07.25.05
Posted in Uncategorized at 3:09 pm by altersage
Well, MSN have finally released the beta version of their Virtual Earth – the competitor of Google Earth as posted about here. Chris Sherman of SearchEngineWatch fame has reviewed the beta app, and has found it wanting. Of course the application is fantastic, it looks very similar to Google Earth, but so much more was promised in the pre-launch hype. Virtual Earth is also available to developers wishing to make use of the technology in building it into their own websites or applications.
Joey sent me this cool little gem: the Google logo maker. Now you can really have your own personalised google home page 
On a personal note, had a great weekend. We watched After the Sunset with Pearce Brosnan and Selma Hayak – interesting spin on the ending, but the movie that really touched me was Garden State with Zach Braff and Natalie Portman – I am not usually one for romance movies, but this one is definitely worth watching.
Speaking of film went to a great Dunhil “Behind the scenes Film party†on Saturday. There were again great food and open bar – always the makings of a good party, lol Studio 2 contained about 12 tables where guests could request a stage make-up session. “Injuries†ranged from axe & bullet wounds to bite marks and bruises. Studio 1 was where the main party took place with the DJ, large bars, lounges and a stage where a quick action skit was performed. A few minor missed choreographic moves, but interesting none the less.
My second week in office is going to be a busy one. I wrote the bi-weekly company newsletter today (my first one here) and hope that the response will be a good one. This week is my week to get all my plans in shape that I can start to action them all next week. I am quite nervous that I am not getting to as many things and have not yet accomplished as much as I’d liked within my first week here. Hopefully this week, with some additional push from my side, will be different.
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07.21.05
Posted in Uncategorized at 2:29 pm by altersage
I have been so busy that I’ve hardly had the time to update my blog.
I read all the latest news and happenings, but between getting to know all the ins-and-outs of this new position, and Joey and my hectic social life, I don’t have the time to post it to my blog.
Some fun things found this week include Google Moon. Like Google Earth, you can navigate the moon’s surface. Turn up the zoom all the way to discover the truth about the moon!
Posts on blogging have been numerous in the last couple of months. Almost all my newsletters have something to say about it, and not many have a new angle on it, so it becomes quite monotonous to read 10 about the same thing. This must be one of the most hilarious posts that I have seen on blogging for a while. If you need a laugh check it out.
Industry happenings:
Also found this nifty site that lists most of the search engines found globally. It is categorized according to country.
Google announced a change in their adword policy about a week ago. In a nutshell they will be doing away with the holding status in the accounts. Instead, each keyword will receive a quality score and will be displayed once the max CPC and expected quality of the keyword meets their requirements.
MSN’s experimental Start.com customizable homepage received a few updates and bug fixes. Isn’t there a striking resemblance to that of Google’s Personalized Home Page? Anyway, if you want to closely follow the happenings of MSN’s Start.com, check out their blog.
An attention-grabbing blogpost on Search Engine Watch showed statistics by Pew Internet & American Life Group show that 65% of Americans aren’t sure what RSS means! No comment.
IceRocket the search engine brain child of Marc Cuban is to be launched as BlogScour. The strategy behind BlocScour is to search blog postings as the name so adequately reflects. On top of scouring blog posts instead of websites, the result pages will also boast thumbnails of the home pages in the listings.
That’s it for me for today.
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07.18.05
Posted in Uncategorized at 9:51 pm by altersage
Yes, I am officially now lodged in the land of cyberspace. Google has finally decided to spider AlterSage! Yay! And that within 3 weeks! Excuse me whilst I pat myself on the back…lol 
Also, my first day at my new work went quite well. Had four people download their way of thinking, strategies and client lists as well as learning new programs and CRM systems – to which I already had to complete four quotes this evening!
There is nothing better than being busy at work! And what is even better is that I have a vision and strategy to make it even better than what it currently is. Yeah, yeah, I know how I could say that after just one day. Now that may sound a little arrogant, but its true, lol.
So needless to say, I am afraid that I am unable to bring you much industry related news.
Except on a note of blogging:
Microsoft just announced that it will include support for RSS in its new operating system. With a one-click option to subscribe to feeds they also announced that by year-end, it will offer a browser with feed reading baked in. Firefox, which now accounts for 10 percent of browser traffic, already has this capability. The WashingtonPost.com offers users 150 different feeds. The New York Times offers more than 30 feeds. Penetration is sure to increase as the number of Blogs increase as well. There are already 10 million blogs out there today already!
Good way to bring in some well needed dollars? You got it. Other news sites, such as InfoWorld, have also begun putting ads in their feeds. Google, Yahoo!, Kanoodle, and RSS ad networks like Pheedo have begun inserting text ads in syndication feeds.
So…you think its time that you get one for your company?
Oh…and spotted today. Google added desktop search to their ie toolbar. It is not yet within the Firefox version, but I guess IE is a start. Not to mention, has anyone else noticed that the Firefox PageRank does not display the same values as IE? Now tell me that its not just there for novelty
More news hopefully in the week. Back to work, albeit after-hours!
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