Anything But Coffee

Ah Google, why don’t you tell us how you really feel about South Africa? Apparently Google Suggest needs some tweaking or South Africa really is a shithole.

Randy Home, Other Google, Google Suggest, South Africa, South Africa is a Shithole

I hardly ever use Internet Explorer as my browser; mostly I’m a Firefox and Chrome guy, but today I had to use Internet Explorer for something at work and was surprised at what I saw.

It’s common knowledge now that when you see a search box on a web page such as Google, you instinctively know (or have been trained) to type your search questions there. After firing up Internet Explorer with Google being the default page I see this: (see image to left)

Like I said, I don’t use IE often so I checked this with Firefox & Chrome to see if they were delivering the same type of home page. Of course they weren’t so this leads me to only one conclusion:

“Google feels that anyone still using Internet Explorer is either  “Non Tech Savvy” or just plain stupid and can’t figure out where to type.”

Of course that is just my opinion and in no way is meant to represent Google’s opinion but in a world that is so dependent on the internet and accustomed to using search engines, not to mention the fact that Google receives several hundred million searches a day, it’s a pretty passive aggressive way of stating the obvious on how Google perceives Internet Explorer users.

Has anyone else seen this? Is this something new or has this always been here and I’ve just never seen it because I don’t use IE? Am I being to harsh on Internet Explorer users? I’d love to hear what you think so leave your comments below.

Randy SEO Google, Internet Explorer, Search Box, Search Engines

It’s official, Google is now allowing certain company websites to dominate the first 8 results for certain products or searches.

For a quick example go to Google and search either Apple iPod or Hewlett Packard Printers. Notice the majority of the results all take you to either Apple’s domain or Hewlett Packard’s.

This announcement was made yesterday on Google’s Webmaster Central blog which basically says that they are now allowing a single domain to have multiple results, up to 8 in most cases on a single search result page.

Apparently Google feels that for certain searches, a companies website may be diverse enough to give the searcher all the information that they need before showing other, possibly more accurate results.

What this means for you as a searcher is that now you have to spend more time searching; past page 1, just to find the most relevant information to your search. That is if you want to actually find something not on the parent company’s site, which in most cases is what people want in the first place. People know they can go to the company website for anything about that product but go to search engines to find results not from the company website.

No idea if this will last but all we can do is hope that Google knows what they are doing, and if not be smart enough to change it back to the way it ws.

Randy SEO Apple iPod, Google, Hewlett Packard, Multiple Domain Results, Webmaster Central Blog

So call me paranoid but I think Google is just going to far with their information gathering.

For those who don’t know, Google announced on their blog last week on December 4th, 2009 they are now offering personalized search results for everyone who uses Google.

What’s so special about personalized search results? Well here’s a little history for those who may not know. Every search you do on Google is documented and tracked. Up until now your information was only stored if you chose not to opt-out of this program by turning off your search history in your Google preferences. Not many people knew of this. Google “claims” they only use your stored information as a metric to be able to return to you more relevant results based off of your search history.

Now, as of their announcement, Google is storing your information whether you want them to or not. You have no option to opt-out of this information tracking system anymore, which I feel is a violation of personal privacy. Read more…

Randy Home Google, Personalzied Search

Today I’m going to be talking a little about the  new operating system coming out from Google called Google Chrome OS. It’s been a while since I last wrote something, so considering Im bored at work doing nothing I guess now would be as best time as any.

So first off why do we need a new operating system anyway. With the 3 major ones out there, Windows, Mac OS and Linux everything is covered so what else do we need?

Well leave it to Google in their traditional “I want to rule the world” mentality; they feel the need to introduce another product that they can help saturate the market with all their Google Goodness. You can read the official release about Google Chrome OS here but let me just save you some time, it’s the same as every other operating system out there. The only difference is that it seems to be leaning more towards the “cloud” style of computing.

Basically your computer would just consist of the usual keyboard, mouse, speakers and monitor but wouldnt really need a tower or CPU. It would just be connected to the internet and you would accesses everything via a browser style just like you surf the net now.

You would log into your secured “hard drive or server” and all your files, pictures, videos, etc… would be available to you. Just think of it as a photobucket for your entire computer.

Benefits and Dangers of Google Chrome OS

What would the benefits of this be? Well first you wont have to worry about any long start up times for your computer to boot up. You wont have to upgrade your software or hardware with any patches to increase performance and you wont have to worry about catching any viruses and you can access your personal computer from any internet connection anywhere in the world.

The down side could be any number of things such as someone else compromising the main system with a virus, someone hacking your password, a disgruntled employee viewing your private data, stored information such as credit card and bank account numbers, a massive power outage that doesn’t allow you to access your files when you need them or the fact that there could be some clause that states anything you store on their system becomes their property. The pro’s and con’s are endless.

Not to mention the fact that Google is trying harder and harder to make all your personal data available on the internet all in the name of making your web browsing experience better.

Do you really need your private medical records stored online for someone to gain access to? Do you need your shopping history and web searching history stored online where anyone can view it and profile you to target you with spam email and malware sites? Do you need every aspect of what you do online to be evaluated by Governement officials?

Consider this. It’s a safe bet that on the Google Chrome OS Cloud system you are going to be sharing servers with a number of different people. Its just not possible to think everyone will get their own hard drive. So what happens if someone commits a crime and there is a warrent to search that specific server? Now suddenly everyone on that server will be having their persoanl rights violated just to view that other persons information.

Now of course that is an extreme, but I’m sure their isn’t any legislation in place as of yet to prevent this from happening.

I’m sure this is only the start of the battle between Google Chrome OS and the other Operating Systems out there and everyone’s ever growing concerne with online privacy. So let’s hear what you have to say? What are your feelings in regards to this type of Cloud computing?

Randy Home Cloud Computing, Google, Google Chrome OS, Online Privacy

Hey everyone! So I just got back from the 2007 BlogWorld Expo, which was held in Las Vegas and let me tell yo, it was pretty fun. Not only did I learn a few little tidbits of information, mostly I had confirmation on things I already knew which tells me I am on the right path to running a successful and if Im lucky, a profitable blog.

All things considered this was a basic blog convention where I went and sat around listening to some people speak and hope I pick up some good ideas. But what I think was the best part of the trip was the opening night party that was held at the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel and Casino’s own night club “The Joint!”

Picture a few hundred bloggers, geeks, Search Engine Optimization specialists and others who I still couldn’t really classify in any category, drunk off their ass thanks to the open bar and free food provided by the Hard Rock Casino. The drinks were strong and flowing. The DJ was very good and kept the music flowing.

My stay at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino wasn’t really worth mentioning apart from the fact that this was one of the worst Casino Hotels, or any hotel I have stayed in. The parking structure was confusing, no signs saying what level you were on or direction to where the exits were. Also after you park you have to either take the stairs or the elevator down to the ground floor, walk past all the dumpsters, and the maintenance workers break room, through another outside hallway then into a side door to get into the lobby. Let’s not forget avoiding all the taxi and visitor traffic because you have to cross right through the valet area.

Once inside the lobby of the Imperial Palace you have to take another elevator just to get up into the casino, and the check in is at the front which is in accessible without having to go through all this if you park in the parking garage. Ohhh and there are a whole seperate set of elevators you have to find to jsut get to your rooms. Speaking of the rooms, those were pretty nice actually. But the Imperial Palace is in a horrible location because directly below us was a small little outside cabana club right off the Las Vegas Strip who decided to play music till 3am every night. I was on the 10th floor and it sounded like they were in my room with me. I really wouldnt recomment the Imperial Palace Casino to any one.

I gambled a little bit, won some then lost it again but hey thats the fun of Las Vegas right? As for the speakers all of them were pretty informative and gave some good ideas but the one I enjoyed the most was with Thomas Frey – Google’s Top Rated Futurist Speaker from The DaVinci Institute. His outlook on what the future of 50 years from now holds for the internet and the world in general were pretty interesting and thought provoking. Ideas of Universal commerce, and no more country boarders paint an very exciting future, at least to me.

Well hopefully everyone will enjoy what the future has in store and Ill be sharing some new things with you as the weeks pass by.

-Randy-

Randy SEO Blogs, Google, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, SEO, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking