WakeMate Technology Takes the Groggy Out of Your Morning November 24, 2009
Posted by Daniel in Uncategorized.Tags: sleep, startup, technology, wakemate
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This morning, my alarm went off at 6:00 am, welcoming me to the reality of another work day. But this morning, I just couldn’t take it. My head was just too heavy. So I rolled over and reset my alarm to 6:30 am (which is when I leave by to get to work on time). Turns out I was only 10 minutes late to work, but the extra 30 minutes of sleep just made me want to stay in bed even longer.
Anyone out there relate with similar experiences? Enter WakeMate to the rescue! Launching today, the startup WakeMate manufactures a Bluetooth wristband that connects to your smartphone. Once you set your alarm, the wristband tracks your sleep patterns throughout the night.
Twenty minutes before your alarm goes off, the wristband will sense your lightest sleep moment and wake you up by setting off your phone’s alarm.
The wristband will send all the data about your sleep patterns to your phone and then to your WakeMate account where you can review your sleeping patterns and ideal amount of sleep.
Genius! I love it! I’m going to go buy one right now… Wait a minute. They’re not out yet. The first pre-orders are being accepted and get $5 the $50 price tag. However, they don’t ship till January. Another cool feature – power nap and regular nap settings to help you get the most from your mid-day snooze.
Apparently ♫ the best part of waking up is WakeMate in your cup ♫ (…or on your wrist).
Be Good At What You’re Good At October 31, 2009
Posted by Daniel in Blogging Advice, SEO, Search Engines, WebStuff.Tags: Gizmodo, Meta Tags, Tech Blog, Title tags
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As I’m browsing around, trying to find some fresh and interesting tech blog articles or news, I decided to hit up the Google monster for the term “tech blogs”. I know, I know. The depth of my insight into search term extrapolation astonishes most people I bump into. But I just really wanted to see what Google thought was the most important tech blog.
This is where the comedy comes in – result number one (pictured above) is for Gizmodo, which makes sense. It’s a highly trafficked site with millions of backlinks, in all the right directories, providing fresh and interesting content all the time. What made me pause and chuckle was the subtext below the Gizmodo result.
“Congratulations, %youAre% a star! %userName% starred %you% %time% %youHave% lost your star. %userName% took away %your% star %time% %userName% promoted …”
I checked out their title tag to see why Google didn’t just use that as their subtitle, and quickly realized it was because the title was massively too short (see image below):
Just a reminder that if Google doesn’t like your meta title tag for some reason, you might quickly be made to look like you don’t know what you’re talking about. Even if you rank first for whatever term. Customers are becoming more selective, which means what we offer them has to be clear and exactly what they’re looking for. If it’s not, they’ll easily move on to search result number 2.
So anyways (I get so sidetracked), it was just funny to me that a company recognized as a fierce competitor in the tech info industry that posts information about the most modern gadgets, hadn’t spent any time evaluating some of their own technical details. Be good at what you’re good at. If you’re going to establish yourself as a tech resource, make sure your code is clean and that you are well optimized.
New Google Sidewiki: Will it Stay or Will it Go? October 24, 2009
Posted by Daniel in SEO, Search Engines, WebApps, WebStuff.Tags: Bruce Clay, google, SideWiki
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Although I’m sure you’ve already heard by now the news about Google’s newest toolbar-gadget the Side-Wiki (even Bruce Clay briefly mentioned something about it), I thought I’d make a quick reference to a feature webmasters/site owners should get to first just in case people actually start using it. As the site owner, you can post a note about your site that stays on top of all other notes. An algorithm similar to Google’s current search algorithm will be used to rank the listing of the rest of the notes people post. Take advantage of your site ownership, and use this space to communicate the heart of your business. Make it a little more personal, as a note should be. This isn’t the place for sales pitches. I can almost guarantee that a sales pitch posted in the owner’s note will drive away some visitors. While your checking it out – post your impressions on the Side-Wiki of the HireAHelper local movers landing page.
Two More Reasons Apple is Overrated September 19, 2009
Posted by Daniel in WebApps, WebStuff.Tags: Apple, AppStore, FCC, Federal Communication Commission, google, GoogleVoice
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A follow up to the Top 10 reasons Apple is Overrated
Reason number 11
A claim by security expert Charlie Miller that “Snow Leopard’s more secure than [previous release] Leopard, but it’s not as secure as Vista or Windows 7.”
Interesting when one of the loudest horns Apple keeps tooting is their resilience against virus’ and spy-ware.
Address space layout randomization (ASLR) is the key difference Miller points to. Vista upgraded their version of this random memory placement tool, but Apple has ignored Vista’s updates and made none of their own.
Charlie says that Macs get hacked less, but not because they’re harder to get into, but simply because there are significantly less out there than there are PCs. He says “That’s because if [the hacker] can hit 90 per cent of the machines out there, that’s all he’s gonna do. It’s not worth him nearly doubling his work just to get that last 10 per cent.”
So Apple’s claim to security fame… not so impressive.
Reason number 12
Apple has been lying to the FCC – a federal offense.
Image via CrunchBase
Ok so I know it’s not a technical reason, but still. Apple has rejected (or according to Apple, is still pondering over) the Google Voice app. Apple has been denying this rejection but Google recently submitted a letter to the FCC stating that they have screenshots documenting the rejection.
But Apple won’t back down and in a recent letter to the FCC still says they have “not rejected the Google Voice application and we continue to discuss it with Google.”
Apple lists in that letter that Google Voice falls in the same category as 3 other third party GV apps. Those apps strangely enough have all been removed from the app store. In fact, the company behind one app sent a screenshot confirming their rejection from the app store to Tech Crunch. So why would Apple categorize Google Voice with other rejected apps if GV wasn’t rejected, but merely “under consideration.”
Lying to the FCC – there’s an app for that.
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Link Strategy Site Gets A Facelift 3 Years in the Making September 17, 2009
Posted by Daniel in Advertising, SEO.Tags: Advertising, Blackhat SEO, Blogging Advice, google, PayPerPost
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PayPerPost is one of a growing crowd of link strategy sites hoping to broker deals between advertisers and bloggers. After 3 years of user input, Ted Murphy announced in April that they were releasing PPPv4 – “A complete re-write of PayPerPost from the ground up.”
After checking out PPPv4 for a couple weeks, I’ve found it very easy to use/understand. The interaction between advertisers and bloggers is the best I’ve seen from a review site. The approval process involves the bloggers and advertisers in a way that makes sure both parties are happy with the pricing, posting, and approving.
On top of that, they have a 25% deal going on right now – rewarding advertisers with a 25% bonus if they deposit $500 or more into their account. A big chunk of change, but a sweet incentive to do so. The blogs are priced relatively well compared to the industry.
All blog posts are required to contain full disclosure. Advertisers can pick whether they’d like disclosure to appear within the post, site-wide, or a combination of both. While disclosure isn’t ideal from an advertiser’s perspective, it is closer to being aligned with Google’s best practices than most paid reviews. Perhaps following such guidelines will warrent some favor from King Google.
All-in-all, from my experience, Version 4 of PayPerPost is a decent upgrade to the sponsored reviews industry. Well done PPP.
myTouch 3g from T-Mobile for under $100 – A Gift from Oprah September 10, 2009
Posted by Daniel in Uncategorized.add a comment
Finally, I don’t have to be sitting in Oprah’s live studio audiance to get one of her giveaways. Ok so she’s not exactly giving away T-Mobile myTouch 3g s but she did hook up everyone in-the-know with a temporary code to get it for $99 with a 2 year contract.
The promotion is to help her kick off her show’s twenty-fourth season; meaning she’s been on the air almost as long as I’ve been alive (I just turned 25). Wow, that woman has staying power. I guess giving stuff away helps.
Thanks for the deal Oprah. You just earned a handful of cool points. Keep it up!
Almost forgot – the promotional code is KICKOFF24
Enjoy your new phone!
Pirates Attack the Hyatt Regency Miami Hotel September 8, 2009
Posted by Daniel in SEO, Search Engines, WebStuff.Tags: Blackhat SEO, Google Local, Google Maps, Hyatt Regency, SEO Pirates
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…which gave me an idea – to write a quick how-to. Check out what inspired my how-to below step 4.
How to Rank First in Google Local Listings With Almost No Effort
1. Find an Un-claimed Company Ranking First in Google Local Search
Do some general searches in your area on Google Maps for items totally unrelated to what you’re trying to sell. For example, you’re selling moving boxes, try searching for pizza. Click on “Edit” for the top listing and if the business is unclaimed you’ll see a link to “Claim Your Business” which will take you to the Google Local Business Center (LBC).
2. Claim the Listing (Even though it’s not really yours) in Google Local Business Center
Once you either create an LBC account or log-in using your existing Google Account, you can enter your phone number and website for the business you are comandeering. After you finish replacing the true business contact information with your contact details, Google will ask you to verify by mailing you postcard in 1-2 weeks with a PIN on it that you’ll enter in your LBC account.
3. Verify the Listing and Watch the Traffic Pour In
Here’s where there actually was some creativity in the SEO Pirate’s plan and why it only works on Hotels. When the verification postcard is mailed out, you’ll need some way to be the recipient of that postcard at the business’ real address. So a pizza place (example in step 1 above) wouldn’t work. However, lets say you claimed a hotel and booked a 2 week stay in that hotel immediately afterward. You’d simply have to let the front desk know that a peice of mail containing your name and phone number would be arriving and to have them send it up to your room.
4. Viola – You Now Own Hyatt Regency (According to Google Maps)
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While doing research for our Miami Movers, I stumbled upon a very interesting approach to SEO. When searching in Firefox for Miami Hotels on Google Maps, the first result listed turned up “Miami Moving and Movers“. As I’ve been working on the movers aspect of the HireAHelper site for a while now, I thought maybe Google was using my search history in an attempt to enhance my search results by providing me with a result pertinent to what I normally search for.
So I opened Internet Explorer and did the search again, staying logged out of my Google account. When that search yielded the same result, I knew something was up. Clicking through the additional info, I found over 700 reviews. I started to assume that Miami Moving and Movers had simply posted themselves in the wrong category and spam reviewed themselves as a hotel to rank in an easy-to-rank, high-traffic area. But to my surprise, the reviews sounded very real, and halfway down the page I found 2 reviews directly referencing the Hyatt Regency Miami.
That’s when it clicked – pirates had attacked the Hyatt Regency Miami. Some SEO genius thought it would be a good idea to claim the Hyatt listing as his business after it had already risen to 1st place in the local rankings with several hundred reviews. He then changed the name and contact info to point viewers to his moving company.
I guess if you want a lot of easy traffic and don’t care about your site getting blacklisted then this approach makes sense – almost. Getting all that traffic from a different industry probably doesn’t result in a lot of conversions. Definitely not enough profit to cover the costs of the lawsuit Hyatt should bring against the offender. I wonder why Miami Moving isn’t associated with any trustworthy associations or accreditation like the BBB or the AMSA (American Moving and Storage Association).
To Miami Moving and Movers: Sorry to turn you in… well not really. I work too hard trying to do our SEO in a real, sustainable way to let you get off that easy. Good luck in the Hyatt vs. SEO Pirate trial.
24 Hour Fitness September 4, 2009
Posted by mikeglanz in Uncategorized.Tags: 24 hour fitness
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It’s a new world we live in. There is no more mediocre, or at least there shouldn’t be. Companies should be forced to be exceptional, and one company that can’t even cut mediocre, much less exceptional is 24 hour fitness.
24 hour fitness has spent to much time at the top in the California gym world. There is a new blog that has been started to spread the truth about the company, and I for one am endorsing it.
Daily Booth – A Picture Worth a Thousand Tweets August 18, 2009
Posted by Daniel in WebApps, WebStuff.add a comment
So I was talking to my wife the other day about how nice it would be if we could send in pictures from our phones to Facebook (via the Twitter app). We already both keep up our Facebook status’ this way and it would be nice to keep up on our photo uploads. Well, where Facebook dropped the ball, Daily Booth picked it up.
Daily Booth Screenshot
From what I’ve gathered after exploring the site and reading various CNET and TC articles about it – Daily Booth is like a Twitter that uses pictures instead of 140 characters. You can add text subtitles to the photos, but the core of the communication is focused on photo interaction. For example, most of the comments on other people’s photos are photos.
One of the cool things about DB is that you can click Snap A Picture from within the site, allow it access to your webcam and viola – no tricky camera downloading, formating, or resizing on your computer before uploading. It’s all very easy/user friendly.
Snap a Picture
The CNET article I read basically dishes it out against Daily Booth saying it doesn’t measure up to Daily Mugshot – a site dedicated to watching your own pictures over time to see how you’ve changed. I agree with Jerry Cooke’s comment on the article, that the comparison was made incorrectly as each site serves very different functions.
We’ll see if DB gets any traction – other articles I’ve read are impressed that teenagers are getting so plugged into it (something Twitter isn’t so good at).
My only doubts come from the failure of video phones to really launch. We’ve had the technology in place for a long time now but no one seems to want to be seen in their PJ’s or wherever else in whatever else they might answer the phone in. I think the same might eventually be true for Daily Booth and other sites like it. We still live in a culture where people like to look put together and presentable as much as they can help it – which might put ceiling on who signs up.
How the Google Stole Christmas… July 14, 2009
Posted by Daniel in SEO, Search Engines, WebStuff.Tags: google, Regulation, SEO
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An anonymous post on TechCrunch.com calling for SEO/SEM regulation supposedly “written by a well known executive at one of the largest sites on the Internet” has sparked a tremendous amount of discussion and debate. I agree that we should find someway to credential or license exceptional SEO’s. However, I don’t agree that the government needs to be involved or that total transperancy from the search engines is necessary.
The post makes Google look like the Grinch who stole E-commerce. The author does this by arguing that Google abuses its position as the sole gatekeeper to most of web-based commercial world by changing its search algorithms without warning and disabling clients pay-per-click accounts without notice or reason.
The mysterious author draws the comparison to Los Angeles where the entrances are guarded by one company, and the streets changed sporadically by the same company – restricting the customer’s travel and often completely blocking access to some vendors.
The funny thing is, as I was reading through articles this morning on SEO techniques and tips, one of the articles (from SEObook.com, Is PageRank Important) pointed out that because search aglorythms are always changing, the best approach to search engine marketing is a traditional marketing strategy – provide great content, products, or services and people will come back with their friends.
In constantly updating their algorithms, Google isn’t being a Grinch, they’re attempting to weed out the trickery and magic of SEO to find honest, helpful search results. On the other end, SEO’s are finding out more and more that their goals should be to produce accurate and high quality content and market it to the right crowd.
In other words, the market is already regulating itself. Nobody is forcing the public to use the Google gateway to the e-commerce world. Who knows, maybe bing.com will turn out to be a surprisingly strong competitor for Google. The consumer will dictate which gates to use in their online experience, and if Google fails to produce relevant results, the consumer will find another gate.
Thanks Mr. Anonymous for sharing your feelings about regulating SEO/SEM. But its already fixing itself as you write.
