The Irony of SEO and the Death of Osama bin Laden
Last Updated on Monday, 2 May 2011 05:19 Written by Alan Monday, 2 May 2011 05:19
As I perused my usual news feeds in Google Reader today I noticed an overwhelming trend – Osama bin Laden. You may think that’s not unusual given it’s pretty much the only thing in the news today. Maybe, but my RSS feed is filled with tech sites, hundreds of them. Of course, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out why. There’s not a tech angle of any kind to the news of a Navy SEAL team coming out of nowhere and storming bin Laden’s compound. Sure, there were probably some high-tech gadgets being used, but we haven’t yet heard about those, and many of them we will likely NEVER hear about.
So why were tech sites everywhere writing article about this news? Simple – SEO. Sure, they all worked hard to disguise their stories with some technology of some sort – like a Google Earth photo of the compound. But, the bottom line is that web sites live by getting page views and big news stories generate those eyeballs. Even major sites like Yahoo got in on the game by writing a blog post about the top bin Laden searches they were seeing and what they mean.
The biggest irony of all is that by writing this I am falling into the same trap as the sites I am talking about. Of course, this site needs readers to survive as well so I guess I just brought this little irony full-circle 
Free Movies Theatre
Last Updated on Tuesday, 19 October 2010 09:09 Written by Alan Thursday, 21 October 2010 08:00
Today I came across an interesting web site. I debated writing about it here. I don’t advocate piracy. But, the site is so blatant it intrigued me so I checked it out (no, I didn’t actually download any content so put down the phone before the MPAA even answers).
The site is FreeMoviesTheatre and it’s basically a collection of links to download or stream movies for free. Many of the movies are still in theaters.
By writing about this, of course, I am probably giving free publicity, but in these days of DDOS attacks against anti-piracy sites and The Pirate Bay continuing to operate, even after a year of court losses, these things just fascinate me. There is obviously no way this site is the least bit legal. And if a representative would like to contact me and give their side I will be happy to listen and publish the interview.
But here it is – running on a normal dot-com domain. It even has a link to DMCA information and contact info for take-down notices.
It seems, on the surface, to be legit. In fact it seems SO legit that I would be suspicious it’s a honey-pot set by the MPAA or a similar organization.
I don’t recommend downloading or streaming any content from here. And I certainly think that signing up for a free account would be a really bad idea. But in the interest of fairness and entertainment I decided it was worth at least covering. And, as I said earlier, I welcome a response from a site representative and will promise equal time. Barring that, this is just an interesting, and probably short-lived, web oddity.
3 Good Sources For TV Information Online
Last Updated on Tuesday, 12 October 2010 08:41 Written by Alan Friday, 15 October 2010 08:00
If you are looking for TV shows, schedules, or information online then you’ve probably noticed that there’s no shortage of sources. Some are good, some not, and one, a while back, tried to infect my PC. So, to make a little easier for our readers, I decided to give you quick look at three that I haven found useful and visit on a regular basis.
EpisodeWorld
EpisodeWorld is a fantastic library of current and past shows. You can search for a show by title and then view each season with episode number and title and date aired. It provides information on the next episode (if it has been scheduled) and let’s you know if a show is on hiatus. You can bookmark your shows to keep up on episode titles and air dates. Each episode is linked to iTunes so you can easily purchase it.
eztv
eztv, and it’s sister site, ezrss, are useful in finding information on a variety of shows. But, I have to state, that they are questionable in the sense that they do offer links to bittorrents of many of the shows. It’s allows you to search for a particular show, browse their lists of show titles, and even provides news stories onw hat is going on with certain shows. It’s sister site, ezrss, provides another search engine and this one give direct bittorrent links for each episode of a given show.
TVGuide in iGoogle
TVGuide.com (a useful site that I thought too obvious to include here) has a plugin for iGoogle. I’m sure there are many iGoogle users among the audience here. I have used it for several years now and found it to be the best “Home” page I have ever had. They are constantly adding plug-ins. You can get news and weather, play games, see sports scores, and, with this widget you can now see the TV schedule as well as other related news and photos. It’s a great tool if you just want an easy view of what’s on tonight right from your browser homepage.
