In a similar vein to the previous post for Alex’s bro, this post is being written as a friend needs some help, and I am too appalled at the thought of typing it all into a messenger window, only to need it again in the future. I hope some other random person will one day find this post through a search engine, and find the contents useful. For anyone else, please indulge me a moment, normal random postings will resume shortly
Firstly, some basic terminology / concepts to get a grip of, before proceeding.

PPC - For the purposes of this post, PPC can be safely assumed to refer to a Windows Mobile powered Pocket PC, such as an iPAQ.
RAR or ZIP files - These can be safely opened on your PC. See later for details.
EXE files - These are normally installation programs that will use ActiveSync to install a program for you automatically, the next time you plug your PPC into it’s cradle or USB lead. However, occasionally, you will find an EXE file that produces an error on your PC, when you try to run it. It may state something like ‘Not A Valid Win32 Application’. If this is the case, don’t despair, it is simply a program meant to run directly on your PPC, not your PC
CAB file - do NOT ever open or extract these files on your PC. In that path heart ache does lay. Follow instructions below.
Sync - for the purposes of this post, any mention of sync refers to you plugging your PPC into your PC. Whether it be via a cradle, USB lead, bluetooth or WiFi (if you have an old version of ActiveSync, before such usefulness was disabled), the end result is the same - the little circle in your system tray, that belongs to ActiveSync, should eventually go green, and stop rotating.
Anyway, back to the main reason for this post - how to install programs…

Open ONLY RAR or ZIP files on your PC :
Extract them somewhere temporarily (don’t delete until you know for certain program is working, not just as a demo, if you have ‘purchased’ a full version)

IF, and ONLY IF the extracted files is a CAB, then copy it via to your PPC (see below)
Always check the included documentation, but you can normally leave any other files on your PC - TXT NFO DOC files etc

How to copy CAB files?
Either eject your SD memory card, and put it in card reader in your PC, then copy the CAB file as you would any other type
OR plug your PPC into it’s cradle or USB lead, make sure ActiveSync says Synced or Connected. Right Click green circle icon in your PC’s system tray, and select ‘explore’ OR open the ActiveSync main window, select the File Menu, then ‘explore’
In either case navigate to My Windows Mobile-based Device (or words similar), then Storage Card, then copy the required file(s) as you would to any other directory or drive, such as a memory stick.
What now? Now open your favourite file explorer program on your PPC, navigate to the SD card, and THEN you can open the CAB file. It will install the program semi-automatically for you. When given a choice between the internal memory or your SD card, there are two factors to consider before deciding which location is best. In almost all cases, a large program should only be installed on the SD card. If the program is small, but is not needed often, or not likely to require fast transfers to operate normally, again install it to the SD card. If the program is something that will automatically load each time your PPC is started up, or is very small AND needs fast transfers or access times, ONLY then install to SD cards. Other may argue with this approach, but over time, you will find a few programs that give you no option as to where they will be installed - leave your PPC’s internal memory for those times. Also, the internal memory is dynamically split between storage space and operating memory. As a rough analogy, imagine you could use some of your PC’s 2Gb of RAM as a storage area (yes a RAM Drive before any geeks giggle and point). Now imagine you filled that 2Gb with crap you didn’t need very often. There would be little space left for anything interesting, such as large buffers or game playing resources.

If you happen to have found a PPC EXE file within your extracted RAR or ZIP file, copy them in the same manner as I mentioned above, except you will need to create a directory for the EXE file somewhere on your PPC first. You can dump it anywhere, but it makes it easier to spring clean / trouble shoot an issue if each application has its own distinct directory.

If the file you have is a normal PC EXE file, then when you run it, the program will actually copy and run the CAB file it contains for you automatically, the next time you sync your PPC.

I recently came across the Guardian’s article on ‘Why Google is the service of choice for sploggers’. It is good to see this issue getting some attention in the press, though I doubt whether it will seriously influence the way Google operate their Blogger blogging service.
Although some people would try and include MFA (Made For Adsense) sites in the same scene as sploggers, at the very least, many MFA sites do use articles that are often helpful to those internet users who arrive on a page from a search engine result. Many sploggers simply scrape content from other sites, often WITHOUT attribution.
My niche article sites (see the categories on the left for links to some of them within posts) contain some original content - a mixture of my own work, and in some cases forum posts that I have re-written, and used with the original author’s permission, and usually with a link to a site of their choice.

I have been trying to catch up with all the little tasks I had ignored for a couple of weeks. You can now find an updated list of the search terms this site is, or has been, #1 for in Google searches. I have also started adding the actual post, page or section the phrase was found on. It is only really of interest if you run this site (me) or find search engine patterns interesting…
I did however discover that since removing a plug in, a while back, that I need to go and edit some old posts where plain text URLs are no longer hyper linked. What fun. I will try and post the remainder of the photos from when Alex was here very soon…

Following on from the damning report that Privacy International released, and similar concerns from Article 29 (an EU based advisory body), Google has now cut the length of time that they will save data pertaining to their user’s searches. Instead of the original two years, personally identifiable information will be erased after 18 months, although the unidentifiable sections of the data will be kept for analysis.
OK, I don’t know about you, but I’ll be sleeping more soundly in my bed tonight…
Check the original post here.

Yes, I may moan about Google (especially since their actions with my AdSense account), but they are still the search engine I use, but I have disabled the personal search history feature within my account there.

For those that have not come across them yet, Pay Per Post is a company that helps companies get their products and sites noticed, and improve their search engine rankings. They act as the middleman to enable companies to advertise on blogs by keeping a large database of bloggers who are happy to research their topics, write a piece on the subject and, where required, offer constructive criticism.

PayPerPost have generated the most income for me since I started blogging for money. Since 10 April, I have made just over $2100! The good news is that PPP have had a capital injection of seven million dollars.

So what should they do with it? Other than the obvious choice of of paying me most of it over the next year, I suppose there are some other options…

They could try spending some on a global marketing campaign in the more traditional medias. TV channels on satellite systems that cover Europe, Asia and parts of Africa would be one way to ensure that the new bloggers who join up cover all bases, in terms of knowledge and cultural backgrounds. Similarly, some national newspapers in countries that have English as their first or second language may attract bloggers who have yet to come across the PPP scheme.

I have to admit I don’t know just how much it costs, but sponsorship of a popular TV program is one way to really get the brand well known. In Britain, the coverage from having your name associated with Lost or 24 is serious kudos.

Personally, I’d be interested in checking if Sealand is still for sale, again the publicity generated from buying the independent nation state/data centre would probably at least equal the investment required.

As ever, there have been the ne’er-do-wells who have started proclaiming this new investment round as a bad thing or indicator of things to come. TechCrunch being one example. I suppose everyone is entitled to their opinion, no matter how wrong it is
Anyway, here is the official Press Release on the matter…

ORLANDO, FL – (June 12, 2007) – PayPerPost, the leading marketplace for advertisers to reach bloggers and other consumer content creators, today announced it has completed a $7 million second round investment led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, an investor in the company’s Series A and one of the world’s leading high-technology venture capital firms. The financing brings the total amount of capital raised by PayPerPost to over $10 million, giving the company considerable resources for further development as the industry’s leading Consumer Generated Advertising marketplace. Additional participants in the round include existing investors Inflexion Partners and Village Ventures as well as new investor DFJ Gotham. With this investment, DFJ Managing Director Josh Stein also joins PayPerPost’s Board of Directors.

“PayPerPost created this exciting new advertising space and has established itself as the industry leader,” said Ted Murphy, chief executive officer of PayPerPost. “Although we’ve only used a portion of our first round capital, this added support from investors unlocks significant growth potential. Our content creator and advertiser ROI metrics clearly demonstrate the upside for PayPerPost’s model. We intend to use this capital to build the infrastructure, visibility and professional expertise necessary to reach and retain a greater network of advertisers and content creators than ever before.”

Since its founding in June of 2006, PayPerPost has signed more than 6,500 advertisers to its groundbreaking service, which has enabled Consumer Content Creators to be compensated for their efforts discussing specific companies, products or services via blogs, videos or other media. The content creators are required to disclose relationships with advertisers on their blog, providing transparency for the end reader. Over 125,000 Internet postings, most in the form of blogs, have already earned money for their creators through PayPerPost’s innovative marketplace. PayPerPost recently released PayPerPost Direct, a disruptive new service that allows advertisers to contract and negotiate directly with individual bloggers they identify through a safe, managed system.

“PayPerPost has laid a strong foundation for the future,” noted Tim Draper, founder and managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson. “It continues to attract a critical mass of participants from both the advertising and blogging communities. Analogous to Overture’s sponsored search model, we believe PayPerPost’s business model holds disruptive potential and will enable the company to thrive in the evolving paid-content arena.”

To mark the $7 million dollar funding, PayPerPost has launched a new website detailing the company’s service offering at http://www.payperpost.com. Bloggers and advertisers can easily sign up at the site and begin leveraging the self service marketplace.

If you have not come across the phrase corporate blog marketing before, then your company could be missing out on high placings at search engines. This unique approach to marketing is a way to attract more website traffic, and therefore, hopefully, more sales.

Thing Big Sites is a website optimization firm that specializes in zero day blog marketing techniques, with impressive results.
How impressive? How about being cheaper and quicker than 98% of their competitors, does that impress you enough?
Not only does their work result in your company being placed as THE authority in your chosen field, as well as the aforementioned huge increase in traffic that this will result in!

If you would like these results, but do not yet feel confident that your site will convert visitors to customers, fear not; Think Big Sites also design web sites. So all you need to do is explain what you need, and they can take care of the whole process, from beginning to end. What about if you like your site, but do not want to commit to any Search Engine campaigns until you know your site is optimally setup? Think Big offer FREE analysis, to let you know just what may need specialist attention, and which areas are already optimally configured.

Finally, you should be aware that Think Big do not use any ‘black hat’ techniques to get their impressive results for you - this would only lead to a short term benefit, normally followed by your site being banned by the major search engines. They only use proved techniques that follow search engine guidelines, not break them.

If you need plastic surgery, have you considered looking around for plastic surgery los angeles based? Depending on the procedure you have done, if you find yourself with a few days to spare, you can spend some time visiting the sights around LA.

One of the more famous plastic surgery centres is Rodeo Drive Plastic Surgery, who offer cosmetic surgery, ranging from Facelifts, Browlifts, Eyelifts and Rhinoplasty to Breast Augmentations & Lifts. If your body needs attention, RDPS also offer Liposuction, Tummy Tucks & a range of other procedures.

If your skin causes you problems, be it pain or psychologically based, Skin Resurfacing, Botox & Collagen + Filler procedures are all available.

As the company is based in Los Angeles, you will most likely find the company using the search terms plastic surgeon los angeles or plastic surgeon california in any major search engine; or you could just click on any one of the links above, to discover more about how they operate.

At least according to a BBC journalist. However, the main difference actually seems to be that the ‘Web Images News’ etc. is no longer placed above the search box, but has been moved to above the results.
Perhaps I’m being too cynical, but it seems to me that the journo simply took a Press Release at face value, and lapped up Google’s proclamations of the next iteration of their search engine results.
Decide for yourself, headover to the .com version of google, make a search and then read the article.

If you haven’t thought about how website optimization services could help your company, you are missing out. The fact that you have a website is obviously a brilliant start, but if you’re not bringing in and converting enough customers to sales, the pages are going to waste.
ThinkBigSites are cheaper than 98% of their competitors, and are ten times faster at getting you the search engine results your site deserves. It will only take a few minutes, so why not ask them to provide you with a quote for working their magic on your site?

If you want to bring in more website traffic to your site, and then keep those visitors, you need a service that will improve your site, and build an online reputation for you. Think Big Sites is a website optimization firm that also specialises in driving traffic your way via business and social networking, link building, corporate blogs and strategic blog marketing techniques.
Should you need a new hosting service for your site(s) Think Big Sites have a range of plans tailored to your needs.

in Search Engine Marketing can be a subject that will take a long time to master, especially with so many ‘experts’ disagreeing on best-practice in the many forums, blogs and sites dedicated to SEM.
If you are serious about not wasting your money on a campaign, then PLEASE take a moment to read the following article - Avoid Search Engine Marketing Malpractice.
Although Apogee Search would obviously like you to use them for your site’s campaign, the advice offered in the article is almost entirely independent of a sales pitch, and uses terminology clearly to explain what the market is currently like, what to avoid, and more importantly, WHY you should avoid it.

Firstly they break down their competitors into different groups, and the key identifying features of each group. Rather than simply finger-pointing and casting aspersions, Apogee have actually taken the time to analyse these groups, and try to see the reason for their behaviour. I certainly discovered a few things that I’d not thought about before.

One of my favourite parts of this article is “Remember, site content is written for a person, not a robot.” When you look at some ‘professionally’ designed sites out there, it certainly appears to have been written with Search Engine Optimisation in mind, not the actual potential customers who will end up there.

So, if you would like to deal with a company that will take a holistic approach to your campaign, and certainly appear to not only know about the issues surrounding such projects, but also honest in explaining what you do AND don’t need, why not try out Apogee Search?

This post is sponsored. Please click the Disclosure link at the top of this page for what this can mean.