tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-324236452024-03-07T05:40:58.697+01:00MillsbombWeb, coding, SEO and tat.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger166125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-84530988813389762422014-02-20T00:26:00.002+00:002014-02-20T00:26:11.547+00:00Battling the Google AlgorithmsI've learnt over a number of years how to make a modest income from developing sites that make information easily searchable and indexable.<br />
<br />
These sites are by their nature data driven. Each page is not lovingly hand crafted but rather pulled from one or more rows from a database. That is the nature of these types of informational site and is what makes them scalable and comaparatively quick to build.<br />
<br />
Running a number of data driven sites that are funded by advertising presents a challenging set of problems in recent years. Google has (rightly) tightened up its quality thresholds and booted out large numbers of spammy sites that fall below the standard required.<br />
<br />
These are not however manual penalties but are instead algorithmic - that is to say a number of factors can trigger an automatic penalty resulting in either demotion or exclusion.<br />
<br />
Google has been as transparent as they can about these new algorithm updates. Three in particular have caught the attention of publishers -<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Penguin - penalty triggered by poor quality backlinks</li>
<li>Panda - penalty for sites deemed to contain poor quality pages, and</li>
<li>Top Heavy - a more specific update that targets sites "top heavy" with adverts at the expense of content.</li>
</ul>
The last two of these have caused recent headaches for this publisher. Whilst wanting to maximise earning potential via optimal advert placement you need to maintain the ratio of content to ads or fall foul of the Top Heavy algo.<br />
<br />
Likewise data driven content can produce a lot of pages with "thin" content. While you want to avoid this - a lot depends upon the quality of the data behind the site.<br />
<br />
The trick it would appear is to dance a careful line between presenting content and promoting ads. I am still learning the bounds of this careful new approach, and still sometimes getting it wrong! Frustrating is not the word.<br />
<br />
As I understand the patterns and potential triggers a little better I'll endeavour to update this topic, but for now if you are experimenting with advertising and content make sure you get the balance right and if in doubt err on the side of caution (and in favour of the content).<br />
<br />
More reading/watching:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxJEUYjTPw8">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxJEUYjTPw8</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.seroundtable.com/google-page-layout-update-18094.html">http://www.seroundtable.com/google-page-layout-update-18094.html</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-65274828250599815852011-11-23T20:48:00.001+00:002011-11-23T21:58:29.736+00:00My Top 5 jQuery Plugins<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEb2FOs3b-tPJMTNzmkbneyawD7W7IRLRkRxS-jVmiRs3i2F2FVfNgW6hyphenhyphenNnIxuUgmeIPzc_VyqyePLmnIMO-kxw6o2X97UFuYLIL0c-eY-J4pN6x0e4E04fWc_vyF8gwgzYbwrQ/s1600/home-nav-widgets.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEb2FOs3b-tPJMTNzmkbneyawD7W7IRLRkRxS-jVmiRs3i2F2FVfNgW6hyphenhyphenNnIxuUgmeIPzc_VyqyePLmnIMO-kxw6o2X97UFuYLIL0c-eY-J4pN6x0e4E04fWc_vyF8gwgzYbwrQ/s1600/home-nav-widgets.gif" /></a>I've been increasingly working more with <a href="http://jquery.com/" target="_blank">jQuery</a>. For the uninitiated, jQuery is a great Javascript library which makes web pages do clever stuff quite easily. Its great for hiding and animating sections of a page for example.<br />
<br />
The other great thing are the numerous plugins that are available for jQuery. If you need a clever image carousel - for example -<a href="http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/css/fresh-jquery-image-gallery-display-solutions/" target="_blank"> take your pick</a>.<br />
<br />
But in my recent experience I have found these 5 plugins really useful -<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://bassistance.de/jquery-plugins/jquery-plugin-validation/" target="_blank">jQuery validation</a> - great client side form validation plugin. Simple implementation via CSS classes and nice error messages.</li>
<li><a href="http://jqueryui.com/" target="_blank">jQuery UI</a> - excellent library of extensions that includes a sexy date time picker and a great sortable list function which allows users to visually order elements, such as pages in a cms or links on a page.</li>
<li><a href="http://jquery.malsup.com/cycle/" target="_blank">Cycle Plugin</a> - great for all sorts of image/content slideshows, carousels etc. So configurable it can be used for much more than simply rotating a few images. I use it regularly for any sections of page content that need animation, cycling, hiding or rotating. Handy pager functions and the fact it handles all the DOM (i.e. the HTML bits you are animating) smoothly really make this useful.</li>
<li><a href="http://plugins.jquery.com/project/jrac" target="_blank">JRAC</a> - short for jQuery resize and crop (I think). Just started using this but looks excellent. Allows you to offer cool cropping and resizing functionality to users uploading images. Still requires some nifty coding to do anything with the numbers it spits out, but definitely useful.</li>
<li><a href="http://www.uploadify.com/" target="_blank">Uploadify</a> - OK, not strictly a jQuery plugin, this is in fact a Flash based file uploader. It does have a jQuery library available to make implementation straightforward. Its very good, particularly its nice use of CSS and progress bar. Its looking increasingly likely that Flash's days on the web are numbered but until HTML 5 really rumbles in this is an excellent upload script.</li>
</ul>
I always thought that loading code from CDNs would be somehow slower than loading Javascript locally from the same site.<a href="http://encosia.com/3-reasons-why-you-should-let-google-host-jquery-for-you/" target="_blank"> Apparently I am wrong</a>, so don't be shy to use jQuery, Microsoft and Google CDNs. These are code repositories maintained (and optimised) by these web giants and offer hot link friendly code resources with better performance than even your local site. Work that out.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbCgzu_p0Mjin4983YHAsTg6x2GVJfML0KlfQ0cZ_pb5SuK0FkrvQaplDiB_OM9iuRfPqyDQ0zpGyKQY-NyIxGCfp7HLm9lPJF80odnY5N1UQSz8B9gHzaYNw9eMOMOfVcd9wJtw/s1600/boilerplate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbCgzu_p0Mjin4983YHAsTg6x2GVJfML0KlfQ0cZ_pb5SuK0FkrvQaplDiB_OM9iuRfPqyDQ0zpGyKQY-NyIxGCfp7HLm9lPJF80odnY5N1UQSz8B9gHzaYNw9eMOMOfVcd9wJtw/s320/boilerplate.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
On a related note we are starting to toy with HTML 5 at work and we found <a href="http://html5boilerplate.com/docs/" target="_blank">this great intro</a> to using it. HTML 5 Boilerplate gives you a highly optimised starting point to begin building websites in the next generation of HTML. Its written in part by a chap called Paul Irish who works on the Google Chrome team, so he should know a bit about rendering HTML and browsers.<br />
<ul>
</ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-31783529334305861532010-09-03T12:49:00.004+00:002010-09-03T13:36:16.541+00:00Keeping Busy<div>Its been a while...</div><div><br /></div><div><i>Have you had a stroke? </i></div><div><br /></div><div>No. Just been so busy with real life that blogging and other online activities have taken a back seat. Apart from ranting at substandard car companies here's what I've been up to:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li>Got made redundant. Boo</li><li>Got a new job with a great <a href="http://www.brightfive.com">web design (york)</a> company: Brightfive. Yay.</li><li>Built some new web projects of my own, the best of the bunch by far is my clever<a href="http://www.hotelify.com/"> Hotel Finder</a> application. Its pretty useful (I think). I did a more detailed write up of it <a href="http://knol.google.com/k/jamie-mills/hotel-finder/3mhqw6g16c4ck/7">here</a>.</li><li>I got married. Yay. Wife has a blog too. <a href="http://www.totaldeliciousness.co.uk/">Best link to it I suppose</a>. Its mainly hormonal rants and recipes. You have been warned.</li><li>Having a baby. Yay. Boy. Due in September.</li><li>Got sunburnt like a proper <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guiri">Guiri</a> (or is it Langosta?) on my last quick trip to Spain. Boo.</li></ul><div>So its been a busy year so far. </div></div><div><br /></div><div>Whilst not really my line of work any more - I still like to keep tabs on the Spanish property market. Here's a <a href="http://www.spanishpropertyinsight.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=5225">post</a> I made on Spanish Property Insight using Google's Trends for Websites to compare traffic levels.</div><div><br /></div><div>Lets not leave it so long next time...</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-67980577061838965002010-06-08T23:28:00.007+01:002010-06-11T10:12:16.211+01:00Evans Halshaw York<span style="font-weight: bold;">Word of advice: Do not buy a car from Evans Halshaw, York. </span><br /><br />Utter cowboys who sold me an unsafe car, did a botch fix to avoid paying for the part and then washed their hands of any responsibility.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">THANK YOU Evans Halshaw.</span><br /><br />I was laughed out of the showroom at the notion of a courtesy car whilst they were "fixing" mine. This left me over £200 out of pocket as I needed to travel to London, so my only other option was the last minute fares on the trains, expensive taxis and the inconvenience of not having my own transport. This with a heavily pregnant girlfriend and luggage was not a lot of fun.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">THANK YOU Evans Halshaw.</span><br /><br />A month earlier when I walked in with my hard earned money in my pocket, it was a different story of course. They were tripping over themselves to greet me, take me for a test drive, ask me about my favourite football team and all that other false chummy bollocks that low life, no-conscience salesmen effortlessly exude like so much crude oil.<br /><br />Since their customer service consisted of laughing me out of the building when I said the words "courtesy car" I'd like to know - was it unfair of me to expect some sort of transport, having given them the best part of £3,000 of my hard earned money?<br /><br />The car they sold me wasn't going anywhere, so I (wrongly) assumed they would be bending over backwards to help me get back on the road again.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">No fuck off and pay for the train all the way down to London. Your pregnant bird can carry the cases by the way.</span> <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />THANK YOU Evans Halshaw.<br /></span><br />Anyway at least, I thought, they will have the car fixed when I get back.<br /><br />However after waiting over a week (and <span style="font-style: italic;">me</span> chasing <span style="font-style: italic;">them</span> on the phone) I eventually get my car back. Funnily enough, this visit to the showroom was not marked with the earlier cheery greetings and pally inquiries as to which football team I supported. I was ignored, indeed blanked by the sales staff - the only person talking to me was the mechanic handing me the keys back.<br /><br />Then look where I ended up -<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoBKNnf94A15yPrr7Hg80GoNSpBBkvUyzbsOSxdWtthzqTuc1mgajR-zHibnF40qFvr9QFqrzWpWQYomupkW_1TbLtbtLMs36W61Og-htsKG2AN2o7pAfgAId-79xGtnhVG40lCA/s1600/30885_420553912888_746182888_5219223_320712_n.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoBKNnf94A15yPrr7Hg80GoNSpBBkvUyzbsOSxdWtthzqTuc1mgajR-zHibnF40qFvr9QFqrzWpWQYomupkW_1TbLtbtLMs36W61Og-htsKG2AN2o7pAfgAId-79xGtnhVG40lCA/s320/30885_420553912888_746182888_5219223_320712_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5480539956692249922" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">THANK YOU Evans Halshaw.</span><br /><br />I found out later (from a reputable garage) that instead of replacing the faulty part when I took the car in - they simply cleaned it up.<br /><br />I ended up paying a proper garage a further £600 to get the faulty part replaced.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">THANK YOU Evans Halshaw.<br /><br /></span><span>Oh and the response from their customer service department?</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> - Not our problem - you should have taken out a 2 year warranty that our salesmen were also trying to sell you. At a huge commission. Don't let the door hit your arse on the way out.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">THANK YOU Evans Halshaw.</span><br /><br />At least I am not the only one wise to their cowboy ways. There are numerous forum threads containing people enjoying similar levels of "customer service".<br /><br />Such as<div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.canyoutrustthem.com/index.php?go=search&adv=yes&company_name=638">http://www.canyoutrustthem.com/index.php?go=search&adv=yes&company_name=638</a><br /><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews171361.html">http://www.reviewcentre.com/reviews171361.html</a><br /><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.vectra-c.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4651">http://www.vectra-c.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4651</a><br /><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.ciao.co.uk/Reviews/Evans_Halshaw__21702">http://www.ciao.co.uk/Reviews/Evans_Halshaw__21702</a><br /><br /><a href="http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=399980">http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=399980</a><br /><a href="http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1654905"><br />http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1654905</a><br /><br />In fact take your pick -<br /><a href="http://www.google.co.uk/#q=site%3Aforums.moneysavingexpert.com+evans+halshaw&fp=1"><br /></a>Google: <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/#q=site%3Aforums.moneysavingexpert.com+evans+halshaw&fp=1">Evans Halshaw</a><br /><br />So don't say you haven't been warned. In fact, if you know someone looking for a car in the York area, do them a favour and share this story with them. They'll thank you.</div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-25915632222467604302009-08-26T08:32:00.005+00:002009-08-26T10:04:03.061+00:00Edinburgh Festival & Fringe 2009<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2V50aSNclGFMbSlqeFDRXj6WeX4ZRe7MT4X0-ZOgwa5u2qilR56JFFWpV4Ly-5XGceqKC49VZnv9I815KuIeULq9fbQtr0xxo_2dZEVMQzKyBGTeMcZ77CGmaBBZBYZcbdpHB5g/s1600-h/5760_127171137050_513202050_2968766_5728519_n.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2V50aSNclGFMbSlqeFDRXj6WeX4ZRe7MT4X0-ZOgwa5u2qilR56JFFWpV4Ly-5XGceqKC49VZnv9I815KuIeULq9fbQtr0xxo_2dZEVMQzKyBGTeMcZ77CGmaBBZBYZcbdpHB5g/s200/5760_127171137050_513202050_2968766_5728519_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5374191186020726786" border="0" /></a><br />Absolutely loved my holiday in Edinburgh, enjoying the sites and sounds of the various festivals. It truly is a fascinating and beautiful city, vividly brought to life in August by the thousands of shows and their lively promoters.<br /><br />I was a festival/fringe virgin until now and absolutely loved the heady mix of booze, comedy and music. It brings back those lovely, lazy student years.<br /><br />Well, my highlights of Edinburgh -<br /><br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.nms.ac.uk/our_museums/national_museum.aspx">The National Museum of Scotland</a> - great interactive as well as historical stuff (plus see Dolly the Sheep).</li><li><a href="http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/event/10000059-a-team-the-musical/">A-team the musical</a>, really.</li><li><a href="http://www.comedyfestival.com.au/season/2008/show/358/">Bec Hill</a> - cutesy but fun stand up exploring the nature of super heroes. With free cheese on toast.</li><li><a href="http://living.scotsman.com/comedy/Comedy-review-John-Robins-.5561903.jp">John Robins</a> - excellent stand up, with great observations on relationship breakdown. Warning - your girlfriend will want to take him home and look after him</li><li><a href="http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/">Book Festival</a> - meet authors, buy books, listen to readings - great!!!</li></ul>Also found out they give awards for the funniest jokes at the fringe. My fave:<br /><br /><b></b><b></b><blockquote><b>Marcus Brigstocke</b> - "To the people who've got iPhones: you just bought one, you didn't invent it!"</blockquote><br /><br />The best (and worst) fringe gags are here - <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8216991.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/edinburgh_and_east/8216991.stm<br /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-32831427439971617762009-06-04T09:18:00.003+01:002009-06-04T09:52:54.058+01:00Why search engines are like busesWhat is it with search engines? You wait ages for one then 3 turn up at once.<br /><br /><ul><li><a href="http://www.bing.com/">Bing</a> - Microsoft's (reportedly) last stab at getting search right. It boasts improved search results (don't they all), a range of innovative features and a shiny look and feel. Mmm, nice picture though.</li><li><a href="http://www.wolframalpha.com/">Wolfram Alpha</a> - described as a "computational knowledge engine". Oooh get her. Anyway the brainchild of an English academic, Wolfram alpha attempts to fully answer simple or complex requests using jazzy algorithms and huuuge data sets. Not so good for finding a local restaurant.</li><li><a href="http://www.google.com/squared/">Google Squared</a> - always on the prowl, Google released this cross between search and spreadsheet, spreadengine? searchsheet? Any good? You decide.</li><li>Not really a search engine at all but one to note for the future is <a href="http://wave.google.com/">Google Wave</a>, which purports to be the time saving collaboration solution we've all apparently been looking for. A mash up of email, chat, twitter and facebook. It aims to consolidate these disparate means of communication into one easy to use interface. Lots of hype around this one...<br /></li></ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-35760584380002845802009-02-04T11:43:00.005+00:002009-02-04T14:20:31.141+00:00Google Balls<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAoKTClGV1UaNLlBBMAooFcddV1ZpVVE43PqSrKBhKJyJ2tAIrPRatWZaEoE4I4qO6fMVxdN5oyhJZcL-S7JE1DFgd4AsLx0RuB_1GtpB8dvu8Tr0tIUnrBiKcHLyHoMnmd245Wg/s1600-h/keep_calm.gif"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 141px; height: 200px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAoKTClGV1UaNLlBBMAooFcddV1ZpVVE43PqSrKBhKJyJ2tAIrPRatWZaEoE4I4qO6fMVxdN5oyhJZcL-S7JE1DFgd4AsLx0RuB_1GtpB8dvu8Tr0tIUnrBiKcHLyHoMnmd245Wg/s200/keep_calm.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298946902292971378" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">Google Bad</span><br /><br />Google made a mistake! Really. Well one of their junior engineers did apparently.<br /><br />For a brief period of a time every search result returned in the SERPS was marked with their infamous "This site may harm your computer" tag, usually reserved for only the most scurrilous and scummy of malware purveyors.<br /><br />Where did it all go wrong? Someone entered a slash where there shouldn't have been, basically - thus adding all SERPS results to the scum file. <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/01/this-site-may-harm-your-computer-on.html">Read more</a>.<br /><br />Its comforting to know that a human hand still steers the tiller over at Cyberdine though isn't it?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Google Good</span><br /><br />On a related note Google have announced a few new toys:<br /><br /><ul><li><a href="http://gmailblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/new-in-labs-tasks.html">Tasks in Gmail</a> - a handy to do list which pops up a la Google chat.<br /></li><li><a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/dive-into-new-google-earth.html">New and improved Google Earth</a> - it now includes detailed ocean info. Yep, really. You can splash into the Marianas trench and have alook around. If you really want.</li><li><a href="http://www.google.com/latitude/intro.html">Google Lattitude</a> - this is quite interesting. You can advertise your geographic location to friends and family via your smartphone or laptop. Clearly this has some intense privacy ramifications and G are quick to point out that everything is opt in. So if you are playing away make sure your phone is off...</li></ul>Not bad, I think we can forgive them their boo boo, don't you?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-58247409312665241482009-02-02T19:55:00.004+00:002009-02-02T20:26:26.864+00:00Stephen Fry, Twitter and a moveHellooo! I know, I know so much time has passed since my last meaningful post dear reader, but things have been afoot.<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Love bites</span><br /><div><br /></div><div>First of all news: I am quitting Spain for a possibly ill advised attempt at re-integrating myself into the arctic conditions of the UK. The move comes about not, I hasten to add, because I have fallen out of love with Spain, but rather because I have fallen <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">in</span> love with a girl. [<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Vomiting noises off....</span>]</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes I know it sounds a little saccharine and twee but its true and there it is. </div><div><br /></div><div>Interestingly I have been looking at the UK jobs market and find myself a bit adrift. Yes there is a recession on, but there also appear to be plenty of IT posts kicking around (hundreds everyday on <a href="http://www.jobserve.com/">jobserve</a> for example). </div><div><br /></div><div>My problem is I am not sure of my value and how up to date my skillset is compared with the demands of the UK jobs scene. One thing I have noted is that SEO/SEM positions appear to pay more handsomely than straight coding jobs and that there are more .NET than open source jobs. </div><div><br /></div><div>I am actually looking forward to getting back into the fray, I think my time spent working freelance has somewhat blunted my inquisitive/acquisitive bent. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">Translation: I've become lazy.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: bold;">Twittering On</span></div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway enough of my personal drivel, time it seems for everyone else's: two things have caught my attention recently. One is the rise of <a href="http://twitter.com/">twitter</a>. I still am not sure of the value of this message vomit. </div><div><br /></div><div>The whole world from <a href="http://twitter.com/Wossy">celebs</a> through to my <a href="http://twitter.com/mattcutts">gurus</a> and even <a href="http://twitter.com/VanessaMaddie">my girlfriend</a> appears to be tweeting. The constant stream of consciousness from millions proves addictive to many, I am not sure yet whether I will become such an addict. Perhaps I need to be more selective.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ironically the second thing I wanted to share comes from following a <a href="http://twitter.com/stephenfry">Stephen Fry</a> tweet to his blog where <a href="http://www.stephenfry.com/blog/2008/12/11/gee-one-bold-storm-coming-up%E2%80%A6/">he muses excellently on the iPhone</a> for example. The joy is to find a great wordsmith such as Fry is also an avid techie and keen early adopter. His blog is now on my reading list. Highly recommended.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-80669680973425723532009-01-29T10:48:00.003+00:002010-06-11T10:14:02.352+01:00Man babies. Erm...This is odd, but funny. And I'm sure there's a message in there somewhere about men are just little boys with more disposable income.<br /><br /><a href="http://manbabies.com/content/269"><img alt="ManBabies.com - Dad?" src="http://manbabies.com/images/269.jpg" border="0" width="400" /></a><br /><br />Anyway have a look at <a href="http://www.manbabies.com/">Manbabies</a>. Even the name sounds a bit unsettling doesn't it?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-22112520650794543932008-12-11T13:33:00.004+00:002008-12-11T13:53:30.757+00:00Merry Xmas from MillsbombHave a great xmas Millsbomb readers, don't end up like this lot though!! [Thanks to Swiss]<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzdl9L4fM9_Y0Xu2NHo1uTLzUYnom6OeV7X_S2ZXUFvuadPzMy8cGgtVXD4zAXs6PlNwpjdyGwP-bc' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br />On a more festive note check out this guy's house - I bet his neighbours love him. [Thanks Dave]<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dyhEmL5ka-9upzJWuzv5uidD6P6Xn8UrWOPyeTr6V-pLASPnOzIwm-IGm2-zJSyVe8m5J24_h-At4I' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe><br /><br /><span style="font-size:180%;">Merry Christmas!!!</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-61948730365701656022008-10-26T22:16:00.005+00:002008-10-26T22:19:43.989+00:00Puzzle Game<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtK-MEHPUyGBDqXEL1UpQU1JNoJpmEQuctOGq-JUHb9J2tO6BayG_55WT-8TJPrfhRjZxDHwHluD-wWCK_K27J8zUkGSDE85XeKKNO34xq5B426sbBvpABkVTEJz7nCZCqeKkRSA/s1600-h/vision.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px; height: 168px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtK-MEHPUyGBDqXEL1UpQU1JNoJpmEQuctOGq-JUHb9J2tO6BayG_55WT-8TJPrfhRjZxDHwHluD-wWCK_K27J8zUkGSDE85XeKKNO34xq5B426sbBvpABkVTEJz7nCZCqeKkRSA/s200/vision.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261590358096318402" border="0" /></a><br />Here's a great locked room style puzzle game.<br /><br />It drove me mad for several hours...<br /><br /><a href="http://neutralxe.net/esc/vision_play.html">http://neutralxe.net/esc/vision_play.html</a><br /><br />For those of you with no patience there are hints and even a walkthrough here:<a href="http://jayisgames.com/archives/2008/02/vision.php"> http://jayisgames.com/archives/2008/02/vision.php</a><br /><br />Enjoy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-13336475497827917412008-10-19T09:40:00.003+00:002008-10-19T09:47:25.857+00:00Stupid Web 2.0 Names<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://thenextweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/weebly.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 200px;" src="http://thenextweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/weebly.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>This blogger identifies a disturbing trend - web 2.0 startups with particularly dumb names. Who is going to invest in anything called <span style="font-weight: bold;">Thoof</span>, which he compares to a fart sound. Good point.<br /><br />I like the sound of Weebly though...<br /><br /><a href="http://thenextweb.org/2008/10/13/the-15-dumbest-names-for-web-20-startups/">http://thenextweb.org/2008/10/13/the-15-dumbest-names-for-web-20-startups/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-24864509592366028632008-10-19T09:20:00.002+00:002008-10-19T09:54:28.188+00:00Take on me, literallyHere is a very literal reworking of the famous a-ha video. Silly but good.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/8HE9OQ4FnkQ&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/8HE9OQ4FnkQ&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />STOP PRESS!! Now <a href="http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/6342db2270">tears for fears</a> are at it too!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-11734771959935289942008-10-07T09:46:00.003+00:002008-10-07T09:50:51.650+00:00The power of slap and a daft videoCheck out the transformative ability of a bit of makeup:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPzolGqzKnalN2hYeuqEto62DqS6yZPBI_nTtlzORKGxw6DEshOMsC8ZCcpf2lYrzoSvH_lBzE7sOrnsICG6NJGG2cZ9ZPDl5prKzKFUrlRwcyrdFDVptaVg5OQUSCfbsDNEa_Ew/s1600-h/image003.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPzolGqzKnalN2hYeuqEto62DqS6yZPBI_nTtlzORKGxw6DEshOMsC8ZCcpf2lYrzoSvH_lBzE7sOrnsICG6NJGG2cZ9ZPDl5prKzKFUrlRwcyrdFDVptaVg5OQUSCfbsDNEa_Ew/s400/image003.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5254346731280247010" border="0" /></a>There's loads more here: <a href="http://forums.pebblesonthebeach.com/viewtopic.php?t=285">http://forums.pebblesonthebeach.com/viewtopic.php?t=285</a><br /><br />Oh and here's that daft video I also mentioned, can you work out what they are playing?<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PfK-UzQ48JE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PfK-UzQ48JE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-71899251733176021642008-10-06T09:09:00.001+00:002008-10-06T09:10:45.781+00:00Local News - drug bustCheck out what the guy behind the reporter is taking out of the house...<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/O0po1WRIIMg&hl=en&fs=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/O0po1WRIIMg&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-51638182812763406272008-10-06T08:54:00.002+00:002008-10-06T08:58:58.650+00:00Google 2001Google recently celebrated its <a href="http://www.google.com/tenthbirthday/">10th birthday</a>. To mark the occasion amongst other interesting titbits such as a <a href="http://www.google.com/tenthbirthday/#start">timeline</a>, they also produced a searchable version of their <a href="http://www.google.com/search2001.html">oldest index</a> (2001).<br /><br />If only I knew then what I do now...<br /><br />Anyway, check out who was top of the pops back then: <a href="http://www.google.com/search2001.html">http://www.google.com/search2001.html</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-8016935978833844182008-06-24T21:20:00.010+01:002008-06-24T22:43:37.701+01:00Competitive Intelligence - Google gives you the goods!<span style="font-weight: bold;">There's one born every minute...</span><br /><br />If you own a small business (say a real estate company in southern Spain, for example) then you will probably have received a phone call similar to the following:<br /><br /><blockquote>You: <span style="font-style: italic;">Hello</span><br /><br />Them: <span style="font-style: italic;">Hi I'm calling to ask if you'd like more customers.</span><br /><br />You: <span style="font-style: italic;">Really?</span><br /><br />Them: <span style="font-style: italic;">Yes.</span><br /><br />You: <span style="font-style: italic;">Well.. business has been a bit slack recently, so err.. yes please.</span><br /><br />Them: Great. <span style="font-style: italic;">You need to advertise on our forum*/portal*/Armenian property bazaar*/website about my cat*</span> [*delete as applicable]<br /><br />You: <span style="font-style: italic;">Err, how much is it?</span><br /><br />Them: <span style="font-style: italic;">Arm and a leg. But its worth it because we're the busiest. Honest.</span><br /><br />You: <span style="font-style: italic;">Really?</span><br /><br />Them: <span style="font-style: italic;">Yep. Got your Visa card there?</span><br /><br />[etc, etc...]</blockquote><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Suck it and see<br /></span><span><br /></span><span>It has always been notoriously tricky to decide where you should spend your online advertising dollar. </span><br /><br />Most agents are too busy keeping the wolf from the door to learn enough about the various sites in their niche that might benefit them. They are even less likely to be aware of the different measures of site traffic, visitors, impressions, uniques and so forth.<br /><br />Plus (believe it or not) certain sites will exaggerate or be selective with their stats in the hope of signing you up.<br /><br />So (and I'm only theorising here) for most small business owners, online advertising has pretty much been a trial and error affair, more often ending up with disappointment and 3 months ad budget pissed away, with little or no decent enquiries to show for the time and money and effort.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">How can you guard against this?</span><br /><br />Well the really short answer is you probably can't. There are <a href="http://www.statcounter.com/">stats</a> and <a href="http://www.google.com/analytics/">analytics</a>, and things like <a href="http://www.alexa.com/">Alexa</a>, that can give you an idea of a site's popularity, but as I said before these can be manipulated.<br /><br />Everyone knows that salesmen are the easiest people to close - and hate to admit their ignorance on any topic! Combine that with an advertising telemarketer (on no basic) trying to hit his monthly target and bob's your uncle.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Competitive Intelligence</span><br /><br />But it doesn't have to be a blind leap. There are certain things you can do to find out if a site justifies its advertising fees. The best of these, <span style="font-style: italic;">by far</span>, is <a href="http://trends.google.com/websites?q=idealspain.com%2C+thinkspain.com%2C+kyero.com%2C+eyeonspain.com&geo=all&date=all&sort=0">Google trends</a>. By signing in with a Google account you can compare numerous sites' traffic stats and also see where the visitors come from as well as other popular sites they have visited.<br /><br />The following screenshot shows 3 popular Spanish property portals I compared using the system:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVMfMon7j1OnqOp5G3SEuERTCEwlbb_xHoK2Rz-TEC-8B5D2Iz_o2aV_7V6B6q2tOIxYwlzMtILTO2iv1BBKih0ftGQKUjHN_dD4K-bFhea7BoVhir0xXzo_81rWGOnnOrzi6mtg/s1600-h/trends.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVMfMon7j1OnqOp5G3SEuERTCEwlbb_xHoK2Rz-TEC-8B5D2Iz_o2aV_7V6B6q2tOIxYwlzMtILTO2iv1BBKih0ftGQKUjHN_dD4K-bFhea7BoVhir0xXzo_81rWGOnnOrzi6mtg/s400/trends.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5215560736970096050" border="0" /></a><span style="font-style: italic;">(click image to enlarge)</span><br /><br />From this at least one can glean if a site is worth its price by comparing it with similar sites in the same sector. Previously, this kind of competitive intelligence was only available from certain ISPs to companies with deep pockets. Now its yours for free! Not bad at all.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">NB to see figures and projections, you will need to sign in first.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Use your powers wisely</span><br /><br />It still remains a fact though that large volumes of traffic do not necessarily equate to lots of lovely leads. For example, the site with the most traffic may also have the most subscribers, therefore reducing the average number of enquiries per subscriber.<br /><br />Neither does volume equate to quality - a small number of niche, "on target" leads is far better than an inbox full of dross to wade through.<br /><br />So it probably is still the case of "suck it and see" in terms of finding a good source of reasonably priced leads. But at least you can wade in armed with a little more knowledge. All free of charge.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-3245030419831830452008-06-11T15:42:00.002+01:002008-06-11T15:50:53.828+01:00The Wealth of Croesus<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/06/05/broadcom.indictment.ap/index.html">This article</a> gives you an insight into the crazy, wonderful life of a billionaire. The chap in question is the co-founder of some microchip company, whose private details are unravelling in court following a series of lawsuits.<br /><br />The pick of the vignettes that are titillating the court include:<br /><br /><ul><li>He had a secret underground party room, that even his wife was unaware of,</li><li>He smoked so much dope on his private jet that the pilot was forced to wear an oxygen mask,</li><li>He set up a drugs warehouse and dressed it up with fine art and top end audio-visual kit,</li><li>He would invoice friends and employees for drugs and hookers, for tax purposes, itemising these as "party favours".</li></ul>Work hard, play hard.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-49031125009396005682008-05-05T22:15:00.001+00:002008-05-05T22:17:38.726+00:00Jim Carrey, I did see a putty tatFunnier than material, is timing and here is the best:<br /><br /><br /><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/glvGfQnx3DI&hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/glvGfQnx3DI&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-30774685031595268432008-05-05T11:06:00.005+00:002008-05-05T11:21:45.606+00:00Gran Scala - Spain's Las Vegas?I note that the much touted Gran Scala project is now looking much like an outside bet. The developement set to invigorate Zaragoza as a Spanish Las Vegas style gambling and golf resort, now looks highly unlikely. A mixture of hyperbole and underfunding seems to be the cause.<br /><br />Mark Stucklin notes in his blog:<br /><br /><blockquote>The problem with ambitious plans like these, is they go nowhere without serious money and serious backers. It now looks as if the government of Aragon might have fallen for a bluff.</blockquote><br /><br />He continues:<br /><br /><blockquote>...the company due to create and run two of the theme parks in the resort was only set up in Reno in September with capital of just <span style="font-weight: bold;">950 Euros</span>.</blockquote><br /><br />Ehhh? 950 Euros! I think they need to spend a little more time at the roulette table. Or maybe they've spent too much there. Read more in <a href="http://www.spanishpropertyinsight.com/buff/?p=31">Mark's blog</a>.<br /><br />On an unrelated note, Turkey's authorities have apparently suspended foreign property purchases. Read more <a href="http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=139293">here</a>.<br /><br />Anyone got any good news?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-12738625497466764672008-05-02T00:00:00.003+00:002008-05-02T00:08:17.835+00:00Out for a stroll - Caminito del ReyFor those of you who enjoy adventurous walking holidays, check out this chap's video. This is filmed at Caminito del Rey, a spectacular Spanish gorge.<br /><br />It is supposedly closed to the general public following several deaths from falls, though that doesn't seem to bother our intrepid cameraman. The build quality of the footpath will be familiar to anyone who has bought an off plan property in Spain.<br /><br /><object height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xNSVcmBnt-o&hl=en"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xNSVcmBnt-o&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-21101856543703175272008-04-29T19:08:00.002+00:002008-04-29T19:10:58.871+00:00Lion, Motorbike, Wall of Death<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ5GzXOodOJc022taJXOPk4KGzkAd8AO_Z1mttY_oWQHV-yxfTX7JMirOIWwCnlaiE47rjoXa0GSlWXjP9UfY0-85dEs92cAgLHwztx8AnkR_hNkmMrbrKtV9ZvJ2_PCJkATPm0g/s1600-h/lion.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ5GzXOodOJc022taJXOPk4KGzkAd8AO_Z1mttY_oWQHV-yxfTX7JMirOIWwCnlaiE47rjoXa0GSlWXjP9UfY0-85dEs92cAgLHwztx8AnkR_hNkmMrbrKtV9ZvJ2_PCJkATPm0g/s400/lion.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5194746739234975474" border="0" /></a><br />Now that's a picture.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-26984475695260696612008-04-25T20:00:00.004+00:002008-04-25T20:26:49.022+00:00Funny F*ckersI like funny pictures, like this one:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjChvk4hyBGtLMpaKYhqQzvkce2qT7oVgbTr8BnwDDgT_99csipbhQhLltfzxSNFuQjZdAN0BqQXWhYoX2639X9x4GnyKGeuHqQFsLPHSOCC-9pyREu0vztb-IKEZn3iyGOtkpMTg/s1600-h/robotsex.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjChvk4hyBGtLMpaKYhqQzvkce2qT7oVgbTr8BnwDDgT_99csipbhQhLltfzxSNFuQjZdAN0BqQXWhYoX2639X9x4GnyKGeuHqQFsLPHSOCC-9pyREu0vztb-IKEZn3iyGOtkpMTg/s320/robotsex.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5193276142432825026" border="0" /></a>And this one:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjbJsJlqkh8Ww0vj615HpuJCGhacflTy6n_COzml4ZP89xfoRWOfil90U0MohdPqlbCw_39Id_uhnNpEM-7bSJVi2YQiQzFLxryG5P2g2de1JW2GAUVoNnh5RyCvRPfUVfF985yQ/s1600-h/stop.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjbJsJlqkh8Ww0vj615HpuJCGhacflTy6n_COzml4ZP89xfoRWOfil90U0MohdPqlbCw_39Id_uhnNpEM-7bSJVi2YQiQzFLxryG5P2g2de1JW2GAUVoNnh5RyCvRPfUVfF985yQ/s320/stop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5193280613493780178" border="0" /></a><br />And this one:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_43Tbey3IyVbJCG7OTCqZSzM_3XmIJsQ58df0o2-Tr4Wzn18nFIVg0hEdlDreoYUHE88-ORrxVhsTxTeSy173m1QDw_-UFiriE6YdGXq_Vv3LsTmDxWweHac3Tt3KiLIcgN_VcA/s1600-h/presto_640x480.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_43Tbey3IyVbJCG7OTCqZSzM_3XmIJsQ58df0o2-Tr4Wzn18nFIVg0hEdlDreoYUHE88-ORrxVhsTxTeSy173m1QDw_-UFiriE6YdGXq_Vv3LsTmDxWweHac3Tt3KiLIcgN_VcA/s320/presto_640x480.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5193281897689001698" border="0" /></a><br /><br />There's tons of them here: <a href="http://www.serious-internet.biz/">http://www.serious-internet.biz/</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-80883563418487518872008-04-25T18:23:00.003+00:002008-04-25T18:26:53.258+00:00Rocky is back!Probably more thrilling than the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk2f55CcBD4">Amazing Magic of David Chesterfield</a> is this inspirational new training montage from Rocky:<br /><br /><embed id="VideoPlayback" style="width: 400px; height: 326px;" flashvars="" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=7318515546364495009&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32423645.post-17130029272701516042008-04-22T21:52:00.005+00:002008-04-22T22:07:54.853+00:00Childhood DreamsReading through some blogs I noticed that <a href="http://googlevideo.blogspot.com/2008/04/google-video-gets-facelift.html">Google video has had a revamp</a>. <span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><br />Remember them? </span><br /><br />Since their acquisition of Youtube, I always wondered what exactly G would do with their homegrown video site.<br /><br />Well, they've actually neatened it up quite a bit - and importantly for me on my piss poor 1MB connection it seems to stream more smoothly than a lot of the youtube content. Or maybe thats just my imagination...<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Anyway...<br /><br /></span> in the process I came across the following video of a lecture given by a chap called <span style="display: inline;" id="long-desc">Randy Pausch. He is a very bright chap, a professor of clever computer science stuff, and who happens to be dying of cancer.<br /><br />His lecture is about childhood dreams, and demonstrates the intellect and ambitions of a very inspirational man. He is also very funny.<br /><br /><embed id="VideoPlayback" style="width: 400px; height: 326px;" flashvars="" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-5700431505846055184&hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash"></embed><br /><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0