Daily Search Coverage:

Google goes low with new favorite icon. Google's mysterious and disappearing AdSense ads. Sitemaps won't delete in Webmaster Tools. Google got more people looking at more ads. Don't forget SEO when building links. Google tests and tests. I helped out Google's Merchant Search. Search in Pictures is out.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Google's New Blue Fav Icon :: Google Updated Their Favorite Browser Icon
2. Google AdSense Ads Disappearing
3. Google Webmaster Tools Won't Allow You To Delete Sitemaps
4. More People are Looking at Google Ads, Says comScore
5. Search Engine Optimization Should Not Be Forgotten when Building Links

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. How Google Tests & Tests Search Interfaces
2. Google Updates Browser Favorite Icon
3. Outing Google Merchant Search
4. Search in Pictures: Condoleezza Rice, Google I/O & Big Purple Buttons

Daily Link Finds:

This is the May 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 May 30th, 2008:

• SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 29, 2008, Search Engine Land
• Blocking your Redirect 301 with robots.txt file? Bad Move!, PageTraffic SEO Blog
• Google doesn't support the troops, An Alien Mind
• Google Updates Browser Favorite Icon, Search Engine Land
• Most Irrelevant Google News Story of the Day, Search Engine Watch Blog
• New Google Favicon, Aloha Digital Marketing Interactive Blog
• Search Engine Land reaches 2000 Facebook Members, Dixon Jones
• soxiam, soxiam.com
• Techmeme: Google's New Blue Fav Icon ::  Google Updated Their Favorite Browser Icon (Barry Schwartz/Search Engine Roundtable), Techmeme
• Trivial Friday, Traffick
• Weekly Wrap Up - Industry News, 30 May 2008, LocalPoint

Posted at 3:04 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) (0) | Speak

Survival International has posted a new stories and pictures of rare photographs of one of the world's last uncontacted tribes. Here is one photo:

All in red. Now I understand why the smurfs are blue:

In all seriousness, I find these pictures very interesting. This tribe is near the Brazil-Peru border and they were taken from aircraft.

Posted at 8:55 AM | Permalink | Category: Just Interesting | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

The other week, I finally had the bank agree to give me remote check deposit for free. They asked if they can come in to meet me, so I said okay and we just had the meeting this morning.

I knew two people were coming, but it ended up to be three people. A branch manager, VP of retail regional manager and VP of business and professional banking. The latter was a last minute join, because she happened to be at the branch and decided to tag along. The meeting was about answering my questions about the remote check deposit and then to see if they can sell me on anything else (without looking like they are selling). Honestly, I had no desire to meet with anyone. The first question they asked was did I have questions on how remote check deposit worked and so on. I said, maybe one - but I kind of knew how it worked. I did get one piece of information that was useful. They then offered to send someone in to help me set up the scanner. I said immediately that I could figure out the installation, and I really don't need someone to make a special trip to help with that. Then we went on to talk about credit lines, insurance, mortgages, and a few other banking products that I really don't need - thankfully.

Okay, now to the point....

What I think the bank wanted to do was show some faces and build a relationship with me. Why? Well, when the whole remote check deposit episode took place and they told me the costs, I decided to be frank with them. I said, that other banks offer it for free and I may go to the other banks because it simply is a great service. Honestly, I have been with M&T Bank, my bank, since I was 12. I really like the bank, I never had an issue - they have tons of branches in my area and they treat me very well. But I don't care for the relationship. If they provide good customer service and I don't have problems, I am happy. If they provide similar tools to other banks and I can utilize those tools, then I am happy.

I am a loyal person, sometimes too loyal (might have a post on that in the next month or two). I have been with M&T for almost 20 years. My personal accounts are there, my business accounts are there and I would have placed my mortgage with them if the rates were competitive (who knows, I might switch). But, I am honestly very loyal to them and to my clients and vendors. If you treat me right, I will treat you right - at least I hope you feel that way.

In any event, for me, customer service is not meeting faces. For me, customer service is purely about convenience and honesty. Do what I need to do faster and more accurately and I am a happy camper.

There are a lot of banks pitching a "personal touch." I personally do not find value in that. Do you?

Sorry for the crazy long post. Sorry for typos/grammar, these long posts tend to get interrupted mid-way several times by calls, emails, employees, IMs - and I don't proof-read, making for major mistakes.

Oh, I hope to get my remote check deposit thing soon. Can't wait!

Posted at 2:55 PM | Permalink | Category: RustyBrick | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

SMX coverage schedule is live. Google dislikes keyword insertion in URLs. Can embedding videos improve your rankings? Belgian publishers seriously sue Google. Google audio has some quirks. Search 4.0 is on it's way, says Danny. Google does Everest - well, kind of.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. SMX Advanced 2008 Conference Coverage Schedule
2. Google Does Not Recommend Keyword Insertion in Display URL
3. Embedding Related YouTube Videos May Increase Your Ranking in Google?
4. Belgian Publishers Demand $77.5 Million of Damages from Google
5. Google Audio Ad Quirks
6. Algorithms Alone Won't Cut It: Human Powered Search is Coming

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Google Climbs To The Top Of Everest With Special Logo

Daily Link Finds:

This is the May 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 May 29th, 2008:

• SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 28, 2008, Search Engine Land
• Google Custom Search - Opera Issues?, Fav Browser
• Outbound Linking: Any SEO Value?, Lawyer Casting
• Search Engine Journal's Coverage of SMX Advanced, Search Engine Journal
• SMX Advanced Coverage, Justin Davy
• Techmeme: Enable Google Contact Sync Without an iPhone or iPod Touch (Gina Trapani/Lifehacker), Techmeme
• Techmeme: Search 4.0: Putting Humans Back In Search (Danny Sullivan/Search Engine Land), Techmeme

Posted at 2:34 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) (0) | Speak

I find this funny. Sam from OhNuts did a "re-mix" of my May 25th video recap. Here it is:

Awesome job Sam!

To watch and subscribe to my weekly search video recaps click here.

Posted at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Category: Blogging | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Not sure if I told all of you, but I made the plunge and switched not only my corporate email to Google Apps, but all my clients (several hundred) email accounts to Google Apps. In fact, via Slashdot, DreamHost who hosts 700,000 web sites, is encouraging their customers to switch email from them to Google Apps. Honestly, I switched for the same reason I switched off PHPAdsNew to Google Ad Manager. I don't have to patch for security, I have no server load for hosting it, the data is up in a cloud, I don't have to worry when there are issues and it has awesome features. So, I switched. Kind of scary.

Now, back to my contacts. I use Apple's Address Book application for managing my contacts. Of course, it syncs with my iPhone. But I also wanted that data in a cloud, just in case I need to access it when I don't have my phone or computer (yes, extremely rare for that to ever happen). In addition, it is backed up in a cloud (yes, I am obsessive about running backups with my computer, but still...). I was waiting on SpanningSync to come out with their tool to sync my address book to Google Apps, but last night, Apple released OS version 10.5.3, it came with support to sync your address book to Gmail (Google Apps).

I followed the instructions at the Google Mac Blog and I was set. Oh, if you are not an iPhone user, Lifehacker has a hack to enable you to sync your stuff to Gmail. I am not sure why it was restricted to iPhone users only but it is, without this hack.

Schedule wise, I do sync some of my calendars to Google Calendar, but not all. I might begin syncing my full calendar to Google Calendar, so I can easily share it with everyone in my office.

I can't believe I am giving over virtually all my data to Google. But in exchange for the convenience, piece of mind and ease-of-use, I couldn't resist. Good job Google!

Posted at 8:08 AM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs , Computers | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Yahoo updates. Google delays video ad API support. Does Google support acronyms? Microsoft and Siemens teaming up to sell search ads? Opera is not supported by Google. Hacked sites and Google. AdSense on a government website? Microsoft does social bookmarking. We got a serial click fraud lawsuit firm out there. Advertisers are cloaking Google's adbot.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. May 2008 Yahoo Search Subtle Update
2. Google AdWords API Video Ad Support Delayed
3. Does Google Support The Abbreviations and Acronyms Tags?
4. Is Microsoft & Siemens Teaming Up in Europe Against Google?
5. Opera Not Supported By Google Custom Search
6. How Does Google Handle Hacked Sites?
7. Is Google AdSense Safe on a Government Website?

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Microsoft Joins The Social Bookmarking Game
2. Serial Clickfraud Lawsuit Firm Strikes Again, This Time At Citysearch
3. Advertisers Cloaking AdWords URLs To Get Around Display URL Policy

Daily Link Finds:

This is the May 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 May 28th, 2008:

• Google убирал из результатов выдачи .info и blogspot домены, habrahabr.ru
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 27, 2008, Search Engine Land
• Techmeme: Google Temporarily Penalizes Blogspot , Techmeme
• What are Leapfrogg reading this week?, FroggBlog
• Support the troops rhetoric, web-professor.net
• Advertisers Cloaking AdWords URLs To Get Around Display URL Policy, Search Engine Land
• Google a penalizat .blogspot.com si .info, SEOpedia.ro
• Googlen algoritmitesti hvitti info-domaineja hakutuloksista, Hakukonemarkkinointia.fi blogi
• Techmeme: Weather Report: Yahoo! Search Index Update (Yahoo! Search Blog), Techmeme

Posted at 3:08 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0) (0) | Speak

Today is my second wedding anniversary. It feels a lot longer then just two years. Not in a bad way, but in a good way. Kind of like I feel I have known my wife for my whole life but it has really been less then four years (two years married and the rest dating).

I am not going to get all "sappy" as Shoe did. Last year, on my firstyear anniversary, I wrote a long detailed post of the past year events. So, I figured I would highlight some of the past years events, only events I wrote about in the past.

Okay, so for last year's anniversary, my wife got me a pretty cool tie rack, I still use it today, although I rarely use the motorized component of it. Today, I am hoping to get one of my favorite dinners tonight, hopefully with lots of ketchup and maybe fries, maybe. ;-)

Did you know that at our wedding, I walked down to Bron-Yr-Aur by Led Zeppelin, did you know that? I rule! ;-) Back to the past year events.

I first put up my Monsey Condo for sale the month after our wedding anniversary. So technically, I lived their for just over a year and then got out of there. Not because we didn't like it, but it was time for a home for other reasons. I then soon began house hunting, one of the most stressful times I had outside of the business world. I had my home inspection which taught me a lot. But part of the decision was deciding on an internet provided, which turned out to be FiOS, which rocks. But thinking ahead to the cost of being an observant jew really scared me. I finally moved into my house and sold my condo. But I learned a lot, things like installing a mailbox, alight fixtures, a ceiling fan and more, paper shades, as well as keeping my heat costs down, cutting my grass and cutting down a tree.

Other topics of interest include: I got an I hope to get the 3G model soon. Oh, the iPhone cost me a fraction of what it cost many others due to my AMEX credit and apple credit. I was a Kvatter not once, but twice, cause I got a new nephew. Yes, I also got a brand new niece this year also. My oldest nephew was bar mitzvahed, in Israel during my conference...

I announced the first largish SEM event for Israelis, sold out and even overbooked, but the event rocked and we hope to do a new one this coming year. You can watch some of it, if you want to see my intro.

A cop hit me with his car, it all worked out for me, but he had to pay for the damages. I was on the cover of Wired magazine, for real - kind of. I was coined a notable SEO but Wikipedia - does that count for anything? I did make it into a card game, which is fun. I launched a search video cast. But what meant a ton to me is winning the opened a kosher place by my office - still loving it today. I met a famous Jewish book author, Rabbi Hanoch Teller. But soon after that, I began seeing floaters, not a good sign. So I decided to get some aid and I pre ordered a pleo, which I cancelled later. Unfortunately, more birds flew into my window and died from it - at least it wasn't like this was and on crack cocaine. My car was broken into and I got a partial parking refund for my troubles. Eventually, I got a new car, which is saving me a lot of money. Oh, did I tell you ashar caught on fire, my elementary school. I also met Danny Sullivan's wife for the first time. I also managed to finally pay off a surprising electric bill.

But probably most importantly, I revisited one of my all time favorite posts on the leaning tower of snapple.

Posted at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Category: Family | Comments (11) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

This afternoon I had to drive up-state a bit, up to Newburgh, NY for a meeting. I actually met with a company that makes things out of steel. Yea, it was an interesting place. That is for another blog entry.

On my way home, the sky opened up and it felt like someone threw a pool of water on top of my car, pretty much for the last 15 miles of my trip. You know that feeling, it is basically impossible to see the car in front of you - all you see is water and more water...

Of course, all the cars slowed down. I noticed many cars pulled over to the side of the highway. But everyone else pretty much had their hazards on, so you can see them and kept going at a steady 30MPH.

I can't remember the last time I drove in rain like that. It was literally impossible to see in front of you at times. I actually drove by looking at the yellow line on my left, to make sure I was in my lane. And then when I saw some sort of thing flashing in front of me (the car in front of me had his hazards on), I slowed down to not hit that car.

The rain stopped now, but it was bad. Glad I typically have a 10 minute commute to work. :)

Posted at 5:47 PM | Permalink | Category: Travels , Weather | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Google's webmaster tools bugs out at midnight? Would you buy a nofollowed link? Don't block your 301s. SES Toronto's party schedule is live. Google's international filter seems a bit off. Update your AdSense account to a Google account. Are link buys worth it? Yahoo is updating their index.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Verification of Google Webmaster Tools Fails At 12:22am?
2. Would You Buy a Link With a NoFollow Attribute?
3. Don't Block Your 301 Redirects with a Robots.txt File
4. Search Engine Strategies Toronto 2008 Party Guide
5. Google's International Search Filters A Little Off?
6. A Reminder to Update Your Google AdSense Login to a Google Account
7. Is Link Buying Worth the Effort?

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Yahoo Search May 2008 Index Update

Daily Link Finds:

This is the May 27th, 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 May 276th, 2008:

• Do You Report Your Competitors to Google?, ineedhits
• 301 Weiterleitungen & Robots.txt, Prometeo.de
• Around the Web in Blogging, BlogOnExpo
• Google-SERPs:Probleme mit .info-Domains, cooee.de
• On Memorial Day, Matt McGee
• Sphinn - Hey Google, How About a Memorial Day Logo?, Sphinn
• This Week in Search Marketing Staffing - 5/27/08, Onward Search

Posted at 5:04 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) (0) | Speak

I rarely get a call from a Spanish-only speaking person. Today, I just received a call from someone who asked me if anyone here (RustyBrick) speaks Spanish.

I actually have two people here who speak Spanish fluently. So I transferred the call to one of them. It turned out to be a wrong number, go figure.

But we have lots of languages in this office. We got:

• English
• Hebrew
• Spanish
• German
• I think a few others

So I was thinking, maybe we should add a menu when people first call. The menu would read...

If you speak English, press 1. If you speak Spanish press 2 (Si usted habla español). If you speak German, press 3, etc. All in their native toung. But then add the geek factor. If you speak PHP press ?, if you speak C# press #, etc.

Good stuff, no? ;-)

Posted at 12:02 PM | Permalink | Category: RustyBrick | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

This has been an interesting weekend. Often when I write here, I don't actual think of who will be reading it, outside of the search people. Yea, when I started this blog, it was really a place for my search marketing buddies to learn more about what is going on with me, on a more personal level. My other blogs were more business focused and I couldn't blog about personal matters. So I started this place to do so.

But over time, I learned that many others began reading this blog. Like who? Family of course, also current friends. But not only those people. Over this weekend, not only did I find out family and friends read it, others do also.

I have found out that possibly, soon to be family is reading my blog. I have found out that friends of my family also read it. I have found out that friends I have not seen in years are reading it. I have found out that friends of my wife's family children read it.

How do they find this blog? Word of mouth is the most obvious. But many are now finding it through my annoying Facebook updates. Others are finding it conducting random searches and landing on my blog, one such example is the [ashar fire]. Plus, I get a ton of random people who have no idea who I am but are very afraid of worms (trust me, if you haven't seen that post, click over, it is a hoot).

Anyway, this blog has turned out to be more then a personal log of stuff I like to document or a place for my search industry buddies to chat with me. It has turned into a family and friends newsletter and sometimes a community newsletter.

I am curious, how would you classify yourself. Take my poll below that asks you how you know me.

Please take the poll. I am very curious.

Posted at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Category: Blogging | Comments (8) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Today was the day that my new nephew had his brit milah, or circumcision. I did my best in taking a picture of the male reaction at the actual second you hear the baby cry from the snip snip of the procedure.

The problem was, the baby was crying a bit before hand, so I really did not see the usual full affect on people's faces. But those up close had a better reaction then those in the back. Here is a picture, with my annotations (sorry for the blurriness).

My wife and I were honored with being the Kvatter again, so that was really nice.

Mazol Tov again. Oh, his name is Judah.

Posted at 10:37 AM | Permalink | Category: Family | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Check out my video recap. Here is to Memorial Day. Google trashes info and blogspot domains for a sec. Google's search share increases. Google is all about the truth.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz :: May 25, 2008
2. Memorial Day Logos from Yahoo, Ask.com, Dogpile But Still Not Google
3. Google Temporarily Penalizes Blogspot & Info Domains
4. comScore: Google Search Share is at 61.6%

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Yes, Truthiness Is A Credibility Factor Google Cares About
2. 2008 Memorial Day Search Logos

Daily Link Finds:

This is the May 26th, 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 May 26th, 2008:

• Friday Recap, BruceClay.com
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 23, 2008, Search Engine Land
• Weighing in on Reporting Spammers, Metamend
• Automatic Matching: Heard Of It?, Pay Per Click Journal
• SEO Aware's New Business Site, Some SEO Links , seoaware.com
• Do SEO Bloggers Tell Big Daddy their Woes?, phoenixrealm.com
• How to Redirect Like A Pro, Brian Whaley's Pixelated Views
• Microsoft schliet Live Search Books, TaT
• Neues aus der Universal Search von Google, SEOnauten.com
• Pandia Weekend Wrap-up May 25, Pandia
• Someone is wrong on the Internet, BPWrap
• Why Does Google Lie to SEO's?, Its Service Call
• 2008 Memorial Day Search Logos, Search Engine Land
• Oops, Google Malware Review Form Working Again, WebProNews
• SEORoundtable | Video Recap of Weekly Search Buzz, The SEOintelligence Blog
• Techmeme: Google Temporarily Penalizes Blogspot , Techmeme
• The Importance of Being Included in Google's Index, Google Operating System

Posted at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) (0) | Speak

I currently have 430 friends at Facebook. I am a friendly guy, I guess. Honestly, all I use Facebook for is to click the add button when I get a friend request.

But I have been recently getting these friend requests from old friends, outside of the search industry. Like people I grew up with and went to school with. Also, some family members have been friending me, so they are on the list.

What I totally forgot about is that my Twitters have been automatically posting to my Facebook status section. So whenever I post to twitter, it is updated on Facebook.

Not only that, I automatically post my personal blog posts to my Twitter account. Which then will automatically post that twitter (my blog post title and URL) to Facebook. It seems I am a very very active Facebook user, when in all honesty, I only login to Facebook to accept friend requests and decline everything else.

What is pretty funny is that when I first added the Twitter to Facebook application, I wrote about it. I named the blog post Another Way to Annoy People Using Twitter. So, I knew it would annoy people on some level.

This weekend, I spoke to a few of these normal Facebook users (non-SEOs) and they mentioned (two of them did) that I am very active on Facebook, but in a weird way. I.e. I post these short things, often with URLs at the end, and sometimes I tell people I am going to the bathroom. I then remembered that my Twitter account is hooked up and it might be annoying real Facebook users who don't understand that.

So I asked both of those people I was talking to. One on Friday night the other one last night at a nice BBQ if I was being an "annoying Facebook user." They both said no, but I think they were being nice.

People are much more frank via comments. So go ahead, be deadly truthful. Am I an evil facebook user? Feel free to be anonymous with your comments.

Posted at 2:17 PM | Permalink | Category: Blogging , Buddies | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Almost a week ago, I received a new nephew. This picture shows the baby at about 8 hours old.

This is actually my first nephew on my wife's side. That side has been relatively consistent with having girls for the past couple generations until now. That is, until now. Congrats for breaking that 'stigma'. ;-)

In any event, this is my fifth nephew. My sister has four boys.

This weekend, we all (the family) packed into my wife's sister's home, the day after she came back from the hospital, to spend the weekend there. Basically, when an orthodox Ashkenazi Jew has a boy, the Friday night after that birth, a "Shalom Zachar" takes place. Basically, at about 9:30pm, dozens and dozens of men (some women) come to the house and celebrate the birth of the son. They celebrate by singing, speeches, desserts and lots of alcohol. Of course, the woman who gave birth is not in any mood to see all her friends and extended friends a couple days after giving birth. Nor does she necessarily want to host friends and family in her house days after giving birth. But nevertheless, it is done.

After midnight, the last of my brother-in-law's friends left. We helped clean up as best we could and then we hit the hay.

Tomorrow is when the baby gets a bris. Yes, a circumcision. Snip, snip. I'll be a tad late tomorrow morning for that event. If I can, I will try to take a picture of the exact moment when the mohel ("circumciser") does the snip. I will not take a picture of that area, instead, I will take a picture of the male audience, to show you the faces on every single male at the moment you hear the baby cry from the pain. We all feel the pain with the kid, just not at the same level.

Mazol Tov!

Posted at 1:58 PM | Permalink | Category: Family | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Google loses its glasses. Improve them maps Google. Google is watching my SEO. SEOs don't rat out other SEOs. AdSense targeting failing? Domain name registration length, an SEO factor? Matt on linkbait. Google changes web local results. Google does safe browsing test. AOL's search data is featured in a play. Search in Pictures is out.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Google AdWords Magnifying Glass Goes Missing
2. Love Google Maps? Help Improve It With Your Suggestions
3. Google Is On My Site! Will I Be Penalized Soon?
4. Most SEOs Don't Report Competitors To Google
5. Publishers Upset with Poor Google AdSense Quality Targeting
6. Does Domain Name Registration Length Impact SEO?
7. Google May Penalize Fake Linkbait, According to Matt Cutts
8. Google Universal Search Local Results Adds "Change Location"

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. Google's Safe Browsing Diagnostic Tool
2. AOL's Leaked Searches Get Turned Into Play: USER 927
3. Search in Pictures: Google Branded Disposable Cups, Yahoo Chef Training, & A Personal Googleplex

Daily Link Finds:

This is the May 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 May 23rd, 2008:

• Attending SMX Advanced in June, Karl Ribas
• Google Search Quality Lifts The Veil, Search Newz
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 22, 2008, Search Engine Land
• DeNial of Service, command (not) found
• Google going to make results Case Sensitive ?, ankitrawat.com
• Reporting SEO Competition to Google : Conflicting Reports, Search Engine Journal
• Yahoo Makes Minor Changes To Advertisement Layout, WebProNews
• Yahoo Makes Minor Changes To Advertisement Layout, Smart SEO
• Yahoo! Follows Google! Makes Minor Changes to Advertisement Layout!, PageTraffic SEO Blog

Posted at 2:52 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) (0) | Speak

Like you guys care, but part two of getting my kick heater installed was the electrical hook up. The plumber finished and so I called the electrician, he came over two hours later - requiring me to run back home...

He hooked up that white electrical cable through the tile, to a power source in the basement.

Now, I just need to put the shelving back in and clean it all up. The contractor should be doing that Monday or Tuesday!

Posted at 12:44 PM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Remember I blogged about "Installing a Twin Flow III K120 Kick Space Heater Under Kitchen Cabinet, well, five months later, we are finally having it really installed. The plumber is at my house now, I had to stay home for this, and he is plugging in the pipping now.

Here is a picture of it being installed:

Notice the two pipes on the right side, here is a different picture:

Next step is to get the electrician to hook up the power for the fans in the front. Then, I get the contractor back to close up the cabinet so we can use it for storage again. This device hides under your kitchen cabinet, why am I so impressed with that?

Posted at 9:02 AM | Permalink | Category: Homey | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

This explains the problem with DVRs... Watch the video:

A show runs longer then expected, you are out of luck.

How funny is this!

Posted at 5:40 PM | Permalink | Category: Just Funny | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

AdWords updates billing page. Google Reader has issues. Google suggests IP redirection techniques. Sphinn on Sphinn. Google flops. I rank way too high in Google. Yahoo changes search ads. Barter quizzes Google again. Google 4 Doodle winner announced. Fake linkbait can penalize you in Google?

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Google AdWords Updates Billing Page
2. Google Reader Suffers Temporary Outage Last Night
3. Google Offers Advice on Automatic Redirection Based on Geolocation & Language
4. Blog Post About Sphinn Demonstrates the Power of Community Within Social Networks
5. Is Google Perfect? Not Always. Here are 10 Flops.
6. I Rank Too High on Google! Is Something Wrong?
7. Yahoo Reduces Top Ads & Changes Ad Layout Slightly

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. US Congressman Quizzes Google Again On Privacy
2. Google Announces Doodle 4 Google Winners
3. Doing A Fake Story For Linkbait? Disclose -- Or Face The Wrath Of Google

Daily Link Finds:

This is the May 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 May 22nd, 2008:

• Canonicalization & SEO : Should I use WWW or not?, Search Engine Journal
• Don't tell Google when your Site is Down!, Shimon Sandler
• SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 21, 2008, Search Engine Land
• How to Get in Google News (And Receive 8,000 visitors for One Article), ViperChill
• 50 Google Reader Productivity Hacks, Techver2
• Doing A Fake Story For Linkbait? Disclose - Or Face The Wrath Of Google (Barry Schwartz/Search Engine Land), Techmeme
• Future Web, Carly's Blog
• Pondering Facebook, Twitter, Google, Open Standards And The Future Of The Web, Publishing 2.0
• PPC News Roundup - 5/22/2008, PPC Hero
• Reader and Bloglines, Murky Blog

Posted at 2:40 PM | Permalink | Category: Daily Link Finds , Daily Search Coverage | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) (0) | Speak

Last night, I spent about two hours in the Verizon Wireless store. My wife's phone couldn't keep a charge, so we brought it in. In order to get support in the store, you need to sign in at a kiosk. So we sign in and notice our name is number nine on the tech support queue. We take a seat and watch as the customers before us obtain their tech support.

Now, imagine this. There is a sign under the tech support area that says "Worry Free Guarantee." Have that in your head? Okay, good.

Every single person that was serviced by customer service seemed very upset when they left. Here are some stories, I couldn't help, but over hear.

(1) I can't retrieve my voicemail or something, I think the phone is broken. He hands the phone to the tech support guy. The guy shows him how the phone is cracked and scratched on the outside. He said you must have physically damaged it and our warranty only is for manufacturer defects. The guy argues that he didn't drop it or anything, that "it just happened." LOL - how does a phone crack by itself. In any event, the guy walked away very angry with his broken phone. Why? Because he wasn't willing to pay $50 to replace it.

(2) This next story was just funny, really nothing to do with bad customer service, but I thought I would share it. A daughter and father team walk up. The daughter needs her phone replaced. The daughter asks the tech guy to transfer the songs and numbers. The tech guy says it is X dollars extra to transfer your songs. The dad said no, we don't need it. The daughter says she does and keeps at it. The father said, you were not even allowed to download those songs. The daughter said, but (sister name goes here) does. He said she shouldn't either! He then tells the tech guy to put a block on that feature on all phones on his account. Too funny!

It ended up, they told the guy they wouldn't replace the phone. He was there for the fourth time with the same issue. So he got upset and said, the 3rd time they promised to replace it if the issue comes back. I don't know if he ever got the new phone, I left before hand.

(3) This woman tells the tech guy that she left her charger with them and she never got it back. She wants Verizon to give her a new charger. The guy walks in the back and doesn't find a charger. He comes back and said there is no charger back there. She begins yelling. You stole my charger and never gave it back and now I need to buy a new one from you! I'll spare you the rest. The end, she walks out without a charger and very upset.

(4) By the time it was my turn, I just said, here is the money, just replace my wife's phone. I didn't want to argue, I just wanted to go home. They said they would transfer the numbers. They forgot and then argued with me about how they can't. I then looked at the guy who told me he would do it, who looked at the guy who was helping me on the replacement, and he did it for us.

Worry Free Guarantee. I guess it was referring to something else?

Posted at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Category: Just Funny | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

You know what happens when your throughput is incredibly fast? You get really really hot cables that burn through the plastic wrappings. Here is a picture of one cable that borked out at RustyBrick this morning:

Okay, I lied. As per the new required Google disclosure, I am tagging this post with a rel=hoax attribute.

In reality, the cable was laying on a baseboard heater. I guess after time, it burned its way through.

Posted at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Category: Computers | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

So it really looks like the 3G iPhone will be released and available as soon as June 15th.

I know I can hirea professional line waiter but I honestly want to totally geek-it-out and wait on line, myself.

So, if you want an iPhone or just want to hang out online at an Apple Store with me, let me know...

So, if the iPhone is for sale starting on Sunday, June 15th. The Apple Store near me is the Apple Store Palisades in West Nyack, NY. Typically, the Apple Store opens at 11am on Sundays. If it opens earlier for the iPhone rush, that is cool - if not, then I would get there as soon as the mall opens to wait on line there. Anyone want to wait with me? :)

I am not sure why I want to wait on line for it, but I do... Last time, when I bought the iPhone, I waited three weeks until after it was released and then gave it to temptation. Now, I can't wait. In fact, I heard 1 in 4 iPhone owners will buy a new iPhone, not sure where I heard that, so don't quote me.

Tick, tock, tick, tock....

Posted at 3:29 PM | Permalink | Category: Apple Macs | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0) (0)

Daily Search Coverage:

Google talks on search quality, but I talk back. Google updated, they added Char to the webmaster team, they are showing cased based result and floating on the four. Google is trying ads on image search. Microsoft gives cash to search shoppers. You can watch the Google factory tour. Matt was not electrocuted. Finally, you can search Techmeme.

Search Engine Roundtable Topics:

1. Google Search Index Update: May '08 Update
2. Chark Added To Google Search Quality Support Team
3. Google Still Showing Different Results Base on Case Sensitivity
4. More Google Floating Four Theories
5. Google Shares Information About Search Quality
6. Google to Run Image Advertisements in Image Search
7. Microsoft to Offer Cash Back to Users
8. What Happened At The Google Factory Tour
9. Linkbait Shows Matt Cutts Being Electrocuted by Solar Panels

Search Engine Land Topics:

1. You Can Search Techmeme
2. Playing With Live Search Cashback
3. A Deeper Look At Google's Search Quality Efforts
4. A Webmaster View Of Google's Latest Search Quality

Daily Link Finds:

This is the May 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 May 21st, 2008:

• SearchCap: The Day In Search, May 20, 2008, Search Engine Land
• SEO Class June 23-24 Edinburgh Scotland - Free to Ninjas, www.jimboykin.com
• A Deeper Look At Google's Search Quality Efforts, Search Engine Land