Comments for The Art Of SEO - The Science Of PPC http://www.itstheroi.com San Francisco Search Engine Optimization Company Sun, 17 Jul 2011 06:27:16 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on Siem Reap Visitors Guide by Alfons Van Hoof http://www.itstheroi.com/random/siem-reap-visitors-guide/#comment-25704 Alfons Van Hoof Sun, 17 Jul 2011 06:27:16 +0000 http://www.itstheroi.com/?p=191#comment-25704 You're right. Ara is just great. I just returned from Siem Reap, where I spent almost one month from mid-May to mid-June. While preparing for the trip, I read this blog and wrote to Ara. The day after my arrival I met her, and she was my personal guide and assistant for the entire time. She's a great person and her knowledge is just invaluable. To give you just one example: the first week (when I was working over the internet from the guest house), she a huge straw archery target for me. Cost her multiple trips in the countryside to follow up on the progress, even while she wasn't too sure about what I really needed. But the target was delivered on time and of very good quality. She really knows to 'think out of the box'. During each weekend we toured the temples, aided by a regular tuk-tuk driver, who is now working most of the time for Ara. She knows the temples in and out. I also introduced here to 'geocaching'. Took us a while to find a cache (many of them have just disappeared) and it was great to see her happiness when, at our third try, she discovered her first cache. On weekdays I was mostly working, but nearly every evening Ara joined me for dinner, and quite often we went together for a body massage too. I also took her out one time to the Paul Dubrule Hotel School for a gastronomical lunch. And we had some great time visiting the nearby Cultural Village too. Meanwhile she has given up on all but one of the odd little jobs to keep alive. She is still working as housemaid/nanny for a local family. Basically she takes care of the house whenever she has time, and is due back by 10 or 10.30 pm to guard the children, and bring them to school early morning. This gives here a secured place to live, as well as all the freedom she needs to cater for her customers visiting Angkor. To provide here with some financial security, particularly during the low season, I have promised her some monthly financial support for the next 12 months, and at the same time I'm helping here to get her started with a 'real' travel agency. I made her open a bank account, and arranged for a Moneybookers account too. Both are now in operation. Next step, I'm trying to build her a website (www.makaratravels.com) - still writing on that, but the basic framework should be up and running in a couple of weeks - so there's something more tangible to promote. I know very well that 'having' a website is only a first step, but hope to use it to spread the word and do some marketing on it. If I'm lucky I'll go back to Siem Reap by the end of this year and give her some more 'on the grounds' support to bring it all to the next stage. I really wish to see her getting on her own feet and making enough money running her travel business. I have some experience in this field (running a part-time motorcycle tours business in Sri Lanka), have a bit of free time to spend (I'm now mainly working freelance as a translator), and in future may start dividing my time between Cambodia and Sri Lanka to help her grow the business. So, all of you who have met Ara in the past, and enjoyed having her as a guide, please help me spread the word. I'm sure you would be equally delighted to see her blossoming and realizing her dreams! Regards, Alfonso You’re right. Ara is just great.
I just returned from Siem Reap, where I spent almost one month from mid-May to mid-June.
While preparing for the trip, I read this blog and wrote to Ara. The day after my arrival I met her, and she was my personal guide and assistant for the entire time. She’s a great person and her knowledge is just invaluable. To give you just one example: the first week (when I was working over the internet from the guest house), she a huge straw archery target for me. Cost her multiple trips in the countryside to follow up on the progress, even while she wasn’t too sure about what I really needed. But the target was delivered on time and of very good quality. She really knows to ‘think out of the box’.
During each weekend we toured the temples, aided by a regular tuk-tuk driver, who is now working most of the time for Ara. She knows the temples in and out. I also introduced here to ‘geocaching’. Took us a while to find a cache (many of them have just disappeared) and it was great to see her happiness when, at our third try, she discovered her first cache.
On weekdays I was mostly working, but nearly every evening Ara joined me for dinner, and quite often we went together for a body massage too. I also took her out one time to the Paul Dubrule Hotel School for a gastronomical lunch. And we had some great time visiting the nearby Cultural Village too.
Meanwhile she has given up on all but one of the odd little jobs to keep alive. She is still working as housemaid/nanny for a local family. Basically she takes care of the house whenever she has time, and is due back by 10 or 10.30 pm to guard the children, and bring them to school early morning. This gives here a secured place to live, as well as all the freedom she needs to cater for her customers visiting Angkor.
To provide here with some financial security, particularly during the low season, I have promised her some monthly financial support for the next 12 months, and at the same time I’m helping here to get her started with a ‘real’ travel agency.
I made her open a bank account, and arranged for a Moneybookers account too. Both are now in operation. Next step, I’m trying to build her a website (www.makaratravels.com) – still writing on that, but the basic framework should be up and running in a couple of weeks – so there’s something more tangible to promote. I know very well that ‘having’ a website is only a first step, but hope to use it to spread the word and do some marketing on it. If I’m lucky I’ll go back to Siem Reap by the end of this year and give her some more ‘on the grounds’ support to bring it all to the next stage. I really wish to see her getting on her own feet and making enough money running her travel business. I have some experience in this field (running a part-time motorcycle tours business in Sri Lanka), have a bit of free time to spend (I’m now mainly working freelance as a translator), and in future may start dividing my time between Cambodia and Sri Lanka to help her grow the business.
So, all of you who have met Ara in the past, and enjoyed having her as a guide, please help me spread the word. I’m sure you would be equally delighted to see her blossoming and realizing her dreams!
Regards,
Alfonso

]]> Comment on We All Agree – CAPTCHA SUCKS by N Brown http://www.itstheroi.com/punditry/we-all-agree-captcha-sucks/#comment-25048 N Brown Thu, 07 Apr 2011 04:51:44 +0000 http://www.itstheroi.com/?p=658#comment-25048 If you use Captcha then I will not be using your site anymore fed up witt wasting my time doing those stupid things 2 or 3 times. If you use Captcha then I will not be using your site anymore fed up witt wasting my time doing those stupid things 2 or 3 times.

]]> Comment on Google Scraping, Cloaking, Diverting Traffic by Jonah Stein http://www.itstheroi.com/measuring-campaign-roi/google-cloaking-display-urls-sending-traffic-to-its-own-scraper/#comment-24514 Jonah Stein Tue, 14 Dec 2010 08:01:45 +0000 http://www.itstheroi.com/?p=710#comment-24514 Look at the difference between the display URL and where Google takes you for the result. The fact that Google is hosting this content instead of linking to an external source is quite unusual. Add to it the fact that Google is showing this in the OneBox and content publishers have reason to be concerned. Look at the difference between the display URL and where Google takes you for the result. The fact that Google is hosting this content instead of linking to an external source is quite unusual. Add to it the fact that Google is showing this in the OneBox and content publishers have reason to be concerned.

]]> Comment on Google Scraping, Cloaking, Diverting Traffic by Ben Wills http://www.itstheroi.com/measuring-campaign-roi/google-cloaking-display-urls-sending-traffic-to-its-own-scraper/#comment-24513 Ben Wills Tue, 14 Dec 2010 06:27:16 +0000 http://www.itstheroi.com/?p=710#comment-24513 They're not scraping. Wordnet is a lexical database can be used by commercial companies, free of charge, so long as proper citation is given: http://wordnet.princeton.edu/wordnet/publications/#Citing_WordNet Ben They’re not scraping. Wordnet is a lexical database can be used by commercial companies, free of charge, so long as proper citation is given: http://wordnet.princeton.edu/wordnet/publications/#Citing_WordNet

Ben

]]> Comment on Why Do We Care About Pagerank by photo sync ipad http://www.itstheroi.com/google/why-do-we-care-about-pagerank/#comment-24049 photo sync ipad Fri, 15 Oct 2010 06:23:56 +0000 http://www.itstheroi.com/?p=524#comment-24049 Thanks for sharing...I don't care too much about it, but having a few green bar will still make me feel excited, hehe... Thanks for sharing…I don’t care too much about it, but having a few green bar will still make me feel excited, hehe…

]]> Comment on 10 Ways Consumers Can Get Revenge by Wolf Sullivan http://www.itstheroi.com/rant/10-ways-consumers-can-get-revenge-online/#comment-23963 Wolf Sullivan Sun, 26 Sep 2010 14:34:13 +0000 http://www.itstheroi.com/2006/10/13/10-ways-consumers-can-get-revenge-online/#comment-23963 This is the internet. What are we supposed to do about fascist criminals who steal our identities, steal our intellectual property, and other crimes on the INTERNET? I have complained directly to soundclick.com and to the Internet Police, etc. about their crimes against me. Nothing has been done! I have not been a member of soundclick.com for over 3 years, but the fascists there REFUSE to delete my account, which I have no access to, and I am listed as a banned member of their site on Google. This is called "defamation" and "harassment", criminal activity. Get "10-ways-consumers-can-get-revenge-online" off the internet. You are useless! This is the internet. What are we supposed to do about fascist criminals who steal our identities, steal our intellectual property, and other crimes on the INTERNET? I have complained directly to soundclick.com and to the Internet Police, etc. about their crimes against me. Nothing has been done! I have not been a member of soundclick.com for over 3 years, but the fascists there REFUSE to delete my account, which I have no access to, and I am listed as a banned member of their site on Google. This is called “defamation” and “harassment”, criminal activity.

Get “10-ways-consumers-can-get-revenge-online” off the internet. You are useless!

]]> Comment on 10 Ways Consumers Can Get Revenge by mcgees.org » Blog Archive » Jiminy Christmas Eve Eve http://www.itstheroi.com/rant/10-ways-consumers-can-get-revenge-online/#comment-23378 mcgees.org » Blog Archive » Jiminy Christmas Eve Eve Tue, 17 Aug 2010 21:26:44 +0000 http://www.itstheroi.com/2006/10/13/10-ways-consumers-can-get-revenge-online/#comment-23378 [...] There are people you really, really don’t want to piss off.  I can’t believe I’m about to increase their PageRank, but here it is. [...] [...] There are people you really, really don’t want to piss off.  I can’t believe I’m about to increase their PageRank, but here it is. [...]

]]> Comment on We All Agree – CAPTCHA SUCKS by Jonah Stein http://www.itstheroi.com/punditry/we-all-agree-captcha-sucks/#comment-21835 Jonah Stein Fri, 04 Jun 2010 05:06:18 +0000 http://www.itstheroi.com/?p=658#comment-21835 While alternatives such as kitten captcha can work, they still put the burden for site security on the user. Pramana's approach returns security concerns to the site owner. While alternatives such as kitten captcha can work, they still put the burden for site security on the user. Pramana’s approach returns security concerns to the site owner.

]]> Comment on We All Agree – CAPTCHA SUCKS by Sarah http://www.itstheroi.com/punditry/we-all-agree-captcha-sucks/#comment-21824 Sarah Fri, 04 Jun 2010 00:24:46 +0000 http://www.itstheroi.com/?p=658#comment-21824 As you pointed out, most of the CAPTCHA tests seen on websites today have become a real pain for legitimate website visitors – but they don’t have to be that way. Overall, CAPTCHA verification tests are a good tool for stopping bots and curbing the spam, fraudulent registrations and malicious links that bots spread. We just need a new way of thinking about CAPTCHA – they don’t need to be an ugly, eye-straining mess of letters. The point of a CAPTCHA is to tell the difference between a human and a bot. One way to do that is to leverage a talent that comes easily to people but is difficult for computer programs to replicate. One such alternative is to use pictures as a CAPTCHA test. In general, the human brain has an easy time recognizing and interpreting images, even if the image only shows a portion of an object or shows that object in an environment that you’ve never seen before. A company that I recently started working for – Confident Technologies – has leveraged that knowledge to create a new type of CAPTCHA that is significantly easier on people but still stops bots. It simply presents the website visitor with a grid of randomly generated pictures and asks the visitor to identify and click on specific pictures (e.g. “Click on the cat, the car and the boat.”). It’s an easy task for people, but computer vision is not advanced enough to be able to intelligently identify the subject matter of the random images and click on the correct ones. You can see how it works here: http://demo.confidenttechnologies.com/captcha/. Bots can cause serious problems and solutions are needed to stop them. CAPTCHA can be a viable solution, especially when used in combination with other security measures. Websites simply need a different approach to CAPTCHA and use tests that can tell computers and humans apart in a way that is easy on people, not an eye strain. ~ Sarah, Confident Technologies As you pointed out, most of the CAPTCHA tests seen on websites today have become a real pain for legitimate website visitors – but they don’t have to be that way. Overall, CAPTCHA verification tests are a good tool for stopping bots and curbing the spam, fraudulent registrations and malicious links that bots spread. We just need a new way of thinking about CAPTCHA – they don’t need to be an ugly, eye-straining mess of letters. The point of a CAPTCHA is to tell the difference between a human and a bot. One way to do that is to leverage a talent that comes easily to people but is difficult for computer programs to replicate.

One such alternative is to use pictures as a CAPTCHA test. In general, the human brain has an easy time recognizing and interpreting images, even if the image only shows a portion of an object or shows that object in an environment that you’ve never seen before. A company that I recently started working for – Confident Technologies – has leveraged that knowledge to create a new type of CAPTCHA that is significantly easier on people but still stops bots. It simply presents the website visitor with a grid of randomly generated pictures and asks the visitor to identify and click on specific pictures (e.g. “Click on the cat, the car and the boat.”). It’s an easy task for people, but computer vision is not advanced enough to be able to intelligently identify the subject matter of the random images and click on the correct ones. You can see how it works here: http://demo.confidenttechnologies.com/captcha/.

Bots can cause serious problems and solutions are needed to stop them. CAPTCHA can be a viable solution, especially when used in combination with other security measures. Websites simply need a different approach to CAPTCHA and use tests that can tell computers and humans apart in a way that is easy on people, not an eye strain.

~ Sarah, Confident Technologies

]]> Comment on Siem Reap Visitors Guide by Jonah Stein http://www.itstheroi.com/random/siem-reap-visitors-guide/#comment-21657 Jonah Stein Fri, 28 May 2010 15:37:42 +0000 http://www.itstheroi.com/?p=191#comment-21657 Joe I am delighted that you found the site helpful and particularly happy that Ara was able to assist you. We had a wonderful time in Siem Reap. Please contact me if you would like to write up a post about you visit. Joe

I am delighted that you found the site helpful and particularly happy that Ara was able to assist you. We had a wonderful time in Siem Reap. Please contact me if you would like to write up a post about you visit.

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