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I recently had the privilege of contributing a couple of chapters on SEO and Social Media for Neil J. Mahoney’s new book, Practical Everyday Analytics & The Science of Sales and Marketing
Check it out!
This is a post from The Web Optimist – SEO in The Desert.
Watching CBNS-TV on an iPad
I’m a cable TV company’s nightmare. I don’t watch sports, have no interest in shopping on TV, only speak English, have never watched any of the many government channels, freakin’ HATE reality shows and have no interest in televised religion.
There goes the bulk of the TV package cable TV companies have been shoving down my throat all of these years. A review of the “expanded basic” channels offered locally revealed that I mostly watch the network affiliates and independent stations (primarily for local and network news and a handful of shows like “Modern Family” and “Big Bang Theory”), getting most of my television entertainment from online streaming.
I’m seriously on the way to cutting the cord completely. The only reason I haven’t is that I live in a condo and have yet to find an indoor antenna that will reliably pick up the local channels that I want. I have tried several antennas, but no luck. So, rather than a cord cutter, I am currently a cord trimmer. I kept the very basic cable TV package (around $14 per month) just to have reliable signals for the local stuff. I have no plans to go back unless the cable companies see the light and start offering the ability to create my own package (as in a la carte).
This got me to thinking about going completely online AND mobile. Could I create something resembling a cable TV package that was completely online and that could travel with me (unlike those cable company apps that tie you to your home router)? I decided to give it a go as I have no cable outlet in my office (everything is wireless) and wanted to be able to have some TV while I work. read more »
I’ve been seriously considering cutting the cord on cable TV and going with over-the-air and streaming sources like Netflix and Hulu through Roku, Boxee etc. I tend to watch very few shows on cable, which seems to be in love with reality shows these days (which I HATE). Mostly I have been viewing a handful of network shows and LOTS of streaming movies and TV shows. I have cut down to the extended basic package already and dumped everything in the premium tier.
More than anything, I am sick of paying for a ton of channels I never watch, but that are shoved down my throat in a “package” by the cable company. I have complained about this for years, yet here we are. I’ve had enough.
My problem is that I live in a condo where an outdoor digital TV antenna just isn’t possible, so I have been hunting for something indoor, fully realizing that no indoor antenna will work as well. But, it’s all I have to work with.
I have tried several. Indoor antennas are a lesson in frustration. Combined with digital signals, which give you little wiggle room (they are strong enough to work or not), you generally have to position, reposition, stand on your head, etc. to get the channels you want. Adjust the antenna to get one channel, you lose another.
read more »
The LG Optimus (photo from actual shipping box) is the phone available for the Republic Wireless beta program.
I’m an original iPhone user, grabbing one of the 2G iPhones when they first came out. And, I love my iPhone (currently on a 3GS) but what I don’t love is being forced into a data plan that costs more than my home broadband, especially when my data use is primarily over Wi-Fi. I have frequently wished I could get a good smartphone that didn’t require a data plan, but relied on Wi-Fi alone.
That’s where the idea of Republic Wireless comes in. Their plan, currently in beta, is basically opposite of what most mobile phone plans offer. Wi-Fi is the primary carrier with cellular the add-on. They expect their users (their “community”) to offload the majority of their phone use to Wi-Fi. When Wi-Fi isn’t available, cellular talk and data kick in. They call it “Hybrid Calling.”
For someone like me, who works from home and is covered by Wi-Fi something like 70% of the time, this is brilliant! I’m currently paying for two iPhones with rarely used data plans that cost more than my cable Internet (plus being slow and limited). With Republic Wireless, I pay $19 per month (plus tax) for each phone, covering talk and data. It’s so low because the majority of use is over Wi-Fi. If you go over your target offloading to Wi-Fi (expected to be 60% or more) you get notified of your overage and, if you continue, I’m guessing you are asked to leave the “community” nicely (this IS a beta, but I think that’s the idea). read more »
By Brendan Egan
Well, blogging has become the new pink in the internet world. Almost everyone has their own blogs and websites however some are more well known than others. Maybe the popular blogs have more flare, maybe they are more creative or maybe they are just easier to find. And that is exactly what you need to earn more viewers for your page, to create an SEO (that’s Search Engine Optimization) friendly blog. And here are five great tips to get you started.
1. SEO Plug-ins
The first step you need to do is to create a Uniform Resource Locater so others can find your blog easily. This is a very important thing because having plug-ins allows you to manage title, address, and other vital parts of a message. It is important that you make all information as clear as you can so they can fit with the keywords on your blog.
read more »
By Charles Mburugu
No serious website can dare to ignore the significance of search engine rankings. Search engines provide more than 70% of the traffic for most websites. Therefore, if you rank high in search engines, you will receive more traffic.
However, getting and sustaining high rankings is not easy. It usually takes much hard word and effort to attain good search engine rankings. The following are three things you need to always keep in mind for better search engine rankings.
Content is king
Search engines love content. Without good and valuable content, you have little chance of success, no matter how great your website is or how much effort you have put into search engine optimization. It is important to have a lot of keyword rich content all through your site. Another great tip is to visit websites which are similar to yours. Read their articles and get ideas which you can make use of in your own site.
There are several reasons why content is vital for high search engine rankings. High search engine ranking will bring you a lot of traffic. However, to sustain the high traffic and retain a good number of return visitors, you need to have useful and well written content in your site. This volume of targeted traffic will be helpful in keeping your reciprocal links growing. read more »
Made the 2½ hour drive over to San Diego after work yesterday for my partner’s chemo procedure at Sharp Hospital scheduled for Friday. Drove up to a dark hotel where we were told all of the San Diego area was without power, something like four million people. That meant no gas, no restaurants, no hotels, in some areas no water. It was like a really bad Syfy TV movie (of course, ALL Syfy TV flicks are bad). Kept waiting for the flying mutant Squidshark to appear…
Screen capture from a previous post about how a jailbroken original iPhone 2g works with a T-Mobile prepaid SIM card.
Went to the hospital to find out what to do. As we pulled up, we discovered a voice mail that all medical procedures for Friday were canceled (the phone never rang, the voice mail just appeared). Went into the hospital, which had emergency power, to see if anyone knew how far this thing went inland. Were told it went as far as some parts of Palm Springs. As usual, my AT&T iPhone was useless. Not even a signal. Pulled out a jailbroken original iPhone I stuck a T-Mobile prepaid sim into and, voila, it worked. (I am so canceling my AT&T when the contract expires).
Called the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage, where Jim (my partner) works, and they had power. Since they are only a few minutes from where we live, we took a chance on our remaining half a tank of gas and headed towards Palm Springs and home, passing a lot of cars on the side of the road, obviously out of gas. Mercifully, we found gas an hour or so into the drive home. It took a 45 minute wait for a pump, but it was worth it as the remaining drive was through the mountains.
Got home at about 11 pm last night.
So, who wants to talk TV movie rights?
This is a post from The Web Optimist – SEO in The Desert.
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Richard V. Burckhardt, The Web Optimist
Palm Springs, CA
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