Is it just me? Somehow Ira Glass’s This American Life (thislife.org and podcasted) just makes me feel good. Born and living in the UK (having lived in CA for 4 years and married to an American) the show is just wonderful, restores my faith in human nature. I just wish there was someone in my area I could chat to about Ira’s superb program. Anyone? Anyone out there? OK - let’s narrow it down a little - I live in Wembdon, Somerset, UK and feel a world away from anyone who shares any enthusiasm for this great show. Even my lovely American wife doesn’t like it. Ira fans, help, comment…..
Chess software was always at the forefront of chess computing prowess. With Fritz 11 along with other favourites such as Shredder, the software continues to progress along with our computers. Fritz has ironed out some of the quirks of earlier versions and is superb for chess improvement and ease of use. For such incredible power and functionality, chess software such as this is very inexpensive. Retailing at around £40 (GBP) the program presents us with Grandmaster level functionality and tutelege.
Blogging is now so mainstream, that it seems that everyone has one or more personal blog, besides industry blogs such as this on business finance, or this chess blog. But still - if we were to stop people in the shopping centre and ask if they have a blog or know what a blog is- amazingly most still don’t. Most people would have a stab at an answer but not get it right, some would be lucky. I estimate that only 1 or 2% of people have a blog, and most of those would have more than one. Another 20% would know what they are and may occasionally use the services. Another 20% would have some idea of what they are, but more than half would have no idea what they are.
This fellah is soooo clever - his skill as a
freelance illustrator is obvious from the site - but I used him for a clients cartoon illustration and they really came through with illustrations that added hugely to the effectiveness of their marketing. Checkout the
portfolio of illustrations where the complexity of this genre of illustration is evident - it takes hours to perfect this stuff! Well done Richard.
A beneficiary of the great progress of computing power, and a poster child of the capabilities, chess computers have come a long way in the last decade. Chess would always be an application of programming prowess with it’s infinite move possibility, it’s immense capacity for PCU power and the challenge that lay waiting to beat the best humans. Todays chess computers are superb software creations that easily defeat most humans. They have the downside of being a little cheap looking and cheap in use of material that belies the software quality - something to be improved greatly in future models - we hope.
RSS is changing the web - see example such as company rescue and turnaround finance feeds that link back to the pages desired. RSS sites take the feeds and provide the pointers. As an SEO in the field of UK web optimisation, I believe RSS to be the most overlooked tool in optimising end product/service pages - but a feed has to be constructed properly so as to allow links and avoid duplicate content. The RSS sites tend to be techie and can be obtuse in instructions, but once overcoming the problem - the submissions really work well.
On a related subject, we’re currently experimenting with a Google product search (GPS) feed - to see if linking to the feed for a specific company (ChessBaron) produces anything in terms of ranking for desirable terms - in this case chess sets. Getting a Google Product Search feed one-boxed is superb, but what about actually seeing the group of products from Base (aka Froogle, GPS) within the body of search results. We currently have the feed on page 6 - we’ll keep you informed.
Like this chess set example, popping products into Google Base/Froogle or GPS - or whatever they decide to call it when you’re reading this - carries the difficulty of constructing an XML feed that needs to be optimised for good exposure within the results shown. To get one-boxed (shown in the search results at the top of the page for ‘Product Search Results’) is a boon for the company that can construct the feed. We only know of one company that offers the service of writing the XML feed and optimising it so that the possibility of getting one-boxed is possible.
Examples of the use of RSS are this feed of search engine optimisation steps, or this RSS feed on case studies for the Company Rescue industry, or this feed of chess products from a US retailer. A frequent sight on many sites, what does this symbol do for search engine optimising and for the weight of the site? It’s a method of syndicating the site’s content through to many other sites where a reference or link can be obtained from the adopting site. It’s a construction of a feed in XML (many automated tools exist to construct the feed) which lists the items you want to syndicate, whether it’s products, a list of services, case studies, etc. If done properly, the RSS feed has an amazing leveraging effect on optimising for search engines. Syndicating sites show the link for each item placed in the feed. These links are particularly valuable because they are generally deep links into the domain and since the list will have some level of comprehensiveness, the links also are comprehensive - one seperate link for every page represented by one item in the multi item RSS feed.
Fortunately, the techie nature of setting up this XML feed is a hurdle that most sites don’t understand and don’t know how to construct - hence its effectiveness for those that overcome the hurdles.
The Kasparov Expert chess computer is the strongest engine Saitek have with software that can beat everyone but it’s namesake on it’s strongest setting. Of course, lower settings will be required by us mere mortals. The machine has a range of settings (64 of them) that will train and stretch every player with a library of database openings that exceeds 6000. But the range of settings, even the engine strength (2000 elo) is, of course, true of many chess computers. What’s so special about the Expert?
The build quality is the single distinguishing factor separating this chess machine from it’s rivals. The computer has a build quality of a Volkswagon, Honda and Toyota combined (assuming you like those manufacturers). The machine is a peg style model and the bottom of each peg hole has a sensor that is activated when the piece is lifted and inserted into another hole. The computer then takes it’s move - clearly indicating on the LCD readout the move required. The sensor system is activated again. The pieces are slightly dissapointing in that they are plastic - we wish Saitek had made metal pieces - but that apart, they are very clear in visual identification, with the knights actually very well crafted. If a peg style chess computer is preferred, this is the best of the three main manufacturers: Saitek, Novag and Excalibur.
An agonising search for Madeleine has every decent person in the UK and many other countries (including family loving Portugal) waiting for good news. It’s brought us all to the point where we have to ask what kind of world we live in - a world that produces people that sink to the depravity of taking a defenceless young girl away from her parents. How can people actually become so awful? Are we to blame? Or who is?
The media, the internet and the so-called free speech it permits are partially to blame. Watching prurient content whether sexual or violent gradually causes people to develop desires that are base. Just as showing Freddies Flakes on commercials sells more Freddies Flakes - does not the same rule apply to a diet of sex and violence freely available through the conventional media or the newer, less regulated media of the internet?
We hope for success in the search McCanns. It’s a gnawing pain in our stomach too.