pageRank Does it Matter?
PageRank is a number value that represents the importance of a website on the Internet. Google figures that when a site links to another one, it is casting a vote for the other page. The more votes that are cast for a site, the more important that site must be!
When I visit a web site, I look at the “PageRank” of the web site. To me PageRank is more of a credibility index than anything. For example, I would feel more confident making a purchase or requesting a service from a web site with a PageRank of 6 than I would from a web site with the PageRank of 2. Therefore I am more likely to convert (try, buy, or recommend) a product, article or service from web site with a higher PageRank.
Google control’s PageRank. They have the final say in what the PageRank of a site would be. It is mostly worked out by a formula. Largely unknown by the public. A basic rule of thumb is that the more links you have to your site the better your PageRank would be.
Computer Questions
A girl walked into the computer center where I work. She said she was having problems with her Mac. I asked what kind of Mac she had. In an indignant voice, she replied, “Duh, Intosh.”
- Tech Support: “What operating system are you running? Windows 95?”
- Customer: (a little too excited) “95, 97, 98, I’ve got them all!”
After conferring with her husband, it turned out she owned a Macintosh with System 8.1.
- Tech Support: “Do you know what operating system you’re on?”
- Customer: “Hmmm…what would be a good answer?”
- Customer: “I don’t use DOS. What would happen if I deleted that directory?”
One time I had to walk a Windows 95 user through a particular procedure.
- Me: “First you need to open DOS-prompt. I’ll guide you–”
- Customer: “MY COMPUTER DOES NOT HAVE DOS! YOU THINK I RUN THAT ANCIENT SOFTWARE?” (click)
- My Friend: “I just installed Windows 98.”
- Me: “Cool. But…it’s 2001. Why not Windows 2000 or wait for XP to come out?”
- My Friend: “Oh, 98 is more easily hacked, so I want it.”
- Me: “You want to get hacked?”
- My Friend: “Yes! Wouldn’t you?”
- Me: “No….”
- My Friend: “When you get hacked you get a lot of money! That’s a good thing!”
- Me: “???”
- My Friend: “What’s your operating system?”
- Me: “Linux.”
- My Friend: “You better uninstall it!”
- Me: “Why?”
- My Friend: “The government uses Linux to look through your computer and see your every move. They use it as a security camera into your world.”
- Me: “Sure….”
- Friend: “I heard about this thing called ‘Linux’.”
- Me: “Oh, I use Linux.”
- Friend: “What is it?”
- Me: “An operating system.”
- Friend: “Like Firefox?”
- Friend: “Does Windows 98 support Linux?”
- Customer: “Do you sell Mac OS X for Windows?”
Overheard in a classroom:
- Student: “How much do Windows cost, and do you have to buy each one separately?”
- Customer: “How much do Windows cost?”
- Tech Support: “Windows costs about $100.”
- Customer: “Oh, that’s kind of expensive. Can I buy just one window?”
- Friend: “Hey, cool Mac! Does it have Windows!?”
- Me: (incredulous stare)
- Friend: “Oh, wait, that was stupid. All Macs have Windows.”
- Customer: (angrily) “You said I would get 98 windows with this computer. Where are they?”
- Tech Support: “What version of Windows do you have installed?”
- Customer: “… Double glazed.”
A customer called in with modem problems.
- Tech Support: “Ok, we’re going to check your modem settings. First thing we need to do is make sure all programs are closed.”
- Customer: “How do I know if everything is closed?”
- Me: “Make sure all windows are closed.”
- Customer: “But…I’m in the basement. I don’t have any windows here.”
Lucky me, I made it to the the mute button in time!
I can’t even count how many people I argue with about this, yet they insist there is an operating system call “Windows 95 NT.”
One day I got a call toward the end of the day from a sales rep in Chicago who couldn’t get his computer to boot up. We went round and round for about two hours — nothing worked. I was ready to pull my hair out, but I don’t like losing. To lighten the tension of the moment, I started chitchatting with him as we’re waiting to see if the machine will restart. He has an IBM ThinkPad, and I told him how much I like mine.
- Him: “Yeah, they’re ok, but I travel a lot, and I got tired of the darn thing being so heavy, so I installed Windows CE to make it lighter.”
- Me: “Do you know what the registry is?”
- Friend: “Oh, yes. I take the registry apart and put it back together all the time.”
I was calling to sign up with a new DSL provider. When the guy asked what operating system I was using, I said, “Linux.” I was put on hold for five minutes, and then a supervisor came back and told me, “You can’t use Linux to connect to the Internet. It’s a hacker tool, anyway.” I almost fell out of my chair.
In about 1993, Cambridge University had a few rooms of 486s, for use by members of the University. You could get into the rooms at any time of day if you had a key, and the site security would walk around every hour or so at night.
One policy, introduced after a few too many noisy games of network Doom, was that playing games wasn’t allowed. One evening, however, I saw someone using eXceed (an X-Windows server for Microsoft Windows) to run Motif. Apparently he was doing something on one of the UNIX machines over the network. The security guard came up behind him, and the conversation went something like this:
- Security Guard: “Could you stop that — you’re not allowed to play games in here.”
- Student: “This isn’t a game.”
- Security Guard: “You can’t fool me. That’s not work.”
- Student: “Yes, it is. I’m a computer science student — I’ve got a deadline later this week.”
- Security Guard: “That doesn’t look like work to me. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
- Student: “What? I’m working. I’m working quietly. Why do I have to leave?”
- Security Guard: “You’re playing a game, and you’re lying to me. Out. Now. Before I turn this machine off.”
Even the other two people in the room couldn’t persuade the security bloke that it wasn’t a game.
Overheard in a software shop:
- Woman #1: “What this Linux thing?”
- Woman #2: “It’s a program that if you have it on your computer, you can’t turn the computer off.”
- Woman #1: “Oh.”
Last year, the temp agency I was working for was arranging a contract for me, and some additional “computer skills” tests were necessary. The branch manager asked what kind of computer I was comfortable with. I said, “Windows PC,” although I had used several others. She cut in right then and asked, “Word or Excel?”
- Customer: “I installed Windows 98 on my computer, and it doesn’t work.”
- Tech Support: “Ok, what happens when you turn on your computer?”
- Customer: “Boy, are you listening? I said it doesn’t work.”
- Tech Support: “Well, what happens when you TRY to turn it on?”
- Customer: “Look, I’m not a computer person. Talk regular English, not this computer talk, ok?”
- Tech Support: “Ok, let’s assume your computer is turned off, and you just sat down in front of it, and want to use it. What do you do?”
- Customer: “Don’t talk like I’m stupid, boy. I turn it on.”
- Tech Support: “And then what happens?”
- Customer: “What do you mean?”
- Tech Support: “Does anything appear on your monitor? I mean, the TV part.”
- Customer: “The same thing I saw last time I tried.”
- Tech Support: “And that is what?”
- Customer: “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
- Tech Support: “Yes, sir. What is on your screen?”
- Customer: “A bunch of little pictures.”
- Tech Support: “Ok, in the upper left corner, do you see ‘My Computer’.”
- Customer: “No, all I see is that little red circle thing with the chunk out of it.”
- Tech Support: “You mean an apple?”
- Customer: “I guess it kind of looks like an apple.”
Then it took me fifteen minutes to convince him that he had a Mac. Even after showing him “About this Macintosh.” I spent another fifteen minutes trying to convince him that Windows 98 wouldn’t work on his Mac. He said it should work because Windows 98 is for PCs, and he had a PowerPC. I think he’s still trying to get it to read that CD, because I never could convince him.
Two night forepersons at our company were discussing our new computer network after just having been to a brief orientation session. One of them wanted to know what “windows” were, so I explained. Just as she seemed to be catching on to the concept, the other foreperson piped up. “Well that’s great, because we have ninety-five windows on there!”
- Tech Support: “Do you have any windows open right now?”
- Customer: “Are you crazy woman, it’s twenty below outside…”
- Co-Worker: “What version of DOS does UNIX run?”
- Tech Support: “How can I help you?”
- Customer: “Well, everything is working fine, but there is one program that is not.”
- Tech Support: “What program is it?”
- Customer: “It’s called ‘MSDOS Prompt’.”
- Tech Support: “What’s wrong with it?”
- Customer: “Well, I click on it, a black screen shows up with NOTHING but a sign that reads: ‘C:\WINDOWS>’, and it just sits there and doesn’t do anything. I have to turn off the system to go back to Windows.”
For my work-study job, I work tech support at a small college. One night I was working Help Desk and the phone rings. I pick it up to have a student telling me she can’t get the computer to work.
- Me: “What operating system are you running?”
- Student: “Hunh?”
- Me: “Do you have a Mac or a PC?”
- Student: “Um, I don’t know.”
- Me: “Ok. What does the screen look like?”
- Student: “It’s yellow.”
- Me: “Ok. What does it say on the computer CPU?”
- Student: “What’s that?”
- Me: “The big grey box.”
- Student: “It doesn’t say anything.”
- Me: “Never mind that…do you have a little ‘Start’ button at the bottom of the monitor?”
- Student: “Monitor?”
- Me: “The thing that looks like a TV sceen sitting on the grey box.”
- Student: “Oh! That! No. No start button.”
- Me: “Ok. Is there a little apple symbol anywhere on the screen?”
- Student: (very puzzled) “Why would I have fruit on my computer?”
Back in the early days of Windows 95:
- Customer: “I have Windows Thirty One.”
- Tech Support: “Ok, this program requires either Windows 95 or Win32s. Do you have Win32s on your system?”
- Customer: “No, I have Windows Thirty One, not Thirty Two.”
- Tech Support: “Windows 3.1 is the operating system. Win32s is a program that makes your computer fast like Windows 95.”
- Customer: “What’s Windows Ninety Five got to do with it?”
- Tech Supprort: “You need either Windows 95 or Win32s to run this.”
- Customer: “I HAVE THIRTY ONE! WHY WON’T IT WORK?”
- Tech Support: (giving up) “Ma’am, your computer is too old. Buy a new one with Windows 95.”
- Customer: “I’ve heard about Windows Three Hundred and Eleven. Wouldn’t that be better than Ninety Five?”
My father decided that it would be a nice surprise to install Windows 95 on my seven year old computer. He had one of his employees give him step-by-step written instructions but neglected to mention that my computer is so old. When I got home he had Windows 95 installed and was struggling to install the first piece of software.
- My Dad: “It says there’s insufficient disk space. How much stuff to you have on the hard drive?”
- Me: “It was almost full. You shouldn’t have been able to get Windows 95 on there.”
- My Dad: “Well, I just followed these instructions.”
I looked at the instructions and saw that he had backed up everything and wiped the hard drive.
- Me: “If you followed these instruction properly, the only thing on the hard drive should be Windows 95. How much space does that take up?”
- My Dad: “It doesn’t take up any space. It’s an operating system.”
- Me: “No, it takes up a lot of space, and it shouldn’t even be able to fit on this computer.”
- My Dad: “No, you don’t know what you’re talking about. The problem is that you have too many files. You have to delete some of them.”
- Me: “You already deleted all my files. They’re on that stack of disks now.”
- My Dad: “Yes, and those disks are taking up too much space.”
Mozilla Launches Ubiquity
I got this email in my inbox today, and thought I just have to share it:
Mozilla just ensured I won’t use IE8 because it released Ubiquity. What is it? It’s a box that lets you ask different questions and get answers. It’s sort of like search. But far more powerful.
It’s not for non-passionate Internet users. They won’t get it. It takes some time to learn how to use this feature. (To get what I’m talking about when I use the term “passionate” you should see my previous rant about passionates vs. non-passionates).
To really learn about how to use Ubiquity you need to:
1. Watch the video.
2. Read the instruction manual.How many “non-passionates” will do either of these?
But for someone who is radically passionate about the Internet this is a feature that’ll keep us all using Firefox and will deepen the divide. I was talking with a group of journalists from USA Today and Business Week here in Berlin and they admit that most of their readers are on Internet Explorer. One told me that his family members didn’t know why they should use Firefox and don’t care to learn about it. They’ll just stick with the defaults on their computer and not question them.
I doubt I’ll show this feature to too many “non-passionate” people. It’s too hard to explain.
But when I get to a group of people who want to more productively use the Internet? You bet!
Oh, and Microsoft, you could easily do something similar and not just for Internet Explorer, either. Look into ActiveWords. Hook that up to Web services and you could have the same thing.
Why hasn’t Microsoft purchased ActiveWords? For the same reason they won’t do something like Ubiquity in IE8. Microsoft doesn’t really care about the passionates anymore and cares more about the people who read USA Today.
Oh, Over on FriendFeed they are talking about Ubiquity.
Ubiquity is also at the top of TechMeme, which shows that passionates are the ones who still control that tech blogging site..
Sounds really interesting, I’m going to give it a go. I quite like the name Ubiquity, Its got a ring to it
Robert
5 most important things on the internet.
Have you ever thought that there are important things on the internet? Is the internet important to you? if so, what is the most important part of the internet? Emails, news, social ect.
Here is a list of 5 things that I believe is Very important on the internet.
1. Connection:
Believe it or not, but some people fail to grasp the idea of being connected to “something” before they can use the internet. I had a client who bought a laptop the other day and could not understand why the internet wouldn’t work.
Connection methods could be a range of things: Phone line, bluetooth, gprs, 3G, wireless ect… But there HAS to be some kind of connection with your pc, to the internet.
Make sure that there is connection before you say the internet does not work.
most important thing on the internet nr2: Servers
You may not know it, or believe it, but the internet is controlled to a certain extent. Namely, Servers. You might think of a server as a computer in your office controlling your accounting package and running backups every now and then. These servers are really important for the internet. The are normally much bigger than the standard computer.
On them is Stored: Domains. (among others)
a domain is the last part of your email address or your website address, eg: gitui.com is a domain.
These servers control everything to do with the websites you see. Without these, the internet will not exist.
Then you get a DNS (Domain Name Service) server. A server that has a list of domain names linking “paths” to their particular server. Without the DNS working properly, you will never see or find a website.
Witch brings us to most important thing on the internet nr3: Search engines:
Google, MSN, Yahoo! search, Amazon, topicle which do you choose?
Anyone really, they all do the same thing. Without these you will spend hours upon hours looking for a website address. you will try all sorts of things, but never get to where you want to go. Try it, without using a search engine, try to find some thing.
Its not just searching the internet, Its what you do with those search engines that make the difference. When you search for something and you are looking for a specific phrase, try putting it in quotation marks. “Most important thing on the internet” an see what comes up as apposed to: most important thing on the internet, without quotations.
So thats why search engines are very important.
Next (4th) important thing is: Email
Now I know I’ve mentioned it in nr. 2 but it is really quite important.
In the world today we live in the information age. Information is important, as long as it travels fast and reaches people quickly. Imagine trying to buy something on the internet, Ebay for instance, without emails. You will have to sign up, and wait for your confirmation via the post. You will then reply to that message saying you really live there and are who you are. They will then send it back again to give you your password and other info you need. So with just signing up, it could take a long time.
What do you do when you can’t receive emails? do you stop working? Most of my clients can’t work when there is no emails.
The nr5 most important thing on the internet is: advertising
Yip, thats it. Allot of people use the internet as a medium on making money. www.problogger.net is a very good example. He advertises on his blog and gets money for it. You can advertise on his blog and draw customers to your website and maybe make a sale. In that way advertising is important in 2 ways.
I bet you never thought about advertising being important?
There are many more very important things that play a role on the internet,
Content
Accessibility
Information
Online banking
shopping - for those who can’t get out
Facebook
and it goes on.
That is, for me, the most important things on the internet. It is not in order and it changes for everyone. Depending on your needs, online banking could be the most important. It changes.
What is your most important thing on the internet?
Robert
50 not so well known social media sites.
I thought I might share some social media sites with you guys:
- AgentB: On AgentB, you’ll be able to find great deals online.
- iliketotallyloveit: Visit this site to find weird, but fun products.
- Dealigg: Dealigg offers “social bargain hunting” on lots of tech deals.
Gear & Gadgets
In these communities, you’ll find discussions and links that are all about grown up toys
- AutoSpies: Find out what the spies are sharing on this social media site that’s obsessed with automobiles.
- Meme or Lame: This “citizen media platform” is all about gizmos, ranging from cars to cell phones.
Finance & Business
Stay on top of the worlds of business and money through these sites.
- Value Investing News: Get news about the stock market from other investors on this social media site.
- HubSpot: Find and share content about marketing online and off on HubSpot.
- Real Estate Voices: Read the most interesting news about the real estate market on Real Estate Voices.
- Small Business Brief: Visit this community to learn how to be a better small business owner.
- FeedTheBull: Visit FeedTheBull to see what’s hot in the market.
Sports
Read about your favorite teams, players, and sports on these sites.
- BallHype: This social media site has a great community and all of the best sports stories to share.
- SportsAg: Visit SportsAg to find an aggregation of all the best sports articles, all in one website.
- PlanetMVP: PlanetMVP is full of “sport shorts” — videos of sports players of all ages and skill levels.
- ScoreGuru: In this online sporting community, you can get the latest in sports news.
Web Development
Here you’ll find a wealth of web development sites, ranging from SEO to design.
- DNHour: Find domain name news content from other domainers through this site.
- Sphinn: In Sphinn’s discussion forums and links, you’ll find great information about internet marketing.
- DZone: DZone offers plenty of helpful links for web developers.
- SEO TAGG: SEO TAGG is home to search engine optimization content, and other related links.
- Pixel Groovy: Pixel Groovy’s community seeks out the best in online tutorials for developers.
- BloggingZoom: Read the posts on BloggingZoom to get the latest on the blogging world.
- Design Bump: Read news about web design on this fun and informative website.
- PlugIM: PlugIM is full of awesome internet marketing content.
Fashion
Visit these sites for eye candy, finds, and plenty of style.
- Stylehive: Stylehive connects stylish people with each other, offering bookmarks, links, forms, and a lot more.
- Chictini: Chictini features the latest in fashionable and cute.
Technology
Keep up with the latest in technology on these social media sites.
- Tweako: On Tweako’s site for “collaborative computing,” you’ll find guides, tutorials, and lots more for computing, technology, and the Internet.
- Hacker News: Check out Hacker News for teachnology links from the dark side.
- SWiK: In this community-driven resource, you’ll find information about open source software.
Entertainment
Enjoy videos, celebrity news and more on these social media sites that entertain.
- Video Bomb: Stop by Video Bomb to get a sampling of the best videos online.
- Lipstick: Lipstick shares all of the celebrity news that matters.
- ShowHype: ShowHype has loads of stories about movies, TV, music, celebrities, and more.
- VideoSift: VideoSift will help you get through the muck of videos to find the most entertaining and useful stuff out there.
News
These sites offer an up-to-the-minute look at news along with a sense of community.
- Newscloud: On Newscloud you can find stories hand picked from users around the world.
- Shoutwire: Shoutwire has Internet news in just about every category imaginable.
- 2CentsNews: Find community-created news and submit your own 2 cents on this social media site.
- Newsvine: Keep your ear to the ground and find out what the world is talking about on Newsvine.
- Searchles: Search for news within your social circle on Searchles.
- NewsHeat: Get the latest in popular political news through NewsHeat.
- NowPublic: Read about all of the new and interesting news events around the world on NowPublic.
- BuzzFlash: BuzzFlash’s community aims to fight ignorance with progressive news and commentary.
International
Here you’ll be able to connect with users from different parts of the world.
- Muti: Muti centers on all things Africa.
- IndianPad: On IndianPad, you’ll see all of the latest news stories in India and great finds in Indian interest.
Weird & Interesting
If you’re in the mood to find something offbeat, be sure to visit these sites.
- Plime: In this community, you can find and add weird and interesting links.
- Truemors: Check out Truemors for the latest breaking news and rumors.
- linkfilter.net: linkfilter.net is exactly what it sounds like — a filter for all of the web’s links.
Miscellaneous
These social media sites are in a class of their own.
- Wordsy: Wordsy’s links are all about books, writing, and words.
- BrewPoll: Join this community, and you’ll get the latest in home brewing and craft beer news.
- blogs4God: Get connected with Christians who blog by checking out this site.
- Hugg: Within the Hugg site, you’ll be able to find lots of different news and advice about the environment.
- Kirtsy: Formerly known ask Skirt, Kirtsy has links that women will really appreciate.
- TTiqq: Get online tips and tricks for technology, finance, and lots more on TTiqq
Tell I’m going to start using these. And bring some traffic to my blog aswell as these social media websites. 
