Thursday, September 27, 2012

It's official, Google's B-Day is September 27th: Happy 14th Google

It is official. Google's official B-day is September 27th, according to Google. Surprise to Google who turned 14 years old today (not 9/4/2012 as many of us originally anticipated).

Last year Google didn't post its very own Happy 13th B-Day doodle so I had created one. This year, I do notice they have a really cool animated doodle this year.

See the animated google doodle in action.

So let's all celebrate Google’s B-Day.

Ever since Google was born (September 4, 1998), there have been whirlwinds of internet momentum, controversy, and innovation.

Google doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon. Google has created and acquired so much.

Of the total 116 acquisitions Google has to date, 33.6% were from the past two B-Day cycles, the most recent B-Day cycle, from September 5th 2011 to September 4th 2012, Google made 15 acquisitions (Google made 24 acquisitions the previous B-Day cycle, Sept. 5, 2010 to Sept 4, 2011.)

Interestingly, from February 12, 2001 through August 30, 20010 (12 B-Day cycles) Google has made a total of 78 acquisitions, on average, roughly 6 acquisitions per year.

Below is a listing of acquisitions since it’s 13th B-Day, (which many originally thought was Sept. 4, 2011):


● Sept.   7, 2011 – Zave Networks, digital coupons for Google Offers program
● Sept.   8, 2011 – Zagat, restaurant reviews for Google Maps and Places programs
● Sept. 19, 2011 – DailyDeal, daily deals for Google Offers program in
● Oct.   11, 2011 – SocialGrapple, social media analytics for Google+ Plus
● Nov. 10, 2011 – Apture, instantaneous search for Google Search
● Nov. 14, 2011 – Katango, social circle organizer for Google+ Plus
● Dec.   9, 2011 – RightsFlow, music rights management for YouTube
● Dec. 13, 2011 – Clever Sense, mobile apps for Google Android
● Mar. 16, 2012 – Milk, Inc., social network Google+ Plus
● Apr.   2, 2012 – TxVia, online payment for Google Wallet
● Jun.   4, 2012 – Meebo, instant messaging for Google+ Plus
● Jun.   5, 2012 – Quickoffice, productivity suite for Google Docs
● Jul.  20, 2012 – Sparrow, mobile apps for Gmail Google
● Aug.  1, 2012 – Wildfire Interactive, social media marketing for Google, Google+ Plus
● Aug. 13, 2012 – Frommer’s, travel guides to enhance Zagat for Google Maps and Places programs

To think it took Larry Page and Sergey Brin less than 2 years to incorporate Google -- in 1996, both were PhD students at Stanford University, working on a research project when Yahoo! and AOL were the major search engines.

Fourteen years later Google has embarked on hundreds, if not thousands of innovations, ventures and acquisitions. Below is a brief timeline of my most notable Google milestones (note clicking on the table below, and then once again, will enlarge for viewing):


This chart (as of last year, 9/4/2011) has not been updated with the latest additions listed above. Will try to update soon. Bookmark this blog and visit frequently. Thanks!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Helpful tips for blogging for search engine optimization

“There's an art to increasing a blog's traffic, and given that we seem to have stumbled on some of that knowledge, I felt it compulsory to give back by sharing what we've observed.”
~~ Rand Fishkin (aka "randfish"), The Daily SEO Blog

CEO and Co-founder SEOmoz

All too often blogging for search engine optimization (also known as SEO) gets put to the bottom of the marketer’s priority list because it can be very tedious and difficult to measure results.
Don’t let it slip away this time as September/ October is an excellent time to not only finalize on your budgets and campaign programs for the upcoming 1 - 2 years but to also fine-tune your SEO programs and synchronize them to your future projects and campaigns. (Photo left courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.)


Many marketing professionals are unaware of this concept and are more inclined to confuse blogging for SEO with traditional blogging; However it is entirely different.

An important factor for a Web site’s success is generating organic Web traffic (search results), and blogging for SEO is a great program to incorporate into your company’s integrated marketing program.

Search engines (e.g., Google, Yahoo, etc.) will pull up a site more frequently when links and content are added or updated frequently. This holds especially true for blogs.

Below are a few helpful tips to get your blogs to the optimal, SEO level:


• Be interesting, relevant and concise. Storytelling comes in all sizes, shapes and fashions. Forget the “fancy-schmancy” words to prove your Columbia School of Journalism credentials. While longer blogs are acceptable, writing a shorter blog (from 150 to 300 words) almost always guarantees your blog will be entirely read.

• For blogs that are on direct Web site (i.e., not on Google Blogger or WordPress) make sure the content links to external Web sites as well as the blogger’s URL. Link building is crucial for an effective blog post since search engines are more likely to index a site loaded with links to external sites than to a site with multiple links directed to one Web site.

• Be mindful that if a blog is on WordPress or Google Blogger, multiple, relevant links should be included on the respective Web URL.

• Remember that rules are made to be broken. If there is something interesting to write about but it’s not exactly relevant to your/or your client’s blog, go ahead and blog. Although many experts would say to target a respective industry only, it is actually effective to digress once in a while with interesting content. It’s more important to keep on blogging than to not write from writer’s block.

• According to a recently updated blog post, “21 Tactics to Increase Blog Traffic,” by seomoz by randfish “It's easy to build a blog, but hard to build a successful blog with significant traffic.” This applies for both traditional and blogging for SEO.

Does your marketing program include blogging for SEO? Do you have any questions or any SEO blogging tip to share?





Please share this on your LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media networks you enjoy! Thanks!


Monday, September 17, 2012

American thriller/horror film, Fatal Attraction, turns 25


Ever since the American psycho-thriller/horror movie “Fatal Attraction,” was released on September 18, 1987, it became an instant cult and went on to become the second highest grossing film of 1987 in the United States and the highest grossing film of the year worldwide.


The movie starred Michael Douglas (as Dan Gallagher), Glenn Close as (Alex Forrester) and Anne Archer (as Ellen Gallagher).


The film was directed by Adrian Lyne, and was about a married man (Douglas) who had a weekend affair with an single career woman (Close) who becomes miserably obsessed and jealous that her affair was just a fling and that he was a happily married man. Desperate and mortified, she resorts to stalking, blackmailing and even boiling his daughter’s pet bunny.

Critics were so enthusiastic about the film it became a cult. The film received six Academy Award nominations, including that for Best Picture, Best Actress for Close and Best Supporting Actress for Archer.

The provocative film created much controversy and discussion about the risks of infidelity. Feminists had major gender issues, particularly because of the films association of a successful, single, career woman, Alex (played by Close) as being profoundly psychotic yet depicting the careless married man who lacked compassion and responsibility, Dan (played by Douglas), as a loving father, husband who was just a normal guy.

The film also had an effect on men. In a 2008 Glenn Close interview, she mentioned that men still come up to her and say “You scared the shit out of me; Sometimes they say, you saved my marriage,” said Close.

Fatal Attraction grossed US$156.6 million and was the second highest-grossing film of 1987 behind Three Men and a Baby.

Interestingly, the original ending of the film was so impressive and depressing that it received poor feedback during pre-release viewing that the final scene was completely reshot in 3 weeks.


Photos courtesy of Wikimedia.org unless otherwise noted.

Other resources:

http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/fatal-attraction-25-inside-ending-didn-t-see-223532708.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatal_Attraction

https://www.google.com/search?q=fatal+attraction

Monday, September 10, 2012

September 11th, 2001 – Eleven Years Later

Can you believe it's been 11 years?
Photo below, "The Falling Man," by Richard Drew turned upside-down to celebrate the 11 years of resilience, death of OBL and also pose as a symbol of rising peace.

haiku ═ 911 ten ═ years later falling man is ═ still provocative

pin-straight
Falling Man

endless time still shows
the world

our
land, brave and free


by
Gloria
Buono-Daly


Emotionally charged, mixed feelings - 2001 to 2012. From Poet Laureate, Billy Collins' prose commemorating all of the 9/11 victims, "The Names," posted below, to one of the most provocative, unforgettable images by Associated Press photographer Richard Drew, of a man falling from the twin towers, positioned perfectly in the middle. The photo was taken at about 9:41 am on 9/11/01 -- 15 minutes before the 1st building, the South tower, collapsed. Videos would show that the falling man was actually a tumbling man in the air and this is one moment in his time that was captured. Note how perfectly straight, positioned in the middle and parallel to the burning towers the falling man is. The above photo was branded distasteful and voyeuristic -- never to be shown again, yet the incredible "falling man" is still around.

According to many articles and documentaries, there were about 200 people who jumped to their deaths, some were able to be identified only for the victim’s families and to provide closure for them. But there was no time to recover or identify those who were forced to jump prior to the collapse of the towers. We lost almost 3,000 lives that day.

Where were you on 9/11/2001?
I was working on Wall Street( on the corner of Wall and Water Streets). It was a beautiful, clear skied morning. I arrived early as I usually do and was at my desk on the computer when I heard a loud bang and felt rumbling underneath my desk at 8:46 a.m. I shouted "What was that?" Then 15 minutes later another bang, as some fellow employees arrived - initially we thought it was from a missile. Hard to imagine it would be the biggest single attack on American lives. I still keep on asking myself "how could this be?" I was curious and ran outside to see what was happening. As I was walking on Water St. and reached Liberty St., it was at about 10:00 am, I saw large billows of gray smoke, appearing to turn day to night, enveloping hundreds if not thousands of people running for their lives – apparently heading towards the river. I asked some folks what is happening and most were in such shock. With all the commotion, all they could say while they were running was “it’s down, it’s down.” At that moment, I thought another plane came down. I ran back to the office and learned from colleagues that the South tower collapsed (incidentally, this was the 2nd building hit). The North tower (1st building hit) collapsed at about 30 minutes later. And the world would never be the same.

"The Names" poem by Billy Collins posted below:
Yesterday, I lay awake in the palm of the night.
A soft rain stole in, unhelped by any breeze,
And when I saw the silver glaze on the windows,
I started with A, with Ackerman, as it happened,
Then Baxter and Calabro,
Davis and Eberling, names falling into place
As droplets fell through the dark.
Names printed on the ceiling of the night.
Names slipping around a watery bend.
Twenty-six willows on the banks of a stream.
In the morning, I walked out barefoot
Among thousands of flowers
Heavy with dew like the eyes of tears,
And each had a name --
Fiori inscribed on a yellow petal
Then Gonzalez and Han, Ishikawa and Jenkins.
Names written in the air
And stitched into the cloth of the day.
A name under a photograph taped to a mailbox.
Monogram on a torn shirt,
I see you spelled out on storefront windows
And on the bright unfurled awnings of this city.
I say the syllables as I turn a corner --
Kelly and Lee,
Medina, Nardella, and O'Connor.
When I peer into the woods,
I see a thick tangle where letters are hidden
As in a puzzle concocted for children.
Parker and Quigley in the twigs of an ash,
Rizzo, Schubert, Torres, and Upton,
Secrets in the boughs of an ancient maple.
Names written in the pale sky.
Names rising in the updraft amid buildings.
Names silent in stone
Or cried out behind a door.
Names blown over the earth and out to sea.
In the evening -- weakening light, the last swallows.
A boy on a lake lifts his oars.
A woman by a window puts a match to a candle,
And the names are outlined on the rose clouds --
Vanacore and Wallace,
(let X stand, if it can, for the ones unfound)
Then Young and Ziminsky, the final jolt of Z.
Names etched on the head of a pin.
One name spanning a bridge, another undergoing a tunnel.
A blue name needled into the skin.
Names of citizens, workers, mothers and fathers,
The bright-eyed daughter, the quick son.
Alphabet of names in a green field.
Names in the small tracks of birds.
Names lifted from a hat
Or balanced on the tip of the tongue.
Names wheeled into the dim warehouse of memory.
So many names, there is barely room on the walls of the heart


Additional information at the following links:

║See CBS video, “The Passionate Eye,” http://www.cbc.ca/passionateeyemonday/video_player.html?fallingman&playerType=wmp

║Video “911 The Falling Man”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EFvGuIXIJc&feature=related Images of bodies hanging out of windows, holding on across the steel across windows, leaning out for air.

║Google Blog: http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/ten-years-later.html


My two 911 haikus:
║ 911 ten ═ years later falling man is ═ still provocative

║ pin-straight Falling Man ═ endless time still shows the world ═ our land, brave and free

Search engine stats for the term 911 on Sept. 11, 2011 (will be updated later for 2012)
Match type    Broad         Exact
Google   981,000,000     431,000,000
Yahoo     246,000,000     240,000,000
Bing       245,000,000     242,000,000

Friday, September 7, 2012

Happy 46th B-Day StarTrek! Google celebrates with unique doodle

Happy Anniversary to Star Trek who turned 46 years old today (9/7/2012). Born September 7, 1966, Star Trek, the most progressive American science fiction entertainment series, was created by Gene Roddenberry. See photo below left of Roddenberry (courtesy of Wikimedia).

To commemorate Star Trek's B-day, Google celebrated with an array of unique "star-techie" interactive doodles. When mousing over a particular area of the doodle, you hear all of the inter-galactic sounds such as alarms, door rings, alerts, etc. Below is the doodle posted about 8 hours ago (7 a.m. EDT).


The original name, Star Trek, was later renamed “Star Trek: The Original Series”.

This was done largely because there was a solid audience and many spin-offs were produced which included the likes of Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, and Star Trek: Enterprise. Google celebrates Star Trek’s 46th this with a wonderful doodle.



Creator Roddenberry used westerns such as “Wagon Train” as inspiration, along with references of the novel Gulliver's Travels.

The original iconic Star Trek emblem photo is pictured to the right. (photo courtesy of Wikimedia).

The original Star Trek followed the interstellar adventures of James T. Kirk and the crew of an exploration vessel of a 23rd century galactic "United Federation of Planets"—the Starship Enterprise.


The original Star Trek series began production under Desilu Productions. With the merger of Desilu into Paramount Pictures, that studio assumed outright ownership of the Star Trek franchise.



In 2006, rights transferred to CBS when it took Paramount's TV division as part of its split from Paramount owner Viacom.

For more information visit the original Star Trek Web site at : http://www.startrek.com/page/star-trek-the-original-series

Monday, September 3, 2012

Happy 14th B-Day Google!

Surprise to Google who turned 14 years old today (9/4/2012). Last year Google didn't post its very own Happy 13th B-Day doodle! Since I couldn't find one on the internet, I thought you'd enjoy last years "Google Rocks 13th B-Day" doodle rendition (below), didn't have time to create one this year.


So let's all celebrate Google’s B-Day.

Ever since Google was born (September 4, 1998), there have been whirlwinds of internet momentum, controversy, and innovation.

Google doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon. Google has created and acquired so much since it’s 13th B-Day.

Of the total 116 acquisitions Google has to date, 33.6% were from the past two B-Day cycles, the most recent B-Day cycle, from September 5th 2011 to September 4th 2012, Google made 15 acquisitions (Google made 24 acquisitions the previous B-Day cycle, Sept. 5, 2010 to Sept 4, 2011.)

Interestingly, from February 12, 2001 through August 30, 20010 (12 B-Day cycles) Google has made a total of 78 acquisitions, on average, roughly 6 acquisitions per year.

Below is a listing of acquisitions since it’s 13th B-Day, Sept. 4, 2011:


● Sept.   7, 2011 – Zave Networks, digital coupons for Google Offers program
● Sept.   8, 2011 – Zagat, restaurant reviews for Google Maps and Places programs
● Sept. 19, 2011 – DailyDeal, daily deals for Google Offers program in
● Oct.   11, 2011 – SocialGrapple, social media analytics for Google+ Plus
● Nov. 10, 2011 – Apture, instantaneous search for Google Search
● Nov. 14, 2011 – Katango, social circle organizer for Google+ Plus
● Dec.   9, 2011 – RightsFlow, music rights management for YouTube
● Dec. 13, 2011 – Clever Sense, mobile apps for Google Android
● Mar. 16, 2012 – Milk, Inc., social network Google+ Plus
● Apr.   2, 2012 – TxVia, online payment for Google Wallet
● Jun.   4, 2012 – Meebo, instant messaging for Google+ Plus
● Jun.   5, 2012 – Quickoffice, productivity suite for Google Docs
● Jul.  20, 2012 – Sparrow, mobile apps for Gmail Google
● Aug.  1, 2012 – Wildfire Interactive, social media marketing for Google, Google+ Plus
● Aug. 13, 2012 – Frommer’s, travel guides to enhance Zagat for Google Maps and Places programs

To think it took Larry Page and Sergey Brin less than 2 years to incorporate Google -- in 1996, both were PhD students at Stanford University, working on a research project when Yahoo! and AOL were the major search engines.

Fourteen years later Google has embarked on hundreds, if not thousands of innovations, ventures and acquisitions. Below is a brief timeline of my most notable Google milestones (note clicking on the table below, and then once again, will enlarge for viewing):


This chart (as of last year, 9/4/2011) has not been updated with the latest additions listed above. Will try to update soon. Bookmark this blog and visit frequently. Thanks!