I basically love all media whether its movies, music, podcasts, pictures, and the occasional book here an there. Its a great time of the year to have that in Dallas considering its the second year for the Dallas AFI International Film Festival. I bought 10 regular screening tickets a week before the festival began and will use my first tickets tonight to see Stop the Presses: The American Newspaper in Peril a film about the American Newspaper crisis which has connections to the explosion of online media that is generally produced cheaper than traditional print and is taking away readers as some articles suggest. I found out about the film while reading the local Dallas Morning News shorthand free paper called the Quick and the corresponding article. Its handed out at the DART stations every morning and thanks to print I learned about a film thats subject is about the demise of said print industry. Later tonight I will write a review about the film after I see it, look for it to be posted on this blog as a separate entry and I will add the link to this entry after its posted. I also have plenty more vouchers which are valid for tickets to any of the other films as well as this one being shown during the entire Film Festivals entire run so everybody is welcome to join me so twitter me or email me at william(at) williamedia(dot)com about a film you want to see and lets go see it together!

UPDATE: Last night was a bust tickets were gone quickly the other two showings will happen during my work schedule so I sad I won’t be able to see the film in particular but I will be attending some other films so continue to look for postings related to those. Also as I said before drop me a line, look at one of the now showing movies and lets talk about it together, lets chat.

Download the DMN Quick Guide at the AFI website(largePDF)

Further to my recent post on how easy it is to use RSS. The guys at CommonCraft have just released this short how to video for Google Reader. Enjoy.

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• Google Reader users: a favour…

Social media is currently big news in, well, social circles. There are now multitudes of sites on the net which are dedicated to the social aspects of the web. There are so many different sites - Facebook, MySpace, Digg, reddit, Twitter, del.cio.us, and many many more - it is hard to know what each site is for and really how useful each one is.

In the web age there is so much information, produced at a staggering rate, on the internet that keeping up is hard. Signal-to-noise ratios make it difficult to know which information is worth your time and which is, simply put, noise. Social media sites can help here, they can act as a kind of filter for the information out there by allowing you to essentially listen to others, be they friends, colleagues or industry experts, in order to promote content which hopefully should be relevant. Potentially a great solution, problem is that now there are so many social media channels that once again the signal-to-noise ratio is interfering again.

I use quite a few social media sites so thought I would show how I use each service for a particular function that keeps me up to date with industry chatter but also allows me to keep in touch with some of the noise from outside work.

RSS

First off is not a social media site as such but more of a service that the majority of sites now offer. RSS allows me to subscribe to regular content from a large number of services which I consider to provide high quality material. My RSS reader of choice - IE7 - looks after everything for me and notifies me that there is new content from a good source which I can read at my leisure. I have gone for a desktop-based solution rather than a web-based solution as I’m mostly desk bound but there are many different solutions out there.

Digg

Digg is a site I have been visiting for a number of years and it pioneered the social news movement. Stories are divided into a large number of topics and people vote on what they consider to be a newsworthy story. When enough people have voted a story becomes popular and is promoted to the front page. If you read the front page you can almost guarantee the stories are good quality and worth your time, comments are usually worth a laugh or two as well.

Digging stories yourself can act as a kind of bookmarking system however I don’t tend to use the service for this, I digg stories more as an expression that I found a particular story good. Digg also allows you to follow friends on the site, the idea being that if your friend found it interesting that you would probably find it interesting too. If you choose a select few like minded friends you are essentially promoting content to each other.

del.icio.us

Like I said I don’t use digg for book marking, for this I use del.icio.us, a social bookmarking site. I use this service not for content discovery but more as a store of sites which has specific information that I would find useful for my work. If I book mark something it will usually be for a page I would visit more than once.

Again with del.icio.us you have the opportunity to make friends and follow each others bookmarks. This for me is not an important feature so I just have a select few friends but I don’t follow their bookmarks too closely.

twitter

Twitter is a microblogging platform and it is only just recently that I have found a good use for it. Twitter allows you to make small statements on a very regular basis, it could very well be likened to the status update on Facebook. There is however a much better use of this service. I use it to follow the industry experts who often use the service to highlight newsworthy material. I don’t find it very useful to follow friends, but people who I have never met, and am unlikely to ever meet to call them friends. In turn I would like to use the service myself to highlight high quality material, with the occasional update on how I’m feeling

Facebook

Probably the most hyped site for the past year, this is the site where perhaps you can be the most social. Hundreds of friends (I wish!), a way to keep up with people you don’t see often enough because of hectic lifestyles! This is the service where I can switch off from the professional uses and use simply for fun. I have a MySpace page as well but I never got serious about it, Facebook is where it’s at! A true social network, in the social sense, but not much use to me in my professional life.

friendfeed

So as can be seen from above there are so many sites which I and some of my friends use on a regular basis. Some people may use alternative services for a similar function, how do you keep up with what everyone is using, and how do others keep up with you? Friendfeed provides a summary view of everything you publish on the net. It also allows you to follow others to see everything they are doing in a summary view. I once again use this for a select few friends, I don’t want the signal-to-noise ratio to be destroyed here as well!

So as can be seen there are a lot of facets to the social landscape, but they are important tools for me and could be for you too. I recommend getting involved in them - join the social revolution. I’ll leave a few links to my profiles below, feel free to follow me or become a friend!

• http://digg.com/users/cs96acb
• http://del.icio.us/suicide_al
• http://twitter.com/suicide_al
• http://friendfeed.com/suicideal

If you are a subscriber of our website just enter the private member area to download for free an abook about seo (search engine optimisation).

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Multiply. ‘Multiply gives you an easy way to share all kinds of digital media, including photos, blogs, videos, music and more, all in one convenient place: your own personal web site. With Multiply, you can share and discuss your stuff with everyone in your “social network,” and also be alerted whenever they have something new.’

a

Multiply Your e-Portfolio

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Related Articles at Learning Online Info:

ePortfolio 2006 Conference
EIfEL Position Paper on ePortfolio
ePortfolio 2007 Conference
2nd Pan-American and Francophone ePortfolio Conference: ePortfolio and Digital Identity
E-Portfolios for Learning

Artikel ini saya tulis sebenarnya gara-gara membaca artikel mas bayu mukti yang mencantumkan istilah TagLine. Saya mencoba memahami bagian mana yang disebut tagline pada blog mas Bayu, namun saya tidak bisa menemukan TagLine INFO. Mungkin saya salah mengerti.

Karena sifat saya yang harus mencari penjelasan tentang sesuatu yang baru, saya coba mencari apa itu atau definisi dari TagLine. Seingat saya di bagian setting wordpress ada inputan untuk Tag line. Mungkin ini yang dimaksud dengan TagLine di blog wordpress.

Problogger juga menunjukkan bahwa itulah yang disebut dengan TagLine. Sekarang apa sih kegunaan dari TagLine tersebut atau seberapa penting TagLine bagi blog Anda? Maka seperti yang dianjurkan oleh steven :

Steven mengharuskan setiap blogger untuk menggunakan TagLine. TagLine bisa memberikan Anda sedikit klarifikasi atau membangkitkan minat sehingga menghindari pengunjung Anda meninggalkan blog Anda saat pertama kali mengakses Blog Anda.

Tambahan dari problogger, bahwa tagline memberikan manfaat sebagai berikut :

1. Merupakan pesan kepada pengunjung Anda tentang apa yang akan mereka jumpai jika mereka menelusuri situs atau blog Anda.
2. Seringkali Tagline merupakan hal pertama yang dilihat oleh search engine crawler ketika mengindex situs atau blog Anda. Ini dikarenakan Tagline biasanya terletak di bagian atas halaman Anda.

Saya pun baru menyadari kegunaan Tagline, walaupun saya sudah sering menggunakannya pada blog saya yang lain. Dan sepertinya memang berdampak sangat baik pada keyword utama Anda. Walaupun TagLine di blog ini terletak di bagian sidebar, saya pikir tidak ada salahnya menambahkan TagLine di blog ini. yaitu :

Salah satu Blog mario cahyadi. Blog ini membahas tentang artikel seo, internet marketing, belajar blog dan belajar wordpress.

Apakah menurut Anda TagLine saya sudah sesuai dengan isi Blog ini? Silahkan menulis komentarnya. Terima kasih.

Most of the time when we pitch to a new client we are asked for SEO guarantees. “Your competition has guaranteed top results and submission to 100,000 Search Engines and Directories”. We go all out educating clients that Search Engine Optimization is all about smart work and not just adding random keywords and submittíng to every directory possible. I’m writing this article to reach out to the SEO buyers and help them distinguish the crooks from the genuine SEO cos. I’ve compiled my Search marketing experience over the years in this article. I hope this helps you in selecting your Search Marketing initiative.

Commandment 1: There are No Rank Guarantees. (Period)

Search Engines alone control their indexing and ranking algorithm. Do not try to trick Search Engines. The only way to improve your search engine rank is by playing by the rules. And the rule is very simple: make it logical. Web content is primarily for the site visitor and not crawlers.

If your Search Engine Optimizer sold you magic “Top rank on Google in 10 days flat”. Forget it. There are no short cuts. Top ranking in Search Engine Natural Results will take time. Hard work is imperative especially in developing the content on your website and the links to your site.

Commandment 2: Ranking is Not the End, It’s the Means.

Ask yourself what will a top search engine rank get you? Most businesses are interested in increasing sales on a website or at the least driving qualified traffic. Ranking for the right keywords (keywords used by your target audience) is important. There are SEOs who will try to show case results for keywords that occur only on your website. Beware such gimmicks.

Commandment 3: Know Your Competition.

“Rank” is relative position and more so in the Search Engines’ natural results. How well you do in the search engine results is a function of how much hard work you have done in relation to your competition. Analyze your competition’s keywords, links, keyword density and spread, but be sure not to copy your competition.

Commandment 4: Use Search Engine Friendly Design.

A search and visitor friendly design is a must for any successful website. Your website should be compelling enough for repeat visits by search engines and potential customers. Make sure you have search engine friendly URLs and avoid those long URLs with query strings.

Commandment 5: Select Keywords that are Worthy.

You must research your keywords before targeting. There are tools that give you a good idea of a keyword’s search potential for example. It is important to know the number of searches for a keyword in the last month, last 6 months and last year. You should also find out the number of web pages that are targeting the keyword. It is advisable to start a campaign with keywords with moderate competition and a high number of searches.

Commandment 6: Write Great Content.

Even if your website site is technically perfect for search engine robots, it won’t do you any good unless you also fill it with great content. Great means it has contextual and editorial value. Great content brings repeat visits and increases the chance of conversion. Great content is factual and appeals to your target audience. Your web page should have your desired action embedded in the content and you must ensure that the content is fresh. Keep adding and editing content regularly.

Commandment 7: Use Good Hyper Linking Strategy.

Hyperlinks make your content accessible and contextual. You must hyperlink in the right context within the website and to other websites. Good links are appreciated by the Search Engines and by visitors. No one likes to be taken to a mall selling “Macintosh” when shopping for “apples”.

Commandment 8: Write Relevant and Original Meta Content.

Meta content is like a business card. Just as your business card tells who you are and what you do, Meta content tells the search engines the relevance and context of a web page. Resist the temptation to include everything in the Meta content, but make it detailed. Confused? The idea is to include only what is relevant to the page in the Meta Content but to include everything that is relevant.

Commandment 9: Acquire Relevant Links.

The links you acquire are the roads to your web page for search engine bots and visitors. Good links improve your webpage’s equity on the World Wide Web and bad links make a dent in your equity and credibility. Be selective in reciprocal linking. Both reciprocal and one way links work, if you are prudent in selecting the links. Submit your website to the relevant sections in relevant directories.

Commandment 10: Consult Experts, If You Need To.

If you have the competence, there are two ways to learn - learning from your mistakes and learning from others’ experience. You can choose either. If you have the time and can wait for the online dollars, do it yourself. If you want to get started now, it may be useful to consult the experts.

source: SiteProNews.com

Texas has made headlines once again. First came news that its 110-student Harrold School District decided to allow employees–with a state permit and administrative permission–to carry concealed weapons on campus. Now comes Dallas declaring that “50″ is the lowest grade a student can receive in any one marking period in a move to prevent students from failing miserably, while giving them a chance to bring the grade up next time around. New marking period; new attitude. This is part of the district staff’s decision to move to an “effort-based” grading system, one that’s loaded with numerous opportunities for less successful kids to master the material at hand. Here’s more of their “fair-minded” failure solution:

• Teachers must accept all late work.
• Teachers cannot penalize students for missed deadlines.
• Low homework grades that would otherwise lower a student’s standing are to be discarded.

First off, effort implies motivation and hard work–the core of achievement and self-esteem–not contrived rules that disregard deadlines, responsibilities, and accountability. Homework, usually an extension of and opportunity to practice new learning, needs to be timely or the lesson is lost. Classwork doesn’t wait for anyone; more teaching follows, building on previous coursework. Not done? Not done thoughtfully? Too bad. Teachers may have to accept assignments whenever, but they’re not going to slow down. They have a curriculum to follow, and follow it they will. Giving kids an opt-out option simply insures the failure the “50″ is supposed to cure–and is definitely not one of the 21st century skills touted by educators and business leaders alike.

Step 1: Optimization

You’ll begin by optimizing your site using the following standard methods. These are not secrets, but rather a necessary to-do list of on-site optimization techniques:

1. Keyword research: Get comfortable with the Wordtracker Free Keyword Tool or the Google AdWords: Keyword Tool.
2. Title tags: Apply new keywords to all of your page titles, but be careful not to over do it as some search engines will penalize “keyword stuffing”.
3. Meta description: Have you ever paid attention to the blurbs included in Google’s search results? Well crafted meta descriptions result in easy to read, keyword-rich blurbs.
4. Update your permalinks: What are permalinks? They are the actual link locations that visitors click to navigate through your pages. Avoid meaningless locations such as “page_01_new” and opt for keyword-laden links such as “search-engine-marketing-software-tips”.
5. Link your pages together: Links that take visitors around your site, or internal links, are very important. Don’t just rely on your sidebar or navigation menu for these valuable links. Instead, build them into your text using, you guessed it, careful keyword selection.
6. Write good content: If your content looks like it was written by a machine, Google will notice. Instead, put some passion into it. After all, what good is all of this search engine optimization if you can’t maintain your visitors’ interest?

To be continued in Part 2…

There are so many social bookmarking services and communities out there, why do you have to choose one to focus on? Now you don’t have to choose. Mahalo Follow 3 Beta is a Firefox extension that allows you to submit a webpage to multiple social bookmarking sites with a single click, literally.
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