| LED Digest 2027: XP Cheaper than Linux? also Zeal |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" pair Networks: The LED's Web Host Hosting and Domain Reg. from a Trusted Leader pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest post, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. September 22, 2005 Issue #2027 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ====== NEW ====================== --== Zeal ==-- ~ Michael Martinez "...Zeal remains a moderately useful directory for SEO purposes." --== Redirects and Google ==-- ~ Joe Halbrook "Is this a huge no-no from a Google perspective?" ==== CONTINUING ================= --== What's Up With DMOZ? ==-- ~ Chris Nielsen "DMOZ...still does have a lot of weight and importance..." ~ Phil Chave "...this idea has worked well for me recently..." --== Keeping it Fresh ==-- ~ John Barendrecht "[Microsoft] wrote a demo about 8 yrs. ago that does this." --== Microsoft's Future ==-- ~ John Barendrecht "I can buy Windows XP cheaper than Linux." ==== BILLBOARD =================== --== Mambo? ==-- ~ Charles Oertel ~ Sheryl Coppenger ======== NEW ===================================== From: Michael Martinez Subject: Zeal Yesterday I suggested that Zeal takes only non-commercial listings, but it's been a long time since I have looked closely at Zeal. They now appear to be carrying commercial listings, as Looksmart's directory is no longer available. It seems that Looksmart folded its directory operations into Zeal. They do now accept commercial content. Anyone interested in Zeal should read the Guidelines carefully. In my opinion, Zeal remains a moderately useful directory for SEO purposes. They are a community-driven service and so may have experienced some of the growth problems that DMOZ has experienced. Michael Martinez, Author Understanding Middle-earth, Parma Endorion, and Visualizing Middle-earth http://www.michael-martinez.com/ -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Joe Halbrook Subject: Redirects > How do URL redirects, such as those from http://tinyurl.com, > impact Google page ranks? Can I use them for tracking > purposes and still receive a good page rank? - Ian Smith, LED 2022 I've wanted to know if there is some magical work-around for this situation, myself. I have some sites with affiliate links scattered within the content, and have never enjoyed indexing from Google. (I always assumed it was because I use AdWords, and they'd hate to lose my business.) :-) I understand that blatant affiliate-link-farm sites are unlikely to be indexed by Google. But, when you provide other meaningful content (even though it contains affiliate links), should you be penalized by Google? Secondly, since I like to track click-thrus on my sites, I use CGI scripts to record the clicks, prior to redirecting the user to the intended web page target. They follow the format: http://www.site--name.com/cgi-bin/redir.cgi?1234 Is this a huge no-no from a Google perspective? Your expert help would be most appreciated. Best, Joe Halbrook http://www.info-for-life.com/kyc.html ===== CONTINUING ================================= From: Chris Nielsen Subject: DMOZ > Is DMOZ on it's way out or here to stay? - Renee Kennedy, LED 2025 DMOZ may be collapsing under it's own weight but it still does have a lot of weight and importance, in my opinion. It has long been an ordeal to get listed, either due to submission backlog, lack of editors, or just plain "corruption". But it's not going anywhere until there is something to replace it. Luckily for all of us, there are a number of efforts underway to make this happen. And why not? When you can take what DMOZ has built and use that as a starting point....? Well, it saves quite a bit of time to build a new directory that may be a worthy competitor. Now, if someone could just take all of our small, hand-crafted directories and unite them into a distributed directory network.... man, that would be awesome! Thanks, Chris Nielsen www.consultant-directory.com (DMOZ data-free) www.vioxx-search-engine.com ------- new post - same topic ------- From: Phil Chave Subject: DMOZ I agree that DMOZ can be quite frustrating when attempting to get new listings, however, this idea has worked well for me recently. Most of the people on this list, I'm guessing, have at least one site on DMOZ already and are aware that DMOZ inclusion has a major influence on other search engines. The idea is to make temporary / permanent links from the site that is in DMOZ on a prominent page, ideally the index page, somewhere down near the copyright notice usually, and maybe one or two important pages within the site structure. If you get the timing right, you can get your new site onto Google, Yahoo, MSN and others within a few days, bypassing the sandbox effect that everybody seems terrified of. Just as for human nature, if you appeal to an SE's 'ego', in that it finds you itself, you can be on top in no time at all. It's worked for me lots of times since people started talking about 'sandboxing', and if the SE's think DMOZ is still relevant, so should we. Phil Chave http://www.distanthealer.co.uk ------- new post - new topic ------- From: John Barendrecht Subject: Keeping it fresh > One of the biggest problems with a web site > is keeping it fresh and up-to-date looking. - James Miller, LED 2026 I am not sure exactly what James is looking for but if he wants to store pictures in a directory and store the title, comment, width, height and link in an Access database, then Microsoft to the rescue. They wrote a demo about 8 yrs. ago that does this. I used a scaled down version on a website http://meijndert.com/featured-home.htm and follow the link slide presentation. They had it advance every x seconds to next slide. You may be able to adapt this, rather than starting out from scratch. Best regards, John Barendrecht http://www.centralhome.com ------- new post - new topic ------- From: John Barendrecht Subject: Microsoft > God - or someone - help us all. Now we're going to > have crashes two or three times a day while watching > tv or listening to the stereo! ;) - Michael Linehan, LED 2026 I have been using Media Centre for about 5 months and never had my computer, TV or stereo crash. This is really cool. I have a 27 inch monitor so regularly have TV as a split, PIP, POP as well as having it hooked up to TV in living room. Great way to bore family and friends with digital vacation pictures by showing them on living room TV, MS does auto slide show. I do some CBT, and before burning demo to DVD, I can preview it on monitor or TV. I have a 600 Gig main drive and 450 Gig second drive, allowing me to store most movies, CD collection, pictures, etc. for almost instant access. There is room for improvement, but I for one, hope Bill continues down this road. As for Application Service Providers, I am not too keen on this. Sounds like main frame / dumb terminal. I worked at a company that had ASP. Any problem with the infrastructure and you can't access your programs or your data. Ever seen 4,000 employees stand around because there is a problem for 7 hours? It's not uncommon for your high speed ADSL to be down for minutes or hours, just when you have clients over from Europe. Also, do you want to trust your confidential or financial data to some ASP that may be out of business tomorrow? What about security? Sounds like a hacker's dream, centralized data, no need to hack multiple companies or computers. Big companies don't innovate that much. Al Gore may have invented the Internet but Bill Gates bought it. Even Google is doing this - see VOIP as next big thing, buy the company. But even with thin client, someone has to provide the operating system. I can see it now "Microsoft Thin"! I think the announcement that Microsoft is dying maybe a little premature. I can buy Windows XP cheaper than Linux. Even for web servers, Microsoft has over 50% share of the Fortune 500 companies. Best regards, John Barendrecht http://www.centralhome.com ==== BILLBOARD =================================== From: Charles Oertel Subject: Mambo > I've heard a little about Mambo supposed capabilities, > but does anyone out there have actual experience > using it? What's your opinion...? - Carrie Cassidy, LED 2026 Carrie Cassidy was curious about whether Mambo's capabilities were comparable to similar licensed website content management systems. When I started evaluating CMS for use by my clients, my first conclusion was that most of them were too hard to use and to set up. I ended up building "customisable" websites for my clients that allowed them to modify some aspects of their content. Then I found Mambo. It installs easily, is quick and easy to learn, and meets almost any website requirement. I now run it on about a dozen sites - and I put it in even for simple brochure sites because it makes it much easier for me to maintain. Feature-wise, Mambo has a very active community that contributes modules (like phpshop, smf forum, and many others). There is an enormous number of components and modules. I cannot compare Mambo directly to proprietary software since I have not run both (for example, I believe vBulletin to be very good, but expensive). My only gripe is that I prefer to use XHTML / CSS without tables for page-layout. Mambo uses tables. On the other hand, the stupid IE compatibility issues regarding CSS are reduced. And don't confuse the lack of license fees for lack of a license. Mambo is licensed under the GPL (Gnu Public License) which is designed to maximise your rights when using the software: you are free to use it as you wish, copy it, give it away (or sell it), change it, give away (or sell) your changes. The only thing you may not do is change the license (i.e. you cannot add some changes to Mambo, then rename it and sell it under a proprietary license). regards Charles Oertel FineBushPeople.net ------- new post - same topic -------- From: Sheryl Coppenger Subject: Mambo I haven't used it, but one of my customers did and likes it. We discussed various choices before he settled on Mambo and installed it (I didn't have time and he was in a hurry). If you go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_management_system You'll find a variety of links to sited discussing features, ease of in stall and other aspects of CMS. Speaking as someone who has installed and used hundreds of software packages since the mid-seventies, "you get what you pay for" does not necessarily apply to software. Sometimes free products are as good or better than commercial, but they're probably going to take a little more work on your part to install -- although not necessarily anymore. More important IMO, features vary between CMS products and some CMS products have specific hardware and/or software requirements. I would do "due diligence" researching which products have the features you're looking for and run on the platform you have available. Pay attention to "word on the street" about ease of use, size of the user community, existence of useful forums where you can ask other users for help. You're probably going to wind up with a short list which may include both commercial and open source products. Good luck, Sheryl Coppenger ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by pair Networks: pair.com for Hosting | pairNIC.com for Domains Copyright 1995-2005 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Never look down on anybody unless you helping him up." - Jesse Jackson |
