As observant readers will have noticed, this blog has been missing a tagline§ since I moved hosts and reinstalled WordPress from scratch. Part of the problem was that I couldn’t decide which to use, having already cycled through a few on the old version of the blog. I am now trying out a new plugin (WP Random Tagline (I love plugin authors who name their code with a descriptive name, saves so much time when searching )), and so each time someone visits a page on this site, they should see a new tagline at the top, just above where it says ChrisMerriman.com.
Now some people would say this does not help with search engine optimization, however 1) I’m mainly writing this blog for my own sanity, not necessarily to try and draw in a crowd of thousands 2) It is better than having none at all
Anyway, the plugin automatically creates the required SQL table thingies, which is a relief, as this is one area I’m still a little hazy on.

§ - Thats the text you see next to many blog names (normally a short description/quote/explanation, as opposed to the site name itself)

I have just completed a quick check of how this blog is faring when it comes to search engine results, using Google.
www.ChrisMerriman.com is 3rd for the phrase Kazakhstan Blog, an improvement most probably helped by a recent campaign I ran over at PayPerPost. Unfortunately if you search for Astana Blog , this blog is now just 17th, possibly due to the fact that I don’t mention my home town each time it appears in a blog post - long term readers know where I live, but search engine bots (and new readers now that I think about it ) may not be able to figure that out. Though it is mentioned at the top of each page ().
Finally, if you happen to search for Astana Kazakhstan Blog (or the more likely search of Astana, Kazakhstan Blog), then this site comes in at 1st place!
If you are interested in other blogs from this country, then I recommend you visit the Links page, as several other blogs are listed there, whose writers either live here, or at least have an interest in the goings on in this nation.

As you may remember, I have been using Google Earth to help plan out some of the upcoming Amsterdam trip - there is no point in deciding to visit four museums in one day, if they are all miles from each other, for example. Anyway, thanks to a kind forum member over at www.channels.nl, I was informed of an update Google have made. Apart from a number of background tweaks, if you now press Ctrl+Alt+A, you can slip into a basic flight simulation mode, and take off from a few different airports around the world. The ability to easily ‘fly’ around areas certainly brings a new perspective to looking at out planet, though without an analogue controller of some description, you may well find it difficult to be very accurate with your headings. I’ve yet to try my steering wheel & pedals combo…
On a similar note, the BBC have published an article on fresh satellite data being used in conjunction with Google Earth in an attempt to find the missing Steve Fossett. If you don’t know who he is, stick his name in as a search term at your favourite search engine - his achievements are pretty impressive. Anyway, people are now looking for a 30 by 20 pixel blob on maps around the area his plane could have gone down, though the American military has thumbed their noses at the idea, scoffing at the idea that civilian satellite imagery is good enough to detect such a small presence.

Last month you broke the 3000 real unique visitors (not including search engine bots etc.) in one month barrier for the first time in this blog’s history. Just wanted to say thank you. My next target is to try and get my Alexa rank below 300,000. I was close for a while in July, but it has since shot up again (that is the wrong direction)…

Today I decided to finally get around to catching up with all the background work on this blog. That meant going through my plugins one at a time, upgrading them to the most recent version, and then checking nothing had been broken by this process. Readers of this blog should not notice any difference really, other than a few tweaks here and there, as well a small increase in speed of loading. Sadly, my collection of King plugins have not yet been updated to work with WP2.2.x, so this blog will remain at 2.1.3 until I find an alternative, or someone comes up with a viable and easily implemented hack - too much of this site’s design relies on me being easily able to display certain widgets on certain pages, and blocking them on others.

Luckily there are only a few days left in this month, as I have just broken the 2Gb mark on bandwidth, for the first time; this blog is limited to 2.5Gb/month, so as long as I don’t receive a sudden rush of visitors, and the search engine spiders don’t all suddenly decide to crawl the site 24/7, all should be fine. When this site was started a little over a year ago, I had a limit of 250Mb per month, and apart from when I hosted videos (I now use YouTube), I didn’t often get close to the limit…

I have also updated the listing of all the search terms this site is/was #1 for on Google. If such facts interest you, then click on the I Got Lucky link at the top of each page. I’ve also tried to re-order them into basic groups by subject, rather than just sticking the newest results in at the bottom.

If we ever move back to Britain again, one of the first things that will need to be sorted is employment for both Ira and I. To be honest, many of the job vacancy sites I have used in the past have not impressed me very much. They seem to swing between over-specialising in certain job markets, or not having much more than the job board down at the dole centre.
I have now found JumptoJobs.co.uk the search engine for jobs, which seems to hold a pretty comprehensive database of jobs. I searched, using technical support and Cheltenham as the terms, and came up with a whole host of opportunities.

Their Press Release is as follows…

JumptoJobs.co.uk

JumptoJobs.co.uk today announced the launch of their innovative search engine for jobs. Their system allows job-boards, recruitment agencies and corporate HR departments to easily deliver very targeted jobseeker traffic to their websites.

The system requires no administration from the recruiter’s because the jobs are indexed from their current location on the internet, JumptoJobs.co.uk simply makes it possible for jobseekers to find the jobs more quickly and easily.

Recruiters have the option to pay per click or pay per application. In each case they can guarantee that they are only paying for results delivered. This removes the risk element usually associated with recruitment advertising where recruiters have to pay for the advertising whether applications are delivered or not.

Pay per click and pay per application are revolutionising recruitment advertising in the same way that they have revolutionised many other types of online advertising through Google, Yahoo, MSN and many other major online advertising media.

JumpToJobs.co.uk’s fanatical account management team will do all of the technical work for the recruiter and absolutely no technical expertise are required to use the system. Comprehensive statistical reports are frequently emailed to the recruiter so that they can easily monitor the success of their campaigns.

Emailed Job alerts and RSS feeds allow Jobseekers to monitor a large number of recruitment websites for all new jobs that match their criteria. This system also offers recruiters an additional advertising opportunity.

www.jumptojobs.co.uk

JumptoJobs.co.uk is a new product by saongroup.com. saongroup.com have more than 10 years experience in online recruitment. The group has job boards in UK, Ireland, China, The Middle East, The Caribbean and India.

www.saongroup.com

Companies that are looking into improving their web sites, may well have already heard of Dev3.ro - Professional Webdesign Services is one of the area of expertise they offer. If your site already serves your information distribution needs, then Dev3 can probably still help you out, as they also offer advice on, and the implementation of, online shops (commonly referred to as e-commerce), custom databases and, of course SEO (Search Engine Optimization).

You can check their site for details on their previous satisfied clients - the GlobeScan job looked most impressive to me. Their prices start at $50, and obviously depend on just how much of what sort of work you require. So, to find out just how little a professionally completed project would cost you, request a free quote from Dev3 today.

Checking through my Google search engine referrals, it appears that I am getting quite a few hits for the phrase ‘Presents For Nick’. I’m not entirely sure why, except last year I mentioned what I had bought my brother for his birthday - Mixed Drinks accessories.
Nick has become quite the budding barman in terms of concocting and serving drinks, designing his own drinks when he does not have any Mixed Drink Recipes to hand. Luckily, as he now has a decent internet connection at home, he can check the links above to find details of which ingredients to mix, and the procedure required to ensure a tasty and visually impressive result.
Once the evening is going with a swing, some friends enjoy partaking in Drinking Games, ideal for anyone who needs to unwind, or just likes having a spare excuse to drink a little more

Unfortunately, ChrisD is not able to make it over to Kazakhstan this year. On the plus side, I am meeting him in Amsterdam for a few days of relaxation, and then travelling onto Britain to see family and friends. (My brother’s birthday is something I was hoping to get back to the UK for, and now it is sorted .) Unfortunately Irina does not have enough holiday left to come as well, but we will all be back in Britain around Christmas time.

Anyway, my travel details are as follows :-

Leaving Astana 21st September 08:50
Arrive Kaliningrad 21st September 11:00
Leave Kaliningrad 21st September 12:50
Arrive Amsterdam 21st September 13:55

Spend 3 nights in Amsterdam, at an apartment with a view of the canal, that belongs to the Hotel Amstelzicht.
Then on to Britain…

Leave Amsterdam 24th September 18:20
Arrive Birmingham 24th September 18:40


3 and a bit weeks in Britain to say hello to family and friends. Hopefully fit in Evesham and Cheltenham, then Swansea (well Clydach actually), then down to Falmouth for my bro’s birthday.
Then…

Leave Birmingham 16th October 06:25
Arrive Schipol 16th October 08:50
Leave Schipol 16th October 16:15
Arrive Kaliningrad 16th October 19:15
Leave Kaliningrad 16th October 21:35
Arrive Astana 17th October 05:15

(All times are local)

I am going to miss Ira like crazy, but I am looking forward to the break immensely, and it will be really good to see Nick, Mum, John, Dad, Jan and some Cheltenham friends as well.

Pink Badger

Why that random phrase? One of the main reasons I am posting this flight information is so that if family want to know the details, or I am not at home, I or they can just search for a unique (I’m pretty sure I did not include it anywhere else ) phrase on this blog, and know they have the right post immediately.
You never know, perhaps pink badger is also a popular search engine search term, and I will increase this site’s traffic…. Not too likely though.