERPzone
• Yahoo Search Update: First Update Of 2008, Search Engine Land

Posted at 3:15 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (1) (0) | Speak

Watch GOOG slide down that slope. Wow...

December 24, 2007 through January 22, 2007 down $117.

Posted at 9:59 AM | Permalink | Category: Just Interesting | Comments (2) (0)

I have been on Pownce for a while now, but now it is public, so anyone can sign up for Pownce if they like.

Basically, it is a Twitter like blogging thing... I use Twitter all the time and love using it.

But for me to really use Pownce one or two things must happen...

(1) Twitterific must add support for Pownce, one UI for both would be killer.
(2) Everyone I know must switch from Twitter to Pownce.

So Twitterific, can we get Pownce integration?

If you are on Pownce, friend me at http://pownce.com/rustybrick.

Posted at 9:18 AM | Permalink | Category: Blogging | Comments (1) (0)

If you are a blogger and have yet to try RustyBudget out yet, you are missing out. I honestly can't describe how much time I save every day by using it. Of course, it was my idea and RustyBrick built it, so I am biased, but at the same time, I built it around my specific needs. FYI - Danny Sullivan lives and dies by it every day as well, maybe one day he will blog about it.

In any event, I am often on the road and want to be able to add items from Google Reader directly to my various budgets. Based on watching the using delicious on your iphone, I had one of those "Doh!" moments. Just add the bookmarklets I need to my Safari browser, and then sync my iPhone. Presto - I can add items from Google Reader directly to the budget I want.

Here is me showing that off:

Step back!!! What is RustyBudget? Well, I wrote about it over here and over here. I am honestly shocked more people have not gotten on the bandwagon. Only 337 authors? Only 12,500+ topics added. Maybe it is too confusing?

Anyway, give it a shot at RustyBudget.

Posted at 5:10 PM | Permalink | Category: Blogging , RustyBrick , iPhone | Comments (1) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Today is Martin Luther King Day. Google AdWords is bugging out. Is Google skimming their affiliates? Are older links better than newer ones? Yahoo is messing with delicious. Google launches a guide for webmaster tools. Google stopping stop words. Google's search share declines? Google does project Palimpsest. Don't trust Google, ever!

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Martin Luther King Jr. Day & Search Engine Industry
2. Google AdWords Editor Communication Error Back
3. Is Google Skimming Affiliates with the Referrals Product?
4. Do Links Get Old & Expire As They Get Older?
5. Yahoo Testing Delicious Integration: Pushes Tagging on Novices
6. Google Webmaster Team Releases Guide for Newbies
7. Google No Longer Displays Stop Words Notification
8. Google Search Shares Go Down, While Google Video Shares Go Up
9. Why You Shouldn't Trust Google

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Project Palimpsest: Google To Host Open-Source Science Data
2. Search Engines Commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day
3. The Google Webmaster Tools Quick Start Guide

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 21st issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 21st, 2008:

• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 18, 2008, Search Engine Land
• del.icio.us Integrated Into Yahoo! Search Results (Finally) , David Dalka
• Playing with the X-Robots-Tag HTTP header, Joost de Valk
• RESOURCE: Online Marketing Resources, CATpitalism!
• Search Engines Commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Search Engine Land
• The Google Webmaster Tools Quick Start Guide, Search Engine Land
• Yahoo Tests Delicious Integration In Search Results, Search Engine Land

Posted at 3:37 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) (0) | Speak

Yesterday, I spent virtually the whole day (after working in the morning) watching football. Yes, my wife went out shopping without me, while I sat and watched football on the couch.

Yea, I had my laptop with me, while watching...

During the Giants game, I can't believe they won, I was using NFL.com's Game Center. It is truly an awesome aid to watching the game. It is basically updated in real time, no refresh required. It shows you every detail of the plays, you can rewind and see history as well.

You can quickly see the current drive's plays in a visual format. You can see an example of the Giants vs. Packer's via the drive chart.

If you got two huge screens, I say, put the game on one display and this NFL.com feature on the other. And seriously enjoy the Super Bowl.

I am a Jet fan, so I am always bummed - always.

Posted at 9:11 AM | Permalink | Category: Sports | Comments (2) (0)

I noticed a lot of my fellow bloggers were part of the Power 150 AdAge blogs. So I politely asked the editor of the Power 150, if they can include the Search Engine Roundtable and he said yes.

The Power 150 is a ranking of the top English-language media and marketing blogs in the world, as developed by marketing executive and blogger, Todd Andrlik. It's really as simple as that, except that the name isn't strictly accurate: It currently ranks more than 500 blogs written about all types of media and pretty much every imaginable marketing discipline.

So now I am number 9 on the list of the AdAge top media and marketing blogs.

Google PageRank is one of the calculations used to rank these blogs. I wonder what my rank would be if Google showed my original PageRank of 7... Would I be closer to #3?

Anyway, it is nice to be listed in this space.

Posted at 9:03 AM | Permalink | Category: Blogging | Comments (0) (0)

Remember how upset I was that I was about to reach my iPhone text limit of 1,000 text messages? I actually had to delete a bunch of those text messages, and they are now forever gone.

Then the Missing Sync for iPhone came out, and enabled me to save all my text messages to my computer. This way, I can delete stuff from my iPhone and still have it on my desktop. Great!

Now, with the latest iPhone update, 1.1.3, Apple has allowed up to 75,000 text messages to be stored on your iPhone. That is 74,000 more than we had with version 1.1.2. I wonder how long it will take me to fill that up. :)

Posted at 8:56 AM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs , iPhone | Comments (4) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Yahoo Search is updating. Baidu becomes a domain registrar. Can you compare text links to image links? Should search news take a day off? Live Search not loving new sites. Sex and AdSense, explored. Google.org does charity. Google stop displaying stop words warning. Yahoo holds 3rd annual Searchlight awards. Singapore sets up to build a search engine. Search in Pictures showcases Sheryl Crow, cupcakes and Google Amsterdam.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Yahoo Search January 2008 Update
2. Baidu to Become Domain Registrar, Just Like Google?
3. Image Links, "The Next Best Thing" to Text Links
4. Can You Stay Away from Search News for 24 Hours?
5. Microsoft's Live Search Not Ranking New Sites Well Anymore
6. Are Sex Tips Allowed on Google AdSense or Considered "Adult Content"?
7. Google Runs with Five Philanthropic Initiatives

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Google No Longer Displays Stop Words Warning
2. 3rd Annual Yahoo Searchlight Awards
3. Singapore Offers Cash Incentives To Build New Search Engine
4. Search in Pictures: Sheryl Crow At Yahoo, Google Cupcakes, Goooooooooooogle Amsterdam

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 18th issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 18th, 2008:

• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 17, 2008, Search Engine Land
• Thursday Roundup for the Week of 1/13/08, SEOmoz
• Baidu ya es registrador de dominios, www.ojobuscador.com
• Buy Expired Domains For SEO Link Value?, Sphinn
• FeedBurner Numbers Spike -- Blame FeedBlitz!, Search Engine Land
• Link Building & SEO Resources, www.justilien.com
• Vinkki uudelle sivustolle, Hakukoneoptimointi

Posted at 2:10 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) (0) | Speak

Near our fridge in the office, is a line of soda boxes that constantly gets replenished, for our staff. Here is a picture:

Yes, the coders love that caffeine and we love to provide it. Sorry, no red bull - I am not sure if it is kosher. :) We got, from left to right, seltzer, arizona ice tea, mountain dew, pepsi, more mountain dew, pepsi zero, diet pepsi, diet pepsi without caffeine. Yes, I guess pepsi was on sale when we picked these boxes up.

I actually got the three boxes on the left myself, when I went to Costsco this past week.

I have an older post related to this, that has more food items, named Stocking The RustyBrick Junk Food Room.

Posted at 10:36 AM | Permalink | Category: RustyBrick | Comments (7) (0)

I keep talking about taking my iPhone to Israel.

On one hand, I want to be able to check emails throughout the day when I am roaming the streets and doing tourist-like things. On the other hand, I don't want to be hit with a huge bill when I get home. Since AT&T has yet to support an international plan designed for Israel and the iPhone (they have for the Treo and Israel), I don't plan on making calls from my phone or using data.

But what about the wifi option? Can I get away with using just that?

The iPhone Tips for International Roamers describes how you can use Wifi to get data on your iPhone while traveling internationally. But what scares me is the language is not very encouraging...

When I go ahead and look at Keep Data Roaming "OFF" section under Settings > General > Network > Data Roaming, it reads:

When abroad, turning off data roaming may avoid roaming charges when using email, web browsing, and other data services.

The word "may" is what concerns me. Here is a picture:

If I was in Israel today, I bet I would follow the instructions, and try to just use Wifi only and make sure the data roaming is off. But I know I would check my AT&T account the day after to see if I was being billed.

Posted at 9:57 AM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs , Travels , iPhone | Comments (5) (0)

Many of you, like me, travel several times a year and stay in hotels. Well, do you ever use the hotel provided drinking glasses when you need a quick refreshment? I have at times... Not anymore after watching this:

Posted at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Category: Travels | Comments (1) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Microsoft still doesn't understand the importance of permanent redirects. Microsoft launches adCenter's adExcellence in the UK. A Yahoo patent shows Google why PageRank is off. Google partners with Twitter and Facebook. Don't login to your AdSense account. Be upfront with your clients about SEO. Flickr teams up with the Library of Congress. Google.org announces five initiatives.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Microsoft's Live Search Still Can't Work Out 301 Permanent Redirects
2. Microsoft adCenter Launches adExcellence Accreditation in UK
3. Yahoo Shows Why Google PageRank is Broken
4. Google Partners with Twitter and Facebook for Emergency Relief
5. The Google AdSense "No Login" Experiment
6. Why You Should Tell Your Clients About Your SEO Tactics

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. The Library of Congress Teams Up With Flickr
2. Google.org To Announce Five Strategic Initiatives Today

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 17th issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 17th, 2008:

• Blog News Roundup - 1/16/2008, PPC Hero
• Play65 Backgammon Game, Backpack, and Mousepad, Schwag Addict
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 16, 2008, Search Engine Land
• Search Marketing Blog Awards Announced, Online Marketing Blog
• 75 Internet Marketing Gurus on Twitter, Marketing Pilgrim
• Had enough of Britney Spears or Paris Hilton in Google News?, Google Tutor
• Las distintas penalizaciones de Google, Giancarlo Fernandez Inga
• MSN Is Not a Real Search Engine - Live Search Sucks, Between Stations
• MSN Live Search Can't Handle 301 Redirects, Once a day SEO
• Thanks to Barry Schwartz and Search Engine Land for Linking to My Article Yesterday, SEO Aware
• The 4 Different Types of Authority Links (and 11 Ways to Get Them), Wiep.net
• מבולבלים? גם אנחנו, news.k.co.il

Posted at 4:04 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) (0) | Speak

Every single other workstation in my office has two displays, except for me. I do have a sweet 23" monitor, as you can see here, I have the Apple Cinema Display, but due to using a laptop, I was never able to easily hookup an additional monitor. Or at least, I don't think I can pop in a second video card in this laptop to hook up a second monitor.

Electronista reports that Kingston's sd200v Notebook Docking Station with Video now supports Macs. That means, technically, if I buy this for $130 and then get the Dual Monitor Adapter for a $100, I can then buy a second monitor for $1,000 or so and be like everyone else.

Yea, kind of steep in price and I doubt I will do that. But it is good to know I now can.

So, I am an AFF at Buy.com, which actually happens to have the product for $95 after rebates, plus new Google Checkout customers can get it for $10 less. Here is the product from Buy.com with my AFF:

Not a bad deal... Anyway, its good to know you can now do this...

Posted at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs | Comments (2) (0)

Many of you know I live in the wonderful world of web programming. Yea, 90% or more of our (RustyBrick) monies come from building out web based applications for specific needs. Along with that comes writing software that bills, charges, refunds, etc money from users automatically.

Now, as you read this, and seeing the title of the post, you might think that RustyBrick coded something that blew up and cost someone or several hundred people $7,500,000. No, we did't. But I can point fingers and say this guy did.

And I quote:

It turns out due to my excessively fat fingers, nearly every one of our customers has been seriously over-billed in the last 12 hours.

Yea, he billed over 10,000 customers a total of $7,500,000 in 12 hours. How so. Well, I would summarize but if you read his blog post, I am sure it will be more enjoyable for you. Especially, if you are a coder.

Posted at 9:21 AM | Permalink | Category: Web Development | Comments (0) (0)

Remember my stupid, sarcastic post named Google Sucks! Google Maps Got Me Arrested! Well, if you don't 900+ people in the past month do.

I received over 900 page visits on my blog for the term google sucks. In fact, I rank number two on Google for that term. Yes, with personalized search turned off... Here is a screen cap:

And here is a screen capture of the statistics from Google Analytics for the past month.

Reading some of the comments on that original post upsets me. Oh well.

Google, you really don't suck that bad - really!

Posted at 5:25 PM | Permalink | Category: | Comments (0) (0)

Yesterday, I showed you how to add bookmark icons on your iPhone's home screen. Today, I am going to show you how I added support for custom icons on Search Engine Roundtable and RustyBrick.

As per the iPhone Developer Center, it is very simple.

Step 1: Create custom icons that are 57x57 and save them as PNG files. They can be larger, but Apple will scale them for you.

Step 2: Rename the file to apple-touch-icon.png

Step 3: Upload them to your root directory on your server.

STOP - what if you don't have access to your root directory? Well, you can add a <link> element similar to <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="/customIcon.png"/> within the <head> element of the page.

Then you go to your site and follow my directions on how to add bookmark icons on your iPhone.

Here are the three I added:

Here is what it looks like on my iPhone:

Pretty slick, don't you think?

OK, I am obsessed this week with the iPhone - sorry.

Posted at 5:12 PM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs , iPhone | Comments (7) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Block your ads from showing on Gmail. Edit a Google ad and you got a new ad. Gmail goes blank on Internet Explorer 7. Google News doesn't index updates. Google comes up with an AdSense glossary. Report those spammers to Google. What is your highest CTR? Sphinn and Search Engine Watch update. Google publishes Sitemaps FAQs. Yahoo's media VP says goodbye. Yahoo Baking Company makes tasty cookies.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Stop Your Google Ads From Displaying in Gmail
2. Editing a Google AdWords Ad, Technically Makes a New Ad
3. Gmail Blank Login Screens For Internet Explorer 7 Users
4. Google News Does Not Index Article Updates
5. Google AdSense Team Comes out with Glossary of AdSense Terms
6. How Can I Report Spam to Google?
7. What's Your Highest Click Through Rate (CTR)?
8. Sphinn Announces Spam and Bury, Search Engine Watch Adds Social Media Forum

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Google Writes Google Sitemaps FAQs
2. Yahoo's Senior VP Of Entertainment Business Leaves
3. Hungry For Yahoo? Feed Yourself From Ya-Hoo! Baking Co.

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 16th issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 16th, 2008:

• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 15, 2008, Search Engine Land
• 2008 Small Business SEMMY Nominee, Chiropractic Blogs
• Google Directory Shows True PageRank of Penalized Pages, Search Engine Journal
• How Not to Write Your Ads, www.ppclab.com
• Keep Adwords Ads from Showing in Gmail, www.ppclab.com
• Pagerank dead? - Wanna bet your SERPS on it?, SEO Ibiza
• Search Engine Optimization, SEMMYS.org
• Top 18 SEO Blogs nach RSS Abonnenten, www.ayudo.de
• The Tough Parts and the Great Parts of Being An SEO, SEO Aware

Posted at 4:36 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) (0) | Speak

You often see how I use these high-quality images of products I use on my Mac, when describing those products. Here is how I get those images uploaded to Flickr.

(1) Go to the application in the finder window:

(2) Highlight the application and select "Get Info" or Apple I.

(3) When the info screen comes up, click on the icon at the top left of that small window. Then when the icon is highlighted, select "Copy" from the edit menu or click Apple C.

(4) Then open Apple's "Preview" under your Applications folder. In Preview, select "New From Clipboard" in the File menu.

(5) It then should open up as so:

(6) Go to "Save As" in Preview's file menu and select the JPG option (the Gif option will make it an animated GIF, so don't pick that one).

(7) You should then get this single image, which you can upload to Flickr or use on your blog as you see fit.

Here is a video of me going through the steps in real time...

Posted at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Category: Blogging , Computers | Comments (0) (0)

Last night I sat down at home and starting to work on my presentation, I guess "keynote," for SphinnCon Israel.

I took this great class in Baruch College, yea a speech 101, but it helped a lot with me prepping for the presentations I have given in the past. Now, I am by far not a professional speaker. I don't mind speaking, but I do not get paid, like some, to go around the world speaking at events. Having said that, this is how I start preparing my presentations.

I first figure out a title for my presentation. After that, I nail down the "general purpose," of the presentation, typically it is three words - in my case, "to introduce." Then I get specific, by writing a full sentence of two about the "specific purpose" on my presentation. In my SphinnCon presentation, it is to introduce the conference and agenda for the afternoon. Then I get into more details, by providing a "central idea," which is a paragraph of the core of the presentations.

Once I nail that down. I work on my introductory "transition" into the first slide. The first transition is actually the first words that comes out of my mouth at the event. I then do a slide and then another transition statement, which leads into a new slide. I repeat this process, so that the transitions flow from one slide to the next. Keep in mind, I may have 5 slides grouped together between two transitions - that is ok.

Last night I put together 8 main sections of my presentation. It is all in outline view in Microsoft Word. After I finalize the outline, that is when I get into doing something in Apple Keynote or PowerPoint - but I am hoping to do Keynote. I also hope to have very little text, or zero text, in my slides - if possible. Should be fun!

Posted at 10:40 AM | Permalink | Category: SEO Tips , Travels | Comments (0) (0)

Along with the iPhone Google Maps Triangularization, there is this new feature that let's you customize your home screen.

You basically hold press down one of the icons for a second and then the icons or buttons on the screen begin to dance and shake. Here is a video...

Gotta love how those icons shake...

So I set up a new page on my iPhone home screen just for certain web bookmarks I use very often. In the past, I left about 5 bookmarked pages open in my iPhone's Safari tabs. I believe this solution may be a tad quicker. Here is that screen devoted to just web bookmarks, at least for now...

FYI, I got to give myself credit for taking such a great picture of my iPhone. Normally, these pictures come out all shaky and hard to read. I got so lucky with this one...

Posted at 5:35 PM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs , iPhone | Comments (6) (0)

I installed the latest iPhone update, which was released just a few hours ago. The first thing I tested out was the Triangularization technique for the iPhone to figure out your location and then plot it on Google Maps, within your iPhone.

This is a video of the first time I tried it:

Measuring from one side of the circle to the next, is about 1 mile long. Now, the pin, which represents my real location, is probably a few hundred off the center of the circle. But at the same time, I have horrible reception in my office with AT&T.

I tried it a second time and the pin was smack in the middle of the circle, which is what you want to see.

I know this feature will be useful when I am out and about and not in my car (i.e. without a GPS).

Update: I ran this at home and the radius was maybe 300 feet and the center of the circle was dead on!

Posted at 4:49 PM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs , iPhone | Comments (2) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Before buying an expired domain, check out our post on it. Google fixed the AdSense reporting issues. AOL UK hates .net sites. Google's John Mu is under the weather. SEO Shops going under? Don't let those new domains hurt you. AdWords cold callers are on the prawl again. SEMMYS awards are out. More on PageRank and the penalty.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Buy Expired Domains For SEO Link Value?
2. Google Fixes AdSense Reporting Sorting Issue After One Month
3. AOL UK Search Only Showing 200 .Net TLDs in Search Index?
4. Googler, JohnMu, Get Well Soon!
5. Is the SEO Shop Losing its Value?
6. Don't Let Your New Domain Hurt Your SEO
7. Beware of Google AdWords Cold Callers: It's Not Google
8. Announcing the SEMMYS: Search Engine Marketing Awards

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Google Directory Update Showing "Real" PR Scores?

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 15th issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 15th, 2008:

• Google Updates, Penalties and Filters - A Walk Down Memory Lane, Brisbane SEO Blog
• Jim Lanzone Booted For Focusing On Core Search, Not Ads, BruceClay.com
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 14, 2008, Search Engine Land
• This Link Building Was Pure Genius, The Link Spiel
• The Google Fridge Contest is Over, danperry.com
• 10 Surefire Signs an IT Fiefdom Is Ruling Your Marketing Roost, AIM Clear Blog
• Announcing the SEMMYS: Internet Marketing Awards 2007, Techipedia
• Google ToolBar PageRank is FAKE!?, Liewcf.com
• It's All About Sales??, Part I, Traffick
• SEMMYS Awards - Best Posts in Search Engine Marketing, Stuntdubl
• What Does The Most Recent Google Directory Update Tell Us?, Search Engine Land

Posted at 4:12 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) (0) | Speak

Well, the Apple MacWorld Expo Keynote is now over. I am a bit disappointed with it.

Let's go through my predictions even thought I normally don't do predictions...

(1) The "Tablet MacBooks" I predicted is actually a MacBook Air. Although you can't touch the screen, the touch pad, is a "multi-touch." That means "you can pinch, swipe, or rotate to zoom in on text, advance through a photo album, or adjust an image." So it is somewhat tablet like, with that feature and it being extremely thin.

(2) Apple Cinema Displays with iSight's built in :: I was dead wrong

(3) Something with an iPhone (bigger space, maybe 3G?) :: They have a new software update out, 1.1.3. It pretty much covers the rumored version. It is free, unlike the iTouch update which is not.

(4) A Mac pet to walk around your house, call it the iApple or something (kidding)... I was joking about this...

They did come out with Time Capsule, Apple's answer to the lack of NAS support for Time Machine. So, you have to buy an Apple storage device to allow other Macs to back up on a single drive. The wireless is cool. They come in two versions, 500GB for $299.00 or 1TB for $499.00. I am happy with my solution and don't plan on buying Time Capsule. Cute name...

Posted at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs , iPhone | Comments (1) (0)

If you love Apple or even hate them, but want to get live coverage of the MacWorld Expo, where the keynote is happening today, you can get that via Twitter.

One of my favorite Mac blogs announced they will be providing live coverage of the event via Twitter. Their Twitter account is at TUAW, so just follow it and make sure you have a solid Twitter app to be on top of it.

The coverage should start at about 12 EST today.

My predictions or more of a wish list?
- Tablet MacBooks
- Apple Cinema Displays with iSight's built in
- Something with an iPhone (bigger space, maybe 3G?)
- A Mac pet to walk around your house, call it the iApple or something (kidding)

Posted at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs , iPhone | Comments (0) (0)

I wrote this post named I Am A Horrible Sales Man like one and a half years ago and now Andrew Goodman takes issue with it in his It's All About Sales series. A year and a half later?!

Andrew Goodman is a person I respect, so it caught my attention right away. OKAY, everything catches my attention right away, so no need to mention I respect Andrew- but I do... Back on topic............... (period key got stuck there for a bit)

Andrew said that my post shows to him that I am a clever salesman. He said:

I increasingly realized that this was proof that Barry is, on several levels, actually quite a clever salesman.

But honestly, I really really think I am not a good salesman. But it doesn't stop Andrew from thinking otherwise. He goes through several of my bullet points on why I I Am A Horrible Sales Man and turns them around. Pretty clever yourself.

The dress and "well groomed" comments are fun also. As you can see, Andrew is a well-groomed guy - that is his picture in this post. He admitted to this, "I thought my last haircut just didn't "take," so I went in for another one a good two weeks ahead of my usual schedule." Wow, I go into the haircut place and they ask me how I like it, I say - "quick please." I don't even bother looking to make sure they cut my hair evenly.

Can't wait for Part II. :)

Posted at 9:48 AM | Permalink | Category: RustyBrick | Comments (2) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

The Google Directory was updated. Google pays back Australians. Microsoft does more fake spamming. TLDs and SEO. Customize your Google News page. AdSense kills IncrediMail. Put weather on Google Maps. Should you link build for bad sites? Get your SEO interview questions. Google Spain's CEO fired? No Wikipedia or Google in the class! Liberty buys a huge chunk of IAC.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Google Directory Updated: Penalized PageRank Scores Not Visible
2. Google Reimburses Australian and New Zealand Publishers
3. Microsoft Live Search Continues Referral Spam Tests With MSLIVSOP?
4. The Big Top-Level-Domain Debate: Are .com's Better for SEO Purposes?
5. How to Create a Customized Google News Page
6. Google Stops Serving AdSense Ads on IncrediMail
7. Google Maps Now Featuring Content from The Weather Channel
8. Is it Worth it to Build Links for Bad Websites?
9. Questions You Should Ask at an SEO Interview

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Isabel Aguilera, CEO of Google Spain & Portugal, Leaving
2. Professor Bans Google & Wikipedia In Class Room
3. IncrediMail Gets Crushed Financially By Google AdSense Ban
4. Liberty Media Corporation Bought 14 Million Shares In IAC

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 14th issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 14th, 2008:

• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 11, 2008, Search Engine Land
• Yahoo Serving Images in Sponsored Search Listings (Loren Baker/Search Engine Journal), Techmeme
• Digg is Important even if you Hate it, Sly Marketing
• El pagerank del 2008 se estA actualizando, SEO Femenino
• Google Allows Local Addresses On PPC Ads, Pay Per Click Journal
• Help Me Judge The SEMMYs!, Local SEO Guide
• Jim Lanzone Leaves Ask to Join Redpoint Ventures as Entrepreneur in Residence , David Dalka
• #1 Ranking But No Traffic?, SEO HongKong
• Free Link for All at Wired How To's, SEO Protege
• Google acknowledges Adword experiment with Local Address, Mike Blumenthal
• Google Checkout Trends: That's Weird, Marketing Pilgrim
• Google Directory Updated from DMOZ Data?, WebProNews
• links for 2008-01-12, Brewed Fresh Daily
• Google PageRank Directory Clanger, Andy Beard
• New "AdSense Slider"?, mediadonis
• Page Rank Update 2008, SEOCompany.CA
• Recognizing Text on Images and Videos: Google Applies for Patent, SEO Hong Kong
• The Semmys - Highly Controversial Just As It Should Be, Andy Beard
• Webmasters Ponder PageRank Discrepancy, WebProNews

Posted at 4:21 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) (0) | Speak

This video demonstrates why I don't like going to the beach.

And you thought it was because of the sun glaring on my computer screen. ;-)

Posted at 1:34 PM | Permalink | Category: Just Funny | Comments (7) (0)

Saturday night, my wife convinced me to drive her to a mall so she can return something and buy something else. After a bit of a struggle, I caved and drove her.

We enter the store and conveniently there are two large chairs to sit on. One of the seats was occupied by a man using his iPhone. I smiled, sat down, took out my iPhone and began replying to some emails, checking RSS and then even some YouTube videos.

The man left, after his wife made her purchase. I remained, waiting for my wife. I continued my iPhone usage, until this other man came and sat down in the open chair. He said hello, so of course I responded with a hello. But then he began making conversation. I responded kindly, but tried to make sure he noticed that I was on my iPhone. He didn't stop. I know where he was from, how often he goes shopping, recent parties he went to and a bit more. Then his wife came over and signaled she was done --- yippeee! He got up, said goodbye, and left.

Now, am I wrong here? It seemed like the previous guy got it right. When men are waiting for their wives as they shop, they do not need to converse. God invented iPhones for that reason. :)

Here is a poll on the topic, let me know your thoughts...

Posted at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Category: Shopping , iPhone | Comments (5) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Google fixed AdSense Video units. Yahoo Directory has image ads. Google Checkout does trends. AdWords goes phishing. Google URLs by I'm Feeling Lucky extension. Number one but no traffic? Free links are at Wired. Search in pictures is live.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Google Finally Fixes AdSense Video Units Problem
2. Yahoo Directory Displaying Images on Sponsored Results
3. Google Checkout Launches Shopping Trends (Goes Offline)
4. Beware of Google AdWords Phishing Email
5. Force "I'm Feeling Lucky" by URL Extension
6. I'm #1 but I Don't Get Traffic

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Google Launches Google Checkout Trends
2. Yahoo Directory Places Images On Sponsored Ads
3. Get A Free Link From Wired
4. Search in Pictures: Jeremy Zawodny Weds, Google's Mascot, Yahoo's Clothing Line

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 10th issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 10th, 2008:

• Google Showing Update Time By Minute, Search Engine Watch Blog
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 10, 2008, Search Engine Land
• Surprise, it's Barry, Created Wonder
• Yahoo Serving Images in Sponsored Search Listings, Search Engine Journal
• Actualizacin de PageRank en enero de 2008?, Cosassencillas
• Google Pagerank Update starting?, UK Business Forums
• I want my Google Sitelinks!, ClickFire
• January 2008 Google Toolbar PageRank Update, Sphinn
• New on the hot list: Google Checkout Trends (David Wurtz/Official Google Checkout Blog), Techmeme
• PageRank Toolbar update w natarciu, SEMGuru.pl
• Premire mise - jour du page rank de 2008?, inFrench
• Search Engines celebrate Holidays, Logo Design Blog
• Small Google UI Change But Big Impact?, Sphinn
• Steht das neue PR Update vor der Tur?, ABAKUS SEO Forum

Posted at 12:51 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) (0) | Speak

I was devastated when the Dockers Mobile Pant was discontinued. This pant rocks. It has so many hidden pockets, that it makes me comfortable holding my gadgets - which now really only consists of an iPhone.

Places like JC Pennies and other stores do still sell some, so I am still in luck.

Why do these pants rock? Like I said, the Hidden Pockets are what make it awesome. Pockets include:

- It has 7 pockets that I am aware of
- 3 Pockets are hidden
- In each main front pocket, there is a hidden zipper pocket behind it (great for wallet or change)
- On the side knee, there is a hidden pocket (great for a cell phone)
- Then you have the normal pockets

No belt clips required!

Posted at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Category: Daily Grind | Comments (4) (0)

I have this thing where I don't like too much stuff in my pockets and I hate things clipped to my belt. One technique of keeping your pocket's spacious is to de-clutter your keychain to the bare essentials.

The picture above, is a picture of my current keychain with items I recently removed.

Now, all I have on my keychain are keys for:

• My wireless car key
• My wife's car, yea I need it often
• My house's front door
• My home's side door
• My office's mailbox key
• My safe
• My office wireless key

The most useful key by far is my office key. It opens the building's front and back doors, it opens my office's main door and all the doors inside my office and even the closets. Access control controls, yes, sometimes access control can go very wrong but most of the time it rocks.

My wireless car key also is cool, but I wish it took up less space. Why does it have to be so big? Why does my wife's car keys have to be so big?

What did I remove from my keys?

• I no longer have a key chain (those silver things in the picture, free from Lexus)
• I no longer carry a pathmark card, I never go (I got a good wife)
• Office bathroom key, it is almost always open
• Physical building key

I may decide to drop even more keys. I don't really need my house keys, I go through the garage door (which is programmed to open in my car). I don't really need the safe key at all times. I don't really need the office mailbox key at all times also. But I also think I may need them at important times....

Keep it de-cluttered!

How do you manage your keychain?

Posted at 10:08 AM | Permalink | Category: Daily Grind | Comments (4) (0)

There are virtually no heaters in the main kitchen area, except for the kitchen table. So I called the builder of my house and he had his plumber stop by. He recommended we install a kick heater to get more heat into the main kitchen.

After waiting and waiting - they finally delivered the kick heater - which will be installed by the builder eventually.

The reason I am writing this, was because it was hard for me to find or research what I needed to have installed by just searching in the search engines. So I thought I would write something that may help other's in my situation.

The builder purchased a Twin Flow III K120 Kick Space Heater from Beacon Morris.

It is used to go under kitchen cabinets, when you have no wall space to put a baseboard heater. That was the case in our kitchen, since it is walled with kitchen cabinets. They will be cutting out a space under one of our cabinets, to install this to our hot water heater boiler. When the heat is on, via the thermostats, a fan gently blows heated air into the room.

On really really cold days, like below freezing, the kitchen doesn't heat up to the temperature set on the thermostat. This kick heater should help it reach the desired heat, and make me feel like I am not burning threw money with the heat on non-stop.

Hope it gets installed asap!

Posted at 9:35 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (0) (0)

It's not enough you scrap my forum posts, my blog posts, my articles and my web site content but you also have to scrap my Twits!

Just kidding... There is this SEO who does reverse Twitter to Blog automatic posting. You got me. Whereas I do Blog to Twitter posts, RKF does Twitter to Blog posts.

His blog is at Created Wonder and you can clearly see, his posts from his twitter alias RFK, is being published to his blog.

Example: He replied to a twitter of mine saying:

@rustybrick I’ve tried replacing batteries, but usually end up with a new UPS. The price is pretty close, look for trade-in rebates

But, check his blog post on that over at this URL.

Too funny.

An SEO technique? Playing with my mind? Just bored one day? Loves APIs?

Posted at 5:05 PM | Permalink | Category: Blogging , SEO Tips | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (1) (1)

Daily Search Coverage:

SMX West and SphinnCon Israel are just around the corner. Microsoft does adCenter plugin. Matt Cutts wants you to remove your content from Google. Jim Lanzone steps down from Ask. Google fixing AdSense Video unit bugs. Google moves cache link slightly down. AdSense referrals are broken. There was a PageRank update today. ASCI art was spotted in Google ads.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Are You Going to SMX West or SphinnCon Israel?
2. Microsoft Launches Excel 2007 adCenter Plugin
3. Matt Cutts Illustrates How to Remove URLs from Google
4. Jim Lanzone No Longer CEO of Ask.com
5. Google Still Working On Fixing Approval Process for AdSense & YouTube Sign Up
6. Google Moves "Cache" & "Similar Pages" Links One Line Down
7. Some Google AdSense Referrals No Longer Working
8. January 2008 Google Toolbar PageRank Update

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Spice Up Your Google AdWords Ads With ASCI Art
2. Jim Safka To Replace Jim Lanzone As CEO Of Ask.com

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 9th issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 9th, 2008:

• Google Fridge and Bunny Rabbits, Jason Henderson
• Nema Google Referrals bonusa za nas, SEO.hr blog
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 9, 2008, Search Engine Land
• Thanks for all the ego food!, Sebastians Pamphlets
• WPN Insider Interview with Microsoft Live Search, Stepforth
• Top 100 Internet Marketing Blogs As Voted By You, e3 Internet
• Blogs Scraping Content - What to Do, Oprano
• Ergebnisse: Google verndert Position von Cache und Ahnliche Seiten, GoogleWatchBlog
• New Google Toolbar PageRank Update, Search Engine Journal
• Paid Review: Internet Marketing Ninjas, Half's SEO Notebook
• Search Engine Journal's 2007 Search Blogs Awards Winners, SearchRank Blog
• The Diamond & Jewelry Magazines I Read, Diamond Vues
• WPN Insider Interview with Microsoft Live Search, Search Newz
• 2008 The year of Reputation Management?, Lodging Interactive Blog
• Posible actualizacn de PageRank enero 2008, adseok

Posted at 3:55 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) (0) | Speak

I like Twitter, I use it fairly often. I even automatically post my blog posts to Twitter.

Pause.... If you want to follow me on Twitter you can via these two Twitter accounts:
- http://twitter.com/seroundtable
- http://twitter.com/rustybrick

In any event, since I automatically post my blog posts to Twitter. People have been, more often then not, 'commenting' or 'replying' to my blog posts via Twitter and not leaving a comment on my blog posts.

Here are some examples of this in action:

I wrote a blog post about my new backup solution and I got this reply via Twitter. "adamap @rustybrick superduper is indeed super duper."

I wrote a blog post about this cool curved monitor and I got three twitter responses and one comment on the blog. Lee Odden twittered "@rustybrick Re: TV - I do watch sports on a "secret" TV in my home office. Shhhhh :)." Jennifer Laycock twittered, "@rustybrick drool. That's incredible. Robert would step on kittens to get that." And Brian Mark twittered, "@rustybrick I'll send my address so you can have a monitor shipped to me. :)." Yea right!

So, instead of having a total of 4 blog comments, I now have one blog comment. Would they have spent the time commenting at my blog? Who knows.

I just feel Twitter is stealing my blog comments. Twitter Cannibalization.

Posted at 11:07 AM | Permalink | Category: Blogging | Comments (14) (0)

There is just something I really dislike about getting emailed search news. Maybe it is because I have email OCD or maybe it is because I hate PR releases and most of those emails are PR related.

I so much prefer to get that news via my RSS reader.

The whole push vs. pull mentality.

I don't want to be pushed information, I want to pull that information when I am ready.

Is it just me? I don't think so, but I know it is a lot of people.

Am I missing out on finding news? Um, I don't think so but I am sure there are things here and there I miss. You tell me...

Posted at 10:31 AM | Permalink | Category: Blogging | Comments (3) (0)

Now this display from Alienware, being curved and all, is really sweet!

Thanks Jimmy.

Posted at 10:29 AM | Permalink | Category: Computers | Comments (1) (0)

I try to be a nut when it comes to backing up my computer and office computers. My office computers are backed up on an NAS device, plus backed up off site on at least one other computer. Our production servers are backed up so often, in so many different ways, you would think I was a nut.

Personally, I use to back up my laptop a few times a week using SuperDuper. SuperDuper does a direct clone of my hard drive, onto an external hard drive. This way, if my hard drive blows up, I can theoretically pop in this other hard drive and get going from my last back up. The thing is, SuperDuper has not yet come out with a Leopard compatible version and it has been stressful to say the least.

So I finally took the plunge and bought a new hard drive so I can run Time Machine on my Leopard OS. Yesterday, I got the drive from Buy.com, a Western Digital My Book Essential 500GB version, and started the backup at about 2pm. It finished the 90GB backup at about 6:30pm. That was my first backup. Now every hour, when this hard drive is connected to my laptop (only when I am in my office), it backs up every hour. It stores hourly back ups for the past 24 hours, daily back ups for the past month and weekly backups until this drive is full. The UI is amazing for restoring lost or old files, simply amazing.

My hope is that when SuperDuper releases a Leopard compatible version, which I am excepting within a week or two, I will run both SuperDuper and Time Machine as backups.

SuperDuper will give me the bootable clone of my hard drive from my last run of that backup. Time Machine will give me the file by file capability to restore files historically. I think I will feel completely at peace once I run my first SuperDuper backup on Leopard.

Posted at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs , Computers | Comments (3) (0)

Remember I told you I was penalized in LinkedIn earlier this week? Well, I submitted my request to be 'unpenalized' and they granted my request today. I did not really submit a "reinclusion request," but rather a confirmation that I won't try to connect with anyone and any soul that is on LinkedIn. Kind of sad, because I am like the most social person in the world and being connected is all what I am about (people who know me will laugh by that statement).

As you can see from the screen grab below, I can now befriend without having people's email addresses:

Whoo hoo! Doh! But I have to make sure not to go crazy and make sure I connect with only people who won't report me.

Don't forget, you can connect with me and I will approve it, no questions asked.

Here is my reinclusion request:

I now understand this policy... I am sorry.

Nothing sophisticated...

An email from LinkedIn telling me I am back in and what not to do:

Thank you for agreeing to our terms of service. It has been our experience that some LinkedIn members may not recognize the name of other members they have casually met or have had passive business dealings with. This prompts them to click the "I don't know this person" button. In many cases, the reconnect restriction is easily avoidable simply by doing one of the steps below:

1. Editing the body of your invitation to prompt a recollection. This can be done when you arrive to the "invite page". At the bottom, you have the option to add a "personal note" which may be edited to reflect your personalized message.

2. Click on the "Get introduced through a connection" link if this person is connected to someone already in your network.

3. Add a photo of yourself so that members who may not recognize your name but would certainly remember what you look like.

We thank you for agreeing to comply with our policies and know that together we can maintain an outstanding website for all of our members. I have unrestricted your account and full functionality has been restored.

Thank you!

Posted at 4:12 PM | Permalink | Category: Buddies | Comments (0) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Google AdSense updates referral policies. AdWords Editor is fixed again. City search isn't working on Google Maps. Google Reader's subscribe feature isn't working fully. Live Search does video with Mike McDonald. FeedRaider getting to you? Google removes the nofollow attribute on some pages. Microsoft buys Fast Search. Google's search share is up again. adCenter got its add-in for Excel. Google hires their Homer Simpson. Google updates Google Sky.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. AdSense Changes AdSense Referrals Policy By Insulting Affiliates
2. AdWords Editor Communication Error Resolved
3. Citysearch's Content Missing From Google Maps
4. Google Reader Subscribe Bookmarklet Not Working Fully
5. Live Search Talks About Cloaking, Recent Bugs, Plays Catch & Much More
6. What is FeedRaider and Why Does it Rank Above Me?
7. Google Drops NoFollow on Google Links After Being Called Out For Selling Links
8. Microsoft to Acquire Fast Search for $1.23 Billion
9. Google Search Shares Up to 66% for December

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Google Changes Referral Policy For AdSense Referrals
2. Microsoft Launches adCenter Add-in Beta for Excel 2007
3. Google Hiring Investigator / Threat Analyst For Safety & Security
4. Google Updates Sky Images & Features In Google Earth

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 9th issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 9th, 2008:

• Search Headlines & Links: January 7, 2008, Search Engine Watch Blog
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 8, 2008, Search Engine Land
• Gmail Now offering 6 Gigs of Storage, Pinoy Technology
• Google Gives Free PR8 Links to Paid Partners, and Doesn't Follow Their Own Guidelines, Wolf Howl
• Google Maps Notices Missing Citysearch Content, WebProNews
• How To Do Youtube Video View Optimization Part 1 , David Dalka
• It's What's For Dinner!, Hawaii SEO
• SEO 2007 Blog Award Winners Declared, Outsource Strategies International
• Why I need a Google Fridge!, Joost de Valk
• Wiesn Playmate on the Roof, seoFM

Posted at 4:01 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) (0) | Speak

Last night was a historic night for my oldest nephew, Avi. As reported on the ASHAR Hockey site, my nephew scored his first goal ever, in an official elementary school game.

And I quote:

The big goal of the night came late in the game from defenseman Avi Borgen who took a pass back at the point and lasered it towards the net passed a screened Aaron Turkel.

Avi Borgen, he is my nephew. Congrats Avi on the goal!

I actually always hoped Avi would be more into basketball but his father influenced him in a different direction - Hockey. Well, I guess that is his father's problem now, since hockey is a much more expensive sport to be involved with. Joke is on you!

I guess hockey is your sport and it shows! Congrats again and I am sure you will be scoring plenty of goals this year and throughout your life!

Posted at 10:14 AM | Permalink | Category: Family , Sports | Comments (7) (0)

About two months ago I reported that my phone lines were fried. What that meant was that my internal phone line wiring stopped working. So all I did was connect the Vonage line to my wireless phone receiver terminal and let it broadcast to three other phone receptors throughout the house.

It meant I was limited to three phones. For now, that was fine but in the future, I am sure I would want more.

So I called the guy who would fix it to come by today. Before he came, I decided to give the phone lines an other try. Guess what, all of a sudden, it worked! No idea why or how. It was dead for weeks and now it works.

My theory is that a wire sticking outside my house got wet. Then it dried and now it works. The wire, I guess is the wire that Verizon would use to hook up my phone service. Since I use Vonage, the wire remained unconnected and loose outside.

So last night, I put a wire cap on it and wrapped the whole thing in electrical tape. This way it hopefully doesn't get wet again and possibly fry my telephone lines again.

So now I got a fourth phone and I can add dozens more!

Posted at 9:50 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (3) (0)

Right, so I have two processors in my MacBook Pro, a laptop has two processors.

My brother, Ronnie, has four processors in his Mac Pro, a desktop.

We need more! More! More!

Apple gives us 8 processors for a Mac Pro! What is next, four processors for a MacBook Pro? Who knows? MacExpo is coming up and we have seen crazy things.

The news on the new Mac Pro is wild, just see Techmeme for some of the many stories...

Darren Rowse has a great line:

fastest mac ever. how to convince wife 8 processor cores r needed 4 blogging

Excellent question and I hope to get the answer soon!

Posted at 5:29 PM | Permalink | Category: | Comments (1) (0)

We have 99% finalized the speaker list for SphinnCon Israel.

Here it is:

SEO Panel: Paid Links & Penalties
Moderator: Barry Schwartz, SphinnCon Israel Chair
Presenter: Branko Rihtman, SEO Specialist at Tens Technology
Ophir Cohen, CEO of Compucall
Sam Michelson, CEO of Five Blocks
Eyal Chen, Business Development Manager at Google Israel

PPC Panel: Will the PPC Model Hold Up as Click Prices Rise?
Moderator: Barry Schwartz, SphinnCon Israel Chair
Presenter: Itai Levitan, Managing Partner at EasyNet
Avi Wilensky, CEO of Promedia Corp
Alon Sheafer, Founder of Kenshoo
Tal Cohen, Finance and Technology Industry Manager at Google Israel

Social Panel: Should You Social?
Moderator: Barry Schwartz, SphinnCon Israel Chair
Presenter: Eli Feldblum, CEO of RankAbove
Gilad Sasson, Search Marketing Analyst at Nekuda.co.il
Tzvika Avnery, Partner at Tagadam

Like I said before, most of the time will be used for open Q&A and networking. But the presentations will be about 10 minutes each and there will be only one presentation per panel.

I will do a new post later with who the gracious sponsors will be.

Danny just did a post at Search Engine Land on this agenda and some more news!

Posted at 4:58 PM | Permalink | Category: SEO Tips | Comments (0) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Search awards are live. Google hijacked in India? Google tests new layout. Supplementals make a break for it. ODP submissions are not fun. Plug into Google TV. Google Checkout gets expensive in February. Link building for 2008. To niche or not to niche? Microsoft buys Fast. Sony and Viacom do online video deal.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Google Downgrades More Site's Visible Toolbar PageRank Scores?
2. Google.com in India DNS Hijacked Last Night?
3. Google Testing Local Results At Top Right Position, Above Ads
4. Long Tail Queries Ruling Google? Supplemental Index Ranking As Main Index Results in Google
5. How Long Does it Take to Get into DMOZ?
6. Google TVs Coming to a Home Near You
7. Google Checkout Transaction Fees Start February 1, 2008
8. Are Your Link-Building Tactics Failing? Don't Blame Google
9. Is One Website Better than Several Niche Websites?
10. Search Engine Roundtable Votes Best SEO Blog & Conference Coverage Blog of 2007

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Microsoft To Buy Fast Search For $1.23 Billion
2. Google & YouTube TVs Powered By Panasonic
3. Sony In Video Deal With Google & Viacom Deals With Five Competing Online Video Providers
4. Results Are In For The 2007 Search Blogs Awards

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 8th issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 8th, 2008:

• Jim Boykin insults Andy Beal, Aaron Wall, Schoemaker, Stuntdubl, himself and others!, Andrew R H Girdwood
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 7, 2008, Search Engine Land
• The man with no refrigerator, JLH Design
• Best Overall Search Marketing Blog of 2007 : Search Engine Who?, Search Engine Journal
• Search Engine Roundtable : Best SEO Blog of 2007, Search Engine Journal
• 11 things I like about Wikia, the new search engine, Jayare.eu
• 8 things about me, Jon Burg's Future Visions
• Google Enabled Televisions Coming Soon (Duncan Riley/TechCrunch), Techmeme
• It is ShoeMoney again!, BSL5.com
• Search Engine Roundtable : Best Search Conference Coverage of 2007, Search Engine Journal
• ShoeMoney : Best Contextual Advertising Blog of 2007, Search Engine Journal
• Wikia Search Is A Complete Letdown. (Michael Arrington/TechCrunch), Techmeme
• Winners For 2007 Search Blog Awards, Search Newz

Posted at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) (0) | Speak

Wanted to thank you all for voting for me and my blogs, as per my request, it was really appreciated.

We manage to win two awards at the Search Engine Roundtable and three awards at Search Engine Land.

Search Engine Roundtable Won:

• Best SEO Blog
• Best Search Conference Coverage Blog

Search Engine Land Won:

• Best Search News Blog
• Best Search Marketing Blog
• Best Search Marketing Community

It is nice to come away with all those wins and being a part of each of those.

Unfortunately, I did not win the Most Giving Search Blogger award. Rand Fishin of SEOmoz won that one. He has proven time and time again, not only to give up some of his most valued SEO/SEM strategies but has also given over his financials for his company for all to see. If that isn't giving, then I don't know what is.

Honestly, I was really hoping to win that award. I came in third place again this year. 5 votes behind Rand, and 1 vote behind Danny Sullivan. It is honestly a bit discouraging not to win. Why? Well, posting well over ten blog posts per day for the search industry. Rarely do I ever miss a work day for posting news. Waking up at 5:30am each day to be able to give this to the industry and also do my day job at RustyBrick. Tracking thousands and thousands of your blogs and linking to dozens of them each day on Search Engine Land's SearchCap.

But at the same time, I understand why Rand won. Where he provides deep insight into SEO techniques he uses at SEOmoz, I rarely would provide something in that much detail. Rand literally showed us his profit and loss statement, I would never do that. Rand asked for our advice on bring in a venture capitalist. Rand gives so much time to those who ask him and plus he has a very strong community at SEOmoz.

I am so delighted we won five awards, I feel greedy for being disappointed in myself for not winning that one award.

I have posted more details about the awards at the Search Engine Roundtable.

Update: Well, there is a Sphinn Thread with some awesome comments supporting me on this. Which I appreciate but I honestly feel horrible taking anything away from this awesome award earned by Rand. Rand won it, I did not. He is a good guy.

Thank you Pratt, Lisa, Tamar and everyone.

Posted at 2:51 PM | Permalink | Category: Blogging | Comments (1) (0)

I broke down and hired a landscaper. I tried to figure if I would buy a mower and a leaf blower - would it be more cost effective. But It would still eat up way too many of my hours each month if I did it myself. Would it be more cost effective for me to hire someone else, a professional to deal with the lawn? For now, that is what I picked. If things change, I can always revert back.

Right now, I got tons and tons of leaves everywhere and it looks bad. I was planning on raking them myself before the big snow storm but after the snow fell, there was no way I was able to do anything about it. It has been warm recently and the snow is almost all gone and the leaves look like a mess.

So Sunday, I called a landscaper and he is signed up to mow my lawn in the warm months and do my leaves, if the weather holds up for him to do it.

Posted at 9:24 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey , Weather | Comments (1) (0)

Did you know that Elvis was born today? I am not a big Elvis fan, but I am a big Led Zeppelin fan, and we all know a lot of their music stems from Elvis's work...

In any event, live at the Search Engine Roundtable, today, and only today, is the Elvis theme. Here is a snapshot of a portion of that theme.

Sweet!

Posted at 9:17 AM | Permalink | Category: Blogging | Comments (0) (0)

How sad. I just noticed I was penalized in LinkedIn!

Every time I try to add a new contact, I get this:

Please note: You are now required to enter an email address to send invitations from this page because several recipients of your invitations indicated they don’t know you. This safeguard is in place to prevent users from receiving unwanted invitations from people they don’t know. Customer Service can remove the restriction at anytime once you indicate that you understand this policy.

It happens to be that just the other day, I added like a 100+ connections. I suspect it has to do with that. Who rejects connections? I guess people do... In any event, I will now only request connections from those that I know really know me. If you don't know me, then I won't request your LinkedIn connection - but I will accept your invite, so don't worry.

So if you still want to connect with me, you can do so via this link.

I put my appeal in with LinkedIn, wonder how long it will take to remove my penalty. :)

Posted at 4:37 PM | Permalink | Category: Buddies | Comments (3) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

First, I would like to thank those who voted for us. I hope to do a post when all the awards are finalized. Skype messes with Google. Microsoft recommends Yahoo. AdWords tests product plus sign. Wikia barely goes live. Google Docs does embed presentations. Google reads text in images. PPC programs are rated. Google's January changes are analyzed. Googler's bet in Goobles. Hirsh leaves Google and Kordestani sells shares. Techmeme is captured in fast forward. Guy sues Google, Yahoo and Digg.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Skype's Browser Extension Converting Phone Numbers in Google AdSense Ads
2. Microsoft Refers German Advertisers to Yahoo Search Marketing
3. Google AdWords Tries "Show Product Results For" Again
4. Wikia Search Alpha Goes Live
5. Google Presentations Adds Embeddable Slideshows & More
6. Google Files Patent to Recognize Text in Images
7. What Was the Most Improved PPC Program in 2007?
8. Webmasters Report January 2008 Google SERP Changes

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Wikia Search Launches Alpha Version
2. Googler's Bet Goobles On Predictive Markets During Their Free Lunch
3. David Hirsch Leaving Google & Omid Kordestani Sells 6,000 Shares Of Stock
4. Watch The Techmeme Home Page In Fast-Forward
5. Google, AOL, Yahoo & Digg Sued For Playing Online Solitaire
6. Thank You For Voting Us "Best Search Industry News Blog of 2007"

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 7th issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 7th, 2008:

• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 4, 2008, Search Engine Land
• 90+ SEO and SEM websites, blogs and forums, newnimproved.blogspot.com
• Friday Recap, BruceClay.com
• Ask: Problem mir Crawler behoben, GoogleWatchBlog
• Google Map's Business Location Bulk Upload Still Not Working, Mike Blumenthal
• The Google Fridge Giveaway, danperry.com
• 2008 The year of Reputation Management?, Serengeti Communications
• Forget We Ever Mentioned A Supplemental Index, BPWrap
• Juicy Links: Dec. 31 - Jan. 4, Exclusive Concepts Blog
• Michael Martinez of SEO-Theory: An Interview, msdanielle
• Search Engine Roundtable is the Best SEO Blog of 2007, Sphinn
• Skype Extension and Google Local, Andrew R H Girdwood
• Wikia Search Launches in Alpha, Slammed with Bad Reviews, Searchviews

Posted at 3:33 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (1) (0) | Speak

Dan Perry is running a Google Fridge Giveaway contest.

If you want to win one of those mini-Google-fridges, you got to blog!

How do you win?

Just write a blog post outlining what you’d do with it if you won, and link to this post.

You have until Monday, January 14th, 2008. Who decides who wins? I do! Well, I and three other judges. Tamar, Matt McGee and Dan Perry are the other judges.

Good luck and keep cold! ;-)

Posted at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Category: Blogging | Comments (4) (0)

I feel like I joined this exclusive club for Mac geeks. I am now an Apple ProCare member.

Apple gave me this black card that looks like a credit card, almost like the black AMEX card. But it only costs $99.

What does it get me?
- It guarantees my computer to be fixed within 24 hours
- It got my computer fixed within 2 hours
- I guess because of the Next in Line, First on the Bench policy
- I get Yearly Tune Up that I will never use
- Backup Consultation that I will never use
- Advanced Reservations that I will rarely ever use

But I get cool status as being an Apple ProCare member!

Posted at 11:57 AM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs | Comments (1) (0)

I dropped off my laptop with at Apple Store Friday at about 2pm, after getting it back Apple ProCare for $99, I would be guaranteed to have it within 24 hours. So, I signed up.

I came home and I received a call at about 4:15pm, ten minutes before I had to go offline for Shabbos, that the computer was fixed. I told them I would come by Saturday night to pick it up, since I was unable to make it there and back before Shabbos.

I am also very glad they did it before Shabbos actually started. I was hoping they would do it either before or after Shabbos, this way I know a Jewish person did not work for me on Shabbos... So I am relieved about that.

It was weird typing with the keyboard. S, tab, esc, X and cutting text, all worked. I was so not use to it working. Glad to have those keys back!

Posted at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs | Comments (5) (0)

Think this is real? Check out these birds fly into the airplane engine and blow up. The plane supposedly did not crash. Many people feel the video is fake...

I suspect is it fake also, but who am I to say.

Posted at 11:35 AM | Permalink | Category: Just Interesting | Comments (1) (0)

My brother-in-law sent this to me and I know it might help those who are frequent travelers.

If you are sitting next to someone who irritates you follow these instructions:

1. Quietly and calmly open up your laptop case.
2. Remove your laptop.
3. Start up
4. Make sure the guy who is annoying you, can see the screen
5. Close your eyes, tilt your head up to the sky & move your lips as if praying
6. Then hit this link

Classic.

Posted at 1:23 PM | Permalink | Category: Just Funny , Travels | Comments (8) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Ask fixes crawler issue. Remove your content from Google several different ways. Google Maps bulk upload is now working again. Become an internet marketing ninja. Ask is to return some money to their advertisers. Are your Google ads live, but your site is offline? Nathan Stoll of Google News is left Google. So did Kevin Fox, Google's user experience man. NASA took a flight on Google's jet.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Ask.com Fixes Crawler Issue With Badly-Formed URLs
2. Got Beef With Google's Content Removal Solutions?
3. Google Map's Business Location Bulk Upload Now Working Again
4. Jim Boykin Launches Internet Marketing Ninjas Video Training
5. Ask.com Reimburses Advertisers for Invalid Clicks
6. Google AdWords Ads Live While Site is Offline

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Nathan Stoll, Long Time Google News Product Manager Leaves Google
2. Google Takes NASA To Watch Meteor Shower
3. Google's User Experience Expert, Kevin Fox, Joins New Start-up Company

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 4th issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 4th, 2008:

• Blogs como empresas de medios, Blog Daddy
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 3, 2008, Search Engine Land
• Welcome Back Search Headlines, BruceClay.com
• Google Maps arregla el error de la carga masiva, ojobuscador.com
• Google Squashed Seven SEO Standbys In '07, WebProNews
• Matt Cutts on Paid Links, Real Estate Webmasters

Posted at 12:27 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) (0) | Speak

I was just sent the official SphinnCon logo. So we worked up a new banner ad for SphinnCon Israel. What you think of it? The old one can be seen overhere.

Here is a status update on SphinnCon Israel.

The team and I have been working up the speaker and panelist for the agenda. We have some of the biggest and most respected SEO/SEM companies sponsoring. We expect to have representatives from Google Israel, MSN Israel and other companies in the search space come and represent. The panels will be very informal, but they will contain some of the brightest minds in SEO, PPC and Social Media. Many of the panelists will be Israelis, but we do have some who are flying in from the States, because they love Israel.

First and foremost, this is not an official conference. If it was, it would be named SMX Israel. It is SphinnCon Israel, simply because we didn't have time to set up a full day or full two day event in Israel in 2008. So that means the panels will be very informal. I expect to have one 7 minute presentation on the topic and then leave the rest open to Q&A. I also expect the audience to be very savvy, so Q&A will probably be more networking and open style then an official SMX conference. It should be a ton of fun.

Anyway, I hope to post an official list of speakers for the agenda early next week. I also hope to give you information on the sponsors and which search reps are coming soon.

So stay tuned and if you haven't signed up yet, please do quickly - again, we only have 150 seats and many have already been filled.

Posted at 9:51 AM | Permalink | Category: SEO Tips | Comments (0) (0)

It is freezing outside, literally - freezing.

Since Wednesday night, it dropped down into the teens. With the wind-chill factor, it feels like it is in the single digits.

Starting this afternoon, it is supposed to warm up a bit in the 20s. I can't wait. Then it should hit the 30s and low 40s the following day.

The cold is just so cold. Last night, I had to bring the mail in and touching the mail that was sitting curb site mailbox and my fingers felt like they turned to ice.

Just thinking about it makes me cold. But I 100% prefer it be cold then hot. And at least we don't have snow...

Could be worse, one of my employees had their heat break yesterday morning. They have been sleeping by a neighbor and it is still not fixed!

Posted at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Category: Weather | Comments (2) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

I am sad to say Traffic Power is back in the news. Advance Fee Fraud taking place in search forums? AdSense launches newbie forum. Wikia to go live next week. SEO bloggers weren't always stars. Did you make a billion from Google AdSense? Ask sponsored listings issued a settlement agreement for click fraud.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Traffic Power's CEO Accused of Huge Foreclosure Scam in Las Vegas
2. Search Marketing Forum Advance Fee Fraud (AKA Nigeria Scam)?
3. Google AdSense Help? Go to AdSense Newbie Central
4. Wikia Search Engine to go Public Next Week
5. What Did Search Bloggers Write About Before they Became Celebrities?
6. How Much Did You Make from Google AdSense in 2007?

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Traffic Power's CEO Jailed Over Alleged Foreclosure Scams
2. Ask Sponsored Listings Gives Click Fraud Reimbursements
3. Google AdSense Launches Newbie Central

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 3rd issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 3rd, 2008:

• Changes In Google Algorithm Suggest The Need For Corporate Blogging, durbinmedia.com
• Search Engine Land Stats: 2007, In Review, Search Engine Land
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, January 2, 2008, Search Engine Land
• 7 SEO Techniques That Google Smashed in 2007, copybrighter.com
• Are You Playing In The Google Sandbox?, Home Business Blog
• Darth-Google and the Dark Side of the Force Penalty, Search Engine People
• Eliminating Toolbar PageRank Would Be A Mistake, All Things SEM
• Matt Cutts Spouts More Bullshit About Paid Links... Again, BlackHatCrew
• Move on to SEO Techniques that Work, WebProNews
• Search Headlines & Links: January 2, 2007, Search Engine Watch Blog
• SEO.edu: Can You Learn SEO From a Book? - Part 3, Search Engine Watch
• The Ins and Outs of Forum Marketing, 10e20
• Traffic Power back in the news, I Help You Forums
• Traffic Power CEO Matt Marlon Accused of Foreclosure Scam, SearchRank
• Will The Real Search Engine Blog Please Stand Up?, The Link Spiel

Posted at 4:16 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) (0) | Speak

Michael Gray tagged me on What Websites and Programs Do You Use to Get Things Done. So, I thought I share with you the most uses sites and programs I use on a daily basis.

Posted at 8:35 AM | Permalink | Category: Daily Grind , iPhone | Comments (3) (0)

I am no back home, typing thi blog entry on my broken MacBook Pro keyboard. Apple hould of fied it by no, like I mentioned at MacBook Pro Keyboard Issues or did I?

Try to figure out hat I am riting, and hich key are broken from ho I type thi blog pot...

Anyay, I brought my laptop to the Apple tore after convincing one of the Geniue to replace the keyboard on my laptop the ame day. He aid, bring it in no and e ill fi it the ame day. o I brought it in and he did the paper ork and I aked. ill you be here hen it i fied. He aid no, he leave at 5pm. o I aid, are you ure it ill be fied. He promied me, it ould be fied by the end of the day, by 9:30.

By 7pm I a getting nervou. I decided to go back to the Apple tore, ince I had to make a return at Macy' for my ife. I made the return and then ent to the Apple tore on the 1t floor of the mall. I aked for an update on the tatu and the oman aid, you jut brought it in today - thee take a couple day. I then eplained that Keith promied me it ould be done today and one of the geniu guy confirmed hearing that. But it a already 8pm and they didn't have time to finih. o I decided to take my laptop back.

A you can ee, many key imply don't ork. It i incredibly frutrating, incredibly!

Tab key, ec key and the key that are miing in my glaring typo don't ork....

Can you gue hich key don't ork?

An eternal keyboard ork fine, o at ork I am fine. Jut hen I get home and type do I have problem. I.e. on the laptop keyboard.

Tomorro I'll call Keith and ak him hat he can do. I can't be aay from my laptop for a full day, I jut cant.

Good night folk and ih me luck!

Posted at 9:45 PM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs | Comments (4) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Happy New Year everyone, make sure to check out the logos. Googlers are once again helping out on New Years. Toolbar PageRank downgrades don't mean a penalty. Google AdSense tests new banner ads. The exchange rate is killing AdSense publishers. Google's TCP/IP logo is neat. Google killed several SEO techniques in 2007. Baidu won the music label piracy case again.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Happy New Year 2008 Logos & Themes from the Search Industry
2. Google Webmaster Support Over New Years Via JohnMu
3. Sites With Downgraded Toolbar PageRank Still Passing Link Juice?
4. Google AdSense Test Ads
5. The Impact of the Dollar Exchange Rates on Google AdSense
6. Google's January 1st TCP/IP New Years Logo
7. Seven Optimization Approaches Google Killed Last Year

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Google's Algorithm Awarding New Pages?
2. Baidu Beats Music Labels In Music Copyright Case Again

Daily Link Finds:

This is the January 2nd issue of a daily post that will contain links to commentary of the posts over at the Search Engine Roundtable. All links I find throughout the day that ad some commentary to the posts written over at the Search Engine Roundtable, will be in the Daily Link Finds. The purpose is two fold: (1) To help people find discussion around our articles and (2) To thank people for linking to us. How do I find these links? Only one way, via a Google Blog Search link command, so make sure that (1) you are in Google Blog Search and (2) link to us.

Daily Link Finds for January 2nd, 2008:

• SearchCap: The Day In Search, December 31, 2007, Search Engine Land
• Big List of 2008 Prediction , Small Business SEM
• Briefs: Special Logos for New Year's Day 2008, ResourceShelf
• December '07: Best Search/Marketing Posts, Small Business SEM
• Search Year 2007: Search News, In Review, Search Engine Land
• SEO is not for everyone - Wait a minute - YES IT IS, SiteMost
• 7 SEO Techniques made Defunct by Google in 2007, DolphinPromotions
• Are buyers of sponsored links set up for deals of the century?, Bloggerista
• Google Ranking #6 Penalty / Filter, SEO Book
• If It's Hard, Do It, Traffick
• Is Google Using a Position , WebmasterWorld
• Search Headlines & Links: December 28, 2007, Search Engine Watch Blog
• The Position 6 Google Penalty, WebProWorld
• Why Deciphering The Truth From Speculation In SEM/SEO Is Important, SEM Spot

Posted at 4:27 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) (0) | Speak

Remember my problem with maxing out my iPhone text messages limit? It was a huge bummer having to have to delete some of those text messages.

Well, I didn't delete them all and now I have a way of exporting those SMS messages to my Mac, through Missing Sync for iPhone. It not only gives me a way to back up all my text messages and SMS messages, it also allows me to quickly browse them on my Mac and even search for them. Not only that, I can also reply to SMS's via email, if I want to. More on that over here.

Included is also a way to organize and search iPhone notes and search call logs.

So now I can delete more SMS messages off my iPhone and not worry about them being gone forever.

FYI - this isn't a real sync, it just pulls data from the iPhone over to your Mac.

Posted at 1:59 PM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs , iPhone | Comments (1) (0)

I have to commend Jim Boykin for organizing one of the most comprehensive sets of Search Engine Marketing video education web sites I have seen to-date. The new site is called Internet Marketing Ninjas and has a collection of videos from the top names in our industry.

I first found out of it recently because Jim signed up to promote Internet Marketing Ninjas at the Search Engine Roundtable. That is not why I am writing about it here, I have many sponsors and I rarely mention them here... I am just amazed at the list of names his has put together here.

- Aaron Wall of SEO Book
- Andy Beal of Marketing Pilgrim
- Bill Slawski of SEO by the Sea
- Christine Churchill of KeyRelevance
- Cameron Olthuis
- Jim Boykin We Build Pages
- Jim Gilbert KeyRelevance
- Jeremy Schoemaker of ShoeMoney
- Jill Whalen of High Rankings
- Lee Odden of TopRank
- Neil Patel of Pronet Advertising
- Todd Malicoat of Stuntdubl

All together, over 15 hours of videos on topics including seo, ppc, link building, social media, affiliate marketing and much more.

It is pretty expensive, but it seems to me to be well worth the price tag.

Great job Jim!

Posted at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Category: SEO Tips | Comments (3) (0)

I pledged not to take my iPhone to Israel. Well, now AT&T has posted their international iPhone rate plans. It appears for me to use my iPhone in Israel, I have these rates to worry about:

- $2.49 per minute for voice
- $.0195/KB for data
- $0.50 per text message sent

What worries me the most is the data portion. I think I would pay $100 to know that I can use my iPhone to check email the week or so Ill be in Israel. But I don't know how many KB I use or would use.

I called AT&T and they told me about the Data Global Plans for iPhones which can give me 20MB Data Global Plan gives you 20MB. But it isn't covered in Israel, so it doesn't apply to me. AT&T got wise after a ton of issues with users who traveled overseas. They created a iPhone Tips for International Roamers.

How iPhone Users Can Minimize International Data Charges:

• Utilize WiFi, available in many international hotels, airports, and restaurants to browse the web or check email.
• Keep Data Roaming "OFF": Be sure to download the Version 1.1.1 upgrade to iPhone. This software update will enable the ability to turn on/off data roaming when traveling outside the U.S. By default, this setting will be in the "OFF" position. The path is: Settings > General > Network > Data Roaming.
• Turn off your phone's "auto check" function, and check email manually when needed, using WiFi.
• Reset the usage tracker to zero when you arrive overseas and monitor your data usage.
• Consider purchasing an international service plan that includes discounted international data usage.  AT&T now offers two discount international data packages. The 20 MB package is $24.99; the 50 MB package is $59.99.  See att.com/wirelessinternational for details and international roaming rates.

Go with a place like Travel Cell and just use a cell phone from them. What about email? Hope for free Wifi spots. :) I got wifi in my hotel...

Posted at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Category: iPhone | Comments (1) (0)

For the past month or so, my MacBook Pro's keyword has been acting very funky. The S, W, X, 2, tab, esc and some other keys simply don't always work (they work sometimes but mostly not) when pressed.

Now this only happens when on the laptop's keyboard. It works fine when I use my external Apple keyboard at my office.

I cannot express how annoying it is to type without having those keys functioning. Guess how I am able to type those keys? I surf to a web site, and use the copy and paste function. So if I need an S, I find an S on a web site, highlight it, copy it, and then paste it into the place I need it. Very very very annoying.

At first I thought it was a bug related to Bug ID# 4333743 but Apple released a software update that was supposed to fix the issue. It did not fix my issue.

I called Apple today, and they recommended that I replace the keyboard. I said, I can't be without my computer for a week. So I called the local Apple store and they said they can replace it while I wait. I am not waiting for them to call me back with a time when they will have all the parts and man power on hand for this replacement to happen.

For some reason, I don't think it is a hardware issue. I have a feeling that they will replace the keyboard and it still won't work. I will keep you all updated, like you care.. ;-)

Posted at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs | Comments (48) (0)